With thanks to Jordi, Aeoros, Rune and Mikey for being the coolest friends on the net! Thanks for being there guys!
Especially dedicated to Justin, Jeremy and Louis. The three of you have inspired more new parts of this story. Quidditch and lightsabers forever, brothers! :D
Justin: "Since the day I met you, and after all we've been through... I'm addicted to you. I think you know that it's true." - Simple Plan, Addicted
Disclaimer: This story is fictional, and says nothing about the orientations of any member of the boyband N Sync, or any other character, celebrity or otherwise. If you are under 18 or 21, or live in a country where it's illegal to read something like this, leave, though I seriously doubt you will. If you don't like the idea of two guys in a relationship with each other, or having sex with each other, what are you doing here in the first place?
Though maybe none of the characters will be appearing, ideas taken from these places will show up:
Star Wars, Copyright LucasFilms, Created by George Lucas Buffy, Copyright 20th Century Fox, Created by Joss Whedon X-Men, Copyright Marvel Comics, Created by Stan Lee Charmed, Copyright WB, Created by Aaron Spelling
Harry Potter, Copyright JK Rowling (due to James' addition of Harry Potter to his Dark Knight series, I find myself adding it in too, but the character may never appear in the story. However, loving Quidditch as much as I do... :D )
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Irish Translator speech courtesy of http://www.whoohoo.co.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 17 - Information
"Hey," Ryan greeted me as I stepped groggily out of the room I shared with Casey. My brother was dressed in nothing except a pair of tight black boxers, one of the items he modelled for. He got to keep everything he modelled in, which would have been good except that no one I knew needed forty different sets of swimming trunks and two hundred pieces of underwear of all sorts, ranging from modest to downright obscene. I yawned in response to his greeting, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
"I couldn't sleep last night," he said, giving me THAT look. Ryan always liked to be vague, wanting people to guess what he was going to say, and he would always give them THAT look so they knew they should start guessing. I yawned again and stretched. "Bro, I'm sure you can tell that I'm in no condition to play guessing games, right?"
"Point," Ryan said, looking thoughtful. His mind must have wondered for a moment, because he seemed a little lost in his thoughts, but he snapped back to reality in a second. "I just thought of something. Why is it when we speak with our family, we speak with Irish accents, and when we speak with each other, we speak with American accents? And Shane speaks with a lot less heavy accent when he's not around us."
I raised an eyebrow. "You JUST thought of that? You didn't spend the whole sleepless night thinking of this question?" I admit I sounded a little sarcastic, but like I said, I was still groggy.
"Yeah, I just thought of it," Ryan replied airily. "Just a point to ponder. Oh well. Anyway, back to what I found out last night." He paused again, THAT look forming on his face.
I gave in. "So what did you find out last night?"
"Guess!" Ryan grinned with that ever-so-annoying tone of voice.
"Look, if it's about Malcolm wanting you to screw his ass, it's old news," I snapped.
Ryan's face show the slightest change. "Nope, that's not it." Then his face changed. "Malcolm wants me to screw his ass? Eww, you're kidding, right?"
I threw my hands up. "Will you just tell me what you discovered before I tie you to the bed and pummel you with your beater's club?"
Ryan obviously took some enjoyment to my frustration. "I found out that Filan is an Anglo-Norman surname."
There was more to it. There always was. I could have gladly strangled my brother right there. The growl that issued from my throat must have given him some indication of my current mood, and he quickly began telling me all he found out. "Filan is an Anglo-Norman surname, but do you remember Grandpa talking about how his grandfather said we were descended from one of the High Kings?"
I nodded briefly. "Well, I did some research. We've only been Filans for four generations, but before that, guess what our family name is?"
I gave him my version of THAT look. Mine clearly meant "get on with it or I'll clout you with a vase".
"O'Conor," Ryan announced dramatically, then continued. "We're one of the old families of Ireland. And not only that, we're the descendents of Conchobhar, the King of Connaught who died in 971, and also High Kings Turlough and Roderick O'Conor, the latter who died in 1198. I'm summarising the rest, but basically, the O'Conors used to own Counties Sligo, Clare, Mayo and Offaly."
It was a little thrilling, but I didn't see any point to it and mentioned so to my brother. He gave me a rather exasperated look. "Don't you see? Money, wealth and power runs in our family."
I groaned. "Is that all you care about? Wealth and power?"
"There's more," Ryan said with THAT damned look again. "What generally happens to people with wealth and power?"
"They make enemies," I said. "Is there a point to this?"
"Yup," Ryan said cheerfully. "It's hard to find, but like I said, I couldn't sleep. I dug deep into our family history and legends and myths. Read so much of them that I can't remember most of anything else, but I finally found what I was looking for." He paused dramatically.
"Are you sure you need to take drama classes, kid?" I cut in, spoiling the moment. "You've got a flair for the dramatic. Way too much flair, in fact. And here I thought I was the drama queen in the family."
