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crack_van2004-09-16 11:30 am
estrella30.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2004-09-16 11:30 am
The Better Angels by Bone and Aristide (NC17)
Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Author on LJ: Bone -![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thisisbone
Author Website: Bone's is http://www.geocities.com/coffeeslash/bone/index.html and Aristide's stories hosted on zen&Nancy's House of Slash - http://hos.slashcity.com/arslash.htm;
Why this must be read:
Ok. Wow. All these recs already made, and The Better Angels wasn't already one of them.
The Better Angels is personally, my favorite Bone and Aristide story. And yes, that means that I think I like this one even more than How Ray Got His Groove Back, which is really saying something.
The Better Angels is a post-CotW story, with Ray and Fraser up in Canada. The story starts with Ray sitting in a bar and - well - not particularly getting along with the locals. He makes a comment. They make some comments. By the time Fraser gets back, Ray is sprawled out on in front of the bar with some bruised ribs, a swollen black eye and a very, very battered ego. Fraser's rented a cabin for the night, and when they get there Ray's injuries need tending to.
One of the things I love about this story is the perfect balance of h/c. Yes, Ray is hurt. And yes, Fraser takes care of him. But it's a regular bar fight he was in, and while he might be sore and cranky, he's really not seriously hurt, which I love. I like my guys getting a little beat up, but I don't want them on like, feeding tubes or anything. The h/c in this story serves it's purpose, which is to indicate some of the growing physical attraction between Fraser and Ray, and also demonstrate the closeness between the two of them. A particularly favorite conversation of mine during this part of the story is this:
After a couple of minutes, he realized Ray had stopped eating, and looked up to find Ray's eyes on him.
"Can I ask you something?" he asked.
Fraser raised an eyebrow and nodded.
"These the kind of people we're gonna meet everywhere up here?" Ray asked. "It's not a problem or nothing, I just like to get a feel for what to expect. Thought Canadians were supposed to be polite."
Fraser felt his face heat, chagrined again at the welcome, or lack thereof, Ray had encountered. He cleared his throat. "Well, Ray, the wells do tend to attract a rather... rugged segment of the population, and to be honest, many of them aren't Canadian, not that that excuses their behavior, but on the whole, I haven't found the people here to be overly aggressive, no. At least not ordinarily."
Ray shrugged. "You mean, at least not to *you*."
Fraser blinked. "I only know my own experience, Ray," he said, wondering why he suddenly felt defensive.
Ray took a careful bite of bread, and Fraser winced along with him when he hit his cut lip. "Okay, yeah, I get that. Look, I think I'm getting the hang of the not-sliding-off-the-glacier thing, but how do I talk to these people? It's like they're from Jupiter or something. How come you always know what to say?"
Fraser dipped his bread in the stew, giving himself a minute to gather his thoughts. "I grew up with people like this. Naturally, they don't seem as foreign to me as they do to you."
Ray was shaking his spoon at him. "No, see, that's just it. It's not just these people. You do this in Chicago, too. Like you got lessons in how to say just the right thing, no matter who you're talking to. How do you do that?"
"I haven't given it much thought," Fraser said, then paused. "I suppose with most people, it's simply a matter of listening to what the person has to say, then answering appropriately. It's not something I do consciously."
Ray nodded, his head bent over his supper again, and they ate in silence for a few minutes. When the dishes were empty, Ray stood stiffly and limped to the small sink with his plate and bowl, waving off Fraser's protest that he'd take care of them.
"So it's like a game, sort of," Ray said.
"What is?" Fraser asked.
"You, the way you deal with people. You've gotta figure out what they want to hear, and then you give it to them. You put it on, like the hat."
Fraser sat frozen in his chair. Was that it? Had Ray hit on something he'd never let himself think of?
"Maybe so, Ray," he said quietly. "Maybe I do."
"Not with me, you don't," Ray muttered, so soft Fraser barely heard it over the rush of water in the sink.
