(Untitled)

[oliverplus]

Who: Oliver Day (oliverplus) and Sebastian Flyte (fruitbrandy)
Where: Oliver's favourite pub in Gondolla and presumably a bar in Oxford
When: Sometime after their first conversation
What: Oliver and Sebastian have a surprise (and accidental) meeting off the Plane
Warnings: Alcohol and male bonding

Comments

[oliverplus]

Luckily for Sebastian, Oliver didn't ask for an explanation as he was already too busy being confused by everything else he'd said. "But what do you mean? I mean...how...what..." He gestured vaguely, struggling for words.

Then he decided it was better to stop attempting to ask questions for a second and think about this. He had seen Sebastian talking to an empty seat, after all. If Sebastian was here with a friend, it was a friend Oliver couldn't see, and it definitely wasn't someone he'd heard of around the Plane yet. So what did that mean? "Sebastian, where are you?" he asked instead. "I mean...is this one of those merger things?"

That gave him an idea, and he glanced around the pub again. No one seemed any more bothered about Sebastian than they had before, but there were a few patrons--and one bartender--giving Oliver odd looks now. His eyes widened, and he reached for his ear, pretending to fiddle with a non-existent earpiece. "They can't see you, can they?" he whispered, trying to work out if there was a way to tilt this situation so he wouldn't come out looking crazy.

[oliverplus]

"Yeah...I'm definitely getting odd looks." Oliver glanced around again, then put his hand back to his ear and raised his voice for his audience's benefit. "Just a sec, I'm gonna try to get a better connection. How's that? Good? Good." At least two of his observers seemed to lose interest at that, which was reassuring. He turned back to Sebastian. "Sorry about that. So, I take it you've run into somebody like this before? How does it work?" He idly grabbed his pint and took a drink. He had a feeling he was going to need it more than ever now.

[oliverplus]

Oliver shook his head. "No, I haven't met Dorian." He grabbed a chip while he listened to Sebastian's explanation, trying to catch any significant details. He also didn't like to worry too much about life, but his curiosity tended to get the better of him about most things anyway. He wanted to know how this worked. Not to mention he was worried about the opinions of the people around him--he didn't have much of a social network on Gondovan as it was--so he figured the more he knew about this phenomenon, the easier it would be to deal with it without looking mad.

"So you were both in a park--or gardens, really--and you ran into each other, even though you were sort of in different places. And we're both in a pub, and the same thing happened," Oliver said, nodding thoughtfully. "That...sort of makes sense, I guess. But I'm sure you're right about the Plane! I mean...we've got millions of miles and plenty of years between us, but we met anyway." He said it without thinking, forgetting for the moment that he'd been keeping quiet about his current location to just about everyone until Tamaki had asked too many earnestly-interested questions and gotten more information out of him.

But he didn't notice his slip, as his attention was immediately pulled away by a glass appearing in Sebastian's hand. "Whoa! Hey, you didn't have that drink until just now."

[oliverplus]

"Well, yeah, I guess so. Then again, I don't know if it'd be much weirder than us both being in a different pub but being in the same one!"

Oliver grabbed another chip, but he paused with it halfway to his mouth, suddenly wondering how strange it must look to Sebastian that he was eating chips from an invisible basket. But really, following that train of thought was just going to bring them in circles, so he ate the chip anyway and set the thoughts aside.

Instead, he raised an eyebrow at Sebastian's offer. A new drink, being sent to him across space and time? How could he refuse? "Assuming it doesn't disappear when you let go of it? Sure! I'll give it a go."

[oliverplus]

The thought did occur to Oliver, but really, Sebastian's constant references to the drink had him curious, so why worry about thinking of something else timing-appropriate?

"Yeah, I'll try one! But I'm taking your word for it that it's good." He grinned, starting to feel more relaxed with Sebastian. It helped that some new patrons had distracted the bartender and those already there seemed to slowly be losing interest in him. They were easier to ignore when he couldn't feel their eyes boring into his back.

He also had a feeling this Brandy Alexander would make them even easier to tune out, which sounded like a good idea to him. Not to mention he could blame all this on drunkenness in the end. This situation was sounding better by the moment. He took another drink from his pint. It wouldn't do to get another drink without finishing the first!

[oliverplus]

"What, you haven't tried it yet?" Oliver asked incredulously. After all, Sebastian had arrived here first, hadn't he? But trying something new was often more fun when you were all in it together, so he couldn't complain. "Well, guess we'll take your friend's word for it, then!"

When Sebastian turned toward the bar, Oliver watched curiously, following his gaze, but all he could see was a bartender preparing drinks for other patrons. He focused on downing the rest of his first drink as he waited for an invisible glass to appear in Sebastian's hand. He wanted to be ready to properly appreciate whatever a Brandy Alexander was like.

He couldn't help his look of surprise when two glasses did appear seemingly out of nowhere, but he quickly shifted it to a grin, accepting one of the drinks. "To luck!"

[oliverplus]

"I'm not picky! But it does look awful fancy," Oliver admitted, wondering if he was even going to taste the brandy around all that creme.

But he grinned at Sebastian, tilting back his drink and giving it a try. He swallowed, enjoying the taste of it for a moment before he lowered his glass. "It's not very strong, but it's got good flavour. Not bad," he said with a smile.

[oliverplus]

Oliver took another drink. It wasn't really to his usual tastes, but company was three-fourths of pubbing, so the taste didn't matter that much. He couldn't help a wry smile at Sebastian's comment on economics, mostly because Sebastian struck him as the sort of person who didn't have to pay much attention to prices. Still, he had a point about the drink. "Yeah, I bet just a rumour of that would drive prices up, let alone if it's true. Hey, how'd your friend know about this, anyway? Did you say he was at the wedding?"

He remembered Sebastian making a comment to that effect earlier, but he'd been so distracted by the unexpected meeting that it hadn't really registered until now. He supposed it was just a bit more evidence as to the prestige of Sebastian's social circles, but he couldn't help feeling a little awed anyway. He'd met royal families on other planets, sure, but there was something about the idea of knowing the British Royal Family that struck him with a perhaps-childish wonder.