|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 5:23 pm
He had never felt more completely out of his own element than he did now.
Chance dragged himself slowly up the stairs in the dormitory building, pushing open the door to the second floor. His eyes, normally full of life and laughter, were a little red and rimmed with dark circles; he did not exactly look his usual mild-mannered self at all.
He just needed -
He reached the right room, fumbled for his key, and unlocked it for the first time in three days, slipping into Otto's - their - room on silent feet. A desperation that felt unfamiliar and claustrophobic was working its way up his throat. Chance glanced around the quiet room.
"Otto?"
Please be here.
Please be here.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 5:28 pm
The door opened, and Otto turned his head to see who it was. The blonde currently had half a cupcake in his hand, likely bartered for with part of his candy stash (he had no baking skills to speak of). His cheeks were puffed with the missing bite of said cupcake, and a small dollop of icing was stuck to the corner of his mouth.
His face froze like that, staring at Chance's odd expression. He looked worn out.. tired.. not himself. As if time had weathered away his mild mannered goodness. Otto swallowed audibly, licking the stray icing from his lips and mouth.
"You didn't use that pain thinger again, didja? Ya look like Hell."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 5:45 pm
Otto's voice.
He had heard it - he didn't know when the last time he had heard it. Logically, he knew it had only been three days. Logically, he knew that what had happened to him was not real; that the supposed year that had passed was not actually a year that had existed.
Except, with all its dreamy haziness, it felt like an entire year had passed.
Chance had never been so glad to see anyone in his entire life.
He strode across the room, coat and shoes still on and, without warning or hesitation, wrapped his arms securely around Otto as tightly as possible, Chance burying his face into his hair. He inhaled deeply, a shudder passing through him, eyes falling shut.
"Thank the ******** heavens you're ******** here."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 5:51 pm
Okay... something was off. Something more than Otto was comprehending. He loved hugs from Chance. No lie. But the sudden, almost desperate hug he got, as if Chance had been deprived of physical contact, was alarming.
"Chance..?" Otto's arm not already busy with keeping a half eaten cupcake safe from the hug came up to rest on Chance's back. "Everythin' okay? Why wouldn't I be here?"
He tried to remember if anything had happened lately. He recalled vaguely scrolling Twitter about some island and America claiming she was mysteriously a year older or something, but he chalked that up to her Birthday being earlier in the month. Nothing relevant seemed to catch his memory, and he hadn't been an avid reader of Twitter in ages.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 7:32 pm
For a long moment, Chance didn't respond, just held Otto a little bit tighter. His arms were trembling; in fact, all of him was trembling, like a great weight had been released from his back, or that his emotions were coming crashing down onto him.
Finally, he drew back, though he didn't go far. Chance's hands slipped up to Otto's face, lips brushing his forehead, breath ********. s**t. <********> You're real. You're here."
He could have dropped to his knees in sheer relief. Chance's thumbs slid absently, restlessly over Otto's cheeks; one of them moved to swipe away the stray bit of frosting at the corner of Otto's mouth, the glint of his ring catching his eye, little sparks of light.
