“ guess they call it a test drive for a reason. “ frankie chuckled meekly, pressing a can of diet coke against a gash on his forehead. he was in rough shape - face bloodied, bruised, and lacking its signature goofy grin. “ need for speed ? more like need to BLEED, am I right ?? “
“ cheer up ---- ” gabe offers, gaze moving from track to injured cadet. “ doesn’t look as bad as the time i knocked you in sparring practice. ” that might be a generous lie --- zero’s face looks PRETTY fucking bad right now and gabe would never beat anyone to that point in just a sparring practice. “ ---- you’ll be back to pretty in no time. ”
the brunette sat up on the couch, looking around if she was the only one startled by the sound the books hitting the floor made. she squeezed her eyes shut before opening them again to push the tiredness away. “it’s okay, gabe. honestly, i’m not sure if i’m hungry or not… maybe i’ll just skip dinner and go to bed. today killed me. but i see you decided to pick up some light reading for yourself.’
“ ALWAYS best to learn from the best ---- ” he says lightly, stooping to pick up his fallen books, gesturing with one for emphasis. “ grab something for later, at least. nothing worse than waking up starving at 3 am and not having anything to immediately consume. ” gabe looks at her for a moment --she does look like she could use a solid twelve hours of sleep, but then again, maybe they all could and exam season wasn’t anywhere in sight. “ ---- little birdie told me it was your FAVORITE. ”
cassie understands why the academy doesn’t trust her; frankly, if the roles were reversed, she’s not even sure she would have been as kind as they’ve been. that doesn’t mean it’s not frustrating sometimes, feeling the more or less literal ball and chain around her ankle whenever she wants to enjoy herself. “patience, right. guess you still have a lot to teach me about being a model cadet,” she teases, a small laugh rolling out of her. “can’t leave, remember? i’ve only had food here, prison and, uh, back home.” it’s strange that it’s still what she calls it, but she doesn’t know another word for the place she grew up.
“ the very best, ” sniffs gabe, one hand flipping his hair back in dramatic fashion. ( the truth is much more complicated than that, of course. expectations and one heavy opinion that means so much more than the rest ---- gabriel altelius is but a pale shadow of the BEST ). but they did trust him enough to help ivy along and that has to mean something about his standing. it’s not like he minds, either --- ivy and her curiosity are like fresh breathes of air in this place. he quirks a grin at her, head shaking in mock disbelief, “ i’ll have to bring you some QUALITY pizza as well. any other food requests for this giant fest we’re gunna be having? go big or go home, y’know. ”
overwhelmed. that was one word for how lucy felt. she had everything set out in front of her - and ‘everything’ didn’t just mean the usual conventional homework. sure she had blueprints, but she had a rather complicated device that may or may not be a prototype for an explosive and two laptops open in front of her with a variety of coding on it. she had a lot of work to do and she had tried to find the most isolated point in the academy to work… but it still wasn’t working. lucy couldn’t stop daydreaming or fidgeting when she just wanted to get this work done… it took her a moment to realize someone had approached her. she looked up, eyes wide. “sorry, what was that?? i wasn’t paying attention.”
contrary to what SOME may believe about him, gabe put forth one of the most impressive work ethics --- if something wasn’t perfect, he was training and studying to make it so. he’s on the prowl for an ideal space to try to crack some of his behavioral studies homework when he happens upon titan surrounded by a small island of work that puts what he has to do to complete shame. he raises a brow at the other, backpack slung over one shoulder and fingertips lightly resting atop some blueprints. “ i said: think you can spare that square centimeter of space you got there, ti? ”
“tragic was not having pizza. have you had pizza? it’s fucking delicious. no idea how i made it twenty years without that.” junk food wasn’t really something she was allowed growing up, though the occasional sweets were gifted as rewards for a job well done. now? now it takes most of her self control not to stuff her face with everything she can find. “sounds…i mean it sounds good. i bet the kitchen has that stuff and we could use the oven to roast things. i’m not allowed in the kitchen without supervision though, so you’d either have to make it or fill out some paperwork. a lot of paperwork, really.”
