Within Spitting Distance [Oriel]

[Oth Gillis]

It was the kind of happenstance, the kind of outrageous coincidence reserved for Dickens novels and lazy Disney shows. But Brad wasn't a stupid man, and over the months the bits and pieces had been adding up into an improbable conclusion. This kid his son kept referring to as 'Hair Boy'... the marks were all there. He was the right age. He had the right looks, assuming his old girlfriend's genes had been as dominating as they'd been with Oth. He was the right gender (though that wasn't hard since there was supposed to be one of each), his name started with the right letter, and he was from the right part of the country. Of course, they'd need a DNA test to make it legal and remove all doubt, but Brad believed, as much as he didn't want to (the odds, what were the odds) that there was a 70/30 chance that Hair Boy was Oth's big half-brother. Odds good enough that he wanted to meet Oriel Vanguard for himself.

After that really weird first meeting in the art room, Oth had run into Hair Boy several more times. The guy was sort of all over the place, in more ways than one. He had a certain wild reputation and was rumored to have a relationship that fluctuated between high drama and sticky sweetness. Oth wouldn't say they were friends by any stretch, but they said hi in the halls sometimes and they weren't antagonistic. He'd even made Hair Boy a couple toss-away sketches to practice his thing on.

Brad had only briefly spoken to Othniel about what they were doing today. He didn't want to get the kid's hopes up, but at the same time, he wanted to give him some manner of preparation. The shifter had always known he had half-siblings out there somewhere, but it wasn't anything he wasted any time on. It was an idea, that Hair Boy might be one of them, but Oth didn't put much store in it. For his dad, though, this was almost more for Oriel than it was for the boys to have family. Brad knew how drifting could wreck a kid. There'd be no pressure on him to make any sort of bond, but maybe having a place he could go when things got to be too much would help. Brad didn't know. But he wanted to extend what he could.

They sat in an empty classroom the staff had graciously allowed them to use. Brad had his visitor's ID clipped to his shirt collar. He was in jeans and a button down, sleeves rolled up. Oth perched on a desk nearby, rolling his shoulders under his t-shirt. Training had been going about as well as could be expected for a first year shifter, and he ached more often than not. Soft knee braces and wrist braces helped keep things reasonable, but it was a weird feeling, too tight and too loose at the same time. He looked out the window, lost in thought. In his dad's back pocket was that old photograph.

They both looked up when the door opened. Brad stood, and Oth cracked half a tired grin. Being a bear in the summer was draining. And hot. His dad held out his hand. "Hi. You must be Oriel. I'm Brad Gillis. Uh."

Yeah. There wasn't exactly a manual on how to introduce yourself to possible relations. "You two know each other?" A hand gestured between the older boy and his younger version. There really was a resemblance. Brad smiled. "He's right, you do have a mess o' hair, kid."

[Deleted]

Oriel didn’t hate this kid he ran into every so often names Oth…that was his name, right? Well, he’d learned it after a few encounters and after those…well, from the start, Oriel didn’t really hate this kid. Actually, he might even dare say that he liked him from the very start. The kid had guts, knew how to stand up for himself, but wasn’t a kind of troublemaker like Oriel was.

Oriel would definitely be lying if he said he hated kids. And he had said it before. It was just…so much harder for Oriel to be a dick, like a tried and true dick, to kids. Maybe it was because he still was a kid himself, so felt he could relate to them? Or maybe he just remembered all the shit he had to go through at that age and….he didn’t treat them breakable porcelain, but he didn’t go out of his way to be an extra dick to them. Just….treat them like normal people. Kids weren’t exactly idiots, like adults liked to think….Oriel should know.

In any case, there was some sort of….weirdness going on today? He didn’t quite get it, but out of the blue, Oth called him out to meet someone…his dad…something…. Anyway, it was just really weird and while Oriel agreed to it, he had half a mind to simply skip out on it.

Why did this old guy want to meet him anyway? Just the mere mention that this was a thing had a million questions running through Oriel’s mind. To say he was scared was possibly an understatement, but Oriel wouldn’t let on. After a few walks around the school, Oriel took a deep breath and donned his emotional armor, keeping his face scowled as he walked through the hallways to the meeting room. Oriel opened the door and was greeted by….a man who he assumed was Oth’s father.

Oriel nodded to the kid and….shit, this guy wanted a hand shake? Oriel stared at it a moment, as if it were the most foreign thing in the world, then offered his own hand; a firm grip, though his eye had drifted away from the person he was supposed to be engaging with. “Yeah,” he said shortly. Oriel darted his eyes back up to the man and took back his hand, stuffing it into his back pocket. “I ain’t your kid,” he said, immediately regretting the level of hostility put behind those words. Oriel sidled aside, away from the man, and leaned against one of the desks, crossing his arms defensively over his torso. “So…the hell’s this all about, anyway?” The sooner they got this over with, the sooner Oriel could go back to his comfort zone.

