Trouble / Our Boy / Action Shot (3 ficlets in the Coffee Fix 'verse)
Title: Trouble / Our Boy / Action Shot
Author: therumjournals
Fandom: Star Trek RPF
Pairing: Chris/Zach
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,560
Description: Like fathers, like sons. ( Coffee-Fix 'verse)
A/N: Answering the call for fluff!
Trouble
“Hey, where are you?” Chris asked when Zach picked up the phone.
“At home. Why?”
“Because I just got a call from Jesse’s principal. Apparently a bunch of theater kids interrupted a school-wide assembly today with an ‘impromptu musical’. Our dear son had the honorable distinction of distracting three secretaries and commandeering the intercom system in order to play the role of ‘Narrator’.”
Zach couldn't help but grin. “That’s fucking hilarious.”
“I know, right? Unfortunately, the principal doesn’t agree, and one of us has to go pick him up.”
“Alright, I’ll go get him. Want me to wait ‘til you get home to figure out some consequences?”
“Yeah, sure. Think there’s any way we can punish him while at the same time giving him props?”
**
“Jesse,” Zach said, when they were in the car on the way home from school, “what the hell were you thinking?”
“It was a senior prank, Dad!”
“You’re a sophomore!”
“I have friends that are seniors! They asked me to help!”
“How are you cool enough to have friends that are seniors?” Zach asked in mock disbelief. Jesse rolled his eyes and stared out the window.
“You know there are going to be consequences for this, right?”
Jesse sighed. “Whatever.”
Zach bit his lip and took on his most casual tone. “So...did anyone take a video?”
**
When Chris got home, they sat Jesse down on the couch for a serious conversation about the appropriate time and place for creative improvisational theater. Chris cracked his knuckles and adopted the fatherly tone that he broke out for periodic warnings and reprimands, and Zach schooled his expression into one of stern disapproval. Nevertheless, within ten minutes the conversation had devolved into a recounting of Zach’s most elaborate and hysterical on-set pranks, which had all of them stifling their giggles except for Gavin, who laughed so hard he got caught eavesdropping and was subsequently invited to join in the fun. Jesse reenacted the morning’s performance for posterity, and Zach actually had to leave the room to recover from a fit of laughter. When they finally settled down, Chris and Zach tried to regain some level of parental authority and told Jesse that as a result of his irresponsible and inappropriate actions, he wouldn’t be allowed to go to opening night of Alejandro, which he’d been looking forward to for weeks. Jesse pouted, and Gavin danced around the room gloating until they told him he couldn’t go either. The boys accused their fathers of manufacturing the punishment just so they could go to the show by themselves and make out in the back of the limo. Chris and Zach grinned smugly and didn’t deny it, and Jesse swore he’d never do anything bad ever, ever again.
Our Boy
“I’m going to cry.”
“I know.”
“I’m gonna sob like a motherfuckin’ baby.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“Shut up. Like you’re not going to. I saw that you already put a box of tissues in the car.”
“Those are for you.”
“Yeah, right.”
“We have to be cool, Chris. No one needs to see Kirk and Spock snotting all over themselves on the Quad.”
“So you admit that you’re going to want to cry.”
“Can we stop talking about this? I’m kind of tearing up a little here. And this entire conversation is going to be rendered moot if we never leave LA. JESSE! WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG?” he bellowed up the stairs.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Jesse thundered down the stairs and came to a halt in front of them, his arms full.
“What were you doing up there?”
“I was just grabbing some stuff. Can I take this?” He held out a framed picture of the four of them.
Zach took it out of his hands to get a closer look. “Wow. This picture…” Chris leaned in to look at it. “Takes you back, doesn’t it?” Zach asked.
The picture had been on a shelf in the hall forever, but it had been a while since they'd taken the time to really look at it, to remember how perfectly it had captured that moment in time. Chris and Zach, in jeans and t-shirts on the couch, the boys at ages two and four, every picture from those years an action shot. Chris was laughing, his mouth open and his eyes crinkled shut as he clung to Jesse, who had managed to flop backwards over his lap until his head almost touched the ground. Next to him, Zach held onto Gavin’s chubby little hands and gave the three of them a tolerant look that somehow managed to encompass all the love he had for their little family - all the love he had in the world.
