31. | future unknown: hello beautiful
31.
hello beautiful
how's it going? i hear it's wonderful in california.
cook/archuleta (1577 words)
So this is something Nat and I -- sort of stumbled upon, really, I can't even remember how. It was the idea to put the Davids in a television show, and I'm totally not sure if this is how she thought it would go, and I was going to wait for her, but she told me to go ahead and post it, and I AM UNABLE TO RESIST HER, SIGH. ILY DARLING, AND -- I DID IT FOR YOUUUUU~
ETA: Nat has made a post where we will be linking all episodes of this verse, Future Unknown, because she is a brilliantly, amazingly genius person and figured we should keep this organized. ILY DARLING, YOU STILL NEED TO BEWARE.
So it takes David a while to get used to the cameras. He's used to the flashes, the constant reminder that you're being watched -- he was on American Idol, which meant practically living with a camera. But now, it's -- he's actually living with a camera, and also with Cook, which is a little more than weird.
Not that Cook's weird! Just that the idea of living with him for a show is sort of -- if 19E hadn't said that it was something he had to do, he's not sure he would. Now that they're both on breaks after their respective tours and albums, David was sort of hoping to give the spotlight a rest and maybe concentrate on -- on himself, for once. Maybe write some stuff, spend time with his family, but -- okay, well, there are worse things he could be doing. And he could be doing it with someone other than Cook, who is awesome and actually, that is the only good thing about this. Since the show in Manila they haven't had much time to talk, so maybe this whole "living together for a not-really-reality show" thing will let them reconnect.
Or something.
But yeah, maybe it's not the cameras so much as it is that he's expected to behave normally in front of them. Like, Cook takes to it naturally and spends a lot of time mugging for the camera, telling jokes and being his usual self, but David sort of freezes and tends to laugh a lot more than he should, which makes the sound guy crack up and is really embarrassing.
But a week after they move in David starts forgetting the cameras are there, and so he'll maybe wander around humming to himself or -- once he walked out of the shower without a shirt on and Cook dropped the remote in shock and the camera guy whistled and David sort of shrieked and ran into the bedroom and had to live with the laughter and echoes of his cry for days.
The thing is, the producer calls and thinks that they're finally ready to film an episode, and David maybe freaks out a little.
Cook says, hands on his shoulders, "Calm down, David," which doesn't help much but does stop him from pacing.
They've got their script for the episode, which isn't really a script so much as it is a "here's what situation we're going to thrust upon you, have fun and be sincere" guideline. They're supposed to depict their first day moving in together and their real, true feelings about it. Fun, not, especially since they moved in weeks ago and David is never going to be able to replicate those feelings.
"Look," Cook says now, "this is going to be fine. It's the same camera guys we've had all along, and we won't let you walk out of the bathroom without a shirt again, and this is -- it's just to show our fans another side of ourselves, yeah?"
And the fans are David's weakness, which Cook knows well, so he takes a deep breath and tries to relax. "Yeah. Um, yeah, I'm just -- acting isn't my thing."
"We're not acting," Cook says, smiling warmly at him. "This is just us, you and me. And those guys," he adds, nodding at the camera guy and sound guy, who wave back from where they're talking over a cup of coffee in their kitchenette.
David's still nervous, but with Cook's hand on his shoulder and his reassuring smile curving his lips, David thinks he can maybe do this.
"Oh gosh," David says when Cook pushes open the door, "Um, it's so... so light."
"Yeah," Cook agrees, and they walk into their "new" apartment and ooh and ah over the different parts of it. David doesn't have to pretend to beam about the baby grand that was put in just a week ago, and Cook sets his acoustic guitar case by the couch and drops into it with a sigh.
"It'll be nice, having this time off," he says, closing his eyes, and David hums in agreement, fingers plunking over keys experimentally.
"Yes," he says, "Even though I don't know how much peace we'll get with Carly living just down the hall." They'd been instructed to namedrop Carly this episode and David's pleased he managed to stick her into conversation so easily.
"I cannot believe they managed to rope her into this," Cook says, amazed. "I am actually astonished at their capacity to persuade people." He's looking out their window, which is huge and spans practically the whole wall -- they can see a stretch of LA buildings and power lines and cars, and in the far distance there's the green of field stretching on past it all.
"What made you agree?" David asks, curious -- he hasn't really questioned Cook before, just thought that they'd made him, but thinking about it, nobody can make Cook do anything. It's something David admires about him, that Cook is so confident and self-assured.
"Oh, the chance to be with you, of course," Cook grins, and David flushes and stammers something about the oven and then promptly runs to the kitchen where he presses a hand against his heart and tries to keep from breathing weird like he normally does when he's nervous, because probably the stupid mic will pick it up from the stupid living room. He can hear Cook talking to the crew from here and wonders about -- wonders why he felt like that, like his entire world had lit up in that one brief moment. Weird, but probably just something like, um, nerves! Yeah, nerves, or maybe something he ate earlier. That had to be it.
