West Wing FF: Stranger is equally apt [Sam/Toby/Josh; PG-13]
Delurking from ScriptFrenzy and lgbtfest shenanigans to post what it mostly fluff. Belated fluff, for raedbard's birthday. It's still the 8th on New York time though, right? Everything's better on New York time.
Title: Stranger is equally apt
Fandom: The West Wing
Pairing: Sam/Toby/Josh
Rating: PG-13. Honest. Sadly.
Length: 1,600 words
Disclaimer: All belongs to Sorkin and Wells
Spoilers: Set just post 1.12, He Shall From Time to Time
AN: E: So, this is not actually Sam/Toby, or even Toby/Josh nor does it contain much sex or even much sarcasm. Also it isn't comment-fic anymore. But it is, totally, a SotU aftermath. So it still counts as a response to prompt, right? (It's the episode, the looks Toby and Josh give each other in the residence, and Josh with Sam being Abbott and Costello. And I think I've written a post-show for all the other SotUs and a few for AU ones already!) I hope you like it anyway.
The country is stranger than it was a year ago.
CJ is probably still out there corralling press, or Danny, or media outlets. Sam is sitting in Toby’s office with the lights off. There was, he believes, wine at some point. Sam can drink wine - he is a California WASP underneath everything else - but he tires of it quickly. It’s not a victory drink.
The first time, Sam remembered very little of the process. It was tangled in with their hundred days, and the lag from the election speeches, and the Inaugural address. This one, he wants to savour. Even if the President was still shaky until he stood at the podium; even if Toby and Josh nearly came to blows yesterday; even if it’s now being reported that Sam’s spelling is worse than Carol’s. (It isn’t his fault that Toby handwrites the changes, and expects Sam to get them into the teleprompter by force of will, without the intervening time and keyboard.)
Toby opens the door, and closes it quickly. He leans his back against it.
Sam asks, “Had enough of being congratulated?”
“I could ask you the same question.”
“I just wanted to sit, for a moment.”
“In my office.”
“Where else?”
“Do you- There’s a bottle in my apartment. And I can guarantee quiet.”
Sam is pretty sure that, although he has probably spent more time alone in a room with Toby than anyone else in his lifetime, he can count the number of times he’s been invited into his apartment on one hand.
Josh bursts into the room, letting in light, and sound, and smell of the cigarettes that no one should really be smoking in the offices. Josh says, “Sam, I-.” He looks at Toby and says, “Oh.”
Toby says, “This is my office, you know.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m just saying, if you’re surprised to see anyone in here…”
“I thought you were with CJ.”
“She’s with Danny.”
Josh smirks. “I’ll bet she is.” He turns to Sam. “Why aren’t you with Mallory? You shouldn’t waste that kind of-”
Sam glares. “Josh!”
“Fine. So I was looking for you.”
“You want to get a drink,” Sam realises. Like they did after the first big speech Sam ever wrote, and after his graduation, after the first speech the President liked. He had forgotten, because after the Inaugural they had all been together, and after the first State of the Union it had just been Toby, when Josh was called away.
“Yeah,” Josh says, “we should celebrate. Unless you were…” He looks at Toby, between Toby and Sam.
“Back to my place,” Toby says, at the same time as Sam says, “No.” They look at each other for a long, confused moment. Then Toby says, “You should come.”
Josh blinks. “Yeah, okay. Sure.”
* * * *
Josh had said ‘us’ before. Leo’s gonna kill ‘us’, for Sam’s speech. As much as they share victory, they share defeat too. And Sam’s not sure if it’s just the remnants of knowing that Josh brought Sam in, but he doesn’t mind so much.
What he minds, sometimes, is the effect which that (still) has on his relationship with Toby and Josh together. Because way back when, Sam had just been Josh’s friend, and Toby hadn’t wanted him there.
When he is with the two of them, mostly what he feels is young. Too young for his job, too young to be taken seriously, too young to sit happy amid Josh and Toby’s tragedies. They either laugh at him or compete for his attention.
Now, though, Sam sits back, and watches the odd silence between the two of them. Yesterday, Toby had disappeared, and then Josh had disappeared, and they had both come back quiet but happy. And the era of big government wasn’t over after all. Something had happened, though Sam had not been a part of it.
“An instrument of good,” Josh says, looking at Toby, seated on the couch.
“Excuse me?”
“That’s what you said, before. Government can be an instrument of good. We can.”
“Yes.”
“It didn’t sound like you.”
Sam stands up to walk to the window, and so doesn’t see Toby’s look.
He does hear Toby say, “You think I need to steal my lines from him?”
