axiom_of_stripe: DC Comics: Kory cries "X'Hal!" (Mask)
axiom of stripe ([personal profile] axiom_of_stripe) wrote in [community profile] ds_flashfiction2003-08-11 03:07 pm

(no subject)

amnesia. sex change. 333 words, suitable for a half-beastly story, eh?

*****

333 words: You'd Think He'd Remember That

Ray woke up knowing that something was wrong. This wasn't his bedroom, for one
thing -- his curtains were entirely different -- and there was someone in the bed with him,
for another. He turned over.

"Benny?" he squeaked, sitting bolt upright. He put his hand to his throat and coughed;
the collar of his pajamas felt odd.

Benny smiled sleepily at him. "Sleep well, dear?" he said.

Ray looked away fast. The cuffs of his pajamas had lace on them. Ray grabbed the lace
and tugged to be certain, but it was definitely sewn on. He pulled away the comforter to
look down at what he was wearing, then grabbed the covers in both lace-decked fists and
yanked it up around his chin. "I think I'm having a nightmare, Benny," he said in a calm,
high voice.

Warm arms wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him back against Benny's chest,
which was not as comforting as Benny seemed to have intended it to be. "I thought you
told the therapists that the nightmares had stopped," he said sadly.

"I'm not in therapy," Ray said indignantly.

Benny rubbed his back through the thin fabric of his nightgown -- pajamas. His pajamas.
"Ray, you've been going to the doctors for almost as long as I've known you. Every
week for ten years."

"What, just like I've been a woman for as long as you've known me?" Ray demanded.

Benny missed his sarcasm. "Almost, yes. You haven't had nightmares about
transitioning in a long, long time. What's wrong?"

"Benny, you dressed up as a woman, not me," Ray said desperately. "For that case at St.
Anne's last week. They played disco."

"That was ten years ago," Benny said quietly.

Ray turned his head and looked at the crows-feet around Benny's eyes and the grey beard
stubble showing just faintly along his jaw. "I can't believe this," he said. "I've just
undone ten years of very expensive therapy, haven't I?"

"I'm afraid so," Benny said, and patted his shoulders.

END

[identity profile] thermidor.livejournal.com 2003-08-11 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Heh. Loony!Vecchio. I like it.

[identity profile] cesperanza.livejournal.com 2003-08-11 08:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Benny smiled sleepily at him. "Sleep well, dear?" he said.
Ray looked away fast. The cuffs of his pajamas had lace on them.


You're really, really weird, Cait. But I bet that Ray Vecchio's enjoying his weird wild excursions here--or, you know, maybe not. *g*

You'd Think He'd Remember That

(Anonymous) 2003-09-06 11:37 am (UTC)(link)
From Jay (had to post as Anonymous as this is my virgin entry!)

Hi - never replied to anything before, but just wanted to say that I really loved this. It's a real gift for a writer to be able to write something so brief but at the same time funny and able to get you thinking! Any chance of a follow-up to this story?

Deirdre

(Anonymous) 2003-09-07 07:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Loved this! Can you clear up this for me, though - I'm unsure as to whether this is Ray before or after the sex change?