I pretty much just write Ben Stone/Mike Logan fic, but someday I might branch out. I'm also posting other fic recs and musings. Boombox on AO3. I'd say I take reqs - but truth be told - right now, it'd have to be of Ben and Mike. ;) [reg tumblr: thatsjustdandy]
This is just a snippet of a finished fic I’ve been sitting on for years. I’ll probably post it in the next couple of days - just need to reread it to see what needs editing. It’s basically Mike and Ben. In an elevator. It also operates on the premise that Max develops a clue about Mike x Ben. I no longer think this, but for the purposes of the story, he finds out. Also - I don’t presume to know about elevator mechanics. A snippet! (Also - if you’d like to see the version I have now, and I haven’t yet posted it on to AO3, feel free to ask to see the google doc!)
“And I’m telling you that’s A LOAD OF CROCK!”
Max Greevey couldn’t stop his eye roll. Here we go again. His partner, Mike Logan, and the Executive Assistant DA Ben Stone were butting heads once more. He glanced up and caught a similar expression on Paul Robinette’s face. Shaking their heads at their mutual problem: their respective work partners were butting heads fairly often recently.
Mike finally stalked out of the room, done with his latest tirade. Max reluctantly got up after him. “I’m sorry, gentlemen, I have no idea what’s going on with him,” the older detective sighed, grabbing his coat and hat, “I’ll sort him out.”
“Don’t worry about that, Max, I can do that.” Ben interjected as he exited his office to find Mike. Max and Paul exchanged another look.
“What was that about?” Max asked, as he watched Ben leave.
Paul shrugged. “I told him the other day that maybe he needed to sort out his issues with Logan. I mean, you’ve seen how often they’ve been at each other’s throats.”
Max nodded. “Right. I’ve told Mikey I was done taking him with me here if this keeps going on.”
“Wish there was something we could do.” Paul thought out loud as he began to pack up his files.
Max was silent for a moment, thinking. “Maybe there is.”
Paul shook his head. “Like what, force them back in the same room - make them say sorry? Stand there and refuse to leave until they do so? Seems childish.”
Max’s expression turned mischievous. “Force them back here? Nah. Trick? Yes. Childish? Possibly.”
“I don’t follow.”
Max leaned in, winking. “I have a plan, Paul.” Intrigued, Paul leaned in as well, listening to Max’s idea, nodding along, laughing at the plot. It just might work.
It was a few moments before Ben returned, and a few more moments before Mike did, his mood now down to a low simmer. Max and Paul exchanged knowing glances, unbeknownst to Mike and Ben. The four of them were able to wrap up their meeting without any more incident and found themselves leaving at the same time.
Max watched as the other men walked in before quickly piping up, “Paul, didn’t you say there was something I needed to sign?”
Paul played his part perfectly, “Oh! Right,” he acknowledged, exiting the elevator.
Mike and Ben looked at their partners, confused. Max just ushered them along. “I’ll meet you downstairs, Mike. It’ll only be a moment.”
Mike just rolled his eyes. “Sure. Okay,” Max had to fight back a look of utter glee as he watched Mike punch the button to the ground floor. Ben was leaning against the back wall of the elevator, far away from Mike. Max supposed that they were still smarting from their earlier exchange as he watched the elevator doors close.
Paul nudged him. “Okay. Now what?”
Max opened the elevator access panel. “Now, this.” He turned a key and pressed a button, causing the elevator carrying Mike and Ben to come to a halt. A few moments later, a buzz came in on the elevator intercom. Without skipping a beat, Max answered the phone.
“Hi, Ben, this is Max, I’m just going to say this once - and please don’t interrupt, Counselor - Paul and I thought you two could use this time in the elevator to work out your issues. - uh huh - we’ll check on you in half an hour. Yes, Ben, the air con is still circulating - half an hour. Bye bye now.”
Paul looked at Max with admiration. “You know, I don’t think Ben would let just anyone talk to him like that. I hope I’ll have a job in the morning.” He looked at the elevator doors with a slight feeling of trepidation. “You think we should take them out a bit earlier?”
Max grinned at Paul. “Nah, let’s let them stew a little,” he headed away from the elevator doors. “Coffee?”
Paul smirked. “Sure. I think Sheila left some danish in the fridge too.”
kissing is never JUST kissing. It's never just two mouths colliding. If that's all that's happening, your scene is a wet napkin. A kiss in fiction (and yeah, okay, in life too) is a loaded little explosion of everything unsaid, and that's exactly where you want to dig your greedy narrative fingers.
