GJM

I'll be flying back and forth between one mutually exclusive thing and another for the rest of my days.  

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Gabe does not do well in the cold; he never really has. To be honest, he doesn’t do well in the summer either, but that’s a whole other story. Gabe’s fall style can best be described as: things that will keep me warm. He doesn’t always match, but he’s always warm no matter what he’s wearing. He’s a sucker for a good beanie or hat, as long as it keeps his head warm. He almost always is wearing layers. A hoodie with a heavy canvas or denim coat on over top is his go-to staple. He also has a lot of flannel and wool shirts. As far as accessories go, he always has on boots and sunglasses -- or his reading glasses when he forgets he’s still wearing them.

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"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." — Albert Camus

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Pop-Up Task 15

Francis James, Biological father

“My dad had limitations. That’s what my good-hearted mom always told us. He had limitations, but he meant no harm. It was kind of her to say, but he did do harm.” – Gillian Flynn

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Pop-Up Task: Gabe’s Dream Family

Because Gabe is a child of the 70s and 80s, his dream family comes from the characters of that era. 

Jason Seaver (from Growing Pains) would be his dream father, mostly due to the fact that he’s the opposite of Gabe’s own father. This man gave up a hospital career to be a stay-at-home dad and run his practice out of the house. The idea of a caring (although not perfect) father is appealing to Gabe, and they would be close. And you know there would be a very special coming out episode. Carol Brady (from The Brady Bunch) would be his mother, if only because she’s the most supportive mother in the history of mothers. She would give him a gentle speech about how disappointed she was with him when he would make mistakes. When he came out as gay, she would be the type of mom to throw a gigantic coming out party. She would be supportive to the point of annoying and embarrassing the fuck out of him. So you know, that would follow the very special coming out episode.

Henry Blake (from M*A*S*H) would be his grandfather. While the character is a serial adulterer, there is something about the way he talked to his staff and got involved into shenanigans himself, that appeals to Gabe. He would definitely be the fun grandpa, and Gabe wouldn’t spend too much time with him out of fear that he wouldn’t accept his sexuality. This would lead to an episode of pure chaos where Henry would be convinced Gabe knocked a girl up. He would be relieved to find out: “Oh, you’re only gay. I thought it was something terrible.” Daisy “Granny” Moses (from Beverly Hillbillies) would be his grandmother. Now, he doesn’t have a real reason for this. He just thinks she’d be a hilarious grandma, and she’d be the one to watch Gabe after school. She would rope him into crazy shenanigans and there would be an episode where she tries to treat his chicken pox without calling a doctor and leads to her dying his skin a weird color.

Jonathan Higgins (from Magnum P.I.) would be his other grandfather. While Higgins is also rather traditional, he’s also willing to bend the truth for the greater good. Gabe would spend summers at the house Higgins ran in order to learn how to be a proper gentleman. He would be annoyed as hell with his grandfather’s need for Gabe to be a proper gentleman. For Higgins, there would be an episode where Gabe is convinced Thomas Magnum was his grandfather’s much younger lover. He’d spent the episode trying to catch them in the act. It would end with a very telling wink at the end. Sophia Petrillo (from Golden Girls) would be his other grandmother. Gabe would be one of the few people who wouldn’t get annoyed by her stories about Sicily. She would be the first person he would come out to, and she would have some story about something back in Sicily that reminded her of his situation. There would be an episode about Gabe bailing his grandma out of some sort of shenanigan -- like stirring up trouble at a gay rights rally.

Punky Brewster (from Punky Brewster) would be his sister, and his best friend in the world. Georgie loved watching this show when they were kids, so this is obviously the ideal substitute for his sister. They would be attached at the hip, and every episode would be the two of them getting into trouble. Jo Polniaczek (from Facts of Life) would be his cousin -- the one he was never allowed to hang out with because of her personality. She would constantly egg Gabe on, and he’d egg her on right back. There would be an episode were they get picked up by the cops, and have a very serious talk with Gabe’s parents.

Alex P. Keaton (from Family Ties) would be his other cousin, and they would not get along at all. They would be polar opposites and would argue and banter the entire time they’re together. For all their bickering, they’re still family and there’d be an episode where Gabe threatens to break someone’s knees with his baseball bat because they’re being rude to his cousin.

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Drabble: August 15, 2022

Title: August 15, 2022 Rating: R (language) Word Count: 1600 Characters: Gabriel James-Michaels, Jonathan James-Michaels, Arabella James-Michaels, Nasrin Ali, Nancy Conrad (mentioned), Georgiana (James) Adams (mentioned) Relationships: Gabriel/Jonathan, Gabriel & Georgiana Trigger Warnings: Canon murder, grief recovery, mentions of child neglect Summary: Going to Roswell was supposed to make things easier.

