contact//messaging//¿por qué hacer eso?

[treadingdawn]

[Click.]

[Is this for real?]

[Why yes. Yes it is.]



Hello. Um, this is Caspian--

[BEEEEEEEEEEEP. Sultry woman's voice:]

Hola. Caspian del buzón de voz está roto. Esta es su refrigerador.
Por favor, hable muy despacio y voy a mantener su mensaje a mi mismo con un imán!
Gracias.

[BEEP. End automated message.]

LABEL MESSAGES AS TEXT, TXT MSG, OR AUDIO. EVERYTHING IS PRIVATE, NO PARTY LINES.
Action for Narnia crew, anytime, anywhere, or pre-arranged with anyone else.

Comments

[basstardchuck.livejournal.com]

Chuck wasn't cursed that morning. Which was a nice change. But he still appreciated the sight of Caspian, fighting with an invisible enemy. He briefly wondered, as he approached, is startling a man with a sword is any wiser than startling a man on the edge of the roof or someone who's sleepwalking.
He simply trusted that Caspian had more control over his blades and wouldn't kill Chuck just yet.

"Whoever you're fighting, they's surrender by now," he said in a manner of greeting.

[treadingdawn.livejournal.com]

Caspian had expert control of his blades. Chuck need only hope he wasn't practicing dagger throwing at the moment, for he was very good at hitting his target, whether someone walked in front of it or not. As such, he wasn't practicing that (yet) so Caspian snapped his gaze to Chuck Bass immediately. All right, maybe his gaze appeared extremely intense for a few seconds but that faded fairly quickly, to be replaced with a more neutral expression.

"Good afternoon," he greeted in return.

Uncursed and seemingly in decent spirits, what more could they ask for?

[basstardchuck.livejournal.com]

"I hope you weren't waiting long. I wanted to make sure I'm... myself, before I showed up," Chuck said casually, looking around. His gaze rested on the bench, where they sat last week. Yeah, let's not scare off one of the few friends you managed to make, alright Chuck?
He quickly returned his gaze to Caspian. Whose gaze lacked the intesity he saw there seconds ago. With that gone, Caspian didn't look as dangerous. Though the blades still unsettled Chuck a bit. He figured he'd get used to those. Maybe even get good.

[treadingdawn.livejournal.com]

"No, I wasn't," he shook his head, "and I'm very glad you took that precaution. I did too to an extent."

Caspian offered another smile, not so uneasy, but with him it was always a little difficult to tell what he was thinking. A close friend of his often called him transparent and much of that is true, but who Caspian chose to reveal that transparency remained few and far between. Yet for the most part he continued to try making himself open to others as much as possible. What he kept close to the vest was his alone, which was only natural right? Right.

"Are you ready then, Chuck?" Caspian asked.

[basstardchuck.livejournal.com]

Chuck smiled and took of his jacket. He spread his arms as if daring Caspian to strike, which he did hope Caspian wouldn't. "Bring it, as they say in my world," he said with a smile.

He had it all thought out. No stepping out of line, no double entendre, unless they both were aware it was there. He liked Caspian, he didn't like many people. And he was painfully without a best friend. So he could censor himself, a tiny bit, for the time being.

[treadingdawn.livejournal.com]

Caspian on the other hand liked people a great deal and when it came to these lessons he was always very mindful of what a person could and couldn't take, often erring on the side of caution perhaps much to the chagrin of the assertive sort. Chuck here struck him as assertive, just not necessarily in the realm of martial athletics. So after the lesson it was safe to say at least one of them should have broken a sweat but maintained no bruises or welts. That was a far cry from the Telmarine military version of training, Chuck ought to consider himself a lucky Bass.

"I hope you are willing to continue another day because I can guarantee it does not get any easier from here," Caspian grinned, still enthusiastic by the mere prospect that Chuck, a man from a more modern time that often considered swords (and sorcery) a joke, would be remotely interested in pursuing the art now. "But that will be all for today," he nodded, running fingers through his own hair to get it out of his face. Yes Caspian never did bother with tying it back even on the battlefield. Call it luck.

