[PRP] Minutes Away from You (Oliver & Horace)

[Melancholies]

"Oh, it's okay. At least... in this world. He's in jail as far as I can tell." That had a wealth of story all on its own. "I never cared to look into it past that. I guess the me from this universe was a lot stronger." He was able to say something, break away, see due punishment come full circle. Oliver yawned.

"S'doesn't have to be a fairytale." Ollie was a little quiet as he spoke, "I mean, I like to think it can actually happen in the real world, even if I think a lot of love stuff is trite bullshit." Chai murbled; Oliver had clearly ceased petting her and she was having none of it. "Anyway, I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it. You can be greedy all you want."

Chai was purring as the pets began again, and for a bit that was the only sound in the receiver. "You are one of my best friends," and Oliver didn't have many friends, which sort of made Horace into that category by default, but he meant it, "Sometimes I regret what we did—coming over to this universe, hijacking everything—but then I wouldn't have met you, and I wouldn't have had the chance to know Elliot like this." He sighed, "It's nice. Like a new beginning, or a second chance, like I can start over... I don't want to be mean or standoffish or a huge d**k to everything," Once he got talking, it was easy to keep going, "Lemme be there for you sometimes too."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

He frowned. "Well, I mean, if you ever need him to be punched, you know where to find me. You're perfectly strong, Ollie - that's not measured by looking into painful things or not." The yawn was damn contagious.

"You'll totally get tired of me. I think... love and stuff, like all of it exists and it's great and wonderful. But maybe it doesn't exist for me." Chai's purrs were very soothing, somehow. "I... I'm glad you hijacked my universe. You can hijack any of my universes, okay? Maybe even all of them. I... I..."

He took a deep breath. "How are you and Elliot getting on?"

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Oliver blinked.

"It's alright. Kind of awkward still." He shuffled around, "I told him about... about the other me being dead, and he was pretty upset about it. I mean, makes sense." He sounded sad. Like really sad. "I think things are gonna be okay though... I'm really selfish, y'know? The Elliot I used to know was a huge ******** jerk. Even if the other Ollie's gone, even if I technically killed him by coming over here—"

He laughed out a sad, pathetic sound. "Sorry, it's something I think about a lot." Too much, probably. "I promise I'll jack all of your universes though, if that's what you want. I still wonder how the you from my universe was like, how similar you guys were... but I guess it doesn't really matter. I have you and that's all that does."

"Anyway, you should give yourself more credit. Love exists in a lot of different ways, and it totally exists for you. You prolly got your own quirky brand waiting for you out there. I mean, it's one thing if you just... don't want to look for love because you're not into it—people exist like that—but if it's something you want..."

He shrugged. "I dunno. I shouldn't even be talking. I don't know s**t about love." There was another laugh, though this one was calmer and more genuine. "All anyone can really do is go forward though, right?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I didn't know the other Elliot, but this one is... he's good." In the morning, Elliot would even get a text telling him he was a good guy. For no reason. "You're not selfish for being okay with how things are different... for liking it."

That sound pulled at him. "My friend said the other me was... maybe more touchphobic. But... I dunno. I wonder if we'd have ever met, any versions of us, if it hadn't played out like this. And that kind of makes me happy that everything aligned just right. Even if the one you took over from was just like you or anything... I like this you. I want this you." Which was about an 8.7 on the richter scale of sappiness.

"I've been trying to go forward for three years." His time in Ashdown. 'If only you'd tried a little harder, Horace. If only you could have loved a little more, maybe I-' The facts remained that Horace hadn't done anything to deserve love, or deserve happiness. It was only a matter of time before everything spiraled. "Quirky love, huh. Maybe I'm just made to watch other people fall in love and act on it. I mean, it's not that I don't fall, really."

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"It's a slow process." Oliver said, "I mean, not that our hypothetical situations were even slightly the same. Every time I ever fell in love it seemed to bite me in the a**, but I suppose I have a whole slew of emotional baggage weighing me down from my childhood." He was silently thoughtful for a moment, "But someday, even if it's hard to imagine, I like to think I'll turn out okay. You too. And Elliot, and my brother, and all of us wrapped up in this magical bullshit."

He sighed.

"Anyway though," He was glad they weren't face to face, otherwise Horace would be able to see the silly blush playing at his cheeks, "I like this you too. I think it's possible that we could've known each other in other cycles. I mean, my brother and his boyfriend seemed inseparable, though I only knew about them in the first world, the one before the cycle s**t started, but they were still there..." Oliver laughed, "The cycle—it reshuffles everyone like a deck of cards—maybe it's a little corny, but I think... if you care about someone enough that you never want to be separated like that, then fate will have a way of bringing you back together time and time and time again. It's a nice thought at least, right? Maybe me and the rest of us crashing into your universe is just destiny. Maybe I was always destined to know this you."

"...sorry, that's kind of corny. I don't really have that many friends. I've never been very good at it, you know? But it's nice..." Plus, Oliver was just like anyone else in the sense that, any time past midnight was grounds for being way too honest.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Maybe you coming over here, to this world... is like, getting another chance at love or something." He kind of mumbled the last bit. Horace remembered something a girl had told him once - that he was the one constant thing in all his failed relationships with, of course, the implication that it was his fault. And while he had no difficulty believing that of himself, he was an unwavering light of optimism for the people he cared about. They deserved love, should have it, could make it work.

