Who: Callisto and Isaac When: Back dated to shortly before the move to Yokohama What: A quiet chat Where: The Midway Warnings: Drinking; Vague mentioned of unwanted memories
It didn’t seem to matter how long Callisto had been with the circus whenever it was getting ready to move she felt it on an emotional level that seemed impossible to shake. It was heavy, all-consuming, and oppressive. Most of the time she pushed through by keeping herself busy but this was a particularly intense one meaning she was turning to other means of distracting herself.
Wine was a good choice, a solid choice.
Less so at the time of morning, but she found she didn’t care about the court of public opinion.
She was currently sitting on the midway nursing a glass, hoping and willing her mood would lift.
Isaac felt itchy whenever the circus was getting ready to move. Antsy. Like he could assume his wolf form and just run and run and run for days. It was a nervous kind of feeling, but not necessarily unpleasant. The only real concern Isaac had whenever he started to feel the energy build in his muscles was giving into the urge and actually running and in the process being left behind.
Keeping himself occupied was usually a good way to distract himself from the itchy, antsy feeling. He wasn’t on duty, but he was walking the grounds anyway. He spotted Callisto, as he made his way down the midway.
He made sure that she saw him before he spoke, lest startling her. “Hey,” he said, coming to a stop by her table. He glanced at her glass, then back at her. No judgement, though he was curious. “Want some company?”
There wasn’t much that could startle Callisto because whilst she might look like she wasn’t paying attention she had her ears and eyes on everything, old lessons were not easily forgotten.
She turned her head to lift her gaze to Isaac, humming softly in consideration before simply pushing a chair in his direction using the tips of her toes.
As much an invitation as any.
“Can’t sleep?”
“Haven’t tried,” Isaac answered. He slid into the offered chair across from her. “I’m technically on duty,” he went on. “But I have about –” he checked his watch. “--five minutes left before I’m done for the night.” He could knock off a little early.
He looked at her, his expression calm despite the urge to bounce his leg under the table. Far be it for Isaac to judge someone for drinking this early in the morning. It wasn’t as though he’d never done anything like that before. But if he was feeling the effects of an oncoming move, others probably were as well.
“Feels like we’ll be moving soon,” he said, glancing up the midway. He turned his eyes back to the vampire across from him. “How are you feeling?”
Callisto’s nails lightly tapped the side of the glass as she held it before it was lifted to her lips, a slow, considering sip taken. “You can always feel it in the air,” she agreed with a nod. “It’s tangible, like a weight, it’s hard to explain, but thankfully I don’t have to.”
She was silent for a moment, evidently weighing up something, as she refrained from answering his question.
As a rule, she didn’t let people in and was very careful about who she did or didn’t let see her soft underbelly, as limited as it was, but Isaac in the short time that she had known him didn’t strike him as the sort to gossip.
“I have felt better,” she finally admitted.
As long as Callisto wasn’t about to go on some kind of murderous rampage or hurt herself in any way, whatever she told Isaac wouldn’t leave the table. He fished his pack of cigarettes out from his back pocket. He glanced at her before he took a cigarette from the pack. “Would this bother you?” He asked.
He watched her face, noting the way she looked as though she had something on her mind, something weighing her down, which would probably explain why she was out here drinking at this hour.
“D’you wanna talk about it?” He asked.
“No, go ahead.” Callisto shook her head, she had no issues with cigarettes just as long as the smoke wasn’t aimed toward her.
Did she want to talk about it? Million-dollar question. Yes, no, maybe. Callisto repeated the tapping of her nails against the glass. “The move always leaves me feeling… a certain kind of way.” She cast her gaze over towards Isaac. “Sad, emotional, that sort of thing. It’s… suffocating, to say the least.”
She hitched her shoulders upwards and exhaled.
“It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last.”
Isaac moved so that the smoke wouldn’t blow in Callisto’s direction. He listened to her as he lit his cigarette and took the first drag. He understood that Moving Day felt different to everyone. For some it was exciting, for others scary. He turned his head away from her when he blew out the smoke.
He nodded. He didn’t say that he got it, because he didn’t know exactly what Callisto was feeling, but he was sympathetic. “It makes it hard to concentrate,” he agreed. He looked at her. “Is it just the feeling of the upcoming move, or does it trigger something else?”
“Makes me feel my years,” Callisto remarked, wryly. “And of those, there are many, lots of memories, it makes me more… contemplative and far too prone to recollection and reflection.”
She tipped the glass to her lips and took a further sip.
“I look forward to when it’s over, truth be told.”
Isaac would have been lying if he said he wasn’t looking forward to the move being over either. The same could be said every time the Cirque got ready to move. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to get used to it. This time felt particularly intense for whatever reason.
At least for him it didn’t drudge up any painful memories he’d rather forget. He had his fair share in his 28 years wandering around in the world. Callisto had wandered the world centuries longer. The amount of years she had to reflect upon would have taken Isaac more than a lifetime to even fathom.
Isaac wasn’t sure if he should prompt her to embrace reflecting back, or help distract her from doing so. “I think we’ll all be happy once the move happens,” he said. He blew out another puff of smoke and watched it dance in the early morning air. “And I think we all have things in our past we’d rather forget.” He looked at her, his head tilted a little to the side. “Doing so is easier said than done. So the question is, do you want to spend a little time reflecting, or would you rather be distracted from it all?” He gave her a rueful grin. “I don’t have anywhere to be, so I’d be happy to help in either scenario.”
The vampire did have a lot of things in her past to reflect on. Moments like this were when she lingered on missed opportunities, lost moments, things that could have been differently, but also the pervasive feeling of loneliness she managed to ignore most of the time.
Callisto’s eyes slid over to Isaac, and her head tilted to one side as she considered his proposition. She certainly had no desire to sit here and stew in her feelings. “Well, if you don’t have anywhere to be, then I would certainly not complain about being distracted.”
She reached out to capture the wine bottle by the neck as she had no intention of leaving that behind.
Isaac wouldn’t push Callisto to reflect or remember anything she would rather not. He felt bad and sympathized with her for it. He wasn’t without similar memories of his own. Maybe one day, Callisto would want to talk about them. If ever she did, Isaac would be there to listen. He liked Callisto and trusted her. They had a pretty nice arrangement going on, but Isaac liked to think of her as more than just someone he slept with, and who he let feed from him. He considered her a friend, though he wasn’t sure if she felt the same way.
He smiled at her, the smile turning a little devilish when she picked up the bottle of wine. He could think of a few things they could do to distract her, if that’s what she wanted. Or they could just shoot the shit and chat while walking the grounds. Either way, Isaac was willing to help however Callisto needed.
He nodded his head up the midway. “C’mon, let’s take a walk.”