Noah (hellboundlife) wrote in commandhq, @ 2018-05-28 16:52:00 |
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Entry tags: | calvin banner, jade hensley, p: lindsey, p: mj |
Who: Calvin Banner & Jade Hensley
What: Cal is drunk, oh so drunk
When: Back to when Sandy was avoiding and not talking to Cal [Backdated]
Where: Leisure room & Cal's room
Rating: Low
Nobody could ever accuse Cal of having healthy coping mechanisms or healthy anything to be honest. Wasn’t like his upbringing had afforded him the luxury of knowing how to process things in a way that didn’t involve some sort of self destructive behaviour. The truth of the matter was that the Outsiders were all that Cal had and now they were coming apart at the seams. It didn’t seem to matter how hard he tried to grip at them they just seemed to get further and further away. He hadn’t thought that would be possible but it seemed that way, especially now with Sandy avoiding him. He had no idea why and he needed to seek her out but truth be told he did not have the energy right now, he was exhausted and just spent in every way that mattered. He’d stopped by the Shopette and purchased a hefty amount of alcohol because fuck this noise, he was getting drunk. Cal just needed to let go and forget about everything for a little while and yeah okay alcohol was not the way to do that but right now? He did not give a crap. Fuck it, right? It would have been smart to partake in the alcohol in his room but Cal was not exactly thinking smart so he set up in the Leisure room which seemed to be pretty empty and that was where he settled. Alone. His only company? Alcohol and his wayward thoughts. --- Jade had been on the lookout for a teammate or Ruby or perhaps even Ethan to see if they wanted to get to the Hologym (or the garden variety gym) before the night was too mature. It wasn’t a very serious venture, as she was wandering more than seriously looking or even attempting to contact any of them through the network. And, if she didn’t stumble upon any of them, she could just as easily head to the gym alone for a while and work out until exhaustion sagged her very bones. That was usually how it went around here. When she noticed a familiar face in the leisure room, Jade tentatively made her way inside. It was Cal, surprisingly alone, with some alcohol to keep him company. With the amount of stress he and his friends had been through lately – all of which she could only glean through stuff on the network and gossip that circulated the halls – that seemed about right. Even if drinking alone seemed about the least healthy thing to do in a place like this. Jade got a little bit closer, her hands awkwardly thrust into the pockets of her jeans. “Hey, Cal,” she greeted. “Rough night?” --- By the time Jade found Cal he was most definitely a couple sheets to the wind, distinctly buzzed and feeling a tingly feeling in his fingertips. “Rough year,” he shared, voice deeper than normally with a much rougher edge to it considering he hadn’t exactly picked the gentlest of alcohols. He pushed a breath out of a tight chest and haphazardly offered the bottle of whiskey clasped in his hand in Jade’s direction. “You want some?” --- He sounded like hell. Trying to be subtle about it, Jade cast a cautious glance around the room, hoping to spot Alejandro or Orla or one of the Outsiders around so that they might be able to help with the situation. Leaving an intoxicated Cal alone in the leisure room seemed like a recipe for terrible things to happen, especially if he was on edge even without the alcohol. Alas, it was just the two of them. “Nah, I’m good, but uh, thanks,” she replied. “It smells… y’know, good.” It did not smell good. Regardless, Jade slumped down next to Cal, allowing them to sit shoulder-to-shoulder. “Though I might be smelling you at this point, not the bottle. Been going at this long tonight?” --- Cal pulled a face as she suggested he smelt because he might be drunk but he could still hear… tone of voice and her tone of voice did not suggest she thought the alcohol smelt good. He rather promptly turned his head and sniffed at his t-shirt which did not smell thank you very much. If anything he did actually smell quite good, like deodorant and cologne. “Yup,” he affirmed as he tipped the bottle to his lips and took a much longer pull than the one he’d taken prior to Jade’s arrival. “I lost track after the first couple of bottles, cans, whatever those things are.” He gestured to a small pile beside him. --- Jade leaned forward to she could take a better look at the pile that Cal had amassed beside him. Cans and bottles indeed. How had nobody stumbled across him yet? Or maybe they had and, unlike Jade, thought better of getting involved and just kept on walking. “I didn’t know it was possible to drink your weight in whiskey and beer,” she said somewhat sarcastically. “You are going to have a shitty morning, my friend.” She shook her head as he practically gulped from the bottle. “Maybe I will have some of that, yeah?” Jade held out her hand towards him, waiting for Cal to pass the bottle over to her. --- Oh, people had stumbled across him, but one very dark look and a few choice words later had seen them on their way. Cal didn’t like people as a whole and liked people less if he didn’t know them and they might see him in a state of vulnerability. “You’d be surprised,” Cal drawled as drunk!Cal was impervious to sarcasm, he was teflon. “Worry for tomorrow Cal not right now Cal. Right now Cal is