*dangles snippet* Readers?
Oct. 31st, 2007 11:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ella_mennoOkay. So. I have no idea where all my motivation for this Luke/Noah fic went; I have pages and pages (and pages!) of summaries and outlines and even several scenes written, but the show isn’t going the direction I thought it would, and evidently I’m allergic to AUs. Who knew?
The premise here is that Noah is living out at the farm with Luke and Holden and whoever the heck else lives out there. There have been issues with the physical part of their relationship – they’ve both been holding back, for a variety of reasons – but on the night before this scene, there was a little bit of action. It was good for Noah, and ended up good for Luke, too, who moved his leg for the first time. Unfortunately, most of the family walked in on them while they were still glowing, rumpled, and sweaty. (But clothed! Mostly.)
Noah’s been at work/school all day, and is just getting back to the farm. Oh! Also, Lily and Holden are working at patching up their own relationship.
Noah pulled his car up the gravel drive, the late afternoon sunlight glinting off the rearview mirror. It still amazed him how the tension just drained out of his back and shoulders as soon as he got near the farm; Luke said he knew just how Noah felt, and for him, it had always been a part of coming home.
Routine for Luke, and revolutionary for Noah. There’d been a lot of that over the past couple of months.
With a big sigh, Noah made his way up the walk, shedding the stress and strain of his day. There’d been the lit test – aced that one, more than likely, but it’d still been ninety minutes of writing like crazy – and the presentation in his visual media seminar, an event which reminded him how much he preferred being behind the camera. Add a couple of hours at work to that, and it added up to bone-weariness.
But, as busy and tired and hectic as the day had been, there’d been a goofy grin either on Noah’s face or right under the surface for all of it – because Luke had moved his leg. He’d moved it, voluntarily, and there was just no way that wasn’t a good sign.
He was anxious to talk to Luke, to ask how PT had gone, what Bert had to say, if they were going to set up an appointment with the doctor. It was wonderful to feel this positive about Luke’s progress again – granted, an entirely different kind of positive than how he’d felt last night, in Luke’s room....
Noah stopped on the porch and collected himself, because no way was he walking into the kitchen all wound up like that. The way his luck had been running, he’d run right into one of Luke’s parents, and that was going to be embarrassing enough when it happened – and, suddenly, his, erm, issue was...dissipating.
He hitched his bag higher on his shoulder and pushed the screen door open. He’d figured on running into Mrs. Snyder; lately, she’d been around when the girls got home from school, and it was about that time of day. But Noah hadn’t figured on was seeing both Mr. and Mrs. Snyder sitting at the kitchen table, each holding a mug of coffee – and Luke parked directly across the table, studiously examining the placemat in front of him as he tried to separate it into all its component threads.
Mrs. Snyder looked up at him with what he’d once heard Faith call her “full metal mother” expression. Mr. Snyder nodded in Noah’s direction, somehow managing to look like he was nearly as uncomfortable as his son.
“Noah,” Mrs. Snyder said brightly. “We’re so glad you’re home. How was your day?”
Noah slung his backpack over his chair. “Just fine,” he said. “Is – um – is everything all right?”
Mrs. Snyder smiled up at him again and gestured for him to take a seat next to Luke. “Mm-hmm,” she nodded. “Things are fine.”
She fixed the both of them with a look Noah was pretty sure matched the textbook definition of ‘steely.’ “There is something that Luke’s dad and I need to talk about with the two of you.”
Noah risked a glance over at Luke. He guessed that Luke was attempting to smile at him, though it came off looking a lot more like constipation than anything else.
There was a long pause. Noah wondered who was supposed to be doing the talking, then panicked a bit when he realized that maybe everyone was waiting for him to say something. “Uh. Okay,” he managed. “I guess you wanted to have that conversation now?”
Noah happened to be looking at Mr. Snyder right then, and could’ve sworn his mouth twisted in an odd, awkward kind of way.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, we did,” Mrs. Snyder said crisply. “Now, boys."
Noah heard Luke exhale loudly, and without looking at him, knew that he’d pressed his lips together in a tight little line.
Luke’s mother fixed her eyes on her son. “Well, I’m sorry, but to me, you are boys,” she said in an entirely non-apologetic way. “Even though you’re both eighteen, and I do realize you’re adults.”
With a clench in his guts, Noah hoped the conversation wasn’t heading the direction it seemed to be going.
“But,” Mrs. Snyder went on, “I also happen to know that this kind of relationship is new for the both of you. At least – I’m assuming that’s the case for you, too, Noah?”
The back of Noah’s neck started to burn and prickle. Years of habit was all that kept him from slouching down into his chair. “Yes, ma’am,” he replied. “Pretty much.” Which was kind of skirting the truth – there had been Maddie, and that was only the most recent one – but there wasn’t anything Noah could think of, up to and including torture, that would make him bring up that topic of discussion.
