Curly locks and the three half demons

Rose could barely believe Caleb was actually in town and ready to meet her. She would have gushed at someone if she had someone to gush to but as it was she was just silently gushing to herself and telling herself that it would be okay and not awkward at all even if it would be her and Caleb and his brother, or brothers? She wasn't exactly sure who'd be there.

They'd decided to meet at a small diner Rose had liked though she hadn't exactly been there often enough to call it a favorite. As far as favorites went, this one came the closest since she didn't really know other places all that well.

She looked fairly casual for someone who'd fussed about what to wear and what to do with her hair for over an hour, wanting to make a nice impression without looking like she was too desperate to do so. She needed to make a nice impression, needed him to like her since he was the only one she could really talk to. If she lost that, she worried she'd lose herself somehow.

She'd told him what she'd be wearing and put her tiny blue backpack on the table as she sat down, like a little flag to wave him over. The nightmare situation of every single person in there having tiny blue backpacks fortunately didn't come true.

The three Lockwoods had arrived in town not long before and, okay - so Mathias knew that he could have offered for him and Dorian to stay behind while Caleb went to meet this girl, but - he'd spent the best part of a week in the company of only the other two and he'd been teasing Caleb mercilessly and he wanted to be here. He blamed his inner demon - it was evil at times. So, he'd just.... Kinda assumed that it would be a family outing. And when Mathias just assumed something, it was like swimming up a very fast-flowing stream to contradict that. he had a way about him. He always had a way about him and he led the small group into the diner and immediately made eye contact with the nearest waitress, grabbing her attention with little to no effort as he left it to Caleb to see whether the girl they were meeting was actually here yet.

Caleb did his best to slip past Mathias, noting he was going to have some waitress fluttering around him for a bit now. So, that at least gave him a second to scan the place. Which he did quickly, marking exits, and of course, Rose. Rose, who was pretty in a gentle sort of way. And, just like that he was again bowled over with the idea that he? Had no business meeting this girl. Definitely not. Not him. He sucked at this shit. It was not at all his forte. But, he walked over anyhow, not at all sure how to greet her. He always had trouble with goodbyes, but right at this moment, coming up with an appropriate greeting was escaping him. Why couldn't there be demons? He dealt better with those. Just cleave them into so much cooling meat, and it was all over with. "Hey." he finally went with, standing by the side of her table, looking down at her. His hands were shoved into his pockets, and he quirked a little half smile that felt just a bit foreign on his features. "Rose, right?"

"Caleb," Rose said and broke into a wide smile. It was him and she knew from more than just the greeting and the description he'd given her. That was Caleb's voice and the way he looked, well it suited her idea of him, even if she hadn't ever quite tried to picture him. She got up and after smiling widely at him for an awkward second or two she leaned forward and gave him a small hug. "You came! I'm so glad to finally see you, are you with your brothers?" She looked briefly around and kind of hoped he wasn't. She wasn't exactly shy but she wanted to talk to him and with more people around, it would be a shallow sort of chat.

At this point Dorian was just along for the ride. If Caleb wanted to meet up with a girl before heading back home, he was fine with it. Curious, but perfectly fine. He was intrigued as to how Caleb had grown so close to a girl he'd only met over the phone, close enough that they'd gone out of their way to meet up with her. Sure, she'd lost her family, along with everyone she'd ever known, but Dorian wasn't sure what they could do about it. They could maybe hunt down who did it, but that wouldn't necessarily help her. Either way, he was just interested in chilling for the time being, and seeing just exactly what his brother was thinking in this particular instance. Dorian hung back with Mathias as he chatted up the waitress, watching as Caleb met Rose. When Rose looked around the diner, he gave her a small smile as her eyes landed on him, raising his hand in a brief wave. Damn, this was going to be awkward.

