Neal Caffrey

prompt : muses x and y meet at a music festival.

“Are you calling me old? I’m younger than the band on your t-shirt” Coachella wasn’t his thing and sure he was only here because Peter Burke’s suspect was working in the festival and this was the easiest way to catch him by surprise. Never the less the girl in the guns n roses t-shirt teasing him by the beer tent deserved an sassy response. 

from this

There weren’t many places Neal could go to escape the city that was still within his two mile radius from home so lately he found that sitting by the shore in this pretty much secluded beach staring at the ocean proved to be about the best he could find when it came to being left alone to his thoughts. He brought a sketchpad and drew the pale blue giving way to darker colors near the horizon and when grown bored of drawing he started throwing little pebbles in the water.

“Hey! Hey you! Wait!” he called out when he noticed there was someone in the water looking at him that then attempted to swim away. “Dude be cool! I never seen one of yas before” he tried to coax the merman to return having spotted the boy’s long shimmering tail as he swam away. “I’m not gonna hurt you buddy” he called out when he noticed water rippling closer to the shore but not too close. Neal opted to walk up to a massive heap of rock that was pretty much in the water but on a slightly higher level so he could sit there and the merman could stay in the deeper waters without approaching the shore too much.

“Would you mind if I sketched you? I’ve never seen a mer...man before” he flipped pages of his little sketchbook and grabbed his pencil to start drawing an outline of the beautiful shimmering tail in the water. 

from this

There was a misconception that shapeshifters could turn into anything at will,no their form would mostly be guided by their personality and his was a shiny crow. Maybe it was because he rather enjoyed taking things that weren’t his and turning into a crow made for the perfect disguise to snatch bracelets and earrings straight off people and thus never getting arrested. He spent a lot of his time in the park and a few times he noticed the young man that would always sit on the bench for about twenty minutes before taking off. As the young man never wore things of value Neal stayed away but kept his eyes on him up until the day the boy brought him snacks and like any other crow would he kept devouring the offerings, making sure to always be there the next day with a little ‘present’ for the boy in return. Little trinkets he’d find around the park,paperclips,hair pins,random stuff and it became a ritual that the boy would throw seeds or some bread and slowly the crow crew friendlier to the point he’d fly to peck seeds straight off the boy’s hand or stand on the arm rest of the bench and stare at him as the boy spoke of his stressful day. Little by little Neal started feeling attached to the sweet boy that seemed to be plagued by so much stress in the city using the park as a little escape.

Until a month down the line the crow wouldn’t be there waiting for him. Neal stood a little further away staring at the boy as his face sunk while he looked around for his feathered friend. How do you even introduce yourself anymore? Seeing the boy so distraught over missing him he decided to walk to the bench, sit down next to him and casually put a discarded election pin on the boy’s lap, remaining silent otherwise. Only when the boy looked at him Neal gave him a little wave and istared at him with his had craned to the left much like he did while in his crow form.

from this

“Aren’t you sweet” Neal wasn’t an idiot and only an idiot would be oblivious to the young man’s gestures.No, he was fully aware that the reason his young neighbor always offered to help him carry things upstairs was more than just being a polite young man. It was endearing to say the least and a little bit flattering but still up until today Neal never invited him inside his apartment. Let the kid have a crush and be over me by next month was his general attitude but a little time progressed of the boy helping him on average twice a week to carry thing upstairs it was clear the kid wasn’t gonna move or or make a move. Call it boredom, maybe Neal was feeling rather unappreciated around the bureau, today his attitude shifted to ‘hey he’s legal let’s make this fun and see where it goes’.

“You coming in?” he asked and while turned away from the boy he smirked to himself and made his way to the kitchenette. 

insp. by this to lead into this

“I don’t have time for modesty. You should be in the main lobby.”

Call it old habits dying hard Neal Caffrey could never resist a art exhibit full of pretentious rich people that didn’t understand what they were looking at but made endless conversation about it. It was a great way to keep his ears open on who owns what in case in the near future when his ankle monitor was gone and he was no longer on Peter Burke’s radar he decided he was made to ‘relieve’ them off their priceless art possessions. One piece though made the former forger stare at it for a long time to the point he no longer was eavesdropping on the babble in the background. Any piece that drew his attention was worth knowing more on and considering the artist was not yet a ‘big name’ it wasn’t too highly priced either. The artist was equally as lovely to look at as well,despite his very modest answers and dismissal of compliments.

“Too bad you’ve already sold your other piece, I’m kind of a completionist. Who buys one piece of a set anyway? That should be outlawed.” he stared at the painting for a few more seconds in silence. He wanted it but he wanted it’s twin as well. Only when another pair of eyes started eyeing up what should be on his wall did he take out his chequebook handing it to the gallery attendant closing the deal.