GK, Rite of Spring, 1/1, PG, Ray/Walt, 679
Title: Rite of Spring
Author: sephirothflame
Fandom: Generation Kill
Rating: PG
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Ray Person, Walt Hasser (Ray/Walt)
Warning(s): AU
Spoiler(s): None
Prompt(s): For terebi_ko for Valentine's Day.
Word Count: 679
Notes: This is actually inspired by terebi_ko's own pianist!AU. I'm just playing around in the sandbox.
Summary: There are good days and bad days of having a professional pianist for a neighbor. Ray thinks this is one of the good days.
Disclaimer: I do not own Generation Kill. This is a work of fiction inspired by the fictional portrayal of the actual events. No harm intended.
Ray wakes up to Walt playing Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D minor. Granted, it’s three in the afternoon, but it’s not exactly the sound Ray was hoping to wake up to. He lies in bed long enough to hear the end of it, closing his eyes and smiling despite himself.
Later, after Ray’s had two cups of coffee and a peanut butter sandwich, he wipes his fingers on his jeans and plays Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring for Walt and wonders if he can convince his grumpy neighbor to go to the natural history museum to look at dinosaurs with him.
Walt counters with a quick rendition of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and for no reason at all, Ray finds himself laughing.
- - -
Walt is suspicious when he opens his door to find Ray on the other side, but Ray just smiles and holds up his bag of Chinese takeout. He’s not surprised that Walt lets him in, because Ray’s snooped around enough to figure out that Walt is a sucker for a good sweet and sour chicken.
“You laughed at me this morning,” Walt says, somewhat bitterly. He takes the food from Ray to sort through and makes a triumphant sound when he finds his split.
“I wasn’t laughing at you,” Ray replies, frowning. He shrugs when Walt looks at him and accepts his General Tso’s when Walt passes it over. “I just never pegged you as a Fantasia kind of guy.”
It’s Walt’s turn to shrug vaguely. “You started it.”
- - -
Ray doesn’t get kicked out until much later, when they’re arguing about the inherent worth of Salieri and Ray tries to play Walt’s piano. Ray is careful to stay out of reach when Walt tosses a pillow after him, but he doesn’t leave until Walt promises to go see dinosaurs with him.
Walt’s cheeks are red, and he slams the door after Ray with more force than is strictly necessary. It’s not long until he starts to play Braham’s Symphony No. 3 again, and Ray lays down on his couch and listens to him.
Ray’s tempted to get up and play something from one of Salieri’s works just to be spiteful, but Walt barely leaves room to breathe before he starts playing the next song. Ray closes his eyes and wishes Walt played with his heart, but he doesn’t do a damn thing to stop him and Walt keeps playing until someone comes to bang on his door.
- - -
“The T-Rex would be a shitty pianist,” Ray says, staring up at the skeleton with wide eyes. When Walt looks over at him in confusion, Ray pulls his elbows in and mimes trying to tap at piano keys. “They have short arms.”
Walt laughs, an incredulous look on his face, and tugs at Ray’s sweater to drag him over to look at a replica footprint. “I don’t think dinosaurs were born with the intention of creating music.”
“Sounds like a shitty life for them, then,” Ray replies easily. He smiles when Walt makes an agreeable sound, and bumps their shoulders together. “I told you dinosaurs were cool.”
“It beats sitting on my couch all day watching telenovelas,” Walt concedes.
There are so many things wrong with that statement that Ray doesn’t even know where to start. Instead, he bites his tongue and buys Walt a plastic T-Rex from the gift store and makes him promise he’ll keep it forever.
Walt’s smile is exasperated, but fond, and Ray thinks their daytrip out was more than worth it.
- - -
Ray is only a few lines into Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor when Walt starts to mirror him. It takes them a moment to synchronize, because Ray plays too fast sometimes and Walt too mechanical, but there’s a strange sense of amazement and warmth in Ray’s chest when they do.
After, Ray texts Walt “I’m glad you weren’t born a T-Rex” and he can hear Walt’s surprised laughter through the too-thin walls separating their apartments. Ray just grins and gets ready for bed.