There was another overly lengthy pause. Mr. Snyder shifted his coffee mug from one hand to the other; Luke continued his quest to decimate his placemat; and his mother, for once, didn’t seem to care that he was messing up the table.
“Well, then!” she said abruptly. “There are certain things you’ll need to know. We’re not your guardians, we know, or responsible for you in any legal way, but Mr. Snyder and I feel like we do have a responsibility to make sure you boys are informed about.” She paused and glanced at her husband, who responded by taking a long drink of his coffee.
“Things,” she finished, and it was near to impossible to miss the glare she directed at Mr. Snyder. “Holden?” she prompted.
Mr. Snyder set his mug down on the table with a sigh. Sat up in his chair, pushed it back from the table a little bit. “Look,” he said. “I – we – get that you probably don’t want to talk about this – not with us, anyway.”
“Got that right,” Luke muttered under his breath, staring at the sorry, shredded corpse of his placemat.
Noah thought that maybe Mr. Snyder was supposed to have a bigger part in this talk, but from the look on Mrs. Snyder’s face, it seemed like she’d reached her limit on holding her tongue.
She stood and crossed over to the part of the counter that Noah knew was the designated spot for important papers. There was a thick purple folder, as well as a good-sized stack of books, corralled over to one corner of the countertop; she piled the books onto the folder, picked them up, walked back to the table and deposited the unwieldy stack between him and Luke.
“Obviously, your dad and I can’t give you any advice on the, um,” she cleared her throat. “The technical aspects of this part of your relationship.”
Noah felt the flush covering the back of his neck working its way towards his hairline. There was a muffled thump next to him; he looked over and saw Luke using his forehead to hammer down the pile of threads that had once been a placemat.
“Luke,” his mother said. “Honey. I’m not trying to embarrass you.”Thank god for that, was all that Noah could think – if she actually tried, there was a good chance she’d kill both of us.
“But if you’re going to be sexually active, you need to have information, and you need to use protection.” She opened the folder and flipped through a few pages. “Oh, and from what I’ve read in here, you’ll need some supplies, too.”
“Oh my God, Mom!” Luke wailed.
She frowned at him. “Well,” she said, “all the literature is very clear about that – there are several brands mentioned, but this ‘Eros Silicon’ seems to be the top rated –"
Mr. Snyder stood up so fast his chair nearly tipped backwards. “Lily,” he said firmly. “They have the point. You gave them the information. We’re done.”
She looked up at him, her lips folded the same way Luke’s sometimes did. “Holden, this is important –"
“No one’s saying it isn’t,” he interrupted. “It is. But you said what you needed to, you gave them resources. They’re smart kids – guys,” he acknowledged with a nod. “If they need anything else from us, they’ll let us know.” He shot them a work with me, here kind of look. “Right, guys?”
“Absolutely,” Noah agreed, as Luke barked out, “Yeah, yes, whatever, yes.”
Lily looked at each of them, hands on her hips. “Okay, then,” she said, though her forehead was still slightly furrowed. “Are you sure you don’t need anything else, or have some ques-“
“No,” Luke said, his voice just this side of a yell. He cleared his throat gently. “We’re...we’re good, Mom.”
She nodded again. “All right. Well. I do need to get Natalie over to Scouts – there’s leftover pot roast in the fridge, and it’s already sliced, so....”
Mr. Snyder put his arm around her shoulders and steered her towards the back door. “We’ve got it from here.”
Natalie’s footsteps echoed down the stairs. “Mom!” she squealed. “We’re gonna be late!”
“We have plenty of time, honey.” Mrs. Snyder took the keys her husband handed to her. “We’ll see you boys later.”
Holden and Luke said their goodbyes – Noah wasn’t sure he was quite capable of speech yet, so he just waved – and the screen door banged to a close.
Mr. Snyder watched the car make its way down the drive before turning to face Noah and Luke.He started to say something, closed his mouth, and shook his head instead.
Noah shot a curious look at Luke, who shrugged in reply. They watched silently as Luke’s dad scrubbed a hand over his face, crossed to the fridge, opened it, and shoved the pot roast aside so he could reach the beer.
Mr. Snyder took the bottle opener to three bottles and set one in front of each of them.
Luke looked up, confused. “Dad?”
His father set his own beer down on the counter behind him, then clapped a hand onto Luke's and Noah’s shoulders.
“Guys,” he said, “I don’t want you to think I’m suggesting that alcohol is ever a solution to any problems you might have.”
They looked up at him. “But if there has ever been any conversation that earns a man the right to have a beer, that one was it.”
And with that, Mr. Snyder whisked his own bottle off the countertop and walked out to the barn.
