Caleb Danvers (c_danvers) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-06-04 09:56:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, alex manes, caleb danvers |
Who: Caleb Danvers and Alex Manes
What: Drinking and Talking
Where: Pandemonium
When: Tuesday night
Rating: PG-13 for alcohol consumption
Status: Complete
It was a typical Tuesday at Pandemonium and Caleb was tending the bar like usual. It was only mildly busy with a few patrons hanging around at the bar and a couple were dancing to the music from the sound system. Caleb had decided on a up beat 90s mix for the night and was quietly singing along to the music as he dried off the glass in his hand. He actually enjoyed working on the Tuesday nights because it was a good excuse to leave the house and it wasn't as stressful as the weekend. Sometimes he even spend time reading books on his kindle when it was super quiet. His head lifted up as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye so he could greet the newest patron.
Alex had enjoyed the first Tuesday night foray into Pandemonium. He’d dragged Quentin with him, a sort of safety blanket for something new and uncharted. Alex might have known he was gay for a long time but he’d squashed himself down and moulded himself into what he’d needed to be to survive so much that he had long since lost sight of who he was.
And though this place definitely wasn’t his scene, he was curious enough to go back and on his own this time. He’d been having a break from his dreams of Roswell, New Mexico which was a relief and was now blissfully back into the habit of his own nightmares. He never thought he’d be glad about that.
Easing onto the stool, he smiled a little when he saw Caleb reacting to his arrival, having watched him bopping on the spot for a moment.
“Hey,” he greeted quietly, lifting his hand in a half-wave.
To say that Caleb was pleased to see Alex again was an understatement. His face lit up when he saw Alex come around and without his friend this time. That was a surprise. He didn’t mind Quentin, he had been a nice guy to chat with, but he was either expecting Alex to be over the bar or bring his friend along again. An easy smile rested on Alex as he lifted a hand to greet him, “Hey there, stranger. All by yourself tonight?”
He threw the towel over his shoulder as he put the dry glass back under the counter with the rest of the clean ones. He gathered up the couple random coasters that were on the counter where Alex was going to sit and moved them off to the side, “Did you want to play DJ for an hour again?”
Alex tipped his head, listening to the strains of nineties music that was playing, tapping his fingers on the bar in time with the beat, positions changing every now and then with a shift in the chords like he was imagining what it would be like to play and he shook his head. “Pretty sure I can cope with this,” he reassured, lips curling up again. “Not too much of a cliche.”
He leaned his forearm on the bar to stop playing imaginary guitar and his eyebrow quirked upwards slightly. He’d seen how Caleb’s face lit up and he wasn’t used to people being quite so pleased to see him - at least outwardly. It was hard not to respond to that with a grin of his own but he’d managed. Just about.
“Think I can get a beer?” he asked, “figure if I’m gonna sit here for a while I should at least be an actual patron rather than just propping the bar up for no good reason.”
“Perfect, I gotta make sure my favorite customer is happy. Don’t really care about the others, but don’t go telling them that,” Caleb whispered to him with a smirk as he moved closer to where Alex was sitting. It was interesting to watch him drum out the beat of the music. Caleb did that sometimes when he was left alone in a weird situation, “Besides, if it’s music I know then you can listen to me sing incredibly off-key, but like I’m on Carpool Karaoke or something.”
“What kind of beer do you want? I can recommend something if you don’t have a favorite. We have a few on top and a few in bottles or cans,” he grabbed a beer list, which un-surprisingly wasn’t used as often, most of the people that came to the bar wanted a cocktail. Caleb was a pretty easy drink and was never too picky.
Alex did smile brightly in response to the smirked comment. “Don’t worry, Caleb,” he reassured, “I’ll keep that between us. Wouldn’t wanna make anyone else jealous.” His eyebrows lifted playfully as he took the beer list. There were a few on there that he didn’t recognise, so he glanced across the bar to see what was on tap before the comment about recognising music filtered through and his eyebrows lifted. “You saying my choice last week wasn’t something you knew?” It had been a trial to only pick one or two Fall Out Boy, MCR and Panic! songs, considering how much he loved them, he’d made sure that he didn’t just have it be Emo Hour.
