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 Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2015 8:17 am
Horace sighed, relieved that Oliver wasn't going to push farther, to force Horace to talk about things that he couldn't. "Why would I go?" he said tiredly. "You don't have to get new sheets out for me; I can kip on the floor." He didn't feel like smiling, but he did anyway, because it would've been something he normally did then. "Feeling better, now?" For Horace, he had learned how to carefully shove everything back in the dusty corners of his mind. It was a simple strategy, a controlled and deliberate not-thinking that served him well. He simply forced himself to stop thinking about it, to avoid any problems by ignoring them - it made him feel in control even if he wasn't. One word could bring everything back to the surface again, but he ignored that fact too, digging his nails into his palm unless they formed crescent-shaped indents that wouldn't fade for some minutes.
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Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2015 9:33 am
Oliver shook his head quickly. "N-no, I-I've got a s-sleeping bag, I can sleep on the floor," he replied, very abruptly pulling away to busy himself getting it out of the closet. His movements were shaky, and although he clutched the rolled up sleeping bag close to his chest, he too forced a smile. "I-it's no problem, y-you take the bed." The boy ignored the question about how he was feeling, he didn't want to think about it too hard. He didn't have to be better, just... okay. "Uh... d-did you need to go grab um, a pillow o-or something?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2015 10:18 am
Horace watched as Oliver bustled around unsteadily. He focused on his words and found himself frowning. "Oliver, I'm not gonna make you sleep on the floor in your own room." He crossed his arms and looked at Oliver.
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2015 6:31 pm
Oliver unrolled the sleeping bag with a flick of the wrist, and laid it out on the floor. It looked like a red mecha-dinosaur of some sort, lying on it's stomach so it's sleepy victims literally crawled right into it's mouth. It was apparently what happened when a Power Rangers fan bought gifts for a dinosaur fan. He looked back at Horace with an innocent expression that might have been suspicious on anyone else. "I can't make you sleep on the floor when you are the guest!"
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2015 6:47 pm
Horace watched Oliver unfurl the sleeping bag - it was exactly the sort of thing he expected Oliver to have - and snorted. He hoisted himself up off of the bed and wandered over to Oliver. Abruptly, Horace wrapped his arms around the other man, awkwardly lifting him, and carried to the bed. Oliver was unceremoniously plopped there and Horace stood above him, arms crossed.
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2015 7:48 pm
Oliver wasn't suspicious at first. It wasn't until Horace got within grabbing distance that he realized he should have backed away.
"H-hey!" He yelped, only having time for the briefest struggle before he landed on the bed. It seemed like Horace was definitely trying to make a point. However, Oliver had no problem sleeping in worse places, like at the computer desk, or in the labs, so sleeping on the floor was hardly an imposition. "Look, i-it's okay! Um, I-I'm perfect fine with the sleeping bag, really!"
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Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 4:11 pm
Oliver had struggled less than anticipated and, if Horace had been feeling more ridiculous or annoying, he would've taken the time to find out if the other man was ticklish. (Horace was, but really only on his feet.) As if was, he simply stood, hands on his hips, and frowned down at Oliver. "Fiiiinnnneee," he sighed. "Next time it's reversed, okay."
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Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 5:14 pm
Oliver's smile in response was still weak, but at least this time it was honest. "I-if you want," he replied, hopping off the bed again without obstruction. The idea of a next time was reassuring to him, that despite all his problems he hadn't turned Horace away from being his friend. "I d-don't have many pillows, um, just dinosaurs," he said, fixing the sleeping bag on the floor with a slight frown. "They aren't so good for sleeping on. B-but you can have my pillow if you want. But, um... you'll probably want to get stuff from your room to wear anyway. Unless we just... uh... don't sleep." Oliver sometimes had a dry sense of humour, but he was only half joking with the not sleeping comment.
