this territory goes uncharted, [cal!]

[Kodiak Balto]

If there was one thing about moving from Alaska to Massachusetts that Kodi hadn’t quite expected, it was the climate shock. Well, okay, there were a lot of things about the move that he hadn’t expected at all. Like how small the library in Acadia was compared to the one in Anchorage, or how the high school was laid out so differently…Or that he’d somehow end up with a boyfriend. Yeah, he was still trying to get used to that one, a fact exemplified by that he hadn’t quite told his parents that Cal wasn’t just a friend. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, it was that he…didn’t want to. But he did. And didn’t. It was complicated.

Kodi dispelled the thoughts with a little shake of his head, his dark curls bouncing with the movement. The point was, that he was enjoying winter. Or the Acadian winter, rather. Considering he’d been in Alaska this time last year, the air outside was more like pleasantly nippy than cold, but after the unpleasant heat of August, he’d take what he could get. And snow! He loved snow, even if its stay had been disappointingly short lived as of late.

“Psst.”

In any case, it didn’t really matter if snow lay on the ground outside at the moment, stuck inside the library as he was. Well, not really stuck - he was a volunteer, after all. He liked it there, even if it wasn’t a ‘real’ job according to Aleu. However, considering how much she complained about her ‘real’ job, he thought he had the better gig, even if he didn’t necessarily get paid. Mr. King even seemed to like him - well, as much as Mr. King could like anyone.

“PSST.”

…why were there eyes staring at him from between the books?

Kodi stopped short, blinking in confusion. “Lou?” Why was Lou, of all people, in the library? He and Cal always acted like it was some particularly horrible circle of hell that ought to be avoided at all costs.

“Come here!” The older boy hissed, gesturing for him to come around behind the shelf.

With some trepidation, Kodi obliged, momentarily abandoning the books he’d been shelving. “What?” He asked cautiously, confusion wrinkling his forehead.

“I need you to do me a favor,” Lou said seriously, eyes wide with sincerity as he set a backpack on the ground, “and watch your son.”

“I- wait, what?”

The backpack was unzipped and out was pulled- oh dear God, a ginger cat. Fred.

“Lou! You- you can’t bring a cat in the library!” Kodi hissed under his breath, glancing nervously at the front desk from between a gap in the books.

“He has a leash on!” The ginger defended himself, holding up the young cat. Sure enough, a bright green leash dangled from a similarly colored harness.

Kodi took a deep, steadying breath. Alright. He could handle this. “Yes, I can see that. But why does he have a leash on? And more importantly, why is he in the library?”

“Because I was taking him on a walk for Cal,” Lou answered without missing a beat, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “But! I forgot I have class like, right now and this place was closer than home. So I need you to take care of him,” he said, presenting Kodi with the feline.

“What? Lou, no! I can’t! I’m working!”

“You’re a volunteer! What are they going to do? Fire you?”

“They could ban me for harboring a cat in the library, that’s for sure!”

“Oh, they only ban people for a month at a time. It’s not so bad,” Lou scoffed. Without further ado he shoved Fred into Kodi’s arms and grabbed his backpack off the floor. “Now I gotta go! Take good care of Freddy!”

With that he left Kodi in his dust, mouth slightly agape and clutching a fidgeting ginger cat to his chest, but most of all wondering what the hell just happened.

[Pascal Pallette]

It was a horrific sight. Utterly and terribly horrific! Just the sight of it made his legs quiver with fear and his mind wander to appalling and ghastly places it never should have. It had to be a torture chamber… the way it looked. A dungeon filled to the brim with devices for drawing and quartering and Chinese water torture. No doubt there were torches for burning victims alive at the stake… complete with kindling and oil. Deep within the bowls of the awful terror had to be holding cells. Cells filled to the brim with chains and whips and maces and pliers to cut off fingers. And… on the off chance they did ritualistic virgin sacrifices there had to be a… wait… what sort of brutal and menacing device did one use for sacrifices? The only thing that came to mind was a guillotine (but hardly sounded threatening)or some sort of long and unsharpened blade that ripped ones skin from their body in the most unpleasant and painful way possible.

The building stood tall and daunting in front of him. A lonely howl of the wind blew by, probably the echoes of stolen and mutilated souls eaten by the monster it was. The chill in the air bit at his tender skin, despite the fact it was covered in a discount good will ugly sweater cast aside just as he had been. He could hear the cries of the hopeless and innocent people begging the unrelenting place to let them go. The doors would creak and the stench of… of… stench of stinky-ness met his nose. It was awful! Dreadful! It was… the library.

