𝑔𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑜𝑦.

[gabrielismss]

ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ  𝑔𝑎𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑚𝑠𝑠  , a  private  blog  for  gabriel  castillo-fiori,  an  original  character  set in city of ruin.  written  by  rora,  24,  she/her  pronouns.  

˗ˏˋ sideblog to enchaentingly,         prompt tag,         about muse tag,         pinterest. ˎˊ˗

name.  gabriel castillo-fiori. occupation.  student at tideview university. age.  24. sexuality.  bisexual, demi-romantic. species.  human/hunter. clan/pack/coven?  the brotherhood. hometown.  port leiry, born and raised. relationship status.  single. personality traits.  serious, empathetic, moral, people-pleasing, protective, dutiful, warm, stoic. family members of note. adrian castillo (father), gael fiori (father, deceased), and gemma castillo-fiori (twin-sister).

gabriel is a twin to his sister, gemma. no, they don’t have a real, magical twin bond, but they are incredibly close and believe they have twin-tuition. it doesn’t quite matter to either of them their birth order, only that, all their lives, each other is all they’ve known. even in those years that come up blank, gabriel knows gemma is there. she always has been. and he knows his sister, built from pieces that refused to match his, so unlike him in a way that puts her in danger. his one true purpose is to protect her. it’s why he hunts, why he does anything. he will always protect her and defend her, she could never do anything truly wrong in his eyes. gael’s murder is the one secret he keeps from her, and that alone shoves a gap of guilt between them. but at the same time, gemma keeps him warm. without gemma, he would have nothing stopping him from turning into his father. he believes that gemma couldn’t survive in only cold, and grief.

gabriel is a brotherhood hunter, like his fathers before him. and like them, he shares their prejudice view against the supernatural- even witches -and knows nothing either than how to give them no mercy, on sight, because it’s the right thing to do. to keep humans safe. to keep his family safe. it’s what they do, they hunt and track, and then kill. gabriel keeps a silver and wooden bullet tied around his neck, to remind him, even if it may not exactly suited for an execution, he carries other things for that. so, he tries. he really does. and he is a hunter, it’s the kind of thing that wasn’t always there, but has been branded onto his bone since, much like the ink to his skin. he’s been doing it longer than he has been a man. it’s the right thing to do, he has to. he bares it, so gemma doesn’t have to. the higher gabriel reaches, the less adrian and gael look to gemma. he has to balance her out, so she doesn’t burn herself out trying to get away from it all. he’ll take it, he hunts, and he’s damn good at it. after gael’s murder, gabriel pushes further into hunting, involving himself more in a way that’s almost like throwing, as gemma pulls away completely.

the only problem is this tiny, persisting, gut feeling about the supernatural. curiosity, empathy, wonder … he’s had that for as long as he can remember, too. it seems impossible to stick such a label on creatures he’s forbidden from meeting, from talking to. even more so considering gabriel knows where they’ve come from, who had them before adrian and gael. it doesn’t feel right to judge like that, but he does it anyway, and he hates himself for feeling any doubt towards the men that saved them. to question the world trembling around him, is wrong, he knows.

being adopted by hunters has a huge effect on gabriel. adrian, specifically, almost enters godhood in his son’s eyes. he is in awe, and completely terrified, and loves both of his fathers infinitely. but the fear is what keeps him hunting, and stoic, and every bit of the boy they ask him to be. part of him desires nothing more than to please adrian, but mostly, he wants to keep gemma safe from them. as mentioned before, gabriel defaults to adrian, and is every bit his son, and a hunter trained by him. gemma does the same to gael, and even in the best of times, there can be distance between the pairs.

as gabriel fixates on hunting, he forgoes hobbies and other interests. for practicality, he’s currently in school for his masters, though he imagines he’ll end up doing something related to … private investigating of a certain kind. he can’t see himself anywhere else, truly.

What is their worst childhood memory?

when gabriel was thirteen, for his first successful hunt, him and his (adopted) father tracked down a powerful dark witch. gabriel didn’t know much about her other than her extreme crimes, and dire reputation. the witch turned out to be his birth mother from the dark coven adrian and gael rescued the twins from. it’s his first kill, and the moment that gabriel realizes that he doesn’t want to hunt, or hurt these creatures that can’t be as bad as everyone says, and at the same time that he must, there is no escape from it.

What characters or tropes inspired this OC, if any?

golden boy. he’s a young, hunting prodigy with a shielded, soft heart with a few well(er) known kills under his belt. he believes in doing the “right thing” and uses this to fuel all of his actions, as well as protecting his twin sister gemma.

Does your character believe in the existence of a higher authority / deity? 

gabriel vc sometimes a father is a kind of god.

        for his first two years, gabriel is in the dark. an empty space of memory, darkness that never was replaced instead by light when he opens his eyes. then, one day, he wakes up. gabriel knows the story of him and his twin sister’s rescue because he’s been told, a thousand times, and gemma always begs for it before she goes to bed at night. gabriel listens, quietly. evil witches, keeping the princess and her twin brother locked in the tallest, cruelest, scariest tower. the witches were going to curse them, and hurt them, and drink their blood like wine but then- their papa saved them. with his scruffy beard and rough edges and weapons that are stuffed in every corner of the house. sometimes, the doors slam too loud and one will come peeking out of their hiding place, but mostly, gabriel knows better than to touch them. gemma does not.

        one night, they’re six and gemma wakes him up in tears. his gemma, his sister, his twin, shaking out of fear. he felt the very same thing crawl into his bones, and then he shook, too. gabriel held onto her so tight that he left bruises as he listened to her story. burning and a monster and loud and scary and screams and fire and- she never stopped spilling. he felt it, too. 

