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“You wanna do what?”
“I wanna spend the day doing pretend wintery things together,” Ray says, explaining himself better than when he’d originally announced to Joel that he wanted to walk outside, and fall face first into the nonexistent snow.
“And you want to do this why?”
“Oh, well if you don’t wanna that’s cool too. We can stay here, do the usual gaming thing. It was just kind of an idea…” Ray trails off, avoiding the question and faking a dejected look so Joel will give in.
Which he does, feeling bad about how easily he had apparently put a damper on Ray’s day.
“No, no I didn't say that. Yeah, alright let’s… try and make this work I guess. Could be fun,” Joel quickly saves, watching Ray’s mood pick right back up again.
He rolls his eyes when he realizes he’s fallen for his boyfriend’s ploy but doesn't push Ray any further on why he wants to do this, just choosing to go along with it.
-
After a bit of brainstorming in the car Joel comes up with a plan to go surfing. Ray stares at his boyfriend like he’s gone absolutely insane until Joel explains what he’s thinking, “look, surfing is as close to snowboarding as we can get here in Austin.”
It makes sense and Ray pulls out his phone to search for a place they could go while Joel pulls out of their parking spot. He decides on an outdoor simulated surfing center. Apparently there’s a spot on a beach thirty minutes away that has a machine set up where the water flows through, and you can learn how to surf.
Ray reads Joel the directions and they start the car ride to their destination. “Sounds good, now what’s after surfing? Some hot chocolate from that new café?” Joel asks, glancing over at Ray from the driver’s seat.
“Nah, why waste good money when we got that shit at home? I say we head for some skating and then call it day. Oh and I hope you have cash on you, cause this place is not cheap.”
“Shit, no. Ugh, let’s go the bank first,” Joel groans, taking a detour two streets left to the bank for some cash.
Ray goes in with him and they each pull out sixty dollars; enough to split the cost of covering the day’s activities. They get into the car, driving back onto the road, headed for the upcoming highway.
The drive is pretty boring so they make the best with what they can. “I spy,” Joel blurts out once they've hit the third red light in five minutes.
“Huh?” Ray asks, pulling himself out of the daze he was in. What’s Joel talking about now?
“I spy,” Joel says again, “c’mon, don’t tell me there’s such an age gap that you missed I spy!”
“Ohh, man no, I know those books! They were the shit when I was in elementary school.”
He remembers the solid two weeks the class was obsessed with the game. They would take any chance they could get to pull out their borrowed books from the library and try to find the items.
“Alright good, let’s play a round,” Joel instructs, “you start.”
Ray smiles and looks around, relieved to have some sort of entertainment for the drive besides just talking. He spots a woman in a white coat, walking up the sidewalk just ahead. Alright, that’s too easy. Instead, he picks the small black dog beside her.
“I spy with my little eye, something that is black,” he announces, waiting for Joel to come up with an answer.
He watches the man’s eyes scan the roads and trees around them.
“The jeep?” Joel tries, keeping his eyes on the road as they start moving again, catching up to the woman.
“Nope. One more shot.”
“That... dog?” Joel guesses.
“Bingo. Ok, your turn,” Ray says, looking down at his lap so as not to cheat.
“I spy with my little eye, something that is blue,” Joel finally says. He had paused to look around the car this time, figuring Ray would only be looking at stuff on the outside.
“What? Uh, fuck I don’t see anything. The sky?”
“Eeh wrong,” Joel tells him, imitating the noise of a buzzer.
“That glove on the road!” Ray shouts, thinking he’s got it.
“Nope, not that either.”
“You've gotta be cheating there’s literally nothing else,” Ray exclaims, slouching in his seat.
“Literally Ray, really? What’s on top of your head?” Joel asks mockingly, chuckling when Ray pulls his blue hat off of his head.
“Oh,” he mutters, pulling the hat back on and crossing his arms, pouting for a minute before reaching over to turn on the radio. He skims through the stations until he hears a cover of “White Christmas” being screamed through some pop punk cover.
“Perfect,” he jokes, watching Joel grimace as he turns up the volume.
“Ray, I swear to God, turn that shit off or I am pulling the car over. I think my ears are bleeding into my skull and in seconds will come out of my nose.”
