Tag: semperama

Fearfully and Wonderfully

suedescripture:

semperama:

A long, long time ago, @suedescripture sent me a prompt regarding sexually-inexperienced!Zach, and after a million years and a million false starts, I’ve finally got enough of a handle on it to start posting this thing. I have five chapters fully written, which should give me enough of a headstart to keep on top of this, fingers crossed. I hope you all enjoy! <33

Relationship: Chris Pine/Zachary Quinto
Rating: Explicit
Additional Tags: Sexual Inexperience, Internalized Homophobia. Religious Guilt. Friends With Benefits, From Sex to Love, Friends to Lovers, Sexual Experimentation, Self-Discovery, Self-Acceptance
Words: 6500 for this chapter
Summary: 

Zach is pushing 30, his career is at a standstill, and his sex life is–and has always been–nearly nonexistent. He doesn’t have much to be happy about, until he is welcomed into a group of actors who call themselves the Grimy Corp.

Okay, I’ve read it now, and gather round kids… it’s story time!

Fearfully and Wonderfully

semperama

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Help a Bean

Zach moving back to LA/moving in with Chris? (If you hadn’t already planned that.) Maybe the two of them picking out another dog together or something. Or a cat! Umm…hopefully the next Star Trek will have come out in two years or so, so maybe a red carpet appearance together? Idk if any of this is what you’re looking for.

This is ALL what I was looking for (though admittedly, some were already in the works). Aaaand that last one spurred an idea I’m definitely using, so thanks!

31 for the drabble thing.

semperama:

Zach knew it was bad, but he didn’t realize how bad it was until Chris’s shoulders start shaking and the muffled sound of a sob splits the silence. He’s already spooned up behind Chris, but now he hugs him tighter, rubbing his nose back and forth over the back of Chris’s neck, stroking his flank and his side and whispering shushing noises. 

“I’m just so tired,” Chris says in a watery voice. “I haven’t slept in ages.”

Zach reaches up to comb his fingers through Chris’s hair. “You can sleep now, babe.” 

“I don’t know if I can. I don’t know if I remember how.”

If Zach ruled the world, he would have forced Chris to rest months ago. Not just get a good night’s sleep but really rest, clear his mind, stop thinking for a while. Although that last part is easier said than done, he knows. Especially easier said than done for Chris, whose brain works more overtime than can possibly be healthy. 

“Come here,” Zach says, and tugs on Chris’s shoulder until he spins in Zach’s arms, buries his wet face in Zach’s chest. “It’s alright. You don’t have to get out of bed tomorrow for anything. No work. No more interviews. It’s all over, at least for now.”

Chris takes a deep, shuddering breath and burrows deeper into Zach’s chest. “I feel like an idiot,” he says, his voice muffled in a way that would be adorable if it weren’t so heartbreaking. “It’s not like I work in the fucking salt mines or whatever. My life is easy. My life is–”

“Shhh.” Zach rubs his back in slow circles until he settles. “You’re allowed to get burned out. Your problems aren’t invalid just because other people have worse ones.”

“I’m just sleep deprived, that’s all. I just need to–”

“So sleep, Christopher.” He presses his mouth to Chris’s hair. “Sleep, sweetheart. I’m right here.”

He knows Chris is trying, but it still takes half an hour before his breathing sounds more even, less wet. It takes another fifteen minutes after that before Zach judges that he’s well and truly asleep, heavy and limp in Zach’s arms. Still, Zach doesn’t dare move. Doesn’t want to. He’ll hold Chris all night and be here for him in the morning, and if a good night’s rest isn’t enough to fix it, then they’ll figure out the next step together.

So here for this.

Words on Friday

semperama:

I’ve made a lot of progress on the inexperienced!Zach fic in the past few days, and it’s been aaaages since I’ve shared anything, so have a snippet!

Zach doesn’t even find out Chris is back in LA until they run into each other out of the blue. It’s early morning, and Zach has made the stroll down the street to the the local coffee shop in hopes that some fresh air and caffeine will jump-start his energy level. He has just put out his hand to open the door when someone scoots around him and gets there first. Before he can work up a head of frustration, a familiar voice says, “Zach,” and Zach turns to find himself staring into familiar blue eyes.

Chris must have just finished up a run, because he’s sweaty and breathing hard, his t-shirt clinging to his chest. He reaches up to push his hair off his forehead, making it stick up in spikes, then motions for Zach to go ahead of him into the shop, obviously eager to get out of the heat and into the air-conditioning. Zach skitters past him inside, then lingers, trying to come up with something to say. They haven’t spoken in weeks—not really. Every now and then he would get a text from Chris, a polite How’s the show going? or some tidbit from Chris’s own filming adventures, but none of it really sparked much of a conversation. Zach couldn’t help but feel like it was just more pity, so he kept his answers short, not wanting to waste too much of Chris’s time. And Chris never pushed too hard, so it was easy for Zach to assume he was right.

