(Not So) Welcome Back

Who: Dorian, Mathias, and Caleb
Where: Lockwood residence
When: 10amish

Dorian found Mathias' note around five-thirty the night before. He'd just returned from the store, planning to cook dinner. Those groceries never made it into the fridge, the bags full and sitting on the kitchen counter. Dinner was never cooked. The laundry hadn't even been started. In fact, the only thing Dorian had managed to finish since finding the note was an entire bottle of tequila. He sat on the couch in the living room, where he'd been for most of the evening and all of the morning. He'd spent a bit of time out in the garage the night before, beating the shit out of his punching bag, but that really didn't make him feel any better and only resulted in bloody knuckles. They were still untended to, the blood dried and caked there, flaking off over the night. The store was supposed to open an hour ago, but he hadn't even thought of it since waking up. It didn't matter at the moment. His brothers were set to arrive home this morning and he'd been waiting.

The sound of a car pulling up to the curb outside signaled the brothers return, the engine being turned off, the noise of a couple of doors banging, footsteps walking up to the door and then the sound of a key in the lock as Mathias let them back in again. "Hello?" he called as they walked in.

Dorian didn't answer, though his eyes ticked towards the front door. Was he expected to hop up and hug them, be glad that they'd come back and welcome them with open arms and all that shit? Two doors had shut, which likely meant Caleb had come back alive. If he was in one piece was yet to be seen.

Caleb was technically in one piece. He still looked like hell, but he was intact. And tired. "I think he's got to work today." Caleb said to Mathias, not expecting their brother to be home. That was, til they got to the living room and he saw him there. He sort of gave a half wave. "Hey, Dorian..." he started, frowning at his brother. He looked distinctly like hell.

"Glad to see you're alive," he said, eyes taking in what was left of Caleb. He'd cleaned up, obviously, but there was a gash on his forehead, another long slash under his chin, a black eye, and he walked as if there were more injuries to be seen beneath his clothes. All in all, he looked like shit, but it wasn't Caleb he was pissed at.

"Morning," Mathias said with an easy smile, throwing his keys down on the table and heading towards the kitchen. "Anyone want coffee?" he asked, looking at his two brothers. He could do with a caffiene kick right now.

"Yeah." Caleb said. Coffee sounded good to him. He had shit to do today. And he still wasn't exactly sure what it was he was going to be telling people. He had kind of a story. But he'd have to see that it actually sounded plausible. He was mostly just hoping he wasn't going to be screamed at too long by people. He glanced to Dorian again. "....aren't you usually working today?" he asked.

"Usually," he said, though his focus was on Mathias, or rather, just ahead of him, where the chair moved to block his path. "Where were you?" he asked, asking the room in general. Caleb was just as welcome to answer as Mathias, though he was willing to bet he'd get the same bullshit answer from both. Coffee was probably what he needed, considering how much he'd had to drink the night before, but he was still a bit buzzed and he wasn't interested.

Mathias stopped as the chair moved into his path and turned to his brother. "You know, you could have just asked. You didn't have to do that," he pointed out, not actually sounding at all annoyed. "We went out of town, over to Iron Mountain." He paused. "Did you not get my note?"

Dorian completely disregarded the first comment; he knew he didn't have to, but he really didn't care. "I got your note," he said. "Elaborate." Because Caleb and Mathias didn't exactly go out and pick flowers together. The note hadn't said shit.

Caleb was frowning at Dorian, really. "We were out, shit got a little crazy, we're fine, now we're back." he said. "What the hell did you do to yourself?" he asked, noting Dorian's split knuckles. And the smell of alcohol. That was pretty apparent.

"I thought that it was beyond time Caleb and I got to know each other a little better. And I thought that maybe you might appreciate the space for a bit - you don't have the largest place in the world and currently you're taking in strays," Mathias said with a slight chuckle. "You go out last night?"

Dorian glanced at Caleb, wondering briefly if that was a question he should answer. He really didn't know how apparent it was, though if he thought about it, he'd know it was obvious. Tequila, unfortunately, smelled awful. And he smelled of it. "Oh, so it was for my benefit?" Dorian asked, attention turning back to Mathias with a glare. "Tell me: what about taking Caleb out to get killed would I have wanted? That's not how I go about clearing more space." And, no, he didn't go out last night, but that was besides the point. This wasn't about him.

"Okay, firstly, I did not take Caleb out to get him killed - so where you get that from, I have no idea," Mathias said, still not rising to it, the picture of calm rationality. "And, no - I did not do this for your benefit. I did this because I've been realising over the last few days that I have a brother that I hardly know and that maybe I should start to fix that. Now, if you're seriously accusing me of trying to get my brother killed?" He paused, letting that hang in the air between them as he raised an eyebrow. He smiled. "You might want to think about what you're saying first."

Dorian had thought about it. He'd thought about it for a good fifteen hours or so, and he wasn't buying Mathias' story. "You took your bag with you," Dorian pointed out. "What about 'bonding' made you think you might not be able to come back here? You had all night to mention it to me the day before. You could have called me. I know you're capable of it. But you left me a note." A note, because it would stall the time of when Dorian would find out. He couldn't argue with a note. "If something went wrong, you needed to be able to run."

