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[WiP] TS/DS crossover, part the sixth
So... I'm walking towards a tea house to apply for a job there when I stop to check what time it is and notice that air is moving on strange patterns on the ground. Usually when it's really hot, there's these thin waves, but these were randomly circling dots.
Curious, I look up just as a droning sound hits and realise that I'm surrounded by a cloud of bees. So I kinda stare at them, trying to figure out what sweet something they could be going after when the cloud finishes flying past. I turned and watched them fly across the street, over a rooftop and on to the next block before I shrugged and continued on. "Oh."
Hey, MOrgan? Does this work?
+ + +
"Argh!" Fraser watched as Ray stormed to his feet, shoes stomping against the wooden floors as he waved his hands in the air. "I'm sorry! I just don't get this. You can't just control your senses like the volume control on a stereo!! I-I gotta get outta here before I punch someone."
Dr. Sandburg rose to follow Ray and Fraser held a hand out to stop him, giving a small shake of his head. It had been two days since they had arrived back at his cabin --most of it spent sleeping-- and Ray's vision was almost back, if you counted leaning towards monochrome and fuzzy shapes as 'back'. Ray was also growing increasingly agitated at the restriction of his fluctuating senses and being trapped inside the cabin. A walk would do him good and the area around the cabin was relatively safe.
"Dief, follow." He ordered. The half wolf bounded to his feet, running to Ray, who was putting on his parka. Ray grunted in return.
"Gonna go check on the dogs." Ray muttered, storming outside, Dief happily on his heels. Fraser felt guilty upon their return to realise he'd completely forgotten about the sled dogs in his rush to get Ray to town, but the dogs were no worse for wear for having missed a meal.
Dr. Sandburg still looked concerned, half out of the chair, ready to follow. "He'll be fine." Fraser assured him. "And if it's anything I've learned with my time with Ray, it's not entirely a facade when he says he'll punch someone."
"Oh." The professor sat back down.
"Of course, he's very contrite afterwards and usually requests that you hit him back in return."
"Ohh..."
A quick change in topic was probably called for. "You mentioned a book, 'The Sentinels of Paraguay', I believe?"
"Yeah!" Dr. Sandburg relaxed again. "I have it with me if you'd like to see it."
"It would be my pleasure." He smiled as the shorter man practically jumped at the chance. Knowledge was always better when shared, especially to a receptive audience. Which was the hard part to find. It was nice to be around someone who shared a similar passion for knowledge, even if their conversations were eccentric enough to make Ray a little surly.
"It's kind of old and getting worse for wear." Dr. Sandburg apologised, reverently handing him the obviously loved book. It was yellowed and beginning to look like it was ready to fall apart from so much handling and travel.
"Do you mind if I read it?" He queried. He got pleased grin and a wave of the hand in return, giving him the impression that not many had asked that question over the years. Fraser turned the book around in his hands, noting the condition of the pages and spine. "Since books were so precious in the territories where I grew up, one of the things my grandparents taught me was how to maintain and repair books. Would you mind if I did some work on this?"
Dr. Sandburg looked at him for a moment, blue eyes wide, yet shuttered. Finally the curly haired man nodded. "I trust you with it." He made it sound as if Fraser held a piece of the anthropologist's soul in his hands. In many ways, Fraser supposed he was.
"Thank you kindly. I-" He was cut off by the sound of Diefenbaker's barking. Oh, dear. He set the book down on the table and hurried to the door. The half wolf bound in, yowling all the while.
"Ray found -what-?!" He repeated, hurriedly shrugging into his coat. Dr. Sandburg did the same, wrapping a muffler around his head and neck over his jacket. "Of course it's not a bear, it's hibernating season. Really, Diefenbaker, you ought to know better, I don't care what Ray said."
Dief yipped in response, running outside again. They followed, Fraser making sure to latch the door behind them to keep the heat inside. The snow was still rather deep, but he trudged his way through, following both Diefenbaker and Ray's footsteps. He heard the professor stumble a few times, but kept going. Dief had not said that Ray had zoned again, but he did not want to take that chance.
He found Ray not too terribly far away from the cabin, hidden by the trees. He was sitting stiffly on something on the large brown and furry side. "Ray!"
"'Bout time ya got here!" Ray hissed back, a bit of a nervous tremor in his voice. "Think I sat on a bear. Didn't wanna move, in case he attacked. Play dead, right?"
