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fellowshippers2004-05-26 10:50 am
jcole.livejournal.com) wrote in fellowshippers2004-05-26 10:50 am
Ficlet: Go With The Flow (DM-BB. PG.)
Title: Go With The Flow
Author: Jamie
Rating: PG for language
Characters: DM, BB
Disclaimer: Don't know, don't own. Such a pity.
Summary: Dom likes to go with the flow. Sometimes, the flow catches him unawares. (Contains spoilers for Return of the King.)
Author's Notes: Inspired by watching RotK yesterday, especially the part where Merry and Pippin say goodbye. 'Twas supposed to be slash, but somehow, it just didn't happen. Posted to my journal and fellow_shippers. Apologies to those who see this more than once.
Some days, Dom looks around and he finds that he’s *still* in awe of where he is and what he’s doing and of this big fucking opportunity that’s come his way and *is*—he *knows* it—going to change his life forever. It doesn’t matter that he’s been in New Zealand for months now, or that thus far, he’s been doing the best work of his career. He just looks around, maybe when he’s standing at the base of some great mountain, or in front of one of those sets that’s been built just for one day’s worth of shooting but it’s still as detailed as the ones they use for weeks, and he just thinks, *Fucking awesome, man…*
It’s on these days that Dom tries especially hard just to go with the flow. To be Mr. Laid-back, who does what he’s supposed to, when he’s supposed to, and doesn’t put a whole lot more thought into it than that. It’s a conscious decision on his part, to attempt to do such a thing, but it makes him calmer in the same way that yoga makes him calmer.
Sean, he thinks, would probably tell him that he’s grounding himself and that it’s just his way of making himself as strong as he can be, so that he can deal with the stresses and insanity of his life in the best possible way. Dom agrees. It’s how he’s started thinking about it in his own mind.
He doesn’t tell anyone what he’s doing, though. When speaking about his work ethic to others, he says, "I’m just trying to live in the moment, you understand. Just trying to take each day as it comes, because really, how many times am I going to be able to experience something like this? Tell me that." It sounds like something he might say in an interview, yes, but there’s a reason certain sorts of answers are encouraged when dealing with the media. They’re safe. They’re bulletproof. People can’t question.
Well, they can, Dom supposes, but they won’t. Because questioning will just lead to more carefully prepared answers. He’s *good*. He has this sort of thing *down.*
So, he’s in one of these go with the flow moods, not really paying attention to anything but the lines on the script in front of him and the location that he’s supposed to be at at arse-fucking-early the next morning, when he suddenly realizes that for the first time in the shoot thus far, he’s going to be alone. Well, not alone, as in a singular Dominic Monaghan standing in the middle of a forest and that’s it, but he’ll be without his other hobbits. And not just his other hobbits, ‘cause yeah, okay, Sean and Elijah headed off on their journey to Mordor weeks ago, but Billy.
*Billy.* His partner in crime. Who’s been in pretty much every scene *he’s* been in since they arrived on this bloody island. And it’s not just going to be a day, either. It’s going to be for a whole bloody week, which, given the tendency of *everything* to take longer than it should, will probably turn into two. At the very least.
Billy, the same hobbit that’s currently lying on Dom’s couch, murmuring his lines to himself as he stares at Dom’s ceiling so intently that Dom can’t help but look up himself. All he sees is the crack that’s been there since he moved in.
He looks back at Billy after a moment and then, hesitantly, he asks, "Bill?"
Billy’s lips stop moving and he lifts his head, cranes his neck up so that he’s looking at Dom. "Yes, Dom?"
"Did you realize that we…" Dom starts, but he trails off.
He feels like an idiot now, because he knows Billy, and while Billy can be a go with the flow sort of man, he’s also the sort to actually read ahead in the shooting schedule. He multi-tasks like that, not only living in the moment, but keeping an eye on the future, too.
"Did I realize—?" Billy prompts. He’s lifting himself up on his elbows now, propping himself up, and he’s sinking into the cushions of Dom’s couch as he speaks. "I don’t know, Dom. What have I maybe—or maybe not—realized?"
