untitled.

caleb. 22. communicating.

[msucaleb]

msumiyoung​:

the chances of the potion actually doing what he’s expecting of it are pretty slim.  miyoung is very aware of this fact,  hides it beneath a masterfully crafted poker face.  she knows the spell she used on caleb isn’t one to be used on actual humans due to its difficulty to be reversed,  yet she believes this is no fact the boy has to know about,  anyway.  because he’s soon speaking again,  jumping like a happy little puppy who’s gained new freedom —  she already misses the brief time his mouth was actually sealed shut.  the quiet was just too good to be true.

“i know i am a genius.”  she replies dryly,  unfazed by his excitement,  unfazed by that ridiculous puppy face he’s putting on.  her expression tells him it has no effect on her,  it never will have.  what does entertain her,  however,  is the way the rubber band hangs off his mouth,  still attached to it somehow,  and the charms major fights back a cheeky grin threatening to blossom upon rosy lips.

her eyes trail off to the side,  then down to manicured nails,  nonchalant as ever once again.  “you know,  you can just stay like that.”  miyoung says,  very serious and very earnest.  there’s no way she can actually get it fully removed and it is about time caleb succumbs to his sad,  sad fate of being stuck with the item for the rest of his life.

perhaps it’s about time to reveal the truth  —

—  but she occupies herself with something different for now;  ignores his plea for help as her body pushes itself up from the couch and she tends to cleaning up the mess she’s created by mixing the potion.  maybe if she goes back to ignoring him,  he will miraculously disappear from her room,  too.

he’s still there ten minutes later and miyoung can hear herself sigh,  staring at him with the most deadpan expression she can possibly manage at this point.  “caleb.”  she begins,  ring-clad fingers lifting,  tugging at the softened rubber band once.  “are you,  like,  dumb?  i can’t remove it.  it’s permanent.”  thin shoulders lift into a shrug,  in a sense of oh well,  bad luck.  

aaand miyoung is immediately back to her old self. well, it was nice getting her to help at least for a little while. still, caleb has to protest. “what do you mean i can stay like this?” he again sits down on her couch (it’s very comfortable). he rolls his eyes. “of course, i can’t exactly go on with life with a rubber band on my face forever. now that would be weird! and you know that!” of course she knows that, and he teases her, “and would you really want be in the same house as the weird rubber band guy?”

doesn’t seem miyoung’s style, caleb thinks, but she doesn’t seem too worried about caleb’s fate as she calmly cleans up after herself. maybe she really liked rubber bands or something? but she doesn’t seem to like caleb very much, so he scratches the thought that miyoung would want to see mr. rubber band caleb around for comedy. nah, she’s probably just preparing for the next stage of curing caleb of his rubber band ailment.

except, she’s not doing that. he stays for another ten minute, observing her. she has to get going with it soon and– “ouch!” he feels her tug at the rubber band, which is still very much stuck. “i am not du– hey, what do you mean it’s permanent?” no way. caleb laughs nervously. “very funny, miyoung, but i really want this off now.” the alarm he initially felt at the charm is coming back. she can’t just leave him like this, right? right? at this point caleb is mostly trying to convince himself and he looks at miyoung in distress. “you wouldn’t do this.”

[stephaheehee-deactivated2020121]

say what now?

this was the thing of nightmares: literally as she felt like she had this exact fear prior to natsuki’s first visit to the campus. natsuki was older now. she should know better than to run off like that! stephanie had looked away for a moment to grab the portkey and re-imbue it with magic and poof! natsuki was gone. that girl was going to be the death of her.

every second that ticked by was another increase of stephanie’s heart rate. she’s not sure at what point she’d hit heart attack level but she was sure she was closing in on it. after twenty minutes of looking for her daughter, stephanie took a break to just cry. it felt like that was all she could do. there was nothing more telling of a failure than losing your child on a college campus the very first weekend she visits.

the crying session was ended abruptly when it seemed like people were coming down the hall and would eventually see her tucked away on one of the heaters feeling sorry for herself. stephanie quickly wiped her eyes dry and rushed back outside to the quad where her search had initially started. had natsuki been out there, she would have seen her. it seemed like it would have been so easy to spot a little body at any point. she would be much shorter than everyone. natsuki should have stuck out like a sore thumb.

with a heavy sigh, stephanie re-entered the main building to notify the administration of a missing child. yet as she was ready to climb up the stairs she caught sight of natsuki giggling with a stranger. immediately stephanie was rushing over, ready to snatch her daughter away from the student who found her but seeing his face made her pause. she stopped just a few steps away from them. of all people to find her daughter today it had to be–

“caleb?”

