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 Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 4:31 pm
Just like everything else in his life, Michael’s shiny car was colored grey. Pewter, if he wanted to sound more sophisticated about it. The interior was a dark grey leather. The clothing he wore was a grey shirt and Navy colored shorts. His sunglasses were black. The watch he wore was, yup, grey.
Michael waited, parked just outside a public park, knowing it would be easier to get his car there instead of down the one way streets of the city. That, and he didn’t want Caspian to feel pressured to let him know where he lived. He’d given Caspian his address just in case he needed anything (and after being practically harassed about it), but it wasn’t like he hadn’t already carried him, bleeding and in horrible pain, to his house and let him even sleep in his bed.
He leaned against the open window, phone in his hand, radio silent, scrolling through various news articles as he waited for Caspian to meet him. Michael had promised a trip to sail on his boat, and Caspian had shown plenty of enthusiasm for it that Michael would feel guilty if he didn’t take him at least once. Besides, he was trying to be more open and accepting of letting others into his life. Well, at least just Caspian for now.
It wasn’t difficult to spot Caspian out of the corner of his eye. Bright colors, as always. Even though the top layer of his hair was black, Michael knew that hidden just underneath was bright blue and purple. Colors suited Caspian. Even if some might say the colors were too much, or didn’t match.
Caspian brought color into Michael’s life, in more ways than just his wardrobe.
“Everything alright?” he asked, lowering his hand from his face as he reached across the front seat to open the door and push it open for Caspian to get in. “I thought you were going to stand me up,” he half joked, although his expression was still rather serious.
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 4:37 pm
He was stupidly excited about going sailing, probably more so than was strictly necessary - but it had been a long time since Caspian had been out on the ocean, and he could already taste the breeze and the scent of salt water and fresh air. That, combined with the prospect of hanging out with Michael and maybe even getting him to loosen up a little was a delightful process.
He found his partner-in-crime waiting inside of his car, Michael dressed, as usual, in shades of grey that Caspian really thought eventually ought to be disposed of. He himself was in a pair of pale blue shorts and a bright yellow teeshirt that had some sort of pattern scrawled on it in white, and green flipflops. Cassie had almost tried to keep him inside, proclaiming his “sense of fashion” to be “a travesty to mankind,” but he’d slipped out anyway.
“Hi,” said Caspian happily as he all but flung himself into the open seat, closing the door behind him. He grinned across at Michael, resting his bag in his lap. “Everything’s great. Got everything I need and probably s**t that I don’t need too.”
He glanced around. “It’s nice to actually sit in the car without, you know. Be bleeding all over the place.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 4:54 pm
Caspian’s utter chipperness always seemed to throw Michael off initially, if only because the only other person that he knew who had that much enthusiasm for any number of things was his mother. Not that Caspian reminded him of his mother at all. That would be weird. But their enthusiasm could probably rival each other’s.
Thankfully with Caspian, there was a lot less guilt tripping and bribing with food.
“What the hell did you bring? We’re only going for the day,” he practically sputtered as he glanced over at Caspian’s bag. “Put your seatbelt on,” he added, refusing to start the car until that was accomplished.
Michael definitely agreed that people not bleeding in his car was nice, but the reminder made him frown and eye Caspian with lingering concern, even though it had been long enough to heal. He hoped Caspian would tell him if there were any complications, but he hadn’t pushed the subject, trying not to be too nosey.
“Did you eat already? It’s about a two hour ride from here to the inlet,” he warned, making sure the coast was clear before pulling out of his spot and heading in the direction away from the city. “I brought some sandwiches and things for lunch, possibly dinner too, depending on how late we’re out. Is there a certain time you need to be back?”
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 5:07 pm
”Look,” said Caspian in mock indignation, holding his bag in his lap as he slid the seat belt on. He unzipped the top of it and rummaged around. “You gotta be prepared, okay? I figured that I could use a towel, in case you get the urge to throw me in the ocean, and a couple of snacks because, well, I’m always hungry and then there’s an extra pair of shorts - s**t I forgot an extra shirt, whatever, I don’t need one of those. Oh, and sunscreen,” he added, holding up the bottle.
He was wearing, in spite of the warmth, long-sleeves again, but it didn’t seem to bother him too much. Caspian zipped the bag back up and settled into his seat, looking quite contented.
“Nope,” he said, resting his hands lazily atop his lap. “I told Cassie not to wait up for me, so I can be back whenever. Two hours is a long time, though, you’re not gonna mind driving all that way, are you?”
He glanced sideways at Michael, a little smile on Caspian’s lips.
