A Different Story
Sep. 5th, 2010 10:57 pmTitle: A Different Story
Author: Anteros
Characters: Horatio Hornblower/Archie Kennedy
Rating: NC-17
Notes: I am such a huge fan of
esmerelda_t's Modern AU that I have started writing AU-meta-fanfic! This is a remix of Twenty Four Hours and bits of Backdrop written from Horatio's pov.
Horatio stood on the bottom step for a moment and stared indecisively at the door. He desperately wanted to climb back up the steps, ring the doorbell again and invite himself in. However as it had taken him half the morning to screw up enough courage to come this far he was now late and didn't want to keep his father waiting. Instead he turned and walked as casually as his shaking knees would allow down the broad sweep of driveway. The drive alone was bigger than the Hornblower's entire garden, with space to park at least two cars, but it was empty. Horatio supposed Archie's parents must be away. Archie had invited him back to this house the previous week to watch a film. His parents had been there then but, apart from Archie's room, the house had seemed empty and half lived in. Somehow the thought of Archie rattling around alone in that huge house disturbed Horatio. He felt his throat tighten as he walked out of the driveway and into the street.
~
Not long after they had met, Horatio had asked Archie what his parents did. Archie's answer had been evasive and dismissive.
"They work in London. It's terribly important don't you know?" He rolled his eyes.
The tight look on Archie's face prevented Horatio from pressing further questions, but at the same time he thought it was a bit sad and childish that Archie could dismiss his parents so lightly. Of course Horatio knew that most boys their age regarded their parents with varying degrees of disdain and mortification. However Horatio also knew what it was like to loose a parent. Still, even Horatio couldn't help noticing that in the three weeks he had known Archie his parents were habitually more absent than present.
~
Horatio had been completely thrown by Archie's appearance when he opened the door. He had looked terrible. Horatio's carefully prepared casual invitation to the cinema which he had rehearsed all the way down the road evaporated in an instant. Archie looked tired and bleary, his hair tousled and sticking up in tufts, blue eyes red rimmed and heavy. Despite the fact it was well after eleven he was dressed in only t-shirt and boxers, a quilt trailing from his shoulders. Horatio noticed that it was the same blue t-shirt that Archie had been wearing the previous day when they had bumped into him in the Co-op. He knew it was the same one because there was a hole at the neck where the seam had come away. Horatio could not fathom why someone with such obvious means should persist in wearing a torn t-shirt. Or indeed why anyone would wear the same t-shirt two days in a row. However Horatio had also noticed the expensive label on Archie's boxers and the way that the fine black cotton clung to him. He could feel his cheeks burning at the thought that Archie might have noticed him noticing.
Horatio had immediately assumed that Archie must be ill to have appeared at the door in such a state at eleven in the morning. He knew that Archie was epileptic and his immediate concern was that he may have had a fit. Archie's insistence that he had fallen asleep on the couch hadn't exactly reassured Horatio but he didn't seem inclined to offer any further explanation. Instead Horatio had thrust the cinema programme at him, somehow forgetting to explain what it was until Archie had taken it from his hand. He eventually managed to mumble,
“Uh…I…I got it, in the cinema yesterday. It’s the schedule for the month, I thought that maybe if you weren’t….I thought you might like to go one weekend. We could go together, if you like.”
Archie's initial response seemed to be bemusement. He stared dumbly at the programme and Horatio began mentally kicking himself for thinking that Archie would deign to be seen dead with him outside school. He was so resigned to his own mortification that he had been quite taken aback when Archie had smiled and said he'd like that very much. Something shifted imperceptibly in Archie's expression when he smiled and Horatio's felt something leap in his chest in response. It was a stupid thing to think but Horatio couldn’t help feeling that there had been something in Archie’s smile that almost looked like hope. Horatio held the memory close as he made his way back through the village
~
It had been late by the time Horatio and his dad had got back from the cinema the previous evening. They had decided to go out at the last minute as there was nothing but rubbish on tv on Saturday night. His dad seemed to have enjoyed the film and had launched into a lengthy spiel about one of the characters while putting the kettle on. Horatio felt even less inclined to talk than usual, he could barely remember what they’d seen. Bumping into Archie Kennedy in the shop on the way to the cinema had completely thrown him. He was still mortified at the way he had stood there, blushing and stammering like an idiot, as if Archie had just landed from another planet. Archie had smiled and looked amused but Horatio had been too embarrassed to tell whether he was actually pleased to see him or was just humouring him. He must have been mad to have invited Archie to come to the cinema with them. As if Archie Kennedy wouldn’t have something better to do on a Saturday night than go and see some crappy film with Horatio and his dad for heavens sake. It had been stupid. Archie clearly thought so too, he had taken one look at Horatio’s father on the other side of the shop and couldn’t get away fast enough.
