Rooms

A picture of two children inside a tarnished silver frame.

[After having dropped Zoe off at Cris', but before setting out for her meeting with Ian's demon spawn.]

A pickure allbum showed up in my male
Sumbody missing?

[The first note makes an appearance wrapped around one of Ronan's pencils with the belief that he'll see it when he uses them next at school. The message is simple: I'm thinking about you right now. The second appears a few days later, this time tucked into his wallet; the message, again, is a simple one: I love you. The third one, placed during the night, is wrapped around his toothbrush and reads: I dreamt about you last night; ask me what it was tonight over dinner.]

Saving Private Ryan or Black Hawk Down?

[Delivery: Ben S]

[Left on Ben's side of the bed, carefully wrapped in white tissue: a framed and matted print of a photograph taken when his family visited post-Valentine's wish. Parents, siblings, and Ben and Ronan in the middle of them all. Tucked into one corner is a white card printed with painstakingly neat handwriting:

happy anniversary,
- r ]

[Hand-wavey timeline, a short while after this.]

Hey, baby. You got a minute?

[Because he's torn about this and could go either way. Public, but not visible to Ronan.]

First year anniversary: stay in or go out?

[Locked]

Do you have a sec?

[Ronan X]

Just checking in.

[From the hotel lobby.]

Ring!

Newt?

[Ring. Jedi Rocks starts blaring from Ben's pocket at maximum volume.]

[Text to Ronan X]

I miss having them here.

Who: Ronan X & Ben S
What: Obnoxious boyfriends/A magical Narnia date
Where: The former House of Strays ie. Ben's house
When: February 14
Warnings/Rating: Sex

( The warmth of the sun on their skin was there, beating down strong like they were both wearing thin cotton shirts instead of the suits and jackets. )

Well, thank you, wish grantor, for however you managed this.

I should still, however, look into a job. Anyone have need for a fighter in their world?

[It's not 12:01 When the Yellow Checker Mini Van pulls up outside of Ben's apartment. It's about 4:45 AM, local time. The flight had to be routed through Miami because of bad weather.

At least that's what Ben will be told when he opens the door, very early, to a pack of incredibly, unfairly, good looking people, he calls his family. All of them he wanted to see again. How they got there is anyone's guess, how long they'll stay? No one really knows. They just know they have finally landed at the airport after a ton of crazy flights full of delays and they are exhausted but nowhere near exhausted enough not to make Ben breakfast. And they wouldn't think of going to a hotel. Don't be ridiculous. Family is so important]

Did you get a wish too?

[Locked Ben S]

Hi, who are you? My name is Secret Admirer Starbuck.

[Text to Ronan X]

Google just gave me the search suggestion of 'not without my anus.'

[After this.]

[He's actually taken a cab home, determinedly shutting out the driver's silent questions about this bloody little scrap of a kid with fingers that shake as he hands over all of the cash he has in his wallet, muttering unsteady apologies that he doesn't have enough for a decent tip. (Not that the guy really cares, Ronan can tell by the retreating waves of relief that roll over him as the car rumbles away from the house.)

Then he is just sitting in the dark bathroom off the kitchen, cross-legged on the floor with a wet washcloth in his lap because his arms are too tired to lift it to his head. He's made several half-hearted swipes at the blood that has dried on his face, mostly just managing to inspire a fresh trickle of ketchup red to seep down into the collar of his shirt.

He can feel Ben's approach before the front door opens, and his heartbeat twitches into jackrabbit mode. He's a sloppy mix of anger and humiliation and something else that isn't so familiar, and he pulls his legs up to his chest like maybe he can tuck himself into a corner and not be found. He tells himself that he just doesn't want the confrontation, doesn't want Ben's rage and the knee-jerk instinct to do something stupid, but that isn't the whole truth.]