        but his papa teaches him how to be tough, too. it’s not just gemma that they show the scary stuff too. gabriel likes it this way, better, when it’s just him doing it. he’s learned how not to cry, how to be strong, and brave, and to keep secrets. he learns how to keep gemma safe, papa says, because he’ll need to. because they’re not the same. gabriel understands, he can feel it. gemma has to learn, too, but gabriel cares more. it’s fine, he likes it better. soon, they’ll stop asking her, gabriel just has to keep trying. he just has to be good. he just has to ignore all the parts of him that are so wrong, that want to know why, and how, and question. gabriel is torn in half, and always chooses the same direction. when he wants to know about the monsters, he doesn’t ask papa. he asks dad, whose eyes change in a weird way when he asks. it’s never the answer that gabriel’s looking for, but he knows what it’s telling him.

        this thing they’re doing, the people they’re saving and keeping safe, it’s called hunting. people like aunt morgan and uncle bradley. people like gemma. not people like him, and his dads, who are born to do this. papa knows how to banish the monsters of the night back to where they came from, and gabriel wants to know, too. this time, he even helps papa find the witch they’re after, evil and horrible and cruel like the bedtime story. he’s old enough, thirteen, now, that papa even read to him some of her file. once they’re out of the car, gabriel’s getting good at this. he doesn’t get to track the monsters that look like people very often, though it makes his stomach twist up all weird seeing human footprints, with little spots of blood soaked in the centers. she’s here. they’re going to find her. and gabriel helped. the two of them, him and his papa, get so close that that gabriel can smell the magic on her when they stop. papa holds his shoulder, and papa tells him the truth. he looks into his eyes. she’s the one that was going to hurt you. she used to be your mama. you have to stop her before she does it again. papa doesn’t say it, but all gabriel can hear is gemma’s name. i don’t want to do this. he takes the gun, and he doesn’t shake or cry at all. i don’t want to hurt anyone. he sets his shoulders back, mirrors papa. she’s my mom, can’t i just talk to her? gabriel makes the same face as his papa, or maybe even his dad, when he shoots her. he holds it steady, despite the kickback on the gun that makes his hands shake from holding it too tight. the gunshot is the loudest thing he’s ever heard, even though it ends up muffled under the witch’s skin. papa wants him to, it’s okay. he’s going to keep them all safe. gabriel’s going to keep gemma safe. he still feels the gun in his hand, hours later, and it’s something he can’t make go away. he realizes he can’t ever make this go away, he can’t ever think about the monsters who might’ve held him for the first two years. he can’t ever dream, or wonder, or ask about them again. he’s a hunter now. but he just-

        now that he’s proven himself, papa takes him out hunting all the time. gabriel grows stronger, and faster, and even more clever as everything else fades to the background. this is what he does, now, and what he’s good at. gabriel drifts through the day of being a teenager to get to the part where he gets to be a man, instead. his twin sister grows into her own power. high school gives her a glow that he’s never before seen, gemma flares so brightly that she burns into his eyes. she talks so fast now, his head spins. cheerleading practices, competitions, parties, sleepovers, friends, dates with people that he doesn’t know. she lives her life, unbothered, without him. gabriel’s fine to stay in her shadow, there when she needs him. after all, him and papa have their own thing. gabriel’s still terrified to get too close.

        he notices his twin is changing, though he feels the same as he always did. maybe it’s just the way her voice turns crueler when he’s not looking, or the way she draws closer to dad, but something has changed. the eruption of tension happens while all four of them are on a hunt together. they wake up to a forest fire, the bursts of energy feel so close to him, gabriel feels like he could’ve done it himself. but he didn’t do it, none of them could’ve because they’re- the fire dies down. and gabriel sees his fathers there, tearing into each other with their eyes. him and gemma go back to bed, safe and sound. gabriel doesn’t sleep, he stays wide awake, waiting for anyone to say anything. nobody ever does.

        time passes, but it doesn’t matter how long. papa plans a hunt- he shoves the two of them in the car and leaves -with just gabriel and dad. gabriel doesn’t know what it’s for until it happens, even as his stomach dips with unease and fear. the ride is long, and quiet. gabriel sits in the back, exiled from the space his fathers share in the front seat. by the time they arrive, gabriel knows what must be done. the two of them, him and his papa, get so close to his dad that gabriel can smell the magic on him. papa holds his shoulder, and papa tells him the truth. he looks into his eyes. this time, he does tell him. gabriel takes the gun, and he doesn’t shake or cry at all. he sets his shoulders back, mirrors papa. gabriel makes the same face as his papa, or maybe even his dad, who he’s pointing the gun at now. he says something, but his son doesn’t hear it. gabriel shoots his dad, and watches him fall. he holds the gun steady, the kickback still makes his palms tremor. the noise echoes in his ear all the time they take care of the body, all the way back to the car. papa wanted him to, it’s okay. he’s going to keep them all safe. gabriel’s going to keep gemma safe. he’d killed the witch.

        time passes, again, two years this time since gabriel had been the one to kill gael fiori, his dad. gabriel is a hunter, so he hunts, even without papa there. it’s what he has to do, he doesn’t have a choice, he has to keep them safe. the parts of him that think otherwise are better dead, gabriel just doesn’t know how to kill them. he feels gemma’s recoil, deep in his ribs, and can’t do anything about it but give her vague details and excuses to the hunt that her daddy never came back from.

other hunters - these can be anywhere from acquaintances, to those who have worked with him or him and his father(s), even people who maybe have some beef or annoyance with gabriel despite his peak chill guy nature.

