, caustic are the ties that bind [caine]

[cassandra seymour]

"Yeah, he's been good. Clean for a few months now .."

Cass spoke, her voice soft as it always was. Blue eyes fixated on the run down man in front of her who almost looked half dead, the blond slightly uncomfortable at the thought. To be honest she was amazed her father still lived, considering all the abuse he put his liver through among other organs she expected him to be dead by now. She wasn't sure if that was a good thought or not, but she put on a small fake smile, trying her hardest to make the best of his new found soberness. Her father smile slightly at the thought of Caine cleaning his act up, knowing that it was because of Mika. Cass thought about maybe bringing Mika by at lest once to meet him, just so she had a better understanding of Caine and their family life, but she eventually decided against it. Mika didn't need to meet their father, he was dead to Caine even if he still breathed. Cass pushed a stray piece of blond hair from her eyes, getting to her feet slowly. "Well, I should go. I have a lot of homework dad," she told him, placing her hands in her pockets as he got to his feet as well, giving her a small hug. Cass was disgusted by any touch of him, but she didn't show it. Merely let him hug her for a moment before grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "Let the other two knuckleheads know I stopped by and will be back again sometime next week, alright?" she requested, not having the opportunity to see her other brothers, but figured they were off doing something else with their lives. Something more important.

Exiting the rundown home that Cass only visited when necessary she sighed, wrapping her large jacket around her tiny figure more tightly as she attempted to shield herself from the winter cold. It was a bit of a walk to her apartment - Caine's apartment, rather - and she knew that with the sun setting it would only get colder. Biting her bottom lip she started on her way, not making eye contact with anyone that looked as though they could have been a threat to her, considering her father lived in a not-so-good part of town. With this new enlightenment that he speaks of all the time Cass thought he would find a better house for himself and her other two brothers to live in, but he still stayed in the same house that they grew up in. Maybe it was a remembrance thing, for her mother, but at the same time it made little to no sense to Cass. She wasn't one for sentimental value, considering she didn't own anything of the sort. It's just easy for her to let things go, unlike her father who was still clinging onto the shatter relationship he had with his children. Sure, she visited him every week an the other two lived with him, but she knew they never really considered him a dad. Just pitied him in his state. Not to mention Caine wouldn't even speak to him, but she couldn't really blame him. Her father was too much of a coward to live up to his mistakes and reach out to Caine first, though Cass wasn't sure how well that would have gone. Wind blowing, her long blond hair whipped around her face as she shut her eyes a bit, squinting to shield them from whatever chill was coming over her.

With the sun dipping into the horizon, Cass started to move a bit more quickly. She never liked being out after dark unless she was on campus or with Caine. She never felt safe anywhere else. She blames her constant need to read the news, all the horrible things happening around the world and just in California made her want to just hide in her bedroom for the rest of her life. Having to write about such awful happenings didn't really help either. That was the only time Cass ever really regretted her choice in major, simply because being a journalist meant reporting on every form of news, not just the pleasantries. And lets be honest, everything in the news was basically depressing and horrific now a days. Turning down an alley, Cass proceeded to take a shortcut to the apartment, her feet shuffling quickly beneath her. The alley came out about a block or two away from the apartment complex, the Balston Freshman smiling as she reached the end of the alley, happy with her success. She walked the last few blocks to the apartment complex, climbed the stairs and hurried herself into the apartment. She fumbled with her key for a moment before successfully opening the door and getting inside.

She entered a dark apartment, no lights or persons inside. It wasn't surprising, Caine hand;t been around lately and nor as she. Cass doubted Caine was ding school relate things like she was, but she knew that he was most likely spending all his time with Mika which was fine by her Sighing as she entered, Cass carelessly tossed her keys into a small bowl by the door and turned on the closest light, giving the apartment a dim light. She took off her jacket and placed it on the chair, her bag following closely after before she removed her shoes and made her way into the kitchen. Rummaging through the fridge and the cabinets Cass put on a pot of water to boil and grabbed some pasta and sauce for dinner. Hey, a girl has to eat. She didn't know if Caine was going to be home in time but she always made sure she made extra, just in case. Being the only female in the house for a while Cass kind of took on the role of cook - the four boys she grew up around never could really grasp the meaning of spices. She grin at the thought, pulling her hair back into a messy bun before continuing to prepare dinner.

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, status; done! woo! family bonding <3
, tags; vanessa with caine c:
, notes; - - - -

[caine davin seymour]

i have my mother's dreams, i have my father's eyes,
you can't take that from me, just go ahead and try.

