deercountry | Some nights, I stay up cashing in my bad luck

I'm not high, don't be ridicul- huh?

[Wait what, his what?

Min draws his hands back and up into the air to look at them without disturbing Ryan.

The nails are a little sharp but lo and behold! Hands!]

Woah..

[Too late. Ryan has been disturbed and he scoots until he's sitting upright - he wants to see for himself.

And there it is. For the first time in days, Min looks like himself again. His nails are still a little sharp and pointy, but otherwise? Those are definitely Min's hands. Ryan takes one for himself, marveling over it and touching it.]

You did it!

[Ryan's beaming, ready to cheerlead for him as always. He plants a gentle kiss against his fingers.]

I knew you could.

[It's sweet and sincere and...only lasts a moment before Ryan takes Min's wrist and slowly waves his hand back and forth in front of his own face.]

So, are you seeing trails or anything cool? Because you are totally tripping off the honey.

Fhhh, no no no, too fast, too fast. Be sweet to me.

[He tries to brace his hands. Stop it. Let him see.

They're still hands. Actual, real hands.]

I'm not tripping.

...

Am I? Am I high? Ryan, did you get me high?

Not on purpose! I told you, Shiro said it can make people kinda spacey.

[He gave Min FAIR WARNING so this is NOT his fault. ...Probably.]

Shhhhh, it's okay.

[Ryan takes Min's hands. The last thing he wants is for it to turn into something unpleasant because Min panicked about being high, so he tries to reassure him with soft touches. Their fingers lace together.]

I'm only teasing you. It sounds like it's a good trip, and I'm staying right here, so...it's okay.

[He smiles, his face full of mischief as he says Min's words back to him.]

I will be so, so sweet to you.

[Min whines but Ryan is so very distracting.

And he was warned. And yeah, now that it's been acknowledged and he can put the feelings to an explanation, it all makes sense.

No paranoia this time, or munchies, or parents to hide from, which beats the pants off their high school dabbling. Just all the fuzzy feel good.]

God,

[He gives in.]

I am. I'm so high. I'm so high, you got me high!

[It's a whine but he grabs Ryan up and tugs him back against his chest.]

I'm high and I can't even be mad because it's amazing and I have fingers again!

[Ryan is pretty sure the fixation on how good the orange is counts as some variant of the munchies, even if it's not just wanting to eat all the junk food in sight. He has munchies specifically for this lovingly peeled orange.

He's more than happy to be tugged back where he was though, settling right back in and making himself cozy.]

You do, you have fingers again. Totally worth being a little high, riiight?

[It's good news that Min isn't mad about it, but Ryan can't help laughing.]

Gotta say though, if I knew it would help this much? I would've tried to get you stoned on like, day one.

[Probably not with the magic healing honey and more likely with actual pot or something adjacent, but still. It would have been good to know!]

Yeah, I guess now we know. We'll.. add a new entry in the Min-Gi Manual.

[It's a good tool for the ol arsenal, though. Might work better some times over others, but always worth a try. They know now for next time.

There will probably be a next time. Life is hard. His normal 'get overwhelmed and squid' technique hasn't come into play and honestly he isn't sure how to do it on purpose.]

But also like, I think I just need time? I always need time. But not too much time, just the right amount of time.

[Right? Right.]

Yeah, totally. "Let Min-Gi chill overnight and then bake him." There's like, a whole recipe in there.

[And they are recipe experts now that they've baked for a giant pig baby, obviously.

Unfortunately, there probably will be a next time. Ryan can attest to that himself, though he's kept quiet about it until the last week or so, until he and Min were stuck in a cosmic pocket dimension and he let slip that last month was not his first brush with corruption.

But they're learning. And even if...even when it happens again, they'll handle it better. Hopefully.]

So...is there a Ryan Manual too?

[He's decided that making Min try and explain things while high is his new favorite past time.]

[Min-Gi laughs at the baking joke. That's so punny. He loves it. In his current state it might be the cleverest joke he's every heard. So many layers! Like a cake! It's brilliant!]

Uh, yeah. Obviously.

[It's so good to hear Min laugh after everything they've been through in the last month and a half. That, more than anything else, fills him with immense relief.

He waits, as though Min is going to explain, and when Min doesn't he whines.]

What's iiiiin it?

[Tell him; he's dying to know!!!]

[Listen, one thing at a time.]

Uhhhhh... paaages? And like, a lot of diagrams.