[Oth Gillis]

His son had warned him ahead of time that Oriel didn't do well in front of adults, so Brad wasn't too phased by the gruffness he was greeted with. After all, he had no idea how to go about this either. Still, he kept his face neutral, pleasant, and returned the handshake with a grip that was firm but didn't crush. Acknowledged that he was dealing with someone who'd been around. Not an adult, but someone he was willing to show respect.

Oth nodded back, knowing that asking someone he was barely acquainted with to come meet his dad was really weird. A faint blush colored the tops of his ears, and his expression turned apologetic.

Brad smiled a little at the remark, he couldn't help it. "I know," he said simply. Exhaling... god, this was hard. Reaching into his back pocket, he drew out the photo. It was a little faded, not as glossy as it once had been, but the figures were all clear, as was the writing on the back. He held up the picture. "This is Oth's mother. Before she met me and had him, she told me she'd had twins in New York, but had given them up. She gave me their picture, so Oth would have something of hers, and theirs."

Then he turned the photograph over. "This is her handwriting. She wrote the names of her children down for Oth to know."

[Deleted]

How else was he supposed to present himself to the father of a….was Oth even a friend at this point? Well, if he wanted to be, sure that was cool, but making Oriel meet his dad was kind of putting a lot of pressure on the ink manipulator. Oriel looked to the boy again…at least he seemed to get that this was all just…weird.

They would have words later. Oh, yes they would.

Oriel kept his stance, his posture, hoping that maybe this guy would just give up and let Oriel go, or hurry up and get on with it. The latter seemed to happen first and not without a few raised eyebrows as he had no idea what he was getting at…until pulled out the photo.

Oriel didn’t even need to wait for the man to say the word ‘twins’. Or to explain who the kids in the photo were. There was something to be said about recognizing oneself as an infant. But the man’s clarification only confirmed his suspicion.

And of course he didn’t want to believe it.

Oriel had a great poker face when he wanted and he was exercising that right at this moment, though not without a bit(a lot) of trouble. “You trying to pull something on me, old man?” was all Oriel asked, his glare slowly darkening as the reality tried to sink in. Oriel kept trying to push it back by swallowing the lump in his throat.

[Oth Gillis]

Relationships with older kids were hard to define, when you were the younger half, and the older half was more than four years past you. Oth thought they were... at least acquaintances. As much as a kid in the first year of middle school could be with someone near their last year of high school. Not friends enough to tell him that he might be your older half-brother though.

But there didn't seem to be any good time to do that.

Oriel was giving him serious side eye, and if Oth hadn't known him better he would've taken it to mean the guy wanted to see him out behind some bleachers after class. Well. He still might, but it wasn't as if Oth would let him beat up on the human him. Not when he had a giant bear him.

Brad sighed. Oriel... he was awful standoffish, but then, Brad couldn't blame him. 'Hi. My kid is your long lost sibling. How are you?' Not the smoothest thing to get out.

"No," he said, without embellishment, without any hint of frustration. "I wouldn't be here having this very awkward conversation with a kid I don't know if I was pulling a joke. A cruel, stupid joke, too. But I'm not. I don't know anything about you, but everyone can use some extra family." He shifted uncomfortably. "We'll have to get DNA tests to make it concrete, but..." Brad shrugged, not knowing quite where to go with this. "Only if you want to. If you're open to it. Oth's said he is. You don't have to answer right now."

Pulling a plain business card out of his shirt pocket, he held it out. It was for his electrician's shop, but had his name and phone number on it. "You can give me a call if you want. Or... not. This is all up to you."

Behind Oriel and across from his Dad, Oth's whole face was pink-tinted now. This was easily the most embarrassing, weird thing he'd ever done, and his posture and expression reflected it. But he hoped Oriel would take the test. Oth had always wanted siblings.

[Deleted]

Really, what kind of person just came up out of nowhere and suddenly claimed that they banged the mother who abandoned you and that the kid that came from it was his brother??

That is what this tombstone was saying, right?

And…all it really told Oriel was that his mother was an even more fucked up bitch than he thought! Not only did she ditch Oriel and his sister, but also didn’t learn her lesson the first time and made another kid she didn’t want?? What…what the fuck kind of person does that??

