Sorry for the delay!

[lamardeuse.livejournal.com]

About 660 words.





Inertia: Part Two
by lamardeuse



"I've been thinking, Ray."

"Whuzzz--Frazzzzer? Wha--"

"Are you awake?"

"I am now. Jesus, it's three thirty."

A huff of breath. "Don't you want to know what I've been thinking about?"

"Mmm." A soft thud that might be the sound of Ray's head hitting the pillow. "I'll take a guess, how's that? You woke me from a sound sleep to tell me you got promoted."

"No."

"You wanted me to know Dief had puppies."

A snort. "Unlikely."

"Miracle of modern fuckin' medicine, what do I know?" Ray's voice was small now, lostness bleeding around its edges. "Can we do this tomorrow? Can you call back tomorrow, when I'm awake?"

A pause. "I suppose I could--" Another pause. "No, I couldn't."

"Why not?"

"Because--I want to tell you now." He was aware he sounded like a petulant child. He didn't care. He finally had acquired some momentum, and Ray was going to be the one to poleaxe him?

"All right, already."

Fraser listened to himself breathe.

"So, go. You gonna go?"

"Go where?"

"Talk to me, Frase. Talk, already. Just get it--"

"I love you."

Silence, because Fraser was no longer breathing.

"How come?"

It was about the last question he'd been expecting to hear. All he could manage was to repeat it, like a particularly intelligent parrot. "How come?"

"Yeah, how come? They don't have how come in the Arctic? Like, it means, why?"

"I know what it means. I just don't see how--why it's important to explore--"

"At this juncture?" Ray asked, a hint of amusement in his tone. "You call me up eleven--no, twelve-- hours after I call you and tell you I'm a fag and like magic, wave the wand, Harry Potter, you're one too?" He chuckled, but the amusement had died. "You're somethin' else, you know that?"

Fraser frowned. "Are you trying to imply that I'm a sympathetic homosexual?"

"Huh. Cute. Yeah, somethin' like that. But don't worry, Frase buddy, ‘it's a perfectly natural reaction to being under extreme stress.'"

Fraser closed his eyes. This wasn't at all how he--

"You still there?"

"Yes, Ray."

"So look, it's real nice of you and all, and I appreciate it, but I'm gonna survive. No bullshit, okay? I'll get over it."

Fraser swallowed. "I'm--happy for you, Ray."

"So, you can just tuck yourself into your bed and count sled dogs jumping over the ice crevasse, and you'll be asleep in no time."

"I, ah, well, that's going to be difficult," Fraser said, rubbing at his eyebrow until he feared it might come off.

"Whyzat? You got a problem with endangering the lives of imaginary sled dogs?"

"No. I, ah, I don't happen to be near my bed at this time."

"Oh. Still at work, huh?"

"No. I'm in a phone booth."

Ray snorted. "Yeah, Superman. Like there's a phone booth in Inuvik."

"There isn't. Well, there was one until the winter of 1983, when a man named Stinky Milligan...it isn't important."

Fraser listened to the hum of the phone line. The service here was appalling, considering--

"Where are you? Where?" The volume of Ray's words made the connection crackle and splutter.

Fraser inhaled, held the air in his lungs a moment, let it escape. "In a phone booth across the street from your apartment."

"Jesus. Wait, wait--"

"I can't wait," Fraser said. "I have to keep moving. Now that I've started, I can't seem to stop."

"Fraser--"

"You see, I took this bus. Then I took a plane. Then I--"

"Don't. Why are you--"

"Because," Fraser said calmly, "I knew, before. Long before. And God help me--" He trailed off, choking back the words.

"Dammit, Fraser--"

The words burst forth. "I don't want you to survive," Fraser said fervently. "I don't want you to survive without me."

"Hang up the goddamn phone," Ray growled.

"And?"

"And move."

And Fraser was left with a dial tone.

Comments

[imkalena.livejournal.com]

For God's sake, woman, tell me there's a Part 3!!!

Wow...

