Jul 17 23:45:46 108 PA - Advice for a Young Man
From Chronicles
Jul 17 23:45:46 108 PA.
TRADEWINDS COFFEE SHOP
It's late. Very late. So late that even the night owls have gone home. So late that the drunks, staggering home from bars and attempting to sober up with coffee, have collapsed outside the doors of Kingsdale's favorite caffeine emporium. So late in fact that Gabriel is happily sitting at a two-place table enjoying a large mug of something and a brownie. He looks quite awake and refreshed, not a grumpy forty-one year old man in his Barcalounger looking over the obituaries to see if he recognizes a friend's name. No, Gabriel seems happy, though yes, he is reading a newspaper. It's a tough call as to whether at this time of day it's the late edition, or the early edition. All of his standard gear is still with him of course, including his metal briefcase. Tiffany the blue-skinned, four-armed barista with an IQ of 57 is awaiting orders.
Darlos comes in, full robe, mask and goggles. He comes in and places some cash on the counter. After having what seems to be an awfully long conversation with the attendant, Darlos nods and grabs a massive cup of coffee. He spots Gabe and moves to his table, sitting down without a word. He looks over at Gabe with an impossible to read expression through all the facial gear.
Gabriel does look up as the masked man seats himself. Clearly it's Darlos from the robes, but the mask is a new addition. After taking a moment to quietly fold his paper, quietly fold his arms on the table, and quietly look across to the other man, eyebrows raised, lips pursed. He makes a show of looking out the window into what is mostly blackness. Then looks around the shop. "I went from August 15, 1959 to September 7, 108 PA and now we've returned to April 22, 1915 and I should don a mask because outside these windows it's the Battle of Ypres as the Germans have just unleashed an attack of eighty-eight tons of chlorine gas?"
Darlos continues to stare at Gabriel. He doesn’t make a motion, movement, or noise.
Gabriel looks across the table, then says in an educational tone, "I needed a shot, back in '52, Korea. Colonel who ran a gook outfit of mechanized infantry. Good stuff. Kept hurtin' the boys new to the line." He pauses. "I went out with my Dragunov and twenty rounds, until I found a good spot on the side of a hill, a little brush and some rocks. Winter was coming. I needed to get my target, to break the back of the North Korean company." He allows for another small pause and drink of his coffee before clearing his throat and finishing his story. "I laid there for three days, with nothing but two canteens a rifle and a very early version of a Ghillie suit. I pissed myself, I shit myself, and I laid there in it until on that third day, he stuck his head out, I pulled the trigger, and his head would never be stuck out again. The reason that I'm telling you this story... is that unless you apply some kind of magic? I can out-wait you." He then allows a half wink and half smile.
Darlos sighs to himself and removes the gas mask. He places it slowly on the table after making sure everything was sealed and placed. He mutters to himself, "You gotta promise not to laugh old man." He frowns.
Gabriel breaks into a full smile. "Well, they say that you can't promise something like that, because you have no idea how you're going to react. Or even if I didn't laugh out loud, would it still count if I just stifled myself but was laughing on the inside?" He grins across the table. "C'mon, tell me your story."
Darlos mutters and frowns. He takes a long moment and removes his goggles a big shiner over his left eye. He sets the goggles down and waits for Gabe's reaction.
The older Gabriel's head moves directly backwards as his neck allows. "Barfight?"
Darlos mutters, "Football, that helmet you gave me. I don’t know, Erica hit me just right or whatever. Still, I got my ass kicked by a girl.." He frowns, "And a girl I like...that's intimidating as hell man."
Gabriel smiles a little at all of that. "I feel freakish saying this, but just go find a psychic, there's a place on the River Walk called 'Sage Alternatives.' They can heal you up with whatever that brain stuff it is that they do. Still, sorry about the hit. Not quite sure how you got a black eye with a helmet on, though." He appears truly intrigued. "There are very tough women. I would never say this to Erica, but my wife - God rest her soul - could tear Erica apart before she knew that she was in danger. That's why it's always good to be polite to *everyone* because you never know who you might be pissing off. How I raised my kids and spent my life." He then smiles further, and his head turns sideways. "You like Erica as in.. 'Hey let's go grab a drink and go back to my place holding hands?'"
Darlos grabs his coffee quickly as that last question is asked and downs about half the massive cup. He sets it down and looks up, "What if that’s exactly it?" He leans forward, "It's messed up to say this and I’m not exactly sure how it's ended up this way, but in the past few weeks, it's like...I totally. I don’t know, see you as some kind father figure. You've been there, done the thing and ALWAYS have some kind of advice. So I guess, I kind of want your advice on this."
