Oliver, Jessie and Syn are three students of Dalesport, New Jersey. They attend Dalesport Family Highschool, a private school for gifted students in the STEM field. They, being used to their calm days in Dalesport are taken aback when three nights in a row there are reports of veil breakage. They don't think much of it at first until things begin happening in, first, the city, next, the community park and finally, the school itself. They go to contact the hunters they know are already there, but it is found that those hunters have vanished under mysterious circumstances. Unable to reach any hunters in the tristate area they are forced to deal on their own. Whilst dealing withing their own work, they end up seeing more and more than just cryptids. They soon fall down a rabbit hole that shows them just what happened to the hunters and just what will happen to them if they aren't careful.
And the characters have a morning radio for this specific play every two weeks.
"Good Morning Dalesport, New Jersey. Today is a wonderful sunny day, a good eighty percent chance of rain for our folks here in Robert Township and about sixty percent in Somerset. Today will be a set seventy degrees with a high of eighty five and a low of sixty seven. Now time for our morning city welcome. // Dalesport. A wonderful community and family. A place for vacation, (sea noises), a place for life, (Family, celebration noises), and a place for- [redacted]. Enjoy your stay Dalesters. Sponsored by FamilyMart: The best market for- [redacted]."
Characters
Oliver Izayk
Trans Masc Enby (He/They/Ze) Mega Gay
Autistic Selective Mustism
Oliver is a quiet kid at school, keeping to zerself often. They have a digital database for all the cryptids they often see around New Jersey. From his findings, ze've learned that something is off about FamilyMarket. FamilyMarket is familiar to him, like home, he wonders why sometimes.
Has a poke and stick on his arm that says "solve et coagula" and a small birthmark on his back of New Jersey. Has a rubber band ball to stim with.
Jessie Deus
Trans Fem Girl (She/Her) T4T Bicurious
Dyslexia
Jessie is a conspiracy theorist who loves going on tangents about her new theories. She loves showing Oliver her evidence and Syn her ideas. They both enjoy listening and even adding on, sometimes she wonders how they know so much and sometimes where they came from.
Has an alien hair clip and a shirt that says "Super Sargasso Babe". Has a crop circle tattoo, doesn’t know where it came from.
Synphyne Felix
AMAB Enby (They/Xem) - T4T Girls Girls <3
ADHD
Synphyne, who goes by Syn, enjoys taking photographs of the many cryptids around New Jersey. Xe have plenty of photos but their favourite is of their friends. Everyone describes Syn as ethereal and angelic, xe take the compliment but sometimes can't tell when people from the church are being serious. Are they?
Has a back pack with a rabbits foot charm and a jar of white 4 leaved clovers, the jar has old Latin on it. Has two marks on her back. Hyperfixiates on Christian symbology and paraphernalia.
Lucile Debello
Agender (Xe/Zem/Ver) - Asexual Masc Leaning
ADHD Autism
Lucile is an intelligent person with plenty of charm and kindness to zem. The rival mathlete to Oliver, xe enjoys a good challenge. Xe also loves Cain dearly, wolf is the only person xe doesn't manipulate. Ze always carries around a book, ze never lets anyone else touch it, everyone wonders what the book is. Syn however wants nothing to do with it, they wonder why sometimes. There's a lot of things to wonder about Lucile.
Has a cuff with Cain's name on it, it is etched with several sigils and old Latin with other dead languages. Has mental and motor tics, most of them imitating Cain or birds. Hair naturally sticks up in a horn shape, he ignores it.
Cain is the definition of a dog boy. He is actually a werewolf, only Lucile knows and actually thinks its nice that he's a werewolf. Cain often stays in the forest at night, wolf doesn't like to be inside for too long so Lucile lets wolf stay in at minimum xer backyard where wolf won't be disturbed. Cain doesn't know Lucile loves him.
Has a collar/choker with Lucile's Latin signature on it, the collar does not have a leash attachment. Also has a comfort jacket that smells like outside and howls to vocal stim.
Ness Locke
Voidgender ( /[redacted]/ey/x) - Aro Ace
Autism
Ness is a quiet person who works in the town Archive (Library) and FamilyMarket. Ness enjoys peace and quiet as well as rainy days on the beach. Ness tends to avoid people and danger, not going on any adventures with the trio nor interacting with Lucile.
Has a jacket with the Locke Ness monster on it and always smells like the beach. Has a sea glass hour glass as a visual stim.
