39. | get home early from work
39.
get home early from work
if you say that you love me
cook/archuleta (2123 words)
HOLY SHIT okay this is totally my sister's fault? She started playing Kingdom Hearts again and I absently thought David would make an adorable Sora, aw and then it was like AHA. And I didn't make Cook Kairi because Kairi doesn't do anything and that's boring, even if she's cute. Plus I fantasized about him playing a guitar and like KILLING HEARTLESS WITH IT but that wouldn't make sense in the real-life scenario I'd started writing in my head. So. YOU GUYS ARE STUCK WITH THIS. Please don't judge me too harshly for this.
Cook realizes that he's told people before that becoming the season seven American Idol winner could drive someone crazy, but he's never really actually thought that he was, you know, crazy. Just stressed, maybe. A little harried sometimes.
But when a boy gripping a giant key, an oversized duck, and some sort of dog-like ... thing drop through the ceiling of his venue (he's the only one in the room, and had been drumming on the side of the stage with a stolen pair of drumsticks while waiting for everyone to get done outside) battling a bunch of shadowy dark creatures, he rethinks his sanity a little.
"Gawrsh!" the dog-like thing shouts, shoving a few of the dark things away, "there're so many of 'em!"
"We hadn't noticed!" the oversized duck quacks sarcastically, and Cook feels his back hit the side of the stage and presses even further against it because what the fuck the animal things are talking what the fuck.
The duck hits a shadow on the head with some sort of staff thing and then waves the staff over it -- sparks fly off the end and surround the shadow and it bursts into pieces. Cook is detachedly relieved that the pieces disintegrate into nothing, because that could be gross and --
"Oh my gosh, watch out!"
The boy with the giant key jumps in front of him, neatly slicing the huge shadow thing that had been jumping for him in half. It falls away into nothing, letting out a small shriek. Cook feels his breath catch and his mouth drop open and the boy sighs and lowers the key, turning to face him. Over on the other side of the floor, the duck and dog-like thing are ganging up on the last shadow, which finally bursts and disappears.
"Um," the boy starts, looking hesitant (Cook bets it's because of the look on his face), "Hi? I'm Archie, and that's -- that's Donald and Goofy." He gestures at the duck and dog-thing, looking expectant.
"Oh," Cook hears himself say. "Hey."
He hears the drumsticks fall to the ground and hears the boy -- Archie -- shouting and everything goes dark.
He comes around to Archie saying, "Oh, he's moving!"
Another voice says, "Don't let him faint again, Archie, we need to talk to him!"
"Oh my gosh," Archie protests, "like I let him faint? I'm just glad I caught him before his head hit the ground, that could've been bad."
"Yep!" a third voice chimes. "'specially with all them people outside!"
Cook forces himself to open his eyes. "Fuck," he mutters, feeling dizzy but otherwise alright. He reaches up and feels the back of his head but it's unhurt, which means the kid really did catch him, which is about ten times more embarrassing than fainting.
"Um," Archie says, hands hovering above him, "maybe don't move so much? I mean, I don't think you're injured, but I don't want you to--"
"'m fine," Cook says, sitting up and wincing; all three of them are still here, still staring at him. He makes himself calm down and accept that this shit is really happening and takes a deep breath.
"You won't faint?" the duck -- Donald, wasn't it? -- asks skeptically, and Cook glares at him.
"No," he says, and Archie sits back on his haunches, looking relieved.
"Good," he says, smiling a little. "I mean, this isn't the first time people have been surprised to see us, but I've never had anyone faint before, you know, and I guess I knew there would be some worlds that didn't have the Heartless all over them yet, or people who knew about what was going on with Mickey and Ansem and stuff, but--"
Cook covers his mouth before he thinks about it and they both stare at each other in surprise, Archie's words stuttering to a stop before Cook jerks his hand away. A flush covers Archie's cheeks and Cook finds himself oddly charmed. It goes a ways towards making him less jittery, so he grins a little at Archie and is rewarded with a darker flush.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he tells him, and Donald huffs.
"Darn it," he squawks, "I knew this world wasn't gonna be helpful!"
"Calm down, Donald," Goofy says, patting Donald on the head. "I'm sure this guy here can help us somehow. All the worlds are involved in the war, after all."
"War?" Cook asks, and Archie squares his shoulders and says, "There's things you ought to know."
Cook listens and reminds himself that he's not crazy.
