09-24-2018, 06:20 PM
[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-size: 9.4pt; line-height: 1.4;"]He'd never minded the rain or the heat. Truth be told, he preferred them both at the same time, although with his wings now, he didn't think a downpour would be on his list of likes anymore. Damn feathers took the joy out of a lot, especially when he molted- not a fun experience whatsoever, but it wasn't all so bad. Sure, it was getting a little cooler, but it wasn't too awful yet, still hanging onto summer, and Laz had managed to scrape by in his absence, which was a bona fide miracle. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows in his head, considering that was nothing short of a mess he didn't know how to even begin cleaning yet, but it wouldn't kill him to relax a bit, now that he wasn't as consumed by paranoia as he'd been in The Typhoon. Here, he wasn't going to worry about more than the rain, and that was a damn relief.
He had his gaze skyward, keeping an eye on the coming storm as he took a routine patrol through the territory. Old habits died hard, and all of that. Gabe might've stepped down from his position way back when after burning out, but that wasn't a life he could leave behind him when aspects of it were ingrained, when he was still a soldier. Whether he was as capable of bringing good into the world was debatable, but responsibility and the necessity of checking borders were simple things he'd brought with him. The rest was...hanging around somewhere, packed in boxes in his head and kept in the corner, preferably to remain shut.
The world didn't always allow for that kind of forced closure, though, especially when it wasn't even closure at all. There were just people he didn't expect to see again, moments he would never return to, friendships he couldn't haul along, and Ana- when she'd left, her goodbye weary as she kissed his cheek, he'd felt he might never see her again, and even worse, he'd thought it would be for the best if they didn't. All the shit they'd pushed through, just for the cycle to restart anew. He should've gone with her, but he'd been too stubborn in the foolish way. Gabe had believed he could turn things around, make them better, but Ana had seen what he couldn't. She'd seen it, and she'd told him to be careful.
When he was backed in the corner, his instinct was to seek her out, find her sitting before a cup of tea like usual. He'd always imagined telling her he'd fucked up, and she'd say, "I know," before setting him straight. For obvious reasons, that hadn't been possible, and he'd passed himself over to the eggheads. Proof he couldn't make reasonable decisions without her around, right? Gabe had returned to that moment so many times, especially when he shouldn't, and he couldn't have anticipated that, on a regular day like any other, he'd find her, different yet so undeniably Ana that he couldn't breathe for a few seconds.
"Ana?" His voice was raw, mouth impossibly dry. "Ana, it's- it's Gabe."
[align=right][i]——INFO
He had his gaze skyward, keeping an eye on the coming storm as he took a routine patrol through the territory. Old habits died hard, and all of that. Gabe might've stepped down from his position way back when after burning out, but that wasn't a life he could leave behind him when aspects of it were ingrained, when he was still a soldier. Whether he was as capable of bringing good into the world was debatable, but responsibility and the necessity of checking borders were simple things he'd brought with him. The rest was...hanging around somewhere, packed in boxes in his head and kept in the corner, preferably to remain shut.
The world didn't always allow for that kind of forced closure, though, especially when it wasn't even closure at all. There were just people he didn't expect to see again, moments he would never return to, friendships he couldn't haul along, and Ana- when she'd left, her goodbye weary as she kissed his cheek, he'd felt he might never see her again, and even worse, he'd thought it would be for the best if they didn't. All the shit they'd pushed through, just for the cycle to restart anew. He should've gone with her, but he'd been too stubborn in the foolish way. Gabe had believed he could turn things around, make them better, but Ana had seen what he couldn't. She'd seen it, and she'd told him to be careful.
When he was backed in the corner, his instinct was to seek her out, find her sitting before a cup of tea like usual. He'd always imagined telling her he'd fucked up, and she'd say, "I know," before setting him straight. For obvious reasons, that hadn't been possible, and he'd passed himself over to the eggheads. Proof he couldn't make reasonable decisions without her around, right? Gabe had returned to that moment so many times, especially when he shouldn't, and he couldn't have anticipated that, on a regular day like any other, he'd find her, different yet so undeniably Ana that he couldn't breathe for a few seconds.
"Ana?" His voice was raw, mouth impossibly dry. "Ana, it's- it's Gabe."
[align=right][i]——INFO
[align=center][table][tr][td]
I'M
[/td][td]FADING
[/td][td]FADING
[/td][td]MUCH TOO FAST
[/td][/tr][/table]