portalhopping | (no subject)

(no subject)

WHO: The 202 Crew
WHAT: Caleb Michaels and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
WHEN: Evening, 8/13
WHERE: Apartment 202

He's been kind of out of sorts lately, and Caleb blames the snap on that. Ever since Steve brought up thinking Sally might be into him, Caleb keeps finding himself deeper and deeper in his own head when he's not at home, like he's forever trying to see what the fuck it is Steve thinks he saw that night with the margaritas. Like he's forever reaching for some excuse to get over Adam once and for all, all the while wondering if maybe he has been and he just needs to actually follow Steve's advice. Then he'll lose himself falling down the rabbit hole of how awful it would be if he actually did try asking her out and Steve was wrong and it fucks up the entire dynamic of the apartment. They have a perfect balance right now and he doesn't want to be the one to mess it all up.

With all the introspection he's been doing on the clock when he really shouldn't be, it's all too easy for him to get caught up in customer emotions, and tonight, Caleb was really on fucking fire.

When he walks into the apartment after work, he's soaked to the bone from forcing himself to walk home in the rain instead of taking the bus, needing to chill the fuck out before being around the two most important people in his life so he doesn't unintentionally bring them down. More importantly and noticeably, he walks in with his white undershirt melded to him like a translucent second skin. His Target shirt, however, is nowhere to be found.

Moppy curls are all but completely flattened against his head and a drawn, irritated look on his face looks back at his two roommates on the couch, watching television. His eyes move from Steve's face to Sally's as they reflexively look over at him. "Tequila, please," he says in a low, monotone voice, frowning. "I'm gonna go change but...I would literally do anything for a frozen margarita right now, Sal." He looks over at Steve then. "I don't suppose you're hiring at Dippity Doo-Dahs, are you...?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The ghost turned zombie turned witch turned ghost witch member of the Dead Club has made herself comfortable on the couch. She has little to no sense of personal space, much per usual, and has flopped in and made herself comfortable against Steve's side. She's curled up with her head on his shoulder, her feet curled in and tucked under her light, thin dark purple floral print sundress complete with dark gray sweater over it. Her hair, much per usual, is just left down and today she's let it do it's natural thing in soft waves with the occasional tighter curl.

Hearing the door, Sally aims her wide smile at what she knows is about to be Caleb - but it melts away just as quickly as she offers it as she takes in the fact that he looks like a drowned rat. It doesn't take an empath to know that he's had a bad day, a doozy of a day, or that something is wrong - why the hell else would someone walk home in the rain when they normally take the bus?

"Your wish is always my command..." Sally moves quickly to get up, moving around the couch toward Caleb on her route to the kitchen, though, so that she can stop and reach up, getting on her tiptoes to brush his wet curls back a little bit...and realizing they're cool to the touch. "You're freezing, Caleb - there should be some warm towels in the dryer too, just grab one on your way." Sally levels him with a look, knowing that he probably needs a little bit of caregiving right now. Giving his arm a squeeze - and a bit of a rub given how cold the water feels like it's made his skin - Sally moves to head to the kitchen to throw together a margarita and something to feed them all. But mostly Caleb.

She has a feeling that whatever it was...well....clearly Caleb is in need of a new job so he's going to need all the TLC they can give him.

It's been a long day and an even longer week by the time the evening rolls around. Steve is zoning out in front of the TV, Sally's comforting weight against his shoulder when Caleb storms in. He looks up in surprise at Caleb's drenched form.

Steve gets to his feet right behind Sally, his brow furrowed in concern. He doesn't bother answering Caleb's question about the ice cream parlor, knowing it's more of a rhetorical question. Instead he follow's Sally's lead and disappears for a second to get a warm towel.

"You okay?" Steve asks, knowing that the answer is clearly no. He hands the towel to Caleb, looking him over to make sure that at least physically he's intact. He rests his hand on Caleb's shoulder for a moment. "What happened?"

Concern nearly stifles him almost immediately once both of his roommates are on their feet. He's okay with it only because he can feel it warming him from the inside out already. Sally pushes his hair back off his face before heading into the kitchen and Steve fetches him one of the dryer-fresh warm towels Sally mentioned and Caleb closes his eyes, frowning, when Steve asks him what happened.

"I don't really want to talk about it right now, but the short story is that I lost control of my empathy and got myself fired. From fucking Target," he answers with a sigh before handing the towel back to Steve long enough to peel off the undershirt. He drops it to the floor with a squelching sound before taking the towel back from Steve. "Thanks, man," he says softly, rubbing the towel on his head to sop up some of the excess moisture in his hair before wrapping himself in the towel and finally allowing himself to react to the cold, shivering a little. "I just need to be numb for a little while. Just...for tonight."

