Deja Vu

[Ryland Ren]

"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."

[Aldon Huang]

"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."

[Ryland Ren]

"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?"

[Aldon Huang]

"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!

[Ryland Ren]

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.

[Aldon Huang]

"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.

[Ryland Ren]

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!"

[Aldon Huang]

"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.

[Ryland Ren]

"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?"

[Aldon Huang]

"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?"

[Ryland Ren]

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?"

[Aldon Huang]

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 Ren]

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 Huang]

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.

[Ryland Ren]

"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?"