Tyed

chapter fifty

t/w for suicide themes

The game progresses fine, and at the end there's no clear winner; it goes on until Tyler is struggling to pay attention, Sev's given up long ago, and it seems Kuro's the only one keeping reasonable pace anyway. It ends when Kuro wins a round and says, "have we all given up yet?"

Tyler wondered if Colby was bothered by what he said. Colby seems bothered every time Tyler says that. He's been quiet, focussing on his friends more. Tyler likely embarrassed him. He'll take that explanation.

"I have," Colby admits. "Can someone explain the colours?"

And with the game over, Tyler can explain it. He lists off every rule, and although he starts to forget them halfway through the list and has to be reminded, he did at one point grasp them all.

"That's devious, putting a rule on numbers but not face cards. You're good at this game," Rye tells Tyler. "You've never played it before?"

"Not this game. I'm just good at figuring out unspoken rules," Tyler shrugs, yawning. "Sorry for being weird," he adds lowly, looking at Colby, who's working hard not to show any reaction at all to him, other than just looking at him, emptily. Cool.

Rye actually laughs. "You're fine. I hope we didn't drag you away from your friends for too long."

"Oh, shit." Tyler blinks, turning around as though he can see through the door behind him. "Nancy. I actually kind of did bring friends here and then dump them."

"You should probably go and see them then," Rye remarks, "but thank you so much for this."

"Anytime," Tyler says, standing up and gesturing over his shoulder at the door, meeting Colby's eye. Colby gets the hint and stands up, following him out. "Thank you. It was nice to meet you guys," Tyler manages to say, stumbling only a little on the way out.

The top area where Tyler first spoke to Colby is empty, and Tyler half expects to be pinned against the wall. And he is- or, well, stuck against it anyway, Colby's arms against the wall on either side of him, penning him in. Colby leans in close and kisses him; Tyler's heart responds, as does his body, and he grabs Colby's shirt, pulling him closer, sinking deeper, wanting nothing but this soft passion for the rest of his life.

Colby pulls away, and in Tyler's ear, mutters words far more intimately than the words themselves demand. "Tell me your secret."

Tyler goes cold, and he shakes his head, admitting the truth. "I'm afraid you couldn't love me if you knew."

Colby's finger trail Tyler's chin, pulling his gaze up and magnetically attracting it to his yellow eyes. In one world they're hazel, but in the short glimpses Tyler's seen through them they're always, always yellow; like a wolf's, or like the tips of flames that burn trees and sheds and nightmares but don't hurt your skin if you just dip into them. Cleansing fire was in there.

Colby's voice is low, and his smile intoxicating, far more than the whiskey, the whiskey just a touch darker than Colby's eyes. "Since when," he says, so soft, "did you care about whether or not I loved you?"

Something, somewhere, has broken open. Tyler's not sure he can close it. He doesn't want it open; he's afraid of what someone might see inside. But it's too late.