Sally's attention is split between the kitchen and Caleb as she pulls the blender out and goes about pulling out the different elements that she needs to make margaritas - limes, mix, tequila, ice, cutting board, and knife. She makes quick work of quartering a few limes before grabbing her dish towel and rinsing her hands, a concerned look shot over her shoulder at Caleb as he towels at his hair and gets an eye full of his bare chest. "Their loss, not your's, Caleb."

It's a no-brainer response for Sally - and even more she absolutely means it.

"You don't need a job at Target and you put a lot of pressure on yourself to be perfect with this. You're human, so it's okay." Sally tries to comfort Caleb, but she's not sure it's exactly what he wants to hear. She knows he expects damn near perfection from himself. He's a lot like Aidan when it comes to that. Any mistake seems huge instead of just...a mistake, but she doesn't mind helping him be numb for a little while. Pulling her loving eyes away from the pair in the living room, Sally dumps some of the ice into the blender before she pours in the mixer, lime juice, and eyeballs the amount of tequila before placing the lid atop. "Numb I think we can do for tonight, though - you should really get out of those warm clothes and I'll heat something up to eat too."

Sally promises before turning the blender on - one hand atop the blender as she opens the cabinets to pull out a margarita glass. She's quick - both because of the comfort in the kitchen that she can't help but feel, but also because she just wants to try and help Caleb.

"Sally's right," Steve says, patting Caleb on the back. "Target sucks, anyway. It's just a K-Mart knock off." He gives Caleb a small smile, since this is an argument they've had a few times. When he sees Caleb shiver in the air conditioned air he unconsciously rubs his back through the towel to warm him. "Go change and we'll take care of the rest."

Steve wanders into the kitchen, sharing a bothered glance with Sally over the blender. He grabs the glasses and sets them up for her, before moving back to the hallway and glancing towards Caleb's door. He knows Caleb said he drank in college, or that he at least was around people drinking in college, but this is the first time he's ever seen him admitting to wanting to be numb. It's not that he has anything against having a few. He used to be the ultimate party guy, but it feels so out of character for Caleb who is always so careful and tries to remain in control.

When the blender stops, he moves back into this kitchen, his voice low. "What do you think? One of the boring documentaries he likes?"

It's only because Sally is in the kitchen that the whole of his sad but grateful expression is reserved for Steve, the tiniest attempt at a smile tugging up the corners of his mouth to show his appreciation both for their thoughtfulness and for Steve's movement to rub some warmth into his back. Once Steve moves his hand away again after telling him to go change, Caleb shivers again. "I might take a quick shower just to warm up a little. I'll be back out in like ten minutes. Thanks, man," he replies. "Thank you, too, Sally. I'll be right back."

With that, Caleb disappears into his bedroom and collects some clothes before heading back out to the bathroom for a shower. Sally mentioned that he's so hard on himself trying to be perfect with it and she's right. He needs to be perfect because when he isn't, people get hurt. Those assholes who were harassing Adam in school. Damian. Today's customer that ended up getting him fired. He can't even be mad that he got fired because he literally knocked that guy out. He'd have been more surprised if he'd avoided getting fired.

He can hear his two roommates in the kitchen with the blender whirring. Something about just being in this space and knowing they're here calms him down. Caleb needs that calm because he walks around existing as a human ticking time bomb. He'll be lucky if that guy doesn't try to press charges and, while it's not really his fault, any fallout will be his responsibility to bear.

The truth about him wanting to numb himself is that he doesn't trust himself anymore. He thought he'd been fine and one minute, he was. The next, not so much. The last thing he wants is to hurt one of his roommates because he wasn't able to control himself.

When he emerges from the bathroom, he's just in his night shorts with his t-shirt draped over his shoulder to give himself a minute to air dry his skin a little before putting it on. "I owe you guys one...what did I interrupt you from watching...? Sorry about that..." he says, raising his voice a little bit to be heard.

Sally can't help but clock the worried glance from Steve, and she gets it, Caleb isn't really the one of them that comes home wanting to be numb. He's not even the one of them that comes home wanting to party either. The fact that Caleb wants to let loose like this is a pretty big flag to note just how bad his day is. And at the same time Sally can't help the reassuring look that she shoots Steve. "He'll be okay, we've got him." Sally murmurs quietly - sparing a glance at Steve's back as he moves to take a peek at Caleb's door.

