[PRP] Blue & Yellow (Eli/Ollie/Horace)

[The Semblance of Unity]

The meeting had been weighing on his mind for some time. His brain turned in circles of hows and whys and wow, let's not kill anyone's. But he alone was not enough. Horace needed other input. Logically, he would bother Shiloh, who knew the most about things. But Shiloh was also two fries short of a collapse.

So it brought up the question of who else Horace could trust. And the answer was surprisingly obvious. He had to marvel for a second about how many friends he'd made in such a short space of time, but, ultimately he was here - at a certain apartment looking for one to two blondes. It sounded like a terrible craigslist ad.

Horace knocked.

saedusk

melancholies

 

[saedusk]

If Pascal had opposable thumbs, answering the door would've been his absolute favorite thing. Before he heard any steady footsteps or the sound of clicking locks, Horace would hear the the scramble of claws and the thud of a heavy, awkward body hitting the door. It sounded like sheer disappointment.

From the other side a boof, then another boof, then finally a clack and the door swung in to reveal one of the craigslist personals blondes Horace had been looking for.

"Oh, hello, darling," Eli greeted, sounding a bit more subdued than usual, though he still wore a smile. Pascal was behind him, scrambling to get past his legs. "Come in?" He stepped to the side just enough.

Melancholies

The Semblance of Unity

 

[Melancholies]

Oliver was sitting further inside, his body situated at the kitchen table rather than the comfortable couch, the letters opened up in front of him. He seemed to be comparing the two for some reason, but they were undoubtedly the same. The tea he had been nursing all morning was starting to get a little cool. He had half a mind to ask Shiloh about it (there was no doubt he was going crazy with it), but they were still on awkward terms and Ollie hadn't answered any of his brothers calls.

He only noticed the door was being knocked on when Pascal started his delicate boofs, but Elliot was already om the move. He was inviting them in, whoever they were. This did not narrow down the list.

Elliot loved people. It could be anyone.

He took a sip of his earl grey. "Who's at the door?" He asked without looking over his shoulder.

saedusk

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Hey, Eli, sugar," Horace said. Odd nicknames got odd nicknames. The he looked at Elliot closely. "Is this... a bad time?" He bent down to give Pascal the required pets. Well, some of the required pets. Horace was sure that the 'required amount' for Pascal was likely infinity. Horace simply didn't have infinity pets in his body.

He glanced up at the sound of Oliver's voice. It's me, your friendly, neighborhood batman.

saedusk

melancholies

 

[saedusk]

"Sugar?" There was a deeper curl his lips. Of all the nicknames Horace could've chosen, that one didn't quite feel like it fit him. It was funny, really, and it brought a small, glittering amusement back to his eyes. "You're fine, don't worry about a thing." Pascal, of course, was equally pleased if not more so. Probably more so.

"It's Horace," he told Ollie, shutting the door behind them. Or Batman, but Eli wasn't privy to that particular introduction. "We just made coffee and tea," he looked back at Horace, "Would you like a cup?"

Melancholies

The Semblance of Unity

 

[Melancholies]

Oliver wheeled around lightning quick, eyes wide. His back made an unsightly popping sound that seemed to indicate that he had been sitting there for a long time. It didn't seem to put him out at least. "Oh." He stared for a while at the both of them, and then turned back to the letters. "Hi."

He seemed a little standoffish. Awkward even.

But he sighed and swung his legs over the side of the chair, turning to face them both again. "You know, I don't think we've ever all been in the same place at once." It would be amusing, if Ollie were amused, "What's up?"

saedusk

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Oh, do you prefer honey? Or 'you are my candy boy?" He snorted. "Mm, a cup of coffee might be nice." He moved into the kitchen, one brow winging up at Oliver's reaction.

"Hi, Oliver." Are you okay, Ollie? "Did you guys get the letters, too, by the way?" Horace was trying hard not to stare at Oliver's lips. He liked to pretend he was successful.

saedusk

melancholies

 

[saedusk]

"All you really have to do is tell me how I've got you wanting me," he assured Horace, but as they found their way into the kitchen, he seemed to cut the joking entirely. Solemn might not have been the word, but something about the atmosphere on this side of the room was borderline uncomfortable. Even Pascal lingered around the edges until finally giving in and following in case someone saw fit to pet him. "It is a first, isn't it?"

It was while Eli was pouring Horace a cup of coffee that his lips pursed and it took him a moment to speak. "We got the letters, too," was all he said, setting the drink down on the table. Creamer and sugar were not far off.

His eyes flicked back up to Horace and lingered a moment, then fell down to Oliver, but if he picked up on some sort of social cue, he didn't mention it.

Melancholies

The Semblance of Unity

 

[Melancholies]

Oliver heard the mental ping, but he didn't say anything in return, not internally. "Yeah, we both did." They were behind him on the table. His lips were pursed as he mulled over his words. "I'm assuming you're probably invested in this debacle, right?"

His phone vibrated from the counter near by. Probably Shiloh, but he ignored it.

