ext_8892: (badBen)
ext_8892 ([identity profile] beledibabe.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] ds_flashfiction2003-05-19 06:54 pm

Playing hookey

Because this is short and fun and my whole fuckin' *life* doesn't depend on it. (Exaggerate? Moi?) It does prove that I'm very literal-minded and generally write sap; just in case you didn't already know. Many thanks to [livejournal.com profile] kassrachel, whose support and suggestions are both much appreciated. ::mwah::



Sprinkled with flintlock rifles, powder horns, Conestoga wagons, and, oddly enough, coonskin caps, the fraying beige curtains had sagged in the middle.

The white canvas of the wagon drifted an eighth of an inch to the left of the body, faulty registration. The brown barrel of the rifle never met the stock. The cap reminded Ben of an electrocuted squirrel.

Steve hated them, hand-me-downs from his two older brothers. He wanted blue ones, with silver spaceships, suns and moons and stars. But his mother said they were perfectly good curtains, so they hung in his room beside his bed.

Ben stared at them when they finished sliding slick lips, rubbing heated chests and groins, when Steve would murmur in his ear, “turn over, I want to do you.”

He memorized the pattern as Steve pushed Vaseline inside, pushed himself inside. He held still, jaw tight against the pain, let Steve do what he wanted. Wondered when Steve’s mother last washed them.

~o~0~o~

New and crisp on shiny brass hardware, the tartan curtains usually hung open. Unless he was there, sitting on the bed with Mark. Then Mark would draw them closed, teeth gleaming in the sudden dusk. Like a tiger spotting its prey.

Mark would arrange him on the bed, arms overhead, grasping the brass bedstead. Pants rucked down to his ankles. He turned away, gasping, as slick fingers slid over, around, inside. A strong hand forced his head back, into a sloppy kiss that made his lips tingle.

Husky-voiced, Mark quickly coaxed a climax from him. Urged him onto his side, knee bent, still panting from his orgasm. Slipped inside, grunting. He stifled his own grunt of protest, of discomfort. His eyes followed the warp and weft, red and green and white and yellow, over and under and over again.

He’d consulted reference books, asked around town, but couldn’t identify the tartan pattern. Not Black Watch, not dress Ferguson, or hunting McIntosh or McLeod. This bothered him.

~o~0~o~

He turns over, tugging the wool blanket higher around his neck. Soft from use, the old blanket rises and dips over the forms on the bed, a contour atlas of lethargy. The thick satin band at the top slips between his fingers.

“Ray? Are you awake?”

A groan confirms his suspicions. He reaches out, pulling the warm body against his, tucking him against his chest.

“Ray, what colour are your curtains?”

An eruption beside him, as Ray turns over and peers into his eyes. “Are you unhinged? Ben, I’ve just had the best sex in my life, and I was kinda hoping you felt the same, and you want to know what colour my curtains are?”

“Exactly.”

Ray sighs. “Green. With white stripes.”

“Ah. I wondered.”

Ray mutters something that sounds suspiciously like ‘freak,’ kisses him on the nose, and collapses half on top of him.

Ben wraps his arms around him and closes his eyes. He honestly hadn’t noticed Ray’s curtains.

Perhaps happiness *does* alter one’s perceptions.

Or can it be love?

ext_6455: (hello)

[identity profile] doll-revolution.livejournal.com 2003-05-19 04:06 pm (UTC)(link)
or maybe it's worms! :::giggle:::

oh, that was just wonderful! i loved it!!!

^____^

::wibble::

[identity profile] thermidor.livejournal.com 2003-05-19 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, man, after a crappy day this helped make me better.
Sweetness-check!
Smithbauer-check!
Slight Fraser angst-check!
Happiness at last with Ray-check!

a whole bunch of good-story things!

[identity profile] bluster.livejournal.com 2003-05-19 04:29 pm (UTC)(link)
This is so sweet. I love it when you write sap. :-)
ext_12411: (Default)

[identity profile] theodosia.livejournal.com 2003-05-19 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I guess it's not curtains for Ray, huh?

Loved loved loved the telling details!
ext_3548: (Default)

[identity profile] shayheyred.livejournal.com 2003-05-19 05:47 pm (UTC)(link)
But it's good sap.

Typical Mark, I think. And now I really dislike that Steve guy, and I've never even met him. Poor compliant Ben. And now happy Ben. Like I said, good sap.
ext_3545: Jon Walker, being adorable! (Default)

[identity profile] dsudis.livejournal.com 2003-05-19 05:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Oooh, lovely. And now Fraser can finally find out that if you have that much time to spend thinking about the curtains, you're not doing it right... ;)

[identity profile] bethbethbeth.livejournal.com 2003-05-19 06:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, *nice*, Carla! And maybe the reason Fraser doesn't know what kind of curtains Ray has is because unlike Steve's and Mark's...Ray's curtains are mostly open - like him. *g*
ext_1175: (Default)

[identity profile] lamardeuse.livejournal.com 2003-05-19 06:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"Soft from use, the old blanket rises and dips over the forms on the bed, a contour atlas of lethargy."

How do you think to *write* frickin' great sentences like this? Wow.

Loved the whole thing, actually. What a great way to show that Ray is the love of his life...sigh...

[identity profile] umbo.livejournal.com 2003-05-19 06:24 pm (UTC)(link)
But it's *good* sap! It's sweet, and it's lovely, and it's everything else everyone else already said, and I thank you kindly for posting it.

[identity profile] ajinamoto.livejournal.com 2003-05-19 07:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Awwww, how sweet. I like sap, sap is good.

(Anonymous) 2003-05-19 07:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, Carla, NEVER apologize. And especially not for something as layered and. . . telling. . . as this. Beautiful. Really.

--Kellie

[identity profile] ardent-muses.livejournal.com 2003-05-19 08:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Mmmmmmm. Oh, I love this. What a terrific use for the curtain theme.

He’d consulted reference books, asked around town, but couldn’t identify the tartan pattern. Not Black Watch, not dress Ferguson, or hunting McIntosh or McLeod. This bothered him.

THIS is so much like Fraser that it made me LMAO.

I'm glad you're playing hooky sometimes, darlin'. Miss you.

(Anonymous) 2003-05-19 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Literal-minded looks mighty good on you.:-) I'm so glad Ben got more out of life than lying back and thinking of curtains . . .

Karen

[identity profile] maubast.livejournal.com 2003-05-20 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
What a way to show their soul-mated-ness - TYK! (g)

[identity profile] cesperanza.livejournal.com 2003-05-20 11:00 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, this was so great, Carla--bedrooms Fraser has known! Trust you to find the dirtiest possible angle, and I don't mean the curtains! *g* This is what we love you for.

[identity profile] moxie-brown.livejournal.com 2003-05-20 02:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Sigh, that was so nice. Loved how Fraser wasn't being sexually and emotionally satisfied till Ray, aw.
ext_3579: I'm still not watching supernatural. (Default)

[identity profile] the-star-fish.livejournal.com 2003-05-21 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
Excellent, excellent work. (Of course.)

I love what you did with this theme.

[identity profile] rowanfairchild.livejournal.com 2003-05-22 05:19 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, Carla man, this really got me. Loved the details, and the way you let the story develop so matter of factly -- the sweetness at the end was such a nice contrast. Thanks!
-R