Chance Encounter (Oriel)

[Oliver Barnes]

For awhile now, Oliver had always walked by the Globe Theater whenever he went to visit downtown Pilot Ridge. Although he was interested in the idea of going and sitting down to watch a play, he had never found the time to actually do so until summer vacation. The last bit of the semester had him preoccupied with finishing school and powers training, and making sure everything was in order for him to start at the University of Vermont come fall. So far, so good; the only thing left to do was for Oliver to find a job somewhere.

But that was a task for another day. Tonight, he was going to relax and enjoy the play being put on by the Theater. He stood in the line, holding his ticket in hand, all by himself. Humming under his breath, he waited patiently as each person was filed through the doors into the main area of the building. It was busier than expected; Oliver had assumed not a lot of people would have the patience to sit through a play. He was about ready to enter the theater and find his seat when a familiar person caught him from the corner of his eye.

Eyes narrowing, then opening wide in surprise, Oliver was shocked to see... that kid with the long hair, Oriel? Dressed in the uniform of the theater, he appeared to be helping out with directing fellow playgoers to the washroom or what section they were in. Surprise and recognition flashed across Oliver's features, as he stupidly stared in wonder, completely unaware of what was happening around him. What was he doing here, of all things working? It was unexpected.

[Deleted]

Oriel had gotten more or less used to working at the theater, in servitude of the smelly, rambling, ugly, idiotic patrons of the establishment. The only ones he liked were the old ladies. Well, most of them. Specifically the grannies who were widowed and had little left to do with their lives than to enjoy their mid-week matinees.

This wasn’t a matinee, but the people were generally the same, just a lot more young folk. It was summer on a weekday, of course they’d all be out doing thing and making whoopie in the nosebleed seats(not that they had nosebleed seats, but he had caught a few couples getting frisky in audience in the middle of a show). BAH, annoying hormone sex-obsessed kids…

When did Oriel turn into an old man?

Whatever, at least he was doing a (semi)-decent job at his job which meant money which meant he could afford to do all the awesome shit with his own boyfriend fiancee behind closed doors(though sometimes with the door open too). Oriel sighed and shuffled one person after another through the doors of the theater, pointing this way and that as he took their ticket and tried to decrypt the darned things to find out their seat locations. All those faces were starting to blur together, though, not a one of them he’d recognize from one day to the other. By chance he looked up after passing another old couple through the doors and by chance happened to see a surprisingly familiar face. One he hadn’t seen in quiiiiite a few months. Last time they were face-to-face, Oriel had threatened the guy with a crude nose job. He stared at the boy - what was his name? Farmboy something something - just as stupidly as the boy was staring at Oriel. Maybe even with his mouth hanging open. He pulled it shut and looked away. What was he supposed to say?

[Oliver Barnes]

While staring, Oliver hadn't noticed that he ended up stopping in his tracks, blocking the flow of traffic into the theater. He snapped out of his momentary daze when someone bumped into him and made some comment about not standing in the way. How was he suppose to just brush off seeing him here, especially in a theater of all places?

Then again, he wasn't in a place to judge at all. A job was a job and at least he had one. he stepped off to the side, still looking over as he caught him doing the same thing. For a short moment, anyway. Then it was back to work. Oliver played with the paper ticket in his hand, debating on whether he should go talk to him. Then again, this was the guy who threatened to break his nose; the only safety to it was the fact that they were in a public place and Oriel worked here.

With that in mind, Oliver made his decision. A quick breath, he began making his way over with the illusion of confidence and certainty. Though, he'd be lying if he said he didn't think about phasing through the wall and avoiding the confrontation in the first place. As he got closer, Oliver began to regret doing this but it was already too late to back down. Extending his ticket, he inhaled one last time and took a quick glance behind him. There was just enough of a break in the crowd to have a quick conversation.

"Hey," Pause. "Again."

[Deleted]

Shit…Oriel didn’t have time to be shocked at the sudden presence of a person he once threatened(albeit that was quite a long while ago), he had tickets to take and old ladies to guide, and once the show started, he got to prepare the foyer for intermission. Busy busy busy. At least after intermission started, he was basically done for the evening. Curfew man, that was a thing for some students, and Oriel happened to be one of them. He didn’t always honor it though.

