I'm Better With You

Chp. 13 Morning

Randy woke up beside Oliver, the scent of pine filling his senses. He snuggled into Oliver, desperately wanting to go back to sleep next to him.

Randy suddenly jumped, hearing an alarm go off from Oliver's alarm clock. Randy sat up quickly, ready to run for his life before he realizes what was making the noise. He heard Oliver groan as he felt the bed shift as Oliver reached to turn it off. Oliver hit it a few times before it finally shut the fuck up. Randy sighed as he took in the peace that was not having an alarm screaming that them.

"Urghhh," Oliver grumbled as he made his way off the bed.

"Why d-did you set an alarm..?" Randy asked as he tried to wipe the sleep from screen.

"Oh, I have to-" Oliver yawned, "-go to work today. Since I've been taking days off to film I haven't been making nearly as much."

"Oh," Randy said as he nodded.

Shit. He should probably find another job, but he really didn't want to since the swans made it impossible for him to not be covered in blood, dirt, sadness, tears and pond water. Plus, fighting swans, and loosing, for barely any money didn't exactly make him to hyped to get another, possible, dead-end job.

He shook his head. That was a problem for future Randy, current Randy still has things to do. Such as getting ready for a day full of swans, blood and hopefully filming with Oliver.

Randy turned to Oliver, "Are we going to f-film after you get off work?"

Oliver nodded, "That's the plan!"

Oliver gave Randy a thumbs up before getting out of bed. He headed to the bathroom, shutting the door as Randy heard the water start to run. Randy figured he should get ready as well as he got off the bed and headed to the kitchen. While neither of them could cook, Randy wanted to try and make something for Oliver.

Randy found some microwaveable pancakes in the freezer.

Good enough.

Randy got a plate and put a few on there and popped them in the microwave. He set them for the time said on the package and waited. He heard the bathroom door open and close, Oliver being seemingly done, as the microwave beeped. Oliver walked out of the bedroom and towards Randy.

Randy took the plate out, the pancakes having faint steam come from them, and held it in front of Oliver.

"Here," Randy said, "I-I was going to try to make something but seeing how it ended l-last time I settled for something microwaveable.."

Oliver gleefully took the plate, "Thanks Randy!"

The kitchen smelled of pancakes as Oliver made his way to the table after adding butter and syrup to the pancakes. Randy watched Oliver eat, which made him feel all warm inside. It still confused the hell out of him to why he felt this way but figured it was because someone was finally being nice to him.

He waked over to the table where Oliver sat, Randy now fidgeting with his hands. He wanted to take a shower but wanted to make sure it was okay with Oliver, since it was all his.

"...Can I-I go take a shower?" Randy asked quietly, feeling very awkward.

Oliver looked up at Randy and laughed a bit, "Of course you can, man. No need to ask."

Randy felt his face grow hot but assumed it was because he was embarrassed. He nodded and quietly headed off to the bathroom.

He shut the door as he entered the still hot bathroom. The mirror was still foggy from when Oliver had showered. Randy let the shower run and got undressed, waiting for the water to reach the temperature he wanted it at. He awkwardly waited in the bathroom, just standing there before getting in.

***

After his shower, which was one of the best things he had felt in a while, he got dressed and headed out of the bathroom. Steam rolled out of the bathroom as he exited, heading towards Oliver who was cleaning some of the dirty dishes.

"Hey Randy!" Oliver said as he turned to look at him, "Did you have a nice shower?"

Randy nodded. He could still faintly feel the hot water run down his skin. It had been forever since he felt this clean and he had missed it.

"Are you going to head out soon?" Randy asked quietly.

Oliver nodded, "Yup, I was just waiting on you so we could walk together."

Randy turned red, "O-oh."

Oliver set the dishes to dry on the counter and dried off his hands, "Alright, ready to go, man?"

Randy nodded as they both made their way to the front door. Randy tightly held Oliver's hand, how was he gonna deal with not being with Oliver all day? Randy shook his head at the question.

Don't be stupid, Randy. If you keep being so clingy he'll leave you too.

They walked to the cinema while having their usually talks about anything they could think of. It was one of Randy's favorite parts of the day. He got to hear Oliver talk about whatever movies he liked and the history behind them as well as his big plans for the film they were making. Randy wasn't normally one for talking a lot but with Oliver it felt so much easier and he felt more comfortable doing so. He felt like not as much of a loser with him.

Randy watched as Oliver waved goodbye to him and walked into the dreaded place he worked at. Randy stood outside the cinema, watching through the glass doors as Oliver walked behind the counter and started cleaning somethings. Eventually he walked away, not wanting to make Oliver think Randy was weird for just watching him.

He walked alone to the park, kicking a stone as he did to try to distract himself. He already found himself longing to be near Oliver, especially after yesterday. He felt all warm inside when he thought about kissing Oliver. Did Oliver like him back? Did Randy even like Oliver? He couldn't get over it, it was all he could think of. The closeness of Oliver, the touching of their buttons in a mock kiss, it all felt so fake, as if it were a dream.

He was brought back to reality as he stepped on the prickly grass and heard the awful noises of the swans. He sighed as he prepared himself for pain, heading further into the park and taking out the, useless, leashes.

He soon spotted his first abuser: a demon trying to steal food from a toddler. As much as Randy wanted to let the vicious waterfowl eat the food, and maybe the toddler too, he knew he would be fired for letting another beast roam free.

He gripped the leashes tighter in his scarred hands as he cautiously tried to sneak up behind it. Because he has the worst luck in the world he ended up stepping on an empty syringe, which alerted the swan of his presence.

It's paper shredding head whirred to life as it lunged for him. Randy yelped as he tried to grab it's neck, only to catch his hand on one of the blades. Randy hissed in pain, his hand now bleeding a bit.

He fought with the bird for way longer than he would like to admit before finally getting the leash on the swan. Randy was surprised, he had hardly ever gotten this far. He started to tug on the leash to drag it back to the pond only to be dragged through the dirt.

Once the leash snapped and he slid to a halt, the swan came for him again. He screamed as he clumsily got up and started running away, giving up once more.

After running about a mile, his lungs basically begging for a break at this point, he collapsed to the ground. He had managed to lose the swan and had ended up somewhere in Downtown Dialtown. He groaned as he laid on the ground, desperately trying to catch his breath. His body ached, now covered in open wounds that barely still bled, though some had closed and left stains in their wake. Randy sighed.

He never wanted to see another swan again.