Whiskey is My Kind of Lullaby | open

[caleb]

Friday night, and the party scene was dead. Unfortunately for Caleb, he was too drunk to go back to the school, both because he didn't know where he was and because he didn't want to have to deal with running into people he hated while he was this wasted. Instead, he took to wandering around the streets with a bottle in his hand. He'd been picked up for underage drinking in the past, but he was way too far gone to worry about that happening again. Even if it did, it really wouldn't matter. His dad would send some money over for bail, and he'd be free to go, just like always. That was his family's attitude: throw money at something, and the problem will magically go away. And Caleb loved that philosophy. It meant that he could get away with everything, consequence free. Some would look at that as aiding his destructive lifestyle, but those weren't the kind of people that Caleb hung around. His friends envied that kind of parenting.

So here he was, on a bike path surrounded by trees in late autumn. Under the moonlight, with a handle of whiskey in his hand, taking swigs every few steps that he took forward. Like every Friday, he was determined to get shitfaced, and he wasn't nearly close enough. The only problem was that he was a social drinker, and this was not a social occasion. He didn't like drinking alone, because it was what sad people did. And he wasn't one of those self-loathing, self-abusive, sad cases that you saw in movies. Well, not that he'd admit anyway. He was too proud for that. And too far in denial. He was also way too happy when he was drunk to be depressed, but that was because he had company around him. So this was a new frontier for him. At least, he thought so. There were a lot of nights of complete blackouts, and he very well could have blacked out and gone to drink alone in the park some time. That was the curse of drinking as hard as he did, hazy memories came and went frequently.

The next thing Caleb knew, he was leaning against a tall oak tree for balance. Walking was too much effort when Caleb wasn't even sure where he was supposed to be going. Maybe he'd call up a friend and ask to crash at their house. Except he didn't know who to call, and he knew drunk dialing was always a bad idea. At least he didn't have ex-girlfriends to call. That would be terrible. He'd probably just chill here until he sobered up, and then he'd head back to campus. Supposing that he'd actually sober up tonight. He still had half of a handle left, and he sure as hell wasn't about to stop drinking. This night was going to be long and boring, he could just tell.

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Tagged:: Open!

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[HIRO JUN MIZUSHIMA]

Friday night. It was pretty late out. It was a clear night so the moon was shining brightly in the night sky surrounded by thousands of sparkling stars. Hiro didn't have any immediate plans. He was just out taking a late night run. His sister was out with friends so instead of staying locked up at home he chose to just go out. He hadn't had a good run like this in a while so he felt it was long over due. Nights like this were good. The park was practically empty, the surrounding area was generally quite. Just like how he liked it. With his ear phones and music blasting away he just ran to get all the stress out. His heart was racing a mile a minute as he ran. The breeze was cool which felt good when it hit his face.

He came to a small stop to stretch out his legs. When he did this though he took a glance around his surrounding areas. The park was quiet and empty. At least that's what he had thought until his eyes fell upon a lone figure nearby. He could only really make out the silouette in the darkness but it was unmistakable that someone was there. Hiro's curiosity got the best of him and he began to walk up to the stranger. As he got closer he could start making out more of the person. For starters it wasn't an adult but a child, well a teenager to be exact and not just that it turned out that this was no stranger after all but one of his students. One, Caleb Cross. Hiro had a good memory so he could make out his students without too much trouble. As he neared the boy he was able to make out the probable reason as to why he was leaning against the tree. "You don't look too good my friend. " he said as he neared the boy. He crouched down as he looked the boy over. It was obvious that he was drunk. Hiro knew a thing or two about these scenarios. "Rough night?" he asked with a mix of teasing and curiosity.

Now here was one of the issues Hiro now faced as a teacher. Being that Caleb was in his class he knew that the young fire was underage and so to find him drunk like this of course presented a problem. There was also the fact that Hiro knew it was past curfew. Drunk and late, not exactly a perfection situation. "I do hope you have a good excuse for when you return to the dorms." he said. Although a sane teacher would probably reprimanded Caleb here Hiro didn't have it in him. For one was because he didn't want to completely ruin a good night for him. Another reason being that Hiro knew about these situations because he had on various occasions been in the same predicament during his younger years. Although Caleb wasn't an ideal student he wasn't up for being cross tonight.

