2019.02.07 - A Stroll in the Moonlight

*Ethan and Ryan finally have a romantic stroll in the moonlight.*

Year Unknown, concurrant with the Seattle Expedition

Rowanwood House

Ryan is in his room again, not having really been outside of it in a while. Not in the traditional sense, at least. He's currently lying on his bed in just his jeans and t-shirt, and also sitting crosslegged on the bed next to himself in the same clothing, a pensive look on his face as he stares away from the door of his room.

Ethan knocks lightly on the door, then pokes his head inside. "Ryan? Are you ready for our...Holy crapsticks!" He bursts into the room, eyes flaring bright blue, and his features are more savage. "What are you? Get away from Ryan!"

Ethan Steiner phases to his wolfman form.

The sitting Ryan turns to face Ethan, blinking slowly. "What? I -am- Ryan," he says, slowly standing up and watching Ethan with a slight pout. "Ethan, you should calm own," he urges gently, quietly, taking another step toward him.

Ethan holds his fists at his side, standing his ground, as his glowing eyes flick between the standing Ryan and the one laying on the bed. "What's going on here?" he snarls. "How are there two of you?"

Ryan takes another few steps toward Ethan, then reaches through his shoulder. There's no feeling, not cold, not a shiver, nothing strange, just air. "Um, I'm projecting," he tries to explain quietly, looking around a bit self-consciously. "I need to practice if I want to get better."

Ethan's fists rise just a bit, but he continues to hold his ground, looking very suspicious. "Projecting? You mean, astral projection?" He begins to relax just a bit, though his guard is still up. "What abour your...your body?" he nods toward the bed, frowning. "Is it safe to be walking around without it?"

Ryan blinks a few times, looking at his body. "Oh, well, yes. I'm not even on the proper astral plane right now, and I'm tethered to my body, there. Besides, this sort of thing is...in my blood, so to speak." He looks like he might be blushing if he were in his body. "See, I'm right there, very safe. Ah, did you need me for anything?"

Ethan is still tense, unsure how to react to all this magic. "I thought we had a date to go for a moonlit walk. But I can see you're busy. Maybe I'll just come back later, when you're...uh...wearing your body again."

"Oh!" Ryan blinks out quite suddenly, and his still body's soft toes twitch as he stirs and sits slowly up. "You...can't get weird about this. It's a part of my heritage, and who I am." Ryan, in his physical body, is quite blushing as he looks around. "Ah...I didn't forget. I was worried you might not want to walk with me since I upset your friend."

Ethan blinks, and his features are suddenly normal again. "I...Sorry. Really, I'm not freaking out, I just...Didn't expect this. I've never seen anyone astral project before. I was startled, that's all." He moves toward the bed, then sits on the side, smiling at Ryan. "Don't worry about Stiles. I managed to get him to relax, at least for a short time. He'll be okay."

Ethan Steiner phases to his human form.

Ryan shakes his head as he swings his legs over to sit on the side of the bed. "You don't have to apologize. Really, I didn't mean to startle you. It's...easy to loose track of time, like that." He sighs quietly and dips his head down in thought. "I always worry that people will think I'm...um, strange." He clears his throat, offering a small, lopsided smile to Ethan. "I am glad he is doing better."

Ethan cups Ryan's chin, gently raising his head so they can see eye-to-eye. "We're all strange, if you think about it. You can astral project, I'm a werewolf, Stiles is...well, a spaz, but a lovable one. We all have our little supernatural quirks." He stands up then, offering his hand with a smile. "So, ready to take that walk?"

Ryan blushes deeply at Ethan, but he does smile a little and nods. "I haven't had anyone to ever really talk to about this stuff, except this one fellow. Though, I suppose he might...technically not be a person..." he murmurs, then standing up and slipping his soft feet into a pair of white flip-flops and grabbing his microfleece jacket. "Of course."

Ethan cocks a brow, head tipping to one side in a rather canine gesture. "A guy who might technically not be a person?" he asks, moving slowly toward the door. "How does that work?"

Ryan follows after Ethan with a soft smile on his face. "I mean, he wasn't human. It's all a bit fuzzy, but I do remember that, at least."

