greatamazingfeelingsboy

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neil perry

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Caleb sends the text before he goes into therapy, so he isn't fixated on waiting for Neil's response. Which, he isn't. He wouldn't be. It's not a date, or anything. It's a simple invite to go shopping and grab some lunch. Neil had seen firsthand how bare Caleb's apartment is, and he wouldn't mind some help getting something a little more... homey.

It's probably playing with fire, honestly. When he's with Neil, Caleb can feel the butterflies, and the actual horniness can get a little overwhelming, but Caleb thinks, probably, that he can handle it. It's just another thing to learn how to balance, right? And now that Dr. Fuller knows about his ability, it'll be easier to find an effective way to do that.

He thinks.

He hopes.

After therapy, he checks his phone, and smiles when he sees an answer. Caleb offers to pick him up, unless he'd rather meet at the store.

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"Fuck, I dunno," he says with a laugh. He orders his tea, and he sort of blushes when the barista smiles coyly at him, and turns to lean his lower back (well, his butt, actually, since he's so tall) against the counter while he waits.

"I need, like, decor, or something? So my apartment isn't so fucking tragic." He grins, though, and shrugs. "Like, artwork, or a rug, or something."

"It's not tragic it's just--new."

They were all new, once, and some people didn't want to become lived in at all, with the hope of going home. But Neil is happy to help, happy to be invited along.

"Do you know what you like? A theme? Or are we just going to go and see what we like and hope for the best?" He smiles and takes the cookie he's ordered, munching it happily. "That's a surefire way for me to point out anything with a tropical fruit on it, by the way. I think they're ridiculous."

Caleb laughs, and turns when the barista says his name. He accepts his cup with a thanks, and turns back to Neil. As he lifts his cup for a sip, he sees a phone number scrawled there, and he pretends he doesn't.

"I dunno, I figure, like... if I see something I like, I'll grab it?" He realizes that's not only a terrible way to shop, but also a dangerous one, because it can mean that his apartment looks like garbage, and it could get very expensive, very fast. "We should probably grab a shopping cart, just in case."

Caleb acts like he doesn't see the number, but Neil knows that he does, because Neil's tried that trick himself. He doesn't mention it. They step away from the cafe, and he smiles, heading straight for the carts and grabbing one.

"I'll try to not let you go too wild," he says. "I do have some taste. And if we're hanging out, I have to see whatever you put in your apartment, don't I?"

"Exactly," Caleb says with a nod. "See, this is why I invited you. I knew you'd get it."

Once they're away from the cafe, Caleb heads towards the home decor section. He definitely needs bathroom rugs and stuff, but he also wants actual, nice stuff to look at.

"So, I think I want some wall art?" he says. "Like, I've got that picture of me and Alex, but that's basically it. So something to kinda... make it less quiet, or something."

Neil nods along, leaning over the cart a little bit as they head along. He watches Caleb, just a little ahead of him, enjoying the ease he has, the casualness. "Any kind of art in particular? Or just, like...decorative stuff? You can go a lot of ways with that. Or just doing up lights or something. I did that in my old place, I just put up string lights. It was nice."

"Probably just decorative? I know shit about art. If Chloe were here, she'd know exactly, like, where to go and what to grab. She might even help me paint something myself." He glances back at Neil and explains, "Chloe's a friend from home. She's a really, really good artist."

"I bet you know more than you think," Neil starts to say, except then he looks up and Caleb's still looking at him and he sort of falters on whatever else he was going to say. It was probably silly and overly romantic anyway.

They step into the home decor section, and Neil looks away at the wall of frames and decorations and everything else, ignoring the flush on his cheeks.

Caleb takes a deep pull from his tea and pretends he hasn't noticed the flush. He follows Neil's lead, looking at the stuff all around them. He sees some of the stuff that the store seems to carry year round, like little fake succulents that remind him of Michael and Alex's succulent wall, or colorful, woven baskets that are just really nice to look at.

There are some enormous vases, the kind you stick fake branches in, and some fake branches in the very next section. Caleb shakes his head, smiling.

"I dunno, Dude, maybe I should hit a thrift store," he says. He's mostly kidding, but he does wonder, just a little.

"You can do that too," Neil points out kindly.

He grabs one of the preframed generic pictures, a panoramic cityscape that might be Darrow, or it might be New York, or it might be nowhere at all. But it's all sunset and glowing vibrantness.

Neil grabs the edge of it. "What about this? It's good colors."

He looks at it, and his eyes soften, because it reminds him of Alex and Michael, of the way Michael's red and Alex's blue blend together. He smiles, then nods. "Yeah," he says. "Yeah, I like that one." He nods again and moves the cart closer so they can set it in.

