Title: The Five Mousekteers
Author: juxtaposed
Rating: G
Category: Humor, General, Fluff
Pairing: some CJ/Toby, even slighter Josh/Donna
Disclaimer: All characters are property of Aaron Sorkin, NBC and The West Wing, and are used without permission, without intent to profit.
Archiving: Yes, just let me know. You can find this and my other works online at www.geocities.com/juxtaposed666
Feedback: Love it like Space Mountain at [email protected]
Notes: I’ve never written a humor fic before, but this is for Meri who gave me too many good ideas to pass up. More notes at the end.
Summary: Five tickets to DisneyWorld - $250. Five pairs of personalized mouse ears - $100. The look on Toby's face when forced to wear those ears - priceless. (credit to Meri)
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The Five Mouseketeers
“Tell me again why we’re here,” Toby glowered from the back of the group as they crossed the parking lot.
“Because for the first time in at least 3 years, Air Force One broke down, and we have 6 hours to kill before we’ll be able to take off.” CJ said patiently as she reached back and tugged his arm to hurry him up. “Quit being an old grouch. We don’t have that much time.”
“I can’t believe I let you drag me here.” Toby’s eyes narrowed as he took in the colorful entryway, crammed with ticket booths, small children and a man in a giant mouse costume.
“It’ll be fun, I promise,” Donna chirped, practically skipping as she led them to a ticket line. “I never got to go to the Magic Kingdom when I was a kid.”
“Look, it’s Mickey Mouse!” Josh grabbed Donna’s hand and dragged her out of line to have their picture taken. Sam and CJ followed, leaving Toby to hold their place.
Thankfully, it was a weekday and the line was fairly short. By the time the others had gotten back, Toby had purchased tickets for them all ($250 for five people!) and was leaning against a wall, waiting and looking sour, when they came back, breathless from laughing.
“You know, Tobus, you need to reach down and find the kid inside of you. You’d enjoy life more.” CJ arched her eyebrow and stole the tickets from his hand. “You should also learn never to bet against me.”
“How was I supposed to know the plane had really broken down,” Toby grumbled, following them through the turnstile. “It hasn’t had a single mechanical problem since we’ve been in office. And I think it was really unfair of you to offer a bet like that against me when the pilot had already told you what happened.”
“You needed your ego knocked down a peg, and Donna and I needed to go to the Magic Kingdom. It was a fair bet. Thanks for the tickets by the way.” Her eyes sparkled as she saw the mutinous look on his face. She was determined to make him enjoy himself, no matter how much he protested.
She turned to look at Donna, who was cracking Sam and Josh up with a rather good impression of Goofy, and asked, “So, where do we start?”
Donna caught the look in CJ’s eyes, and the expression on Toby’s face, and she grinned. “Well… there’s only one place to begin, really. ‘It’s a Small World.’”
Josh and Sam burst into laughter as Toby made a choked sound that could only be interpreted as pure horror.
*******************************************
Two hours later, they had ridden “It’s a Small World” twice, the second time simply to see if Toby would really jump out of the boat if they made him ride it again (he didn’t). But the look of pain on his face made hearing the annoying song again more than worthwhile. The line for “Pirates of the Caribbean” turned out to be worth the wait, and got them all singing something different. They had ice cream cones in an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, and then after making Sam beg on his knees, they had climbed through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.
At last, when they were on solid ground again, Sam and Josh led the way into a gift shop near the ice cream parlor.
“We have surprises for you all,” Sam said, herding them into a corner of the gift shop as Josh went up to the counter. They wandered around, waiting, looking at the over-priced toys, until Josh came back a few minutes later, a pair of Mouseketeer ears on his head, his hair sticking out from underneath. His name was embroidered across the front.
“Donnatella, darling,” he said, plopping her pair onto her head as she laughed in delight.
“Oh, dear God, you didn’t,” CJ cried, laughing hysterically as Josh handed pairs to her and Sam, also with their names on the front. “When did you do this?”
“We ordered them while you were eating your ice cream, when we went to the bathroom,” Josh grinned, holding out a pair of ears to Toby.
Toby looked daggers at the mouse ears in Josh’s outstretched hand. “I am not wearing those.”
“Tobus, we’re all wearing them. You’ll look even weirder if you don’t.” CJ giggled, taking the ears from Josh and placing them on Toby’s head, and adjusting carefully to make sure his name was centered as he glared at her from under his eyebrows.
“Besides, your head is getting sunburned,” Josh offered helpfully.
Toby took a deep breath, trying his best to look dignified. “If I wear this, can we go to the Hall of Presidents?”
“Sure, if you ride the teacups with me,” CJ grinned and took his hand, dragging him back out into the sunshine.
*****************************
They gave Toby half an hour in the Hall of Presidents before they decided they’d had enough, and headed to the teacup ride. Toby kept trying to “lose” his ears, and finally Sam had to walk behind him to keep him from dropping them into every trashcan and flowerbed they passed.
They paused for a group picture with Goofy, and CJ made sure Toby wore his mouse ears, and whispered a dirty joke to him to get him to laugh for the photo.
When they reached the teacup ride, the line was exceptionally long, and Josh finally decided to pull strings. A whispered conference with a ride controller and a flashing of his White House badge got them escorted to the front of the ride, and started a mumbling whisper among the people waiting in line.
