Disclaimer: Yeah, they aren't mine. (But I wish they were.)

Author's Notes: Unbeta'd, and my first dS fic.

Story Notes: Spoilers for Hunting Season specifically, the 3 and 4th season character-wise.

Queer (adjective; verb - used with an object)

1.Strange or odd from a conventional viewpoint; unusually different; singular.

Fraser knows he's strange. He, Innusiq and Joon used to compete to see who was stranger: Fraser usually won. Fraser enjoys being strange - he knows so many things that most people don't. At home, up north, everyone is strange in some way.

In Chicago though, his strangeness is mocked, not celebrated, by his friends. They try to change what makes him unique. Then he met his Ray, who enjoys teasing - not ridiculing - his strangeness, and whose smile lights up the room when Fraser says something truly odd. Fraser loves being strange, because it makes Ray smile at him.

2. Of a questionable nature or character; suspicious; shady.

Maggie never wondered about her husband's past. Honest.

She knew when they got married that there were certain events, certain dates, that he was reluctant to discuss. She never thought there might be something untoward that he didn't want to lie to her about. Really.

She never wondered about the other two men in the photograph on the mantle and their resemblance to known felons. And she never ran a background check on Casey because she trusted him. Truly.

And she loves him even now that he's dead, but staring into the eyes of his killer she (maybe) hates him.

3. Not feeling physically right or well; giddy, faint, or qualmish.

Buck watches the sled until it disappears. He looks at his partner, still staring into the distance, before going to his tent.

Bob Fraser stands on that hill for a long time, feeling something strange in his chest. Puzzled, he tries to discover what is affecting him profoundly enough to draw him back to this world. After a moment, he calls up every memory he ever had of his son.

When he runs out after a regrettably short time, he finally knows what unfinished business has brought him back. He smiles, says, "I'm proud of you, Benton", before fading forever.

4. Mentally unbalanced or deranged.

"Are you unhinged?" new-Ray yells and then falls silent, panting. Dief's pack mate stands silent as well, grooming his eyebrow as is his habit. Dief can read everything in the silence that they don't want revealed; the stench of their longing and wanting and fear almost overwhelms him.

Dief lets out a disbelieving snort, because they both want to mate and why don't they get on with it already? His pack mate pales before blushing red, and new-Ray demands to know why. Dief turns his back and saunters into the bedroom, musing on the insanity of humans and their ways.

5. Slang (disparaging and offensive). a. Homosexual

He's been here for a month, and he still gets ignored. When he walks up the conversation still slows, or stops, or changes subject. He doesn't let it get to him - they lost one of their own.

He only met this Gardino guy once, but he tries to be as different as he can from what he remembers. His partner thinks he's an asshole and that he smells, but at least he thinks of him as a partner, not a replacement. Sometimes, though, he wishes Jack would look at him, really look at him, and maybe see him looking back.

b. Effeminate; unmanly

Renfield knows his name is not a masculine name, and that it's often mocked among his peers. He knows that curling, when compared to football or baseball, is often considered to be "housework on ice", and he knows that few men wear aprons whenever they clean.

He knows his superiors ridicule his constant cooking and cleaning, but when he dons his apron and brandishes his duster he remembers being the second of nine children - not the provider but the helper. He remembers the only times his mother ever praised him, ever saw him, and he smiles. And he helps.

6. Slang. Bad, worthless, or counterfeit.

Everyone thinks Ray's bad at this undercover stuff. After the first few days, he didn't even wear a suit or try to get any dates. Everyone thinks that he's settled into the role, even made it his own. They can't see that under his Vecchio mask is Brad Johnson, and under him is Tyler Morris, and Bernard Warnke, and Gerry Simister.

They can't tell that this mask will be the last, that when the real Vecchio comes back from Vegas he'll shatter into a million different pieces, and there's no Stanley Raymond Kowalski underneath. Ray is very good at pretending.

7. To spoil; ruin.

She wants to hate him. If only he wasn't here, if only he'd never come, maybe Fraser - Benton - would give her a second glance. Hell, even a third or fourth glance. Wait, wasn't it...oh, never mind.

To be fair, he can't help being what Fraser wants. Can't help that he's the only person here who can make Fraser's face light up gorgeously like that without even trying.

She really wants to hate him and his stupid experimental hair, but she can't hate anyone that makes Fraser happy. She wishes Fraser would smile at her like that, even once.

8. To put (a person) in a hopeless or disadvantageous situation as to success, favour, etc.

Guard duty, while an eminently noble task, is hardly designed to build up experience in the jobs normally carried out by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It is even less likely to help build the skills needed to police Northern Canada, where there are few people and fewer police officers to handle any problems.

Margaret Thatcher knows this. She knows that she should encourage him to liaison with the Chicago Police, because interdepartmental experience is always useful. She knows all of this, but she still assigns him guard duty every week. He just looks so good in the Red Serge!

9. To jeopardize. He can see Tom watching him, catches him out of the corner of his eye sometimes. He knows what Tom wants but pretends he doesn't. They've both been on the force for a long time: another year and they can both retire with a pension.

He could probably give Tom a hint, let him know how things might turn out, but Tom's not a patient guy. Telling him would lead to other things, and Jack doesn't think they're ready. Jack's a patient guy - he can wait until they retire, maybe open their comedy club. Then everything will be all right.