"Playing dead is the correct thing to do when encountering an attacking bear, yes." Fraser agreed. "But as I told Diefenbaker, that would be impossible. It's hibernating season for them, we won't see them until spring."
"Oh." Ray relaxed slightly. "So what the hell am I sitting on?!"
"Language, Ray."
"It's a MOOSE!" Dr. Sandburg's incredulous voice turned into muffled snorts of laughter as the anthropologist fell once again into the snow.
"I'm sitting on a Moose?!" Ray almost but not quite squeaked, his expression sceptical. "What the -freak- is a moose doing out here?"
"Well," Fraser walked to the front of the large creature, checking the animal over. It was dead, fairly recently as well. No more than a few hours and still untouched by predators. "Off handedly, I'd say he's being sat on, Ray."
He got a glare in return. "You think you're soooo funny, Fraser..."
"Thank you, Ray. I do try."
Peals of laughter came from behind them, Dr. Sandburg had yet to pull himself out of the snow. Diefenbaker also seemed to be snickering in his own lupine way.
"Honestly, Ray. Even if you cannot see properly, the scent of a moose is quite distinctive and not at all like a bear-"
Ray glared at him. "Fraser?"
"Yes Ray?"
"Normal people do not go around smelling bears and mooses... meeces... large noisy animals with horns just to see what they smell like."
"Understood, Ray." It took some effort not to smile or point out that the plural of moose -was- moose, so he turned his attention back to the animal. He had a knife with him, and with as close as the cabin was, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle to butcher the carcass and store the meat for food for both themselves and the dogs. Actually, there was probably more here than they could use over the winter, they could trade or gift some of it away.
Movement flickered in his periphery vision and he turned to look. A pale wolf, not Diefenbaker, was watching him. It didn't seem hostile, quite the opposite in fact. Something large and tawny moved behind the wolf and for a moment, he wished he had not left his gun behind.
Cougar.
Much to his astonishment, the wolf did not seem to be frightened of the larger predator, in fact, quite the opposite. The wolf butted heads with the large cat, it's tail waving happily. The mountain lion seemed amused by it's... companion?, the course pink tongue slipping out and grooming the top of the wolf's head. The wolf happily nuzzled back, rubbing against the cougar's neck with a pleased sound.
"Frase?" Ray's voice snapped him out of his staring. His eyes flickered on his partner, who was looking at him with concern, then back to where he had spotted the predators.
They were gone. The snow was clean, no sign of anything passing across its pristine surface. "I'm good, Ray." Except for the sensory hallucinations, but he should be used to those by now. After all, he'd been haunted by the ghost of his father for years. What were a couple of animals compared to that? At least they couldn't talk back.
He pointedly kept Diefenbaker out of that thought.
"Perhaps we should, Ray." He gave himself a mental shake, returning to the previous train of thought. "Once we have a better grasp on your abilities, we should go hunting. I could teach you how to track."
Ray grinned in return. "Non-city tracking?"
"Precisely." Tracking and hunting that did not require threatening to repeatedly beat someone with one's boot or other handy blunt object. "Learn what Moose and Bear actually smell like."
His partner's grin turned fond. "Yer a freak."
He grinned back. "Understood." From anyone else, that would have been an insult. But Ray always said it with such fondness that felt more like a complement than anything else.
"Moose!" Dr. Sandburg's helpless giggles started up again. Diefenbaker was sprawled next to the fallen anthropologist, his face scrunched in a very amused grin.
"Ah, button it!" Ray threw a handful of snow in the professor's direction. It hit Dief instead, causing Dr. Sandburg to toss a handful of snow back to avenge the half-wolf's honour.
Fraser shook his head and set about planning on how to butcher the carcass. They truly did not need the full amount, although none of it would go to waste. Perhaps he should leave some of it behind. It was natural windfall and it would be dismissive of him to allow the natural predators to starve because he was greedy.
+ + +
I don't know what happened. We blinked and suddenly... MOOSE!
wait, wait... Lemme guess... my tenses suck. ^^;;
*wails* MSN messenger!!! Where are youuuuuuuu?!
Curious, I look up just as a droning sound hits and realise that I'm surrounded by a cloud of bees. So I kinda stare at them, trying to figure out what sweet something they could be going after when the cloud finishes flying past. I turned and watched them fly across the street, over a rooftop and on to the next block before I shrugged and continued on. "Oh."
Hey, MOrgan? Does this work?
