[ Wu listens to all of this, making small noises at the right points and overall just radiating excitement and happiness for Ryan (with a slight tinge of jealousy, but that hasn't made its way into his mind quite yet) ]
Ryan, that's amazing! Wow, he really just needed some time, huh? I'm really glad he didn't get eaten by anything and that he showed up shirtless. [ Wu's just imagining that maybe he looks some like Mako without his shirt on which is, well. It's very good. Mako is very hot, with and without a shirt ]
You can do it! Remember what you said, your dry spell has been ages so what's a few more weeks [ months? ]. You got this, buddy!
So you really had no idea? That he liked you? [ Boy can he relate ] Honestly, I think you messed up less than I did with Mako. Who... also left me for a week after I told him how I felt. [ Huh. Maybe they are pretty similar after all ]
[It's probably good that this is a phone call because if this were happening in person Wu would be getting a full on dramatic memory reenactment of it right about now.]
Yeah, but it's so much harder when he's here and definitely interested, you know?
[It will be the most agonizing few weeks (please, please only be weeks), but he can suffer for his boyfriend and just enjoy the jolt of serotonin from the word boyfriend over and over.]
No clue. Min's...pretty shy, you know? And I always figured like...yeah, he was always cool with me, but would he be cool with me being interested in him? So I was kind of a coward about the whole thing.
Wait, seriously? [A beat.] ...Are we suuuure they're not the same person?
Boy, do I know that... [ Sharing a bed with Mako when he was all corrupt-y wasn't fun either ] Well, you don't want to scare him off again. That makes sense! You can totally make it, buddy! And, hey, we can always hit up Dirk's shop if you need something to tide you over.
[ Wu nods and lets out a sigh ] Ryan, Ryan, buddy... yeah. I do know. I was so worried about that with Mako, too! He's all huff huff I'm a big strong man look at my muscles and my surly demeanor, and here I am telling him that I'm stupidly in love with him and-- yes! He didn't talk to me for a week and I was certain that one of my only friends and the one person who was watching out for me was going to completely abandon me because I couldn't control my feelings!
But he just needed time to think about it. He has a lot of, you know, a lot of things that were instilled in him when he was in that gang, and one of them was that dating guys was super not okay.
...I don't think they're the same person. Was Min-Gi ever in a gang?
Hm...do you think if I cry and wallow on the counter a little he might give me a pity discount?
[Worth a shot, right?]
Dude, Mako was in a gang? That's kinda badass of him. Min would never!
[But actually, when he thinks about it a little more...well. Their situations might be more similar than they would seem at a glance.]
Though, our whole world was kind of like that? So instead of pressure from a gang it was like. Literally pressure from everyone and everything to not be gay. And then he came here and it's like oops, everyone knows that thing about you you've been hiding. It, uh. Really wasn't cool of me, to be honest. But he's still like Mako! He just needed time to adjust. They're both thinkers - they have to think about everything forever first.
[He says it like it isn't a complaint but a charming quality in them. Thinking before you do things; what's that like?]
Oh-- boy, I probably shouldn't have said anything. He's pretty touchy about it. You know, he didn't really have a choice.
[ But also, this is Ryan. He trusts Ryan with all of his stuff, and he's going to be married to Mako so it makes sense that he can trust Ryan with all of Mako's stuff too. Right? That's how it works? ]
That makes sense. I... I know it's different, on Earth, than it was for us. At home, it wasn't really that, ah, constant. I should really apologize to him...
[ But, that's sad! And depressing! And this is a happy moment! ]
I'm so glad he came back, Ryan. And he likes you! I mean, he would be wrong not to. Look at you!
Gotcha. I won't tell him I know. Just like you won't tell Min I told you this whole thing happened shirtless! This whole conversation? Totally confidential, just you and me and no one else.
[Because that is definitely, absolutely how it works. Ryan can trust Wu with Min's stuff and it hasn't at all backfired on him recently due to Trench shenanigans. Ryan has evidently learned absolutely nothing.]
Seriously, none of this was your fault. I'm the one who didn't fess up in the first place, and I'm the one who didn't share how much my world sucks about this kind of thing until it was too late. I should be apologizing to you here.
[There may have been casual mention here or there of how he couldn't always be open, or how gay marriage wasn't a thing, but he entirely skipped over "there's even more stigma because people are getting sick and dying" because he didn't want to think about it more than he had to. There was no reason for Wu to assume things were that bad.]
Ha! Thanks, man. It's still so wild to think about? If either of us had said anything we could have been like, secret high school sweethearts!
[ Circle of trust, Wu trusts Ryan implicitly, despite everything. It's partially his own naiveté and desperation to have a friend, and partially that Ryan is pretty trustworthy as far as he's seen ]
Well, that's-- that's okay! I know you don't like to talk about the tough stuff. I get it, I totally do. There's plenty of stuff I don't want to talk about. [ DO YOU?! ] I get it, buddy! Don't you worry.
