Oz Spellman
August 11, 2023 7:44 AM
Mistakes... I keep making them (tag roomies) by Oz Spellman
Oz should have had a great Christmas break. He was heading home with team victories to his name as Captain and a better-than-ever report card. He had solid, actual proof that he wasn’t a complete screw up. And that was nice, it was good. He felt the weird and alienating sensation of engendering pride in his mom and being able to believe she wasn’t totally mistaken or just biased.And it was boring.
Being good was really, really boring. He wished it wasn’t. He wished the validation made the hours in the library seem worth it. But it was like choking down a bunch of kale because the coach had put it on his diet plan; he liked the end results, and he’d do it for that, but it still wasn’t something he enjoyed.
And none of it had made him stop missing Xavier.
That was the hardest part. Even with so much else to occupy his mind, he couldn’t stop missing him. People who said stuff got easier with time were lying. Or maybe it did, but seeing Xavier every day was like picking the scab off the wound and then still expecting it to heal. Or maybe those people had meant like… much much more time. But it had already been ages.
Oz had sat with Henry for his last feast, and that had at least made it somewhat enjoyable. It had blocked Xavier’s absence from mattering, and Henry was the one person on his wavelength about the whole it’s-sort-of-appalling-that-there’s-this-much-food-but-oh-my-god-I-want-that-that-and-that feeling.
Once the feast was done, he made his way to his room. When he pushed open the door, he found a large box on his bed. He lifted the lid, finding it was filled with jerky and little balls that looked like they were rolled in coconut. There was a card with it but no writing on the envelope. He pulled it open.
Please don’t burn this when you see it’s my writing. I figured some high energy snacks might come in useful with all the studying and Quidditch training you’ve got to do.
You asked for space and you said I don’t care how you feel. I don’t know how I can show you that I do without ignoring what you asked for. So, I gave you space last term, and I figured I’d try giving you something you need now. I know you’ve got important stuff going on. Good luck with it.
Crap.
Like he didn’t already want to cave in half the time anyway… He should ask Henry. Henry always knew the smart thing to do. But he was half a school away and Oz would have to wait until morning and he wanted an answer now.
“Do you guys think I’m being too harsh on Xavier?” he asked his roommates.
13
Oz Spellman
Mistakes... I keep making them (tag roomies)
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Billy Cobb
August 30, 2023 9:12 PM
I'm not sure I can relate. by Billy Cobb
Ray was probably doing fine over in her room. It wasn't like he could go help her over there or anything, so Billy really hoped she was doing okay yet. He sat on his bed and stared off in the direction he was pretty sure the girl's dorms were, although sometimes it could be tough to tell with some of the twists and turns around this place. It didn't seem quite fair that they had to stay in separate dorms at this point, what more could they do after all? And she might need him at any given point. It was his job to make sure things went alright. Maybe he'd have to talk to people about it, Professor Skies probably. He wasn't sure she liked him a lot right now though, and he couldn't fault her entirely for it. This was a bit of a tricky situation they had put her in, but there wasn't much to do about it now.The door opened and distracted him from his thoughts. Billy flopped back on his bed and watched Oz wander in and examine a box that had been left on his bed. Oz looked like he'd had better times, and asked a question that Billy had no idea how to even begin answering. He did anyway.
"I dunno, maybe? What's up?" He honestly had very little idea what was going on with everyone else at the moment. Oz and Xavier had been hanging out a lot to the point where Billy suspected there might be something going on there. Then things had changed and Billy wasn't all that good at listening to things. So he wasn't really sure if he should be more 'up to date' on the situation than he was. He did manage to stifle the questions about what was in the box and 'should I send a box over to Ray of stuff?' He probably should, but wasn't sure what. But this seemed like a 'focus on Oz's problems' time.
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Billy Cobb
I'm not sure I can relate.
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Oz Spellman
September 01, 2023 8:52 PM
Probably not by Oz Spellman
The second that Billy opened his mouth, Oz regretted sharing. He’d always thought that Billy was a terrible person to take advice from, and the evidence of that was sitting in the girl’s dormitories. He was the literal exact thing Oz was meant to avoid being at all costs, the number one mistake he’d had drummed into him not to make… Which, if he kept sleeping with boys instead, was at least never going to be an issue… Not that he thought he wanted to do that exclusively. He was already considering the not-so-narrow dating options that would be open once he got out of Sonora…The other problem was that Billy didn’t even know what the problem was. Which meant explaining, in a way that didn’t make it sound like he and Xav had had a lovers’ tiff.
He should just tell him to forget it and that it didn’t matter. Except… It was wriggling around his brain in a way he knew was going to keep him up half the night if he didn’t say something. And maybe whatever advice Billy gave, he would know he should then do the exact opposite.
Or maybe it would give him the permission he wanted, and that he would never get from Henry, to do the things he wasn’t supposed to…
“I don’t think I make good choices when I’m around Xavier,” he said. That sounded sort of pathetic but at least it didn’t sound gay. “And like, he’s a lot of drama.” He rolled his eyes. “And I’ve got exams and I’ve got the team to take care of, and I can’t be his babysitter every time he wants to do stupid, irresponsible crap that then screws up my time too. But…” It was a lie to say ‘he’s my best friend.’ He wasn’t any more. And, in totally the opposite direction, hadn’t been for a long time. ‘I miss him’ sounded way too much like a feeling. “I’m supposed to do the smart thing. Get the stupid pieces of paper. Not screw up my life and end up back where I started. And he doesn’t help with that,” Oz said, looping back instead to all the reasons he wasn’t meant to go next door right now and say thanks…
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Oz Spellman
Probably not
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Billy Cobb
October 01, 2023 3:14 PM
Oh well by Billy Cobb
Billy did his best to listen to Oz explain things. But the answer seemed fairly obvious to him, surely he was missing something. He knew Oz and Xavier had hung out a lot before this and they must have liked each other a bunch. From the sounds of things, they'd liked each other an awful lot. That was fine, Billy didn't really see the appeal when there were girls available, but to each their own."If you don't make good choices when you're around him, and your supposed to make good choices. Well the obvious thing is to be done with him." Billy shrugged. "Seems to be as simple as that." Then he paused and gave Oz a knowing look, "Unless... it ain't."
Billy grinned at his roommate. "I'll give you some sage ol' mountain advice. This comes from Uncle Bartholomew and his prize bull. That thing was as ornery as they came. It was always causing problems and making a mess of things. He couldn't part with it though, he liked the blasted thing to much regardless of what it did to him and everyone else. He had to build some real sturdy walls around it. Them normal fences he'd been using just weren't any good, the bull would just knock 'em over. They were at best a suggestion at where the bull should stay. The bull weren't much one for listening to them. Uncle Bart had to take a lot of time and effort and build some nice strong stone walls to keep the creature from causing problems, but it worked. The bull sure weren't happy, but he stuck with it, and..." Billy paused a moment, "After a while the bull calmed down a bit."
"Dunno if that helps at all or not, but maybe you just need some better fences in this situation." Billy shrugged again. "Apart from that, I dunno. Good luck?"
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Billy Cobb
Oh well
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