[oksana-raevskii]

"Big favor." She repeats in affirmation - the biggest. Hunters have power, when wielded correct. This man, thin as he is, looks easily malleable even if he's giving her lip. She wastes no time moving her hands to his shoulders, strong enough to hold him there, but not strong enough to hurt. No harm tonight - simply menacing. Menacing is fun. She loves the way it makes humans sweat, loves the smell of it as the hormones flood their system like prey animals. It's the sweet scent of a meal being prepared just for her.

Her smile does not fade.

"Also not a question. I need a hunter." Her thumbs dig in just a little, mostly harmless. Mostly to get a rise. Mostly to catch a whiff of the a sweet scent of blood pumping through his veins up to the surface as he prepares for a run or a fight. She finds herself laughing, amused.

She drums her fingers along his shoulders, using it as leverage to move behind him in a blink - slinging an arm over them instead. "I can hear them. Their teeth have already ripped flesh tonight, and they've caught the scent of another chase. Tick, tock, куница." Cute, feral thing. "Big favor." She repeats. "I want to kill the undead bitch that killed my father. Noble, no? You can call me Oksana."

[gabrielismss]

       she says it’s not a question, but gabriel still has the autonomy to refuse. he knows he’s staring down the narrow, dark path of a predator’s mouth- she creeps even closer, gabriel tenses under her touch, he’s not going to pretend like he’s comfortable. and he doesn’t want her help, but if she’s going to keep him from the hunt … then, they have a problem. the tension isn’t fear so much as it is resistance. once, gabriel knew what it meant to have someone else to live for. it’s a dark thing to think about as he’s staring down a violent thing with teeth, lit up by the moon- but he can’t stop himself from going there. the duty of saving someone innocent from someone monstrous keeps him standing upright- but, really, he’d rather die than help a vampire. he may as well bring out that knife he has on his belt, tear open a vein for her to drink. 

       kill me. do it. i don’t care. but gabriel does care, infinitely. he grits his teeth, baring this, too. maybe it’s better that it’s him, here, instead of another hunter. he hears his own father’s voice reminding him that there’s still time to drag her down, no matter the way she rounds him, predatory.

       gabriel has no reason to believe oksana, but she’s right in that he’s wasting time. no, it’s not noble, but he needs them to move on. she wants to kill a vampire, avenge a father- gabriel does, too.   “ we can talk and walk, oksana, or you can kill me. if it’s that important- ”  if she really needs him- he’s treading dangerous waters, he knows.  “ let me hunt, first. ”

[gabrielismss]

[ FIND ] : sender finds receiver beaten and/or bloodied. [Aurelia]

nonverbal prompts, accepting!  ˎˊ˗

        breaking and entering may be against the law, but so’s murder, and gabriel’s already devoted his life to that. that sounds too active for it to be a choice that gabriel made. it’s true that he continues to make it, but it’s his life that devoted itself to hunting, following after his father’s guiding footsteps- both of them. anyways, after a long list of crimes, hiding out in the aviary’s basement without explicit permission isn’t the worst thing he’s done. besides, he did use a key.

        gabriel still creeps down the stairs like he’s not meant to be there- like it’s wrong for him to be. the weight carries heavy in his shoulders, but, really, all this childish shame does is distract him from the reason he needs to be here in the first place. in that, it does its job just fine. in that, gabriel can ignore how sloppy he’s gotten. his claim to hunting has never been his technique, nor stealth. not even his mind. it’s always been his heart, his sense of duty. it’s always been that gabriel finishes what he starts, no matter what. he does the right thing- except for one time. one time, that turned into a second occurrence. and who knows how many lives his father has taken, because gabriel let him?

        maybe this is another way to punish himself for that failure, he hopes that aurelia can see it in the same light. in the dark corner of the basement, under one bulb that’s barely bright enough to shed anything on his shame, gabriel’s tending to the wounds of his most recent hunt. the vampire is a pile of dust, now, but they were bloodthirsty enough to sink their teeth into him before the stake found its way- piercing the vampire’s heart. it’s not the worse he’s ever looked- but it’s also not the best. bite marks on his neck and wrist and bruises from supernatural strength. it’s just enough that he doesn’t want to be on the streets like this.

        when aurelia finds him, he’s patched up enough that he doesn’t need anything- including the protection of her aviary. but when he sees her come down the stairs, gabriel stills as if she’s the creature of the night that he’d already slayed. he’s a wounded animal, rife with vulnerability, and aurelia is … leader of the brotherhood, someone meant to hold him accountable. he doesn’t have a better word for it, everything else hurts. his eyes flicker up to meet hers, briefly. “ sorry … i, uh, needed to be inside, in a pinch. ”

[gabrielismss]

[ BRUSH ]: sender (oksana) brushes hair out of receiver's (gabe) face.

nonverbal prompts, accepting!  ˎˊ˗

        he needs to stop putting himself in rooms alone with her. alone with her, period, really- but he knows better than this. the door adds additional time to an escape that he already knows he doesn't have enough for when she inevitably decides whatever value this hunter boy has is outweighed by the monster in her that wants him dead. in the end, to her, all he is one more victim, she's just squeezing more than blood from him. in the same, she's one less vampire killing someone innocent, in that moment. gabriel's far from it, so it suits him to take the burden.

        that, and they have a shared interest- even if she's using it to play with him. oksana's dangerous, and unpredictable, but gabriel's naive enough to think that he understands her. really, this whole thing is stupid. to him, the end goal is worth the means of working with a violent, chaotic monster. he knows the name of the vampire she wants dead from being involved with the bookers- and that does pull on something, for him.

        still, he'd asked for proof. beyond her fangs, that aoife o'sullivan deserved whatever oksana was gunning her down for. she brings him a paper that he can't read, but, dutifully, gabriel pours over it anyway with a furrowed brow. like something might come out of the symbols he can't identify- but it never does. what does come is a ghost of a touch across his cheek, a shiver travelling up his spine that never quite reaches his shoulder. still, gabriel feels it, even if no one can see it. with clearer vision- thanks to her -his eyes snap to the dark of her own.

