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 Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 6:15 pm
"You mentioned Otto earlier too. I suspect you just have bad taste." Which spoke volumes for himself, who was seriously dating Finn and considered Otto the closest thing he had to a younger brother. They at least had bad taste together.
Chance was getting comfortable, and Ripley got them their drinks; a can of pop for his guest, and after a moment's pause, a second one for himself. Whisky had become such a second nature it felt strange to not have it, and stranger yet to always reach for it. Today, he'd let his poor life choices extend to pop on it's own. He took the open seat, and slid one of the cans across the surface.
Though, when prompted to explain his earlier comment, he almost wished he had gone for the alcohol instead. He frowned down at his drink, popping the tab and simply holding the cold can between gloved hands.
"I had a run-in with an entity." He said finally, struggling to get the words past his internal walls, the ones he built to keep his personal life private. "It did some emotional re-decorating. I spent the last six months feeling like a puzzle with a missing piece. A big, picture-finishing one." A sip of his pop only made him wish for whisky even more. "It's probably good you were gone. I wouldn't have recognized you." All the while he spoke to Chance, his gaze was on the can between his hands, finding the lack of eye contact to be easier when telling this particular story.
"And you? What've you been up to?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 6:45 pm
Chance's grin stretched across his face.
"Maybe just a little bit of bad taste," he said airily, but there was a distinct note of affection in his voice all the same.
He reached out and accepted the can, popping the tab and taking a sip of it. The cold liquid was soothing and familiar, and he let his eyes drift over to Ripley again, knowing that his question was, in all respects, relatively invasive. But he wanted to know, at the very least, so that he could understand.
"An entity," he repeated, frowning a little at this - and at the emotional redecorating. He lifted the drink again to his lips, trying to fathom what sort of entity it had been and whether or not it would have any ties to Otto and his continued dreams.
I wouldn't have recognized you.
Chance choked on his drink, clapping a hand over his mouth to keep from spitting it out altogether. When he finally managed to swallow, he said, a tad bit hoarsely, "Wait. You wouldn't recognize me? What about Finn, or the others, none of them?"
He shook his head, and didn't comment on Ripley's lack of eye contact; he knew just how intensely private the man was, after all, and it was enough that he trusted Chance enough to even tell him this much.
He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and gave a little shrug.
"Not much, really," said Chance. "Other than the fact that you seem to have unsurprisingly already surmised that I am, in fact, dating Otto Graves, I've been keeping my head down and my nose clean."
He cracked another grin.
"For the most part."
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Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 7:06 pm
Ripley made a small noise, a tiny 'Ah' as though he hadn't been terribly clear about it all; truth be told, he hadn't been. There was truth to what he had said, and a lot of it, but there was also something left unsaid.
"As a friend, I mean. I'd know who you were, and that we had taken a trip together, but that would be it. I wouldn't have fathomed any connection deeper than you being a face in the crowd." Or, more accurately, someone met and briefly conversed with in a supermarket line, or something to that affect. Interaction, but nothing that resembled any sort of depth or meaning. When forced to think about Finn's involvement, Ripley raised a hand and rubbed his face, the cold material digging against his skin. "I dragged Finn through hell. I knew who he was, and that we had an agreement, but that was it. There was nothing else there for me. No feelings, no connection, nothing." He'd even gone as far as to tell Finn that he had lied about having feelings for him, but that wasn't something Chance needed to know. "Everyone else I just distanced myself from. I was alone, completely." For six months. His hand fell away from his face.
"We figured it out. I got my missing piece back. Here we are." He gestured vaguely with one hand, at the room he now shared with the man he had put through incredible torment.
He took the opportunity to talk about something else, even if it was Otto. Annoying, grumpy, ridiculous Otto.
"I had my suspicions." Otto had been less annoying lately. There had been no late night visits of panic, or zombie walks down the hallway - though if they had happened, he may not have recognized it - plus, he couldn't imagine there being any reason to spend incredible amounts of time with that particular brat. Unless you were dating him. "I don't believe you, but I'm content enough to try."
