A Step in the Right Direction

Who: Dorian and Caleb
Where: The Lockwood Residence
When: Morning

Dorian was in the kitchen, staring at the window. It wasn't fixed, but the pieces had been put back together. It had to have taken an insane amount of time and, even if it wouldn't do for a solution, he couldn't imagine who would have done it. He really didn't think Caleb had that kind of patience, which led him to Tensiel. The girl was just crazy enough to try and piece glass shards back together, wasn't she? He leaned back against the counter, examining it, his bowl of cereal temporarily forgotten in his hand.

Caleb hadn't really wanted to run into his brother, but accidentally did so when he went into the kitchen. Shit. He hadn't looked at the time. See, Caleb wasn't actually waking up--he hadn't gone to bed yet. His mind had been spinning all fucking night, and that didn't really lead to sleep. That lead to lying awake and getting nowhere while you thought about the same things over and over. He stopped short when he saw Dorian, almost like he thought if he didn't move? He wouldn't be noticed. Then he saw what he was looking at. "Ten put it back together." he muttered. He'd helped a little, but hardly the point.

Dorian nodded slowly, his suspicions confirmed, but still quite impressed. "That's amazing," he said, then turned to look at Caleb. "I have someone coming to fix it today. Will that upset her?" Just because it was pieced back together didn't mean it would hold. It looked so fragile, a product of his lost temper. Dorian was still frustrated with himself for breaking it in the first place.

Caleb shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I'll move it." Not that he knew how he'd manage that. But he could try. Maybe put cardboard under it or something. It wasn't like he had anything better to do today. Unless he was going to go find Muse. Maybe. Maybe not. He had kept himself over by the door, not actually venturing in any farther than he had already. Absently, he poked at his hurt knuckles, an unconscious sort of gesture.

Dorian nodded again, then remembered he had cereal in his hand and took a bite. It gave him a moment to decide what to say. He really hated what needed to come first. "I'm sorry," he said, glancing up at Caleb. He didn't think he'd accept it, but he had to try. Eury had been clear on that part, hadn't she? It would have helped if he'd talked to her when his head wasn't all fuzzy, but he was pretty sure talking was a major part of the problem.

The look Caleb gave him was somewhere hovering between confused and wary. Like he was waiting for the punchline. "...sorry about what?" he had to ask, because he didn't know the answer to that.

There were a number of things he could answer that question with and Dorian decided that maybe it would be best to name a few of them, because he sure as hell had done more than one thing wrong when it came to handling his brother. There were probably more, but right now he could only handle this situation. "For yelling at you, and losing my temper. For handling the situation just about as poorly as possible. For waking you up at three in the morning."

Yeah, okay now confusion was even more clear. The wary was still there too, and he really was looking for the punchline now. He stepped back a little farther, until his back was against the doorframe, and he kept cracking his knuckles, feeling the sparks of pain in his hand. It was a focus, even if he didn't realize it. "Whatever..." he said, but it wasn't a dismissive statement. Just really really unsure.

Dorian sighed and took another bite of cereal, not sure how he was supposed to follow up on that. Generally, it seemed to mean that Caleb didn't want to hear what he had to say, or that he didn't care. Maybe that was still the case. The more time Dorian spent around his brother, the more clearly he could tell that he didn't know him at all. "How's your neck healing?" he asked, genuinely concerned. He'd never been bitten by a vampire, so he had no real way of knowing how bad it could be.

At the mention of it, Caleb reached up and rubbed the spot. "Fine, I guess. It's not that bad. Probably would have been worse if he'd taken more of a bite out of me, but it was fast, so...just punctures. I don't think they're infected or anything. They're not bugging me." They probably weren't infected because vamps were dead, and probably didn't have the same kind of bacteria in their mouthes as people did. But he wasn't really going to get into a theoretical discussion with Dorian. He'd probably just give him shit for not knowing that definitively.

