Dangerous Liaisons

Fandom: BBC Sherlock
Rating: T
Setting: Twisted Sinews universe
Characters: Molly Hooper, Jim Moriarty
Primary Pairings: Molly Hooper/Jim Moriarty
Word Count: 481

General Summary: Molly has always suspected that there was something not quite right about Jim, but she never could put her finger on it.

Author’s Note: Another Molly/Moriarty piece? In my July 2012 archive? It's more likely than you think. Anyway, like almost all of my Jim/Molly stuff, it holds up. At least to me.


Molly wasn’t sure that she liked the way Jim looked at her sometimes. It often happened without warning, this shift in his mood, and they would be doing something completely ordinary, like eating dinner, when Molly would catch the strange man with whom she had entangled herself examining her in the same way that she remembered seeing hawks eye prey animals in nature documentaries. The first several times it happened, it had been unnerving, but eventually she had learned to return the gaze.

Still, there was something about Jim.

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The Reunification

Fandom: BBC Sherlock
Rating: G
Setting: Dark Dog Days universe
Characters: Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock Holmes
Word Count: 472

General Summary: Upon reuniting with each other after Sherlock's 3 year disappearance, the Holmes brothers find themselves unusually speechless.

Author’s Note: A short piece I wrote in July 2012. Loosely inspired by the song "Jet Lag" by Frank Turner.


It had been almost three years.

Raising tired eyes, Mycroft Holmes observed his brother quietly, refusing - for once - to break the silence first. Across from him, Sherlock Holmes did much the same thing.

Three years.

The three years on the run had taken a surprising toll on the detective.

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Ghosts

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley Series
Rating: G
Characters: Jim Prideaux
Primary Pairings: Bill Haydon/Jim Prideaux
Word Count: 323

General Summary: The spectre of Bill Haydon clung to Jim like a wet shirt - cold and difficult to remove.

Inspired by this piece of fanart.

Author’s Note: Apparently I wrote this in early August 2012 and never put it on AO3. So here it is now.

 

Even after it was all said and done, he never could get rid of Bill.

He supposed that on some level, he didn’t really want to - he hadn’t done everything in his power to banish the other man from his memory the way he probably should have. Even just glancing around the interior of his small living quarters, he could easily spot all of the bits and pieces of Bill Haydon that were scattered throughout.

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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy | Inception AU

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley Series
Rating: T - M
Setting: Inception au
Characters: Control, Peter Guillam, Bill Haydon, Jim Prideaux, Connie Sachs, Ann Smiley, George Smiley, Jerry Westerby
Primary Pairings: Wasn't sure yet. Probably Bill Haydon/Jim Prideaux, Peter Guillam/George Smiley, Ann Smiley/George Smiley
Secondary Pairings: Probably Peter Guillam/Bill Haydon, Bill Haydon/Ann Smiley

General Summary: Jim Prideaux was meant to be dead, but he isn't, and the process of becoming a true Lotus-Eater is far more difficult than is usually assumed.

There's also a gifset that I made here.

Author’s Note: This was a cool idea that I had planned to write and then never did but I'm putting it here because I still love it. Damn me.


"There is a man." Control paused, his eyes drifting somewhere into the distance over Smiley’s left shoulder. "Jim Prideaux."

Smiley nodded, "I’m aware of him - he was shot and killed in the field."

"That’s where you’re wrong." Smiley’s eyebrows shot up, and Control half-laughed, half-coughed. "Jim Prideaux is still alive, and in England."

"And?" He pursed his lips in an attempt to conceal any further surprise.

Control exhaled a cloud of smoke. "I need you to assemble a team."

"What for?"

"Don’t be dense, George!" Smiley didn’t flinch at the older man’s snarl - he was, at this point, entirely used to his employer’s moods. Finally, Control stubbed his cigarette out in an overloaded ashtray. "For Prideaux, there must never have been a Circus. I need you to make sure of this."

Smiley was quiet for a moment before finally speaking. "You realise that what you’re asking is -"

"You and I both know damn well that it’s possible," Control snapped, "so don’t give me that."

The corners of his mouth twitching downwards briefly, Smiley nodded slowly. "I need at least forty-eight hours to assemble my team."

———————————

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Old Friends

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley Series
Rating: G
Characters: Peter Guillam, Ann Smiley, George Smiley
Primary Pairings: Ann Smiley/George Smiley
Word Count: 271 

General Summary: George Smiley, Peter would likely say, was old friends with the darkness.

Author’s Note: A tiny character portrait of George Smiley from October 2012.


