Minho (trustyourgut) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-06-11 20:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, caleb danvers, pogue parry |
Who: Pogue Parry & Caleb Danvers
What: Grabbing food and falling into familiar habits
When: Sometime after this
Where: Beach & restaurant
Rating/Warnings: PG | None
Status: Log | Complete
Caleb had just wrapped up a day at the museum and while sitting in LA traffic he decided to send Pogue a text to ask if he wanted to get together tonight once he was back in the area. Thankfully Pogue agreed and Caleb let him know he'd pick him up at the beach. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as the traffic slowly inched forward. It was a painful drive, but worth it because the internship was really a lot of fun and useful. Finally traffic freed up the closer he got to town and he could finally go a normal speed.
It didn't take long to get to the beach. He parked in a nearby lot before getting out of the car and scanning the beach for Pogue. It wasn't hard to pick out his best friend with his long hair and toned physique; it also didn't hurt he had a small gaggle of girls standing off to the side watching him. That elicted a chuckle and an eye roll as he let out a whistle to let his friend know he was there.
Pogue definitely hadn’t been joking about making good use of the ocean and that was apparent in how he’d spent the better part of a few hours on in the water or playing volleyball with some people he’d just gotten talking to at the beach.
That was the thing about Pogue he could and did make friends anywhere. One of the many reasons he’d survived travelling given the lack of financial support due to his emancipation though it would seem when he hit twenty one he like the rest of his friends had a trust fund squirrelled away but he was going to dip into that to help out with stuff at Caleb’s so he wasn’t a total freeloader. He was going to look for a job, but for now he was enjoying the sun surf and sand.
Of course the moment he heard a distinct familiar whistle he turned his head and greeted Caleb with a blinding smile. He immediately excused himself from the game of volleyball and jogged over to where Caleb was.
“Hey,” he greeted, tugging Caleb into a hug as he was dry thankfully.
"You're lucky you're not soaking wet right now," mumbled Caleb in the middle of the hug while trying to laugh. Thankfully he was taller than his friend, so he wasn't smashed against him by any means, but it was a tight hug. He returned it before they broke apart and Caleb took a glance down at the beach, "Looks like you're making those girls quite sad with the disappearance of your abs." There was a teasing grin on his face as he looked over at his friend, trying his best not to openly stare at the abs he spoke about.
He moved around to the trunk of his car and grabbed a towel to throw at his friend, "For you to get the sand off." Caleb learned quickly that sand in his car was one of his major pet peeves. It was about as insidious as glitter and got everywhere. It wouldn't surprise him if Pogue didn't bring a towel and just allowed the sun to dry him off every time he came out to the beach. He reached a hand up to run it through his hair, "Did you wanna grab dinner or go shopping?"
Pogue chuckled at the lightheaded teasing from Caleb as he followed the other man’s eye line to the group of girls that had been hanging about. “They’ll get over it I’m sure.”
He caught the towel with a grin. “You and your car.” He clicked his tongue playfully in Caleb’s direction before he used the towel to get rid of the sand though not before he’d retrieved his bag of clothes. “I could eat.” Not a lie, Pogue could always eat.
Rather unceremoniously Pogue stripped out of his trunks without a care in the world and then slipped back into his boxer briefs a moment later, the trunks being bundled up and put into his bag.
"Hey, you try to get sand out of your car, it's the biggest pain in the ass," Caleb retorted with an eye roll before giving him a mock glare, "Awesome, I know a good Chinese place down the road that we can hit up." Caleb had tried out basically every restaurant over the years in this little area and around campus. It didn't hurt that he was open to trying new things, so why always eat the same boring thing? But it also meant he had tried some disgusting places and could warn off his friends from going there.
He was musing this in his head when Pogue stripped off his swim trunks and Caleb's eyes went wide. His brain malfunctioned for a moment as he looked away, probably not as quick as he could have been but oh well, and coughed, "Wow, Pogue. Now they're definitely going to be sad after that little show." Once his brain restarted he remembered to look around to make sure there weren't actually any cops around to slap them with an indecent exposure ticket.
Pogue snorted quietly as he tugged his jeans on over his legs and focused on fastening those to his hips. “Hey, they’re the ones looking. I’m just getting changed.” He smirked over at Caleb and wondered if he imagined the slight flush to his friend’s golden complexion?
