ATWT Fic: The Fundamental Things Apply (Luke/Noah, PG-13)
Title: The Fundamental Things Apply
Pairing: Luke/Noah
Rating: PG-13
Warnings/Spoilers: Takes place during the Ameera storyline.
Summary: The ICE agent is watching, but he’s not looking. Noah knows how to act like his heart’s in his marriage with Ameera, but his feelings for Luke are visible in everything he says and does. Kind of a character study.
Notes: Thanks to
nouveau_monday for reading this over!
Noah has always loved old movies. There’s just something about them - black and white, stark shadows and soft filters, lingering close-ups and shining gazes, impeccable suits and manners - that made them the perfect escape from his life. In classic movies, there’s always a sense of possibility, a feeling that anything can happen, that your life can be changed in an instant. And old flame could walk in the door, a leopard could go missing in the countryside, you could stumble upon a missing heiress fleeing her father on the bus. Adventure is never far off, and more often than not, love triumphs over all.
And that’s another thing. Love in old movies is the passionate, end-of-the-world, all-consuming kind. It’s never easy and it’s often painful, but it drives the characters to extremes and emotional outbursts that make it seem like the love they feel is like a supernova that one heart can’t contain. Noah admired that, when he watched the movies alone, but he didn’t think for a second that that kind of love existed in the real world. Film is fiction, after all, sets and special effects and studio magic that’s meant to be larger than life.
But then he met Luke.
There’s no one like them in the films Noah knows so well - not just because two men would never have made it onto the screen then, but because they’re not the type of people movies are made about. They’re not glamorous or tortured, dapper detectives or sexy sirens, and they’re not going to be taking off on a madcap adventure or cross-dressing in Florida. They’re just ordinary people with slightly-worse-than-ordinary problems, trying to live their lives. But when Noah looks at Luke, he knows that damn-everything-else, all-important, soul-consuming love really does exist, because sometimes it feels like his chest can’t possibly hold everything he feels about Luke, and something simple like Luke’s hand brushing against his can send a rush of pure feeling through him so intense he feels dizzy.
And that’s another thing. There’s a strict code in old movies, a long list of do’s and don’ts that keep the interaction conforming to moral standards of the time, but just because sex is forbidden on the big screen doesn’t mean filmmakers had to avoid the subject. The kissing might have been close-mouthed and visually chaste, but you can feel the tension, see it leap off the screen. A brush of hands here, a cigarette there, a sheet dropping to the floor, the lights going out - Noah knows those hints at intimacy are more powerful than the act itself. And some days, when he’s overwhelmed with keeping everything he wants with Luke hidden and silent and he can barely stand it anymore, he imagines that’s what he and Luke are doing. They aren’t allowed to be together the way they want, but they can share that secret language of lovers.
The ICE agent is watching, but he’s not looking. Noah knows how to act like his heart’s in his marriage with Ameera, but his feelings for Luke are visible in everything he says and does.
He tried to explain it once to Luke, but he's never been good at putting his feelings into words, and when he gets frustrated and says, "It's like - you know, like Nickie and Terry when they're on the ship," Luke just gives him a blank look.
Maddie would have gotten it, saving Noah from stumbling over a better explanation, but he wouldn't trade a second with Luke for someone who'd get the reference. So he finds An Affair to Remember at the video store and parks Luke on the sofa with an arm around him to prevent escape. Luke grumbles at first, but when Cary Grant's feet join Deborah Kerr's on the steps to suggest an illicit kiss, he leans into Noah, tangling their fingers together.
He doesn't say anything through the rest of the film and the myriad moments Nickie and Terry communicate without saying anything at all, aside from a snort at Terry's line comparing painting to walking (which he's totally entitled to) but when the final scene draws to a close with a passionate hug, he smiles up at Noah, and that's good enough. Luke might not understand it completely, but as long as he knows what Noah's trying to say, it's all right. Luke's good at understanding the things Noah isn't very good at saying.
And he and Luke are at a low point right now, unhappy and struggling and unsure, but Noah’s seen enough old movies to know what comes next. Their life isn’t something playing out on a silver screen - there are no lights and cameras or angles and cuts, and it won’t be a dramatic, artfully lit scene with perfect dialogue. They might have to wait, and the road will undoubtedly be rocky. But somehow, someday, Noah’s sure they’re going to get their happy ending.
