[PRP] Rush (Oliver & Jamie)

[Melancholies]

Oliver was nervous and that was a massive understatement.

He hadn't slept the night before at all. Instead he spent the entire day doing busy work; he tended to his hobbies as a distraction with the knitting and the reading and the studying, and then when he lost the ability to focus on those things he regressed to pacing aimlessly around the room. He was glad that he had input at least. He knew what was coming. He knew people who were currently living through it, dealing with it, making a good time out of it. If they had survived, then he could survive too. Probably. More than likely.

He lost track of time, and though it wasn't pressing (yet) it still spiked his already frazzled anxiety. He said good bye to Eli (who was still up and somehow completely accepting of his late night "walk"), and started his way to Jamie's house. He planned on taking the bus to save time, but waiting at the stop was a whole lot of not doing anything and he found his legs moving without his input. By the time he actually got to Jamie's house he looked even more ragged than before.

Not wanting to knock (and wake up the rest of the house, he didn't know Jamie's situation with his parents) he called his phone.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Lounging around in bed with Shiloh always helped take the full moon edge off. It wasn't something that made Jamie uncomfortable anymore, more like something he knew he had to do and get over with so he could get back home, but that didn't mean he felt absolutely nothing over it. There was always a bit of a jitter to his nerves. Honestly, it might've just been the effect of the moon itself. Either way, he was relaxed when he was with Shiloh.

When his phone went off, he knew exactly who it was. Sitting up, he pressed a kiss to Shiloh's cheek and ran downstairs to greet Ollie at the door. "You made it," he said as he picked up the phone, sounding like he was already on the move. The stairs creaked on his end of the call. "Don't worry, I'll be right there."

And he was, not a moment later, swooping in for a totally unsolicited hug. The pack touch immediately spread through his limbs like warmth, like a crackling fire and hot cocoa, like home. He didn't let go. "How are you feeling?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh tried really hard to stay up with Jamie on his moon departures—and typically he was—but this time all he really offered after him was a sleep-drunken "Be safe..." sort of mumble.

Oliver meanwhile was relieved when Jamie picked up, though he didn't say anything in anticipation of him coming through the door. His eyes were wide but droopy, hair rather unkempt. One of his pant pockets was inside out. He was a little more than stressed. He hadn't even put the phone back into his pocket when Jamie launched into a hug.

The pack touch was nice, admittedly. He sighed and hugged him back, not wanting to let go, not wanting to do this weird transforming thing, only wanting to go back home and go back to bed and forget that this was even a thing he'd have to deal with.

"Like s**t." He laughed despite the statement, but he meant it wholeheartedly. "Let's just get this over with." Still, he didn't let go.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

One look at Ollie had given Jamie the answer to his question before he even asked it. Still, he waited and listened and didn't pull back from the hug until well after the request to get it over with. Pull back was a pretty loose term, of course. His hands remained on his sides.

"I know it doesn't seem like it, but it won't be so bad once we're there," he told him. Even if it didn't help, Jamie felt compelled to try and be some form of comfort. If he hadn't had his fellow pack members back when he was a newbie, he was pretty sure he would've crumpled under the pressure. They didn't receive much assistance otherwise. "But let's get going. We can, um, talk more about it once we're there."

One hand left Ollie's side to gesture vaguely, "If you have any questions about, y'know, anything, just... ask."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

He didn't look that much more relieved, but he was slightly more settled regardless. The touch was enough to calm his nerves to the point of being functional, and that was all he honestly needed. "I have a lot, but none that you can really answer I think." He laughed sheepishly, tiredly.

"They're more-or-less things that I'll just have to see for myself."

He shrugged as he stepped away from the door, head turned up to glance nervously at the moon. His skin itched under the warmth of the pack touch. "Lead the way I guess. Uh, I mean, I'm assuming you have easy ways in there, but..." He shuffled his feet as he slowly descended the front porch steps, "I found out I can wander in there pretty easily, if you need the help."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"Yeah, I get it," he said, solidarity in his voice and soft smile. It was almost impossible to prepare anyone for what it felt like to become an animal once a month. Oliver would have to experience it himself to truly understand.

After locking up behind them, he took a few small bounds down and into the yard. There was pent up energy crawling beneath his skin. "Wow, really? Have you been walking into the Otherworld a lot?" That always kinda sucked, honestly, if you weren't expecting it. "Might as well give it a shot. Otherwise Beel will show up."

Jamie made a face, but there was much less malice than there used to be.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"...Beel?" It had been a name that had come up on a number of occasions, but anytime he tried to press further he was only met with resistance. Jamie didn't seem too thrilled about him and Shiloh answered with noncommittal shrugs, or bare minimum 'It's a noble thing'. He hated being kept in the dark, but he supposed everyone had their secrets—god knew he had his own—but it didn't make it hurt any less.

"I mean, I noticed it happening a lot on accident. Shiloh said that stuff is a little unusual when you haven't been around Otherworld that much." He sniffed, rubbed his (still) bruised nose (it was largely cosmetic at this point, but still somewhat sore, more or less uncomfortable). "But maybe if I actually tried..."

He grabbed for Jamie's hand, still obviously uncomfortable. Despite that he took a deep breath and forced himself to focus, slowly walking towards the sidewalk, ready to turn the curve onto the street—

—it felt fuzzy, and then the world lapsed into a particular brand of silence.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Beel. It was a name that still left a sour taste in Jamie's mouth for what would be obvious reasons had Oliver actually been told. "Beel...," he repeated. It's not that he meant to be dismissive, but they had other things to focus on. The last thing he wanted to do was regale anyone with tales of torture and doppelgängers right before delving into magic animal fun time. "I'm sure you'll meet him at some point."

