![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kat_lair***
Title: Community Intelligence
Author:kat_lair
Fandom: due South
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski
Tags: Spooktober, Owls, Environmentalism, Pre-Slash, Post-Canon
Rating: G
Word count: 1,122
Summary: A rhythmic whup hoo hoo hoooo echoes from the forest around them. It’s eerie, almost alien, and Ray suppresses an instinctual shiver. “An owl?” he guesses, whispering. He may not have been raised around nature like some, but he’s watched enough documentaries to not jump to the supernatural explanation straight away at least.
Author notes: Spooktober 2024, Day 23/31. Prompt/theme: Owl. Everything I know about the spotted owl I learned from this Guardian article.
Community Intelligence on AO3
“Listen.” Fraser holds up a hand, even though Ray hadn’t been speaking, the only noise coming from the metallic clink of spoon against the bowl, the crackle of fire.
Dutifully, Ray puts his dinner down and listens.
A rhythmic whup hoo hoo hoooo echoes from the forest around them. It’s eerie, almost alien, and Ray suppresses an instinctual shiver. “An owl?” he guesses, whispering. He may not have been raised around nature like some, but he’s watched enough documentaries to not jump to the supernatural explanation straight away at least.
Fraser nods. His expression is one of surprise and joy. “A spotted owl,” he whispers back. “I didn’t expect to hear one.”
They are driving up through British Columbia, heading for the Northwest Territories and a new life waiting for them there. Fraser’s got a posting secured and Ray… Well, he doesn’t know yet what he has, except his partner. But turns out, that weighs more than anything else in the end, so much so that he hadn’t even hesitated to pack up his whole life and follow Fraser to a whole different country. Ray knows why he’s here but he’s still not quite sure why Fraser wanted him to be. He hopes it’s the same reason but…
“How come?” he asks. “Aren’t owls common in these parts?”
Whup hoo hoo hoooo from the darkness surrounding them seems like a confirmation.
“They used to be,” Fraser says. The excitement on his face melts into a frown. “But then… Logging expanded out of control. Well beyond what’s sustainable for the ecosystem.” He picks up his bowl again, resuming eating and Ray follows suit. They are camping for the night, not on an official camping site or anything but Fraser assures him that it’s both legal and safe to stop where they are. The fire they have going is small, and it’s been raining for the last two days.
“The spotted owl needs a territory of over seven-thousand acres of old growth forest,” Fraser explains. “It mostly eats only two types of small rodents. But the government and the private logging industry prefer a quick profit. The habitat loss has resulted in a drastic population decline.”
Ray grimaces. Sounds like a depressingly familiar story. Ray’s never much rated wilderness or wildlife, not in a personal way. Oh, he’s definitely supported environmental protection in a theoretical sense, as a good thing to do, and he’s always stuffed some bills into the donation bucket for whatever cute animal Frannie was campaigning to save, but it’s all been… abstract. Not something he had any kind of emotional connection to.
But Fraser… Watching him, getting to know him, Ray can see how much he cares about the nature they are surrounded with, the animals, the plants, the forests and the rivers. Those things are real to him in a way they’ve never before been to Ray, something tangible, something whose loss you would mourn, whose continued existence you would fight to protect.
Fraser loves nature and everything it contains, loves them like they are family, his siblings, his ancestors, his to respect and take care of, and Ray, he…
“That sucks,” he says, already wincing inwardly because of how lame, how insufficient a response that is.
Fraser looks pleasantly surprised anyway, like maybe he was expecting Ray to just dismiss the issue, which… No. Ray is here. He made his choice. He’s all in. And if that includes learning to love the goddamn spotted owl like it’s his long-lost brother, then that’s just what Ray is going to do.
“Is there…? There must be something people are doing?” he asks whilst preparing after dinner tea for the two of them, the kettle hanging over the fire is almost boiling. “Like… campaigns, or some kind of conservation efforts…?”
And now the expression on Fraser’s face turns openly excited. “Yes!” he almost shouts and then winces, lowering his tone though the spotted owl has surely decided to retire further into the forest by now. “Yes, I hear they’re setting up a breeding programme, there’s been lawsuits, I could…” He trails off, hesitating. “I could tell you what I know. If you’re interested?”
