The Moment

Warnings: Slash (EgonxRay), angst, language, hurt/comfort and sexual depictions ahead.  This fanfic is intended for mature readers only.

Disclaimer:  I do not own Ghostbusters or its characters and I make no money from my fanfiction.

Thanks to Strudelcutie427 for being my beta reader!

 

 

~ * ~ The Moment ~ * ~

Chapter Two

By Arcadia Eclipse

 

 

                In all the mayhem caused by the kappa and Ray’s subsequent sliming Egon completely forgot that he had agreed to go with Ray to the younger man’s childhood home that weekend for a much-needed vacation.  Spengler was dedicated to the pursuit of scientific study and any time away from the firehouse and their basement laboratory just seemed like a setback to his research.  Ray generally was of the same mindset, but somehow the thought of visiting his family home for the first time in nearly a year gave him a reason to give into Peter’s incessant nagging and agree that they all deserved a few days off from work.

                Egon, quite simply, was outvoted by the others and that meant a wasted weekend accomplishing nothing at all.  The only upside was leaving the city for a while and spending the weekend alone with the one man who he had just yesterday decided held a not-so-professional place in his heart.  He was glad that Ray was back to his usual chatty self over breakfast, one hand shoveling cereal into his mouth while the other clasped his first of many cigarettes for the day.  Maybe this vacation wouldn’t be a complete waste of time after all.

                “Before we leave I’d like to run some tests on you, Ray.”

                “I don’t have to masturbate while you take notes again, do I?”

                Peter started choking on his coffee and this time even Egon was wishing that Ray had kept some of their research a little more private.  He didn’t pitch the idea to Stantz as something shameful and secretive, of course, but he did tuck the files containing their test data into the very farthest reaches of their filing cabinet and he didn’t expect either Winston or Peter ever went through their test records anyway.  Still, the question rather caught him off guard and unfortunately Venkman regained his senses first.

                “Come again, Ray?  What did Spengs have you do?”

                “I masturbated with the mood slime.  Well, not WITH the mood slime, but it was in a jar next to me and…well, we were testing the psycho-reactive qualities of the slime when introduced to different types of human emotion.  We did all kinds of things- played heavy metal music, shouted at the slime a little, tried to sneak up on it with loud noises and then we used shock therapy on the jar and-“

                “-And at some point you masturbated to it?”

                “Er…”  Ray slowly stubbed out his cigarette, starting to wish he hadn’t said anything with the others around.  “Well, yes.  We were testing how the slime reacted to pleasure.”

                “Egon asked you to do this?”

                “He recorded the slime’s reaction and took notes.  It was fascinating, Venkman.  It sort of undulated and quivered almost like it could feel everything that I-“

                “-So there’s a video tape of this somewhere, Spengs?”

                Egon didn’t like where this was going and if the smirk on Peter’s face was any indication of their friend’s train of thought then the engine needed to be derailed immediately.

                “I destroyed the tape after Vigo was contained.”

                “Mmhmm.  Sure you did.”  The suspicious look Peter gave him only succeeded in making Egon more tense and uptight about his research than usual.

                When he played back the footage with Ray after the fact the youngest was over-eager and amazed to see the results, whereas Spengler found it difficult to observe yet again the raw emotion so cleanly etched on his partner’s face in the throes of self-pleasure.  The initial observation was uncomfortable for all the wrong reasons, and watching the tape a second…a third…a twelfth time didn’t seem to help ease the parapsychologist’s frustration with how his body reacted to watching his best friend masturbate.  By the twentieth viewing Egon wasn’t even focused on the jar of slime anymore as it quivered and quaked but instead his eyes were trained only on Ray and how the younger man bit his bottom lip and his brow creased in pleasure when stroking himself.

                Egon cleared his throat, mentally ordering his budding erection to cease and desist.

                “I wanted to run some blood and skin cell tests to determine whether there exists a possibility of building a resistance to ectoplasmic radiation and the toxins that we encounter in various slime deposits.  That was a class nine semi-aquatic toxic geist that slimed you, Ray.  Your recovery time was unusually quick.”

                “It’s a fantastic theory, Egon.  I really think we should bring some extra equipment with us so we can test my ectoplasmic radiation levels for the next few days, and did you want to run another scan of my brainwaves to see if anything’s changed since last month?”

                “I think that’s a good idea, Ray.”

                “No, that’s a BAD idea, Ray.  We almost never take vacation, and you guys agreed to cover next week for me and Winston if we covered for you this weekend, remember?”

