In the aftermath of so much terror and malaise, Caleb was grateful for a moments respite. It felt like too much, almost. Like the calm before a storm. He tried to think how to anticipate.

Like so much of his time, Caleb found himself more and more in the Library. The specific interests of the Goblins this time didn't interest him very much, though their curation of a reading list of fictions surrounding the Leviathan did draw his attention and he found himself lingering at the back of some of these sessions, taking notes. Stories and legends did, after all, often come from reality. He had lived enough of that.

Other than that, he set to learning everything he could about the grounds of their walled compound. One could almost always find him out and about, speaking to demons, investigating strange buildings that he was less familiar with. He had a particular affinity for the greenhouse, the stables and the bathhouse, since they were on the more familiar side of things.

He had components to try and source. Spells to try and rework in this place. All of these things took time and effort and diligent attention to what was available. It would probably be easier if he could figure out where trade came from around here, but he wasn't too worried about it yet.

The curfew was another thing entirely. It wasn't that Caleb was deliberately trying to make a mockery of these so called safety measures, but there might have been some consideration of whether or not it really did anything. So he was certainly pushing the limits and seeing what he could get away with.

I. In the Room - OTA
This was not what Caleb was expecting to have happen.

It was not the first time that Caleb had stood in a room like this, facing someone. It was a different method that he had ever used. An entirely different course. The command was clear and present and stank of the way Trent had always spoken to him and his friends when they were students.

Help your fellow. No, Caleb knew the truth of how these things worked now. He pulled his amulet out of his shirt and held it, focusing carefully and murmuring an incantation to invoke Mind Blank and find peace within himself.

The last month had been difficult. But he could survive this.

II. After - CLOSED TO CLOSE CR
He had survived it.

Wounds, like all things, would fade. These scars would blend in with the others. And, in the end, he was whole. That was all he could ask.

He didn't want to depend on others at the moment, feeling raw and vulnerable in the face of what had happened in that room. But he knew that was an old reaction to an older concern. Instead, he went looking. There was no healing in this place, he was fairly certain. Not like he knew. But there was, at least, a moment of succor that might be found in familiar presences.

[Find Caleb anywhere around the Penance compound! Drag him to the hotel bar, Helluva Cup, or even *gasp* Club Penance (though if you tell him what happens there, he will rudely walk away). If you'd like a specialty prompt, plot with me at besosde or on discord at krempuffs#5806]