drunk and intending on enjoying it.” He eyed her hand and was seemingly reluctant before he finally passed the bottle off, shaking his head. “Doesn’t taste as bad as it smells, promise.” --- “Does drunk!Cal always refer to himself in the third person? Because I might need to have a serious conversation about that with sober!Cal.” While Jade would hardly say that she knew Cal well – it was only really through Alejandro that they had ever crossed paths at all – she knew that this was all very strange. Or, rather, it felt strange; she couldn’t help but look around again, wondering when Alejandro might swoop in to check in on one of his followers. When he passed the bottle, Jade gingerly took it from his hand and gave the mouth of the bottle a tentative sniff. She immediately withdrew, coughing at the mere scent of it. “Woah, I’m calling bullshit on drunk!Cal. Drunk!Cal has terrible taste.” Still, Jade took a sip, but instantly winced and shuddered. “God, remind me to introduce you to Bulleit Bourbon some day.” Rather than pass the bottle back over to him, Jade held it slightly out of reach at her side, as though she might actually take another sip. “So, is there a specific reason you’re in here drinking alone?” --- “Maaaaaybe,” Cal drawled, hand moving through his hair and squeezing at the the back of it before his touch settled on his knee where it picked at a few fraying strands of denim. “I dunno, just felt right that time.” He did however snort and gave Jade a lopsided smirk as she insulted his taste in alcohol and didn’t seem to enjoy it as much as he did. But then was enjoying the right word? He’d wanted to get drunk and he was drunk so… mission achieved? “‘Cause my friends have all gone batshit crazy,” he offered as he glanced at Jade, eyes dark and definitely more than a little unfocused. “So, I figured why not?” --- He looked somewhat tickled by the fact that she was nearly gagging at his choice of liquor. Jade resisted the urge to roll her eyes at that expression, instead settling for shaking her head as though slightly disappointed. Jade’s expression softened somewhat when he suggested that all of his friends had gone ‘crazy.’ The Outsiders and the Regiment combined was always going to be a catastrophe, but he was right; things did seem more extreme than she had ever anticipated they would be. Then again, she hadn’t seen any of them in several years now. “They haven’t gone batshit,” she told him softly. “But… it’s hard to keep it together in this place. It might not be easy, but you guys will figure it out. You all love each other.” She put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. “Though it might be difficult to do that if you’re so drunk that you’re going cross-eyed.” --- “Coulda fooled me,” Cal pointed out with a snort before he turned his head to regard the hand on his shoulder before his gaze travelled up the arm attached to the hand and eventually it rested on Jade’s face but he was definitely seeing two or three of her so focusing was difficult at best. He wet his lower lip before drawing it in between his teeth before his head thumped backwards and his hands raked through his hair. “Nothing wrong with needing a break.” --- Jade shook her head at him. From the bleary-eyed way he was looking at her, she couldn’t help but think it was a miracle he was forming proper sentences at all. “True, there’s nothing wrong with taking a break,” she agreed before she climbed back onto her feet and held a hand out towards him. “But that doesn’t usually involve getting drunk alone on gross whiskey.” She gestured for him to take her hand. “Come on, I’m gonna get you back to your room before some handler or one of the shrink finds you and decides to ban you off alcohol or anything that might resemble taking a break.” --- Cal scowled when Jade insisted that she take him back to his room though she was probably right, he shouldn’t be out in the open like this. Too many people who could gawk and make remarks and that wasn’t what he wanted, not when he hated being vulnerable as it was. “Fiiiiiiine,” he mumbled in a low pitched rumble before he managed to grab a hold of her hand and pull himself to his feet though his co-ordination was shot to shit and so instead of it being a smooth transition he ended up colliding with Jade. Oof, fuck. “Sorry,” he muttered as he finally righted himself. -- Jade tried to offer as much support as she could to help Cal got onto his feet, but their strengths weren’t equally matched, and with the alcohol in his system, Cal didn’t exactly have the best balance or enviable grace. Rather than getting him upright on his feet, Cal stumbled forward. Jade, still holding tightly onto his hand, merely acted as a weight to pull him forward, causing him to barrel into her like a bag of bricks. And when his forehead knocked against hers, Jade was fairly certain she saw stars. “Shit—,” she stumbled back herself, barely catching herself—she might have actually stumbled further if she hadn’t tightened her grasp on his hand and also taken hold of his shoulder. Shaking her head and catching her balance, Jade shrugged and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “It’s fine. Are you—?” she rapidly released her shoulder and rubbed her forehead. “You okay?” --- “Yeah, I think,” Cal murmured as he was so drunk he didn’t register pain especially the kind caused by head on collisions. He did however feel bad for the fact he’d just hurt Jade when he hadn’t meant to and despite her assurances he could