ronin even wants her on sunday morning (wantheronsunday) wrote in _fracture_, @ 2014-02-16 23:38:00 |
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Entry tags: | chapter 1, ronin, sullivan, the regent hotel |
Don't you 'son' me, Asshole
Who: Ronin and Sullivan
Where: Hallway outside their rooms
When: Late morning
Ronin had spent a little bit of time in his room, eating the food that had been left on a tray outside his door. He showered, got dressed, and thought about going back to Kai’s room. He really wanted to see her again. He needed to figure out exactly what had happened last night. He knew what things had been done and said, but what did it mean for them? He sort of dawdled, thinking maybe she’d come to him first. But he was the man. He should man up and take the first step. He took a deep breath, prepared himself for possible weirdness, and stepped out into the hall, turning quickly to lock his door behind him.
At the same time, Sullivan was stepping out into the hallway as he adjusted his tie. He didn’t really have a plan other than to possibly try and find a way out of this place, but he was stunned to see Ronin there. He did a double-take before actually saying anything, trying to make sure that he wasn’t seeing things. “...So you’re here too, huh?”
Ronin was just turning around to walk down the hall as Sullivan spoke. He startled and then laughed at himself for being so lost in his own thoughts that he could actually jump at the sound of someone speaking. "Dude!" he said, happy to see his brother. Ever the hugger, he strode toward his brother and gave him a bear hug, back slap hybrid. Typical Ronin greeting before stepping back. "Good to see another friendly face!"
Sullivan expected the hug and this time he actually wanted to reciprocate. He was stuck in this strange hotel but at least there was his brother, that familiar face, here with him. For a moment, nothing else really mattered. And then, as he let go, everything else mattered. "What are you even doing here?"
Ronin shrugged, stepping back. "Damned if I know. But Kai and Mai are here too and a whole slew of other people too apparently. Mai thinks I'm behind it and that it's an elaborate prank." He laughed and shook his head. "Dude, I wish I could pull something like this."
"Well, I'll just have to remind her that you're not smart enough." It was nice to have Ronin here with his eternal optimism. It made him feel less on edge, until he remembered their parents. "So…I'm guessing our parents and their parents have no idea where the hell we are either. How can they if we don't? Unless we're kidnapped..."
“Hey! I resemble that comment,” Ronin said as though protesting but he chuckled instead. He was happy to see his brother and to be talking about something that wasn’t iffy with regards to best friendship or whatever. Still, the idea that their parents would be worried hadn’t even occurred to him until Sullivan brought it up. It subdued Ronin a little. “Well, Mom and Dad probably won’t notice I’m gone for a while but Kai’s parents will definitely notice the girls are gone. Especially with Mai living under their roof again now.” He made a face, disliking the whole situation though he hadn’t been spending too much time thinking about it. “Have you met anyone else while you were here?”
"Maybe we can get word to them…" Sullivan mused, though he doubted it. Not with the inability to even leave this place still in play. He ran a hand over his head and glanced at his brother again. "Yeah. A nice girl named Alyssa. She's a dancer. And no, not that kind. A ballet dancer." Shaking his head after a moment, he clapped a hand on his brother's shoulder. "This place is really fucking weird. And the fact that we're here together and the girls are here too…it's just weird but I'm gonna find us a way back home, ok? And I...maybe could use your help.”
Ronin shook his head. “No can do, bro. Can’t dial out on anything, not even Skype, and all my email bounced back.” His eyebrows wiggled slightly at the mention of his brother meeting a dancer, his grin not fading a bit when Sullivan clarified that she was a ballerina. “I dated a ballet dancer once. They’ve very flexible,” he said with a chuckle, nodding because it was true, this place was really fucking weird. “Yeah, a girl appeared randomly in my room yesterday. I made sure to stay with Kai last night so that some crazy serial killer didn’t pop in for tea. I’m all for giving you whatever help I can. Let me know what you need.”
"You made sure to stay with Kai because you were afraid of some serial killer? And you think Kai would protect you?" Sullivan gave Ronin a serious look, raised eyebrows, and shook his head. "You're a terrible liar. You made sure to stay with Kai because it's Kai and you two are essentially joined at the hip. Actually, thank fucking god she's here too because I could not handle you if she wasn't."
At any other time, Ronin might have protested but considering what had happened the night before, he had to give it to Sullivan for pegging him properly. Still, he couldn't just roll over and accept it either! "I didn't say she protected me. But there's safety in numbers and it wasn't like I was going to stay with Mai. Though maybe I could have found Syd and stayed with her. She would definitely have protected me." He rolled his eyes when his brother said he was glad Kai was there. "What are you trying to say?"
"What do you think I'm trying to say? Because I pretty much said it. What I meant was what I said, 'thank fucking god she's here too because I could not handle you if she wasn't', meaning you would be a pathetic mess without Kai." Sullivan watched his brother more strictly. "Stand here, look me in the eyes, and tell me you wouldn't be ripping what little hair I have our right now trying to find her if she wasn't here."
Ronin rolled his eyes again this time more at himself than anything. “Yeah, yeah, you got me pegged. Though I promise I’d leave your hair alone. I’d only pull out mine and anyone’s who stood in my way of finding her.” Which he doubted Sullivan would do. “She’s pretty much my world,” he admitted with a nod. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t told Kai already so it didn’t bother him to tell his brother. In fact, it sort of thrilled him to say it out loud when he was sober and hear the ring of truth in it. “You think any of your paramours will show up?”
