Tell me all the ways to love you

[Ryland Ren]

"Yeah..."

Rae, the reason they were even talking right now. He was dead to the world and probably would be for days, the way he looked when Ryland last saw him. How was Alva going to manage that one, anyway? Just stick around until he was kicked out of the room? And what about the witch guy? Alva still had miles to go before everything was really okay with him and Ryland... Well, Ryland really didn't have as many problems as he thought he did, not compared to Alva. Whining about an extra dude in the mix hardly seemed relevant when he remembered Alva's curse. That alone was a problem much larger than any Ryland faced.

"Um..."

Should they go back to his place? Ryland would rather go back to his place, all things considered. He didn't want to go to Aldon's and end up running into the Other Man, even though he did promise to meet him. Did he have to meet him right now, though? No. No, he did not. And Ryland could show Aldon his new, new place... since he kept moving around Hazleton like it wasn't a dot on the map and Aldon couldn't find him if he moved to one of three apartment buildings in town.

"Yeah, let's go to my place."

He leaned forward slightly to give the driver his address, which probably annoyed him to no end... since they were practically at the hospital by then. But why go inside if Rae was asleep? They couldn't take him to Aldon's place yet anyway!

[Aldon Huang]

Breathing a sigh of relief, Aldon settle back while Ryland told the driver where next to go, which wasn't the hospital but his new apartment. The driver sighed but Aldon didn't know if he was really annoyed. That just meant more money for him, didn't it? Unless he was tired of their drama--but there was no more drama now! Nope, no drama, just relief.

As soon as Ryland eased back, Aldon was clinging to him again. Wetly. Yech. They really DID need to change out and it was just too bad that Aldon didn't have any clothes at Ryland's place anymore. He used to. There used to be a lot of his stuff at Ryland's and vice versa. They could just go over and not want for a single thing. But it was... sad that they never stayed together long enough to move in together. Aldon bunked with Roe intermittently, then found his own place and stayed there. Meanwhile, Ryland moved around between one of three apartments. Didn't he get tired of packing and unpacking so much?!

The ride to Ryland's new apartment didn't take as long as Aldon thought, but then he was so busy telling Ryland everything--everything that had happened while they were separated. Running from hunters, running back to town when they discovered nobody was chasing them. Settling back down--he tried to leave Gregg out as much as possible, so as not to make Ryland uncomfortable--and readjusting to life in Hazleton. He and Gregg didn't get that far, to be honest. It was still a fun little... fear-filled road trip.

"We're here," the driver eventually interrupted Aldon's diatribe to say, and looked expectantly over his shoulder at them. Aldon started--were they here already?

"Hey I know this place! This was the place you were at... um..." Two break-ups ago? "A while ago!" He paid the driver and then eased open the door. "Run for it Ry!" Aldon was gone, dashing crazily through the rain, making a beeline for the well-lit lobby.

[Ryland Ren]

Aldon had a lot to say and Ryland listened to his chatter while he absently brushed his fingers through Aldon's hair. It sounded like it had been an exciting year for Aldon. A strange one, too. There was obviously parts missing from his stories, though. Ryland had to wonder what it meant, if the blank spaces were where the other guy belonged or if he was just fretting too much about it. Even so, it sounded like the past year had been a major one for Aldon.

Meanwhile, Ryland's hadn't been much of anything. He didn't have much to share so he quietly listened, content to hear what happened in his absence. All Ryland had done was move again, find work in a new place, and pretty much just lived his life. There was no new man in his life to speak of, although he thought about it once or twice. He needed a break from relationships, though. A breather, some time to figure out himself by himself and not in connection with somebody else.

The one interesting story he did have was about Susumu and Alva, and it didn't seem right to talk about them. The curse... The ancients... There was some serious shit going on and the closer they got to Halloween, the more nervous it made Ryland. But that was talk for another time. He would much rather hear about Aldon running from hunters. It was kind of hilarious, in a way. As long as he didn't actually run into anybody that would hurt him. It didn't seem like he did. And he had a new friend, apparently. Some Irish guy. Not anybody to worry about, since apparently he already had a boyfriend or something.

Not that Ryland typically worried. Aldon made a lot of friends and he never worried about one of them stealing Aldon away before. It made him wonder who this Gregg guy really was, how he wormed his way into Aldon's heart, what made him stand out, what made him special.

But he didn't ask. Part of him wanted to know but a bigger part was still just not ready for it.

