[PRP] Definitely not a cat (Oliver & Horace)

[The Semblance of Unity]

He didn't want to force Oliver to do anything uncomfortable with his hands. Horace frowned and focused on him instead of the cut on his hand. "I know you know what you're doing. If you didn't, I'd take it over." He smiled and held up his left hand, wiggling the fingers.

"Who do you think had to take care of this?" There was a wide band of scar tissue around his ring finger, the edges of it almost surgical in their neatness. Then he pouted. "You're gonna call a hurt man an idiot? Heartless, you are."

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[Melancholies]

Oliver stared at the scar on his finger for a very long moment, his hands paused with the gauze. "That's..." He thought his words out very carefully, "Is quite peculiar and specific, for a scar."

He shook his head as he dropped the matter, instead working to patch the gash up. The texture of the cloth on his fingers was the equivalent to cotton mouth, but he forced himself to work through it. If he had to pick between getting over it now or sometime later, he wanted to pick now.

"Heartless maybe, but at least I'm not dumb." He muttered, voice quiet, more or less relieved sounding rather than bitter. If he could still banter, then it probably wasn't so bad.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Well, I didn't do it," Horace said and laughed lightly. The best offense was a good defense and the best defense was humor. His eyes dropped to watch Oliver as he banaged. He had to admit that Oliver wasn't half bad at this.

"First an idiot, now I'm dumb. My GPA is perfectly fine, thanks. Plus, who's the one who was rollie-pollie-ing around that alternate Ashdown without a care." He snorted. Now that he thought about, Oliver hadn't even seemed particularly raccoon-like at all.

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[Melancholies]

"Okay look." He started to say, his cheeks flaring up into an embarrassed blush, "What I do as a raccoon has absolutely no hold on my intelligence! I was trying to figure out how to walk, and then I thought I'd mess with you but that backfired spectacularly."

He tore the bandages away from the initial roll, the tacky surface clinging to the rest of the binding with ease.

"You really shold be more careful..." He huffed. "But you should be good for now, at least." The roll of gauze was quickly abandoned on the sink, fingers awkwardly splayed as he weighed the boons and consequences of attempting to wash them in the faucet.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"What happens as a raccoon stays as a raccoon? You were pretty cute though." He sighed dramatically. Then he looked at his hand, deciding not to flex the fingers because it ******** hurt.

"I was being careful! Thanks, though. I'll be out of your, uh, hair soon." He looked at Oliver's very fluffy hair. "But first can I pet, like, all of your cats and the dog?"

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[Melancholies]

"That's definitely the first rule of being a raccoon." He huffed again, cheeks rosy, "And of course I was. I was a tiny, fluffy animal. Those tend to be very endearing." Chai at their feet, for example, was an absolutely prime example of a small fluffy cute thing.

"But you might as well, since you're here." His slowly backed out of the bathroom, "Chai is right there, Nosey is kinda elusive and doesn't like pets that much... uh, then there's..." He sighed, obviously mentally preparing himself for something he wasn't looking forward too. After a moment, he put his fingers to his lips and whistled.

There was a jingling sound like a collar, and then tiny boof boofs from before, and then Pascal in all his wiggle-butt glory as he came wagging down the hallway.

"And this is Pascal—yes hello—Jesus." Oliver was very obviously a cat person.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Nah, it's probably because you've got cute, fluffy hair normally, too." Horace bent down and offered the fingers of his undamaged hand to Pascal. The dog was very wiggly and very... dog.

"Not a dog person, really?" Horace thought they were pretty cute. "How're your hands, by the way? You did okay patching me up."

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[Melancholies]

Oliver looked up and patted his hair self consciously. Big mistake, but he didn't grimace from the touch at least. "Runs in the family." He said with a shrug. Shiloh's was far more unruly, but he also neglected to get it cut and take all the proper care with it and such. He sighed mentally.

"But not really, no. I mean, they're okay?" Pascal was wriggling like crazy, and he skipped the sniffing straight to licking all over the hand. He could barely contain himself. "I just like cats better. There's nothing wrong with dogs, I just... don't have the energy for them." Another shrug. "My hands are alright though, thank you for asking. Did you want anything to drink while you're here?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Yeah, but his hair's even worse than yours." Horace huffed out a laugh. Pascal's tongue tickled terribly. "Yeah dogs need walks and cats are just more... self-sufficient." If he were an animal, he'd probably be a dog. Horace would rather be a cat, but he couldn't deny his stupid, clingy nature.

He looked up at Oliver and grinned. "A drink? Not if you don't want me to co-opt your tv, put on a movie, and order Chinese takeout." It was oddly specific. "ut I should probably get out of your hair."

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[Melancholies]

Ollie's eyebrows shot up. "You sound like you've really thought this through." He was only trying to be polite, which Oliver had a lot of trouble with, but he had respect for guests in his home. "In that case, then maybe you shouldn't." He was being a facetious d**k, but it was playful enough.

"I'd offer you a ride, but I don't own a car." Hopefully Horace's own place wasn't too terribly far. "You can come back some other time to enjoy my cats though, when your hand isn't crippled." And when his own hands weren't crippled.

The Semblance of Unity

is there an end in sight holy ******** class="clear">

[The Semblance of Unity]

He gasped. "I'm wounded! You just want me to leave forever and ever." Horace rolled his eyes. "I think everything through, even things that will never happen." Somehow, it seemed appropriate to wink just then, so he did so.

"And it's fine, I can get an Uber or something." He waved his injured hand nonchalantly and boy, did that feel weird and achy. "And yes, I need to come back when both hands are free for petting. Thanks, uh, for the bandage and stuff, Oliver."

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[Melancholies]

"That's an awful amount of foresight you put into things, Horace." Oliver noted duly, his own eyebrows shooting up a tad, "I'll keep in mind to never underestimate you again, heaven forbid."

He started to duck down the hallway as he spoke, "I'd grab the door for you, but you have one good hand at least. It's unlocked, so you won't have any use for the tonfa in this instance, I apologize." Could Horace taste the sarcasm? It was coming on pretty thick. "Just think things through next time, alright?" He was using his eloquent I'm-still-slightly-mad-but-mostly-relieved voice.

The Semblance of Unity