FIC: Stops and Starts (1/?)
May. 3rd, 2005 01:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darktrent182TITLE: Stops and Starts
DISCLAIMER: The characters don't belong to me, but to Douglas Adams. No money was made from this, and if I ever get to finishing this fic, I'll put Ford and Arthur back as I found them. Maybe.
FANDOM: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
PAIRING: Ford Prefect/Arthur Dent (MovieVerse)
RATING: Um, you could say PG or PG-13 because of a m/m smooch.
WORD COUNT: 1,432
WARNING(S): First-time. Total guy awkwardness. Non-DNA writing style. Unbeta'd.
NOTES: Written under the influence of "Eighth World Wonder" by Kimberly Locke. Augh. For![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
like_cairo, who will undoubtedly be happy with this little tidbit.
It had been stress. Yes, that was it. People did strange things under stress, right?
...
No, they didn't. Throwing your arms around a man you thought was dead was understandable, but not ... the rest of it. People didn't do that sort of thing. Acquaintances, even friends, just kind of shrugged and said, "You all right?" "Oh, sure, just a little cliff. Nothing at all." "Oh, right then." And then they went about with the rest of their lives. If they wobbled a little as they walked away, no one made a note of it, or they teased the wobbler mercilessly for days on end.
They sure as hell didn't kiss their best friend after seeing him nearly fall off a very tall and very steep cliff.
Arthur sighed deeply.
Now was a fine time to realize that he wasn't as heterosexual as he originally thought he was.
***
"Arthur?"
Arthur had to stop himself from flinching at the voice. Turning, he faced the Inquisition head-on for once, instead of doing something sensible, like fleeing to his room and pleading illness from tea-deprivation.
Ford raised an eyebrow at him. "You all right there?"
Arthur drew himself up, trying to look better than he did. "Of course. You?"
Ford shrugged. "I'm all right, though I'm wondering why you kissed me."
Always straight to the point. Thank you, Ford, Arthur thought sourly to himself before answering. "It was nothing, really. Just overreacting as usual."
Ford frowned, his usually manic grin not in evidence. Arthur wondered if he should start worrying or be relieved.
After a long moment where Arthur had the uncomfortable, sneaking suspicion that Ford could read his mind, Ford shrugged. "All right." Turning on his heel, Ford headed back down the hallway.
Arthur blinked, watching him go. That was too easy...
***
"Well, that was bloody stupid of you, if I do say so myself," Ford remarked without any noticeable ire.
"If I hadn't gone in there and diverted that... whatever-it-was's attention, you would've been squashed like a grape," Arthur huffed.
"And you nearly lost an arm," Ford pointed out. "Makes us about even, wouldn't you say?"
Arthur glared at him. "You're not the only person on this ship who's allowed to take stupid risks, y'know."
Ford snorted. "Yeah, but then there's the fact that I've got experience at taking stupid risks and surviving them than you do." Ford's British accent was starting to slip, and Arthur couldn't help but notice.
"And what'm I supposed to do, sit back and watch you get killed?" Arthur snapped.
The next few seconds were a blur, but Arthur was fairly sure that Ford had grabbed the front of his bathrobe, nearly yanked him forward, and crushed his lips against Arthur's.
Ford's kissing me.
They stood there for a long moment before Ford pulled away, fixing Arthur with a dark look.
"No, you're supposed to run like hell for the bloody ship," Ford snarled.
"You kissed me," Arthur squeaked.
"Nerves," Ford said shortly, still scowling. "If you do another bone-headed stunt like that again--"
"You kissed me!" Arthur shouted.
Ford gusted an irritated sigh. "Yes, we've already established that." He stopped in his irritation to look at Arthur with something close to fascination. "You've got a one-track mind, you know that?"
"Well, I think it'd be a little hard to think about something else when you just kissed me, Ford!" Arthur spluttered.
"What, do you want me to do it again?" Ford asked, his voice sounding intensely curious.
"Ye--No!" Arthur yelped when he realized what he'd almost said. "What--but you--I always thought..."
Ford cocked his head to one side, much like a puppy. "You always thought what?"
"That you liked women!" Arthur protested.
Ford looked fascinated now. "Well, of course, but why should I limit myself to just one gender?" He asked the question as if it were impossible *not* to do such a thing.
Arthur blinked hard, his mouth fumbling through a response while his eyebrows lowered in confusion. "Ah. Well. I... I don't rightly know."
Ford shook his head. "That's the trouble with you humans--you put all these silly restrictions on yourselves, and there's never really a good reason why. Don't drink alcohol on Sundays, always drive on the left side of the road, only sleep with one gender." He took a long look at Arthur again. "Do *you* want me to kiss you?"
