Hashirama arranging Tobirama a marriage with his s/o
âThere are a lot of arranged marriege ones for Tobirama but what about an arranged marriage but he's already interested and maybe Hashirama thinks he's not making any progress and decides to meddle and arrange one for the two?â @kaiseaya
Thanks for the request! And sorry if this isnât exactly what you wanted since i realize i kiiiiinda went away from the request?? Idk i feel as if i didnât write it properlyÂ
Tobirama and you arenât officially together
You have feelings for each other and hang out whenever heâs free
But you arenât actually a couple despite the numerous âdatesâ you two have gone on
Itâs not that you two are scared of the commitment, its just that you canât be a couple.
Tobirama Senju, someone in the main branch of the clan, someone who would become head of the Senju should anything happen to his brother, someone with such high authority.
How could he be dating someone like you?Â
You often ask yourself this and remind yourself on how lucky you are
You couldnât tell anyone you had feelings for each other
You guys have hid it well but eventually Hashirama knows whats up
He might ask you a few questions and you didnât know how to respond
Could you really lie to the hokage? To someone whoâs been hailed as the God of Shinobi?
Yeah
He sees through it and frowns at your lie but nods his head anyways
About 6 months pass and you two still havent become official and its driving him mad
He doesnât want his brother to hide his love life for the sake of the clan
He confronts the younger senju and when tobirama went to say the same thing you had half a year ago, he was cut off
âDonât lie to me brother, how long have you been hiding this relationship?â
â...it will be 2 years in a monthâ
Hashirama is shookÂ
2 whole years you two have been together?? 2 whole years his dear younger brother has had to hide his feelings for the one he loves?
Although itâs not hashiramaâs fault, he canât help but feel slightly guilty
At the sudden silence the albino is slightly worried his brother disapproves and wants the two of you to end it
Tobirama asks in his own long, word filled and confusing way to let you guys stay together in secret
The elder brother smiles and pats his shoulder and says he will take care of things
About a week passes and suddenly tobirama finds himself in formal wear and getting ready for a meeting with his brother
Usually he doesnât mind too much, but it was bothering him that hashirama was leaving out all the details
As the brothers are walking to the location, the water user raises a brow when he sees you walking in the same direction, also in formal clothing
Hashirama smiles before walking ahead, giving the secret lovers some space
Tobirama asks why your so dressed up and you say its because your parents are taking you to a OmiaiÂ
He asks if your the one whos seeing if fit to be married and it made you laugh
âPfft of course not! I think i would know if i was about to be put in an arranged marriage. Plus i would tell you right away if i was. My parents are simply taking me so i can learn how its done in personâ
Lad is so relieved but pauses
He asks the location of this meeting and is slightly surprised when you said the name of the place heâs going to
You say its probably just coincidence and he barely nods his head in response
âTheres no reason to worry right? Besides, I heard this place gives the best sushi in all of konohaâ
You give each other compliments on your looks and make some small talk for the rest of the walk (but lets be real it was just you giving compliments and him thinking the compliments in return)
What surprises him though is when you arrive at the location is that not only were you brought to the same room but you were suddenly seated across from each other
âAnija what is the meaning of this?â Tobirama mumbles and his brother gives him a slightly shocked look
âIm surprised someone like you hasnât put it together yet! Youâll see in just a bitâÂ
The meeting starts and immediately your father asks why you should be married off to hashirama
âWait w h a t?â
It took everything tobirama had not to blast everything away with his chakra
You sat there with a VERY strained smile as you looked towards the senju
âI wasnât aware that this omiai was for me, much less with Hashirama-samma.â
Hashirama laughs nervously and properly explains the situation
âNo no this isnât for me, I already have my lovely mito! This marriage proposal is between my younger brother, Tobirama, and your child, Y/n-san.â
Theres many emotions throughout the meeting but you manage to stay professional the whole time
It honestly doesnât take much to convince your parents
Getting married to a senju was such an honor that they didnât even think twice. But they wanted to make it seem they where putting up atleast a bit of a fight
At the end of the meeting and when the food has been eaten, you all do your respective bows before going your separate ways
Well really, it was just your parents leaving.
The brothers and you had a bit to discuss on this very out of the blue marriage
Tobirama demands for the reason his brother didnât even ask for his own opinion, and why this was happening in general
Hashirama proceeds to give a very long and overly emotional explanation that you two can finally openly be together and happy
You can finally be an official couple and it brings two clans together in the process
Its a win!
âOh donât tell me youâre not happy with this, Tobirama! You guys are so happy together! Iâve seen you smile more times for y/n than i have seen you smile in years!ââ
And well heâs not wrong, you both are extremely happy for this marriage but tobirama wonât show that yet
Heâs upset that not only did his brother get involved, but that he couldnât even make it official himself
As tobirama walks away you give a quick hug and thanks to the elder brother
He smiles and pats your head before leaving himself
you meet up with tobirama and ask if heâs really sure he wants to do this
âI should be asking you the same thingâ
you guys come to the conclusion that you indeed want this, and is very grateful that hashirama went ahead and planned this through
And soon after that, you and tobirama are not only a couple, but married as well.
