Rationale, by elementalv (Mature)

[thursdaynext-27.livejournal.com]

Fandom: SLINGS & ARROWS
Pairing: Ellen Fanshaw/Oliver Welles
Length: 1750 words
Author on LJ: elementalv
Author Website: website and Fic on AO3
Why this must be read: This is a wonderful "missing scene" story to answer one of the show's big questions: why Oliver slept with Ellen during the Hamlet production all those years ago. His reasons for doing so--from a director's desire to "control" his actress, to a need to be closer to Geoffrey--are bad, ridiculous and yet perfectly Oliver. elementalv gives us a warts-and-all portrait of Oliver, with his brilliance and arrogance on full display. As he comes up with and sounds out his rationalizations, we see an Oliver that's absolutely full of crap, and so very, very wrong about about how Geoffrey will react when he finds out.

Oliver is drunk when it happens.

That’s not an excuse, not by any stretch of the imagination, and he will be the first to say so, should it ever come out, but the fact remains that he is drunk. He’s been browsing through Ellen’s liquor shelf for the last several hours, listening as she gets more and more worked up about Geoffrey, and isn’t that a remarkable thing, that Oliver and Ellen can bond over just how beautiful and maddening Geoffrey is.

Rationale can be found on AO3, and please don't forget to leave feedback for the author.