avoidance of art
who: caleb and peyton
where: lakeshore, attempting to be away from the art shit
when: late afternoon
Caleb was walking up the beach(sure, he had to pick a day to need a walk when there were a bunch of assholes around), occasionally tossing into the water something shiny. He'd stopped and gotten a bunch of little party favor cheap rings, but they were shiny, and she'd never complained about things not being awesome quality before or anything. So...he was just putting things out for Melia. He was aware that he was half looking for her, but didn't know if he wanted to find her. For one, they'd have to play charades again if she showed, with as many people as there were around. For another, while feeling like he should be feeling bad about contemplating murder and realizing he flat out didn't, he didn't feel that hanging out with the chick who ate people was his best bet.
Tossing another ring farther out into the water, he paused, stopping to stare out at it, hands shoved into his pockets. It was colder today, maybe that infamous winter was heading in. That was...a depressing thought. Wasn't it way too fucking early for winter? He sure as hell thought so.
...
Peyton was wandering down the lakeshore, toward the arts festival rather than away from it. She was carrying two bags from Fenton's, full of records she'd bought for Geo directly after school, and had decided to take a long detour home just to check out some of the booths, given that she wasn't sure when she would have time over the next few days. She felt a bevy of conflicting emotions inside of her, and as she was lost in thought for much of the walk down the shoreline toward the booths and crowd, she barely noted the boy walking up the beach in her direction, if still a good distance away. Peyton actually had to do a double take when it finally registered that it was someone she actually knew. Caleb. She hesitated, and then changed her direction toward him when she saw him pause and stare out over the water. "Hey," she greeted with a small smile once she was finally close enough behind him that he could hear her. "How are you? Haven't seen you in awhile..." Well, she had. In the halls in between class, but she hadn't been able to catch him in time to have an actual conversation.
...
He was distracted, but heard her, and looked over. "Oh, hey." he said, a little surprised to see her. Why, he should be he didn't know. Probably because he hadn't seen much of her since he'd left the hospital. Here and there but not like...where they were actually hanging out. Which was partly his fault, since she tended to drive him a little crazy. But that didn't mean he was unhappy to see her. He even smiled at her. "I'm...alright. Things're going." You know, same old, same old. Contemplating being a hunter, pondered murder the other day. Seriously pondered and I'm not even sure that's fully off, if I ever see the guy....wondering if my girlfriend will disown me for it, and what it means if she wouldn't... "You?" he asked.
...
She shifted her bags in her hands and nodded. "Same, I guess." Things felt significantly different for her than they had when she used to visit him in the hospital. There'd been no missing boyfriends, magic, werethings, demons or death then. Peyton glanced out toward the water for a moment. "I'm glad you're okay and everything. I really wanted to come by and see you when the va..." Her cheeks grew splotchy with color as she ticked her eyes back to his. "Those gangs were in town... but my dad had a problem with letting me outside at all other than school. Are you and your brother doing all right?" She couldn't help but glance over him for any new bandages or scars. It was becoming a habit for her to do it with everyone these days.
...
He eyed her for a few long moments before he answered. "...you mean the vampires?" he asked, in a low tone, under his breath. He wouldn't be surprised if she'd figured it out. Which must have come as a really huge shock to her, because as far as he could tell, previously she'd been pretty ignorant to all the otherworldy bullshit. He paused before moving on. "...you okay, Peyton?" Which was a much more in depth question than the cursory 'how're you' that he'd first gone with. He just hoped she understood he wanted a real answer there.
...
She was momentarily surprised at how easily he said it, and then she was surprised that she was surprised. It seemed everyone in her life so far knew something - it was her that had been in the dark. "Yeah," she finally said. "I mean, I am now, I think. Better than I was before. Spent a long time questioning people's sanity, and then my own and it's just... still really weird. And then continually finding out that everyone I know... knows." Peyton released a breath. "I guess that makes it easier? I don't know." She wasn't sure if that was even an answer, but it was all she could come up with at the moment. "Soo... I guess I'm fine. I kind of have to be at this point."
...
Again, he was looking at her for a long moment. "That kind of sounds a little less than fine, Peyton." he pointed out. He glanced around, mostly to see if her boyfriend was anywhere in sight, and didn't see the guy, so his focus settled back on her. "Want to go for a walk? Talk about it for a while?" he asked. "I'm...well, I kind of know a lot about this shit." To put it mildly.
