(Open - At the edge of town)

[freefromsin]

Caleb scrambles out of the car before it even comes to a complete stop. With his backpack clutched in one hand, he slams the door shut with the other. "Fuck you!" The car takes off, tires squealing, and Caleb gives its bumper a kick as it flies past him, shouting after it, "Fucking perv!"

He rubs one gently trembling hand with the other and stares after the car, making sure it's well and truly gone. Heart hammering in his chest, Caleb lets out a breath and glanced around. It's not cold, but he hugs his jacket closer to his body all the same, wishing he was wearing more than just a tank top underneath. There's probably good money to be made in prostitution, but he hadn't gotten quite that desperate yet. He guesses his good hitch-hiking luck had to run out at some point, and of course it had to happen now. But that's okay, because at least he's gotten to his destination, and he hopefully won't need to do any more hitching right away.

It's dusk, the start of a nice, clear night, but too late to look for his old friend. Street lights bathe him in pale yellow, as he heads father into town. Better find a place to spend the night.



[ooc: Hi! I'm new and so is Caleb. Feel free to tag him when he forcefully ejected himself from the car, or when he's somewhere in town. He's mostly just gonna wander until he finds a public bench he can crash on for the night. Also I guess if you could read his Permissions page before tagging that'd be cool. Unfortunately I'm gonna be gone ALL DAY tomorrow, but I'm impatient and wanted to post this now. So any loose threads I'll get back to on Sunday. ...And this OOC section is about to be longer than my post so I'll stop now.]

Comments

[just_another]

It's a little late, but Dane has been particularly fussy tonight, and now that he's two months old -- old enough for Joel and Spencer to take him out of the house without having to worry about him getting sick -- they've discovered that walking him around the neighbourhood tends to be better for putting him to sleep than car rides. So Joel had kissed Spencer goodbye, hooked Huxley up onto his leash and then, as the little dog bounced around his feet, he'd strapped Dane into his carrier and set out for a walk.

It's a nice night, still warm, the breeze coming off the ocean relatively light, and there's still a fair number of people out and about, enjoying what's left of the summer. From now until the snow falls, he expects most weekends to be busy, last minute tourists and residents of the town getting in what enjoyment they can while the weather is still nice.

Dane is still crying as they near the boardwalk and for a second Joel forgets he's walking the dog as well. The leash drops and Huxley lets out a sharp bark before he makes a beeline for a young man heading in their direction. "Huxley, no!" Joel calls, but that only makes Dane cry harder and he curses under his breath before hurrying forward, trying to keep his voice low. "I-I'm sorry. He's friendly, I promise." And he's not very big, so at least he can't knock anyone down.

[freefromsin]

Caleb startles out of his thoughts when a little dog practically barrels into him, jumping up against his leg.

"Hey little guy," he says, reaching down to pet the dog. At the sound of a human voice, he looks up at the guy who must be the dog's owner with a friendly smile. "It's okay. He's cute."

Caleb grabs up the leash and straights up, offering it over. "He must have used his super dog strength to get away from you, huh?"

[just_another]

Joel laughs softly, his cheeks flushing faintly in embarrassment as he gestures down to Dane, whose cries seem to have tapered off, at least for the time being. "I'm afraid I'm, um... I'm easily distracted at the moment," he says, passing one hand gently over Dane's small head as the baby gives another loud squawk.

Reaching for the leash, he smiles, still a bit shy. "Thanks." Huxley doesn't seem like he wants to leave, though, instead choosing to jump around at the stranger's feet before he rolls over onto his back and shows his belly, his tail wagging furiously.

[freefromsin]

Caleb reaches down to pet the cute puppy again, since the little guy clearly wants him to. He looks up at the dog's owner. "First time father?" he guesses. The baby must be awfully young to fit in that little chest carrier thing.

[just_another]

"Yeah, is it that painfully obvious?" Joel asks with a laugh, although he doesn't mind at all. He thinks it must be obvious, between how easily distracted he is and how much time he spends staring down at Dane's perfect little face. He already has a head full of dark hair, making him very obviously Joel's son.

"I'm Joel," he says. "Um, Joel Waters-Baker. I own the bookstore?" It's said as a question, simply because he's never seen the young man before and doesn't know if he knows the town at all.

[freefromsin]

"Just a little," Caleb says with a small grin. Even someone like him, who hadn't exactly spent a lot of time around dads, recognized the signs.

A bookstore? That piques his interest. "I'm Caleb. I'm new to the area by like twenty minutes, so I haven't seen the bookstore, but I already know you have the coolest job in town."

[wastelandflower]

"Shit, what the hell was that? Er...shoot." He's really got to get better about cursing in front of Sophie now that she's starting to talk. It's not that he minds his daughter cursing so much as he doesn't want people to think he profanes in front of her so frequently.

"Someone in that car try and make a move on you?" Rian guesses. He lets Sophie down but holds her hand and lets her try and walk away, tugging his arm this way and that. "You okay?"

[freefromsin]

Caleb tears his eyes away from the retreating car, about to reassure whoever just swore that he doesn't mind, when he sees there's a kid there too. That must be why.

Still shaken up, Caleb forces a smile, though he imagines it doesn't look so great. "Uh, yeah... Thanks. It's fine. Just surprised me." He reaches back, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "The dangers of catching a ride with a stranger, right?"

[wastelandflower]

"If you hold Sophie here, I can run and chase them down. I'm 6'4" so I have long legs," he offers. Really, he's more interested in making sure the boy's okay.

Coming right out with it, Rian asks, "Were you hitching? I don't have my car with me, but we're not too far from the town center, if you need to sit and catch your breath."