While Steve is occupied with that Sally pulls the sugar container out and uses a lime cube to wet the rim of one of the glasses before she sugars the rim and then stops the blender. "Sounds like a good idea - or we can just ask him what he's in the mood for. Maybe he needs some Mean Girls in his life." Sally offers a small smile before she pops the lid off of the blender and uses a spoon to taste her work, nodding after a moment and carefully pouring it into the glass that she's prepared for Caleb a moment before she register's his voice - and his full bare chest out in her kitchen. Slipping the lime onto the rim Sally deems it finished.

"Oh it's just reality tv - we can always finish it later - you're way more important, Caleb - please. We were already talking about what we can turn on instead to cheer you up, handsome." Sally rolls her eyes, playfully, as she picks up the one finished margarita glass and carries it over to offer to the tall, handsome, and fit former target employee standing on the cusp of her kitchen. She tries to shake off the desire to really get an eye full. "Your margarita - and there's enough for you to have another. You want one too, Steve?"

Steve knows he can be prone to freaking out from time to time. Sally's unwavering steadiness and calm is a reminder that those aren't the kind of emotions that Caleb needs to pick up from him right now. Whether she knows it or not, her words go a long way to helping him also. Of course, they've got him. The two of them will be there for him the same way he and Caleb had been there for Sally before. The same way that both of them had been there for him in the past. Together, there was nothing they couldn't handle.

He huffs and shoots Sally a small smile when she mentions Mean Girls. He's seen the movie more times than he can count. At first because he hadn't gotten any of the references, but then because it was something that he had actually enjoyed. He looks up as Caleb enters, hair still damp and shirt over his shoulder. He looks comfortable, but Steve knows that doesn't accurately reflect his current state of mind. Steve moves over and ruffles his hair fondly as Sally holds out the margarita. "Yeah, you've got full TV power. Whatever you want."

He remembers Caleb's words from last time they'd found themselves trying to cheer Sally up. Don't let her drink alone, Steve. Not that he has to be talked into drinking. He nods at Sally. "Sure, I'll take one," he says, looking at Sally and giving her a grateful grin.

He moves away from Caleb to grab the remote. "What'll it be, man? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I won't even fight you on it."

Caleb's brow creases a little. "It's okay, I don't care what we watch. I really didn't mean to make you have to pick it up later. I'm not even really going to be very good company tonight. I'm distracted. It'll be a fucking miracle if I don't get arrested," he sighs, frowning and scrubbing both hands over his face.

He shrugs and takes the margarita from Sally. "Thanks, gorgeous," he says with a smile that falls short of his eyes. The only thing keeping him from immediately diving into the drink is that he doesn't want to worry them more than he already probably has just by asking for it in the first place. It's not normally his style. Caleb has gotten himself into trouble before, but as a teenager. Now he's an adult. Now, it's assault. Now, it could be jail time.

"I must be the only asshole in Eglaf who got literally fired from their government-given job. This fucking sucks. It's not even the fucking job I care about, like fuck Target, you guys are right. But it's just..." he sighs and clears his throat, looking down. "I'm kinda fucking sick of messing things up left and right. It's getting fucking old real fast, you know?" he asks, knowing that they do; they both have experienced things in their pasts that would allow them to relate to what he's going through. He fucked up with Adam not once, but twice. He fucked up with Caitlin. He fucked up with Sadie. He's fucked up at work. If he follows Steve's advice and asks Sally out, he'll fuck that up, too, and the worst part is, part of him is pretty sure that by not taking Steve's advice, he's also fucking it up.

He sighs again and moves to the doorway, leaning against the door jamb and finally taking a drink. It feels childish because it's so fruity, but he can't make himself care. "It'd just be nice to have, like, one fucking thing go exactly the way it's supposed to for a change."

"Yeah cause it's such a hassle to pause mid-episode and be able to pick up exactly where we left off later." Sally, once Caleb has his drink, leans over onto her tippy toes and pecks his cheek, giving his shoulder a squeeze while leveling him with a look. She gets it. She really does. She can understand the control issue to a degree, but as is his usual Caleb is being way too hard on himself. "Seriously, sarcasm aside - you're good company period - you don't have to be in a great mood for us. And you're not going to get arrested. Even if you did we'd get you out and deal with it asap, but if they were going to arrest you I don't think you'd have been able to leave, Caleb." Sally lingers there, rubbing his shoulder for a moment longer before she disengages.

