Red Devil - H/A AU, part 5
May. 24th, 2011 09:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mylodonAs promised.
Archie couldn’t believe his luck. Not just at bumping into someone as handsome and serious—he’d always gone for the serious ones—as Horatio, three thousand miles away from both their homes. Speed of pick-up had exceeded all hopes. Normally the more staid the target, the longer it took to persuade them to share a beer or a bed.
Except the uber nerds, of course. They tended to be so amazed that anybody had taken notice of them, especially someone who looked like Archie, that they’d be throwing themselves at his feet. Sometimes he picked them up from there and took them home but often he just left them in his wake. Life was complicated enough, without accumulating clingers on.
“You look knackered.” It was hardly the best chat up line, but Horatio looked like the sort of person who appreciated honesty. Horatio. What a bloody awful name, almost as bad as Archibald, but without the jaunty little diminutive. Horry? No thank you.
“I am. Watch says seven o’clock, body says midnight. Not that I’m too tired to get a bite to eat,” Horatio added hurriedly, edging towards over-eager uber nerd territory.
Archie shivered. He remembered how awful his first days here had been, body clock all to hell and waking at half past two in the morning. He only hoped Horatio—would he ever be able to say that with a straight face—wouldn’t suffer some of the same repercussions of moving here as he had. “It’s not far from here, if we can ever cross the road.”
“Is it always this busy?” Horatio looked right and then corrected himself. “And how long did it take you to get used to everything being on the wrong side of the road?”
“Yes, at this time of day and about a fortnight.” Archie grabbed his new friend’s arm and dragged him over the road before the crossing timer counted down.
“Typical.” Horatio rolled his eyes. “I’ll just have got my head round it and I’ll be off home.”
A fortnight? Time enough, assuming Horatio wasn’t whizzing off half way down the coast the next day. “That’s the way of things. Sod’s law. Still, you’ve got plenty to cram into that time.” Archie stopped, ready to usher them into a tapas bar. “People will make you very welcome.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Horatio smiled, for the first time since Archie had spotted him. If he had an unfortunate name, at least he had the sort of face that made up for it.
Archie couldn’t believe his luck. Not just at bumping into someone as handsome and serious—he’d always gone for the serious ones—as Horatio, three thousand miles away from both their homes. Speed of pick-up had exceeded all hopes. Normally the more staid the target, the longer it took to persuade them to share a beer or a bed.
Except the uber nerds, of course. They tended to be so amazed that anybody had taken notice of them, especially someone who looked like Archie, that they’d be throwing themselves at his feet. Sometimes he picked them up from there and took them home but often he just left them in his wake. Life was complicated enough, without accumulating clingers on.
“You look knackered.” It was hardly the best chat up line, but Horatio looked like the sort of person who appreciated honesty. Horatio. What a bloody awful name, almost as bad as Archibald, but without the jaunty little diminutive. Horry? No thank you.
“I am. Watch says seven o’clock, body says midnight. Not that I’m too tired to get a bite to eat,” Horatio added hurriedly, edging towards over-eager uber nerd territory.
Archie shivered. He remembered how awful his first days here had been, body clock all to hell and waking at half past two in the morning. He only hoped Horatio—would he ever be able to say that with a straight face—wouldn’t suffer some of the same repercussions of moving here as he had. “It’s not far from here, if we can ever cross the road.”
“Is it always this busy?” Horatio looked right and then corrected himself. “And how long did it take you to get used to everything being on the wrong side of the road?”
“Yes, at this time of day and about a fortnight.” Archie grabbed his new friend’s arm and dragged him over the road before the crossing timer counted down.
“Typical.” Horatio rolled his eyes. “I’ll just have got my head round it and I’ll be off home.”
A fortnight? Time enough, assuming Horatio wasn’t whizzing off half way down the coast the next day. “That’s the way of things. Sod’s law. Still, you’ve got plenty to cram into that time.” Archie stopped, ready to usher them into a tapas bar. “People will make you very welcome.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Horatio smiled, for the first time since Archie had spotted him. If he had an unfortunate name, at least he had the sort of face that made up for it.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-24 05:27 pm (UTC)Poor Horatio though, I think he has a fine name!
Thanks for the latest installment, it's all very intriguing indeed :)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-25 06:44 am (UTC)Intriguing to me, too, because it ain't going where I thought it would.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-25 03:52 pm (UTC)Hmmm...Fly by night? Commitment-phobic? Running from something? Waiting for Mr Right? What's Archie up to?
it ain't going where I thought it would
And isn't that just one of the joys of writing?! :D I shall wait with baited breath!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-25 04:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-27 08:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-24 06:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-25 06:34 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-25 05:13 am (UTC)and as for the smile and Archie's last thoughts in this snippet
I can see you grinning as you post these -thats why I love them even more !
Keep going - for a nice long while yet !
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-25 07:05 am (UTC)Thanks for the kind words. It might indeed take a long time to get this where I originally intended it to be!
BTW I have a teeny weeny Goerge North thing for you!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-25 07:22 am (UTC)that is very kind
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-25 07:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-25 07:45 am (UTC)- the art of being naughty in one swift sentence by that doyenne of the game Charlie C
to paraphrase Harriet to Peter as I have done before I think;
you are the mistress of meiosis,M'wah !
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-06 06:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-06 10:02 am (UTC)