Only Human by Amatara
He comes to with his cheek mashed against a pillow and a swath of lilacs scattered across his vision, undulating gently as he tries to clear his head. He’s in bed - Diane’s bed? - splayed on top of those flower-strewn sheets, still wearing his pants but nothing else. And he’s shaking like he’s running a fever, everything slow and cottony and distant except for the intense nausea squeezing his gut.
“Albert?” Ah. There’s Coop, turning that trademark doe-eyed gaze on him from where he’s hovering at the edge of the bed.
–
So happy to work on this for @amatara who’s consistently putting out some quality Twin Peaks fanfics.
Want some on pointe Albert banter with some classic hurt/comfort?
She’s got you and I can’t recommend the above fic more.
(Also Diane’s there SO: like what are you waiting for?)
A commission for the ever-lovely @amatara, illustrating her fic Sings the tune without the words which is, needless to say, a gem and a honour to visualize. Let them rest...
Sexual orientation headcanon: Generally has most of her relationships with women, but there’s always a guy or two – labels aren’t really her thing
Gender headcanon: She’s played with gender expression in the past but settled on dramatic femme looks
Mental illness / neurodivergent headcanon: PTSD and some pretty severe depression stemming from twenty-five years ago, self medicates with alcohol and puts up a hard front to avoid people getting close to her
3 random headcanons: As I mentioned, she’s Jewish (she used to practice when she worked for the FBI but trauma kind of broke that part of her), things fell apart with her friendship with Albert once she started secluding herself after her incident with Mr. C (especially since Albert was a mess with Coop gone and would often bring over pictures of them all together), and she was fired from the FBI after having a nervous breakdown and telling Gordon to fuck off
Prompt Fill for @amatara for the @countdowntotwinpeaks WonderfulxStrange fan exchange.
Dang dude this was fun tho. Haven’t written actual fanfic in ages so it was good to jump back on the wagon~.
Prompt: Albert/Cooper First kiss
Albert is not a man of tradition.
There are habits he’s grown up with, things that he’ll always do because it’s more convenient. There’s nothing inherently wrong with putting leftovers in empty butter containers, no meaning behind storing unused pots and pans in an ancient stove. It’s familiarity masking itself behind the comal he’s had for over twenty years but never used.
It’s very easy to blame exhaustion for the quick kiss on Cooper’s cheek when he walks in the door. It’s what someone does when you get home from multiple unsolved cases. They stumble in, plant a wet one on their roommates cheek, then continue to stumble –now in a slow dawning horror- towards the kitchen for a cup of coffee.
Dale Cooper, who -if Albert didn’t already know better- seemed to never be overtaken by any form of exhaustion, watched his slow trudge without a word. He simply rubbed his cheek, tracing over the kiss delicately with the tips of his fingers. His next words were obvious, a set-up if there ever was one.
“You kissed me.”
Well damn if that wasn’t the truth.
“Good to see that deductive reasoning isn’t dulled by the late hour. Thought that one would’ve passed you by.” He hid like the coward he was behind the refrigerator door, concerning himself more with attempting to find the creamer he knew they had run out of the day before.
The apartment was warm, not quite stifling since there was nothing oppressive about Cooper’s presence but definitely uncomfortable. He found solace in the slight chill and the door he had put between them. Meager distance, another delay, but it was enough for him to clear his mind and think.
He had years to think before, months shaped by how many cups of coffee they shared. Months shaped by cases and covered in bodies and gilded with every detail on Tibet that Albert had no stake in but had memorized regardless. He had more knowledge on yoga than the average medical examiner had every right; hell, he could teach dharma to the Buddha himself, he was the most enlightened person in the damn room.
It didn’t make him the most intelligent, obviously, if he still kissed Dale Cooper first thing walking through the door.
He could hear Cooper approaching, the muffled thud of slippers on cheap tile, could see the obnoxiously blue things right in the corner of his peripherals and God if he prolonged it any longer there was a real chance he’d catch a cold standing there.
“Albert-”
“Listen, Coop,” He said to the leftover takeout from the previous day, “you wanna stand there and prattle pointlessly on professionalism, you be my guest, but before you give me that recently-tenured-professor lecture, I’ll do you the favor of covering the abstract. No, this doesn’t change a thing between us and I don’t expect it to.”
Sometime during his spiel Dale had made his way around the door and stood next to him, saint-like patience letting Albert get comfortable in his denial. It was a natural state for them, the usual ebb and flow of conversation, though not usually so one-sided.
Cooper responded by leaning forward and pressing a delicate kiss against Albert’s cheek, smiling against it as he stayed for much longer than he was familiar with.
Good thoughts! I was kinda underwhelmed by 1 and 2, found 3 deeply disturbing to watch (and I agree with your feeling about the horror elements; I had to skip one scene because I couldn't watch it), then 4 had a better balance again... But curious to see now what the future will bring!
thanks, glad to see you agree with me! I agree that episode 4 is probably the strongest so far - probably because it was more evenly balanced, like you say. I do believe it’s going to keep getting better as the different storylines will converge, but I feel like a different starting point - or a diferent starting pace - would probably have helped things along.
I feel quite strongly that if you’re unfamiliar with lynch’s other works, you’ll probably be kind of lost on this one, and that is a weakness no matter which way you look at it.
Oh, you'll love this one, Gerald. So I was on a case with Agent Cooper - OK, fine, not a genius move, but when Gordon hands you a case you take it, no questions asked - and he tells me to meet up in his motel room to go over the evidence, but when he opens the door all he's wearing is these goddamn flannel pajamas - like it's no big deal, y'know? Fucking unprofessional... *deep breath* I swear to God, Gordon better tell this kid to get his ass in line or... *voice mail message cuts off abruptly*
Cooper!! In flannel pajamas...
I mean! Yes! Totally unprofessional, Agent Rosenfield! I’ll...well I’m not sure if this is a complaint I can actually file away.
