due South snippet: "Together"

[luzula]

Title: Together
Pairing: F/K
Rating: G
Prompt: wheel
Length: 291 words
Summary: It was fucking cold.
Notes: In case akamine_chan's Untune the Sky (which you should totally read) left you wanting even more apocalypse fic, here's a little snippet of another sort of apocalypse. Considering the genre, it's strangely happy. Thanks to keerawa for useful beta advice.

It was fucking cold.

The Earth's climate had reached some kind of tipping point, turned on its heel like a dancer, and given them what no one expected: another Ice Age.

Most people had gone south (and how ironic was it that Americans were now trying to get across the border to Mexico?) but Ray had stubbornly stayed in Chicago, and so had Fraser.

They lived just within sight of the abandoned skyscrapers, like upside-down icicles on the horizon. The snowed-over GTO stood beside their cabin, a reminder of a different age--one where there'd been plowed roads and no permanent shortage of gas.

Ray walked with Fraser behind the home-made sled, watching the wheel dogs struggle with the heavy snow. He was tired and cold, but they'd been lucky and shot an elk today. The dogs had eaten the innards, which--eww. Ray still let Fraser do the butchering.

They reached the huddle of well-insulated cabins, where Tatiana was fiddling with the diesel generator, the fur-lined hood of her parka framing her tough, wrinkled face.

"Good hunting," she said, nodding approvingly at the elk. "Alex found us a stash of diesel."

"That's great, Tanya!" Ray said. That meant they could have some electricity tonight.

Later, Fraser and Aaron were listening to the staticky shortwave radio, while Alex took advantage of the electric lamplight to read a bedtime story for her kid.

"Listen! They're saying on the radio that caribou have been sighted just north of the lake," Fraser said. He sounded almost excited about it. "They're migrating south, to keep ahead of the ice."

"Just like home, huh?" Ray said, before he remembered that Fraser's actual home was buried under a glacier by now.

But Fraser just smiled. "This is home, Ray."

For now, please comment at the LJ entry.

Comments

[akamine_chan]

\o/!

Apocalypse fic FTW!

I liked this a lot, Luz.

The Earth's climate had reached some kind of tipping point, turned on its heel like a dancer, and given them what no one expected: another Ice Age.

I liked this line, the lyricism of it...

Nicely done.

[luzula]

Thanks! I'm happy that you liked it. I felt for a while like it was a bit derivative of yours, with the surviving-in-a-post-apocalyptic world, but hey, it's a whole genre, so I just went with it.

Glad you liked that line!

[brigantine.livejournal.com]

I like that line, too. I like the movement of it, the way it gets reflected later on in the movement of the ice grinding its way south.

I think this is a nice complement to Aka's. Two completely different extremes for people to deal with, but both hopeful. \o/

[luzula]

Thank you! I'm glad you think it complements Aka's. And it's strange how apocalypse fic can be so hopeful. Maybe it's the fighting-together-against-the-odds thing.

[mizface.livejournal.com]

This was really nice. I loved that the GTO is parked in front of their cabin, and that they stayed, and how they've become part of a community. The last line made me all smily.

And the imagery in this line is amazing:
They lived just within sight of the abandoned skyscrapers, like upside-down icicles on the horizon.

[luzula]

Ooh, thank you for the detailed feedback. And yeah, it's odd how an apocalypse fic can be so happy.

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

I like the way you've built the community into this. Home is where the heart lies.

[luzula]

Thank you! That was good advice that you gave me--I like the snippet much better this way.

Also, I got weirdly attached to Tatiana. She's going to develop a whole backstory if I think any more about her.

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

I love it when OCs start moving into my brain and redecorating like that!

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Ooh, does that mean there's gonna be an apocalypseficVERSE? *is excited*

[luzula]

Hmmm, hmm. I don't think so? I mean, I have two fics that have been beta read and need to be revised (gah, that stage of writing tends to get me down). And I'm feeling some inspiration for my Benton-at-Depot story again (the sequel to the one that you beta-read last year), which makes me happy, because I'd almost given up hope that I was going to actually write it. So no apocalypse fic any time soon. : )

Do you have any writing going on at the moment?

