Caius and Cecil, Backdated July 16th

[om_velikaia]

Caius and Cecil become acquainted and speak about unusual and mundane things, depending on which point of view you are coming from.

Caius had no plans for the evening and so he decided to wander by the common room to see if anything exciting was happening, or if there was an entertaining movie scheduled on TV. The room was empty except for one of the newer students who he had yet to make an acquaintance with. This was Cecil Palmer, the strange boy from the strange sounding place who, Caius noticed, also had a pair of very strange looking eyes. He grinned, realizing his night was going to be very interesting indeed.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

"Oh," Cecil said, blinking briefly up at the newcomer. "No, I don't think so. It is all common space, isn't it?" If one had to be granted permission to be in the room he was probably going to be in trouble, but he tried not to let the idea bother him for the moment. He'd find out later, he assumed.

"Common enough," said Caius and he plopped onto the couch next to the boy. "Caius Greylace," he said, holding out a hand with the introduction. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Cecil," he returned automatically and reached for his hand, only for the rest of what had been said to catch up with him. "Finally meet me? Were we meant to meet before?"

"Not a scheduled meeting but after your intriguing post online I just had to make your acquaintance. Did you really think mountains didn't exist before you came here?"

"I'm still not completely sure about them," Cecil said, honest and slightly thoughtful, his eyebrows drawing together a bit. "But that's what we were always told."

"What else are they telling you in that town of yours?" asked Caius in a tone both bewildered and fascinated.

"I...don't actually know what you mean," Cecil said, tone almost confessional.

Caius shifted on the couch, his attention fully on the other boy as he settled in for a delicious challenge of interesting conversation. "Have you come across any other surprises after arriving here like the existence of mountains?"

"Oh, many," Cecil said with a serious nod. "Writing utensils are allowed, there are no Librarians in the library," he paused, still fighting the urge to shudder at the idea, "and reading is encouraged. Really, almost everything here has been a surprise."

"Next you'll be telling me that the sky is a rich shade of purple," said Caius.

"Sometimes," Cecil agreed, either not noticing or ignoring the sarcasm.

"Really?" Caius was a ball of excitement. "That's fantastic. On our next school break you must take me home with you."

Cecil gave one blink and then nodded agreeably. "Alright." He paused, then, "why?"

Well that was easy. Most people Caius had met weren't that agreeable after three sentences of conversation. "A purple sky in a place where reading is discouraged? How can I resist?"

"I don't know," Cecil said as if the question hadn't been rhetorical. "Is it really that unusual?"

"From my experience, yes. Very."

"Oh." Cecil frowned a little, but the expression didn't linger long. "What's it like where you're from then?"

"In my world the sky is blue and grass is green, new outfits are plentiful and a tiger is a boy's best friend," Caius said with a smile.

"The sky is often blue as well. Not much grass to be found in a desert, though." And Cecil paused, then cocked his head curiously. "Tiger?"

The smile turned into a grin. "Oh yes. My dear Klia is a charmer. I would be lost without her."

"Klia is your tiger," Cecil said in a tone that wasn't quite a question but was still looking for clarification. It wouldn't be the oddest thing he'd heard -- it was difficult for anything to be -- but even he could gather that was somewhat unusual.

"I wouldn't call her my tiger, per se. I mean, a tiger can't really belong to anyone. They are too independent."

"Oh. I see, of course," Cecil agreed seriously. Many things were not pets, but could still be companions. "But she...lives with you, I suppose?"

Caius liked how the seriousness of the topic was appreciated. Cecil was not like most students. "Yes, she sleeps on the floor of my room. Nico was concerned at first that there wouldn't be enough room for the three of us but I knew there was no reason to worry."

Cecil nodded, at least partially out of a lack of any other reaction to have. "And does she go to classes with you as well?"

"Oh no. Klia's interests in learning differ from mine. She would find schoolrooms tedious."

"What does she do, then?"

"I haven't the faintest," admitted Caius. "Whatever strikes her fancy usually. Have you ever met a tiger?"

"I can't say that I have," Cecil said, although he did give it a good few seconds of thought. He was fairly sure, anyway.

"Oh you must. I once asked my father if I could have a few at my birthday party but he refused. The man just didn't know how to throw a good party."

"Are tigers generally good for parties?" It wasn't anything he'd ever heard before, but Cecil was learning all sorts of new things all the time. He rather appreciated that, actually. "And I would try, but I'm afraid I don't know how to go about meeting a tiger."

"That would depend on who was throwing the party," said Caius. "That's the problem with opinions, they tend to differ when it comes to things like this. For example, if I were to throw a party I'm sure the headmasters would make me have the tigers in cages and look down on me when I let them out."

He leaned forward intently. Educating someone needed a note of seriousness. "The first thing to remember is to be polite. I don't think most tigers care if you are particularly rude but it does help to keep them from thinking of you as prey."

Cecil leaned forward in imitation of Caius' movement, frowning just slighting in concentration. "I see," he said with all due gravity. "I will keep that in mind."