"No - I needed to be able to have a shower. And a change of clothes. And a toothbrush," Mathias pointed out, slowly and calmly. "Usually those things come in a bag. And anyway, come on Dor - you know me. Do you really, actually think I'm gonna be going out of town for the night without my bag? Of all the reasons I have it... You jumped to it being because I was going to get my brother killed?" he asked, his tone suggesting that that was unbelievable.

"Okay..." Caleb said. He'd been hanging back not really wanting to get between them, but it was sort of...tense. "Can people calm down here? Everything's fine, no permanent damage done, and there's nothing to be bitching about. Now if I had complaints, that'd be different, but I don't."

Dorian still didn't believe him. It was just a feeling, all solidified by the fact that Caleb wasn't in perfect condition. Maybe, just maybe, if he'd appeared unscathed, Dorian might have bought it. But looking at him now, with the cuts on his face and neck, he couldn't possibly go along with it. It just went to show how stupid Mathias thought he was. "That's not the point," Dorian said, attention turning to Caleb because, frankly, Mathias was set on keeping up the lie and Dorian didn't want to hear any more of it. "If he wasn't lying through his teeth, he'd have left his phone on. He'd have told me before ya'll took off. But he knew I'd argue, and shouldn't I? How'd you cut your neck up, Caleb? Should I have agreed to let you go?" Not that he was given the choice, but that was part of what pissed him off about the whole thing.

"It wasn't something you had to agree to, Dorian," Mathias told him - even if Dorian had chosen to ignore him. "Let me ask you something, Dor - do you trust me?" It was a risky question, all things considered. But also, all things considered, and especially taking into account Dorian's current attitude, it was something Mathias thought he really actually needed to ask. he'd always thought that the answer would be 'yes'. Now - he wasn't so sure.

Caleb sighed, and leaned back against the wall, shoving his hands into his pockets as his brothers argued. Or sort of argued. Discussed was perhaps a better word. "We went out to get to know each other better, yeah, you should have agreed." Then he kind of nodded towards Mathias, since he'd asked Dorian a question, and it was kind of a good one. Trust. Caleb had little of that in his world, so he was damn curious what Dorian would answer as well. He was fairly sure that Mathias trusted Dorian. Maybe not with information that would piss him off, but like, with his life.

They weren't answering his questions and it was pissing him off. The lack of trust, pissed him off. And then for Mathias to go and ask him something like that? Dorian glared at his brother, not necessarily sure what the answer was. Until last night, he had, but it'd been a trust earned over time and the only person put in danger had been himself. This was different. This was Caleb and cryptic notes with the intention to deceive. This was neither of them giving a good honest answer about what had happened. This was him working his ass off to provide his little brother with a stable environment all for nothing. "I did," he said, finally. "Now?" he shrugged. "Give me a reason to."

"The reasons were still the same as they ever were, Dorian. Nothing's changed. If you trusted me then, trust me now," Mathias told him. He knew there were things that only between him and his brother - Mathias lived in a world where compartmentalisation was part of everyday life. He was used to it - at times he forgot that not everyone was.

"What exactly is the problem?" Caleb asked, looking between Mathias and Dorian. "Honestly, what's the issue here? There was apparently a note, so...you knew we'd be gone, and now we're back. Were you seriously up drinking and...whatever you did to you hands all night, just pissed off about this?" he asked Dorian, since this rather confused him. In a huge way. Made him wonder why. That and all the talk about trust and losing it over this, it was making his head hurt.

"Everything's changed," Dorian snapped at Mathias before turning to Caleb with just a bit more composure. He wasn't mad at his little brother, but he was also square in the middle of things. "The issue is he didn't respect me enough to tell me he was even takin' you, and doesn't trust me 'nough to tell me where ya'll 've been. He turned his fuckin' phone off so my calls go straight to voice mail. And you both expect me to believe a lame-ass story that you went out to bond and 'happened' to run into trouble. I might believe it from you, Caleb, but Mathias arranged for it. Ya'll must really think I'm fuckin' stupid." Okay, so there were a lot of issues in there. More than Dorian really expected to get into, but then he hadn't exactly planned out what he was going to say. He'd honestly hoped that they'd both be unscathed and he'd find himself a complete idiot.

"Okay, stop," Mathias said, raising his voice for the first time - not much, but enough to make it clear that he was being serious. He turned to Dorian. "Believe it or not, Dorian - this isn't about you. This isn't about whether or not I need you permission to go out with my own brother. And we haven't given you a story - lame ass or not. We came home, you immediately jump down my throat and all I've said so far is that Caleb and I went away for the night and shit got a little crazy. Now, I have no idea where you got the idea that that very true piece of information could qualify as being either 'lame ass' or a 'story' but I think it's a stretch."

Caleb didn't quite know what to say. Mostly because Dorian was right--Mathias had orchestrated the trouble they'd gotten into. But at the same time, he was thinking about how things might seriously go to shit if he knew he was right. Definitely now that Dorian was so upset about everything, that was looking like an imminent possibility. He didn't particularly want that happening, really. He was just starting to feel like he might have a family, and the thought of it blowing up already was one he wasn't prepared to deal with. "I'm standing right here, and I can make my own decisions on shit. It's summer vacation, we went off to talk for a while. Get to know each other better. We did that. If anyone's got a right to be pissed off about anything, it's me? Since I'm the one with the injuries here, but I'm not, so can we all just fucking move on already and forget about it?"

