Discovered / Diplomacy / Distraction (3 ficlets, Coffee Fix 'verse)
Title: Discovered / Diplomacy / Distraction
Author: therumjournals
Fandom: Star Trek RPF
Pairing: Chris/Zach
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,635
Description: Drama in the family. Coffee Fix 'verse
Discovered
“Bravo, bravo!”
Chris and Zach clapped enthusiastically, standing as the students took their bows. Gavin stayed in character as Mssr. Thenardier, his gold tooth gleaming in the stage lights as he aimed a playful kick at his “wife.” Jesse came out second to last, his posture serious, but he smiled widely as he took a bow. He couldn’t help it - he’d just rocked the final performance of his senior year as Javert in Les Miserables, and his proud dads were beaming at him from the audience.
The house lights came up, and Chris and Zach moved through the auditorium, shaking hands and greeting other parents they recognized as they headed toward the back. At the end of the aisle, an enthusiastic, bearded man in a corduroy blazer approached them. “Excuse me, Mr. Pine, Mr. Quinto, if I could just say, your son really stole the show tonight.”
“Thank you, thanks,” they responded, smiling politely.
“I was wondering, any chance he might be interested in enrolling in a theater workshop that I run during the school year. It’s very prestigious, quite a few young actors have been discovered through the program.”
“Well, that’s very kind of you, but actually Jesse’s graduating and he’ll be attending Berkeley next year.”
Chris moved to step away, but the man had a frown on his face as he glanced at the program. “Oh right, Jesse’s your son, too. I’m sorry, actually I was talking about your other son, Gavin. Mr. Thenardier? I’ve seen a lot of kids take on that role, but he was truly exceptional.”
“GAVIN?” Chris sputtered. Zach squeezed his arm, trying to stay cool, but it took him a second before he remembered that he should probably respond.
“Oh, wow, thanks, yeah. I guess he was really good, wasn’t he? You know, we’d have to ask him though. I kind of thought his brother got him into this and I’m not even sure whether Gavin’s all that interested in acting.”
The man raised an eyebrow and pulled out his card. “Well, he should be, and I do hope you encourage him. And just so you don’t think I’m running some sort of scam, here is my card, and we do offer a few scholarships to students with outstanding potential. I imagine Gavin would be able to get one easily if tonight’s performance is anything to go by.”
“Right. Well, thanks,” Zach said, taking the card. “We’ll be in touch.”
The man had walked away before Chris was able to close his mouth and turn to Zach in shock. “What the fuck just happened?”
Zach patted Chris on the shoulder consolingly. “Apparently, we’re raising two actors.”
*
“You guys were seriously, seriously amazing last night,” Chris said, as the four of them drove into the city for a celebratory dinner.
Zach glanced over at him and Chris nodded subtly.
“You know, Gavin,” Zach said, “some dude approached us after the show to tell us he was very impressed by your performance. He wanted to know if you might be interested in doing a prestigious theater workshop next year.”
“What the shit?!” Jesse screeched from the backseat.
“Watch your language,” Chris warned.
“And your pitch,” Zach added, covering his ears. “Jesus, Jess, are you trying to alert all the dogs in LA?”
“You cannot be serious,” Jesse continued, his voice within normal hearing range. “You’re going to let GAVIN be an ACTOR? You’re going to ENCOURAGE him?!”
“Well, we haven’t decided what we’re going to do yet. What do you think? You’re going to be at Berkeley next year, you can take acting classes and do whatever you want!”
“Except audition,” Jesse grumbled.
“Jess, I’m sure you’ll be in tons of school shows…”
“Oh, whooptydoo, I’ll be in The Crucible with a bunch of hippies, while Gavin’s getting discovered and filming pilots.”
“Hey,” said Chris. “Don’t hate on the hippies. Or The Crucible.”
“And Gavin is not going to be filming pilots.” Zach turned around in his seat. “Hey, Gavin.” He reached back to poke Gavin in the knee. “What do you think? Since we are talking about you - care to contribute?”
Gavin looked away from the window and shrugged at Zach. “Yeah, I guess I would do it.”
“WHAT?”
“Jesse, again with the shrieking.”
“You don’t even like acting! You like science and sh- stuff.”
“I like acting, too. And anyway, it was your idea.”
Jesse slumped back in his seat. “Stupid idea.”
“You’re stupid!”
Chris glanced at them in the rearview mirror. “Don’t make me turn this car around.”
Diplomacy
“Hey Jess, put your shoes on,” Zach said, sticking his head in the bedroom door.
