Title: Water Cooler Conversations

Pairing: Nina Theroux/Rachel Pirzad

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. Just having a little fun.

Summary: Nina and Cameron share a 'friendly' work conversation that Nina assumes goes unheard.

A/N: Okay, so I just started watching the show and already I'm hooked. And though Gary is my favorite character for now, I love Nina and Rachel's friendship. It's just so adorable. So, naturally, I had to femslash it, haha. I haven't finished the season yet, so forgive me if some of the details in the fic are wrong. Hope you all enjoy this little thing. :)

Nina walked into Cameron's office with a sultry smirk. She bit her lip, closing the door behind her silently before sauntering over to his desk. She hopped atop it with ease, crossing her legs and leaning forward. "This is the shortest dress she's worn to work yet," she said quietly.

Cameron stared hard at Nina's legs, scratching at his five o'clock shadow. "Her or you?"

Nina pulled her eyes away from the hallway to glare down at Cameron. She kicked out her leg to jab the heel of her shoe into his chest. "My eyes are up here."

Cameron grunted, rubbing his chest. "Yeah, and your legs are at my eye level," he grumbled. He scooted his chair to the side of his desk and picked up a pencil, twirling it in his hand to distract himself. Then he launched it towards the wall on the other side of the room, watching smugly as it ricocheted off the wall and pierced the ceiling where it now hung from. "I didn't know you were a switch hitter."

"So crude," she mumbled, lips pursing into an almost pout. She leaned back on her hands on Cameron's desk with a sigh as she attempted to see Rachel's office better. "And, what can I say? I'm a girl; I like all things soft, sensitive, and," she sucked on her lower lip thoughtfully, "good smelling." She chuckled.

"I'm all of those things," Cameron said with a frown.

"With effort, sometimes," Nina conceded mildly with a small nod. Her head lolled to the side in thought. "But she's all of those things," she said slowly. "Effortlessly."

Cameron shot her a bemused look. Granted, he hadn't known Nina for longer than a few months, but in all the time he had known her, he had never seen her so amorous. But she was a passionate woman by nature, and though her new found school girl crush left him amused, it wasn't that surprising when he thought about it. "Have you ever thought about asking her out?"

She laughed at the thought, head tossing back, wavy dark hair spilling down her back as a long, low chuckle slithered from her throat. "Are you kidding me?" she asked incredulously as she looked back down at Cameron with wide eyes. "She'd totally freak out."

He chuckled a little as well. "She would."

"The girl's been living in my house for over a month now, Cameron. Of course I've thought about asking her out." She looked back out into the hallway to find Rachel in her field of vision, walking towards the left, probably headed towards the bathroom. "Damn, she's beautiful," she breathed. "Do you think she knows that?"

Cameron was hardly paying attention anymore, caught between deciding what to eat for lunch and if he should get started on their current case.

"She probably doesn't know," Nina observed. "She doesn't seem to be that self-confident."

"That's because she has the most overbearing mother in history," Cameron replied with an amused snort.

"An overbearing mother who has a new 'suitor' for her every day," Nina lamented. She turned to Cameron. "Do you know how difficult it is to have to hear about the newest guy she's turned down at the dinner table every day?"

"As difficult as me trying to finalize this divorce?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow. "We've played the 'who has a more difficult life' game before and let me tell ya, it ain't you."

Nina rolled her eyes, slinking off of his desk. "Anyway, my ten minute break is up. If I want to get home tonight at a decent hour, I need to get back to work."

There was a barely there knock on the door and both Nina and Cameron swiveled around to find Gary walking in.

"Hey, Gary," Nina greeted with a breezy smile. Cameron tossed a barely there wave.

"Rachel knows all. She said she can hear very well, Nina. She can hear well," Gary mumbled, scratching the back of his head as he walked in.

Nina took a cautious step closer. "What are you talking about, Gary? What about Rachel?"

Gary shook his head. "She said you talk too much and she's never wearing that dress again to work now."

Her eyes widened. "Shit!"

"That's a curse word. You're—my mom said I'm not supposed to hear those words because they're bad and for bad people, even though she uses those words; and my mother isn't a bad person, so—"

"Gary, sweetie, stop talking for a second," Nina bit out, trying to make her voice sound as soothing as possible. From behind her, Cameron was leaning far back in his seat, clutching his stomach in laughter.

"This is too rich," Cameron muttered as he wiped an amused tear from his eye. "Honestly, this type of thing would happen to you."

