Walking and talking [The West Wing fic]
That's only my second time posting TWW fic. That's also my second time writing and posting fic in English, so I'm a little nervous.
Thanks, noelia_g, for the beta and kind words.
Title: Walking and talking
Author: kubis
Fandom: The West Wing
Characters: Sam and Josh, Donna, mentions of Toby
Warnings: spoilers up to the S7 finale.
Rating: G
Word Count: 1064
A/N: for the Five Things prompt at tww_minis
Summary: Five conversations between Sam and Josh.
Walking and talking
(or five conversations between Sam and Josh)
1.
“Toby is insane.”
“I know,” Josh agrees, distracted. “Donna! Where’s the...”
She appears in the doorway and hands him a piece of paper.
“This is it. They’re making some changes on the TV schedule, I’ll get it for you when they finish.”
“Ok. Thanks.” He doesn’t lift his head from the article he’s reading.
“Josh,” Sam waves a hand in front of him. “You didn’t tell me he’s insane.”
“I told you.”
“No. You told me he’s excentric. I thought it’d be like Walles-excentric, remember Walles? Not like the person who would make my English teacher look like a teddy-bear. He almost told me and the rest of the staff that we don’t know the alphabet!”
“You like it.”
“I don’t. I feel stupid.”
“You’re anything but stupid and you know it. You like the challenge and you loved your evil English teacher. You probably love Toby already.”
“Josh.”
“You do.”
“I don’t. But I’ve read his stuff and he’s really, really good.”
“I know.”
“Better than good.”
“I know.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yes.”
2.
“I’d love to be able to walk to work,” says Sam, when they’re leaving Josh’s apartment.
“You can try asking for asylum in the East Wing.”
“Funny.”
“I try.”
“You do that. But I’m serious. I want the apartment to be at a walking distance from the White House.”
“Everywhere is at the walking distance, the question is how long...”
“Josh?”
“Sorry. But have you seen this city? It’s D.C., for God’s sake. There’re thousands of government employees, all of them wanting to live close to their job.”
“We could build an apartment area behind the White House.”
“We could. And behind the Senate. Be sure to include it in the inaugurational speech.”
3.
“You weren’t happy there,” Josh says, as they walk slowly from the bar to Sam’s apartment (soon to be released and gone, and empty).
“In ‘Marcy’s’? It was okay, crowd was a little insane, maybe, but...”
“In New York, before, you know, everything,” Josh waves a hand in front of himself, in front of them both (Sam doesn’t tell him the White House is behind them, to the South and they’re going North). “In New York, when you worked for that big law firm, so famous I felt stupid I couldn’t remember its name.”
“You just said ‘that big law firm’, you still don’t remember.”
“Shut up. Besides, it’s not important right now. What I mean is that you weren’t happy there, Sam! You weren’t. You made rich people richer, their money safer in some offshore accounts or somewhere else, and before you get angry, you know I don’t think there’s anything bad in being rich, hell, I’d love to be rich, but you didn’t... you weren’t making a difference then, Sam. And I know how that sounds, and I know these years, our jobs, weren’t exactly easy, but...”
He stops and sits at the stairs of some random building, shrugging.
“You don’t want me to go, I get that,” says Sam, sitting beside him and looking him in the eyes. Sam doesn’t back off from a fight, Josh thinks, randomly, because they aren’t having one right now, anyway.
“Of course I don’t want you to go, Sam. But that’s not the point. The point is that I don’t think you’ll be happy if you go, okay?”
“Do you think I’m happy now?” Sam asks quietly.
4.
“How is she?” Josh hears Sam’s worried voice and takes a deep breath. Everything is insane, he doesn’t remember when was the last time he slept in a bed, his inner clock is still in D.C. and Donna is... Donna is going to be okay.
“She’s going to be okay. They will keep her here for a couple of days, but she’ll be okay.”
“Thank God,” says Sam, relieved. There’s silence between them for a minute or two, Josh closes his eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. Yes, I am. She’s gonna be fine. I’m fine.”
“Liar.”
They fall silent for a moment. Josh can hear a telephone ringing somewhere down the hallway and a nurse yelling something he can’t make out.