[caleb]

Caleb should have been more specific when he was praying for company. Well at least it wasn't a law enforcement officer, or a priest. He could fake his way through a conversation with a teacher. He could pretend to be sober. Well, he probably could have if the guy hadn't spotted his handle and mannerisms immediately. That was depressing. He didn't know what he'd be able to do now. Was he going to get expelled? He sure hoped not. Even if so, would he get to keep his powers? He heard that people could take them away, and that was frightening. "Yo, Mr. M," Caleb slurred. If he couldn't fake his way through this, he was going to try and act civil. The last thing he wanted was conflict. Hell, he didn't know this guy outside of class, maybe he was cool. "Nah, just a boring one," Caleb took another swig of whiskey. "Oh, sorry," he said, looking down at his bottle. "You want some?"

Caleb was always looking for more drinking buddies, and while his conscience was screaming that he shouldn't be offering a teacher alcohol when he wasn't sure how much trouble he was going to be in anyway, he couldn't resist. That was probably due to the fact that there was more alcohol in his bloodstream than there was in the bottle at this point. "I figure I'll just go back tomorrow and," he cut off, tilting his head back to look at the stars. "I dunno. I'll deal with it later. When I'm less drunk." Well at least he could still form coherent sentences. He wasn't as far gone as he probably would have liked to be. But then again, he wasn't sure getting that wasted in front of his teacher was a great idea. Being this drunk, he'd be able to hold a conversation, but any drunker and he'd become the chaotic mess that he was infamous for being.

Caleb looked over to Mr. Mizushima and raised an eyebrow. "So what brings you out to the park on a Friday night? Why not partying it up?" he asked with a smirk. Did teachers even leave school normally? He wasn't used to seeing them in real life. That was so surreal. The even bigger question was whether or not teachers knew how to have fun. If they did, he'd never seen it before. Maybe he needed to pay more attention in class instead of sleeping so much. But then where would he catch up on his sleep cycle? He never slept otherwise. He was always too busy getting into trouble for that. And if he wasn't busy, then he normally passed out, which was more like a coma than actual sleep. Even so, he'd never heard anything about teachers being entertaining. So this would be a first, if it were true of course.

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[HIRO JUN MIZUSHIMA]

If Hiro had any doubt that Caleb was drunk they disappeared the moment the boy opened his mouth. One because of the way the kid slurred when he talked and also the smell was evident on the young fire's breath. "Boring huh? Could have fooled me." he said sarcastically. He guessed that the reason didn't seem too important at the moment. Then he raised an eyebrow when Caleb suddenly offered him some of his drink. "Don't mind if I do?" he said as he took the bottle from the boy and took a drink. Whiskey. Well, at least he had an idea of what the poison was now. Of course every person had their own levels when it came to the amount they could consume. The question was had Caleb reached that level yet? He seemed coherent enough so perhaps he hadn't gone over the edge just yet. "Well, you don't have terrible taste." he said teasingly. If Hiro was caught in this situation no doubt he'd probably be fired on the spot but reprimands weren't always the answer.

"Hmm, I take it you've done this before." he said. Hiro had never dealt with living in the dorms since he's always lived in Maple Hallow. Why live in the dorms when he could live in a mansion, that's what he always thought back then. So when it came to partying he had a lot more leeway and being that he could hold his liquor pretty well he normally didn't get into very much trouble. "If you ever want to get less drunk you'd probably want cut back on the whiskey. Now. You're lucky tomorrow is Saturday and you don't have a test." yes, he had to add something academic into his statement. At least to remind them both that he was a teacher.

Hiro took another drink from the bottle and then handed it back over. Probably not the wisest idea but right now he wasn't exactly making the wisest of choices. "Oh you know us teachers, we have no social lives. We spent too much time on our precious students. I'll do enough partying tomorrow I promise you. As for tonight, I thought a nice moonlight run was in order. Can't look as good as I do without a little work. How about you though? Do you normally drink alone or did I just catch you on a off day?"