There's a small nod to Steve so that he knows that she heard him as she heads back over to her little drink station - making very quick work of sugaring a second rim before pouring tequila, mixer, lime juice (and a squeeze of fresh lime) over ice cubes instead. Steve does prefer it on the rocks, after all. "Not true - Lydia got fired for a little while. And I think a few others." Sally counters...sure Lydia got her job back, Sally is pretty sure but she's almost positive she saw that happen on the periphery. The comment is addressed over her shoulder before she slips a lime wedge onto the glass and then turns to offer it to Steve, "Voila, handsome!"

Sally moves, hopping up on the counter, and putting herself a little bit closer to eye-level with Caleb. There's sympathy and care on her face. "I know what that feels like - from the outside looking in you're not a fuckup or fucking up as badly as I think it feels like internally. You're really hard on yourself, Caleb." Sally leans forward, hands on her knees looking between her boys.

"Maybe this is the kick in the ass you needed to find something better than target instead of settling?" Sally points out - seeing an opportunity. A hopeful one. "Either way you made good friends - sticking with us is one thing you continue to make the right choice on."

"Wait. Arrested? What the hell happened?" Steve is instantly on the defensive, knowing that Caleb is the least violent person he knows. If someone came after him, he had every right to defend himself. And if he was pushed to violence it wasn't his fault, but whoever emotionally pushed him to that point. When he'd said he'd been fired, Steve had thought maybe his mouth had gotten the better of him after he'd been pushed to his limit by some asshole. But this sounds a lot more serious.

Again, Sally reminds him of the fact that Caleb doesn't need excitability right now, but support. He takes a deep breath and tries to calm down, nodding in agreement. "Sally's right, man. You don't have to be anything for us. It sounds like it's been a shitty day, it's okay to feel shitty about it." He lets out a low breath. "And yeah, you're not getting arrested. Whatever happened, we'll work it out."

Steve takes his drink and immediately takes a long sip of it. He thinks it might help the churn of outrage and annoyance on Caleb's behalf in his chest. He nods in agreement as Sally goes on, somehow knowing exactly what Caleb needs to hear right now. "You're definitely not a fuck up," Steve says, certainty in his verse. "Sally's right. You are way too hard on yourself, all the time. No one is perfect. You keep trying to control something you have so little control over. You question and double question everything you feel trying to keep everyone else okay, but what about you?"

He looks at Sally and then back at Caleb. "You deserve to get what you want too, Caleb. And you deserve something better than Target." He tilts his head slightly. 'You deserve a job that cares about you too. That appreciates your talents and value. That understands you."

Caleb heaves a sigh, running a hand into his hair and flipping it to part on the other side of his head. "I got caught in an anger feedback loop with a customer in a shitty mood and I fucking knocked him out. Cold-cocked him right there at the cash register for the whole goddamned store and customer base to see," he answers through gritted teeth.

They both insist that he's too hard on himself; assure him that he's not a fuck up, but when the consequences of his mistakes and missteps can be pretty terrible and usually the other person is on the receiving end of them, there isn't much room for error. Not if he wants to keep himself out of a prison or an insane asylum. Or the A.M...

A small smile that falls just shy of his eyes pulls on his lips as Sally gives his shitty situation a positive, hopeful spin. She's always so good at that, whether it's for one of her roommates or for herself. She can put a positive spin on damn near everything and it's really endearing how she extends it to him in that moment.

Steve's query pulls Caleb's visual attention away from Sally, finally, and his eyebrows lift. Steve looks at Sally briefly before addressing Caleb again and between that and the head tilt, Caleb gets the drift. Scrubbing both hands over his face and then back through his hair, Caleb looks back at Steve with his less than amused expression. Even if Steve's right and Sally is into him, that doesn't mean he can treat her like a prize he deserves as retribution for his struggles. Who says she'd want to do anything about it if she felt the same? Maybe she likes things the way they are and doesn't want them to change.

Or maybe she's more into Steve. Caleb sees the lingering looks. He hears the way that they can connect on pop culture references that Caleb can't understand because he's not into the same things they are. Hell, they were cuddling on the couch when he first came in. Steve could be completely misreading the situation because his own low self-esteem in the dating arena biases him against himself. It would make more sense if she was into Steve.

"Maybe, but I wouldn't want to be the candidate they picked because the candidate they gave the offer to respectfully declined it," he replies, following the same metaphor the best he can. That shit has never been Caleb's forte.

