Fic Rec: "Whiskey and Vodka"

[krait]

"Whiskey and Vodka" by Setissma ought to be an entry for the "It's All Been Done" FQF-- it takes the standard "horrible nightmares" plot line and adds a dash of alcohol and liberal sprinkles of cosy, everyday-type details to make something warm as a beloved blanket. It's really in the domestic and personal details that the mood is carried: Harry watching Remus stretch on tiptoe to reach the sugar canister and thinking how he's never realised Remus is short, the way Hermione's suggestions that Harry contribute financially are met with defence because he likes knowing it's their furniture, the way neither really needs to say anything out loud. Possibly even better, Setissma actually deals with the routine interruptions that would normally result from living with a werewolf, and does so without sugar-coating. Too many fics I've read have some miraculous potion that eliminates, basically, Remus' lycanthropy; others seem to think Remus (the cautious and bookish) would be perfectly fine with curling up at Harry's feet in wolf form (or for that matter, having semi-bestial sex). Why these strike false chords in me is another post, but half the appeal of "Whiskey and Vodka" is that it manages a Remus who is, in fact, a werewolf with all that entails, yet still manages to find happiness.