"No!" Arthur nearly yelped. "No, no, once was quite... quite enough, thanks."
Ford frowned. "No... I honestly think that you do want me to kiss you."
"What?" Arthur squeaked. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
"Just that if you take one more step forward, you'll nearly be in my trousers with me," Ford answered.
Arthur blinked hard again, suddenly aware that he was standing dangerously close to a man he'd known for years.
And Ford was leaning in.
Arthur found himself rooted to the spot. It was like the Titanic coming across the iceberg--did he try to swerve and miss it completely? Laugh it off as a bad joke?
Or what if--
Ford's lips on his cut the thought off at the knees.
His eyes fluttered shut, the sensation of skin against his lips one that he hadn't felt in a long time. True, he'd kissed Ford only a few months previously (and incidentally something that he'd been hoping to forget about completely), but that was more like mashing their lips together just to make sure that Ford was really there in front of him. He'd hadn't known just how badly such a strange move would throw him off-balance until just now, with Ford kissing him back.
It'd been a terribly long time since he'd been kissed by a being that remotely resembled a human--the last time being at an All Hallow's Eve party where he'd gotten thoroughly pissed and ended up waking up in his bathtub of all places. But now...
There was a tongue traversing his lips slowly, coyly asking permission while drinking its fill. Then, before Arthur knew what was happening, a pair of hands cupped his face, tilted his head further to his right, and that same tongue invaded his mouth.
It'd felt like any other kiss he'd had, but at the same time, there was something decidedly different. The tongue in his mouth was making a thorough sweep, stroking along teeth before flicking and sliding with his own tongue. A moment later, Arthur's own tongue had been cleverly dragged out into the open, and the lips attacking his were now sucking on it, making his boxers tighten pleasantly around himself.
With a deep, muffled groan, Arthur reached up, accidentally knocking away the hands cupping his face as he reached up to hold that wicked mouth in place. Fingers made the habitual journey up the neck and when he didn't find hair to weave his fingers into, Arthur suddenly remembered that he wasn't on Earth anymore, and he wasn't kissing some random stranger, but Ford Prefect.
Yanking himself away, Arthur gasped, staring at Ford with wide eyes as he tried to catch his breath. Ford looked surprised, most likely due to the abrupt end of the kiss more than anything else.
"Arthur?"
Arthur blinked, focused on Ford.
"Are you all right?"
"No. Yes." Arthur answered quickly. "Look. Ford. Perhaps it'd be better--that is, I think I need--don't we have any tea on this bloody ship?"
Ford stared at him for a long moment. "...No, we still don't."
"Oh." Arthur stepped back awkwardly, letting his arms drop uselessly to his sides as his eyes began to wander away from Ford. "Right. Yes. Well--"
Ford reached forward and took a firm hold of Arthur's shoulder. Arthur blinked, eyes zeroing in on him immediately.
"It's all right."
Arthur frowned at him for a long moment. "You're... you're sure?" His voice grew quiet, unsure. At least, more unsure than usual.
"Yes," Ford answered firmly.
Arthur blinked, looking as bewildered as he usually did. "Oh. Well, I'm... feeling a might peckish."
Ford patted the shoulder underneath his hand. "Go get something to eat then," he suggested, sounding as if they hadn't been spending the last minute or so French-kissing each other in the hallway of the Heart of Gold.
"What're you going to do?" The question tumbled from Arthur's lips before he could stop it, along with the curious frown.
Ford shrugged. "I dunno. Probably work on the Guide some more."
"Oh. Right." Arthur said awkwardly, turning and heading toward the kitchen. When he looked over his shoulder, Ford was nowhere in sight.
***
END SO FAR
DISCLAIMER: The characters don't belong to me, but to Douglas Adams. No money was made from this, and if I ever get to finishing this fic, I'll put Ford and Arthur back as I found them. Maybe.
FANDOM: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
PAIRING: Ford Prefect/Arthur Dent (MovieVerse)
RATING: Um, you could say PG or PG-13 because of a m/m smooch.
WORD COUNT: 1,432
WARNING(S): First-time. Total guy awkwardness. Non-DNA writing style. Unbeta'd.
NOTES: Written under the influence of "Eighth World Wonder" by Kimberly Locke. Augh. For
like_cairo, who will undoubtedly be happy with this little tidbit.It had been stress. Yes, that was it. People did strange things under stress, right?
...