"I'm noticing a trend - Sally's right. So I'm pretty sure that means that you should be listening to me." Sally pins Caleb with a serious look from her perch, pointing at him to further make her point. Her tone is serious and her eyes are unwavering. It's not often that Sally gets no-nonsense and serious like this anymore, but she channels what she needs so that she can make her point. "If his anger loop was that severe that means it was bad. We both know that your control is pretty damn good."

Sally holds her hand up in a stop sign pre-emptively to keep Caleb from arguing with her, prepared for him to go down one of his various tirades of explanation about mistakes, missteps, or losses of control. She doesn't want to hear them. Caleb's control, changes to his powers notwithstanding, has still been good - definitely not changing enough that he hasn't been able to function from what she's seen.

"Full stop at damn good - not up for debate. If his anger was severe enough to get passed your usual level of control that means he was extremely angry and probably out of control. You've been around angry people before and you don't walk around cold-cocking people every time you see a little bit of red. And if he was that angry and it got to that point I'd wager a guess, and put money on it, that he was being abusive too." Sally hops down and moves to pull down some bowls to throw together some snacks, addressing Caleb over her shoulder as she continues. Her movements in the kitchen are somehow both purposeful as well as casual because it certainly feels like she's paying much more attention to Caleb.

And in truth she is.

"That's something that Steve could do if he got angry enough, or me. Anyone could - was it maybe not the best thing to do.... no, but we're all human. Your standards don't have to be that much higher." Sall finishes what she's saying as she continues to move about the kitchen, looking back at the boys. Steve and she are more on Caleb's team than he really is at this point, but that seems to always be the way of it. She pauses after a moment to turn around, arms crossed, unimpressed with Caleb's response.

"That's assuming an awful lot about another candidate respectfully declining, and I think somewhere along the way you mixed a metaphor anyway. The point of all of this is that you can do better and you know it somewhere in that brain of yours." Sally walks closer to Caleb, unflinching and determined. "You're not some second candidate, you can do whatever you set your mind to here, and nobody expects you to be a perfect robot human putting everyone else first." Sally warns him, head angling as she continues to pin him with her gaze as she reaches out and puts her hands on either of his shoulders accompanied by a squeeze.

"And don't pretend like Steve or I is just fangirling here." Sally turns to Steve, hands remaining in place, and even with the intensity in everything she's said... there's love written there for Caleb - for both of them. She'd defend them from others, to themselves, and everything in between. She certainly hasn't missed a beat here. "We're not fangirling or blowing smoke up his ass, right, Steve?"

"You definitely should." It's an unneeded echo of Sally saying that Caleb should be listening to her, but he can't help himself. As usual, Sally knows exactly what Caleb needs to hear. Steve isn't good at finding the right words the way Sally is. The look she gives Caleb, direct and honest, makes Steve's stomach flip a little. He knows better than to interrupt her as she goes on, but he does put the drink down and puts his hands on his hips to nod along, completely standing behind everything she says.

Maybe it's because Caleb has never actually seen Steve get into a fight, but the possibility was always there, just under the surface. He thinks about how much he wanted to punch Billy before he even laid a hand on Sinclair. But it had taken him actually going after the kid to get him there. He didn't exactly go looking for fights, but there were things that could get him there in no time. Everyone had their buttons.

Sally is not messing around and neither is Steve.

"No," he says, shaking his head. "Give yourself a break, man. Stop punishing yourself for not being perfect and just take a deep breath and try to relax." Steve moves forward, stopping just short of the two of them. "You're just as important as anyone else."

Caleb opens his mouth to protest that no, it wasn't that the customer's anger was that bad, so much as his anger was mixed with Caleb's coworker's anger, and then he absorbed that and spat venom back at the guy, which made him madder, which made Caleb madder, and it escalated as such until Caleb lost his cool completely, but she holds a hand up to stop him. He closes his mouth again to let her finish.

As Sally hops off the counter to start snacks, lecturing him even as she does that, like the fucking incredible pro that she is, Caleb looks over at Steve for support only to find Steve fully taking Sally's side. A soft huff of indignation escapes him as he gives Steve a come on, man, what the fuck? expression and holds his hands out like he's looking for Steve to step in and contradict her even though he knows that Steve won't. He knows it because, deep down, he knows she's right, at least to some extent. Caleb can't, even in the deepest recesses of his mind, imagine Sally or Steve getting so angry that they beat the shit out of somebody so bad that the person ends up in the hospital damn near dead the way he did with Damian. But if he doesn't lean on extremes like a crutch, he knows she's right.

