Fanfiction - Community - New Beginnings
May. 22nd, 2010 02:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
leskuhTitle: New Beginnings
Fandom/Universe: Community
Character(s): Britta, Slater, Troy, Abed
Rating: K+
“Hey.” A pause. “I don’t think he’s coming back.”
Britta looks up at Slater and rubs awkwardly at her forearm. She casts a half-hearted glance back at the curtains Jeff had disappeared through and tries her best not to look pathetic. She straightens out her back and sucks in a deep breath.
“Yeah. I think you’re right.”
She notices Slater shuffling her feet back and forth as if trying to decide something. Britta quirks an eyebrow.
“What?”
Slater scowls at her for a second and then lets out a long sigh.
“Can I sit?” Slater asks. Britta lets out a loud cough and whips her head up to stare straight at Slater.
“Excuse me?”
“Look, you’re not the only one who’s…” Slater stops herself and steps backwards. “You know what?” Inhale. “Forget it. I’ll just go.”
Britta can feel a sharp, angry ‘Good’ forming on the tip of her tongue, but she bites it back.
“W-wait.” She reaches out a hand and taps Slater’s arm. “What is it?”
Slater gestures to the chair beside Britta once again.
“Is it okay if I -?”
“Yeah, it’s… it’s fine.”
Slater takes the seat next to her and they both sit in awkward silence for a few moments.
Britta’s whole left side burns from sitting this close to Slater. She can feel a thousand insults cycling through her mind and she really wants to let them loose - blame this whole entire mess on the woman sitting beside her, but for some reason… the fire’s gone out.
“I guess… that’s it then.” Slater says finally. “For me.”
And Britta gets that.
“Yeah.” She nods. “Yeah, for me too.”
And it’s funny because she hates this woman sitting next to her, but they’re finally on equal ground and it sucks.
“I’m…” Britta starts. She wants to end that sentence with ‘Sorry’ but she’s not sure she means it. At least, she isn’t sorry for not liking Slater or falling for Jeff. Not really. And she isn’t even sorry for fighting with Slater tonight, because she’d been holding all that passive aggressive anger in since that stupid Halloween Dance and it had to come out somehow.
But she still wishes….
“Me too.” Slater agrees. “This sucks.”
And it’s their own faults, but it’s still kind of nice to be able to commiserate.
“I didn’t… mean for this.” Britta says suddenly. “I never wanted this. This is… petty. And for what?”
“Jeff Winger.” Slater says.
“Jeff Winger.” Britta repeats letting the name roll of her tongue like exhaling smoke.
“I don’t like you.” Slater tells her, turning to meet Britta’s gaze. “I never have. I always knew that… I knew it was more than just friendship between you too. But it’s not just jealousy. I hate you because I think the shit you believe in is stupid.”
“Ditto. And I guess it’s a little too late to claim that it is just friendship, huh?”
“You said you loved him.” Slater points out.
“Ah. So did you.”
“I was copying you, remember?” Slater teases and Britta cracks a smile.
“Yeah well… heat of the moment.”
They lapse into silence again.
“Did you mean it?”
“What?” Britta asks. “You mean do I love him?”
“Yeah.” Slater attempts to say nonchalantly, but Britta can tell that the other woman really wants an answer.
It’s weird, Britta realizes then. These are totally slumber party questions and they’re grown women and it’s all over Jeff Winger and that’s stupid.
“I don’t know.” Britta answers honestly. “I don’t think I know him well enough to say for sure. I don’t think I know myself well enough to know for sure.” She leans back in her chair and lets out a groan. “Well what about you?”
“I could have.” Slater says firmly. “If he’d given me that second chance. But he turned me down. I have enough self-respect not to ask again or beg for it. He made his choice and it’s not me.”
Britta’s breath catches.
“It’s…” Her voice falters. “It’s not me either.”
And then it’s done. The coffin nailed shut.
