the_deep_magic | Timestamp comment fics (CLOSED)

Okay, so I'm kind of frustrated with myself at the moment. Instead of working on all the fics I need to finish, I started yet another lengthy AU. :oP Anyway, I want to kick my Muse's ass a bit, so I'm going to borrow a meme that ewinfic did a few weeks ago:

Leave a comment prompt. The prompt should be one of my fics and a time interval.

Examples:
"Fic Title, the next morning"
"Fic Title, three months before"
"Fic Title, two years later"
"Fic Title, in between this event and that event"

I will respond with a comment fic. This is your chance to find out what happened before, or after, or during. My master fic list is here -- go nuts!

IMPORTANT: I will only accept titles and time intervals as prompts, no plot elements. So "Yellow Light, two years later" would be fine, but "Yellow Light, two years later, they buy their first house together" would not. Got it? Also, I'll try to see that everyone who comments gets at least one fic in return, but if you want to give me multiple options to pic from, that's fine!

Prompting is now closed -- please check back here for fills.
If you didn't get to put a prompt in, don't worry! I'm sure I'll do this meme again. :o)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They had nearly reached the front door of the restaurant when Chris stopped Zach with a hand on his arm. “Are you sure you want to do this?” It wasn’t the first time he’d asked that question over the last few weeks, but it was the first time he’d asked it with the subtext because I’m not sure I want to.

Zach gave him a concerned look. “This was your idea.”

“I know, but…” Chris started, letting his arm drop. Zach glanced around and quickly led Chris around the side of the building. It wasn’t a private area by any means, but at least it was away from the sidewalk and the people passing by.

“Alright, what’s going on?”

“I’m afraid I bullied you into this,” Chris blurted, pointing his eyes firmly at the ground.

“Chris, you ignorant slut,” Zach quipped, trying to get Chris to crack a smile. It didn’t work. “C’mon, you know you can’t bully me into anything. You’re too damn adorable.”

At least it made Chris finally look up. “But you were so adamant before. And you said it yourself – we can’t take it back.”

Zach looked hard into Chris’ eyes, trying to figure out what the problem was. They’d been over all of this before, multiple times, in excruciating detail. They’d fought and screamed and made up, and done it all over again the next week. It had taken Zach all that time to make his decision and he was too firmly convinced to reconsider. “Hey,” he said lightly, “are you trying to talk me out of this now?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m trying to get you to talk me back into it.”

“Chris, you were right.” That got his attention. “How often do I say that?”

“Like, twice. Ever.”

“Uh-huh. It took me a while to see it, but you’re right. This needs to happen. And if you’re having last minute nerves, that’s fine. We can postpone this if you want.”

Chris bit his lip. “Do you want to postpone it?”

“No,” Zach said with a gentle smile. “I think the timing is perfect. I’m ready.”

Chris still looked shaky, and Zach fought back the urge to wrap his arms around Chris, hold him tightly until the jitters went away. “Chris,” he started, “You remember what you said to me in that shitty bar that started all of this?”

Chris laughed, surprised. “I said a lot of things.”

“You said you were tired of regretting the things you weren’t brave enough to do. That’s always stuck with me. And you are quite possibly the bravest person I’ve ever met.”

Zach paused to let that sink in and Chris appeared to mull it over. Finally, he asked, “Didn’t you meet that guy who got his arm ripped off by a shark but still goes surfing anyway?”

Zach laughed and nodded. “That’s what I’m saying. I know how hard it was for you to be so open with me. You spent your whole life thinking about yourself one way – as straight – but you had the courage to completely reevaluate that. And you did it for me. Don’t think I don’t appreciate that every single day.”

When Chris looked up, Zach could see he was blinking back tears. “Could you, um, could you kiss me right now?”

Zach grinned and leaned in, wrapping his hands around Chris’ waist and kissing him tenderly, trying to pour all his love and support for Chris into the soft brush of his lips. By the time he pulled back, Chris seemed to have gotten himself together – his hands were no longer shaking and his eyes were clear. “Okay,” he said, “let’s do this.”

They walked into the restaurant together, and Zach scanned the crowd for the petite brunette he was supposed to meet. They’d picked her out specially – a young up-and-coming journalist who had just written a book on celebrity charity work in Africa that hadn’t received nearly enough publicity. Zach had talked with her briefly on the phone and liked her immediately.

He spotted her in a corner booth, head down, reading a book – they were a few minutes late by now. She didn’t look up until they got to her table. “Oh, Mr. Quinto!” she said, startled.

“Please, call me Zach,” he said, offering his hand. “So sorry we’re late.”

Zach saw it register on her face that he hadn’t come alone and barely kept himself from laughing at the perfect double take she did when she saw Chris. “Oh my god, Chr— Mr. Pine!”

“It’s Chris,” he said, shaking her hand while Zach slid into the booth. Chris followed a moment later, and they didn’t bother to sit a respectable distance away from each other.

“I, um, I didn’t know I’d be speaking to both of you,” she said, fumbling with her tape recorder as she pulled it from her bag.

“It was meant to be a surprise,” Zach said. “One of several, actually.”

“I hope that’s okay,” Chris cut in quickly, setting his hands on the table.

“Yes, yes, fine,” she said brightly, finally getting the recorder set up and switching it on.

Zach took a deep breath and glanced at Chris, who nodded solemnly. Then Zach reached up and set his hand over Chris’ on the table, twining their fingers. The young woman tried very hard not to stare at their joined hands, but failed. Zach laughed softly and began.

“It started about three months after Star Trek came out…”

Ahhhhhh!!! This spoke on so many levels. How Chris needed that reassurance again, right before they took that huge step to coming out. And Yellow Light seriously has to be one of the greatest Zach/Chris pieces I've read. I always wondered how things wouldve turned out down the road, and this was a nice snippet of it!

Awww, thank you. I'm so glad you liked this!

Oh.my.god! This is *amazing*. I love everything you did with this follow-up.

Chris' nerves and the debate they had about doing this was fantastic! And you said it yourself – we can’t take it back.”<--- Perfect! Of course they would have talked about this, argued about it and been nervous about it. Of course!

And, oh my goodness, the reporter? Amazing! I was chuckling while reading. She is such a lovely fangril! ;)

Thank you! This was the one I was most nervous about writing, I think, but I like the way it turned out. And, yeah, who wouldn't LOVE to be that reporter?

Oh jeez! I am sorry I made you nervous! You did a fantastic job of revisiting the feel of Yellow Light. There was/is such a tender sweetness to that series. In just a small drabble you were able to recapture that and progress the story nicely!

Thank you *so much* for writing this! I LOVED IT!

This was a perfect little add-on to what is quite possibly my favorite Pinto story ever. Loved it!

Thank you! Writing these has made me nervous about trying to recapture the feel of each fic, and it's really good to hear that it fits!

I still re-read "Yellow light" from time to time and now I can add this beautiful piece to the series! Thank you SO MUCH for writing! :)

Aw, I always love to hear that someone rereads my stuff. Glad you liked this addition!

Timestamp comment fics (CLOSED)

Yellow Light, one year later, PG (1/2)

Re: Yellow Light, one year later, PG (2/2)

Re: Yellow Light, one year later, PG (2/2)

Re: Yellow Light, one year later, PG (2/2)

Re: Yellow Light, one year later, PG (2/2)

Re: Yellow Light, one year later, PG (2/2)

Re: Yellow Light, one year later, PG (2/2)

Re: Yellow Light, one year later, PG (2/2)

Re: Yellow Light, one year later, PG (2/2)

Re: Yellow Light, one year later, PG (2/2)

Re: Yellow Light, one year later, PG (2/2)