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 Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 8:25 pm
Seven days later. Seven long, painful, nightmarish days, and Harland was finally free to go home. He was weak, and tired, and he mourned the damage lying in bed and hardly moving for a week had done to his body, his mental health, his complexion and even his workout routine.
Much less the visions of bugs crawling out of his skin that haunted him. He wasn't sure what he would have done without Lilac to keep him company, but now he was leaving and she wasn't quite there at the moment. He really wished he could just go lie around with her and make shadow puppets or drink a smoothie or something, but no-- first, he would have to go try to gorge like some sort of starved animal.
And hopefully not throw up.
He was leaning against the bed, one of the very last people to leave, and finally gathered the rest of his things: he affixed his cowboy hat, tied his bandanna on, and just as he was about to leave he realized that he thought someone was there. How long, he had no idea. "Forgive me an' all," he addressed the stranger, "Name's Harland Leander Belle. Didn't mean t' ignore ye, if ye've been standin' there a while like," he apologized, with a tired smile and a tip of his hat.
His accent shifted, though settled mostly in his Irish roots, between that and his Texan influence. A mutt of a voice, but low, soft, slow.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 2:12 pm
Oliver had been tired at the beginning of the week, but as it continued it became harder and harder to keep his exhaustion hidden under his nervously energetic tendencies. His usual deer-in-the-headlights attentiveness was weakening, and the terrified spring in his step had nearly vanished completely. With so many hunters recovering from various states of injury, the kid had been saddled with both his regular duties and the additional work of helping care for those who were still damaged. He didn't do much, mostly just paperwork and recording vitals, running errands and discharge people when the doctors permitted it, but even in the middle of a long day of infirmary duties, he still couldn't get a break. Today was an exception, he didn't have anything going on in the evening. He could simply let this last patient go, and then eat dinner, and then collapse into a puddle on his bed. These thoughts were so pleasant he didn't even mind staring off into space until said patient startled him by speaking. "Ah! Um... Y-yes!" Oliver squeaked nervously. "B-before you go, ah... I'm supposed to remind you t-to see a doctor right away if you experience a-any, uh... seizures or l-loss of consciousness... A-and don't eat s-stuff with radishes for at least t-two weeks. Especially not horseradish."
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 3:20 pm
Harland knew it would be impolite to stare, so he did not do so, but wow the stranger sounded skittish. "Do you have a name I cab call you?" he prompted the young man. Harland winced as he tried to take a step towards the door.
"An' it might be inconvenient, but would ye mind accompanyin' me to dinner? I'd love a new friend, but more importantly I'm a bit worried I might fall an' give myself a concussion," he said, with a wry smile.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 4:33 pm
"S-sorry!" Oliver chirped out nervously. "Oliver... Oliver Keeley- Ah! Are y-you s-sure you are ready to go?" He asked, taking a hasty step forward the moment he saw Harland's wince. He wouldn't be strong enough to stop the other from falling over, but it was the thought that was important! He nervously fidgeted with the hem of his coat for a second. "I-I'm off duty now, b-but... uh... I-I should let them know, that I'm leaving..." The young teen trailed off awkwardly, gesturing in the direction of the back room and likely his immediate supervisors, and then blurted out "P-please sit down while I go! D-don't fall over, please!" Oliver darted away like a frightened rabbit, but when he returned he didn't look like he objected to the task. He just looked... nervous. "Did you need, uh, anything t-to lean on?" He asked, finding it hard to look at anything above his own eye-level.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 8:34 pm
"All this bed rest's no good for a man," Harland complained, wincing, but trying to smile through it anyway; he was just tired of resting, and once he got his strength back he'd be fine. A night in his own bed would help a lot.
Harland leaned back a little as Oliver stepped forward, instinctively.
"Sure, I'll wait for you," Harland promised, skirting the fact he was definitely not going to sit down.
Instead, he took this opportunity for several lightheaded stretches. "Wouldn't be opposed to havin' a little help walkin' for now," he admitted, "if you'd be so kind." Harland shrugged, smiling sheepishly.
"Ready to go, Oliver Keeley?"