Halloween was Becca’s absolute favorite holiday -- a chance to dress up as her favorite fictional characters, a night to play pretend, full of decorations and treats and everything her heart could desire. Only this year, her heart had sunk at the prospect of spending the night tied to Oliver. Things just hadn’t been the same since their completely rubbish attempt at having sex, and she didn’t know how to break through the awkwardness of it. Sometimes, Becca felt like she’d pressured him into something he didn’t really want, and like her rushing their physical relationship had ruined everything. Now it felt like they were going through the motions of a relationship that neither of them quite knew what to do with anymore, so the announcement that Halloween was a hidden masquerade instead had been welcome. She’d dressed up in an outfit completely out of the ordinary for her, a superhero instead of a character from one of her favorite books, and she proudly entered the hall, head held high. She’d take tonight on her own, to enjoy herself and to just forget about all the expectations people had of her... and she’d start by tossing her lasso of truth confidently at the first costumed person she saw, trying to sound confident as she teased, “Good evening, good sir! Would you like to be the first person in the room to dance with the world’s blondest Wonder Woman?”
It had been a week since her birthday. Kira was headed a bit north to meet with the alpha she had met at her party. She wouldn’t deny that she was a bit nervous. It was the first time that she had really interacted with other wolves besides Oliver. As she approached the area they discussed, she noticed someone different than who she met previously. “Hi, I’m here to meet Syrus. To talk about the Tantalascar.” She felt a bit shy in front of a person who she had never met before. She could tell by scent that she was a wolf as well.
“He’ll be here in just a moment. He had a problem in the pack he’s dealing with.” Kira nodded and laced her hands together as she now knew that she’d be waiting for a moment. “So you’re the new recruit?” She felt her eyes look over her. Judgement clear on her expression. “Figures.” She scoffed and shook her head.
“S-” She paused wondering why this woman was already being snarky with her. “Sorry, what?”
“He prefers submissive little pups like you anyways.”
Kira didn’t know how to react, let alone respond. Why was this so odd? Before she could figure out how to reply, she saw Syrus come up from the distance. She better just keep quiet until he was there.
“Sorry to keep you ladies waiting. I hope you got a long oka-” He paused as he looked around for a moment. His jaw clenched and he diverted a suddenly enraged glare to Kira. “I thought I made it clear that you needed to come alone. That our invitations aren’t for just any mutt.” His voice clamoring.
Kira flinched at the sudden hostility. She had even back up a step, feeling incredibly inferior to the alpha in front of her. “I- I didn’t I swear. It’s only just me!” She tried to reason.
“Damien.” He called out into the woods, but Kira didn’t understand what was happening. It wasn’t until she saw another man step into her vision run into the woods, to return with Oliver and bring him to her side.
Notes: The rescue mission is in full swing as a battle between the hunters and the ladies continues. All the while the captured trio are rescued.
Riley turned back towards the barn when she heard Alex scream and rushed inside. Thankfully Nina had already reacted and took down the hunter that nearly got Alex. She walked over to Nina and looked at the hunter being suffocated to death. She didn’t feel an ounce of pity for him. “Not so fun now, huh?” she asked the hunter before walking toward the other hunter Nina had knocked out to make sure he didn’t try to get up and pull the same stunt.
Alex watched out of the corner of her eye as Nina killed the hunter that was going to attack her as she made her way over to the three. Going to Vivian first since she was the closest to her and she pulled the knife out of her pocket before starting to work at the ropes. “Are you guys okay?” Alex asked as she moved behind Vivian’s chair and started working at the ropes on that were binding her hands. Applying more weight as she moved the knife back and forth to try and make this go quicker, the ropes started to give. When they finally snapped and realized Vivian’s hands Alex moved onto the next.
The flashbang did it’s job on the hunters, while also somewhat disoriented Vivian in the process. But the moment Alex walked through the door, she sighed in relief. “Yeah we’re fine. We’ll be fine.” Vivian’s response was somewhat muffled by the swollen lip she was now sporting, but it really didn’t matter. As soon as her hands were free, she reached down to untie her legs. Once they had been released, she stood up and took a tentative step, but pain instantly shot through her leg and forced her back down on the chair. “Son of a bitch!”
Nina kicked his lifeless corpse for good measure, making sure he was, in fact, dead. Once she was sure he wouldn’t be coming back to attack anyone else, she hated towards the others. She watched as Vivian stood, but sat back down. She rushed over to see if she was okay. “Is there anything I can do? Just tell me how I can help you, Vivian,” she said, now that the fight was quiet inside.
