JSA Brownstone

[caleb_z]

As the gathering breaks up, Caleb numbers among those heading towards the door. Unlike the rest, though, he lingers, and stares at the door for a moment. He lets out a sigh as he brushes his hair out of his face with a hand.

Hesitantly he moves away from the door, and drags his tired, sore frame towards the cold comfort of the guest rooms.

Comments

[sand_hawkins]

"Crashing for the night?"

Sand was cleaning up a bit afterwards. No sense in making Ma do all the work.

[caleb_z]

“Hm?” He turns, and notices Sand. “Oh, uh well, yes. I thought I might want to remain nearby for the time being. The Monster Society might return, after all.” There’s more to it than that, but that honestly is part of the reason.

[sand_hawkins]

"Sorry to surprise you - for now at least, I still live here, so I'm not going anywhere tonight." A pause. "So what's the other reason why you're staying?"

[caleb_z]

“You still live here?” he asks, genuinely surprised. Earlier Sand had mentioned having enough money to set them up with a headquarters. Somewhere along the way, Caleb had just assumed that Sand must have a home of his own. And if he had the means he implied he did, probably a rather nice one.

Well, obviously that assumption was somewhat flawed.

“If, uh … if you don’t mind my asking, why? I mean, if it’s money, I could help."

[green_shield]

All through the conversation, Caleb can feel a familar set of eyes assessing him quietly from a discreet distance.

[caleb_z]

“Good night,” he calls back to Sand. Caleb lowers his head as he comes to the realization that Sand is completely right. Trust is important to teamwork - that’s likely why Caleb hasn’t been that good at it.

He runs his hand though his hair, and shifts his gaze to down the hall, where Tara is standing. With his power to sense souls he’s known she was around, but it’s only now that he’s stationary does he realize that she’s actually following him.

“Pardon me, Ms. Strong,” he calls out in a voice that betrays his weariness. “Was there something I could help you with?"

[green_shield]

She knew good and well with that magic sense he had that he'd know she was in earshot. Her arms are folded and her focus is trained dead on him.

"Actually, you answered some questions already." It's also somewhat reassuring Sand isn't trusting Caleb much either.

[caleb_z]

Sand’s advice seemed worth heeding, and there’s no time like the present, after all. Besides, Tara is the closest thing to an enemy he has on this team, and in the immortal words of Abraham Lincoln: ‘I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.’

Besides, this is too important a thing for Caleb to risk failing at because he couldn’t set aside his differences with someone. And if he could do it for Sand, then he could do it for Tara. In theory, at least.

He gestures for her to come closer. “Some?” he asks with a defeated smirk. “Can I infer that some remain, then?”

[green_shield]

"Hey Chimp, all well and good, but as you said - selfish prat. Who wants back with his ex...Whose boyfriend is the team leader." She nods towards him. "And with his track record - even not messed with by Neron - the DEO, the secrets, the mistrust -" She meets his eyes. He knows she's thinking about Amelia, but she bites her tounge hard on that. He can think she doesn't have limits all he wants."The superior vibe, all the other crap. I'm not allowed to wonder just a little here if at some point Sand is just going to be in his way? Sorry about his dignity and honor and my bad blunt manners here, but I don't think he can stow it if we need 'em too."

She looks back at him. "Time proves that. I'll give you that and I'll extract you from whatever fires you haul into - because of Corrine and Trevor and the fact this is a team. Doesn't mean I have to tread on eggshells for your pride - or your past."

[caleb_z]

There’s the impossible to miss flash of anger in his eyes, but he lets it go. He wants no part of a fight.

“For beginners,” he says as calmly as he can, “Sand and I have been on rather good terms since the day after my possession ended. And I can’t fault you for being concerned about him, but he makes Corrine happy. I’d never conspire to deprive her of that.”

He then snorts, and continues in a somewhat more assured voice. “Besides, truth be told, I don’t want Corrine back. Behind closed doors, she really was rather rotten to me. Back in January - just a few weeks after we broke up - I received a call from her in the middle of the night. She had fallen off the wagon, and I popped ‘round, and made sure she didn’t hurt herself. She repaid the courtesy by insulting me, and then threatening …. and then saying some things she needn’t have said.”

“It hurts me the way she and I ended, and I wish we hadn’t, but given the option, I’d avoid going there with her again.”

[onthecase]

Now it's the chimp's turn to roll his eyes. "You humans and your hormones." He shrugs. "Look. Let's deal with past issues like this. Caleb, you can be an arrogant self-absorbed ass. I mean, I know you mean well, but to claim that your only desire to be on this team is to protect someone you feel obligated to protect? Nothing about, you know, saving lives or anything like that? You can really come off as caring about no one but yourself, even when it's clear to those who have read your files that it isn't the case. You probably managed to tick Tara off something fierce with that attitude of yours, and it sounds like she wants an apology

[caleb_z]

The talking monkey is starting to irritate him, but Caleb remains calm. He’s trying to heed Sand’s advice, and right now Chimp seems to be facilitating that. Even if he does have all the charm of Janet Reno in lingerie. I get it already, ‘I’m an ass.’His voice betrays none of these thoughts, though. On some level, he knows he’s just being defensive. “I, uh .. you see … All my life, I’ve not had an abundance of friendships through which to learn polite social interaction. With only a few exceptions, I’ve only really worked in professional settings. Things just … they never became personal. With only one exception, I’ve never had to do both, and that person was - or is, rather - more consumed with his work than I. This is a shortcoming of mine that I shall most likely need to overcome