[PRP] We Never Go Out of Style (Chance & Otto)

[kuropeco]

Chance's brows rose; he pushed himself up on his forearms so that he could give Otto a curious look, head tilted a little to the side so that his hair fell away from his forehead, the stars around his temple clearly visible now.

"Is it?" he asked. "I never particularly considered it a defense mechanism, but I suppose that it could be..."

It was a strange idea, but not an unreasonable one. Chance let out a hum and lay back down, folding his hands together on his stomach as he began to count each of the stars stuck to his ceiling.

"Well," he said, sounding a little amused, and a little gratified all at once. "I'm glad to hear it. If it helps any, I like you the way you are too, ******** ups or no ******** ups."

bittiface

 

[Bittiface]

"Gotta be. Don't think people are generally born not feeling emotions." At least, he thought so. He had a hard time believing Chance was devoid of them altogether. Maybe he just didn't feel as deeply as others did.

Otto got to his feet, lifting a leg to kick the bottom of Chance's foot. "C'mon. Let's go grab some food and something cold to drink. If we're lucky we won't ******** that up."

kuuropii

 

[kuropeco]

Chance just let out a hum of thought at this, trying to wrap his mind around the concept. He had little idea of whether the whole "defense mechanism" thing was actually a possibility, but he kind of liked it better than the whole "missing piece" theory that he normally entertained.

He sat up at the kick to his foot, letting out a little whine.

"Food sounds good," he agreed, dragging himself vertical, stumbling, and nearly knocking into Otto in the process. Chance raked his fingers through his messy curls and padded over to the closet to find his shoes, which were in the form of black combat boots that he tugged on.

"All right," he said, standing up and smiling. "So, where are we eating? And are we talking booze-cold, or iced-coffee-milkshake-whatever-kind of cold?"

bittiface

 

[Bittiface]

Otto's hands rose, wondering if he might need to steady the man, but he caught his own balance just fine. He waited and watched Chance get his shoes on, rolling his shoulders as he thought of a place.

"Hmm... I want fast food. Real greasy. Maybe a burger joint?" As for booze or sweets, it was always a tough choice. "I'm wonderin' if I oughtta watch myself on the booze." But he sure wasn't opposed to it. He did enjoy how it eased the tension in his body and mind.

"You got enough leave time for a few hours in the matrix?" AKA the real human world, and not the island of misfit toys.

kuuropii

 

[kuropeco]

He tucked his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants and grinned. The prospect of eating something other than island food was always appealing, after all.

"A burger sounds great," said Chance, as he pulled open the door to his room and ushered the two of them out. It wasn't locked as he swung it shut again, Chance ambling cheerfully down the hallway and looking as though he was close to being his normal, laid back self again.

"I haven't used any of my leave time yet this month," he said lightly. "I was just promoted about a week ago, so I have extra time now, too. Did you have some specific place in mind, or are we just gonna wing it?"

bittiface

 

[Bittiface]

"Wing it. I wanna be surprised. Never know if you'll find a real good gem by experimenting." He'd have think of a city that might have great diners, bars or burger places. Or towns. Small towns he avoided, because it reminded him of home too much; even if he did miss the crickets.

"Congrats, dude." Otto said, smacking the man on the back. "What tier you at? Intermediate?" He was pretty sure that was the case. Most hunters moved into the bigger room right away once they reached full.

"God, this is gunna be good." He was starving, now that he thought of it. The promise of a burger and fries was driving him mad.

kuuropii

 

[kuropeco]

"Experimenting is the best way to find good things," said Chance with a smile. "The best things are the unexpected ones, right?"

Otto's congratulatory smack made him laugh, Chance shaking his head. "Yep, intermediate," he said and the smile stretched into a grin. "It'll be a while until I make it farther, but for now I'm just glad I managed to get this far as it is. To be honest, I wasn't sure I would, but it's been pretty nice."

Chance was starting to become just as interested in where they were going as Otto was; a nice, juicy burger in lieu of freeze-dried ground beef sounded much more appetizing.

"I'm trusting you to show me an amazing place," he said in amusement. "I haven't eaten yet today, so we've gotta find some place fantastic."

bittiface

 

[Bittiface]

"Yeah. For sure." Living in the moment also seemed more enjoyable than anything planned or predicted.

"Here's to hopin'." He mused, walking alongside Chance the long stretch of roads until they found themselves at the portals. The hunter asked where to, and Otto floundered for a good few minutes as he tried to think of a place. Finally he just asked the man's opinion on the best burgers.

They were sent to a city Otto didn't know, on a street that was crowded and full of people.

