Nearly Witches //Ryden // DISCONTINUED

Raindrops on Roses

Today, Brendon chose to explore. Not only because he had always been the curious, nosy type, but because he felt bad bothering Ryan so much. From the moment he’d woken up in the growingly familiar bed, he knew he wanted to explore the house today. He’d always been the curious kid, the one who wanted to eavesdrop on the adults conversations all the time, the one who always had to pick up every bug just to count how many legs or eyes it had. It was in his blood to explore, and while that desire had been dulled down with his growing maturity, he felt as if it was suddenly back. He couldn’t explain why to you, of course, but t just felt...there. And he wasn’t arguing. 

When he walked down the stairs, cringing at every little creak once again, he found Ryan in the study. They wore an outfit that was a tad bit more masculine today; a black shirt, vertical sand-colored stripes adorning it, paired with a black, knee length skirt. No stockings or any of the sort, but they looked more comfortable in this outfit, which is what he assumed they were going for. Their eyes were fixated on a dark, thick book, both covers very much blank. Ryan seemed very invested in the book, regardless of the fact that it was way too early to be reading in Brendon’s opinion

“Hey Ryan?” He began, poking his head into the living room. Ryan looked up from their book, setting it down in their lap gently. Their brown eyes glistened with the reflection of the late-morning sun, the little folds at the cornered scrunching up a bit as a small smile appeared on their face. 

“Yes?” They asked, their voice sounding a tad bit hoarse from sleep. Brendon was used to sore throats, so they didn’t affect him that much, but somehow, Ryan’s little hoarse disposition was adorable to Brendon. He didn’t even think finding something such as a sore throat cute, yet here he was. In fact, everything Ryan does is cute. It was almost like an instant infatuation- well actually, it was exactly like one. From the moment he’d laid his eyes on Ryan, he knew he would grow to like them far more than he should. Mayhaps that was the reason he was worrying about asking to explore their house, rather than trying to think of how to get home or an escape plan. 

“Can I look around? I’m kinda bored.” 

“Um, sure?”

“I figured I’d ask so I wouldn’t offend you. Or find your secret stash of demonic shit.” Brendon laughed at that. Ryan didn’t, mainly because they actually did have a secret stash of cursed relics and objects only really used in dark rituals. But that’s a story for later. They gave him a reassuring smile, nodding slowly. 

“I appreciate you asking. You can, if you’d like. There isn’t much to explore, though. Just here, my study and my plant room, really.”

“Ooh! I like plants!” Brendon clapped his hands excitedly, his eyes lighting up like a child. Ryan stiffed a giggle at that, letting laughter take a hold of their mind for a moment before they remembered the plant room could be, well, dangerous. 

“Oh- Uh, Brendon? You need to be-“ They looked around the study, noticing Brendon had very much left before they’d finished. “Careful.” As opposed to trying to go and find him, they sighed, resuming their reading as they twisted a piece of hair between their fingers. 

Brendon, meanwhile, was already exploring. The plant room was relatively easy to find, mostly due to the fact it was labeled 'PLANT ROOM'. Ryan had chalked that on themselves, actually. It happened too many times that they were in a rush and, by accident of course, wound up in the lavatory instead of the plant room. The letters on the door were in a swirly, old-fashioned style cursive that Brendon found quite aesthetically pleasing. Little did he know, Ryan wrote like that all the time. They'd just have to write something out for Brendon sometime.