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Court doesn't know how he ended up here, with his little brother leaning heavily on him as they made their way down the street.
It's some time pass three in the morning. He had been watching Ryland stumble his way home from a party— from a distance, where it was safe. He hadn't planned on getting this close, it wasn't smart. He just wanted to make sure Ryland made it home safe, just like he did any other time he had a mission close enough to the twins to stop in on them.
Ryland falls, tripping over seemingly nothing and Court surges forward before he can think better of it. From the way he was stumbling before the fall Court thinks it's fair to assume that there's little chance that Ryland will even remember who got him home, if he remembers how he got home at all. He can't just leave him there in the damp grass.
He stands over his little brother for a moment and just stares. It'd been years since he'd seen him so close. Ryland looks older but he can't really put his finger on how, time has changed his brother in ways he couldn't begin to understand because he wasn't around to see it happen. It's fine, it doesn't hurt at all. He nudges Ryland with his foot in attempt to stir him.
Ryland's eyes snap open and he stares hazily for a second as he gathers his bearings. The his gaze settles on Court, who holds his breath and prays he looks greatly different from who he used to be. "Hey," Ryland slurs out with a wide smile, reaching up to Court. It makes him nauseous, far too similar to something his little brother would have done when he was younger.
"Come on, lets get you home," he says, pulling Ryland off the ground. It's the first time he's touched his brother since the night he was taken away, he'd probably cry if Ryland wasn't drunk and being as difficult as he was when he was a toddler.
"No," Ryland's voice drags and he lets himself be pulled up like dead weight. The second he's upright he twists awkwardly and Court has to reach out to steady him. "Stranger danger." He giggles to himself before taking a few steps and plopping down in the middle of the road.
Court sighs, looking around before sitting down next to Ryland. If you can't beat them, join them. "You need to go home, Ry," he says softly.
"My brothers call me that." It's a shot to the heart. Brothers, both of them, as if Court hadn't been dead in their eyes for years. Ryland perks back up, quick to move on. "My brother can beat you up," he says it so cheerily that Court can do little else than bark out a laugh in surprise. "No for real. He does– he does stunts. Big time."
"You look" Ryland sighs, dragging a hand down his face and dislodging his glasses from their place. "I know you from somewhere." Court says nothing. "Are you in my ethics class? Isn't concerning how many people take ethics just to see how unethical they can get before it's too much." He lays back, in the middle of the street. "I miss the stars."
Court doesn't know what to say. He doesn't know if anything he said would matter in with how in his own world Ryland seems to be, any way. He stares up at the empty sky. There had been far more visible stars where they had grown up, just hours from here.
They stay like that for a while, Court thanks every high power that no one decides to drive their car down this street, and he's nearly convinced Ryland has fallen asleep and he's going to have to carry him home. Only, when he turns to look at him, Ryland is staring at the sky with a fierce intensity. "You okay there, kid?"
"I don't know if it was worth it." Ryland closes his eyes, stretching his arms up to the sky once again, only this time Court isn't there to haul him up so he ends up grasping at the open air awkwardly. "If I'm only here in this moment, at this school, because my life has gone the way it has– I don't know if it's worth it." Ryland turns over to look at him, tucking his hands into his chest. It's reminiscent of when the twins would have a bad dream and sleep in Court's bed. He has to get Ryland home, this is getting to be a bit more than he bargained for. "Do you get what I'm saying? Is it worth it for you? For anyone?"
"Ryland, it's–" he starts before thinking the better of it. He stand up, reaching down to pull his brother off the ground. "It's time to get you home." Ryland lets himself be pulled off the ground easily and they set off down the road.
He's in the midst of trying to herd his brother, like a sheep, in the direction of his apartment when Ryland stops and turns to face him."Someone gave me something," he whispers loudly, with one hand at the side of his mouth while blinking in a way that's very apparent that he meant to wink.
"What do you mean?" He grabs his brothers by his shoulders, looking into his extremely dilated pupils. He doesn't know how he didn't notice it sooner, it feels like something he would've known if he got to spend his life with his brothers— the difference between a drunk Ryland and a cross faded one. "Did you take a pill from a stranger?"
Ryland smiles in a sneaky way, the same way he used to when they were kids and Court would find him in the middle of an experiment that involved blowing something up. "Just one," he says holding up a finger.
Court stands up, rubs his temple, and sighs. "What did you take?" He asks before standing up. "Do you remember what it looked like?"
"It looked like a good time." Ryland sees the pure exhaustion on Courtland's face and takes pity on him. "I dunno, they just kinda," he mimes, stretching his hand out. "And I just," he pulls his hand back in and puts it up to his mouth. "Down the hatch," he smiles proudly and Court wants nothing more than to shake him as hard as physically possible.
Court considers how his brother has made it this far without dying if this is something he casually confesses to what he believes to be a stranger. "You have no idea what it was? That's insanely unsafe, Ryland. That could kill you!" He pauses, seeing the way his brother wilts, before taking a steadying breath. "Did you at least know the person?"
Ryland smiles sheepishly. "They seemed kind." Court nods once, thoroughly over his brother and his antics. Ryland's smile shifts, stretching wider. "They were a great dancer."
"Okay," Court drawls, keeping his eyes ahead and marching them both forward. This is definitely above his pay grade, he hasn't had to play an awkward half father figure role for Ryland in years and he isn't quite sure he wants to now. It's not like he had much authority here anymore, and what would he say? Don't take pills from nice strangers who can dance?