see the pain written across her face. Mm, fuck. He blinked in a weak attempt at getting back on a steadier footing before he just rubbed a hand through his hair, his hair which was considerably longer than it had been, idly noting that it might need a cut soon. These were the thoughts of drunk!Cal. “Y’sure you’re okay?” --- “Yeah, I’m sure,” she winced as she rubbed the spot on her forehead that was almost certainly going to be a goose egg. “If I feel bad, I’m just gonna remind myself that you’re going to have a really bad headache in the morning.” She patted his shoulder and then lifted her hand. “Normally, I wouldn’t do this on the base for fear of getting a good bout of electro-shock therapy, but—,” as she stretched her fingers out, purple sparks began to crackle around her fingertips. Behind Cal, a portal began to rip, creating a bridge between the leisure room and the common room of Cal’s suite. She had considered just kicking him through into his room, but since she only knew the general layout and not where anything in it specifically was… this just seemed safer. Better to not drop him on a dresser or anything. Twirling her finger to indicate to him that he ought to turn around, Jade nodded at the portal. “After you, Barney Gumble.” --- “Hey,” Cal grumbled when she compared him to Barney Grumble. Hopefully he was at least better looking than Barney? Or maybe not. Who knew? Cal turned and blinked at the sight of a portal before he stepped through, rapidly moving from leisure room to the common room area of his suite. Thankfully he had a very strong stomach or that could have been… ugly. Really ugly. The common room was blessedly empty and Cal even in his very inebriated state did know the way to his room and with a stagger that would put a zombie to shame he lurched in the direction of it. --- He didn’t throw up after stepping through the portal so – hey! He wasn’t too far gone. At least not yet. The wooziness would probably hit him even harder later. It was gonna suck, but she opted not to tell him about that – he’d find out later anyway. Once Cal was through, Jade closed the portal and then teleported into the suite beside him. She was very, very happy that it was deserted by any of his suitemates – that might have been an awkward story to tell. Maybe a little funny, given the way he was wobbling towards his room with all the grace of a toddler just learning to walk. “You’re making me very, very sad we don’t have some kinda inter-Limbo YouTube, Cal,” she commented as she put an arm around his back to help support and guide him. “Now which one of these is yours?” --- “I would not be happy,” Cal began as he turned and waved a righteous finger of… righteousness in Jade’s general direction, “if this ended up on any sort of video channel ‘cause not cool, Jade, not cool.” He slumped against a nearby wall and grumbled under his breath about walls moving and getting in his way. He gestured. “My room, it’s that way.” When they did finally get to his room and he somehow managed to get the door unlocked Cal swung into it by the door handle before finally righting himself at which point he unceremoniously divested himself of his t-shirt because if he was going to pass out which he probably was he was not doing it fully dressed. --- When Cal wagged his finger at her, Jade swatted it. “Stop that,” she grumbled, although there was a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips – something she would go to her grave claiming hadn’t happened. “Given the amount of security they have in this place, though, there probably is somebody watching anyway.” And they were likely getting a big kick out of the whole thing. Regarding his directions, she rolled her eyes. “Very helpful, Cal.” It was amazing to her that he managed to find his door, let alone get it unlocked. Although the pile in the leisure room had been impressive—that couldn’t have been all he’d had tonight. The guy was just tanked. Jade shut the door and flicked on a light. Cal had already tugged off his shirt and slung it on the ground (along with some other items that probably should have migrated into a hamper). She strolled closer, giving his back a little nudge to prompt him towards the bed. “Think you can manage getting off the shoes?” She glanced around, searching for his waste basket – upon finding it she tugged it closer to the edge of his bed. “In case you get sick tonight, okay?” --- In answer to her question Cal decided to show her rather than tell her as he put his arms out to either side as if that would somehow help with balancing and begun to toe off his boots in a rather haphazard fashion. In hindsight it would have been better to remove his shoes sat on the bed but in his drunken state he wasn’t exactly thinking clearly. Thankfully for Jade Cal managed to have enough sense not to strip out of his cargo pants in front of her but he did ditch the belt and slung it in the direction of the lamp and sure enough it hit and shattered. “Whoops,” he drawled with a grimace though his head spun round to regard the waste basket, small nod being given. “Mm, gotcha.” --- As soon as Jade noticed that Cal was removing his belt, she somewhat bashfully turned away, nervous that he was going to start removing the pants right afterward. Instead, he whipped the belt and it, not surprisingly, cracked against the lamp, which promptly shattered. Wincing as they were plunged into darkness, Jade cleared her throat. “I guess fuck that lamp in particular, huh?” She tentative moved