#mavinwood

Like, hacker/thief/??? Gavin ends up in Los Santos via a series of unfortunate events in which he is a total shit and sticks his nose where it doesn’t belong?

Cue his ~fleeing to the US and meandering his way along - getting in trouble along the way, because of course he does, but also amassing a rather impressive list of contacts and such as well - to Los Santos.

Where, lol, of course he gets in over his head yet again? Young and stupid and tries to get one past the wrong guy and before he knows it he’s got himself an arrangement, right?

Work for the guy he tried to fuck over or be horrifically murderized, and oh, hey? The family and friends he left back in England? Sure would be a shame if something happened to them, you know? They seem lovely.

(Why would you just look at the pictures and videos this guy has of them doing all sorts of everyday things and accidents happen, you know. Awful, that.)

Anyway, anyway, Gavin keeps his head down and plays good little hacker/thief/???.

Gives his new boss what he asks for out of him and no more, doesn’t volunteer information or skills or anything he may have himself or know someone who knows someone who might be useful.

No.

Gavin does what’s asked of him and lets his boss’ goons and thugs push him around - little weasel, a coward and so on?

But also Gavin is making a list (or two or three) that has all kinds of interesting information to be had in them? Things his boss’ enemies or other such interested parties could use to utterly ruin the bastard.

Gavin’s got plans, you see, it’s just a matter of time and all that.

Until then he’s meek and mild and does his part whether it be hacking or off to steal some shiny little bit of interest to his boss or whatever else his boss knows he’s capable of. (Nasty stuff, when you get down to it, strange how his boss never wonders how Gavin knows how to do any of this stuff or rest easy thinking they won’t be used on him, but arrogance will do that to people, I guess?)

ANYWAY.

Things are going along...well enough when Gavin’s boss brings in a new hacker.

This kid (not really a kid, if anything a couple of years younger than Gavin at most, but he seems young) who buckles down and plays nice without the rough treatment Gavin and the handful of other hackers and “specialists” like him that have been through the base where Gavin works most of the time.

Gavin would let things run their course for this “Matt Bragg” but he’s not like the others Gavin’s been forced to work with?

They were always the same kid of wrong as his boss and his boss’ favorite goons and thugs. Mean and cruel for the sake of it and didn’t worry who they were hurting so long as they made a profit off it.

But Matt Bragg, okay.

Quiet kid, keeps to himself and gets this pinched look on his face when their boss decides whatever information he handed over to him was to be used in the most “efficient” way possible.

Matt gives their boss two different routes to obtain whatever shiny he’s after, one with minimal casualties on all sides but it’ll take a little longer. The other requires guards and security to be killed, but it shaves a hefty chunk of time off the entire operation, and no bet which one their boss chooses.

And, look.

The fact that Matt took the time to come up with two different approaches like that - contingency plans, yeah, sure, that’s a given - but Matt went out of his way to devise a tactic to avoid having to kill people.

Other things like that crop up from time to time, and Matt gets into trouble for it sometimes, taking too long to get the boss the information he wants because he’s concerned about having to kill some hired guns in a batch of mercs or rent a cops or whatever.

But he keeps on looking for those alternatives, and Gavin takes an interest.

Realizes Matt’s in the same boat as him with regards to working for their boss. Details might not be exactly the same, but whatever they are he ended up here same as Gavin, and that’s.

Interesting?

interesting.

Enough for Gavin to take that interest in Matt, sabotage him here and there so the boss gets pissed, yeah, punishes Matt by restricting his “privileges” and so on?

But there’s a good reason for that.

Because Matt’s good at what he does, too good, and there have been others like him through here before.

Got chewed up and spat out and left to fend for themselves when the cops (or worse) came looking.

Got set up, put on a job and left high and dry in the middle of it while the boss and his flunkies got away with the shiny they were after and a pretty little scapegoat/sacrifice left behind.

It’s where Matt’s headed if he’s not careful, and he isn’t.

Careful, that is.

Goes along with what the boss wants, but he’s the stubborn kind of idiot, you know?

Mouths off when he shouldn’t, and it gets him knocked around a bit. Gets him noticed by their boss’ goons and thugs when it’s the last thing people like them need or want.

Matt’s not stupid, realizes what’s going on and goes to confront Gavin about it, grabs his arm and freezes when Gavin lets out this little hiss f pain, pulls his arm back when Matt’s left staring at him.