“I’m saying maybe you can finally admit something to me. Or him. Whichever, you know.”
“I didn’t steal the line.”
“For God’s sake, Toby, I know that. But I know you tested it out on him first, and I think maybe he helped you say it.”
Sam hears the steps: Toby following him to the window, and Josh following Toby.
DC is quiet tonight, though it is already late enough that early shift workers are waking.
They stand to either side of him. Sam has opened the window, and is breathing in the night air. It is cold, but neither of them ask him to close it.
Sam turns, and manages to trip himself up. They steady him, one arm apiece. Josh laughs, and Toby smiles. Sam catches his breath.
Toby looks at Josh, across Sam’s body and says, “I was wrong, the first time.”
Josh stares.
Toby tightens his grip on Sam’s arm. He’s still looking at Josh. “That was what you wanted?”
“Yeah…”
“So. Thank you, I suppose, is what you meant me to say. For, you know, bringing him.”
Sam is hopelessly, utterly lost, until Toby turns his head, and kisses Sam’s cheek. And Josh coughs, once, startled, but not actually surprised. Josh’s hand is warm on Sam’s shoulder, warmer when it creeps to his neck.
“To you,” Josh says. “Thank you for bringing him to you, is what you meant.”
“Yes.” Then Toby coughs, awkward rather than caught out. Off Sam’s expression, Toby kisses him again, mouth rather than cheek, which makes all the difference.
This is what Sam did not realise he wanted - the reason he was unaccountably disappointed when Josh came into the office tonight. Except then Josh leans forward, tilting Sam’s head, and kisses the place Toby’s lips were, just a moment ago.
Sam has missed a whole conversation, somewhere, waiting for the words. He says, “Oh.”
Toby laughs, against Sam’s back. “Oh, he says.”
Josh talks over Sam’s shoulder. “He’s a little slow.”
“He’s lucky we’re here,” Toby says.
“Yeah,” Josh agrees, and stands up taller to kiss Toby over Sam’s body.
Toby does not say ‘oh’ or sound surprised in the least by this development. Sam isn’t sure he’s drunk enough yet to be unsurprised. He is surprised by Josh’s hand, and the graze of Toby’s beard on his neck. He is surprised by the way Toby ducks his head when Sam turns around, and the way Josh’s fingers curl loosely around Toby’s before they kiss again. They have not done this before, but they are prepared, in a way Sam is not. It has been two years and he is still not quite sure how to work with them both together. They fight, all the time, and Sam has often thought they were not so far from punches. When they are both in the room, Sam’s focus gets caught between them, waiting for the genius or the explosion.
Josh kisses Toby as though he’s asking forgiveness; Toby like the thanks he would not say before.
They break apart, breathing heavily. Sam gets the feeling he’s still staring.
Toby looks at him. “You did well on this one.”
Josh says, “You both did.”
Sam says, “I know we did. You don’t need to sound so surprised.” He turns his head to Toby. “Both of you.”
He surprises them, this time, charming laughter from the cool air.
Josh wraps his fingers around Sam’s wrist. “Learn to take a compliment, would you?” His other hand falls on Toby’s arm. “And you.”
Sam is not sure who leads. Josh was holding onto both of them, but Sam will not be able to swear later that he was not the one who pulled them - joined hands - towards Toby’s bedroom.
* * * *
When Sam wakes up, it is only a few hours later, and Toby’s radio has turned itself on. A woman is talking about the speech.
It’s policy, as much as oratory, and Sam knows they both have to impress. But she is talking about words he wrote with Toby, and Sam smiles.
Toby wakes partway. “Josh? Turn the damn alarm off.”
Josh, on the other side of the bed, bats a hand at the radio until it stops talking. He makes a noise which may have been intended as a question, but turns out mostly as a grunt.
Toby must understand, because he nods agreement into the pillow.
Sam considers getting out of the bed, and sneaking into the next room to watch the TV coverage. They’re going to need to wake up soon anyway - the news won’t spin itself.
He untangles himself from the two of them: caught under Toby’s leg and Josh’s arm. When he moves, their arms fall together in the space he leaves.
“Sam,” Toby mutters.
“Yes, I’m turning on the coffee. Go back to sleep for a while.”
Josh opens his eyes halfway. “I knew there was a reason we kept you around.”
Toby laughs, almost noiselessly.
Sam glares, but there is no force behind it. Toby is glad to have him, and Josh is glad to have brought him. Yesterday the President of the United States read his words to the nation. It’s hard to be offended by anything right now.
The TV plays back coverage of the speech, and Sam puts the coffee on. In the other room, he can hear the low stirring noises of two men waking up. Sam laughs, and hums to himself.
