Cupid fic!
Jan. 27th, 2006 07:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mylittleredgirlAhahaha. Er. Well, see, this was written a long time ago for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mspooh, but lo and behold, someone else wrote a fic about this pairing! So now it's okay to post publically, or something. Also, I feel really guilty (and generally SAD!) because my braindrugs have rendered my muse catatonic, so God only knows when I'll actually be able to write anything new.
Title: "Heroes, Tights, and Archetypes"
Author: Little Red
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: CUPID, omfg.
Pairing: Claire/Alex (in which Alex is played by Joe Flanigan and he takes his shirt off, yay.)
Spoilers: All the Alex episodes. Set between The One Where Everybody Says I Love You and "End of an Eros"
Summary: Alex may be a goober, but he doesn't have to like it.
It occurs to Claire only after she says it that she really, really should know better.
She does know better, actually. It's her job to know, predict, and deal with all the strange issues that men (and women) can bring to a relationship. She's very good at that, actually.
There's just something about Alex that, occasionally, puts her brain on hold.
It's not entirely her fault, she insists. He wrapped her in a hug after her long, hard day at work, made her soup while she sat in the kitchen and complained for half an hour straight, and then even consented to watch a romantic movie on TV although she knows there's a game on somewhere.
He's massaging her shoulders, for God's sake. She'd be inhuman if her brain didn't take a little vacation.
Which is why she blissfully babbled that she's so lucky to have a boyfriend who's so...
"Sensitive?" The massage stops. "You really think that?"
She turns around to be able to see him. He looks like she just slapped him in the face. "What?" She giggles, nudging him. "It's a compliment, Alex."
"Not really."
He might be joking, she thinks. Sure, a lot of the Manly Manly Man crowd wouldn't take kindly to being considered sensitive, but Alex... "You have to know this about yourself," she argues before her years of psychology can make an appearance and inform her to just let this one go. "I mean, just look at tonight! I call you, you come over, you make me dinner..."
"Come on, Claire, that isn't fair. A guy's supposed to do that for his girlfriend."
She'd take offense at the supposed to, like she's somehow inconveniencing him by wanting him around, but she's still on a different tear. "You're watching The Bridges of Madison County!"
"Clint Eastwood!" Alex points to the TV as evidence, even though it's currently blaring a commercial.
Claire rolls her eyes. The man writes feel-good newspaper articles about blind old women, little league teams, and heroic neighborhood dogs. This cannot be news to him. "I don't understand why you're acting like I just accused you of leprosy. This is exactly what women want in a man." She leans in toward his lips. "You're a very-" kiss "-valuable-" kiss "-commodity."
She kisses him for real, but he doesn't really return it.
Alex finally pecks her on the lips and sighs. "All right, fine. Never mind." When she doesn't immediately turn back to the movie, he adds, "Can we drop this now?"
Maybe his brain is on vacation, too, she considers, because he definitely already knows that those words are the exact ones that will make sure she doesn't drop it. "No, we can't. I want you to explain it to me. I've never understood why there's this lasting idea that men like you shouldn't be 'sensitive,' even when you know that's what women are after these days and when you wouldn't be interested in the sort of women a He-Man approach attracts anyway." She really can't imagine him with the adult equivalent of a high school cheerleader.
"Don't you write books about this stuff?"
"All right. I understand in general. I want to know about you."
Alex frowns. He looks completely adorable, but she's pretty sure that calling him that right now won't end up in her favor. "It's..." he squirms on the couch. "I mean, I know that's what you -- women -- say you want, but you don't really need a guy for that."
"Meaning?"
"You've got girlfriends who will appreciate Clint Eastwood acting his heart out in a romantic role a lot better than I will."
"Alex, you do realize that a large proportion of the things I do with you I'd never do with a girlfriend, right?"
He shoots her a frustrated glare. It's one of her favorite expressions of his, and she bites her tongue to keep from grinning. "It's just... a guy's supposed to be able to wrestle the bear for you, you know?"
