Mar 12 06:57:41 108 PA - Ah, it Does Have a Name
From Chronicles
Mar 12 06:57:41 108 PA.
PLAZA PARK
The graveyard and the park are two places that are always open. Even at two in the morning when pretty much everything else is closed. Bella shuffles from one to another. A floating coat again because she's all covered up.
Yes, they are always open, but the Kingsdale Graveyard is somewhere that Gabriel has never visited, and it doesn't look like he's about to start. Instead, just roaming through the Park, seeming to enjoy the night. The continuing winter helps him blend into the snowy drooping boughs of trees, park benches covered in white crystals, and of course, the good twelve inches of snow that continues to insist on laying on the ground. The lake remains iced over. Yet for all of this, the older man seems absurdly comfortable in what is only a very light overcoat, thin white gloves and a small woolen cap. Even has a smile on his face, and whistling a little tune. As he's not her looking for anyone, it may be a moment for him to notice. Or acknowledge. Or both.
Bella didn't like the land of the dead much either. Or she did whatever she wanted to do there. She crunches through the snow, sometimes on top of the more frozen parts. One good thing about being small and light. It's the whistling she catches first, since good guy Gabriel's wearing white. She's easier to see, he's more noisy. It sort of balances out, right?
Gabriel whistles a lot. He also talks to himself a lot. Except, of course, when silence is important. The Graveyard is fairly ignored, though even above his own whistling, the crunching sound of a body moving through a light layer of ice above snow is very obvious. His song stops, and he turns to look. At least the scarce lamps of the Plaza Park are still working. It's the coat. Interesting. He lifts a single hand in greeting, after all, he doesn't know the girl's name. Then his attention returns to the sky, and he mumbles some more words to himself.
Maybe she thinks he really is a good guy. Maybe he's just more talkative than the people in the graveyard. Maybe Gabriel's just the only warm body around. Lots of maybes, but the coat drifts his way. Shuffle. Shuffle. Crunch. Rustle. Bella even moves a little faster and covers a good chunk of ground when he's looking up and mumbling. Oh, could've been the wave, too.
The older man turns his head to smile at the oncoming coat, dipping his head respectfully. "I see you're still up, Bolero. You're lucky to catch me - if you want to phrase it that way. I'm usually out of town and sleeping by now. A night owl?" Gabriel smiles and peers as best he can inside the open hood. With a glance to the sky, he states the pseudo-obvious. "May be crisp and cold, but that's probably because the sky is so clear tonight. You can pick out all the constellations." He raises an arm and points. "The Pleiades up there in Taurus. Wait around for August, and you'll see a meteor shower."
"Yeah, I'm up." Bella's hood tips up, too. "Justa buncha li'l lights. Don' look at 'em much. Guess cold's better'n more snow." If it piled up too high, she'd disappear. "Don' sleep round here?"
Gabriel shakes his head with some amusement. "I don't really belong here, so I prefer to stay outside the walls. Other reasons, of course, but that's an easy one to explain to a stranger." He bobs his head politely. "Still, I do hang around late sometimes. Work isn't exactly a scheduled event. Never know when someone's going to hire you as a carpenter, or a ditch-digger, or an old woman who needs her yard tended to. Gives me some flexibility. You, Miss Bolero?" There's an interested quirk of his neck as the question is asked.
Bella lowers and shakes her hood. "Don't need nothin' carpented or dug 'n I ain' old." There's the smirk in there again. "Don't sleep 'round here, neither. Too open, nowhere safe. Never know what'll find ya when yer not awake."
"Unless you know what you're doing, you don't want to corner yourself, either, though," Gabriel suggests with a sound of quiet authority. "Safe, hidden, but with plenty of open exits. So you've been around the city forever, right? I guess that makes *me* the new one, miss. I'm sure you're more familiar with the place than I am." He shrugs and then makes the possibly odd statement, "I prefer the original."
"Some places. Some not a lot Always somethin new to someone." Bella's coat moves in a shrug. She doesn't miss the odd statement, either. "Original what? It ain't a fake city. Don' think there's another one. Not the same anyway."
Gabriel grins slightly, eyes in some remembrance. "It's a real city of course," a hand is waved around toward the buildings. "But it's a replacement city. A second city. Something that came after one that I preferred." Another shrug. "Still, it's all in what you know, right? I'm sure that even my close friends would make fun of where I grew up!" He seems quite amused with himself. "We're a product of not just the way we were raised, but also of our environment - which of course, is often hand-in-hand with how we were raised."
Bella turns her hood away from him and a short laugh comes out of it. "Wow. That's why I'm facked. Was thinkin' maybe just wasn't lucky." It's a little laugh from little her, but it's big on sarcasm. "If yer place's better, good fer you."
"Better's in the eye of the beholder. I prefer it. Doesn't mean that every else would, and I'm not going to try to make 'em." Gabriel nods and stars at the sky some more. "Why do you think you're, ah.. 'facked' Miss Bolero? That's a new term for me, though I'm pretty sure I get the gist of it. If you don't mind the intrusion, how long *have* you been here? If you do mind the intrusion, tell me to fuck off, and I'll leave it be."
"Since I was born. Not so long as everyone, but forever fer me." Bella looks back to him and he can see a smile. "If I want ya ta fuck off I'll tell ya. 'N what's the Bolero thing?" It was noisy at Moe's, sure. She doesn't know how he got Bolero out of what she said, though.
The older man smiles and shrugs. "Well, I never got your name. You didn't seem to want to really share it much, which is your business. You're short, you're wrapped in a coat. A bolero is a piece of clothing worn by women - a short coat. Or at least, it was worn. So as I still don't have your name, and you're still short and wrapped in a coat? It seems fitting." Gabriel shrugs and allows his hands to fade out to the sides slightly, the beginnings of a smile quirking. "However, I'm open to correction."
Bella's smile curls into a little smirk. There's even a tiny bit of white teeth that shows for a second. Just enough that it proves she has some. "Bella. It's short, too. Fits better." Way better than her coat. "So why're ya out here insteada sleepin'? Ain't the safest place. Course, nowhere's safe, really."
Gabriel dips his head. "Nice to meet you, Bella. A shorter name from a short name. I had an Isabella, once. It's an Italian name that often gets shortened to 'Bella' among friends." He smiles and shrugs. "It's a good name, miss." He's paused, though, as to why he's out. "Well? I'm sure you've had nights where memories haunted you. This is one of those for me, and as much as I like it outside the walls, it's just too dangerous to wander around out there at night when I'm not at my spot. I'm safe enough here in the Park." He's already asked her why she's out, so doesn't push the matter by asking a second time.
"It's alright." Not much thanks for the compliment Bella got. "Used to think bout things like that alla time. Now I don't. Easier to just forget 'em." She takes a look around the park. "Sure it's safe? Thought people were dyin' round here. Maybe it was someplace else."
Gabriel's left wrist starts to silently vibrate. Indeed, except for his own physical sensation, it would be practically impossible for someone to notice his very military watch moving at all. He frowns a little, then states, "I'm sorry, Miss Bella, I need to head off." He looks around the Park and says, "It's always been safe enough for me, here. And believe me, I am not the toughest guy around. Just the oldest." His face splits into a wide, toothy grin. "I've gotta run. You stay safe, find yourself a place for the night. Somewhere warm. I'll, ah... I'll look out for you, maybe talk some other time." He offers the girl a tip of a non-existent hat, then hurries out to Main Street.
