Jul 10 14:31:45 108 PA - Sometimes People Just Babble at Night

From Chronicles

Jul 10 14:31:45 108 PA.

PLAZA PARK

Lately the coming of darkness had caused Sage to be reluctant out and about. While she may not be entirely alone, it seems the coming darkness has not chased away this woman today. She carries weapons with her out of developed habit as of late. She lets the gust of wind caress her and play with her hair. She just seems to savour the moment. (re)

Bella's out and about. She don't mind the dark so much. Maybe even savoring it some. Mostly just walking though. She comes in from the street and eyes the paths ahead. Hands are in coat pockets. Not cold since it's nice. Just idle.

Who knows what Gabriel is doing here. Maybe he got bored at one of the clubs and felt like wandering in the Park. He has all of his his gear with him, of course. He is doing three of his common things. Looking at the sky for stars, whistling, and somehow also talking to someone at the same time.

Having stood firm against the coming of dark, Sage lets the moment pass before she begins to wander along the path. Whether to find a better star gazing position or decide that it was simply nice to wait for the sun to drift towards the horizon. Her company keeping a respective distance from her, likely just someone to watch over her while she's out.

Bella spies Sage. And her tail too. That's different. Enough to get her curious. She heads thattaways but don't say nothing yet. Bella hears the whistling too. Course she don't have to turn to look to figure who that is. Probably.

Gabriel continues to wander slowly, his direction being over toward the lake at the moment. It's dark, people generally come to places like this to be alone. Still, he shoots his own glance over toward the two women whom he happened to notice silhouetted against some lucky light. His path turns that direction, but not much. He continues to talk or perhaps even simply whisper quietly to himself - whistling stopped.

Sage's gaze shifts towards the approach, as if noticing it from the corner of her eye or feeling the attention. She slows as she takes a moment to consider the figure approaching. It takes a moment before the spoken question comes, "Bella?"

"Yeah?" Bella quirks a brow. "That's me." She dunno if Sage just weren't sure or if she's got more to ask. "Whatcha doin?"

Gabriel moves toward the two women - at least he knows both of them - just close enough to listen, and offer a very quiet, "Good evening, ladies."

Sage's head nods faintly, "I haven't seen you in a bit... I hope you're doing well?" She asks before considering the question. "As for me... just taking a moment to enjoy some fresh air... have had a few things on my mind lately." She comments before looking over towards Gabriel. "Hey Gabriel..."

Bella shrugs. "Been Ok. Li'l busy 'ere 'n there I guess." She looks over too. Grins at Gabe. "Hey. Out gettin fresh air 'n stuff too?" Bella's still a little curious and asks Sage "What kindsa things're on yer mind? Ya get ridda any of 'em?"

Gabriel moves slightly closer, and nods at the two greetings. "Yes, fresh air, thank you. I hope you're both doing well." His head doesn't move, but his eyes do, looking slowly back and forth between the two women." His lips curve up into a small smile and he dips his head. "I... think that I should probably be getting back to my snares so that I have something to eat for breakfast. You two take care out here. I'll catch you around town." Then begins to slowly move back toward the exit, whistling very quietly and talking to himself ever more softly.

Sage nods faintly to the younger woman, "Not a bad thing to be busy... depending on what you're doing, of course." She adds the last with a faint bit of humour. Her attention shifts briefly to Gabriel as the man begins to move off. "Gabriel... the night is safer now. Take care." She says simply with a touch of sadness in her tone before looking over to Bella. "There is much that goes on around here... and it seems if it isn't one thing on my mind its another thing." She offers with a faint shrug.

"Runnin way already?" Bella blinks when Gabriel backs off. Sage gets another little shrug. But she's still mostly watching Gabe. "Always somethin goin on. Dunno bout night's gettin more safe. Always somethin goin on inna dark too."