Ryland let out a soft snort of a laugh; he should have known that even though he moved, Aldon would still recognize the apartment building. There really weren't that many choices in a place as small as Hazleton. Then they were back out in the rain and Ryland was letting out a sharp bark of a laugh as they raced through the pounding rain to make it into the lobby. As soon as the arrived, Ryland's shoes slipped on the tile floor and he found himself on hands and knees, laughing so hard he could hardly breathe.

"Help!" he cried because he was laughing too hard to get up and the floor didn't like his wet knees. He rolled onto his back and raised up both arms, making a grabby motion with them. "I've fallen and I can't get up!"

[Aldon Huang]

For once Aldon wasn't the one who tripped! He skidded a bit on the slippery tile but by flailing wildly with both arms, he stayed upright. Not so Ryland, who immediately went down and then launched into a slapstick comedy routine by sliding and refusing to get to his feet.

This time, it WAS funny. And Aldon DID get why it was hilarious, why Ryland was laughing. He laughed too, freely, raucously, and then as he went over to help Ryland get up, his foot encountered a patch of water and he went down hard on his back. 

"OW!" Aldon cried out but falling that way just made him laugh harder and harder, and he just... committed himself to crawling over to Ryland. His stomach started to hurt as the peals of laughter refused to stop and he ended up with both arms and legs wrapped around Ryland, laying there in a puddle of water, in hysterics.

"C-come on. Come on we gotta--" He gasped, breathing in hard. His lungs burned! "We gotta get up!"

[Ryland Ren]

"Well then why'd you follow me down?" Ryland gasped back, through laughter. They must have looked like quite the pair, lying there on the ground of the lobby like a couple of fools. Ryland didn't mind, though. He didn't care what anybody around them thought. With another laugh, he slid his arms around the back of Aldon's neck.

"Up! Up!" He tried to pull himself up from his place but he ended up just pulling Aldon in closer. This definitely wasn't the place to be horsing around, especially not if it was going to lead to places that his warming body wanted it to go. He didn't know about Aldon and his... ahem... sex life. But Ryland's had been pretty dry for the past year. And all this love and affection was definitely signaling certain parts of his body and his brain.

Placing a hand carefully on the ground beside them, he tried to push himself up to at least a sitting position, all the while letting out another laugh every time his gaze caught Aldon's. He couldn't help it. The entire situation had become hilarious to him, especially after everything leading up to it.

Managing finally to get to one knee and then finally up to both feet, he locked himself in as he tried to use his weight to lift Aldon up with him.

"Warm shower," he reminded him. "Clothes."

[Aldon Huang]

"Okay, okay," Aldon gasped, still having fits of laughter which didn't help one little bit when he was already punch-drunk on all of the relief and the emotions that had suddenly rushed back. They weren't a serious couple. Not serious the way Gregg was serious; they were playful as puppies (and foxes!). It just never felt right for them to become so mired in darker feelings, and all of the mistrust and hurt and disappointment, that they forgot who they were as a couple.

Ryland and Aldon were that couple that everyone rolled their eyes at, because they were always secretive, laughing, wrapped in each other and off in their own little world.

"Okay on THREE! ONE. TWO! You said up! That's not up!" He protested as Ryland only managed to pull him IN—not that Aldon particularly minded. But maybe he didn't want to keep laying on the hard tile like that. Finally they did it! They got to their feet! Aldon grinned as he wrapped both of his arms around Ryland's waist and slowly—gingerly—stepped with him towards the elevator. After pressing the button, he nuzzled Ryland affectionately. It just seemed right. It seemed like a given that after coming to an agreement and making up, that they should be allowed to enjoy a moment of peace and be in love again. Not that Aldon was ever out of love, but there had been obstacles. Now, there were fewer. Maybe only... one. In the shape of Gregg. But they could settle that, too, as an 'us' problem and not only as an 'Aldon' problem.

"Which floor?" The doors were opening, there was no one inside. Aldon eased them in as one, as though they had merged into one entity, and pressed the button to close the doors quickly so that nobody could join them and make them feel uncomfortable just hugging in an elevator.

[Ryland Ren]

"Three! Third!"

The doors closed after Aldon poked the button and then it was just the two of them, alone. In the elevator. Ryland was fine with just having their arms wrapped around one another. He might have gone for the gusto if they weren't so uncomfortably soaked to the bone in their wet clothes, but it did stop him from doing something dumb... so there was that.