Some people were of the opinion that the worst thing to ever happen to George Smiley was Ann Smiley. Others were of the opinion that that title belonged to the day that he was forced out of the Circus, either for the first or second time. In reality, it was neither of these that marked the darkest period in Smiley’s life, and if asked, he might not be able to precisely say what did.
 

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The Long Drive Out

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Of Dubious and Feline Memory

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley Series
Rating: G
Characters: Bill Haydon, Jim Prideaux
Primary Pairings: Bill Haydon/Jim Prideaux
Word Count: 385 

General Summary: The simple truth of it was that Jim Prideaux could not remember a time before Bill.

Author’s Note: This is what happens when I get a Sarah McLachlan song as a prompt after a very intense break-up lmao. October 2012.


The simple truth of it was that Jim Prideaux could not remember a time before Bill. He could give a history, as detailed as necessary, of his childhood, of his schooling abroad, of his adolescence, but all of these things were simply details belonging to a shapeless time period labelled simply “Before Bill.” If asked to give a biography, he might begin, not with his birth, but in a crowded room at Oxford, where he was approached by a man with a slightly lop-sided grin and a disarmingly friendly way of speaking, who coaxed him back to his rooms only to drink more than enough for the both of them and curl against his side like an oversized cat as they talked.

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The Trial of Knowing

Fandom: MCU
Rating: G
Characters: Pepper Potts, James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Tony Stark
Primary Pairings: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Word Count: 300

General Summary: Tony's been careful to hide his health from everyone, but Pepper's known the whole time.

Author’s Note: Again, I'm trash for Pepper/Tony, and it came out again in late October 2012.


When Tony finally tells her, Pepper Potts acts surprised, shocked even, and lets him have it. In the adrenaline rush that comes with being sore at Tony Stark, she almost tricks herself into believing that it’s new news.

In reality, she’s known for months.
 

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Of Novels and Paintings

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley Series
Rating: G
Characters: Ann Smiley, George Smiley
Primary Pairings: Ann Smiley/George Smiley
Word Count: 369

General Summary: The Smileys have never been congruous in their perceptions of the world. 

Author’s Note: A short piece about Ann and George. Written 25 October 2012.


The night is unseasonably warm, and to save money they don’t need, the bedroom window of the house at Bywater Street has been left open. The sun hasn’t quite finished going down, but the stars are already out and barely visible through the dark clouds over London, casting the entire sky a hazy mixture of greys and violets. Sitting beside the window, in a silk dressing gown and smoking a long-stemmed cigarette, her hair tied back from her face in a fashion that most would call “striking,” but that her husband quietly deemed “very like you,” the still - by most standards - newly married Ann Smiley languishes in a way that she didn’t know she was capable of.

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Upon a Christmas

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley Series
Rating: G
Setting: The Fish Pond Tapes (a domestic retirement AU)
Characters: Peter Guillam, George Smiley
Primary Pairings: Peter Guillam/George Smiley (sort of - it's very platonic here)
Secondary Pairings: Ann Smiley/George Smiley
Word Count: 1000 

General Summary: Both George and Peter are spending Christmas alone, and Peter decides that they might as well do it together

Author’s Note: The Christmas prompts. They've begun. Originally posted 2 November 2012.


It was late in the afternoon on Christmas day when the knock came at the door of the house on Bywater Street. Blinking owlishly, and suddenly all too aware that he was still in his dressing gown, George Smiley stood up from his arm chair beside the closed curtains and listened for a second knock, which would confirm, upon a second sharp rap, who it was at the door, but none came. Finally approaching the door slowly, he unlocked the bolt and opened it to find Peter Guillam standing awkwardly at the door, the collar of his blue wool overcoat pulled up against the cold and his hands still covered by the expensive kid leather of his driving gloves, one of which held a brown shopping bag.

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First Glances

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley Series
Rating: T
Setting: Pre-Canon
Characters: Bill Haydon, Peter Guillam, Ann Smiley, George Smiley
Primary Pairings: Ann Smiley/George Smiley
Secondary Pairings: Peter Guillam/George Smiley, Implied Peter Guillam/Bill Haydon
Word Count: 1000

General Summary: A young Peter Guillam has his first real glimpse of Ann Smiley and receives a warning, which spikes his natural paranoia in regards to both his sexuality and his feelings towards her husband.

Author’s Note: This was written and posted on 8 November 2012, and was tagged "Ann Smiley's incredible ability to judge a man's sexuality at a glance as told by George" because the fact that this is a canonical thing is amazing to me.