"I beg your pardon?" Fraser asked.
Ray turned to him. "You don't do that with me. You hardly ever tell me what I want to hear."
Fraser looked up, caught in Ray's one bright eye. No, he didn't do that with Ray. Didn't turn on that small mechanism inside that filtered the words people said to him, that conjured appropriate responses. With Ray, he just... spoke.
He cleared his throat. "You're not most people."
It wasn't quite what he wanted to say. It didn't say everything he meant. But perhaps Ray had his own filter, his own way of listening, because his face lightened up, the corners of his good eye crinkling up in a smile.
Just - wow.
All the buildup of the plotting of this story, and the perfect pacing, is to get us to - well - to Ray's buildup. And yes, I do mean that literally.
The middle of the night brings us hot, hard, horny Ray, and what he thinks is a quick trip outside to take care of some business. Little does he know he has an audience *g*
I think the thing that gets me with this story, and really, any of Bone and Aristides stories, are just the absolute perfection of their Ray and Fraser voices. Ray is never too overdone, and Fraser, who I often think is harder to really nail and get right, really balances the line between sounding too stuffy and overdone, while still managing to capture the essence which is just pure Fraser.
Their stories always have the feel of canon plus. If you could take canon; the episodes and characters and mannerisms, only really put them in Canada, in a shack, jerking off in the snow in the middle of the night, well - that would be this story to a T. Bone and Aristide are honestly Just. That. Good.
I don't want to give any excerpts from this point on, because honestly, if it's a story you've never read you really deserve to read it for the first time on your own. With a large glass of ice water very close at hand. If it's a story you have read already, go reread it. It truly holds up after many, many, err - many rereads. I would know.
The Better Angels
Pairing: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Author on LJ: Bone -
thisisboneAuthor Website: Bone's is http://www.geocities.com/coffeeslash/bone/index.html and Aristide's stories hosted on zen&Nancy's House of Slash - http://hos.slashcity.com/arslash.htm;
Why this must be read:
Ok. Wow. All these recs already made, and The Better Angels wasn't already one of them.
The Better Angels is personally, my favorite Bone and Aristide story. And yes, that means that I think I like this one even more than How Ray Got His Groove Back, which is really saying something.
The Better Angels is a post-CotW story, with Ray and Fraser up in Canada. The story starts with Ray sitting in a bar and - well - not particularly getting along with the locals. He makes a comment. They make some comments. By the time Fraser gets back, Ray is sprawled out on in front of the bar with some bruised ribs, a swollen black eye and a very, very battered ego. Fraser's rented a cabin for the night, and when they get there Ray's injuries need tending to.
One of the things I love about this story is the perfect balance of h/c. Yes, Ray is hurt. And yes, Fraser takes care of him. But it's a regular bar fight he was in, and while he might be sore and cranky, he's really not seriously hurt, which I love. I like my guys getting a little beat up, but I don't want them on like, feeding tubes or anything. The h/c in this story serves it's purpose, which is to indicate some of the growing physical attraction between Fraser and Ray, and also demonstrate the closeness between the two of them. A particularly favorite conversation of mine during this part of the story is this:
After a couple of minutes, he realized Ray had stopped eating, and looked up to find Ray's eyes on him.
"Can I ask you something?" he asked.
Fraser raised an eyebrow and nodded.
"These the kind of people we're gonna meet everywhere up here?" Ray asked. "It's not a problem or nothing, I just like to get a feel for what to expect. Thought Canadians were supposed to be polite."
Fraser felt his face heat, chagrined again at the welcome, or lack thereof, Ray had encountered. He cleared his throat. "Well, Ray, the wells do tend to attract a rather... rugged segment of the population, and to be honest, many of them aren't Canadian, not that that excuses their behavior, but on the whole, I haven't found the people here to be overly aggressive, no. At least not ordinarily."
Ray shrugged. "You mean, at least not to *you*."