Oriel pretended to not notice the farm-boy inching closer to him in the line, instead just paying extra attention to each and every patron that passed by him. He was just putting off the inevitable, though, and that moment came soon enough as there was suddenly nobody else trying to get into the auditorium except this guy. Oriel’s face froze into something stiff and awkward and his eyes looked thataway instead of at the boy in front of him. “Hey…” he said, returning the one-word greeting. Oriel took a breath and held out his hand, sliding his eyes more towards barn-boy(wait, that was it! Barnes!), though still keeping them from looking at his face. “….ticket?” he asked blandly. Were they supposed to talk? What was Oriel even supposed to say? And it wasn’t like they could have a proper chat here anyway.

Oriel made his decision in a split-second, barely bothering to consult Oliver on it when he revealed it. “I’m getting coffee after the show and I just invited you. You ain’t going to disrespect my invitation and say no, are you?” Oriel gave him a glare that dared him to reject his kindness. “I’m buying, if that makes any difference.” Straightforward and forceful, that was definitely Oriel’s style, none of this awkward tongue-tied shit he’d been doing before.

[Oliver Barnes]

Now, what were they going to talk about in the brief amount of time that they had? Oliver froze, fingers tightening around the ticket in his hand. Still frozen in action. Were they just going to make awkward small talk? If so, that was alright, it's not like he had a plan to say anything. What was he suppose to say, something along the lines of how they got off to a bad start?

He looked up when prompted for the ticket, finally moving from his daze to give Oriel the ticket. Oliver cleared his throat, eyes awkwardly darting from the boy in front of him, to the wall, to the floor. Repeat. Now was his chance...

But thankfully, Oriel took the opportunity to say something. To offer a proper chance at conversation after the show. "Uh.. no.. no, I wouldn't do that." He stammered. He still made Oliver feel a little uneasy and afraid, so it didn't seem smart to turn down the offer. Coupled with the glare, he'd be stupid to say no. "You don't have to buy..." He started, then changed his mind. Didn't want to seem rude. "But thank you. I.. where should we meet afterwards?"

[Deleted]

Oriel didn’t small talk. He didn’t get small talk. Small talk was for those people who didn’t know what to say and let their awkwardness get the better of them and couldn’t stand silences between them and other people for the life of them….all of which described Oriel, apparently. But he refused to give into it.

Hence the forceful invitation. To those who knew him, they’d know that that was Oriel being nice. At least, he hoped those who knew him knew that was him being nice. Maybe he should explain it to them sometime….fat chance.

Anyway, back to barn-boy. The guy….accepted his invitation! Oriel honestly wasn’t expecting that - then again, Oriel did threaten him(sorta). But the surprise was visible on Oriel face for a split second before he pasted the tough-guy mask right back on. “Great. Umm…” Um. The great Evil Overlord does not say ’um’! “Think the Velvet-Tone coffee place’ll be open still. That sound good?” Oriel’s eyes flit over Oliver’s shoulder at an approaching crowd of new patrons. “Ain’t got much time, what’ll be Barnes?” he urged impatiently.

[Oliver Barnes]

Unlike Oriel, Oliver gave into the pressure of small talk, likely due to the minor anxiety he still had to deal with on a daily basis. It was easier to distract himself from his nerves with a conversation, even one that didn't mean much, in order to get through awkward situations.

But here they were, getting through without incessant small talk. Making plans to actually see each other outside of Hammel. This entire conversation and subsequent plans were by fluke, but still.

Zoned out in his thoughts, it had taken Oliver a couple extra seconds to process Oriel's suggestion. It wasn't until he said Barnes that he paid attention again. "Sorry, yeah sure, that sounds good to me. I'll meet you there after the show?" He figured it'd be easier than trying to catch him in the busy theatre after the show.

[Deleted]

Anxiety Oriel could understand. If he wasn’t being so damn stubborn, Oriel would have started gabbing on about a million kinds of pointless topics, every single one save for the important ones. It was when the subject turned to the serious ones that he clammed up. Oriel and Oliver needed that serious conversation. Oriel just didn’t know how to go about getting into it without being the harsh, direct, and forceful asshole he usually was. Like with AJ, Oriel’s apology came out strong and defensive, as if he expected it to be laughed at and rejected outright. So he set it up so there was absolutely no uncertainty about what he was trying to do and if they rejected it then it made them the bad guy, not him!