Something catches Gabriel's ear that causes him to pause only for a moment and turn his head back toward the two women. Raising his chin slightly and narrowing his eyes imperceptibly, he asks in his Kentucky twang, "So Simon and Garfunkle are out of luck now? 'Hello darkness, my old friend, I've come to talk with you again?' Be a bit of a one-sided conversation, as far as music goes?" A brow arches and he slowly - very slowly - begins to pull toward the women again. "Maybe I'm not so much out of place as I thought I was intruding?" Still, there's plenty of tone to allow for a 'Yes, please leave us alone.'

Sage's gaze resides on Gabriel as he moves off, the question about running off already doesn't draw a comment from her. The next comment by the woman does draw Sage's attention over to the other woman. "I suppose you're right there. Never know what else might come next in the dark." She replies, before looking over to Gabriel. "I suppose that is one way to put it." She adds after a brief pause as she considers the odd question posed by the man. "As for intruding, I believe Bella's question may have answered that."

Bella nods at Sage. Smirks some too. "Never know. Like I's sayin. Always somethin." Smirk's still there when she looks at Gabe again. "Ain't intrudin none. Didn't figger it's stop ya if ya were anyways."

Gabriel smirks happily and shakes his head as he closes the distance to the two women and forms a rough triad. "Well, thank you, ladies." The he turns to Bella. "You always give women their space, no intrusion. Unless it's your daughter and she's going out on a date, in which case you follow along with a loaded shotgun and a baseball bat - not because you don't trust her, but because you don't trust the boy." Wink. Then quietly, "So, what's on the menu for tonight? Something else in the world need to be dealt with to make the world safe?" He nods sagely to Sage.

Sage's lips purse as she glances over towards Bella, "We could just tickle him if he were too... or perhaps just because we can" She mentions with a glance towards the man with a faintly raised brow as if wondering whether the man would react to that. A faint curl comes to her lips as she considers the imagery suggested by the man. "Now that could be quite the sight." She murmurs before taking a breath a letting it out. "Well, there may be other things to tackle... but I wasn't planning on any heroics this night."

"Can hold 'im down so ya can get 'im." Bella grins at Sage. Mostly sidelong since she's eyeing Gabriel. Then her grin's a smirk. And at Gabe. "Don' think ya gotta worry none 'bout that. Ain' none'a those 'round."

"I'm very glad to hear that," Gabriel comments, though his eyes look somewhat pained at something that goes unsaid. Not that it looks to be anything important. Then, backing up from the tickling comment, he puts on his best evil-pirate face and says, "I'm not proud of this, but in my long years of my particular employment - I *have* hit women. Albeit none of them being more than female human bad guys. They really were all bad guys, bad women, I suppose." He shrugs a little at all that. "We all have our demons. The internal ones, not the kind that flare up in the 'Dregs and run amok."

Sage flashes a grin to Bella briefly to the comment about holding the man down, but it seems the playful idea was just a fleeting moment for the time being. "We'll just wait for a time he isn't expecting it." She suggests with a glance to Bella before consider the man. "I suppose we do." She concedes with a quiet tone before she drops her eyes away a little.

Gabriel adds in some more philosophy. "But it's every event in someone's life that defines who they are. How they handle the situations, how they live with them. You just have to keep rolling, don't let things get you down, unless they're really big and significant things that deserve it."

Sage's gaze lifts back to the man, before nodding simply to the man. "Life moves on." She replies, "And there is only one direction." She adds, before considering the man. "Although, philosophy aside, were you come here for a particular reason before we caught your eye?" She asks simply.

"Oh yes. I'm taking Natasha out for a stroll. Haven't done that in a while; just out under the stars and all. It's a beautiful evening for it." Gabriel says it completely flatly, totally normally. "Time passes, and you need to do things together sometimes that are more exciting than usual." He smiles, just waiting for a response. Or, maybe he's just mad, and his brain is working on something else crazy to say.

Sage raises a brow faintly to the man, but she doesn't seem inclined to comment on the matter despite a mildly thoughtful look. "I suppose you do have a point there." She comments, before wandering up to the man to poke him gently. "Of course, you do realize that tickling you silly is something more exciting than usual." She notes.

