OTA

[prince_of_nymphs]

 The hardest part was keeping the lies straight.

"I thought you were only having one of your eyes done?"

"I did, the other I had done abroad- It was a spur of the moment choice..."

"Your so pale now..."

"The medication, it doesn't sit well with me."

"You're so thin!"

"No appetite. It'll get better though, I'm sure."

He'd anticipated that though. He'd known he'd need to lie and fib left and right, until people just accepted he could see again- And that perhaps he was still a touch unwell. What he hadn't anticipated, however, was the resentment that many of his old friends seemed to  suddenly feel towards him. It was one thing when Fin was a rising star- But pitiable because of his disability. Now, however... Now he was already receiving television and film offers left and right, and that... That apparently upset a few people.

He'd been leaving one of his favourite coffee shops when he nearly walked right into Phil. A man he'd worked with many times in small productions. A good actor, but older- Perhaps past his prime in the eyes of many.

"Oh! Phil, how brilliant to see you," Fin had smiled, offering his hand, and looking puzzled when it wasn't taken.

"Brilliant is it?" Phil replied, raising a brow and ignoring the offered hand. "So posh sounding these days, Fin. I don't remember you being posh- Not when you were sleeping on the streets, begging for parts. ...Wouldn't know you were dragged up in Manchester with that posh voice you put on."

Fin's smile faded slightly, and he forced an uncomfortable laugh. "Bad habit, I suppose," he said awkwardly.

"Not a habit," Phil assured him. "Just as fake as the rest of you, that's all."

Fin's smile faded completely then, aware that people were staring now. "Right," he said awkwardly. "Well, I should... I should be off."

Phil smiled then, a vicious smile. "I suppose so. That casting couch wont get warmed without you. ...Catch something, have you?" he added, looking Fin over with a sneer. "Should be a bit more cautious, Fin. ...Or is it Finlay now?"

Fin didn't answer that, he simply turned away trying to hide the embarrassment he felt as he started walking and brushed off a young woman who tried to stop him for a selfie.

Comments

[sunsongs]

Most of the time, when Coby's friends met his mom, they didn't know what to do with her, and in a lot of cases, that was because their own moms were more like Fin's sounded. "I wonder sometimes what it would be like, if before we were born, we got to choose our parents." Actually, Coby'd wondered more than once if he had gotten to choose his parents. Usually when having just this kind of conversation.

[prince_of_nymphs]

"I wouldn't have chosen different," Fin shrugged. "Dad left mum for another man, never said a word to me or my sister once he left. Mum started hating me for looking like dad- Probably hates me more now that I'm open about being as queer as he is too. ...Sister hardly speaks to me. Finds the press and the like too overwhelming, I think. It's shit, but without them I'd have never run off to London."

[sunsongs]

"Running off to London's had some good sides for you, from what I can tell. Some truly crappy ones, too, but yeah." Coby tugged and fiddled with the bracelets around one wrist, realizing how he was digging himself into a hole. "And our reasons may be different, but you're not the only one who ran off to London when things turned to shit."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"What did you run from?" Fin asked quietly and curiously.

[sunsongs]

"Too many memories." Most of them not Coby's exactly. "Needed to get my head on straight, and couldn't do that in LA."

[prince_of_nymphs]

Fin nodded slightly in understanding, cradling his tea cup closer to his body. It wasn't cold in the cafe at all, and yet Fin still looked as though he couldn't warm up.

"Are you happier here in London then?" he asked, his interest sincere.

[sunsongs]

When he thought about it, Coby let out something between a breath and a laugh. "Yeah, actually. I am. I, uh, re-met an old friend, and, yeah. I think I'm happier."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"That laugh is telling," Fin smiled. "It's the sound of true joy. ...Must be quite a good friend."

[sunsongs]

"He's..." Coby thought, trying to come up with what to say about Anael, and when the right word came to him, he laughed again, a warm, bright sound. "The only word I have for him is, lovely."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"Is he your boyfriend?" Fin asked curiously. "Not to assume, just- The way you speak of him."

[sunsongs]

"Nothing like that," Coby said, shaking his head. "I wouldn't want to restrict him that way, not that I could." And Coby wasn't looking to restrict himself that way either, but with Anael, it wouldn't even occur to him to try. "He's just... Hani." Yeah, that was the name Anael said most mortals knew him by.

[prince_of_nymphs]

"Hani... Oh! Oh, yes, I know a Hani. I imagine they must be one and the same- Not a common name after all," Fin smiled. "What a small world."

[sunsongs]

"He's not a common guy," Coby said, shaking his head a little that he should run into someone who knew Anael, randomly like this. "But I probably don't have to tell you that."

Whether Fin knew just how uncommon Anael was, Coby didn't know and wasn't going to ask. Maybe the next time he saw the angel, he'd ask him instead.

[prince_of_nymphs]

"No, he's quite remarkable," Fin smiled. "He has such a kind heart as well. So much love in it, so much care... He's been very kind to me. Protective even."

[sunsongs]

"That's who he is. I don't think he could be anything else." Coby seemed lighter, warmer just talking about the angel, an echo of the love they shared when together.

"It had been a long time. I can't believe how lucky we were, getting another chance to get to know each other."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"...How long?" Fin asked curiously, trying to sound casual, though he was dying to know if Coby was like Anael.

[sunsongs]

That seemed to answer Coby's question of what Fin knew about Anael, but it didn't do much for knowing how to answer him. "It's hard to say." What the hell, why not? "Do you believe in past lives, Fin?"

[prince_of_nymphs]

"Like reincarnation?" Fin asked, looking thoughtful. "I've certainly not ruled it out as a possibility. There's something terribly romantic about being born again- Perhaps living a similar life in a new time or place... Why?"

[sunsongs]

"I don't know about romantic," Coby said, twisting and picking at his bracelets. "It may be like miracles that way." They'd already agreed miracles weren't always all that.

"Hani's known me before. He recognized me from who I used to be. Some of it's up here," Coby tapped his temple, "but I don't remember much. Enough to appreciate finding him again, though."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"That's remarkable," Fin replied. "Is it like recalling a dream? Or..."

[sunsongs]

It's madness, but Coby wouldn't say as much. Not to a stranger, rarely even to those who knew him well, but in their case, they usually had some idea. Once they'd seen it at least.

"Not exactly. An actor friend used to compare it to people who couldn't separate the actor from the role, except it's not someone else conflating the two."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"That sounds dreadful," Fin said softly. "The best part of playing a role is that you're playing someone else, not an extension of yourself- Even when you grow attached to the part."

[sunsongs]

"It is someone else." That was part of the problem. "Just, sometimes it's hard to tell where the lines are between me and not-me."

Coby shook his head. "Don't mind me, man. It's no big. I need to get out of my head sometimes is all. Not drag other people in."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"No- No, I'm interested," Fin assured him. "If you need to talk about it, I'm pleased to listen. Honest."

[sunsongs]

"Nah." Coby shook his head, and drank some coffee before it cooled too much more. "I'm a fan of sweep it under the rug and forget about it. We were talking about Hani, and how I knew him. That's how. He gets it, and even if he didn't, he'd be as amazing to be with, you know?"