Riley walked over to join everyone. “Everyone in one piece?” she asked as she approached. She focused on Vivian. “How bad is it? I can’t exactly heal you but I can help you walk.”
Moving to Dylan next Alex noticed her shoulder. “I’m sorry but this is going to hurt like a bitch.” Putting the knife to the rope as she started to work on it more, she quickly moved it trying her best to not further injure Dylan. Finally getting the ropes undone and she pulled them off Dylan’s wrists before moving to Oliver so she could get his ropes off.
Dylan: Dylan was laser focused on the one remaining hunter that was unconscious but still breathing - albeit with trouble as it was the one Oliver had headbutted. “It’s fine Alex. I’m glad to see you,” she told her sister as she felt the bonds fall from her wrists. She rubbed at them then untied her legs and stood, wobbled her first couple of steps and steadied as she went toward the man on the floor. She waited for magic that didn’t come, but she didn’t care. She was determined to break his neck if that’s what needed to be done. “Too bad he’s not going to be awake to see it coming,” she muttered, lips pulled back into a sneer and eyes blazing with unrivaled hatred as she neared him.
“Yeah I’m alright. I…help walking will be nice. We can worry about actual healing later. I just want to get out of here.” She started to stand again when she noticed Dylan stalking toward the last hunter. Vivian knew exactly what Dylan had in mind and she took a wobbly step forward. They needed this one alive. He might be able to help them find Morgan if Tess couldn’t do it. If anything he’d be able to give them more information about the hunters in general. “Dylan, wait! We can’t kill him! We have to take him back so we can get information from him.”
Nina planned to help Riley with Vivian before she saw the two interact. With the commotion going on about saving one of the hunters, she noticed from the corner of her eye another holding his head, but making his way into the barn. She pushed him up against the nearest wall. The air holding him there. “Who wants him? I think one of you deserves to take a crack at him.” And she hoped it’d be Dylan because that’d be fucking hot to see, but if no one took him out, she’d happily do the honors.
Riley: Riley held onto Vivian when she stood up and took a step towards Dylan, making sure the other woman wouldn’t fall over. “Vivian has a point, Dyl. I kinda wanna know what’s up with the whole snatching bullshit.” She looked at Nina and the hunter. “Kill that one instead Dyl, he’s obviously a little too dense to interrogate if he seriously thought it was a good idea to waltz in here.”
Alex noticed Oliver’s shoulder and she frowned for a second before she started to work at his ropes, she tried to be as gentle as possible. Using the knife to cut enough of the rope away, she started to use her hands at that point to get him untied. Not caring a bit if it knocked out her magic, she just wanted to get him untied. “Here.” Handing the knife to Dylan as she finished getting Oliver’s hands untied, she stood up. She walked around so she was facing Oliver, she looked down at his feet. “Do you need me to help or do you have it?”
At the sound of the door Oliver looked up from the guy he had just headbutted to see Alex, he felt both relieved to confirm that she was well and worried that she hadn’t called, Paladins or Wards hell even guards and was instead doing the rescue herself, putting herself in harms ways. He struggled against his restraints as he watched the wards move towards her, when Alex dropped the flashbombs, he closed his eyes and tried to use his ears to keep up with what was happening as his sight adjusted. He was trying to keep himself straight but the pain on his shoulder after being strained like that for so long hept him leaning on his side, he tried not to grunt or complain too much as Alex cut the ropes, wincing and groaning as his arm returned to its natural position. “Alex.” He breathed out nodding for her to help him as he untied his foot with his good arm, once he was free he stood up and wrapped his arm around her while leaning into her for support as he regained his balance, his eyes moving around the room making sure besides them no one else was injured. “Thanks for coming.” He said smiling down at Alex.
