For the love of all things shiny!!! (Caleb/Alison)

[siane]

"Thompson" Siane nodded. "Okay" She was intrigued by his mention of his past and decided she'd try to find out more later. Why was he all by himself at 16? Actually, was he 16? She realized she knew next to nothing about him.

Sliding into the car and starting the Engine, she glanced at him for a second "Mine's Smith. Siane Smith." She smirked slightly "Got a nice ring to it, hasn't it?" Her name hadn't always been Smith. It used to be Wyellwa, but that was far too distinctive for the human world, and had she met another one of her kind they would have known what she was the instant she introduced herself. It was such a typical mer person surname that she'd changed it to the most ordinary one she could think of. Smith. The irony of the fact that an awful lot of the sailors in books seemed to be called Smith had also appealed to her.

She pulled out into the street and the drove in silence for a few minutes before she remembered what she'd been about to ask. "How old are you Cat? " If he was as young as he looked surely he shouldn't be by himself? Perhaps he had run away? She could understand that. She'd felt like running away herself, on multiple occasions when she was 16. Still felt like it sometimes.

[alisontheperson119]

Caleb agreed. Her name did have a nice ring to it. Alliteration, Caleb thought. He hummed. Allan taught him that. Caleb smile at the memory. At the time he didn't understand why Caleb Cian wasn't alliteration. They both started with Cs! It had taken Allan a whole day to explain that it wasn't the letter it was the sound. Caleb had then tried pronouncing Cian as Kian but decided it didn't sound right. He giggled.
"Caleb Cian, Caleb Kian, Caleb Cian." he sang softly. Another giggle and a shake of the head.
"Caleb Cian." he reaffirmed.

Caleb watched the world go by in the car. He hadn't been in a car for a long time. It was like running except he didn't have to move. Which made it decidedly less fun than running. At Siane's question he looked back at her. He opened his mouth to answer but closed it after a few seconds. How old was he? It had to have been over a year. Two at the most.
"Sixteen." he replied eventually. He thought about it some more then nodded.
"Sixteen sounds right. Yeah, sixteen." Had it really been that long?

[siane]

Siane listened to the boy's humming. He seemed to be saying his name and another one that sounded like Cian. "Caleb Cian Thompson? Cian is you middle name?" She shrugged. "I never expect other people to have middle names for some reason, even though I do, Ariel. My mother has an odd sense of humor. Served her right when I decided to follow in the original Ariel's footsteps...literally...and become 'semi-human' " This had to be the most she'd said to anyone in at least a week. It was very odd.

"16? What are doing alone in Manuka at 16?" She asked bluntly, but not unkindly. They arrived at the mall and Siane parked, narrowly missing a collision with another car. She hooted loudly and muttered 'idiots' under her breath. Opening up her door and getting out she leaned against the car and watched him, waiting for his response.

[alisontheperson119]

"Siane Ariel Smith" Caleb said slowly. "Caleb Cian Thompson." He hummed again. There was something there but what was it? Siane Ariel Smith. Caleb Cian Thompson. Oh! Siane and Cian are close! Siane, Ciane, Siane, Cian. That meant they would be friends. Caleb nodded. Friends. He like that.

Caleb froze. What was he doing alone? He stared out the window. Why was he alone? Why was he alone? Tears formed in Caleb's eyes, though they went unnoticed by the young shapeshifter. He was alone because. Because.
"Because Allan is dead." he said at last. "Because Allan is dead and I left mom and Desmond and Aunt Megan. Because Allan was killed. Left. Because. Allan..." he trailed off. Silence. Suddenly Caleb looked up at Siane, eyes shinning with tears. He smiled.
"Allan said to always be happy. So I am! I Are you happy Siane? You know if you live life to the fullest and have fun then you'l be happy. That's what I do. That's what Allan always said to do." He looked around, as if just realizing where he was.
"Yay the mall!" he cheered, slipping out of the car and running off.

