Star Trek RPF Kink Meme - Part Three
PART ONE
PART TWO
So, this is pretty self-explanatory; we're closely following in the footsteps of st_xi_kink, except this time it's all about the real person fiction. Just because the other two mods and myself are shameless does not mean you all have to be; posting anonymously is fine, nay encouraged. All you do is request a pairing and a a prompt/kink and ( Read more... )
PART TWO
So, this is pretty self-explanatory; we're closely following in the footsteps of st_xi_kink, except this time it's all about the real person fiction. Just because the other two mods and myself are shameless does not mean you all have to be; posting anonymously is fine, nay encouraged. All you do is request a pairing and a a prompt/kink and ( Read more... )
Now, this is a WIP as of right now, but I promise it will eventually get finished. I'll be posting here with updates until it's finished, at which point it will be polished, cleaned up, etc. etc. Also, it's...going to be a while until we get to the scene above. Sadly.
*
The one good thing, Chris figured, about being stuck in the middle-of-fucking-nowhere Pennsylvania with raving madman addicted to Diet Coke who simply posed as the director for a film about time traveling farmers was the people he got to work with. Inexperienced though he was, Chris knew he was lucky to have such a close knit group of fellow actors to surround him all the time; in this strange land among strange people and under the strange control of JJ, it was nice to have fellow cohorts in crime.
That being said, it didn’t make Chris any less irritated when one of them… overstepped their boundaries a bit.
“So, whatever happened with you and that-oh, the girl with the-“John said, gesticulating vaguely.
“Use your words, sweetie,” Zoe said blithely to the hilarity of the rest of the group, gathered around poker chips and various alcoholic beverages.
“Oh, fuck off, Saldana-you know, Chris? The girl,” John leered.
Chris just rolled his eyes. “If you’d been paying attention on at least twelve of the thirty hours we were stuck on a bus, Cho, you’d know she’s pretty fucking pissed about the fact that I’m spending twelve weeks in Pennsylvania.”
“Wait-didn’t she complain last month about you not having any work?” John asked.
“-but was she pissed enough about ending it?” Karl asked at the same time.
“Wait, how long had the two of you been dating, anyway?” Zoe rebutted. “Did she even have a right to get angry?”
Chris felt his jaw start to clench as John, Karl, and Zoe continued to ask and answer questions about his personal life as if he were just another poker chip sitting at the table, while Simon and Anton watched the growing storm silently.
“Her name,” Chris interjected with sudden force, bringing the gossip to a standstill, “is Olivia. We had been dating for six months, I understand why she was pissed, and she doesn’t fucking deserve to be treated like-like-a-plaything for your amusement.” Chris tried very, very hard to not look anyone in the eye as he quietly gathered his belongings from the table. “And neither do I.”
*
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Chris was sorely tempted to yell fuck off at whoever knocked at his trailer door right as he was beginning to fall asleep, but the vague chance that it might actually be someone important roused him from his light nap and sent him to the door. Of course, it was Karl.
“Look,” Chris said, rubbing his hands over his face, “I-“
“Both of us-all of us-were assholes,” Karl said succinctly. “I’m sorry, and I know Zoe and John are too, even if they did have a four a.m. makeup call and couldn't be here for this cozy get-together.”
Chris made what he hoped was a sympathetic face in return. “Nailed it on the head,” Chris said, gesturing inside his trailer for Karl to come inside.
“Unfortunately, I’ve got to be on set in about ten minutes,” Karl said, and Chris heard and saw the true repentance in his eyes. “I just stopped by to clear the air and let you know that there is this excellent restaurant just outside Lancaster-“
“I can take care of myself,” Chris said, internally wincing at his snotty tone.
Karl scowled. “I was going to invite you to come with me, Zoe, and John, but if you’re going to be an ass about it-“
“Sorry,” Chris muttered. “But-what’s the name of this place?”
“The Dutch Kitchen,” Karl said, the good humor and grace back in his voice just as quickly as it had left. “They’ve got about twenty different kinds of pie, and it’s absolutely delicious…”
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*
Chris tried very, very hard not to curse as he drove slowly down the road. It was past dark and raining, he was marvelously lost, his cell phone was dead, and he still hadn’t eaten dinner yet because fucking Karl didn’t want to carpool.
“Fucking Karl,” Chris grumbled as he searched in vain for some clue as to where he was, other than the middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania.
Out of nowhere, a figure walking down the side of the road emerged in the darkness. Chris weighed the odds of encountering a serial killer in this part of the country, and decided risking brutal murder was a better fate than starving to death in the countryside. He pulled off to the side and rolled down his window. “I hate to be rude and ignore you,” he shouted over
the rain, “but I honestly have no clue where I am.”
