Ryan was, very clearly, not much of a social person. However, given his moderate success (that was definitely [i]in the past[/i] now but people still expected him to be coming up with new work as soon as possible, or something), he was invited everywhere. Not just him, all of his associates, too. At the moment his 'associated act' was just Jon, though, and Jon was arguably as reclusive as him; the little contact he maintained with his childhood best friend mostly consisted of stunted conversations that went, [i]hey, how are you, how's your girlfriend, how's the new music, oh it's coming out soon, that's great, good luck, goodbye[/i], cursory things. He still adored Spencer, but convenience wasn't their friend. When Spencer worked with Brendon it meant he was travelling and far away, and communicating through phones or Skype or whatever was always a hassle. Ryan opted to let distance take over. Then, of course, Brendon.

The world wanted to know if the two of them, always stuck at the hip or screwing around otherwise even when all eyes were on them, were still on speaking terms after the bands' split, oddly moreso than they cared about Ryan talking to his initial best friend. In his head, Ryan wasn't sure how to answer that. What he did know was that he felt a fondness for him still and likely would forever - people who paid enough attention to the band to know that they were pretty clear about having dated thought it must've been messy, given the circumstances. It wasn't at all. Ryan had to make sure people knew that. [i]He's my boy, always will be[/i], and people could take that to mean whatever they wanted. In any case, Ryan had barely spoken to him once since what had felt like the end of the world.

It wasn't [i]really[/i] that dramatic, and they all agreed on it needing to happen, anyway. But what felt like his life's work coming apart or at least hitting a bump in the trail at the same time as Brendon telling him he wasn't ready to move forward with him - it did make him go through some type of bereavement period. Creative differences made sense to him. Brendon being uncertain about committing was more surprising. At the start they'd been very much on the same terms - at the cabin, all of their confessions to each other were reciprocated immediately. Then throughout the relationship it seemed like they were equally affectionate, equally invested in it all. Ryan wasn't angry or anything that he'd changed his mind, or maybe he'd just understood a bad feeling he'd had all along, but. Breakups always fucking sucked. Even so he didn't try to convince Brendon otherwise or beg for him to stay, nothing like that. If he wasn't ready or scared or surprised or whatever, then he had a right to it. 

Ryan liked to think he was that mature about his response in practice, but in reality he was kind of stupidly teary the entire time; during the band's split he didn't look anyone in the eye and just resignedly nodded at every compromise they made, fully agreeing but unable to express it with any sort of positivity. During the breakup, he again couldn't even look right at Brendon in case any sign of him being upset showed on his face and it garnered some sort of unhelpful pity reaction. And he was sort of in denial for a hot minute. [i]Are you sure, have you thought about it really,[/i] y'know. He wasn't trying to trigger any second guesses, but he was also desperate as hell sometimes, so. Anyway. No hard feelings between them or even anyone in the band, in the end.

Despite clearly being [i]out[/i] of the music scene for now - he hadn't started a new band yet, he hadn't named himself as a solo artist, he hadn't announced any actual news other than vague promises - he received an invite. Sometimes people only did this for the pictures they could take with him or with the rest of the band, which kind of sucked, and made him wary to come to any in the first place, but this was Gabe. His relationship with Gabe was kind of vague at best. He didn't know any details about their personal life, their likes or dislikes, anything, but he'd heard their music and seen some interviews and had passing conversations with them at ceremonies and events, so of course he knew of their existence and general personality. On the surface, anyway; God knows if they were actually that entertaining all the time. That was his official opinion on them actually: definitely entertaining, definitely charismatic, charming, interesting, what have you. He had no reasons to think of Gabe in a negative light at all, so the invitation seemed innocent, even welcome.