“Why?”
“’Cause I’m taking you out for ice cream. And don’t even act like you don’t want it, because I know you do. I can see it in your face. Come on, up, up!”
**
They ordered extravagant sundaes and Zach was wondering how to broach the real topic of conversation, when Jesse squinted at him in a way that was far too reminiscent of Chris, and said, “This is about Gavin, isn’t it?”
“You’re very insightful.”
Jesse rolled his eyes and ate a spoonful of ice cream.
“So go ahead, say it,” Zach told him. “I’ll let you say it once and get it out of your system, and then we can have a real, grownup discussion.”
Jesse scowled and took another bite. He swallowed it, set his spoon down, and leaned back, crossing his arms. “It’s not fair.”
“Feel better?”
“No. How come I never got to do a prestigious thing? Les Miz was, like, the first acting thing Gavin’s ever done!”
“He had a lot of amateur experience. I recall a particularly memorable skit about a lion trainer...”
“That’s not the same.”
“I know, I know. But look, Jesse, you can’t be jealous of one anothers’ opportunities, and down the line you can’t be jealous of each others’ successes either. You’re both going to do different things in life, and the important thing is to support each other, not try to outdo each other all the time. You know, Papa’s been in a bunch more movies than I have, and that’s fine. I never feel like I’m missing out because of things that he’s doing.”
“Yeah, because half of his movies were shit anyway,” Jesse grumbled.
“Jesse!”
“What?! I’m not saying Papa was bad in them, I’m just saying they sucked!”
Zach coughed to cover his laugh and shook his head. “Unspoken rule of the Pine-Quinto household,” he said, pointing across the table. “We do not mention the dubious quality of Papa’s early filmography.”
“Fine.”
“Now listen, Papa and I are letting you help us make this decision because we think it’s important for you to be on board. We don’t want you to feel like we’re not supporting you or like we’re giving Gavin special treatment or anything like that. So what do you think?”
Jesse frowned at the table and played with his spoon. For a minute, Zach was worried, but then Jesse dropped his head back with an exaggerated groan and said “Fiiine.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, he can do the stupid workshop. I mean, the awesome workshop,” Jesse amended in the face of Zach’s glare. “But I swear, if he gets to be in even one freaking commercial, I get to audition for something. Something REAL.”
Zach nodded. “Alright. I think that sounds like a fair deal.”
“What d’you think Papa will say?”
“I think Papa will do his damnedest to make sure Gavin’s not in any commercials.”
Distraction
“’Don’t make me turn this car around’,” Zach imitated, mocking him. He loosened his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt.
“What? That’s a thing that dads say!” Chris sat on the bed to pull his shoes off.
“I know,” he said, laughing. “I love it. I love your dad voice. I love it when you try to be all serious and threatening, when zero out of the four of us actually believe that you’re going to follow through.”
“Come on, that’s not fair. I can be threatening! I can administer punishment!”
“Yeah, okay, but that’s because we’re lucky and our children are perfect and telling them we’re, like, not going to take them to opening night of a musical is punishment to them.”
Chris flopped back onto the bed. “True. We are lucky, aren’t we?” he asked, and Zach could tell that he’d lapsed into one of his pensive moods.
Zach lay along Chris’s side, traced Chris’s eyebrows with a fingertip. “What are you thinking about?”
“You know.”
“Stop.” He leaned down to press a kiss to his lips, to distract him.
“Zach, why were we so stupid?”
“Which time?” Zach joked, putting off the inevitable.
“Shut up, I’m serious.”
“I don’t know, Chris, we were young?”
“We weren’t that young.”
“We weren’t that stupid either. What happened…needed to happen, I guess. We needed to figure out our priorities, and it fucking sucked, but we did, in the end. We came to our senses and we all turned out fine.”
“So far.”
“Yes, so far. What are you afraid’s going to happen? Teenage rebellion? Unplanned pregnancy? What if one of our sons turns out to be - gasp! - a homosexual!” Zach pulled away from Chris, laughing.
“You crack yourself up.”
“And you depress yourself.” He leaned over again to slide a hand down Chris’s chest, gave him a seductive look. “Let me help you relax. Come on, you need some endorphins.” He kissed Chris on the lips and slid down, unzipping Chris’s fly as he brushed his lips across his sternum.
“You do know there are some things blowjobs can’t fix, right Zach?” Chris said, glancing down at him with a smile.