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 5:34 pm
Michael glanced over to what Caspian was rummaging through in his bag, and then, with forced exasperation, slowly shook his head once more at his enthusiasm. He supposed it was good that he thought to bring whatever he might need, so Michael didn’t bother mentioning that he had towels and sunscreen and whatever else they might need for a sailing excursion. Not that they would get very far in one day, but it was always nice to be able to get out onto the water.
“I wouldn’t throw you in,” he made sure to clarify for Caspian’s sake. “You’d be perfect bait for a large fish or shark,” he half joked. “And don’t you dare try jumping in, because I’m not diving in after you.” Which was a complete lie, but Caspian didn’t need to know that.
“I don’t mind driving,” he shrugged lightly, glancing over in Caspian’s direction the same time Caspian looked his way, but Michael was quick to have his eyes back on the road, left hand on the wheel while his right rested on the armrest between the seats.
“Aragorn,” he suddenly offered, still obviously trying to guess what Caspian’s middle name could be. “Am I even in the right genre?”
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 5:41 pm
He could almost sense Michael’s exasperation and somehow this made Caspian feel relaxed. As much as he teased him for being scowly, that exasperation was something that was familiar and something that Caspian found reassuring in a peculiar way.
“Uh huh,” he said, sounding unconvinced that Michael wouldn’t throw him in. “Oh, I see, so you won’t toss me overboard, but you’ll feed me to the sharks? Low blow.”
He was grinning, however, Caspian adopting what was probably a very unconvincing look of innocence.
“I wouldn’t just dive in,” he said, with as much dignity as he could (which wasn’t much). “Maybe I just wanted to go for a swim or something.”
He slouched in his seat, resisting the urge to prop his feet up on the dash, and turned his head to look at Michael.
“Right genre, wrong name,” he said with a laugh. ”Beep, try again.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 6:02 pm
“Hopefully the water won’t be too bad,” Michael commented with a hint of concern in his voice. “Last time I had to come in early. It was just way too rough, even in the sound,” he explained, and glanced over at Caspian with a small frown of warning. “If you want to go swimming, at least let me anchor, first. I don’t want to have to try and fish you out while trying to keep the boat from getting away.”
That would be horrible, if it was too windy for him to fully control the sailboat, and then to have Caspian in potentially dangerous water? If that wasn’t enough to add to his nightmares, he didn’t know what was.
“Am I going to have to make you wear a life vest? Because I will,” he warned, reaching out to give Caspian’s head a gentle shove for his teasing. His hand lingered for a few moments before slipping away to settle against the armrest once more.
“Right genre, huh? Same series?” he wondered, intrigued. “Caspian… Lyons… Caspian… Thorin? I’m trying for royalty first, if you can’t tell, Your Majesty,” he said with a small snort of amusement. There were plenty of names he could think of, but if he managed to get within the right set of books, it might be easier than he’d expected.
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 6:20 pm
Caspian tilted his head back against the back of the chair and turned to look sideways at Michael, feeling the happy fluttery feeling in the pit of his stomach again. “Don’t worry,” he said lightly. “Even if we run into rough see,s I’m sure we’ll be okay. And I promise I won’t accidentally fall overboard,” he added dryly, a grin tugging at his lips.
He knew Michael was worrying, however, and he reached out a hand and patted his hand reassuringly.
“I’ll be careful” he said, “I promise. See, I used the ‘p’ word.”
Caspian dug around in his backpack for a moment, producing a granola bar a second later. “Do you mind if I eat in your car?” he asked, and gave a little squawk of protest as Michael pushed at his head. He made to bat the offending hand away but it was playful; he remembered all too well the gentle strokes of that hand through his hair in a similar fashion, and his smile was affectionate as he directed it towards the other.
“Not Thorin,” he said, laughing again. “But you could just keep calling me ‘your majesty,’ that’s fine by me,” he added, Caspian’s voice teasing.
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 6:28 pm
“If we run into rough seas, you’re going into the cabin until we dock,” he corrected, frowning in response to Caspian’s grin. Really, the last thing he needed was to have Caspian go overboard on his watch. Now he was starting to regret the decision to go. If it was really rough, he would just have to convince Caspian to do something else instead of going out onto the water.
Michael scowled lightly when Caspian promised to be careful, although he knew, or hoped, that he was being truthful and not just indulging him.
