Chapter two of To Put at Ease (Part One of The Eagle Calls). Roughly around 2,500-ish words.
A week later. . .
Ryker was still spooked about the whole incident with the eagle kinda-but-not-really hitting the window, as well as the inescapable grasp that. . . thing had on his mind. However, as spooked as he was, he never told Kas about it, and his boyfriend remained blissfully ignorant of that entire showdown. It was a miracle that he had been asleep during the entire thing, but Ryker had a feeling that the damn eagle had a part to play in the weirdness of that night.
He shook his head and folded his arms over his chest, looking at himself in the mirror. Today just wasn’t his day, and it was pissing him off. His hair was going wild with its curls today, falling into his eyes despite his efforts to push it back. He had used hairspray for crying out loud, and it still refused to be tamed. Why.
“And you’re still freaking perfect as always,” he huffed as he saw his boyfriend walk in the bedroom. Kasiya arched a curious brow, sitting down on the bed behind Ryker and watching him in the mirror.
“Much appreciated, but I’m confused,” he commented, leaning back against the wall to lounge as he usually did, long legs sprawled out carelessly and partially dangling off the edge of the bed.
And this was the time Ryker’s insecure and unstable mind decided to compare the two.
Kasiya Saliba, a 6’5 Egyptian-descended god that was absolutely out of Ryker’s league. Lean and narrow build with long limbs, which almost gave him a lanky look if he didn’t have just enough visible muscle to counteract that—displayed by the drool-worthy abs. Uptilted and narrowed black eyes. His full, silky, long black hair was usually kept tied up, even if some chunks escaped the tie and fell around his face. Perfect brown skin inked with tattoos and a stern face accented with piercings.
He was gorgeous. Ryker likey.
Now, on the opposite side of the spectrum, there was him.
Ryker Young, a 5’4 Canadian-born guy that ended up living in a nameless town in Washington that most definitely didn’t deserve said Egyptian god. Thin and lithe build with rounded and soft edges. Light brown skin that’s soft to the touch; lighter birthmarks on his back and freckles all over his nose and cheekbones. His cat-like eyes were green, but different shades of green starting with lightest at the edges of his irises and ending with darkest at the pupil. His chocolate brown hair was full of curls that clearly didn’t like being told what to do.
He couldn’t help but compare the two. He was so full of flaws, whereas Kas’ only flaws were the burns he hid beautifully with those tattoos. He was short while Kas was tall; he had barely any muscle, hidden or otherwise; Kas was just perfect while Ryker wasn’t, and he felt like it wasn’t fair that he was forcing Kasiya to settle for him.
Oh, and he had magic, something Kas hated with a burning passion.
“Stop it.”
Ryker jumped and blinked at the voice in his ear. He had gotten lost in his head again and hadn’t even noticed Kas getting up and standing right behind him. Once his new situation was processed, he sighed and leaned back into his boyfriend’s chest, closing his eyes. “Sorry. I just can’t help it. You deserve someone better than me. I’m broken and-”
“Stop it.”
He shut up.
“We’ve literally been dating for three years,” Kas said, wrapping his arms around Ryker’s smaller body and resting his chin on his head. “I don’t do relationships, so the fact that I even let you worm your way into my life like this is enough evidence of how you’re wrong.” He kissed the top of Ryker’s head and murmured against his curls, “So shut up and get dressed already. Your curls are adorable, you’re perfect, and I’m hungry, so let’s go before I do something drastic.”
Ryker rolled his eyes from behind his lids, smiling faintly. “Of course, dear. Wouldn’t want that.” He felt Kas flash a smile against his hair, then he was released from that comforting hug as the taller man stepped back. Ryker adjusted himself so he didn’t fall onto his back, then ran a hand through his curls as he cast one last solemn look in the mirror.
“Ryker!”
He grinned and giggled when he heard Kas shout from the other side of the closed bedroom door, scurrying away to change out of his pajama bottoms and into some decent clothing. He and Kasiya were going out to eat for lunch today, as Ryker had today off from work and they wanted to use that time to do some stuff together while they got the chance.