Fraser blinked. "I only know my own experience, Ray," he said, wondering why he suddenly felt defensive.
Ray took a careful bite of bread, and Fraser winced along with him when he hit his cut lip. "Okay, yeah, I get that. Look, I think I'm getting the hang of the not-sliding-off-the-glacier thing, but how do I talk to these people? It's like they're from Jupiter or something. How come you always know what to say?"
Fraser dipped his bread in the stew, giving himself a minute to gather his thoughts. "I grew up with people like this. Naturally, they don't seem as foreign to me as they do to you."
Ray was shaking his spoon at him. "No, see, that's just it. It's not just these people. You do this in Chicago, too. Like you got lessons in how to say just the right thing, no matter who you're talking to. How do you do that?"
"I haven't given it much thought," Fraser said, then paused. "I suppose with most people, it's simply a matter of listening to what the person has to say, then answering appropriately. It's not something I do consciously."
Ray nodded, his head bent over his supper again, and they ate in silence for a few minutes. When the dishes were empty, Ray stood stiffly and limped to the small sink with his plate and bowl, waving off Fraser's protest that he'd take care of them.
"So it's like a game, sort of," Ray said.
"What is?" Fraser asked.
"You, the way you deal with people. You've gotta figure out what they want to hear, and then you give it to them. You put it on, like the hat."
Fraser sat frozen in his chair. Was that it? Had Ray hit on something he'd never let himself think of?
"Maybe so, Ray," he said quietly. "Maybe I do."
"Not with me, you don't," Ray muttered, so soft Fraser barely heard it over the rush of water in the sink.
"I beg your pardon?" Fraser asked.
Ray turned to him. "You don't do that with me. You hardly ever tell me what I want to hear."
Fraser looked up, caught in Ray's one bright eye. No, he didn't do that with Ray. Didn't turn on that small mechanism inside that filtered the words people said to him, that conjured appropriate responses. With Ray, he just... spoke.
He cleared his throat. "You're not most people."
It wasn't quite what he wanted to say. It didn't say everything he meant. But perhaps Ray had his own filter, his own way of listening, because his face lightened up, the corners of his good eye crinkling up in a smile.
Just - wow.
All the buildup of the plotting of this story, and the perfect pacing, is to get us to - well - to Ray's buildup. And yes, I do mean that literally.
The middle of the night brings us hot, hard, horny Ray, and what he thinks is a quick trip outside to take care of some business. Little does he know he has an audience *g*
I think the thing that gets me with this story, and really, any of Bone and Aristides stories, are just the absolute perfection of their Ray and Fraser voices. Ray is never too overdone, and Fraser, who I often think is harder to really nail and get right, really balances the line between sounding too stuffy and overdone, while still managing to capture the essence which is just pure Fraser.
Their stories always have the feel of canon plus. If you could take canon; the episodes and characters and mannerisms, only really put them in Canada, in a shack, jerking off in the snow in the middle of the night, well - that would be this story to a T. Bone and Aristide are honestly Just. That. Good.
I don't want to give any excerpts from this point on, because honestly, if it's a story you've never read you really deserve to read it for the first time on your own. With a large glass of ice water very close at hand. If it's a story you have read already, go reread it. It truly holds up after many, many, err - many rereads. I would know.
The Better Angels
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Guh.
It's truly one of my top ten. I love it beyond all sense and reason.
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*MWAH!*
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Oh - absolutely. BLG and I will talk about this fic for hours and then say, didn't we already have this same conversation about this same fic? And then just keep talking about it!
Truly, one of the best in the entire fandom. So glad you like it as well!
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*wiggles eyebrows*
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Fab rec and I must re-read it! :D
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Eep! Quite a high bar indeed!
So glad you liked the rec, sweetie! (And so glad to see you *around* more! We missed you!)
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But I do love it.
Bone is fucking amazing. I wish she'd write more.
And? Your
Supremo.
Just so you know.
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