“Oh.” Britta lets out a soft sound and immediately covers her mouth with her hand. Another soft sob escapes from her unbidden and then she can’t stop. “Oh.” She cries, burrowing her face into her hands.
Slater does not comfort Britta, but she also does not abandon her. She stares off in the other direction until Britta’s sobs quiet down.
“I’m upset.” Britta says like it’s a revelation. “When did that happen? When did I start feeling… this?”
“I can’t help you there.” Slater says, but the words are soft. “This is not an area I’m comfortable with.”
“It’s okay.” Britta shakes her head. “I don’t need -“
“I know.” Slater leans back a moment and then with a heavy sigh pushes herself off the chair. “Well, I think that’s enough drama for one semester.” She turns to Britta and holds out a hand. “You leaving too?”
Britta looks around at the mostly empty party and nods.
“Yeah. I should go.”
“Don’t forget your crown,” Slater teases pointing to the garish rhinestone-encrusted toy tiara sitting on the chair next to Britta’s. Britta cringes, but picks it up nonetheless.
“What a shitty reminder this is gonna be. I should just throw it out now and be done with it.” Britta says scanning the area for a garbage can. She spots one in the corner by where Starburns had passed out hours earlier and is about to head over to it when Slater reaches out a hand to stop her.
“Don’t throw it away.” She says suddenly.
“Why -?” Britta starts, but Slater cuts her off.
“I think you should hold onto it. Maybe one day this all won’t seem so awful. Or maybe you can keep it as a reminder to never get emotionally involved with Jeff fucking Winger. Either way.” Slater shrugs.
Britta studies the plastic toy in her hand and then smiles faintly.
“Yeah, okay. That’s not a bad idea.” She turns. “Thank you, Professor Slater.”
Slater reaches out her hand and Britta grabs for it.
“You can call me Michelle, Britta.”
“Right. Okay.” Britta agrees, heat rising on the back of her neck. “I’ll do that…” She pauses, but manages to stammer out a squeaky: “Michelle.”
Slater cringes and shakes her head.
“Okay, that’s a little weird.”
“I know!” Britta agrees, crinkling her nose. “So, Professor Slater then?”
“Yeah, for now anyway.” Slater gives Britta’s hand a small squeeze and then lets go. “Good night, Britta.”
“Good night, Professor.”
With that Slater turns to leave, sidestepping a drunken, teetering Professor Duncan on her way to the exit. Britta smiles as she goes.
“Hey.”
Britta turns to find Abed holding tightly to a rather sick looking Troy. Britta lets out a small gasp and reaches out a hand to help Abed hold him steady.
“Whoa, what happened to him?”
“Too much cookie-friendship.” Abed says shaking his head. “Could you take him home, Britta?”
“Yeah,” Britta agrees. “Just help me get him to my car, okay?”
Together they help lead Troy outside and down to where Britta’s car is parked. Halfway down the steps Troy asks them to stop. They lower him to the ground and Abed keeps watch while Britta rubs small circles on Troy’s back.
Troy’s bent with his head between his knees when he suddenly turns his head a little to the left and smiles tiredly at Britta.
“Jeff’s a dumbass.”
Britta stares at him, her eyebrows furrowing.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He turns to Abed. “Hey, I’m good. Help me up?”
“Yeah.” Abed nods and bends down to help lift Troy again. Britta is frozen for a moment still not quite sure what to make of things, but for some reason she feels warmer than she did a few minutes ago. Abed tilts his head in Britta’s direction and nods towards the car only a few feet away from them now. “Britta?”
“Yeah, sorry.” She says slipping her arm back around Troy. He tightens his grip on her shoulder for just a moment and Britta sometimes really hates how small and frightened Greendale makes her feel.
It’s strange, she thinks to herself, that there’s nowhere else she really wants to be.
