amfiguree: (cookleta!<3)
amfiguree ([personal profile] amfiguree) wrote2009-06-12 02:00 am

Like All Good Fairytales (2/7)




i. snow white fell in love with dopey


"I always say I'm looking forward to not looking back; I mean, I think everyday is a new adventure, and even if it isn't, it's going to be different from yesterday's."


For their one month anniversary - or, okay, the anniversary of the day before their one month anniversary, because evidently falling asleep together on the couch while watching The Notebook isn't enough to certify one's dating status ("You totally have to say it!" Archie protests, "Or it doesn't count!") - they go to this tiny, exclusive restaurant, and David blows an exorbitant amount of money making sure they get a private room so he doesn't have to worry about anyone calling the psych ward on him.

"Oh my gosh," Archie says, when David comes out of the bedroom. "You're totally dressed up."

Which - yeah, David is. He has one suit, and this is it.

Archie's in his usual jeans and t-shirt, complete with messy bed head, and David grins. "I could change into something else?" he offers.

"No!" Archie protests, too quickly. He flushes, and David's smile widens almost predatorily. "I mean. Um." David just stands there, and eventually, Archie repeats, slower, "No?" and looks up at David with painfully transparent hope on his face.

David only just manages to refrain from kissing him.

Suits, David thinks, and files it away for future reference, along with his mouth, his guitar and Pad Thai.

"I guess I can stand looking like a preppy school boy for one night," he says, good-naturedly.

"Um," Archie says, as he follows David out the door. "I - don't schools have, like, age limits or something?"



"Table for one, sir?" the maître d' says, when they get to the restaurant. The question is even, but David gets the feeling he's been given the onceover, judged, and found lacking, which -- it would've bothered him, before, but he's gotten pretty used to strange looks in the past couple of months.

"I have a reservation," he says, pleasantly, and cuts a glance to Archie, who's peering into the restaurant, eyes darting from the décor, to the patrons, to the food. "David Cook?"

The maître d' checks the reservations list with a brief nod. David sees one eyebrow go up, then the other, but the man composes himself enough to smile and say, "Very good, sir. This way, please."

"Oh my gosh, Cook," Archie whispers, clearly awed, and David glances surreptitiously over his shoulder at him as they weave past various tables, each populated with a handful of diners. "This must have been really expensive!"

"Good thing I'm eating for one," David murmurs, out of the corner of his mouth. The maître d' turns to him, then, questioningly, and David clears his throat and adds, with a winning smile, "I'm, uh, I'm a little under the weather this evening."

"Most unfortunate, sir."



Once they're seated (and David gets another odd look for choosing to pull out his own chair, instead of taking the one the maître d' pulls out for him), David alternates between glaring at Archie - who's trying to stifle a smile - and nodding politely as the specials are read to them.

David places his order, then, and waits for the waiter to leave before saying, dryly, "I can't take you anywhere."

"Oh my gosh, it's totally not my fault!" Archie protests. He's waving his fingers gingerly over David's glass of water, like he can feel the condensation, and David tries not to stare. "I'm not even doing anything and you're all, like, whatever, laughing at me!"

"I do that a lot, don't I?" David says, agreeably.

"You are so not funny," Archie objects, and folds his arms.

"What?" David demands, mock-offended. "I'll have you know my pirate joke is completely sail-able."

"Oh my gosh," Archie says, horrified, and looks around, as if for something to throw at him. "You are totally not telling me terrible pirate jokes all night."

David cracks up at the expression on Archie's face just as the waiter comes back with his first course. "Uh," the waiter - Mark - says, as he sets David's plate on the table. He looks from David, to the seat across him, and back again, before adding slowly, "Is everything okay in here, sir?"

Across the table, Archie says, "Um, this is so not my fault--"

David starts laughing even harder. "Oh god," he gasps, as he presses his face into his hands. "Oh my god, I hate you."

Mark blinks, and David sees him take a step back. "Uh," he says, uncertainly. "I'm sorry, sir? I, uh, I'll get someone else to serve you?" and flees from the room.

Archie looks completely mortified. "Oh my gosh," he says, miserably. "Now you're totally going to have to tip him, like, twice."



They end up tipping Mark triple of what they have to, but the food is amazing, and Archie spends the rest of the night alternating between watching David eat and trying not to talk when anyone else is around (which somehow results in David cracking up even more, because it is physically impossible for him to listen to Archie cut himself off in the middle of saying, "and she was like, 'oh, I really need you--'" without practically snorting water out his nose), so David calls it a win.

