While September may seem unremarkable to some, to us, it can mean a whole month of Samlan content! And it can be whatever you want-- fanfics, fanart, aesthetics, ANYTHING!
Tag as #samlanseptember or #Samlan September so that I will be able to reblog it.
Sam stirred awake on the couch as she heard her stomach rumble. She looked down at it in surprise before a sweet aroma wafted into the room, coming from the kitchen. She pushed the blanket off of her and walked towards the kitchen.
She saw Nolan at the counter, mixing something in one of the metal bowls that came with the stand mixer.
"Something smells good," she said.
Nolan looked up from the bowl. "Hey. Did you have a nice nap?"
"It was good," Sam told him, walking around the counter to join him. "But I'm getting a little hungry... what're you making?"
"Just some chocolate chip cookies," he answered. "There's another batch in the oven right now, but I thought I'd make some more."
He held the spatula up to her.
"Wanna try?"
She pinched a piece of the dough off of the spatula and dropped it in her mouth. She let out an almost orgasmic moan.
"Oh, God, that's so good!" she exclaimed.
"Really?" he asked.
"Yeah-- didn't know you liked to bake," Sam remarked.
"Yeah, it helped get me through the pandemic," Nolan told her. "And you had a pretty rough day, so I thought I'd make you a little treat."
Samlan September Day 9 & 10 - Historical AU // Romantic Keepsake
Word Count: 788
Warnings: Period-typical age gap (ten year age gap; it's Sam's eighteenth birthday in this fic)
Fandom: Law & Order
Pairings: Nolan Price x Samantha Maroun
Okay, I wasn't planning on combining days, but as I was writing this, it just seemed to fit either way.
This AU is set in the 1880s, and is mainly inspired by Laura and Almanzo from Little House on the Prairie. In fact, I took some dialogue verbatim from the show.
Enjoy!
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Samantha had been teaching since the fall, and she had found it utterly terrifying. Most of the students were taller than she was, and she had to sleep away from home for the first time. The family she was staying with were not friendly in any use of the word. The father was condescending with a quick temper, while the mother was tyrannical and seemed to dislike her from the moment Samantha had dared to step foot in her house.
But, every Friday-- no matter what the weather-- Nolan Pride would arrive at the school to take Samantha home for the weekend in his father's two-horse buggy.
She had known Nolan ever since his sister had come to town as the new teacher, and she had fallen for him just from her first sight of him. He was certainly a farm boy, as she could tell from the calluses on his hands, but he was intelligent and a great conversationalist. She enjoyed his company, and he had a calmness about him that was a welcome change of pace from the troublemakers that she dealt with during the week.
Her father was reluctant to approve, however. Nolan was twenty-eight, while Samantha was turning eighteen. He did think that Nolan was a good man, but the gap of ten years was enough to make him hesitate, if not the idea of his daughter growing up.
Samantha walked through the crowd of dancing people in the main room of the town restaurant, which was decorated with red paper hearts. She entered the empty kitchen; before she could even see it, the harsh February chill told her that the back door was open. She easily made out Nolan's silhouette, sitting on the back porch of the restaurant deep in thought. She smiled as she maneuvered her way through the kitchen, careful not to get any flour or food debris on her new blue dress, to get to him.
As she reached the opened back door, she nervously began to play with her hands.
"Hi," she greeted softly.
Nolan slowly looked up at her, his expression one of surprise and shock, though he echoed just as softly, "Hi."
His eyes locked with hers, and she felt that familiar jolt in her stomach.
"I didn't think you were going to be here tonight," he confessed.
"Why not?" Samantha asked, tilting her head ever so slightly. "Didn't you think anyone else would bring me?"
Nolan looked away from her, embarrassed. "I didn't mean that. I-- I don't know what I mean."
"It's alright-- I'm not angry with you," Samantha assured him.
Inside, she could hear the song ending, and the band starting up a new waltz. Slowly, she began to take closer steps towards him and sat down next to him. The temperature of her body seem to fluctuate between below the current weather and a comforting, fireplace-like warmth when she realized how close they were.
