lovelacksu:
Oscar has always been a man in love, though it was never in the typical way. He has always loved control, loved power, loved the delicate brush of words that could make people dance to his whims, and, of course, loved himself. But the loss of that control was never something welcome and Oscar certainly never invited it in. But the universe never learned to listen to him, and so the word that met his ear in that old alley was the most unwelcome thing he had heard in a very long time.
It was a split second decision, one made with very little conscious thought. He turned, bringing up Oscar’s preferred smile for the media and the unpleasant. “Sorry, I’m afraid you’ve mistaken me for somebody else. I’m Oscar,” he reintroduced himself, extending his hand with the confidence of only the very rich. “I’ve been told I have one of those faces though, so I won’t hold that mistake against you.” That was a joke, though it came out flat and wrong through the worry that dominated Oscar’s mind.
He laughed, trying to play off the awkwardness, though that was one of those aspects that never changed, no matter the mask. “I can’t say I’ve seen you before, though I don’t commonly hang around in alleys. It’s been a bit of a bad day for me.”
he still remembered the fire like it was yesterday. it was one of the few things he’d remembered completely from back then - he’d lost everything in that fire, although he didn’t have much to begin with. all he could remember was that he didn’t care that all of his things had gone, he’d only been screaming a name he still remembered - a name he’d chosen to forget since then.
he should have known it was impossible. clive had died in that fire, after all - but what he was seeing in front of his eyes, sober as day, was that very same face he used to dream of, name still sweet on his tongue.
“i - right. sorry,” he began anyway, ready to take this man’s word for what it was for a brief moment, but his feet didn’t want to seem to leave him there. even the voice, god, that voice, almost sounded like something too familiar and he couldn’t give it up now without asking just once more.
“look, i know this sounds...ridiculous, but you look exactly like someone i used to know. i just - are you sure...?” he frowned, “i used to be a lot skinnier back then. probably looked like shit, too, maybe that’s why you don’t remember me. vincent? vincent delgado?”