Peter was struck first by Ann. Ann Smiley who swept into the room, as another man once described her, “like a Celtic goddess” and silently, effortlessly demanded the attention of all present, just by virtue of her being there. He had heard of her long before he had seen her - whispers in the break rooms of the Circus and in the field, in the periods between work when fieldmen congregated and swapped stories and the latest word on the higher-ups. Ann Smiley, errant wife to Control’s right hand man - a woman who was, in so many ways, everything that her husband was not. Not for nothing, it was whispered in the corners of safehouses, had Roy Bland taken up the habit of courting with any Deb who bore even the slightest resemblance to his old recruiter’s spouse. In other corners, it was whispered that where Bland had been rejected, others had been successful, and the name that he heard repeated time and time again was one that he could only blush to think of in that context.
 

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A Christmas Surprise

Fandom: Cabin Pressure
Rating: G
Characters: Martin Crieff, Carolyn Knapp-Shappey, Douglas Richardson, Arthur Shappey
Word Count: 421

General Summary: Sometimes Arthur's surprises aren't just of the rice variety.

Author’s Note: Back in November 2012 a friend asked for "Something Cabin Pressure-y but not too angsty."


"I thought Carolyn promised we’d never do this again." Douglas grumbled the complaint half under his breath as he settled into the back of the cab.

"She did," Martin agreed, shivering and pulling the collar of his worn wool jacket tighter around his neck, "'No more Christmas flights' she said. 'Not after last year’s debacle.'" He sighed, "It must be a big one then." Then, a concerned look slipping over his features, he added: "Arthur must be simply heartbroken."

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Mistletoe and Memorandums

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley Series
Rating: G
Setting: Pre canon
Characters: Peter Guillam, Bill Haydon, Original Character
Word Count: 353

General Summary: When one of the Brixton crowd is hassling girls at the Circus' annual Christmas party, Bill steps in in an only slightly unexpected manner.

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt 'Mistletoe.'


"Kaspar, stop it!" In a flurry of agitated chatter, a small group of debs scattered, leaving the short, blond man in their midst standing alone, hastily shoving a sprig of mistletoe back into his jacket pocket.

"Oh god, Kaspar’s at it again." Rolling his eyes, Peter Guillam sighed and swallowed the rest of his drink. "He does this every bloody year."

"Mmmn," murmuring his assent, Bill watched the scalphunter sulk over to another cluster of women, his eyes heavily lidded and bored. "You’d think he’d have figured it out by now."

"Suppose I ought to go have a word with him."


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The Confessional Booth

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley Series
Rating: G
Characters: Peter Guillam, Bill Haydon
Word Count: 646

General Summary: “Haydon, once his confessor; Haydon, always good for a laugh, a chat, and a cup of burnt coffee...” (Le Carré, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy 358)

Still haunted by his butchered agents in Morocco, a young Peter Guillam seeks solace in Bill Haydon's office.

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt 'Hot Chocolate.'


"You’re late."

Peter froze for a moment until Bill’s stern expression shifted into a crooked smile, and stretching, he sat up on the chaise longue. swinging his legs over the side and gesturing for Peter to close the door. Smiling back, Peter shut the door behind him and leaned against it. "Didn’t know I had an appointment."

Bill laughed, standing up and stretching again like a house cat just woken from its nap. "Of course you had a bloody appointment - can’t just let your lot wander in whenever you feel like it, can I?" Peter hesitated, watching Bill’s back for cues, and as if sensing his hesitation, the older man called over his shoulder, "Sit down will you?"


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Of Spies and Snowfall

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley Series
Rating: G
Characters: George Smiley
Word Count: 438

General Summary: For all their supposed similarities, George Smiley has never liked the snow.

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt 'Snow.'


George Smiley has never been fond of snow. It didn’t particularly matter what sort of snow. English snow, German snow, Swiss snow, Swedish snow. Powdery snow, clumpy snow that was half-ice, thick-packed snow. It was all more or less the same to him.

Ann would probably have said that George ought to like the snow. Not because it rendered the world into shades of black and white and grey, but because, she would point out, it was like him.


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Afterhours Lesson

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: G
Characters: Jim Prideaux, Bill Roach
Word Count: 428

General Summary: Bill Roach visits Jim Prideaux while waiting to go home for the winter holidays.

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt 'Candy Cane.'


"What’re you doing out here, Jumbo?"

Jim Prideaux’s voice caught him off-guard, as it always managed to, even though Bill Roach had long since figured out that the French teacher could spot him from almost anywhere. When he didn’t respond, Jim continued, "Aren’t you supposed to have gone home already?"

