GK fic: For Remembrance
Fandom: Generation Kill
Title: For Remembrance
Pairing: Brad/Nate
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 1155
Summary: A story told through a series of notes.
Disclaimer: Based on fictionalised portrayals as seen in the HBO miniseries and not the real people.
Notes: At first I wanted to do something consisting entirely of graphics, but then this came out. Many thanks to idrilka for beta-reading - hon, you’re amazing. And to lunatics_word, because she’s awesome.
I
The bike is red and really shiny, and Nate perhaps stares at it for a few moments longer than is considered polite. But he can’t help it - there are some things that you just have to admire, shiny red bikes being one of them.
Next to the bike sits a boy - he must be about Nate’s age, but he’s not from the neighborhood.
“Hi,” says Nate, coming closer. “I’m Nate.”
The boy looks up.
“I’m Brad,” he offers. “We just moved here.”
Nate smiles.
“Your bike is really nice. Dad promised me one for my birthday, but it’s not for another month.”
Brad gives him a long, considering look, then allows magnanimously, “You can ride mine if you want to.”
This is the moment Nate decides he and Brad are going to be best friends forever.
II
Nate is a good boy, really. He’s quiet, he doesn’t get in trouble, the teachers like him. And it’s really not his fault that Brad starts passing him notes in class. I would be rude not to reply immediately, wouldn’t it?
III
The summer of 1992 is the first summer they spend together, away from their parents. They go to the Jersey Shore - Brad is going to teach Nate surfing. At least that’s what he says, but when Nate finally manages to stand up all by himself, he purposefully tickles Nate’s foot.
And there is no way he wouldn’t have known Nate was ticklish.
When Nate finally emerges from under the water, coughing and spluttering, Brad even has the temerity to laugh. And when they swim back, he bests Nate almost by the length of his body.
It’s because he has those freakishly long arms.
Of course, Brad may be a better swimmer, but when they race to the hotel, Nate gets there first.
It’s pretty damn satisfying.
IV
They go to see Forrest Gump in August. Nate enjoys the movie immensely and likes the idealistic side of the whole thing.
Brad grumbles about the fucking ideology and hippie bullshit, but afterwards Nate catches him looking at that dragon commercial once. Brad denies and says he’s going to apply to MIT or Cal-Tech.
V
It’s their senior year and Nate starts dating Amanda. It figures, really. They both write for the school newspaper and they are really smart. And when they go out, they probably hold hands, look each other in the eyes and smile dopily and quote fucking Keats or something equally disgusting.
Brad is definitely not jealous.
VI
Nate breaks up with Amanda a few days after the prom night. There’s no big drama or anything, and it’s not as if everybody could have seen it coming. Even Brad is a bit surprised when he finds out (and from Person to boot - Nate admits it only after Brad confronts him. Apparently he doesn’t consider it big enough of a deal to inform his best friend right away).
Nate mopes around for a few days and then Brad takes him out for a beer - they finally make use of those fake IDs Brad scored for them. The bartender looks at them suspiciously, because Nate looks fucking thirteen as it is, but he doesn’t comment.
They might have made out in the backseat of Brad’s car afterwards.
VII
Nate is addicted to coffee, Brad is almost sure of that. But it’s Nate’s birthday, so he obliges him anyway and gets up at some ass o’clock to go to Starbucks.
In retrospect, the effort is worth it, because the sound Nate makes when he takes the first sip is almost pornographic.
Maybe Brad will consider buying a coffee maker next year.
VIII
They’ve been practically living together for the last month or so and Brad still doesn’t have his own set of keys. It’s really kind of ridiculous, because he barely spends any time at his own apartment these days.
The truth is, it’s never been a problem before - they get up at the same time and leave together in the morning. Nate is usually home first, because Brad works a part-time job at a local computer store in addition to his daily classes at the university.
But today Nate wakes up first and he knows for a fact that Brad doesn’t have to get up for another hour or so, so he lets him sleep.
There is a spare key he made for his sister but forgot to give it to her somewhere in the drawer. Now would be a good time to finally make use of it.
IX
Brad goes grocery shopping when Nate is sick, and he generally acts like a mother hen. He claims that if he weren’t there to look after him, Nate would do something fucking stupid, like going to classes with a burning fever, but Nate is not an idiot, thank you very much. He just has a lot of work to do and he’s not that ill, he just caught a cold, because nights in February are really freezing.
He gets up from the bed and goes to the kitchen to grab a bite. He staggers a bit and nearly stumbles into the wall - okay, so maybe he should reconsider the ‘not that ill’ part.
There is a paper bag next to his plate, with some words scribbled on it. Nate reads and smiles to himself.
It’s not a love declaration, but it’s close enough.