closer, taking his wrist gently in her hand before she led him towards the bed to get him seated. Hopefully in a more stationary position he’d be less likely to fall and break something – another lamp, or a limb. “I’ll get the glass cleaned up before I go,” she told him quietly as she knelt on the floor, hoping to scoop away any of the bulb that had shattered onto the floor. Before she got too into the mechanics of cleaning up this mess – and the empties in the leisure room – Jade couldn’t help but look up at Cal’s face, searching for his gaze in the dark. “Cal—,” she hesitated – the Outsiders were protective of their own, and Alejandro had his own special sway over them all, and truly, it wasn’t any of her business. And yet, she continued, “Are things really this bad? Is Alejandro…?” She couldn’t believe that one of his followers was feeling so lost, this was what he’d opted to do. --- Cal was slouched over with his arms folded over the top of his knees, his head hanging down and hair covering his eyes which finally lifted to find Jade’s gaze in the darkness of his room because yeah fuck that lamp. “S’not been easy,” he shared with a shrug. “One thing after another and nothing makes sense.” He also felt very much like he was fighting a losing battle, not with Sandy and Frankie, but with the others? Definitely. Of course now Sandy wasn’t talking to him, avoiding even, and that just wasn’t right. “Can’t seem to keep shit together.” --- Jade frowned. She slowly got to her feet and took a seat on the bed next to him, her arms folded across her chest. “You know it’s not your responsibility to ‘keep shit together’, right? That shouldn’t all be on you.” That was easier said than done, of course; Jade understood that very well. It hadn’t ever been her responsibility to ‘keep shit together’, but that was what she’d always strived to do, especially as a kid, when it was just her and Ruby and a somewhat unstable father to tend to their essential needs, but hardly their emotional ones. “You know if you ever need anything, you can ask for help. You’ve got people here who will help—however they can.” When it came to problems within his group of friends, Jade knew that was easier said than done, too—the Outsiders were an insulated group. Alejandro had really done some irreversible damage with them, even if his intentions had been nothing but pure. --- Cal’s gaze turned to the hands he now pressed together with palms working over one another as his drunken state felt a lot more… serious and a lot more morose than it had and he could feel the tension in his jaw from where he was pressing his teeth together. He’d never been good at asking for help, ever. Even with the Outsiders, he didn’t ask for their help. “Not good at that,” he admitted with a small humourless chuckle as he shifted until he was able to shimmy up his bed at which point he pressed his back against the wall and drew his legs up. “Sorry,” he mumbled a moment later as he scrubbed a hand through his hair. “M’good now if you wanna get on with whatever you were doing ‘fore you found my drunk ass.” If there was one thing Cal hated more than anything it was feeling powerless and vulnerable and right now he felt both of those things. --- He looked exposed sitting there like that, staring at his hands and smelling of bad whiskey. Her lips thinned into a terse smile when he admitted that he wasn’t good at asking for help; relatable. “You don’t have to apologize to me,” Jade replied. “I get it.” The grin on her face became somewhat softer as she got to her feet and pulled back some of Cal’s messy covers for him. “I wasn’t up to much. Just looking for my sister,” she admitted. “But I’ll let you get some sleep. The offer stands, though. And even if you don’t want to ask for help, I guess I’ll just have to hover and that way you’ll know someone’s around, if you ever need it.” Once she threw some of the blankets over him, Jade pointed once more at the waste bin. “Remember—it’s there if you need to get sick. Cleaning vomit off the floor when you’re hungover is the worst. Not speaking from experience, of course.” --- “She doing alright?” Cal asked as he crawled in the direction of his pillow before he basically hugged it by sliding his arms under it and around, head turned to regard Jade through a strand of hair. He then gave a quirky almost boyish smile followed by a small nod of his head. “Yep, got it, waste bin. I’ll be sure to use it.” He was definitely going to feel this in the morning and would be in desperate need of a shower. Worries for another day. -- Jade smiled. “I think so,” she nodded, but didn’t sound nearly as certain as she’d like. “I mean, as good as anyone can be doing around here, you know?” Probably not a good conversation for drunk!Cal, especially when he was starting to look so close to passing out. He looked a lot younger and more carefree when he grinned up at her through the shaggy mop of dark hair on his face. “Good,” she told him with a chuckle. “Because you’d be on your own for throw-up clean-up.” Jade offered him a small smile and patted his shoulder. “Take it easy, Cal. And maybe, once the hangover wears off, get a haircut?” It was her attempt at a little joke, but it wasn’t likely to be remembered in the morning. Most of this, probably, wouldn’t be remembered in the morning. She became quiet as she knelt down to clean up the rest of the glass on his floor and then, once it was gone, Jade teleported out of his room to dispose of the empties in the leisure room. |