We Are Bulletproof

"OOF!"

Aldon's foot caught on a crack in the sidewalk and he came to a stumbling halt, reaching out to wrap his arms around a pole. For a second he stared blankly at the house in front of him, heart thudding as painfully as the shoulder that collided with the pole. The last thing that he remembered was sneaking in through the barrier in the suburbs, and leaping into the arms of immense, dense fog.

Then, the next thing he knew... he was...

"Where the hell am I?!"

With a sudden burst of frenetic energy, Aldon shoved off from the pole and wheeled around on his heels, looking wildly left and right. A car passed by idly. Overhead, a bird flitted past, letting out a cheerful, soft chirrup. Aldon stood frozen for several long moments, breathing hard, and then let out a confused sound--a noise that was more wolf than human--before jerkily directing his steps down the street.

There was one place that he knew was safe. There was one home that even in his befuddled state, his instincts led him toward.

Hardly aware of his surroundings as he walked, Aldon tried to piece together the gaps in his memory but all he managed to achieve was frustration. It was as if someone had wiped his mind clean, from the time that he entered the mist to his abrupt exit out in the Hazleton neighborhoods. As tall buildings loomed up, however, a sense of familiarity began to soothe his frazzled nerves. He breathed out his confusion and uncertainty as he pushed open the lobby doors of Ryland's building and it was a short elevator ride up to his floor and to his door.

"RYLAND!"

Aldon knocked sharply on the door with his knuckles, never content to make an entrance the old-fashioned, normal--quiet--way. Something inside was pushing and pushing, as though an invisible hand was shoving at him and urging him towards the inside of the apartment. Impatiently he knocked again, calling out for Ryland--home.

Trash Bat Ryland Ren  :bellyrub:

Ryland stepped out of the shower and grabbed the towel from the towel rack. It was going on two weeks now, two weeks--nothing. Although he doubted there was anything on it, he leaned over the counter to check his phone for any new messages. Nothing. And his finger left a smudge on the steamed up glass. Letting out a sigh, he turned away from the phone and dried himself off before he opened the bathroom door to let out the steam that fogged up the mirrors and the picture frames of seashells on the walls.

Nobody was in the apartment. Sebastian had moved on the morning after the weird encounter and Ryland was accustomed to walking around the place like he owned it because... well, he didn't technically own it but there shouldn't be any wanderers in the hall outside the bathroom. Tousling his hair with the towel, he headed into his bedroom.

He was one leg in, one leg out of a pair of artfully torn skinny jeans when he heard the distant but loud sound of his name being called. Ryland froze. The sound of that voice was all too familiar and it made his heart drop and his legs momentarily turn to jelly. He fell halfway against his bed before he caught himself. Without wasting another moment, he pulled his other leg into the jeans and pulled on a jersey before rushing to the door. His heart hammered against his ribs in time to the pounding on his door.

Without even looking through the peephole or bothering to peer through the chain, he unlocked the door and whipped it open, half afraid that if he wasn't fast enough, he would find that the voice was only a hallucination.

"Aldon?"

"RYLAND?!" Aldon shouted as the door flung open, as though he expected anyone but Ryland to open Ryland's door at Ryland's apartment building. Without a second thought, he threw himself through the door and at Ryland, muttering a string of nonsense explanations as all the words ran into each other—along with his thoughts colliding together at the speed of light.

"...and then I just saw the fog and there was nothing and suddenly I was outside on the sidewalk near your place so I came here because I didn't know what was going on and I thought you'd know so that's why I'm... here..."

He pulled back just enough to get an eyeful of Ryland's face, and to take a long breath. Was the thudding of his heart because he lost his breath speaking, or... was it because he was close to Ryland? It was hard to tell—it was always hard to tell, when these visceral reactions came so naturally. Aldon let out the breath he took in, trying to calm himself down. After the freaky fog and with the disappearing memories, he was definitely shaken.

Hey, Aldon totally stole his idea--Ryland was just about to leap onto Aldon! As it happened, Aldon did it first so Ryland ended up stumbling back a step or two but somehow managing to stay on his feet. He was way too accustomed to eager puppy mode to not really expect it from Aldon at this point. His heart was still beating extra fast and part of him wanted so badly to be angry and start railing at Aldon. It was such a small, insignificant part of him, though. Ever since Aldon, Alva, and half the people Ryland knew just disappeared off the face of the planet (seemingly), Ryland sort of left any grudges behind. It was kinda hard to be mad when he was so damned relieved.

