OMG, snippet party...

[sweetprince]

I've been having so much trouble finishing my fics, so you know what that means? Gimme some prompts and I'll reply with snippets. Any fandom I've participated in, although only AU prompts for J2. You can even request bits from this crazy Gladiator fic that I will never finish below...

He’s Suione. The man in the ring. Tall, with his blond hair shorn short. Nate doesn’t understand anything about the games, but he knows the Suione is good. He clips the Baktrian fighter in the jaw with the hilt of his sword and then dumps him in the sand. The crowd roars and the Suione bends down and rips out his throat, raising up again with crimson stained fists. Nate drops his eyes, and when he raises them up again he finds the Suione staring right into his box, gaze arrowing straight through him.

“Is he looking at me?” Nate’s sister breathes, grabbing at his elbow. “He’s so strong and graceful in form.”

“Could be,” Nate says softly, unable to look away from Brad.

*

Nate agrees with great reluctance to go with his friends to the Ludus Magnus. He’s never had much stomach for gladiators, but Servillius and Clodius won’t stop badgering him until he agrees to come. Nate sighs, and allows himself to be dragged out.

The ludus is saturated with the smell of sweat. They’re quickly shown the gallery by a circumspect slave, and Clodius and Servillius laugh and joke with each other, wondering if the Barbarian’s even had the facility to speak. Nate’s only half paying attention, but he doesn’t know why he’s surprised to see the Suione, running through forms in the practice ring with a wooden sword. He stops, watching the way the Suione’s muscles bunch and shift under his oiled skin.

“I see that the Suione has caught the young tribune’s eye,” the master of the ludus says, he sticks his tongue in his cheek and turns to the slave, “Summon Brad.”

Nate colors. “No, please, I importune you not to…”

His protests fall on deaf ears.

-More Winery!AU for pjvilar (from this story Here)
-Horrible First Date (from FBI!Nate/Cop!Brad 'verse) for amberlynne
-More Gladiator!Brad and Tribune!Nate for alethialia
-Sci-Fi AU: AI Brad for oxoniensis
-Brad/Nate, hottest day of the year for soul_cake_duck
-High School AU, Brad in military school for strangie
-More Gladiator!AU for melloniel
-Winery!AU: Brad's History for bijoux
-Brad/Nate Pre-Kuwait, Pre-Slash for jujubinha
-Brad/Nate, Cuddly Bear for tikiaceae

Comments

[pjvilar.livejournal.com]

OK, either:

Nate/Brad + any, Model!AU, Nate reveals a little more of his backstory

or

Nate/Brad, Vineyard!AU, playing ball with the dogs

I got laid off today, really, anything will make me so very happy. You could write about Nate buying a pack of gum, whatever works.

More Winery AU

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

Brad’s going over accounts on the evening Nate’s supposed to fly in. He told Brad not to bother picking up, when it would only be another hour driving right back. So Brad waits, trying to concentrate on why the numbers for January aren’t adding up. It’s raining out. Nate’ll probably be delayed.

“You’re freakin’ out,” Ray says across the room.

Brad looks up to find Ray staring at him. He rolls his eyes. “You’re mistaken.”

“Bullshit, I’m mistaken. You’re freaking out,” Ray repeats. He gets to his feet, and walks over to top off Brad’s glass of Tempranillo.

Brad catches the neck of bottle and tips it back up. “I don’t need another glass, Ray.”

“Well, I got Quaaludes, if you want to try that.”

“Ray, I’m not freaking out,” he replies. But he might be. He hasn’t seen Nate for months and it was all just one brief weekend, and then Nate had go back and do crime-fighting stuff, and this was the first time he could get away and it was only for a week. It could go wrong. It could go wrong in countless ways. He could’ve met somebody, or remember Brad differently, or decide this long distance relationship is not worth it. Never mind the fact that he has talked to Nate by e-mail or phone at least once a day since he left. Yeah, he’s definitely freaking out.

Fox rolls up onto her paws and lets out a shallow whine. Her tail starts thumping wildly. Brad walks over with his wineglass, bolting down the last dregs. “Is he here, girl?” he asks, scratching behind her ear.

She whines again and a few seconds later there’s a faint knock at the front door. Fox races out, yipping excitedly, and Ray follows her out of the room, picking up his coat and keys before throwing the front door open with a solid bang that Brad thinks might’ve shook the walls.