After that, it seems easier. Caleb finds a few more prints that he likes, of various sizes. He grabs a chamomile candle and a kinda cool holder for it. He finds some pillows and a blanket for his couch, and bathroom rugs. He grabs some curtains for his windows, and after some playful debate with Neil, allows him to put some string lights in the cart, too.

And, since this store also has a grocery section, Caleb leads Neil down there so he can grab some hot pockets and other microwave meals. Literally nothing that he has to put much effort into making.

Neil can't judge on the cooking front. He makes casserole, and that's about it. Everything else is ordered in or taken out, and he's burnt water before, which he didn't realize was a thing you could do until he did it.

He's telling Caleb about that as they head toward the cash wrap, easy and casual and self-deprecating because it's how he knows how to be. When the reach the front of the store, he says, "You're not going to let me get anything, are you?"

"Nope!" Caleb says cheerily. "But you can come back to my place and help me get some of this shit up." He grins as he loads his things onto the belt, and greets the cashier when she greets them both. She doesn't have any butterflies, thank God, so Caleb swipes his card while she rings him through. Once everything is back in the cart, and Caleb has his receipt, he walks them out to the parking lot.

"And order us pizza for lunch?" Neil asks, but it's not really a question so much as a statement. The girl ringing them out glances, briefly, between Neil and Caleb, and Neil just smiles because what else can he do about it? What's the sin in buying pizza for your friend who you're helping to decorate?

They load up the car, and Neil slides in and, this time, does up the seatbelt so he doesn't get chastised, or fall pray to the compulsion to slide across the bench toward Caleb.

Caleb grins a little. "I will literally never say no to food," he declares. He gets them back on the road, headed towards High Gate, and changes the radio to CD, so he can play Alex's album. It isn't just that he's proud of him, and wants to show him off. It's genuinely good music, in Caleb's opinion.

Neil likes it too, though he doesn't know it. It has a good sound and it's easy to hum along with, tapping his heel along to the beat. He futzes on his phone to place an order for pizza while they drive.

"Toppings?"

"I'm good with whatever," Caleb answers, and when he feels Neil's exasperated reaction — like Caleb is trying to be easygoing and actually just being difficult — he glances over and says, "No, really, like, the only thing I won't eat is anchovies?"

"So, extra anchovies and pineapple, then," Neil says with some laughter and a roll of his eyes as he orders them two large pepperoni. Even if they only eat a bit while Neil's there, helping, Caleb will have plenty left over.

"Okay it should be there in about twenty minutes, so we'll have plenty of time to figure out sort of where you want things."

Caleb huffs a laugh and shakes his head.

"So, you're secretly evil, got it," he teases.

He parks, then turns off the car so they can get Caleb's things into his apartment. He lives on the first floor, so at least it isn't a trek. Once they're inside, Caleb takes the foodstuffs to put away first.

"It's easier when you have such a trustworthy face like me," Neil says agreeably, helping to grab things. While Caleb organizes in the kitchen, Neil starts leaning things against one of the walls, looking at everything all together. It's eclectic, but it's a good collection, and something that can be built on.

Caleb can feel Neil puzzling things out, and the focus makes him want to rearrange the whole apartment. He carries the bag of bathroom accessories over to the bathroom door, then joins Neil at the wall with the collection.

"Okay, like... I look like a psychopath," he says with a laugh. "None of this really goes together, does it?"

"Is that what makes someone look like a psycho? Shit, I need to turn myself in."

Neil laughs. "Caleb, you've been in my and Rosie's apartment. Does not going together seem like a problem?"

Caleb looks thoughtful, the tips his head to the side. "Okay, so I guess I hadn't noticed?" he admits. "I'm totally over thinking this, aren't I? Fuck, and we've barely even started."

He looks at the selection again, then grabs the city sunset print.

"Okay, this one, I think, I want..." He looks around, then moves to the little dining room table that he's literally never used. "Here," he decides, holding it up towards the wall behind the table. It's visible from the kitchen, but it won't be in his face all the time.

"You're definitely overthinking it."

Neil lets Caleb mill about, figuring where he wants things. He puts the pillows and blankets on the couch, tearing off price tags as he goes. He looks up when Caleb seems settled, and smiles.

"That's a nice there."

Caleb can't believe the difference he can already feel in the place. It looks more like a home. It still needs work, but it's a start.

There's a buzz at the door, and Caleb jumps, then remembers that there's pizza, and he has to buzz the guy in so he can get it.

"Still getting used to that part," he admits. He'd never ordered delivery at Michael's place in Candlewood. He does it, though, and opens the door just before the delivery guy can knock.

But he steps out of the way so Neil can pay.