No, they didn't. Throwing your arms around a man you thought was dead was understandable, but not ... the rest of it. People didn't do that sort of thing. Acquaintances, even friends, just kind of shrugged and said, "You all right?" "Oh, sure, just a little cliff. Nothing at all." "Oh, right then." And then they went about with the rest of their lives. If they wobbled a little as they walked away, no one made a note of it, or they teased the wobbler mercilessly for days on end.
They sure as hell didn't kiss their best friend after seeing him nearly fall off a very tall and very steep cliff.
Arthur sighed deeply.
Now was a fine time to realize that he wasn't as heterosexual as he originally thought he was.
***
"Arthur?"
Arthur had to stop himself from flinching at the voice. Turning, he faced the Inquisition head-on for once, instead of doing something sensible, like fleeing to his room and pleading illness from tea-deprivation.
Ford raised an eyebrow at him. "You all right there?"
Arthur drew himself up, trying to look better than he did. "Of course. You?"
Ford shrugged. "I'm all right, though I'm wondering why you kissed me."
Always straight to the point. Thank you, Ford, Arthur thought sourly to himself before answering. "It was nothing, really. Just overreacting as usual."
Ford frowned, his usually manic grin not in evidence. Arthur wondered if he should start worrying or be relieved.
After a long moment where Arthur had the uncomfortable, sneaking suspicion that Ford could read his mind, Ford shrugged. "All right." Turning on his heel, Ford headed back down the hallway.
Arthur blinked, watching him go. That was too easy...
***
"Well, that was bloody stupid of you, if I do say so myself," Ford remarked without any noticeable ire.
"If I hadn't gone in there and diverted that... whatever-it-was's attention, you would've been squashed like a grape," Arthur huffed.
"And you nearly lost an arm," Ford pointed out. "Makes us about even, wouldn't you say?"
Arthur glared at him. "You're not the only person on this ship who's allowed to take stupid risks, y'know."
Ford snorted. "Yeah, but then there's the fact that I've got experience at taking stupid risks and surviving them than you do." Ford's British accent was starting to slip, and Arthur couldn't help but notice.
"And what'm I supposed to do, sit back and watch you get killed?" Arthur snapped.
The next few seconds were a blur, but Arthur was fairly sure that Ford had grabbed the front of his bathrobe, nearly yanked him forward, and crushed his lips against Arthur's.
Ford's kissing me.
They stood there for a long moment before Ford pulled away, fixing Arthur with a dark look.
"No, you're supposed to run like hell for the bloody ship," Ford snarled.
"You kissed me," Arthur squeaked.
"Nerves," Ford said shortly, still scowling. "If you do another bone-headed stunt like that again--"
"You kissed me!" Arthur shouted.
Ford gusted an irritated sigh. "Yes, we've already established that." He stopped in his irritation to look at Arthur with something close to fascination. "You've got a one-track mind, you know that?"
"Well, I think it'd be a little hard to think about something else when you just kissed me, Ford!" Arthur spluttered.
"What, do you want me to do it again?" Ford asked, his voice sounding intensely curious.
"Ye--No!" Arthur yelped when he realized what he'd almost said. "What--but you--I always thought..."
Ford cocked his head to one side, much like a puppy. "You always thought what?"
"That you liked women!" Arthur protested.
Ford looked fascinated now. "Well, of course, but why should I limit myself to just one gender?" He asked the question as if it were impossible *not* to do such a thing.
Arthur blinked hard, his mouth fumbling through a response while his eyebrows lowered in confusion. "Ah. Well. I... I don't rightly know."
Ford shook his head. "That's the trouble with you humans--you put all these silly restrictions on yourselves, and there's never really a good reason why. Don't drink alcohol on Sundays, always drive on the left side of the road, only sleep with one gender." He took a long look at Arthur again. "Do *you* want me to kiss you?"
"No!" Arthur nearly yelped. "No, no, once was quite... quite enough, thanks."
Ford frowned. "No... I honestly think that you do want me to kiss you."
"What?" Arthur squeaked. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
"Just that if you take one more step forward, you'll nearly be in my trousers with me," Ford answered.
Arthur blinked hard again, suddenly aware that he was standing dangerously close to a man he'd known for years.
And Ford was leaning in.
Arthur found himself rooted to the spot. It was like the Titanic coming across the iceberg--did he try to swerve and miss it completely? Laugh it off as a bad joke?
Or what if--
Ford's lips on his cut the thought off at the knees.
His eyes fluttered shut, the sensation of skin against his lips one that he hadn't felt in a long time. True, he'd kissed Ford only a few months previously (and incidentally something that he'd been hoping to forget about completely), but that was more like mashing their lips together just to make sure that Ford was really there in front of him. He'd hadn't known just how badly such a strange move would throw him off-balance until just now, with Ford kissing him back.