“Nate, my brother, so glad you’re here!” Brad hears echoing off the high ceilings. “Brad’s shitting himself in the office, so I’ll get out of your hair so that you can do naughty and hopefully soothing things to him.”

Brad lets out a sigh and hangs his head. He goes into the hall to greet Nate and to cut Ray off before he says anything else even more embarrassing, the older and more reserved Shadow at his heels. Nate is bending down in the doorway, petting Fox. Ray smiles over Nate’s head and delivers a sharp salute. He dashes out into the rain, with Nate calling goodbye after him.

Brad stares at him and Nate climbs to his feet, dusting his knees off. He’s wet from the rain, and his eyelashes drip crystal. He smiles softly and says, “It’s good to see you.”

Brad swallows. He doesn’t know how he’s going to cross the distance between him. Nate looks so preppy, he’s in highwaters and loafers, the perfect picture of an east coast boy and what are they doing? Somehow his feet get him to the door and then he’s pushing the door closed and thrusting Nate back against it.

Nate catches his mouth, sucking on his lower lip and combing his fingers over the fade at the back of Brad’s neck. Brad forgot how consuming Nate’s kisses were. He forgot how red his mouth was, how he always seemed to smell of bergamot, how perfectly they fit together. He pushes Nate harder against the door and Nate accepts it, moaning into his mouth and tightening his hand at the back of Brad’s neck.

Their mouths slide apart so that they can breathe and Brad holds him tight, running his nose along Nate’s cheekbone. He feels drunk, like he had that extra glass Ray was attempting to pour. “Hello,” he says.

Nate huffs out a short laugh, and pushes his thumb at the line of muscle running straight into his skull, massaging it. “I guess you’re happy to see me too.”

[amberlynne.livejournal.com]

Not even going to pretend that I haven't been waiting patiently for another one of these so I could say:

The awesome (or horrible!) first date of cop!Brad and FBI!Nate!

Please :)

Horrible First Date (with bonus blowjob that I never write)

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

It was going terribly. Brad was in a horrible mood. He hated his swordfish. He wished he’d stuck to water instead of the red wine the sommelier had picked for him. Hell he didn’t even like wine. He couldn’t believe he’d worn a dinner jacket for this. Nate sat across the table from him, hands folded features steadily resolving into a tight-lipped frown. It had taken Nate two weeks to book a table here, but Brad couldn’t stop himself.

He just couldn’t get over how angry he was at the latest buffoonery that Encino Man had gotten up to, and it was poisoning everything. Finally Nate waved down the waiter with a pantomimed gesture for signing the check. When it came he handed off his credit card without checking the bill, and then wiped his mouth, calculated the tip when it came back, and stuck his credit card back into his wallet.

Brad blinked at him.

“Up, Brad,” Nate said and gestured to the door.

Brad stood up and found himself being herded out of the restaurant and into an alley way. “Nate, what—” Nate pushed him up against a brick wall, and efficiently pulled his belt free of his pants, before working on Brad’s jeans. Brad goggled at him. “I don’t—”

“Don’t speak,” Nate replied, pulling his dick free and encircling it with his fist. Brad swallowed as Nate dropped to his knees and sucked the head of his dick into his mouth. He teased, tongue swirling, pushing into the slit, holding himself right at the tip. Brad stared at him, mouth agape. Nate looked up, catching his eyes, and slowly brought his mouth down the shaft, until Brad hit the back of his throat.

“Jesus,” Brad cried out, not knowing what to do with his hands. Nate sucked hard, bobbing his head, coaxing a full body shiver out of Brad. He pulled off, hand sliding the take up the slack, to stare at Brad. Nate’s mouth was that abused red it got if he so much as ran his tongue across it. He blinked up at Brad and smiled lazily, hand still stroking slowly up and down, sticky with his own spit.

Brad moaned and trembled and finally Nate bent his head again to lick the tip. He pushed hard under the crown of his dick with his thumb and sucked, mouth sliding to meet his fingers. Brad couldn’t help it, he had to touch Nate. He stroked nerveless fingers through Nate’s perfectly gelled hair, and nearly comes apart at the sound Nate’s makes, mouth stretched so tight around his cock.

