We Are Bulletproof

So how good was this idea of letting a complete stranger (a werewolf, at that) come to his apartment all alone? From his place lounging on the sofa in the living room, Ryland stared at the clock. Then he looked at his cell phone and the exchange that had taken place between himself and... Aldon, was it? Ryland lightly ran a thumb over his lower lip as he continued to look at his phone, leaving the emails and checking Instagram again. As he looked through the images, he felt that queer pain starting in the front of his skull and radiating backwards.

Letting out a hiss, Ryland dropped the phone, where it promptly hit his thigh and landed in his lap. All right. He could do this. The guy was super freaking cute and he was fun to toy with, which was one of Ryland's favorite pastimes. He tried not to smirk. Some of the rumors that circulated in relation to foxes was downright on point.

Wait. Aldon was on his way.

Ryland rushed to sit up, then looked over the back of his couch, as if he could see Aldon through the front door. Nothing, of course. He probably wasn't even that close. Still, Ryland sprinted into the bathroom and quickly made sure his hair looked good and that his clothes were presentable. Then he washed his face and smiled at himself, squeezing his cheeks to get some color into them. Then he left the bathroom, switching the light off.

All right. The real reason Aldon was coming--that needed to be taken seriously. The excitement at meeting a new guy was dampened by that memory. Ryland's kitchen counter was littered with various notes and maps, the work he'd done on his own before he decided he couldn't kidnap somebody alone. The problem was, he didn't know anybody who would be willing to do it with him. The person that normally would have done it was currently imprisoned (as far as Ryland was concerned, that's what happened to Alva.)

Trying to get his work into some semblance of order, his heart nearly skipped a beat when he heard somebody at the door. Calmly strolling over, belying the anticipation choking him, Ryland peered through the door's peephole. He smiled. There he was then, in the flesh. If he turned out to be a damned witch, though... Ryland didn't give it another thought before he slid the chain off the door, unlocked the bolt, and opened the door.

"You weren't kidding about being close."

"Yeah! It's just one bus ride down!" Not even twenty minutes away by bus, and it was a direct route down to Ryland Ren's apartment. Aldon smiled, even though his stomach was doing that thing where it wanted him to throw up that morning's breakfast. The thing that usually only happened when he met a really good-looking guy. The thing that wasn't supposed to happen because he was happily in a relationship!

Luckily, there were millions of good-looking people in the world, so he could at least claim that the reaction wasn't specific to Ryland Ren. Unluckily, none of those other incredibly good-looking people were within sight for him to use that excuse.

Aldon stuffed his hands into his pockets. He had this weird urge to just... throw himself at Ryland. That was definitely not acceptable. Not that it wouldn't be fun, but not acceptable. (Didn't stop him from entertaining the thought, though, for like a fraction of a second.) Maybe it was a wolf-senses-tingling deal. Like... he wanted to spring forward because there were natural hunting instincts, and not because of the stomach twisty flippy thing.

Foxes weren't tasty anyway.

They were just... foxy. Wily. Everything Aldon had heard about them was true! And as he looked Ryland Ren over, he could believe it, too!

"Soooo..." He rocked forward on his heels, trying not-so-subtly to get a look inside. "We gonna do this out here...?"

"Oh, yeah, right!" Ryland quickly moved aside to allow Aldon to come inside his apartment, feeling like an absolute dunce. Was he staring? He was pretty sure he was staring. (But he couldn't help it. Not just because Aldon was good-looking but because of that awful deja vu sensation overcoming him again.) It didn't feel very good, if he was honest. The more he tried to remember why it made him feel that way, the worse his head hurt.

That didn't stop his heartbeat from rapidly speeding up or his smile from quirking at the almost nervous way Aldon acted. Was he nervous being around him? That wasn't something he should have shown Ryland--he liked to exploit things like that. And he did. As soon as Aldon was inside and Ryland shut the door behind them, he stood perhaps a little too close to Aldon, looking him over in an obvious way.

Instead of saying something flirtatious, he smiled knowingly and looped an arm around Aldon's to pull him along with him into the kitchen.

"So, the plan. I have a lot of notes you should look over. Maybe one of them will jog something in your memories and you can help me figure out how to help my cousin."

After all, this was about saving Alva, not playing around with Aldon's head. (Although he thought he could manage both if he wanted.)

If they were both staring, then Aldon wasn't not noticing, because he definitely wasn't not staring, since he wasn't not in a relationship. Or something like that. It was an awkward fumble to both get through the door and to keep his eyes to himself, which was why he kept ogling the interior. At least then, he wasn't ogling... something else.

"Oh—okay, yeah." That was for the arm sliding through his arm, and he let himself be dragged into the kitchen. Normally Aldon was pretty smooth about these kinds of things. Today he was off his game.

Inside the kitchen, he looked at the sprawl of documents and raised his brows. Absently he reached into his back pocket to extract his contribution to their planned criminal activities—a stack of rainbow post-its. For some reason they had a million of these at home and Aldon never really figured out why. He didn't remember buying them. Gregg wasn't the type to use rainbow stuff. Maybe somebody gifted them...?

"I uh. Brought these," he explained belatedly, avoiding looking at Ryland in an obvious (and slightly exaggerated) way. Did he have to be SO CLOSE?! "Um. So. Yeah! Let's see..." Aldon bent a little over the table to study the notes. "Hey have you tried just like distracting him? I mean with somebody else? You know... break them up without uh... committing crimes."

Rainbow post-its!

For some reason, the sight of those set off a dangerous sequence of events. Firstly, Ryland jerked back in surprise at the sight of them--but didn't know why he should be so surprised. Something ached in his chest at the sight of them and he wanted to... to... do something in response. His heart jumped and he felt simultaneously choked up with emotion and almost... angry but it was a strange sort of anger that didn't make sense with the rest of the reaction. Ryland wanted to rub his heart--or the place above it. But just as he was about to, his head was plunged into light-headedness and a faraway sounding voice. It sounded like it came from a lifetime ago, but at the same time, it was close. And he could hear himself, too. Retorting. Something about three words, why were they so difficult for him?

"Ugh..." Ryland slid forward slightly and caught hold of the countertop to stop himself from falling. His vision went black with the pain that lanced through his head. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on Aldon's words instead of whatever was happening in his head. Distracting him. Distracting him. Who? No crimes. What crimes? Oh, right. Alva. The kidnapping. Ryland lightly shook his head and straightened up, staring over the notes about witches and maps.

"Oh, no. I don't think... Well, maybe? He had a boyfriend before this guy but... doubtful he'd work with us. Plus, I'm pretty sure he's dating somebody now, too."

Whoa... Ryland looked like he might collapse and Aldon threw out a hand to his back to steady him. "Hey, you—" Okay? He was about to ask, but Ryland moved on and Aldon dropped his awkward hand, awkwardly.

"Oh. That kinda sucks." He looked back at his rainbow stack and played idly with it, flicking the small squares of paper. At one point, looking at them made his head hurt—and his heart pang—but he had long gotten over it. Now he could almost completely ignore the soreness in his chest.

Weird reaction to rainbow post-its, he knew.

"What about somebody like his ex-boyfriend? If you tell me what the guy was like, maybe I know somebody like that!" Really, anything to actually bodily drag someone away from his ill-advised lover... that he didn't even know...

