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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2016 1:42 pm
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Copacetic
Shiloh didn't mind. He liked how it felt to swing their arms like this. A little goofy, a little silly, a little childish, but... it was something he hadn't had in the past, so he savored having it now.
"Yeah." It took him a moment to get the word out, but one it was there he reiterated, "Yeah. We can talk about it tomorrow. I'm just—" he shook his head. Jamie knew. "—Tired, that's all. It can wait."
As he approached the front steps to Jamie's house, he felt comforted with how familiar it looked. "Hopefully the door's unlocked," he cracked, knowing that they had brought keys when they left the first time. Well. Hopefully Jamie still had the keys on him, anyway. He pulled on his arm, bumping their shoulders together affectionately.
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2016 2:46 pm
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Copacetic
"It's okay," he replied, "Me too." And he left it at that.
Paused at the front door, he couldn't help smiling, couldn't help bumping back. Shiloh always had this way about him, this indescribable ability to make Jamie smile when he felt like crying. As he reached for the knob he muttered a small, "Here's hoping." It was, by some miracle that made things feel easier and better—despite the fact that his keys were still in his pocket—the door swung open.
"U-Um... mom, dad?" It was early, maybe they weren't awake. Except his mother appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, looking surprised.
"Boys? When did you even leave." Then her eyes lit up and she papped her fist into her palm. "Oh, did you go for an early morning walk?"
Jamie let that sink in before quickly deciding yeah, better just go with that. "Y-Yeah! And, um, we're probably gonna go back to bed for a bit."
"Alright," she said with a soft smile, "Your father's still asleep, so don't be too loud heading upstairs." Honestly, there was something reassuring about how normal this all felt. Didn't mean Jamie was without questions; From his mother's reaction, it seemed like they hadn't been gone all that long.
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2016 5:46 pm
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Copacetic
"My god..." Shiloh was at a loss for words as he watched Jamie rush forward. "B-But?" He thought to Jamie's parents again, wondering how aware they were, wondering about all the other nuances of this world. He remembered the feeling he had at the beginning when they arrived; same, but different. It was dumb luck that he looked over and saw a calendar on the wall, certain dates highlighted or circled, numbers jotted down in the margins—he saw it then, the date.
Every day was crossed out, clear up to the eighteenth. "Holy ********." he felt the hairs rising on the back of his neck, but he forced himself to stay calm. "Holy <********>" he repeated, obviously unable to do that.
A phone buzzed on the desk. Looking over, he was immediately startled by the background of him and Jamie, but not him and Jamie, because this Jamie had longer hair and this Shiloh had a pinker face, not touched by dark ruddy eye bags. A text from Your Fave <3 <3 <3 was illuminated on the screen, along with a very scathing body.
"Holy ********>." he repeated again, obviously at a loss as he delicately handled the smartphone. Was this his? He quickly took the old busted up flip phone from his pocket, finding it odd when the reception on it refused to work. What the hell had they done.
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2016 9:29 pm
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Copacetic
Like a top wound and wobbling, Jamie spun around again to face Shiloh. Eyes huge, he could taste all the anxiety from before on the tip of his tongue like copper. He swallowed, trying to urge it down. It didn't want to go.
"I-I... you didn't hear it?" he questioned, scratching idly at his throat, "But I- Well, maybe-" His fingers curled into a fist. It had to be the exhaustion. They were both beat beyond words and acting this way would only make things worse. "N-No, sorry, nevermind. I'm really, really tired. Probably just imagining things."
Heart still pounding in his chest, he joined Shiloh near the bed. Trying to sound more casual than concerned, but failing, he asked, "Weird text or-?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2016 9:33 pm
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Copacetic
He eyed Jamie wearily as he paced around, gesticulated, make a frantic mess out of himself and his emotions. Following his strong urge to drop it, Shiloh decided it would be best not to press on the voice thing.
"Yeah, weird text. Well, weird as ******** contact name." He showed Jamie the phone, the "are you still ******** alive, you ********>, the "Your Fave <3<3<3". His face was riddled with awkwardness. "Like, I have no idea who this is. Actually, who's phone this is?" He looked the smart phone over, "But check it out." He showed Jamie the background image of the two, posing for a stupid selfie.
"It's obviously mine or yours."
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2016 9:43 pm
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Copacetic
"Yeah that," Jamie paused, looking the phone over a second time, "doesn't look at all like your phone. Or mine actually. Um-" Now he was squinting, attention honed in on the background selfie. It was cute, a good picture of them, but something wasn't right about it. "My hair's never been that long..." he muttered.
If nothing else, the edge of discomfort hadn't left him, but at least he'd moved on from the whole voice thing. Now he was stuck on the phone thing instead.
"That is a weird text, though... I don't recognize the number either and there's no one in my phone with that nickname exactly... A-And I mean... I wouldn't, um, send a text like that. Probably."
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2016 9:51 pm
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Copacetic
"It hasn't." Shiloh agreed immediately. Jamie's hair had been getting longer now, sure, but...
"But then I'm guessing this means it's mine. Actually..." he messed around with the touch screen, fingers awkward, before flipping the top bar down. The interface revealed the date—it was, in fact, December 18th.
"The ********..." He was pretty damn sure that they had only been in the eighties for a week or so at most. This was more than a goddamn month. He sat on the bed with a heavy thud. Looking at the small bedside table again, he noticed a pair of wallets, a glasses case, some other arbitrary nic-nacks...
He set the phone down. It could wait until tomorrow. It could wait until tomorrow. He let his head fall into his hands.
"I think," He started slowly, "That I'm going to just... go to sleep and see if this is all the same in the morning." He started to get up from Jamie's bed.
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