gavin hides behind him and says help, save me! and ryan just stops, steps aside, and lets michael get at gavin while contemplating why fate would screw him over like this, /he trained all these years for a goddammed tickle fight/ (2/2)
This is hilarious and I love it :D (inspired by x)
Okay but also consider this: Ryan grew up as a Good Boy™, and his parents had high expectations of him and, knowing his soulmark and assuming it to be some Damsel in Distress™, he was always pressured to be The Hero™ and was sent to all the athletic trainings. He learned a lot of hand-to-hand combat as a kid, knows kickboxing, boxing, Judo, Karate, a bunch of other disciplines.
He grew paranoid, flinching at every flash of movement, highly alert at all times knowing that every moment he could meet his soulmate and he had to be ready. He stopped sleeping properly, afraid that he wouldn’t be good enough. Trying to cram as much homework and workout into the late hours as he could, because surely, surely it was not enough.
His father took him to the range as soon as he hit puberty and showed him how to shoot guns, from then on, he was expected to fit a visit to the range into his already busy schedule. He managed maybe twice a month, but his parents kept chiding him, telling him to take this serious. Your soulmate is counting on you.
Ryan enjoys the sciences. They have a project week and much to his parents’ disapproval he picks theatre over survival camp. He loves the drama, the acting, he’s really into it. He wants to go to college, study English or maybe go for a theatre major. He yearns with all his heart to be able to…
He’s not allowed. Instead, his parents sign him up for military service.
He serves for four years before he snaps. He’s fit, he’s good, and he fucking hates it. Hates his life and resents the soulmark that forced this fate on him. He’s half-convinced he’ll shoot his soulmate on sight when they meet. In the darkest corners of his mind, he wants to be the threat his soulmate runs from. Ruin his life like they ruined his.
He becomes Death, a mercenary, an assassin. He becomes a traveller, homeless, restless. A vagabond with a black skull mask.
Ryan starts feeling lonely though, after the rage starts simmering down. He never really got to have much friends - he tried getting along with the other kids at his enforced activities, but his schedule was too busy to meet them in any downtime, never really getting to know them and they drifted apart too easily once he moved on. He wants… companionship.
So when Ramsey offers him a place on the crew, trial basis of course, he can’t say yes fast enough.
He’s heard of the Fakes. They’re making a name for themselve in this godforsaken city, and he can genuinely say he enjoys stories of their antics. Maybe he has finally found a place to settle, somewhere to call home. Somewhere to forget his past and move on. But then the elevator door opens onto a open-plan penthouse and-
“Help! Save me!” a voice squawks in a weird accent, and there’s hands on his jacket as someone hides behind him.
“Fuck you, Gavin, come back here, you coward!” another member yells, stopping short in front of Vagabond with wary eyes. “…hi.”
Ryan says nothing, staring down mutely at the man. At his side, Ramsey sighs.
“I don’t want to know,” he states firmly, and the bundle hiding behind him squirms.
“Geoffrey! Tell Michael to stop tickling me!”
“I don’t want to know,” he repeats exasperatedly, moving past them and towards the bar.
“Ha! Stop being a bitch, Gavvy, and accept defeat like a man!” the other man crows in defeat, but Ryan can barely hear him.
Tickle fight. A fucking tickle fight.
His chest feels tight, overwhelmed with emotion. He can’t even say if he’s more angry or relieved as he turns around to the blond- Gavin- his soulmate.
“I hate you,” he pronounces, shrugging him off and stalking after Ramsey. He ignores the eyes glued to his back.
All his fucking life for a goddamn tickle fight.