He breathes out through his nose and swallows, trying so hard to last. But the way Nate looks at him, the way his cock looks sliding between Nate’s plush lips. He can’t take it. He comes bent in on himself, his fingers caught in Nate’s hair. Nate swallows convulsively around him, through his orgasm and the last aftershocks. He pulls off, while Brad leans back against the wall, breathing hard, and carefully puts him back into his pants.

As he zips Brad up and rebuckles his belt, he says, “I hope you’re in a better mood now.”

“I—yeah,” Brad mumbles, still not quite sure how that just happened.

“Good, you can buy me a burger for making me miss my four star tuna tartare,” Nate replies. He brings a hand across his mouth, wiping it off.

Brad leans in and presses a kiss to the corner of Nate’s mouth, tongue darting out to catch the taste of his own come. Nate makes an amused noise in the back of his throat and turns his head to make it a real kiss.

Brad’s not sure how he managed before Nate.

[alethialia.livejournal.com]

OMG GLADIATOR!BRAD! Yay! Also, poor Nate's gotta learn to keep a poker face. Bless.

You could...continue that, if you were inspired. Or the vineyard AU! We loves that. Or cop!Brad and FBI!Nate.

(Btw, I think you repeated the last two sentences of the first paragraph in this post.)

Gladiator!Brad Part 1

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

Sorry this took so long. Because there is more winery!au up there and more cop!Brad and FBI!Nate, I decided on this instead. Ignore my complete and utter fuckery of accepted historical fact. I couldn’t very well have Nate sneaking into the ludus magnus to get his rocks off, could I? Ugh, setting this in the time of empire was an ill-conceived notion. OH WELL, we’re here now.

So let’s say that Nate’s sister does something stupid the next time they go see the games and somehow the timely intervention of Brad saves her life, so as a reward Nate’s dad purchases Brad as a household slave and as a bodyguard for Nate’s sister. Because, you know, Nate could protect her, but the next time Nate’s legion goes off conquering he has to leave and obviously can’t take her with him. Also, he is a very important man and must go off time-wasting with other wastrels of the senatorial class. Thus, enter Brad, the bodyguard.

*

There were a good number of young men in the domus aside from Nate himself, but the sudden importation of the Suione—Brad, the lanista had called him—caused a stir. He was one of the tallest men any of them had ever beheld. Nate had only seen taller off the African coast.

He kept stumbling upon him, standing to the side, taciturn and still. He seemed so curious, unlike anybody Nate had ever met. He found Brad’s steel-eyed gaze slightly daunting. Nearly every time he saw him Nate was compelled to ask Brad about himself, but every time he remembered the awkward audience at the ludus, Brad standing before him, arms held to his sides, like he was horse flesh on display. The thought made his stomach turn.

He walked out onto the peristyle seeking some sun and found Brad engaged in a near silent game of tabula with his adoring sister. He backed right out again onto the hem of his mother’s dress. “Nate, what is the meaning of this?” she said, tugging her skirts away from his feet. Two slaves reached out to straighten the stola he’d pulled into disarray.

He bit his lip. “I apologize, I find myself out of sorts.”

She batted the slaves away and shot him a hard look. “You’ve been out sorts for nearly a fortnight. Whatever has possessed you to wander around like a timid rabbit?”

“I…” he didn’t answer quickly enough.

She looked past him at the little garden terrace where Brad and Julia were playing. “Is it the Suione?”

“No—”

“You faced down Decebalus’s warrior hoards. Surely you aren’t unnerved by a simple gladiator?”

“Mother, I do not fear him, he simply—I am unsure of his measure.”

She nodded. “I fear little Julia is in love.”

Nate sighed.

His mother’s eyes sharpened upon him. “Try to master yourself. We have so little time before you leave us for Petra.”

Nate spread his hands before him in supplication and made a quick exit.

A few days later Nate found himself unable to sleep, he finally gave when with the weak dawn light streamed in through his window. He pulled on a simple tunic, two thick red vertical stripes down the fabric indicating his status as part of the senatorial class. The domus was deathly silent. Everybody else was safely ensconced in their beds.

When he went out into the atrium, he found Brad, clad only in subligaculum, running through sword formations on the fine sand. His body shone with sweat and he seemed so engrossed, moving with a quickness that his size should’ve made impossible. His two swords seemed to spin around him. Nate must’ve made some sound, because Brad’s sword arm dropped back to his side and he rotated to face Nate.

