the_deep_magic: A nightmare inexplicably torn from the pages of Kafka! (Default)
[personal profile] the_deep_magic
Title: Smells Like Teen Spirit
Author: [livejournal.com profile] the_deep_magic 
Pairing: Pinto
Rating: PG-13 for language
Word Count: 2,225
Warnings: kid fic, a heaping helping of fluff
Disclaimer: This probably didn’t/won’t happen.
Summary: A future in which Zach and Chris are the loving parents of a distressed – no, really, HEARTBROKEN – teenager
A/N: I wrote kid!fic. Um, don’t shoot me? I’m filling my own prompt from the kink meme, but I lost the link. If anyone knows where it is, let me know!  Here it is!
 
The slammed door startled Chris so much that his pencil tore a hole in the thin newsprint of the crossword puzzle.   That sharp sound was followed by the dull thuds of footsteps up the stairs and a soft, melancholy whump that could only be produced by an anguished teenage girl collapsing into her bed.
 
Zach set down his book. “You want me to—“
 
“It’s alright,” said Chris, already getting to his feet. “I think I know what this is about.” He leaned down to kiss Zach’s forehead before heading up the stairs.
 
The door was closed, but not locked. They had a rule in the house – closed doors for privacy were fine, but locks were not. Chris heard the muffled sound of crying on the other side of the door. He considered giving her some time, but he didn’t want her to stew in whatever this was either, so he knocked quietly. “It’s me. Can I come in?”
 
There was no response for a long time, and then: “I don’t care. Whatever.”
 
It wasn’t a “no,” which Chris interpreted as Teenager for “yes, but it would be uncool of me to tell you that I want you to come in.” Years of being surrounded by Hollywood types had conditioned him well for teenage passive-aggression. He found Nina curled on her side around a pillow, her back to the door. Chris sat down on the edge of the bed, careful to give her some space. “Feel like talking about it?”
 
“No,” she said, but Chris waited patiently. “I broke up with Kevin.”
 
Inwardly, Chris was doing a joyful little dance over the fact that his baby girl had finally come to her senses and dumped the dickweed on his ass, but all he said was, “Hmm.”
 
“He was cheating on me with that skank from physics class.”
 
Though he had guessed Kevin was probably a lying scumbag (he knew the type), this was the first confirmation Chris had gotten that he’d actually lied to Nina. He was surprised by his own levelheadedness under the circumstances. “Want me to have him beaten up?”
 
“What? Pop, no! I mean… could you even do that?”
 
“Hey, your dad knows some people who know some people. It wouldn’t be too hard to arrange anything from a slight concussion to the ever-popular double-kneecap smash.”
 
“No.” A pause. “I don’t think.” Another pause. “I’ll let you know.”
 
“Think it over very carefully. But don’t mention it to your dad unless you’re serious – he might try to do it himself.”
 
Nina laughed weakly until she got cut off by a particularly violent hiccup. “Dad? Beat somebody up? Yeah, like that would happen.”
 
“You’d be surprised,” Chris said with a small smile. “He’s got quite a protective streak if he’s pushed.”
 
There was blissful silence for a moment, then a fresh wave of despair crashed and Nina was sobbing again.  “What am I gonna do?” she wailed. “I have to see his slimy face every day, and he’ll probably be swapping spit with Fiona between every class.”
 
“Fiona the physics floozy?”
 
“Uh-huh.”
 
“Very alliterative.”
 
“Pop, I’m miserable here. Pay attention!”
 
Chris smiled. If she was self-aware enough to get on his case, it meant she would be alright. He set a supportive hand on her arm. “I know you’re miserable, Neeners, but I’m really proud of you.”
 
“Proud of me?” she moaned. “For what? Being a lonely, pathetic loser?”
 
“For dumping his Neanderthal butt. I think you know you deserve better than that. Even better than Cro-Magnon man. Let’s see if we can’t get you a fully evolved Homo sapiens this time around.”
 
She let out a watery chuckle. “Might have to switch high schools for that.”
 
“I’m sorry to have to tell you, but you might have to wait until you get out of high school altogether.”
 
 “So when do guys get their act together?”
 