He frowned after a moment, “...Carpool Karaoke?” he queried, because it rang a distant bell but he had a feeling it was one of those things he’d missed while he was out on deployment. Pop culture tended not to quite make it to the USAF bases in the middle of the desert. “Oh- and, uh, I’ll just have an IPA. Whichever you’ve got on tap.”
“No, I know some of the songs. I was listening to more metal and rock during that time than the emo stuff, but it wasn’t bad,” Caleb admitted with a slight chuckle. His taste in music was a little all over the place because he did listen to a lot of rock music (it was great for getting out of his own head while in high school), but he did listen to pop music and knew more about 90’s boy bands than he probably should. Caleb didn’t know Alex when he was younger, but he could see a younger Alex having a bit longer hair, maybe an anger bang, and listening to MCR in his car.
“Oh, it’s that thing on the James Corden late night show. He gets celebrities in his car to sing their songs with him. He’s honesty so over the top that it makes it fun, but it also makes the celebrities seem a bit more like normal people,” Caleb didn’t watch a lot of tv, but those clips online made him laugh. Some of the celebs really got into it and Caleb wished he sounded that good just singing along in the car, “And sure, I can grab you an IPA.” He turned around to grab a fresh glass and get the perfect pour before placing the beer on a coaster in front of Alex.
Alex nodded, figuring it was easier to just nod along rather than let it be known that he also had no idea who James Cordon was. Late night television wasn’t something he watched (even if he was up most nights). It was really political and honestly, he just wanted to not have to deal with a lot of that crap at the moment. The idea sounded neat, though, and Alex did enjoy singing. He just hadn’t done it in a while. Hadn’t picked up a guitar in a year or so either. He made a mental note to rectify that.
He shifted, tugging his wallet out of his pocket ready to pay for the beer when it was placed in front of him, thanking Caleb and sliding a bill over the bar and then lifting a shoulder. “Sounds like fun. Pretty much nothing feels better than cranking the volume and singing along when you’re driving.”
Singing in the car and the shower was about all Caleb did. Oh and maybe a drunk karaoke night, but he didn't consider himself any type of singer. If the music was loud enough at the club he would sing along because he knew no one could actually hear him. He took the money from Alex to not raise a fuss, but little did Alex know that the second one would definitely be on him.
He made change and placed in front of Alex before giving him a nod of agreement. His eyes were alight with excitement that someone also agreed with him, "Exactly! It takes all your cares away when you can just crank that music and scream out a song that speaks to your soul. I am not a super musical person, but I definitely appreciate a well written song. I think that is also why people really love the music they listened to growing up. It is a part of us."
Alex chuckled, lifted his beer to his lips and took a sip as he nodded. “There’s something special about music,” he mused, leaning his elbow on the bar, tracing a finger through the condensation on his glass as his eyes lifted to look at Caleb again.
“Everyone can be a little bit musical,” he reassured, “the act of enjoying it makes you musical as much as anything else.” He took a breath and then let it go, “Making me wish I had a guitar, Caleb.”
“Well, that’s very kind of you to say. And you play guitar? That’s awesome,” Caleb was impressed because Alex seemed to have many layers to him. He hadn’t been expecting that, but now he could easily imagine him with a guitar in his lap and strumming along while ignoring the rest of the world. The imagine brought a small smile to the corner of his mouth before one of the customers at the other end of the bar called out to him, “Be right back.”
He stepped away to take care of the that customer, making a simple mixed drink thankfully, and made his way back over to Alex, “So, what have you been up to since the last time I saw you? Anything exciting? Anymore meet-cutes at the coffee shop?” A chuckle was attached to the last question.
Alex nodded, about to say that he’d once had dreams of being a musician when someone else needed serving. Alex just drank his beer, thinking about music and how much he missed it before he was rejoined by the dark-haired bartender and his eyes lifted, amused and happy to have company.
“Not really,” he admitted, “you feeling better?” He’d seen the post on the network where Caleb had been feeling ill, he’d wanted to offer to help but he was still nursing the last remnants of his clash with his father in his dreams. His ribs still aches, the breaks not yet healed though most of the bruises had faded. “I’ve run into approximately zero new people.” His eyebrow lifted. “You? Decided to make a habit out of running into guys at coffee shops yet?”
