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crack_van2012-04-12 04:07 pm
mergatrude.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2012-04-12 04:07 pm
In a vast open territory with no distinguishing landmarks by China Shop (Explicit)
Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Jack Huey/Ray Kowalski
Length: 13,141 words
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
china_shop
Author Website: AO3 index
Why this must be read:
I've been hanging around the due South fandom for a long time, and have therefore had time to move from being a rabid OTPer, to a rabid OT3er, to a "will pair anyone given justification" sort of person. And this is the fandom that built an entire OTP out of five minutes of screen time and a thwarted fist-fight, so the "justification" doesn't have to come from canon!
In this story,china_shop throws together a newly-returned-from-Canada Ray Kowalski with an older-but-wiser Jack Huey. It works, because she grounds it in realism, the realism of trying to find where you fit in, finding how you work with other people. She doesn't force it, just lets it grow naturally out of their partnership. And it's lovely.
Ray was hunched over his desk at the station, engrossed in case files. He had a frown of concentration and his hands were making fists in his hair.
"Working Sunday, Kowalski?" Jack stood over him, feeling superior. Maybe he was a failed rimshot guy like Ray had said, but Ray couldn't have much of a life himself if he was spending his weekend doing paperwork.
"Figured I had some catching up to do." Ray looked up. He was wearing a worn gray sweatshirt and khakis, and he was unshaven, but his blue eyes were serious. "Listen, I'm an asshole."
"Forget it." The resentment Jack had been carrying around all weekend eased. He pulled up a chair and propped his feet on the corner of Ray's desk, studying the shine on his shoes and ignoring a weird impulse to reach out and fix the mess that was Ray's hair. "You want some background on those?"
"Yeah." Ray gave him a small smile, then dropped his gaze back to the files. "Thanks."
So they spent the afternoon going over Jack's half-dozen open cases, tossing ideas around and planning their next steps. Around six o'clock, Jack looked out the window where the sky was darkening, and said, "You want to go and get something to eat?"
"Oh," said Ray. "Uh, no. Thanks. I'm— I got plans." He closed the file they'd been working through and stretched his arms over his head, arching his back.
Jack stood up. "Whatever." He went to fish his glasses out of his desk drawer.
Ray followed him over. "It's just— No, listen." He held up his hands as Jack started to cut him off. "It's like this, okay? My whole life, I've been a satellite — first my wife, then Fraser. I was whoever they needed me to be, like I was undercover the whole time." He spoke fast, in a low voice. "I can't keep latching onto the next person who comes along, you know? I got to figure out who I am when I'm just me."
Jack looked down at his glasses, thin-rimmed and dignified — the opposite of Ray's heavy ones. He shrugged. "Do whatever you have to do. I'm going to get some dinner."
In a vast open territory with no distinguishing landmarks
Pairing: Jack Huey/Ray Kowalski
Length: 13,141 words
Author on LJ:
china_shopAuthor Website: AO3 index
Why this must be read:
I've been hanging around the due South fandom for a long time, and have therefore had time to move from being a rabid OTPer, to a rabid OT3er, to a "will pair anyone given justification" sort of person. And this is the fandom that built an entire OTP out of five minutes of screen time and a thwarted fist-fight, so the "justification" doesn't have to come from canon!
In this story,
china_shop throws together a newly-returned-from-Canada Ray Kowalski with an older-but-wiser Jack Huey. It works, because she grounds it in realism, the realism of trying to find where you fit in, finding how you work with other people. She doesn't force it, just lets it grow naturally out of their partnership. And it's lovely.Ray was hunched over his desk at the station, engrossed in case files. He had a frown of concentration and his hands were making fists in his hair.
"Working Sunday, Kowalski?" Jack stood over him, feeling superior. Maybe he was a failed rimshot guy like Ray had said, but Ray couldn't have much of a life himself if he was spending his weekend doing paperwork.
"Figured I had some catching up to do." Ray looked up. He was wearing a worn gray sweatshirt and khakis, and he was unshaven, but his blue eyes were serious. "Listen, I'm an asshole."
"Forget it." The resentment Jack had been carrying around all weekend eased. He pulled up a chair and propped his feet on the corner of Ray's desk, studying the shine on his shoes and ignoring a weird impulse to reach out and fix the mess that was Ray's hair. "You want some background on those?"
"Yeah." Ray gave him a small smile, then dropped his gaze back to the files. "Thanks."
So they spent the afternoon going over Jack's half-dozen open cases, tossing ideas around and planning their next steps. Around six o'clock, Jack looked out the window where the sky was darkening, and said, "You want to go and get something to eat?"
"Oh," said Ray. "Uh, no. Thanks. I'm— I got plans." He closed the file they'd been working through and stretched his arms over his head, arching his back.
Jack stood up. "Whatever." He went to fish his glasses out of his desk drawer.
Ray followed him over. "It's just— No, listen." He held up his hands as Jack started to cut him off. "It's like this, okay? My whole life, I've been a satellite — first my wife, then Fraser. I was whoever they needed me to be, like I was undercover the whole time." He spoke fast, in a low voice. "I can't keep latching onto the next person who comes along, you know? I got to figure out who I am when I'm just me."
Jack looked down at his glasses, thin-rimmed and dignified — the opposite of Ray's heavy ones. He shrugged. "Do whatever you have to do. I'm going to get some dinner."
In a vast open territory with no distinguishing landmarks
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