ficlet: Trading Places

[deinonychus_1]

Happy birthday mysteriousaliwz . Hope you're having a great day.

Title: Trading Places
Author: Athene
Fandom: Primeval
Pairing/characters: Ryan/Connor
Rating: PG
Warnings: fluff 
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Not mine. ITV and Impossible Pictures own them.
Word count: approx 700
Summary: Karma sucks.
AN: Birthday fic for mysteriousaliwz.
AN2: This fics kind of follows on from Slippery When Wet and Room For Two.

 

            “Honestly, Connor, you need to be more careful.”

            “Don’t you think you’re overreacting a bit?” Connor countered as they walked back across the field towards the cars. “I’m barely even bruised.”

            “That’s not the point,” Ryan glared at him, pointedly taking in the scratches and slightly torn knees in Connor’s trousers. “You’re a grown man; I shouldn’t have to watch out for you all the bloody time. Why can’t you just pay attention to what you’re doing instead of blundering in half-cocked all the ti- Aaaarh!”

            There was suddenly no ground under Ryan’s foot and he flailed for a second before plunging into the ditch. His instinct reactions kicked in fast enough to avoid landing face-first, but a moment later he found himself sitting in at least a foot of very cold, very muddy water in the bottom of the ditch.

            Connor peered down at him from the field above.

            “You okay?”

            Ryan just glared. Somehow he was certain this was Connor’s fault.

            Connor’s expression was slowly twitching into a smirk, bordering on a grin.

            “What was that you were saying about watching where you were going?”

            Ryan continued to glare, but after a moment he had to admit there was a funny side to the situation. He started to pick himself up, and reached up to where Connor was.

            “You could at least give me a hand.”

            Connor held a hand out, and then abruptly snatched it away and took a step backwards.

            “You were just going to pull me in as well, weren’t you? So if we’re both wet and muddy you don’t look as silly when we get back to the cars. That’s evil, Ryan.”

            “Would I do something like that?” Ryan tried, hoping he looked suitably innocent and affronted by the suggestion. Of course, he had been planning exactly that, but what Connor didn’t know couldn’t be used against him later.

            This time Connor was the one glaring.

            “Fine,” Ryan sighed theatrically, and hauled himself out of the ditch, scrambling slightly on the slippery slope as Connor backed further out of the way.

            They started walking back to the cars again, this time staying well away from the edge of the field.

            “So,” Connor commented after a while. “I guess we’d better get those newspapers spread out on the back seat again.”

            “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

            This time Connor gave him in entirely unconcealed grin.

“Oh yes.”

Ryan chose that moment to cup Connor’s face in his hands and kiss him, not-so-accidentally leaving muddy smears across both cheeks, and then dabbing a smear on the end of Connor’s nose for good measure when he let go.

Connor pouted.

“Right. Well. Someone clearly doesn’t want to be taken home and given a nice hot shower and lots of snuggling and pampering.”

Ryan aimed for a contrite expression, but amusement was still vying for dominance.

“Sorry, Connor.”

“Nope, that’s it now. How often do I ever get the chance to be the one looking after you? But nooooo, you had to go and spoil it.”

Ryan felt a strange twist of disappointment. Much as he normally tended to play the big tough soldier card whenever he was hurt or tired, the thought of being pampered and ‘looked after’ by Connor was unexpectedly appealing.

He attempted an approximation of Connor’s trademark puppy eyes look.

“Just think how sorry you’ll be if I come down with something due to insufficient warmth and cuddles after this.”

“Now you’re definitely not playing fair,” Connor said.

Ryan laughed. “Special Forces soldier, remember? Of course I don’t play fair.”

Connor glanced at him and wiped at his muddy nose with his sleeve.

“I suppose there could be a little bit of snuggling,” he allowed, although his pouty expression was starting to crack and show hints of the smile that clearly wanted to break out.

Ryan grinned.

“Look at it this way,” Ryan offered. “You’ve got an excuse to join me in the shower as well now.”

Connor just raised his eyebrows at Ryan.

“No, Ryan. This means I get the shower first.”

 



Comments

[fredbassett]

LOL at Ryan trying the puppy dog eyes trick. It would work on me!

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

I suspect it will work on Connor as well, eventually. He's just milking the situation for all he can get, cheeky lad!

[mysteriousaliwz.livejournal.com]

Pressie!