[siane]

Siane's eyes widened as Caleb started tearing up and talking about somebody called Allan who'd been killed. She wasn't really good at comforting, crying always made her uncmfortable...especially children and Caleb was only 16! That was still technically a child, although she remembered feeling like she was all grown up at that age, time and experience had shown her that she really hadn't been. Not that 22 was so very grown up either. She still stamped her foot on occasion. And threw tantrums. Although those were fairly rare, and almost always in private. She watched in astonishment as she suddenly brightened and ran off. His question ran circles in her brain. Was she happy? She didn't really know. She'd always thought that if she wasn't unhappy than she must be happy..but now she wasn't so sure.

Shaking herself out of her daze she locked the car and dashed after him. "Cat! Cat! WATCH THE..." Caleb had just very narrowly missed being run down. Siane sighed in annoyance and relief and continued after him. "CAT!!! WAIT!!!" She wanted to know who Allan was and exactly why he;d left his family but she wasn't ready to cope with more tears so decided to wait until later. She finally caught up with him by the escalators. "Must you always sprint everywhere?" She turned towards a shop selling underwear and sports equipment. "Okay so here's the deal. You're going to go into the men's section and pick out some underwear or whatever you need..and then I'll come pay for it once I've gotten my stuff.Got it?"

[alisontheperson119]

Caleb nodded and ran off again. He didn't know if he would find anything particularly interesting in the men's section of this store. Or any store for that matter. Maybe some bright color shirts but that was probably it. In theory he could go to the women's section and get something shiny. He wasn't that big so it could work.

The young shapeshifter walked around the store, arms full of brightly colored shirts, jeans, and dark hoodies. He stopped and looked around. Siane said she would pay for everything but where was she? He couldn't remember where she said she would wait for him. Was it inside or outside the store? Caleb continued walking. He briefly considered shapeshifting and looking for her that way, but that meant leaving the clothes somewhere and he;d probably lose them. Besides, he didn't want Siane mad at him again. More walking. He was lost in the mall but he couldn't even leave the store! Caleb frowned. This was not fun.

[siane]

As soon as Caleb had gone off, Siane headed towards the swim wear section. Since her tail seemed to be taking on a pinkish hue these days she wanted to get something that would match. Discarding a black and white polka dot bikini, and a bright orange one she finally came across what she wanted. It was coral pink, with paisley designs in tiny gold beads across it. Perfect. She picked it up and went to get a couple more pairs of underwear as well. Once she'd gotten her stuff she began to head over to the men's section. This was such a strange situation for her but, she thought wryly, she supposed it was tolerable. She'd enjoyed having the cat's company, perhaps the boy form of him wouldn't be so bad.

She was just about to ask the cashier if she'd seen a red headed teenage boy when her attention was suddenly caught by one of the jackets on display. It was a beautiful mossy green color and it felt velvety soft to the touch. She could tell it would be warm as well. Deciding she'd try it on very quickly, she disappeared into the changing rooms. When she came out she resumed looking for Caleb but he was nowhere to be seen. Sighing in annoyance Siane walked over to the cashier and asked if they could page him "Certainly, what was the name of the person you're looking for Miss?" "Cat..I mean Caleb. Caleb. Umm..say Siane's looking for him" "No problem" Three announcements later and Caleb still hadn't shown up. Siane decided she'd no choice but to go looking again. She walked among the rails of shirts and pants hissing "Cat! Cat!" Why couldn't he have stayed out???

[alisontheperson119]

Caleb was near tears by this point. Not only couldn't he find Siane but he was apparently lost within the store. He did not like being lost. Especially when his arms were full of clothes. And he was pretty sure his pants were falling down. Fed up with it Caleb took in a deep breath and screamed.

"Siane~~!!!!!" People jumped and stared at him. He didn't care. Not that he normally cared about what people thought about him. Another deep breath and another scream. He hoped this would work. He would just stand here until she found him. Or one of the store people came to shut him up and could help him find his lost nice mermaid. Or would that be help him find his nice mermaid who he had wandered away from after she ordered him to get clothes.

"Siane!" He tried again. He had gotten so used to being with another person, he didn't want to go back to being alone! Being alone wasn't fun. It was lonely. And cold. Being alone was significantly colder than being with someone else. Caleb sniffled and held his pile of clothes tighter against his chest.

