The spell is broken

[Aldon Huang]

Oh, yes he did! Aldon didn't verbally argue but it was in his eyes, the Look he gave to the mailbox that he was eyeing in his current position. Alva ruined everything with his... logic and his... common sense. Sure, he meant well, but why did his good intentions always have to end up with Aldon keeping his hands to himself? Or with Ryland keeping his hands to himself? Why couldn't those well-meaning pieces of advice ever involve them being involved with one another?

Right now, it was hard to recall the bad times--the nights spent in solitary anguish, being shut out or left out in the proverbial doghouse. Aldon did put himself in that doghouse more often than not, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

"What?! It's gonna make my wrist tired! I already got carpal tunnel from the first time!"

Writing out 200 post-its was worse than writing lines at school. And Aldon would know--he was the one who wrote more lines than anybody in elementary school! It was a labor of love, but... damn, it sure involved more labor than love after about the 100th note. He frowned--even as Ryland laughed in exasperation and continued to soothe his ruffled feathers with gentle caresses. The kiss did the job better, even though he was wearing his trademark scowl when Ryland angled his head back up.

"...fine." He conceded in bad grace, but squeezed Ryland's waist. "But I want it in exchange for the post-it... and for being your date at the social." Ryland knew what it was, so Aldon didn't say it aloud. But he looked down at his stomach, then back up, meaningfully.

[Ryland Ren]

What first time? If he already had loads of post-its, then why didn't he just give him those? Or did he throw them away or burn them in a fit of pain? Hurt? Rage? No, not rage. It was hard for Ryland to imagine Aldon in a rage. Maybe frustrated but full on raging? Nah. His expression was semi-lazy as he regarded Aldon and his petulant face. A small grunt passed his lips as his waist was squeezed and he tried to step in closer, to keep Aldon from squeezing until he snapped in half. (Not that he would but it lessened the tightness a small bit.)

"Oh, you'll get it," Ryland promised. "But only after I get the note, the date, and..."

The last part wasn't going to pleasant.

"And I'm sure it's just us."

He had no idea how things went with Aldon's boyfriend but he still had some qualms about cheating. (Not that it had ever stopped him from doing it before but still... he had to at least try and not be a total scumbag.)

[Aldon Huang]

Aldon was ashamed to admit that when things didn't go as planned, he ditched the post-its in the nearest garbage can. Not angrily, or violently, but he did toss them. He was easy to frustrate, and easy to excite--his moods swung from one end of the spectrum to the other, really. It was rare to see a mild Aldon, or an Aldon who wasn't jumping immediately to extremes (as Ryland probably knew well by now, having been exposed to his tantrums for... years).

"It's just us right now!" He knew what Ryland meant, though--or thought he did--because Gregg was in the back of his mind, too. Aldon stopped squeezing and settled for holding. "You want three things for my one thing! That's not fair." All Aldon wanted was a belly rub, and here was Ryland asking for post-its and dates and Aldon being formally unattached before jumping into a relationship with him.

Okay, it was fair enough to want the last one, even if Aldon was scumbag enough to scoop Ryland up while knowing that Ryland was dating some other guy. But he didn't care about that other guy; he cared about Ryland.

He cared about Gregg, too, though...

That made it difficult. And Aldon hated when life was difficult! Sighing as though he had a ten-ton weight on his shoulders, he let go of Ryland while their cab rolled up. "I guess I'd better... make it official. With Gregg."

[Ryland Ren]

"Mhm."

No, it was not just them right now. Ryland could tell by the way Aldon said it that he had yet to do the breaking up with the other guy--and as much as Aldon liked snatching Ryland away from perfectly nice boys, Ryland also didn't like sharing Aldon. He wasn't one of those people who could maintain a healthy relationship with a number of people at once. For example--the guilt he felt when he cheated with Aldon. And yet he still did it. He told himself he was helpless to his own feelings but really he was just selfish. He wanted Aldon and he knew that he did... and there seemed so little that could get in the way once he had decided that much.

Not even Alva, sadly, despite Ryland himself enlisting his aid.

"No," Ryland said slowly as he leaned in to whisper, "You're getting a lot more than one thing."