"That's good," Dorian said, looking a little less concerned, even though the idea of the vampire getting more of a bite out of his brother made him ill. He couldn't have handled that. "Just watch it, I guess. In case." In case of what, he wasn't sure. Could vampire bites get infected? He'd have to check his books. It wasn't the kind of information he retained. His policy had always been not to get bitten in the first place. "Hungry?" he asked Caleb. He could always fix him cereal... even if there was nothing impressive about that.

"...yeah, I'll get something." Caleb said, crossing to the fridge even if it actually took effort to walk into the room properly. To leave the doorway. "I'll watch it." he added. Not that the bite was the largest of his worries. The wounds on his back were worse, and actually, even his split knuckles were probably in worse shape. Or maybe they just looked worse because punctures were fairly anticlimactic as far as wounds went.

Dorian couldn't be concerned about the wounds on Caleb's back because his brother had never mentioned them. He knew Caleb had been bleeding, but if his brother wouldn't tell him where, he wasn't going to force it. Forcing the issue seemed to be the wrong approach with Caleb, though if he thought about it, it probably was with everyone else as well. "You know... I only get frustrated because I'm worried. And I suck at this." Majorly. In fact, he felt like an idiot saying anything at all.

Caleb was still again for a few moments as he listened to his brother and let that sink in. He shut the fridge without having taken anything out of it, and half looked back at Dorian. "Well, I'm fine, and whatever. You didn't want me here to begin with." he said, looking away again, and of course, heading for the door again. "It's not like I could have missed you and mom arguing on the phone about it, you know. I'm not that oblivious." Yes, he was well aware of the fact that not only had his parents not wanted to bother with him anymore--Dorian hadn't either.

Dorian didn't know what to say to that argument. Caleb was right-- he hadn't wanted Caleb to come live with him. That didn't mean he hated his little brother though. And that didn't mean he didn't care for him. It just meant that, when attempting to get settled in somewhere for the first time in his life, Dorian wasn't thrilled about having a teenager in his house. Caleb didn't make things easy. In fact, he was doing an awesome job at making Dorian miserable every moment he set foot in his own home. "I didn't think you were," he said eventually. "But you seem to have assumed from that conversation that I don't care."

Caleb looked over at Dorian and gave him a look that clearly said 'bitch, please'. "There some indication that you do that I'm missing, here? You don't want me here, all you do is bitch at me or yell at me for shit that I didn't know, even though I don't have any reason I should know it, break shit, yell at me some more, and let's not forget the fact that you pretty much never gave a shit about what's been going on in my life since oh, birth. Why exactly am I supposed to believe you really care about me now?" He shook his head and looked away. "Look, I'm here for right now, I'll be out of here as soon as I have someplace else to go. Until then, let's just...stay out of each other's way."

He wasn't really sure what he'd done to gain so much animosity from Caleb, but it was clearly there. It wasn't like he'd completely ignored him, but they'd been so far apart. Caleb had only been in the fifth grade when he'd been a senior in high school. Apparently, fifth graders didn't remember that they'd once gotten along. And he'd interpreted his absence after that as not caring, when really, he just hadn't been home. "I don't know," he sighed softly. If that was really the way Caleb wanted it, he could deal with it. "It's not bad having you here," he said, suddenly struck by the fact that Caleb really did hate him, enough so that he was looking for somewhere else to live.

Caleb just gave him a disbelieving look for that. "Yeah. Right." he said, shaking his head. "That's why all the bitching and breaking shit and giving me shit. Because it's not bad." Does he even think before he speaks? Caleb had to wonder, not that he was famous for forthought.

Dorian looked over at Caleb, his expression an odd one of hurt, confusion, and disbelief. "I'm not used to living with someone. Especially someone that I feel responsible for. I don't know how to handle some of these situations, but I'll admit I've done so poorly. I've never been bitten by a vampire, Caleb, but the idea scares the shit out of me. I worry when you don't come home because I don't have the slightest clue where to look for you. You could be hurt, or dead, and I couldn't do anything to help you. And if I bitch when you bring weird girls home who seem extremely sweet yet also insane, then I'm sorry. I'm a bit torn between being your brother and saying 'sure! she can sleep in your room' and being the responsible adult who would throw her out. So, the dining room. Seemed like a compromise. I'm trying, but I will continue to fuck this up because I have no experience being a parent and little being a brother. I don't know you. If you don't want me to, then there's really nothing I can do to stop it." Well, there. Now that he'd rambled away, he expected Caleb to leave. He probably wasn't even listening. He expected the usual response regardless.

