A/N: hello yes i'm trash for ray and i'm angry that we didn't get to save him because he didn't deserve that ;;

anyway

this takes place during day 4 of v's route. have this fluff i wrote because this idea wouldn't leave me alone. enjoy!

Our Garden of Sunlight

by queenstiel

"A picnic?"

Ray nodded, a fully-decorated picnic basket hanging off of his wrist. "You're probably hungry, and I managed to find enough free time to prepare lunch." You couldn't help but notice the way his cheeks flushed. "I was hoping that we could eat together."

You smiled. He was right; you hadn't eaten since early this morning, and how long had it been since you had a picnic? You figured that if you were going to be here for at least a little while, you should try to enjoy yourself. "That sounds great."

He beamed, a wide, almost childish grin spreading across his handsome face. "R-Really? Th-Then… how about we go eat in the garden? There are some picnic tables out there…"

You nodded eagerly and took his free hand. "Sure! That garden really is beautiful."

He proceeded to lead you out of the room towards the garden. You knew the way by heart now; the garden was his favorite place to visit with you at night.

You noticed that his blush only darkened when you took his hand. "My Savior picked out all of the flowers there herself, but I did help her some."

He had mentioned before that he liked to study flowers in his free time. Despite the strangeness of your current predicament, you couldn't help but notice that whoever this 'Savior' was had good taste.

Although you thought the garden was the prettiest at night, since all of the lights were on and gave the flowers an ethereal glow, you couldn't deny that it was stunning during the day as well. The warm light of the sun made each and every flower shine, accentuating their vibrant colors. You could never get tired of it, you were sure of that.

After you seated yourself at one of the tables, Ray set the basket down on the center of the table. "I hope you like what I've prepared for you. I'm not the greatest cook, but my Savior says that I'm getting better. She says that I'm best at baking sweets, so I brought a few pastries for you to try."

"Oh, Ray, you didn't have to do that…"

He merely smiled. "Nothing's too good for my princess." After he set your meal down in front of you he proceeded to pull out teacups. "I hope you like jasmine tea."

"Y-You made tea too?!" you asked with a gasp. Not only had he made an entire lunch for you, but he had also baked you sweets and made tea. You were starting to feel like maybe Ray was spoiling you a bit too much.

"Mmhm. I wasn't sure what you liked, so I sort of guessed."

He seated himself across from you and began to pour himself a cup of tea. "What are you waiting for? Try some, I'd like to hear what you think!"

He had prepared a wide variety of dishes, ranging from curry, to salads, to apple and cherry tarts. You decided to try the curry he had made first.

"Ray."

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you pursue a career in cooking?"

Ray's teal-colored eyes went wide. You feared that he was about to start crying. "Wow… I'm glad you like it MC. I wish I could make meals for you every day…"

"Maybe you can, someday," you suggested shyly, poking at your salad with your fork.

Ray's expression suddenly shifted into an intensely serious one. "If you agree to stay with us, MC, I can be with you all the time. I'm sure of it."

You averted his gaze, looking back down at the ground. Ray had been mentioning that quite a bit lately, the idea of you staying with him permanently. You already had a bad enough feeling about the current situation. The fact that you had to stay at a classified location just to test a game was suspicious enough. But Ray had been so kind and gentle towards you that you tried not to think much of it. Ray seemed so sweet, and to even mention leaving was enough to make the poor guy look like a kicked puppy. Despite the situation, you didn't feel as though you were in any immediate danger, and Ray went to the extreme to take care of you and ensure that you were happy.

"I still… don't know about that…" you mumbled. "I like you Ray, you've been nothing but good to me. But… I have a life out there. I can't stay holed up in here for the rest of my life, you know?"

Ray dropped his fork almost dramatically as he met your eyes. His stare was captivating and you found that you couldn't look away. "The outside world is a terrible place. It won't accept people like you and me. But this place… this is all we need. Everything is right here for you, MC. I cannot force you to choose me, but I think it's in your best interest to do so. The world… it can't offer you any more than the Magenta can. In fact, Magenta can offer so much more."

Just what in the world had this Savior been teaching him?

"You may be happy here, Ray, but I think the outside world offers a lot of good things too," you told him.

"You say that because you are an outsider."

"Weren't you an outsider too?"

Ray's eyes narrowed. You couldn't help but notice the sadness in those eyes of his and you found yourself regretting asking.

