For Nakeisha: "Four TImes Ray Almost Proposed to Benny, and One Time He Did
Title: Four Times Ray Almost Proposed to Benny, and One Tme He Did
Author: Pixiecatfish
Recipient: nakeisha
Pairing & Rating: Fraser/Vecchio, R
Word count: 1,860
Summary: The best laid plans...
Disclaimer: I don't own them, but I love them.
Author's Notes: I have been wanting to write a "5 Times" story for a while now, and this gave me an excellent chance to do so. So thanks for the opportunity, Nakeisha!
1. Ray paced back and forth across Benny's apartment restlessly. He and Benny had a dinner date tonight; but it was going to be so much more than just a date. Tonight, he was going to propose to Benny.
Not that he and Benny could walk down the aisle and exchange formal vows or anything, but he wanted them to formally, officially make it known that they were going to spend the rest of their lives together.
This was the right thing to do and the right time to do it, he knew it was. Now if he could just get his pounding heart and shaking hands to get the message.
He heard the door open, and unbelievably, his heart started beating even faster. Ray took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He had to calm down and get a grip, or Benny would know something was up for sure.
"Hey Benny." He managed a nice normal smile as Benny walked into the apartment.
"Hello, Ray," Benny said, then started coughing.
"Benny," Ray asked, his nervousness disappearing under a wave of concern, "are you sick?"
"Of course not, Ray, I don't get sick."
"Uh-huh." He walked over to Benny and felt his forehead. "Then why do you have a fever?"
Benny pulled away in annoyance and headed over to the closet to change. "It's just a little cold, Ray, I'll be fine."
Ray sighed. "Benny," he said very reluctantly, "I don't think you should go out tonight. You should stay in and rest."
Benny turned to look at him. "But Ray, I thought you wanted to go out for a nice dinner."
"Like you wouldn't believe," Ray said.
With another sigh, he moved over to the dresser and pulled out a t-shirt and sweat pants. "But we can do it another night. Tonight we'll just stay home and relax. You put these on and get into bed and I'll go to that little place a few blocks over and get us some chicken soup."
Benny gave Ray a tiny, apologetic smile. "Thank you, Ray."
"No problem, Benny."
Ray left the apartment, closing the door behind him. As he headed down the stairs, he smiled ruefully and shook his head. It looked like he hadn't needed to be so nervous after all.
2. Ray smiled and hummed happily as he finished setting the table. Okay, so his plans a couple of weeks ago had been ruined, but everything was set for tonight to be perfect. He and Benny were both strong and healthy, no urgent cases or neighbors in need, his family and friends were warned, under threat of dire pain, against calling him on his cell phone.
Ray put the last fork in place, adjusted the flowers in the vase, and stood back to admire his handiwork. Perfect. The bare wooden table was covered in a beautiful white linen tablecloth, and was set with his Mother's best china and silver, and dinner was just finishing cooking in the oven, and smelling delicious.
Benny entered the apartment, and a delighted, surprised smile lit up his face. "What is all this, Ray?"
"What, I can't make a nice dinner for my boyfriend?"
"Of course you can," Benny grinned. He gave Ray a kiss. "Thank you."
Ray just smiled and moved to take dinner out of the oven as the timer went off.
Benny hurried and changed, then helped Ray set the meal on the table. Ray turned on some soft romantic music and the two men sat down to eat.
As they ate, Ray kept thinking about the perfect moment to ask Benny "the big question."
Suddenly there was a scrabbling noise on the fire escape and then Diefenbaker entered the apartment through the window.
Benny raised an eyebrow at his wolf. "And where have you been, young man? You're rather-" he broke off suddenly, his eyes widening in horror.
Ray felt his eyes water, and he gagged slightly.
A horrible, foul stench was radiating off of Dief very strongly. Benny stepped up to his wolf, then spun back around, his eyes watering.
"What the hell dumpster have you been in," Ray gasped out.
"Ray, I'm so sorry, but he'll have to be bathed," Benny said through his shirt collar, which he had pulled up to cover his nose and mouth.
"Yeah," Ray gasped in agreement, "right away."
Benny went into the bathroom to get the dog shampoo and old towels he used to wash Diefenbaker, then came back into the kitchen. He looked at the table and their half-eaten meal with regret.
"Oh, Ray. Our lovely, romantic, dinner."
"Yeah, the wolf sure knows how to ruin a mood."
"I'm so sorry."
"Not your fault," Ray assured him.
Benny turned away, heading for the door, and Ray glared down at Dief.
"You are so not going to be my best man," he hissed, then followed after Benny, leading Diefenbaker towards the bathroom.
3. Ray knew a sign from God when he got one. Or two. His plans for a proposal during a fancy, romantic dinner were obviously not meant to be. But who needed fancy to be romantic?
