Walk Out of the World, Bondsman

[walkingshadow.livejournal.com]

My rec table.

Claim: Stargate: Atlantis - John Sheppard
Title: Walk Out of the World
Author: Martha Wilson, aka ltlj
Characters: John Sheppard, River Tam (Firefly).
Prompt: 33. Crossover.
Rating: PG.
Length: medium (3,232 words)
Brief summary: I love this story for the possibilities of it, for the blending of two incredibly rich and fascinating worlds that creates an even more intriguing universe. The story is told from River's point of view and it's distinctly her voice and her head: the atmosphere is dark and still, whispery and deliberate, like weightless footsteps that know exactly where they're going. Everyone shines, everyone is utterly themselves, and John here is only one of the others, but River sees into his head, into the city in his head, and she knows him—and so does the author.

"We'll wait them out," the leader (Major) says. He's standing in the center of the ship, one hand braced on the rack overhead, the other on the gun that hangs around his neck. He's a solitary hunter, a big cat that leads a wolf pack, beautiful and lethal and all twisty contradictions. He's watching the sensor screens, the closed ramp of the little ship, and River and Kaylee, all at once while seeming to watch nothing.

Link to the story: Walk Out of the World

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Claim: Stargate: Atlantis - John Sheppard
Title: Bondsman
Author: casspeach
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay.
Prompt: 10. Fandom Cliche.
Rating: NC-17.
Length: long (6,883 words)
Brief summary: In this fandom, aliens make them have sex all the time. This particular story also happens to have a bonus throwaway suggestion of that other fandom standby, slavery, but the focus is on the sex that the Bithynians force them to have. It's not fun and it's not sexy—for someone as private as John is, it's nightmarish—but he and Rodney get each other through it, and through the aftermath as well.

"You realise . . . " he said haltingly, "you realise they think I'm the leader and you're, well, you're my bondsman."

John hoped he didn't blanch as much on the outside as it felt like on the inside. It wasn't so much that he minded . . . more that he would have liked to have had a discussion about it, to have felt like he had a choice.

"So you'll be topping?"

Rodney had the decency to look apologetic, and shrugged.

"I think that's what they expect. I, um, I don't care either way, so, if you feel strongly we could talk to the priest again, see if . . . "

"It's fine, in fact I think, I think it might be easier because I won't have to . . . I'm a very private person Rodney, I don't think I could perform in front of an audience."

"Whereas I'm a real exhibitionist," Rodney laughed, and there was just the faintest edge of hysteria in it.

Link to the story: Bondsman