Mutual Acceptance Of Secrets

Participants:

tibby_icon.gif caspian_icon.gif

Scene Title Mutual Acceptance of Secrets
Synopsis In the sun and surf of Los Angeles, Tibby and Caspian share secrets with each other.
Date June 09, 2009

Tibby's Boat, Los Angeles, California

A marina in Los Angeles


It's a quiet morning in Los Angeles, not yet afternoon but not still the morning either. The docks in Marina Del Rey are silent now. Most of the guys pulling off in the wee hours of the morning. Not many people leave in the middle of the day why would you want someone watching you? Why would you not want anyone knowing where you were?

That's the case of Tibby usually, but this morning she is not sailing out on a job or doing anything terribly criminal. She sits on the deck of her Hallberg-Rassy 64, it's a rather nice boat.. a rather expensive boat.. how did she come by it? There are dings around it though. Some patched up bullet holes, those aren't noticeable unless you knew they happened. The young woman had gotten good at matintence on the boat.

Dressed in a long white T shirt that falls well past her knees she's wearing it as a dress this morning, her feet bare no polish on the toes. She bobs her leg up and down as she has a morning smoke. Her bleached hair ruffled and unruly. She embraces her bedhead. Green eyes open as she looks over the water. Relaxed and content it's a good morning.

Oya, her near constant feline friend is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps underneath in the living quarters. The wind ruffles the back of her hair gently as she blows smoke out of her mouth in the shape of a ring.

The weather in California during the late spring is, in a word, perfect. The ocean breezes maintain the weather at a comfortable level for just about everyone. Tibby could probably be without the t-shirt or anything at all and still be comfortable, and he certainly wouldn’t mind, but Cas isn’t the sort of guy to prompt that kind of thing. He knows the little Blonde is comfortable around him, and the last thing he wants to do is push her into something she doesn’t want to do. If there’s one thing he’s learned about Tibby in the last few months, it’s that she doesn’t react well to pressure. Case in point? The smoking. Most people would harp on Tibby to quit, citing it being bad for her, but Cas? Well, he enjoys the occasional cigar, so he’s not the kind of guy to ‘do as I say, not as I do.’ Tibby may have discovered in the past few months that Caspian isn’t the usual kind of guy.

“Tibs?” Comes a voice from downstairs, a yawn following as Caspian pokes his head up from below, hair mussed from sleeping, climbing out from below decks dressed in a pair of pajama pants and no shirt. It seems to be a thing - him and no shirt when they’re near the water. He pads closer on bare feet and puts his arms around her shoulders, giving her a squeeze. “You sleep okay?”

Blowing the smoke out of her mouth before she answers when she does this she tilts her head back to peer up at Cas and placing a kiss on his neck. “Lekker babe, you?” She smells of jasmine and other herbs and spices. Her kitchen is full of them, the plants she keeps hanging around the inside of the boat. A small smile fills her lips and she offers the joint up pressing it against Cas’ lips if he would take it.

The small woman stretches her legs out and nuzzles into Cas’s arms. The last few months have been.. nice. Unexpected most definitely but very nice. This might be the slowest she's ever moved with a man. She's used to hitting the ground running. But Caspian is grounding, something Tibby didn't know she needed or wanted. Her wild side while still wholly present was taking a backseat to a more relaxed energy. Something Tibby loved.

It’s summer, and that means that there are no practices, no tests, no nothing of any sort. Going to visit his parents was a thing that could be done, but honestly, it’s only a two hour drive and he could be there before lunch if he left now. Hanging out with Tibby was entirely too much fun so he did so. Sure, he’s got his little apartment off campus, but a lot of time has been spent on the boat with the little blonde, talking about whatever it is that came to mind. “I slept okay. Oya hit me in the face with her tail last night. I think she wants to go for a run sometime today. At least off the boat.” He leans forward when she passes the joint back, taking a puff of the stuff, holding it, then blowing it out after a moment before giving it back. “This stuff tastes a little stronger than the last batch you got in. Nice.” Where she got it, he doesn’t know and doesn’t ask, preferring to keep that bit of information segregated. If he doesn’t know anything, he can’t tell anyone. Safe on both sides.