"I haven’t been picked up yet, sir." He hesitated to say by whom, not being entirely sure himself which parent was going to take him away this time. He could feel, without looking, Jim’s measured gaze on him, and staring at his feet, swallowed hard.

Finally, there was a soft huff and Jim rose to his feet. "C’mon Jumbo, can’t have you catching cold out here, can we?"


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Christmas at London Station

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: G
Setting: Pre-Canon
Characters: Control, Toby Esterhase, Bill Haydon, George Smiley
Word Count: 257

General Summary: Toby wants to put up a tree at London Station, an idea that Control is violently opposed to.

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt 'Christmas Tree.'


"For the last time, Toby, the answer is no." Control’s response was an irritable growl.

"But Contr -"

"No. There will be no tree at London Station."

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Ann and Angels

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: G
Characters: Ann Smiley, George Smiley
Primary Pairings: Ann Smiley/George Smiley
Secondary Pairings: Ann Smiley/A Lover
Word Count: 205

General Summary: George reflects on a pet name given by one of Ann's lovers.

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt 'Angel.'


He called her “Angel” over Ann’s “tart’s phone,” to George’s disgust - to Ann’s as well, judging by the faces she pulled whenever he crooned it at her through the phone’s receiver. George couldn’t remember much about him - he was likely as anything to be another ballet dancer she’d dredged up - but he could already see Ann growing bored with him, and irate with the name.

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Changing Partners

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: G
Setting: Pre Canon
Characters: Mary Alleline, Percy Alleline, Bill Haydon, Jim Prideaux
Primary Pairings: Bill Haydon/Jim Prideaux
Word Count: 393

 General Summary: Jim Prideaux watches Bill at the Circus' annual Christmas party and reflects on aspects of their relationship.

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Tinsel.'


”Oh cheer up dah-ling.”

Jim rolled his eyes at Bill’s deliberately mocked-up drawl as he consoled a sullen Mary Alleline, draping a strand of multi-coloured tinsel about her shoulders like an unbearably gaudy mink. He had spent half the evening with the woman - Percy’s Scotland wife - and while it was in part to save them all from a scene with Percy, he seemed to be enjoying the dancing and gossip, and she certainly was smitten with him. Jim snorted. Then again, who wasn’t smitten with Bill?

Not that it mattered, Jim thought to himself as, glancing up, Bill shot him a wink and a sly grin; Mary wasn’t Bill’s type.

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Ice Skating

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: G
Setting: Pre Canon
Characters: Bill Haydon, Jim Prideaux
Primary Pairings: Bill Haydon/Jim Prideaux
Word Count: 312

General Summary: Jim lures a somewhat reluctant Bill out to the country to skate.

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tacked the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Ice Skating.'


"No."

"Bill, this is half reason that I even got us this cabin."

"Why on earth should a grown man strap skates onto his feet and twirl around a bloody duck pond?" Bill pressed his lips together and folded his arms stubbornly. "There are equally interesting things we could do inside."

A slow, dawning look of understanding came over Jim’s face. "You can’t skate, can you?" When Bill didn’t answer immediately, he half-smiled, "I can show you how if you like."


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Aesthetic Choices

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: T
Setting: Pre Canon
Characters: Bill Haydon, Jim Prideaux
Primary Pairings: Bill Haydon/Jim Prideaux
Word Count: 587

General Summary: After a long day of skating, Bill and Jim retire to the cabin to continue their winter holiday.

(A sort of sequel to this piece) 

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Frost.'


Leaning against the frozen windowpane, Jim, supposedly watching the falling snow outside of their cabin, watched Bill stretched out on the floor in front of the fireplace. He had only recently come in from the snow with firewood, sullenly thrusting the bundle of wood at Jim and ordering him to “Go ahead and make up the bloody fire while I get out of these wet clothes,” and his hair was still damp and tousled, a slightly curled lock of hair hanging defiantly over his forehead. His dressing gown draped loosely over his body with the sash undone, the rich garnet-coloured silk clinging to the curve of his back and the angles of his hip as he sprawled carelessly over a field of pillows commandeered from the sofas and chairs, propping himself up on one elbow while his free hand held a half-smoked cigarette to his lips.


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Ritual Torture

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: G
Setting: Pre Canon
Characters: Roy Bland, Control, Bill Haydon, Jim Prideaux, George Smiley
Word Count: 254

General Summary: Every year, Control replaces the tea in his office with something more sinister.

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Eggnog.'


