[005]

[oliverplus]

[Oliver is sitting by his favourite tree in the forest, staring down at a letter that his grip is spectacularly creasing. he looks very upset, which is strange, as Oliver's experiment had kept him from independent emotion for more than a week. luckily for him, the experiment is finally over. which should, of course, be a very happy thing indeed!]

[unfortunately, while he's super-excited to be able to see colour again, that excitement has been rather demolished by the emotional impact of just what he's been up to recently--especially in terms of what he's shared with people. not to mention things he agreed to without thinking. he's not sure what to say to some people after all that. and then to compound it all, he had to receive this letter...]

[Oliver sighs, lost in thought. too lost in thought to notice anyone approaching him, in fact. clearly, this means that's exactly what someone should do]

Comments

[bit_impossible]

[with such an open invitation as a friend unaware of his presence, he can't resist jumping out and plopping down on the ground in front of Oliver, a broad, mischievous grin on his face]

Hello, Oliver!

[oliverplus]

[about jumps out of his skin at that. really, Doctor, you need to work on your timing!]

Doctor! [forces a smile as he quickly folds the letter, clumsily stuffing it in a pocket. because that's not obvious at all] Sorry, I didn't see you there. How are you?

[lamb_of_gold]

It's rare to see you without a smile, Oliver...

[Boo.]

[bodilesswarrior.livejournal.com]

[Barbara recognises that state, perhaps too easily, and almost doesn't approach - but in the end...]

Oliver?

[oliverplus]

Oh! Mu. [forces a smile as he turns around, stuffing the letter hastily into a pocket] It's just been a rough week. [and he's been invited to a deathmatch, but he doesn't plan to share that, though he can't stop thinking about it]

How are you?

[oliverplus]

[looks up] Hey, Barbara. [she also gets a forced smile as he tries to tuck the letter away into his pocket] How's it going?

[lamb_of_gold]

[Mu doesn't look entirely bought, but he doesn't push it, instead sitting next to Oliver.] It would seem so.

[oliverplus]

[way to ignore his question. Oliver sighs, knowing Mu isn't going to be deterred easily] There was another experiment. I...haven't been myself lately. But it's over now.

[lamb_of_gold]

Ah. I understand that far too well.

[oliverplus]

[frowns] They've done experiments to you, too, huh?

[lamb_of_gold]

Oh yes. None lately, however.

[oliverplus]

[nods] That's a relief.

[pauses, uncertain whether to bring this up, but it's weighing heavily on his mind right now, and he trusts Mu's judgment] Did you hear the announcement that flashy bloke made?

[collector]

[When you approach someone looking distracted holding a letter, the best thing to do is to approach from behind to increase your chances of using your superpowers of reading ridiculously quickly so that you can see what has distracted them.]

Hello, Oliver.

[lamb_of_gold]

I did.

[oliverplus]

[jumps rather dramatically at the unexpected voice, turning behind him and hastily trying to shove the letter into a pocket] Irving! [forces a smile] I didn't hear you coming.

[oliverplus]

What do you think we should do?

[collector]

You know, someone just the other day refused to call me 'Irving' because he thought it was an odd name. I don't see how it is. I'm quite fond of it. May I sit?

[oliverplus]

[glad for the distraction] What, really? Why'd he think it was odd?

Ah, yeah, 'course. [moves over a bit, not that they really need the tree's "shade" on the Plane, but it's a habit]

[collector]

[Braxiatel sits beside him, long legs crossed, balanced but a little awkward, because he is trying not to take up too much space.] He never said.

[lamb_of_gold]

I don't know.

[And that...really hurts to say]

[oliverplus]

Well, at least the rest of us know better, right?

Hey, uh, about last... [pauses. how long has it been? a week? everything about it is blurred together in his mind, like he was walking around in some sort of fog for all that time] About the last time we talked. I'm sorry about that. I...wasn't myself.

[oliverplus]

[sighs, disappointed, but why would Mu have any more answers than he does?] If they're really doing what they say they are...it's sick.

[lamb_of_gold]

Any manner of death as a sport is.

[collector]

I could rather tell that. I'm sorry I couldn't find the problem with my scans.

[oliverplus]

Yeah. [swallows hard] But it's like that Shay said, isn't it? Something like this is supposed to make that black hole grow. It's like the Plane wants it to happen--assuming he was telling the truth.