Wrath and Emeralds - Chapter Five

[draconica-nova.livejournal.com]

Title: Wrath and Emeralds - 5/12
Characters: Colin, Ryan
Chapter Rating: PG
Overall Rating: R
Summary: The inner animal wants out. Ryan settles in to Colin's house, while Colin realises his new responsibilities.

Author's Notes: Feedback is adoration wrapped in hugs and kisses. ^_^
~


As he began to regain consciousness, Ryan also began to regain the feel of all his muscles waking up – in particular, his aching back.

“Ahh, shit,” he groaned, reaching back weakly to rub at the skin. His sound sleep on the too-small couch had played havoc with his spine and now he was paying the price. It was only when he reached out to try and find some aspirin in his usual bedside cabinet, his searching hand finding nothing but air, did he remember where he was.

Ryan opened his eyes sharply, recognising Colin’s front room immediately and noticing that a blanket had been thrown over him. A few more blinks and he was able to remember just what he was doing there. The tail of that thought came complete with a pulsing wave of nausea through his belly like something pulling down toward the centre of the earth.

He sat up, simultaneously rubbing at his back and stretching. It wasn’t until he felt his spine re-adjusting did he relax, letting out a long sigh and slumping back into the cushions.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a breathing lump slumped into a nearby armchair, wrapped in its own blanket.

Colin’s eyes were underlined with dark circles, while the dimples on his face, once cute and flattering, had now made him look aged and burdened. He was curled up tight on the armchair, breathing softly and soundly while holding his blanket close. Ryan suddenly felt very guilty for putting Colin out even if it was the only way he could live now.

Getting to his feet carefully, he stretched once more for the benefit of his leg muscles before catching sight of his reflection in the mirror above the fireplace. And though he’d never been too bothered about the way he looked before, a fleeting wave vanity overtook him. It was an odd, slightly scary feeling that made him feel a little less like himself now that the smallest of oddities made him uneasy.

He approached the mirror and looked at the mass of dark blonde hair upon his head, suffering from serious post-sleep frizz. The first inkling that he was no longer the man he used to be was when he got the most unruly urge to lick the hair back into form. Lick it. Just how feral and stupid did that sound? The impulse sent a shiver up his spine and shocked the tiny hairs on the back of his neck into submission. Perhaps the animalistic side to him was starting to show through? He quickly brushed his fingers through the untamed locks in an effort to keep his mind off such developments.

Compared to Colin, Ryan looked so much worse for wear in terms of rugged looks. His eyes were duller than he’d ever seen them and, in a way, missed the pulsing green they had shone with.

“Come on, Ryan. You’re supposed to be fighting it, not missing it,” he said sternly to his reflection. For a minute, he wondered if the reflection might suddenly come to life by itself at any moment, winking at him and taunting, safe in the knowledge that it was trapped behind the mirror. It was a ridiculous thought of course, but recent events had made Ryan a lot more insecure than usual.

Ryan flopped back down onto the couch, sitting cross-legged with his elbows resting on his knees. All he wanted right now was a little peace and, as his body quickly reminded him, some food.

“Hi, Ryan.”

Colin’s voice made Ryan jump slightly, his mind off in other places. He smiled nonetheless. “Hey.”

“How are you feeling?” Colin stood up, the blanket falling away as he moved over to sit beside Ryan on the couch. “Everything all right?”

“I think so. I still feel kinda weird,” Ryan replied wearily, wondering if he should tell Colin about the strange impulses or not. Instead, his stomach made that decision for him. “Hungry, too.”

Colin looked at the clock on the wall and wasn’t entirely surprised to see that it was almost three o’clock in the afternoon. “Neither of us has eaten since last night,” he pointed out. “I’ll fix us something. Anything particular you’d like?”

“No, nothing specific. I’m sure you can magic something up.“ Ryan smirked gratefully – Colin had always been a good cook.

As Colin walked out of the room toward the kitchen, Ryan suddenly felt another flash of instinct overtake him, causing him to call out to Colin instantly.

“What is it?” Colin sounded concerned as he poked his head back through the doorway and Ryan started to feel guilty again, though that feeling didn’t last long through his dominating wave of hunger.

“Meat.”

“Meat?” Colin repeated. “What do you mean?”

“That’s what I’d like,” Ryan nodded. “Do you have any?”

The Canadian thought for a moment. “Yeah, I should do. What sort of meat do you want? Beef? Chicken?”

“I… I don’t care,” Ryan said softly, almost shocked at himself. “I just want some meat.”

Colin swallowed nervously at this turn, not sure what he should do besides what Ryan asked. After all, he was Colin’s responsibility from now on.

