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asphaltcowgrrlTitle: Perils of Living with a Writer, 2014 A to Z challenge at 1_million_words
Pairing: Travis Murphy/Ethan McDowell, both original characters
Rating: G for 'good god why does she keep posting this crap'?
Word Count: 1,256
Author's Note: The boys' story starts here, if you are so inclined.
Perils of Living with a Writer – Peril #3 – Creativity (also: Cartoons)
Ethan looked up from his e-reader and noticed Travis had disappeared. Which was odd, because he was currently beta-reading his newest work in progress. When it came to his writing, Travis was paranoid in every sense. This made him loath to leave Ethan alone with any of his work, even for a few minutes. He’d hover for the duration.
So, where had he gone?
Stretching, Ethan removed himself from his now-favorite chair and wandered into the kitchen. No Travis. A quick glimpse outside gave the same results – nothing. He wasn’t in the bedroom, either, which left Travis’ study-slash-office. Bingo!
“Hey, Trav, when did you – what are you watching?” Ethan stepped forward into the study, squinting at Travis’ laptop.
Popping an ear bud out of an ear, Travis turned to him, smiling. “Oh hey, are you done already? It doesn’t suck, does it?”
“No, not done yet,” Ethan said, leaning closer to the laptop. “And no, it doesn’t suck either. I just noticed you were missing and wanted to make sure you were okay. Again – what the hell are you watching? And why do they have wings?”
Travis watched the screen for a moment longer, the deep watercolor-like animation swirling before his eyes, before he turned his focus completely on his boyfriend. “It’s an anime called Haibane-Renmei and it’s about angels, which is why they have wings. And halos, too.” He tapped on the screen as Reki appeared, cigarette dangling from her mouth.
“An angel who smokes, interesting.” Ethan straightened up and rubbed his eyes. “I guess my next question is why are you watching this? Aside from your cartoon obsession, that is?”
Travis lifted his shoulders and let them drop. “I had a dream last night about angels and when I woke, I had an amazing idea for my next book.”
“Next book? You’re not quite finished with this book,” Ethan pointed out.
“Yeah, I know,” Travis conceded, “but that’s how it works with me. More ideas than time. Anyway, I haven’t watched this show in years and it suddenly occurred to me that it might make for some interesting research. So, I pulled out my DVDs. Wish I had them in Blu-Ray though…”
Ethan shook his head, smiling at the simplicity of how his lover’s mind worked sometimes. “I get it, I do. But how about you take a break and we make some lunch? Afterwards, you can go back to your cartoons and –”
“Anime,” he stressed. “There’s a difference.
Of course there was. “Fine – anime – and I can get back to reading over your current project. You know, the one your agent wants you to finish?”
Travis looked at him sideways for the briefest moment before agreeing. “Yeah, yeah, yeah… I can take a hint. I’ll go make lunch.”
That wasn’t exactly what he’d meant, but it worked for him. While he could cook well enough to keep himself from starving, Travis was by far the better one in the kitchen. In deference to Travis’ assumption he was the one to make lunch, Ethan thought he’d start a load of laundry, just to be helpful.
The smell of frying bacon drew him into the kitchen before long. “What are you making?”
Glancing up from the tomato he was slicing, he said, “BLT’s, is that okay? I need to hit the grocery store, there’s not much in the fridge.”
“It’s perfect,” he said, being honest. “I love those damn things.”
“Glad to hear it because it’s what you’re getting.”
“Cheeky jackass,” he teased.
“That would be me. Now, could you grab the toast out of the toaster and add more bread?” He grabbed a second tomato and started slicing.
“Sure.” Ethan grabbed a plate out of the cupboard and reached for the toast. Pulling the slices out, he dropped them onto the plate and stopped. “Travis, why does the toast have Darth Vader burnt into it?”
“You like that, eh? I found it online a couple weeks ago and it arrived yesterday.” He started tearing into the head of lettuce next.
“Uh, well, I’m not sure if I like it or not, but it is different. Kind of like you.” He’d meant it as a jibe and it wound up sounding like a compliment. Travis did that to him sometimes.
He shrugged. “I like to surround myself with silly stuff. Keeps me from getting too serious.”
“As if that was a problem,” Ethan snorted. Now him, on the other hand, he had a bad habit of getting much too serious for his own good, but that came from long years as a homicide detective. Since moving to White Pine, things had been quite a bit less stressful. “I’m going to go grab some firewood before the rain comes. I’ll be right back.”
