A Separate Peace fic. Yeah.
Sep. 18th, 2004 12:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hackthis_archiveFandom: A Separate Peace (yes, the book)
Title: Crippled Angels in Devon
Pairing: Finny/Gene
Why man, why: Showtime has a new adaptation of the book out right now, it wasreally slashy fucking calling me. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
AN: I read this book a long time ago. A really long time ago. My bad if I fuck up canon.
Finny is a restless sleeper. At night he tosses and turns and mumbles, and from his own bed across the room, Gene watches over him with his books propped open on his lap. Sometimes the books are for science, sometimes for math, but Gene doesn’t pay as much attention to his book as he does to Finny. He doesn’t pay as much attention to anything as he does to Fin and his breathing and the ease with which everything seems to come to him.
In and out.
In and out.
Gene holds his breath so that his breathing can be in sync with Fin’s, and he strokes himself slowly in time with their breathing.
In and out.
Up and down.
Gene makes a point of only watching Fin’s face though. If he looks too low he’ll see the cast sticking out towards the bottom of the bed, and his erection will wither and die.
*
When they walk to class, Gene makes certain to go slow enough not to tire Fin out, but fast enough so that Finny doesn’t think Gene’s treating him like a cripple. Not that anyone would ever treat Fin like a cripple, even with the cane, but he supposes that that’s not really the point.
The point is that Gene never remembers what they talk about, even though they’re ‘best pals;’ he just remembers that Fin is talking to him.
He remembers how deep and strong Fin’s voice is.
It’s nothing like the frailness of his body with the cast and the cane.
*
Finny doesn’t look as hardy as he is. Gene knows he used to be the best athlete at everything, but these days he looks as though a strong breeze would blow him over at any second. His classmates love him as though he were as strong as a mountain though and they worship him like a god, and Gene -- Gene loves him.
Gene loves Fin; and Fin loves his country and Devon and his friends.
Everything is always so easy for him.
Gene wants that for himself.
*
The accident wasn't Gene's fault.
He just -- it wasn't his fault. The branch was slippery. They were too high up. Fin wasn't wearing any shoes. He wasn't wearing any socks. They weren't wearing much of anything at all, and obviously they got distracted. Obviously Fin wasn’t the agile, perfect athlete everyone said he was.
Except that Gene had never seen anyone as graceful as Finny.
He had never seen anyone as at home in their body.
Finny was all poetry and sureness, and he never would have fallen on his own.
Gene didn't do it on purpose.
*
At night Gene helps Fin get undressed and makes sure that Fin has a glass of water by his bed and anything else he might need in the middle of the night. Then he goes to his side of the room and studies and watches over Finny in the dark the way Fin watches over him during the day.
*
Gene would never do anything to hurt Fin. Never. He would never risk their friendship that way, because even if they’re not as close as Fin thinks, Finny is still the only good thing about Gene's time at Devon. Fin is the only good thing about Gene's life at all, and nobody else understands him. Nobody includes Gene the way Fin does. Fin always makes sure that Gene is there and taken care of and participating.
Fin is Gene's guardian angel, and Gene didn't push him.
He didn't deliberately push Fin.
Gene just -- he just wanted to touch Finny, because he was there and shirtless and so bright and warm and pale and full of life. Fin was Gene's guardian angel with his white smiles and floppy hair.
Finny was everybody's angel
Fin is everybody's angel, but nobody needs an angel more than Gene, because Gene didn't know that angels had freckles on their shoulders. Finny always seemed so untouchable and then there he was -- and Gene wasn't pushing, he was touching.
He was just trying to touch Fin.
He just touched a little too hard.
*
Some lies sound like the truth, and some truths aren't anything more than a mish-mash of lies, but Gene needs Fin, and now that Finny has that broken leg, he needs Gene too.
So when Fin wakes in the middle of the night and finds Gene sitting by his bed, he doesn’t protest when Gene touches his hair and his mouth and the freckles that dot his nose. Instead Finny shifts over in his bed a little bit, throws back the covers and lets Gene in.
-end-
Title: Crippled Angels in Devon
Pairing: Finny/Gene
Why man, why: Showtime has a new adaptation of the book out right now, it was
AN: I read this book a long time ago. A really long time ago. My bad if I fuck up canon.
Finny is a restless sleeper. At night he tosses and turns and mumbles, and from his own bed across the room, Gene watches over him with his books propped open on his lap. Sometimes the books are for science, sometimes for math, but Gene doesn’t pay as much attention to his book as he does to Finny. He doesn’t pay as much attention to anything as he does to Fin and his breathing and the ease with which everything seems to come to him.
In and out.
In and out.
