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8:14pm Mar 8 2013 (last edited on 8:58pm Mar 8 2013)
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This is a one-on-one roleplay. You're welcome to read, but please don't post. Thank you!
It wasn't a good day for surfing, especially illegally. That's what Hale kept saying, anyway. But Ollie was an experienced surfer, and he did have the keys to the beach, so what was the big deal?
"It's the middle of March."
"Aw, you worry too much! It's not that bad out. Just stay in the car where it's warm and watch how awesome I am." Oliver Price laughed at his best friend's ex[injection]pression. "I'll be fine, I promise! What's the worst that could happen? I catch a cold?" Ollie flashed Hale a grin before taking off toward the ocean, his yellow and blue surfboard tucked under his arm. The waves rolled over each other, settling down as they reached the shore before pulling back in. It was the same thing over and over again, yet somehow it was different each time. The size of the wave, the sound of the crash, the amount of sea foam--
Wait. That was a lot of sea foam. Ollie knew what that meant; the ocean was preparing for a storm. He gazed out at the water and, surely enough, it was churning with raw, angry power. It was going to rain soon.
Better now than never. Man, was Hale gonna be mad.
Ollie dove into the water, mounting his board, and began to paddle further out, closer to the growing waves. This was going to be fun.
About fifteen minutes and a few sick rides later, Ollie was ready to head back to shore. The storm was really starting to kick up, and even the adventurous blonde knew that to stay far out in the ocean on a surfboard during a bad storm was pretty much a death sentence, especially in this freezing water. He wasn't a lifeguard because he knew nothing about ocean safety, after all. But, as Ollie was contemplating this and feeling very proud of himself for being safe, he failed to notice the powerful wave that was heading right for him. Until it hit him, that is. The wave immediately knocked the surfboard out from under Ollie, and he thought he heard Hale cry out his name before he went under. He fought against the strong current, but the shock of being fully submerged in cold water was quickly taking over, numbing his body. God, was he cold. It hadn't been so bad while he was surfing. The adrenaline rush he always got from riding huge waves had kept him going just fine, but all of that was fading now. Along with his vision.
Cold... God, It's so cold... Am I dying...? I'm so cold... So... cold...
Hale! He couldn't leave Hale! He couldn't leave his mom and his uncle! He couldn't die here! He couldn't die here!
Suddenly, Ollie felt his body heat up. Not gradually, either. In an instant, Ollie felt a thousand white-hot knives stabbing every inch of his body. If he could have, he would have screamed. What happened next seemed like a dream.
He was aware that he was out of the water and in the air, spiraling like a firework. The knife-like pain was beginning to die down, but the heat was still there, warming his entire body as he spiraled higher and higher... until he finally lost momentum and dove head-first back into the water. Another large wave pushed him back to shore, where he lay on his belly, dazed and unaware that his arm was flaming.
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8:57pm Mar 8 2013 (last edited on 8:58pm Mar 8 2013)
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Hale had been in the car, alternately fiddling with his phone and picking out Ollie's brightly colored swim trunks against the gray surf. He should have been watching the whole time, but his virtual pet had been close to leveling up, and, well...
His phone dropped from under his pink-painted thumb less than instantly when he realized there was no longer a speck of orange among the dark waves. He came along for two purposes: to give his best friend a ride to the beach for this suicide mission, and to prevent the actual suicide from happening should Ollie fall (more than likely, in this numbing weather, no matter what his headstrong friend thought). Really he should have called, I don't know, the Coast Guard or something, but adrenalin gripped him and his hand gripped the car door quicker than you could say "LEVEL UP!" Just as he managed to slow down his mind enough to glance back at the dancing pastel colors on his phone and take his hand off the door of the Taurus, a loud sound came from the direction of the beach, jerking Hale's attention back to the shoreline. It sounded sort of like a tea kettle whistling, if that tea kettle were sitting next to a microphone and blasted into a sports arena. Then, something exploded out of the water, bright orange and trailing flame like a comet, up in a steep arc and back into the water. That sure wasn't a fish, thought Hale wildly, and all thoughts of calling authority were abandoned with his dancing e-pet on the floor of the driver's seat.
As he sprinted for the water, trying hard to concentrate on the ocean rescue classes Ollie had made him take last summer, "just for fun!" (yeah right, more like "just in case I get bored"), something washed ashore. Relief, then worry, then panic again, and finally confusion raced through Hale's mind as his knees slammed into the sharp, gritty sand. The sky was dark, and the rain he knew was coming had barely begun to fall, and Ollie, face-first in the sand before him, was soaked through. Except his arm. Which was. On. Fire?