They climbed into two teacups, Sam, Donna and Josh crammed into one, and Toby and CJ in the other.
The ride started up, and CJ immediately began spinning the wheel as fast as she could. “Come on, help me.”
“I can’t believe I’m here,” she heard Toby mutter as he helped her turn the wheel.
As the cup spun faster and faster, he heard her laughter ring out, and a smile began to creep across his face. They spent so much time focusing on business; it was kind of nice to be doing something completely fun for a change. And he couldn’t remember the last time he heard CJ laugh with pure joy. He’d forgotten how beautiful her laugh was.
“Toby, are you smiling?” she called breathlessly, leaning forward to see his face better as the ride whipped them around. “You are, you’re smiling.”
The ride began to slow, and they leaned back against their seats and waited for the end. “I’m smiling at how foolish you look.”
“You are not, you’re having fun. You don’t always have to be Oscar the Grouch, you know.”
“I’m not a grouch. I’m an adult.”
“There’s nothing wrong with channeling your inner child,” CJ pulled her ears out from under her butt, where she’d been sitting on them for safekeeping, and set them back on her head. “Now put on your mouse ears, and let’s go.”
They headed toward the exit to meet Sam, Donna and Josh in the settling dusk. As they exited the ride, Toby turned to look at her, sliding an arm around her shoulders. “You’re the only person that makes me want to be a kid, you know.”
A nearby flash caught CJ’s eye, and she saw a man taking a photograph of his two children in front of the ride. “Tobus, I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” CJ said softly as they joined the others.
“Wow, that was awesome!” Donna said, bouncing on her heels. “But I’m starving!”
“Ugh, how can you eat after that?” Josh groaned, leaning against the railing.
“What do you say we get some food and then watch the fireworks? They should be just about over when we need to leave,” Sam suggested.
****************************
They ate in an 18th-century tavern, then wandered through the park to Cinderella’s castle and found a patch of grass to sit on.
Sam flopped down on his stomach, and Josh sat beside him, legs out-stretched. Donna laid her head on Josh’s leg and stretched out, her eyes closed as she sighed with happiness. Josh stroked her hair for a moment, and Sam laid his head down on his arm and closed his eyes. All three of them looked ready to fall asleep.
CJ looked down at them, then smiled at Toby. “I think the kids are a little worn out.”
“Yeah, they’ve had a busy day.” CJ laughed as Toby imitated a father, and the sound drew a small smile from him. “Why don’t we get some beers or something.” He nodded down at their co-workers. “They’re not going anywhere.”
“Sure.” She was puzzled, he sounded so serious. She followed him over to a concession stand. “Is something up?”
“No, just all this wholesome fun is making me long for a little debauchery.” He ordered the beers, then turned back to her. “I’m sorry I was such a grump today.”
She laughed. “We wouldn’t expect anything else. You weren’t any worse than normal, and we did set you up. Besides, we did everything we could to get under your skin. Do you think we really wanted to ride ‘It’s a Small World’ twice?”
He laughed as the attendant handed him the beers, and she thought briefly that she hadn’t heard him laugh in a long time. “Well, I know I wasn’t very gracious.”
“You’re being very gracious now. You’re wearing your ears, and you’re buying me a beer, and you’re going to watch fireworks with me. You’re a regular gentleman.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for coming with us today.”
She led him back over the grass to distribute beers. They had to kick Sam twice to wake him up, just in time for the music to start and the first flash of color overhead.
CJ sat down next to Toby. He slipped an arm around her waist and she laid her head on his shoulder as they watched the fireworks burst over the castle.
************************************
They got back to Air Force One just as the mechanics finished the repairs, and swung back into their roles as White House staffers. Two Polaroids were stuck into a picture frame on the wall in the staff lounge of the plane. One was the picture taken on their arrival at the park with Mickey Mouse, Toby conspicuously absent.
The second was the five of them with Goofy, all wearing their Mouseketeer ears. Josh’s ears were crooked on his head, and he had his arms slung around Donna’s and Sam’s shoulders, the three of them smiling brightly. Toby had one arm around Donna’s waist, the other around CJ’s, his eyes closed as he laughed at whatever CJ was whispering into his ear.
*********************************
The arrived back in Washington DC in the middle of the night, and as soon as CJ got home, she collapsed into bed.
She got up at 6:00 am, started the coffee, and went out to get the paper. She was surprised to see, of all things, Toby and herself on the cover of the Washington Post. Someone had taken their picture as they came off the teacups, obviously recognizing them. They were both wearing their ears, and smiling into each other’s eyes. The headline read, “White House Staffers Find Magic at the Magic Kingdom?” She smiled slightly as she looked at the matching expressions of relaxed joy on their faces.
Inside, she heard her phone ringing.
-FIN-
End Notes: This came about after Meri emailed me to tell me she liked my stories, but that I always dumped the angst on poor CJ and Toby. I wrote back to say that I agreed, and in my next fic I should send them to the beach or Disney or something. Meri cracked up at the idea of Toby on the “It’s a Small World” ride and said that if the gang went to Disney, Josh would probably buy Toby a pair of mouse ears with his name on them. I can never say no to a challenge, so today’s lunch hour was spent busting this little piece out, incorporating Meri’s “requests”.
Like I said, I’ve never written a humor fic before, but it was fun to try to put these characters someplace we’ve NEVER seen them, and try to keep them in character at the same time.
Hope you enjoyed!
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