Zach lifted his head from Chris’s taut stomach to meet his eyes. “Don’t make me turn this car around.”
Continued...
Author: therumjournals
Fandom: Star Trek RPF
Pairing: Chris/Zach
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,635
Description: Drama in the family. Coffee Fix 'verse
Discovered
“Bravo, bravo!”
Chris and Zach clapped enthusiastically, standing as the students took their bows. Gavin stayed in character as Mssr. Thenardier, his gold tooth gleaming in the stage lights as he aimed a playful kick at his “wife.” Jesse came out second to last, his posture serious, but he smiled widely as he took a bow. He couldn’t help it - he’d just rocked the final performance of his senior year as Javert in Les Miserables, and his proud dads were beaming at him from the audience.
The house lights came up, and Chris and Zach moved through the auditorium, shaking hands and greeting other parents they recognized as they headed toward the back. At the end of the aisle, an enthusiastic, bearded man in a corduroy blazer approached them. “Excuse me, Mr. Pine, Mr. Quinto, if I could just say, your son really stole the show tonight.”
“Thank you, thanks,” they responded, smiling politely.
“I was wondering, any chance he might be interested in enrolling in a theater workshop that I run during the school year. It’s very prestigious, quite a few young actors have been discovered through the program.”
“Well, that’s very kind of you, but actually Jesse’s graduating and he’ll be attending Berkeley next year.”
Chris moved to step away, but the man had a frown on his face as he glanced at the program. “Oh right, Jesse’s your son, too. I’m sorry, actually I was talking about your other son, Gavin. Mr. Thenardier? I’ve seen a lot of kids take on that role, but he was truly exceptional.”
“GAVIN?” Chris sputtered. Zach squeezed his arm, trying to stay cool, but it took him a second before he remembered that he should probably respond.
“Oh, wow, thanks, yeah. I guess he was really good, wasn’t he? You know, we’d have to ask him though. I kind of thought his brother got him into this and I’m not even sure whether Gavin’s all that interested in acting.”
The man raised an eyebrow and pulled out his card. “Well, he should be, and I do hope you encourage him. And just so you don’t think I’m running some sort of scam, here is my card, and we do offer a few scholarships to students with outstanding potential. I imagine Gavin would be able to get one easily if tonight’s performance is anything to go by.”
“Right. Well, thanks,” Zach said, taking the card. “We’ll be in touch.”
The man had walked away before Chris was able to close his mouth and turn to Zach in shock. “What the fuck just happened?”
Zach patted Chris on the shoulder consolingly. “Apparently, we’re raising two actors.”
*
“You guys were seriously, seriously amazing last night,” Chris said, as the four of them drove into the city for a celebratory dinner.
Zach glanced over at him and Chris nodded subtly.
“You know, Gavin,” Zach said, “some dude approached us after the show to tell us he was very impressed by your performance. He wanted to know if you might be interested in doing a prestigious theater workshop next year.”
“What the shit?!” Jesse screeched from the backseat.
“Watch your language,” Chris warned.
“And your pitch,” Zach added, covering his ears. “Jesus, Jess, are you trying to alert all the dogs in LA?”
“You cannot be serious,” Jesse continued, his voice within normal hearing range. “You’re going to let GAVIN be an ACTOR? You’re going to ENCOURAGE him?!”
“Well, we haven’t decided what we’re going to do yet. What do you think? You’re going to be at Berkeley next year, you can take acting classes and do whatever you want!”
“Except audition,” Jesse grumbled.
“Jess, I’m sure you’ll be in tons of school shows…”
“Oh, whooptydoo, I’ll be in The Crucible with a bunch of hippies, while Gavin’s getting discovered and filming pilots.”
“Hey,” said Chris. “Don’t hate on the hippies. Or The Crucible.”
“And Gavin is not going to be filming pilots.” Zach turned around in his seat. “Hey, Gavin.” He reached back to poke Gavin in the knee. “What do you think? Since we are talking about you - care to contribute?”
Gavin looked away from the window and shrugged at Zach. “Yeah, I guess I would do it.”
“WHAT?”
“Jesse, again with the shrieking.”
“You don’t even like acting! You like science and sh- stuff.”
“I like acting, too. And anyway, it was your idea.”
Jesse slumped back in his seat. “Stupid idea.”
“You’re stupid!”
Chris glanced at them in the rearview mirror. “Don’t make me turn this car around.”
Diplomacy
“Hey Jess, put your shoes on,” Zach said, sticking his head in the bedroom door.
“Why?”