**--**
Talk to me; what do you think? Is it worth working on? Too cracked? Do you need to see another scene to decide? *sigh* Yeah, hello, insecure. Welcome to my world.
The premise here is that Noah is living out at the farm with Luke and Holden and whoever the heck else lives out there. There have been issues with the physical part of their relationship – they’ve both been holding back, for a variety of reasons – but on the night before this scene, there was a little bit of action. It was good for Noah, and ended up good for Luke, too, who moved his leg for the first time. Unfortunately, most of the family walked in on them while they were still glowing, rumpled, and sweaty. (But clothed! Mostly.)
Noah’s been at work/school all day, and is just getting back to the farm. Oh! Also, Lily and Holden are working at patching up their own relationship.
Noah pulled his car up the gravel drive, the late afternoon sunlight glinting off the rearview mirror. It still amazed him how the tension just drained out of his back and shoulders as soon as he got near the farm; Luke said he knew just how Noah felt, and for him, it had always been a part of coming home.
Routine for Luke, and revolutionary for Noah. There’d been a lot of that over the past couple of months.
With a big sigh, Noah made his way up the walk, shedding the stress and strain of his day. There’d been the lit test – aced that one, more than likely, but it’d still been ninety minutes of writing like crazy – and the presentation in his visual media seminar, an event which reminded him how much he preferred being behind the camera. Add a couple of hours at work to that, and it added up to bone-weariness.
But, as busy and tired and hectic as the day had been, there’d been a goofy grin either on Noah’s face or right under the surface for all of it – because Luke had moved his leg. He’d moved it, voluntarily, and there was just no way that wasn’t a good sign.
He was anxious to talk to Luke, to ask how PT had gone, what Bert had to say, if they were going to set up an appointment with the doctor. It was wonderful to feel this positive about Luke’s progress again – granted, an entirely different kind of positive than how he’d felt last night, in Luke’s room....
Noah stopped on the porch and collected himself, because no way was he walking into the kitchen all wound up like that. The way his luck had been running, he’d run right into one of Luke’s parents, and that was going to be embarrassing enough when it happened – and, suddenly, his, erm, issue was...dissipating.
He hitched his bag higher on his shoulder and pushed the screen door open. He’d figured on running into Mrs. Snyder; lately, she’d been around when the girls got home from school, and it was about that time of day. But Noah hadn’t figured on was seeing both Mr. and Mrs. Snyder sitting at the kitchen table, each holding a mug of coffee – and Luke parked directly across the table, studiously examining the placemat in front of him as he tried to separate it into all its component threads.
Mrs. Snyder looked up at him with what he’d once heard Faith call her “full metal mother” expression. Mr. Snyder nodded in Noah’s direction, somehow managing to look like he was nearly as uncomfortable as his son.
“Noah,” Mrs. Snyder said brightly. “We’re so glad you’re home. How was your day?”
Noah slung his backpack over his chair. “Just fine,” he said. “Is – um – is everything all right?”
Mrs. Snyder smiled up at him again and gestured for him to take a seat next to Luke. “Mm-hmm,” she nodded. “Things are fine.”
She fixed the both of them with a look Noah was pretty sure matched the textbook definition of ‘steely.’ “There is something that Luke’s dad and I need to talk about with the two of you.”
Noah risked a glance over at Luke. He guessed that Luke was attempting to smile at him, though it came off looking a lot more like constipation than anything else.
There was a long pause. Noah wondered who was supposed to be doing the talking, then panicked a bit when he realized that maybe everyone was waiting for him to say something. “Uh. Okay,” he managed. “I guess you wanted to have that conversation now?”
Noah happened to be looking at Mr. Snyder right then, and could’ve sworn his mouth twisted in an odd, awkward kind of way.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, we did,” Mrs. Snyder said crisply. “Now, boys."
Noah heard Luke exhale loudly, and without looking at him, knew that he’d pressed his lips together in a tight little line.
Luke’s mother fixed her eyes on her son. “Well, I’m sorry, but to me, you are boys,” she said in an entirely non-apologetic way. “Even though you’re both eighteen, and I do realize you’re adults.”
With a clench in his guts, Noah hoped the conversation wasn’t heading the direction it seemed to be going.
“But,” Mrs. Snyder went on, “I also happen to know that this kind of relationship is new for the both of you. At least – I’m assuming that’s the case for you, too, Noah?”
The back of Noah’s neck started to burn and prickle. Years of habit was all that kept him from slouching down into his chair. “Yes, ma’am,” he replied. “Pretty much.” Which was kind of skirting the truth – there had been Maddie, and that was only the most recent one – but there wasn’t anything Noah could think of, up to and including torture, that would make him bring up that topic of discussion.