Because in all the commotion Gavin’s sleeve got pulled up and there are these marks, bruises and worse and faded scars and -

“What - “

Gavin scowls at Matt, because rude, and also, idiot.

“Leave it alone, Matt Bragg,” he says, meaning Gavin deliberately fucking Matt over and everything else, because you know, because.

Those jobs and tasks and whatnot of Matt’s that Gavin sabotages him on?

Have to get done by someone, and Gavin’s reliable about things like that, isn’t he. (Has to be with everything he’s got on the line and all.)

So Gavin does the jobs/whatever Matt was supposed to and since Gavin has certain skills and the whatnot Matt doesn’t he ends up in the field when Matt would have remained at the base.

Gets hands on experience with whatever conundrum was posed to Matt, and sometimes that means he gets hurt because like hell will his boss offer him helpful support and such, you know?

It’s Gavin thieving about in hostile territory and with the odds stacked against him and shit always goes wrong.

And if it’s not the job/whatever where Gavin gets hurt you can bet their boss’ goons and thugs have something to say about things. (Gavin’s got a mouth on him even now, and makes enemies like you wouldn’t believe without trying.)

So anyway, anyway, Matt is like !!! and oh, you fucking moron, and drags Gavin off to get propery patched up.

Cue Friendship montage in which they realize they’re more or less working towards the same goals - Gavin wants the fuck out of this arrangement he was forced into and would rather do that than burn things to the ground while he’s still inside.

But Matt?

Lol, fucker would cheerfully burn the place down around him and figure his way out from there.

So.

Montage sequence in which they team up and utterly wreck their boss and his operation.

And, you know, because hackers end up filthy rich afterwards.

Fuck around for a while because Freedom and Choice and :DDDDDDDDDDDDDD but then they get word their boss had enemies who are looking to take over his territory and such and Gavin and Matt are like “...wait.”

Between them they have the resources and connections to set themselves for life in Los Santos, so they do?

Start setting up their own little criminal empires in the remains of their former boss’, and they start by bringing in assholes like this Rimmy Tim guy Matt met out at a bar one night?

Recently liberated from their boss and getting a drink to celebrate while Gavin was making sure things were good back in England and his boss’ allies/whoever couldn’t touch them and Matt’s more than a little tipsy, you know?

Mouths off to the wrong guy and almost gets the shit beat out of him but this weirdo in purple and orange (”I remember yellow, too?”) comes along and plays white knight for Matt.

At which point Matt has to buy him a drink as a thank you and the two of then end up getting shit-faced drunk.

Also you know.

Smooches are exchanged because oh, hey, he’s cute/hot/I like his face a lot before the alcohol kicks in and they end up snuggled together on a bed and passing the fuck out.

Not important whose bed, so much as the !!! the morning afterward realizing they went home with some weirdo and...smooched? Before snuggling and passing out???

And then awkward dating, because of course, and hey, since we’re building a criminal empire I totally know a guy, Matt says to Gavin, and then has to add, “It’s uh. We’re dating? But he’s exactly what we’re looking for for the whole...criminal empire thing???”

Gavin would be highly critical of Matt and his everything if it weren’t for the fact a bounty hunter he tangled with a ways back finally tracked him down?

Michael is super not thrilled with him, because of course?

This whole Thing where Michael got sent after this asshole hacker/thief/whatever in Gavin and they ended up being all 80s movies romcom/action flick flirting while avoiding the legit hitmen sent after Gavin?

Saving one another’s lives - at one point administering mouth-to-mouth - and getting matching flesh wounds in a shootout followed by a teensy amount of torture by some baddie?

And then!

Michael rethinking turning Gavin in only for Gavin to make that decision moot when Gavin knocked him out and chained him to a motel radiator before fleeing to parts unknown?

Only not so unknown as Michael finally found him.

There’s a cat and mouse game that ends up with both of then soaking wet - caught out in a rainstorm/went for a swim in a river/body of water - and Michael scowling at Gavin like he’s about to beat the shit out of him?

Only he kind of does...not that, what with the Angry Kissing that’s happening and Gavin’s !!! that turns to :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD and Michael’s >:((((((((((((((((((((((((((( that turns to >:((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( becuase Gavin is a piece of shit and Michael hates him so fucking much, stop laughing you little shit!!1! >:(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

Anyway.

Gavin and Matt have Jeremy and Michael, and then the rest trickle in?

Like.