"Well, so is holding onto a live hand grenade, but I'd rather avoid both," Gabriel states with a chuckles. As they seem to be rather isolated in the Park at the moment, he does shift to something more substantial. "I'm sure that you recall our little trip to Whykin a few months ago? With all of the excitement, it looks like Vixen and Leo have gone missing. So... I'm taking over. I've hooked Erica into at least listening, and I'm trying to grab Ruby and Seb, but I haven't really seen 'em around. You have any ideas for rocks I should turn over? I mean, something still needs to be done, and you and I are the only ones who've done anything, as far as I know."

"One can be avoided by personal action... the other, well... is more variable." Sage mentions with a light teasing tone, but she doesn't seem to be on the verge of pouncing the man to tickle him just yet. She pauses at the mention of Whykin, "Ah yes, Whykin and that smuggler thing... life just has a way of complicating things that don't really need to be." She comments before shrugging faintly to the idea, "As for Sebastien, I believe he still lives over in Raleigh Apartments... and Rubidia should be easy enough to get a hold of, even if she's been a bit focused on the upcoming concert." She comments, "You can leave a message with me or at my place and I will make sure that she gets it."

Gabriel's brow furrows. "Yeah, I've been banging on lots of doors. But if you'll take a message, I'd appreciate that. Now... smuggler thing? Is that what Bart's little band is doing up to Tolkeen? Only really heard from Galvin about that, Bart about six words on it, neither had much to tell me."

Sage considers before shaking her head, "Bart has an interest in taking this group down as well, but things got complicated with trying to stop a shipment of theirs." She comments before shrugging, "There are some leads to follow here, in Laramy and possibly even Whykin." She offers with a shrug. "And, a minor player in it runs that hair salon that's so popular in the news lately."

"Oh? The dead guy? Tongue cut out and everything?" Gabriel pantomimes... hanging himself, for some reason. Perhaps that's his best attempt at thespian-death. "It's probably different these days - everything seems to be - but in my time, cutting out someone's tongue was a warning to others. Presumably, the tongueless-person had talked, blabbed about something. Hanging a tongue on a wall was, well.. probably pretty obvious symbolism there. Bridge Beau? That guy does some damn fine reporting," he allows. "Have to wonder who the woman in the picture is and what she has to do with him. Or if it was just unlucky placement." The older man shrugs at that.

Sage blinks briefly, "He's dead?" She reacts with surprise, having been too wound up in her own little drama to have kept up with everything in the news. A conflicted frown comes to her face. Pert wasn't a nice man but he would have been a lead... albeit a potentially dangerous lead to follow depending on how it'd be handled. "Although, I guess with what I figured out... it would fit." She mentions.

"You knew him well?" Gabriel asks with genuine interest? "Not necessarily so great to know a dead guy. Well, not so bad to know a dead guy, either. I was a funeral once - actually it was a wake - where the men got so blitzed on booze that they dragged the man out of the coffin and carried him around like they were dancing. Strange thing to see."

Bella was spacing out for a bit. Right around the whole life moves on and gotta keep going part. Or where Gabe was taking his dead wife for a walk. Somewhere in all that. She backs up some. "Sebastien's still 'round. Think he's just restin up after his big demon fight thing." Little smirk. Little shrug. Then there's the dead guy. "He was dealin somethin'. Ain't s'prised he got dead."

Sage shakes her head, "No, not well... I knew him from what was supposed to be a supply run... albeit a strange one... only to learn some unsavoury things about it later." She explains before shrugging, then nodding to Bella. "He fell in with bad company it seems."

Bad company indeed, but not Val. Not that time anyway. No she has a solid alibi disposing of other vermin. As such she can wander the park from her favored tree by the late freely. Her glances appraising those going about around her as she does.

Gabriel shrugs. "It happens. Good reporting though. I had the problem with my accent of course. Sounds perfect to me," he says, emphasizing the Kentucky in him just a bit to make it obvious as to what he's discussing, "but they said that it got in the way when I got into my business. But..." he then speaks with an impeccable Spanish-noble accent, "they taught me to fix that problem." He glances at Bella, "You know, blending in, and all. Don't *you* fall in with the wrong crowd." A finger is stabbed fatherly - and hilariously - in Bella's direction.

