His Own Man, by sheldrake
Story: His Own Man
Author: sheldrake
Rating: All Ages
Word count: 5,292
Author's summary: It seems to Jack that people keep taking bits of him away and adding other bits on. Set after 'The Parting of the Ways'.
Characters/pairings: Jack Harkness
Warnings: none
Recced because: One of the things I like best about this fic is the fine detail is gives to Jack's interactions with the larger cosmos and the beings in it. This is a Jack I can actually believe as a traveller from the 51st century, as a citizen of the universe-but also as a guy just bumping from place to place, using common sense and all the experience he's got to work out how to read the natives and where the best bars are.
Then a war starts up.
His Own Man is a magnificent take on Jack's gap year(s), and Sheldrake fills in part of the stretch from Satellite 5 to Cardiff with a world and characters so real and well realized that I think I know what the place smells like. Jack himself is that much more real as a result, coming to some kind of terms with his… changed circumstances and finding his footing far away from home. And damn, but he's fantastic.
Some bird at the bar is making eyes at him. And Jack... well, when all is said and done, Jack is still Jack. So he takes a fortifying sip of whatever the toxic pink stuff in his glass is, and saunters over to talk to it.
"Hello," he says.
"Hello," says the bird. It speaks in a light, windy voice.
"I was admiring your, ah... plumage," says Jack, gesturing with his drink-free hand. "Beautiful sheen to it."
"Thank you." The bird seems pleased, and Jack is relieved. Local etiquette can be hard to second-guess. Then again, Jack has spent years perfecting the art of being forgiven.
Author: sheldrake
Rating: All Ages
Word count: 5,292
Author's summary: It seems to Jack that people keep taking bits of him away and adding other bits on. Set after 'The Parting of the Ways'.
Characters/pairings: Jack Harkness
Warnings: none
Recced because: One of the things I like best about this fic is the fine detail is gives to Jack's interactions with the larger cosmos and the beings in it. This is a Jack I can actually believe as a traveller from the 51st century, as a citizen of the universe-but also as a guy just bumping from place to place, using common sense and all the experience he's got to work out how to read the natives and where the best bars are.
Then a war starts up.
His Own Man is a magnificent take on Jack's gap year(s), and Sheldrake fills in part of the stretch from Satellite 5 to Cardiff with a world and characters so real and well realized that I think I know what the place smells like. Jack himself is that much more real as a result, coming to some kind of terms with his… changed circumstances and finding his footing far away from home. And damn, but he's fantastic.
Some bird at the bar is making eyes at him. And Jack... well, when all is said and done, Jack is still Jack. So he takes a fortifying sip of whatever the toxic pink stuff in his glass is, and saunters over to talk to it.
"Hello," he says.
"Hello," says the bird. It speaks in a light, windy voice.
"I was admiring your, ah... plumage," says Jack, gesturing with his drink-free hand. "Beautiful sheen to it."
"Thank you." The bird seems pleased, and Jack is relieved. Local etiquette can be hard to second-guess. Then again, Jack has spent years perfecting the art of being forgiven.