If anything, with all the "things" on his mind, it was Ryland who was getting the short end of the stick here. Not that he minded because the things he wanted to do to Aldon were things... he wanted to do. Reluctantly, he stepped back as the cab appeared. He regarded the cab with a slight twinge of annoyance and then flicked a concerned gaze back toward the shelter. No sign of Alva. They had booked it away from there and Alva probably assumed Ryland had left a little while ago. (And he was probably shaking his fist to the sky with his name on his lips right this instance.) I'll make it up to him.

He turned back to the cab and slid into the backseat.

"Yep." He patted Aldon's thigh and then gave it a light squeeze. "Better make it official."

[Aldon Huang]

Oh...

Well.

If Ryland was going to give him... things... plural...

Aldon could be forgiven for seeming distracted as he slid into the cab, while his mind revolved around things. There was a silly little smile on his lips, too, as he told the driver where to take him and then he turned into Ryland and curled up against him, ignoring the seatbelt, or the driver, or anything else. Aldon lowered his head against Ryland's shoulder and nuzzled his face into the crook of his neck, like an over-grown pet looking for attention.

"I don't want to do it," he murmured, childishly beginning to dread the inevitable. Usually Aldon didn't break up with people; he disappeared, stopped responding, and people got the message loud and clear. The only person he kept coming back to was Ryland and usually Ryland knew what he was thinking, or what his intentions were. (Usually his intentions didn't stray far from belly rubs and falling into bed together, though.)

"Do I have to do it alone?" It was a stupid question because how awkward would it be to bring Ryland in while he broke up with Gregg? Aldon lifted his head. "Forget I said that." Even he knew it was a stupid question! Frowning, he looked down, then out of the window at the flashing scenery outside. "He's probably back at the apartment right now..."

[Ryland Ren]

Ryland let out a soft snort.

"Uh, yeah."

Aldon definitely had to do it alone. There was no way that Ryland was going to follow along with Aldon while he had the talk with another man about why they couldn't be together. Would Aldon want to be there when Ryland did the same with his ex?! (Maybe he would have, just to supervise and make sure it happened.) A part of Ryland kind of wanted to do that... As if he couldn't fully trust Aldon to do it; he never was good at breaking up with people. Ryland didn't suppose it mattered either way. If Aldon told him he did it, Ryland had already told himself that he'd take his word at face value. In the end, he didn't want Aldon to be with somebody else but he also had a feeling that nobody else would ever come as close to Aldon's heart as he did.

That kind of thought made him more secure in the idea, whether or not Aldon was honest about it or not. At the same time... he felt... greedy, perhaps? Selfish? He wanted Aldon to himself but he wondered sometimes if Aldon wasn't able to commit because he wasn't meant to. He was meant to wander but come back home. Was that how it worked? But if that was the case, why didn't Alva have the same problems with Rae as a lover?

Ryland tried not to give it too much thought as he lightly stroked the back of Aldon's head and neck and shoulders, just to feel him there, warm and real underneath his fingertips.

"Does that mean you were planning to take me back there with him?" Ryland asked, a brow raised as he tilted his head to look at Aldon. "Did you want us to brawl over you?"

[Aldon Huang]

Actually... Aldon would have liked to be present during Ryland's break-up, if only to assert his superiority over "that other guy." It wasn't a contest, except that it was. All the time. That was the competitive wolf in him, the part of him that staked out his territory and guarded it jealously and zealously. Aldon, like Ryland, was greedy. Selfish. Grasping, sometimes, in the way that he wanted it all and insisted on having it all.

But, like the proverbial wild animal, he couldn't be held down for too long. If he stayed in one place, it was because he wanted to. Any other option--such as being guilt-tripped or forced--only ended up with him turning tail and running.

Sort of like right now, when he was forced into breaking up with Gregg, he wanted to run. Hide. Ignore the problem, make it go away through sheer force of will alone. Aldon winced at the question that Ryland astutely posed, even while enjoying the soft touches. "No," he said defensively, raising his head to look at Ryland. "I forgot..."

He was kind of preoccupied, and got carried away. He might have forgotten the little details, such as the fact that Gregg lived with him now, in his hurry to prove that he loved Ryland by wanting to write him post-it notes. 

"Although if you two want to fight for my love, I'm not gonna complain." He smiled cheekily and pecked Ryland on the lips. "Winner gets me. Loser gets me after winner's done with me."