Whew. He could use some water. Moving around the counter, he grabbed a glass and then a second glass, just in case Aldon was thirsty, too. Setting them on the counter, he thought over Aldon's idea. Somebody like Rae, huh? Ryland made a slight face--he never thought Rae was good enough for Alva and the thought of replacing him with somebody just like him was kinda... well. It was still better than Susumu. It had to be. At this point, Hitler sounded like a better boyfriend. (Not really but Ryland was feeling pretty extreme and protective at this point.)

"Okay but I doubt Susumu is going to let Alva near any new guys... But the kind of guy Alva used to be with wouldn't be afraid to challenge him so..." Ryland shrugged and let out a soft laugh. No lie there. Maybe there was something admirable about the asshole.

"His ex was pretty aggressive. In your terms, a real alpha type. Didn't let anybody get away with anything. Foul mouth. Easy to rile up. Rough around the edges. But Alva said he had a softer side when they were alone and I never saw any marks on him when they were dating so I can't really doubt him."

Aldon eyed Ryland worriedly, hoping that he wouldn't do what he did earlier, or worse—collapse in a heap somewhere between kitchen island and sink. Wolves were known to be protective, but usually of territory and not strangers. Still... He rubbed one shoulder, fidgeting a little. Part of him still wanted to give Ryland a hug.

"Oh, an alpha type. Haha..." Aldon laughed uneasily, more so as Ryland's description went on. Brash. Rough. Potty mouth (to be polite). Flash-fire temper, but with a soft sqishy inside. Aldon also had a soft, squishy inside but everything else, not so much. He had friends like that, though.

"Are you sure that's better than this Susumu guy?" He peered at Ryland, where his gaze immediately went to Ryland's... cheek. Not lips! Cheek!

"I have a friend... or two... like that but... but I dunno that they'd make good boyfriends for anybody, even if they are nice in private, you know?"

"Not really," he said with a wry half smile. "Actually, I was thinking the same thing. Is a guy like that any better than him? I used to think Rae was bad for him but he was nothing compared to Susumu."

What was Aldon looking at? Ryland looked back at him. He thought Aldon was thinking about something else, saying something else, as if he was holding something back but if he was, he didn't share it. Kinda dumb but... Ryland liked the way he was looking at him. Kinda like he wanted to draw closer. Maybe kiss him. Ryland didn't even realize it but he was standing closer to Aldon just thinking about it, drawn forward by some invisible, magnetic force.

Stay focused. Alva!

"Susumu's a curser. Not the kind with a mouth but he puts curses on people. And when they met, he cursed Alva. He claimed it was an accident, but the more I hear, the more I think he just wanted to keep Alva close." He cleared his throat and nearly knocked one of the glasses down in his haste to grab them. "Are you thirsty?"

Ray??! That sounded an awful lot like RAE, Aldon's wolf best friend who was also dating a fox shifter. Or... was dating one. Aldon didn't rightly recall what happened to them; his memories were a tiny bit fuzzy lately. He thought that it might have been the change—that awful full moon change that left him all animal, all feral. That could have also explained the headaches.

"Oohh... one of those moon witches huh?" Aldon nodded wisely, like he knew what moon witches were all about. Well, curses that hurt people told him all he needed to know! Not all moon witches were terrible people, but curses were all bad. Like, ALL bad. Nobody ever put a good curse on anybody, that was for sure!

"Well... um... I uh..." One of them was leaning closer. It might have been him. It could have been Ryland. All he knew was that suddenly, they were close and eye to eye and he couldn't breathe and they coulda kissed so easily... Easier than breathing...

"Guh—" Aldon grabbed his own glass, which was precariously teetering. He turned sideways to drink it, heart thudding in his chest. "Haha. Yeah! I'm so thirsty! For water!" Not-not for other stuff! For water. He gulped it down, glad that nobody was around to see him acting like a prepubescent schoolkid. (Definitely... not Gregg.).

"So-so funny story! My best friend's name is Rae! And he sounds like this Ray guy your cousin's dating!"

Yep. He nodded. One of those damned moon witches. Actually, Ryland never had anything against them before but he certainly did. Susumu gave them all a bad name, as far as he was concerned. What good could come of somebody who specialized in curses? It was inherently evil magic and somebody that used it had to be evil, right? He had to be if he took Alva away and hid him. Ryland couldn't even get through to him on his phone. It was disconcerting and frightening. The last time Ryland saw Alva, he really didn't look good and he imagined he wasn't getting any better near an evil witch...

His nerves, though. Why were they getting the better of him right now? Ryland wasn't normally so... on edge. In fact, he was pretty good at flirting. He watched Aldon turn away, shouting about how thirsty he was for water and Ryland hid a laugh behind his arm before turning away, too.

"Oh?" Ryland looked up and turned back to Aldon. Rae was his best friend? Wouldn't they have met then? Maybe not. Or maybe they had briefly met and that was why Aldon seemed so familiar (and why they had pictures together...?) "It might be him, then. He's a werewolf like you."

His eyes lit up and he gave Aldon's chest a pat.

"Oh, I know!" He scrambled out of the kitchen to grab his phone and came back with it, scrolling through his pictures to find some of Alva and Rae together. Not that there were many on his phone of them posing (Rae wouldn't pose for Ryland but he'd pose for Alva) but there were a few candid ones.

"Is this him?" Ryland asked, sidling right up next to Aldon so their sides touched. He held the phone a few inches from Aldon's nose.

"Buh—okay." Aldon gulped down two more glasses of cold water while Ryland was gone, trying to douse that jumpy feeling in his stomach and chest. It didn't really help; all it made him do was want to go to the bathroom, if he had to be honest. Before he could slip off, though, Ryland was back and—uh—yeah.

Close.

Right up beside him.

Subtly, Aldon shifted away, under the pretense of putting his glass off to the side. Also because he couldn't breathe when Ryland was that close! But then a phone got shoved into his face and his mouth dropped. He leaned in so close his nose actually poked the screen. "That's him! RAE! And—your cousin?!"

Goddamn! Rae was... was... a serial fox shifter dater!

"I knew it!" Ryland crowed. "They're the same guy!"

Although... as he lowered the phone and looked down at the photo, he wasn't sure how this changed anything. Aldon knew Rae, so maybe he could be convinced into helping lure Rae back to Alva. That... changed something. Besides, the lure of another lover was Aldon's idea. He couldn't back out of it now! (Also, it was somewhat easier to bring in an ex than it was to find somebody completely new. Especially since not everybody wanted a guy in a wheelchair. Also, Alva hated humans so that scratched off a good number of people... and they couldn't just run around asking everybody what they were!)

"So... all you have to do is talk him into catching Alva's eye again. That can't be that hard, right?"

"It's the wily fox senses, that's how you knew," Aldon said darkly, studying the picture alongside Ryland. Wolves didn't have that intuition. Or he didn't, anyway! The side of his head brushed Ryland's as they both leaned over the one phone. Aldon had the urge to run himself out of the window, head-first.

But Ryland's suggestion... Aldon gulped again, for a different reason. "Wh-why do I have to do that?! You're the one who wants to break up your cousin!"

See, the part where Ryland described Rae's temper was waaaay too accurate. As in, Rae was moody, touchy, easily triggered and lately he was just... well, a little unstable. Suggesting that he get back together with an ex might get somebody killed. Why did that somebody have to be Aldon?!

"Maybe."

He didn't know beforehand but how many guys named Rae with a short temper could there be? (Probably more than Ryland wanted to contend with.) However, he had proof positive that Alva's Rae was the same as Aldon's Rae. Aldon didn't even try to lie about it, either. He definitely wasn't wily like a fox, if he wanted to really wriggle his way out of his new job.

