The spell is broken

[Reagan Ryang]

Rae did follow, although he wasn't actually going to attempt anything more than the punch to the throat. That was his way of greeting his friend in disgust. The rest was just instinct--when the prey dropped he followed. That was up until the swing for his crotch area came. Then he was quickly hopskipping to the side, barely dodging the hit to the nuts and taking it to the thigh instead. Now he was glaring just as much right back at Aldon.

"Fuck! What the fuck were you two doing?" he asked, tempted to stomp down on that crotch and really scare the boner right out of Aldon. Too late for that--Aldon was shielding himself in anticipation, knowing that Rae was a dirty rotten cheat when it came to fights.

"What the hell, man?" he said, ignoring the comment about Alva. "I thought you had that new wolf. What the fuck're you going around with Ryland again? You know he's just gonna shit all over you again, like he always does."

[Aldon Huang]

SOME FRIEND!

Aldon tried to get to his feet--his tailbone really hurt from where he'd landed on the sidewalk. Wincing, he managed to stand up and warily backed away from Rae, who was known to cheat and go for the nuts. Aldon liked his nuts un-stomped, thanks, even if he'd never have kids. He would, however, have liked to retain the ability to have them and Rae wasn't helping the cause!

"You're not my mom! You can't tell me who to date!" He flailed an arm wildly to illustrate his point; the other one was guarding little Aldon and his two buddies down South. "What the hell's wrong with you?! Tell Alva to butt out of our business already!"

[Reagan Ryang]

"Says you! After you guys all ganged up on me for seeing Alva! Yeah! Don't think I forgot about that!"

When he finally got outed about the Alva thing--because he didn't tell anybody, they found out by snooping--all he got was a bunch of grief from the guys. All of them. All of them, even Aldon. Josh was the worst of it, though. By now, they'd mostly calmed down but damn if Josh didn't still get under his skin constantly about it.

"You wouldn't listen to your mom anyway, don't kid yourself."

Rae stared Aldon down for a long moment, and then stepped forward, as if he was going to make good on the threat in his eyes and stomp him in the nuts. He didn't, though. He merely extended a hand. The throat punch was really all he had meant to do. He just didn't expect it to catch Aldon so off guard that he hit the ground.

And by now, the taxi with Lover Boy in it was long gone.

"You should know by now that I can tell Alva all I want but he's still going to get what he wants. Now get your ass up and stop cupping your nuts or I'm going to tell Josh I caught you getting head in the back of a taxi, you animal."

[Aldon Huang]

"That was different!"

Because at the time Aldon wasn't dating Ryland, and didn't know that Alva was Ryland's cousin. He had to admit, he gave Rae a hard time because he, like the rest of their pack, looked all the way down on the lesser shifters. The only thing worse than a fox--and a crippled one at that--would have been a house cat or something. Something small and defenceless and prey.

Prey were meant for eating, not for dating.

That was, until Aldon took an interest in the handsome shifter at work--and then it was just fine to date one. Hey, nobody said he wasn't a hypocrite. Aldon was the biggest hypocrite around. It was just that he ignored all the people who called him out on it, in the same way that he ignored Rae's indignant retort.

"I listen to my mom all the time, shut up!" He recoiled and ducked like Rae was going to slap him, but he was only holding out a hand to help Aldon up. Aldon took it after a lengthy pause. "What?! I was not--"

Aldon stopped talking. The wheels started turning.

Getting head wasn't anything special, but he had to get man points for getting head in the back of a taxi. That was the kind of thing guys bragged about all the time, how they coaxed their significant others to be risque in public. Aldon could be the envy of everybody he knew if he just kept his mouth shut and didn't confirm or deny Rae's (incorrect) assumption. (And of course, he didn't expect Ryland to like it but... he could probably get away with it. He usually did--Ryland usually let him.)

"Who cares what Josh thinks?" he replied insolently instead, pulling his hand away and turning his body slightly to the right in case Rae changed his mind about the nut shot. "Alva's got you so whipped, you're doing all his dirty work for him now!" Aldon grumbled irritably.