"What's your name again?" Ryland asks after a moment of silence.
Court contemplates, rolling the idea around in his head of telling his very inebriated brother who he really was. "Six," he says, looking away when he answers.
"Man, people will name their kids anything these days. No offense." Ryland twirls needlessly and Court has to once again reach out to steady him. "What, were you like your parents' sixth kid and they gave up on naming or something?" He laughs, stumbling forward. "How many siblings do you have?"
"Just two brothers," he answers numbly because it's the truth but his life had moved so far away from what it once was that the words feel like a lie falling from his mouth.
Ryland hums his acknowledgement. "Me too," he says quietly, walking ahead slightly. "How'd they'd get Six then, if there's only three of you?"
Court really should've just shut the hell up. He should have silently walked his brother back to his apartment and left without looking back. He shouldn't be talking to Ryland right now, it was all so pointless but he couldn't imagine doing this any other way. He needed this. "They were planning ahead, I guess."
Ryland nods like his piss poor explanation made any sense. "I'm sorry for asking, everyone hates this question so much, what are you majoring in?"
Court has no idea who he would've been if he hadn't pulled that trigger the night their dad lost it on Ryland. He couldn't imagine there is a world where he went to college, in any other reality that wasn't this he would have worked himself to near death to make sure the twins got everything they needed. "English," he says dumbly because that's maybe believable, it's at least the easiest lie to field questions for. He's nearly certain he knows English well enough for it to be something he majored in.
"Oh cool, I don't really know what English majors do. Go on to grad school? Become a teacher?" Ryland turns to him and looks at him with a strange intensity. "You should shoot for a PhD, you've got a scowl that would traumatize a child." Court laughs, mostly because Ryland was always the first to crack when they were younger and he was scolding the twins for whatever shenanigans they had gotten up to. "I'm going to go forever, you know? Grad school, academia, research, the whole nine yards."
Court smiles openly now, it fixes something in him to hear Ryland talk about his future with such certainty. "What are you planning on researching?" He asks, mostly to hear his brother talk more.
"I've been thinking about how necessary water actually is. Colt, my brother, he says 'oh! Ryland, you simply must stay hydrated or I'm going to come home and you're going to be dead!' He's such a worrywart. Sure, you and I need water but there's gotta be something out there that doesn't, no matter how much everyone thinks it's the best thing since– well I guess since before sliced bread. I'm gonna prove them all wrong, really make my brothers proud. They love being contrarians."
"I'm sure they'll be proud of you even if you agreed with everyone."
Ryland's shoulders slump a little. "Yeah, they're good like that." There's a moment where it's just the sound of the two of them breathing softly and their shoes hitting the pavement. Court wishes he got more of these nights, maybe not under the current circumstances, but he wishes he could just walk his brother home every now and again. "Were you at the party?"
"No, I just saw you fall. I would've felt bad if I left you there," he answers honestly because the lies seem to be building a layer of muck in his stomach that he's sure he's going to have to spit up after he finishes here.
Ryland bumps shoulders with him and it feels like someone pressing a hot iron into directly into his skin despite all the layers between them. "I guess you're passing ethics with flying colors."
"Are you not?" Court asks, genuinely surprised even if he had no idea how intense the course is. Ryland had always been particular about his grades, even more so since finding himself in a stable environment.
"I'm passing, yeah. I just can't help but think that maybe we should be just a little bit sometimes okay with human experimentation. Just on like the worst of the worst."
"Who gets to decide who's the worst? And what's in place to stop the deciders from picking on a group of people they don't like. People are far too self serving to play god like that."
"That's… yeah– okay definitely something that's happened and would happen again. Oh no, now I feel evil. Am I one of the people taking ethics to see how far I can push the line?" There are tears in Ryland's eyes and it takes a lot of willpower to not laugh in his face. Ryland had always been soft around the edges, it was something Court loved greatly about his brother.
"You're not evil, Ryland. You seem like the type save every bug that people want to squash." That had been a great debate in their home growing up, one that Ryland had won and subsequently trained Colt to do the same. "You're a good person."
"Thanks, you're good too– walking me back and all. Unless you're doing that to be able to kill me in my own home. In which case I have to reiterate that I live with my brother who can beat you up."
"Noted." Court can see the twins apartment now, he can't help but feel the walk was too short. He wont get to do this again. He wishes he could do more, tell Ryland who he is, hug his brother tighter than a stranger would. Court does nothing, he walks into the lobby and holds the door open for his brother. It's fine.
They take the elevator up and Court cringes when Ryland balks at the motion. He missed his brothers dearly, but he was grateful to not have to deal with cleaning up the result of Ryland's motion sickness anymore.
Colt's inside, still awake and moving around the living room and Court hadn't really considered what to do when they got this far. He nudges Ryland towards the door but he doesn't get very far before his brother turns around with a frown on his face. "We're here, you should go."
"Aw," he frowns harder. "Okay, I'm going to miss you."
Court grits his teeth before saying, "I'll see you in ethics, okay?"
Ryland perks up before throwing his arms around Court and slumping into him in a half hug. "Okay, see you." Court lingers in it for a second— Ryland is warm and heavy against him. For a second, if he closes his eyes, it feels like things are right again.
Then Ryland pulls away, Court smiles softly and waves him away. He has to turn and walk away before his brother reaches the door so Colt doesn't see him, this is fine. It's been a fine night, he'll go back to his life and nothing will have changed. It's fine.