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Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 7:53 pm
Chance slowly put down his soda, trying to comprehend what Ripley was telling him, long fingers absently smoothing over the cold metal of his drink. It wasn't pretty; he felt a strange sense of frustration, not at Ripley, but at himself, for not being able to see past his own feelings.
Feelings he had never even thought possible to have, really.
"Sorry," said Chance, with a slight smile at Ripley. "Really. That's shitty beyond belief."
He meant the words, even if they were late in coming. Chance eased back into his seat and offered Ripley a slightly amused look, raising his soda to his lips again to take another sip. "It's been...I don't know, eight months or so now? Maybe a little longer. We didn't really broadcast it much, at least not until Otto took to Twitter unexpectedly."
With the disastrous consequences of Rep treating Otto like s**t afterwards. Chance shook off the memory and glanced back over at Ripley.
"It's nice though, isn't it?" he asked, after a moment. "Having someone."
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Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 8:08 pm
"It was." He nodded along to the apology, forgiving though there was nothing to forgive. He hadn't particularly sought out the empathy that Chance was giving, but it was a nice side effect of telling the truth. As dangerous as he felt it was, it was also somewhat of a relief to not keep this burden to himself. Finn knew, but Finn was the exception; he was an extension of himself at this point, in that he knew everything.
"Congratulations." He said, and he meant it. Otto had lamented over his sexuality for some time now; it was rather comforting to know he was over the worst of it, and seemed to be settled. "You must drive him batty." Not that it was hard to do.
Ripley didn't have to put much thought into Chance's question. His gaze dropped from the other man's, resting once more on the mostly neglected can. A small smile formed, as shy as it was sincere.
"Yeah. It really is." His finger toyed with the lip of the can. "Stressful as hell, and terrifying, but I couldn't imagine life without that stupid ********." The smile remained as his voice dipped fondly into the crude nickname.
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Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 8:19 pm
He wanted to say something about how he appreciated Ripley telling him these things, when he knew how intensely private the other man was; but it seemed almost pointless by now. Ripley would know already how much Chance appreciated it, and he didn't want to put a spotlight on him any further than he had.
And besides; communication wasn't always necessarily in words. The unspoken was there as clearly as though it had been spoken. They knew each other well enough by now, even with the recent distance, to understand one another in different ways.
"Thank you," said Chance, with a little smile. "And yes, I do drive him batty," he added, with a knowing grin. "That's the best part of it."
He was watching Ripley as he spoke, looking at the way he ducked his head, and felt a mingled surge of affection and amusement for him. Chance had never seen such an expression before, and he found it endlessly endearing.
"Good," said Chance, with satisfaction. "I mean, not good in the way that it's terrifying, but good that you guys are what you are."
His fingers slid over the can again, expression relaxing. "I know Otto is...well, Otto. And I'm...whatever the ******** I am. But either way, I love the little s**t, and I know he loves me, so it works out in the end, weirdly enough."
There was a pause, and then he added, somewhat cheekily,
"But really, you and I have the most ridiculous ******** taste in men."
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Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 3:56 pm
"Put him through hell for me." To make up for all the years Otto did it to him, and the subsequent late night visits and room take-overs once they both found themselves on the island. Otto deserved it, and he figured Chance was a safe enough person to entrust a little hell-raising to.
He nodded along with the concept of It works out in the end, which was pretty accurate of his own relationship and all that it entailed. There were many times where he wasn't sure how, or why, but was comforted with the knowledge that it just was, and all the heavy shrugs and long-suffering sighs that followed. It worked, and worked well.
Ripley found himself laughing, actually laughing, at Chance's cheeky ********, that's an understatement." He snorted in amusement, and held up his pop can. "This is usually whiskey. It's desperately needed." With a shake of his head he put the can down once more, still not drinking it.
