Just Visiting

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

Just dipping my little toe in the water. First flashfiction effort that has been finished in time, sappy stuff. And seriously, none of my betas knows Due South, so if anyone knows someone available . . . ?




"Stanley---"

Ray growled at Vecchio, who just lifted a hand and waved it loosely, because this was their shtick. They kept it up just to make the Mountie crazy and they had to stay in practice.

"---Kowalski."

"Yeah?"

Fraser was inside the house, thanking Stella and Vecchio's housekeeper for breakfast and probably wheedling her recipe for huevos rancheros from her. Vecchio hadn't been kidding when he wrote that Rosalita's cooking was worth the trip south. Of course, Vecchio was lucky that Stella considered having a housekeeper upscale enough to be acceptable, because Ray could testify under oath that Stella could not cook.

"Where you two headed next?" Vecchio asked.

Ray was leaning against the hood of the GTO and just soaking up the sun and it took a second to fire up his brain and come up with an answer. It felt so damn good to be wearing just a T-shirt and jeans again, after spending so many months under more layers than a Mummy.

"South."

"We're in Miami, Kowalski," Vecchio said impatiently. He patted the roof of the GTO absently and snatched his hand back. Black paint get hot fast. "There's not much further south you can go without a passport."

Ray shrugged. He just wanted to drive for a while. He had pretty much made the decision to leave the GTO with Vecchio when he and Fraser headed back north. At least the Style Pig appreciated a good automobile. He figured to call it a belated wedding present and freak Stella out again. Him and Fraser sharing a bedroom and the bed had fried her circuits once already, but giving up the GTO, that was big. That was admitting him and Canada were a permanent thing. Which they were. This was just the last hurrah with the car before it was back to snow shoes and sled dogs.

Fraser had insisted that Ray had to come back to the States one last time before making his decision to stay. Like Ray was going to change his mind once he had access to pizza and cable TV again. Instead, Ray had decided they would tell everyone that didn't already know the score. Once they'd finished in Chicago and Ray's dad hadn't stroked out, Fraser had suggested they visit the Vecchios.

Ray hadn't been exactly enthusiastic, but he'd gone along and now he was glad he had. Stella's slack jawed speechlessness had been worth the drive, but the funniest thing of all had been Vecchio, who had taken the whole thing in stride, when even Fraser had thought he would go ballistic.

Vecchio had shrugged, looked Ray straight in the eye, and said, "Fraser mostly does what he wants. Guess that includes doing you, Stanley." After that, the visit had been a breeze, punctuated by Rosalita's amazing cuisine. Ray thought he'd even gained a pound or two.

Fraser still had a week and half of off-time before reporting back to his post, though, and Ray wanted to get the Mountie off somewhere where no one knew them.

"Thought we'd check out Margaritaville."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, Kowalski," Vecchio exclaimed. "You do not want to take Fraser there."

"Why not?" Ray demanded, getting irritated. What the hell was Vecchio's problem all of a sudden?

Then he saw the Italian had a wide, smirking smile plastered on his mug. Vecchio's green eyes were just sparkling too.

"Kowalski," Vecchio said. "Pay attention. Think. This is Fraser. You really think listening to Jimmy Buffett songs and drinking overpriced tequila is worth having to fight off every guy on Key West?"

Ray took a second to get it, then croaked, "North. Gonna go north."

"Good idea, Stanley."

Comments

[wildmachinery.livejournal.com]

That was admitting him and Canada were a permanent thing. Which they were. This was just the last hurrah with the car before it was back to snow shoes and sled dogs.

This was wonderful! I loved the last few lines. If this is a first try, you need to keep writing in this fandom. And if you need a beta, check out ds_writers. I'm sure someone there will be more than happy to oblige.

-mercy

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you. Not the first try at fiction, but definitely the first try at flashfiction. I've never written something in just one morning before. And I'll check out ds writers.

Auburn

[sihayab.livejournal.com]

LOL! Glad you got wet. See? It wasn't too painful.

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

I was afraid it would be meltwater. That's stuff's cold!

[chesamus.livejournal.com]

So nice to read a story where Vecchio doesn't stroke out (although I like those, too). Well done!

dS is a bit like malaria, you know. Once infected, you'll carry it with you for the rest of your days. Now if that doesn't scare you off...

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

dS is a bit like malaria, you know. Once infected, you'll carry it with you for the rest of your days.

I think it's writing in general. 'Hey, I'll just write one little story to explain what I think was really going on in that scene . . .' The next thing you know you've a got live journal and are putting up a web site. A slippery slope, indeed.

It's nice to give Vecchio a fair shake. He wouldn't be Fraser's friend or Fraser his if he was a cretin.

[akite.livejournal.com]

::snicker:: That was cute. Welcome to the mayhem.

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Cute is what I was aiming for, even if the voices weren't quite spot on.

