Title: The Pancake Tour of North America: Niagara Falls

Rating: PG-13 SLASH Ryan/Seth

Author: Heath07

Disclaimer: I don't own anything nor do I claim to. :(

Notes: After the recent influx of flames I have been receiving, I will once again reiterate the fact that SLASH implies SAME sex pairings (ie. Male/Male, Seth/Ryan) and if people have a problem with that, please, don't read and then bitch at me...I give plenty of warning.

xerus- Moosejaw? Really? lol We'll see. ;)

lil gold fishie -hmm...Ryan's afraid of heights so the CN tower would be an interesting place for them to go, I'll keep it in mind...lol

rune- I may revisit PEI in a flashback or something, you never know...

Again, there is no set pattern for the places I will write about or how often this will be updated. As you can tell, this isn't really a series that's very serious, it's more silly than anything, but don't think that there won't be at least a little drama on the trip...

Seaweed had a surprisingly strong smell. Seth had figured this out after falling into the lake and sitting in damp clothes for forty-five minutes while he and Ryan waited to check into their motel room. Who really holds people to a two o'clock check-in?

"God, you stink," Ryan said, plugging his nose and rolling down the car windows.

"Thanks. No, really, way to make me feel better there, buddy."

Ryan shrugged. "I'm just being honest."

"It's not my fault." Seth pouted.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Right. 'Cause I was the one taunting birds with food and then acting surprised when they snapped at me and pushed me off the edge of the dock into the lake."

"First off, I fell in -while you laughed your ass off, I might add- and second, those Canada geese are stronger than they look.." After being in Wawa and visiting all the monuments and learning from the locals the patterns of Canada geese, Seth thought he had a real handle on what made a Canada goose tick, but he was wrong in that assumption, way wrong.

Ryan was starting to look a little green, Seth tried not to be offended with the way he was leaning off to the side, his face practically out the window so he wouldn't have to smell Seth. "It's ten to two, they gotta let us in now. I'll be right back." Ryan couldn't get out of the car quick enough it seemed.

"Gee, thanks. Yeah, I'll just wait here and rot in my own stench."

"You do that."

Seth folded his arms over his chest and proceeded to pout some more.

Ryan was gone for nearly five minutes and when he came back his fists were clenched.

The driver side door opened and Ryan peeked in. "Still won't let us in?" Seth asked.

Ryan opened his hand and in the middle sat a silver key. "It's a good thing you waited in the car, one whiff of you and they'd probably deny us the room altogether."

"Funny, really. That book must really be paying off," Seth said as he exited the car, grabbing his bag from the backseat.

"Book?"

"Yeah, Humor After Hours for Dummies; I gave it to you in your stocking last year."

"Riiight. Read it cover to cover."

"Really?" Ryan gave Seth a blank stare. Seth nodded his head. "Gotcha, you burned it in the fireplace."

Seth, showered and changed, sang along to the radio while Ryan drove. "You threw out those clothes, right?"

"You watched me do it," Seth said.

Ryan spared a glance at Seth, who was quietly drumming his fingers along the dashboard. "Are you sure you're feeling up to this?"

Seth looked at Ryan like he was an insane person. "It's a clock made out of flowers, how can we miss that?"

"It's just...aren't you getting sick of seeing all these cheesy, roadside attractions?" So, maybe, Ryan was projecting just a little.

Seth's fingers stilled, his body angled toward Ryan. "What?! No way! How could you be sick of seeing things like giant clocks made out of flowers or a jumbo baseball bat in the middle of nowhere or what about that huge sombrero we saw in-"

"Okay, I get it." One of Ryan's hands left the wheel and settled on Seth's thigh, he gave it a light squeeze.

Seth smiled, he pulled out his trusty tourist book from the glove compartment and looked up all the attractions in the area. "After this we've got to go to see the Falls."

"'Kay."

"It's one of the seven natural wonders of the world," Seth said informatively as he read.

"Mm-hmm."