144 notes
·
View notes
Diet Coke & Ray, a Raywood fic
Ryan didnât have favorites, but he had Diet Coke, and he had Ray. (read on ao3)
Everyone seemed to realize Ryan didnât have particularly strong pulls towards a âfavoriteâ thing separately, but they all came to the same conclusion eventually. fahc Raywood, fluff, ignore that Christmas was ages ago, based on the fact that Ryan gets annoyed if you ask him what his favorite anything is, ~6k aka much longer than I intended sorry, (also juggey because who doesnât have those feels at this point) ((also also im not sorry for all the run on sentences and overuse of the word observant))
*
Michael pulled Ryanâs name for Secret Santa and threatened to rage quit Christmas immediately after seeing the name. Â Fortunately Geoff was the only person in the room at the time, because Michael had immediately begged, âCan I switch with Ray?â and Geoff had frowned at him, beginning a Dad Lectureâą about honor and responsibility. Â Thatâs when Michael knew he was screwed.
What the fuck did Ryan even like? Â Besides murder? Â Michael slowly realized he knew the least about Ryan than anyone in the crew. Â Ryan was out with Ray four nights a week doing jobs. The other nights, he was on the couch with Gavin, Jeremy, and Ray playing any pretty much any video game. Geoff and Jack knew everything there was to know about the crew and Los Santos. Â Michael didnât know shit. Â Michael was fucked.
Even though Geoff had strictly forbidden Michael from seeking help from anyone else (even the B-team! What kind of bullshit rule was that??), Michael still thought maybe Ray would accidentally (or not) let something slip about what Ryan might want for Christmas. Â Everyone knew Ray and Ryan were the closest of anyone, and Ray and Michael were good friends, right?
âSo, you know this whole âsecret santaâ thing?â Michael asked.
âYeah?â Ray responded, not looking up from (surprisingly) not pokemon, but cleaning his sniper rifle.
âDid you get the whole lecture about not talking to anyone about it?â
âYeah,â Ray agreed. âGeoff gave me the whole thing after I pulled mine and started bitching about it.â
âI wish Iâd gotten you instead, I know exactly what Iâd get you,â Michael sighed.
âWhatâs that?â Ray asked, laughing a little in anticipation.
âWeed and lube, disguised in a bouquet of red roses,â Michael replied.
âBoth things I could use,â Ray agreed. Â âIâd get you a basket of grenades with a brand new elite xbox controller in the bottom of it.â
âDude, thatâd be sweet,â Michael agreed.
âPersonalized to say âwill you marry meâ,â Ray joked.
âDonât be fucking gay,â Michael replied, but he didnât mean it. Â
âThe grenades, not the controller,â Ray explained. Â Michael laughed, hard.
âToo bad we didnât get each other?â
âGav would be so easy,â Ray continued. Â âAnything with gold paint slapped on it.â
âAnd for Geoff, youâd just have to get him booze,â Michael agreed. Â Ray hummed in agreement.
âRyan is so sure I picked him, heâs been dropping incredibly non-subtle hints about everything he wants for two weeks,â Ray complained. Â âEvery time we go into a store, âBoy, wouldnât I be disappointed if I got this for Christmasâ.â
âYouâre not going to get him something anyway?â Michael asked.
âNo? Â Thatâs not how secret santa works,â Ray frowned.
âYeah, but itâs you guys,â Michael shrugged.
âWhatâs that supposed to mean?â
âYou know, youâre kind of a Big Deal.â
âIâm pretty sure I understand the rules of Secret Santa, dude,â Ray said. Â âPlus, even if I had picked him, Iâd just print him out a meme and put it in a card. Â Thatâs the way it works with me and him.â
Needless to say, that conversation didnât help Michael in the slightest. Â What did you get for someone who only expressed vague interests and never favorites?
*
Jack was taking inventory of the cupboards and refrigerator, because as the self-proclaimed resident Mom, sheâd put herself in charge of trying to make the Lads eat healthier. They were going to get heart disease before they turned 30 at the rate they kept consuming fast food. Â One cupboard at the top left was labeled âRyanâ (with a tiny âalso Rayâ scribbled underneath it). Â Sheâd never been in that one, as it wasnât her business what Ryan was eating, but she opened it anyway. Â The contents were very predictable. Â Half a dozen cans of diet coke, a partially eaten bag of Flipz, and a few packages of ramen that Jack were pretty sure had belonged to Ray when heâd moved in and had been there ever since. Â The rest of the cupboard was completely empty. Â Itâd be a nice gesture in the spirit of Christmas and general camaraderie to fill it up for him, right? Â What did Ryan even like?
