Ryder Adams (glassofmoonligt) wrote in worldsapart_ic, @ 2019-02-21 13:10:00 |
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Ryder was nursing the coffee in front of him and considering popping another couple of painkillers to dull the aching all over his body. The full moon had been rough; three days where he’d been away from home (since his turning grounds were a three hour drive away he ended up just staying locally, three days and nights alone and he hated it with a passion), fighting every night with a couple of wolves who had taken umbrage with his existence, it seemed. His memories were patchy, but he was pretty sure he’d won the last fight, even though there had been two of them. His knuckles were bruised - and he was annoyed at that because it had only been a week or so since the fracture he had from that stupid punching bag had healed. He didn’t think anything was broken, but the bruises were deep, his ribs were sore and his lip was split. He had a bruise on his jaw and a scratch underneath his ear which disappeared underneath his hoodie. Sitting at the booth generally feeling sorry for himself with coffee wafting up under his nose, firmly bundled in the clothes that were his “comfort” ones (slightly looser-than-normal jeans and a hooded sweater that was a size too big for him) he looked anything but the grumpy six foot something individual that he normally was. And with his nose buried in coffee and ears ringing, the sound of the door opening and what should have been a familiar scent wafted past him without him picking it up. He just slouched a little more into the booth, legs sticking out under the table and feet pressed against the seats on the other side. Fuck this day. --- Kira’s signature, gigantic heart-shaped sunglasses were nestled atop her nose as she and Rhys walked into the diner. Her body was sore, her head slightly muddled, but she didn’t look it. There was a ghost of a smile on her face, although it was otherwise drained of its usual colour. She walked without much flair, her movements somewhat stilted. “I need, like, all the coffee,” she sighed over her shoulder at Rhys. Finally lifting her sunglasses so that they sat atop her messy head of hair, Kira flashed a more genuine, but no less tired, smile at him. “Pleaseeeeee?” She pouted. “I promise I’ll pay you back.” Wrapping an arm around his back, she snuggled against Rhys’ warm arm. Still flashing that grin, Kira took a deep breath and smelled something familiar. Glancing around the diner, she was surprised to see a very miserable looking Ryder in one of the booths, doubled over, looking worse for wear. She tugged on Rhys’ sleeve and nodded towards Ryder in the booth. “Hey, look.” --- The morning after a full moon cycle was always rough. It was like a hangover but so much worse and didn't have the same enjoyable memories for the most part. As Beta Rhys had a pivotal role to play during the full moon and that involved keeping the pack safe and heading more aggressive wolves off at the pass which he did happily in favour of keeping the pack safe. He ached and definitely felt like he'd swallowed sandpaper at some point but for the most part he was in good spirits. "You and me both," he echoed though he rolled his eyes in fond exasperation. "You're broke again? Really?" He pushed out a small laugh before he lifted his arm and curled it around Kira, a slight squeeze being given to her smaller frame. "You're lucky I love you." Which meant that he would buy her all the coffee her heart desired. At the tugging of his sleeve his brow furrowed and it didn't take long for his gaze to land on one very sorry looking Ryder. "Small fucking world," he drawled before he tipped his head at Kira and lifted his eyebrows. "C'mon, let's go say hi." --- Ryder wasn’t so engrossed in his coffee that he missed the distinct tone of Kira’s voice, followed by the familiar rumble of Rhys’ and he felt himself groan a little and sink down in the booth. There was no way they hadn’t spotted him, so he put his coffee down and turned a little to lift his hand in greeting. Since it would be rude to ignore them and he could probably do with a little bit of company after having spent the last few days on his own, he shifted across so he wasn’t sitting in the middle of his seat, though he was expecting that they’d sit on the same side. With Rhys’ arm slung around Kira’s shoulders they looked every part the couple that he thought they were, even if they answered otherwise. Coffee placed down on the table after taking a healthy swig, Ryder noted (with only the tiniest dash of envy) that neither of them looked half as rough as he felt. He still had to go into work later, which was a pain in and of itself, but thankfully both of his jobs understood his werewolf status and didn’t judge him when he was more standoffish than usual post full moon. But he wasn’t going to be standoffish now, or at least, he’d try not to be. “C’mon over,” he said, voice just that side of rough as he hadn’t spoken to anyone yet that morning. Coffee had just been handed to him with a sympathetic you look like you need it, honey and a menu had been left for him to peruse. He cleared his throat again. “Booth’s big enough for three.” --- You’re broke again? Really? At least when Rhys said it, he didn’t actually sound disappointed. That common line, so often uttered by her parents, caused heat to rise slightly