...
Less than fine... well, she was generally fine when she was attempting to distract herself from it all. It could have been worse - she could have gone completely insane. Having her friends around had been helpful, even though they were all dealing with it as much as she was. "Okay, sure, a walk sounds good." Peyton motioned down the beach, away from the arts festival. And then she shot him a curious, slightly wary look. "How much is a lot, anyway?" And lord, if he told her he was a werewolf or something she might just cry.
...
He started walking with her, and after a few paces, he flicked another ring into the water. "A lot is a lot. Pretty wide range of knowledge, so if you have questions? I could probably answer." he said. "...and if I didn't know I could probably find out." he added, since he knew he didn't know everything, but yeah. A bit. He'd even learned a hell of a lot more in recent times than he'd known before, so...yeah.
...
Wide range of knowledge. Of weird stuff. Caleb. It was still hard to wrap her head around it. That pretty much made up all of her friends who were either "special" in some way, or knew about this stuff. For a moment, Peyton frowned and wished she could rewind time to a month ago when everything was still normal - at least to her.
But if he supposedly truly knew about this stuff, Peyton saw no reason not to take advantage of his knowledge since she was still curious about a lot of things, and she didn't really know anyone other than a half-demon who could answer her questions. "How long have you known about this stuff?" she asked him. "Is it first hand knowledge, or have you just been reading up on it all?"
...
"Since birth." Caleb said drily. Then he shrugged. "My family was in the know." he added. He didn't say how they were, or why, and he wasn't about to, but he could be vague and still be truthful. "And, with the way my life has gone, first hand knowledge." he added.
...
"Really?" Maybe she shouldn't be so surprised. She didn't know Caleb that well, after all. She wanted to ask about the first hand knowledge, but she wasn't sure how personal it was, or if he would even want to tell her. And if his family was in the know, did that mean there was something different about them too? "So you grew up knowing about all this." Peyton shook her head, slightly exasperated. It was unfathomable to her how blind she'd been. How blind a lot of people in town have been, or still are. She glanced at him, a faint smile on her lips. "You won't think my questions are stupid, will you?"
...
He chuckled a little at her reaction. Then he smiled, but shook his head. "Promise, I won't." he assured her. "Ask whatever you want, I'll do my best to answer." Then he paused. "Though I guess I should warn that I don't pull punches?" he suggested. "I'll give you the straight truth if it's pretty or not...I don't sugarcoat. So, I guess be careful what you ask. Don't ask me something you don't want to know."
...
"I want to know everything," she insisted, not at all caring if something was sugarcoated or not. Sometimes the blunt truth was easier, right? And she wasn't extremely weak hearted, she could deal with it. She hoped. Peyton licked her lips, trying to think of where to start. "I do have a question that maybe you can answer for me... being an unbias source. Half demons... can they... be good people? I guess what I mean is, can you be around one and not worry about being hurt? Someone I know insists that they're not all about killing or hurting humans, and someone else told me just the fact that they're a demon at all means they're dangerous and not to be trusted..." Was that too much? Peyton looked over at Caleb. "Does that make sense?"
...
Unbiased source? That was...really fucking ironic. He also was really torn on what to tell her. Talk about hitting close to home. Okay. What did he want her to do? He should probably tell her what would keep her safest. And, knowing how fucked up he was...
He drew in a deep breath, and glanced over at her, letting it out slowly. "It makes sense." he said honestly. "And...I wouldn't trust a half demon." he told her. I know, I am one, and I don't find myself particularly trustworthy. "There are always going to be traits of heritage. And it's always going to be so much easier for a half demon to slip than it would be for anyone else. Which automatically makes them dangerous. And it's not like in the movies, where y'know, true love or some bullshit, like that's going to cure it. Nothing cures that."
...
Her frown deepened as she considered that. Maybe he had a point - but she couldn't knock her instinctive feeling that David wasn't overly dangerous. Then again, maybe she was and he had just been fooling her the entire time. "I guess that makes sense," she murmured. Did that include demons that didn't necessarily target humans? "Is there any way to tell if someone is a half demon? I mean, there could be a dozen walking around town right now, you know? How do you protect yourself from that? How do you know who to trust and who you shouldn't?"
