Caleb - Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

[brokendoors]

True to his Mama's word, Caleb made it out of The Visit unscathed. And when they'd left, his mom did a lot of hugging to the point he'd actually started pushing her away with a totally age-appropriate 'ew, mom's hugging me!' gross face.

And he didn't think his mom minded, even!
It wasn't until the next day, when his mom was at work, that he made the tiny trek across the complex over to Casper's place.

He wanted to get Casper's input on things.

Comments

[lovestofly]

"Alright, see you then. Love you." No, not going to be commenting on a swimsuit when the kid was around, but he had no problem with the kid hearing that.

After the call was ended he turned to Caleb. "Grab a couple of sodas from teh fridge, will you? While I go find my swim trunks."

[brokendoors]

And Caleb squeals a little bit and nods. "Yessir!" And he dashes off to the kitchen, taking his bowls with him.

[lovestofly]

Not long ago Casper would have been hesitant to go swimming with other people around due to the scar on his back. But over the past few years he had been working on not thinking so much about it, and was now more okay with it. Okay, so people would see it, but not many would really care. Not really.

he quickly changed into a pair of loose knee-length swim trunks, keeping his wifebeater and open linen shirt on for the walk over to the lake. Then they just needed to go back over to Ivy and Caleb's place for the kid to change and grab what he needed.

[brokendoors]

Caleb's seen the scars before, and quite honestly while he knows Casper doesn't like them too much, they're scars, which means they're cool.

He chatters about the lake on the short walk over. He's really excited! Maybe there's gonna be frogs! And tadpoles! And fish!
Caleb doesn't know how to fish, but he wants to learn how.

Once inside, he scampers off to change into his swim trunks. He thinks they're boss. Blue with sort of a hawaiian style to 'em, they come down to his knees, too, and while he's thinking of it, he adds a button down shirt. To look more like Casper's kid.

"Want to take some Little Debbie cakes?" he asks once he's back in the living room.

[lovestofly]

Caleb can think the scars are cool if he wants to. The simple fact that he can and doesn't really know what they mean to Casper, wouldn't really know even if Casper explained where they came from, that's a good thing.

"Sure," Casper replies to the offer of cakes. Even if Ivy will be bringing food when she comes, some little snack could still be good. So they get to join the sodas in Casper's bag. Then: off they go.

[brokendoors]

They're pure sugar, but they're amaaaazing and he looooves them. He takes two apiece. One's a little yellow cake with white frosting and sprinkles on top, and the other is chocolate and caramel and crispy rice.

The chattering continues. "Man, the lake's gonna be awesome!"

[lovestofly]

It is a good lake. Casper has been there before. No weird Nexus-y watermonsters hiding in the depths from what he can tell, and there's often a few other people - both grown-ups and kids - there for a swim.

Caleb's enthusiasm is infectious, and Casper's smile widens in response to it, his step lengthening a bit to get them there quicker. "So what do you wanna do when we get there?"

[brokendoors]

"Do you think we can jump in? Are there any jump-in spots?"

[lovestofly]

"Yeah, there's a pier. But before we go in, your mom ordered me to make sure you get some sunscreen on." He could probably use some as well.

[brokendoors]

He doesn't grumble at that. Not much, anyway, because he sort of likes the way the sunscreen smells. Sort of like Summer and the beach. He holds his arms out and assumes the position, squinting his eyes shut. "I'll spray you next!"

[lovestofly]

There's spraying and smearing and within minutes there's a sunscreened Caleb.

Casper's hesitation to take off his shirt in public is old, but at least now it's only a brief hesitation as he simply tells himself to stop being silly. Then he hand the bottle of sunscreen over. "Have at it!"

[brokendoors]

Caleb doesn't notice the hesitation, and it's with his usual childish joy that he's taking the bottle and begins to spray Casper. Before long his tongue's sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrates to make each line of sunscreen even. "Did you come to the lake when you were my age, Casper?" he asks.

[lovestofly]

Casper just sits still as Caleb concentrates.

"No." When he'd been Caleb's age, he never went anywhere. "But when I was a little bit older than you I got to move to Maine to live by the sea." Nevermind that Maine could be frickin' cold, but it had still been a fantastic improvement.

[brokendoors]

"Woooow." He knows Maine is pretty far up the coast and pretty small, but for some reason it feel like it's bigger than it actually is. Like there's a ton of legends to the place. "I bet that was boss."

[lovestofly]

"Yeah, it was great. I lived in New York before that, so it was a big change." So thankful for that change.

[brokendoors]

"Kinda like the opposite for Mom and me. We went from Columbus to the big freakin' huge Nexus. Went from big to bigger, and you went from Big to small. But I bet it was nice. Get to go to the beach a lot." He looks longingly at the water. "I've never seen an actual ocean, though. Just pools and lakes and ponds."

[lovestofly]

"My folks still live there by the sea," he says. "If your mom agrees, maybe we can go there some day."

[brokendoors]

"That would be cool." He pauses. "Nothin' scary in those oceans, right?

[lovestofly]

"Naah, not really. Whales and seals and the occasional basking shark. Perfectly harmless. Now..." He stands, looking out over the lake. "Last one in is a rotten egg!" Though he'll give Caleb a seconds head-start.

[brokendoors]

Caleb shouts happily and then he's off like a rocket, making a beeline for the water. He squeals once he hits the shoreline, and he leaps into the surf.

[lovestofly]

Casper is right on his heels, though he stays on his heels even though he could easily have run past him. Yeah, he'll be the rotten egg. Though oncer in the water he passes Caleb with a shallow dive.

[brokendoors]

He grins a little and immediately splashes Casper playfully. "Got you!"

[lovestofly]

"Ack!" Splash, a face full of water. And while that's not so bad, Casper makes a show of recoiling and falling over into the water. Just because.

[brokendoors]

Aaand.. this is when Caleb belly flops into the water from laughing so hard. "Casper, you're so silly!"

[lovestofly]

"Silly?" he rises up. "Silly?" With a roar contracting nicely to his amused grin, he lunges for the boy to start a playfight. Just because.

Later, when hanging from a raft anchored a little bit off shore, catching their breaths for a moment, Casper decides to bring up something of a serious subject. Hopefully a rather happy one, but still serious. "Hey, Caleb? Can I ask you something?" He pauses to wipe away from wet hair that was clinging to his forehead. "If I were to ask your mom to marry me, would you be okay with that?" The kid may be just that, a kid. There are things he's just too young to really understand, and with so many things yet to learn. But Casper refuses to treat him as ignorant, and with a thing like this, he honestly wants the boy's input. It is going to affect the biy, after all, if it happens.