It was around the second week of December that it happened. The aroma of Control’s jasmine tea would suddenly go away, replaced by another, even more dreaded scent. With few exceptions - notably Smiley, but also Haydon who made a policy of carrying his own coffee around - the already small number of visits made by various personnel to Control’s office dropped by half.

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Expedition

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley Series
Rating: T
Setting: Pre Canon
Characters: Bill Haydon, Jim Prideaux
Primary Pairings: Bill Haydon/Jim Prideaux
Word Count: 405

General Summary: Even rather early on, Bill can draw Jim from memory.

(A sequel to these two fics: one, two)

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Cider.'


Jim still smelled faintly of the warmed cider he had been drinking, even as the mug sat next to the pile of art supplies, its contents long gone cold, and his eyes opening fractionally, Bill shifted his head just barely from its resting place against the other man’s collarbone. Nearby, the last vestiges of the fire crackled, still managing to bathe his back in warmth except where Jim’s arm lay draped over his lower back, the calluses of his palm resting on the slight ridge of his hip. Closing his eyes again momentarily, Bill listened to Jim’s slow, steady breathing - only slightly different from his breathing patterns while awake, but enough for Bill to know that the other man was still asleep.

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Mothers

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley Series
Rating: G
Characters: Peter Guillam
Word Count: 418

General Summary: Peter has always had a particular relationship with the Circus mothers. 

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Peppermint.'


Peter always had a sentimental place in his heart for the oldest of the mothers - the feared, sharp-tongued women who had been there from the start, some of whom were old as Control and then some - and they for him. For Peter, at least, these women were both their jobs and everything their titles suggested, and while he - in certain company - joked about their fierce protectiveness over their duties and their disdain towards Control’s usurper, he privately caught himself bristling at any derision directed their way.

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Home for the Holidays

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: T - M (ymmv)
Setting: Pre Canon
Characters: Bill Haydon, Jim Prideaux
Primary Pairings: Bill Haydon/Jim Prideaux
Word Count: 562 

General Summary: Jim and Bill briefly discuss the possibility of Bill's returning home to visit his family at Christmas, and idea to which Bill is less than receptive.

(A sequel to these three pieces: one, two, three) 

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Presents.'


"Bill."

"Mmmn? What is it?" Bill’s half-awake, muffled reply pressed itself against skin as he buried his face in Jim’s chest. Bill had been draped over him, unmoving for the past half hour or so, but to Jim at least, he was clearly still awake, his half-lidded eyes far more alert than they appeared to be.

"How long do you plan on staying?" Idly tracing Bill’s spine with his fingertips, Jim propped his head up on the pillow slightly.

"Depends." Purring, Bill stretched before resting his chin atop his hands where they folded across Jim’s breastbone. "How long do you want me for?"

Jim hesitated, his pulse jumping as the implications of the question raced down his body. Finally he managed a half mumbled, "Don’t you want to spend Christmas day with your family? Exchange presents and all that?"

Bill laughed, and for a moment something bitter seemed to curl around the edges of his lips only to quickly recede again as he shook his head and lowered his head again, his breath warm on Jim’s skin. "Why should I?"


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Aftermath

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / The Honourable Schoolboy / Smiley series
Rating: G
Setting: In between The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People
Characters: Peter Guillam, George Smiley
Primary Pairings: Implied Peter Guillam/George Smiley
Warnings: Spoilers for The Honourable Schoolboy
Word Count: 220 

General Summary: In the aftermath of Operation Dolphin, Peter and George find themselves left out in the cold. 

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Fireplace.'


George Smiley had not stirred from his place in front of the fireplace for the last hour and a half, his usually blinking, owlish eyes hooded, his lips pressed into a thin, pensive line. Behind him, Peter Guillam paced like a caged tiger, his heels clicking on the wood flooring every time he left the rug. Finally he stopped behind George’s chair, his hands stopping just short of resting on the other man’s shoulders.

"You look tired."

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Consequences

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / The Honourable Schoolboy / Smiley series
Rating: G
Setting: In between The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People
Characters: Peter Guillam, Molly Meakin
Primary Pairings: Peter Guillam/Molly Meakin, Peter Guillam/George Smiley
Secondary Pairings: Ann Smiley/George Smiley
Warnings: Spoilers for The Honourable Schoolboy
Word Count: 392

General Summary: After meeting with George, Peter pays a visit to his only other major source of support.

(A sequel to this piece) 

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Stockings/Socks.'


