Freaks, by Arrow. (R)

[thady.livejournal.com]

Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski
Author on LJ: arrow00
Author Website: http://arrow00.com/

Why this must be read:

This is my last rec for this month, and I thought I finish where I started, with one of my favorite authors, Arrow.

This story has everything I love about her stories, great characterization, great pacing, sharp and poignant dialog and wonderful interaction between the characters. "Freaks" is a story about being different, and about accepting it. Fraser has difficulties with it, and I hurt for him.

The sex is hot, but the characters are the focus and the kink is there in service of the characterization. This is more than just about sex, it's about tenderness and love and acceptance.

Fraser knows he is considered odd by many—intolerably so by some. He has always been strange. So it comes as no surprise what they think of him, all the officers of the 27th and his co-workers at the Consulate—except for Turnbull, whose oddness puts even Fraser's to shame.

It was the same for Fraser back north at all the postings he's ever held, but especially in Moose Jaw, where the bodies crowded the smaller living quarters and everyone was in constant contact. His hearing has always been extraordinary, and he caught the whispers—What an odd duck—He's a strange one.

A freak.

Ray isn't the first to call him that.

When he was younger Fraser thought he could slide into the slim space they expected him to fill, or could at least could appear to, for brief periods. But now he has learned to have a strange sort of pride in the comments that follow him—not really ill intended, but loaded just the same with wariness and a little ridicule.

And the most amusing part of it—none of them have any idea how strange Fraser truly is.

Freaks