“Nah, go for it,” he shrugged, although the fact that it was granola had him hesitating. “Well…” he started, and then bit back the words of protest with a small grimace. “Yeah, you can,” he decided, although that was followed with another grimace. “Just… don’t get the crumbs all in the seat,” he concluded. Despite what people might think of him (or maybe it was exactly what people thought of him), Michael was a very neat person. He claimed it was his time in the military that caused this phenomena, but it was obvious if anyone were to look around his house, or even his car, that he disliked clutter.
It probably also helped that he had very few things of personal interest to fill his house. Aside from his books, and now Peter’s stuff, everything was pretty generic, like it was right out of the catalog his mother insisted that he used to decorate his home.
“Alright, alright. Not Thorin,” he mumbled softly, trying to think of what would go with Caspian’s name. Something that Caspian thought was ridiculous. Even if he couldn’t guess his middle name, Michael realized he definitely liked the sound of Caspian’s laugh. Not quite like a bell, but there was something pure and light about it.
“Alright, your majesty,” he emphasized, still determined to take at least a few more guesses. His previous scowling had lightened back up, and he stared thoughtfully ahead at the road.
“What about… Thranduil,” he said with a small, teasing grin, purposefully saying the name with a mock accent.
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 6:42 pm
Caspian caught the less-than-pleased tone of Michael’s voice. He stretched out a hand and tugged lightly on a strand of mahogany hair.
“I’ll be careful, I swear,” he said. “I promise I will do what you say, okay?”
He smiled at him and dropped his hand back to his lap again, resisting the urge to keep playing with his hair and fiddling with the granola bar instead. A grin was on his face - it seemed he was having a hard time not smiling today - as he said, “I’ll eat it over my backpack, that way the crumbs will fall there.”
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Michael liked things neat and orderly. From his quiet, unadorned bedroom, to the tidy presentation of his car and the monotone colors he wore, it was quite clear that he had a way of having things. Caspian, in his neon colors, stood out a lot in contrast, and somewhere deep inside, he wondered if it was too much contrast.
He pushed the thoughts aside and took a bite of his granola bar.
“Not Thranduil,” Caspian laughed, covering his mouth with his hand. “But that was a pretty good accent anyway. You’re getting colder, I think.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 7:34 pm
He didn't say anything as Caspian reached out to tug on his hair, nor did he do anything to pull away. In fact, he subconsciously tilted his head to give him better access for the few moments, and then when Caspian pulled his hand away, Michael straightened back up in his seat.
While he wasn't entirely convinced that Caspian wouldn't try something potentially dangerous, Michael really had no choice but to take his word for it. It wasn't that he didn't trust him... Michael just knew how poorly things could go, even with the best intentions.
"Is that all you eat by choice?" Michael wondered, some concern still in his voice as he glanced over at Caspian and what he was eating. "Nachos and granola bars? It's no wonder why you're so small..." he frowned, and then realized that was probably rude to say and quickly mumbled, "No offense."
If anything, he was glad that he brought more than just snack food for them to eat while out on the water. It also made him start wondering if he needed to make sure Caspian was eating properly more often.
Michael snorted softly in amusement at Caspian's comment on his accent, a small smile tugging at his lips as Caspian laughed again. Part of him wanted to throw out a few ridiculous Dwarven names, if only to try and get Caspian to laugh some more, but he was also honestly curious about his middle name. He would just have to figure out some other ways to get him to laugh. His laughter was... surprisingly refreshing.
"Colder, huh?" he said, trying to think of a name in the opposite direction of Thranduil, his expression shifting to one of bemusement and slight exasperation. "It's not Frodo, is it? Caspian Frodo Lyons??"
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 7:44 pm
”No,” said Caspian with his mouth full of granola. He swallowed the bite of his bar and said more clearly, “I like a lot of food, but I’m not that great at cooking, really. I can make a mean set of poptarts, and I’m actually pretty good at smoothies, but my mom did most of the cooking growing up.”
The comment about him being small made him roll his eyes, and Caspian resisted the urge to tug on Michael’s hair again. “I know I’m short,” he said lightly. “I just never hit my growth spurt or something, I dunno. It’s not my fault we can’t all be giants like certain someones,” he added, giving him a meaningful look, the corners of his mouth twitching as though he was fighting a smile.
Finished with his granola bar, Caspian made sure he hadn’t spilled crumbs anywhere, then set his backpack down by his feet. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, looking quite comfortable, and looked sideways at Michael again, eyes twinkling with mischief.
He was having way too much fun like this. Michael did not know just how easy he was to be around, and Caspian had the distinct feeling that the two hour drive would pass very quickly.