Sage's curl faintly as the man speaks with a Spanish-noble accent, "Si tú lo dices" She comments in Spanish, the teasing tone likely not coming across as well for those that aren't able to understand what she says, before glancing towards Bella. "Yes, I wouldn't wish to see you fall in with the wrong people either." She mentions softly before the person that's been following her to keep an eye out for her touches her on the shoulder and murmurs something. "Ah yes, I did promise to do that didn't I?" She asks before nodding, "Alright, take care." she offers to the two people with her before she begins to move off.

"Ok. Dad." Bella smirks at Gabe. "N I'm pretty good't blendin in. Most times." She don't get what Sage says. Not till she's gotta go. "Don' get lost. Have fun." Bella don't wave but that's still a bye.

"Yeah, most of the time," Gabriel says with a chuckle, waving quietly as Sage slips off. After all, he'd tried to slip off earlier. "Pick up any of those nice men yet, Bella? You really come and go. Don't recall hearing you come by very often to get your things." He holds out a hand, "Of course, I've been sleeping elsewhere for the past few weeks." He inhales and exhales quickly. "But I guess that won't be a problem, and I'll be moving home again, so you can harass me all you want, as long as you don't mind a man who is just about un-wakable when he wants to be." Smirk.

"I'm sure Bella can wake the dead when she wants to." Valeriya opines as she makes her way past the pair towards the park's exit. "But such a thing is usually not worth the trouble." She continues, her expression oddly whimsical.

Bella shrugs a little. " Been there once 'r twice. Ain' gonna run 'round nekid. Even if I'm lookin round fer guys. 'N I sorta found one. Least fer a li'l while." She looks over at Valeriya. goes back to smirking. "Ain't -that- loud. Dead ain't lotsa fun anyways. If they're wakin up. Bet they'd be hungry 'r somethin."

Gabriel smirks and then actually laughs aloud. "Don't worry Bella, Valeriya's only sore on the subject because someone threw a grenade at her when she was fighting a bunch of zombies and a giant golem of disgusting machine and much. Anyone can make a mistake." Then an affirmative, "I wouldn't recommend running around naked. Probably give a lot of those *nice* guys you're talking about the wrong impression."

Valeriya shrugs lightly at the suggested memory. "I'm over it. More interested these days in an elven prick with a lot of body guards. Someone worth holding a grudge over." She muses before moving on, intent on somewhere other than the park.

"Give the not nice ones bad ideas too." Bella's grinning a little. The elf prick's distracting though. Even more since Valeriya's walkin on. "Huh?" She looks after the tall lady then at Gabriel. "What's that all about?"

The older fellow does take a few more moments to allow his chuckles to die down. "So you have one dead guy with his tongue on the wall that's interesting and you have some kind of elf with bodyguards? Is that the one in the Park?" Gabriel shrugs. "It was in the news, plus word on the street. Kind of figured it was you, but wasn't going to ask. Just sounds like your style."

Valeriya stops, turning her head to glare at Gabriel. "Getting beat down without ever drawing a weapon is not my style, and never will be. Was a bad scene for me to stick my interest in. But now that I have I can hardly let it go at that." She clarifies with a cold edge to her voice before continuing on.

Bella blinks. Even winces some. "Ouch. Guess I missed somethin somewheres." Then she shrugs it off and shifts to Gabe. "So. Where ya been hidin if't ain' been at yer place? Find somebody else's place ta stay?" Little grin's back.

Gabriel shrugs an, "Okay if you say so," shrug, but says nothing further to the tall mage-woman. Rather just bobs his head and offers a slight wave. He looks down to Bella. "Sage was letting me stay at her place. Had a little problem that we were rather symbiotic while it lasted. Now, I'll thankfully be moving home. The walls were nice, but getting stuffy. I suppose it's just been a while."

