We Are Bulletproof

Gregg HELP

Where do hunters hide?
Rae's going after them and he's gonna get killed!

It really seemed as if no one in Hazleton wanted to buy tickets to the Social Committee's latest planned event and Aldon, totally dispirited and disheartened by all of the doors that had slammed in his face that night, needed a quick pick-me-up. The quickest thing he could think of was something sugary and sweet, so he turned his steps from the residential area and towards his favorite bakery downtown. One of the nicer things about living in a tiny place like Hazleton was that he was never too far away from any part of town!

Unfortunately, that meant making a longer trek through the dense fog that had enveloped the town. Shivering, he pulled his down jacket closer around his body and flipped up the fur-lined hood to keep warm. It worked; for the outside. Inside, he still shivered but for a completely different reason.

Something about the fog made his hackles rise. As a wolf, he was sensitive to magic and the fog crackled with some indefinable, vague, dark energy. Aldon didn't want to speculate too much--and freak himself out--but he thought that somebody was behind this strange weather. Who? Heck if he knew! Besides, Aldon was a wolf, not a cat; curiosity wouldn't be the death of him anytime soon!

It was a little while before he made it to the downtown area, and he burst into the bakery, with all of its welcoming warmth and lights and scents. Vanilla, butter, cream, sugar--all of it assailed Aldon's senses. He sniffed the air appreciatively, glad for his enhanced sense of smell now. At this hour the bakery was busy, which didn't surprise him given how popular the place was. Hazleton only had a few bakeries anyway, so people tended to flock to one or the other.

He slid up to the counter and ordered a hot beverage and some fluffy pastries, which he gleefully carried with him. Aldon glanced around; there didn't seem to be any open tables that he could appropriate for himself. Damn! He wandered around with his cup in one hand and his plate in the other, until he sighted a woman sitting alone near the window. Aldon slid up, never shy about approaching strangers.

"Hi!" he said brightly, "Mind if I sit here? There's no other free seat." But he was already setting his drink and pastries down as he spoke, and had his butt firmly planted on the seat even before he finished asking. Clearly, whether she wanted or not, the woman was getting a companion--one who smiled winningly across the table at her, the picture of friendliness. "I'm Aldon, by the way! That looks tasty." He pointed to her plate. "Is that new?"

@Jay  @Abigail Thames

After the third door slammed in his face, Aldon was beginning to wonder if he was doing something wrong. He hadn't had much luck with the telephone campaign--people kept trolling him, or they would hang up on him mid-speech and that really goddamn hurt his feelings! Didn't people know how to be respectful anymore? Was a "Sorry, not interested, goodbye" too much to ask for?

Tired of rejection--arguably, Aldon never did well with rejection in the first place--he decided to go door-to-door instead and found that what he disliked even more than people hanging up on him was people slamming their doors in his face. Now, though, it was a point of pride. It was war.

He ambled up to a nice-looking little bungalow in the dense fog. It was hard to see the door until he was almost upon it, and he drew his jacket closer around his body as he glanced around. Lights were on inside. That meant people were inside. Sometimes they pretended that they weren't home, but it was harder to hide when all the lights were on!

Aldon took in a deep breath. I'm going to do it. I'm selling the tickets! After his self-administered pep talk, he lifted a hand and rapped smartly on the door. "Hello! Anybody home?" Aldon put on a big smile and waited, clutching the roll of tickets that he'd been given to sell and hoping that this wouldn't make door number four in his face.

Hi, this is Aldon, from the Hazleton Social Committee. Could I interest you in buying some tickets for our annual Halloween Frightfest??

Hi, I'd like a medium pepperoni and a side of wings for delivery!

The entire bus ride over to Ryland's apartment, Aldon was a mess. He kept looking out of the wide windows of the bus, out onto the street, as though... as though Gregg might be keeping pace alongside it. As though Gregg might be out there, knowing what he was about to do, where he was about to go.

Never in his entire life had Aldon felt this guilty, which was a minor miracle given how hard he'd disappointed Ryland in the past. But... he had never purposely set out to hurt Ryland. He did so through his own utterly selfish actions, yes, but never purposely. Never with the intent to run behind Ryland's back, never deliberately setting out to break his heart.

