Title: Bedtime Story
Authors: Anj and Jade
Series: Alan Rickman/Gary Oldman RPS
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimers: don't own, don't sue, don't ask, don't tell, never 
happened, only in our minds


Alan relaxes when Alfonso finally calls for a break, slumping into a 
chair. This scene, where Snape confronts Sirius, Lupin, and the 
children in the Shack is physically demanding and the wig is itchy. 
He pops the top on a bottle of water and drinks deeply, eyes lowered 
as he watches Gary across the room. He's met the man before, of 
course, but they've never worked together until now. He finds he is 
enjoying working with the younger man; their characters may hate 
each other but in reality it is anything but. In fact, Alan is quite 
attracted to Gary, but of course he can't tell him that.  

Grateful for the break, although, knowing Alfonso, it is sure to be 
short, Gary sits down in a hard-backed chair, stretching out his 
long legs and arching his back slightly. As much as he enjoys 
playing the bad guy, it is often very difficult for him to come back 
out of character, and the last thing he wants to do is come across 
as cocky and sinister as Sirius. He therefore has physical exercises 
he does to pull himself back out of character; getting into 
character again is never a problem. He looks around the room, 
watching Emma, Dan, and Rupert playing with the rat, David looking 
on in amusement, and shakes his head. He loves children, especially 
his own, but sometimes it is nice to get away from them and to spend 
his time with adults. He scans the room, noticing Alfonso and Chris 
Columbus chatting with each other, and his eyes land on Alan, who is 
stretched out, cat-like, in a chair. He feels his face grow rather 
warm - while their characters hate each other, in real life, he 
finds himself undoubtedly attracted to the elder man. All the more 
reason to not slip up and approach Alan as Sirius would approach 
Snape.  

Alan drains the water bottle, and when he lowers it again he glances 
back at Gary. With a start he realises the man is looking right at 
him. He smiles, then regrets it, knowing how frightening it is to 
see Snape grin. He's done this character so often now it's second 
nature to slip in and out of it. The role of Snape is great because 
though he acts like a bad guy, in reality he's on the good side. He 
likes playing Snape more than he will admit to anyone, because he 
feels silly about it. But he really does love the long black robes, 
though the wig he could do without. He really likes the way they've 
done the character Sirius, and Gary couldn't be more perfect for the 
part. Though his handsome face is obscured by the costume. Alan 
catches himself again; he really should not allow himself to think 
of his straight co-stars this way.  

If Alan's smile was a bit unnerving, Gary's shy returning smile is 
positively terrifying. With the way they've done his makeup, he 
looks insane and sadistic when he grins, and he has to catch himself 
from turning the smile into a full-out toothy grin like he wants to. 
He feels a faint shiver dust over his skin as Alan's dark eyes bore 
into his, and he can almost hear Alan's silky, delectable voice, 
feel his breath on his sensitive neck and ears...  He shakes 
himself. He knows perfectly well that the elder man would never 
think of him in such a way - after all, he's the rockstar-ish, party 
animal type, while Alan is elegance and refinement defined. He 
lowers his eyes and composes himself, reaching for a bottle of water 
to cool his heated senses.  This won't do at all, as they still have 
a fair amount of filming left. He wonders if Alan is planning on 
doing the fifth movie - if so, he knows it won't take much 
convincing to get him to come back as well.  

Alan watches as Gary looks away, almost shyly, and wonders what's 
going on in the other man's head. He should just put Gary out of his 
mind, but he tells himself that he should try to put the newcomer at 
ease. Walking into a hugely popular series such as this must be 
overwhelming. He gets up and walks across the room, secretly 
enjoying the swish of his robes, and stands next to the other 
man. "How are you holding up, Gary?" he says, trying to keep the 
purr out of his voice that thinking about Gary puts there. Mustn't 
let the mind wander...  

Gary looks up, fighting the heat from his face, although his eyes 
remain closed in a slightly longer than normal blink at the rough 
silk of Alan's voice. "I'm doing all right, thanks," he returns, 
admiring the line of Alan's robes and the way they mold to his body 
as his eyes take longer than is strictly proper to reach Alan's 
face. He nervously runs a hand through his shaggy hair, the stretch 
of his arm involuntarily exposing the tattoos on his chest a bit 
more, and offers a faint smile.  "The scenes like these are always 
the hardest; it's no wonder they're usually filmed right at the 
beginning, eh?" 