"What?" Ryland half laughed because he had no idea what nonsense Aldon was going on about. There was something about fog and sidewalks. The half laugh was also half confused. "What are you saying?"

Because whatever he was talking about, Ryland had no idea about it. He wished he had the answers for Aldon but he was really just as lost as he was. For a moment, time felt like it stopped. They were just holding one another, looking at one another, just enough to see each other without having to let go or loosen their grips. Whatever amusement came from Aldon's words zipping out of his mouth disappeared at the look in Aldon's eyes. Whatever happened, whatever made him disappear and stop taking his calls and stop answering his messages, it seemed unintentional.

Which Ryland knew, despite everything. No matter how mad they were at each other, he couldn't imagine Aldon ever doing any of the ignoring. Ryland, sure. Aldon? Never. He could pretend for like, two seconds. But he would never stay out of contact that long, especially when Ryland's messages took on a more urgent tone. Gently, he touched Aldon's face, hardly believing he was really there. He was, though. Physical. Real.

"Where have you been?" A stupid question given what Aldon said but he had to remember something... surely?

"I was at the thing," Aldon replied, frowning. "You know, trying to get Rae and Josh back. Only I didn't see them and this thick fog rolled in on me, and next thing I knew, I was outside."

The stand-off between the vampires and police was probably still happening, with Rae and Josh in the thick of things. Aldon sighed to himself--why didn't he make more normal friends? Friends who didn't go running off into the arms of danger. Everybody had sane friends and here he was, stuck with the two worst wolves this side of town.

Tilting into Ryland's touch, he let his grasp loosen a little. Now that he was in the arms of someone he knew (and loved), he felt less jittery. The world felt a little more real and less uncertain. Ryland wasn't a figment of his imagination. He wasn't a troubling half-blurred memory. He was solid and warm and familiar and constant, despite their squabbles and spats.

"Maybe some witches knocked me out and tossed me into the street." Aldon stepped closer, letting his forehead rest against Ryland's. He closed his eyes and breathed in, wrapped in the arms of familiar scent and warmth--things that spelled safety and security.

"That fog again..." Ryland said, mostly to himself. The fog seemed to be a constant foe to the citizens of Hazleton. What was causing it? Ryland assumed there was somebody already on the case. Maybe even Alva's new boyfriend. Ryland frowned slightly, thinking of how he hadn't seen Alva in some time, either. The last place he was going was to stop Josh and Rae as well so was he swept up in that mystical fog, too? Did that mean he was waking up somewhere without memories? Ryland lightly bit his bottom lip.

"Aldon..." he started but the words sort of melted away when Aldon leaned into his touch. He... he missed this, he had to admit. Despite all the turmoil and the concern over that random hunter that became a werewolf, it was to Ryland that Aldon came to first. That by itself made him feel ten times--a hundred times--more important than any wolf that had been around for a couple of seasons.

"Yeah," he said, "maybe."

There could have been a raid on the vampires' little party. Was it still going on? It didn't matter at the moment. In the comfort of Aldon's presence, Ryland closed his eyes, too. Really, he missed this--the being close, the sense that everything was going to be fine. No matter how many times they were on-again, off-again, there always seemed to be that hint of always and forever in moments like this. Not that Ryland would word it as such...

Slowly, he slid his hands up around the back of Aldon's neck and he tilted his head just a little so that his lips could brush Aldon's. "I missed you." And he wanted nothing more than to soak in the moment with him but... "But... I have to ask you something. Alva... did you see Alva?"

'Hmmmm?" Ryland was saying something but Aldon was still focused on the kiss, brief though it was. His eyes flickered open; there might have been a silly, half-dazed grin on his lips. It never got old. Moments like these, reunions like these, never lost their novelty for Aldon. Maybe the honeymoon phase was over a long time ago but Aldon clearly had never gotten that memo.

