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witticasterBackground for those unfamiliar with the Farverse: Kay and Julius Eaton are science fiction writers, based off real-life writers C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner and stolen wholesale from the Star Trek: Deep Space 9 episode "Far Beyond the Stars." This story is set in 1949, about five months after they got married; they're at Julius' father's home in England for a visit. YOU PROBABLY DON'T NEED ALL THAT INFO, but it's the background you'd be going in with if you'd read the other stories in the series. ♥
"'It was a dark and stormy night,'" Kay read, looking up from the battered composition notebook with the twitch of a smile on her face. Between the arch of her brow and the way a few strands of her auburn hair escaped her curlers and brushed softly against the nape of her neck, she was all too becoming. "Did you really start a story with that line?"
Julius shrugged and crawled onto the bed to have a better look at the page she'd turned to. That was certainly his handwriting, he thought as he buttoned his pyjama shirt closed, if rather more inclined to wobble on the page. "You hold the proof in your hands," he told her grandly, slipping an arm around her shoulders. The story wasn't immediately familiar to him, but no wonder--to all appearances, it must have been nearly fifteen years old at this point. "I'm afraid they didn't teach us much in the way of creativity at school."
"Well, I won't hold it against you," she said, leaning her prickly head against his shoulder, her eyes still on the story. A moment later, she laughed. "Did you really name the main character Julius?"
"Creativity," he repeated, grinning at her. "Though I hope you'll forgive such an amateur mistake, considering I was eleven or twelve at the time."
"Eleven years old and discovering alien spacecraft in your back garden, no less." Kay settled in close against his chest, her voice still merry. "You must have had some imagination, to come up with that."
"Some," Julius agreed wryly, "if only enough to convince my father to buy allow me a subscription to Tales of Wonder. I'm afraid it was several years before I became the artistic dynamo you know and love."
With a shrug, Kay tilted her head up and kissed him on the cheek. "Well, we won't make too much fun of you, then. But am I supposed to assume that the aliens speak English, too?"
Julius frowned, taking the book from her a moment to read over the passage himself. "I suppose you are," he finally said, handing it back to Kay. "You know, next time we're in Indiana, I'll to find your old stories, and we'll see how those compare to our current work."
"You're going to go all the way to Indiana for them?" Kay grinned. "I brought them back with us two months ago. They've been sitting on the bookshelf in the bedroom this whole time."
Julius grinned then, brushing his lips against the corner of her mouth. "The minute we're back in the States then, jetlag notwithstanding. Side by side comparisons."
"You've got a deal."
"'It was a dark and stormy night,'" Kay read, looking up from the battered composition notebook with the twitch of a smile on her face. Between the arch of her brow and the way a few strands of her auburn hair escaped her curlers and brushed softly against the nape of her neck, she was all too becoming. "Did you really start a story with that line?"
Julius shrugged and crawled onto the bed to have a better look at the page she'd turned to. That was certainly his handwriting, he thought as he buttoned his pyjama shirt closed, if rather more inclined to wobble on the page. "You hold the proof in your hands," he told her grandly, slipping an arm around her shoulders. The story wasn't immediately familiar to him, but no wonder--to all appearances, it must have been nearly fifteen years old at this point. "I'm afraid they didn't teach us much in the way of creativity at school."
"Well, I won't hold it against you," she said, leaning her prickly head against his shoulder, her eyes still on the story. A moment later, she laughed. "Did you really name the main character Julius?"
"Creativity," he repeated, grinning at her. "Though I hope you'll forgive such an amateur mistake, considering I was eleven or twelve at the time."
"Eleven years old and discovering alien spacecraft in your back garden, no less." Kay settled in close against his chest, her voice still merry. "You must have had some imagination, to come up with that."
"Some," Julius agreed wryly, "if only enough to convince my father to buy allow me a subscription to Tales of Wonder. I'm afraid it was several years before I became the artistic dynamo you know and love."
With a shrug, Kay tilted her head up and kissed him on the cheek. "Well, we won't make too much fun of you, then. But am I supposed to assume that the aliens speak English, too?"
Julius frowned, taking the book from her a moment to read over the passage himself. "I suppose you are," he finally said, handing it back to Kay. "You know, next time we're in Indiana, I'll to find your old stories, and we'll see how those compare to our current work."
"You're going to go all the way to Indiana for them?" Kay grinned. "I brought them back with us two months ago. They've been sitting on the bookshelf in the bedroom this whole time."
Julius grinned then, brushing his lips against the corner of her mouth. "The minute we're back in the States then, jetlag notwithstanding. Side by side comparisons."
"You've got a deal."
no subject
on 2011-02-21 07:12 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2011-02-21 07:19 pm (UTC)And Julius is not embarrassed! He just thinks that maybe eleven year olds should get passes where twenty-four year olds don't. Okay, maybe he's a little embarrassed, MAYBE. :|
no subject
on 2011-03-01 12:39 am (UTC)no subject
on 2011-03-11 11:04 am (UTC)I'm utterly impressed at the quality of this work. It's smooth and fluid - very assured and confident - and the way these characters interact is really very charming.
"That was certainly his handwriting, he thought as he buttoned his pyjama shirt closed, if rather more inclined to wobble on the page."
<-- I like the imagery of handwriting "wobbling" on the page - I think that describes juvenile handwriting very well. XD Particularly mine ...
My only negative comment would be that there are one or two places where there seems to be words missing.
"convince my father to buy allow me a subscription" & "I'll to find your old stories"
<-- Quite obviously, these are tiny mistakes that are easily fixed, but they do distract from the whole thing when you're reading, so do be vigilant! :)
On the whole, this was a marvelous bit of writing. Well done!