The man’s face looked in from the passenger’s side window, water dripping from the brim of his straw hat. “Well, I think both of us are in luck,” he replied with a small smile. “I know exactly where I’m going, but no pleasant way to get there. Any chance I could ride with you?”
Chris smiled and unlocked the doors. “Hop on in!”
As the man climbed into Chris’s rent-a-car, Chris began to take notice of the man’s personal characteristics outside of tall, mysterious, and sopping wet. His straw hat wasn’t the only odd piece of clothing he was wearing; the man’s entire outfit looked as though it belonged on an Amish farm-
“Oh,” Chris said suddenly, looking for a word that adequately described his embarrassment and frustration other than fuck, “you’re Amish, and now I’ve gone and got you - shunned or whatever you call it-“
“You are right about the first bit,” the man said, sounding blithely amused in the face of Chris’s distress. “But I fail to see how you have done anything that would warrant discipline by the church.”
“Amish? So, no cars, ever?” Chris said. “Or am I just that clueless?”
The man’s soft grin broke into a full-on smile. “While owning cars is certainly a violation of the Ordnung, riding in one is not forbidden in the least.”
Chris let out a laugh because he really didn’t know what else to do. “Well, good to know. I’m Chris, by the way,” he said, sticking out a hand.
“Zachary,” the man said, returning the handshake, albeit a bit awkwardly. “And I take it you are quite lost?”
“Unbelievably so,” Chris said with a laugh. “I was supposed to be at this place-The Dutch Kitchen, I think it was called-like a half hour ago-“
Zachary’s laugh was unexpected, but Chris welcomed it in the face of his frustration. “What a coincidence,” Zachary said. “I am late arriving there myself.”
Chris smiled as he finally put the char in drive. “Good to know the company will be nice, even if the food isn’t.”
“I assure you,” Zach said with another unexpected chuckle, “the food is delicious. My mother has always been a great cook."
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And, Chris, sticking his foot in his mouth? Adorable!
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The restaurant, The Dutch Kitchen, was surprisingly well lit for being so late at night- shining through the darkness and the rain, as seemingly all the lights were on. Chris didn’t see any familiar cars in the small gravel parking lot, and he mentally cursed, knowing that Karl, Zoe, and John had probably given up and gone back to the hotel for the night. Chris wondered how he was going to explain his absence to them.
“I don’t see my friends here,” Chris said reluctantly, not wanting to leave the company of Zachary just yet. “But I think I could find my way back into town-“
“But you have not eaten yet, correct?” Zachary said, and Chris thinks he sees that same reluctance in Zachary’s face. “I do not wish to presume who you would spend your evening with, but I know there will still be food available inside if you choose to stay.”
Chris smiled. “If you’re certain I won’t be a bother to anyone-“
“Please,” Zach said, and his smile was genuine, “you will be lucky if
anyone notices you’re there at all.”
But before Chris could ask what in the world that meant, Zachary got out of the car and went inside; Chris could do nothing but follow.
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Suddenly, Zachary’s comment makes perfect sense.
“Not that I presume to know all the members of my family,” said a voice to Chris’s right, “but seeing as we’re the only two English people in the room, and I know I’m not related to you-who are you?”
Chris turned towards the voice, and there was a man who looks as out of place as Chris feels-he was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans, and the man’s dark hair was definitely gelled.
“Oh-um-I’m Chris,” Chris said, grabbing his neck as he reached forward to shake the man’s hand. “I was supposed to meet some friends here about an hour ago, but I got ridiculously lost, and-“ Chris looked out into the crowd for Zachary, hoping he wouldn’t have to offer a similar explanation to everyone in the room. “-I passed by Zachary, and he said he was going here and that there would still be food and everything-“
“Joseph,” Zachary said, having emerged from the crowd of people, “are you interrogating my friend here?”
The man-Joseph, apparently-turned away from Chris and laughed heartily, drawing Zachary into big hug. Chris felt his stomach clench a little; from the awkwardness, he thought, from how weird it is to see two worlds colliding like that.
“Chris,” Zach said, turning his bright grin onto Chris, “this is my brother, Joseph.” Chris smiled back at the man, setting aside his confusion for the moment (the clench in his stomach having mysteriously disappeared).
“Call me Joe,” Joe said, with a sidelong look at his brother. “Zachary here is the only one who calls me Joseph these days.”
“Pardon me for being rude,” Chris said, leaning in to be heard over the noise of the room, “but- “
“I’m not exactly a plain person?” Joe finished with a good-natured, if somewhat weary, smile.
“Joseph was never baptized in the church,” Zachary said, and Chris noted that there was no bitterness or animosity there, just the simple truth, “which means that despite his family’s choices, he has no more obligation to follow the rules of the church than you are.”
Chris nodded, wondering how much he ‘knew’ about the Amish was based on conjecture and hearsay. “So all these people are-family?”