Zach handed the photo to Chris and turned away, wiping tears from his eyes with the palm of his hand. He took a moment to compose himself, then looked back to find Chris and Jesse watching him. He smiled as tears slid down his cheeks and pulled them both in for a hug.
Jesse hugged them back, despite being 18. He patted Zach comfortingly on the shoulder and murmured, “There, there, Father.”
Zach laughed and kissed Jesse on the head and kind of couldn’t believe they’d all made it this far.
Finally, Jesse cleared throat and pulled away to give them both an expectant look.
“So...can I have the picture?”
**
“Where’s Gavin?” Jesse asked as they headed out the door.
“He’s been sitting in the car for half an hour. You’d think he was eager to get rid of you or something.”
“Whatever. He’ll be lost without me.”
“Oh yes. However will we all go on without your esteemed presence.” Chris intoned.
“Seriously! You guys need me around for entertainment. This place is going to be Dullsville once I’m gone.”
“Jesse, there’s something we’ve been meaning to tell you for some time now,” said Zach, putting a patronizing hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “We don’t actually find you amusing at all. We just laugh because the parental handbook says we’re supposed to.”
“Whatever, dude,” Jesse said, turning away so Zach wouldn’t see him smile.
“Don’t call your father dude,” Chris said.
“Why not? You call him dude all the time!”
“I also call him sweetcheeks, you gonna use that one too?”
“No, but I am going to throw up a little in my mouth.”
“Gross,” Zach said, making a face. “It’s okay, Jesse. You can call me dude.”
“What are you, trying to be like a cool dad now?” Chris asked. “Not gonna happen, Zach.”
Jesse clapped Zach on the arm as he walked past them to the car. “He’s right, dude.”
Action Shot
“Mr. Quinto, if you could just straighten your collar…”
Zach let go of Gavin to tug at his collar, which stayed straight for all of five seconds before Gavin stood up on his lap and pulled it into his mouth. Chris laughed, keeping one hand on Jesse as he reached over to pull Gavin away.
“Hey Gav, let’s not eat Daddy’s clothes, okay?”
Zach laughed and leaned down to bite at Gavin’s overall straps. “Mmf...how do you like it?” he mumbled through a mouthful of corduroy.
“Okay, if we could just get the boys to sit on your laps…” The frustrated photographer’s voice interrupted their antics, and they scooted together on the couch. Chris turned Jesse around on his lap and wrapped an arm around his waist in an attempt to keep him still. A failed attempt, as Jesse managed to twist around to tell him “I wan’ be a pirate, Papa!”
“I know, Jesse, you can be a pirate just as soon as the nice photographer man is done telling us what to do, okay?”
Zach smirked at Chris’s jab. He was beginning to feel the same way. Perhaps a family photo session hadn’t been his best idea ever.
They managed to hold the boys steady for about thirty seconds as the photographer set up the shot, then he stood up from his camera and walked over to fuss with Zach’s hair, at which point all hell broke loose. Gavin burst into frightened tears, Zach gave into his frustration and batted the photographer’s hand away, saying “take an effing picture already,” and Jesse squirmed from Chris’s grasp and ran headlong for the shiny camera...
**
“Remind me why the f- why the heck you didn’t call me first?” Joe asked, three hours, two cosmos, and $600 worth of expensive photography equipment later, as he set up his tripod across from the couch.
“I told Zach to call you.”
“I’m sure you did. Zachary?”
“I don’t know,” Zach admitted, shaking his head. “This guy came highly recommended!”
“By who?”
“By whom,” Chris and Zach both corrected him.
Joe looked between them with an eyebrow raised. “You guys are so perfect for each other, it disgusts me.”
They blushed and glanced at each other and Joe rolled his eyes as he peered through his camera to check the angle. “Anyway, I hope you learned your lesson. I am the only photographer you should hire from now on.”
“Wait, we’re hiring him,” Zach asked Chris in disbelief.
“And I’m worth every penny,” Joe responded with a smirk. “Now, is everyone ready? Jesse, are you going to wear the eyepatch and the cape?”
Jesse nodded enthusiastically.
