speakscanadian | [truth plot] Asher

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[truth plot] Asher

In all his time on the island, this was the first that Ray had stood within the orchard overlooking the garden. He'd needed a quiet place to think, where he wouldn't risk questions coming at him left, right and centre. After badgering Danica for twenty minutes in the morning, he'd made the nasty discovery that he too was a pawn in the island's antics today. The trees provided the kind of cover he needed.

Not that he was hiding. He wasn't the one that had been hiding anything.

Groaning when he realised he was still thinking about it, Ray tipped his head back and took a deep breath. Overhanging leaves filled his vision, all fresh and bursting with color. It was pretty depressing, considering how he was feeling inside.

Asher had bitten Stephen and he'd shot a bear. The words had come out of his own mouth. And still he'd lied about Rorshach, despite those confessions. Granted, Ray and he hadn't been on the best of terms back then, but he had had every opportunity to come clean since.

Maybe he shouldn't have been surprised. Maybe deep down he'd known all along and had decided it wasn't a big enough deal to stop him getting closer to Asher. If that was the case, then it was all on Ray.

Dropping his head, he walked aimlessly amongst the trees towards the pathway. He'd spent most of his life relying on his hunches but it had only taken one man, this man, to stop him doing what he did best. Instinct was key to avoiding mistakes but Ray had stopped listening to his. He'd thought he'd been following it when he'd brushed aside his uncertainties and let himself fall for Asher but perhaps he'd hadn't. Maybe he'd been wrong. Maybe.

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"I will," Ray started indignantly, the last word drawn out in his surprise at not being able to finish the sentence with 'not'. He hoped Asher got that it was a reluctant agreement.

"Fine, but before I zip it," he moved his hand to the side of his face, so he could continue walking without tripping over, "think of an activity we can do where I'm quiet and can keep my eyes closed. Looking at you makes me want to say things."

"Pin the tale on the donkey," Asher offered. Ray never said anything about offering up a good activity. "With a gag."

Ray took a moment before answering to make sure his tongue didn't run away with him. Asking which one of them would be the donkey probably wasn't the best response.

After a long beat, he replied: "How about we nap. I could do with sleeping off my residual rage."

"That's almost as juvenile as my suggestion," he said, but he didn't dismiss the idea. "I'm not sure I want to get into bed with a guy who's harboring residual rage that's related to me."

"You could make an exception for me," Ray replied, then nodded into the distance as Danica's outdoor lounger came into view. "We could do it in public. That'll keep you safe."

"You know better than anyone that time of day doesn't matter. You've never been to a crime scene in the middle of the day?" Despite all of that, Asher still followed. The only thing he was semi-worried about was Danica happening by, but he'd deal with that when/if it happened.

"You're armed. I'm not. I'd say that gives you the advantage." Not that Asher would need to use the gun. Ray might kick every now and then in his sleep but he wasn't about to unconsciously strangle the man. "And I have. Been to a crime scene in the middle of the day." Obviously; but he still felt compelled to point it out.

"I know," he answered. The only way Ray wouldn't have seen one was if he'd been fighting the good fight by riding a desk back home for the CPD, which Asher doubted was the case.

"Great." It was clear which part of his last comment Ray thought Asher was agreeing with, especially when he reached out and caught one of Asher's fingers with his own to pull him the rest of the way to the daybed.

"Then you also know there's nothing to pretend to be scared of," he finished, brushing a leaf off the bed with his free hand.

"Not true." As long as the both of them still didn't have full control over what came out of their mouths then there was plenty for him to be scared of.

A puff of laughter came out Ray's nose. "I'm not gonna attack you while we sleep, Asher, residual rage or no." With a look of exasperated amusement, he added, "You waitin' for me to put you onto this bed with me? Because I'm down with manhandling, so I will." He squeezed Asher's finger a little tighter as proof, wrapping his own around a few more so he had a better hold.

"You have a strange idea of foreplay," Asher said as he took a seat on the edge of the bed. "And I'm not worried about that. I could take you without the gun."

"As long as knees are banned too, I'd like to see you try," Ray half smirked, wincing in his head at bad memories, as he dropped down on the bed as well.

Shucking off his jacket, he leaned back onto his elbows and looked out at the trees, sucking in a long breath only to release it with a sigh. He was still avoiding looking Asher directly in the eye.

"You shouldn't be worried about saying stuff." Whatever criticisms Asher might have about him or his behavior to date, Ray hoped that he'd be mature enough to take them and deal with them. "This is the one time you get to say exactly what you want, one hundred percent the truth, with an excellent excuse at the end of it."

"I usually do say what I want. That's got nothing to do with being forced to spew the truth." If it were that simple, then Ray wouldn't be so worried about looking at him. "You say what you don't want, too, but it's still the truth."

Asher clearly had a better track record than Ray did when it came to saying what he meant. Ray's record so far was sincerely lagging behind.

"Then what're you worried about, if it's not that?" It took him a long moment to hear his own words back and he gaped for a second at Asher. "I'm sorry." He started wriggling quickly up the bed as if he hadn't asked a thing. "Nap time."

"I'm not sure yet," Asher answered, glaring over at Ray. "Considering how great you're doing at keeping quiet that probably won't last too long."

"What? I'm almost napping," Ray answered innocently, kicking off his second shoe and curling on his side in the shade. "See? I'd probably fall asleep quicker if you-" He tapped his hand on the empty space beside him.

"Uh-huh," he said, clearly unconvinced by Ray's claim. Still, he shifted further along the bed, laying back beside Ray. Rather than remove his shoes, he kept his legs over the side, his fingers laced together on his stomach. "Sleeping yet?"

"Getting there," he replied, peeking an eye open to see if Asher was looking at him. When he felt safe enough, he opened both and studied Asher's profile for a while. He couldn't spot one flaw. He was pretty convinced then that it was the perfect image to fall asleep to.

His eyes slipped closed again and he breathed calmly. "If you disappear before I'm awake, don't forget to leave the money on the side. Benjamins only."

"For what?" Asher asked, tipping his head to the side to look over at Ray. "Trying to check my gun, under the guise of feeling me up? That's not worth a Washington."

Ray scrunched his nose lightly and moved his head an inch closer to Asher's. "No... For being the one that you want, I am the one you want, ooh ooh ooh, honey," he sing-songed quietly, making the mistake of looking at him. "I love," he cleared his throat, breaking his gaze and shifting onto his back, "that song. Christ, this curse is embarrassing." He wasn't going to let it be known that he'd sung the tune of his own accord.

"The quicker you fall asleep, the less embarrassment there should be." Unless Ray chose today as the day to start sleep talking.

"Unless you can perform magic in bed," Ray began, glancing over at Asher and lifting his eyebrows, "I can't fall asleep on demand." He pushed himself up onto his elbows and huffed a sigh. "And I don't think a nap is gonna do it."

"That usually has the opposite effect," Asher said. If anyone was falling asleep during that particular activity then something was definitely, horribly wrong. "Why suggest a nap if you knew it wasn't going to help?"

"I didn't know." Rocking onto one elbow, he leaned over Asher and left a kiss by the side of his mouth while he could. "I may have underestimated my frustration," he admitted, sitting up and shifting to the edge of the bed. At least it had been downgraded from rage. Either way, he couldn't sleep with it on his mind. "I should probably go work it out of my system."

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