Zachary and Joe smiled. “Yes,” Zachary said, “my mother was one of seven children, so you’re looking at somewhere around thirty first cousins and their offspring.”
“It’s a bit overwhelming,” Joe said, “but you get used to it. Come on,” he said, gesturing forward, “there’s plenty of food left, but who knows how long it will last!”
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Once they finally had their food, Chris and Zachary sat down towards the back of the room at a bench with a good view of the rest of the family. Joe had gone to sit down next to another modernly dressed woman who Chris assumed was his wife or girlfriend.
“That’s Amalie,” Zachary said after following Chris’s gaze and reading the question in his eyes. “Joseph married her about two years ago, and she is pregnant with their first child.”
Chris turned to look at Zachary, really noticing his beard for the first time. “I know this is probably none of my business,” Chris said, his hand coming up to scrape his own stubbly cheek, “are you-is there--?”
Zach looked down at his plate, his lips pursed. “I… my wife, Sarah, died a year and a half ago in childbirth.” He drew a slow breath. “I keep my beard for tradition’s sake and also to-to remember.” Zachary nodded his head briefly before turning to his food.
Chris bit his lip, searching for the right words. He put his hand out awkwardly before making a fist in the air, knowing physical comfort would be-unwise. “I’m sure she was wonderful,” Chris said.
They ate in silence for a moment before Zachary spoke again. “We’re actually having this gathering because five of my cousins are getting married this month.”
“Congratulations,” Chris said, smiling and grateful for the move away from awkwardly personal subjects. “So this isn’t a normal thing for you all?”
“We do normally get together on Sunday nights,” Zachary said, “but not… all of us. My mother’s family is close-knit, despite its size, so most other families don’t have these sorts of gatherings unless it’s the actual wedding”
But before Chris could ask any more questions, two men stood at the front of the room and gathered everyone’s attention.
“I forgot to mention,” Zach said, his voice suddenly very close to Chris’s ear, “that there is a singing whenever we get together. My apologies for forgetting to tell you.” Chris was going to have to try very hard to stop the shivers that ran down his spine every time Zachary spoke.
“That’s perfectly fine,” Chris said, a little in awe of what he was getting to witness. The two men spoke in Pennsylvania German, and Chris smiled along when everyone laughed.
“We’re going to sing a song everyone knows from the Ausbund, the hymnal,” Zach said into his ear. “I’ll try and translate if I can.”
Soon, a chorus of voices filled the air, lead by the two men at the front of the room, as everyone sang in unison.
“We alone a little flock,” said Zach, and Chris felt the shivers start again, “the few who still remain are exiles wandering-through the land, in sorrow and in pain.”
Chris looked out on the crowd of plain people, old men and women interspersed with young parents with babies in their laps. Even Joe was singing along, a sad smile on his face and his hand wrapped around his wife’s.
“We wander through the forests dark with dogs upon our tracks,” Zach said, his voice following the rise and fall of the singing. “And like the captive, silent lamb men bring us, prisoners back…”
Chris eventually stopped following the running translation in his ear, choosing instead to let the dark timbre of Zachary’s voice and the beauty of the unison verses wash over him.
quick side note: if you are like me and are a ridiculously visual person and need a picture to visualize ZQ with a full beard, the closet I was able to find was this picture via google.
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“Thank you,” was all Chris could say, and he hoped the message got across.
“It was the least I can do,” Zachary says, his serious eyes belaying the humor in his voice, “when you picked me up on a cold, stormy night without knowing so much as my name.”
“We can thank you for keeping young Zachary safe, then?” Joe said as he walked up. “If he hadn’t stayed so late at the schoolhouse, then I would have been able to pick him up and he wouldn’t have had to walk at all in the rain…”
Zachary rolled his eyes, and Chris got the feeling that this was just the latest branch of an old argument. “I’m a schoolteacher,” Zachary said for Chris’s clarification, “and Joseph here doesn’t understand why I have to stay a little past when the students leave-“
“-Chris picked you up at, what, seven-thirty? That’s hours after the kids leave-“
“-so that I can do the job I am, in fact, paid to do-“
“-paid about a quarter of what you should make, seeing as how fantastic a teacher you are-“
“-but my brother has always been the brawn to my brains,” Zachary finished, looking positively sassy as Chris tried very hard not to clutch his sides in laughter.
Joe just rolled his eyes and threw up his hands in defeat. “I’m going home, little brother, but I’ll see you at Rebecca’s wedding, right?”
Zachary smiled and nodded, and Joe clasped a hand to his shoulder in farewell.
“It was nice meeting you, Chris,” Joe said with a strange smile and a wave as he walked out with Amalie.
