securing a favor

who: caleb and nic
where: nic's house
when: evening

Caleb hadn't gotten a hell of a lot of sleep in the past day or so. He crashed out for a while, but not long, and then was back to trying to figure out how to ensure things went well with Leija at the psych ward. Which brought him to talking to Nic. Who had at least brought him his car back, something that amused him when he got her note. He was satisfied Math was holding up his end of things with the note he had left, so next up--Nic. And Nic's mom. Right. Fuck. He still didn't know how the fuck he was going to pull this off. But, he was going to be giving it a shot, at any rate.

He hadn't caught Nic yesterday since she'd ditched, so he was catching her today. Which meant he took his running better than before car, and tracked her down at her house. Apparently she had weird shit to talk to him about too...so it was bound to be an interesting conversation. This time he actually used the front door, not something he'd done a lot of in his time being friends with the girl. Knocking, he stood back, thinking that hopefully tomorrow morning, Leija could get in. That'd be good, right? In theory, it was.

Fresh from her post-school shift at Ash's, Nic hadn't bothered to change out of the work clothes she'd taken to packing with her school stuff yet. Hell, she hadn't even bothered to catch a shower yet, not with the fact that once again there was a mess from the damned poltergeist to clean up. They were running out of plates and glasses, and with how early her mother had to leave for work that morning, Nic had saved her the headache and promised to clean up herself.

Even though her mom had gotten home first that day, Nic was still busy sweeping up glass and sopping up water from the faucets that had decided to turn themselves on the night prior. Emily had been napping for a bit now, and Nic figured that she'd wake her mom once the cleaning was done and she'd tossed a frozen pizza in the oven. The knock at the door had her worrying she'd be beaten to the punch, making Nic toss down a dishrag and scurry to answer with a scowl on her face. She was wiping one cheek with her sleeve as she tugged the door open, the scowl melting to a surprised smile at the sight of Caleb. "What, you lost?" she greeted, "Or is my window frozen shut?"

He arched a brow at her and his head tilted slightly to the side as he regarded her. "You busy fighting in the trenches or something?" he asked. "And no...I just figured since I kind of want to talk to your mother at some point here that it'd be most acceptable that I actually come through the front door like a normal person and she isn't so aware that I usually just hit up your bedroom window."

The perplexed look Caleb shot her way was enough to make Nic grin wider; she was rarely as pleased as when she caught notice for looking decidedly non-feminine. "Fighting's one word for it, yeah," she confirmed, stepping back to let him in, "Cleaning is another. Just got in from the shop and our place is a fucking disaster area, stupid fucking pol--" Nic had nearly been about to launch into her ghost problems when her brain processed the second part of Caleb's greeting. "Wait, what? You want to talk to my mom? What, uh... what's going on?" she asked uncertainly, frowning in concern. It was most definitely an odd request from the guy who'd only met her mother before because he'd had little choice in the matter.

Caleb stepped in and was listening to what she was getting into, while telling himself he wasn't really allowed to just pull her in and kiss her. Not at the moment, not with what he was going to be talking to her about. Talk about awkward. But the urge was there, that strong pull that he had with her in the first place. And maybe he was missing her in general, because he hadn't spent a whole lot of time with her lately. Or, not as much as he would have liked. He shut the front door behind himself to shut out the cold, and leaned back against the wall for a moment, crouching to untie his boots. "A lot." he said. "What's going on with you? You were mid-word." he pointed out, quite well aware of the fact that he was Avoiding, but he couldn't help it. It was in his nature.

"I was," Nic agreed as she shut the door, turning towards the kitchen and undoing the buttons of her work shirt as she walked, "But whatever, it's shit that'll sidetrack, and it's not like, time-sensitive or anything." She peeled off the grungy shirt and tossed it errantly onto the sofa, stripped down to an a-shirt as Nic dug a hand into the laundry basket sitting on the sofa. The laundry room was just past the kitchen, but with everything at night? Nic didn't want to chance the washer going insane next and ruining her clothes. "So c'mon, you're looking to chill with my mom?" she pressed, producing a t-shirt and flipping it around to reveal a Rollins Band logo.

