My better self was always born tomorrow (open)

[ring_for_giles]

Who: Giles & you!
When: Early - mid September
Where: Various
Warnings: The usual changeling warnings + depression



As nights became obsessed with introspection (redbud, purple hyacinth) [Bobby B's]

What had meant to be a quiet evening to himself with a good book for company has quickly become something far more melancholy. He's ensconced himself in a back corner of Bobby B's, book long since forgotten as he stares out into space. Pen in one hand as if he might write in his notebook at any moment, though he hasn't found any words to write beyond the first line, put to by rote more than by thought. His other hand rests on the side of his neck, holding something hidden beneath his collar.

Should anyone approach, he hurriedly returns the notebook to his pocket. But a brief glimpse of the words 'My dearest Dot, might well be spotted before he does so.

The days a contravention of reflection (protea, ivy) [Library]

Mr Ainsel, the little black and white cat that haunts the library, is a little more insistent than usual. Meowing loudly at anyone that crosses its path, and slamming full-bodied into anyone it has more than a passing familiarity with. Demanding pats. And snuggles. And treats. And anything else it could possibly get.

Within the id a stranger I did form [Around]

He doesn't know where he is, well, having explored the place rather thoroughly he knows he's a ship. But he still doesn't know its destination, or how he got here. There's two logical explanations, either Oswald decided on a last minute trip to America or the like, or he let Dot talk him into something inadvisable again.
His money's on the latter.
Now if he could just find either of them, or anyone else he knows, everything might start to feel a little less... uncanny.

To any onlookers, it's almost as if there's a new passenger aboard. One that may look passingly familiar if not quite right. Like Giles, if he were entirely human, if he had dark brown eyes rather than piercing green, and if he were more than a foot shorter.

During the day, he moves between standing out on the deck, watching the ocean and trying not to think too hard about what exactly is going on, and searching the library for a single non-fiction book.

In the evening, he gravitates towards Stan the Man. Where he sits with a fancy cocktail he isn't really drinking, and pretends that he's perfectly fine. He'd much rather retire early, but he doesn't know what his sleeping arrangements are any more than how he got here, and if, as he suspects, he's not here for work, then it's where he'll be expected to be.

A lily on the waters of a storm (Wildcard)

Come find me in the discord if you want to plot something else out!

Comments

[ossie_oswald]

Ossie has never been very good at denying himself what he wants. Only with Giles. Only because he couldn't have him. And now he does. He longs to shed the ruse entirely, to reveal all that they've already done, the oaths they've made to each other, and joy of having Giles in his life. That never-ending joy, the pleasure that one can never adjust to. His the way his own heart is, not a possession but as one part of a whole.

He knows he has to tread carefully, but... not too carefully. Thank the Wyrd for the now-familiar taste of glamour radiating from him. Would that he could press his mouth to it.

"You're fish-fed and astute enough that I thought you would have had the whole thing... you know, puzzled out by now," even though he knows Giles never did.

"You mean the world to me. And there's no person alive I would rather have here with me."

He lays his hand out, palm-up.

[ring_for_giles]

It's that simple, is it really that simple?

If he thinks any harder he's going to talk himself out of it. Better just to act.

He steps forward, one hand coming to rest in Ossie's open palm. Half-moon indents visible on the back of it. Other hand brushing against Ossie's cheek, finding a home on the back of his neck.

And, before he has the chance to talk himself out of it, he leans in. His lips meeting Ossie's. Gentle, and filled with a confidence he doesn't really have

[ossie_oswald]

It always is. You'd be amazed at what they let you get away with. Ossie's already smiling by the time Giles kisses him. There's no need to act through it. Whether or not the kiss has any resemblance to Dorian is the least of his concerns. Ossie just wants him.

When they separate, he grins in that idiot way he used to back in the day, when the corners of his eyes could still wrinkle.

"I had an excess of time to think about what I'd say if I saw you again. Or, well, I can only assume I did. I'm sorry I didn't do a better job of it all."

[ring_for_giles]

"You were perfect."

He kisses Ossie again, just because he can. Because he wants desperately, wants everything he can get, but he must have some restraint. Not least because this is Dimitri's cabin and he should be coming back in the near future.

"How many people have you told about me?" Giles asks before he can stop himself, an idea worming its way into his head. A way to deal with the two halves of his life clashing from the opposite direction than he was expecting.

[ossie_oswald]

A genuine flush creeps over his face.

"Er... well, I mean-" he does a sort of shaky hand movement.

"Everyone I've met? Which is, as you may expect... quite a number of our fellows aboard."

[ring_for_giles]

"Of course you have."

The fondness is clear in his voice, even if it's tinged with the very slightest hint of disappointment.

"I had a... passing thought, let's say. That perhaps we could pretend our stations weren't quite so different for a while, since no-one else is retaining staff." He brushes back an errant curl from Ossie's face, "But that hardly matters, sir."

He'll just have to fall back on the original plan: explain everything to 'Dorian' and beg him to hope he'll play along and keep the secret, or at the very least that he won't bring the house of cards toppling down on Dot as well.