If it wasn't contributing to a totally frustrating macho personality quirk, Claire might find that the sweetest thing she has ever heard. "What are the chances I'm going to need you to wrestle a bear for me in Chicago?"
"A burglar, then."
It might grate against her feminism to say so, but she does feel a lot safer, even in her neighborhood, having a man in the house for as much of the time as he's there (which is a lot, lately -- it's been two weeks since he's been home for anything more than a change of clothes). She always insists that he doesn't have to, but she loves that Alex worries enough about her safety to find parking and walk her to or from her office whenever it's late at night.
So maybe she doesn't hate his lingering bear-wrestling macho side.
"So why can't you be both?"
"What?"
"Mild-mannered reporter by day..."
He rolls his eyes and tries to push her away with a finger to her shoulder.
"I've always thought capes were sexy," she continues.
"Claire."
"And spandex underwear!"
"Claire."
"Tights. You'd definitely look good in tights."
He frowns again, settling into the couch cushions in what she supposes is the fully grown macho-man version of a sulk. "Oh, fine. Make fun of me."
She stops teasing, feeling only a little bit guilty at the look on his face. "What?"
"I'm serious," he says.
"About wrestling bears?"
"About..." he waves a hand. "Yeah, I guess."
It floors her a bit, unexpectedly, and it takes her a moment to fully process it. Yes, Alex in a suit jacket defending her from a wild animal with his bare hands is a ridiculous image, but there's something primitive and feminine in her -- something from before the invention of burglar alarms and women's self-defense classes -- that thrills at the idea that he wants to protect her.
"I know." She reaches out a hand to rub his chest, fingers getting lost tracing the soft wool of his sweater collar. "I know you would, but that's not why I love you."
His eyes widen just a little and he smiles the soft smile he always does whenever she says she loves him. He doesn't say it back as much as she would like, maybe, but that look of awe on his face shoots right to her heart every time and she knows, knows he means it.
"I guess I can live with that," he agrees, laying a large warm hand on her knee.
"You'd better." She closes the gap and kisses him. She doesn't even recognize that time is passing until the soundtrack of an obnoxious car commercial bursts their bubble.
She ended up mostly underneath him on the couch, gasping for air, not caring in the least that her dry-clean-only skirt is wrinkling. One of his hands has worked its way inside her blouse and she hums happily when he moves his thumb. Oh, yes. Having a man in the house all the time is a very good thing.
"So," she says, licking her lips. "What would Superman do in this situation?"
Alex smirks. His eyes are dark and hungry, and she thinks that look could melt her anytime, anywhere. That look got her naked in a coffee shop. Since then -- with, well, one or two exceptions -- he's restricted use of that look to the home front only. She's imminently grateful for that, but if he doesn't tear her clothes off in the next five minutes, she thinks she might have to take hostages.
"I don't think I can carry you up the stairs without hurting you," Alex admits.
Claire does a quick visual sweep around the living room. They're already on a couch, of course, and there's a kitchen table and counters and even a window seat with frosted windows all in easy reach. She smiles her own version of that look. "That's okay."
Her chick flick continues to play in the background, but Claire doesn't pay any attention to it. It's official: She doesn't need Clint Eastwood to make her feel better after a long day at the office. She only needs this.
*end*
mspooh, but lo and behold, someone else wrote a fic about this pairing! So now it's okay to post publically, or something. Also, I feel really guilty (and generally SAD!) because my braindrugs have rendered my muse catatonic, so God only knows when I'll actually be able to write anything new.Title: "Heroes, Tights, and Archetypes"
Author: Little Red
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: CUPID, omfg.
Pairing: Claire/Alex (in which Alex is played by Joe Flanigan and he takes his shirt off, yay.)
Spoilers: All the Alex episodes. Set between The One Where Everybody Says I Love You and "End of an Eros"
Summary: Alex may be a goober, but he doesn't have to like it.