He settles into the padded bench where Tibby is and tugs her into his arms, his hands going to rest on her belly beneath the shirt, her back to his chest, just being close. This is new for him, too. Big sports star gets all the girls he wants but that’s not what he’s seeking. Skateboarding guy gets all the punk girls, but he’s seemed to find the one that fits best, thanks to a random meeting on the beach just a few months ago. Dating, for Caspian, wasn’t really a thing - there was always something to be done, or the girl wanted something from him or just to say she was dating him. Dating Tibby? It’s like she just wants to be with him because she wants to be with him, which is nice, and this slow months-long feeling out period lets each of them learn what is best for the other without bruising feelings or stepping on toes.

“She needs a bit of exercise. It's not like she doesn't run off sometimes at night doing goddess knows what.” Tibby yelps as she is pulled back and she snickers as she rubs Caspian’s arms gently. He's strong. Stronger than her in some ways. She stronger in others. They just seem to fit? Tibs doesn't try to allow too much time to over analyze the situation though, she's content. That's enough.

“But yes I should take her on a hike today.” Sometimes Tibby would stay the night out in the wilderness, in a tent or not. She wasn't very afraid of the animals in the wild, she's always loved them all. Except for.. spiders.. they can go to hell. She just avoids those altogether. The blonde lays her head against his chest listening to his heartbeat.

She did sleep well but Tibby woke early because she's had something on her mind. Something she's been wanting to know since they've first met. There's no good way to go about it so she just goes, “How ya feel about these people with abilities huh? Flying ones.. the ones that can push a tank over with bare hands.” She tries to make her tone nonchalant. Years of lying have made her adept at throwing people off the trail of her real motives when sparking conversation. This might seem like a weird and out of the blue question to most people but Tibby is known for randomly asking questions about things. Especially since she doesn't know a terrible lot about the United States.

“I think we can thank her for the lack of rats around here. She probably practices hunting them before coming home for breakfast. I swear, Oya would eat her weight in fish if I let her.” Cas doesn’t, though. He’s a good caregiver for the cat, giving her enough slack to get away with a few things while holding her back on others. At least, that’s what he thinks. Oya probably just tolerates him for Tibby’s sake and, to be frank, that’s enough for him.

Caspian sits back on the bench, looking over the water, her curves fitting into his ridges just fine, and relaxes. Tibby has curves beneath those clothes - Cas has caught glimpses of them while she was changing, or when they were swimming and she decided to wear a swimsuit instead of her usual gear, and he thinks that she’s just the right size. What brought up that line of thought he has no clue…it’s just that he’s comfortable with Tibby, and she’s comfortable with him. “We could go up to a park somewhere and just let her roam for a while. Up to the mountains up north? Go climbing and stuff. Read by the campfire. Make S’mores. You know…just make a night of it and let Oya terrorize the local wildlife a little. Good times will be had by all.”

He quiets as she starts talking about people with abilities and how he feels about them. “Well.” his voice is calm. “I guess that all depends on how you feel about them. Evolved people are people first, evolved second. The fact that some of ‘em have powers can be scary, but that doesn’t mean they become less than what they are. I mean….” He trails off, looking over the water. “There’s the whole Linderman act thing. I’ve read stories online of some people just vanishing after signing up….they’re too dangerous, according to the people in charge so they just go away, never to be heard of again.” He gives her a squeeze. “Just don’t tell me you’re a member of Humanis First or one of those groups that want to cleanse humanity of the stain of the evolved. Might as well be a neo-nazi with that kind of attitude.”

Caspian gives her another, gentle squeeze. “It’s why I haven’t registered, you know.”

She nods to the question of if they should go camping. Then listening intently to her.. boyfriend’s answer she turns Tibs head to look up at him. White teeth showing as she grins, “Back home it's kind of weird. Maybe your neighborhood worships you.. maybe they stone you.” She's seen both sides of that in her home country.

“People are people love, ya right.” She grips his arms around her a little tighter closing her eyes as he talks about being registered. “Before I left.. had to. Stupid raid.” She grumbles as she thinks back to that day. “Ol thugger, real tough guy gets raided the day I'm dropping off product.” She waves a hand, she doesn't often go into her business. “Got off real easy but they tested my blood. And registered I am. As an unmanifested Evolved But.” She shrugs her shoulders and kinda just lets that sit in the air. Her eyes blink as she double takes at what Caspian just said. She sits up and twists around until she is straddling him facing forward. Her gaze intent, “WHAT!” A bright smile beginning to tug at the corners of her mouth.

It would seem they both are great at keeping secrets.