[Reagan Ryang]

Oh, whatever! (But it was--it was always like that until it happened to you.) Rae should know--if any of the others were dating foxes, especially crippled ones, he would have made the most fun of them. Picking on the weak was something he did almost habitually. Rae wouldn't admit it to Alva's face but yeah, Rae was kind of a bully. He picked on his brothers. They picked on him. In school, he was a piece of shit to half his class and the other half was so beneath him that he didn't remember or notice them.

It was just, something about Alva.

Rae knew what the others thought. That he should have just put him out of his misery, that he never should have let a crippled ass fox help him but... Alva was there when he needed somebody. And Alva had been there this whole time.

Something like that happened to Aldon, too. So... Rae could kinda get the frustration Josh was going through. They were the three cool guys, the musketeers. The dirty, filth talking, ass kicking musketeers. Now Josh was alone and both of his closest friends were off fucking foxes. Or whatever. He could only imagine the look of complete and utter disgust that would cross his face, knowing that Aldon was so shameless that he'd let a fox suck him off in a damned taxi. Like how desperate did a guy have to be?

(Seriously, how desperate did he have to be, because sometimes Rae thought he was about to lose his mind the same way.)

Rae rolled his eyes at the way Aldon recoiled from his hand, which had been thrust at him in a generally violent way, to be fair. And then he grasped the hand when it was taken so he could pull Aldon up and admire his handiwork. Looked like that punch was gonna leave a nice bruise on Aldon's poor little throat.

He barked out a laugh.

"I'm whipped?" (He was.) "What about you? Or was that shit in there your idea?"

[Aldon Huang]

Aldon made the sound of a whip and flicked his hand like he was holding one because--YEAH. Rae was so whipped! Alva had him eating out of the palm of his hand and everybody knew it! Even Rae had to know it, because Aldon and Josh called him out on it just about... oh... all the time, ever.

"I am not whipped." Dignity was hard to come by with a throbbing throat and a rasping voice. Aldon continued to massage his poor throat, already thinking ahead--far ahead--to how much he could milk this injury with Ryland. He couldn't help it. It was just in his nature. And especially because this time wasn't even his fault (since Ryland thrust his head into Aldon's lap) he had that much more leverage.

"I do what I want. Unlike you!" He prodded Rae (cautiously) on the shoulder. "You wouldn't even know I was with Ry if Alva hadn't told you! And then he sent you over here to kill me!"

Seriously, how far was Alva willing to go, in order to keep them apart? Because odds were good that if Aldon tried to break him up with Rae, that Alva wouldn't like it much either! He scowled, remembering how Alva was blushing like a little schoolgirl with that other guy. And he--Aldon--actually felt bad for Rae! He actually was angry and indignant on Rae's behalf!

"You should be keeping an eye on Alva, not us!"

[Reagan Ryang]

Unfortunately, Rae did know. In fact, the last time he and Alva had texted--not so long ago--it pretty much cemented the fact that Rae would do just about anything for Alva and it was apparent that Alva knew it, too. What was Rae supposed to do about that, though? He'd never throat punch Alva and the mere thought of anybody doing it made him so angry that his stomach churned. Just thinking about bruises on his baby's face made him see red.

So yeah, he'd never lift a finger to hurt Alva... and since that was how he dealt with most of his problems, it went without saying that he let Alva... win things when he normally wouldn't let other people do it. So? It just meant he loved somebody and cared about them! Since when was that a negative trait?!

"I do what I want, too!" He glared Aldon down when his shoulder was prodded and he snapped his hand up to grasp onto Aldon's wrist, holding onto it and staring him hard in the eyes. "And what the fuck's that supposed to mean?"

Keep his eye on Alva? Why the fuck would he even have to? What did that mean?

"If you did something to him, Huang, so help me..."

[Aldon Huang]

The kind of glare that Rae sent his way would have quelled a lesser man.

Aldon was... that lesser man because it looked like Rae was fit to kill, and Aldon loved life too much to sacrifice himself in the name of anger. He did, however, stand his ground because he wasn't all yellow. Aldon was a wolf too, albeit not the son of an alpha. Didn't mean he'd lay down and take it, though. (Also didn't mean he wanted to continue riling Rae up to the point of actual murder.)

"I'd never hurt Alva!" He protested hotly, jerking at his hand to free it. The fact that Rae thought he'd do anything to Alva was insulting! Especially since Aldon was in love with Alva's cousin! Besides, Alva was his friend. Sorta. This whole thing with Ryland notwithstanding, Alva was actually one of Aldon's more understanding and accepting friends. They just butted heads where it came to him and Ryland, but... admittedly most of that was Aldon's fault, and his skittish and uncertain nature.

