A Thanksgiving to Remember~
Or the Ghostbusters(and Louis and Janine)go over to Dana's apartment for Thanksgiving...everything's going great until Ray falls asleep in Egon's lap...
"Hi boys," Dana said, smiling softly at the four. "And hello to you too, Janine," she added, spotting the secretary behind the tall men.
"Nice to see you again," Janine said, butting her way to the front of the men and handing Dana the homemade pie.
"Oh it looks delicious Janine, thank you! Louis is already helping me but I'd love having your talent in the kitchen too now come in, come in, everybody," Dana opened the door wide for them all.
Everyone headed straight for the kitchen. Except for Peter who wrapped an arm around Dana and kissed her cheek, "Did you miss me, baby?"
"I missed you, daddy," Oscar cried, running up to the only father he's ever known.
"Oh I missed you too, slugger," Peter said, getting down on one knee and holding his arms wide open to the 5 year old.
"And I'll take that, thank you," Dana cut in, snatching the 12 pack of beer from her boyfriend's hand. She wanted Peter to at least wait until the food was ready before he started drinking.
Ray brought Thanksgiving decorations, convincing the rest of the Ghostbusters to help make Dana's apartment more festive and cheery while Dana, Janine, and Louis finished all the cooking. About an hour later, there wasn't a single part of the apartment that wasn't decked out in turkey themed decorations. Ray was positively beaming, "Y'know I didn't think it was possible but we did even better than last year, seriously great job guys!" His friends shared a quick glance that reminded them all that Ray said that every year but none of them were about to kill their friend's holiday joy.
"Yep, it looks amazing, buddy," Winston said, patting Ray's shoulder.
Suddenly Louis poked his head out of the kitchen and called out, "Hey guys, food's ready, and I made my special salad for everybody! I put extra tuna in it too!"
Peter opened his mouth to make a crack about who on Earth would make a salad for Thanksgiving but was stopped cold by Egon elbowing him in the side and his harsh, reprimanding glare.
They all filled their plates then sat down together in the living room, chatting away while the Macy's Day parade played on TV.
Peter cracked open a beer and Ray started to give a speech. "I'm thankful to live in such a great firehouse which I know Peter and Egie weren't thrilled about at first so I'm extra thankful you two bought the place anyway. I'm also thankful that I have the best job in the world where I get to work with my friends," Ray looped his arms around Winston and Egon, sending a bright smile at Janine and Peter. "You guys really don't know how lucky I feel just to have met you and having you all as my friends is just-"Ray started to tear up-"my family used to tell me I was always so hard to put up with and kids at school never really liked me, they always said I talked too fast about things they didn't care about, moved too much, I was just too all over the place for everybody so"-he sniffled, wiping his mismatched eyes-"I JUST CAN'T YOU TELL ALL ENOUGH HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU!!!" Tears streamed down Ray's cheeks, "I-I'm sorry, guys. I didn't m-mean to-to break down on y-y-you like this."
Winston and Egon gave Ray a side hug.
"Oh Ray, it's okay," Janine said.
"There's no shame in crying," Dana assured him, reaching out to give him a quick but strong hug.
"Yeah nobody cares that you're a big softie," Peter added, polishing off his second beer.
Everyone shot Peter a vicious glare, even little Oscar stopped staring at all the pretty, colorful floats and looked at him, eyes full of confusion. "Why are we staring at daddy," Oscar asked.
"Your father just send something silly is all," Dana said, gently ruffling the boy's hair.
"Hey I meant it in a good way, Ray you've got a big heart and if people don't like you for it then they can go-"Oooookay I think he gets the point," Louis hurriedly interrupts Peter.
"Just don't let anybody tell you you're not a great guy, Ray, cause you're one of the greatest," Peter muttered before taking a long sip of his beer.
Ray smiled, crying tears a joy now over how much his friends cared, and the other Ghostbusters started talking about what they were thankful for, each one reminding Ray how much they liked their friend. A now, slightly tipsy Peter found it odd how Egon dove into a particularly long rant about Ray and how much he loved spending time with him but made no comment as Dana started to say what she was thankful for....
As the day stretched on into evening, the chatter slowed and everyone grew lazy, wanting to take a nap after eating all that food, Ray was already snoozing on the couch. In Egon's lap. "Comfy over there, Spengler," Venkman asked.
Egon put all his fury behind the silent glare he shot right at Venkman but the red in his face was more out of sheer embarrassment than any real anger.
"Alright, alright, nothing to see here. Just leave the lovebirds alone," Janine whispered, pushing Louis, Winston, and Peter out the door.
Venkman looked back at Egon with a shit eating grin on his face while the bespectacled scientist was left helpless on the couch.