Hale grabbed Ollie's other arm, the closer to him. He felt hot. No. Feverish? The water was freezing, Hale could feel it soaking through his canvas shoes. Feverish, he had to be... Why was his arm on fire?! Hale could feel his brain trying to block out the sight, as if it was clearly a hallucination and should therefore be ignored. But he could feel the heat of it, not a foot from his skin and apparently not affected by the worsening rain at all. Didn't that hurt? He had to do something.
"Ollie!" he yelled, "Get up!"
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9:15pm Mar 8 2013 (last edited on 9:16pm Mar 8 2013)
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Ollie choked, then began coughing up seawater. His body still felt like it was on fire, but at least he was starting to regain control of it.
"H-Hale..." Ollie coughed, slowly forcing himself up with every single ounce of strength he had left. His legs were wobbly, and he gripped Hale's arm a little harder than he should have in order to keep himself from falling. That's when he saw it. His arm was on fire, but he felt no pain. Only warmth. A sharp gasp followed by more harsh coughing sent Ollie reeling.
"H-Hale...!" A cough. "Hale, what... what the hell is going on?!" Another cough. "Did you set me on fire or somethi--" More coughing. Ollie let go of Hale's arm and dropped to his knees, hastily throwing water and sand on his arm. But nothing was happening. The flame burned brightly, and finally Ollie sat back, his eyes wide with terror.
The flame flickered, then died down to nothing. There wasn't a single mark on Ollie's arm. He stared at it dumbfounded, confusion painted on his face.
"Hale... What the hell just happened...?"
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9:28pm Mar 8 2013
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"I..." Hale sat still on his knees, too stunned to move, staring at Ollie. "Divine intervention?" His brain was resorting to lousy jokes to keep him sane. Bad sign. No, no, think. "Uh... It could be..." He ran through information. Science class, urban legend, uh... Nothing was coming. He closed his mouth, then opened it again.
"It... It doesn't look burned at all," here nodding to Ollie's arm, casually gesturing, this is all normal, nothing weird here. "Does it hurt?" Dumb question. With a burn like the one that fire could have inflicted, Ollie would have been missing half the flesh of his arm. He was unaffected. But why? What could have happened? |
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9:42pm Mar 8 2013
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Ollie shook his head, his blonde bangs plastered to his forehead. "No... Not at all," he replied. "Do you think... maybe it was some kind of... What's it called? Spontaneous human combustion? But don't people actually get burned, or... y'know, die, when that happens?"
After realizing that he had been staring in silence at the equally confused Hale for a good five minutes, Ollie looked down at the sand. "Hale... I thought I was going to die. I don't know how far down the current dragged me. I think I hit a riptide after that wave got me. I couldn't see anything. It was just... black. And cold." Ollie shivered at the memory, then shivered again, until it struck him that the immense warmth his body had held was gone. He wrapped his arms around himself before continuing. "I didn't want to die, but I knew I was going to. And then... the next thing I knew, I was flying."
Ollie gazed out at the ocean. His board was almost certainly in those waters somewhere, possibly broken in half. But he sure as hell wasn't going back in for it.
Taking a deep breath, Ollie continued, his voice shaking from the cold. "I blacked out or something, and then I heard you calling my name. Maybe... Maybe we should go back to my house."
Ollie never liked to admit it to himself, let alone talk about it, but his uncle, whom he loved dearly, was somewhat of a... well, nerd. Possibly even a bigger nerd than Hale if that was possible. Maybe he knew something about what was going on. Frankly, at that moment, Ollie didn't really care much. He was too cold to care. And he had a headache.
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10:13pm Mar 8 2013
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"Yeah... Yeah." Hale grabbed Ollie's arm again and pulled both of them up. "We shouldn't be out in this." Ollie stumbled and Hale slipped his shoulder under the taller boy's arm. "Lean on me... Come on." The two walked in silence back to the car. Hale helped Ollie, who was already past needing help, into the passenger seat, and took his own seat on the other side. Silence hung between them again. Hale sat looking at the steering wheel between his hands, thinking distantly about Ollie's account of what had happened.
The rain was pounding on the car by this point, turning to hail by the time it hit the ground. Hale took a breath. "Ollie," his friend turned to look, "Do you think it was you that did that?" Hale's eyes were on the steering wheel, the thoughts still coming and him not daring to interrupt their procession by moving. "Like, maybe you were in danger and something... woke up. Like how we only use twenty percent of our brains, except I heard that was a myth. But still... You know..." The lofty logic seemed to be done coming, so he turned to look back at Ollie. "You think... maybe?"