It'd been a terribly long time since he'd been kissed by a being that remotely resembled a human--the last time being at an All Hallow's Eve party where he'd gotten thoroughly pissed and ended up waking up in his bathtub of all places. But now...
There was a tongue traversing his lips slowly, coyly asking permission while drinking its fill. Then, before Arthur knew what was happening, a pair of hands cupped his face, tilted his head further to his right, and that same tongue invaded his mouth.
It'd felt like any other kiss he'd had, but at the same time, there was something decidedly different. The tongue in his mouth was making a thorough sweep, stroking along teeth before flicking and sliding with his own tongue. A moment later, Arthur's own tongue had been cleverly dragged out into the open, and the lips attacking his were now sucking on it, making his boxers tighten pleasantly around himself.
With a deep, muffled groan, Arthur reached up, accidentally knocking away the hands cupping his face as he reached up to hold that wicked mouth in place. Fingers made the habitual journey up the neck and when he didn't find hair to weave his fingers into, Arthur suddenly remembered that he wasn't on Earth anymore, and he wasn't kissing some random stranger, but Ford Prefect.
Yanking himself away, Arthur gasped, staring at Ford with wide eyes as he tried to catch his breath. Ford looked surprised, most likely due to the abrupt end of the kiss more than anything else.
"Arthur?"
Arthur blinked, focused on Ford.
"Are you all right?"
"No. Yes." Arthur answered quickly. "Look. Ford. Perhaps it'd be better--that is, I think I need--don't we have any tea on this bloody ship?"
Ford stared at him for a long moment. "...No, we still don't."
"Oh." Arthur stepped back awkwardly, letting his arms drop uselessly to his sides as his eyes began to wander away from Ford. "Right. Yes. Well--"
Ford reached forward and took a firm hold of Arthur's shoulder. Arthur blinked, eyes zeroing in on him immediately.
"It's all right."
Arthur frowned at him for a long moment. "You're... you're sure?" His voice grew quiet, unsure. At least, more unsure than usual.
"Yes," Ford answered firmly.
Arthur blinked, looking as bewildered as he usually did. "Oh. Well, I'm... feeling a might peckish."
Ford patted the shoulder underneath his hand. "Go get something to eat then," he suggested, sounding as if they hadn't been spending the last minute or so French-kissing each other in the hallway of the Heart of Gold.
"What're you going to do?" The question tumbled from Arthur's lips before he could stop it, along with the curious frown.
Ford shrugged. "I dunno. Probably work on the Guide some more."
"Oh. Right." Arthur said awkwardly, turning and heading toward the kitchen. When he looked over his shoulder, Ford was nowhere in sight.
***
END SO FAR
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-05-03 10:52 am (UTC)Now was a fine time to realize that he wasn't as heterosexual as he originally thought he was.
*giggles insanely* Arhtur was wonderfully in-character. He simply goes up to kiss Ford, and then when Ford kisses him back he acts all indignant about it. Hee!
"Don't drink alcohol on Sundays, always drive on the left side of the road, only sleep with one gender."
Ford, you are too right. He's so full of alien wisdom. (The left side of the road bit cracked me up so hard.)
I adored it! :D :D
no subject
Date: 2005-05-03 05:09 pm (UTC)Good to know that I didn't flop. Yay!
::does the Happy Dance of Getting Positive Feedback::
(>^_^)> *shimmy* <(^_^<) *swivel* (>^_^)> *dance*
no subject
Date: 2005-05-03 09:36 pm (UTC)Hehe. I *heart* you. And I am not above bribery to get more of this story.It was just to cute. Mos Def still refuses to materalize in my imagination as Ford, so the bald part throw me off for a se4cond but it's still a wonderful story, and I will now be stalking your life journal.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-03 11:36 pm (UTC)::grins most happily::
Sorry about the bald part. If I didn't have the urge to vomit by describing Ford with "ebony skin" or some crap like that, I'd've been more descriptive.
::is apologetic::
And hey! A stalker! Ooooh!
::stares at new stalker::
no subject
Date: 2005-05-03 10:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-03 11:37 pm (UTC)Aw, thanks. ^_^
I figure that if Ford is going to be traveling around the galaxy for a number of years, he'd at *least* be able to know how to knock someone's socks off in the kissing department.
::mischievous grin::
*dies*
Date: 2005-05-05 09:48 pm (UTC)Yeah, I think I'll definately be reading your stories, Movie-verse or not. Your fics are fun! ^^
Re: *dies*
Date: 2005-05-05 10:00 pm (UTC)Glad that you liked this. Hopefully, you'll like my other offerings.
::wave::