Thank you m'dear, I am having a fantastic birthday :)

Lol at karma cutting short Ryan's lecture *g*

I love muddy!Ryan doing the puppy-dog eyes for a change :)

And I'm sure that there would be room in the shower for both of them if they squeezed in ;)

Thanks :D

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

Well, Ryan was just tempting fate with that little lecture, it serves him right *grin*.

And I suspect by the time they get home Connor will have melted enough to let Ryan into the shower with him and provide all the snuggles and pampering that he wants.

[jaynedoll.livejournal.com]

That was lovely. Ryan has learnt the puppy dog eyes from the best.
And I love the idea of Connor looking after Ryan for a change.

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

I think Connor would rather enjoy looking after Ryan for a change, considering how often Connor is the one who ends up on the receiving end of the comfort. Although somehow I think Connor will still win if they try to out-puppy-eyes each other!

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

Lovely! Ryan doing the puppy-dog eyes is great. And of course the next fic will have them in the shower, won't it? *g*.

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

I was originally going to do a shower!porn fic, but the angst bunny kept infiltrating, so I ended up up doing this instead. Ryan and puppy eyes is a scary thought!

[bigtitch.livejournal.com]

Pouty!Connor and Puppyeyed!Ryan? I'm surprised the universe hasn't imploded because of the cute!
Great fic!

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

Hee, as long as they don't *both* have the puppy eyes at the same time I think the universe might be safe *crosses fingers*.

[nietie.livejournal.com]

Hehehe, I enjoyed this very much too, especially that last line.

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

thanks, Ali's birthday is usually a good excuse for lots of Connor/Ryan fluffy fics, so it's a win-win occasion for everyone!

[joereaves.livejournal.com]

*snicker* Muddy!Ryan is surprisingly hot.

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

There is surprisingly little bad with wet and muddy Ryan.

[telperion-15.livejournal.com]

*sporfles* A clear case of 'what goes around, comes around' there, I think!

And I'm pretty sure Ryan's going to get his snuggles and pampering anyway. Otherwise Connor would just be cutting his own nose off to spite his face, as they say... ;)

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

clear case of 'what goes around, comes around' there, I think!

I very, very nearly used that phrase as the title of the fic, but decided it would be too much of a giveaway of what was going to happen. Plus it was too long.

Oh, I'm certain Connor won't be able to withhold cuddles and pampering for very long once they get home. He just wants to enjoy the irony of the moment for as long as he can.

[fififolle]

Heee! I loved Ryan falling in the ditch and suddenly realising he wanted Connor to look after him, ahahhaa.
They are adorable, and puppyeyes!Ryan is irresistable :D

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

I'm sure Ryan will enjoy being 'looked after' by Connor, it makes a nice change to it being the other way round, after all. The question is, how long can Connor resist Ryan's puppy eyes?

[fififolle]

Oh... not long *g*
*goes to happy place*

[sallycandance.livejournal.com]

Love it! I laughed so hard at "blundering in half-cocked all the ti- Aaaarh!" and I couldn't stop giggling (still can't actually).

Great!

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

hee, thanks. Poor Ryan, I suspect he's very embarassed about the whole thing, especially considering the lecture he was in the middle of giving Connor at the time!

[canadian-jay.livejournal.com]

LOL! I'm rooting for Connor. Great stuff.

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

hee, I suspect there's going to be an undignified scramble for the shower when they get home. And then they'll probably end up sharing it after all!

[canadian-jay.livejournal.com]

Lol! One can only hope... xD

[knitekat.livejournal.com]

Ryan should of known better than to tempt fate *g* Love his attempt at puppy dogs eyes, I'm sure Connor's only playing hard to get *nods*

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

he was rather asking for it by lecturing Connor like that while not actually paying attention to where he was going *grin*. It's just a good job none of his lads saw it, otherwise he'd never hear the end of it.

*giggles at the thought of Connor playing hard to get*

[madcatt82.livejournal.com]

*sniggers* Ryan should really know better than to tempt fate like that! And I love the idea of Ryan turning the puppy eyes against Connor!

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

Yep, Ryan really should have known better, it's his own fault. Somehow I have a feeling that Connor may still win the puppy eyes contest *grin*

[unseen-quill.livejournal.com]

Ah, how the tables have turned. :D So cute and funny, I loved Ryan trying to pull off the puppy dog eyes. :)

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

hee, thanks. Poor Ryan, he's probably very embarrassed, but I'm sure Connor will make him feel better later - after he's sufficiently milked the situation, of course!