[SE] When does a comet become a meteor?

Well pardon my manners, just something about you turns me to a savage

Caly's the type who's so bright, that even when she dims a little, it's hard to notice among the remaining shine. Maybe if he had a more discerning eye, or if he knew her better than just the few occasions he got before everything crumpled, he would have noticed it better. He might have seen the way she hardened a bit more, how her voice shortened up to more abrupt phrases, at least until she laid it all bare like she didn't have the patience for his nerves to delay them any longer. He knows that much about her at least, that she does not dip her toe into the pool to acclimate, she just dives right in.

He's not entirely surprised then when she starts off with Look Kai, which for the record is on the same level as we need to talk when it comes to the worst ways to start a sentence. Except, his hope does briefly rouse when she admits to liking him, a foolish smile sweeping in for a moment. "I like you too, Caly," he starts after taking in an audible breath on the heels of all she said. He'd listened intently, seriously, and now considers his words carefully. Not because he wants to shape them into what she wants to hear, but because he knows he's got limited to time to say them, and wants to make sure they make it out with all the same intent he's got curled up inside.

"I gotta know though, why does there have to be a number?" His hands have sunken into his pockets, and he crosses one leg over the other, sinking against the well's support further. "Because, if you're asking me to put you first in a relationship, of course I will Caly. I don't need anyone but you if we're together. There's no numbers there." All this time, maybe he'd been thinking about it a little too literally. He wouldn't sleep around, or make eyes at girls in passing, or kiss friends he's not supposed to. He wouldn't need or want anyone but her, if they actually did this right, and didn't just fuck on burger joint tables like that's all they had to give each other. "But if you're asking me to put you first above anyone and everyone, all the time, no matter what... I can't do that. I can't do that for anyone." He doesn't apologize for it either, and he's grateful she's not asking for one. Still, he can't believe that's what she means, can't believe that he might've been so wrong about her and Safrin had actually been right.

"I got people I care about Caly, same as you would have more than just me." He doesn't say it, but would he be first when she's got Vesper and Nova? He wouldn't ask to be, maybe because he already knows the answer. "If you were with me though," he says after a pause, quieter, like he's still hoping for something better than blue ribbons in love. "We could do it together. It doesn't have to be leaving you to run off somewhere, it could be us supporting someone in need."

Kaisel

Got me running in circles around you to please you, I do what I need to

I wanna be touched, be loved

She’d promised Vesper she wouldn’t take him back immediately upon hearing what he had to say — and had refused letting her brother linger in the shadows to try and get a better idea of what was going on in the dragoons head. So it’s that which has her watching him perhaps a touch too intently, so much so that she can see the blip of hope appear when she says she likes him, when he confirms it with the breath he takes in after, as if loosening the tangle in his chest.

But then he asks her why there has to be a number, and her amber gaze widens a fraction, betraying the surprise in the fact that he has to ask. But she doesn’t immediately jump to it, calculating and curious as she is. She wants to hear him out, to hear all of it before she started interjecting before he has a chance to explain, and she tries to settle her emotions and face into a mask of ease that won’t sway him one way or another because it’s just what she wants to hear.

“Family’s always gonna be different, Kai.” She says, as if reading between the lines. Because yeah, she’d always put Vesper and Nova first. She had to, that was a no brainer. But when it came to someone else? That is the part she can’t get. That a friend might take a higher priority than her. But he tells her that they could do it together and it’s a curious thought that has her lips quirking into a smidge of an amused smile.

She takes her own slow breath, unfolding her arms from her chest to approach him, looking up at him through dark lashes as she takes his hands into her own. “I’m not that kinda girl, Kai. I’m not selfless. I’m.. Not gonna risk myself to protect someone else just outta the goodness of my heart.”

Calypso

I wanna heal, be hugged

Well pardon my manners, just something about you turns me to a savage

His hope rises, just for a moment, that he'd finally cleared up the haze as to what first meant. Especially when she listens to intently, when she gives him the room to lay it all out and still finds the space to come in closer and reach for his hands. He slides them out of his pockets and into hers, feeling the warmth in them like it's the first time all over again he got to hold them. Except... it doesn't feel like a chance to try again, it feels more like the last time when she's saying shit like that.