Jack closed the cupboard and continued inventorying the kitchen, but when sheâd finished and was headed out, she still had a big question mark next to Ryanâs name on her pad of paper. Â She sighed, knowing the solution to the problem. Â Jack pulled out her phone to text Ray. Â She knew he was in the penthouse somewhere, but it was a big place and he knew how to hide. Â It took five minutes for Ray to stump into the kitchen, annoyed.
âWhatâs up?â he asked, wiping sleep out of his eyes. Â It was 1 in the afternoon.
âYouâre coming grocery shopping with me,â Jack announced.
âWhy? Â I donât know how to cook,â Ray said.
âYou donât get out enough,â Jack told him, grabbing her wallet and stuffing it in her pocket before picking up the keys to the blue Entity XF she loved. Â âCome on, itâll be fun.â
âYour definition of fun is warped,â Ray muttered, but followed her into the elevator anyway.
Jackâs suspicions that Ray would know exactly what to get for Ryan proved correct, even without prompting, as Ray kept wandering back to Jack and the cart with items from halfway across the store, saying things like âRye loves this type of soup,â or âCan I get these chocolates? Â Iâll split them with Ryanâ. Â The variety of items seemed so random that even Jack couldnât keep track of the things Ray would bring.
*
Jeremy was the newest to the crew, so it didnât surprise him how much he didnât know about Ryan. Â Heâd been outside of the crew for a long time, watching them pull off jobs on the TV and wishing he could be as awesome as he thought they were. Â Occasionally Jeremy would catch Weasel Newsâ live broadcasts of the police chasing them around town. Â The Vagabond would always charge straight into danger and emerge laughing almost satanically. Â Any stray officers that he hadnât caught in his initial explosion would be sniped by BrownMan, across the street, hidden on a rooftop. Â What a dynamic duo.
When Jeremy actually got into the crew, through a series of happy accidents (not actually involving Bob Ross), he was over the moon, but it was about a thousand times more terrifying than he ever expected it would be. Â Ryan lurked with his skull mask on in dark corners of the penthouse at 4am, Michael got angry and chucked bombs off the balcony at least twice a week, and the sheer amount of inside jokes he only vaguely understood was just overwhelming.
The Lads constantly teased him that if he messed up a heist, Geoff was going to kick him out (even though Geoff assured him that wasnât true). Â There was an almost constant onslaught of practical jokes, mostly from the Lads, but Ryan as well. Â Then finally, one night, they actually full-on pretended to kidnap him â well, actually did kidnap him â and brought him to a remote location in South Los Santos. Â After thoroughly scaring the shit out of him, the Lads inducted him as one of their own. Â Heâd made it.
âPlus, we think Ray is going to leave the Lads to join the R&R Connection full time,â Michael had joked.
Still, after somehow winning the approval of the Lads, Geoff, and #1 Mom Jack Pattillo, Jeremy was still at a loss as to how to even start a conversation with Ryan.  Sure, they played video games together and became battle buddies, but what kind of things did Ryan do for fun⊠besides murder? What movies did he like to watch? Was he secretly a giant weeb? SuperFan Jeremy Dooley really wanted to know.
âYou know Ryan, right?â Jeremy asked Ray.
âIâm sensing a trend,â Ray said, side-eyeing his accomplice. Â They were both in an unmarked SUV that Ray was driving away from a quick burglary at a gas station Geoff had put them up to as a diversion for the real burglary at the liquor store. Â They were supposed to lead the cops around for a while, and car chases without grenade launchers were boring.
âWhat?â
âWhy has everyone been asking me what I know about Ryan lately?â Ray asked. Â âItâs really weird. Â Just ask him yourself.â
âGav said not to ask Ryan questions,â Jeremy confessed. Â
âDonât ask him questions that make him want to put your head on a spike, simple,â Ray shrugged.
This information was not helpful to Jeremy.
*
Gavin had a habit of asking inane questions, and unfortunately Geoff had a habit of indulging him in them. Â Gavin always seemed to have an infinite number of questions preloaded at any given time, ready to shoot them at unsuspecting individuals. Â
But Gavin didnât ask questions to Ryan. Â Not since The Incidentâą.
Ryan hadnât been with the crew for too long at that point, maybe a few months, and heâd been politely answering Gavinâs questions up to that point, but for some reason, he snapped on this one, and he wasnât even a part of the original question.
It was something about flipping a coin, and the original premise was that if you correctly called the coin flip, you could have sex with anyone you wanted for the rest of your life, but if you didnât, then you had to have sex with Bam Bam Bigelow.  By the way, he died in 2007, but for this hypothetical, he would be resurrected.  And you get three coin flips to correctly call it.  Which is pretty decent odds.  Ryan got pulled in halfway through for his math skills, probably misheard or misinterpreted the question, and it turned into a debate that lasted months. Both Ryan and Gavin could easily be provoked with just the words, âbut if you flip a coin three timesâŠâ and no one wanted to listen to them both insist they were right anymore.