-end-
Title: For Remembrance
Pairing: Brad/Nate
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 1155
Summary: A story told through a series of notes.
Disclaimer: Based on fictionalised portrayals as seen in the HBO miniseries and not the real people.
Notes: At first I wanted to do something consisting entirely of graphics, but then this came out. Many thanks to idrilka for beta-reading - hon, you’re amazing. And to lunatics_word, because she’s awesome.
I
The bike is red and really shiny, and Nate perhaps stares at it for a few moments longer than is considered polite. But he can’t help it - there are some things that you just have to admire, shiny red bikes being one of them.
Next to the bike sits a boy - he must be about Nate’s age, but he’s not from the neighborhood.
“Hi,” says Nate, coming closer. “I’m Nate.”
The boy looks up.
“I’m Brad,” he offers. “We just moved here.”
Nate smiles.
“Your bike is really nice. Dad promised me one for my birthday, but it’s not for another month.”
Brad gives him a long, considering look, then allows magnanimously, “You can ride mine if you want to.”
This is the moment Nate decides he and Brad are going to be best friends forever.
II
Nate is a good boy, really. He’s quiet, he doesn’t get in trouble, the teachers like him. And it’s really not his fault that Brad starts passing him notes in class. I would be rude not to reply immediately, wouldn’t it?
III
The summer of 1992 is the first summer they spend together, away from their parents. They go to the Jersey Shore - Brad is going to teach Nate surfing. At least that’s what he says, but when Nate finally manages to stand up all by himself, he purposefully tickles Nate’s foot.
And there is no way he wouldn’t have known Nate was ticklish.
When Nate finally emerges from under the water, coughing and spluttering, Brad even has the temerity to laugh. And when they swim back, he bests Nate almost by the length of his body.
It’s because he has those freakishly long arms.
Of course, Brad may be a better swimmer, but when they race to the hotel, Nate gets there first.
It’s pretty damn satisfying.
IV
They go to see Forrest Gump in August. Nate enjoys the movie immensely and likes the idealistic side of the whole thing.
Brad grumbles about the fucking ideology and hippie bullshit, but afterwards Nate catches him looking at that dragon commercial once. Brad denies and says he’s going to apply to MIT or Cal-Tech.
V
It’s their senior year and Nate starts dating Amanda. It figures, really. They both write for the school newspaper and they are really smart. And when they go out, they probably hold hands, look each other in the eyes and smile dopily and quote fucking Keats or something equally disgusting.
Brad is definitely not jealous.
VI
Nate breaks up with Amanda a few days after the prom night. There’s no big drama or anything, and it’s not as if everybody could have seen it coming. Even Brad is a bit surprised when he finds out (and from Person to boot - Nate admits it only after Brad confronts him. Apparently he doesn’t consider it big enough of a deal to inform his best friend right away).
Nate mopes around for a few days and then Brad takes him out for a beer - they finally make use of those fake IDs Brad scored for them. The bartender looks at them suspiciously, because Nate looks fucking thirteen as it is, but he doesn’t comment.
They might have made out in the backseat of Brad’s car afterwards.
VII
Nate is addicted to coffee, Brad is almost sure of that. But it’s Nate’s birthday, so he obliges him anyway and gets up at some ass o’clock to go to Starbucks.
In retrospect, the effort is worth it, because the sound Nate makes when he takes the first sip is almost pornographic.
Maybe Brad will consider buying a coffee maker next year.
VIII
They’ve been practically living together for the last month or so and Brad still doesn’t have his own set of keys. It’s really kind of ridiculous, because he barely spends any time at his own apartment these days.
The truth is, it’s never been a problem before - they get up at the same time and leave together in the morning. Nate is usually home first, because Brad works a part-time job at a local computer store in addition to his daily classes at the university.
But today Nate wakes up first and he knows for a fact that Brad doesn’t have to get up for another hour or so, so he lets him sleep.
There is a spare key he made for his sister but forgot to give it to her somewhere in the drawer. Now would be a good time to finally make use of it.
IX
Brad goes grocery shopping when Nate is sick, and he generally acts like a mother hen. He claims that if he weren’t there to look after him, Nate would do something fucking stupid, like going to classes with a burning fever, but Nate is not an idiot, thank you very much. He just has a lot of work to do and he’s not that ill, he just caught a cold, because nights in February are really freezing.
He gets up from the bed and goes to the kitchen to grab a bite. He staggers a bit and nearly stumbles into the wall - okay, so maybe he should reconsider the ‘not that ill’ part.
There is a paper bag next to his plate, with some words scribbled on it. Nate reads and smiles to himself.
It’s not a love declaration, but it’s close enough.
-end-