"So how's this work, Caleb?" Dorian asked. "Am I supposed to be like mom and say that everything's fine because you seem to be alive? Would you prefer I not care when you disappear? I'm supposed to forget about it, like it didn't even happen?" It was far too close to what could have happened to him back at home. Dorian could actually imagine that far better than his parent's not noticing Caleb was gone-- he could see them realizing it, but not caring, even if that was far worse. But Caleb had returned whole, even if injured, and they'd brushed it off. He wouldn't be like them. "It's not about me," he said, turning back to Mathias, frustrated as hell that he was having to take this shit from both sides. His voice rose a notch about where Mathias' had been, though he wasn't quite yelling. He wouldn't yell if he could avoid it. "This is about the fact that you expect me to trust you when you don't trust me. This is about the fact that you do need to ask for my permission, when Caleb is my responsibility. And why the fuck would you need to pack up and leave in order to get and know Caleb? Did you think I'd forget what your version of bonding entailed?"

Mathias could tell from the look on Caleb's face that bringing their parents into it was a low blow, though he also knew that Dorian really didn't mean it like that. "I trust you, Dorian. I just don't feel the need to okay every single little detail with you. And I, obviously mistakenly, thought that you trusted me enough to not have to have a detailed itinerary or exactly where we were going and what we were doing. My apologies, it won't happen again. I know better now," he said, his voice unreadable.

"Does my say here just not fucking matter?" Caleb asked in a quiet, low tone. He wasn't looking at either brother anymore, but at the floor.

Mathias didn't get it. He just didn't get a single word Dorian was saying and his answer proved it. It wasn't about needing a detailed itinerary. It was about having the decency to at least ask him in person, even if Dorian had argued. And even after all this, not one of them had volunteered what had really happened. Mathias may have trusted Dorian, but the longer this went on, the less Dorian trusted him. "You want me to drop it?" he asked Caleb, knowing that was what his brother had asked. "It's dropped." Caleb was right anyways; it was pointless to keep up the conversation when they weren't getting anywhere.

"I didn't say drop it, I said I should have a say. I don't think that Mathias should have to clear shit with you. I can make my own decisions, thanks. It's not even like it's a school night, where maybe there would have been something to bitch about." Caleb said, voice still that same low tone. "No, I'm not asking you to blow it off like the parents did, but the fact that you're really amazingly upset about it kind of proves right now that you're not like them. But I didn't disappear. Mathias said he'd taken me somewhere, so...not missing, just not home. We ran into trouble. It happens, hell it happened to me before Math even hit town, it's not like you don't know I tend to attract it. I just...you're both talking like I'm not in the fucking room, and have no say in anything, and that's bullshit."

Dorian wanted to point out that it was impossible to have a three way conversation about this without occasionally talking about the person he was not talking to. When he'd addressed Caleb, he did the same to Mathias, though it was obvious that Caleb took that all very personally. The last time the three of them had had some sort of discussion, he'd said the same thing. Obviously, talking with both of them at once should be avoided. And Dorian didn't know what to say to that. Caleb wanted to make his own decisions, wanted to come and go as he pleased and... Dorian was just housing him. Nice. Generally, Dorian wouldn't have cared, but he couldn't get through Caleb's head why Mathias taking him somewhere didn't qualify as a simple night out with a friend or a brother. It wasn't simple in the least, at least not to Dorian. "Are you telling me that you went out together, happy and bonding or whatever, and just happened to come across trouble?" he asked, looking directly at Caleb.

Caleb glanced for a heartbeat over at Mathias, who gave him a tiny bit of a shrug nearly imperceptible. Could even have been a twitch, and Caleb was totally just reading in. It had been known to happen. "Yes, that's what I'm saying." Caleb said to Dorian. Part of him really wanted to tell the truth, but with the way Dorian was reacting to everything, he really really thought that the information about the blood magic was just going to make everything a million times worse. Like Dorian would suddenly put him in lock down or something, and he didn't particularly want to be fighting with Dorian--they'd just started getting along. So yeah, destroying that relationship when it was just starting? Not high on his list of shit to do. Just like he didn't want to mess things up with Mathias either. He didn't want to be fighting with anyone. "Marquette isn't as quiet as it looks."

Mathias had actually reached the point where he would have told Dorian what had gone down, but he'd also promised Caleb that he would keep silent on the subject of his using blood magic and there really was no way to get into what had happened without broaching that subject - not without lying anyway. So, he'd back Caleb on whatever tack he wanted to take - as they'd agreed last night. He would have done the same for Dorian - and until they walked through that front door, he'd have said that Dorian knew that. Now he wasn't convinced. But there was no easy way out of this. Either he betrayed Dorian's trust. Or he betrayed Caleb's. And Dorian wasn't the one who currently felt there was nobody he could depend on in this world and so that was the clincher - he'd just have to hope that Dorian would understand once he'd calmed down. "Nowhere's as quiet as it looks," he added, his voice soft.

