9: “I would like to propose a trade.”

It was a bittersweet journey home. Bitter for Caspian, sweet for Caia. She was practically humming as she drove. He was refusing to look at her, finding the blackness outside of the passenger side window much more interesting a sight.

Mostly, Caspian was mortified. After telling her that he didn't need her, after announcing to the world that he could take care of himself, he found himself once again relying on Caia. He hadn't had much of a choice though. He had been hungry, he had no money, he was completely on his own. Stealing some bread, he had figured, was the easiest way to eat. He wasn't taking much and, really, there had been so much bread there that he was surprised that anyone would miss it or even care. But they did and he found himself being arrested.

Caia was the only person he knew besides Simone. Since he would rather die than call Simone for help, that left only Caia to turn to. He didn't know her phone number so the officer had simply looked up her name in the phone book and called. Caspian was lucky she was the only Caia Hicks in the area or he might be spending the night in jail while the officer attempted to track down the right Caia Hicks. Not that he wasn't sure that wouldn't be preferable to this mortification.

Caia felt needed and it was a good feeling. She hadn't even needed to post bail like she had been expecting – though that would have been a fun experience – she had only needed to provide a car ride back to her house and a promise to keep Caspian in line.

It didn't matter that he wasn't looking at her. For a moment, he had needed her and that was reward enough for the horribly desperate and lonely Caia. She knew she was desperate, she even knew that she was pathetic, but the feelings of being needed were too great for her to care at the moment. She would work on her mental health issues later, she promised herself knowing full well she never would. For now, she was going to focus on Caspian.

She stole a few glances over to his tight frame before working up the courage to speak. When she did, she did it with a big smile that she hoped he took as friendly.

“So, are you still hungry?”

The look he leveled her was incredulous. It was like he was asking 'are you mocking me?'.

Caia giggled nervously. “Well, I'm hungry. Let's stop and get some food. Have you ever had fast food before? I can't imagine that you have. Statues don't eat, right? I'll get you something greasy and delicious.”

Chatting foolishly about the joys of cheap food, Caia pulled into an all-night burger place. She didn't bother asking Caspian what he would want, she didn't imagine that she would get a good answer. So she just ordered for him and pulled around.

Caspian hadn't ever eaten fast food before but after five years observing the world around him, he knew very well what it was. He couldn't say that he ever really wanted to try a the food that even those who ate it admitted wasn't that good.

However, he hadn't eaten since he had left Caia's house and his stomach betrayed him by growling as they pulled around and the scent of cooking food permeated the air. He could tell just from smelling it that it wasn't the best food, but when you were hungry, food was food and the taste hardly mattered if it mattered at all.

Caia – thankfully – didn't remark on the his stomach's sounds. She just passed him the burgers and fries that she ordered and smiled softly as he grabbed one.

He almost ripped it from the paper that covered it and took a quick bite before his pride overrode his own common sense. It was greasy and the taste was bland, but it was hot and it was sustenance. He passed Caia one of the burgers, telling himself that he was only eating because it was rude to turn down an offer of food like this. He couldn't lie to himself though when he reached for a second of the burgers and dug into that one with the same amount of gusto.

Caia nibbled on her burger mostly because she didn't want Caspian to feel self-conscious, she wasn't really hungry.

The rest of the ride home was filled only with the sounds of Caspian and Caia eating. They didn't talk, but they didn't feel the need to either. Both were comfortable with the silence between them and it didn't occur to Caspian until Caia pulled the car to a halt how odd that was.

They walked in together and Caspian noticed that she hadn't bothered to move the things she had bought him. They were still sitting right where he had put them like they were just waiting for him to return and claim them.

“It's kind of late,” Caia said with a smile. “You're probably tired, right?”

Caspian finished off the last of the fries and crumpled the bag in his hands. He nodded with his mouth full. He wasn't really tied, he just didn't want to sit up and try to make conversation with her right at the moment. Maybe sleep would make the inevitable discussion they would need to have easier.

“Well then...” she hesitated like she was thinking over something.

When she jumped forward, Caspian automatically lifted his hands to defend himself. Caia simply jumped past his arms and pecked a sweet kiss against his cheek. She bounced back with a wide grin as he just looked at her.

