ride_4ever

soundslikej

Ray left the locker room thinking of a big juicy burger from the Main Street diner and found a wolf instead....looked up at him with these big blue eyes and made a noise that was way too pathetic to come out of something that big.

"What?" he asked, and decided not to think too much about the fact that he was talking to a dog. "What'a you want, mutt?"

"I expect he wants you to feed him," came the reply from behind him. "Although why he would think that you had food is anyone's guess."

Ray turned and wasn't entirely surprised to see the Mountie crossing the parking lot. "Well I was thinking about a burger. Maybe he's psychic. He yours?"

"In a manner of speaking, although I'm sure he'd take exception to the notion. As for his psychic abilities, I'd venture to say you're probably not too far off the mark."

Ray grinned and turned back to the dog. "Ok, mutt, what am I thinking now?" The dog let out a low growl. "Hey," he said, turning to Fraser, "he's right. Pretty smart dog."

"Oh, he wasn't answering you," Fraser corrected him. "He was simply expressing his displeasure at being called 'mutt'. He's half wolf, and tends to be sensitive about these things. Oh, and also, he can't hear you. He's reading your lips."

Ray raised his eyebrows. "You have a lip-reading wolf."

"Or he has me. I fear that's a debate that will never be satisfactorily resolved."

"Does he like burgers?"

Fraser raised an eyebrow. "Dief likes anything that's edible. And many things that aren't."

"Because there's this diner on Main Street that's got the best burgers in Illinois. And probably in the whole damn country."

Fraser looked a little confused. "Well thank you for the recommendation, Ace. Maybe we will stop in there for dinner later."

"Ray," he heard himself saying without really knowing why.

"I'm sorry?"

"Ray. It's…my name is Ray."

"Oh, I apologize. I was quite sure I heard—"

"Ace. Yeah. That's what…it's what people call me. But my name's Ray."

Runaway American Dream