51stcenturyfox: (Default)
[personal profile] 51stcenturyfox
Title: Still Life
Rating: R(ish)
Pairing: Peter/El/Neal
Length: 700 (ficlet)
Summary: Neal paints Elizabeth
Notes: Whoever said watching paint dry was dull wasn't in this room on this afternoon.  Beta thanks to [livejournal.com profile] copperbadge  & [livejournal.com profile] neifile7 




A wash of warm gold from the western window glazed dark hair and bare shoulders, and Elizabeth squinted into the glare.

"Sun in your eyes, honey?" Peter asked. She nodded nearly imperceptibly and he moved in front of the window, blocking the early sunset and casting a long shadow onto the bed.

"'Scuse me, but I was using that light," Neal protested, meeting Peter's gaze. Peter offered El an apologetic look and moved out of the sunbeam. She groaned.

"Just close your eyes, baby," Neal directed. El shut them tight to bursts of carmine and ochre.

"What kind of paint is that?" Peter asked.

"Hm? Fast-drying acrylic. Perfect for making multiple copies in one evening if you... well, I wouldn't really need to do that for any particular reason, really." Neal coughed into his fist and El peeked, watched Peter put his hands on his hips. "See, the style I'm going for... I really should have gone with oil, but.." Neal trailed off and daubed at a tiny patch of white. "Come over here and take a look."

Peter moved next to Neal to survey his efforts. "Rosy cheeks."

"Tad too much vermilion. I got carried away."

"Impressionism, huh?"

"Renoir did do rosy cheeks," Neal said.

"But yeah. It's good. God, you are good."

Elizabeth laughed. "I want to see it!"

"Stop moving around," Neal chided. "And no, you can't see until it's finished, El."

"How long will that be? Do I have to lie here all night?"

"Impatient," Neal sighed. "You're always so impatient."

"She is. You are, honey," Peter said, as she shook her head. He reached into the bowl of grapes on the night table and tore one off the stem, popped it into his mouth. "Seeded."

"They taste better with seeds in them," El said, sliding her hand along the smooth white cotton of the sheet with an exaggerated stretch in his direction. "Can't reach, can't move. Feed me one?"

"Decadent," Peter pointed out, grinning. "This is a very decadent scene. Home before dark. Miles Davis on the stereo. Feeding my naked wife-"

"Nude," Neal intoned.

"-feeding my nude wife grapes as a master artist does his work."

"Her lover," Neal corrected.

"Our." Peter added.

"Oh no," El said. "That word."

"Lover?" Neal repeated.

"Yes." She waved her fingers in the air. "Not the sentiment, but the word itself. It's... I don't know, it's- It's cheesy. Oh! I forgot! There's cheese downstairs."

"Is there even a word for us?" Peter said with a laugh, shining a fat red grape with his fingers before offering it to Neal. "You. Bit me, conman."

"There are lots of words for us," Neal said. El watched out of the corner of her eye as Peter eyed his barely-wounded fingertips and Neal leaned in to give him a swift, apologetic kiss. "Mostly... French ones."

"There's French cheese downstairs," she hinted.

"Well, let's make it a picnic," Peter said, loosening his blue tie.

"Le déjeuner sur l'herbe," Neal agreed. "Manet."

"I'm not stripping down in Central Park," El warned.

"We could cordon part it off for FBI business," Peter pointed out as he unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off his shoulders.

"But that would be against the law, wouldn't it?" Neal asked. "Abuse of power? That would be wrong, G-man."

"Don't call me that." Peter wagged a finger.

                                      "You love it," Neal said

                                                                     "But you love that!" El echoed.

Peter shook his head with a grin and Elizabeth heard the snick-slide of laces as he took off his shoes.

She watched in the mirror as Neal closed one eye and tilted his head, then stepped back. "I believe I am finished. Wait... let me...sign it," he muttered, then placed his brush on the nightstand.

"Movement? I can move!" El said gleefully. She shifted to sit up and Peter ran a finger along the edge of her back and over the curve of her hip, smearing a still-damp line of quick-drying pale blue acrylic onto unmarked flesh, making her shiver.

"So, artistic genius... how do you get acrylic paint off of skin, anyway?" Peter asked, quirking an eyebrow at Neal.

"Friction," Neal said, rolling Elizabeth over in one fast motion.

"New sheets!" El protested, even as she felt his breath at the juncture of her knee and thigh, moving upward, and her fingers made their way into his hair. She gasped.

"Worth it," Peter said, as he joined them.





