Lisa Martin

Ben entered the little diner with a swift, brisque step. It had been a long and boring day at the Consulate, with nothing else to do than write invitations to yet another party. Besides that, he hadn’t seen Ray in three days. The Chicago cop had been involved in a case, which made him work almost night and day, but at lunchtime he had called and had invited him for dinner.

So, he was in a good mood and looking forward to spend some time with his friend, hear all about the case. No noisy family around, just the two of them. He liked being at the Vecchio house, no argument about that, but sometimes it could be a bit....much.

His heart sank when he discovered Ray wasn’t alone. Sitting at their usual place, he was in deep converstaion with his sister. Ben hesitated for a second, then reprimanded himself for acting like a coward, and walked up to the table.

"Good evening."

Two heads turned in his direction.

"Fraze!"

"Hi Benny."

Ben squirmed under the intense look in Francesca’s eyes, saw Ray grinning over that and tried to straighten himself. Ray patted at the seat next to him.

"Sit here. That way you’ll be able to stay out of her clutches."

"Ray!" In stereo.

The object of their outcry pulled the most innocent face he could manage, and shrugged, "Hey, someone’s gotta say it." It earned him a slap with the menucard. "Stop that! I could arrest you, ya know?"

"For what?"

"Assault."

"Ha! Try me."

"Keep this up and I might. But there’s nothing wrong with telling the truth, isn’t it?" He looked at Ben with raised eyebrows. Ben shook his head, although he no idea where this was heading.

"There! He says it too. Be honest, sis, you can’t wait to get your hands on him."

"Ray?" Ben cut in . "Do you mind if I say something about this?"

The look of utter confusion and emberrassement on the Mountie’s face was hilarious. Ray looked across the table to Fran, biting his lip in order not to laugh. Meeting Fran’s twinkling eyes, he couldn’t hold back and let out a loud laugh, soon joined in his mirth by Fran.

"You still don’t get it, do you?" he asked, after he could control his breathing again.

"Get what?" Ben was totally clueless now.

"We tease the hell out of each other, we insult each other, but it’s just fun."

"Ah." Understanding dawned. "This was one of your "tease the Mountie" games."

"You got it." Ray tipped his head sideways and grinned. "You’re beginning to figure me out. Gotta be more careful."

"Or smarter," Fran challenged. Before Ray could reply to that, Fran’s head snapped in the direction of the door, her eyes following a man who had just come in. "Wow!" she muttered softly.

Ray’s head turned in same direction and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. "Not bad," he mumbled. "Five or so."

"Five??? You’ve got to be kidding! Nine!" Fran cried out.

Five? Nine? Ben knew he had lost track of this conversation somewhere, but he didn’t know where. "Eh...Ray?" he asked.

"Yeah, what?"

"What were you doing?"

Ray glanced at him,then a smile broke on his face. "Wouldn’t you like to know?" he teased.

"Oh, let him join the game." Fran said, a hopeful note in her voice.

"Dunno," Ray said, immediately followed by a heartfelt "Ouch!!"

"What’s wrong?" Ben inquired in a worried tone.

"She kicked me, that’s what’s wrong! And with those spikeheels, that hurts!"

Ben was unable to suppres the smile. He covered his mouth with his hand, but he knew Ray had seen it.

"Yeah, laugh about it. Wait until she gets you," he grunted, his eyes belying the gruff statement, sparkling with laughter. "Okay, I’ll explain this little game to you. Fran and me have been playing this for years, ever since we were old enough to see the attraction of the opposite sex." He ignored Fran’s amused snort and continued, "Butt watching."

Ben’s mind worked quickly. "You give marks for that?" he asked, his cheeks coloring slightly.

"From one to ten," Ray acknowledged. Then turning to his sister again," Fran, you remember when Ma caught us?"

Fran rolled her eyes upwards. "Don’t remind me!"

"We were hanging out of the window of my room, commenting on everybody that walked past the house. Then we heard someone clearing her troath behind us." Ray grinned at the memory. "We had to promise never to do it again and we were grounded for a month." "And you stopped doing it?" Ben asked, part of him already knowing what the answer would be.

"For about two days!" Fran laughed. "We were grounded, what else was there to do?" "And no one ever caught you again?"

"Now that you mention it, no, " Ray chuckled. "We were a little more careful after that. Will you look at that!!!" he added suddenly. Ben and Fran looked in the direction of Ray’s gaze, and to his utmost surprise Ben saw a man standing at the counter. Surely, Ray couldn’t mean him? One look at his friend told him he was referring to the man.

"Three, and I’m being generous," Fran said.

"Eight!"

They argued about it for a few minutes, then Ben cut in. "Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Two things, actually. Ray, aren’t you supposed to look at the women?"

An awkward silence fell, Ray throwing a ‘help’ look at his sister.

"Ah no!" she replied. "Get yourself outta this one, brother!"

"You’re enjoying this!" Ray hissed through gritted teeth.

"You betcha!" The reply was just a little too cheerful for Ray’s liking. He turned to Ben and sighed. "Well, let’s say I like to look at both, okay? You said you had two questions?"

Thankfully, Ben nodded and asked his second question. "Do you ever agree?"

"NO!" they both exclaimed, laughing.

"We never have and we never will," Fran grinned. "But that’s part of the game. I don’t know what will happen if we do."

"I don’t even wanna think of that," Ray said with an exaggerated sigh. "And you cheat."

"I do not!!"

"Yes, you do!"

Ben watched the bickering with a smile. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he was playing Ray’s answer to the first question round and round. He didn’t know what to make of it. Firmly, he shoved it away, in a far corner of his mind.

"Who started with ‘twelve’?" Ray said. "Well, answer that one."

"Me," Fran admitted reluctantly.

"And that’s not cheating? Benny?"

Ben cleared his troath noisily before answering. "You said it was on a scale from one to ten, so technically speaking, it is cheating."

"See?" Ray’s triomphant look made the other two grin.

"Who cares?" Fran shrugged. "It’s fun to get you angry."

Ben rose up from his chair.

"Where are you going?’ Ray asked.

"I left Diefenbaker outside. I’m just go and see if he’s allright." He turned and walked to the door. It was true, the wolf was waiting outside, but he could take care of himself. The truth was that he wanted to get out, get some fresh air. Ray’s answer refused to leave his mind and he needed to clear his head.

Fran and Ray stared after him, confused. A look was exchanged, then they both broke out in a big grin.

"Twelve!"

THE END

(For now. I need to solve Ben’s problem, now do I? Do I?)

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