Alan nods, trying to pretend he's not staring at Gary's smooth 
chest. The way the shirt gapes open is maddening. "This is quite the 
crucial scene, so I've heard." And unfortunately to him, one of the 
few in which they get to work together.  "But I'll be glad when it's 
over," he confides. Only because he'll not be forced to ignore the 
fact that he'd love to press Gary against the rough wall of the set 
and take him hard...  

Gary tries to hide the hint of a dejected _expression that threatens 
to take over his face.  While living in the same house as Alan is 
positively heaven, watching the elder man work is one of the hottest 
things he's ever seen, and he feels privileged to be working in such 
close proximity to him. He wonders if, perhaps, Alan is growing 
tired of Gary's behavior, which must seem so juvenile to him. He 
forces himself to smile though. "It must be wonderful to see your 
work on the last two movies come to fruition in this one," he 
comments, changing the subject. He, of course, will not admit that 
he watched the last two several times each, fast forwarding through 
the Snape-less scenes, listening to Alan's silky voice. That's not 
something you say in polite company.  

Alan laughs, a deep velvet sound that he knows is made all the 
rougher by the desire he's trying to hide. "Well, I'm still a 
bastard, but I do enjoy the role. Poor Snape never really gets a 
break, does he?" Alan reads the books as he goes along, so he's not 
sure of the future movies. "Have you read all the books?" he asks. 
Though they're sharing a house during the shoot, with David as well, 
they never seem to get much of a chance to talk.  

"My kids do enjoy them, so we sometimes read them together," he 
returns, a fond smile on his face as he talks about his 
children. "They wanted me to be Voldemort though. Odd children." He 
shakes his head affectionately. "Snape is somewhat two-dimensional 
for a large part of the books, I've found," he continues, chewing 
gently on his lower lip. "The fifth book, thankfully, he starts to 
see some development. Although I think you've done an excellent job 
of working with what little you have, and you make him seem like 
such a real person." As soon as the words are out of his mouth, Gary 
winces. That was a thoroughly insipid thing to say, he thinks to 
himself. 

But Alan just smiles.  "Thank you, I do appreciate that," he 
says. "Though I find most people don't share your point of view. 
When they find out who I am, they say they hate me." He grins and 
leans closer, as if to show this doesn't really bother him. "Of 
course, everyone knows that you're not the bad guy, because 
everyone's read the books.  You're lucky." 

Gary wants desperately to answer, "Yes, I am," purely because of 
Alan's proximity, but refrains, raising an eyebrow instead. "That's 
true," he says slowly, "but everyone knows you're not a bad guy 
either, now." He smirks faintly. "Of course, if you haven't read 
book five, you wouldn't know that now, would you?" 

"No, I guess I wouldn't," laughs Alan. "You're so smug because you 
know the secret, aren't you? I'm half tempted to read the things 
now..." Alan is warming to the banter now. Gary really is a lot of 
fun to talk to.  

Gary's smirk blossoms into a full-out challenging grin, which is far 
from frightening as it reaches his eyes and softens his features 
this time. "I could always read them to you, like a bedtime story," 
he returns, pitching his voice into a babyish tone, a teasing glint 
in his eyes.  

Alan laughs, sure that Gary didn't intend the mental picture he's 
just gotten from that. "I may just hold you to that," he shoots 
back, and before he realises what he's just said, the director calls 
them to their places again. He's still smirking and has to work to 
get himself into character again.  

Gary stares after him for a moment. You can hold me to more than 
that, flashes through his mind before he shakes his head, stretching 
and shifting in place to get back into character. He stands slowly, 
moving to his position, and tosses a half-glare in Alan...no, 
Snape's direction. Not good enough. He closes his eyes for a moment, 
locking Sirius into place, and opens them again, eyes flashing with 
hatred for Snivellus the greasy git.  

+

After a long and strenuous day, Gary is exceedingly glad to have a 
day off to relax and collect his wits as well as to prepare for the 
next scene, which will involve many sinister looks and hours of 
sitting on a cold stone floor. He is, therefore, determined to enjoy 
this day off as much as possible. Of course, it's just his luck that 
Alan has the day off as well, while David does not, and he make sure 
to groom himself neatly before entering the main part of the house, 
script in hand.  He settles himself into a large armchair, curls up 
in a feline-like position, and begins to read, keeping one eye open 
for Alan's presence.  