"I, uh - no. No, I didn't use the manacle again. Not this time." His voice was a little strained. Chance tilted forward, forehead against Otto's. "I just - I didn't think that I would ever get to see you again, it's - just let me hold you for a minute, just - I'll explain in a second, I just...need to see you."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 12:40 pm
Otto was becoming worried. He was less concerned with the half eaten confection he'd meant to keep safe from Chance's sudden hug, allowing it to tumble to the floor behind the taller man. He held both hands to Chance's back, his head coming up to try and gauge his fiancé's expression. He lucked out, in that Chance drew back just then, his hands all over his face as if... well, it was almost like Chance had gone without seeing Otto for ages, or that maybe he'd seen him die. Something severe and drastic. He allowed all the fussing, however desperate it seemed, as he focused on Chance's delirious murmurings. "I'm always here.." He said back, his brows furrowed. Just what had happened to have Chance so frazzled? He wanted to poke and prod, ask questions and get answers. Get the full story. But Chance made it fairly clear he needed a moment to let everything sink in. He wasn't sure that he'd ever seen Chance like this. So raw, unhinged and openly expressing desperate emotion. He didn't reply, only looking at the man with quiet understanding. Maybe Chance had been captured? He'd just said he was scared he'd never see him again. Was that it? A brush with death? But those were so common they could be passed off as just another kink in a day's work. Otto tried not to think about it too much. He didn't have to solve this mystery, since Chance would have some explaining to do sooner or later. But it was bothering him to no end not knowing what had made Chance so shattered and on edge. He didn't like to see him like this. He was concerned for him. Worried. He wanted to solve him like a puzzle or a problem; To take away the bad bits sticking to him like burrs from a walk in the woods, and wash away all the days burdens. Otto lasted about one whole minute in silence before his patience wore out. "So like... what happened?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 5:22 pm
It was probably a sign of just how worried Otto was that he'd let a sweet fall to the floor without finishing it; but Chance was too focused on the hands that were now gripping his back, wrapped around him to keep him safe, to remind him that he was still here - that they were both still here.
It felt like a breath of fresh air, like a drink of water after being in a desert. Chance's eyes were shut, but he could feel Otto's questioning, concerned gaze almost like a physical touch, his heart doing its best to slow itself, to calm down and realize that everything was all right.
Somehow, Otto's lack of patience was also refreshing. Chance gave a little laugh, pulling back enough so that he could look down at his fiance, a look of affection and relief on his face.
"It's - it's a ******** bizarre story, but...here, first - "
Chance leaned down to press a soft kiss to Otto's lips, relishing the feel of the warmth, the realness of them before he leaned away, exhaling a breath. He didn't want to let go, but he also didn't want to tell this story while standing in the kitchen, so he took ahold of Otto's hands and tugged him back into the living room. His shoes were kicked off along the way, and he did have to let go to shrug his poncho coat off, laying it over the coffee table - but then he was reaching for Otto again, Chance falling back onto the couch and dragging him with him.
"There was some big...fight on the beach or something, a few days ago," he said, after a breath, wrapping an arm securely around Otto. "I went to see what all the fuss was about and we got swept off to sea and got stuck on this little island and I thought, you know, we'd be rescued there, but..."
The breath in his chest hurt. Chance exhaled again.
"It was a year. I was stuck on that island for a year - except it wasn't really a year, it's been apparently what, three days? But swear to ********, it felt like a year to me, not just exaggerating, it was an entire year that passed."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 5:26 pm
Otto relented to the soft kiss, even if he was much too preoccupied with Chance's well being to properly enjoy it. He followed to where Chance led, finding himself dragged onto the couch with him. And finally the truth came out. Of course it was monster and mission related. But to learn that an entire year had passed for Chance was hard to swallow. It wasn't that Otto couldn't completely imagine it. He'd felt as if he'd been trapped in nightmares in the Horsemen's lair for ages, after all. But to be isolated on an island, endlessly worrying about the life left behind? "So... how'd you get back?" Was it some sort of time-warped island that existed outside their realm of time passing? Anything of that caliber would be too much for Otto to comprehend. He could only ask out of curiosity, since empathy or sympathy was too difficult for him. It just didn't seem real, even though Chance was right there, open and spilling his guts out on his endeaver.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2017 2:34 pm
He leaned his head back against the couch, Chance's gaze moving across the ceiling. "I don't...actually know," he said, after a moment. His free hand lifted and massaged the bridge of his nose between his eyes, then moved to run through his hair. "It all gets sort of hazy, sometimes I don't even remember what happened, or if I was even in the right state of mind. Time sort of..."
He made a wobbly gesture with his hand.
"It was all over the place, really. But people kept disappearing, over and over, and then I was the last one left, and there was this - I think...cave thing? I don't know. I woke up in my old room, I couldn't figure out what had happened until I thought about it."
Chance sighed, his eyes still shut. "Being on that island was driving me crazy. Literally, I'm pretty sure."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
