Linguistics by stillane (NC-17)

[popkin16]

Show: SGA
Rec Category: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay
Pairings: Sheppard/McKay
Categories: Established relationship, hurt/comfort, angst, happy ending
Warnings: References to Trinity, Aurora/The Hive, Epiphany, and Grace Under Pressure
Author on LJ: stillane
Author's Website: a sun that doesn't set but settles
Link: Linguistics

Why You Should Read This: Linguistics is another fic that I find myself returning to for repeated readings! There isn't a scene in this fic that I don't have a great deal of love for, from beginning to end. Though Rodney knows John can't say it, he really wants to hear "I love you." Their relationship - and Rodney's wish to hear the words - is weaved throughout season two events, such as Trinity and Grace Under Pressure. stillane writes the boys so well, each scene drawing the reader in, and there's Rodney whump! The last scene is absolutely lovely, especially the final line (really the entire last few lines. Or all of it). Every time I read this fic tugs on my heart.

Rodney likes to think John’s specific silence is a byproduct of his upbringing. That a military father – and yes, Rodney’s read his file, because John sure as hell never talks about it – and an adulthood spent in the Air Force have made John emotionally stilted, or at least uncommunicative. Rodney cheerfully blames command structures and American cultural indoctrination and macho, bullshit brainwashing for the absences in John’s vocabulary. All the while, though, he quietly wonders if the words are absent, or just not applicable.

Comments

[duffy-99.livejournal.com]

Thanks SO much for reminding me of this story. It's an old favorite, and you gave me an excuse to revisit it. Not that I needed one, since this story is certainly one of the best!

[popkin16]

It's so good, isn't it? I'm so glad I reminded you of it XD