"Siane?" he asked softly.

[siane]

Siane was, at the time of Caleb's scream, all the way at the other end of the store and busy asking a shop assistant if they had seen him, so she didn't hear more than a muffled kind of shout. Still, making her way towards the accessories section with it's piles of sequined scarves and hats she did pick up little bits of conversation. Two older women were standing by the glove display talking in lowered voices 'Someone should really keep that boy under control you know Elsie, screaming the whole store down! He should know better at his age!' The woman named Elsie nodded in agreement and started to say something but Siane didn't hear it because she was already off and running in the direction the women had come from.

She soon saw a mop of red hair surrounded by a couple of shop assistants who were evidently trying to calm him down. "Cat!" Siane exclaimed slightly crossly. "Where have you been?" On seeing his face however, and those of the assistants her tone softened "Come on Caleb, let's get your stuff and then we can go and eat, are you hungry? I definitely am." She gave him a slight smile, trying desperately to avoid any tears and held out her arms to take some of his pile of clothes.

[alisontheperson119]

Caleb ignored the store people surrounding him. They weren't Siane though they were being nice and trying to help. He immediately cheered up hearing Siane's voice, despite the irritability he could hear in it. His stomach gave an appreciative growl at the mention of food. Yes. Food. Food would be good. And some water. Or maybe a soda. The young shapeshifter handed Siane some of his clothes and walked after her, not before he thanked the nice store people and assured them that he was fine now. They seemed to be appeased and happy that he had stopped screaming and crying.

Once out of the store Caleb walked beside the nice mermaid contentedly. He was intent on staying near Siane from now on. He didn't want to be lost again. And alone. He hadn't liked that part.

The smell of food drifted into Caleb's nostrils. His stomach gave a loud growl and his mouth watered in anticipation. When was the last time he had eaten actual food? A long time. For the past week he had been a cat so had really only eaten cat food, which isn't that bad. If you're a cat. And for months before that he had mainly hunted his food. The idea of having actual cooked food made Caleb practically vibrate in excitement. The only question...what to have? He looked around, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He was so hungry he could eat a whole deer. He'd actually done that once. It took him the entire day, a good part of which was keeping other animals away from it, but he had done it.

He looked to Siane. What would she want? She did say she was hungry. He'd be fine letting her pick as long as he got food. Plus it would take the stress out of trying to pick something they would both like. He poked Siane's side and looked up at her.
"I can't decide." he whined. "You choose."

[siane]

Siane quickly thanked the store employees for watching out for her 'brother' and hurried to the cashier where she paid, giving the woman who was ringing the clothes up a very cold look in response to her questions about Caleb.

She walked out of the store carrying two bags in each hand and once they were a reasonable distance away she handed Caleb his and stood looking at him for a long moment, brow slightly furrowed in thought. Finally she shook her head and sighed. "Honestly. Sometime I don't know how I get myself into these messes, all I did was adopt a stray cat!" She gave him a slight smile though, to remove any sting there might have been in the words and concentrated on what she wanted for dinner. "Well....I don't know what sort of things you like." She told him in response to his telling her she could chose. "But the Italian restaurant is very good, but so is the Greek one! Do you like Greek food? Then again....the Mexican place does amazing quesidillas and the Thai place is pretty nice. I refuse to go to Burger king, sorry." She looked at him to see which he'd pick. If you haven't tried Greek before I would recommend going with something else tonight. We can come back and try it another time."

[alisontheperson119]

Caleb whined. Great now he had to choose! And really, he doesn't remember having had any of those. Though the Italian sounded safest. It certainly smelled the best.

"Italian." he said. He followed her into the restaurant and sat down. He bounced in his seat, right foot tapping rapidly against the floor. The restaurant was dark, like most restaurants tended to be, with people talking in fluctuating volumes all around him. This, coupled with the mixed scents of good foods, worked together to drive Caleb insane. Which was not a good thing. He was probably just really hungry. And tired. That was never a good combination. He grabbed the menu and frowned. He didn't know what half this stuff was. Although... his eyes widened and a smile slipped onto his face. He knew what that was! Yum.