They never run out of things to talk about, but they head home straight after David's done with his meal anyway (being out of the apartment too long tends to wear Archie out). David's working on getting the door open when Archie says, "Thanks for, um, for tonight."

David looks up at that, and sees the way Archie's head is ducked, the way his mouth is curved, shyly, the way he's watching David from under his eyelashes. David feels his pulse skip a beat. He leans in, so close that there's barely an inch of space between them, so close that if he closes his eyes he can almost pretend--

"You're welcome," he murmurs.

Across the hallway, a clock starts to chime, and Archie smiles. "Happy anniversary, Cook," he murmurs, without stepping away. His eyes are so, so bright.

For a second, David almost closes the distance. "Happy anniversary," he hears himself say, instead, just as quietly, and tries not to think about the need hiding under his skin. He hasn't been this patient (or celibate) since high school, Jesus.

Archie beams at him, then, before saying, "Let's watch a movie," and disappearing into the apartment. David turns, too fast, and slams his forehead against the door trying to follow Archie in. "Fuck," he swears, pressing a hand to his temple. "Motherfucking--"

And then Archie pokes his head out into the corridor. "Why aren't you -- oh my gosh, Cook! Did you just walk into the door again?"

Despite himself, David starts laughing.

They don't have the most conventional relationship, but then hardly anything about Archie is conventional.



Carly's waiting for him when he shows up at the parlor the next day. She smirks when she sees him. "Pay up, Castro," she says, as David drops into the seat behind the counter and starts looking through his appointments. His first is at 12.30pm - Marybeth, purple orchid.

"What was it this time?" David asks, mildly, as Jason slaps a bill into Carly's outstretched hand.

"I told him you'd be totally giddy when you came in today," Carly says, grinning.

"That's the last time I'm putting money on you," Jason adds, leaning his elbows on the counter. "So I guess last night went well."

"Better have been bloody amazing," Carly says. "It's the second time you've skipped drinks with us for this mystery man this month."

"He's not a mystery," David corrects. "I've told you about him."

Carly sighs, rolling her eyes as she reaches to cuff David upside the head. "You're going to need a better cover story to keep us from meeting him eventually, you know."

"Yeah," Jason agrees. "The whole 'I'm dating a guy that only I can see' thing is getting pretty old, man."



The thing is, they're right. Dating someone he can't have, can't touch, can't fucking make out with? It should be getting old. It's not like him and Archie have had the smoothest ride, either -- which, okay, understatement of the century -- because having someone walk through your solid bathroom door while you're buck naked in the shower isn't exactly David's idea of an ideal first meeting.

Especially not since Archie's first reaction had been to baulk and yelp, "Oh my gosh!" and disappear the same way he'd come in.

There'd been a lot of yelling that first night ("oh my gosh, you stole my apartment and my name!"). And the second ("you just walked through a wall, man, you're clearly not supposed to be here!"). And - well, the first week had pretty much been nothing but arguments, really, David insisting Archie "get the fuck out of my apartment!", and Archie protesting because, "I don't - but the apartment's mine, where am I supposed to go?"

They'd made some progress the week after, though, moved on to, "I don't know! Follow the goddamn light, maybe?" and, "But the only light is here?"

It had only been after David had forked out an unhealthy amount of money for two exorcisms and a Taoist spirit-cleansing ritual and Archie still hadn't disappeared that he began seriously reconsidering his strategy.

As it turned out, Archie made pretty good company, once he'd accepted the idea that David wasn't going anywhere. He didn't eat, or sleep, or do much of anything except hover, really, and eventually David had said, "Well, my couch is pretty comfy," and Archie had said, "You mean my couch," and they'd spent the rest of the evening watching the Friends marathon showing on TV together.

Gradually, it had gotten to a point where David would forget himself, sometimes, and end up buying two portions of Chinese take-out on his way home from the tat parlor, if he stayed late, and only realize what he'd done when Archie greeted him at the door with an, "oh my gosh, Cook, are you going to finish all of that by yourself?"

David had become intimately familiar with having leftover takeout for breakfast.

He still isn't sure when everything changed, when they suddenly became more, but he thinks it might've started the night he'd noticed the way Archie tended to linger around his guitar, the way he watched it when he thought David wasn't looking. Some nights, he reached out just enough for his fingers to look like they were hitting the strings. "Hey," David had said, easily, one day, after he'd settled down to sketch a couple of tattoo designs for his appointments the next day, "Did you ever play?"

