Deja Vu

[Aldon Huang]

Aldon did that a lot--speak in incomplete sentences, expecting people to fill in the blanks.

Except... not really.

He didn't have this problem with Gregg. Words came easily. Maybe even too easily, in the face of Gregg's reticence. It was like he thought he had to make up for Gregg's lack of outward expressiveness by going overboard.

Normally, Aldon didn't have a problem speaking his mind. Some people even said that he had no filter, that whatever he thought, he said aloud, be it for better or worse. There were even some who were offended by his outbursts, or thought that he was a complete idiot. Those people didn't matter, though. They weren't important enough for their words to break his bubble.

But to the people who mattered, Aldon sometimes weighed his words. Or he trailed off, because he didn't want his words used against him. He was skittish around deeper feelings. Sometimes words hurt--even his own, used against him.

Ryland wouldn't hurt him purposely, though. Aldon knew that without being reminded or told. He trusted Ryland and that was why he let himself be thrown into a tub of salt water without any explanation. That was why he took Ryland at his word, when he claimed that a witch was holding his cousin hostage. Aldon believed everything because they were connected.

He let his hand fall and sat stunned, too, for a long moment. "What happened to us?" It was a natural question to ask. Why were they together, then not together? When did Gregg happen? Aldon contemplated the water; it seemed to be bringing back their forgotten memories. There was a reason to this madness.

Then he dunked his whole head under it, ramming himself uncomfortably between the tub and the side of Ryland's leg.

[Ryland Ren]

"I'm not sure--" he started but a second later, Aldon was dunking himself awkwardly face first straight into the water! Ryland panicked, thinking he was about to drown himself.

"Aldon! What the hell!" He grabbed onto Aldon's shoulder and tried to pull him back up out of the water. To  make more room in the tub, he got up and tried to sit on the edge of the tub but the slippery surface wasn't conducive to wet clothing and he ended up sliding his ass backward, smacking his elbow hard on the toilet as he tried to catch himself.

"Shit!" His heart beat wildly, between his own near death experience and Aldon's.

"What the hell are you doing? Trying to kill yourself?" he asked, breathless from the fall. He struggled to sit up, pulling his sopping wet legs out of the water.

[Aldon Huang]

"Stop-p-pppppp!" Aldon gurgled, struggling wildly to stay under the water. His mom always said that he was contrary, and that he liked to do just the opposite of what people told him to. First, he didn't want to get in the tub and now he didn't want to get out. But he had a good reason to submerge!

Blindly, he groped around as Ryland slipped and splashed water all over the side of the tub. Aldon's head banged against the tiled wall as he was yanked out and he flailed around until he got a firm hold of—some part of Ryland.

"The water! Your friend said it'd help!" He swiped hair out of his eyes with his free hand and looked down. Ah. That was not where he intended his hand to go. Aldon pulled his hand back like it was on fire. "S-sorry!"

[Ryland Ren]

"Yeah! I know!"

That was why he splashed him in the face! Yoojin said it would help and that was why they were even here at all. But that was the least of his worries now because a hand grabbed him in a sensitive place. Jerking backward, he nearly fell back onto the damned toilet. Shit. Ryland edged slightly away from Aldon, in case his wandering hands got weird ideas again.

The bathroom was a mess. Water had been splashed all over the place and soaked the carpets under the toilet and by the bathtub. It was all over the two of them, too, although Aldon was considerably more soaked than Ryland was. Without the heat on and out of the water, Ryland was starting to feel the chill of the cool Oregon winter air.

"It's okay--it's fine." He didn't know why he said it twice. It wasn't like he minded what Aldon just did. And... it wasn't like they hadn't done more.

"I think it worked," he said, his voice soft as he looked around at the puddles on his bathroom floor. "I... remember things." He looked back over at Aldon. "Do you remember more? Did dunking yourself do it?" Should I do it too?

[Aldon Huang]

Aldon was cold too, everywhere but in the face—there, he was blazing heat. He put his hands under the water like the salt might cleanse them of all wrongdoing, even though he didn't mean to grope Ryland there. There were plenty of times that he did mean to, according to his newly awakened memories, but this was not one of those times.

"Sorry. Sorry!" He repeated himself every time Ryland insisted that it was fine and edged back to the far end of the tub, just so that no more opportunities presented themselves for groping. Aldon rubbed water out of his eyes and slumped against the tub. He felt like if he got out of it, he might forget everything again so now, this salty cool bath was going to be his new home until he remembered everything.