He tipped his head forward, about to initiate another kiss, when his head spun dizzyingly. Stopping suddenly, Aldon shook his head like a dog—not the smartest thing to do, and it sure as hell didn't clear his head. "Uh—whoo... sorry. Dizzy." Strange how his surroundings blurred like that. But things were fine now, and in sharp focus. Maybe it was that whole ordeal catching up to him.

"What did you say? Something about—" There went the world again, tipping forward. Aldon leaned heavily against Ryland and let out a sharp exhale. "I think I need to sit down."

He smiled. Aldon, the idiot. When he smiled like that, it was infectious. Plus, Ryland kinda liked it when his kisses made Aldon a little stupid, even if they weren't more than a soft peck. All for another kiss--a longer kiss, one deserving of their absence from one another--Ryland leaned in and...

"Ow!" Aldon knocked his head against Ryland's nose in his strange head shaking. Raising a hand to his face, Ryland rubbed his poor aching nose. It didn't seem to be bleeding or broken but it definitely made him see stars for a few seconds.

"I was just saying--" Whoa, okay. Ryland did his best to hold Aldon up with all of his strength. "I think so, too."

Aldon looked pale and disconcerted. Maybe he just needed to lie down and have some tea--something Ryland's mother would have insisted on. Sliding an arm around Aldon's waist, he helped him over to the couch and helped him sit but he didn't immediately go running for the tea. Instead, he sat close, sliding a hand over Aldon's knee.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You don't..."

Look all right, he was going to finish off but something strange seemed to be coursing through his body. Through his head. Ryland closed his eyes for a moment and touched the side of his head. After waiting for it to subside, he opened one eye to ask Aldon if he thought maybe it was an earthquake.

Only...

Something wasn't right. This wasn't his apartment. That wasn't Aldon.

....what the hell?

Sitting down would help, Aldon was fairly certain of it. Sitting down, maybe some tea—like Ryland suggested—and if he was extra clever, maybe even a belly rub. Or two. Ryland seemed like he wouldn't object to that (much). All signs were pointing to yes and Aldon was firmly of the opinion that a good belly rub would cure all ails. Hopefully Ryland agreed.

"Yeah I'm fine, just..." Dizzy, he was about to say, when the world went topsy-turvy on him and he closed his eyes against the sensation. He felt extra floaty too, like he was drifting away and out of his body. In fact, he could see his body now, and Ryland's body, sitting together all cozy on the couch. Then, like a dust bunny being sucked into a vacuum, he was gone.

When he came to, he was... somewhere. Looking at the back of somebody's head—a familiar back of the head, though—and then he was surging forward with a snarl that most decidedly didn't sound like his own. Aldon yelped and his fist collided with the wall, in his haste to avoid punching the witch that was dating Alva. "OWW DAMN!" He wrung his hand out vigorously as he looked wildly around. "What the f—!!"

"ASSHOLE!" he shouted with balled fists, ready to go another several rounds and fucking choke the guy out. Except his punches were landing on nothing but air because he was sitting on a couch all of a sudden. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

He immediately got to his feet, pissed off and sure that this was another magic trick played by the witch. The fucker! The asshole! How many fucking curses was he going to lay down on him?! And when did his fucking legs get so fucking short? WHAT THE FUCK? Rae turned to see that there was somebody sitting next to him before he'd pounced off the couch but that somebody was...

"... THE FUCK?" He leaned forward and stared at the dyed red hair and the slim face. Not the fucker he was fighting. It was Aldon's boyfriend. That fox! Did the witch magically teleport him here? "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What? Aldon?" Alva cringed as Aldon burst off the couch with a slew of profanities, shocked and startled. Since when did Aldon develop such a potty mouth? Alva couldn't recall him ever being this... volatile. Sure, he was a little whiny sometimes and he always had the victim card in his back pocket, but he was never angry like this.

"Hey, calm do—" Holding up his hands placatingly as Aldon veered back and got right up in his face, Alva shrank into himself. "I—" Actually... what WAS he doing here? This wasn't Susu's kitchen? And the last thing he saw was Josh and Rae at the door, about to attack Susu! Alarmed, Alva reached down to push the wheels of his chair—only to find his hands sinking into couch cushions.

