Running
Title: Running
'Verse: The Effect
Pairing: Chris/Seth
Rating: slash - implied
Author's Note: This is a piece I've been meaning to write for awhile, but before it didn't really have a point. Now it does. Unfortunately, I'm rusty when it comes to writing these guys, so I'm not sure I really like how it was written, though I do like the sense of it.
Seth and Ethan belong to guiltycross. Chris and Dan belong to me.
Sometimes Seth would go running with Chris. It was one of the few times he actually enjoyed Chris's company. Chris was silent when he ran, and focused. Seth was often amazed by it, really. As he ran next to him, he would look up every so often to study his face, as if to check that it was really Chris.
He wasn't sure how it happened. One second, Chris was running beside him steadily, hardly even out of breath, the next, he was on the pavement.
"Shit! Chris!" He ran back to him. Chris was on the ground, holding himself up on his arms and panting. "What the hell's the matter with you?"
"Guess I'm just falling for you," he muttered into the cement.
Seth glared down at the top of his head. "You asshole, you're faking."
But when Chris tilted his head up to look at him, Seth was struck by the expression of pain on his face. He crouched down to get him at eye level.
"What happened?"
"My hip. I displaced it," Chris groaned.
"How?" Seth asked, startled.
"I don't know. It happens sometimes when I run. Help me up?"
Seth did so, pulling the man onto his feet, feeling as he did so that Chris was shaking with the effort to stand. "Do you need help walking?" he asked, and Chris nodded reluctantly. So Seth steeled himself, put a bracing arm around Chris's back, and steered him gently forward. Chris gasped, winced, and stopped.
"This is ridiculous," Seth snapped. "You can't walk. I'm calling Ethan."
"No, I-"
Seth ignored Chris's protests, pulling his cell phone out and flipping it open, hitting the speed dial to get Ethan's phone. The man picked up on the second ring, his warm voice flooding the receiver.
"Hey, Ethan," Seth said quickly. "Chris hurt himself while we were running and he can't walk. Something about his hip. Can you or someone else come pick us up? We're on Kettleton, umm…" He looked around. "Near the middle school. Okay, thanks. Bye."
He shut his phone and glared at Chris, who was looking rather ashamed of himself. "Ethan's on his way. He'll be here in a few minutes. Come on, sit down."
"I think I'll just stand," Chris mumbled.
"Chris, you're shaking-" Seth tried to argue.
"I know that," he snapped. "But I can't sit down, okay? Not right now. It hurts, goddammit."
Seth glared at him, and Chris looked away, refusing to meet his eyes. They stood there in stony silence until Ethan's silver Buick Lucerne pulled up and Ethan got out, with Dan climbing out of the passenger's side.
"I've brought Dan," Ethan announced as they came over.
"Oh sweet Hallelujah," Chris muttered under his breath.
"What happened, Chris?" Dan asked, his face sweet and earnest.
"I was running and I displaced my hip," Chris explained. "It happens sometimes. I used to run a lot in high school so I have shitty knees and hips."
"Didn't your doctor tell you to ease up on the running?" Dan asked him, putting his hands gently on Chris's hips to feel.
"Sure he did. I just didn't bother to listen." Chris grinned at him.
Dan smiled back. "You need to stop running, Chris," he said, pleasantly enough, but quite serious. "Ethan, can you drive us back to my office? I can do some adjustments for Chris there."
Ethan agreed, and Dan helped Chris into the back before climbing in on the other side. Seth slid into the passenger's seat.
"Have you ever seen a chiropractor, Chris?" Dan asked conversationally.
"No. Well, yes. Once. Quack. Told me to stop eating so much junk food," Chris grumbled.
"You should stop eating so much junk food," Ethan said from the front.
Chris stuck his tongue out.
"I saw that."
When they arrived at Dan's office, he helped Chris out and took him gently inside. It was a Sunday, and he wasn't open on Sundays, but he had his keys on him all the same, and led Chris inside. Ethan and Seth followed.
Dan, ever the practitioner, made them wait in the lounge while he took Chris into the examination room.
"Um," Chris said uneasily. "All I really need is my hip popped, Dan. I really don't have great insurance, and-"
Dan laughed. "I'm not going to charge you, Chris, don't be silly."
"Freebie?" Chris grinned at him and raised an eyebrow.
