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Soluble
a Fraser/Vecchio vignette by Basingstoke.
Dedicated to Fuzzicat. Especially the smooches.
Fraser stood sentry duty as the thunder rolled across the sky.
His hat was wilting from the rain. Water seeped through the shoulders
of his tunic and his trousers were soaked in sideways gusts. He
was thinking about Ray.
Inspector Thatcher would certainly have relieved him of sentry
duty if she were present at the Consulate, but she was at a reception
at another consulate this afternoon. There was only a projected
twenty-five percent chance of rain when she left the duty roster this
morning. Fraser wasn't angry, merely very wet and glad that Diefenbaker
had remained at home.
Fraser shut his eyes as the wind shifted into his face, peppering
his skin with large, cold raindrops. He was thinking specifically
of the orange silk shirt Ray had worn two days ago, accompanying a rather
elegant charcoal suit. It had taken him nearly an hour to place
the warm associations he had with that color--it didn't remind him of
the orange he had gotten for Christmas when he was four, nor the tangerines
Ray had introduced him to this winter, nor was it the safety orange that
hunters wore. He had toyed briefly with the notion of it being
the color of the lettering on the spine of "Habitation of the North American
Beaver," but had rejected it finally as having more of a gold aspect.
The shirt was in fact the precise color of the handle of his
Aunt Martha's sewing scissors, which she had used to take in an old dress
shirt of his father so that twelve-year-old Benton might go to the Junior
Gentleman's Ice Cream Social with Betty Twoeagle. It was a pleasant
association.
Fraser opened his eyes as her heard a familiar engine.
Oh dear. Ray had come to pick him up ten minutes early.
He could see the shadowy figure inside the car crack the window.
"Fraser! Ditch it!"
Fraser couldn't answer. He wasn't allowed to speak or make
any acknowledgment. Ray knew that; why did he still try?
"Fraser! Dammit!"
Well, Ray could wait in the car until Fraser's shift was over.
It would be an unfortunate inconvenience but one that Fraser could hardly
help. He shut his eyes again as wet leaves blew past his face.
A car door slammed and Fraser heard the distinctive sound of
Ray grumbling. He opened his eyes. Ray was marching around
the car with an enormous black umbrella.
"--think for one damn minute that I'm going to let you stand
there like a lump while the sky is falling all over the place and--"
Ray startled as thunder cracked the sky again. "If I get hit by
lightning I'm suing Canada!" he shouted at the upper floor of the building.
Ray rested his hand on Fraser's shoulder and pivoted around him
to stand behind Fraser with the umbrella over both their heads.
His head nudged Fraser's hat as he rested his forehead against the back
of Fraser's neck. "Anybody else would have the sense to come in
out of the rain. But no, I've got myself a Mountie with the handbook
tattooed on the inside of his eyelids." He shifted and briefly
kissed the bare skin between Fraser's hair and collar, a tiny, electric
warmth.
Silence was always difficult for Fraser.
"Five minutes, Benny, then I'm taking you home and stripping
you down and we're both going to take a nice hot shower, okay?
And Ma's been bugging me to bring you home for dinner. She loves
watching you eat. It makes her happy. so that's a plan, okay
Benny?"
It was a wonderful plan.
"Four minutes. Damn, it's cold out here." He tightened
his grip on Fraser's shoulder. Fraser's back felt warmer already.
The wind switched directions again and Ray tilted the umbrella to meet
it.
"Three minutes. You realize of course that devotion to
duty at the expense of your own well-being is one of the signs of being
unhinged."
Fraser wanted to protest; it was no such thing.
Ray held onto his shoulder as the wind suddenly eased, sending him off-balance.
Feeling returned to Fraser's skin. He felt somehow mythical:
guarding a stronghold of his country through hardship and pain, with
his shieldmate steadfast at his back.
"Two minutes. Do you want it hard and fast or slow and
easy, Fraser?"
The chimes of the bell tower rang the hour.
"Ray, your watch is slow. Do I want what?"
"Never mind, let's get out of here!" Ray dragged him over
to the unlocked car and shoved him inside. He ran around to the
driver's seat and jumped inside, tossing the umbrella into the back seat
and shutting the door with a sigh of pleasure.
"I think my shoes are dissolving, Benny." Ray started the
car, frowning down at his legs.
"Don't be silly, Ray. Some things are soluble and some
aren't."
"And how do you know I won't melt?"
"I know because I know. Ray!"
"What?" Ray turned to Fraser, his eyebrows lifting.
Fraser leaned over, cupped his cheeks in both hands, and kissed him.
Both their faces were cold from the wind and rain, but combined heat
warmed them as their tongues slid together. Ray tasted of garlic.
It made Fraser hungry.
Fraser pulled back slowly. "Home, Ray?"
Ray stroked his cheek and put the Riv in gear.
end.
all feedback is quite welcome.
bas@yosa.com
www.ravenswing.com/bas/slash
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