Cal Chandler // "The Fix" AU // Bar

[mm_catslash]

There is a teenage boy at the Bar, staring doubtfully at the level one Spanish textbook that appeared along with the Coke he asked for

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[mm_overture]

(someone's staring - not trying to, mind you, but staring nonetheless)

He's seen that face before.

Recently? Not exactly.

Not that young, not that clean.

(you remember how things played out, right?)

And, damn, if his throat isn't dry.

[americas_son]

Cal almost - almost - overlooks him, which is funny considering the moment Milliways pulled him away from, about a month ago.

("For Christ's sake, Cal, don't get worked up. He's not going to try anything. And it's not as if you couldn't hold your own if he does.")

It's the wheelchair that throws him, even more than the added decades. His uncle without his crutches looks like another person altogether.

The staring catches his eye, though, enough to make him look more closely. He's not used to being stared at in Milliways, not the way he is at home.

The Coke bottle shatters as it hits the floor.

[mm_overture]

The shattering of glass seems to shake Grahame, who blinks, and says, almost hurriedly: "Cal?"

(one hand is clutching a wheel of his chair so hard as to turn his knuckles white)

[americas_son]

Cal didn't even flinch as the bottle broke. He doesn't seem to be aware of the glass and soda at his feet.

"Uncle Grahame?" he says, faintly, the sound just barely carrying.

[mm_overture]

He starts to move -- his torso moves, anyway, but jerks backwards as he realizes his wheel breaks are on.

"What're - what're you doing here?"

And that young?

[americas_son]

Cal stays where he is. He reaches back slowly behind him to the Bar, picking up the textbook, which he holds protectively to his chest. A shield.

(Without even thinking about it, he turns it so the front cover faces him, so that Uncle Grahame might not see what it is and have anything to say about it. He'd never think Cal could learn Spanish.)

"I - I've been here."

He doesn't take his eyes off his uncle once, doesn't even blink.

[mm_overture]

Grahame is - a little unsure of himself. (the wheelchair brakes are now off, but he hasn't tried to move)

"Oh."

And Grahame, the one with the plans, the one with the brains, finds himself completely unsure of what to do.

"Anyone else we - you know, here?"

[americas_son]

Cal shakes his head a little.

"No. I. I haven't seen anyone."

He hadn't thought he would. He thought Milliways was safe.

[mm_overture]

Them's the breaks.

"Oh."

This is ... not really helpful knowledge in the interest of lessening the awkwardness of the conversation.

[americas_son]

It strikes the first discordant note for Cal, amid the strangeness of seeing his uncle here at all. It's not the first time he's met someone who's far older than they were when he saw them last, and it makes sense that Uncle Grahame would need a wheelchair once he got older, and Cal hasn't thought too hard about either of those things anyway, but -

Uncle Grahame not knowing what to say? To him?

That's new, and unnerving.

"How - how long have you been coming here?" he asks tentatively, after a moment. It might be useful when he goes home, to be able to bring Milliways up with Uncle Grahame.

(Not that he's going back, not ever, but. If he did.)

[mm_overture]

"Just - a couple of weeks or so," Grahame says, with a quick nod.

One can't exactly blame him for wanting to and yet not wanting to have this conversation right now.

"Not extremely long. You- yourself?"

[americas_son]

And the hesitation in his voice and speech - that's new too. Cal begins to wonder, uneasily, what happened in the intervening years to change his uncle like this.

(Did you ever -)

He can't ask that. He does look away, now, gaze dropping to the floor. (Grip tightening a little on the textbook.)

"A few months. I think. I, I'm Bound right now. It's kind of hard to tell."

[mm_overture]

(he can't help wonder what Cal's studying - that's a harmless thought, isn't it?)

Somewhat dryly: "I was led to believe that it was relatively easy to tell if one was Bound?"

[americas_son]

"I mean." That sounds more like his Uncle Grahame. Cal's shoulders hunch a little, defensively. He doesn't look up.

"Since time stops at home. Hard to tell how long it's been."

Time in Milliways is confusing even when he's not trying to explain himself to his uncle, whose attacks he is so accustomed to in the past year or so that he doesn't even notice that the tone isn't quite as sharp as it's been at home.

[mm_overture]

Flatly: "You're just not going back."

It's not a question.

[americas_son]

Cal glances up, startled.

(Is that what happened? Is that why Uncle Grahame is being so strange? Did he really and truly not go back?)

"I, no, I, I am Bound, I can't see my door, I've been here for, I, I don't know, a month." His voice is tight and anxious - he's telling the truth, honest, he is.