"Why don't you just propose and get it over with? Just give her one of your rings, you have more than enough." Sullivan nudged his head toward the hallway as he started walking, sure that Ronin would walk with him. He did chuckle at the mention of his interests. "Well…hopefully not. Or if so, hopefully only one of them. I'm not thrilled at the idea of more than one of them showing up. How much exploring of this place have you done?"
Ronin gave his brother a ghost of a smile. “It’s not as simple as that and you know it,” he said, his eyes lowering to his hands where he wore three rings. He had a bit of a collection back in his room in his luggage as well. “I don’t know that she feels the same way. I mean, she said she loved me last night but I don’t know if it was the platonic sort of love - we’ve said that to each other a million times - or if it was just the alcohol…” He shrugged, hoping that nothing was ruined between him and Kai. He gave Sullivan an amused look. “Being a ladies’ man is tough work, eh son?” He chuckled. “I’ve done as much as I wanted to do. I just want to leave but if I can’t, I just want to have fun.”
Sullivan was quiet while his brother spoke and shook his head. "Were you drunk or was she drunk?" He should know better than to get drunk right now, but Sullivan couldn't blame his brother. But then he rolled his eyes again. "Don't you 'son' me, Asshole." He couldn't really get behind that 'just have fun' mentality right now, not when they were so far from home and they needed to get back. "You can have fun when we're home. I've got responsibilities to get back to."
"I think we both were a little drunk. Why does that matter? It's entirely possible that what happened last night changed our relationship and not in a good way. I can't just go proposing when I don't know what's going on yet."
He grinned impishly at Sullivan. "Aye, aye, dickhead," he said back with great affection for his brother and gave him a small salute for good measure just to get his goat a bit more. "I have things to get back to too, Sully. But we can't leave. What else am I supposed to do? Sit around and be miserable or frantic about it?"
The only person that Sullivan tolerated that unholy nickname from was his brother and right now he was thinking he'd let it go. It was better than being 'sonned' by his younger brother anyway. "No, we're supposed to find a way out. There has to be a way out. We got in, so maybe we can get out that same way…" Looking back at his brother as he walked, he shifted gears a little. "Why don't you just go ask her if she loves you or not? Or do you need me to write her a note of looseleaf paper with check boxes for yes or no?"
"I kind of don't want to end up randomly walking into someone's room or worse but you have fun with that," Ronin said and gave his brother a long, amused look. Why Sullivan always needed to get riled up and then look at him like he should be in the same state was beyond him. "That's where I was headed right now. And honestly, it's more important to me to make sure things are okay with Kai than to find a way out of here just yet." He laughed at the idea of Sullivan slipping a note like that to Kai. "I suppose you could do that. It still wouldn't clear anything up though," he said.
"So that's what happens when we go through the front door?" He asked, thinking back to Alyssa and how she was waiting for that man to come back through the door. "Huh." He said, reaching up to run his hand over his jaw. He was lost in thought for a moment before Ronin's words pulled him out of it. "Then just man up and go talk to her. That's your only other option, Little Brother."
"That's what I've been told so I'm not going to even remotely give it a try. What if I walk into someone's bathroom while they're taking bath. Yeah not happening." He'd been getting dressed when Alyssa had popped into his room . Thank goodness he hadn't been naked. He chuckled and nodded. "Dude, I know. I'm not as dumb as everyone except Kai thinks I am. I'm on my way now to do just that. Except then I saw you."
"You seriously are the worst rockstar," Sullivan teased, looking back at his brother as they walked. He listened and clapped his brother on the shoulder. "Well, good luck to you. There's a bar down here somewhere so…come find me when you're done and we'll get a drink, ok? But just…before you go, what do you want the answer to be?"
Ronin shot Sullivan a look. “Why does everyone keep telling me that? I have groupies who flash me their boobs for goodness sake. I am a rockstar god.” He laughed because he really wasn’t that up himself but it was fun it play at it. “Besides, what if the bather was a dude? Not my thing.” He smiled at his brother and then looked down at his shoes, his thumb to his lip briefly. “I want to see if we could make it work. Take things to a new level without ruining the foundation.” He looked back at Sullivan. “You know?”
Sullivan cracked up. "Because you say shit like 'for goodness sake'. Who are you, Poindexter the Rockstar?" Watching Ronin, he nodded. "If I had someone like Kai, I'd know how you feel. But I seriously don't think either of you two could screw it up so badly that the other one wouldn't come find you in a few days." It was a weird conversation to have with his brother but at least Ronin was being serious about this, which made it easier for Sullivan to participate in.
“Oh for fuck’s sake, Sully,” he said, drawing the name out because he knew how much his brother disliked it. “You know I can cuss anyone’s ears blue. I just got tired of hearing Mom whine about not having raised her son to be a truck driver.” He rolled his eyes but he was laughing. Ronin sighed and nodded slightly. “Yeah, I don’t think anyone has the sort of friendship she and I have. I love how people still try to give advice about it. Though yours is spot on tonight, big brother. I do need to find her and figure it out. Then I’ll come help you figure a way out of here. After that drink.”
He rolled his eyes again, taking in a deep breath as he tried very hard to not let his brother's teasing get to him. It was just that fucking nickname that he hated, but with Ronin going through something so serious, he thought he could handle that tease for now. He gripped his brother on the arm again and nodded. "God speed, little brother." He would have said his advice was always spot on when it came to Ronin, but now was not the time. No way in hell did he want to be a distraction for this upcoming conversation. "I'll go get the whiskey ready."