"Yeah, but it was your idea, remember?" Ryland tilted his head slightly and put his hands together, fingertips brushing his own chin in an attempt to appeal to Aldon's vulnerable side. (Most people couldn't deny his begging face.)

"Please? It's better than kidnapping a crippled fox under the watchful eye of a scary witch that curses people, isn't it?"

Okay, that was a pretty convincing pleading look, but Ryland hadn't contended with Aldon's special ability—that to wiggle his ass out of any situation! His heart quivered at Ryland's obvious distress but he had to remind himself that these wily, sly foxes, they were... wily. And sly. And stuff!

So Aldon did the only thing he could think of—that he ever did, really—which was to paint himself as even worse off than his accuser. He turned his own kicked puppy dog look onto Ryland. "But... Rae's gonna punch me if I just roll up and tell him to get back with your cousin!"

Whom Aldon didn't even remember, so how important was this guy, really?! Aldon let out a great big sigh. "And—besides! The kidnapping thing that started this? That was your idea!"

That was a pretty convincing puppy dog stare. Also a really familiar one that stabbed straight through his heart. Ryland frowned slightly at the pain starting in his head and did his best to fend it off with a big sigh of his own as he stepped closer to Aldon. It was like they were about to square off in a fight but not really.

"So you're still on board with the kidnapping, then? Even though it's a crime?"

"Hey that's not fair!" Aldon whined as he backed up a step, withering from Ryland's advance. It was far from the most threatening gesture that Aldon had ever seen, but the proximity scared him a lot. He felt like he might do something bad if they kept being so close to each other and he really...

He had something good going with Gregg right now. Like, the kind of relationship that most people scoffed at as being "in the honeymoon" phase, or "puppy love." But things felt right. Good. They weren't a perfect couple but they were happy together and Aldon, he needed happiness right now. There was a lot of unhappiness lurking in his forgotten memories that he didn't want to bring up. Gregg helped push the nightmares away.

"I don't wanna get arrested!" How was it now HIS responsibility?! When RYLAND put out the ad to commit crimes?! Aldon let out an aggravated sound and threw up his hands. "Fine!" He said in bad grace. "But know that if I get punched—or worse—it's all on your head!"

What wasn't fair? What he said? Or the fact that he gave Aldon few options? The close proximity? Ryland raised his brows slightly in question. As for getting arrested, Ryland smiled just like the fox that he was. He patted Aldon lightly on the chest.

"Why are you worried about being arrested? All you have to do is shift." Humans were notoriously bad at telling one animal apart from another. At least, that worked for Ryland (in theory--he'd never actually shifted in front of a cop). But he was just your average looking red fox. He assumed that Aldon looked like every other wolf in the vicinity.

"And..." He gently took Aldon's dramatic hands to stop him from swinging them around again. "You're not going to get punched. Why would your best friend punch you? Especially over this? I mean, I know they're exes but... shouldn't he care if Alva's..." He hesitated because he'd been avoiding the word the entire time, using things like "cursed" in its place. "...dying?"

Aldon leveled Ryland with a Look, even though it was not fair to Ryland, who didn't know that Aldon shifted into a white wolf. A conspicous, easy-to-find-and-tranquilize white wolf. As far as Aldon knew, there weren't many white wolves in the area, if any at all. So yeah, he was KINDA worried about being caught, pre- or post-shift!

"You obviously don't got friends like Rae and Josh!" He said slightly incoherently, since they were presently holding hands. Aldon was no prude—he routinely climbed onto his friends' backs or clung to them—but he felt a little weird about this hand-holding business. It felt right, and also terribly wrong. His head ached—he assumed it was from mentally exhausting himself over all of this too-close, not-close-enough business.

But... hnng. Dying? Aldon's mouth was agape. "D-dying?" He repeated, aghast. "Your cousin's... dying?" Well shit. Yeah Rae might mind if an ex of his was dying. Maybe. Hard to tell these days, with the way that Rae was carrying on. But Aldon thought that if, say, Gregg was dying, he'd be pretty broken up about it.

He wilted again, visibly. "I. Guess." His hand made an attempt to flail. "I could just. Ask. Rae." Every word dragged itself reluctantly out of his mouth.

"Obviously." He didn't have rough friends because... well, he didn't have a real reason for that. Ryland just didn't feel like he attracted those kind of people. Plus, he had always been close to his two best friends and only them. The rest were held at arm's length, as though he had met his quota of close friends in this lifetime. Ryland didn't mean to be that way; he simply didn't have enough of himself to give to a huge number of people.

"And yeah. Yeah... he is."

Ryland's expression sobered immediately. He might have found that look on Aldon's face amusing if it weren't for the gravity the situation. Ryland wasn't being a drama queen; he really suspected that Alva was near death and it scared him. What did that damned witch have to gain from letting Alva die, anyway? Did he do it for magic potion parts? Did he do it because he was some sadistic weirdo? The reasons didn't matter. Ryland didn't think there could be one that could ever excuse that man for what he had done.

And it was imperative to save Alva from him. Ryland couldn't lose anybody else.

Ryland was on tenterhooks as he waited for Aldon to process that. He waited, watched him, held his breath, held his hands--even as one flailed helplessly. And then, the sweet, sweet words of assent. Ryland burst out with a happy sound before letting go of Aldon's hands and  practically leaping into him. He hugged him tight.

"Yes! Thank you thank you! You won't regret it."

"Oh no! No don't—" Aldon tried to forestall the hug but it was foredained to happen. As in, he didn't try all that hard and just let himself be swept up in Ryland's hug. Maybe he liked it. The way they got all close. The scent of that wily, wily fox. Everything they said about foxes was true and somehow, Aldon couldn't be too mad about it.

"...'s nothing, just gonna call him..." he mumbled, not exactly embarrassed by Ryland's gratefulness but acting like it anyway. That wasn't intentional; he wasn't that much of a big-headed jerk. It was just that he was still getting over the notion of somebody dying, who used to date his best friend. That hit too close to home, really.

Also he would TOTALLY regret it but he also didn't mention that, and instead gave Ryland an awkward pat on the back. Did-did it get harder to breathe again, or was it just him? Aldon wheezed in a breath. "Uh. Just uh. I need. Phone." He had to be free from this embrace if he was to call Rae and tell him about his... dying ex.

Despite the horror of the situation, Ryland was immensely for the help and from a virtual stranger, at that. He closed his eyes and breathed easily, as if hugging Aldon was as natural as breathing. And then Aldon was excusing himself and Ryland was dropping his arms and letting him go. Right. Some people didn't like the touchy-feely stuff. Ryland stuffed his hands into his pockets and turned slightly, another shrug. He wasn't going to take it personally. For all he knew, Aldon wasn't into guys touching him. Sometimes Ryland forgot he couldn't flirt with every guy ever. They weren't all the same.

"Okay. Sure." Ryland watched Aldon for a moment, then took a step backward, toward the small balcony in his bedroom. "I'll be out there while you make your call."

He didn't want to stand there eavesdropping, especially since they were dealing with Rae.

(We continue back here after Rae/Ald comm?)

Well the thing was, Aldon wasn't great at improvising and convincing Rae to get back with an ex... Ah... That was difficult. He flailed at Ryland after Ryland turned, but the guy was leaving and Aldon had to fight the urge—again—to dive head-first out the window. He really needed some kind of guidance. Preferably, someone to tell him what to say.

After a moment of totally suspicious smalltalk, he got to the point. In a "blurt everything out" kind of way. Then he scooted after Ryland and sidled up to him, pointing in an obvious way to the phone. "I told him your cousin was dying but it's not working!" He hissed with one hand over the phone, though that probably didn't muffle the sound or anything.

