Oakley

“You don’t know what she would say any better than I do,” she countered. He was right to a certain extent. If Juney paid attention when his name was mentioned, she would know exactly how Charise felt about it. But that wasn’t information she would just run and tell Oakley. It wasn’t her place. But convincing him to just say something she could do. 

“Oaks,” she sighed and moved toward him sliding up to sit on the small counter next to him. “Yes, I know Charise. And I really think what she deserves and what she wants is up to her, not you. But more importantly I know you. And I know you are kind and loyal and honest…and one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. And you deserve someone that sees all that. And she does.”

-

“I mean, you’re right.” Oakley let out a dramatic sigh, although he carefully considered her words. He valued Juney’s opinion, and she was right. “I guess I could tell her.” He made a face as though he hated the idea, but despite all his apprehension to do so, he felt it was almost harder not to say anything at this point. He had never felt this way about anyone before, and it was clear that it wasn’t going to change any time soon. “I should, shouldn’t I? Yes. Yes? No! That might be a bad idea-- No, I definitely should.” Oakley rambled, suddenly feeling nervous at the mere idea of sharing his feelings. 

She beamed and wiggled again in her shoes. “I appreciate your confidence, Oak.” What a lovely friend.

…And then, she was immediately perplexed. “Why would I bring my own? They should have it here, already. Why on Earth…” Zhu bit her lip, wondering why a coffee shop wouldn’t have whipped cream. It was so odd.

“I want a lot of things,” Zhu muttered, lost in thought a few moments further. Realizing he meant from the menu, Zhu dedicated her attention to it anew. “Uh, okay - pick one: odd or even.”

-

“Again, you’re amazing! Of course I have confidence in you!” Oakley added with a grin. 

Isis barely managed to hold back her own laugh until he had spoken. She found it nothing short of hilarious that they both were equally at fault and certainly could improve their stopping and walking. “Alright then.” she smiled amicably at him. “Already assuming there will be a next time?” she was one hundred percent teasing. Truthfully it was nice when males were a little forward, even if it was only meant platonically. “Sounds fair to me.” Nodding a bit and falling into step with him, she found herself marveling at the city again. Everything was so clean and well cared for. From storefronts to the brick they walked on. “Its nice to meet you Oakley. I’m Isis.” 

-

The response was unexpected and solicited a brief chuckle from him. Out wandering the so called ‘shifter woods’ because he was bored. It added up, really; Theo was feeling it himself. Maybe not boredom, per say; but a restlessness. He was feeling like he could truly settle down here - and maybe that was what was giving him the itch to take off just as much.

“It’s uh - It’s nothing -” he started, but the guy was already over his shoulder and peering down at the sketch before he’d had any chance to shove away the notebook. He tapped the pencil against the page, looking up at the other guy as he spewed off all sorts of extraneous information he couldn’t fathom finding particularly interesting…Yeah, he was starting to miss the quiet that the woods had provided only moments before. “Thanks…and uh, good for you, I guess…piano…” 

He nodded a little to the introduction, clearing his throat. “Yeah - I’m Theo.”

-

**~**

Juney’s heart cracked. He was so genuine in his belief that the object of his affection wouldn’t share the feeling. While she completely understood the sentiment, she just didn’t think it was accurate. And not because of naive love of books and movies, though she didn’t know what made her so sure. 

“Yes, I’ve met Charise. And yes,” she nodded emphatically, “I absolutely think she could be happy with you. And what’s all this talk about leagues. You know all that is complete baloney.” She was bouncing on the balls of her feet, so certain she was right.

-

Oakley made a face as she spoke. Nothing she could say could possible help him shake his belief that he was no good for Charise. He let out a dramatic huff as she went on. “Ah, Cherry deserves the world, Juney, and I’m sure I am not the one who can give it to her.” He folded his arms over his chest. With anyone else he would have been surprised to open up this much, but since it was Juney it was not surprising at all. Mostly because he knew he couldn’t get away with lying to her. “Besides, you’re just saying that! I mean, you really think she would feel the same if I told her how I feel?” He asked, trying his best to come off as though he thought it was ridiculous, even though he knew Juney would call his bluff. But Oakley was curious-- Did Juney really think Charise felt the same?

“So what you’re saying is… you enjoy torturing me. I see how it is.” Charise nodded her head, lips pursed together into slight yet playful pout. “I see how it is. If this is how you treat your bestest friend, I don’t even wanna know how you treat the people you dislike.” She cast him a quick side eye, fighting back a grin, feigning a disappointed glare. “You want to talk about wounded.” In the time that she’s known Oakley, it seemed as though his melodramatic nature slightly rubbed off on her. Not that she was complaining.