Caleb stared at him, expression flickering as well. "Do you listen to yourself?" he asked. "You say you don't know me, and you don't. But you haven't really asked to know me either. You don't try. And now you're just saying 'whatever, if you don't want me to then I can't stop it'. Really trying hard, huh, Dorian? It's like you're just saying that so that you can have said it, but then you're slapping it down just so you don't actually have to go through with it." he snapped.

Dorian swallowed down his gut reaction-- to kick a hole in the kitchen cabinet. He really didn't need to be tearing up the kitchen any more than he already had. How the fuck was Caleb twisting every single word he said? It was frustrating as hell, but the last thing he wanted to do was snap back at his brother again. It didn't need to become a screaming fight. They didn't need to lose any more windows-- or worse, some of their glassware. Maybe plastic cups would be a good investment. Instead of answering, he took a minute to calm himself, running his fingers through his hair and biting his tongue.

Caleb waited for some kind of a response. Anything, really, to combat what he'd just said, but with a sick twist of his stomach, he realized that there wasn't going to be one. Right. Apparently, he was just right then. He wasn't even being argued with. Just...nothing. That stung. That really really hurt. He hadn't wanted to be right. Not really. Hell, part of him had been waiting for Dorian to prove him wrong. But as the silence stretched on, he got more and more of the impression that everything was confirmed. He actually looked really surprised, and hurt when he stared at his brother, and he had the sudden, horrible urge to cry, and his face twisted for a second, before he fought it right the fuck back down. Then he turned and left.

The real issue was, Dorian didn't want Caleb to be right. Even if he was, he didn't want it, which meant it was worth working against, right? It seemed a bad idea to open his mouth since everything he said came out wrong, but it didn't feel right to leave it at that. Dorian turned out of the kitchen, following Caleb far enough to ensure his brother heard him, even if his back was turned. "Caleb-- I'm trying. I know I suck at it, but I'm trying," he said, hands at his side. He doubted his brother would even stop. "Just... give me a chance?"

Caleb heard him, and whirled right back around. "Trying? Give you a chance? For what? You have had chances, you just don't give a fuck, and the only reason you care now is because I called you on it!" he said, and for once, it wasn't in his snippy, snapping sort of tone, it was raw, full of the emotions he usually spent a hell of a lot of time repressing. Usually he succeeded just...not right now. That wasn't working out for him whatsoever. "I just said--and you--" he stopped, knowing he was upset and therefore finishing thoughts had apparently become a strange and difficult task. He tried to get himself back under control but ermmmno. "You don't know the first thing about me and you never fucking asked. Ever. And you still haven't. What do you expect? To play the 'I'm trying' card, but only saying you are without actually doing it? Because that's what it looks like from here, you keep repeating yourself but you don't actually fucking try. You just say you do. And just now, you--" he stopped again, because that was what was completely overwhelming him, and he was still in the midst of that being overwhelmed thing.

"So I'm out of chances now?" Dorian asked, taking a few steps forwards but staying calm. "You frustrate me, Caleb. You're just looking for ways to twist everything I say. So you know I fought with mom over you staying here, but it had nothing to do with you. It wasn't personal. I would have thrown the same fit over Math, or if she had decided she was going to move in with me. But you know what? I agreed to it. Then you stand in my kitchen and tell me you're leaving? What the fuck?! I don't really wanna break anything else, so I'm sorry for not jumping all over you for it." He had to stop and take a deep breath, determined not to get pissed again. He'd never seen Caleb even the slightest bit emotional and he didn't want to yell at him. Instead, his voice softened and he sighed. "So tell me about yourself. Anything. Have dinner with me tonight. Tell me what your favorite food is and I'll attempt to make it. I can't show you that I'm trying when we can't spend more than five minutes together. Don't give up on me when I haven't given up on you."

