Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Ryland Grace loved many things about his life.

He loved his class. He loved his brother. He loved his job. He loved being a scientist. He loved studying new aspects of science — while he had a doctorate in molecular biology, it wasn’t the only area he loved. If he could afford college again, he’d probably go back to study… gosh, just about anything. Zoology, astronomy, biochemistry, ecology, the list goes on. He loved learning, he loved understanding how things worked, and he loved to be able to theorize about the reality of their world.

The point is, he loved. He loved a lot. But, of all the things Ryland Grace loved, he did not love airplane rides. He did not love the kind of kids who would stomp on the back of his seat, showing absolutely no respect for other passengers on the plane. He did not love the elderly man snoring at his side, leaning on his shoulder as if he didn’t have a daughter right next to him that he should lean on.

But for all the things Ryland was, he was proud to say he was also a problem solver. He gently pushed the elder man off his shoulder, guiding him to lean back towards his daughter, and he thanked his lucky stars that the man was a heavy sleeper. That was one problem.

 As for the kid, Ryland typically had a lot of fidget toys to go around because of his class. When he felt around his cardigan’s pockets, he was lucky to find an infinity cube and a baseball-shaped popper toy. He turned around in his seat and presented the options to the little boy. He showed him how the infinity cube could unfold and suggested he could draw a sheet for the boy to follow the different styles, and also showed him how the popper worked, the sound and feel of it, and let the boy try them both. And that was the last problem solved.

Which meant a seven-hour flight that could’ve been hell was quickly resolved to simply be uncomfortable. He’ll take whatever wins he can.

Of course, he didn’t end up getting those fidget toys back, but he wasn’t exactly hurting for them, anyway. He didn’t need them for this trip, and he had plenty back home for his class. It didn’t hurt that the toys were never more than $10 on average, either.

So now came the next series of problems. He finally got off of his plane to Ottawa, but after going through customs, getting his bags back, and leaving the airport, he couldn’t find Colt anywhere. The entire reason he was here was to visit Colt during summer break, when he had no work, and now the jerk wasn’t even here to pick him up.

He could explore from his phone. That was close enough to a compromise, right? Ryland settled for opening the maps, zooming in on his location, and exploring around the airport. A hotel was nearby. A Tim Hortons, whatever that was. Some kind of T&T… was that like Canada’s Wal-Mart? No, he’s sure they had Wal-Marts in Canada. There’s Wal-Marts everywhere.

Before much longer, a car pulled up in front of Ryland. It was a gorgeous red Corvette, with black stripes down the middle of the hood, and Ryland had never been more upset with his teacher's salary in his life. He quickly scrambled to his feet, grabbing the top of his suitcase to bring it to the side of the car. “A car like this and you were still 15 minutes late?” Ryland joked as Colt climbed out of the driver’s seat.

“Whatever, dude, I got stuck in traffic.” Colt defended as he clicked the trunk open with his key bob. Ryland came to the back of the trunk to try and pick his suitcase up, but Colt almost immediately jumped for the case and smacked Ryland’s hands away. “Nope! You’re on vacation now, so you go get your passenger princess ass in that car and let me take care of this.”

“You just don’t want me to scratch your car.” Ryland scoffed as he let go of the suitcase and set his satchel on top of it.

“What? It’s a rental!” Colt laughed as he picked up the luggage and set it into his car with the care and precision of a heart surgeon. They both climbed into their respective seats, and Colt made a show out of revving the car’s engine while it was still in neutral, a smug grin on his face.

With a glare, Ryland put a hand on the stick shift. “Keep it up, and I’ll put it in drive so you go smashing into that ugly SUV.” He pointed up to the white SUV just ahead of their car, and Colt quickly smacked Ryland’s hand away, taking hold of the stick shift to drive them out properly.

“If you even think about it, I will spit in every drink you have while you’re here.”

