Disclaimer: I still don't own them and I make no money.
Note: This story is slash. You have been warned. Takes place early in the first season.
With that out of the way, on with chapter 2.
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"Okay, explain to me again why you don't want to take these," Seth said holding some packages of cold pills out to Ryan.
"I jus' don' take dem. I don' know, I don' really trus dem," Ryan said, voice sounding somewhat clearer than it was when he'd been in bed.
Despite his always-accelerated speech, Seth had patience to spare. This was especially the case when it came to kids and, well, apparently Ryan when he was acting like a kid. "Ooookay. WHY don't you trust them?"
Ryan was starting to feel really stupid. He didn't really want to tell Seth about his Mom's views of stuff like that. But the ideas were ingrained in him and he really did have a general mistrust of pills in general. To avoid embarrassing himself yet again by showing off how different his childhood was than Seth's, Ryan decided to just take the pills.
"Alrighd, whig do I take?"
"You take the blue pill the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill you stay in wonderland, and we see just how deep the rabbit hole goes." Off Ryan's confused look Seth dropped his Matrix inspired descriptions and continued. "Red ones during the day and blue, well I guess it's actually more green, you take those at night or if you don't mind being knocked out for a few hours. So, Neo, which will it be?"
Ryan gave Seth a half smile before grabbing the box of red pills and taking a couple.
"Haven't you ever taken this stuff before?" Seth asked as they made their way into the living room.
"Uh, no, nod really," Ryan admitted as they plopped down on the sofa.
"Movie?" Seth asked.
"Yeah, whadever you want," Ryan said. He was very relieved Seth didn't suggest video games because his head already felt like it was going to explode. Somehow he doubted watching the flickering images on the screen (probably of his character getting HIS head blown up by Seth's character) wouldn't help matters any.
"Why not?" Seth asked as he started flipping through the DVDs.
"Huh?"
"Why haven't you taken cold pills before? Don't tell me you were one of those kids that like, never got sick or something. Perfect attendance and all that."
"No, I definidely wasn' one of those kids."
"So?"
"Well, my Mom, she doesn' really believe in that stuff. She said thad, um, sometimes crazy people poison those things ad the store," Ryan explained looking at a random spot on the wall. He knew it would sound really stupid to Seth but it was hard for Ryan to just let go of everything he was taught, even the things he'd always known probably weren't true.
"Oh," Seth said. "Well, you know, they have these like, safety seals and stuff. I mean, you know, it COULD happen but the drug store we go to looks pretty nice, pretty, um, clean."
"Yeah," Ryan said. Ryan wanted to tell Seth that where he lived the stores weren't very nice and they certainly weren't clean. He wanted to tell him that his mom might just have always told him that because she didn't want to spend the money on that stuff, that she'd rather save it to buy booze or something for her newest boyfriend. But he didn't say it, any of it. Ryan got the distinct feeling that even though Seth probably had no idea of these things, he'd just accept that there was more to it this time than Ryan said and leave it at that.
"Okay," Seth said. He knew if Ryan wanted to say more he would. For now maybe what he needed was to not have to say anything. Seth couldn't imagine how hard it must be to try to leave everything behind, even if what was left behind was as bad as Ryan had intimated. "So," he held up two movies. "What are you in the mood for? Hotties in bikinis surfing or blood, gore and violence?"
**************
It was the slightest sensation that woke him. Almost a tickling feeling but in a good way, not like an itch you had to scratch. Just a slight feeling like the way a strong breeze played across his hair when he used to sleep with the window open. Of course that was before they moved into the really bad area and he had to sleep with the windows closed, locked, and, in one house they'd lived in briefly, boarded up. Ryan had always loved that feeling, loved the feel of the breeze ghosting across his hair. It always felt like home, before home became just another four-letter word to him.
Still mostly asleep, Ryan relaxed and let out a soft sigh of contentment. Becoming more aware of his surroundings as he slowly woke up, he realized that the source of the wonderful feeling was somebody gently stroking his hair. For a moment that realization didn't bother him, after all the feeling kept telling him he was home and he was safe. But the more he thought about it something wasn't right because there must have to be somebody on the other end of the hand that was gently petting him like a beloved cat. That meant somebody was near him when he was sleeping and he knew from experience that a gentle hand didn't often stay that way. The fine line between teasing and abuse wasn't always that clear, especially in Chino.
When he felt Ryan move a bit, Seth yanked his hand away faster than if he'd touched a burning log in a beach fire. 'Okay, dude, just relax. He was asleep, he has no idea you were doing that. And hey, even if he does it's not THAT weird, right? I mean brother's can do that sort of thing, right? Not that you really have any basis of comparison. It's like a comfort thing, not a sex thing so there's nothing wrong with it. But if there's nothing wrong with it then why are you afraid he's going to get pissed?'
"Um, hey," Seth said as Ryan sat up. He watched as Ryan blinked a few times, eyelids still heavy. He watched him look down and see that he was covered with a throw and had been sleeping against a throw pillow leaned against Seth's leg. It was almost funny how slowly he seemed to be figuring things out. Seth thought if he listened hard enough he just might be able to hear the gears cranking. "You okay, man?"