                Egon was about to remind Peter that they were all adults and how he and Ray chose to spend their vacation time was their decision, but this time even Winston chimed in, much to the parapsychologist’s chagrin.

                “He has a point, guys.  When was the last time you two left all the science and mechanical stuff behind and just relaxed for a change?”

                Neither Ray nor Egon could answer that, which in itself should have been a sign that they were both way overdue for some rest and relaxation.  It was Ray’s idea to spend the weekend at his family home in Islip.  Now that the Ghostbusters were doing well again the youngest had only just last month managed to pay off the ridiculous mortgage that Peter had talked him into so they could finance their operation originally.  It probably would have remained outstanding indefinitely had Janine not given Egon the letter that she found in the firehouse mailbox declaring the Stantz family home was going into foreclosure if he made another late payment.  Of course Venkman complained about not having funds for his dream Tahiti vacation, but the look of unspoken relief on Ray’s face when Janine organized their financial records and handed him the check to finally pay off his bank loan was like a weight had been lifted from the youngest Ghostbuster’s shoulders.

                In celebration, Ray had invited all of them out to his Long Island home for vacation but only Egon accepted.  For some reason Winston wanted to spend his time off with his family and Peter preferred southern latitudes brimming with women wearing nothing but a tan.

                “You sure you guys don’t want to come?”

                “Any chance your sister might stop on by?”

                “Not likely.”  Ray shook his head solemnly.  Family was always a touchy subject ever since the death of his parents.  “Jean is still living with her girlfriend out in California last I heard, and I haven’t even spoken to her or my brother in three years.”

                “Carl is a right-wing, Republican nut-job and I’m pretty sure he hates me, Ray.  Like genuine, cosmic-sized, unrestrained, wish-it-were-legal-for-me-to-kill-you hate. ”

                “Yeah, but he means it in the nicest way, Venkman.  Really.”

                Somehow it wasn’t a convincing argument, and that left Egon as his only companion for the hour-long trip to Ray’s childhood home in Islip.  His parents had owned a rather nice house in the Long Island suburbs up until their untimely deaths a few years earlier, but although the youngest Ghostbuster inherited the home he made little use of it except as collateral for the firehouse mortgage that was still in his name.  A fine layer of dust coated nearly everything from furniture to the appliances, but it didn’t seem to bother him.  There was something almost magical about being home again after all this time.

                The house itself didn’t hold any sentimental meaning for Egon, but in walking down the long corridors and peering into each room in turn he eventually located what appeared to be a large Stantz family photograph from many years earlier and it gave him pause.  He assumed that the elderly couple was Ray’s grandparents and the frowning man in the center was probably Ray’s father with his young, auburn-haired trophy wife at his side.  The children were his main interest, however, and now it was just a matter of determining which one was his friend.  The older boy had a strong, square jaw and there was a no-nonsense look in his eyes- almost like he regarded the cameraman with contempt.  Directly to his left however was a smaller boy with a dreamy, far-away expression and his eyes were focused somewhere off to the side while everyone else looked straight ahead at the viewer.  Egon could barely contain the smile threatening to crack his stoic demeanor at any moment as he pointed to the dreamy-eyed child.

                “You?”

                “Yeah.  Just after my eighth birthday.”

                “You know, you look rather-“

                “-Pretty spaced-out, I know.  Everyone says that about this picture.”

                “Actually,” Egon interjected, removing his glasses to wipe the lenses idly.  “I was going to say you were extremely cute.”  He replaced the glasses on his face to better observe Ray’s response to that little declaration, but his partner just stood there blinking at him and that in itself was almost enough to wring a sly smile from Egon’s lips.  Almost.  “You haven’t changed much, you know.”

                The younger scientist stood silently for a moment struggling to figure out whether he had just heard correctly that his partner thought that he was cute.  It was insane and so not in character for Egon to say something like that out of the blue.  After giving it a bit of thought, Ray couldn’t help the soft chuckle bubbling up from deep in his chest.  Obviously this was Spengler’s odd attempt at humor.

                “Really?  You think I’m still super cute?”

                “Yes.”

                The word sounded so definitive on his partner’s lips that this time Ray seemed a little taken aback by such an emphatic response.  Instead of recoiling however the younger man just rubbed the back of his head idly- an unconscious response that Egon witnessed only on rare occasions when the younger brunette was futilely trying hard to hide his embarrassment.  The silence seemed deafening between them, but it was only a minute or so before Stantz flashed his partner an amused little grin.

