out_there | Sam/Will WW rec: Go read now!

I watched WW last night. The 47th Congressional? (It was the 47th something, I'm sure.) Lots of fun seeing Sam, and as much as I hate to say this, he could do with a shorter haircut. *g*

I think that I'll keep watching WW, even without Sam, but I think my Sam focus is shifting to Will "Sam's Future Boyfriend" Bailey.

To explain this my current conviction that Sam and Will are meant to eventually be, it's probably best if you read A Strange Spot in the Sky by Luna (who also wrote the Sam/Josh Circadian Rhythms, New Jelly Belly Recipes and Serves Two, which are three of my favourite Sam/Josh fics. Yeah, I have a long list of favourites, but these three are very good. *g*)

I'm a Josh/Sam girl. I have been since I started watching WW in S3. Since seeing S1 and S2, I've been happily ignoring the future and wallowing in the strong J/S vibes. I've always been more of a Sam gal than a Josh gal, but I've always had that deep-down belief that they should be together.

Now, I've read one really good fic, and it changed me. Suddenly my mental convictions have shifted from "Sam/Josh always" to "Josh as the old boyfriend, Will as the future boyfriend". It's quite a change and it's all caused by this fic that is wonderfully in character, ridiculously sweet and filled with such hopeful promise.

There are lines that are perfectly Sam, or perfectly Will; there's a great physical sense of the scene as well as terrific dialogue. I love the descriptions, I love the style and I love the idea. I love this Sam, and this Will, and I love the feel of it.

"I got up early this morning and I called your office." Will slides his fingers under his glasses again. You notice his eyes: you always think of them as black, but they're brown. Softer than you ever remember. "Cathy told me what flight you were on. Cathy's very nice, by the way. I think she was talking to two or three other people at the same time as me, but--very nice."

You tap the back of your head against your seat and run your hands over your face. "This *is* a little hard to believe, Will," you say, reaching for your drink. "Things like this don't happen--I'm not that irresistible."

"Are you crazy?" He sips some coffee, looking straight at you for the first time in a long time. The corner of his mouth quirks upward. "Of course you are."

The water nearly shoots out your nose.

A woman in the next row leans over and glares at your sputtering. Will settles back in his seat. He seems to be chuckling to himself. You don't have a napkin, so you wipe your mouth with the back of your hand. "Funny." You're squeaking. You try again. "That's, that was really funny. Funnier, though, if I was having a beer or something."

"I'll remember that." Will leans forward with his elbows braced on his knees, tilts his head. "But I wasn't trying to make you laugh. I mean it. I mean--have you not ever looked in a mirror?"

He's turning pink around the cheekbones. Your face feels hot; you're probably pink too. You try to look away from Will and catch sight of your faded reflection in the elliptical window. It startles you no less than a stranger's face would, even though you've been living with it all your life. You look the same. You are the same, and nobody's ever dropped everything for you. Not even Lisa. Certainly not Josh.

The headache is a wave crashing against the inside of your skull. You let your gaze drift back to meet Will's. "Not to mention," he says, "that you're going to be the most genuine, and genuinely decent, Senator in the last fifty years."

"I'm not a Senator yet," you say automatically. You've been ready to say it to reporters for weeks.

Maybe you expected him to chuckle again, but his mouth tightens and he looks hard at your face. "God, I can't imagine what happened to you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Honestly, Sam. I just can't imagine what happened to you to keep you from knowing how incredible you are." Still blushing, he gives the smallest shake of his head. "It's endearing. But it's also very sad."

You fumble for your plastic drinking glass, find it, and manage to get it to your mouth without spilling it on your shirt. You wonder if Will notices that your fingers are trembling. The ice chips melt away to nothing on your tongue.

"I still don't know what you're talking about," you say.

He shrugs. It's an elegant shrug. "There are a couple thousand miles between here and L.A. Maybe one of us will figure it out by the time we get there."

It's so good, and it's so right, and it should happen. Go read it, and then sigh happily and resign yourself to following a new pairing.

***

And, then, once you've got over the romantic vibe, come and read Once More, With Contrivance. Seriously, if you've seen the Buffy musical (or can sing most of the tunes... *cough*), this is a great laugh. Basically, it's what would happen if the West Wing cast did their own version of the Buffy musical.

Reading through it, I found myself alternating between singing the lyrics out loud and laughing.