Deja Vu

[Ryland Ren]

So how good was this idea of letting a complete stranger (a werewolf, at that) come to his apartment all alone? From his place lounging on the sofa in the living room, Ryland stared at the clock. Then he looked at his cell phone and the exchange that had taken place between himself and... Aldon, was it? Ryland lightly ran a thumb over his lower lip as he continued to look at his phone, leaving the emails and checking Instagram again. As he looked through the images, he felt that queer pain starting in the front of his skull and radiating backwards.

Letting out a hiss, Ryland dropped the phone, where it promptly hit his thigh and landed in his lap. All right. He could do this. The guy was super freaking cute and he was fun to toy with, which was one of Ryland's favorite pastimes. He tried not to smirk. Some of the rumors that circulated in relation to foxes was downright on point.

Wait. Aldon was on his way.

Ryland rushed to sit up, then looked over the back of his couch, as if he could see Aldon through the front door. Nothing, of course. He probably wasn't even that close. Still, Ryland sprinted into the bathroom and quickly made sure his hair looked good and that his clothes were presentable. Then he washed his face and smiled at himself, squeezing his cheeks to get some color into them. Then he left the bathroom, switching the light off.

All right. The real reason Aldon was coming--that needed to be taken seriously. The excitement at meeting a new guy was dampened by that memory. Ryland's kitchen counter was littered with various notes and maps, the work he'd done on his own before he decided he couldn't kidnap somebody alone. The problem was, he didn't know anybody who would be willing to do it with him. The person that normally would have done it was currently imprisoned (as far as Ryland was concerned, that's what happened to Alva.)

Trying to get his work into some semblance of order, his heart nearly skipped a beat when he heard somebody at the door. Calmly strolling over, belying the anticipation choking him, Ryland peered through the door's peephole. He smiled. There he was then, in the flesh. If he turned out to be a damned witch, though... Ryland didn't give it another thought before he slid the chain off the door, unlocked the bolt, and opened the door.

"You weren't kidding about being close."

[Aldon Huang]

"Yeah! It's just one bus ride down!" Not even twenty minutes away by bus, and it was a direct route down to Ryland Ren's apartment. Aldon smiled, even though his stomach was doing that thing where it wanted him to throw up that morning's breakfast. The thing that usually only happened when he met a really good-looking guy. The thing that wasn't supposed to happen because he was happily in a relationship!

Luckily, there were millions of good-looking people in the world, so he could at least claim that the reaction wasn't specific to Ryland Ren. Unluckily, none of those other incredibly good-looking people were within sight for him to use that excuse.

Aldon stuffed his hands into his pockets. He had this weird urge to just... throw himself at Ryland. That was definitely not acceptable. Not that it wouldn't be fun, but not acceptable. (Didn't stop him from entertaining the thought, though, for like a fraction of a second.) Maybe it was a wolf-senses-tingling deal. Like... he wanted to spring forward because there were natural hunting instincts, and not because of the stomach twisty flippy thing.

Foxes weren't tasty anyway.

They were just... foxy. Wily. Everything Aldon had heard about them was true! And as he looked Ryland Ren over, he could believe it, too!

"Soooo..." He rocked forward on his heels, trying not-so-subtly to get a look inside. "We gonna do this out here...?"

[Ryland Ren]

"Oh, yeah, right!" Ryland quickly moved aside to allow Aldon to come inside his apartment, feeling like an absolute dunce. Was he staring? He was pretty sure he was staring. (But he couldn't help it. Not just because Aldon was good-looking but because of that awful deja vu sensation overcoming him again.) It didn't feel very good, if he was honest. The more he tried to remember why it made him feel that way, the worse his head hurt.

That didn't stop his heartbeat from rapidly speeding up or his smile from quirking at the almost nervous way Aldon acted. Was he nervous being around him? That wasn't something he should have shown Ryland--he liked to exploit things like that. And he did. As soon as Aldon was inside and Ryland shut the door behind them, he stood perhaps a little too close to Aldon, looking him over in an obvious way.