One of the most iconic questions ever asked was that if Ryan was given some kind of astronomical amount of money, would he kill Ray every morning for the rest of their lives if there was a 100% chance that Ray would respawn good as new 20 minutes later. Ryan had responded with, âI hope you guys donât mind waking up to gunshots,â and Ray had walked in at that point. Gavin had explained the whole premise to him, appalled for Ryanâs sanity and their relationship if Ryan would kill Ray every single day for the rest of their lives for money. Â Ray had snorted and replied with, âhe better take that money, and he better fuckin split it with me. Â You gonna pay up, or?â Â And Gavin didnât ask questions about the pair of them anymore. Â
Ray and Ryan had been a duo before theyâd joined Fake AH, bringing the crew from three members up to five (then Michael had come along after). Â No one ever questioned their relationship or the nature of it. Â In fact, Gavin was the only one who had ever gotten close, and he didnât understand these two apparent sociopaths, yet with such a deep bond between them. Â He accepted pretty early on that asking questions to the pair of them was only going to scare him. Â
(Thatâs not even to mention the time Gavin asked Ryan if, hypothetically, he could take all of Geoffâs money by touching Geoffâs penis with his lips, and every single person in the penthouse immediately agreed without hesitation, and Geoff started locking his bedroom door.)
Gavin would say he knew three things about Ryan, for sure, which were 1, that he would not hesitate to murder a crewmate for money, 2, he became very mingey when asked questions, and 3, he was shite at probabilities.
âGav, câmon, you gotta know something,â Michael whined. Â âWhat the hell do you get a guy for secret santa?â
âI dunno, boi,â Gavin said, scuffing his trainers on the pavement, or whatever dumb British words he was constantly trying to pass off as real. Â âI wish I got someone easy like Geoff.â
âYeah, fucking so do I!â Michael agreed. Â âWhoâd you get?â
âI canât say,â Gavin said.
âDid you get the bullshit lecture too? Â I gave up on that. Â Ray wouldnât help me out, you gotta be able to give me something,â Michael begged.
âGive him three coins,â Ray suggested through their comms, reminding the two of them that Ray and Jeremy could hear their entire conversation.
âShut up,â Michael snapped. âAre we ready for this or what?â
âYeah, on three,â Jeremy agreed.
âWait, on three or after three?â Gavin asked.
âOn three, Jesus, he just said,â Ray rolled his eyes.
âIâm going now,â Michael shot back, chucking a bomb at the building.
*
Geoff was the leader of the crew, and therefore he knew everything there was to know about his crew, or at least he liked to think. Â In truth, he didnât know much more about Ryan than anyone else did. Â He did his research, though, before hiring the pair of them. Â Because BrownMan and Vagabond had always been a double act, hadnât they?
R&R had a pretty slick gimmick running for them. Â A sniper and a total wild card? Â They could do anything together. Â The first time Geoff had noticed they were anything other than a pair of hooligans running around doing petty theft, heâd actually accidentally been a witness to one of their crimes. Â
It was genius. Â Ryan casually opened the door of a shop, one shot from a suppressed sniper rifle a safe distance away, and suddenly there he was in an empty store with the cops none the wiser. Â By the time police arrived on the scene, Ryan had cracked the registers (and sometimes the safe) for the money, and both of them were en route to their next location. Â There were 20 stores in LS that kept cash (most had gone to credit only because of the high crime rates), and R&R hit every single one of them.
Geoff had been casually staking a joint for a heist from a nearby roof when heâd seen them do it. Just pull of a job in one bullet. He had to have them. Â Who were they?
Considering the sheer amount of intel LSPD had on them, the fuzz sure did know absolutely nothing true or useful whatsoever. Â Every time theyâd hauled R&R in for questioning, theyâd never gotten an English word out of Ryan, and Ray generally spoke only in memes and refused to refer to officers by their real names, instead assigning each of them a new name that sometimes changed three times in a conversation. Â Not a single one of their crimes could ever have been pinned to either of them, mostly because fiery explosions tend to conceal evidence fairly well.
So when Geoff finally devised a plan to approach R&R with the intent of asking (bribing) them to join Fake AH, he wasnât surprised to find out that they were totally different from what heâd expected.  Well, Ray was almost exactly what heâd expected.  Barely out of his teens, total memelord, only owns one pair of sneakers⊠Gavin would love him.  Ryan was still a total wild card.  He was charming but nerdy.  His eyes seemed to say âyou are safe hereâ but crackled with murder.  His body language seemed to say âyes you called this meeting and I am compliantâ but also âyou are the one being interrogated here Geoffreyâ. Ray did 90% of the talking in their meeting and 0% of the paying attention.  Geoff and Ryan stood over the counter in the Fakeâs penthouse (it took a lot of convincing â a few hundred grand worth of convincing â to get them to agree to a meeting in the penthouse) talking business while Ray sat on the couch playing on his DS seemingly not giving a fuck about the meeting at all, yet answering every question intuitively as though he was trying to ace some kind of verbal SAT test.  Jack was casually in the kitchen cooking dinner as Geoffâs backup.  (Geoff wanted them to feel comfortable, but not too comfortable, and Jack was an intimidating woman when she wanted to be â but only when or if she wanted to be.)