“Sorry,” Nate said and then cursed himself silently. He hardly needed to apologize to a slave in his own home.

Brad dipped his head and stepped back, ceding Nate space on the sand. Nate hesitated for a moment and then stepped off the slate tile to join him. It couldn’t hurt anybody to train with Brad, maybe he would even tire himself enough for rest. He ran through a few quick stretches and rotated his shoulders to loosen them. Everything felt stiff and tight. He didn’t know whether it was nerves or poor rest. He kept his back turned to Brad, because he knew he wouldn’t be able to concentrate at all if he looked at him.

[oxoniensis.livejournal.com]

The vision of Brad as a gladiator! Guh. And oh, so love Nate as a young tribune!

Prompt: sci-fi Brad/Nate, in which Brad's an artificial intelligence, and Nate's in love with him!

sci-fi Brad/Nate, in which Brad's an artificial intelligence, and Nate's in love with him, Part 1

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

Brad was built to be perfect. He can easily do the advanced calculations required of NAIA, the ship’s navigational computer. He is fully operational in over five-hundred types of martial art. He is conversant in all earth dialects and has an unsurpassable ability to acquire off-world languages. A full understanding of human anatomical structures is contained on his mainframe, making him a nearly flawless combat medic. He was assigned to the USS Defiance as a security specialist, and so far he has done his job so well that he’s never even been to see Carazales for repairs. Unlike the previous model, Chris (Combat Hostilities and Resistance Ideal Soldier), he has network capabilities, granting him access to nearly limitless information. While the person who lent his appearance is long dead, that person’s physical beauty lives on in Brad. There is no better word than perfect.

But Brad is not perfect. He is in fact, rather irascible. His personality was calculated to adapt and suit the individual he spent the most time with. But Brad, also unlike Chris, has developed a grumpy disposition completely irrespective of the individual he spends the most time with. He has an extensive arsenal of insults that 99.995% of the crew is familiar with. He likes porn and milk shakes and even though he is calibrated without the evolutionary hindrance of an adrenaline rush, he bought an extremely fast sprinter with the paycheck he was entitled under the Artificial Intelligence Rights act. Also, the unnecessary loss of human life that he is designed to override and disregard has a tendency to make him sad and broody.

Nate finds he likes him better than any of his crewmates, even Mike, one of the gunnery sergeants for the Defiance’s detachment of marines that Nate has known since his tenure at MTS. Other people might not consider this a problem, but Nate is going to get a command of his own soon and…and…Brad is an AI. Nate very much doubts that Brad has any of the same feelings of regard for him. Nate is a royal idiot.

“He never insults you, you know,” Ray, the marine that probably interacts most closely with Brad says.

“Sorry?” Nate says, trying to keep his dignity in the face of being caught staring at Brad across the mess.

Ray plunks his tray informally down in front of Nate and says, “He calls me an inbred waste of genetic-fuckheadedness on a fairly regular basis. I don’t even know what that means.”

Nate shrugs and spears a canned peach on the end of his fork and keeps his eyes determinedly away from Brad’s part of the mess. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

Ray stares at him like he’s useless.

*

Main Sequence G2 Star System 4765 or the solar system as it’s colloquially known has been fighting for her life for the last eight decades. They need all the allies that they can get. It is not usually the USS Defiance—a class one expeditionary destroyer—who has to go on diplomatic missions. However, they are alone in the Messier 109 and no other vessel will be able to reach them for several weeks.

Nate, as executive officer of the Defiance is a required part of the landing party. Captain Patterson is too important to risk in a possible souring of relations. In retrospect, Nate would’ve liked to say that the succeeding events could’ve been avoided, or that their ensuing hostile relationship with the sovereign planet of the M109 Spiral Galaxy or Shelia as it was called in local parlance, could’ve been repaired. However it is in some small way comforting to know there was nothing they could’ve done.

[xtinethepirate.livejournal.com]

FIREFLY.

Mal and Jayne (or Mal/Jayne if you prefer). How Mal got that tattoo on his hip.

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

Er, I don't remember the tattoo on Mal's hip. Also, Mal/Jayne? Where did that come from.

Here let me tear your prompt apart for you. Srrry.

[soul_cake_duck]

Yay!