Considering the fact that Dorian had been looking directly into Caleb's eyes, he couldn't have missed the glance towards Mathias. It said everything, but he said nothing. If they wanted to be like that, fine. Nice to know how much his brother's really trusted him. Dorian rose to his feet, a bit more wobbly than he would have preferred, but then an entire bottle would do that. "Course it's not," he said, not looking at either of them. "Why the fuck would I be here if it was?" But being here? In this room? No longer a good idea. He needed to get out, away from them, and away from the stupid fucking house that needed more upkeep than he was willing to give at the moment. Dorian headed for the door, not sure what else there was to say.

Caleb frowned, and looked at Dorian leaving. "Dorian...don't...look I'll fuck off for a while or something, but for one you've been drinking, and just...it's your house." he said, really hating this. "I don't know what you want here, what'll make you happy here?" he really didn't want him to go like that, leaving things this shitty. That was bad. Massively, massively bad.

"Why would you be here?" Mathias asked. "Because you have a business and a life and a home. And you don't need shit coming down on you for that. In fact just the opposite." He wondered if Dorian had actually wanted an answer to that question. He looked over at Caleb. "Neither of you are going anywhere. This is Dorian's house. And yours. I'm the one that caused all of this. I'll go." He paused. "I'll let you know where I am when I'm settled." He looked from one brother to the other, and then turned on his heel and walked out of the back door.

"Huh?" Dorian said, spinning and almost toppling over in the process, though his attention was more on Mathias and the fact that he'd just disappeared out the backdoor. He followed, hot on his heels, unsteady as he was. "That's not what I said," Dorian said, once outside as well. Was it? It wasn't what he meant, that was for sure. "Stay here. I wouldn't want to be here, even if I was alone. Ya'll go, and I'll still leave. I wasn't asking you to go somewhere else." How had he miscommunicated that? And why was it both his brothers wanted to move out the second things got bad. He really should let them go, but with Mathias he didn't really believe he'd see him again. Once he was gone, he was... gone.

Mathias stopped and turned around. "Dorian, it's fine. But you have four people living in a house meant for two." And you've been on my back and ready to think the very worse of me from the moment I hit town. "I just think that, maybe, we all need a bit of space. Last in, first out. And you're right, Caleb's your responsibility. And you've always been so much better at that than I could ever be. I'll call when I know where I'm going to be."

Caleb had followed his brothers out as well, really not wanting Mathias to leave, because he didn't want him to drop off the face of the planet again. He was just getting to know him and if he took off now, that would stop. "You're not..." he started, looking down and away. "You're not leaving town...are you?" he asked, looking up again. He wasn't even bothering to try to hide how much that idea threw him right then. No, playing like it didn't bother him would have defeated the purpose. It did bother him. A lot.

Mathias' eyes ticked over to Caleb. "No, I'm not leaving town," he said with a shrug. "I'll find somewhere else to stay." Probably a motel for now whilst he sorted things out. He hated motels, but he didn't know anyone else in town well enough to impose yet.

Dorian wanted to shout that he didn't want the responsibility, but he wouldn't do that. Certainly not with Caleb there. The real issue was he wouldn't see Mathias again, cause he was sure Caleb would. In fact, Caleb was likely the only reason Mathias was staying. "I don't want you to leave," Dorian said, frustrated that it had ever been construed that way. Unfortunately, if Mathias had decided he was going, Dorian really couldn't stop him. Using force wouldn't help a thing.

"No?" Mathias asked, raising an eyebrow. "At least you could be sure I wasn't going to destroy your house. Look, Dorian - face it, you haven't really wanted me here anyway. You've been hovering as if I was going to bring fire and brimstone down on the lot of us since the moment I arrived. So, it's best I go. Maybe if we take a step back and aren't falling over each other every day, we can work this out. Right now, I'm feeling like an intruder in your life. I never meant that to happen.

"What fucking life?" Dorian shouted, then shut his mouth, even if it wasn't for the neighbor's sake. He wasn't going to get into that. It wasn't Mathias' problem and it wasn't Caleb's problem, and they didn't need to hear about it. And the thing was, he'd been fine with Mathias' arrival until it was uncovered that he and Tensiel had issues. And even then, he'd gotten over it. Apparently nothing in between mattered. Dorian ran his fingers through his hair, sighing in frustration. "If you wanna go, go, but don't go because of me."

Caleb sat down on the steps, and eyed them both. "What do you mean, what life?" Caleb asked. His voice was quiet, which was strange in light of all the arguing going on. He sort of thought it was important.

Mathias looked over at Caleb, then back at Dorian, the expression on his face silently echoing the question. He didn't say anything, right now, there was nothing he could add. He'd been feeling for a while that he was slightly less than welcome in his brother's house, but he'd been ignoring it, putting it down to the stress of having so much going on, so many people under one roof. His brother's attitude each time they'd met had been at worst hostile and at best merely defensive and the total picture was that Mathias felt like an intruder. None of which he could express right now, because it wasn't what they were talking about.

Dorian closed his eyes for a second, wondering if he could just sink into the pavement. Why wasn't that a choice? "It's not your problem," he said, addressing both of them. He couldn't expect them to understand, not with Caleb's age and Mathias'... different take on life. He could never see either of them getting themselves into his position in the first place. And there was just too much to cover, nowhere to start. "I'm just tired. And stressed. Over something that has nothing to do with either of you."

"So it's not our problem. Oh well. Obviously it's bothering you. So...whatever. Talk." Caleb said. He and Mathias had, and it hadn't really been the most pleasant conversation, but it was important. Very important. Maybe if Dorian opened up, they'd both know him better.