“I am, thankfully. My cough is finally disappearing, but man that was awful. It just sneaks up you and I want to give a raise to whomever invented Mucinex,” Caleb admitted. He was surprised that Alex had seen his post on the network, but it was sweet of him to remember. He was only coughing very sporadically now, but didn’t have to take anymore cold medicine, so he counted that as a win.
The question from Alex made a blush appear on his cheeks and he looked a bit bashful, “Oh god no, I almost considered it just to see if it would work again, but no one was catching my interest. And don’t worry, I’ve run into enough new people with my internship I’ll let you consider them new to you as well.” He almost wanted to say that no one was as cute as Alex, but he hadn’t notice Alex’s attractive until after he had almost stolen his coffee.
Alex snorted. “I think purposefully running into someone takes the spontaneity out of it, too,” he agreed. Most of the new people he’d met since coming back had been weird little twists of fate. He was thankful, though. It was nice knowing people who didn’t have the weight of Before hanging over them.
“You started that yet?” He asked, “I’ve fought my need to walk around the museum, just in case you’re not there yet.” He winked, sipping at his beer again. It did feel good: just talking. “Guessing Between that and this it’ll be keeping you pretty busy, huh.”
“It seems a little weird to do it on purpose, so you’re completely correct,” Caleb admitted. It was one thing to plan a meet up, or a date, or whatever, but it was another thing to go out trying to run into people on purpose. It felt a little stalkerish because you’re surveying the crowd before you do it. Definitely not Caleb’s style.
“I did, just yesterday. It seems like it will be a lot of fun. And you should definitely come visit sometime,” the idea of anyone Caleb knew coming to visit him at the museum was a happy one because it made work that much more fun, “but give me another week to truly know my way around so I don’t get us both lost. And I’m definitely staying pretty busy, but it’s kind of nice. I’ve never been someone who wants to just stay still and do nothing. You?”
Alex laughed, “Yeah, okay. Getting lost in a museum isn’t on my list of things to do this month. I’m pretty good at following maps, though, so it’d get you unlost pretty fast.” It was accompanied by a wink.
What had he been doing? Nothing much; recovering mostly. “I’ve been focusing on getting my business up and running, and trying to teach my best friend’s dog that doors aren’t meant to just be opened whenever she feels like it. And I’ve been gone for ten years, I have a lot of catching up to do with old friends and stuff. Not as interesting as an internship.”
“Well, I appreciate your map skills then,” Caleb grinned back at Alex, “I’ll make sure to get practice on a great tour spiel to impress you.” It would be easier to practice giving tours to someone like Alex compared to his friends because they would probably end up mocking him the entire time.
“That sounds just as interesting, Alex! Don’t sell yourself short. Getting a business up and running is amazing; I am always in awe of people that manage to get their own business going because that is a lot blood sweat and tears. Also, teaching a dog to do anything takes skills - I kind of want to get a dog in the future. And catching up with your friends is also important. Friendships are what make up who you are,” Caleb took a pause before a smile appeared on his face, “I think you just want me to hype you up and feel good about yourself.”
“Better be a good spiel,” Alex nodded, “to spice up some of the areas that don’t have dinosaurs for entertainment.” Placing his glass down, Alex rubbed his fingers together, the condensation cook against his skin. His hand felt bare, he missed rings. There were a few things about before the Air Force he missed, rings being one of them. He’d look into that, later. Maybe Liz would go shopping with him? Ugh, god no. He’d just do it alone.
He rolled his eyes, “It’d take a lot more than that to make me feel good about myself,” he deadpanned, somewhere between being heavily sarcastic and deadly serious. “It’s nice that I’ll be my own boss: I’ve had more than enough of taking orders. And yeah-friends are good. I mean, mine are giving me shit ‘cause I just came home and didn’t tell them.” He lifted a shoulder, smiling again. “I’d offer to let you have Kyle’s dog but he’s pretty attached to her. She’s got this habit of letting herself into the guest house -where I live- whenever she wants and whines at the door if I lock her out.”