So he came, all reclusiveness in the back of his mind for now (though of course he had ensured Jon was coming in case he needed someone to cling to the whole time). The theme was moderately difficult to keep up with, for him; first of all he could not control his hair for the life of him and the 'sleek' look was very 20's. He eventually settled on a suit with too many pieces he dug out from the back of his closet that he must have worn during the second album, not black but a faded tan, some faint pinstripe pattern. The attempt to actually tame his hair was short-lived, but he at least flattened it down some, got rid of flyaways. So maybe he didn't look particularly [i]sharp,[/i] but he definitely looked twenties, all he was missing was a cane. And for no extra money! He thanked everyone who never told him his fashion sense was absolute garbage back then, because now when he actually matched the suit together it had come to use. For the sake of not shocking anyone he took half a second to compare himself to the last time he'd been seen publicly by as many people as he assumed would show up. No major differences. Maybe a little more muscle, definitely at least an inch in height, not that he really needed it. And his features were a little sharper, still boyish but matured anyhow. Ryan decided he likely wasn't going to shock at all.

When he arrived he was interested in finding Gabe to at least greet them, thank them for the invitation, but unfortunately he hadn't been early enough to catch them. Too many people crowded around the entrance to their ridiculous house for him to be noticeable, especially because his 'costume' wasn't as impressive as some people who went all out. Ryan artfully dodged said people, slipping through the clusters of partygoers easily, thankful for once that he had the body shape of, like, a lizard. The destination was obvious: the bar. If he was holding something already then he wouldn't be offered a drink, and he wasn't really keen on getting drunk unless he found someone he was comfortable with to stick by. He ended up making his own rum and Coke in the kitchen while watching someone frantically attempt to wash a stain out of their suit jacket under the faucet. He decided he'd just stick to the walls for a while.

After maybe five minutes of observing, amused, all the varieties of conversation going on around him, Ryan suddenly felt crowded by someone and turned to either get out of their way or be greeted. The answer: kind of neither of those things. Instead he just froze up, staring at Brendon with what felt like a stupid look on his face. [i]Hi. You look hot.[/i] He was only halfway through his rum and Coke so he couldn't even hold his drink accountable for the immediate response he thought of: [i]you do too.[/i] Brendon could work anything, he'd already learned, but a suit was absolutely the best of all his capabilities. Aside from the outfit itself, though, Brendon just looked slightly different, like he'd grown into himself a little more. And Ryan swore he looked stronger than the almost-waifish Brendon he knew months ago. Not that he meant to let his gaze sweep over Brendon entirely. Fuck. He played it off like he was evaluating the success of his 20's look as best as he could. 

[b]"Hey,"[/b] Ryan managed, and evidently could not get anything else out when Brendon smiled at him like that. [b]"Um. Thanks!"[/b] He shrugged his shoulders a little with his words, trying for nonchalant but not quite hiding his surprised state. Was it weird to say the same thing back? Probably. [i]I’m mad. You got [/i]taller. [b]"Oh, uh -"[/b] Ryan broke off briefly, watched him reach out and explore his suit jacket at the edges, startled but kind of not bothered at all. He tried to quickly talk over whatever the hell was happening there. [b]"I guess - a little. Maybe you got shorter."[/b] He smiled tentatively. That definitely didn't equal the amount of flirting Brendon was giving him, but he couldn't bring up the courage to voice any of the complimentary thoughts floating around his head. He punctuated his response by quickly drinking more of his concoction, thanking past him for making it a rather unequal split between the rum and the Coke, preference to the alcohol.

He was buzzing not from drinking but from sort of hesitant affection by the time Brendon's hands dropped again, and it took everything not to just reassure him it was okay to touch. Definitely weird - he should know how to deal with seeing an ex by now, considering he had plenty. [i]What brings you here, anyway?[/i] [b]"More like [i]who.[/i] The best of the best,"[/b] he said, nodding to Gabe, who'd conveniently come into view in the distance and briefly had an eye on them. Or Ryan thought they did, anyway.  [b]"I was surprised, actually. Not many people are interested since I'm not, like, active anymore. Did they invite you too?"[/b] A brief distraction from whatever was resurfacing with Brendon, he thought distantly that maybe if Brendon had been invited rather than crashing, Spencer might have come too. Would be nice to reconnect, if that was the case. 

He wasn't really closely listening to Brendon's answer, though, because something in his head was nagging that he couldn't just let Brendon flatter him ten times in two seconds without making any reference to how much Brendon looking as good as he did made his chest ache. [b]"You, um - you look really good. You look like you walked out of a Gatsby party, really."[/b] He was grinning, just slightly warm enough from the rum that he didn't care how lame that sounded, and was more glad he said anything nice at all without it feeling awkward.