"Oh, you mean, the - the guitar?" Archie had said. "Oh, no, I - I always wanted to learn, but--"

"I'll show you," David had said, and waved it off when Archie protested, "No, it's - you're way busy, it's totally fine, I don't--" and they'd spent the rest of the evening noodling on David's guitar, singing along to Bon Jovi and Collective Soul and even a little Britney Spears. Archie hadn't known all the songs, but he'd hummed along obligingly anyway.

And then it'd been two weeks later, four months since Archie's sudden appearance, when David had come home to dimmed lights and Archie serenading him with, "'Cause everything that brought me here, well now it all seems so clear, baby you're the one that I've been dreaming of--"

"Uh," David had said, when he'd finished picking his jaw up off the ground.

"Um," Archie had replied, with a small, uncertain, half-smile, and twisted his fingers behind his back. "Surprise?"

David's mom had always said he fell too hard, too fast.



They settle down to watch Just Like Heaven that evening. It's not David's kind of movie, typically, but the parallels aren't lost on him, and Archie's been badgering him about renting it all weekend, ever since he'd heard something about it during an E! special on Reese Witherspoon.

David spends most of the movie fidgeting uncomfortably - real and reel life should never mix, he decides - but Archie gets really into it, and David sees him eye the two cans of Budweiser on the table apprehensively after the possession scene at the bar. "Don't even think about it," David says, when Archie turns to look at him. "You never make a man walk away from his booze."

"Um, but - you do kind of drink a lot?" Archie ventures.

"I'm a tattooist," David reasons. "It's an image thing."

Archie looks unconvinced.

"Seriously," David adds, "Possession is a little creepy, even for us."

"But I wouldn't really be in you," Archie says, earnestly. "We'd be, like, in you together?"

David chokes on his beer.

The real downside to the whole ghostly apparition thing is that it limits the things David can do with (and to) Archie. The normal, everyday couple things, for example, like giving up on a movie in favor of throwing his boyfriend down on the couch and making out with him (among other things) after said boyfriend casually drops sexual innuendo (albeit unintentionally) into an otherwise mundane conversation.

"I think I like this movie," Archie decides, as he turns back to the TV.

"Minor," David chants, under his breath, "He's practically a minor," as if that would have been any kind of deterrent under any other circumstance.



At the end of the movie, Archie's marching to a different tune completely. "Oh my gosh," he complains, flapping his hands as the credits roll. "That was totally stupid! How - she just forgot him! That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Arch," David laughs, "I don't think logic was a big factor in the premise here."

Archie looks at him for a moment, long enough that David's mirth starts to fade, before he seems to shake himself. "Yes," he says, eventually, decidedly, to the floor. "Okay. Yes."

"Archie," David says.

Archie seems to struggle, for a second, and then he lifts his head. His mouth is set in a thin line, his eyes dark and inscrutable. "Cook," he says, "I wouldn't - if I, I know this is just a movie, but I - if I were her, I wouldn't--"

"Hey," David interrupts. He lifts a hand, then stops, tries on a smile instead. "Hey, I know. David."

"I wouldn't," Archie repeats, fiercely. His fists are clenched in his lap.

"Okay," David says, and god, god but he wants to touch him. He turns off the TV instead. "Okay."



"Uh oh," Jason says, when David gets into the parlor the next day. "Rough night?" David shoots him a look, and Jason holds up his hands in mock surrender, mutters, "Oh-kay," and goes back to working on his design for his four o'clock.

Archie hadn't been in the apartment when he'd woken up that morning. It's not entirely unusual, but after last night -- David scowls down at his desk and pulls out a rough sheet of paper.

"What is that?" Carly asks, from behind him, and David startles, which gives her the opportunity to grab the page from him. David doesn't even realize it's not blank till Carly lifts it up. There's a doodle in the corner that catches his attention. It's a caricature of a ghost, doe-eyed and smiling, a toque sitting crookedly on its head.

David suppresses a laugh.

They'd sat up talking all night once, about everything and nothing, just curled up together on the couch, the room dark save the dim light from the streetlamps streaming in through the window, and at some point David had grabbed his pencil and penned a rough sketch of a cartoon ghost. "Do you think, um, it should have a hat," Archie had said. "Like, um, a chef's hat? The tall, white--"

"A toque," David had supplied, and everything had gone into soft focus when Archie rolled his eyes and laughed and said, "Oh my gosh, I'm not even surprised you know that kind of stuff anymore."


"Carly," David says, then, "Do you have time to ink me this afternoon?"

Carly stares at him, for a second, then at the doodle, clearly appalled. "Uh," she says. "That depends."



