They're Only Photos || Norman x Ray

27

NORMAN

"Love should come naturally: it is wild, unpredictable and in no place to be forced."

~°~
"Sorry for kicking Emma out, Ray," Norman apologised. "I just wanted some alone time with you.." He felt guilty for rushing Emma out of the door while she and Ray were having a heartfelt conversation. But Ray was his best friend, not hers. He had every right to be jealous, didn't he?

"It's alright," Ray said cheerily, resting a hand on Norman's shoulder. Norman grinned despite his guilt. "Emma was kind of keeping me a bit longer than expected, anyway. I'm glad you interfered."

"Mhm. So, what do you want to watch? Or do you want to do something else?" Ray shrugged. He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, we do always watch stuff. Maybe we could play a game or something?"

"Yeah!" Norman agreed. Playing a game sounded like a really fun activity. He had loads of board games lying around the place; he never used them so now would be a good opurtuniy! "I have a wide variety of board games we could play."

Ray nodded. "I didn't know you play board games, nerd." Norman blushed and then internally kicked himself. He tried to picture Don's face inside his head and get the same reaction but it wouldn't work. "Yo, Norman. You good?"

"Ahhh, yeah, I'm fine..." he assured Ray. "I do play board games; I was actually part of the chess club all through middle school and high school." Ray looked thoughtful for a moment. A sloppy grin spread across his flushed face. "I didn't know that. But let's lay off the board games for a moment."

"Huh," Norman replied. "What should we do then? I have some video games we could-"

"Nah, I was thinking more your traditional games," Ray explained. "How about we get to know each other better. Are you up for a game of twenty-one questions?"

"Oh, uh.. sure! I know we've only known eachother for a few months but wow.. I feel like I've known you forever." Norman blushed, wincing awkwardly as he realised how sappy that sounded. "Heh, yeah," Ray replied.

"I'll go first," he said. "So.. when's your birthday? I know we've celebrated mine but I never really knew when yours was..."

"March twenty-first," Norman replied. He looked up at the calender and was in shock as to how close it was. "March, huh? So your zodiac would be..." Ray paused mid sentence. "Aries," Norman replied.

"Oh. Sorry, I'm not really into astrology so I wouldn't know..." Ray explained. Norman smiled, signalling that it was alright. "Don't worry about it; I don't think when you're born should define somebody, anyways."

"Mhm," Ray sighed. "My birthday is on the fifteenth of January and my sun sign is a Capricorn."

"Wow!" Norman laughed. "We've already learned two new things from one question! My turn." Ray grinned.

"Uhm," Norman said. "Do you prefer sweet or savoury?"

"Hmm.." Ray squinted, seeming to think it over.  He gave a bashful grin. "Sweet, just like you. Although you are pretty savoury, if you know what I mean." Norman could see how red Ray's face was getting - and his too; by touching a hand to his cheek he could tell there'd been a  dramatic rise in body temperature. "Why would you say that?!" Norman asked.

He could almost hear Emma cackling at Ray's horrible punchline in the background. Little did he know.. Emma was closer than he thought. 

"Sorry, I just felt like it was an appropriate  time to flirt," Ray explained. "And..." Norman swallowed, nervous of what Ray's answer would be. His hands shook. "Why would you ever flirt with me?"

"As a joke!" Ray blurted. "I didn't mean it. I bet Don would say something like that to you, that's all."

"Yeah.. ha, ha. It is pretty cute when you do that, though," Norman thought aloud. Oh, fuck.

"Th-thanks," Ray squeaked. There was an terrifyingly awkward silence. "Maybe we should just stick to board games," Ray finally said. "You can teach me how to play chess."

"Yup," Norman agreed, mortified. "Board games it is."