|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 8:47 am
Gale had spent the majority of his time avoiding everyone after returning to the island. With the exception of a few select people that mainly included Eva and Wilson, he'd hardly left his house, hardly done anything at all except stare blankly at the wall and wish that everything was back the way it had been before this horrific mission.
It hadn't even been twenty-four hours yet.
After about the nineteenth hour, he threw things.
After about the twenty-third hour, he wept.
When it got to be too much to bear, he left the house and made his way across the Deus Ex Machina grounds and back towards the dorm rooms. He wasn't sure what he was doing here - he could not even go in the direction of Bix's room - but his feet kept moving, walking down the hall of the building he no longer lived in.
For the first time, he wished he had stayed here instead of moving out.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:21 am
Ariane had stayed in Jude's room for a long time; words were exchanged, and then they just decided to enjoy each other's company in silence... The way she liked it. Words often lose their meaning after a while, especially words of comfort; she had heard it all before, after all.
As she walked down the corridor towards the room which was hers-but-not-completely-hers, she spotted someone familiar ahead. However, instead of speeding up, she slowed down to a stop, choosing to watch him from afar; they were closer once, but ended up drifting apart after a while... It was probably her fault though; she didn't like getting close to anyone. She was fine with keeping people at a distance.
At least, she thought she was fine with it.
"... Gale," For some reason, she ended up calling his name anyway, even though she had no idea what else to say. Jogging up to him, she looked almost awkward as she greeted him, one hand raised, "Hey..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:40 am
It took him a moment to realize that there was someone talking to him.
Gale, his eyes on his feet, lifted his gaze and found Ariane standing in front of him, her expression clouded, slightly awkward as she raised her hand in greeting. It had been a long time since he had last seen her; but with a pang, Gale remembered that she had been one of the original Betas, one of those that had fought beside them in the first trial, the one that started it all.
He pushed those thoughts aside and said, very quietly, "...hey, Ariane."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:55 am
"Walk with me?" She asked, still unsure about what to say; it felt like she was just stalling for time, like a few more minutes to think would help her formulate an amazing conversation, even though she had a feeling that they would be walking in silence a majority of the time... Not that she minded, but it just felt odd that she would ask him for company, only to not say anything... Asking if he was fine would be redundant; of course the answer would be a no.
"So..." She started, only to pause suddenly when it occurred to her that Gale didn't live here anymore; some time ago, Bix had mentioned that Gale had moved to one of the houses in the town, rather than take one of the better rooms in this building... Which meant that he technically did not have a reason to be here, unless he was visiting someone?
"Is there a reason why you're here?" She asked, figuring that it might be a decent conversation starter for the time being.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 9:13 am
He gave a silent nod, his hands tucked into the pockets of his black pants. On his back he wore a small backpack with Jinhai's tablet tucked neatly in it, wrapped in an old shirt that Gale did not wear anymore. He was not about to leave such a thing lying around, and he could not bear to not have it.
He missed Jinhai.
They walked on in silence for several moments, the tension stretching between them almost tangible, and it wasn't until Ariane cleared her throat awkwardly and began to speak that Gale looked up at her briefly before his gaze flickered back to the hallway that stretched out in front of them.
"My house...." he trailed off, swallowed hard, and continued. "My house is, um...it's far...away..."
The rest of his sentence left off awkwardly, but hopefully Ariane would understand what he had been trying to say.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 10:41 pm
"Yeah, I heard," Ariane replied, still a little awkwardly as she continued walking, soon lapsing into silence again. A while later, she sighed, "How are you holding up...?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:30 am
He wasn't sure how to answer that question, mostly because he wasn't sure if he was holding up or not.
"...I'm angry," he said quietly, after a long moment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 1:38 am
To be honest, Ariane was not expecting that answer from him, and the surprise she felt was shown on her face; she was expecting something along the lines of 'not holding up well', or maybe even 'devastated'... Anger? Not so much.
"Who are you angry at?" She asked, eyeing him, "Or what?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 1:23 pm
He had registered, vaguely, the look of surprise on Ariane's face, but Gale did not mention it. He was still looking forward, down at the floor.
"Everyone," he said, and he was surprised at how easily it came out, how truthful it was. "Everything. I'm angry at Bix for leaving me behind. I'm angry at him for not telling me about how he really felt about Ceres. I'm angry at Caelius for putting us on that stupid mission in the first place and then going and dying so he wouldn't have to be responsible for anything, so he wouldn't have to listen to us, or see our grief afterwards.
"But most of all, I'm angry at myself for leaving him behind."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 2:01 pm
Ariane listened quietly, not saying anything until she was sure that Gale was done speaking. Although there was a lot she wanted to say, there was one question on her mind that she had to get out first.
"... How he really felt about Ceres?" She asked, raising an eyebrow; she didn't even know that Bix and Ceres knew each other, although from the sound of things, he had feelings for her... Which meant that they must had been rather close, "Gale, there was nothing you could have done about Caelius, not while he was being held by that creature. You know how strong he is, and he was overpowered."
