Fiction. Coming To Terms. (Fraser/Vecchio)

[nakeisha]

Title: Coming To Terms
Author: Nikki Harrington
Pairing/Genre: Benton Fraser/Raymond Vecchio. Pre-Slash
Rating: PG-13 (for language and concept)
Word Count: 5,644
Quote: 'All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players'. AS YOU LIKE IT - ACT II SCENE VII
Summary: Set immediately after Victoria's Secret. Ray is at the hospital

Comments

[spuffyduds]

I quite like this! What a dark time in both their lives, so much to explore.

I especially love poor Confused!Nurse, and the fact that phoning Diefenbaker makes perfect sense to Ray until he remembers about the deafness. And the whole "No, I was talking about DIEF getting out of the hospital, uh, he's shot too, no, I didn't shoot HIM" part. The bit of black comedy there makes the rest of the piece that much more angsty.

Very tiny quibble--a bit of non-American vocabulary? I think any American I've ever heard says "in THE hospital."

Enjoyed, thanks for sharing!

[nakeisha]

Thank you. I'm glad you liked it.

I wanted to try to put a bit of humour in it, to break things up, so I'm really glad that the nurse came over okay and the black comedy (again which is what I was aiming for) worked. Thank you.

Ah, the 'the'. Fascinating little word that. Not only when you do use it, but when you don't use it and we do. Thank you for mentioning it.

Thank you for reading and commenting.

[aingeal8c]

I cna't think who that certain person might be...

You know I actually really liked this. Admittedly I don't think Ray shot Benny on purpose but I do think it;s a really interesting itnerpretation and this fic does a good job of making it believeable and it explores a really interesting part of the old Ray pysche.

It is dark but I like how it's all revealed through intereactions with a third person gives good insight into what's going on in Ray's head.

And I think his voice was fine. It was Ray ;-)

[nakeisha]

:-) I thought you might know who I meant.

Thank you so much. Phew, that's really good to know. I'm glad that I made it believable for you, even if you don't think that was what happened - that's excellent to know. It's odd because, as I said, Ray is my favourite character and by the time I saw VS, I was already really loving him. But to me this was the only explanation; as I (he) said he's a trained-marksman, he knew what he was doing - he just didn't intend shooting him the back. It's interesting how we get such clear ideas about something, especially in a case like this when really it's against the way we should think.

I'm glad that the interactions helped explain what was going on in Ray's head.

And I'm pleased you could hear Ray so well.

It means a lot coming from you.

Thank you.

[aingeal8c]

I had a suspiscion...

You did. Having read all of your dS I admit this is one my favourties. It's interesting how you saw the shot as deliberately Benny. What I love about that VS equence is that everybody (literally) sees it differently. Your idea had never occured to me but I'm glad you explored it in this way.

Thank you.

[nakeisha]

Thought you might. He's sleeping now, rather tired out from that one!

TYK. I have to confess that it's one of mine too *shakes head in disbelief*

I think that's one of the most powerful things about our shows, that fact that we can all see the same thing and see it in a different way. It's shows how good it is. I haven't seen this idea anywhere else, I must admit. Not that I've read anywhere near as many dS F/V stories as you, but this one I haven't seen.

YW.

[chesamus]

A second that - the voice was perfectly Ray. And like all good plays, there was a bit of comedy, a bit of tragedy and wonderful pacing to keep you in your seat. You nailed it.

[nakeisha]

Thank you very much indeed. I'm really pleased to hear this.

And I'm glad the balance worked too; I was hoping that the humour would come over, but not take over. And I'm delighted that the pacing worked.

Thank you so much.

[keerawa]

Ooof. That was a rough read.

I liked the way you showed the ridiculoud improbability of it all, when Ray tried to tell the nurse how he needed to call Dief.

He dared her to lie to him. He begged her to lie to him. He had to know the truth. He wanted to hear a lie. Very nicely written.

he ran out of things to say to a man he no longer could necessarily assume to be his friend. And that just HIRTS.

[nakeisha]

It was a rough write as well - it's not my usual type of story at all. However, I have to confess to be chuffed that you found it so, it means it worked.

I felt it needed a touch of humour or the ridiculous, black comedy type, so I'm glad that worked so well.

Thank you so much for your lovely words.

[kill_claudio]

I have to agree with what everyone else said above. This story has a perfect tone that's a bit like the show - darkly funny in places, upsetting in others, deeply emotional. You made me really believe that Ray could have shot Fraser on purpose. Poor Ray must have gone through purgatory in that hospital, and that's something I would have liked to see in canon - what happened before Fraser woke up? So this filled in some canonical gaps very satisfyingly. Thank you!

[nakeisha]

Thank you very much.

I'm really pleased that you found this had such a good tone and tied in with the show for a mix of emotions. I'm delighted it worked so well.

And I'm really chuffed that I made you belief that Ray shot Benny on purpose.

I too am sorry that we didn't see Ray at the hospital prior to Benny waking up. I'm glad this filled in some of the gaps for you.

Thank you so much for your lovely feedback.