This was another habit Oriel was trying to work around. Trusting that his words were going to be taken seriously and that people would listen if he spoke sincerely. He wasn’t going to be perfect about, though, he was still a long way from that.

That he’d practically threatened Oliver to meet with him made him sick, though. Because now he could only assume that Oliver didn’t want to meet with him and have this serious conversation at all… Oriel nodded, trying to keep his face stern, but his eyes reflected his worry. “Right. Good. I’ll meet you there,” he said. Oriel didn’t know where to steer the conversation now…though it didn’t matter anyway, because now Oliver really was holding up the line. Oriel smirked and snorted at the Barnes boy. “Now get a move on, Farm Boy, you’re holding up the line.” He jerked his head towards the inside of the theater, then turned his focus to the new crowd of old ladies moving at their old lady pace behind him.

[Oliver Barnes]

The serious conversation between them really was necessary. They couldn't go on with the rest of their lives ignoring each other, especially in a town as small as Pilot Ridge. Not to mention, they were both friends of AJ; and the last thing Oliver wanted was any tension between them and create unnecessary drama.

Despite possibly interpreting Oriel's words as threatening, he still agreed. Oliver wanted this conversation to happen and assumed that Oriel felt likewise. "Okay, yeah.. probably easier to meet there than here afterwards." He agreed with a nod. He turned around, realizing that now everyone was standing behind him and waiting for him to move. "Oh.. my bad." He mumbled an apology with a sheepish smile before heading into the theatre. Although his mind was still thinking about the show, he was also worrying about the conversation to come afterwards.

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The show had ended. It had taken Oliver a few minutes to exit the theatre with the crowd of people, but figured that Oriel would have to take some time after the show to finish things up anyway. He wove through the lingering crowd, finally managing to catch a break and catch his breath. Finally. The Velvet Tone was still some distances away, but it only took him a few minutes to get there. Now; was he suppose to just wait outside or get them a table? Wait inside by the door? Oliver figured the best course of action was to just stand outside of the coffeeshop and wait for him to show up.

[Deleted]

It would take Oriel several more minutes than Oliver to get himself out of the theater. Several more minutes. Because old people liked to linger in the lobby as much as liked watching the show. Then there were a dozen other things he had to do to close up the front lobby, cleaning and such, before he checked with the boss-man to see if he could leave. It must’ve been a whole half hour before Oriel was finally able to get out of there, still in his ‘showchoir’ red vest, unprofessionally unbuttoned as he ran down the street hoping that his ‘date’ didn’t think he got stood up and left already.

Oriel scowled to see that the dope had waited outside for him this whole time, and he kept said scowl throughout his approach. “You could’ve gone inside,” he grunted, breathing a little hard from the run. “You’re lucky it’s summer, otherwise, I’d’ve socked your frozen face for being such a dunce.” Oriel shook his fist to demonstrate.

Gahh…Oriel wasn’t supposed to be threatening him, he scolded himself. Oriel took a deep breath and kicked his head towards the door. “C’mon, get in,” he commanded with a sigh, opening the door for Oliver and following him inside. “Mind if I eat? Ain’t had nothing since before the show.” If Oliver wanted something too, true to his word, Oriel would treat him. Even though he’d insinuated there’d only be coffee.

[Oliver Barnes]

Leaning up against the wall, Oliver waited. And waited. Minutes passed and he wondered if he should have waited inside. But waiting outside made it easier to be seen, and in return made it easier for him to spot Oriel. Briefly, he wondered if he had bailed, which wouldn't have made much sense since Oriel was the one who had initiated the meetup. Unless he had a change of heart.

All of that and more raced through Oliver's head, as he pulled out his phone to try and distract himself with a mobile game to pass the time. It had worked; he didn't notice Oriel approaching until his spoke. He looked up with a startled jump. "Oh, well you know, just wanted to make sure I caught you." He said, running a hand through his hair as he laughed nervously as what was hopefully an empty threat. It wasn't that cold out, afterall.

Nodding, he lead the way inside the Velvet Tone. "Thanks." He said, heading towards the small line up. "Oh yeah, no problem. Bet you don't get a lot of time to do that at work." He sympathized. He wasn't hungry though and would probably just get a tea; earl grey. Coffee made him too jittery.