Dylan turned her rage on Vivian for stopping her, barely hearing the rationale. Before she could make her displeasure be known, the other hunter stumbled in and Nina had him pinned like a particularly ugly specimen in a bug collection. “Fine. I’m killing that one.” She took the knife from Alex as she passed and stood in front of the hunter, now more aware of his situation and looking around frantically. “Should I gut you?” she asked, poking the tip of the knife into his belly. “No, that’s too good. Lift him up a bit, sweetheart, and hold his head for me,” she said, turning to Nina. The air witch obliged and Dylan waved a hand to stop her when the hunter’s feet were a few inches off the ground. His eyes widened in terror as he rose from the ground. “I don’t even need my magic for this. Believe me, it’s going to hurt you much, much more than it will me.” She drew the knife across his throat, ignoring the pulsing spurts of blood that rushed out. She did it again, and a third time, severing trachea, tendons and spine, until the body fell to the floor. The head stayed in place, the face twisted in shock. Kneeling she pulled off the protective vest and cut open the shirt with the knife, exposing his chest. She drew a line with forked lines at the bottom. Turned the other way, with the forks at the top, it was a rune of protection, one of the few she knew well. This way it was a warning. She cleaned the blade on the dead man’s shirt and stood. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Vivian saw the rage in Dylan’s eyes and was about to argue when Dylan stopped and said she would kill the other one. “That works just fine for me. But this one stays alive.” She pointed to the other one before watching as Dylan killed the hunter that had just stumbled in. She folded her arms across her chest and arched an eyebrow when Dylan started to carve a rune into the now dead hunter’s chest. “The far left line isn’t long enough.” Dylan turned back to face her with a look that very clearly said 'Really?’ before rolling her eyes and adding a small portion to the line. “What? It has to be right otherwise it won’t mean the same thing.” With only one hunter left alive and their warning message taken care of, Vivian nodded tried to walk on her own before holding out her arm for help. “Yeah let’s go. I’m tired of this fucking place. I need some help walking and then someone will need to carry him out.”
Nina had obliged Dylan’s wishes, watching in awe as the woman expertly killed the hunter, leaving her with the floating head. Her stance on Dylan being the hot one was completely amplified even more, because that was the hottest thing she’d ever seen. She let the head fall then, hearing Vivian mention carrying the sole hunter. She watched as Dylan helped the woman walk. “I’ve got him. Resident air witch at your service.” Nina said, lifting the man with the air to carry him out of the barn as they left.
Riley: Riley squinted as she watched Dylan have at it with the other hunter. A bit more gruesome than she was expecting but she couldn’t say she blamed Dylan. Once they were set to go she headed out of the barn with everyone else.
Alex: Alex helped Oliver quickly get his feet untied and she sighed when he hugged her. Putting her mouth to his car for a moment as she wrapped her arms around his waist. “If you ever do this to me again I’ll murder you myself Norwood.” Looking at him with eyes warning him to test her before her face softened, she placed a peak against his lip. “You’re welcome though.” Keeping her arms around him as she turned to look at Dylan, she cringed at the blood rushing out. Looking down for a moment as she walked, she helped Oliver along the way. Looking back at Nina, she couldn’t help but wonder if she saw the events from earlier with whatever the hell was going on with her. Turning her head back as they walked out of the barn, she held tightly onto Oliver. “I think we could all use a drink after tonight.”
Oliver: Oliver watched as Dylan killed the hunter and carved a rune on his chest, he was so glad this was all over, there was nothing more he wanted but get healed, get his magic back, take a shower and be with Alex just being glad they had survived, for a moment he had thought he wouldn’t be able to see her again, the relief he felt had him reaching for Alex’s hands with his uninjured arm as they walked out. As Everyone walked out he rushed to his truck opening the latch so Nina could lay the hunter on the bed of his truck. He saw movement out of the corner of his eyes and looked up just in time to watch a car passby, the guy at the wheel was dressed like the hunters but it was the woman that caught his attention, it couldn’t be… Could it? No, he could hardly remember what she looked like… not by memory at least but the moment his eyes laid on the woman in the car it was… “Mom?” He said to himself even though for years whenever he had been forcing of talking about her he had only referred to her as mother or she/her, he was still to shocked to even realize what he was doing but his feet we already moving, taking one step, then another and another after the car, picking up in speed.
Dylan: Dylan had an arm around Vivian’s waist helping support her as they walked to the truck. As she helped Vivian into the back seat, she heard Oliver say something and start toward the road as if in a trance. “Oliver?” she called after him. When he didn’t respond she went after him pulling on his arm. “Come on, we have to go before more come. Let’s go.” She kept pulling but it was no use. She still didn’t have her magic, so she turned to Nina. “Nina, I need a hand here.”