What did Geoff learn about R&R in that meeting? Â Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Â They were an amazing duo, and they were going to rise to the top with or without Fake AH. Â But Geoff really wanted it to be with Fake AH. Â So what does Geoff Ramsey do when he has a problem? Â He throws money at it. Â And they accepted. Â
And thatâs the story of how Geoff Ramsey is the leader of his crew, but still knows next to nothing about Ryan Haywood.
*
âYou can stop dropping hints, Rye, I didnât get you for secret santa,â Ray finally burst out, exasperated, as his phone received yet another casual âRyan wants you to see this product!â email. Â âI got Jack.â
âYou canât tell who you got, thatâs cheating!â Ryan exclaimed. Â âWhat about honor and responsibility?â
âBoy, Geoff really ran that one into the ground, didnât he?â Ray rolled his eyes. Â âWhat the hell do I get for Jack?â
âGet her a gift card to Ponsonbyâs or Pampered Chef or something,â Ryan suggested. Â âOR! Â You could carefully construct some kind of message spelled out on the ground such that you can only see it from a helicopter! Â Thatâs creative!â
âThatâs a lot of work,â Ray whined, scrolling through all the emails Ryan had sent him to that point of things he wanted for Christmas.
âIt would show you really care.â
âDo you ever think about, maybe, opening up to the rest of the crew, telling them literally any factoid about yourself?â Ray asked.
âI tell them stuff about me all the time, itâs not my fault they donât listen,â Ryan said.
âI mean, yeah, I know,â Ray agreed. âItâs just⊠people have really started to notice how little they really know about you in the last few weeks.  Do you think you could just walk around the living room and talk really loudly about what kinds of food you like or something?  I donât want to go grocery shopping again.â
âI guess soâŠâ Ryan agreed.
*
âWhatâs this?â Michael frowned at the gift-wrapped box Ray had shoved into his hands. Â âItâs fuckin heavy.â
âThat is what I got you to give to Ryan for Christmas. Â Youâre welcome,â Ray replied, walking away before Michael could protest any further. Leaving Michaelâs room for Jackâs, Ray knocked and was allowed entry.
âWhatâs up Ray?â Jack asked, looking up from her computer screen where she was diligently researching the available vehicle mods for the upcoming releases.
âYour real present is under the tree, but I got you something extra⊠from Ryan,â Ray said, holding out an envelope addressed to her.  She frowned at him, taking it and opening it, unfolding the paper inside. âItâs Ryanâs grocery list.  I know thatâs why you asked me to go with you. No one genuinely enjoys my company enough to invite me out with them.  I get it.  Iâm more approachable than he is.  I know that.â
âCome on, Ray, thatâs not true, I had a really good time when we went out,â Jack replied.
âWell⊠either way,â Ray shrugged.  âI know itâs a long list, but he doesnât really have favorites, so⊠you know.â
âThank you,â Jack said. âIâm honestly touched that youâd think to get this for me. Â I wish I had something for you.â
âAgain, your real present is under the tree,â Ray reaffirmed. Â âYou just, uh, keep being the cool Crew Momâą and Iâll see you later.â He ran from her room before he could be any more awkward. Â Jeremyâs room was next on his list of places to visit. Â Lil J was, predictably, watching YouTube when Ray walked in. Â Lil J didnât get knocks. Â Lil J got walked in on. Â Lil J was not really done with being hazed yet. Â âHey.â
âHey!â Jeremy replied. âWhatâs up Ray? Â Am I late for something? Â Lads Heist? Â Shopping Montage? Â Are you here to kill me?â
âYou know how we were on that job the other day, and you asked about Ryan?â Ray asked.
âI didnât mean it, please donât kill me,â Jeremy said, eyes very wide.
âYouâre new, and I sorta get that, but â please, I am definitely not going to kill you,â Ray said. Jeremy visibly relaxed. âToday.â Â Jeremy tensed slightly again. Â Ray laughed. Â âRyan likes talking to people. Â He loves to tell stories about his childhood back in Georgia. Â Ask him anything you want to know. Â Seriously. Â Heâll tell you. Â And if he doesnât want to answer a question, heâll tell you. Â Heâs not going to threaten you with bodily harm or kill you over a few questions. Â Youâre not Gavin.â Â Jeremy laughed nervously. Â âPlus, donât tell the others, but I think youâre his favorite.â
âRyan doesnât have favorites,â Jeremy replied.