[freefromsin]

This startles a laugh out of Caleb. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm not sure even 6'4" is fast enough to catch that car now."

"I was," he admits, his pulse finally starting to calm down. "The town center sounds great. Is Sophie your daughter?"

[wastelandflower]

He nods and bends down to scoop up his daughter and give her a loud, smacking kiss on the cheek. "That she is, my darling girl," he says proudly. Getting married had been a mistake. Robin had been a mistake. Sophie, however, is perfect.

"And I'm Rian. Walk with me, then."

[dormousesaid]

It's the hair that catches Ignacio's attention. And the nervous aimlessness that shouts that he's new in town. He waves from where he's standing, leaning against the corner of his shop, Witch Flavor, one hand still holding a cigarillo gently leaking blueish smoke, carrying the scent of vanilla to smooth out the acrid tobacco.

Ignacio isn't too worried. Siren's Cove isn't a bad town, compared to parts of Miami, or Boston.

"You lost?" he asks, narrowing his eyes, black and inscrutable, like a cow's.

[freefromsin]

Caleb's initial instinct at being approached at night is to keep walking, but when he catches a look at the person who spoke to him, he stops. This guy looks like his friends back home, and he's immediately put at ease from the familiarity of the hair, the ear gauges, the tattoos. Doesn't mean the guy is trustworthy, but Caleb finds himself replying to the guy with a smile all the same.

"Yes and no."

[dormousesaid]

The smile is relaxing, makes Ignacio sure he hasn't judged the situation entirely off. There wasn't a broad stroke of people that looked at him and offered a smile, this late at night, when they didn't already know him.

What a shit though, he thinks. That's an evasive answer. Ignacio doesn't necessarily mind dealing with a shit -- he prefers it, in fact. It makes for fun conversation, makes him put some effort in, keeps him from being bored.

He scratches the side of his nose carefully with the hand holding the cigarillo gently from his fingertips.

"Yes and no because you don't have anywhere particularly you're trying to be?"

[freefromsin]

"Got it in one. I came to Siren Cove specifically, but at the moment I have no where in particular to go," Caleb says with a small, careless shrug.

"What about you?"

After all, the guy is just lurking by himself outside a store. Maybe he's slumming around, too.

[aoife_coombs]

It's clear enough that the bright haired stranger isn't from around, because someone out of town wouldn't cause such a ruckus in public. It is for Thor not showing any sense of alarm that Aoife stays on his side of the road, else she would have crossed it immediately. Siren Cove doesn't need more drama, Siren Cove provides for itself easily enough.

"Stay close, Thor", she murmurs. "Good night", she adds to the stranger.

[freefromsin]

Caleb tears his eyes away from where they were still following the car and reigns in on his emotions, forcing a polite smile. No need to alarm the nice lady and her dog.

"Hey. Could be better," he says, jokingly.

[aoife_coombs]

Could be better. Oh good gracious, maybe he was a homeless person. Not a drunk one, at least, Aoife would have smelled that.
Thor at least still wasn't phased by the man, carefully sniffing his pants. "Thor, no. The police station is at the end of the road, on your left. If that is necessary here. Do you know who you are and where you are?"

[freefromsin]

Caleb wanted to reach down and pet the dog, but stopped when she told the dog no.

He blinked owlishly at the woman. Did he look disoriented? God, he probably looked like shit. He ran a hand through his hair self-consciously. "Um, yeah. I'm Caleb and I'm in Siren Cove, right?"

[aoife_coombs]

That is at least something. "Yes, this is Siren Cove. Were you supposed to meet here with someone, maybe?"

It's not her most hospitable side, but Aoife likes to keep the town clean and it's not something you can trust the police to do. If this man is a witch or siren, he'd even end up worse.

[fairywren]

Wren's walking and smoking when he hears the shout, and the squeal of tires. Any sort of disruption in this town is noticable -- usually they're either much more noticable or much less so, than that -- but it's not the yell that catches his attention. Wren's still, after a year here, getting used to not hearing noise at all hours of the night.

It's what's being said. That's a reaction he knows, intrinsically. It doesn't pull pity from him but community, even after these many years.

The kid walking up the street defensively from where a car has apparently been has platinum-bleached hair and piercings and a distinct look of otherness: he knows that too.

"Hey. You okay?" he asks, shooting a watchful look down the street.

[freefromsin]

Caleb looks away from where he's trying not rage-walk into town. It's a considerate question and the guy who asked it doesn't look like a creep, so he forces a smile on his face, even if it's strained at the edges.

"Yeah. Just some asshole who got the wrong idea about me." He shrugs, brushing it off. Nothing happened, he's just a little shaken up.

[fairywren]

"I thought that might be it. I've been in the passenger seat of that exchange before." He doesn't make a big deal out of it. "Do you smoke?" He offers the pack.

"What brings you all the way up here?"

[freefromsin]

"Oh. I don't, but thanks," Caleb says, relaxing when he realizes this guy looks pretty young, and kinda like his old friends from the scene.

"I'm looking for a friend." He glances around and manages a half-smile. "Probably too late in the day to do any real investigating about wherever he is, though."

"I'm Caleb," he adds, offering his hand.

[fairywren]

Wren nods a no-problem and tucks it back into his jacket, reaching over to shake Caleb's hand, a squeeze that communicates welcome even if it's not any more masculine than he is. "Wren," he introduces himself. "Nice to meet you, Caleb."

He puts both hands in his pockets and glances over at him. "What's your friend's name? If you don't mind me asking, of course. This is a pretty small town, it's possible we've met."