WW ficlet...
Oct. 7th, 2003 03:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
out_thereHmmm... had the opening lines to a fic in my head all day. Decided to write them down just to get them out. It turned from a few lines into a fic. *rolls eyes*
It's unbetaed, pretty rough, and not slashy; just Josh refusing to leave me the heck alone when I'm at work. *g* (Ah, Signe, the S4 spoilers are incredibly vague, but they're in there.)
There are certain things that stand out every time he reads a biography of the Bartlet administration. The President’s MS is always mentioned within the first page, frequently in the second or third paragraph. The Vice President’s indiscretions, both Vice Presidents’ indiscretions, are generally on the third page and occasionally on the fifth.
Of course, there are always later chapters to go into these transgressions in greater detail. That’s where the more personal catastrophes are discussed.
There’s always a reference to Toby’s illegitimate, but adorable, children and the bold political attitudes of their mother. Congressman Seaborn’s early sex scandals are always cited snidely, intimating further misdeeds. Both are frequently used as examples of the poised and professional manner that the administration displayed when dealing with the press and the public.
In spite of everything, some phrases always make him cringe. Every book mentions Roslyn and it’s affect on the morale of the administration, but it's the occasional references to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that make him uneasy. He still can’t believe that one book actually used The Secret Plan to Fight Inflation as a chapter heading.
The book in front of him still has all of the expected disgraces and disasters, and still has the rare cringe-inducing phrase. But he can also see the generosity, kindness and respect within its pages, which is probably why he enjoyed it so much.
“It’s only a draft,” Will had said when he passed it to him. Eyes wide and uncertain, Will’s fingers fiddled with his glasses, with the pages of the manuscript, with anything around him, as he stood there. “It still has errors, probably lots of them, but... I thought it would be better for everyone to read it before it was published. Just in case any of the errors were factual, political ones, I guess.”
He’s keeping notes as he reads it. They were supposed to be political notes, to clarify points that Will wouldn’t understand, that he hadn’t been there to experience, but Josh underestimated him. The page is actually filled with favourite page numbers scribbled down, the occasional great, exactly and brilliant written near them. The book’s clever and concise; easy to read but never over-simplified.
It’s the type of book that Josh would have loved in college, the type he would have read over and over again, until there were creases in the spine for his favourite chapters and he knew the political strategies inside out. It’s the type of book that Josh won’t keep in his living room bookcase, because that’s generally for show. It will live with his other favourite books in a messy stack on his desk, with its pages turned and creased.
He just needs to remember to tell Will that.
It's unbetaed, pretty rough, and not slashy; just Josh refusing to leave me the heck alone when I'm at work. *g* (Ah, Signe, the S4 spoilers are incredibly vague, but they're in there.)
There are certain things that stand out every time he reads a biography of the Bartlet administration. The President’s MS is always mentioned within the first page, frequently in the second or third paragraph. The Vice President’s indiscretions, both Vice Presidents’ indiscretions, are generally on the third page and occasionally on the fifth.
Of course, there are always later chapters to go into these transgressions in greater detail. That’s where the more personal catastrophes are discussed.
There’s always a reference to Toby’s illegitimate, but adorable, children and the bold political attitudes of their mother. Congressman Seaborn’s early sex scandals are always cited snidely, intimating further misdeeds. Both are frequently used as examples of the poised and professional manner that the administration displayed when dealing with the press and the public.
In spite of everything, some phrases always make him cringe. Every book mentions Roslyn and it’s affect on the morale of the administration, but it's the occasional references to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that make him uneasy. He still can’t believe that one book actually used The Secret Plan to Fight Inflation as a chapter heading.
The book in front of him still has all of the expected disgraces and disasters, and still has the rare cringe-inducing phrase. But he can also see the generosity, kindness and respect within its pages, which is probably why he enjoyed it so much.
“It’s only a draft,” Will had said when he passed it to him. Eyes wide and uncertain, Will’s fingers fiddled with his glasses, with the pages of the manuscript, with anything around him, as he stood there. “It still has errors, probably lots of them, but... I thought it would be better for everyone to read it before it was published. Just in case any of the errors were factual, political ones, I guess.”
He’s keeping notes as he reads it. They were supposed to be political notes, to clarify points that Will wouldn’t understand, that he hadn’t been there to experience, but Josh underestimated him. The page is actually filled with favourite page numbers scribbled down, the occasional great, exactly and brilliant written near them. The book’s clever and concise; easy to read but never over-simplified.
It’s the type of book that Josh would have loved in college, the type he would have read over and over again, until there were creases in the spine for his favourite chapters and he knew the political strategies inside out. It’s the type of book that Josh won’t keep in his living room bookcase, because that’s generally for show. It will live with his other favourite books in a messy stack on his desk, with its pages turned and creased.
He just needs to remember to tell Will that.