And yet, he couldn't turn his back on Ryland, either.

This was the part where Aldon usually turned tail and ran, yellow streak showing a mile wide. There was too much pressure on both sides--to stay with Gregg, for the good of the pack but also because he genuinely felt something for him. And on the other side of the equation, Ryland. His soul mate, if such things existed. His soul mate who made it pretty clear that he was not pleased with the recent developments.

In the middle? Aldon was sandwiched between the rock and the hard place, speeding down main street in a ramshackle bus.

He curled up in his seat and rocked forward, then backward. Part of him wanted to just run away, out of sight of both men. Maybe nobody would notice his absence. (Lie: everybody would notice.) Maybe he could come back in a month and everything would have worked itself out. (Wrong: things would be infinitely worse and he knew it.)

It hardly felt like any time at all before he was trudging off the bus, raking a hand agitatedly through his hair as he looked up at the modest apartment building that Ryland lived in. He moved--again--after their last break-up. Idiotically, Aldon thought of those times ruefully as being easier times--better times, despite the heartache that he and Ryland put each other through. At least only two people were involved back then. It was only them playing games, only he and Ryland making a mess of their lives. There wasn't that third person in the equation to tangle everything up. (The human obviously didn't count in Aldon's eyes.)

He reached into his pocket for reassurance--the block of post-it notes sat nestled between his keys and some spare change. Nervously, Aldon flicked a thumb over the stack. He took in a deep breath and then stepped into the building, walked up to the elevator, got into it. It rumbled and shook as it took him upstairs and the doors slid open to an empty hallway. Aldon stopped in front of the right door. Hesitated. His hand had risen with the intent to rap on the door but now it formed a loose fist. An indecisive fist. He pulled it back but remembered... the passionate embrace behind the animal shelter.

Knock knock knock!

Rae

I have to tell you something but Ry made me promise not to say anything

So we're gonna play a word association game okay?? This is important, pay attention

First word: fox

Roe

Roe this is important, stop everything you're doing.

Gregg was hunter.

@Monroe Huang

Tree branches, bushes and thorns whipped and cut into Aldon's legs and torso with his mad dash through the woods. Beyond the canopy of oily, dark leaves the moon shone high like a singular beacon in the night sky. Not a single star could be seen; all there was was the moon, regal on its throne.
He didn't know where he was going, or why he needed to be there. He had lost track of his progress through these woods, following that crazed instinct which led him through dense undergrowth and through moonlit clearings. Skidding to a halt amid a shower of loam and dried leaves, Aldon lifted his head--eyes fixated on the moon, opened his mouth like a red chasm of hell and howled.

The change came once a month, painful in its beginning and end--and every moment in between as well. No one could pinpoint the reason for it but Aldon had always been... different. Most of his kind were perfectly fine to group together during this time of the month, favoring their own territories in which to wait out the night, but from the time that he was a wee little babe, Aldon had been brought here. He wasn't safe. He wasn't... quite right.

Not even Roe, his own twin, experienced a change like this, all frenzy and madness, a crimson haze from start to finish. Aldon barely retained any of his human nature; that impish playfulness, the incurable lecherous nature, gave away to a singularly savage animal. There was no other word for him but animal--bereft of all sense and sensibility, he was a creature possessed by the bloodlust that drove him to hunt those of his own kind, to kill and feast upon their flesh.

As the echoes of his lonely cry faded, Aldon dropped his nose to the ground. He sniffed deeply, contorted in his current form like some grotesque hunchback, body rippling with hard muscle and white, sleek fur. The fur always made him stand out but he wasn't worried; it was a beacon to lure others to him. Once or twice there were hunters too but Aldon, with the cunning and ferocity of a wild animal, dealt with them.

Just as he lifted his head again, his ears twitched. A silky, dry rustle alerted him to another's presence and low, deep in the back of his throat, he growled. It sounded nearly like a purr. On stealthy feet Aldon crept forward, belly nearly to the ground, and as he sighted the dark silhouette of another--another like him, another wolf--he let out a ferocious snarl and pounced.

