Being Human: Sleep of Reason [Hal/Rook] 4/? co-written w/ shirogiku

[istne_pieklo]

Title: “Sleep of Reason”
Author: shirogiku, Shaitanah
Rating: NC-17
Timeline: post-vampire revolution
Summary: Hal Yorke took three things from Rook: his job, his integrity and his faith. To get them back, Rook gambles everything he's got left. [Hal/Rook, Hal/Cutler]
Disclaimer: Being Human belongs to Toby Whithouse and the BBC. Quotes from "

Comments

[zoicite]

Ooh, I think this is my favorite chapter yet, and the second half is particularly strong. I loved Cutler's scenes in this, his admission to Rook re: Rachel, the entire scene where he chooses and then recruits Ray (trying to act all smooth and impressive in the morgue!) and then Hal's rather creative punishment. His conversation with Ray prior to recruiting him was great as well.

I was almost going to say that the continued ramping sexual tension between Rook and Hal was delicious, but then I heard Snow saying that word and it made me feel a little creepy, so... insert another less Snow sounding word there. Yes, please, more of this. ;)

Loved the nods to Leo, Pearl, Tom, Annie, and Eve.

On top of everything, Rook’s laptop started acting up.

This quick transition from dead vampires and duels immediately into Rook's laptop complaints was excellent. XD

"What’s your music? Apart from God Save the Queen."
Rook didn't listen to anything in particular. Classical music, perhaps - it helped him think. Or jazz.
Cutler’s eyes widened. "How can you not listen to music? What planet are you from, spaceman?"

I hate when people ask me this question, because the first thing that comes to mind actually IS that I listen to a lot of showtunes. ;) I liked that little stab at Hal though!

Rook is one of those people who listens to serious talk radio when he's in a car and it somehow doesn't manage to put him to sleep, isn't he...

“Oh.” That gave Rook a pause. “There's a first for everything, I suppose.” He faltered and offered Hal an unpracticed smile. “It's a social call.”

I love this bit. I can so clearly picture Rook's face as he delivers it.

Also this: “Don't tell me you feel sorry for him.” Hal's smile turned positively predatory.

And then I got really into the second half and stopped saving lines to quote back at you, and there were too many anyway, but yes, loved this chapter and looking forward to more. This is pretty much the only thing I'm actually keeping up on in a semi-timely manner right now!

[istne_pieklo]

Thank you! :)) I think this chapter has given us a record amount of headache at the editing stage. At some point I just felt like hiding from it somewhere where it wouldn't find me. XDDD
I feel like Cutler is my own Tahiti (like Coulson in Agents of SHIELD keeps - or kept, while I was watching - saying: "Tahiti is a magical place", I keep saying: "Cutler is a joy to write.") XD He really is though. He's mostly Shiro's though, which makes it even cooler for me because I just end up reading those scenes and fangirling them. XD
Buhahaha, I bet Snow sectrely ships them too. XDDD
This quick transition from dead vampires and duels immediately into Rook's laptop complaints was excellent. <333 I'm glad. Forget vampires; computers are the real nightmare!
Haha, I probably wouldn't know what to say to this question either b/c I listen to pretty much anything depending on the mood, so I'd just have to list all the genres ever. O_O In our headcanon Cutler keeps up with music trends (as opposed to Hal who's stuck between show tunes and Sinatra), so he's the leading music expert in that gang. XD
Rook is one of those people who listens to serious talk radio when he's in a car and it somehow doesn't manage to put him to sleep, isn't he... Most likely! XDDD
Thank you so much for reading! This makes us very happy. <33333
P.S. Your icon makes me wonder if you plan to maybe write a Hal/Leo fic sometime? XDDD There aren't nearly enough of them.

[zoicite]

Haha, I probably wouldn't know what to say to this question either b/c I listen to pretty much anything depending on the mood

I'd say I'm generally the same, but I feel like when people ask this question, they're looking for the genre that you listen to with the greatest frequency/are most invested in, so I feel like saying I listen to everything/anything is kinda a lie, even though I do.

In our headcanon Cutler keeps up with music trends (as opposed to Hal who's stuck between show tunes and Sinatra), so he's the leading music expert in that gang. XD

This headcanon makes perfect sense to me. ;)

I don't have any specific plans to write Hal/Leo. I feel like Hal/Leo is sort of like Hal/Cutler for me. I'm pretty satisfied with the few Hal&Leo and Hal/Leo stories that I have read (though I agree there aren't enough of them) and therefore am not super itching to write my own. I don't know that I have much to add to what's already been done. I have a vague Hal&Pearl thing that's been tossing around in my head, so Leo would obviously be involved in that, but nothing really focused on Hal and Leo at the moment, alas.

[istne_pieklo]

In that case, I usually say, very vaguely, "rock music". XD But again, it's too oblique because there is a ton of genres within rock and I like some more than others and I also listen to folk, classical music, musicals, some pop songs, jazz, blues - in short, seriously everything! To be fair, I doubt that Cutler was expecting a full report on Rook's musical preferences XD He probably just wanted confirmation that Rook did listen to something XDD
I have a vague Hal&Pearl thing that's been tossing around in my head That sounds awesome too! Mostly I'm just bitter that the show didn't give us flashbacks (or a spin-off, ehehee). The more I think about it, the more I come to believe that Hal+Leo+Pearl are my favourite trinity, along with or directly below Annie+George+Mitchell in s1, back when they seemed to be at least semi-functional.

[zoicite]

Haha, no, I'm sure Cutler wasn't expecting a full report. I've just taken us off on a random music tangent over here. ;)

Man, I would have loved that spin-off. Or yes, more flashbacks! Why were there not more flashbacks??

re: favorite trinity
Ah...that is a tough decision. I love them all, but Hal+Leo+Pearl might be my favorite as well. Though from a 'fueling my fannish output' perspective, I'd still have to go with Tom+Hal+Alex. They're a total mess, dysfunctional and dishonest and rather delusional, but that's kinda why I'm still obsessed, so there's that.

[shirogiku]

tee-hee, I'm just gleeful that everybody likes Cutler. Poor thing needs all the love he can get. And that the recruitment thing worked.

I'm pretty sure Cutler never gets any satisfactory answers to his question about music (and doesn't expect to), so it's another one of his let's be fwiends maybe but I'm better than you, just you wait and see.

Creepy Snow's all Shaitanah's so I get to smirk at that. Basically, it's Cutler & Snow show in disguise)))

[zoicite]

I'm pretty sure Cutler never gets any satisfactory answers to his question about music (and doesn't expect to), so it's another one of his let's be fwiends maybe but I'm better than you, just you wait and see.

Ha! I often feel like that's the context when that question is asked, yes.

Creepy Snow's all Shaitanah's so I get to smirk at that. Basically, it's Cutler & Snow show in disguise))

I like getting these insights into who is primarily writing which character. Now I know who to poke for more Creepy Snow. ;) But also, having never co-authored anything, I'm just generally interested in how the writing process works when people do. It wouldn't have occured to me that you would split by character to an extent, but that makes a lot of sense.

[istne_pieklo]

Creepy Snow will keep showing up when Hal least expects it XDDD
We split the characters in the interest of creating a more believable dialogue (though Rook and Cutler are both Shiro's and imho those are the coolest scenes in the story XDDD), so I'm mostly responsible for the horror that is Hal plus Snow plus most minor vamps. But it also depends on who the focus of the scene is and the POV, etc.