The father figure - who would happily don that robe - pushes his own mug across the table, and scoots his chair around so that he's sitting beside Darlos, shoulder to shoulder. Admittedly close on what is normally a table meant for people to sit across from one another. When he speaks, it's in a very low and gentle voice. "I have some important things to say, but first, just how old are you, Darlos? Have you ever had a crush on a girl before?" Gabriel then just drinks softly, awaiting an answer.
Darlos frowns to himself, "19 and no...I haven’t". He rolls his eyes at his admittance.
"Okay, that's fine, nothing wrong with that, nothing to be embarrassed about, no matter what people might say or think," Gabriel says, very earnestly. "You will like girls sometimes, and I won't bother with why, because truly nobody knows why. I think that the right people find each other because it's meant to be. Other people - today, specifically - think that it's entirely personal choice and often based on a good-looking person to sleep with. For whatever reason, it's normal. It's normal to be nervous, it's normal to be shaky, it's normal to be... exactly what you said you're being. If you want to talk to a girl.. just talk to her. Be yourself. The worst thing that can happen is that she laughs at you, you feel bad about it... and later some day you probably have a crush on someone else. I come from a different world, figuratively speaking, and my culture isn't by a long shot the same as today. But boys and girls haven't changed, save for some special people having magic and psychic abilities." Gabriel nods, and waits.
Darlos nods a bit and shifts in his seat relaxing a bit. "Well it's like this I suppose. I've been gone for a long time. I've been riding ley lines and living in literal damn caves since I was 7. I was around a few other people, some may have been girls and all honestly, in the gear we wear it's impossible to tell. It's just that I don’t have a fricken clue what to do, what to say, where to go. It's all a goddamn mystery. Like a secret never told. Madson never really talked about any of that crap besides that girls and boys like to dance. Suppose I learn a dance like 1000 years old. I come to these clubs and see crap I don’t even begin to understand." He sighs, "It just seems like everyone is clued in but me."
Gabriel laughs loudly at that. "Do *I* look clued in? Hell no! I get by, by being myself. Using what I know, and learning what I can, as I can and when I choose. You know what?" He pokes the teen in the shoulder. "Despite my centuries old, folksy and out-of-touch ways, it seems to me that most people like me. I could be wrong of course. But it's usually just as obvious when people don't like you as when it is... someone walks up and starts to talk to you because they like you. Of course, in my time a girl would never approach a boy. But that doesn't really matter right now. Be Darlos. If you try to be someone or something you're not, *that* is when you'll look silly." He shrugs in amusement. "And if a girl is turned off simply because you don't dance the way that she likes, then she's not the kind of girl that you want to spend time with in the first place."
Darlos nods slowly, "Yea...I suppose I am just not okay with that anymore. Around here it's a stigma to even know a spell and to even be what I am. It's a nightmare and it's who I am. How's anyone suppose to deal with that?"
"Darlos, some people get angry and feel threatened by things that they believe give someone an unfair advantage over them. Unfair as they define it. Magic, psychic abilities, unusual strength and stamina - even in regular people like me - it encompasses everything. Magic is an obvious target because it often looks like people have great abilities with little to no effort, whether that's true or not." Gabriel shrugs. "Only thing to do is to ignore it, because in the end, unless someone's taking it to the point of lynching you, other people's opinion isn't worth spit. Erica's a nice person, but she can often be one of these people who reflexively dislikes something about a person, or even the whole person. The other day, she was fuming and insulting a being she'd just met five minutes before. It's not fair to anyone, but that's the way the world works, and the sooner that you accept that, you'll be better off. Just because someone thinks that you're an asshole doesn't mean that you're actually an asshole. It's ironic, though. Often these people who complain about powers are the same people who don't spend any time working on whatever powers of their own that they may be able to use. Like learning to use a new weapon, wear a disguise or something." Gabriel holds up a finger. "Sorry for the speech. Don't think poorly of Erica, though. She's a good person. But everyone has their views."
Darlos sighs and nods slowly pushing himself back in the booth and readjusts how hes sitting. "Yea, I've seen a lot of that lately I guess. It's super hard and honestly the more I think about it the more I believe perhaps I'm seriously not ready for just about anything in that deal and perhaps more. Too new to find someone in this city before I even decide if I should stay. It's been rough lately. That Bart thing got way out of hand AND he even admitted that the psycho chick was in his employ. She's good for things he said, yea I fricken bet." He shakes his head and sips at his coffee, "Thanks for the advice old man, helps me clear my head I think."