Thread attached as pdf

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 27 2017, 08:17 PM
(Probably at the same time Alva's texting with Ry; Aldon's on a park bench somewhere being miserable watching couples strolling past)

I miss you

(Didn't mean to send it but accidentally brushes over the send icon on the way to deleting the message)

SHIT (Panic types more messages to cover his screw-up)

Mom.

I miss you mom!

And dad!


Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 27 2017, 08:58 PM
Not mom. Or dad.

Where are you that you're missing them?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 27 2017, 09:02 PM
Sorry!!

I'm

At the park

On the other side of the world

HE KNOWS

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 27 2017, 09:04 PM
The park on the other side of the world?

The one and only park, all the way on the other side of the world?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 27 2017, 09:08 PM
Yeah

That one park

On the other side of the world

With the broken swing that squeaks

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 27 2017, 09:10 PM
Hm I thought they fixed that.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 27 2017, 09:16 PM
Takes a while to get repairmen out to the other side of the world...

Sorry if I'm

Bothering you

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 27 2017, 09:18 PM
You're not bothering me
Just chilling
Don't apologize, you're not bothering me

I miss you too.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 27 2017, 09:24 PM
(Dumb people cutting onions close by. So much dirt in his eye.)

You
Do?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 27 2017, 09:28 PM
Yes

like crazy

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 27 2017, 09:30 PM
Are you

Ryland??

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 27 2017, 09:31 PM
no ald, I'm mom.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 27 2017, 09:36 PM
Oh

Well then

(long pause)

I love you

Mom

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 27 2017, 09:39 PM
I love you too Aldon.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 27 2017, 09:40 PM
Are you saying that as mom or Ry?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 27 2017, 09:45 PM
omg you have the biggest head.

after I saw you with that other guy, it murdered me.
i don't know what we're doing to each other
but whatever it is, it's not working.

i miss your stupid big head.
i love your stupid big smile.
but i hate all the games.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 27 2017, 09:50 PM
I

I don't

My head is average size. When i buy caps i don't have to adjust the thing at the back

And

I thought you wanted to move on

With that other guy. You

You didn't want me to say i love you so i just

I didn't know what to do

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 27 2017, 09:53 PM
ald, I'm talking about your confidence not the literal size of your head.

oh

I guess you're not in on the joke. Chris found out about you. Er. Us. He found out I cheated on him. I think part of him wanted to try or he wanted me to try but I didn't. We broke things off. I hurt him pretty bad.

But I didn't want to keep leading him on and wasting his time. I love Chris. But I don't think I was ever in love with him.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 27 2017, 09:57 PM
I don't have confidence when it comes to you.

I want to love Gregg

But I keep

Wishing he was you

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 27 2017, 09:58 PM
So then what are we doing?

I don't get it.

What's wrong with us?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 27 2017, 10:06 PM
Is it me?

Am I

Doing it wrong?

I thought it was because I wouldn't admit I loved you but you knew I did already and then I said it and I said it again just now so

I dunno.

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 27 2017, 10:10 PM
If it's you
it's because you're with Gregg

when it was me, it was because I was with Chris.
I felt like a rat bastard, Ald. Cheating on him.
But I can't help it. When I'm around you even when you're PISSING me off--

it's not you, idiot.
you're lovable and you know it, you're just...
i don't know. for some reason, it's like you can't handle it. I'm not sure which part. loving somebody or being loved by them. why does it scare you so much?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 27 2017, 10:17 PM
I don't know

I can't explain it. Just. When you get so close I

It

I feel like everything's closing in on me and I can't breathe sometimes but if i try to get some space you get

Really upset

And then i get upset and
And

i'm

Scared

Of how much i love you

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 27 2017, 10:23 PM
I've never cared that you need SPACE.

It's the part where you just shut down and start flirting with other people like you think I'm not right there. Are you TRYING to make me react? Am I supposed to punch somebody?