Letting out an impatient breath, he shook his head. Rae was his friend too, though. And Rae deserved to know. Maybe it was nothing, like Ryland said... But what if it was something? Aldon was friends with Rae long before he was friends with Alva and... well, despite the throat punch, he still cared about Rae just a little bit more. It wasn't even anything against Alva, it was just the way things worked.

"It was just. I saw him getting out of some guy's car earlier, at the animal shelter." Aldon looked away, guilty, uncomfortable with what he saw and what he had to tell Rae. But if there was an innocent explanation, Alva could surely give it to Rae later and... everything would be okay. (Hopefully!)

"And the guy was holding hands with him."

[Reagan Ryang]

He knew that. He knew Aldon wouldn't hurt him. It was just... It sounded like a goddamn threat and he immediately reacted. Nobody ever said he wasn't a hothead. He might be the worst in the family, if it came down to it. At least... within the immediate family. Nobody really wanted to talk about that wild cousin in the woods. Truthfully, Rae had nightmares that he'd become like him one night and that he'd wake up to Alva... covered in blood. They were so vivid, so real... And they had been worse lately, especially the past week or so.

But that wasn't Aldon's fault.

Slowly, he let out a long breath, eyes still trained on Aldon as he waited for his explanation none too patiently. Getting out of some guy's car? Rae blinked, not even sure he'd heard correctly, but the way Aldon looked away raised his anxiety and with it, his anger. His hands curled slowly into fists before he'd realized and then he slowly released them. There was a logical explanation, like it was a... Lyft (all the way out here?) or... or... His hands curled into fists again.

"He what?!" The words came out an animalistic roar. Holding hands? That might have sounded like innocent kid stuff but the fact that it was Alva... No, no. The guy was holding his hands. "Some pervert was coming onto my boyfriend?"

Immediately, the phone was whipped out of his back pocket. He couldn't believe everything he heard. But... As he unlocked the phone screen, he remembered their conversation. He looked up at Aldon. "Susumu. That fucking bastard."

[Aldon Huang]

"No! I mean--" Aldon took a step back, startled by Rae's over-reaction. Or... well, that was sorta what he expected, if he had to be honest. Although Aldon didn't react in the same way, didn't go straight to anger, he felt pretty incensed when he saw Ryland with that other guy. With any other guy. So he knew how Rae felt, even if his own reactions didn't compare to the tidal wave of fury crashing down in front of him.

"It just looked like... Who's Susumu?" Blinking, Aldon looked up from the phone to Rae's face. "Is that his name? Who is he? Friend of Alva's?" Aldon thought he knew most of Alva's friends. Most of them hated him, that was how he knew them, because he couldn't stand somebody not liking him and needed to know why. But Susumu... That name didn't ring a bell.

Throwing out a hand, Aldon tried to calm Rae down by grasping onto his wrist. Rae sure was texting fast. (A sure sign he was angry.) "Hey, maybe it was nothing! I'm sure the hand-holding and face-touching wa--"

Oops.

He sorta didn't mean to say 'face-touching' except he saw the angry text--ALL CAPS--and he started to panic. Crap. Why'd he open his big mouth in the first place?!

[Reagan Ryang]

"Some asshole witch he met in the library," he said, sounding far more irritated than he wanted to sound. Rae had always been... quick tempered. They said he was born that way. Born with that fucked up virus thing that was going around. Sometimes he was sure they meant it was him that got some of the others sick too. Like keeping him away from them would save them.

He hated it.

But he did overreact sometimes. Didn't he admit as much to Alva? It was just... some guy... holding his hands? And now... Now...?!

"Face touching?" His livid gaze targeted Aldon, the phone still in his hands with only a half formed text started. Tell me it's not true. Tell me he's fucking with me.

"You're fucking with me now, aren't you?"

