Joel was trudging towards his office, musing about the work he had to accomplish by the end of the day when a man caught his eye through the doorway of the Achievement Hunter office. He backtracked, peering in.

The man was shorter than him, likely around 5'9", and had dark hair. Though Joel could only see his profile, he could tell the man was young. His slim body stretched over a desk and his hands were currently unloading a small box. Joel was struck with a longing urge and shook his head, running a hand through his perpetually-disheveled black hair.

He took a step into the office, smiling.

"Hi, you must be new here!" He piped up in his usual drawl, causing the young man to start as he turned to face the new arrival. He fixed his glasses and Joel caught a glimpse of his sparkling brown eyes, eyes that seemed to hold a joy and passion that Joel envied.

"Oh.. um, yeah. I just got hired here." He reached out a hand and Joel took it, giving it a firm shake. "I'm Ray, by the way." Ray went to walk out the doorway and Joel trotted close behind him, hoping to extend the conversation.

"I'm Joel. My office is just upstairs." He gestured at the ceiling and Ray flashed him a beautiful grin before walking out the door towards a parked car. "All the people up there are boring old guys." He joked. Ray chuckled and Joel could have sworn his heart stopped for a moment. "So is this your car?" He leaned up against the side as Ray drew a key out of his pocket and unlocked the trunk.

"Nah. It's Geoff's. He drove me here, and I'm trying to unpack my shit. Get situated, y'know?" He went to pick up a large box, his arms straining with the weight.

"Wherever are my manners! Let me get that heavy box!" Joel swooped in, taking the box in his arms despite Ray's quiet protest that he was fine.

"Um, thanks." Ray scrunched his eyebrows together and shut the trunk, accompanying Joel as they walked back to the office.

"So where are you from?" Joel asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"New York. It's really fucking weird going from so many buildings and like no grass to here, but I think I'll be able to manage. It'll just take some getting used to." He held out his arms, emphasizing the nature that surrounded them.

"I could help you." Joel smiled brightly at him and Ray giggled nervously, making a point to avoid eye contact with him.

When they got back to the office, Geoff and Jack were back into the office. Ray tossed the keys at the former as Joel gently placed the box on the ground.

"What're you doing Joel?" Geoff cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

"I-I was.. um.."

"He was just helping me with a box. Thanks dude, I don't know if I could've carried that without you." Ray interrupted Joel's stupid mutterings and turned to throw him a smirk. Joel could have fainted at how beautiful it was.

"Um, yeah. Any time, I mean it. I should probably.. get back to work. Yeah. Bye guys." He waved to everyone, pausing to stare at Ray for a moment, before departing.

Ray totally had the hots for him, no doubt.

-

Joel walked outside his office to stretch when he noticed movement downstairs. Ray was walking towards the door to leave the office.

Joel barreled down the stairs, speaking in a rush.

"What's up?!" Ray jumped, letting out a little yelp. "Didn't mean to sneak up on you there." Ray turned around cautiously, letting out a breath. "I looked downstairs and saw you leaving. So what's up?!"

"I'm just going out for some lunch. I was gonna walk down to the McDonald's across the street." He pointed a thumb at the door, shifting his weight to his other foot awkwardly.

"Oh that's cool. I'll come with you! I was gonna go get something to eat anyways." Ray opened his mouth but shut it again with a snap.

"Yeah, okay." Ray scooted towards the door, scratching the back of his neck. Joel locked his brown eyes to the movement, memorizing each twitch of Ray's hand muscles.

"So.." Joel piped up as they waited for a safe time to cross the busy road. "Here's the deal; I got that new Grand Theft Auto game and I was looking for someone to play it with, and I figured 'why not the new guy?' so I thought I'd ask you if you wanted to come over this weekend. Get to know each other, eat, play games, maybe smoke up a bit."

"Just blaze! Haha." Ray blurted out, letting out a laugh that positively radiated within Joel. "Um, I'm actually busy this weekend."

"Okay, hey, that's cool. You're busy, but we should hit up Jose O'Flanagan's for Jell-O Shots." Joel propositioned, trying once again.

"I don't drink either..." Ray trailed off, rubbing his arm awkwardly.

"Oh, well, you could come over tonight! I'd usually just be watching bad cop dramas, but.."

"I happen to love bad cop dramas." Ray interrupted, smiling softly. "That sounds great. You'll have to give me a ride home though. I'm car-less. License-less too." He blushed, making Joel's heart flutter.

