Von Dutch

Summary: River confronts Spider after the Stanstead fiasco.

Adult language

No warnings

River/Spider (ish)

452 words

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James was, let the record show, simply minding his business and heading down the hall of the pub to the toilets when River grabbed his shoulder from behind with a grip like a vice. James turned around as casually as possible under the circumstances.

"Are you stalking me? That's an HR violation. I'm not sure you need another black mark on your record right now." River stared daggers at him.

“We need to talk.” James didn’t bring up the obvious, which was that River had his number.

"I didn't think I'd see you out tonight." If James had crashed Stanstead he probably would have jumped off a bridge and ended it all, not crashed the after party too, but that was Cartwright for you. Never knew when to give up.

"You gave me the wrong instructions. Blue shirt, white tee not white shirt, blue tee."

"Are you sure? Anyone could get that mixed up."

"Not me."

James arched an eyebrow. "Everyone makes mistakes." Not me, River's expression said.

"You have to talk to Taverner. Clear this up." River's hand was still crushing his shoulder.

"I don't have to do anything."

"There'll be a debriefing." He insisted. "They'll interview you." The very thought of trying to explain the realities of the situation in a way Cartwright would understand made him feel weary. Like talking to a small child asking repeatedly why the sky is blue.

"I realize you were hoping to be Diana's protégé. It must be disappointing to be suddenly on the outs."

"Does Taverner realize you two are on a first name basis?"

"Do you realize that she's going to exile you to Siberia and you're never again going to get to get the chance to come in your pants while you salute and call her ma'am?"

"Fuck, you really just can't stand that I'm better than you, can you?"

"Did you hear that I'm getting my own office?"

River snarled and pushed him roughly up against the wall and if James felt his cock twitch, well, that was alright. There was nothing like the thrill of victory. James snaked his hand down between them.

“Not here, you psycho”, River hissed, “anyone could see.”

“Would that be so bad? It's okay to admit how you really feel about me. If anything, I'm the one who should be worried about his image, being seen with you.”

All 14 stone of River pinned him to the wall. A strong hand tight on his jaw, stubble scraping raw against his chin and cheek. James' lips parted. And then just as suddenly, River pushed himself away and stalked off without a word or a backwards glance.

"You're a sore loser, Cartwright!" he called after him as he adjusted himself.

Tags

fanfiction slow horses river cartwright james webb brat but it's slow horses

More Posts from Generalpenguinangel and Others

generalpenguinangel

1 month ago

Never in my life have I wanted two people to lose focus and have a consensual workplace relationship than I have with Langdon and Mel. For many reasons, but mostly because so many people, even her fans, seem to see Mel as this Incorruptible Fairy of Pureness and Good who will help fix Langdon as he comes back from rehab. And I think Mel deserves better than that.

Look, I see a lot of myself in Mel. I’m not autistic, but I am very awkward and anxious and tend to cope with that by being cheerful and overly kind. I give a lot to anything I do and everyone around me, frequently to my own detriment. And treating these qualities like they make someone too good for bad decisions isn’t admiring or flattering or positive representation. It’s infantilizing. To imply that Mel being autistic or even just awkward and anxious makes her incapable of questionable moral choices is demeaning. It treats her as someone who is an ideal, not a person, because people make bad choices. That doesn’t make them bad people (see Langdon and his drug use— bad choice, good person), it just makes them human. So acting like Mel is inherently above that just denies her humanity and personhood, or frames her as incapable of understanding bad choices the same way a child is. So, for Mel to be seen as a full adult, she and Langdon need to have an affair. Not an emotional affair that can be swept away as Mel not understanding relationships, but a full-blown, physical, banging-in-the-on-call-room-until-someone-catches-them-and-even-then-they-don’t-stop-just-yell-for-them-to-leave affair.

TL;DR: Mel and Langdon need to have an affair to push back against ableism.

104 notes View Post

generalpenguinangel

3 months ago

Double Bluff (6669 words) by PenguinCollection [AO3]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Slow Horses (TV), Slough House - Mick Herron Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sidonie "Sid" Baker/River Cartwright Characters: River Cartwright, Sidonie "Sid" Baker Additional Tags: Fake/Pretend Relationship, OCs (secondary characters), Co-workers to lovers, One Night Stands Summary:

Sid asks River to be her date to fool her friends into thinking she's moved on from a bad break up. In a surprise to no one who's ever read a romance novel, the only one she's fooling is herself.

(I think maybe you could consider this fluff if you're willing to overlook the teensy tiny ethical violation of banging someone you have under surveillance.)

Tags

river cartwright sid baker river cartwright x sid baker slow horses fanfiction

5 notes View Post

generalpenguinangel

3 months ago

Radio Times

Slow Horses star says viewers "might be in for a surprise" in season 5

Roddy Ho will be a large focus this upcoming season.

"[I] might throw a few dance moves here and there."

[BOOK SPOILERS/speculation]

Please tell me this means they filmed the club scene. Please. I need Roddy wearing his sunglasses at night. I need Shirley in her natural element. I need the gang brutally dunking on River for how shit he is at picking up women.

I NEED THIS, GUYS.

Tags

slow horses roddy ho slough house

8 notes View Post

generalpenguinangel

3 months ago

Generally, I'm not sure I totally get the whole "whump" thing. But that first gif, where he's being perp walked out of the Park by Hobbs with blood all over his face? Is that what you guys are talking about?