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I don't have any active writing going on, although I do have a Fraser/Thatcher thing that's been in the works for over a year and only has one paragraph as of yet (poor things are stuck at Pearson airport until I write more), and I want to write the birth fic and also the crossover fic I wanted to write for the Big Bang that my back wouldn't let me do. Then there's the main fic of the Graceverse (previous ficlets are here (http://community.livejournal.com/ds_aprilfools/13409.html#cutid1) and here (http://community.livejournal.com/ds_northernnews/7674.html#cutid1)), which I want to write more than anything.

I'm in the moving process now, and consequently haven't the necessary furniture to write. I probably will anyway, because I'm getting itchy.

[luzula]

Nooo, don't leave them at the airport. That's cruel. : ) I'd love to see what you'd do with Fraser/Thatcher, actually. Oh, and I want to read more of that kidfic, too.

When you have furniture and your back is better, you should try ficfinishing. It really is great at getting you motivated for writing.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I actually started with ficfinishing, then my back went out. I will definitely do it again, though.

And news! There was a random (really nice) table put out next to the dumpster today, and I figured I'd give it a good home. So now I have an actual place to write! Sometimes the universe giveth. :D

[luzula]

Good dumpster furniture = win! I have some of that myself. : )

[mikes-grrl.livejournal.com]

I'll second kerrawa, I like the community reflected in this a lot -- it says so much about their time together. But the last line is pure love. Nicely done!

[luzula]

Thank you! I think Fraser likes it because he grew up that way, in a small community.

[plotbunniofdoom]

Oh yay! I love post-apocalyptic type stuff! Ajnd this was great! I can just imagine them being stubborn like this.

But Fraser just smiled. "This is home, Ray."

*happy sigh*

[luzula]

Glad you liked it! There needs to be more apocalypse fic.

[cyberducks.livejournal.com]

Oh, lovely! An Apocalypse that is Fraser's dream come true...

[luzula]

Thanks! And hmm, I don't think Fraser would actually want there to be another ice age...

[luzula]

Thank you! I'm glad the details worked. It's still very hand-wavy (I mean, I don't think an ice age could really come that fast), but I thought if I managed to give the right details it might read as plausible anyway.

[andeincascade.livejournal.com]

There is something delightfully subversive about a cabin fic set in Chicago. This is wonderfully detailed; I feel like I can see their whole world. You amaze me.

[luzula]

Ooh, success! It's so short, so I'm glad it felt like you could see it in your mind. Thank you.

[leafy22.livejournal.com]

What an interesting idea. And I love stories where Ray and Fraser feel at home together...wherever they are.

[luzula]

Thank you, Leafy! I'm glad you liked it.

[jesse_the_k]

Given her name, I'm thinking that Tatiana emigrated over the reconstituted northern land bridge. (But probably more likely from a Chicago Ukrainian neighborhood :,)

Lovely images, thanks for sharing.

[luzula]

Oh, I didn't even think of that, but yeah, the Bering Strait would probably become land again. And you're right that Tatiana is a not-quite-that-recent immigrant. : )

And thanks, I'm glad you liked the images.

[lucifuge-5.livejournal.com]

This :: points at snippet :: is fantastic!

I liked the boys being part of a community and the GTO and the world you've give us in so few words.

My favourite lines:
"Just like home, huh?" Ray said, before he remembered that Fraser's actual home was buried under a glacier by now.

But Fraser just smiled. "This is home, Ray."

Bittersweet and yet not downbeat. *g*

[luzula]

Oh, thank you! I liked the community part, too. Writing snippets is a lot of fun, because you have so few words to work with.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I love this! If anyone could withstand an ice age (and help Ray withstand one and not go crazy), it's Fraser.

The world needs more apocalypse fic, yessir.

[luzula]

Fraser would be a great person to have at your side if there was an ice age. *g*

And yeah, there should totally be more apocalypse fic.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Fraser would be a great person to have at your side if there was an ice age.

Or, y'know, if there wasn't.

[luzula]

Hee, very true. : )

[spuffyduds.livejournal.com]

Oh, I had missed this somehow! <3's!

So good and I adore the sad/happy of it.

[luzula]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked the mixed feelings here.