Roswell, New Mexico – A few weeks ago

It was just a stupid fucking building. He didn’t know why he was having such a hard time forcing himself to go into the fucking UFO Museum. Shit, he’d already purchased his admission, and Jay and Bella had gone ahead. Of course, Jay hadn’t wanted to go inside without Gabe, but he’d all but forced his husband to do so. He knew his husband was worried about him, and he knew he was afraid this trip was going to harm Gabe more than help him, but there were just some things that Gabe needed to do while they were here. And going into his sister’s former place of work? Yeah, that was one of those things he needed to do. Fuck, he and his sister had spent hours upon hours here even before she started working at the museum. So yeah, this was a place he needed to visit; it was just proving more difficult than he had originally anticipated.

In his defense, he’d made it into the lobby. Sure, it had taken fifteen minutes, but he was inside and staring at that fucking stupid wooden alien carving that held the information sign. Georgie had told him its name once, but he’d long since forgotten what it was. He was contemplating going back outside and smoking yet another cigarette, but instead he found himself just staring at the damn monstrosity. At some point he must have drawn the attention of the reception desk because he kept feeling eyes on him. Although, since they’d been in town, he had been recognized a couple of times. It was an artist heavy town, so he’d been swarmed when they went into the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, and he’d had some true crime enthusiasts try to talk to him and Jay. For the most part, though, people had left him alone. Thank fuck.

“G?” A strange, but yet vaguely familiar voice asked him. When he didn’t respond right away, the woman tagged on: “G James?”

He slowly turned around to find a familiar looking petite brunette looking at him expectantly. She was wearing an employee badge, and she was nearly a foot shorter than him, but he had a feeling that if she really needed to, she could break his knee in six places. Wait… No… He accidentally broke her knee when she and Georgie were in the fourth grade. He’d been running hitting drills in the backyard with Derrick while she and Georgie were laying out on the back porch reading magazines. She’d gotten up to go grab something from the house, and the ball he’d hit flew into her kneecap at just the right angle. He’d completely shattered it, and then he’d spent the rest of the summer carrying her around to make up for it. “Nasrin?”

A bright smile filled up her features and she launched herself at him into a deathly tight bearhug. “What the fuck!?” She asked when she pulled back and then punched him in the arm. “You come into town and you don’t call? What the fuck?!” And just like that she was grinning again. “Where’s your husband and kid? Did you come without them? My partner never lets me travel without her. She says I make friends too easily and am gonna wind up dead in a ditch somewhere after I go willingly into a stranger’s van.” And the smile flew off her face. “Fuck, that’s a shitty joke to make in front of you of all people. Sorry, you must be here for G’s stuff.”

There was a lot to unpack there. He forgot how much she talked. There was one thing that stuck out to him though – “What do you mean G’s stuff?” And that was probably the last thing he expected Nasrin to tell him.

“Oh yeah. She left me something to give to you just in case something ever happened, but you never stopped by. I still have it in my desk drawer though. Lemme grab you a visitor’s badge and I’ll show you.” She rattled off before running to grab him a badge from reception. He barely had time to text Jay to let him know that he was being taken back to the employees’ area before Nasrin was back and he was being dragged through the narrow hallways and towards her desk.

As she rummaged through drawers, Gabe found himself staring at the space where Georgie’s desk used to be. Fuck, it was so weird being back here without his sister. It was, however, a little easier being here with her best friend. After a couple of minutes, Nasrin handed him a brown paper wrapped package. In his sister’s loopy writing were the words ‘For G’s eyes only.’ Except… it wasn’t in English. It was in the coded language they’d made up as children and talked in when they didn’t want their spouses to know what they were talking about. “Naz… You’ve had this for twenty years and you’ve never opened it once?” He asked incredulously.

“She told me not to.” She said as though it was as easy as that. And maybe it was that easy for her. “Are you gonna open it?”

He weighed the package in his hands. It felt like paper or a book. “Yeah, do you have gloves? If it’s been preserved for that long in paper it’s either going to be in great condition or shitty condition.” He pointed out -- the years of working with antiques and knowing better outweighing his need to rip the paper off.

Nasrin grinned. “I have something better.”

As she prepped the cleanroom they used at the museum to authenticate artifacts, Gabe took the moment to text Jay. ‘Ran into G’s best friend. Will explain in a bit. Love you. Always.’ His phone was barely in his pocket before Nasrin was getting him into one of those white suits.

