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Colt glances down at the brick propping open the door to the apartment building. He’s probably the last person that should be lecturing anyone on ‘safety’, but that doesn’t seem secure. Oh well, Colt can lecture his brother in just a few minutes.
Finally back from filming Jody’s next movie in Morocco, Colt has returned to San Francisco. Jody unfortunately is not free, busy overseeing editing revisions for the film. He would have liked her to come with him, something about the ominous texts sent from both of his brothers has set him on edge.
Court:
Report back any strange or concerning behaviour. We’ll debrief over coffee tomorrow.
Ryland:
Hey, excited for you to come to dinner, just be nice and chill pls
The two texts were sent back to back. Neither of his brothers were willing to elaborate on what they meant. Court wasn’t coming to dinner, because Claire, Colt’s favorite niece, has a parent teacher conference. Colt suspects whatever is happening at dinner, Court made sure he was busy.
Colt treks up the stairs, despairing about the fact that Ryland has to live in a building with no elevator. Thankfully he’s only on the third floor, but by the time he exits the stairwell, he can feel a twinge building in his back.
He reads the apartment numbers 301, 302, 303, 304, 305! He pauses before he knocks on the door. Despite the work both Colt and Ryland had done to repair their relationship, he still feels guilty about all the things he said after his fall. He had not been pleasant company, especially towards his brother, who had only wanted to help him. Desperately stubborn and caring, Ryland had been by Colt’s side, even when he pushed Jody and everyone else away. The things Colt had said to make Ryland finally flee, he doesn’t like to remember.
He brushes off his jacket and tries to smooth out his hair, only leaving it more messy. Okay, no more stalling. Despite all the times they’ve seen each other since reconciling, Colt is still nervous when he knocks on the door.
The door opens swiftly. Colt had been waiting to meet eyes with his brother, so he’s surprised when he’s forced to glance down slightly. A man stands in the doorway, slightly shorter than Colt, wearing a black hoodie and jeans, with broad shoulders, and dark hair tied up in a loose ponytail.
He looks at Colt impassively. “Oh, uh, I think I've got the wrong apartment, heh.” Colt says nervously, feeling himself being taken apart by this stranger's gaze.
“Nah, you’ve got it right, come in.” The stranger opens the door wide enough for Colt to come inside. He sees the bright yellow rain coat Ryland loves so much hung up on a hook.
Colt shrugs his trepidation away and walks into the apartment. He slips his sneakers off, setting them next to the beat up converse he knows belong to his brother. On the other side of the converse is a pair of heavy black combat boots, steel toes scuffed up from age.
The stranger slips past Colt, he calls into the apartment, “Your brother’s here!”
There’s a soft crash and Ryalnd comes flying out of the kitchen. “Hi!” Ryland swoops in for a hug, mindful of Colt’s back. Colt wraps his arms around his brother and squeezes tightly. It’s only been two months, but Colt had missed his brother terribly.
When Colt pulls back, he sees the stranger is gone, leaving Colt and Ryland alone in the entry. There are some definite changes to the apartment since the last time Colt had been here. Usually they go out to dinner. Or they go to Court’s house, because in his words ‘it’s easily defendable, and better suited to fight off enemies’. Their big brother is a weirdo.
The last time he had been here, the apartment had been much messier, and much less lively. On a flower shaped mat near the entry, there is a set of cat dishes, one marked Felicette, and the other marked Ellie. All of Ryland’s papers are neatly stacked, some of the piles even labeled. There are refreshing green plants growing on every free surface, strange considering Ryland has killed every plant he’s ever owned. He glances at the book shelf and sees it neatly divided between scientific texts and studies, and cozy romance, and books on theology. A strange recombination, to be sure.
There are more pictures on the walls. Some Colt even recognizes from childhood that he didn’t realize Ryland still had, or would want to display. Nothing with their father, but plenty of himself, Ry, Court and their mother. There are photos of Ryland on school trips, overseeing his students, some candid shots taken with love. There are very few, but Colt sees some pictures of the stranger, only ever with Ryland. There are also photos of two more strangers, usually together. One with dark skin and teal dreadlocks, taller than everyone they stand beside, the other shorter, with curly hair, tan skin and glasses.