        " stop. " with no amount of uncertainty, gabriel takes her hand away from his face. then, he sighs, referencing the supposed proof she'd brought him of aoife's crimes against both her and her father. " i can't read russian. you know that, you're not being fair. "

[finlayhall]

Finlay doesn’t relax from dodging what he thought was a bullet. This conversation has rapidly become a minefield that neither of them wants to cross. Something is hurting so obviously in Gabriel, but if his only option for emotional support is truly him — well, then, if that’s the case, unfortunately he’s fucked, but Finlay’s pretty sure that’s not the situation.

He wishes he could help. He wants something to offer the kid to give him some comfort, any indication that things will be alright. But Finlay’s never figured out how to fix broken things; all he’s ever done is grit his teeth and bear it until the jagged edges soften, or until the callouses build and make it all matter so much less. And it doesn’t feel particularly inspiring to tell someone that it doesn’t get better, it just is. That sometimes families shatter, and instead of putting the pieces back together, everyone just goes their separate ways.

So all he does is nod, and say, “I’ll come by for photos tonight. See you then.”

[gabrielismss]

END.

[howlthorne]

It was a shitty feeling, being the only one left in an empty house that used to be a home. If the potential fallout of his dad getting found dead hadn’t chased him out of his old pack, the idea of being alone in a childhood room, down the hall from a parents room that was now empty, having meals by himself at a table that used to host conversation... That would’ve been enough for him to pack up and skip town for good. 

The kid was alone. Family gone, and clearly going through something. Lucas was never very good at words of comfort, that seemed to be what his sister’s specialty was, but he knew what worked for him, what worked for the other people he cared about. 

“Do you have any family recipes?” He asked, tentatively. No immediate acceptance of the offer to come over, nothing that made him seem too eager to step into a space that clearly had a lot of weight for Gabe, just... an opening. Food was something that tied people together, an opportunity for him to put his skills to use to put a smile on people’s faces. “My sister said that a couple had been spread across different branches, and a few ended up in your house. I could come over and test ‘em out sometime, if you want?” 

He nodded as Gabe let him know how little control he had over his targets. It made sense, but he hoped that if he ever really did something to piss off the Brotherhood, they’d have the decency to send someone who wasn’t family. 

“Yeah, I’m keeping my head down. Pretty sure the hunter I’ve been running into the most isn’t looking to kill me anymore, and my wolf isn’t exactly...” He trailed off, trying to find the way to word it. “I mean, I’ve had more than one full moon where I turned and ended up waking up in the same spot, ten feet lower, with dirt all over my face and hands. Pretty sure my wolf just digs holes and chases squirrels. Blood doesn’t show up much.”

[gabrielismss]

        now that they’ve started down this road, gabriel finds it difficult to pull himself off of it. he knew better than to come this way, like letting lucas in would be as simple as opening a door, without looking at the mess he’s inviting him into. he’s neck-deep and still sinking into his own grief, and, soon enough, it’s going to stuff into his ears. but, in the end, he’s the one that put himself there. it’s impossible to forget, and still, so heavy to remember. he’s lost, and afraid, but he’s the one that thought he could do this. gabriel’s tether-less, and his least favorite feeling crawls up his spine.

        the hunter- more boy, than predator, here -blinks at lucas when he talks. it’s familial, the way that ceases the spiralling into grasping for something different. when’s the last time he’s talked to anyone about food?  “ um … ”  gabriel’s brow pulls together as he thinks, expression shifting from something bleak and desolate.  “ yeah, probably. my pa- adrian, he didn’t cook as much as gael did. but, i mean, it was … ”  it’s strange, to think back to his childhood in search of details that have nothing to do with hunting, or killing … but, still, all to do with fathers.  “ nevermind. it’d be nice, i’d … i’d like that. ”  he hates how stupid it all sounds, so he tries one more time.  “ thanks. ” 

       it’s unnervingly surreal, talking to lucas about hunting. more than just awkward, gabriel can’t help that sinking feeling that returns because it feels wrong. he feels uncertainty in that lucas claims to be keeping his head down- but then they veer a sharp corner into plain fear.  “ you know a hunter? ”  seriousness carves into his features, his spine snapping sharp.

[finlayhall]

You haven’t heard anything from my dad, have you?

It’s the sort of question he’s been dreading, anything that dredges up the fear that Gabriel knows something that no one should. Finlay’s not a particularly anxious person, but there’s a few things he carries with him that he really, truly cannot stand for anyone around him to know.

He has to remind himself that this is an innocuous question — he’s someone that knew Adrian, and Gabriel’s looking for answers in the wake of an unfortunate thing like this happening. He’ll try any path that may lead to something.

“I haven’t,” he responds, in his same stoic tone. “But if he reaches out, I’ll let you know.”

[gabrielismss]

        finlay’s answer- the same as everyone else’s, at least finlay doesn’t fret over him, makes him feel a little more like an adult. maybe more than what he deserves, given that he’s sat here, in someone’s office, begging the universe for his papa back- undoes a seal that had been firmly latched. it starts letting out steam through the cracks, the kind of hissing that comes pressed out in rushed words.

        “ right, yeah. ”  gabriel stands up, sudden. he feels how uncomfortable and stark the contrast of his behavior is to the shield of silence that he usually dons for hunting.  “ thank you, sorry. i- um … he’s just … not talking to me, so … ”  he also doesn’t mean to let that out, but it’s a cold, and sharp realization that lets him know that he has to leave. and, like a survival instinct, he does.