Possibly.
Deft fingers did up his belt before a dark t-shirt was tugged on and a hand raked through his hair to settle it back into place.
Definitely a flush to his complexion and Caleb was doing his best to try and get it to disappear by thinking about cold showers and boring history facts. It was working because eventually he returned to normal and turned back to look at his best friend once he was finished getting dressed. "At least camera phones can't zoom in far enough over here for your photo to be passed around the sorority houses," Caleb teased once again as he grabbed the towel off the top of his car, shook it out a few times, and then threw it in the back of his trunk, "You ready, Fabio?"
It had been a nick name that stuck around for a while since Pogue was basically the much more attractive version of 90's Fabio with the flowing locks and chiseled abs. He moved to get into the car and waited for Pogue to join him before he started it up.
Pogue was in the process of tugging on his boots when Caleb finally turned to look at him. “Small blessings, am I right?” He gave Caleb’s shoulder a playful shove when he pulled that old nickname out of his bag of tricks. “Asshole.”
He gathered up his bag and slipped into the passenger side of the car.
The shove earned a laugh as he batted back at his friend with his hand and rolled his eyes. He was lucky that he didn't get left at the beach, but Caleb was too nice to ever abandon anyone unless they fucked up royally. They pulled out of the beach parking lot and made their way towards the restaurant, "I talked to Magnus about you coming on as a bartender. He seemed cool with it, so if you want to go in to interview he'll most likely give you the job. He's a good guy."
Pogue had rested his bag between his feet and had his elbow propped up on the door, hand buried in his hair. “Yeah? That’s awesome. Thanks. I’ll definitely wanna interview. I mean, I can’t mooch off you forever and pretty sure my trust fund isn’t a bottomless pit all things considered.”
"I mean, you probably could try," Caleb answered with a laugh, "But I'll give you his direct number and you can call to set something up. I didn't want to schedule anything that might interrupt your reenactment of the volleyball scene from Top Gun or anything." He turned to flash Pogue another grin as he made a couple turns into the back parking lot of the restaurant.
“Nah,” Pogue said with a shake of his head. “Asshole my dad was probably put some sort of bullshit in his will that would cut me off after a certain point.” Not that his mom was much better.
Coming back to the topic at hand he snorted. “Minus the dog tags.”
"Fuck 'em. That's why you're here with us. We're your family, Pogue," he reached over to grab Pogue's hand and gave it a squeeze. They truly were their own family. Caleb might be the only one who had a fairly normal home life, but his parents weren't gold star parents by any means. That's why he would never give up his group of friends, "You should get some dog tags; the girls will come up with some mysterious origin stories for you." He took his hand away from Pogue's as he pulled into a parking spot and turned off the car.
Pogue had felt tension prickling across the back of his neck and spreading out into his shoulders the same way it did every time he thought about his "family" but it lessened when Caleb took a hold of his hand and squeezed. He was right, fuck them, his friends were his family.
He snorted at the idea of getting dog tags. "I'll leave those to the actual soldiers." He grabbed his bag and pushed open the door to step out.
"Probably the better idea," Caleb commented with a laugh as they got out of the car. He ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up a bit more, and stretched his arms over his head, "I really should have picked a place where you stand up to eat. My legs are dying after that drive home."
Pogue pulled the strap of his bag over his shoulder and closed the car door. "You should get yourself a massage or something." Wasn't like Caleb couldn't afford it. He began towards the restaurant. "Any recommendations on what to have?"
"A decent idea, but I'll be fine," Caleb wasn't a huge fan of massages mainly because they felt like a waste of money to just have someone rub your muscles for an hour and then you just went back to feeling the same not longer later, "Basically everything is good. The noodles are great, the crab ragoons are amazing, and I usually get the moo goo gai pan. Oh maybe some egg rolls too."
"So practically everything?" Pogue asked teasingly as he lightly nudged Caleb with his hip before he grabbed the door and stepped through, waiting for Caleb to join him. He had skills as far as massages went and maybe if he'd given his career and future actual consideration he might have thought to go into something like that.