...
Oh look, something else he didn't want to answer. How to find half demons. Yeah, that was awesome. He didn't want her to find him. Or Math. "There are tells." he said. His tell, thankfully, wasn't one that was too obvious. And it only came around once a month, so technically, she could see him naked, and all she'd see were scars. "Demons and half demons have tells, it's...like some little marker that sets them apart. It's different for everyone though." he explained. "You protect yourself by not being involved with them." he said. "It's a risk, and...honestly, not one you should be taking. Not with anything demonic involved." He reached up to drag his fingers through his hair. "True demons are worse, of course. They just...don't have anything remotely resembling a human mindset. They can mock it, but it's not there. They don't care about humanity. They just...destroy shit. They ruin people." Occasionally they fall in love, ascend, have kids, then shun the shit out of one of them and make is life a living hell. And wasn't that bitter.
...
She wondered if David's feathers could be a 'tell'. She couldn't remember seeing anything else on him that could have been defined as a marker, or what have you. Then again, she didn't really pay much attention then. "Hard not to become involved with them if you don't know what they are," Peyton pointed out. The bit about demons made sense. It sounded like what she'd already known about demons, simply from tv, or books or mythology. Demons? Not good people... non-people. Whatever they were. "That's the problem I'm having... I don't know how to recognize anyone who might be different. I've had friends tell me that they're something else, or have special abilities and I've just been totally oblivious to it up until a few weeks ago. If I'm walking home at night and someone's on the street with me, I don't know if they're a vampire, or a demon, or what have you. I don't know if the kid sitting next to me in class can read my thoughts, or can do magic. It's all very frustrating because there's nothing about me that's remotely special like it is with them. Maybe they can recognize it in each other, but not me. I just don't want to be caught off guard anymore."
...
"There isn't some universal handshake, or call sign or anything." Caleb assured her. "I mean...some things I guess have like, senses but that's never a blanket 'I can tell what you are just by looking at you' bullshit thing. ...there's shit out there, a lot of it is dangerous, a lot of it isn't, Peyton. I'm sorry I can't give you a better answer than that. If you don't want to be caught off guard...look into white magic. Or find someone else who can do it, and get them to make you protection. White magic can do that kind of shit...hell I think if you do it well enough, certain types of things can't come within certain range of you." he said. "So...do that. Go there. It'll be a good way to make sure you're safer anyways, and might help you pinpoint if someone's not on the level."
...
There was another faint smile on her face and she lifted her arm, shaking the bracelet around her wrist gently. "I guess I've got something, though I didn't create it myself. It's suppose to keep me off the radar of anyone wanting to cause me harm, or something." Having the bracelet was one thing, but doing magic herself? Isaac had said he wanted her to learn too, but nothing had really come of it since. She bit her lower lip briefly and lowered her arm back to her side. "Maybe I'll try it though. I don't know if I'd be any good at it, but I guess it never hurts to give it a go. I just wouldn't know the first place to start. What books to get, what else I would need." Peyton paused and spared Caleb a glance. "And the answers you're giving me are just fine. They're more helpful than you think. I didn't really know who else I could ask about certain things like this who would actually know."
...
He gave her a faint hint of a smile in return. "Well...glad I'm helping, then." he said. "And...learning it is all fine and good? But get someone experienced to get you better protected than just that." he said. "That's good, but...yeah. I'd suggest more, especially with how fucked up shit has been around town lately. But get someone who knows what they're doing to get it done for you. That way you'll know it works. That shit is iffy, magic is never...quite on the level, I guess. It's all kinds of unpredictable."
..
Who else was there? She only knew Thom, and he'd warded her house and all. Did he know anything more advanced than that? Would he be willing to teach her? If not, she'd have to find someone who was. "Do you know any magic?" Peyton asked him, because she didn't want to come out and ask if he was different - like so many others. "Not that I'm asking you to teach me, or anything, but... have you ever tried it before?"
...
He hesitated, then shrugged. "I know some magic." he admitted. "...just not the kind that could help you." he clarified. Which was understating it. He didn't recommend blood magic to anyone. Ever. He could do it, he was damn good at it, but yeah. Just...no. Not really. That wasn't at all a good thing. He was living proof...and almost hadn't been. But then again, that was just because of how fucked in the head he was in general.