But still, there had been something in Archie’s shuttered expression when they left the shop that had driven all ability to concentrate on anything else from Horatio’s mind. He had fidgeted even more than usual throughout the film until his father had placed one hand on his knee, the childhood signal to sit still and stop squirming.
As he climbed the stairs to his room Horatio felt bad for abandoning his dad when he clearly wanted company. He knew his father must get lonely sometimes but all he could think of was beating a retreat to the solitude of his own room. He was still thinking about Archie and the way his expression had changed, like a light being turned out, as he took off his clothes and threw himself down onto the bed.
~
Horatio had long since given up worrying about his sexuality. He had gone through an intense and painful period of angst and confusion when he was fifteen that led him to the conclusion that for better or for worse he was gay. End of story. No sooner had he reached this earth-shattering conclusion than he fell hook, line and sinker for a smart fair-haired girl in his O-level maths class. He had moped in his room worrying his father or a fortnight until they went on an Easter camping trip to Brittany where an impossibly sophisticated and adult French boy had supplanted Maths Girl as the object of his adoration and vague but fervent teenage fantasies. More angst had ensued on their return home but eventually Horatio had concluded that it was all academic anyway. The chances of him getting his hands on a member of either sex seemed to be remote given that he could barely bring himself to speak to anyone his own age, male or female.
Archie however was a different story altogether.
Even someone who held himself as aloof as Horatio, could not help but hear the rumours that circulated about Archie, however he put them down to homophobia, ignorance and petty small town vindictiveness. Growing up with a name like Horatio Hornblower had inured him to name calling. He expected it and ignored it. But even he was shocked by the viciousness of some of the rumours about Archie that were doing the rounds and it hadn't escaped Horatio's notice that the vast majority of these rumours appeared to emanate from Jack Simpson. The latest lurid rumour regarded Archie and several members of the neighbouring football team. Even in the quiet darkness of his room Horatio could feel his temper rising when he recalled the sycophants and cowards that laughed along with Simpson. Perversely, the wilder and more graphic the tales that reached Horatio, the more determined he was to prove that he would never stoop so low as to listen to such bullshit.
Although Horatio gave short shrift to the rumours he was intensely curious as to whether Archie was seeing anyone. His own reserve precluded him from asking Archie directly, however Horatio had seen him once or twice in a car in the village with a boy whom he didn't recognise from school. The boy appeared to be about the same age as them, dark haired, ordinary looking. Horatio thought Archie could do better. He also thought Archie had looked bored. The car had passed him twice one Saturday afternoon when he had run down to the village for a newspaper. The boy driving had been talking and smiling and looking at Archie rather than the road. Archie meanwhile had been looking out the side window with an expression that suggested he was miles away.
Horatio momentarily flattered himself that if he had been in the driving seat he would have made damn sure that Archie wouldn't have been staring bored out the passenger window. There wasn’t a cat’s chance in hell of that ever happening though considering that Horatio couldn't drive and there wasn't much likelihood of him being able to afford a car in the foreseeable future anyway.
Still, he couldn't help wondering what they had done when the guy in the driver's seat had also got bored with spinning round the village.
Horatio shifted on the bed. The thought had sent his hand down under the covers to where he was already growing hard. He felt the bead of moisture slide over his palm as he curled his fingers around himself and set up a slow regular rhythm of pull and slide. His free arm was crooked around the back of this head, long fingers stroking the side of his neck. If he closed is eyes he could almost imagine that someone else was touching him, that Archie was touching him.
In his imagination he positioned himself in the car, displacing the anonymous driver. He imagined Archie unfastening his seatbelt and leaning towards him. Warm lips caressing his neck, a steady hand running up his thigh and over his groin, feeling him hard through his jeans. But there the mental image stalled and ground to a halt.