Seth looked up from the book, excited. "Dude, we so have to go over the Falls in a barrel."

Ryan shook his head, looking for the exit. "No one does that anymore."

"Fine, be a party pooper." Seth went back to reading. "We're still going to the casino, right?"

"Yeah, later." Ryan said, putting the car in park.

Seth looked up. "We're here already?"

"Looks like."

Seth unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door, joining Ryan on the other side of the car. They followed the foot traffic, stopping and staring at the ginormous clock made up of flowers.

Seth checked his watch. "Time's right."

Ryan nodded.

Seth pulled a sleek digital camera from his pocket, he looked to his right where a burly man with a grease stained shirt was eating a hotdog and then turned to his left where a couple were taking pictures. He tapped the woman on the shoulder and gave her a lopsided smile. "Hi, would you mind taking a picture of us?" he asked, gesturing to himself and Ryan.

"Sure, honey," she answered and handed her purse over to her husband.

Seth slipped his arm around Ryan's waist and smiled goofily.

"Say cheese," the woman encouraged.

"Cheese!" Seth said enthusiastically, pinching Ryan's side. Ryan looked at him sideways and managed a smile, but refused to say cheese, it was too...cheesy.

"One more," she encouraged, tilting the camera on its side and taking a second picture.

"Thanks," Seth said, taking the camera from the woman.

"That's okay," she said, smiling, "have a nice day!"

"She was happy," Seth commented as he watched her and the man she was with walk away.

Ryan grunted. "Happy people make me nervous."

Seth looked at Ryan then looked back at the couple as they got into their car. "Yeah, you're right, people that happy are one step away from blowing their brains out." Seth slung his arm over Ryan's shoulders. "See, that's why I like you, my little brooding boyfriend."

"Ready to go?"

"Yep."

The best thing about Ontario, Canada was that nineteen was the legal age to drink, gamble and buy cigarettes and Seth planned to do all three even though he rarely drank and had never smoked...okay, so he planned to gamble, but he was going to gamble a lot to make up for the other things. The boys had decided...well, Seth had decided that the best way to prepare for college was to get out and see the world, or at least certain parts of North America, from the windows of a rental car in sweltering heat for the better part of the summer and Ryan, being Ryan, had let himself be dragged along because he knew it would make Seth happy. Sandy had thought it was a good idea and had given them limited funds for their journey of self-discovery. Ryan managed the money, because if he let Seth manage it, they would have been flat broke and sleeping in the car after two days. Seth just didn't understand the concept of a budget.

Ryan handed Seth a few bills as they entered the Casino. Seth was all ready in babble mode.

"After we get through with the gambling, we have to go down Clifton Hill and get fudge, go into the Haunted House, see the Movieland Wax Museum, Guinness World of Records and the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum and then..." Seth stopped, grabbed the front of Ryan's shirt and tugged him closer. "Dude, we should get married!"

Ryan looked at Seth's lithe fingers wrapped in the cotton of his shirt and cast sceptical eyes on Seth. "Is that really the logical progression here?"

"What can I say, Ryan? my mind goes crazy with too much stimuli. After all the gambling and debauchery, I think a nice little wedding performed by Elvis will do nice to settle us down, especially after all the fudge and looking at the freaky people in the museums." Seth let go of Ryan's shirt as the line of people moved forward.

"It's Niagara Falls, not Vegas, Seth. There are no Elvis wedding chapels and besides..."

"What? You wouldn't marry me?"

"That's not it," Ryan said, digging through his wallet looking for his ID.

Seth's smile was really wide when Ryan looked up, ID in hand. "Then you would marry me?"

Ryan looked ahead of him. "That's besides the point because it's not gunna happen...not right now at least. Let's just talk about something else."

Seth nodded, still smiling.