“Is it too late to go back to Cali?” Ryland looked out of the window at the airport as if trying to gauge his options, which Colt quickly dismissed by swatting at him. The doctor laughed as he sat back, looking over at Colt and narrowing his eyes. “Hey! Put your dang seatbelt on, idiot!”

Colt groaned dramatically as he dragged the seatbelt down over him before snapping it into place. “I forgot what a sissy you can be.” He taunted, which Ryland only responded to by rolling his eyes. “Oh, shit, have you even had Tim Hortons before?” He slowed the car down as they pulled out near the shop in question.

“No. I’ve heard of it before, but there aren’t any in California as far as I’ve seen.” Ryland answered. Colt decided then to pull into the store, turning off the car.

“Come on, you’ll probably need some caffeine after that flight. Speaking of which, how was it anyway?” He asked as he popped out of the driver’s seat, locking the doors whenever Ryland got out as well.

“Long. A little overstimulating, at first, too.” Ryland huffed when he recalled it, hands tucking into his cardigan. “You’re not kidding, though. I would kill for some coffee right now. So is this just like an overhyped Dunkin’ Donuts?”

“Honestly, a little bit, yeah.” Colt laughed as he held open the door for his twin. “But you’ll like it, their iced capps are way better than any of Dunkin’s coffee.” He started into the store after Ryland and gestured to the menu above the line. Ice capps, hm… He can work with that.

The worker at the register looked tired, like they’d just been run over by a rush they did not get paid enough for. He was a little taller than Ryland, with thin braided locs tied back into a messy bun and a 5 o’clock shadow that actually suited his face pretty well. “Welcome to Tim Hortons, what can I get you started with?” The employee, whose name tag read Robin, asked.

Colt approached first with an easy smile on his face. “Hey, can we get started with an apple fritter, a Boston cream, and a Biscoff iced capp? And then whatever he’s getting, too.” He gestured back at his twin with his thumb. 

The doctor lowered his glasses to his chin, only one piece hanging off of his ear as he ran a hand through his hair. “Uhm, I have no idea— What do you recommend, uh, coffee-wise?”

“My favorite is the mocha ice capp, but the caramel churro one is pretty good too.” Robin explained, gesturing back to the parts of the menu that he could almost reach, despite the height of the TVs. 

He didn’t seem any closer to an answer, so he looked at Colt as if to ask for help. Colt laughed, shaking his head. “We’ll get them both. Can we try the caramel churro in a small? The other two capps will be mediums.” Robin nodded and rang them up, and Colt gestured back to the donut display case. “Did you want anything?”

Looking over the vast options, they didn’t look bad, but they just… seemed like too much sugar to go with the coffee. Ryland grimaced in thought but ultimately shook his head. “I’m good.” 

Colt nodded to the cashier and paid for it all, stepping back to one of the open tables while they waited for their order to be made. “Oh, you know what? I don’t think I ever told you that Larry got fired.” Colt struck up the conversation with ease, gesturing to the seat in front of him for Ryland, who took it as directed.

“Seriously? What happened?”

“Got mixed up in some bad shit, I think he was selling drugs or something? Started a huge fight on set, broke three of the big props for the movie. Like, I’ve seen Michael mad before, but never that mad. Fired Larry on the spot and said if he came back, he’d tear Larry a new one. He literally had the cops escorting him and his fight club buddy off set.” Colt gestured along with his story, digging his phone out of his pocket and flipping through a few photos before showing them over to Ryland. 

Dozens of people were crowded just outside a big scene that had started around some part of a set. There was a ton of sand built around their feet that had been kicked up onto a couple of electronic-looking parts, like architecture made with metals and modified to be as high-tech looking as possible. There were two big parts of the architecture that looked like cardboard with a hole punched into it, and he recognized one of the people in the middle of the shot as Larry, and another person that he’d never seen before. They were set like a bodybuilder, though their face looked pale and they looked a bit sunken in, like they hadn’t slept or eaten in days. And they were thrashing Larry like a punching bag.

