Title: Planning
Fandom: due South
Rating: G
Length: 1226 words
Author notes: This is how I spent exactly 60 minutes today. It takes place in a 'verse I created last month for my birthday Promptfest, in which Fraser is a Paladin and RayK is a half-Elven thief.
Summary: Fraser just wanted the meeting done so he could return to the church and continue with his preparations for the journey.



Fraser entered the back room of the tavern and waited. And continued to wait, fighting off impatience as he remained the sole occupant of the room. He took another careful look around, noting again the lack of windows, or any other exits save for the door he’d come through. The table was worn and only barely clean, but it was sturdy, as were the two chairs with it. The walls were bare, not even nail holes to show there’d ever been any kind of decoration. A part of him appreciated the austere setting; the rest of him just wanted the meeting done so he could return to the church and continue with his preparations for the journey.

Finally, the handle on the door moved, and once it was barely open, Ray slipped in. If Fraser hadn’t been facing the door he’d never have noticed; the thief was completely silent when he moved, not even the door’s rusty hinge making a sound. Ray flicked a glance at Fraser, taking in the Paladin’s simple clothes and plain cloak with a nod. Even his holy symbol had been hidden beneath his tunic. Fraser noted that Ray was similarly dressed in soft, non-descript greens and browns rather than the full black attire he’d had when they’d met. His hair was slicked back, making it look darker, and accentuating the Elven cast of Ray’s features. He still wouldn’t pass as a full Elf, but Fraser had to admit that he looked different enough that he might not have been recognizable, had Fraser passed him on the street.

Fraser watched him move with careless grace, checking each wall, kneeling at each corner to look closely at the floor. He had to wonder what Ray was looking for. He’d assumed this place was chosen because it was familiar to the thief, but perhaps he’d been wrong.

Fortunately, Ray didn’t notice his scrutiny, having turned his attention toward the room itself, prowling around until he was apparently satisfied they were alone and unwatched.

“Any trouble getting here?” the half-elf asked.

“Not at all. Your directions were specific enough, and the tavern is well-marked.”

“Yeah, I figured you’d do well with directions,” Ray replied with a smirk.

“You took your time getting here,” Fraser found himself saying, and winced inwardly. No matter how much he disliked the situation, he’d agreed to it, and it was petty to take out his dissatisfaction on Ray.

“Like me coming in right after you wouldn’t have been noticed,” Ray replied, seemingly unfazed by Fraser’s tone. “I told you before – us being seen together isn’t good. Not for me, and unless you’re hauling me in for something, not for you.”

Fraser knew he was right, but didn’t acknowledge it. “I brought a map,” he said, pulling a scroll case from his belt.

Ray gestured toward the table, flipping one of the chairs around so he could sit, its back to his front.

Fraser remained standing as he unrolled the map and spread it out. “Looking at our destination, I would suggest we take this route. It’s fairly well-traveled, but not so busy as to be congested. There are way stations here, here and here,” he went on, pointing. “They’ll be provisioned, and give us a place to stay that won’t be so conspicuous.”

Ray leaned forward, arms crossed over the top of the chair, and peered at the map. “What about going this way instead?” he asked, indicating a smaller path. “Close to the river, means we’ll have water and there’ll be game or fish.”

“That area isn’t as safe,” he answered.

“Aw, big bad Paladin worried he can’t hack it in the woods?”

“I’m sure I’d be fine, but that doesn’t mean I want to take unnecessary risks,” Fraser shot back, frowning. “We have a mission to complete.”

“Yeah, and if we take the bigger roads there’s more chance of an ambush, or us being seen, or something that could slow us down,” Ray said, voice annoyingly calm and reasonable. “Trust me, I’d much rather stay at an inn, or even one of those hovels you guys put along the trails, but it’s a bad idea.”

“Does being out of the city make you uncomfortable?”

“Being part Elf doesn’t mean I want to live in a tree,” Ray said with a snort. “You are full of assumptions there, Fraser. That’s dangerous.”

Fraser suppressed the automatic response of apologizing. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, voice even.

Ray rolled his eyes, but went on. “That said, I can hunt, and fish, and I do know the area. There’s a couple of places we’ll want to avoid, more to keep from ruffling the wrong feathers than anything, but that’s easy enough. If we’re lucky, we won’t be spotted at all.”

“You keep saying that,” Fraser said with a frown. "You can’t honestly believe we won’t be expected.”

“I think they’re gonna expect somebody, yeah. It’s stupid to assume anything else,” Ray answered, matter-of-factly. “But that doesn’t mean they know who’s been sent, or how we’re getting there. That’s why we got paired up in the first place. Hopefully, the last thing anybody’d expect is a Paladin and a thief working together.” He straightened in his chair and looked Fraser in the eye. “I told you before there’d be times you need to follow my lead. This is one of them.”

“It seems I’ve done nothing but follow your lead,” Fraser replied sourly. “However, your reasoning so far has been sound. All right, we take the route you’ve suggested. But,” he went on, “I will still need to check in at regular intervals.”

Ray looked like he wanted to protest, but all he said was, “Make sure it’s someone you can trust one hundred percent. And that it’s just one guy, the same one, every time. The less people who know, the better our chances. Your magic can do that, right?”

Fraser nodded. “And you?”

“I got no one to answer to until this is all over. Besides, if it blows up, I’m the only one who’ll take the blame.”

“That seems unfair.”

Ray stood up and spread out his arms. “Welcome to the real world.”

Fraser didn’t know how to respond to that. If they failed in this, he had no doubt that the church would shoulder its share of the blame in the planning. That Ray’s Guild wouldn’t do the same shouldn’t surprise him, but it did. It bothered him that Ray accepted it so easily.

If Ray noticed his unease, he didn’t mention it. “So, you gonna be ready to go day after next?” he asked. “Or do you need time to re-organize everything now that I’ve messed with your plan?”

“We leave as scheduled,” Fraser replied.

“Good,” Ray said, moving toward the door. “Then I’m out of here. You wait a good ten minutes before heading out. And I mean it. Ten minutes at the very least. And go back the way you came, no detours. This part of town isn’t safe for your kind.”

Fraser wanted to protest, but Ray was out the door before he could say a word. He rolled up the map, put it back in its case, and sat in a chair to wait, wondering again just how and why he’d gotten involved in this in the first place.