Hey.

So I'm not officially off hiatus, but I banged this one out two weeks ago and thought it was good enough to post.

More notes at the end.

(insert title here)

Sometimes it's quiet. And it's nice.

It's not like they can't ever get along. They work okay together in Danger Room sessions and obviously they've coexisted without actually murdering each other. They just... also happen to argue a lot. About everything. Loudly.

But in the warm afternoon light of a lazy Saturday, Roberto forgets that just that morning he and Ray snapped at each other over bagels. Bagels. It seems so stupid in retrospect.

We're always yelling about stupid things, aren't we? He looks over to where Ray is sprawled out on the rec room carpet, taking his sweet time on algebra homework. Ray barely acknowledged Roberto when he walked in, just looked up briefly from his binder. Sometimes they all do that to each other, all the kids, and it's a sort of comfortable silence. Roberto can't pinpoint why this one instance irritates him, though.

"Why do you guys hate each other so much?" Jubilee once asked. She's just curious, not actually rooting for them to get along better. She thinks their arguments are funny.

"He's just infuriating," said Roberto. In retrospect, it sounds so stupid.

But it's not wrong.

And he knew Ray would say the same about him, and would probably be hard-pressed to elaborate. Why do you find him infuriating?

Part of it is competitiveness; Roberto's desire to outdo this half-feral punk who was hostile and cocky all at once and seemed to know exactly which buttons to press, and Ray probably thinking Roberto was an uptight snob (most of them do, at first; and Roberto does admit to being… sort of snobby).

But their spats, no matter how big in the moment, always sort of fade away. Yes, they clashed when they first met, but now it just seems like they're obligated to find each other loathsome.

Ray doesn't look very loathsome now. He's stretched out on his stomach in the big patch of sunlight, looking for all the world like a lanky, overgrown cat. He has his head half buried in the crook of his arm.

Roberto can't believe it. "Are you sleeping?"

Ray doesn't open his eyes but his brow creases a little. Slowly he lifts his arm to give Roberto the finger.

"'S nice here," he murmurs.

"It would also be nice to get your homework done by a reasonable time."

"It'd be nice if you shut up."

Roberto steps over Ray's legs and peers at his binder. He snorts. The algebra problems aren't even half done. All around the margins are doodles, shapes and curlicues and little cartoon faces.

The way he's standing, he's blocking some of the sunlight. Ray swats blindly at his leg. "Buzz off."

"I can't believe you didn't finish these," Roberto says. "They're so easy."

It's the familiar road to a ten-second argument that'll leave them burning with vitriol that will wear off in no time. But he can't help it. It's a habit.

Ray finds his leg this time and ineffectively tries to yank him off balance. Roberto kicks him off.

"If it's so easy," Ray says, "then you do it for me."

"Okay," says Roberto.

"Wait, what?"

"I'll do it. For you." Roberto scoops up the binder and sits down at the base of the couch. He waits for - something. A burst of indignation, the accusation that he, Roberto, doesn't think Ray is capable of doing his own homework. He knows how this goes. It's their habit.

Except Ray doesn't move. "Nerd," he mutters, then he shifts his head in the crook of his arm and gets back to dozing. Roberto scoffs.

He kind of likes sleepy Ray.

Enough to volunteer to do his homework, anyway.

It's like… making up for all our crap, he reasons to himself. Although for it to be truly fair, Ray would have to do something for him too. But this was a start.

It's a little weird, a little distracting almost, to see Ray so calm. He almost doesn't look like the same boy who almost got in a fistfight over the last poppy seed bagel.

Roberto stretches out his legs, places them experimentally on Ray's. Ray doesn't stir. Roberto comfortably uses them as a footrest.

The algebra is almost painfully easy. It's far more interesting to try and decipher Ray's doodles. One of them looks almost like an owl in sunglasses. Another one is a lopsided house with a sad-looking face sticking out a window. And then there's something on the other side of the paper.

Faces.

Roberto recognizes the Professor, Rahne, Scott. There's a rough outline of what looks like Kitty. On the top corner, Sam smiling. Next to him, Roberto recognizes what might be an outline of his own hair.

He glances over at Ray, who's snoring gently now.

He imagines a conversation: Hey, I didn't know you could draw. Who said you could look through my stuff, asshole?

Too predictable.

He finishes the algebra, but with a little more difficulty than before - he keeps wanting to look at the faces again.

They're pretty good. Definitely recognizable. Maybe not museum-worthy anytime soon but you just know that drawing of Scott is supposed to be Scott and not any random white guy in shades.

Roberto's taken art lessons back in private school in Brazil. Nothing serious, but enough for the parents to brag about what a well-rounded education their kids were getting. He remembers shading a bunch of shapes and drawing the same vase of flowers over and over again and thinking how dull it was. It's different, he supposes, when you actually have an inclination towards the arts.

He has no idea where to begin drawing a face. And - even though he'd be hard-pressed to admit it - he's stopped by the fear of messing up on epically embarrassing proportions. Flipping to a new page - Ray doesn't really seem to be using most of his binder for notes anyway - he tries his hand at something else.

He's penciled four slightly crooked toes in the corner when Ray stirs. He twists himself up and squints at Roberto. Roberto takes his feet off his legs, but Ray keeps squinting.

"Sleep well?" Roberto asks.

"I had a dream you wanted to do my homework," says Ray.

"It wasn't a dream."

"Oh." He's got an odd look on his face. "You are a huge nerd, then."

"You're welcome," Roberto says sourly.

"Wait, that's not my homework. What're you doing?" He clambers up to sit next to Roberto, knocking into his shoulder. "Oh my god. Is that a foot?"

Roberto shoots him a look. "Well, we can't all be professional artists."

"What? Oh." Ray sees the other page open to his face sketches. He's not mad, surprisingly. He's wide-eyed, sort of surprised, as if he was caught in the act. Was he trying to hide this?

"You're pretty good," says Roberto.

"I'm not a professional," says Ray.

"Well, obviously! But - still." Roberto clears his throat. Ray keeps looking at him with this weird, unreadable expression. "Not bad. Was this one supposed to be me?"

"Wow, way to be conceited as - wait. Actually, yeah."

Roberto rolls his eyes. "Y'know, I feel like I should be creeped out, but I'm not."

"Hell no. It's flattering."

"Yeah, you really captured the outline of my hair," Roberto says, and Ray punches him in the knee.

"Why the hell are you drawing a foot?" he asks.

Roberto shrugs. "It's easier than a face."

"No way. Faces are definitely easier."

"Maybe for you!" Roberto hears himself sounding jealous, but can anyone really blame him?

"I could show you," Ray says.

"Really?"

"Yeah." His face and voice are devoid of any meanness. He looks at Roberto intently and his blue eyes are softer.

"Why do you guys hate each other so much?" You know, I don't really know.

"Think of it as a thank you for doing my homework," Ray says as he reaches over for the binder. "And for the, uh, the bagel thing this morning."

Roberto hands him the pencil with a smile. "Okay," he says.

Fin

Okay, it's been almost two years, and I think everyone should know now: I secretly ship them. Secretly I like to imagine their intense rivalry/hatred turns into some kind of weird tension that turns into angry makeouts. Yeah. I don't know. Maybe I'll write that someday. Maybe. (This one is meant to be read as platonic. It could border on... pre-shipping I guess, but it's mostly about them trying to be decent human beings to each other lmao.)

Anyway. Back to procrastinating homework and collapsing under the weight of built-up assignments.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for sticking around.

(Oh, and happy Halloween! It just occurred to me it's still Halloween here.)