It occurs to Claire only after she says it that she really, really should know better.
She does know better, actually. It's her job to know, predict, and deal with all the strange issues that men (and women) can bring to a relationship. She's very good at that, actually.
There's just something about Alex that, occasionally, puts her brain on hold.
It's not entirely her fault, she insists. He wrapped her in a hug after her long, hard day at work, made her soup while she sat in the kitchen and complained for half an hour straight, and then even consented to watch a romantic movie on TV although she knows there's a game on somewhere.
He's massaging her shoulders, for God's sake. She'd be inhuman if her brain didn't take a little vacation.
Which is why she blissfully babbled that she's so lucky to have a boyfriend who's so...
"Sensitive?" The massage stops. "You really think that?"
She turns around to be able to see him. He looks like she just slapped him in the face. "What?" She giggles, nudging him. "It's a compliment, Alex."
"Not really."
He might be joking, she thinks. Sure, a lot of the Manly Manly Man crowd wouldn't take kindly to being considered sensitive, but Alex... "You have to know this about yourself," she argues before her years of psychology can make an appearance and inform her to just let this one go. "I mean, just look at tonight! I call you, you come over, you make me dinner..."
"Come on, Claire, that isn't fair. A guy's supposed to do that for his girlfriend."
She'd take offense at the supposed to, like she's somehow inconveniencing him by wanting him around, but she's still on a different tear. "You're watching The Bridges of Madison County!"
"Clint Eastwood!" Alex points to the TV as evidence, even though it's currently blaring a commercial.
Claire rolls her eyes. The man writes feel-good newspaper articles about blind old women, little league teams, and heroic neighborhood dogs. This cannot be news to him. "I don't understand why you're acting like I just accused you of leprosy. This is exactly what women want in a man." She leans in toward his lips. "You're a very-" kiss "-valuable-" kiss "-commodity."
She kisses him for real, but he doesn't really return it.
Alex finally pecks her on the lips and sighs. "All right, fine. Never mind." When she doesn't immediately turn back to the movie, he adds, "Can we drop this now?"
Maybe his brain is on vacation, too, she considers, because he definitely already knows that those words are the exact ones that will make sure she doesn't drop it. "No, we can't. I want you to explain it to me. I've never understood why there's this lasting idea that men like you shouldn't be 'sensitive,' even when you know that's what women are after these days and when you wouldn't be interested in the sort of women a He-Man approach attracts anyway." She really can't imagine him with the adult equivalent of a high school cheerleader.
"Don't you write books about this stuff?"
"All right. I understand in general. I want to know about you."
Alex frowns. He looks completely adorable, but she's pretty sure that calling him that right now won't end up in her favor. "It's..." he squirms on the couch. "I mean, I know that's what you -- women -- say you want, but you don't really need a guy for that."
"Meaning?"
"You've got girlfriends who will appreciate Clint Eastwood acting his heart out in a romantic role a lot better than I will."
"Alex, you do realize that a large proportion of the things I do with you I'd never do with a girlfriend, right?"
He shoots her a frustrated glare. It's one of her favorite expressions of his, and she bites her tongue to keep from grinning. "It's just... a guy's supposed to be able to wrestle the bear for you, you know?"
If it wasn't contributing to a totally frustrating macho personality quirk, Claire might find that the sweetest thing she has ever heard. "What are the chances I'm going to need you to wrestle a bear for me in Chicago?"
"A burglar, then."
It might grate against her feminism to say so, but she does feel a lot safer, even in her neighborhood, having a man in the house for as much of the time as he's there (which is a lot, lately -- it's been two weeks since he's been home for anything more than a change of clothes). She always insists that he doesn't have to, but she loves that Alex worries enough about her safety to find parking and walk her to or from her office whenever it's late at night.
So maybe she doesn't hate his lingering bear-wrestling macho side.
"So why can't you be both?"