Together they slowly peeled back the paper to reveal a journal. No… His sister’s diary. A diary he thought the police already had. Except… no. This wasn’t her diary. This was her planning notebook. For how he was going to divorce Nancy and get custody of the kids. And it was entirely written in their secret language.

“Naz.” He breathed out. “When did she give this to you?”

She swallowed. “The day before she… you know.” She turned a couple of pages. “Is this in that stupid code of yours?”

He grinned. “Yeah… I’ll give you the key so you can translate it.” He promised, and when Nasrin started to say something, he shook his head. Because he knew his sister; he knew how she was. This wasn’t for him. There was going to be things in there she wasn’t going to want him to read.

“She left it for you. I wasn’t allowed to read her plan just in case Nancy caught on. She only said it was for me so I can give you the key.”

Nasrin just stared at the book. “G, if I had given this to you when you were in jail would this have-”

“Don’t, Naz.” And fuck, did he need a cigarette. If this was what he thought it was, Georgie had probably written pages and pages about how crazy Nancy was and about how she needed to get her brother, niece, and nephew the hell out of there. “You didn’t know, okay? Is there still employee smoking out back?”

She grabbed his hand. “We’re smoke-free. C’mon, you’ll give me the key later. Introduce me to this husband of yours.”

Manhattan, New York – August 15

He thought today would be better after Roswell. This day was always difficult, but he’d gotten his shit together. He’d visited Georgie and Derrick’s gravesite. He’d reunited with Derrick’s mom. Today was supposed to be a hell of a lot easier, and yet it felt the same as every other August 15th had been the past twenty years. It was slightly easier, but he’d still been curled up in bed all day watching X-Files with Bella glued to his hip. As always Jay stayed home from work, but he was working on his laptop on the other side of the bedroom. It was nice, though, because Gabe knew if he needed him, his husband was right there. 

It was a little before dinner, and he and Bella had just woken up from a nap when his phone dinged. It was Nasrin and she’d only sent him a link. The second he clicked the link his whole world flipped upside down. 

“Jay.” He barely breathed out, before all but screaming: “JAY.”

His husband had been in the kitchen, but he was in their bedroom in under five seconds. He couldn’t speak. All he could do was shove the phone into the other man’s hand as Bella tried to get their attention to figure out what was going on.

 “Briel.” He met his eyes. “Briel.”

Gabe nodded. “I know.” He finally managed out.

It was silent save for Bella trying to get their attention.

“Fuck, I need to call the kids. They need to find out from me. They can’t find out from one of their friends that their mom was arrested. They have to find out from me and-”

Johnny pulled him into a hug. “Let’s just breathe. Then we’ll call the kids.”

Bella managed to squirm in between them. “It’s okay, GG.” The four-year-old soothed, still not knowing what was going on. She buried her face into the side of his hip. “How come you’re crying? Is this happy or sad?”

“Both.” His husband answered for him. “It’s both.”

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Pop-up: family member moodboard 

Annie Palmer — “A cousin is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.”

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Drabble: Some Work, Some Play

Title: Some Work, Some Play Rating: R (language) Word Count: 1430 Characters: Andrew James, Maxwell Turner, Constance James (mentioned), Gabriel James-Michaels (mentioned), Jonathan James-Michaels (mentioned), Arabella James-Michaels (mentioned), Velvet Starr (mentioned), Emilio Ramos (mentioned), Steven Albright (mentioned) Relationships: Andrew James/Maxwell Turner, Gabriel James-Michaels/Jonathan James-Michaels (implied), past Andrew James/Emilio Ramos (blink and you’ll miss it) Trigger Warnings: Mentions of substance abuse, abandonment issues, unhealthy relationships, mention of canon murder, vague mention of medical trauma and misdiagnosis, this writer’s uses of fuck and shit as filler words, mentions of Gabe and Johnny’s “divorce.” Drabble Inspiration: This gif set Summary: What was that saying from that really boring “horror” movie? All work and no play made someone a dull boy? Whatever. He needed to let off some steam.

It’s been awhile since Drew had been out. Between taking over the classes all summer at Camp Art for his dad, and taking summer classes at NYU, he barely had any time for himself. And the spare time he did have was either spent hanging out at the house with his dad, Johnny, and Bella or hanging out with his sister, CJ. He hadn’t had time to do much of anything else, and it was showing. What was that saying from that really boring “horror” movie? All work and no play made someone a dull boy? Whatever. He needed to let off some steam, and that’s why he was at Club Cumming.