"What are you thinking?" Carding her fingers through Peter’s wind-tousled hair, Molly tightened her dressing gown around her shoulders and crossed a leg over her knee, small glimpses of skin just visible beyond the sheer fabric of her black stockings, which had not yet been removed when he had arrived. It had been past any reasonable hour when Peter had phoned her, and reluctantly, she had agreed to allow him over to her flat without bothering to do more than throw on her dressing gown.

Now, shoes toed safely off under the table, and his legs curled up under him on Molly’s sofa, Peter Guillam half sat, half leaned against her on the sofa in his shirtsleeves, his gaze distracted and somewhat absent, his head resting against her collarbone. Finally, after several minutes, he spoke his first words since he’d turned up on her doorstep, his voice raspy and distant. "I just came from George’s."
 

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End of Term

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: G
Characters: Jim Prideaux, Bill Roach
Word Count: 252 

General Summary: Jim receives an unexpected gift towards the end of term. 

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Cookies.'


It was initially with a certain brand of surprised suspicion that Jim Prideaux eyed the small plate of cookies and the glass of milk left on his desk in the classroom when he came in that morning. As he approached the desk, his eyes scanning the plate, he instantly recognised each variety of cookie by shape and size, and could easily attach a name and family member to each one. Shifting his gaze back to the glass of milk, he carefully lifted it and sniffed it once before taking a sip.


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Dissension

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: G
Characters: Percy Alleline, Control, Toby Esterhase, Connie Sachs
Word Count: 259

General Summary: There are certain aspects of the Circus' annual Christmas party's festivities in which Toby Esterhase is hesitant to take part. 

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Santa.'


A bit of Toby Esterhase’s heart sank as he saw the man in red ascending the stairs to the stage, then fell completely into the pit of his stomach as the music swelled, and his mouth set itself in a stern line as he slipped through the crowded space created by the sudden rising of seated bodies, his glass in hand. There was something distinctly unsavoury about the whole affair, Toby had always thought. An air of mockery towards an opponent who often as not was more than a match for them, a making light of something that was strictly business.


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The War on Winter

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley Series
Rating: G
Setting: The Fish Pond Tapes (a domestic retirement AU)
Characters: Peter Guillam, George Smiley
Primary Pairings: Implied Peter Guillam/George Smiley
Word Count: 365 

General Summary: Every year, Peter wages a war against winter in general.

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Sled.'


The winter season was a period of seemingly perpetual discontent for Peter. Between the dull ache in his joints that he refused to acknowledge, even to George, and the constant battle to keep the fish pond from icing over, his speech was frequently sprinkled with bitter complaining about the season and irate cursing of the possibility of snowfall. Even George, for whom snow was a mortal enemy, tolerated winter better than Peter, and it was often up to the older man to soothe his rankled nerves after a particularly difficult time breaking up the ice that had begun to form on the surface of the pond.


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The Architecture of a Snowman

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: G
Setting: Pre Canon
Characters: Bill Haydon, Jim Prideaux
Primary Pairings: Bill Haydon/Jim Prideaux
Word Count: 336 

General Summary: While running an operation in Germany, Jim takes a small break. 

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Snowman.'


It was a late afternoon after a long night-drop operation when Jim Prideaux was awakened by the sound of voices beneath his window. Sitting up in bed, he squinted in the sunlight, and looking out, saw a small group of children struggling to build a snowman. A small smile twitching the corner of his mouth, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and leaned his arms on the window sill to watch. He glanced backwards at the still-sleeping body on the bed behind him, half-covered by the battered comforter, face buried in the pillow as a ward against the light.

They had gotten in from the drop in the early hours of the morning - Bill had arrived first, and his shadow had slipped in half an hour later, having cleared them of any pavement artists - and had almost immediately shed their clothing and fallen into bed, exhausted and running on a minimal amount of sleep. Their rooms were drafty at best, and in the chill of the German winter, even Bill was content to burrow under the blankets and hold still, his face pressed between Jim’s shoulder blades for most of the night.


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Distraction

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: G
Characters: Peter Guillam, George Smiley
Primary Pairings: Peter Guillam/Unnamed OC
Secondary Pairings: Peter Guillam/George Smiley, Ann Smiley/George Smiley
Word Count: 326 

General Summary: Peter can't quite concentrate on his date.

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Jingle Bells/Sleigh Bells.'


The carriage ride had been dragging on for what seemed like ages, and Peter Guillam was insufferably bored. He could hardly hear himself think over the sound of hooves and bells, and yet, in between the noise and seemingly thoughtful responses to his date’s nattering, his mind insisted over and over again on returning to the lonely figure of George Smiley.