"That's no problem!" He spoke eagerly, holding the door open for Ray as they entered the McDonald's. "I could always give you a ride home. I don't have anything better to do."

"That's cool man, thanks for the offer. I think I'll have to take you up on that." He winked and Joel held back a squeak.

"Sweet! So, I'll make us something to eat tonight, too." Joel stopped to place his order, brushing off the girl who was clearly flirting with him. Ray gave him a look before ordering as well.

"It's a date." Ray remarked carelessly and Joel's entire face lit up. Date date date date date. They were dating!

The woman behind the counter returned to give them their food, smiling at Joel especially.

"Hi." She said, voice sultry.

"Yeah, hey." He breezed out, his eyes not leaving Ray.

"I uh.. I left my number on the receipt there. Y'know, if you want to call me." She tapped the tray with long pink-painted nails but he paid no mind, picking up the food and walking away to find a table.

"So she was into you." Ray smiled at Joel as he crumpled up the receipt, throwing it into the trash before sitting down.

"Yeah, not interested." Joel scooted closer to Ray's side, smiling at him.

"Why not? She was kinda cute." Joel's eyelid twitched at this.

"She's not my.. er, type."

"Too girly?"

"Too woman in general." Joel chuckled and Ray nodded knowingly.

"Same." Joel perked up, popping a fry into his mouth.

"Really?" He acted as if this was only of mild intrigue, but inside he was screaming in excitement.

"Yeah, I'm a certified homosexual." Ray teased, taking a large bite of his burger. Joel watched Ray's tongue flick out to catch a stray bit of ketchup on his lip and marveled at it, wishing he could be that bit of ketchup.

"Good to know." Joel smiled to himself and they finished their lunch with conversations about work and games.

Back in the office, Joel felt the day couldn't end soon enough. He kept walking past the Achievement Hunter Office, secretly peering in to stare at Ray whenever the door was open.

When the clock finally told Joel it was time for the day to end, he rushed down the stairs to wait for Ray to emerge from the office. The door opened and Joel politely said hello to the other men, feeling impatient inside.

"Oh hey Ray!" Ray waved at him, squeezing between Michael and Gavin.

"Hey dude, you ready to go?" He slung a bag over his shoulder, making to walk down the hallway.

"Definitely!" Joel followed beside him, ignoring the odd glances his coworkers gave them.

They got into his car and made their way to the older man's apartment in mostly silence.

"I really dig your house." Ray remarked, checking out the artistic decor. There were several paintings consisting of seemingly random strokes that somehow made a whole hung on Joel's wall, and movie memorabilia sat on the shelves.

"Oh, yeah. I used to be an artist, and I always wanted to be an actor, so I have a lot of artsy stuff around here." Joel mumbled, leading Ray into the living room and urging him to sit on a comfortable-looking couch in the center, facing a large flat-screen television. Several game systems and countless games were stacked underneath it in neat lines in their shelves.

"Impressive." Ray muttered as Joel grabbed the TV remote from the counter and flicked it on to where a bad cop show was just ending, only for another to start. "Oh shit, I fucking love this episode!" The younger man pumped a fist into the air excitedly and Joel plopped down next to him, perhaps a bit closer than normal social interaction permitted.

But hey, they were on a date, right?

After an episode, Joel whipped up a quick dinner for them and they chatted, enjoying the television and each other's company.

When it was getting too late, Ray decided it was time for him to leave.

"You could just stay here!" Joel suggested. "I could stay on the couch and you could take my bed!"

"Nah man, it's cool. I need to finish some quick laundry anyways."

And so Joel drove him home, making a mental note of Ray's address.

-

For the week following the date that totally meant that they were dating, Joel decided to keep on eye on him. (It was NOT stalking. He was just watching him carefully.)

He would drive by Ray's house a few times a day, stopping his car to peer into the window. Thankfully, Ray's apartment was on the second floor and a large window (that Ray didn't have curtains for, apparently) faced outward so Joel could see into it from the street. He would pull over to the side of the rode and watch for an hour or so, seeing Ray walk around and perform simple tasks like eating, reading, cleaning, or sometimes just sitting on his tan chair to watch television. He would even walk around shirtless sometimes; those times were Joel's favorite.

He also made several daily rounds to look into the Achievement Hunter Office, taking care to not be seen by anyone.