[caleb]

Caleb gave a toothy grin when his teacher told him that his night seemed less-than-boring. That was good. The last thing the fire would want would be to seem dull. Even when he thought he was being boring himself, it was fine as long as he didn't seem like it to others. The only appeal to Caleb Cross was the fact that he always seemed to be where the fun was. Other than that, he was kind of a terrible person, and he knew that somewhere deep down. That's why he continued to pursue that level of excitement. After all, it was a hell of a lot easier than changing his personality. Self-improvement just seemed like a drag, and he didn't want to put in the effort. Hell, he didn't even try in school. Why would he do something harder, like try to change his moral compass? As the teacher took a drink, Caleb grinned. Well this would be an interesting night. There really wasn't any way he'd get in trouble now, because this was about as unprofessional as it got. "I got the most impeccablest of tastes," he slurred, not realizing how very incorrect the sentence was. He was usually at least a little more well spoken than this.

Caleb shrugged. "Yeah. You could say I've done this a few times." He wasn't going to admit that drinking was just about all he did to a member of his school's faculty. That was a surefire way of getting in trouble. He could see it now, getting reported to guidance, getting followed to parties, getting expelled. He didn't know. As long as it seemed like this was infrequent, he'd probably be fine. Maybe there would be sympathy there. Still, there were some aspects of his personality and lifestyle that he couldn't censor as well. He took the bottle back from his teacher, and swallowed another swig. "Less drunk can wait till morning. You know what they say, waste not."

There was some obvious sarcasm in his teacher's voice. Okay, so maybe Caleb was mistaken with the assumption that educators didn't have lives. He'd try to remember that in the morning. He frowned at Mr. Mizushima's question though. This really was an off night. "The offest of nights," he said, once again probably sounding stupid. "I usually don't drink alone. That's for sad people. I'm not one of them." That was about as honest as he could be to anyone. He had a problem with the stigma of drinking alone. It was for the depressed, and Caleb wasn't depressed. He was always too busy having fun and being surrounded by people to be depressed. "So are you gonna report me?" he asked after a moment of silence. He hoped he'd get away with it this time. Well, he really hoped he'd just always get away with it, but his luck didn't always work that way, unfortunately.

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[HIRO JUN MIZUSHIMA]

Hiro knew that the moment he took the bottle out of Caleb's hands and instead of dumping it drank from it that he would probably be regretting it later. He'd deal with it then. For now the focus was to make sure that Caleb didn't land himself into any major problems. He couldn't exactly judge Caleb drinking underage when he himself did so as well so Hiro was a bit at an crossroads. After all as a teacher he'd suppose to be completely against this and as an older brother he'd want to keep Isabella away from those that would be a bad influence on her such as Caleb but at the same time he couldn't control what the boy did. Of course when Caleb spoke Hiro knew that it would be best not to leave the boy alone, especially if he was planning on finishing that bottle.

"I can tell." he said. He wasn't all that surprised. Hiro was a casual drinker. Normally he only really drank when he went out with friends or to social gather but even the gatherings he went to were normally nothing more than champagne, nothing all that strong anyways. On occasion he may even have a glass of wine at home. "How philosophical of you. You know they also say to know your limits and not to over do it." Although Hiro could hold his liquor he also knew when enough was enough. No point in getting absolutely drunk necessarily. "Of course you're not. What would ever give me that impression? What makes this time different than usual?" He asked out of curiosity. Caleb's next question did make him pause for a moment and think. "Haven't decided yet. I guess it depends how the next couple of minutes go." he said as he took a seat next to Caleb. "First off, do you have someplace to go or were you planning on basking in the moonlight all night long?"

[caleb]

If Caleb had the ability to know what Mr. Mizushima was thinking, he'd have hated everything about it. The thought that his teacher thought that Caleb had to be taken care of like some kind of child. Even if he really was childish both physically and mentally. He didn't like being the one people thought that they had to take care of. That was a sign of weakness, and not one that he'd like to show. He liked to seem put together and in control, even when he wasn't. And for someone to think otherwise, Caleb couldn't take it. Luckily, he didn't know what his teacher was thinking, nor did he necessarily care. He wasn't the kind of person to bother with what people didn't say. He took everything at face value, and it worked for him. Complexity was overrated.

