Category: X-Files slash fic Rating: NC-17 in places Characters: M/Sk/K Series: Yes Part One Spoilers: None intended, Summary: Walter gets an early birthday present. Archive: Just tell me where it’s going Additional ‘stuff’: Set in my Circle the Calendar universe. The yummy picture was a present for me, More presents. Please...

Title: Picture Perfect   Walter flicked through the prints and smiled at the third picture he came to. Alex and Fox, sleeping, completely unaware of his presence, or his camera. He sat back, imagining the image, enlarged from the tiny black-and-white image he held in his hand, mounted in a frame and hung on their bedroom wall.   ‘Hey Walter.’   Walter jumped, startled by Fox’s voice. ‘Good run Fox?’   Fox opened the water bottle he held. ‘Yeah. It’s really great outside. Not too hot and the rain’s held off.’   Walter smiled. ‘Did Alex make it to the end of the block?’   Alex appeared in the doorway, a mock-hurt expression on his face. ‘Yeah. I did.’   Walter got up, his eyes going from Fox’s face, eyes bright, cheeks flushed, to Alex’s still-pale face, his breathing much less laboured than Fox’s. ‘John told you to take it easy, didn’t he Alex? It’s gonna take time to build up your strength again.’   Alex pouted sulkily. ‘I’m fine Walter. I feel fine. I can’t do anything!’ His frustration spilled out and he hit the doorframe hard.   Fox left the room to shower and change, leaving Walter to cross to Alex, taking him into a tight hug, dropping a gentle kiss on Alex’s head. ‘Alex, you had glandular fever. That’s not something you recover from overnight.’   Crossly, Alex muttered: ‘I know.’   Walter held Alex’s shoulders, pushing the younger man away, looking at him. ‘You’re doing fine Alex. A couple of weeks ago you couldn’t have gone with Fox, could you?’   Alex shook his head slowly, calming down. ‘No.’   Walter let him go and turned back to the table. ‘Look at this. I’m pleased with how it turned out.’   Alex followed Walter, standing beside the coffee table while Walter flicked through the pile of photographs, pulling out the one he had been looking at a few minutes earlier.   ‘Who is it?’ Alex looked up, frowning.   ‘You Alex! And Fox.’ Walter laughed. ‘Sleeping. Last weekend.’   ‘Wow, Walter! This is great. We should get it…’   ‘Enlarged and framed?’ Walter finished.   Alex nodded. ‘Yeah. Definitely. You showed it to Fox?’   ‘Not yet.’ Walter shook his head. He knew each of his younger lovers secretly enjoyed being first to know something the other didn’t.   ‘I’m gonna shower. Fox is almost done.’   Walter frowned. ‘How do you know?’   Alex stood silently for a moment. ‘Dunno. I just…do.’   Walter smiled, ruffling Alex’s damp hair. ‘Okay. Off you go.’   All the things he had seen and done, and he was spooked by Alex’s intuition. Walter smiled, shaking his head and put the photographs away safely.   ********************   Walter flicked through the newspaper, noticing that there was a photography course at a nearby college – four evenings over the next month. One of the evenings was the day before his birthday. He left the paper, folded at the page and went in search of the telephone – either Fox or Alex had used it last and left it somewhere other than its usual ‘home’ of the coffee table.   Fox came out of the shower and went into the living room, seeing the paper on the table. He read quickly, smiled, then went back upstairs.   Alex was startled by the unexpected cold draught as the shower curtain was pulled back. His smile when he saw Fox faded as he listened to Fox explain why he was interrupting the younger man’s shower. By the time Fox left him alone  he was smiling again.   ******************   Walter checked the room number on the letter he held, then worked out it had to be several floors up and looked for the staircase. The need to work off some of his nervous energy saw him pass the elevator in preference to climbing the stairs, arriving outside the room slightly breathless, blaming that and his shaking hand on the exercise, not his nerves.   The invitation to an extra class – Photographing the Male Nude – had made him uncomfortable when the letter first arrived, and he waited until both Fox and Alex were home before showing them the letter. They both gently dismissed his anxiety, reassuring him that they were sure it would be tasteful, not sleazy, and pointing out that his work was obviously considered good enough for the class – the letter explained that, should the tutor feel the student’s work was of a high enough standard, the images they produced would be exhibited at a local gallery.   Walter blushed and squirmed when Fox and Alex brought to the table the portfolio he had built up over the previous four weeks. The images – ranging from still life to abstract – were enclosed in a black leather zip-up case Alex and Fox had chosen when Walter had returned from the first class with a clutch of loose photographs and nowhere to store them.   He pushed open the door and was relieved to see the tutor – Mr Donlan – as soon as he walked in.   ‘Hi Walter, come on in. We’re just waiting for the others then we’ll…’   Walter waited while Donlan answered the phone that had interrupted them.   Donlan ended the call, pulling a face. ‘Sorry Walter, I’ve gotta leave for a while. The model’s very experienced, and he’s got an assistant with him. Just let your instincts guide you.’   Walter nodded, suddenly nervous. ‘Um…okay…you’re coming back?’   Donlan smiled, nodding reassuringly. ‘I’ll be back before you know it. You’re very good. Enjoy yourself. You might wanna get a head start while you’re waiting for the others.’ Smiling, he was gone, leaving Walter alone.   Walter set up his equipment, laying out various lenses, filters, a light meter and rolls of film. The door behind him opened, and the model, wearing a toweling gown, and his assistant, thankfully, Walter noticed, fully dressed, came out.   Concentrating on checking the settings on his camera, Walter didn’t properly look up until the model was settling onto the white quilt on the floor, lying face down, letting his assistant take the gown from him as he settled into a comfortable position. Then Walter looked up. Walter just stared, mouth opening and closing, taking in the naked Alex on the quilt, and Fox’s smile.   Fox looked up from where he knelt at Alex’s side. ‘Happy Birthday Walter.’   Alex looked over his shoulder. ‘Happy Birthday Walter.’   Walter turned back. ‘You don’t mind the other students seeing you like…’   ‘Other students?’ Fox asked, a little too innocently.   A few seconds passed before Walter worked it out.   ‘You set this up?’ Walter’s voice was soft, emotion and surprise taking his usual volume.   Two smiling heads nodded.   Walter’s hands shook as he picked up his camera and began to frame his first shot.   End                 Home Send me feedback on this fic Return to the X-Files Fic Index Return to the West Wing Fic Index