"I'm honestly not sure what to even do about it." He sipped his tea again. Geeze Oliver, don't have too much motivation. The banter shared between the two of them had his face giving them looks, raised eyebrows, curious in the 'killed the cat' way.

saedusk

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Even to Horace, the change in atmosphere was weird. He felt tense, pirckly, as thought extra sparks danced across his skin. "I'm... invested. Half of the Charter is with me, the other half is with your brother." It felt really, really wrong to refer to Melany as that.

"Let's do something together... I mean, I trust you guys. And we've got to find a way to actually destroy it, sort of. Half of it...." He rubbed his hand across his undercut nervously. "I know you're newish, Eli, do you need a rundown of anything?" Buzz, buzz...

"Shouldn't you get that if it's Shiloh?"

saedusk

melancholies

 

[saedusk]

"I've gotten a bit of a rundown already, but it probably wouldn't hurt to hear it again." Finally he sat, taking his own mug between both hands. The coffee was pale with creamer and sugar, but Eli didn't bother to take a drink. "I'll be honest, as well. I don't know how much help I would be. If any." And it was honest, if not a touch self-depreciating. "I'm not even sure what my own abilities are yet."

Now he took a drink. "But I did promise to help you, didn't I?" It had been a promise over a totally different subject, but that was a minor detail. "So if I can..."

Despite knowing just as well that Oliver's text was probably from Shiloh, he didn't say anything, just looked between the phone and its owner. It had been like this for some time now.

Melancholies

The Semblance of Unity

 

[Melancholies]

Oliver hesitated, but shrugged. "It's nothing important." He said dismissively, waving his hand at the phone. It was definitely something important. "What do you mean you have half living with you? I thought that paper Shiloh had was the whole thing, the one with the thumbprints or whatever--"

He cut off, abruptly grabbing his wrist. It burned, just a little bit, but only enough to cause him discomfort. He kneaded his hand carefully. "What's so difficult about destroying a piece of paper?"

He gave Elliot a look too, and then Horace again, and then back to Elliot. "I don't know if you should get involved." He said suddenly.

saedusk

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"You did." He smiled at Elliot, even though this wasn't the same thing at all. He took a deep breath, then faltered when Ollie grabbed his wrist. "Is your hand okay?"

And then he frowned at Oliver's sudden words. "He's kind of involved whether he wants to be or not, Ollie. He deserves to at least know as much as possible..." Maybe the words meant that Oliver was awakening his true, secret feelings of love for Elliot. Augh. No, no, that was good. His expression shifted for a second, looking kind of stricken, but he covered it up.

"Anyway, there's three magic symbols, sigils. This one is the charter and it put into place a lot of weird rules and restrictions. And they kind of dragged an innocent girl into it as a component. So there's the paper,,,, and then there's Melany. And everyone voted to destroy the charter, but I need to find out how to do it without killing her." There, that was succinct.

saedusk

melancholies

 

[saedusk]

"Yes," he started, following suit with Horace, "Are you alright?" Then his lips set into a line and his eyes narrowed like he was thinking.

In some cases, Oliver and Shiloh were like night and day. They were as opposite as a twin could get and it caused them to butt heads. It was something Elliot had seen multiple times over the years he'd known them. And yet, in other cases, they were far, far too similar. This was one such moment. Maybe Eli had the right to get upset about Ollie telling him he shouldn't get involved, and it did sting a bit knowing how upset Ollie had been himself over Shiloh, but he didn't let it show too deeply.

"Horace is right," he said, "And I'd like to be involved. I know I'm... a little behind here, maybe I won't be of any help, but..." What did helping destroy and remake the charter do for him? Nothing really. It was just a way to know that the few people he'd grown at all attached to would have someone watching their backs if s**t hit the fan.

"This does sound awfully complicated, though," Eli admitted. "How can we destroy the charter without killing your Melany? Being damn near half the thing makes it sound... difficult."

Melancholies

The Semblance of Unity

 

[Melancholies]

"Fine." He huffed, thumb still kneading his wrist, "I haven't been minding my stretching when I play. Bad habit." Which, anyone who knew how zealous Oliver was about his hands, would know that was an utter lie. Still.

"I guess if that's what you want though..." He was relenting, but it was obvious his heart still wasn't completely into it. Magic was something he always felt one step behind in, and Oliver hated being second best at anything (despite his long monologues about how talent is a myth, practice makes perfect, the works). "Isn't the deal with Melany that... she has the charter inside of her? Surely there's a way to separate it without killing her, right?" He tapped his chin, "Though I suppose if you merely separated it, that still doesn't mean you've destroyed the damn thing..."

"Are you sure we should be doing this? We barely know anything. We'll probably just make it worse." His tea was growing cold. Oliver hated cold tea, but he was sipping it again anyway. "It'd be better if we talked to someone more knowledgeable before we end up slaughtering half of Ashdown on accident. I feel like once we've involved ourselves into something like this, then there's no backing out."

Then again, Oliver had apparently gotten involved a long, long time ago.

"Are you willing to accept that, Elliot?" He raised an eyebrow curiously. Magic was innocuous at first—subtle—but once it took hold of you—really sunk its roots into you, really dug its claws into you—it snowballed more and more and more into the realm of bizarre and unmanageable.

The Semblance of Unity

saedusk