#i'm back on my dan and donna bs apparently

[starpirateee]

After seeing your Dan and Donna hcs I honestly wanna see a drabble with the concept of the relationship being polled and debated if you haven't already because that's just hilarious

That is absolutely hilarious, it would be my absolute pleasure!!

Donna arrived in the green room late. That wasn't entirely unusual; she came from further and she was in the habit of collecting coffee for herself and Dan on the way in. This time around, there was a telling grin on her face, that made Dan raise an eyebrow curiously. "you're looking... Awake. What is it?"

"Does it have to be anything?" She answered, taking his coffee from the cardboard holder and passing it off to him.

"Well, no..." he answered as his fingers laced around the cup, "but nobody's ever this alive at," he checked his watch, "5:40 in the morning."

"Okay, okay, you got me there. They're at it again!"

"Huh?" It took him a moment to compute what that meant, but really, Donna didn't have to elaborate on it. This was the third time someone had tried to host an online poll to decide "once and for all" whether he and Donna were really in a relationship or not. They'd been co-workers for years, and someone had once said that the most telling sign was that he looked at her like she'd hung the moon, which was near enough true as far as those things went.

Donna inspected her engagement ring while Dan chuckled to himself, twisting it one way and then the other. She didn't have to live so far away for long. As soon as the two of them could find a spare weekend, she was going to up sticks and move in with him. Frankly, she couldn't wait for that day to come, whenever that would be.

"What's the verdict so far?" Dan asked, drawing her back into the moment. "Do they think we're together or not?"

"You remember the one from the first poll who was absolutely convinced we were divorced?"

"Oh yeah?"

"They're back. We're still divorced, apparently."

Dan laughed. Younger people got divorced, sure, but he was barely into his thirties, and that barely seemed like enough time to have experienced life, let alone been married and divorced. "Before we even get married? Where's the fun in that?"

"You should see how many people have told them how wrong they are... You wouldn't expect this much detail from a university dissertation!"

That only made him laugh harder, through the sheer force of thinking about what the comment section of that poll actually looked like.

They were interrupted by a swift knock on the door, and a runner poked her head through as Dan took a lengthy sip of his coffee.

"Morning! Just so you know, you're on in fifteen!"

"Thanks, Ellen." Donna turned to her with a smile, and then before she could leave, she added, "is Dave here yet?"

"Media Dave or lighting Dave?"

"Media Dave."

"He just got here. Why?"

Donna tried to keep herself from laughing. "Could you tell him to look at the polls and come by, if he can?"

Just like Dan, Ellen didn't have to think too much about it either. Everyone at the Hatchetfield news station knew about the time-honored tradition of the internet trying to decide whether or not Dan and Donna were together. Some of them voted, and reading the comments in the break room had become something of a passion among the crew. She nodded dutifully, and the news anchors hears her laughing as she disappeared down the corridor.

"Fifteen minutes," Donna took a sip of her own coffee. "How are we supposed to go about without knowing whether they think we're married! I need to know, Dan!"

"What d'you think, Donna? Do you think the reporters for the morning news are together? Apart? What's their deal?" Dan teased, leaning back against the couch and trying not to let that shit eating grin take over.

"I dunno, Dan, but there's something going on there, right?"

"Hmmm, no I think the divorce guy is onto something..."

Dave from media came running down the corridor, and Dan and Donna heard him try to stifle a laugh as he opened the door to the green room. "Mornin'... Ellen said you wanted to know what the people thought?"

"You already know what this is about," Dan smirked, a knowing raise of the eyebrows to follow. "And I'm guessing you've already seen it?"

"Seen it, Dan? I've been following it all morning!"

"Where's it at right now?"

"38 on you guys are separated, the other 62 on some kind of relationship... I swear, last time someone did this they all got convinced you were exes?"

"They did," Donna laughed, "but it's way funnier if they can't make their minds up! You couldn't... Vote for us while we're on air, could you?"

Donna had been known to participate too. The crew knew it, but nobody else did. Normally, she picked whichever side was winning and let the results speak for themselves. When people found out the first time— when Donna had been among the masses that thought they were together— Hatchetfield's social media scene went crazy. She told Dan she wanted to mess with them, but then she'd asked him out on their first date, and the rest was history.

Dave perked a little, a smile growing on his face. "What's your stance this time?"

"I think Dan's onto something with the whole divorced thing....."