[PRP] smoke and mirrors (oliver & nasir)

[Melancholies]

Oliver watched as Nasir offered the treats out. The cats, surprisingly, seemed vaguely disinterested. "They're kind of stupid." Oliver explained between bites, "They don't realize it's treats unless you make a jingly sound. Usually I just tap a spoon on a bowl, but my hands are full..."

Time for something impromptu then. He walked over to a rack in the kitchen and plucked off his set of keys, a number of charms hanging from the initial clip, along with a rather unconventional looking eye. He rustled the metal around excitedly.

Then, and only then did Nosey perk her head up. Only then did Chai wiggle her way over. They both looked voracious and absolutely ready to head the summons. "You really didn't have to do this..." Oliver insisted.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Oh! Kind of like clicker training but with jingling instead," Nasir laughed, charmed and moving towards Ollie and then offering the treats to the cats since they had been summoned and, of course, must be given treats.

Otherwise that would be bad.

For a moment he was distracted by the eye that was on the clip, remembering the strange one that had been left with him. "What's the eye?" he found himself asking before he was shaking his head. "... and, no, I didn't have to but I wanted to." Nasir's lips pressed together.

"I mean, there's a lot of stuff," a small word to cover a lot of important things, "going on and we're all kind of wound up in it and you're my friend but more than that," his face heated as he moved on quickly. "I don't mean like romantically," he had a boyfriend okay, "but kind of like family?" Still a bit red in the face because Nasir had feels and he still worried people would not want to deal with such things from him. "Which might be silly to say but it's true and it makes you important and means I want to do things, make burdens not so heavy ..."

Nasir was quiet then before he sighed.

"Probably should've just gone with I wanted to do something nice for you."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Ollie blinked curiously a few times. "Family...?" He looked down at the eye if only because Nasir had pointed it out, but his attention was still fixated on the claim Nasir had just dropped. Oliver didn't really think of anyone as family, unless you happened to be Shiloh, but twins... twins were different, in a way. Of course they were family, but family was just as good as it was bad. Family meant acknowledging his a*****e father, or his runaway mom. "That's... that's different."

Despite it all, Oliver didn't seem that mad.

"I guess it's just hard for me to see anyone as familial outside of my brother." He explained his thoughts, "But that's not necessarily a bad thing. That you feel that way, I mean."

He sighed.

"The eye thing is kind of complicated. Shiloh gave it to me?" He looked at it, and then held it out. "It improves your vision. Not to any extremes, but... well, you'll see."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Nasir did his best to not wring his hands or shift awkwardly but Oliver did not look mad or upset. Perplexed, maybe, trying to understand? Either way it wasn't a bad reaction and he relaxed just a little bit (his hand was fidgeting with a barrette in his hair before he realized it and stopped himself).

"Yeah, I ... can't really think of a word that means more than friend that isn't family. I care a lot and," he huffed a little bit, cheeks a dark dusky color, "... you get the idea, I'll stop." Nasir, when nervous, got rambly. Never mind that he had, on more than one occasion, ran into trouble because people did not necessarily want to put up with the fact his heart was on his sleeve for some.

The eye was studied a moment before he reached out and took it. It made him blink a bit as he looked around, mostly because suddenly his glasses were making the world blurry. Nasir slid them up, resting them on top of his head, and blinked as things cleared up. It wasn't perfect but he could see better than he normally did. "That's- that's actually really cool. I think I have one that is like this? Opalescent, kind of strange? Hellbine carted it over one day and never figured out where it came from."

It was held back out for Oliver to take.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Shiloh said he got it from a 'source' of his, but never elaborated. Judging by the goose egg on his forehead, I didn't want to know." He snorted; what a ******** idiot. How were they even related? "But it helps when I'm sitting in class and I can't snatch a front seat, or when I'm reading at night and the lights are dim. Helps with my headaches too." He took the eye back, watching as his vision sharpened.

