White Collar Fiction: "It Wasn't Actually A Compliment" (Neal, Peter, G)

[halfshellvenus]

Title: It Wasn't Actually A Compliment
Fandom: White Collar
Author: HalfshellVenus
Characters: Neal, Peter (Gen, Humor)
Rating: G
Summary: One man's fashion is another man's albatross.
Author's Notes: An Australian Flood Auction fic for tsuki_no_bara, who once mentioned wanting to read about Neal and a hat.

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Comments

[tsuki_no_bara]

HEEEEE. they are so fucking cute. and i can just hear peter saying "for god's sake, sinatra's dead" and "i do not owe my existence to a hat". also this reminds me of, uh, i can't remember which episode, but it was early in s1, where neal puts a pair of sunglasses on peter's face and says "say 'i'll be back'" in his best terminator voice, and peter just stares at him and says "no". getting peter to appreciate anything more fashionable than a standard issue fbi suit and tie is an uphill battle, i imagine.

[halfshellvenus]

Ha-- you found it before I even had a chance to poke you! I tried to get this up last night, but no LJ dice.

Even I wonder what Neal's thinking with that hat, and Peter can be so... literal and deliberate at times. Looking professional? Yes-- got it covered! Looking stylish? Hrm... whose idea of stylish, and why IS that stylish, and god, will you please stop embarrassing me?!?

can't remember which episode, but it was early in s1, where neal puts a pair of sunglasses on peter's face and says "say 'i'll be back'" in his best terminator voice, and peter just stares at him and says "no".
! I don't remember that! I'd rewatch just to see that scene, if I could. :0

Well, I'm so glad you liked this, AND that your prompt from way-back finally made it into a fic!

More to come, just not sure when... :)

[tsuki_no_bara]

according to imdb, it's 1x02, threads. sadly all i remember about the episode is the bit with the sunglasses. (imdb doesn't have an episode summary, but it does have the terminator listed as a movie connection. :D )

i wonder if elizabeth ever looks in peter's closet and despairs, because she seems like a fairly stylish (or at least style-aware) woman.

edited to add that neal probably thinks the hat looks good on him, and it fits his rat pack persona. and i do not disagree. :D

[halfshellvenus]

I'll try to see if I can find that one somewhere, for rewatching. I loved the feel of the early episodes of the show. :)

i wonder if elizabeth ever looks in peter's closet and despairs, because she seems like a fairly stylish (or at least style-aware) woman.
Maybe she's just happy that he isn't wearing white socks with black pants, or torn t-shirts out in public and stuff. At least he's clean, and he knows how to look professional. Which is not a small thing, for some men. :0

The hat does look good on Neal, though it's also... of another time. And for a guy like Peter, that's just too weird. :)

[embroiderama]

Oh that's awesome!

[halfshellvenus]

Haha-- hat icon FTW! \o/

[shaitanah]

Hehe, Peter should know better than to argue fashion with Neal of all people! XD
Great ficlet!

[halfshellvenus]

:D No kidding!

Peter is much more of a logic-based person, and fashion has nothing to do with logic.

But I also get the sense of him being this mallard, going about his business with the other ducks, nice enough plumage like everyone else... and he's trapped walking down the sidewalk with a peacock. :0

[halfshellvenus]

Yay! So glad you enjoyed it-- thank you!

[rillalicious]

Oh, this is so cute! What a great little exploration of the differences in their characters! <3

[halfshellvenus]

:D For a good half of this, I think that what's really bothering Peter is the way Neal's hat draws attention to both of them, which Peter does not want to be involved with. :0

Thanks for reading!