It doesn't take long for David to realize that getting the tattoo on his wrist? Pretty fucking stupid. Also? Ugly. But Carly had insisted on turning the doodle into something that wouldn't completely ruin her reputation, and when she drew up an eye around it, David had shrugged and given in. It made sense, all things given, and he'd just wanted to get home, to say, it's okay. Even if you forget, I won't. I see you.



Archie doesn't come home all night.



Five days later, Archie's still gone, and David goes back to work.

"Jesus," Carly says, when he gets in. "What happened to you?"

Nothing's changed. David had looked in the mirror that morning, seen the same face staring out at him. Everything in the house had been exactly where it should be; no extra clothes, or cutlery, or furniture. It'd been like Archie was never even there.

"Family emergency," he says, shrugging.

"Dave," Jason says, coming over to join them. "Are you sure you can hold a needle with that thing?"

His hand's bandaged from where he put a hole in his wall the day before, left a mark so he could be sure of that, if nothing else.

"I'm gonna try," he says, evenly.

Jason and Carly exchange a look.



David gets through the rest of the day without fucking up too badly - and the one tattoo he does ruin, he gives to Matt for free. He stays late to close up, and then goes out to get really, really shitfaced.



The next day, Carly sends him home after he almost amputates one of their regulars.

David doesn't protest too much. Even he can admit that nursing a hangover with a needle in your hand probably isn't the best idea.

He goes out and gets himself a six-pack, anyway.



When he gets home, Just Like Heaven is sitting on the coffee table, right where he left it the day before everything fell apart. David stares at the cover for a second, then picks it up and hurls it out a window.

He gets drunk, again, and spends the whole night not-hoping to be possessed.



There's a thunderstorm on day thirteen - David's just getting used to that, the separation of the before and the after - and he's brooding, staring at his newly un-bandaged tattoo and wishing he could burn it off his skin, which is why it takes him a while to realize that someone's banging on the front door.

David considers not answering it for a second, but the knocking grows even more insistent, and David finally hauls himself to his feet with a snarl and snaps, "What?" as he yanks the door open. And then he freezes.

Because - it's Archie.

He's completely drenched, and he looks exhausted, sallow and thin, his usual clothes mud-streaked and dirty. His expression is pinched, fingers twisting nervously behind his back as he leaks water onto the corridor.

He's the most fucking beautiful thing David's ever seen.

"You knocked," is the first thing David hears himself say.

"Um," Archie says, raising his head awkwardly. "Yes. I'm - I can do that now."

"Archie," David breathes, and fuck, it's like the last two weeks never even happened. He takes a shaky breath, and holds out a hand, close but not quite touching. "Jesus."

"I'm real," Archie says, and presses his cheek into David's palm. He feels warm, and alive, and David strokes a thumb across his face, oh god--

Archie's eyes flutter shut for a second. "I'm sorry," he says, on a rush, when he opens them again. "Cook, I'm so, so sorry I left - I -- I woke up in the hospital and--"

"It's okay," David says, because it doesn't matter anymore, none of it does, and Archie leans into his touch some more, and it's all - it's--

"Oh my gosh," Archie says, and David blinks. He's looking at David's wrist, at the tattoo, mouth parted in surprise. "What - Cook?"

"You wanted the hat," David says, with a lopsided grin.

Archie stares at it some more, throat working, mouth moving, soundlessly, and when David reaches for him again, he chokes out, "I didn't forget."

David's heart thuds painfully in his chest. "I didn't forget," Archie repeats, his eyes wet now. "Cook, I didn't, I promised, and I woke up and I knew, I remembered, and I had to come--"

"I know," David says, feeling his own throat tighten. "Archie."

He steps forward, and Archie goes from pliant to defensive almost on autopilot. He shakes his head as he holds out his hand, saying, "Wait, no, I - I'm--" and gesturing at his clothes. And that - that's Archie, that's his boyfriend, standing in his doorway, not gone at all, real and warm and solid to the touch.

It's like something unravels inside David, something amazing, and--

"I don't care," he says, roughly. He puts his hands on the back of Archie's neck, then, tugs him closer and whispers, "I don't fucking care."

And then David kisses him, and it's like the world dissolves into heat and need and nothing else. I see you, David thinks, hazily, blood burning as they stumble backwards into his - their - apartment. Archie clings to him, making soft, sweet noises against his mouth. I see you.




[identity profile] al-hazel.livejournal.com 2009-06-11 08:17 pm (UTC)(link)
ASFKLJGH;KSFLAJFSFLHJSLJGF.

OH. MY. GOD.