“Ouch. I’d hate to be in Larry’s spot right there.” Ryland winced in sympathy for a man he’d never even met before.

“Sir? Your order is ready.” The cashier, Robin, called the twins up and held up two of the three coffee cups before setting them down next to a bag and the last cup.

Colt hopped up quickly and picked up his Biscoff capp and the bag. “Thanks!” He bid, “Have a good day, dude!” Colt headed out for the door to hold it open. Ryland waved to the cashier before picking up the last two cups, following after his twin. “I figured we can share the caramel churro one. I’ve already tried the Biscoff a couple times, it’s my favorite. But you’ll only have Tim Hortons for so long, so you might as well enjoy it while you can.”

Ryland grinned and took a quick sip of the churro one, his face almost lighting up whenever the taste hit him. “Ooh, that ones really good!”

Their trip to Montreal was about two hours out, and their ride was filled with many similar stories and moments. Ryland didn’t ask for them to pull over very often, but Colt insisted whenever they came across whatever little things he might consider a landmark for Canada. About thirty minutes into their ride, Ryland had also discovered that Colt bought one of those donuts — the Boston cream — for Ryland specifically. And he was reminded how much he loved having a brother who knew him inside and out like that, to even know his preference at a donut shop he’d never been to before. He really did have a lot of love for his twin.

And when they finally arrived in the city around a quarter past 11, they pulled into a parking lot in front of a set of apartments that looked far too fancy for him to even afford stepping foot in front of. The very shape of the building alone was imposingly tall, the lobby was still well lit, and there were a couple other people bustling about inside. Colt grabbed the bags from the back of the car and started leading the way up the elevator to the 12th floor. The foyer opened up into a massive apartment, where he could see the guest bedroom right down the hall, and the kitchen and living room off to his left. It looked massive for being an apartment.

“You… could literally fit my entire apartment in this one room.” Ryland spoke as he explored the living room, looking around at the different decor littered about. It was messy, in typical Colt fashion, but it still looked like he put forth some effort to clean for Ryland’s arrival. “I am so jealous of your life.”

“Oh, pff, nooo.” Colt immediately laughed as he wheeled the suitcase in. “No, you’re not. You can be jealous of my money, that’s totally fair, but you do not wanna be someone’s stunt man.”

“You’re absolutely right, I do not.” Ryland laughed. He loved Colt, but he could barely watch some of the stunts Colt performed on a daily basis. They scared him so badly. And while he knew, theoretically, that Colt was just as safe doing those stunts as he was driving a car, it didn’t make it any easier to watch them. So yeah, Colt could have his job, Ryland did not envy that.

“This’ll be your room down here.” Colt guided as he wheeled the suitcase towards that room across from the foyer. It was twice the size of his room back home, and Ryland really tried not to feel out of place, but he definitely recognized that he would stick out like a sore thumb here if not for being Colt’s brother.

Even the bed looked massive, and Ryland had to go over to feel it. The comforter was plush and soft, almost like velvet but softer, and pressing down, the mattress felt like memory foam. Ryland couldn’t help but to sink down and lie the upper half of his body on the mattress, arms spread like he was trying to hug the bed. “I’m taking this back home with me.”

“Yeah, good luck getting this to the airport, much less on the plane home.” Colt laughed dismissively, setting Ryland’s satchel down on the bed and sitting down on the edge, next to him. “For real though, if you ever needed help—”

“No. Colt. No, we are not having this conversation.” Ryland immediately looked up at his brother, knowing full well his glare did not have the impact he wanted it to when he was burying his face into the world’s softest black blanket he’d ever felt. “I’m not taking handouts, and I don’t need them, anyway. I appreciate you wanting to help, but don’t worry about me.” He slid up to fully lie down on the bed, melting in like a puddle. “I’m just enjoying the luxuries I don’t usually get to have. Is this bedspread lined with crack or something? There’s no reason it should be this hard to get up.”