Alan walks in, fresh from a workout and a shower afterward. He has 
all this unresolved need to try to overcome, so he's really been 
exercising a lot. He sees Gary and stops; he'd forgotten that the 
younger man would be here too. Instantly, the tension is back, but 
he really doesn't mind. "Hello, Gary," he says, throwing his jacket 
over a chair.  

Gary freezes, watching the unconcerned grace with which Alan 
maneuvers his body, admiring the way Alan's wet hair shines and the 
slight sheen to his brow from the dampness. "Good morning," he 
returns as casually as he can, although he's sure his voice is 
trembling like a schoolboy's. "Did you sleep well?" 

"Very well, thank you," Alan grins. "Though I was tempted to take 
you up on that offer of a bedtime story," he teases, then suddenly 
realises that they're alone now, for the first time.  

Gary is certain his face is now bright scarlet if the warmth is any 
indication, and he takes a few deep breaths, trying to compose 
himself, flipping idly through the script as he does so. "Were you," 
he finally asks, trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible. He 
steels himself for a moment and then flippantly tosses out, "The 
offer still stands," accompanying it with as much charm as he can 
muster.  

Alan smirks as he walks by, putting a hand on Gary's shoulder as he 
passes. "I'll keep that in mind tonight," he purrs as he walks 
past.  He needs to get away from Gary or he will embarrass himself; 
the man doesn't have a clue what he's doing to him. "Coffee?" he 
offers, from the kitchen.  

Gary shivers at the touch, shifting his position to hide the obvious 
evidence that Alan's voice does to him what it does to thousands of 
women all over the world. "That would be lovely," he returns, his 
voice gruff, compensating for the high pitch that it wants to take 
on.  

Alan puts the coffee on, and calls out, "Cream or sugar?" to Gary, 
wincing at the image his words give him. Honestly, he's acting like 
a teenager. He admonishes himself to stop.  

Gary blinks, the words on his script suddenly hazy, and tilts his 
head a bit. "Both, please," he replies, clearing his throat to 
remove the squeak that seems to have permanently implanted itself 
there, activating whenever Alan is in the vicinity.  

Alan walks back in, setting one mug in front of Gary. He sips his 
coffee; black, no sugar. "Working on your lines?" he asks.  

"Thank you," Gary says, picking up the mug and taking a nice, 
healthy swig before setting it down and repositioning himself. "Yes, 
I'm reading over the scene we're doing tomorrow. I must say, I'm not 
much looking forward to spending hours with my arse on a cold 
floor." 

Alan laughs. "It will help with the realism, didn't you know that?" 
He takes another sip. "Can I give you a hand?" Alan once again 
winces at his choice of words, but no doubt he's the only one acting 
so juvenile.  

"Yes, please," Gary replies immediately, his voice just verging on 
breathy, and then closes his eyes, cursing himself foully. Surely 
his elder and more refined companion must think he is acting like a 
schoolboy with a crush. He twists his mouth into a wry smile, 
smoothing over his eagerness with a cynical, "I have so much trouble 
looking contemplative and menacing when I'm freezing my arse off, 
you know." 

"I think it will add the much-needed surliness to your portrayal," 
says Alan pompously, then adds, "Just be glad you don't have to wear 
a horrible wig, I'm sure that's why Snape is such an uptight 
asshole." He sits back and grins at Gary.  

"I am a rock, eh?" Gary teases wryly, lifting an eyebrow. "I have to 
find my motivation?" 

"Something like that," replies Alan. "Isn't that what acting's all 
about?" he adds, jokingly.  

"So they keep telling me," Gary laughs, shaking his head. A lock of 
hair falls free from the loose ponytail and drapes over his 
shoulder, tickling the line of his jaw. "It's never quite worked 
that way for me." 

"Well, I'd be glad to run lines with you, help you find your 
motivation in a warm sunny house instead," Alan offers, not adding 
that he's feeling pretty damn motivated by the man across from him 
already.  

"Would you?" Gary returns, tilting his head slightly. He carefully 
does not mention that Alan is motivation enough for him to look 
wistful, contemplative, and pained...seeing what one can't have is 
certainly motivation for those. However, he does say, "The way you 
can change the entire mood of a scene with just the slightest shift 
of facial muscles is pure art. Would you show me that?" He holds his 
breath, waiting to be laughed at. 

Alan raises an eyebrow.  "I wasn't aware I could do that," he says, 
thinking. "I just feel how the character would move, and it sort of 
evolves from there." He smiles. "That's very flattering of you to 
say that, though." 

