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It’s ironic, they start this whole thing when they’re flying out to Vegas.
Josh, Sam, CJ, and Toby sit around a table, bouncing their legs. Leo’s out sick and the Governor’s been in a mood because of it. He’s not listening to Josh on policy, he refuses every press opportunity CJ throws at him, and he’s going off the walls on every statement Sam and Toby give him.
“It’ll be better once we’re out in Vegas,” Sam asserts, ever the optimist.
“Because there’s nothing that cheers people up like a hot desert,” Toby grouses, ever the pessimist.
Despite their differences, they somehow make a good team. Despite Toby’s reputation for being a misanthrope, he works well with everyone on the campaign. His words blend well with Sam’s and he always finds the right way to make things better. He and Josh both excel as Bartlet’s Bulldogs, especially when they’re working on something together. And him and CJ…
Where to even start with him and CJ?
It was obvious to everyone in the campaign that CJ and Toby were a duo from day one. They move in sync with each other, they have the push and pull down perfectly. She reigns him in when he’s going too far, he pushes her when she isn’t going far enough. They just work.
They’re a good little team. They have hiccups, mostly caused by the Governor himself, but Leo generally keeps things in a line. That’s why it’s so hard when Leo isn’t around.
Things should be going well now, Dr. Bartlet has come by the campaign office and whisked Jed away for some alone time. Josh is pretty sure he overheard something about barbecuing, but he won’t let himself think about it for too long. For some reason, it gives him the heebie-jeebies.
Things should be going well. But here they sit.
See, usually, Leo puts everything on his credit card. Plane tickets, hotel rooms, catering expenses. It’ll all get reimbursed once they win (or once they lose, slink back home with their tails between their legs, and grieve the death of what could’ve been while they sort out what money the campaign has left), but even if it doesn’t, it won’t be any skin off his back. None of them are really sure how rich Leo is, but they know he’s rich.
The problem is, none of them are. Even Sam, richest of the bunch, isn’t rich the way Leo is. He can’t just throw everything on his credit card and hope that it’ll all work out okay.
But they need to fly to Vegas. It’s a quick and simple trip, it’s only the four of them and the governor going, but 5 tickets is still nothing to scoff at. Especially when they all need to be paid for by the same source.
“We could ask him,” Josh suggests.
“We cannot ask him,” CJ shoots back. “No way.”
“We could-”
“No way!” She insists. “I am not asking the Governor. With the mood he’s in, he’ll probably take my credit card and cut it in half!”
“I’m not saying it has to be you to ask,” Josh points out. “It could be Toby!”
Unsurprisingly, Toby fixes him with a glare.
“It could be Sam!” Josh corrects.
“No,” Sam shakes his head.
“C’mon,” Josh whines.
“If it’s not so bad, why don’t you do it?”
“Because I don’t want to.” Josh has an uncanny way of sounding just like a child.
The moment stretches, each of them checking their watches. They need to book this flight soon if they have any chance of the prices not being astronomical.
“Let’s all put our cards into a hat and draw one,” Josh suggests.
“Fine,” Toby grumbles. All of them look at him like he’s just sprouted three heads. “I don’t care, just…” he makes a vague gesture in the air, something that has come to be known as his gesture for quit arguing or I don’t care or more likely, shut the fuck up.
Josh reaches out as an intern passes by, grabbing the hat off of his head. He tosses it down on the table, then digs in his pocket for his wallet. Within seconds, 4 credit cards sit in the hat. Josh shakes it up, careful not to let any of them jump out, and holds the hat out to Sam.
Sam looks in, but Josh yanks the hat away before he can pick one.
“You have to close your eyes!” Josh insists.
“Why?”
“Because otherwise you’re going to pick mine.”
Sam closes his eyes. He was going to do exactly that. Josh shakes up the contents of the hat again, then holds it out for Sam.
Sam dips his hand inside, groping around for a moment or two before he pulls out a card. “Damn it,” he murmurs as he opens his eyes. Of course, he managed to pick his own card.
That’s how things go on after that. Whenever Leo isn’t around to offer up a card, they do this roulette. They spread the expenses out, trying to keep it at least a little even. Once, Josh’s card got picked 3 times in a row. He got to sit out for a while after that.
But here they sit. One last time. The campaign’s coming to a close and they all know there’s not much chance they’ll need to do this again. Leo’s around constantly now, preparing the Governor (and himself) for what’s next. It’s not often they need to pay for something themselves. The only reason they have to now is because Leo left his wallet back at the hotel. Easy thing to do when you have a driver and no need for cash.
The hat (the same hat, that poor intern never got it back) sits in the middle of the table. Josh puts his Mastercard in, then Sam adds his gold card. CJ slips in her Discover card and last is Toby’s Amex.
“Kind of a crazy coincidence that none of us have the same card,” Sam remarks.
“Because we can all manage to get gold cards,” Toby grouses. It’s his turn to pick this time and he closes his eyes as Josh holds the hat out for him.
“Huh…full circle,” Josh comments as he watches Toby pull his own card.
Toby grumbles, but fair is fair.
“I have to go to the post office, anyone need anything while I’m out?” CJ asks as she grabs her coat and tugs it tight around her, preparing for the New Hampshire wind.
Toby holds out his card between two fingers. “Can you just get the-”
“Yeah,” CJ nods and takes the card from him.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
CJ grabs a scarf - which Josh is pretty sure used to belong to Toby - and wraps it around her neck before she leaves. Always in sync with her, Toby gets up and leaves for his office.
“You ever notice that Toby only ever says thank you to her?” Josh asks, glancing over at Sam. “You or I just get a grumble, but he always says thank you to her.”
Sam just shrugs. Even though Leo’s not there, he gets a sense that he’s about to tell them to stop gossiping and get back to work. He gathers up his things and goes off to find Toby, patting Josh on the shoulder on his way out.
