ffs [closed]

[powerdealer]

After yesterday's giant lizard fiasco, Seth went to the clinic for rifties where he occasionally helps out, figured they might need an extra hand what with recent events.

Sure enough, there were several people coming in with some nasty cuts, concussions, even one broken arm, and that's just the people who didn't feel safe going to Romac or the rebels for medical help. Thankfully there didn't seem to be any life-threatening injuries - at least Gabriel must have kept an eye out for anything that bad.

Even so, it's not a particularly thrilled Seth who makes his way to his friend's apartment the next morning. He doesn't even bother knocking, just phases right through the front door and then into Gabe's bedroom, tossing a newspaper at his face to wake him up.

Comments

[has_a_horn]

"Gah!" Gabriel wakes up with a start, his hand lifting to pull the newspaper away from his face before he even opens his eyes. "What- oh, it's you. Geeze, give a guy some warning." The night before had been fairly tiring for him. The illusions themselves hadn't been much trouble, but keeping track of everything plus teleporting himself around a few too many times had taken his toll. He had needed to sleep.

Still, Seth's here, which is nice. He'd been a little worried that he might not see him again, after how he'd taken it all. Gabriel props himself up on one elbow, looking up at Seth. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

[powerdealer]

Seth nods at the newspaper he just threw at him, which has details about the various property damage and general panic caused. "I spent all evening yesterday patching up people who'd gotten hurt cause of you."

Just in case Gabe might think Seth's not still kind of pissed about it all.

[has_a_horn]

Gabriel sighs and flops back onto the bed. Rebuffing accusations aren't really how he wants to spend his morning. He picks up the paper and can't help smiling at the headline 'Mass Hallucinations Strike City'.

"I made the front page!" He chuckles, but cuts it short because Seth is glaring at him. He doesn't want him storming off again, so he lets out an exasperated groan and sets the newspaper aside. "Nobody died. I made sure of that."

[powerdealer]

"I'm just sort of wondering if you've at least figured out why it's not a very nice thing to do to your friends," he answers, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall. Gabe might not give a shit about people he doesn't know, or think it's all in good fun, but he should care about those he, well, is supposed to care about. "Unless you don't consider me a friend."

[has_a_horn]

"Wow, if you're going to lecture me first thing in the morning, the least you could do is bring me breakfast." He sighs and closes his eyes for a moment, as if gathering inner reserves of strength for this particular conversation.

"So you didn't appreciate being an action hero, slaying Godzilla, and saving the day. Which I totally set up for you. Because you're my friend." He raises an eyebrow at Seth, challenging his earlier insinuation. "If you knew, it would have ruined the drama." Seth is upset at him for lying to him, right? That's what he's assuming this is mostly about. The people that wound up with bumps and bruises will get over it, heal, and move on with their lives plus one awesome story.

[powerdealer]

"I didn't have time to appreciate it, I was too busy fearing for my life, and your life, and the lives of everyone in the city," Seth answers. "The drama may have been fun for you, knowing there was no real consequences, but it sure as hell wasn't for me."

He's trying to patiently explain this, because there's clearly something Gabe's just not getting, but it's hard to keep the annoyance entirely out of his voice. "It's not a very fun joke if you're the only one in on it. If you told me it was all an illusion, who knows, I might've had a great time."

[has_a_horn]

"Seth. Seth, seth, seth." Finally, Gabe pushes himself up into a seated position and leans against the headboard of the bed. He scoots over a bit then, offering Seth a spot. "Have a seat. If that's the way you want to play it next time, that's what we'll do. Theme park instead of theme...reality. Just for you." He sounds a little put out by the idea, and he is. If Seth knew it wasn't real, he wouldn't have acted like it was. Playing with a giant size toy box isn't quite the same, but Gabriel could manage if it means not having this particular conversation again.

[powerdealer]

"It would also be a plus if you didn't terrify half the city in the process," he points out. If Seth had been the only one affected, it might've been easier to get over it. A prank. But pranking a few million people is such a hugely manipulative and irresponsible thing to do. (And Seth hasn't always been the greatest at considering the wider consequences of his actions, but at least he's learnt some.)

Instead of joining him on the bed though, he jerks his head towards the door. "Let's just go get breakfast."

[has_a_horn]

"Fabulous idea." He throws back the covers dramatically, revealing his red silk boxers. Seth should be glad that he's even wearing them.

He walks to the bedroom door, and holds it open for Seth. Almost as an afterthought, he snaps his fingers. In the next moment, he's completely dressed and ready to go. "Meanwhile, you can tell me about what you were doing before I picked you up yesterday." By which he means he'd like to know the details about just what sort of drugs Seth is dealing and to whom.

[powerdealer]

Seth is very grateful.

He starts to head out, but he stops and sighs when Gabe brings that up again. Fair's fair though, since Seth has just been judging Gabe for his behavior, and they might as well get it over with - he doesn't want to discuss it out amongst people.

"Look, it's just weed. Nothing freaky. And I'm not pushing or anything, I just provide for those who want it," he tells him honestly.

[has_a_horn]

He stops to consider Seth's answer for a moment. He doesn't doubt that it's true, but he also doesn't trust that Seth won't up his game if the right opportunity comes along. He points a finger at Seth, "If you get into the freaky stuff, I will know, and you will not like the results."

That over, his pointing turns more into an offer of transportation. He wiggles his fingers towards Seth's forehead, "Shortcut? Or shall we walk?"

[powerdealer]

Seth nods to indicate the warning's been duly noted. Given Gabe promised to murder him if he ever tried to take any of his powers, this warning does not surprise him in the slightest. Good for him he has no intention to, then.

Seth shrugs. "Shortcut's fine." He's already taken the train and walked to get here, and he's not exactly bubbling with energy after yesterday.