"What?"
"Mild-mannered reporter by day..."
He rolls his eyes and tries to push her away with a finger to her shoulder.
"I've always thought capes were sexy," she continues.
"Claire."
"And spandex underwear!"
"Claire."
"Tights. You'd definitely look good in tights."
He frowns again, settling into the couch cushions in what she supposes is the fully grown macho-man version of a sulk. "Oh, fine. Make fun of me."
She stops teasing, feeling only a little bit guilty at the look on his face. "What?"
"I'm serious," he says.
"About wrestling bears?"
"About..." he waves a hand. "Yeah, I guess."
It floors her a bit, unexpectedly, and it takes her a moment to fully process it. Yes, Alex in a suit jacket defending her from a wild animal with his bare hands is a ridiculous image, but there's something primitive and feminine in her -- something from before the invention of burglar alarms and women's self-defense classes -- that thrills at the idea that he wants to protect her.
"I know." She reaches out a hand to rub his chest, fingers getting lost tracing the soft wool of his sweater collar. "I know you would, but that's not why I love you."
His eyes widen just a little and he smiles the soft smile he always does whenever she says she loves him. He doesn't say it back as much as she would like, maybe, but that look of awe on his face shoots right to her heart every time and she knows, knows he means it.
"I guess I can live with that," he agrees, laying a large warm hand on her knee.
"You'd better." She closes the gap and kisses him. She doesn't even recognize that time is passing until the soundtrack of an obnoxious car commercial bursts their bubble.
She ended up mostly underneath him on the couch, gasping for air, not caring in the least that her dry-clean-only skirt is wrinkling. One of his hands has worked its way inside her blouse and she hums happily when he moves his thumb. Oh, yes. Having a man in the house all the time is a very good thing.
"So," she says, licking her lips. "What would Superman do in this situation?"
Alex smirks. His eyes are dark and hungry, and she thinks that look could melt her anytime, anywhere. That look got her naked in a coffee shop. Since then -- with, well, one or two exceptions -- he's restricted use of that look to the home front only. She's imminently grateful for that, but if he doesn't tear her clothes off in the next five minutes, she thinks she might have to take hostages.
"I don't think I can carry you up the stairs without hurting you," Alex admits.
Claire does a quick visual sweep around the living room. They're already on a couch, of course, and there's a kitchen table and counters and even a window seat with frosted windows all in easy reach. She smiles her own version of that look. "That's okay."
Her chick flick continues to play in the background, but Claire doesn't pay any attention to it. It's official: She doesn't need Clint Eastwood to make her feel better after a long day at the office. She only needs this.
*end*
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 03:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 02:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 04:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 05:52 am (UTC)*gets confuzzled*
Hwazah! I have JohnJoe movies/episodes in my posession!
no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 02:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 06:06 am (UTC)There is more that my brain wants to say here, but I need to go to bed before I fall asleep on the keyboard and you get a comment full of random letters. Maybe tomorrow, if I still remember it and it's actually worth saying.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 02:56 pm (UTC)And yay tights! Since writing this, I have gotten all re-obsessed with Lois & Clark. Mmmm, tights. ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 06:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 06:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 06:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 06:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 02:58 pm (UTC)OMG. More naked Alex needed in my life.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 04:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 10:12 pm (UTC)Um. I could stand knowing what exact movie that is. Is this a proper movie for public consumption or do you know someone who has been stalking him through the bedroom curtains??