Ask yourself: why now? Why are these two (or more.hey, I'm not here to kinkshame) kissing right now in the story? What's the emotional temperature? Not just "they like each other," but, are they angry? Scared? Confused? Desperate? Did one of them just save the other from falling off a building and now they're like "oops, my tongue is in your mouth"? Cool. Love that. But tell me what it means.
Because the kiss is never about lips. It's about stakes. Something is changing in the dynamic. The air is shifting. The line is being crossed, whether they're aware of it or not.
And while we're here, can we stop with the lip clichés? "His lips crashed into hers." "Their mouths moved in perfect sync." Are they a dance crew? Are they syncing Bluetooth? Please. I beg of you. Give me something real. Give me shaky hands and awkward nose bumps. Give me inner monologue chaos. Give me one of them panicking because they just realized this is actually happening and what the hell do they do with their hands? Hell, give me teeth clacking if the mood fits. (You know you've had at least one kiss where that happened. Don't lie.)
The kiss is not just for the reader, NO, it's for the character. Your job isn't to write the kiss your readers are expecting. Your job is to write the kiss your character has been inching toward. The one that makes them stop breathing for a second. The one that flips some switch in their ribcage and makes them go, oh.
So don't zoom in on the mechanics. Zoom in on the impact. Zoom in on the character who was absolutely sure they weren't in love until this exact second. Zoom in on the character who's been pushing the other away and finally lets them in for half a heartbeat. Zoom in on the terrified, heart-thudding quiet after the kiss, when neither of them knows what to say because the world just kind of... shifted a little.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapter 4 now up!
Chapters: 4/?
Fandom: Law & Order
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Mike Logan/Ben Stone
Characters: Ben Stone, Mike Logan, Adam Schiff, Jack McCoy, Frank Lazar, Original Characters, Ben Stone (Law & Order)
Additional Tags: Law & Order AU, AU, Pre-Detective Mike Logan, Pre-EADA Ben Stone, Stripper!Mike Logan
Summary:
Ben Stone is an up-and-coming ADA working out of the Manhattan County District Attorney’s Office. Mike Logan is a college student by day, exotic dancer by night, with dreams of breaking out of his past to do good in this world; it’s been his dream to be a detective, one that his late-father aspired to do, until he was gunned down chasing after a perp.
When Jack McCoy, Ben’s best friend, hires Mike to dance at Ben’s surprise birthday party, Ben and Mike suddenly find their lives irrevocably changed.
Was going through my Google Docs and was rereading this one. It’s meant to be a part 2 to Love and Cuffs, but I think it can be a stand alone. This is just a snippet though. Just a little fluffy Mike and Ben.
Bright sun, warm sand, a sea breeze that felt like silk over your skin…
It was such a nice dream - even if it was a bit cheesy for his tastes. Ben was far far away from NYC on some white sandy beach, translucent water, absolutely no one for miles, he wasn’t sunburnt - and a shirtless sun-kissed Mike Logan was staring at him with the most wanton look as he stalked toward him, sex on legs, smiling that charming smile as he played with the waistband of Ben’s swim shorts.
Mike was leaning in to kiss him. Ben felt those full lips press against his, he was wrapping his arms around his tanned Adonis, enjoying how he felt against him…It was heavenly, so heavenly -
Until the infernal wake-up alarm, blaring incessantly, caused everything to come to a screeching halt. Irritated, Ben reached out with a practiced hand and shut it off blindly. Blinking into the quiet darkness, he sensed that it was early morning. Ben closed his eyes and took in the sounds and sensations of his bedroom as he slowly woke - the hum of the air conditioner, the softness of the sheets, and the soft snoring and warm heat emanating from his partner whose arm was snug about Ben, holding him close.
Ben shifted back into that welcoming embrace, smiling at the morning wood pressing against his back. Maybe I should deal with that, Ben thought but changed his mind when he checked the time on his alarm clock. The trial for The People v. Parisi was slated to begin that day and Ben wanted to get into his office early. He chanced a glance over his shoulder at the slumbering Logan. The alarm didn’t seem to rouse him and, not for the first time, Ben envied the detective’s ability to sleep through anything.
