Toxic Hearts

[Reagan Ryang]

Ugh. Cute. Not exactly what he would have called his moves. Sure, he was still a beginner but come on! Josh didn't dance! Did he...? If he did, he never said anything to any of them. Rae eyed Josh. Yet he was acting with all the confidence of somebody who had secret dance moves to share.

Out of curiosity, Rae tilted his head and smiled.

"All right. I'll show you beginner moves..."

A hand rested on Josh's chest for a second before pushing him back so he could get down to the music. He didn't have to take any dance class to be innately flexible, which he showed off in the form of his ability to hit the floor, thrust back upward, and then a spin around Josh. He looped around his back and then faced him again.

Josh was hard to impress though so he reached out and grasped Josh's shirt and pulled him in close as his hips gyrated in a circle. Yep. Right up against Josh. His smile was triumphant, as if he'd won whatever the hell challenge Josh was even trying to throw down.

"Face it, you can't do better."

[Kang Taebin]

Josh was impressed. Yes, he was, and there was no denying it. Rae had some moves. His body, lithe and tall, moved fluidly, suggestively. He looked cool, which seemed always to be such a big deal to him. Raezyr was a cooler name than Reagan. His hair, done up in that way, was cooler than any simple cut. His rebellious attitude, even, seemed to be an attempt to stand out. Being a jackass... not so much, but some people went in for that sort of a guy.

Josh did.

Still, his pride wouldn't let him admit any of that.

Instead, as Rae's hips bucked briefly against him, after he was dragged in by the front of the shirt, Josh laughed under his breath condescendingly--even as a thrill and a shiver cascaded up and down his spine. He almost made a noise. But he held it back. He was, after all, an actor--and this was nothing more than a game.

One hand slid up the length of Rae's chest, slowly, deliberately. Since they were in such close proximity, it was easy to lean in, too, like he was about to kiss Rae. He didn't. Hovering close, Josh flashed Rae a sultry smile and maintained eye contact. It was all rather intimate--but Rae brought it upon himself, really.

"You're right." His voice was honey and smoke, sweet and low, and carried a definite double entendre. "I guess I can't do better than you, Rae."

[Reagan Ryang]

Hm.

He had
miscalculated.

Grossly miscalculated what he was doing. Even when he thought he was the coolest werewolf this side of the pacific, he somehow miscalculated Josh's ability to remain cooler.

Not that he would ever say that out loud or to Josh's face but he was certainly remaining Very Cool in the face of Rae's best attempt at dancing and intimidating him at the same time. Maybe something else, too. He didn't know. It wasn't like he did it on purpose--dancing just sort of innately became...

sexy.

Like the smolder in Josh's eyes. And his smile. And his voice.

Rae didn't know how to react at all. For an agonizing five or six seconds, he just stared back, aware that his smile was melting away and his body was still pressed intimately against Josh's. Aware that they were standing very close. Aware that Josh's words were weapons.

All he could do was breathe, exertion from the dancing warming his face and the look in Josh's eyes warming his groin. And for another scary couple of seconds, he actually did lean forward. One inch, a fraction of an inch. Their lips could touch if he...

Rae used the hand that was still tangled in Josh's shirt to push him back. Too disconcerted to even start a fight or swear at him, he only said, "Hurry up and get that shit on the grill."

[Kang Taebin]

Poor puppy.

Rae had no defense against Josh, it seemed. He leaned closer of his own accord, with only a smile and a certain Look. How easy he was. How easy to seduce, how effortless to pull in. Josh could have gone through with it without a second thought. He didn't care about Alva. He wanted Rae. All along, he wanted Rae.

But what was the fun in having the easy victory? What satisfaction could he get out of having his prize handed to him? The chase, the struggle, toying with his prey before he sank his claws in and broke them, was half the fun of it all.

"You're starving, aren't you?"

He didn't mean for burgers and hot dogs.

Smiling, pleased with himself and with the stunned reaction that he had elicited, Josh peacefully turned around to slap some patties onto the grill and acted perfectly normally, as though nothing untoward had just happened. "How 'bout some drinks?" he asked airily, looking over his shoulder at Rae. "Grilling's hard work, you know."

[Reagan Ryang]

"No!" he said instantly, nostrils flaring briefly. He didn't like what Josh was implying. What was most annoying was that he said it right after the whole grill thing so he could play innocent behind his stupid words.

