Ships in the Night 7   Ships in the Night part seven: Dances with
Snakes   

“Ah, Benny, there’s nothing like a good campfire.  Pass me the
marshmallows, will ya?”  Ray caught the packet which Ben tossed to him and
ripped it open.  “It was a great idea of mine to go camping, wasn’t it?”  

“Well, as I recall, Ray, it was my idea...”  Ben paused to accept a
toasting fork with a half dozen marshmallows impaled on it.  “Thank you
kindly, Ray.  ...and you objected, almost violently, to the plan.”  

“No, Benny.  I objected to walking for thousands of miles through
uncharted forests to pitch a tent in the middle of nowhere.  Now this...” 
With a sweep of his hand, Ray indicated the starry sky, the picturesque
lake, the Riv and, most importantly, the small cabin (with indoor
bathroom)  “...this is camping!”  

“Ah!  I must have misunderstood, Ray.”	

Ray smiled benignly.  “No need to apologise, Benny.”  He nibbled a corner
of his toasted marshmallow and sighed happily.	*  

Ben smiled fondly at the back of Ray’s head.  Really, he was so sweet at
times... camping?  This?  He politely refrained from laughing aloud,
knowing it would offend Ray terribly.  Still, this was a lovely spot, if a
trifle tame for his liking, and Ray was obviously enjoying himself.  He’d
insisted on helping with the campfire, with the result that it wasn’t
burning as efficiently as Ben would have liked.  But it was good enough,
he supposed.  After all, it was Spring now, and the nights weren’t as cold
as they had been.  

He picked up one last piece of firewood and headed back to the fire, where
Ray was holding out his hands to the flames and rubbing them together
gleefully.  He put the wood to one side and settled back into his position
beside Ray, leaning against a fallen log worn so smooth it must been used
as a backrest by countless campers.  

Oh, it was lovely to sit here beside Ray, so close their thighs were
actually touching...  Come to think of it, Ray would normally have moved
away.  He had always been fairly... uncomfortable, with being too close. 
The cool, fresh night air must have relaxed him, Ben thought.  As if Ray
sensed his thoughts, the other man turned his head and smiled happily.	

“This is great, isn’t it, Benny?  I bet it’s just like home.”  

Ben stifled a giggle and agreed solemnly that it was, indeed, very like
the wilds of the Yukon.  

“...and the really good thing about it is, we got nice comfortable beds to
sleep in too.”	

“Well, yes, Ray... although...”  He was interrupted by a sharp sigh.  

“I shoulda known it was too good to be true.  What, Benny?  You got some
dangerous criminal to capture before bedtime?”	

“No, Ray.”  Perhaps he ought to forget about it.  

Ray scowled at him.  “What, then?  Come on, you better tell me.”  

“It’s nothing like that, Ray.  Honestly.  I just thought that since it’s
such a pleasant night, I might sleep outside.  I don’t get much
opportunity to do that.”  

Ray must have heard the hint of resignation in his voice, for he sighed
again.  “All right.  We’ll sleep outside.  But if I wake up with a sore
back in the morning, it’s all your fault.”  *  

Why did he always do this?  That damn Mountie could talk him into
anything.  He only had to do that big-eyed Mountie look and pout with that
delicious bottom lip...  Ray lost himself in thoughts of what he could do
to that bottom lip.  

Half an hour later he was cursing himself.  That was something else he
never seemed to learn.  Thinking about Benny like that when he was lying
there, innocently sleeping, just the other side of the campfire. Way too
close for comfort when Ray had a raging hard-on that was going to keep him
awake all night.  And it didn’t help that Benny had lent him his spare
pair of red long-johns.  God, they turned him on!  Well, he’d just have to
be careful.  

He unfastened the lower buttons and slid his cock free of the soft cloth. 
Oh God, the relief!  Ray rolled onto his side and curled himself around
his aching erection.  It wouldn’t take long... just a quick...  But there
was something about the stillness of the night, or maybe the fresh air. 
He wasn’t used to breathing air that was free of exhaust fumes.  

Whatever the reason, his body simply didn’t want to co-operate.  Not that
it wasn’t reacting.  It was reacting all right.  Ray could feel the
incredible pressure building, building... oh, this was going to be
something!  He only hoped he could keep quiet enough not to wake Benny.  *
 

Something woke him.  Something out of place in the quiet night.  Ben
opened his eyes a mere fraction, all senses alert for danger.  There it
was again, a faint gasp.  Ben frowned.  It appeared to be coming from the
other side of the campfire, where Ray was sleeping.  Cautiously, he raised
himself onto one elbow to see what was wrong with his friend.  Perhaps
he’d eaten too many marshmallows.  

Ben could see, in the dim light from the fire, that Ray’s sleeping bag was
moving slightly.  Suddenly, the shadowy figure erupted into violent
thrashing and Ray cried out, a muffled sob.  Without a second thought, Ben
was out of his own bedroll and over to Ray’s side.  He put a hand on the
heaving shoulder.  

“Ray, what’s wrong?”  

Ray started violently and screamed.  Was it a nightmare, perhaps?  He
shook the shoulder slightly.  

“Are you all right, Ray?”  

Ray stared up at him in shock for a moment.  “There’s a snake in my bag,
Benny!”  His voice was shrill with fear.  

There wasn’t time to think.  He simply grabbed both Ray’s shoulders and
dragged him out of the sleeping bag.  Ray yelped and tumbled over into a
ball, pulling his knees up to his chest.  

“Has it bitten you, Ray?  Can you feel anything?”  

Ray stared at him and shook his head dumbly, still trembling.  Ben turned
back to the sleeping bag and lifted it by the bottom, shaking it violently
to rid it of any reptilian inhabitants, but nothing fell out.  He laid it
down again and unzipped it completely, spreading it open.  Nothing.  

He heaved a sigh of relief and turned back to his friend.  Ray was rather
furtively adjusting the front of his long-johns.  Even in the firelight,
Ben could see that they were, well, rather damp.  Oh dear.  He pretended
not to notice.  Poor Ray, it must have been the shock, and he did seem to
have a problem bladder.  Although Ben was beginning to suspect it might
have been a nightmare after all.  There was certainly no sign of any
snake, and it was rather early in the season for them to be active.  *	

Ray snuggled down into his nice, warm, comfortable bed.  Well, that ought
to put paid to any more sleeping beside campfires.  Thank God he’d always
been a quick thinker...  *  

It was the shock, Ben told himself.  The shock of being woken that way,
and of thinking his friend was in danger. He tossed restlessly.  It had
nothing to do with seeing Ray, slender and sexy in those red long-johns. 
Nothing at all.  Not even after he’d noticed the way the damp cloth had
clung rather revealingly to Ray’s groin.  No.  Definitely not.  After the
miseries he’d endured last Fall, he wasn’t going to allow himself to fall
into that trap again.  

He realised suddenly where his hands were and what they were doing.  

Oh dear!