| Congrats! You're a Teenager! |
| Summary: | Brier talks immortal Callisto through some very mortal thoughts. |
| Date: | 2018-07-27 |
| Related: | Repercussions of this log. |
| NPCs: | The cat-house brood! |
| Scene Runner: | NA |
| Players: |
 .. .. |
Maple Drive, Shady Cove
Fri Jul 27, 2018
This area of town has fallen into disrepair, there are a few abandoned houses, a large broken down hospital that is no longer in use and an old park. Next to the park there is a skating park in surprisingly good repair, local kids see to the upkeep of their skating playground. The street has several potholes and the grass on the sides of the road is tall and unkempt.
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It's funny how days work out and people are fated to cross paths. Brier came into town with his own array of things to see to and seek out and Callisto, oh Callisto; she had to try working her job with a relatively clear head. Things have happened and the typically 'calm' fey girl has been a bit off her axis since a couple of days back. Both students were on their own paths as the sun worked it's way across the heavens and at one point in the day, petering toward evening and just after supper… Callisto and Brier encountered one another by chance! The eventual plan? Why not waltz on over to Maple Drive to check on their project? It seemed the best course of action, to bring the day to a proper close.
It is roundabouts 6'o'clock in the evening; the two teens have made their way into the derelict blocks of the 'bad' part of town and as they approach the 'cat house' (as Callisto has coined it) the girl turns to look upon her flower-child pal, "Thank you for coming along. I do believe that I need some cat therapy." Said as a plastic grocery bag of kibble sways at her hip.
Brier had pulled his small braids into a thick ponytail, figuring best not to tempt cats with dangling braids tonight! As they make their way to the Cat House, the hippie looks over to Callisto "No problem! Cat therapy is definitely useful…mind if I ask what's wrong? Or if you'd rather not think or talk about it that's fine too."
Gah… she had forgotten, briefly, about Brier's way of recognizing and addressing 'feelings'. Stupid stupid feelings. Was she really that off? The fey girl, outfitted in a tight pair of denims and another utilitarian tanktop — hair braided and shoulders bronzed from the sun — pauses at a window. Not the door. She held fast with her intention to bar the doors to prevent or at least dissuade intrusion. Having walked 'round to the back of the house, Callisto gently eases a window open and props it ajar with a chunk of wood. She and Brier are lithe enough to slide through. She eases her groceries through first, the musty scent of the abandoned house's interior exhaling upon them both.
"I do not regret some recent decisions, not at all… but I am puzzled. I know naught, how to proceed." Said to Brier, whom she has come to trust. She smiles at him over a shoulder, "I wish not to burden you. Come inside first, and I shall tell you more." Said with affection, before she weasels her slender frame through the window.
The hippie follows her inside, letting her get in safely and watching to make sure the window stays properly propped during the process. Once he was in, Brier helps Callisto with the supplies she brought to get them ready. "You aren't burdening me at all. I just didn't want you to feel like you had to tell me if you'd rather not. Only if it'll help you to talk about it."
"I forget if I've asked you before, Brier," Callisto starts, picking up some of the bags as soon as they're in. The cats, accustomed to their visits, can be heard stirring downstairs. The fey girl adjusts to the minimal lighting of the space. She gazes at a shaft of sunlight, full of glistening particles of dust.
"Have you ever been drawn to somebody for reasons that you cannot quite explain? Or wish not to?" Asks the girl as she makes her way out of the room that they come into, stepping out into a hallway. To look at the walls is to see the typical graffiti tags.. but also signs of the family who lived in the house before. Holes in the drywall from pictures hung; remnants in the form of tattered clothing hanging in closets.
"Forgive me if this is.. personal. I am in a rather interesting circumstance." Said as she begins descending the stairwell.
Brier listens to his friend explain, shrugging "Depends…how do you mean? I believe we are all connected and that our connections can be stronger to specific people, whether right away or over time. So it is totally possible to feel drawn to somebody. Or even several people…or like you've known them already before even meeting them." Such a hippie.
Oh Brier. Callisto pauses on the bottommost step of the stairwell, feeling an acute sensation in her chest. It's not awful persay; just reminiscent. How similar he sounds to… no no, not in the LEAST is she projecting her lost love onto Brier. Not at all. But it's enough to really catch her attention. Callisto looks over a shoulder to the blonde boy; already some kittens have begun rubbing against the fey girl's slender ankles. She sets her bags down and scoops up two of the furballs.. one of them is her white poofball from the first visit.