This place could be romantic in its own downscale, cliched way. They were at Ray's favorite Italian restaurant. It was small, family owned, and had red checkered table cloths, candles in old Chianti bottles, big menus in red leatherette covers, music playing on a jukebox from the 1950s, and absolutely delicious food.
Yeah, this was fine. This was great. This was how it was meant to be after all. Just like he and Benny were meant to be.
Benny looked at him, his eyes glowing in the candlelight. "What are you smiling about, Ray?"
"You. And me. Us."
"Oh," Benny said, his smile deepening.
"As a matter of fact..."
At that moment Ray was interrupted by a deep, very loud voice at the door.
"FREEZE!" Bellowed a man in a ski mask, holding a gun. "Nobody move!"
As the other patrons screamed, and Benny stood up and slowly headed towards the gunman, no doubt ready to tell him an Inuit story, Ray let his head fall to the table. "I don't fucking believe this."
4. Ray smiled in perfect contentment as he held Benny in his arms and the two of them swayed gently to the music floating out to the balcony from the ballroom. The Consulate was having a big party for some Canadian bigwig in town, and Ray had been invited as Benny's guest.
Of course, Benny had spent much of the earlier part of the evening working, greeting guests and making sure everything went smoothly with dinner. But about half an hour ago, he had managed to get time away from his duties. He had snuck off to a corner table with Ray to eat, then they had slipped away to the balcony where they were free to dance with each other.
Ray slid his arms down to Benny's waist and pulled him into a kiss.
After a few moments, Benny pulled away with a happy sigh. "Mmmm," he said, resting his head on Ray's shoulder, "this is a perfect night."
"Yeah, it is," Ray agreed. Suddenly, an idea came to him, and he felt his heart bump against his ribs.
"Benny," he said, trying his best to sound casual, "there's something I've been wanting to ask you for a while now."
"Mmm," Benny said, "what's that?"
"Well..."
"There you are, Constable Fraser." Constable Turnbull's panicked voice intruded into their moment, and into their world, and Ray swore under his breath.
"The French Ambassador's wife wants her promised dance with you, there is yet another crisis with the caterers, and Inspector Thatcher is considerably upset. You're needed inside right away."
Benny actually sighed out loud. "All right, Constable Turnbull." He gave Ray a regretful smile, then headed back into the ballroom and his duty.
Ray remained behind, glaring at Turnbull and wondering what the punishment was for throwing a Canadian off of a balcony.
5. Ray sat behind the wheel of the Riv, feeling that unique combination of boredom and tension that only a big important stakeout could bring. He could feel the tension all around him, from Benny in the seat next to him and from the other cars parked around them, even though he couldn't see them.
He and ten other detectives were staking out a warehouse, where a large drug bust was expected to do down very shortly. He and the rest of the Chicago detectives were mainly playing back up roles; going in and collecting evidence after the arrests had been made; then cataloging it so everything would go smoothly at trial and some very bad men would go away for a very long time.
Ray wasn't ashamed to admit that he was more than happy to take a back seat in this case. He looked over at Benny and smiled. He was glad Benny wouldn't be in the line of fire, either, even though the Mountie had proven himself very capable of looking after himself in the past.
Benny looked at Ray and returned his smile.
"This is the perfect Friday night, eh Benny?"
Benny shrugged. "I'm with you, Ray, so I can't complain."
Ray smiled at shook his head. Benny could be such a sap sometimes. He leaned his head back against his headrest with a sigh. "Yeah."
Sappy or not, Benny had a point. All he really needed or wanted from life was to have Benny with him, always. Boring, edgy stakeout, quiet night at home, struggling for survival in the Canadian wilderness... he could handle anything as long as Benny was with him.
Ray laughed. And he called Benny a sap!
"What, Ray," Benny asked, his mouth quirking up into a grin; ready to share in the joke.
Ray shook his head. "It's nothing, Benny. It's..." He broke off and just stared at Benny for a minute.
"Marry me," he suddenly blurted.
Benny's eyes widened in shock. "Excuse me?"
"Marry me," Ray repeated.
Benny's mouth opened and closed a couple of times, but no words came out.
"I know this seems very sudden and out of the blue, but it's really not." Ray was talking fast, hoping to stave off the no he feared might be coming from Benny. "We know we belong together, we know we're going to spend the rest of our lives together, let's make it official. Unofficially.
"Benny, we-"
He was interrupted by a sudden flurry of movement outside the warehouse and the crackling of voices over the police radio. The feds were leading the suspects out in handcuffs, and the Chicago cops were getting out of their cars, heading towards the warehouse, the drudgery of their upcoming task currently forgotten under the wave of giddy relief of a good bust ended safely.
Benny and Ray fell in step with the other cops, Ray cursing his luck and the fates under his breath.
"Ray?"
"Yeah, Benny?" Ray looked over at his lover, and suddenly his breath caught in his throat. Benny's smile was radiant and beautiful, even in the dim and distorted light of the alley.