Here, in the United States, it’s dependent on the block you live on, whether or not you’re worshiped or reviled and, to be fair, the latter is becoming a lot more normal than the former, thanks to the Government and its insane vendetta on the evolved. But still, this is a serious conversation about something that impacts both of them. I mean, it’s not like she’s evolved too, right? It’s a secret for a reason. He blows out a breath and listens to her story, his eyes blinking quickly at that simple admission, his heart rate going up slightly as he squeezes you lightly.

“Yeah.” His head bobs in the affirmative. “I’m manifested. I can do things. Your boyfriend is an Evolved. I’ve just been very, very good at hiding it, you know?” Two big admissions there…first, he’s manifested and second…he’s Tibby’s boyfriend? His hands, once resting on her stomach, now rest on her hips on top of that long T-shirt, fingertips digging in slightly. “Found out a few years ago, ‘bout 2006, when it all started happening. Can’t flip a car or anything like that, but I can make little…I don’t know…shields? Force Fields? Force spots? I don’t know what to call them exactly, but I can make…well…these.”

Caspian lifts his hand slowly and, when he’s sure you’re watching, there’s a shimmer, like glass, that slowly grows from the center of his palm, extending to a small area about the size of a dinner plate. Impossibly clear, it only is really visible if he moves his hand, the light glinting off it faintly. “I use these to help with my footballing and to get to impossible places to paint” He chuckles. “As a keeper, the ball never gets past me unless i’m asleep, and I can make several of these to get across gaps, up walls….your very own slow-acting spider man.” He holds it there long enough for Tibby to touch it, if she so chooses.

A gasp escapes the tiny woman and she leans forward to examine his hand and the forcefield. She's never seen anyone be able to do this. It's.. pretty. “You little sneak!” Tibby snickers and she does in fact touch the forcefield softly with a finger snickering again as she does so. Neat. Of all the people to run into on the beach.. “So my boyfriend can deflect bullets. Handy.” She nods her head sagely, don't think she didn't catch that. Yea boyfriend.

The mixed woman lays a hand on her lovers chest and pushes up so she can regard him with a more serious stare. “Thank you.. for trusting me.” It really means a lot to Tibby, she comes from a world of lies and secrets. As they get around to sharing their secrets, probably the most important secret they each hold. She lifts her arm and flicks her wrist. A meow is heard from below and Oya sticks her head up and around the bend. “I have a way with felines.” She shrugs a shoulder lightly. “Talking to them,” she snorts because she wouldn't really call it talking. “Seeing through their eyes,” yes she has spied on Caspian to make sure he wasn't a creep with cats in the area. “.. taking them over. Controlling them.” Her least favorite facet of her ability but one of the most phenomenal experiences she's ever had.

A calm look is leveled at her feline friend and she crooks her finger towards the cat. “It's okay, don't you fret little Oya. We can share our secret.” She gives the feline a small smile before looking again at the man she's sitting on.

“Don't freak out.” And as the last word leaves her lips her body sags forward onto Caspian’s eyes closed, her breathing is shallow and nothing Cas does can wake her.

At the same moment Oya stiffens but relaxes soon after. The cat’s eyes level on Caspian and the comatose body of Tibby and before much time can pass she pounces from her powerful hide legs landing softly on the padded bench next to Caspian.

Don't worry I'm fine.

The African Golden Cat tilts its head at Tibby’s boyfriend.

I'm in here. there's a hint of mischief in her tone.

Her boyfriend can deflect bullets. “Probably. I’ve never been shot at to try so, theoretically, yes…I can.” Oya’s appearance gets a two fingered wiggle, the cat’s head bobbing a little at the movement before he turns his attention back to the diminutive blonde straddling his hips. The blonde who tells of her abilities and then, cryptically, says for him to not freak out when she /collapses./

To be fair, she did warn him, and he’s actually not freaking out /that/ much. “Oh god, Tibs, are you….” This is interrupted by Oya landing on the couch next to him and he stops trying to wake the woman up, instead shifting her to a more comfortable position, her head on his shoulders, his arms around the small of her back to keep her from falling to the deck. She had to have known he wouldn’t drop her. She must have, otherwise she wouldn’t have even shown him this.

The words, though. The words that form, unbidden, in his mind. That catches Caspian off guard entirely. He leans back a little, looking at the cat, looking at Tibby, boneless, in his arms, before leaning forward again. “You….you can hitch a ride in Oya…and you can talk to people while you’re in there…” He reaches out hesitantly to scritch beneath Oya’s jaw in the space the cat absolutely adores being scratched on. “Girlfriend, I….I don’t know what to say. This is amazing.”