It was his question that brought forth the light, pink dusting across her cheeks, warm and fuzzy. If she were to be honest with him, she very much so thought he was pretty enough to be painted. So much so that she was certain she would never be able to capture it properly and give him the justice he deserved. If she were being honest with him, she didn’t need a picture of him in order to paint him. She had already memorized the contours of his face. The way the corner of his eyes crinkled, the way he simply just.. glowed when he smiled.

If she were being honest with him, she would tell him that she was already in the process of a portrait. She’d been working on it for a few weeks now. Painfully paying attention to each detail because she needed it to be perfect. Because he was. If she were being honest.

Instead, she ignored the warmth of her cheeks. “Are you asking me to paint you without actually asking me to paint you, Oakley dear?”

-

“The cutest goat man, Oak!” Zhu pouted out her bottom lip, disappointed. Finally, she allowed with a huff, “I guess cyborg legs wouldn’t work for a shifter…” Not without some real careful planning.

She preened under his compliments, swaying back and forth with her hands clasped in front of her. “See? Charming.” A laugh and she returned her attention to the menu. “Think they let you add your own whipping cream?”

-

“Thank you!” Oakley let out a gentle laugh as his friend spoke. “I’m sure you will find someone you can turn into a cyborg some day.” He gently rest his hand on her shoulder, trying to be as dramatic as possible. “Don’t give up. Don’t lose hope, Zhu!” 

“Your own whipping cream? Did you bring your own? Why?” Oakley laughed, not fully understanding her question. “Do you know what you want?” He turned his attention back to the menu. “If you haven’t decided that’s a bad thing because I can’t make decisions, so I was going to get whatever you get.”

Isis felt oddly safe walking around this little pedestrian city centre. It was large enough to house what the community needed, yet compared to the city she had grown up close to this place was small and quaint. It reminded her of the ones described in fairytales or some of the british novels she loved. Well except the fact that the climate was pleasantly warm and there were several shores witch had both white sand and palm trees. The best part about it so far was that people did not seem to have caught on to her status yet. She could walk around with her bodyguard dressed in civilian clothing and no one seemed to notice her like they would back home. Which was such a relief, to not have eyes on her constantly, everyone wondering what the unruly princess would do next. She gave the boy a quick smile in response to his apology, though seeing as she couldn’t entirely decide who of them had been the cause, she figured it was only fair she do the same. “So am I.” His teasing remark had her wiggling her brows a little playfully though. “And maybe you should look where you’re going?” she teased back. “How about a coffee with something sweet to make up for it? My treat.” 

-

Oakley made a face at the other as she spoke. “Mmm, touché.” He drew out the words before he let out a gentle laugh. “Coffee? Coffee sounds good.” He nodded. “If it’s your treat today, it’ll be mine next time. Shall we, then?” He grinned as they began to walk side by side. “I’m Oakley, by the way.” 

Juney just waited. She knew he would answer her question if she was patient enough. For one, he was a terrible liar, but for two, they had grown that close over the time they’d known each other. She crossed her arms over her chest just to emphasize her point and before she knew it, he fessed up.

“Why not though?” She practically whined at him. The two of them would be adorable together and both really needed something like that in their lives. In Juney’s opinion anyway. It pained her to see her friends so close to being happy but unwilling to take the leap. “How often do you see that in books…or movies where if someone just said something they could live happily ever after?”

-

Oakley made a face as she spoke, folding his arms over his stomach. He silently cursed himself for mentioning Charise in front of her, as he knew she would be able to tell and there wouldn’t be a way to hide it from her. He had thought about confessing to Charise about a million times, but his fear of ruining their friendship kept holding him back. Charise was the first friend he made on the island, and she meant everything to him. Truly, he had never felt this way about anyone before, which made the idea of losing her all the more terrifying. 

“Well,” Oakley huffed out a small laugh as he began his argument for his reasoning, “those are books and movies, Juney.” his voice was almost playful as he began, although it quickly changed to be a more serious tone. “Listen, June, I just don’t want to mess anything up. Have you met Charise? You really think she’d be happy with me? As friends, yes, I think we’re great... but anything more? She is certainly out of my league.” He laughed, despite wholeheartedly believing his words. 

“Yup!” She popped the word, and grinned right back, tapping him on his little chin. “Like Mr. Tumnus! Hmm, but your ears are all wrong, and you don’t have goat legs. I could fix that for you. Not - no, probably not - surgically. Unless you wanted them permanent. Like a cyborg!” Zhu’s eyes widened in glee. “Oh, Oakley, do you wanna be a cyborg? My first cyborg?”

She danced in a little circle, entirely forgetting the coffee options. “Oh, say yes. I would study surgery or hire a doctor or whatever. Totally professional operation!”