He squeezes back on the grip, a quiet tell that he wouldn't give up so easily. "So what exactly are you asking for, Caly?" he says with a sigh edging in on the words as he glances up from the fit of their fingers to her face. He tries to commit it to memory, if this might be the last time he can. The easy tilt of her lips first, wreathed in red or a smile or both, a surefire weakness of his. The sharp gleam of gold in her gaze, as likely to warm you as drown you as any amber liquor would. The frame of her golden hair, small wisps on the fringes like tangible cords of sunlight he could reach out and hold.

"Because to me, family is more than just blood." Maybe he'll just never be able to get it, this whole twin, triplet, connection thing. "I'm not trying to run off and save the world Caly, I'm just trying to be there for the people who'd do the same for me, when they need it." Maybe the almost dying to Jack thing has skewed her idea of what exactly he's doing out there for friends, especially since that one hadn't even really been for anyone much more than himself. Sure, he could say it was for Flora, but she hadn't asked him to, probably would never have wanted him to, so that'd just been a selfish desire to punch a dick. The rest of it was mostly, what, just being there for people, which is maybe where the sleeping with his friend part comes in. That'd been selfish too. So it really seems, Caly has nothing at all to worry about when he's being selfless.

"But I'm not asking you to do something you wouldn't either," he says after a pause, realizing that in his need to explain, to make it work, he's started to pull her closer, started to hold on tighter as if he doesn't mean to ever let her go. He loosens that now with a breath as his fingers slacken.

Kaisel

Got me running in circles around you to please you, I do what I need to

I wanna be touched, be loved

He won’t give up, that much she can tell. And though she hasn’t outwardly said anything of the sort, it seems like he’s bringing up any little thing he can to get her to hold on just a few moments longer. And so she tries, really tries to hear him out through everything, catching his gaze as it drifts from their fingers to her face. Her amber gaze scans his, allowing her a moment to tilt her head enough that a singular strand of gold curls falls over her shoulder, untucked from her ear in the wind. “Like Flora?” She asks, like it was the crux of the issue.

Which in a way it both was and wasn’t. And he pulls her closer without realizing it. And she knows that’s what he’s doing by the time she’s subconsciously pressed against him, squeezing his hands as if it might answer all the questions that burn in their chests they’re not saying. “I think.. I wanna start over. Friends first. Get t’know ya better and if somethin’ more comes from it, then it does.” If he wants to take the leap in putting her above the rest and she’s in a space where she’s certain she can quell the rage her siblings have (and hopefully prevent him from doing more stupid shit to the entirety of her family), then maybe there’d be a chance.

For now, though, she loosens her hold on his hands to lift them to his face, her slender fingers brushing against his cheeks before falling to his neck, fingertips threading through the hair at the nape of his neck. “An’ if it doesn’t, then no hard feelings, yeah?” She asks, the earrings glittering in the light as she straightens out her head.

This way, if he went and became Flora's rescuer, she didn't have to feel so bad about it. This way, the rules wouldn't have been made before anyone knew they were playing the game.

Calypso

I wanna heal, be hugged

Well pardon my manners, just something about you turns me to a savage

Her name settles like a petal on the already unsteady glaze of ice over a lake. It shouldn't be enough to splinter it, but after so many days gradually thawing it's just a fragile shell, already spiderwebbing with one weak point after another. So Kaisel sighs with the resignation of knowing that the lake can no longer be crossed on foot.

"Yeah," he says gently, because he knows it's not the answer she wants, it's just the only one he's got. Flora is part of that definition, not that he's trying to turn this into an Alabama affair, but she'd always be important to him, and he's not about to claim otherwise.

Caly already knows it though. He can tell, in the way her hand squeezes back with reassurance, like she'd already worked through this disappointment and could help him along now too. She's kinder than she gives herself credit for, or maybe he'd just almost made it in, to her version of family. "Friends," he murmurs back, not quite able to keep the ache out, the one that's just lost her. Seems neither of them had been willing to risk something today, and that's just the thing, isn't it? You have to be willing to jump for the other person, even if you don't know where you'll land. Seems he'd wade into shark infested waters for one of them, but is looking for a boat just to get across a lake with the other.