Instead of saying something flirtatious, he smiled knowingly and looped an arm around Aldon's to pull him along with him into the kitchen.

"So, the plan. I have a lot of notes you should look over. Maybe one of them will jog something in your memories and you can help me figure out how to help my cousin."

After all, this was about saving Alva, not playing around with Aldon's head. (Although he thought he could manage both if he wanted.)

[Aldon Huang]

If they were both staring, then Aldon wasn't not noticing, because he definitely wasn't not staring, since he wasn't not in a relationship. Or something like that. It was an awkward fumble to both get through the door and to keep his eyes to himself, which was why he kept ogling the interior. At least then, he wasn't ogling... something else.

"Oh—okay, yeah." That was for the arm sliding through his arm, and he let himself be dragged into the kitchen. Normally Aldon was pretty smooth about these kinds of things. Today he was off his game.

Inside the kitchen, he looked at the sprawl of documents and raised his brows. Absently he reached into his back pocket to extract his contribution to their planned criminal activities—a stack of rainbow post-its. For some reason they had a million of these at home and Aldon never really figured out why. He didn't remember buying them. Gregg wasn't the type to use rainbow stuff. Maybe somebody gifted them...?

"I uh. Brought these," he explained belatedly, avoiding looking at Ryland in an obvious (and slightly exaggerated) way. Did he have to be SO CLOSE?! "Um. So. Yeah! Let's see..." Aldon bent a little over the table to study the notes. "Hey have you tried just like distracting him? I mean with somebody else? You know... break them up without uh... committing crimes."

[Ryland Ren]

Rainbow post-its!

For some reason, the sight of those set off a dangerous sequence of events. Firstly, Ryland jerked back in surprise at the sight of them--but didn't know why he should be so surprised. Something ached in his chest at the sight of them and he wanted to... to... do something in response. His heart jumped and he felt simultaneously choked up with emotion and almost... angry but it was a strange sort of anger that didn't make sense with the rest of the reaction. Ryland wanted to rub his heart--or the place above it. But just as he was about to, his head was plunged into light-headedness and a faraway sounding voice. It sounded like it came from a lifetime ago, but at the same time, it was close. And he could hear himself, too. Retorting. Something about three words, why were they so difficult for him?

"Ugh..." Ryland slid forward slightly and caught hold of the countertop to stop himself from falling. His vision went black with the pain that lanced through his head. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on Aldon's words instead of whatever was happening in his head. Distracting him. Distracting him. Who? No crimes. What crimes? Oh, right. Alva. The kidnapping. Ryland lightly shook his head and straightened up, staring over the notes about witches and maps.

"Oh, no. I don't think... Well, maybe? He had a boyfriend before this guy but... doubtful he'd work with us. Plus, I'm pretty sure he's dating somebody now, too."

[Aldon Huang]

Whoa... Ryland looked like he might collapse and Aldon threw out a hand to his back to steady him. "Hey, you—" Okay? He was about to ask, but Ryland moved on and Aldon dropped his awkward hand, awkwardly.

"Oh. That kinda sucks." He looked back at his rainbow stack and played idly with it, flicking the small squares of paper. At one point, looking at them made his head hurt—and his heart pang—but he had long gotten over it. Now he could almost completely ignore the soreness in his chest.

Weird reaction to rainbow post-its, he knew.

"What about somebody like his ex-boyfriend? If you tell me what the guy was like, maybe I know somebody like that!" Really, anything to actually bodily drag someone away from his ill-advised lover... that he didn't even know...

[Ryland Ren]

Whew. He could use some water. Moving around the counter, he grabbed a glass and then a second glass, just in case Aldon was thirsty, too. Setting them on the counter, he thought over Aldon's idea. Somebody like Rae, huh? Ryland made a slight face--he never thought Rae was good enough for Alva and the thought of replacing him with somebody just like him was kinda... well. It was still better than Susumu. It had to be. At this point, Hitler sounded like a better boyfriend. (Not really but Ryland was feeling pretty extreme and protective at this point.)