Gavin worked with a gang a while back that hired this sniper - odd sort, but damn good with a sniper rifle and the kind you can trust to keep their mouth shut.

Ray’s not in it for the long-haul, not looking for a crew, but he’s always up to do a favor for friends and such.

And then Michael meets Lindsay through -

“Don’t fucking ask, seriously.”

And then!

Some friend of Jeremy’s in Trevor - this !!! You!!1! - moment between Gavin and Trevor because Thieves!!1! who may or may not have run into one another in the field and ensuing shenanigans as they were after the same shiny and oh, what a fun night that was, eh?

Alfredo just.

Suddenly fucking there???

Seems to know Michael who is like, “Oh, this fucker,” and no one can tell if he likes Alfredo at first? But then it comes out Alfredo used to be a bounty hunter too before he decided it was more fun being a “bad guy”

(Extenuating circumstances in which he was hired by some people to bring in some poor bastard who was innocent of whatever crime they said he committed because reasons? Alfredo finding out and then shenanigans in which he saved the poor guy’s life and set them up with a new life somewhere and ended up being framed for crimes he didn’t commit and all that. And since he was being framed for crimes he didn’t commit, why the hell not go out and commit actual crimes?

But.

Like.

Fun crimes.)

And then!!1!

Just as things are going smoothly, Gavin and Matt’s old boss manages to hire some assholes to kill Gavin? Matt would be great, sure, but the focus is on making Gavin super fucking dead, and everyone is freaking out, right, because for whatever reason they all like the little shit?

General sort of panic/mayhem until one of the assholes hired to kill Gavin actually gets their hands on him?

Catches him alone somewhere and while everyone is panicking trying to find Gavin, Gavin himself is :DDDDDDDDDDDD because the asshole who caught him is the fucking Vagabond.

When everyone gets to where they are Gavin’s like ??? at all the fear/panic he’s seeing and is like. “Guys, it’s my ex!”

Because this whole thing way, way before Michael and such where Gavin met Ryan and somehow wasn’t murdered?

Managed to make friends with the bastard that turned into something more and it was good, really, really good, until it wasn’t.

Someone from Ryan’s past gunning for him and Ryan ran Gavin off - “Bastard shot me!” but Gavin’s not mad, not anymore.

And it wasn’t like Ryan ran him off so much as dumped him at the ER and left Gavin to deal with the gunshot wound and explaining how he came by it to the authorities and then trying to find the bastard again afterward.

Which...he didn’t, but after months looking for him his contacts told him the Vagabond had set up shop in a city somewhere and seemed to be doing well for himself?

And Gavin was like :(((((((((((( because oh, well then, thinking maybe Ryan was better off without him weighing him down and such?

(Because hey, Vagabond and some hacker/thief/whatver in Gavin and honestly, no doubt who the more capable/dangerous one of them was.)

Thinking if Ryan wanted to, he could have come back for Gavin, or at least looked for him, but he hadn’t,so.

Gavin left him to it, kept on his way towards eventually arriving in Los Santos and everything that happened since - including Michael, oh shit - and then, uh.

Super awkward inching towards Mavinwood with Gavin and his feelings for Michael and Ryan and Michael and Ryan with their feelings for Gavin? But also bonding over the fact they have feelings for Gavin, because the guy’s a little shit, you know?

Complete asshole, and oh my God, do you want to hear about this one thing he did once?”

And so on, and also other reasons such as oh no, he’s hot and oh no, he’s an unbearable dumbass, why do I always fall for them?

Fiona comes along because Gavin’s old friends in England get curious about what’s going on with him and there’s a misunderstanding and she kid of, sort of, tries to kill him?

Like.

A lot.

Worse than that time every asshole in the city (and beyond) were after the price on Gavin’s head and persistent as hell and “Wait, Dan told you to what?”

And Fiona’s like “He said, and aI quote, ‘Take care of the wanker, for me, would you, Fiona? I’ll owe you,” and other such things and Gavin almost dies from laughing so hard while Fiona’s like “What? What are you laughing at, you asshole?”

“Evening,” Michael drawled back, arching a judgemental eyebrow. A glance out of the window showed the sun had already set. Ryan grunted.

“Long day?” Gavin chimed in, an offer of sympathy. Ryan closed his eyes and sighed.

“Night shift,” he explained, rubbing at his eyes tiredly.

"I thought you work from home?" Gavin asked, confused, as he passed the chopped onions off to Michael. Ryan blinked at him, clearly not quite awake yet.

