Mick had never really liked all the cheesy mushy cushy stuff that came with Valentine’s Day. He had a hard time expressing any emotion that didn’t involve anger somehow. But that was fine. Ray was learning to accept that. Sometimes relationships needed compromise, and for the two of them that meant nothing too cheesy or romancy on Valentine’s Day. No matter how badly Ray wanted to, he wouldn’t push the subject. He didn’t want Mick to have to suffer through something he’d hate just to make him happy. Besides, just being with him was enough wasn’t it?
Mick and Ray had only been together a few months, but Ray was already starting to develop stronger feelings for the other man, feelings that were much more intense than a mere infatuation. (He was pretty sure it was love, because it was the same feeling he got with Anna before she was killed.) They’d parted from the Legends for a while, to explore their relationship. They had an apartment on the outskirts of Central City. (Ray was always shocked at how much nicer Central was than Star City.)
Not much of anything really big or exciting had happened since they left the Waverider. (At least nothing as exciting as the Legends' standards. There were a few rough meta humans every now and again, but the Flash and friends took care of them.) So, they got a relatively peaceful life – sleeping together (not in the kinky way, but there was a lot of that too), going out to places as a couple, watching movies, etc, etc.
Sometimes Ray would catch himself about to make some grand romantic gesture (or even just a small one like bringing Mick home a bouquet of flowers) before reminding himself that Mick just wasn’t in to that stuff. But that was fine.
With Valentine’s Day approaching fast, Ray was stuck for ideas. He knew Mick probably wouldn’t want to do anything. (Unless it involved alcohol.) But it was a holiday, so of course they had to do something for it, even if it was just something small. They didn’t need flowers or big heart shaped cards. They could just enjoy each others company… The only problem was that Ray couldn’t think of anything small enough. All his ideas had some big, romantic scheme; and he could not for the life of him tone it down.
He couldn’t help it. Valentine’s Day did it to him every time. He loved all the corny love poems and stupid love letters. They were cute, and even if you weren’t completely swooned by them you could at least get a few cheap laughs from it all. But Mick didn’t want all of that, and Ray wasn’t going to force it on him. And that was fine.
On the night before Valentine’s Day, Ray decided to give up on his plans to find something small and sweet enough for the both of them. They’d just go about their day like normal and that would be perfectly fine… But then he noticed Mick acting sort of strange. He started fidgeting whenever Ray walked into the room, hanging up calls whenever Ray might over hear. It was extremely odd, but Ray decided not to ask him about it. Sometimes Mick was strange and that was okay. (Besides, it wasn’t like he really had any real reason to worry, right?)
The next date Nate showed up out of the blue, banging on the door and startled Mick and Ray awake. (Ray knew he'd been busy working with the Time Bureau. So, he visited more often than the other Legends, but he hadn’t been expecting him that day ) When Ray answered the door he frowned curiously at his best friend, bouncing on the balls of his feet like an ecstatic child. He was grinning from ear to ear, and Ray thought he might have been missing something.
“Hey, buddy!” Nate said in a voice that was way too chipper for nine in the morning. “Pal! Chum! Friend!”
“Uh, hi?” Ray replied, wondering what had him in such a good mood. What was with the random visit? Normally, he would call before dropping by.
“Okay! Good. You’re up. Let’s go!” Nate grinned.
“Go where?” Ray asked, still not entirely sure of what was happening. He glanced back at Mick, as he got his morning beer from the fridge and sat on the couch. He shrugged, like he was just as clueless as Ray was.
Nate shrugged. “I don’t know. What do best friends do on a Holiday about being in love? Oh right! They sit around and complain about being single… But you’re not single…so I guess we’ll have to figure something else out. How about a Star Wars and Indiana Jones marathon?”
“Well…yeah…but…” Ray glanced at Mick again. He was giving Nate a weird look that he couldn’t really figure out – where between a glare of irritation and an impatient scowl. Ray wasn’t sure what it was for. The two of them seemed to have some sort of silent conversation, and Ray was pretty sure they were conspiring against him. What the heck was going on? Why were they both acting so weird? And why was Nate so insistent on getting him out of the house?
Sure, the plan had been to act normal and go about their daily life as if it wasn’t a holiday mean to be spent with your significant other, and of course Ray wanted to spend time with his best friend too, but… it was a holiday about spending time with your significant other, and Ray had just really wanted to do that today…
Before Ray got the chance to explain this, Nate grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door. He was practically skipping as he dragged him towards the elevator; and Nate just seemed to he in such a genuine good mood, Ray didn’t have the heart to tell him by the time the elevator doors opened. So, he followed his friend to his car and sat silently, as they drove back to his place.
Not even five minutes into the drive, Ray decided that Nate must have been taken over by some giggle monster from hell. (Those were a thing. John Constantine had told Ray about them once. They were actually pretty deadly, burrowing inside their victim and making them literally giggle to death.) He had been giggling at nothing since sitting down in the car, and the laughter didn’t cease when they got to Nate's house either. So, either he had heard an extremely funny joke he wasn’t sharing or something had taken possession of him. Either way, the behavior was really starting to worry Ray.
They had a movie marathon, just like Nate had suggested, but Ray wasn’t really paying attention to any of the films like he normally would. That was partly because kept looking at his phone every few minutes, giggling like a child, and partly because Ray was trying to think of excuses to leave that didn’t sound too rude.