to her cheeks and she shrugged. It was no secret that Kira Ritter was terrible with money. Whatever embarrassment she might have normally felt was fortunately mitigated by Rhys’ gentle affection and the knowledge that he would help her out with anything, any time, if she needed it. Even if she simply needed to drink her weight in coffee. “I am lucky,” she agreed. “What would I do if you didn’t put up with me, honestly?” She laughed softly, nudging him. “I’d be at a loss. And coffee-less, apparently.” But it was a small world indeed, and when Rhys beckoned for her to join him heading over to Ryder’s table, she did just that. “Thanks for the invite,” Kira said diplomatically as she slid into the booth across from Ryder, as though she wouldn’t have invited herself to sit there if he hadn’t offered. Reaching across the table, she put a hand gently on top of his, her smile soft, but kind as she said: “It’s really good to see you.” And it was. “Bitch of a night, huh?” Hardly eloquent, but there wasn’t much point in beating around the bush, especially when she was tired and aching from head-to-toe. --- “Obviously,” Rhys answered with an easy grin as he slid into the booth where Ryder where he was feeling sorry for himself. He smirked in response to Kira’s “diplomatic” thank you as he knew her well enough to know that she would have gone over even without an invitation. He lifted both arms and rested them across the back of the side of the booth he was on, tipping his head to regard Ryder who had definitely looked better. Kira being Kira went with the touchy-feely route whereas Rhys kept his hands to himself. “You should eat,” was what he offered instead. “It’ll help you feel less like death warmed up.” --- Ryder’s eyes flicked down to where Kira’s hand had covered his - he was getting used to the fact that she just kept touching him without his permission but it didn’t mean that he didn’t stiffen for a couple of seconds anyway before relaxing into it - before watching Rhys spread out on their side of the booth, arms going over the back of the seat and - predictably - stretching out behind Kira. Not a couple. Pfft. Who walked into a diner after the full moon together if not a couple? “Pretty sure I need a vicodin to feel less like death warmed up,” he rumbled in response, lifting his eyes to smirk at Rhys good-naturedly. He gave a humourless chuckle and then leaned back, gently extracting his hand from Kira’s to scrub both over his face and through his hair. “How do you two not look like you’ve been beaten to shit and back again for the last three nights?” --- “Because we’ve eaten, duh,” Kira remarked with a short laugh. The rumble caused an a dull headache to throb a little stronger, but she was seasoned in ignoring it. She merely withdrew her hand now that Ryder had extracted his own, and dropped both of hers in her lap as she leaned back against the booth. “I mean… that’s not all there is to it, but,” she glanced at Rhys. “He’s right, as usual. Eating will really help. But like, lots of food. As-much-as-your-stomach-can-take sort of deal.” And just in time, the waitress bounded by with two more cups of steaming coffee, causing Kira’s eyes to widen in delight. As she set down a couple of more menus, Kira gently pushed hers to the side and launched into an order that could, by most accounts, be described as ‘excessive.’ “Hungry girl,” the waitress muttered with a smirk as she jotted all the details down, then glanced to Rhys. --- “It’s kinda my thing,” Rhys said with a smirk before he bit his lower lip and just turned his head to look at the waitress as she looked at him expectantly. “I’ll have what she’s having but maybe add a couple more pancakes to my order.” He was also a hungry boy. The waitress merely lifted her eyebrows in response to Rhys’ order before her attention drifted to Ryder. “He’ll have the same,” Rhys chipped in. Even if Ryder didn’t think he needed food or could eat food the moment it was put in front of him he’d find out just how important it was to eat well after a full moon. Rhys would also cover the tab because he normally had excess cash because inbetween his fights at Tooth and Nail he also helped out at Baxters at times so it wasn’t like he was ever hard up. --- Ryder’s mouth had opened just to order something relatively simple and definitely not something that would empty the kitchen of everything that it had, but then Rhys ordered for him and he found that his mouth just shut of its own accord, any thought of arguing with him sort of dissipating in a second, though after the waitress hummed, snapped her notebook shut, refilled Ryder’s coffee and left he looked at Rhys with an arched eyebrow. “I can order for myself, y’know.” Though he definitely wouldn’t have ordered that much food, and the thought of it did make his stomach rumble a little. The cabin he’d been crashing in during the full moon period hadn’t been fully stocked this month so he had made do with what was there, but he was pretty sure he’d been hunting during the evenings. Ugh. Gross. Picking up his coffee again he added, glancing at Kira, “Is he always right? Really? That sounds kind of insufferable.” Impulsively, he knocked Rhys’ foot under the table. “Do y’all find that- wait, never mind.” He didn’t know if they were turned wolves or born ones, so asking if painkillers still worked was probably pointless if they’d been like this for