“I will make it the best just for you. I’ll have to come up with some interesting trivia for you for the non-dinosaur areas because you’ve already proven that you know more about dinosaurs than I can ever compete with,” Caleb chuckled and lightly balled up a napkin to toss at Alex playfully.
Caleb’s face turned a bit more serious when Alex started to talk like that and he frowned ever so slightly, “Hey, don’t say things like that. You should feel good about yourself. Look, you’re even offering me a whiny puppy that loves you. And you got friends who are mad that you didn’t announce you were coming home because they missed you so much and wanted to give you a proper homecoming. You just need to look at things differently because you’ve got some amazing stuff going on in your life.”
Catching the napkin, Alex unballed and balled it up again. He would have thrown it back but then Caleb was frowning at him and he opened his mouth to argue and realised that it probably wasn’t worth it. He just threw the napkin back at Caleb, perfectly aimed throw (thank you training).
“Aren’t you just ever the optimist?” He teased gently, his lips curled up into a softer -slightly more vulnerable- smile, “I should bring you along to the next VA meeting. We could use someone who’s good at seeing the bright side of things.”
The ball coming back at him earned a small laugh as he caught it and placed it on the counter, “Sometimes. I just don’t like people being too hard on themselves. You’re obviously not seeing how awesome you are and how important you are to your friends, so why not be that outside force to remind you? And your fellow veterans would probably think I’m ridiculous. I can only work my charm on one person at a time.”
With that he gave a smile before turning around to pour Alex another beer and pushed it in front of him, “I think you deserve another one of these.”
Alex downed the last of the beer that he had and pulled the new one towards him, fingers reaching for his wallet again. “I don’t know,” he teased, eyes brighter than they had been a moment before, “I’m pretty sure you’d be a hit at the VA clinic.” After all, aside from Kyle, there were a lot of doctors that weren’t all that easy on the eye and sometimes that was precisely what was needed to soften up a tough session.
He did, however, make a mental note to avoid Pandemonium when he was particularly wrapped up in his sense of self-loathing or when he was having a bad PTSD day. “I think I need more people like you in my life,” he announced, lifting the glass in a toast. “You aren’t gonna get in trouble for talking to me, right?”
The moment Caleb saw his hand go towards his wallet he immediately waved Alex off, “This second one is on me. I usually give my friends at least one free drink while working, so don’t bother trying to pay me. Besides, you’re giving me an ego boost now by saying I’d be a hit at the VA clinic. If there is something I can do to help out there as a volunteer, feel free to let me know.” Caleb did believe in making sure to give back to the world and volunteering at the VA would probably be a good experience to have.
“I think you probably have more people like me in your life than you know, but I’m here for you,” he explained with a smile before grabbing himself a glass of water to toast with Alex, “Nope, it’s quiet enough. They know to just yell at me if I’m busy. Besides, you’re far more fascinating than any of them.”
Alex laughed, “So I might get a free drink provided I come by when you’re working?” he asked, “Getting to pick the music and a free drink? Anyone would think you’re trying to bring in more people to the quieter nights.” He winked and sipped at his drink. “I don’t know, I can drop you the number of the volunteer coordinator if you’re interested, but it can be kind of a grim place.” Especially if you weren’t used to the slightly more brutal sides of those that returned from active service. Still, it would be nice to see a friendly face after a PT session. “You would be a hit, though.” That wasn’t a lie. Face like Caleb’s would be a welcome sight.
He snorted, “Probably, I’m just real bad at working out what is and isn’t in front of me,” he admitted with a nod, because he really was. Kyle called him a dumb smart person all the time. He ducked his head a little at the compliment, not used to people other than Michael being so forward. “I think you’re just tired of the regulars,” he retorted though there was very little self-deprecation that time, “luckily, I enjoy talking to you, too, so it’s a win-win.” And it got him out of the house, which was also a huge bonus.
“Yep, that’s my rule. I mean I’m pretty awesome to let you do the music and the drink. And don’t worry, I only try to invite my favorite people. I can’t let everyone know about Tuesday nights or else I wouldn’t have time to talk to you,” Caleb pointed out, but at least Alex was figuring out that coming to visit him definitely had some perks, but hopefully they wouldn’t only hang out while he was working, “Thank you, I’d appreciate that. I can handle it especially if it helps anyone out and is there a reason I would be a hit or is it just my bright optimism?”