The country is stranger than it was a year ago. Sam is quite at home with strange.
FIN
Title: Stranger is equally apt
Fandom: The West Wing
Pairing: Sam/Toby/Josh
Rating: PG-13. Honest. Sadly.
Length: 1,600 words
Disclaimer: All belongs to Sorkin and Wells
Spoilers: Set just post 1.12, He Shall From Time to Time
AN: E: So, this is not actually Sam/Toby, or even Toby/Josh nor does it contain much sex or even much sarcasm. Also it isn't comment-fic anymore. But it is, totally, a SotU aftermath. So it still counts as a response to prompt, right? (It's the episode, the looks Toby and Josh give each other in the residence, and Josh with Sam being Abbott and Costello. And I think I've written a post-show for all the other SotUs and a few for AU ones already!) I hope you like it anyway.
The country is stranger than it was a year ago.
CJ is probably still out there corralling press, or Danny, or media outlets. Sam is sitting in Toby’s office with the lights off. There was, he believes, wine at some point. Sam can drink wine - he is a California WASP underneath everything else - but he tires of it quickly. It’s not a victory drink.
The first time, Sam remembered very little of the process. It was tangled in with their hundred days, and the lag from the election speeches, and the Inaugural address. This one, he wants to savour. Even if the President was still shaky until he stood at the podium; even if Toby and Josh nearly came to blows yesterday; even if it’s now being reported that Sam’s spelling is worse than Carol’s. (It isn’t his fault that Toby handwrites the changes, and expects Sam to get them into the teleprompter by force of will, without the intervening time and keyboard.)
Toby opens the door, and closes it quickly. He leans his back against it.
Sam asks, “Had enough of being congratulated?”
“I could ask you the same question.”
“I just wanted to sit, for a moment.”
“In my office.”
“Where else?”
“Do you- There’s a bottle in my apartment. And I can guarantee quiet.”
Sam is pretty sure that, although he has probably spent more time alone in a room with Toby than anyone else in his lifetime, he can count the number of times he’s been invited into his apartment on one hand.
Josh bursts into the room, letting in light, and sound, and smell of the cigarettes that no one should really be smoking in the offices. Josh says, “Sam, I-.” He looks at Toby and says, “Oh.”
Toby says, “This is my office, you know.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m just saying, if you’re surprised to see anyone in here…”
“I thought you were with CJ.”
“She’s with Danny.”
Josh smirks. “I’ll bet she is.” He turns to Sam. “Why aren’t you with Mallory? You shouldn’t waste that kind of-”
Sam glares. “Josh!”
“Fine. So I was looking for you.”
“You want to get a drink,” Sam realises. Like they did after the first big speech Sam ever wrote, and after his graduation, after the first speech the President liked. He had forgotten, because after the Inaugural they had all been together, and after the first State of the Union it had just been Toby, when Josh was called away.
“Yeah,” Josh says, “we should celebrate. Unless you were…” He looks at Toby, between Toby and Sam.
“Back to my place,” Toby says, at the same time as Sam says, “No.” They look at each other for a long, confused moment. Then Toby says, “You should come.”
Josh blinks. “Yeah, okay. Sure.”
* * * *
Josh had said ‘us’ before. Leo’s gonna kill ‘us’, for Sam’s speech. As much as they share victory, they share defeat too. And Sam’s not sure if it’s just the remnants of knowing that Josh brought Sam in, but he doesn’t mind so much.
What he minds, sometimes, is the effect which that (still) has on his relationship with Toby and Josh together. Because way back when, Sam had just been Josh’s friend, and Toby hadn’t wanted him there.
When he is with the two of them, mostly what he feels is young. Too young for his job, too young to be taken seriously, too young to sit happy amid Josh and Toby’s tragedies. They either laugh at him or compete for his attention.
Now, though, Sam sits back, and watches the odd silence between the two of them. Yesterday, Toby had disappeared, and then Josh had disappeared, and they had both come back quiet but happy. And the era of big government wasn’t over after all. Something had happened, though Sam had not been a part of it.
“An instrument of good,” Josh says, looking at Toby, seated on the couch.
“Excuse me?”
“That’s what you said, before. Government can be an instrument of good. We can.”
“Yes.”
“It didn’t sound like you.”
Sam stands up to walk to the window, and so doesn’t see Toby’s look.
He does hear Toby say, “You think I need to steal my lines from him?”
“I’m saying maybe you can finally admit something to me. Or him. Whichever, you know.”
“I didn’t steal the line.”
