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 Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 5:58 pm
"Do you think," said Chance conversationally, as he stood in front of the main building with his arms crossed over his chest, his coat draping dramatically out behind him, "that if we just like...imagine it really hard, it'll all just magically come back together?"
The main building was in shambles, worse off than any of the other places on the island, cut nearly in two. Chance surveyed the rock with a certain amount of curiosity.
"What if we just...get duct tape?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 6:06 pm
Otto scratched his head, long locks of blonde hair tangling between his fingers. I really need a trim, he thought to himself. "Duct tape sounds good. Less money than fixing it." The damned place was destroyed so often there seemed little point in making it new again.
"What if they just caved and built this s**t underground?" He looked into the distance where a semi dormant volcano sat patiently. "Do we get earthquakes? Yanno, non-supernatural ones?"
He sighed, dropping his hands to his sides and sliding them into the pockets of his track pants. He let silence sit between them, save for the gentle billowing noise of Chance's rather regal cape moving in the wind. "Let's revisit the imagination route. Sounds way easier and actually kinda plausible."
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Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 6:18 pm
"The question is just how much duct tape would it actually take?" Chance mused, as though it was an actual, viable option. It probably was, all things considered; when was the last time the thing had actually stayed upright?
"They'd probably have less issues, that's for sure," said Chance dryly, a hand lifting to absently tug on one of his curls, his other hand on his hip. "I don't remember any earthquakes, but you've been here longer than I have..."
"You dreamed up a whole pie thing, surely we can dream up a new building."
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Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 6:26 pm
"A building made of pie?" Otto said with a grin, his stomach growling with desire. "Actually bad idea. It'd just get eaten. Or worse; ruined by rain or some s**t." Nothing worse than pie being ruined before it could be eaten.
"If Alice was reachable, I'd have her do so much s**t for me." He was half kidding. But talking about her made him remember their tea party together when he'd been reverted to a young teenager. A small twinge of longing hit his heart, which he briskly tried to push down and remember why he'd left her;
He gave up a simple existence to be with Chance.
Besides, he'd put in a lot of hours and years living in Deus. It would be wasteful to dump it all off and give up, right? Sure.
He gave a long sigh, topped off with a tired groan. "I really don't wanna rebuild this s**t. Can't Moon Division ******** do it?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 6:34 pm
Soggy pie sounded terrible. Chance wrinkled his nose, a laugh escaping. "Pie should never be used for evil, only good," he intoned dramatically. "As for our friend Alice here, well...if only it was that easy to just snap our fingers and have things done."
He caught Otto's sigh and lifted a hand, idly smoothing fingers down over some of the more unruly strands of Otto's hair in an absentminded, familiar gesture.
"Maybe if we bat our eyes enough, we can get Moon Division to do it. Aren't they like, the defensive stuff? This falls under Defense, doesn't it?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 1:34 pm
"It's technically their job to do repair work." Otto grumbled, "But when it's this bad, it'd be faster for everyone to pitch in." He shrugged. "Not like we can do much else with everything ruined and broken."
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 5:46 pm
Chance made another face.
"On the bonus side, does this mean we get to eat out more? Or does it mean we have to cook more?"
He kicked a piece of rubble, Chance's hand dropping away from Otto's hair so that he could lean down and brush his fingertips over the nearest bit of rock, experimentally, like he was testing it out.
"Is this giant ******** rock just going to...stay here then...?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 6:01 pm
"Eating out'd be great if we had open door policy on portals." But with a major catastrophe only just behind them, portals were likely going to be kept under tight lock and key. "Unless Rep's bar has grilled cheese and burgers at the ready." Slightly more likely. "Might gotta cook. By the way, I ain't got a lick of fresh food at home. S'all just instant noodles and frozen pizzas." Truthfully, Otto liked frozen pizzas. Cooked, unlike Mark who'd tried to convince him eating them frozen was perfectly delectable.
The man was mad, and needed brain surgery. Or a bath. Both.
Otto shrugged. "It could be a rock wall. Like a climbing one." Or one of those 'artsy' walls in modern ish buildings he'd seen, throwing supposedly natural elements into otherwise sterile and sharp cornered establishments. "It could work. It ain't glowin' funky colours or nuthin'."