Mathias' attention wasn't really on the waitress, although her attention was on him, of course. But he'd mastered the art of talking to some woman whilst having his attention entirely somewhere else without said woman cluing in at all years ago - it was one of the only things he was truly good at when it came to multitasking. As Dorian waved at Rose, he also added his own greeting - which was much less obvious and more a low level appreciation of her presence. Nothing overt, but Mathias had been born with a base level of charisma and presence that was hard to ignore. Plus, he was amused as hell about this entire situation.

He was being hugged. And he was glad it was brief. Because Caleb generally speaking, was twitchy about being touched, unless he was really used to the person. But, he managed to not look like he was twitching, anyways. He'd gotten better at that. He glanced back at his brothers, as they both acknowledged her, then quickly looked back to her. "That's Mathias and Dorian." He explained unnecessarily. Yes, they're both spectacularly older than me. And you got me, you unlucky girl. He was still vaguely wondering if she'd decide to pass him over and latch onto Math. It wouldn't be at all surprising. "It's good to see you too." he told her, sort of half wondering where he should sit now. And what they'd talk about...and...stuff. Shit. He was not good at this. In the back of his mind, he wondered if he shouldn't try with her what he generally did with flight attendants and nurses...but then rejected it because he wasn't his brother.

Rose gave Dorian and Mathias each a small wave, bouncing a little on her feet without realizing it. Yes, she was excited and nervous and that nervousness only increased when she realized she was the only one there who didn't know anyone else. Outnumbered, so to speak. "Oh my God, I can't believe you're really here," she told him happily, smiling so hard it almost hurt her face. Time to tone it down a bit and try the whole breathing thing, in and out and maybe a little slowly too.

"Come, sit down," she told him urgently and took her seat again, patting the seat next to her before wondering if it might be nicer for him to sit across the table. So her patting became a somewhat undecided gesture at the benches before she stilled herself and let her smile express what she hoped was endearing awkwardness. "Sorry, I guess I'm freaking out just a little. I wasn't even sure you'd show up."

Caleb noticed the whole half-gesture thing, and decided if he didn't sit with Rose, then his brothers were going to come over, and Math might. So, he sat down next to her. It seemed prudent. "Don't freak out, and don't be sorry." he said first, having to quirk a little amused half smile, considering he didn't actually think he'd ever seen a girl do that before. Not really. The...little literally bouncy thing. It was cute, if nothing else. Maybe back in the day he'd seen Ten do it, but Ten had had the mentality of a hyperactive ten year old, too, so she didn't exactly count. "But...yeah, here and everything..." Small talk. he needed to learn now to manage that.

"And you're real," Rose exclaimed, scooting further in so she could turn a little and face him. "And not some old man pretending to be someone else, like you hear about from the internet. Not that I thought you were, just those stories people tell..." And maybe tone down the babbling while we're at it. She took a deep breath and reached for the menus on the table, handing one over to him. "I'll calm down in a minute, promise." Not that she was being over the top, not really. She wasn't being loud at least, just a little breathless and perhaps talking too fast. But not loud, that was important since people were usually more annoyed with that. "It's just a little backwards for me to first meet someone, or not meet or... I usually get to know people face to face and then move on over to phonecalls and e-mail."

He listened to her, and was still lightly amused by everything. "I'm real, and not some crazy creepy old man just internet stalking you." he confirmed. "And yeah, it is a little backwards. If it makes you feel any better, I'm usually intensely antisocial, so I don't get to know a whole lot of people period, definitely not random people I looked up on the net." Then he realized that that sounded a little too much like they were doing that fucked up weird 'internet dating' thing, and wished he'd learned to phrase things better. "Annnd I could have worded that a lot better, sorry." he said, rolling his eyes at himself.

"You worded that just fine," Rose said, oblivious to what that could have been interpreted as and just happy he was making things a little less awkward for her by admitting something about himself. Just saying something personal was a huge thing already since he always turned every question back on her somehow. "Well, I'm glad you're not being antisocial to me," she added, turning the page on the small menu, though she had very little interest in what it read. She already knew what she'd be getting anyway and her attention was all on him and a little bit on his brothers too. "Are you staying until tomorrow then?"