You don't think I'm scared? But we're supposed to be scared together. We're supposed to be the people we go to hide under the covers together and pretend all the bad stuff can't touch us as long as we're holding hands.

but you act like I'm the thing outside the sheets.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 27 2017, 10:30 PM
I don't want you to punch people

Flirting's... how i cope. Like if i put some distance between us maybe i won't

Love you so much and

Nvm it's stupid. I'm dumb

sorry

I know i'm not a good guy. All your friends say it all the time. I'm just dumb and I keep hurting you
And me

Us

I'm sorry i shouldn't have

The text was a mistake just

Sorry

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 27 2017, 10:40 PM
He's there right now isn't he?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 27 2017, 10:42 PM
Yes

No

He went to get us something to drink

Why?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 28 2017, 08:18 AM
You're not really at the park.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 28 2017, 09:03 AM
I am! I'm sitting by the swings!

Are you

Coming here??

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 28 2017, 09:48 AM
Maybe.

I was.

I don't know anymore.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 28 2017, 09:55 AM
Ry

Do you want to get back together?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 28 2017, 10:23 AM
Yes,

maybe

i don't know

I mean I do but what if we just

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 28 2017, 10:33 AM
Meet me tonight

Down at the theater

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 28 2017, 11:31 AM
Okay

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 28 2017, 11:36 AM
8pm

See you then

(debates)

Love you

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 28 2017, 12:02 PM
I love you too.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 28 2017, 12:05 PM
I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 28 2017, 12:07 PM
Don't be.

I shouldn't have kept trying to force the issue.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 28 2017, 12:10 PM
You're right

This is all your fault. And you called me big head!

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 28 2017, 12:13 PM
Don't even, Aldon.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 28 2017, 12:15 PM
No

My feelings were hurt

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 28 2017, 12:28 PM
I was talking about your confidence, not your actual head.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 28 2017, 12:31 PM
So you think my head is normal-sized?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 28 2017, 12:33 PM
Your head is perfect. Stop fishing.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 28 2017, 01:26 PM
Oh yeah

well

YOUR head is perfect!

Your everything is perfect...

It's kind of a tough act to follow

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 28 2017, 01:35 PM
Nobody is you either.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 28 2017, 02:29 PM
Yeah

Not many people have perfectly sized heads right? 

Why is Alva telling me to keep it in my pants?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 28 2017, 05:02 PM
.......

I don't know.

.....


Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 28 2017, 05:28 PM
ARE YOU GUYS TALKING ABOUT ME RIGHT NOW??!

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 28 2017, 05:39 PM
Relax. I was just asking for advice.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 28 2017, 05:44 PM
Oh yeah??

Well I can ask for advice too!

(He asks Alva, who tells him to stfu)

I can't believe you're both ganging up on me

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 28 2017, 07:00 PM
You know he's giving me advice to actually be and stay with YOU right?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 28 2017, 07:08 PM
Oh

Is

Is it working?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 28 2017, 08:54 PM
Maybe.

Depends on me.

And you.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 28 2017, 10:09 PM
What do I have to do?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 07:38 AM
Well for one thing, we're not screwing around.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 07:48 AM
We're not?

We're not.

Wait

Did you mean that literally or like
no more games?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 08:09 AM
Both?

It seems like we rush to that part and then what?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 08:29 AM
And then we

We're okay
For a while

okay fine. I'll sit on my hands when we meet and

And I won't

But only if you don't!

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 08:59 AM
I'm not!

You're the one who starts it!

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 09:15 AM
Only because you make those eyes at me!!

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 09:39 AM
What? What eyes?

I do not!

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 09:49 AM
How can you say you don't when you don't even know you do?!

You totally do

Maybe not on purpose but

You do

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 09:55 AM
I'll wear sunglasses the whole time.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 10:00 AM
Ooh yeah that could work

And then also wear a full suit of iron?

Cause the rest of you is worse for my self control. : (

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 10:07 AM
Do you even want to see me at all or should we like, Skype?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 10:11 AM
I

I

I want to see you

You want to see me too right?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 10:17 AM
Yes. I said that already, didn't I?

I just don't want to keep doing the same stupid things over again. We'll just end up right back here again. You know, running to other people but missing each other.

It's so stupid.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 10:32 AM
What if we get married?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 10:34 AM
(double take)

Are you proposing to me?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 10:35 AM
Wha-what??! Am I?!?!?!