His stomach tumbles a little when Sally locks him under her eye, squeezing his shoulders before inviting Steve to back her up. Caleb takes a deep breath and sighs a little as he looks back and forth between them. Part of him came to them specifically because he knew this is how they would react and he needs the support beaten into him. "Okay, well, just remember that when you have to scrape together all your savings to bail me out, okay?" he asks looking at Steve first and then Sally, leveling them each with a serious gaze that tells them both, hopefully, that he appreciates them as much as he's annoyed by them at this moment for ganging up on him in the exact way he needed them to.

He can feel the buzz already building between his own drink and Steve's. "I fucking love you guys. I hate when you gang up on me like this, and I hate it even more when you're fucking right, but I fucking love you both anyway," he mumbles, giving them both a half-hearted and lopsided smile, resting one hand on one of Sally's hips while reaching out to give one of Steve's arms a squeeze with the other. "Fuck you both for being right," he adds with a huffing laugh, rolling his eyes.

"Think we're good for it." Sally looks over at Steve with a grin pulling at her mouth - perhaps a little playfully smug. "And I happen to know that ghosts can be good for a jailbreak, for the record. And we'd both throw whatever we have in cash to get you out if we had to too." Sally teases, looking in Steve's direction, really not worried at all about the possibility of needing to bail one of her boys out. She'd do it in a heartbeat, and she's sure that if it came down to it she would be able to get the help in pulling the money together.

And even though she was joking she would absolutely break him out of jail if she had to - though it's not like she needs to tell the boys that.

Sally removes one of her hands and reaches over to ruffle Steve's hair on impulse - not wanting to be left out of reaching out to Steven in the moment. "We love you too - and you know I'd give Steve the same talking to if I had to and you'd help me gang up on him and so on and so forth." Sally surmises, giving Caleb a smile. "It's apparently what we do for one another. And you knew what to expect - my guess is you were looking for both the TLC and a little rough love here. And you love us for giving you exactly what you needed after a shitty day." Sally moves up on her tippy toes giving Caleb a kiss on the cheek and then Steve.

"Now - it's time to get a snack and get comfortable - go sit, it's time to lighten the mood. I'll be over with snacks in a minute." Sally swats at first Caleb's butt and then Steve's. "Go!" Trying to move things along - ever so slightly. "And no more stewing or ginormous expectations for tonight, just margaritas and snacks."

Behind Sally's back, Steve gives Caleb a meaningful look and gestures back at him with open palms. Sally is absolutely right about all of it, so there's nothing for him to take his side on. There's also a weight to his look that clearly implies that Sally's feelings for him are deep and genuine, though he's not sure if Caleb has time to pick up on that before Sally turns back around.

"Yeah, if you really think this is going to be the beginning of a pattern we can start putting away bail money, but we all know it isn't. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, that's it." He pauses before grinning over at Sally. "Besides, out of all of us, I'm thinking Sally's the one most likely to need to be bailed out of jail. So good thing she's got a get out of jail free card."

Steve picks up his drink and takes another sip. He tries to tell himself that's why he feels so warm when Sally kisses his cheek. "Yeah, we're family, remember?" Steve says, reaching out and squeezing Caleb's shoulder. "And family doesn't let them beat themselves up. If you need knocking down a peg or two, we'll do it for you."

He winks at Caleb before gasping at Sally's playful swats. "Sally, make a guy some tacos first."

He wraps an arm around Caleb and pulls him towards the living room. "It's going to be okay, man. Just don't worry about it tonight. We'll figure it all out tomorrow."

Caleb can't help the laugh that comes out of him when Steve points out that Sally's the most likely to end up in jail. "...that's actually probably true," he agrees a little thoughtfully. "Maybe we should just all start setting some money aside in case one of us needs it," he adds with a smirk, a grateful look in his eyes.

Then he looks over at Sally, his face warming a little even though she says "we" instead of "I" when she returns his sentiment. He really could deck Steve for putting the idea in his head that Sally's interested in him because he'd never thought about her like that until Steve opened his big, fat mouth. He can literally feel his face burning when she kisses his cheek, even though she does the same for Steve before turning her attention away from them both.

The swat to his backside surprises another laugh out of him and he echoes Steve's playful sentiment. "For real, drinks and dinner before you get fresh with us, damn girl," he jokes as Steve wraps an arm around him and starts to lead him out.

