InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I can has nu jurnal!"

austingray (austingray) wrote in dalton_rpg,
@ 2011-04-08 13:48:00

Entry tags:

! thread, @ character: austin gray, character: castiel grants, status: incomplete

Who: Austin and Cas
Where: Austin's office
What: Homesick and a gift
When: After this conversation
Rating: SFW

Austin waited for Cas' arrival. He had saw the boy's post about home and that tugged a string in his heart. He understood what it was like to miss the places you called home. He knew that feeling all too well. In his lifetime, Austin had called a lot of places home, and he understood what it meant to leave it. Which is why he had always kept a part of it with him. He collected sand in Georgia, chipped a bit of rock from the Grand Canyon, he had stolen water from the lakes and each one of these souvenirs had a story to tell. He kept most of his things at home, although a few had found their way into his classroom. San Francisco was one of them.

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ilikepie
2011-04-08 09:05 pm UTC (link)

A week wasn't enough time to become reacclimated to any place. As soon as Cas had settled into the blustery weather that was home, the foggy days and rainy nights, he had left again. It felt weird to be sleeping on a bed that wasn't his: There was no name carved into the wood nor any star-mobile overhead, let alone the canvas of glow-in-the-dark stars against his walls - 12 individual packets decorated his room.

Here at Dalton, Cas kept his room neat and tidy (for Elwood's sake, really.) It didn't have much character. He knocked at the door to Austin's office quietly and slipped inside. Eyes to the ground, Cas greeted, "Hi, Mr. A." He closed the door behind himself and leaned against the wall, cradling his notebook.

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	austingray 2011-04-09 01:14 am UTC (link)
	"You can call me Austin kid," Austin said, waving away the formalities. "Missing home huh?" San Francisco was quite a distance away from Ohio. He had no idea how these kids survived without their parents at this age. He knew he had gotten into a lot of trouble as a kid and without his parents to bail him out he had no idea what he'd do. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ilikepie
2011-04-09 01:27 am UTC (link)

Cas made a note in the corner of his notebook. To be more accurate, he scratched out 'Mr. A' and jotted down 'Austin'. A lot of the teachers were friendly and they weren't stiff either. "Yeah. Dad flew on the plane with me. He drove me to the school, but not before we got ice cream."

Knowing nowhere but the Bay Area, Cas had found Ohio to be an eye-opener. The world was so big. From what his folks had told him, he knew that they'd lived further south when he was still too young to remember anything. Old baby pictures of him with celebrities sat upon the mantle. Other artifacts from a life without him had always existed in the house.

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	austingray 2011-04-09 05:24 am UTC (link)
	"A bit quieter over here I noticed." Austin grinned, "Might be better for a boarding school though." Students needed to be able to study. Didn't mean they couldn't find ways to have fun though. Austin knew very well that these kids had a few tricks up their sleeves, and he was sure he wasn't the only faculty member to know so. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ilikepie 2011-04-09 05:29 am UTC (link)
	Cas nodded more so to himself than towards Austin. Though the quiet only lasted so long as you didn't get mixed up with a wild crowd. "So why did you ask me over?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

austingray
2011-04-09 05:38 am UTC (link)

Austin opened one of his drawers and dug into it until he found the tiny little bottle he was looking for. "It's gold" he explained, "I went on a dig a while ago, and I'd like you to have it."

He had to have been twenty two when he had gotten that. There was only a small amount of gold dust but it was enough to remind him of that day.

"I used to wear it as a necklace" He said as he straightened out the chord "The city was a dear place to me, I spent a few months there," A lot longer than his usual trips, "and when I left, I wanted to keep it close."

He extended the gift out to the young boy. "I know it's not much but I thought you might like it."

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ilikepie
2011-04-09 07:44 am UTC (link)

Clinging his notebook to his chest, Cas made wary glances around the room. His skittish attitude eased as he noticed the bottle. It looked like a trinket from one of those souvenir shops. Yet he had no reason not to believe Austin's claim. "Oh, wow."

He stared at the bottle, enraptured by Austin's words. He nodded along as he eyed the golden specks. Intrinsically, they held little value, but he could sense the attachment through his teacher's voice.

Feeling an awkward yet oddly pleasant giddiness, Cas gently accepted the bottle and smiled down at it. "It's more than I could have asked for. I didn't even ask." And that was the beauty of it.

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	austingray 2011-04-09 07:57 am UTC (link)
	"I'd thought you'd like something more personal than a souvenir golden gate bridge or something." He shrugged, "Although I have one of those if you want it." Austin hoped the kid would grow to like Ohio though, it wasn't California, not even close, but it has its own charms. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ilikepie
2011-04-11 11:43 pm UTC (link)

At the suggestion, Cas drew up images of said bridge. He could feel the wind whipping in his hair as he stuck his head out the window, waving to the cars behind them: Dangerous yet thrilling. He could still taste the salt breeze in the air. God, he missed home. "No, this is... I like this."

Maybe one day he'd wake up and think of Dalton as 'home', though, and not 'Ohio'.

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	austingray 2011-04-12 03:51 am UTC (link)
	The first year away from home was always hard. It didn't matter how old you are, being away from your parents can be quite difficult, and Cas was just a freshman. "It gets better you know." He told Cas, "It might take some time to get used to but it does." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ilikepie 2011-04-12 04:20 am UTC (link)
	It wasn't simply being away from home. Cas had adjusted to living at Dalton pretty well. It was the fact that things had happened at home during this particular break. Leaving on a bad note made things feel unfinished; he wanted some closure, and it felt like he couldn't fix whatever he'd done wrong. "I know..." he lied, not ready to spill the actual beans yet. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	austingray 2011-04-12 04:28 am UTC (link)
	Austin had a feeling something was off, but he wasn't sure what. "If you ever need anything kid, I'm always available." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ilikepie 2011-04-12 04:31 am UTC (link)
	Cas clutched the bottle to his chest and nodded before slipping out. He felt exposed standing before Mr. A, and he hated feeling vulnerable. (Reply to this) (Parent)