Mute Fraser challenge by Bohemian Storm
Feb. 25th, 2005 07:01 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
bohemian--storm.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ds_flashfictionMute Fraser challenge ... sort of. I think I cheated.
Post-CotW
No pairing
G
Approximately 550 words.
Summary: The silence is what gets to him. Especially during the night when the fire has died down and there's a quiet so full that he would swear up and down he's gone deaf until he finds some way of making noise.
The silence is what gets to him. Especially during the night when the fire has died down and there's a quiet so full that he would swear up and down he's gone deaf until he finds some way of making noise. Usually he kicks Fraser hard enough to make him grunt in his sleep. He feels better after hearing that soft noise, a noise he never would have heard in the middle of a Chicago night. This country, though, it's different. This sleepy town, this tiny cabin that's already started to feel like home -- it's all different. Silence is natural and sometimes it freaks him out.
The fire pops and he jumps, cursing under his breath, a testament to how out of place any loud noise seems now that he's here.
"Not used to all this quiet," he says to Fraser. He doesn't expect an answer. Fraser's quieter now too and even Diefenbaker has stopped whining and yipping.
"All this ... space. And quiet. I think it's gettin' to me. I, uh ..." He trails off and makes a vague gesture with the book he's been reading. That's another thing about this cabin. He needs something to fill the silence, so he's begun to read again.
It started with a tourist brochure for Tuktayuktuk, something that had made Ray laugh uncontrollably for a good ten minutes before he'd been able to open it up and read it. Next came the National Geographic he'd found shoved under the firewood and once he'd read that cover to cover he'd moved over to the bookshelf Fraser kept in the corner. He's gone through three books, good books, actually, but he's getting restless.
"All this silence is makin' it hard to concentrate."
Fraser looks up at him from across the room.
"I mean, I don't get it."
And he doesn't. He doesn't get the silence. It's nice sometimes, nice to be able to hear your heart beat as you slow your breathing, nice to be able to hear Fraser humming from outside. But he doesn't get why people can't be loud just sometimes.
"Doesn't anyone, I dunno, listen to music or anythin'?"
Fraser shrugs and it suddenly occurs to Ray that maybe Fraser didn't get why there has to be noise all the time in the city. Fraser, who could talk his way out of anything, maybe didn't get why talking was so necessary because this was his life. This was simple. Even Ray had to admit that it was. The quiet was endless, but it was simpler. There was nothing for him to defend anymore, no putting his foot in his mouth or making people feel bad. He'd stopped worrying about hurting people with the dumb things he sometimes said. He'd stopped worrying in general.
"Okay," he says. "Okay."
Fraser raises an eyebrow.
"I get it. The quiet. It's ... I just get it."
The Mountie smiles and Ray grins back before saying, "But tomorrow we're talkin' about this book whether you like it or not."
Fraser's smile grows and he nods, then returns to his own book.
The fire pops again, but Ray doesn't jump this time.
Post-CotW
No pairing
G
Approximately 550 words.
Summary: The silence is what gets to him. Especially during the night when the fire has died down and there's a quiet so full that he would swear up and down he's gone deaf until he finds some way of making noise.
The silence is what gets to him. Especially during the night when the fire has died down and there's a quiet so full that he would swear up and down he's gone deaf until he finds some way of making noise. Usually he kicks Fraser hard enough to make him grunt in his sleep. He feels better after hearing that soft noise, a noise he never would have heard in the middle of a Chicago night. This country, though, it's different. This sleepy town, this tiny cabin that's already started to feel like home -- it's all different. Silence is natural and sometimes it freaks him out.
The fire pops and he jumps, cursing under his breath, a testament to how out of place any loud noise seems now that he's here.
"Not used to all this quiet," he says to Fraser. He doesn't expect an answer. Fraser's quieter now too and even Diefenbaker has stopped whining and yipping.
"All this ... space. And quiet. I think it's gettin' to me. I, uh ..." He trails off and makes a vague gesture with the book he's been reading. That's another thing about this cabin. He needs something to fill the silence, so he's begun to read again.
It started with a tourist brochure for Tuktayuktuk, something that had made Ray laugh uncontrollably for a good ten minutes before he'd been able to open it up and read it. Next came the National Geographic he'd found shoved under the firewood and once he'd read that cover to cover he'd moved over to the bookshelf Fraser kept in the corner. He's gone through three books, good books, actually, but he's getting restless.
"All this silence is makin' it hard to concentrate."
Fraser looks up at him from across the room.
"I mean, I don't get it."
And he doesn't. He doesn't get the silence. It's nice sometimes, nice to be able to hear your heart beat as you slow your breathing, nice to be able to hear Fraser humming from outside. But he doesn't get why people can't be loud just sometimes.
"Doesn't anyone, I dunno, listen to music or anythin'?"
Fraser shrugs and it suddenly occurs to Ray that maybe Fraser didn't get why there has to be noise all the time in the city. Fraser, who could talk his way out of anything, maybe didn't get why talking was so necessary because this was his life. This was simple. Even Ray had to admit that it was. The quiet was endless, but it was simpler. There was nothing for him to defend anymore, no putting his foot in his mouth or making people feel bad. He'd stopped worrying about hurting people with the dumb things he sometimes said. He'd stopped worrying in general.
"Okay," he says. "Okay."
Fraser raises an eyebrow.
"I get it. The quiet. It's ... I just get it."
The Mountie smiles and Ray grins back before saying, "But tomorrow we're talkin' about this book whether you like it or not."
Fraser's smile grows and he nods, then returns to his own book.
The fire pops again, but Ray doesn't jump this time.
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