“Alright, then. Let’s have some fun, guys.”
(Continued...)
Author: therumjournals
Fandom: Star Trek RPF
Pairing: Chris/Zach
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,560
Description: Like fathers, like sons. ( Coffee-Fix 'verse)
A/N: Answering the call for fluff!
Trouble
“Hey, where are you?” Chris asked when Zach picked up the phone.
“At home. Why?”
“Because I just got a call from Jesse’s principal. Apparently a bunch of theater kids interrupted a school-wide assembly today with an ‘impromptu musical’. Our dear son had the honorable distinction of distracting three secretaries and commandeering the intercom system in order to play the role of ‘Narrator’.”
Zach couldn't help but grin. “That’s fucking hilarious.”
“I know, right? Unfortunately, the principal doesn’t agree, and one of us has to go pick him up.”
“Alright, I’ll go get him. Want me to wait ‘til you get home to figure out some consequences?”
“Yeah, sure. Think there’s any way we can punish him while at the same time giving him props?”
**
“Jesse,” Zach said, when they were in the car on the way home from school, “what the hell were you thinking?”
“It was a senior prank, Dad!”
“You’re a sophomore!”
“I have friends that are seniors! They asked me to help!”
“How are you cool enough to have friends that are seniors?” Zach asked in mock disbelief. Jesse rolled his eyes and stared out the window.
“You know there are going to be consequences for this, right?”
Jesse sighed. “Whatever.”
Zach bit his lip and took on his most casual tone. “So...did anyone take a video?”
**
When Chris got home, they sat Jesse down on the couch for a serious conversation about the appropriate time and place for creative improvisational theater. Chris cracked his knuckles and adopted the fatherly tone that he broke out for periodic warnings and reprimands, and Zach schooled his expression into one of stern disapproval. Nevertheless, within ten minutes the conversation had devolved into a recounting of Zach’s most elaborate and hysterical on-set pranks, which had all of them stifling their giggles except for Gavin, who laughed so hard he got caught eavesdropping and was subsequently invited to join in the fun. Jesse reenacted the morning’s performance for posterity, and Zach actually had to leave the room to recover from a fit of laughter. When they finally settled down, Chris and Zach tried to regain some level of parental authority and told Jesse that as a result of his irresponsible and inappropriate actions, he wouldn’t be allowed to go to opening night of Alejandro, which he’d been looking forward to for weeks. Jesse pouted, and Gavin danced around the room gloating until they told him he couldn’t go either. The boys accused their fathers of manufacturing the punishment just so they could go to the show by themselves and make out in the back of the limo. Chris and Zach grinned smugly and didn’t deny it, and Jesse swore he’d never do anything bad ever, ever again.
Our Boy
“I’m going to cry.”
“I know.”
“I’m gonna sob like a motherfuckin’ baby.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“Shut up. Like you’re not going to. I saw that you already put a box of tissues in the car.”
“Those are for you.”
“Yeah, right.”
“We have to be cool, Chris. No one needs to see Kirk and Spock snotting all over themselves on the Quad.”
“So you admit that you’re going to want to cry.”
“Can we stop talking about this? I’m kind of tearing up a little here. And this entire conversation is going to be rendered moot if we never leave LA. JESSE! WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG?” he bellowed up the stairs.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Jesse thundered down the stairs and came to a halt in front of them, his arms full.
“What were you doing up there?”
“I was just grabbing some stuff. Can I take this?” He held out a framed picture of the four of them.
Zach took it out of his hands to get a closer look. “Wow. This picture…” Chris leaned in to look at it. “Takes you back, doesn’t it?” Zach asked.
The picture had been on a shelf in the hall forever, but it had been a while since they'd taken the time to really look at it, to remember how perfectly it had captured that moment in time. Chris and Zach, in jeans and t-shirts on the couch, the boys at ages two and four, every picture from those years an action shot. Chris was laughing, his mouth open and his eyes crinkled shut as he clung to Jesse, who had managed to flop backwards over his lap until his head almost touched the ground. Next to him, Zach held onto Gavin’s chubby little hands and gave the three of them a tolerant look that somehow managed to encompass all the love he had for their little family - all the love he had in the world.