"Um... I think I did. What did you remember? You tell me first!" What if their memories weren't the same? Some things, Aldon didn't want to blurt out too soon. They were of a slightly delicate nature.

[Ryland Ren]

Now it was Ryland sitting in a protective manner, as if he expected Aldon to come for his genitals again. It was one thing to touch his thigh or something but full on grabbing onto him like that, out of nowhere! Ryland tried to shift his body weight as much as he could so that he could feel comfortable again.

"I have a feeling you're remembering more," Ryland said as he reached out and grabbed onto a towel and pulled it over his head and shoulders. Would the water being mopped up and dried away take the memories, too? His heart skipped a fearful beat at the thought.

"I... I remember being your boyfriend," he said warily after a slight hesitation. He looked Aldon over, wondering if the memories from the water were true. Yoojin remembered him, though. That was how she knew something was up. So... it had to be true. His heart felt heavy with the realization that he'd been affected by the witch as well. How much had been robbed from him?

"On and off, a lot. That earring I told you about..." He reached up and touched it. He was wearing it now. "The wolf one. It was from you."

[Aldon Huang]

"Well..."

Yeah. He was remembering a whole lot more. Like summers together, spending long, hot days at the beach. Like Ryland burying him in sand while he napped and Aldon waking up all in a panic. Like their favorite fast food place, the chinese restaurant near Ryland's old apartment, or the gelato place where they reconnected, and where Aldon got a mountain of ice cream dumped in his lap.

Like the rainbow post-its. Now he knew why he had so many laying around at home. (Not because Gregg was secretly expressing his flamboyant side.)

"People always talked about us behind our backs, about the—on and off thing." He looked up and smiled ruefully at Ryland's earring. He pointed to his own ear, where the corresponding fox rested. Now he knew why he wore it every day, unconsciously remembering a lover who had been completely wiped from his mind.

"Why did I forget you, but not everybody else? No—wait. I forgot Alva too!" Aldon sat up straighter. Was this really the witch's doing?! Did he try to erase everyone's memories, so that they all forgot Alva—and Ryland and Aldon were simply caught in the cross-fire?

[Ryland Ren]

"Yeah... they did." He smiled back at Aldon, recalling now that Yoojin was one of those people. Alva, too. They didn't talk about it like they hated Aldon, though. More like they were exasperated. So... why were they always on and off again? Ryland remembered the weird rainbow notes that Aldon brought with him, the ones that made his head hurt so badly when Aldon revealed them. And his smile slowly faded, gaze softening as his heart ached.

Pretending that drying off was his priority now, Ryland slowly stood up and peeled off his shirt, tossing it into his wicker laundry basket. He let the towel rest against his shoulders, toying with it.

"Why didn't I forget Alva?" he wondered aloud, following Aldon's train of thought instead of his own. "It would have made more sense to make me forget him, right? I'm the one who wants to go after him and make sure he's okay. I don't get it..."

[Aldon Huang]

"Maybe... maybe the curse or whatever didn't work out right!" Aldon spoke loudly above the sound of running water, as he added hot water to the tub. It was getting really cold in there! Still unwilling to leave the safety of the memory bath, he hunkered down for the long haul. He was NOT leaving until he got some answers!

While he swirled the water around to mix the hot and cold streams, he pondered aloud to himself. (And tried not to ogle Ryland, who was making himself a target of ogling by taking off his shirt. Ahem.)

"Maybe you were around this stuff when he cast his evil spell!" He gestured to the bath—the salt. It seemed to negate some of the effects of the curse so... maybe Ryland was around a salt shaker at the time, or... something.

[Ryland Ren]

"Hmm..."

That was possible. Magic was tricky and messed up all the time. If the witch was to be believed then he had made mistakes before, because he claimed that what he did to Alva in the first place was an accident. So maybe whenever he cast his spell of forgetfulness, it didn't quite catch everybody the same. Or maybe he couldn't make Ryland forget family? But what about somebody he loved--once loved--did he love him? Frustrated, he ran his hand through his wet hair and turned back toward Aldon.

"Maybe?" Salt. Water. Maybe he was at the beach when the spell was cast so it didn't take as well? Maybe he was even in the ocean... It made sense because Ryland went to the beach on occasion. He could have been there that very moment. It could have weakened it, keeping Alva there in his memory. So why erase Aldon? Ryland sat down on the closed toilet seat and let out a sigh.