Um, Brad/Nate, stuck somewhere because of bad weather? Oooh, Brad (or Rays) thoughts on this!

Brad/Nate, It's Too Hot and Sticky To Move, Part 1

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

I totally reinterpreted your prompt. Mostly because people have written so many great snowed in and rained in fics and I was like…can I do better? I don’t think so.

*

It’s 110 degrees—a record high. Brad spent most of the day at the beach where the wind off the waves cooled the air down, but he agreed to watch the Orioles game with the LT in the later afternoon so he couldn’t stay there forever. At 4 PM it’s even simmering in the shade of the LT’s porch. The air is so still and heavy it’s hard to breathe. His skin feels too tight. He rings the doorbell, sticky and uncomfortable. The sound of the chime floats through the door.

There’s a long moment of silence and then a thump. “It’s open,” the LT calls, voice muffled.

Brad pushes the door open. It swings back into the house with a rusty squeak. He finds the LT lying on the floor in a t-shirt and exercise shorts, flushed red.

“LT?” Brad asks. It’s dark in the house. All of the blinds are drawn and none of the lights are on. There’s a fan whirring away at the backdoor. He looks at the LTs prone form and asks, “What happened?”

The LT groans and shifts. “I went for a run.”

Brad stares at him for a long moment. “I never thought you’d have the intelligence of a demented rabbit, but apparently, you learn new and fun things every day.”

The LT shuts his eyes and thunks his head against the floor. “And the air-conditioner broke on the hottest day of the year.” He pauses and then blinks. “Are rabbits particularly dumb?”

“Yes.”Brad plunks down on the floor next to the LT. “Are we watching the game?”

The LT waves a weary hand at the remote sitting on his coffee table and then drops his arm feebly back to the floor. Brad laughs and reaches out to grab it, turning the television onto the pre-game commentary. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so pathetic.”

The LT actually sticks out his tongue. Brad laughs at him. The LT smiles back and then shifts so that his shirt hitches up over his abs. Brad looks pointedly away from the trail of reddish hair disappearing into his shorts. After a moment unsure of what to do with himself, Brad moves to the LTs sofa.

Twenty minutes later they’re into a round of boring commercials, the Orioles are in the Outfield and the White Sox are at bat. The LT still lies on the floor, but watches the screen out of the corner of his eye. There’s the hiss of automated sprinklers outside and the LT lifts his head up. Brad shakes his head fondly as Nate slowly picks himself up off the ground, groaning as he straightens up. The LT gives him the finger and then goes to the back door, carefully stepping around the fan.

“LT?” Brad calls as he disappears into the backyard. Brad rolls his eyes and gets to his feet. He gets up and follows him to the backdoor. He finds the LT standing in the jet of the sprinkler, face tilted up to the sky and expression blissful.

[melloniel.livejournal.com]

fjweif;jsdlkfh;FKLDJSLA;KDF GLADIATOR FIC OH MY GODDDD. Amber sent me this way but you are my new favorite person EVER for that.

More please. *___*

More Gladiator!AU, Part 1/2

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

In case you missed it, I wrote some more for alethialia here (http://dark-reaction.livejournal.com/264841.html?thread=3963273#t3963273). This scene follows sometime in the future...
*

So this time a fight breaks out somewhere when Nate and Brad are accompanying Nate’s sister out. Nate’s sister just attracts trouble. And Brad and Nate totally kick everybody’s ass, but Brad gets slashed across the back pretty bad and Brad is like…not taking care of it, and Nate finally bullies him into letting him take a look.

*

Nate gestured at the table with one hand Brad sat down stoically. The table wasn’t very high, but he was tall enough that his feet still touch the floor. This room wasn’t much in the way of an infirmary, but all the herbs were kept there, and a steady fire was kept burning in the corner. It had been the logical place to go.

Nate hissed when he peeled the heavy blood-sodden fabric off of Brad’s skin. The slash was deep and still wept blood freely. “It needs cauterizing,” he says softly, running his fingertips over the unbroken skin just above it. Brad’s skin was unbelievably soft. He knew he shouldn’t be touching him like this. Brad had made it clear he doesn’t want it and Nate would sooner die than force someone. Brad shifted under his touch and his tunic fell down low enough that Nate could see the dimples just above his ass. He pulled his hands back and swallowed. “You will have a scar.”