Dom scratches fingers through his hair, then brings his hand down so that he can stare at his fingernails, so that he can pick at them and pretend that they’re the most fascinating things in the whole wide world. He coughs, swallows, and then he says: "Did you realize we won’t be shooting any scenes together during this whole week? None? Zip, zilch, zero?"
He coughs again and he’s blushing, he realizes, so he pays even more attention, if that’s possible, to his fingernails and the ragged edge of his thumbnail. He thinks he maybe managed to sound nonchalant as he spoke, like he’s just pointing out the obvious, but when Billy doesn’t say anything, he lets his eyes flicker upwards again. The other man is staring at him, and Billy knows Dom too well, Dom thinks, because he can see the look on Billy’s face and shock, surprise, *he’s not fooled.*
Dom almost expects Billy to say something like, *And you’re just realizing this now? We’ve had this schedule for nigh on a month, you know. We’ve known this was coming since the beginning of the shoot!*
It’s true, after all. Billy would be right to say such things.
But Dom knows Billy too, and while he knows Billy wouldn’t normally have a problem taunting him in such a manner, given the slightly worried look on his face, he’s not going to. Instead, he sits up fully on the couch, scoots down to the end that’s closest to Dom’s chair, and says, "Are you going to survive, Dommie? Are you going to be all right?"
The lines of worry on his face, which had seemed genuine only a moment before, are suddenly over-exaggerated. He has a whole fucking flock of crows feet around his eyes, they’re so pinched up, his lips are pressed together in a thin, white line, and his forehead is as scrunched up as a range of New Zealand volcanoes.
"Fuck you," Dom says. He thinks about saying, *It just snuck up on me, is all*. Instead, he says, "I’ll be glad to get away from you, you bastard. I just wasn’t sure about you. Wasn’t sure how you were going to handle it."
He nods his head, one sharp, decisive movement, and then he arches an eyebrow at Billy, challenging him to come up with a retort. Which he does, of course, because he’s Billy, and Dom is Dom, and they can play this game for hours, until they drive everyone around them off their rockers.
"I’m going to be heartbroken," Billy says. He sighs heavily and then lifts a hand to his forehead, acting as if he’s about to swoon. Dom isn’t smiling at his antics, but that’s only because he’s developed strong muscles in his cheeks from all of the time that he spends trying *not* to laugh at Billy.
"I’m going to be inconsolable," Billy continues. "All of my scenes are going to be crap, because every time I’m on camera, I’m going to be looking for you. When I run through the streets of Minas Tirith, I shan’t be yelling, ‘Gandalf! Gandalf! Denthor is trying to burn Faramir alive!’ I’ll be calling, ‘Merry! Merry! Wherefore art thou, my Merry!’"
Dom flips him off, then waves his finger around a little bit, just to further emphasize his ‘annoyance.’ He’s lost the battle with his amusement, though, and he’s smiling, so he’s pretty sure that Billy can tell his annoyance is faked. Not that Billy wouldn’t have been able to tell anyway.
"Love you, too," Billy says. He uncrosses his legs and lies back on the couch, picking his script up again.
"It *is* only a week," Dom says, and then feels stupid *again* for pointing out the obvious. He turns his head so that he can look out the window of his living room. "I suppose we’ll survive."
"Maybe," Billy says. His voice sounds lighthearted, but Dom can hear the undertone of seriousness that’s there. "Maybe. And if we don’t, we can always go on a hunger strike until Peter is forced to bring us back together again."
"That we can." Dom nods.
"I’ll miss you, Dom," Billy says a few moments later, after the conversation is officially over, and so softly that Dom barely hears the words. What he does hear is the rustling of papers, and he thinks that maybe Billy lowered his script for a moment, to look at Dom as he spoke. When Dom looks back at him, though, Billy’s staring at the ceiling again, mouthing lines.
"I’ll miss you too, Bills," he says just as softly. Then he looks down at his own script and starts reading again.
Author: Jamie
Rating: PG for language
Characters: DM, BB
Disclaimer: Don't know, don't own. Such a pity.
Summary: Dom likes to go with the flow. Sometimes, the flow catches him unawares. (Contains spoilers for Return of the King.)