THIS IS SO AMAZING. I TOTALLY DIDN'T GET THE REFERENCE AT THE BEGINNING WHEN THEY WENT OUT FOR DINNER. AND WHEN THE REVELATION HIT ME, I WENT BACK AND RE-READ IT ALL OVER AGAIN. AND EVERYTHING MADE SENSE IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT WAY.

*skips off to part 2 to read more*

[identity profile] epicflailer.livejournal.com 2009-06-26 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
AIWSGdf THAT IS KIND OF WHAT I WAS GUNNING FOR AND I AM SO GLAD IT CAME ACROSS. tysfm for all your feedback, my dear! you were the first comment i got in my inbox, i think, and that was so, so amazing. <3

[identity profile] asweetdownfall.livejournal.com 2009-06-11 09:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay...I totally didn't even realize that the chapter's plot was a little bit like Just Like Heaven. Me FTL.

That said..HOLY CRAP I LOVE THE WAY YOU WRITE THEM. And the cheek touching and Cook getting the toque tattoo and GUUHHHH.

Right, I'll go skip off to the next chapter now.
Edited 2009-06-11 21:32 (UTC)

[identity profile] epicflailer.livejournal.com 2009-06-26 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
LMFAO, I AM GOING TO RUN OUT OF WAYS TO SAY THANK YOU AND I AM SO GLAD YOU LIKED IT BEFORE I AM DONE REPLYING YOUR (PRECIOUS, PRECIOUS, AMAZING) FB.

[identity profile] deadlysunrise.livejournal.com 2009-06-11 10:57 pm (UTC)(link)
HAHA!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
So far, this thing is made of love, and I can't wait to read more of it.
It's just, guh, I wish I had these two as down pat as you do!
This is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
"I - don't schools have, like, age limits or something?"

OMG. THIS. THIS had me reeling, laughing really, really hard for some reason. I don't knowm, maybe I'm a bit on the loony side, but I loved that line.

Now, I am venturing off to read more!

[identity profile] epicflailer.livejournal.com 2009-06-26 04:51 am (UTC)(link)
heee! that actually seems to be a pretty popular line! i'm so glad it worked for you! :D and thank you so much for all the fb you left. i struggled so much with this story, and it was so good to see people actually enjoying it!
ext_34722: (Cookleta)

[identity profile] musicboxgirl.livejournal.com 2009-06-12 02:24 am (UTC)(link)
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh! OH MY GOSH! No, SRSLY. I am flipping the fuck out over here because this is SO GOOD and it's only the 2nd part and I think I'm going to, like, explode from LOVE. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

[identity profile] epicflailer.livejournal.com 2009-06-26 04:52 am (UTC)(link)
WHAT THE FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF, SERIOUSLY, IT IS GOING TO TAKE A WHILE TO WRAP MY MIND AROUND THE FACT THAT YOU ARE NOW IN THIS FANDOM TOO. I LOVE IT. ILU. TY FOR READING THIS.

[identity profile] missquiet.livejournal.com 2009-06-12 02:50 am (UTC)(link)
"I - don't schools have, like, age limits or something?"
Literally LOL'd at this.

I had a total WTF moment during the restaurant scene and went back to re-read. Then it clicked and was awesome. (I was wondering why Cook offered to change, but Archie didn't. Good detail there!)

"Happy anniversary," he hears himself say, instead, just as quietly, and tries not to think about the need hiding under his skin.
I love this line. Cook's want is so tangible here. And it's so painful when he keeps reaching out to touch Archie, then stopping himself. Guh.

I squeaked at the last line. Squeaked! Like a dog toy! (It was kind of embarrasing!) AND IT WASN'T EVEN MY FAVORITE PART!
Edited 2009-06-12 02:51 (UTC)

[identity profile] epicflailer.livejournal.com 2009-06-26 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
asdsjgkdh thank you so much for the feedback, and especially for picking out what you liked! it's so good to see what works and what doesn't for readers, and hee! squeaking like a dog toy is THE HIGHEST PRAISE EVER.

[identity profile] rajkumari905.livejournal.com 2009-06-12 11:00 am (UTC)(link)
alskdjfalsdk NAT. THIS IS SO AMAZING I DALKSDJFLK DON'T HAVE WORDS. SO HAVE SOME OF YOUR OWN INSTEAD.

"You totally have to say it!" Archie protests, "Or it doesn't count!"
AHAHA. Just, so Archie.

Suits, David thinks, and files it away for future reference, along with his mouth, his guitar and Pad Thai.
alkjsflskjfalsdkfj I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. Especially HIS MOUTH because, DUH.