“Says the man who’s never even tried crack before.” Colt cackled, standing up from the bed and grabbing at one of the belt loops of Ryland’s jeans. “Come on, go get your PJs and wash up before you dirty up your bed on day one.”

Ding-da-ding!

Ryland groaned as he stirred in bed, trying to ignore the alert from his text tone that woke him in the first place. The room’s peace was disturbed by the obnoxious blue light of his phone lighting up, though after a few moments, it went dark again. The doctor closed his eyes again, face buried halfway into his pillow as he tucked his arms beneath it and curled into the bed like he was trying to merge with it to get back to sleep.

Ding-da-ding!

Fudge his life.

Ryland groaned loudly in aggravation, reaching over for his phone to bring it up to the bed. When he tried to read it, the blur of the screen made him squint as he tried to tap at it like it would focus the screen for him. It then occurred to him that his eyes were the problem, not the phone, and so he backed up the device and was finally able to see the screen.

A glance at the clock on his phone told him it was the ungodly hour of 3:30 am, and with this problem finally resolved, he set the phone down on the end table again and plopped an arm over his eyes. He did enjoy helping his students. It was one of the greatest feelings, being able to explain how something worked and getting through to his students to help them understand it. But it was his kids’ summer vacation just as much as it was his.

The first day was spent doing a whole lot of nothing. By the time Ryland woke up, it was already 1 pm, and seeing the time had him startled right out of bed. After a solid few minutes of tired grumbling, Ryland got up, grabbed a shirt, and pulled it on before heading out to the living room. “Colt?” He called, only met by the pure silence of the apartment, save for the muffled hustle and bustle of the streets outside.

A note was folded up on the kitchen island, marked distinctively by his name written in the messy handwriting he recognized to be Colt’s. He picked it up and flattened it out to read it. “Morning Ry! I figure u were probably still tired from ur flight, and I saw that u were still up whenever I got up for work so I just let u sleep. Txt me when u wake up! Ill be home at like 6!”

Colt woke up at 3 am for work? That’s brutal. He supposed he was pretty grateful to have the first day to recover from the flight. He would’ve liked to go out and explore Montreal since he had the next five hours to himself, but… how the heck was he gonna get anywhere without transportation? He didn’t even have his bike.

Ryland almost sputtered at the accusation, but when he squinted at the counter next to the fridge, Colt was, in fact, right. He groaned and started up the pot for brewing before returning to his room to grab his glasses from the end table and tucking them onto his face. 

20 minutes go by faster than you expect when you’re actually trying to do something. Ryland didn’t have time for a shower today, so he just settled for combing his hair for now and resolving to shower when they got home. He went through the basic steps of getting ready: putting on deodorant and cologne, brushing his teeth, and getting dressed… and the rest of his 20 minutes was spent trying to figure out how to get the coffee maker to work. He didn’t even see any buttons. There weren’t even any coffee beans in any of the cupboards.

He could text Colt, but he didn’t want to distract him while he was driving. And he was smarter than a coffee maker, dang it! He wasn’t gonna be outsmarted by an inanimate machine. He knew it could flip open at the top, which was unique, but he didn’t even know where to find anything that looked like it would fit in the hole inside of it. Was it supposed to be a filter or something?

Ryland eventually got frustrated and started looking for a tutorial on YouTube when he got the text that Colt was outside. He dropped his head back in defeat, glaring at the coffee maker one last time before grabbing his messenger bag off the counter and heading downstairs. He’ll figure out how to work that cursed thing later.

“I’ll show you how to use it when we get home.” Colt laughed as he knocked his knuckle against Ryland’s knee to gesture for him to get out, unlocking the doors and climbing out of the beautiful Corvette from yesterday. 

Ryland groaned as he dropped his head back when he climbed out of the car. “I shouldn’t need you to! It’s a coffee maker, it shouldn’t be like figuring out how to pilot a spaceship!” He started following after Colt, tucking his hands into the pockets of his fox cardigan. He was not pouting. He was a grown man, and grown men do not pout. But he sure did feel like pouting.

