The White Cloth

Fanfiction
Title:	The White Cloth
Author(s):	Istia
Date(s):	1999
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	The Professionals
Relationship(s):
External Links:	at the AO3
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The White Cloth is a Cowley/Doyle story by Istia.

It is in Roses and Lavender #3 and was, at some point, hosted at The Hatstand Archive. It is now located at AO3.

Summary

From the zine: "Cowley and Doyle are trapped in a building after a bomb's blast. They're eventually rescued - but what is the true aftermath of the incident?"

Reactions and Reviews

1999

Then there's "The White Cloth" by Nell Howell. I looked at the spoilers for this before I read it and can't decide now whether I wish I had or not so I'm not going to give away the plot here. Ill just say that it's a first-rate B/D story... with another sort of story tucked away within it. I loved it I thought it very well written indeed, with a command of expression and an emotional truth that's rarely found in stories which concentrate (as this does) on the inner workings of the heart. The Doyle we find here does suffer a great deal, but he's neither petulant nor melodramatic; he's s grown-up man trying to deal with almost overwhelming feelings. And, though we see less of him, Bodie too is neither stupid nor childish; his explanation of what one impulsive act led to made me feel poignantly for the situation in which he finds himself.

But the triumph of this story, for me, was the portrayal of Cowley. A good portion of it is told through his point of view and for once, he's not the cardboard barker-out of orders we've become inured to. It was really refreshing to see Bodie and Doyle through his eyes, and to have a thoughtful exploration of his attitude towards them. His acknowledgment of their adulthood, while simultaneously filing how young they are compared to his own weary age, was both convincing and touching. I don't much like Cowley, on the whole; but I liked this one. He's a good man, and a compassionate one, and I believed absolutely in what the author did here. Great stuff.

2003

...proceeding from an exploration of pairings and separation, this story is a careful, detailed, intense take on a difficult relationship and true feelings. The complex way in which the characters act and interact, nothing is casual, everything is 'felt'. We are back in the darker place of Pros fanfiction, and the extreme emotions and broken boundaries of CI5. nothing is clear or simple, and choices have to made, and choices have consequences.

2010

I've got to say (and I suspect you have a good idea of this already... *g*) that I'm really not very interested in pairings in Pros other than B/D because I just don't see them. There are, though, very specific times when I can read D/C or B/C, and The White Cloth is a perfect example of one of those times....

In The White Cloth, what we see is that the lads absolutely need each other - both falling apart in their own ways when forced apart by the fear that their new relationship can only ever be a shallow sexual thing. Bodie volunteers to go away on a long-term undercover assignment without telling Doyle who is recovering slowly in hospital from a bomb blast, and through Cowley's eyes we watch Doyle dying a little inside. But this is a Cowley who's been through it himself, such a long time ago in Spain, and he determines that Doyle will not be left to become a lonely, passionless workaholic. It seems all very innocent - he takes Doyle home with him to eat and to play chess - but Doyle recognises that Cowley's presence comforts him, takes away the near-panic of Bodie's absence, and he feels there is a price to be paid. Then Bodie comes home. At first Doyle refuses to give Cowley up, though he still wants Bodie, but Cowley of course is wiser than that, and of course the lads end up back together - because I wouldn't be reccing this if it wasn't ultimately a B/D story!

I don't normally go for Cowley-is-gay stories any more than non-B/D stories, but again there are one or two authors who can convince me it might happen, and Nell Howell is one of them. Her Cowley is the Cowley I see on screen, just as her lads are - intelligent and somewhat wise as well, able to learn from experience but human enough to give in to the idea that things can still change, wry and crotchety and sympathetic just as far as he needs to be. I can see Doyle turning to this man in Cowley's absence, not as a replacement, but as a different kind of comfort - work, a challenge, someone who's strong enough for him to fight against when that's what he needs. And Howell convinces me, because she doesn't show me anything of them together at all, doesn't try to convince me that there's any kind of romantic love between them, just two lonely, practical and ultimately passionate men. Cowley sees something of himself in Doyle, and in this story we see it too - it all makes sense.

I first read The White Cloth some years ago now, but it is one of those stories which has stayed with me. There are some unusually vivid moments, like this:

Blunt fingers stroked over his hair, mouth moueing at the crop, a curl pulled gently out to its fullest, short length and let go to snap back. in fact, that whole scene in Doyle's kitchen after Bodie's return is painful to read - I almost said 'to watch', as it unfolds with great clarity.

Also, those hints of Cowley's youth - his mam, his time fighting -effectively make him more human, which sets up his ultimate decision to encourage Doyle to go after a life that includes love rather than just duty.

An excellent story & a good rec. I really enjoyed rereading this.