        “ anyways, thank you, again. let me know if you need anything else. ”  he nods to finlay.  “ see you around, yeah? ”

[finlayhall]

Finlay scribbles 7:30 AM down on the bag, and the date, then carefully transfers the sample out of the ziplock into the paper evidence bag with his gloved hand. "Paper is better for biological samples," he explains without waiting to see if Gabe's even wondering. "Plastic isn't breathable, so it traps moisture that can cause problems down the line. It was a good choice for transport, though." He doesn't want to discourage him from taking samples down the line. "I just need it to match how we prepare our evidence."

Not that the other lab workers pay too much attention to what he does. Photography eats up a lot of his time, and offering to handle the brunt of the paperwork (and morgue visits) buys him enough gratitude to have a blind eye turned to his... personal projects.

He assumes this is the end of it, but Gabe doesn't get up. "Yes," he says, though he wonders what exactly he's agreeing to. Of the younger hunters he's interacted with, Gabe is... a bit of an unknown quality. Both in what's happened with him lately, and who exactly he is, behind those searching eyes. He's so quiet, in a thoughtful way. There's just no way to guess what he's thinking. "Ask away."

[gabrielismss]

gabriel nods, taking in the information for safekeeping and a genuine intent to make finlay’s life easier, in anyway he can. additionally, it just makes sense. and then, it’s done, now gabriel only needs to let go of the weight that something may be lurking in the woods behind his house, the one he’s been entrusted to look after, while everyone else is keeping themselves safe. it’s fine. that, too, makes sense, because gabriel’s always been good at bearing things.

the boy forces himself to let it go, but it only means that he’s moving onto something else, leading finlay with a question that he doesn’t want to ask. but, mostly, he doesn’t want to ask because he already thinks he has to- but if this was the missing piece, he’d never forgive himself. so, gabriel has to try.

“ … you haven’t, um … heard anything from my dad, have you? ”

[bainesalthea]

She's about to turn and do her own thing when he heads over to the camper - there's a tarp here somewhere that she's gotta put up so they don't get insulation all over the damn place. Or something. Fuck if she knows how any of this shit works. Althea doesn't actually get very far before Gabe's asking about the dents and the scratches in the camper --

And she wishes she'd figured out how to fix that by now.

Sniffing, she clomps down to follow him, hands shoved into her pockets. She stops right next to him, lips set in a hard frown. "That.. was Heron." Clearing her throat to prevent the lump from forming, she wipes at her face, then her hand goes right back to her pocket where she can dig her blunt nails into her palms without scrutiny. "I dunno what happened, big fuckin' wolf was chasing me. I ended up leading her to one of my traps and.. killed her. Didn't know it was her til she turned back." Her voice cracks all throughout it. "I'm, uh, I'm looking for the one that bit her."

[gabrielismss]

the fear and worry that had been trapped in his chest rushes into his heart, one that aches for althea. gabriel knows what it’s like to be the one with blood on their hands, blood that comes from violence against the one that had taught him how. she’s one of the only ones that knows, but it doesn’t change the pain, and the sharply wrapped, thorned package of guilt. and if she doesn’t carry that like gabriel does, he can see in her voice, hear in her voice that it’s not completely settled within her. still, he doesn’t really know what to say. “ i’m glad you’re okay. ” he knows what she’s feeling, but it doesn’t change anything.

and if she needs to hear that she did the right thing, he’ll tell her that, too. but, for now, gabriel figures he’s best being useful around her camper and new cabin. he gives the scratches against the walls one last look, before ducking down to pick up a box. he starts on his way to the cabin. “ is that why you’re moving? the thing with the wolf? ”

[howlthorne]

“But you’re here. That’s what matters.” Here, alive, and not killing him. A great start for the hunter branches of his family. 

He froze in his half-attempt to get up as Gabe made it clear he wasn’t going to send him away. He settled back into the seat, hands still on the table in a deliberate show of being unarmed, something that was less standoffish now than it was when he’d first sat down. “Yeah, I’ve got a place now, I’m doing alright. I work down at the pizza place and that autoshop downtown, and I had some decent savings before I picked up and left, so I’m not broke.”

Housing wasn’t an issue. Growing up in trailers and mobile homes made him pretty adaptable to sleeping anywhere, and while he was constantly pacing around and cleaning things up to avoid feeling like an imposition, cycling between the spare bedroom in his sister’s house (his room, she’d say every time he called it that, but he still didn't like staking some claim over something that was hers in his mind) and sleeping on Alcide’s couch suited him just fine. 

“I’ve got a pack to run with on full moons, and I’ve managed to avoid getting into too much trouble with hunters so far, so that’s... probably the best I can hope for. Never been in a town that had so many of you guys in it before.” He was testing the waters, bringing up the hunter stuff, but it had to be said.

[gabrielismss]

        he is here, but gabriel’s not sure how much it matters given that all he can think about is who isn’t here. and they keep going. he can’t blame them, given the danger, and maybe gabriel should’ve left years ago, when gael died. but something’s keeping him here, he just doesn’t know what to do. fear, is what he guesses, given that’s all that he has, these days. too scared to move a muscle in port leiry, and too scared to start over, somewhere else. there’s a few roots keeping him here, but not nearly as many as there should be for how he thinks of his duty to this city.

        gabriel nods. good, he’s glad.  “ just … don’t be a stranger. i’ve got the house to myself and it’s- there’s safety in numbers but, i mean … ”  his tongue turns heavy in his mouth. he sits, for a moment, knowing the vulnerability in what he’s thinking. but his heart bleeds with compassion, with misplaced trust.  “ it’s just never been that empty, before, ‘s weird. ”

         never been in a town with so many of you guys in it before.  “ right, well … we’re family. i’ll keep an eye out for you, i can’t do much if you get into trouble but there’s … ”  he can’t promise anything, so he doesn’t.  “ it’s port leiry, there’s enough monsters here to keep us busy. ”  gabriel can’t tell him that lucas doesn’t have to worry about him, because he should. gabriel should be on his guard, he should be weighing the potential of lucas’ face or name appearing in a file that a brotherhood hunter hands him, one day. or even a hunt that gabriel would need to carry out, himself, after considering the danger of a wolf on the streets. he feels a little like a child, plugging his ears and singing to block those thoughts out.