                “Didn’t know you swung that way, Doctor Spengler.”  He kept waiting for his friend to break into laughter or at least smirk so they could enjoy this joke together, but the older man remained serious when regarding him and it was Ray who finally averted his gaze to the wooden flooring beneath their feet.  “Well shoot, this is awkward.”

                “I’m sorry.”

                “No, I don’t mean it that way…”  Ray trailed off.  This was just like the time his sister came out to the whole Stantz family during Thanksgiving dinner.  “You’re not…interested in me…are you?”

                Again Egon met his fellow Ghostbuster’s question with an affirmative silence that had the younger man leaning his back to the wall and slowly sliding down to sit on the floor below.  This was an awful lot of information to absorb and Egon was starting to feel a touch of guilt for dumping everything on his friend all at once.

                “I’m so sorry, Ray.”

                “Egon, I’m not…”

                “…Gay?”

                “I’m not…sure.”

                For a moment Spengler swore his heart skipped a beat.  ‘Not sure’ meant that his friend had at least contemplated his sexuality, he just hadn’t come to a definitive answer one way or the other yet.  Although Ray’s uncertainty meant that he had a chance, the parapsychologist knew that he couldn’t simply assume that the younger man would be interested in him of all people.  Egon wasn’t much in love with himself; he hardly expected another human being, let alone another man, to be interested.

                The longer that Ray sat there silently the more Egon’s complicated brain whirled coming up with one excuse after the other for why his partner would never in a million years want to give him a chance.  It caught him off guard when the younger man suddenly raised one hand up towards him as if he wanted Egon to help him stand; but when the bespectacled doctor grasped it he instead gently drew Egon down to sit beside him on the floor, and afterwards Ray even allowed his hand to linger in Spengler's grasp, perhaps looking to test the homosexual waters a bit.  Egon’s grip remained gentle and warm the whole time, and only when Ray sighed and leaned against him a bit did he tip his head to regard the brunette’s where it lay on his shoulder.

                He wanted this.  Egon had spent the majority of their drive to the Stantz family home imagining just how soft and warm those constantly-grinning lips would feel pressed against his, but the scientist paused with his mouth mere centimeters away from his friend’, his eyes still locked onto the younger man’s questioningly.

                “Ray…what would you do if I kissed you right now?”

                “I don’t know.”

                “Well, how do you think you would feel about it?”

                “Confused.”

                Not exactly the reaction that Spengler was hoping for, but Ray’s hesitance was probably to be expected.

                Peter had come down to Egon’s basement laboratory late one night after a long evening spent drinking and carousing in a local bar only to disclose that his best friend, Ray Stantz, was practically a virgin, having had only two girlfriends to date.  Why Ray shared his sex life with Peter Venkman of all people Egon didn’t know, but the other scientist revealed that their fellow Ghostbuster had slept with each of his girlfriends only one time- in both instances Ray’s ineptitude in bed apparently leading to the unfortunate breakup.  Stantz probably didn’t know that Peter had revealed his private sex life to Egon, but fear of repeating the past could certainly explain his hesitance with getting involved again.

                “I’m not very good at this,” Egon started, hoping this was the best way to lead off and set his friend at ease, “but I care about you more than anyone, Ray.  I really wish you’d let me show you.”

                Waiting for a response was like torture, but ultimately the brunette offered a small smile and even nodded for the older man to continue.  Funny, now that Egon had the go-ahead he wasn’t really sure what would be the best way to proceed.  Never having been with another man made the task a bit daunting, but there was a formula to everything in nature, even fornication, and he knew that it was impossible to reach the final stages in any experiment before taking the very first step.

                Gently so as not to make the younger Ghostbuster rescind his offer Spengler shifted and reached up to rest his hands lightly on each side of Ray’s jaw to steady both men as his lips descended on his partner’s in a tender first kiss.  It was everything that the older man had expected, and yet his body grew even more heated when Ray’s arms unexpectedly wound around his shoulders willing their bodies to remain close even after their lips parted for much-needed air.  If Egon noticed that the other scientist’s breathing had become more ragged he didn’t comment on it, far too focused on pressing his lips into the crook of his partner’s shoulder and neck alternately kissing and nuzzling the flesh there fondly.  He could feel one of Ray’s hands shift from his shoulders to instead tangle lightly into the older man’s hair as if urging Egon not to stop laving affection on his more-sensitive skin, and yet from the way that Ray’s fingers remained tense combined with the warmth now emanating from his burning cheeks the older Ghostbuster could tell that regardless of them both being grown men engaged in consensual contact this still really embarrassed his friend.

