``imagine knowing me. {Ryuu}

[Jared Platt]

Lines of sunshine that escaped into Jared’s apartment through the blinds fell across Jared and his bed sheets. His alarm clock began to buzz to his right and he tiredly lifted his arm and poked at the clock until he hit the button to shut it up. Rubbing his eyes and yawning, Jared laid out in his mind the day ahead of him; it was pretty simple. No work and no school. Go visit Ryuu. He smirked at the thought. Ryuu had gotten so upset yesterday when Jared announced he wouldn’t be working. It was... flattering, Jared had to admit.
After sliding out of bed and fussing with the sheets and pillows until they looked decent, Jared got dressed and fished a can of Cherry Coke out of his mini-fridge. He popped the can open and gulped down as much of the liquid as he could at once, counting on it to wake him up a little more. It took him a few moments to recover from the immense burning in his throat from drinking the Coke so quickly, but Jared managed to survive. He snatched up his wallet, grabbed a hold of his guitar. His guitar was as much of a routine thing as grabbing his wallet or putting on a watch for Jared. Finally he slipped into his favorite corduroy jacket, sticking his hand in each pocket until he located his iPod. Placing the earphones in his ears and putting the device on shuffle mode, Jared walked out his apartment door to “Love Me Do” by none other than The Beatles.

—

Jared ventured into the stables and Ryuu was nowhere to be seen (not surprisingly). Possibly he was a bit too early? He grinned and stroked Flapjack’s forelock as he passed his stall, exclaiming, “Hey, little man! Here I am on a Saturday—surprise, surprise!” Not amused, Flapjack boredly made a huffing noise. Unphased by Flapjack’s actions, Jared babbled on and on to him about how life was, then sat down by Flapjack’s stall. He took his guitar off his back and pulled it out of the case. He gently strummed the strings in order to not spook any of the horses, playing random chords one after another that decently blended together. Hopefully Ryuu would pop up any minute now.

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[Ryuu James]

The alarm clock didn’t go off, as usual. Ryuu was rudely awakened to a damp patch on his pillow. His eyes snapped open, and his brain felt like it’d explode from a killer hangover. He shut his eyes again and sniffed, then spluttered and coughed and sat up suddenly, clamping his hands over his nose. Opening one eye cautiously, he peered down at the bloody patch that was spreading over his pillow. Holy fuck, what had he been doing last night? He felt blood well up in his hands and trickle between his fingers and he stumbled into his bathroom and lent over the sink. Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he almost wanted to cry. His cheek was stained in the blood that had collected on the pillow and his nose was streaming. Dark rings lined his bright green eyes. But he felt surprisingly buoyant today, regardless. Once the bleeding stopped, he washed his face and combed his hair with his fingers in an attempt to freshen himself up. Of course, it was only an attempt.

On his way down stairs, he had to stumble out the way of a load of Harriett’s toys that she’d left on the grand staircase and nearly tripped up over one of Kailie’s coats, which had been carelessly tossed at the banisters and had slipped down onto the floor. Muttering curses, Ryuu sulked into the kitchen, took some strong pain killers and passed rude comments with his brother who was eating breakfast with their two younger sisters. Irja looked like he wanted to talk more seriously to his brother, but Ryuu grunted about his duties before the more slender of the twins could open his mouth again.

It was a cold morning, and Ryuu’s breath billowed from his lips like smoke. As if tired of a cheap imitation, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it quickly, inhaling deeply on the little cancer stick and taking the smoke right down to the pit of his lungs. The sharp taste, mixed with the cold air, aggravated his throat and he coughed harshly. His chronic smoker’s cough had been plaguing him more than usual in this cold weather. Turning his head to the side as he walked towards the stables, he spat onto the ground, smoke billowing from his lips. Reaching the stable blocks, he peered into a few of the stalls at horses that his father had told him to keep an eye on in this cold weather. Suddenly, the sound of someone playing guitar hit his ears. One of the horses nearby whinnied nervously and kicked at the stable door.
“Ay! Shush!” Ryuu shouted at the horse, but it kicked the door one last time as if to say ‘ha-ha, I can do what I like’ before it settled down again. Dropping his cigarette and stamping it out, Ryuu advanced towards the sound of the guitar, and his face softened into a pleased smile when he saw it was Jared who was playing.
“Bonjour, Jared,” he greeted the young man, shoving his cold hands into the pockets of his jacket.