He looked over at Chance as he inspected the rubble and the giant rock, pretending he wasn't coveting every small movement the man made, or that he'd felt mildly self-aware and conscience when the dark haired prince absently touched his hair or looked at him ever so softly. Ah, right. He'd been thinking and planning something important before this whole fiasco had them in The Dusk for lord knows how long. As much as he wanted to do it, he still couldn't think of a time or place, or even the words. Every time he thought to sit down and plan, just imagining it made him freak out in terror, and he had to stop.
He shook his head, letting the warm tropical breeze calm his nerves. Not important right now, he thought. It was important why he was scared of asking, and it wasn't important to think of the future when the future wasn't here yet. Or ever. Maybe never.
He averted his gaze from Chance, looking over at the ruined building in front of them.
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 6:18 pm
He'd forgotten about the portals. Chance's head tilted sideways to look at Otto, brows raising. "Are you all good with Rep now, or is he still being a d**k?" he asked, and then added, "I don't mind cooking, either, but if you don't have anything for me to cook, well...frozen pizzas, it is."
Which was fine in his book. Chance liked to cook, surprisingly, but he'd lived off of frozen foods while living alone back in Detroit, so he was plenty used to that.
"I hope it's not, you know." Chance squinted at the rock suspiciously. "Hiding something or whatever. Like the Trojan horse, a bunch of Horsemen lurking around, just waiting for us to get all settled and then boom, suddenly pony freaks everywhere."
He straightened again and turned back to Otto, Chance offering him a bright, warm smile as he came to stand in front of him.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked lightly, brows still raised. "You look a little pensive."
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 6:29 pm
"Hmm? Yeah, we're good." He waved a hand, "He got over his tantrum a long time ago." He'd nearly forgotten that the man had hurt his feelings so terribly he'd gone crying to Chance; literally. Not one of his most shining moments. Somehow, he always ended up forgiving Rep for his misgivings. He liked him a lot, and lord only knew why. Despite the Scot's personality being absolute s**t, he was surprisingly trustworthy.
As for cooking duties, he figured Chance was free to feed him whatever he felt like. Otto never turned down home cooking.
He gave the rock formation another once over. The idea that horsemen could be waiting in there, crawling about like a swarm of insects made his skin crawl, his stomach lurch and his spine shiver. "I uh.. I'm sure the lab techs here will figure that s**t out." He didn't want to imagine anything right now. His mind was a festering cesspool of rampant imaginings, always at the ready to spoil his dreams into nightmares.
Otto crossed his arms defensively, raising a brow. "I'm always pensive." Was his belligerent retort to Chance's question. Curse the man for catching his obvious signs of a troubled mind.
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 6:37 pm
"Good," said Chance, with a nod. He wasn't - and never had been - one of those boyfriends who would go stalking over to anyone who done anything wrong to Otto and demand retribution. Otto was intelligent and strong enough to fight his own battles; he didn't need Chance doing it for him, but Chance was always there supporting him when he needed it.
He lifted a hand to tap a finger gently to Otto's forehead. "Sorry," said Chance, a little apologetically. "Didn't mean to come up with all of that. It's a rock; we can use it to rappel down when we're feeling bored of cleaning up rubble and want to bother the other techs."
His fingers brushed Otto's temple, sliding gently through some of the blond strands.
"You're always something, that's for sure," Chance deadpanned.
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 6:50 pm
Otto shrugged. He did like climbing things. And that giant rock just screamed to be climbed on. Reaching the top would surely give him a view to remember. However, Otto didn't have much experience in rock climbing. Maybe he'd best learn, if he was to take his 'Survival Specialization' seriously... Which he didn't.
Fingers gently slid through his hair and over his skin. Intimate albeit casual gestures from Chance that both allured him in and scared him. Chance wanted in his head, and Otto sometimes obliged. But most times he was frigid to the outstretched hand. Scared, apprehensive and unsure. He wanted to put up his walls again, and tear them down all the same, never able to simply settle on one or the other.
He felt sorry for Chance. He didn't understand why he and so many others fell for him. What did they see in such a fickle and selfish boy, anyway? He knew he didn't deserve such gentleness. Didn't deserve to feel loved or desired, even if he did enjoy it.
He almost asked him why. Why did he love him and what did he see in him? But it was an unfair question, because Otto wouldn't be able to answer Chance if the man chose to mirror that same query back. He never knew why he loved him, or others before him; just that he did. He liked or loved a lot of little things, and that accumulated into an overall attachment.
Which again brought him back to why he thought he wanted to marry the man. It went against every ideal he'd had of marriage in the past. But then again, all his relationships previously had steadily defied what he'd defined as a proper relationship. He broke so many rules as he got older that he ended up with a broken sense of stability he was never able to put together again.