“I think you should have a shower while I make the food,” Colin suggested, walking over to help Ryan up off the couch. Although he didn’t want to feel helpless and weak, Ryan accepted the assistance and appreciated Colin’s determinedness to make him better, or at least make it a comfortable time for him. He smiled in silent ‘thanks’ to his long-time friend and stepped upstairs quietly, all the while trying to tame the weird urge to satisfy his hunger by biting into the nearest cushion.


A long, warm shower later and Ryan was feeling a lot better and a lot more human. He no longer wanted to curl into a ball and sleep for another six hours. And when he smelt a soft aroma of food from downstairs, he didn’t feel the hunger threaten to take him over like a vampire smelling blood, which was certainly an improvement.

He discovered as he stepped out of the bathroom in an aura of steam that Colin had left some clothes out for him to wear. There was something very warm, homely and comforting about the sight, with the neatly folded shirt and pants with a clean pair of socks resting on top. Then he looked at his wrinkled fingers, the obvious result of spending too long under the water. He thought vaguely that his fingers looked a bit like prunes, which made him laugh softly to himself.

Once he’d dressed, Ryan made his way downstairs to the sound of cooking utensils knocking together as Colin worked his magic in the kitchen. From what Ryan could smell there would be steak, plus some identifiable spicy thing - perhaps he could live with the slightly better sense of smell he had now.

Ryan rounded the corner into the kitchen and paused at the sight of food already on the table. How on earth had Colin managed to make such delectable edibles in the time it had taken Ryan to have a shower? It seemed to surpass the talent of any normal human being. Colin caught sight of him in the doorway and smiled – Ryan really did look a lot better after a shower. He had been hoping that the water would help to calm his nerves a little.

But then those nerves returned bit by bit for Ryan as he finished eating – it satisfied his hunger just fine but he still felt empty and deprived. There was simply no challenge in it, no thrill of the chase and no sense of victory. With the greatest impression of hateful confusion, he finished every last bite and sat staring at his now empty plate.

“Ry?” Colin asked in the sudden silence.

“I’m full, but…” Ryan trailed off, lowering his eyes down to his hands lying steady in his lap – they were beginning to tingle. “But it’s not enough.”

Hearing this and seeing Ryan’s uncertainty, Colin pushed his plate away and concentrated fully on his friend. “How do you mean?”

Ryan closed his eyes and breathed out slowly as the tingling sensation scattered through his arms, teasing the muscles. He clenched his hands into fists and furrowed his brow in concentration.

“Ryan… is it happening again?” Colin moved forward out of his seat and grasped at Ryan’s arm, ready to jump in if necessary but instead saw him open his eyes, unclench his hands and look blankly forward for a few moments, and Colin would’ve given so much just to know what was going on inside Ryan’s head.

“That was weird.”

“Are you all right?”

Ryan looked at Colin jadedly, his eyes misty. “Yeah… I think I’m just tired.”

“Then you should rest,” Colin said adamantly.

Ryan didn’t have the heart to argue, even if he had done enough resting for a while – the feral part of his body screamed for exercise but that wasn’t really an option right now.