[ He sighs wistfully at that ] That would have been so romantic! But, at least it didn't take long-- at all! Wow, that's something, isn't it? I mean, why wouldn't he be totally into you? You're the best!
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4/4
[Probably. Hopefully.]
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Ryan, that's amazing! Wow, he really just needed some time, huh? I'm really glad he didn't get eaten by anything and that he showed up shirtless. [ Wu's just imagining that maybe he looks some like Mako without his shirt on which is, well. It's very good. Mako is very hot, with and without a shirt ]
You can do it! Remember what you said, your dry spell has been ages so what's a few more weeks [ months? ]. You got this, buddy!
So you really had no idea? That he liked you? [ Boy can he relate ] Honestly, I think you messed up less than I did with Mako. Who... also left me for a week after I told him how I felt. [ Huh. Maybe they are pretty similar after all ]
no subject
Yeah, but it's so much harder when he's here and definitely interested, you know?
[It will be the most agonizing few weeks (please, please only be weeks), but he can suffer for his boyfriend and just enjoy the jolt of serotonin from the word boyfriend over and over.]
No clue. Min's...pretty shy, you know? And I always figured like...yeah, he was always cool with me, but would he be cool with me being interested in him? So I was kind of a coward about the whole thing.
Wait, seriously? [A beat.] ...Are we suuuure they're not the same person?
no subject
[ Wu nods and lets out a sigh ] Ryan, Ryan, buddy... yeah. I do know. I was so worried about that with Mako, too! He's all huff huff I'm a big strong man look at my muscles and my surly demeanor, and here I am telling him that I'm stupidly in love with him and-- yes! He didn't talk to me for a week and I was certain that one of my only friends and the one person who was watching out for me was going to completely abandon me because I couldn't control my feelings!
But he just needed time to think about it. He has a lot of, you know, a lot of things that were instilled in him when he was in that gang, and one of them was that dating guys was super not okay.
...I don't think they're the same person. Was Min-Gi ever in a gang?
no subject
[Worth a shot, right?]
Dude, Mako was in a gang? That's kinda badass of him. Min would never!
[But actually, when he thinks about it a little more...well. Their situations might be more similar than they would seem at a glance.]
Though, our whole world was kind of like that? So instead of pressure from a gang it was like. Literally pressure from everyone and everything to not be gay. And then he came here and it's like oops, everyone knows that thing about you you've been hiding. It, uh. Really wasn't cool of me, to be honest. But he's still like Mako! He just needed time to adjust. They're both thinkers - they have to think about everything forever first.
[He says it like it isn't a complaint but a charming quality in them. Thinking before you do things; what's that like?]
no subject
Oh-- boy, I probably shouldn't have said anything. He's pretty touchy about it. You know, he didn't really have a choice.
[ But also, this is Ryan. He trusts Ryan with all of his stuff, and he's going to be married to Mako so it makes sense that he can trust Ryan with all of Mako's stuff too. Right? That's how it works? ]
That makes sense. I... I know it's different, on Earth, than it was for us. At home, it wasn't really that, ah, constant. I should really apologize to him...
[ But, that's sad! And depressing! And this is a happy moment! ]
I'm so glad he came back, Ryan. And he likes you! I mean, he would be wrong not to. Look at you!
no subject
[Because that is definitely, absolutely how it works. Ryan can trust Wu with Min's stuff and it hasn't at all backfired on him recently due to Trench shenanigans. Ryan has evidently learned absolutely nothing.]
Seriously, none of this was your fault. I'm the one who didn't fess up in the first place, and I'm the one who didn't share how much my world sucks about this kind of thing until it was too late. I should be apologizing to you here.
[There may have been casual mention here or there of how he couldn't always be open, or how gay marriage wasn't a thing, but he entirely skipped over "there's even more stigma because people are getting sick and dying" because he didn't want to think about it more than he had to. There was no reason for Wu to assume things were that bad.]
Ha! Thanks, man. It's still so wild to think about? If either of us had said anything we could have been like, secret high school sweethearts!
no subject
[ Circle of trust, Wu trusts Ryan implicitly, despite everything. It's partially his own naiveté and desperation to have a friend, and partially that Ryan is pretty trustworthy as far as he's seen ]
Well, that's-- that's okay! I know you don't like to talk about the tough stuff. I get it, I totally do. There's plenty of stuff I don't want to talk about. [ DO YOU?! ] I get it, buddy! Don't you worry.
[ He sighs wistfully at that ] That would have been so romantic! But, at least it didn't take long-- at all! Wow, that's something, isn't it? I mean, why wouldn't he be totally into you? You're the best!