Now, he is at a loss, but Chris doesn’t seem in a hurry to jump into small talk anyway—possibly in part because his chest is still heaving in attempt to catch his breath. He puts a friendly hand on Zach’s elbow, nudging him toward the line, and they head over in tandem. When Chris’s arm drops back to his side, Zach still feels the impression of his fingertips.

“I think there are probably better places to go for your post-run hydration,” Zach says at last, hoping he sounds quippy rather than overly eager to break the silence.

Chris scoffs, swiping his forearm across his forehead. “Nuh-uh. I’ve earned this. Gatorade is for the weak.” Zach laughs, and it makes him grin, like he’s proud of himself. “Do you come here a lot?”

“Yeah,” Zach says. “I live just around the corner.”

“Hey, me too.” Chris thumps him on the shoulder. Is he extra tactile right now, or is Zach just hyper-aware of him? “We must be neighbors.”

It’s a wonder they haven’t run into each other here before, Zach thinks. Or maybe they have, back before they knew each other. Maybe Chris would blend into the background if Zach didn’t already know how he lights up in the spotlight, or if he wasn’t intimately acquainted with the plushness of his mouth. Then again…Zach’s gaze catches on a bead of sweat as it rolls down his neck and disappears under the collar of his shirt, and Chris catches him staring and smiles, his eyes crinkling. Then again, Zach amends, maybe not.  

semperama replied to your post:
Help a Bean out

Also I know Zach once said he recommends a certain Tom Robbins book to everyone…I think it was Jitterbug Perfume.

Oh cool! I don’t know that one, but I know others… I can definitely play around with that. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues was a favorite book of mine for a long time. Thanks for the tip!

semperama replied to your post:
Help a Bean out

I suck a predicting what the guys would read but I know Chris was recently spotted in the airport with The Little Friend by Donna Tartt in hand.

Yeah, I saw that too. I’ll get that one worked in. Thanks though. I don’t necessarily need books the real boys would read…just ones that two friends trying to reconnect might share with each other…

A snippet

semperama:

Sorry, guys, I’m lame and I don’t think I’m gonna finish this tonight. It’s almost dinnertime here and this thing just keeps ballooning, so I’m going to try to finish it later tonight and edit and post it tomorrow (can PdM last all weekend??), but here’s a snippet in the meantime! This is for a prompt @seepunkrun gave me about Zach house-hunting in LA and Chris “helping”.

At the front door, Chris is already grilling the realtor—a short, blonde woman with a soccer-mom haircut and an incredibly fake-looking smile—about the landscaping. “Did the previous owner have a gardner?”

“I imagine so,” says Linda the Realtor, staring down at the papers in her hand as if they will reveal the secrets of the universe to her—or at least the secret to getting Chris to shut up. “I can get that info for you.”

“It’s fine,” Zach says in a rush to be accomodating. “Let’s see the inside?”

Chris pushes his sunglasses up to rest on top of his head and gives Zach a look but mercifully doesn’t say another word as they step into the entryway.

The house has great curb appeal, but it’s even more charming inside. It’s a true mid-century rancher, and the previous owners renovated but not so much that it’s been stripped of its vintage flair. In many ways, it’s the opposite of the sleek, modern apartment Zach left behind in New York, but to his surprise, he finds that comforting rather than off-putting. Maybe he really needs a change. Maybe this just reminds him of the house he grew up in, except twice the size and missing the brown shag carpeting and avocado fridge.

“Are these floors real wood?” Chris asks as they head down the hallway toward the bedrooms.

“Mhm. Original to the house,” Linda says. She has walked ahead of them, leaving to them to trail side-by-side down the narrow hallway, so close their hands brush, but now she turns and stops by a bedroom door to let them peek inside. “This is the smallest of the three bedrooms. It would make a great office, don’t you think? Or…” She pauses, eyeing Chris up and down and then flicking her eyes to Zach. “Or a nursery?”

A nursery? Zach’s entire body lights up with the pins and needles of mortification. The noise he makes is meant to be noncommittal, but it comes out as more of a croak, and he has to duck quickly in the room to avoid looking at Chris, clocking his reaction. It certainly isn’t the realtor’s fault, after all, that she would assume they’re together. Chris has practically been inviting that exact assumption, what with his enthusiasm and over-investment. And what grown man would bring a friend with him on a home tour? What are they even doing?

This is fabulous! Can’t wait for more!

semperama replied to your post:
I got the strangest comment on Bleary today:…

IMO, it’s not rude to ignore a comment like that. The person didn’t compliment your writing or say anything about the story at all–just took offense at something not meant to be offensive or aimed at them at all. It seems like they’re just trying to pick a fight, so ignoring it is probably the best thing to do.

Thanks. Yeah, that’s definitely what I want to do. And what the hell does Bleary have to do with the current leadership? It was finished long before that was even a remote possibility…

Thanks, semper. I feel better about blowing it off now.