He stared down at his legs. They didn't look like his legs. He stared at his hands. Those weren't his hands. He knew his hands and they weren't his hands. WHERE WERE HIS HANDS?

"Ald...on??" Alva looked up. "Aldon? Why am I here?! Why are YOU here? Where are we?!"

What? Why was he going on about Aldon? Rae let out an impatient scoffing sound and looked around the apartment. Definitely not that swanky penthouse. Not a place Rae had ever been inside, either. He had no idea whose place it was. Maybe some smaller apartment that the witch owned and sent people he was pissed off at. So... then what did Aldon's little boyfriend do to get himself exiled here, then? And where the fuck was Aldon, since Foxfriend Ryland here was asking about him?

Wait a second. Why was Ryland looking at him when he said Aldon's name? He frowned.

"Stop calling me that. Seriously, it's not funny." Like he'd ever stoop as low as Aldon did. He had zero interest in this fox. (Never mind that the one he was interested in was crippled and therefore even lesser in the eyes of the wolf pack.) He moved away from the couch and threw his hands up.

"I have no goddamn idea why I'm here and I've never seen this place in my life. That witch must have teleported us here." He turned back to Ryland. "What'd you do to piss him off? Tried to bring Alva home with you?"

"Call you what?" Call him by his name? Alva stopped freaking out momentarily to stare at Aldon, who was acting... not like Aldon. If anything he was acting like Rae, when Rae was worked up about something. Even the way he threw his hands into the air was familiar. Alva swallowed hard, swallowed back his confusion, and looked down at his legs and hands again, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Susu wouldn't—" he began, about to explain that Susu would never curse him or cast a spell over him, but stopped short. "What do you mean bring Alva home with me? Why would I bring myself home with me?" Aldon was acting and talking Crazy, with a capital C!

"Anyway! We have to get back to Susu's apartment, Aldon. Josh and Rae were attacking him, we have to stop them before something happens! Can you find my chair? It has to be here somewhere..."

He stared at Ryland as if he was an idiot. For all he knew, he was. All they ever got about Ryland was whatever they heard from Aldon and it was usually dumb moony love stuff or confused stuff because Ryland was notorious for twisting Aldon's head around. Come to think of it, he sort of deserved a good punch, too. For a few seconds, he thought about it--he really thought about clocking him one--but instead he turned away and made a you're not worth it sort of gesture in his direction.

SUSU? What, did everybody call the witch that? Gross. Rae made a face, then looked back over at Ryland, gaze sweeping over him from head to toe. Dyed red hair, confused stupid face, slim body. Yeah, he was Alva's cousin and they had some passing resemblances to one another but--Rae scoffed.

"You're not Alva, dumb ass. I'd know Alva anywhere. You're Ryland." He knocked on the side of Ryland's head for emphasis. "Did the witch knock something loose in there? And stop calling me fucking Aldon. For fuck's sake, man."

Letting out an explosive sigh, he reached out and grasped Ryland's arms so that he could pull him up to a standing position. Awkward though. Flush against him. Not somewhere he wanted Aldon's boyfriend being.

"You don't need a chair. You're fine. Stop being a baby."

Jesus H. Christ, since when did Aldon become so... so... mean?! Alva frowned darkly at him. Aldon never used to talk to him this way before. They got along fairly amicably, even if Alva didn't always like how Aldon made Ryland miserable. But Aldon was better than some human, and Alva knew that he loved Ryland despite the way that he would dangle the words just out of Ryland's reach in the past.

"Ow! Hey, cut that out!" Alva swerved to avoid the oncoming fist but it collided with the side of his head anyway. "What's wrong with you? Why're you acting all weird?! I'm Alva!" Aldon was acting like a... well, like an asshole! Alva glared at him, about to say as much, when he was yanked to his feet. He let out a loud shout of surprise, grabbing onto Aldon immediately to avoid crumpling to the floor.

Except... his legs held. They stood. Or, rather, he stood. And when he wiggled his toes, he felt them wiggling and the sensation was jarring and baffling. "What..." Alva stared at Aldon, who claimed not to be Aldon. He... stared down at Aldon because suddenly he was a little bit taller than Aldon. "Ald—" Alva cleared his throat. "My legs. I can feel my legs..."

