MAD LOVE — o, oneshot + development

[GABRIEL]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-size: 9.4pt; line-height: 1.4;"]Gabriel had always known he'd gotten lucky with his family. Not everyone had a kind mother breaking her back to take care of six kids, who ran herself thin providing for them while still finding the time to instill discipline. Sure, if Gabriel fucked up, she'd give him a good ass-kicking, but it was always deserved, and he never did it again. She didn't abuse them, didn't ask for more than they could give. When they were small, he could remember how she'd sing to them, offering so much warmth that to this day, Gabriel could find no equivalent to it. Maybe he was a mama's boy, but hell, it wasn't like he'd had a dad around. Didn't seem like he needed one, not to mention having two parents didn't always guarantee a happy childhood. Just as often that meant twice the mistreatment, so as curious as he'd been as a child, he didn't care to ask about his father when he grew older, focused instead on easing some of the burden from his mother's shoulders.

He missed her. Gabe didn't even know if she was still alive, and he wouldn't visit even if she were, because he wasn't the son she'd said goodbye to. Nothing she'd ever said or done had given Gabriel the impression that she was disappointed in him, yet it felt like it was too late now, that he'd already dug his grave. All the love she'd shown him in the middle of strife was the whole reason Gabe started on the path that led here. He'd just- lost sight of a few things, so for all his reluctance to let her see him again, he could use some motherly advice right about now.

But, as aforementioned, that wasn't an option. So, in his antsiness, he'd taken a walk around the territory, hoping to clear his mind, except the relative peace was interrupted by a feline stumbling out of his shack, collapsing on the sand. At first, Gabriel thought he was physically injured, and went from ambling to sprinting, but he skidded when he saw no wounds, only the signs of a panic attack. He knew nothing about this kid, but he couldn't just keep on walking and ignore him. "Hey, kiddo, can you do something for me? I want you to breathe with me. Deep breath, count up. One, two, three, four. Now let it out and count down. Four, three, two, one." He exaggerated his own breathing to match with the counting, hoping the cheetah would catch on. "This won't last. Wherever you went, you're not there anymore. You're safe, and I'm here to help you."
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