That’s if Oriel believed this cockamamy story to begin with. Oriel didn’t have a reason to trust a word this guy was saying…but how else would this guy have that picture? Maybe he was just messing with him? Some sort of fucked up elaborate joke?

Oriel shook his head, as if the action was going to change what he’d just heard. Make it go away. Never happened. “Heh….the fuck would you want me as family? I ain’t….” Oriel didn’t know what to say anymore. “This is bullshit.” DNA tests? What the hell would that prove? That they both shared the same screwed up genes? And then they could pretend like the first 17 years of his life didn’t happen and be one big happy fucking family??

Oriel stared at the business card that the man produced. He took it after a moment. Oriel wanted to scream. He wanted to punch something. He just said, “Alright…” in a low, mumbling voice.

How the hell was he supposed to react to something like this? Oriel swallowed again. His throat stung. “C..can I see that?” he asked, nodding at the picture. Should Brad offer the photo to Oriel, he’d take it between his fingers and give it a good long stare. Then continue with, “What was….who was she?” What kind of person ditched their own kids like she’d done to them?

[Oth Gillis]

Yes, that was exactly what the living fossil was saying. It was just the implications that screwed this all up. That sort of announcement was akin to 'I'm pregnant' or 'we're divorcing', as it was both lifeshaking and could be taken in multiple ways, from shock and horror to happy excitement. Obviously, the former was going on with them in the classroom. Brad had asked about Oriel's power in advance and since it wasn't anything that would cause human/property damage if he freaked out, there was no staff present.

“Heh… the fuck would you want me as family? I ain’t…”

"You'd be surprised," Brad said softly, with a small smile. "You made an impression on Oth, and that's pretty damn hard. You can't be all bad."

The kid's face was trying not to show any emotion, but Brad could see how overwhelmed he was. It was in the blank stares at nothing, the 'what do I do' sort of motions Oriel made. But he took the card, that was good.

Of course he'd want to see the photo. Brad looked at him for a moment, and then handed it over. Oth came over to stand by his dad. There was still discomfort on his own face, but now they were dealing with the aftermath.

"I can make you a copy if you want," he said.

Who was she... wow. That was... a complicated question. "She was a student when I met her," he started. "Young. From India. She finished up her degree after Oth was born and went home after that, and I haven't seen her since. She was... intelligent. Liked to have fun." He sighed. "She wasn't surprised when she found out she was pregnant with Oth. I was, we were protected. She just went about her business. Far as I know her parents and family in India never knew."

Watching Oriel, who looked so much like what he thought Oth would in a few years (minus all the hair), stare at the picture... he sighed, and put an arm about his son's shoulders. "I did ask her where... you guys were. She said New York and that's all I ever got out of her. I tried asking if your dad had you, or if anyone did, but she wouldn't say."

There was no way Brad could've done anything legally, since he wasn't a blood relation, but this seeming trend of having children and leaving them was troubling. It would've been out of the question financially for him to foster or adopt the twins even if he found them, but it had bothered him for years, wondering what those other kids of hers were doing. If they were okay.

"I don't know why she did what she did. I don't think she even knew. The best I could do was believe she just plowed right through everything, took whatever consequences to her actions came and... got them over with as cleanly as she knew how."

It wasn't really his place to say it, but it looked like the kid needed it, and he certainly deserved to hear it. "I'm sorry."

[Deleted]

This was way too much for the teenage boy to handle all at once. Or ever. Oriel wondered if it wouldn’t have just been better to never find out this shit at all. Leave it a mystery. At least then, Oriel could invent whatever truth he wanted.

But being told the ‘truth’ like this, only left him with more unanswered questions. What he did know, was that this person who wouldn’t even call herself his mother, was….he hated how similar they were. He and this Indian woman. They even looked alike. Oriel imagined that Orin looked even more like her by now.

“Orin…” It felt strange saying her name. It’d been so long since he spoke of her out loud. “My sister was…she was adopted. By some snooty couple back when we were kids.” Oriel flipped the pictured in his hands, trying to ease his agitation. He shook his head again and handed the picture back to the man…Brad, right? “I don’t know where she is.” Because nobody ever told him shit about anything.

Oriel looked to Oth. His….little brother.

He didn’t mind the thought….Oth was cool. Oriel liked kids, believe it or not. It was just weird now. And…Oriel didn’t think he could do it. He was hardly the best influence for a kid who was probably more mature than he was.