"What else?!"

(Can keep going too lol Doesn't really have to pick up after the comm since they might lead to different threads)

"I don't know..." Ryland wracked his memory for anything else that might help. And it really seemed like Aldon could use the help because Rae was pretty loud and he wasn't saying anything nice, from what parts of it Ryland could pick up.

"Ah..."

He looked at the covered phone. What else? What else? He heard Aldon's side and it sounded like he'd already told Rae several times that they couldn't kill anybody. (Although Ryland was sort of wondering if it would be so bad at this point. He knew it was the rage at knowing his cousin was being hurt but he was nowhere near the rage hound that Rae was.)

"He's... he's a hunter-hunter, right? Susumu? Maybe we can lure him away from Alva long enough to come after us while Rae has a chance to get to Alva?"

"Okay!" Said Aldon, also making the OK sign with his free hand—as if Ryland wasn't RIGHT THERE and couldn't hear him telling Rae about The Plan. It was a solid plan. Aldon could totally get behind that plan! Luring a dangerous witch out, while leaving his volatile best friend alone with Ryland's cousin, so that he could charm him with his six pack abs...

Err...

Well whatever. It'd work itself out! (Hopefully...?)

A moment later, he had to hold the phone away from his ear, because Rae was yelling and Aldon's heightened senses picked that up like a megaphone to the side of the head. He winced. "What'd I say?!" He hissed, outraged, at Ryland. They were still standing pretty close and as if by instinct—or habit—Aldon leaned in and rested against him.

"He's so MAD all the time!" He repeated for Ryland's benefit. Were they sure they wanted this guy alone with Ryland's cousin? But then again, if it made Rae less mad... Aldon shook his head and let out a sigh. "I wish you'd asked for somebody to help you kidnap a medium pizza," he complained to Ryland.

All right, all right. So it sounded like Aldon was correct about Rae. He sounded like a raging, seething ball of anger. Was it because of Alva? Ryland felt sort of sorry for him. At the same time, damn. He didn't know how a laidback fellow like Aldon dealt with all that shouting and yelling. Or how Alva dealt with it, for that matter. Alva...

"You know, calling him a medium pizza doesn't make this less incriminating." Ryland gave Aldon a sideways stare. The fact that Aldon was leaning against him somehow didn't bother him. Normally, he wouldn't let a random stranger do something like that but there was still something highly familiar about Aldon. Accepting it for the moment, Ryland lightly massaged his temple with one hand and used the other to slip it around Aldon's shoulders as naturally as breathing.

"Tell him..." Ryland hesitated a moment. Was it a lie to say it? Thinking back to what happened between Alva and Rae... he didn't think so. "Tell him Alva still loves him."

Just because there was bad shit in their past didn't mean that Alva stopped. And just because he was with Susumu didn't mean anything, either--especially since it was a witch...

Aldon would easily have broken into a pizza place, in order to kidnap a medium pizza. With all the toppings. Lots of meat—but no olives! He looked sideways at Ryland when Ryland looked sideways at him, eyebrows lifting. What? He couldn't complain a little, with what he was about to do?!

Distracted by Rae and his total refusal to admit that he was depressed (or something equally bad), Aldon didn't notice the arm around his shoulders. In fact, it felt right. Like... something slotted into place effortlessly, without having to try for once. The motion was natural and the way that it relaxed him felt equally natural.

Love, huh? That was a low-down dirty sneaky trick! It was also pretty clever. Totally fox-like thing to do. Plus it made Rae stop yelling, which was the biggest bonus of all. Aldon smiled over at him, forgetting his indignation. "Hey, that worked!" He leaned in closer; it felt like something he'd do. Lean in and let their noses touch, because he was amused. Happy. Comfortable.

"When's this going down?"

He wrinkled his nose slightly, in that playful way he did whenever... whenever... Hm. He ignored the painful lance through his head again. That was getting real annoying. Maybe he'd go to the doctor about it later. After all this business with Alva was finalized. Ryland smiled.

"I knew it would."

And it wasn't a lie! He stood by that. It was the truth, even if it was complicated. Ryland couldn't imagine Alva turning the guy he'd been with for five years away without even listening to him. As long as he was nice and he didn't go full on asshat and turn him away. That was the important part because if Rae messed up...

Rae couldn't mess up. Aldon and Ryland would be vulnerable and with Susumu. They were really sticking their necks out for Alva and Ryland appreciated it more than he suspected Aldon would ever know. It didn't seem fair to ask a stranger for so much but... it had to mean something that Aldon knew Rae! It was all aligning perfectly, as if this was The Plan. It had to work.

"Ah... Let's see..." Ryland had to think that one over. They couldn't just rush out and do it this instant. They had to carefully plan where they would be and what their positions were, what their roles were. Ryland reached around Aldon, brushing against his side as he did.

"He'll be at some library meeting on Thursday," he said. "He's been going there a lot lately, usually Thursdays because of some work-related thing. While he's gone, he'll leave Alva alone. Although... he'll probably have spells to let him know if somebody's coming or maybe even curses on people who shouldn't be there?"

Ryland's brows etched together. "Should we find a witch to help us? But how do we know if they're friends with Susumu...?"

"You put in work, stalking this guy, huh?" Amused, Aldon nudged Ryland gently. That just meant that Ryland was really worried about his cousin, and that spoke to Aldon. In a pack, everyone was like family; there was a lot of emphasis placed on protecting the pack and keeping the pack safe. The fact that Ryland had the same values meant that they were compatible.

Er. As... friends. Purely as friends.

"Wolves don't make friends with witches," Aldon said dubiously, as he put on his thinking hat. Wolves weren't standoffish as such, but that whole pack = family thing meant that outsiders... Not so much welcomed. Also on a personal level, Aldon didn't know witches. He wasn't sure why—he just never came into contact with them.

"What if we... um..." He made a "thinking" noise—a low hum. "Catch him by surprise! Like uh. If we get him out of his place in a hurry? Then he might not have time for spells and stuff!"

Aldon thought a little more. "What if we set his car on fire?!" Assuming the guy had a car, that was.

"Yep," he said absently. No way was he going to just leave things to chance this time. He let that happen a couple times before and it only ended in Alva climbing farther away from him. Ryland's heart felt sore every time he thought of all of his past mistakes, some of them more clear than others. He could have sworn he was close to a breakthrough not long ago but... something got in his way.

"It'll take more than just catching him by surprise, though."

Ryland moved away and began to walk around the room for a moment before plopping down on the nearby couch and looking at the information he scoured from watching and staking out Susumu. They couldn't afford to bring in another witch, not with the chance that they knew Susumu and they might warn him. And what Aldon said...

"He'll be away already. At the library," Ryland said. "So we don't need to get him anywhere in a hurry. We need to keep him at the library, occupied with us and not whatever is happening at his apartment with Alva and Rae."

"That's what I'm saying!" Aldon said as he threw himself over the back of the couch that Ryland was reclining on. "Set his car on fire! If that doesn't distract him, nothing will!" Who could keep their mind on spells when their car was getting blown up? It made sense to Aldon—maybe to a fox, it didn't sound that appealing.

"Anyway we just have to stall him long enough for Rae to get your cousin out of the place, right?" He scratched his head. "What happens if your cousin decides to leave on his own while that witch guy's gone though? Would that trip the spells and everything?"