Ryan wasn't really sure what to make of this. He remembered sitting on the sofa to watch a movie. Somehow he'd managed to not only fall asleep but to do it before the opening credits were done. 'Red pills. Didn't Seth say those were for during the day?' Seth must have grabbed him a blanket and a little pillow. 'Probably got tired of you drooling all over his leg,' Ryan thought. He had to give his head a little shake as he reconsidered the wording. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, sniffling a little at the end.
"You sound a little better. But you kinda look like crap. I mean no offense, Ryan, but you better hope Marissa doesn't come over or anything cause right now you know, you look like-"
"Like I'm sick?" Ryan said in a tone that definitely bordered on snarky. Thankfully, Seth didn't seem to notice.
"Yeah. But I guess she's not likely to come over. I mean it's not like she's ever come over just to like, borrow a cup of sugar or whatever before."
Ryan knew there was a joke in there somewhere about him giving her sugar if she came over looking for it but he didn't bother. Marissa was just about the last thing he wanted to think about and definitely the last thing he wanted to talk about. The ball was in her court for the moment and he was determined to let her come to him when and if she was ready. Or, at least, that was how he felt right then. On the other hand if he wasn't feeling (and according to Seth looking) like crap then maybe he'd have a different attitude toward the whole thing.
Right now the only thing he could think of (other than that he could feel a big sneeze just itching its way out of his nose) was that it wasn't Marissa's hand that had been stroking his hair just a minute ago.
"So," Seth began, pulling Ryan from his thoughts. "I guess you didn't like Tomb Raider." Seth pointed at the screen where the closing credits were playing.
"Sorry, man. I think it was those pills you gave me *cough*."
"Yeah, I don't know, maybe. So, um, you feeling any better?" Seth asked.
'I felt a lot better when you were stroking my hair,' thought Ryan. He certainly didn't say it aloud. Maybe he'd imagined it. After all he was feeling sort of out of it. Maybe he'd just been dreaming or something. 'Why would Seth do that anyway?' he thought.
"Ryan? Hey, um, hello in there?" Seth said not sure if he should be amused or worried that Ryan kept getting lost in his head right now. 'As long as those thoughts aren't about me and my stupid wandering hand earlier then it's all fine.'
"Yeah, no, ... uh, what was the question again?" Ryan said.
"Ooookay. Now you're getting a little bit weird on me, man. Let's go outside and hang by the pool," Seth said getting up and waiting for Ryan to follow him. He was pretty sure Ryan wasn't upset about the hand in his hair thing. Unfortunately he was starting to think maybe Ryan was really getting sick.
Note: This story is slash. You have been warned. Takes place early in the first season.
With that out of the way, on with chapter 2.
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"Okay, explain to me again why you don't want to take these," Seth said holding some packages of cold pills out to Ryan.
"I jus' don' take dem. I don' know, I don' really trus dem," Ryan said, voice sounding somewhat clearer than it was when he'd been in bed.
Despite his always-accelerated speech, Seth had patience to spare. This was especially the case when it came to kids and, well, apparently Ryan when he was acting like a kid. "Ooookay. WHY don't you trust them?"
Ryan was starting to feel really stupid. He didn't really want to tell Seth about his Mom's views of stuff like that. But the ideas were ingrained in him and he really did have a general mistrust of pills in general. To avoid embarrassing himself yet again by showing off how different his childhood was than Seth's, Ryan decided to just take the pills.
"Alrighd, whig do I take?"
"You take the blue pill the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill you stay in wonderland, and we see just how deep the rabbit hole goes." Off Ryan's confused look Seth dropped his Matrix inspired descriptions and continued. "Red ones during the day and blue, well I guess it's actually more green, you take those at night or if you don't mind being knocked out for a few hours. So, Neo, which will it be?"
Ryan gave Seth a half smile before grabbing the box of red pills and taking a couple.
"Haven't you ever taken this stuff before?" Seth asked as they made their way into the living room.
"Uh, no, nod really," Ryan admitted as they plopped down on the sofa.
"Movie?" Seth asked.
"Yeah, whadever you want," Ryan said. He was very relieved Seth didn't suggest video games because his head already felt like it was going to explode. Somehow he doubted watching the flickering images on the screen (probably of his character getting HIS head blown up by Seth's character) wouldn't help matters any.
"Why not?" Seth asked as he started flipping through the DVDs.
"Huh?"
"Why haven't you taken cold pills before? Don't tell me you were one of those kids that like, never got sick or something. Perfect attendance and all that."
"No, I definidely wasn' one of those kids."
"So?"
"Well, my Mom, she doesn' really believe in that stuff. She said thad, um, sometimes crazy people poison those things ad the store," Ryan explained looking at a random spot on the wall. He knew it would sound really stupid to Seth but it was hard for Ryan to just let go of everything he was taught, even the things he'd always known probably weren't true.
"Oh," Seth said. "Well, you know, they have these like, safety seals and stuff. I mean, you know, it COULD happen but the drug store we go to looks pretty nice, pretty, um, clean."