Bastard. Somehow, Rae's "win" no longer felt like a win. Where the hell did he go wrong? Probably shouldn't have brought up dancing at all. Now he was no longer feeling jaunty enough to dance to the beat of the music so when he turned away to get drinks, he turned the music down.

What to drink, what to drink? Not the beer. Fuck that. He went straight for the tequila he saw Josh eyeballing earlier and he opened it, taking a long swig from it before pushing it against Josh's back.

"Here."

[Kang Taebin]

"Hey!"

Josh arched his back in surprise, not expecting the bottle to be rammed between his shoulderblades. He half-turned to reach for it with one hand, while the other held a pair of tongs that he had been using to turn the hot dogs.

"Straight for the hard stuff, huh?" He grinned at Rae before taking a swig. It went down a little jagged, with some burn, but the second mouthful was smoother. Tipping it back towards Rae, he returned to the task of grilling. Where had the music gone? Ah--Rae turned it down earlier. Not so cocky now, was he? Josh enjoyed the fact that he had taken Rae down a peg or two for quite some time.

The savory smell of meat cooking was mouth-watering; he was reminded that the one pulled pork sandwich had been more than two hours ago. He was actually pretty hungry, all things considered. "Okay come and get it~!" Josh was already munching on a hot dog, straight from the grill, while waving Rae over.

Then he heard the crunch of gravel underneath car wheels and the rumble of an engine. Mystified, Josh glanced out at the path leading up to the cabin and raised his brows at the taxi bumping along towards them. "Think it's Aldon?" he said to Rae as he pointed to the taxi.

[Reagan Ryang]

"Beer is for bitches."

Anybody could drink beer. Fucking kids drank beer and thought they were cool shit. Tequila, though, that was a man's drink. Even as he took the bottle back and took another swig, he was grimacing. Nobody ever said it was good, though. Just hard. The way Rae wanted it.

He drank a little more before the hot dogs were done and then he was moving over, setting the bottle down, and sliding a hot dog between a bun completely slathered in ketchup when he heard it, too. Car. Outside. He looked to Josh for answers but Josh had questions, too.

"Probably. Maybe he already fucked it up with Ryland," he said with a grin.

But that was before he saw the driver getting out to pull a wheelchair from the trunk of the car. For a moment, it just didn't connect. And then...

"Alva?"

He immediately dropped the hot dog onto the counter and went for the door, yanking it open and squinting out into the bright sunlight.

"Alva? What are you doing here?"

[Alva Ren]

"Surprise!"

Alva waved cheerfully at a shocked-looking Rae--and a sour-looking Josh who hovered just behind him, glaring his eyeballs out for all he was worth. Part of Alva quailed at the obvious air of hostility radiating from Josh. And he wasn't even near the taxi!

The entire way here, he'd been nervous. Once or twice he almost threw up, although that could have easily been the jostling and bumping around that they did while getting out here. Rae wasn't kidding when he said that the cabin was far away--it was so deep in the middle of nowhere.

But beyond, he saw a glint of water and his interest was almost immediately piqued. Alva loved the water; as a pup he couldn't be dragged out of the creek that he and his brother and Ryland all swam in. Now... it was harder to be near water, knowing that he couldn't splash around or even wade in it.

Still, being near a lake was nice. He let the driver deposit him into his chair and paid the man, then waved cautiously at Josh, who ignored him, turned right around and disappeared back inside. Alva winced at the cold reception. At least Rae looked happy to see him!

[Reagan Ryang]

"It is!" he put his hands up, too, mostly because he was halfway to being drunk and he saw Alva doing it. He met up with him and leaned down to kiss him, staring at him as he pulled back, still in shock.

"It's such a surprise!"

He turned toward the door.

"Alva's here!" he said for Josh's benefit, as if Josh hadn't seen him get out of the car. Rae grabbed his things and once they were inside, he shut the door behind them. Where the hell was Josh now, anyway?

"So... we got food, music, drinks. Now we got you~!"

It really was like night and day, the way he felt around these two very different people. But it also could have been the alcohol.

"You want something to drink? Eat?"