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 4:38 pm
"A-ah, yes! Uh..." Finally the little Life trainee was able to glance up, and managed a nervous hint of a smile in return. "Y-you can lean on me if you want..." The kid honestly looked more like he would crumple under the slightest weight, but he offered his arm to Harland anyway. Despite their usefulness, he found most people on the island were reluctant to use assistive walking devices like crutches or a cane. Leaning on another person, using them for balance, it could easily be passed off as friendship, not a weakness. Oliver nodded, he was ready to go. " Just l-let me know if you need to sit down or pause," he added shyly.
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:46 pm
Harland actually didn't mind looking weak, it just didn't occur to him that canes and crutches even existed. "Appreciate it," he said, tipping his hat at the young guy. "You seem a little young to be here, you doin' okay with everythin'?" Harland asked, as they set off. He didn't lean much weight, nearly none at all on the kid; it seemed like it was mostly for comfort that he'd asked.
"Nah, I'll be fine. I'm robust," he said, smiling broadly. "And hungry. Full speed ahead, Oliver," Harland said, his legs too stiff to actually do that.
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 6:17 pm
Oliver turned a little red. This was the second time since he started working in the infirmary that he had been asked his age, and it was no easier the second time. It had taken him a good two weeks to realize most of the hunters he saw were older than him, many who were a great deal older. Sometimes he wondered if they were recruited right out of highschool too, or if they had a chance at college or university... "I-I'm seventeen," he replied with a sheepish downward glance. "B-but I already graduated highschool, s-so I'm okay." Harland didn't seem to be leaning on him too heavily, only perhaps using him a little bit for steadiness and balance. Oliver could easily serve in that capacity. It felt good to be useful, even if it was only as a crutch, and he felt even better when he glanced up and saw Harland's big smile. He offered a little smile himself in return, but was too shy to really interact face to face. It was easier to just start heading to the cafeteria, slow at first, until he got a sense of the other's current capabilities.
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Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 9:29 pm
If it would have made him feel any better, Harland would have happily told Oliver that he had absolutely no post-secondary education of which to speak. It had been a damned good effort just to make it through highschool with all the things that had been happening to him, especially given he got kicked out of the house around then, too.
University, college... those had never even occurred to him. He had a pretty short life expectancy, though, hence the smoking once upon a time. It had been a very long time since he'd done any of that, though; Deus meant a clean slate. Even if the thread of death was not lessened.
"Well, hey, that's somethin'," Harland said, sincere, when Oliver said he'd graduated highschool. "Can be kind of rough in 'n of itself," he said, with a nod.
Harland really wasn't terribly weak, he was just slowly warming up to increased mobility again. After a while, he was able to let go altogether, and a bit later, he could walk albeit with a bit of a strange lope to his step.
It wouldn't be too long till they got to the cafeteria. "Oliver, what kinds a food do ye like to eat?"
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Posted: Sat May 17, 2014 1:41 pm
"Th-the work wasn't bad..." The kid said, rubbing at his head. " I got a scholarship to university." Oliver sounded proud, but the expression on his freckled face was self-depreciating. It really meant nothing here, although now and again he was trusted with some more important duties, it was a far cry from the years of science and study he had once anticipated. Now he was mostly cleaned minipet cages and ran errands. Oliver glanced up with a little smile when Harland let go. It was a good sign, but he still stuck close, instead of shying away like the nervous thing he was. "I-I... um..." He paused. "Ah- hotdogs?" For some reason he didn't sound very sure of himself.
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Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 7:32 am
"A scholarship, huh? What field were ye in?" Harland asked, grinning at Oliver. That was way better than Harland had ever managed. He wondered if Oliver had seen things as early as Harland himself had, but he thought perhaps it would be rude to ask.
"Sorry ye ended up in this place. It's one thing for a dropout like me, I didn'ae leave anythin' worth keepin' in my old life... but you, why'd you come along?" Harland asked, trying not to look concerned.
"...Hotdogs?" Harland asked, laughter in his voice. He smiled like they were just having a regular conversation. "Maybe time t' branch out."