“Well, there’s this guy...”
“That’s one of the things I didn’t think I would ever hear from you...”
“Shut up.” Josh smiles, a little despite himself. “Apparently he has a crush on Donna. He’s here all the time.”
“Oh, I see.” Sam’s laughing at him, Josh can tell. “Have you killed him yet?”
“Can’t. There would be an international scandal. I’m American, he’s Irish, I’m Jewish, he’s probably Catholic, we’re in Gaza...”
“Yeah, you can’t kill him.”
“I know,” Josh agrees, with some level of regret. He tilts his head and watches shadows moving on the ceiling. “Life sucks.”
“I could come down there, you know,” Sam says and Josh knows he means it. “Just so, you know, if you snapped and killed the guy, you’d need someone to help you bury him in the desert. That way we could skip the ‘international crisis, again’ part of our lives.”
We could skip. Our lives. God, Josh misses Sam.
“No, it’s... No.”
“’No, don’t come here’ or ‘No, I’m not killing anybody this week’?”
“Both.”
“Are you sure? Because I could...”
“I know, Sam. And thanks, but it’s okay.” It is. Now more than a couple minutes ago. And Donna is going to be fine. It’s all good.
“If you say so.”
“I say so. Listen, I gotta go, check up on Donna. I’ll call you later, okay?”
“You do that. Tell her I’ll fly to D.C. after she comes back to check up on her myself.”
“Yeah, I will. Thanks, Sam.”
5.
“Do you feel weird?” asks Josh, standing on the stairs in front of the White House. “I feel weird.”
Transition period’s over, the new president was sworn in and they’ve just finished their first day. It’s 2 am. There’s a little snow on the ground, but it’s not snowing anymore.
“Yes, I do feel weird,” Sam says.
“Huh.”
“Yeah.”
“Two of the greatest minds in American politics, so eloquent and bright,” says Donna, appearing from behind and putting her arms around their shoulders. “I weep for our future.”
They all laugh.
“We’re gonna rock this, baby!” Josh catches Donna at her waist and spins her around.
Sam shakes his head, smiling. Yeah, maybe they will.
Thanks, noelia_g, for the beta and kind words.
Title: Walking and talking
Author: kubis
Fandom: The West Wing
Characters: Sam and Josh, Donna, mentions of Toby
Warnings: spoilers up to the S7 finale.
Rating: G
Word Count: 1064
A/N: for the Five Things prompt at tww_minis
Summary: Five conversations between Sam and Josh.
Walking and talking
(or five conversations between Sam and Josh)
1.
“Toby is insane.”
“I know,” Josh agrees, distracted. “Donna! Where’s the...”
She appears in the doorway and hands him a piece of paper.
“This is it. They’re making some changes on the TV schedule, I’ll get it for you when they finish.”
“Ok. Thanks.” He doesn’t lift his head from the article he’s reading.
“Josh,” Sam waves a hand in front of him. “You didn’t tell me he’s insane.”
“I told you.”
“No. You told me he’s excentric. I thought it’d be like Walles-excentric, remember Walles? Not like the person who would make my English teacher look like a teddy-bear. He almost told me and the rest of the staff that we don’t know the alphabet!”
“You like it.”
“I don’t. I feel stupid.”
“You’re anything but stupid and you know it. You like the challenge and you loved your evil English teacher. You probably love Toby already.”
“Josh.”
“You do.”
“I don’t. But I’ve read his stuff and he’s really, really good.”
“I know.”
“Better than good.”
“I know.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yes.”
2.
“I’d love to be able to walk to work,” says Sam, when they’re leaving Josh’s apartment.
“You can try asking for asylum in the East Wing.”
“Funny.”
“I try.”
“You do that. But I’m serious. I want the apartment to be at a walking distance from the White House.”
“Everywhere is at the walking distance, the question is how long...”
“Josh?”
“Sorry. But have you seen this city? It’s D.C., for God’s sake. There’re thousands of government employees, all of them wanting to live close to their job.”
“We could build an apartment area behind the White House.”
“We could. And behind the Senate. Be sure to include it in the inaugurational speech.”