Gabriel slides his chair slightly farther away. But not much. "Bart thing? You.. failed to mention this earlier." He sips from his mug. "What's up with that? He try to hurt you or something? Doesn't really seem his style. Brownie?" The older fellow slides one of his plates over. Chocolate espresso brownie with a layer of cream cheese and a vanilla topping. Tough to not be tempted.
Darlos nods slowly and takes up the brownie taking a small bite and setting it down, "No, he didn’t try and hurt me or anything. Just holy crap was that a bad idea. I’m not that type man, just not at all. Those people have serious problems and its part of the reason I start double thinking some stuff you know? Erica's a merc and I love to talk to her and things but its obvious she's cold blooded sometimes and I don’t think I can handle that either." He decides to take another bite of the brownie and drowns it down with the rest of his coffee.
"Don't give Erica too much of a bad time. She does mercenary work for pure money, that's true. But she isn't like Bart, she does have certain standards. For instance, I know that she'd never take a job to just go out and kill someone because there was money involved. *Never,*" Gabriel emphasizes. "Unfortunately, most people are not like her. She doesn't really agree with me, even. Sees herself as the one who's the white knight and completely without error. I... have had a lot of experience with violence. But it was for a cause; my family's protection, and my nation's protection. Wasn't the money. Then there's the issue of how. I think the best time to kill the bad guy is when he has no way to shoot back." He leans slightly sideways and holds out a hand. "Erica will wait for him to have a fighting chance. Details like that. Don't get it confused though, if it ever came down to it, whether she likes 'your kind' -" he includes air-quotes "- or not, she'll be on your team. Assuming you're being the good guy."
Darlos considers that for a few long moments, "Well I guess it's hard for me to see her as the white knight when she's says the things shes does about killing and combat, but then again, what the hell do I know about it? It's not like I have ever been in some or any kind of engagement beyond sending some PPE to my master to aid him in a magical battle. Makes me feel kind of funny about it all, masiculating I think is the correct term."
"The word is 'emasculating.' You were close," says Gabriel with a light chuckle. "What exactly has she said to you? For that matter... what happened when you talked to Bart? I've had some interesting, albeit friendly, run-ins with him. In fact, they weren't even run-ins. Just conversations. But I'm more or less his equal... or better." There's some pride behind that.
Darlos closes his eyes for a moment and tries to recall, "She hasn't said anything. Just you know, I’m not a hardened war vet like she is." He sighs, "As for Bart, he's a good enough guy, I’ll for sure do research and things for him, but the company he keeps is insanity. Val is a psycho at the very best and she hates me for no specific reason other than I think wanton murder is unacceptable. But whatever for her, I don't need her and she wishes for me to believe I do for some crazy ass reason. Though, perhaps I’ll give Erica a call."
Gabriel chuckles. "Oh, Val doesn't *hate* anyone unless they've made her look bad. Elf guy came through a few weeks ago, gave a speech about D-Bee freedom. Punchline is that she looked completely incompetent and was sent literally crawling away to save her hide. She hates him. The rest of us though, we're simply beneath contempt. She's better than all of us in every way. We're less than cockroaches unless we can be used. Showed me how to handle a sword - but only after charging an insane amount of money... and then demanding double when I was done." The man shrugs and chuckles. "My error, I suppose. No way to say 'no,' but I hadn't known her long enough to expect it, either. She doesn't hate you. She's a borderline psychotic who just thinks that you're useless. Doesn't that make you feel better?" Gabriel offers up a wide and toothy grin.
Darlos smirks and nods, "Yea, she is an almighty wielder of magic and the sword. I'd guess she's straight out of the Fed, high on life and magic and prolly coke." Hrms to himself and straightens up now. "Well thanks for the talk. I think I’ll go find Erica and explain a bit. Anything I can do you, friend?"
"Yeah, one more thing, Darlos. But not for me, for you," Gabriel says, pointing and cleaning up his mug. "That little crush?" His voice is low and whispered. "Don't ever expect Erica to reciprocate your crush, unfortunately. Even without the magic getting in the way. This is a time where you truly do need to just let it go and move on. Trust me on this one. She's a busy woman and just doesn't have much time for men right now." He then leans back and asks a polite, "Off to work, huh?"
Darlos looks up and then seems really confused. "Oh...well...Yea, I suppose I should." He frowns and bit and then considers it for a long moment and finally nods. "Yea, I guess I had better. I think I am going to a Line for awhile, I need to think. Thanks pops."
Gabriel waves his young friend off. "Take care, Darlos. If anyone challenges you.. just leave. Don't try to settle it right now. See you somewhere later." He offers a final smile, then returns to his coffee and reaches for a stray newspaper, yanking it off of a nearby table.
