[ stephen huffs out a short laugh at the question. there’s a touch of self-deprecation in it: he’s thinking about wong, about having been passed up for sorcerer supreme for perfectly valid reasons, chief among them being - past stephen’s five-year nonexistence - that wong is a very good sorcerer. ]
I serve as one of the primary guardians of my reality. So. [ a beat. ] Pretty good.
Right, okay. So I have a friend who grows plants with magic, but also he like... linked their life force or magic or something to his own. So, if he dies or disappears all of his plants die.
[ nick is great and caleb loves him, but he also lives rent-free in caleb's head and takes a lot of space and makes a lot of noise. ]
So I don't know shit about magic, but that sounded really bad. Like, this guy's maintaining god knows how many fucking plants around the city— sorry, about the language. It's just— [ frustrating, but he just waves a hand and keeps going. ] anyway, is there a spell or something to make the plans self-sustaining? You know, like normal plants are supposed to be.
I don't think he knows how. Like— I think because he grows them with magic, instead of being normal plants, they're magic plants, so they don't... feed on soil and water? They feed on his magic.
[ stephen - laughs. he’s been pretty strictly business since arriving in the city, except for brief interludes of dry amusement, but there’s something kind of funny about being warned by a 20-year-old about his young hot friends. ]
Okay. [ his tongue pokes the inside of his cheek. ] Well. We’ll cross that bridge if and when we get there.
You know, one of the first things that happened to me when I first arrived here was uh, getting drugged with weird Valentine's chocolate. I don't think he even remembers, but I got obsessed with him and stalked him for like a week.
[ It's only funny because from Caleb's point of view it's been five years since. ]
I broke into his room at sub housing, cleaned it up, and left him flowers.
[ there’s a flicker of regular responsible adult concern. he’s actually thinking about eponine, who isn’t that much younger than caleb, who doesn’t know how a lightswitch works. there are a lot of things he’d change about duplicity if he could, among them the city’s considerable lack of conscience about ensnaring younger people. ]
You said you’ve been here a year, but you were seventeen then ... Did you do that thing where you - [ hand wave. hard to describe it, actually; it’s been awhile for stephen too. ] “Went home,” in a manner of speaking?
[ stephen eyes him for a second, but - right. empathy. he hums, a neutral sound of assent. ]
They put me in with a teenage girl this time. Smart kid, picking stuff up quick, but she’s from a place and time that doesn’t have lightbulbs, never mind ...
[ he trails off. sighs. what is he even doing here. he’s thinking of america, which makes him think of everything else. too many universes in too short a period of time. ]
Things will happen. Probably like what happened to you. [ he lifts his coffee cup to his grimacing mouth. ] I’m not looking forward to it.
Probably a good idea. [ a pause, and then: ] Thanks.
[ stephen doesn’t thank people often, so the word is more than a throwaway courtesy. his concern for eponine isn’t particular, or at least he doesn’t think so; he’s just, you know. the adult. and this is his third rodeo. ]
No, I know. I'm not trying to like, therapize you or whatever. Was aiming more for equal grounds friendship?
I honestly don't think I'd be much help for people like fifteen plus older than me, beyond teaching them breathing exercises, 'cause they kinda register as authority figures in my head.
[ that’s good. stephen is man enough to recognise that he probably needs therapy, but he sure as hell won’t find it in this town. besides, duplicity is useful too, in its own way; it’s pared him down before to constituent parts. ]
To be fair, I don't think I'd be much better if I were one of the planeteers of my world.
[ he knows damn well planeteer isn't the word stephen used, but captain planet has to be roughly his generation, right? it was popular enough he has to be at least be aware of it. ]
[ evasive, but not intentionally. he loves magic; he knows in his bones his universe is beautiful, and that he’d choose it over any other; he’s been - trying to figure things out, since everything with america, wanda, christine. he’s also in the prime of his heroic career, and he’s seen firsthand how fragile a reality is, what kind of pressure it can withstand. no time to be jaded, not exactly. but he has to be ready for anything. ]
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I serve as one of the primary guardians of my reality. So. [ a beat. ] Pretty good.