Chris made a thinking noise. “I’ll let you know when it happens to me.”   Nina rolled over to face him, and he handed her a tissue. She blew her nose with a loud honk, and Chris only barely kept from laughing – she’d never been able to blow her nose at a normal volume since she was a child. “I think your dad managed to grow up somewhere around his mid-twenties.”
 
“That’s, like, ten years away!” she moaned, and Chris was silently relieved that she hadn’t responded something to the effect of well, I’ll just have to date 25-year-olds, then.
 
“Hey, you never know,” he said, taking the tissue from her and tossing it into the garbage can. “You might meet the rare male specimen that matures early. One of them’s got to be out there somewhere. Law of probability and all that.”
 
“How did you know?” Nina asked, shifting to sit up against the headboard. “With Dad, how did you know he was The One?”
 
Chris thought about it – he knew a question like this would be coming eventually, but he wasn’t entirely sure how to answer it. “Well, it’s probably not what you want to hear, but I don’t think anybody really knows. Not at the beginning. If they did, no one would ever get their heart broken, but they wouldn’t fully have to trust the other person, either. It’s really only looking back that I know Zach – your dad – is the person I’m supposed to be with.”
 
“Great. So how does that help me?”
 
“Well, none of that’s to say you can’t be smart about it. Take Kevin, for example. He only seemed to want to take you out on nights when he didn’t have any other plans, but he expected you to skip rehearsals to spend time with him.”
 
“Yeah, I guess that was kinda douchey of him.”
 
Chris narrowed his eyes. “Watch your vocabulary, young lady. And no, that was extremely douchey of him.”
 
Nina giggled. “Okay, but how did Dad make you fall in love with him?”
 
“Hmm… I don’t know that it was just one thing. It wasn’t like he slipped love poems into my locker or declared his love under the full moon in Paris. We were friends for a long time first.”
 
“So when did you go from friends to more-than-friends?”
 
Chris laughed, losing himself in thought for a moment. “It depends on who you ask. Uncle Joe will tell you that we were always in love and just didn’t know it. Your dad’s friend Kristen will say that we spent so much time together that we were already pretty much married before we knew we loved each other.”
 
“Okay, but tell me the real story.”
 
“Well, we did our first movie together and we got along really well. But there was a long gap between when we finished shooting the movie and when it came out, so we went from seeing each other all day, every day to maybe once a week, at most. I thought I just missed the whole cast, the fun of working together. But when we were getting ready for the press tour, I remember thinking to myself, wow, there’s so much I have to tell Zach.”
 
“So that was when you knew?”
 
Chris smiled fondly. “Well, it wasn’t quite as simple as that. Up until then, I’d only been in love with girls, so I thought I was just… lonely in a really specific way, I guess? But seeing him again was like… like getting a big breath of air after being underwater for a long time.”
 
“So that was when you knew?”
 
“Hush and let me tell the story. Anyway, while we were on the press tour, I told your dad that I liked him, and we… do the kids still say ‘hooked up’?”
 
Nina groaned at clapped her hands over her ears. “POP! Never, ever say that again! Especially not about you and Dad!”
 
“Sorry, sorry!”
 
“Okay, so, press tour, blah blah blah, happily ever after.”
 
“Not exactly.” Nina rolled her eyes and Chris folded his arms across his chest. “Hey, you said you wanted the real story, right?” His daughter nodded contritely. “Well, remember that we’re both guys and therefore a little bit slower on the uptake when it comes to these things.”
 
This made Nina grin, so Chris took a deep breath and continued. “You know your grandfather died when your dad was little, right? Well, he also got his heart broken really badly by the guy he dated all through college, so between those two, he had – still has, sometimes – a really hard time trusting people. He doesn’t mean to, but there’s some small part of him that’s convinced that the people he loves will leave him. That part’s gotten much smaller over the years, but it’s still there. Anyway, a few months after the press tour, he kind of… freaked out on me. I think he thought if he pushed me away first, it wouldn’t hurt as much.”
 
“He dumped you?”
 
“He tried. And he was a stubborn bast— a stubborn jerk about it, too.  We both kind of… fell apart without each other. He barely left the house except to go to work – he was still working on Heroes then – and I started making late night phone calls to everyone I knew because I just wanted to talk to someone.”
 