"Well, you're not anymore," Ryan grinned. "Anyway, what I found was that our family had a failed uprising in 1641 with our allies, the O'Haras, O'Dowds and MacDonaghs, the most ancient of Sligo clans. Our castles and lands were confiscated and given to the Cromwellian 'adventurers'."
"That's not so unusual," I remarked. "Many of the great Gaelic families lost all their possessions in the wake of the Cromwellian wars. It's in our history."
"I learnt American history, dumbass, remember?" Ryan replied. "Anyway, I researched deeper into everything as I said, and I discovered what history covered up. The O'Connors had an enemy, one single enemy, that almost brought our family to its knees. A vampire by the name of Baile. He was already ancient even before history, and coming from Ulster, had infinite amount of hatred for us in Connaught. But he especially hated the O'Conors."
"Why's that?" I asked, genuinely curious now.
"Because the last two High Kings of Ireland were O'Conors," Ryan said. "Don't forget, he lived in the ancient times and was a man of Ulster, and if you remember the myths, Queen Maeve of Connaught fought against Ulster."
"Something about a cow, if I'm not mistaken," I remembered. "So being clannish, like all our race, he's still an enemy of Connaught, and the last two High Kings being of Connaught is why he hates the O'Conor clan."
"Yes, and not only that. There was a prophecy that the descendents of the last High King would finally destroy him," Ryan continued. "He probably has been keeping close watch on all the O'Conors in the world, checking each of them out and killing those with kindred or slayer powers."
"And how do you know that?" I asked. Ryan shrugged. "I may have scryed a little. It's nothing much, just a switch from the computer to a dish of water."
"So what did you find out?" I asked. "That there was some passenger on the flight I was on that was either a slayer or a kindred and had O'Conor as a surname?"
"Yes, there was," Ryan said, his face changing. "From what I could tell, his magic is meant to affect potential threats, and he can use it unconsciously. Being from the O'Conor clan, I think you were the one that set it off, and that's why the plane started acting up. And because you fought against it, like he assumed you would, he was able to sense your surname. I think that it may have confused him slightly because we don't have the O'Conor name anymore. He's probably going to do a bit more research about us now."
"Meaning?" I asked.
"Meaning," Ryan said melodramatically, "that when he came to the house, it wasn't meant to kill us, but just to test our power. If he's even a third as powerful as the legends say he is, he could have slaughtered us, wards or not. But he wasn't sure if we were the ones the prophecy talked about, and that's why he came to test us. What we're up against, bro, is an enemy that is way over our league."
"Hey, Joey, hi!" I exclaimed, surprised at the sudden phone call. I was sitting alone in the room I shared with Casey when my mobile phone rang. I hardly expected Joey to be on the other line, but it was a plesant surprise.
"Hey Dylan," Joey's voice came over the phone. I heart dropped a little despite his cheery tone. I could still sense he had yet to deal with what Lance had done to him, and it had affected him. I briefly wondered if any of his bandmates had noticed it, or if they were too busy helping Lance to deal with his boyfriend's death.
"What news?" I asked, keeping up the cheeriness for Joey's sake.
"Nothing much happening over here." I could almost see Joey shrugging. I missed his friendship a lot. "Except for the fact that Lance has a new boyfriend, and he's a pretty nice guy. I think Lance is moving on from the Eric situation."
"Have you dealt with the situation?" I asked, knowing he would know what I was talking about.
Joey sighed. "Not yet. It's not the right time." He continued before I had the chance to argue. "Don't worry, I promise that I will tell him when the time is right. He's in a new relationship, and I don't think I need to be adding more troubles to his life right now. He's had enough to deal with, Eric being dead and all, and I don't want to set him back now when he's just moving on from it."
"I understand," I said. My heart beat a little faster as I asked my next question. "How's Justin doing?"
There was a long pause, followed by an uncomfortable intake of breath before Joey replied. "Well, I don't exactly know what kind of reply you're expecting. I know he made you choose between him and your friends, then regretted it after you chose your friends. You guys made up, then argued again and broke up."
"I know all that," I said, a little impatient with Joey's evasive answer. "I was there, remember? I want to know what's new."
There was another long pause. "I don't know if I should tell you, but Justin seems to be getting along fine without you. He's acting as though you never existed, and he's having a grand time."
I felt a little sting of hurt, but I pushed it aside. If Justin was acting that way, then I had no worries about dating Scott, since there was no relationship for me to break, and no boyfriend to cheat on. Joey misunderstood my silence as pain. "Dylan, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," I said cheerfully. "I'm single again. I can date without cheating on a boyfriend."
Joey and I had gotten used to each others' weird moods, and he understood my need to be cheerful. "So, you checking out the cute Irish guys back home?"
"Well, actually," I drawled dramatically. "I have a really cute guy interested in me over here."
