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Ten days after Fraser found the djinn, who had declared at the end of one of their many arguments that his name was now Ray “short for Ray of Fucking Sunshine, thank you very fucking much,” things had calmed enough between them that a trip to town seemed like a plausible idea.
Of course, as soon as he’d brought it up, Ray had misunderstood. He seemed to delight in taking Fraser’s words and twisting them, making requests into demands and questions into interrogations. It was exhausting.
“Absolutely we should go, yes! Civilization, people, parties,” Ray said with obvious glee, rubbing his hands together and then lacing his fingers together, stretching his arms and cracking his knuckles. “You tell me where, hell, even when, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
Fraser refrained from sighing as he shook his head. “No, Ray, I mean we should go into town here. The conventional way. I can show you around, perhaps introduce you to a few people. As a friend, of course, not as my – well, not as anything but that,” he said, annoyed at himself for stammering like that. “You can see where I work.”
The djinn looked perplexed. “Why?”
“You don’t want to go?”
“I don’t know why you want to,” Ray clarified, walking into Fraser’s space and poking him in the chest. “With me around, you could go anywhere in the world you want to, and in style at that.” He started pacing. “And the whole work thing! I keep telling you, you have me. You don’t ever need to work again. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”
“Why is it so hard for you to understand that I will not take advantage of this situation?” Fraser countered. “I’ve told you I won’t wish for things, and I mean it.”
Ray started to protest, then closed his mouth so hard Fraser was certain he heard Ray’s teeth clack together. “Fine, I’ll go,” he finally ground out, arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. “At least the scenery will be different.”
**************
After convincing Ray that it would be better to have the proper snow gear (Ray liked the idea of actually giving himself a layer of fur), they set off. Of course, Ray’s coat and other accoutrement had a great deal more ornamentation than any Fraser had ever seen, but he wasn’t about to comment on it, just happy to see that it looked sturdy and warm and not at all impossible.
The trip to town was fairly quiet and surprisingly peaceful. Fraser identified plants and pointed out animal tracks in the snow, and Ray actually seemed interested. Fraser chose not to question it, unwilling to break the fragile truce they’d found.
Once they arrived and got the dogsled situated, Fraser gave Ray the basic tour. Not that there was much to show, and Fraser was sure Ray was disappointed when he saw the tiny town. It definitely wasn’t a bustling metropolis, and even on as mild a day as this one there weren’t many folk out and about.
That said, Fraser felt like they were being watched no matter where they went. There were the obvious stares, of course, and Fraser was certain that Ray’s clothing could account for part of that. Actually, Ray’s very presence was sure to cause a stir, since no one had seen him arrive.
That was something they hadn’t thought about – Ray’s cover story. Fraser stopped in the middle of the street at the realization, and it took Ray a few more steps to notice that he was walking alone. There was real concern on his face when he walked over to Fraser.
“Sorry,” Fraser told him. “It’s just, I don’t believe I thought this all the way through.” At Ray’s quizzical look, he went on. “How are we going to explain your being here? As you can see, this isn’t the kind of place where one can arrive unnoticed.”
Ray nodded. “Yeah, that’s a doozy all right. Let me know when you think of something.”
“When I think of something?”
“Well, yeah,” Ray answered, looking at Fraser like he was an idiot. “You’re the one who doesn’t want to deal with the truth of what I am, what I can do. So you’re the one who gets to tell people how I got here. Because if anyone asks me, I’ll just tell them I got here by bottle.”
The satisfied look Ray was giving him made Fraser’s blood boil, but he wouldn’t give the djinn the satisfaction of knowing how irate he’d made Fraser. “Fine,” he said, pleased at how calm he sounded. “I’m sure I can come up with an explanation for you being here.”
“Better make it quick,” Ray said with a grin, looking over Fraser’s shoulder. “There’s some buddies of yours coming up that look like they want answers.”
Fraser twisted to look behind him and sure enough, there were two of his colleagues striding toward him purposefully. Fraser supposed they had every right to be curious. After all, he’d been on an unplanned vacation ever since finding Ray’s bottle, and time off was something Fraser just didn’t do, especially with so little notice.
He plastered on what he hoped was a pleasant smile, and fully turned to greet the Mounties.
“Inspector Andersen, Constable Perrault, good afternoon.”
“Constable,” the Inspector nodded, looking Ray over. Fraser saw his gaze skim over the scrollwork and beading on Ray’s hat and coat, then stop at the tassels lining the tops of Ray’s boots. “I didn’t realize you had company,” the Inspector finally said as he gave Fraser an expectant look.
“Ah, well, yes, Ray’s arrival was something of a surprise,” Fraser said. “Oh, forgive my manners. Ray, this is my superior, Inspector Andersen, and his assistant, Constable Perrault. Sir, Constable, this is… Ray.” Fraser mentally made a note to speak with Ray about adding a last name.
“Pleased as punch to meet you both,” Ray said with a wide, insincere smile. “Nice to know that my master Fraser here isn’t the only one crazy enough to work out in the middle of nowhere. If it were me, I’d wish for some warmer weather, maybe a beach, but he’s too stubborn, which I am betting you know all about.”
Fraser’s eyes widened, but before he could admonish Ray, the Inspector asked, “What did he say, Constable?”
Fraser turned toward the Inspector, confused. “I’m sorry, sir?”
The Inspector gave him an expectant look, laced with barely restrained irritation. “You need to translate for your friend.”
Relief flooded Fraser’s body and he took Ray by the arm. “Sir, if you’ll excuse us for just a moment. Thank you kindly.”
“While I’m grateful beyond telling that neither of my co-workers understood you just then, what do you think you’re doing?” Fraser hissed as he pulled Ray out of the others’ hearing range. “Why aren’t you speaking English?”
Ray gave him a smug grin. “How quickly they forget. We’ve already had this conversation, remember? When you wished you could understand me, you never said anyone else had to be able to. What did you expect? It isn’t like you wished for me to speak anything else.”
Fraser mentally counted to ten before he went on. “And you didn’t see any reason to remind me about this before we came to town.”
Ray’s grin widened. “Nope. And before you ask, while being a djinn comes with the nifty ability to understand all languages, I don’t know any English, so unless you plan on wishing for me to, we’re kind of at an impasse.”
Fraser glared and shook his head. He caught a hint of motion at the edge of his peripheral vision, and glanced over to see his fellow officers watching the two of them. The looks he was getting weren’t good. Wonderful. “We’ll deal with this when we get home,” he told Ray with a heavy sigh.
Fraser turned back around and took a few steps back toward Andersen and Perrault. “I’m sorry, but Ray just reminded me of something we need to take care of immediately.” He cringed inwardly at the vagueness of that statement, but kept going. “He’s told me to tell you he’s pleased to have met you both. And now if you’ll excuse us…”
Not waiting for a reply, or even wanting to see their reaction to that horribly flimsy excuse, Fraser turned around and stated walking back toward the dogsled, a laughing Ray in tow.
Fraser wondered if he’d still be laughing once they got home and the English lessons began.