[akite.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Cute is what I was aiming for, even if the voices weren't quite spot on.

I thought your voices were very good. Especially your Vecchio voice.

[lamardeuse.livejournal.com]

Vecchio had shrugged, looked Ray straight in the eye, and said, "Fraser mostly does what he wants. Guess that includes doing you, Stanley."

ROTFL! Thank you for joining the asy, ah, group of talented writers! This is a gem. More, please!

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

You were going to say asylum, weren't you? That's okay, except it's hard to type with just your nose when you're wearing that neat white jacket with the buckles and straps.

[lamardeuse.livejournal.com]

Whaddaya mean? I can manage sixty words a minute with mine on!

::snerk::

[imkalena.livejournal.com]

Oh! Me, me! I'm sure doing beta for you would be at least as much fun as stalking you . . .

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

Deal. Stalking me would be terribly boring. Doing beta you can at least laugh at my typos.

[tikiaceae.livejournal.com]

yay.

i liked the fic. loved the ending.

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

A pretty pathetic key, but Key West was the best I could come up with for the challenge aspect so I went with it. Thank you for the yay.

[brooklinegirl.livejournal.com]

Lovely! And I think the voices were *very* on, especially this:
Vecchio had shrugged, looked Ray straight in the eye, and said, "Fraser mostly does what he wants. Guess that includes doing you, Stanley."

Really, really nice writing. If you're ever looking for a beta, tag me, I'd be glad to take a look at your stuff.

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

Sooner or later, I'll probably take you up on that. And many thank yous for the 'nice writing'. Nothing is sweeter than a compliment to the writing.

[ozsaur.livejournal.com]

Cool first DS story. I can't believe this wasn't beta'd. You have a good writing style.

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

There's a typo. It sits there, like a big green wart on my nose. A good beta would have done some cosmetic surgery.

But I thank you for iking my writing style, because that's something much harder to correct than a typo, isn't it?

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

You'll figure out how to type with your nose eventually.

It's working the shift key with my tongue that I haven't quite got the hang of. But I bet Fraser can do it.

And yeah, Vecchio would still be yanking RayK's chain when they were all crochety and ancient, while RayK threatened to kick him in the head if he didn't shut up. I like to think they might ally with each other to pay the Mountie back for all the years of weirdness and making them crazy, too.

[chesamus.livejournal.com]

I use toes, myself. Shifting is a bitch, but I'm getting the hang of it :-)

[shayheyred.livejournal.com]

Nice work! And I love your choice of key. Verrrrry creative. And I, too, am pleased to see a fic where Vecchio deals with things and doesn't do a macho Italian thing. I guess he's happy.

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

Vecchio's happy, Stella's happy (once she gets over the shock), Fraser's happy, and Ray's happy. It's happiness all around and that makes it easy to accept things. But I know that if the two them made it to Key West, Ray would end up punching someone out, while Fraser politely explained the mechanics of the famous Green Flash.

[stinkybubbles.livejournal.com]

Not much to add. What they said. Welcome.

[xsmoonshine.livejournal.com]

Yes, good idea! And good story too. =)

[vampirespider.livejournal.com]

I love it. I love it so much. Just...yeah, I can totally see Vecchio reacting like this, because a) he loves Fraser, b) he secretly kind of like Kowalski, thinks he's a good guy, and c) he's more perceptive than people think he is. Also the car probably helps, I can see Vecchio appreciating the GTO.

Also, the Jimmy Buffett/Margaritaville reference made my night. Not that I'm listening the that very song right now, or anything. *shifty eyes*

Your Vecchio is awesome, your RayK is cute and this story is a whole lot of good.

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. It's been quite a while since I even thought about this little snippet. I'm delighted you enjoyed it.

[wanderingsmith.livejournal.com]

uh. wasn't aware Key West had that rep, LOL, gotta love the t hings you learn in fandom :)

loved the calm tone ad the casual snark between the ray's

[(Anonymous)]

Your supportive RayV is wonderfully refreshing, and I thank you for that. :-)

A RayV who freaks out and becomes homophobic and hateful when he realizes that Fraser and RayK are lovers has been done to death in this fandom, and it's time to end it! It's cliche and unfair to RayV - because anyone else on the show could be just as homophobic as he, but no - RayV's ALWAYS the bad one.

And, frankly, it's just sloppy and lazy writing to make RayV the antagonistic one, instead of writing him as the loving friend that he is to Fraser, who would try very hard to accept Fraser's choice of lover, and try very hard to be a good friend to RayK as well. It's probably a lot harder work for a F/K shipper to write RayV positively and true to canon, which means not making him antagonistic toward Fraser. And it's better for the fandom, too. More F/V shippers and fans of RayV will at least accept F/K and consider reading it if RayV isn't written as a terrible homophobe, with the author's hate toward RayV clearly showing.