[finlayhall]

"No," he says, flatly. "It's not trouble. It's my job." It's a simplified answer, but Finlay's learned how to trim down his tendency to over-explain what he really means. It is more work for him, and his plate is never empty, but the work needs done. He's got the resources and the experience. This is what he brings to the Brotherhood, above all else. So it's not trouble, even when it's another thing to keep track of.

Besides, if he wants something done right, it's near always got to be done by him, because most hunters don't understand the rules of collecting evidence and never seem to pick up on the intricacies. "Good," he says, to Gabe's statement. "Keep it up."

This morning is... painfully vague. He taps the pen against the bag. "Morning like what? 6AM? 8? 10? Don't need a direct time stamp, but I need an estimate."

He gives Gabe a moment to decide what he wants to say, and sure enough, he comes up with an answer. "Human tracks leading to the road..." he murmurs, scribbling that down on a blank sticky note. He'll type up a formal file later. "I'll come by when I get off work and get some photos." He knows, he knows, that the offer was meant to help. But he knows himself too well. All he'll do is judge how unprofessional the photos are.

[gabrielismss]

        gabriel forces himself to swallow what finlay says. no matter if it’s his job, it’s still extra that he wouldn’t have on his list of duties that gabriel imagines to never ending. something he wouldn’t have to do had gabriel just minded his business. but he’s too old to argue with hunters that have ten years over his head. he knows better, and it’s plain disrespectful.

        he’s old enough, too, not to preen when finlay says good. however, he feels a weight slide off of his shoulders. gabriel nods, he will keep it up.  “ around seven thirty, i think. i left the house then, and i hit it after only about five minutes or so of walking. ”  whatever survival instinct keeps his spine strung tightly upwards to the ceiling of finlay’s office, is the same one that keeps his mind sharp enough to recall this sort of thing, he thinks. gabriel’s thankful for it.

        “ yeah, okay, thanks. ”  he’s thankful for finlay too. the boy doesn’t get up to leave, but he considers it. instead, he shifts on his chair, batting away questions he knows finlay can’t answer, or doesn’t want to. he just needs to be an adult about this. it’s just a simple question. gabriel holds the words in his mouth.  “ is there anything else, or … ”  just one more thing. just one more thing.  “ can i ask another question? it’s not about … this. ”

[sammykeels]

He ducked into the passenger seat, listening for the little click of the seatbelt and tugging it to make sure it was secure, instinct after years of having to cut down on every other one of his little safety rituals. 

“Is it an information gathering thing, or a hit?” Sammy was never very sure on where Gabe stood in the ideology of hunting, whether he was in a position of killing supernaturals because they were supernatural, or if he was trying to limit it to ones who had done something to prove they were dangerous. From what he’d seen and heard, the former was how he was raised, but with Adrian out of town... well, Sammy wasn’t in any place to judge someone for acting a little weird in the absence of their dad. That’s what he’d been doing for the past twelve years, the death just made it official. 

Either way, Sammy wasn’t going to be pulling the trigger. Thank you, Brotherhood mentorship rules about first kills. He wouldn’t have to grapple with the issue of having to kill someone unless he was on a hunt with Shiv. Just the similarly paralyzing issue of whether helping someone with a kill counted as killing, and if he was okay with that. 

[gabrielismss]

        “ information gathering. ”  gabriel says, almost immediately. he, himself, buckles in, starting the car. before he takes his foot off of the breaks, he gives the file one last look, then decides he knows where he’s going.  “ for now, at least. depends what we find. ”  might be a closer truth.  “ but that’ll be … don’t worry about that. ”  sammy won’t be involved, gabriel’s certain with that, and his words are genuine. he’s the only one who needs to carry anything about this, sammy’s just along for the ride, if he chooses to be. to gabriel, hunting’s more of a duty, than it is a privilege.

        part of it is that some nights, gabriel wishes he would’ve given himself more time after his father had died. part of him wishes he was still waiting. brotherhood rules keep them safe, and in line, but even without them, gabriel wouldn’t have crossed over it.

        they set off.  “ how’s everyone been about it all? ”  it all means grief, means being young, means learning, means sammy and his mentorship.  “ brotherhood still treating you good? ”

[finlayhall]

Finlay holds back a grimace at the ziplock — he can save that lecture for the cops that know better. “Yeah,” he says, as he picks up the bag. “I can run some tests on it. It’ll take a few weeks to get results back, but I’ll let you know what it spits out.” He gives the chunk of… matter a careful once-over, then sets it back down on his desk.

He flicks open his kit and pulls out a set of latex gloves. “How long ago did you collect this?” He asks. He’s got a paper evidence bag out, and a pen poised to scribble down basic info. People at the station don’t ask questions, but a large part of that relies on keeping up appearances. They pay less attention when he can pass this off as something from a case, like he’s giving them an excuse to ignore him. “Did you spot any other signs of a… struggle, or incident in the surrounding area?”