"Like you even know what weird is." This guy, acting like he knew him. Yeah right! Rae couldn't remember spending much time with this guy. Definitely no time alone. Ryland was only around, a peripheral satellite orbiting Aldon. Most of the time, Ald kept him away, which was a good move, considering how little Rae and Josh wanted him around. Rae wasn't stupid, anyhow. He knew not to bring Alva around all the time, too. (Even if sometimes it was unavoidable.)

Okay, Ryland was grasping onto him like he was afraid to let go of him. The idea made Rae uncomfortable and he tried to step back. Also, when the hell did he get shorter than the fox? Like, seriously. He was shorter! What the fuck?

The look he gave Ryland when he started to call him Aldon again must have been enough to keep him from uttering the name again because he stopped himself. And then he made some utterly stupid joke about feeling his legs. Rae scoffed and shook his head.

"Yeah, obviously." There was something weird about this. Being called Aldon, being in this place and not where he was, yeah that was all weird. But the way Ryland was talking, while the voice was different, there were certain inflections. Not to mention the way he was going on about chair and his legs. Rae pushed Ryland back onto the couch, then leaned down and stared him hard in the eyes.

"Alva?" he felt like a fucking idiot even saying it but... If he could be shorter and in some weirdo's apartment then anything was possible.

"ACK--WHY" Alva protested—volubly—when he was shoved back down. Thankfully the couch cushions were soft, but they didn't manage to take the edge off of his surprise. Alva stared back at Aldon—or rather, glared. What. Was his. Problem? If Alva didn't know better, he would've said that Aldon had been taking lessons from Rae.

"...yeah? Yes?" Why was Aldon speaking his name that way? As if he couldn't believe that it was Alva he saw? Impatiently, Alva pushed at him to get him to stop being so close; it was disconcerting being in such close proximity. Besides, he was Ryland's... something or other, and Alva didn't want somebody to see them and misunderstand the situation.

Sighing, he looked away and his gaze landed on their blurry reflections in the window nearby. Aldon's reflection was normal. Dark hair, pale face and all. But Alva... Alva's reflection was not Alva. There was red hair. He was sitting taller than usual and he was slimmer. Blinking hard, he stared at their reflections. Then he rubbed his eyes and stared some more. The reflection rubbed its eyes too. Alva lowered his hand—the reflection lowered its hand. He raised the hand back up, and so did the reflection. For a long moment, Alva sat there and stared.

He kicked out a leg, narrowly missing Aldon's shin. "I'm." Alva's voice came out a breathless gasp. "I'm... in...side... Ryland..."

Rae frowned as he was shoved away. So it was Alva? It really was Alva inside of that body? My Alva? His eyes narrowed slightly but he was watching him, the Alva in a body that wasn't his. He followed his gaze to the reflection in the window, watched him staring, watched him move and stare as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. It wasn't until Rae actually looked past Alva's reflection at his own that he truly realized the horror.

Recoiling backward, he flipped right over an ottoman and didn't bother catching himself. He hit the ground hard, the air expelled from his lungs. Or rather, Aldon's lungs. Now that he thought about it, every time he spoke, he didn't sound right. His head voice didn't sound right but there were so many other strange things going on around him that he sort of just... forgot about that. Or he wasn't that worried about it.

Now he was lying flat on his back and staring at the legs of his ex-boyfriend that weren't really his. I'm inside Ryland. Rae laughed and he placed a hand over his face because he could hardly believe what the fuck was happening.

"You're inside Ryland," he said wryly, breathlessly, a smirk on his face. "And I'm inside Aldon. What the fuck are the chances of that?"

"Ah--watch ou--" Alva's warning came a beat too late, as Aldon flipped over an ottoman and landed square on his back. It looked like he landed on his head, to be honest; Alva gave a sharp gasp and instinctively tried to wheel himself over, except... couch. Gingerly he set both feet down and tried to stand. It had been so long since he'd stood up that he sorta forgot how to do it, and his knees ended up buckling. Taking one cautious step forward, he breathed out; learning to walk all over again was strange.

Luckily, he made it over without falling--only he half-fell against the upturned ottoman anyway, and put out a hand to touch Aldon's shoulder, to make sure he was okay. The wry, humorless laugh didn't sound like Aldon at all. Alva couldn't ever remember Aldon acting this squirrelly and he'd seen plenty of Aldon's freak-outs.