How did spells even work? Aldon was baffled. Why wasn't there an easier way to do this?! He lightly kicked the back of the couch with his knee, fidgeting as he racked his brain. (Admittedly, he didn't have many brains at his disposal, but he was trying his best now that he was all in.)

Would Gregg know how to distract a witch? Or how witches even worked? If he used to be a hunter, then he had to know about them more than Aldon and a desperate fox! Aldon fiddled with his phone. Thing was, he wasn't sure he wanted Gregg to know that he was involved in this. It was essentially a crime and Aldon didn't want Gregg to think that he did this kinda thing all the time.

He poked at the back of the couch again. "Maybe we should go to the library and find out how witch spells work."

"I... I don't know." Ryland drew a knee up to his chest and hugged it with his arms, leaning his head back and turning it to look at Aldon. That was the problem. He knew pretty much nothing about magic. When it came to his circle of friends, there weren't really any witches. Could be where his lack of trust in them came from. That or the fact that the one he knew of best right now was at the center of his problems.

"Maybe Yoojin knows something," he said, mostly to himself, since he doubted Aldon knew his fae friend. The fae were known to be able to wield magic, although theirs was natural, rather than mixed or summoned. Ryland took in a deep breath and lifted his head.

"Hold on, hold on. Before we go into his territory, maybe I can ask my friend Yoojin if she knows anything about magic like that."

From Ryland's previous tracking of Susumu's activities, he saw that the man frequented the library. That likely meant he had allies there and Ryland didn't want to possibly tip Susumu off to the Plan.

"It can't hurt, anyway." He looked Aldon over again. "Are you sure you don't have any other friends that can help?"

"Yoojin?" Aldon scratched his head. The name sounded familiar but for the life of him, he couldn't place it. As he puzzled over the name, Ryland went on about magic and Aldon tried to keep up. Friend. Magic. Friends who knew about magic. In retrospect, making friends with witches would have been incredibly helpful, but Aldon had never been one for foresight.

"Um. Yeah ask your friend," he said slowly, as he slid lower and lower along the back of the couch, until he was dangling half over it. "I... might know somebody who might know something about witches, but..."

Aldon buried his face in the back of the couch for a moment. Thinking... thinking... Would Gregg have any useful information? Was it worth the hassle of having him know that Aldon was a co-conspirator in this criminal scheme?! (Not that he wasn't already involved.) At this point, they were pulling everybody they knew into it! Everybody was an accomplice now!

As Ryland contacted his friend, Aldon checked his messages. He paled. Then he grabbed Ryland suddenly by the shoulder. "Rae's gonna go kill the witch!" He yelled in a panic. "WhatdowedoRyland?!? He can't KILL the witch!" For one thing, Ryland's cousin would never forgive Rae—people rarely took well to murder. If Rae went after the witch like that, he could just about wave goodbye to any chances of reconcilliation!

Weird.

Strange.

Odd.

Ryland really wasn't liking any of this. There was something more going on, something just waiting to burst at the seams and he was certain that it had something to do with Aldon and the witch and everything that surrounded his cousin. What he didn't understand was why--but he felt like the answers were there. Just unavailable to him at the moment. He couldn't see them, not yet. But they were there and they were waiting to be discovered. Uncovered.

So he contacted his other best friend and he only felt that sense of something wrong growing stronger by the minute. For some reason, as he texted Yoojin and Aldon snaked closer, he felt the urge to... touch him. And while he was distractedly texting with one hand, the other did so, gently reaching out to the back of Aldon's neck, fingertips sifting through his dark hair.

It was comforting, up until the part where Aldon suddenly grasped him and started shouting about his friend killing the witch. Ryland sat up.

"He won't! Will he?" He wanted to ask him to find Rae and tell him to slow his roll but... He glanced down at his own phone and shook his head before grabbing Aldon by the shoulder in a similar fashion. "Doesn't matter. Right now, we have to get in the bath. Hurry! Turn the water on, I'll get the salt!"

And without explaining himself, he leapt off the sofa and went for the kitchen, frantically opening the cupboard and snatching the whole canister of salt to his chest before rushing for the bathroom.

"I dunno! I'm trying to stop him!"

So. Yeah. Weirdness. Aldon was trying to talk Rae out of killing the witch and being blindsided by the fact that both of his best friends were dating each other and even the soothing hand in his hair couldn't stop him from bursting out and shouting. He didn't know at what point his life started going to hell.

Was it when he answered the ad? Because he was pretty sure that he was fairly happy just moments before, waiting for Gregg to come home.

Before he could contemplate that further, he was being grabbed and Ryland was saying something about a bath. About getting in a bath. Aldon didn't even like baths! He took long showers! But for some reason, he didn't think to dispute Ryland's sudden and baffling command. Maybe it was the urgency in his tone, or that dead serious look in his eyes. Whatever it was, Aldon leapt up too and ran for the bathroom, though not after mistakenly bursting into a bedroom and a hall closet.

It wasn't until the bath tub was half full and Ryland was coming in with an armful of salt that he remembered: People telling other people to get in a bath, when they were strangers, wasn't normal. "Wh-why are we—??" He eyed the salt warily.

They could stop Rae in a minute, was all he could think. Rae wasn't a witch so it would take him time to get to the witch. The witch wouldn't just drop dead because Rae wanted him to. The bath, though, the bath was urgent. It had to be done now. He didn't know why, exactly. Just that it might ward off the weirdness or... or wash it off. Something like that. From the way Yoojin said it, he thought it would do more good than harm.

So there he was, with the salt in his arms and Aldon staring at him, obviously bewildered. But there was no time to explain. The bath was half full with water and they had the salt and now all they had to do was dump it in and get in! Ignoring Aldon's obvious wariness, Ryland stepped past him and opened the canister. He turned it over and spilled its contents into the water, turning the water a murky fog color.

"Come on, come on!" Ryland didn't waste any time. He didn't think it mattered whether he was dressed or not so he hopped over the edge and into the bathtub fully clothed, pulling Aldon along with him. "Get in, dummy!"

"No! I don't want to--"

And then he was sitting in a bathtub full of salty lukewarm water in his clothes.

Aldon sloshed around a little bit, since bathtubs weren't exactly made to accommodate two fully grown men. There was the problem of legs being bent at odd angles and his clothes were sticking very unpleasantly to his skin. He tried to scoot to the very opposite end of the tub, as far away from Ryland as possible.

Luckily his phone hadn't gotten wet. He could use it to call 911 and report this unusual assault.

"Why. Are we. Doing this? Ryland?"

Living in Hazleton, Aldon was no stranger to weirdness. But this was by far the most bizarre situation he had ever been placed into, and he was a goddamn werewolf with a virus! He gestured helplessly at the bath. The salt was settling now, turning the water back into a clear and opaque hue. That didn't make Aldon feel better about sitting in it fully clothed, but his head surprisingly felt clearer. Less muddled at the back, where long-term memories held court.

"My friend told me to."

Why was Aldon looking at him like that? And why was he sitting as far as he could get from Ryland? Not that he could get very far. Ryland's bathtub was a normal sized one, not some luxury spa type, so they were basically knee to knee already. Kinda smashed together, unable to find a place where they weren't touching one another.

"We think the witch did something to me... or us. Both of us. You and me."

He felt that was necessary to add, otherwise it seemed like he meant himself and Yoojin. Yeah. Also, the longer he sat awkwardly in the water with his hands on his knees and his eyes on Aldon, he felt kinda like that weird pain in his head was getting better. Like he'd taken a painkiller and it was working. Or like he was starting to wake up from some kind of dream state. And the longer he stared at Aldon, the more he felt like he was learning. His brows knitted together.

