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Batter my Heart
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Batter my Heart |
| Author(s): | toujours_nigel |
| Date(s): | 2 January 2012 |
| Length: | 2414 words |
| Genre(s): | futurefic |
| Fandom(s): | Mary Renault |
| Relationship(s): | |
| External Links: | archived on MRF (members-locked) |
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"Batter my Heart" is the third installment in toujours_nigel's Lovers in a Dangerous Time, a series of short stories based on Mary Renault's 1953 novel The Charioteer. It is set shortly after the end of the novel, when Alec Deacon has moved to London following the death of his lover, Sandy Reid.
Synopsis
When Ralph visits London on embarkation leave, he finds Alec still grieving Sandy. Yet his new friend, Andrew has a place in his life—to Ralph's surprise, for, of course, he recognizes the name.
Background
"Batter my Heart" was actually the second story to be written in toujours_nigel's Lovers in a Dangerous Time. However, as the sequel to "Quite a Party", it is chronologically third in the series.
Comments
The story elicited a number of comments, including the following:
- "I love the different layers to this."—comment by fawatson
- "Your prose is beautiful and liquid, and you've captured the complex and rich relationship between Ralph and Alec perfectly."—comment by whitmans_kiss
- "Ooooh. A series. Lovely.
(We wants more, we does.)
Seriously, you've clearly got Alec under your skin; and this is a fascinating portrait of a man who thought he was in a maybe-longterm relationship only to find it bit far deeper than he'd ever thought. Shock took him past the first few weeks; but his grief is true. He really isn't going to get over it in a hurry, no matter how taken he is with Andrew. (Indeed, the "impossibility" of Andrew, in his innocence, is probably just what he needs to give him time: jumping into bed with someone is really not going to do any good.)"—comment by greerwatson