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Apr. 3rd, 2019 08:15 am
taiyounoyou: (Default)
[personal profile] taiyounoyou
1176 Double Fudge Dale

Date: 2018-08-31 08:26 pm (UTC)
termineur: (Wellll)
From: [personal profile] termineur
This is much more of a sudden reaction- he freezes in place and looks from side-to-side. It seems she actually caught him this time. He eventually sighs, giving her an apologetic smile. "Yeah, maybe a little. I'm a fan of creative combat, and both your son and Stephen are on different ends of the spectrum, as far as that goes. I had absolutely no idea what would happen, but I thought it'd be interesting to find out. If it got too extreme, I'd have stepped in, though."

He would've, too- or at least he thinks he would've. He has a good idea of what the teenager can take, and he can guess about Stephen. "I didn't want any serious injuries either. With Stephen fighting, I didn't figure there'd be any."

Date: 2018-08-31 09:29 pm (UTC)
termineur: (idk)
From: [personal profile] termineur
He watches her fillet the fish, and the way she's acting is starting to remind him of Mrs. Bennet. It's harder to read the tone in her voice, now that she's older. Or maybe he wasn't as good at it as he originally thought, back in Timeless.

He's quiet for a moment, then clears his throat. "Well, I'd love for you to meet him, but. I will admit, I'm still sort of figuring out the 'real me'. The place I was at before- Norfinbury- it sort of turned my whole concept of 'me' upside down. For the better, I think." It makes him wonder what he should address first, here. He eventually settles on the most pressing question. "Did your son tell you we've been sparring, sometimes?"

Date: 2018-08-31 11:05 pm (UTC)
termineur: (What do you have to say?)
From: [personal profile] termineur
Gabriel nods at the condition. "And that's part of what I wanted to warn you about, if you ever see us sparring. I have an ability that heals me near instantly- he can hurt me all he wants and I'll barely feel it. So he doesn't have to hold back with me, at all. And I make sure I give him stuff he can dodge. I can't really say I'm taking it 'easy' on him- he's so fast, we'd never get to any sort of combat if I was. But I am making sure he stays at least relatively safe."

Is that a good enough disclaimer? It was going to have to be. He's still a little surprised that Masaki is even trying to be okay with this, but she's apparently a pretty practical person. The fact that she knows about the sparring and hasn't immediately tried to forbid it is a relief.

"But both him and me, we've got a part of us that relaxes when we're in the middle of a fight. Everything fades but figuring out the puzzle of how to beat someone. There's a sort of joy in letting everything else go, and I think your son needs that in his life sometimes." It's a quiet admission. "He seems like he worries a lot- like he's got a lot on his shoulders. I've been trying to get him to relax a little, let himself enjoy this place."

Date: 2018-09-01 03:04 pm (UTC)
termineur: (Left to my thoughts)
From: [personal profile] termineur
His shoulders relax and he gives Masaki a soft smile. "Yeah. Sounds like you get it. I know that's got to be hard for a mother- mine would've never understood it. But I'm guessing you understand his situation a little more."

So he should probably tell her a little about his own, right? He's honestly not sure how much he needs to say. "You weren't here yet when I posted up my notice about my past on the bulletin board, right?" He shakes his head. "That made it so much easier to talk about, oddly. But you should know more about me if I'm going to be hanging around."

He considers pausing and waiting for her go-ahead, but now that he's started, he wants to get it out.
"I used to be a terrible person, back where I originally came from. I was-" He hesitates for a moment, finding the words. "-overtaken by the special ability I was born with, and it made me into a murderer. Zephyr helped me make sure I'd be safe here, and I've been trying to figure out how to make better what I can." It still feels like partially a lie, even with all the evidence he's had that things were out of his control. Every time he goes into this, he wonders if he shouldn't approach it differently.

Date: 2018-09-01 08:00 pm (UTC)
termineur: (Considering)
From: [personal profile] termineur
His expression has become more serious and solemn as well. The whole story seemed surprisingly not a huge issue for a good chunk of the Meadous, but it's clear it's not like that for Masaki.

He nods. "I set up some failsafes, in case it wasn't enough for some reason. Alphonse and Stephen are both set aside to stop me if I couldn't control myself. I heal just about anything, but they know the spot to hit that basically puts me in a coma. We kept a close eye on it after my abilities came back, but- I've been okay here."

He reaches up and runs his fingers through his hair with a small sigh. "I know that's a lot to lay on you all of the sudden. Just thought you should know."

Date: 2018-09-02 12:03 am (UTC)
termineur: (Sure)
From: [personal profile] termineur
Gabriel lets out a small, mirthless laugh. "Yeah, it sure does. That's why I thought you should know. And if there's anything that might make you feel better about it, all you have to do is say so. I can tell you more about the ability, what threw me off balance in the first place. You can watch us fight if you want- I mean, it's fine on my end, not sure about your son's. I've been working on pure defense lately, which was advice from another Meadous resident. I think that's been good."