Author's Notes: Inspired by watching RotK yesterday, especially the part where Merry and Pippin say goodbye. 'Twas supposed to be slash, but somehow, it just didn't happen. Posted to my journal and fellow_shippers. Apologies to those who see this more than once.
Some days, Dom looks around and he finds that he’s *still* in awe of where he is and what he’s doing and of this big fucking opportunity that’s come his way and *is*—he *knows* it—going to change his life forever. It doesn’t matter that he’s been in New Zealand for months now, or that thus far, he’s been doing the best work of his career. He just looks around, maybe when he’s standing at the base of some great mountain, or in front of one of those sets that’s been built just for one day’s worth of shooting but it’s still as detailed as the ones they use for weeks, and he just thinks, *Fucking awesome, man…*
It’s on these days that Dom tries especially hard just to go with the flow. To be Mr. Laid-back, who does what he’s supposed to, when he’s supposed to, and doesn’t put a whole lot more thought into it than that. It’s a conscious decision on his part, to attempt to do such a thing, but it makes him calmer in the same way that yoga makes him calmer.
Sean, he thinks, would probably tell him that he’s grounding himself and that it’s just his way of making himself as strong as he can be, so that he can deal with the stresses and insanity of his life in the best possible way. Dom agrees. It’s how he’s started thinking about it in his own mind.
He doesn’t tell anyone what he’s doing, though. When speaking about his work ethic to others, he says, "I’m just trying to live in the moment, you understand. Just trying to take each day as it comes, because really, how many times am I going to be able to experience something like this? Tell me that." It sounds like something he might say in an interview, yes, but there’s a reason certain sorts of answers are encouraged when dealing with the media. They’re safe. They’re bulletproof. People can’t question.
Well, they can, Dom supposes, but they won’t. Because questioning will just lead to more carefully prepared answers. He’s *good*. He has this sort of thing *down.*
So, he’s in one of these go with the flow moods, not really paying attention to anything but the lines on the script in front of him and the location that he’s supposed to be at at arse-fucking-early the next morning, when he suddenly realizes that for the first time in the shoot thus far, he’s going to be alone. Well, not alone, as in a singular Dominic Monaghan standing in the middle of a forest and that’s it, but he’ll be without his other hobbits. And not just his other hobbits, ‘cause yeah, okay, Sean and Elijah headed off on their journey to Mordor weeks ago, but Billy.
*Billy.* His partner in crime. Who’s been in pretty much every scene *he’s* been in since they arrived on this bloody island. And it’s not just going to be a day, either. It’s going to be for a whole bloody week, which, given the tendency of *everything* to take longer than it should, will probably turn into two. At the very least.
Billy, the same hobbit that’s currently lying on Dom’s couch, murmuring his lines to himself as he stares at Dom’s ceiling so intently that Dom can’t help but look up himself. All he sees is the crack that’s been there since he moved in.
He looks back at Billy after a moment and then, hesitantly, he asks, "Bill?"
Billy’s lips stop moving and he lifts his head, cranes his neck up so that he’s looking at Dom. "Yes, Dom?"
"Did you realize that we…" Dom starts, but he trails off.
He feels like an idiot now, because he knows Billy, and while Billy can be a go with the flow sort of man, he’s also the sort to actually read ahead in the shooting schedule. He multi-tasks like that, not only living in the moment, but keeping an eye on the future, too.
"Did I realize—?" Billy prompts. He’s lifting himself up on his elbows now, propping himself up, and he’s sinking into the cushions of Dom’s couch as he speaks. "I don’t know, Dom. What have I maybe—or maybe not—realized?"
Dom scratches fingers through his hair, then brings his hand down so that he can stare at his fingernails, so that he can pick at them and pretend that they’re the most fascinating things in the whole wide world. He coughs, swallows, and then he says: "Did you realize we won’t be shooting any scenes together during this whole week? None? Zip, zilch, zero?"