Caleb, after ditching his coat followed her, and had to take a moment to just appreciate Nic ditching shirts around him. It was purely a blatantly hormonal driven perk there, but he gave himself the moment to do that. Which made it harder not to do that kissing her thing. You're here for a reason, and it's fucking serious, Lockwood, kick shit back into proper gear. he told himself. Which did sober him down again. "Yeah, I..." he exhaled and shook his head, dragging his fingers through his hair. "I need a favor from her. Which I'm not at all sure how I'm going to pay back, but I promise I will." he said. "I told you about Leija, yeah?" He knew he had, even if it hadn't maybe been in full detail. But he'd told her a lot.

She couldn't see him for a moment there as Nic pulled her shirt down and on, and even that brief moment was enough to try and reaffirm her own thoughts lately. THe lines were there, and she'd make sure they held. Which, if he was here on serious business, would be a lot easier to do. And she knew it was serious when Leija's name got mentioned; Caleb had sorted his thoughts on her with Nic before, and she knew there was probably a lot more that he hadn't aired. "Yeah," she agreed, tucking her arms in and tugging the shirt on fully, "You told me some of the shit going on..." None of which was anything her mother could help with, but Nic had a hunch he'd get to that. "You, um, want a soda or anything?"

Caleb shook his head. "No, thanks." he said. He paused, trying to think of a way to put it, and finally decided fuck it. He'd never been any good at sugarcoating anything in his entire fucking life, why the hell did he want to start now? He'd just tell it like it was. "I saw her the other night when I was out for a walk, and she...long story short, she's massively suicidal right now, and I need to get her checked into the psych ward. Problem is she's got..." he glanced away, then back to Nic. "Special kinds of needs. Like occasionally, she's going to have to leave for a little bit. And she can't exactly sign herself out when she needs to."

Whatever flutter of anxiety Nic had felt over hearing him say he'd run into his ex died near-instantly. It was stupid to feel it in the first place, and she felt guilty for her relief as it died. "Suicidal?" Nic muttered, "Jesus, dude. Yeah, she needs to get checked in fast. But, uh..." She frowned in consternation, plainly catching Caleb's uncertainty in his wording and the jump of his gaze. "What kind of special needs? Because, like, if her folks checked her in? They could check her out too. But I'm guessing they aren't checking her in? And... that's where my mom comes in somehow?"

"It's complicated." Caleb said. "She's only got her dad for one, her mom punched her own ticket a long time ago. She's got...let's call it a calling. Higher purpose, as it were. And she can't ignore it. So it's not something she can arrange, really. I've got Math working on getting Lisa to cover for her, I want a second contact point, just to be sure. So if Lisa isn't on shift, and someone notices she's missing, or whatever, they can call your mom and she can say Leija's with her for...whatever fill in the blank reason. I know it's a lot to ask. I just don't know how else to get her help."

The problem with reading vagaries about the dark side of the world was that it encouraged guessing, and right now Nic wanted to guess what a 'higher purpose' might be. But blurting out questions for her own benefit during a serious moment wasn't a good plan, so she just added it to the mental list of things Caleb would have to explain some day. "No, no I get that," Nic agreed, nodding a little and frowning down the hall towards her mother's bedroom door, "But yeah, it's a pretty tall order. That's like some 'lose your job' shit, y'know?" She sighed, nodding for him to follow as Nic moved into the kitchen. With the cabinets shut, it looked just as sane as it had the last time he'd been here. Pulling herself a soda, Nic moved to sit at the little table they had out there, figuring they'd run less of a risk of prematurely waking her mother out here. "Honestly? I think around now's the best time you could have to ask her, if it's possible at all."

He followed, and leaned against the counter across from her as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Yeah? That's...probably a good thing. I realize that this could in fact mean she will decide she never wants you anywhere near me ever again." he added. "I just...fuck. Honestly? I know you know she fucked with my head. That I really just...couldn't handle her and shit, and she was kind of crazyish, but the other night?" He shook his head and glanced away again for a long moment. Then he looked back at Nic and met her eyes. "I've never seen that before. That honest to fucking christ crazy falling from someone's lips. She did it though, jesus, some of the shit she said...and it was that fucked up thing where you know they don't see it. Where she said all of this shit to me, and nowhere in there did she even for a second see that what she was saying was so far off the fucking reservation that it was going need a new map and a phrase book to get by." He sounded like he looked--disturbed. It was still bothering him on a deep level.