 “So what happened?” Nina whispered, completely involved in the story now.
 
“Your dad showed up at my door in the middle of the afternoon one day. He’d walked over in the heat. Didn’t call first, didn’t apologize. Just stepped inside and put his arms around me and held on. We stayed that way for… I don’t even know how long. Later that night, after— just, later, I realized how hard that walk must have been for him, wondering the whole way over if I’d given up on him. It doesn’t sound like such a scary thing until you’re the one making that walk, not knowing if you’ll get your heart crushed. Then it’s the bravest thing you can do.”
 
“Wow.”
 
“Yeah. He’s not always the best person at talking about how he feels, but when it’s important, he will always put the people he loves first. And that’s you and me, kiddo.”
 
They sat for a few moments in comfortable silence, Nina thinking and Chris quietly reminiscing, until Nina’s phone rang – the ringtone was a Nirvana song, which she lovingly referred to as “an oldie.”
 
“Oh, Shannon’s finally calling me back. I need to take this.”
 
Chris chuckled and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Okay. Thanks for letting your old man jabber on for a while.”
 
She smiled up at him then – a real, genuine smile that made Chris’ heart lift in his chest. Then she was breathlessly listing to Shannon the myriad reasons that Kevin needed to go jump off a cliff, and Chris quietly excused himself, shutting the door behind him. He was a little surprised to see Zach standing out in the hall, leaning casually back against the wall.
 
“How long were you standing there?”
 
“Long enough to hear you tell your teenage daughter how we ‘hooked up.’”
 
“Why? What do the kids call it these days?” Chris asked as he followed Zach down the stairs and back out to the living room.
 
“It’s not that, you idiot. How would you like it if your parents told you they hooked up?”
 
“Ick.  But that’s different – we’re the hip, young parents.”
 
“Chris, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’ve got what can be definitively termed a ‘bad knee’ and this—” Zach tugged at the silver hair at his temples “—is not hair dye.”
 
Chris pouted.   “I love your gray. It’s sexy. When you wear your glasses to bed, it’s like I’m being seduced by a kinky college professor. I think I’ll get you a tweed jacket for your birthday.”
 
“I’m only three years older than you, you twat!”
 
“Shh! She’ll hear you, and I thought we were trying to encourage her not to swear like a longshoreman.” But then Chris dropped his voice to a low purr and leaned in. “C’mon, say it – say, Christopher, your grades have been slipping. What are you willing to do to earn an A?”
 
“You’re an ass.”
 
“Yeah, but you love me anyway.”
 
Zach rolled his eyes, and Chris was reminded where Nina had picked up that particular gesture. “I do. God help me, I do.” He sighed as Chris pulled him in for a deep, lingering kiss. 
 
Chris patiently teased Zach’s closed lips with the point of his tongue, refusing to stop until Zach opened to him, humming with deep contentment when he finally did.   He held Zach tightly, anchoring him to the moment with the strength of his hands on Zach’s hip, threaded through the soft hair at the back of his neck. When he came up for air, Chris whispered, “Love you – always” before claiming Zach’s mouth again. He lost himself for a few long minutes in the warmth of Zach’s arms.
 
When they broke apart, Zach finally seemed to have come around. “How long do you think Nina will be on the phone with Shannon?” he asked with a devious grin.
 
“Oh, an hour, at least. Maybe two.”
 
“Good,” Zach murmured, grabbing Chris by the shoulders and walking him backward toward the master bedroom. “Now, Mr. Pine, about that A…”

Date: 2009-12-21 07:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ewinfic.livejournal.com
Awwwwwwwww.

Just... it...

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

I love Chris's story, and that bit about the walk that Zach took... oh, that tugged and pulled and YANKED at my heart but in such a wonderful way. BUCKETS of ♥ right now!

I never expected Pinto kidfic to be this addictive.

Also, heh heh, this particular situation is nearly verbatim a convo I had with my own parents upon getting dumped by a really unimpressive douche during my own highschool days... ah, young love. IT'S ALWAYS SO UNBEARABLY LAME IN RETROSPECT.