He coughs again and he’s blushing, he realizes, so he pays even more attention, if that’s possible, to his fingernails and the ragged edge of his thumbnail. He thinks he maybe managed to sound nonchalant as he spoke, like he’s just pointing out the obvious, but when Billy doesn’t say anything, he lets his eyes flicker upwards again. The other man is staring at him, and Billy knows Dom too well, Dom thinks, because he can see the look on Billy’s face and shock, surprise, *he’s not fooled.*
Dom almost expects Billy to say something like, *And you’re just realizing this now? We’ve had this schedule for nigh on a month, you know. We’ve known this was coming since the beginning of the shoot!*
It’s true, after all. Billy would be right to say such things.
But Dom knows Billy too, and while he knows Billy wouldn’t normally have a problem taunting him in such a manner, given the slightly worried look on his face, he’s not going to. Instead, he sits up fully on the couch, scoots down to the end that’s closest to Dom’s chair, and says, "Are you going to survive, Dommie? Are you going to be all right?"
The lines of worry on his face, which had seemed genuine only a moment before, are suddenly over-exaggerated. He has a whole fucking flock of crows feet around his eyes, they’re so pinched up, his lips are pressed together in a thin, white line, and his forehead is as scrunched up as a range of New Zealand volcanoes.
"Fuck you," Dom says. He thinks about saying, *It just snuck up on me, is all*. Instead, he says, "I’ll be glad to get away from you, you bastard. I just wasn’t sure about you. Wasn’t sure how you were going to handle it."
He nods his head, one sharp, decisive movement, and then he arches an eyebrow at Billy, challenging him to come up with a retort. Which he does, of course, because he’s Billy, and Dom is Dom, and they can play this game for hours, until they drive everyone around them off their rockers.
"I’m going to be heartbroken," Billy says. He sighs heavily and then lifts a hand to his forehead, acting as if he’s about to swoon. Dom isn’t smiling at his antics, but that’s only because he’s developed strong muscles in his cheeks from all of the time that he spends trying *not* to laugh at Billy.
"I’m going to be inconsolable," Billy continues. "All of my scenes are going to be crap, because every time I’m on camera, I’m going to be looking for you. When I run through the streets of Minas Tirith, I shan’t be yelling, ‘Gandalf! Gandalf! Denthor is trying to burn Faramir alive!’ I’ll be calling, ‘Merry! Merry! Wherefore art thou, my Merry!’"
Dom flips him off, then waves his finger around a little bit, just to further emphasize his ‘annoyance.’ He’s lost the battle with his amusement, though, and he’s smiling, so he’s pretty sure that Billy can tell his annoyance is faked. Not that Billy wouldn’t have been able to tell anyway.
"Love you, too," Billy says. He uncrosses his legs and lies back on the couch, picking his script up again.
"It *is* only a week," Dom says, and then feels stupid *again* for pointing out the obvious. He turns his head so that he can look out the window of his living room. "I suppose we’ll survive."
"Maybe," Billy says. His voice sounds lighthearted, but Dom can hear the undertone of seriousness that’s there. "Maybe. And if we don’t, we can always go on a hunger strike until Peter is forced to bring us back together again."
"That we can." Dom nods.
"I’ll miss you, Dom," Billy says a few moments later, after the conversation is officially over, and so softly that Dom barely hears the words. What he does hear is the rustling of papers, and he thinks that maybe Billy lowered his script for a moment, to look at Dom as he spoke. When Dom looks back at him, though, Billy’s staring at the ceiling again, mouthing lines.
"I’ll miss you too, Bills," he says just as softly. Then he looks down at his own script and starts reading again.
no subject
But it does say so much about love and being each other's hearts...
Sorry, got a little smooshy there.
Tis' very nice ficlet!!
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Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed. :)
no subject
You have their relationship totally figured out. You have Dom totally figured out (in my mind anyway) and I think that's one of the hardest things to do.
no subject
Dom, for some reason, absolutely fascinates me, and I'm enjoying trying to figure him out. I'm so glad you feel it's working. :)
I'm glad it didn't get slashy.
By the time I got to the end, I realized that it just wasn't going to happen, and that if it did, it would be forced. Which wasn't something I wanted to do.
Thanks again!
no subject
no subject
Their relationship is just so... *happy sigh* just about does it. :)