Seth was a bad gambler. No, a horrible gambler. It didn't help that anytime he actually won on the slots, he did a victory dance in the middle of the aisle and distracted everyone around him. Those people did not like to be interrupted when they were losing their money and when a three- hundred pound, sweaty man stole Seth's seat, he didn't exactly argue to get it back. When he found another machine that wasn't as lucky, Seth chocked it up as a fluke, but by the time he was down to his last quarter, he realized gambling was harder than it looked. It wasn't like he needed the money anyway. The one-armed bandit had claimed every last cent Ryan had allotted him and then some. Luckily for them both, Ryan was trained by the best. At least his Mother's wisdom on card games had come in handy, but unlike her, Ryan knew when to stop. They had enough money to get through the rest of the trip with ease.

By the time they made it back to the hotel, it was past three in the morning and Ryan was barely able to keep his eyes open. Ryan was just about asleep when Seth emerged from the bathroom in his pajamas.

"Today was great, don't you think? I mean we saw a big flower clock, gambled, flirted with the law and wen-"

"Flirted with the law?" Ryan asked, yawning.

Seth sat on the side of the bed, facing Ryan. "Uh yeah, hello? Remember when I asked that security guard if he knew where the bathroom was?"

Ryan rubbed his eyes. "That was how you flirted with the law?"

"Flirting with the 'law makers' is what I call it. Law? Security guard? What's the difference? Flirting is flirting. It was close enough for me. Sorry we all can't steal cars and burn down houses, Mr. Hardened Criminal."

Ryan made a noise that was a half-snort, half-laugh as he got up and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Seth scooted up, fully on the bed, flipping on the television and channel surfed. He stopped at a preview for an adult movie. He tilted his head to the side, wondering exactly how the couple on the screen had gotten into that position. Seth changed the channel when he heard the shower go off.

A few minutes later the bathroom door opened, a cloud of steam billowed out and around Ryan. He was wearing a wife-beater and black boxer-briefs. Seth's mouth went dry.

Ryan flicked off the light and crawled into bed next to Seth. "Were you just watching porn?"

"Uh, no," Seth answered, rearranging the pillows.

"I thought I heard heavy breathing," he said, pulling Seth against him.

"Ryan, you know I have allergies, there is a lot of pollen in this room."

"There was moaning, too." Ryan smiled despite trying to remain collected.

"Yeah, well, it's very stressful trying to breath with all these toxins in the air."

"Right."

Seth cleared his throat. "I have scheduled us in for an evening of pancakes and heavy petting. Shall I get out the maple syrup? or did you want to eat first?" Seth teased.

"I'm really tired, Seth." Ryan closed his eyes for emphasis.

Seth nudged Ryan's shoulder. "Have a little catnap and I'll wake you up in a few minutes."

Ryan reluctantly opened his eyes and drew in a breath. "I really just want to go to sleep. It was a long day."

"Come on, Ryan, when will we be able to have sex in Niagara Falls again?"

Ryan looked indifferent.

"I'll do that thing that you like."

Ryan perked up, but still didn't comment.

"I'll let you mull that over, but the offer expires in twenty minutes, buddy."

Seth went to pull away, but Ryan held on to him and lured him into a long kiss. The kiss deepened and Seth began to feel that familiar pull in his stomach, the familiar ache in his groin.

There was a knock on the door and then another until it became incessant and they couldn't ignore it anymore. They pulled apart, reluctantly. "That's gunna be room service," Seth informed Ryan, springing up from the bed.

"This hotel has room service?" Ryan questioned. To say that the hotel was classy would have been the hugest overstatement of the year. It was cheap and rundown and what they could afford.

Seth shrugged. "Okay, so I paid a guy to go to that diner across the street and order two breakfasts."

Seth answered the door and gave the guy a twenty for his efforts before turning back to Ryan and smiling widely. "Shall we commence the pancake eating or should we just skip ahead to the heavy petting?"

Ryan took the containers from Seth and set them on top of the television. He pushed Seth until he fell back against the bed and Ryan straddled him. Seth quirked an eyebrow. "Heavy petting it is!"

end.