dappledleaves | THE WORLD: PSL LIFE

[ Oh, wait. Sinclair doesn't know. Right. ]

She's kinda mentally unstable: never taking no for an answer, has moments of hallucinations and psychosis... all that stuff. She damaged Sora's eye despite how he was protecting her because of a psychotic episode she had.

[ Yup. That guy also has an eyepatch. Bora's older (adopted) brother is Sora, who was technically born as Iria's fraternal twin, which means the Seo family bought Sora off them from whatever deal Arvel made.

And this is why it's complicated. Oria and Sora don't like each other, but the reason for Sora's dislike is very much obvious now. ]

Oh.

[Sinclair takes a moment to process that. Then he squeezes Oria a little more. He'll keep petting Oria's hair, moving it to a gentle scalp massage. He had thought Bora was an acquaintance with a crush buf this adds all sorts of layers to that dynamic he could not figure out before]

...it does explain a lot about why she was...um.

[ He tries to think about it. He wonders if today opened up another thing that was meant to stay buried]

Normally a shy girl would prefer another girl to help her right? Not a guy...

[Not that Amelia was really a girl but Bora didn't know that]

We never dated, but she acts very much like a clingy, jealous ex that never lets go. I have to admit... she's part of the reason why I went to an all boy's institution for high school.

[ mrnghhhghgghhh ]

She always wants my attention, so it doesn't matter who else is around for the most part, except for Sora, who tries to shut it down at every chance he gets.

[ Which is a relief for Oria, but his dislike of Sora stems from a different place. It's fine. ]

I...see. In that light...

[ He'll pat Oria's hair...he feels bad for Oria but

Looks at him]

[ When he hears Sinclair's voice trail off, he finally unburies his face to look at him in the eyes... or, he tries. He doesn't have his glasses on and everything is gaussian blurred to hell. ]

What?

...I think you're going to have to work on your sense of personal space with people you don't actually like.

[That's as mildly as he can put it]

[ ... ... ...

Oria is trying to figure out what Sinclair means by that, and he is... not getting any ideas. Maybe he's just that tired? ]

I don't dislike her, but she's tiring to deal with. Also, I do that usually towards people I don't like already. Right?

[ Oria...how are you that oblivious to how your actions affect people. He taps Oria's nose]

Brushing her hair out of her face, running in to pick her up, saying all those nice things...most people would see that as flirting you know. Especially if they're not used to close contact with people their age.

Her hair looked like it was about to prick her eyes and it's not like she could walk properly, so I might as well pick her up, right? Bloody hell, she felt more like a child I had to coddle because I don't see her that way at all.

[ He grumbles and buries his face back into thr area above Sinclair's collarbones again. ]

[ Sinclair stifles a laugh and pets Oria's hair a little more]

I know you didn't mean anything by it...

When you actually flirt and accidentally flirt are really different. When you actually want to flirt, you use your words. Touching seems to come naturally to you but...Hm. I guess it was like how you kept touching me without saying things that would make me blush
after you rejected me.

[ talk about confusing signals for most people. Sinclair knew better but.. ]

Ah, there was that time with Nanase too...

Edited 2024-01-16 06:50 (UTC)

But she definitely got the wrong idea...or her wrong idea got intensified.

[ Oria stays quiet for a moment, his expression unreadable because Sinclair can't see his face. ]

Then what do you want me to do?

[ Sinclair frowns, wishing he could read Oria's expression ]

...I think you should try letting other people help her first. Letting her try to help herself first...that sort of thing. [ He doesn't like saying this at all, even if it's true. He doesn't want Oria to not-help people but..] Not that you should ignore it if people are cruel, but...Her brother must have been trying to look out for her at that party too. Having someone get him for her probably would have been better for both of you.

[There's also the fact that... they're all twenty or turning twenty now. If she can't manage herself now...it would be bad for her later]

[ It sure would be bad for her later!

Oria thinks about this. Why does he help her in the first place when he knows that it would give her the wrong idea? Of course he knows why, but he supposes there's also merit in ignoring her. It's a delicate balancing act. The feeling that her mental stability depends solely on him is quite the pressure, only because dealing with the fallout is something he doesn't want to bother with. ]

Alright.

[ Sinclair can probably feel Oria's body relaxing. He doesn't move otherwise. ]

I'll do that.

[ Sinclair presses a kiss to Oria's hair. It's probably all that can happen now so... hopefully Oria doesn't have pressure to continue to go out of his way to help.

