The Canadian Flag, Egg?    The Canadian Flag, Egg? by Innusiq

 Author's notes: Comments always welcome.

  

 Rating: G
 Pairing: Fraser/Vecchio
 Archive: yes, please.
 This will be uploaded to the Hexwood archive 

 The Canadian Flag, Egg?
 by: Jenny Hill 

 Ray sat intently watching his best friend, partner and lover from across
the small kitchen table, which was housed in the also small spartan
apartment the Mountie seemed to call home. Ray had a hard time
understanding Fraser's acceptance of this place being home. First off, it
was barely big enough to house both the Mountie and the wolf and secondly,
it was situated in the worst part of town. The neighborhood that Fraser
had adopted as his own "territory" was so bad Ray refused to let his
friend walk to and from work, even if it meant a twenty minutes drive out
of his own way to get him. Only on rare, uncontrollable instances did
Fraser ever have to walk to the Consulate or back to his apartment and
when the two of them became lovers, those uncontrollable instances became
even less. 

 By moving into Fraser's apartment, Fraser's neighborhood or "territory"
had also become Ray's. It wasn't a hard decision to be made, moving in
with Fraser but there was one ultimatum that needed to be met before any
of Ray's belongings were to be moved into the "rat trap" of an apartment.
Locks or to be more precise, working locks had to be installed on the
door. Yes, Ray knew the door itself actually needed to be replace or
better yet they should actually move to a better neighborhood but the
locks were a start in the joining of their lives. 

 Ray had been watching his lover for a good five minutes before Fraser
even noticed and when he did, Ray could see the embarrassment spread over
his face with a slight blush. With one last swipe of his swab, Fraser
placed the small object he had been working on down and asked, "Ray, is
there something wrong?" 

 Ray shook his head as he turned his attention back to his own swabs and
dyes. "Nothing, I was just curious . . . are you gonna decorate them all
like that?" Ray asked pointing to Fraser's pile of Easter eggs, which were
all decorated as miniature Canadian Flags. 

 Fraser looked down at his grouping of eggs, not understanding the problem
with the design but when he looked over at Ray's eggs he noticed then what
he was saying. "Well . . . I didn't think it would be a problem . . . I
didn't realize it was wrong . . ." 

 "Benny, what you're doing is not wrong . . . it's just you're suppose to
be creative, ya know? Take mine for example," Ray said as he grabbed the
bowl containing his finished products. "First there's the standbys, all
solid colors," Ray said, pointing to the four eggs he had painted, each
using one of the dye colors: red, green, blue and yellow. "Then there's
the psychedelic decorated ones," Ray continued, pointing out the eggs that
were dabbed with dots of all four colors. "Then, and these are my
favorites, then you get artsy." Ray held up the egg he had just finished.
"Can you guess what it is?" 

 Fraser stared at the egg much longer than necessary or at least that Ray
felt was necessary and then shrugged. "I'm not sure Ray." 

 "What do you mean you're not sure? Look at it closely, what does it look
like?" Ray extended his arm, holding the egg inches from Fraser's face. 

 Once again, Fraser studied the design on the egg and then took a stabbing
guess at what it was. "A beaver?" 

 Ray's eyes nearly bugged out at the offered guess. "What? Why would I
paint a beaver on an Easter Egg, Benny? I'm not Canadian. Try again." 

 Fraser sighed as he readjusted his sights on the egg. Still, nothing was
coming to mind. "A moose?" 

 This time Ray was the one who sighed but his was an annoyed sigh. "No, do
moose have ears like that? Are you even trying?" 

 "Yes Ray, I assure you, I am trying but I truly haven't a clue as to what
you've painted on your egg." 

 Ray now sighed in a defeated manor as he pulled the egg back and placed
it into his bowl of finished eggs. "It's a bunny Benny; an Easter bunny."
Ray picked up another egg and continued with his next holiday masterpiece.


 Fraser watched Ray as he began on his next egg and was amazed at how
serious he seemed to take the holiday tradition of painting Easter eggs.
This was the first year he had ever partaken in this tradition with his
friend and now lover. All the previous years he had spent in Chicago,
Fraser would show up at the Vecchio home for Easter morning Mass and upon
their return, the kids would be set loose in the back yard to find the
eggs hidden earlier in the morning. This year was different though. This
year, Ray was not only his best friend and partner but also lover and that
seemed to extend the Vecchio Family Holiday Traditions to his
participation as well. 

 Fraser cleared his throat, catching Ray's attention. "Yes?" 