"Yeah," Ryan said. Ryan wanted to tell Seth that where he lived the stores weren't very nice and they certainly weren't clean. He wanted to tell him that his mom might just have always told him that because she didn't want to spend the money on that stuff, that she'd rather save it to buy booze or something for her newest boyfriend. But he didn't say it, any of it. Ryan got the distinct feeling that even though Seth probably had no idea of these things, he'd just accept that there was more to it this time than Ryan said and leave it at that.
"Okay," Seth said. He knew if Ryan wanted to say more he would. For now maybe what he needed was to not have to say anything. Seth couldn't imagine how hard it must be to try to leave everything behind, even if what was left behind was as bad as Ryan had intimated. "So," he held up two movies. "What are you in the mood for? Hotties in bikinis surfing or blood, gore and violence?"
**************
It was the slightest sensation that woke him. Almost a tickling feeling but in a good way, not like an itch you had to scratch. Just a slight feeling like the way a strong breeze played across his hair when he used to sleep with the window open. Of course that was before they moved into the really bad area and he had to sleep with the windows closed, locked, and, in one house they'd lived in briefly, boarded up. Ryan had always loved that feeling, loved the feel of the breeze ghosting across his hair. It always felt like home, before home became just another four-letter word to him.
Still mostly asleep, Ryan relaxed and let out a soft sigh of contentment. Becoming more aware of his surroundings as he slowly woke up, he realized that the source of the wonderful feeling was somebody gently stroking his hair. For a moment that realization didn't bother him, after all the feeling kept telling him he was home and he was safe. But the more he thought about it something wasn't right because there must have to be somebody on the other end of the hand that was gently petting him like a beloved cat. That meant somebody was near him when he was sleeping and he knew from experience that a gentle hand didn't often stay that way. The fine line between teasing and abuse wasn't always that clear, especially in Chino.
When he felt Ryan move a bit, Seth yanked his hand away faster than if he'd touched a burning log in a beach fire. 'Okay, dude, just relax. He was asleep, he has no idea you were doing that. And hey, even if he does it's not THAT weird, right? I mean brother's can do that sort of thing, right? Not that you really have any basis of comparison. It's like a comfort thing, not a sex thing so there's nothing wrong with it. But if there's nothing wrong with it then why are you afraid he's going to get pissed?'
"Um, hey," Seth said as Ryan sat up. He watched as Ryan blinked a few times, eyelids still heavy. He watched him look down and see that he was covered with a throw and had been sleeping against a throw pillow leaned against Seth's leg. It was almost funny how slowly he seemed to be figuring things out. Seth thought if he listened hard enough he just might be able to hear the gears cranking. "You okay, man?"
Ryan wasn't really sure what to make of this. He remembered sitting on the sofa to watch a movie. Somehow he'd managed to not only fall asleep but to do it before the opening credits were done. 'Red pills. Didn't Seth say those were for during the day?' Seth must have grabbed him a blanket and a little pillow. 'Probably got tired of you drooling all over his leg,' Ryan thought. He had to give his head a little shake as he reconsidered the wording. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, sniffling a little at the end.
"You sound a little better. But you kinda look like crap. I mean no offense, Ryan, but you better hope Marissa doesn't come over or anything cause right now you know, you look like-"
"Like I'm sick?" Ryan said in a tone that definitely bordered on snarky. Thankfully, Seth didn't seem to notice.
"Yeah. But I guess she's not likely to come over. I mean it's not like she's ever come over just to like, borrow a cup of sugar or whatever before."
Ryan knew there was a joke in there somewhere about him giving her sugar if she came over looking for it but he didn't bother. Marissa was just about the last thing he wanted to think about and definitely the last thing he wanted to talk about. The ball was in her court for the moment and he was determined to let her come to him when and if she was ready. Or, at least, that was how he felt right then. On the other hand if he wasn't feeling (and according to Seth looking) like crap then maybe he'd have a different attitude toward the whole thing.
Right now the only thing he could think of (other than that he could feel a big sneeze just itching its way out of his nose) was that it wasn't Marissa's hand that had been stroking his hair just a minute ago.
"So," Seth began, pulling Ryan from his thoughts. "I guess you didn't like Tomb Raider." Seth pointed at the screen where the closing credits were playing.
"Sorry, man. I think it was those pills you gave me *cough*."
"Yeah, I don't know, maybe. So, um, you feeling any better?" Seth asked.
'I felt a lot better when you were stroking my hair,' thought Ryan. He certainly didn't say it aloud. Maybe he'd imagined it. After all he was feeling sort of out of it. Maybe he'd just been dreaming or something. 'Why would Seth do that anyway?' he thought.
"Ryan? Hey, um, hello in there?" Seth said not sure if he should be amused or worried that Ryan kept getting lost in his head right now. 'As long as those thoughts aren't about me and my stupid wandering hand earlier then it's all fine.'
"Yeah, no, ... uh, what was the question again?" Ryan said.
"Ooookay. Now you're getting a little bit weird on me, man. Let's go outside and hang by the pool," Seth said getting up and waiting for Ryan to follow him. He was pretty sure Ryan wasn't upset about the hand in his hair thing. Unfortunately he was starting to think maybe Ryan was really getting sick.