Request ficlets! In a manner of speaking.
Hey, remember the last time I took requests? I am keeping them in a file in Google Docs, and every once in awhile I open it, poke at them, and despair at my lack of follow-through. But hope springs eternal and all that, so every so often when I poke at one of them, something happens.
Request #1 is sort of cheating, since it doesn't really fill the request. It's the right pairing (Josh/Cooper), but the prompt was 'something unexpected with a baby', and this is a pretty big stretch. But yesterday while I was sitting at a red light after work, there was a Mini Cooper in front of me, which made me think of Cooper. And there were two guys in the Mini Cooper, staring at each other rather meaningfully and having some sort of intense conversation. There may have been hand holding, but I can't swear to it.
Anyway, when the light turned green they were still staring intently and not paying attention to the traffic. I hated to honk at them and interrupt the moment, but it's a pretty short light, so I didn't really have a choice. The whole exchange made me think about Cooper and cars, however, and by the time I got home I had this ficlet in my head. It's pretty silly. Par for the course with this fandom. Originally requested by the_darkglow, I believe.
They barely made it through the door before Cooper started practically twitching, looking around for the exits and turning big brown eyes on Josh every other second. "Is this really necessary?"
"Would you relax?" Josh said for at least the fifth time since they got in the car, keeping his voice down so no one would overhear them. "It's just practical, Cooper."
Cooper made a face at the word 'practical', and Josh rolled his eyes and started scanning the place for the nearest employee. He'd done most of the research online already, partly so he wouldn't get talked into any extras they couldn't afford, but mostly because he knew Cooper was going to be impossible the entire time, and he wanted this whole thing over with as quickly as possible. He'd tried to leave Cooper out of it completely, but he'd insisted on getting a sitter and coming with Josh, most likely in the hope of talking him out of it at the last minute.
"Josh, it's not too late," Cooper said, right on schedule, tugging at Josh's arm as a salesperson finally -- finally -- descended upon them. "There are other options. The kids barely even take up any space."
"But they've got strollers and diaper bags and all the toys you keep buying them," Josh pointed out, "and eventually they're going to have friends and sporting equipment and even bigger toys. This makes the most sense, Coop. Just let it go."
"Hi," the salesman said when he reached them, sticking out a hand to grasp Josh's in a firm shake. "You guys in the market for a new car?"
"Hi," Josh said, flashing a tight-lipped smile at the guy while he tried to ignore the insistent tug at his elbow. "We're looking for something in a minivan."
Just for a second the guy's eyebrows went up, but he recovered almost instantly and nodded. "Right this way," he said, leading them across the lot to the family-friendly cars. As he rattled off all the features they couldn't afford Josh stole a glance at Cooper, barely managing to stifle a smile at the panicked look on his face.
"Coop, relax," Josh whispered, sliding an arm around Cooper's shoulders to lead him toward the sea of minivans. "I told you, you don't have to give up your Lexus. I promise, I'll drive the van."
~
Request #2 was requested by...well, me. Because sometimes, when you want to read something, you just have to write it your own damn self. This is the beginning of that Jake A./Josh between-seasons h/c fic I predicted in my post last night. Completely self-indulgent, and I don't even care for once.
Jake's been asleep two hours when the knocking starts. He's gotten a little sleep since the end of the season, but it still hurts to drag himself out of bed and down the hall. When he reaches the door he fumbles with the lock for a minute, but his sleep-fogged brain finally clears enough to remember how it works, and he finally gets the door open. When he does he finds Josh on the other side, looking just as exhausted as Jake feels and wearing a baseball cap tugged down over his ears.
He stands aside to let Josh in without saying anything, then he closes the door and manages to turn the lock on the first try. When he turns around again he realizes for the first time that Josh is carrying a paper bag full of what Jake assumes is food, and he lets himself into the kitchen to slide the entire bag into Jake's empty fridge without bothering to unpack it. Which is just fine with Jake, because he's too tired to eat anyway, but if Josh wants to cook when they wake up, he's not going to argue. There is one thing he wants to do before he forgets, though, mostly so he never has to stumble to the door after a long, depressing season to let Josh in again.
