[PRP] Otherdump (Oliver/Chester)

[Smerdle]

Today Chester had awoken with a mission in mind: find weird parts for his inventions. That was the extent of it. Simple enough in theory.

Even so, he sighed as he lifted his cup of orange juice to his lips and took a sip. The last time he'd had an impulse to go somewhere other than class he had run into a giant hell monster at the farmers market. It was difficult to trust his own judgment after that. Still, he couldn't stay holed up in here forever, especially not after a particularly insistent feeling of purpose bloomed in his chest, a warm, sunny pulse that told him contentment was that way. He finished his juice, showered, got dressed, and entered other Ashdown tethered to that feeling, strolling away from the part of town he knew best.

When the feeling subsided, Chester was standing outside of what he could only call a dump. It was no landfill or anything, but there were broken things to his left and heaps of half-finished food to his right and no one was standing around claiming they owned any of it. It was odd, but he couldn't complain. Broken things were precisely what he was looking for.

He pulled the strap of his bag slightly higher on his shoulder and stepped between the first of the jagged piles.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Every pile of stuff had a lord. Every expanse of land had a king, or something like that. For the trash heap, it wasn't Oliver Beaumont, but he was here anyway. He had found the Otherworld to be a place of respite lately; his roommate wasn't here, he could avoid awkward confrontations, and it was so quiet. He could avoid everyone. Nothing bothered him here and he liked it that way.

He liked, as it turned out, being a raccoon a lot more than he thought. The way his simple mundane animal brain worked was a much needed break from the constant drive of his human one, and though he was forever... present in his mental capacity, it felt nice to have the ability to lean back and let auto-pilot kick in. Suffice to say, there was a fluffy little trash panda rummaging around the piles of garbage, not in search of food or anything, but shinies. His head poked out of a smaller pile with a necklace clamped between his jaw. His tail wiggled.

Suddenly he heard footsteps. He quickly hopped behind the nearest pile of rubbish that he could find, his eyes wide as saucers as he watched Chester from his safe place. Who the ******** was this guy? And why was he in a trash heap? Then again, why was Ollie in a trash heap? Touche mind, touche.

Slowly, he followed him.

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

There were times when Chester wasn't oblivious. They mostly occurred when distraction would prove deadly, like while he was punching an oversized beholder or stuck in the 60s or surrounded by werewolves. But here, he allowed himself to get lost in the mysterious stacks of jutting metal, gently smiling at the egg beaters and gardening shears he liberated from the piles like they were adorable urchins. Come with me, little scraps. I'll be your Daddy Warbucks.

Well, that had taken a weird turn.

He looked around to see if anyone was spying on his King of the Dump routine, turning right back to it when he found himself alone. He didn't look down.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Ollie had stopped when Chester turned around, his tiny blue eyes staring up at him curiously as the man decided to keep walking regardless. Was he really wandering around in the Otherworld this obliviously? Ollie supposed he was a little absentminded at times, but he also hadn't run into any trouble yet.

Eventually he shifted, the process happening silently as he continued to walk, tiny limbs growing longer and bending and breaking. He was still just as silent upright, footsteps matching Chester's.

"Are you always this unaware of your surroundings?" He asked after another solid minute or so of stalking.

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Chester sucked in a sharp breath as he stopped, bringing a hand to his chest and hitting himself in the sternum with the wheel of a tricycle.

"Holy..."

He turned his open shock on the young man behind him. Whoever he was, he didn't seem like the sort of creature to rip off a face at the very least. The shock narrowed into a glare.

"I..." Chester thought about the woman in the alley, his parents spying on him for who knew how long, and the fifty other things he'd wandered into before he'd realized he'd made a mistake. "I suppose I might have a problem. But I wouldn't need to be on alert if people weren't so into... sneaking."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

For as sneaky as Ollie was trying to be, Chester jumping still managed to make him jump, muscles tensing, tendons seizing. And then he relaxed, calmed, like nothing really happened, "I wasn't trying to sneak up on you, I was just hanging out." His cheek puffed out, "You walked right past me. Didn't even notice."

However, Oliver had been a raccoon when Chester had walked right by. Still.

"I guess I'd ask what the heck you're doing in a trash heap, but," He sighed, "I guess I'm also wandering around here like an idiot, so never mind." His hands found his pockets. He seemed pretty non-threatening, all things considering. Just a normal human guy who could turn into a normal human guy raccoon thing.

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"I did?" Maybe his tendency toward distraction was worse than he had reluctantly admitted to. "I didn't see you at all. Were you using some sort of shadow power?"

