Fanon/Canon Fic

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

A little story, rather brief in fact, almost just a scenario, but there tis.



Tribulation

"What's wrong?"

"Got a splinter."

"Let me see."

Bodie took Doyle's hand into his own, drawing him insistently nearer the cone of bright light from the naked bulb. It illuminated the fragmented old motorcycle they'd been laboring to restore. "Yeah, you do," he agreed. "I'll go get me knife."

Doyle hastily withdrew his fingers from his mate's grasp. "Don't you think amputation's a bit extreme?"

"My Swiss army knife, twit. It has a set of tweezers in it."

"Oh," Doyle shrugged, following his partner into the flat.

With a look of determination that proclaimed, "I am a soldier experienced in field medicine, don't even think about doubting my competence," Bodie gathered the knife from his sock drawer, the magnifying glass from in front of his copy of the Oxford Unabridged English Dictionary, and a clean flannel from the linen cupboard. As a final touch, he brought forth his cheapest bottle of scotch.

Doyle snatched away the spirits bottle, uncorked it and swallowed a raw mouthful.

"That was meant to be applied to the wound, to disinfect it," Bodie remonstrated.

"Pain killer," Doyle retorted, grinning unrepentantly. "And I'm warning you now, if you start tearing up an old petticoat for bandages, I shall run away shrieking."

Bodie shook his head, saying, "Come hither me lad, don't be timid." Then he sank into the comfy chair, turned on the reading lamp, spread his thighs and patted the seat cushion. "Sit here," he beckoned Ray toward him.

Grinning wider still, Doyle sat with his back pressed against his mate's muscular chest. Bodie reached his arms around Ray's waist, and held the injured extremity in an unyielding grip, exposing it to the bright light. He rested his chin upon his partner's shoulder, feeling the smooth flesh on Ray's neck and the soft strands of curls against his cheek. "Hmm," he commented upon the depth of the offending sliver. "Difficult angle."

He squeezed the palmar skin taut and dug at the entry wound with the sharp point of his knife's gouge blade. A small trickle of blood started weeping there under the instrument's cruel probing point.

Bodie felt Doyle silently flinch and shudder against his ribs.

With persistence, Bodie teased at the wound, working his blade deeper into the sensitive tissue, feeling the hot radial pulse quicken in the captive hand. He ran his thumb nail against the buried splinter, forcing the ragged dark end toward the oozing opening. Before setting aside the pocket knife, he extracted from it the delicate tweezers.

There came a small sigh of transitory relief from Ray. Bodie studied the injured skin under his magnifying glass before nudging the splinter with the tweezers.

A plunge, a squeeze, an insistent tug, a single protesting squeak from Ray, and there it was.

"Got it, wicked looking frag." Bodie held up the jagged sliver of metal for Doyle's inspection, before sloshing a modicum of single malt onto the flannel and swabbing the injury. Then he pulled his partner right up onto his lap.

"Thank you," Bodie told Doyle.

Another person would have been puzzled at this strange, reversed expression of gratitude, but not Doyle. He understood Bodie's appreciation of trust, of the mundane intimacy of small pains, shared.

And so Ray just chuckled, as his mate grasped him tightly and growled into his curls.


Title: Tribulation
Author: asymphototropic
Genre: Slash
Archive at The Circuit: Yes, if you like
Notes: "Found in Fanon/ Discovered in Canon". The canon is from the episode "The Rack"; we know Bodie had been "a mercenary soldier in Angola, Biafra," and then "came back to join the army... became a sergeant with the Paras, and seconded to the SAS." The fanon point is that, because Bodie is a soldier, he's good at first aid. [okay, by virtue of "Discovered in a Graveyard" that point could be considered canon. But based upon the end of "Female Factor", maybe not...]

Comments

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Now that's a nice scene to imagine! I like Bodie's idea of the best position for removing splinters. *g* But mostly I do like that unexpected "thank you".

And thank you for the lovely surprise!

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

Ha, tiny bit of a surprise ending. I feel a punchline is a bare minimum in a very short piece of writing, yes?

Thanks for the kind reply.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

How cute is this? Oh, man. I'm such a sucker for this sort of story. Very nice. Thanks!

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

Well, you are a very nice "sucker" to read and reply with enthusiasm. Many thanks for the compliment.

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

What a nice evening surprise!
They are so intimate with each other and Doyle very trusting after his initial fear of amputation is put to rest! *g*

I have a Swiss Army knife with those delicate tweezers. It traveled around the world with me, and the tweezers came in handy many times.

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

Ah ha! My husband informs me that the one with the tweezers is an officer's knife. Maybe Bodie treated himself to that version when he got made sergeant. Would be a fun topic for a back story fic, wouldn't it?

I had a Swiss army knife [gift from husband] which I used to carry in my backpack wherever I went. Then that whole search thing at airports started, I took it out of my pack, and of course it got lost, alas.

When he first gave it to me, I gave him a penny. And then I had to explain the tradition, he hadn't heard of it before. If a friend gives you a knife, you give them a small coin, which is supposed to prevent "cutting off" the friendship. Funny old superstition.

[ailcia.livejournal.com]

The lovely twist in the ending was what made it: the fact Bodie was the one to say thankyou! Made my heart quiver, so it did! :D

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

Oh, and you have Doc Bodie in your icon, don't you? Very apt. So he can do a quick heart exam on you, and reassure you it was only a passing twinge.