"Yes."
THE END
Author: Pixiecatfish
Recipient: nakeisha
Pairing & Rating: Fraser/Vecchio, R
Word count: 1,860
Summary: The best laid plans...
Disclaimer: I don't own them, but I love them.
Author's Notes: I have been wanting to write a "5 Times" story for a while now, and this gave me an excellent chance to do so. So thanks for the opportunity, Nakeisha!
1. Ray paced back and forth across Benny's apartment restlessly. He and Benny had a dinner date tonight; but it was going to be so much more than just a date. Tonight, he was going to propose to Benny.
Not that he and Benny could walk down the aisle and exchange formal vows or anything, but he wanted them to formally, officially make it known that they were going to spend the rest of their lives together.
This was the right thing to do and the right time to do it, he knew it was. Now if he could just get his pounding heart and shaking hands to get the message.
He heard the door open, and unbelievably, his heart started beating even faster. Ray took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He had to calm down and get a grip, or Benny would know something was up for sure.
"Hey Benny." He managed a nice normal smile as Benny walked into the apartment.
"Hello, Ray," Benny said, then started coughing.
"Benny," Ray asked, his nervousness disappearing under a wave of concern, "are you sick?"
"Of course not, Ray, I don't get sick."
"Uh-huh." He walked over to Benny and felt his forehead. "Then why do you have a fever?"
Benny pulled away in annoyance and headed over to the closet to change. "It's just a little cold, Ray, I'll be fine."
Ray sighed. "Benny," he said very reluctantly, "I don't think you should go out tonight. You should stay in and rest."
Benny turned to look at him. "But Ray, I thought you wanted to go out for a nice dinner."
"Like you wouldn't believe," Ray said.
With another sigh, he moved over to the dresser and pulled out a t-shirt and sweat pants. "But we can do it another night. Tonight we'll just stay home and relax. You put these on and get into bed and I'll go to that little place a few blocks over and get us some chicken soup."
Benny gave Ray a tiny, apologetic smile. "Thank you, Ray."
"No problem, Benny."
Ray left the apartment, closing the door behind him. As he headed down the stairs, he smiled ruefully and shook his head. It looked like he hadn't needed to be so nervous after all.
2. Ray smiled and hummed happily as he finished setting the table. Okay, so his plans a couple of weeks ago had been ruined, but everything was set for tonight to be perfect. He and Benny were both strong and healthy, no urgent cases or neighbors in need, his family and friends were warned, under threat of dire pain, against calling him on his cell phone.
Ray put the last fork in place, adjusted the flowers in the vase, and stood back to admire his handiwork. Perfect. The bare wooden table was covered in a beautiful white linen tablecloth, and was set with his Mother's best china and silver, and dinner was just finishing cooking in the oven, and smelling delicious.
Benny entered the apartment, and a delighted, surprised smile lit up his face. "What is all this, Ray?"
"What, I can't make a nice dinner for my boyfriend?"
"Of course you can," Benny grinned. He gave Ray a kiss. "Thank you."
Ray just smiled and moved to take dinner out of the oven as the timer went off.
Benny hurried and changed, then helped Ray set the meal on the table. Ray turned on some soft romantic music and the two men sat down to eat.
As they ate, Ray kept thinking about the perfect moment to ask Benny "the big question."
Suddenly there was a scrabbling noise on the fire escape and then Diefenbaker entered the apartment through the window.
Benny raised an eyebrow at his wolf. "And where have you been, young man? You're rather-" he broke off suddenly, his eyes widening in horror.
Ray felt his eyes water, and he gagged slightly.
A horrible, foul stench was radiating off of Dief very strongly. Benny stepped up to his wolf, then spun back around, his eyes watering.
"What the hell dumpster have you been in," Ray gasped out.
"Ray, I'm so sorry, but he'll have to be bathed," Benny said through his shirt collar, which he had pulled up to cover his nose and mouth.
"Yeah," Ray gasped in agreement, "right away."
Benny went into the bathroom to get the dog shampoo and old towels he used to wash Diefenbaker, then came back into the kitchen. He looked at the table and their half-eaten meal with regret.
"Oh, Ray. Our lovely, romantic, dinner."
"Yeah, the wolf sure knows how to ruin a mood."
"I'm so sorry."
"Not your fault," Ray assured him.
Benny turned away, heading for the door, and Ray glared down at Dief.
"You are so not going to be my best man," he hissed, then followed after Benny, leading Diefenbaker towards the bathroom.
3. Ray knew a sign from God when he got one. Or two. His plans for a proposal during a fancy, romantic dinner were obviously not meant to be. But who needed fancy to be romantic?
This place could be romantic in its own downscale, cliched way. They were at Ray's favorite Italian restaurant. It was small, family owned, and had red checkered table cloths, candles in old Chianti bottles, big menus in red leatherette covers, music playing on a jukebox from the 1950s, and absolutely delicious food.