The other man shook his head at him, trying to suppress his smile. "Let's just call it helping out a friend." He began to move Chris around and position him properly so that he could make adjustments to his back.
"Aww, I didn't know you cared," Chris grunted, and groaned in relief when Dan's hands pushed and popped his hip back into place.
"This is a temporary fix," Dan told him. "I want you to stop here tomorrow so that I can take some x-rays and see the rest of your spine. You will probably need some more adjustments. Chris, if you continue running…" He sighed, and swept his hand through his hair. "You could cause some very serious damage to yourself. Especially if you don't expect to have it taken care of properly every time you hurt your hips. Your body doesn't forget an injury. I've been working with patients for years, and there's some recovery, in some cases there is excellent recovery. But the body is never completely the same after an injury. You do realize that, don't you?"
"Sure thing, chief," Chris said, getting up and grinning at him. "Thanks for the advice."
Dan stopped him before he walked out the door. "I'm serious, Chris. Stop in tomorrow. The x-rays will be free too, I won't charge you anything. I can set you up on an exercise routine and some stretches that will help you-"
"Okay, Dan, relax." He laughed. "Christ, you sound like a doting mother. Come on, let's get out of here before Ethan and Seth start to wonder what we're really getting up to." Winking, he opened the door and slipped out.
"How are you feeling?" Ethan asked him, standing up and crossing to him.
"Great! I feel like I could run another ten miles!"
"Chris," Dan pleaded from behind him.
"How about if I take you home and you get some rest?" Ethan suggested. Chris shrugged and nodded.
They made their way back to Ethan's car. Dan sat passenger this time, and Chris and Seth rode in the back, Seth in stony silence. When they got back to the house, Chris went straight up to his room. Seth followed him.
"Gonna come take a nap with me, Seth?" Chris asked him with pseudo-innocence.
"Why do you do it?" Seth snapped.
Chris blinked at him. "Er, do what?"
The blonde let out an annoyed huff of air. "Why do you run if it hurts you?"
Chris regarded him thoughtfully for several long moments. Then he shrugged. "I don't know. Why do you?"
Seth glared at him and started turning away.
"I love running, but I'm not nearly as good at it as you are," Chris called after him.
He set his jaw, and continued walking away from Chris, who was perfectly right. He was good at it.
'Verse: The Effect
Pairing: Chris/Seth
Rating: slash - implied
Author's Note: This is a piece I've been meaning to write for awhile, but before it didn't really have a point. Now it does. Unfortunately, I'm rusty when it comes to writing these guys, so I'm not sure I really like how it was written, though I do like the sense of it.
Seth and Ethan belong to guiltycross. Chris and Dan belong to me.
Sometimes Seth would go running with Chris. It was one of the few times he actually enjoyed Chris's company. Chris was silent when he ran, and focused. Seth was often amazed by it, really. As he ran next to him, he would look up every so often to study his face, as if to check that it was really Chris.
He wasn't sure how it happened. One second, Chris was running beside him steadily, hardly even out of breath, the next, he was on the pavement.
"Shit! Chris!" He ran back to him. Chris was on the ground, holding himself up on his arms and panting. "What the hell's the matter with you?"
"Guess I'm just falling for you," he muttered into the cement.
Seth glared down at the top of his head. "You asshole, you're faking."
But when Chris tilted his head up to look at him, Seth was struck by the expression of pain on his face. He crouched down to get him at eye level.
"What happened?"
"My hip. I displaced it," Chris groaned.
"How?" Seth asked, startled.
"I don't know. It happens sometimes when I run. Help me up?"
Seth did so, pulling the man onto his feet, feeling as he did so that Chris was shaking with the effort to stand. "Do you need help walking?" he asked, and Chris nodded reluctantly. So Seth steeled himself, put a bracing arm around Chris's back, and steered him gently forward. Chris gasped, winced, and stopped.
"This is ridiculous," Seth snapped. "You can't walk. I'm calling Ethan."
"No, I-"
Seth ignored Chris's protests, pulling his cell phone out and flipping it open, hitting the speed dial to get Ethan's phone. The man picked up on the second ring, his warm voice flooding the receiver.
"Hey, Ethan," Seth said quickly. "Chris hurt himself while we were running and he can't walk. Something about his hip. Can you or someone else come pick us up? We're on Kettleton, umm…" He looked around. "Near the middle school. Okay, thanks. Bye."