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Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 8:47 pm
"Biology," Oliver chirped, with the casual tone of one who was very familiar with the subject. For a second he glanced up with a smile like he had forgotten to be shy and subservient. Then the moment passed as quickly as it had arrived and he glanced back down at the floor. "I-I... uh..." The teen's eyebrows drew together in a frown. His schooling was really the only thing he had to look forward to at home, that and video games after classes. But... it was something. It must have been really rough for Harland, not having anything at all keeping him. Oliver stared down at his shoes. " I-I d-didn't have a choice, really..."The laughing tone wasn't enough to bring back the kid's shy smile. As they reached the cafeteria he held open the door for Harland, but also gave him a doubtful look. He also liked hamburgers, maybe, and kraft dinner...
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Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 9:31 pm
Harland nodded and tried to smile in his sunny way, because he didn't know much about biology as a field. He knew what he'd memorized, sure, but not what it meant as a broader picture. It was just one of those things. Too big for Harland to understand its intricacies.
Oliver's smile seemed sweet. Harland hoped he'd smile like that more often, and that he'd be comfortable at Deus one day, even if Harland didn't really believe that Oliver belonged there-- not because he didn't think Oliver would be a good addition to Deus, but because he thought Oliver seemed like he'd had a very promising life ahead of him.
So why, exactly, was he here in this place?
It hadn't been so bad for Harland. He wasn't the kind to get mired down in it. Looking for the silver lining wasn't even a hobby, so much as the way he organically perceived life.
"No choice?" Harland asked, with a frown tugging his lip. "What do ye mean, no choice?"
Harland tipped his hat to the young man. "Thank ye kindly," he said, with a wink, "Holdin' the door for the elderly an' injured is much appreciated."
Harland glanced across the cafeteria, his stomach roaring. Face red, he turned to look at Oliver: "Even the furniture looks appealin' at this rate," he said, grinning again.
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Posted: Sun May 25, 2014 5:33 pm
Oliver began to look even more skittish at the mention of his arrival on the island. His first response was to shake his head, but that was no real answer. The topic still brought up too many emotions, the fear first and foremost, but also shame and embarrassment at being unable to say no. He wanted to just curl up into a ball and disappear. " I-it's okay, though... um..." he started in a tiny voice, struggling to find a way to admit he hadn't thought no was an option, and mentally skirting around the deeper issues. Everyone had at least a little dark hole inside themselves, where they buried all their secrets and weaknesses, but the gentle teen was dangerously close to falling over the edge in the hard and unforgiving environment on the island. Thankfully a distraction presented itself in the form of a tipped hat. Oliver blushed and looked away bashfully, the door-opening gesture came naturally to him, and the comment on what he saw as an unremarkable action caught him off guard. "Ah... y-you're welcome," he stammered weakly. His eyes darted around the cafeteria, at least until Harland's stomach gave a mighty growl. "I-I d-don't think that would be very good for your digestion," Oliver replied. It was hard to tell if he had taken Harland seriously, or if it was a tiny sense of humour peeking out from behind the nervous tension. " Um... " He trailed off, and grabbed a tray from the stack by the door. "I-if you want, I can carry your food for you... B-but if y-you think you are okay... uh..."
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Posted: Mon May 26, 2014 12:45 pm
Harland didn't mean to pry. An idea, however, was forming. He listened to Oliver's quiet voice, ears straining. Harland tucked some sunny waves of hair behind his ear, having to lean in to pick up what the young man was saying.
Harland was a little abnormal: the dark corner he had in himself wasn't quite so dark, though Alistaire had been opening it lately and pulling things out into the light, things Harland hadn't known were hurting him.
Harland grinned, amused that Oliver also blushed easily.
He just kept smiling at Oliver, giving Oliver enough credit and assuming it was a joke. Harland was pretty sure the smart kid wouldn't honestly think he was going to eat furniture. Harland picked up his own tray. "I'm doin' fine, warmin' up," he said, with a sunny smile, indicating he'd happily get his own food. He was settling for a chicken burger, and a salad. Good times for Harland.
He was mostly just thrilled to be released, and all healed up. He grabbed a cup for water, and eyed the tables. "Seems like there's a good spot," he said, nodding his head as he stepped up to Oliver.
"Oliver?" Harland started, having formed his thought enough to finally suggest it. "Forgive me if this is too forward an' all, but ye seem like... a bit lost, an am I wrong in thinkin' ye don't always know how to associate with others? A bit shy an all? What if I told ye there's a way t' know more or less exactly what to do in most situations, or at least in some manner of speakin'?" Harland asked, calmly, as they headed to their table.
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