Horatio’s stroke faltered and he could feel the heat pressure start to ebb away.
Horatio believed he had a perfect, though admittedly theoretical, understanding of the mechanics of male sex but the logistics’ were quite beyond him. Particularly the logistics of sex in a car. The only car he could envisage with any clarity was his dad's battered old Volvo estate and that was hardly where he wanted to imagine kissing Archie, touching him for the first time. Horatio quickly erased that image.
No the first time wouldn't be a rushed cramped fumble. The first time would be somewhere safe and warm and private. Somewhere that they would have all the time in the world without fear of interruption. His own bedroom when his dad was on call, or Archie's house when his parents were away, as they invariably seemed to be.
If even a fraction of the rumours were true, if there was even the tiniest germ of truth in them, then it was likely that Archie had experience with other boys. Horatio was pragmatic enough not to mind. It would be better if one of them knew what they were doing.
He was hard again now, so hard he was starting to ache.
He could picture it so clearly, feel it almost. The first tentative kisses increasing with urgency and pressure. Hands pulling at clothes, tugging off t-shirts and fumbling to unbutton jeans. And then the heavenly feeling of skin on skin. Archie would feel warm and hard against him. Then they were lying on the bed. He’d be on his back, Archie leaning over him smiling, telling him to relax, it'll be okay, kissing him, running one warm smooth hand over his hips and down his thigh. Then Archie would take him in his mouth and Horatio would twine his fingers through his hair. Archie would be holding his hips down on the bed as he arched his back and tried to thrust up towards him. But he wouldn't let go, he'd keep his tongue moving and his lips sliding over Horatio until he couldn’t hold back any longer. He'd call Archie's name when he came and it wouldn't matter because there'd be no one to hear. Then he'd pull Archie up to his mouth and kiss him hard, tasting himself on Archie's lips.
The thought almost made Horatio come, he exhaled a long breath and he slowed his hand.
He'd slide his hand down to where Archie would be wet and hard and with long slow strokes and endless kisses he'd bring Archie to a climax that would leave him shaking and breathless in his arms.
In his mind Horatio could see the blue eyes closing, head thrown back and it would be his name on Archie's lips when he came.
Horatio, please god Horatio...
In reality Horatio quickly followed him over the edge.
Afterwards they would hold each other, Archie's head on Horatio's shoulder, Horatio running his hand slowly over Archie’s neck and down his back, until sleep overtook them. And in the morning they would begin all over again with sleepy kisses and ticklish strokes, gradually wakening each other.
~
The next morning Horatio woke up much later than usual with an unfamiliar feeling of warmth and contentment. He lay perfectly still for as long as he could, refusing to open his eyes. If he kept his eyes closed he could still believe that Archie was lying sleeping by his side. He could almost hear his breath, feel his weight in the bed beside him.
Eventually he opened his eyes with a sigh. Despite the empty space in the bed he could still feel Archie’s presence so strongly that it made his chest ache. That was when he made his mind up. That was when he decided that he would go to Archie’s house and ask him out.
Author: Anteros
Characters: Horatio Hornblower/Archie Kennedy
Rating: NC-17
Notes: I am such a huge fan of
Horatio stood on the bottom step for a moment and stared indecisively at the door. He desperately wanted to climb back up the steps, ring the doorbell again and invite himself in. However as it had taken him half the morning to screw up enough courage to come this far he was now late and didn't want to keep his father waiting. Instead he turned and walked as casually as his shaking knees would allow down the broad sweep of driveway. The drive alone was bigger than the Hornblower's entire garden, with space to park at least two cars, but it was empty. Horatio supposed Archie's parents must be away. Archie had invited him back to this house the previous week to watch a film. His parents had been there then but, apart from Archie's room, the house had seemed empty and half lived in. Somehow the thought of Archie rattling around alone in that huge house disturbed Horatio. He felt his throat tighten as he walked out of the driveway and into the street.
~
Not long after they had met, Horatio had asked Archie what his parents did. Archie's answer had been evasive and dismissive.
"They work in London. It's terribly important don't you know?" He rolled his eyes.