(Triple take)

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 10:36 AM
I don't know! You tell me!!

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 10:38 AM
I meant if we get married we wouldn't have to do this whole thing

But I didn't
Wasn't

Would you though??

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 10:43 AM
That's a HUGE step, Aldon! I don't know!

God, you know what everybody else would say though.
That I'm trapping you.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 10:47 AM
I dunno about TRAPPING

It's not gonna be a shotgun wedding or anything geez Ry

Wait who's saying stuff about us??

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 10:48 AM
(rolls his eyes even though Aldon can't see him)

I don't know... EVERYBODY?!

I know your friends do too.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 10:52 AM
Your friends talk about me more! They ALL hate me!

What're they saying this time? That we're just doing the same song and dance again right?
That I'm such a scumbag and I'm a bad person who should burn in hell because all I do is play around with your heart, like I'm not human or something and don't have feelings??!

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 11:06 AM
They don't HATE you. They hate how I get when I'm with you. Or I guess when I'm NOT with you.
You're not a scumbag. Stop it.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 03:34 PM
...how do you get when you're not with me??

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 05:07 PM
Destructive. Mostly self destructive.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 05:13 PM
You miss me that much?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 05:36 PM
Is that so surprising?

...

I guess it would be. I'm pretty good at pretending to be cool under pressure, aren't I?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 05:43 PM
Yeah...

Well I guess I'm not around to see the... stuff after we break up.

You're not
Doing drugs or anything are you? : (

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 06:45 PM
No... why would you even think that?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 06:48 PM
You said destructive!

So

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 08:09 PM
Yeah. I guess I did.

Mostly
Drinking.

Meeting people.
That kind of thing.

I mean I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it though.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 08:16 PM
Oh

I didn't realize

I didn't know

Ry...

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 08:24 PM
See? It's not you. They just

Well I know I kinda go overboard.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 08:39 PM
Well

Don't go overboard anymore

And stop meeting people!

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 08:49 PM
They never stack up to you anyway.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 08:51 PM
Still!

What if you meet some psycho? Or

Or somebody who gets all obsessed with you and decides to stalk you everywhere? Then I'd have to hunt them down on the full moon and you'd end up making a murderer out of me.

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 08:56 PM
Okay wow. You're giving this a lot of thought.

And it hasn't happened yet. They're mostly one night stands whose names I don't remember. Nothing to worry about.

Heh. I never used to be this way so I guess that's what they're talking about.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 08:59 PM
Yet. Hasn't happened YET

Wait this sleeping with other people thing is a recent development?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 09:04 PM
Yeah.

Like really recent. I wasn't even sleeping with anybody when I was dating Chris.

Why?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 09:08 PM
Why did you suddenly decide you wanted to sleep with other people?!

(Conveniently ignoring 'why')

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 09:19 PM
I was trying to have a good time. Clearly I suck at relationships and I don't have to be alone so...

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 09:22 PM
What's wrong with being alone??

(Says the guy who can't stand being alone)

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 09:31 PM
You're asking ME?

I don't want to be alone. I just got out of a long term, long distance relationship and then there was the crap with you. I thought it was time to just have fun. You know what I mean?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 09:42 PM
But you didn't have fun, right?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 10:23 PM
Hm, tricky question.

I'd say yes but I think I was under copious amounts of alcohol at the time.

And when I woke up, it wasn't next to you. Sometimes I woke up to nobody at all. I never knew how much that could make a person feel like a piece of shit. But I guess it also eliminates all that awkward after sex banter.

What about you? And that guy?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 10:31 PM
(Secretly relieved)

You are the furthest thing from a piece of shit! I get it, though. I don't like it... but I get it.

And things are
they are, I guess.

He's different. Idk. He's nothing like you, but I like him. I just don't know if I

You know. Or even if HE

You know.

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 29 2017, 10:43 PM
I'm just saying it's not so great for the ol' self esteem.

I don't feel like myself. I feel like I'm trying to be somebody else and for a while, it works. But when it's night and it's quiet and it's just my thoughts, I still know.

