[ATWT Fic Meme] 10 Random Facts
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Title: 10 Random Facts about Dr. Reid Oliver
Author: Ivorysilk
Rating: M
Summary: Uh, I'm procrastinating. Does it show? For the meme, which I'd always intended to do, just not when I clearly ought not to be doing a meme.
Disclaimer: Neither owned nor leased. Just temporarily borrowed.
Comments, positive or negative, are treasured. Thanks for reading.
Author's Notes: Written for Luke & Reid Random Facts Fest
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(1) Reid spends a good six months avoiding accepting Dr. Cruz’s dinner invitation.
Not because he doesn’t like him--Reid hates most people, but Cruz is a pretty fine orthopaedic surgeon and every now and again, they consult together, and Reid has a grudging respect--but because Cruz’s wife is Japanese, and aside from being a brilliant lawyer, she is also a brilliant cook. But much as Reid loves sushi, he loves Luke more, and ever since he found out about the transplant, he has been neurotic about Luke’s diet, ensuring everything is healthy, cooked or pasteurized or triple washed, and neither too salty nor too fatty. Luke couldn’t care less about his diet (and unlike other transplant patients was on the thin side, which he had once explained was a holdover from his dialysis days when the list of dietary restrictions was a mile long, and essentially forced him to restrict himself to salad at any of the Walsh-Snyder feasts, because no one ever thought to modify their menus to accommodate him), which made Reid--who never really cared what he shoved into his own mouth--extra careful.
He needn’t have worried, though. When they finally made it to dinner, Cruz--who had once treated a paralyzed young Luciano--had served a diet very appropriate for an immuno-compromised patient. Reid snorted: he should have known. Everyone knows more about Luke’s whacked out history in this crazy town than he does.
(2) Reid wants a pet dog.
Of course, he’ll never get a pet, of any kind. With his schedule, he can’t even keep a plant alive. His work hours are crazy, and then he’s gone for huge stretches of time at various conferences and just weekend breaks, and as unfair as his schedule is to Luke, it really wouldn’t be fair to a pet who can’t understand why he’s never around.
As it is, he feels guilty enough about Luke, even with his pack of parents/siblings/cousins/friends/random over-invested acquaintances to keep him company while Reid’s not around, and with Luke’s own hectic schedule that keeps him busy and away part of the year as well. And Reid is definitely thankful that Luke makes sure to spend whatever time he needs to with the rest of the town’s denizens when Reid’s not around so Reid doesn’t have to interact more than necessary. As most things do, Reid’s happy this works out in his favour.
(3) Reid has always wanted to travel to India.
He won’t, though, now--the places he wants to go keep having periodic dysentry epidemics, malaria is not unheard of in many parts, and medical facilities are still dicey in some regions. Still, Reid buys guide books that he hides in the drawers of his desk in his office at the hospital, and in between patients when he has a minute or two, sometimes he downloads pictures of the majestic forts of Rajasthan or the sweeping mountain passes of Ladakh. He’ll never tell Luke, though, and he is always careful to wipe his history after his searches. After all, going to Vienna instead, with its fine pastries and deep fried meat, is hardly a hardship.
(4) Reid likes puce.
He realizes that he probably ought not to know what puce even is; he realizes that knowing this quite possibly makes him more gay than Luke, who rattled on about colour schemes and warm tones and other such ridiculousness when they were moving in last summer, but still.
He realizes that he mostly likes puce because Katie kind of hates it, and it amuses him to give her puce coloured knickknacks--throw cushions and abstract art and ugly wall hangings--for her home that she is too polite to throw out or give away immediately. After all, even though he’s moved out and Doogie’s moved in, she shouldn’t entirely forget his presence.
(5) Reid wants kids.
He didn’t before Luke, but now, now he kind of does. He sees how amazing Luke is with his younger siblings, and truth be told, he’s stupidly fond of Jacob and of Ethan and Natalie and even teenaged Faith. He grumbles about them coming over each and every time and to their faces, but he also makes sure they know he doesn’t really mean it and that they know they are always welcome. He kind of likes having them around.
He knows that he and Luke aren’t ready for kids; their work schedules aside, Luke’s still young, he’s been through too much in the past few years and he needs a bit of stability. The kind of change a kid or kids would bring would be too much right now. Still, Reid’s made some quiet inquiries about adoption agencies and the kinds of requirements they’d need to meet, because like it or not, not every agency is happy to adopt children out to a gay couple. He’s got a nice little folder tucked away in the corner of his filing cabinet full of information, and one day, when he thinks they’re ready, he’ll bring it up.
But first, he’s working on Luke buying him a carrot cake to celebrate this Friday night. Luke has been resistant; he doesn’t seem to get that they don’t need an actual occasion to celebrate. But Reid has confidence he’ll get on board. Besides, Reid’s planning to invite over all the kids and explain to them the concept of an Unbirthday.