"Caleb, if your brother doesn't want to talk, that's his right," Mathias said. "If he wants to, that's a different matter, but we all have the right to say when the others don't get to know stuff. I'm sure Dorian would say - if it was something either we needed to know, or he needed to discuss with us. Right, Dorian?" he added, turning to his other brother. "But only you can make that choice, bro."

Dorian opened his mouth to answer Caleb, then shut it again, listening to Mathias. It wasn't something they needed to know or discuss. It was just something eating away at him that, really, they couldn't do anything about. And after their mutual lack of information telling before? Dorian didn't exactly feel up to pouring his life out on the table to be poked and prodded at. "It's nothing," he said, head starting to pound. "Don't worry about it."

Caleb just stared at Dorian for a minute. "I'm supposed to get to know you how?" he asked, then shook his head, turned, got up, and went back into the house. He shut the door behind him, and went to his room, shutting and locking that too. Then he flopped onto his bed, and decided he wasn't thinking about this anymore right now. Mathias had said he wasn't leaving town, and...whatever.

Which, or course, left Mathias and Dorian alone in the back yard. Mathias didn't say anything for a moment, then shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry - i didn't mean for all this to happen," he offered.

Dorian watched Caleb go, cussing softly under his breath as the door shut behind him. That wasn't what he wanted, but none of this was. Looking up at Mathias, he was quiet for a moment, then shook his head. "I know. It's just the way things work lately," he said, more disappointed in himself than the two of them now. Maybe he had been wrong. If he was, he'd be lucky if they were even willing to be around him. "Just don't leave, okay?" And now he meant town, not his house, cause he was pretty sure he'd lost that battle.

"Told you - don't intend to. But I think you should go back inside and play parent," Mathias suggested. He didn't envy Dorian that role. He knew he got to roll into town and just be the older brother. Dorian actually had to be the parent, which meant that he had to be responsible and put down rules and all the shitty stuff that Mathias had never been any good at. Which was why Dorian would be doing a better job than he could ever do. "I'll call," he promised.

Dorian sighed, just the notion of going in and falling into that roll seeming impossible a the moment. For one, a responsible parent wouldn't be suffering from a hangover. "Okay," he finally said, "I'll be here." He almost followed up with 'if you need me', but... Mathias didn't need him. Frankly, neither did Caleb. If anything, this would have been a perfect point for Mathias to stay and for Dorian to camp out elsewhere. Anywhere. Eury's or the basement in the shop. The last place he wanted to be was inside his own house, yet that was where he headed off to.

"Course," Mathias agreed, hefting the bag he was still carrying a little, before starting out across the lawn to the side gate, trying to figure out where the hell he was actually going to go.

Maybe Dorian wouldn't play the parent, but he would check on his brother. Once inside, he headed back to Caleb's room, taking his time at getting there. He didn't expect this to go over very well, but he didn't want to be accused of not trying. Dorian knocked on Caleb's door and waited, not even trying to handle. In this case, he'd be impressed if he got an answer at all. And damn did his head hurt.

Caleb looked over and glared at the door. "What?" he asked. He didn't want to talk to anyone, and he didn't think he had anything constructive to say. Sort of at all right now.

Dorian slid down the wall and just sat beside the door, closing his eyes as he leaned his head against the door frame. "Can we talk?" he asked, already guessing the answer. Unfortunately for Caleb, Dorian wasn't going anywhere. Course, he could always climb out his window.

Caleb half wondered if Dorian was just going to flip the lock with his tk. Since it was just occurring to him now that he could probably do that. "Why? You apparently don't want to talk. Nothing's my problem or business, so what's there to say?"

There was a line there and Dorian didn't want to cross it, though Caleb probably didn't know it. Flipping the lock would be an invasion of his privacy, whether he did it with telekinesis or with a lock pick. He'd been shut out and he wasn't going to force his way in. He was just going to sit outside the door and wait. "Depends," Dorian said, eyes opening to look up at the ceiling. "Plenty, I guess, if you wanna listen. Math didn't want to. Or doesn't want to. Whatever. I'm not gonna put that out there for him when he doesn't really wanna hear it."

Caleb frowned, confused. "What do you mean, Math didn't want to listen?" he asked, half sitting up. He stared at the door. "Didn't want to listen to what?" he asked, utterly confused by that.

"It's not something he needs to know," Dorian said, brain falling back on Mathias' words, the way he'd defined what Dorian should speak up on or not. "Doesn't mean he wants to. It's got nothing to do with him. And nothing to do with you, but..." But it had to do with him, and they were his brothers. He didn't know if that meant anything or not. Sometimes it did, sometimes it didn't.

"You know, Dorian, maybe that's your problem. You run off of a need to know basis, and y'know, really? No one needs to know shit. So if you're not going to give anything, then fine. That's up to you. But don't expect anything back, either. Maybe he would want to know. I think he was just giving you a fucking out, not telling you he didn't want to hear shit." Caleb said. What the fuck, did Dorian take everything personally that was said at all?

