By Pollitt
11.22.03
By Pollitt
11.22.03
Disclaimers: I have no ownership on the show dueSOUTH or the characters, those rights belong elsewhere. The muses, though, are mine. All mine. Okay, I'm theirs -- semantics, really.
Rating: I think this might make a NC-17 rating, but maybe not, a hard R? NC-15?
Requests and dedications: To Anne, Pam and Star for their beta work, hand holding and cheerleading. To Linda, who is wonderful for the ego and support and who requested sex *G* Thank you to Allison, Actizera and Shay who read this in its earlier incarnations and liked it.
Notes: This idea was sparked by the "Marriage Challenge" (Today is the last day of "Marriage Appreciation Week" and so I think we should follow cmshaw's suggestion (and the examples of many of the members of this community; that Flashfiction Friends link is a useful thing, isn't it?) and have a Marriage Appreciation Week of our own. Go, then!--appreciate the canonical, hypothetical, homosexual, heterosexual, open, polyamorous, glamorous, supernatural or canine marriages of due South!] on the ds_flashfiction Live Journal. The title was taken from a Jann Arden song of the same name.
The morning is cold. Even Fraser conceded that last night, agreeing that it was no longer "refreshingly crisp" and was now downright cold. And Ray pads silently across the wooden floor to the window. It's cold, and judging from the sound of the wind outside, they were damn lucky to have made it to the cabin when they did. One more day would've found them trapped at the RCMP outpost with six Mounties, three cots and a trapper who smelled like he hadn't been near a shower in quite some time. Or, worse yet, they could've been caught in the open during the storm. Ray shudders at the thought of what they might have happened. Images of caves and crevasses dance through his head.
He's not sure what time it is; somewhere just outside the last village, Ray had stashed his watch in the small pocket inside his pack. Not that he'd been using it much recently as they explored the terrain of the Northwest Territories with almost as much fervor as they explored one another's bodies. Although Ray still fantasized about a moment of discovery rivaling those of Indiana Jones (minus the Nazis, snakes, femmes fatales and fake Arabic accents, of course), the pursuit for Franklin's Hand had come to an end. But this new unmapped land known as "Partners-with-a-capital-P" lay out before them. And the fantasy, at least from his point of view, paled in comparison to reality. Though, truthfully, they weren't exactly in reality yet, this wide, white land with only a handful of inhabitants wasn't exactly a populated city. Just him and Fraser. And Dief.
As if on cue, Ray hears a snuffle and turns from the window to look at Dief curled close to the dying embers of the fire. The half-wolf's legs twitch in his sleep and Ray wonders if he's dreaming of catching animals. Or of leading their pack across the snow.
Looking over at the bed, Ray can just make out the tuft of dark hair that has been left uncovered by the heavy quilt. He thinks of how far Fraser's come since that first night in the tent, when he was lying flat on his back in almost a military fashion as he slept, to now, curled on his side, the quilt nearly completely covering the body that, until very recently, had been wrapped around Ray's own.
He doesn't know what time it is, and if pressed, he doesn't think he could tell you the date, but Ray knows the end of his adventure -- the one that was documented on paper -- is coming to an end. He's due to report back to the Chicago PD to find out where he's supposed to go and who he's supposed to be. For a long time, that would've suited him fine, but now... Ray doesn't know that he'd be able to be where Fraser wasn't, or that he'd be able to be anyone without Fraser at his side.
No one ever accused him of not being a romantic.
Ray doesn't know what day it is, and really, that wouldn't matter if this was any other day, but it's not, and he's going to have to remember to ask Fraser what day it is, because Fraser will definitely know. And he, they, will want to remember the date. Because he's made a choice, a decision, and Fraser doesn't know it yet but, when he does, he's going to agree.
The wind is whistling outside and Ray can hear Dief's claws scratching against the wood floor. There are two half-empty bowls of stew on the table. His cell phone lost reception a thousand miles ago and for all he knows it could be the Fourth of July or Christmas Day. Ray doesn't know what's going to happen next, or where they're going, but he knows that he's never not going to have Fraser at his side. That he will never not be at Fraser's side. For as long as they both shall live. Amen.
Now he just needs to tell Fraser this.
"Ray?" Fraser says, his head lifts from the pillow, looking towards where Ray is standing. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, Ben," Ray says, walking towards his lover wearing a smile that he knows has to look just that side of goofy. "Everything is great. Greatness."
Ray gets under the covers and sighs at the warmth, and the sigh becomes something decidedly closer to a purr when Fraser's body again wraps around his.
"Love you." Ray whispers against Fraser's temple.
"Love you." Fraser returns, the words said easily as his lips brush against Ray's own.
