due South snippet: "Dress"

[luzula]

Title: Dress
Characters: Fraser and Caroline gen
Rating: G
Length: 292 words
Prompt: bloom
Summary: "What do you think? Could I pass as a woman?"
Notes: I haven't written a snippet since February, so the recent outpouring of snippets reminded me that it was time I write one. This is a sequel of the AU snippet where Fraser is haunted by Caroline instead of Bob. Missing scene from "Some Like It Red". Thanks to primroseburrows for looking it over.


"What do you think? Could I pass as a woman?" Fraser turned in a slow circle, feeling the unaccustomed weight of his long hair.

When he faced her again, Caroline Fraser was clearly trying to suppress a smile.

Fraser raised his eyebrows. "Something wrong?"

"Oh, no. It's just that..."

"Yes?"

The potential smile bloomed into a real one. "I'm not sure that hair colour suits you."

"Well, it's what I have. What about my make-up?"

"Hmm. After all the time you spent with that shop assistant, you probably know more about make-up than I do. And she was so eager to help you, too." Clearly she wasn't done with teasing him.

"Perhaps she was simply dedicated to her job." Fraser tugged at his ill-fitting panty hose.

"Of course." She grinned again, and curled up more comfortably on the couch she had insisted he get, although strictly speaking, she was incorporeal and could just as well have hovered in mid-air. As usual, she was wearing sensible trousers and a flannel shirt.

"Do you have any advice that could actually be useful, Mom?"

Caroline sobered. "I think it's mostly in the attitude. If you expect to be believed, then people will believe you."

Fraser nodded. That did agree with his own experience.

When he looked at her again, she was wearing a dress. "Bob saw me for the first time in a dress, even though it's not what I usually wear at all." She stroked the fabric. It was blue, with small white dots. "I was afraid he'd think I was someone I wasn't, at first. But it worked out well, I think."

"I can't imagine a dress could hide your personality."

She smiled up at him. "No, and it won't hide yours, either."

Comments

[petra]

Nawwww. I like this AU even though the mental images give me a gentle tic.

[luzula]

Thanks! Do you mean that it reminds you of Geoffrey and Ellen? I actually didn't even think about that, maybe because I never write S&A. And Ellen and Caroline are so firmly separated in my head that they might as well be played by different actors.

[petra]

I think I'll chalk it up to equal parts Ellen issues and Martha Burns issues, neither of which is a criticism of the lady in question, but -- casting one's wife to play one's mother is still funny to me, sorry.

That said, I would happily read more in this AU if you were moved to create it.

[luzula]

Oh, of course--the Martha and Paul thing, too. See, I always want the actors firmly separated in my head from the characters, so these kinds of things don't intrude on the fictional universe.

[petra]

I apologize for reminding you, then. I find that sort of knowledge somewhere between endearing and distracting by turns.

[luzula]

No need to apologize--it's not like I didn't know about it.

[plotbunniofdoom]

Aw, this is just wonderful.

Makes me kinda sad that Fraser didn't get to have this. :(

[luzula]

Thank you! Glad you liked it.

[tinzelda.livejournal.com]

I really liked this. I admit I'm not usually good about remembering to read gen stuff too, but your stories never disappoint. I so wish we could know more about Caroline (in canon) - she must have been quite a woman to put up with Bob, and I like to think that this was the kind of mother she was to little Benton while she was around.

[luzula]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it! And I hope I'll be able to write a long story about Caroline some time.

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

Delightful! A Caroline-haunted Fraser might have been a far more centered human being. I can't imagine she would have let the boy sleep in his office for a year.

[luzula]

Oops, late in replying to comments. Anyway, thank you!

[leafy22.livejournal.com]

I really like this! There's such a good connection between them - teasing yet practical.

[luzula]

Thank you! I'm so glad their connection works well.

[mergatrude.livejournal.com]

&hearts

[luzula]

Aww, thanks!

[akamine_chan]

Like keerawa, I have to wonder how different Fraser would be if he'd been haunted by Caroline rather than Bob. Lovely, Luzula.

[luzula]

Thank you, Aka! Late in comment replies, I'm afraid...

[delurker.livejournal.com]

This is lovely!

[luzula]

Thank you!

[love-jackianto.livejournal.com]

This was recced over at crack_van. I loved this!

[luzula]

Huh, unexpected rec! Cool. And thank you!

[ifreet.livejournal.com]

Very cool! I love the last two lines.

[luzula]

Thanks! I'm glad those lines worked for you--they were the ones I hesitated over the most.