George was likely, he knew, alone again this Christmas, with Ann off in the country with her family or god-knows-who, and Peter couldn’t help but feel that his place was at Bywater Street, seated at a table over coffee.

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The Recurrence of Memory

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley's People / Smiley series
Rating: G
Setting: After Smiley's People
Characters: Karla, Ann Smiley, George Smiley, Tatiana
Warnings: Spoilers for Smiley's People
Word Count: 349

General Summary: George's memories are linked together like bits of chain fencing, but sometimes they flow into one another.

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Chestnut.'


For George Smiley, the smell of roasting chestnuts was inexorably tied to the memory of Berne in winter. The smoky, burnt-wood aroma took him back to snowy streets and the dull, throbbing anxiety of the hunt. And just as chestnuts were tied to Berne, so the memory of Berne conjured the spectres of Karla and his mad daughter - spectres which had mercifully stayed away from his memories of Berlin to hover over Switzerland.

Neither of these associations were ones with which Ann Smiley was familiar


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Christmas Evening, 1969

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: G
Setting: Pre Canon
Characters: Bill Haydon, Jim Prideaux
Primary Pairings: Bill Haydon/Jim Prideaux
Word Count: 509

General Summary: A Christmas evening with Jim Prideaux and Bill Haydon.

(A sequel to these four pieces: one, two, three, four) 

Author’s Note: Back in December 2012, I tackled the 25 Days of Holiday Fic. This was the prompt for 'Christmas Music/Movies.'


Click.

The soft click of the needle reaching the end of the record drew Jim Prideaux’s eyes from his book to where the record continued spinning soundlessly on the turntable. Setting it down, he started to get up, but was stopped by an unexpected weight pressed against the side of his rib cage. Allowing himself to settle back against the sofa, Jim carded his fingers through Bill’s hair. "Record’s off."

Bill didn’t respond, but instead burrowed his face against Jim’s stomach, his body twisting under his robe in a feline stretch, one hand kneading his thigh. Shaking his head, Jim stifled a smile. "I should go turn the table off."


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Changing Channels

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: T
Setting: Pre Canon through the end of Tinker, Tailor
Characters: Bill Haydon, Jim Prideaux
Primary Pairings: Bill Haydon/Jim Prideaux
Word Count: 1939 

General Summary: Some things change, others stay quite the same.

[A response to a prompt asking for "Five things that Bill Haydon loves in Jim Prideaux"]

Author’s Note: Wrote this in January 2013. Still proud of it.


25 January 1937

It was only partly the oddity of the lone figure sitting in at the back of the room that drew Bill Haydon in. It was also the thoughtfully distracted look in the green-brown eyes during the speaker’s time on the floor, the candid, bemused surprise in the way he raised his eyebrows when Bill approached, the entirely unfazed "Oh, hullo" and the look that accompanied it.

More so, it was the way that Bill found the tables suddenly turned; how the long silence following his simple "What is your dilemma?" left Bill hanging on in fascination and eager anticipation of what response he might receive. He found himself sitting in an empty chair next to him, watching the other man intently to the point that he was as much studying him as anything else – studying the length and easy posture of his long legs, the athletic build, the thoughtful expression. It wasn’t until he spoke up with a simple "I haven’t got one," that Bill realised how engrossed he was.

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Decisions

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley Series
Rating: G
Characters: Peter Guillam, Molly Meakin, Connie Sachs, George Smiley
Primary Pairings: Peter Guillam/Molly Meakin
Word Count: 434 

General Summary: A brief sketch of the development of Molly and Peter's relationship from Molly's point of view. 

Author’s Note: Written in February 2013.


Molly Meakin was no stranger to men like Peter Guillam. Even not knowing his reputation, she would have recognised him the moment she walked into the room and sat down. As it was, she had already slipped easily into a defensive mode, but maintained a careful veneer of calculated coolness under his gaze. This was in part defence against Guillam, who while attractive, she didn’t trust further than she could throw him, and in part an equally automatic reaction against the nervousness roused in her by the dual scrutiny of George Smiley and Connie Sachs, both of whom she knew primarily through reputation alone.

When she later found herself bumping into the tall blond outside of one of the lifts, she was unsurprised, but feigned it.


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And There Were Multitudes...

Fandom: Supernatural
Rating: G
Characters: Castiel, Dean Winchester
Primary Pairings: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Word Count: 466

General Summary: Dean awakens to find Castiel sitting at the end of his bed with an unexpected anxiety.

Author’s Note: Listen, I wrote this for a prompt back in February 2013. I don't even go here, so please. Let me live.