(6) Reid is scared of spiders.
Conveniently, Reid feels that in modern life, he has no need to ever encounter a spider, or to interact with them, or to have much to do with them, ever. So when Ethan gets a pet spider and demands that Reid come to his room and see, Reid turns a pale green and swallows bile and tried not to glare at Luke, laughing like a maniac beside him, while he tries to think of a convenient excuse to give the littlest Snyder that will not also make Reid seem like a wuss or disinterested. Ethan thinks he is way cooler than Luke. While Reid agrees this is true, he also knows that children are fickle, and their opinions can be altered on groundless events.
So Reid resorts to his tried and true methods of distraction and bribery. Thank God the little Snyders like junk food almost as much as he does.
(7) Reid complains about watching cartoons with Jacob.
Truth is, though, he’s glad of the chance to re-watch all the classics--he’s always loved classic animation, and has secretly thought it was a tragedy that he wasn’t born with the ability to draw. In his head, he knows that had he been able to draw, he’d have been brilliant: Walt and him would’ve been buddies, Glen Keane would’ve admired his vision, and Dreamworks would’ve dangled him offers and lead animator positions, complete with the kinds of perks (like a decent parking space) that Memorial never bothers with.
Still, it’s ok. He likes brains, and he likes being a doctor, and he still gets to watch cartoons. Holding the sleeping Jacob on his lap, he continues to watch as the evil step-mother turns into a dragon.
He’s always thought Prince Phillip, for a cardboardy kind of guy, was kind of hot. Idly, he wonders where Luke’s gone off to.
(8) Reid can’t figure out Twitter.
Luke loves it, and keeps telling Reid how awesome it is, how useful it is, how he needs to use technology and get with the 21st century. But Reid still remembers a time before Facebook and ipods, and sometimes, Luke is so young it disconcerts him. Reid is a genius, and even though one of his nine year old patients once tried to explain Twitter and Tumblr and all this stuff to him, he still didn’t quite get it. Davis, the kid, gave him his email address while Reid was signing the release papers and said that he could call or email him if he wanted and he’d help him again. Reid almost did, because he can’t bring himself to ask Luke or anyone else about it, and he has tried to figure it out himself to no avail.
Reid has decided, ergo, that Twitter is stupid. Force of global change or no, it is clearly too stupid for him to bother figuring out.
(9) Reid’s grandmother gave him her diamond engagement ring, about six months before she’d died of cancer.
She’d had an inoperable malignant brain tumour. It’s what made Reid, all of eleven years old at the time, decide that not only was he going to be a doctor, he was going to be a totally awesome neurosurgeon, and he’d be able to fix people just like his grandmother so they didn’t have to die. He’d told her that, and she’d smiled and hugged him and told him she expected nothing less.
He likes to think that--even if he now knows that despite all the advances of medical science, he’d still have been unable to save her--she’d have been proud of him anyway.
As for the ring, he’s got it squared away in a safety deposit box at the bank. Luke might not exactly have been the person Grandma had had in mind when she’d given him the ring, but because she was smart and rational, he knows she’d have loved him anyway.
Reid kind of finds it a mystery that there are actually people in the world (like that idiot Noah) that actually don’t love Luke. But sadly, he also knows that the world is full of idiots.
(10) Reid likes roses.
Luke, damn him, knows this, and after mocking Reid for a full four minutes about exactly who was playing the Victorian romance heroine in their relationship now, he always managed to pick up roses for Reid on any major or minor occasion. Like Unbirthdays.
On the other hand, he always addressed them to “Violetta” or “Rosamund” or “Arabella”. But when a dozen long-stemmed red roses were delivered to Reid at his office at the hospital in full view of everyone, by a singing delivery girl dressed as Cupid who had announced at reception that they were for Clarissa Lavinia Petunia Reid in the neuro wing, even Gretchen had smirked at him when she passed him in the hall. And for the rest of the day, Doogie kept calling him Clarissa.
Yeah, Reid had forgotten their anniversary. Still. That’s no excuse.
Reid’s plotting his revenge, though. He’s good at revenge. Compared to him, Luke is a rank amateur. But after the roses, even Reid has to admit that the romantic anniversary evening Luke has planned--complete with copious amounts of sex--is pretty awesome, and goes some way to making it up to him. And Luke keeps distracting him with those stupid glowing grins, all big eyes and soft floppy hair. And the plane tickets to Paris Luke proffered for their paper anniversary were pretty diverting, too.
Whatever. Reid contents himself with the notion that he’s got a bit of time to plot his revenge. He’ll just wait for a while first, because right now, he’s got an armful of gorgeous Luke Snyder to ravish.
Luke, of course, just has to ask him how long. Reid simply smiles and kisses him. The anticipation will be torture all by itself.