"Need somebody ta walk ya home?" Grin's a smirk. "Keep ya all safe 'n stuff? Sides. Oughtta grab s'more clothes. Maybe alla 'em." Bella's maybe got walls hid somewheres too.

Gabriel bobs his head head down. Not back up. "No, thanks I'm sure that I'll be fine. I lived this long, I don't intend to die now because I tripped in the dark. But... taking everything huh? You *did* find a nice man to move in with?" He smiles, knowing that it can't be the answer, but that something's afoot.

Bella smiles. Just a li'l one. But not really a grin. "Don' wanna leave't all if yer gonna disappear. Gotta be somebody ta watch it all. But. Maybe." It's sorta an answer.

"Bella, that isn't even 'sorta an answer.'" It's almost as if Gabriel was reading her mind. "But I'm not your father, I'm just a father-figure -" he jokes "- so you move in or out as you please. Just let me know if you're planning anything permanent, okay? I've been out doing some of my own personal training the past week or so. You know, flex the muscles that haven't been used, keep up your skills. Haven't heard much from anyone. What've you been up to?"

"Sides makin new better friends? Nothin much." Bella shrugs. "Ain' heard nothin from nobody really. Guess ev'rybody's out doin their own stuff 'r somethin. Maybe all trainin like ya were?" Brow pops up but ain't real serious.

Gabriel grins. "Nah, if anyone else had been out there, I'd have known it. Tracking them for practice, right?" He smiles a tad... mimicking the girl's awkward smiles. "Maybe you want to get in on one of these things. Big city expanding, hair salons being blown up and their manager killed, and apparently an elf that pissed off Valeriya and lived to tell about it. *THAT* is a very interesting thing. Incidentally," he lowers his voice and lowers his head, "running into a group of people like that sounds *exactly* likes something that she'd do."

Bella nods. "Set the place on fire 'r somethin last time she was there. Was pokin 'round bout the guy. Guess whoever got 'im got 'im first. 'R he was layin low." A bigger smirk. "Jus not low 'nuff looks like."

"Yeah, I guess. Still something that I would personally look into, if I had the time. Just doesn't seem like it's all wrapped up with a bow, does it? This elf guy? Seriously, who can piss her off and live to tell about it? Besides me, apparently because I've managed to do it, ah..." Gabriel pauses and looks off into the distance, silently ticking something off in his head. Finally, "Three times. Yes. Never even laid a hand on me. So either I'm so weak as to be beneath her contempt, or there's something about me that puts *her* off, too. I'd prefer to think the later, just for the sake of my ego. You see the news about that D-Bee rally?"

"Maybe she jus' likes ya." Bella's still smirking then quirks a brow. "D-bee? Heard stuff about alla 'go human' people. Dunno 'bout other ones. Guess't makes sense. Can't let one get up on th'other ya know. Guess I can keep poking round 'bout the dead guy that lost 'is tongue. Maybe still somethin in't somewheres."

Gabriel lets out a chuckle. "Yeah, I would. I mean... cutting out a man's tongue, that sends a message. Worry for the girl, too, however she is." He stands and quickly crosses his arms. "Where I come from, I was one of - no, dare I say - *the* world's master spy? But now you just what.. vanish? Turn into a little cloud and float around wherever you want to go?" A forty-one year old man with a mock pouty face is a sight. "It's not fair," he whines with humor.

Bella smirk hardens up some. Not all the way serious but she steps closer to him. "Fer some master sneaky spy ya flap yer lips alot." Bella pokes a finger at his mouth. "But yep. Ain't fair. Lotsa stuff ain't. Ya could do 't too ya know." Now her smirk ain't hard. It's got grin instead.

Gabriel rolls his eyes. "No one around who can hear us, and if they do, no one around who would care. So you're going to poke? You never know, sometimes people who do a lot of poking end up with a load of stuff in their trunk. I mean that in a good way, not a sodomy joke." A little bit of dark humor there.