Ray almost makes a joke about how Fraser’s never before bothered to ask him if he’s interested before just spewing out obscure facts of even more obscure anecdotes, but he manages to bite down on it just in time. That was before, in Chicago, when they were working together, when they had to work together no matter what and the fact that they both liked it in the end, more than, didn’t take away the fact that it wasn’t really their choice at the start. But now… Ray is here because he chose to be. And he could always choose differently, to decide that living in a remote corner of a foreign country, surrounded by things he doesn’t know how to deal with or even survive on his own, is too much, that Fraser is too much. He could choose to leave.
He’s not going to. Not unless Fraser tells him to, that is. What Ray needs to do now is to make his partner believe that.
“I’m interested,” Ray says firmly, handing Fraser his tea. “I want to know. I’m going to be living here, helping you…?” He glances at Fraser who is already nodding.
“Yes. You… I would very much like that.”
Ray smiles, pleased. “So, if I’m going to helping out in some way, I need to understand what’s going on. This sounds like something that’s a source for quite a bit of tension and conflict?”
Fraser nods again, though with noticeably less enthusiasm.
“Right. Then that’s just you sharing some good community intelligence,” Ray says, realising with a jolt that his concept of community was about the expand quite a bit. “I got to start learning somewhere, might as well be with the spotted owl.”
“Ray.” Fraser draws a breath like he’s about to say something but in the end, he just releases it slowly and takes a long drink of his tea. Ray understands, he’d felt a bit like that when Fraser had asked him if he’d like to come with him and Ray had found himself agreeing without any hesitation.
The silence lasts as long as their first cup of tea. The story of the spotted owls, their habits, their markings, their role in the beliefs of the local First Nations, their chances of survival in the face of ‘progress’, the laws that may protect them if used properly… That lasts all the way to the Northwest Territories, to their new home.
And by the time they get there, Ray finds himself determined to help make sure that story never really ends.
***
Title: Community Intelligence
Author:
kat_lair Fandom: due South
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski
Tags: Spooktober, Owls, Environmentalism, Pre-Slash, Post-Canon
Rating: G
Word count: 1,122
Summary: A rhythmic whup hoo hoo hoooo echoes from the forest around them. It’s eerie, almost alien, and Ray suppresses an instinctual shiver. “An owl?” he guesses, whispering. He may not have been raised around nature like some, but he’s watched enough documentaries to not jump to the supernatural explanation straight away at least.
Author notes: Spooktober 2024, Day 23/31. Prompt/theme: Owl. Everything I know about the spotted owl I learned from this Guardian article.
Community Intelligence on AO3
“Listen.” Fraser holds up a hand, even though Ray hadn’t been speaking, the only noise coming from the metallic clink of spoon against the bowl, the crackle of fire.
Dutifully, Ray puts his dinner down and listens.
A rhythmic whup hoo hoo hoooo echoes from the forest around them. It’s eerie, almost alien, and Ray suppresses an instinctual shiver. “An owl?” he guesses, whispering. He may not have been raised around nature like some, but he’s watched enough documentaries to not jump to the supernatural explanation straight away at least.
Fraser nods. His expression is one of surprise and joy. “A spotted owl,” he whispers back. “I didn’t expect to hear one.”
They are driving up through British Columbia, heading for the Northwest Territories and a new life waiting for them there. Fraser’s got a posting secured and Ray… Well, he doesn’t know yet what he has, except his partner. But turns out, that weighs more than anything else in the end, so much so that he hadn’t even hesitated to pack up his whole life and follow Fraser to a whole different country. Ray knows why he’s here but he’s still not quite sure why Fraser wanted him to be. He hopes it’s the same reason but…
“How come?” he asks. “Aren’t owls common in these parts?”
Whup hoo hoo hoooo from the darkness surrounding them seems like a confirmation.
