Hey Robin, something's wrong with Batman

At five-fifty on that chilly morning, the sun began to claw its way towards the sky amongst the white clouds that had already formed there, where it would remain for the rest of the day. An early fog clung to the windowpane that Calvin sat before; a fog which made it difficult for the young man to continue to watch the rising sun, but was something that he overlooked with ease. Calvin smiled against the glass that he’d rested the side of his face against, and gazed out at the explosion of color that sat on the horizon. “It looks like cotton candy,” Calvin noted, speaking to himself quietly, “and the sun almost looks like Chase’s hair when its orange like that…” he continued, sounding quite dazed, even to himself. He tilted his head further against the window, and sighed.

Calvin did not get much sleep those days; the electricity that had danced within his stomach when Chase had first kissed him had remained there, and often prevented him from drifting off to sleep. It was Chase’s fault that he’d been plagued by the sudden case of insomnia. It was all her fault…

A giggle drifted upward from Calvin’s lips; the idea of blaming Chase for anything amused him greatly.

He brought his finger to the fog-coated glass, and slowly began to outline the sun, drawing it in the way that a young child would, with its rays looking like nothing more than straight lines darting off in many different directions. He filled it in by erasing the fog within the outlines that he’d created, and suddenly, the light from the real sun burst through his drawing, and brought the picture to life. Calvin grinned widely and sat back on his chair.

He folded his pajama-clad legs towards his chest and rested his chin upon his right knee with a yawn; he may not have been able to get much sleep due to his noisy thoughts, but that was not to say that he wasn’t tired. In truth, Calvin’s exhaustion had begun to sink into his bones, and his eyes had begun to ache due to how long he’d held them open that week… but the genuine smile that he wore made it almost impossible for those around him to catch on.

Calvin’s stomach complained, and the young man chuckled in response. “It’s OK, tummy; I'll feed you some breakfast when Reid wakes up,” Calvin assured his stomach. “We don’t want to catch anything on fire again... that was really scary!” he added before giving his belly a light pat, and returning his eyes to the morning sky.

Reid would never forgive Pippa for forcing ten kittens into his home. He used to mix them up. But now he was getting better, and he knew how to distinguish them. Kirby, was memorable, for he was Reid’s special cat who always rode on his shoulder. Then there was Ness, insanely strange and always managed to get into all of the hanging potted plants. Optimus and Peach had a never ending battle; Link and Zelda were practically attached at the hip. Clark, true to his name was always leaping off things like he would fly. DK was brutal to all of them and was always running into things. Aquaman was the only cat he knew that liked baths. And Toad was the runt.

Unfortunately, this had turned into a full time job it seemed. Optimus and DK were getting close to cat hood, but the others were still young. Luckily, they were all past bottle feeding. They did love milk though. Reid was in the kitchen, early that morning, because ten little kitty tummies had caused a chorus of mewing he could not ignore. He filled up two saucers full of milk and set them down on the center of the tile kitchen floor. The kittens flocked and he opened a can of wet cat food while they were distracted, mixing it with some dry like the pet shop clerk had suggested he do. He went over to the three bowls that he had set up and dumped some in each. The kittens had yet to notice.

He sighed and ran his hands under cold water and soap, reaching up to open a cupboard. His eyes scanned the boxes of cereal before he decided on one. He turned off the faucet and wrung his hands out on a rag before reaching up and sliding the cereal box out, unfolding the top. He rummaged around for two bowls and some spoons. He doubted Calvin was awake, but he could have it read for him.

He dumped the cereal into the bowls and then poured some milk into each bowl, screwing the cap back onto the jug of milk, yanking open the fridge and setting it inside. Reid was on auto pilot, and he barely thought as he dropped a spoon into each bowl and then resealed the cereal box and slid it back into the cupboard. He walked into the living room with his cereal, looking around for the clicker to put on some cartoons.

Five minutes later, the bowl was on the coffee table and all of the cushions of the couch and chairs were pulled out, as Reid definitely searched for the remote. He simply good not find the thing. He remembered staying up late the night before watching television and wondered if he had accidentally taken it with him to bed.

He turned and walked down the hall, humming the Mario theme song to himself and glancing into Calvin’s room as he did so. What he was surprised to see was Calvin, up and awake, in a chair. Reid kept walking until he registered it and he leaned back, poking his head in the door way. “Cal?” He backed up, watching his friend and stepping into the doorway. “You okay, mate? It’s early for you.”