@msucaleb

[msucaleb]

there were a lot of things caleb had worried about when starting university. would he find the classrooms? would he make any friends? would he get turned into a frog by someone if he was just a little too annoying? normal wizarding university worries. and because his worries were normal wizarding university worries, a lost child in his path was the last thing on his mind.

was it a professor’s child? would be reasonable. the child looks about five-ish years or so, and some professors (contrary to caleb’s beliefs pre-mokseong university) weren’t super old. a parent was probably close by. hopefully. caleb wouldn’t feel very comfortable leaving a lost child around. this definitely wasn’t a part of today’s plans.

“hello!” caleb tries. he waves to the unattended child. a girl it seems. he crouches down to get on her eye level. “do you have a parent around? really, you shouldn’t be wandering around alone!” looking around, caleb notices there aren’t many people in the immediate vicinity. no parent close by, most likely. he pouts.

caleb figures it’s better to stay and keep the kid in the same spot, in case a parent or two (or more!) comes around (and besides, it would be super weird if he just walked away with a stranger’s child). the child seems less worried than caleb, with the way she’s giggling. maybe she’s making fun of caleb for being worried? and in his head caleb thinks that just you wait until you’re my age and– and by a exclamation of his name is thought pattern is interrupted. and, hold on, hasn’t he heard this voice say his name before?

turning around, the surprise must be evident on caleb’s face. “stephanie!?” he exclaims. “from ilvermorny!” how many years could it have been since he last saw her. and, he can’t help it, he breaks into a grin. “how long has it been!”

[msucaleb]

with: @msuclaude​

there was nothing that fueled caleb’s interest in random worldwide web dives more than impending deadlines and half-finished assignments, just waiting for caleb to pay attention to them. (though, really, half-finished means it’s almost finished. caleb deserves his break.) and besides, to properly finish everything he should do he should be in the right mood. he’s a firm believer in vibes. one could totally tell if an assignment was made during bad moods. he just couldn’t do that to his poor professor! this is all considered with compassion and empathy in mind.

what caleb absolutely needed right now was some good music to put him in the mood. and it requires his deepest attention, he thinks, as he opens the browser on his phone and opens up soundcloud. good old soundcloud. how many times hasn’t this saved him when procrasti– when he needed to motivate himself. caleb was absolutely not procrastinating. the books were right in front of him! no, this was just to help him out along the way... and it was just taking so long because he had to find the just right tunes. this was all reasonable.

caleb taps through several tracks and profiles. soon, he’ll find something! absolutely! but, boy, is there a lot. but there’s one account catching his attention though, probably close to half an hour into his soundcloud dive. the name is odd (what the hell does “seo-ahnonyous” mean?) and the profile picture looks... does it look familiar? that can’t be right! he doesn’t know anyone on soundcloud. he’d know. for sure. he has done enough dives on that platform (some decent nightcore remixes were strictly soundcloud material!). not possible, he thinks, and he prepares to tap away from it. no use dwelling on it.

[msucaleb]

msubitna​:

MY IMMORTAL

she’s feeling angsty today.

or, well, she isn’t, but she’s trying to—because the best way to produce emotive writing is to produce the feeling that’s supposed to be expressed through words in herself, and the scene bitna’s been working on all morning (since three in the morning, to be absolutely precise) is just that: angsty.

angsty, like tears in the rain, the person you thought you were in love with is actually the secret antagonist who’s only been showering you in affection for some superficial reason like, like, like, money! …oh, wait, well, she’d probably fall in love with someone for their money, maybe. it really depends on the context and, honestly, who is she to judge loving someone for their bank account when the economy’s a ticking time bomb and really, is it a crime to invest—

she jolts, attention drifting from her angsty thoughts (what even are angsty thoughts, honestly? all she’s been thinking about is how absolutely messed up climate change is) when bitna spots a familiar face. it’s with much futility that bitna bites back the smile threatening to break past her self-imposed facade (emo people sure have it hard!). 