[has_a_horn]

And that warning still definitely applies. Seth has warnings upon warnings. Maybe he should take that as a sign that Gabriel still doesn't trust him all that much.

"Ookay." Gabriel taps Seth on the forehead, and then they're standing outside of a diner around the block. Gabriel chuckles and goes to open the door. "So you going to buy me breakfast with your drug money?"

[powerdealer]

Funny how much easier it is to deal with the teleportation when he has actual warning. And honestly, it's only been a day since Seth avenged Gabe's death and everything, what more does he want?

"Well, I assume it's that or your stolen money," he answers, a tad cheekily.

[has_a_horn]

"You don't know, it could be some I earned. In respectable ways." He holds the door open for Seth, an amused smile on his face. "I was painting walls for a while there." Though he's not really doing that anymore. He probably should have quit at some point, but he'd gotten caught up with other things and forgotten about it. He's probably been fired by now.

[powerdealer]

"So basically, it would be money you still have because you haven't paid for anything else?" he counters as he heads inside. Not that Seth particularly cares about the finer details and moral implications. As far as he can tell, Gabe doesn't take from anyone who can't afford it, which is good enough for him.

"And speaking of paying back things, you still owe me a power," he adds.

[has_a_horn]

"Oh, do I?" He hasn't forgotten, but there haven't really been many interesting or useful powers in his orbit lately. Also, he hasn't been out looking very hard at all.

The waitress waves them in and Gabe plops himself down in the first booth available, already reaching for a menu.

[powerdealer]

"You do," Seth affirms as he drops down across from him, though he's not entirely convinced Gabe doesn't know that. "Preferably, of course, from some jackass who deserves to have it taken away." It's always more satisfying that way, like it's not just selfishness.

[has_a_horn]

"Or someone that wants rid of it." Gabriel flips open the menu, though he already has a good idea of what he wants. He's not going to object if they do find some jackass to drag a power from. In fact, he'll definitely enjoy it.

He flips his menu down a bit to level Seth with his best put-upon look. "You know I can't sense powers, right? Have em use it or think about it, and I can pick up on it," He shrugs. "but we can't just go out shopping."

[powerdealer]

Problem is, of course, that anyone who wants to get rid of their power doesn't usually have a good one.

Seth picks up a menu, checking to see what kind of breakfast food they have. "Honestly? At this point I'm surprised when you're not able to do something," he answers. Especially after yesterday's display. "There's someone at Romac who can do that... Sense powers, I mean."

[has_a_horn]

He levels Seth with a glare. He's not all that enthused with this take-someone's-power thing, but he especially doesn't like even the smallest of suggestions that they go to ROMAC. "I hope you're not expecting me to do another raid on ROMAC so you can steal some guy's power. It wouldn't go well." Did he say another? Yeah, that's probably not information he's shared with Seth before now.

[powerdealer]

Seth drops the menu to hold his hands up defensively. It only takes a moment for the 'another' to catch up with him too, but he's not actually surprised. In fact he'd kind of had his suspicions. He keeps his ear to the ground when it comes to the Rift-related activities in the city, and anyone even a little bit up to date on Romac news heard about that attack. He hadn't been able to get confirmation it was Gabriel, but a few things had clued him in a little bit. (And he's not entirely comfortable with it, but he's not about to bring up Gabriel probably murdering quite a few people right at the moment. Though he's prepared to believe he had his reasons.)

"Not at all. Would rather prefer not to, in fact. I am trying to lie reasonable low, you know?" he answers, picking up the menu again. He tries to avoid reckless behavior, and he doesn't really want to mess with the group that has probably the most power.

"Anyway, I was just making conversation, cause like I said, someone who deserves it. To my knowledge, she doesn't - and yeah, it's a girl, not a guy. Took over as Rift expert after that other guy disappeared." Which... was also in relation to that raid he's thinking of, so he might be watching Gabe a little more closely than usual.

[has_a_horn]

Oh right. Her. Too bad she wasn't around when Gabriel was there the last time. He would have like to prove her right for fearing anyone as powerful as him. He can't imagine that she'd make as good of a rift expert as Topher had been. If she had taken over, they're probably still not one hundred percent back to the organization they had been. As for the Topher's disappearance...Gabriel isn't going to comment. In fact, he's suspiciously tight lipped about the whole thing. "Well, you find someone, you let me know."

"Oh, I did want to ask you-" Gabriel is interrupted by the waitress coming over to take their order. He orders a stack of pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, then tucks the menu back in its spot.

[powerdealer]

Gabriel completely refraining from commenting is also a tip-off, yeah, though Seth isn't intending to push the subject. He doesn't need to know, doesn't really want to know the details. In his line of work, he's learnt not to ask too many questions he doesn't want to know the answers to.

He ends up just ordering the same thing as Gabe, for simplicity. "Ask me what?" he inquires after the waitress disappears.

[has_a_horn]

"How's your other place working out for ya? I was thinking of buying out my building, offering up places for people to stay." He sets his elbows up on the table and puts on a smile. "Feel free to keep the couch space. The staying over thing was about me being there right?"

He shrugs, "But there's gonna be a place available for you. If you want it."

[powerdealer]

Seth smiles and gives a half-shrug to the deduction about why he sometimes stays on the couch - which basically translates to an admittance. It's not like he needed a place to sleep, or that the couch was particularly comfy, no. But after that long stint of being locked up, and being generally a bit paranoid, sometimes it's nice to have someone he trusts (at least more than most people) and who's powerful enough to protect him.

Then again, if he's next to Gabe's apartment or something, he could just walk through the wall if necessary.

After thinking about it for a few moments, he gives a nod. "Might be good. My place is nice, but it's not exactly cheap."