Resigned to his fate, Ben regretfully slid out of the sleeping detective’s embrace and got out of bed. He couldn’t help but smile as Logan let out a grumble mid-sleep while instinctually throwing his arm over where Ben was laying, burying his face in Ben’s pillow. Hope he’s having as good a dream as I was. Ben thought as he chanced running his fingers through unkempt hair, styled with sleep.
It had been a couple of months since he and Mike had started seeing each other, and the prosecutor couldn’t help but marvel at how their relationship had deepened and evolved. As far as he knew, no one knew about them - and it suited him just fine. It took some adjustment - learning how to live a professional life separate from their intensely personal lives, but they were managing okay. It was truly difficult when Max and Mike would catch difficult cases that Ben could tell were taxing on Mike. How often did he want to just wrap his arms around Logan, to calm him down.
However, Max and Paul and all their other close colleagues had no idea, no clue of their relationship. And for now, it’d have to stay that way. He had no desire to see any harm done to Mike if anyone were to find out his sexual orientation; Ben had heard one too many disturbing rumors within the NYPD.
You worry too much, Mike had told him once. Max has my back. Still, they were careful. The fact that a detective was intimate with the EADA? The gossip mill on Court Street would go haywire, Ben thought wryly.
Enough of that, he scolded himself as he refocused. With one final caress, Ben made his way to the bathroom - with Mike still asleep, he could rehearse his opening statements.
A few moments later, Mike awoke to an empty bed, and the sounds of the shower running. He was splayed face down over Ben’s side of the bed which was still warm; Ben must have just gotten up. Mike buried his face once more into the pillow, taking in that unmistakable scent that was all Ben.
Rolling onto his back, Mike stretched out luxuriously, kicking off the covers to sit on the edge of the bed. He glanced in the direction of the bathroom, noting the door being slightly ajar, taking in the light filtering through the steam trickling out from the door.
A mischievous grin forming on his face, Mike got up and padded toward the sound of the running water.
As he approached, Mike heard the familiar sounds of someone rehearsing a speech, pausing and starting again. Mike carefully opened the door wider and slid into the bathroom, humid from the steam, and found Ben in the shower, rehearsing his opening statements for the trial.
Mike had to bite a lip to not giggle, as he closed the door behind him; Ben had no idea that he was in the bathroom.
Ben seemed pleased at his opening statement if the sound of a shampoo bottle being popped open was any indication. Mike decided then to make his presence known, sliding the shower door open.
He took in the most welcome sight of a wet Ben Stone, skin slightly pink from the hot water. Ben was facing away from Mike, rinsing the shampoo suds out of his hair. Mike watched as Ben leaned his face up into the shower spray - there was something always incredibly erotic about seeing any lover do that - and carefully stepped into the shower, shutting the door behind him.
Ben made no noise of surprise, now working conditioner through his hair. “Was hoping you’d join me.”
It don’t have a title yet 😅. I’ve had this sitting in my drafts for a while. Shout out to @someclerksdog - hopefully this gives me more of an impetus to finish this one
It was almost 7:30 am and Mike Logan sighed dramatically. He was going to be late for work, and he knew Van Buren hated it when he was late. Lennie tried his best to cover as much as he could for his partner, but he was running out of excuses. Mike assumed the Lieutenant would maybe chalk it up to a lady friend. Lennie knew the real deal, and bless him, he kept Mike’s secret. The truth was, lover or not, Mike was usually a punctual man, only to be outdone by his partner, EADA Ben Stone. Ironically, however, Ben was Mike’s sole reason for his recent tardiness.
Ben had been dealing with a horrendous flu for 2 days and it was hell for Logan to debate with a workaholic who was seemingly unwilling to let go to do a simple thing like rest. Mike had been going back and forth with Ben, trying to convince him to stay home. Today, Ben was proving to be infuriatingly bull-headed.
“Ben,” Mike sighed as he ran his hand over his face in exasperation, “I really don’t think you should go in.”
“I’m,” Ben sneezed loudly, wiping his nose, “fine, Mike.”
“Ben, you’re running a fever. Claire will be good without you for a day or two.”
Ben waved him off as he “I’ve got too much work - I can just barricade myself in the office, call off my meetings -”
“You can do that from home, Ben. Honestly.” He grabbed Ben by the shoulders and ushered him back to bed, encouraging him to sit. “You don’t need to make other people sick.”