[Ryland Ren]

"Uh-huh..." He forgot. Ryland raised his brows all the higher. So what was he expecting then? If they walked in the way they had been acting outside, that new guy wouldn't be too happy with them. There might have actually been a brawl! (Not that Ryland solved things with his fists... but that guy...) Ryland didn't know what to even think of the new guy. He'd been awfully quiet during the confrontation between Ryland and Aldon when Ryland caught them at the strawberry festival together. He didn't seem too happy about Ryland and he looked like he could break Ryland in two if he wanted to.

"Yeah well, unless I cheated hardcore, pretty sure that other guy would be the winner and I don't want his leftovers."

He raised his chin slightly and turned his gaze away, out the window where the streets and passersby walked on the sidewalks. Ryland didn't want to brawl over it. He might though. Or would he? It was hard to say. In the moment, he wanted to accost Aldon and have him all to himself. But confronted with the Other Guy, he didn't know what he'd actually do. Ryland didn't think he was one to give up. If the other guy came at him, he'd come right back at him. Starting a fight himself, though? Not likely. And if he wanted Aldon--and he did--he didn't think he even had to resort to violence.

Unless the other guy had all the same information on Aldon as Ryland did.

Doubtful. Yet it still left a hint of doubt under the surface. The way Aldon was acting, all reluctant to break up with him, sure made it seem like he was more serious about this one than he'd ever been before.

[Aldon Huang]

"I don't know, you could probably..." Aldon eyed Ryland up and down. "...hire somebody to take out his kneecaps."

He tried to be loyal to Ryland but there was no denying that... uh... Gregg was sort of a well-built man and Ryland wasn't a stick, but he wasn't nearly as powerful. Plus, Gregg being a werewolf meant that he had even more power. Although Aldon didn't exactly enjoy being referred to as another man's "leftovers"...

"Are you going home? The talk might take a while..." Aldon nervously worried his lower lip, anxiety rising as they drew closer and closer to his apartment. He gripped Ryland tighter and tighter too, despite asking if he was leaving.

[Ryland Ren]

Ryland did smack Aldon this time--squarely on the shoulder. But see? Even Aldon agreed that if it came down to a physical brawl between Ryland and his boyfriend, it would be Ryland that would get his ass kicked. He'd really have to be damn clever to take that guy down. And with how quiet he was, it made Ryland think he was probably a thinker too. Probably clever. Ryland wanted to think he was an idiot, though, that he was covering for his... dumbness by not saying anything at all. Or that maybe he was blank in the head, that there was nothing unique, interesting, or attractive about him.

He wasn't that insecure though. The guy might be Aldon's boyfriend now but that wouldn't last long. Aldon said he loved him, after all. He said the words, even if they were stuttered and stilted and sighed.

Was he going home, though? Ryland actually had to pause to consider it. Didn't he just say he wasn't going in? Or something to that effect? Wasn't he going to let Aldon go in alone and have his talk? He wasn't planning to stand outside and wait for the guy's clothes to go flying out the window or anything. Might take a while, though. Why? Why would it take a while? Maybe... maybe the guy really was kinda... dumb? Ryland hated himself for thinking it. Hated himself even more for hoping it.

"Yeah. I'm..." He trailed off as Aldon's grasp on his grew tighter. That, at least, made him feel stupidly fond and warm inside. Aldon didn't want to let go of him. Probably didn't want to confront anybody either. Or break up with them. But mostly, he probably just didn't want to let go of Ryland. Probably... he just wanted to go home with him. Ryland lowered his gaze. He wanted that too. But it felt weird, having that guy looming at the backs of their minds. Or at least Ryland's. He didn't know how much he might figure into Aldon's thoughts.

"I've gotta go. Alva's probably having kittens by now." He rolled his eyes slightly. "Like he has room to talk."

[Aldon Huang]

"I keep telling you, he'll be fine!" Aldon needed Ryland a sight more than Alva needed him anyway! Plus, who knew what Alva would do to Ryland? Or, more importantly, who knew what Alva would convince Ryland of, in Aldon's absence? He might try to talk sense to Ryland--disastrous for Aldon. He might convince Ryland that getting together was a bad idea, or that they should "wait and talk it out" which would have been devastating.

Sighing, Aldon didn't let go of Ryland and tried to drag out their last moments together, not knowing when Alva would pop up to ruin everything for him. (Everything!) He clung to Ryland until the last possible second. "Can I come over when it's all done?" He didn't think he wanted to stay in the same apartment as Gregg after breaking up with him.