And after listening to all of them, it kind of makes sense. There have been all kinds of small things that add up to all the instances Archie describes. While they apparently aren't as bad as on other planets, those shadowy things -- the Heartless -- have been appearing on the news more and more, and there have been unexplained instances occurring all over LA. If it had just been Archie, Cook might've taken him for some psychotic asylum escapee, but the presence of Donald and Goofy (who are most certainly not costumes, Cook checked -- much to Donald's outrage) cement that this is really happening.
"So basically," Archie says, swinging his feet off the edge of the stage Cook is performing on tonight, "we're traveling around to different worlds looking for pieces of Ansem's journal. It might be the only thing we can use to stop the oncoming darkness. We're also looking for King Mickey," he adds when Donald clears his throat meaningfully.
"And you're looking for -- some girl?" Cook asks, feeling unaccountably disappointed by that.
"Brooke," Archie answers, smiling brightly. "She was my friend, on the island. I don't know what happened to her, but I've got to find her. She's somewhere out here, and this is the best way to do it. The gummi ship can go anywhere in the universe."
Gummi ship. Universe. Brooke. Cook's head is spinning again, but he isn't going to faint again.
He looks at Archie, who lifts the corner of his mouth in reply, and at Donald and Goofy and the whole fucking mess of the room that they battled Heartless in and he closes his eyes and says, "How can I help?"
Goofy stays behind in Cook's dressing room while they go out, because, Archie explains, "he tends to attract more attention, being so tall and loud? No offense, Goofy," to which Goofy responded cheerfully, "None taken, Archie!"
"More attention than a talking duck?" Cook asks under his breath, and Donald shoots him a sour look.
"Um," Archie says, smothering a grin, "We can pretend he's in a suit for some sort of promotional thing. It's a lot easier that way."
Donald makes an angry noise and crosses his arms.
"So," Cook says, leading the way through the venue -- which is apparently where Chip and Dale ("Our engineers," Archie had said) had felt the strongest current of magical powers and therefore was where they'd landed the ship before being overwhelmed by Heartless out for the Keyblade -- "What exactly are you looking for? I mean, where do you think the papers or whatever would be?"
"Hmm," Archie hummed, unsure, "Well, in the jungle with Tarzan the notes were in the camp, and in Agrabah, oh, I don't remember exactly where we found it, but I mean, it's never in any specific place."
"No 'here's the special notes, have fun' signs pointing to it?" Cook asks teasingly, and is pleased when Archie laughs.
"No," he says, looking up at Cook through his lashes, smiling softly. Donald makes a disgusted sound from behind them.
Cook is inexplicably happy, all things considered.
They eventually find the papers, mysteriously underneath the goddamn stage in a bucket. But that's only after a fresh batch of Heartless come and try to kill them all.
"Holy shit!" Cooks shouts, jumping over left-behind props and boxes as he's chased around, and Archie swings the Keyblade through the air, cutting three of them in half all at once.
"Cook!" he yells, "Get out of here! We can take them, you need to--" He's cut off as about six of the things jump on top of him. Cook feels his blood go icy cold and grabs the first thing he can, which turns out to be an old acoustic guitar. He smashes it onto the first shadow and it surprisingly doesn't break, but the Heartless screams at him and dissolves into nothing and that's fucking awesome.
Sparks fly from under the remaining Heartless and they all explode in a shower of magical sparks and their own shadows. Archie's panting and the Keyblade is glowing and Cook is irrationally turned on by the sight of him standing there with sweat on his brow, chest rising and falling, mouth a little parted. Donald quacks in panic in the corner with about two more of the Heartless ganging up on him, and Cook whacks one of them repeatedly on the head with the somehow indestructible guitar until it's gone.
There's absolute quiet in the aftermath of the battle, Archie staring at Cook and Cook staring back, and then Donald starts yelling about how the Heartless knocking everything over has somehow upended a bucket that have Ansem's notes in them and the moment is broken.
"Oh," Archie says quietly, looking a little lost. "That was--"
"Quick," Cook says, although they must've spent about two hours wandering around. Wow, he wonders if the crew is freaking out. Probably.
"We better go get Goofy," Donald says, folding the papers up carefully and putting them in a pouch. "We need to get back to the ship and head back to Traverse Town for more supplies."
"Um," Archie says, looking pleadingly at Donald, who sighs heavily.
"I can go get him myself," Donald intones, and Archie sends him a blinding smile, which makes Donald's bill quirk up in what could almost be a smile. "Don't stay too long, Archie."