“It happens; sometimes we get caught up in our own head too much,” Caleb could definitely do that when he was alone. He also tended to focus on making sure his friends were okay over his own need, but he was working on getting better at that. Caleb had to laugh at Alex’s blunt point because it was completely correct, “I mean I am, but you really are more interesting. I’m glad you enjoy talking to me because I would be very upset if you didn’t like me and were just using me to have emo night at a bar.”
Alex’s eyebrows raised, “Fishing for compliments, are we?” he asked, smirking a little over his beer. “Let’s just say the average age of the staff in the VA clinic with a few notable exceptions is the wrong side of fifty.” He winked and shifted on the stool, stretching his leg out by flexing his ankle and rolling his shoulder. It ached, but then most of him did if he was honest. The banes of being a Manes man.
With a single shoulder hitch, Alex quipped, “Well, not only using you to have an emo night at a bar…”
“A little,” Caleb admitted with a bashful smile. He didn’t mind compliments in the slightest and he liked to fish for them from someone who didn’t give them as easily, “Ahhh, that makes sense. I am adorably young and can appeal to everyone.” He watched as Alex stretched himself out and reached under the counter to pour two shots of vodka and passed one over to him, “You look like you need something to relax those muscles.”
“Oh yeah? Well, that’s good to hear. I mean I have a few uses, so don’t just go for the music.”
“How young is young?” Alex asked with a chuckle, beer half-empty already and he was glad that he wasn’t on the same strong pain meds that had been since he came back to OC. Not drinking had been a pain in the ass. Kyle would probably still rip him a new one for drinking anyway but that was what happened when you had a doctor for a best friend. He had assumed that Caleb was at least twenty one, but then he could be like Liz and just look a lot younger than he was. “But you’re not difficult to look at, I’ll give you that.” He tipped the beer, took a sip and then gratefully took a shot. “Half feel like you’re tryna get me drunk,” he teased, knocking it back anyway. “I learned to drink with Marines.”
He rested his hands on the bar, “A few, huh? I saw you mix up a cocktail earlier, so I’m adding that to the list.” He caught himself after a second and blew out a breath. “So when you’re not behind a bar or working on making history interesting, what do you like to do? I mean, if you have any down time.”
“I’m twenty-two, so not that young, but young enough for people to still come up and ask me if I am graduating high school sometime soon,” Caleb didn’t enjoy that, but he had to admit that at least he didn’t look haggard and old. He felt his ears go a little pink when Alex complimented his looks and gave him a happy smile, “My job isn’t to get you drunk, but I can aid you if that’s your decision to get drunk. I do have to cut you off when you’re too far gone though. So, you’re saying you can drink me under the table? We’ll have to give that a test when I’m not working.”
Caleb picked up his shot, lifting it in cheers to Alex, “You’re not difficult to look at either, especially your smile.” There was a wink as he tilted his head back to take the shot. His face screwed up slightly. Man, he hated taking vodka shots, but they worked well.
“I am pretty good at making cocktails, at least good enough that they let me keep this job. And I really enjoy just going to new places to explore. Sometimes my friends and I enjoy going to these dive bars and trying to hustle people at pool. I also enjoy a good movie now and then. What about you?”
Twenty two? Jesus, Alex felt ancient in comparison though he was only twenty seven. He cleared his throat, thinking briefly back to where he’d been a few years back and thinking this was definitely the better option. “So hard, being carded all the time.” Alex drawled, teasing. His general ‘do not fuck with me right now’ expression tended to stop people carding him on the rare occasion he did look on the young side. “So you must be pretty fresh outta college.”
At the complement, Alex ducked his head a little and passed the empty shot glass back across the bar top.
“Hah, you’d get along with my-“ Fuck, what were he and Michael? He had no idea. “- friend Michael. He’s a mean pool shark. I’m not good at pool, but I’m great at darts.”
He wet his lower lip. “Uh, I used to play music, I’ve spent most of my free time catching up on what I’ve missed.”