It's like thirty seconds worth of smooth, perky ass
Wow, that's a nice sentance....
no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 10:32 pm (UTC)And she wonders how she gets her reputation. ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-01-29 04:17 am (UTC)But seriously... really smooth. Like a baby's butt.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-29 04:16 am (UTC)Public consumption, if you can call a really crappy, preachy, 1.5 hours of eyerolling life-suck a proper movie. LOL. Baby JohnJoe actually plays a semi-large role, but the thirty second scene is the only reason to watch it.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-29 11:37 pm (UTC)Hmm...I could buy the movie for £5 or £6 quid, but have tv non compatibility issues with reg 1 dvd's. Hmm...and on the whole don't want the whole life-suck business so will have to trawl web waiting for someone to post up a movie clippit of the relevant ass, I mean parts, I mean scene....
no subject
Date: 2006-02-01 05:33 am (UTC)Ahahaha. Sometimes I scare myself.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 02:58 pm (UTC)made all the better by the accompanying mental visual of Joe Flanigan.
I find most things kind of are...
no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 06:28 am (UTC)But WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! GOOBER LOVE, OMG!
What would Superman do? He'd take off all his clothes, is what. *nods*
*LOVES YOU LIKE WHOA* (CAPS are love.)
P.S. I reread the other two, and that resolution one needs to continue because you left all of us -- Claire and me -- dangling. *Feeds your muse with candy and peeled grapes*
no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 03:01 pm (UTC)OMG! That fic! I was so embarrassed by that and totally thought you sekritly hated it for, er, I really haven't watched the rest of the show and feel kind of moronic for making DRAMA AND ANGST in the world of a comedy. But yes. I suppose that's what guilty pleasures are all about.
We totally lose at fandom! I am such a chicken.
And you totally told me not to, omg.*smiles prettily and passes the buck*Superman would SO take off his clothes! OMG. I have been watching Season Two of Lois & Clark and I swear there's like collective death by hyperventilation in this apartment whenever Clark Kent takes off his shirt.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 06:16 pm (UTC)Totally don't have to know anything about the actual characters to enjoy it.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 10:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 06:44 pm (UTC)i'm so glad you posted this and pointed me to it!
Alex the superman
Date: 2006-02-05 04:49 am (UTC)*dreams of superman*
Date: 2006-02-05 09:31 am (UTC)Don't I WISH. I have been pining after Clark Kent since I was a little kid, I tell you, and this guy would be pretty close to that. ;)
I've been wondering how you're doing! I miss hanging out and occasionally doing TKD with you!!
*love*
no subject
Date: 2007-09-17 02:04 am (UTC)Via
Lovely lovely sweet hot little story and it totally nails the characterizations and mannerisms!
no subject
Date: 2007-09-17 07:49 am (UTC)*excited at the very idea of other humans writing fanfic toooo*
Thanks for the comment! *waves with love*
You are not alone in your alternapairing lust!
Date: 2007-09-17 02:37 pm (UTC)but I think you might already have that one...
and it was the one that I was pointed to after this one:
http://siriaeve.livejournal.com/237704.html
The former, being where I found you... the later having even more A/C, a ficathon ...courtesy of others of our Alex/Claire pairing inclination
I only watched the 4 episodes teh Flan was in, I mean, I appreciate Piven but he was never a consideration when it came to a OTP with Claire... especially with Alex in the picture... because, seriously? those 2 burned up the screen together (I can only imagine Mrs.Flan not noticing their chemistry)
And finally? I am *not* into het but these two totally ring my bell! and I'm still on the look for more and continuing stories like the ones on the 2nd site... a couple where they take the Alex/Claire relationship to it's proper place... you know... owning up to their love and attraction and getting together and being a family... with baby Emma.... oh yeah... and evidently I turn to total mush in the presence of this pairing!! :-p
Re: You are not alone in your alternapairing lust!
Date: 2007-09-17 07:02 pm (UTC)I'm now going to scrounge up the little clips of Alex scenes I have on my computer and start bugging
I totally thought I was aloooone!! *clings to you all* The hot of those fics are killing me, omfg. And yes, they totally need to be married and have babies. Eeeeee!!
I'm totally a dirty het shipper. It's sad and shameful, but I just can't help it. ;)
Re: You are not alone in your alternapairing lust!
Date: 2007-09-18 03:04 am (UTC)That's okay, you can't help it ;)... and when it comes to this particular pairing I'm totally on board with you!