Date: 2009-12-22 03:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
Yaaaaay, I'm glad you like it! I have studiously avoided kid fic in pretty much every other fandom I've been involved in, but something about these two makes me giggle at the thought of them being parents together. You ARE gonna write that fic about Zach and his 12 Cambodian babies, right? ;oD

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] ewinfic.livejournal.com - Date: 2009-12-22 03:45 am (UTC) - Expand

Date: 2009-12-21 08:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] blcwriter.livejournal.com
Too funny. And sweet.

Date: 2009-12-22 03:08 am (UTC)

Date: 2009-12-21 09:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rainbowstrlght.livejournal.com
OMG KID FIC. ♥

I love the perspective on this. Chris is so very sweet, yet funny. And Nina isn't entirely stereotypical. And I agree with Chris about Zach in a tweed jacket. *swoon*

Thanks for writing and sharing. It was lovely. :)

Date: 2009-12-22 03:10 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
Glad you liked it! Yeah, just the thought of Professor!Zach gets me all worked up...

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] ewinfic.livejournal.com - Date: 2009-12-22 03:44 am (UTC) - Expand

Date: 2009-12-21 09:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vapid-wastrel.livejournal.com
more please?

Date: 2009-12-22 03:10 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
I haven't got anything else planned at the moment, but I'll definitely keep it in mind. Thanks for reading!

Date: 2009-12-21 11:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] coeurdesoleil.livejournal.com
This was so cute! I loved Chris' story about how he and Zach 'hooked up' ;)

Date: 2009-12-22 03:11 am (UTC)

Date: 2009-12-21 01:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tikra.livejournal.com
Wow. This was soooo schmoopy ;3;## Especially the part where Chris told Nina how they 'hooked up' xD I still hope that somebody else will fill your prompt, just to please you :)

(and OMG, you used 'passive-aggressive'. THAT KILLED ME. THANK YOU! *_*)

Date: 2009-12-22 03:14 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
Glad you liked the schmoop! And, yeah, nobody wants to hear that their parents hooked up.

Date: 2009-12-21 02:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pikasafire.livejournal.com
OMG, Awwwwwwwwww

*dies of cute overdose*

Need MOAR KIDFIC! I love that it's them far in the future. With a TEENAGER. That's epic, an refreshingly different.

Date: 2009-12-22 03:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
I'm glad you liked it! I'm kind of in love with the idea of them being suave, sexy, not-at-all-grumpy old men together.

Date: 2009-12-21 04:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pegasus-01.livejournal.com
Bwahahahahaha!!!!! "Now, Mr. Pine, about that A..."
*dies laughing!*
This was super sweet! I hope we see more of this universe. I'm curious how they got Nina, etc. And the whole getting together bit, too! Yay!

Date: 2009-12-22 03:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
Thank you! I don't know if there will be more, but I'll certainly keep it in mind.

Date: 2009-12-21 04:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] leopardchic79.livejournal.com
Do you think I'd get to leave work early if I told my supervisor I OD'd on cuteness?!

eeeep! I have an embarrassing sort of love for kid!fic. This was freaking great!! *grins*

“Now, Mr. Pine, about that A…”

*giggles*

Date: 2009-12-22 03:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
I know how you feel -- I have been slow to embrace my love of kidfic. Thanks for reading!

Date: 2009-12-21 04:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chibidraco.livejournal.com
Daddy Chris is so sweet! I loved the way they interacted with one another. And of course you had to love the retelling of how Pinto got to where they were :D

Date: 2009-12-22 03:18 am (UTC)

Date: 2009-12-21 04:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] eyesofshinigami.livejournal.com
♥ Fweeee. I love little fluffy fics like this. :D This made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I want to take their little family and squish them all into a hug.

I loved how Chris approached Nina with her problem. It reminded me of how my mom used to talk to me, which made me smile. :)

I also would love to see more fic from this universe, but that's another can of worms, isn't it? ;)

^______^ I'm still grinning.

Date: 2009-12-22 03:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
Aw, I'm glad you and your mom were close, bb. Thanks for commenting!

Date: 2009-12-21 04:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] adafrog.livejournal.com
awww...thanks.

Date: 2009-12-22 03:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
Glad you liked it!

Date: 2009-12-21 05:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] notchka88.livejournal.com
.... it's so sweet! And perfect! And full of love and awww.