"Probably." Caleb said. Then paused. "I hope so. I've been in the car too much in the past week or so. I could use another night where I'm not trapped in a small enclosed space with my brothers. I love them and all, but...." he trailed off, then wondered if he shouldn't have said that. Considering he was sure she would give anything to be trapped anywhere with family around now. Internally he winced. Okay, thinking before speaking would be great to learn. "But yeah...should be. Why?" he asked, recognizing only late that he should probably be looking at the menu and picking something, but his attention was more on her as well.

But Rose just smiled at that, not showing it if it hit a nerve. "Car seats are definitely not as comfortable as a proper bed," she said and smothered the random and odd urge to ruffle his hair. "I just figured, if you were leaving tonight you'd have to rush off soon and..." She trailed off and shrugged softly, tugging idly on the edges of the menu. "This way maybe you can stay for a bit and chat and not feel all in a hurry." It was weird how much it mattered to meet people to know if one truly liked them or not and she was relieved to find that she liked Caleb as much in person as she had on the phone. He had a nice way about him and a likable, trust inspiring face. This was very important.

"I'm not in a hurry." he assured her. Which he wasn't exactly sure what he'd just signed himself up for...if they were going to have something here at the diner then...hang out more or something. It wouldn't hurt or anything. Maybe they could go for a walk or something. Sans his brothers. Really if anything happened, it wasn't like he couldn't handle it, right? In theory? Okay, if a bunch of pissy fiends showed up he'd be fucked, but they'd probably lost them. "Why, you want to do something after dinner?" he asked.

"First things first," Rose said since they were, or she was way ahead of herself here. "How about we order something to eat. Are your brothers staying?" She glanced curiously over to the older Lockwoods, suspecting they were though she wouldn't have minded just being alone with Caleb. Still, more people meant less risk of awkward silences, she supposed and Caleb seemed somehow awkward enough with them around, he might be the type to be shy if left alone with her. Of course she was just speculating, he had that look about him but then again, he also seemed far calmer about the whole thing than she was.

Math caught the glance over in their direction and met Rose's eye, raising an eyebrow slightly, enough to silently query whether they were just being talked about or whether there was anything more there. Normally he would have just headed straight over, but he'd been teasing his little brother about this girl for days, and so he was blatantly giving them alone time, and Dorian seemed to be doing the same thing. He wondered if Caleb would bitch at them later for doing that.

But Rose just smiled at him and turned her attention back to Caleb, since the question was for him anyway. She thought it was pretty nice of them to let her talk to Caleb alone for a few moments before joining them, since she was pretty sure whatever they were doing was just stalling for that purpose. It would have been so overwhelming to meet them all at once.

"My brothers are staying." Caleb informed her, then looked over at them again, and waved them over. "So yeah. We'll...order when everyone's ready, I guess." he added. Ohh the awkward. And he really hoped that Math didn't continue to do little subtle needling of him directly in front of Rose. Even if part of him kind of wondered if she'd get it...she did seem a bit naive after all, but still. He'd know he was getting shit...

"This should be fun," Dorian muttered, glancing at Mathias before they started heading towards the table. He'd been subtly watching the whole encounter, the hug from Rose, followed by her continued excitement, and knew that if he was in Caleb's place, he wouldn't want his brothers there. The girl appeared harmless and they were about to shoot the encounter to a whole new level of awkward, but it wasn't like they could turn and walk out without making things worse. On the plus side, Dorian was intensely curious to see what Caleb had gotten himself into. Obviously he hadn't pushed his brother for enough details concerning Rose. For a girl that had recently lost everything she ever knew, she seemed to be in awfully good spirits. "Hi," he said, a small, amused smile on his face as he approached the table. "I'm Dorian," he said, offering a hand to Rose. He might as well introduce himself.