"Aldon?"

"Josh tells me to jump off a bridge all the time and I don't go and do it!" Aldon responded hotly, just a little upset about being squashed in a bathtub. He really didn't do well with that whole... being taken out of his element thing. (Not that he had ever been in his element ever since he came over to Ryland's apartment.)

He simmered down slightly at the ensuing explanation but he was still confused. Why did the witch curse him?! He had nothing to do with witches! Witches who dated foxes who dated his best friend (who was dating his other best friend). There was a whole lot of dating going on behind his back!

Grumpily crossing his arms, he winced at the wet squelching noise. And while Ryland stared at him, he stared at the edge of the bathtub. There was a tiny nagging noise in the back of his head now, a buzzing memory that he couldn't swat away with his righteous indignation. It was saying something about...

"Hot cheese..." Aldon's brows creased as he lifted his gaze to Ryland's face. "You... remember working at the theater together?"

Yeah, okay. Friends told friends to do dumb stuff all the time but this was different! Yoojin wouldn't tell him to do something stupid for the sake of it, which was exactly why he took her word for it immediately. Without question. She had no reason to troll him into doing something for no reason.

But yeah, it was kinda weird. He figured salt helped in some way; it was used to ward off a lot of things in the supernatural world. Maybe water helped because it was meant to clear things up. He didn't know. But with the fog of the water clearing up as the salt settled, it felt like the same thing was happening to his mind.

He continued to watch Aldon, even though he was avoiding looking back at Ryland. At least... until he seemed to come to some kind of realization. Hot cheese. It was such an absurd thing to say that it brought out a soft laugh from Ryland until Aldon met his gaze finally. Um yeah. Hot cheese. It was actually pretty significant, actually. Ryland frowned again. Hot cheese. Theater. It was coming together so fast that he almost felt dizzy. He almost got up, the urge to suddenly pace about was so so strong.

"Yeah. Because we... did." They worked at the theater together. That was why they knew each other! There was more to it, though. There was more to it than working together once. Ryland was silent for a moment. Then he suddenly splashed Aldon in the face with the salt water before leaning forward, his hands now on Aldon's knees. They were almost close enough to touch noses if they wanted.

"What else do you remember?"

The old theater downtown--that was where they first met! Aldon remembered now! He picked up a part-time job there, behind the snack counter, during the summer when he was out of school and didn't have much money to line his wallet. Somehow, he'd forgotten that but it was all returning to him, the longer he sat in that tepid, salty bath water.

There was a cute guy already working there on his first day and Aldon being... well, Aldon, he couldn't resist making a move on him. Usually people were pretty susceptible to his smiles and his charm but Ryland resisted. For a long while, Aldon got nowhere. And randomly, Ryland would be mad at him because he was so free with his attentions--although at the time, he imagined that Ryland just hated him, rather than being jealous.

"Ach--tthpppbbbbttt!" 

Aldon sputtered furiously. The splash was so abrupt that he couldn't even defend himself. As the water dripped over his face, he wiped a hand over it angrily. "WHY!" It was in his eyes! He blinked hard, although that only worked the salt into his eyes. Aldon squeezed his eyes tightly shut as Ryland drew closer, fearing another attack, and that was when he remembered--

The strawberry festival. He was going to say it too, but the last time he blurted out a seemingly random phrase, he was viciously attacked.

He put up an arm to cover his face. "Don't splash me again!!"

Ryland lifted up a hand and wiggled his fingers playfully, letting more of the water sprinkle over Aldon's face. Whoops, he'd forgotten about the salt content of the water, so that splash probably wasn't pleasant. But! It did make something happen that Ryland was hoping for: it caused Aldon to remember more. Ryland bet if they were submerged fully in the water, it would really help. There just wasn't enough space in the tub for that, though.

"Because!" Ryland said, a mischievous smile crossing his face. No real answer, though. "Splash me back!"

That was what he'd been going for. Well, he wanted to test it out on Aldon first but he expected retaliation. He forgot that Aldon wasn't quite as combative as other werewolves so it didn't really work out. Without waiting for Aldon to do it, Ryland dunked his hands in the water and brought his wet hands up to his face, covering it in salty water. He could taste it on his lips, too. Almost tasted like tears.

"Whoa." He opened his eyes, blinking back the sting of the salt.

Aldon recoiled like someone was waving a shotgun in his face, instead of dripping fingers. He made an ineffectual swat at the air, like he could punch the drops of water away, and then--feeling foolish--he scowled at Ryland. The smile on Ryland's face made him think that this was some type of mean prank. Being told to splash him back, however, somewhat firmly cemented that idea.

"What?! No! Why would I do that when I--"

He stopped abruptly. The words were there. They were ready to spring out and yet, something stopped him. Why would he splash salt water into the face of somebody he... loved?

But no--that wasn't right! Aldon loved Gregg! Maybe he knew Ryland from before and maybe he tried to get Ryland to go out with him, but right now he... he was seeing Gregg. Absently, he wiped off more of the water even as Ryland was scooping some of it onto his own face. Aldon watched him getting a taste of his own medicine and he let out a sigh.

"Stop doing that! It stings!" Reaching over, he swiped fingers over Ryland's forehead to get the hair out of his eyes. "Strawberries. You like... strawberries, right?" That was the reason they always went to the festival together. Aldon's hand lingered there, at the side of Ryland's face. "The... festival. But we didn't go this year..." Not together, the way they always did.

"When you what?"

Ryland had memories of doing this a lot--chasing Aldon down for answers because he wouldn't complete his sentences. It was like there was an inability for Aldon to keep his mouth shut but whenever he realized he was saying something he hadn't meant to actually say aloud, he wouldn't finish it. Ryland distinctly had memories of "torturing" him for answers. Like... tickling him. Like... petting him. Ryland felt a strange little chill run down his spine.

"Yeah," he agreed, it did sting. Just as he was about to shake his head out like a dog, Aldon reached over to move his hair out of his eyes in a more gentle manner. Ryland froze for only a second, then half closed his eyes and let Aldon do it. Strawberries, he said and instantly, the image of a carnival displaying every kind of strawberry decadence known to man popped into his head. Along with it came memories of arms hooked together and feeding strawberries to one another like a sappy couple would. There was even a playful comment about the strawberries matching his lips. A kissy face. A kiss.

"No," he said, the mischief falling away. "We didn't. But we did. Before. When we were... together."

Floored by the sudden realizations, Ryland sat back against his side of the tub, his clothes rubbing uncomfortably against his skin, sopping wet and probably getting him all kinds of wrinkly. He bit his lower lip for a few seconds before looking back up at Aldon.

"We were together. Before. But I don't... understand. Why would somebody use a spell on us for that?"

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.

"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.

"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!"

"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 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.

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."

"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?

"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..."

"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.

"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?"

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!"

"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?!"

"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?"

"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.

"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."

Spells were turning out to be even more complicated than Ryland ever thought. In all his years, he'd never actually come up against a witch. Ryland wasn't the type to make a lot of enemies. Even now, he wished that the witch hadn't gone and proven their fears right. Wouldn't it have been better if the witch just loved Alva and they had a healthy relationship? Why did Alva keep attracting these people that were so awful for him?

(But then Ryland heard the same thing about Aldon all the time and look at him.) That was partly why he was so lenient with his cousin and his choice of lover when it came to Rae. He gave him the benefit of the doubt. He tried to do the same with the witch, too, but he was proving far worse than Rae had ever been.

