09-11-2018, 04:05 PM
[align=center][div style="borderwidth=0px; width: 55%; line-height:115%; text-align: justify;font-family: calibri;"]There were a lot of people who Des expected to see at some point in his life before he died again; namely Lirim, a bunch of individuals he remembered he hadn’t quite managed to kill while escaping his gang, and a bunch of people he remembered having something against him. He had never been one to place faith into seeing certain individuals ever again, moreso for their own good then his own... and Gabriel? Well, Gabriel was among them.
So it was to his surprise (he couldn’t quite call it pleasant when he felt guilty for even existing in the same space as he did) when the first individual to see him in such a sorry state happened to be the very man who he had met in a similar situation back on the border of the Typhoon.
A long, heavy silence pressed down upon him, Gabriel’s dark gaze boring into him as Des fought with himself not to break the silence too early. He figured that the man would recognize him (it wasn’t like he actively tried to scrub out the scent of sea water and cigarette smoke from off his body when he was preoccupied with running) but that wasn’t the bigger issue here. Something under his skin itched for a different reason, something akin to guilt pressing into his side as if he had done something to warrant Gabriel’s disappointment.
In reality it was his own lingering demons coming to bite him in the ass as he fought to convince himself that he couldn’t have done anything more in the Typhoon. There was still the sensation that he hadn’t done enough nagging at the back of his mind, telling him to go back and try harder.
The more stubborn part of him would gladly never return.
”Gabriel…” he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say, and so his words faltered and tapered off into silence yet again, broken only by the subtle crackling of the flames still around him. There was an apology somewhere on the tip of his tongue, but it seemed stuck in his throat and wouldn’t come out, until eventually he gave up in trying and slid back to the only thing he knew how to do these days.
With the easy grin spreading so readily across his features, it was almost impossible to tell that he had been in any pain (both mental and physical) had someone not seen the crack in the facade already. A chuckle rumbled through the air, deepened by the foreign body he inhabited but still uniquely his, and after a few more seconds following Gabriel’s words, he spoke as well.
”Don't suppose you picked up on anything useful when our positions were flipped?” his tone was easy as well, masking the pain he felt nearly perfectly if his eyes and the subtle clench in his jaw didn’t give him away. He’d felt this pain before, however, enough times to know how to deal with it and tune it out. Instead he focused on everything else around him - the warmth of the fire surrounding him, the darkness that surrounded them all broken by the golden light, Gabriel’s voice still echoing through his skull… and his eyes. Those were the easiest to focus on, unnervingly still and as black as the void Desperado had come from.
The silence surrounded him again, and once again the man broke under the pressure, speaking out of necessity lest it consume him.
”Thought I’d never see you again,” it was hard to tell whether or not that was a good thing in Des’ mind, purposefully shrouded in such a mystery because he himself didn’t quite know. Each familiar face was another reason for him to try better, but at the same time all of the facts he knew had a funny way of turning into his demons down the road.
He shuffled, suddenly uncomfortable and yearning for a smoke, but he didn’t bother asking for one, simply letting the anxiety slowly eat at him, waiting for the aforementioned help Gabriel had mentioned.
It didn’t seem like Onision was that help. He seemed just as useless in this situation as the hybrid was, calling for someone else to aid him because everyone seemed to conveniently lack the expertise needed to spare him the pain. He wouldn’t die of it, but he could feel himself drifting closer towards unconsciousness with each passing second as the pain slowly became more and more paramount. He hoped someone would come just to spare himself the embarrassment.
”Anyone gonna tell me where I am, by the way? I’d like to assume it’s the Ascendants given that you’re here… but I could very well be wrong,” he would never return to places he had left before… perhaps Gabriel was different, but it was hard to shake off the habit of putting others subconsciously into his shoes.
So it was to his surprise (he couldn’t quite call it pleasant when he felt guilty for even existing in the same space as he did) when the first individual to see him in such a sorry state happened to be the very man who he had met in a similar situation back on the border of the Typhoon.
A long, heavy silence pressed down upon him, Gabriel’s dark gaze boring into him as Des fought with himself not to break the silence too early. He figured that the man would recognize him (it wasn’t like he actively tried to scrub out the scent of sea water and cigarette smoke from off his body when he was preoccupied with running) but that wasn’t the bigger issue here. Something under his skin itched for a different reason, something akin to guilt pressing into his side as if he had done something to warrant Gabriel’s disappointment.
In reality it was his own lingering demons coming to bite him in the ass as he fought to convince himself that he couldn’t have done anything more in the Typhoon. There was still the sensation that he hadn’t done enough nagging at the back of his mind, telling him to go back and try harder.
The more stubborn part of him would gladly never return.
”Gabriel…” he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say, and so his words faltered and tapered off into silence yet again, broken only by the subtle crackling of the flames still around him. There was an apology somewhere on the tip of his tongue, but it seemed stuck in his throat and wouldn’t come out, until eventually he gave up in trying and slid back to the only thing he knew how to do these days.
With the easy grin spreading so readily across his features, it was almost impossible to tell that he had been in any pain (both mental and physical) had someone not seen the crack in the facade already. A chuckle rumbled through the air, deepened by the foreign body he inhabited but still uniquely his, and after a few more seconds following Gabriel’s words, he spoke as well.
”Don't suppose you picked up on anything useful when our positions were flipped?” his tone was easy as well, masking the pain he felt nearly perfectly if his eyes and the subtle clench in his jaw didn’t give him away. He’d felt this pain before, however, enough times to know how to deal with it and tune it out. Instead he focused on everything else around him - the warmth of the fire surrounding him, the darkness that surrounded them all broken by the golden light, Gabriel’s voice still echoing through his skull… and his eyes. Those were the easiest to focus on, unnervingly still and as black as the void Desperado had come from.
The silence surrounded him again, and once again the man broke under the pressure, speaking out of necessity lest it consume him.
”Thought I’d never see you again,” it was hard to tell whether or not that was a good thing in Des’ mind, purposefully shrouded in such a mystery because he himself didn’t quite know. Each familiar face was another reason for him to try better, but at the same time all of the facts he knew had a funny way of turning into his demons down the road.
He shuffled, suddenly uncomfortable and yearning for a smoke, but he didn’t bother asking for one, simply letting the anxiety slowly eat at him, waiting for the aforementioned help Gabriel had mentioned.
It didn’t seem like Onision was that help. He seemed just as useless in this situation as the hybrid was, calling for someone else to aid him because everyone seemed to conveniently lack the expertise needed to spare him the pain. He wouldn’t die of it, but he could feel himself drifting closer towards unconsciousness with each passing second as the pain slowly became more and more paramount. He hoped someone would come just to spare himself the embarrassment.
”Anyone gonna tell me where I am, by the way? I’d like to assume it’s the Ascendants given that you’re here… but I could very well be wrong,” he would never return to places he had left before… perhaps Gabriel was different, but it was hard to shake off the habit of putting others subconsciously into his shoes.
♔ — I want brimstone in my garden