“caleb!” bitna calls out, picking up her pace until she’s standing in front of him, eyes already bright and anticipatory as she extends an un-contained tupperware of seemingly harmless cookies to him. “do me the biggest favor, will you? i baked these cookies—and oh, fair warning, i know they’re going to be horrid—and i want you to try them! you’ll tell me if you can taste the palpable  anguish in them, right? i’m trying to keep myself in this very specific mindset of absolute devastation at least until tomorrow morning, so i thought a batch of really mindblowingly distress-inducing cookies would do the trick.”

maybe she lets her guard down, because it only takes seconds before bitna’s brandishing a habitual smile, obviously eager to hear his thoughts. vaguely, distantly, and perhaps a bit belatedly, she wonders if the cookies are harmful to the gastric system—

oh well. human beings were made to persevere like the common cockroach!

                       ( CHAPTER ONE … E•MO•TION                                        STARRING … CALEB HAN ! )

almost the second caleb hears his name being called he gets a person essentially thrown in his field of vision along with a tupperware extended towards him. “bitna!” really, who else could it be? “what’s up!” it doesn’t take bitna long to respond, explaining to caleb that she has a favor to ask.

the promise of cookies catches his attention right away, but horrid? palpable anguish? mindblowingly stress-inducing? uh oh. caleb carefully picks up one of them from the container. looks... like a normal cookie? he inspects it further: frowns at it. feels it. sniffs it. normal cookie. oh, that bitna. she’s underestimating her cookie baking skills for sure! no need to be worried! “no way i’ll turn this one down! thanks, bitna!” really. there was no way a cookie could be all that.

it was all that and more.

palpable anguish is an extreme understatement. agony, torment, grief... you name it! and is that– oh, it definitely is not! whenever he thinks there’s a specific, recognizable taste there, it morphs into something else. and it’s never something good! and as much as it felt like a normal cookie in his hand the texture manages to feel off in his mouth.

caleb clears his throat, and wow! it’s an entire new sensation of flavors! and, miraculously, it’s worse! is this some sort of divine punishment? if he saw a boggart again, would it turn into this cookie? caleb suddenly feels very sorry for every wrongdoing he may or may not have committed.

coughing, he asks bitna, “what did you put in this?” caleb’s entire mouth feels numb. like he was at a muggle dentist and received every sort of pain killer or local anesthesia they could provide at the same time, but with the added bonus of it being flavored with the spiciest soap on the market. or maybe poison, but he doesn’t know what that tastes like. although, he supposes the cookie was a close enough free trial. seriously, what is in those?

[msucaleb]

what is your favorite dessert and why?

“oh, now we’re talking. lemon meringue pie! no doubt about it! it’s all sweet, but the lemon gives it a little more depth. crème brûlée is the funniest desert though. there’s nothing that settles my rage like crushing the surface layer! the taste falls flat though.”

[msucaleb]

What is something that never ends well?

“come on, guys. what’s with the serious questions! the movie titanic? my dates, most of the time? extended family dinners? my potions exams back at ilvermorny? i could go on!”

[msucaleb]

msumalia​:

Malia was never one to play jokes, but something about the other’s reaction was too much to resist humoring herself for just a little while before admitting her truth. she’d barely managed to suppress the snicker that was desperately trying to fight it’s way free from her lips. The girl took a short breath to calm down her giggles before responding once more. “Yes, really.” She kept her answer short in order to maintain the solemn expression on her face. Just seconds into playing into her fib, Malia was already ready to break.

“It’s a bit suspicious that you claim to be best friends with my brother, but can’t tell the difference between us Malias.” The younger made the accusation with a pout, still struggling to keep up her facade. She took another deep breath before letting out an exaggerated sigh in fraudulent frustration. “I’m just a few centimeters taller than other Malia. Always have and always will be.” The story only continued to escalate into a level of impossible silliness the more she continued to speak. She was sure that at this point he would definitely know that all she was saying was false. He had to.