Caleb gave a big smile to his teacher when he agreed with him. It was good that people knew that he had good taste, because if they didn't, there would sure as hell be an argument about it. Caleb liked to consider himself an expert on all things intoxicating, and while he'd drink everything, when he got something good, he liked it to be noticed. The only problem was that his friends started him out on the cheap stuff, and he'd probably never fully recover his taste that he'd wasted on cheap beer. "Yeah, but who listens to them anyway?" he stated dismissively. Moderation and Caleb didn't tend to mesh well. He tended to ingest as much liquor as he could, and dealt with the consequences later. Foresight wasn't really something that he did well. "This time's different because I needed a break from dealing with the same people all the time. You know?" He didn't know if the teacher could relate at all, but everything made sense in Caleb's head, and that was all that mattered to him.

Caleb took a few more swigs of his whiskey. "Guess I gotta be on my best behavior then. Don't I?" He asked in a low tone, almost sounding sober. He couldn't stand it when he was given vague answers like that. He had no idea what he'd have to do to get out of trouble, and he wasn't sure that he'd be up for the challenge. He was kind of terrible at pleasing authority. "I guess I was gonna stay out here for a while. I don't have anywhere else to go." Usually he just waited until early morning diners or restaurants opened, and then he got breakfast. After that, he was usually sober enough to get back to the dorms. "I usually just rely on the good will of attractive girls that I tend to meet. You know?" He loved that he could use one night stands as a method for board some nights. The fact that he could use his looks and charm to get that going for him was a wonderful blessing that he used as often as he possibly could. Unfortunately, this was not one of those nights.

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[HIRO JUN MIZUSHIMA]

"Well, obviously you don't but they've been known to have their moments of truth." Hiro wasn't a philosophical person. Far from it. He liked to read yes but that was a different story. That doesn't mean he didn't know certain sayings. Of course in this situation what he said was more of a general saying rather some big wise quote from Plato. He could relate to what Caleb said though, about needing a break from certain people. When Hiro went through his change of heart he definitely distanced himself from a number of people when he realize what idiots they were, mainly because they reminded him so much of the person that he used to be. Then again, Avery did that too but at least in that case it was more a positive than a negative. "I know the feeling." Of course he had to play nice with his people for certain reasons but that didn't mean he enjoyed their company anymore.

No where to go huh? Hiro never knew that feeling. He lived in Maple Hallow all his life. Never in the dorms though, why would he do that when he lived in a mansion. So after a night of fun and drinking Hiro would be sane enough to be able to sneak into the house without fuss. That made him forget that others weren't as lucky. "Well, considering it is rather chilly and the middle of the night something tells me that your not exactly going to score any good will from anyone tonight." The part was completely deserted save for the two fires. With that being the case he wasn't exactly sure how lucky Caleb would be and Hiro couldn't just leave the boy here risking it. His inner older brother wouldn't let him even if he wanted. He ran a hand through his hair as he thought about what he would do next. It seemed like he only had one real option. Let's hope he wouldn't regret it. "How about you come home with me? I think a bed would be an upgrade from a tree trunk and you'll get something to eat in the morning, then you can be on your merry way."

Of course there was the chance that Hiro would get a hell no after all who would really want to spend the night in the house of a teacher just to sober up. It was obvious that this wasn't Caleb's first rodeo but only this time he was found by Hiro and the fire teacher couldn't just leave him here. "Of course you'll probably get curious looks from my sister but I'll probably end up forgetting about the bottle by morning. Whiskey could do that to a person."

