[for Ray - Dated to 4/01]

[asher_talos]

Things had been quiet, and Asher wasn't sure yet if that was a good or a bad thing. In that moment, as he sat at the bar of the gazebo outside the hut, he couldn't say he actually cared one way or another. The farthest thing from his mind was Hannibal King and the trouble he'd brought along with him when he showed up.

Maybe he didn't often show it or even think about it all that much, but he knew he had it pretty good on the Island. It wasn't the sort of thought he'd openly express to Danica - lest she disown him completely for thinking something so disgustingly vile - but he knew. It wasn't perfect and it wasn't home, not really, but life on the Island wasn't what it used to be nearly five years ago.

He had Danica, pain in the ass that she was, and that alone made things more bearable than they had been when he first showed up. He had Del and the twins. And, now, he had Ray.

Things could have been a lot worse. Things have been a lot worse...

And its with that thought that he thinks maybe Danica should disown him, because even he was making himself a little nauseous.

Comments

[speakscanadian]

"Even though," Ray agreed, not looking away anymore. And then, as if to prove it wasn't going to end, he flashed Asher a small smile and added: "There's always tomorrow."

[asher_talos]

"Whatever you say, Annie," Asher replied, stretching. "If you start singing, I'm gone."

[speakscanadian]

Ray kept quiet and just laid there, thinking about the last few minutes. After a moment or two, he huffed out a short laugh through his nose.

"You sure know how to pick your moments." And his days. "Know what date it is today?" It was kind of ironically perfect, actually.

[asher_talos]

"I know it's the Lord's day," Asher said. Days of the week were easier to keep track of than dates. The big holidays and birthdays of the few people he gave a fuck about usually managed to stick, but not much else.

[speakscanadian]

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, it's the first of April," Ray told him, lifting himself up just a little so he could see Asher's face. "AKA Fool's Day. AKA practical joke day." Fortunately, Asher had never subscribed to those shennigans in all the years Ray'd known him.

[asher_talos]

"Oh..." It was far from being one of the important holidays, so he didn't understand why Ray felt the need to point it out. "So? Did you plastic wrap a toilet or something?"

[speakscanadian]

"Heh. No." A couple of years ago their declarations had all been a giant practical joke, one played on them by the island. Of course, back then they had been glad of the fact. Now though, Ray couldn't have been more glad that what Asher had said hadn't been a joke.

"Do we even have toilets anymore?" A month without them in Victorian London had been bad enough. Ray didn't even want to know what cowboys and Indians used when they needed the john.

[asher_talos]

"We do. And I couldn't think of anything less appealing to talk about right now." He probably could, actually, and without much effort, too. But he wasn't going to.

[speakscanadian]

"I'll work on my pillow talk," Ray promised, head propped up in his palm. Fingers of his free hand rested lightly in the groove at the base of Asher's neck. "I know you still need to keep an eye on your sister but uh... Can you stay here with me tonight?"

[asher_talos]

Asher nodded without hesitation. He knew that he couldn't keep this thing with Danica up forever, and there was no time like the present to start taking a step back. Besides that, he didn't want to stay anywhere else tonight. Except maybe their normal hut and bed.

"I think King can survive the night without me keeping watch," he said, having no doubt that Danica could.

[speakscanadian]

"I'll even let you get some sleep," Ray told him with a smile, before rolling away and pushing up onto his knees. Despite the excitement, his pants hadn't even gotten undone, so his hands went straight to his shirt to begin buttoning it up again.

"C'mon." As lovely as the view of a half-undressed and mussed up Asher was, now wasn't his chance to take full advantage of it. "We've got sweeping to do."