I found another couple of fics http://siriaeve.unrealwords.com/category/uncategorized/cupid/
Although they may have already been covered by the previous recces...
I don't know, I get all confuserated when I have at least 8 browser windows open...
I wish I weren't such a technotard because if I could, I would find all the little bits and pieces of teh Flan's performances (in all the failed pilots and guest shots) and string them all together... and wouldn't that be bliss?
Re: You are not alone in your alternapairing lust!
Date: 2007-09-20 05:03 am (UTC)It's really quite sad that the majority of my omgotps end up being het, though I love watching the male friendships on most shows the best of everything. I keep venturing across party lines, reading a few porny things, going "ooooh, that's so hot!" and then kind of forgetting about it (unlike my otps that tend to dig their claws into my brain and control my motor functions for months).
At any rate, that probably explains why I never ran into you awesome Alex/Claire people before to flail and share squeee. Because... it's just... omg! They had... just... the perfectest relationship! And Cupid picked them, and Cupid is (rarely) wrong! It all makes poifect sense. I made, like, sekrit fanmix cds and stayed up nights fretting about unfilmed episodes and things. Such goobers! I <3 them so.
(You'll let me know when a community pops up, yes? Because I will totally write fanfic. And make a fool out of myself with public squeee. And... I should stop now.)
Re: You are not alone in your alternapairing lust!
Date: 2007-09-20 06:25 pm (UTC)I've had several discussions about the differences between interests in Het vs Slash... and all I can say is that slash works best for me, personally, because of the equality of the protagonists... both can be pitchers and catchers in the sexual sense and they've both got the power of gender... because I'm turned off when the female of the pair is relegated to a simpering helpless stereotype... and lets face it, women can't be men so there's never an equality that works for me... with rare exception...
Which is why my attraction, nay, obsession with the Alex/Claire connection is such a surprise to me... perhaps it's just the unbelievable chemistry between the 2 actors... I dunno... whatever it is, it's magical... and I LOVE IT!!
I wonder if it's not as big a surprise to the other slashers that took a little ~step to the left~ and wrote as much as they did for the Flan festival... it's not something I've ever discussed with any of them... maybe I will one day... (and you understand that I'm just a reader and not a writer?)
That said, I will absolutely positively let you know if anything further pops up (ooh err!) for Alex/Claire in my Slash universe and I hope you'll let me know if one pops up your Het universe...
Although it sure would be cool if someone who had the know it all started an Alex/Claire LJ community... I mean, it might be small but it could be powerful...
And not unlike another small LJ community I belong to... [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] and
I've recce'd them before to people who aren't necessarily into slash and they've been taken by the characters... you can see the movies via NetFlix or the Here Network (if it's available in your area... sadly, it's not in mine so I bought them for my very own)
So... there ya go... we've had an excellent cross cultural meeting of the minds!! :-D and it's been a pleasure!!
Let me know if you do check out the Donald & Timmy universe... because it can't be slash if the guys are really gay, right? :-p
Yippy Skippy, it's here!!
Date: 2007-09-21 05:42 am (UTC)Re: Yippy Skippy, it's here!!
Date: 2007-09-21 06:56 am (UTC)Srsly, if you hadn't done it by the time I got home, I was totally going to start one.
Eeeeee!! I will read the long first post and things tomorrow when I am not asleep, and will generally delight, and ooooh, is it for just the challenge or is there to be general squeee and ficposting and lalalajoy as well?
(Um. Asleep now. But SRSLY, I LUV YOU. New favorite person evarrrrr!)
Re: Yippy Skippy, it's here!!
Date: 2007-09-21 03:59 pm (UTC)I'm a regular reader of
They're just getting started with the prompts at this point... but there are lots of bright lights at the end of Alex and Claire tunnel... (hmmm, that sounds sorta sexual, doesn't it?) ;)