“They used to be,” Fraser says. The excitement on his face melts into a frown. “But then… Logging expanded out of control. Well beyond what’s sustainable for the ecosystem.” He picks up his bowl again, resuming eating and Ray follows suit. They are camping for the night, not on an official camping site or anything but Fraser assures him that it’s both legal and safe to stop where they are. The fire they have going is small, and it’s been raining for the last two days.
“The spotted owl needs a territory of over seven-thousand acres of old growth forest,” Fraser explains. “It mostly eats only two types of small rodents. But the government and the private logging industry prefer a quick profit. The habitat loss has resulted in a drastic population decline.”
Ray grimaces. Sounds like a depressingly familiar story. Ray’s never much rated wilderness or wildlife, not in a personal way. Oh, he’s definitely supported environmental protection in a theoretical sense, as a good thing to do, and he’s always stuffed some bills into the donation bucket for whatever cute animal Frannie was campaigning to save, but it’s all been… abstract. Not something he had any kind of emotional connection to.
But Fraser… Watching him, getting to know him, Ray can see how much he cares about the nature they are surrounded with, the animals, the plants, the forests and the rivers. Those things are real to him in a way they’ve never before been to Ray, something tangible, something whose loss you would mourn, whose continued existence you would fight to protect.
Fraser loves nature and everything it contains, loves them like they are family, his siblings, his ancestors, his to respect and take care of, and Ray, he…
“That sucks,” he says, already wincing inwardly because of how lame, how insufficient a response that is.
Fraser looks pleasantly surprised anyway, like maybe he was expecting Ray to just dismiss the issue, which… No. Ray is here. He made his choice. He’s all in. And if that includes learning to love the goddamn spotted owl like it’s his long-lost brother, then that’s just what Ray is going to do.
“Is there…? There must be something people are doing?” he asks whilst preparing after dinner tea for the two of them, the kettle hanging over the fire is almost boiling. “Like… campaigns, or some kind of conservation efforts…?”
And now the expression on Fraser’s face turns openly excited. “Yes!” he almost shouts and then winces, lowering his tone though the spotted owl has surely decided to retire further into the forest by now. “Yes, I hear they’re setting up a breeding programme, there’s been lawsuits, I could…” He trails off, hesitating. “I could tell you what I know. If you’re interested?”
Ray almost makes a joke about how Fraser’s never before bothered to ask him if he’s interested before just spewing out obscure facts of even more obscure anecdotes, but he manages to bite down on it just in time. That was before, in Chicago, when they were working together, when they had to work together no matter what and the fact that they both liked it in the end, more than, didn’t take away the fact that it wasn’t really their choice at the start. But now… Ray is here because he chose to be. And he could always choose differently, to decide that living in a remote corner of a foreign country, surrounded by things he doesn’t know how to deal with or even survive on his own, is too much, that Fraser is too much. He could choose to leave.
He’s not going to. Not unless Fraser tells him to, that is. What Ray needs to do now is to make his partner believe that.
“I’m interested,” Ray says firmly, handing Fraser his tea. “I want to know. I’m going to be living here, helping you…?” He glances at Fraser who is already nodding.
“Yes. You… I would very much like that.”
Ray smiles, pleased. “So, if I’m going to helping out in some way, I need to understand what’s going on. This sounds like something that’s a source for quite a bit of tension and conflict?”
Fraser nods again, though with noticeably less enthusiasm.
“Right. Then that’s just you sharing some good community intelligence,” Ray says, realising with a jolt that his concept of community was about the expand quite a bit. “I got to start learning somewhere, might as well be with the spotted owl.”
“Ray.” Fraser draws a breath like he’s about to say something but in the end, he just releases it slowly and takes a long drink of his tea. Ray understands, he’d felt a bit like that when Fraser had asked him if he’d like to come with him and Ray had found himself agreeing without any hesitation.
The silence lasts as long as their first cup of tea. The story of the spotted owls, their habits, their markings, their role in the beliefs of the local First Nations, their chances of survival in the face of ‘progress’, the laws that may protect them if used properly… That lasts all the way to the Northwest Territories, to their new home.
And by the time they get there, Ray finds himself determined to help make sure that story never really ends.
***