He was silent for a moment there after.

"It's okay, you don't have to." He spoke frankly, "Just because I don't understand something doesn't mean you have to be awkward about owning it. I'm fairly certain such a position can exist, I've just never been on the receiving end of it." Oliver shrugged, "I suppose I've had... poor experiences with my family, is all. I guess sometimes people try to reclaim that as a part of healing though..." He trailed off.

"A-Anyway, let me help you put that stuff away in the fridge." The container of nuggets—half finished—was also set away on the counter.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"I might have to start carrying the one I have around then, if it does all that." His nose wrinkled up, glasses slid back down to rest on them. "You know, there was this eyeball monster thing that showed up in January? Somewhere around there. I wonder ..."

Then he shook his head, giving Oliver a smile. "I had a lot of family, just no roots - you know, stable place that we stayed all the time. I had my mother, a ton of aunts, and then cousins ... So I grew up with a lot of family. Here? I don't really have much in the way of that but I want to." Nasir looked down at his hands, fidgeting and then stopping. "Besides, family isn't always about blood, it's about the people you care about ..."

Trailing off himself, he smiled a bit and moved towards the containers. "Yeah, sure. There's some chicken and dumplings and some other stuff packed in the containers. You know, comfort foods? The things you want to eat and they make you feel better. Also the kind of things you can reheat and they taste just as good as when you made them." Pause. "Well, when I made them."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"You mean the stuff that gets objectively better when you let it sit." He wasn't a culinary expert, but he was pretty sure there was some sort of phenomenon that occured with comfort dishes like that, or soups, or anything of the sort. Days in the fridge meant days for the flavor to meld together. His eyes were lit up when Nasir mentioned the dumplings.

"That stuff's my favorite." He laughed.

The fridge wasn't sparse, but it was obvious the contents were necessities at best. "I guess you're right though." He said as he started to stuff the food away, "I just never really thought of family that way. Shiloh and I only moved once when mom left... that was...?" He squinted, "A very, very long time ago. We were born in Maine, and then we moved here..."

Oliver sighed.

"Or maybe we moved and then she left... it's embarassing how much I can't remember." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Nosey crept closer to Nasir on the floor before bapping his shoe.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Yes," Nasir said with a smile. "It's my favorite too." The things that got better with time and made you feel better no matter what. Homey comfort foods were what he liked to make the best, especially when people got to have them and they did just what they were supposed to: help someone feel better.

After passing Oliver the food to put away, he ended up crouching down to wriggle his fingers at Nosey (and wiggle his foot because entertaining cats was fun). "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure where I was born. It's on my birth certificate but I'm pretty sure, um ... well, it's different in this world than it was in the old world."

He gave Ollie a smile, one that was warm and reassuring, as he nudged up his glasses. "Besides, you're not alone about the can't remember much. I don't really remember much about my father. I was little and ... we were with him and ... I don't know. It's all hazy." His shoulders lifted in a shrug. "Either way, yeah, I think of family as what we make it and who we feel is family."

Melancholies

LOL we can prob ... do a fade away on your post with them chattering?
like ... what are you two doing. this is normal and kind of cute?

 

[Melancholies]

"I honestly feel like cooking is an art in that regard." He was glad to pick up on a different topic, "Art is an expression, right? It's supposed to make you feel something specific, however subjective the definition of art is... paintings can evoke certain responses, music can move people to tears." Ollie looked wistful, "Sometimes a good plate of food can warm you over in ways you didn't know possible."

Or maybe he just liked to eat.

"Anyway, here, have a seat. I'll make some tea." He pulled a chair out for Nasir, but the kitchen was still right there and ample for conversation. "There's some madeleine cookies in the pantry too... but they're store bought. Still good for warm drinks though." Better for hot chocolate in his opinion (even coffee, though he wanted a fan of dirty bean water), but for tea...

Well, it'd do just fine.

azuredreams

fin!