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Ryland startled awake at the sound of a disturbance on the fire escape outside his apartment. Someone was climbing on it and none too gracefully at that. He was tempted to poke his head out his bedroom window and check on it, but he could practically hear his older brother Courtland warning him about this not being a good neighborhood. He always countered with the fact that he was stuck here until either the school started paying him more or until he got a roommate or partner to help split the bills. He wasn't holding his breath for the former and he wasn't all that interested in the latter. Peace and quiet was worth far more than a better neighborhood. Then again, midnight intruders on the fire escape were neither peaceful or quiet, so maybe Court had a point.
The noise on the fire escape had stopped, so Ryland decided to peek out and see if whoever was out there had left. They hadn't. Instead they were slumped down below his window, seemingly asleep or maybe passed out. In the dim illumination from the streetlight, it looked like the person, a man based on their size, had been having a rough night. They were covered in sweat, their hair was a disaster, and it looked like there might be blood dripping from where their hand was pressed to their side. Against his better judgment, Ryland decided to go investigate.
"Hey," Ryland whispered, not wanting to sneak up on the person in case they were armed. It was a good call because the moment he stepped foot out the window—wishing he had put on shoes first—the man's head snapped up and he waved a knife in Ryland’s general direction. Ryland raised his hands, palms toward the man in a gesture of surrender. "Whoa, hey, I'm here to help. This is my apartment's fire escape you're bleeding all over." Ryland squinted trying to get a better look in the dim light and realized he recognized the man before him. "Ryder? Tom Ryder? What are you doing here?"
Movie star Tom Ryder was better known to Ryland as a pain in his twin brother's butt. Colt worked as a stunt double for the actor and had so many stories of the man being a self-centered jerk. Ryland's limited experiences with the man had been irritating as well because the man just would not stop hitting on him. Ryland wasn't interested, but it seemed no matter how loudly or how often he told him, Ryder would not take the hint.
Ryder looked confused to be recognized at first, but he quickly composed himself. Well, as much as one could, collapsed and bleeding on a fire escape in the middle of the night. "Sorry, I just couldn't resist such a comfortable looking spot for a nap." He yawned dramatically and looked as if he were preparing to go to sleep right there.
Ryland hesitated as Ryder spoke. Not so much at the words, but at how he said them. "What's with the British accent?"
Ryder shrugged and then winced as if the movement had hurt, "I'm preparing for a role. Practicing my accent."
"And your parkour as well?" Ryland asked truly confused as to how and why a famous actor would be lounging outside his window at this time and in this state. "Let's get you in and patched up and then we can talk about why you're here of all places."
"Sounds good to me," Ryder mumbled and raised a hand toward Ryland as if begging for help standing. Reluctantly, Ryland obliged and braced himself to give the other man a hand getting up.
Getting Ryder through the window and into Ryland’s bedroom proved to be a difficult task. Every bump and twist seemed to jostle the wound in his side and he seemed desperate not to cry out in pain. Eventually it was done and Ryder was seated on the edge of Ryland's bed. Ryland half expected Ryder to make a joke about a flesh wound being all that was needed to get him into Ryland’s bed. He'd been trying to worm his way into Ryland’s affections for years now. But no jokes of that nature were forthcoming and that made Ryland really worry about how serious that wound was.
"Stay right there, I'm going to get my first aid kit," Ryland said, cautioning the man to be still. When he returned a moment later, he was relieved to see the man had done just that.
"We're going to have to get that shirt off of you before we can do anything about this wound," Ryland said, hoping he was projecting more confidence than he felt. If he was honest, he didn't do great around blood and he only had basic first aid knowledge. They should probably just slap some gauze on there and then head to the ER.
As Ryland started to go through his first aid kit and see what all was in there, he was reminded that it had been Court who had put the kit together for him. Looking at everything in there, he was pretty sure someone could do just about anything short of open heart surgery with the kit. Court really was all about being prepared, especially when it came to his family's health and safety.
