daretosee | For whatisthatmelody | Back to life alternate timeline au aka a mouthful!

For whatisthatmelody | Back to life alternate timeline au aka a mouthful!

His last moments alive are gasped, choking. Struggling for air. Harold almost thought he'd make it, he'd had enough oxygen in his air tank for about thirty minutes, but as he fought to find a way back into Horizon colony, he'd quickly realized that the subjects had done a full lockdown.

It didn't stop him from trying even still, trying till his last breath gave out.

It's like a jolt shoots through him, waking Harold with a start. He sits up, blinking wildly, then flips back into bed. Bed? What? His mind wonders "a dream?", but no no he knows that wasn't a dream. He'd felt it, he'd lived that.

His eyes dart around, familiar things all around, but this isn't right. No, no this is wrong. He grabs the phone on the desk because his bed, flicks it on to see the date and can't believe what he's reading. Flicks the camera on to look at himself at his face.

It's him. Hair more full and his hairline not as drawn back, no gray. No crowd feet at the corner of his eyes and his forehead much smoother. What the hell... it's then that he hears the familiar sound of an orchestral tune coming from the bathroom.

How many times had he woken up to that or joined Siebren in the shower in the morning to start their day? His mind is a wash of confusion and sadness as he looks at the texts messages on the phone. His mother is glad he's enjoying the beginning of his first semester. College? Jesus is that... yeah that made sense with what he's, seeing but this isn't the room he'd stayed in during that time.

What the hell is going on?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Siebren de Kuiper had settled into his college routine without any trouble at all...well, other than ducking a bit in many of the doorways. He'd even been given a room with its own bathroom. High living. Granted, he shared a sleeping area with a roommate, but that was easy to deal with. He had a regular sleep schedule whenever he did not have a project, which had allowed Siebren to plan out when he could shower and sing dulcet tones of Dutch opera without disturbing Harold.

He emerged from the bathroom, damp with a towel around his waist, still humming the tune he had been singing...and definitely not noticing that Harold was awake in his bed, going through his phone. He dropped the towel and reached for the pair of loungepants on his bed...tugging them on and then making his way into a university shirt. It was only when he reached for his can of stroopwafels on the nightstand between them that he realized Harold was awake....and he promptly changed several shades of red darker than he had been.

"Oh...my...I am so sorry, I did not know you were awake."

He's still Siebren de Kuiper to Harold...a gentle, awkward giant...but he's so much younger. His is still sharp and strong,but there aren't the lines he will have later. His hairline is already receding, but the hair he does have is thicker and fluffier.

He's still going through his texts when the bathroom opens and he sinks a little down in bed, awkwardly laying there with his phone, glancing over yonder. Nothing to see here.

Now Harold gets to see plenty. The form comes into the room in only a towel, not that that lasts long, and he's know him any where. Any time. Those wide strong shoulders that flow down to a trim waist and... yup

There it is. That tiny firm butt. He almost laughs, but then Siebren is yanking on his pants and turns to grab a shirt when he finally notices him. Harold looks like a deer in the headlights, they both do, face flushing bright. Caught in the act.

"N-No it's uh, it's okay." God he's so young looking, there's still the Siebren he knew in those younger features, but it's still surreal to see him this way. Harold has to ask himself again, what the fuck is going on? Pushing himself to sit up in bed now, he'll grab his glasses noting with some amusement that his prescription isn't as strong yet.

Oh youth.

"Did you leave me any hot water at least?" He shocks himself when he realizes he's talking in Dutch, Siebren had been talking in Dutch. When the hell had he learned it well enough to speak and understand it this much?

Siebren opened the can and took out a stroopwaffle, then offered the tin to Harold.

"Yeah, sure. Mostly. You...you might want to wait ten minutes or so. Maybe....ahhhh...enjoy breakfast first."

He was slowly fading back to his usual skin tone.