It was just thinking, thinking and more thinking for Caine. He felt stuck in this little place where he wanted to run and hide. There wasn't the familiar and easy excuse of drugs anymore, he couldn't let that be an option and he felt the anxiety as he anxiously nibbled on a fingernail. A nasty habit, but he'd carried much worse. Most would assume that he would have been with Mika during that daytime but he'd spend it relatively alone, he'd seen his sister for a moment in the morning as he had been grabbing his coffee and figured she was probably at school or something. Really, he knew she was visiting an old dead soul he didn't think about a whole lot, but he convinced himself otherwise. He didn't deserve to even look at her, she didn't have a childhood or a mother thanks to him, and he had his precious mother taken from him at the age of 6. Caine sometimes felt like that same little boy just needing that hug. Lately, he'd felt distance and probably presented that way as well. Mika had presented him with some choices he didn't want to make. Nothing horrible, no ultimatums and no disappearances but he wasn't sure what to make of it. Graduate school? There wasn't a shred of doubt in his mind that she was incredibly intelligent and would graduate, but what about him.

Hands in the pockets of his jacket he slowly walked back to his little hole in the wall apartment he shared with his youngest sibling, the cold not really affecting him as he almost robotically walked through random alleyways to get there over less distance. The back ends of this city were his home and he knew them well, he was supposed to avoid them but whatever. As of yet he'd remained committed and clean, not slipping but sometimes the gravity felt too strong. She wanted him to go with her, across the country. Not only did he dislike the idea of leaving behind his family, he didn't need that kind of stress. What if she woke up one day and just decided that she didn't need him anymore ? What then? Caine felt like loser most of the time, the shit he put people through and himself. No normal person would stick a needle into their vein or a straw up their nose knowing that it would burn through everything in there. He rubbed his nose, it hurt a little. There was a slight familiar congestion, but the weather caused it to run instead of anything else. Clean as a whistle, how boring. It was amazing how sensitive your body was after years of abuse, and with that thought he even wondered if that old man was still alive and how many days until he finally left them the hell alone.

Why Caleb and Christian still lived in that rotten old house where they lived in misery was beyond him, he didn't want to be reminded where he got his scars, it was enough that he had them. If Caine and Caleb could go through a conversation without arguing, well that was a miracle, Christian however was much more tolerable and calm like their sister. Arriving at the door he pulled out his key and opened the door, closing it quickly to not let in the cold and locking it. Throwing his keys in the bowl, he saw another set of keys and asserted that Cass was home. Still silent he removed his jacked and tossed it on the couch and walked to his room where he grabbed his cell phone from the small night stand near his bed. It was plain with only a clock and phone charger, his room was clean and boring. A few text messages and a couple missed calls and voice mails, from the usual. Mika had called him but he had taken the day off so to speak. Typing quickly he let her know he was alive and would call her later. Walking into the living room he picked up the picture of a blond with blue eyes, a mirror image of his sister only it was his mother. There was a period of time where he struggled with that, the image right there and his father had as well, but he had gotten over that, she was gone and wasn't coming back. Quietly he set it down where it resided.

In the kitchen he saw Cass beginning to prepare a meal, normally he had the appetite of three and had even gained a pound or two lately since he'd actually eat a full meal nowadays, but not that day. "When did you get home?" Casually he leaned against the counter, she was good friends with Mika so he didn't say what was on his mind right away, though it would have been stupid to question family loyalty here at all. Barely eighteen, she might as well still been that same twelve year old girl that looked scared when their father brought him home from his recent ER visit for alcohol poisoning or something stupid. She was a good kid, he was glad because he didn't need a mirror to follow him around all the time. "What you been up to?"

---

[bleh, in a wierd type of mood]

[cassandra seymour]

Visiting her father always left a sour taste in her mouth for the rest of the day. She wasn't entirely sure what it was, whether it be how much her stomach turned at the sight of a house that brought so much pain to her family or the pleading look of acceptance that her father always gave when she left. Cass almost felt guilty for not staying there with him like he wanted, she getting the impression that just Caine being gone was hard for him. But she gave him no sympathy, only pity. He did all of this to himself and has no one else to blame. Hell, because of him Cass had no childhood, no mother - just three brothers and a dad who really didn't know how to raise a child, let a lone a girl. Her father caused Caine to turn to drugs, which in turn made Caleb basically hate him and Christian just disappointed. The thought made Cass scowl, her father a leech of a man. She only wished her other two brothers were around when she visited today, they she could have gotten the real truth about how things were going there. Her father had been known to lie about these kinds of things, Cass learning that over the many weeks she has visited. Some times she tells herself she will never go back there again, but the following week she finds herself on their doorstep. Creature of habit she is, not like she had anything else to do.

Putting a bit of salt in the starting to boil water Cass grabbed a few miscellaneous things from the cabinet an grabbed a jar of sauce from the fridge. Cass knew how to make her own sauce but she had gotten home late and didn't have any time to prepare it properly. So pre-jared sauce would have to do. Not feeling like grabbing herself a towel Cass wiped her on her jeans. Well, Caine's jeans actually, at lest so she assumed. Being the product of an alcoholic abusive father who caused his wife to commit suicide and having three older brothers, Cass was always given handy-me-downs. She still sported them to this day, mainly because they were the most comfortable thing she had and she was all about comfort.It's not that her family didn't have money because for whatever reason they had enough, but her father was too drunk to take her clothes shopping. Not like he knew what to get a growing girl anyways. So she wore her brother's handy-me-downs and played with toy trucks, matchbox cars and action figures.