"At least they do, too." It worked both ways, after all.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2016 3:58 pm
Chance's grin stretched across his face.
"I will definitely do that," he said with a laugh, and was pleased to both see and hear Ripley laughing; it was a rare occurrence in and of itself, and it made him feel a sense of pride and pleasure that he was allowed to see it at all. Ripley's privacy was not something that Chance had ever wanted to change about him, but he liked the little glimpses he got here and there.
He lifted his can and tapped it against Ripley's before he could put it down.
"I'll drink whiskey with you any day," said Chance grandly, taking a swallow of his own drink. He grinned across the table at him, but it relaxed into something quieter as he watched. He set his drink down, placed both hands on the table, and leaned across it, Chance pecking a kiss to Ripley's cheek before settling back down into his seat.
"You're a good man, Ripley Crowell," he said, crossing one leg over the other. "Thanks for being my friend, you delightful b*****d."
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2016 5:39 pm
"Don't fall into my bad habits." He warned, his voice surprisingly warm. Drinking partners were important to him. More often than not, a little would become too much, and he had to trust the people he was drinking with, on the off-chance he became the over-sharing sort of friendly. Very few had been deemed safe, but Chance would certainly be one of those very few.
The kiss to his cheek was yet another surprise, but one he managed to keep off his face, save for the small smile that formed on his lips. Chance managed to be in both the overly affectionate and boundary-respecting categories of friend, which seemed something of a contradiction, and yet so familiar and normal that it was also simply common sense. He appreciated the little affections he was shown, while acknowledging that he was also behind held at a respectable arm's length. Chance was a comfort to be around, because despite this near contradiction, he only ever proved that he understood him.
"Jury's out." He snorted, shaking his head lightly. "But thank you, Mr. Bones, for being a good sport as well as a s**t-disturber." His pop can raised in a second toast, this one intentional, before he took another sip.
"No double-dates, by the way." He added, preemptively nixing any idea of the sort.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2016 8:44 pm
Chance raised an eyebrow, throwing a leg over his other and reclining back in his seat. "Hey, everyone needs a little whiskey every now and then. We could make it a fun night of drinking, you know. Have ourselves a relaxing evening and all that s**t."
He grinned cheekily across the table at Ripley. Chance was, if nothing else, a relatively affectionate person, and that hadn't stopped, though he did respect space. And considering that Ripley fell into the category of "favorite people to hang with," along with a scattered few others, he would be subjected to such affections. At least until he said to stop, that was.
Chance took another sip, letting out an ungraceful snort that almost had him choking on his soda.
"I am nothing if not the greatest s**t disturber," he intoned dramatically. "But come on now, a double date with you and Finn and me and Otto would be great, right? I'm sure we'd all get along just smashingly, and at the end, we can all have ourselves a nice slumber party where we braid hair and do our makeup and talk about cute boys."
He managed to say most of this with a perfectly straight face, though Chance's lips were twitching by the end.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2016 8:57 pm
Ripley simply fixed Chance with the most unimpressed, flat look he could muster up on short notice.
"No." He added, just in case the expression wasn't enough.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2016 8:59 pm
Chance just smiled innocently back.
"By that you mean yes, right?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2016 9:02 pm
A moment of silence followed, where Ripley simply stared at the cheeky young man across the table.
Then he stood, making sure his chair made ample noise against the floor, and crossed the room to the front door. He opened it for Chance, and even went as far as to sweep an arm out, graciously showing him where the exit was.
"It was nice seeing you, Chance." Now take your ridiculous notions and leave.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2016 9:05 pm
Chance just took a sip of his soda and stared demurely over the can at Ripley, one eyebrow raised. Then he set it down, deliberately stretched his arms over his head, then to the side, and took his sweet time actually moving at all.
"Are you going somewhere?" he deadpanned, even as he got to his feet and swaggered over.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2016 9:10 pm
"I just remembered, I'm not allowed to have friends." He announced, still waiting patiently by the door. "Bye."
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