beatrice_otter (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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crack_van2011-03-15 07:08 pm
beatrice_otter) wrote in crack_van2011-03-15 07:08 pm
Entry tags:
Signals that Sound in the Dark by Dira (Explicit)
Fandom: VORKOSIVERSE
Pairing: Aral Vorkosigan/Jack Harkness
Length: 8500 words
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dsudis, ![[personal profile]](https://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dira
Author Website: AO3
Why this must be read:
Jack Harkness is one of the most easily crossed over characters in fandom, but this is one of the best uses I've seen of him. This story takes place in the months before a young Aral Vorkosigan commands the conquest of Komarr. Dira perfectly captures Aral here, young and yet still himself. He's incognito on Komarr, playing a tourist when he meets a mysterious stranger. This story is about Aral, and what it's like to be a bisexual man in a homophobic culture, and his relationship with Ges who isn't yet the monster we meet later, but is becoming him. And this is about two men, both scarred in their own way, taking a moment's freedom and happiness. It's short and a little heartbreaking.
"I've got it now," the man said, on a playful sigh. "You're one of those terrible manly warrior types, all repressed homoeroticism and no follow-through."
Despite his suspicions (because of them, because he only knew how to play with fire), Aral was finding the man even more damnably attractive up close than he had at a distance. He wondered if the effect were somehow manufactured--one heard stories about the dangerous, hypnotic beauty of the Cetagandan haut caste--but Aral could not quite imagine a Cetagandan leading up to assassination with this man's sunny smile. Aral finished his drink and set the empty glass tidily on the bar.
"And you, of course, are one those terrible galactics, all sex drive and no morals." Or taste, if the man's ploy were to be believed. There were dozens in this room younger, prettier, less scarred.
The beautiful man laughed delightedly, and Aral watched in the mirror as heads turned; conversations faltered and smiles bloomed five meters away, merely from the sound. What could he possibly want with Aral? Some deeper game, but the man was no Komarran, Aral would stake his life....
Aral pushed to his feet, dropped some currency on the bar, and turned to walk out. He was not in the least surprised when the man pursued him.
"You can call me Jack," the man offered.
Signals that Sound in the Dark
Pairing: Aral Vorkosigan/Jack Harkness
Length: 8500 words
Author on LJ:
dsudis, diraAuthor Website: AO3
Why this must be read:
Jack Harkness is one of the most easily crossed over characters in fandom, but this is one of the best uses I've seen of him. This story takes place in the months before a young Aral Vorkosigan commands the conquest of Komarr. Dira perfectly captures Aral here, young and yet still himself. He's incognito on Komarr, playing a tourist when he meets a mysterious stranger. This story is about Aral, and what it's like to be a bisexual man in a homophobic culture, and his relationship with Ges who isn't yet the monster we meet later, but is becoming him. And this is about two men, both scarred in their own way, taking a moment's freedom and happiness. It's short and a little heartbreaking.
"I've got it now," the man said, on a playful sigh. "You're one of those terrible manly warrior types, all repressed homoeroticism and no follow-through."
Despite his suspicions (because of them, because he only knew how to play with fire), Aral was finding the man even more damnably attractive up close than he had at a distance. He wondered if the effect were somehow manufactured--one heard stories about the dangerous, hypnotic beauty of the Cetagandan haut caste--but Aral could not quite imagine a Cetagandan leading up to assassination with this man's sunny smile. Aral finished his drink and set the empty glass tidily on the bar.
"And you, of course, are one those terrible galactics, all sex drive and no morals." Or taste, if the man's ploy were to be believed. There were dozens in this room younger, prettier, less scarred.
The beautiful man laughed delightedly, and Aral watched in the mirror as heads turned; conversations faltered and smiles bloomed five meters away, merely from the sound. What could he possibly want with Aral? Some deeper game, but the man was no Komarran, Aral would stake his life....
Aral pushed to his feet, dropped some currency on the bar, and turned to walk out. He was not in the least surprised when the man pursued him.
"You can call me Jack," the man offered.
Signals that Sound in the Dark