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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 4:14 pm
He'd been away for maybe a week. He'd not expected to come back to half a building sitting in what was once an empty cornfield.
Otto spent the majority of his walk back to the main hub of Deus inwardly listing off people he'd need to check on. All he'd gotten from the hunters near the portal was skim details of what had happened, and that there had been loss of life. Risk was always high on the island. As a hunter, death and chaos were normal. But it was never something Otto could consider normal. Not buildings flung into a cornfield, and not coming home to a few less hunters milling the halls.
His stomach twisted, half from hunger but mostly with worry. The blond pushed through the doors of the main building after spending a solid five minutes gaping at where the Life Labs used to be. Technically it was still there, just most of it had been relocated.
Inside, hunters ran around. All focused and busy on their Divisional tasks at hand. Otto felt in the way and useless as he snuck through the rushing hunters. Tense, anxious and distracted, he tried to make his way to a certain someone's room.
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 4:28 pm
With Otto gone, Chance had gone about his normal routine at Deus, spending his time doing his normal duties and checking in every now and then on the friends that remained on the island. Near the end of the week, he'd been busy in a separate outpost; a brief two-day stint elsewhere, and by the time he'd returned, it had was after all the chaos had happened, though he'd heard already about it.
It was a madhouse on the island, but Chance, as ever, remained calm as he went about figuring out what to do - and, surprisingly enough, when he opened his door later that evening to go check on things, it was to find a familiar blonde haired young man rushing down the hall.
"Otto?" Chance said, eyebrows drawing together. "Hey. I thought you were away still."
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 4:33 pm
He didn't even have to knock. Didn't even get to his door before the familiar mop of black hair stepped outside. Otto's quick steps slowed as he got close, his pounding heart changing from panic to excitement. Excitement he tried to hide with a scowl. "I.. I came back a little bit early." He grumbled, trying to pretend like he hadn't been rushing to check on him. He stopped a few feet from Chance, looking over the man's face for any signs of trouble. None seemed apparent. After some consideration, and all attempts to play it cool died off, he stepped forward to wrap the man in a hug and give him a long kiss Hello.
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 4:46 pm
Chance's face had eased into a little smile.
"Well, I'm glad - " he started to say, but then Otto's arms had slipped around him, and it only took a second's surprise for Chance to return the favor, eyes falling shut as he wrapped an arm across Otto's waist, his other hand cradling his face.
When he pulled away after a moment, a little breathless, his thumb brushed across Otto's cheek, Chance tilting his head to look down at him.
"Well, that was a nice greeting," he said lightly, and kissed his forehead. "Everything okay?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 4:50 pm
Otto shrugged, glancing off to the side. "Everythin's fine. Just was... maybe a little bit worried." He looked up at Chance again, narrowing his eyes. He held up a hand, bring his thumb and forefinger close together in a gesture. "Just a little bit." Feeling a little bit self conscience, he slipped out of Chance's grasp, adjusting the bag on his shoulder with an indignant sniff. "I mean I come back and see half a ********' building in a cornfield, so I started wondering what else might be out of place, so whatever..."
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 5:05 pm
He found himself smiling a little more.
"You were worried about me?" Chance said teasingly, but it was gentle, because he knew the madness that was going around. He let Otto move away, however, and nodded towards his own room, expression clearly indicating that Otto could come in if he wanted.
"Yeah, it's apparently been a little hectic here," he said mildly, which was an understatement. "I was gone for the day before, so I missed most of it and only know a bit, but, well, here we are."
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 5:08 pm
"A little!" He made sure to remind the man, his frown looking less than intimidating. He idly stepped into Chance's room, dropping his bag on the floor. "Were you going out somewhere?" He asked, remembering Chance had actually been about to leave his room before Otto intercepted him. He was glad that Chance had been off island as well. The two of them could be clueless as a team, at least. Personally, he felt like he'd had enough excitement for one year already, without more disasters happening.
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 5:18 pm
Otto was as welcome in his room as ever, and Chance didn't even blink as his bag was dropped on the ground. "Oh, I was just going around to check to see if I needed to do anything," he said mildly, casting a glance over at his boyfriend. "With all the mayhem, I wasn't quite certain what my duties were, exactly."
