visionshadows (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
visionshadows) wrote2006-04-20 01:00 pm
visionshadows) wrote2006-04-20 01:00 pm
crack_van rec: Next of Kin by Speranza
Fandom: due South
Pairing: Fraser/Stella
Author on livejournal:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cesperanza
Author's website: Speranza's Fiction
Why this must be read: So Fraser/Stella is just a pairing that's bound to be bitter and angry and just a little uncomfortable for the reader. This isn't something easy to capture, the way they circle around each other because of Ray, refusing to be outright mean and hateful when Ray is there, but able to sharpen their claws on each other at the same time. Speranza gives us a story where neither of them like each other, but when Ray is seriously injured, they end up in the waiting room together and then, in bed together.
"Do you want a drink?" Stella asked, apparently fussing with ice and limes.
"No, thank you," Fraser said.
She shot him a swift look. "God, you don't want to do this while sober?" Her voice thrummed with mock horror.
"I do everything while sober," Fraser replied, and set his hat down on her sideboard.
"Yeah, and that's another reason why I don't like you." She was holding a large, clear drink in which floated a slice of lime. She took a sip and regarded him thoughtfully. "Why are you doing this, anyway?"
Fraser stared at her for a long moment across her dimly lit living room. Beyond her, full-length windows looked on to the lake. In his mind's eye, he could see Ray glaring at him through a gap in the doorway, begging him to go, leave, disappear on the off-chance he could earn her affection back. In his mind's eye, he could see Ray relenting and opening the door, sacrificing his dreams of reconciliation for Stella's safety. He could see Ray shoving Stella behind him and puffing himself up, trying to make himself seem larger, willing to protect her with his life from the man with the gun.
Stella Kowalski had thrown away that devotion, but Benton Fraser wanted it and meant to have it. He figured he owed her something in return.
But even that--that wasn't the whole reason. He crossed the room, took the glass of liquor from her hand, and set it down carefully on the bar.
"Because," Fraser said softly, looking down at her upturned face, her gray-green eyes and snub nose, "you're safe for me. You may be the only woman in Chicago who is. There's no way I can hurt you."
Next of Kin
Pairing: Fraser/Stella
Author on livejournal:
cesperanzaAuthor's website: Speranza's Fiction
Why this must be read: So Fraser/Stella is just a pairing that's bound to be bitter and angry and just a little uncomfortable for the reader. This isn't something easy to capture, the way they circle around each other because of Ray, refusing to be outright mean and hateful when Ray is there, but able to sharpen their claws on each other at the same time. Speranza gives us a story where neither of them like each other, but when Ray is seriously injured, they end up in the waiting room together and then, in bed together.
"Do you want a drink?" Stella asked, apparently fussing with ice and limes.
"No, thank you," Fraser said.
She shot him a swift look. "God, you don't want to do this while sober?" Her voice thrummed with mock horror.
"I do everything while sober," Fraser replied, and set his hat down on her sideboard.
"Yeah, and that's another reason why I don't like you." She was holding a large, clear drink in which floated a slice of lime. She took a sip and regarded him thoughtfully. "Why are you doing this, anyway?"
Fraser stared at her for a long moment across her dimly lit living room. Beyond her, full-length windows looked on to the lake. In his mind's eye, he could see Ray glaring at him through a gap in the doorway, begging him to go, leave, disappear on the off-chance he could earn her affection back. In his mind's eye, he could see Ray relenting and opening the door, sacrificing his dreams of reconciliation for Stella's safety. He could see Ray shoving Stella behind him and puffing himself up, trying to make himself seem larger, willing to protect her with his life from the man with the gun.
Stella Kowalski had thrown away that devotion, but Benton Fraser wanted it and meant to have it. He figured he owed her something in return.
But even that--that wasn't the whole reason. He crossed the room, took the glass of liquor from her hand, and set it down carefully on the bar.
"Because," Fraser said softly, looking down at her upturned face, her gray-green eyes and snub nose, "you're safe for me. You may be the only woman in Chicago who is. There's no way I can hurt you."
Next of Kin