He had been standing outside of it for the past five minutes, awkwardly switching his weight from foot to foot. He would summon the courage to jog up the ominous stairs, but met with the creaky doors and promise of having his soul eaten, he quickly ran back down them. And once again, he was left awkwardly standing in front of it, having what he believed was a standoff in the form of a staring contest. He would hold his breath, a look of intense concentration on his face. And just when he thought it was okay… he would pull that courage back up and attempt the feat he never could quite follow through with.

Honestly. Why would people go in their willingly? It wasn’t like there was anything exciting in there. There wasn’t a circus with awkward creepy clowns and bear wrestlers. There wasn’t a bouncy house! Hell! There wasn’t even a TV set to cartoon network or anything. All there was was a bunch of musty old second hand books, half of which were drooled on by infants and the other half missing pages. Not to mention… there was Mr. King. The King of torture himself. One look from that old geezer and one was reduced to a puddle of fear, left to run out dramatically crying for their mommy. God forbid you actually were dim enough to rent a book from that place… not only would you have to deal with the tragic shape it was in… but deal with the devil himself… hell fires and demon dogs included. The thought made him shiver subconsciously. Who would subject themselves to that sort of… pain and torture?

Kodiak Balto. That’s who. And because he was dumb brave enough to volunteer there, and thus spent a lot of time there, that meant one thing. He would have to brave the fiery pits. Pascal Palette, the boy who never once set foot into a library, would have to go in. And only because that poor, awkward, adorable, fool was there. Not because he needed a book. Not because he wanted to enhance his already perfect brain. Hell no, it wasn’t for him at all. It was for his wonderful boyfriend.

Boyfriend… the word weighed heavily on his mind. The two never really decided if they were going to label themselves. Sure, after all hell broke loose at his party and he was pretty much deemed adulterer of the year, things cleared up and they started to date. But the word boyfriend never came up in conversation. Not to mention, after a halfhearted attempt to see where they were together, it didn’t seem like Kodi was going to tell anyone soon. Cal understood the pressures of their relationship. Especially the weight it had on a guy who previously thought he was straight. But that didn’t make it any less hurtful. It didn’t make the inadequate feelings disappear. If anything… it only reminded him that he wasn’t good enough. He was discarded as an infant, left and unwanted. And now… it just felt like that all over again. He knew Kodi didn’t intend for that. But just like that, Cal didn’t intend to be a dirty little secret or a metaphorical skeleton in the closet Kodi refused to come out of. They were just two bystanders in a messed up game of reality. All they could do was move their pieces accordingly and hope everything turned out fine.

Taking a deep breath, Cal finally accomplished getting through the front doors of the ominous building. Immediately he was met with a smell he didn’t enjoy, and that was saying something considering he just spent two hours in the noxious fumes of bleach and neon red hair dye (for the spirit of Valentine’s day). Gulping, he pushed open the second set of double doors. The library. It was just as he pictured it. Terrible. Horrifying. Disturbing. All the looming bookshelves hiding the desecrated souls of young children. All the books that have spent countless night feeding on the hope of the young and innocent. It took everything he had not to run out screaming like that innocent child who unfortunately met the devil.

Reminding himself he was there to visit his boy… friend… a smile curled to his lips. Slipping between the stacks, avoiding an encounter with Mr. Librarian, Cal began his search for the curly haired apple of his eye. After a few minutes of patrolling, the figure of his awkward turtle came into view. And even though he only saw his back, he was still adorable. Tip-toeing quietly, fighting the urge to giggle as he snuck up on him, Cal threw his arms open quickly and wrapped them around the Alaskan. “SURPRISE!” he shout-whispered nuzzling his head onto the boy’s shoulder and attempting a quick kiss on his cheek before he could protest. But… then something odd registered in his head. Fuzzy. Kodi was fuzzy. That wasn’t right. With a furrowed brow, Cal turned his head to peer over the boy’s shoulder. Immediately a large grin appeared. “FRED! KITTIKINS! WHAT’RE YOU DOING HERE!” he cooed, relinquishing Kodi and skipping happily around. “Did you decide to visit your daddy while he worked… you adorable little boy you.” Quickly his attention switched from his boyfriend to the feline. And it was like Kodi didn’t exist.