“If you don’t believe me, you can just ask my mother. I’ve got some time, we could fly down to the store now if you’d like.

despite malia’s almost perfectly (like really good!) solemn face, it looked as if it was about to burst any second. ah, caleb thinks, definitely messing with me. and honestly! what did he expect? a silly question requires a silly answer. he’s happy malia knows this basic conversation etiquette. a staple of every good discussion and– and now he’s getting off topic again. silly him.

anyway. point is. this just isn’t plausible. "of course, how irresponsible of me to not see the two malias running around the moon household!” caleb shrugs dramatically and shakes his head. “there’s no need to fly down to delphine. she would go with your little prank, for sure! do tell her i said hi next time you see her though. i’m sure she misses me.”

but speaking of delphine moon... “i am kind of surprised she apparently hasn’t mentioned me to you, though! not recently at least. i always thought she liked me.” caleb frowns a little bit. “the way she goes ‘good bye, caleb’ whenever i leave is really sweet. like she’s so happy i visited!” and he’s always happy to make her day brighter! it’s so lovely when she adds caleb’s name to her good byes! like she really cares. and he pats himself on the shoulder for the delphine impression. totally nailed the kindness of it all. actually, he should show it to delphine next time he goes there... “oh, you know! maybe we should visit the store!”

[msucaleb]

you want to kiss me so bad it makes you look stupid

“well, obviously! i know how what nate told you i said, so it shouldn’t be a secret to you that i do want to– wait. does it really make me look stupid?”

[msucaleb]

so....who are you and why does mom hate you? :/

“you wound me, malia! you know me! the funniest, greatest guy on this planet! and delphine hating me? that’s a new one! i think i’ve been a pretty good influence on her kids. i don’t see any reason for her hating me.”

[msucaleb]

msunate​:

oh, caleb. nate snorts at his best friend’s words, the confession of how the date was ruined. it’s not surprising, really — if it’s one thing caleb is lacking in, it’s tact. the older is used to that by now, having been on the receiving end of the freshman’s many blunt statements over the years. none of them phase him, but his personality doesn’t always go over too well with new people. it’s hit or miss, really. 

that being said, though, aspen doesn’t seem like someone who would care much. well, not that nate knows him all that well, but from what he does know of him — aspen is a chill guy. down to earth, and all that. if the chaser took offense at the comment, nate doubts it’ll linger between the two for long. 

“okay, true, not the best thing to say, but… like i said, you should talk to aspen. apologize to him. i really don’t think he’ll think badly of you over it. besides…” he gives a light chuckle, “you’re not completely wrong. he does need some practice aiming.” which is to be expected — he is new to the sport, after all. 

he probably should have expected this kind of reaction from caleb at his own confession. had it been anyone else telling him the same thing, he might have even laughed himself. because, honestly? it’s ridiculous. it really is. they were fighting, and then they weren’t, but instead they were kissing, and it’s only been a day but he can’t stop thinking— 

right. he’s meant to be telling caleb this, not just replay the events for the 674th time in his own head. “i mean, i did,” he starts off explaining. “maim him. i guess. i don’t know, i punched him. but then i kissed him? and i thought he was gonna punch me, but—”

“he kissed me back. and, well, i…” well, he liked it, but does he want to admit that out loud? he’s barely even admitted it to himself yet. but this is caleb, his best friend in the entire world, who might be able to see right through him anyway. emphasis on might, as much like himself, caleb isn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, or however the saying goes. 

alright, what the hell. he’s already been laughed at once, so surely admitting it won’t do anything. it might even make things less confusing, if he talks them through with caleb. “i liked it, and i’m confused. i mean, like, he’s hot, i can’t deny that, but… i hate him?” at least he’s meant to, he wants to hate him, even if it’s only so all these confusing feelings will go away. 

what nate says makes caleb chuckle a bit. “yeah. i know what i said was terrible, but really, you know i’m right.” he hums a bit, drags his finger on the rim of the glass. it’s about the dramatics! “i really should apologize. i’ll work up the courage.” caleb pouts for a bit. he hopes he’ll get over the embarrassment in not too long. he’s shameless enough, right? the embarrassment will disappear soon. right? anyway. there were other things to focus on now.

caleb’s reeling at the things nate is telling him. he maimed a guy? only to kiss him? classic nate! or, well. maybe not exactly. but if there’s anyone he knows who would do it, it really is nate! “and you got kissed back!?” caleb can’t help but laugh. this sounds like the synopsis to some weird romcom advertised outside orbit theatre. it’s like he can see the poster in front of him.