“Goodnight!” She turned on her heel and practically skipped out of the living room and down the hall to her bedroom.

Caspian watched her go, for a moment confused. In a way, charmed. Who knew that such a sweet and careless creature could exist?

Then he slapped his hand against his cheek and rubbed viciously at the spot she had kissed.

No way! He wasn't going to do this again! It was a friendly kiss. It meant nothing and he needed to not read anything into it because doing so would only make him a fool twice. A fool once for thinking a kiss on the cheek from someone like Caia meant anything special, and a fool twice for daring to let himself be put under the wiles of an enchantress again.

Angry at himself, angry at the world, Caspian dropped onto Caia's couch once again and prepared to fall asleep even more in this woman's debt than he had been just yesterday.

He was tired though from the day he had had and his eyes started closing as his mind switched itself off, and he found himself drifting off to sleep. The last thing he remembered before his mind was lost to the darkness of unconsciousness was of the sweep of Caia's dark eyelashes against her cheeks when her face was so close as the warm softness of her lips slid against his skin.

~~~~~~

He cooked again. The first thing he did upon awakening was to start the coffee maker before turning his attention to Caia's limited foodstuffs. It was really the only thing he was good for anymore so he went about doing it unhappily.

He had proven himself a failure. In this world he had observed for five years, he had been unable to successfully integrate. The theft had been a move of desperation brought about by the fact that observing this world did not qualify him to live in it. There were so many things that he didn't know how to do or recognize only because he never got to see them. This strange need for constant identification papers these people possessed baffled and tried him at every turn. Added to that the fact that he had never truly lived here before made him completely useless.

He had to learn complex skills that these people just knew. Electronics, navigating the city, and obeying laws that were ingrained in these people since birth but he didn't know made those few days on his own much more complicated than he had anticipated.

He felt like a failure. He felt useless and dependent. For a proud man like him, those feelings were like being stabbed in the gut. It made him feel low and worthless. It took a great deal of will power in order to pull himself away from those feelings and focus on being productive instead.

So he was cooking. He could do that, he knew, a great deal better than Caia could. It also acted as a sort of repayment. Though feeding her with her own food was hardly a way to pay off a debt, it was the only thing he knew he could do.

All the while, he was thinking. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed Caia's help. Besides the simple act of living that was far more complicated here than it should be, she knew how to operate in this world and he did not. Having her as an ally would be far more useful to him than to keep trying to push her away.

She was already attached to him. He would have to be mentally incompetent in order to not notice the way that she was clinging onto him. Normally, he wouldn't mind that. Being what she was though and him having his own agenda meant that he didn't have time to care for her properly.

And she did need someone to care properly for her. A girl like her needed someone that could actually love her.

Caspian was sure that he was incapable of love after everything that had happened. Even if he could find it in his heart to love another, he wasn't going to love an enchantress. They were disturbed in the mind, incapable of being normal, functioning people.

Caspian arranged the eggs on her plate and began preparing the toast.

There was, of course, the problem of her being an enchantress. An ally that was so dangerous was not an ally worth having in his mind. He could find himself frozen in stone again. He could find more people dead because he was willing to trust such a dangerous creature.

“Good morning!”

Caspian almost fell forward when Caia jumped on his back, throwing her arms around his waist and hugging him close with a bright smile. It was so childlike and innocent and she snuggled in close to his warmth, taking a deep breath of his scent.

He was still here. She had been scared that he was going to walk away again in the dead of the night. She was prepared for him to do exactly that, but also wasn't sure how she could handle him doing so. That he was still here, that he had cooked for her, made her unreasonably happy.

She was attached to him already. They could both tell in the way she held him. Like a babe would hold onto their mother, like a pup would cuddle with their master. It was sweet and innocent, but it was also dedicated and determined. She was going to be this close to him whether he wanted her to or not.