For example: Knowing Your Ryan, 101.

[Min pats Ryan on the head]

This is the silky poof.

[Moving down to the shoulders and biceps respectively.]

The chicken wings and strong parts.

[Further on down to ribs, though he's having trouble not laughing as he speaks.]

The soft spots.. and tickle spots..

[You don't think he will but try him]

Edited 2022-05-03 05:58 (UTC)

[Ryan isn't surprised that a Ryan Manual would have lots of diagrams. Min would probably want one that was like, actually useful.

But Min pats him on the head and he just cracks up. Silky poof??? He's less sure how to feel about chicken wings (?????) but at least his guitar muscles are an important part of this diagram.

This is kind of nice, having Min go down his body this way and list off the different secret spots, but then he mentions tickle spots and Ryan's entire body tenses like Min's going to try right now.]

No, no. No tickle spots. Nope. Totally no tickle spots here. Must be out of date.

[He absolutely has tickle spots, he's just usually blessed with a boyfriend who is far too nice to use such a thing against him. Usually.]

[Ah, but you see, that is sober Min. High Min, Nim, if you will, is far more likely to Do It For The Vine.]

Nooo?

[Wriggling his fingers menacingly. They get closer and closer as he speaks. It's like, a lot of effort and he's not super into aggression right now because he's so warm and lovely and cozy, but he can feel Ryan puffing up like a little cat and that energy is magnetic.]

Because I'm pretty sure.. that's what the picture said. And I'm the only one who's read it apparently, so. I'm probably right.

Edited 2022-05-03 06:56 (UTC)

[He can feel those fingers wriggling and they aren't even touching him yet. He's in tickle danger!]

Noooope, nope. It was, uh. A typo! I-It was supposed to say totally not ticklish spots.

[He could get up if he wanted to, preemptively escape the possible tickling, but he would really rather just stick around and not be tickled by his mischievous stoned boyfriend.]

Maybe we skip that part of the diagram?

[Then, he tries to go for Min's hands, even though it leaves those tickle spots totally unguarded. If he's able to he's going to just lower them to his hips-- and if he's not then he's probably doomed here.]

[Ryan is absolutely right that he is in Tickle Danger. Ya' god damned doomed, boy.

The more Ryan tries to get out of it the wider Min-Gi grins.]

Me thinks the gentleman doth protest too much.

[Fingers a wriggling away, suddenly! They strike! Right for the ribs!

PSYCHE

He jabs once to make Ryan flip out before releasing like his fingers are spring loaded and taking his hips. Laughing all the way. Look at your face!! HA!

Win/win for Min.]

[It absolutely works. He laughs at such a sudden high pitch that it's more of a shriek and his whole body suddenly bends to get away from that one tiny little tickle touch. One foot has somehow wound up against the back of the couch, as if he's going to kick off and launch himself to the floor like a rocket - or maybe just contort into a pretzel somehow.

His face sure is something.]

Fuck--!

[He v e r y slowly settles when Min takes his hips (and Min probably has to tug him back into place a little) but he's still tense - hypervigilant of any further tickle attacks. He pouts a little from his place on Min's chest.]

Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. Laugh it up.

[Oh why thank you, because he will. He will laugh and laugh and laaaaaugh as he tugs Ryan back from his attempt to eject himself from orbit.]

Okay, no, no, I’m sorry, c’mere it’s okay I won’t.

[And he won’t, but he isn’t sorry, having to wipe tears from his eyes before grabbing Ryan back up again. Hips are good, see? No danger.

Maybe a little danger. Maybe he’ll flex like he’s gonna do it again, but it’s a lie! Deception!

As funny as it would be to see Ryan catapult himself across the room he doesn’t want the contact to finish.]

C’mere, c’mere I promise.

[Deception! Ryan is not a fan of the deception and tenses again, but...his whole heart melts just hearing Min laugh like that, and the gentle way he says c'mere. How can he possibly keep away?

So he lets Min laugh and rests his head against his chest. He's very cozy there, but he still pouts.]

You better not. If you tickle me I will get up and sit somewhere else.

[He wouldn't leave, never, but there are other sitting options in the room if Min's going to keep wiggling his fingers near those tickle spots. There's no way Min wants that though, and to be honest he doesn't either.]

Loud and clear.

[Squeezing Ryan’s hips softly for good measure.

As much as he likes occasional horseplay, he hasn’t had the luxury of Ryan’s intimate affection long enough to sacrifice it for a joke.