The voice vibrates in Caspian’s head, Tibby is proud to have impressed him so. It's.. the most amazing feeling. Oya-Tibby licks her paw gently and fixes the man with a one eyed stare. It's easier if I've bonded with them. I can do it without bonding but.. the trust just makes it easier. We become.. one. No real difference. It's less an invasion and more of a symbio-symbiotic yes that's the word connection.

The feline slinks up to the man and rubs her head on his arm before pounding away without another look at him. At the moment Tibby’s body awakens gently, the first few times she did that she would wake with a start, but by now it's just like waking up from a nap. Stretching her arms out she yawns at almost the same time Oya does, the feline stretching her legs out before heading back down below deck. Tibby’s arms go around the neck of her shirtless protector. “Thanks for catching me.” She whispers as she stares up into his eyes. Welp, there go most of her secrets.

A warm smile follows as she leans forward to give him a quick peck on the lips. “Don't ya go with any ideas kay? No catnip to distract me.” Tibs giggles as she tickles the back of Caspian’s neck.

“Like…like borrowing a friend’s jacket. Except, instead of the jacket, you’re borrowing the friend instead.” It’s a good way to explain it and fits his world view. Caspian carefully holds you, helping you sit straight, hands resting on the small of your back above the shirt. Leaning in to share a gentle kiss, a short chuckle follows, mostly by the tickles on the back of his neck. “So no little mice on strings or feather balls to bat around? There goes Christmas.” He’s fully expecting to get smacked at this point and he would really deserve it. Still, it explains a lot, you and your weed. You’ve got your own source of human catnip., so why get the cat stuff? He stills, a sign that Tibby would inevitably know that he’s growing a bit more serious.

“Tibs…I’m never going to let you fall, for as long as we’re together.” he reaches up to brush his fingers through your hair, fingernails scraping gently. “I won’t tell your secrets, just like I know you won’t tell mine.”

A swat is indeed what Caspian gets for his joke about catnip. Right on the shoulder, she lets her light hand lay on his chest her thumb rubbing the spot where Oya had scratched him. You can't even see if anymore but the mark that the two have left on each other is apparent and runs deep. “Haha, suppose you're right on the human catnip bit. It is really that.”

Though Caspian says he would never let her fall she.. “Well I'm not sure.. if you could stop me from falling,” her eyebrows raise as she admits that little truth. Slowly but surely she is falling for this man. She buries her face into his warm chest and closes her eyes. “Won’t tell yours either. Ever.”

“..biscuit.” Using the term of endearment from where she's from a grin can be felt on his skin since her mouth is so close to his skin.

“That may be the case.” A concession from the big man. “The thing is, if you do fall, guess who’s going to be there to help you to your feet?” Caspian would be that guy. His arms come up to cuddle him into her chest, fingers tangling in her blonde hair, gently stroking in time with the waves battering the hull of the boat. “Let’s not think about that now. Falling. Let’s think about soaring. Let’s think about going to the woods and just enjoying nature and being with each other.” He leans close to playfully whisper. “Let’s go skinny dipping in the ocean sometime.” followed by a gentle pat on her shoulder - quite possibly he’s joking there, but then again, he might not be.

“Biscuit? That’s a new one. I’ll have to get my Afrikans to English slang dictionary out again to see what that means, ja?” Yes, even he can throw a little slang in there, now and again. It’s rubbing off on him.

He gives Tibby a gentle squeeze, bending to place a kiss on the crown of her head. “So glad I got to meet you, Tibs…and you too, Oya.”

The cat, of course, meows from below decks at the mention of her name.

“I think my life would be very much more boring if you weren’t in it.”

“You lead the way.” Tibby says tugging playfully at the waistband of the PJs he's wearing. Skinny dipping is a favorite past time of hers, swimming in the rivers at night with the moon hanging overhead, it was paradise. You'd need to watch for the crocs though.. “Ja biscuit you're picking it up just fine.” She nuzzles his neck breathing in his scent content to lay there with him all day, rocking back and forth with the waves.

“I'm happy to have met you too, Cas.” She whispers then as she nibbles a corner of his ear and throws herself out of his arms and onto the padded bench, nabbing the fallen joint to smoke it some more, placing her legs on his thigh.