-

“Are you comparing me to a goat man?!” Oakley completely ignored the fact his best friend was talking about turning him into some kind of robot. “I’m a cute little fox, I don’t wanna be a goat man!” he tsked. “And don’t touch my ears! They’re part of what make me so damn cute!” Oakley huffed, folding his arms over his chest, although he wasn’t actually upset. “I don’t even wanna know how you’d do that. You’re amazing and you can do anything, but I’d rather you not make me a science experiment.” he couldn’t help but laugh. “You can find someone else, and I’ll be your assistant... But you’ll probably have to explain everything to me like I’m five.”

Juney froze mid step back to the pot on the stove. The wave that hit her as soon as he said Charise’s name was palpable. It was the same thing she’d felt off of Poe around her. She paused for a moment to take a deep breath and get her head back in the present. Focusing was difficult when being hit with these kinds of emotions that clearly were not hers. She crossed and put her spoon back in the pot before turning slowly on her heel and staring at her friend.

“Oaks,” she started slowly and cleared her throat trying to to laugh or shout. The corner of her mouth twitched as she tried to keep her face as neutral as possible. “We are friends. And as your friend, I have to ask…” she crossed her arms and walked slowly back to where he sat on the counter. “Have you told her? How you feel?”

-

“You okay?” Oakley asked, noticing how she was suddenly acting so different. His brows furrowed in concern for his friend. However, upon hearing the question, his entire demeanor changed. “Tell her how I feel about what? Joining us for dinner?” He huffed out a small laugh, deciding to play dumb as he was trying and failing to hide how nervous the question made him feel. “I truly don’t know what you’re talking about. So, about that gumbo, huh?...” Oakley cleared his throat as he stared at her for a moment, suddenly feeling sheepish. “Maaaannn...” he finally caved, although it didn’t take much. “Why do I even bother trying to lie to you, June. No, I haven’t told her, and I’m not going to.”

“Is that so?” He asked over his shoulder, mildly amused, as he turned to swiftly pick up a cup and start on his drink. He tapped the side of the glass mindfully for a moment, thinking of what to make for him. He needed more practice making old fashions, so that’s what he went with. “And what, pray tell, are we going to do, handsome?” Dante looked over at Oakley with a small smirk. In decades, he’d never allowed himself to joke like this with anyone. He reasoned that he didn’t love the man, but rather found him amusing. Therefore, he’d be safe. 

-

Oakley opened his mouth the respond only to quickly close it, realizing he didn’t actually have a plan. He was sure that Dante wouldn’t want to put up with his annoying ass, so he didn’t even try to come up with anything for them to do. “Well, my beautiful cinnamon roll, have a romantic dinner together, of course.” He joked, and paused for a beat. Oakley merely had an interest in platonic relationships. Even with Charise, he wasn’t sure if he would pursue anything more than a friendship with her or not. “I’ll be honest, I have no idea, but I have thirty minutes to think of something, yeah? So stop talking to me, I can’t think.” He added, despite being the only one talking so much. 

.

“Humbug, Oak. You love chaos.” Zhu wagged a finger at him. “It’s part of your charm. And this place is meant to be safe. And peaceful. I bet there’s cameras everywhere except inside bathrooms on this island. And the sand is all rounded off. The fun is government sanctioned and monitored.”

Well, the bits open to the public, anyway. Zhu’s own workshop was, so far as she knew, unsupervised. Not that she’d mind if Octavian wanted to visit. Perhaps have a heart attack, but not mind. There were worse ways to go.

“Should?” Zhu squinted at him. “I have no idea. What is Shifter etiquette?’

_

“You think I’m charming?” Oakley teased, giving her a goofy grin. “You’re probably right.. But it’s not like I’ve committed any crimes or anything” he rolled his eyes playfully, and gently nudged her arm with his elbow. “I guess I am kind of a fan of chaos" he laughed gently as he spoke. “The island is great, don’t get me wrong, I’ve just been getting so bored lately. So, catch me up on all that’s going on with you! Literally nothing interesting has happened in my life.” he added, although one of the first things to come to his mind after saying that was the feelings he realized he may have for Charise.

.

“Oak!” Zhu shoved Oakly, but immediately steadied him before her strength toppled the boy.  She still wasn’t taller than him, but she’d come close today. “Me telling people where I am or where I’ll be takes effort. Plus it makes reactions more genuine when people don’t have time to prepare.”

It was true, but Zhu never meant to cause trouble. It just… happened sometimes. No malice aforethought. Hardly ever. “Everything is baby-proofed here, Oak. Bet the cliff edges have bumpers on’em.”

Looking back at the menu, Zhu asked, “You meet your council guy yet?”

_

Oakley let out a gentle laugh as she shoved him. It was nothing unusual for the two of them. “I suppose you’re right.” He gave a small shrug of his shoulders. “Is everything being baby-proofed supposed to keep people from having fun? I don’t think so! You act as though I want to wreak havoc on the island. That’s not it at all” he tsked. 

Oakley scrunched up his nose, making a face when she asked him her question. He hadn’t, and didn’t really care to either. “I guess I should, shouldn’t I?”