"Okay, looks like theres a ton of food places.." Otto murmured, crossing his arms as he stuck close to a wall to let people pass him by. He always felt like a complete alien outside of Deus. Like he didn't belong here.

"Bar... diner... that place looks way too fancy.. another bar... That one's got way too many little kids in it..."

kuuropii

 

[kuropeco]

The city was noisy and clustered with people going this way and that. Chance peered around curiously, turning his head from side to side to try and figure out where they were, or where a good place to wind up would be. There were a great many buildings here and there, which meant lots of options.

Chance stood beside Otto and followed his line of vision.

"Fancy foods are good sometimes, but not now," he said, wrinkling his nose a bit. "The one over there looks all right, but it seems too busy, we'd wait like an hour just to get a table or something...the one down that road is kinda iffy, looks like a dive..."

Someone jostled into him, and Chance passed the man a vague smile as an hasty apology was made. He took a sideways step closer to Otto to prevent getting lost in the crowds.

"What about the one over there?" Chance asked, pointing to the left. "I can't read the name, but there seem to be a few places to eat down that street."

bittiface

 

[Bittiface]

"Let's try it out." Otto tried not to get irritable as he was bumped into, walking down the busy sidewalk. He needed to keep an eye out so as not to lose Chance. Sure he could text him if they got separated, but neither of them knew this city.

"Can't wait to siddown.." He grumbled, glaring at a man who'd shoved past him. He was less smily about such things. Less patient. Otto tended to veer towards impatience and a low tolerance for his own temper.

"I wanna get offa this street. Any place'll do." He pushed open a door, not bothering to look at the signage."

kuuropii

 

[kuropeco]

He remembered, belatedly, that Otto had told him he didn't like crowds; that he didn't like parties because there were too many people. Crowded streets must have had the same effect, because the expression on the other's face was one of annoyance.

"Don't worry," said Chance lightly, and his fingers closed around Otto's sleeve, tugging him casually forward toward the nearest place as the latter pushed open the door.

It was a brightly lit joint, with a black-and-white checkered floor, high tables with bar stools, and cheerful red leather booths. Chance let go of Otto's arm and stepped up to the hostess at the podium, smiling winningly at her.

"Two, please," he said lightly, and the girl nodded, grabbing two menus and chomping down on her gum with a loud smack. She led them down a small aisle and gestured at one of the booths, which Chance slid into on one side, picking up one of the menus that was left for them.

"Sorry," he said to Otto, once the host had disappeared back to the front. "Next time we'll have to pick somewhere with less people."

bittiface

 

[Bittiface]

Otto had to admit; the feel of this place took a good chunk of the edge off. It was like an Archie comic, or something. "I guess I didn't expect it to be so crowded." He shrugged it off. "Oh well. Sittin down now. No assholes rammin' into me."

As he sat there, he knew he'd want a milkshake as opposed to a beer. It was a classic 50s diner. It had to be milkshakes.

kuuropii

 

[kuropeco]

Chance looked a little relieved, exhaling a breath as he leaned back against the booth.

"And now we can relax and have ourselves a nice, juicy burger," he declared, eyes scanning down the plastic-covered menu. "There's one here that's got onions and peppers on it, that looks ******** delicious...or, but there's a bacon and onion ring one too, with barbecue sauce..."

He let out a laugh, shaking his head.

"Maybe I'll just order two and bring one back to eat on the island," said Chance in amusement as their blonde-haired waitress appeared, introducing herself as Jessica and flashing them both a thousand watt smile, pulling out a pad and asking for their drink order.

"Root beer float, I think," said Chance, and gestured to Otto.

'bittiface"

 

[Bittiface]

"Damn that sounds good..." Otto murmured, licking his lips imagining the texture of onion rings on a burger. "This ones got real cheddar and deep fried pickle slices. Diners are amazing. They don't give two shits about healthy standards." He smirked.

He looked up at the waitress after looking over the shakes menu. "Strawberry milkshake." He murmured quickly, looking back down at the menu.

"Mouth is watering lookin at these damn burgers, man... Oh my god they got cajun crispy fries. I'm done."

kuuropii

 

[kuropeco]

"It's been forever since I got to eat food like this," said Chance, skimming over his menu with interest. "I mean, I had some good food when I went off island with Claude a few months ago, but that was more fancy; this s**t is like the good burger, laid-back stuff."

He set his menu down, looking simultaneously amused and eager all at ******** yes," he said happily. "I'll get some of those too, plus the burger with the onion rings. That s**t is just calling my name."

bittiface