right. it’s easy to forget about ivy’s tracker bracelet sometimes, gaze dropping to it for the barest moment before he returns to his task, ripping the last bit of tape from his hand and crumpling it into a ball. “ won’t be hard, ” he says easily, leveling a quick wink at her, “ model cadet, right? just might take some time and patience is all... and for the record i could not imagine a world without pizza in it. fucking ideal that stuff --- been to a family pizzeria yet? academy stuff can’t even compare. ”
“no, i’ve never had one,” cassie says with a small shrug, stretching a bit while he grabbed a drink. “i’ve had a marshmallow and i’ve had chocolate, but never together. what exactly is it? is there anything else in it?” it wasn’t until getting to the academy that cassie realized just how much she liked asking questions and the thrill that came with answers - learning on her own terms about things that spark her interest.
“ tragic --- ” says gabe sadly, water set back down and fingers picking at the end of the tape on his hands, slowly peeling it off. “ roasted marshmellow, half a chocolate bar, sandwiched between two graham crackers --- like i said, heaven. ” he makes a small noise of content at the thought, old memories of summers in sweden ( the barest hint of normalcy ) surfacing before he pushes them back with a shrug. “ we’ll have to improvise without a campfire but we’ll survive. ”
caroline had a day filled with classes back to back and once they were done, she was fully exhausted. she decided to chill on one of the couches and play some games on her phone for a while, but that rather quickly turned into a napping session. she was finally getting some rest, right until the moment a loud sound came from not that far and woke her up. “what the hell…”
being busy was one of gabe’s most favorite states of being --- something about not having time to overthink things too much really helped to bring out the best in him ( part of the THRILL of being undercover as well ; so many unpredictables, so many times to think on ones feet ). but right now when he drops the four different biographies of past spies with a loud clatter, he’s just plain no thinking. “ sorry, ‘seph,” he says, at least looking the tiniest bit rueful. “ ---- dinner is soon if that’s any consolation? ”
“i…honestly have no idea what you’re talking about,” cassie admits, brows furrowed and head cocked to the side as she stares at the other. it’s not the first time she’s been confused by something seemingly mundane and it likely won’t be the last, but at least she’s mostly gotten over the feeling of embarrassment that comes from asking questions.
“ ----s’mores, ivy. ” gabe repeats, “ s’mores. little bits of marshmellow and chocolate heaven? ” wrapped fists drop from their raised position, his head too cocks to the side, eyes narrowing a little in faux judgement ( the teasing obvious in his voice ). he snags a water bottle from the ground. “ have you never had a s’more? i can fix that easy enough. ”
hello… runner here again bringing my swedish child. after some very long fc searching, i settled for herman tommeraas!!! he really only fits the aesthetic i had in mind in one ( 1 ) interview, but that’s totally chill bc i fell in love with his look in five gifs bc it was so perfect. so yeah… know that i imagine him w blonde and long-ish floofy hair as below. history and many facts below the cut as well as a few connections!!
[ HERMAN TØMMERAAS ] — GABRIEL ALTELIUS is a TWENTY-ONE year-old cadet from SWEDEN and the NORTH AMERICAN unit, also known as agent 029. Intel tells me that HE is ADAPTABLE & CHARMING, if not a little BOYISH & FRIVOLOUS. HE shows promising progress in UNDERCOVER OPS, LYING & MANIPULATION, AND HAND TO HAND COMBAT. better watch your back. [ runner | 20 | est | she/her ]
hello... runner here again bringing my swedish child. after some very long fc searching, i settled for herman tommeraas!!! he really only fits the aesthetic i had in mind in one ( 1 ) interview, but that’s totally chill bc i fell in love with his look in five gifs bc it was so perfect. so yeah... know that i imagine him w blonde and long-ish floofy hair as below. history and many facts below the cut as well as a few connections!!
[ HERMAN TØMMERAAS ] — GABRIEL ALTELIUS is a TWENTY-ONE year-old cadet from SWEDEN and the NORTH AMERICAN unit, also known as agent 029. Intel tells me that HE is ADAPTABLE & CHARMING, if not a little BOYISH & FRIVOLOUS. HE shows promising progress in UNDERCOVER OPS, LYING & MANIPULATION, AND HAND TO HAND COMBAT. better watch your back. [ runner | 20 | est | she/her ]
HISTORY
His full name is Gabriel Andrew Michael Näessén Altelius ( first name, two middle names, two last names; as sweden does not hyphenate ). Known as Gabriel or Gabe Altelius. Responds first to 029 or 29.