Nina eased the hunter into the bed of Oliver’s truck. She wanted to flat out drop him hard, but she didn’t want to risk him waking. She was tired and she didn’t know if she had that much air magic left in her after she’d given it all she had multiple times to defeat these hunters. Just as she’d let the hunter down, yet again fuckery was afoot. She heard Oliver call out to his mother. She saw him moving toward the car and picking up speed. All it took was Dylan telling her to give her a hand and she was on it. She concentrated, quickly dropping the atmospheric pressure around him so that he couldn’t breathe. She knew that he would pass out quickly. When she watched him fall, she floated him back to the truck so that he could join the hunter taking his little nap as well. She was ready to get the hell out of there.
The full moon glistened while Kira padded her paws through the woods. It had been the first full moon that she hadn’t had Oli’s company, and she couldn’t deny that it felt kind of lonely. She didn’t like being a lone wolf. Not at all really. As she was walking she paused and lowered her nose to the ground once she caught a scent. Without thinking she started to follow it, until she realized that maybe he didn’t want to be found, The pup’s ears fell back as she let out whine with she tried to decide what to do. Finally after letting out a little huff she started to let her nose lead the way.
When she had found where he was, it made her heart sink a bit. He had been nestled in the same fox hole that they spent their first night together in. Stepping to the entrance to the hole, she lowered her head inside of it and let out a little chuckle. Things were still really weird. She hadn’t talked to him since he had left her house but she decided to speak any ways. “Hey,” she said quietly, ears tucked down, not exactly sure of how he’d react. “Um, room for two?”
Ronnie clocked out and left Mercury labs, content with where he had left his work after a long day working on a malfunctioning piston. The work was welcomed, however, as it served as a distraction from personal things that had been weighing heavily on his mind; personal things he hoped Ollie would be able to put to ease. The bar was on the corner, which made for a short walk, and thankfully the setting was more of a dive than a fancy place since he was in his khakis and a plaid button down he pulled on to hide his greasy tshirt. He rolled the sleeves as he entered the door, glad he didn't get carded since he had yet to handle the whole coming back from the dead on record business with the state. He had arrived first, but knew Oliver wouldn't be long, so he bellied up on the corner with a sigh, ordering a beer as his nervously fidgeted with a flimsy, paper coaster. He was going to be a Dad, and he didn't know what the hell he was going to do. @themanbeneaththehood
TAGGING → Princess Becca of Corona & Prince Oliver of Arendelle
TIMELINE → Monday, October 24
SETTING → Auradon Preparatory School
SUMMARY → After a cute day of kissing is cut short, Becca and Oliver see each other and discuss what they are now.
Oliver was nervous walking into school, more nervous and more excited than he'd been in a really long time. Yesterday with Becca, kissing in the snow, it felt like a miracle. If her father hadn't called her home, he probably could've done that forever, and the goofy love-struck look on his face hadn't gone away as he ambled into school. He couldn't tell if people were looking at him more than usual after the stunt from the tourney game - he had his eyes peeled for Becca and Becca only, and every time he saw a blonde girl his heart started hammering against his chest violently until it wasn't her. He didn't know how to act like a couple at school, or if it'd even be okay to kiss her again in front of so many people, or if she'd woken up this morning and come to her senses about him not being good enough for her. So many thought, most which felt like worries, were only buzzing around the edges of a totally content symphony of emotions that came to a crescendo when he saw her, the actual real Becca, at her locker. He thought he'd feel more embarrassed, more awkward, about seeing her after what they did, but instead he found himself smiling hugely and hurrying towards her, where she appeared to be fixing the inside of her locker. He saw the photo of them together and his heart swelled up even more and instincts took over. He reached out without thinking and tapped her shoulder. "Hey," he grinned, waiting for her to turn to face him before unthinkingly reaching to plant a kiss on her forehead.
