Another Oldrival oneshot (making too many of these lately), but this one will probably be very short. Anyway; Hobby ho…
Disclaimer: NO! if someone with the authority to take legal action against this actually cares that much I'll repost this with a disclaimer or take it down, but for now, no.
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"Hurry up", Blue complained from behind Green, looking over his shoulder at a paper he was typing, "We're going to be late!"
"Nobody else will have arrived by the time we get there if we leave now; besides, it doesn't matter if we're a little late", Green explained, not even looking away from the screen. All the dex holders were going to dinner, to catch up for the first time in a few months.
"Well then I'm bored, so hurry up!" she shook his chair childishly.
"Annoying girl", he mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look, if I don' finish this, I have no income this week, and I can't pay for dinner anyway".
"Just put it on a credit card or something, you can pay it back later!" She pouted, crossing her arms and turning away from him.
"That's not the point. Ignoring this would be childish and lazy".
"And ignoring me is soooo~ mature of you", she said sarcastically.
"Have you ever had to show responsibility for work like this?"
"No, it just holds you back from having fun!" she shouted. "Besides, what's more important, some paper or your friends?"
"My friends will still be in waiting in ten minutes, my work doesn't care what other commitments I have". He mashed 'backspace' rapidly, fixing a mistake he made during the argument.
"Well, fine, if this is so important to you, I'm leaving without you!" She turned around and stomped her way to the door, grabbing her jacket. "I hope you can find a cab on a Friday like this!" She took his keys from the counter and left.
"Pesky girl…" he mumbled, turning back to his paper, and letting his fingers dance around the keys.
Ten minutes, that's what made all the difference, because ten minutes later he was done.
"Huh, guess I should call a cab", he said as he turned off the computer.
The phone rang a dozen times, each time the same message repeated mockingly in his ear, 'I'm sorry, all of our representatives are currently busy…' Green would swear he hear laughter at the end after a while.
Eventually those ten minutes to finish the paper were joined by another twenty-five trying to get a taxi, with nothing to show for it.
Green lifted his arms, and his eyes struck his watch. "8:20. Dang it". He dropped the phone to the receiver and slipped his shoes on, then left.
Another ten minutes ticked away and he managed to get to the bus stop, where he waited at the mercy of the bus schedule, impatiently tapping his foot.
It wasn't long before the bus did arrive. Green stepped on and checked his pocket for some change. Unusually, no change. "I assume you don't go by the honour system". He said flatty. The bus driver simply shook his head and pointed to the door. Green stepped off, and the bus moved on.
Green cursed loudly to himself, then looked around. "I guess I'm just going to have to walk", he said.
Thirty minutes, he was now over an hour late, but he made it to the reunion at the restaurant. He looked inside the window to see everyone sitting there, enjoying their dinner. He was about to step inside, but he saw something… unsettling. Blue was sitting closest to him, her back turned, yet so close he felt he could reach through the glass and touch her hand, but he couldn't another hand had beat him to it, he'd been to slow. Silver's palm had wrapped itself upon Blue knuckles, the same knuckles Green had lain his fingers upon when they held hands.
He moved his fingertips toward the hand, as if to push the other boy's off, but was stopped by the pain of glass.
He looked around the table on the other side of the transparent barrier to see none of the other dex holders were even looking in his direction. He hadn't been seen. So, he decided to leave.
Forty minutes to get back home. Ten to take a shower. Half an hour for dinner.
"It's been two and a half hours now", he said to himself, throwing his plate into the dishwasher. "Why am I still counting? It's not like I'm keeping track of how late I am".
Five minutes to brush his teeth, and then collapse in bed.
"So what am I timing?... It's been two hours and thirty five minutes since she left me. It was a small argument, but she left me… I let her walk right out the front door without even a glance". He checked his watch. "Two hours and thirty six minutes since I ruined it because of ten stupid minutes. So when can I stop keeping track?"
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A little sad yes, but timing can ruin something, and once it does, you have to keep time until you fix it very carefully.
I tried to insert some Freudian psychology into this, an extra mile I haven't consciously looked into with my other fics yet, so tell me what you think of it.
And so we go…