Ben huffed but knew Mike had a point. Suddenly, his eyes closed as he braced himself against the throbbing headache, and nausea - probably from the sudden sitting - but not that he was going to blame anything as he shoved Mike out of his way making a beeline for the bathroom. A few moments later, Mike heard the wretched sounds of Ben throwing up into the toilet. He hurried over to the bathroom and found Ben hugging the porcelain throne, finding comfort in the coolness of the smooth surface.
“I’m really glad I cleaned this toilet yesterday,” he managed to mutter before another round of nausea wracked his body. This time, Mike was right there with him, flushing the toilet, and pressing a cold washcloth to the back of Ben’s neck, feeling his forehead with the back of his hand.
Mike knew he couldn’t leave Ben alone.
“I’ll call out,” Mike said without hesitation, pressing a kiss to Ben’s heated forehead.
Ben could only moan softly, but at least his stomach settled. He remained by the toilet and was able to make out most of the phone conversation that Mike was currently embroiled in.
“Look, Lennie. Just tell her I’m contagious, alright? I mean, I probably am…YES, I was in bed with Ben, NO, we did not have sex.” If eye rolls were audible, Ben was sure he’d heard Mike, “BECAUSE HE’S SICK, BRISCOE.” Ben allowed himself a little bit of a grin, knowing that Lennie was only pulling Mike’s leg.
After a few moments, Mike reappeared in the bathroom with a fresh pair of clothes for Ben - just a clean pair of pajamas and a shirt. Mike had rolled up his shirt sleeves, and Ben noticed his tie was gone.
“Trouble at work?”
“No, Lennie’s just messing with me.” Mike smiled softly, leaning down to assess Ben. “C’mon, let’s get you up.”
Mike gently helped Ben up from the floor, settling him on the closed toilet seat. Turning to the tub, he turned on the water, testing the temperature, trying not to get it too hot, just enough for the steam to fill up the bathroom. He poured a capful of Dr. Teal’s Eucalyptus and Spearmint Bubble Bath and poured in some epsom salt to deal with Ben’s congestion and body aches. Immediately, the soothing smell of the eucalyptus sifted through the steamy air.
Not putting up a fight, Ben allowed Mike to undress him before Mike helped Ben into the bath. With a tender kiss on his temple, Mike reassured Ben that he’d be right back with some meds and some broth. Ben allowed his eyes to shut, drawing comfort from Mike’s gentle caress.
Ben had to admit, as he soaked in the warm water, that it did feel rather nice to be looked after. Even the Executive Assistant District Attorney needed to be taken care of once in a while.
Hello! I love your writing. You know exactly which traits of Ben and Mike to pull out and combine to make them a convincing couple. I'm wondering if you would ever write hurt/comfort for them, with Ben as the hurt one? I just love the idea of tough streetwise Mike being protective and taking care of his gentler, more vulnerable partner. With all his past pain, he'd make a lovely nurse, I feel. :3 Anyway, just an idea! Thanks again for your work!
First off, amazing username! And thank you!
Thank you so much for the request. Funnily enough, I do have something that may fit your prompt sitting in my drafts. I'll see what I can do with it!
Thank you so much for the kind words. :)
pass emotions to your readers creating relatable characters
Crafting characters is essential in storytelling, they can captivate readers convincing them to read your stories and also give the narration a kickto bring narrative to life. As a person capable to write, a writer, create well-developed characters is a fundamental part in drawing in your own audience and keep them committed to your work.
I will give you few advices on how to do it, based on my own work.
Give your character complexity and depth: Each character should be seen from the reader as a real person, someone he can relate to in various situations. As a writer you should give them unique personalities, motivations, strengths and flaws.
Show don’t tell: Be accurate, writing about your characters background, telling their stories, giving them traits, showing all of that in their actions, dialogues, interactions with others. This will give the reader a sensation of authenticity while reading and they will be able to immerse into your words, feeling like they are reading about something bonded to them.
Growth and Change: Writing about your characters changing the more the pages turns will help both you and the reader to feel the character more closer. You can write about little changes as bigger ones regarding their behaviour, their persona, their life. By doing so the reader will be even more taken into your story and will be more than happy to see how the story will unfold under their own eyes.
Relationships with other Characters: Another aspect very important. Their interactions can reveal their point of view, their values and beliefs. By writing down dynamic relationships instead of static ones, you can give depth to them and create opportunities for conflicts, romance, growth within the story itself.
By doing so, you will be able to show your crafting capabilities as a storyteller.
