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Midnight Manor Rooftop, Tuesday Morning

A while back, Marc had asked Cal to get some speakers set up for the outdoor areas of the manor, and Cal had agreed because it sounded easy.

It had, in fact, turned out to be harder than expected, but Cal was nothing if not stubbornly perseverant.

Between things he'd foraged from the junkyard and the magic of Amazon, Cal had put together four speakers, two for the roof and two for outside the first floor. (If the building grew more floors, well, he'd figure out what to do when the time came.) He had planned on getting things set up over the weekend but... nope, he wasn't going to dwell on what he'd spent his weekend doing instead, and was just going to focus on getting things finished now. Two of the speakers were working just fine and playing one of Cal’s playlists with BD-1's help. He was pretty sure the third speaker just needed some of the wires switched, but the last speaker was proving to be ornery.

“If you don't do what you're supposed to do, I'm going to take you completely apart, put the parts in a jar, shake them, and then put you back together again.”

Was threatening inanimate objects the best way to deal with his feelings? Probably not, but it was happening anyway.

[Open!]

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"I mean, this is also a place you can use your powers," Cal said, glancing toward the air beneath her feet. "Maybe I should make you angry more often so you can practice."

He was teasing about that, honest.

"Yeah, but not y--whoa!" As soon as he really brought her attention to it, her hold on the chord of magic vanished and she fell. Fortunately she had her grip on his shoulders and him under her arms to keep from toppling over. Instead she just kind crashed into him, that small bit of distance between them vanishing entirely as she ended up plastered against his chest. And winced in anticipation of her weight sending him reeling backwards.

Not off the roof, not off the roof, please goddess, not off the roof.

The surprise of her crashing into him might have unbalanced someone else, but Cal sensed her losing her balance quickly, and was able to keep them both steady. "Hey, it's okay, I've got you. I guess I could have brought that up in a more subtle way, huh?"

Don't mind how tightly he was holding onto her, it was all in the name of safety.

Oh. So now she was plastered against his chest, arms still twined around his shoulders, looking up at him with eyes that still gleamed gold in the light, though were quickly returning to their usual amber. Her brain was also informing her that Cal not even rocking backwards under her weight was incredibly hot, as if the rest of her hadn't already picked up on that, thank you, brain.

"I, uh. Never did that before," she admitted. She should really move away but what if she fell? Her knees were feeling pretty weak right now, that was for sure. She licked her lips, suddenly...not quite nervous, but close to it. "Unconsciously used air, I mean."

Edited (continuing phone fuckery) 2024-07-12 06:52 (UTC)

"Please don't take this as an insult, but this is common when children--people are just figuring out their powers," he said. She was so close he could smell the way the air changed around her, and he wondered if she could feel the way his heart beat faster, but held her steady until she was ready to be on her own two feet. "It's accidental and uncontrollable, but you'll get better over time. Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah," Arden said. "I remember. When I was thirteen everything went haywire. They had to break me of casting in my sleep, whenever I had nightmares."

She glanced away on 'break me,' unable or unwilling to keep eye contact for it.

"After that, everything was just about me locking my powers down until I could barely feel them and keeping everything under the tightest shields I could produce."

She was fine. She should let go. She wasn't wobbly at all, so giving them space would probably be the smartest idea.

"Just another second?" she asked. "Till I make sure I don't fall on my ass like after usual."

Finch.

Yeah, there was no way Cal was letting go of Arden right now. He didn't have to be an expert on her world to know what 'breaking her' of casting probably entailed, and he hated that her powers were something she felt she had to lock down instead of letting her properly learn how to use them and harness them to protect herself.

"I won't let you fall, it's okay," he said. From her back, BD rested his head against her in the best attempt at a hug he could give. "Have I mentioned that I don't like the people you grew up with?"

"I'm not really fond of them either," Arden murmured, though it would be easier if it could just be hate or resentment. Still, it was easy enough to follow his internal train of thought. "But that's what I keep trying to tell you, Cal. They didn't do that stuff just to be cruel. They did it to give me the best chance of survival. Anything that makes me stand out from humans is a danger. I have to be boring, a nobody, a nothing, because camouflage keeps me safe. Unremarkable and unnoticeable."