"What? You're..." He was inside Aldon? The same way Alva was inside Ryland? Alva sat back, stunned. If this wasn't Aldon, then judging by all the wild cursing and unnecessary roughness, there could only be one person inside there. "R-Rae? Is that you?" What were the chances that they both switched bodies? What were the chances of anybody switching bodies with anybody at all?! Alva ran a hand over his face--er... over Ryland's face--feeling as if he'd aged twenty years.

"How did this happen?"

The perfect, sickeningly couple when they were together... could there be a more perfect pairing for the two of them to be inside? Seriously? It was almost like the universe was saying something. Like: Alva belongs with you, see? This whole time, he's belonged with you. And maybe he would know it, now. Slowly, Rae sat up, pulling his legs into a more dignified pose as he stared at Ryland--no, Alva. It had to be Alva. He was more and more certain of it, even if the face was wrong. And the voice.

"No, it's Aldon," he said sarcastically. A wry smile crossed his face as he watched Alva-in-Ryland touching his face. He couldn't tell if it was supposed to be some kind of expression of exasperation or if he was just feeling up his cousin's face. After a moment, unable to contain his curiosity, he touched his own face, too. Ohhhh yeah. That was not his nose. Those eyes were not his. Lips, all wrong. Hair, totally wrong. Shape of the face was wrong....

But he knew who he was and he didn't have to check what was outside. And he knew what was inside that body. Some part of him was elated that Alva knew it was him. He heard his voice saying his name over and over again, in confusion. Maybe happy confusion. He drew up closer to Alva-inside-Ryland, using the ottoman almost as a table between them. He slid his fingertips gently over Alva-in-Ryland's wrist. Did that still work on a body that might not respond to the same things?

"I don't know. Magic, probably." But if it was really the witch, as he originally thought, why would he put the two of them together? He grinned. "Must have been an accident, him putting you with me."

Yeah, that was Rae all right. Despite their strange and terrifying new predicament, Alva couldn't help but let out an exasperated laugh at the sarcasm. Leave it to Rae--now he was almost certain it was Rae inside of Aldon--to make a crack in the middle of a serious situation.

Alva watched as Rae touched his own face, and as the realization dawned that it wasn't even his own face that he was touching. Honestly, everything about being in the wrong body was freaky. The hands and limbs that weren't theirs, the way that their voices sounded, even the height differences, it was all alarming. Alva was surprised that he was holding it in so well; so, too, did Rae, although Rae did tend towards anger more than any other emotion.

"Him?" His gaze was on the hand against his wrist, mind on whether or not he should pull the hand away. They weren't... anything right now. Even incidental contact like this was uncomfortable, though he couldn't help that his heart gave a strange flutter. Maybe that was just Ryland's body reacting to Aldon's touch. Everyone who knew Ryland and Aldon knew what they were like--how touchy-feely they were. Even if the consciousness was different, might not the physical reactions be guided by muscle memory more so than logic?

Alva's--Ryland's--hand twitched but he didn't pull it away. It would only agitate Rae, and he needed Rae to be calm right now. "If you mean Susu... he wouldn't do something like this." Why on Earth would Susu do it? To what ends would he want to switch two people's bodies? Besides, Alva was sure that Susu would never target him. "It must be somebody else."

"Uh yeah, who else can do this?"

Rae was certain after he'd been cursed and ALVA had been cursed that they were aware this guy could weld powerful magic. Wasn't that enough to push the blame off onto him? Besides, who else gave enough of a damn about them to throw them into other people's bodies? Or was it some kind of... whatever that magic was called that was just an illusion. An illusion. Whatever. Yeah, that.

He grasped Alva's wrist that wasn't his and he pulled him closer. Despite everything, he was glad. Alva might be in Ryland's body but he was still with Rae. That couldn't have been intended and that gave him a vicious brand of victory. The fight back there with the witch was all but forgotten because whatever the witch tried to pull on them, he'd failed.

"Besides, who else would?"