They kiss without hurry, touching one another in lazy exploration – fingertips tracing the curve of a rib or ear, a knee brushing along the outside of a thigh. Shifting, Ray moves so he is lying half on top of Fraser, his knee sliding between Fraser's thighs.
“Fras… Ben,” Ray says, pulling back from the kiss just enough so he can speak. “Wait, hold up.”
“Wha? Why?” Fraser asks, and Ray can't help the smug smile that crosses his face when it visibly takes Fraser a minute to pull his thoughts back to lucidity.
“I gotta tell you something.” Ray has to literally bite his lip when Fraser moves his hips slightly, pressing his erection against Ray's thigh and providing some friction for Ray's own growing hardness. Cupping one side of Fraser's face, he looks down at him. “I'm serious. Hold up.”
Before Fraser can say whatever thought made his brows furrow, Ray continues.
“You and me, we're partners, a duet, have been since day one. But since, since Vecchio's return and that night in the tent before we got Muldoon and then the adventure… I'm finally the me I want to be. I'm the me I like.”
“I love you no matter what Ray you are, Ray,” Fraser interjects, the corners of his mouth turning down slightly.
“That's the thing, Fraser, I don't want to be a me without you, or vice versa. Not anymore. I want it to be you and me – us. Case closed. For keeps.”
“For keeps?” Fraser sounds as though he's just been given his heart's desire.
Ray nods, running his thumb over Fraser's cheek. “Your dad said partnership is like a marriage, right? So I, ah, guess I'm proposing.”
Fraser pulls Ray close into another kiss – this one bruising and possessive, a confirmation and benediction all in one. And into that kiss go all of the words yet to be uttered, the plans and promises yet to be made.
Ray's hand leaves Fraser's face, tracing his jaw line down to his collarbone. When Ray's touch glances over a nipple, Fraser gasps and reaches for the curious fingers, eliciting laughter from them both as he pulls them up over his head, bringing Ray fully atop him. A thrust of Fraser's hips prompts Ray to begin to move, beginning with a slow rhythm that nearly overwhelms him, bringing him to full hardness almost immediately. With a guttural moan, he thrusts into the smooth hollow of Fraser's hip, feeling the prickle of sweat already on his arms and back.
“Ray,” Fraser growls, the arch of his foot moving along the curve of Ray's calf.
“Hmmm,” Ray hums, meeting Fraser's thrusts as he bends down to lick Fraser's neck, letting his teeth graze the salty skin there.
“Mine.” Fraser releases Ray's hands, running his own hands down Ray's shoulders to the small of his back, guiding Ray's movement as their bodies move against one another.
“Oh yeah.”
Lowering his head again, Ray bites at the skin of Fraser's collarbone, marking his mate and smiling against the skin under his lips as he feels the scrape of Fraser's nails along the ridges of his spine. He smiles at the thought of Fraser marking him in kind.
The grunts and moans grow quicker as their thrusts grow less rhythmic and more hurried, and it's Ray who climaxes first, his shout muffled by the flesh and bone of Fraser's shoulder.
Turning his head, Ray licks at Fraser's ear and hotly whispers, “So you'll have me?”
In response, Fraser surges up against Ray's body, clutching at the damp skin of Ray's back as his release spreads between their bodies.
Sinking back into the mattress in an exhausted heap of entwined arms and legs, together they push the covers off of them, letting the cool air hit their sweat-sheened skin.
“So I'm going to take that as a 'yes',” Ray says, swiping his tongue over his top lip and tasting salt.
“Excellent deduction, Ray.” Fraser smiles, tightening his limbs around Ray's body. “You know, when wolves mate, their courting often consists of licking and biting…”
“You're a freak.” Ray deadpans, feeling a warmth settle in his stomach and realizing that his smile had already gone around the bend of goofy and was well on its way to being downright sappy.
The morning is cold, the wind has begun to pick up speed as it rushes and howls past the side of the cabin. In response, Ray tiredly grabs for the blanket and he laughs, feeling the echoing rumble of Fraser's own laughter, when their fingers tangle as they pull the blanket over their bodies. And then, it's not as cold anymore, and Ray still doesn't know what time it is – he's even less aware of the passage of time in this post-coital haze as his heartbeat slows and sleep tugs at him. Ray remembers that he wants to ask Fraser what day it is, but, as he opens his mouth, a yawn replaces the words and he hears the soft hitched exhalation of Fraser's breath that tells him his lover is nearly asleep.
His adventure might be coming to an end, but there's a future that's unexplored and just waiting for them.
I don't need to tell you that they lived happily ever after, until the end of their days. But I will anyway.