[PRP] About last night... (Oliver & Elliot)

[saedusk]

His eyes never left the road, but Elliot's expression changed visibly into a grimace, almost like he'd been slapped. The look faded quickly, but this wasn't like Oliver. Well, okay, so it wasn't a completely alien reaction, but they'd both grown up and grown so far past this sort of thing. They'd both opened up. It was rare they hit a wall like this.

"That's alright," was what he chose to respond with, both hands still on the steering wheel, gripped tight. "We can talk about it later." There was a worry worming its way around in his gut. Something had happened, this wasn't right.

"I'll make you some tea when we get home. Or... the bed is still unmade, you could always take a nap."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Oliver listened to Elliot, but after he spoke... he let it lapse into silence, wondering if he'd speak up again. He was content to listen to the sounds of the tires speeding along the road. He listened to Pascal breathing in the back. He listened to the occasional uncomfortable sound coming from Eli. He was acting so strange.

"Nap sounds amazing." His voice, in the silence, had grown rough and gravely with the thickness of his exhaustion. He felt himself drifting further and further away from the reality of the car and everything inside of it. "S'how come you're bein' all sweet?" His sentence started with a yawn and ended on something light and airy. Incredulous.

"What'cha want?" Like there was some catch.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

The question caught him off guard, but what hadn't this morning? Waking up to an empty bed, to Oliver camped outside their old condo a hefty walk away, to the coldness, the ache of confusion. What hadn't thrown him for a loop already?

"I don't think I'm acting any different than usual," he said, except it sounded almost like a question. If Ollie could be incredulous, so could Eli. "I don't want anything. Alright, maybe that's not quite true."

As he pulled to a stop at a red light, he finally chanced a glance toward the passenger seat. "I want to know... if something's wrong," he admitted and reached over to touch Oliver's shoulder. "But it can wait. I haven't seen you this tired in, well, years. Probably."

He swallowed thickly and the light turned green. His hand left Ollie's shoulder and found the steering wheel again.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Mmm..." His voice was still sleep thick. When Elliot touched his shoulder he tensed—not at all expecting it—but relaxed under the warmth. He might have had thorns, but he honestly craved touch that held depth like this. He just never realized because of how starved he was in the first place. "Years, huh?"

He had only known Elliot for a semester.

With a grunt he finally lifted his head off of the car door, but he didn't look over. He stared straight ahead with his eyes half lidded.

"There's something wrong." He said suddenly, though his voice held no urgency. "I don't remember that. I don't remember years Elliot."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"What?" If he didn't remember, then something was a little more than wrong. It wasn't like they'd known each other for lifetimes, and maybe Eli had exaggerated exactly how long since they'd met, but if nothing else it felt like years. He could still remember the quiet, sullen kind of person Oliver used to be. It was a lot like this, a lot like here and now.

"How long do you remember exactly?" It was hard to keep his eyes on the road as is stretched endlessly out in front of him. It felt like they had forever to go before they got home and could have a proper conversation, one where he could look Ollie in the eye and see the emotion. "You didn't hit your head, did you?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"We've only known each other for a semester." His eyes shut again, "Haven't we? We just moved here a month or so ago. 'Cause I lost contact with Shiloh."

His head pulsed with pressure behind his eyes. It was enough to snap him out of his half asleep dozing, his hand shooting up to touch his forehead. He had forgotten about the scab too—his fingers grazed it and he winced, the flesh still sore and tender.

He watched the sway of the road, dully noting that roads probably shouldn't sway. "We just got Pascal last Halloween. That... that doesn't seem familiar to you?"

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

When he heard his name, Pascal lifted his head from his paws, miscolored eyes wide and curious as they'd always been. "Halloween? No, I'd say it was closer to summer. Only a few days after we got Nosey from that shelter on the westside, actually. Like it was meant to be." Eli conveniently neglected to mention how he'd been a stray, without a collar and dirty like he'd been there for a while, but he'd made no attempts to check for an owner. Easy come, easy go, right?

The incorrect animal facts were the easy part, though. The rest of it... well, Elliot was sure absolutely none of that sounded familiar to him. It made him think Ollie had gotten hurt somehow. He did have that gash on his forehead, after all.

"We've known each other longer than a semester, Oliver," he said, "and you... never lost contact with Shiloh. He came back here to be with Jamie. It's not like he was running away."

It felt so very, very strange and a little unsettling to be explaining the story of their lives to the one who should know it just as well. "I think you might need to get some sleep." He sounded genuinely concerned.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"But..." Oliver was genuinely confused, and he had long passed the point where he thought Elliot was actually ******** with him. His brow furrowed deeper. "He never ran away, I ran away from him. When stuff started getting weird and he started acting terrible. I went to Cali and I met you and—"

And you were terrible too?

"It was barely a semester. We came back here? You followed me because it sounded fun or something—we took a road trip, lots of detours, saw the grand canyon." He studied Eli's face for any clues, but all he saw was concern, "We got the condo on Lovett street. We..." ...was it pointless to keep talking like this? What did they actually do back in the void?

"I... sorry." He shook his head, "I'm sorry. Maybe I'm losing it."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Mention of the road trip was about the only thing that brought a fleeting smile to Eli's face. It was gone the next second. "The road trip happened," he agreed, fingers thrumming against the steering wheel. It was a nervous habit, an attempt to ease the tension of the situation. "It was a real good one. And the condo on Lovett..."

If nothing else, he did miss that place. Their new place was still nice, but it was smaller and lacking in the memories of the start of their adventure. Unfortunately, he couldn't continue to afford it on his current salary.

"Don't worry over it, Ollie, it'll be fine. We'll talk about it later, okay? We're almost home now."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"The road trip happened..." He echoed, seeming relieved. The Elliot he knew wasn't nice and he was pompous and kind of a massive d**k; this one seemed a lot more understanding, way more open with his anxiety (Ollie had to resist tapping his own fingers once he became aware of Elliot's thrumming).

He sighed, kneading his fingers against his leg instead. "Yeah, later, that's fine." Ollie stood out to him too. He liked the nickname honestly, but anything cute and affectionate from Eli was usually a questionable thing. He wasn't sure he was ready to deal with acclimating to a new apartment right now either.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Whether they knew it at the time or not, there would need to be an adjustment period for the both of them. This unusual morning was only the start to what they'd have to face. The only answer Eli gave after that was a small hum in the affirmative. After that, his hands never left the steering wheel and his eyes never left the road.

In the backseat, Pascal spent the rest of the drive with his eyes on the back of Ollie's head.

Melancholies