Brad huffed out a breath. “It will not be the first.”

Nate winced. The wound had to be cleaned first and after he stuck a hot iron into the fire to heat, he crushed gallium with a mortar and pestle and mixed it with freshwater before dipping a castoff skein of fabric into it. The muscles in Brad’s broad back spasmed as he gently swabbed the cloth over the wound. When he thought it was clean, he used the wet rag to pull the handle of the iron out of the fire. It took barely a second to run it over the wound, but it felt like an age. The hiss of hot iron against wet bloodied skin was almost unbearable. Brad didn’t make a sound but the muscles in his neck tightened, thrown into sharp relief in the dim lighting.

By the time Nate tossed the iron aside Brad was breathing hard, head bowed on his neck. Nate stared at him for a long moment, the planes of muscle in his back, the knob at the top of his spine where his head was bowed. He wanted to say something but everything was stuck in his throat. He decided finally it would be best to leave him, give him a few moments to himself. Brad was owed that much. But as he walked by, Brad’s arm snapped up, catching him around the wrist.

“Wait,” he said, urgently.

[jujubinha.livejournal.com]

HOLY CRAP YOU WROTE ANCIENT ROME GK AU! With Gladiator!Brad and Tribune!Nate!

I love you. No, seriously. My love for anything and everything Ancient Rome knows no bound, I'm not even kidding.

I'd love to read anything from your GK!AUs. Maybe the vineyard? That was so interesting... Or the cops/feds. Or the models. OR ALL OF THE ABOVE. :P

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

How about you give me a prompt for one of those verses? I find it hard to just come up with something to write about them.

[strangie.livejournal.com]

Generation Kill, Brad/Nate, Brad is sent to military school and meets Nate.

Brad is sent to military school and meets Nate. Part 1

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

He sees the kid a lot when they get to go into Carlsbad. Brad’s been going to school here since the 7th grade, but until the start of this year, he never saw him before at all. He doesn’t know why he notices him all the time. The kid’s pretty unremarkable looking. And yet, every time Brad runs into him—in the record store, at the movies, at the fucking all-night Denny’s at 4 AM with a bunch of other wholesome looking teens—he can’t look away. He even finds him running in the park one time when Brad’s walking through.

The expression on his face is so intent, like he’s on another planet. Brad knows that feeling. He swallows and looks away.

The next time Brad gets free time weekend he goes by himself to the bookstore and spots the kid, back against a shelf in the science fiction reading mass market paperback. Brad inhales and it’s like the kid hears it because he looks up suddenly and smiles. He closes the book, index finger holding the page and disappears among the sections. Brad tries to push him from his mind, looking through the new titles on the shelves. He doesn’t get much chance to read books for pleasure, but he likes to, sometimes.

Brad runs into the kid again at the register. He’s paying for the sci-fi book and two other heavier volumes, Brad thinks he sees Hemingway’s name and Noam Chomsky.

The cashier says, “That’ll be $36.50.” The kid digs in his pants, and comes up with $35.50.

“Shit,” he says, pulling out his pockets for any loose change.

“If you don’t have it, you’ll have to choose which book you don’t want,” the cashier says, annoyed. She ticks her fingers against the side of the register.

The kid stares at the pile of books, teeth sunk into his lip.

Brad pauses for a long moment and then pulls out a dollar and says, “I got it.” He leans over the kid’s shoulder to hand the dollar over and the kid turns his head to look at him at the exact same moment. His nose brushes over Brad’s cheek and Brad barely keeps himself from jumping.

“Thank you,” he says, softly. Brad never realized, but his eyes are green. The brightest green he’s ever seen. The cashier put the books the kid’s books in a bag and hands it over and then looks at Brad expectantly. It takes him a minute to realize she wants him to put his own collection of purchases down on the counter so that she can ring them up. The kid lingers off to the side though Brad doesn’t know why.

[bijoux.livejournal.com]

!!! for Gladiator AU.