It was late at night when Dean was awakened by a soft rustling noise and found Castiel perched on the end of his bed, his shoulders almost uncomfortably hunched, leaving his wings lank and drooping. Frowning, he sat up and squinted through the darkness of the room before switching on the lamp.

"Cas, you’ve really got to stop just randomly turning up in -"

"I didn’t randomly turn up. I’ve been here."

Rubbing his forehead, Dean sighed, "How long?"

Castiel shrugged limply, which was still an odd sight to have to process when his wings manifested - nothing about it seemed quite anatomically possible, as if the tendons and muscles connected to things that didn’t quite exist within the human body.

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Idle Hands

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: T
Setting: Pre Canon
Characters: Peter Guillam, Ricki Tarr
Word Count: 479 

General Summary: When Ricki Tarr waltzes into Peter Guillam's office after one of his infamous escapades, he expects a slap on the wrist and a short idle period from his boss. What he gets is an entirely different story.

Author’s Note: Someone asked me for Ricki/Peter back in February 2013. I responded with this.


Peter was practically seething by the time Ricki Tarr dared to show his face in Brixton. The younger man had been missing for nearly a week, and only vague reports and a long history of failure had prevented accusations of defection - one of these days, Peter knew, even that wouldn’t keep Percy from calling for Tarr’s head, but for now his reputation protected him. So when he finally slipped into Peter’s office with a gash across his left temple and a smarmy grin on his face, everything boiled over.

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The Art of Letter Writing and Marital Arrangements

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: G
Characters: Ann Smiley, George Smiley
Primary Pairings: Ann Smiley/George Smiley
Word Count: 388

General Summary: One evening, George Smiley receives a letter from Ann, who has been gone for several months.

Author’s Note: Another one from February 2013.


George Smiley had not expected the small, carefully folded stationary card on his writing desk. Picking it up with unusually delicate care, he examined it, his faded blue eyes scanning over the carefully penned address on the back. After a moment’s hesitation, he sat down in his desk chair, turning the card over in his hands for several minutes before finally resolving to open it.

The stationary was expensive, but gave easily under his efforts at opening, the delicate wax seal breaking away and shedding a few thin red flakes onto his desk as he unfolded the contents. The stationary gave off a faint, familiar scent as it was opened, but despite it, George failed to bat an eye, his attention fixed instead on the loose, airy curve of the lettering dotting the page.


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The War that Never Was

Fandom: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley series
Rating: G
Characters: Ann Smiley, George Smiley
Primary Pairings: Ann Smiley/George Smiley
Word Count: 397 

General Summary: It is common knowledge that the Smileys are perpetually at war with one another.

It is not common knowledge, however, that this is patently untrue. 

Author’s Note: Another Ann and George prompt from February 2013.

Contrary to common gossip, the Smileys were not perpetually at war with one another, if at all. George Smiley knew this, as did Ann, although there were times in which even they were fooled by appearances. The truth, a George might have had it, was in the details.

It was in how, on an especially rainy day, Ann Smiley arrived home from her most recent escapade to find her husband sitting by the phonograph, his chin resting atop his hands as he stared intently into space whilst a symphony orchestra played Liszt. She had purchased the recording specifically for him despite his general disinterest in music because she had recognised the symphony’s name as being modelled after one of the lengthy German books that lined their shelves.

It was, too, in the way that George Smiley one day noticed in his wife’s eyes a keen understanding of at least a large portion of the words leaving his lips as he read aloud from a battered old copy of Goethe’s Faust.


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"You Will See."

Fandom: Les Miserables
Rating: G
Characters: Enjolras, Grantaire
Primary Pairings: Unrequited Enjolras/Grantaire
Word Count: 551

General Summary: When Enjolras orders him to leave, Grantaire can hardly hear the words leaving his lips, but he can hear his voice and he can see his face.

Author’s Note: A reverse perspective take on a particular scene in Les Mis. Written February 2013.


He is beautiful.

Through the haze of the alcohol, this single thought registered itself in his mind. With the light behind him, Enjolras’ features would have been difficult to make out, had not they already been so carefully memorised in his mind’s eye, which rendered both the man and his displeasure as clear as day. The haughty lift of his head as he turned from where he stood, the faint glints of muffled sunlight on his hair and face both gave him the air of an avenging angel.

Or of Milton’s Lucifer. The observation fluttered to his lips, but never left them as he squinted up against the light - whether it was the sunlight or a light somehow emitted by the contained fury etched into his features was both indistinguishable and irrelevant.

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