[basstardchuck.livejournal.com]

It wasn't so much his interest in swordfight that made Chuck come back for another lesson. It was more the company. Even though practicing with sharp blades wasn't exactly Chuck's idea of great fun, he had a similar approach to basketball. And yet he was quite good at it, mostly because Nate liked playing the game.

Chuck looked at Caspian, still fresh and collected. He sat on the bench, heavily, trying to catch his breath. It really wasn't fair that the past hour had almost no effect on the other man.

"Why don't you ask me when I can answer honestly," he said trying to catch my breath. "Because right now I'd say 'never again'. But if you give me time to catch my breath, maybe forget about the sweat... I might agree to another session."
He took a towel and wiped the sweat from his face. And just to make himself feel better he threw the towel at Caspian. He didn't check if he managed to hit the other man, even though it would make him feel better. It was annoying how Cas didn't even break a sweat. Personal insult, really.

[treadingdawn.livejournal.com]

"All right all right," Caspian managed a laugh before catching a face full of towel, but at least he didn't let the towel drop to his floor. Rather, he took it and patted his own relatively dry face anyway before letting the towel hang around his neck.

"But you do like it, I hope, in general," he offered another smile. It was his every intention to turn Chuck's obligation towards self-defense into a genuine interest in swordplay.

[basstardchuck.livejournal.com]

"I might be... Not entirely bored with it," he admitted, pretending to be casual, damn the smirk that threatened to appear. But Chuck was looking forward getting good enough to be able to actually spar. Second lesson was too soon for that, but Chuck was always a fast study.

He looked at Caspian. And if the other man wasn't the perfect example of an eager puppy look, Chuck wasn't sure what was.

[treadingdawn.livejournal.com]

"You will learn much if you attend the tournament too. At least I think you may take note of what will be expected if you in at least another month or two."

Was he joking? Maybe, maybe not. It was difficult to tell what with how Caspian grinned at Chuck who, as emphasized before, did break into a sweat significantly. Hehe, er... but the Telmarine wasn't the sadistic type either. He just took pleasure out of knowing he wasn't making it too easy for his friend.

At that he also offered a hand to take the foil from Chuck.

[basstardchuck.livejournal.com]

Chuck rolled his eyes. "I already told you I'll be coming. To watch," he felt the need to emphasize. It really was worth stating again. Especially since he was barely able to hand Caspian the foil. He will sit on the bench some more. Not that he needed the rest, mind you. No. He was simply enjoying the company.

"How is the tournament going, anyway?" he asked curiously. Lately he was busy putting together a business plan for Victrola and he wasn't as up to date with everything as usually.

[treadingdawn.livejournal.com]

Riiiiight. Hehehe. Caspian took the foil and set both swords back in the rack. His own live steel blades remained sheathed on a belt which remained on the floor, under the bench upon which Chuck sat. A moment later, Caspian joined him.

"Very well, thank you. Have you... had anymore trouble with Gossip Girl," he asked, the name of that person from their world rolling off his tongue awkwardly.

[basstardchuck.livejournal.com]

Some part of Chuck was fascinated with the reactions Gossip Girl got. He was so used to having her as a constant in his life that he never considered there might be people who never had blogger tell all their secrets. The rest of Chuck was grateful she appeared to be a curse and was no longer around.

He shook his head. "Not really, no. We exchanged few comments, she reminded me of my passing attraction to Humphrey, I ignored her," years of practice did have an effect on his immunity when it came to scandals. "The fact that her scandlas appeared completely not true, unlike her reportings in our world, did help."

[treadingdawn.livejournal.com]

"I see... I don't think they were all untrue, just taken far out of context," he nodded, knowing this firsthand. It was hard for Caspian to tell an outright lie too, he had kissed several women on the same day... over a curse. It just didn't warrant calling him that word no one wanted to explain to him. "But it's good that she will not be giving anyone anymore trouble."

[basstardchuck.livejournal.com]

Trust Chuck to concentrate on the more interesting part of Caspian's sentence. He raised his eyebrows, suddenly interested.

"Do you know what wasn't a complete lie?" he asked curiously and contemplated the idea. "I hope it was the one about the exotic dancer. I've seen the girl and it would really be something worth watching..." Worth paying for too. Chuck smiled at the idea.