And also, honestly, that took a lot of physical effort just now and the world is still very merrily rolling around him.

Which, you know. If they nest here like this long enough it’s gonna turn into Min rolling up against Ryan.]

[Ryan lets the rolling happen with ease, adjusting and curling up against him. It's really nice after the last week or so that they've had, and maybe it's some rest that Ryan's needed too. He's cozy laying with Min-Gi and certain that his corruption is going away and it feels like an invisible pressure just...falls away.

Of course, they're on a couch and not a bed. It's already a tight squeeze to be side by side this way.

Which means that naturally, Tomo is going to hop up and try to burrow in between them. How dare they cuddle without Tomo?! Tomo wants to be a part of things!

Ryan grumbles as Tomo tries to force themself into the very tiny amount space between them.]

Tomooooo, why are you like this...?

[Min gives a half exasperated, half regretful noise as Tomo pushes in. Buddy, this isn't cuddle time. This is Adult Cuddle Time. He paws to get the otter off a little but Tomo is very determined and Min-Gi is only firing on half his cylinders right now so guess who wins and gets premium snuggle real estate.]

[Luckily, Ryan is firing on all of his cylinders, and he reaches up to pry Tomo out from in between them.]

You can cuddle Min-Gi later, it's my turn right now.

[They make the most pathetic little whiny noise as Ryan picks them up and blindly lowers them in the general direction of the floor. Ryan can't actually see what he's doing but...they don't jump back up, so they're probably gone?

He's going to just assume they're gone.]

Ha. Sorry they're so needy...

[He says, slinking his arm around Min to pull himself as close as possible, being exactly as needy about wanting to be close to him. His face is burrowed in the crook of Min's neck, enjoying how easily he fits there and how good Min smells.]

Don't worry about it.

[But he is thankful for the Tomo extraction.]

Like person, like omen.

[Did he intend for that to come right for the jugular? No. But does he say things sometimes and it's unnecessarily sharp? Yes. Believe it or not, he's trying to be cute. Because look at you Ryan, being cute all curled up on him nice and warm and comforting. Just like Tomo was trying to do :]

Nailed it.

Min takes a breath and gives a heavy but pleased sigh, relaxed and perfectly at ease. This honey really is hitting the spot. It's exactly what he needed and Ryan was so clever to think of it. What a good and caring boyfriend.]

Dude I really do feel so good. When we're together like this? It's like we're.. you know. Like we belong.

[Ryan huffs, but there's no real irritation behind it - just a small puff of air against Min's neck. He's never sure how to feel about the fact that Min can so easily see similarities between him and Tomo.

Of course, this doesn't make him any less clingy. He's too cozy to get up anyway, and fuck it maybe he is a little needy.]

Yeah. Yeah, I know. We just...fit.

[He rubs a gentle circle in the small of Min's back, hand naturally in exactly the position to do so and thus proving his point.]

It's cheesy, but...we were born to be together. And only we get to say that. Same birthday, same hospital, bassinets right next to each other? Doesn't get more soulmates than that, man.

[Okay, so he has no way of knowing if that last one is true or not aside from word of mouth from their parents, but still. Their two-month-old relationship is better than anyone else's because it's really twenty years in the making. It's easy to feel like this is exactly how things were always supposed to be.]

[Soulmates.

Whuff.

That's a Big Thing to say.

But also, like, it doesn't feel that wild. They've been a duet since the day they met, for better or worse, but it's something that could never be taken away from them. Even when they weren't together, even at their worst, they were still tied together. It's like fate, if there is such a thing (and honestly Min-Gi has been in the middle of too many Strange Things this year to think otherwise now), she picked them out to be together from the start. So much so that even the train took them both. Even this place (never mind the delay).

Tied by, yeah, maybe by the soul. Why wouldn't they be soulmates. If it's going to be anyone, it's them.

Min-Gi imagines an alternate scenario where he laughs and mimes holding up something for Ryan to eat before declaring it a cracker for his cheese, but he can't make himself do it. The moment is too sincere. Too intimate.]

No,

[A soft murmur as he lightly squeezes Ryan's hips before letting his hands smooth over them to tuck down the back of his jeans. Ryan's skin is extremely soft here and he loves it. Skin against skin, warmth against warmth, fingers lightly following the contour of his spine.]

It really doesn't. I think you're right.

[A beat.]

Have you ever heard of the stardust soulmate theory?

Some nights, I stay up cashing in my bad luck

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