Peyton arched her eyebrows
Peyton arched her eyebrows and looked at him curiously now. "What do you mean? What kind do you know?" Because she couldn't not ask that question. What other kinds of magic were there, exactly?
...
Caleb wasn't so sure he wanted to answer that. "...something I'd rather not talk about, and let's just say it isn't pretty." he said, hoping she'd let it drop at that. He didn't snap at her about it, however. He just didn't need it getting out there that he did blood magic. People heard that, they thought 'evil', because hey. Facing facts, it certainly wasn't anything that could ever be considered good. It was purely destructive. Hell. It even destroyed the user.
...
She nodded once, not wanting to push it. If he didn't want to talk about it, that was that, though she was curious now as to how bad it could be. Obviously if there was white magic, there'd be black magic. Is that what he did? Peyton pulled herself from her thoughts and tried to clamp down on them as not to bug him anymore about it. "Okay, well, I'll try and steer clear of the non-pretty stuff," she assured him. "I just don't want to... end up blowing things up, or something. I've seen it done, magic, I mean, not blowing things up, but I just can't imagine actually doing it myself."
...
"White magic probably won't do that." Caleb assured her. "It's pretty tame. All protective, non-harmful shit. So you should be all good." He walked for a few moments more. "Any other big questions, before I ask you why you were asking about half demons? That was pretty specific, Peyton."
...
She shrugged. She had questions, sure. Like were all vampires bloodsucking tormenters? Was mythology right about being turned into a werewhatever if you're bitten by one? Are angels real, since demons existed? What about ghosts? If there were other dimensions behind her mirror, surely ghosts existed too, right? Is it wrong to wish you were different like your friends? There was a never ending flow of things she wanted to know, but she merely shrugged, staring ahead. "Someone I've known for awhile turned out to be... one. Demon, that is. Half." She wasn't making any sense. "A half demon. At least that's what I've been told. He said he's not dangerous, Isaac told me he probably was... I don't know."
...
"Trust Isaac." Caleb said immediately, no hesitation there at all. "Don't trust the half demon. Isaac is going to have your best interests at heart, and just..." He sighed and dragged his fingers through his hair, looking sideways at Peyton. He paused, then actually reached out to put a hand on her arm to stop her, so he could look her in the eye. "Peyton they lie. And they lie well. Trust me on this, okay? I...just trust me. Please. I don't want you setting yourself up to get hurt, and you will. Might not be soon, but it'll happen, and all you're doing is opening yourself and everyone you care about up for a fall. And it might be a fall that none of you can take." he told her, voice quiet, but real feeling in there behind it. Total honesty, stemmed from the fact that he believed that about himself. That he still didn't trust that he wouldn't be the downfall of people around him, people he actually cared about. The back of his mind remined him that Math had cared about someone once. And she was brutally murdered. So even if it wasn't direct--it was still fault of some degree. Still something that would not have happened if his girl hadn't been involved with him, and while he'd never in his lifetime ever say that to his brother...right now that felt like truth.
...
That felt incredibly ominous. It took Peyton a few seconds to respond, but she nodded and swallowed, knowing he was probably right. It was just difficult for her to be surrounded by it all and not be curious, even if that curiosity was a bad idea. "I know. And I don't want anyone to get hurt." She shrugged a bit, glancing away from him for a second. "I'm just still trying to take it all in and make sense of it. I want to know things. I don't want to be left in the dark, because I feel a bit helpless then. I mean, don't you find it weird that all of this is happening here?"
...
"I dunno, I'm from New Orleans. That place was fucked too." Caleb said, sighing. "But...curiosity, keep going, I'll still answer anything, I'd rather try to give you answers if I can than have you get wrong information. So if you've got them? Shoot. Keep 'em coming, I've got time." Or, he did now. It wasn't like he'd been doing anything spectacularly important or anything in the first place, but now his focus was definitely on Peyton, and this shit.
...
Peyton gave him a faint smile. "I feel like I'm making you into my own personal supernatural encyclopedia." That didn't mean she was going to stop asking if he was offering to listen. She knew she didn't have much in common with Caleb, but a part of her was a tiny bit glad they had this in common, if anything. She bit her lip to contemplate and then allowed a breath to rush past her lips. "It's all... I don't know. They're not even overly specific as much as they are just... I mean, do angels exist too? Are they like you read in books and everything? And vampires... are there different kinds, or are they all like the kind who came here? Do you know anything about like, other realms? Is there a purpose to them other than just existing like we do?" She winced. "I guess those are fairly specific."
