Disclaimer: I don't own these guys, I'm making no money off them, who sues my purse sues trash, etc.

Author's Notes: Done for the LiveJournal community ds_flashfiction's "Five Things" Challenge.

1) Curtains

They do some shopping when Fraser moves in, because Fraser has pretty much nothing and Ray hasn't got a lot that doesn't remind him of Stella. And Ray insists on a king-size bed, which he knows is kind of stupid and will take up his-their-whole bedroom, practically, but he just keeps thinking about that little tiny cot Fraser was on for so long.

When they're in the store, Fraser starts talking about how during the summers up North you had to have blackout curtains or you'd never sleep, and he just goes on and on with it, normally he would have been on Canada story number six by now, but he's still on the blackout curtains. So Ray catches on, and he's not thrilled because he kind of likes the way the streetlights come through the thin curtains he has, how when he wakes up even at two a.m. he can still see. But it's the first thing he can remember Fraser ever asking for, even if he can't quite bring himself to actually ask for it. So, okay.

It's weird, the first few nights, waking up in the black. But he only panics for a second before he hears traffic noise and relaxes.

2) White Noise Machine

A few weeks later Fraser starts hinting around about the traffic noise, about covering it up. Talks about the northern quiet and the constant Chicago "hubbub" and did you know they have machines that can mask that, now, Ray, isn't that interesting? And Ray almost blows it there, almost says why do I gotta change everything? But then remembers that Fraser is giving up a whole country.

That takes a while to get over. There are a couple of weeks where Ray wakes up and he can't see anything and he can't hear anything except this single big blur of noise, with no edges, and the first thing he thinks is, "Oh, great, I'm dead," and he flails his arms out and hits Fraser in the chest or the stomach, or once in the crotch, which takes some apologizing.

But eventually he trains himself so when he wakes up in the fuzzy-noise black the first thing he thinks is "Fraser's right there sleeping really well," and then it's okay and Ray can sleep too.

3) Couch

When Vecchio shows up he doesn't even have to talk, because he just looks at Ray, and-Ray knows what Stella-shattered looks like.

So Ray puts him on the couch and gets him many beers and explains him to Fraser when Fraser gets home.

And of course Vecchio needs to stay while he tries to find his own place, and he and Ray fall into this routine of watching basketball with Fraser in between them, because it makes Fraser completely crazy when they both try to point out different things in the game for him to pay attention to at the same time. Which is fun.

Then one night when the game has gotten boring Vecchio puts his hand on Fraser's thigh, just lightly, and then there are a lot of tiny little steps in between that end up with Vecchio kneeling on the floor blowing Fraser while Ray watches.

Ray is pretty surprised that he's okay with that.

He always figured he would want to kill anybody who touched Fraser, but it's Vecchio, and Ray's been Vecchio, and what with Stella and all Vecchio's kind of been Ray, so it somehow-doesn't count.

The main reason it's okay, though, is that with every teeny step, every move Vecchio makes, even that first little thigh touch that doesn't have to mean anything, Fraser glances over at Ray, asking permission. Giving him a look that says Can I have this, Ray? Am I allowed? and, Jesus, that's hot.

So Ray gets to watch really excellent porn, starring Fraser, wow, (and Vecchio's not too bad either) and he gets to feel--magnanimous, that's the word, about it at the same time. And when it's over he gets to take Fraser by the hand and pull him into their bedroom.

4) Guest Bed

They never really talk about it, but after that it's pretty obvious Vecchio's not going anywhere. And he's paying a third of the rent, and he takes his turns walking Dief and is a hell of a lot better cook than Ray or Fraser, so Ray only does a little token bitching about clearing out the guest room enough for Vecchio to actually use the bed. And when he and Vecchio are putting on the sheets-they've kicked Fraser out of the process because he keeps trying to do hospital corners-Ray gets that spazzy thing in his left shoulder that happens sometimes.