Dorian would have liked to point out that Caleb was the same way, that he wasn't going to volunteer anything unless Dorian prodded him for it. They still didn't know shit about each other, probably because they were both waiting on the other to volunteer something they'd rather not say. "Maybe it is my problem. But with Math? It's based on a lifetime of him being there for me when it's convenient for him. My problems aren't anything he wants to hear about. I was under the impression that you might be willing to listen."

"You might be under that impression because I just asked you. And you told me that I didn't need to know. Taking that back now?" Caleb asked. He rather hoped he was, because he didn't know what the fuck Dorian was talking about now, and he felt like he was missing a huge piece of the picture with everything. Mathias he understood sort of now. In a way, anyhow, and Dorian was just confusing the hell out of him. Hopefully, if Dorian did talk, it would clear things up.

"Yes," Dorian said, annoyed he'd have to say so, but 'yes' anyways. Was it fair that he thought Caleb was interested when Mathias was not? Probably not. It was just the impression he had. If he was wrong then... well, then he'd been wrong about it for a long time.

Caleb got up, stalked across his room, flipped the lock and opened the door. "Then talk." he said, going back to drop onto his bed again. He crossed his arms and glared up at the ceiling--but he was listening.

Well, at least he'd opened the door. It was considerably better than talking through the wall. But where to start? Dorian's eyes rolled up and he sighed. "I don't know what I'm doing," he said. "I don't want to unload on you, but I don't have a fucking clue what I'm doing. You see everyone else in life do it like it's simple. Go to college, get a job, go to work. And work. I don't know how to avoid it cause... cause you have to pay for things. And it's never gonna stop. But if it keeps up like this, I won't make it to the end of the year." Because he'd go insane first. Cooped up inside, every day, looking at the books-- that wasn't the way it was supposed to be.

Caleb listened, and half looked over towards the open door. "What's driving you crazy?" he asked. It seemed weird coming from Dorian, but maybe it wasn't. Either way he was listening.

"Working. Sitting. Every day. For hours. Doing nothing," Dorian said, looking down at his hands. "Smiling for the teenage girls who come in to buy magic books, hoping to cast love spells on the boy that's not interested. Or revenge spells on the ones that left them. Stocking books. It's just, being inside, watching the day waste away. I feel like I'm collecting dust."

"What do you want to be doing then?" Caleb asked, frowning more now. Yeah he never would have expected it from Dorian. Dorian was dependable. There, he knew what was going on, he had his shit together. So this was disconcerting.

"I don't know," Dorian said, shaking his head. If he had an answer for that, he'd be pursuing it, chasing it down as fast as he could just to keep his head on straight. Except running wasn't really what he wanted to be doing either, at least not in the literal sense. "I always thought I'd be happy, so long as I was different. I didn't really take into account the details of what that would entail."

"Different than what?" Caleb couldn't quite figure that statement out. He was different, he was a half demon. The rest of the world went on in their own little ways, doing whatever. And even to them he was different because he was doing different things. His shop wasn't exactly your average book store, now was it?

Dorian chewed on that, even though he knew the answer from the beginning. It seemed like shit Caleb didn't need to know, but he said he'd talk, right? As much as Dorian would have liked to pretend he and his older brother were best buds, it was pretty obvious at this point that that wasn't always the case. "Different than Math."

Caleb didn't answer on that one right away. He was still frowning, and milling that over. Different than Mathias. That was what Dorian had decided to base his lifestyle off of? Just something that wasn't Math's life? Seemed...ridiculous to him, but then again he didn't want to be like either of his brothers either. "A lot of things are different than Math." he said eventually. "That's why you settled down and all that though? Really just to be different from Mathias?"

"Seemed reasonable," Dorian shrugged. "It made sense when I left for college. Math had dropped out, so I'd stay in. I'd make something of myself. I can't live out of my car anyways. So I went with a subject I enjoy, but what are you supposed to do with something like that? I couldn't teach it. That'd be worse than what I'm doing now. And I thought, if it's my own store, I can make my own hours. But I can't afford to hire anyone else but Harper, and I can't afford to work her overtime. So... it's just me. And I have to work to pay off the house, which seemed like a better investment than an apartment, but I didn't take into account maintenance and all the other shit that comes with it. I don't even own a lawn mower. Suddenly, living out of my car would be so much more simple."

"So you based your life on being different than Mathias, and you're pissed because real life is more expensive than you thought?" Caleb asked. "Is that what it boils down to?" He sounded confused on it, because that's defintiely what he was. He was trying to make sense of it in his head but he was sure he was still missing stuff.

"Not just expensive," Dorian said, feeling like there was still something missing from that. "Boring. Time consuming. I used to have time to hang out with people. To go... do stuff. Now I feel like I leave work, go to the grocery store, come home and cook dinner. I feel domesticated, and not in a good way. Like a trained dog, maybe, set on repeat. I used to have some excitement in my life. Now the most exciting thing I have to look forward to is that I might fry some chicken tonight-- truly exciting," he said, rolling his eyes. Unfortunately, he wasn't going to do anything with chicken that had been left on the counter for more than twelve hours.

"What do you want to be doing then?" Caleb asked. "It's not like you can't change it up and do that. You're your own fucking boss, it's not like you can't do other shit. You sound like you've given up before you even thought of alternatives."

