RP:Nothin' Like Bread To The Head

Summary: Meri's still pissed at Cal, thanks to his actions at the commencement ball for Larket's tournament, so she throws a loaf of bread at his head. Turns out Cal's still a bit sensitive. It does manage to knock some sense into him though and he finally tells Meri his feelings regarding their break-up.

Open Market, Cenril

Meri :: It was fairly convenient having a market right down the street from home. Shopping was a chore that Meri did not enjoy, but it was a must. Especially now that she had to behave like a somewhat responsible adult thanks to that fact that she now has a child. Apparently they like to eat. Adults do too, but it is more forgivable when adults are reckless with their own meals. In short, Meri is here because she needs to feed Fleur. She has already visited Khitti's bakery for the bread goods and has those safely tucked away in her shopping back. Currently she is standing in front of a produce stand, but it seems that she is finishing up that order. A couple of fruits and veggies are tucked away into her satchel next. She is about to call this shopping expedition finished when some delightful scent catches her nose. It's not peppermint, she is definitely not overly enthused about that scent and any potential Callum run ins...but her departure is delayed as she now finds herself standing in front of a spice stand. What was it here that smelled so good? Callum will probably not be too surprised to find Meri loitering around the streets of Cenril. This is where she lives, and they are just a stone's throw away from her home. But! His line of work often has him needing to travel to the markets too, doesn't it? Poor guy.

Callum || It hadn’t taken much for Cal to realize he done frakked up, especially once that rage from Prince Guillem wore off. The anxiety from that realization was enough that he’d taken a few steps backwards in the ‘I’m not going to use so much milk of the poppy’ department. So while he really did need to do some shopping in Cenril, he was also hella hesitant about it. How long could he go without meat? Could he ever really become a vegetarian? He -could- just eat at the restaurant in Kelay, but… that gets expensive after a while. Uggghhhh -fine-. He will go do this thing. He didn’t like it, but he’d do it. And so he did. He’d eventually find himself in Cenril’s market district and did his own loitering in front of the meat and fish stalls. One of everything please. Yes, he’s serious. No, he wasn’t carrying all of that by himself. Did he -look- like he was going to do that? In these clothes? Sigh. He was being asked too many questions by these shop owners and was starting to get a wee bit irritated. “Look, will you just hurry up, please? I have places to be.” And people to avoid. And he tried so hard to do so. But, that really never worked out for Cal, did it? It hadn’t that day with Brand in Rynvale--and it certainly never worked out when it came to Meri. Today was no different. Because after Callum left those stalls and had his food sent home, he turned towards the spice stall nearby… and ran right into Meri. RIP. It was nice writing for you, buddy.

Meri might have realized that Cal was so close if her senses were not already bombarded with so many different scents, and not just from the spice stall. The entire market was a very intriguing place to be for the werewolf. If Cal has managed to be a bit more smooth? He probably would not have run right into Meri like he did. But the luck of this poor Catalian is horrible. And there they are, Meri turning around to discover just who has run into her. The shocked look on Cal’s face is quite telling. The woman frowns and then presses her lips together, when she finally breaks her silence...she is trying hard to keep an even tone but there is definitely the undertones of stress and anger in her voice. “By the look on your face I am guessing that you are not buying all of that because you are coming over to cook me an apology dinner?” Cal better be quick to answer and there is only one right answer to this question. Or else the food fight shall begin and it will start with Meri chucking a loaf bread that she just purchased from Khitti’s bakery at Cal’s head. Think fast Mal! Or is it Cloud?

Callum || “I-I-I-I…” That silvertongue of Cal’s had vacated his mouth, clearly. And the result? A large, crusty loaf to the noggin. “Son of a bitch, Meri! Couldn’t you have used something softer?!” He barely managed to catch the bread, nearly fumbling it just as much as he was his words. A free hand rose to his head, Cal checking to see if somehow that bread managed to cut his forehead. Nope. It’s just a ton of equally crusty, dagger-like crumbs. “Look! I don’t really know why I got so pissed off, but that kid deserved it! He’s just as bad as his parents and the whole lot of them can go fall off a frakking cliff for all I care.” He knew, that she knew, that pretty much everyone that lived in that fort in Larket deserved whatever they got. Meri knew what they did, what they provoked with the witch-hunters. But, Cal wasn’t going to mention that here. It was too public. Hell, there very well could be witch-hunters watching them right now. “Even if they -had- found me, did you really think I was going to tell them about you too? And get us both in trouble? What kind of frakking person do you think I am?” Well, he’s not exactly a -good- person, but don’t bring that up.