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10:22pm Mar 8 2013 (last edited on 10:23pm Mar 8 2013)
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"Hale..." Ollie said quietly. "I know you love your logic, so here's some more. Do you know how many millions of people have been in life-or-death situations? Why didn't anything... 'wake up' in them?"
Ollie was trembling, no longer from cold, but from fear. And that scared him even more. He was never afraid. Certainly not around Hale. Ollie felt a strong desire to protect his best friend. He'd always felt it. Letting Hale see him like this might upset him, and Ollie couldn't let that happen. There were already too many people in the world who shunned Hale for who he was and what he liked. There were too many people in the world who loved Ollie for what he looked like and what he did. And that made Ollie sick. No, he had to stay strong and collected for Hale.
"Look," Ollie attempted a laugh. "I'm fine now. So... whatever it was, it's gone. And it didn't hurt me. Right? No big deal!" Despite his cheerful smile, Ollie was still shaking. |
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10:58pm Mar 8 2013
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"I don't know!" Hale flushed red. He felt dumb for suggesting it now. "What do you think caused it, then? The water? You wanna ignore what just happened?" He shivered. The rain must have soaked him more thoroughly than he thought. The inside of the car felt freezing. The hail pounded harder.
He inhaled, spoke a little slower, a little quieter. "You almost died, Oliver." Hale rubbed his arms and shifted his eyes to the ground. Oh yeah. He picked his phone up off the floor of the car. Then nothing happened for a while. When he knew what else to say, what came out was, "I just want to figure out what kept you alive." |
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11:16pm Mar 8 2013
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"You did," Ollie replied before he knew what he was saying. He turned redder than Hale. "I-I mean... I was thinking about you... and my mom and my uncle... and then something just... happened." Ollie took a deep breath and pushed his bangs back. "I knew I couldn't leave you-- I mean, any of you. But you especially... I... I know how hard you have it, Hale, and I just..." Ollie swallowed nervously. "Maybe we're just... both sick... and we both hallucinated the same thing. I don't know!"
With a heavy sigh, Ollie put his head in his hands and stared at the floor of the car. Finally, he looked back up at Hale, who was... shivering?
"Hale...? Hey, you look like you're freezing. C'mere." Ollie pulled the smaller boy over and into his arms. He felt as cold as ice. On the other hand, Ollie felt his own body warm up. Not like the burning hell fire he had felt earlier... no, this heat was more like what you feel when you sit next to a cozy fireplace. Ollie's face felt the warmest. He knew he was blushing, and that made his body heat up even more.
"Geez, Hale," Ollie said quietly. "You really are freezing..." He held him tighter.
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11:46pm Mar 8 2013 (last edited on 11:58pm Mar 8 2013)
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"I'm fine," he got out on reflex, his muscles relaxing across the uncomfortable central hub of the Taurus. He did feel a bit warmer. Despite having been out in the ice-cold waves, Ollie was as warm as a blanket fresh from the dryer. But Hale still felt cold down to his bones, like he'd been out in the chill for hours rather than minutes. Maybe he was sick. He ignored it and closed his eyes. "Let's just... go."
A particularly large hailstone smacked the car roof. Both boys jumped. "...Can we go to my place?" Hale's house was much closer than Ollie's, and the hailstorm was getting worse. "You can stay the night. Gran won't mind, it's break." He sat up. "Please." |
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12:10am Mar 9 2013
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Ollie was still blushing, and he nodded quickly before turning his gaze to the window. "Yeah," he said quietly. "I'll call my mom later. No big deal."
Ollie leaned his forehead against the glass and spoke softly. "Hale... You're really cold, aren't you? Are you sick? I'm sorry I... grabbed you. I... I just wanted to help, and I wasn't thinking and..." He cleared his throat and closed his eyes. "And... Haiey... I'm just worried... I couldn't care less what happens to me, but you're so cold. You won't stop shivering. Did that whole thing with me shake you up that badly? God, Hale, I'm so sorry..."
Ollie continued to ramble on, apologizing for things that had absolutely nothing to do with him. He didn't know what else to do. |
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12:27am Mar 9 2013
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"It's fine," Hale said gently. "I'm not sick, just cold." He knew Ollie was prone to talking. It just meant he was worried. "But I don't know how you can not be shaken up, Ollie. I mean... think about what happened."