With that she helps lead her friends down into the darkness of the parking lot.
a/n: I have many thoughts on the Season Finale! I will post them soonish (I hope!). In the meantime this is my TOTALLY CANON NOW scenario of what happens to Britta and Slater after Jeff vanishes. They aren't friends, but they're both in the same boat and it's not a fun one. I'm honestly not sure if Slater would approach Britta without prompting, but I wanted Britta to be the one who was more unsure of what to do and so this worked best.
Also I slipped in Britta/Troy at the end because LOLOLOLOL SEKRIT OTP.
Also also... f-first time writing Community characters? DID I FAIL?! D:
Fandom/Universe: Community
Character(s): Britta, Slater, Troy, Abed
Rating: K+
“Hey.” A pause. “I don’t think he’s coming back.”
Britta looks up at Slater and rubs awkwardly at her forearm. She casts a half-hearted glance back at the curtains Jeff had disappeared through and tries her best not to look pathetic. She straightens out her back and sucks in a deep breath.
“Yeah. I think you’re right.”
She notices Slater shuffling her feet back and forth as if trying to decide something. Britta quirks an eyebrow.
“What?”
Slater scowls at her for a second and then lets out a long sigh.
“Can I sit?” Slater asks. Britta lets out a loud cough and whips her head up to stare straight at Slater.
“Excuse me?”
“Look, you’re not the only one who’s…” Slater stops herself and steps backwards. “You know what?” Inhale. “Forget it. I’ll just go.”
Britta can feel a sharp, angry ‘Good’ forming on the tip of her tongue, but she bites it back.
“W-wait.” She reaches out a hand and taps Slater’s arm. “What is it?”
Slater gestures to the chair beside Britta once again.
“Is it okay if I -?”
“Yeah, it’s… it’s fine.”
Slater takes the seat next to her and they both sit in awkward silence for a few moments.
Britta’s whole left side burns from sitting this close to Slater. She can feel a thousand insults cycling through her mind and she really wants to let them loose - blame this whole entire mess on the woman sitting beside her, but for some reason… the fire’s gone out.
“I guess… that’s it then.” Slater says finally. “For me.”
And Britta gets that.
“Yeah.” She nods. “Yeah, for me too.”
And it’s funny because she hates this woman sitting next to her, but they’re finally on equal ground and it sucks.
“I’m…” Britta starts. She wants to end that sentence with ‘Sorry’ but she’s not sure she means it. At least, she isn’t sorry for not liking Slater or falling for Jeff. Not really. And she isn’t even sorry for fighting with Slater tonight, because she’d been holding all that passive aggressive anger in since that stupid Halloween Dance and it had to come out somehow.
But she still wishes….
“Me too.” Slater agrees. “This sucks.”
And it’s their own faults, but it’s still kind of nice to be able to commiserate.
“I didn’t… mean for this.” Britta says suddenly. “I never wanted this. This is… petty. And for what?”
“Jeff Winger.” Slater says.
“Jeff Winger.” Britta repeats letting the name roll of her tongue like exhaling smoke.
“I don’t like you.” Slater tells her, turning to meet Britta’s gaze. “I never have. I always knew that… I knew it was more than just friendship between you too. But it’s not just jealousy. I hate you because I think the shit you believe in is stupid.”
“Ditto. And I guess it’s a little too late to claim that it is just friendship, huh?”
“You said you loved him.” Slater points out.
“Ah. So did you.”
“I was copying you, remember?” Slater teases and Britta cracks a smile.
“Yeah well… heat of the moment.”
They lapse into silence again.
“Did you mean it?”
“What?” Britta asks. “You mean do I love him?”
“Yeah.” Slater attempts to say nonchalantly, but Britta can tell that the other woman really wants an answer.
It’s weird, Britta realizes then. These are totally slumber party questions and they’re grown women and it’s all over Jeff Winger and that’s stupid.
“I don’t know.” Britta answers honestly. “I don’t think I know him well enough to say for sure. I don’t think I know myself well enough to know for sure.” She leans back in her chair and lets out a groan. “Well what about you?”