He raised the hand that was holding the wheel a little. "Why I'm here isn't a secret or anything. I'm collecting parts so I can build things." It was never very clear what he might end up with until the parts told him, but it was a good enough explanation for now. "And you're just... hanging out." Sure. "Do you go to Rider-Waite by any chance?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Shadow power?" He tilted his head to one side, and then to the other, like he was trying to hear or parse something that wasn't quite there. "No, nothing like that, I'm very clever but not that inclined to magic." Which was a very bland statement all things considered, considering he was a ******** raccoon shapeshifter. Regardless, he shrugged.

"I'm a music major." He said indirectly, "I was double majoring in business too, but that got messy with all the magic bullshit that's been happening lately." It bothered him, that much was evident in the tone of his voice. He resigned himself, expression shifting to one of oh well, s**t happens. "Y'know, the reset or whatever. Or do you even know about that?" He'd spoken to some that had, and then some that hadn't. Thankfully all the ones that hadn't still believed him rather than wrote him off like a raving lunatic.

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Chester smirked ever so faintly. Very clever, was he? Sneaky shadow man or not, this kid was entertaining at least.

"I'm... well, I guess I'm a math major these days." He held out his hand. "Chester Poole. I was going to be an engineer before all the magical... bullshit." He cursed like a seventy-five year old with no friends. "I do know about the reset, though my life didn't change much as a result." Taking another look at the wheel he held, Chester abandoned it on the nearest pile and poked at a couple of random items that were close by. "It might have been nice to wake up rich or something."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Yeah, not all of us are that lucky though." Oliver sighed. "I wish I could've woken up with my degree or something. Maybe no student loans." He laughed bitterly, but shook it off just as quick.

"Anyway, why can't you keep on the engineer path? Or are you doing magitech now? I mean, since that's a thing in this universe." It seemed interesting, but he was careful with the classes he picked. Only what he needed and nothing more. "That stuff always looked pretty cool, but..." he shrugged. He wasn't great at conversation, but he enjoyed them when they were about more intellectual pursuits.

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"Less magitech and more plain magic. I'm just distracted by... everything. I'd rather build impossible, patchwork robots than bridges. Gloom... have you met Gloom? He showed me what I can do and..." Chester trailed off. "It's not important." He was starting to sound like he was a member of some ferret cult.

"Why are you here 'wandering around like an idiot,' as you so eloquently put it. I'm still inclined to believe you're some sort of otherbeing with how silent you were."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Oliver's lips pursed, "Oh, I've met Gloom..." And be sighed for it, but didn't elaborate. "I'm definitely not an Otherbeing, either. I'm not ure if I should take that for flattery or not."

After a moment, he finally led on, "Have you heard about Moonwalkers? The people who can shift into animals?" He held his hands up over his ears, each one cupped. When he flourished his hands away, two fluffy grey ones were left in their place.

"So no, not an otherbeing, just a ******** magic furry." A fact he wasn't happy about but apparently getting acclimated to.

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

While he had been present at Blackfriars, Chester hadn't ever looked into the fate of the animal people there beyond assuring himself they weren't dangerous anymore.

"I have," he said thoughtfully, all of his focus on Oliver's ears. "I didn't know they... you had a name, but I know you exist." He had no desire to touch like some impulsive child, but he saw no harm in staring. The very sight of the things made him itchy. He examined them as thoroughly as one could from afar, then returned his attention to... oh. Well. That wasn't happiness. It wasn't even indifference.

"You're not pleased, so I assume it wasn't voluntary? I'll admit I wouldn't be either. But you really are very sneaky, so that's a plus."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Ollie shrugged impartially, "I wasn't at Blackfrairs when all that... stuff... happened. I just kinda turned into one way later." He thought back for a second, "Right after the sigil thing, actually. I came back like this."

"It isn't that like, it's bad." He went to clarify, "I mean—it's still bad—but I could've been a mountain lion or something, or a wolf, or a fox, or—" He sighed.

"Anything but a raccoon." He sniffed, "Do you know what kind of a stigma raccoons get? People are going to think I rifle through the garbage!" Pause, "I do rifle through the garbage! It's terrible."

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

To be honest, he had never really thought much about any of that. Sure, he skirted around raccoons and other creatures with small, graspy hands in the wild, but that was more out of a healthy respect for animals that both startled easily and could flay his face off than any garbage-picking biases.

"Well, look at it this way. I was in the dump by choice, mostly." Chester was smiling, smirking really, amused by Oliver's incredulity and just... everything. What had his life become? Pawing through trash in a parallel universe with a wereraccoon. Not even the newfound knowledge that he might someday spontaneously turn into a pigeon or something could quell his mirth.

"A mountain lion would have been really cool though."

Melancholies