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[ nick is great and caleb loves him, but he also lives rent-free in caleb's head and takes a lot of space and makes a lot of noise. ]
So I don't know shit about magic, but that sounded really bad. Like, this guy's maintaining god knows how many fucking plants around the city— sorry, about the language. It's just— [ frustrating, but he just waves a hand and keeps going. ] anyway, is there a spell or something to make the plans self-sustaining? You know, like normal plants are supposed to be.
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[ matter-of-fact. guy must really love plants. ]
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[ he is very aware of how crazy that sounds. ]
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[ weird, but not the weirdest thing stephen’s heard by a long shot. he downs some more of his coffee. ]
I can check it out. Give him my information.
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Should I tell him not to hit on you? Because he super will. And if you're remotely into guys, he'll succeed.
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Wow. I think the last time someone worried about my maidenly virtue was church with grandma.
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All right, I won't warn him then.
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[ STILL GENUINELY PERPLEXED, but it’s good-humored. ]
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[ and he's into DILFs probably, but that feels rude to say so he's not gonna. ]
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Okay. [ his tongue pokes the inside of his cheek. ] Well. We’ll cross that bridge if and when we get there.
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[ It's only funny because from Caleb's point of view it's been five years since. ]
I broke into his room at sub housing, cleaned it up, and left him flowers.
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I was seventeen and an idiot. I posted to the network with "Hi, I've never had sex and I don't wanna go to sex jail."
Which worked, but only because people were very concerned about me.
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[ there’s a flicker of regular responsible adult concern. he’s actually thinking about eponine, who isn’t that much younger than caleb, who doesn’t know how a lightswitch works. there are a lot of things he’d change about duplicity if he could, among them the city’s considerable lack of conscience about ensnaring younger people. ]
You said you’ve been here a year, but you were seventeen then ... Did you do that thing where you - [ hand wave. hard to describe it, actually; it’s been awhile for stephen too. ] “Went home,” in a manner of speaking?
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I'm kinda grateful for it, to be honest. I was way too young to be here— I still am, I think, but I feel better prepared for it.
[ he doesn't want to be nosy, but... ]
You're worried about a kid here?
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They put me in with a teenage girl this time. Smart kid, picking stuff up quick, but she’s from a place and time that doesn’t have lightbulbs, never mind ...
[ he trails off. sighs. what is he even doing here. he’s thinking of america, which makes him think of everything else. too many universes in too short a period of time. ]
Things will happen. Probably like what happened to you. [ he lifts his coffee cup to his grimacing mouth. ] I’m not looking forward to it.
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[ A year in and he's only had to do one thing he hated. He's been lucky. ]
If you introduce us, I can try and introduce her to more people. I know enough younger people maybe she'll land soft too.
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[ stephen doesn’t thank people often, so the word is more than a throwaway courtesy. his concern for eponine isn’t particular, or at least he doesn’t think so; he’s just, you know. the adult. and this is his third rodeo. ]
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[ he already went there, and this guy doesn't seem to have much patience for beating around the bush so. ]
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I’m not your patient, Caleb.
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I honestly don't think I'd be much help for people like fifteen plus older than me, beyond teaching them breathing exercises, 'cause they kinda register as authority figures in my head.
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[ that’s good. stephen is man enough to recognise that he probably needs therapy, but he sure as hell won’t find it in this town. besides, duplicity is useful too, in its own way; it’s pared him down before to constituent parts. ]
I don’t know if “jaded” is the word. We’ll see.
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[ he knows damn well planeteer isn't the word stephen used, but captain planet has to be roughly his generation, right? it was popular enough he has to be at least be aware of it. ]
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[ evasive, but not intentionally. he loves magic; he knows in his bones his universe is beautiful, and that he’d choose it over any other; he’s been - trying to figure things out, since everything with america, wanda, christine. he’s also in the prime of his heroic career, and he’s seen firsthand how fragile a reality is, what kind of pressure it can withstand. no time to be jaded, not exactly. but he has to be ready for anything. ]
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