Tibby is a flexible girl, so flopping out of his arms to grab her joint requires a little stretching and strength from Cas’s part. Luckily for Tibby, since Cas is holding her close, the t-shirt maintains a little bit of modesty and, after a little bit of adjustment, she’s sitting comfortably on his lap, her legs across his, sharing the joint between the pair of them.

The pier that Tibby rented was one of the furthest out and, being near noon, was nearly deserted, so the pair could do just about anything they would have liked without drawing too much attention to themselves. Still, the thought of stripping off to his skin and leaping over the side was a little nerve wracking. “Maybe while we’re camping, okay? It’d be a little…I don’t know…safer? At night. Even now, i’d still feel a little self conscious going skinny dipping in the ocean in the middle of the day.” There would be questions, of course, but hey, he’s a kid in college.

You have nothing to be self conscious about m’love.” Is said in a serious tone as she blows the smoke away from him watching it billow away. She leans in a little looking over her shoulder as if to check for people though she knows nobody is there. “I think we should wait until nightfall though, I don't want you giving any old ladies a heart attack.” Tibby winks suggestively as she passes the joint.

Conversation, banter, flirting is easy with him. Once she allowed herself to start really letting her walls down around him. The wind dances across her skin making it prickle a bit. “I wanna take you to Africa one day.” He would be a little out of place but it's not like white people weren't there, or in her city in an abundance. “It's beautiful.. you'd love it.” Tibby muses as she thinks to her Home and the fields outside the bustling city. “Have you ever been out of the country?”

“From what I can tell from the glances I’ve had, Tibs, neither do you.” Caspian pats her on her bare thigh lightly, taking his turn with the joint and passing it back, snickering about the thought of actually skinny dipping with the tiny blonde. Chances are he’ll forget about it until, late one night, the decision will be made for him and he’ll be paddling alongside the boat in little more than a smile.

He gives her knee a squeeze after a moment or two. “Never been out of the country. We’ve been to a lot of states - parks and stuff like that - but never been to Canada, Mexico, England. Forget Asia, too far. Not even Hawaii. I am not a well-travelled man, but I hope to change that.” He bends down to put a kiss on her forehead. “I’d love to come to Africa with you. See the sights. No big game hunting, though.”

“Of course not! We respect the big ones, they have old souls.” Something her grandmother says and something that she still believes to this day. “All our souls are old. In a recurring cycle,” she recites the words of her bibi. “My bibi is a shaman of sorts. They call her a Trickster.” She grins roguishly, “Some say she dances with Ansai in the moonlight.” The stories of her bibi go back to when she was a little girl. Sitting by the fire with her parents, her mother always saying that her bibi just knew things. It creeped her mother out, her father thought it was funny that someone as fearsome as her mother could be scared of a little old lady as he called her bibi.

“I've been all over. Fortunately,” she adds as an afterthought puffing on the joint and looking out over at the ocean. Her free hand caresses his abs absently. He's warm. She's warm.

A tiny yawn escaped her and she nuzzles in closer getting even more comfy there are advantages to being as tiny as Tibby is. “Seeing a lion up close is a true experience.”

One thing that Caspian really, really enjoys from Tibby are the stories of growing up in Africa. What must be extremely boring for Tibby to recount is enthralling for Cas, because you don’t hear about having to avoid the wildebeest stampede to get to school or how the asshole monkey sometimes stole your hair ties when you were eight. “I bet. Maybe one day we’ll get to do it. Hell, we might even see your family. Wonder what they’d think, you bringing a white guy home to visit?” He chuckles, then stills. “I wish I could meet your bibi.” His fingers stroke through her hair in slow, easy movements. “I wonder if she would like me?”

That question, however, is going to be left unanswered, at least for a little while. Sitting here, in the sun, with Tibby on his belly, Caspian stretches and yawns, taking another hit from the joint before putting it aside, wrapping the small woman in a very warm, very strong embrace, his eyes closing as he relaxes with you in his arms. He’s content. More content than he ever thought he could be. Warm and close and feeling loved. It’s a nice sensation, to be here, with her. Perhaps being a cat is rubbing off on her, because he could remember a cat of his, when he was growing up, that loved him so much that she’d just curl up in his lap and go to sleep. Tibby’s a little bigger then that cat, but still.

“Sweet dreams, me skattie. I’ll be here when you wake up.


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