They were both full of sighs tonight. "I... I'm a little worried about the cycle. Like it's a part of here, now, and I don't want to be reshuffled, not when I've met you." Horace sighed. "I dunno, Olliebee, you seem to be pretty good at this whole friends thing to me." Did friends kiss each other in the practice rooms at Rider-Waite? Horace decided he didn't really want an answer to that question.

"Talking to you is... is nice." It was more than nice, but he wasn't sure how to frame it in words.

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Another chance at love..."

Oliver was dwelling on that for a long, long time before he decided to speak up again. "I don't want the cycle to reshuffle either. I...I'm really sorry we brought that burden into your world. I still don't understand the extent of it, not like Shiloh does. I never really wanted to... but anything's possible in magic, isn't it? There's a way to stop it. There's a way to break the cage. Must be. We're gonna find it."

For all the sighs, now Ollie managed a little laugh.

"It is nice, isn't it? And we're going to have lots of little talks, just like this, and it'll be okay." Oliver usually wasn't so comforting, but stepping into the role was nice.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I'm not sorry. Because it brought so many people with it. And... and... even if we lose it all again, if it does this whole reset thing. It was still worth it, you know?" He smiled.

"Because of you, because of Ellie. It's good. Makes me wanna stay on the phone forever."

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"You know I'm always available for a call, Horace." There was a quiet, affectionate laugh from his end, the kind where you could just tell he was feeling warm and fuzzy. "It's actually nice hearing that. You like... you grow up without people caring for you much, y'know? You just... assume that as a default for so many other things in life. It bleeds over and metastasizes like a cancer you can't quite fight off." Oliver exhaled softly, "But, hearing you say it was worth it means a lot."

He went silent.

"Sorry—" Then he stopped, "No, no, I mean... I'm not sorry." He sounded empowered. Sleepy, but empowered. "I'm not sorry. I am sorry I keep doubting myself so much, but... I'm going to try to get better at it. You'll... be patient with me, right?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I love talking to you," he said simply. And then: "Aren't you getting better everyday? Aren't..." Horace swallowed. "Aren't we getting better every day?"

He shifted. "You know, Olliebee, I dunno how I could ever get impatient with you. Even beyond the fact that you're pretty damn cool, you've always been so-" He rubbed his face, trying to find the words. "You keep touching me. s**t... that sounded weird, didn't it?"

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Not really." Ollie paused, "I mean, okay, maybe a little," There was that laugh again, "But it's fine, I know what you're saying. I'm patient with you and you're patient with me. I keep trying and so do you and we're both doing the best we can."

Ollie took a nice, deep, calming breath. It was a nice realization actually.

"We are getting better." He said definitively. As he went to speak again he sounded highly amused, "You know, I never thought me almost wrecking your car all those months ago would ever lead to us talking like this." It'd been a chance meeting after all; maybe things really did happen for a reason...

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Horace smiled; he could remember the way Oliver's face softened gently when he laughed like that. Adorable, really - it should be illegal, but then Horace would have to go to jail because his mission in life was to make Ollie laugh. They were getting better, slowly, but surely, together. His breath caught in his throat; he almost blurted out something he'd regret.

"I... I..." Horace took a deep breath and tucked the words away. "You promise not to hate me when I tell you that maybe I hit an extra pothole or two than necessary? Only at the beginning, though. I Didn't know it was real anxiety at first." He laughed, too, but his was a bit sheepish. "I like the idea that, maybe, somehow, it's ... I dunno... destiny or fate or cosmic force. Whatever it is, good job to it. Maybe I needed to meet someone like you."

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"You jerk!" Ollie huffed, "I knew you did! I knew it... but no, I don't hate you, it's a little late for that anyway. I'll never hate you I don't think." He thought about this for a moment, "Maybe if you did something to my cats, I'd hate you. But you'd never do that. I know how you look at Nosey—Chai's gonna get jealous." Chai, having heard her name, chirped up with a mrrowble?

"I'm sorry if the universes idea of getting you a good companion was me though." Self deprecating, but clearly a joke with how Ollie giggled, "I'm not arguing though."

He sighed.

"I kinda wish you were here." He said, "Or I was there. Or something. I'm kinda sleepy though... but now I don't want to go to sleep." Another laugh.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Good," he said, amusement coloring his voice. "-Because I'd die if you hated me. You can tell Chai I love her, too. Actually give her the phone." He paused. "Hey Chai kitty baby, I love you. Don't be jealous, sweetheart." Horace made a kissy noise into the phone and laughed.

He sighed, but it was a sleepy sound and nothing more. "Hey, I like the universe's choice." Normally, Horace would show a little more restraint, but it was late and he was feeling...close. "Do you... want me to come over? If you stayed awake another ten minutes I could."

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Thing is, Oliver did actually hand the phone over when prompted. Horace could tell because the purring would get substantially louder, Ollie's voice far away and tinny when he said "Do you hear that Chai?" She stuck her nose in the receiver which made Ollie snort.

"Nah, I wouldn't make you drive all the way over here like this." He said when the phone was pressed back up to his face. "Pascal would get all riled up and it'd prolly wake Eli. He doesn't show it, but I know all this magic stuff stresses him out. He's just good at projecting." At least, if he was anything like the other Eli he was. "He needs his sleep too."

"But um," Ollie cleared his throat awkwardly, "If you... wanna stay on the line until I fall asleep. That'd be nice."

The Semblance of Unity