Colt shook his head while trying to suppress a grin and putting a hand on Ryland’s shoulder. “It’s alright, dude, I get it. There’s nothing wrong with a machine being smarter than you.”

“You say that like you’re being sarcastic, but there are millions of engineers out there, trying to make machinery smarter than humans. And they’re not even that far off. Have you seen some of the virtual assistants they’ve made recently? I bet I could find a robot that’s smarter than you.”

“I didn’t know you were a gambler.” Colt taunted as they passed a dozen tents that looked almost identical. Ryland almost wondered how his brother, of all people, didn’t get lost here. “How much are you willing to bet?”

Ryland narrowed his eyes at his brother’s proposal, swatting his hand away. “No. We’re not making any actual bets.”

“Man, why not? Are you afraid you wouldn’t win?” Colt nudged at him tauntingly. Ryland swatted him away again.

“No, I’m afraid you would take the bet, knowing you’d lose on purpose.”

“Why would I do that?”

“To give me things.”

“Your aversion to getting gifts is still super weird, just so you know.” Colt shook his head. He must’ve spotted someone off in the distance, because he raised his hand and gestured for them to come over. Not a minute later, a short man with a messy brown bob approached, and Colt muttered something to him before the brunette nodded and took off again. 

Ryland looked at where he had gone, brows furrowed, and then looked back at his twin. “What was that?”

“You’ll see. C’mon, you gotta meet Dan and Savannah.” He put a hand on Ryland’s shoulder again to guide him along. When they crossed through the set, Colt grabbed onto his wrist to guide him through the maze of equipment.

While following his twin through the set, Ryland couldn’t help but glance over at the active shoot. People were just about everywhere, holding mics and cameras, working on lighting adjustments, and the director was gesturing around for people to do things while trying to stay quiet. In the middle of it all was a man and a woman; the man was blonde with his bleached blonde locks tugged back in an intentionally messy bun. He was sporting a spotty beard and dressed in a white dress shirt that had been stained over with oil splotches and even a bit of blood. 

The woman in front of him had long, wavy black hair; she was painted green even down to her hands, and she had a pair of antennae popping out of her forehead. She was sporting a long robe that looked almost religious in style, a belt placed over her midsection, and boots with a stiletto heel that did not look comfortable to walk in. 

While the twins were walking, Ryland noticed that the blonde man started looking directly at him. The director loudly shouted, “Cut!” And all at once, the hustle and bustle of the film crew started up again. People were scurrying about, moving their equipment, talking, and the actors on stage were immediately drawing away from where they were before. The blonde man had kept his eyes fully trained on Ryland now, and he couldn’t help but feel a little shy under the gaze, so he quickly looked away and sped up his pace to try to get Colt to move quicker, too.

Colt didn’t seem to notice any of that exchange, focused on directing them out of the set. When they came out the other side, he pointed over to a set of trailers, probably to a specific one, but Ryland couldn’t really place which one. “There, that’ll be Dan’s trailer. Since we’re not doing any stunts right now, he should be in.”

Ryland nodded at his twin’s assessment, following him to the steps of the trailer where Colt would knock on the door. A few moments would go by before Colt knocked again, and still no answer. “So… I’m guessing he’s not in.” Ryland joked, to which Colt glared at him, and then looked around.

“He’s probably around here somewhere.” Colt mumbled, looking around and pulling his sunglasses out from his shirt collar to put them on. The man from earlier, the one with the brown messy bob, appeared behind Colt and lightly tapped on his arm. Colt didn’t even flinch, looking back to him and grinning as he picked something up from the man. “Thanks, Reg.” He saluted as best he could with both his hands occupied by cups of coffee. He extended one back to Ryland, who instantly lit up as he took the cup.

“Thank you.” He seemed pleasantly delighted as he took a sip, his mouth practically exploding with flavor. Either this was some excellent coffee, or Ryland was really desperate for a cup, and this satiated that need perfectly. Either way, he was incredibly happy with this.