Susu wasn't the only witch in town! Alva just didn't think that Susu would pull a stunt like this. And for what? There was no good reason for him to do it, despite how sure Rae seemed to be. Then again, Rae wasn't exactly unbiased in his opinion of Susu. Maybe it was a territorial wolf thing, even if Rae was the one who went and did the deed with Josh, of all people!

Alva allowed himself to be pulled in, with half of his body leaned over the ottoman. It still felt strange having legs that worked, after so many years of being handicapped. Part of him wanted to try out the new legs, to stand up and walk and run and jump around. There was such a profound sense of freedom in just being able to walk across a room, that most people took for granted. Alva couldn't remember the last time he got anywhere without a wheelchair. But... this didn't seem like the time to take a joyride in Ryland's body, not knowing where Ryland was and who was causing this strange body-mix-up.

He scrutinized Rae, too, inside of Aldon's body. It was so... so... jarring. All of Rae's mannerisms and words coming out of Aldon's slightly silly face. The two just didn't match up! Wasn't Rae disturbed by all of this? Gently, Alva shook his head. "I don't think he did it, Rae. But if you think so... Why don't we go back to his apartment and ask? Maybe Ry and Ald are in our bodies right now, over there!" All bets were on Aldon having a major freak-out, though, Alva thought wryly to himself. Aldon wasn't exactly the most level-headed in a crisis.

But he didn't get it. Seriously, who else would do this to them? Unless... it wasn't just them. Nah, that was too weird. Rae was very much attached to the theory that SUSU the witch had done this to them. Why he'd put Alva into Ryland's body and send him away to Rae, he didn't know. But he definitely felt like he was being punished, being stuck in a body like Aldon's. No offense to Aldon or anything. It was just that... well, Rae liked himself. He was pretty damn confident and also--he wasn't so short. It was already annoying being short and he'd only been this way for like... a couple of minutes.

"Yeah, why don't we?" Rae sprang up, all for getting his revenge. (Since his previous attempt had been interrupted so rudely!) "And if Aldon does anything to my body..."

What would he do? Do something to Aldon's body? What if... what if Aldon wasn't the one in his body? What if it was Ryland? What if it was SUSU? Immediately, he grabbed onto Alva-in-Ryland's body, taking his arm and pulling him along with him.

"Come on, we have to hurry before they do something even worse!"

"HNNG!"

When he wanted to try out Ryland's body, he didn't mean like this--being dragged around like a ragdoll! He barely got his legs to work in the proper way as he stumbled after Rae. It was silly, because Ryland was a little taller than Aldon, and Alva was pretty sure that if he resisted hard enough, he could start dragging Aldon the other way.

"They're probably as shocked as we are! Nobody's going to DO anything in your body Rae!" Alva said in exasperation as he tried to catch up, inwardly still marveling at the use of his legs. Ryland's legs. Better not get too used to this walking thing, he thought sadly; he'd have to get back into his own body soon and that meant getting around in a wheelchair again.

"Besides, what do you think people would do anyway? Kill somebody and pretend it's you?" It was meant as a joke but he sort of regretted saying it because... Well, Rae's temper was bad enough that he might well kill someone in the heat of the moment, if they pissed him off enough. Alva used to think that Rae had at least some shred of restraint but... his opinion of Rae had changed quite a bit lately.

"No," he said, as if that was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard. He wasn't worried about his reputation. Truth be told, Rae's reputation was pretty much trash from the start anyway. If Aldon or whatever sap got stuck in his body, he didn't care if they did something stupid. (All right, he cared if they murdered somebody.) But he sure cared if he did something stupid like... like screw Alva because he looked like his precious Ryland. Not that he was saying that out loud but he did give the Ryland body a once-over. As if he compared to his Alva. Because he didn't.

He refused to think Alva still wasn't his. They spent five years together. That had to mean something. It did to Rae, anyway. Even if he was the one who blew it. (But he stood by the idea that Alva pushed him to it!)

As he dragged the Ryland body with him out into the hallway, he looked for an elevator.

"You really should be more worried," he declared, since Alva didn't seem nearly as much in a hurry as he was. "Because if Josh is still there, your precious witch is probably the one who's dead."