[Aldon Huang]

No... Aldon wished he was joking. He wished he was just pulling a prank on Rae, pulling his leg, getting him riled up only to spring a big "KIDDING!" on him later. He wished he hadn't seen that guy, Susu-whatever, touching Alva and he sure as hell wished he hadn't seen Alva flushing but letting him do it. To Aldon, it looked like Alva liked it. The way his face was touched, the gentle overture of affection that somebody who wasn't Rae showed him, wasn't unwelcome because Alva didn't push his hand away immediately.

What probably stuck out most, though, was the smile. That small little smile on Alva's lips as he turned away, cheeks pink, was the most damning piece of evidence.

Silently, still avoiding Rae's laser-like gaze, Aldon shook his head. "I'm sorry man," he mumbled, feeling shitty all over, through and through. He knew what he saw, and he couldn't lie to his best friend. Aldon didn't know what went on there but... He was sure that he saw something there.

Even Ryland did--that was why he freaked out, too, when they both witnessed that guy hitting on Alva.

[Reagan Ryang]

Logically, it didn't make sense. It just didn't. Rae had known Alva for how long? And he'd been dating him exclusively--over all else--for five years. A lot of people said that was a long time. It was, too. Give it a couple more years and what they had would count as a common law marriage. Normally, Rae didn't let these things get to him. He laughed it off because he was pretty fucking secure in who Alva loved and he knew it was him.

After what he did with Josh, though, he didn't feel so secure. If he could turn his head to somebody else--especially to fucking Josh--it was hardly any stretch of the imagination that somebody else might be able to turn Alva's head. Five years, it was a long time. Maybe they were getting bored of one another. Maybe they both wanted different things. If that was the case, though, why did his chest hurt so goddamn much? Why did his eyes actually sting? Infuriated by his own show of weakness, he turned quickly away from Aldon, to avoid letting him see the expression on his face.

"Whatever," he said, annoyed by the thick tone in his voice. "Do whatever you want. I'm not gonna stop you."

[Aldon Huang]

"Hey, don't--" Aldon reached out again, laying a hand on Rae's shoulder. He didn't want it to happen like this! Arguably he didn't want this to happen at all, that he had to be the one to break the news to Rae, but... it was better than not knowing, wasn't it?

Wasn't it?

Because Aldon thought that knowing was better than carrying on without a clue. Rae would end up a bigger fool, if Alva was really playing around on him, and all the time, Rae stayed faithful. As far as Aldon knew, Rae had been with Alva all these years exclusively. If he hadn't, he probably would've said something by now, if not to him then to Josh. They were best friends, himself, Rae and Josh. They insulted one another and generally made life hell for each other, but when it came down to the wire, they had no secrets from one another.

Awkwardly, Aldon patted Rae's shoulder. He wasn't good with relationship stuff, never was. That was why his own was so messed up--with Ryland and now with Gregg. And he was going around destroying other relationships too, by the looks of things. Aldon bit his lower lip until it hurt, distressed at his friend's plight, annoyed with his own big mouth.

"M-maybe I'm wrong! I could've just seen it from a weird angle! Ry and I were hiding in the alley, it wasn't like we were up close..."

Except he was close enough to see the smile on Alva's face and to make out the blush. Aldon swallowed hard.

[Reagan Ryang]

Rae violently stepped back, slapping Aldon's hand away. They might be friends and what Aldon said was well meaning but Rae was in no mood for the whole touchy-feely business. All he wanted were explanations. Something that said that Aldon was a dumb ass and didn't know what he saw. It was hard, though, to make sense of something like that. Hand holding? Face touching? What the fuck, Alva? He didn't even deny it, either.

But he said he loved him. Rae's nostrils flared briefly and he didn't know whether to be happy or even more pissed off at the words. They made his eyes seriously sting and anybody who knew Rae at all knew he wasn't much of a crier. He didn't even cry when he heard about his father getting murdered. He just got mad. Now this. It felt to him like some cosmic entity was kicking the shit out of him while he was still down. He felt like a child thinking it, but it all felt so unfair, like the whole world was stacking up against him, holding him down, suffocating him into submission.

"I've gotta go," he said, shoving his phone back into his pocket without responding to Alva's comment. He said he'd go to him. That was about all he could do right now. He needed time alone for five seconds. Hopefully the drive over would prove to be enough for that. The last thing he wanted to do was show up to see Alva all emotional like some bitch.

Without another word to Aldon, he turned on his heel and started for his car, grabbing the keys out roughly. Fuck.