[PRP] Truth is... (Oliver & Elliot)

[Melancholies]

Jamie had held up to his end of the deal and ended up walking the entire way (rather than half). Oliver couldn't say he minded much. Even if they had spent most of the walk in silence the company was appreciated with the way his anxiety was racing. He couldn't put off lingering in front of the door any longer however, much to his displeasure.

Heaving a sigh, he carefully unlocked the door. Maybe if he was quiet enough, Elliot wouldn't be woken up by his late night intrusion... even if he did have the whole moonwalker thing to tell him about, he was absolutely fine with it waiting until morning.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

If Oliver's fortunes were dictated solely by luck, he shouldn't have been surprised by what happened next. After all, you had to be pretty unlucky to wind up a raccoon... Right?

"Oh, Ollie, good timing," Elliot called from the kitchen like he'd been trained to hear the quietest click of the door imaginable. "I just put the kettle on." A coffee drinker by nature, he was pretty damn useless for anything but putting the kettle on. Anybody could heat up a little water (after being shown the ropes, of course).

"Everything go okay?" His voice was casual. Staying up this late suddenly sounded like the thing they must've done every night.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Oliver stared wide eyed; Elliot was a car and he was coming to mow him over in the proverbial street, and soon Ollie was going to be proverbial roadkill. It's alright, be calm, this was weird as ********> (he could hear Elliot's voice whining about needing beauty sleep) but Elliot also hadn't seen him yet. Even if he was apparently making tea. Why the ******** was he making him tea.

"F-Fine?" He answered back, nervous. He grabbed a jacket off of the coat hanger by the door, fumbling to get it over his head and his ears and his tail. "Anyway, uh, thanks for waiting for me but—" He passed by the kitchen quickly in a bid to make for his bedroom.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

As if on cue, Elliot looked over in time to see him skirting past the kitchen. "Oh, are you headed to bed already?" Oliver was never tired at this point save very specific and rather unusual circumstances. Had something happened? "It's not like you to waste tea," he said jokingly, though it wasn't like the tea had even been made yet, all it was was slowly warming water. It was an attempt to dispel the awkwardness he'd heard in Oliver's voice for one, but it was also an attempt to say hey, I wanna spend time with you.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Olover froze in the hallway that contained their bedrooms, hair standing on edge, tail bristled. "It's... late?" He replied back awkwardly, his posture tense. "I don't know why you're even up making tea in the first place..."

His nerves were on fire, burning him beneath his skin like hot coals, the pit of his gut twisting with that all too familiar anxiety. He took a deep breath, but it didn't help, not when he could feel himself shaking so badly. There was no way Elliot could have known about the Moonwalker thing, right? He had to tell him, those were just the breaks.

...unfortunately, Oliver was actually a pretty big coward. He slipped into his room and let the door shut with an audible click. Chai was glad to see him at least, what with the way she let noisy murbles erupt from her throat upon his entry.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

It wasn't that he and Oliver never fought or disagreed on things, nor was Oliver required to spend time with him after the full moon, or any night, if he didn't want to. What struck Elliot as odd wasn't those circumstances necessarily, it was how cagey the responses were, how clueless they were in a way that sounded a lot like an excuse for something he didn't want to do. Beneath the smoothed over facade, the gentle, unbothered expression, Elliot was trying not to panic, too.

Life had turned into walking on egg shells. Without any notice at all, Oliver began to act as if something was constantly wrong. Eli tried but failed in not blaming himself for it.

Time ticked by in long, heavy seconds as Elliot hesitated at the stove. Instead of watching the kettle, he watched the closed door, he watched as Pascal poked his head out of the bathroom where he'd been in a dead-sleep on the cool tile floor. A shaky breath snaked past his lips and he finally started down the hallway, the dog trotting up to meet him, his hands already clammy.

"Oliver...? Is... everything alright?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

He was leaning against the back of the door, evident with how it was knocking against the lock without opening and by the shadow under the frame. He could hear Elliot's footsteps all too easily, his senses way too ******** sharp, his hands hovering awkwardly on the air in front of him. He didn't like it when Elliot showed genuine concern in his well being. It was easier when he wrote his excuses off at face value and put the dog to sleep.

"..." There wasn't anything to say. He found his heart rate spiking, his stomach churning with familiar nausea. In response to Elliot's question, all he said was, "You should be watching the kettle. It'll go off soon." He honestly had no real idea when Eli had even put it on, but the words escaped his lips nevertheless. They were shaky. Unnerved.