Gary blinks once, forcing himself to relax. "A true actor is someone 
who becomes their character rather than creating it, wouldn't you 
say?" He smiles faintly, his fingers curling and uncurling the 
corner of the script.  

"I think that's a fair description, yes, but you do run the risk of 
becoming too entrenched in the role if you do that," Alan answers.  
He suspects that Gary is the kind of actor who gives every role his 
all, and that's why he's so successful. Not to mention sexy. To 
Alan, the man's intensity is intoxicating.  

"That is true, once again," Gary says thoughtfully. "That would be 
unfortunate if that were to happen with this movie, wouldn't it?" 
The words are out of his mouth before he can stop them, and he feels 
his face heating, but he fights down the blush and forces himself to 
look Alan in the face and pretend the comment was completely 
innocuous.  

"Well, yes, as Sirius is rather an unbalanced escaped criminal at 
the moment," Alan answers, wondering what Gary's getting at.  

"There's always that," Gary grins, a hint of a smirk in place, and 
then returns his eyes to his script. This isn't so hard, this 
flirting, and the fact that he knows he shouldn't be doing it makes 
it that much more exciting. He shifts his legs again, stretching his 
arm up and adjusting his ponytail, stretching his neck out at the 
same time.  

Alan's eyes betray him and he finds himself studying the lean lines 
of Gary's body almost hungrily. He knows he's torturing himself, but 
he can't help it, and he feels himself hardening. That won't help 
his concentration.  

From beneath lowered lashes, Gary looks slyly up at Alan just in 
time to catch the flicker of his eyes over his own body. Gary knows 
he looks good; he enjoys taking care of himself and he's well-
muscled from exercise and a healthy diet. Maybe I was wrong about 
him? he thinks hopefully, then squeezes his eyes shut. It won't do 
for him to think about his hormones in a situation like this, where 
he's only setting himself up for disappointment. He purses his lips, 
perusing the script again, and then hands it over to Alan.  "It's 
this part right here," he says, shifting so his head is bent over 
the pages, "where I'm supposed to be looking contemplative and sad 
but at the same time menacing...I'm not quite sure..." 

Alan leans in, looking at the script, and that puts his head 
perilously close to Gary's. Almost close enough to kiss. Alan pushes 
that thought from his mind firmly and studies the script. "I see, 
it's quite a complex thing," he muses. "But if anyone can do it, you 
can, Gary," he reassures him.  "Would you like to try some 
expressions out and I'll tell you what I think? From my limited 
experience of course," he adds.  

"Limited experience," Gary scoffs, shaking his head. "Honestly, 
Rickman, you are thoroughly terrible at playing the modest one." He 
grins innocently, batting his eyelashes, and then bends over the 
script again, his finger tracing the descriptive words carefully, 
burning them onto his mind.  

Alan smiles, shrugging.  "One must become modest with age, and leave 
the bragging to the brash young ones like you," he says 
dramatically.  

"Drama queen," Gary grumbles good-naturedly, shaking his head 
slightly, unable to keep the idiotic smile from his face.  

"Bitch," Alan shoots right back, grinning. Then it hits him. He 
should probably protest being called that, shouldn't he? Oh well, no 
matter, Gary is just teasing.  

Gary raises an eyebrow, his smirk broadening. "You have no idea," he 
purrs in a sultry voice, teasing but with a hint of truth behind it 
that he manages to conceal simply by the circumstance.  

"Oh, really?" Alan purrs right back, unable to help himself. "And is 
that one of your bedtime stories as well?" He tries to stop himself, 
he's going too far, but it seems his mouth has a mind of its own 
today.  

"Only if you're a very good boy," Gary murmurs. With a stroke of 
bravery, or perhaps idiocy, he reaches out and taps the end of 
Alan's nose teasingly.  

Another quirk of his eyebrow, and Alan replies, "But I prefer to be 
bad, actually. It's much more fun." 

"I'd have to agree with you there," Gary grins, a hint of mischief 
glinting in his eyes and a flirtatious flippancy in his 
manner. "Good is so dreadfully trite sometimes, isn't it?" 

"Absolutely," Alan agrees, gazing back at Gary. What are they doing? 
Every signal tells Alan that Gary is flirting outrageously with him, 
but he still doesn't trust his instincts. "And overrated." 

"Especially overrated," Gary breathes, pitching his voice so it is a 
low, sexual purr. He has long since stopped thinking and is merely 
going with his instincts, behaving the way he normally would if 
faced with someone he found desirable, even though a part of him is 
still convinced that it's stupid and futile and a very bad idea.  