“really, i’m kind of impressed! some game you’ve got if you can maim a guy and get kissed by him seconds later. unless by maiming you mean– well, no, that would be a very weird way to say you did something sexual. maybe if you said you’d fucked him up i’d see it, but maim–" caleb interrupts himself. “actually. not relevant. unless you did more than kiss him? no judgment!”

man, this is all a lot to take in. and that is only for caleb! nate’s brain must feel entirely to full and messy right now, because of this. caleb raises a toast to his friend’s honor. “you look constipated, dude,” caleb declares and takes a long sip of his drink. he needs it for the role he has to play right now. caleb han’s love consultation: now open for business!

“look, if you didn’t like levi in at least some way, would you really have kissed him? and liked it?” nate says he hates the guy, and so, to put himself in nate’s shoes or whatever, caleb tries imagining kissing someone on his hate list. aaaand never again! he even shudders at the thought. gross! “like what was even the motivation if you hate him? i know you’re allergic to thinking, but,” caleb leans over to knock lightly on nate’s head, “something has to be in there!”

[msucaleb]

what did it feel like having a permanent sticking charm on you?

“i was nothing but miyoung’s personal jester for those minutes and, let me tell you, it did not feel good! not at all!”

[msucaleb]

who is the BEST friend in the entire world

“nate! every day of the week! or at least when he answers my texts. when he doesn’t i can only turn to carly rae jepsen’s emotion.” caleb dramatically wipes away a non-existent tear. “nah, i’m just kidding. i love you, buddy!”

[msucaleb]

if there was one thing you can change about your life right now, what would it be?

“oh, this one’s deep! alright! maybe i can take it! i’m honestly pretty okay with my life in general right now, but i guess i haven’t been the nicest or most pleasant to be around some days lately. maybe if i changed one thing it’d be that i never said some hurtful things i’ve been saying.”

[msuevents]

— MOKSEONG UNIVERSITY OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY meme #2: honesty hour

ask my muse anything, nothing is off limits and they have to answer with complete honesty!

as has been requested by some of you, we are now posting an honesty hour meme for everyone to participate in. any question can be asked, and your muse has to answer with complete honesty. keep in mind that the answers to the questions will not be public knowledge! to participate in the meme, simply reblog this post, and try to send out some questions to others who have reblogged it as well! this meme can be reblogged for an entire week, until october 17th.

[msucaleb]

msumalia​:

Malia joined in on the nervous laughter. This guy really seemed to be sticking to his guns. He genuinely believed that she was pulling one over on him. Seeing just how determined he was to push this agenda, the younger almost felt guilty for not playing along. She really did consider doing so, but upon reflection realized that she’d feel even MORE guilty for lying. Thus, she was back to square one trying to figure out who this guy was.

He claimed the pranks to be “best friend” duties, which should have revealed more than it did. However, since Malia was still new to the school, there were still many of her brother’s friends that she had yet to meet. Any of them could claim to be his best friend and she’d believe them based on their words alone. It wasn’t any of her business, after all. For the most part, she usually just remained civil with anyone he introduced to her, occasionally giving a small smile as a greeting when casually passing each other in the halls. 

The more he spoke to her, the more his desperation seemed to increase. Malia pouted at the thought of the exasperation he must be feeling with her inability to remember who he was. But it based on his words, it sounded to the younger that they’d met on several occasions in the past. Finally, she felt like she may be getting closer to discovering his identity after all. Just a bit more context clues (preferably his name) and the puzzle pieces would hopefully fall into place.