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 9:40 am
"Gotta at least try, Oliver," he said determinedly. With a wave, he scooted off to the basement. He almost didn't come back. The day had been far too emotional for his liking, far too fraught with worry and shame - a cocktail he was not eager to experience again. And if he slept tonight, with someone else in the room, there would be nightmares. And Horace knew he thrashed, talked, sweated out bullets of fear. But, nevertheless, he could not let Oliver down and so, he was back in the otehr hunter's room quickly. "Oliver, open the door, my hands are full."
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 5:36 pm
Horace was right. Unfortunately he did have to try and get some rest. While his friend was out, Oliver nervously helped himself to more of the forgotten cheetos and bustled around. There wasn't much that needed to be done so a great deal was merely anxious movement. He was starting to worry, about nightmares, his own trustworthiness, how Horace might react to causing a fuss during the night... A part of him wanted to call the whole thing off regardless of how comforting it might be to have a friend nearby. He tossed a dinosaur on the floor next to the sleeping bag, changed into the old t-shirt and boxers he wore as pyjamas, and did more fussing with laundry before he heard Horace outside the door. It was too late to cancel even if he was merely being selfish about it all. "Um, did you bring that much stuff?" Oliver asked, pulling open the door, and then quickly standing to one side.
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Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2015 7:26 am
"Nope!" he said, some of his previous light-hearted nature restored. He eased back into the room, arms full of an extremely large body pillow. Horace liked hugging things in his sleep. He was dressed in a tank top and a pair of jersey shorts; he never slept in clothing, but he couldn't very well strip off in Oliver's room. He yawned hugely and flopped onto Oliver's bed. "Need me to sing us a lullaby?" grey dragon feel free to timeskip into the night
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Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2015 9:13 am
Oliver slowly started to relax, it was hard to be anxious about a situation like this while Horace seemed so comfortable. Perhaps it was just that little bit of extra reassurance that their friendship wasn't in danger. "No, definitely n-not," he replied with a mock frown of his own, and sat down to wiggle into the mouth of his dinosaur-shaped sleeping bag. One arm reached out to drag the squishy plush toy inside with him. "Goodnight," he murmured, hoping tonight it would be true.
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Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2015 10:55 am
He dropped off to sleep like a stone falling into a well. Horace didn't know if it was the company, the room, or simply because he was utterly exhausted (most likely the third; he hated rooms on the first floor, it felt as though the jungle might creep up to the window and pay him some unwanted visit). Despite everything, the dreams still came. They were always a mixture - sometimes deceptively happy, sometimes dark and redder than blood. And they hurt. Horace felt the pain, the drugged haziness, the bewildered betrayal as if everything was happening again. He gasped, feeling the sheets twist up against his neck, turn to chains, trap him. Horace did not know it, but he rambled incoherently in dreams at times, muddled words and exclamations warring with his sleep-slowed mouth. In the dream, Jan cut and cut and cut into him and did not stop. He carved out Horace''s chest, leaving a dark, hollow space, and then, he plunged his hand in. Horace screamed, both in the dream and out.
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Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2015 12:11 pm
It took Oliver longer to fall asleep, but at some point later in the night he slipped off to sleep without realizing it, and when he woke again the room was dark. He could hear the shifting of sheets nearby, and then Horace murmured something incoherent through his own sleep. The boy was already rubbing his eyes and crawling out of his sleeping bag when Horace screamed, sending a jolt of terror running through him. He nearly tripped in his haste to extricate himself and lunge towards the bed, quickly finding both Horace's hands and holding them tight. "H-hey, Horace, wake up," He said, somehow keeping his own anxiety from creeping into his voice. "You're okay. Y-you're here, it's okay."
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 8:53 am
Horace jerked away from Oliver, his eyes snapping open, wide and unseeing. "No!" His hands, once freed, flew to his chest, pressing there as if ddesperately trying to staunch an imagined blood flow. His breathing was heavy but slowly, slowly, it calmed. He looked around the room, felt the sheets against his legs, reminded himself that he was here, in Oliver's room, and nowhere else. "Hi, Oliver," he said shakily, heart pounding as bits of the dream faded from him. "Did I... did I wake you up?"
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