Caius nodded his approval and sat up straighter. "Have your eyes always been like that?" he asked, curiously.

"Yes," Cecil said easily. "Is that unusual?"

"Oh I find them fascinating. It's as if I could fall into them. I wonder, are they a part of your mutation? What is it that you do exactly? I wasn't quite sure."

"I see things. But that," Cecil said somewhat thoughtfully, "only started not too long ago. So I don't know if they are connected."

"What sort of things do you see?"

"Everything," he said, then paused. "Everything happening at the current moment," Cecil corrected, "as long as I know where to look."

"You mean you can spy on anyone anywhere if you wanted?"

"If I knew exactly where they were to find them?" Cecil nodded unconcernedly. "Yes."

Caius' eyes sparkled with excitement. "Can we try it?"

"If you want," Cecil said, turning to give him a curious look. "What do you want me to see?"

So many choices! Caius pursed his lips and thought. Clapping his hands together he said, "Midnighter. He'll be the easiest to find. He practically lives in the gym."

The gym? Well that was easy enough to find, at least. Cecil shifted, and while it wasn't the easiest thing to tell where he was looking at any given moment, it seemed almost obvious when his attention was abruptly elsewhere.

"There are two men in a room," he said, and his voice was suddenly lower, deeper, slower. Almost oddly sonorous. "Though the room is not precisely a room and the men are not precisely men. The boy who is not light stands in the middle, waiting, watching. He is dangerous, and he knows it. The boy who is not dark steps forward anyway, closer, closer. He stops right in front of the boy who is not light and takes his hands, his wrists, and just holds them lightly. The boy who is not light could easily pull away, but he does not. He gives a smile that is not a smile, but it is a different expression than the one he was just wearing. The boy who is not dark smiles back, and it brightens the both of them."

And with a nearly physical snap, Cecil's dark eyes were fixed directly on Caius again. "Is that what you were hoping for?" He asked in his usual, higher tones.

"That has perked my curiosity," Caius admitted. Two men? That really could have been anyone but for a dangerous yet wary boy to be in the gym, Caius could think of no one but Midnighter. But who would be in the gym with him? And someone who could touch him without being immediately threatened or choked! That was someone to discover indeed! "Do you have any idea who the men were?" he asked. "Did you recognize them?"

"I don't think so," Cecil said with an entirely offhand shrug. "All I can do is see what's happening in that precise moment."

"No physical features to speak of? Of the 'boy who is not dark' perhaps?"

Cecil blinked once. "I don't know what you mean."

Caius tilted his head to the side. "Do you remember what you've seen?" he asked.

"No more or less than anyone remembers a thing they see."

"You have a most unusual way of describing events."

"That probably comes of working for a radio station," Cecil said with a slightly knowing nod. "Describing things for radio can be quite different."

Caius didn't think that was the reason at all but he'd gotten into the habit of collecting eccentric friends and he'd decided Cecil would be a fantastic addition. "How did you come to work there?" he asked.

"Well," Cecil said with just a moment of hesitation. His life pre-Community Radio was still very much a blur, but he'd found that people didn't seem to like him talking about it. "They were offering internships. And I'd always been interested."

Well that wasn't as interesting as Caius had hoped. He frowned momentarily. "You grew up wanting to work for a radio station?"

Cecil gave an earnest nod. "Of course. The Radio Station is an integral part of our little community. And," he said with a slightly bashful smile, "I would like being a reporter, I think."

Well that was more interesting. Caius smiled. "With your unique perspective, I think you will make a colorful reporter. I, for one, would be happy to hear your news."

"Oh!" He said brightly. "Well thank you. I do hope to manage it here one day."

"I wonder if the school has a radio station," said Caius. "If not, we should look into making one."

"Perhaps," Cecil agreed, though there was something slightly noncommittal about it. "I think there are many things I'd need to learn here before I attempted it."

"Some things are best learned by experience." Whether being a reporter for a radio station was one of them, Caius didn't say.

"Well of course. But there are so very many things to be experienced in a new place. One must approach them slowly."

Caius was never one to approach new things slowly, especially in new places. "You're the type who savors his food, aren't you?"

"Well," Cecil said after some consideration, "if it's good food, I suppose. Or the mandatory weekly pizza slice, but that's mandatory."

"Mandatory pizza slice?"

"Of course. Once a week, at least."

"Is that a rule from home?" asked Caius.

"Of cour-- oh." Cecil stopped, eyebrows drawing together a little in thought. "It suppose it wouldn't be here unless Big Rico's was here as well. That makes sense."

"I have nothing against mandatory weekly pizza," said Caius. "I'm not sure I could keep up with such a demand but I can see the appeal."

"You become accustomed," Cecil said with a small, offhand shrug, "as with most things, I'm sure."

"Are you intending to continue?" asked Caius.

"Continue accustoming myself to things? I do hope so."

"I was thinking more along the lines of weekly pizza."

"Oh, well." Cecil considered it for a moment or so. "If it's not a rule, I suppose I could skip a few times. Just for the variety."

"Variety is the spice of life! I highly approve of this course of action."