She never liked Caelius as a person or a division leader, but she did not agree with leaving him behind. No hunter should be left behind. However-
"In that situation, attempting to rescue Caelius would probably only result in more sacrifices."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 4:55 pm
Gale gave a hollow laugh.
"He was crazy about her," he said, and gave a snort. "I knew he was. The way he talked about her...but he never told me, not really. I know it was because he was burned badly by Molly, but I wish he had told me anyway."
His footsteps felt loud in the empty hallway. Gale stuck his hands back into his pockets, wishing for Jinhai, wishing for Bix.
"I didn't want to rescue Caelius," said Gale, and for the first time, he looked up at Ariane, something darker flickering across his face, a sharp anger mixed with the pain and the frustration.
"I wanted to bring him back so he could feel first hand what he's done to us, though I don't know if that was even possible, especially since we knew he was dead. He's beyond feeling; he doesn't know what emotions are anymore."
He gave another snort, and shook his head so that his hair fell into his eyes. "I should say, he didn't know what emotions were anymore. Caelius was long past feeling anything even remotely human."
Gale's voice dropped lower, barely audible now.
"And he told us to just kill them, without hesitation."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 2:17 am
"Ah, so he was lying to me about liking someone," Ariane muttered, finding it ironic that neither Bix nor Ceres would ever find out about each others' feelings now; she had already warned him not to let one bad experience ruin things, but...
"Oh good, for a moment there, I thought you wanted to bring Caelius back for all the wrong reasons," She replied, putting on her poker face, "But like you said, he's probably not going to feel anything. In fact, I can imagine him telling us to just get over it..." The last part of that statement was said with much resentment; she might had been under the influence of insanity when she went against orders and protected Ceres, but she didn't regret doing it.
In fact, insanity only came into play after she made that decision.
"I didn't - don't - agree with that order... They killed Bix... before I even got a chance to react," She muttered quietly, hands balling into fists as she tensed up, "Maybe a year ago, I would have blindly followed that order - they lost themselves to the fog, and were posing as a danger to others... But a while ago, I realized that for a handful of humans who were trying to so-called save the world, we're a lot more cruel than the shadows we tormented during the past year."
A pause followed, and she added as an afterthought, "Gale, why did you become a hunter? What keeps you going?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 11:18 am
"He would lie about it," said Gale. "Because he's an idiot."
He was angry, so filled with an anger that had started building the moment he had seen Bix lying there on the battlefield, his body bruised and broken, all of the breath gone from his lungs. It hurt to breathe, to think, to live.
"I missed the order," said Gale. "I was busy defending Eva, I didn't see what Caelius had said - but if I had...if I had known what was going on, if I knew what he was telling them to do...I know he's my division leader, but I would have defied his orders in a heartbeat."
Her question startled him. Gale slanted a look up at Ariane, his expression pained.
"Bix," he said quietly. "Bix was what kept me going. He kept me sane. He never judged me. He never treated me like a little kid. He always told me that I was better than what I thought I was."
His voice grew softer, a bittersweet whisper.
"I became a hunter because I was tired of being an outsider and tired of living the life I had. To fight for something else, for someone else. But Bix was what kept me going."
Gale shook his head, closing his eyes.
"I never told him, but he was the one person I always wanted to be."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2012 12:11 pm
"I see... I bet he would be really happy to know that," Ariane replied softly, suddenly wishing that she was better at comforting others - or at least not needing to put so much effort into thinking of what to say so as to not make things worse.
"You'll keep going, right? For his sake, and your own?" She asked, one eyebrow raised, "No, wait. Let me correct myself. You'll keep going and stay sane, right? Look, I-"
She seemed to hesitate for a moment, looking sheepish, "I know I've not been around a lot. For a long time, I thought that it was best not to grow close to anyone. If you weren't close to anyone, it wouldn't hurt so much if anything happened to them, and you wouldn't feel the need to compromise your own safety for someone else... I was wrong." And she hated being wrong; she liked to be right even if she was wrong.
"But I'm here if you need to talk," She offered, sounding pretty awkward, "Or if you need someone to trim your hair."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2012 7:11 pm
"He'd tell me to stop being so sentimental," said Gale, a little dryly, though his voice was hoarse and his eyes felt damp again. He blinked rapidly, his cheeks turning pink, not wanting to cry in front of Ariane. Her words had surprised him; he had always respected her, since they had been one of the original "Betas" with him. While they were not as close as some might been; her walls were high; he had not ever disliked her.
Gale had stopped walking now, and was looking at the floor.
"I will keep going," he said quietly, and though he felt as though he would never quite be whole again, he knew, at least, that stagnating, that staying still would accomplish nothing, get him nowhere.
"I will keep going. For Bix."
His voice broke, just a little, on his name, and Gale closed his eyes briefly, swallowing hard and taking a slow, deep breath. Then he turned and tilted his head upwards to look at Ariane.
"...thanks," he said quietly, and his fingers trembled a little, belaying his otherwise calm exterior.
"...Ariane," said Gale. "Can you...do me a favor? I mean...would you maybe be willing to do something for me?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