Now he can't help but chuckle, taking one of the offered treats. Harold remembered college life, he hadn't had Siebren as a roommate, but the one he'd had had always used up all the hot water and left him to ice cold quick showers before rushing to classes. He didn't mind so much when it was Siebren though.

After a little "dank je" he nibbles on the sweet but satisfying favorite of one Siebren de Kupier. Now he's staring again, eyes flickering over every little change, the differences in his features. Mostly he just has to stop himself from getting up and hugging him so very tightly. He'd missed him so damn much. If this isn't some weird dream, if he's really not dead. If this is real right here right now...

What if he wakes up from this too? What if Horizon wasn't real either? His mind had a lot to fight with at the moment.

Siebren nibbled on his stroopwaffel, noticing that Harold kept staring at him. He ran his hand through his hair, checking for anything out of the ordinary. Nope, just damp, fluffy hair. Huh. There it was again. He kept looking. Harold was distinctly staring at him and doing his best not to look like he was.

Siebren blinked and cleared his throat.

"Harold...are...are you alright?

Oh. Uh. Whoops. He clears his throat looking embarrassed, taking a good bite of the stroopwaffel and looking away. Give him a second okay. Swallowing it down he pushes his glasses up with his fingers, little nervous shy tick there.

"Sorry, just feeling a little off today. Think that hot shower will help." Scooting out of bed, it takes him a second to grab a change of clothes, it's like his mind knows where things are yet at the same time his memories from Horizon fight against all of it. Like two minds in one body.

Making his escape into the bathroom he takes a few seconds to look around, seeing their things together, it's not the same as the very teeny tiny cramped bathroom on Horizon had been, not that this is large by any means, but it feels familiar. Stripping and getting into the shower he's happy that the water is at least warm, but when he sees the body wash that Siebren had used on Horizon, that Harold definitely borrowed as well, something in him snaps. He will wash up, but if he takes a bit of a longer shower to let out a bit of emotions as the water runs cold... yeah. Yeah.

Sorry if he used your caramel body wash, Siebren, he only used a little. Won't even notice. Coming back out he offers a little smile to Siebren that doesn't reach his eyes and plops on his bed to grab some socks to yank on. Then he's going through his phone again to look up his schedule and classes, he'd always been good about keeping track of that stuff so it's easy to get a handle on that.

"I could really use a coffee right about now. You want to go grab something before class?" They had different classes, but that didn't mean they couldn't go caffeinate together.

Siebren nodded.

"I hope it does."

His voice was soft, friendly. He was fond of Harold and so far as he could tell, he trusted him...so he took the young man's excuse at face value and reasoned that it might be something Harold did not want to talk about. As such, he did not pry.

Harold is right about him not noticing that some of his body wash was missing, but he would have gladly shared it anyway.

Siebren checked his own phone, looking at his emails and then scrolling through cat pictures until Harold emerged from the bathroom and offered him a small smile. Unlike Harold, Siebren's definitely reached his eyes. His pale blue ones sparkled.

"I feel quite the same. I think it would be a good idea. One moment, please."

He eased off of his bed and opened one of his drawers retrieving a pair of black jeans before dipping into the bathroom and emerging a few moments later wearing them. He tossed his sweatpants onto his bed for later.

"Can't go out in the world indecent now, can I?"

He grabbed a few items off his desk and dropped them into his messenger bag and pulled it only his shoulder. He smiled widely and clicked his heels together once his shoes were on.

"Ready when you are."

"I mean. You could, but it wouldn't be the best idea." No doubt he'd get in trouble, but Siebren wasn't the sort to do things like that. At least the Siebren he'd known had been very considerate.

While he gets ready Harold pulls his shoes on and grabs his messenger bag, stuffing the books and such he'll need for the day. It's still so weird to him that he seems to almost automatically do these things, know a lot about stuff he feels he shouldn't. Like he's got to minds in the same head.

Pulling on a sweater he realizes it's a college sweater. The college he'd submitted to along with the main one he'd wanted to get into. Guess it made sense why he was speaking Dutch, why Siebren is here. It's some strange alternate universe dream, it has to be.