[Kodiak Balto]

Alright, first plan of action, don’t panic. Why would he panic? It wasn’t like he was standing in the library with a squirmy cat in his arms, shielded only by a bookshelf that Mr. King could walk around at any given moment. Haha, no, not at all! Wait, no, stop. No panicking, remember? That just meant he had to get Fred out of there before they both met a violent end at the hands of a librarian. That would just be embarrassing - and Cal would never forgive him if something happened to his cat. Lou wouldn’t either, but considering it was his fault he was in this predicament in the first place, he wasn’t about to care. Right, okay, the plan. He could sneak out the back and…then what? He could always take him back to his house, but even without George to egg him on, he didn’t trust Fred not to break something valuable or harass Hudson into sitting on him. That poor dog. He lived a long, full life only to retire and become a kitten playground.

Where else was there? Ash? Haha. No. One, he didn’t know where he lived. Two, he didn’t want to know where he lived, nor did he trust him around small animals, even if his Pomeranian apparently managed to survive around him. Not to mention if he got within ten feet of the Fox boy he’d probably freak out about Kodi indoctrinating Fred in his bear ways and try to save him, or something similarly stupid like that. No, best to avoid that option at all cos-

“SURPRISE.”

The resulting sound Kodi made could best be described as a strangled squawk, and was decidedly unflattering. In his defense, a couple different factors went into it. He hadn’t really been expecting anyone to attack-hug him from behind in the library (which evidently a lot of unexpected things happened in) and it took a moment for his mind to shift out of what-do-I-do-with-this-cat mode and realize it was Cal and not some creepily affectionate stranger. Mostly, however, it was due to that fact that Fred was just as surprised as he was, and responded by promptly digging his claws into Kodi’s flesh. Yeah, ow.

“Shhh!” He shushed desperately, eyes going wide as Cal loudly cooed over his son. Wait, no, cat. Arg. “Here, hold him,” He said, handing off the cat, who must have been getting tired of being passed around, but seemed eager to go to Cal anyways. Once free of the feline, Kodi edged to the end of the stacks to peer carefully around the corner at the front desk. Oh thank God, Mr. King was still there, apparently none the wiser. They were safe. For now.

“Lou just randomly showed and dropped him off,” he explained as he turned back toward Cal, “I tried to tell him th- Oh,” he paused suddenly, sounding pleasantly surprised with a bit of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, “you dyed your hair.” No, no! Focus! “Wait, what are you doing here? You,” abhor, despise, vehemently dislike, “hate the library.”

[Pascal Pallette]

There were no words in the English dictionary that could describe the feeling of elation bubbling up in his stomach. He had made his mind up that the library was a hopeless and unfortunate place for wayward suicidal souls. He had made his mind up that he would have a dreadful time playing attentive and loving boyfriend while he surprised Kodi-cakes. He had made up his mind that this place was a burning hellhole complete with lava pits and demon gang bangs… no happiness of hope could possibly shine through. And then… the miraculous happened. IT WAS A MIRACLE HALLELUJAH! PRAISE THE LORD OH HAPPY DAY!

For some fateful reason, the pit of doom and despair had been abolished and replaced with a haven of happiness. Or… as much as a haven of happiness could be when surrounded by the dreaded and intolerable book. But still! That meant his visit wasn’t as treacherous or death defying as it should have been. And even though that took hero points away from him, points that would no doubt be awarded to him upon the next meeting of Town Heroes, the Lou and Cal chapter Ash belonging to the lesser Sidekick chapter of Acadia, he still braved the depths of it and came out victorious and thankfully alive. He could mark this day as one to go down in infamy. Because the almighty flying spaghetti monster knew, he would never again set foot on hellacious grounds.

Coddling the tiny and fidgety kitten as Kodi nearly shoved him into his arms, Cal’s attention never wavered. He heard the fear in his boyfriend’s voice, and from the corner of his eye he saw him scurry to check and see if the Devil had left his post, but Cal’s eyes were only on the ginger beast. Before he got landed with the responsibility of little Fred, Cal had never had a pet before. Sure, he had his beta… what’s-its-name (this one was also coincidentally named Fred as well). But fish hardly counted as loving pets. You couldn’t hold a fish… or coddle a fish… or teach a fish to play fetch. Fish didn’t show you love and affection and sit on your lap and console you when you’re an emotional wreck left crying on your fire escape. So this tiny little creature had become Cal’s world.

Situating Fred on his chest, using an arm to support the tiny kitten’s weight, and using the other to scratch at the back’s of his ears, Cal’s attention finally turned back to the reason he had come to the library. The look of fear and confusion was clearly evident on the frazzled boys face, and the way he spoke made Cal slightly worried he might have a panic attack. But none of that changed the goofy grin plastered on his lips. Kodi might be over exaggerating the situation, but from where he stood, it seemed quite normal. Then again, where he stood, normal was having a fake fiancé. Normal was having twin ginger cat babies with said fake fiancé and still calling his boyfriend ‘dad’ to one of them. So seeing an adorable feline in the library was hardly considered a social faux pas. However, for his dearest Cake… he would assume otherwise.

