Old Soldiers Die Hard, by Sholio (G)
Aug. 9th, 2022 09:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cassiope25 posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
stargateficrecShow: SGA
Rec Category: Rodney McKay
Characters: Rodney McKay, John Sheppard, Other character
Pairings: None
Categories: gen, angst, original characters, pov outsider
Warnings: None
Words: 8103
Author's Journal:sholio
Author's Website: Sholio on AO3
Link: Old Soldiers Die Hard
Author's Summary: The old guy in Room 30B was about the most disagreeable human being that the nurses had ever met. But he did get visitors, including a retired Air Force Colonel.
Why This Must Be Read: This is one of my most beloved fics. It's from an outside point of view and in a setting that is very different from the usual stories, but it is still an outstanding yet quiet tribute to Rodney. Reading this throws you into a carousel of emotions. On the surface it's a story about Rodney's character that lets you laugh and sigh and roll your eyes but then it leads you deeper into the kindness of his soul and gives you goosebumps all over. It is an older fic, written when season three aired and it definitely is a fic everyone should know.
Some of the residents had reasons for acting the way they did. They were going senile or had major medical problems. I could deal with 28A yelling cuss words at us volunteers, or 14B forgetting how to use the bathroom. They didn't know any better. But 30B was just a mean, disagreeable old man and that's all there was to it.
Nothing was ever good enough for him. He complained about the food, he complained about the room, he complained about the heat pipes making noise (they didn't) and the mold in the shower (there wasn't) and the way we all stomped around when he was trying to nap just to wake him up (we didn't -- trust me, waking him up was the last thing we ever wanted to do). He'd say the room was too cold, so we'd turn up the heat, and then it was too hot. The curtains were letting in too much light, so we shut them, and then it was too dark.
And, when I say that he complained, I don't just mean that he voiced his complaints in the normal way. No ... 30B was the most colorful complainer that I ever met. If he didn't like the food -- which was basically every day -- he'd start ranting that the entire kitchen staff was deliberately trying to poison him and that the cook was a hack who should go work at McDonalds because it was all she was qualified for. And he'd yell it, too. Loudly. Sometimes he'd work himself into a coughing fit with all the ranting. We kept hoping he'd choke himself to death, but we were never that lucky.
Rec Category: Rodney McKay
Characters: Rodney McKay, John Sheppard, Other character
Pairings: None
Categories: gen, angst, original characters, pov outsider
Warnings: None
Words: 8103
Author's Journal:
sholioAuthor's Website: Sholio on AO3
Link: Old Soldiers Die Hard
Author's Summary: The old guy in Room 30B was about the most disagreeable human being that the nurses had ever met. But he did get visitors, including a retired Air Force Colonel.
Why This Must Be Read: This is one of my most beloved fics. It's from an outside point of view and in a setting that is very different from the usual stories, but it is still an outstanding yet quiet tribute to Rodney. Reading this throws you into a carousel of emotions. On the surface it's a story about Rodney's character that lets you laugh and sigh and roll your eyes but then it leads you deeper into the kindness of his soul and gives you goosebumps all over. It is an older fic, written when season three aired and it definitely is a fic everyone should know.
Some of the residents had reasons for acting the way they did. They were going senile or had major medical problems. I could deal with 28A yelling cuss words at us volunteers, or 14B forgetting how to use the bathroom. They didn't know any better. But 30B was just a mean, disagreeable old man and that's all there was to it.
Nothing was ever good enough for him. He complained about the food, he complained about the room, he complained about the heat pipes making noise (they didn't) and the mold in the shower (there wasn't) and the way we all stomped around when he was trying to nap just to wake him up (we didn't -- trust me, waking him up was the last thing we ever wanted to do). He'd say the room was too cold, so we'd turn up the heat, and then it was too hot. The curtains were letting in too much light, so we shut them, and then it was too dark.
And, when I say that he complained, I don't just mean that he voiced his complaints in the normal way. No ... 30B was the most colorful complainer that I ever met. If he didn't like the food -- which was basically every day -- he'd start ranting that the entire kitchen staff was deliberately trying to poison him and that the cook was a hack who should go work at McDonalds because it was all she was qualified for. And he'd yell it, too. Loudly. Sometimes he'd work himself into a coughing fit with all the ranting. We kept hoping he'd choke himself to death, but we were never that lucky.