Also, why do I have no ideas? *racks brain*

Erm, more Winery AU, but maybe they take a roadtrip somewhere/tour the fields and we get more Brad backstory? That or the winery is in financial trouble and Brad has difficulty leaning on others for help. (Random, but I'm wondering how painful/dirty it would be if they had sex outdoors in the vineyard... have you written this yet? I can't remember)

Still More Winery AU, Part 1

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

On the third day of Nate’s visit, it’s sunny enough that the muddy ground has dried out. Nate wakes up late in Brad’s bed, the sun blazing into his eyes. The clock says 10:56 AM. Brad’s still asleep and Nate quietly edges out of the bed to put on shorts and running shoes. It’s about 65 degrees out, just enough wind to make it slightly cold—perfect for a run. The trees are ablaze with spring flowers and the house is surrounded by them. He finds himself grinning as he runs down Brad’s driveway towards the road.

He runs all the way into town and picks up a coffee at the Flying Goat, a place he heard Brad mention in passing. While he waits for it to brew, he looks out the window onto the street and sort of can’t believe he’s here. He finishes his coffee in the square. Everybody who passes says hello and good morning. He nods his head and smiles back. Brad fits in a place like this, with Ray, and his dogs, and the beautiful house. But at the same time he doesn’t. He’s got hard edges. Occasionally when they’re talking, Nate spears himself on them and worries he’s going to bleed out all over himself.

When the coffee’s gone, he tosses the cup and makes the run back. The sun is a little higher in the sky and by the time he reaches Brad’s place, he’s sweaty and sticky. He finds Brad in the kitchen, reading the San Francisco Chronicle in his pajama bottoms. Shadow lies prone, head pillowed on his paws in the sunshine, but when Nate walks into the room Fox is immediately upon him. Brad snorts with laughter.

“Good run?” he asks, looking up over the edge of the newsprint.

“Mmhm,” Nate replies, kneeling down to scratch behind Fox’s ears. He’s close enough to Brad that he can lay a playful kiss on his bicep without moving.

Brad flexes his arm and says, “Are you hungry?”

“I could eat,” Nate replies, getting to his feet.

There’s a manmade pond on the edge of Brad’s land. After Nate showers, Brad fixes a backpack full of food and hands Nate a blanket. They walk out in companionable silence to the pond to eat lunch in the sun.

[2ndary-author.livejournal.com]

Ditto the model!verse request. It's so rare to see Nate as the one with the mystery background....

[2ndary-author.livejournal.com]

Also, how much do I love that Winery!Brad's dogs have such lame names (Shadow? Fox the dog?!). A lot. I love it a lot.

[kashmir1.livejournal.com]

Um, I'm always up for Brad/Nate genderfuck. I... really don't have more than that right now. Or maybe Brad and Nate BOTH get turned into girls/were always girls?

Brad/Nate genderfuck

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

Er, I don't know what happened, but it turned into a full blown (albeit ridiculous) story.

It’s a fucking cliché. That’s what it is, and that should be a huge fucking warning. He’s at the Owl for beer and wings with a few friends on a Thursday night. He just got his latest paycheck, he’s got a good buzz, he’s finished the bitch of all problem sets, he’s been texting back and forth with an engineering grad student who can tie a knot in a cherry stem with her tongue…he’s not really seeing the bad here. And then some asshole puts Peaches on the jukebox and it’s like a crowd at the bar parts, just so that he can see her. She’s wearing shredded jeans and an oversized plaid t-shirt that she probably grabbed at a thrift store. One foot is tucked up under her body as she sits on the barstool and waves around a half-full vodka tonic. Her voice carries across the room.

You can read the rest here (http://dark-reaction.livejournal.com/267242.html)

[starlurker.livejournal.com]

I hope you allow lurkers to play! Generation Kill with occupation switch: Lt. Brad Colbert and Sgt. Nate Fick in the first OIF.

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

I don't think I could write that. Mostly because I'm too attached to the current dichotomy. Too much of my characterization of Nate lies in the fact that he's super educated, and there's pretty much NO WAY, you'd ever see a Dartmouth grad as a non-com. If you'd like to submit a different prompt, you're perfectly allowed.

[tikiaceae.livejournal.com]

Ooooh. Brad/Nate, please! Where one of them looks after the other in small ways without that person realising it. Or tries to look after the other without being noticed. \o/

Brad/Nate, Cuddly Bear

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

I meant for this to be exactly what you wanted, but somehow it morphed into this!