Once the elevator dinged and the doors opened up on the appropriate floor, Ryland led Aldon by the hand to his new apartment. Same building he'd lived in once before but different actual apartment. Not that much was different, other than the layout being mirrored to the last one. After he unlocked the door and opened it, he stepped inside and held the door open for Aldon.

By now, he had been living in the apartment for the better part of a year. Things were situated comfortably in the relatively small space but it was clean and it would have been sparse in decor if it weren't for Yoojin, who helped find and put up pictures on the walls and buy a few things to lighten up the mood. Little things, like a nice lamp or a little statue of a fox. That sort of thing.

"Home sweet home," he said, after he closed the door behind Aldon. His heart beat a little faster, now that the two of them were alone in his apartment. But... first things first.

"Hot shower," he insisted, already marching Aldon toward the bathroom. "I'm sure you'll fit fine in some of my sweats." It wasn't like they were drastically different in size, although he did doubt that Aldon's thighs would fit into Ryland's regular pants. Sweats, though. Practically one size fits all!

His phone buzzed and he checked it, expected Alva and getting Alva. Only... His face went white.

"Did... did you tell Josh where Rae was?"

[Aldon Huang]

"Oohhh," Aldon said as they entered and squelched their way through the door and past the entryway. "Aahh," he said as he was frog-marched towards the bathroom without even really seeing anything at all! There were new knick-knacks, some tasteful photos and pictures up on the wall, a few little statuettes of whimsical animals (one looked like a wolf... or a coyote...) but he didn't have the time to stop and stare.

Ryland was right though. Shower first. Dry clothes. Aldon didn't think anything of Ryland's would fit on his upper body unless it was a comfy oversized hoodie, but he didn't mind being half-naked for a little while. So he acquiesced to the notion of wearing Ryland's sweats, got a little handsy on the way into the bathroom to get a hot shower—stymied by wet cold clothing, of course, but he did his best.

Just as he was stripping out of his sweatshirt and into the tank top underneath, Ryland asked him about Josh. Aldon first had to extricate himself from the heavy, cold material. "Um. He... asked... Well I asked HIM first about what happened and he told me about the fight, then he said they took Rae somewhere but he'd gone to the police station to find Rae and Rae wasn't there and he didn't know where Rae was so I had to tell him Rae was in the hospital cause I thought he might've been worried, you know."

Gasp.

He barely breathed in that entire long explanation.

[Ryland Ren]

Oh, he just wanted to have some fun. Take a shower together... get warm together... Do some things they hadn't done together in a long time... together. But instead, he was stuck with a feeling of dread in his gut, worried for his cousin, since he was alone at the hospital with Josh... who... who...

"He hit him!" Ryland said, almost in disbelief. He knew Josh was an asshole but he didn't think he'd lower himself to hitting people in wheelchairs! What the hell was wrong with him? Ryland didn't know how bad it was but he fretted over it; Josh was strong and he was cruel. He could do anything to Alva and Alva...! His heart thudded against his ribcage.

"That bastard hit Alva!"

Ryland looked around wildly, shaking with fury. Nobody hit his cousin and got away with it. Nobody! There hardly seemed time but he immediately peeled off his wet clothes as fast as he could and, not caring if he was nude in Aldon's presence (he'd seen him nude many times before), he stalked over to his closet and started pulling out dry clothes, putting them on over his still clammy body.

"I have to go. I have to go get Alva at the hospital. I can't leave him there. What if Josh..."

[Aldon Huang]

"Wh-wha-what?" Aldon's head spun and it hurt because one moment there was the promise of a hot shower and... affection (he assumed they would shower together) and the next Ryland was furious. He'd seen Ryland angry before but this was pretty darn angry! Aldon trailed after him worriedly, biting his lower lip when Ryland revealed that Alva had been struck. By Josh.

"But-why! Is Alva okay?" He exclaimed, shocked that Josh would go and do that. To Alva. It seemed inconceivable! Sure Josh was never Alva's biggest fan but to hit him... Even Aldon couldn't explain that away. He had no excuses for someone who could strike a person like Alva, who was disabled and who couldn't really defend himself if it came down to a physical fight. It just wasn't right. It wasn't right.

He watched Ryland tearing about in search of clothing, all thoughts of a cozy shower with Ryland swirling down the drain. He hadn't even turned on the water, and now they were going back out again. Aldon couldn't even blame Ryland, or Alva. It just had to be done. They had to make sure their friend was okay; that was more important than what they were about to do in the moment.