"I won't," Archie promises, and Donald leaves them below the stage, standing awkwardly in front of each other. Cook is utterly perplexed by what his life has become in the past day.
"So," Archie begins, looking a little uncomfortable, "Um, I hope this wasn't -- I mean, I know you must still be a little freaked out because it is pretty crazy, I guess, although this was actually pretty routine for us, haha--"
"It was sort of fun," Cook admits, because even if Archie rambling is really cute, he's pretty sure they have limited time before Donald comes to whisk Archie away and he doesn't want to waste it. "Still think I could wake up any second, but I mean, all things considered, it was -- it was pretty awesome." He grins at Archie and gets another blush.
"Um, yeah," Archie says, ducking his head a little. "Thanks for helping. You were, with the guitar, that was -- you were great," he finishes finally. Cook sets the guitar down against the wall where it gleams dully at them, not a scratch on it. Weird, Cook thinks absently. But, all things considered, not so much.
"You're welcome," he murmurs. "So you guys, you're gonna, what, keep traveling around to worlds and find more of the journal?"
"That's the plan," Archie agrees. "We might, um, we might end up back here, though. Sometimes stuff happens."
"Ah," Cook nods. There's a pause, and then he says carefully, trying not to sound too eager, "Hey, you'll look me up if you come back, right?"
"Oh," Archie says, surprised. "Oh, yes, yeah, sure! If that's -- I mean, aren't you touring right now?"
"Yeah," Cook says, waving a hand, "but I've always got time to save the world." Archie beams at him and twirls the Keyblade absently.
"If you're sure," he says, and there's a comfortable moment before feet pound above them and they both hear Goofy say, "Donald, why're you jumping around like that?"
"I guess that's my cue," Archie says wryly, gesturing above, and Cook laughs. "I'll see you around, Cook."
Cook considers him a moment, and then leans forward and presses a kiss to his cheek briefly. He feels it heat beneath his lips and grins before pulling back. "See you, Archie."
Archie brings a palm up to press against his red face and stares at him, lips parting in shock. Cook grins at him and points to the ceiling, where the sound of pounding feet is growing louder.
"Better go," he says, smiling.
"Oh," Archie says dazedly, "Right." He casts a frustrated look up at the sound and then runs from the room.
Cook watches him go and wonders when he'll come back.
get home early from work
if you say that you love me
cook/archuleta (2123 words)
HOLY SHIT okay this is totally my sister's fault? She started playing Kingdom Hearts again and I absently thought David would make an adorable Sora, aw and then it was like AHA. And I didn't make Cook Kairi because Kairi doesn't do anything and that's boring, even if she's cute. Plus I fantasized about him playing a guitar and like KILLING HEARTLESS WITH IT but that wouldn't make sense in the real-life scenario I'd started writing in my head. So. YOU GUYS ARE STUCK WITH THIS. Please don't judge me too harshly for this.
Cook realizes that he's told people before that becoming the season seven American Idol winner could drive someone crazy, but he's never really actually thought that he was, you know, crazy. Just stressed, maybe. A little harried sometimes.
But when a boy gripping a giant key, an oversized duck, and some sort of dog-like ... thing drop through the ceiling of his venue (he's the only one in the room, and had been drumming on the side of the stage with a stolen pair of drumsticks while waiting for everyone to get done outside) battling a bunch of shadowy dark creatures, he rethinks his sanity a little.
"Gawrsh!" the dog-like thing shouts, shoving a few of the dark things away, "there're so many of 'em!"
"We hadn't noticed!" the oversized duck quacks sarcastically, and Cook feels his back hit the side of the stage and presses even further against it because what the fuck the animal things are talking what the fuck.
The duck hits a shadow on the head with some sort of staff thing and then waves the staff over it -- sparks fly off the end and surround the shadow and it bursts into pieces. Cook is detachedly relieved that the pieces disintegrate into nothing, because that could be gross and --
"Oh my gosh, watch out!"
The boy with the giant key jumps in front of him, neatly slicing the huge shadow thing that had been jumping for him in half. It falls away into nothing, letting out a small shriek. Cook feels his breath catch and his mouth drop open and the boy sighs and lowers the key, turning to face him. Over on the other side of the floor, the duck and dog-like thing are ganging up on the last shadow, which finally bursts and disappears.
"Um," the boy starts, looking hesitant (Cook bets it's because of the look on his face), "Hi? I'm Archie, and that's -- that's Donald and Goofy." He gestures at the duck and dog-thing, looking expectant.