Cruel to be kind. That sort of thing. He's quiet for a moment, absentmindedly petting Oria's hair]

Did you want to sleep now?

[ He'll get the lights...]

Mm... do I?

[ The hands at Sinclair's back move to his lower back— ]

Yeah, I do. Let's go to sleep.

[Sinclair strokes Oria's hair a little more]

Mn. I'll get the lights...

[Which means dislodging Oria briefly to handle that]

Okay.

[ He lets go of Sinclair so that he can do just that as he gets under the blanket. He hopes that he'll be less exhausted tomorrow.

By the time Sinclair returns to the bed, Oria will have already fallen asleep. ]

[Oh. Sinclair crawls back under the blankets to curl up with Oria and get him into a soothing sleep then. Hopefully they both feel better in the morning]

[ It's morning, and Oria doesn't really feel refreshed despite everything. He grumbles when he wakes at a normal morning time, does his morning routine and give Sinclair a quick cheek kiss before he leaves. When he returns, he seems tired again, borderline cranky. He eats, talks to Sinclair about Sinclair's day and then he sleeps.

This cycle happens for the next several days until a smaller technology convention is in the area that Limbus Company was also invited to attend for whatever reason. There are a lot of neat little gadgets and stuff to look at. Bots and stuff. Fascinating. If anything, it looks like a prototype museum. Oria was chosen to conduct a speech regarding today's technological advances, Timetrack's proposal, and all those things.

There are rumors Sinclair can hear. Despite Arvel dying, none of his things were passed down to Oria. Curious minds want to know, but the reason has always been the same: Oria had to earn it by displaying competency in the business world and overcome the competition. Not like everyone knew that though. Oria would usually dismiss the words, but when someone raises their hand and asks him exactly that, Oria smiles and answers candidly. It's only noticeable to people who know Oria well or people who are incredibly perceptive, but from that question, it looked as if his head was about to explode from the stress and sheer audacity of that question.

Thankfully, he kept it in. He has to.

The rumors only get even more malicious when they say that Oria tried to inherit by killing Arvel directly. For anyone who doesn't know what's going on behind the scenes, of course it would sound feasible and believable.

It's not the first time he's been subjected to things like this. Lenore's case was similar, but sometimes he feels something tighten around his neck. Maybe a phantom shock or two occurs. It becomes harder to breathe and harder to maintain the facade that he's completely fine.

To get the rumors away from being focused on him, Oria redirected the flow by letting the rumor mongering people get attached to one of the head of tech companies having an affair. Viciously. In front of everyone. As revenge for asking Oria such a question that he really didn't want to answer. Something so personal stemmed from an impersonal motive.

Breathe out.

Breathe in.

And scream—

Oria isn't found anywhere in his home after the convention. After a while, he is found but he skips dinner and becomes dead to the world while face down on the bed. ]

[ Sinclair had his "consultation" that day. It's absolutely terrifying and Sinclair is more circumspect about his temper; he hadn't ruined the mission but there was a clear reminder of what was expected out of him in the future.

... apparently "Amelia" might continue to be useful. Hm.

The technology convention is dull, and draining. Sinclair spends his time watching Faust shake out information from Timetrack employees while he scouts the concentration looking for signs of Abnormalities. Every rumor reaches him eventually, and it takes all he can to not start another incident. People give him some space after awhile and even Rodya tells him he needs to pull it together and to stop scaring people with his face. For Oria's sake if nothing else.

But he feels so helpless watching the CEO grill Oria... only for Oria to publicly tear strips off him in a way that was to cause a scandal. He wants to run after Oria, hang onto him but he gets pulled back. They were here for a job.

So Sinclair doesn't reach Oria's home until night, waving off the offer for dinner and heading up the stairs to check on Oria. He frowns, sitting on the bed, and reaching out to touch Oria's hair]

...Oria?

[ His glasses are next to him on the bed. Oria doesn't even lift his head when Sinclair runs a hand through his hair. All he does is make an affirming sound to acknowledge that Sinclair spoke to him.

At least his hair isn't gelled. ]

Edited 2024-01-16 23:00 (UTC)

[ He doesn't say anything immediately. He keeps petting Oria's hair]

...do you want to go somewhere? Away from here?

[ That gets Oria to turn around to look at Sinclair's face, though he can't really see much in the first place. ]

Sounds ideal, but I'd rather stay.

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