[Alva Ren]

Rae was enthusiastic and, by the smell of alcohol on him, also somewhat tipsy. Not drunk-tipsy, though. Overly excited tipsy and it was kind of cute, honestly, to see him so energetic. Even his wave was exaggerated! (But the kiss was nice.)

"Wow, it's a big cabin isn't it?" Alva exclaimed once they were inside, his head on a swivel. Josh's family's wealth definitely showed here. It was no mere shack in the middle of the woods. Was that a mini-fridge?

Alva smelled the burgers, though, and his stomach gave a small and rueful rumble. He'd been so nervous that he couldn't eat in the morning. Being here now, with Rae's obvious happiness at seeing him here, relieved him of some of that nervousness.

"Maybe a burger? It smells good!" He looked around. "Um. But Rae. Do you think Josh would mind me being here? I can just stay for a few hours and get another taxi home..."

[Reagan Ryang]

"One burger coming right up~" He started to march over to the food but he stopped at the hushed and almost conspiratorial tone in Alva's voice. Rae also looked around. Still no sign of Josh now. Where did he go? Just a second ago, he was right there. He should know. He was staring at his ass while he cooked.

Hah.

Remembering the weirdly intense moment after his dance earlier--not even that long ago--Rae leaned in closer to Alva, fingers sliding up into his hair and gently tugging back in a bid to bring his lips closer to his. Their lips met and he was relieved to feel something. Electric.

"Who cares?" Rae's fingers caressed cheekbones and soft lips, almost as if to hush any of Alva's fears. "I'm glad you're here."

[Alva Ren]

Alva hummed low and soft in the back of his throat as they kissed, arms winding around Rae's shoulders. So affectionate. And they had only been apart for less than three hours! Since they couldn't act like this normally, though--at least not in the presence of other werewolves in Rae's pack--Alva soaked up the attention like a sun-starved plant.

"I'm glad you're glad I'm here," he laughed as they broke off, stroking Rae's cheek absently. "But still. This is Josh's cabin."

Which seemed to be empty of Josh, although Alva could've sworn he heard a noise from upstairs. "Maybe I'll ask him later... after that burger." Okay, he chickened out. Josh was mean! And Alva didn't get shaken around like a pair of dice in that taxi just to get yelled at for being an unwanted guest! He smiled winningly up at Rae, knowing that he was essentially being a gate crasher but not feeling TOO bad about it. "And a beer?"

[Reagan Ryang]

"Yeeeeeah so? He'll get over it."

He thought of Josh earlier. That weird moment between them. Maybe it was a good thing that Alva showed up. Things wouldn't be weird with him around--just uncomfortable because Rae didn't feel like he could be the way he was when it was just him and Alva. And Alva wasn't exactly Josh's favorite person.

Well too bad. He's here now so!

He gave Alva another kiss, a peck on the cheek before he scurried off to grab one of the patties and place it on top of a bun. He groaned. Beer. Beer is for bitches. He didn't say it this time. He only complied, grabbing one from the fridge and presenting Alva with his lunch at the table after he shoved the chair there away to make room for him.

"What made you decide to come up?" he asked.

[Alva Ren]

"What?" Alva lifted his head in time to catch Rae's groan. He frowned. "Stop looking at me like that. Not everybody wants--what is that?--tequila with their burgers!"

A beer was perfectly acceptable! (And why was Rae hitting the bottle this early in the afternoon anyway?) Alva reached for the tequila bottle nonetheless and sniffed it. He made a face and pushed it away. Yech.

Wheeling himself over to the table that Rae freed up, Alva had just taken a bite of the burger when he heard that all-too-familiar voice, in that all-too-familiar sharp and ironic tone, "I thought you said beer was for bitches, Rae." Alva choked and hastened to drink some beer to clear the obstruction in his throat.

There was Josh, coming down the stairs, looking non-too-pleased.

[Reagan Ryang]

Ugh. He hated it when his own words came back to haunt him. Eyeing the bottle of tequila that Alva eschewed, he thought about taking yet another swig. How many had he had, anyway? That was the problem with drinking straight from the bottle. It was hard to tell just how drunk he really was. (But when he was drunk, it didn't much matter--he wouldn't know anyway.)

"I was just playing around," he said, turning steely eyes on Josh, who really did look like he was this close to going out and wrestling a honey badger just to relieve his annoyance.

"What were you doing?"