Hale started up the car and began the drive back to his home. Ollie had plenty of clothes kept there. He could easily stay a night or two. And if he was being honest, Hale sort of wanted to keep an eye on him. Ollie seemed fine now, sure, but what if he got sick later, or... or something? "Let's just get home," he said. "We'll figure it out later." |
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12:50am Mar 9 2013
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Ollie hesitated, opened his mouth, then hesitated again. Finally, he laughed quietly. "You always worry about me," he said, staring out the window. "Every time I go surfing, it's 'Ollie, don't get hurt... Ollie, be careful... Ollie, this isn't a good idea...' Am I right?" Ollie glanced at Hale and smiled. "Of course I'm right. You're always worrying about me, Hale. Maybe I'm some kind of X-Men mutant or something. Who knows? I don't really care right now. I did a few minutes ago, and I probably will a few hours from now... but right now, you're the only one I care--" Ollie cleared his throat and looked back out the window. What was coming over him?
"Mom still wants to move. Uncle Ray isn't too big on it. But Mom really wants to get away from here. I guess it hasn't been the same since... since Dad died." Ollie choked a little then swallowed hard. "I can't blame her. But... I can't just leave you, Hale. I can't even stand thinking about it."
Ollie closed his eyes again. The sky was dark. He could hear the sound of hail pounding against the car.
Suddenly, a song he had always heard play at a pool he used to lifeguard for came into his head. He sang quietly so that he could barely be heard over the hail.
"I was thinkin' about you, thinkin' about me, thinkin' about us, what we're gonna be... I opened my eyes... It was only just a dream..."
Those memories calmed him. Memories of when things were normal, when his arm wasn't on fire and Hale didn't feel like ice to the touch. When Dad was still alive.
When he didn't feel... like this.
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1:22am Mar 9 2013
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The cold finally began to recede as heat rushed to Hale's face. He kept his eyes on the road. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Ollie. I really don't." He didn't have a lot of friends. The ones he did have, he wasn't too close with. Except Ollie. And Ollie really seemed to like being with him, too. In his best friend's company, he felt relaxed. And he was growing relaxed now. As the beach dwindled from the rearview mirror, Ollie's near-death experience and even stranger salvation seemed to fade as well. Before long, they were pulling into the garage at Hale's house.
He lived alone with his grandmother, his parents long gone on a plane to who-knows-where. Gran was friendly and fair, but not much besides. Hale didn't blame her for her sternness, though. She was old and set in her ways. He was lucky she'd taken him in. Raising children at her age wasn't her first choice, he knew.
Hale sat back in the car seat, then turned to look at Ollie. He'd been quiet for most of the drive. "You okay?" Hale asked, and felt a bit of worry come back. Maybe Ollie was sick after all.
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1:40am Mar 9 2013
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Ollie turned his head to look at Hale. He gave him a half-hearted smile and nodded. There were tears in his eyes.
"Hale... I can't leave my mom. She needs me. But if it really comes down to it, I... I can't leave you, either." He laughed and wiped his eyes on his arm. "You know, Dad was so happy the last time I saw him. He was going to go surfing in Australia. He was smiling so big and bright, just like he always did. But he seemed even happier that day, because that was the day I decided I wanted to become a pro surfer like him. He wouldn't let me come with him, though. He said I was too young. Too young to surf in dangerous waters. But I could tell he was happy."
Ollie choked back a sob and continued talking. "He was the best. He was fearless. He wanted to surf where no one dared to surf. And he did." Ollie felt a warm tear trail down his face. "He surfed until..." Oliver knew he didn't have to go on. Hale knew the story about the jelllyfish. He'd heard it a million times.
"Looking at these waters reminds Mom of Dad. This whole place reminds her of Dad. I guess it reminds me of him, too." Ollie drew in a breath and closed his eyes as another tear slid down his cheek. "I miss him a lot, Hale. I guess... almost dying out there, in the ocean, it made me think of him, y'know?" The blonde laughed, but he was quickly cut off by another sob. "I'm sorry, Hale. I didn't want to do this in front of you. I'm fine, I promise."
"Who knows," Ollie continued quietly. "Maybe that was Dad saving me."
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2:00am Mar 9 2013
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Without wasting a moment, Hale grabbed Ollie's hand. "Maybe it was," he said. "Ollie, you can do whatever you want in front of me. You're my friend, not my bodyguard. I don't need a bodyguard." His best friend always thought he could do anything, conquer the world, and protect Hale from it at the same time. He thought Hale was as fragile as glass, but he himself was no less breakable than Hale was. Hale squeezed Ollie's hand and opened the car door. "Let's go in and get dried off. If I'm this cold, you must be freezing."