Edouard Manet's Le déjeuner sur l'herbe

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-14 03:33 pm (UTC)
ladygray99: (Default)
From: [personal profile] ladygray99
Now that is a lovely image you've painted in our minds.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-14 04:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
Thanks so much! This is my first White Collar fic. *nervous* :)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-14 04:27 pm (UTC)
ladygray99: (Default)
From: [personal profile] ladygray99
:-) Well it's a damn good start.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-14 04:35 pm (UTC)
ladygray99: (Default)
From: [personal profile] ladygray99
You might be interested in [livejournal.com profile] whitecollar100. It's a drabble com and there are a bunch of new writers who are using it to find their feet and their voice.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-14 04:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
Oooh! Thanks! I'll friend right now. :)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-14 03:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] underdebate.livejournal.com
Oh. Ohh.

<3

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-14 04:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
Aww, thanks! You made my morning!

I love writing dialogue (probably too much) so that's very fine to hear. <3 back!

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-14 03:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] misura.livejournal.com
Lovely & happy & messy - loved the way the dialogue flowed, and the mental images that came with reading this.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-14 04:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
Thank you very kindly! (Wish I could really paint!)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-15 03:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elainasaunt.livejournal.com
You can paint, bb. With words. I saw every second of this, vividly.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-16 03:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
Very glad that was the case. I think I'm rubbish at description versus talk talk talk talk talk. :D

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-14 04:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ursula4x.livejournal.com
Great story! Now if you could only paint a duplicate of the Manet minus the extra bathing lady.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-14 04:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
I'm not sure who she is. Maybe she's a peeping Thomasina. ;)

Thanks so much!

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-14 05:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ultracape.livejournal.com
Amazing. That was wonderful.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-15 02:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
Thank you very kindly! :)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-14 10:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] daria234.livejournal.com
This was wonderful - of course Peter points out the decadence :)

Love the art references and the little details like overdoing the rosy cheeks.

Also, this was very sensual and very sweet but with a sense of humor too. And paint on people is a, ahem, favorite of mine as well.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-15 03:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
I'm growing to like paint on people too! (Or makeup and other things.) :D

Very happy you liked it - thank you for the lovely comment.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-14 10:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mrsalemp.livejournal.com
I really liked this. Glad you've started writing White Collar fic :D

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-15 05:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
I'm glad you like this, Patelyne. Thank you!

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-14 11:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] calandra-lj.livejournal.com
That was wonderful; sweet and sensual and generally lovely. I love the flow of the dialogue and the use of colour.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-15 05:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
Aww, thank you! Happy that the flow worked out!

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-15 02:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
Wonderful! I love a story in which Neal makes use of his talents.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-15 05:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
All of them! :) Thank you!

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-15 03:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] deepbluemermaid.livejournal.com
Lovely, funny story with a real warmth to it - well done :)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-15 05:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
Thank you very much! *Happy!*

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-15 05:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amy1705fl.livejournal.com
Stumbled across this after a yahoo search for White Collar fanfic. Very nice. I can hear their voices as I read it (always a good sign.) Looked to see who the author was and laughed. I love your OT3 stuff from Torchwood. :)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-15 06:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
Hee, that's hilarious! :D It's good to known for a kink, I think!

Really pleased that the dialogue rang true, too. :)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-15 02:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] neifile7.livejournal.com
\O/ Yay Foxy's WC début!

Did I mention how much I like the slight edge of complaint that rings this? Every one of them whinges just a bit, just enough to show how extremely comfortable they are with each other. I love that; the voices sound truer to me because of it.

And Elizabeth is surely the finest canv-arse an artist could ask for.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-16 03:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
He made her cheeks rosy. Hur hur. :)

TY so much for the beta help (and rec!) you are a star.

They ARE whingy - I think in an established (but still new) relationship it's okay to be, or it fell into being comfortable very quickly. At least, that's my fanon!

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-16 02:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ariadnes-string.livejournal.com
What a great idea for a story--beautifully executed, too!

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-16 04:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
Thank you. That's very kind and much appreciated! :)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-16 03:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sahiya.livejournal.com
Oh man, I am such a sucker for fics that make use of Neal's artistic talent. This was delightful and hot.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-16 04:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
I want to see Neal paint portraits on the show! Thank you much, sahiya!

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-17 05:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tartancravat.livejournal.com
Lovely. Your Peter voice is particularly fabulous.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-21 02:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
Thank you so much! (And I really like your username!)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-19 07:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] touchthesky.livejournal.com
Totally enjoyed that. The dialogue was very natural and the ending was delightfully hot.

Worth it. ;)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-21 02:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
Oh, thank you kindly! Much appreciated! :)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-21 02:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bodlon.livejournal.com
Oh, you public menace!

Love it. :)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-21 02:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
Menace to public decency? :D

Thank you!

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-22 04:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] secretsolitaire.livejournal.com
Quite delightful!

(no subject)

Date: 2010-08-22 11:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
Thank you very much! :)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-11-10 07:31 pm (UTC)
china_shop: Close-up of Zhao Yunlan grinning (Default)
From: [personal profile] china_shop
So warm and happy. I love it.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-11-10 11:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com
Thank you! That makes *me* happy! :)