The tight look on Archie's face prevented Horatio from pressing further questions, but at the same time he thought it was a bit sad and childish that Archie could dismiss his parents so lightly. Of course Horatio knew that most boys their age regarded their parents with varying degrees of disdain and mortification. However Horatio also knew what it was like to loose a parent. Still, even Horatio couldn't help noticing that in the three weeks he had known Archie his parents were habitually more absent than present.
~
Horatio had been completely thrown by Archie's appearance when he opened the door. He had looked terrible. Horatio's carefully prepared casual invitation to the cinema which he had rehearsed all the way down the road evaporated in an instant. Archie looked tired and bleary, his hair tousled and sticking up in tufts, blue eyes red rimmed and heavy. Despite the fact it was well after eleven he was dressed in only t-shirt and boxers, a quilt trailing from his shoulders. Horatio noticed that it was the same blue t-shirt that Archie had been wearing the previous day when they had bumped into him in the Co-op. He knew it was the same one because there was a hole at the neck where the seam had come away. Horatio could not fathom why someone with such obvious means should persist in wearing a torn t-shirt. Or indeed why anyone would wear the same t-shirt two days in a row. However Horatio had also noticed the expensive label on Archie's boxers and the way that the fine black cotton clung to him. He could feel his cheeks burning at the thought that Archie might have noticed him noticing.
Horatio had immediately assumed that Archie must be ill to have appeared at the door in such a state at eleven in the morning. He knew that Archie was epileptic and his immediate concern was that he may have had a fit. Archie's insistence that he had fallen asleep on the couch hadn't exactly reassured Horatio but he didn't seem inclined to offer any further explanation. Instead Horatio had thrust the cinema programme at him, somehow forgetting to explain what it was until Archie had taken it from his hand. He eventually managed to mumble,
“Uh…I…I got it, in the cinema yesterday. It’s the schedule for the month, I thought that maybe if you weren’t….I thought you might like to go one weekend. We could go together, if you like.”
Archie's initial response seemed to be bemusement. He stared dumbly at the programme and Horatio began mentally kicking himself for thinking that Archie would deign to be seen dead with him outside school. He was so resigned to his own mortification that he had been quite taken aback when Archie had smiled and said he'd like that very much. Something shifted imperceptibly in Archie's expression when he smiled and Horatio's felt something leap in his chest in response. It was a stupid thing to think but Horatio couldn’t help feeling that there had been something in Archie’s smile that almost looked like hope. Horatio held the memory close as he made his way back through the village
~
It had been late by the time Horatio and his dad had got back from the cinema the previous evening. They had decided to go out at the last minute as there was nothing but rubbish on tv on Saturday night. His dad seemed to have enjoyed the film and had launched into a lengthy spiel about one of the characters while putting the kettle on. Horatio felt even less inclined to talk than usual, he could barely remember what they’d seen. Bumping into Archie Kennedy in the shop on the way to the cinema had completely thrown him. He was still mortified at the way he had stood there, blushing and stammering like an idiot, as if Archie had just landed from another planet. Archie had smiled and looked amused but Horatio had been too embarrassed to tell whether he was actually pleased to see him or was just humouring him. He must have been mad to have invited Archie to come to the cinema with them. As if Archie Kennedy wouldn’t have something better to do on a Saturday night than go and see some crappy film with Horatio and his dad for heavens sake. It had been stupid. Archie clearly thought so too, he had taken one look at Horatio’s father on the other side of the shop and couldn’t get away fast enough.
But still, there had been something in Archie’s shuttered expression when they left the shop that had driven all ability to concentrate on anything else from Horatio’s mind. He had fidgeted even more than usual throughout the film until his father had placed one hand on his knee, the childhood signal to sit still and stop squirming.
As he climbed the stairs to his room Horatio felt bad for abandoning his dad when he clearly wanted company. He knew his father must get lonely sometimes but all he could think of was beating a retreat to the solitude of his own room. He was still thinking about Archie and the way his expression had changed, like a light being turned out, as he took off his clothes and threw himself down onto the bed.