So, that calls for some casual but not slobbish clothing. A difficult feat, but Ryker could manage something. Possibly. Maybe. Probably not.
Before Kas yelled at him to hurry the hell up again, Ryker went into their walk-in closet and scanned his side for a decent shirt to wear. He could practically hear the time ticking down in his ears, so he pulled down a yellow tank top and his usual leather jacket, shrugging them on as he then moved to his dresser for some pants. His eyes found black ripped jeans first and he just went with it. He hopped on one foot as he struggled to not fall over, then zipped and buttoned them up while rushing down the stairs.
Kasiya was already in the kitchen waiting for him, clad in a light brown jacket, white shirt, black jeans, and simple boots. Ryker trotted over to him and gave him a quick ‘thank-you’ hug before slipping past him to pull on a pair of sneakers.
His ears picked up on a strange sound, and he slowed in his task to focus on that. For some time, he heard nothing and thought he had imagined it.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
He lifted his eyes and slowly stood, barely registering Kasiya coming over and hugging him from behind to try and beg him to go faster so they could eat. He didn’t even lean into the man’s touch, which made Kas curious and slightly concerned, as he always leaned into his touch, consciously or not. They were both silent, and both heard it this time.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
Kasiya pulled Ryker closer to his chest protectively, neither one of them liking the ominous sound. Realistically, there wasn’t anything legitimate for them to be on edge about. However, they both got a feeling, Ryker just knew it from how tight he was held against Kasiya’s chest. It felt like. . .
“That damn bird,” he muttered, gritting his teeth. Kas looked down at him with confusion, brows drawing together. Ryker shook his head and pushed out of the man’s grasp. “Let’s just go, it’s nothing.” Kas was silent, eyes flicking around to double-check everything was fine. Ryker stopped his pursuit to the door to turn around on his heel with a huff. “C’mon, Kas. You were the one that was getting hangry.”
Kasiya stuck his tongue out at Ryker as he approached him, then quickly withdrew it as Ryker, sporting a wicked smile, made to bite at it. “Alright, if you’re sure this mystery bird is harmless.”
“It’s a bird, dumbo. Of course it’s harmless.”
“If you say so.”
~~
The restaurant they chose was one of Ryker’s favorites, thanks to Kasiya introducing it to him a little bit after they first met. Usually, he loved the atmosphere of the place, the rush of people dining and chatting, the clatter of silverware on expensive plates, the divine scents that are just to die for—usually. But today, he just couldn’t stop thinking about that eagle and everything that had gone through his head since then. He was picking at his food, lost in his thoughts once more.
Fingers snapped just beneath his nose, causing him to jump and snap his eyes up at an inpatient Kasiya. “Ryker,” he said. Just one word, just his name, and he instantly knew what his boyfriend wanted from him. Ryker sighed and twirled his fork through his fingers as he thought about how to tell Kas about his dream about the eagle and everything he was considering.
Well, almost everything. One thing needed to stay hush-hush.
“Okay, I guess a lot’s been on my mind recently. . .” he started, dropping his gaze down to his plate as he continued to idly stab at his chicken.
“By recently, you mean for the past week?”
“Yes. . .” Ryker grumbled, huffing at how observant his boyfriend was. “I’ve just been thinking about how some things got left when we first met, y’know? I mean, my parents and I haven’t spoken since I was fifteen, and here I am, 22 years old and still completely loathe them. Even my old therapist wasn’t able to help me with that, and I think that frustrated her, not gonna lie.” He sighed and refused to look up at Kasiya as he added even softer, as if scared of how he’d react, “And then there’s the issue of my one ex, the one I had before I met you.”
“What about him?” Kas didn’t sound upset, but it was hard to tell when he kept everything all bottled up behind sarcasm and apathy. Ryker would only know how he truly felt about it after Kas got all the information and Ryker actually looked at him. But he was too nervous to do that right now, so the guessing game it was going to be.
“I-honestly don’t really know? He was a foster, so when he turned eighteen we both knew that he’d be kicked out of the system. I thought that he would come back, though, once everything was settled. He had money from Audrey and some other stuff, so it was reasonable to assume he’d come back to Washington.”