Becca couldn't believe that an event that had started out so completely rotten had managed to become the catalyst for one of the best days of her whole entire life. She'd spent far too much of Saturday fuming about how Blake had stolen what she'd wanted to badly to be her moment, but Sunday the sun had streamed through her windows, her phone had vibrated with a text from Oliver, and suddenly, everything had started to turn around. Becca was sure that her mom had seen right through her bright smile and furious journal-scribbling when she'd get home, but Rapunzel hadn't asked her daughter any questions -- unlike her nosy father -- and that had been a blessing. Becca's lips still felt like they were tingling even hours after the kissing had ceased, and she'd done her best to capture the perfect memory without interruption, to immortalize it forever between the pages of her journal. When bedtime had come, she'd been sure she'd have sweet dreams of her sweet prince all night through, but instead she'd tossed and turned for hours, realizing that her father summoning her home had kept her from asking one very important question: what happened next? She'd been told to be careful, to be practical, to not get in over her head... and yet she'd done exactly that, falling hopelessly for a boy when she hadn't even asked if he wanted her to be his girlfriend yet. Becca was sure she looked awful, all baggy-eyed and sleepless, but she'd shrugged off her worries as best she could, pinning a picture of Oliver to the inside of her locker and humming to herself, dwelling on all the good instead of worrying about a vague, potential bad that might never even come. She whirled around on the spot at the feeling of his hand on her shoulder, her limbs working faster than her brain as she tilted her head up for the forehead kiss and wrapped her arms around him in a loose hug. "Hey, you!" Becca said brightly, her the widest of smiles on her face at the sight of him. Whatever overthinking she'd been doing whooshed away, and her cheeks tinted red as she thought about how nice it would be to kiss him again, right here in the hallway. Was that allowed, though? He'd kissed her on the forehead, but that wasn't the same, and instead of standing on her tippy-toes to press her lips to his, she asked lamely, "Um, how are you?"
Oliver smiled widely at the sight of Becca's face beaming up at him. "I'm amazing," he laughed, his arms still loosely around her from the hug. "How are you? How was the dinner with your dad?" Oliver asked with a grin on his face, now completely oblivious to anything else in the hallway other than him and Becca.
Becca might have been aware of the eyes of her classmates on them as they passed if she'd been hugging anyone else right now, but with Oliver, the whole world seemed to melt around her, until they were the only two people there. "Um, totally random!" she blurted out without thinking. "I still don't get why he needed me back home in such a hurry, it's like he's a mindreader or something and knew that his little girl was spending all afternoon kissing the cutest boy in Auradon and he just wanted to ruin the fun." A week ago, Becca's face would have been flaming red from saying something like that to him, but they were past that point now, weren't they? Instead of blushing, she pouted, thinking about the lost hours she could have been spending with Oliver instead. "How about you? Did you have a good rest of the night? Did your parents suddenly turn into weirdos who wanted you to have a family dinner even when your sibling wasn't there, too?"
Oliver couldn't help biting his lip at the mention of yesterday's kissing session. He hadn't expected to fall into a routine of that with Becca so easily- perhaps because his only experience before, with Blake, was so awkward - but it had really become the best experience he could ask for, especially if it meant conversations like this and getting a smile like that from her were the new normal. "Weird but doubtful," he commented with a smile. "Parents aren't that in tune with that sort of stuff, my dad had no clue," he promised. "I mean, he doesnt yet, but I'm sure he'll figure it out at a family dinner when we have one. We're still doing that, right?"
Becca scrunched her nose up at the thought of what would have happened if Oliver's dad had found them outside kissing in the snow. That probably hadn't been the best spot for it, but the magical winter wonderland had been the first place they'd really spent any time together; it had felt right, to have their first kiss be out there in the blanket of white. "Oh my gosh, would your dad have like... tried to chase me off with a broom, or do you think he would have been one of those dads who like whooped and cheered? Because I'm really not sure which one would have made me want to be buried in a snow drift for the next year more," Becca teased, realizing that they were still in their half-hug position. Her old self-consciousness flared back up without even thinking about it, and she quickly took a step back, smacking her head on the back of her locker. "Ow," she hissed, raising her hand up to rub the back of her head then trying to go back to the conversation as if she hadn't just been a total clutz. "Um, yeah, totally! Totally, I'd love to do that," Becca assured him, the smile right back on her face even though there was still a dull throb in the back of her head. "So, um... at these family dinners, they're going to figure out..." Becca sucked in a deep breath, not exactly sure how to ask her next question. "Um, what are they figuring out exactly?"
Oliver scrunched his nose up in thought, honestly not sure how his father would have reacted. "I have no clue. It's not like we've been through this with Richard. I can't imagine him saying anything at the time anyway. If he told Mom, though, we would so get the whooping and cheering. She really likes you, " Oliver confided, grinning until Becca hit her head on the lockers. "You okay?" he asked, eyebrows knitting with concern that her next question replaced with anxiety. Had he expected too much? Read the signs wrong? Did they want different things? Did she not consider them as together as he did? "Uh, you know. Figuring this out. Us." He pointed a finger between them. "I mean, we are an us, right? Or am I being way out there?"