The sight of Caleb, so upset by this, disturbed Nic all on its' own. He was unfazable as far as she'd seen, or largely so. Sure, he had his twitches and things he didn't talk about, but there he was, spilling it and letting it shake him. In a weird way, she appreciated it all; how he was pressing to try and help this girl despite how deeply she'd scarred him with whatever had been said. It wasn't something she could tell Caleb, no way in hell, but it was something she considered privately for a moment before rising from her seat, leaving her soda behind. "I'm not naysaying," she clarified as she took a few steps over, "But if it's as bad as you're making it sound... do you think there's still help for her? If she's totally unaware of how bad it is, is anything going to actually get through?" She didn't get too close, despite her urge to give Caleb a squeeze, he looked like he needed one. But Nic held back, fingers fidgeting against each other. "Because I know you're worried for her? But seriously Caleb, I'm worried for you. And some of the stories my mom's told me... there's no helping some people. Some of them won't let you."

When he spoke again, his voice was quieter than it had been. He resisted the urge to reach out and pull her closer, still aware that the subject matter was kind of fucked. Especially with their specific circumstances. "I don't know. Which is why I want her to get checked in. I know I can't help her. Not on my own. I think--scratch that, I know if she had her way, she'd want me to. For me to just...I don't know. Pick her back up and everything, but I know I'm not capable of that. I can't be what she wants me to be. I can be there, and I can do what I can, but I can't be the center of her world. Which...is kind of the impression I got from her. That I might still be, or she wants me to be, or fuck, I don't know." he was looking away again, reaching up to again drag his fingers through his hair, something he tended to do when he was agitated. It was a gesture like Math's chain smoking when he was, something that was mainly unconscious in nature. "Even if there isn't any help for her, I have to try to get her some." he said finally, after a few moments of silence. "I can't just...walk away and hope she gets over it and doesn't slit her wrists in the bathtub tomorrow." And he couldn't help but wonder if she'd write his name down in her own blood somewhere, just to twist the knife. A final little 'fuck you, you left me'. Yeah that was just mental imagery he didn't need, and he looked down and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment.

Yeah, this was bugging the fuck out of Nic just by witnessing it. She'd never met Leija, but to see Caleb so fucked up by the situation was freaky on its' own. He wanted, no, needed to help her, and just the hints of instability beneath that need were all Nic wanted to see. She took in every word, pinning them in her mind. He wouldn't abandon people no matter the damage they caused, and Nic couldn't abandon someone making that Herculean effort. She didn't know why, it just seemed to go against some inner grain. So she stepped in close, reaching up to smooth Caleb's hair down gently. "We'll get my mom to help," Nic promised in a soft but steady voice, "Even if I have to punch her in the tit or something." With his eyes closed, Caleb couldn't see the momentary twist of a smile on Nic's lips, but it was there as she leaned forward to rest her head on his collarbone. "Now toe the damn line with me and give me a squeeze," she murmured into his chest, slipping her arms between Caleb and the wall to hug tentatively.

He drew in a deep breath, then did as she demanded, sliding his arms around her and shifting slightly to pull her in close. That eased some little thread of worry in the back of his mind. That Nic wasn't going to take things well or he was going to have to scramble to Explain. But really she didn't seem to be needing that or even asking for it. Not yet, anyways, and he appreciated that quite a hell of a lot. That and the idea that she'd help him convince her mom to help, when really, she could get her ass fired for something that serious. People didn't do a lot of fucking around with medical records and such. He turned his face in towards her neck, and remained there for a few long moments, not saying anything.

Whatever her misigivings were? She'd help. The distress that this was causing was enough to motivate Nic, and she could only imagine what the source of it was like. From what Caleb had described, it sounded like enough to make most people just bail. So she'd never met Leija, and maybe never would, but Nic was in now if only to keep that shakiness from Caleb's eyes. There wasn't a word from her either for a long moment, her arms tightening around Caleb as her fingers hooked at the fabric of his shirt, just lingering with him there and breathing deep when she felt Caleb angle towards her neck. "You got a cover story?" she eventually murmured, giving one last squeeze before releasing. Staying there much longer would turn tempting, whether it was appropriate or not. "Or should we wait a few more before I go wake my mom up?"