Meri :: Cal has to be joking. How much softer can it get? It could definitely have gotten a lot harder. Tomato. Apple. Don’t worry, Cal. Meri still has more groceries yet. And his initial reaction to, from the cursing to complaints about the bread being hard is sorely tempting her. Meri understood a lot of things that were going unsaid because they were in the public eye, and eyes were certainly being drawn to them right now. It was Meri’s fault. She drew attention by throwing things. “What kind of person do I think you are? Like you really don’t know what I think about you...” Hint. It is nothing negative. Well. Excluding the drama surrounding Fleur. Meri shakes her head in annoyance at Cal, his arguments perhaps meant to convince her that she should not be angry? They were not helping. They made her feel worse. “Could have easily been that they caught me and only me. Maybe think about that next time. And think about how much you probably don’t want the responsibility of raising Fleur entirely on your own.” Meri really is not sure she sees fit continuing to loiters around the stalls, arguing and causing a scene. She moves away from Callum. Her expectations that he follows and keeps arguing are not high. “Then again, given how keen you were at the thought of raising her with me? I bet you’d sooner give her to Khitti over raise your own daughter.” Maaaaybe she should have stuck to throwing things. A tomato might hurt less? Bread probably did.

Callum || At this point in time, Cal’s really unsure of -what- Meri thought of him--he did have a habit of upsetting her after all--and so he could only stare at her as she went on. He was -about- to say he was sorry, but… then she just had to jab all of those Fleur-related buttons. Meri hadn’t expected him to follow, but he sure as hell did. “No. You don’t get to frakkin’ walk away every single time Fleur comes up,” the Catalian said, walking fast enough to get in front of her and get her to stop. Sorry, Meri. Gonna have to finally talk about this now. “Don’t you put this all on me. -You- made the decision to leave. Not -me-,” his words spilling from his mouth in a low hiss, in an attempt to keep most of the market’s shoppers from staring too much. Some that did though got a quick “What the frak are you looking at?!” and an angry stare until they finally averted their eyes elsewhere. “I never told you to leave. I never brought it up once. Dinner sure as frak was awkward that night, but I never said it. Never -wanted- it. I figured we’d talk it over finally the next day, after we both slept on the news, but there was no talk. There was just a note. After all we’ve been through, you leave a goddamn note and disappear into the motherfrakking void.” Nearby, a pair of Rynvalian elves ooh’d and ahh’d over some pretty trinkets and various types of fabric. As one finally went to pick up a bit of spun wool on a spool, the elf immediately dropped it, letting out a cry. The other asked what was wrong… and the culprit? Static. They were the first in the area to comment on it, but they certainly weren’t the last. The zap of static electricity was felt by many, but of course, Meri would know the source. Ever a slave to his emotions, the anger brought on some very unmanly tears, but Cal kept it together and didn’t let them make themselves known beyond the watery look in his eyes. “Do you even understand how worried I was when I realized you left? A newly turned werewolf. And a -pregnant one- at that. We would’ve been fine. We would’ve figured it out together. But you didn’t even give me a frakking chance! And I knew not to look for you. Because you can only be found when you want to be.” Cal took a deep breath and tried to calm himself--it worked a little. “I’m not as selfish as you seem to think I am. As I used to be. I was scared. I still frakking am. I don’t know how the hell to raise a werewolf kid, but I still would’ve frakking done it. It wouldn’t have even gotten to that point though, Meri. Because you forget. They don’t want you. You’re not a witch. They want -me- and they would’ve frakking got me because I would’ve gladly given myself over to them for the woman I still love, somehow, after all of this.” There. He said it. That thing that’d been dangling on the edges of their awkward conversations for the past couple months. The one thing he wasn’t sure he ever wanted to admit anymore, mainly because it still hurt way too damn much for him to care about anything anymore beyond his plants.