After a moment there was a harsh sigh, "J-Just leave me alone, okay? I can't talk to you right now." Cold feet. Coward. Chicken s**t.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Yeah, Oliver was right, the kettle would go off soon. Whether it would shatter the awkward silence and right the world or simply send the situation plummeting further south was yet to be seen. Maybe it wouldn't do anything at all. Maybe it was just a kettle that didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Elliot tried not to think about it, but instead it settled at the back of his mind like a timer ticking down to a melting point he wasn't ready for.

He was at war with himself. Backing down would be easy. He could raise the white flag and call it a night and hope things would be better tomorrow. That wasn't how things were supposed to be anymore, though. They'd moved past this. Hadn't they?

"Did something happen over there?" he tried. Don't let your voice shake, Labelle. "You know you can talk to me." His hand was on the doorknob and doing plenty of shaking on its own.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"No, Elliot," He was speaking through his clenched teeth, the subtle difference audible in his words, "I can't talk to you." He was starting to get angry—or was he? His tone always got more aggressive the more he went on the defensive, like a hedgehog with its spines, except he was definitely a raccoon.

"You'll..." There was a sharp sound that almost sounded like... an inhale? A harsh breath that almost sounded hoarse. "You won't understand. You won't." Chai's muffled mewls were also heard through the door. It was obvious she wasn't getting the attention she so very desired.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"How do you know?" The question was quiet, desperate. There was a light bump against the door where his head hit and solemnly stayed. "Maybe I won't, but is that... is that really so bad? I can try."

Pascal was at Elliot's side, whining, headbutting his hip. If there was one thing he was good for aside from causing trouble, it was sensing when things were amiss. Animals sure were sensitive like that.

"Please let me in...?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"I can't..." He took a deep breath, "I..."

His mind was racing. He could feel the push on the door, hear Elliot barely on the other side, hear Pascal whining. This was kind of pathetic, actually. Two guys standing on either side of a door while their animals looked sad at them. He tentatively turned around, still leaned against the door, only facing it.

"I don't want you to see what I am." He took a deep breath, "I told myself I... I was going to tell you but dammit Elliot I can't." It was hard enough to admit this much, his shaken prose slowly back building into a verse for the ages. "I'm a monster, Elliot. Magic. I don't want you to see me..."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"Magic doesn't make you a monster," was his reply, breathy but patient in a way that sounded like he'd said this before. One time, one hundred times, it didn't matter; Elliot would say it as many times as he needed to if it would assure Oliver he didn't look at him the way their society did. It wasn't like that.

He breathed, slow and deliberate, trying to steady himself. Maybe someone had seen Oliver walking home, noticed his tail poking out or his ears. Maybe it wasn't something he'd done, after all. He crossed his fingers and hoped, even if self-doubt made it difficult to believe.

"There's nothing wrong with what you are... Don't you remember what I told you before?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"With what I am." He breathed, "What the hell do you know about what I am." He snapped back viciously, his defensive precautions flying off the charts. "You don't know. I never even told you about—about this."

"You can't come in." He reiterated, "It's bad enough other people know. W-Why are you even awake still anyway?"

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"I-I..." Elliot rarely stuttered, but times like this, times when his fear and anxiety over the uncontrollable thought of distance growing between himself and one of the few people he truly cared for got out of hand, he did. He tried not to, but he did.

"I was waiting up for you." I-I... it's like... it's like I always do." His hands gestured in front of him, but with the door between them there was no way for Oliver to see.

What didn't he understand? What was he getting wrong?

"Is this something else?" he asked, hopeful, desperate. "Is it not about the whole moonwalker thing?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Save for Chai's mewing, the other room was entirely silent. No noise. No sound. No yelling or accusations or panicked breathing. Just absence. It was almost somehow worse than there being something to fill the void.

The door handle started to turn slowly, the deadbolt receding with a clicking sound. The door didn't open all the way; it was only just a crack, big enough for his cat to squeeze her way to everlasting freedom. When he appeared in the sliver of the door, his eyes were blue and black rimmed, the ears on either side of his face were decidedly non-human.

"H-How do you know I'm a moonwalker?" His voice was hoarse and incredulous, "I never told you. I didn't tell anyone."

saedusk