“’Cause I’m taking you out for ice cream. And don’t even act like you don’t want it, because I know you do. I can see it in your face. Come on, up, up!”
**
They ordered extravagant sundaes and Zach was wondering how to broach the real topic of conversation, when Jesse squinted at him in a way that was far too reminiscent of Chris, and said, “This is about Gavin, isn’t it?”
“You’re very insightful.”
Jesse rolled his eyes and ate a spoonful of ice cream.
“So go ahead, say it,” Zach told him. “I’ll let you say it once and get it out of your system, and then we can have a real, grownup discussion.”
Jesse scowled and took another bite. He swallowed it, set his spoon down, and leaned back, crossing his arms. “It’s not fair.”
“Feel better?”
“No. How come I never got to do a prestigious thing? Les Miz was, like, the first acting thing Gavin’s ever done!”
“He had a lot of amateur experience. I recall a particularly memorable skit about a lion trainer...”
“That’s not the same.”
“I know, I know. But look, Jesse, you can’t be jealous of one anothers’ opportunities, and down the line you can’t be jealous of each others’ successes either. You’re both going to do different things in life, and the important thing is to support each other, not try to outdo each other all the time. You know, Papa’s been in a bunch more movies than I have, and that’s fine. I never feel like I’m missing out because of things that he’s doing.”
“Yeah, because half of his movies were shit anyway,” Jesse grumbled.
“Jesse!”
“What?! I’m not saying Papa was bad in them, I’m just saying they sucked!”
Zach coughed to cover his laugh and shook his head. “Unspoken rule of the Pine-Quinto household,” he said, pointing across the table. “We do not mention the dubious quality of Papa’s early filmography.”
“Fine.”
“Now listen, Papa and I are letting you help us make this decision because we think it’s important for you to be on board. We don’t want you to feel like we’re not supporting you or like we’re giving Gavin special treatment or anything like that. So what do you think?”
Jesse frowned at the table and played with his spoon. For a minute, Zach was worried, but then Jesse dropped his head back with an exaggerated groan and said “Fiiine.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, he can do the stupid workshop. I mean, the awesome workshop,” Jesse amended in the face of Zach’s glare. “But I swear, if he gets to be in even one freaking commercial, I get to audition for something. Something REAL.”
Zach nodded. “Alright. I think that sounds like a fair deal.”
“What d’you think Papa will say?”
“I think Papa will do his damnedest to make sure Gavin’s not in any commercials.”
Distraction
“’Don’t make me turn this car around’,” Zach imitated, mocking him. He loosened his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt.
“What? That’s a thing that dads say!” Chris sat on the bed to pull his shoes off.
“I know,” he said, laughing. “I love it. I love your dad voice. I love it when you try to be all serious and threatening, when zero out of the four of us actually believe that you’re going to follow through.”
“Come on, that’s not fair. I can be threatening! I can administer punishment!”
“Yeah, okay, but that’s because we’re lucky and our children are perfect and telling them we’re, like, not going to take them to opening night of a musical is punishment to them.”
Chris flopped back onto the bed. “True. We are lucky, aren’t we?” he asked, and Zach could tell that he’d lapsed into one of his pensive moods.
Zach lay along Chris’s side, traced Chris’s eyebrows with a fingertip. “What are you thinking about?”
“You know.”
“Stop.” He leaned down to press a kiss to his lips, to distract him.
“Zach, why were we so stupid?”
“Which time?” Zach joked, putting off the inevitable.
“Shut up, I’m serious.”
“I don’t know, Chris, we were young?”
“We weren’t that young.”
“We weren’t that stupid either. What happened…needed to happen, I guess. We needed to figure out our priorities, and it fucking sucked, but we did, in the end. We came to our senses and we all turned out fine.”
“So far.”
“Yes, so far. What are you afraid’s going to happen? Teenage rebellion? Unplanned pregnancy? What if one of our sons turns out to be - gasp! - a homosexual!” Zach pulled away from Chris, laughing.
“You crack yourself up.”
“And you depress yourself.” He leaned over again to slide a hand down Chris’s chest, gave him a seductive look. “Let me help you relax. Come on, you need some endorphins.” He kissed Chris on the lips and slid down, unzipping Chris’s fly as he brushed his lips across his sternum.
“You do know there are some things blowjobs can’t fix, right Zach?” Chris said, glancing down at him with a smile.
Zach lifted his head from Chris’s taut stomach to meet his eyes. “Don’t make me turn this car around.”
Continued...