[Deleted]

Oriel would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about bailing. But he was doing this to make a point. He wasn’t entirely sure what that point was yet, but he was going to make it if it was the last thing he did! That said, he was relieved to see that Oliver had actually waited for him for the too long length of time it took the usher to finish up with the theater and dash his way over to the Velvet Tone. Though that didn’t mean that his nerves weren’t about to burst right out of his skin, he was so goddamn nervous it was a surprise his teeth weren’t chattering. “Ain’t like this place is big or nothing.” And it wasn’t even particularly busy at this time of night, they would’ve found each other easy, Oriel figured.

Oh, well. It was pointless to think about now, he had more important things to concentrate on. Like how the fuck was this little meeting with Farm Boy here going to go? Oriel nodded. “Yeah…not ‘less you want brownies and chips for a meal.” Which Oriel wasn’t 100% against, he just liked to include some meat in his diet on occasion. As in, with every meal.

The coffee shop wasn’t suited for meals in the proper sense, but they did have a number of deli items that Oriel didn’t mind chomping down on. He put in that order at the barista counter along with a request for a mocha and one of those club grilled sandwiches they had, then stepped aside to let Oliver put in his order. He’d take care of the bill once everything was on the ticket, then turn to the boy beside him. “I’ll let you choose a place to sit,” he offered, gesturing out his hand to the dining floor.

[Oliver Barnes]

"Yeah, that doesn't sound very substantial." The only way around that was to bring some sort of a dinner to work, but Oliver didn't know if he'd even go through the time and effort to do that everyday. The thought served as a mental reminder that he really needed to find a job for the rest of summer before university started.

That paired with the nervousness about this encounter with Oriel was enough to make his anxiety soar. He tried to focus on steadying his heart rate while also maintaining conversation with him. What was he going to say? What was Oliver suppose to do? There were a million different ways the conversation could seemingly go and it felt necessary to plan for each and every route.

Which was impossible. And Oliver knew that. The vacant look left his eyes as Oriel stepped aside and Oliver placed his order for a cup of earl grey tea. "Thanks again." He said graciously with a nod. "Uhm, you want to sit over by the window over there?" He asked, nodding with his head towards a table with two chairs seated in front of a window that opened up onto the street.

[Deleted]

Oriel was just about as nervous as Oliver was over this encounter, though unlike Oliver, he showed his nervousness far to often in the form of outright hostility, a habit he was trying not to enact in this time around. Last time, as he recalled it, Oriel had threatened the farm boy over practically nothing. Well, it didn’t seem like nothing to AJ, but in truth, Oriel had just been looking for an excuse to act like an ass.

That’s what he needed to apologize for…actually… He hated that he had to remind himself of that, just to make sure he did it.

“I’s fine, I ain’t picky,” he muttered, looking down to the ground and stuffing his hands into his pockets. Oriel jerked his head, indicating to Oliver to lead the way. Oriel would follow and drop heavily into one of the chairs. His eyes were closed and he slouched like a sloucher. “So….” Oriel didn’t know what to say anymore. Had he ever, really? “You’re probably wondering why I called you out here today,” he said, raising his head and speaking as though he were about to present a long, boring speech to a room full of corporate assholes. How the fuck was he supposed to say this without fumbling and mumbling around like a fricken pansy? Straightforward was always Oriel’s preferred style.

“I’m sorry I threatened to beat in your face with my fist when I was in a bad mood,” he said bluntly. Wordily. Forcefully. Hell, it almost sounded scripted to him. “And for all the sexual hairy-ass-ment. There, we good?” Was it over yet?

[Oliver Barnes]

"Alright," Oliver replied and with that, lead the way over to the open table. He sat down opposite to Oriel, fiddling with his thumbs. Fidgeting was a bad habit, but he needed something to keep himself occupied and focused on.

Of course, he was wondering. But it hardly seemed acceptable to call Oriel out on it; not that Oliver was the type to do that either. Instead, he just nodded as an answer and let the other boy continue on. This meetup was kind of random and last minute, but there had to be a good reason for it.

He raised both eyebrows, in both shock and confusion. Was he apologizing? Is that why they were here? The stunned look remained on his face for a second, until Oliver managed to gather his necessary thoughts together to form some sort of a reply. "Oh.. uh.. yeah, yeah. It's okay. I mean, I forgive you for it." Because it wasn't really okay; at least he hadn't been hurt though. "This.. is surprising, to tell the truth." He answered honestly. "I... I wasn't expecting this." Then again, what had he been expecting in the first place?