Thanks for the nice reply.

[sunray45.livejournal.com]

This is just beautiful. Such an intimate scene. A very stoic Doyle showing his complete trust in Bodie's abilities to 'fix' him. Like msmoat, I do love Bodie's idea of the best position to remove splinters. :)

Thank you so much for this.

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

Stoic Doyle is a sort of balance to an otherwise cuddling scene. I feel the need for that, not to get too far from the lads' rough and tumble reps. The best position to remove splinters was an excuse for a mere dash of slash, which I trust present company will approve, heh.

I greatly appreciate the enthusiastic reply.

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

That was lovely. What an inspired treatment of your fanon point! I love the surprising 'thank you', and why. And as usual, their exchanges make me grin: "Pain killer," Doyle retorted, grinning unrepentantly. "And I'm warning you now, if you start tearing up an old petticoat for bandages, I shall run away shrieking."
Bodie shook his head, saying, "Come hither me lad, don't be timid." I so enjoy these two in your hands.

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

Callisto! Hey, hi, hugs.

Ah, thanks for the reply, and especially for pouncing upon the petticoat. I was hoping that attempt at humor hadn't utterly missed its mark.

These two in my hands, now there's a phrase to give one pause. [pleasant day dream ensues...]

I shall drop by your story during lunchbreak, when I have enough time to give it proper homage. See you then.

[schnuffi.livejournal.com]

Ah, what a nice way to start another rotten day. Doyle's fear of amputation made me grin like a pumpkin. He knows Bodie goes for extremes more often than not. Our Bodie also has a very interesting technique in removing splinters. I never knew it was necessary for the "victim" to practically sit on its tormentor's lap *G* And the end is just perfect - pure genius.

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

Bodie going for extremes, exactly. Delighted you perceived that intent in this scene. His lap pose was wicked fun, wasn't it?

Oh, genius, eh? Better and better.

May the jovial pumpkin of happiness ward off any prospect of rottenness in your day.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh fun - liked the amputation lines, and the petticoat lines especially, can totally imagine Doyle there! And yes, the first aid position and the ending are lovely too - thank you!

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

Yay. Is most pleased that Doyle's wry lines seemed characteristic, and the dash of slash and sap were well received.

Thanks muchly.

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

LOL! What's up this morning?
Mum Doyle and Doctor Bodie? :-) (Bodie’s Barometer by Callisto)

And Bodie is an extremely capable doctor, I think!
And I too like his position...!

"Don't you think amputation's a bit extreme?" :-))))

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

Callisto's Somewhat Synchronous Sympathetic Sentiment, an interesting phenomenon, that. Perhaps we sometimes share a subliminal synapse? Must go and make-much-of her ficcage, as soon as possible.

Overall, I'd agree with you, that Doc Bodie is quite competent, consistent with his soldiering. [I'll chalk up Cowley's and Bodie's strangely vanished First Responder skills in "Female Factor" to the darkness of the garage, Doyle's remarkably stoic response to two bloody gaping holes in his thigh, and the ever present priority of assuring scene safety first. We can tell ourselves that, immediately after Doyle loses consciousness, Cowley and Bodie finally apply direct pressure to the wounds. Heh.]

Thanks for the kind reply, and especially for laughing at the joke.

[m31andy.livejournal.com]

That is absolutely adorable. And it made me melt!

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reading and replying. Glad it went over well with you.

[solosundance.livejournal.com]

the mundane intimacy of small pains, shared.

yes I can see great scope for Bodie doing bloody first aid in the field, but this quiet little scene is lovely. But ow ... when my Dad was training to be a doctor he used to take great delight in gouging out splinters from me and my siblings' digits with sterilised needles and tweezers ... ow ow OW! Damn! and all without single malt *g*

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, my dad too, how well I remember that. And now in later life, my husband and I see to each others' splinters rather often. We have our land-use acreage in forestry, so splinters come very much with our care of the wooded property.

And there ought to be some few advantages to getting older, yes? Among which is the use of single malt as an effective pain killer, heh.

Delighted you highlighted that phrase. I'm fond of it, meself.

Thanks so much for dropping by to read and kindly reply.

[angel-ci5.livejournal.com]

This is lovely, you turned what would normally be a rather unpleasant task into such a beautifully intimate scene and expression of trust... I could just picture them! Thank you!

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

I always particularly enjoy a reply which includes the phrase "I could just picture them..." Very rewarding to have a characterization ring true. Thanks for stopping by to read and respond.

[erushi.livejournal.com]

Oh, this was delightful! Loved the wry humour in the dialogue (a number of the lines had me sporfling so), and the entire scenario's just too adorable for words. Thank you for this!

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

Hurray for sporfling. [that reply made me laugh]. Thanks for sharing the chuckles.

[saintvic.livejournal.com]

I must agree with the other comments the ending to this is lovely and works very well. Thank you.

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

Ah, glad you liked it. Thanks for stopping by to reply.

[loyseofverlaine.livejournal.com]

Lovely little scene! I like Bodie's competent preparation, and the ending is lovely. Trust is not just in the big life-and-death stuff but in the little day by day things too.

[asymphototropic.livejournal.com]

"Trust is not just in the big life-and-death stuff but in the little day by day things too."

Exactly, well said. Possibly Bodie is still discovering that fact of life? I think perhaps we all recognize this gradually, particularly as we age.

Thanks for your kind reply.