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 Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 8:09 am
It had been a long time since he'd gone back to his old dorm room in the trainee hall.
At first it had been occupied, after he'd gone, by Otto, who had relished the fact that he was in Gale's room and had managed to conveniently remind him of this fact on a daily basis. Gale had tried to get back some of his pillows, but apparently that was not happening, and so instead he had just lain in wait for the right moment to come along.
And that right moment had come when Otto had been promoted and moved to the second floor. Which meant that the opportune moment had arrived.
Gale made his way down the long dorm hall, absently tugging at the arm of his coat, which was bunched up at the elbow and making him uncomfortable. Room #112 was just a short distance away, and Gale took a step towards it, peering curiously at the closed door. He reached out, wrapped a hand around the knob, and pushed.
Nothing happened. It was locked.
Why was his door locked.
Frowning a bit, Gale pushed again - and again the door made no inclination to move. He dropped his hand away and internally debated with himself for a long moment, trying to figure out what he should do.
<< Knock, stupid. Maybe someone's moved in. >>
Jinhai sounded less irritated and more amused, Gale rolling his eyes. I was going to do that next, thank you very much Ginny.
Then he knocked as if that had been his plan all along.
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Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 12:29 pm
It opened more or less instantly, because Taym had heard someone try the door and advanced suspiciously toward it. It opened about four inches, framing a skinny, wary-looking face. He'd suspected Peyton, so his eyes were already turned in a Galeward direction.As it wasn't Peyton, he let the door swing open the rest of the way, putting a hand into his pocket and giving Gale the sort of searching once-over that spoke of long-term paranoia and possibly silent judgment. The room behind him had been ransacked of anything even remotely approaching a personal touch, everything stripped out to the barest, plainest furniture that could be had on the island, and it smelled like bleach and pine-sol and had a gleam to it, like it had been gone over with a toothbrush. The man himself reeked of smoke. His eyes drifted down to the bottom of Gale's coat, a habit he had already acquired, and a sort of resigned, tired look entered them. Probably this was some kind of official boot-campy welcome wagon. A divisional delegation. "Hi," he said finally, flatly.
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Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 4:25 pm
Gale stared blankly at the figure in the door who was mostly definitely not Otto.
A tall, thin, hollowed out man with dark hair and circles beneath his eyes stood in front of him, the stench of cigarettes wafting from his clothing. Behind him, from what little of Gale could see, was stark clean and reeked of cleaning supplies.
"...hello," said Gale, the accent coming out slightly clipped. He tilted his head and said, not unkindly, "You're new."
He paused a moment, and then added, "Aren't you? Did you just move in?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 4:45 pm
Distractedly, Taym picked his teeth with a thumbnail while he considered how to answer that. Any number of sarcastic rejoinders floated through his head, but he dismissed them after deciding that maybe he'd done enough of bad first impressions for a while. "That's me. Freshly awake," he said warily. "I take it they sent you to put a leash on me?" How old was this kid, anyway? Taym gave him a skeptical look and stepped aside a little, just in case he wanted to come in, but he didn't make any verbal invitation.
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Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 6:19 pm
Gale arched a brow. "A leash?" he repeated mildly, sliding his hands into the pocket of his coat. "Not at all. As a matter of fact, this room used to be mine. Its occupant before you was, er...just a tad uncooperative, what have you. I came to see if my things were still here, but it looks like I'm too late."
The skeptical look was not missed, but Gale merely pushed it aside, sticking out his hand.
"My name is Gale, by the way. Gale Gentry, of the Death Division, if that wasn't obvious enough."
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Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 9:07 pm
He eyed his hand like it might be concealing a buzzer, but after a beat gave it the expected handshake. His fingers were bony and bruise-knuckled but his handshake was surprisingly professional. "Obadiah Thompson. Maybe your s**t ended up in the scrounge pile. Should probably retrieve that at some point." He paused. He didn't want to say it, because it would be an explicit admission of his own ignorance, but he was going stir-crazy already without a routine, without some expected duty besides the shitty chore rosters he'd already been told to prepare for. "You're the first person in my division I've met so far, I think. You wanna fill me in?" On what specifically he didn't say. He wasn't even sure he knew.
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Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 9:59 pm
He was used to people regarding him as very un-hunter-ish, so the hesitation was to be expected. However, Obadiah's handshake was a firm one, and Gale smiled a little at the comment, ignoring Jinhai's amusement inside of his head.
"Oh, so you're in Death, are you?" Gale said, one eyebrow raising again. "Brilliant, we could use a few new faces around here. It's been rather a quiet month so far."
He slid his hands back into the pockets of his trousers. "Well, Death is in charge of information, mainly," he replied easily. "We're the ones who gather the information, make note of everything of import."
There was a pause, and then he added, "If you've got a free moment, I could show you around the Death offices, if you like. Give you a heads up on what you'll be dealing with, essentially."
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 3:54 am
Being deferential to someone who seemed so young grated, and so there was a moment of hesitation before he made a wordless and begrudging noise of assent. He vanished back into his room for a second and came back out in the process of tucking his scarf around his neck. "Are we talking actual reconnaissance, or desk jobs?" A thought, and so: "Maybe both." He closed the door behind them. No "nice to meet you." No "thanks for the offer." Just a blunt question. Straight to business with a "lead the way" sweep of his arm.