Becca wondered if her parents had ever gone through this sort of thing with Jules, but she was fairly certain they hadn't. Jules was so private; if she'd started to fall for someone, hard and fast, Becca doubted the first thing she'd want to do would be bring them home to meet Flynn and Rapunzel. "Oh, Beast, I'm sure my parents will both be nice, but Jules... I really hope she's off in Wonderland or wherever it is she goes all the time." Becca raised her hands up to pull her hair over one shoulder, tugging on the ends nervously. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I just wasn't... I mean, I had to leave so fast yesterday, we didn't get to talk about... um, about whatever we are now." Becca ducked her head for a second, watching as she scuffed the toe of her shoe across the linoleum. "I want to be, I just didn't want to assume anything, just in case -- um, I mean, I hoped you weren't just one of those people who wanted a kissing friend or something, but then I, um... oh my gosh, I sound totally crazy for even worrying about this, don't I?"
Oliver shrugged. "I can get along with parents when I need to, don't worry, " he smiled, wondering vaguely what meeting the elusive Jules would be like. "It's funny that we can meet each other's parents but probably won't meet each other's siblings for a while. Yours is always out, mine's always locked in." Oliver looked down when she did on reflex, then back up at her as she went on. "No, oh my Beast, you don't sound crazy at all! I was worrying about the same thing!" His mouth twitched nervously as she brought into direct question what they were. "I don't just want a kissing friend, you know. I was thinking something more like...a girlfriend? Does that sound - I mean, we have a date coming up and I don't really want to date anyone else. I want to get to know you more and see you all the time and, well, kiss sometimes, because we're good at that. " He ducked his head and laughed. "I mean, that sounds like a girlfriend to me. Is that what you want or....?"
Becca quirked an eyebrow at Oliver, having a hard time imagining anyone not liking him. "Maybe I'm biased because I already do, but I'm sure they'll lo -- " Becca blushed, realizing that maybe she shouldn't throw that kind of word around now, with the way their relationship was evolving. She told her friends she loved them all the time, but this was more than a friendship situation now, wasn't it? "I mean, I'm sure they'll adore you." Becca tried to relax; she'd never felt this nervous around him before, and she was sure once they were on the same page again and had a little practice navigating, it would be right back to her usual level of comfort and happiness. She was just too scared to mess anything up so soon that she felt a little bit like walking on eggshells. "We were really good at that part, weren't we?" Becca giggled in spite of herself, licking her lips without realizing she'd done it. "I'll have to tell Blake I'm better at it than he is -- wait, I was better at it, right?" she squeaked. Becca clasped her hands together in front of her to stop from her anxious fiddling. "I can't think of anything in the world I want more right now than to be your girlfriend." Becca's heart thudded against her ribcage, but at least with that question finally answered, it was easier for her to smile again, relaxing in his presence as she quipped, "Is that okay by you, boyfriend?"
Oliver found his eyes flickering to her lips when she licked them and had to pull focus back to her eyes. They were talking about something important, he couldn't be so easily distracted. There was plenty of time for kissing later. "Yeah, we were," he still had to agree though, laughing out loud when she asked if she was better than Blake. "Better is an understatement," he promised, knowing he'd happily kiss Becca so many more times while there were very few situations that would ever make him kiss Blake again. His chest swelled up at the word "boyfriend" coming out at him and he could scarcely believe it. "The most okay thing there ever was. I mean, better than okay! Amazing! Um, I'm not really good at that talking thing right now, am I?" he laughed nervously. "Can I kiss you again instead? I feel like I'd be better at that right now."
Becca giggled; it was comforting to see that Oliver was as nervous about all of this as she was. It was a completely new situation, a first for both of them, and that just made it even more special in her eyes. "You're cute when you ramble," she promised him, taking a step closer. She felt the sense of anticipation building in the pit of her stomach; now that she knew what it was like to kiss him, she couldn't wait for the moment when their lips connected. "I actually think you might have found the one thing that would make me just as happy as you being my boyfriend," Becca admitted, not realizing her voice had dropped to a husk as she reached up to place her hands on his shoulders. She was glad that she didn't have her books in her hands; if kissing him today felt anything like it had yesterday, she knew she'd need something to steady her when the giddy, lightheaded feeling took over. Becca pushed herself up onto tiptoes, not carrying that they were in the middle of a crowded hallway as she closed the distance and pressed her lips against his, as soft and tentative as she had yesterday as she prayed that the magic hadn't somehow disappeared overnight.