âWell⊠he has Diet Coke,â Ray said. Â
âAnd you.â
âWhat? Â No,â Ray deflected. Â âI mean, yeah, weâve been together a long time, but weâre just crewmates. We look out for each other.â
âOkay, sure,â Jeremy laughed.
âWhatâs that supposed to mean?â Ray asked, frowning.
âIf thatâs your story, then sure,â Jeremy continued to laugh. Â âSure, thereâs nothing going on with you and Ryan.â
âWhat do you think is going on with me and Ryan?â Ray asked, continuing his confusion.
âYouâre⊠you knowâŠâ Jeremy said, starting to get confused.  Heâd thought this was another one of the Lads hazing things, but Ray really didnât seem to know what was going on.  ââŠa couple.â
âA couple of what?â Ray asked. Â Jeremy stared at him.
âNo, like⊠ a couple.  Are you two not⊠like, half-married?â
Ray stared. Shocked.  Shook.  What was going on?  Did everyone think he and Ryan were⊠dating?  Fucking? In Love?  Ray didnât even reply to Jeremy, just walked out of his room and back to his and Ryanâs.
âWe share a room,â Ray said to Ryan, who was sitting on the bed reading.
âYes,â Ryan agreed, confused. Â âWe always have. Â Are you okay?â
âWe share a room, we go out together four times a week, we have a combined cupboard in the kitchen, weâre always paired together on heists, and above anyone else in the crew, weâd defend each other with our lives,â Ray said, still shook. Â He was aware of Ryanâs presence in the room, but didnât have the mental capacity to focus his eyes so everything in the room was sort of blurry.
âAre you okay?â Ryan repeated.
âI⊠I donât know?  My life is crashing down.  I think I need help,â Ray said, walking forward to the bed and crawling next to Ryan.  Ryan put an arm around him, pulling him to his chest, and continued reading his book, knowing Ray needed to just breathe and calm down for a bit.  Ray actually ended up falling asleep with his head on Ryanâs chest, as he so often did.  When he woke up, he blinked, confused, cracked his neck, and started looking around.
âFeeling better?â Ryan asked.
âYeah⊠I just⊠It was weird,â Ray said.  âItâs like⊠I guess I should have known the rest of the crew thinks weâre, like, in  super gay love or whatever.â
âOh, yeah, they do think that,â Ryan agreed. Â âAfter two years, I donât know what it says about us or them that they still think that.â
âTo be fair, we share a room, go out together four nights a week, and defend each other with our lives,â Ray commented.
âYeah, but⊠I donât know,â Ryan shrugged.
âThat must be why everyone thinks the joke about me saving my virginity for the day you can actually fuck an xbox is so funny,â Ray finally put together.
âYeah,â Ryan agreed.
âAre you in super gay love with me?â Ray asked. Â Ryan shrugged.
âI wouldnât want to screw up what we have,â he replied.
âWhat if I did? Â Want to,â Ray almost tripped over his sentence.
Ryan kissed him in response, ducking his head to meet Rayâs, as Ray was still leaning on him.
âOh, itâs ruined now,â Ray said sarcastically when Ryan pulled away, even going so far as to dramatically start leaving the bed. Â âIâm moving in with Michael.â Â Ryan laughed and pulled him tighter to him. Â Ray put his head back on Ryanâs chest and smiled.
âMerry Christmas,â Ryan said quietly.
âChristmas isnât for like four days,â Ray replied.
âYeah, but I have your present right here,â Ryan said, pulling a small red box with a bow on it from the nightstand.
âOh? Â You got me for secret santa? Â And you didnât even have to ask anyone what to get me, I bet. Lucky,â Ray said, taking the box from Ryan and popping it open. Â Immediately, Ray stopped talking. Â It was a necklace with two charms, a red rose and a black skull. Â Objectively, it was pretty badass, and Ray totally would have accepted it any day, said âsweet necklace, broâ and worn it every day for the rest of his life. Â But since the whole Ordeal Of Thirty Seconds Agoâą, he wasnât even sure what to say. Â
BrownMan and Vagabond had been partners in crime for six years. Â Four before Fake AH, and two with Fake AH. Â The red rose and the black skull had been graffitied on the walls of Los Santos together for six years. Â It was something they sometimes joked about, like getting friendship bracelets or matching tattoos or something. Â Theyâd considered starting a crew for a couple weeks once, and Ryan had created them a crew logo with the images easily.
Ray and Ryan, though? It should have been weird, shouldnât it? To take their relationship from basically platonic  to romantic? But it really wasnât.  It felt like⊠why havenât we been doing this for six years?  It felt like⊠maybe we have been in super gay love for six years and weâre both idiots?