From there he went quiet, listening to Oliver's explanation. Did that mean the first time he'd gone to Other Ashdown was alone, on accident? Like he was here for him now, Jamie found himself wishing he could've been there for that, too.

"Give it a shot," he finally said, "No harm in trying." And he squeezed his hand, an obvious 'I'm not gonna let go.' Wherever they ended up on the other side, they'd make it there together. Jamie had an uncanny feeling it was going to work. That's when the world turned around them, shifting and falling into a silence like nothing the normal world could replicate. "It really worked..."

In front of them were a pair of swings surrounded by trees on one side. There was no breeze and the chains were eerily still.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Oliver didn't look so surprised when he saw the stillness of the swings and the scenery of the park that surely didn't exist outside of Jamie's yard. "Yeah." He sighed. "I don't know. It just... happens."

He let go of Jamie's hand in favor of poking around. After a while it became obvious that he was just looking for an excuse to pace around. Above them, the moon was imminent. "So what does it feel like?" He realized he never really inquired about these things before because he had no reason to outside of natural curiosity. Now it felt like life or death. "It doesn't hurt, does it?"

His hand gripped the metal structure holding the swings up, his other hand quickly deposited into his jacket pocket. He rocked back and forth on his feet. "Or it just different for everyone? Christ, I don't even know what I'm going to transform into." He huffed, slightly irritated, mostly anxious.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"I think it might be different for everyone." As he chose to look at the ground, Jamie shifted from foot to foot. There was static in the air, anticipation, and it wouldn't be much longer now. "I mean, not totally different, but depending on what you turn into it might..." To be fair, he couldn't remember ever asking anyone else what they'd experienced. It was only an observation based on guesses.

"At first it kinda feels like pins and needles. Like if you slept on your arm wrong all night and it's really asleep before the blood gets back to it again. Then it's kinda like you're stretching in some places and getting squished in others." That was the best way to describe it. Saying it didn't hurt at least a touch would be a lie and though he hated to admit it, not wanting to scare Oliver further, he didn't want to leave him even more ill-prepared than he probably already felt. "It... is a little bit uncomfortable," he admitted, "but a lot of that is the limb waking up feeling and it lasts about as long as you'd expect."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Oliver stared at him hard, but relented. "I guess that doesn't... sound as bad as it could be..." He'd been through worse anyway. This was a mantra he carried with him whenever things got tough. He'd lived through a lot, he'd live through this.

His skin itched. He took a deep breath before sitting down, feeling a little too lightheaded to keep standing.

"And I'll be able to turn back right...?" His stomach felt queasy like something was about to happen, though he wasn't sure if it was the shift or stress nausea.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"It's not as bad as it might seem," he agreed, "I was... really scared the first time, honestly. There was a lot of stuff going on on top of it." Oliver might remember Jamie telling him about that night at Blackfriars. "You'll be able to turn right back, though, once you get the hang of it. And then we can go home, so hopefully it, um, won't be too bad."

After scuffing his foot once or twice, another tick brought on by the energy of imminent transformation, he moved to sit next to Ollie. "The first time, with the other pack members... we sat in a circle and held hands." Eve had said a prayer to the moon, too, but Jamie wouldn't pretend to know how to say those kinds of things. "We could do that, if you wanted..."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"If you want." He looked sick still, "I think I'm dying." He took a deep breath to try and settle it. The warmth from the pack touch calmed him slightly, hand gripped around Jamie's a little too tightly. "This really sucks. Really suc—"

"—ks?" The word lodged itself in his throat as something truly bizarre and inexplicable overtook him. His bones felt like they were bending and cracking, but it didn't hurt; it was like a trip to the dentist, where everything was numb but there was still that pressure. It was sickening. It made his stomach roll. He felt his jaw collapse and elongate, his face stretch, his body shrink. It wasn't painful, just uncomfortable and wildly unusual.

When his eyes opened again, he found himself face first in the grass beneath them, his entire world painted black and grey and white. Despite that, it was sharp. Aromas hit his nose in overpowering ways. He tried to stand but wobbled back over, finding he was now limited to four legs. The worst part?

He went to speak, but a strange high pitched chitter came out of his throat instead.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

It was okay that his grip was a little too tight, Jamie squeezed back. It was okay that Oliver was obvious nervous, he understood how that felt. Having been through this multiple times already, he no longer had to deal with the what-ifs of not knowing exactly what was going to happen or how it was going to feel. It didn't take long before their hands weren't touching anymore, before their hands weren't even hands at all.

As small as he already was, Jamie's entire body began to compact, rolling in on itself. His feet shrank flat and grew wide, his face stretching into a small triangle, his ears sprouting up like weeds. Eyes that were bright and wide and reflecting the moon looked down at Oliver as he tried to move. It wouldn't be easy to coordinate the new paws at first and Jamie would've smiled sympathetically if he could've smiled right anymore.

It was funny, though. He hadn't known what to expect from Ollie's transformation, but this kinda wasn't it. Not that there was anything wrong with raccoons, of course! He was a hare, he had no room to talk.

Reaching a paw out, he very softly papped his shoulder. It was like a you're okay in response to that startling chitter.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Oliver jumped, and then was startled at his ability to jump a lot higher than he was used to. His everything felt so wrong, his anatomy too shifted, his bones too warped and his muscles too different. Jamie was a rabbit and his own line of sight was slightly above that. He felt small. He was small.

Jamie put his paw on his shoulder, and another squeaky chitter came out of his throat. He tried to run in a circle, but ended up stumbling over his clumsy new legs again. He was trying to stare at his paws, but it wasn't working so well.

At least, until he got the idea to try and find his tail, but the result wasn't favorable. He saw the fluffy ringed thing on the end of his a** and promptly flipped out, because he was a ******** raccoon of all things. He tripped over his paws and rolled over again like a very pathetic pancake.

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