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rionaleonhart) wrote2011-06-15 09:48 am
rionaleonhart) wrote2011-06-15 09:48 am
Entry tags:
Fanfiction: Geostationary Orbit (Peep Show)
GO AWAY, WRITER'S BLOCK. I'm trying to get myself back into writing; let's see whether this works.
Title: Geostationary Orbit
Fandom: Peep Show
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 780
Summary: Post-series seven. Mark has to adjust to living without Jeremy, or so he thinks.
Notes: Is this what one would call fix-it fic? I suppose in a sense it's break-it fic, because Mark Corrigan is not allowed to be happy.
It’s lovely to have Dobby here, but there’s something very frightening about living with someone he actually likes; it gives him a whole new array of fears to find space for in his mental filing cabinet of terror. He could fuck this up at any time, and he has a lot more to lose now than he did when he was living with Jeremy. Unhealthy though his cohabitation with Jeremy undoubtedly was, it was nice to have someone in his life who was safe, as a fixture if not as an influence. Mark never felt that Jeremy might walk out at any moment if he said the wrong thing; he certainly never feared it. Jeremy may have ruined his life, but at least he did it reliably. And now Mark is living with someone whose continued presence, although infinitely more desirable than Jeremy’s, is in no way guaranteed (he’s considered insuring their relationship by making her sign a twelve-month tenancy agreement, but he can’t help feeling that might not go over too well), and Jeremy is gone.
Or so he thinks.
-
There’s a creaking noise in the middle of the night, and for a moment Mark is convinced they’re being burgled before he remembers that Dobby’s roleplaying session overran. He turns on the light, reluctantly, so she’ll be able to see, and—
Jeremy is frozen in a half-stoop at the side of the bed.
Mark yelps in terror.
“Jesus, Mark,” Jeremy snaps, unfreezing immediately. “Did you have to do that? You scared the shit out of me!”
“I scared the shit out of you?” Mark demands. “Why were you by my bed?”
“Oh, right,” Jeremy says. He leans over to touch his index finger to Mark’s lips. “Go back to sleeeeep,” he says. “You’re having a dreeeeeam.”
“Jeremy,” Mark says, swatting his hand away, “do you honestly think my dreams are characterised by extended vowels? What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Yes,” Jeremy says. “About that.”
There is a pause.
“Yes?” Mark prompts.
“The place I was staying.”
Of course. Mark was a fool to think any living arrangement with Super Hans could possibly have lasted. Putting him and Jeremy together was always going to end badly. There’s probably a smoking crater where Hans’s flat used to be.
A horrible thought occurs to him.
“Is Super Hans going to want to live here?”
“What?” Jeremy asks. “No. God, no.”
“Good,” Mark says. “Because, much though I hate proposing that we leave anyone to die on the street, I’m not sure that’s a situation that would leave us with any alternative.”
“Right,” Jeremy says. “That’s sort of why I’m here, actually. The dying-on-the-street thing.”
Mark eyes him uneasily. “You... killed Super Hans?”
“There was a misunderstanding.”
Oh, Jesus, he actually has killed Super Hans. It was always a matter of time before Jeremy added manslaughter to his long list of extra-legal activities, and now Mark has to deal with the repercussions. Still, if Jeremy had to kill someone, at least it was only Super Hans.
Is that a terrible thing to think? Does that make Mark a terrible person? He wasn’t the actual murderer, at least, so he’s probably still winning in the two-man morality race.
“What sort of misunderstanding?” he asks. “With a knife, or...?”
“You know how I said I was living with Super Hans?” Jeremy asks. “Turns out he... disagreed, and we had a bit of a fight, and I had to sleep under a bridge. For a week. Or two. How long’s it been since I moved out?”
“Oh, my God, Jeremy!” Mark exclaims, sitting up. “You’ve been sleeping on the streets?”
“Well, not actually, obviously,” Jeremy says. “I’m just explaining what I would have had to do so you’ll understand when I tell you that’s why I’ve been sleeping under your bed.”
-
In the end, it’s Mark who ends the relationship. Jeremy’s back in his old room now (even though Mark feels he would have been well within his rights to evict him off the balcony), but whenever Dobby touches him Mark can’t stop thinking of Jeremy hiding under the bed, listening.
It’s a horrible break-up. It was always going to be, of course, but in the event it turns out to be even more horrible than Mark could have anticipated. Years from now, this is going to claw at his stomach. Why the fuck couldn’t he have picked one of the many moments when they weren’t actually in the process of having sex?
