*
"I've got a tip for you."
Munch lowered his coffee cup and looked at Olivia. "Yeah?"
She nodded. "Stay away from Fin this morning. He's totally grouchy. Acting like maybe he didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
"Huh." Munch's gaze slid to his partner, slumped at his desk and looking grumpy. "Thanks for the warning." Slinking to his desk and sliding into his chair, he touched Fin's foot briefly with his own. "Hey," he said softly.
"What?" Fin snarled.
"Olivia said you were a real gentlman this morning." His only response was Fin's middle finger. "Very classy, Detective. Didn't get enough beauty rest last night?"
"Didn't get hardly any at all." Fin glared wearily at Munch. "Somebody kept kicking me."
Munch blinked. "You could've said something. Woken me up or rolled me over or kicked back or something."
"I said your name like five times and kicked you twice. You're dead when you get like that. But yesterday was a damned annoying day for me, and I was not in the mood. I need my sleep, man."
Something whiny in Fin's voice sort of snapped something in Munch. "I'm sorry my nightmares inconvenienced you."
"What?" Fin went from molten to melted in about half a second. "Jesus, John. Why didn't you say?"
Angrily shoving his glasses up, Munch glowered at Fin through the tinted lenses. "Because I didn't want this."
Fin spread his hands. "What 'this'?"
"This look you get when I mention the nightmares. Like, 'John's made of glass so let's not breathe too hard on him.'"
"I got no look like that, John."
"You're giving it to me right now. Frankly I liked the surly one better."
"Fine." Fin shrugged. "I can do surly." He looked for a moment at the message slips littering his desk, then looked back up at Munch. "But we'll work it out tonight, John," he said, his voice as soft as any promise. "Whatever it takes to get your nightmares gone."
"Even if you don't get enough sleep?" John tried to put the snark in it, but his heart couldn't get behind the effort.
Fin smiled - just barely. "Even if I don't get any sleep at all."
END