Jake pulls open the drawer closest to the door and digs through flashlights and batteries, receipts that were probably important at some point but have long lost their significance, until he finally finds what he's looking for. When he does he shuts the drawer again and turns to look at Josh. "Here," he says, holding his hand out until Josh takes the hint and opens his own. When he does Jake drops his spare key into it, then he turns and heads back toward the bedroom without waiting for a response.
He's already climbing back under the covers when Josh catches up with him, and Jake closes his eyes and listens to the sounds of fabric rustling as Josh pulls his clothes off. It takes awhile for him to slide into bed with Jake, arms sliding around his waist and pressing soft kisses to the back of Jake's neck. They're both too tired to do much more than that, but it's the first chance they've gotten to be alone since the beginning of red crab season, so Jake rolls onto his back to pull Josh down for a kiss. When Josh pulls back to look at him Jake opens his eyes, a weary grin turning up the corners of his mouth at the sight of his hair. "How'd that work out this season?"
For a second Josh just looks confused, but when he realizes what Jake's talking about he flushes and reaches up to run a hand over his mohawk. "Not that great, actually. Not as good as last year, that's for sure."
"Looks just as stupid as last year."
Josh laughs and stretches out on the mattress, head on the pillow to bury his face in the crook of Jake's neck. "Don't remind me."
"You're not the one who has to look at it," Jake says, laughing at Josh's muffled groan. And he means it; it does look stupid, but Jake doesn't really care what Josh does to his hair as long as he keeps showing up at Jake's place at the end of the season.
"So can I still keep the key, or should I wait until it grows out to come back?"
Jake laughs again, eyes closed and drifting on the rhythm of Josh's breath against his skin. "You can just wear a hat or something."
That gets him a hard jab in the ribs, but when he complains Josh presses a placating kiss just below his ear. Jake lets out a contented 'hmm' and relaxes into the mattress, fingers sliding through what's left of Josh's hair as they both fall asleep.
~
Request #1 is sort of cheating, since it doesn't really fill the request. It's the right pairing (Josh/Cooper), but the prompt was 'something unexpected with a baby', and this is a pretty big stretch. But yesterday while I was sitting at a red light after work, there was a Mini Cooper in front of me, which made me think of Cooper. And there were two guys in the Mini Cooper, staring at each other rather meaningfully and having some sort of intense conversation. There may have been hand holding, but I can't swear to it.
Anyway, when the light turned green they were still staring intently and not paying attention to the traffic. I hated to honk at them and interrupt the moment, but it's a pretty short light, so I didn't really have a choice. The whole exchange made me think about Cooper and cars, however, and by the time I got home I had this ficlet in my head. It's pretty silly. Par for the course with this fandom. Originally requested by the_darkglow, I believe.
They barely made it through the door before Cooper started practically twitching, looking around for the exits and turning big brown eyes on Josh every other second. "Is this really necessary?"
"Would you relax?" Josh said for at least the fifth time since they got in the car, keeping his voice down so no one would overhear them. "It's just practical, Cooper."
Cooper made a face at the word 'practical', and Josh rolled his eyes and started scanning the place for the nearest employee. He'd done most of the research online already, partly so he wouldn't get talked into any extras they couldn't afford, but mostly because he knew Cooper was going to be impossible the entire time, and he wanted this whole thing over with as quickly as possible. He'd tried to leave Cooper out of it completely, but he'd insisted on getting a sitter and coming with Josh, most likely in the hope of talking him out of it at the last minute.
"Josh, it's not too late," Cooper said, right on schedule, tugging at Josh's arm as a salesperson finally -- finally -- descended upon them. "There are other options. The kids barely even take up any space."
"But they've got strollers and diaper bags and all the toys you keep buying them," Josh pointed out, "and eventually they're going to have friends and sporting equipment and even bigger toys. This makes the most sense, Coop. Just let it go."