She sighed, letting her head tip forward against his chest. Just for a second. She was allowed to be selfish for a second, right? "Every time you argue that I should stay in my world because it's safer, that's the cost of it. Shields and hiding and pretending to be something I'm not, for forever."

She could be selfish for as long as she wanted if it meant she stayed close like this. "I understand," he said, because there was no point in arguing. As awful as his world could be, she'd get to be herself if she was there, and wasn't that better? "I still think they might be a little cruel, but you know your people better than I do. Even with hidden powers, I hope you know you're not a boring nobody. I didn't think that even before I knew the truth."

The fact that she didn't argue against their cruelty spoke very loudly.

Instead, she just let her arms fall from over his shoulders and around his waist. "You don't make me feel like a boring nobody." Maybe that could be muffled by his shirt or chest or her hair or whatever between her lips and his ears.

"Good," Cal said softly. Maybe that was a little muffled by having his face so close to her hair, but letting her go didn't seem right yet. "I have to remember that I don't have to save everyone. I have to trust that folks can save themselves, and I can just support that."

Arden nodded against his chest. Goddess, she was glad to have worked through this enough they could still be cuddle buddies. Surely the only reason that him holding her felt this good. Surely.

"And, I mean, who knows what will happen. They weren't us, you know?" Arden was very, very aware of that fact. Weird how she could miss something - like waking up in his arms, or the ability to kiss him whenever she liked - she'd never actually had.

Okay, not all that weird, really. She had practice with that.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do. Maybe I'll stay on the island and paint porg portraits for the rest of my life. But knowing that I could go with you if I wanted - if we wanted - is important to me." She squeezed him. "You're worth following, Cal."

You know. Like in a squad leader way or something.

Cal was grateful that she wasn't looking right at him to see the way his cheeks flushed at that. He didn't think he was worth following, but he'd just said he wouldn't argue with her, right?

"They might not have been us, but that was a future where the war was over and I got to see the end of it. It's hard to imagine that happening sometimes." Honestly, it was hard to imagine both parts, but he was going to let her pretend just the first part was difficult, if she wanted to. "That's a world I'd want to share, though you'll have to bring the porg portraits with you, because I want to see them."

Damn right he had.

"They will be on every postcard and Christmas card I send," Arden promised. "And you can brag to everybody that you knew me way back when I was just starting out."

She could just sorta stay right here all day and that would be great. But...he was working on things and she'd probably distracted him enough. And so, a bit ~~or maybe more than a bit reluctantly, she unwound her arms from him and stepped back. "I should probably head back in, get out of your neatly-trimmed hair."~~

Cal snickered and unconsciously ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, I... I should finish this and make sure everything actually works. I'll see you around?" Now that things were actually okay again, he hoped.

"I mean, you still owe me dinner," Arden pointed out. "I might've gone down right after you in class ~~assuming Cal had gone last week~~, but it was still after."

She started heading off the roof and then turned around. "Hey," she added. "That me? Was really, really happy. No matter what else happens, you turned into a good man. I'm pretty sure that's true no matter what future you're in."

Edited 2024-07-16 02:00 (UTC)

"I hope you're right. And yes, I owe you dinner. I'll pay up, I promise. That's what good men do, right?" he said with a grin.

"Damn right," she said. "Good luck with that speaker, Cal. And bye, BD, baby, love you!" and then she was heading back down into the house proper

Once Arden was gone and out of earshot, BD looked up at Cal and beeped happily. "She loves me. Not you though. Sorry!"

Cal glared at him a little and sighed before getting back to work.

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Midnight Manor Rooftop, Tuesday Morning

Re: NFB, pls!

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Re: NFB, pls!

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Re: NFB, pls!

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Re: NFB, pls!

Re: NFB, pls!

Re: NFB, pls!

Re: NFB, pls!

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Re: NFB, pls!