arrow00 | F/K Snippet: Plenty (G)

Title: Plenty
Author:

arrow00
Pairing: Fraser/RayK
Rating: G
Wordcount: 750
Categories: futurefic
Notes: A totally, totally belated birthday snippet for

nos4a2no9. Sorry, Nos! Started writing it but life bit me in the ass.

Plenty

By Arrow

It's late summer up at their cabin, and Ray sniffs the air, thinking, We'll be going home again soon. They've been returning to Chicago earlier and earlier in the year, and Ray suspects it's because Ben's old injuries are catching up with him, and his skin's getting too thin for the harsh weather up here.

Still, they won't give up taking at least some of the year up here. Ben needs it, and Ray's sort of come to need it too, though part of the game is pretending they both don't know that.

Ray reaches over to pour the last of the coffee, and Ben smiles at him, a sweet, carefree smile, before turning the page of the local paper he's reading. He frowns suddenly and then draws in a sharp breath.

"What?" Ray puts down his cup to come stand at Ben's shoulder. Looking down at the article, Ray sees it's an obituary. He blinks at the fuzzy picture and reads the name, figuring it's a mutual friend of theirs. But he doesn't recognize her.

Ben says, "It's Victoria." There's deep shock in his voice, and something like relief, only that's not it, exactly.

"Holy crap." Ray reaches for his glasses, but Ben's already handing them to him along with the paper.

"'Ms. Danvers was a pillar of the community,'" Ray reads aloud, not bothering to hide his disgust. "Apparently, get this—she devoted her life to caring for rescued animals. Unbelievable."

"Ray." Chiding.

"What? I can't help it, Ben. She—" Ray drops the paper onto the table so he can wave his hands. "She tried to destroy you." Ray had gotten the story out of Ben over the years in bits and small pieces, like the whole thing would bite him if he tried to let go of it all at once. "She had everything. She had you. She had all of you, and she still fucking—"

"But I wasn't enough." Ben sounds way too calm, almost unconcerned. Maybe it's been a long time, but something like that you don't just let go of. Ray can't believe Ben's taking it so easy.

"Don't say that."

Ben gets up slowly, which means his back is bothering him today—another thing to thank the bitch for. He reaches out and pulls on Ray's arm to reel him in.

"It's true." Ben says softly, planting a kiss on Ray's temple. Pulling back, Ben gives him an open look—his dead serious, totally sincere look, the one that always makes Ray pay attention. "I wasn't enough. Back then, Ray. Before I met you." He gives Ray a soft kiss, as if to stop him from protesting.

Thirty years ago or so, Ray would have hotly denied it, would have kicked someone in the head for saying Fraser was anything less than perfect. But he remembers how hard it was when they first started this thing for real. When Fraser twisted himself into a crazy knot trying not to need Ray. That was back before Fraser started really trusting him. And yeah, maybe some of that damage was from the bitch, but not all of it.

Some of it was bred in the bone.

But this Fraser—his Ben—with the carefree, sweet smile and deep calm...well, he hadn't shown up for a long time. Ray had to coax him out, while Fraser did the same for him, patiently waiting when it got to be too much and Ray ran; always still there when Ray came back.

"Maybe we should send flowers," Ray says finally. "Sounds like she did her best to make good. And seems like someone misses her, anyway."

Ben's smile could've bought the sun. "Oh, I don't think we need to go that far. But we can at least raise a glass."

Ray accepts the challenge, grabbing his cup of coffee and lifting it up. "To Victoria."

"To Victoria," Ben says, lifting his own cup. There's only the faintest shadow in his eyes.

Ray twists a smile and says solemnly, "Thanks for throwing away a perfectly good Mountie. I owe you one."

Ben tucks his tongue into his cheek. "I'm really very grateful she did."

"Me, too. So damned grateful." Tossing back the last of his coffee, Ray says, "C'mon, old man, I think you need one of Ray's special back rubs."

"I'm perfectly fine," Fraser protests. But he's learned, because he lets Ray pull him up and push him into the cabin.

Yeah, maybe neither of them was enough before.

But now they're both plenty.

....................
2009.05.13

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

From:

nos4a2no9.livejournal.com

I just...wow. WOW. Hon, this is the best birthday present anyone could have given me. I've been a little down lately about my waning enthusiasm for due South stories, because I feel like I keep reading the same stuff over and over again. The characters seem oddly static, and I've been longing for stories that tackle Fraser's childhood or what life is like for the Boys many, many years after they sled off into the sunrise together. And this is exactly what I needed to read.

You've articulated something really powerful with this knockout of a short story: these characters aren't just static cut-outs. Their lives shift, and change, and grow. They get better. They figure things out. And even though it's not an easy journey, Fraser and Ray walk that path together.

The central message here is that love (and time) can help you heal, and grant you new perspective. To help illustrate that point, the invocation of Victoria was perfect. I love that you let her have some kind of an impact on the world that wasn't a negative one, and that someone missed her when she was gone. It's not so much that you redeemed the character as showed that everything changes. Everything. I'm glad that Fraser had made peace with the pain she'd caused him in the past, of course, and I love that Ray had grown wiser and more temperate, but I think my favourite aspect of the story was that it showed a whole new scope of possibility for these characters I've become overly familiar with. I loved all of this a lot.

You just gave me back something I thought I'd lost in this fandom. And you reminded me that we're not always writing about First Times or Post-CotW or How The Boys Get Together (or how they break apart). We're writing about specific moments from the long span of a human life, and anything is possible. Anything.

Thank you so much, my dear. You knocked it out of the park.

Edited Date: 2009-03-14 04:46 am (UTC)

From:

For the love of GOD don't press that button

F/K Snippet: Plenty (G)

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