 "Well Ray, I'm not sure if you are aware of this but when I was growing
up, in the Territories, chickens were not widely farmed there, it being
quite cold and all so eggs were scarce. Well, not scarce, I mean I ate
eggs all the time growing up but . . . " 

 "Benny, you are babbling here, can ya get to the point." 

 "My point Ray is that when I was a child, contrary to what you may
believe, I use to decorate Easter Eggs," Fraser said completing his
statement before being cut off a second time. 

 "Really?" The thought of Fraser actually doing something a child should
do as a child elated Ray. Finally, there was at least one thing his
parents and grandparents did right. 

 "Yes Ray, I was always allowed to color one egg a year and . . . " 

 "What?" Ray's one word question was exclaimed and followed by, "One egg?"


 Fraser blinked, giving Ray a look that told him he didn't understand
Ray's reaction. "Yes Ray, as I said it was cold where I grew up and eggs
had to be ordered ahead of time in lots that would cover the time period
in which it would be until our next order. So we had eggs but we didn't
waste them." Fraser hoped his explanation would suffice Ray but he
should've known better. 

 "Do you think we are wasting eggs here, Benny?" Ray asked. 

 "No Ray, that is not my point." Fraser took a breath before he continued.
"I mean, in a way it is a waste but eggs are easily accessible here. You
can waste a dozen eggs and still be able to go out the next day and
replace that dozen without a second thought. When I was growing up, that
wasn't a luxury we could take for granted." 

 "Oh," Ray finally understood. "So, what did you do with this 'one' egg?" 

 A smile beamed across Fraser's face at Ray's interest in his childhood
memory. "Well, when mum was alive, we would paint the egg together.
Mainly, she let me do the painting but it was as if we were both doing it.
I would always paint my egg in the same design, every year . . ." 

 Ray butted in. "Let me guess, you painted it to resemble the Canadian
Flag, right?" 

 Fraser nodded his head, still smiling. "Yes Ray, needless to say, over
the years my abilities in painting the eggs have improved." Both Ray and
Fraser gazed at the pile of "Canadian Flag" eggs, which were painted
perfectly. Every line was straight and each leaf was flawless. "You should
have see the eggs I painted in my formative years," Fraser commented as he
let out a little chuckle. 

 "I bet they kind of looked like my Easter Bunny here, huh?" Ray said
still in awe of the eggs Fraser had painted. 

 Still laughing, Fraser agreed. "Well, now that you mention it, yes Ray,
very much like your Easter bunny." 

 "Are you saying I paint like a five year old?" Ray asked defensively. 

 That comment sobered Fraser up quickly and he figured it was best not to
joke about Ray's artistic ability. "No Ray, that's not what I'm saying at
all." There was a whimsical look on Fraser's face at that moment; one Ray
had never seen before. "It's just I had almost forgotten about that." 

 "What, about Easter?" Ray questioned. 

 "No, more than just Easter Ray, Easter spent with my family. I had almost
forgotten about them," Fraser said as he returned to finishing his tenth
egg. 

 "You miss them . . . holiday's that is, with you family?" This was the
first happy memory Ray had ever heard about his lover's childhood. The
rest of his stories always seemed closer to a horror flick that one really
wouldn't want to remember. 

 Fraser's head popped up from his work at the unbelieving tone in his
lover voice. "Most definitely Ray. Holiday's aren't always what you get
but more the time spent with your family. You may have received more
tangible gifts in your childhood that overshadowed this fact but family is
important, as I know you agree. Now that I don't have my family, I miss
the times we shared together." 

 The two men were looking each other in the eye and Ray's mouth was
becoming dry from their discussion. "Um . . . I'm sorry Benny. I didn't
realize . . ." Ray cleared his throat. "But you do have my family now, ya
know? I mean they aren't just my family but your family as well." 

 Fraser smiled at that truth. "Yes Ray, I know and I am truly grateful for
that, thank you. Your family has been very kind and generous to me since
my arrival in this city; more so than I deserve." 

 "Benny, don't say that, you deserve all you have and more and don't even
think about denying that fact, okay?" 

 "Yes Ray." 

 The two men returned to their chore at hand, finishing up an even two
dozen eggs for the annual Vecchio Family Easter Egg Hunt that was
scheduled for the following day. When they were finished, there were four
various solid colored eggs, four psychedelic patterned eggs, two bunnies,
two crosses, eleven Canadian Flags and one American Flag. 

 The End