"Um," Archie says, as he follows David out the door. "I - don't schools have, like, age limits or something?"
LOL.

Mark blinks, and David sees him take a step back. "Uh," he says, uncertainly. "I'm sorry, sir? I, uh, I'll get someone else to serve you?" and flees from the room.
Archie looks completely mortified. "Oh my gosh," he says, miserably. "Now you're totally going to have to tip him, like, twice."

^^ That’s when I started figuring things out. Also, AHAHAHA.

(which somehow results in David cracking up even more, because it is physically impossible for him to listen to Archie cut himself off in the middle of saying, "and she was like, 'oh, I really need you--'" without practically snorting water out his nose)
a;lkjfalsdkjf THE IMAGE OF THAT, OH MY GOSH. AHAHAHA.

David turns, too fast, and slams his forehead against the door trying to follow Archie in. "Fuck," he swears, pressing a hand to his temple. "Motherfucking--"
And then Archie pokes his head out into the corridor. "Why aren't you -- oh my gosh, Cook! Did you just walk into the door again?"
Despite himself, David starts laughing.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. OKAY THIS IS MY FAVORITE THING EVER, JUST. COOK WOULD SO DO THAT, AND ARCHIE, AND ALSDFJSADLKJ LOVE.

("oh my gosh, you stole my apartment and my name!")
HAHAHA.

And - well, the first week had pretty much been nothing i>but arguments
Coding


after said boyfriend casually drops sexual innuendo (albeit unintentionally)
This is just HAHA, so Archie.

"Minor," David chants, under his breath, "He's practically a minor," as if that would have been any kind of deterrent under any different circumstance.
IDK why this makes me lol so hard, but it DOES and alksdjfalsdk LOVE.

It doesn't take long for David to realize that getting the tattoo on his wrist? Pretty fucking stupid. Also? Ugly.
THIS, HAHAHAHAHA. It is ugly though XDD

Archie stares at it some more, throat working, mouth moving, soundlessly, and when David reaches for him again, he chokes out, "I didn't forget."
alksfdaskdjf <333333333333333333 FAVORITE EVER.

RUNNING TO THE NEXT PART NOW.

[identity profile] epicflailer.livejournal.com 2009-06-26 04:54 am (UTC)(link)
eep TYSFM FOR CATCHING THE CODING THING!

HI ILU AND YOUR FLAILY FEEDBACK. IT MAKES MY LIFE. DID YOU KNOW THAT? AND I HAVE MORE FROM YOU COMING UP. THIS DAY, IT JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER.

[identity profile] song-to-me.livejournal.com 2009-06-13 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
This is so perfect and magical. I loved the anniversary dinner and Archie cracking Cook up and then having to tip the waiter triple! I love Cook as a tattooist working with Carly and Jason, and the ghost tattoo, hilarous!

Poor Cook when Archie disappeared, but he remembered! Thank you for a delightful story!

[identity profile] epicflailer.livejournal.com 2009-06-26 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
thank you for the delightful fb! i'm so glad you liked the idea of cook as a tattooist because, ngl, i have a soft spot for that profession (and it is also kind of hot, ahem).

[identity profile] andi-lee-09.livejournal.com 2009-06-13 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
OH MY FUCKING GAWD, THIS WAS FRICKIN AWESOME!!!!!!!!

And, yeah, like, I sooo did not GET IT at first, I was like, 'WTF is the waiter's problem?! and why isn't Archie eatin??? I DON'T GET IT!'

AND THEN I GOT IT.

AND I READ THE WHOLE THING AGAIN.

AND I GOT EVERYTHING.

AND IT WAS AMAAAAAZING!!!!!!!!!

OMG, THE LAST PART WAS FUCKING AWESOME!!! Aw, poor Cook, he got so depressed when Archie disappeared... GAH, AND THEN ARCHIE CAME BACK, AW, IT WAS SOOOO SWEET AND PERFECT AND... *melts*...

OK... *pulls self together and races to the next part*

[identity profile] epicflailer.livejournal.com 2009-06-26 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
LMFAO, CAPSLOCK KEY FTW.

thank you so much for this flaily comment! you put the biggest smile on my face, and i am so glad you enjoyed! (and thank you for sticking with it even though it was confusing at first, bahaha!)
ext_34679: (Cook)

[identity profile] pixiebeanz.livejournal.com 2009-06-14 11:37 am (UTC)(link)
NATALIE, GOD, I CAN TELL THESE STORIES ARE GOING TO BE THE END OF ME. JESUS, FUCK, OKAY, OKAY.