"Yes, I was. My Savior was the one who found me. She rescued me from that… that horrible woman. I was able to escape her thanks to my Savior."

"Oh… you must be grateful to her then."

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. My Savior is the reason I'm alive today. So I'll do whatever she asks of me, without question. I owe my life to her, after all."

"Is that why you're always working?" The question slipped out unbidden, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Mm… I guess so, yes. I have to keep watch to make sure that the game runs smoothly. But I have a few other things I have to do as well."

Curiosity inevitably got the better of you, and you ended up asking him to elaborate. He winked and pressed a finger to his lips. "It's a secret, I'm afraid. I'll be able to tell you everything when the time is right."

"Oh… you mean that "contract", right?"

Ray had been mentioning something called a "contract" for the past day or so. He seemed rather excited about it, but you couldn't help but be a little nervous, as you had no idea what this contract entailed and you weren't interested in finding out. As much as you liked Ray, the fact that he wasn't telling you about the details was making you nervous.

"You remembered." He reached across the table and took your free hand. "MC, believe me when I say the contract is nothing bad. In fact… it'll be good for you. I promise."

"You say that, but you won't even tell me what it is," you said pointedly, a frown crossing your lips.

He released your hand like it had burned him. "I… I want to tell you, but… you'll be finding out later tonight anyway."

He looked pained, so you decided to drop it for now as you reached for the apple tart.

"Please do let me know what you think," he urged. "I added whipped cream on them, I hope you don't mind."

You bit into the delicious treat and found that no, you didn't mind at all. "Ray, it's amazing! Really, you should've become a baker!"

He laughed sheepishly. "M-MC, you're embarrassing me. I'm sure they're not that good…"

"Try it!" you said, but you ultimately ended up pulling off a piece from yours and offering it to him. "Here!"

In a move that you definitely didn't see coming, he reached forward and grabbed the treat with his teeth. After he pulled it into his mouth, his tongue darted out to run across your fingers. "Mm, I guess I didn't do a bad job after all."

Blushing furiously, you retracted your hand, ducking your head. "R-Ray!"

"Hm?"

"Y-You… that was…"

He grinned cheekily in response and grabbed one of the cherry tarts he had prepared.

"After the contract is complete," he began, "my Savior wants to have a celebration. There was talk of a dance of some sort. If you'd like… I want to accompany you as… as your date. If that's alright."

The thought of Ray leading you in a slow waltz across the dance floor made you a bit more excited than you'd care to admit. "Sure. I'd love to dance with you."

"O-Oh… wow."

"What?"

"Nothing, just... getting to dance with someone as pretty as you… I feel like it'd be a great honor."

You had to admit, Ray sure did know how to turn on the charm. "Likewise. You're quite the looker yourself."

Ray's cheeks took on that adorable pink shade again, but you didn't listen to much of what he had said, and instead took a moment to study him. Sure, white hair and green eyes was a bit odd, but you were starting to figure that neither were his natural hair and eye colors. Even so, he was oddly beautiful. Captivating eyes, pale skin, and a sharp jaw-line. Despite his usual soft expression and sweet smile, he was incredibly striking to you and you couldn't quite place why.

Perhaps that was how he had been able to coerce you here in the first place, with that calming voice and charming smile.

"I'm sorry to cut this short MC, but a few of the other Believers are calling for me. I should probably go see what they need."

You assisted him in cleaning up the mess, placing the cups and plates back into the basket.

"Thank you for lunch, Ray. It was delicious."

He waved a dismissive hand. "It was nothing. I hope to enjoy more meals with you in the future."

You turned around to head back inside, but froze when you felt his hand on your wrist. It was gentle, you noted. He wasn't holding onto you like he was angry or wanted to hurt you.

"MC… I… I… really want to…"

"Want to what? You can tell me," you urged, stepping closer to him.

He then shook his head, releasing your wrist. "Nothing! It's no big deal, really!"

You eyed him warily, but dismissed it for now as you took the hand he offered you and strolled out of the garden with him.

"MC, I just want you to know that you've brought something new to my life. So for that…. thank you."

You weren't sure about any of this. You weren't sure about Mint Eye, about the Savior, about this contract that was supposedly taking place tonight. Hell, you weren't even sure about Ray. But the one thing you were sure of was that he was here with you now, smiling at you, and you wouldn't want to be anywhere else, not unless he was by your side, wearing that same smile.

A/N: oh yeah, and i may or may not continue this? let me know if i should!