*

The LT always needs Trombley for something, running him around the camp, all these extra little menial duties that marines are used to taking care of for themselves. Nobody thinks it’s anything, because Trombley nearly deepsixed two fucking kids and he’s due a little hell. Only Ray seems to notice that it’s actually serving to keep Brad and Trombley as far apart as possible when they have to spend most of the day locked up in a HumVee together.

Trombley returns looking a little ragged and contrite and Ray shakes his head. Somebody should tell the LT to stop worrying. Brad’s not going to go all Texas Chainsaw Massacre on them.

“I think the LT wants to dick you…” he says after the LT drops off extra batteries.

Brad raises his eyebrows, and follows the LT giving batteries out to all the TLs with his eyes. “The LT apparently wants to dick a lot of people.”

“No, Brad, he is not looking at them like ‘my favorite cuddly bear got broke and I don’t know what to do but smile at it real hard through the tears.’ That shit, Brad, is a whole ‘nother ballgame.”

Brad shoots him a stone-faced look. Reporter leans forward in his seat and says, “Ray, you missed your calling as a yenta. Do you want to ask for your separation papers? I’m sure Godfather would love to have a matchmaker on board.”

Before Ray can respond with a simple fuck you, Walt’s giving him a little shove with his foot. “You can start with Chaffin and Manimal. They just need love, man.”

Ray grumbles back.

“Hey, Cuddly Bear,” a voice says, causing them all to straighten up in their seats with a jerk. The LT and Gunny are standing next to Brad’s door. Nate’s got a perfectly straight-face, but Gunny looks like he’s going to kill himself trying not to laugh. “Just wanted to let you know were Oscar Mike in five.”

He turns around and walks off, Gunny trailing him.

“I think you can say goodbye to Iceman,” Reporter says. “You’re stuck with Cuddly Bear now.”

Trombley repeats it like he’s found a new toy, “Cuddly Bear, Cuddly bear.”

He only shuts up when Brad turns around and gives him another patented stone-faced glance. He turns back to Ray. “Corporal Person, be advised if such a thing were to pass, I will eviscerate you and string you up from the Mark 9 by your entrails. And I will go home and tell your mother how her son spent his last days as a goatfucker before we were forced to put him down.”

“Cuddly Bear’s angry!” Ray says, laughing. He ducks Brad’s swipe with a yelp

[snarkaddict.livejournal.com]

I second or third the call for Gladiator!Brad! ♥_♥ Also, I love that there's still this class divide between them in this AU.

[snglesrvngfrend.livejournal.com]

I was told I should totally come play!

Brad/Nate, after everything, Brad comes to a signing for Nate's book, and there's enough UST to choke a horse. Or a very healthy Marine.

[passionofmind.livejournal.com]

Late to the party as always, but I'm completely in ♥ with your GK model!AU. Any thing about Nate from that 'verse would be adored.

[snowybaby.livejournal.com]

i wholeheartedly second this motion. i'd love to see a glimpse into model!Nate's past. you would get bonus points (and endless love) if you could sustain Brad's perspective throughout. in other words, Nate finally talks or Brad finds out in some other way. I adore your crushingout-protective-understanding-Brad. more, pretty please..... ::clasps hands::

[aboutademongirl.livejournal.com]

Nate. Brad. Nate's cramming and Brad's not bitching at him to get back over here, the bed's getting cold. My imagination's run off with my brain, I have a categorically-refusing-to-bend-y spoon, and no one is running away with the moon.

[passionofmind.livejournal.com]

I really liked this. Like a lot.

hustler!Nate is hotlikefire.

[madgebettany.livejournal.com]

These snippets are incredible--as in I am incredulous that anyone could create so many different WORLDS simultaneously at such speed. Thanks for sharing your talents.

Love the fic

[sahaqiel-sky.livejournal.com]

I really enjoy your fanfics, especially this one, because I'm actually a Healdsburg native. I know it's dorky but I still get excited when I read a fic and go: "Hey, I know where that place is!" I used to love the Flying Goat when I was a kid. Anyway, thank you for making the world a better place with Nate/Brad fic goodness.

Re: Love the fic

[dark-reaction.livejournal.com]

I'm from Palo Alto, and I've stayed in Healdsburg a couple of times on the way up to Mendocino. I'm so in love with it! So glad you thought I did it justice.

High School AU snippet is AWEsome

[(Anonymous)]

Brad in military school? Not gay but there just being something about Nate?
I love it!
More?