Harold doesn't know how or even if it's true. He has no idea what's real right now. He smiles when Siebren comes out, turning to him, messenger bag over his shoulder.

"Ready." When they head out he's half following Siebren and half hazily walking to a place his body seems to remember walking to more than once.

"... do you ever feel like you're living in a dream?" He asks, a little quiet, almost like he's afraid someone else will hear and think he's crazy.

Siebren bristled at that and his cheeks darkened for a moment before smiling and shaking his head.

"No, I should say not. I think I'd blind everyone."

He nodded when Harold said he was ready and opened the door to their room for the other young man.

The air was crisp and sun was shining. Siebren smiled and breathed deeply, taking it all in. He looked over at Harold and tried to judge if his roommate was being serious with the question. He nodded, brow furrowing, thinking.

"Do you mean...disconnected from my peers, the world around me...like I should be someplace else?"

All the time.

But...sometimes more than others...especially lately.

He shrugged.

"Sometimes, I suppose."

He thought a bit more.

"Lately? Well...yes, but...it is a good dream so...I can't really complain."

The answer he gets from Siebren is unexpected and some what sad really. It's not what he'd meant, but that he'd taken it that way makes him feel bad, clearly there was a lot Siebren had to deal with, but he says lately that it's a good dream. He wonders what he means by that.

"No not... entirely." Harold fidgets with the strap of his messenger bag, "But I guess my dream is good too." He glances up at Siebren then, a little frown on his face even as he expresses that his dream isn't anything to be upset over. It isn't, he's happy to be here, to experience this. To see Siebren again.

"This is my dream though. Being here right now." God he knows that will sound crazy, but since he's woken up he feels it so may as well indulge in it just a little.

In the few weeks that Harold Winston had been Siebren's roommate, he had been nothing but open and kind...honest. This confession about life being a dream seemed to come from that same place, which caused Siebren to take it seriously. This man had no reason to lie to him.

"Harold...do you mean like...right now? Like I'm not real? Or like I am real but something is off?"

He paused.

"I had a dream like that the night before school started, you know? I dreamed I was looking through a telescope at the Earth. It felt real, like I had done it...but...I've never been outside of Europe."

"I... I don't know. You look real." With a beat of hesitation he reaches over, gives Siebren a little nudge with a fist against his arm.

"Feel real." God what does he even say? Should he explain it? I'm actually in my late 40's and work on a space station on the moon? Me and all of my fellow crew were murdered by genetically altered primates? He'll sound more mad than he might now.

"You-" Siebren tells him of a dream he'd had and it can't be coincidence, but what does it mean? Harold swallows a while bunch of nerves and uncertainty down.

"Maybe I'm just tired. Start of college, moving in... babbling about living in a dream. You sure you want to be my roommate?" Harold smiles weakly at Siebren.

Siebren smiled at that nudge to his arm and gave his own playful nudge back to Harold's shoulder.

"Harold, I am sure there is no one I would rather have for my roommate than you. At the very least, you keep things interesting. I certainly can't complain about that."

He nodded towards the small coffee shop.

"My treat today, what do you say? Sounds like you need a little extra kick to make sure you are awake."

Siebren had a good feeling about Harold. Just being around him was enough to soothe his nerves. Normally he fretted about new roommates, but Harold...Harold just made him feel at ease...like he had known him a long time. Perhaps in another life, they had known one another.

"Having a mid life crisis over dreams is interesting I guess." Wait midlife? Harold you're a baby now. Still he can't help the warm feeling from Siebren's kind words, smiling more genuine as he walks more surely beside him.

"An astute observation Dr. de Kuiper." He laughs a little, before realizing what he's said. Not a doctor yet, but maybe he'll take it as a haha teasing joke. Harold nervously fixes his glasses and tries to stop being so damn weird and awkward. Just relax. He's just making things worse.

"Thank you, Siebren, I'll pay you back. Tomorrow on me?" If he's here tomorrow. If he doesn't wake up. If he's not really dead.