Taking a step forward, keeping a grip on the squirmy Fred, Cal placed a chaste kiss on Kodi’s cheek mid freak out. He had planned to steal a kiss earlier during his surprise attack. But his surprise attack had been countered with a better surprise. So now just seemed right. Now seemed the best time to catch him off guard before he could push him away with claims that PDA was inappropriate and he didn’t want people seeing them together together. And while Cal respected that… and was good most of the time, he hated that he couldn’t hold his boyfriend’s hand in public or kiss him on the cheek whenever he felt like it. There was only so much Cal could take before he would break. And hidden behind the stacks of the library he figured a quick kiss wouldn’t be too bad. Especially given the cute kitty circumstances.

“Hey hey hey hey,” Cal said calmly, lifting a hand defensively and trying to find a motion that would show the curly haired boy to calm down. Placing his free hand on Kodi’s shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze, he took a step back. “Just chilllllllaxxxxxx,” he said, purposely slurring the word in order to put emphasis on it. Looking around idly, his eyes lighting up as he saw what looked to be awkward and uncomfortable chairs just at the end of the isle, he motioned for Kodi to follow him. Not only would they be further away from the Devil, but they could also be in a bit more private confines.

Taking a seat on one of the odd chairs, plopping Fred down in his lap and idly scratching his rump in a fashion that made the cat not only purr but lift it awkwardly into the air, he chuckled. The distracted nature of his little Alaskan slice of cake was adorable and only reminded him why he had liked him in the first place. Even I the middle of a spazz attack, which he was getting through as best as one could when they weren’t Cal or Lou, he found the time to be distracted by his ever changing hair.

“Of course I dyed my hair silly. It’s been two weeks. Do you… like it?” He said tentatively, looking for validation that he made a good choice or that he had his boyfriend’s approval. For a moment he felt self-conscious, wondering if he made the right decision. It was foreign to him. Lifting a hand and running it through the newly shaded tresses awkwardly, he sighed and banished the awkwardness. “Not to mention Valentine’s Day is coming up and I thought I’d be festive! Whichhhhhhh…” he started, taking one of Fred’s paws in his hand and gesturing to Kodi with it as if it was an extension of himself, “ I wanted to talk to you aboutttt~.” He finished, a bit more confident and flirty than he originally intended. Smiling, a purring Fred curled up cutely on his lap, he shrugged his shoulders. “Well… the library is a soul sucking home for suicidal and repressed souls…” he started, idly looking at his nail to avoid whatever look Kodi thought would be proper punishment for slandering his precious haven, “but… I knew you were working and I wanted to see you. My desire outweighed my utter disgust for this place.” He finished, looking up and flashing a charming smile.

[Kodiak Balto]

Kodi’s mind was going a mile a minute, dreaming up and processing all the different ways Mr. King was going to murder him. It would probably involve some Satanic ritual (not that he thought there was any truth behind Cal’s ‘the library is the devil’s playgroud’ theories…but still) that would end with his head on a pike outside the automatic doors, warning any who dare enter the confines of the library with a creature of the feline persuasion. Or maybe Mr. King would ban him from the library. Oh God, what would he do then? Sure, Acadia’s library was kind of small but at least it was something. Without it he’d have to use the even smaller school library - or worse, wait until Cal and Lou convinced him that putting on a disguise was a great idea for getting around the ban, even though it’d very clearly be him when tried to check out books with his library card. Oh no. This could not end well. None of it could end well.

Cal’s stolen kiss was a bit like rebooting Kodi’s frazzled mind, the pleasant surprise jolting away the Blue Screen of Death and starting back up what could be described as at least a bit of sense. Well, sense in that he was pretty sure Mr. King wasn’t going to display is head outside. Skinning him alive wasn’t entirely out of the question though. He opened his mouth in a weak approximation of a protest, but Cal was already cutting him off and urging him to chillax. How was he supposed to do that? Fred was still in the library, probably getting little orange hairs all over than Mr. King would sniff out later, and Cal didn’t appear to be in any hurry to get him out. Kodi opened his mouth again to say just that, but even as he did Cal was moving away and instead of words a defeated little breath slipped out instead.

Okay, fine. He’d chillax. Or try to, at least.

