Camping with Fraser

[speakscanadian]

Apparently living on a tropical island with less than two hundred and fifty inhabitants in the middle of God knows where  wasn't remote enough for Fraser, which was why Ray now found himself rolling out a mat on the forest floor and staring at his bed for the night

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[dueright]

Fraser's side of the camping site was much less cluttered, his bedding for the night much simpler than Ray's. He'd managed to unroll his sleeping bag and collect wood and other kindling for the fire, all while Ray had still been busy unfolding and fluffing.

"Care to do the honors?" Fraser asked, offering his pack of matches up to Ray once he thought the pile of burning materials was up to par.

Temporary blindness and being tracked by a criminal had put a bit of a damper and their last camping trip, so Fraser had figured it was about time he and Ray had another run at it. They had plenty of food and water, and neither of them were paralyzed from the waist down so no one needed to be carried. As long as the clear weather held and there were no freak animal attacks, there was no reason for this time not to be a lot better than the last.

[speakscanadian]

"Care to tell your wolf to leave off my stuff?" Not that Ray really wanted to rest his head in the same place Diefenbaker had rolled around on.

Taking the matches, he fished one out and touched the end of make sure it was dry. It was the idea of camping that had always appealed to Ray more than the actual thing itself. It was meant to be relaxing but he just found most of it a lot of work. Being one with nature was hard.

Striking the match, he threw it onto the wood and waited for the huge ball of fire to shoot up. When nothing but a tiny flicker appeared, he dropped down into a crouch with a grunt and began puffing at it furiously. "What's for dinner?"

[dueright]

"He's not facing me," Fraser pointed out. "He wouldn't hear me even if I were to try." It was completely likely that Diefenbaker wouldn't listen to him even if he were facing him and was able to read his lips.

"Uh, well, dinner would completely depend on the fire..." They couldn't really heat up much of anything if the flame stayed at its current size.

[speakscanadian]

"Anybody ever tell you size isn't everything?" Ray asked gruffly, wafting his hands over the flame when he started to feel light-headed from all the blowing. There was nothing like camping with a boy scout to make Ray feel emasculated.

But something Fraser had said years ago must have sunk in because this time, Ray had come properly prepared. Fishing out the lighter from his pocket that he'd so secretly filched from Asher, he flicked it on and held it to the wood for as long as it took to increase the flames five-fold. Rocking back on his heels, he peered up at Fraser with a grin and waited for his praise.

[dueright]

Rather than offering any form of praise, Fraser instead asked: "Have you taken up smoking?"

He hadn't known Ray to carry a lighter before, but he also hadn't seen him smoke since he'd been on the island. He'd never even smelled so much as a trace of smoke on him.

[speakscanadian]

Trust Fraser to completely miss the point.

"It's not mine," Ray assured him, pushing himself up and dropping the zippo back in his pocket. "I just borrowed it." Least that was what he'd tell Asher if he found it on him before he could replace it. "Look what always being prepared got us," he added cheerfully, feeling far more manly having lit the fire now.

[dueright]

"Ah." Well, that made sense. Fraser just hoped that when he said 'borrowed', Ray had actually done so with permission.

"Job well done, Ray," he said, picking up a stick and beginning to stoke the fire. "You're a natural. Perhaps next time you could try the flint and granite method."

[speakscanadian]

"Well...uh," Ray glanced around them, making as if he was actually looking at what lay on the ground. He couldn't have been less interested if he tried and really, he didn't want to know what was down there if he was going to be expected to sleep on it tonight. "Y'know, I would've done but I couldn't find any." Neither had he looked but that wasn't the point.

"Shall we eat?" Anything to put off telling Fraser what he was planning to tell him anyway. "Feel free to start talking about Eskimos or Moose Jaw or sea otters or whatever."

[dueright]

"I didn't think you'd be up to hunting or fishing just yet." Or digging up worms. "Next time, maybe." Or the time after that. Assuming Ray agreed to do it again.

Grabbing his backpack, Fraser opened it and reached inside, pulling out several cans he'd gotten from the kitchen earlier that day. "Tomato, chicken with rice or chicken noodle. Take your pick."

[speakscanadian]

"You are good to me, Benny. Noodle, please."

Wandering off they way they had come, Ray came back a few moments later lugging a big rock. "I knew I'd seen one somewhere..." He dumped it by the fire after much groaning and shortness of breath, then stepped around in front of it and dropped down to take his seat.

"Ah." Much better. Or it would be once he'd gotten comfortable on it. "Not to sound unwelcoming, but are you ever planning on getting your own place?" If Ray thought about he didn't actually know where Fraser spent his nights but he sure as hell did know where Diefenbaker wound up sometimes. Ray might have been experimenting lately but waking up in bed next to a wolf was going a little too far. "We could go hut hunting. Or you could build your own cabin."

[dueright]

While Ray struggled with his... rock, Fraser had gotten the soup over the fire. Opening the can had also managed to get Diefenbaker to move from Ray's bedding, and he was now seated at Fraser's side, staring at the food simmering away.

"I suppose I should." But the thought of having a hut of his own just made it all feel that much more permanent. "I don't think anyone would appreciate it if I were to move into the IPD office."

[speakscanadian]

Ray laughed at that, breaking his similarly intense gaze on the food. "Why would you want to live in a cop shop?" Sure, Fraser's apartment hadn't been much to look at, which was putting it politely, but to go from that to sleeping in a police office was actually achieving the impossible by being a step down in standards.

[dueright]

"It would be familiar, at least," Fraser said absently, only remembering afterward that he'd started living at the consulate after Ray had left. Right after, actually. "My apartment building burnt down before I got back to Chicago. Living in my office was supposed to be temporary until I found another place to stay, but I was there right up till I wound up here. It was certainly convenient."

[speakscanadian]

"You lived in your office? Couldn't you have used the regal suite?" It wasn't as if the Queen occupied it often. Unless Chicago had got a lot of royal action the moment Ray's back had been turned. "Wait a second, did your place burn down when my house burned down?" He could smell the conspiracy.

[dueright]

"I did," Fraser confirmed with a nod. "And I'm not the Queen, Ray." Not to mention the fact that Turnbull guarded that room as though Her Majesty had already taken residence there.

"There was a fire at your house not long after that, yes." And in his car... Fraser decided it best not to tell him about that if there was no reason to. Maybe he already knew and he wouldn't ever have to. "Both were started by the same person. She was apprehended before anyone was badly hurt, or worse." Anyone who wasn't a goldfish, but that wasn't directly due to the fires.

[speakscanadian]

Francesca had thought it pertinent enough to tell him about the house during the Muldoon briefing at the station, but Ray was still very much blissfully unaware that his beloved car was sitting at the bottom of Lake Michigan.

"Man, it's stuff like that that sometimes makes me glad I'm here." Sure, the sky fell down and dinosaurs attacked and every day was like freaky Friday, but at least on the island most people were well behaved.