“I could have.” Slater says firmly. “If he’d given me that second chance. But he turned me down. I have enough self-respect not to ask again or beg for it. He made his choice and it’s not me.”
Britta’s breath catches.
“It’s…” Her voice falters. “It’s not me either.”
And then it’s done. The coffin nailed shut.
“Oh.” Britta lets out a soft sound and immediately covers her mouth with her hand. Another soft sob escapes from her unbidden and then she can’t stop. “Oh.” She cries, burrowing her face into her hands.
Slater does not comfort Britta, but she also does not abandon her. She stares off in the other direction until Britta’s sobs quiet down.
“I’m upset.” Britta says like it’s a revelation. “When did that happen? When did I start feeling… this?”
“I can’t help you there.” Slater says, but the words are soft. “This is not an area I’m comfortable with.”
“It’s okay.” Britta shakes her head. “I don’t need -“
“I know.” Slater leans back a moment and then with a heavy sigh pushes herself off the chair. “Well, I think that’s enough drama for one semester.” She turns to Britta and holds out a hand. “You leaving too?”
Britta looks around at the mostly empty party and nods.
“Yeah. I should go.”
“Don’t forget your crown,” Slater teases pointing to the garish rhinestone-encrusted toy tiara sitting on the chair next to Britta’s. Britta cringes, but picks it up nonetheless.
“What a shitty reminder this is gonna be. I should just throw it out now and be done with it.” Britta says scanning the area for a garbage can. She spots one in the corner by where Starburns had passed out hours earlier and is about to head over to it when Slater reaches out a hand to stop her.
“Don’t throw it away.” She says suddenly.
“Why -?” Britta starts, but Slater cuts her off.
“I think you should hold onto it. Maybe one day this all won’t seem so awful. Or maybe you can keep it as a reminder to never get emotionally involved with Jeff fucking Winger. Either way.” Slater shrugs.
Britta studies the plastic toy in her hand and then smiles faintly.
“Yeah, okay. That’s not a bad idea.” She turns. “Thank you, Professor Slater.”
Slater reaches out her hand and Britta grabs for it.
“You can call me Michelle, Britta.”
“Right. Okay.” Britta agrees, heat rising on the back of her neck. “I’ll do that…” She pauses, but manages to stammer out a squeaky: “Michelle.”
Slater cringes and shakes her head.
“Okay, that’s a little weird.”
“I know!” Britta agrees, crinkling her nose. “So, Professor Slater then?”
“Yeah, for now anyway.” Slater gives Britta’s hand a small squeeze and then lets go. “Good night, Britta.”
“Good night, Professor.”
With that Slater turns to leave, sidestepping a drunken, teetering Professor Duncan on her way to the exit. Britta smiles as she goes.
“Hey.”
Britta turns to find Abed holding tightly to a rather sick looking Troy. Britta lets out a small gasp and reaches out a hand to help Abed hold him steady.
“Whoa, what happened to him?”
“Too much cookie-friendship.” Abed says shaking his head. “Could you take him home, Britta?”
“Yeah,” Britta agrees. “Just help me get him to my car, okay?”
Together they help lead Troy outside and down to where Britta’s car is parked. Halfway down the steps Troy asks them to stop. They lower him to the ground and Abed keeps watch while Britta rubs small circles on Troy’s back.
Troy’s bent with his head between his knees when he suddenly turns his head a little to the left and smiles tiredly at Britta.
“Jeff’s a dumbass.”
Britta stares at him, her eyebrows furrowing.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He turns to Abed. “Hey, I’m good. Help me up?”
“Yeah.” Abed nods and bends down to help lift Troy again. Britta is frozen for a moment still not quite sure what to make of things, but for some reason she feels warmer than she did a few minutes ago. Abed tilts his head in Britta’s direction and nods towards the car only a few feet away from them now. “Britta?”
