Mesmerized

The conversation

One day, someone actually brings it up.

That someone is of course, Ray.

And of course he brings it up during a most inopportune moment, which is during their bi-weekly laser tag training day.

"So," Ray says as he slides from one end of the Man Cave to another in order to avoid the painful lasers being shot at them. "Charlotte, huh?"

Jasper chuckles even as he keeps controlling the rotating ball which is currently shooting said lasers towards them.

Henry would have glared at him if he wasn't so focused on the lasers himself. He ducks and rolls away from a beam that's shot his way. "What about Charlotte?"

He sees Ray shoot him an unimpressed look as the both of them run in different directions.

"Oh, you know," Ray drawls annoyingly. Teasingly. "You like heeer."

Again, annoying. He's being totally annoying.

Which is exactly why Henry laughs when a beam manages to hit Ray in the chest.

"Ow! I'm okay!"

Henry runs and ducks, then swats away a few lasers with the metal disc on his hand. It's quiet for a moment and Henry's glad that they've decided to drop the subject.

"So?" Ray asks.

Never mind.

Henry groans, "I don't-"

"Lies!" Ray yells, standing still and glaring at him. At least three lasers hit him at that moment and he turns to glare at Jasper, who only shrugs and continues as if nothing happened.

"You keep making googly eyes at her," Ray continues after a beat. "Always staring at her, not listening to me!".

"Hugging her all the time," Jasper adds.

"She smiles and it's like you lose all your brain cells."

"She exists and you lose all your brain cells."

"Always looking at her like," Ray clasps his hands together and puts them in front of his chest, leaning to the side and fluttering his eyelashes as he speaks in a high-pitched voice,"Oh, Charlotte, I want to kiss you," and he starts making smooching sounds. A few lasers hit him not long after.

"Which was probably what you were thinking about that day that she was wearing that lipstick," Jasper finishes, still uncaring about Ray's yelps of pain.

Schwoz walks in at that exact moment. "What are you talking about? You need lipstick, because I have lipstick if you need it." He sleepily drawls out, scratching his pajama clad butt as he goes to the snack machine.

"No, we don't-Why do you-" Ray splutters in between dodging, running and swatting.

"Because-"

"I don't care! I- None of care and none of us need lipstick, Schwoz!" Ray yells in annoyance.

"At the moment," Jasper adds. "None of us need lipstick at the moment."

Ray sighs, "Okay, none of us need lipstick at the moment. Happy?"

Jasper's answer is a row of beams shot in Ray's direction.

A lot of them hit him.

"Ouch! Gah! No Schwoz, we were talking about Henry's little crush on Charlotte and how he stared at her that time when she was wearing lipstick."

"Oh."

Schwoz barely seems to care, too engrossed in his plate of nachos.

Ray rolls his eyes before turning to Henry. "You need to do something about it."