It sure seemed serious.
I don't want to be the one standing in the way of that.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 29 2017, 10:49 PM
It's kinda too late when you're always on my mind, every single second of every day, Ry.

I mean

You made a miracle happen and got me to say the words sooooo
You're kinda already in the way.

Or you've always been in the way. Which I mean in a good way!!

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 30 2017, 12:02 PM
Well, that IS what I wanted.

Why was it so hard for you to say before?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 30 2017, 12:05 PM
I guess I never thought I'd

Seriously lose you before

...cause we kept doing the same things...

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 30 2017, 01:15 PM
.... still I probably shouldn't have kissed Chris in front of you.

That was a dick move.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 30 2017, 01:17 PM
Kinda

I didn't like that

But then again, you catching me and Gregg at the strawberry festival sorta makes us even doesn't it?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 30 2017, 01:28 PM
Considering I went to the festival on purpose to come talk to you and reconcile.... Yep.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 30 2017, 01:33 PM
Damn

We're not really good at this being a couple thing huh?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 30 2017, 01:42 PM
No.

Well.

I think we're REALLY GOOD at it... when it's good.

We got all the chemistry. I guess we just have a hard time with the other stuff.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 30 2017, 01:49 PM
Being good half the time's no good!!

We need to be

Super good all the time! At everything. Then people can't judge us. >: (

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 30 2017, 01:51 PM
I'm kiiinda tired of everybody always judging us tbh. It's our lives we're mucking up, not theirs.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 30 2017, 01:56 PM
Yeah! If we want to be miserable, they should let us!!

But I don't want to be miserable...

Not with you at least.

OMG

GREGG

Should I
Break up with him now? OR???

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 30 2017, 02:13 PM
If you want to be with ME, then YES.

We're not doing the threesome thing. I won't share you.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 30 2017, 03:42 PM
OKAY

Shit

We were supposed to be out on a date.

Um. I'll talk to him. And.

OR

I run away now while he's at the concession stand!

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 30 2017, 04:33 PM
Don't run. You have to stop doing that.

But if you do
Run over here

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 30 2017, 04:46 PM
Q_Q Which is it?? Run or stay and be the scumbag who breaks up with somebody on a date?

Wait

I can't run

He knows where I live

He lives with me!

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 30 2017, 05:46 PM
He lives with you?! How serious were you two?

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 30 2017, 07:02 PM
What? It's not like THAT!!

I found Gregg in the woods after a full moon and he's new to this whole werewolf thing so I was just helping him get his bearings.

Once he's initiated into our clan, he'll be okay. Just. You know, it's not safe for newbs to be running around alone. Hunters are everywhere these days.

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 30 2017, 07:13 PM
You don't think that'll be awkward? Living with the ex guy when you...

Never mind. I can't tell you to kick him out under those kind of circumstances but
Damn Aldon.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 30 2017, 07:22 PM
Oh awkward won't begin to describe it Ry!!!

But

I love YOU. I want to be with YOU.

Hey! Hey what if

No that's dumb. I'll just have to bite the bullet this time. And hope Gregg doesn't put one in me for

stringing him along. Even though I wasn't! Not on purpose...

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 30 2017, 07:41 PM
Yeah, you better not say you're gonna try and have us both because I'm not going for it.

And if he cared about you at all, I doubt he's going to put a bullet through you.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 30 2017, 08:09 PM
I wasn't...

(He was)

He's not going to be happy though. You've seen him. He could snap me like a twig and I'm no twig!

But he's not the sudden rage type... So maybe I'll get away with just Disappointment?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 30 2017, 08:46 PM
What If he cries though?
Nah that seems unlikely.
But awkward.

God this whole thing is awkward.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 30 2017, 08:48 PM
Don"t say the C-word!

Maybe we should talk first

Just you and me. And then I'll tell Gregg and if I don't make it
at least you got the words out of me 

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 30 2017, 08:56 PM
Yeah. Maybe. But you better not back out on me. :/

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 30 2017, 08:58 PM
You have so little faith in me

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 30 2017, 09:07 PM
I try to. It's hard when we have so much history. Not all of its great...