Chris' story about him and Zach is wonderful, a more detailed prequel would be great. This fic made me feel so warm and fuzzy :D

Date: 2009-12-22 03:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
Hooray for the warm and fuzzies! Thanks for reading!

Date: 2009-12-21 08:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/
Such a cool fic! And the Pinto backstory was beautiful! <3

Date: 2009-12-22 03:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
Glad you liked it!

Date: 2009-12-21 09:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] less-star.livejournal.com
Awww, that was so sweet. Love how they got together!

Also, I think my brain went off-line trying to picture grey-at-the-temples-Zach! UNF!

Date: 2009-12-22 03:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
I KNOW, RIGHT? Homedude is going to make a sexy, sexy older man. Thanks for reading!

Date: 2009-12-21 10:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lavender-basil.livejournal.com
I'd never thought I'd be a kid fic gal but this fandom has corrupted me! I LOVED this! And I echo the other folks who said they'd be happy to read more about Chris, Zach and Nina.

Date: 2009-12-22 03:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
It corrupted me, too (obviously). I'm glad you liked it!

Date: 2009-12-22 04:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] andieshep.livejournal.com
Me? Kill you for awesome kid!fic? What for?!?! :D

Did I mention this is awesome?

Date: 2009-12-24 04:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
I am still coming to terms with my newfound affection for kid!fic. (I love it that when it comes to deviant sexual acts, I'm all for it, but slightly embarrassed about reading/writing sappy fic involving kids.)

Thank you!

Date: 2009-12-22 03:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] biomath.livejournal.com
I...totally needed this loving dose of Pinto. And Nina's awesome, good job on dumping the Cro-Magnon (lol-ing forever at this!), would love to see more of the Pinto familia sometime soon... :D
AND I LOVE HOW YOU WRITE PINTO. You rock and make me smile. A thousand thank yous!

Date: 2009-12-24 04:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
Aw, thanks for the kind words!

Date: 2009-12-23 12:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] babykid528.livejournal.com
This was like bizarre deja vu in many respects for me- 1) my mom calls me neener (though my name's Anne and not Nina lol) and 2) I had a very similar break up as Nina... >_> So this was kind of eerie to read in that respect.

Otherwise, it was BEYOND adorable and just so much love!!! <333333333333333333333333333

Date: 2009-12-24 04:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
Weird! Thanks for reading!

Date: 2010-01-08 06:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] piratessa.livejournal.com
So cute!!!! And the 'kinky college professor' part made me laugh! Thanks for writing and posting :)

Date: 2010-01-08 06:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
Glad you liked it!

Date: 2010-01-15 01:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] monkiainen.livejournal.com
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww :) This was incredibly sweet :)

Date: 2010-01-16 08:48 pm (UTC)

Date: 2010-01-16 07:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] duckgirlie.livejournal.com
Bless! This is totally adorable.

And I love Nina! I'm trying to write them kids at the moment, and... it's not going well.

Date: 2010-01-16 08:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
Thank you! Kids are tough to write, especially if you're not around them all the time. Good luck!

Date: 2010-02-21 07:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] takhallus.livejournal.com
Aw, that is so cute! I kinda wanna read the 'college professor' one now lol

Date: 2010-02-22 03:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
IF ONLY I WEREN'T WRITING A DOZEN OTHER THINGS! Thanks for commenting, bb!

Date: 2010-03-05 05:13 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] detafo.livejournal.com
so much love for you right now... SOSOSOSOSOSO MUCH LOVE!!!!!!

Date: 2010-03-06 04:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
Glad you liked it!

Date: 2010-07-01 12:34 pm (UTC)
ext_39794: (zach/chris | &hearts;)
From: [identity profile] jenlynn820.livejournal.com
I never read this at the time... not sure why, cause I loved it completely now :P I had to read it so I can read the one you just posted which I will do now. So cute! Kidfic is something I am not into most of the time in the Pinto fandom but I love them as the parents of a teenaged girl. THis was great, sweetie ♥

Date: 2010-07-02 02:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-deep-magic.livejournal.com
Thanks! I really never thought I'd be one to write kid!fic, but the idea kind of grabbed me and wouldn't let go.

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