Work Text:
(73) - (F/RV)
"Ray!"
"You gonna let me in, or do I have to stand out here till a polar bear eats me for lunch?"
There was a pause while Fraser stared at Ray, his face pale and slack. Ray shook his head and pushed past him, into the shack.
"May I take your coat?"
And his hat, and his show shoes, and his top two sweaters, and his boots. Ray stripped down to normal street clothes, which took a year and a half and left him feeling like a new man. Fraser, now holding all Ray's worldly goods, looked like a politely baffled department store mannequin.
"What happened to your new best friend?"
Fraser blinked. "My--oh. You mean Ray Kowalski."
"Yes, I mean Ray Kowalski, unless you've got some other me-impersonator hiding out under the floorboards. What happened to the guy who stole my life and my job and my family and my, well, you?"
"Things...ended badly, between us."
Ray raised an eyebrow.
"He met an Italian expatriate snow-blower with a hair-gel fetish in Edmonton, and stayed behind. I'm told they've opened a salon."
Ray snorted and settled down in front of the wood stove. "Like we couldn't see that one coming."
"He's been a dear friend to me, Ray. I won't hear a word against him."
Ray glared. "I didn't come all the way from Florida to play Siskel and Ebert with your love life. I've been heading north since last Tuesday. Didn't think I'd make it here for New Year's, but there was a guy with a hot air balloon back at the last outpost of modern civilization."
Fraser's expression eased into something more familiar. "Really, Ray. If I'm expected to believe you were brought here by a man with a balloon--"
Ray grinned. "Nah. But the guy with the balloon knew a guy with a snowmobile who knew a guy with a one-horse open sleigh. Jolly little fella. Red suit, funny hat. Bit on the pudgy side, but that's what too much pemmican will do to a guy."
"Why did you come, Ray?" Fraser's gaze steady, warm. "This is a long way to travel for a vacation."
"Yeah." That was Fraser, straight down to business. Ray cleared his throat. "Well. It's not exactly a vacation."
A spark lit behind Fraser's eyes. He crouched down beside Ray, a soft pink flush in his cheeks. "What is it?"
"I...well, I heard you and Mr. Spike-head had called it quits, and, I just, fuck."
"Ray?"
Ray sighed. "Ditched Stella. She was sweet, but geez. I used to think you were high maintenance."
"Oh." Fraser looked down at his hands, but that couldn't hide his grin. "Sorry, Ray."
Ray grinned back in the other direction, feeling not really bad at all about his life at that moment. "I didn't show up on your doorstep looking for a consolation prize, Benny."
Fraser looked up. His eyes were dark, and he reached out to Ray with a significantly shaky hand. "I've missed you."
Ray grabbed his hand and squeezed hard. "Yeah?"
"Why did you show up on my doorstep?"
"I guess--I don't know. I guess I thought, you struck out, I struck out...misery loves company?"
"I'm not at all miserable now, Ray."
"Ah, Benny."
"Will you stay? Stay with me."
"Got no choice, Fraser. Guy who dropped me off won't be back through till next year." He grinned. "Even then, only if I'm nice."
"Ah." Fraser examined Ray critically. "Well. Given the odds, perhaps we should think about citizenship."