– – –
When Josh joined this campaign, he thought there’d be a lot less sitting around. Not that they don’t do exciting things, but he spends a lot of his days sitting and waiting for something to happen. Like now, they’re sitting around the table just waiting for the Governor. Again.
If there’s anyone that hates waiting more than Josh, it’s Toby. If there’s anyone that hates anything more than anyone , it’s Toby, really. He keeps checking his watch, making little scoffing noises when he sees how much (or how little) time has passed.
“I’m taking a walk,” he grumbles as he gets up, grabbing his suit jacket from the back of his chair.
“Toby, hold on!” CJ calls after him, quickly getting up and grabbing her coat as well. She nearly trips over the leg of her chair in her hurry, but Toby’s there with a steady hand on her back.
Josh raises a brow at the sight of it and looks at Sam. Sam, of course, doesn’t notice. Josh sorta wants to throttle him.
CJ and Toby step outside in a gust of wind that sends leaves all over the street. The fall foliage is gorgeous and CJ delights in crunching the dry leaves under her heels. Toby looks at her with that fond smile that’s reserved only for her.
CJ gets her fill of crunching leaves after a few minutes and returns to Toby’s side, linking her arm with his. Her coat does well to warm her, but she’ll always prefer to soak up the warmth of his body.
They always manage to find comfortable silence. That’s one of Toby’s favorite things about CJ. They have great conversations, of course, but sometimes the silence is just as good. It’s never awkward. It’s never filled with small talk that neither of them really cares about. It’s just...good.
CJ sits down on a bench when Toby stops to check his pager for an update. Of course there’s nothing. CJ brushes leaves off the bench and pats the spot next to her. Toby, dutiful to her as he always is, sits. He even smiles when she curls into his side.
“Did you send a letter to your dad?” he asks quietly.
“Hm?”
“When you went to the post office. Were you sending a letter to your dad?”
CJ just nods.
“How is he?”
She doesn’t answer. That’s really all the answer Toby needs. He wraps his arm around her back and pulls her in closer.
“Oh, that reminds me,” CJ murmurs, digging in her pockets until she finds Toby’s credit card. She holds it out to him, but he just shakes his head a little bit.
“Keep it.”
“Huh?”
“Keep it,” Toby repeats. He pushes it back towards CJ.
“I don’t understand.”
Toby sighs and takes the liberty of fishing in CJ’s pocket until he finds her wallet. “I want you…” he opens her wallet and plucks his card from her fingers. “To keep it,” he finishes as he slides the card into one of the empty slots. He closes her wallet and tucks it back in her pocket.
“Thank you, Toby, because I’ve gone deaf,” CJ quips, pulling back from him just slightly. “I know you want me to keep it. Why do you want me to keep it?”
“In case you need it,” he shrugs. He glances out at the blowing leaves again for a moment before he stands and starts walking back towards the campaign office.
“In case I need it?” CJ repeats, quick to follow after him. It doesn’t take her long to catch up, what with her long legs and all.
“Yeah,” Toby nods.
CJ knows better than anyone how impossible it can be to get information out of Toby sometimes. He finds the perfect little ways to skirt around giving the information he’s being asked for. Or he just stops talking altogether.
“Toby,” she whines. Toby may be the master of the puppy dog eyes, but CJ’s pretty damn good too. She knows how to bat her lashes at Toby in the way that makes him cave every single time.
“You will have…expenses,” Toby starts, awkwardly rubbing at his forehead and smoothing out his beard. He always gets like this when he talks about something that might be even slightly sensitive. “When we win, you’ll need to…buy things. You don’t have winter clothes and you can’t dress like a beach bum on the East Coast.”
“A beach bum?” CJ laughs, breaking out into that giggle that Toby likes so much.
“That…flowy, thin stuff you Californians like to wear,” Toby explains, shrugging just slightly. “You’ll need a coat and a good scarf and gloves.” He’s got a serious gaze as he looks at her and it gives her pause. “Just…use that.”
“Use…your credit card?”
Toby nods. He still looks serious. If it weren’t for the set of his brow and the generally piercing nature to his gaze, CJ would think he was joking. But clearly, he’s not.
“I…okay,” she murmurs, her cheeks flushing.
“Good girl,” Toby hums as they link arms again. Well, now CJ’s cheeks really are red. She holds onto Toby tightly and just hopes that the blush goes away by the time they get back to the campaign office.
“I won’t really need a scarf,” CJ mumbles quietly after a few steps. Toby looks at her like she’s got three heads.
“It’s cold in DC, CJ. Not California cold. Actually cold. You don’t have a scarf. You need one.”
“I don’t,” CJ insists. “I’ll just steal yours.” She gives him a big grin and a kiss on the cheek. Now it’s his turn for his cheeks to go a bit red. She’s always had a penchant for stealing his clothes. Even out in California, her pajamas consisted of one of his old shirts that she took before she left. He’s always gone a little crazy seeing her in his clothes, even if it’s just an old scarf.
“Shut up,” he murmurs regardless. He’s not serious, his lips curl up at the corners and he looks down at the ground in the way he only does when he’s trying not to smile. “Get in there,” he murmurs, patting her ass and pushing her forward as they near the campaign office.
“Hey!” CJ giggles. She turns, pointing a finger at him. “I’ll get you back for that.”
“Sure you will,” Toby laughs.
They’re both still laughing as they go inside and Toby’s smiling bigger than Josh has ever seen. Toby reaches out to fix CJ’s windswept hair and she gently leans into his hand. He slips his hand to cup her cheek, his thumb stroking across the soft skin.
“Okay, no way you’re not seeing this,” Josh whispers to Sam.
Sam just shrugs.