Oriel shook his head again. “Ain’t your fault. Ain’t no reason for you t’be saying that.” Oriel struggled to keep himself from breaking. His lips were tensed into a flat line, his jaw stiff and clenched. He tried to keep himself from blinking too much, for fear that it might loosen that water that was trying to collect in his eyes. He couldn’t keep his eyes focused to just one space. “You ain’t the one who fucking ran off…you…” Nope, wasn’t going to cry, nope. “Owned up…” Oriel’s voice cracked. “…’n stuck around….” He didn’t let Oth go through the same shit that he had. “Th…thank you…” He bit the inside of his lip to keep it from quivering.

[Oth Gillis]

Of all the relationships Brad had had pre-Oth, the one with Oth's mother had certainly been the most enigmatic, and it had made future relationships rather difficult. Brad couldn't really say why, except that he didn't have much time to date after his son was born, or any interest. But for all the time he'd spent with her, hell, the kid they'd had together, Brad still didn't know much about her, past quantifiable evidence. She was smart - she was at the college on scholarship and the papers and mid-term reports he'd seen had very good grades on them. She never talked much about herself or her family, but could converse at length about a great many other things with wit and informed opinions. She was kind. She liked trying new things. And she was very practical.

That the girl had been taken surprised Brad. He'd thought twins were adopted out together almost as a rule, but... yeah.

Oth had no expectations regarding Oriel as a brother. Didn't expect him to change in any way, or be a certain way. They just... were. Brothers. Automatically. He looked away when Hair Boy started getting all worked up, trying to give the guy some privacy (and also because he was a little affected by it too and was feeling a little feelsy up in his eyeballs).

"No reason for you to be saying that," Brad replied quietly, gently. He also didn't look directly at Oriel, to give him space. "You know... the door's closed. School's out. No one's here but us." Very slowly he stepped a little closer to the kid. "One of the first things I taught Oth, you keep your word. It's important. You don't promise anything you don't mean." A gentle hand lay on Oriel's shoulder. "You got no reason to believe me, but I take both those very seriously. So I'm going to tell you, Oriel... I'll never tell if you have to... let it out. And neither will Oth. There's no shame in having emotions, or needing to cry. Just shows you're human. C'mere, kid."

Wrapping his arms very carefully around the tall boy, Brad hugged him. Held him.

"You got us, now. Not much, but it's something."

((ooc: holler for edits, didn't know if hairboy would spook))

[Deleted]

Oriel wouldn’t know what to tell him, why Orin was adopted while Oriel was left behind. Oriel wasn’t sure he completely understood himself. Something about Oriel being too problematic. He’d found out, this year actually, that it wasn’t uncommon for siblings to be separated when one exhibited behavioral problems like Oriel had. Which hadn’t made Oriel feel any better about it. It only reinforced his impression that people left him because he was too fucked up to stick around for.

Oriel imagined that he must’ve come out of the womb with eyes that immediately told everyone who saw them that he was an evil, problematic bastard. And of course, since he shared that womb with his sister, she must’ve been tainted as well. And that must’ve been why their mother abandoned them.

But the fact that she’d gone and done it to another kid, Oth…Oriel wasn’t sure what was worse: remaining ignorant about the truth and letting himself believe whatever made the most sense to him, or finding out that their mother just didn’t fucking care enough to keep anyone around. That it wouldn’t have mattered how good or bad Oriel was, she would have left him anyway, because that’s how little she cared about him.

It was too much. Too fucking much. And Oriel didn’t know how to process it all. He was two steps away from freaking completely….but he couldn’t, not right here.

“Well, clearly nobody else is going to,” he said, snapping slightly at the old guy’s dismissal. Oriel didn’t know how to take his….whatever the fuck it was. Kindness? It didn’t much matter anyway. Oriel was trying so hard to not break down that he was barely able to do much more than stand there and just let the old guy do his thing, whatever it was. He didn’t reciprocate. Oriel barely responded to the arms that’d been wrapped around him, keeping his own stiff at his sides. “I ain’t your kid…” he muttered as a series of droplets finally broke free from his downcast eyes.

“Mm,” he grunted. How the fuck was he supposed to respond to something like this anyway?

[Oth Gillis]

Brad just hugged the kid a little, till some internal Dad-sense said it was time to break it off. He really wasn't the kid's father, but knew when children needed to be held. Without reacting to Oriel's sniffling and tears, his voice remained calm, like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Brad ruffled Oth's hair, giving him a smile for reassurance.

"I know it's a lot to drop on someone, 'n you don't know me. We'll leave you alone now, but you call anytime. Come over for dinner sometime. Or, you know, if you need a break."

Giving Oriel's shoulder a pat, Brad walked out, Oth trailing behind him. The boy looked back, and then trotted the few steps back to his new half-brother, bending down so he could look up into that sad face.

"It's really cool to have a brother," he said softly.

[END]