"Susu can take care of himself!" Alva declared with more confidence than he felt, because knowing how feral Josh could get, it might well be an ugly aftermath that he would have to go back to. Why was Josh involving himself in this anyway? It was none of his business to begin with! Biting back the words at the tip of his tongue--unpleasant words, to say the least--Alva finally tugged back on his captured arm to stop Rae from dragging him around.

"Why were you two at Susu's apartment anyway?"

His gaze turned suspicious. Did Rae ask Josh to come along with him? Just to start trouble or... to hurt him? Alva would have thought that after their break-up, Rae might have gained some perspective but it looked as though all he did was simmer in anger and resentment. And knowing Rae, that was a bad cocktail--it only led to trouble. Rae wouldn't target him, though--same way that Susu would never curse him--but he sure could raise a lot of hell. He was sort of known for that.

"What did you go there to do, Rae?"

Rae didn't immediately respond because Alva was already asking him like he knew or had an inkling. Obviously, Rae didn't go there to have a nice spot of tea with the bastard. There was no love lost between them and Rae went with Josh, so... So it was pretty fucking obvious--he felt--that he was there to fuck dear SUSU's shit up. He frowned and urned away from Ryland's stupid looking face. Not that it could ever affect him the way Alva's would. Hmph.

Walking off with his head in the air, he made a big show of looking for the elevator. Where the fuck was it, even? FUCK. Oh. Ding! He swung around, back toward Alva. Kinda sucked, now that he thought about it, that Alva had legs. But it was kind of a dream come true, too. The dirty side of him wanted to know what it would be like if Alva could actually feel all the things he did to him when they were together. People thought they didn't fuck at all but they did. How much enjoyment did Alva really get out of it, though? Maybe that was why it was so easy for him to go to somebody else.

Maybe... that was why it was so easy for Rae to turn to Josh.

A couple came out of the elevator, which was on the side of the hall that Alva was standing in. Rae headed back toward him and past him, grabbing the elevator doors before they slid shut again.

"Hurry up."

No reply. All swagger and bluffing. Alva inwardly sighed, not sure what kind of face he was making with Ryland's features. Probably a disappointed one. An unhappy one, definitely. That Rae would go this far just to... what? Get back at someone for supposedly stealing what was his? That was bad enough but to bring along the person that he went and slept with was a new low even for him.

Why are you doing all this?

The sad part was, everybody warned him--Alva, that was, about dating Rae. They warned him about Rae's temper, about his instability, about the fact that he was more feral than human. More wolf than man. Alva ignored them all; love put the blinders on around his eyes but now that they were forcibly removed, he was beginning to see things that he didn't like. Or maybe he saw them all along, and chose not to acknowledge them, thinking that over time Rae would change. That he would change Rae.

"...no." Alva turned to look at him but he didn't move from his spot. "I'm not going with you." He would go alone, but he wouldn't go with Rae. This all had to be sorted out, but Alva didn't want Rae to assault Susu again, once he was put back into his body.

Rae stopped, turned, and looked at him. Disbelief and then annoyance colored his expression. They must have because that was how he felt. He stared at Ryland--Alva--for a long moment, wondering if he'd gotten things wrong or Ryland was lying to him. Maybe this was all an elaborate prank. He couldn't imagine Alva doing this to him again. Saying no. Why was he saying no? He wouldn't go with him?

"Fine."

He wanted to punch something but he couldn't very well punch Alva. Or Ryland. Whatever. He'd punch Ryland if he was sure that was who he was. At this point, he couldn't tell what the fuck was happening anymore. But fine. Alva or Ryland or whoever he was could just stay here in this hallway like an idiot. Rae was going back to where it all started so he could finish it.

Instead of punching Ryland or the wall, he stalked the rest of the way into the elevator and looked at Alva as he hit the button for the lobby. Yeah, it was Alva. He could see it in his eyes and his mannerisms. Fine. Fine. The doors closed on him and the redhead on the other side was gone. Finally letting out the breath he'd been unconsciously holding, he swore several times before the elevator landed at the lobby and he headed out, on a mission.

(Can probably assume Rae and Alva make their way to the other apartment and have them re-enter the other thread? :D Should we start the thing with Kinley/Kero/Inferior Panda/Dragon?)

(Yussss do you want me to start? I )

(Yes ma'am! Dinner in a bit, will be back to post later! :D)