As it was just a bit too early for either of the pair to be awake and wandering about the flat, Calvin had assumed that he would be left alone to his thoughts and the sunset for at least another hour, and thus it came as a great surprise to Calvin when Reid’s voice abruptly broke the silence. “Eeep!” Calvin squealed in reply, and, having flailed about in his state of shock, fell from the chair that he’d been sitting in, and flopped onto the floor. His fight-or-flight response never had been too reliable.

After a moment of shallow breathing as a part of recovering from his panic, Calvin instructed his arm to move upward, and commanded his fingers to curl around the edge of his chair. He pulled himself upward and met eyes with Reid, whom Calvin could only see half of. “Good morning, Reid!” he greeted his friend, though his words did not have the desired effect, as a trace of his momentary fright was still detectible in his tone. “Yup! I’m OK. I was just watching the sun,” Calvin replied and gestured towards the window he’d previously stared out of with a wide sweep of his arm. During this overenthusiastic movement, the back of one of his wrists connected with a near glass of fomenting orange juice. The glass shattered at Calvin’s feet, and at once the putrid liquid that it had contained began to seep into the carpet.

It seemed Calvin was even clumsier than usual that morning, if that was even possible.

Calvin looked up from the mess that he’d created, and smiled apologetically at Reid. “I’ll clean that up. I promise,” he assured him, though they were both well aware of the fact that Calvin was no good at all with cleaning charms. At best, Calvin could remove stains from the laundry. The carpet was usually left up to Reid to clean, along with any other, more important household repairs. It was a wonder that he hadn't given up on Calvin already.

As though Calvin had forgotten about the shattered glass, he cast the sunset a backwards glance, and smiled sleepily once more. "I was just saying that the Sun looks like Chase's hair this morning. It's just the right shade of orange-y red..." he spoke softly, making his reasons for having woken up so early, quite evident. The poor lad never did quite learn how to conceal his emotions. "Don't you think so, Reid?"

(*rolls around in circles* Im changing Reid's email so I will get notifcations and then this will NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN)

Reid grimaced as Calvin let out a fearful, surprised exclamation and lept into the air. Reid winced and closed his eyes, turning his head and bracing himself for the sound of a thump, which came as sure as the sun would rise. Reid slowly opened his eyes, crossing his fingers and thinking to himself Please don't need stitches or crutches... I can deal with a spongebob band aid..

When he opened his eyes, he was pleasantly surprised to see an unharmed, yet tired-looking Calvin-face shining at him, greeting him good morning, even if he did still sound a little jumpy, he did not sound like he had been harmed. Good. Reid had been up most of the night on the Knight Bus. The conductor job paid decently but he had to pump himself full of potions to make sure he was not constantly projectile vomiting. He was still rather tired. He did not need trouble.

Reid sighed at Calvin's words. "Cal, I told you, please don't stare directly at the sun. Okay?" Calvin gestured violently and Reid already had his wand out as Calvin assured him that he would clean it up. With a flick of Reid's wand, he silenced Calvin and the stain rose from the carpet.

At Calvin's words, Reid stared. Reid had taken to Chase only because she had became sort of a sister to him, but it was becoming more and more apparent that Calvin saw her in a completely different light. Reid moved into the room and collapsed into Calvin's computer chair, still staring. "You really like her, huh?"

As Reid took a seat in Calvin's computer chair, Calvin's eyes drifted towards the empty square that had been left behind in the absence of the laptop that usually sat there. "I lost my laptop when I was at the park," he recalled absently. Despite the horrific occurrence that he spoke of, however, his dazed smile hadn't wavered. "A year ago. I haven't earned the money to replace it yet," Calvin continued, and returned to his own chair, which he'd occupied for most of the previous evening, and a good portion of the morning as well. "I was at the park, and Chase showed up, and I just forgot about it."

Being as oblivious as Calvin was, he had failed to see how shocking a happenstance this had been, as he had practically glued the laptop to his side after having received it as a gift for his birthday. Nothing could have separated the lad from his computer. In fact, it had become an expectation of many, to spot Calvin with his orange computer bag slung over his shoulder. Nothing or no one could have separated the two - except for Chase.