Ryland pulls Colt along to sit on the comfortable couch. He can just see past an ajar door to see the stranger cooking in the kitchen. Ryland’s glasses are askew as he turns to Colt and asks him all about Morocco, the movie, and Jody. Colt stumbles through his first few words, trying to get his bearings back. He quickly finds a steady groove, telling his brother about everything that went down while filming.
“ - and we had to redo it, which put filming back and - what the fuck!” Colt jumps back slightly when something leaps up onto the coffee table, gently stepping between stacks of papers.
“This is Ellie, Simon’s cat.” Ryland says easily.
The ‘cat’ sits on the table, right in front of Colt, staring at him intently. Ellie’s fur is puffed up in agitation, only making the missing patches of fur and exposed skin more obvious. Her long tail has been bisected, leaving the two parts moving independently of each other. Fur hasn't grown over the cut, leaving the gnarly scar tissue open and visible when the two parts moved. One ear has a large chunk taken out of it, while the other had been almost entirely cut away. There is a large scar going over her nose. One eye is a cloudy grey, and the other is an unnatural red. Ellie stares at him, looking at him like he’s prey.
Colt opens his mouth to protest that term, but the second he moves, Ellie hisses. Colt is not normally scared of animals, much less cats. But, Jesus, there is something wrong with that thing.
The stranger, who Colt assumes must be Simon, comes out of the kitchen and scoops Ellie up, taking her away. She looks at Colt from over Simon’s shoulder, and he’s sure she’s smirking at him.
Colt turns his head sharply to his brother, who only says, “She’s a rescue.” Like that explains anything. “It’s okay, she doesn’t bite.”
“Yes she does.” Simon says, walking back into the kitchen, no cat in sight.
Colt leans closer to Ryland. “What the fuck? Explain yourself.” He demands.
Ryland rubs the back of his neck uncomfortably. “Heh, well it’s kind of a long story.”
“Start with who he is and why he’s in your apartment.” Colt gestures to the kitchen, keeping his voice quiet.
Ryland’s face tints pink, “Well, that’s because it’s his apartment too. That’s kind of what I wanted to tell you.”
“You wanted to have dinner to tell me you have a roommate?” Colt asks, confused. He’s happy to see his brother, but this definitely could have been a text.
“Heh, uh, no.” Ryland leans back, fidgeting with his glasses. “No, I wanted to tell you that… he’s my… partner.”
“Partner… in housing?” Colt asks.
“No.”
“Partner… in teaching?”
“No.”
“Partner… in science?”
“No.”
“Partner… in crime?”
“No.”
Colt has run out of ideas, which means now it’s time to face the music. “Partner… in romance?”
“Yes, Colt. Partner in romance.” Ryland says, looking uncomfortable to say the words.
“You’re dating?” Ryland nods at his question and Colt stares at him dumbstruck.
“Uh, yeah.”
“For how long?” Usually you don’t move into the same apartment until after meeting the family. Ryland mumbles something. “What was that?” Colt asks. Ryland and Colt go back and forth, his twin speaking too low for Colt to understand, clearly on purpose, like if Ryland isn’t clear Colt will just let it go. Which only serves to make him more curious.
Simon exits the kitchen, putting a salad on the table. “Nineteeen months.” He says before quickly retreating to continue making dinner.
Colt lurches forward, clutching Ryland’s shoulders. “Nineteen months!? A year and a half!? What the hell!?”
Ryland pats Colt’s hands, smiling guiltily. “Uh, yeah. It just kind of… happened? We were seeing each other as friends, but things… developed.”
Ryland has always been hesitant to talk about relationship stuff with Colt. His only other long term relationship had been Linda. Ryland hadn’t even told his brother they broke up until six months after. When they were kids he used to tell Colt gross biology facts that would get him covering his ears to avoid questions about his crushes. After Linda, Colt had seriously considered the possibility that romance just might not be something Ryland wants to pursue. It always seemed like the thing at the bottom of his list of priorities. As long as Ryland is happy with the kind of life, Colt’s happy for him.
