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With promises of leftover Valentine's chocolates, Otto ventured the short walk to Stormy and Gale's apartment; directly across from his own, as it were. Gale had been generous enough to leave him a delicious cake not too long ago as well. The least Otto could do was show up face to face for this new gift.

The man was a sucker for chocolate, no matter how happy or sad. Sure, he'd tried staying away from it as a form of self punishment, but it never lasted long. The vice was strong and ferocious.

The blond knocked at the door, his stomach preparing to gorge on sweets.

Otto let himself in, already fairly familiar with the apartment itself. He'd helped Stormy move in, however quickly he'd rushed it. "Book club?" He sassed, moseying around to the couch.

Rather than hover, Otto sat down, looking fairly comfortable. "Could'a told me; I'd have brought my own. Save me from havin' to listen to you talk."

"Just cuz I don't got a fancy english accent don't make me illiterate." He sassed back, not smirking on the outside but on the inside instead. As most of his smiles did.

Otto snagged the candy as soon as he was able, looking over the delicious stash with a scrutinizing gaze. He was searching for the yummiest ones to eat first. "It's chocolate. How do you end up with extra?" He remarked, confused. Who didn't finish chocolate? Then again he'd lived with two women who stole his stash quite often. Sadly, he wouldn't have to guard it as often anymore. It was odd to miss petty arguments like he did now.

Otto shrugged nonchalantly, paying Gale no mind. "Dunno what ya mean." Chocolate fiend? Not this man. Never. Not the man who, as a child, had a dentist visits a few too many times a year.

"I wanna say I'm insulted I get all yer leftovers... but it's chocolate, so whatever." He said as he stuffed a truffle into his mouth.

Gale's simple question should have rolled off his shoulders as small talk. Normal people would reply normally, because their lives were, again, normal. But not Otto.

"Uh..." He paused, mulling it over with a knitted brow. "It's.... somethin'."

"You?" Another chocolate was quickly consumed.

Otto should have agreed with him. He'd lived with his girlfriends, and nowadays he wasn't so sure what he wanted. So instead, he ate more chocolate and did not feel obligated to say much about it right away. "Quiet'd be nice." He'd taken time off, and it had been the most amazing two days he'd had in ages. He wished he could have it a lot more.

"I dunno. It's a bit complicated." He murmured, his mouth half full of chocolates. "Like, super complicated. And personal." Yanno, just his whole self assured existence falling to pieces. Nothing big.

"TMI and all that s**t."

"If I figure out what's wrong, I'll let you know all the dirty details." Otto muttered, oddly glad to have the option of boring Gale with his problems.

"Can I shoot you while I'm at it?" He never did specify what things he could shoot. Not that he had a gun himself. He took another chocolate, helping Gale make quick work of the bag.

"I don't sip tea and crumpets like you do." He picked on the other man, flicking a whole chocolate at him in retaliation. He then shrugged.

"I usually go somewhere by myself so I can listen to heavy metal or hard rock to sing to. Or play the drums. If I let Cami hear me, she just tells me everything is fine. Or that I'm fine. I know I ain't, though. Like... I let her tell me it's okay, cause when she says it, I believe it. I wanna believe it. Everythin' I do to make myself feel better is just the same s**t. Pushin' it all down so I don't remember why I was bothered at all."

And now? Now he'd made it so he'd never know what was wrong anymore.

"So, I dunno. Unravellin' is just what I said. Screamin' n drummin. Although sometimes I go on leave when I got it and just... lock myself in a hotel room and listen to what the radio plays nowadays. Make myself feel normal again."

"Yeah... sort of? I'm not really sure. It's just easier to call her a girlfriend." Otto murmured, furrowing his brows. Maebe had been his girlfriend, and Cami had been... Cami. It had all been odd. "Yeah. She is that sort of person. I mean, I guess? I never thought nothin' of it before. I feel like I fall into a spell when she says I'm ok. But then I'm away from her, and I still don't feel right."

Maebe helped. For all that he put her through, and all the things she made him feel, Maebe was always honest. He loved them both. But something felt so wrong.

"I dunno... I thought it all started at the beginning of the year.. but I talked to Maebe, and she said I was messed long before that. At first I didn't believe her, but.." He shrugged, sinking back into the couch. Chocolate no longer seemed appealing. "She wouldn't be tryin' to help me if it weren't' true. Not after all I did to her."

Otto was no saint, and he'd never claimed to be. But even this was all too much to bear and accept. He'd become someone he could no longer recognize.

"Do you ever feel like... you died somewhere down the line.. but your body just kept goin' cause it don't wanna die for real?"