Caleb is the cat in the hat (worth_therisk) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-02-02 19:14:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, caleb rivers, yue katou |
Who: Katou and Caleb
What: Meeting. Katou may have let news of the Network slip
Where: Random bar
When: Tonight
Rating/Warning: Low/none
Status: Complete
Caleb was new in town. Granted he was always new in town these days. He never stayed in one place for too long. It was risky. Sure, he had no idea if his old gang was out looking for him, but he couldn’t be too safe. He may still be a criminal, but he was not a killer. There was no way he was going back to that life. He’d much rather be on his own.
Caleb was currently staying at a hotel. He had some money from selling his pimped out cell phones, back to to the basics. He decided to blow some of the cash he made at a bar. Even though he was twenty-one now Caleb still had a fake ID with a different name. He flashed it at the bartender before ordering a beer.
If there was one thing Katou was good at, it was spotting fake IDs. Apparently, he was better at picking them out than the bartender on staff, given that the bartender didn’t even question it. Of course, Katou had spent a good chunk of his youth hooking up people with good fakes. Once upon a time, he had been the dealer for a man at the DMV, which is how he’d managed to score a very realistic one for his teenage years.
Still, this guy didn’t look like a teenager. “So, how old are you really?” Katou asked, sliding up to the man.
“Twenty-three,” Caleb replied easily going along with the birthdate on his fake ID. He had perfected lying along with knowing all the facts of his fake identity, right down to his astrological sign. “What’s it to you?” Caleb asked looking over at the man next to him.
Katou snorted. “That what that thing says?” he asked, gesturing toward where Caleb had pocketed the fake. “I can spot a bad fake like that from a mile away.” He leaned back in his chair and shrugged. “Ain’t nothing to me though.”
Caleb wouldn’t exactly call his fake ID a bad one. Therefor making it all the more impressive that he was able to spot Caleb’s. “Yeah?” Caleb asked with a small smirk on his face keeping his voice low. “How exactly do you that?” Caleb was usually more careful. He didn’t often talk to strangers about possible criminal activities. But he already sized this guy up. Like the other man was able to spot a fake a mile away, Caleb could spot a cop. Even an undercover one. And this guy was not giving off those vibes at all.
“I’ve dealt with my fair share of fake IDs,” Katou grinned. “Makes it easy to catch if you know what you’re looking for. Looks like that chump,” Katou jerked his thumb toward the bartender, “didn’t know what he was looking for. Whatcha drinking?”
This guy was sure chatty. But whatever, at least he changed the subject from fake IDs. Because while it didn’t seemed like the guy cared, Caleb didn’t exactly want others overhearing. “Just a beer,” he replied. “You come here a lot?”
“Sometimes,” Katou said. “Not too often though.” Not often enough that the bartender would realize that he’d been lying about his age for more than half a decade, at least. Now that he was 21, he had finally retired his old fake ID. “What about you? I ain’t never seen you around before, but then…” Well, he had just admitted that he didn’t come by very often.
“Thought you didn’t come by here much?” Caleb replied not missing a beat. Though he did still answer the man’s question. “I’m just passing through.” Caleb never stayed in one place too long. He couldn’t afford to.
Katou grinned at the response. He liked people who were quick. “That’s what they all say,” Katou said, with a wink. “I think you’ll find this place has a habit of pulling people in and not letting them go.”
At least, not for a while. Katou’d had too many friends up and move away for him to really believe that no one ever left.
“Doubt it,” Caleb replies as his drink came. He didn’t think anyplace could really pull him in. But then he had no idea about Orange County yet. “That what happened to you?”
Katou frowned contemplatively, mulling over the question in his mind. “Not exactly,” he said. “Born and raised here. But I did try leaving once. It didn’t stick.”
“Could be because this is home for you,” Caleb replied with a shrug. “I’ve never had one,” he added taking a sip of his drink. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was talking about it with someone he barely knew but it wasn’t really a big deal. It was just a fact of his life.
“It was never really home for me either,” Katou said, frowning thoughtfully. “At least, not until I was about seventeen. I signed up for this website, and it hooked me up with some people who helped me out.” He didn’t want to think about where he’d be if he hadn’t reconnected with Jack and met Wendy. Probably lying dead in a ditch somewhere.
Caleb had been part of many networks in his day. None of them ever made him feel like he was home. To say his interest was piqued was an understatement. “Oh yeah?” Caleb asked with a raised brow. “What’s the network?”
“Valarnet,” Katou said, and then immediately wondered if he should have. Introducing someone to Valar was hardly doing them any favours. Even if they didn’t end up getting the dreams after signing up - though Katou knew of no one who hadn’t, eventually, started dreaming - he’d still think that everyone on the damn thing was completely nuts.
But, it was too late to do anything about that now. “Though, it might not be what you’re expecting,” he added belatedly.
Caleb was sure whatever this network was wouldn’t surprise him. He’d been on so many now nothing was new to him. But he wasn’t about to tell this guy that. He kept the whole hacker thing under wraps. “What do you think I’m expecting?” he said instead with a raised brow and a smirk.
“Whatever it is you’re expecting, you’re wrong,” Katou said, smirking right back. It really didn’t matter what it was, or how much time someone spent on the internet, Valarnet was indescribable. “Trust me.”
“How do you expect me to trust you when I don’t even know your name?” Caleb questioned not missing a beat. Again he doubted what the man was saying about the network but he decided to drop that part of the conversation for now. Not wanting to hint at his past. He would just have to check this valarnet out and see for himself.
“Katou,” Katou said, offering his hand for a hand shake. “And you are…?”
Caleb reached out his hand to shake Katou’s. “Char-” he stopped remembering Katou already had a glimpse at his fake ID and knew it was a fake. “Caleb.”
Katou grinned a little, happy, strangely, that Caleb had thought to give Katou his real name instead of his fake one. Though, he supposed it might be just as likely that Caleb was a skilled liar as to make it seem like he’d given Katou his real name. But Katou would take it for what it appeared.
“Well, Caleb. Nice ta meetcha.”
“Yeah,” Caleb said with a grin. “You too, Katou.” He finished off his beer and placed some cash down for the bartender. “Maybe I’ll see you on that network.”
“Oh, you definitely will,” Katou said with a wink. “Catch you around.”