Caspian hated to admit it, but he couldn't deny that he liked it. He reached up without looking back and put his hand over both of hers and she made a soft sound of a approval as her hold tightened. He liked being needed, he liked being wanted. Others depending on him, others leaning on him for strength and security even if only emotionally, made him happy.

It was the first time in many years that someone had held him. It was the first time since Rowan that anyone had needed him. It was a drug that was easy for him to get addicted to. Which was exactly why he couldn't let her hold him.

He grabbed her wrists and turned so he could push her back. She didn't look unhappy, she still kept smiling up at him. She had chosen a pretty silver dress today covered in roses with two pretty bows at the end of her skirt. On anyone else, it would have looked ridiculous. On Caia, it fit her perfectly. The dress was just an extension of her sweet personality.

He had to remind himself that she was dangerous. She had the potential to be deadly. Given enough time, he was sure, she would be exactly like Rowan. She would lose herself to the madness of her power and be a danger to society.

“You made eggs?” Caia asked happily.

“To thank you,” Caspian turned back to the toast. He began spreading the raspberry jelly she kept in her refrigerator on the bread while she took an appreciative sniff of the food.

“I'll never understand how you can do this,” she laughed delightedly as she poked one of the perfectly fluffy scrambled eggs.

“It's not that complicated. I'll teach you.”

“Really?”

Caspian cursed himself internally. He hadn't meant to make that offer, it had just come out. He looked over at her face but couldn't tell her no.Not because her face had lit up though. She had sounded so excited when she had asked that he had even thought to offer. It was like promising a child a treat then cruelly changing your mind. He just didn't have the heart.

So he sighed and offered her the slice of toast. “Yeah, really.”

Caia made a delighted sound of excitement as she put the toast on the two plates. She picked them both up and took them into the living room to set on the coffee table again, practically skipping.

Caspian rinsed his hands under the sink and dried them off with a small hand towel as Caia set up the breakfast, grabbing the forks and pouring them both a glass of orange juice.

Then they sat down together to eat. There was something different in the air this time though. It wasn't tense and unfriendly. It was still quiet, the only sound being their eating, but it was no longer a strained, harsh silence.

Caspian would look up every now and then to check on Caia. He was prepared to have her staring at him, but she never was. She focused on her food, looked around at her art, at one point she was counting something off on her fingers, but she didn't look up at him. It was enough for her just to be near him like this.

An ally. That's all he needed her to be. He would provide this comfort of companionship that she sought and she would help him get his revenge. It was a fair trade and he could always pull away if she threatened to lose her mind.

Her phone went off from in her room and they both looked up. She didn't move though.

“Aren't you going to go get that?” Caspian asked.

Caia looked determinedly back to her food and began pushing her eggs around her plate. “That's my mom's ringtone.” She had set them recently so she wouldn't have the surprise anymore of just seeing her mother's face on the screen.

Her mother. Caspian remembered the one sided conversation he had overheard between her and her mother when he had still been a statue. He also remembered seeing Caia throw herself on the couch and cry herself to sleep afterwords.

His old protective instincts kicked in and he stood up suddenly. Before Caia could say anything, he was walking into her room and picking up the phone on her bedside table.

Caia appeared in the doorway and made a sound of protest but it was too late, he had already clicked 'talk' and brought the phone to his ear. Before he had the chance to speak, Caia's mother started.

“You ungrateful brat! I've been calling you for three days and you don't even have the decency to pick up the phone? You better be in the hospital. Do you hear me, Caia? If you are not dieing then there is no reason for you not to pick up the damn phone. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Well, Caia's been a little busy.”

There was a strained silence on both sides of the phone. Caia was looking between him and the device, terrified. On the other end, her mother was obviously trying to figure out who exactly was answering her daughter's cell.

“Who the hell is this?!” she finally half shouted.

“I'm a friend of Caia's.”

“Let me speak to my daughter!”

Caia, who overheard the command, held out her hand. Caspian took it in his own and lowered it without looking at her. Being an ally meant looking out for each other. Caring for a person meant taking hits for them. Caia clearly didn't want to speak with her overbearing mother so Caspian would do it for her.

“She's a bit preoccupied.”

Caia's mother let out a snarl. “That little slut better not have a man in that house! Do you hear me? That is my house and I did not give her permission to whore herself out!”