"Okay. I'm coming too, hold on!" He had to disrobe, and then find clothes! Sweat pants were pulled out of a drawer. He located a jacket that looked reasonably Aldon-sized and pulled it on, and then grabbed some dry socks to put onto his feet. "I'll try to get in touch with Josh to—distract him!" If Josh was texting, he couldn't be killing!

[Ryland Ren]

"I don't know!"

Alva liked to downplay things so if he said he was fine, Ryland didn't necessarily believe him. Something was going on at that hospital, though, and he was going to go down there and split heads if he had to! He wasn't afraid of Josh. Who could be afraid of somebody so cowardly that they struck somebody in a wheelchair? Fucking asshole! Angrily, Ryland stomped for the front door but his phone buzzed and it was Alva, still trying to downplay things.

Worry etched a line between his brows as Ryland began to pace back and forth, responding to the texts and trying to calm down. His heart was still beating fast and he'd never felt such anger. Or he had... a very long time ago, when he was young. He had directed it toward humans for such a long time, too, for their role in what happened to his cousins. Killing one, leaving the other disabled...

"Okay," he said to Aldon distractedly as he paced a few more times. Eventually, he calmed down and perched on the arm of his couch. He set his phone down in his lap but kept hold of it. Looking over at Aldon, he knew his worry still had to be on his face, as plainly as if he'd painted the word across his forehead.

"He says Susumu is going to get him." He said Susumu was coming, so he assumed that he would take him home and get him away from that... situation. Letting out a deep sigh, Ryland reached a hand out to Aldon. "Get your ass over here. Please."

[Aldon Huang]

Josh wasn't responding! Aldon panicked but wisely held his tongue because he was sure that Josh was now out killing and he didn't want Ryland to know what he was thinking. Ryland might do something foolish like try to attack Josh and... nobody wanted to know how that would turn out. Badly. For everyone. Aldon would have to defend Ryland, naturally, and get pulled into a fight he really didn't want to participate in.

Honestly he thought that he had it bad with Ryland and Gregg and their whole situation but he was now glad that he wasn't Rae. Stuck between Alva, the sane choice, and Josh who never let go once he sank his teeth into something... That was the wolf's way, except Aldon wasn't sure that what Josh felt was normal even for wolves. Sure, wolves could be territorial and protective but not to that extent. It was almost like... the human part was even more feral than the wolf part!

That was a chilling thought. Aldon knew that Josh tolerated him because he wasn't dead yet but he thought that he had the measure of his friend. He never thought that Josh would strike Alva, or harm him physically, if only for Rae's sake. Not that hurting him emotionally was any better but hitting him just... crossed a line. What made him cross over though? Josh always teetered at the very edge of the line but something must have pushed him over. What though? What really happened last night?

Aldon watched Ryland like a hawk while his thoughts meandered, trying to take cues from him as to what they should do next. He saw the fingers texting furiously, watched Ryland's expressions changing from angry to worried to indignant to doubtful and back to angry again. It hurt Aldon by proxy to know that this incident affected Ryland so much; they were connected at the heart, after all. Plus, Josh was his friend and he felt as if he ought to shoulder some of the blame too, as though he was guilty by association of also causing harm to Alva.

Eventually the storm of texts stopped and Ryland just... sat on the armrest of his couch. Aldon hovered indecisively nearby, ready to bolt at a moment's notice in case Alva was in mortal danger. Knowing Josh, he might be waiting for a chance to ambush Alva when he was alone or unawares. "Oh! Good!" Susumu was that witch guy Alva dated. He was powerful, from what Aldon had heard. Breathing a sigh of relief, he lowered his own phone—Josh was still ignoring his frantic texts and calls—and walked his ass on over (please) to Ryland.

Aldon held out his arms to hug Ryland close, half-bowed over him protectively as though Josh might spring in through a window and start mauling everything in sight. He stroked Ryland's jaw and cheek comfortingly. "Is Alva gonna be okay? Was he badly hurt? Good thing he's at a hospital right? They'd look after him if Josh did anything, right? And they have security guards at the hospital! Josh can't do anything!"

[Ryland Ren]

Ryland finished texting and slid his arms around Aldon, glad that he was there. The situation with Rae had him somewhat harried, knowing that he was close to Alva once and seeing his condition. But the situation with Alva hit much, much closer to home. The thought of anybody laying hands on him... Oooh, the next time he saw Josh, he was going straight for the throat! Regardless of whether he was friends with Aldon, no way was he letting him go for what he did!