Her eyebrows knitted together in a scowl as she gently grabbed Gary by the shoulders. "What did she say, Gary? Did she say she heard me?"

He nodded. "I walked into her office because I wanted to use her stapler—I'm not allowed to use staplers when I'm upset, Nina, but I had a stack of papers that needed stapling—"

"It's okay," she cooed. "I don't mind that you used a stapler. What else happened?"

"She didn't see me come in because she was using her powers. So, I called her name, then she snapped out of it. She kept muttering about you talking about her, then handed me the stapler."

Nina bit her lip, embarrassment threatening to enflame her face. "Did she seem upset at all?"

"A little," Gary said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Her grip on Gary's shoulders slackened until her hands fell away. Gary stumbled backwards, wrapping his arms around his middle as he walked away, muttering, "Nina's embarrassed. I've never seen her blush before, but I guess she's fair skinned enough for it to show."

Wide eyed, Nina turned towards Cameron. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?" she asked.

Cameron's lips pressed together as he shook his head sympathetically. "You're in trouble."

"You think?" she spat sarcastically. Her tongue slid along her cheek as she thought of her predicament, folding her arms and cocking her hip out. "Does this count as sexual harassment?"

He chuckled. "Probably."

"You're not helping," she sighed, shoulders slumping as her arms fell to her sides.

"Talk to her. No use hiding now. She knows how much you check her out, so you may as well own up to it."

She straightened immediately at the challenge in his tone of voice. "Maybe I will talk to her."

"Maybe you should." His eyes strayed out the window in his office to see Rachel walking by. "She's out there now."

Nina whirled around to find Rachel walking into her office. "I'm going," she said resolutely, though her feet were moving slowly.

"Good luck."

She twisted the door knob, casing a withering glance in Cameron's direction before walking out. There was a split second in which she wanted to just hole in her office until work was over, but she was Nina Theroux, damn it. She didn't hide from anything or anyone. Especially her roommate, coworker, and as of a few weeks ago, new crush. And especially when said roommate, coworker, and new crush never had the balls to stand up for herself unless she was being doused in pheromones that made her unusually vocal for a change.

So, instead Nina made a hard right and slowed to knock on Rachel's door. She twisted the knob and waltzed inside without waiting for invitation and smiled sociably as she closed the door behind her. "Hey, Rach," she greeted warmly.

Rachel looked up at her immediately. She had an uncharacteristically irritated frown on her face as she stood up from her desk. Nina blinked a few times in confusion, unsure where this conversation was going to go as she casually crossed her arms. "How are you?"

"Irritated," Rachel stated plainly.

Nina's eyebrows rose along her forehead. "Why are you irritated?"

That seemed to stop Rachel short. She opened her mouth to respond then closed her mouth tightly, lips pressed firmly together as she glowered at the ground. "I heard what you said about me," she said quietly.

Nina let out a small, humorless laugh. "Well, what did you hear exactly?"

"That my dress is apparently too short and that you think I'm beautiful." Rachel looked up at her. "Why did you say that?"

"Well, I was just saying to Cameron how I admire—"

"It isn't nice to talk to others about me. You should talk to me about me."

Nina's jaw dropped. "Did-did you just cut me off?"

Rachel looked down immediately, trying to regroup. "I'm sorry; I did the same thing to Dr. Ronsen by accident. He's been trying to get me to be more assertive and—"

"No, don't apologize," Nina soothed with a small smile. "That's good."

Rachel almost smiled. "That still doesn't change the fact that you've been gallivanting around here talking about me." She looked up at Nina beseechingly. "We're supposed to be friends. And friends tell each other these things."

Nina laughed again, a touch of wry humor pulling her lips upward as she sauntered over to Rachel's desk and sat on the edge of it. "Trust me, Rach, I don't think you want to hear these things."

"I've already heard them," Rachel said softly, walking closer to stand in front of Nina. Her lips lifted into a small smile. "Heightened senses, remember?"

Embarrassed, Nina did everything in her power to maintain eye contact and not back down from such a pivotal moment. "And…?"

"And," Rachel started with a large sigh and a tiny grin, "if my talking about the male suitors my mother fixes me up with bothers you so much...then maybe you should do something about it."

Nina's gaze dropped down to where Rachel's hand was resting against the desk with a playful smirk. She walked her fingers over towards Rachel's hand and covered it with her own, trying to play off her own surprise at Rachel's bold statement. Her heart was palpitating at the thought of all the possibilities as she looked up at Rachel with a dangerous smile. "I think I can do something about that."