Ray laughs, clutching his stomach as he leans forward in his seat belt. Nice, he thinks sarcastically, picturing the pleasant image Joel has just placed into his head. He weakly reaches an arm out and presses the button, shutting off the radio.
He can’t be bothered to look for a different station, nothing can top that.
The next little while is silent, they kind of enjoy the scenery as they drive through the area. It’s all new to them, Joel just following the directions they had printed. Ray chuckles to himself at a pun he remembers reading online the other day. Deciding on telling him as one last thing to annoy him, before they arrive.
“Hey, Joel, how did Scrooge win the football game?”
“Hm? Oh uh, is this some kind of dumb riddle? I don’t know, how?”
“The ghost of Christmas passed. Get it, like past but he passed the ball,” Ray chuckles, watching Joel close his eyes and bang his head on the wheel quickly.
They pull into the parking space and when Joel parks Ray practically rips his seatbelt off, jumping out of the car.
-
After they pay and get on the boards they immediately wipe out, one after the other. The people working there instruct them on the proper footing and positioning. Joel thinks he’s going to get a laugh out of Ray not being able to stay on and ride the small generated waves, but Ray’s really good.
He’s surprised until he remembers that the kid long boards to get around when Joel can’t take him in the car. Ray enjoys the perk of his experience and is kind of glad he has this instead of a license.
Before long they’re seeing who can stay on the longest. Shocker, Ray wins, beating Joel by a minute and twenty four seconds. He narrows his eyes when Joel admits his earlier thoughts about Ray being terrible at it because of his poor balance.
Ray pushes him over into the water, jumping out of the display and onto the solid granules of the sand. Joel, in retaliation, scoops up some water and sand in his hands, splashing Ray with it.
The workers don’t take too kindly to their messing around and tell them that their time is up, even though Joel knows they've got at least another twenty minutes. They do leave but mostly because they’re anxious to get onto the next activity.
As they head back to the parking lot, Joel shakes his hair out so the water droplets will come off. Ray laughs, “you’re like a wet dog,” he tells him, reaching up and ruffling Joel’s wild hair. It’s hot outside and the sun’s doing a great job of blinding them.
“For your sake and mine I’m just going to ignore that. Now, where can we go skating?”
“Um,” Ray pulls out his phone, opening the door with his other hand and getting into the car. Joel does the same and waits while Ray looks up places on his phone.
“So, it turns out the ice rink is closed today. Ugh. What’s a good alternative?” Ray asks, disappointedly.
They sit there for a few minutes before Joel comes up with something, “why don’t we go home and you can... get out your long boards.”
Ray’s mouth falls open at the suggestion, Joel always makes it a point to never get on one of his boards. He always says that it’s dangerous and stupid and that he’d rather just watch Ray. Ironic, right?
“Are you serious? Joel, I swear man if you’re fucking with me-”
“I’m not, I’m not. I’ll do it,” he tells Ray, smiling when Ray leans over the console to press a kiss on his cheek. Ray returns to his own side, buckles his seatbelt and give a small fist pump in victory.
-
“Okay, so, put your feet on the board, one facing the tip and one facing me,” Ray instructs, giving Joel a rundown of how he can steer the board. Joel wobbles, grabbing out to Ray for support. He grumbles at the fact that he’s wearing a helmet, even though it was his own preference, because even though he wanted to be safe, he looks like a fucking idiot.
“Now, put the one facing me on the ground, turn towards the tip and push.”
Joel does, using one foot to push himself forward while Ray walks along beside him, helping him find his balance. They go over it a few times, Ray eventually letting go of Joel’s hands so he can do it without his help.
“Good. Now, I’m gonna get on my board, just keep your feet on yours and hold my hand. All you have to do is be able to steer, like I showed you.”
“Oh god, I’m gonna regret this. Just don’t go too fast, please,” Joel groans, positioning himself on the board and grabbing Ray’s hand, linking their fingers and giving it a squeeze. He trusts Ray, sort of.
Ray gets on his board, pushing off three times to get them going, pulling Joel along with him as they skate down the road. “We’re gonna make the left here and go around the block,” Joel hears Ray tell him, leaning left with him once they reach the right point.
Ray turns his head slightly and shoots Joel a reassuring smile before turning back to the front and kicking off again, effectively speeding them up. Oh god, Joel thinks, tightening his grip on Ray and struggling to keep his center of balance on the small plywood board.