Meri :: Cal gets in front of Meri and it really is not too hard to put a stop to her walking away, everything he said he digested. There are points where she wants to interrupt and protest but she manages to contain her tongue. She does not manage to contain her glares for anyone that might be staring too long. Static can be felt in the air again, familiar like just a few days ago when the prince was almost hit with a bolt of lightning. Meri has no concern that this might happen to her, well not quite. Not in the same way. She reaches out to try and take hold of his hand once he has done talking, and once she has processed what he is saying. She does not fully claim it though. She remembers that time he made her hair stand on end. After a moment she would claim his hand, with the hope that they could move somewhere more private. Her home was not far from here but it was still a small walk. Meri settled for trying to usher the two of them down an alley so that they at least had some privacy. "You never told me to leave. I just left. Not in the great of ways. I think about it a lot, if I made a mistake. What it would have been like if I had stayed. If I we would have actually gotten through it. Most of the time I think it was a mistake. You don't seem anywhere close to happier without me. I've just been waiting to see if you're going to warm up to the idea of Fleur." Also they have not exactly had a great moment to sit down and talk about anything privately. Even right now was hardly a private moment. "To tell you that I think I am an idiot and that I still love you too." Meri tries to give that a moment to sink in, for better or worse. "But. Maybe they don't want me as much as you, but I was in your company and in that moment they would have taken what they could get. And if they did get me? Well you better not give yourself up for me, because they'd just keep us both..." Meri clears her throat. "Do you...maybe want to get out of the streets and come back to my house?"

Meri's Apartment, The Rebel Room: Art Gallery, Cenril

Callum’s hand was grabbed and he’s pulled into the alley. Thankfully for Meri, since it is just static electricity, she’d get nothing more than a zap and a loud popping sound once their hands were connected--to which the Catalian would quietly apologize for it. His free hand rose up, the sleeve on that arm used to wipe at his eyes as Meri spoke and told her side of things. Those ocean-colored eyes of his couldn’t quite focus on her face and so they didn’t, instead fixating momentarily on her shoulder or the ground or the brick wall beside them. He could feel himself wanting to cry again, if only because all of that anger and sadness had been pent up for so many months, and the shame of it was written on his features. Cal managed to squeak out an ‘okay’ and let her lead him to her place. Once they were inside, he’d somehow gathered enough of himself to be able to speak again, his line of sight on the floor, “You’re not stupid. You had every right to leave, to try to take care of yourself and Fleur. It’s my fault because I don’t know how to talk about this stuff properly.” Cal laughed sadly, mustering an equally sad smile, “I can talk people into giving me their money or info or whatever… but I can’t seem to manage this.”

Meri :: Once Meri and Cal got back to her place, she'd leave him to settle into her turquoise couch, letting him make himself about as comfortable as he good given the nature of their conversation. She would not join him on the couch, not yet. While Meri has been slightly more lax about her drinking habits, she still does not have booze in her flat...and she does not have any of that poppy stuff either. The two of them would have to settle for a good old fashioned pot of tea. It would take a few minutes for the kettle to get up to temperature, so from the kitchen she'd begin to talk. "I don't know if it is fair for either one of us to try and completely shoulder all of the blame. I think maybe all we can do is admit that we both made our share of mistakes, which we're both sorry for." It's about at this point that Meri emerges from the kitchen with a teapot that is still steeping, two cups, and any fixings that they might like. Meri has developed a preference for a bit of honey in most teas. "I think that talking about our feelings is something that we both struggle with. It's not just you." Meri frowns and stares at the teapot for a moment before forcing her gaze back to Cal. Forcing, because it was hard to look at him while being vulnerable. "Listen. I am open...to you and I being in a relationship again if that is something you want too. I think it is, otherwise you would not be saying you still love me. But if it's not? I'll still do my best to be there for you."