"I do." A pause where he simply stared back at Gavin for what felt like an eternity. Then he took a sip from his coffee and the spell was broken. "But sometimes there are… circumstances. Under which experiments need to be done. That are dependent on… time."

"Like… what?" Gavin grabbed the plates to set the table, but paused in his work to stare curiously at Ryan.

"Like…" Ryan trailed off, rubbing a hand through his hair, leaving it standing on end. "Uh, with some experiments it's important when something happens. Like, you have to wait for a reaction for a certain amount of time."

"So why didn't you start it earlier?" Gavin asked, stepping out of the way as Michael nudged him aside. "So you wouldn't have to work this late?"

Ryan stopped with the mug halfway to his mouth to stare at Gavin. His mouth opened, closed, and opened again. He kept silent long enough for Gavin to worry the answer was really obvious and Ryan was trying to think of a way to tell him without calling him an idiot.

Instead Ryan ended up blushing.

"You, uh, you know that feeling when you're in the zone, and you don't really know nor care what time it is, and you just want to do that one thing real quick while you're at it?" Ryan ducked his head and scratched behind his ear. "That, uh. Yeah. That happens sometimes. A lot. So I end up working nights because I messed up the timing."

“So basically, your sleep schedule is fucked?” Michael chimed in, sounding amused. The pan hissed and Michael poked at the onions and chopped garlic bits, moving them around so they wouldn’t burn.

“Hey!” Ryan objected, but his protest was muffled by the mug as he chugged the rest of his coffee only to go for a refill. He started seeming a little more awake now.

“Ryan, I thought you were an adult, Ryan!” Gavin squawked, stuck between incredulous offense and hilarity. After all, Ryan was the landlord of a huge mansion, a certified scientist, and rich. “You’re supposed to have your shit together, aren’t you?”

“Hey!” Ryan exclaimed, but the expression on his face was sheepish rather than offended.

“So are you, technically,” Michael said, jabbing his elbow into Gavin’s side. “But you’re still a dumbass.”

“Hey!” Now it was Gavin’s turn to sputter in offense. Then his expression turned thoughtful. “So, are you calling Ryan a dumbass, too?”

Ryan groaned and sank down in one of the chairs without a plate set out in front of it, burying his face in his arms, half-full mug clutched securely in his hand. Laughing, Gavin give his head a quick pat, messing up his already mussed up hair, before quickly darting off to stir the rice. That way, Michael stood between him and Ryan’s glare, which he was fixing Gavin with one eye barely peeking over his arm.

“Well, duh.” Michael glanced over his shoulder to throw Ryan a smirk. “If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck…”

With a huff, Ryan pushed away from the table, taking a much more measured drink from his coffee. He watched as Michael added tomatoes to the saucepan and Gavin washed off the rice before adding a serving next to the steaks on their plates. His brow arched up as Michael poured the boiling water from the veggie pot into the sizzling pan, creating enough fog to vanish in.

“...Gavin, can you take over?” Michael asked from within the cloud, taking several careful steps back and fishing his glasses off his face. “I did not think this through.”

“Sure thing, boi!” Gavin chirped, taking over stove duty. But Ryan was distracted from watching him as the scent started to register. His nose scrunched up, lips curling in disgust. Michael squinted at him, rubbing his glasses clean with the hem of his shirt.

“You alright over there?” Michael asked, bemused. Ryan was edging away from the table, mug clutched to his chest as if to safeguard his precious coffee.

“That… smells like garlic.”

"Well, yeah." Michael shot him a long look. “Because it is. Duh.”

“All the best dishes have garlic in them!” Gavin added cheerfully as he turned the stovetop off. “Trust me on this, I’m like, a quarter Italian!”

“His grandfather calls him ‘Gavino’,” Michael pretended to confess in a loud whisper, leaning over the table with a grin. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m… not a fan,” Ryan admitted, face pulling into a grimace, “let’s put it that way.”

“Who fucking doesn’t like garlic?” Michael sputtered. Ryan raised his chin with a haughty sniff.

“It’s not a matter of preference,” he declared, “but one of health.” He paused, shrugging one shoulder as he finished off his second mug of coffee. “Meaning, I’m allergic.”

“To what?” Michael asked, baffled. “Garlic?”

“Ryan, that makes you sound like a vampire, Ryan!” Gavin giggled as he carried the finished sauce over. Ryan flinched back as he set it down on the table.

