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Egon was deep in thought; Ray could tell by the way his friend stood perfectly still in the hallway, staring at nothing. The thought seemed to have come to Egon while he was on his way to the bathroom, dressed in a bathing robe and holding a towel and his pajamas over one arm. His face was expressionless, the occasional twitching of his fingers the only sign that Egon was still conscious.
Slowly Ray stepped into Egon’s line of sight. He tilted his head to one side, waving a hand slowly in front of his face, waiting until Egon seemed to awaken before speaking up. “You okay?” he asked.
“I just…” Egon frowned down at himself, looking around to get his bearings. “…I was getting a towel after getting the tub filled with water for a bath,” he finally said. “I was thinking and then I just…stopped.”
“Were they good thoughts?” Ray asked. Egon nodded and Ray smiled as he offered, “do you want me to help you so you can go back to your thoughts?”
Egon blushed, bowing his head as he shifted on his slippered feet. “I’m sure you have more important things to do, Raymond. Washing my hair isn’t one of them.”
“I like washing your hair,” Ray assured him. He smiled at the look that crossed Egon’s face and he helped nudge him over to the bathroom. “Go on. I’ll come in when I’m sure you’ve finished the rest of your bath to do your hair, okay?”
“Okay,” Egon agreed. He slipped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind himself. Ray listened closely and nodded when there was no click of the lock, a clear sign that Egon was allowing him to come in.
Ray walked over to his desk to look over some of his research. He had found some interesting looking symbols at one of their latest busts and he had some ideas of what they could mean. He just needed to figure out what these tablets said.
He gave Egon fifteen minutes before returning to the bathroom. He set a timer, ensuring he wouldn’t lose himself to his research and accidentally leave Egon alone. He knocked on the door twice with his knuckles before opening the door. “Ready?” he asked.
Egon sat with his back against the side of the tub. He looked up, offering Ray one of his rare smiles. He cleared his throat, shifting in the water as he seemingly pulled more bubbles to his side of the tub. “I’m ready,” he said, watching a small rubber duck float past him.
A small stool was kept in the bathroom under the sink. Ray took it and pulled it over, setting it down behind Egon. He sat down, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt before picking up the bottle of shampoo. “Ready?”
“Yes,” Egon nodded. His eyes fluttered when he felt Ray’s fingers run through his hair. He made a faint noise, tilting his head back to press against his hands, “…mmm…” Slowly his eyes started to close as Ray started to massage his scalp, his head feeling like it was emptying itself of distracting and stressful thoughts. All he had left was comforting mathematical formulas and ideas for improvements to their equipment and theories he would like to test.
Ray watched the way Egon’s stiff shoulders finally relaxed under his touch. He let his hands slide down, rubbing slow circles down the sides of his neck and over his shoulders. His thumbs worked over Egon’s shoulder blades, forcing him to let them relax so Ray could work out any knots he found. It was the lowest either was comfortable with going.
He then went back to doing Egon’s hair, working the shampoo into a thick foam. He used a cup to rinse the shampoo from his hair, mindful of not letting any of it run over Egon’s face. That had happened once back when they were in college and Egon’s reaction nearly ended in Ray with a broken nose. They had both grown since then but it was still good to be careful.
With Egon’s hair finished and now smelling strongly of strawberries; Ray gently hugged Egon around his neck, resting his chin on top of his wet head. He hummed softly, tapping his chest with the pads of his fingers in time with the song he was making up inside of his head.
Egon’s voice broke the silence after several long minutes, “Raymond?”
“Yes?”
“I would like to kiss you now before drying off and getting dressed for bed. My fingers are becoming wrinkled.”
Ray chuckled, letting Egon go so the other could turn slightly to be able to do as he wished. Egon kissed him with a practiced softness, water threatening to spill over the rim of the tub as Egon reached out to run a wet hand through Ray’s hair. Their tongues briefly touched, tasting each other. The kiss ended with their foreheads pressed together, eyes half-lidded in comfort with each other’s touch.
“I’ll see you inside,” Ray promised before standing up, putting the stool back under the sink. Egon watched him, waiting until Ray was out before standing up, unplugging the tub, and starting to dry himself off with a towel. By the time he came out, Ray was also dressed and ready for bed. Egon let his fingers brush against Ray’s as he walked past to get to his bed, humming along the way.
Peter had gone to bed before the other’s, nursing a bit of a post-busting celebratory bar crawl headache. His ears perked up when he heard Egon walk by his bed. “Someone is a happy boy,” Peter mumbled into his pillow, hugging it to his chest.
Winston raised an eyebrow, looking up from the magazine he was reading in bed. He could tell by the volume of the humming that Egon was very happy. He smiled to himself, turning back to his magazine, the bedroom of the Ghostbusters filled with Egon’s hums.