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 30 2017, 09:24 PM
But not all of it's bad either

When we first started dating... That was amazing.
We just need to get back to that hot cheese flinging honeymoon phase

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 31 2017, 08:57 AM
Do NOT fling more hot cheese at me.

I can think of several better ways to light up the honeymoon phase and they don't involve cheese, thanks.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 31 2017, 09:10 AM
Please that was young Aldon.

I'm mature now. I've graduated from hot cheese to molten burrito filling.

But go on. What about these spicy ideas to light up the honeymoon phase?

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 31 2017, 12:15 PM
Does it have to involve hot food products? I'm not sure I'm as imaginative as you are in that department.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 31 2017, 12:16 PM
You're

S t a l l i n g

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 31 2017, 12:20 PM
I'm better at showing than telling.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 31 2017, 12:28 PM
(struggles internally)

You

Waitaminute

You're the one who said we should talk and slow down and stuff!

YOU

EVIL

FOX

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 31 2017, 12:51 PM
...yeah I think I'm part of the problem....

Alva would be smacking me about now

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 31 2017, 12:56 PM
Aha! So you're saying it's not all me!!

Thank god, I was worried.

Posted by: RYLAND REN Jul 31 2017, 04:39 PM
It's habit, all right? At least I acknowledge my mistakes, Mr. Perfect.

Posted by: ALDON HUANG Jul 31 2017, 05:30 PM
I do have a beautiful perfect head...

Wait so your habit is flirting with me?? ...it's not a TERRIBLE habit, I mean...

Knock knock knock!

Aldon stood with a hand poised, glancing over his shoulder at the neighbor just coming out of her apartment. He smiled at her. The smile was bright and flashy; she smiled back, almost shyly, and turned towards the fire exit to take the stairs.

Turning back, Aldon knocked again, rapping his knuckles sharply against the door. There was a buzzer but he didn't like those things; they made his ears ring. With his sensitive hearing, even the tapping sounded louder than usual but that was one of the unfortunate side-effects of being a werewolf, with all of those heightened senses. Too bad he couldn't turn them on and off at will.

Still, Gregg ought to have heard him by now, what with two sets of knocks at his door. At their first meeting, Aldon exchanged numbers with him--after they'd showered and gotten all of the dirt off their bodies from rolling around on the ground all night. Being the friendly person that he was, Aldon offered to help Gregg acclimatize to his newfound werewolf... ness. At first, it was simply good will.

Then, after the mess that happened with Ryland, it was a good way to distract himself. When he was focusing on someone else's problems, he wasn't thinking about that hole in his chest that throbbed and ached. He wasn't trying to replay conversations or scenes in his head. For little short bursts, he could put Ryland out of his mind, although invariably the memory of Ryland returned to plague him.

That was why Aldon was here now. He wanted so desperately to forget Ryland, to blot out the fact that he had finally been discarded. Ryland always threatened to do it--maybe not verbally but the implication was always there. It was always a sword hanging precariously over Aldon's head, swinging lower and lower each time that he skittered away from commitment. Then ironically, the moment he steeled himself to commit, the sword fell.

His own fault, really. Nobody to blame but himself.

That didn't make him feel better, though.

Gregg, on the other hand, did. Aldon didn't know what it was about him in particular, whether it was his too-serious face or the fact that nothing seemed to faze him. He was a calm man; an unflappable man. Something about him grounded Aldon and made him feel (and act) like less of a lost child. Maybe it was that elusive factor which also saved Gregg from a gruesome death on the night of the last full moon. Aldon couldn't remember any other wolf or human who had that effect on him. Even Ryland had to be far away from him, and Ryland was--

No. He wasn't going to think about Ryland anymore. Ryland sure as hell didn't think of him when he smiled at and kissed his boyfriend in front of Aldon. That was deliberate; it was the biggest middle finger he could have given to Aldon. Enough said. He was over Aldon, and Aldon had to somehow learn to get over him.

"Hey Gregg!" The too-big, too-bright smile grew even bigger and brighter as the door opened. Aldon was the master of hiding his emotions, after all. Maybe his eyes weren't as bright as his smiles but it would have taken a highly observant person to notice it. To everyone else, he seemed Fine.

"Guess what?!"