Nine o'clock was rolling around, and they had only finished about half of the Star Wars saga. (They were really long movies) Nate's phone pinged. He checked it, trying to control his wild giggles, after Ray shot him and uneasy look over them. Abruptly, Nate jumped to his feet, practically squealing like a teenage girl who just spotted her favorite movie star. Ray startled at the movement, wondering what the heck had gotten in to him. Did he get into Amaya's ancestor’s roots again?
Nate pranced around like a toddler doing the pee pee dance, grinning so hard Ray thought his face would fall off. “Are you okay?” Ray finally asked, when Nate started giggling twice as uncontrollably as he had been all day.
“Huh? Yeah. Oh. Yeah. Great.” Nate grinned brightly. “What wouldn’t I be?”
Ray shrugged, still kind of worried. “You've been acting…off all day.”
“Have I? I haven’t noticed. Anyway, time to go home!” Nate grabbed his car keys before running out the door at a sprint, almost knocking the lamp over in his haste.
Ray stood up, quickly steading the lamp before following. Nate seemed to grow more and more excited the closer they got to Mick and Ray's apartment, making Ray more and more confused and concerned. He’d rushed him out of his home on the one day Ray was supposed to be spending with Mick, practically forced him to watch all his favorite movies (not that he could complain about the movies, but it was odd that Nate just checked his phone the whole time), and now he was acting like he couldn’t wait to get rid of him.
Nate drummed his hands on the steering wheel, as they came to a stop in front of Mick and Ray’s apartment building. Ray eyed him cautiously, as he reached for the door and slipped out of the vehicle. “Let me know how this plays out,” Nate squealed. “Well, unless you, like, have sex or something. I don’t need to know about that. But you know. Everything else!”
Ray stared at him. “Wait. What?” Instead of clarifying, Nate drove off, leaving Ray more confused than ever. He shrugged the strange comment off, before heading up to his and Mick’s apartment.
He’d been expecting to find Mick sitting in front of the tv, drinking a beer, like he normally would. Maybe he’d even be asleep and Ray could just climb into bed and cuddle with him. Only, when he entered the apartment, it was empty. He checked every room – the bedroom, the bathroom, the living room, the kitchen (especially the kitchen) -- but Mick was no where to be seen. It was like he had just vanished.
Ray was starting to panic, when he found the note. It was a small, orange post it note with Mick’s messy scribbles and a key taped to it. Ray smiled when he pealed the key off and read the note. Nothing too fancy. Just a short, go to the roof. Clear and concise, blunt and straight to the point. Just like Mick.
Still, Ray immediately knew where this night was going, even if he didn’t exactly know what would be waiting for him up on the roof. And suddenly, Nate’s behavior made a lot more sense. Mick must have let him in on whatever he was planning; Nate had been distracting him all day so Mick could get things ready.
He turned, heading for the stairwell, wondering what he would find waiting for him. Ray walked into the hall, pushing the door to the stairwell open; the sight he found forced a small laugh out of him. “What?” he asked, taking it in.
There were candles, lined up all along the walls, sitting carefully on the steps, leading up to the roof's door. Ray smiled, following the candles up the stairs. (He made sure to put them out along the way, not wanting a fire hazard.) When he got to the door at the top of the stairs, Ray unlocked it and pushed it open, his smile growing brighter as he stepped out onto the roof.
Mick wait waiting for him, wearing semi casual clothing. (It wasn’t anything too fancy, but it was nicer than what it normally wore.) There was a table set up off to the side with all kinds of scented candles and flowers. On the dinner plates there was an assortment of glutton free foods for Ray and a steak for Mick; at the center of the table there was a bottle of campaign. (Yeah, fancy, bubbly campaign. Not just beer. Campaign.) Above the stars shown brightly, illuminating the rooftop just like one of those romance movies.
Ray grinned at Mick, completely taken aback. He’d spent all day putting this together? “I thought you hated this kind of thing.”
“Yeah,” Mick nodded, shifting a little awkwardly. “But you don’t. So…”
Ray couldn’t stop grinning. He really hadn’t been expecting any of this, and it was a pleasant surprise. He walked over to Mick and gave him a kiss, which lasted several minutes. When they did pull away, Ray looked up at him, still smiling. “Thank you, Mick.”
“Yeah,” Mick shrugged, trying not to appear too phased. (But Ray could tell he was proud of himself, and he knew he enjoyed the kiss.) “Well, if we didn’t do anything, you’d be all pouty about it, and I didn’t wanna see that.”
“Aww!” Ray cooed, wrapping his arms around him. (When they had first started dating, Mick would always tense up every time Ray hugged him. It had taken a while, but he was finally starting to enjoy the physical contact.)
“Shut up,” Mick huffed, but Ray could tell he was happy too. Even if he didn’t know how to show it yet. But that was okay. No one was perfect.
They ate the dinner and drank the campaign before spending the rest of the night laying on a pile of blankets, staring up at the stars together. They cuddled and snuggled and did all the cheesy, stupid things couples were supposed to do on Valentine’s Day. And maybe Mick was starting to come around to it all. Maybe one just had to find the right person for it. Maybe, for him, Ray was that person. And that was close enough to perfect.
I got this idea late last night, and I spent, like, all day writing it/perfecting the idea. So, I figured I'd put it up here for a special holiday treat for y'all! I hope you enjoyed it! 😁☺
I'm also curious, do you guys have any plans for the big V Day? Got anyone to do stupid cheesy, romance chunk with? Or will you be a sad single person like me, sitting on the couch watching tv? 🤣
Whatever the holiday turns out like for you, I hope y'all have a great day!