Dr. de Kuiper.

It sounds right...feels right...like some long running joke between them....though this is the first time that Harold had referred to him as such. Siebren found he rather liked it.

"Alright. It is a date then, Dr. Winston."

He beamed and nodded.

Wait...what? Why did he say that?

Siebren managed to catch himself.

"That is...if you like...I'm sorry...I hope I didn't overstep."

It feels so familiar to say that.

Did...did he just flirt with Harold about some old joke between them that wasn't an old joke at all.

"I'm sorry, I must seem to familiar. I just...feel comfortable with you. Like I have known you longer than a few weeks. Perhaps...we were friends in another life."

He smiled at that.

Yes. Perhaps. In the infinite universes he believed existed, surely in one of them a Siebren de Kuiper had met a Harold Winston.

The more they talk the more Harold feels like this day is going so slow and far too fast all at once. How can one get whiplash and yet feel like he's falling in slow motion?

He wished it would stop.

Doctor Winston.

Yes! That's who he is! He wants to tell him everything, explain it all, but could he? Should he? At Siebren saying it's a date his cheeks flush as his roommate flounders awkwardly beside him. This is rather familiar as well.

So very Siebren.

"You always worry too much. It's okay, really." It's something Harold wouldn't push away. The familiarity. The closeness. He'd missed it so much and missed Siebren as well. If this is what fate was going to give him he'd take it.

"Maybe, it's a possibility we can't count out. The universe is vast and possibilities endless." He can't help but smile in kind at Siebren.

"I think we'd have been good friends in another life."

It was true. He did worry too much...but how did Harold know that? Was it really that obvious after only a few weeks?

His sharp features softened at Harold's reaffirming what he thought. That they would have been good friends in another life. He hadn't been shut down or told he was looking too far into something. It had not been a casual agreement to get him to be quiet either.

Siebren's smile was arm and his eyes downcast as he fidgeted with his fingers.

"You know...I...I hope we get to be good friends in this one, too. I...would like that very much."

Yes. Exactly it. He's just very observant, Siebren. Not untrue either...

Now Siebren had his shy soft moments when he knew him, but it's as if he's even more so now. So unsure and ready for any sort of negative rebuttal or dismissal of what he's said. Or of his feelings. It's interesting to see, but at the same time he hated that someone so good so wonderful and brilliant as him would ever feel that way.

"We've got a good headstart I like to think." Harold offers him a smile in turn, "A roommate who doesn't steal all off the hot water in the morning. Just most of it." He chuckles, then his head lifts seeing the place he knows he gets coffee from in the morning most of the time. Some how he just knows it.

"Plus you're getting me coffee. You're my best friend as far as I'm concerned."

A younger Siebren was significantly more shy...even a little timid compared to his adult self that Harold had known before. Small tidbits of that young man showed themselves from time to time, but Harold will see that Siebren has a lot of growing up to do over the next few years.

He's painfully aware of his size compared to others and he's always been a little behind his peers in terms of being able to read and form relationships. His brain was much better suited to concepts and theories. The universe was so massive...so full of potential and wonder and mystery...and it entranced him like nothing on Earth.

His parents had noticed his talent....appreciated his mind...and also made note of certain...difficulties he had on a more social level...and had always encouraged him to be kind. The universe was vast, but it was cold, too. A little warmth...a little kindness went a long way.

There was a warmth in his heart at Harold saying such things...that they had a good head start...that buying him coffee made him his best friend. However silly, it made him feel at home. It was just easy...it felt right.

His grey eyes sparkled and he beamed.

"Yes. Shall we?""

He opened the door and gestured for Harold to enter before him.

"Danke." There's a lot Harold didn't know about Siebren, but there were other things he had learned or picked up on as they'd known each other.

Depending on how long he was going to be here he hopefully would learn more. Harold just wanted to spend as much time as he could with him, even if this wasn't real or just a dream. It's more than he ever thought he'd get with Siebren again.