Author: sephirothflame
Fandom: Generation Kill
Rating: PG
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Ray Person, Walt Hasser (Ray/Walt)
Warning(s): AU
Spoiler(s): None
Prompt(s): For terebi_ko for Valentine's Day.
Word Count: 679
Notes: This is actually inspired by terebi_ko's own pianist!AU. I'm just playing around in the sandbox.
Summary: There are good days and bad days of having a professional pianist for a neighbor. Ray thinks this is one of the good days.
Disclaimer: I do not own Generation Kill. This is a work of fiction inspired by the fictional portrayal of the actual events. No harm intended.
Ray wakes up to Walt playing Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D minor. Granted, it’s three in the afternoon, but it’s not exactly the sound Ray was hoping to wake up to. He lies in bed long enough to hear the end of it, closing his eyes and smiling despite himself.
Later, after Ray’s had two cups of coffee and a peanut butter sandwich, he wipes his fingers on his jeans and plays Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring for Walt and wonders if he can convince his grumpy neighbor to go to the natural history museum to look at dinosaurs with him.
Walt counters with a quick rendition of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and for no reason at all, Ray finds himself laughing.
- - -
Walt is suspicious when he opens his door to find Ray on the other side, but Ray just smiles and holds up his bag of Chinese takeout. He’s not surprised that Walt lets him in, because Ray’s snooped around enough to figure out that Walt is a sucker for a good sweet and sour chicken.
“You laughed at me this morning,” Walt says, somewhat bitterly. He takes the food from Ray to sort through and makes a triumphant sound when he finds his split.
“I wasn’t laughing at you,” Ray replies, frowning. He shrugs when Walt looks at him and accepts his General Tso’s when Walt passes it over. “I just never pegged you as a Fantasia kind of guy.”
It’s Walt’s turn to shrug vaguely. “You started it.”
- - -
Ray doesn’t get kicked out until much later, when they’re arguing about the inherent worth of Salieri and Ray tries to play Walt’s piano. Ray is careful to stay out of reach when Walt tosses a pillow after him, but he doesn’t leave until Walt promises to go see dinosaurs with him.
Walt’s cheeks are red, and he slams the door after Ray with more force than is strictly necessary. It’s not long until he starts to play Braham’s Symphony No. 3 again, and Ray lays down on his couch and listens to him.
Ray’s tempted to get up and play something from one of Salieri’s works just to be spiteful, but Walt barely leaves room to breathe before he starts playing the next song. Ray closes his eyes and wishes Walt played with his heart, but he doesn’t do a damn thing to stop him and Walt keeps playing until someone comes to bang on his door.
- - -
“The T-Rex would be a shitty pianist,” Ray says, staring up at the skeleton with wide eyes. When Walt looks over at him in confusion, Ray pulls his elbows in and mimes trying to tap at piano keys. “They have short arms.”
Walt laughs, an incredulous look on his face, and tugs at Ray’s sweater to drag him over to look at a replica footprint. “I don’t think dinosaurs were born with the intention of creating music.”
“Sounds like a shitty life for them, then,” Ray replies easily. He smiles when Walt makes an agreeable sound, and bumps their shoulders together. “I told you dinosaurs were cool.”
“It beats sitting on my couch all day watching telenovelas,” Walt concedes.
There are so many things wrong with that statement that Ray doesn’t even know where to start. Instead, he bites his tongue and buys Walt a plastic T-Rex from the gift store and makes him promise he’ll keep it forever.
Walt’s smile is exasperated, but fond, and Ray thinks their daytrip out was more than worth it.
- - -
Ray is only a few lines into Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor when Walt starts to mirror him. It takes them a moment to synchronize, because Ray plays too fast sometimes and Walt too mechanical, but there’s a strange sense of amazement and warmth in Ray’s chest when they do.
After, Ray texts Walt “I’m glad you weren’t born a T-Rex” and he can hear Walt’s surprised laughter through the too-thin walls separating their apartments. Ray just grins and gets ready for bed.