+ + +
"Argh!" Fraser watched as Ray stormed to his feet, shoes stomping against the wooden floors as he waved his hands in the air. "I'm sorry! I just don't get this. You can't just control your senses like the volume control on a stereo!! I-I gotta get outta here before I punch someone."
Dr. Sandburg rose to follow Ray and Fraser held a hand out to stop him, giving a small shake of his head. It had been two days since they had arrived back at his cabin --most of it spent sleeping-- and Ray's vision was almost back, if you counted leaning towards monochrome and fuzzy shapes as 'back'. Ray was also growing increasingly agitated at the restriction of his fluctuating senses and being trapped inside the cabin. A walk would do him good and the area around the cabin was relatively safe.
"Dief, follow." He ordered. The half wolf bounded to his feet, running to Ray, who was putting on his parka. Ray grunted in return.
"Gonna go check on the dogs." Ray muttered, storming outside, Dief happily on his heels. Fraser felt guilty upon their return to realise he'd completely forgotten about the sled dogs in his rush to get Ray to town, but the dogs were no worse for wear for having missed a meal.
Dr. Sandburg still looked concerned, half out of the chair, ready to follow. "He'll be fine." Fraser assured him. "And if it's anything I've learned with my time with Ray, it's not entirely a facade when he says he'll punch someone."
"Oh." The professor sat back down.
"Of course, he's very contrite afterwards and usually requests that you hit him back in return."
"Ohh..."
A quick change in topic was probably called for. "You mentioned a book, 'The Sentinels of Paraguay', I believe?"
"Yeah!" Dr. Sandburg relaxed again. "I have it with me if you'd like to see it."
"It would be my pleasure." He smiled as the shorter man practically jumped at the chance. Knowledge was always better when shared, especially to a receptive audience. Which was the hard part to find. It was nice to be around someone who shared a similar passion for knowledge, even if their conversations were eccentric enough to make Ray a little surly.
"It's kind of old and getting worse for wear." Dr. Sandburg apologised, reverently handing him the obviously loved book. It was yellowed and beginning to look like it was ready to fall apart from so much handling and travel.
"Do you mind if I read it?" He queried. He got pleased grin and a wave of the hand in return, giving him the impression that not many had asked that question over the years. Fraser turned the book around in his hands, noting the condition of the pages and spine. "Since books were so precious in the territories where I grew up, one of the things my grandparents taught me was how to maintain and repair books. Would you mind if I did some work on this?"
Dr. Sandburg looked at him for a moment, blue eyes wide, yet shuttered. Finally the curly haired man nodded. "I trust you with it." He made it sound as if Fraser held a piece of the anthropologist's soul in his hands. In many ways, Fraser supposed he was.
"Thank you kindly. I-" He was cut off by the sound of Diefenbaker's barking. Oh, dear. He set the book down on the table and hurried to the door. The half wolf bound in, yowling all the while.
"Ray found -what-?!" He repeated, hurriedly shrugging into his coat. Dr. Sandburg did the same, wrapping a muffler around his head and neck over his jacket. "Of course it's not a bear, it's hibernating season. Really, Diefenbaker, you ought to know better, I don't care what Ray said."
Dief yipped in response, running outside again. They followed, Fraser making sure to latch the door behind them to keep the heat inside. The snow was still rather deep, but he trudged his way through, following both Diefenbaker and Ray's footsteps. He heard the professor stumble a few times, but kept going. Dief had not said that Ray had zoned again, but he did not want to take that chance.
He found Ray not too terribly far away from the cabin, hidden by the trees. He was sitting stiffly on something on the large brown and furry side. "Ray!"
"'Bout time ya got here!" Ray hissed back, a bit of a nervous tremor in his voice. "Think I sat on a bear. Didn't wanna move, in case he attacked. Play dead, right?"
"Playing dead is the correct thing to do when encountering an attacking bear, yes." Fraser agreed. "But as I told Diefenbaker, that would be impossible. It's hibernating season for them, we won't see them until spring."
"Oh." Ray relaxed slightly. "So what the hell am I sitting on?!"
"Language, Ray."
"It's a MOOSE!" Dr. Sandburg's incredulous voice turned into muffled snorts of laughter as the anthropologist fell once again into the snow.
"I'm sitting on a Moose?!" Ray almost but not quite squeaked, his expression sceptical. "What the -freak- is a moose doing out here?"
