fic: A Day at the Beach (X-Men: First Class)

[thistlerose]

Title: A Day at the Beach
Fandom: X-Men: First Class
Rating: teen
Pairing(s): Darwin/Havok
Notes: For afrodyetee's request at 1stclass_kink. Considering the year, they’re probably a bit less cautious than they should be. Then again, they have super powers. 4,850 words.

Summary: Alex and Armando spend a day at the beach. They can't escape their cares completely, but

Comments

[realpestilence]

I am practically WEEPING because this won't ever be in the movies, damn it! You caught this...lazy-sweet-edgy-vulnerable vibe and sustained it throughout the fic, which is impressive. You kept up the interplay and the mood between them that makes this feel like a continuation of rubynye's "Sky Turns to Flame", one of my favorite fics for this pairing.

There's enough realism in how people look at them, both racially and gender-wise, that it creeps in around the edges, but doesn't overwhelm the "just us" special time together.

[thistlerose]

Eeeee, being compared with Ruby's fic (one of my favorites too) is a huge compliment (you hear that, Ruby? ♥ ?)!!!

I'm so glad you liked this. I don't usually write like this, posting scenes as soon as they're written, but it was for one of the kink memes and I wanted to try something new. I also wanted to imagine a really lovely day for them, while at least acknowledging some of the issues they'd face as an interracial same-sex couple in the early 1960s. They'd probably have to be just as wary today in some parts of the country. :(

Thank you for your lovely comment! ♥

[realpestilence]

They'd have to be wary, but not just because Darwin's black or they're gay. Alex wouldn't be automatically accepted by everyone they ran into, either-plenty of non-white people don't like white people, and then there's the ex-con thing he's got going on. That could actually help him, in some circles, give him street cred; but it would definitely hinder him, in others.

[thistlerose]

True, he might encounter some prejudice as a white guy (and as a young person). But it would be nothing like what Darwin would have to worry about.

Actually, in a story I'm still brainstorming, Alex spends a lot of time angsting about the fact that his real parents and brother probably wouldn't want him, even if they were still alive, because of who he is and what he's done.

[realpestilence]

Oh, I'm not saying it would be as hard for him as for Darwin. I'm saying it would happen, and it would hurt

[thistlerose]

No, I see what you're saying. I agree totally that just because a person looks like the default (as determined by society) it doesn't mean he doesn't have serious problems or that he isn't going to encounter prejudice from some quarter. Raven's natural appearance prevents her from being treated as "normal" by society, but from the time she met Charles, she seems to have lived in a stable, loving home. Whereas someone like Alex - we assume - was not so lucky.

At the same time someone like Alex or Sean or Janos or Charles (pre-Cuba, anyway) isn't going to encounter the sort of institutionalized prejudice that someone like Darwin or Angel or (to a certain degree) Erik would have to deal with.

Alex might get beat up for wandering into the wrong neighborhood, but his story is more likely to be believed by persons in authority (like the police) than, say, Angel.