"So, Gary," Alan puts the currently-ignored script down. His heart 
is racing and his mouth is getting dry. He's starting to feel more 
confident, more sure that Gary is doing this deliberately.  "Tell me 
what it is about you that's so bad." It was a leading question, but 
one that was still vague.  

Gary regards Alan carefully, the cocky attitude starting to outweigh 
every rational thought he has in his mind at the moment. He doesn't 
want to push too hard, though, as that could easily lead to 
uncomfortable situations, but carpe diem, and he intends to. "Well," 
he says slowly, his voice verging on a Malfoy-like drawl, "I tend to 
live a life considered entirely unacceptable to society in several 
ways. And I enjoy every...single...moment of it." 

Alan laughs low and soft.  "Do you, now?" he asks. A suitably vague 
answer, but he's having none of it. "And pray tell, these...  
predilections... of yours... are they illegal or merely immoral?" 

Gary represses a shiver at the seductive laugh, instead meeting 
Alan's gaze with a sultry one of his own. "I suppose...that would 
depend on your definition of 'immoral'," he returns with a 
smirk. "They aren't illegal though...at least, not in this wonderful 
country of ours." 

"I find very few things to be immoral, Gary," Alan replies, 
savouring the sound of the other man's name.  

"Really?" Gary says, a bit surprised by this. He arches an eyebrow, 
arranging his lips until they pout just so. Even though he's asked 
for help with facial expressions, he can play his face perfectly 
well, like a well-tuned instrument, and each _expression is filled 
with the same energy and passion that he devotes to his craft. "Tell 
me then, Alan," his voice lowering to a purr, "what is it that makes 
you so bad?" 

Well, time to lay the cards out, nothing to lose any more, so Alan 
replies in his most seductive drawl, leaning close, "Well, Gary... I 
lust after younger men." He watches Gary's face carefully. Has he 
just made a mistake or just the right move?

Gary's eyes widen for a moment - this is certainly not what he was 
expecting to hear from the likes of Alan Rickman. However, his shock 
soon fades, and his mouth curves into a pleased, sexy smirk.  "Ah," 
he breathes, the warmth of his breath brushing over Alan's 
face, "that's almost the best kind of bad." 

"So now you know my deep dark secret," Alan says, 
challengingly. "You must now tell me yours." He sits back, smirking 
at the other man.  

"My deep, dark secret," Gary laughs, his voice sultry and slightly 
rough. "Why, are you sure you want me to *tell* you?" He injects 
enough innuendo into that one word that it's impossible for Alan to 
not catch his meaning, and then sits back, his _expression matching 
Alan's although his heart is pounding furiously.  

"Well," Alan begins, pulse racing at the game they're playing. "I 
really do want to know, and how else will you impart that 
knowledge?" he asks innocently.  

Gary lowers his eyelids until his eyes have a sleepy, languid look 
about them, and his smirk mellows into a seductive smile. "Oh, I 
don't know," he breathes, parting his lips slightly. "Surely you can 
think...of something...?" 

Alan shrugs, not giving in to Gary's teasing, though it's 
difficult. "I'm old, you see, and my brain's just not what it used 
to be..." He's trying valiantly to hold back a smirk.  

A quick roll of his eyes, and Gary leans forward, resting his hand 
ever so gently on Alan's knee. "Old, are you?" he murmurs. "Well, I 
suppose that's ever so much better for me, as that's precisely my 
vice." He lifts an eyebrow as if daring Alan to tease about that.  

"Old men are your vice?" Alan says, acting stunned. "Why, what a 
truly depraved vice. I'm shocked." Gary's hand on his knee seems to 
burn.  

"I'm a sick, twisted fuck," Gary returns agreeably, looking up at 
Alan from beneath lowered eyelashes, keeping his lips curved in a 
seductive smirk and decidedly not grinning like an idiot, although 
that's really what he wants to do.  

"That you are," Alan nods solemnly. "I feel I must assist you in 
overcoming such depravity as yours," he adds, keeping a straight 
face with difficulty.  

"Oh? And how do you propose to do that?" Gary murmurs, leaning 
closer until they are almost nose to nose, the same languid smirk on 
his face and the sleepy look in his eyes, although the lowered 
lashes are more to conceal the sparkles of desire than anything else.

"Like this," Alan says, leaning forward to close the small distance 
between them, and pressing his lips firmly to Gary's.


TBC