                “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

                “Egon, I’ve been celibate for eight years and not completely by choice.”  The embarrassment was still there in Stantz’s voice but this time it was overshadowed by something much more interesting.  Could that be…lust?  Even if Egon wasn’t certain by listening to his friend’s husky words the gentle eyes that regarded him now betrayed a wealth of emotion.  “Not to sound like Venkman here, but if I had my way we’d probably already be naked and in a bed somewhere studying whether of the human body can actually bend into a pretzel.”

                This time the older Ghostbuster couldn’t contain his smirk.

                “I think that’s an amazing suggestion, Ray.”

                “Yes, but we’re not even dat-“

                “-We’re best friends, we’ve been partners for years, I’ve willingly put my life on the line to keep you safe more times than I can count, and Ray…” he trailed off just long enough to wrap one arm around the other man’s shoulders and draw him in a bit closer, “knowing you and spending the time together theorizing and inventing all that we do have been the best years of my life.”

                Egon’s heartfelt words must have moved his partner enough to at least forgo further embarrassment and stand, grabbing hold of Spengler’s hand and flashing him a grin before bodily dragging his partner up from the floor and down the hall towards his old bedroom.  In all their years together spent studying the paranormal Egon had never seen Ray like this- smirking and shoving his older friend backwards onto the mattress then climbing atop him and pinning Egon’s hands near the headboard.  This was unexpected and a bit unnerving and…so incredibly hot.

                “Tell me, Doctor Spengler,” Ray released his friend’s hands to instead rake his short nails teasingly down the vest covering Egon’s torso, “did you ask me to jerk off with the psychomagnotheric slime because you wanted to study the slime or was it me that you were interested in studying?”

                “Perhaps a bit of both,” Egon admitted.

                He probably could have come up with something much more eloquent but it was terribly distracting watching Ray shrug off his jean jacket then peel the T-shirt from his own body before setting to work on divesting Egon of whatever layers stood between his questing hands and skin-on-skin contact.  It was exceedingly awkward and more than once he heard the other brunette muffle a laugh in the process of both men fumbling and struggling to get each other into a viable position to strip themselves completed naked.

                “This always seems much more erotic in movies.”

                “I expect that those scenes are completely choreographed, Ray.  Anything clumsy gets edited out.”

                “At the rate we’re going I think our whole sex tape would end up on the cutting room floor.”

                “Oh, I don’t know,” Egon smiled, wrapping his arms around Ray to drag him down for another kiss.  “I’d certainly watch it.”

                “I didn’t know you liked watching porn, Doctor Spengler.”

                “I’ve been known to occasionally study the non-reproductive mating rituals observed by consenting members of the species Homo sapiens.”

                “So you watch porn.”

                “Occasionally.”

                Not that watching other people have sex necessarily made Egon more qualified when it came to fornication, but given Ray’s rather unfortunate experience with women he figured it might be better to let his partner take control for now.  At least this way if it was bad he wouldn’t be completely at fault.

                “Ray, would it be alright if I-?”

                “-Anything.”

                His emphatic response did take Egon by surprise, especially considering all that Ray had just potentially agreed to.  He was half-tempted to fetch some equipment and do a scan of the other man’s body and brain just for the humor of it, but they had left everything technical back in the city, and right now there was something much more erotic to attend to.  Given Ray’s agreement, however, Egon decided to just bite the bullet and gently eased the younger Ghostbuster’s legs apart before guiding them around his waist, all the while watching his friend’s face for any hint of refusal.

                “Anything?”

                Ray hesitated for a moment, but the gentleness mixed with Egon’s lusty expression seemed to reassure him in a way that words couldn’t.  The prospect of feeling pain in unnatural places crossed his mind of course, but Ray remained curious and willing enough to offer his friend a slightly crooked smile and lock his ankles around Spengler’s waist in response.  Now with the older scientist’s naked shaft pressed against the soft swell of his bottom he could clearly feel Egon’s intimate flesh twitching in response to his unspoken offer and could see that his friend was having trouble speaking.  The taller brunette had to clear his throat briefly or risk his voice cracking.

                “You’re absolutely certain?”

                Stantz nodded, and that was really all the consent that Egon Spengler needed at the moment.  Well, that and something very important that his lust-clouded brain hadn’t considered before.

                “Ray, I don’t suppose you have condoms and lubricant lying around anywhere.”