"Can't think like that alla time. Getcha dead." Bella's more serious with that. For just a second. "So I'll poke. 'N yer goin back out ta hide inna dirt? Didn' find nothin round 'ere ta keep ya? Sides Sage I mean." Little something there. "Ya got anythin goin sides that?"

The older man rubs at the back of his neck. "Let me see. I'm trying to do what I can to find out how to keep a full-scale war from erupting in the 'Dregs between the refugees and the gangs. To keep the gangs from destroying the city by summoning demons. Then I'm trying to stop the Coalition's war machine from expanding the borders of General Rheevus' Whykin. So.." Gabriel stops and smiles, "Yeah, I've got things going on. Sage is a friend, and the problem has been solved. As for hiding in the dirt? *I* sleep in a hammock. Closest I've ever come to sleeping in the dirt is a foxhole." He stops then quickly adds, "Well, there was one time, I was down in Argentina and I had to cover myself in mud to keep from being seen. Had to lay there in and under the mud for a day before I got off that one shot that I needed. Boom, one guy, the right guy, dead. Hiding in *that* dirt sucked."

Bella snickers a little. "Bet't did. Oughtta try doin't alla time.'N sounds like yer busy. Least ya got one down." She shrugs. "Still workin on mine. Ain real big but ain't done yet neither."

Gabriel stands back a tad, just for comfort. After he swats away an annoying bug that chose that moment to fly into his face, he asks, "Exactly what is your project, anyway. Please tell me, unless you're going to tell me that it involves anything along the lines of dinner. I'm a very curious man."

"Nah. More like a big strong hero. Buddy. Fer lookin out fer me." Bella's back to a li'l smirk. "Ok. Maybe a nibble 'ere 'n there. When I wanna."

The older man almost laughs out loud. "You know, I saw a movie once that said that there was a cure. Like you just got poked with a needle full of antibiotics. Guess that would be nice though. Still... sometimes I wonder if the Coalition wouldn't be wise to pay off a bunch of certain types, give 'em what they wanted and have them go into combat. From what I hear, pretty tough for anyone not expecting it. Or.. even when expecting it." Gabriel shrugs. "It's a thought. I have to think that way; it's what I did, partly. Called it 'asymmetric warfare.'"

Bella blinks some. Both brows pop up. "Uh. What're ya talkin bout? Ya sayin what't sounded like 'n yer fackin crazy. Head fulla broken chips loony."

Gabriel extends his hands to his sides. "I'm not crazy. It's a good idea, assuming that both sides were happy. You have a weapon system that is essentially invulnerable. People know what its weakness is, but most people don't have anything to combat it, and when they do, the weapon system hits 'em by surprise, and is so tough that it shreds the enemy. Not the kind of thing that you'd use as a front-line grunt unit, but things for special assaults, like hitting spot targets, or the advance of an offensive." He shakes his head. "You have to admit, it's a good idea, if both sides are willing to do what they need to do to get along."

"Yeah." There's a big pause. Lotsa time for Bella ta roll her eyes. Twice. "That'd be a li'l catch." She even holds up thumb and finger ta show how little. "Last I heard the Coalies were stupider 'n most people. If somethin ain' like 'em it's shit 'n all that. Don' really sound like somethin they'd do. Sides." She eyes him a little harder. Maybe alot. "Other way 'round's worse. When'sa last time ya saw rats 'n cows gettin people ta fight for 'em?"

Gabriel says, "I said *if* you could get both sides to be happy, it would be a really good idea. But with that, I think I'll be moving off. Let you, ah... get on with your evening. Maybe I'll try to find someone that needs to be assassinated." He smirks and shoots Bella with the single-hand pistol that even little kids know.

Bella softens up. Smirk that's sorta grin. "Long's it ain' me don't bug me none. Don't trip 'n fall 'n get dead onna way." She points a finger back at 'im but it ain't a gun.

"Catch you later, Bella. You know what they say, nighttime isn't a place for young women to be walking around alone." Gabriel smiles and then starts to move toward the exit. Or entry. Depends on which way you're going.