The White Cloth has always been on my list of this is a great reads as well, but I've not re-read it for years so it was a fab surprise to come back to it! I didn't even remember it as D/C in particular, which just goes to show how subtley it was done, I think. But yes! I liked the glimpses we had of Cowley's past too - it didn't overshadow the focus being on B/D, but it gave us a bit more of Cowley to conjure with, a way to feel who he was rather than just their boss/a lonely old man...

I know what you mean about being put off by the pairing - I rather think that when I read it I didn't have that information in front of me (probably via Circuit's "random" button) and so I just dived in - and the writing's good, and the approach is subtle, so I barely even noticed it until it was already something more, if you know what I mean...

I can see how this is a story that stays with you.

I've never encountered D/C before and didn't expect it to do much for me, but here I am persuaded that the two identify with each other to some extent, and each has a different need, which at that time brings them together.

But it seemed very right too that Cowley should call an end to the intimate relationship once Bodie returned and Doyle was clearly drawn back to Bodie. And very in character that Doyle would want to honour his relationship with Cowley until expressly sent away. The scenes where Bodie returns are wonderfully vivid - Doyle is tempted but trying to be principled, at the same time as wanting to express his anger without totally rejecting Bodie.

.Cars - I wasn't thinking of the Capris at all, funny that. I could go on about the car being an extension of male personality, but I don't think that's how it was meant here.

I just loved the image of the light from Doyle's car touching and reflecting off Bodie's. And that situation of waiting outside an absent lover's place, and hoping, and wondering - she'd got me sitting right there with Bodie and I really felt/saw that headlight beam.

After writing late last night, I remembered one of the qualities of this fic, which possibly is what makes it so memorable, is that the characters are somehow tangible. Nell Howell's descriptions of movements and bodies and sounds gives them a real physical presence.

This is something like the 4th time I've tried to read this fic without success. It's not poorly written or anything, but there's just something about it that doesn't pull me in or hold my interest.

Normally a Doyle-whumper would be right up my street. I think part of it was that there was too much Cowley introspection in what should have been a more tension-filled part of the story (where they were trapped under the rubble). Part of it may also be that while I like Cowley, I like him more in a supporting role. I'm just not that interested in him to read a fic where he has such a major part. Okay, and the mental image of Cowley having sex breaks my brain.

I'm noticing a pattern. Many of the recs [at CI5hq] -- my own and others -- are stories that originally did little for me, but that I've come to appreciate on later rereads.

In this one there was initially too much Cowley for me, and Bodie taking off when he does, really bothered me. I think this is what sometimes happens...I was judging the story by the criteria of the story I wanted it to be. And it wasn't that story. The second time I read it, I simply read it for the story it was, and I really enjoyed it.

I was able to believe in a D/C relationship given this particular set of circumstances (although I must agree that I generally have no interest beyond the academic in such pairings and never find them believable when they are -- as you state -- based on a romantic rather than pragmatic foundation). I believed it here and I found it touching. I could understand what each offered the other.

I like Howell's writing a lot. It's precise, unfussy, and very visual. She does a good job capturing character and voice. When it comes to the details of the lads' work and home life, she's accurate without belaboring.

I've got to admit that I tend to be more of a first-read-grabs-me-or-not kind of person, but there are definitely stories that I've liked better over time. Larton is one of them, still coming up - though I did like it straight away... In fact, when I think about it, I'm more likely to have gone the other way - too much re-reading in some cases shows me flaws that I happily glossed over the first time! As you've said in one of our previous conversations - it's so interesting the way the reading-brain works! *g*

I suppose the best stories grip you once, and then show you more and more each time you read them - and there are quite alot of those, for me, in Pros! Nell Howell writes some of them too, so I'm glad you like them too!

The idea of reading a story for itself, rather than for what we want it to be is interesting too - and I think fanfic lends itself to all sorts of muddles along that theme! I know that I want the characters I see on screen - but of course since other people see them differently, that's going to be an issue. Then writers might want to explore avenues down which we don't personally want to go, whether or not it fits with their online characters, and... in a way it's amazing that we all like the amount of Prosfic that we do! *g*

2016

My latest read has been Nell Howell's The White Cloth, in Roses and Lavender 3, and I'd forgotten how much I like that one! It's unusual too, because there's quite alot of Cowley, and although he's interesting enough, I don't usually want to read Cowley-heavy fic, because it's Bodie/Doyle I'm interested in - but it works really well here, because although we get some backstory for Cowley too, even when it's his pov we're mostly thinking about Bodie/Doyle. *g* There's also lots of lovely angst and bleakness and melancholy, partner-worry, hurt/comfort... and very nicely written too. *g*