"I mean, I don't go to bad restaurants anymore," Caleb countered with a laugh as he lightly reached out to push his friend's shoulder. They entered and Caleb made his way to the hostess stand to request a table for two. It was only a couple minutes before the hostess came back to grab them and show them to their table.
"I like how you used anymore in that sentence." Pogue shot Caleb a shit eating grin before he trailed after the hostess before sliding into a chair as they got shown to their table. His jacket was shrugged off and draped over the back of his seat as Pogue leaned forward to pick up one of the menus.
"I mean, when I first moved here I had no idea, so I basically tried everything with friends. I'm sure you went to some awful places while you were traveling around," Caleb explained with a laugh. Of course Pogue picked up on the word anymore. Besides, they ate horribly when they were in high school as well. Once seated Caleb stretched out his legs to the side of Pogue's chair and grabbed his own menu, "What's the best food you ate while traveling?"
Pogue was silent for a few moments as he thought about that question. "That's a tough one." He raked his fingers through his hair as his eyes scoured the menu. "Some of the best food I've had was street food and I have no fucking idea what was in half of it but damn it tasted good."
"Oh, I bet that would be a lot of fun. I think I'd be more open to trying things if I have no idea what they are. Then I can decide if it tasted good or not," Caleb was firmly in the camp of don't tell him he's eating something weird until after he has eaten it. The waitress came by to ask about drinks and Caleb ordered a beer.
“It was definitely an adventure.” Pogue glanced up at the waitress as she came over and ordered a beer as well because you couldn’t beat a classic. “Some adventures were better than others.”
"You going to give me some more details on some of these adventures or do you want to gather the whole group together so you can tell everyone at the same time?" Caleb asked with a small smile. He was curious about Pogue's adventures, but understood if he didn't want to tell the stories over and over.
Pogue chuckled as he sat back into his seat and slid his arm over the back of it before smirking as he lifted his shoulders. "Maybe, one day. Drop them into conversation like breadcumbs or some dumb shit like that." Not that he thought his adventures were all that exciting but then it had been a very different world and different experience from their time growing up in Ipswich. "And," he started as he held up a finger, "Some of them will require a lot of alcohol."
"You are so odd," Caleb retorted quickly with a snort and shook his head, "Oh really.... why do we need to be drunk to hear a story? Are you trying to be immersive or do you want us to forget about the story later?" That made Caleb genuinely curious about what he was trying to do. The waitress returned with their beers and took their food orders.
Pogue snorted at the use of 'odd' in reference to him because pot calling kettle. "Oh, you'll see when I tell them." And he knew which ones needed alcohol and which ones didn't so all would be revealed. In good time. When the waitress came back Pogue ordered an impressive amounts of mains but then he could always eat, he had a voracious appetite and he definitely worked out enough for it to never be a problem.
"Suuure, man, sure," Caleb rolled his eyes with a good-natured grin on his lips. He couldn't help but tease Pogue, but he was truly curious about what in the world had been going on while he was traveling. A laugh was given after the waitress walked off from their order, "They're going to wonder how this white boy is going to eat all the food he just ordered." Caleb had ordered a few things, but definitely not as many as Pogue, which would be crazy to watch arrive at the table.
"This white boy is going to surprise the hell out of them," Pogue muttered with a grin before he took a slow pull from his beer before he ran his tongue over his lower lip to catch any lingering alcohol. "But you gotta fill me in on what I've missed with you." He might have been the one travelling the world but that didn't mean he was the only one with stories. He was well aware that life went on when you were absent.
Caleb caught the motion of his tongue and glanced down to his beer to wipe some condensation off before lifting it to his own lips. Why was it suddenly so different with Pogue now that he was back? Was it because of the kiss at the airport? It wasn't like they hadn't kissed before. He needed to get his head out of this. Once he finished his sip he bashfully ran a hand through his hair, "Oh god, not a whole lot. School, all the school, and trying to keep Tyler and Reid in line. I'm happy to be done and doing the internship now, but not 100% sure what I want to do for a job just yet. You missed a lot of keggers."
To be fair he wasn't the only one feeling a change in the air but Pogue being Pogue figured he was reading into things that weren't actually there because honestly he was by far the worst choice of anything for anyone. Plus Caleb was his best friend and the thought of losing him terrified him. "Well, good on you for sticking it out with school to get to where you want to be. You can figure out what you want to do for your career later."