"Course it'll be fun," Mathias told his brother out of the corner of his mouth before they got into earshot. And then he put on his most pleasing and good natured front as they reached the table. "Mathias," he added onto the end of Dorian's introduction, his eyes going from Rose to Caleb and back.

Rose took Dorian's hand and then offered hers to Mathias, smiling at them both. "Nice to meet you," she said and wondered if she should say she'd heard a lot about them, because she really hadn't. So she avoided that overdone phrase and just gestured at the seats instead. She always smiled too much when she was nervous and now was no exception so she probably looked like a host from a children's program. Not a great look, she thought and tried to tone down the crazy. "Did you-," she started, glancing at Caleb before looking to his brothers again. "Did Caleb tell you about me?"

"A little," Dorian answered, looking from Mathias to Caleb. He wasn't all that sure what he was supposed to know and what he wasn't, and he had the feeling Mathias had a bit more knowledge of the situation than he did. It was probably better to let someone else expand on that particular answer.

"Math was with me when we went through your town." Caleb explained. He was watching his brothers out of the corner of his eye, just waiting for the underhanded ribbing to start. Math had been teasing him about it for days now, and while Dorian hadn't, that didn't mean he wasn't sitting there with a girl who was pretty sweet looking and smiley. Someone who really probably shouldn't be within 500 yards, or whatever restraining orders gave someone. And Dorian would notice that. His brother could be oblivious at times, but this was so damn obvious Caleb was kind of feeling like a target.

"Nobody there - sorry," Math confirmed, looking over at Rose. He was no better equipped at dealing with this kind of thing than Caleb was, not really.

None of them was looking at her like she was a headcase and while their attention being so solely on her wasn't something she'd planned on getting herself into, that was reassuring. "I know," she said quietly. "I went home... Caleb's friend is helping me look though." She smiled again though this time it was faint. "So, you all live in Marquette?" She asked, trying to steer the conversation somewhere where it wouldn't make her choked up and miserable.

Dorian wasn't entirely sure how to answer that question, even if it seemed pretty simple. He had a house in Marquette, so if there was anywhere to call home, it would have to be there. Caleb attended school there... on occasion. And Mathias had been there for a while, so maybe it was okay to say he did as well. "For now, yes," Dorian said, looking to his brothers for support.

"That's where the house is." Caleb commented. They technically had a house in New Orleans they could go to, if they wanted. Or. Well...maybe his brothers could. But he didn't figure any of them did. None of them were that happy with their parents currently.

"Sure," Math agreed. He was happy to say he lived anywhere, it was the same as him living nowhere, and about as much of the truth, after all. And he had a room there now - the question was floating about as to whether he'd be staying now. He'd been staying before because of Caleb, but was Dorian going to be back-back now? It seemed that way. Which meant that he didn't have to stay, in theory. It was new territory again, and he wasn't making any decisions yet, but it was there.

So they all lived there but reluctantly? Rose wondered just what that meant but only briefly, their answers were just too odd somehow. "Do you want to order something?" She asked, feeling the slightest bit of awkwardness over their short and concise answers. She just hoped they wouldn't be this quiet for the rest of the night or she'd end up tattling on about nothing and feeling like an idiot at the end of the night.

"Sounds good to me," Dorian said, picking up a menu. It seemed like the logical answer, now that they were all sitting together in a diner. He looked to Caleb, hoping that was okay. Maybe they should have discussed how this was to go before hand. Was it supposed to be a meet and greet or a stay and eat?

Food seemed to be the order of the day and if anything could lighten the mood, that was it. It, at least, gave the four mostly-strangers something in common to talk about, which was good because subjects didn't seem to come easy at first. It got a little better as the subject switched to travelling, something which the older two seemed to have done their share of, and from there the subject went to college and studying. Between them all, they seem to do alright, at least, which was something to be thankful for.