I LOVE HOW MUCH YOUR STORY-TELLING MAKES ME FEEL. YOU CONVEY THE RAW EMOTIONS OF YOUR CHARACTERS SO, SO WELL AND I JUST FOUND MYSELF COMPLETELY LOST IN THEIR WORLDS.

I COULD FEEL THE LONGING THAT COOK HAD TO TOUCH ARCHIE, THE ABSOLUTE FIERCENESS WITH WHICH ARCHIE WANTED COOK TO BELIEVE HE'D NEVER FORGET HIM, HOW ABSOLUTELY FUCKING LOST COOK BECAME WITHOUT ARCHIE AND THE REUNION AT THE END -- I COULD FEEL THE EMOTION SWELLING UP IN COOK, THAT INITIAL MOMENT OF DISBELIEF AND THEN MY HEART JUST CLENCHED AS ARCHIE LEANED INTO HIS TOUCH AND HE REALISED THAT HE HAD HIM BACK - REAL, HUMAN AND TOUCHABLE. WHEN ARCHIE CAME OUT WITH THAT LINE AT THE END -

"I didn't forget," Archie repeats, his eyes wet now. "Cook, I didn't, I promised, and I woke up and I knew, I remembered, and I had to come--",

I -- MY HEART EXPLODED AND MY EYES WERE SLIGHTLY DAMP AND I WAS GRINNING LIKE A FOOL AT MY COMPUTER AS COOK GRABBED HOLD OF HIM MUDDY CLOTHES AND ALL. I'M GLAD THERE WAS A HAPPY ENDING, I LOVED THIS STORY SO MUCH. ♥ ♥ ♥

[identity profile] epicflailer.livejournal.com 2009-06-26 04:57 am (UTC)(link)
JFC, BB, DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO BE THE END OF ME? YOUR FEEDBACK. FUCKING A, THERE IS SO MUCH OF IT AND IT IS ALL CAPSLOCKED AND SQUEEFUL AND - JUST - FUUUUUUUUUUCK. ILU, SO HARD. I AM SO GLAD YOU LIKED THIS, REALLY, AND I AM SO RELIEVED THE EMOTIONS CAME ACROSS ALKIDSS I HAVE SUCH A HARD TIME WITH THAT, BUT YOU LIKED IT, YOU REALLY LIKED IT, MY HEART, IT IS GOING TO BURST~

[identity profile] jehane-writes.livejournal.com 2009-06-17 05:21 am (UTC)(link)
So, my dearest, I read this obsessively over and over again while on my crappy internet Outback connection, and am finally back to tell you how amazing it was.

The grace notes that you have echoing through this first chapter, resonating with the other fic? The Thai food love. Cook's grand gestures, his potential dark, self-destructive side.

And the "seeing" theme, which Lire pointed out in her comment on your the master thread? I totally get it too, and it's so well done, in this first set up chapter - this paragraph made my hair stand on end:

It doesn't take long for David to realize that getting the tattoo on his wrist? Pretty fucking stupid. Also? Ugly. But Carly had insisted on turning the doodle into something that wouldn't completely ruin her career, and when she drew up an eye around it, David had shrugged and given in. It made sense, all things given, and he'd just wanted to get home, to say, it's okay. Even if you forget, I won't. I see you.

And THIS:

And then David kisses him, and it's like the world dissolves into heat and need and nothing else. I see you, David thinks, hazily, blood burning as they stumble backwards into his - their - apartment. Archie clings to him, making soft, sweet noises against his mouth. I see you.

PERFECT SET UP, babe, gosh; and the perfect last line - at last, Cook sees him.


[identity profile] epicflailer.livejournal.com 2009-06-26 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
oh my gosh, bb, your feedback always makes me blush and embarrassed and, like, if we were talking, i would be stammering all over the place, idek. thank you so much for reading this, even with spotty internet connections, eep! and for leaving me all this amazing, incredible feedback! i'm so glad all those elements worked for you, especially when it was something done on a much bigger scale than i'm normally used to! <3

(i must give credit for that awesome last line to the lovely [livejournal.com profile] greensounds, though! it originally ended with something else, and she had the insight to point out how this would work much better! and clearly she was right!)
ext_9595: (Default)

[identity profile] bubbleforest.livejournal.com 2009-06-25 12:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh God. Oh God oh God oh God. JUST LIKE HEAVEN. It took me FOREVER to make the connection, I was like, "why is that restaurant visit so weird? Why is everyone looking at them funny? WHAT IS GOING ON?" But then Archuleta's not visible and ASDKFJGHLKJHF, I ALMOST CHOKED ON YOUR BRILLIANCE. BEST MOVIE EVER, I DON'T CARE. AND THIS STORY. OH MY GOD.