[gabrielismss]

        “ thank you. ”  gabriel starts with that, before finlay’s question. because he means it, really. the boy has no qualms with telling him so.  “ i mean it, i really appreciate it. it’s not … trouble for you, or anything, is it? ”  like he could take back what he’d given to finally, like he wanted to. it’s better off his plate to worry about, he’d take the duty back once he knows for sure what he’s dealing with- or what he doesn’t need to.

        finlay distracts him with the sight of him donning protective wear, so gabriel cuts in.  “ i wore gloves this time, i swear. ”  then, he hears his question. gabriel, nods.  “ this morning. ”  better than beyond that, but, still he doesn’t know everything that finlay’s thinking right now, even though he wants to.

        as for a sign of struggle,  “ um … ”  gabriel doesn’t have as much certainty. in a way, he does, but describing it isn’t as easy as what’s going through his head.  “ do you want to see? or i can come back with pictures, or something? ”

        then, he decides against hesitating.  “ anyway, i think there was signs of struggle. tracks, too. they seemed human, i followed them out to the road and then there weren’t anymore. ”

[howlthorne]

“Canada. I couldn’t go back to West Virginia, my old pack was probably still looking for me and I didn’t leave on real good terms.” Killing the man who had eaten his family would do that when that man was the pack alpha’s younger brother. He considered admitting to that, some half-nod to say see? I’m not all bad. I’m not so spineless as to pretend that there aren’t monsters out there, even when I’m talking shit about hunters, but decided against it. Admitting to killing a guy wasn’t the best look, not when he was trying to show Gabe that he wasn’t the monster all that hunter training probably told him he was. “Got married, moved around the country a bit, got divorced. Now I’m here. Joined up with a pack, met my sister, trying to meet all the rest of you.” 

“I’m not... I don’t want to hurt you or hunt you down or whatever it is you think I might be up to just 'cause I'm a wolf, I’m just trying to meet you. Adopted family’s still family, and with everyone else out of town, I figured you had a right to know I’m around.” Stupid as it was, he wanted to try to get to know the kid. Family had always been important to him, enough that he hung off of his sister’s words when she described who they had in town, who he might be able to meet, even though he knew he’d be lucky to meet half of them without looking down the barrel of a gun. “If you want me to walk away and pretend I don’t know you, I’ll get outta here.” 

[gabrielismss]

        gabriel remains a good listener, but perhaps its more for his own sake, than lucas’. he’s … processing, imagining the life of a dead man- no longer a boy. he’s not just a story. he’s a wolf, living and breathing in front of him. willing to meet with gabriel at the same table, for the sake of only family. he knows he’s calling lucas’ sister after this, but beyond that … he doesn’t know what to do. that’s almost worse than the recentering of a part of gabriel’s world at lucas’ appearance.

        still, he has to remember that this could all be a lie. all of it. the story, the sister, the marriage- and then the divorce, all of it could be. family could be a lie. jesus. he can’t just believe this because he wants it to be true. gabriel hears pack, which makes his stomach sink. somehow, a lone wolf would've been easier to swallow. gabriel hears the rest of you, and his stomach drops further.  “ well, i’m the only one left. ”  it’s a little petulant, but he can’t help it. he’d earned being left behind, but lucas doesn’t know that, and gabriel doesn’t know how to tell him.

         his heart, even raw and wounded, is stronger than his mind. he remembers the connection from his father to the death of lucas’ family, but when gabriel looks into lucas’ eyes, he doesn’t see a beast, or a monster. he doesn’t say what he’s thinking, nor what he means, and, still, neither what he wants to- but-  “ no. ”  no, he doesn’t want him to go.  “ are you safe, in town? like, you got someplace to stay? ”

[oksana-raevskii]

Oksana studies this man, eyes scanning over him as if a simple cursory look might reveal more than just what he's wearing. She can't exactly smell what his tattoo does, faint as it is compared to the smell of a witch's blood. The florals are still quite enticing, cutting through her previous meal only slightly. Making a meal of a hunter isn't the point here, she reminds herself.

Allies are what she needs. The word floats through her shattered thoughts, scraping itself on the edges until it settles into something akin to a plan at the back of her tongue. Hunters are natural enemies of herself and people like her. It's the latter here, that intrigues her. Would this man believe in 'the enemy of my enemy'? Or would he simply wait to shove a bullet or wood through her heart at first chance?

The way to find out is to simply try. "I do hope." She makes no move to hide her accent, "Sometimes the things that go bump in the night tend to make friends of the most unlikely people." She leans in towards him, bent at the hip, with her hands behind his back and finds herself pleasantly surprised by not having to lean up or down. They match.

Хороший знак. "Are you hunting tonight?" Her grin widens, the corners of her lips pulling wide - showing much more teeth than would be any sort of normal, friendly encounter. A shark hides itself behind her features, gnashing and thrashing (easily tamed with the right deflection) and ready for a meal. "I help you hunt." It's not a question. "Then you owe me a favor and a conversation. Easy as."

[gabrielismss]

        discomfort crawls up his spine, the same ice-cold shiver as fear, but, still, his heels stay rooted to the ground. gabriel carries the distant awareness, an echo of a voice of conscience, that he should just leave. not worry about this vampire, and focus on his own hunt, wait until her name’s on someone else’s list. if he’s here, with her, the vampire who he’d come out into the night for could be hurting someone else. but she can’t hurt anyone else while he’s here, either. still, gabriel’s a hunter, not a babysitter. and stupid. he’s really, really stupid. he learns this in every curl of tension by his temple.

        “ yes. ”  gabriel doesn’t know what she’s finding when the vampire looks at him, only sees the dark hunger of her eyes, and the sharpness of her smile. dangerous. “  i don’t want your help. ”  there’s no reason to evade the honesty she’s already sniffed out. he doesn’t mind the veil of ignorance dropping, they each know who the other is- what they are. a vampire, and a hunter, and fangs in her mouth, and a stake on his belt.  “ you must need a pretty big favor if you’re willing to work with a hunter. ”  because he’s not willing to work with a monster. he can’t. gabriel can’t be that suicidal, he’s not even twenty-five yet. just a lonely, stupid boy with a migraine to a question he already knows the answer. kill her, or walk away. don’t ask questions, don’t wonder what keeps her standing here, don’t think twice.

        still, he doesn’t want to be cruel. annoying and sharp-toothed isn’t a crime deserving of death. his father’s done worse, and gabriel couldn’t even kill him. better, then, to continue on his way.