The amusement falls from his voice as he turns his head to look over at Steve. "Thus the tequila," he points out, lifting his glass. "The literal only way I'm not gonna worry about is if I drink until I pass out." They both know he'll agonize about it all night if he doesn't have something to distract him. "I owe you guys one for this," he adds as they enter the living room and he drops onto the couch after leaning forward to put the drink down on one of their coasters.

"Well I'm not getting arrested any time soon, but if it makes you feel better I'll get a cookie jar." Sally teases, shrugging off the idea that she might be the one more likely to get arrested out of the three of them. It checks out to her, honestly. "Just in case I get more than myself in a pickle." The ghost sticks her tongue out at the boys. They all know if something goes down she'd likely pull them in with her. The fact that they're family is well and established by now, truth be told. The boys have come and gone enough that they all are well aware.

And Sally can't help but grin at Steve for saying as much. "Remind me we need to make Steve watch Fast and the Furious I think he'll get a kick out of it." Sally grins at Caleb, half lingering near the boys for a moment longer than she really should. She needs to throw together some food for the boys given they're drinking - and she's hungry anyway per usual, but she remains. For just a moment

And she promptly follows that up with a peel of laughter as both boys lean into the same joke.

"I think I'm owed some extra in perpetuity for the taco Tuesdays and noods I've made for all of us up to this point." Sally teases, waggling her eyebrows at Steve and Caleb even as she takes a step backward back toward where she started to put some snacks together. Chips and guac and salsa go great with tacos, after all. And it's quick work to pull out some of the left over meat to both heat and spice it up to heat it on the stove as she tracks the boys on their way to the living room, listening.

"How about we just call this your turn - I had mine, this is your's, Steve is probably up next. And you know we've got you so drink up - there's more when you're ready." Sally pats the blender in passing as she goes about livening up the taco elements, keeping engaged with the boys as she goes.

Steve knows what it's like to want to drink until you pass out. He used to be Hawkin's Keg King, after all. He'd found himself in some pretty stupid situations the next morning, but it'd all been written off as boys being boys. When you were the Team Captain, people tended to look the other way. But he knows Caleb and how seriously he takes his control. He knows how much he must be bothered if he's looking for an easy way out of having to think about all of it. And by extension, he knows and is touched by the trust it shows in him and Sally.

"Oh yeah, I'm definitely due a mental breakdown any day now," Steve says, dropping on the couch beside Caleb and patting his knee with one hand as he finishes his margarita with his other. He knows that Caleb can, and probably will, pick up on his state if his guard is down. If Caleb wants to get drunk, Steve is all too happy to help him get there. He sets his own glass down and grabs the remote, handing it to Caleb.

"Did you ever get around to playing any drinking games during your college years?" Steve asks, giving Caleb a grin. "Because in my experience, a game always makes it twice as fun."

"Sal," he yells over his shoulder. "What was your favorite drinking game?"

It's easy to trust Sally and Steve with his uncontrolled self because there are two of them and they can overpower him and send him to bed if things start to get hinky with his powers. Moreover, what happens in 202 stays in 202, and while that's an unspoken rule, they show each other that fact over and over and over again. He trusts that they'll neither judge him nor laugh at him when he gets drunk twice as fast or faster because he's drinking in addition to feeling anyone else's buzz around him. Hell, Caleb saved a shitload of money in college that way, getting drunk for free off other people's drinks without touching a single red Solo cup.

A soft laugh slips when Steve assures him that it'll be his turn sooner than later and the fucked up thing is...he's pretty sure that's true. Bad things come in threes and it's too convenient that there are three of them. Sally down, Caleb down, Steve to go.

Taking the remote from Steve, he turns on the TV and just tunes it to the music channels, stopping when he lands on classic rock because it appeals to all of them, even though for Steve it's not classic at all.

He laughs again at Steve's question. "Yeah, there was this girl in our dorm — I lived in a coed dorm, but just on the guys' floor —" he starts, "and anyway yeah, there was this girl who bought a box of Jenga and like...wrote dares and shit on all the blocks. Then when you pulled a block, sometimes it'd say shit like 'take three drinks' or 'switch an item of clothing with the person to your right' or whatever. If you knocked over the tower, you had to finish everybody's drinks.

"She called it Drinking Jenga. I called it fucking awesome," he laughs before turning his attention to the kitchen and calling out to her over the whir of the blender. "Yeah Sal, what was your favorite? I feel like you were a beer pong queen, tell me I'm wrong."

Sally only barely holds in her laughter at Steve's ready agreement that he's due for a breakdown any day. The fact that he has no hesitation in agreeing with her no matter it might sound is endearing as hell, loyal beyond all measure too, but she's not entirely sure that that's exactly the truth. Steve, other than being angry on her behalf and others' behalf, seems to have been doing well as of late as far as Sally knows.