He takes a deep breath and feels better for it, grabs a bottle of water from the fridge, and heads back into the living room in time to hear Cook say, "And maybe you guys will be able to catch David singing while he washes dishes, or something," which, David only did that once, and because he thought Cook and the guys had gone to the laundry room together!
"Or maybe you can catch Cook locking himself onto the fire escape," David suggests innocently, which makes Cook make a face (he'd been stuck out there for about two hours until David had noticed a suspicious lack of guitar or television sounds and had gone to investigate) and the crew smother laughter. Cook waits until the camera pans to look at David before he sticks his tongue out at him, and David smiles in response and maybe, just maybe this will be okay.
And the thing is, the pilot is sort of this huge success that no one was expecting -- apparently their fanbases were bigger than they thought, or they grew or something, or maybe they even merged because both of their record sales took a slight rise the day after the show premiered, and everyone is so excited and relieved that David catches the enthusiasm (like it was hard to be excited over people not thinking he was bad on tv, haha). That night, after the cameras are gone and it's just him and Cook in their apartment, he takes a shower and sings full-out for the first time in a long time, just belts so that it echoes because yay, their show is a hit and the cameras are out of the house for once and it's just him and Cook and he doesn't have to worry about how he sounds! This is awesome, life is awesome, seriously, and David's still humming as he towels off and puts on the clothes he brought with him to the bathroom (he totally learned his lesson, and he's not comfortable enough with Cook yet to ask him to go digging through his stuff, um).
When he walks out he's beaming and singing under his breath and when he goes into the living room Cook is sitting in there staring at him with this unreadable look on his face, and it's -- David's never seen Cook look like that before. His eyes are dark and his mouth is pressed together like Cook is keeping in something, and when David parts his lips to ask what's wrong Cook jerks his gaze away and locks it back onto the television.
"Sounding good, kiddo," Cook says, and his mouth curves into a smile; David swallows because he wants to know what was wrong, but isn't sure if he should ask because Cook clearly doesn't want him to.
"Thanks," he ends up saying awkwardly, and Cook looks back at him with his normal friendliness and fond amusement and pats the cushion next to him on the couch and when David sits down, he leans into his space. David still wonders about Cook's face just then, but he's more enthralled by the fact that this has become his normal nightly occurrence -- sitting with Cook on the couch watching television until it's time for bed and falling asleep to the soft breathing he can hear from Cook's room, counting the exhalations until he wakes up in the morning. If nothing else, this whole thing will be worth it for that, so David puts his questions to the back of his mind and leans in closer to Cook, smothering a grin against his shoulder.
hello beautiful
how's it going? i hear it's wonderful in california.
cook/archuleta (1577 words)
So this is something Nat and I -- sort of stumbled upon, really, I can't even remember how. It was the idea to put the Davids in a television show, and I'm totally not sure if this is how she thought it would go, and I was going to wait for her, but she told me to go ahead and post it, and I AM UNABLE TO RESIST HER, SIGH. ILY DARLING, AND -- I DID IT FOR YOUUUUU~
ETA: Nat has made a post where we will be linking all episodes of this verse, Future Unknown, because she is a brilliantly, amazingly genius person and figured we should keep this organized. ILY DARLING, YOU STILL NEED TO BEWARE.
So it takes David a while to get used to the cameras. He's used to the flashes, the constant reminder that you're being watched -- he was on American Idol, which meant practically living with a camera. But now, it's -- he's actually living with a camera, and also with Cook, which is a little more than weird.
Not that Cook's weird! Just that the idea of living with him for a show is sort of -- if 19E hadn't said that it was something he had to do, he's not sure he would. Now that they're both on breaks after their respective tours and albums, David was sort of hoping to give the spotlight a rest and maybe concentrate on -- on himself, for once. Maybe write some stuff, spend time with his family, but -- okay, well, there are worse things he could be doing. And he could be doing it with someone other than Cook, who is awesome and actually, that is the only good thing about this. Since the show in Manila they haven't had much time to talk, so maybe this whole "living together for a not-really-reality show" thing will let them reconnect.
Or something.
But yeah, maybe it's not the cameras so much as it is that he's expected to behave normally in front of them. Like, Cook takes to it naturally and spends a lot of time mugging for the camera, telling jokes and being his usual self, but David sort of freezes and tends to laugh a lot more than he should, which makes the sound guy crack up and is really embarrassing.
But a week after they move in David starts forgetting the cameras are there, and so he'll maybe wander around humming to himself or -- once he walked out of the shower without a shirt on and Cook dropped the remote in shock and the camera guy whistled and David sort of shrieked and ran into the bedroom and had to live with the laughter and echoes of his cry for days.
The thing is, the producer calls and thinks that they're finally ready to film an episode, and David maybe freaks out a little.
Cook says, hands on his shoulders, "Calm down, David," which doesn't help much but does stop him from pacing.
They've got their script for the episode, which isn't really a script so much as it is a "here's what situation we're going to thrust upon you, have fun and be sincere" guideline. They're supposed to depict their first day moving in together and their real, true feelings about it. Fun, not, especially since they moved in weeks ago and David is never going to be able to replicate those feelings.