Cass didn't hear Caine when he came in, mainly because she was so deep in thought. Her mind drifted from her family life to the school work she had piled on. Everyone told her that the transit from High School Senior to College Freshman was always the hardest, but once you got through that first year it would be smooth sailing. It was just an adjustment of workload and dependency on the teachers, which Cass learned the first week she got into Balston. She was always well adjusted when it came to things like that, but throw her into a social interaction with a boy and she will be as lost as sailor without a compass. Her closest friend to this day was Caine's .. thing, Mika, a girl that she respected and liked quiet a bit. She got her brother to go to rehab when no one else could, Cass owed her a the noble peace prize, or something to the same standard. She may of had some habits that she frowned upon, but Cass wasn't that judgmental, even if she came off as such. Above all else she made Caine happy (at lest so she thought) and that was all Cass cared about.

When Caine spoke to her Cass jumped, startled by his presence. "Jesus Caine,"

[/color] she said, putting her hand on her chest for a moment. Had he done or said anything other then when did you get home Cass probably would have screamed a bit. She shrugged off his question, glancing to the watch on her wrists. "Just a few minutes ago. I was visiting dad,"[/color] she said, her voice soft spoken like his. She gave him a slight look, that don't judge me kind of look, taking his appearance. He looked troubled, but Cass wasn't going to pry. She learned the hard way that Caine doesn't open up that way, so she normally just lets him do his thing. To an extent. Cass sometimes considered herself his legal guardian, all the times she has taken care of him. "He asks about you every time I go there. Pathetic old man .." [/color]she sighed, grabbing the box of pasta and tossing in a good amount, enough for her and enough for him. She wasn't sure how hungry he was but he generally could eat like he was a starving child in a third world country. Cass had a big appetite too, but nothing nearly as big as his.

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, notes; pfft. I've been in a weird mood for like, the past week. ;__;[/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/center]

[caine davin seymour]

Caine hadn't expected to startle her, normally he didn't and only when she was in deep thought. For such an innocent girl she was sharp and not much really got past her, especially when it came to predictable Caine. Body language spoke louder than words and it was a powerful force in Caine's life as he could read and speak it quite clearly. The tall man was a mostly silent one and if he was speaking happy words his body would tell you otherwise. It was exactly the case here and an instant response when "dad" was mentioned. And his day had been going so well all for this one pronoun to go and ruin it. Caine leaned back against the fridge and crossed his arms, the wall was up as if almost on command. Blue eyes looked back at replica's of his own, only brighter and more hopeful than his own dull ones. There was a question on the tip of his tongue, was the old man dead yet? But, he didn't want to upset his sister, that wasn't fair. "How is he?" He asked monotonously almost and more out of politeness than real sincerity. There was so much irony in their relationship, how his father was all but one drink away from liver failure and Caine would probably be the only one who could help him there, even with his own damage. Oh wouldn't that be interesting.

He shook his head and moved away from the fridge to pace around a little bit in the kitchen. Did he lose his punching bag and now he missed it? Why couldn't the old fuck just leave him alone? It was like a haunting or something, that even when he did finally croak his memory would live on and taint the lives of those he spent years breaking down into pieces. Caine was only starting to figure out how the put the pieces back as if they were a delicate and complicated puzzle, the picture was nowhere near clear and that was his next problem. What vision was his life supposed to be? What his purpose for being here? Really, he just wanted to stay clean for more than 90 days at a time, God knew it had been years. The last time he had been fully and committed sober Cass would have been a child. "What the hell does he care?" A mutter almost under his breath and caustic in tone. His brothers tolerated him, the middle one loyal while the youngest just in need of money for school. He took a deep breath and leaned against another counter, he didn't need to get worked up over anything and he was quickly distracted however, by his cell phone which buzzed again. Another message from Mika, but even if he didn't say it his face showed that he really just didn't want to talk to her today, just not today.

Dinner would be ready soon and he actually felt a little hungry, he would eat either way or Cass would draw his blood for a drug test on the spot. Though he looked a little tired it wasn't the pale and dead looking complexion he used to carry but one of a guy that could use a few more hours, nothing out of the ordinary. How he ever enjoyed staying up for four days a time he couldn't understand, there was a lot he still didn't understand. "So what other trouble did you cause today?" The day she caused any trouble he would have to buy her a beer and then scold her afterward. She was his conscience in a sense, but he was still the typical overprotective older brother that would never let anything happen to her. Part of it was instinct and the other was that six year old boy inside of him that never wanted to let go of his mother's hand and memory because he hadn't been able to save her, and this was the least he could do.