If Amanda's mother saw this, she would turn purple from how scandalized she would be! Samantha thought to herself, amused.
Both Nolan and Samantha looked away from each other, looking down into their laps. But they quickly looked back up at each other, offering awkward but caring smiles.
"Who did you come with?" Nolan asked.
Samantha bit back a laugh. "My father."
Nolan, however, couldn't help but laugh. "I came with my sister."
"I know," Samantha told him.
They stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds before Nolan looked away again.
"Since we're both here..." he began, his voice quiet in the way it would be when he was unsure of how one would react to his words. "Maybe I could, kind of, be your escort."
Samantha's smiled widened a bit at his suggestion. "You may."
Nolan picked up a package wrapped in paper depicting red roses and laid it in her lap. "I didn't know if you would be here or not, but I brought your present anyway... just in case."
Samantha began to untie the ribbon and opened the package, revealing a folded-up shawl. The shawl was a muslin fabric, but various flowers of blues and pinks and yellows were painted on with care.
"It's beautiful..."
She unfolded the shawl and wrapped it around her shoulders. She looked back up into Nolan's eyes, not daring to look away.
"It's like I'm wearing your colors," she said.
"I hope so," he said.
They leaned in closer to each other, letting their instincts take over as their lips connected tenderly. They separated when they realized that the band was playing a new song already that Samantha recognized as "Beautiful Dreamer."
"How would you like to dance with the teacher?" she asked him.
Fulfilling my dream of telling Andrea Rankin off with Protective!Samlan fluff.
Enjoy!
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Andrea sipped her champagne as she looked around expectantly for a certain someone. Of course, since he had apparently decided to fashion himself as a "man of the people," maybe he wouldn't be showing up tonight.
When they had been dating, Nolan seemed to enjoy these functions. At least, when she asked, he remembered to always say yes. And he remembered the rules; smile, only speak when spoken to, and don't pig out.
Andrea succeeded when she finally spotted Nolan with his little slip of a secretary on his arm. Of course, he was smiling, as she would have trained him to, but...
This was different. His eyes were a lot brighter than when he had smiled at her. Each movement of his was genuine and in-the-moment, unlike how he just seemed to rehearse every conversation for each possible outcome before he had it with her.
The secretary girl whispered something in his ear, and he let out a laugh. Andrea never liked watching comedies with him, and not just because his taste in movies were so banal-- how could a boy who had a law degree enjoy watching Bill Murray and Harold Ramis getting high on MDMA and singing doo-wop tunes as a jody call? His laugh often got on her nerves, especially if she was trying to work.
She sauntered up to Nolan, letting her shimmery black dress due most of the work for her. The secretary was wearing an off-the-shoulder, burgundy number that complimented her curves and showed off a bit more cleavage than Andrea's dress. Well, Andrea could certainly see how someone as young as her was promoted to work alongside the Executive ADA. Her ebony hair was curled into forties starlet-style ringlets that made her look like she had just rolled out of Clark Gable's boudoir. But her face was fixed in a glare, something protective that reminded her of a fierce guard dog.
Oh, wait? Was she going to get fired from the firm for thinking that?
"Nolan..." she put on her most sultry voice, even though she hated it. "It's been while..."
Nolan seemed to recoil from her. "Yeah, it... it has, Andrea. Now, if you'd excuse us--"
"But you just got here," Andrea tried to block their way. "Really, Nolan... are you still angry with me about trying to save a sick man from death?"
The secretary scoffed. "You're making it sound like you trying to pay for the man's chemo when he shot up any person who looked remotely Asian on the subway!"
Nolan placed a hand on the secretary's shoulder, rubbing his thumb into the skin of her collarbone as Andrea spotted something gold on a certain finger. "Sam, it's okay-- don't want you stressing out."
"See? Nolan-- whom I've known since college-- says it's okay," Andrea pointed out.
"No, Andrea, I mean that it's okay, Sam doesn't have to come to my rescue," Nolan corrected. "I can tell you what I think of you myself."