Everything was going perfectly fine until he peeked in to see Ray staring back. He withdrew his head quickly, thinking about how he could play it off as he heard a chair squeak back and Ray tell Geoff that he would be back shortly.

"Oh hey, Ray! I just wanted to ask if.." Ray shut the door behind him and pulled Joel into the empty hallway adjacent to the office, pinning the older man against the wall and between his outstretched arms.

"I know what you're doing Joel. I've seen your car, out there, watching me." His voice was a growl, so quiet it would be hard to hear if they weren't nose-to-nose. Fire shone in his eyes behind his glasses and Joel gulped.

"I was just.. um.. I.." Joel stammered out, unsure of how to defend himself.

"Did you like what you saw?" He breathed out and Joel froze, a wave of heat rushing to his face. He was almost certain he had heard that wrong, that was until Ray ducked his head in, nipping at Joel's neck.

Joel gasped out, hands flying up to fist his fingers into Ray's dark hair.

"You see, Joel.." Ray spoke between mouthing at his jaw. "I'm a go-getter guy. And you're the guy I want to get." His soft stubble brushed against Joel's neck and his tongue flicked out to lick at the sensitive skin as the blood in Joel's head flowed directly downwards.

"Now I've narrowed down the field, and I think you have a pretty good chance..." Their lips connected finally and Joel whimpered into his mouth. Ray swallowed the sound hungrily, nibbling on the older man's lower lip. "Of being my boyfriend." He finished, breathing heavily.

Joel nodded, a quick, jerky motion, and Ray moved one of his hands down to grip the former's hip, squeezing gently.

Ray ground his pelvis forward and Joel squeezed his eyes shut, stifling a moan as he bit down on his tongue.

"Keep looking, Joel." He heard the words whispered into his ear, vibrating through his brain as he snapped his eyes back open. "And tell me how pretty you think I am."

"G-god you're beautiful." Ray's hand moved to cup Joel's growing erection, rubbing slowly. "The way your lips twitch upward when you talk about something you enjoy, or how your right eye squints a bit when you open your mouth to eat something." The younger man used his knee to separate Joel's legs and he moved like putty in Ray's hand. "O-or how you always sit on the right side of your couch, even though it's huge and there's plenty of ro-o-AH" He gasped out as Ray unzipped the older man's pants and pulled out his erection to give it a hard tug.

"I want you to watch this, Joel. Watch it like you watch me each night." He purred and nothing could have torn his eyes away from the scene, absolutely nothing. Ray got down on his knees and pressed his cheek against the throbbing member, smirking.

He pressed his tongue to the base and licked up to the tip, relishing the little mewls that came from Joel.

"You like watching, don't you?" Ray breathed out, taking in the head and sucking on it roughly. Joel let out a whine as he nodded furiously.

"How much?" Ray continued, hollowing out his cheeks as he took in more, his lips teasing the sensitive flesh.

"S-so.. unh.. so mu-AH-uch." Joel's mind was hazy and coherency was nearly impossible as he focused his vision on Ray, groaning as he went in and out of view from pleasure.

The New Yorker took him all the way in to the hilt, letting out a slow breath through his nostrils as he adjusted. Joel bucked forward, unable to help himself.

Fingers dug into his hips and he gruffed out an apology as Ray began to bob his head slowly, speeding up as Joel strained to keep quiet, one hand yanking at his own hair and the other gripping at the wall, scrambling for purchase. He thrust forward again and Ray stopped moving, giving him permission to continue.

Joel let out a guttural groan as he moved his hand to hold Ray's head to fuck his mouth, biting his lip so hard he was sure he had punctured through it.

"F-fuck Ray.. so beautiful.. better than I ever thought.." Little sentence fragments escaped him as he neared climax, becoming less coherent as his thrusts became more sporadic.

Finally, his muscles clenched and his dick twitched as he came in hot spurts that Ray swallowed down. Ray continued to lick at his softening dick as Joel came down from orgasm, only sitting back up when he was sure the ride was done.

"Don't stop watching me. I like when you do." Ray snarled out one last time before walking away as if nothing had happened.

"Oh, and Joel?" He turned to look over his shoulder at the dazed older man, grinning. His voice was light, as if they were simply discussing the weather.

"We should go to the pool tomorrow."

Joel smirked back, sitting up straight. "It's a date."