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 Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2020 5:23 pm
Leander clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, apparently very interested in this story. He did his best to keep his face from revealing too much but it was too little too late and he settled his elbows on the edge of the table as he leaned forward inquisitively.
"I'm sorry to hear about your loss. But I don't mind a story, haven't ever. If you ever want to tell me any sort of story, I'm all ears Won't even write about it. Unless you want me to."
He let it sink in, having someone so important to you that you were going to start a new life--losing them, just before you set your plans in motion. He let out a long sigh. "...How long ago was that? ...I mean, that you...got stuck here. You...taking care of yourself, keeping safe?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2020 6:10 pm
Caleb gave a rueful smile and nodded slowly. “Yeah. If I get attacked by any more monsters, I promise I’ll give you a call, yeah? Maybe we can investigate and you can write a crazy story about it. I wouldn’t mind you writing about me. It might be fun. It would kind of make me famous, don’t you think?”
He wasn’t able to meet his eyes after a long moment and sighed, taking a long drink. “Well. Yeah. I’m taking care of myself. Ended up meeting up with my ex again. We’re friends again, and it’s nice to have a friend. He’s taken now of course, and he wants his boyfriend to come live with us. But we got a beautiful new place to live and I’m excited for it. Maybe I can have you over someday. It’s utterly fancy. I guess…in the time we were apart my ex found his long lost father who is loaded. And he bought us the condo. It’s a beautiful place.”
Finally, Caleb was able to look back at the male, giving a small smile. “It’s better than what I was doing. Living like a hobo in a hotel room. I wasn’t taking care of myself at all.”
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Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2020 7:05 pm
He watched him, nodding as he spoke. It wasn't just curiosity, there was sympathy in his expression. Leander could imagine it, in passing, but he knew it was just a fragment of what Caleb must have felt.
"Well...try not to get attacked by more monsters. Sort of sounds like you've already had your fair share of things to deal with. I'm glad things worked out with your ex." Sort of, at least. Good to have support from someone you could have trusted enough to be in a relationship with but--as long as you weren't still pining to have them back. "Living in a beautiful condo with someone you can trust like that...I mean, the money sounds great too, but."
He was quiet for a few seconds and then asked, "You said, it's nice to have 'a friend'?" He didn't mean for it to sound intrusive, so clarified, "You don't have much else keeping you in Destiny City, do you?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2020 7:53 pm
Caleb gave a little laugh and shrugged. “I mean…It could be fun, right? Getting chased by monsters. Really gets the blood nice and hot.” He chuckled again and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Anyway, yeah, no. There’s not much keeping me here. I just. Couldn’t bear to leave and live the life I had planned with Benji, you know? It felt wrong to move to the mountains without him with me…and I didn’t know what else to do. So…I figured this is as good a resting place as any, right?”
There was only a little self-pity lacing his words and he was proud of that. There was no use crying over what could not be changed. No use doing anything stupid or too life altering when you had no direction.
“Who knows, Leander. Maybe I can have two friends in the city after today, yeah?” Caleb waggled his eyebrows and laughed once again. “I could get used to being friends with you quite quickly.”
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Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2020 8:51 pm
"Yeah? That's quite the compliment," Leander said and managed a soft smile. "Well, I'll give it a go. I suppose it doesn't hurt to have friends. Gotta keep things interesting, right? Though...I think I could take a pass on the monster attacks. I don't care how nice and hot it gets the blood. Maybe you stick around me and we can find something a little more worthwhile to stick around the city for? I mean, I can't make any promises but," he shrugged and chewed on the side of his cheek for a second as he considered his words.
"Just because you don't have the chance to live the life you planned with him....doesn't mean you don't have a chance to live. You can, you know. You can keep him in your heart. A little piece of him, everywhere you go. So he can live through you while you carve a new path."
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Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2020 5:16 pm
Caleb was quiet as he mulled over Leander’s words and after a long moment he blew out a breath. The male took a large drink of his soda and slurped the straw against the bottom, still trying to figure out what he wanted to say, if he wanted to say anything. Though, after nearly a full minute he nodded, looking back up at Leander. “…That’s almost poetic, conspiracy man. Keep it up and you might even have me crying. Maybe you should switch to writing advice columns. One day I bet you could be more popular than Dear Abby.”
The male gave a grin and stood, picking up his tray. “I…should let you get back to your work. I…I’ve kept you distracted for so long now, I don’t want you to secretly start to hate me, thinking I’m far to sentimental and talkative.” Besides, it really wouldn’t do to just start crying in public. His eyes were starting to burn and he could feel moisture beginning to build at the corners. “Call me sometime, why don’t you.”
They could be friends. And have adventures. And it would end up being nice.
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 10:40 am
Leander flashed a small smile as he watched Caleb move. "It was a welcome distraction, I enjoyed it. I like sentimental, and talkative."
He could see the moisture in his eyes though, the way the light caught a little extra reflection. He deliberately turned his eyes downward and back to his phone, as if to spare Caleb any embarrassment from seeing it in the first place.
"I'll call you sometimes, see if I've got anything interesting going on that you could help me with. You take care, all right? We'll plan something soon."
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 10:59 am
Caleb nodded, glad that Leander had looked away. He wouldn’t have been able to hide the tears for much longer. “Yeah. Sounds good. Really good.” One last smile, sent right to the back of Leander’s head and then Caleb hurried to throw his trash away, feeling a strange mixture of excitement and another recurrence of terrible loss.
His heart still ached from the loss of Benji but…
This was the first new friend he had made…and it felt good. Even though he felt guilty for feeling this small burst of joy.
He had to move on though. And this had been yet another first step. Bittersweet as it was.
It was progress.
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