"Oh," Cook hears himself say. "Hey."
He hears the drumsticks fall to the ground and hears the boy -- Archie -- shouting and everything goes dark.
He comes around to Archie saying, "Oh, he's moving!"
Another voice says, "Don't let him faint again, Archie, we need to talk to him!"
"Oh my gosh," Archie protests, "like I let him faint? I'm just glad I caught him before his head hit the ground, that could've been bad."
"Yep!" a third voice chimes. "'specially with all them people outside!"
Cook forces himself to open his eyes. "Fuck," he mutters, feeling dizzy but otherwise alright. He reaches up and feels the back of his head but it's unhurt, which means the kid really did catch him, which is about ten times more embarrassing than fainting.
"Um," Archie says, hands hovering above him, "maybe don't move so much? I mean, I don't think you're injured, but I don't want you to--"
"'m fine," Cook says, sitting up and wincing; all three of them are still here, still staring at him. He makes himself calm down and accept that this shit is really happening and takes a deep breath.
"You won't faint?" the duck -- Donald, wasn't it? -- asks skeptically, and Cook glares at him.
"No," he says, and Archie sits back on his haunches, looking relieved.
"Good," he says, smiling a little. "I mean, this isn't the first time people have been surprised to see us, but I've never had anyone faint before, you know, and I guess I knew there would be some worlds that didn't have the Heartless all over them yet, or people who knew about what was going on with Mickey and Ansem and stuff, but--"
Cook covers his mouth before he thinks about it and they both stare at each other in surprise, Archie's words stuttering to a stop before Cook jerks his hand away. A flush covers Archie's cheeks and Cook finds himself oddly charmed. It goes a ways towards making him less jittery, so he grins a little at Archie and is rewarded with a darker flush.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he tells him, and Donald huffs.
"Darn it," he squawks, "I knew this world wasn't gonna be helpful!"
"Calm down, Donald," Goofy says, patting Donald on the head. "I'm sure this guy here can help us somehow. All the worlds are involved in the war, after all."
"War?" Cook asks, and Archie squares his shoulders and says, "There's things you ought to know."
Cook listens and reminds himself that he's not crazy.
And after listening to all of them, it kind of makes sense. There have been all kinds of small things that add up to all the instances Archie describes. While they apparently aren't as bad as on other planets, those shadowy things -- the Heartless -- have been appearing on the news more and more, and there have been unexplained instances occurring all over LA. If it had just been Archie, Cook might've taken him for some psychotic asylum escapee, but the presence of Donald and Goofy (who are most certainly not costumes, Cook checked -- much to Donald's outrage) cement that this is really happening.
"So basically," Archie says, swinging his feet off the edge of the stage Cook is performing on tonight, "we're traveling around to different worlds looking for pieces of Ansem's journal. It might be the only thing we can use to stop the oncoming darkness. We're also looking for King Mickey," he adds when Donald clears his throat meaningfully.
"And you're looking for -- some girl?" Cook asks, feeling unaccountably disappointed by that.
"Brooke," Archie answers, smiling brightly. "She was my friend, on the island. I don't know what happened to her, but I've got to find her. She's somewhere out here, and this is the best way to do it. The gummi ship can go anywhere in the universe."
Gummi ship. Universe. Brooke. Cook's head is spinning again, but he isn't going to faint again.
He looks at Archie, who lifts the corner of his mouth in reply, and at Donald and Goofy and the whole fucking mess of the room that they battled Heartless in and he closes his eyes and says, "How can I help?"
Goofy stays behind in Cook's dressing room while they go out, because, Archie explains, "he tends to attract more attention, being so tall and loud? No offense, Goofy," to which Goofy responded cheerfully, "None taken, Archie!"
"More attention than a talking duck?" Cook asks under his breath, and Donald shoots him a sour look.
"Um," Archie says, smothering a grin, "We can pretend he's in a suit for some sort of promotional thing. It's a lot easier that way."
Donald makes an angry noise and crosses his arms.
"So," Cook says, leading the way through the venue -- which is apparently where Chip and Dale ("Our engineers," Archie had said) had felt the strongest current of magical powers and therefore was where they'd landed the ship before being overwhelmed by Heartless out for the Keyblade -- "What exactly are you looking for? I mean, where do you think the papers or whatever would be?"
"Hmm," Archie hummed, unsure, "Well, in the jungle with Tarzan the notes were in the camp, and in Agrabah, oh, I don't remember exactly where we found it, but I mean, it's never in any specific place."