"So how big am I allowed?" For a drink. Cough.

Siebren's face gave a little start at that, but a sly smile quickly spread over his sharp features and he arched his large eyebrows knowingly.

"I don't know, Harold. I suppose you'll have to use discretion. I don't think it is a matter of how much you are allowed...but rather how much you can...handle?"

He waggled his eyebrows as if that was somehow terribly clever. His smile remained as he asked.

"So....what is it? What is your pleasure, Harold Winston?"

If it were anyone else he'd probably not take it in good nature, but it's Siebren and that mischievous look is so him. He can't not be endeared by the terrible bout of 'cleverness' on his part.

To be fair the word he'd used in Dutch definitely was more for that sort of thing anyway. Slip of the tongue, clearly Siebren knew that which is why he was being TERRIBLE. He can't help but scoff at first, but a chuckle follows after. Staring up at the menu he seems to ponder it, though he already knows what he'll say. Typically he'd be good and get a small since he wasn't paying, but if Siebren is going to play it this way.

"My pleasure? Tall and dark." His eyes flicked to Siebren, a quirk lifting the corner of his lips. "Oh you meant coffee, ahem, tall with no cream, extra sugar, shot of hazelnut of you don't mind. Thank you." So still tall and dark. The handsome is implied. If he wasn't already familiar with Siebren he wouldn't have been so bold with his reply back, but he'd known him.

He'd loved him.

It was easier to be a cheeky flirt when your future was colliding with your past... an alternate past even.

Why does that little chuckle that Harold unleashes make his stomach get tiny butterflies? Why had he even made that joke? He was seeing someone, after all....someone who had been ghosting him before saying they wanted to meet to talk tonight...he really was in no position to be flirting...but...but it was Harold and for some reason that made it seem natural.

Tall and dark? Why...that would also mean...handsome?HANDSOME? Him? Giant, sharp angled....already hairline receding Siebren de Kuiper?

The implication hit him like a ton of bricks and Siebren could feel his cheeks burn. It was his own fault entirely, he had started it. A crimson wave crawled of his face-Harold would know it...even if Siebren did not know that. He smiled, though, and slowly the red died down.

True to his word, he picked up the tab...and settled on a simple coffee with heavy cream for himself. He held the door for Harold as they exited.

"Ah, thank you, for putting up with me, I ah... don't know what came over me."

Edited 2020-03-11 05:28 (UTC)

If he'd known Siebren were currently seeing someone he'd have definitely not been so bold to flirt back like that, but it seemed the things he knew or didn't know from this current reality he was in clued him in when it wanted to. Now was not one of those times. What he does know is that it's so very charming seeing Siebren blush bright red when he was the one who instigated the whole thing in the first place.

Adorable. Though Harold is a bit worried as he doesn't respond back to it at all beyond ordering their drinks. It's not until they're leaving that he finally speaks up on the matter, much more reserved and almost shy. Harold holds his cup with both hands, sipping carefully as it's indeed quite hot.

"Just because we're roommates doesn't mean I'm putting up with you, Siebren." There's a lot of reasons he's 'putting up with' him. He takes another sip from his coffee, walking along with him and glances up at him, considering things. He guesses if he really is here and this isn't a dream that it's not so bad. He's got Siebren again, no matter how life may go or things between them end up... at least he's alive.

"Don't worry, if you ever overstep any boundaries I'll let you know." He punctuates this with a cheeky little wink.

Siebren smiles softly, taking a careful sip of his own coffee.

“Thank you, Harold.”

His voice was heavy with gratitude.

“The truth is...ever since I met you...even though it was just a few weeks ago...it just feels so easy...like I’ve known you a long time already. It feels...peaceful.”

That cheeky little wink is just too much.

Adorable.

He loved it.

“I have the feeling I might need to be...reeled in from time to time.”

In more ways than one.

“I’ll be in late tonight, just so you know. I don’t want you to worry.”

For whatisthatmelody | Back to life alternate timeline au aka a mouthful!

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