"Siane Siane Siane can I have the pasta with salmon on it? Please???" he asked. Salmon was good! And pasta was tasty too but mostly salmon. Mmm Salmon.

[siane]

Siane watched as Caleb bounced in his seat with a slightly wary expression on her face. She was tired and hungry and she'd had more than enough to deal with in one day. "Okay, stop bouncing. You're making me dizzy. And sure...have whatever you want. What about a drink? I suppose you like coke and stuff? "

The waiter stopped by their table with a basket of garlic bread and Siane thanked, refusing his offer of iced water. She didn't want to deal with the possibility of growing a tail in one of the most popular restaurants in Manuka at the moment. Looking over the menu she decided to go for the mushroom ravioli and a glass of wine. The waiter came back over and Siane told him what she wanted and looked at Caleb "Ready to order?" She inquired. Once that was done she asked "So....what did you do? For money and food while you were on your own?" She was very curious about why this teenager had ended up in this situation. She also felt that just in case any irate parents turned up at her door, it would be good to be prepared. She did not want to be accused of abduction.

[alisontheperson119]

Caleb tried to stop his bouncing but only managed to get it down to a tick. He wasn't good at sitting still. Even if there was food involved. He ordered his salmon pasta and a class of coke. Coke was good, even if it made him a little hyper.

"I...didn't do anything really. For money. For food I hunted a lot. I would go into cities as human and talk to people. When I got hungry I would hid my clothes somewhere and go hunting as a cat or something. People don't think much about a cat chasing a bird or squirrel. Squirrel is actually pretty tasty. Especially if you get a fat one right before winter." He smiled and licked his lips at the memory of a particularly fat squirrel he had caught once.

The food came and he began eating it happily. Did food always taste this good? Or was he just so detached from society that anything cooked was like heaven?

"It wasn't so bad despite the not nice people out there. I was lonely but I ate whenever I needed and slept well enough. Staying with you has been the best though. I was warm and you gave me food." He smiled. "Thanks."

[siane]

Siane took a moment to think about what Caleb had just said and ate a forkful of ravioli. After a while she looked back at him, not quite sure how to respond. "Well, at least you didn't starve" She said slowly. "Or freeze" She took another mouthful of food. It was an odd sensation, this feeling of responsibility, like someone needed her. She'd never experienced that before and she wasn't entirely sure she liked it, but, to her intense surprise, she didn't hate it either.

She gave a short nod in response to his thanks and returned his smile. "Well, I suppose you can stay for...well, for a while anyway." Truth be told she was a little worried that she might become just as attached to Caleb in boy form as she'd been to him in cat form. "We can go umm..grocery shopping tomorrow. For food you like and other stuff you need" Like something to keep him occupied so he wouldn't be continually banging on her door. Sipping her wine she asked "What about school? Which class were you in when you left?"

[alisontheperson119]

Caleb nodded sagely. "True." Fur was certainly one of the best aspects of being a shapeshifter. Ever present warmth. And it was soft. Sometimes Caleb wished he kept some of his fur while in human form. It would be nice to run his hands across it. And it would be more comfortable than clothes.

Caleb beamed. He could stay with her! Staying was good. Staying meant he had shelter and food and a friend! He liked all of those though he wasn't sure which he liked more.

He scrunched his nose up and glared. He did like school.
"I never went to school. All they did was make me sit still for hours! I can't sit still for hours!" he exclaimed. "Allan tried to teach me what they were learning but I never understood it." He paused. "There were a lot of not nice people there too. I got yelled at a lot. I don't like being yelled at." His mom, aunt, and Allan all tried to get him to go and stay in school. He would go every once in a while, when they asked, but unless the class had things to catch and keep his attention, or Allan was in it and sat next to him, Caleb would either doze off or just leave. Eventually they just stopped trying. Caleb didn't mind. It allowed him to spend more time to play or sleep. Both things he liked very much.