3.
“You weren’t happy there,” Josh says, as they walk slowly from the bar to Sam’s apartment (soon to be released and gone, and empty).
“In ‘Marcy’s’? It was okay, crowd was a little insane, maybe, but...”
“In New York, before, you know, everything,” Josh waves a hand in front of himself, in front of them both (Sam doesn’t tell him the White House is behind them, to the South and they’re going North). “In New York, when you worked for that big law firm, so famous I felt stupid I couldn’t remember its name.”
“You just said ‘that big law firm’, you still don’t remember.”
“Shut up. Besides, it’s not important right now. What I mean is that you weren’t happy there, Sam! You weren’t. You made rich people richer, their money safer in some offshore accounts or somewhere else, and before you get angry, you know I don’t think there’s anything bad in being rich, hell, I’d love to be rich, but you didn’t... you weren’t making a difference then, Sam. And I know how that sounds, and I know these years, our jobs, weren’t exactly easy, but...”
He stops and sits at the stairs of some random building, shrugging.
“You don’t want me to go, I get that,” says Sam, sitting beside him and looking him in the eyes. Sam doesn’t back off from a fight, Josh thinks, randomly, because they aren’t having one right now, anyway.
“Of course I don’t want you to go, Sam. But that’s not the point. The point is that I don’t think you’ll be happy if you go, okay?”
“Do you think I’m happy now?” Sam asks quietly.
4.
“How is she?” Josh hears Sam’s worried voice and takes a deep breath. Everything is insane, he doesn’t remember when was the last time he slept in a bed, his inner clock is still in D.C. and Donna is... Donna is going to be okay.
“She’s going to be okay. They will keep her here for a couple of days, but she’ll be okay.”
“Thank God,” says Sam, relieved. There’s silence between them for a minute or two, Josh closes his eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. Yes, I am. She’s gonna be fine. I’m fine.”
“Liar.”
They fall silent for a moment. Josh can hear a telephone ringing somewhere down the hallway and a nurse yelling something he can’t make out.
“Well, there’s this guy...”
“That’s one of the things I didn’t think I would ever hear from you...”
“Shut up.” Josh smiles, a little despite himself. “Apparently he has a crush on Donna. He’s here all the time.”
“Oh, I see.” Sam’s laughing at him, Josh can tell. “Have you killed him yet?”
“Can’t. There would be an international scandal. I’m American, he’s Irish, I’m Jewish, he’s probably Catholic, we’re in Gaza...”
“Yeah, you can’t kill him.”
“I know,” Josh agrees, with some level of regret. He tilts his head and watches shadows moving on the ceiling. “Life sucks.”
“I could come down there, you know,” Sam says and Josh knows he means it. “Just so, you know, if you snapped and killed the guy, you’d need someone to help you bury him in the desert. That way we could skip the ‘international crisis, again’ part of our lives.”
We could skip. Our lives. God, Josh misses Sam.
“No, it’s... No.”
“’No, don’t come here’ or ‘No, I’m not killing anybody this week’?”
“Both.”
“Are you sure? Because I could...”
“I know, Sam. And thanks, but it’s okay.” It is. Now more than a couple minutes ago. And Donna is going to be fine. It’s all good.
“If you say so.”
“I say so. Listen, I gotta go, check up on Donna. I’ll call you later, okay?”
“You do that. Tell her I’ll fly to D.C. after she comes back to check up on her myself.”
“Yeah, I will. Thanks, Sam.”
5.
“Do you feel weird?” asks Josh, standing on the stairs in front of the White House. “I feel weird.”
Transition period’s over, the new president was sworn in and they’ve just finished their first day. It’s 2 am. There’s a little snow on the ground, but it’s not snowing anymore.
“Yes, I do feel weird,” Sam says.
“Huh.”
“Yeah.”
“Two of the greatest minds in American politics, so eloquent and bright,” says Donna, appearing from behind and putting her arms around their shoulders. “I weep for our future.”
They all laugh.
“We’re gonna rock this, baby!” Josh catches Donna at her waist and spins her around.
Sam shakes his head, smiling. Yeah, maybe they will.