...
"Well, I'm offering, so it's all good." he told her. Then started rattling off answers. "Angels, yes. They're around. And depends what kind of angel if you've read about them, and y'know. What you've been reading. I don't know that much about them specifically, but I know they're out there." Point of fact, I'm dating one. "There are different kinds of vampires, they're not all bloodthirsty psychopaths, but don't trust them either. End of the day, they still need what's running through your veins to survive, and hey, you need that too. Other realms....not a whole lot. I know there's a spirit world and I know there's another place...where Leija and people disappeared to when they were gone." He paused as he eyed her thoughtfully.
"...why would another dimension have a clear purpose? How do you know this one's is to just exist?" Was she claiming to know the secrets to the universe now? He didn't sound snippy with her or anything, more just thoughtful, offering up a mirror for her, to show her that her assumption there probably wasn't on the level. "Way I see it, no one know what any dimension is really for. It's just...there."
...
Peyton flushed a bit. "I don't know. I guess I worded that wrong. I didn't mean to say we just... exist here. Though sometimes that's how it feels. And it's just there, isn't that the same as just existing? Maybe there's a purpose, sure. So what's the purpose of... that place, whatever and wherever it is? What's there? Why is it there and is it dangerous? I mean, Leija and the others disappeared and then they came back but... is that it? I don't know, and it drives me crazy sometimes, not knowing." She remembered how Isaac had been when he returned home and even though he was mentally more healthy about it, it still weighed on her mind every now and then. "Is that the only one? Are there are realms? Would angels or demons know about them?" Peyton bit back, not wanting to ramble on and then forced a small smile. "I guess maybe it doesn't matter. Am I to assume ghosts exist now too? And UFOs and aliens?"
...
Caleb listened to her, and wondered if she recognized that she'd utterly contradicted herself. But he didn't bring it up. "I would say a different dimension isn't necessarily dangerous on it's own...it's only dangerous to people who aren't supposed to be there. Like...the spirit realm. Spirits are supposed to be there. We're not. So it's probably not a really good environment for us, but it's fine for them. So not really dangerous in a general sense of the word, just depends on your perspective, and if you're supposed to be there or not. ...same idea could be applied just to like...land versus water. You and I can't breathe water, but fish can." Or mermaids. "We can't live there, they can't live here, but neither is inherently, fundamentally dangerous on it's own. I wouldn't ask for the purposes of other dimensions, though. They're just there, no one knows the answers. It's just one of those things. If I had to guess, if there is a purpose, no one's ever going to know what it is. And if they did, it would probably take the fun out of life." He shrugged.
"Let's see...Realms? No idea. Maybe realms are the same thing as dimensions. I met a fae once. She was...that was kind of intense. Popular lore suggests they aren't actually from here, so there might be a fae-realm. As for angels or demons knowing their shit about the higher workings of dimensions, realms and otherwise--nope. They don't have any more answers than we do." he told her, so she didn't start thinking she should go start trying to find one so they could give her the secrets of the universe. "As far as I understand, angels and demons are just...here, too. Like us, only functioning on different levels, I guess. If that makes sense. But they don't have some vast key of knowledge or anything. They've got their jobs to do, and that's about it." As far as he knew.
"Ghosts exist. Aliens...never met one, and I really don't have any idea on that score. I would be skeptical if anyone announced to me randomly they were an alien. I'd start thinking 'schizophrenic', honestly." he quirked a little smile at her.
..
Fae? What the hell was a fae? Peyton lifted a hand to rub her head wearily. She released a slow breath past her lips, supposing he had a point. She couldn't understand the point of other realms anymore than she could understand the meaning of this one. Ghosts existed too. Which meant she was probably going to end up sleeping with the light on, because that? Scared her.
"So you believe in vampires, angels, demons... fae... but anyone who might claim to be an alien you'd be skeptical of," Peyton said with a wry, teasing smile. "I would think knowing about everything that's wandering around with humans would make you a bit more open minded about otherwordly beings and their spacecrafts."
...
