The Luckiest Man [OTA]

[mistertwister]

Who: Okie and you
What: Celebration and grief
When: February 6 and the surrounding days
Where: Windjammer and Tauva
Warnings: Loss, grief, and the aftermath of associated tantrums

1. Born in the U.S.A.

Okie was half convinced something would happen, but he wasn't ready to find a birthday cake with his name in icing in the dessert section of the buffet. He hadn't told anyone about it, and hadn't planned to. He didn't feel like celebrating, and didn't consider it worth celebrating. The only solution, then, was to destroy the evidence. Which is to say, Okie had an entire cake to eat, and he picked the whole thing up out of the buffet and tried his darnedest to sneak off with it.

2. Brave Man's Death

Steve was gone. As far as Okie was convinced, he had two friends in this place, and one of them was gone. He didn't know when it finally clicked for him, but when it did he felt the need to do... something about it. And so he set up a terrible, shitty memorial on a table by the wall in Tauva. He had a framed picture of Steve hanging out with Eddie propped up, with an uncooked pizza bagel made from scrapped together buffet ingredients and a single cigarette borrowed from Pratt burning like incense in an ash tray. He wished he'd known the two of them better. He felt worse now than he'd felt about anything on this cruise yet, including dying. He was sitting on the floor, back slumped to the front of the bar, face red and wet, surrounded by the shattered glass and ceramics of five minutes worth of thrown beer glasses and diner plates. He had a makeshift broom made of a Tommy Bahama shirt and a hockey stick he'd used to clear everything within a couple feet of the shrine, and a path from it to the entrance. He would clean everything up later, but for now he wanted to mope without obstructing anyone else who wanted to pay respects.

3. My Shit's Fucked Up

Wildcard season

Comments

1

[glassaxolotl]

From a nearby table, Dedue watches Okie pick up an entire cake and start walking away. He stares at this ridiculous scenario and raises a single eyebrow.

[mistertwister]

Okie notices the stare and goes through several emotions and expressions before giving in and walking over as if in defeat.

"Want a slice?"

[glassaxolotl]

“Why were you trying to take an entire cake with you?” Dedue asks Okie.

[mistertwister]

With the tone of someone having to explain themselves to a parent after being caught doing something stupid. "Because I didn't want my birthday to be a big deal, an' I thought if people saw the cake they'd make it a big deal."

2

[be_seeing_you]

Number 6 arrives at the door to Tauva and quietly takes in the scene of chaos inside before his gaze lands on Okie. Poor lad. He's had nothing but heartbreak for so many weeks. Remaining as quiet as he can, he picks his way over the mess so he can bend down beside Okie where he sits at the base of the bar.

"Did you set that memorial up by yourself?"

[mistertwister]

Okie sniffs, grabbing at the ends of his own sleeves. He tilts his head toward 6, but his eyes are heavy, and taking them off the floor is too hard. He wipes one arm across his face, wishing that wiping the tears off would convince 6 he hadn't been crying.

"Felt like I had to do somethin'. Didn't know what else to do."

[be_seeing_you]

Number 6 produces a handkerchief from his pocket and offers it to the poor boy without comment on the sniffling or the tears.

"I like what you'd done. It was a fear Steve had, that no one might remember him when he'd gone. I think they both would feel honored by this. I wish I'd thought to do something, myself."

2. Brave Man's Death

[not_the_last]

There's the sound of bootheels clicking on the floor, and stopping a little ways away.

Very hesitant: "It's ... Okie, isn't it?"

[mistertwister]

"That's me."

He stands up awkwardly, looking around at the floor while he wipes his face.

"Sorry 'bout the mess. Cassandra, yeah?"

[not_the_last]

"Yes." She's looking up at him now, by a considerable distance; he's taller than her by over a foot. "Is this ... did you set it up?"

And seeing him wipe his face, she pulls a plain white handkerchief from a pocket and offers it to him.

2

[tossmealifeline]

It wasn't the memorial that caught Yato's attention, but Okie's form itself. He could practically feel the sorrow emanating from him, just looking at his posture and expression.