"I... I can't tell," he said. "He was really dodgy about it but he was able to text me. And he said he'd take a selfie with Susumu when he gets there."

Then he could get a look at Alva, too, which was partially his choice for a selfie and not just to have him on speaker. He needed to see Alva and he needed to ensure that he was safe, even if it was with somebody Ryland previously distrusted. Slowly, he had come around to him, after the business with the new mark and the ancients came up and Susumu at least seemed determined to get something done regarding that. It seemed to be slow going but from what he heard, Susumu was on the case and he seemed to be a workaholic type.

"What's happening?" he asked into the silence, leaning into Aldon's gentle touch, eyes half closing. Mostly, he was asking the air, because he didn't expect Aldon to have a real answer for him. Something serious must have gone down last night, something more than they knew about. Alva probably had more of the story since he said Rae opened up to him. Meanwhile, Ryland and Aldon were left shrugging into the wind, no idea what was happening.

"Why does it always have to be Alva?"

[Aldon Huang]

"Okay. We'll know he's okay if he sends us a picture." Aldon unconsciously mirrored Ryland's thinking—being able to see Alva as he was now might reassure them more than seeing his texts or even hearing his voice. He felt jittery, on pins and needles, being left in the dark like this. He would have liked to be down at the hospital but at the same time, Alva didn't seem to want them there and admittedly, Aldon also didn't want Ryland there. In his current state Ryland would do something he might regret and Aldon wanted to shield him from that eventuality.

Right now, Ryland needed comforting and Aldon felt up to the task. He continued stroking Ryland's jaw, letting his fingertips drift errantly up and down. Sometimes they swept into his still-damp hair. Sometimes they dropped to the side of his neck, down to his tense shoulders and part-way along his arms. They were meaningless ministrations but he liked to think that they helped. Aldon derived comfort from touch himself; he wanted to impart the same onto Ryland.

"...Alva's had it pretty bad hasn't he?" Aldon frowned at a potted plant in the corner, his gaze far away. "It's always... good people who get hurt." Alva was kind. He loved everyone and his heart was big enough for everybody to fit into. Helping was Alva's brand; he seemed to always know just what others needed, while ignoring his own needs. Alva was... good. He was just a good person and terrible things seemed to find a way to ruin his life time and time again.

"Maybe it's cause he protects all of us. He gets between us and the bad stuff and somehow it all sticks to him..."

[Ryland Ren]

"Hmm..." Ryland let out a soft little hum. Aldon wasn't the only one that derived comfort from physical ministrations. There was something uniquely wonderful about skin on skin contact, warming his skin, warming his heart, calming the chaos that threatened to well up without Aldon to anchor him. He sighed, lifting his head to gently kiss Aldon's throat before shifting his weight off the arm of the couch and sliding onto the couch proper. Pulling Aldon along with him, he dropped down to a lying position, arms sliding around him as he did so.

His heart hurt, thinking of Alva. Even his eyes stung when he thought of him and everything he had gone through. Life didn't want to give him a break, though he well-deserved it. Ryland had watched his cousin through it all, from the days when he was able to run and dance and play the way the rest of them did. And then it was robbed from him. Somehow, Alva kept his chin up the whole time, never pitying himself, always there for everybody else. But people weren't there for Alva when he most needed it. Ryland felt like a fool for crying over Aldon so much when he should have been focused more on Alva.

But he said there was a way, didn't he? A way to get rid of that mark. And Ryland, as much as he wanted to do something for Alva, he couldn't. He knew that and it made him feel helpless. But knowing Susumu was doing what he could, that made Ryland feel somewhat better for having him in their lives. He did seem genuinely stubborn about helping Alva, although Ryland still had twinges of suspicion in regards to him.

"Yeah..." Ryland gently ran his fingertips over Aldon's back as he turned his head and looked up at him. Aldon had a point. Since Alva placed himself between them and danger, the danger targeted Alva. Wasn't there a way to prove to Alva they could handle things on their own so that he didn't constantly have to make such sacrifices? Ryland would have to strive to do better, to handle his own problems. Or as Aldon said, their own problems.

"We have to stop letting him do that," he said, idly reaching to touch the side of Aldon's face. "You're right, you know. We should solve our own problems... Give Alva a break. Yeah? We can do it, right? You and me?"