Precisely When

Fanfiction
Title:	Precisely When
Author(s):	DVS
Date(s):	1993
Length:	49k
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	The Professionals
Relationship(s):
External Links:	online here
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"Precisely When" is a Professionals story written by DVS. It is a hurt/comfort story and was originally published in Leather and Blue Jeans #1. It was posted to the Circuit Archive in 2003.

Summaries

"A light, fun read which perfectly reproduced that ‘lightning strike moment’ when you first realise that you have fallen in love. I also like the banter and humour between the agents and the glimpse into CI5’s inner workings - all done with a lovely light touch."

".... in which B is sent undercover in a gay bar and makes up a story about his lover to scare off would-be gropers. And the story makes him realise he's in loooove."

Reactions and Reviews

I like the story. It was an easy read. I was amused about Bodie sitting in the gay bar, being hit on by just about everybody, telling the bartender about whom he was waiting for. He surprised himself talking about Doyle. I also liked that Doyle knew his partner well enough that when he saw Bodie, he knew exactly how Bodie felt without him having to say a word. And then that little bit of h/c, with the bath and ginger.

I'm a bit torn - there were some fun bits, but it could have done with a good Brit-check and beta, including for spelling and typos... I think in my head I'm comparing it with Leslie Conch's Fly on the Wall, which was even more riddled with Americanisms but somehow managed to pull off being comedy B/D and getting the lads together for the first time as well. I wince at her blatant Americanisms, but the rest of it was clever enough and sharp enough and, perhaps, original enough that she gets away with it for me. I'm busier being interested in what's going on, with FotW, whereas here I'm wincing not just at the Americanisms, but at plot-holes and stereotypes as well... Which sounds like I think it's a bad fic, and I don't at all! Just...

But I'll defend DVS by arguing that, going by the title, the first time was the whole point of this fic. It's not just any old fic, where the writer has chucked in a 'first time' to sex it up. The whole point is to chronicle the exact moment they first fall in love/lust, as the recc notes. Years later, they will remember 'precisely when' - it was that pub fight on that stupid op when Cowley was away, and Bodie's jeans were too tight... And that's quite original, because there must be just as many fics (more even) where they couldn't be precise, it's just gradual.

I liked the way the writer took a familiar theme (maybe it wasn’t that familiar when the story was written around 1993? Dunno....) of Bodie and Doyle in a gay club and gave it a refreshing slant; I loved the way she/he managed to keep Bodie (and Doyle) completely in character (despite the situation they were in) with Bodie responding in typical deadpan, funny and semi-tough, Bodie-like manner, itching to take a poke at someone (it’s how I imagined Bodie *would* behave in that kind of situation); and I loved his just-under-the-surface indignation and annoyance at the whole situation and his realisation of what it must be like to be on the wrong end of the traditional male-female chat-up situation.