Except, here they are. Sitting together while Ryland’s boyfriend makes dinner. They have two cats and live in the same apartment for god's sake! Colt should have known about this! They might not have been as close as they once were, but with how much they talk, you might assume Ryland would have thought it important to mention!
It’s hard for Colt to tell whether he’s frustrated or hurt. Probably both. He’s quiet for a long time before asking, “why didn’t you tell me?”
Ryland’s nervous fidgeting stops and he looks Colt in the eye. “Are you… upset?”
Normally Colt’s response to that would be ‘obviously’. But for his brother, he says, “a little? I told you right away about me and Jody.”
Ryland tilts his head. “But you were sure where you and Jody were going.”
“Huh?”
Ryland huffs, the way he always does when his thoughts don’t translate into words the way he wants. Colt does the same thing at the time. “You… you were sure about what you wanted from Jody. And you were at least pretty sure you knew how she felt about you. You two… it was pretty clear what you both wanted, and that things were gonna work out. Things are… different for Simon and me.”
Colt glances over to the kitchen door, still ajar. He can see Simon in front of the stove. He scoots a little closer to his brother, whispering low, “how are they different?”
Ryland smiles a little at Colt’s subtle move to have them whisper. But he doesn’t lower his regular volume, despite the fact Colt is sure Simon can hear them. “You know how I am. Too weird. Too focused on research that doesn’t even matter, too focused on the kids. Spending too much time with my head in the clouds. Too much. I didn’t tell you because if things didn’t work out, I didn’t want to have to tell people things didn’t work out. I didn’t want to have to dig into it or bring it up after it was over.”
The fact that his brother doesn’t seem to care if Simon hears means they’ve probably had this talk. Which actually puts Colt at ease. Part of the big problem with Linda was that Ryland didn’t feel comfortable sharing all the crazy insecurity going on in his head. If Simon knows, that’s a good sign. “I wouldn't have made you talk about it if you didn’t want to.” Colt assures him.
“Thanks.” Rylands says. “But things have kind of progressed to a point where I’m not anxious anymore. Or, well, I’m still anxious, I won’t ever stop being anxious. But… things are good. And this is kind of the next step. Plus, Court figured it out and I thought it wasn’t right that he knew and you didn’t.”
Under different circumstances, Colt might ask how his brother found out. Expect that Court is such a weirdo he’s stalking both his little brothers, so Colt just assumes that’s how he found out. The real question is, how did they keep it a secret for so long. “I’m happy you invited me over for this. I’m happy to see you happy.”
Ryland beams at him, pulling him into a hug, as always mindful of his back.
“Yo, dinner’s ready.” The twins turn to see Simon sticking his head out of the kitchen. They both hop up, almost perfect mirrors of each other. Colt sees the amusement in the man’s stony face.
Colt lets Ryland direct him to his seat. Ry and Simon sit on one side of the table, and Colt sits across from them. Dinner is spread out on the table, sliced ham, salad, green beans, and potatoes. There are a few minutes where the three of them just serve themselves and eat.
After the first couple bites Colt says to Simon, “you are a really good cook, this is delicious.”
“Grace helped with a lot of it.” Simon says, not quite meeting Colt’s eye. He employs the same trick Colt grew up seeing Ryland use. Look instead at the space just above and between the eyes. Ryland used that move throughout their childhood when adults demanded he look them in the eye. After so many years, Colt can tell when someone is doing the same thing.
Colt snorted, “No, no way. Ryland would eat dry ramen noodles for breakfast if he could get away with it.”
Ryland followed up by saying, “he’s being modest. Simon did all the work, I just did the dishes and handed him stuff. He’s a great cook. He makes the best curry, it’s crazy good.”
Colt sees Simon look down at his food, his dark bangs falling over his face. But he can still see a pink tint at his partner's compliments. Okay, this guy might not be as much of a stone wall as I thought. Colt fights back a smirk at that.
Colt’s eyes are drawn to something metallic catching the light at the right angles. He hadn’t noticed when he first walked in, or when Simon picked up Ellie, but his left hand is made of metal. It’s unclear how far up it goes, but the metal disappears under his sleeve. The fingers are dexterous, working with the smoothness of his other hand. It’s chrome, coloured dark like steel, the lines where each of his fingers bend is detailed with gold, as are the tips of his fingers. It’s the kind of clean, complicated prosthetic that you only see on tv.