Colt shrugged simply and gestured with his head for Ryland to follow him. They started back to the set again, and now when they came through, it was much more lit up, people were scattered a little more, and the crew didn’t seem to be in as much of a rush as before. Colt stopped near a blonde girl who was trying to adjust the camera near the original set, looking through the peephole in it and carefully nudging it bit by bit to get it into the perfect angle. “Hey Jodes,” Colt spoke up behind her, and she startled so fiercely that she nudged the camera completely out of position.

“Colt!” She groaned in frustration, trying to snap the camera as close to the correct angle as she could get it on the first attempt. “I’ve been fighting with this thing for like ten minutes. You just totally— Whoa…” When she looked up, her eyes caught onto Ryland, and then went back to Colt, and then she did a double-take to look back at Ryland with wide, startled eyes. “You… you must be Colt’s twin. Ryland, right?” The woman offered a handshake to the doctor.

“Yeah. Ryland Grace. It’s nice to meet you.” He took her hand and shook it lightly, a smile on his face. “I take it you’re the Jody I’ve heard so much about?” Ryland suggested, and the reaction he got from both Jody and his twin were both oscar worthy. The furious, wide-eyed glare from Colt paired well with the confused and flustered smile on Jody’s face as she tilted her head.

“You talk about me to your brother?” Jody asked with a grin as Colt slowly turned back to her, like he was trying to collect his facade again before she could see.

“Pff. No. What? No. I mean, yes, but, like— I talk about everyone on set to him! You— you guys are part of my life…” His voice started getting smaller and smaller as Colt tried to defend himself, and Ryland couldn’t help but laugh. “Not helping, not helping, shut up!” Colt quickly reprimanded his twin, knocking him in the side with his elbow, which Ryland responded to by nudging him back.

“Not my fault that you gush about her for hours whenever we’re on the phone.” Ryland quipped.

“Okaaay! We’re leaving! You’re leaving!” He pointed to Ryland as he grabbed hold of his twin’s arm, dragging him away from Jody, who was left as red-faced as a strawberry, trying to cover her sweet smile.

Ryland cackled as he was dragged away through the maze of equipment to be far enough out of Jody’s earshot. If looks could kill, Colt would’ve been hiding Ryland’s body three times over by now. He put an arm up on Ryland’s shoulder, digging his thumb into the pressure point near his neck that left Ryland trying to curl out of his touch. “You… are genuinely one of the biggest assholes I’ve ever met.”

“Ow, ow, ow, bad touch, bad touch, I’m sorry!” Ryland yelped, pushing at Colt’s arm to try and get him to let go.

“This isn’t even half of how bad I’m gonna kick your ass later.” Colt warned as he let go, just late enough to make Ryland stumble back from his lack of balance. A sudden chill crept up Ryland’s spine, and he quickly glanced around, spotting a tall black man with a short fade hairstyle quickly approaching.

His eyes were trained on Colt, though, so it didn’t really explain the pins and needles on the back of Ryland’s neck. “Colt!” The man shouted out, and just as quickly, he was at their sides. “Where did you go earlier? I was looking for you for like 30 minutes. We’re coming up to the bullet hell scene soon.”

“Aw, shit, already?” Colt dropped his head back in defeat. “I thought we weren’t doing that until closer to the finale.”

“Tom and Jenesy have been getting their takes pretty quick, so we’re a little ahead of schedule now, plus Mikey changed his mind on how he wanted to do it. You have time to go over the choreography of it right now?”

Colt looked down at Ryland and offered a hand to help him stand up. “I was actually wanting to show my brother around set a little more. Ryland, this is Dan, the guy I was trying to introduce you to earlier. Dan, this is my twin brother, Ryland Grace.” He gestured between the two for them to exchange pleasantries.