their whole lives they wouldn’t know the wonder of strong painkillers. He cleared his throat and waited, knowing that one of the others would kick up a conversation soon enough. He wasn’t the best at conversation on a good day, and today was definitely not a good day. --- “Oooh, I should have ordered more pancakes,” Kira bemoaned. Staring into Rhys’ face for a second, she smirked. “I’mma steal one of your pancakes, yup.” Even if stealing food from a wolf was a dumb, dumb idea. So many forks poked into the backs of hands; dinners with a collection of weres could be quite a dramatic affair. She patted Rhys’ thigh when he ordered the same for Ryder, who probably would have been a little less grandiose with his breakfast selections. “It may sound excessive now, but trust me, you’ll be thanking him for that later.” Mimicking Ryder, Kira picked up her own cup of coffee -- steam was still radiating off the surface and the scent was so thick and bitter that she nearly shivered. It didn’t matter how hot it was, Kira jumped right in, gulping down several mouthfuls. “True, he is very insufferable sometimes,” Kira joked. “But I wouldn’t want him any other way.” Her brow quirked slightly when Ryder began to ask a question, then quickly swallowed it and brushed it off. She cast sideways glance at her packmate and then went back to sipping her coffee. “You know,” she cleared her throat as she set the cup down. “If you got any questions, we’re happy to answer ‘em. Seriously. Hit us with your best shot.” --- Rhys' gaze dropped to the space beneath the table where one of Ryder's impressively large feet (and you know what they said about guys with big feet) knocked into his own before it drifted in Kira's direction as she made her declaration around food theft. "Can't promise I won't stab you with a fork if you pull that shit." He smirked a moment later, both at Ryder and at Kira, as one admitted he must be insufferable and the other one confessed that he was but wouldn’t have him any other way. “Yeah, what she said.” --- “What makes you think I’ve got questions?” Ryder asked, trying to look affronted but it disappeared in a second, replaced instead by a self-deprecatory laugh and another small, shy smile. “Well, it’s not like I got a handbook when I got turned,” he offered. He didn’t like talking about himself and it showed in the uncomfortable way that he squirmed under both of their gazes, as kind as they were intense. He had so many questions, he didn’t even know where to begin. His odd conversations here and there with Marcus were largely about fighting, and him being taught a proper stance, ways of making sure he didn’t break his hand again. He knew it was healed, but the memory made his hand ache. “That should probably be a thing, you know,” he said after a moment. “How To Be A Werewolf 101.” --- “Yeah, I’m not too worried about that,” Kira admitted as she sipped her coffee again. “You may be stronger than me, but I’m faster, so I’ll have an extra pancake and probably no fork-marks in my lovely hand.” What makes you think I’ve got questions? Kira inclined her head towards Ryder with a sort of honey, please expression gracing her features. How could he not have questions, after all? Her back straightened and she perked at his suggestion -- grinning from ear-to-ear. “How to be a Werewolf 101. I could run a seminar. I feel like I’d make some pretty decent money that way, and then you,” she looked at Rhys, “Wouldn’t have to buy me breakfast all the time.” --- Rhys snorted and rolled his eyes at Kira’s remarks before he just bit out a laugh at the expression that flickered across her face in response to Ryder’s objections that he totally didn’t have questions. “If you didn’t have questions I’d be worried,” Rhys shared with a smirk aimed in Ryder’s direction. He tipped his head to look over at Kira. “Maybe you’d buy me breakfast for a change.” He winked and gave Kira a friendly nudge in the side. Rhys reached out to take a sip of his coffee. --- Ryder watched the two of them again and he felt his eyebrows climbing higher up his forehead once more. He sipped his coffee and leaned back into the seat. “Sounds like I just found you a business venture,” he said to Kira, “you’ll be abandoning me behind the bar ‘fore you know it.” He cleared his throat, rubbing his fingers along the edge of his other hand where he’d broken it a few weeks before and then lifted his shoulder. “‘S not real- I mean I wouldn’t even know where to begin.” He looked at the table, ears a little pink. He tapped at the wood with his finger, a habit that was more nervous than anything else. “Do y’all just hang out together an’ teach each other this shit or what?” --- “By this point, I do owe you a couple hundred, so that would only be fair,” she nodded at Rhys. Kira knew she was fortunate that she hadn’t squandered his -- or anyone else’s -- good will when it came to things like that. It likely helped that when her bank account did have funds, she tended to blow it not only on herself, but on anyone who happened to be in her company. She smirked at Ryder and shook her head. “I don’t think I could ever really leave that place,” she replied. “That place is kinda home-like, at this point.” And Rhys was right; if Ryder didn’t have questions about what had happened to him, what was happening to him,it would have been strange. Kira knew she sometimes took it for granted that