"Do you think he made Alva forget about us?" Ryland asked. "Because if he doesn't remember us and we go in kidnapping him..."

"To be honest, most witches are a little... off. It's the unlimited power thing, gets to their heads, you know," Yoojin said as she watched Aldon playing up the confused angle, laying his head on Ryland's shoulder and snuggling in close. She narrowed her eyes at him. If she didn't know him--and she did, she totally knew the type--she might have thought that he really was the poor confounded puppy that he tried to pass himself off as. Maybe that act worked on Ryland, but it didn't work in the least on her!

"From what you've told me, this witch sounds like a major head case." Hunting hunters for one thing. Sounded like he had some inflated sense of justice. And probably an equally inflated ego to match, though he might have been "nice" to Alva. Most people couldn't help but be nice to Alva, however, so that didn't say much.

She swirled the water around a little to displace the salt that had settled to the bottom as she thought in silence. "There's still the curse, though. The first one the witch put on him, that... death curse. If we can't find a way to lift it, Alva won't last long with us, Ry."

It was pretty much muscle memory that led Ryland to lightly stroke Aldon's head. It had nothing to do with memory itself. No way. (It did.) He wasn't especially fond of sitting in the warm water with his pants on and clinging to his legs like a second skin but he didn't really mind being close to Aldon. While they sat there and the silence fell, Ryland watched Yoojin thinking. The curse. He swallowed hard at the thought of it, then dropped his gaze to the water. Yeah... Yoojin didn't have to tell him that the curse would kill Alva if they couldn't lift that curse.

He glanced over at Aldon, who seemed preoccupied with his phone for the time being. Although he wanted to, he didn't peek over his shoulder at what he was texting. He looked back over at Yoojin.

"I know."

That was why he was acting so desperately. This wasn't normally Ryland's way of acting. The fear clawed at him and he acted without thinking. Kidnapping Alva might make things worse. But the longer he stayed in that witch's care, the more Ryland feared he wouldn't make it out alive. The only person that could lift that curse was the witch, though. Why would he keep Alva cursed if he wanted him? Even if he wanted him all to himself, why kill him in the process? What kind of person hunted those who killed supernaturals like themselves and then went out of his way to curse one, keep him like a pet, and then watch him die?

Ryland let his head fall back against the wall.

"What are we supposed to do?"

"WE DO THIS!"

Aldon shoved his phone at Evil Eyes—Yoojin—with a triumphant shout that made her jump. The water splashed around, as did Aldon, who sat up suddenly. He waved his phone at Yoojin for a few more seconds, before she got her hands on it. And also after she glared at him again, sending him back to Ryland.

"...this could work..." Yoojin muttered to herself while Aldon tried to recover his phone, since he'd been... ahem... saying things about her to Rae. "But this person's right, we need to know the exact curse that witch used. And it still doesn't solve the problem of Alva's death curse."

Grabbing his phone from her, Aldon let out a snort. "At least we're getting somewhere! Gregg might even know how to fight that other curse!" Sheesh. Gregg. He was sorta brilliant! Never mind that this kind of knowledge was used to hunt witches once—Aldon wasn't feeling all that fond of witches at the moment either, truth be told. (But he didn't want to kill them...)

"At this point, the witch knows all of us, right? We need somebody he doesn't know to get the information from him." Yoojin crossed her arms. "Somebody he trusts who's willing to help us out."

"Yeah good luck with that," Aldon grumbled as he carefully tilted the phone away from her. He rested against Ryland; the side of his head lightly touched Ryland's. "What if we get somebody to hypnotize the witch? Like a—vampire!"

"Jeez!"

Ryland almost felt his heart leap out of his chest when Aldon suddenly shouted and thrust his phone into Yoojin's face. Since he couldn't see what was on the screen, he had to take Yoojin's reaction for an affirmative. It could work, whatever it was. Now Ryland was super curious; what did it say? Did that Gregg guy actually know what he was talking about? Oh right. Gregg. The guy that Aldon was seeing now. A queer stabbing sensation entered his heart and Ryland tried to act cool by shifting his body and reaching up oh-so-casually to rub the perceived wound.

"We don't know who he trusts, though," Ryland said, focusing in on Yoojin's practicality. Yes, yes. Keep his mind on the fact that they could do something about all this. They could save Alva. Alva. That was the important part of all of this. Poor Alva. Ryland couldn't help but imagine that he was drugged out of his mind on some kind of magic spell. Or that the curse was taking its toll on him. He reached up and swept a hand over his face, letting the warm water run over his nose and lips.

Yuck. Salt water really did taste gross.

Ryland turned his head slightly to look at Aldon. "A vampire? How do we know he even knows any vampires?" Ryland fell silent. Then, "I've seen some of the people he hangs out with but I don't know who they are or what they are. There are those people at the library... and he has some friends that I guess are also... hunter hunters like him. We could draw them out... with a hunter."

"Well no, it doesn't have to be someone he knows. Just like... a vampire." If a vampire didn't mind bewitching a witch to tell them what kind of curse he cast on Alva, then their problems might be solved. Maybe? Aldon wasn't the thinking-it-through type; more of the spazzy yell out the first thought that occurred to him type.

Who was not dumb, since his ideas had some real contribution to the conversation at hand! Even if he was partly distracted by Rae and by Gregg. The hunter...

Aldon swallowed. Yoojin perked up but he didn't like that look in her eyes, either.

"That could work! If we lure the witch out, we'd know who he hangs out with. Then... if one of us gets close to somebody close to the witch..."

"No." Aldon sat up again, indignant. "You can't—you shouldn't play with people's feelings like that!" As someone who'd had his own feelings yanked around, this way and that, Aldon was particularly sensitive on the subject. Also, he didn't think that he liked the idea of using someone in that way.

"We could save Alva!" Yoojin sat up too, jaw tense. "You'd rather spare someone's feelings over saving Alva's life? Ry, what do you think?!"

Just any old vampire, huh? Ryland didn't like the idea, mostly because of that whole business during Halloween, where the vampires decided to riot and try and take over a portion of the town. Yeah, that was real smart of them. It brought in a lot of hunters, though--something they could now use to their advantage.

"Yes!" Ryland said, sitting up after Yoojin perked up. "And once we know who he hangs out with, we can actually devise a smarter plan!"

Like getting close to one of those hunter hunters. And all they had to do was bring in a hunter. How hard was that? But Aldon seemed to object. He looked downright appalled at the plan, which Ryland didn't fully understand in the moment. So it took no hesitation at all on Ryland's part to agree with Yoojin.

"I think we should do it." He looked to Aldon. "What are you worried about? Sure, it's a little dishonest, but it's not like we're actually hurting anybody."

"But—"

"So it's settled then! We'll lure the witch out with a hunter, and go from there!"

Aldon's lips pressed together into a thin line of disapproval as Yoojin talked over him. But more so because Ryland was agreeing with her, and not seeing the possibility of somebody's real feelings getting hurt. Aldon wasn't normally the white knight type; he didn't even know why he was objecting to this plan, except that it just... didn't feel right. It wasn't right.

And he'd done the same thing, trying to get close to Gregg to advance his own agenda—only to fall in love with him. If he had to hurt Gregg like this, he didn't think that he could now. Plus, Gregg was a hunter and the hunter they lured out to be killed might be a friend of his. Everything about this plan screamed BAD, in all capitals.

Aldon stood up from the tub, his expression stormy. "I'm not gonna be a part of this! It's... dangerous! Hunters and hunter hunters and... If it goes wrong, everybody could be hurt! Not just Alva! PLUS. Hurting someone's feelings is still hurting them Ry!" Not physically, but those weren't the only wounds that cut deep.