The Altelius family is a name that bears weight in the Agency. Michael Altelius is the patriarch, a high ranking official in the Eurasian faction, and is heralded to have been and to be one of the best — and Gabriel is his eldest son.
Gabe was raised to be an agent from the moment he was born. He’s been training his whole life how to fight, how to observe, how to lie, how to think on ones feet, and everything in between. Michael Altelius made the family name into something and made sure his two sons would not be the ones who would soil it.
Michael raised his family in his sons’ formative years in the states, helping to build bridges between the American and Eurasian factions, returning to Sweden every summer. His final stroke of genius was to enroll his eldest son into the North American faction.
Gabe took especially well to undercover ops; slipping on different people and personas came naturally to him, and it gave him a thrill. It also makes him feel safe in a way, as ludicrous as it might sound.
NOTES
About his personal life, Gabe is very careful not to let anything show. He has an almost childish and devil-may-care attitude, mixed with easy flirtatiousness and boyish charm. He’s good at making people think they know him without revealing anything at all. People have said they’ve seen him put on every person except Gabriel Altelius.
Andy has one younger brother Maximilian Linus Alexander Näessén Altelius (Max Altelius) who is also in the Agency but was in the Eurasian faction. Both of them are very close and it broke Gabe to be separated from him in different factions and he’s extremely excited that they will be in the same faction now.
Gabe fights extremely well, but he also fights like he’s been trained. The very best eyes are able to pick out patterns eventually, though he will prove to be an extremely difficult partner (and sometimes wins in spite of that).
Protocol is Gabe’s moral conscious, for better or worse. He was practically raised in the Agency and has been brainwashed taught that everything about it is law. We expect great things from you, Gabriel.
Gabe is extremely loyal to his family and would only ever break protocol if it was his brother on the line ( on the flipside, his brother is his weakest point ). This also circles back as he feels that any step out of line he takes has repercussions on his father and his little brother and the family name.
Gabe believes he has a good relationship with his father, but he also aims to do nothing but please. The Agency has been shot through every facet of his life, even that of his familial relationships. That being said, Max is one of two people who know him for who he is.
The other is his very close friend and crush and training partner ( wanted connection! ). Basically they entered the academy at different times but he is a prodigy fighter; absolutely excels at hand to hand, sees physical weakness like no one else, super built, like a year-ish younger than Gabe. He’s the first person Gabe’s ever wanted to show his true self to. There’s like…. a fwb element too (for maximum messiness) but if ur not comfy with that, it can be scratched or implied lol.
Altelius tradition is to pick numbers as agent names. Gabe’s is 029 and Max’s is 092.
CONNECTIONS
ooof so like…. part of his character is he makes really superficial connections but he’s super friendly….so here we go.
THE TRAINING PARTNER: different from the other one above, this is someone who started training with gabe. maybe they were roommates, but they hit it off. im thinking a more bookish/computer/nerdy muse for this —someone who would be the brains of an operation– but i’m open lol.
THE MENTOR: maybe an instructor or someone who just… gives andy his space to be a normal cadet for once, without the altelius name. literally just give me an adultier figure that’s gunna show this boy some love instead of heaping on expectations like his father.
THE PRYER: someone who wants to “figure him out” bc they believe there’s something more under that carefree boyish attitude. they’d be right, but will they ever figure that out?
LITTLE BROTHER: Max (Logan Shroyer fc, yeah???). As described above.
CLOSE FRIEND/CRUSH: As described above. preferred male. utp if it’s requited or unrequited.
idk. Gabe probably kicks back with the other undercover ops people, sparring partners… the possibilities are ENDLESS yeet
i’ll be in and out all day but hmu on discord ( bwenden guwuhwe#5730 ) or on im if you want to talk plots!!!
“If anyone ever creates a cure for jet lag I will probably marry them,” Maya said, shaking her head at herself for not listening to all the times people gave her tips for overcoming it.
“ have a sleep schedule so unpredictable that time differences don’t matter? ” gabe suggests, only half serious. it’s helped him at least, all that shuffling in his formative years between canada and romania...