“I'm a friend,” Caspian repeated calmly. “Your daughter has been kind enough to help me out in my time of need. I owe her for that.”

“Bullshit! You tell that slut that you better be out of the house by tonight! I won't have her getting knocked up and saddling me with the responsibility of her bastard, do you hear me?”

Caia was shaking. Her head was bowed and her shoulders were slumped as she tried to sink into herself. Seeing that, it was impossible for Caspian's protective instincts not to kick into high gear.

He jerked on the hand he still held and pulled her into his side. He put his arm around her like a mother bird protecting her young. She grabbed to him like a woman drowning.

“If Caia and I were lovers and she ended up pregnant, I would take care of the baby. But we're not, so that's not a worry. And she'll have to call you back.”

With the older woman raging loudly on the end of the phone, Caspian hit 'end' and cut her off. The room was suddenly without the shriek of her voice and Caia half expected her to call back. Caspian knew she wouldn't though and set the phone back down. He had hung up on her, she wouldn't be able to handle the insult of that and would likely refuse to call back.

Caia spoke up first. “You shouldn't have done that. She's going to be mad. She'll take it out on me.”

“She can try.” Caspian turned and took Caia by the shoulders. Her eyes were swimming with tears but they weren't falling yet. “Don't worry about your mother. Let me talk to her from now on. And your father, too. I'll keep them from hurting you.”

Caia frowned then surprised him by asking, “Why?”

With her childlike innocence, he had forgotten that she was an adult. She wasn't so foolish as to think that someone was going to take care of her just like that without expecting anything in return. In fact, with the way her parents treated her, she probably knew that better than anyone. If he was going to do that for her, she knew that he must something from her.

Caspian, surprised at such a suspicious question from the trusting and sweet Caia, released her and stood back to face her as an adult. After all, she wasn't wrong. He did want something from her.

“I would like to propose a trade.”

“A trade?”

He nodded once. “Obviously, I need a place to stay. I didn't do well on my own and, while it hurts my pride to admit it, I can't do this without help.”

Caia smiled. “You don't have to trade me anything for that. I was going to give you that anyway.”

“Please, no more charity. I don't think I could handle it.” If he found himself in any further debt to this woman, he'd lose his mind. There was only so much a man could take.

Caia giggled at the expression on his face. It was the first time that he was speaking to her regularly like this. He wasn't angry or resentful. The lack of those emotions highlighted the lines of his face and brought out the beauty of his features. She wanted to sculpt him.

“I will take care of things like this for you,” Caspian said, indicating to the phone. “I'll cook for you. I'll let you cling onto me as tight as you want.”

“Careful what you offer.”

“Cling away. It doesn't bother me in the slightest.” He didn't want to tell her that he liked being clung onto. That might be a bit too much.

“For all that, you only want a place to stay?”

“Well, not exactly.”

Caia tilted her head curiously and waited for him to elaborate.

He hesitated. He wasn't sure how much he wanted to tell her or how much she knew. “...Do you know what an enchantress is?”

“Like a sorceress?”

“So you don't know?”

She shook her head then surprised him again. “Is that how you turned into a statue? Did an enchantress do that to you?”

“You accepted that a little too easily for someone who doesn't even know what an enchantress is.”

She laughed. “I'm living with a statue that just poofed into life. I think I can accept that someone magicked you into being one in the first place. Do you know what made you poof back because I've been trying to figure it out and I've got nothing. Do you think it was that chemical? Do chemicals negate magic?”

She didn't really know what an enchantress was. Which meant that she had no idea that she was one. If she didn't know, then Caspian wasn't going to tell her. The last thing that he wanted was for her to discover her powers and then use them to hurt others. Maybe it was using the power of the enchantress that destroyed the mind. In that case, he would spare Caia from that fate.

“What I want, Caia, is for you to help me track down the woman who turned me into a statue.”

Again, she looked at him a bit suspiciously. That expression in his eyes wasn't a friendly one. “And why do you want to find her?”

“I plan on killing her.”

Once again, Caia was struck with the seriousness of his words. It wasn't just what he was saying, it was how much he meant what he was saying.

Caia took a deep breath. “In that case, we do not have a deal. I'm not going to help you kill someone.”

Just like that, Caia turned on her heel and walked from the room. Caspian was left standing there, confused at what had just happened.