Ryland extended his hand, and Dan took it and shook it quickly, offering a courteous nod, and then looking back to Colt. “Look, the choreography will take like ten minutes. Fifteen, tops. I’d rather you know how it’s gonna work so you can practice, and I gotta be out of here by four. Can we just run through it now, please?”

“Well, I—” Colt huffed dejectedly, looking back to Ryland with a responsibility in his eyes that Ryland recognized all too well.

“It’s okay. Go. I can entertain myself for fifteen minutes.” Ryland reassured, his arms tucking around himself. “Plus, I’d rather not take on any more of your embarrassed wrath.”

Colt looked like a bird whose feathers were ruffled hideously, a scowl reappearing on his face until Dan redirected him down the path towards the set again. Ryland watched his brother go, and after a few moments standing alone, he was quickly reminded of the electric chills running unpleasantly up and down his spine.

A quick glance at his surroundings didn’t provide any clear source for it, so he just shifted uncomfortably and started exploring back into the movie set. Everything looked so intense, though he supposed he didn’t know what he should expect of an action movie set.

His peace didn’t seem to last terribly long. Ryland was watching his brother in the distance, talking with Dan as they ran through the explanations of what was going to happen. Dan was trying to show him by performing a few of the movements himself, and Ryland was actually enjoying the sight, when a sultry, smooth voice startled him out of his daze. “That resemblance is crazy.”

Ryland looked around to find that the actor he’d seen earlier was standing not too far behind him, and he instinctively stepped away to create a little space between them. “Excuse me?”

“The resemblance between you and Colt.” The man gestured up to the blonde, who was trying to perform a round kick while in a handstand. Colt was struggling to stay upright for it. “I didn’t even know he had a twin.” The actor added.

“Oh, uhm, yeah.” Ryland agreed uncomfortably. “Sorry, who are you?”

“You don’t know who I am?” The man laughed in disbelief. “He was just bragging about how he talks about everyone he works with on set. I find it hard to believe he’s never mentioned me. Tom Ryder, world-famous action star.” Tom offered his hand to Ryland, who hesitated for a second, but ultimately decided he shouldn’t let Colt’s bias affect his first interactions with people. 

“Uh… no, he— He has mentioned you, too.” Ryland conceded as he took Tom’s hand and tried to shake it, but the actor brought it up to press a kiss to his knuckles instead.

“Good. At least he still has some taste to speak of.” Tom smiled like he knew he was the most charming man in the world, and Ryland almost couldn’t help the uncomfortable grimace. He barely managed to cover it with a smile instead. “What’s with the face?” Tom asked, and Ryland supposed he probably wasn’t the smartest man to try to put on a mask around someone who did that for a living.

“Nothing… Nothing.” Ryland quickly tried to correct himself, looking away from the actor entirely to refocus on his brother. He’s heard his fair share about Tom. About what a jerk this guy can be. He mostly tried to reserve his judgments where he could, but Tom wasn’t exactly disproving anything that Colt had said about him. Plus, he did not like being touched without warning, much less kissed. He could recognize that Tom was trying to be suave, but it was not working in his favor, not with Ryland.

“You know, I can see the resemblance in the face,” Tom started as he moved his hand up to cup Ryland’s chin, tilting it to study his face. “But I think if I put you in a line-up next to Colt and had you wear the exact same thing, I think I could still pick you out.” 

Okay. Too much touching. Ryland quickly stepped back, his face warm and his chest tight as he cleared his throat and shrugged. “We— we get that a lot. Uhm, I think I’m gonna go talk to Jody. It was great meeting you.” Ryland quickly tried to scurry off, and Tom thankfully let him go. A quick glance back showed that the actor looked like he’d just smelled a skunk, and Ryland couldn’t help but feel the same way. That guy has no sense of personal space. And if he was so good at reading Ryland’s expressions, why couldn’t he tell that he was making him uncomfortable?

All he knew was that he had never been more grateful to worm his way out of an interaction before. That just left him feeling slimy.