“Of course I do,” Kodi said with a bit of a lopsided smile despite himself, leaning over from where he’d awkwardly perched on the arm of the chair opposite Cal’s to push a bit of the now ruffled colored hair back into relative order. “I like it better than the orange.” He was pretty sure somewhere out there Lou and Ash has some sort of ginger blasphemy sensors going off, but considering the situation that thought only really amused him. He couldn’t help it, he chuckled at Cal’s dramatics, the sound making him glance back down the stacks the way they came, as if Mr. King had somehow heard it. All clear. Right. He really needed to work on that paranoia. “Braving the bowels of hell just for little ol’ me? Stop it, I’m blushing,” he teased, a bit ironic considering for once he wasn’t blushing. Must be a byproduct of imagined near death experience. All the same, he shifted uneasily at the mention of Valentine’s Day, trying not to look as wary as he felt. “So…” he started idly, eyes drifting to where Fred lay all too contently for being the source of his most recent anxiety, “what’d you want to talk about? Besides the evils of the library."

[Pascal Pallette]

Had he known the library elicited this much fun and excitement for him, Cal never would have thought it a dungeon for the socially deprived and suicidal. He had always feared this place for reasons that Kodi would no doubt describe as ‘Mr. King’, the gum smacking nutella loving librarian who all but hit people with canes for turning in a book five minutes late. Of course, he never experienced this first hand. It was a preconceived notion that he and libraries would never, EVER, get along. It was like… Cal was a sweet sugary topping perfect on ice cream and cakes alike… loved and adored by the many. And the Library was… say… stinky, icky, putrid fish. Why ruin a good thing, like Cal, with the addition for fish? See, it just didn’t work out. He didn’t even like fish anyway, so, yet another reason he avoided the dreaded place like Severus Snape avoided shampoo.

But… this feeling quite unknown to him in regards to the library was wonderfully surprising. Was this how it felt to finally eat fish and appreciate it? Was this how Snape felt the first time he washed his hair with a quality shampoo? It had to be… because Cal was loving sitting in the plush chair, his boyfriend to keep him company as the little ball of fur on his lap purred in a fashion that would force girls to fawn. Could there be any other better way to spend his afternoon? Aside from hunting down a second job that is… Well! It’s settled then! If this is what libraries are like… then by all means, he would have to make a habit of coming more often! And maybe bring Fred along too… he was enjoying himself about as much as he was.

Letting a smile curl to his lips as Kodi attempted to make his hair look orderly. The simple feeling of the boy’s fingers, if only momentarily, in his hair made Cal’s mind go numb. Any thoughts about what he wanted to say or do or think became a puddle of mush, and left him in silence. He never would admit to this, no real super hero ever truly admitting to their own weakness, but he loved the way it felt when his hair was being messed with. He liked it so much, that it would render him silent, a feat not so easily done with a boy as flamboyant, dramatic, and boisterous as him. Either Kodi knew that… or his OCD was showing. Either way, words stopped flowing from his mouth and his hand even stopped its gently movements over the feline’s back, eliciting a reprimand from the beast in the form of a meow.

“Mm… I’m glad you like it.” He said, the numbness wearing off as Kodi had pulled his hand away. Peeking his eyes open, he looked down to the fur ball that had turned over in his lap and was playfully pawing at his motionless hand. A light, airy chuckle passed his lips as he gently batted back, play fighting back. “But I like it when you blush,” Cal teased, a smirk appearing on his lips as he raised a slim brow. “And you know I’d do just about anything for you. Even brave the hell fires of the library if only to see that cute crooked smile of yours. And you know how I don’t like fish.” Whether or not the boy even knew of his disdain or the meat, or even understood the analogy he had made escaped him. But he was Pascal Pallette… master of confusion. He was at least sure Kodi knew that.

Biting his bottom lip as the topic rounded back to a more serious note, his eyes fell in a somewhat saddened fashion. He had hoped he wouldn’t feel so guilty or awful for what he was about to say, but there was no stopping it. He was an emotional creature… and fighting it did more harm than good. Sucking in a breath, he looked back up to him sheepishly. “I’m… kinda broke.” He blurted out ungracefully. “I wanted to take you out for Valentine’s day… get you a nice gift… but…” he started biting his lip, bowing his head so his pathetic, kicked puppy, gaze was given to his kitten. “I kinda am in a bind with Brusters cutting my hours and having to make rent.” He finally looked back up. “I’m sorry Kodi… I wanted to make it special for ya…” Well… this didn’t go according to plan. Fuck. Could they go back to happy times now?