“Yeah, sorry.” She says slipping her arm back around Troy. He tightens his grip on her shoulder for just a moment and Britta sometimes really hates how small and frightened Greendale makes her feel.
It’s strange, she thinks to herself, that there’s nowhere else she really wants to be.
With that she helps lead her friends down into the darkness of the parking lot.
a/n: I have many thoughts on the Season Finale! I will post them soonish (I hope!). In the meantime this is my TOTALLY CANON NOW scenario of what happens to Britta and Slater after Jeff vanishes. They aren't friends, but they're both in the same boat and it's not a fun one. I'm honestly not sure if Slater would approach Britta without prompting, but I wanted Britta to be the one who was more unsure of what to do and so this worked best.
Also I slipped in Britta/Troy at the end because LOLOLOLOL SEKRIT OTP.
Also also... f-first time writing Community characters? DID I FAIL?! D:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-05-22 07:12 am (UTC)other than that, I think it was pretty IC?
SHIT MY PAYED ACCOUNT RAN OUT >______________<
No McHandsome icon for now...
no subject
Date: 2010-05-22 03:49 pm (UTC)Thank youuuuuuu! <3333
no subject
Date: 2010-05-22 10:15 pm (UTC)ANYWAY, I loved the whole feeling of this thing <3
The dialogues seemed pretty accurate to me :D
"I don't think he's comming back" XD
no subject
Date: 2010-05-22 08:05 am (UTC)NO YOU DID NOT FAIL! I think Slater was especially in character!
<33333
I look forward to your thoughts on the episode. I'M SO CONFLICTED.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-22 03:54 pm (UTC)Also, more than any other pairing on the show I really want to see a Britta/Troy kiss or relationship or something. I sort of not-so-secretly love them more than Jeff/Anyone.
Yay for not failing! And woo at getting Slater pretty well, because I was expecting to fail there. I also definitely should never write Abed, because I have no idea how to handle his excessive meta so I confine him to small roles where he barely speaks D:
I have many thoughts on the episode and most of them are actually positive! I hated the competitive cat fight thing, but it's been building since episode 6 soooo... I can't really say I'm surprised.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-22 10:28 am (UTC)Plus, Jeff's reaction to that would be hilarious.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-22 04:01 pm (UTC)I see Britta being more... bi-curious than bisexual. I can't see her in a serious relationship with a woman (then again I don't see her being in a serious relationship with ANYONE anytime soon - Britta's still got a lot of issues to work out), but it's obvious that she finds some women attractive and I could see her being open to experimenting with women at least for a little while.
I'm incredibly interested in how they're going to pick up the Jeff/Annie plot next season. For some reason I don't really see either of them starting a relationship over the summer and they basically spend three months stewing in their own uncertainty. But, maybe not?
no subject
Date: 2010-05-23 11:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 12:18 am (UTC)If they don't end up as friends in Season 2 I'm going to be a little upset. I mean, I guess it would be all right if they end up not liking but respecting one another, but I refuse to watch them continue this petty fighting over one guy. So for the next three months I am going to FIRMLY BELIEVE that this story is the TRUE CANON end to Britta and Slater's night. I have faith in Harmon to make things right between them too.
Also, I think it'd be hilarious to see Jeff react to the two of them as friends. FUFUFUFUFUFU.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 12:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 12:26 am (UTC)Britta/Tory is not-so-secretly my favorite. Also, I don't think he's that mean to her so much as he doesn't always understand her, but I think he wants to understand her and I mean he obviously thinks she's hot. I really want to see the show take them down that route at some point or at least give us a kiss or something (I want to see many more kisses! And I want them to involve people other than Jeff!). Fingers crossed!
I tried not to take it to a completely sappy territory with Troy because he's not a very sappy person, but I think he'd want to try and build her back up a bit after that and he also says it because if it'd been him in that position the answer would have been obvious.