“Yeah, I told you I just graduated when we met,” Caleb reminded him with a chuckle, “And being carded does suck! But it’s funny how it sucks now and then you appreciate it so much more when you get older.” He luckily didn’t usually have to card people at the bar when it was a busy night because the bouncers did it, but on slow nights he did and the older gentlemen that came in usually thanked him for it.
He noticed the couple dancing on the floor making their way to the door to leave and he lifted a hand to wish them a good night. He gathered up the empty shot glasses to put them aside to clean later, “Oh you’re good at darts? You should help me perfect my game then. That’s the one I haven’t quite gotten down perfectly yet.” He would love to kick Reid’s ass in darts for once.
“You should definitely keep playing music, it obviously means a lot to you. And what kind of stuff are you catching up on? Movies, tv, etc? Or going to see places around the area?” Caleb was curious about that. It reminded him of Captain America having the list of things to read about so he was caught up on the 70 years he missed in ice.
Alex blinked, rubbed his hand over his face and looked apologetic, “You did, fuck, sorry,” he grimaced and ducked his head, hand passing through his hair. “It’s been a weird couple of weeks.” And that was putting it lightly; with the dreams and the general crap that was going on he was surprised sometimes that he knew what day of the week it was.
He glanced back as Caleb’s attention drifted, watching a couple of people leaving and thinking that it was nice that the bartender noticed those kinds of things. He supposed it was easier when it was quiet, and it probably got him good tips. “There’s not a whole lot to entertain yourself with in the desert,” Alex offered with a chuckle and a lift of his shoulders. “Despite the requisition order, no one would fly us in a pool table.” He sipped at his beer, thinking back to the downtime that had been prevalent for a while. No one had warned them about the boredom, though it was quickly gone once Alex became part of a special forces unit.
His eyebrows lifted and he hummed thoughtfully, glass dangling between his fingers before he placed it down again. “Uh- movies and TV mostly, Kyle - my housemate - he’s got a list of shit that I missed that’s ‘culturally important’, but I’m not sure I can trust his opinion since he hadn’t seen Star Wars until two weeks ago. OC’s changed a fair bit, but that’s been easy to get to grips with, since I’ve had the free time to move around.” Even if he hadn’t been able to walk as far as he used to.
“Alex, it’s totally fine. We had just met, you don’t have to memorize every detail I said,” Caleb quickly responded as he reached over to pull Alex’s hand away from his face and hair. He was totally fine with it if Alex didn’t remember something like that. It was a minute detail to his entire life, “You’re allowed to forget things. Your own life is the most important thing.” Which while that could be considered selfish it was true. Self-care was more important.
Caleb gave him an incredulous look with a laugh, “Did you guys seriously ask for a pool table? That’s genius, but of course they said no. I’m trying to imagine them flying in a pool table and then having to move it around if that camp closed down. I can only imagine the weird things you guys did to keep yourselves entertained. It’s a shitty situation no matter what.” Caleb felt for the military members who had to basically give up everything just to keep them alive. It was a hard situation no matter what kind of mission you were on.
“It’s wise that you don’t fully trust his opinion. Star Wars is the most culturally important thing that he’s been missing. Shame, but at least he’s getting you caught up. What’s the best thing you’ve gotten caught up and what’s the worst?” Caleb asked curiously. It was kind of interesting to speak with someone who didn’t experience things that he just took for granted that it happened.
“My memory’s usually a bit better than that,” Alex offered by way of apology, feeling the warmth of Caleb’s fingers around his wrist and leaning back once his hand had been removed from where he’d been awkwardly hiding his face. He lifted his shoulder and went back to his beer. “Like I said, crazy few weeks.” He still needed to get Liz and Kyle together to try and do something into understanding what these dreams were, which reminded him, he should at least text Kyle and let him know that he’d grab something to eat on the way back since the guy was doing the late shift and Alex was a considerate housemate. Most of the time, at least.
He snorted, “Yeah, I mean, we asked for a bunch of shit knowing that if they said no to the outrageous stuff they’d probably give us the smaller things. So our request for a DJ set and portable dance-floor was denied, the pool table was denied, and I’m pretty sure one of my guys asked for an on-call masseuse.” He laughed, “so when we asked for a dartboard and a DVD player they were like ‘thank god’, you know?”