“It’s a real thing!” Ryan insisted, pointing at Gavin with his now empty mug. “Look it up!”

“Sure it is,” Michael drawled, exchanging a conspiratory look with Gavin before winking at Ryan. “Besides, it’s not like vampires exist.”

“Innit?” Gavin added, smirk stretching across his mouth. Ryan gave them both the stink eye, abandoning his empty mug and pushing away from the table with a screech of wood on tile.

“I should head into the lab,” he excused himself, gaze flickering between the two grinning idiots. Ryan shook his head. “Enjoy your dinner.”

.

5)

“How on Earth did Ryan manage to lift this?” Gavin grunted, his fingers slipping from how sweaty his palms had grown. “It’s bloody heavy!”

“How the fuck should I know?” Michael snapped, fingers white where he was gripping tight. But it was no use. The corner cupboard didn’t budge more than a half-inch away from the wall, and even that victory was hard won through blood and tears. “Shit.”

“Are you sure it was this cupboard Ryan moved?” Gavin asked, doubt written clear across his face as he let go, wiping his arm over his brow. “Like, there’s a dozen of these across the mansion, Michael boi, maybe this one’s just heavier than the others?”

“Fuck if I know,” Michael gasped, leaning against the wall. He eyed the drill bit where it had rolled behind the cupboard, almost all the way to the corner. He’d tossed it into the drill case with the other bits, but as if to taunt him, it had bounced right back out and rolled all the way until it dropped down to where he couldn’t reach it.

The room he’d turned into his workshop was one of many empty ones in the same wing as their bedrooms. Ryan had caught him working on one of his proof of concepts for his engineering lab out in the barn the third week in, and had told him to just convert one of the unused rooms inside the mansion. He figured he’d be grateful come winter, since the barn was big and windy.

“Don’t you have another you can use?” Gavin whined, rubbing at his aching fingers.

“No, dipshit, they’re all different sizes.” Michael stuck his arm as far as he could behind the cupboard, wiggling his fingers. He couldn’t even reach halfway. “Fuck. Maybe we should try to empty it first?”

Gavin reached out and rattled the door, grimacing. “They’re locked. I guess we could ask Ryan for the keys? Or help-” Gavin shot Michael a skeptical side-eye. “-since apparently he can lift these super easy, can’t he.”

“I doubt he’s that ripped.” Michael snorted and shook his head. A glance out the window revealed a sunny autumn day. “‘Sides, he’s probably still sleeping, the weirdo.”

Gavin hummed in agreement, eyeing the cupboard speculatively. “Maybe if we had some sort of lever…”

Michael shrugged, tucking his fingers between cupboard and wall and pulling. It budged less than half an inch. Ryan had made it look fucking easy, just lifting the stupid thing up an inch and pulling it out. That was in the first week they’d lived here, and to be fair Michael couldn’t recall if it had been this specific corner cupboard, even if the niggling feeling in the back of his head wouldn’t let go.

But no one was that strong. Well, no one normal, no matter how much they worked out. And he’d yet to catch Ryan working out, for that matter.

Meanwhile, Gavin had left him to his own devices, but after several fruitless tugs he returned with a broom from the supply closet. Michael was just about to say screw it and just ask Ryan for help later, whether that was with muscles or a key to the damn thing.

“For leverage!” Gavin declared, grinning as he waved the stick around.

“Fuck that noise,” Michael said, snatching the broom from Gavin’s hands. A thought occurred to him. “This looks slim enough to fit behind the fucking stupid cupboard…”

It took some time and some finagling, but they did managed to slowly push the drill bit closer and closer to the open end, Gavin cheering him on and giving him bullshit advice in turns. And if he was honest, Michael was kinda glad that they didn’t need to go to Ryan for help. No matter how secretly shredded he was or whatever. They were all grown up, living on their own for the first time, they could do this. Like adults. Without help.

Victorious, Michael held up the drill bit, nearly losing it again as Gavin tackled him in a hug.

.

+1)

It was on a lazy Sunday like any other that they found out. Gavin and Michael were lying about in the living room, to play games with Michael’s brand-new wireless controllers on Ryan’s big TV. Currently, Michael was slaughtering Gavin in Super Smash Bros, but Gavin had a plan: while Michael was focussed on the screen, he inched closer and closer. The moment he managed to hit Michael off the platform, he pounced, snatching Michael’s controller from his hands and leaping off the couch.