And because, of course, he’s got forever.
Title: 10 Random Facts about Dr. Reid Oliver
Author: Ivorysilk
Rating: M
Summary: Uh, I'm procrastinating. Does it show? For the meme, which I'd always intended to do, just not when I clearly ought not to be doing a meme.
Disclaimer: Neither owned nor leased. Just temporarily borrowed.
Comments, positive or negative, are treasured. Thanks for reading.
Author's Notes: Written for Luke & Reid Random Facts Fest
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(1) Reid spends a good six months avoiding accepting Dr. Cruz’s dinner invitation.
Not because he doesn’t like him--Reid hates most people, but Cruz is a pretty fine orthopaedic surgeon and every now and again, they consult together, and Reid has a grudging respect--but because Cruz’s wife is Japanese, and aside from being a brilliant lawyer, she is also a brilliant cook. But much as Reid loves sushi, he loves Luke more, and ever since he found out about the transplant, he has been neurotic about Luke’s diet, ensuring everything is healthy, cooked or pasteurized or triple washed, and neither too salty nor too fatty. Luke couldn’t care less about his diet (and unlike other transplant patients was on the thin side, which he had once explained was a holdover from his dialysis days when the list of dietary restrictions was a mile long, and essentially forced him to restrict himself to salad at any of the Walsh-Snyder feasts, because no one ever thought to modify their menus to accommodate him), which made Reid--who never really cared what he shoved into his own mouth--extra careful.
He needn’t have worried, though. When they finally made it to dinner, Cruz--who had once treated a paralyzed young Luciano--had served a diet very appropriate for an immuno-compromised patient. Reid snorted: he should have known. Everyone knows more about Luke’s whacked out history in this crazy town than he does.
(2) Reid wants a pet dog.
Of course, he’ll never get a pet, of any kind. With his schedule, he can’t even keep a plant alive. His work hours are crazy, and then he’s gone for huge stretches of time at various conferences and just weekend breaks, and as unfair as his schedule is to Luke, it really wouldn’t be fair to a pet who can’t understand why he’s never around.
As it is, he feels guilty enough about Luke, even with his pack of parents/siblings/cousins/friends/random over-invested acquaintances to keep him company while Reid’s not around, and with Luke’s own hectic schedule that keeps him busy and away part of the year as well. And Reid is definitely thankful that Luke makes sure to spend whatever time he needs to with the rest of the town’s denizens when Reid’s not around so Reid doesn’t have to interact more than necessary. As most things do, Reid’s happy this works out in his favour.
(3) Reid has always wanted to travel to India.
He won’t, though, now--the places he wants to go keep having periodic dysentry epidemics, malaria is not unheard of in many parts, and medical facilities are still dicey in some regions. Still, Reid buys guide books that he hides in the drawers of his desk in his office at the hospital, and in between patients when he has a minute or two, sometimes he downloads pictures of the majestic forts of Rajasthan or the sweeping mountain passes of Ladakh. He’ll never tell Luke, though, and he is always careful to wipe his history after his searches. After all, going to Vienna instead, with its fine pastries and deep fried meat, is hardly a hardship.
(4) Reid likes puce.
He realizes that he probably ought not to know what puce even is; he realizes that knowing this quite possibly makes him more gay than Luke, who rattled on about colour schemes and warm tones and other such ridiculousness when they were moving in last summer, but still.
He realizes that he mostly likes puce because Katie kind of hates it, and it amuses him to give her puce coloured knickknacks--throw cushions and abstract art and ugly wall hangings--for her home that she is too polite to throw out or give away immediately. After all, even though he’s moved out and Doogie’s moved in, she shouldn’t entirely forget his presence.
(5) Reid wants kids.
He didn’t before Luke, but now, now he kind of does. He sees how amazing Luke is with his younger siblings, and truth be told, he’s stupidly fond of Jacob and of Ethan and Natalie and even teenaged Faith. He grumbles about them coming over each and every time and to their faces, but he also makes sure they know he doesn’t really mean it and that they know they are always welcome. He kind of likes having them around.
He knows that he and Luke aren’t ready for kids; their work schedules aside, Luke’s still young, he’s been through too much in the past few years and he needs a bit of stability. The kind of change a kid or kids would bring would be too much right now. Still, Reid’s made some quiet inquiries about adoption agencies and the kinds of requirements they’d need to meet, because like it or not, not every agency is happy to adopt children out to a gay couple. He’s got a nice little folder tucked away in the corner of his filing cabinet full of information, and one day, when he thinks they’re ready, he’ll bring it up.
But first, he’s working on Luke buying him a carrot cake to celebrate this Friday night. Luke has been resistant; he doesn’t seem to get that they don’t need an actual occasion to celebrate. But Reid has confidence he’ll get on board. Besides, Reid’s planning to invite over all the kids and explain to them the concept of an Unbirthday.
