[identity profile] kormantic.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] ds_flashfiction

"It'll be like falling into a duvet."



When it came to imminent death-type things, Ray had a definite hierarchy. He'd never actually busted out a Bic and written it down, but if he had, he'd have ranked "getting shot at" way below "drowning", and drowning about a hundred million feet per second below "death by falling very very fucking far out of a motherfucking airplane".

Freefall, as far as Ray was concerned, was nothing but one blind, eye-tearing, all-sky-but-no-air scream that ended with a sucker punch that landed everywhere on your body at the exact same time.

The only reason he hadn't pissed himself was because he hadn't had the time. And the only thing better than surviving a chuteless nosedive from 30,000 feet into the ass crack of the frozen northwest areas was surviving all that just long enough to piss yourself and have your dick freeze off.

"I never want to do that again, Fraser. As in ever, you hear me?"

He didn't actually expect Fraser to answer him, as every speck of air he'd ever had in his lungs had been relocated. By a pack of thugs armed with sacks of pay-phone change, it felt like. But Fraser answered him, full voiced and hearty.

"I can't see how it could possibly come up again, Ray. Unless our plane home should have some sort of engine trouble--"

"Not. Helping."

For a long minute, Ray just lay there, his face, hell, his everything jammed into hard-packed snow. The snow was everywhere: gritty, crunchy, coldcoldcold and sneaking past his collar like it was alive. He could feel his legs. Good, that was goodness. And he wasn't coughing up any blood, so that said maybe he hadn't splashed his internal organs all over his spine. Also good.

He managed to dig himself out of the snow and stagger to his feet, freaked out and shivering with the unbelievable frost-on-your-eyeballs cold.

He wondered if his glasses had survived the fall, but before he could pat himself down, Fraser smiled at him, this goofy sort of look-where-we-are kind of smile. Ray was still too stiff to smile back, but as he rubbed at his frosty face, he realized the whole stupid truth.

He'd jump (or, hey, technically? get pushed) out of any airplane Fraser asked him to.

Goddamn it.

Date: 2004-01-21 09:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pearl-o.livejournal.com
Eee! This was lovely, man. Ray's internal monologue is great on its own, but the ending just makes it.
(deleted comment)

Date: 2004-01-21 10:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] imkalena.livejournal.com
the only thing better than surviving a chuteless nosedive from 30,000 feet into the ass crack of the frozen northwest areas was surviving all that just long enough to piss yourself and have your dick freeze off.

Your Ray rocks the house, woman! Thanks for the hoot! :)

Date: 2004-01-21 10:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lynnmonster.livejournal.com
Ha!

This was great, and the last two sentences pretty much sum it up, don't they?

Date: 2004-01-21 10:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bluster.livejournal.com
That sounded just like Ray. :-)

Date: 2004-01-21 10:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] spiderine.livejournal.com
Wonderful Ray voice! Great!

Date: 2004-01-21 10:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tyk.livejournal.com
very sensory -- i loved "The snow was everywhere: gritty, crunchy, coldcoldcold and sneaking past his collar like it was alive." maybe because my office is frigid but i was feeling the snow.

Date: 2004-01-21 10:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chickwriter.livejournal.com
He'd jump (or, hey, technically? get pushed) out of any airplane Fraser asked him to.

Goddamn it.


Lovely, lovely, lovely.

Great Ray voice. Great atmosphere.

Date: 2004-01-21 10:50 pm (UTC)
ext_3548: (Gray)
From: [identity profile] shayheyred.livejournal.com
The whole stupid truth. It is, isn't it? I love it.

Date: 2004-01-21 11:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mergatrude.livejournal.com
"I never want to do that again, Fraser. As in ever, you hear me?"

and you just know he will! Lovely!

Date: 2004-01-21 11:26 pm (UTC)
ext_12460: acquired from fanpop.com (Default)
From: [identity profile] akite.livejournal.com
Hee! My first thoughts after reading this was Barbara Kowalski saying, "And if Benton Fraser jumped out of an airplane, I guess you would too." Wonderful, wonderful Ray voice.

Date: 2004-01-21 11:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] liaison27.livejournal.com
Well, there isn't much left to quote. *G* But this:

frost-on-your-eyeballs cold.

I've felt *that* feeling. Like one's eyeballs have become iced marbled or something. Makes me dizzy.

And gosh darn , you give good Ray. Thanks.

Date: 2004-01-22 12:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] laurashapiro.livejournal.com
You sekrit schmoop-peddler, you! It's all nice and cranky until that ending. (:

Lovely work, as always.

Date: 2004-01-22 01:21 am (UTC)
ext_1175: (dog)
From: [identity profile] lamardeuse.livejournal.com
Oh, that ending was perfect.

Date: 2004-01-22 06:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hellespont.livejournal.com
"I've felt *that* feeling. Like one's eyeballs have become iced marbled or something."

Don't forget freeze-your-nose-hairs-when-you-inhale cold. I actually kind of like that feeling, but not as much as this story. Although,

"gritty, crunchy, coldcoldcold and sneaking past his collar like it was alive"

makes me wonder what kind of duvets Fraser is acquainted with.

Date: 2004-01-22 04:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] estrella30.livejournal.com
This was absolutely terrific!

He'd jump (or, hey, technically? get pushed) out of any airplane Fraser asked him to.

Goddamn it.


And that just about sums it up, lol. Great job!

Date: 2004-01-22 04:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chesamus.livejournal.com
That is just so brilliantly Ray - every single sentence of it!

Date: 2004-01-22 09:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sihayab.livejournal.com
You are amazing. Gorgeously written, beautifully in character, snarky as all getout.

And yeah, it's love. Ain't that a bitch? ::g::

Date: 2004-01-23 03:30 pm (UTC)
ext_11908: (ben & ray)
From: [identity profile] daughtershade.livejournal.com
This is perfect. And lovely. And wonderful. And very Ray. And I love it. :D

A slight nit to pick

Date: 2004-01-23 05:43 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
I liked the story, don't get me wrong (though this short-short-short- format seems unnecessarily limiting), but it was pretty clear from COTW that they only fell a few hundred feet at most from the airplane. It was a fairly small plane, flying low to evade capture. Still dangerous, to be sure, but not the credibility-straining experience that falling 30K feet would have been.

Date: 2016-01-31 08:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ride-4ever.livejournal.com
Reading this was a free-fall of delight! All the physical details and then Ray's thoughts intertwined! And that ending -- oh yeah -- truth !

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