God, he wishes Jeremy would stop smiling.
Title: Geostationary Orbit
Fandom: Peep Show
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 780
Summary: Post-series seven. Mark has to adjust to living without Jeremy, or so he thinks.
Notes: Is this what one would call fix-it fic? I suppose in a sense it's break-it fic, because Mark Corrigan is not allowed to be happy.
It’s lovely to have Dobby here, but there’s something very frightening about living with someone he actually likes; it gives him a whole new array of fears to find space for in his mental filing cabinet of terror. He could fuck this up at any time, and he has a lot more to lose now than he did when he was living with Jeremy. Unhealthy though his cohabitation with Jeremy undoubtedly was, it was nice to have someone in his life who was safe, as a fixture if not as an influence. Mark never felt that Jeremy might walk out at any moment if he said the wrong thing; he certainly never feared it. Jeremy may have ruined his life, but at least he did it reliably. And now Mark is living with someone whose continued presence, although infinitely more desirable than Jeremy’s, is in no way guaranteed (he’s considered insuring their relationship by making her sign a twelve-month tenancy agreement, but he can’t help feeling that might not go over too well), and Jeremy is gone.
Or so he thinks.
There’s a creaking noise in the middle of the night, and for a moment Mark is convinced they’re being burgled before he remembers that Dobby’s roleplaying session overran. He turns on the light, reluctantly, so she’ll be able to see, and—
Jeremy is frozen in a half-stoop at the side of the bed.
Mark yelps in terror.
“Jesus, Mark,” Jeremy snaps, unfreezing immediately. “Did you have to do that? You scared the shit out of me!”
“I scared the shit out of you?” Mark demands. “Why were you by my bed?”
“Oh, right,” Jeremy says. He leans over to touch his index finger to Mark’s lips. “Go back to sleeeeep,” he says. “You’re having a dreeeeeam.”
“Jeremy,” Mark says, swatting his hand away, “do you honestly think my dreams are characterised by extended vowels? What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Yes,” Jeremy says. “About that.”
There is a pause.
“Yes?” Mark prompts.
“The place I was staying.”
Of course. Mark was a fool to think any living arrangement with Super Hans could possibly have lasted. Putting him and Jeremy together was always going to end badly. There’s probably a smoking crater where Hans’s flat used to be.
A horrible thought occurs to him.
“Is Super Hans going to want to live here?”
“What?” Jeremy asks. “No. God, no.”
“Good,” Mark says. “Because, much though I hate proposing that we leave anyone to die on the street, I’m not sure that’s a situation that would leave us with any alternative.”
“Right,” Jeremy says. “That’s sort of why I’m here, actually. The dying-on-the-street thing.”
Mark eyes him uneasily. “You... killed Super Hans?”
“There was a misunderstanding.”
Oh, Jesus, he actually has killed Super Hans. It was always a matter of time before Jeremy added manslaughter to his long list of extra-legal activities, and now Mark has to deal with the repercussions. Still, if Jeremy had to kill someone, at least it was only Super Hans.
Is that a terrible thing to think? Does that make Mark a terrible person? He wasn’t the actual murderer, at least, so he’s probably still winning in the two-man morality race.
“What sort of misunderstanding?” he asks. “With a knife, or...?”
“You know how I said I was living with Super Hans?” Jeremy asks. “Turns out he... disagreed, and we had a bit of a fight, and I had to sleep under a bridge. For a week. Or two. How long’s it been since I moved out?”
“Oh, my God, Jeremy!” Mark exclaims, sitting up. “You’ve been sleeping on the streets?”
“Well, not actually, obviously,” Jeremy says. “I’m just explaining what I would have had to do so you’ll understand when I tell you that’s why I’ve been sleeping under your bed.”
In the end, it’s Mark who ends the relationship. Jeremy’s back in his old room now (even though Mark feels he would have been well within his rights to evict him off the balcony), but whenever Dobby touches him Mark can’t stop thinking of Jeremy hiding under the bed, listening.
It’s a horrible break-up. It was always going to be, of course, but in the event it turns out to be even more horrible than Mark could have anticipated. Years from now, this is going to claw at his stomach. Why the fuck couldn’t he have picked one of the many moments when they weren’t actually in the process of having sex?
God, he wishes Jeremy would stop smiling.
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That is hilariously Mark!
do you honestly think my dreams are characterised by extended vowels?