Yato stepped around any of the mess without any issue and crouched down in front of him, resting his arms on his knees.

"You look like you could use an ear."

[mistertwister]

Okie looked up, lightning sparking down his face from his eyes. He shrugged.

"Probably. Or a dustpan." A pause. "You offerin'?"

[tossmealifeline]

He offered a small smile at the little joke.

"Yes, if you want to talk to a stranger." Yato offered. "If it helps, people talk to me about their problems all the time at home." Almost exclusively, in fact.

1.

[decohere]

"Are you going to smash that in somebody's face?" Because she can't imagine what else you'd do with an entire cake. And then she notices the writing on top.

[mistertwister]

"I-"

The next half a second was a roller coaster. Hope started to drain from him as he realized that he, a six foot and change teen who may or may not be a thundercloud and was carrying an entire birthday cake, probably never had a real chance of getting this cake taken care of quietly. Then it started to fill back in as she provided him a free alibi. Then his mouth and vocal cords committed to that alibi at the same time his eyes realized she was reading the cake.

"Y-Yes. I am, actually."

He thought for a moment about throwing it in hers, but he decided that would only make this more awkward. There's only so far you could run away from someone on a boat, and only for so long.

[decohere]

"Ooh," she sounds delighted, though she doesn't actually buy it. Not with the awkward pausing. But she doesn't want to give him any more reason to feel awkward. Not on his special day.

"Sounds fun. Whose?"

2

[midnightroads]

Bash lingers in the doorway, watching Okie for a long moment before stepping carefully into the bar, making his way up to the...storm. Shit. That's a storm and it broke half the bar, and now it's sitting alone and he isn't sure what to do. Except, he doesn't flee, even if he might want to.

"Mind if I come in, cuz?"

[mistertwister]

Okie, upon hearing another person, actually looks farther down, instead of at them. He speaks from behind his knees, voice muffled.

"Go ahead. Sorry 'bout the glass."

[midnightroads]

Bash carefully, slowly picks his way across the room and moves to sit down next to Okie, after sweeping the shards aside to make sure he's not about to pierce his ass. "Eh, I'll deal. You seem like you're having a time, though."

2

[pinballer]

Vance has seen Okie around, but they've never actually spoken. He's feeling all kinds of bad about how many of his friends have vanished lately, and he hates being sad. He'd rather just be angry, but he hasn't worked his way up to that yet.

He approaches the memorial, head bowed forward, long hair drooping down over his cheeks.

"You were friends with Steve and Eddie too?"

[mistertwister]

Okie mumbles. "I shoulda been."

He sighs, trying to bring himself up out of active moping so he could hold a conversation.

"Mostly Steve. That was just the happiest picture I could find of him. Memorial pictures should be happy."

[pinballer]

"They should? Shit, I wonder what they used for me back home."

Because there weren't too many pictures where he was doing anything but scowling. Maybe some from when he was really young. Not that too many people were going to be attending their bully's funeral, anyway.

"What do you mean, you shoulda been?"

2

[bubblegumheart]

The first time she'd come in here was because she was curious about a scent she recognized, and then she'd had to be carried out. Logically, she knows that Eddie and Steve aren't going to be in Tauva today, but there's still a small part of her that hopes she's wrong about that.

There's no sign of Eddie or Steve when she walks in. Instead, it looks like a tornado blew through, leaving a mess of broken glass and a red-faced boy she sort of recognizes in its wake. She's quiet for a long moment after she notices the memorial because she doesn't want to intrude if he'd rather be alone.

In the end, concern wins out over politeness. "That's a really good picture of them."

[mistertwister]

"You can have it after, if ya want. I... don't know if I could take it home with me." I don't know if I deserve it.

Okie puts his hands together, twisting his fingers against each other.

"You knew 'em?"

[bubblegumheart]

"We could put it on the other memorial," she suggests instead, because as nice a gesture as that is, Chrissy isn't so sure she wants the reminder in her cabin.

She nods. "We're all from the same place. We weren't really friends before, but I think we were getting close here." It's a long, complicated story, and she's not entirely sure she wants to dump it on someone new.