Gene holds his breath so that his breathing can be in sync with Fin’s, and he strokes himself slowly in time with their breathing.
In and out.
Up and down.
Gene makes a point of only watching Fin’s face though. If he looks too low he’ll see the cast sticking out towards the bottom of the bed, and his erection will wither and die.
When they walk to class, Gene makes certain to go slow enough not to tire Fin out, but fast enough so that Finny doesn’t think Gene’s treating him like a cripple. Not that anyone would ever treat Fin like a cripple, even with the cane, but he supposes that that’s not really the point.
The point is that Gene never remembers what they talk about, even though they’re ‘best pals;’ he just remembers that Fin is talking to him.
He remembers how deep and strong Fin’s voice is.
It’s nothing like the frailness of his body with the cast and the cane.
Finny doesn’t look as hardy as he is. Gene knows he used to be the best athlete at everything, but these days he looks as though a strong breeze would blow him over at any second. His classmates love him as though he were as strong as a mountain though and they worship him like a god, and Gene -- Gene loves him.
Gene loves Fin; and Fin loves his country and Devon and his friends.
Everything is always so easy for him.
Gene wants that for himself.
The accident wasn't Gene's fault.
He just -- it wasn't his fault. The branch was slippery. They were too high up. Fin wasn't wearing any shoes. He wasn't wearing any socks. They weren't wearing much of anything at all, and obviously they got distracted. Obviously Fin wasn’t the agile, perfect athlete everyone said he was.
Except that Gene had never seen anyone as graceful as Finny.
He had never seen anyone as at home in their body.
Finny was all poetry and sureness, and he never would have fallen on his own.
Gene didn't do it on purpose.
At night Gene helps Fin get undressed and makes sure that Fin has a glass of water by his bed and anything else he might need in the middle of the night. Then he goes to his side of the room and studies and watches over Finny in the dark the way Fin watches over him during the day.
Gene would never do anything to hurt Fin. Never. He would never risk their friendship that way, because even if they’re not as close as Fin thinks, Finny is still the only good thing about Gene's time at Devon. Fin is the only good thing about Gene's life at all, and nobody else understands him. Nobody includes Gene the way Fin does. Fin always makes sure that Gene is there and taken care of and participating.
Fin is Gene's guardian angel, and Gene didn't push him.
He didn't deliberately push Fin.
Gene just -- he just wanted to touch Finny, because he was there and shirtless and so bright and warm and pale and full of life. Fin was Gene's guardian angel with his white smiles and floppy hair.
Finny was everybody's angel
Fin is everybody's angel, but nobody needs an angel more than Gene, because Gene didn't know that angels had freckles on their shoulders. Finny always seemed so untouchable and then there he was -- and Gene wasn't pushing, he was touching.
He was just trying to touch Fin.
He just touched a little too hard.
Some lies sound like the truth, and some truths aren't anything more than a mish-mash of lies, but Gene needs Fin, and now that Finny has that broken leg, he needs Gene too.
So when Fin wakes in the middle of the night and finds Gene sitting by his bed, he doesn’t protest when Gene touches his hair and his mouth and the freckles that dot his nose. Instead Finny shifts over in his bed a little bit, throws back the covers and lets Gene in.
-end-
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 01:15 pm (UTC)In related and yet not quite on-topic news, I was just talking to
no subject
Date: 2004-09-20 10:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 01:22 pm (UTC)And then this! I actually was just clicking on friends of friends of friends of friends while waiting for a friend to call me back and I stumbled in here, obviously. And thank god I DID.
You stuck very well to canon, and I was immensely surprised to see the cast make an appearance, for some reason. But you tied it in with the metaphorical pushing just as much as the physical and it really, really worked.
This review probably makes me sound about ten and with very little sense of eloquence, but it's because of this damn story! I'm just so shocked to find ASP fanfic! :D
Beautiful job. <333!!!
no subject
Date: 2004-09-20 10:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 01:43 pm (UTC)And so well written too. Good job.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-20 10:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 09:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-20 10:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-19 12:15 pm (UTC)i actually got into a huge argument with my 10th grade english teacher about the fact that gene had a thing for finny.
and i've been waiting for someone to slash the book for years.
and it's just perfect.
He was just trying to touch Fin.
He just touched a little too hard.
...but Gene needs Fin, and now that Finny has that broken leg, he needs Gene too.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-20 12:10 pm (UTC)*laughs*
Stand for what you believe!
no subject
Date: 2004-09-19 09:27 pm (UTC)Your icon is making me crave ice cream.
Date: 2004-09-20 12:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-20 06:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-21 11:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-01 10:39 pm (UTC)