I did like the finale, but I just wish we could have had a little more resolution! But the show left us with a rejected Britta and a little bit of surprise!Jeff/Annie (which I think was poorly timed on the character's part even if I can understand why both Jeff and Annie acted on their emotions right then) and everything was really left hanging in the balance.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 12:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 02:12 am (UTC)Ah! Now you're kind of making me regret net letting Britta start calling Slater "Michelle" for good because having them both on a first name basis would help level their odd power struggle.
<3
no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 02:50 am (UTC)I think you redeemed the characters pretty well. (Slater was like perfectly canon. "I hate you because I think the shit you believe in is stupid.") It's actually pretty cool that you even attempted writing about this scene after all the talk about Britta being like sooo out of character and all.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 05:19 pm (UTC)Troy/Britta is my not-so-secret favorite. I'm mostly Everyone/Everyone, but if I had to choose one pairing to settle on it'd be them.
I didn't actually think Britta was OOC in this episode! She's been waiting to start a fight with Slater since the Halloween episode. The finale was just all of that repressed aggravation finally coming to a head. I don't love the idea of these two women getting catty over Jeff, but I do understand why it happened.
Like, Britta confessing her love for Jeff while being all dolled up as she attempts to win a beauty pageant - yes, that's OOC. However, Britta saying something stupid and poorly timed in an attempt to one-up someone who she feels threatened by? That's my girl.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 08:50 pm (UTC)I'm actually really excited for the Britta/Jeff tension next season. Sex? Yeah, that was easy to pretend away. But this whole confession thing... I can't wait to see how she handles it..
It's honestly more interesting for me then all the Jeff/Annie that everyone is so excited about.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 09:06 pm (UTC)That is ridiculous! Of course Britta is capable of love. She just has a hard time letting herself believe it, I think. She's cynical about it and maybe at this point of time she's still a little too guarded to really let someone in, but that's what the study group is doing for her - it's making her believe that she can be loved and doesn't have to go and screw herself over on purpose because of her deep rooted belief that she's gonna fuck it up anyway.
Which is why this whole confession is gonna SUCK for Britta, because she really did put a lot of herself out there (albeit in a really stupid way) and was rejected. Not that Jeff had to love her back, because that's not how it works, but I really wish he hadn't rejected her and then completely vanished/made out with Annie because Britta needs to know that he still cares about her a lot.
So um. Yeah, I'm also really excited to see how they handle the Britta/Jeff tension because they've been really good at setting themselves back to square one, but a confession of love? Can that really be waved away?
Jeff/Annie is totally adorable and I understand it's appeal, but for me it's a little too... TV coupley? Like, the cool thing about Jeff and Britta's relationship is that it feels kind of... real. It's not rainbows and sunshine - it's messy and complicated and stupid. Sometimes they bring out the worst in each other! Sometimes the best! And sometimes they kiss or fuck and maybe it doesn't have to mean everything the way that Jeff/Annie moments seem to be. IDK.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 09:15 pm (UTC)Annie is too much of a sweetheart to recognize that. Jeff/Annie would NEVER work, and I really hope they don't make it a thing.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 09:20 pm (UTC)I am hoping that having Jeff/Annie happen now means that the show will be able to move past it soon enough. I'd really love to have a Jeff sort of lose his mojo for a bit and not be the center of all the romantic flow.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 09:32 pm (UTC)I try not to laugh when I read those intense, intense analysis of like... Jeff looking at Annie from the corner of his eye or something. It's kind of ridiculous, and I can't imagine you're appreciating the pure funny when you're doing that.
Besides, Pierce/Shirley needs love too.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-25 09:44 pm (UTC)Britta crying was a bit of a strange thing to do in front of Slater, but not too unexpected. She did just humiliate herself in public and she cares a great deal about how she's percieved. I thought that Troy's "Jeff's a dumbass" was a little out of place. I can't see him focusing on anybody but himself in that moment and it just didn't sound like him.
Overall I enjoyed it.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-07 11:56 pm (UTC)