“But he didn’t.”
Ryker shook his head and sighed, dropping his fork and curling his jacket tighter around himself, fingers clutching the fabric as if it, too, was going to disappear forever. “He. . . Kas, he just left. No word, no apology, no explanation, nothing. Even Audrey couldn’t find him. It was like he erased himself from the world, like he could just make everyone forget he ever existed.” Ryker shook his head and leaned it back to look up at the ceiling, pressing his tongue to the roof of his mouth to keep himself from crying. Yes, he loved Kas, but he had also cared a lot about this ex, and he was heartbroken when he was just left like that. “He left me, just like how my parents left me.”
He felt himself being pushed across the booth towards the window, and he immediately buried his face into Kasiya’s shoulder, unable to keep the silent tears from falling. “He promised, Kas. He promised to not abandon me like my parents did. He promised he wasn’t like them.” Ryker took a shuddering breath, clenching his jaw and wrapping his arms around Kas’ waist. He didn’t care that people might be watching or listening, all he cared about was Kasiya’s strong and protective arm around him and the hand running soothing circles over his back. “I thought he was different. . .” Ryker whispered, the words barely audible against Kas’ side.
The tears continued to fall, and Kasiya said nothing. Ryker said nothing. All he saw behind his tightly closed eyes were images, moving pictures of memories that he had cherished ever since that fateful night. His feelings about his ex were conflicted, as he was happy with him when they were together. Even when things had gotten rough, he had come back to Ryker the very next day and apologized in some way. It was understandable, as he wasn’t used to being with a guy, so Ryker had forgiven him. And once things finally got to the point where he had finally accepted Ryker’s advances, it was amazing. He’s had multiple ex’s, and none had come close to that particular one. He had really thought that things would work out for them.
But then his eighteenth birthday had rolled around, and Ryker suddenly found himself waiting for a ghost to return, not even a whisper to be heard. After a year, he moved to Vegas and attempted to start a new life.
Attempted being the keyword.
“Ryker.” He sniffled and looked up at Kasiya, who was looking down at him with an unreadable expression in his black eyes. Damn him for being good at poker. “How many vacation days do you have available?”
That certainly wasn’t a question he was expecting. Ryker blinked in confusion, then said, “About two week’s worth, why?”
“Because we’re going to find this ex of yours, then talk to your parents,” Kas stated matter-of-factly, making Ryker practically shriek in disbelief.
“Are you serious!?!?! Kas, I’d die bef-nhm!” Ryker screwed his face up when his mouth and nose were smothered by Kasiya’s hand, blocking off his breathing and yelling. There were most definitely people watching now.
“Yes,” Kas said, still calm and unreadable, “You lot need to talk, clearly, and settle things with you. Your parents might want to talk to you after all these years, and you definitely need to talk to this ex of yours. I might have a few words with him myself.”
Ryker flailed, trying to get out of Kasiya’s grasp so he could talk—nevermind the fact that he couldn’t breathe—and lightly slapped the man’s chest. That got him to release his mouth and nose at least. “You’re not beating him up, Kas.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“I know what that means, or did you forget that we’ve been together for three years?”
“Not all of my words have a double-meaning, Albi. But I suppose, now would be one of those times that they do.”
Ryker closed his eyes and mentally whined about the use of the Arabic term of endearment. He adored it when Kasiya did that, which made it harder to be stern with him—something Kas the Devil was all too aware of. “Kasiya Akil Saliba, I will not have you beating up my ex over something that might be a misunderstanding. Are we understood?” He opened his eyes and glared up at a smirking Kas, hoping his efforts weren’t wasted.
“Fine, but if he does anything that warrants a good punch to the face, I have no promises that my fist will listen to you attempting to be my mother.” Ryker rolled his eyes, then snuggled further into Kas and smiled against the man’s shirt. He was so lucky to have a boyfriend like Kas, even if he was a bit of a prude every now and again.
“Thank you.” The words were whispered, lost to the commotion of the restaurant. Or, at least he thought they were.
“Anytime, Hayete.” A pause as Kas adjusted and brought his own food over to him from the other side of the booth. “We leave tomorrow.”