[dementia-12.livejournal.com]

You can pack so much inside 660 words. This is awesome. ^_^

[dsudis.livejournal.com]

::bighappygrin:: Ahhh. That's much happier. And, y'know, bodies in motion tend to stay in motion, that's inertia too, I like that part.

[shayheyred.livejournal.com]

Sharp. Very good indeed. You capture them perfectly. And while I think a part three would be lovely, where you leave it is also very, very fine.

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

oh yes, oh yes, oh yes, oh yes!

::sigh:::

And did I mention "oh yes?"

[doll-revolution.livejournal.com]

wow! i agree with everyone, but especially shayheyred. although i wouldn't be adverse to the 765K sequel, either. ^__^


on a completely different note: you wench! i'll have you know that i was up til 3:30am reading your really long A-T au! i'm sooooo tired!

[rubyrosered.livejournal.com]

Yay!! I've been watching for this.

The first part was terribly painful, in a really great way. I feel so bad for them, but I love story, especially the dialogue. Still, I was very glad you promised more.

And this just caps it off perfectly! It's still very painful, but a happy ending makes it all worthwhile.

Of course, I have to admit I'm a little curious about the follow-through, what with all that momentum Fraser's got going now. But I guess that part wouldn't really involve a telephone, huh?

[ardent-muses.livejournal.com]

Loved how you brought the angst here. You have a knack for tightening the screws. :)

Also, the sled dogs jumping over the crevasses-- Ray's language is wonderful.

Like everyone else, I'd love to see the clinch (and more) but I like where you left it, also. Yum! Thanks.

[maubast.livejournal.com]

Wow!

[thermidor.livejournal.com]

It's angst, but it's like, happy angst or something. How do you *do* that? It's brilliant!

More!

[beledibabe.livejournal.com]

Obviously communing with the beautiful and famous is good for you -- a heartfelt well done! And may I add my voice to those calling for the next scene, to take place with or without a telephone?

Lovely.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

Wheee! This is wonderful. Like others who commented before me, I like the imaginary sled dogs line (and the hint of an aborted phonebooth-in-Inuvik story), and I like the way you've used "inertia" to mean both how an object at rest tends to stay at rest, *and* how an object in motion tends to stay in motion. Yay for objects in motion! :-)

This was lovely...

[brooklinegirl.livejournal.com]

...but I wouldn't expect anything less from you. I'm trying to figure how to put this into words: you capture, in their dialogue, how things are between them. You see it in the show all the time: they have this easy back-and-forth between them, but what they're saying isn't always what they mean.

It's that subtext, maybe, that it seems easy between them, but a lot is going unsaid. Implied. Here, it's hard, because that honest-type speak doesn't come easy. Right out there, and the relief that they (and I) feel when it works...well, it's just wonderful.

[akite.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's the good stuff. I let out a deep breath that I hadn't realized I was holding at then end.

[jenboo.livejournal.com]

*sigh* I'm so relieved! Fraser can keep moving and Ray will be there to take him in his arms. And then they can move together. :o)

My favorite line, because it just tickled me and sounded so much like Fraser: Fraser frowned. "Are you trying to imply that I'm a sympathetic homosexual?"
It just made me giggle.

[murielperun.livejournal.com]

Well, everyone else kind of said it all, but I loved the ending best.


"Hang up the goddamn phone," Ray growled.

"And?"

"And move."

And Fraser was left with a dial tone.

That's brilliant, ending it the moment before Fraser moves, just as the realization sinks in. ;-)

And I adore your Lauren Bacall icon!

[bluster.livejournal.com]

This was delightful. I can really hear them having this conversation. *Both* conversations.

[tobyfan.livejournal.com]

Such yummy angst and delightfully heartfelt confessions. Yum.

I'm with Kalena. I think you should write the actually reunion. You don't have to post it on ds_flashfiction, since the phone part will be over; you could just post it here. :-D

[hangedwoman.livejournal.com]

*whimper* That was realllly good.

[zebra363.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm just reading back through the crack_van recs and saw this, which was from before my time on LJ. Really enjoyed it! Good for Fraser for moving!

[eledhwenlin]

Lovely! :D