Then again, fleeing his own apartment seemed kind of... pathetic, but Aldon didn't like his chances in there with Gregg. The thing was, he liked him. He really did. He thought it could last; it was the next-best thing, as unfair as that may have been to Gregg. Obviously, Ryland came first but Gregg was a close second!

There was no fooling the heart, though. Aldon's heart beat only for one man and there was nothing that he could do to change that.

"Don't talk to Alva unless I'm with you though! He'll just try to make us wait again," Aldon added peevishly.

[Ryland Ren]

"Yes."

He lightly patted Aldon on the cheek, then thought better of it and leaned in to give him a kiss. It was little more than a butterfly kiss but he hoped it got his point across. Whatever happened in there, Ryland didn't want Aldon to change his mind. Not when they'd come this far and they were this close again. It had been a living hell without Aldon and just when he'd moved on with somebody else, there he was again. Just like that. It was like they'd never stop crossing paths. Ruefully, he thought that would never stop, not when they both had no plans to get out of Hazleton. It was a small town.

"Oh come on," Ryland protested. "I have to talk to him. I have to at least tell him when I get home."

So he could see if Alva was still there and if he needed to pick him up. Ryland still felt a teensy bit guilty about that. Besides... When he did talk to Alva, he had something to talk to him about. It was probably nothing but still! It meant he had something of a trump card, even if it was nothing but an innocent.... whatever that interaction could be called.

Ryland pushed Aldon toward the door. "Now go, go go and--shit!" Ryland immediately ducked down, inconveniently thrusting his face at a naughty place between Aldon's legs before he turned his head to the other side--pointing away from said area. "Rae!" he hissed. "Rae's here!"

[Aldon Huang]

"Okay." That slightly mollified him, that he would be able to see Ryland later. He turned to get a proper kiss but Ryland was gone, moving back to the topic of Alva, which made Aldon scowl. He withheld comment, however; there was basically no way to get between Ryland and his cousin. They were family.

But Aldon was only the most important man in Ryland's life--the love of his life, too!

He wasn't childish or selfish enough to make Ryland choose, but it didn't stop him from frowning. "Okay, okay, I'm going!" Just as he got to the door and opened it, Ryland ducked into his lap. "Hey!" This wasn't the time to get frisky! Nor was it the place--the taxi driver was giving them weird looks. Aldon was something of an exhibitionist, this was true, but he wasn't that bold!

"What? Where?! WHY?" He stupidly stuck his head out to look and saw Rae on the warpath. Caught like a deer in the path of a semi, Aldon froze for a few seconds. Then he casually reached down and tried to push Ryland back into the cab. "Go! Gogogo!" He hissed, as he tried to wiggle out, while obscuring Ryland from view. Damnit, Alva! Now he was sending goons after them?!

[Ryland Ren]

See, the thing was...

Ryland knew how the other wolves felt about him. And his kind. Just because Rae happened to be with Alva for five years didn't change the way he felt about Ryland. And just because Aldon kept coming back to Ryland didn't mean the wolves liked him. In fact, they seemed to hate him the more they broke up and got back together. Ryland suspected it was because when they broke up, it tore Aldon apart and in caring about Aldon, they probably wanted to murder Ryland for hurting him. Repeatedly.

At least, that was what he thought it was. If Rae explained any of it to Alva, Alva never passed it on to Ryland.

Still ducking in the backseat, he shuffled backwards, over the hump in the middle of the car floor. And he waved at the cab driver, telling him in a stage whisper to "Go, go, go! I'll pay extra!" If they got out of there intact, anyway. He was afraid to look up and see what happened but as the taxi screeched and turned down the street, he made the mistake of poking his head back up and peering out the window--just as Rae's fist connected with Aldon's throat. Ryland winced and tensed, wanting nothing more than to go back but... they'd probably work it out between them.

Probably.

[Aldon Huang]

Aldon legitimately didn't see the punch coming and when it did connect with his throat, he let out a strangled yelp and fell backwards. Luckily his ass broke his fall.

"WHAT THE HELL!" He yelled hoarsely, coughing between each word and clutching his throat. Aldon glared his eyeballs out, looking up at Rae who had gone from best friend to... attempted murderer. Almost instinctively he kicked out, just in case Rae wanted to follow that punch up with a kick to the balls. Aldon's legs clamped shut--just in case!--and he tried to scoot backwards, still coughing from the force of the punch that flattened his windpipe.

"Al--Alva put you up to this didn't he?!" He demanded, outraged, massaging his abused throat.