(Open - Finn's Pub)

[freefromsin]

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]

Comments

[freefromsin]

"And you think I can help?" Caleb smiles a little, and knocks Gabe's shoulder lightly with his. He can feel his heart thudding in his chest, but he doesn't want to get too serious. Place too much importance on staying.

[overdrawing]

He doesn't know exactly. Caleb understands and he's grateful for that, but Gabe knows how hard it is to undo all the things he's known. Sometimes, he doesn't even really want to undo them, but Caleb will understand.

"If you want to stay?"

[freefromsin]

"I guess I do." Caleb looks out at the water. He rubs nervously at the knees of his jeans, trying to keep the anxiety of having to figure out what to do next at bay. "It does have a nice view, after all," he says, looking back to Gabe with a smile.

[overdrawing]

"I'd never seen the ocean before this place. After the first time I went down here with Mira, I kept dreaming about the ocean," he says, deciding to leave out the more worrying details of sleepwalking and then falling into the ocean.

Carefully, he lets one of his hands transform and then fade back into a human hand. "I guess I was just drawn to it."

[freefromsin]

Caleb watches Gabe's hand, silently awed at how easily it can just grow fur and then return to normal.

"Does it feel good? Doing that?" he asks, motioning to Gabe's hand. Meaning, of course, the entire thing. Turning into an otter person. It seems to Caleb like it would be painful, but Gabe doesn't look in pain.

[overdrawing]

Gabe shakes his head and casts about, trying to find a way to explain it. Even on the night he fell into the ocean, the transformation hadn't hurt. It had been as instinctive as drawing up his arms to shield himself from a dodge ball.

"It's like when you hold your breath for a few seconds. It doesn't hurt, but you're kind of relieved to breathe out? It feels like that?"

[freefromsin]

"And does it feel like that to be by the ocean, too?" Caleb asks, curious about this new Gabe, this altered boy from the one he used to sing with in Choir and surreptitiously steal looks at during sermons. He curls a long lock of his own hair around a finger, thinking about how he's different, too. Except his is mostly self-made. Gabe's has apparently been there all along.

Either that, or he got bit by a radioactive otter.

[overdrawing]

"It does. I don't know if everyone else feels like that, but I feel calmer here." Calmer, less scared. Just being in town for a few months has eased his nerves and Gabe wonders if that's why it's suddenly easier to live his life this way. Or if he's chosen to forgive himself.

[freefromsin]

"Good," Caleb says with a gentle smile. "I'm glad you found the right place for you." He can hear it in Gabe's voice, even, and see it in the relaxed way of his limbs.

[overdrawing]

"I hope so," Gabe says but he does find it in him to smile back.