Intense cerulean eyes peer through the white ruff of the nuzzling kitten. "Romantically." Said simply. Callisto flushes, looks down at her kittens, brow furrowed.
"Ah…in that case then no, but again…I think it's possible. Why?" Brier steps forward, following Callisto and grinning at the kittens who start begging for attention. "Are you talking about Daxton?"
No use beating around the bush. Callisto flusters, "I wish not to make this visit about my woes." Says the girl.. but look at how red she is, look! She scoops up the other kitten vying for her attention — a squirmy gray tabby — and hands it toward Brier. Upon reception the little kitten will begin gnawing fingers painlessly. "But we.. I…" She hakes her head, braid swaying. ".. I do not know what to do. I am not used to having nary a clue on what to do." The faerie laments, holding the white kitten to her chest.
"I have been irrationally drawn to him for weeks now and I may have acted upon it… I could not help it.. and I pray that I was not too forward in my intentions. Because I.." She sighs, she feels so very… very.. adolescent. "I may have pushed too hard. But he seems to have responded favorably but I know naught if it was proper of me to.. express…" She's flustered. So un-Callisto-like. She sets her kitten down and hoists up the bag of kibble, moving toward one of the bowls they set down last visit. "Am I foolish? For he seemed so hesitant to involve himself with anyone."
Brier moves to stand next to the wall by the stairwell, leaning back against it and crossing his arms as he lets Callisto get it all out. His brow furrows in thought. "So…you expressed your feelings for him…" He didn't ask or expand on how, that was her business unless she decided to share. "And he…liked it? So he feels the same way right? You're just worried about his ability to…be open to a relationship?"
Fwoosh! Out comes the kibble! The assorted kitties, like little furry sharks, converge upon the bowl. Callisto watches them for a time, gaze soft, before Brier's words pull her out of the reverie. "In.. a way. Does it count if the expression of feelings was physical?" Asks the girl ruefully, her face red. "As far as I could tell he… enjoyed it." How far did they go?! Callisto immediately supplies: "We contained ourselves and not once will I have pushed anything that he would have been against… I just do not want to push him into anything that he does not want to have happen…"
She eases back, holding the kibble to her chest, brow furrowed. She looks troubled. "I am not accustomed to having little knowledge of what lies ahead. I have done most of the pushing… he has responded well here-and-there.. but I yet wonder if I have pushed //too/ far?" Asked gently, she looks to Brier. "These feelings, these worries, are alien to me." She admits… cats feast; Cletus has yet to appear. "I've not had the guidance of a.. a proper.."
Left unsaid: Mother.
The hippie is trying to be respectful, but he does bite his lip and laugh a bit. "Callisto…I have good news and good news for you…" Brier looks to the cats as they converge on the bowl and then back to his friend. "The good news is…it definitely sounds like Daxton has feelings for you!" That's as far as he goes with that bit! "The other good news is…you're in love! Congratulations!"
To make sure she realizes he really isn't making fun of her, Brier shakes his head "Everything you're feeling…as confusing and frustrating as it is…is normal. The not knowing what lies ahead. The feelings you aren't sure about. The second guessing everything…all normal! I mean at least from what I've seen on the movies my mom watches."
The blonde teen shrugs "I mean think about it. You're talking about him being hesitant to be with anybody, but you're sitting here being hesitant about being with him." Brier grins, bending over to pick up a kitten who is begging for attention at his feet. Petting it gently with one finger under it's chin, he looks back to Callisto "It's called being a teenager…even if you aren't…technically a teenager…it sounds like you're getting to live your life on your terms for the first time. Which means not knowing anything!" That was supposed to be encouraging…honest.
Dear God.. how does this boy….
Callisto stares outright at him for a time. "My kind, we know naught of what love means," She starts, expression crumbling. "Those who love, they were killed." Said simply. Something about Brier's wise words catches her off guard in the best and scariest way. "We are not meant to love." She whispers.
Callisto lowers herself amidst the feeding felines to consider her words. Her hands splay helplessly in her lap. "In my culture, to love is to suffer a death sentence, Brier; to be excluded. I know naught if I love him but I care, I do, damn me." She sighs gently. A few sated cats crawl into her lap, sunlight shining upon their speckled, striped backs. "By my racial standards, I am a… teenager, as you call such a species. A youngling." She looks up at the hippie imploringly. "So perhaps these feelings are grounded. I've not felt them in a great many years."