He quickly looks away when he sees Simon has noticed his staring. He’s not trying to be rude, but damn, it’s cool and he would love to ask about it. Instead he asks, “how did you two meet?”
“Mugging.” “In the laundry room.” They both answer at the same time, then look at each other in confusion.
“We met before we ran into each other in the laundry room.” Ryland says.
“That doesn’t count, we didn’t even talk.” Simon argues. “It’s not meeting if we walk away not knowing each other’s names.”
“Yeah, but it laid the base for our later meeting. I wouldn’t have said anything in the laundry room if we hadn’t met before.” Ryland response.
"That's like seeing someone’s picture then talking to them, then saying later you met when you saw the picture.” Simons says back.
“No, because it was in real life. It wouldn’t be the same if you stopped me from getting robbed online. We were in the same physical space. We interacted.” Ryland debates.
“We hardly interacted.”
“Hardly doesn’t mean not at all.”
The two men go back and forth. It’s amusing for Colt to watch. It’s even more amusing when he notices that as they go back and forth, their hands, each resting on the table surface, inch closer together until their fingers are intertwined, even as they continue to bicker.
Eventually they settle down and Colt asks how long they’ve been living together for more than two years. Longer than they had even been dating. Colt realizes that they are doing things so far out of order that maybe it’s not too bad that they waited to tell him.
Colt also gets the chance to ask Ryland about the two strangers in the pictures. James and Adrian Ortiz. Or rather, Adrian and Rocky. Colt chuckles a bit at the nickname. Ryland apparently met them when Rocky did an engineering lecture at the school. They instantly became best friends, and Rocky introduced Ryland to his spouse Adrian later. The trio became a quartet when Simon moved in, he and Adrian bonding in a similar fashion to their partners. The four of them are quite close, Rocky even being the one to build Simon’s prosthetic.
At the mention of the builder of the arm, Simon offers to show Colt the whole thing. Colt accepts, trying not to be too eager. Simon takes off the big sweater, revealing a t-shirt underneath. The prosthetic goes all the way up to his shoulder, connecting surprisingly clear to what little remained of his up arm. Everywhere the arm bends, there are gold ridges, giving the dark metal some colour and style. Colt doesn’t know a lot about engineering, but the movement is smooth and clearly cool as fuck. And he’s kind of an expert in cool.
“Does your friend do this professionally?” Colt asks.
“Yeah.” Ryland says, “He was working for nasa, but after he made the arm for Simon, he pivoted. He’s got a real talent for prosthetics.”
“I’ve got a few guys who are looking.” In Colt’s line of work, people can lose things and it’s difficult to find a prosthetic with such smooth movement.
“I’ll text you his info. You’ll like him too.” Ryland says, already typing out his information. “I had thought about having Rocky and Adrian over here for dinner as well, but I figured that would be a bit overwhelming.”
Colt nods, “Maybe, but I would love to meet both of them.”
“Next time?” Ryland asks.
“Next time.” Colt responds.
Colt helps Ryland clean up after dinner, while Simon feeds the cats. At the sound of the can opener, the ‘cat’ from earlier, Ellie comes strolling in. She hisses at Colt and Ryland for seemingly no reason before heading towards her food. Another cat follows her a moment later. This one is a well groomed tuxedo cat with a colour and a bell. She brushes past Ryland affectionately and circles Colt a few times in curiosity before going over to eat her own food.
“Felicette is a rescue too.” Ryland says.
“I always pictured you with a dog if you were going to have any pet.” Colt muses.
Ryland twitches for a second. “Simon has a thing about dogs. It’s best if we don't have one.” Ryland doesn’t elaborate, and Colt knows better than to ask. Weird.
The three of them sit down, Ryland and Simon tucked into the love seat, and Colt on the couch so they can easily talk to one another. The brothers go back and forth with ease, like they always have. Simon gets involved a few times, and every time he engages, Ryland smiles sweaty at his partner.
God, is that how I look at Jody? Colt thinks it might be. That’s how he knows Ryland doesn’t have anything to worry about. Those two will last a long time.