[rylangrave]

Closed Starter for @gabrielismss

Where: Graver Isle/Gabe’s Doorstep

Over the past few weeks of delivering letters, news of the fall of a hunter family by the name of Castillo-Fiori had been news on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Details were hazier on what had happened to the various members but all Rylan knew was the last Castillo-Fiori was a boy named Gabe.

It was a story that had lingered on Rylan’s mind, a hunter who had once been surrounded by family now alone in the world.

Berit’s office was cluttered. For a man who claimed he had everything under control, his own child still hadn’t been able to work out whatever paranoid hodgepodge system he had decided to keep his filing system in. It almost mirrored the cluttered state of Fred’s greenhouse. ‘They had been perfect for one another’ echoed through Rylan’s mind as they went wipe a tear that had definitely been caused by dust off their cheek. Her two silly misanthropic guardians, she shook her head.

She brushed her fingers over a lock box that had been buried deep in paper under Berit’s desk and their fingers found an embossed label.

G. & A. Castillo-Fiori

Her fingers stilled, revenant for a moment before tenderly moving to the latch of the box, inside held two heavy letters one For Gabriel, the other For Gemma. Rylan took a deep breath, she’d have to check the morning tides.

She knocked softly at the door. The sun was just warming the earth and Argus was running around somewhere behind them. It took a moment before the sound of stumbling footsteps reached her ear and a dark blonde boy swung the door open, eyes still blinking. “Gabriel Castillo-Fiori? I’m Rylan Graver…of the Isle,” she added hastily, “would you mind if I came in?”

[gabrielismss]

        quiet, peaceful mornings alone in an empty house are their own special kind of hell. gabriel knows better than to not keep himself busy, and he succeeds, most of the time. but he’d lose himself if he spent every minute of his day hunting, but he’s not sure that he has anything left to save when he sits, by himself, on days like this. he invents rituals and routines to keep himself moving after he first gets out of bed, perimeter checks that never end. it’s better than killing, but not more useful, and he can’t decide what’s worth more.

        now, he’s sitting at the table, blinking away at the sun that peeks through the shades, burning through his eyelids, even when they close. he’d been staring out a window, watching a bird flutter around in the fall breeze, when gabriel catches the sound of the gravel crunching in the driveway. he’s on his feet soon enough after that, reaching the door before whoever’s here could beat him to it.

        gabriel opens it after the knock, soft, as opposed to anything harsh enough to interrupt a morning. “ right, um- ”  rylan graver, of graver isle. right. fuck, his head’s not working fast enough to fill in the details he’s missing here. gabriel rubs at the back of his neck, nodding. his initial defenses have done their bypass, and the rylan making the house call makes it through the threshold.  “ yeah, yeah, sure. ”  he fights to keep it off his shoulders, but he can’t help but notice the pit in his stomach.  “ what’s going on? ”  he doesn’t keep the concern off of his voice quite as easily.

[howlthorne]

“The night they died. The guy who did it is the one who took me.” That was already saying too much. “I didn’t know it was him at the time, he was just... the guy that pulled me out of it.” 

Part of picking a public place for this was that he knew he’d not be able to keep the wolf thing under wraps for long. 

Might as well just be honest. “He was a wolf. I walked in on... I mean, you’ve heard the story. You know how my parents ended up.” 

“I tried to run and grab my sister, he chased, I got bit before I could even get up the stairs. I blacked out, and woke up with my injuries wrapped up and him carrying me. Took me as some kind of replacement for his own kid that took a silver bullet, some fucked up sort of equal exchange revenge thing. I can thank your dad for that one, by the way.” He brought his coffee mug to his mouth instead of finishing that thought. Whatever bitterness he felt about Uncle Adrian being the one who started this shit, the one whose scent had been traced from the dumped body all the way to his house, it had no place here. 

He set the mug down, trying to keep himself from tapping his fingers against the ceramic. “I was in his pack ‘til I was sixteen. Skipped town the night he died.” 

[gabrielismss]

        gabriel listens, and does not say anything, which is maybe more than he should be doing, sitting across from the wolf. but, still, he listens to his story. all of it, and learning pieces that his father hadn’t given him. lucas does not directly contradict anything he’s been told- save for the no survivors part, which leads gabriel to, in fact, actually question one or both of his fathers’ in that he can’t imagine a wolf not leaving behind a trail. who had been the one to give up on lucas, where they hadn’t his sister? maybe it hadn’t been gael, or adrian, but another hunter. still, it sits hard and heavy in gabriel’s stomach. that somewhere along the line, someone had failed the boy, and now he was a monster.

        it shouldn’t be like that, ever. that’s the whole reason for hunting- the purpose, so bad things don’t happen to good people, like lucas and his sister. is it something gabriel can make up, now? could it ever be? it may not be his duty to bear, but gabriel struggles to put it down, now that he’s picked it up to look at it.

        he doesn’t comment on lucas’ mention of his father. a pinch between gabriel’s brow says enough. adrian would’ve been right to kill the wolf- he had been. the only mistake wasn’t finishing them off, stopping them from taking lucas’ family, and then him as replacement.  “ and since then? ”  eventually, he’ll run out of questions, or lucas will run out of answers, and the light will turn on gabriel. but, for now, they both can sit in this and pretend like they’re not meant to be killing each other.