âI do love you,â Ray told Ryan as Ryan put Rayâs necklace on for him. Â âMaybe I always have.â
âIsnât that kind of clichĂ©?â Ryan asked. Â
âYeah, you know that clichĂ©d story of two fucking murderers being partners for six years and finally realizing they were in Super Gay Loveâą the whole time,â Ray said sarcastically. âYeah, a total clichĂ©.  Every single Lifetime movie.  People are bored of hearing about it.â
âYou donât always have to point out how wrong I am,â Ryan told him. Â âYou can let some of them go.â
âNever have, never will,â Ray said stubbornly.
*
Geoff liked to think he was fairly observant. Â No one else would ever tell him any differently. Â (They wouldnât dare.)
When Ray and Ryan sprinted into the kitchen on Christmas morning to get some of the enormous breakfast Jack had cooked, Geoff couldnât say there was anything different about them. Ray had showed his necklace off a few days before, saying Ryan just couldnât wait for Christmas day to give it to him, and blushing. Â
Ryan bumped Ray purposefully out of the way of the fridge with his hip, grinning. Â Ray blushed. Â Ray blushed? Did Ray blush? Â Was that a thing Ray did? Â Then he pouted. Â Ray pouted? Did Ray pout? Â Was that a thing that Ray did? Â Ryan laughed and pressed a kiss into Rayâs hair. Â Ray blushed again. Â Maybe blushing was something Ray did do?
Wait, did Ryan always kiss Rayâs hair? Â Everyone knew they were a couple, but there was little to no actual evidence of them putting on public displays of affection. Â
Geoff Ramsey was very observant. Â He observed this. Â And he came to this conclusion: Â Ray Narvaez Jr, like many other humans, blushes, pouts, and gets hair kisses.
After breakfast, the crew each opened their gifts, with the exception of Ray, who sat in Ryanâs lap, as usual, and played with his necklace with a dumb grin on his face.
Jack opened her gift from Ray, it was a sweet vintage record player sheâd pointed out in the window of an antique shop once while they were on a heist. Â Ray and Ryan had been out enjoying the Christmas lights and fake snow, when they walked past the store and Ray remembered sheâd said she wished she had one. Â So he and Ryan had immediately held up the shop and taken it. Â Who the fuck paid for stuff if they didnât have to?
Jackâs gift was for Geoff. Sheâd gotten him three bottles of very expensive whiskey and a set of glasses with his initials engraved on them. âIf any of you motherfuckers breaks one of these glasses, Iâll punch you in the dick,â Geoff warned the rest of the crew. Â Michael made a joke about how Geoff should really keep the pleasure of breaking the glasses for himself. Â Geoff threw a punch at him and Michael ducked. Â The punch hit Gavin, and everyone laughed.
Geoff had drawn Jeremy, and known exactly what to get him. Â (Because Geoff is very observant. Â Obviously.) Jeremy was very pleased with his gift, four colors of neon hair dye, a package of gold star stickers, a bright green remote control toy monster truck, and a keychain with two things on it: a pewter cutout of the state of Massachusetts and a key to a Grotti X80 Proto, painted in Jeremyâs favorite âRimmy Timâ colors. Â Michael screamed in protest. Â âWelcome to the big leagues, Lil J,â Geoff said.
Even though that was clearly the big winner at the gathering, Jeremy presented his gift to Gavin hastily before excusing himself from the action around the coffee table to play with his remote control monster truck. Â Heâd gotten him a few different gold tone makeup things that Gavin had seen various advertisements for and whined about wanting for two straight weeks. Gavin gushed in all of his non-real British words about how great Jeremy was for ten straight minutes before Jack cut him off and made him present his gift.
Gavin had gotten Michael. Theyâd been best friends for so long, anyone would think Gavin would know exactly what Michael would want, but he hadnât had a clue. Â Weapons and bombs were too simple. Â He didnât need a new car, not since Geoff had bought him the chrome Adder (and therefore really had no room to complain about Jeremyâs new car, besides the fact that X80s were twice as expensive as Adders). Â What did you get your best friend for Christmas?
âGav, this box is empty,â Michael told him.
âYeah, I couldnât fit it,â Gavin said. Â Michael frowned at him.
âOkayâŠâ Michael said with a shrug.  âWhere is it?â
âOh, um⊠Dammit, hang on,â Gavin pulled his phone out of his pocket and started tapping away. Everyone was perplexed.  There was a knock on the penthouse door.  Everyone but Gavin could be seen trying to subtly count how many of them were already there, thus trying to figure out who was at the door.  âYou may want to get that, boi,â Gavin threw out, still texting.
Michael, perplexed, put his empty box down on the coffeetable, got up from the couch and jogged up the few stairs to the penthouse door. Â Throwing open the door, he saw â
âLindsay.â
âAyo,â Lindsay and Gavin said almost at the same time.