He reached out a hand and idly smoothed down a stray piece of Otto's hair.
"Sorry if I worried you," said Chance with a little smile, and this time he said it gently. "I'm glad you were off island when s**t went down, means you were safe."
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 5:23 pm
"I ain't sure either. I'll check later." As far as he could tell, certain divisions were being assigned specific tasks. Meaning he and Chance would have similar duties to attend to. Anything Chance did usually made butterflies flap around in his stomach, even something as simple as fixing a stray strand of hair. It was stupid. It was dumb. Feelings were dumb, and Chance was the dumbest feeling of all. "Back at you." He grumbled, scratching behind his ear. "I'll need to text a bunch of other people to make sure they're okay. Having more than one friend is exhausting."
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 5:41 pm
It would be a little easier, having someone to work with, even if neither of them had been around for the actual events of what had gone down. Still, there was a little bit of reassurance in that fact as well, because it meant they were on the same page of things.
Otto's stubbornness was expected, and also a little endearing, and Chance hid his smile. He leaned over and dropped an affectionate kiss to the top of his head.
"Why do you think I haven't had any before now?" he said airily, and grinned, as he added in a deadpan voice, "Just handling you is totally exhausting."
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 5:47 pm
"It is." He agreed easily, with a haughty air of arrogance. "I dunno why you bother, really." His arms crossed, keeping up his stubborn body language even after the affectionate kiss to his head. Even behind closed doors, sometimes Otto found himself lapsing into his usual walls between himself and others, even if it had been chipped to nothing more than a chain link fence at this point. Sometimes his own feelings for Chance were just too alive and bubbling to deal with, so he locked them, dealing with them later. Otherwise he'd be a bumbling mess of babbling conversation and nervous heartbeats. "I'd ask on Twitter, but.." He shrugged. Last thing he wanted was to start a chain link roll call on social media. He'd simply have to mass text those he was most concerned about. "Doesn't matter. I'll get around to it."
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 5:57 pm
"No big deal," said Chance loftily, now running a hand gently over Otto's hair, because he was right there and Chance liked touching him. "Except maybe I love you or something. Maybe. You know, just kinda sorta, I could possibly kind of like you or something."
A person less patient than Chance was might have been put off by Otto's tendency towards sullenness and his stubborn refusal to admit things; but Chance had long since grown used to it, and it didn't bother him.
"Twitter," said Chance with a laugh, as he pulled away finally from Otto and made his way over to his desk, rifling around. "It can be a bit of a cesspool at times."
He glanced over his shoulder.
"Were you all right off island?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:03 pm
"Well that's dumb." Otto chided with some humour, even if his face didn't show it. While he didn't always smile or show any sort of assurance he was happy, everything Chance said or did was always welcome and appreciated. He gave a shrug to Chance's question, moving to sit on the edge of his bed. "It was fine. Mostly just pest control. Keeping shadowlings away from some temp bases here and there." Easy stuff, even if Otto wasn't all that great at fighting; his strength halved because of a troublesome key in his hand. It was no brainer work, which Otto appreciated as time went by, more and more. Think work was no good for a man as fickle and indecisive as Otto Graves. "How you been?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:17 pm
He grinned. "Maybe a little."
Chance was still rifling around at his desk, mostly just to find the sketchbook he'd set down earlier and now seemed to have grown legs and walked away. "Sounds like a usual good time, right?" he said, lifting a stack of books he'd gotten from the library to glance through them, in case the sketchbook had somehow slipped into that pile.
"And I've been quiet, really, not much has happened here, other than...well, you know. And I missed you."
Chance had straightened, turning to look at Otto with a little smile, because even if Otto wouldn't show it and got stubborn about it, it wasn't about to stop Chance from telling him exactly how he felt.
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:22 pm
"I missed you too." He murmured, scratching his reddening ear. He didn't need to spend every waking moment with Chance, but it didn't stop him from thinking about him everyday. "Maybe the next outpost we'll have together."
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