[treadingdawn.livejournal.com]

"Um... yes..." he stared at Chuck but out the corners of his eyes as if this would make Caspian appear more innocent. "I don't know anything about an exotic dancer but..." The Telmarine shifted in his seat. "It was a mistletoe curse, I didn't know at the time what the thing was," he admitted quickly, knowing how foolish he probably sounded as one of the few people in this City to not know the tradition around mistletoe.

[basstardchuck.livejournal.com]

Chuck shifted his gaze to Caspian again. It took him a moment to understand what the other man was saying. When it finally clicked, Chuck burst into laughter.
He tried to put it under control, the topic alone was clearly making Caspian uncomfortable.
"Mistletoe curse," he shook his head, not believing what he was hearing. "You get a manslut stamp for kissing people under a mistletoe? That's priceless." Riddiculous too. Clearly Gossip Girl was either really desperate for scandal, or the standards have changed since Chuck himself was last featured on the blog's pages.

[treadingdawn.livejournal.com]

"........"

Caspian gave Chuck a most dubious look, something close to are you laughing at me? Of course he was, loudly too, so that question was sort of moot. His discomfort wasn't that bad though, no different from a pair of acquaintances growing into something like friends taking a few jabs at each other.

"There were quite a few on that day, I will have you know. None of it with permission, it was all confusing and I thought it was behind us. Fortunately the others didn't seem too disturbed by having the memory brought up again," he said in a sound of relief.

[basstardchuck.livejournal.com]

Chuck shrugged, smile still visible on his face. The idea of calling Caspian, the man who blushed when Chuck flirted with him, a manslut still hilarious.

"Well, I don't see how they would react any other way. We're not exactly talking traumatic experiences here," he pointed out. "You really shouldn't stress over something so insignificant, Cas," he offered.

[treadingdawn.livejournal.com]

Sigh. Well, Caspian couldn't blame Chuck for how easily he let the issue roll off his shoulders. He, like many others in this City, didn't come from the kind of world he did.

"Where I am from it is considered unbecoming, that's all," he shrugged once, "I hope not to upset anyone. That is all."

[basstardchuck.livejournal.com]

Chuck frowned. "Kissing people?" that piece of information needed some clarification. Because if kissing people was, what was the word Caspian used? Unbecoming? Chuck really didn't want to know what Caspian's world, and Caspian himself, woud think about the things Chuck did with the twins.

"I don't think you need to worry," he returned to the matter at hand. "Unles there are other people from your world who would misunderstand..."

[treadingdawn.livejournal.com]

"I mean... to kiss someone you have no affection for, or intention of courting, or..." He tried to explain but already he knew how ridiculous the words coming out of his mouth sounded.

"Well, I never said I was an expert on the matter. I am sure in most cases at least someone grants permission and isn't drawn in by cursed mistletoe," oh this time Caspian blushed, but briefly. If anything he'd blame it on the exertion from their recent lesson. Of course worthy of nothing, Caspian hadn't broken a sweat.

[basstardchuck.livejournal.com]

No sex, unless you marry? The idea was completely surreal to Chuck, the slight distaste probably showed on his face. He quickly smiled. "Don't worry. I won't be holding all that against you," he assured the other man. "I might mock you, from time to time, when I feel you're too good at that whole swordfight, and need some reality check, but... Otherwise, I promise not to mention it. Too often."

[treadingdawn.livejournal.com]

Actually yes, that was the principle anyway and well, needless to say the Telmarine had no intention of mentioning how many times it'd already been broken. Maybe that's why keeping up this semblance of chivalry was so important.

"Oh thank you very much, Charles," Caspian said, tone flat and unconvinced, but only in a humorous manner. "I am sure the sacrifice you make is most noble indeed," he smiled.

[basstardchuck.livejournal.com]

"Completely," he said, not even bothering to pretend and sound honest. But his tone was light and Caspian shouldn't take any offence. It was clear the other man was enjoying the banter as well. "And you will aprreciate it more when I don't take pictures of your reaction when my club finally starts operating." With women in corsets dancing on stage... On the other hand he might be forced to take at least one. For completely private mocking. But still. He'll frame it.