"Okay but I doubt Susumu is going to let Alva near any new guys... But the kind of guy Alva used to be with wouldn't be afraid to challenge him so..." Ryland shrugged and let out a soft laugh. No lie there. Maybe there was something admirable about the asshole.

"His ex was pretty aggressive. In your terms, a real alpha type. Didn't let anybody get away with anything. Foul mouth. Easy to rile up. Rough around the edges. But Alva said he had a softer side when they were alone and I never saw any marks on him when they were dating so I can't really doubt him."

[Aldon Huang]

Aldon eyed Ryland worriedly, hoping that he wouldn't do what he did earlier, or worse—collapse in a heap somewhere between kitchen island and sink. Wolves were known to be protective, but usually of territory and not strangers. Still... He rubbed one shoulder, fidgeting a little. Part of him still wanted to give Ryland a hug.

"Oh, an alpha type. Haha..." Aldon laughed uneasily, more so as Ryland's description went on. Brash. Rough. Potty mouth (to be polite). Flash-fire temper, but with a soft sqishy inside. Aldon also had a soft, squishy inside but everything else, not so much. He had friends like that, though.

"Are you sure that's better than this Susumu guy?" He peered at Ryland, where his gaze immediately went to Ryland's... cheek. Not lips! Cheek!

"I have a friend... or two... like that but... but I dunno that they'd make good boyfriends for anybody, even if they are nice in private, you know?"

[Ryland Ren]

"Not really," he said with a wry half smile. "Actually, I was thinking the same thing. Is a guy like that any better than him? I used to think Rae was bad for him but he was nothing compared to Susumu."

What was Aldon looking at? Ryland looked back at him. He thought Aldon was thinking about something else, saying something else, as if he was holding something back but if he was, he didn't share it. Kinda dumb but... Ryland liked the way he was looking at him. Kinda like he wanted to draw closer. Maybe kiss him. Ryland didn't even realize it but he was standing closer to Aldon just thinking about it, drawn forward by some invisible, magnetic force.

Stay focused. Alva!

"Susumu's a curser. Not the kind with a mouth but he puts curses on people. And when they met, he cursed Alva. He claimed it was an accident, but the more I hear, the more I think he just wanted to keep Alva close." He cleared his throat and nearly knocked one of the glasses down in his haste to grab them. "Are you thirsty?"

[Aldon Huang]

Ray??! That sounded an awful lot like RAE, Aldon's wolf best friend who was also dating a fox shifter. Or... was dating one. Aldon didn't rightly recall what happened to them; his memories were a tiny bit fuzzy lately. He thought that it might have been the change—that awful full moon change that left him all animal, all feral. That could have also explained the headaches.

"Oohh... one of those moon witches huh?" Aldon nodded wisely, like he knew what moon witches were all about. Well, curses that hurt people told him all he needed to know! Not all moon witches were terrible people, but curses were all bad. Like, ALL bad. Nobody ever put a good curse on anybody, that was for sure!

"Well... um... I uh..." One of them was leaning closer. It might have been him. It could have been Ryland. All he knew was that suddenly, they were close and eye to eye and he couldn't breathe and they coulda kissed so easily... Easier than breathing...

"Guh—" Aldon grabbed his own glass, which was precariously teetering. He turned sideways to drink it, heart thudding in his chest. "Haha. Yeah! I'm so thirsty! For water!" Not-not for other stuff! For water. He gulped it down, glad that nobody was around to see him acting like a prepubescent schoolkid. (Definitely... not Gregg.).

"So-so funny story! My best friend's name is Rae! And he sounds like this Ray guy your cousin's dating!"

[Ryland Ren]

Yep. He nodded. One of those damned moon witches. Actually, Ryland never had anything against them before but he certainly did. Susumu gave them all a bad name, as far as he was concerned. What good could come of somebody who specialized in curses? It was inherently evil magic and somebody that used it had to be evil, right? He had to be if he took Alva away and hid him. Ryland couldn't even get through to him on his phone. It was disconcerting and frightening. The last time Ryland saw Alva, he really didn't look good and he imagined he wasn't getting any better near an evil witch...