The second Dorian took any steps towards Caleb, he was as far back in the room as he could get, back pressed flat against the wall. Like he was bracing himself. For what, who knows. He was staring at his brother like he kept waiting to be hit. Something. He hated that he was so off balance, and he was still struggling to get hold of that. It just wasn't working that spectacularly well. "You agreed to it because you know she would of dropped me on your porch whether or not you said okay." he said, and his voice came out a lot quieter than he would have liked. It had a lot less edge to it. He didn't know what to say to the bit about telling him anything. His initial gut reaction was there was nothing to tell. That he was just nobody, and that was it. That wasn't exactly true though. He looked down, and tried again to stop feeling so much like he'd been gutted. Wasn't easy.

"Not true," Dorian said, slowly inching forward till he was at Caleb's door, though he wouldn't enter without Caleb's permission. He owed him that respect. "I'd rather you be here than somewhere else, with family members that suck more than I do. And maybe I don't know you, but I'd like to. Even if you don't want me to. Come on; tell me what to fix for dinner tonight. I promise not to break shit." Not that that was much of an incentive, but he was a little thrown off by how hard Caleb was taking this. Usually, he just didn't seem to care, whereas now there was definitely some caring going on. "If you don't want to eat dinner, we can watch a movie. Or play video games. If you like to do either... I don't even know that. But I want to."

He tensed up all the more with Dorian getting the slightest bit closer. If he could have melted back into the damn wall, he would have. Unfortunately, he didn't have that ability. Nor did he have the ability to call meteors down from the sky to smash the house to bits. Which was a shame, really. Because right around now he'd really like to. "You seriously expect me to just...hang out here tonight. With you. For what, belated bonding because you realize you don't know shit about me?" he asked. And wow, had that ever not come out the way he'd intended. He'd tried for his usual scating harshness. That didn't actually happen. It was quiet an disbelieving, but didn't have the edge he wanted it to. Shit.

"If you're willing, yes," Dorian nodded, but didn't move any farther into the room. Caleb looked a lot like he might flee out the window if given the chance. They really didn't need another broken window. "I understand why you wouldn't want to, but I'd like you to." Dorian suspected Caleb would have something better to do, anything to get out of it. He decided not to say so though. He really wanted the chance to try and make something right here, even the tiniest step forward, since all they'd been doing was charging back.

Caleb actually might bail out the window, but thankfully Dorian stopped getting any closer. Really? He didn't have anything better to do. At all. Whatsoever. Because he didn't have friends. He had Ten, sure, but he looked after her. And the other people he'd kept company with? Yeah, a fae who hadn't even bothered to ask his name, and a mermaid who may decide to eat him someday. He wasn't exactly the world's most popular guy. "Maybe I'll be here." he said. He didn't know if he would be, truthfully. But it wasn't a 'no'.

"Okay," Dorian said. At least it wasn't a 'no'. "Any requests? Food-wise? Movie-wise?" He could always surprise him, but Dorian wanted the chance to do something Caleb wanted. The last thing he remembered him liking for dinner was hot dogs and macaroni, which didn't say much. Caleb had to have been seven. Dorian really needed to update his brotherly information.

This was very nearly creeping Caleb out. He was sort of waiting for the punchline. Weirdly, it didn't seem to be coming. He shrugged one shoulder. "Pizza's okay." he said warily. He didn't know, movie wise. He hadn't seen anything recently, so he didn't even know what was out. So he didn't actually have anything for a suggestion there.

"Pizza then," Dorian said, standing back up. "I'll see you at seven," he said with a small smile, then turned and returned to the kitchen, far too stressed out about that conversation to eat any more of his soggy cereal. Caleb might not be there. He might not show at all. But at least Dorian was trying, and he seemed to be doing a tiny bit better this time. At least, it looked that way. He supposed he'd find out at seven.