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:05 am
Gale, wondering if he was leaving, just stood there silently for a moment until Obadiah reappeared with his scarf. He said nothing, merely raised an eyebrow, and then gestured for the other to follow him, starting down the hall.
"Both, really," he answered, absently twisting the ring on his finger. "We gather as much information as we can and sort through it, place it in the right spots. Mostly we gather information before a mission, do the recon needed so that the actual mission runs as smoothly as possible. We're the brains behind the operation. Sun Division is the offense, Moon is the defense. Once we, Death, get information, we give it to the Life Division; they handle the research aspect, and most of their work is scientific. Mist Division are gofers and Jacks-of-all-trades, they help out where needed."
Turning a corner, Gale led the way out of the dormitory building and across the quad towards the main building. "The Death offices are located in the main building, as are most everything else. Once you get to be a full hunter, there's a chance you can have your own office; mine is borrowed and not really mine, and it's about the size of a shoe closet, but it works for now."
His lips quirked upwards. "Any questions so far?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:26 am
He was silent for a second, and then asked what he'd been wondering for a couple of days now, and asked it totally bluntly: "Am I actually expected to do anything useful before I rank up, or am I just cannon fodder?" He didn't actually sound bitter when he said it. Like being cannon fodder was fine, just so long as he knew. By way of clarification he added: "I just expected more... rigorous scheduling, I guess. Boot camp. Jail timetables. Feel like I'm getting it all... piecemeal." Which was his fault, of course, but good luck making him feel that way. The fog and preternatural quiet of the Island never failed to make him feel exposed, and he hunched his shoulders while he walked, shrinking in on himself with hands in his pockets, eyes incessantly moving.
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 12:06 pm
Gale paused for a moment, turning his head to slide a sideways glance over at Obadiah. His gaze flickered across the dark, hooded eyes and then he said, "Well, Caelius will think you're just cannon fodder. He's the Death Division Lead, and he's a piece of work. He won't expect you to do anything other than that, but it doesn't mean you can't. I always find that doing more is better than just doing what's expected of you."
He started walking again and shrugged, sliding his hands into his pockets. "You'll see how everything works more once you get out into the field. Life on the island is one thing, but once you get off and start going on missions is when everything starts to be more rigorous."
The corners of Gale's lips quirked as he pushed open the door to the main offices. "If you want to make yourself useful, there are plenty of things to be done in your division."
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 12:26 pm
"That's the third time Caelius has come up in conversation and the third time his description has adumbrated"--and he dropped that word with a kind of obnoxious relish--"a murderous psychopath. Is that how you climb the ranks here? Sociopathy?" He hesitated, following Gale in and letting his eyes roam freely, with the distinct air of someone memorizing everything. "I would love nothing more than to make myself useful until I'm fed to the Leviathan, or what have you."
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 6:45 pm
Inside the section of the building where the Death offices were located it was quiet and calm (unless you were Mark, in which case the office was very loudly decorated), most of the hunters in here working away at various stations. Gale led the way down a narrow hallway towards where the one he tended to occupy was, motioning for Obadiah to follow him.
"Well, that's not unusual," he said, a bit dryly. "Caelius has a sort of...reputation around here. He's a bit of a tosser, really, and, well...murderous psychopath might be accurate, but to be honest I've got no idea how he got to where he was."
Gale turned his head, pausing outside of the room to give Obadiah a sort of once over, leaning against the door frame. "Well," he said, folding his arms across his chest. "What sort of thing do you feel you could be useful at? Is there anything particular you can think of off the bat? Or rather," he amended himself. "Anything you feel you haven't got yet?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 6:59 pm
He thought of Peyton and her sharp-toothed eagerness for a spar, and decided not to say anything as far as that went. "I get that there's--divisional segregation, or whatever," he said, vaguely waving a hand while his eyes continued their endless restless roaming. "But where do you guys keep all the basics? I keep having people drop little bombshells on me, and trust me," he said sarcastically, "it's keeping every moment fresh and exciting and I appreciate the novelty of being spontaneously told that you can be eaten by inanimate objects, but where are people sharing all this? Or is it just--us." Us. The word came out uncomfortable and tense. He didn't like it.
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 7:19 pm
He pushed open the door to the room, which was tiny and cramped and had too many chairs in not enough space. Gale moved one rolling chair away from the desk and sat down, idly crossing one leg over the other.
"The basics of being a Hunter, you mean?" he asked. "Unfortunately what you see is what you get. We don't have much in terms of say, an information database of sorts, at least not one about what you're talking about. Everything tends to be word of mouth here when it comes to those 'little bombshells.'"
Gale rolled his shoulders, Jinhai curling up in his mind. "Although," he said thoughtfully. "That's not really a bad idea, come to think of it. Having some place to put all of this information. It'd be useful for people like you, who are newly awakened, to have that sort of...guide, I suppose. That's probably a terrible term for it, but you get my meaning."
"Also you only get eaten by inanimate objects if you're late to a meeting."
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