"I'd like that," he says, tugging up a half smile as her fingertips trail with lightness against his neck. He reaches up with his own hand to tuck that stray strand of hair that slipped free back behind her ear. "I'm gonna visit you at least weekly though, so I hope you're ready to get sick of me." His grin stretches wider, something bright to hide all the ways he wants to curl up in the grass right now. "And you have to let me help you with projects, and get you food. And oh, you have tell me at least one thing about yourself every time, OR ELSE!" His friendship hangs like a threat between them, and he hopes it's something he gets better at learning how to be, a friend to someone who had been more.

Kaisel

Got me running in circles around you to please you, I do what I need to

I wanna be touched, be loved

He confirms, though Caly isn’t surprised. She’d known. She could see it written there before he’d even managed to twist his tongue in the motion of his agreement. But there’s a part of her that’s glad to hear it confirmed out in the open, like she wasn’t being overly worried when she already knew what to expect. So, instead, she reassures him, a mastered attempt at appearing as if she’d already grieved what there was to lose as she makes her statement.

Her amber gaze scans his face, taking in each pane that shifts with tension or the light of the clouds that seem to filter in and vanish in the time it takes for him to continue to speak. She can see the gears working in his head, the answer given, taken, and processed, all while she toys with the short hairs at the nape of his neck as if unable to help herself.

Feeling his fingertips tuck the stray strand of gold behind her ear, Caly flashes a brighter smile toward him to greet his half smile. “Weekly, huh?” She teases, brows bouncing as a chime of a laugh leaves her. “Well, what’s gonna happen if I don’t?” Her grin is the indicator despite her words that she isn’t taking it that seriously, that she could find it in her to let him treat her - she’s selfish like that - but for the fun of knowing what awaits on the other side, she needs to know what the punishment might be if she doesn’t.

Or maybe it’d be more fun to test it and find out what he had in store?

Calypso

I wanna heal, be hugged

Well pardon my manners, just something about you turns me to a savage

She's delightful when she smiles. It'd been the thing that caught his eye that night, when she'd been a sunbeam trapped behind a bar, far too brilliant to be stuck there and not shown off among the crowd. How lucky he'd been then, basking in her attention, too foolish to return it in kind. He failed to put her on display like she deserved, to hoist her up to his shoulders like nothing else could top her. Even still, he can't manage it.

"Yeah, weekly. Unless like a giant frog eats me or something, yanno?" Risk of playing at hero and all. His grin spreads further in response to her laughter, the sweet sound of its return something that layers over the hurt a little bit softer. "You're already planning on breaking the rules?" His tongue clicks with disapproval as his gaze narrows, lips tightening with the seriousness of this premeditated offense. It's only the sparkle of mischief in his gaze, held steadfast on her, that betrays him now. "Depends," he drags the word out slow, thoughtful with all the possibilities. "The punishment will have to fit the crime."

He closes his eyes for a moment, relishing the absence of everything except the feel of her fingers still caught in his hair, twining against the back of his neck in the unfriendliest of ways. "For example, if you don't let me get you food, I'll have a thousand barrels of apples delivered to your door." As he speaks his sight slowly returns to her, the slow tilt of his smile unable to be held back. "If you deny me you...I might be forced to take extreme measures."

Kaisel

Got me running in circles around you to please you, I do what I need to

I wanna be touched, be loved

“Oh yeah? Plannin’ on gettin’ toad-ed?” She asks with a playful but amused laugh. Her fingertips toy with his hair at the nape of his neck for a few moments longer, her head tilting and letting more of the gold spill over her shoulder as she looks at him. She doesn’t answer the immediate question on whether she’s breaking the rules, instead offering a small twitch of her lips in a smile of mischief. She might push the rules, only time would tell.

As he says that the punishment will have to fit the crime, a warm laugh leaves her as she shakes her head. “Mmhm, okay, got it.” Laughing lightly, twisting the dark strands of his hair against her fingers a few more times before his playful threats paint the air between them. Her brows lift, her smile blooming as she laughs a chimed laugh, before she slowly withdraws from him. Her hands fall from around his neck, down his chest slowly, then steps back and folds her arms behind her.

“Extreme? Well, now I reckon I gotta try it.” She touts proudly, beaming her sunshine smile at him as if to dare him to convince her otherwise.