Calvin lazily rested his chin upon the heel of his palm, and continued to stare at that empty spot on his desk. Once more, it seemed, he had been overpowered by thoughts of the girl whom he had so evidently fallen in love with. He could not break the spell - and frankly, did not wish to - as he sat silently, slipping in-between a state of consciousnesses, and unconsciousness. But like a stubborn child with intentions of staying up for an episode of his favorite television show, Calvin fought against his drowsiness. There were things of more importance than sleep; such as addressing one particular thought that had not left Calvin alone since the moment he had admitted to Chase that he cared for her.

"Reid," Calvin began with his question. "How do I-I-I, uh..." Calvin stuttered, "How do I - I mean; how am I supposed to..." He paused for a moment to inhale nervously. Never before had Calvin spoken with Reid in such a hesitant manner; Reid had always been Calvin's confident. But it seemed that, like his laptop, something had gotten in the way. "If I wanted to ask Chase to marry -uh- me, how would I-I-I, you know - how do I do that?"

It was far too early for such bold questions.

Reid watched his friend, but Calvin was obviously slow to respond today, so Reid turned, swaying in the spinny chair that was often one of Calvin's greatest pitfalls. He would spin and spin and spin until he fell, or he would hear Reid come in and get up and take off after his voice, usually running into a wall or tripping over something- most encounters with the chair usually ended badly.

But now, Reid swung from side to side, idily glancing over the familiar details of the room- movie and video game posters, plushies of his favorite characters, books and video game controllers, gereral chaos and mess. Reid's was not much different- only there were more empty cans of energy drink, a few more magazines, and a significant fewer amount of plushies. And all the evidence of the kittens.

He mentioned his laptop and Reid turned around, placing his palms flat on the cleared off desktop. "You really need a new one, mate."

He pushed off, pulling his feet up and lolling his head back as he spun, Calvin began to speak and Reid began to pay attention. And once he did... he found himself floored. Literally floored. "What?" he yelped, leaning forward and flopping onto the ground, in a very Calvin-esque manner. He pushed himself up. "Mate, are you actually serious?"

If Calvin hadn't been embarrassed before; asking for such advice from his friend, Reid's reaction to said question certainly did the trick. At once, Calvin began to withdraw from the conversation, both physically and mentally, as though it were an instinct of his. Calvin Ransom was childish, and a fool; he did not ask speak of such bold possibilities as marriage. It was not his way, and thus he had come to believe that he was not permitted to do so. He pulled his legs in towards himself and hid his face beneath his hair by resting his chin upon his knees. "Never mind," Calvin replied, his cheeks stinging with the warmth of a blush that had turned his skin a deep crimson.

He inhaled the stuffy air that existed within his dome of safety; the small area that he had created for himself out of his gangly limbs and the sleeves of his hooded sweater. He seemed to have begun sniffling. "She wouldn't say yes, anyway," he added, as though he believed such a statement to be a nonchalant one that would ease the tension within the room.

He had embarrassed his friend with his reaction, but that could hardly be his fault alone. No sane person could expect to casually mention the idea of proposing and not have an exaggerated reaction to compensate for the underplayed announcement. Then again, had he ever considered his best friend sane? He was sane, just... different.

He propped himself up, flailing his legs awkwardly as Calvin began to retreat from the whole confrontation, knowing he could not let this subject simply drop. "Wait, Calvin, no-" He flopped like a trout dropped onto the deck of a ship and his knee connected with the spinny chair, and the seat began orbiting the stand it rested on as it spun across the room.

He pushed himself up onto his knees and tried to stand, but ended up just falling backwards and landing on his arse. He stared at his friend. "No Calvin. Wait." He thought for a second, processing. This was... terrible. So terrible. He'd have to find a new place, or Calvin would move out. He would hardly ever see his friend, and he would be that weird gamer with ten cats and.. and...

His friend would be totally happy.

And nothing would make him happier.

"You just caught me off guard. Let's talk about it." At Calvin's muttered excuse Reid paused. Guys did not get sentimental but he had to tell his friend the truth. "There is no way she'd say no Calvin. No way." He thought to himself. "How to ask her though? That's a doozie. Any ideas? Romantic stuff isn't my strong point, mate. You know that."