On screen, Michael’s avatar fell into the abyss and died.

“Don’t you fucking dare- Gavin!” Michael shouted, and Gavin squeaked as he grabbed for him, ducking under his boyfriend’s arm and bolting around the couch to keep it between them. “You fucking cheater, give it back!”

“Michael, don’t be mean, Michael!” Gavin danced back as Michael lunged for him. With a grin, he held his trophy aloft, waving the controller in the air before miming tossing it over Michael’s head. Michael’s eyes narrowed.

“You fucking dumbass, don’t fucking think-”

He threw the controller as hard as he could, and Michael jumped to catch it out of the air. He missed it by several inches, and it crashed to the floor behind him. Both of them winced, staring at the controller. It appeared unharmed.

“Oh, it’s on now,” Michael growled, and Gavin’s eyes widened. “Come here, you little-”

As if on a previously agreed on cue, they both dashed off, out of the door and around to the front of the house. Gavin squawked as Michael swiped for him, his fingers brushing Gavin’s arm. Zig-zagging, Gavin feinted to the left before darting off to the right, taking the stairs up three at a time. Going by the crashing and cursing, Michael was right behind him.

Briefly, Gavin considered running to their shared bedroom, let himself get cornered there for some fun. Then his competitiveness reared its head, and he ran down the opposite hallway.

“Don’t think you’ll get away with that, Gavvers! I’m gonna fucking catch you!”

Giggling, Gavin dodged around the corner, Michael hot on his heels. A quick look around showed a door to his left, and Gavin quickly pushed it open and ducked inside. But he wasn’t fast enough to shut it, Michael crashing into the door an inch before it closed. Squawking, Gavin leaned his entire weight against the door. Michael, however, was simply stronger than him; the door got pushed wider open inch by inch.

“Michael, don’t be a mong, Michael,” Gavin called out, followed by a breathless giggle.

“I’ll show you a fucking mong,” Michael grunted, and with one last heave managed to open the door far enough to squeeze through. Squealing, Gavin jumped back, whirling around to look for an escape. The room was filled with counters and tables, but there was another door in the back. Gavin threw his weight forward, Michael’s fingers brushing his shoulder as he stumbled.

However, Michael had learned and snatched a hold of his t-shirt.

The sudden tug had Gavin squawk and careen around, tripping over his own feet to crash into the counter. Michael was on him not a second later, pinning him down. Panting, Gavin squirmed, but only managed to wiggle his ass against Michael’s dick.

“Gotcha,” Michael gasped into his ear, and Gavin’s giggles turned into a high-pitched whine.

“No fair, boi. Lemme go, boi.”

“No fucking way.” Michael laughed, pressing closer and pushing Gavin’s chest flat onto the countertop. Gavin’s breathing hitched, and he braced himself with his elbows, glancing over his shoulder at Michael. Michael smirked at him, eyes half-lidded. “I caught you fair and square,” he whispered, nipping at Gavin’s ear, “so I get to fucking do with you whatever I fucking want.”

“No fucking in the kitchen,” Gavin gasped out, even as he arched into Michael.

“Not in the fucking kitchen,” Michael grumbled, emphasizing his point by biting into the joint of neck and shoulder. “Moron.”

Gavin hummed agreeably, clearly distracted by gyrating his hips against Michael’s growing hardness. Then he blinked, as if the words finally penetrated the fog of lust and adrenaline, and he looked around, up at the cupboards and down the counter he was bent over. Now that he thought about it, it made sense that this wasn’t the kitchen. Michael had chased him up the stairs and down several halls, and the kitchen was, after everything, still downstairs. That did beg the question, though…

“Then where are we?”

"Don't know, don't care," Michael muttered, words muffled by Gavin's skin under his lips as he mouthed along his throat. However, Gavin’s curiosity was piqued now, squirming around until Michael backed off enough for him to turn around. Michael huffed, attaching his lips to Gavin’s throat in retaliation, while Gavin craned his head to see several strange machines strewn across the countertops and tables filling the room.

“Okay, but, Michael, I think we’re in Ryan’s lab, Michael,” Gavin said, breath escaping him as Michael pushed a leg between his two.

“And I should care, why?” Michael bit out, and then bit Gavin’s lower lip.

It took Gavin a long moment, distracted as he was by kissing Michael, before he could gather his thoughts enough to remember.

