08-01-2018, 01:47 AM
[align=center][div style="borderwidth=0px; width: 55%; line-height:115%; text-align: justify;font-family: calibri;"]The initial shock of the pain that came with betrayal was always the worst, especially when it was handed to you by someone you thought closest to you. It had happened once to Des, a lonely evening that he still remembered clearly. It had been his first love, though more importantly his first friend, the first individual that he had felt comfortable enough to settle down with in this damned place and relax for a bit, try to smooth out those rough edges of his that always seemed to tear through everything else. It had come out of nowhere, and before he knew it another scar was being imprinted into his flesh and another name was on his list of people he vowed to forget.
He didn't forget faces, however. Everyone on that list was truly nameless, but the faces always haunted him.
After that, it was impossible to get in past the walls of steel he put up as defense against everything and anyone who tried. When one wall came down, two were built to replace it, and at this point it was hard to determine which part of him was real and which was just a facade he donned to try and steer everyone clear of the places that hurt. He had become the betrayer, the one who stabbed everyone before they could do it to him, and somewhere along the line the hurt, lost boy had turned into a murderer, following right after both his fathers.
Ironic, wasn't it? Family was supposed to take care of you, love you. It had kicked Gabriel out on his ass, as it had Des, and the only thing keeping his sharp teeth from their throat was the fact that neither of his parents were left to kill. They'd both died somewhere along the way, and he wasn't above regretting that it hadn't been his claws that ended them.
He always seemed to stumble across the most interesting things when he arrived first to whatever was going on at their borders. He had taken to it, finding that being the first to know things often meant you got insight on things others might have missed. It was why after the first few times he had decided to set up a home near enough to the gate to guarantee his presence. Today that presence was that of a strange hybrid who looked like he'd been dragged through hell and back again, not even so much because of his physical appearance but because of the heavy weight that seemed to cling to him where he walked. Des was familiar with the weight and how it looked like, and knew that it was best to leave it alone instead of prodding at wounds that were better left to heal. He'd be a hypocrite otherwise.
"No worries - we didn't throw a fit for the last group that came from there, doubt you'd be any different," his voice held a light warmth that he hoped would soothe the older male somewhat, although his gaze didn't lose it's edge as he inspected Gabriel the closer he walked over, until he settled comfortably on his side of the border a few feet away from him. "Don't know what you've been through but you look like hell," all his subtlety was thrown out the window, but it was for a good cause, for right after making the comment he was quick to add on.
"Don't know the protocol and shit for injured strangers, but I'm sure we can patch ya right back up again if you're honest 'bout the whole... leaving the Ascendants thing," not that he cared, really, alliances were a fickle thing that Des didn't have half a mind to truly pay attention to. If anyone here denied him care simply because of borders, hell, he'd get up and leave himself and try to help the guy as much as he knew. He was never one for medicine, but he knew enough to mend a few broken bones up.
He didn't forget faces, however. Everyone on that list was truly nameless, but the faces always haunted him.
After that, it was impossible to get in past the walls of steel he put up as defense against everything and anyone who tried. When one wall came down, two were built to replace it, and at this point it was hard to determine which part of him was real and which was just a facade he donned to try and steer everyone clear of the places that hurt. He had become the betrayer, the one who stabbed everyone before they could do it to him, and somewhere along the line the hurt, lost boy had turned into a murderer, following right after both his fathers.
Ironic, wasn't it? Family was supposed to take care of you, love you. It had kicked Gabriel out on his ass, as it had Des, and the only thing keeping his sharp teeth from their throat was the fact that neither of his parents were left to kill. They'd both died somewhere along the way, and he wasn't above regretting that it hadn't been his claws that ended them.
He always seemed to stumble across the most interesting things when he arrived first to whatever was going on at their borders. He had taken to it, finding that being the first to know things often meant you got insight on things others might have missed. It was why after the first few times he had decided to set up a home near enough to the gate to guarantee his presence. Today that presence was that of a strange hybrid who looked like he'd been dragged through hell and back again, not even so much because of his physical appearance but because of the heavy weight that seemed to cling to him where he walked. Des was familiar with the weight and how it looked like, and knew that it was best to leave it alone instead of prodding at wounds that were better left to heal. He'd be a hypocrite otherwise.
"No worries - we didn't throw a fit for the last group that came from there, doubt you'd be any different," his voice held a light warmth that he hoped would soothe the older male somewhat, although his gaze didn't lose it's edge as he inspected Gabriel the closer he walked over, until he settled comfortably on his side of the border a few feet away from him. "Don't know what you've been through but you look like hell," all his subtlety was thrown out the window, but it was for a good cause, for right after making the comment he was quick to add on.
"Don't know the protocol and shit for injured strangers, but I'm sure we can patch ya right back up again if you're honest 'bout the whole... leaving the Ascendants thing," not that he cared, really, alliances were a fickle thing that Des didn't have half a mind to truly pay attention to. If anyone here denied him care simply because of borders, hell, he'd get up and leave himself and try to help the guy as much as he knew. He was never one for medicine, but he knew enough to mend a few broken bones up.
♔ — I want brimstone in my garden