His nerves, though. Why were they getting the better of him right now? Ryland wasn't normally so... on edge. In fact, he was pretty good at flirting. He watched Aldon turn away, shouting about how thirsty he was for water and Ryland hid a laugh behind his arm before turning away, too.

"Oh?" Ryland looked up and turned back to Aldon. Rae was his best friend? Wouldn't they have met then? Maybe not. Or maybe they had briefly met and that was why Aldon seemed so familiar (and why they had pictures together...?) "It might be him, then. He's a werewolf like you."

His eyes lit up and he gave Aldon's chest a pat.

"Oh, I know!" He scrambled out of the kitchen to grab his phone and came back with it, scrolling through his pictures to find some of Alva and Rae together. Not that there were many on his phone of them posing (Rae wouldn't pose for Ryland but he'd pose for Alva) but there were a few candid ones.

"Is this him?" Ryland asked, sidling right up next to Aldon so their sides touched. He held the phone a few inches from Aldon's nose.

[Aldon Huang]

"Buh—okay." Aldon gulped down two more glasses of cold water while Ryland was gone, trying to douse that jumpy feeling in his stomach and chest. It didn't really help; all it made him do was want to go to the bathroom, if he had to be honest. Before he could slip off, though, Ryland was back and—uh—yeah.

Close.

Right up beside him.

Subtly, Aldon shifted away, under the pretense of putting his glass off to the side. Also because he couldn't breathe when Ryland was that close! But then a phone got shoved into his face and his mouth dropped. He leaned in so close his nose actually poked the screen. "That's him! RAE! And—your cousin?!"

Goddamn! Rae was... was... a serial fox shifter dater!

[Ryland Ren]

"I knew it!" Ryland crowed. "They're the same guy!"

Although... as he lowered the phone and looked down at the photo, he wasn't sure how this changed anything. Aldon knew Rae, so maybe he could be convinced into helping lure Rae back to Alva. That... changed something. Besides, the lure of another lover was Aldon's idea. He couldn't back out of it now! (Also, it was somewhat easier to bring in an ex than it was to find somebody completely new. Especially since not everybody wanted a guy in a wheelchair. Also, Alva hated humans so that scratched off a good number of people... and they couldn't just run around asking everybody what they were!)

"So... all you have to do is talk him into catching Alva's eye again. That can't be that hard, right?"

[Aldon Huang]

"It's the wily fox senses, that's how you knew," Aldon said darkly, studying the picture alongside Ryland. Wolves didn't have that intuition. Or he didn't, anyway! The side of his head brushed Ryland's as they both leaned over the one phone. Aldon had the urge to run himself out of the window, head-first.

But Ryland's suggestion... Aldon gulped again, for a different reason. "Wh-why do I have to do that?! You're the one who wants to break up your cousin!"

See, the part where Ryland described Rae's temper was waaaay too accurate. As in, Rae was moody, touchy, easily triggered and lately he was just... well, a little unstable. Suggesting that he get back together with an ex might get somebody killed. Why did that somebody have to be Aldon?!

[Ryland Ren]

"Maybe."

He didn't know beforehand but how many guys named Rae with a short temper could there be? (Probably more than Ryland wanted to contend with.) However, he had proof positive that Alva's Rae was the same as Aldon's Rae. Aldon didn't even try to lie about it, either. He definitely wasn't wily like a fox, if he wanted to really wriggle his way out of his new job.

"Yeah, but it was your idea, remember?" Ryland tilted his head slightly and put his hands together, fingertips brushing his own chin in an attempt to appeal to Aldon's vulnerable side. (Most people couldn't deny his begging face.)

"Please? It's better than kidnapping a crippled fox under the watchful eye of a scary witch that curses people, isn't it?"