He didn't really want to let her go just yet, even if he did ease up. There was just a slight moment of resistence on his part before he curbed it. Tempting, yes. At the moment he would have liked to have given himself a minute or so of something distracting. Like pulling her in for a kiss or several. It was somethign he almost desperately wanted to do, but didn't, deciding it would be kind of a whole lot of unfair. "A cover story for what? I don't think there's much of one. About all we can do is say that there are special circumstances that can't be explained and can't be gone around, unfortunately. Unless you can come up with something that sounds good. I'm at a loss at the moment, I'll admit."

It was good that he hadn't pressed in, really. Nic was trying to resist temptation, but it was so much easier if nothing actually started between them. She took another step back, the wistful look in her eyes plainly saying she didn't want to for a moment before Nic shook her head at him. "Fuck it," she said plainly, "I just didn't want to screw anything up if you had one in mind. But my mom... she's sorta cluing into things, y'know? Working around ghosts all day helps. She's listening, at least, and shit here's been weird enough that she's not buying easy explanations." Nic was grateful for that, but it didn't surprise her. With all the oddities surrounding Nic herself, her mother had never batted an eye. She just kept her patience and never stopped trying. Must be where I fucking get it from, she mused, smirking Caleb's way. "You know, this might mean you're staying for dinner."

He quirked a half smile. "Right. Because coming over and basically asking for a huge favor that could get your mom fired is great for socialization. Especially considering it's not like she knows me that well and I'm not going small with asking for shit..." It was a good thing he thought Nic's mom generally liked him, so at least he wasn't starting from zero, but still. "Add on top of that I can't actually give her much of a satisfactory answer on why..." He started to reach out towards her, then stopped himself. But that only lasted for another few seconds before he internally said fuck it and he completed the motion. He snagged her wrist and drew her back in closer, very close, even. Close enough that his forehead rested agaisnt hers for a second. "Thank you." he said, voice quiet. Since really, she was going above and beyond in the being amazingly cool about things category.

For a second there, Nic nearly didn't answer. Her breath caught in her throat when Caleb pulled her in, and her forehead bumped against his as she angled to kiss him. Somehow, she stopped herself, her free hand knotting tight on the fabric over Caleb's chest. "Y-you're welcome," she managed after a moment, not trying to withdraw one inch. Her strength had limits, after all. "We're having pizza," Nic went on, gathering her wits gradually, "And if you explain how bad this is? That there's... 'other' shit to it? She'll listen. Don't say you can't explain something, say you don't know." It was simple advice, and as much as Nic hated encouraging lying to her mom here? She knew the woman would want every answer she could get if she was going to help. "I'll back you up, whatever you go for," she promised finally, twisting her wrist from his grasp and claiming Caleb's hand with her own.

He didn't know why, but he liked that tiny little hitch in her voice when she'd first started speaking. He also listened to what she was saying, but at the same time was flat out distracted. He was grateful, for everything, and wanted to show that appreciation. That and there was just something about how she was taking all of this that struck a chord in him somewhere. He also recognized he needed to actually answer her, but in the end didn't. Or, not verbally, anyhow. He reached up with his free hand instead and brushed his fingertips across her cheek then down to her jaw to tilt her face towards his so he could kiss her. He kept it soft, light, or, it was for the moment, anyhow. His intention was to keep it that way, but he wasn't entirely certain how well he'd do there.

There was a war inside Nic in that moment; a giddy exultation over the kiss clashing with dim voices that said she needed to keep this from happening. The problem was that Nic didn't want to. She'd never been a soft kisser, but this? This was effortless, she wasn't even thinking about it, it just happened with the mood of the moment and their soft words that preceded it. Pressing deeper into the kiss for a moment, Nic drank in the contact between them for what felt like not nearly enough time, planting one hand on the wall behind Caleb and forcing herself back with a gasp. "You tempting asshole," she whispered in a rush, eyes lit up and fixed on Caleb as she thumped her other hand against his chest, "It's not fair to give me what I want."