"Well," Fraser walked to the front of the large creature, checking the animal over. It was dead, fairly recently as well. No more than a few hours and still untouched by predators. "Off handedly, I'd say he's being sat on, Ray."
He got a glare in return. "You think you're soooo funny, Fraser..."
"Thank you, Ray. I do try."
Peals of laughter came from behind them, Dr. Sandburg had yet to pull himself out of the snow. Diefenbaker also seemed to be snickering in his own lupine way.
"Honestly, Ray. Even if you cannot see properly, the scent of a moose is quite distinctive and not at all like a bear-"
Ray glared at him. "Fraser?"
"Yes Ray?"
"Normal people do not go around smelling bears and mooses... meeces... large noisy animals with horns just to see what they smell like."
"Understood, Ray." It took some effort not to smile or point out that the plural of moose -was- moose, so he turned his attention back to the animal. He had a knife with him, and with as close as the cabin was, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle to butcher the carcass and store the meat for food for both themselves and the dogs. Actually, there was probably more here than they could use over the winter, they could trade or gift some of it away.
Movement flickered in his periphery vision and he turned to look. A pale wolf, not Diefenbaker, was watching him. It didn't seem hostile, quite the opposite in fact. Something large and tawny moved behind the wolf and for a moment, he wished he had not left his gun behind.
Cougar.
Much to his astonishment, the wolf did not seem to be frightened of the larger predator, in fact, quite the opposite. The wolf butted heads with the large cat, it's tail waving happily. The mountain lion seemed amused by it's... companion?, the course pink tongue slipping out and grooming the top of the wolf's head. The wolf happily nuzzled back, rubbing against the cougar's neck with a pleased sound.
"Frase?" Ray's voice snapped him out of his staring. His eyes flickered on his partner, who was looking at him with concern, then back to where he had spotted the predators.
They were gone. The snow was clean, no sign of anything passing across its pristine surface. "I'm good, Ray." Except for the sensory hallucinations, but he should be used to those by now. After all, he'd been haunted by the ghost of his father for years. What were a couple of animals compared to that? At least they couldn't talk back.
He pointedly kept Diefenbaker out of that thought.
"Perhaps we should, Ray." He gave himself a mental shake, returning to the previous train of thought. "Once we have a better grasp on your abilities, we should go hunting. I could teach you how to track."
Ray grinned in return. "Non-city tracking?"
"Precisely." Tracking and hunting that did not require threatening to repeatedly beat someone with one's boot or other handy blunt object. "Learn what Moose and Bear actually smell like."
His partner's grin turned fond. "Yer a freak."
He grinned back. "Understood." From anyone else, that would have been an insult. But Ray always said it with such fondness that felt more like a complement than anything else.
"Moose!" Dr. Sandburg's helpless giggles started up again. Diefenbaker was sprawled next to the fallen anthropologist, his face scrunched in a very amused grin.
"Ah, button it!" Ray threw a handful of snow in the professor's direction. It hit Dief instead, causing Dr. Sandburg to toss a handful of snow back to avenge the half-wolf's honour.
Fraser shook his head and set about planning on how to butcher the carcass. They truly did not need the full amount, although none of it would go to waste. Perhaps he should leave some of it behind. It was natural windfall and it would be dismissive of him to allow the natural predators to starve because he was greedy.
+ + +
I don't know what happened. We blinked and suddenly... MOOSE!
wait, wait... Lemme guess... my tenses suck. ^^;;
*wails* MSN messenger!!! Where are youuuuuuuu?!
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I have to go back on Thursday, the lady is at a Tea Convention in Las Vegas until then. ^^;;
moose... *snicker*
Oh Icka, THANK YOU for that mental image... *grin*
Re: moose... *snicker*
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Mmm, moose.
Moose: it's what's for dinner.
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Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!! *happily bounces up and down*
Seriously don't know why they've been flipping lately... usually we're okay with tenses... huh. ^^
((GLOMPS Summercloud)) I am grateful for you catching them when we do goof. ^___________^
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Ray: It's a ghost- !
Fraser: Spirit.
Ray: -whatever! My point is, how can it eat donuts?!
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You're good ^_______________^
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And as for the bees, remember my little phobia? I would STILL be running. And you'd be able to hear me shrieking all the way to Canada.
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(Anonymous) 2009-05-17 04:51 am (UTC)(link)I like your Fraser's voice. Another great chapter.