Ray cusses and rubs at it, and Vecchio bats his hand away and starts massaging it, and that's really, really good. Because it's the one damn thing that Fraser just cannot get the hang of-he either rubs so softly it almost tickles or tries to break Ray's collarbone. So Ray groans happily, this is really helping, and then Ray feels Vecchio's mouth, his lips running down the side of Ray's neck, really softly, just breathing on Ray.

Ray gasps, freezes for a second. Then looks up at Fraser standing in the doorway--Can I have this, Fraser? Am I allowed?--and Fraser's eyes are half-closed already, heavy-looking, and he's flushed, and yeah, Fraser is allowing.

5) King-Sized

They go on like that for a few weeks, and then one night they're watching a game and Vecchio starts mentioning how he has to kind of curl up in the single bed to keep his feet from hanging off the edge. And Fraser says what a pity, and before he and Ray got the king-sized he hadn't known that they were longer than most beds as well as wider, did you know that beforehand, Ray?

It pisses Ray off. Because one, he has a lot more tolerance for serious weirdness than he ever expected to, but damn, that is a seriously weird idea. And two, because Fraser and Vecchio obviously talked this out already and are trying to one-two punch Ray, they're trying to duet him. Which is wrong, because Ray and Fraser are the duet, here. Vecchio is-Vecchio is a bonus, Vecchio is dessert.

"No, I did not know that beforehand," Ray says. "But I think I'm gonna hit our giant long bed now. See ya soon, Fraser."

He plans to lie there being pissy until Fraser comes to bed, but he ends up falling asleep. And when he wakes up in the black, there are hands pinning his wrists up above his head and he grins because he loves Fraser like this, all pushy. But then, wait, then there are hands, plural, pinning his wrists and a hand on his balls.

"Hey!" he says, but that's all he gets out because then he's got a tongue in his mouth, and he gets too distracted trying to work out which tongue it is to do anything about getting it out of there. Vecchio's, he's pretty sure. His is pointier.

Vecchio doesn't stop kissing him for a good long while, and Fraser's petting him that whole time, so when Ray gets his lips back he has to take a second, has to breathe a little before he can tell Vecchio to get the hell back to his own bed, and right when he's maybe got enough oxygen to talk is when, Jesus, when he is suddenly getting both his nipples licked nibbled sucked at the same time.

That. Ray's trying to put together a sentence, here, about. Something. But all he can think is: both, two, that's new, good good good. Two.

The mouths lift up then but there are hands everywhere, all over Ray in the dark, stroking and rubbing and squeezing. And then there's someone whispering in each of his ears, Fraser's saying something about love and always and beautiful, and Vecchio's saying your skinny ass just kills me, Kowalski, I just wanna fuck you every time I see you, you're killing me. So it's kind of like a cartoon, like Ray has an angel on one shoulder and a demon on the other, except he's pretty sure that's the demon's hand spread out so hot and gentle on his chest, just riding his breath, and that's the angel's wet fingers pushing into his ass. So, yeah, not really very much like that cartoon at all.

There's some shifting around on the mattress, bodies moving in the black, and Ray just breathes because it's all he can remember how to do. He gets shoved up the pillows a little, and somebody's moving his legs around, somebody's kneeling over his chest, and then, oh, there's a hot mouth on his cock. Ray opens his mouth to say oh, but it's suddenly full, and he sucks, licks, gets his nose into the soft curls and thinks Vecchio but that's the last thought he has for a while that isn't a noise or an exploding color or a swear word. And then Ray's inside out and backwards and reversible and coming. And somewhere in the time after that when he still can't really move yet, he's swallowing, and there's a hot streak up his side.

They lie there for a while, breathing, there's lots of breathing going on in this room, loud enough to hear over the white noise. It quiets down eventually, and Ray announces into the dark, "Okay, fine, you guys win. Stake out a spot, Vecchio."

And Vecchio says, fast, "That was just a fuck, I wasn't-" and Fraser says, fast, "Ray, we weren't attempting to influence-"

"You guys are a couple of lying, manipulative bastards," Ray says. And then there's dead silence, and Ray remembers that they can't actually see him grinning.

Which is okay. Let 'em sweat, for a minute.