~
Horatio had long since given up worrying about his sexuality. He had gone through an intense and painful period of angst and confusion when he was fifteen that led him to the conclusion that for better or for worse he was gay. End of story. No sooner had he reached this earth-shattering conclusion than he fell hook, line and sinker for a smart fair-haired girl in his O-level maths class. He had moped in his room worrying his father or a fortnight until they went on an Easter camping trip to Brittany where an impossibly sophisticated and adult French boy had supplanted Maths Girl as the object of his adoration and vague but fervent teenage fantasies. More angst had ensued on their return home but eventually Horatio had concluded that it was all academic anyway. The chances of him getting his hands on a member of either sex seemed to be remote given that he could barely bring himself to speak to anyone his own age, male or female.
Archie however was a different story altogether.
Even someone who held himself as aloof as Horatio, could not help but hear the rumours that circulated about Archie, however he put them down to homophobia, ignorance and petty small town vindictiveness. Growing up with a name like Horatio Hornblower had inured him to name calling. He expected it and ignored it. But even he was shocked by the viciousness of some of the rumours about Archie that were doing the rounds and it hadn't escaped Horatio's notice that the vast majority of these rumours appeared to emanate from Jack Simpson. The latest lurid rumour regarded Archie and several members of the neighbouring football team. Even in the quiet darkness of his room Horatio could feel his temper rising when he recalled the sycophants and cowards that laughed along with Simpson. Perversely, the wilder and more graphic the tales that reached Horatio, the more determined he was to prove that he would never stoop so low as to listen to such bullshit.
Although Horatio gave short shrift to the rumours he was intensely curious as to whether Archie was seeing anyone. His own reserve precluded him from asking Archie directly, however Horatio had seen him once or twice in a car in the village with a boy whom he didn't recognise from school. The boy appeared to be about the same age as them, dark haired, ordinary looking. Horatio thought Archie could do better. He also thought Archie had looked bored. The car had passed him twice one Saturday afternoon when he had run down to the village for a newspaper. The boy driving had been talking and smiling and looking at Archie rather than the road. Archie meanwhile had been looking out the side window with an expression that suggested he was miles away.
Horatio momentarily flattered himself that if he had been in the driving seat he would have made damn sure that Archie wouldn't have been staring bored out the passenger window. There wasn’t a cat’s chance in hell of that ever happening though considering that Horatio couldn't drive and there wasn't much likelihood of him being able to afford a car in the foreseeable future anyway.
Still, he couldn't help wondering what they had done when the guy in the driver's seat had also got bored with spinning round the village.
Horatio shifted on the bed. The thought had sent his hand down under the covers to where he was already growing hard. He felt the bead of moisture slide over his palm as he curled his fingers around himself and set up a slow regular rhythm of pull and slide. His free arm was crooked around the back of this head, long fingers stroking the side of his neck. If he closed is eyes he could almost imagine that someone else was touching him, that Archie was touching him.
In his imagination he positioned himself in the car, displacing the anonymous driver. He imagined Archie unfastening his seatbelt and leaning towards him. Warm lips caressing his neck, a steady hand running up his thigh and over his groin, feeling him hard through his jeans. But there the mental image stalled and ground to a halt.
Horatio’s stroke faltered and he could feel the heat pressure start to ebb away.
Horatio believed he had a perfect, though admittedly theoretical, understanding of the mechanics of male sex but the logistics’ were quite beyond him. Particularly the logistics of sex in a car. The only car he could envisage with any clarity was his dad's battered old Volvo estate and that was hardly where he wanted to imagine kissing Archie, touching him for the first time. Horatio quickly erased that image.
No the first time wouldn't be a rushed cramped fumble. The first time would be somewhere safe and warm and private. Somewhere that they would have all the time in the world without fear of interruption. His own bedroom when his dad was on call, or Archie's house when his parents were away, as they invariably seemed to be.
If even a fraction of the rumours were true, if there was even the tiniest germ of truth in them, then it was likely that Archie had experience with other boys. Horatio was pragmatic enough not to mind. It would be better if one of them knew what they were doing.
He was hard again now, so hard he was starting to ache.