she’d been born the way she was, that she had always been surrounded by family and friends who walked the same path she did. Noticing that Ryder looked somewhat bashful about his question, as though it strained him so much just to summon up the nerve to ask it, caused her to smile gently. “Kind of? I mean…,” she glanced at Rhys and felt an outpour of love and solidarity for him. “We grew up together. And our families, y’know, it’s all we’ve known. Our learning curves were a little bit different than yours,” she admitted, finally peeling her gaze off of Rhys’ familiar, comforting face and directing it back to Ryder. “But you’re not the first to go through what you’re going through, and you probably ain’t the last. And like anything else, I think it’s probably a ton easier to manage when you aren’t doin’ it alone.” --- Rhys met Kira’s eyes as she glanced at him and offered her a soft smile, the sort of smile he reserved for pack and pack alone. It was without sharp edges and came from a very genuine place. “Yeah, Kira’s like the sister I never had.” He was after all an only child but he’d never felt that way not when he’d been surrounded by other wolves so it never felt like he didn’t have siblings. “And she’s right, you’re not the first and unfortunately you won’t be the last.” Rhys would have leaned forward if not for the sudden arrival of their food at which point he sat back to give the waitress enough room to lay out all the plates. “But it’s hard, walking that road alone, feeling and experiencing things you’re not used to and you can’t put a name to.” He couldn’t imagine coming into this life blind. --- “I can put a name to it,” Ryder replied, eyes back on the table because the sort of warm looks being exchanged between the two of them felt private, like something he shouldn’t be witness to and there was a particular sting in his chest that felt like jealousy on his tongue. “It’s irritatin’.” That was an understatement. “But I- I mean-” He stumbled over his words a bit, Rhys and Kira were both so nice and Ryder didn’t quite know how to take it. Much like Rhys, his thoughts were derailed by food and he glanced up at the waitress with a warm smile as he thanked her, plate after plate being unladen and the waitress just had a knowing look on her face, like someone in the kitchen had gone they’ve ordered so much food because it’s the night after the full moon. There was more sympathy and less judgement in her face. “Let me know if you guys need anything else, okay?” “We will, thank you ma’am,” Ryder reassured her. “It looks real good, say thanks to the chef.” She watched the three of them for a moment before she left them to it. Ryder picked up his cutlery and rubbed his thumb along the stem of the fork. “I- I ain’t- I got bit like, over a year ago. I just- always been on my own since it happened.” And when he said alone, he genuinely meant alone. He’d lost everything and hadn’t been able to rebuild. --- Kira beamed appreciatively at the waitress when she dropped off their food, but was too distracted to notice the sympathetic way she looked at them. Not much time was wasted between the food being set down and Kira diving right into the meal. She wasn’t exactly great at the impulse-control thing, and Kira was starving. The only thing that stopped her from ploughing through the breakfast without stopping was the way that Ryder said the word alone. It was a gut-punch just to hear the way he said it; he didn’t mean merely alone as a were, he meant alone as a man. Without any support of those who might understand, like Rhys and Kira, or mortals who might, at least, offer an empathetic ear to listen to his plight. “That’s a long time,” she replied after swallowing a rather generous bite of bacon. “I’m…,” she wiped her lips with the back of her wrist and glanced at him with a somewhat saddened expression. “I’m sorry you’ve had to do that.” --- Rhys had to agree with Kira. That admission from Ryder had been pretty painful to hear especially as all he’d known in his life was love and acceptance. “Yeah, that’s a really long time to be all on your own.” He knocked his boot against Ryder’s under the table. “But you may not want it or even realise but you’re kinda stuck with me and Kira now.” Facts were facts. He started to dig into his own food as he had yet to touch it. --- Ryder had been lifting food to his mouth, awkwardness from the admission that he’d been on his own intensified at the expressions that crossed over their faces as they processed what he was saying, when he felt Rhys’ boot knock against his under the table. It caused him to stop, close his mouth and just duck his head to hide the embarrassed - but grateful - smile that flickered over his lips. He rubbed his hand over his hair again and then tucked into his food, just humming a little in response to both Kira’s apology and Rhys’ assertion that he wasn’t alone anymore. That he had them. And though he didn’t know quite what to do with the sensation in his chest that felt like something warm and comforting melting over him, he felt like this might have been a turning point. After all, not everything needed words, and Ryder wasn’t great with them to begin with, so he just knocked Rhys’ boot back, and then Kira’s foot gently and started eating, even going so far as to pushing a couple of his pancakes over to Kira, so she didn’t have to steal Rhys’. This felt nice. --- |