“Michael, we’re not allowed in here, Michael,” he murmured against Michael’s lips, mouthing along his boyfriend’s jaw and sucking his earlobe between his teeth. Michael hummed, his hands finding and then kneading Gavin’s butt.

“So? Ryan’s not here.” Michael punctuated his point with a thrust of his hips, rubbing himself against Gavin’s leg.

“Exactly!” Gavin bounced excitedly on his feet, forcing Michael to take a half step back. “What better time to explore?”

“Or we could keep making out,” Michael pointed out reasonably. But he’d lost Gavin now, and he knew it.

“But boi, look at all these fancy machines! What do they do, do you think?” Gavin gasped, clapping his hands together. “Do you think he has a DNA analyzer in here?”

“How should I know?” Michael shot back, but followed Gavin gamely as the other poked around, trying to figure out the machines. A glance out the windows showed the sun had set a while ago, and Michael blinked, looking up to the ceiling. Fluorescent tubes lit up the room. “Uh, Gavin? Maybe we should go. We don’t know when Ryan will be back.”

“But, Michael, boi.” Gavin pouted, stopping his fiddling with the dials on a white, square machine of unknown purpose. “This stuff is fascinating, boi!”

“Yeah, and we really shouldn’t fucking push our lu-”

Michael cut himself off, cocking his head. He could’ve sworn he’d heard humming… but there were no footsteps so he figured it had to be one of the machines. Gavin had moved on to sticking his head into closet, when the door rattled.

They both whipped around, seeing the handle pushed down, but the door got stuck, bent slightly out of shape from their earlier roughhousing.

“Oh shit,” Gavin blurted out, paling rapidly. Michael stared at him, feeling blood leave his face, too. But looking at Gavin, he could see the closet behind him, and it seemed big enough-

“In, in, go,” he hissed, hurrying over to Gavin and pushing him into the closet before ducking in after him. Closing the door after them was more complicated but they managed after several long seconds of panic. Then they crouched there, eyes wide and hearts hammering away at their chests, straining to hear any tell-tale noises.

No footsteps, but there was a barely there sound of shifting clothes, and then the sound of a mug being set down. This was followed by the noise of some cupboard being opened and the clinking of glassware against porcelain or wood.

‘What do you think he’s doing?’ Gavin mouthed, or at least Michael guessed that was what he was trying to convey. He simply shrugged and pressed a finger against Gavin’s lips to remind him to keep quiet.

Some part of him thought they were being silly, that they should come out and simply apologize to Ryan, explain that they’d gotten lost during their little chase game. Another, larger part of him was frozen because Ryan didn’t have many rules and he could arguably kick them out for breaking. And then they’d be stranded in the middle of the forest and stuck trying to find somewhere else to bunk.

Heart in his throat, he gestured for Gavin to stop fidgeting and gently pushed at the closet door, trying to peek through the slit. Ryan was standing at the countertop, sipping from his coffee mug and poking at one of the machines Gavin had messed with, a frown on his face. In the bright fluorescent light the liquid looked more red than brown.

Something was wrong about his face. Michael couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but… Something was off.

It made Michael hesitate.

“What is it?” Gavin whispered, and Michael flinched. His shoulder hit the door, and to his horror, the door swung open, slamming against the wall with a loud crash.

“What the-” Ryan sputtered, and heart hammering in his throat, Michael tumbled out of the closet, followed closely by Gavin.

“Ryan, sorry, Ryan,” Gavin was babbling even as they helped each other up. “We didn’t mean to end up in your lab, kinda weren’t looking where we were going wh-”

Gavin cut off with a sharp inhale, and Michael glanced up from brushing off his pants in the vein hope he could avoid eye contact for a little longer. At first he wasn’t sure what had startled Gavin into silence, but when he turned to look to Ryan, the question died on his lips and his throat dried up.

Ryan had clearly been in the middle of taking a sip, mug still halfway raised. When the door slammed open, it must have startled him, because the liquid was splattered all over the lower half of his face, lab coat and shirt. Except, it wasn’t the brown of coffee, not a trick of light, but--

Bright, crimson blood. Fresh blood.

Wide eyed, Michael lifted his gaze to meet Ryan’s.

Crimson eyes stared back at them, teeth bared in a horrible grimace. And as he spoke, his voice a deep, growling threat, the canines elongated into fangs, dropping passed his lips, long and pointy.

“Run.”

***