                “Have you met me, Egon?  I’m not exactly the type of guy that needs those things regularly.”

                Evidently they had hit a wall, but the older man was reluctant to pull away from the warm flesh wound so tantalizingly about his waist just teasing him now.  Certainly this could have been avoided if Egon had actually dared to dream that Ray might actually consent to such an act.  In that case, he could have prepared in advance before they left the city instead of just staring down at the forbidden fruit offered to him so freely when he knew that it was impossible to take a bite.

                “Egon,” Ray gently inserted himself back into the older man’s train of thought, “I’ve been tested since the last time I did this and I figure you probably have too.”  He waited until his partner nodded before continuing.  “So for the sake of both your sanity and mine, let’s just focus on the lubricant issue.  I’m sure there are many items in your average household that can double as-“

                He never had a chance to finish that thought before Egon was suddenly extracting himself from Ray’s legs and hurrying back through the house to the kitchen seeking some suitable type of oil.  Barely a few seconds after his departure though Ray heard an unpleasant buzzing sound and one look over the side of the bed confirmed that his friend’s phone was ringing while still tucked into the older man’s discarded pants.  He didn’t want to pry, of course, but there was always the chance that their less-qualified coworkers had run into a dead end and needed their help.  Eventually the buzzing stopped, however, and any concern that Ray had instantly disappeared the moment that Spengler returned to his bedside with what appeared to be some type of cooking oil and a self-satisfied smirk.

                “Spread ‘em, Stantz.”

                “Gee, Egon.  Didn’t know you were such a romantic.”

                It must have been an equally long time since Egon’s last coupling given the older Ghostbuster’s eagerness.  Two of the parapsychologist’s fingers were already coated in oil and pressing insistently between his partner’s cheeks before Stantz could even lie fully back on the bed again.  He was overeager, but then so was Ray at this point, and any discomfort from the sudden insertion of those digits into his body was ignored in favor of tugging Egon down for a long, lingering kiss.  It was delightfully intimate, at least until Ray’s phone started going off and his friend pulled away from his lips to regard the shorter man questioningly.  Damn it.  Someone had really terrible timing.

                “Don’t move,” Ray ordered just as Egon began to extract his fingers, catching the smirk on his friend’s lips as the younger scientist grabbed his pants from the floor and retrieved his cell, flicking it open and biting back a groan as Spengler began thrusting his fingers languidly.

                “H-..Hello?”

                //Doctor Stantz, do you know where Doctor Spengler is?  He’s not answering his phone!//

                Janine.  Of all the people Ray did not want to hear from at the moment.

                “He’s here.”

                //Well, Doctor Venkman says it’s an emergency and he needs you guys to head back.//

                For a long moment he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to pretend that this was a wrong number.  Out of all the times for something crazy to happen, why now?  Why when Egon was nibbling his way down Ray’s chest and darting his tongue into the younger man’s navel causing his partner’s breath to hitch?

                “How soon does he n-…need us there?”

                //I believe his exact words were ‘thirty minutes ago’.//

                “…Janine, how would you feel about a promotion?  You could carry a thirty-five pound positron collider on your back, right?”

                //No I could not, and trapping ghosts is definitely NOT in my job description.  I just answer the phone, Doctor Stantz.  You take care of the messy stuff.//

                Rational thought had just about let Ray at this point.  His pleasure-muddled brain could barely process Janine’s words, far too absorbed with the flood of new sensations down south now that Egon was stroking him in earnest with one hand while the other scissored two fingers within Ray’s body experimentally.

                “Janine, please tell me that this is a joke.  I really need to hear those words right now.”

                //Doctor Stantz,// she really was starting to sound exasperated with him, //Doctor Venkman is not certain what this thing is and Winston’s babbling on and on about an iguana that tried to kill them.  Could you please just get back here?//

                Staring up at the ceiling with the phone pressed to his ear Ray had to bite back a groan as Egon eased a third finger inside him, stretching the younger man in preparation for something much more substantial than the scientist’s long fingers.  Still, the sound of Janine calling his name on the other end of the phone and asking if he were listening made it increasingly difficult to enjoy the fingers rubbing him from the inside or the gentle mouth alternatively kissing and nipping at the sensitive juncture of his hip and inner thigh.

                Ray didn’t believe in God but right now karma was being a bitch.

                “Okay, we’re leaving now.  Should be back in about an hour.”

                That was the moment Ray Stantz realized that he was starting to hate his job.

 

 

~ *  ~ To Be Continued ~ * ~