“For God’s sake, Toby, I know that. But I know you tested it out on him first, and I think maybe he helped you say it.”
Sam hears the steps: Toby following him to the window, and Josh following Toby.
DC is quiet tonight, though it is already late enough that early shift workers are waking.
They stand to either side of him. Sam has opened the window, and is breathing in the night air. It is cold, but neither of them ask him to close it.
Sam turns, and manages to trip himself up. They steady him, one arm apiece. Josh laughs, and Toby smiles. Sam catches his breath.
Toby looks at Josh, across Sam’s body and says, “I was wrong, the first time.”
Josh stares.
Toby tightens his grip on Sam’s arm. He’s still looking at Josh. “That was what you wanted?”
“Yeah…”
“So. Thank you, I suppose, is what you meant me to say. For, you know, bringing him.”
Sam is hopelessly, utterly lost, until Toby turns his head, and kisses Sam’s cheek. And Josh coughs, once, startled, but not actually surprised. Josh’s hand is warm on Sam’s shoulder, warmer when it creeps to his neck.
“To you,” Josh says. “Thank you for bringing him to you, is what you meant.”
“Yes.” Then Toby coughs, awkward rather than caught out. Off Sam’s expression, Toby kisses him again, mouth rather than cheek, which makes all the difference.
This is what Sam did not realise he wanted - the reason he was unaccountably disappointed when Josh came into the office tonight. Except then Josh leans forward, tilting Sam’s head, and kisses the place Toby’s lips were, just a moment ago.
Sam has missed a whole conversation, somewhere, waiting for the words. He says, “Oh.”
Toby laughs, against Sam’s back. “Oh, he says.”
Josh talks over Sam’s shoulder. “He’s a little slow.”
“He’s lucky we’re here,” Toby says.
“Yeah,” Josh agrees, and stands up taller to kiss Toby over Sam’s body.
Toby does not say ‘oh’ or sound surprised in the least by this development. Sam isn’t sure he’s drunk enough yet to be unsurprised. He is surprised by Josh’s hand, and the graze of Toby’s beard on his neck. He is surprised by the way Toby ducks his head when Sam turns around, and the way Josh’s fingers curl loosely around Toby’s before they kiss again. They have not done this before, but they are prepared, in a way Sam is not. It has been two years and he is still not quite sure how to work with them both together. They fight, all the time, and Sam has often thought they were not so far from punches. When they are both in the room, Sam’s focus gets caught between them, waiting for the genius or the explosion.
Josh kisses Toby as though he’s asking forgiveness; Toby like the thanks he would not say before.
They break apart, breathing heavily. Sam gets the feeling he’s still staring.
Toby looks at him. “You did well on this one.”
Josh says, “You both did.”
Sam says, “I know we did. You don’t need to sound so surprised.” He turns his head to Toby. “Both of you.”
He surprises them, this time, charming laughter from the cool air.
Josh wraps his fingers around Sam’s wrist. “Learn to take a compliment, would you?” His other hand falls on Toby’s arm. “And you.”
Sam is not sure who leads. Josh was holding onto both of them, but Sam will not be able to swear later that he was not the one who pulled them - joined hands - towards Toby’s bedroom.
* * * *
When Sam wakes up, it is only a few hours later, and Toby’s radio has turned itself on. A woman is talking about the speech.
It’s policy, as much as oratory, and Sam knows they both have to impress. But she is talking about words he wrote with Toby, and Sam smiles.
Toby wakes partway. “Josh? Turn the damn alarm off.”
Josh, on the other side of the bed, bats a hand at the radio until it stops talking. He makes a noise which may have been intended as a question, but turns out mostly as a grunt.
Toby must understand, because he nods agreement into the pillow.
Sam considers getting out of the bed, and sneaking into the next room to watch the TV coverage. They’re going to need to wake up soon anyway - the news won’t spin itself.
He untangles himself from the two of them: caught under Toby’s leg and Josh’s arm. When he moves, their arms fall together in the space he leaves.
“Sam,” Toby mutters.
“Yes, I’m turning on the coffee. Go back to sleep for a while.”
Josh opens his eyes halfway. “I knew there was a reason we kept you around.”
Toby laughs, almost noiselessly.
Sam glares, but there is no force behind it. Toby is glad to have him, and Josh is glad to have brought him. Yesterday the President of the United States read his words to the nation. It’s hard to be offended by anything right now.
The TV plays back coverage of the speech, and Sam puts the coffee on. In the other room, he can hear the low stirring noises of two men waking up. Sam laughs, and hums to himself.
The country is stranger than it was a year ago. Sam is quite at home with strange.
FIN