Callum would nod while Meri’s in the kitchen, even if she won’t see it, as he settled down onto the couch. “Yeah… that works,” he said with regards to who should get blame and who doesn’t. Both of them had been valid in their feelings and that, unfortunately, made the situation all the worse. How are you supposed to be mad at someone if they really weren’t entirely to blame? You really can’t be. Or, at least, the feeling doesn’t last as long. Cal still couldn’t quite look at Meri either--things were awkward, but… at least it wasn’t angry awkward like most of their most recent talks had been. “Of course I’m fine with it. But, don’t do this just because I want to. You need to make the decision if it’s best for you and Fleur.” He hesitated a bit, dark brows furrowing as he thought over his next statement, his teeth carefully gnawing away at the inside of his right cheek. “If we do this though… you need to do something for me. Because I don’t know of a way things can work without it--it’d be too dangerous for all of us if we don’t.” His ocean blue line of sight finally settled on Meri, that look of concern still written all over his face, “You need to bite me. Or scratch me. Or whatever it is you need to do to turn me into a lycan too.” Despite the concern, he seemed set on his decision. Which was even a bit of a surprise to himself, considering how unsure of the entire lycan thing he’d been up until now. As if to combat this concern, he finally took up his own cup of tea and sipped it carefully, and wishing--much like Meri--that they had some sort of alcohol or anything else that might help.

Meri was starting to relax as the conversation continued to unfold, emphasis on starting. What Cal was saying at first, with him not wanting Meri to enter into a relationship with him again just for him. It had Meri smirking just a bit and the blonde was sorely tempted to lean in and plant a smooch right to Cal's lips to show that his concern was unfounded. She wanted this too. The woman is not able to sneak one in because Cal hits her with a doozy of a request. Her eyes grow wide at the thought and the woman is silent for a moment, trying to figure out just what to say to. "I am not telling you no...I just want to tell you...everything that I know so far and then if you still think this is what you want to do... you can ask me again. And well...it's your choice." Honestly this was not something that Meri was giving the Cal the choice on. She was going to continue talking, letting her tea grow cold because she has been sufficiently distracted. "It's not going to be a romantic event. When I was bitten, it was not pretty. I...am not even sure the wolf would have stopped. I think if I had not fought back so much, it might have been different? I know the one time that you had met the wolf, I managed to...contain myself but there is no telling I will be able to do it again? I got the impression that this would get easier with time, maybe I just need more time....but I still feel so unchecked in that state. And even when I am like this?" She motions to the form that Meri was actually born with, her human body. "I feel like I am shorter-tempered. There are of course perks? And I don't...regret being what I am now. But...if this is something you really think should happen? We're going to have to take precautions to make sure that we can do it safely." Last time Meri talked about precautions, she was trying to convince Callum to create some sort of concoction with wolfsbane to at least stun her on the off chance she attack. "Chains. So that if I don't stop, you can escape me without being completely mauled."

Callum || “To be perfectly honest, I’ve been thinking about it since it was brought up last time you were in Sage. Even if we didn’t get back together… it really seems like the only logical choice. There’s a chance that my own kid could bite me eventually and I’d really much rather be the one making the choice rather than getting it forced onto me like you did… or your sister with vampirism,” Cal said after Meri suggested a precaution they could use. “And I might’ve noticed your increased short temperedness, but I’ve not exactly been the best with my own temper lately. I’m starting to think it’s a Catalian thing. I might not be wielding fire, but… heh.” He assumed she’d get what he was trying to say. “I’d rather none of us be like this, but that was done away with when Hudson turned his woman into a werewolf and let her run rampant.” The Catalian waved away those thoughts and that part of the conversation though before he turned back to the topic at hand, “We’ll do what we have to. Get someone to watch Fleur. Deal with it, just the two of us.” It was clear he wasn’t going to ask again; his mind was already made up. “If you think it’s necessary, I can put just enough lightning magic into the chains to shock you enough to subdue you. Nothing major and I’d be able to control it myself, so it wouldn’t hurt you unless I wanted it to.”

