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crack_van2004-01-25 10:38 pm
justacat.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2004-01-25 10:38 pm
The Easiest Choice, by CL Finn (NC-17)
Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Ray Kowalski/Benton Fraser
Author's Website: http://www.fangirlz.net/clfinn/index.html
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
trixiesfic
Why this must be read:
I'm taking a break from the Speranza Days (but they're not over yet!) to keep things fresh. So here's a don't-miss dS fic with a very different tone - a long-term RayK/Fraser relationship fic, by which I mean a story that takes place a decade or more post-Call of the Wild, when the guys have been together for long enough to be an "old married couple." I have two favorites in this genre; The Easiest Choice is one of them.*
The story is told from Fraser's first person POV - one of the best, most appealing Fraser voices I've read. Ray and Fraser have spent the past eleven years in Chicago, during which Ray replaced Welsh as Lieutenant for the 2-7 and Fraser became the Seargent in charge of the consulate. Now they are a few months away from a major life transition - Ray is preparing to take early retirement so they can move to Canada.
The entire story takes place during the course of a single evening, a standard day-in-the-life for the two of them: Fraser picks up Ray from the station and waits while Ray is interrogating a suspect, they drive home and make dinner, Fraser goes running and then cleans his leather accoutrements, Ray reads, they go to bed together. It's a snapshot of their daily life together. Not much really "happens" - but Fraser, anticipating the forthcoming change in their lives, is in a particularly contemplative mood, and throughout the evening he reflects extensively on their years in Chicago and his feelings about the change.
These reflections are seamlessly and masterfully interwoven with the day-to-day details of their evening, and together these comprise the real story. Fraser's memories of the major events in their lives over their time in Chicago and how they dealt with them together are wonderfully evocative, sometimes funny, sometimes touching - the passage about Dief is particularly lovely, perhaps the most moving such passage I've ever read in any dS fic. But more important, these memories - as well as Fraser's recounting of the normal events of their evening - paint a remarkably complete and nuanced portrait of their relationship and illustrate how it has anchored them through the years. And the relationship thus revealed is such an endearingly beautiful, tender, solid one - it's just the kind of future I want to imagine for my favorite pairing.
The writing is absolutely gorgeous; beautifully cadenced, with a quiet, nostalgic, almost wistful tone. The characterization is wonderful - Ray and Fraser are older, changed, but still unmistakably the characters we know and love. It's almost achingly sweet and tender, and yet manages to be not at all sappy, which is quite an achievement. And even better, it has a bit of heat - a wonderful sex scene that's totally consistent with the feel of the fic.
One reviewer has described The Easiest Choice as "the fic equivalent of hot chocolate and a smooshy quilt on a cold, rainy night," and I couldn't have said it better myself. It's one of the most lovely and moving fics I know.
The Easiest Choice
* For those who are interested, my other favorite is Likewise by AuKestrel, but I'll leave that to some future reviewer to describe and rec!
Pairing: Ray Kowalski/Benton Fraser
Author's Website: http://www.fangirlz.net/clfinn/index.html
Author on LJ:
trixiesficWhy this must be read:
I'm taking a break from the Speranza Days (but they're not over yet!) to keep things fresh. So here's a don't-miss dS fic with a very different tone - a long-term RayK/Fraser relationship fic, by which I mean a story that takes place a decade or more post-Call of the Wild, when the guys have been together for long enough to be an "old married couple." I have two favorites in this genre; The Easiest Choice is one of them.
The story is told from Fraser's first person POV - one of the best, most appealing Fraser voices I've read. Ray and Fraser have spent the past eleven years in Chicago, during which Ray replaced Welsh as Lieutenant for the 2-7 and Fraser became the Seargent in charge of the consulate. Now they are a few months away from a major life transition - Ray is preparing to take early retirement so they can move to Canada.
The entire story takes place during the course of a single evening, a standard day-in-the-life for the two of them: Fraser picks up Ray from the station and waits while Ray is interrogating a suspect, they drive home and make dinner, Fraser goes running and then cleans his leather accoutrements, Ray reads, they go to bed together. It's a snapshot of their daily life together. Not much really "happens" - but Fraser, anticipating the forthcoming change in their lives, is in a particularly contemplative mood, and throughout the evening he reflects extensively on their years in Chicago and his feelings about the change.
These reflections are seamlessly and masterfully interwoven with the day-to-day details of their evening, and together these comprise the real story. Fraser's memories of the major events in their lives over their time in Chicago and how they dealt with them together are wonderfully evocative, sometimes funny, sometimes touching - the passage about Dief is particularly lovely, perhaps the most moving such passage I've ever read in any dS fic. But more important, these memories - as well as Fraser's recounting of the normal events of their evening - paint a remarkably complete and nuanced portrait of their relationship and illustrate how it has anchored them through the years. And the relationship thus revealed is such an endearingly beautiful, tender, solid one - it's just the kind of future I want to imagine for my favorite pairing.
The writing is absolutely gorgeous; beautifully cadenced, with a quiet, nostalgic, almost wistful tone. The characterization is wonderful - Ray and Fraser are older, changed, but still unmistakably the characters we know and love. It's almost achingly sweet and tender, and yet manages to be not at all sappy, which is quite an achievement. And even better, it has a bit of heat - a wonderful sex scene that's totally consistent with the feel of the fic.
One reviewer has described The Easiest Choice as "the fic equivalent of hot chocolate and a smooshy quilt on a cold, rainy night," and I couldn't have said it better myself. It's one of the most lovely and moving fics I know.
The Easiest Choice
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Oh wow. I'd never read this one before. What a beautiful story. You're reccing some amazing ones! Thanks so much!
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