He smiled, just a little, wanting to pull her back in again, and he did, a little, though some of it was his shifting forward into her wake, just a tiny bit. "What if it's what I want too? Then at least it's unfair to both of us." he said, watching her eyes before he pulled her back in to kiss her again. he was aware they'd need to stop, and all that but for the moment it felt nice to have nothing to truly concentrate on but her for a few seconds.

"That doesn't--" she half-protested before Caleb was kissing her again, pulling her back in and forcing her to admit that all her protests weren't genuine. Or they were, but not for reasons Nic cared about much at the moment. This was her downfall when it came to resisting, and she had no problem admitting it. The little step towards her that Caleb had taken was just enough for Nic to press into him harder than she was kissing, pushing him right back into the wall. And while there was heat? It wasn't something she could stoke, not with a vauge plan to wake her mom any time now. So she worked to commit it to memory again, damning her instinct to break off this time. She'd stay put until he broke away or she remembered how to count to ten. Probably the former.

Right. So, he needed to be a little less wrapped up in this, even if he wanted to be. Still, he didn't end it immediately. Really, he kept things as he'd started it, only starting to drift into something harder and a little more desperate right before he knew he had to break off because breathing was still necessary. It was hard to not go with his instincts on things, which would have had him turning them both, pushing her back up against the wall. Considering he still needed to ask her mom for help, getting caught doing that if she woke up on her own wasn't really conducive to the plan. So he managed to curb that instinct, it just took some effort. He didn't actually manage to pull that far away, either, or say, at all, he just managed to stop kissing her, and instead had his lips in against the bruise he'd left on her neck. It was fading again.

Nic had gotten to enjoy the half-formed feeling of pride for her readiness to step back when Caleb broke the kiss, starting to pat herself on the back. She could do this, she could resist. And then he kissed her neck and didn't move, and Nic's pride? Well, it left town. She shivered tangibly against him in anticipation, the hand clenched at his shirt opening enough to dig her nails in slightly. "You're the best kind of bastard," she murmured in a shaky flutter of words, head craning as Nic strived to bite at the very edge of his ear, all she could really manage with him tucked in at her neck like that.

That made him smile too, lips still pressed against her skin. He was good with that. Again, he loved the way her voice sounded like that. He nuzzled against the bruise there, just a little, lightly, almost not there. When she nipped at his ear, he even tilted his head a touch for her, eyes closing for a heartbeat with it and he reached down to put a hand on her hip, to pull her in again, even if it wasn't as if she'd gone far. "It's what you like about me." he murmured back.

His hand was a guide towards things Nic just couldn't let herself enjoy right now, not even if they'd had the time to do so. "Part of it," she corrected for him, drawing her leg up partially to brush against his as Nic smoothed her fingers through Caleb's hair. She smiled glowingly at the wall behind him, twisting and straining to tease his ear once more. Of course this would eventually end, shatter and frustrate her, but once it did? Once her legs weren't unsteady? Well, there was seriousness waiting for both of them.

Caleb slid his hand up from her hip around to her back and up, keeping her where she was. He still wouldn't let himself turn the tables because he wasn't any good at dialing that back once he started things with walls involved. He did graze his teeth against her skin, but didn't actually bite her. "What's the other part?" he asked, thinking that he was going to regret asking, but he couldn't not.

"It takes..." she purred into his ear, nuzzling between words, "... more words than I have right now." It was amazing how something meant to be a simple comfort like her hug could blaze up from the chemistry she felt with him, and Nic knew that was one of the biggest complications they had. She wasn't complaining though. She was sliding her leg along his slightly as she pressed against him, dying to feel his roving hand or a firmer press of his mouth. And at the same time, some part of her held a steady chant of readiness to break away, to deal with the knot of longing that would hit when she did. "Ask me again later," Nic whispered with a nearly inaudible chuckle, biting more firmly at his ear.

That got a shudder out of him, and that was the clearest sign that really, he needed to call a halt now. Even if he really hated that idea. That seemed like such a bad plan, since all that awaited him was talking to Nic's mom and trying to explain things without explaining things for a girl who he wasn't even sure he could help this way. A girl who for all of her own crazy had certainly contributed to his own. But still. He acted without actually thinking it through first which was a problem, really. He needed to keep that thought process option open, but it didn't come into play just then. Instead he just found his hand sliding from her back and hooking her knee to pull it up farther and he did nip at her neck. "How much later?" he asked.