“Oh, good idea, thanks baby.” Travis blew him a kiss and went back to lunch preparations.
Ethan had been back inside for only a few minutes before he heard Travis calling his name. “What’s up?”
“Lunch,” Travis said, pointing at the plate he’d set on the breakfast bar.
“I could have made my own sandwich, Trav, but thanks.” Ethan took the plate, glanced at it, then looked at it again. “Uh… Travis?”
“Mmmm?” He was busy loading his own sandwich with bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and pickled jalapeño slices, something Ethan never could wrap his brain around.
“Did you really cut my sandwich into star shapes?” He lifted a couple pieces piled on his plate, investigating.
“Why yes, I did, detective. Is there a law against that in this state?” Sarcasm dripped playfully from each word.
“No,” he admitted, “but there should be. I’m not four.”
“No, you’re not,” he agreed, his words dripping with something else entirely this time. “And thank god for that.”
Unable to hold on to his ire, Ethan chuckled at the ridiculousness of the situation. “Just promise you’re not going to do anything weird with my dinner, okay?”
“Awww, but Ethan, I was going to make snowmen out of your mashed potatoes! With green peas for eyes!”
Ethan rubbed his fingers against his temples, silently counting to two hundred.
“I am kidding,” Travis said, grabbing his plate and Ethan’s, too. “I may be an overgrown child, but not that much so.”
“Well, thank the heavens for that,” he laughed.
But the truth was, as he followed his lover into the living room, he did love Travis’ childish side. It kept things fresh and new and fun and their relationship benefitted from his silliness. His creativity resided everywhere he went, not just in the words he put on paper. It seeped from his every pore, showed itself in the words he spoke as well as the way he dressed or even, hell, how he made his toast.
At times, that creative impulse got him into trouble, and more than occasionally it drove Ethan mad. In the end, however, it was those cute little cards, the texted quotes, the Star Wars branded toast that made him stick with this insane writer he’d so helplessly fallen for. And when someone asked him why, he was hard pressed to answer, but the truth of the matter was this: When you were by Travis Murphy’s side, life became unpredictable and a little bit chaotic. That in itself wasn’t for everyone, but for someone like Ethan who had spent years chasing murderers and drowning in the evils of the world, a little bit of creative chaos was just what the doctor ordered…
…and Travis was the prescription for all that could ever ail him.
D is here.
Pairing: Travis Murphy/Ethan McDowell, both original characters
Rating: G for 'good god why does she keep posting this crap'?
Word Count: 1,256
Author's Note: The boys' story starts here, if you are so inclined.
Perils of Living with a Writer – Peril #3 – Creativity (also: Cartoons)
Ethan looked up from his e-reader and noticed Travis had disappeared. Which was odd, because he was currently beta-reading his newest work in progress. When it came to his writing, Travis was paranoid in every sense. This made him loath to leave Ethan alone with any of his work, even for a few minutes. He’d hover for the duration.
So, where had he gone?
Stretching, Ethan removed himself from his now-favorite chair and wandered into the kitchen. No Travis. A quick glimpse outside gave the same results – nothing. He wasn’t in the bedroom, either, which left Travis’ study-slash-office. Bingo!
“Hey, Trav, when did you – what are you watching?” Ethan stepped forward into the study, squinting at Travis’ laptop.
Popping an ear bud out of an ear, Travis turned to him, smiling. “Oh hey, are you done already? It doesn’t suck, does it?”
“No, not done yet,” Ethan said, leaning closer to the laptop. “And no, it doesn’t suck either. I just noticed you were missing and wanted to make sure you were okay. Again – what the hell are you watching? And why do they have wings?”
Travis watched the screen for a moment longer, the deep watercolor-like animation swirling before his eyes, before he turned his focus completely on his boyfriend. “It’s an anime called Haibane-Renmei and it’s about angels, which is why they have wings. And halos, too.” He tapped on the screen as Reki appeared, cigarette dangling from her mouth.
“An angel who smokes, interesting.” Ethan straightened up and rubbed his eyes. “I guess my next question is why are you watching this? Aside from your cartoon obsession, that is?”
Travis lifted his shoulders and let them drop. “I had a dream last night about angels and when I woke, I had an amazing idea for my next book.”
“Next book? You’re not quite finished with this book,” Ethan pointed out.
