takecourage | (no subject)

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caleb

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It's a weekend but Darlington has to work at the museum -- some kind of special event -- so Alex texts Caleb and asks him if he wants to meet her for lunch. The weather is pretty pleasant - some sun, warm enough to just be wearing a t-shirt and jeans but not so hot yet that she's sweating. She sits outside the cafe they've arranged to meet at, shades in place, idly flicking through her phone. Sometimes, she wishes she as the kind of girl who'd have a paperback in her bag for this kind of thing, this kind of waiting, but she isn't, so she doesn't. No matter how successfully she might reinvent herself into Darrow Alex, she figures that some things will always be true and Alex has never quite had the knack of reading for pleasure.

So she waits.

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Caleb's wearing a short sleeved shirt, and no jacket, and it shows off the scar he'd gotten from that one rust bucket in the shop last month. He'd told Alex about it — about how he'd gotten his arm caught, and Michael'd has to help pull him out, and he'd needed a few stitches (that part had been in text, not in person), and he absolutely hadn't told her about Michael learning he could heal, or the way he'd accidentally stopped too soon, or the following week of their emotional connection as a result of it.

He doesn't need to wear a bandage anymore. It's been long enough that, he's pretty sure, anyway, it would look like this by now.

When he spots her, he grins and moves to her side.

"Hey," he says. It's not like they haven't seen each other, but she's one of his best friends. It always feels good to see her.

"Hey," says Alex, her smile soft and warm in a way that it wouldn't be for almost anyone else. She leans up, offering her cheek for a kiss. "This place is okay, right?"

"It's got food," he points out, and drops a peck on her cheek. It makes him feel weirdly adult, but it also feels totally normal. "I'm good with anywhere that's got food." He sits across from her, so he can stretch his legs out beneath the table.

"You're such a fucking teenager sometimes," says Alex, rolling her eyes behind dark lenses, grinning like she isn't completely motivated by her stomach most of the time, too. Once he's settled, she immediately shifts her position so that she can prop her legs up against his. "I mean, the menu is awesome here."

"Hey, come on," he argues. "I burn, like, a lot of calories playing football." And now Drembleydrop, of course. "I gotta get those back, so I don't wither away!" He grins, picking up one of the menus so he can see what his options are.

"God, no. No-one wants that," says Alex, still grinning at him. "Me either, I guess. My ribs show enough. No-one's going to want to watch me take my clothes off if I lose my ass too, right?"

"No offense, but I really don't want to think about your ass when I'm about to eat breakfast," he says with a little laugh. Alex is beautiful, but any thought to being attracted to her has long since faded since they've become such good friends.

"Not all nudity is inherently sexualised," says Alex, as primly as she can manage, hiding her smirk behind her menu for a moment. "And you're my friend. You should be supprotive of my need to keep my ass."

"Oh, I totally am," Caleb assures. "I just don't want to talk about it over breakfast." He grins, because he's mostly just playing. "Afterwards, it's fair game, though. I'll tell you all the workouts to keeping a great ass."

"God, not you too," says Alex, shooting a fake shitty look at him over her menu. "I'm sick of Darlington telling me how much I'd benefit from 7am runs."

"I mean, it would be good for your endurance," he points out, not at all deterred by her withering glare. "But I was thinking, like, squats and lunges, really build up those muscles."

"I'll do you a deal," she says, sipping her water. "I'll do squats with you if you come and learn some moves on the pole with me. It'll do wonders for your core."

Caleb laughs. "No, no way," he argues, grinning even as he blushes a little. "I do planks, my core is awesome."

"Well, so's mine," says Alex, shooting him her best shit-eating grin. "But I don't do fucking planks." She reaches for her coffee cup, draining it, and then catching the waitress' eye. She orders herself pancakes, which she knows are good, a side of bacon, more coffee and then hands over the menu and waits for Caleb to decide.

Caleb orders something called a Breakfast Scrambler, which has two eggs, bacon, sausage, diced potatoes, and his choice of waffles, pancakes, or toast. He takes the waffles, since Alex ordered pancakes. He orders tea on the side, because he's not a big coffee guy, and then he leans back once the waitress heads to place their order for them.

"Yeah, well, I'm not a pole guy, so." He huffs a laugh, cheeks flushing as he even thinks about it.

"You should reconsider," says Alex, grinning. If anything, she enjoys trying to embarrass him more and more the closer they get. "Face like that? You'd make bank from the guys who are into twinks."

That has the effect she wants: his face heats and he laughs. "Oh my god, I can't believe you just said that," he says, shifting bashfully in his seat. "Why are we friends?"

She makes him blush, exactly what she'd been hoping for and she cackles in triumph.

"Because you fucking love me," she says. "That's why."

"Ugh, you're right," he says, but he's grinning too much to even feign disgust. He glances up when his tea is brought, and he smiles at the waitress in thanks before turning his attention back to Alex.

Alex murmurs her thanks to the waitress as she receives a fresh cup of coffee.

"So, how's school?" she asks. "Anything nice?"

"Oh man, um. I dunno, school's school? I need to get some stuff ready for the fall." He'd found out in April that he'd gotten accepted into Barton, which he'd told Alex about at the time and then had promptly tried not to think about until after finals were done. Just a few weeks, now.

"Oh,shit, yeah. College." She grins broadly, flipping her hair over one shoulder. "Danny is still trying to talk me into going back to school, but I just...yeah. Don't know what I'd go for."

"Isn't that what the first year's for, anyway?" Caleb says. "Figuring out what you want out of it?"

"Yeah," she says, nodding, because she knows that - she really does. "I just...didn't even finish high school, Caleb. I don't think college is for me."

"I mean, if it's not, it's not," he says easily. "But don't discount it unless you're sure, y'know?" He sips his tea, then makes a small face and adds some sugar from a packet to it. "Like, it's your call, obviously. I just don't want you miss out on something just because you're, like..." He shrugs a little. "I don't want you to think you can't do it, that's all."

"Now you just sound like Danny," she says, though she says it fondly. "Jesus fucking Christ. Why do I keep surounding myself with men who just want me to better myself and shit?"

"Mm, yeah, no idea," he says dryly. He laughs a little. "It's almost like we care about you, or something."

"Shit. Is that whatit is?" she says, nudging him under the table with the toe of her boot. She's joking, but she does love it, really; other than Mira, nobody had really cared about her that much her whole life, not until she got to Darrow.

Now, these days, she's got more love than she knows what to with.

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