"No 'here's the special notes, have fun' signs pointing to it?" Cook asks teasingly, and is pleased when Archie laughs.
"No," he says, looking up at Cook through his lashes, smiling softly. Donald makes a disgusted sound from behind them.
Cook is inexplicably happy, all things considered.
They eventually find the papers, mysteriously underneath the goddamn stage in a bucket. But that's only after a fresh batch of Heartless come and try to kill them all.
"Holy shit!" Cooks shouts, jumping over left-behind props and boxes as he's chased around, and Archie swings the Keyblade through the air, cutting three of them in half all at once.
"Cook!" he yells, "Get out of here! We can take them, you need to--" He's cut off as about six of the things jump on top of him. Cook feels his blood go icy cold and grabs the first thing he can, which turns out to be an old acoustic guitar. He smashes it onto the first shadow and it surprisingly doesn't break, but the Heartless screams at him and dissolves into nothing and that's fucking awesome.
Sparks fly from under the remaining Heartless and they all explode in a shower of magical sparks and their own shadows. Archie's panting and the Keyblade is glowing and Cook is irrationally turned on by the sight of him standing there with sweat on his brow, chest rising and falling, mouth a little parted. Donald quacks in panic in the corner with about two more of the Heartless ganging up on him, and Cook whacks one of them repeatedly on the head with the somehow indestructible guitar until it's gone.
There's absolute quiet in the aftermath of the battle, Archie staring at Cook and Cook staring back, and then Donald starts yelling about how the Heartless knocking everything over has somehow upended a bucket that have Ansem's notes in them and the moment is broken.
"Oh," Archie says quietly, looking a little lost. "That was--"
"Quick," Cook says, although they must've spent about two hours wandering around. Wow, he wonders if the crew is freaking out. Probably.
"We better go get Goofy," Donald says, folding the papers up carefully and putting them in a pouch. "We need to get back to the ship and head back to Traverse Town for more supplies."
"Um," Archie says, looking pleadingly at Donald, who sighs heavily.
"I can go get him myself," Donald intones, and Archie sends him a blinding smile, which makes Donald's bill quirk up in what could almost be a smile. "Don't stay too long, Archie."
"I won't," Archie promises, and Donald leaves them below the stage, standing awkwardly in front of each other. Cook is utterly perplexed by what his life has become in the past day.
"So," Archie begins, looking a little uncomfortable, "Um, I hope this wasn't -- I mean, I know you must still be a little freaked out because it is pretty crazy, I guess, although this was actually pretty routine for us, haha--"
"It was sort of fun," Cook admits, because even if Archie rambling is really cute, he's pretty sure they have limited time before Donald comes to whisk Archie away and he doesn't want to waste it. "Still think I could wake up any second, but I mean, all things considered, it was -- it was pretty awesome." He grins at Archie and gets another blush.
"Um, yeah," Archie says, ducking his head a little. "Thanks for helping. You were, with the guitar, that was -- you were great," he finishes finally. Cook sets the guitar down against the wall where it gleams dully at them, not a scratch on it. Weird, Cook thinks absently. But, all things considered, not so much.
"You're welcome," he murmurs. "So you guys, you're gonna, what, keep traveling around to worlds and find more of the journal?"
"That's the plan," Archie agrees. "We might, um, we might end up back here, though. Sometimes stuff happens."
"Ah," Cook nods. There's a pause, and then he says carefully, trying not to sound too eager, "Hey, you'll look me up if you come back, right?"
"Oh," Archie says, surprised. "Oh, yes, yeah, sure! If that's -- I mean, aren't you touring right now?"
"Yeah," Cook says, waving a hand, "but I've always got time to save the world." Archie beams at him and twirls the Keyblade absently.
"If you're sure," he says, and there's a comfortable moment before feet pound above them and they both hear Goofy say, "Donald, why're you jumping around like that?"
"I guess that's my cue," Archie says wryly, gesturing above, and Cook laughs. "I'll see you around, Cook."
Cook considers him a moment, and then leans forward and presses a kiss to his cheek briefly. He feels it heat beneath his lips and grins before pulling back. "See you, Archie."
Archie brings a palm up to press against his red face and stares at him, lips parting in shock. Cook grins at him and points to the ceiling, where the sound of pounding feet is growing louder.
"Better go," he says, smiling.
"Oh," Archie says dazedly, "Right." He casts a frustrated look up at the sound and then runs from the room.
Cook watches him go and wonders when he'll come back.