“And if I told you that I did have an identical twin, also named Malia, then what?” The younger raised a brow as she reflected the question back towards the other. She hadn’t been teasing him prior, but since he’d already been under the assumption that she was, Malia figured that a teensy tiny joke wouldn’t hurt anyone. 

it was almost as if caleb could see the gears in malia’s brain physically working at this point. this is almost too good of an act. maybe she really had no clue? he inwardly groans at the thought. if he really had terrorized malia for an imaginary mind game without her actually having done it... poor, poor malia.

still, caleb doesn’t really know what to do with this situation. sure, malia claims she can’t remember caleb, but that’s just too sad to think of! therefore, caleb reasons, definitely not true. still, he knows malia probably has no reason to lie to him. why would she! caleb had always thought malia to be very kind, not someone to lie for fun, or whatever. she wouldn’t lie to him. but a prank? did that count as lying? and– oh man, he’s back at the beginning.

he’s trying to think about what could possibly trigger malia’s memory besides what he has told her already. but what has caleb told her? this conversation has been way too weird for him to remember what he has actually said. really, he could have said anything! this isn’t helpful at all. he restlessly taps his foot on the ground. really not helpful.

eventually, malia speaks and pulls caleb out of his thoughts (and thanks malia for that! a welcome interruption. he wasn’t getting anywhere at all!) and wait– “what?” now hold on. most days, this would be way too farfetched to believe, but caleb knows that in this conversation he can’t take anything he previously knew for granted. there should be no way. it would just be too much! way too much! and he knows it possibly can’t be true (that’s why he even suggested it), but, somehow, caleb can’t make himself joke this one away. nothing is impossible. “you... do you really?” he almost whispers this, like he’s scandalized.

[msucaleb]

msusihwan​:

sihwan is an understanding person, he tries not to judge anyone based on first impressions and he doesn’t deduct points simply because he spots a student out in the halls. there can be a multitude of reasons as to why a student is up and about after curfew. he can already hear one of the head students tell him that he’s being too lenient again, but sihwan would like to argue otherwise.

facing the boy before him right now, sihwan could sense the nervous energy from the way he is rambling, coupled with the puzzled look on his face. sihwan’s smile doesn’t leave his face, hoping that it’d be some form of reassurance. he isn’t trying to pick apart the boy’s story, although he knows he can’t believe everything at face value.

“i see, and i do agree. this place is pretty huge, but aren’t there usually bathrooms in the dorms, anyway? why did you have to venture out this far?” his tone is still gentle, he has no intention of accusing the other boy, sihwan simply intends on having the full picture before he proceeds with the next step.

that being said, he does take pity on the student. “i worry for you, if you get lost that easily.” he seems to be pondering for a moment, before he comes to some form of conclusion with himself. “you know, i don’t mind accompanying you back to your dorms, if you’d like. just to make sure you don’t become lost again.”

the last thing he wants is for a student to get lost under his watch. that seems to be the best option for the moment, plus he’s genuinely concerned over the other boy.

caleb blanches at the question. “who mentioned a... oh! oh yeah! bathroom. yes.” caleb nods seriously. “that’s definitely it. and yes, we do have bathrooms there, but, wouldn’t you know!” he throws his hands up. “all occupied! makes you wonder what sort of dinner some group of hwaseong students ate.” he follows it up with a chuckle, just for good measure. just to prove that he is hundred percent honest... well, he isn’t, but he's going for the honest impression.

still, caleb is starting to feel a bit bad for the prefect. or rather, caleb is starting to feel bad about his insistent lying. really. the prefect seems nice, and seems to genuinely want to help caleb. but it’s not like he can just stop his act now. right? he’s too far into it! no doubt that he’d get in trouble if he admitted to his crimes now. and he’d hate to let down someone who’s, like, actually being nice.

"i really don’t get lost this easily, usually. i swear on it!” caleb tries to alleviate the prefect’s worries and oh, man, he’s starting to feel bad. and then the prefect offers to follow caleb to the dorms and now he really feels bad. “i... if you’re not busy?” there really isn’t any reason for caleb to refuse the offer, but... “i’m sure you have tons to do! you could... if you point me in a direction i’m sure i’ll know where to go! really.” it would be great if he could just continue his walk. please.