"Fine, okay.”

~~~

After Colin had cleaned up the dishes, cursing his dormant OCD of cleanliness for making him take so long, he went to check on Ryan in the living room. He was lying silently on the couch, the longer one this time, with his back facing the door. From here, Colin had no way of knowing whether or not Ryan was awake. He had no intention of walking over to check on him either. Nodding affirmatively, he walked upstairs as quietly as he could, feeling a lot like an agent on a mission, and picked up the phone in the master bedroom. It was the room he and Deb slept in whenever she visited, which admittedly wasn’t too often.

Slipping out a business card from his pants pocket, Colin dialled the number swiftly and awaited answer from the other end, still keeping his ears peeled should Ryan suddenly call for him.

“James Bryce.” A voice interrupted the ringing tone and Colin sighed as he recognised it.

“Hello, Mr. Bryce? It’s Colin Mochrie.”

“Ahh, Colin!” Bryce sounded happy to hear from him, but a pang of discomfort shrank this assurance when his tone suddenly dropped. “Wait a minute, I told you only to use this number in emergencies… has something happened already?”

“No, no, nothing’s happened. Not really. And I’m sorry, this isn’t an emergency. I… I just had a few things I need to ask you.”

He almost heard Bryce smile on the other end. “Relax, Colin. There’s nothing wrong with asking questions.”

Colin lowered himself to the bed; the phone cord wrapped around one of his fingers. “Please… how long will it take for you to cure him?”

Bryce chuckled slightly. “For seven years, top biologists have been completely stumped by the Lupine Virus,” he said almost proudly, “however, thanks to Ryan, we’re closer than ever before to creating an antidote. He provided us with several samples of his infected blood. It’s simply a matter of trial and error from now on.”

“Well, that’s good. I’m just a little worried - Ryan’s been acting weird.”

“In what way?”

Colin rubbed at the back of his neck, feeling the weight of exhaustion pull at him. “It’s almost like… he’s not who he used to be. Does that make any sense?”

“Hmm, quite fascinating. From what I’ve seen the virus shouldn’t directly affect the victim or their personality whilst they’re still a human.”

“That doesn’t exactly fill me with hope,” Colin frowned as his hand found the wound on his left arm – the one left by Ryan.

“It seems tough now but remember, Colin, Ryan’s not going through this alone. He has you. And I reckon that that simple factor will keep his spirits up more than anything. You just have to make sure he knows it.”

After thanking Bryce and saying his farewells, Colin returned the phone to its purchase and sighed, looking down at the cord and wondered how it had somehow been twined into his fingers.

Now that the distraction of the telephone had gone, Colin could hear noise from the living room and had assumed passively that Ryan was watching television in order to keep his mind off of things. But Colin soon realised with a start that the TV might actually do the exact opposite.

He bounded downstairs and almost skidded into the living area, finding that Ryan was indeed watching the news channel, his mouth agape in shock at what he was seeing. It seemed like they had been playing that same headline all day. Surely there was other news going on in the world right now? “Ryan-“

“What am I supposed to do, Col?” Ryan asked, hitting the TV’s power switch. The moment he did, the room was plunged into an unnerving static silence. “Just stay cooped up in the house forever?”

“Not forever,” Colin corrected, folding his arms. “Just until they can cure you.”

“Colin, we don’t even know who they are,” reminded Ryan as he rose to his feet. “Pat’s still at home, my kids! They probably think I’m being tortured, tied up in someone’s basement. That’s probably what they all think, out there!” Ryan pointed to the wall, gesturing to the world beyond the four that imprisoned him.

Colin reached out to hold the tall man’s arms in emotional support. “You need to calm down. If you get too angry or upset, it could be dangerous.”

Ryan wanted to protest but deeply knew that Colin was right. His shoulders sagged as he drained himself of the negative emotions and almost leaned forward in fatigue, trusting that Colin would always catch him. “I just… miss them so much.”

“I know,” Colin sighed, “and I’m sorry, but we both have to make sacrifices. Still, on the plus side, it does mean that we’ll get to spend more time together.”

Ryan almost smiled. “The last time we lived together… was that Vancouver?”

“God, that’s so long ago now,” Colin thought aloud, fondly remembering the laughter of years passed.

The corners of Ryan’s mouth twitched slightly, but a smile was not meant to be. “Even so,” he said sadly, “I can’t just let Pat go on thinking that I’m dead in a ditch or something. Colin, I have to go and see her.”

“If anything were to happen to you, her or your kids while you were there Ryan, I would never forgive myself.” Colin let out a long breath. “What I’m about to say pains me more than you know, but you have to trust me.” He placed a hand on Ryan’s shoulder and waited for the man to look up at him before he pleaded softly.

“You can’t see her.”

He wasn’t completely surprised when Ryan began to blink rapidly, forcing the tears away. Knowing no other way to react, he stepped forward into an awkward hug that remained one-sided for the longest possible time. He heard Ryan sniff, sigh and then felt the man’s arms wind around him tightly in return.

“I’ll always trust you, Colin.”

Despite the situation, Ryan smiled to himself – in his mind, it was silly for Colin to even doubt the belief and brotherly love between them.

Somewhere in his head, Colin realised that Ryan hadn’t exactly agreed to what he’d said outright, but his trust in his best friend ran so deep that he didn’t have the heart to hesitate Ryan’s motives.

“You can sleep in the guestroom,” Colin offered as he pulled away. “Can’t be said that I don’t know how to take care of guests when I have them.”

Ryan’s smile lit up his eyes. “Unlike that hotel back in England. Remember that?”

They both laughed, and quite right, too.

~~~

It was nearing 10:30 at night before both men retired to bed, however Ryan lay wide-awake for a further two hours, thinking over recent events and having a soundless weep in the process.

He sat up in the bed, lips pressed together grimly as his eyes adjusted to the dark room. The only light source was the nightglow of the street outside that warmed the room as effectively as a small candle on the verge of burning out to a subtle wisp.

Throwing the covers off, he moved around quietly in search for some fresh clothes to wear and had soon moved onto tying the laces of his shoes determinedly. There was a strong glare in his eyes as he did so, a glare so unlike the man it captivated.

It wasn’t until Ryan was downstairs and at the front door did he finally stop and have a serious think about what he was about to do. His thoughts went briefly to the man upstairs; still sound asleep, maybe dreaming. He swallowed hard at the image and felt the uncontrollable sting attack the back of his eyes. It prompted him to push forward despite whom he might be hurting in the process – he walked out the door and closed it softly behind him, not even causing an echo in the peaceful hall he left behind.

To be continued...