David's a TATTOO ARTIST. OM NOM NOM. I loved that he just immediately wanted to imprint himself when Archuleta was gone, and the lines about always seeing him and not forgetting, oh my god. That was beautiful stuff. AND THEN THAT ENDING. God, you write chemistry like no one else. I always feel how much your characters need each other, and it's freaking amazing. ASDFGHGLKDFGHJA IF THIS IS HOW THE STORY PROGRESSES, BB, THEN WE ARE OFF TO A STELLAR START.

[identity profile] epicflailer.livejournal.com 2009-06-26 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
YOU. ARE ACTUALLY. READING. THIS.

I REALIZE I SOUND LIKE A BROKEN RECORD BUT FUCKING A, I AM STILL WRAPPING MY MIND AROUND IT. fksjfdfj GETTING FEEDBACK FROM YOU IS LIKE THE BEST PRESENT EVER, IDEK. I AM SO THRILLED YOU LIKED THIS, AND I AM PROBABLY GOING TO KEEP SAYING THAT IN RESPONSE TO ALL YOUR FB, BUT THAT IS ONLY BECAUSE I CURRENTLY FEEL BRAIN-DAMAGED AND CANNOT THINK OF A MORE APPROPRIATE WAY TO EXPRESS HOW GLEEFUL I AM RIGHT NOW. EXCEPT THROUGH CAPSLOCK AND THANKS FOR GIVING THIS A SHOT. AND HEARTS. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

[identity profile] dmlpacker.livejournal.com 2009-07-14 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
HOW DO YOU DO THIS? All of the fairy tales you've rewritten ARE parallels to classic stories, but you've also managed to somehow completely rework them into something even better!

[identity profile] epicflailer.livejournal.com 2009-07-15 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
oh my gosh, thank you! that's such a lovely compliment and i'm just so, so flattered and really glad you enjoyed! :D thank you for reading and for the fb!

[identity profile] stephoosaurus.livejournal.com 2009-07-31 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
i said i'd read it and i am!!!

"But I wouldn't really be in you," Archie says, earnestly. "We'd be, like, in you together?"

David chokes on his beer.


funniest part!!

Archie doesn't come home all night.

srsly, i almost started tearing at this line. i was actually sad!!!noooo!!

and honestly, i am retarded you told me tt it was based on the premise of just like heaven and i totes forgot so i didnt get the whole restaurant scene until later. haha.

[identity profile] slashophile.livejournal.com 2009-08-02 09:05 am (UTC)(link)
I

HAVE

NO

WORDS.

Like. OH MY GOSH. This made my chest tight and my heart hurt.

"I don't care," he says, roughly. He puts his hands on the back of Archie's neck, then, tugs him closer and whispers, "I don't fucking care."

THAT MADE ME BREATHLESS, JSYK.

Weird moment? I totally almost wrote this too. WHAT? I NEVER WOULD HAVE DONE IT JUSTICE LIKE YOU.

Oh my gosh, I just love this. LOVE LOVE. The pirate jokes and the weird looks and TATTOO!DAVID. GOSH.

*melts utterly*

This was so so beautiful.

On to the next one.

[identity profile] ceares.livejournal.com 2009-09-13 06:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Aw that was sweet and lovely. I kept rereading the beginning thinking I was missing something, and duh, I was. I love ghost stories with a happy ending.

[identity profile] tealsilver.livejournal.com 2010-04-24 11:40 pm (UTC)(link)
This's the sweetest!! I'm THIS close to printing the entire thing and just bringing it around to read whenever. :) You're that awesome!

[identity profile] epicflailer.livejournal.com 2010-04-26 05:19 am (UTC)(link)
thank you! that's so lovely of you to say. i'm glad you enjoyed this. :)

[identity profile] yetunknown.livejournal.com 2010-08-11 05:09 pm (UTC)(link)
oh. oh, geez. This almost brought me to tears ;________;

(in the good way.)

[identity profile] epicflailer.livejournal.com 2010-08-11 05:13 pm (UTC)(link)
aww, thank you! i'm really glad people are still enjoying this! :D

[identity profile] bloodbelieve.livejournal.com 2012-04-06 10:17 pm (UTC)(link)
HOW AND WHY DID I NEVER COMMENT ON THIS

FLAWLESSSSSSS