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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
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1,553
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1/1
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6
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1,378

New Traditions

Summary:

Fandom: Due South
Pairing: RayK/Fraser
Rating: PG
warnings: sugar shock

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

New Traditions
by nancy

Holidays had never been big in the Fraser household growing up. There were too many important things to be seen to, in order to allow the frivolity of Christmas or New Year's interfere with the routine of living. His Grandparents, God rest, had been loving, but practical, and presents had generally consisted of clothing or other necessities. There had been his time at the RCMP, but he hadn't had many friends during training, and then his posting had been in the middle of nowhere.

Since that time, he was happy to report, things had greatly improved.

"Yo, Fraser! Shake a leg, buddy!"

Fraser smiled to himself as he finished lacing up his boot and strode from the bedroom to where Ray impatiently waited in the living room. Dief sat by the door, also waiting. The extremely decorated living room with it's freshly killed and decorated tree. The smell of pine in the air was sharp and nostalgic, making him smile more. "Which leg shall I shake, Ray?"

Ray made a face and retorted, "Everyone's a comedian. Now here, hold this. And this. And, yeah, take this too. Everything's fallin' outta here."

Fraser juggled the presents into a more secure position and watched as Ray picked up the red bag of brightly wrapped toys and necessities. As a Santa, Ray was far too skinny and had no beard, not to mention no trace of white in his spiky hair. And yet somehow, Fraser didn't doubt the children and their mothers at the shelter would care in the least.

He and Ray were the Precinct's representatives at a local homeless women's shelter this year, something new that the public relations department had started. There had been a toy drive for the entire month of December. Officially, it was because neither he nor Ray had family in town and had the time to spare. Privately, Fraser suspected that they posed the least threat to battered women and children, being an open and exclusive gay couple.

Not that he minded.

"Pitter patter, Fraser," Ray exclaimed from the door.

As Ray's hand guided him out the door, Fraser couldn't help but compare this Christmas to other, far lonelier ones and smile. He had a true home, a lover on whom to dote, and a purpose in life. It was far more than he'd ever hoped to achieve and certainly more than he deserved. Putting in time like this, giving to others, was the very least of what he could do to help tip the scales in gratitude.

* * * *

Several hours later, Benton wasn't sure who'd had more fun; the kids, Dief, or Ray. As expected, they hadn't cared that he'd been a skinny Santa. After the line to sit on Santa's lap to get their present and a picture, there had been games. All the kids had been thrilled with having a 'dog' to play with. And then there had been food. And then there had been candy. Far, far too much candy. Ray's natural energy had been supplemented to an excessive degree and now Benton simply waited for the crash.

"And that Jimmy's got an arm on him! Man, I can totally see him playing baseball ten years down the line," Ray continued, fingers tapping on the steering wheel.

Benton nodded noncommittally and held on discreetly when Ray took a corner rather sharper than he should have.

Ray flashed a grin at him and said, "You did real good today, Fraser. I think going in uniform was a good idea, even if it took forever to get ready."

Benton didn't bother pointing out that it took him exactly the same amount of time to get dressed as on any other day. Instead, he asked, "I was thinking of mulling some wine when we got home. Is there anything in particular you wanted to watch on television while I prepared it?"

Ray shook his head and then contradicted himself with, "Yes! The Christmas Story's on all day! I bet you never saw it, did you?"

"I'm afraid not," Benton confirmed.

"That's okay. It's on until midnight tonight. We'll settle in with that mulled wine and watch it for a few hours."

Blinking in surprise, Benton questioned, "Just how long is it?"

"Oh, only a couple hours, but they repeat it for twenty-four hours straight."

Benton was somewhat aghast, even without knowing what the movie was about. "Why on earth would someone do that?"

"It's tradition."

Ray pulled into their parking spot and hopped out of the car before Benton could respond. Shaking his head at the continued hyper behavior, Benton climbed out at a more reasonable speed. Dief whimpered from the back seat and Fraser shook his head, scolding, "That's what you get for being a glutton. I am not carrying you."