Meri :: "We can leave Fleur with Khitti for a weekend to make this happen. We can set up a space down at your place in Kelay, so that we can try and do this...as safely as possible." Though Meri still had concerns and nervousness about it despite trying to sound confident. "Since it sounds like you have put a lot of thought into it...." Meri frowns, half considering. What if Fleur bite him. If she did it at this size, would it really even do much damage to Cal? And she probably would not even remember....But that thought is quickly pushed to the back of her mind. It was not appropriate to utilize her child in that way just because she was feeling scared that things could go completely wrong. "We'll do this. We can do it as soon as you are ready to do it...but seeing as we're probably not going to run off and do this tonight....?" Surely Cal did not want to do that. "Why don't we just try and relax and enjoy each other's company....Plus I think we have a couple more things to work out too. Like...We're back together again. Are we....just picking up where we left off completely?" As in, are they going right back to being engaged. "Are you going to want Fleur and I to move back in with you? Or...do we want to give it all more time?"

Callum || “That’s up to you, Meri. I’m obviously fine with being engaged again, but I also don’t want to pull you all the way back to Sage when you’ve got your business here. And on the flipside of things, there’s not really room in Cenril for me to have my massive garden. And I actually managed to get into the Mage’s Guild, so I’m going to have to frequent Xalious too,” Cal said with a sigh. He let silence drift between them for a bit, considering things for a moment. “Maybe we pick up where some of the things left off and figure out the rest along the way?” Things were certainly a bit more complicated now and for the time being, Cal didn’t know what the heck to do to solve it. His mind drifted back to the subject of lycanthropy as well, but he said no more about it. Meri was right after all. They weren’t doing it tonight and had plenty of time to figure out the details.

Meri :: Even though Meri had questions of her own concerning their relationship, the subject of lycanthropy was not completely erased from her mind. Meri half smiles at Cal's answer - a half smile not because she was dissastisfied with the answer but because they were talking over numerous serious subject points right now. While this was a mostly happy moment, it was still filled with some heavy questions. "Well, I think that we should work toward getting back to where we were. The new business is not as involved as what I was trying to do in Larket." She does not need to give lessons to drunks. She just needs to paint and hire someone on the wall. "So let's focus on your request. Becoming a lycan like me. And then after we do that? I will hire someone to help here and Fleur and I can move back in with you." Meri reaches for Cal's hand to take hold of it, giving it a squeeze. Within a month or two, Cal could have a full house once again. "Honestly I think Fleur would prefer living out there over living in the city soon anyway. Yards. Places to run around. Trees to climb."

Callum || “Squirrels and rabbits to chase after with her brothers,” Cal said with a smirk, finishing Meri’s list of things Fleur would do once she was older. The “brothers” were those doggos of Meri’s, of course. But, soon after, he’d nod a bit, “Yeah… working towards it is fine.” That way, Meri could fully decide if she wanted to restart their relationship. “I think the basement at my house should work well. I mean… I had it put in on the off chance we had to hide from witch hunters. If my temperament is anything like yours in wolf form… we might have to use it for me too.” He hadn’t really seemed sad about this possibility. He’d gone over most of the aspects of getting turned, and life afterwards, in his head after that last talk with Meri.

Meri :: Little did Cal know that Meri had already decided...well he should know. She's voiced it! Either way, this conversation is going to find a halt, but not an abrupt one. It seemed that it was steering it's way to the end of the chatter and the planning. Next steps would need to be arranged soon. Anyway, this interruption comes in the form of a babysitter returning and a child being brought home. The sitter that drops Fleur off is the same one that Meri has been using for awhile, she and Cal may have crossed paths briefly in during the course of all things Fleur...but needless to say the sitter is surprised to see a man in Meri's living room. Regardless of her surprise, she's polite, she drops the kid off, she collects her pay...and then she leaves. "Weeeell, it's about time for me to get to making Fleur dinner. I've improved upon my skills...a bit..but you know...Fleur has learned that pops is a way better cook." Meri smirks. "Stay awhile, let's cook dinner. Or maybe I could handle dinner and you can make breakfast, I can kidnap you from the Kelay area for one night, right?" Now that they were not having tree drama anymore.