"Look," Cook says now, "this is going to be fine. It's the same camera guys we've had all along, and we won't let you walk out of the bathroom without a shirt again, and this is -- it's just to show our fans another side of ourselves, yeah?"
And the fans are David's weakness, which Cook knows well, so he takes a deep breath and tries to relax. "Yeah. Um, yeah, I'm just -- acting isn't my thing."
"We're not acting," Cook says, smiling warmly at him. "This is just us, you and me. And those guys," he adds, nodding at the camera guy and sound guy, who wave back from where they're talking over a cup of coffee in their kitchenette.
David's still nervous, but with Cook's hand on his shoulder and his reassuring smile curving his lips, David thinks he can maybe do this.
"Oh gosh," David says when Cook pushes open the door, "Um, it's so... so light."
"Yeah," Cook agrees, and they walk into their "new" apartment and ooh and ah over the different parts of it. David doesn't have to pretend to beam about the baby grand that was put in just a week ago, and Cook sets his acoustic guitar case by the couch and drops into it with a sigh.
"It'll be nice, having this time off," he says, closing his eyes, and David hums in agreement, fingers plunking over keys experimentally.
"Yes," he says, "Even though I don't know how much peace we'll get with Carly living just down the hall." They'd been instructed to namedrop Carly this episode and David's pleased he managed to stick her into conversation so easily.
"I cannot believe they managed to rope her into this," Cook says, amazed. "I am actually astonished at their capacity to persuade people." He's looking out their window, which is huge and spans practically the whole wall -- they can see a stretch of LA buildings and power lines and cars, and in the far distance there's the green of field stretching on past it all.
"What made you agree?" David asks, curious -- he hasn't really questioned Cook before, just thought that they'd made him, but thinking about it, nobody can make Cook do anything. It's something David admires about him, that Cook is so confident and self-assured.
"Oh, the chance to be with you, of course," Cook grins, and David flushes and stammers something about the oven and then promptly runs to the kitchen where he presses a hand against his heart and tries to keep from breathing weird like he normally does when he's nervous, because probably the stupid mic will pick it up from the stupid living room. He can hear Cook talking to the crew from here and wonders about -- wonders why he felt like that, like his entire world had lit up in that one brief moment. Weird, but probably just something like, um, nerves! Yeah, nerves, or maybe something he ate earlier. That had to be it.
He takes a deep breath and feels better for it, grabs a bottle of water from the fridge, and heads back into the living room in time to hear Cook say, "And maybe you guys will be able to catch David singing while he washes dishes, or something," which, David only did that once, and because he thought Cook and the guys had gone to the laundry room together!
"Or maybe you can catch Cook locking himself onto the fire escape," David suggests innocently, which makes Cook make a face (he'd been stuck out there for about two hours until David had noticed a suspicious lack of guitar or television sounds and had gone to investigate) and the crew smother laughter. Cook waits until the camera pans to look at David before he sticks his tongue out at him, and David smiles in response and maybe, just maybe this will be okay.
And the thing is, the pilot is sort of this huge success that no one was expecting -- apparently their fanbases were bigger than they thought, or they grew or something, or maybe they even merged because both of their record sales took a slight rise the day after the show premiered, and everyone is so excited and relieved that David catches the enthusiasm (like it was hard to be excited over people not thinking he was bad on tv, haha). That night, after the cameras are gone and it's just him and Cook in their apartment, he takes a shower and sings full-out for the first time in a long time, just belts so that it echoes because yay, their show is a hit and the cameras are out of the house for once and it's just him and Cook and he doesn't have to worry about how he sounds! This is awesome, life is awesome, seriously, and David's still humming as he towels off and puts on the clothes he brought with him to the bathroom (he totally learned his lesson, and he's not comfortable enough with Cook yet to ask him to go digging through his stuff, um).
When he walks out he's beaming and singing under his breath and when he goes into the living room Cook is sitting in there staring at him with this unreadable look on his face, and it's -- David's never seen Cook look like that before. His eyes are dark and his mouth is pressed together like Cook is keeping in something, and when David parts his lips to ask what's wrong Cook jerks his gaze away and locks it back onto the television.
"Sounding good, kiddo," Cook says, and his mouth curves into a smile; David swallows because he wants to know what was wrong, but isn't sure if he should ask because Cook clearly doesn't want him to.
"Thanks," he ends up saying awkwardly, and Cook looks back at him with his normal friendliness and fond amusement and pats the cushion next to him on the couch and when David sits down, he leans into his space. David still wonders about Cook's face just then, but he's more enthralled by the fact that this has become his normal nightly occurrence -- sitting with Cook on the couch watching television until it's time for bed and falling asleep to the soft breathing he can hear from Cook's room, counting the exhalations until he wakes up in the morning. If nothing else, this whole thing will be worth it for that, so David puts his questions to the back of his mind and leans in closer to Cook, smothering a grin against his shoulder.