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‘Just the two of us, we can make it if we try
Just the two of us (just the two of us)
Just the two of us
Building castles in the sky
Just the two of us, you and I’
Ray had never really been one for dancing. He always found himself to be a bit too clumsy or awkward in his movements, or too preoccupied with trying not to step on the girl’s feet to enjoy himself.
But he truly couldn’t help himself when he saw you tapping your foot to the music on the radio. You had brought him lunch at the firehouse just like you did every Wednesday, when you knew he would be in the lab.
Sure, it wasn’t the most romantic place to eat lunch, or even the most intimate, but neither of you cared. You were just happy to have some time to spend together in the midst of your insanely busy lives.
Once he knew your hands were free of what you were doing as you cleaned up, he came over and swept you up in his arms, scoring a surprised gasp followed by a giggle from you. He didn’t often do surprises, but when he did, they were always sweet and incredibly pleasant.
“I thought you weren’t much for dancing?” You raised an eyebrow, more than happy to let him take your hand and hold your waist.
“Normally I’m not,” he said, “but you were dancing, so I thought I would join you.”
It was so cheesy, but you loved it. That was just the type of person Ray was; sweet, adorable, cheesy (and a great kisser, but that was another story). He twirled you around just to get another laugh out of you, which inevitably caused you to hang on to him even tighter.
“One of these days you’re going to drop me, and I’ll be all your own fault!” Your voice was a breathless giggle now, high pitched and happy.
“You really think I’d ever let that happen?” Ray retorted with a raising of one of his own defined, dark eyebrows. You rolled your eyes and nodded, unable to hide your grin.
“Of course not. If I fell I know you’d meet me down there in an instant.”
‘We look for love, no time for tears
Wasted water's all that is
And it don't make no flowers grow
Good things might come to those who wait
Not to those who wait too late
We got to go for all we know’
“You know, you’ve got some real rhythm. I don’t know why you’re worried,” you said, grinning up at Ray and earning one of those prize winning smiles from him.
“I was always worried about stepping on my partner’s feet before, I guess,” he said, and you moved to dance cheek to cheek with him.
“Well, you haven’t stepped on this girl’s toes yet, so keep it up.”
It was great when you could just goof around like this together. Ever since getting with Ray, you had come to realize that he was much more of a romantic than you’d ever expected. You didn’t mind one bit.
He was certainly a ‘flowers on your birthday’ type of guy. All of the women he met loved him to bits because he was so sweet, but you knew he only had eyes for you. You two were positively smitten with each other, and it was the first time in your life that you had ever had a relationship as healthy as this one.
Ray was enjoying the feeling of your soft, feminine body pressed against his own, feeling like he was sixteen all over again. Was this incredibly dorky? Maybe. But if you were enjoying it, he wasn’t about to stop.
You had started as a casual friend of all of the ghostbusters, having worked in the library at Columbia College. It had given you the chance to encounter them fairly often during their tenure there; you had known Ray was special the very first time he had asked for a book on undersea sponge migration and excitedly pointed to his name in the footnotes, telling you all about what he had observed and immediately grabbing your attention.
Ray thought of that moment now, holding you close and grinning to himself. Of all the girls in New York City, he had finally found one who would listen to his thirty minute long talks on ghosts and sponges AND who also happened to be very attractive. What luck.
Just for the hell of it, he moved to dip you, causing you to let out a loud laugh and cling to him again.
“Woah!” You yelped, a fit of giggles wracking your body as Bill Withers’s voice rang out from the radio beside you two. You couldn’t remember the last time you had had this much fun, and felt almost glad that today’s clothing choice was a dress. The skirt flowed around your knees as you and Ray milled about the expanse of the room.
“Am I Fred Astaire just yet?”
“Almost!” You glanced at the nearby doorway, knowing that Egon and Winston were probably nearby and wondering if they might come in anytime soon. “Are you sure Egon isn’t gonna be concerned about us dancing in here?”
“No way. Besides, he’s been fixing Janine’s computer for a while. I don’t know why it takes him so long to do that.” He shrugged. You were about to suggest something but decided against it, figuring you and Ray both had the same idea as you shared a knowing laugh.
Moments like these had really become special to you after the Gozer incident. In a way, you almost wanted to wrap Ray in bubble wrap and never let him go outside again, and on the other hand, you loved seeing him do what he did best. The bubble wrap could wait in the name of science, you supposed.
“What’s this week’s object to study?” You asked, viewing the project he had put on pause.
“This strange ectoplasm we found on a bust,” he said, your movements slowing a bit as you talked. It was purple, different from the clear and green samples you’d seen before. “It glows! I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“What have you found on it so far?”
“Not much, really. Just that whatever energy it was charged by in the beginning is what’s charging it now. Potent stuff. Hands off!”
He was teasing, of course, and you knew that.
“Darn, you foiled my plans for a taste test!”
He had to admit, he loved your sense of humor. You could tease him without crossing the line into being mean, and you could always tell when he needed some humor to lighten the mood.
The song was over soon enough, and Ray just couldn’t resist kissing you. He got so happy to just be near you that he was practically bursting at the seams, and you could’ve easily melted into a puddle just from how cute he was.
Gently pulling away, you were sure your cheeks were a bright and rosy shade of pink. Even after being together for so long, Ray still had that wonderful effect on you.
“Did I make you dizzy?” He asked, in reference to the dazed look in your eyes.
“Huh? Oh no, I’m fine! Just...that was really nice,” you said, both of you falling into a small bout of giggles. You stayed in his arms for a long time after this, without a care in the world until you checked your watch.
“Looks like we’d better get a move on, huh?” Ray said, reluctantly removing his arms from your waist.
“Don’t worry. We can learn the polka next time,” you teased him. “We really should dance like that more often, though. I mean, how often is it that you meet a dancing parapsychologist?”
“I might be able to pull up statistics on that if you’ll give me some time,” he said, in a way that you couldn’t tell was a joke at first before it ultimately made you laugh.
“I love when you talk scientifically,” feigning a sigh, you went to grab your jacket, giggling a bit as he put some sort of yellow cap on his head attached to a nearby machine with some rainbow tape. Some other tape also lead into the slime. “See you tonight?”
“You couldn’t keep me away,” the machine beeped and the slime glowed even brighter as he smiled at you, and he blushed this time, causing you to giggle and press a kiss to his temple. Ray was a nerd, but he was your nerd, and you wouldn’t have traded him for the world.