it's been really nice having bo around. like, really nice. they've been taking it slow. by most accounts, they've been taking it slow - years of bottled emotions have all coalesced at once. bo hasn't exactly moved in, per se, but he spends a lot of his time around. 

he's stayed the night the past few nights. and she's been slow to wake, too pleased to lounge in bed curled up in his arms. 

she's half-dozing when ollie knocks, but sits straight up, moving off bo's heavy arm. she wriggles out of bed and jumps into her jeans, tosses on one of bo's shirts (which hangs more like a dress on her), and breezes down the hallway, down the stairs, and opens the door to one very panicked looking ollie. 

"ols? what - is everything okay?"

ollie morales boruta maher

☉

[attr="class","icon"]

bo was there as much as she would allow, even if it was just out on the farm shoveling shit somewhere. he was thriving, in the vicinity, where he felt he ought to be with all his heart. life was good, despite his fears.[break][break]

that day was an especially good day so far, because he was not out shoveling shit early in the morning, but rather sleeping in, with her in his arms. he groaned a little in protest as she pulled away and got up. Listened, eyes still mostly shut. maybe he could drift back to sleep for just a little while longer…[break][break]

but instead, he awoke more with every knock in rapid succession on their door, until he realized it sounded like someone was panicked on the other side.[break][break]

though a bit slower than her, he did not take long to descend the stairs too, suddenly wide awake and alert.[break][break]

”ollie?”[break][break]

his hair stuck up on either side like a noctowl’s brow.[break][break]

[attr="class","olivertop"]

[attr="class","oliver"] his cheeks are flushed when willow atkins opens the door, cold air blasting through the atkins apartment. green eyes flicker first towards willow atkins's familiar turquoise gaze and then to the mussed up hair of boruta maher's who appears just a second after her.

[break][break] redness burns across dusty cheeks, apple-bright.

[break][break] 'the smell of sandlewood and cinnamon, the taste of burnt whisky, glasses bumping against his cheek'

[break][break] "i - " he starts, looking flustered. "can i come in?"

[break][break] that in itself is unusual — ollie rarely asks. the atkins household may as well be his own. it doesn't last for long, though, because ollie shoulders his way, slipping off his shoes and as his socks hit the scratched hardwood floor, he looks around briefly for the tiny version of boruta maher jr. to make sure he's not around.

[break][break] "wils, i - " he swallows, anxiety pinning him to the spot like an anchor. "i think i did something. bad."

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins boruta maher

☉

when she notices him looking around and towards roman's room, she says, "it's early. he won't be up 'til noon." there's a chance he's up, really, and is just playing video games on his phone. he does that sometimes to get away with doing the early morning farm work she tasks him with. 

lately, considering bo, she's been letting him get away with it. 

she leans back against the bannister separating the top level from the stairs and looks concernedly at her friend. his eyes are wild, hair mussed, and something must be really wrong if he can't even stop to properly say hi. or give her that usual ollie smile. 

"ollie, come on. you'd never do anything bad. out with it."

ollie morales boruta maher

☉

[attr="class","olivertop"]

[attr="class","oliver"] it's a relief to hear that ro won't be up for some time. not to mention that this whole thing was something that probably wasn't child-friendly, it was embarrassing.

[break][break] embarrassing enough to admit to wils and bo, it would've been absolutely mortifying to admit to the little tot.

[break][break] "i - um - " his eyes flickered, almost guiltily, to them both. it was unclear whether he was looking at willow atkins or boruta maher, or maybe both at once. he'd kissed them both, after all. even though he only remembered one. "i kissed someone."

[break][break] "someone i probably shouldn't have."

[break][break] actually, he and GIDEON GRAVES had more than kissed.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins boruta maher

☉

[attr="class","icon"]

his eye twitched as a beam of sunlight sniped him through the window. he waited for the horrifying explanation ollie was about to share with them, and what fell out of the blushing man’s mouth elicited a slow, groggy blink, an accepting nod that this was how his morning was going to go before chores, and a turn in the direction of the kitchen. ”i’ll be right back.”[break][break]

there was the sound of three mugs taken out of a cabinet, something clattering (but not breaking), an incoherent grumble, and soon enough the smell of freshly brewed coffee would be wafting.[break][break]

making his way back, he propped himself against the wall with his arms crossed, made himself stable enough to fall back asleep that way, and watched wearily for further explanation. ”okay.” maybe it meant i'm ready for storytime.[break][break]

and there goes bo. he's slow to start his mornings, which she'd forgotten about and consequently learned she adored the fact that she'd forgotten about it. after all this time, part of her had worried that whatever this is between them now might go stale? like all the wanting should have stayed wanting. 

it's not the case. for her, at least. 

her fond look for bo withers back into concern for her friend, though she can't help but think that, whoever it was, it's probably better than penny. 