"Not true," Dorian said, looking over at Caleb. "I've been thinking. I still am thinking. I just haven't come up with anything. If I could find another job I liked, I could manage the bookstore and hire another employee. They'd work full-time, and I'd just put in an hour or two a day to maintain a presence. It's just finding something else that's hard. I don't even know what I'm looking for, just something that's not... inside."

"Not inside. Right." Caleb said. "I dunno. Look around. I don't know much about what it would entail, but I could maybe work at the bookstore sometimes, if it helps. It's not like I've got a job, or anything. I'm pretty sure it's not brain surgery, so..."

Dorian smiled. He hadn't been looking for Caleb to help him, but just the offer was... far more than he would have expected. "You'll start school soon and I work mornings, but if you'd keep me company on Wednesday afternoons, it might keep me sane. It's that twelve hour shift mid-week that kills me."

"Don't trust me to do it myself?" Caleb asked. It was a curious question, however, not pointed. He really was just wondering. Mostly it seemed to defeat the purpose if Dorian was still around when he went it. It was meant to give him time to do...whatever else he wanted to do.

"Yes, I do," Dorian said, laughing softly. "It's not rocket science. I just figured you'd be bored there alone, but if you could work from when you get out of school till close, I'd appreciate it." A lot. More than he could appropriately communicate. If the money was coming back into their family, it wasn't the same as hiring someone from the outside. He had to give Caleb some spending money anyways, so this was workable.

"Alright then, that works." Caleb said, shrugging. "I'll do that then." He'd have to go in probably next Wednesday and figure shit out, but he could do that. Then go in if Dor had other stuff to do or the other person or whatever. He'd be bored, but oh well. Maybe he could convince people to go visit him. He didn't think he'd have to twist people's arms too hard.

It wasn't the solution to all his problems, but it made him feel better, just knowing there was someone around who was willing to help out. And he wouldn't have to dread Wednesdays as if they were built to suck the life out of him, because that's what it felt like they did. "Thanks," he said, then took a deep breath. He needed to get this out, even if it was hard. He couldn't just ignore the argument they'd had earlier. "I'm sorry. About everything. Especially this morning."

Caleb was a little surprised at that. "It's okay." he answered. "Next time maybe just...don't jump down everyone's throats the second they walk in the door." he suggested.

Generally, an apology didn't work if it was followed up with a defense, which left Dorain with little to say on that. He still felt he was right in reaction, except for the part in which they told him he was wrong. It was unsettling. "I'm not used to my instincts being so... wrong," he said, shaking his head a little, disappointed in himself.

Caleb thought about that. He sort of wished he could tell Dorian what went down, but he still didn't trust that he wouldn't fly off the handle. This morning kind of proved that to him, so...no. "I just don't know why you couldn't have done whatever, then talked to us when we got back. What was with the drinking and the...whatever you did to your hand?"

Dorian had honestly thought that he'd gotten to the point where he could talk to them by the time they arrived. He didn't feel like pointing out that he'd been much, much worse earlier that night, though the signs of that were his hangover and his hand. Caleb wasn't blind. "Fought the punching bag in the garage," he said, as that was what eventually had his hand torn up. He'd been out there for hours, trying to work off steam. "I don't know. I guess it's that-- that I'm trying to give you some kind of stability. I'm not a parent, but I'm your guardian and, and Math completely undermines that. Like, you don't need to be staying out all night. But because he's your brother, I don't even have a say. I probably would have said yes, but he didn't ask, Caleb. And I don't know if this makes sense, but you're in more danger with him, even while you're safer with him. It wouldn't have bothered me so much, except for the part where he purposefully didn't tell me. It gave me a reason to worry about it."

"It's summer vacation." Caleb pointed out. "Why can't I be out? I've never even been out all night before, you thought I was the once, but I hadn't been, you just didn't know I'd come back. And...look, I know you're trying and all that, but...I haven't had active parenting in ages, Dor. The parents? Not like they were enforcing any kinds of rules, or punishing me, or even putting out expectations. And even if they did? I doubt they would have done anything about it if I broke them, being they'd have to have noticed in the first place. I'm not really used to having anything like that. I'm not out partying all night, I go for walks n shit, but it's not like I'm a total delinquent. The cops haven't called you, or brought me home. I'm not...I'm not causing a lot of trouble, as far as I can see. So I'm not sure why you're being so...however you're being. I guess it seems like you're stressing yourself out of shit I'm not even doing. And with Math...I'm not like, five years old where you'd have to worry about him really fucking up. I can think and act for myself. I'm not a little kid anymore." Maybe that was part of it. Maybe Dorian didn't really realize he wasn't the kid he'd been when Dor had left home.

Dorian nodded, eyes distant. Maybe that was the problem, that Caleb didn't need a parental figure at all, because he'd never really had one. He wasn't a bad kid and Dorian had never thought he was. He just felt... responsible for him. If he got hurt, even while Dorian wasn't there, it would have been his fault for not protecting him. Caleb didn't have anything going for him, nothing extra at least, and the thought of him wandering alone at night, in a city like Marquette, wasn't safe. "Do you carry anything... like, a knife, or... something?" he asked. Not that a knife would really fight off a vampire, but Caleb had seemed to have managed that on his own anyways.

"Yeah, I've got a pocket knife, and I have a good lighter." Caleb said. Not that he was going to be randomly setting things on fire, but it was useful. For things like getting splinters out of girl's feet. "Any suggestions on what else I could carry?"