[msucaleb]

msunate​:

nate has been… busy lately, if you can call it that. not that he’d suddenly had more responsibilities than usual, rather it’s his mind that has been occupied. he’d gotten caleb’s owlet during the carnival, but had been otherwise preoccupied, with no time to comfort his best friend over… whatever was wrong. nate hadn’t actually realized what it was that weekend, as caleb had mostly communicated with him through crying emojis — seriously, that guy sometimes puts too much faith into their best friend telepathy, if that’s even a thing. caleb insists it is, but nate isn’t too sure. 

then, once the younger had actually told him, in words this time, what was wrong, nate had suddenly been occupied with… other things. mostly his own thoughts, and trying to keep busy in order to avoid these. after what had happened in the gym, most of his free time had been spent trying to either make sense of it, or keeping too busy to remember thinking about it — leaving no time for his best friend. he feels bad about it, he really does, but… things have been confusing. way too confusing. 

he finally has time for him now, though it’s nearly been a week after caleb’s initial crying emoji owlet. they agree to meet at borealis, nate already being in the village to help his mother out when he receives caleb’s request. they soon find themselves at the bar together, nate with a bear and caleb with a probably overly sweet fruity drink, and it’s not hard to notice the younger is in a rather sour mood. 

“no, come on, pull yourself together.” he puts his hand on caleb’s shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze as the freshman speaks into the table. “surely it can’t be that bad. aspen didn’t mention anything to me, and i’m sure he’d have been pissed if i set him up on a completely awful date. try not to worry too much.” he takes a sip of his beer, before asking what he’s been dying to ask — to find out what had really happened (because, despite a bit more clarity through caleb’s owlets, he still hasn’t gotten the full picture). “what did you even say to him?” 

there’s a shake of his head as his friend starts apologizing. “dude, come on. i’m sure you didn’t blow it, and even if you did, you don’t have to say sorry to me. if you really did blow it, which i still doubt you did, you should apologize to aspen, not me.” 

aaaaand… there it comes. while making excuses for not being able to hang out, nate had mentioned having a lot on his mind. while he had been hoping caleb would have forgotten about that, he should know his best friend better than this by now. part of him had known this was coming, had expected it even, there was just an even bigger part that had been hoping to never have to talk about it. but, if he’s going to tell anyone, he wants it to be caleb. 

“uhhhh, well…” he starts, then pauses, taking a sip of his bear to avoid answering, as well as buying himself time to think. what was on his mind? well, short answer is a lot. a lot that he would preferably not have to talk about, like, ever, but he supposes it’s inevitable. at some point, he’s gonna have to, so it’s better to just rip the band-aid off, let it out already. 

“levi and i kind of… kissed?” he winces, anxiously awaiting caleb’s reaction.

caleb thinks over what nate tells him. maybe he’s right. maybe aspen didn’t hate him. nate would probably know. still, the small reassurance caleb feels from nate’s words is quickly blown away as soon as the older asks what caleb did. does caleb really have to think about it? “i... well, you know, i’ve been sitting in on a lot of your quidditch practices, and so i know aspen’s aim isn’t always... amazing.”

while caleb’s quidditch knowledge is practically non-existent, his aspen observation skills were always in peak condition. and it had been kind of hard to miss that aspen misses more shots than he makes. which is fine! aspen is still amazing! oh, hold on, now caleb realizes he’s side-tracking. whoops. he gets back to nate’s question: “anyway, he took me to the bonfire. amazing! great! romantic! but i kind of... no, i-i did tell him that thank god he took me anywhere but the quaffle dunk? and then proceeded to insult his quidditch skills? like super badly!” just remembering it makes caleb’s stomach churn. “literally who does that!”

and, caleb thinks, he probably made it worse by running away. he really should apologize to aspen. but where would he even start? where would he find him alone? still, he owes it to aspen. caleb continues stabbing the ice in his glass, as if it was laughing at him. stupid ice.

as per agreement (owlets are serious business contracts!), it’s nate’s turn to tell caleb what has been bothering him. caleb really wants to be a good, serious listener. he really does! this is obviously worrying nate, but caleb can’t help it. when nate tells caleb that he kissed levi, caleb can’t help but burst into laughter.

it takes a few moments for caleb to calm down, and when he’s finally calm enough to speak again he’s still shaking from barely repressed laughter. “after i read that queenbee post i thought you were going to maim that dude, but you kiss him? how!?” really, he has to give it to nate. who else would manage to put themselves in that situation. hilarious! “you have to tell me everything, man.”