"Hi," the salesman said when he reached them, sticking out a hand to grasp Josh's in a firm shake. "You guys in the market for a new car?"
"Hi," Josh said, flashing a tight-lipped smile at the guy while he tried to ignore the insistent tug at his elbow. "We're looking for something in a minivan."
Just for a second the guy's eyebrows went up, but he recovered almost instantly and nodded. "Right this way," he said, leading them across the lot to the family-friendly cars. As he rattled off all the features they couldn't afford Josh stole a glance at Cooper, barely managing to stifle a smile at the panicked look on his face.
"Coop, relax," Josh whispered, sliding an arm around Cooper's shoulders to lead him toward the sea of minivans. "I told you, you don't have to give up your Lexus. I promise, I'll drive the van."
~
Request #2 was requested by...well, me. Because sometimes, when you want to read something, you just have to write it your own damn self. This is the beginning of that Jake A./Josh between-seasons h/c fic I predicted in my post last night. Completely self-indulgent, and I don't even care for once.
Jake's been asleep two hours when the knocking starts. He's gotten a little sleep since the end of the season, but it still hurts to drag himself out of bed and down the hall. When he reaches the door he fumbles with the lock for a minute, but his sleep-fogged brain finally clears enough to remember how it works, and he finally gets the door open. When he does he finds Josh on the other side, looking just as exhausted as Jake feels and wearing a baseball cap tugged down over his ears.
He stands aside to let Josh in without saying anything, then he closes the door and manages to turn the lock on the first try. When he turns around again he realizes for the first time that Josh is carrying a paper bag full of what Jake assumes is food, and he lets himself into the kitchen to slide the entire bag into Jake's empty fridge without bothering to unpack it. Which is just fine with Jake, because he's too tired to eat anyway, but if Josh wants to cook when they wake up, he's not going to argue. There is one thing he wants to do before he forgets, though, mostly so he never has to stumble to the door after a long, depressing season to let Josh in again.
Jake pulls open the drawer closest to the door and digs through flashlights and batteries, receipts that were probably important at some point but have long lost their significance, until he finally finds what he's looking for. When he does he shuts the drawer again and turns to look at Josh. "Here," he says, holding his hand out until Josh takes the hint and opens his own. When he does Jake drops his spare key into it, then he turns and heads back toward the bedroom without waiting for a response.
He's already climbing back under the covers when Josh catches up with him, and Jake closes his eyes and listens to the sounds of fabric rustling as Josh pulls his clothes off. It takes awhile for him to slide into bed with Jake, arms sliding around his waist and pressing soft kisses to the back of Jake's neck. They're both too tired to do much more than that, but it's the first chance they've gotten to be alone since the beginning of red crab season, so Jake rolls onto his back to pull Josh down for a kiss. When Josh pulls back to look at him Jake opens his eyes, a weary grin turning up the corners of his mouth at the sight of his hair. "How'd that work out this season?"
For a second Josh just looks confused, but when he realizes what Jake's talking about he flushes and reaches up to run a hand over his mohawk. "Not that great, actually. Not as good as last year, that's for sure."
"Looks just as stupid as last year."
Josh laughs and stretches out on the mattress, head on the pillow to bury his face in the crook of Jake's neck. "Don't remind me."
"You're not the one who has to look at it," Jake says, laughing at Josh's muffled groan. And he means it; it does look stupid, but Jake doesn't really care what Josh does to his hair as long as he keeps showing up at Jake's place at the end of the season.
"So can I still keep the key, or should I wait until it grows out to come back?"
Jake laughs again, eyes closed and drifting on the rhythm of Josh's breath against his skin. "You can just wear a hat or something."
That gets him a hard jab in the ribs, but when he complains Josh presses a placating kiss just below his ear. Jake lets out a contented 'hmm' and relaxes into the mattress, fingers sliding through what's left of Josh's hair as they both fall asleep.
~