Ethan ahs, offering his hand again. "I understand. Things have been fuzzy for a lot of people here at Rowanwood. What do you remember about him?" He opens he door, then steps aside for Ryan to pass through first.

"I don't remember too much, other than he grew strange plants and made a tea to help me enter into my dreamscape, to recover some memories of my past, my heritage." He looks at Ethan's hand, and he slowly takes it before stepping out of his room.

Ethan closes his hand warmly over Ryan's and steps out of the room as well, then walks beside him down the hallway. "Sounds like a very helpful person, even if he wasn't quite a person. Is he the one who taught you how to astral project?" He heads slowly down the corridor toward the stairs.

Ryan shakes his head slowly as he follows beside Ethan in the hallway. "W-Well, no. I just...I practiced, and taught myself. I read a lot of books on it, and...the internet." His cheeks glow at this, perhaps embarassed or something. "Have you always known you were a werewolf?"

Ethan chuckles softly, giving his head a nod. "Ever since I was born. Me and Aiden both." His chest swells with pride. "I'm the older brother, you know. Older by twenty minutes. We don't have the same birthdate though. Weren't even born in the same month, if you can believe that. I was born at ten minutes to midnight on July thirty-first, and Aiden was born at ten minutes after on August first. Pretty cool, huh?"

Ryan smiles as he listens to Ethan talk. "That is pretty unique for twins! I've always found them fascinating, how it's just....so interesting, you know?" It was interesting to Ryan, at least! "I love how positive you always are."

Ethan cocks a brow again, looking sideways at Ryan. "Well, somebody has to stay positive. Half the pack is close to panic, and the other half is in denial or something. I have to keep spirits up where I can." He side-eyes Ryan again as they start down the stairs. "You're pretty positive yourself, you know. If I had woken up here all alone, without my pack or anyone else, I'd probably be stark raving mad by now."

Ryan gives a warm smile up to Ethan. "I try to be. I just hope everyone is okay," he says, his eyes mostly forward, his hand still held by Ethan as thy continue on. "I'm hoping all of this is resolved soon enough. It would be nice to not be stuck in the house," he says with a sheepish smile.

At the bottom of the stairs, Ethan begins guiding Ryan toward the front door. "It'd be nice to see if Beacon Hills is even still there, after all of this." He glances at his companion as he opens the door. "You've been out there. What's it like, beyond the gates of Rowanwood?"

Ryan steps outside with Ethan, his hand retreating for a few moments before he makes a daring move and curls his pinkie with Ethan's, effectively linkin' pinks with him, as the kids would say. "Um...well...have you ever opened your eyes underwater? It's...a bit like that. Everything is sort of slow and undulating, in a way. It's...hazy, and strange, almost unreal." Ryan is quiet as he speaks, his cheeks reddening.

Ethan smiles as Ryan links their pinkies together, his eyes alight. But then Ryan describes what he saw on the expedition outside, and a shudder runs up his spine. "We need to find a way to end this madness," he mutters, more to himself than anyone else. "And soon." He looks up at the sky, where a sliver of the waning Moon peeks from behind clouds, then leans in to press a tiny kiss to Ryan's cheek. "I'm really glad you made it back safely."

Ryan's cheek warms to Ethan's peck, and he moves to peck Ethan's cheek back, but remains quiet for a while afterwards. He proceses Ethan's words, then, and nods slowly. "Yes...I'm not sure exactly how we'll go about it, but I am looking forward to the world being okay again." He looks up to Ethan and pats his shoulder. "I'm glad I made it back, too. I um...don't really know how to fight, so it was...nerve-wracking."

Ethan slowly strolls around the outside perimeter of the house, never straying too far from the building. "Well, I do know how to fight," he says, gently taking Ryan's hand in his free one, moving it to his elbow, so they're walking along like a couple, arm in arm. "And let me tell you, it's always nerve-wracking. I wish I could have been there with you, but Aiden thought we should stay here, just in case. Still, if anything had happened to you...."

Ryan looks at the linked arms, and continues to walk comfortably alongside Ethan. "It's better that you stayed. For one, if you thought someone was in danger, you would act quickly, decisively. You'd fight so hard that you'd end up in danger, I think, trying to save someone else. It's in your nature, I feel." He looks up to Ethan, a small smile twitching at his lips. "The spirits helped me and kept me safe. I tried my best, and...everyone is kay."

