The Matchmaker (by lavvyan) (G)
Show: SGA
Rec Category: Outsider POV
Characters: OMC, Rodney McKay, John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex
Pairings: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard, OMC/OFC
Categories: slash (eventually) - and a hint of OC het at the end
Warnings: None
Author on LJ: lavvyan
Author's Website: See Lavvyan's AO3, and Livejournal
Link: The Matchmaker on AO3
Why This Must Be Read: This is another sort of Outsider POV - one where a complete stranger to us, the young man Nelan who's on the cusp of adulthood, tells the story. It's a beautifully written tale of Rodney who's been lost to the team for some time and has had to make a niche for himself in an alien culture where he creates specialised trinkets for sale. Despite the sad premise, the ending, seen through Nelan's eyes, is especially poignant and always makes me sniffle happily.
"Were you a Matchmaker where you came from?" he asked. Matchmaking looked like a complicated business, and he couldn't imagine anyone just taking over after watching for a few weeks.
"No," the Matchmaker said shortly. He picked up a brush and a small tin of paint and started to add little dabs of colour to Nelan's match. Nelan tried to see the design, but the Matchmaker's back was in the way.
"But you did something like this, right?" he asked. "Before your people were culled."
The Wraith had been gone for a few years, destroyed in a final battle with the Lanteans, but the shadow of their memory still hovered over every world that had ever heard of them. Nelan had listened in horrified fascination to the stories when he was a child, and the idea of someone coming to eat him still featured in most of his rare bad dreams.
"My people weren't culled." The Matchmaker scoffed and put the brush aside to pop a sweet into his mouth. Then he picked it up again. "I merely . . . lost them."
Nelan frowned. How could one lose his people? Had they been nomads, like the Travellers? He didn't want to appear brash, though, so he asked, "Didn't you look for them?"
It was only after the question had left his mouth that he realised it seemed rather brash as well.
The Matchmaker's shoulders stiffened. "Yes, I looked," he said in a clipped voice. "I looked until I couldn't look anymore, and then I gave up because surprisingly enough, this galaxy is a big place. Now, is your curiosity satisfied or would you like to ask a few more questions?"
Rec Category: Outsider POV
Characters: OMC, Rodney McKay, John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex
Pairings: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard, OMC/OFC
Categories: slash (eventually) - and a hint of OC het at the end
Warnings: None
Author on LJ: lavvyan
Author's Website: See Lavvyan's AO3, and Livejournal
Link: The Matchmaker on AO3
Why This Must Be Read: This is another sort of Outsider POV - one where a complete stranger to us, the young man Nelan who's on the cusp of adulthood, tells the story. It's a beautifully written tale of Rodney who's been lost to the team for some time and has had to make a niche for himself in an alien culture where he creates specialised trinkets for sale. Despite the sad premise, the ending, seen through Nelan's eyes, is especially poignant and always makes me sniffle happily.
"Were you a Matchmaker where you came from?" he asked. Matchmaking looked like a complicated business, and he couldn't imagine anyone just taking over after watching for a few weeks.
"No," the Matchmaker said shortly. He picked up a brush and a small tin of paint and started to add little dabs of colour to Nelan's match. Nelan tried to see the design, but the Matchmaker's back was in the way.
"But you did something like this, right?" he asked. "Before your people were culled."
The Wraith had been gone for a few years, destroyed in a final battle with the Lanteans, but the shadow of their memory still hovered over every world that had ever heard of them. Nelan had listened in horrified fascination to the stories when he was a child, and the idea of someone coming to eat him still featured in most of his rare bad dreams.
"My people weren't culled." The Matchmaker scoffed and put the brush aside to pop a sweet into his mouth. Then he picked it up again. "I merely . . . lost them."
Nelan frowned. How could one lose his people? Had they been nomads, like the Travellers? He didn't want to appear brash, though, so he asked, "Didn't you look for them?"
It was only after the question had left his mouth that he realised it seemed rather brash as well.
The Matchmaker's shoulders stiffened. "Yes, I looked," he said in a clipped voice. "I looked until I couldn't look anymore, and then I gave up because surprisingly enough, this galaxy is a big place. Now, is your curiosity satisfied or would you like to ask a few more questions?"