If only Caleb could read his mind and ease those thoughts Pogue was having, but unfortunately that wasn't something he could do (even with those witchy powers he was coming into). He gave Pogue a tired smile, "I can't take forever, unfortunately. I will have to figure it sometime before my internship is up unless I can find another. But honestly, I probably would enjoy just working in a museum. I don't think I'd enjoy just doing research or anything like that." He also didn't want to leave his friends to go explore around the world.
Pogue frowned when he noticed that tired smile and he leaned over and squeezed Caleb's forearm. "Maybe you should have a little fun before you go making any final decisions, huh? Sounds like you've been all work and no play, but I got you covered on that front." He flashed his teeth and his expression spoke of trouble and mischief.
That touch sent butterflies down to the pit of his stomach and he couldn't help but chuckle at Pogue's comment. Okay, maybe he did need to have a little more crazy fun now that he didn't have to worry about school, "You've probably got a really good point there. I've had some play, but I could probably do with more."
Pogue smiled slow and belatedly realised after a long moment that he was still touching Caleb and he cleared his throat as he withdrew the touch, dispelling the slight tingles from where his skin had touched Caleb's by rubbing his hand along the back of his neck. "So it's settled then. We're gonna hit up the town and let our hair down."
He wouldn't have moved Pogue's hand, so he just let Pogue do what he felt was appropriate, but his skin was tingling where Pogue's fingers had been. The tips of his ears turned a slight pink before he let out a laugh, "Oh god, that sounds dangerous. Granted, you're the only one of us wth long enough hair to be let down. But I think Reid and Tyler would definitely be up for going out."
Pogue's hand slipped up and into the long hair in question and grinned. "I dunno, Reid's is getting pretty long." He sipped at his beer and rummaged out his phone which was now fully charged thanks to Caleb's charger, his own on the way from Amazon. "Just gonna send a text, make sure neither of them make plans for..." He looked up at Caleb. "What day is good for you?"
"Um, I'm fairly open. No weekdays, but I think I can recover by the next day if we went out Friday or Saturday," Caleb explained after a moment of thought. It was going to be a lot like high school and Caleb couldn't be more excited. Just as he finished answering Pogue the waitress returned with a couple other waiters to help bring out all the food that they ordered.
Pogue gave Caleb a thumbs up as he outlined those needs and made sure to get both Tyler and Reid to keep Fridays and Saturdays clear for the foreseeable future. "Thanks," he said with a grin in the direction of the waiters as the food came out and it might have seemed a lot but then this was Pogue and Pogue could literally eat anyone under the table.
Caleb would probably regret having to work at the club after a night out, but hopefully he would be able to sleep it off by the time work rolled around. It wouldn't take long to figure out plans and he knew this would probably happen sooner rather than later with Reid and Tyler. "I seriously think you might end up dying from all this food," Caleb commented with a laugh, "I think we might need to look up food challenges for you."
“Hell of a way to go,” Pogue muttered with a smirk sharp enough to cut glass. “Though having sex would be a much better way to go.” His smirk softened into a smile as he tucked into the food on offer.
Caleb shouldn't have been surprised when his friend said something like that, but he almost choked on a noodle when Pogue made the sex comment. That he had not been expecting and he had to hit his chest to help dislodge it and took a drink, "Jesus christ."
Pogue’s eyes widened as Caleb all but choked in front of him and he leaned round the table to pat Caleb’s back.
“You okay?”
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just did not expect you to crack a joke like that," Caleb's voice was slightly hoarse from the coughing, but it wasn't that bad. He was feeling much better now and took a few sips of his beer to get anything out of his throat.
Pogue chuckled and smirked. “I like keeping you on your toes, clearly.” Once he was happy and confident that Caleb wasn’t about to choke to death in front of him he withdrew and tucked back into his food.
Caleb rolled his eyes at his friend as they settled into comfortable silence while they ate food, each of them stealing some off the other's plate, and generally enjoy each other's company. Caleb had missed this, as much as he loved Reid and Tyler, it wasn't the same as when he was with Pogue.