Ethan's running shoes crunch in the snow as he walks along. "Well, that's what I do," he says with a smile. "Fight, protect, act decisively." He takes a few more slow steps, then asks in a lowered voice, "Are you cold?" He wraps his arm around Ryan's shoulders, tugging him closer against his larger, warm body.

Ryan walks rather evenly on the snow, even in his flip-flops. "It's not a bad thing. But I wouldn't want you to get hurt trying to help me, you know? Even if I know it's in your nature, and you'd do it regardless." He smiles at this, actually, and he looks up at Ethan to shake his head slowly. "Not really. I don't mind the cold, so much. Reminds me of when I lived up north a little when I was much younger."

Ethan keeps Ryan tucked at his side, so long as the other boy isn't pulling away. "Whereabouts up north?" he asks, keeping his voice light and even. "Do you still have family there?"

Ryan hums quietly in thought. "Montana, I think. It's where my, um...dad's family lives." Ryan grows quiet, continuing to walk with Ethan without missing a beat, but clearly deep in thought.

Ethan's hand gently squeezes and massages Ryan's shoulder as they continue on their way. After a few moments of silence, he asks, "And where did you say you were from originally?"

"San Diego," Ryan responds just as quietly, looking over at Ethan as his shoulders droop in relaxation. "My past is a bit...fuzzy. It always has been, though." Mysterious, perhaps, but Ryan isn't divulging much information on it. "What about you? Where are you from?"

"I was born in San Francisco," Ethan says, stopping in place and turning toward Ryan, keeping his arm around his shoulders. "But we've traveled all over the place. Both here in the US and in Europe as well. We never stayed in one place for very long, but somehow, I think we'll be sticking around Beacon Hills for quite a while." He looks down into Ryan's eyes. "What about you? Are you going to stay, once this is all over?"

"Oh, Europe? I've always wanted to travel there, or...well, I want to travel through Central America, actually. Maybe Costa Rica?" Ryan listens to Ethan, then looks up at him when he's stopped and turned toward. "Ethan...I'm from Beacon Hills," he says, softly, deep in thought.

Ethan pulls himself a little closer to Ryan, pressing their bodies together. "I know, you said that before. But that's why I'm asking. When all this is over, will you stay in Beacon Hills, or go off to find your fortune elsewhere?"

"I know, but...if I'm from a different Beacon Hills...will I even be able to stay? When things get fixed, will I go back to my world, and you to yours?" Ryan's thought a lot about this, confusing as it is. "It's all really...confusing. I don't like the thought of having met so many nice people, and the possibility that when all is said and done, it'll be...I don't know, like I'm losing people I never should have met?"

"I don't want to think about that," Ethan whispers, leaning closer to Ryan. "I just want to think about us, here and now." Closer and closer, until their lips are almost touching...but he lets Ryan either close the distance or pull away, his choice.

Ryan blinks up at Ethan, a slight frown on his lips. "Yes, but...well, I suppose it doesn't do good to think of things endlessly." He loooks up at Ethan and tilts his head, then leans forward to lightly peck at his mouth. It's not even a kiss, really, so much as it is literally Ryan pecking his lips firmly against Ethan's like a bird. Peck. Peck. Twice, even! His cheeks look -very- red.

Ethan grins a little at the pecks, then presses his lips firmly against Ryan's, pulling their bodies together in a warm embrace. He draws the kiss out for as long as Ryan will allow, the tip of his tongue teasing the other boy's lips.

Ryan blushes and kisses against Ethan, his breath hitching and his lips tingling against Ethan's tongue. He clears his throat and smiles softly, blushing like mad. "I am getting..a bit tired. Can we go back inside?"

Ethan allows the kiss to end, but holds Ryan close for a few more moments, then steps back, sliding his arm back around Ryan's shoulders. "Shall I walk you back to your room?" he asks with a smile.

Ryan nods slowly, leaning against Ethan. "Um, yes, please," he murmurs, looking a bit awestruck after all is said and done. He leans in toward Ethan and breathes in and out slowly. "You are...very nice," he says.