freefromsin | (Open - Finn's Pub)

(Open - Finn's Pub)

Caleb hadn't known what to expect when he came to Siren Cove. At the very least, he just wanted to know that Gabe was still alive. He is, and he's doing well for himself. He has a support system and a job, and it makes Caleb's heart happy to know it. But those are two things more than Caleb can say for himself. He's running out of the measly amount of money he's been trying really hard not to touch and to save for an emergency, he hasn't had a proper shower in days, not to mention a meal or a real place to sleep. He finally got Leo's brother on the phone, and there's still a spot open for him in Portland. He needs to get going.

After washing up in a public restroom, Caleb makes his way Finn's Pub to hopefully catch Gabe at the end of his shift.

[ooc: even though Caleb is looking for Gabe, feel free to tag him if you want, lurking outside of Finn's Pub]

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"Are you not twenty one yet?"

The question makes him laugh. "Alfred is too dumb to remember how he got on and how to get off. I think his paws are magnetic as well, but maybe that's just a cat thing."

"Of course I am," Caleb scoffed. It was a lie, but he had a fake ID that said otherwise.

He raises an eyebrow and smiles. "I've never seen a cat ride on someone like that, it's pretty funny."

"Okay, dude, relax. I'm not the pub police here, just saying that inside it's more exciting."

Alfred seems to cherish the attention, making for Bach's head with already one paw up. "Alfred, don't you dare. You're a stupid cat, not an acrobat. He discovered it's easier to keep up with me like this than walk behind me and get distracted by everything", he added to the kid. "Now it's a challenge to leave the house."

"Hm, it seems too nice to be exciting. Are you going in? Can your cat drink?" Caleb jokes, grinning a little, watching Alfred's progress in scaling this guy's head.

"Relaxed exciting then. I just dropped off my kid for his first day of proper school. I'm going to need some pub comfort to distract me." Christ, was the man seeking problems where there were none.

"If I'd allow him, no doubt. Don't know if Finn will allow it."

"Dad problems, huh?" He really was meeting a lot of dads. Of course, from what little he's seen of this town, it does seem like a nice, family-friendly place. "How old does that mean? Five?" he guesses.

"Yeah, you can't really card a cat."

"Five, maybe a bit older but we're still checking that." He nods. "Hole in one. I have no clue what to do right now, got the entire day off from the bosses."

"Alfred would eat the card, so let's not." He offers a hand. "Bach. Will you find it easier to go in if I offer you a drink?"

Caleb blinks, wondering how he doesn't know how old his own kid is.

"Oh," he says, caught off guard. He shakes Bach's hand. "I'm Caleb." He considers, a moment. He knows Gabe gets off soon, but...a free drink is a free drink. "Sure, thanks, man."

"And I didn't even have to start singing." Not that he's sure that he wants to get into the guy's song, it's all over the place and the chorus is hidden somewhere deep, it's a mess. But if Bach can distract himself by distracting someone else, why not?

Alfred meows like in agreement, and it's that he feels the tensity in his back legs that Bach catches him just in time, half way in the air towards Caleb. It's a good thing Alfred sort of fits in Bach's hand, Cinderella would have dropped like a brick. "Means he likes you. Let's go."

Caleb laughs. "What? Singing?"

"Oh my god, if he wants to sit on me, he can," he says, opening the door for Bach and following him in. There's no way he'd say no to a cat hanging out on his shoulder.

"You're really new to this place, aren't you?"

He picks a familiar spot before putting Alfred down again. "He'll probably love that, but maybe change the way you invite cats over. Some people might think it sounds sexual."

"I've only been here a couple days, yeah."

Caleb sits down and almost falls off the stool. "What? I'm definitely not into that. You're the one who carries him around everywhere!"

"What what?" The penny drops and Bach laughs, loud. "Dude, that's completely disgusting, I was talking pick up lines, not doing shit with animals. I'm not even going to have you looking at Alfred if that's your thing."

"Oh my god." Caleb doesn't know whether to laugh or crawl behind the bar to hide. His face flushes hot and he hides it in his arms for a moment. "It's not! I just said it's not. I swear. And it wasn't a pick up line!"

Alfred takes the opportunity to claw at the man's hair, failing that and ending up head-butting him. Not fazed in any way - because it's Alfred and Alfred is too dumb to notice anything - he paws at Caleb's chest instead, demanding attention in any other way.

"Sorry about that", Bach offers, a grin still on his face because honestly, look at the stupid cat. "Sorry for both, relax a bit, man. I'm about the most innocent thing this place can offer."

Caleb lifts his head and pets the cat, if he lets him, scratching under his chin.

"Are you? Now I'm scared," he says, teasing, Though he does glance around to see if Gabe is nearby and heard any of that. He doesn't see him, thankfully.

"And now he loves you." Bach offers him a menu. "Don't worry, as long as everyone's behaving, you can have several safe weeks here. Who were you waiting for again? Friend?"

Edited 2015-08-29 19:34 (UTC)

"Aww, what a good kitty kitty," Caleb says, pausing in his attention only to take the menu. He scans it, but doesn't intend on ordering. He doesn't really have the cash to, and Bach offered a drink, not a whole meal.

"...Is it not normally safe?"

"Yeah, my friend Gabe works here. Do you know him?" he asks, looking up from the menu.

"Gabe works here now? Typical of him. Shows up whenever he needs a fuck but can't tell me he changed work places." Bach turns to have a better look, but if Gabe's here, he's not showing himself.

"You know about magic and witches and sirens and shit? That's how safe or not safe you're going to get it here. You can even get used to it, in a way."

Caleb's eyes widen and his face heats up. He drops the menu and doesn't even hear the thing about magic or whatever, because...what?

"Needs a fuck?" Caleb blurts out, an echo of disbelief. He doesn't even know how to ask. "Gabe, uh...sleeps around?"

He can't believe it. He can't believe Gabe. Gabe said that thing in the paper was a lie, that there hadn't been anyone else. Why would Gabe lie to him?

Bach cocks an eyebrow. "Shit, am I telling the boyfriend that he's sleeping around? Nah, it has been a while since we met up, and I really don't know about other people. I think it has been women for a while? Maybe? Like I said, we don't really leave room for talking."

The guy's all over the place. "Keep breathing, dude. It's nothing big. We're just two fuck ups who find each other from time to time. Sorry?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Caleb says, and this manages to make him blush harder than even the mention of Gabe sleeping around. "He's an old friend, I just didn't know that about him. It's okay." He picks the menu back up and pretends to read it. It is true, after all, they aren't boyfriends and Caleb has no right-- no reason to be jealous.

"So what's your drink of choice?" he asks, trying to change the subject.

"Okay. Because you might look like I could take you on, but I'm not much of a fighter and I still have a broken rib from the last guy who thought I was playing on his turf."

Not that Bach couldn't handle him in other ways, but people might notice this guy suddenly becoming Bach's little pet. It's a too public place. "Oh, I usually just drink a lot of water, I don't have the money to get to real drinking."

"Geez." Caleb glances at his side. "Don't worry, I'm not a fighter either."

He snorts, grinning. "What? You invited me for a drink...of water?"

"Hey, what, no. You can have something, I'm not going to tell someone to share the cheapness when I invite them. And with the right guy or girl present I won't even have to pay a lot. Or at all", he winks.

Alfred yawns like he had heard all of this before, curling up against Caleb's arm. Bach's cats always seem to like other people better if they were the option. "Yeah, 'geez'. Don't even try it with women, to be honest. Steer clear."

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freefromsin - 2015-08-31 21:31 (UTC) - Expand

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bachjones - 2015-09-01 12:00 (UTC) - Expand

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