[caleb]

Was this what sympathy felt like? Caleb sure wasn't used to people telling them that they'd felt the way he had before. And if they did, it was about something stupid. Feeling wasted, or deciding to sleep with a girl. No one had ever told him that they'd related with him feeling something meaningful before. Not to his knowledge, anyway. Mr. Mizushima was a nice guy, and Caleb didn't even think he was faking it the way a lot of teacher did in order to keep their jobs. He wasn't the kind of person to act like Holden Caulfield and say that he hated phonies. He couldn't. He loved faking everything too much for that, and he wasn't a hypocrite. He was far too introspective for that. Still, it was nice to hear someone offering some sort of validation of his emotions for once.

It was even more of a surprise when his teacher offered him a place to spend the night. And every one of Caleb's instincts was telling him to turn the man down. Caleb Cross didn't depend on people. He could sleep on the dirt and be more than happy. Still though, he didn't want to wake up to find that his things were stolen, and he didn't want to wake up sick. So Caleb's rational side decided that it'd probably be a good idea to take Mr. Mizushima up on the offer. "I think I'll do that. Thanks," he slurred. A place to sleep wasn't such a bad idea right about now. He was gonna be ready to pass out eventually, and waking up in a park was never good for his health, after all. A bed was more than welcome.

Caleb raised an eyebrow when his teacher mentioned that he had a sister. He hoped that the man would tell him the girl's age without him having to actually ask. Even with the man's good will, Caleb still only had sex on the mind. And the teacher was also offering to let him off the hook for drinking. Thank god. "Thanks so much, Mr. Mizushima," he finally said. This was so much better than he'd thought this interaction was going to go.

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[HIRO JUN MIZUSHIMA]

Hiro was a tad surprised that his offer had been taken but at least now Hiro's guilt would be eating away at him for leaving the boy here. It had been something that he had always looked forward to when he was younger and so he figured that one night wouldn't kill him. He just didn't want to make a habit of offering up his house like this, Isabella wouldn't be to fond of it either. Waking up to completely strangers in the house wasn't exactly the most idea situation. Caleb's look didn't go unnoticed when Hiro mentioned his sister. "Who's off limits." he said with a soft and warning look. He may be a teacher but he was a brother first and a very protective one at that. He didn't want to regret his offer.

Hiro gave him a smirk at his thanks. "Don't mention it. Ever. Wouldn't want to get both of us in trouble. Not many teachers are as nice as I am." Most teachers would have found Caleb and quickly reprimanded him. What was the point really? It wasn't as if doing so would fix the problem and make him stop. That choice would have to be completely Caleb's decision. After another few seconds Hiro got up from the ground and wiped himself off. "Why don't we get going then? That is if you can walk. And I am not carrying you."

[caleb]

Off limits? Caleb didn't know the meaning of the term. He did what he wanted, and anyone who tried to tell him not to do something usually got him doing the exact opposite. In that way he was probably easily manipulable, but most people somehow neglected to catch on to the fact that he was dissident for the sake of being dissident. Caleb just didn't like authority. He hated being told what to do, and even if he'd act polite when the need arose, and even though he'd schmooze over anyone who had power over him until he could pull their strings, he wasn't one to take orders. It just wasn't his style. When people thought Caleb Cross, obedient was probably the last word that would come to mind. He was so many things, but it just wasn't one of them. Nevertheless, if Caleb was going to sleep his his teacher's sister, he'd do so in secret. No need to piss off the guy who had this much leverage over him right now. "You got it," he replied flatly.

Caleb nodded as his teacher informed him that he wasn't ever to bring this up. That wasn't a problem. With the way Caleb's stories usually ended, he wouldn't dare bring up a male teacher. That would make him the butt of a thousand jokes. Though, this could be used against Mr. Mizushima if he ever decided to cross Caleb at some point. That was how he worked, after all, he was constantly looking for ways to get ahead, even if it meant bringing everyone else down in the process. Caleb was the embodiment of his element. He was fire. He destroyed everything. He engulfed the world, and as everything else turned to cinders, he only grew. Caleb stood and took a moment to steady himself on shaky footing as his teacher declared that he wouldn't carry the fire student. That was fine. Caleb was already taking too much help from the guy. Any more would make him feel pathetic. Well, it'd make him feel more pathetic. And he couldn't take that right now. "Lead the way I guess," he slurred, waiting to figure out where he should start walking.

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