"No," he said, shaking his head a little. That was really all he could suggest to Caleb, even if he himself did more than that. He wasn't going to recommend his little brother carry a gun, though he should probably tell him, since they were living together. He'd been careful not to leave it out on the counter, but... things never stayed secrets forever. "I carry a gun, but that's not a suggestion. I just... thought you should know."

"Really?" Caleb asked, surprised. "Never would have thought that. When did you start doing that?" he asked. Seemed like something he might have noticed by now, but obviously not. Dorian was apparently very good at concealment.

Dorian reached back behind him, pulling out what appeared to be nothing, then materialized into a gun. Sometimes he wore an ankle-holdster, but it really depended on the day. Glamour pretty much hid it anywhere he put it. "Sixteen. Seventeen, maybe. It was after things started to go haywire for me," he said, remembering how bad things had seemed. It was nice to float things, but not when he'd had so little control over them.

"Ever had to use it?" Caleb asked. A gun seemed a little extreme to him but then again, he'd never had one. And maybe if he did, he wouldn't be quite so fucked up as he was, but whatever. He didn't think a firearm would really make him feel any better. Plus the not knowing how to get one and all really put a damper on that sort of thing.

"Yeah," Dorian said softly. "I wouldn't have to now, but I'm just used to carrying it. Guess it's like my security blanket. When all else fails, you know?" If he were to exhaust himself with his tk, it was always something he could fall back on, even if it would take a small war to get him there. Dorian didn't like the idea of feeling helpless, but he didn't have Mathias' physical perks. At sixteen, running away had been a bit more difficult.

"Yeah." Caleb answered. He did know about that whole 'just in case' clause. "Huh. Interesting. Never would have figured you for a gun person." he finished.

Dorian gave a small laugh before the gun disappeared in his hand again, glamoured up and gone from sight once he put it back away. "Does that change anything?" he asked, worried. He never knew how Caleb saw him, but that couldn't have helped. The truth always seemed to hurt.

"Huh?" Caleb asked. "OH, no. It doesn't." he said. "Just more information than I had before." he clarified. "That's all. I just didn't picture you like that, but now I know different. Doesn't mean it's a bad thing or anything."

"Okay... good," Dorian said. He was willing to bet that everything that had happened this morning was changing the picture of him, but not in a positive light. This couldn't have made things much worse. After all, he'd already been drunken and careless and an absolute idiot. At least every other day was a bit better. There was something positive to counter with.

Caleb was quietly contemplative for a few moments. "So...everything okay then?" he asked. Sort of half asking if they were all good, and half if the situation in general was.

"I think. I don't know. He left," Dorian said. He couldn't really tell if Caleb knew him better, or just thought he was out of his mind. Wednesdays were definitely better, but the whole problem and all... he didn't know what to do about yet. And then there was the house. Damn house. None of that seemed to compare to the fact that Mathias had left, though.

"He said he was sticking around town though." Caleb pointed out. "And said he'd call to say where he was. Maybe you should go talk to him or something." he suggested. "Or try to or something. Can't make it any worse, right?"

"I hope not," Dorian said, realizing he'd have to say something to his older brother, though certainly not what he'd said to Caleb. He didn't know how to explain things, but he'd made a mistake and Mathias shouldn't have left. He really didn't want him to leave in the first place. "What do I say?" he asked, looking up at Caleb. It should have been simple, but it was Mathias. His older brother always made him feel eleven years old again, unsure and completely illogical. For some reason, their ideas of common sense never seemed to match up.

Caleb thought about it for a minute, then answered. "Just go talk to him. Tell him the truth, and I dunno, listen to what he's got to say. The conversation we had last night I'm pretty sure wasn't easy for him, but he listened. I never got the impression that he wasn't taking in everything I had to say."

It was funny, taking advice from Caleb. Dorian obviously needed it, even if he couldn't understand how his little brother ended up so much more wise than he was, at least concerning Mathias. Maybe even more. It was like his head came unscrewed when he moved to Marquette. "Okay. I guess I can do that. Just... don't tell him why I'm here?" he asked of Caleb. "I mean, I'd rather he didn't know why... why I took the path I did."

"No problem." Caleb said. Yeah, he could definitely do that. Somehow, he thought about it, and figured that the three of them were probably going to wind up keeping a lot of secrets for each other and from each other in the course of their lives. But...well, that was alright by him.

"Thanks," Dorian said, climbing to his feet. He stood in Caleb's doorway for a minute, before thinking of something else, and he smiled a little. "Hey, will you do me one more favor?" he asked. "I'm skipping out on work tomorrow, but since I did that today, I really shouldn't just leave it closed. Would you mind covering for me tomorrow morning? At the shop?"

Caleb blinked, then shrugged. "Sure...what time?" he asked. "And...er...keys?"

"It's supposed to open at nine, but any time before noon would probably be nice," he laughed. "You're doing me a favor. I'm not gonna be picky. Hell, I'd just leave it, but I did that this morning so-- I'll leave the keys on the kitchen counter."

"Okay, sounds good." Caleb said. He wasn't sure how he'd do, but it couldn't be that hard. So yeah, he'd just see how that worked out for him. Could be interesting. And possibly terminally boring, but whatever. He'd try. Least he'd have something to read.