He huffed, annoyed at himself for feeling so put off and on edge in front of Chance, who was always so calm and certain.
"I'm always somethin'." He drawled in a murmur, nodding slightly with agreement.
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 7:38 pm
Otto's tendency towards throwing up a cool, even dismissive facade whenever he felt cornered was something Chance had long since learned to tolerate. He didn't mind; Otto opened up to him when he could, and the rest of the time, as stubborn as he could be, Chance simply went along with it.
It was who he was, after all. Chance's fingers threaded through Otto's hair with infinite tenderness, though it was still a casual, idle gesture, something he'd done a million times before now. Something was clearly going through Otto's mind, even if he didn't want to talk about it; something that was making him lost inside of his own head.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Chance asked mildly, pretty sure he knew what the answer was, but asking the question anyway. "Is it about being in the Horseman's place?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 7:51 pm
Chance had inadvertently given him an out; an excuse to use in place of the truth. It wasn't as if the Horsemen weren't on his mind, or a constant worry. They were. But it wasn't what had made him silent and stubborn. He gave in and made proper eye contact, finding his nervous edges smoothing over within Chance's dark eyes.
"No. That ain't it." He answered honestly, despite it all. He didn't deserve this man in front of him. Nor anyone. Everyone on the island was way too good for him. But he wanted it anyway. His moral compass swung wildly in circles, unable to come to any sort of compromise. He wanted to be at peace with himself, and be happy. At the same time he wanted to punish himself, if only because he was scared someone else would beat him to it. Better to be the cause of his own bruises than give someone else the pleasure first.
His eyes darted to the side, paranoid that someone would watch him and judge; pop out from the bushes and point their fingers at the tender display bestowed upon him. He didn't want to seem soft, but he wanted to be softer. Didn't want to open himself, yet wanted nothing more than to let the walls fall over and over again. Why couldn't Chance have someone who didn't feel ashamed of himself 24/7? Why hadn't he overlooked Otto and fell for someone who'd flaunt him in public? Someone less... less Otto Graves.
"Do you--" He started to talk before he meant to. Biting his lip, he scrambled to think of what he meant to say. "Are you sure you love me? I mean... you said I'm the first relationship... serious one.. you ever had... So like.." He hated this. He wasn't doubting Chance's intentions. He didn't mean it this way. But he was scared for him. Scared he was depriving Chance of something better.
"Sorry. ********, this is out of nowhere." They'd been talking about ponies in rocks just a minute ago!
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 9:44 pm
Clearly something was wracking Otto's nerves, but Chance waited for him to say it, instead of asking again, methodically smoothing his fingers through the fine strands of Otto's pale hair. There was something - different about Otto's uneasiness, though. It didn't quite seem like fear, or even discomfort, but something else entirely, something that Chance couldn't decipher immediately.
It was unusual; he was used to being able to read Otto, much more than either of them had thought, but even from their very first meeting, Chance had been able to see things a little differently.
The question startled him. Chance's fingers came to a stop in Otto's hair, his brows once more rising, a look of surprise on his face as he looked down at Otto's strained expression, the mixture of confusion and uncertainty and about a thousand other emotions.
"You are the first serious relationship I've had," he said, after a moment. "That's true. But that's also why I'm sure in the first place."
This was not a conversation that he could simply add a joke in to lighten the air a little. Chance felt his heart beating just a little faster, his hand still beside Otto's head, knuckles brushing ever so slightly against his temple.
"I've been with a lot of people," he said slowly. "I've slept around. I've never really...felt a need to connect to anyone else on a deeper level. I thought that what I had was enough, that I was perfectly content to just...coast through everything. It worked for me."
The corners of Chance's lips quirked up, just a little. "And then you came along, and overturned everything I knew. I thought I was satisfied with having things stay as they were, but the more I got to know you, the more I realized I didn't. It wasn't enough for me anymore, but you are."
His hand drifted downward, fingers brushing over Otto's neck, then coming to rest on his collarbone, Chance's eyes never leaving Otto's.
"You make me...I'm not sure how to describe it, exactly. Like it's a little easier to breathe. I'm not settling or anything. You were the one who told me that I wasn't emotionless in the first place; that I just needed to look a little farther and try a little harder."
He was smiling now, gently, Chance's lips curving up. "Even if I wasn't in love with you, I think I would still love you, but I am most definitely in love with you, Otto Graves."
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