Andrea furrowed her brow in confusion before deciding to change the subject. "I-- I didn't that you've gotten married."
Nolan looked back at the secretary with that unfamiliar smile, keeping his eyes on her as he said. "Yes, we are. One year, as of last week."
The secretary smiled back at him. It made Andrea's blood begin to boil. She only grew angrier when she finally noticed the roundness in the other woman's belly. The secretary turned back, the fire reigniting in her eyes.
"Now... if you'd excuse us," she emphasized every word as she helped Nolan-- her husband-- make his escape.
Okay, so my friend Marissa gave me permission to play in the sandbox of this fic that she's writing with @maguloser on AO3.
Enjoy!
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"You think she'd like this?"
Sam turned back to face Nolan, seeing him holding up a lavender purple romper with pastel yellow and sage green polka dots.
"Oh, this is so cute!" Sam exclaimed as she took it from him.
She laid it over her swollen belly.
"Look, it fits!"
Nolan laughed. "You found anything?"
"A lot-- I just don't want to buy too much pink," Sam said. "I mean, don't get me wrong-- the girly clothes are adorable, but... I just don't-- I don't now how to say it."
"No, I get it," Nolan said, picking up a blue onesie. "The tag said that it's for boys, but I think she'd look cute in this."
"She would!" Sam agreed.
She felt the baby give a strong kick, and she moved Nolan's hand onto her belly on instinct. He loved feeling the baby kicking, talking to her, listening to her heartbeat.
"We love so much, peanut," he whispered to her stomach.
This doesn't count as the 22x17 part, but the idea just couldn't escape me.
Enjoy!
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Nolan had returned to their apartment alone. He had picked Emmeline up from daycare by himself, and he definitely noticed the stares from from the other parents.
From the way that everyone was treating him, you would have thought that Raymer's trial had revealed that Nolan had cheated on Sam instead of a workplace fling from before he had even met her.
He had made dinner for both him and Emmeline, and went through Emmeline's bedtime routine with her before she finally fell asleep.
Nolan looked through his and Sam's wedding album as he laid down on the couch. His heart just kept sinking, only to lift itself back up into his chest, and start sinking again repeatedly as he looked over the images of their younger selves.
He thought that he heard the lock turning and the door opening. He tried to spare himself from raising his hopes, but he still turned around.
Sam was indeed walking through the door. He jumped to his feet, letting the album drop to the floor and rushed to her. He stopped, moving back to be about a yard away from her.
"Sam..."
"Where's Emmie?" Sam asked, ignoring him.
"She's already asleep-- but before you say anything, I've been replaying everything since I found Rachel's body in my head," he said. "And... I had just told you how I knew Rachel that night... everything would still be okay. Right?"
She didn't say anything. She just stood there in front of him, stone-faced.
"Sam... I am so sorry."
"But you didn't tell me that night," Sam reminded him. "And... and I know you don't think it's that big of a deal, but the more I think about it, the angrier I get."
She looked down on the floor, as if she was trying to gather her thoughts before she spoke once more.
"I think... no," she stopped herself. "I know I need some space."
Nolan's chest further tightened around his heart. "What are you saying?"
Welcome to my first submission for Samlan September! I can't wait to read all of your fics!
Enjoy!
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"Oh, my God," Sam couldn't help but burst into laughter as Nolan closed the door. "This is your room?"
"I know, I know," Nolan said. "Mom hasn't changed anything since I moved it-- I'd say it's like a shrine, but-- maybe it's not that extreme."
Sam walked through the room, looking at the pictures on the wall. She recognized the picture of Nolan and his family at his high school graduation from his office. She stopped when she came across a large poster.
She turned around with an amused smile. "Didn't know you were such a big Sigourney Weaver fan."
Nolan's cheeks grew warm. "I-- Ghostbusters was the first movie I saw in theaters, and I thought she looked pretty in that orange dress-- I outgrew it in college."
"Hey, I had the largest collection of Michael J. Fox memorabilia in Atlanta," Sam confessed, holding her hands up. "No judging."