Ryland reached out to try and pull Aldon back into the tub but he looked like he wasn't having any part of their new plan. On the one hand, Ryland understood the worry but if they did this right, nobody would actually be hurt in the process. The hunter or the hunter hunter, they were just part of the plan but they would be there to stop anything from happening. Still, Ryland caught hold of Aldon's hand.

"Come on, Ald. We're not going to let anybody get hurt. And you get this person is a friend of Susumu's right? There's a high chance they're not very nice, either. And if they are..."

Well, he didn't have a brilliant plan for that but hurt feelings could be soothed. At least, Ryland sure hoped so because his feelings were hurt every time he heard the name Gregg now. A part of him almost wished he'd been left ignorant to himself and Aldon's relationship.

"Then we won't be hurting them."

Despite his feelings on the subject, Aldon's fingers curled around Ryland's. He wasn't angry at Ryland. He was a little annoyed at Evil Eyes, though, for her part in all this. Aldon wanted to save Alva too but he truly did believe that there was a better way to do this. Gregg already helped them by telling them how to lift the memory curse. They just had to get a name and—well they could just scour the library until they found one that applied to their symptoms!

"What if that witch's friend is a nice guy? I mean—I'm friends with Josh, and I'm not a bad person! If somebody used me like this, would you like it?"

The water in the tub splashed violently as Yoojin got to her feet too, hands on her hips and evil eyes blazing. "Alva is going to DIE, Aldon! We don't have time! Between hurting somebody's precious feelings and making sure that one of my best friends doesn't DIE, I'm willing to take that risk! And if you're too scared to do it, then we'll do it without you!"

Aldon's hand tightened around Ryland's as he struggled to formulate a response that didn't involve calling her a crazy bat. The thing was, she wasn't wrong. Alva might die if they didn't get to him in time. After a long moment, he tried to step out of the tub, over Ryland.

Ryland clung onto that hand for as long as he could but eventually, it seemed like Aldon had made up his mind. He was no longer going to be a part of the Plan. Ryland let out a sigh, dropping his hand into the water, not sure what else to do with it. After a moment, it was on on his knee, picking at the fashionable hole artfully ripped there.

Hurting feelings was pretty mean, he agreed on that point. But Aldon didn't seem to realize that Yoojin was right. Between hurting a stranger's feelings and letting Alva die, the choice was moot. He was going to save his cousin. Alva hadn't survived all those years ago when he became a cripple just to die here, like this.

After a moment, Ryland also got out of the bath, grasping towels. He threw one in Aldon's direction and held one out to Yoojin.

"We're doing this," he agreed aloud with Yoojin. "With or without you. I wish you'd help, though."

Things were spiraling out of hand. Oh, boy, were they spiraling.

Aldon's head was spinning. He had sat down on the toilet—Ryland's former seat—as the messages came in thick and fast. Rae's problems with Josh. Gregg's problems with... everything! It made that lurid affair between his best friends seem tame, in comparison to the bombshells that Gregg dropped.

The pack would never forgive Gregg if they knew that he'd been a hunter. Aldon could barely stop himself from thrashing around in a panic as the details were revealed. While he knew that Gregg was a hunter in the past, he never suspected that Gregg had come into the pack with the intention of betraying them all! Really, it was a touchy subject and one of the ones that Aldon knew not to probe too much into. Now he regretted it, because knowing what he did, it was impossible to stay in Hazleton. Not only would the pack be out for blood but the hunters might follow Gregg, too, as Rae so smartly pointed out.

Aldon barely caught the towel as it was thrown at him. As it was, it smacked him in the side of the head and he barely reacted, whereas before he would have made a big deal about his "injury." Absently he draped it over his shoulder, then looked up at Ryland. Aldon's mouth opened. He wanted to tell Ryland everything—it wasn't in him to lie and he was a self-confessed blabbermouth—but this time, discretion was the better part of valor.

"Ry." Aldon swallowed back the confession. This was beyond Alva now. Even if he wanted to help rescue Alva, at least Alva was safe (ish) with the witch at the moment. If even one hunter discovered where Gregg was, they could trace him to the pack and there were many more lives at stake.

"Ry." His mouth worked but no more words came out. Aldon threw himself on Ryland, hugging him fiercely and tightly. "I gotta go," he whispered into Ryland's ear, squeezing his eyes shut so tightly that it hurt. But it hurt far more in his heart, having to leave everyone behind. "I-I gotta go Ry."

"Hm?"

Aldon kept saying his name, which made Ryland feel a little weird. What was he having such trouble with? Oh no. Wait. Ryland had experienced this before. Aldon always had such a hard time with the really deep feelings. He must be trying to say--or not. Ryland blinked as Aldon embraced him only to say he had to go. With the way he was hemming and hawing, followed by that tight embrace, Ryland thought for sure Aldon was going to confess. Again, of course. He'd already said it before. Ryland's heart thumped harder the tighter that Aldon held onto him.

Something was wrong.

Something happened and Ryland didn't understand it. His head felt like it was left spinning as he turned his head toward Aldon. They were so close now, they really could have just kissed. No lie, Ryland thought about it. Instead, he lifted a hand up to Aldon's elbow.

"What do you mean?" He had to go because he wasn't going to be a part of this? Just like that, he was running off on him? Disappointment began to curl around his heart. Aldon didn't come to help. He didn't even want to stay to make sure they'd be all right? What was going on with him? He knew the guy who could help them the most--the hunter. And now he was running off? Ryland frowned slightly. His hand gripped Aldon a little tighter, like it could keep him there in that bathroom with him. He practically forgot about poor Yoojin as he leaned closer, lips brushing Aldon's.

"Stay..." His other hand moved around Aldon's waist. "Please..."

If only. If only this was a confession of love, instead of a bitter and sad parting of the ways.

Aldon's heart wrenched in his chest as Ryland pleaded with him to stay. He had come to help, and now he was adding to the pile of Ryland's problems instead of alleviating his concerns. But he didn't know... He didn't do this on purpose. He answered the advertisement because it seemed amusing, not because he knew that it would lead up to all this! If he'd known in advance, maybe he would have avoided it altogether and stayed happy and unaware in his ignorance.

Too late now, though.

His fingertips pressed in against Ryland's back briefly as he leaned in to kiss him again, this time desperately, until there was no breath left. Then Aldon jerked back and away. "I have to go!" he cried as he stumbled backwards, away from the tub, from Ryland's dawning comprehension that something wasn't right. Away from Yoojin's expressions that morphed from surprise to disappointment to anger.

"Ry," she said, as she laid a hand on Ryland's arm, as though she was afraid that he might follow Aldon. Her voice was soft but the eyes that stared Aldon down were hard. "We have to do this now, for Alva."

Aldon didn't hear what else she said, as he fled the bathroom--still dripping wet. He had the towel around his shoulders as he ran for the door, clutching his phone in one hand like a lifeline. They didn't know. They couldn't. There was no way to explain what happened with Gregg, and that the information he learned might doom them both. Aldon wanted to save Alva, but there were larger stakes too--like keeping the pack safe from Gregg's former hunter group. Like keeping Gregg safe from both the pack and the hunters. Like making sure that his friends remained ignorant of all this, so that no one else got dragged into the mess.

That was a lot more lives in danger than one person's, as important as Alva was to him.

It wasn't until he was on the bus home that his heart unclenched in his chest, and only because he was able to talk to Gregg again.