Katou (katoustheshit) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-07-29 23:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, caleb rivers, yue katou |
Who: Katou and Caleb
What: Katou comes up with a great way to use his shapeshifting abilities.
When: Tonight
Where: Caleb's house
Warning/Rating: Low/none.
Status: Complete
What was the point of being able to shapeshift if you couldn’t use your powers for evil? In this case, Katou knew what he had to do as soon as Caleb had posted to the Network about his double. It had taken him a couple days to figure out Caleb’s schedule, but Katou wasn’t going to school and didn’t have much of a job. It wasn’t stalking if you were using the information to prank someone, okay? Once he’d figured it out, he’d shifted his shape to look like Caleb. More specifically, the original Caleb who’d died sometime in the early 1900s.
He’d been careful at first. Making sure that Caleb caught the odd glance of him, just enough to make the other man wonder if the Original Caleb hadn’t actually gone away with the rifts. But he was kind of bored with that now. Which is why he was outside of Caleb’s house in the middle of the night, calling out longingly: “Miranda? Where are you, Miranda?” Awkward beat. “My love.”
People in the early 20th century always ended sentences with ‘my love’ didn’t they?
Having a stalker in the dreams, even if they weren’t directly stalking Caleb. It made him very aware of his surroundings. For some reason he had a feeling that someone had been watching him the past few days but he brushed it off as paranoia thanks to those wonderful dreams.
Caleb had just fallen asleep when his own voice jolted him awake. Miranda? Had he been dreaming of Ravenswood? He was pretty sure he was long past that mess. Then he heard it again. Fuck. Was Original Caleb back? Caleb had thought he had just gone away with everything else. But maybe not. Maybe this had nothing to do with whatever those portals were.
Sighing he got out of bed and went to see what was going on. Sure enough when he opened the door he saw a 1900s version of himself. “You’re back?” he asked eyebrows knitting together.
“Sure am,” Katou said. He cleared his throat. “I never left,” he said, adding a little extra class to his voice, because in every historical drama Katou’d watched, old people all sounded classy as fuck. “I can’t leave until I find Miranda.”
Sure am? That didn’t sound like something Original Caleb would say. What the fuck was going on? But Caleb wasn’t jumping to any conclusions just yet. He frowned at the mention of Miranda, again. “She’s not here,” he said shaking his head sadly. “I don’t know where she is.” Or if she even exists.
Really, all Katou knew about this guy was that he was old as balls and was looking for this chick named Miranda. “Really? That bl -” Blows was definitely not right. Sucks probably wasn’t right either. He paused, looking up as he tried to think. “That’s too bad.” Then he shrugged, almost carefree. “I guess in that case I’ll just have to come in for some scotch. To like, ease my broken heart or something.”
Close enough.
Uh….
Original Caleb was sure acting weird. Well weirder than normal for someone who was displaced from their time. He had also never known him to ask for a drink before. But Caleb did have some, yeah he was cutting back but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy a drink now and then. Moderation was the key.
“Uh, yeah sure,” he said scratching the back of his head. “Come on in.”
Katou grinned a very Katou-like grin, before he turned and followed Caleb. He was totally pulling this off. Caleb - the real Caleb - seemed a little confused. But he hadn’t started asking any questions yet, which was good enough for Katou. He even whistled cheerily as he walked Caleb’s house, hands in his pockets.
“You’ll help me locate my dear, sweet Miranda, won’t you, my good man?” Katou asked, putting on airs again. “After we have a few?”
He didn’t think he could explain the whole Miranda thing again. Breaking a guy’s heart over and over again was not his idea of a good time. “Yeah,” Caleb said walking over to his kitchen. He got out the scotch and poured two glasses. One for each of them.
“I’ll help you find her,” Caleb handed over the glass. “Are you sure you’re okay? You seem a little… off.”