Dief looked up at him and heaved a sigh, but didn't move.

"Oh, for Heaven's sake," Benton muttered.

Carting Dief up the stairs to their apartment was no mean feat. By the time he got there, Ray was in the bathroom, hopefully getting rid of some of that sugar in the most expedient fashion. Fraser set Dief on the dog bed and then took the opportunity to change out of his uniform and into far more comfortable sweatpants and a t-shirt. His clothing choices had relaxed a lot over the years of association with Ray, among other things.

While normally not in favor of using alcohol as anything other than accent to a good meal, Benton felt that perhaps this once, drastic measures were called for. After emptying two bottles of red wine into their largest cook pot and setting it to a low heat, he pulled down the spices. He quickly sliced up a couple of oranges and a lemon, throwing them in and then adding the remaining ingredients.

At that point, he paused to find Ray sitting on the sofa, knee bouncing rapidly as he channel surfed. Benton stifled a sigh, knowing that meant his lover hadn't yet come down from his sugar high. He scanned the kitchen and decided a leftover turkey sandwich would help things considerably. It didn't take long to make and he put it on the coffee table, saying, "I thought you might like a snack while you waited."

Ray beamed up at him and exclaimed, "Hey thanks, Fraser!"

Relieved that there were no questions as to why, Fraser walked back to the kitchen to continue stirring the wine. It wouldn't be a true mulled wine, as there simply wasn't enough time to let the spices steep properly, it would certainly do for Ray's uneducated palate. Not to mention act as the sedative to help cushion the coming crash. No matter how many times he saw it happen, Benton couldn't help but be amazed at the sensitivity of Ray's system to any kind of stimulant.

Benton drained out enough wine for two mugs, leaving the rest to continue simmering at a low temperature. Bringing the mugs out, he found the sandwich already demolished and hid a grin at the familiar 'bottomless pit,' Ray represented. Benton sat beside the other man and held out a mug.

Ray took it and grinned at him, eyebrows wriggling overtly. "You know, you don't have to ply me with alcohol to get lucky."

"Yes, thank you, I realize that," Benton replied, dry. "Sit with me."

A catch phrase they used when someone needed contact. Neither of them was particularly good with words, though Ray was better than Benton, and so little codes had cropped up over the years. And if Ray assumed Benton was the one in need, Benton wasn't above using that. Ray immediately shifted closer, careful not to spill their drinks, and hitched his legs over Benton's. He used the remote to change the channel one last time before finally settling down.

Benton took a sip of the wine and grimaced at the unfinished taste of it. He set it on the side table, not unhappy with having both hands free now to help Ray relax. Between the slow, gentle caresses, the full belly, and the wine, and perhaps the familiarity of young Ralphie's antics, Ray finally lost the steam that had kept him going all day.

When the mug balanced precariously on Ray's thigh, his hand only loosely cradling it, Benton rescued it and put it with his own unconsumed wine. As if that were the last impediment, Ray sighed deeply and relaxed utterly against Benton's chest, his head resting on the crook of Benton's shoulder. Smiling to himself, Benton stayed where he was to watch the rest of the admittedly amusing movie and to make sure Ray truly fell asleep.

Pulling Ray more firmly into his arms, Benton stood and walked to the bedroom where he carefully set his lover down on their bed. He didn't bother to undress Ray since the other man slept in his jeans and t-shirt as often as not. Benton, however, could not sleep in his and pulled them off, dropping them in the hamper before joining his lover in bed.

This was the first year they'd spent Christmas this way, but Benton suspected it wouldn't be the last. Perhaps they'd finally found their own holiday tradition. Smiling, Benton maneuvered Ray into his arms and sighed in deep contentment.

Life was good.

end

Notes:

This orphaned work was originally on Pejas WWOMB posted by author Nancy.
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