Yeah, this was fine. This was great. This was how it was meant to be after all. Just like he and Benny were meant to be.
Benny looked at him, his eyes glowing in the candlelight. "What are you smiling about, Ray?"
"You. And me. Us."
"Oh," Benny said, his smile deepening.
"As a matter of fact..."
At that moment Ray was interrupted by a deep, very loud voice at the door.
"FREEZE!" Bellowed a man in a ski mask, holding a gun. "Nobody move!"
As the other patrons screamed, and Benny stood up and slowly headed towards the gunman, no doubt ready to tell him an Inuit story, Ray let his head fall to the table. "I don't fucking believe this."
4. Ray smiled in perfect contentment as he held Benny in his arms and the two of them swayed gently to the music floating out to the balcony from the ballroom. The Consulate was having a big party for some Canadian bigwig in town, and Ray had been invited as Benny's guest.
Of course, Benny had spent much of the earlier part of the evening working, greeting guests and making sure everything went smoothly with dinner. But about half an hour ago, he had managed to get time away from his duties. He had snuck off to a corner table with Ray to eat, then they had slipped away to the balcony where they were free to dance with each other.
Ray slid his arms down to Benny's waist and pulled him into a kiss.
After a few moments, Benny pulled away with a happy sigh. "Mmmm," he said, resting his head on Ray's shoulder, "this is a perfect night."
"Yeah, it is," Ray agreed. Suddenly, an idea came to him, and he felt his heart bump against his ribs.
"Benny," he said, trying his best to sound casual, "there's something I've been wanting to ask you for a while now."
"Mmm," Benny said, "what's that?"
"Well..."
"There you are, Constable Fraser." Constable Turnbull's panicked voice intruded into their moment, and into their world, and Ray swore under his breath.
"The French Ambassador's wife wants her promised dance with you, there is yet another crisis with the caterers, and Inspector Thatcher is considerably upset. You're needed inside right away."
Benny actually sighed out loud. "All right, Constable Turnbull." He gave Ray a regretful smile, then headed back into the ballroom and his duty.
Ray remained behind, glaring at Turnbull and wondering what the punishment was for throwing a Canadian off of a balcony.
5. Ray sat behind the wheel of the Riv, feeling that unique combination of boredom and tension that only a big important stakeout could bring. He could feel the tension all around him, from Benny in the seat next to him and from the other cars parked around them, even though he couldn't see them.
He and ten other detectives were staking out a warehouse, where a large drug bust was expected to do down very shortly. He and the rest of the Chicago detectives were mainly playing back up roles; going in and collecting evidence after the arrests had been made; then cataloging it so everything would go smoothly at trial and some very bad men would go away for a very long time.
Ray wasn't ashamed to admit that he was more than happy to take a back seat in this case. He looked over at Benny and smiled. He was glad Benny wouldn't be in the line of fire, either, even though the Mountie had proven himself very capable of looking after himself in the past.
Benny looked at Ray and returned his smile.
"This is the perfect Friday night, eh Benny?"
Benny shrugged. "I'm with you, Ray, so I can't complain."
Ray smiled at shook his head. Benny could be such a sap sometimes. He leaned his head back against his headrest with a sigh. "Yeah."
Sappy or not, Benny had a point. All he really needed or wanted from life was to have Benny with him, always. Boring, edgy stakeout, quiet night at home, struggling for survival in the Canadian wilderness... he could handle anything as long as Benny was with him.
Ray laughed. And he called Benny a sap!
"What, Ray," Benny asked, his mouth quirking up into a grin; ready to share in the joke.
Ray shook his head. "It's nothing, Benny. It's..." He broke off and just stared at Benny for a minute.
"Marry me," he suddenly blurted.
Benny's eyes widened in shock. "Excuse me?"
"Marry me," Ray repeated.
Benny's mouth opened and closed a couple of times, but no words came out.
"I know this seems very sudden and out of the blue, but it's really not." Ray was talking fast, hoping to stave off the no he feared might be coming from Benny. "We know we belong together, we know we're going to spend the rest of our lives together, let's make it official. Unofficially.
"Benny, we-"
He was interrupted by a sudden flurry of movement outside the warehouse and the crackling of voices over the police radio. The feds were leading the suspects out in handcuffs, and the Chicago cops were getting out of their cars, heading towards the warehouse, the drudgery of their upcoming task currently forgotten under the wave of giddy relief of a good bust ended safely.
Benny and Ray fell in step with the other cops, Ray cursing his luck and the fates under his breath.
"Ray?"
"Yeah, Benny?" Ray looked over at his lover, and suddenly his breath caught in his throat. Benny's smile was radiant and beautiful, even in the dim and distorted light of the alley.
"Yes."
THE END