He could picture it so clearly, feel it almost. The first tentative kisses increasing with urgency and pressure. Hands pulling at clothes, tugging off t-shirts and fumbling to unbutton jeans. And then the heavenly feeling of skin on skin. Archie would feel warm and hard against him. Then they were lying on the bed. He’d be on his back, Archie leaning over him smiling, telling him to relax, it'll be okay, kissing him, running one warm smooth hand over his hips and down his thigh. Then Archie would take him in his mouth and Horatio would twine his fingers through his hair. Archie would be holding his hips down on the bed as he arched his back and tried to thrust up towards him. But he wouldn't let go, he'd keep his tongue moving and his lips sliding over Horatio until he couldn’t hold back any longer. He'd call Archie's name when he came and it wouldn't matter because there'd be no one to hear. Then he'd pull Archie up to his mouth and kiss him hard, tasting himself on Archie's lips.
The thought almost made Horatio come, he exhaled a long breath and he slowed his hand.
He'd slide his hand down to where Archie would be wet and hard and with long slow strokes and endless kisses he'd bring Archie to a climax that would leave him shaking and breathless in his arms.
In his mind Horatio could see the blue eyes closing, head thrown back and it would be his name on Archie's lips when he came.
Horatio, please god Horatio...
In reality Horatio quickly followed him over the edge.
Afterwards they would hold each other, Archie's head on Horatio's shoulder, Horatio running his hand slowly over Archie’s neck and down his back, until sleep overtook them. And in the morning they would begin all over again with sleepy kisses and ticklish strokes, gradually wakening each other.
~
The next morning Horatio woke up much later than usual with an unfamiliar feeling of warmth and contentment. He lay perfectly still for as long as he could, refusing to open his eyes. If he kept his eyes closed he could still believe that Archie was lying sleeping by his side. He could almost hear his breath, feel his weight in the bed beside him.
Eventually he opened his eyes with a sigh. Despite the empty space in the bed he could still feel Archie’s presence so strongly that it made his chest ache. That was when he made his mind up. That was when he decided that he would go to Archie’s house and ask him out.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-05 10:10 pm (UTC)1) Horatio noticing the detail of Archie's clothing, it's both in keeping with his general personality and alludes to the vain, clotheshorse, aspect of him.
2) You've given Horatio a pre Archie sexual history!
3) Horatio noting his Dad might be lonely, which I find deliciously ironic given how childish he is in his attitude to Katherine.
4) That Horatio knows full well what's said about Archie, yet Archie never realises it therefore allowing him to feel normal with Horatio.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-05 11:04 pm (UTC)but it reminds me how utterly behindhand I am with the original work - so I shall do what I have been planning to - which is go back to the beginning and do it properly ...
further ( more informed, hoepfully) comment will then ensue
think am off to bed now, however, as in danger of typing another incoherent message!
no subject
Date: 2010-09-05 11:14 pm (UTC)I love this au world. I think I am too scared to try one now, but so fun to read. Poor eager worried boys, love them so much.
More and maybe I'll actually make sense, later.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-06 06:45 am (UTC)The chances of him getting his hands on a member of either sex seemed to be remote given that he could barely bring himself to speak to anyone his own age, male or female.
*lol* Poor dorky Horatio!
no subject
Date: 2010-09-06 11:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-06 08:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 02:04 am (UTC)Oh Hortio. This is why I love you - even when you're wanking you stop to consider the logistical implications of sex in a car with Archie. XD
no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 11:32 am (UTC)LMFAO :D You really do have to love the boy don't you?!
How could you not?? If he weren't such a terrible husband and sourpuss (and you know, fictional) I would probably fall quite hard for him. The original adorkable geek. XD
no subject
Date: 2010-09-11 03:18 am (UTC)Clearly! XD Started reading Ship of the Line and he's making me ROFL a lot at the moment.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-12 01:48 pm (UTC)menvolunteers from the East Indiaman.no subject
Date: 2010-09-13 10:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-15 04:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-15 07:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-15 12:16 pm (UTC)He's a mathematician, I assume he calculated the water-resistance and decided it was best to go in his birthday suit. =p Though to be honest if I were a lad I'd be mighty worried about fish nibbling at your dangly bits. O.o
What an exhibitionist.
I still can't believe I haven't come across a shower-deck funtimes fic yet. XD
no subject
Date: 2010-09-15 06:51 pm (UTC)Yeah, something like that. ;)
I still can't believe I haven't come across a shower-deck funtimes fic yet.
Y'know that's a good point, I don't think I've read any either!