She gasped when his teeth closed, a sharp sound in Caleb's ear that timed with a dig of her nails on his chest. Nic bit her own lip for a hard moment, focusing on the sting to fight the urge to grind into him, since the last thing they needed was to escalate this. Granted, it'd be fun, but she also thought that it'd make talking to her a mom a little awkward. "Any point in time where I'm not about to throw you onto the table," Nic breathed in a rush, "My schedule's open." She gave another low, throaty laugh before biting the lobe of his ear and keeping it held beyond her lips.

He let out a little growl, and nipped again at her neck. "Don't say shit like that to me...especially when you can't deliver on the threat..." he told her, even if he wasn't actually complaining. More, he was giving her the proper heads up that he rather liked that. A lot, even. His hand on her leg tightened a moment, and he really had to debate with himself for a moment the wisdom of oh...everything they were doing at the moment. And of course, the debate of just how much willpower he had going on.

Caleb's willpower wasn't going to be an issue for them, luckily, as Nic had been trying to steel herself for this test. Yes, she'd been proud for dropping off his car without trying to claim his time, she'd been moreso for the reasoned response she'd managed at his request today too. But those had both been tests that didn't involve this heat they conjured between them, and this? Well, this was the real test. So Nic was hoping she'd feel proud later instead of the frustration she already felt as she canted her head back from Caleb's ear. "Okay, how about... you've got ten seconds to do whatever you're feeling before we turn back into responsible people, and I go wake up my mom?" she suggested with a sultry note in her voice, fingers running through his hair again. Really, she should've just broken things off now, but the hints of teeth on her neck were an undeniable tease.

She definitely should have broken things off. And not given him ten seconds. He could do a lot in ten seconds. Like make sure they were both incredibly fucking frustrated. Which, after about half a second of hesitation over just that--he did anyways. Which meant he picked her up and turned them both around to push her back into the wall before he bit at her neck. It wasn't nearly so hard as he would have wanted to, but they were going to be stopping in....eight...seven...six....

Six... five?far too quickly. The twist of their positions, the sudden bite and impact of her back on the wall, they all piled together to make Nic half-growl and half-moan with enjoyment, her hand tightening in Caleb's hair as her nails scratched at his scalp. Even if she hadn't been pinned by him, her own hold said that she had no intention of letting him break the contact. She was floating on the wave of pain-edged pleasure, wanting to lose herself in it even as some traitorous voice in her head managed to keep counting.

Three... two... It was close enough, she could even pretend to pride herself on this later as her head leaned back, her grip on Caleb's hair tugging his head away slightly. "N-nine," she gasped, "You only get nine seconds, Lockwood, now cage that tiger..."

He growled. He'd heard it in her and of course there was the little trip-up in her voice. That tiny bit of a stutter. But he let her go. Set her down, let her go, and then pushed off the wall, walking a few steps away because well, in that moment he needed to if he planned on actually complying with her whole 'okay stop now' thing. He glanced back at her for a moment, after he caught his breath. "You owe me a second." he told her. When he'd collect who knew, but he decided right then and there that he was keeping it in mind.

Nic nearly stepped right back into him if only for support, her legs felt so unsteady in that first moment. Somehow she'd spoken without breathing, and the first necessary breath brought a rush from her scalp to her fingertips as she leaned back into the wall. She grinned widely at Caleb, reaching up to the renewed bite to brush it gently and bit her lip as she savored the ache there. "Redeemable any time," Nic told him softly, "And I pay hellish interest, too. Give it a few days? You'll have like an hour built up." Of course, that was a promise neither of them should indulge in, but she couldn't stop herself from saying so. "So you..." she started, sighing at herself as Nic concentrated to regain her thought process, "...okay, take two. Pizzas in the freezer, sodas in the fridge. Oven's preheated? Throw one in, get comfy, I'm gonna go wake up the warden." Her first step was towards him, but with an effort of thought, Nic turned it to start out of the kitchen with a sigh, flipping him off over her shoulder as she started away.