Alex shifted again, hands braced on the bartop to stretch out his leg. He stood up, shifted his weight a bit before easing himself back onto the stool, rotating his ankle He looked forward to when the aches stopped; as soon as summer hit properly and there was zero chance of temperature fluctuations, he should be much better.
“I didn’t reality TV when I was a teenager,” he admitted, “I still don’t get it now. Had a lot of The Big Bang Theory to catch up on and man, I was disappointed.” He lifted his shoulders, “I missed Pacific Rim in the theatres, which is a shame ‘cause watching it on a smaller screen loses some of the impact, I think.” He wet his lower lip, “I’ve missed all of the Marvel stuff, really, so I’ve gotta set some time aside to watch all… eighty hours or whatever of it.”
And Alex was more than allowed to have a crazy few weeks. They didn’t know each other well enough for Caleb to pry into what was going on in his life just yet. Maybe some day in the future, but for now all he could really do was nod. If Alex wanted to talk about it then Caleb would let him be the one to start the conversation. Instead they continued to talk about the entertainment options at the base and Caleb couldn’t help but laugh, “Ok that’s pretty smart to just ask for crazy things and then go for the small stuff. Whoever came up with that idea is an evil genius. Although I totally get asking for a DJ set and masseuse, but hey a dartboard and dvd player is way better. But that makes complete sense on why you’re unnaturally gifted at darts.”
Caleb watched him carefully as he stretched. If he could hire him a masseuse he totally could. Alex looked like he was in pain, but there was never a good way to fix deep muscle pain without a lot of drugs. “Reality tv is kind of stupid, but hopefully Kyle isn’t making you catch up on anything Kardashian – if you can completely avoid them then go for it. And I haven’t watched Big Bang Theory,” people usually questioned him when he admitted this fact, but he just gave a shrug, “Not my thing. I don’t watch a lot of tv that isn’t history related because I find that more fascinating. And Pacific Rim? You’re upset about that movie? I would be way more upset about the Marvel movies. You should just try to watch one a day; 2 hrs isn’t too much to give up. It’ll be worth it.”
“You can thank my CO at the time,” Alex said with a little grin, “he’d had the idea from the guys that made Team America, believe it or not.” He rubbed behind his ear and shrugged. “Something to be said for having someone entrenched in the behind the scenes shit.”
He saw the slight look of concern on Caleb’s face as he shifted and he waved a hand, “I’m okay.” He thought it was probably too heavy to explain that the injury came from the war but he did say, “Old injury just healing.” Old was less than a year but that was hardly the point. “Get stiff if I sit too long.”
Wetting his lower lip again, Alex rested his elbow on the bar and leaned his temple against the heel of his palm. “Nah, Kyle’s a doctor so he can’t rotting his brain on anything to do with the Kardashians. Oh, I missed the surge of people being obsessed with that Dr Lee woman, though.” He pulled a face. He didn’t quite understand the appeal. Alex tended not to watch a lot of the factual history things, preferring music documentaries or things that spoke to his inner teenage geek. “Hey, I like the lead actor, and it’s giant monsters and robots.” He shrugged, unapologetic. “Are they really worth all the hype?” He nodded, “Anything you think I should specifically catch up on?”
“Bless Team America and their weird puppets,” Caleb laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. People had to get creative sometimes and it that CO was completely inspired with what he was doing. He listened to Alex wave him off explaining that he was fine and just a bit stiff, “Are you turning into an eighty year old man before my eyes? What kind of curse did you get put on you?” He couldn’t help but tease him a little to ease the slight tension and concern he had for Alex. Again, Caleb didn’t see where it was his right to ask about it just yet, so he had to take things at face value even though he could see something else in his eyes.