He shut his phone and glared at Chris, who was looking rather ashamed of himself. "Ethan's on his way. He'll be here in a few minutes. Come on, sit down."
"I think I'll just stand," Chris mumbled.
"Chris, you're shaking-" Seth tried to argue.
"I know that," he snapped. "But I can't sit down, okay? Not right now. It hurts, goddammit."
Seth glared at him, and Chris looked away, refusing to meet his eyes. They stood there in stony silence until Ethan's silver Buick Lucerne pulled up and Ethan got out, with Dan climbing out of the passenger's side.
"I've brought Dan," Ethan announced as they came over.
"Oh sweet Hallelujah," Chris muttered under his breath.
"What happened, Chris?" Dan asked, his face sweet and earnest.
"I was running and I displaced my hip," Chris explained. "It happens sometimes. I used to run a lot in high school so I have shitty knees and hips."
"Didn't your doctor tell you to ease up on the running?" Dan asked him, putting his hands gently on Chris's hips to feel.
"Sure he did. I just didn't bother to listen." Chris grinned at him.
Dan smiled back. "You need to stop running, Chris," he said, pleasantly enough, but quite serious. "Ethan, can you drive us back to my office? I can do some adjustments for Chris there."
Ethan agreed, and Dan helped Chris into the back before climbing in on the other side. Seth slid into the passenger's seat.
"Have you ever seen a chiropractor, Chris?" Dan asked conversationally.
"No. Well, yes. Once. Quack. Told me to stop eating so much junk food," Chris grumbled.
"You should stop eating so much junk food," Ethan said from the front.
Chris stuck his tongue out.
"I saw that."
When they arrived at Dan's office, he helped Chris out and took him gently inside. It was a Sunday, and he wasn't open on Sundays, but he had his keys on him all the same, and led Chris inside. Ethan and Seth followed.
Dan, ever the practitioner, made them wait in the lounge while he took Chris into the examination room.
"Um," Chris said uneasily. "All I really need is my hip popped, Dan. I really don't have great insurance, and-"
Dan laughed. "I'm not going to charge you, Chris, don't be silly."
"Freebie?" Chris grinned at him and raised an eyebrow.
The other man shook his head at him, trying to suppress his smile. "Let's just call it helping out a friend." He began to move Chris around and position him properly so that he could make adjustments to his back.
"Aww, I didn't know you cared," Chris grunted, and groaned in relief when Dan's hands pushed and popped his hip back into place.
"This is a temporary fix," Dan told him. "I want you to stop here tomorrow so that I can take some x-rays and see the rest of your spine. You will probably need some more adjustments. Chris, if you continue running…" He sighed, and swept his hand through his hair. "You could cause some very serious damage to yourself. Especially if you don't expect to have it taken care of properly every time you hurt your hips. Your body doesn't forget an injury. I've been working with patients for years, and there's some recovery, in some cases there is excellent recovery. But the body is never completely the same after an injury. You do realize that, don't you?"
"Sure thing, chief," Chris said, getting up and grinning at him. "Thanks for the advice."
Dan stopped him before he walked out the door. "I'm serious, Chris. Stop in tomorrow. The x-rays will be free too, I won't charge you anything. I can set you up on an exercise routine and some stretches that will help you-"
"Okay, Dan, relax." He laughed. "Christ, you sound like a doting mother. Come on, let's get out of here before Ethan and Seth start to wonder what we're really getting up to." Winking, he opened the door and slipped out.
"How are you feeling?" Ethan asked him, standing up and crossing to him.
"Great! I feel like I could run another ten miles!"
"Chris," Dan pleaded from behind him.
"How about if I take you home and you get some rest?" Ethan suggested. Chris shrugged and nodded.
They made their way back to Ethan's car. Dan sat passenger this time, and Chris and Seth rode in the back, Seth in stony silence. When they got back to the house, Chris went straight up to his room. Seth followed him.
"Gonna come take a nap with me, Seth?" Chris asked him with pseudo-innocence.
"Why do you do it?" Seth snapped.
Chris blinked at him. "Er, do what?"
The blonde let out an annoyed huff of air. "Why do you run if it hurts you?"
Chris regarded him thoughtfully for several long moments. Then he shrugged. "I don't know. Why do you?"
Seth glared at him and started turning away.
"I love running, but I'm not nearly as good at it as you are," Chris called after him.
He set his jaw, and continued walking away from Chris, who was perfectly right. He was good at it.