He chuckled a little. "Well, I never even met a faerie until I lived here. So before? I would have told you you were nuts if you'd told me they were out there. Apparently I was wrong on that score. But yeah...all that. And yeah, if someone told me they were an alien, I'd definitely have to see proof. I mean don't get me wrong...I actually kinda get the idea, I don't discount the idea that they're out there somewhere, but why the fuck would they be here of all places? That's the bit that makes no sense to me. I'm sure they've got better things to do than set down on this backwards little planet where everyone's just hell bent on destroying each other and everything else anyways." Then Caleb had to smirk faintly at her, and he even winked. "Besides. My belief in all that shit?" he said. "Has nothing to do with being open minded. Being open minded is having belief in something or being open to believing something when you don't know of it's existence. I just happen to have fact on those things. So it's being educated, not being open minded." he teased right back. Which was a little weird, but...well, he was actually kind of having a decent time talking to Peyton today. He didn't mind answering questions for her, and if she took his advice, then maybe she'd be safer, too. Now, all he had to do was not get caught talking to her, because he was pretty sure he'd have violence in his future if he was.
...
"Maybe our planet is more interesting than anywhere else. After all, we've got vampires and angels," Peyton said, grinning a bit more easily now. "But you're right. It's more you have to believe than choosing to believe when you've got it staring you in the face. I just think that it'd be easier to think something like aliens do exist after finding out other things exist too that you never dreamed possible. I mean, you said you grew up in the know. I didn't. I scoffed at horror movies, just because the idea of the bloodsucking undead was so damn ridiculous that I couldn't even buy it in fiction." And then she laughed and shook her head. "If I ever get abducted by aliens, I'm going to make them fly their UFO by your house so I can wave goodbye. That way you'll know for sure whether they exist or not and you can just add it to the list of weird shit - stuff," she corrected.
...
"That'd definitely be the difference." Caleb agreed. "I grew up with this. So I didn't 'find out' or anything, it was always just part of my world, where it wasn't with yours." Then he chuckled again. "Yeah, you do that. And you do realize that you're allowed to swear around me, right? It's not like I'm toting nuns or impressionable toddlers around with me..."
...
Peyton smiled, despite the blush on her cheeks. "Sorry... I just try to rein in the urges. So used to getting yelled at by my dad when he hears me swear. And I have this intense fear of corrupting people with my dirty mouth, but now that I know you're not corruptible, I'll be sure to let my rarely seen sailor persona shine through more often." With a quick glance over her shoulder, she realized how far they'd walked. "Thanks for listening though, and answering. It's been a really strange couple of weeks, and I've been full of questions ever since and not really sure who could answer them other than said half demon I met, and the general consensus seems to be that I shouldn't be trusting him anyway, so it's a bit of a relief to know that you know and don't mind me talking to you about it. Or at least you don't mind it right now. I'll try not to be overly annoying about it in the future." And she had a feeling Isaac would much rather her talk to Caleb about it than David.
...
Caleb grinned at her. "I'm not corruptible." he assured her. "I'm already about as corrupt as I can possibly be, you're far too late in that regard." he added. "And you're welcome. But yeah, I can answer whatever...and...again. The half demon thing. Don't just not trust him. Stay away from him. Things spiral and they spiral fast. Most of the time...it wouldn't even be you you're putting at risk. It'd be everyone close to you. That's the shitty part about life in the know. You have to be aware that everything you do--the decisions you make, the people you're around--that probably won't effect only you. The bad in this world likes to take things out on a bigger scale than that. So, if you have trouble thinking about it, letting go, whatever--keep in mind that you're not just trying to look after yourself. You're looking after your family, your boyfriend, your friends..."
....
Well, that was ominous. And slightly depressing. Because she had trusted David. Hell, Peyton trusted a lot of people the moment she met them. Now she felt like she had to be second guessing everyone around her. Already over half the people she knew as friends weren't actually human. And if they were, there was something more to them than just... normal. Like herself. "All right," Peyton said slowly. "I'll try to steer clear of him then. It's just... I don't like the thought that I have to be wary of everyone I meet. Or maybe I don't have to be, but I feel like I should be and I've never been like that before. I like talking to people. I like meeting new people. I don't like the thought of meeting someone and wondering if they might like to feast on my blood." Peyton twisted her lips in a wry smile briefly. "I guess it's better to be safe than sorry... or whatever."