The next turn goes less easily and Joel almost scrapes into the sidewalk when he leans, luckily Ray notices and pulls him into the street a bit so he can straighten himself out before returning to the side of the road. They skate the next two corners fine and end up back in front of the house. Ray gets off his board and gives Joel a hug even though he’s still standing on his.
The height difference is cute and Joel smiles at how happy he’s made his boyfriend. “Alright, alright,” he says, wrapping an arm around Ray’s shoulders and ruffling his hair with the other as he steps off the board, “let’s go inside and finish off this wintery day.”
-
Ray shivers happily, two things he’d never pictured himself doing at the same time. He’s turned up their air conditioner to almost the coldest setting and closed all two windows in the apartment, to make it feel chillier. He knows it wouldn't get this bad in Austin so the man settles for forcibly changing the temperature.
He’s also taken the liberty of slipping into of his pullover hoodie for some warmth while Joel occupies himself with making them some drinks.
“It’s done,” Joel calls out from the kitchen, walking into the bedroom with two cups of hot chocolate. He reminds Ray not to take a sip yet as it’s still hot and the younger man tends to act on impulse when it comes to food.
“Thanks,” Ray tells him, accepting the warm mug from his boyfriend and cradling it between to hands, “also, I was trying to figure out how to build a blanket fort and… I've got nothing.”
Joel purses his lips, trying to come up with a solution. “Why don’t we just get the extra set of sheets, hang them over the bed posts and get under the comforter?”
Ray sits there, processing the idea and considering the success rate before agreeing, “sounds like a plan.”
Joel follows him into the bedroom and they set their mugs down on the side table before tackling the sheets into a somewhat manageable fort. It falls down a few times but they secure the sheets to the bed posts with some rubber bands and it works out.
“After you,” Joel says, lifting the sheet for Ray to climb under and onto the bed.
Ray shakes his head at Joel’s silly antics but gets in anyway. Joel climbs in behind him and they cross their legs, seated opposite of each other.
“Okay, now what? What do people even do in these things?” Joel asks, trying not to sound offensive.
“Um….” Ray thinks aloud, before raising his eyebrows. He clambers over Joel to their bedside table, reaching into the drawer and fishing out their DS’s. He returns to his previous position and holds them out as an offering of what to do.
Joel shrugs but pushes the devices out of Ray’s grip, instead grabbing Ray’s wrists and pulling them up to his chest. He rests their foreheads together and gives him a peck on the lips, just holding him in that position.
“So, you gonna tell me the reason behind today’s winter activities?” Joel asks, looking at Ray’s eyes close and taking note of the puff of air that comes from his boyfriend’s nostrils.
“There’s no big reason, Joel, just felt like it. Read a post online that-” Ray opens his eyes and sees the look in Joel’s eyes, “and I’m not fooling you, am I?”
Joel shakes his head and Ray pulls back, rolling his wrists so Joel will let go. He pulls his arms into the sleeves of his hoodie and gives in, “I know I've lived here for a while and we've done Christmas together before, but honestly I was thinking about home, the snow in New York and winter memories so I thought we should make our own. Or some bullshit like that...” he trails off awkwardly.
“Who are you and what have you done with my unsentimental couch potato of a boyfriend?” Joel jokes, steadying his mug when Ray shoves his arm lightly.
Ray scoots back to lean against the backboard of the bed, covering his face in embarrassment., but still smiles into his sleeves when Joel moves to sit beside him. He presses a kiss to Ray’s temple and throws both arms around the younger man’s middle, pulling him sideways onto his lap.
“Ray,” Joel says, tone unreadable, and Ray takes a few seconds before he removes his hands and looks up.
When he does, Joel’s lips are on his own, smooth and sweet, like the chocolatey beverage they’d been sipping on earlier. He smiles a little, kissing back softly and moving his hands to Joel’s shoulders, turning himself in the man’s lap so they’re facing each other.
As kissing progresses to making out, Joel slips his hands under Ray’s hoodie and Ray shivers at the tingle of his boyfriend's fingers on his skin. They’re slightly warm from the heat being created under the cover in the small space, and they feel great rubbing gently against the sensitive skin of his sides.
He pulls back from the kiss for a bit of air and leans against Joel, resting his head on the man’s shoulder.
“Merry Christmas Eve, Eve, Joel.”
“Merry almost Christmas, Ray.”