"what do you mean shouldn't have?" her brows furrow. "did you kiss...one of penny's sisters or something?" does she even have sisters?

ollie morales boruta maher

☉

[attr="class","olivertop"]

[attr="class","oliver"] ollie doesn't notice - at least not right away - bo leaving. he is so frought with worry, with the tightening of his gut and the memories that are burned behind his eyes, that all he can focus on is how he's supposed to word this. how he's supposed to explain this.

[break][break] god. he is so embarrassed.

[break][break] he is so mortified.

[break][break] but wils is the only one he can talk to. he can't talk to eva about this, god no.

[break][break] "her - what?" ollie blinks for a moment, initially caught off-guard by willow atkins's words. her sisters? she only has one -' "god, no."

[break][break] as if the thought is absolutely abhorrent to him. and maybe it is. but that's not the point.

[break][break] "no, i just - i got really drunk. like, absolutely blasted. god, i. i need to sit down. fuck." ollie scurries his way into the atkins living room - a place that he'd always found comfort in. the couch that he'd slept on for weeks after his ribs had healed after palkia absolutely smashed them and also where he'd burrowed after he'd tried to hide after his fight with MATIAS SILPH.

[break][break] the couch creaks when he plants his weight onto it, his head burrowed into his hands. his voice horribly muffled.

[break][break] "ikissedadude."

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins boruta maher

☉

[attr="class","icon"]

bo blinked. on one hand, he felt sympathetic, remembering when he’d been so confused. it felt suddenly weird that it had been the crumbling man in front of him to help confirm it once and for all: he was bisexual.[break][break]

all that clarity, thanks to one summer night that ollie either didn’t remember, or was in denial of ever having happened in the first place.[break][break]

he recalled being really drunk himself. he wasn’t sure what to make of it.[break][break]

”huh.”[break][break]

his brow furrowed a little, waiting for further explanation for the distress and shouting at the door in morning hours.[break][break]

coffee drips steadily into the pot and the scent of honey-roasted beans fills the homey space. willow's about to offer to let ollie sit down before he up and does it himself, scurrying over to the couch. there's a throw blanket behind him that she grabs and draws over his lap. 

then she folds her legs and sits down in front of him, ready to hear and comfort whatever terrible thing that's happened to him.

and - 

oh?

oh.

huh.

she's not...entirely sure what to make of that. ollie's always been straight, right? last she remembered, he's only been moony-eyed for penny. and never has he mentioned checking out other guys.

"that's. i mean, ollie, that's okay. that's not...that's not a bad thing?" granted, samuel might not have agreed.

ollie morales boruta maher

☉

[attr="class","olivertop"]

[attr="class","oliver"] he barely notices the blanket, the scratchy way that it feels underneath his elbows as he sinks into it. now that he's in the comfort of the atkins home, and knowing that people like ro won't be awake to bother them, he can let it out.

[break][break] a loud groan echoes through the room.

[break][break] "it is!" he says with a half-wail, prying only one of his fingers from his face so he can peer at willow through them. his cheeks burn. he's mortified. "i'm straight. i know i'm straight. i've always been —"

[break][break] flashes from the night before send a spiral of heat down his gut, and he burrows his hands in his face again.

[break][break] "i don't even know how it happened," he says, voice muffled.

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins boruta maher

☉

[attr="class","icon"]

bo observed. his stomach growled. there was an increasingly offended look creeping onto his face.[break][break]

”dude–” he piped up, the strong tone in his voice as though he’d finally found something meaningful to chime in with, before he bit his tongue. if ollie didn’t want people to know, then that was his deal. whatever.[break][break]

unblinkingly, he stared at ollie, as though he might just walk over and slap him, before asking, ”would you like some pancakes?”[break][break]

bo didn’t know how to make pancakes, but he did know that the longer this went on, the less likely it was that there would be time for willow to make them – and if he learned how to do it himself now, it would give him an excuse to escape whatever this was turning into.[break][break]

his face goes away again, swathed by his hands in some desperate attempt to hide his embarrassment. willow still doesn't really get it, but she can put two and two together and sense that he may have done a little bit more than just kiss a dude. 

bo gets up and she shoots a helpless look at his back, but it's honestly probably for the better. her days are still packed and if she doesn't get food in her now, she'll put it of until lunch.

"well, when two people like each other very much..." she starts with a smile as she sinks into the spot next to him. she drapes an arm over his shoulder and gives him a good squeeze.

"ols, if this is about...i mean, bo and i won't judge you for any of it. you're still the same ollie."

boruta maher ollie morales

☉