âYouâre here,â Michael said, shocked. Â âOh my God, I canât believe it.â Â He hugged her tightly, still standing in the doorway.
âAs it turns out, breaking someone out of prison is harder than it looks on paper,â Gavin told the rest of the crew. Â Lindsay had been in federal lockup for months on a (mostly factual) counterfeiting charge. Of all the things the feds were going to get on the Fakes, of course it was a fucking counterfeiting charge. Â Instead of keeping her in Los Santos where the crew could easily have broken her out, theyâd taken her to Washington, and every attempt at hacking even the security system at the place they were holding her had resulted in a completely fried computer on the Fakesâ end. Â Michael had pretty much given up all hope of ever seeing her again, and that wasnât something you lost easily.
âHow the fuck did you do that?!â Geoff asked Gavin, voice cracking in his shock. Â Gavin just gave Geoff a smug look of âdo not try to one-up me for the best present of the year, Geoffreyâ. Â Michael and Lindsay were still hugging in the doorway, having a whispered conversation no one else could hear but everyone assumed it was something like âI love you so much donât you fucking dare ever get arrested again Iâm so sorry I couldnât get you out we tried so hard linds I love you never leave me againâ.
âOnly one gift left, lads, whoâs it for?â Gavin changed the subject.
âItâs from Michael to Ryan,â Ray said, sliding onto the couch from Ryanâs lap so he could retrieve his present. Â âIâm guessing he wonât care if heâs not here to see you open it.â Â Ryan picked up the box to put it on his lap.
âItâs heavy,â he commented. Ray nodded, rolling his eyes. Ryan pulled the paper off and started laughing. Â The box was a 24 pack of Diet Coke. Â Nothing else, just that. Â âWow, this is the best present anyone could get me. Â Seriously. Â Itâs perfect.â
âNo one knows what to get you! Â You donât have favorites!â Ray exclaimed.
âDiet Coke!â Ryan protested.
âYeah, Diet Coke and Ray, thatâs all anyone knows about you,â Geoff said. Â âIâm fine with it. Â The longer I donât know whatâs going on in your head, the longer I can continue sleeping at night.â
Michael and Lindsay finally joined the rest of them in the living room, but not willing to separate themselves, as they sat down on either side of Gavin still holding hands.
âThanks boi,â Michael said to Gavin. Â Gavin just nodded. Â He already knew Michael was grateful. Â No thanks required. Â Itâs not like heâd worked on it double triple extra overtime for a month. Â Michael spotted the case of Diet Coke still in Ryanâs lap. Â âReally, Ray, Ryanâs entire life story at your disposal and Diet Coke was in that box? Â I could have fucking come up with that. Â Last time I trust you to do anything.â
Everyone started sending accusatory looks and phrases at Ray for helping Michael cheat at secret santa.
âReally? Â Iâm the one who gets yelled at for cheating at secret santa?â Ray asked. Â âGeoff had to call Gavin and ask him about, and I quote, âRimothy Timothyâ colors. Jack had Jeremy help her steal that whiskey. Â Iâm willing to bet Gavin didnât fucking break Lindsay out of prison without a substantial amount of help. Â Ryan gave me this necklace four fucking days ago. Â Michael was the one who begged me to help him, but no, Iâm the one getting the blame. Â Sure, fine.â
âItâs a great present and it doesnât matter if it came from you or Michael,â Ryan told him. Â âAnd you keep me out of this. Â I 3D printed that necklace myself.â
âWhen are you guys gonna get married already?â Gavin asked them with a frown.
âYeah, Matt and Trevor started a bet about Ryan proposing for Christmas,â Jeremy said.
âShh, thatâs New Yearâs,â Ryan joked.
âChrist,â Ray declared. âAt least take me to dinner first.â The joke confused everyone else in the room, but Ryan laughed, pulling Ray back into his lap, the Diet Coke banished to the floor. Â âOkay, maybe Iâll settle for delivery.â
Geoff Ramsey prided himself in being a very observant man. Â When Geoff Ramsey observed something, it was observed. Â Boom. Immediately. Â Nothing gets by Geoff. Â Except, apparently, Gavin breaking Lindsay out of prison, and the fact that Geoff couldnât for the life of him name one other time heâd ever seen Ray and Ryan actually kiss. Â He knew they must have, he had memories of it, but they were probably clouded over with alcohol or something that was preventing him from accessing them.
Geoff knew. Â Heâd observed it. Â It had been observed. Â Maybe he sometimes forgot stupid shit like who the fuck Rimmy Tim was, or where he left his car keys, but he knew exactly three things about Ryan Haywood: Â 1, Gavin was absolutely not allowed to ask him questions anymore, 2, Ryan was on this earth to drink diet coke and kick ass (watch out when he runs out of diet coke), and 3, Ryan Haywood, the Mad King, would ride or die for that punkass sniper with the pink guns and checkerboard vans.
107 notes
·
View notes