Katou took the offered glass, and then hopped up to take his perch on Caleb’s countertop. “Yes, old chap,” Katou said. You know, talking like this was kind of fun. He could get used to this. “I’m feeling perfectly alright.” Then he frowned to himself. “But what exactly seems off, if you don’t mind?” After the covert op thing he’d had with Wash, he could probably stand to get a couple of pointers. Step up his game.
Caleb wasn’t sure he could put his finger on what exactly. The way he was talking was part of it. “I don’t know…” his voice trailed off as he took a sip of his drink giving him some more time to think about it. “You’re talking kind of… funny. Did you pick some things up from Hanna?” The whole ‘like ease my broken heart or something’ sounded more along the lines of something his girlfriend would say than Original Caleb.
Katou frowned. Was it too over the top? Not over the top enough? How the hell was he supposed to talk like someone who he’d never even met before? It was a question he’d asked himself before, but goddamn was it annoying.
“Yeah, that was probably it. That Hanna chi- woman must have rubbed off on me,” Katou said into his glass of alcohol. “And, you know, everyone else I’ve run into over the last little bit. Adjusting to this time period has been quite the endeavor.” Look at him, with his ten dollar words. Booyeah.
Was he about to say chick? Caleb raised a brow. “That’s weird. That a few weeks here can start taking over your whole life,” he commented. Not really out of suspicion just observation. “But I guess it’s good you’re fitting in better.” Wait. Was it good? Now people might really mistake Original Caleb for him. He frowned at the thought.
“You’re telling me,” Katou snorted. Even if you were from this century, the OC could be difficult to adjust to. He wondered if the original Original Caleb would have been completely lost. Maybe Katou should have acted more like a fish out of water. How is there light without fire and all that shit. Wait. Did they have electricity in 19-whatever? “But yeah, I already found myself a job. It’s some coffee shop right across a street from that really tall building. Stark Industries or something?”
Caleb almost spit out the sip drink he had just taken. “Stark Tower?” Seriously? He was going to work right across the street from where Caleb worked? He coughed attempting to recover. It also bought him a little time before speaking again. “You don’t need a job,” he finally said. “You’re more than welcome to stay at my place.” Caleb made more than enough money. He was actually thinking of getting a bigger place now that he had a dog but that was for another time.
Alright, Katou couldn’t do it anymore. He burst out laughing, a very Katou-like laugh that started in Caleb’s voice, but as his hair grew longer and blonder and he shifted back to his usual self, it was his own voice. “Oh man, really man? I mean, living with Kanan’s pretty nice, but I wouldn’t say no to rooming with you.”
What the fuck was happening? Caleb stared with wide eyes as he watched the man the looked just like him slowly shift into Katou. “What the hell, man?” He finally asked once the shock began wearing off. A sense of relief washed over him too. As bad as he felt for Original Caleb he didn’t really want the guy around. “You can…uh… transform?” Was that the right word?
“You bet I can,” Katou said. “Shapeshifting’s kind of badass.” And entirely a skill that Katou didn’t use nearly often enough to fuck with people. “So, whatdya think? Totally pulled it off, right?”
Shapeshifting. That sounded much better than transform. “I don’t know about totally,” Caleb replied gulping down the rest of his drink. “But don’t ever do that again. The last thing this place needs is two of me… again.”
“You sure?” Katou asked, grinning. “Because I could get used to that. It’s not every day I get free booze and offered a place to crash for free.”
“ But see,” Caleb began with a smirk. “I know your secret now. You won’t be able to trick me next time.” At least he sure as hell hoped not. He would be expecting Original Caleb. But if Katou wanted to transform into someone else? Well who knew. “Besides you can drink my booze or crash here anyway.”
“You see, now I’m just gonna take that up as a challenge,” Katou snorted. What better way to practice his covert skills than by trying to trick Caleb? “And that, my friend, is a dangerous offer to make. Consider it accepted.” No takebacks now, Caleb. Someday you just may come home to find Katou already started on the booze.
“Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?” Caleb joked referring to both the challenge and the offer. With Katou who knew what was in store.