“Yeah, I know,” Travis conceded, “but that’s how it works with me. More ideas than time. Anyway, I haven’t watched this show in years and it suddenly occurred to me that it might make for some interesting research. So, I pulled out my DVDs. Wish I had them in Blu-Ray though…”
Ethan shook his head, smiling at the simplicity of how his lover’s mind worked sometimes. “I get it, I do. But how about you take a break and we make some lunch? Afterwards, you can go back to your cartoons and –”
“Anime,” he stressed. “There’s a difference.
Of course there was. “Fine – anime – and I can get back to reading over your current project. You know, the one your agent wants you to finish?”
Travis looked at him sideways for the briefest moment before agreeing. “Yeah, yeah, yeah… I can take a hint. I’ll go make lunch.”
That wasn’t exactly what he’d meant, but it worked for him. While he could cook well enough to keep himself from starving, Travis was by far the better one in the kitchen. In deference to Travis’ assumption he was the one to make lunch, Ethan thought he’d start a load of laundry, just to be helpful.
The smell of frying bacon drew him into the kitchen before long. “What are you making?”
Glancing up from the tomato he was slicing, he said, “BLT’s, is that okay? I need to hit the grocery store, there’s not much in the fridge.”
“It’s perfect,” he said, being honest. “I love those damn things.”
“Glad to hear it because it’s what you’re getting.”
“Cheeky jackass,” he teased.
“That would be me. Now, could you grab the toast out of the toaster and add more bread?” He grabbed a second tomato and started slicing.
“Sure.” Ethan grabbed a plate out of the cupboard and reached for the toast. Pulling the slices out, he dropped them onto the plate and stopped. “Travis, why does the toast have Darth Vader burnt into it?”
“You like that, eh? I found it online a couple weeks ago and it arrived yesterday.” He started tearing into the head of lettuce next.
“Uh, well, I’m not sure if I like it or not, but it is different. Kind of like you.” He’d meant it as a jibe and it wound up sounding like a compliment. Travis did that to him sometimes.
He shrugged. “I like to surround myself with silly stuff. Keeps me from getting too serious.”
“As if that was a problem,” Ethan snorted. Now him, on the other hand, he had a bad habit of getting much too serious for his own good, but that came from long years as a homicide detective. Since moving to White Pine, things had been quite a bit less stressful. “I’m going to go grab some firewood before the rain comes. I’ll be right back.”
“Oh, good idea, thanks baby.” Travis blew him a kiss and went back to lunch preparations.
Ethan had been back inside for only a few minutes before he heard Travis calling his name. “What’s up?”
“Lunch,” Travis said, pointing at the plate he’d set on the breakfast bar.
“I could have made my own sandwich, Trav, but thanks.” Ethan took the plate, glanced at it, then looked at it again. “Uh… Travis?”
“Mmmm?” He was busy loading his own sandwich with bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and pickled jalapeño slices, something Ethan never could wrap his brain around.
“Did you really cut my sandwich into star shapes?” He lifted a couple pieces piled on his plate, investigating.
“Why yes, I did, detective. Is there a law against that in this state?” Sarcasm dripped playfully from each word.
“No,” he admitted, “but there should be. I’m not four.”
“No, you’re not,” he agreed, his words dripping with something else entirely this time. “And thank god for that.”
Unable to hold on to his ire, Ethan chuckled at the ridiculousness of the situation. “Just promise you’re not going to do anything weird with my dinner, okay?”
“Awww, but Ethan, I was going to make snowmen out of your mashed potatoes! With green peas for eyes!”
Ethan rubbed his fingers against his temples, silently counting to two hundred.
“I am kidding,” Travis said, grabbing his plate and Ethan’s, too. “I may be an overgrown child, but not that much so.”
“Well, thank the heavens for that,” he laughed.
But the truth was, as he followed his lover into the living room, he did love Travis’ childish side. It kept things fresh and new and fun and their relationship benefitted from his silliness. His creativity resided everywhere he went, not just in the words he put on paper. It seeped from his every pore, showed itself in the words he spoke as well as the way he dressed or even, hell, how he made his toast.
At times, that creative impulse got him into trouble, and more than occasionally it drove Ethan mad. In the end, however, it was those cute little cards, the texted quotes, the Star Wars branded toast that made him stick with this insane writer he’d so helplessly fallen for. And when someone asked him why, he was hard pressed to answer, but the truth of the matter was this: When you were by Travis Murphy’s side, life became unpredictable and a little bit chaotic. That in itself wasn’t for everyone, but for someone like Ethan who had spent years chasing murderers and drowning in the evils of the world, a little bit of creative chaos was just what the doctor ordered…
…and Travis was the prescription for all that could ever ail him.
D is here.
