dappledleaves | THE WORLD: PSL LIFE

[ 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.

[ Sinclair just takes that moment to lay down with Oria and draw him into a hug]

Mm. Then we'll stay.

[ Oria puts his glasses back on because he wants to see Sinclair's face as he returns the hug. ]

Hellscape, but I'm fine living out a sunk-cost fallacy. Also because you're here with me.

Living out a sunk-cost fallacy doesn't seem healthy...

[ Sinclair's cheeks colour a little but he hugs Oria firmly. Luckily his bruises are literally just on his shoulder]

But you get to keep me for the rest of the night.

Nothing after that, huh? I guess you'll really be going soon...

[ He should have spent more time with Sinclair, but his mood really wasn't having it. ]

Mm. I'll have to move out tomorrow afternoon.

[ He admits, shrugging a little. He wishes he had more time. But even when he did, Oria didn't]

We'll be at sea I think. A few weeks at least.

I hope you're not the type to get seasick. A few weeks, huh? And you leave tomorrow too.

[ Oria sighs and hugs him tighter. ]

I'll miss you.

I'm not...[ But well. Sinclair nuzzles into Oria's shoulder with a huff]

But I probably wont be able to get any messages out from there.

Yeah. It's pretty much impossible to get a signal in the middle of nowhere.

[ He takes the time to think. ]

Tomorrow afternoon... Taking a plane back to Seattle? Or are you guys using a nearby port?

[He's going to lose his mind with boredom]

We're using a nearby port. It's why we've been stationed here for so long...they were getting the ship ready.

Maybe we should use the time to buy some books before you leave.

[ Oria knows that Sinclair would be bored out of his mind unless his coworkers drag him to do something. Nonetheless, he figures Sinclair would have a lot of downtime on a ship. ]

[Sinclair brightens a little, hugging Oria a little more]

Yeah, I'd like that.

Alright.

[ Oria lets go of Sinclair and sits up. ]

Let's hurry before the bookstores start closing. It's already nighttime.

Huh? Oh, sure...

[ Sinclair blinks, thrown for a moment but he's agreeable enough]

The shops are pretty far from here though?

Hm? Don't worry about that.

[ Oria may be exhausted, but he's still thinking about Sinclair anyway. He hates boredom, so he would want to alleviate it for him as much as he can.

He grabs Sinclair's hand and pulls him over, running towards the driveway. They're taking his car and he is so ready to drive. ]

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