Chris glanced down at his watch, and was shocked to see it was only ten-thirty --because of not only how tired he was for this relatively early hour, but for how long he had been with Zachary and not noticed the time. He hoped that Karl or anyone else wasn’t out with a search party yet.
“I’m afraid I’ve got to go back into town,” Chris said, “as I’m worried my friends have called the police by now.”
Zachary smiled. “Do you need directions, then, so you don’t happen upon another poor, wandering soul who is less friendly?” he teased.
“Directions would be nice,” Chris said with a biting tone that was mitigated by his wide grin, “but I wanted to know if you needed a ride back home.”
“Although the offer is appreciated, I believe the rain has stopped,” Zach said, “and though the schoolhouse is very far from here, I live much closer. Walking would be preferable.”
Chris nodded in acknowledgment, oddly sad to say goodbye seeing as how much time they had spent together this evening. Slowly, they began to make their way to the door-taking a longer amount of time than Chris anticipated, as Zachary presumably had to both introduce Chris to everyone he had missed earlier in the evening and say goodbye to all his family as well.
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http://pdc.wikipedia.org/wiki/English/Pennsylvania_German/High_German_dictionary
“So, thirty first cousins?” Chris said, enjoying the crunch of the gravel parking lot and the chill of the early November air.
Zachary smiled and nodded his assent. “I am surprised you still want to associate with any of us after experiencing a family gathering.”
Chris grinned, showing his teeth, before replying. “Are you kidding? I love it-my parents were both only children, and it was just me and my sister growing up, so I’ve always loved being with friends who have big families. I had a couple of friends in college who would accuse me of just being their friend so I could come over for family dinners.”
Zachary smiled, and Chris firmly, firmly, clamped down on the whoosh in his stomach; Zachary was every bit Chris’s type-tall, intelligent, funny, kind, and completely unavailable-but he knew in the marrow of his bones the kind of self-loathing that would follow if anything did happen to come of it.
They hovered in the cold and silence a little longer, neither quite wanting to say goodbye just yet. “Despite her family’s rather prodigious proliferation,” Zach says, and Chris grins at the alliteration, “my mother was not so blessed. Her pregnancy and labor were very difficult for both me and my brother.”
“I’ll admit I was a bit curious why you were the only one of your mom’s family without twelve brothers or sisters,” Chris said with a wry smile that faded a bit when he looked over at Zachary’s face.
“She nearly died giving birth to me,” Zachary admitted, looking over at Chris. “And that was after several miscarriages and stillbirths. There were some who thought her foolish for trying at all after the difficulties she had with Joseph.”
“What did your father think about all that?” Chris asked, suddenly realizing that although Zachary and Joe had pointed out their mother, Zachary’s father had been conspicuously absent from both the evening’s proceedings and conversations.
Zach grinned. “He called me es Kind die Hoffning, the child of Hope,” Zachary said, “and called my mother die schtarrick Fraa, the strong woman. Mother would tell him to stop being so proud, and of course he would tell her that when his family stopped being so wonderful, he would stop being so proud.” Zach looked at the ground a bit, and Chris felt the dread start to form in his stomach as Zach’s tight-lipped expression came back. “He… was a kind man, when he was still with us.”
“He sounds wonderful, Zachary,” Chris said for the second time that evening, wanting to kick himself for apparently having a penchant for bringing up Zachary’s beloved dead relatives.
“I feel bad,” Chris said suddenly with a small laugh. “I know so much about you, but I feel like I’ve told you nothing about me.”
Chris burst out laughing at Zachary’s shocked expression.
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“You’re a widower who teaches for next to no pay,” Chris said. “Your mother cooks delicious food for a successful restaurant, your father is dead, and your brother was never baptized in the church. You’re extremely intelligent, absolutely hilarious, and pull off the hat look better than anyone I’ve seen so far.” Okay, so that last bit hadn’t exactly meant to be out loud, but Chris rolled with it. “And you’ve never monopolized the conversation, so there’s nothing to apologize for.”
In the shady light of the trees, Chris could see the flash of color on Zach’s cheeks beneath his beard, and saw the way his mouth was twisted into a reluctant and embarrassed smile. “And you are an English actor who is from a small family,” Zachary said. “You are reserved and private, but have an easy smile. Your kindness is also quite unbelievable,” Zachary said, and Chris both wanted to crawl into the ground and hug this man until the self-consciousness he could still see in the lines of Zachary’s face went away.
“Listen,” Chris said, unsure of how to broach the topic of so when can I see you again without sounding desperate or ridiculous, “I-I’m in this area for the next twelve weeks, and-“
“On second thought,” Zachary said with a thoughtful smile, “do drive me home. And whenever you wish, you are welcome to come visit.”
Chris grinned as they hopped in the car, trying very hard to ignore the bubble of warm joy that had formed in his chest when Zachary had offered his open invitation.
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