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crack_van2007-07-10 07:54 pm
bubbleforest.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2007-07-10 07:54 pm
Fragile - This Way Up by Cocoalatte (PG)
Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: AJ/Brian
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cocoalatte
Author Website: N/A
Why this must be read: This popped up on my friends list out of nowhere one day and I was so very, very happy to see it. An AU, which is a pretty popular concept in popslash, this one is set in an investment bank in London. AJ, who runs the place, is deaf. While this could've just been a ploy to get more readers interested, it's portrayed in a very real and wonderful way. The whole story has a quiet feel to it, and AJ's personality shines even if he never actually speaks. Brian's wonderful here, too, as well as Nick, who's hired to be AJ's voice. The ending lines especially make this story for me. A really wonderful read.
Alex was good looking, anybody could see. He had a small-ish frame, but shoulders that suggested a lot of hidden upper body strength. He lip read, to a certain extent, but in one email, ashamedly told AJ [edit: Brian] that he just hadn’t had the motivation to do it properly. More often than not, he got the gist of conversation, but used Nick to be able to grasp the specifics.
'I wouldn’t be where I am, after all, in your coveted job position if I didn’t pay attention to the specifics, y’know?'
Yeah, Brian knew. Alex nodded to him in the lifts and hallways and such in the building, and Brian nodded back, a few times catching himself saying hi, panicking wildly for split seconds before realising Alex knew what he’d said, his smile growing.
'Sometimes, I watch people talking and they’re clearly talking about sensible, educated things, but when “Where there’s life, there’s hope” looks like “where’s the lavender soap,” you kind of just give up and spend that few grand a year on a translator.'
Fragile - This Way Up
Pairing: AJ/Brian
Author on LJ:
cocoalatteAuthor Website: N/A
Why this must be read: This popped up on my friends list out of nowhere one day and I was so very, very happy to see it. An AU, which is a pretty popular concept in popslash, this one is set in an investment bank in London. AJ, who runs the place, is deaf. While this could've just been a ploy to get more readers interested, it's portrayed in a very real and wonderful way. The whole story has a quiet feel to it, and AJ's personality shines even if he never actually speaks. Brian's wonderful here, too, as well as Nick, who's hired to be AJ's voice. The ending lines especially make this story for me. A really wonderful read.
Alex was good looking, anybody could see. He had a small-ish frame, but shoulders that suggested a lot of hidden upper body strength. He lip read, to a certain extent, but in one email, ashamedly told AJ [edit: Brian] that he just hadn’t had the motivation to do it properly. More often than not, he got the gist of conversation, but used Nick to be able to grasp the specifics.
'I wouldn’t be where I am, after all, in your coveted job position if I didn’t pay attention to the specifics, y’know?'
Yeah, Brian knew. Alex nodded to him in the lifts and hallways and such in the building, and Brian nodded back, a few times catching himself saying hi, panicking wildly for split seconds before realising Alex knew what he’d said, his smile growing.
'Sometimes, I watch people talking and they’re clearly talking about sensible, educated things, but when “Where there’s life, there’s hope” looks like “where’s the lavender soap,” you kind of just give up and spend that few grand a year on a translator.'
Fragile - This Way Up