He shakes his head. "But if you're not comfortable with it anymore, I understand." The teenager might hate it, but Gabriel would respect Masaki's wishes. "Honestly, the fact that I'm still talking to you is kind of surprising to me."

Date: 2018-09-02 02:33 am (UTC)
termineur: (Talk)
From: [personal profile] termineur
He looks vaguely sheepish as he shrugs at the question. He certainly would've understood if she had kicked him out. People here tended to let a lot of things slide, but that piece of news was a pretty big ask.

Gabriel nods at her request and chuckles at hearing the kid will want to show off. "Of course he'll want to show you what he could do. Especially if you're sparring with him too. So yeah, that's all fine." So that means- "Let me tell you about my intuitive aptitude, then. That was the really dangerous one."

He taps his temple. "It's also the hardest one to see, because it's a mental ability. It shows me how things work- how to fix any complex system so it's working perfectly. But I don't get anything else, so there's this drive- this hunger- to get as complete a picture as I can. That drive, back home, took over everything else, and it became the only thing I cared about. I learned new abilities and everyone in my way was just--" He shakes his head. She can guess the rest. He's sort of figuring that being vague might be a better idea in this instance. "Here, Zephyr's 'adjusted' my curiosity so it stays at normal human levels. I can actually prioritize things now."

Date: 2018-09-02 09:26 pm (UTC)
termineur: (Thinking)
From: [personal profile] termineur
Gabriel stares down at his hands for a moment. "The brain. Special abilities developed in unique variations in the brain. Once I understood the brain itself, I could understand the variations. And once I had that, I could replicate them, in myself. So I learned about and copied abilities that way." He shakes his head. "People didn't usually survive my 'examinations'."

Date: 2018-09-02 11:18 pm (UTC)
termineur: (Serious Talk)
From: [personal profile] termineur
Gabriel knows what the right answer is, here. Show remorse, show guilt, and be labeled as a true human being.

Al's made him too honest.

"Sometimes," he replies. "Probably not as much as I should. Ever since I had started, it was always easier to just put it out of my mind. I thought I'd go crazy- well, crazier- if I thought about them too much. But Al's been helping me realize that I'll never be a- well, functional person, if I don't recognize what I've done. The weight of it."

He rubs at his chin. "I found out, too, that I'd been repeating the actions of the man who killed my mother when I was five. So. Definitely don't want to continue that, either."

Date: 2018-09-03 12:44 am (UTC)
termineur: (Talk)
From: [personal profile] termineur
Gabriel listens to her thoughtfully, nodding at the advice. It makes a lot of sense, both with his own concept of needing to have control back in his life, and with what Bucky's talked to him about. "Yeah. I'll keep working on it, here where I won't do too much damage if I do mess up. I don't deserve all the support I've got- I mean, Al would argue that, but I doubt anyone else would. But since I've got the support anyway, it'd be a shame if I didn't do anything constructive with it." He allows himself a small smile at that.

"I'd really like to have something I could be proud of, something that's actually good. Something my friends can look at and say that they didn't waste their time with me. So yeah, that's the plan."

Date: 2018-09-03 05:26 pm (UTC)
termineur: (Yeah)
From: [personal profile] termineur
Gabriel's smile looks soft and almost shy. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind. Sometimes it's good to have people to talk to that aren't- experts, I mean." And she seems both kind and wise, and he could use help on both fronts there.

He looks thoughtful for a moment, then turns and taps the point where the base of his head connects with his neck. "It's right there, by the way. If things ever go wrong, or even if you're worried- impale that spot and it'll shut me down. I'll look dead, but if you pull it out, I'll heal right back up."

He turns back to her and tilts his head to the side, giving her a wry smile. "I know that's kind of gruesome, but I want you to feel as comfortable around me as you can. Know I'm not some unstoppable force." Because if he does end up sparring with the kid again, he doesn't want Masaki to feel powerless about what he can do.
Edited Date: 2018-09-03 05:26 pm (UTC)

Date: 2018-09-03 05:51 pm (UTC)
termineur: (Sure)
From: [personal profile] termineur
Ah, maybe that was pushing it a bit far. He gives her an apologetic smile and nods.

Talking about other abilities is perfectly fine- he just needs to make sure he doesn't get too excited over it. "Sure. I've got telekinesis, which I'm extremely proficient at. There's clairsentience, which is the ability to touch objects and read their memories. That one doesn't work too well here in the Meadous, no idea why. Lie detection's the same- sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I've got the healing, which I've mentioned- that's technically called rapid cellular regeneration. I've got the ability to turn things into gold and the ability to manipulate sound. And I've got electrokinesis, although I'm not as good with that one."

In fact, he's tried to keep it locked up, most times. But it does come out occasionally. He focuses on that, rather than the fact that each one of those undoubtedly reads as another dead person to Masaki.

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