Nudged into action.

[brokendoors]

It's been an interesting few weeks. Far more interesting than usual, and Ivy finally gets a moment to sit down.
But once she's on her butt, she can't sit still.

Caleb's spending the Thanksgiving weekend with his grandparents and isn't due until Monday afternoon, and she's lonely. This why she gets the urge to pull out her cell phone, and scrolls through the list of names.

And stares, bites her lip, and begins texting a message.

Hi, Casper. I doubt you remember me. Ivy, from the Nexus. Got a little boy with asthma. If you do, I was wondering if you were busy? Maybe get a coffee or something.

He probably doesn't remember her, and it's been so long that she's had an actual friend so she'll be really pathetically awkward.

Comments

[ivyandcaleb.livejournal.com]

Ivy blinks. "A hundred dollars?" she asks incredulously, reading the notice again to make sure she's not misreading or mishearing or going insane. "It's..they take out seventy dollars a week for the hotel room. That includes lights and water and stuff, but that's.. holy crap that's cheap."

[watchingsparrow.livejournal.com]

"I think I remember telling you that it's cheap to live here." Yep, have a grinning Casper, Ivy. Because he knows that those hundred dollars include electrical, heating, water and...l well, everything, really. He loves this place. It's like it wants people to live there, so it makes it cheap as hell so that anyone can afford it.

[ivyandcaleb.livejournal.com]

"Well, yeah. But I wasn't expecting.. oh, Casper, I just.." She grins up at him, suddenly having the urge to jump up and down. "it's gonna be amazing." They could maybe get a Christmas tree this year, and maybe the landlord is OK with animals. Maybe she could get Caleb a kitten..

[watchingsparrow.livejournal.com]

He doesn't know the feeling, exactly. He was doing alright economically even before he moved here. But he can imagine that there's some relief for Ivy.

"Wanna check out the rest, or are you jumping at the chance?"

[ivyandcaleb.livejournal.com]

"I should probably comparison shop..." It's the responsible thing to do. "But..I really like this place."

[watchingsparrow.livejournal.com]

Not so much luck in the other buildings. There's a large four bedroom place in the next building, and in Casper's building there's only a small studio apartment. Too large or two small.

But, since they were in Casper's building... "So we just had coffee, but I'm a caffeine junkie like you wouldn't believe. So since I live two floors up..."

[ivyandcaleb.livejournal.com]

"Sure," she says, hefting her bag up on her shoulder more. "I probably won't do coffee again, but I'm pretty fond of a nice glass of ice water." No really, she is.

[watchingsparrow.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure I can arrange something."

Casper's home has a definite blue theme to it, with silhouettes of birds painted on the walls. And looks like he keeps a tidy place. "My older son lives just upstairs, actually," he reveals as he's heading into the kitchen.

[ivyandcaleb.livejournal.com]

Ivy does appreciate a tidy home. After five years of such close quarters, she's a little anal retentive about clutter. She's very curious, so she nods instead of acknowledging him aloud.

She's already considering what she can possibly find like those silhouettes on the wall for Caleb's room.

And then she's in the kitchen. "Oh. I love the blue!" She blushes. "Oh. It must be really nice to have him so close by."

[watchingsparrow.livejournal.com]

"Definitely," he says, putting the kettle on for his coffee, and then going to raid the freezer for ice cubes. A tall glass of ice water coming right up. "Though sometimes it's a bit of walking a razor's edge, in not spying on him and not being too distant. I mean, he's a grown man and can take care of himself. But at the same time..." He makes a face. "Even if I never got to know him when he was little, he's still my son. I worry and fuss and all that."

[ivyandcaleb.livejournal.com]

She nods. "Yeah. My mom used to say that she had to figure out how to become a friend and mentor more than a protector."

[watchingsparrow.livejournal.com]

"Something like that, yeah." Even though Seth hadn't been a child when he arrived, he had been stripped of his powers and thrown out from the world he'd known. Casper had been a protector of sorts in the beginning for the boy, be he in his late teens or not.

[ivyandcaleb.livejournal.com]

"I'm definitely not looking forward to it with Caleb," she confesses.

[watchingsparrow.livejournal.com]

"Oh, but you have a long time until then. And I suppose that it'll come gradually." Once the coffee is done and water poured, Casper motions Ivy out into the living room. No sense in standing around in the kitchen. There's a few comfy chairs around, and a sort of old and worn leather couch that damn comfortable.

[ivyandcaleb.livejournal.com]

And Ivy will definitely make a beeline to that couch. It does look really comfortable. "Yeah, I know. I just hope I'm prepared then."

[watchingsparrow.livejournal.com]

"Well, things change and people change with them." Casper does think that it will come naturally.

"Anyway, when should be do this videogames and pizza night?"

[ivyandcaleb.livejournal.com]

She shrugs. "Well. S'up to you, really. We can do it whenever you like. I haven't done schedules yet, so just tell me when and I can schedule myself off."

[watchingsparrow.livejournal.com]

"I'm pretty much between assignments at work right now. So I'm on payed leave until I get a new one. Which means that pretty much whenever is good. But a Friday or Saturday night would be best." Seph does go to school, after all.

[ivyandcaleb.livejournal.com]

"That sounds good, then. Next Friday night?"

[watchingsparrow.livejournal.com]

"I'd say we have ourselves a plan. Just one question, though?" He pauses, sitting his coffee. "What would you guys like on your pizza?"

[ivyandcaleb.livejournal.com]

"Caleb likes cheese and pepperoni. I'm flexible."

[watchingsparrow.livejournal.com]

He makes a mental note to buy pepperoni. And then he'd just have to use his imagination for the rest.

He's already looking forward to Friday night.