“Kyle is apparently smart in more ways than one. Thank god you can basically ignore all of that. It’s just so pointless and I really wish America would get over them already. Oh! Dr. Pimple Popper? She seems like a really nice lady, but I can’t watch too many of those videos in one go. Sometimes you just have an urge to be grossed out and her videos work, but I can’t watch that show,” Caleb really only knew about her because he and his friends would sometimes send each other gross videos to freak each other out. Hers were definitely a hit amongst them, but those people that watch to relax themselves made no sense, “Ok, I get it, I won’t get between you and giant monsters and hot men ever again. And the Marvel movies are a must. It’s the most ambitious movie project ever by stringing all those movies together with an underlying plot. Endgame, the final movie, was absolutely amazing. I think you basically need to watch all of them to fully understand who is who.”
Alex laughed, bright and surprised. He loved the fact that Caleb didn’t make a big deal out of it, “Yeah, I got cursed by an IED. Rebuilt my leg with pins and shit so I’m in that really crappy phase where it’s almost healed but not quite so it still hurts all the time.” Then there were the broken ribs but those were dream related and he wasn’t sure how to explain those. “You work out how to uncurse me, I’ll buy you lunch.” He knew it was impossible, but on the off chance that Caleb knew of some kind of miracle cure, he wouldn’t turn it down.
There was something about how Caleb lit up as he talked about the Marvel movies and Alex was nodding along quickly, other hand lifting in supplication. “Okay, okay- I’ll get right on that. So I’ve got… what, fifteen or something? So it’ll take me two weeks if I watch one a day.”
“Oof, that is the worst kind of curse,” Caleb immediately felt terrible for Alex to have to go through a situation like that. There was absolutely nothing he could do about it, but he felt bad. It wasn’t pity, it was just that no one that should have to go through something like that. Especially when it causes bodily injuries to them and he was lucky that he wasn’t missing any limbs. Way too many veterans were coming home without them and it made Caleb wish the world was a better place, “Does that mean you can sense when it’s going to rain? But seriously man, that sucks. I can definitely try to figure out something for you to be uncursed – I’ll do some digging.” He wasn’t sure if his powers could do something like that, probably not, but maybe he could find something useful in the process of looking. Caleb was a loyal friend and willing to do weird research tasks.
“Actually, I think it’s like 20 movies or something, but just a few weeks and you’ll be set. If you need to discuss what you’re watching and spin off your theories you can always hit me up. But I want you to promise to not go googling things online and potentially spoil yourself,” Caleb scribbled down his phone number on a napkin because he realized he hadn’t given it to Alex yet, which was odd. He slid it over and noticed the bar fly at the end of the bar getting up, “Be right back.” He wandered over to the other customer and settled things up with him, wishing him a good night, and pocketing the decent tip the guy had left.
Alex’s eyebrows lifted. That was a lot of movies. He better get started. He was sure Kyle had most of them, if not he could get them, and start on them after watching Pacific Rim. He glanced down at the number scribbled on the napkin and reached out, unfolding it and ripping it in half before he leaned across the bar as Caleb headed off to say goodbye to someone, scrawling his own number down on the other half, along with his name.
Once Caleb came back over, Alex had finished his beer and slipped Caleb’s number into his pocket. “I should probably be heading back anyway, gotta grab something for Kyle to eat before he gets home off shift.”
There was a tiny hint of a frown once Alex declared he was going to be leaving; slightly due to the fact that now Caleb would be alone in the bar and definitely have to get started on cleaning up thing, but mainly because they were having a great conversation. He understood though, Alex couldn’t hang out all night and who wanted to stay until bar close on a Tuesday night? He noticed the phone number on the counter and flashed Alex a smile as he tucked it into his own pocket so he would accidentally lose it. “Are you just the nicest roomie ever? And thanks for your number, if I don’t hear from you about how Iron Man is in the next couple days then I’m going to send you a barrage of texts,” Caleb teased before taking a brief second to look over Alex and assess if he was good to go from the bar. He did this to basically all his customers and was pretty adept at ordering ubers for people now, but Alex seemed sturdy on his feet, “Get home safe, okay? I’ll talk to you later.”
Alex tapped two fingers on the bar, dropping a $20 into the tip jar with a wink. “Will do, Caleb. Talk soon, yeah?” He returned Caleb’s smile with one of his own and adjusted how his jacket was sitting before he straightened up and raked his fingers through his hair, glancing back over his shoulder to throw a brief wave as he headed out into the cool evening air.