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2:07am Mar 9 2013 (last edited on 2:07am Mar 9 2013)
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Ollie gasped softly and turned red. He wiped his face with his free hand. "I..." He leaned toward Hale then hesitated. "...Thanks." Ollie squeezed Hale's hand. His breath smelled like sea salt.
What was wrong with him? Why was he having these sudden... urges? He had to get out of there.
"I, uh... I'm gonna get a shower. I'll call my mom, too. I won't be long. Thanks again, Haley." Ollie quickly opened the car door and stepped out, hurrying into Hale's grandmother's house. |
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2:42am Mar 9 2013
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Hale slipped out of his wet, sandy shoes and drew his feet up onto the seat. "No problem, Ollie," he mumbled at his friend's back, and rested his chin on his knee. Hale had heard all about Ollie's father time and time again. He knew Ollie's feelings, and he suspected, deep down, that moving away would be as good for his best friend as it would be for Ollie's mother. Clearly he wasn't happy here. He was always pulling crazy stunts like the one that had nearly gotten him killed today. Someday, he would meet his end in the sea, the same as his father. Wouldn't moving somewhere else fix that?
But Hale couldn't bear to see Ollie go. His life had been miserable before he'd met Ollie. He'd always been a little strange. His interests weren't quite the same as anyone else's, and he hadn't been flattened into shape by junior high school like the rest of the weird kids. Hardly anyone had bothered sticking up for him. But Ollie didn't seem to care about any of that. And sometimes, Hale couldn't help wanting to be... a little closer to him. He didn't know what it was, but he swallowed it as best as he could. He didn't want to lose the one friend he had. He'd do anything to keep Ollie. Except. Maybe. Let him suffer in this town.
Hale walked inside in his soaking socks. Gran was in the living room watching television. She'd probably already said hello to Ollie. He was no strange sight in her home. He greeted her with a simple "Hello, Gran," and that was enough for the both of them. Hale climbed the stairs to his bedroom. Gran had at least let him decorate it as he pleased, saying nothing about the pastel pink and yellow wallpaper and the numerous stuffed animals filling the room. Hale liked pastels. He liked cute things, plush toys, and sweet-looking patterns. For the most part, Gran was all too happy to let him pursue his interests as he pleased. Hale changed into dry clothes and sat on the bed to wait for Ollie. The cold had faded. In fact, he didn't feel cold at all anymore. He was glad for that. It meant he could skip showering. Outside, the hail continued to knock on the window.
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3:00am Mar 9 2013
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Ollie stepped out of the shower and walked into Hale's room, a towel wrapped around his waist. He rummaged around in Hale's closet until he found some of his own clothes, and turning his back to Hale, quickly changed into them.
Picking up the towel, Ollie began to dry his hair. "Thanks for letting me stay here. Uh, thank your gran for me, too," he said, tossing the towel at Hale. "Listen, I'm sorry about... You know. Everything." He laughed nervously and scratched his head, then picked up a medium-sized plush dog. "You know what this room needs? More fish. Dolphins, sharks, sea turtles, jel--" Ollie closed his mouth, realizing what he'd almost said, and sat down on the bed, hugging the stuffed dog tightly. "Nevermind," he said quietly. "It's fine the way it is."
Ollie let go of the dog and lay down on Hale's bed on his back. He stared up at the ceiling. Ollie was what most would call "popular". He always got swarmed with girls during school. He was friends with all the other popular kids. But he didn't feel any connection with them. They were just... there. Just people who liked him because of the way he looked, how he acted, and what he did. But Hale was different. Hale was nothing like them, nothing like the people Ollie would normally hang out with, but he was closer to him than anyone else. Hale understood him. Hale really cared about him.
Picking up the dog again, Ollie placed it on his chest and looked up at Hale. "So who's this one? Spot? Fido? Chernobyl?" Ollie felt his face grow warm as he stared up at his friend.
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3:44am Mar 9 2013
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Hale smiled. Instantly he was at ease. "That one's Clover." He took the dog and whacked Ollie over the head with it. "Get me a dolphin for my birthday, okay? A cute one. None of that creepy anatomically correct stuff you like." Hale yawned and set the dog over Ollie's face, lying down next to him and staring at the ceiling. Belatedly, he grabbed Ollie's discarded towel and put it under his still-wet head. Weird that he wasn't still cold, he thought, and closed his eyes.
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