Calypso

I wanna heal, be hugged

Well pardon my manners, just something about you turns me to a savage

"You never know," he shrugs, the easy smile he wears too at odds with the idea of perishing to some creature's whim, just as it is at acting like this is all fine and he's not growing more hollow at pretending he doesn't want her to hold more of him right now. The new splash of her hair draws his eye, and he reaches out, gently plucking a bit of void gore from the otherwise perfect curtain lying over her shoulder. He flicks it absently to their side.

Her continued laughter helps fill some of the emptiness a bit, but it's filling the way celery is. As soon as it's gone, the hunger returns. "Hey!" he scolds, trying to rouse something serious through the endless line of his grin. "You aren't taking this seriously at all. I mean it, bad consequences. The worst. Stuff of nightmares." It all falters a little bit when she steps away though, that golden thread of her touch that she'd handed him starting to slip through his fingers now.

Right. Friends.

"Well, always good to limit test I guess," he finally concedes, scoffing faintly as he lets her go without fuss, hands hiding back in his pockets. "Guess will see which one you go with, next week."

Kaisel

Got me running in circles around you to please you, I do what I need to

I wanna be touched, be loved

“It is Caido, right?” She prompts him back - not that she’s ever been a part of any of the surprise battles that have appeared. She’d heard about them, though, saw some of them in Torchline when she’d been watching from the stars after being conceived. Though when it came to the void, she had been explicitly warned to stay away from it. And she had, so for that little bit of a victory, Caly was quite proud.

Her amber gaze watches him as he snags a bit of the leftover void bits from the river star from her hair, though she doesn’t watch to see where he flicks it. It’s probably for the best, given that the second she gets home she’ll likely need to snag a shower. Hopefully before her siblings find out what she’s been up to.

As for the rest of it, though, she flashes her innocent smile up toward him despite his ability to see through it for what it was. Perhaps she’s egging him on simply because she can. Perhaps she’s serious, who knows? But she steps away before she can press too long into him and steal away his heat, her arms folding behind her back as she keeps that innocent smile beamed up at him.

“I’m real scared, Kai.” She touts, her smile flashing to a pout for a brief moment before it breaks into the trickling chime of a laugh,. “We’ll see how scared I am next week about it or if I’ve forgotten aaaaall about it.” Her hand comes up in front of her again, only to gesture with the flare of fingers like a smaller version of jazz hands or as if she’s sprinkling him with glitter. But then it drops and she takes a deep breath, flashing him a smaller smile. "I should prolly get goin'. Gonna need to shower before V sees what I've been up to."

Calypso

I wanna heal, be hugged

Well pardon my manners, just something about you turns me to a savage

His smile turns crooked at all her mockery, a laugh chuffing out of his chest as he shakes his head. "Don't say I didn't waaaaaarn yooooou," he sing-songs in return, glancing up at her from a slant, utterly devious with intent. If she means to push on the line, he'll have to snap it back. Although his idea of punishment and hers are likely wildly different, but the rules have been laid out regardless, if a tad open to interpretation.

The playfulness dissolves with the breath she takes, all too aware of what she's winding up for. He forces some upward line to his lips still, but all the brightness leaves his eyes as he nods along to her words. "Yeah, yeah. Of course." He shoves off the well like he means to step forward and leave her with something lingering, but instead he just wavers a bit. He twists back a forth for a moment, then rolls his shoulders back in a shrug, a nervous sort of laugh slipping out softly. "Well, safe travels Caly. See you soon." Thoughts of planting a parting kiss for her to remember what they had, or dragging her into a hug to press some warmth in for her to carry back, or hell just an offer to walk her to the skyship all race through his mind for a moment.

Ultimately he's not sure he'd let her go a second time though, and it seems like it'd ruin everything if he held on too tight right now. So, knowing better, he just turns to start the walk back towards his room, although he won't make it all that way, just needs to pretend long enough to see her off. First of all, he needs to go tell the second surprise he'd stashed away that there'd be no need and they could go home. Second of all, he fully intends of coming back to the well. He plans on tossing a stone in, needing something good to send him to bed tonight. Maybe he's got the tiniest hope too, that if he waits until sundown, she might come back and change her mind and be searching for him there, a chance at a redo.

She won't though.

[FIN]

Kaisel

Got me running in circles around you to please you, I do what I need to