There was another overly lengthy pause. Mr. Snyder shifted his coffee mug from one hand to the other; Luke continued his quest to decimate his placemat; and his mother, for once, didn’t seem to care that he was messing up the table.
“Well, then!” she said abruptly. “There are certain things you’ll need to know. We’re not your guardians, we know, or responsible for you in any legal way, but Mr. Snyder and I feel like we do have a responsibility to make sure you boys are informed about.” She paused and glanced at her husband, who responded by taking a long drink of his coffee.
“Things,” she finished, and it was near to impossible to miss the glare she directed at Mr. Snyder. “Holden?” she prompted.
Mr. Snyder set his mug down on the table with a sigh. Sat up in his chair, pushed it back from the table a little bit. “Look,” he said. “I – we – get that you probably don’t want to talk about this – not with us, anyway.”
“Got that right,” Luke muttered under his breath, staring at the sorry, shredded corpse of his placemat.
Noah thought that maybe Mr. Snyder was supposed to have a bigger part in this talk, but from the look on Mrs. Snyder’s face, it seemed like she’d reached her limit on holding her tongue.
She stood and crossed over to the part of the counter that Noah knew was the designated spot for important papers. There was a thick purple folder, as well as a good-sized stack of books, corralled over to one corner of the countertop; she piled the books onto the folder, picked them up, walked back to the table and deposited the unwieldy stack between him and Luke.
“Obviously, your dad and I can’t give you any advice on the, um,” she cleared her throat. “The technical aspects of this part of your relationship.”
Noah felt the flush covering the back of his neck working its way towards his hairline. There was a muffled thump next to him; he looked over and saw Luke using his forehead to hammer down the pile of threads that had once been a placemat.
“Luke,” his mother said. “Honey. I’m not trying to embarrass you.”Thank god for that, was all that Noah could think – if she actually tried, there was a good chance she’d kill both of us.
“But if you’re going to be sexually active, you need to have information, and you need to use protection.” She opened the folder and flipped through a few pages. “Oh, and from what I’ve read in here, you’ll need some supplies, too.”
“Oh my God, Mom!” Luke wailed.
She frowned at him. “Well,” she said, “all the literature is very clear about that – there are several brands mentioned, but this ‘Eros Silicon’ seems to be the top rated –"
Mr. Snyder stood up so fast his chair nearly tipped backwards. “Lily,” he said firmly. “They have the point. You gave them the information. We’re done.”
She looked up at him, her lips folded the same way Luke’s sometimes did. “Holden, this is important –"
“No one’s saying it isn’t,” he interrupted. “It is. But you said what you needed to, you gave them resources. They’re smart kids – guys,” he acknowledged with a nod. “If they need anything else from us, they’ll let us know.” He shot them a work with me, here kind of look. “Right, guys?”
“Absolutely,” Noah agreed, as Luke barked out, “Yeah, yes, whatever, yes.”
Lily looked at each of them, hands on her hips. “Okay, then,” she said, though her forehead was still slightly furrowed. “Are you sure you don’t need anything else, or have some ques-“
“No,” Luke said, his voice just this side of a yell. He cleared his throat gently. “We’re...we’re good, Mom.”
She nodded again. “All right. Well. I do need to get Natalie over to Scouts – there’s leftover pot roast in the fridge, and it’s already sliced, so....”
Mr. Snyder put his arm around her shoulders and steered her towards the back door. “We’ve got it from here.”
Natalie’s footsteps echoed down the stairs. “Mom!” she squealed. “We’re gonna be late!”
“We have plenty of time, honey.” Mrs. Snyder took the keys her husband handed to her. “We’ll see you boys later.”
Holden and Luke said their goodbyes – Noah wasn’t sure he was quite capable of speech yet, so he just waved – and the screen door banged to a close.
Mr. Snyder watched the car make its way down the drive before turning to face Noah and Luke.He started to say something, closed his mouth, and shook his head instead.
Noah shot a curious look at Luke, who shrugged in reply. They watched silently as Luke’s dad scrubbed a hand over his face, crossed to the fridge, opened it, and shoved the pot roast aside so he could reach the beer.
Mr. Snyder took the bottle opener to three bottles and set one in front of each of them.
Luke looked up, confused. “Dad?”
His father set his own beer down on the counter behind him, then clapped a hand onto Luke's and Noah’s shoulders.
“Guys,” he said, “I don’t want you to think I’m suggesting that alcohol is ever a solution to any problems you might have.”
They looked up at him. “But if there has ever been any conversation that earns a man the right to have a beer, that one was it.”
And with that, Mr. Snyder whisked his own bottle off the countertop and walked out to the barn.
**--**
Talk to me; what do you think? Is it worth working on? Too cracked? Do you need to see another scene to decide? *sigh* Yeah, hello, insecure. Welcome to my world.
