Down From Mt. Olympus

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My rec table.

Claim: Stargate: Atlantis - John Sheppard
Title: Down From Mt. Olympus
Author: trinityofone
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay.
Prompt: 11. Character Study.
Rating: NC-17.
Length: medium (4,600 words)
Brief summary: Technically this is a post-episode fic for Sanctuary, but that's not nearly all it is. It's the story of John's life, kindergarten to present moment, and it explains everything—all that emotional distance and alienation. Even better, John thinks he's found an explanation that satisfies himself.

John likes to think of himself as a people person. He's good in a crowd, plays well to a room. He's got the warm laugh, the quirky little smile, and people respond to it. Him.

From the day he entered kindergarten, people wanted to share their Oreos with him, or pick him first for kickball, or invite him over to swim in their pools. In high school he was the kid who could pause for a moment to lean against his locker and immediately have a crowd of people gather 'round. Even in the Air Force, even after he'd begun to develop a bit of a...reputation, there was always some guy who wanted to slap him on the back.

He's cool with it.

John learned early on that as long as you keep people looking, they're never going to bother looking all that closely.

Link to the story: Down From Mt. Olympus