straight back to it ⇉ central cee.

same old face, same old love.

Oakley was due his second coffee date of the week in the coming afternoon, he was most definitely a thousand times more excited for this one than Harrison's though. He hadn't made contact with Marvin since he forcibly admitted him to rehabilitation back in the September of last year and the man had finally reached out about two weeks prior calling upon his presence in his flat. The younger had immediately RSVP'd to the invite. He wouldn't miss anything like that for the world. It had been such a long time since they'd seen each other and even longer since he'd seen his daughter Tori and he was positively buzzing.

Though now as he pulled into the underground
car-park of Marvin's apartment block his hands shook gently and a very slight gush of doubt overcame him. What if their dynamic was different now? What if Tori didn't remember him? There was a rather long list of things that could possibly go wrong in the next couple of hours of his godforsaken life but it was a risk he was willing to take even if it meant just a glance at what they once had. His heart ached for the man's comfort again and the love in his eyes when Tori simply just existed.

"Iss' open"

Oakley had reached to knock on the front door of Marvin's flat, failing to do so before the older had called out to him from what seemed to be the living room based on the volume. His fatherly instincts were insane he had thought as he realised he hadn't even made his presence known, he just kind of knew. Good to know not all things have changed. As he walked in, the boy breathed in deeply, taking in the familiar scent of a home he once inhabited that remained the same and reminisced on the many memories tied to this place. He glanced around slowly, taking in each unchanged part of the flat, taking note of the same paintings he had helped nail to the wall still hanging above the mantle and the same cream sofa he'd slept on far too many times to have kept count. The feeling of comforting familiarity was washing over him in waves that increased in intensity each time it hit; it'd been a long time since he'd felt such a thing.

Tori sat on the rug with a bowl of dry cheerios to hand and a carton of juice, watching something he couldn't quite name on the tv. Probably a new show. Marvin however was sat on the sofa, rigid and seemingly unable to get quite comfortable as he shifted a few times in his seat, his eyes turned to the ground and his hands clasped in his lap. Eventually, he looked up to Oakley who still stood awkwardly beside the sofa toying with the belt loops on his trousers. His eyes were like shards of glass shimmering in the artificial light of the living room or pools of clear water ready for someone to delve into and spill it past the threads of his lashes. The boy wishes he knew how to respond to something like this. With the amount of intensive behavioural and emotional therapy he'd undergone you'd think he'd pick up a trick or two but seemed to have not, and it was awkward.

"Hi"

And so he chose the absolute worst possible thing to do in this situation: spoke. Marvin burst into tears upon hearing even the tiniest mutter slip passed Oakley's lips, letting the floods finally past the dams and throwing his face into the palms of his hands. The sob that ripped from his throat was enough to distract Tori from the Tv despite how captivated she was. Her little head had spun face full of curiosity, it quickly fading to that of a frown. She was confused and probably quite scared; she'd never seen her father like this before. Oakley watched on as he frantically racked his brain for his next move and didn't move an inch. Only his eyes, darting around the room in a manic sense, finally catching the little girl on the floor who looked at him in study for a second.

"Oagley!"

The boy was afraid she wouldn't remember him still, until she shouted what could only be his name at him from across the room and reached her arms in the air, momentarily distracted from her father's distress. He couldn't ponder on her for too long because he still didn't know what to do with Marvin. Still, he stood with a wide-eyed stare at the man on the sofa racking his brain for the ways he used to comfort him when he cried but he fell short. There wasn't much else to do except comfort him, rub his shoulder affectionately and shush him like you would a baby really. So he did just that. Marvin lent into the hold Oakley forced him into and let himself have a moment of weakness, it was rare he ever allowed such a thing to occur. Sometimes one needed that and now just happened to be his time.