Uncluttered Beauty, by Carene (R)

[unovis.livejournal.com]

Title: Uncluttered Beauty
Fandom: HIGHLANDER
Pairing: Methos/Methos, Methos/Duncan
Author: carenejeans
Author Website: The Garret
Why this must be read:
Remixes are hard. Sometimes they work beautifully as a remix, but not necessarily as a standalone story--there's the nagging feeling that you've missed something, somewhere along the way. I'm not saying that's bad, just that the stories, original and remix, function as pendants or complements. I happen to like that, but it's not everyone's cup of tea, and it might be why a lot of readers, I think, may shy away from reading remixes when they're first announced. They don't tend to gather much attention or feedback.

Fear not. This remix works just fine on its own. The source story, A Kind of Reunion by amand_r, is pie. It's one of the author's few forays into mostly sex, and it works beautifully: Methos is obsessed by his reflection and takes action. Yowza.

The remix is an expansion on the source. It adds props. It adds a different ending. It's in a different style. It's a second, very hot version of a very hot story to begin with. It's WIN-WIN, dear reader, and it has naked Methos in a cowboy hat!
See:

What was he supposed to do, kiss his arms like Little Richard? "I love myself! I'm sooooo beautiful!" Methos stretched his arms out in front of him dubiously. There had to be more to it.

He looked himself up and down in the mirror. He looked tiresomely familiar. He pulled his sweater over his head. He only looked more tiresomely familiar naked. What he needed was… he opened a closet. A disguise.

Yes.

The closet was a jumble of odds and ends of clothing he used for those occasions when he wanted to look like someone other than who he happened to be at the time. There were a lot of hats. Hats were an amazingly simple way to disguise yourself. Clap a cowboy hat on your head and people you talked to every day sailed right past you.

Methos clapped a cowboy hat on his head.

"Howdy, howdy, howdy," he said with alcoholic heartiness to the half-naked cowboy in the mirror. Wouldn't you like to see more of that?

So come on, wouldn't you like to see more of that? Go, read.

Uncluttered Beauty

ETA: This story was written as part of the 2008 RemixRedux challenge. This and all stories are to be found on the comm remixredux08