do you have any norray headcannons of them growing closer during the search for emma?
☆ First my required hyping of @salsae's (so what am I defending now?) because I've essentially taken it as canon. Beautifully written with loving nuance, her work was (and still is <3) foundational for my interpretations of the trio when I first got into the series in 2021 and was searching for quality REN works.
☆ I also really love this unnamed piece by @p-s-geeks:
There is a flower in your pocket. It’s wild and medicinal. You’re familiar with it. You remember white bedsheets, a pleading whine, two pairs of hands embracing you, and the flower on your forehead, working more wonders that it was biologically capable of (it wasn’t the flower, you know). The flower currently in your pocket is probably in a worse state, has probably shriveled up and wilted after hours of being plucked. It weighs lighter than a feather but feels heavier than diamonds.
[…]
You unearth the flower from your pocket. Ray deserves to see this. Deserves to relive memories with you. And you kind of need him to. Right now, he’s the only one who’s been through thick and thin with you in majority of these trials and tribulations. He’s the only one who can look at it the way you look at it.
[…]
“It’s alright” Ray says, pressing himself closer to you. You hold onto him like he’s the last lifeline on a sinking boat. “It’s alright. You’re not alone. You never were alone”
You sleep listening to her gentle words in his gentle voice and it’s the deepest sleep you’ve gotten in a long time.
(You wake up to a beautiful orange sunrise. To limbs tangled around yours. To soft snores. To groaning and complaining about morning coming too early during summers. And the hole in your heart subdues itself. It doesn’t disappear, doesn’t stop panging, but you still smile in remembrance and hope.)
How all the little things build and build until they become so deafening, and how so much solace is able to be found in those small‚ tender exchanges on one quiet night, with Ray echoing simple yet loving words he learned from her so long ago that became etched into his being after Grace Field not only by her but through the actions‚ big and small‚ of their family as well (because family is so very integral to each of them). How at first orange is such a painful reminder and how it ends on a most radiant sunrise that’s the true embodiment of Emma, giving them both the strength to continue onward.
☆ This is when they start antiquing together since they're already traveling all over the world, spotting little shops with hidden treasures.
↳ Tying in another headcanon of mine that they find and fix up a duplicate of the music box Isabella gifted Emma for her sixth birthday, I debate whether they find it before or after finding her.
(Mystic Code Book Chapter 1 Q&A | Questionnaire Translation Source)
☆ They also find a vintage chess set and start having matches again. The win totals remain close.
↳ They find it comforting how after so long the other still has the same subtle quirks to how they play, hold and move the pieces. When one takes a bit longer to make a move and the other glances up to see the tiniest familiar tick, it can be hard to stop that warmth from blooming in their heart.
↳ Sometimes the younger kids will watch them play and want to join in. These matches tend to take longer, but they don't mind. The sight of the other gently coaching and encouraging the children leaves them so very fond.
☆ This actually applies to any situation where they're tending to the kids since they're both very family-oriented. Reading them bedtimes stories, helping them with projects or lessons, Ray showing the kids how to cook, etc. He was never cruel or malicious toward them back at the house:
(Chapter 8 | 9 | 15 | 22)
But seeing Ray being able to openly express his fondness for their family without having to maintain a cool detachment and air of indifference heals Norman's heart some. Similarly, seeing Norman fall back into caring for the kids without the mantle of Minerva weighing on his shoulders does the same for Ray.
(so what am I defending now?)
☆ To plug another of sae's fics, when the two end up on dish cleaning duty together it's not uncommon for this to play out:
(to have and to hold)
☆ In a similar vein, in the winter sometimes Ray tells Norman to hold for a second so he can fix his scarf. Norman, in a light and breezy tone, tells him he doesn't have to worry about him, you know? Ray responds with a tch, saying he worries about everyone, in the way he keeps watch and frets in a nurturing way about the rest of their family. The way his fingers linger ever so briefly on the fabric followed with a light pat over Norman's heart to signal he's done hint otherwise.
☆ It's funny watching them get roped into something like a Mario Kart tournament because they don't trash talk each other at all, but they will get insanely intense with the trajectory of their green shells, banana peel placements, snaking, etc., all while keeping relatively calm exteriors.
↳ It's also funny to see Norman be a sore loser in his own way.
☆ Whether it's at one of the Ratri estates or while they're out on another search, if one wakes up in the middle of the night and can't find the other, their first guesses are to check outside or a spot in the establishment they noted earlier as a good vantage point to see the stars. Sometimes they converse, sometimes they don't, but they appreciate each other's company as their minds drift to whether Emma is looking up at the speckled sky, too.
☆ I love how often people will ignore Lambda illness being largely handled and resolved in order to go for some no-brainer hurt/comfort. After waking up from some of the worst bouts of it to even some of the more mild ones where he didn't have to be hospitalized, Norman seeing Ray calmly reading at his bedside or dozing off himself is a welcomed sight.
↳ Combining with an earlier bullet point but I also really like the imagery of them being out on a nature excursion/picnic with Norman having to deal with a milder attack, and after reassuring everyone that he's fine and encouraging them to go off and play while he rests a bit, it whittles down to just him and Ray sitting under the shade of a tree, space left for a third. Watching their family indulge in such mirth without fear of a future cut short, they know even with the lows that have come before and could come again, when they find Emma, they'll be able to genuinely tell her they've been well.