Instead of adding to that statement, Sally focuses on the moment between getting the taco stuff heated up and good and getting the chips and salsa in easy-access bowls. She's tuned into the conversation, definitely enough to grin big at the question thrown her way about drinking games. Oh man. There's a devious grin on Sally's face as she listens to Caleb's story - half excited. "You made a mistake, Caleb, you know we have to do that now, right? It's practically mandatory."

Sally laughs, already thinking about how she can order Jenga or pick it up on the way home one day from work.

"I was not the beer pong queen, though I did play it - quarters too - my hand eye coordination is not like that." Sally jokes playfully before pausing to bring the chips, salsa, and guac over to the living room. "But I loved me some never have I ever and truth or dare. Oh - and that one where you write down stupid shit on pieces of paper and then try to make everyone laugh so they have to drink - stupid but highly entertaining." Sally shares, sitting the bowls down and then returning to the kitchen.

Steve grins, positively inspired by Caleb's story. The only thing is that he's not sure if they have a Jenga tower or not. He lights up when Sally mentions quarters. Now that was something he knew how to do.

He snaps his fingers when Sally mentions Truth or Dare, a wide smile crossing his lips. "Truth or Dare! We should play it," he says, widening his eyes and looking between the others. He puts an arm around Caleb's shoulders, squeezing him affectionately. "We used to play it all the time. I mean, there wasn't a lot else to do in Hawkins than party and drive around. Not in that order."

He leans forward, snagging a chip and popping it into his mouth, chewing it thoughtfully. "Who wants to go first?"

Laughing, Caleb lifts his eyebrows and looks over around Steve and toward the kitchen. "Who said it was a mistake?" he asks with a cocky smirk. He had meant it when he said how much he'd liked it. Drinking Jenga was fucking fun and playing it with his roommates and maybe a couple of their friends sometime would be awesome, as far as he's concerned.

"Okay, I mean quarters is cool, but I'm fucking garbage at it so I played that one exactly once and was henceforth a spectator," he laughs, leaning back against the back of the couch as Steve latches onto Truth or Dare.

The bubblegum pink haze of happiness and the neon blue bubbles of margarita buzz swirl together into a bright purple warmth that envelopes Caleb in the best possible way as Steve puts an arm around his shoulders and gives him an affectionate squeeze. Caleb leans into him to give him a full body nudge as he watches Sally put down the bowls on the coffee table and leave again. "Yeah, okay, I'd be down for some Truth or Dare," he agrees with a smile at Steve before he leans back to look toward the kitchen again. "Sal, are you sure you don't want us to help?" he calls to her. "I fuckin' feel bad sitting on my ass while you're like serving us..." he points out.

Steve leans forward to grab a chip and Caleb follows his example, but instead of a chip, he takes his drink. "I vote Sally gets to &mash; if she wants to — because she's in there slavin' over a spontaneous taco night," he says, finishing his drink and getting to his feet. "I'm gonna get another one. You want a refill, man?" he offers, shifting his attention back to Steve. Then, he lowers his voice to direct it specifically at Steve. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing with Truth or Dare, my guy...just remember that I'll get a turn, too," he points out knowingly, lifting his eyebrow and giving him a cocky grin.

"I did because it's got to be a thing now." Sally shrugs at Caleb, sticking her tongue out. "You like it now, just wait until you see what kind of things we can write on those jenga blocks before you make a call." Sally replies, playfully ominous before she gets back into her rhythm of getting the rest of their tacos ready - babysitting the meat so that the reheating isn't going to burn anything.

Sally Malik doesn't burn food.

"I am pretty sure - small town or not - every teenager plays the shit out of truth or dare, Steve." Sally shoots her roommate a playful wink, to make sure that there's absolutely no sting behind the words. "I played the hell out of it at one point too." Sally waves a flippant hand at Caleb and his offer of help. "You can step up another night - just relax for now, you need it." Sally pins him with a look that leaves no room for discussion on the situation. She's more than happy to have the boys' help sometimes. And she's even happy to let them take care of her often enough, but this is not one of those times.

Caleb deserves to just chill out.

"But I am down for truth or dare - and if I get to go first then I say Steve - truth or dare?" Sally's face gets impish before she turns to get back to what she's doing so she can finish up and then settle over with the boys, though already full of ideas of what to ask or dare the boys to do.