Welcome to Gaia! ::

Gabriel gave the leash a hard tug and resisted the retaliatory jerk as Morag tried to run off with his hand.

Stupid hyperactive.. dog.

He paused to wrap the leash more securely around his hand as Morag gave an impatient whistle of a whine. "Down, boy," he muttered absently. A cold gust of wind made him shiver slightly before setting off in a brisk walk again.

The park was, predictably, quiet at this early morning hour. Only a few elderly people doing some warm up exercises or tai chi of some sort. Gabriel reached the bench under a large tree which he usually favored, and gave the leash another hard tug to bring Morag closer to him. The dog was visibly straining to get away and go chase something. Gabriel silently recommended the old people. They weren't too frisky and it would be no chore to run one down. The added entertainment value would be welcome as well.

And they won't file law suits. Right.

He bent and unfastened the tether from Morag's collar and barely managed to give it a pat on the head before it shot off with fine disregard for its master.

Gabriel dropped down on the bench and fished a small book out from the pocket of his jacket. This promised to be a few hours of quiet reading, at least.

Gabriel lifted his eyes briefly from his book at the intrusion of his personal space-

MY space, MINE! Die intruder die!

- and blinked in a moment of confusion. The boy looked familiar. Green hair, glasses, goofy expression... ah yes, there it was. The ex-damsel of distress. Lovely.

Gabriel bit the side of his lip and dropped his eyes back to his book, nerves tingling with the urge to run.

What, he'll bite? He's the sissy here, so stop acting like you're one too.

With some hope, and maybe a silent prayer, he would be left alone.

Hell, hi, I'm Ailein?

...okay. Odd.

His inbred courtesy kicked at him to reply in a fitting manner, whilst his inner-voice supplied all sorts of non-fitting rejoinders.

Are you? How absolutely wonderful.

No, really? I was thinking along the lines of cross-dresser junior.

Ailein, correct? Was that your sister I saw the other day? Or your mom, I'm not really picky.

Ah. Hi Ailein, bye Ailein.

"I'm Gabriel, how do you do?" was what he said, instead, politely closing his book to give the boy his much-undeserved attention. Gabriel wasn't exactly averse to other people dressing in whatever manner they choose, even if it's a very feminine dress that no decent male should be caught dead in. He just would have been happier if they would give him a wide berth. Preferably three miles wide.

"M-m-m-my t-t-twin al-almost ki-ki-killed me when sh-she, ah, sa-saw her dr-dr-dr-dre-... clothes."

I should meet her twin. Teach her how to kill him properly. Kill him dead.

"D-d-do yo-you mi-mind if I ca-ca-call you G-G-Gabe?"

Yes, I DO mind!

His suddenly furious thought was swiftly suppressed. Only Laila called him that. Gabriel gave a curt nod, not trusting himself to speak for the moment.

He carries it around with him.

Gabriel just managed to repress a wince. Now it made his owning Lyla seem even worse.

Girls and cross-dressers. What was Laila playing at?

"So uhm... W-w-what sc-school d-d-do y-yo-you g-g-go to, Ga-Ga-Ga...Gabriel."

He relaxed fractionally, unsure of how he would have responded to 'Gabe' coming from an utter stranger's lips. "Gambino University." His voice was just slightly softer then before, mostly due to relief that Ailien did not presume to use his abbreviated name.

"S-s-s-sorry a-a-about my s-s-s-st-stutter..."

"It's nothing to apologize for," Gabriel sounded faintly puzzled. It's not like I know you well enough for you to apologize to me for any of your personal failings. "I can understand you well enough." More or less. Except for why you keep bothering me.

"I-I-I g-g-g-go th-there t-t-too..."

"I see."

What a bleeding coincidence.

Gabriel gave Ailein a flat look. The boy looked a hell lot younger than him, and Gabriel was only in his second year in that school. Whatever. At least they didn't take the same classes, or else they would have met before this. Then he would have been driven to an early grave.

How?

I have a weak heart.

No, you don't.

I can feel it growing steadily weaker.

"N-N-not what s-s-sis s-s-says..."

Any chance for empathy there?

If his sister were like Bella, he wouldn't be standing here. So no.

"Y-Yo-you're re-re-really n-n-nice..."

...

...

Okay, so even his inner voices had slammed into that one and bounced back dead to the world.

"Thank you," he deadpanned.

"H-H-Here! Th-th-this is f-f-for you..."

"Thank you," Gabriel replied half-absently again, by now a little unnerved by Ailein's continuous chatter and quick conclusions on people's personalities. He glanced down, and nearly smiled.

Oh, that's Morag alright.

His slightly lifted mood plummeted, however, at the boy's next words.

"Ma-ma-maybe w-w-we c-c-can s-s-see e-e-each o-o-other at sc-sc-school."

OhGodpleaseno.

"Maybe," Gabriel replied, with a smile that he hoped didn't look too strained. Or terrified. Or disgusted. Whichever, as long as it didn't reflect his inner feelings and his inner voice which was going Ew ew ew ew.

And someday, your prince will come.

Gabriel mused as he took in the distinctly Snow White scene before him. Birds and squirrels indeed. He folded the given sketch into a smaller piece and tucked it within the pages of his book to be used as a bookmark, as was his habit with anything flat and small.

Morag seemed to be less vicious with Ailein now. Gabriel would have to teach it not to be bribed too easily with food. With that last thought, he delved back into his book.