"This is--" He paused, realizing that Aldon was adding more water to the tub. "What are you doing?"

[Aldon Huang]

Well how would they know? They were amateurs to the world of magic! The only thing they could do was guess right now, as to what really happened to them. Aldon continued adding hot water until the temperature in the bathtub rose to a comfortable level, and then he turned off the taps—just as Ryland questioned what he was doing. Aldon looked up, blinking innocently.

"I'm... making the water hot." He shrugged. Seemed pretty obvious to him. Or was Ryland asking about something else? Aldon sank down further in the water, until it reached his chin. "I'm not leaving until I get all my memories back!" He declared, just as somebody slammed a door and frantic calls for RYLAND reached his ears.

"Um." Aldon stared at the wild-eyed woman who appeared suddenly in the doorway.

"RYLAND!" She screamed, as she ran forward and threw her arms around Ryland. Then, it seemed to Aldon as though she tried to wrestle Ryland back into the tub. "Are you okay?! Why aren't you in the water?! Get in the water!"

[Ryland Ren]

"Oh."

Well, that made sense. Maybe Ryland shouldn't have been so quick to hop out. He paused, regarding Aldon in the bathtub for a moment--until his peace of mind was broken by the sudden arrival of Yoojin. Eyes widened as he turned toward her and before he could say anything to her, he found himself being pushed back toward the tub.

"Whoa, whoa!" Ryland lost his balance and fell backward, splashing hard into the tub and hurting his tailbone in the process. He let out a short whimper of pain before looking up at Yoojin, whom he'd dragged down along with him. This tub was getting awfully full.

"What? How long do we have to stay in here?!"

[Aldon Huang]

"NO!"

Aldon had no say in it and now there were three people in the bathtub, getting soaked. At least the water was warm! What little there was left of it after two whole bodies splashed into the tub, sending another cascade over the side.

Luckily, Aldon had been on one side of the tub and his enhanced reactions allowed him to make a mad scramble to avoid getting crushed. Since leg room was now at a premium, he clung to Ryland and squeezed in with him, while Ryland's crazy friend pushed sopping hair out of her eyes.

"We get out... ugh this water tastes gross... We get out when I say we get out!" The crazy woman sputtered as she settled into the water. Then she beamed a Look at Aldon, who huddled in closer against Ryland. "Hello Aldon."

"Hi... Who are you?"

The woman sighed and turned the Look onto Ryland. "Why is he pretending he doesn't know me?"

[Ryland Ren]

"I told you! We didn't even know each other before you told us to get in the bath." Ryland smiled quickly over at Aldon. "By the way, this is the friend who told us to get in the bath. She's Yoojin. You used to know her."

That last part was obvious, he thought, since Yoojin greeted him like she'd known him forever. It felt like they'd all known each other forever. How many years had their little on-again-off-again thing been going on? Years. The water helped clear that up for him. Hot cheese, too. That theater job. Petting. That came back to him as they squished together in the tub, although it was slightly more awkward now that Ryland was shirtless. Yeah. He forgot about that in the chaos of being shoved back into the water.

"So that means the witch got us but not you," Ryland said thoughtfully, looking at Yoojin. "Because he didn't know you. But he messed up because I remembered Alva. So he's not as good at magic as he pretends to be. I mean, he claimed to accidentally hit Alva with that first curse... Right?"

Again he looked to Yoojin for confirmation because otherwise, he wasn't sure what was a real memory.

[Aldon Huang]

"No, I said why is he pretending he doesn't know me? He remembers, if you've been sitting in this water since I told you to." The woman eyed Aldon again, who scowled at her.

He wasn't pretending! He didn't know her name or anything! But... maybe he remembered a friend of Ryland's who disapproved. A lot. And who was Very Vocal about their relationship and how bad Aldon was for Ryland. But that guy used to be a guy, before he went off to get surgery to look like... this.

Not that Aldon was judging! And the surgery didn't look bad, it just... was weird, knowing her as a man and now seeing her as a woman.

"Leave me alone," he grumbled at her, while she waved an impatient hand in his direction.

"Memory charms are tricky," she said, veering off the subject of Aldon (for a change). "It's sort of gray magic, not really sun but not really moon magic either. I'm not surprised he messed it up. Sounds like this guy's more of a moon magic user. He might have tried to do something to Alva, and it ended up affecting the people that Alva knows. Hard to say, though." Her gaze softened as it lit on Ryland. "I can try to take the edge off that spell but until I know what the witch did, I can't remove it."