The graceful girl looks down at her lapful of cats, "I wish, so very much, that I had known of a matriarch such as yours. I will have traded immortality for that gift." Said with a smile. Cletus the elderly cat has emerged, finally.
Brier just blinks, obviously taken off guard by her words. He realized she had a troubled upbringing but…this shed a whole new light on it! The blonde teen just looks gutted for his friend as he moves down to be on both knees in front of her as she sits on the bottom step. If she lets him, both his hands go to hold hers and he speaks in a gentle sincere tone. "Callisto…look at me." Whether or not she did, he'd continue.
"Everybody is meant to love…and to be loved. They just might not realize it." Brier furrows a brow, realizing the seriousness of this moment and the girl's need to hear these words. "Love is everything that keeps life worth living. Love provides hope…and courage…and every good energy in this world. Anybody who tried to stop you from loving…who threatened you for daring to try…they were all wrong. Every single one of them. Do you understand?"
Here's where Callisto is bowled over. She is not used to this; this championing of the cause of 'love'; she is not so far into it as to die for the cause, but the thought of the watch ceasing to tick causes the girl's guts to roil with unhappiness. Make sense? Perhaps not. There's lots of backstory and Callisto, looking down at her feet in this musty, messy place — even as cats swirl between the fae girl and the hippy — looks stricken. All that Brier says is as unlike anything … ANYTHING.. that she has ever been taught in her life to date. Close to two centuries, But she is young, so young.
"Thank you." She whispers, feeling so very mortal. Snowball, the white kitten, once again finds himself in her hands. Callisto lifts the little being to her cheek and looks past him to Brier. "You are wise beyond your years. Forgiveness for this.. this doldrum. I wish more in this world followed your path." Said softly as Cletus pads forth, dips his head down to munch at the kibble.
Brier watches Callisto, it seeming so important to him that she not only hears his words but also understand them as well. "You're welcome…but I'm only telling you the truth that they should have told you from the beginning…" The hippie then breaks into a grin, chuckling and shaking his head "Wise huh? Definitely not used to being called that!"
Given his usual temperament, he definitely fit a certain stereotype…but maybe this was an example of not judging a book by it's cover. Brier wasn't book smart, but he was people smart. Or something. He then looks back and sees a familiar furry face going to town on some kibble. "Cletus! You handsome old dude, how ya been!?" A hand reaches down to stroke the top of the cat's head gently.
<FS3> Callisto rolls Psychic: Good Success.
"Thank you, Brier," Callisto offers softly. This was meant to be a casual visit to their furry brood, not a woebegone airing of Callisto's grievances. She shoves aside feelings of her own stormy love-life (can it be called that?) and focuses her preternaturally brilliant gaze upon Cletus. She watches the old tom for a time, before looking to Brier. "He was abandoned." Said simply. Wut?
Silvery lashes obscure her gaze for a time as her strong psychic foothold extends itself //even.. to the cat in question. "For the first six years of his life, this cat had a home." Callisto dictates, leaning forth to hug her knees. Cletus goes on with eating his share of the kibble after giving Brier's hand a bump. "And…"
Callisto pushes her hair over a shoulder, "His family had to move, quickly.. a foreclosure. He was left behind, as the search for a home abroad hadn't condoned cats." Said with the barest whisper.
Watching and listening to Callisto as she tells the story of Cletus, Brier frowns. "So he grew up with comfort…and warmth…and security…love…and suddenly it was all gone." The hippie's thoughts wander for a moment…is it worse to know that kind of comfort and then lose it? Or to never know it at all? He thinks of his mom briefly before looking back to Cletus, letting him finish up his kibble. "They may not have had a choice in leaving him…but they had a choice in how they left him. He deserves better than that…all of them do" his gaze goes around the room then to all of the cats.
"We shall care for them." Says the faerie girl, frankly. "We cannot help the circumstances that left them so destitute, but we can… keep doing as we do." Admitted as her eyes flit from the purring, nomming kitties to her peer. "They are safe, and they know that we shall find them and help them." The girl continues and finally, her lips curl into a kind… genuinely kind smile. "Their loss, our gain." Says Callisto firmly as she stands, sets down the bag of kibble, and resumes setting the wrecked room to rights in earnest. "By the time we are through, this will be as safe and comforting a home as any." The faerie declares, sure as the sun in the sky.
She owes it to Brier to promise such a thing.