WIP Amnesty: Python story snippet (dS)
“Ugly weasels,” Ray muttered. The creatures in question stared back at him balefully. “Fraser, come look at this.”
Fraser tore himself away from the aquarium filled with - huh. Ray didn’t know, water gerbils or something - and came up and peered over Ray’s shoulder.
...
The screams were the first thing that alerted them to the situation. By the time Fraser and Ray had arrived, a large crowd had gathered around the man in the python tank. The man was agitated, yelling and cursing as the coils of the huge snake slowly gathered closer around him.
“Shit,” Ray breathed. “This is bad.” Raising his voice, he hollered “Hey! Step back from the reptiles! Let some help get through! Hey, you, with the tube socks! Get outta the way!”
He turned to Fraser. “Do you see any zoo people? Are they on this? - Shit.”
Fraser had gone. Vamoosed. And Ray was willing to bet he knew where the crazy Mountie had vamoosed off to.
...
“See, Fraser, it’s like one of those python thingies. You got all this stuff choked up inside you, like something’s wrapping around you so tight it won’t come out. And anyone who wants to see in has to unwrap all those loops first, but what they don’t realize is if you don’t have a handle on it, it bites you.”
“I would never bite you, Ray,” said Fraser.
“Damn.” Ray rubbed his temples. “I know you wouldn’t, Fraser, it’s a whatchacallit. A metataph.”
“Metaphor,” Fraser corrected. He was silent for a beat, and when he spoke again, his voice was softer. “The analogy remains applicable, Ray. I would never bite you. I would not.”
Ray looked up, hoping to see Fraser’s face looking all earnest, like he did. And he was looking earnest all right, but he was looking earnest at his feet.
“You might not mean to, Fraser, but you bite me plenty of times.”
“I think I would have remembered, Ray.”
“No - no, wait. No changing this on me. You can’t just all of a sudden play dumb. You were with me, Fraser, you were hearing what I was saying. You hear what I’m saying now?”
“Yes.” Fraser nodded, and drew his thumb across his eyebrow. “I mean, I understand.”
Fraser tore himself away from the aquarium filled with - huh. Ray didn’t know, water gerbils or something - and came up and peered over Ray’s shoulder.
...
The screams were the first thing that alerted them to the situation. By the time Fraser and Ray had arrived, a large crowd had gathered around the man in the python tank. The man was agitated, yelling and cursing as the coils of the huge snake slowly gathered closer around him.
“Shit,” Ray breathed. “This is bad.” Raising his voice, he hollered “Hey! Step back from the reptiles! Let some help get through! Hey, you, with the tube socks! Get outta the way!”
He turned to Fraser. “Do you see any zoo people? Are they on this? - Shit.”
Fraser had gone. Vamoosed. And Ray was willing to bet he knew where the crazy Mountie had vamoosed off to.
...
“See, Fraser, it’s like one of those python thingies. You got all this stuff choked up inside you, like something’s wrapping around you so tight it won’t come out. And anyone who wants to see in has to unwrap all those loops first, but what they don’t realize is if you don’t have a handle on it, it bites you.”
“I would never bite you, Ray,” said Fraser.
“Damn.” Ray rubbed his temples. “I know you wouldn’t, Fraser, it’s a whatchacallit. A metataph.”
“Metaphor,” Fraser corrected. He was silent for a beat, and when he spoke again, his voice was softer. “The analogy remains applicable, Ray. I would never bite you. I would not.”
Ray looked up, hoping to see Fraser’s face looking all earnest, like he did. And he was looking earnest all right, but he was looking earnest at his feet.
“You might not mean to, Fraser, but you bite me plenty of times.”
“I think I would have remembered, Ray.”
“No - no, wait. No changing this on me. You can’t just all of a sudden play dumb. You were with me, Fraser, you were hearing what I was saying. You hear what I’m saying now?”
“Yes.” Fraser nodded, and drew his thumb across his eyebrow. “I mean, I understand.”