While he got the supplies that he thought he'd need, he looked up at Ryder, taking in his outfit for the first time. He was wearing a three-piece suit, very expensive looking and well tailored, with slick dress shoes. Ryder had a mustache that Ryland had never seen on him before and while it wasn't his usual preference in facial hair, he had to admit it looked good on him. Ryder's hair was darker than Ryland was used to seeing it, presumably dyed for whatever his next role was. He couldn't quite tell, but it looked like he might have grown his hair out a bit, too. Honestly, if he wasn't obviously in pain and looking like he might pass out, Ryland might have taken a moment to admire the man before him. Ryder was already an attractive man, but dressed like this, it was definitely doing something for him. Not that he'd let Ryder know of course.
Ryder caught him looking and winked at Ryland. "Like what you see, huh?"
"Pfft, you know you're not my type, Ryder. I've told you often enough." Ryland retorted.
"Such a shame, because you are definitely my type, gorgeous," Ryder said, flirty as always. It sounded so much better with that accent, though. "Care to help me out of my clothes, sweetheart?"
Ryland almost jumped at the suggestion. It was certainly suggestive enough by the tone. But obviously he meant that he needed help getting out of the layers covering the injury. Ryland should have realized that it would be difficult for the injured man to get the shirt off by himself in this condition. "Oh, uh, yeah let me help you with that."
Working together they managed to get Ryder undressed from the waist up. Ryland was surprised by all the tattoos he saw. The makeup artists must hate covering those up for his movies because even though he almost always ended up shirtless on screen, Ryland knew he'd never seen that ink on the man before. He really was having a hard time focusing on the task at hand while simultaneously finding more things attractive about the man in front of him. He made a mental note to never tell Colt a single thing about this night because he would kill Ryder and maybe Ryland too for good measure.
"Okay, let's see how bad the damage is," Ryland said, bending down to get a closer look at the wound on Ryder's side. Thankfully it looked pretty shallow and only appeared to be bleeding so much because it was a rather long gash. "I think you should be okay without stitches. I have some medical grade glue in my kit that ought to do the trick. Any deeper and we'd have been getting you to a doctor, though," he looked at Ryder expecting him to make a comment about Ryland actually being a doctor and sighed a little at the lack of joking familiarity. Ryder was being more distant than usual tonight. "Anyway, I know that I am a doctor, but this sort of thing calls for an MD and not a PhD," he laughed feeling that if Ryder was going to be weird about it, he'd have to make his own jokes instead.
Ryland made a mental checklist of all the things he needed to patch up the actor currently sitting half naked on his bed. Gloves, disinfectant, medical glue, he thought that was everything. He talked as he worked, asking everything from how Ryder had gotten cut, "Tried to jump a fence, got caught on something on the way down," to what kind of role required a British accent, fancy clothes, and jumping over fences as part of the prep work, "Sorry, can't tell you. You know all those NDA's they make me sign the second I see a script." At one point Ryland makes a sheepish comment about Ryder's current look, something along the lines of being excited to see this new movie if it means he gets to take in more of Ryder looking like this. Ryder grins at him and says "Why wait for a movie when you've got me here in person?" and Ryland blushes so fiercely it momentarily looks like he has a sunburn.
"There, all glued up. That should hold, but I still think you should get actual medical care from an actual medical professional. Maybe you could call your driver to take you? I don't think you need an ambulance, but you should definitely get checked out at the ER." Ryland says, reaching to offer his own phone for Ryder to use.
"No! No, I don't want to call anyone. I'm feeling fine now and I don't want the publicity if I wander into A&E like this. I'll just keep an eye on it and call my GP later to take a look," Ryder seemed almost frantic to avoid the attention this would get if he took care of this publicly and Ryland couldn't really blame him. Life in the public eye must get exhausting if you couldn't even get medical care without people noticing.
"Well, I still think you should call Gail. You know she can be discreet. I'm pretty sure that woman would cover up a murder for you if you asked her to," Ryland said, referring to the producer responsible for most of Ryder's career success. The woman was a force of nature and Colt had always said she would move mountains if it meant Ryder's career would benefit from it.
"I can call her in the morning. For right now I just need some sleep. Do you mind if I crash here?" He used just the right tone. Not a hint of flirting, which would have put Ryland on edge for sure. He sounded a little vulnerable, not something Ryland had heard from the actor outside of when a movie scene called for it.