“Frodo would be terrible,” said Caspian, with a playful groan. He grinned over at him. “I think I’d just pretend I wouldn’t have one if that were the case.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 8:01 pm
“You should learn how to cook then,” Michael said with a small shake of his head. “I don’t know why high schools don’t require students to be taught important things, like cooking and finance and all that.” Of course, he knew he was something of a spoiled hypocrite to complain, seeing as he’d never had to worry about things like finances or what he was going to do to eat. He’d had it easy, he knew. The only reason he worked now was to pass the time. And because his grandmother threatened to revoke his trust fund if he didn’t continue being a productive member of society after leaving the military.
Now that he’d turned thirty and could leave any time he wanted, just disappear and never come back like he’d fantasized doing many times over the last several years, he found himself being kept in place by one thing or another. He thought it was because he would feel guilty leaving after the school year had just started, but now that it was over, he could easily leave.
Maybe that was what Peter had anticipated, and why he moved in. To keep Michael there. So far it was working, but Michael wasn’t sure how much longer Peter would actually need him, since he was quite a capable kid on his own.
Michael eyed Caspian’s movements with his bag as it was set down at his feet, and released a small sigh before saying, “I guess I’ll have to teach you how to cook something more than poptarts, sometime.” It was a comment made mostly to himself, his hand gripping the steering wheel a bit tighter as a strange sensation welled up in his chest. Concern? Protectiveness? He couldn’t be sure.
“Thank goodness,” he agreed, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see Caspian grinning at him. “I would probably suggest you pretend you didn’t have one, too.” He paused, frowning as he tried thinking of something that could possibly fit. “Alright, your majesty,” he frowned. “Throw me a bone or something. Should I keep guessing in the realm of Tolkien, or are you just running me around in circles? Lir??” he threw out another princely name not of Middle Earth or the like, clearly under the assumption that with a name like Caspian, it had to be something equally whimsical.
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 8:12 pm
Caspian fiddled with the sleeves of his shirt, which, as usual, were a little too long and draped over his fingers. “There was like, home ec and s**t,” he said with a little shrug. “But none of it was required or anything. I kinda wish it was, then I wouldn’t have to keep eating poptarts three days in a row.”
He turned to look at Michael again, head still tilted back against the head rest with his hands around his knees. A little smile was on Caspian’s face, an absurd feeling of pleasure mixed with guilt twisting in his stomach. He knew he should not completely rely on Michael for every little thing - but it was hard to do that when it meant getting to spend more time with him, time that he might not have gotten to otherwise.
“How about you teach me cooking basics, and I’ll teach you the secrets of the perfect smoothie?” he said, voice light. “Or wait - I could teach you how to board too, that’s an option,” he added, his smile stretching wider.
He could not help laughing again, Caspian lifting a hand to muffle the sound with his overlong sleeve, eyes glittering with amusement.
“Not Lir,” he said, sounding happier than he probably should have with this silly little game they were playing. It was just so nice to see Michael so relaxed with him.
Caspian wanted to make him smile again.
“But it is in the Tolkien verse, so you’re sort of on the right track.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 9:03 pm
Michael was fairly certain that the color in his face paled slightly upon hearing that Caspian has had poptarts for days in a row because he didn't know how to cook very well. He glanced over at him in concern, frowning despite the cheerful look Caspian was giving him. How Caspian had survived for this long, Michael had no idea. Didn't he live with his sister? Did they both eat only poptarts??
He opened his mouth to respond to the initial offer to teach him how to make a perfect smoothie, but Caspian was quick to offer teaching him how to board, as well.
Michael balked at the idea, and a nervous sounding laugh escaped before he could rein in the reaction.
"I already know that's a bad idea," he explained after clearing his throat, as if that would disguise the slip of laughter, and shook his head for further distraction. "The wheels are way too small. And I couldn't use your board because I'm sure I'll break it," were a couple of his excuses, which he thought was completely valid seeing as he was probably twice Caspian's weight.
"Okay, so not Lir," he said, probably too quickly. It was better to get back onto the topic that was making Caspian laugh and smile, rather than have him make ridiculous offers to teach Michael ridiculous things. He shook his head, trying to think of characters of relevance.
"I'm guessing you're not going to give me any other hints, huh?" he wondered as he drew in a breath. He could still think of about a dozen names, but listing them off quickly wouldn't really be fair. And he was sure Caspian would just say 'yes' if he happened to guess the name in the middle of the list, which would then require him to start over and go one by one anyway.
"What about... Caspian Faramir Lyons?" he tried with another shake of his head. "You're enjoying this way too much, I think," he snorted softly in amusement, reaching over to lightly, teasingly jab at Caspian's leg he had pulled up in the seat with his fist.
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