Pairing: Luke/Noah
Rating: PG-13
Warnings/Spoilers: Takes place during the Ameera storyline.
Summary: The ICE agent is watching, but he’s not looking. Noah knows how to act like his heart’s in his marriage with Ameera, but his feelings for Luke are visible in everything he says and does. Kind of a character study.
Notes: Thanks to
nouveau_monday for reading this over!
Noah has always loved old movies. There’s just something about them - black and white, stark shadows and soft filters, lingering close-ups and shining gazes, impeccable suits and manners - that made them the perfect escape from his life. In classic movies, there’s always a sense of possibility, a feeling that anything can happen, that your life can be changed in an instant. And old flame could walk in the door, a leopard could go missing in the countryside, you could stumble upon a missing heiress fleeing her father on the bus. Adventure is never far off, and more often than not, love triumphs over all.
And that’s another thing. Love in old movies is the passionate, end-of-the-world, all-consuming kind. It’s never easy and it’s often painful, but it drives the characters to extremes and emotional outbursts that make it seem like the love they feel is like a supernova that one heart can’t contain. Noah admired that, when he watched the movies alone, but he didn’t think for a second that that kind of love existed in the real world. Film is fiction, after all, sets and special effects and studio magic that’s meant to be larger than life.
But then he met Luke.
There’s no one like them in the films Noah knows so well - not just because two men would never have made it onto the screen then, but because they’re not the type of people movies are made about. They’re not glamorous or tortured, dapper detectives or sexy sirens, and they’re not going to be taking off on a madcap adventure or cross-dressing in Florida. They’re just ordinary people with slightly-worse-than-ordinary problems, trying to live their lives. But when Noah looks at Luke, he knows that damn-everything-else, all-important, soul-consuming love really does exist, because sometimes it feels like his chest can’t possibly hold everything he feels about Luke, and something simple like Luke’s hand brushing against his can send a rush of pure feeling through him so intense he feels dizzy.
And that’s another thing. There’s a strict code in old movies, a long list of do’s and don’ts that keep the interaction conforming to moral standards of the time, but just because sex is forbidden on the big screen doesn’t mean filmmakers had to avoid the subject. The kissing might have been close-mouthed and visually chaste, but you can feel the tension, see it leap off the screen. A brush of hands here, a cigarette there, a sheet dropping to the floor, the lights going out - Noah knows those hints at intimacy are more powerful than the act itself. And some days, when he’s overwhelmed with keeping everything he wants with Luke hidden and silent and he can barely stand it anymore, he imagines that’s what he and Luke are doing. They aren’t allowed to be together the way they want, but they can share that secret language of lovers.
The ICE agent is watching, but he’s not looking. Noah knows how to act like his heart’s in his marriage with Ameera, but his feelings for Luke are visible in everything he says and does.
He tried to explain it once to Luke, but he's never been good at putting his feelings into words, and when he gets frustrated and says, "It's like - you know, like Nickie and Terry when they're on the ship," Luke just gives him a blank look.
Maddie would have gotten it, saving Noah from stumbling over a better explanation, but he wouldn't trade a second with Luke for someone who'd get the reference. So he finds An Affair to Remember at the video store and parks Luke on the sofa with an arm around him to prevent escape. Luke grumbles at first, but when Cary Grant's feet join Deborah Kerr's on the steps to suggest an illicit kiss, he leans into Noah, tangling their fingers together.
He doesn't say anything through the rest of the film and the myriad moments Nickie and Terry communicate without saying anything at all, aside from a snort at Terry's line comparing painting to walking (which he's totally entitled to) but when the final scene draws to a close with a passionate hug, he smiles up at Noah, and that's good enough. Luke might not understand it completely, but as long as he knows what Noah's trying to say, it's all right. Luke's good at understanding the things Noah isn't very good at saying.
And he and Luke are at a low point right now, unhappy and struggling and unsure, but Noah’s seen enough old movies to know what comes next. Their life isn’t something playing out on a silver screen - there are no lights and cameras or angles and cuts, and it won’t be a dramatic, artfully lit scene with perfect dialogue. They might have to wait, and the road will undoubtedly be rocky. But somehow, someday, Noah’s sure they’re going to get their happy ending.