Zach handed the photo to Chris and turned away, wiping tears from his eyes with the palm of his hand. He took a moment to compose himself, then looked back to find Chris and Jesse watching him. He smiled as tears slid down his cheeks and pulled them both in for a hug.
Jesse hugged them back, despite being 18. He patted Zach comfortingly on the shoulder and murmured, “There, there, Father.”
Zach laughed and kissed Jesse on the head and kind of couldn’t believe they’d all made it this far.
Finally, Jesse cleared throat and pulled away to give them both an expectant look.
“So...can I have the picture?”
**
“Where’s Gavin?” Jesse asked as they headed out the door.
“He’s been sitting in the car for half an hour. You’d think he was eager to get rid of you or something.”
“Whatever. He’ll be lost without me.”
“Oh yes. However will we all go on without your esteemed presence.” Chris intoned.
“Seriously! You guys need me around for entertainment. This place is going to be Dullsville once I’m gone.”
“Jesse, there’s something we’ve been meaning to tell you for some time now,” said Zach, putting a patronizing hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “We don’t actually find you amusing at all. We just laugh because the parental handbook says we’re supposed to.”
“Whatever, dude,” Jesse said, turning away so Zach wouldn’t see him smile.
“Don’t call your father dude,” Chris said.
“Why not? You call him dude all the time!”
“I also call him sweetcheeks, you gonna use that one too?”
“No, but I am going to throw up a little in my mouth.”
“Gross,” Zach said, making a face. “It’s okay, Jesse. You can call me dude.”
“What are you, trying to be like a cool dad now?” Chris asked. “Not gonna happen, Zach.”
Jesse clapped Zach on the arm as he walked past them to the car. “He’s right, dude.”
Action Shot
“Mr. Quinto, if you could just straighten your collar…”
Zach let go of Gavin to tug at his collar, which stayed straight for all of five seconds before Gavin stood up on his lap and pulled it into his mouth. Chris laughed, keeping one hand on Jesse as he reached over to pull Gavin away.
“Hey Gav, let’s not eat Daddy’s clothes, okay?”
Zach laughed and leaned down to bite at Gavin’s overall straps. “Mmf...how do you like it?” he mumbled through a mouthful of corduroy.
“Okay, if we could just get the boys to sit on your laps…” The frustrated photographer’s voice interrupted their antics, and they scooted together on the couch. Chris turned Jesse around on his lap and wrapped an arm around his waist in an attempt to keep him still. A failed attempt, as Jesse managed to twist around to tell him “I wan’ be a pirate, Papa!”
“I know, Jesse, you can be a pirate just as soon as the nice photographer man is done telling us what to do, okay?”
Zach smirked at Chris’s jab. He was beginning to feel the same way. Perhaps a family photo session hadn’t been his best idea ever.
They managed to hold the boys steady for about thirty seconds as the photographer set up the shot, then he stood up from his camera and walked over to fuss with Zach’s hair, at which point all hell broke loose. Gavin burst into frightened tears, Zach gave into his frustration and batted the photographer’s hand away, saying “take an effing picture already,” and Jesse squirmed from Chris’s grasp and ran headlong for the shiny camera...
**
“Remind me why the f- why the heck you didn’t call me first?” Joe asked, three hours, two cosmos, and $600 worth of expensive photography equipment later, as he set up his tripod across from the couch.
“I told Zach to call you.”
“I’m sure you did. Zachary?”
“I don’t know,” Zach admitted, shaking his head. “This guy came highly recommended!”
“By who?”
“By whom,” Chris and Zach both corrected him.
Joe looked between them with an eyebrow raised. “You guys are so perfect for each other, it disgusts me.”
They blushed and glanced at each other and Joe rolled his eyes as he peered through his camera to check the angle. “Anyway, I hope you learned your lesson. I am the only photographer you should hire from now on.”
“Wait, we’re hiring him,” Zach asked Chris in disbelief.
“And I’m worth every penny,” Joe responded with a smirk. “Now, is everyone ready? Jesse, are you going to wear the eyepatch and the cape?”
Jesse nodded enthusiastically.
“Alright, then. Let’s have some fun, guys.”
(Continued...)