How do you come up with such Mark Corrigan phrases? Because he is the only person in the world who would ask that!
“Right,” Jeremy says. “That’s sort of why I’m here, actually. The dying-on-the-street thing.”
Mark eyes him uneasily. “You... killed Super Hans?”
THAT IS AN ENTIRELY UNDERSTANDABLE SUSPICION!
Is that a terrible thing to think? Does that make Mark a terrible person? He wasn’t the actual murderer, at least, so he’s probably still winning in the two-man morality race.
You do that fascinating mix of creepy and adorable so well that it's amazing!
“Oh, my God, Jeremy!” Mark exclaims, sitting up. “You’ve been sleeping on the streets?”
“Well, not actually, obviously,” Jeremy says. “I’m just explaining what I would have had to do so you’ll understand when I tell you that’s why I’ve been sleeping under your bed.”
BEST SURPRISE TWIST EVER! Seriously, they need to call you and get you to write for the show! This is exactly how things should end!
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I laughed out loud.
This was great! Loved the twist.
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Poor terrified paranoid perfect Mark, your first paragraph is probably the kind of thing that runs through his head at night as he tries not to watch Dobby sleep because the last time he did that to a girlfriend she called him Edward Cullen and threw him out at midnight.
mental filing cabinet of terror
Lololol obviously he has one of these, it is filled to the brim and on the verge of breaking which is hopefully not a metaphor.
as a fixture if not as an influence
I love how well-crafted your stories are, full of tiny perfect phrases that sparkle with wit and cleverness and character insight.
Also, awww, it's quite sweet how Mark actually can rely on Jeremy, even if it's partly just because Jeremy needs him for food and shelter and life ruinage.
(he’s considered insuring their relationship by making her sign a twelve-month tenancy agreement, but he can’t help feeling that might not go over too well)
Man, his whole existence can be summed up with 'SORRY ABOUT YOUR LIFE, MARK'. I think I could easily treat your fics as some sort of tie-in book series and the show would actually make even more sense. If Mark and Jeremy end up living together again in season 8 and Mark refuses to talk about it or let Jeremy talk about it, THIS WILL BE WHY. You know these screw-ups well.
Like, that whole first sentence includes three flawless character details (if not more, I am a slightly oblivious reader) - Mark is a paranoid who fears burglars, Dobby is the reason the word 'adorkable' was invented, and whenever Mark is kind in a way that inconveniences him he slightly resents it.
Jeremy is frozen in a half-stoop at the side of the bed.
The way you write, just, imagery, is so subtle and clear. It's a masterpiece in succinct.
LOLOLOL JEREMY, SO OFFENDED BY PEOPLE REACTING NORMALLY TO YOUR DISTURBING WAYS. Like, your Mark is obviously amazing, but your Jeremy is his exact absurd selfish thoughtless tricksy self here as well.
And of course he tries to pretend it was a dream in the stupidest way possible. He really does not think, does he? I realise I am mostly just reacting to brilliance, but that is THE HIGHEST OF COMPLIMENTS, because I am basically treating it like an episode.
"do you honestly think my dreams are characterised by extended vowels?"
GREATEST OF ALL THE LINES. I say this a lot, but I was legit taken aback and a little jealous of how amazing this line was/is when I first read it. Because that device - the 'make people think it's a dream by sounding ridiculous' - is well-used enough that Jeremy would think it would work and that Mark would have grown irritated by it, and also enough that I kind of want to flail and wonder why no-one confronted by it has ever reacted so perfectly before. The answer is obviously: they're not Mark Corrigan, and that is a line that comes from the depths of his sooouuul, but nevertheless.
“Is Super Hans going to want to live here?”
GLEEING ALL THROUGH THE SUPER HANS SECTION. Idek what it is - Mark's terror, the idea of Jeremy and Super Hans' terribleness disintegarying buildings, but it builds and builds and builds like A BUILDING OF HILARITY.
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“Go back to sleeeeep,” he says. “You’re having a dreeeeeam.”
“Jeremy,” Mark says, swatting his hand away, “do you honestly think my dreams are characterised by extended vowels? What the fuck are you doing here?” - No okay I genuinely love you. You have such a fantastic way with words.
Still, if Jeremy had to kill someone, at least it was only Super Hans. - I am reading all of this in David Mitchell's voice and it is delightful.
God, he wishes Jeremy would stop smiling. - This is adorable