Joey laughed. "Seriously? You should date him then, since you don't have to worry about upsetting Justin. He's having a personal party without you, and you deserve some fun. Tell me more about this guy."
I grinned, and for a moment, the thousands of miles seperating Joey and myself disappeared instantly. I felt like I was sitting next to him talking about everything and nothing. "His name is Scott Andrews, and no, he doesn't have a brother called Archie. He's blonde, blue-eyed, pretty muscular. He's the typical all-American guy, in fact."
"Except that he's Irish," Joey laughed.
"Actually, he's American," I replied. "He's from Seattle, and he totally thinks you're hot!"
"You're making that up," Joey said. I could almost see him blush. "Are you?"
"Seriously, I'm not making it up," I said. "He thinks you're cool, and his twin sister thinks JC is hot. I told her JC was taken."
"But he isn't," Joey said.
I laughed. "I know, but if I said that, she'd want to meet him. I was just looking out for him."
"Is she pretty?" Joey asked. I shrugged even though there was no way he could see the gesture. "I wouldn't know. I guess so."
"Then maybe you should introduce JC to her," Joey said, sounding half-serious. "That guy's so uptight, he needs to get laid already!"
I laughed, and felt comfortable just talking to Joey like I used to. We chatted for another three hours, a surprise for me because neither of us stopped to eat a snack, and also because my battery lasted the entire time. At some point before the end of our conversation, Scott came over to visit, and I let him speak to Joey for a while. Judging by Scott's worried look and nervous replies, I could tell Joey was grilling him about me, much like I grilled my sisters' boyfriends when I first met them (elder brother's right). After that was over, Scott seemed to laugh a lot after, and I was glad that he got along with Joey. If Scott got along well with Melvin, Joy and Reuben as well, he would be a much better boyfriend than Justin would be. Justin and Melvin had barely gotten along, and Reuben had a rather low opinion of the "spoiled asshole brat". Joy complained that he whined too much, and let him know bluntly whenever he did, probably why he forced me to choose between him and my friends. Scott handed the mobile back to me and waited patiently on the bed for me to finish up the conversation.
Joey was smiling, I could tell. "Approved, certified, highly recommended and rated two thumbs up," was the first thing he said to me. "He's a fun guy, and I want to meet him when you guys come back. I'd like to get to know him."
"Cool!" I said. "One down, three to go. I hope Joy, Melvin and Reuben like him."
"I'm sure they will," Joey said, sounding completely convinced. "He's a nice guy. Very cheerful, and probably everything you've been looking for in a guy that you'd never find in Justin. Just don't tell him I said that."
"Him who?" I asked, unsure of the subject of Joey's sentence.
"Both of them, actually," Joey said. "He doesn't need to know you dated THE Justin Timberlake, and Justin doesn't need to know how much of an immature bratty boyfriend I think he was to you."
I laughed. Out of courtesy, I quickly wrapped up conversation with Joey, promising to call him soon.
"Old boyfriend?" Scott asked as I finally hung up the drained cell phone. I grinned and shook my head. "Just a really good friend. He really likes you."
"Cool," Scott beamed. "So what are your plans for today?"
"A before-dinner meal," I said. "Then picking my friends up from the airport. They've come down to support the Flaming Filans, and possibly the Riverstown Ragers as well."
"But the Riverstown Ragers aren't in the League," Scott said.
"Oh, whoops," I said, covering my mouth. "Wasn't meant to tell you that yet. Aithne's going to talk to the Riverstown Ragers tonight after our night practice. She managed to get you guys into the League."
Scott's eyes widened excitedly. He let out a loug cheer, throwing both arms into the air, laughing all the while. Then a worried look crossed his face.
"Don't worry," I said quickly. "I'm sure the Riverstown Ragers are good enough to be in the league."
"That's not what I'm worried about," Scott said. "I've seen some of the competition. I study in Hogwarts, remember? The standard there isn't too high, and they still use the old seamed quaffle, not the new completely round ones used in the league. What I'm worried about is if our teams end up on the pitch against each other."
"Oh, I'm sure we'll have a lot of competition before the game is over," I grinned. "We'll give the crowd a Quidditch match worth watching."
"But isn't it going to be weird?" Scott asked. "Two boyfriends fighting each other on opposing teams."
"We'll deal," I said, not missing out the word "boyfriends". I thought about it for a moment, and realised that Scott was right. We were boyfriends, even without officially going steady. But that was just a formality, one that wasn't necessary. I smiled, the word boyfriend sounding good to my ears. I put my arm around Scott's muscular shoulders and smiled at how comfortable they felt.
"Well, boyfriend," I said, the word sounding completely natural on my lips. "Let's go get some pre-dinner meal and then you can meet my friends."
Scott smiled, a slight blush appearing on his face. "You lead the way, boyfriend."
I smiled as we made our way downstairs, and for the first time in many weeks, I felt truly comfortable and secure. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Comments, questions? Email dylan@celticwarrior.com