(6) Reid is scared of spiders.
Conveniently, Reid feels that in modern life, he has no need to ever encounter a spider, or to interact with them, or to have much to do with them, ever. So when Ethan gets a pet spider and demands that Reid come to his room and see, Reid turns a pale green and swallows bile and tried not to glare at Luke, laughing like a maniac beside him, while he tries to think of a convenient excuse to give the littlest Snyder that will not also make Reid seem like a wuss or disinterested. Ethan thinks he is way cooler than Luke. While Reid agrees this is true, he also knows that children are fickle, and their opinions can be altered on groundless events.
So Reid resorts to his tried and true methods of distraction and bribery. Thank God the little Snyders like junk food almost as much as he does.
(7) Reid complains about watching cartoons with Jacob.
Truth is, though, he’s glad of the chance to re-watch all the classics--he’s always loved classic animation, and has secretly thought it was a tragedy that he wasn’t born with the ability to draw. In his head, he knows that had he been able to draw, he’d have been brilliant: Walt and him would’ve been buddies, Glen Keane would’ve admired his vision, and Dreamworks would’ve dangled him offers and lead animator positions, complete with the kinds of perks (like a decent parking space) that Memorial never bothers with.
Still, it’s ok. He likes brains, and he likes being a doctor, and he still gets to watch cartoons. Holding the sleeping Jacob on his lap, he continues to watch as the evil step-mother turns into a dragon.
He’s always thought Prince Phillip, for a cardboardy kind of guy, was kind of hot. Idly, he wonders where Luke’s gone off to.
(8) Reid can’t figure out Twitter.
Luke loves it, and keeps telling Reid how awesome it is, how useful it is, how he needs to use technology and get with the 21st century. But Reid still remembers a time before Facebook and ipods, and sometimes, Luke is so young it disconcerts him. Reid is a genius, and even though one of his nine year old patients once tried to explain Twitter and Tumblr and all this stuff to him, he still didn’t quite get it. Davis, the kid, gave him his email address while Reid was signing the release papers and said that he could call or email him if he wanted and he’d help him again. Reid almost did, because he can’t bring himself to ask Luke or anyone else about it, and he has tried to figure it out himself to no avail.
Reid has decided, ergo, that Twitter is stupid. Force of global change or no, it is clearly too stupid for him to bother figuring out.
(9) Reid’s grandmother gave him her diamond engagement ring, about six months before she’d died of cancer.
She’d had an inoperable malignant brain tumour. It’s what made Reid, all of eleven years old at the time, decide that not only was he going to be a doctor, he was going to be a totally awesome neurosurgeon, and he’d be able to fix people just like his grandmother so they didn’t have to die. He’d told her that, and she’d smiled and hugged him and told him she expected nothing less.
He likes to think that--even if he now knows that despite all the advances of medical science, he’d still have been unable to save her--she’d have been proud of him anyway.
As for the ring, he’s got it squared away in a safety deposit box at the bank. Luke might not exactly have been the person Grandma had had in mind when she’d given him the ring, but because she was smart and rational, he knows she’d have loved him anyway.
Reid kind of finds it a mystery that there are actually people in the world (like that idiot Noah) that actually don’t love Luke. But sadly, he also knows that the world is full of idiots.
(10) Reid likes roses.
Luke, damn him, knows this, and after mocking Reid for a full four minutes about exactly who was playing the Victorian romance heroine in their relationship now, he always managed to pick up roses for Reid on any major or minor occasion. Like Unbirthdays.
On the other hand, he always addressed them to “Violetta” or “Rosamund” or “Arabella”. But when a dozen long-stemmed red roses were delivered to Reid at his office at the hospital in full view of everyone, by a singing delivery girl dressed as Cupid who had announced at reception that they were for Clarissa Lavinia Petunia Reid in the neuro wing, even Gretchen had smirked at him when she passed him in the hall. And for the rest of the day, Doogie kept calling him Clarissa.
Yeah, Reid had forgotten their anniversary. Still. That’s no excuse.
Reid’s plotting his revenge, though. He’s good at revenge. Compared to him, Luke is a rank amateur. But after the roses, even Reid has to admit that the romantic anniversary evening Luke has planned--complete with copious amounts of sex--is pretty awesome, and goes some way to making it up to him. And Luke keeps distracting him with those stupid glowing grins, all big eyes and soft floppy hair. And the plane tickets to Paris Luke proffered for their paper anniversary were pretty diverting, too.
Whatever. Reid contents himself with the notion that he’s got a bit of time to plot his revenge. He’ll just wait for a while first, because right now, he’s got an armful of gorgeous Luke Snyder to ravish.
Luke, of course, just has to ask him how long. Reid simply smiles and kisses him. The anticipation will be torture all by itself.
And because, of course, he’s got forever.