"Oh, alright. But no funny business. You can sleep in the bed because I don't want to worry about you springing a leak and getting blood all over my sofa while you sleep," Ryland joked, but he was genuinely worried that his patch job wasn't good enough and he felt obligated to keep an eye on the man. "Let me grab you something to wear while you sleep."
"No worries. I usually just sleep in my pants anyway," Ryder said, and then began to strip down to his underwear. Ryland was confused for a moment and then realization hit.
"Man, you really are committing to the bit for this role, huh? Got the British slang down and everything," Ryland said, a little bit impressed, honestly. He had no idea Ryder was so method in his acting.
Ryder shrugged, "Eh, it's fun to really let myself get into it sometimes. Reminds me of why I got into the craft in the first place."
Ryland told his unexpected guest to make himself comfortable while he cleaned up and put the first aid kit away. By the time he had everything back in its place, Ryder had fallen asleep. Ryland marveled at how vulnerable the actor looked in his sleep. He almost took a picture to send Colt just to freak him out. He decided that he didn't need the drama that would cause, but he took the picture for himself anyway. Call it payment for not letting the guy bleed out on the fire escape. Noticing the phone laying on the bed next to Ryder, Ryland picked it up and plugged it in using his spare charger. Then he verified that his own clothes were clean enough to wear to bed (thankfully he was not covered in blood like he had feared) and crawled into a bed that was much less empty than he had anticipated earlier in the evening.
Tangerine jolted awake several hours later. He took a moment to reorient himself and remembered where he was just as he felt the man beside him snuggle closer and wrap his arm tighter around him. Okay, so this was weird, but nice. The man thought he knew him and he'd been very gentle, so concerned about patching him up. Of course, he still had no idea who he was sharing a bed with. He had a few clues. At one point the man had mentioned a brother named Colt who apparently worked with Tom. He had stated that he himself had a PhD. He knew where he lived, obviously. This should be enough information to figure out the man's name at the very least.
Looking around, he saw where the man had helpfully sat his phone on the nightstand to charge. Careful not to wake the sleeping man clinging to his body, he reached for his phone. Staying absolutely professional, Tangerine definitely did not allow himself to revel in the feeling of having an attractive man wrapped around him as if he was afraid he'd vanish if given the chance. Which he absolutely would. He could not afford to get comfortable here in this strange apartment. He had a job and a target and a partner who was probably worried sick about him. While the man had cleaned up before bed, Tangerine had texted Lemon that he was okay and would be laying low for the night, but he knew his brother would worry himself sick knowing he'd been injured until he could see for himself that it wasn't serious.
After a few moments of searching, Tangerine had the information he was looking for. The man currently snuggled up against him was one Dr. Ryland Grace. He was a school teacher who had apparently left academia after a spectacular incident where he told off some of the leading scientists in his field. It was worth fishing his earbuds out of the pocket of his trousers to listen to the video of Dr. Grace calling a man a "staggering waste of carbon." Damn, it was amazing to hear this otherwise mild mannered man go off like that. God he was hot. His dick twitched at the thought of him getting worked up and yelling at him in that way. He might do it too, if he realized that Tangerine was not who he thought he was.
He had momentarily been taken aback when Grace had assumed he was Tom. Pretending to be his twin brother did offer a convenient cover story, though, so he had rolled with it. Tom almost never mentioned having a twin to anyone, so it was highly unlikely that Grace even knew he existed. They'd been raised separately on two different continents, and they were only barely in touch. Still, he knew enough about his brother's life to be able to come up with the excuse of preparing for a role to explain his different style and accent.
Tangerine was of course not his real name, but he did find it easier to stay undercover if he only let himself think of his codename and not his birth name. He never really cared for that name anyway, so any excuse to ditch it was a welcome one. For the moment, he was Tangerine, or maybe Tom Ryder if you asked Dr. Ryland Grace.
He really did need to get out of this bed. There was a target to deal with and then they could get out of California and back to somewhere more civilized. Maybe he should stop by and visit Tom before he left the US though. It had been a couple years since they'd met up. For now however, the bed was comfy. The man wrapped around him was warm and beautiful. Leaving could wait a little longer. He let himself drift back to sleep.