Egon didn't know what to do, he couldn't talk, couldn't move without risking waking Ray up...he didn't mind the other man on his lap though. If Egon was really being honest, he enjoyed the weight, the warmth, just the presence of Ray is...amazing. The problem was that he enjoyed moments like this in private, not in Dana's apartment for all to witness. Not to mention the headache of going back to the firehouse later and being asked incessant(and very personal) questions from Venkman about what happened between the pair. Wait...Dana's apartment. Dana's here, Oscar's here. Where are they...?
He looked around just in time to see a door shut. If he remembered correctly that was Oscar's room...it is getting late, Dana must be putting him down for a nap, she'll be back soon, she'll try talking to me and that will wake Ray up then this whole mess will be over, Egon's brain rationalized.
15 minutes later and this mess was definitely not over! What was taking her so long? Did something happen? She would've screamed-and woke Ray up-if something had happened right? The curly haired scientist was about to get up but the weight of Ray's head kept him in place. Ray's still in his lap...the same Ray who makes sure Egon is eating enough and gets(at least some)sleep when he sees the other man working himself silly(Ray's words, not his), the same Ray who gives him Crunch bars when he's having a bad day and offers to make a run to the store to refill Egon's candy stash, the same Ray who pops into Egon's lab every day to talk about an upgrade for the proton packs or a new book he's been reading that he thinks Egon will love, the same Ray who loves fixing up cars, the same Ray who loves ghostbusting, the same Ray he loves so much that sometimes it hurts to see him so close but be unable to touch him...
Without thinking Egon runs a hand through the man's hair. At first Egon is horrified by his impulsiveness, jerking his hand back as if the physical contact burns him, and holds his breath in hopes that Ray won't wake up. One. Two. Precisely three seconds go by and he's still sleeping...realizing this, the taller scientist reasons it would be alright if he did it just one more time.
Egon cards his long, slender fingers through the other man's hair. Ray's hair is soft and fluffy-almost like petting a kitten-and Egon finds himself running his fingers through his deep brown hair again. And again. And again....
"Ngh..., Ray starts to stir and then he's awake, looking up at the curly haired scientist with those mismatched eyes that had caught Egon's attention when they first met back in college. "Are-yawn-are we still at Dana's place, Egie?"
"We are," Egon answers, trying to remain stoic. If Ray doesn't notice, if Ray doesn't mention it then Egon can pretend he isn't still laying in his lap.
Finally, finally the other man sits up and rubs his tired eyes. Egon is as relieved as is he devasted by the very fact.
"Mmm...sorry, didn't mean to fall asleep on you. Hope you didn't mind," Ray said, offering him a sheepish smile.
Egon minded. He minded A LOT. But at the same time, he didn't mind at all...
"Where is everybody anyway," Ray asks, noticing it's just the two of them.
"They went home. I'm...unsure of Dana and Oscars' current whereabouts though," Egon replies stiffly. He can still feel the warmth of Ray's body heat on his thighs.
'Oh' is all Ray manages to say, leaving the two men in an uncomfortable silence.
The taller scientist stands suddenly. And then Ray is also jumping to his feet.
"Egon, I'm sorry if I-if I you know...grossed you out...earlier by falling asleep on you like that. If you-I am not repulsed by you or your earlier actions," Egon cuts in. "In fact, I am actually quite fond of you, Raymond," he adds, tentatively reaching out for the other man's hands.
The bespectacled scientist doesn't know what to do now...if social standards dictates that he should kiss Ray or pull him closer or-"I like you a lot too, Egie," Ray admits. And does he need a new glasses prescription or is Ray really blushing right now?
The other man leans in closer and Egon finds his head lowering all on its own...then they're kissing. It's a short, hurried kiss on Ray's part(almost as if he thinks Egon will suddenly change his mind and be disgusted with him)but Egon isn't at all disappointed with the kiss.
"Do you wanna-umm should we just-"Firehouse," Egon blurts, cutting the shorter man off.
"Firehouse. Yup. Yup, sounds good," Ray turns quickly, pulling his boyfriend(yes they're boyfriends now)to the door.
Then suddenly they hear a creak and Dana appears around the corner looking drained. "Oh hello boys, sorry I was gone so long. I was putting Oscar down for a nap but he didn't want to sleep and wait where's everyone else-Firehouse," Egon blurts again. Maybe even a little dumbly.
"Yeah, they all left a-and we're leaving too! Anyway uhh thanks for the party, Dana," Ray said embarrassed, even a little awkwardly, as he opens the door to her apartment.
"Okay...have a good night," Dana says, a little confused by their strange behavior.
"Yup, you too, byeeeee," Ray calls out, hurriedly closing the door and rushing off into the hall.
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