Going out clubbing had never really been his thing. He’d leave that to CJ; she handled crowds better than he did, but he liked Club Cumming. There were a couple of queer bars he liked to hang out in (straight clubs tended to stress him out), but Club Cumming was probably his favorite. They always had some sort of event going on (comedy, burlesque, dancing) which meant Drew could just hang out in the shadows. He was able to enjoy himself without stressing out too much about people getting too close to him. Sure, sometimes the lights were too much for him, but for the most part he could just drink, enjoy himself, and escape the mess that was his head. 

That was tonight’s plan. There was a burlesque show and he intended to drink a couple of IPAs and eat something shitty. He should have known better than to go to Club Cumming. Because Club Cumming on a burlesque night meant running into Maxxie.

Maxwell Turner was one of the artists who worked at the Collective. They were a talented conceptualist, who just happened to be on his dad’s payroll and one of his dad’s friends. Technically he and Maxxie were co-workers but they were also… complicated. Maxxie was a whirlwind. They were bright, outrageous, and effortlessly sucked Drew into their life every damn time they crossed that coworker line. Maxxie was the longest relationship Drew had ever been in, but they were chaotic together; Drew knew this. When they were good, they were really really good, but when things got bad, shit, they got bad. Most of the time Drew was convinced he was in love with them, but they wanted different things out of life. 

Drew was going to be twenty-seven this year, and while Maxxie was older, Drew was ready to settle down; Maxxie wasn’t. When his dad was his age, he’d already been married with two kids. Of course, his dad was a terrible example since he was in the closet, but Drew wanted a variation of that. He wanted to settle down with someone and build a life with them. Maxxie alternated between not wanting any sort of commitment at all, and saying they couldn’t be together because of Maxxie’s polyamory. 

He wasn’t polyamorous, but apparently he was attracted to polyamorous men. It wasn’t the polyamory Drew had issue with. It was everything else. It was not wanting to talk about the trauma they’d been through before they moved to New York. Drew knew drama. He’d witnessed his aunt’s murder. He’d been medicated for a mental disorder he never had. He watched his sister leave him just like their dad had. Drew James knew trauma. But Maxxie didn’t want to talk. They self-medicated to the point of self-destruction, and Drew couldn’t watch the person they love slowly kill themself – especially when he was half-convinced CJ was doing the same.

“Pookie!” And it was like he hadn’t just seen Maxxie the day before at the Collective. When they were at work, it was like they hadn’t dated on and off for three years. They actually barely spoke to each other at work; they were too busy with their students during Camp Art. Sure, they said hi, grabbed water for each other, washed brushes shoulder to shoulder, but they didn’t talk. Not about anything of substance. Plus, he knew Maxxie – they were on something right now. “You should have told me you were coming. We could have worn matching outfits.” And Maxxie looked like they were one of the performers tonight. Or maybe they weren’t. Sometimes that's just how they dressed.

Drew forced a smile and picked up his beer, if only to use the coldness of the glass to keep him grounded in reality. “I wasn’t planning on coming out.” He admitted as Maxxie slid into the booth next to him. “I finished my term paper. Dad’s doing something bizarre with Lego pieces. Pops and Bella were watching some French cartoon movie. CJ’s not picking up. And I like burlesque nights.”

A smirk slid onto Maxxie’s face as they waved someone down for a drink. “That’s how your hang out options work now? Gabe, Bella, your stepdad, CJ?” And there was a look on his face Drew knew meant trouble – at least for him. “Where do I fall on this list of yours?”

He bit the inside of his cheek. He had friends other than his family. He just needed energy when it came to spending time with his friends. It was easier to be with his family.

“Vee’s at an amateur taxidermy thing.” Drew couldn’t help but to pull a face at that. “Emilio is… busy. Steven is out of town for the summer. You’re not even on the list.” He lied. Or at least he lied about the last part. 

Maxxie rolled their eyes. “Liar.” They said fondly. There was a long pause and Maxxie crossed their legs, the lace of their skirt raising up to show shiny, shaved legs. The silence wasn’t awkward. If anything it was comfortable. They sat there, watching the performance on stage, and sipping at their drinks. At the end of the number, Maxxie turned to face him. “I’ve missed this.” They admitted, voice soft. Somehow they’d gotten close enough to touch, and their hand gently traced his cheek. “I’ve missed you.”

And the words hit differently than they were meant to. This was always his and Maxxie’s dance, wasn’t it? They separate, they miss each other, they hook up, they try to make it work for a couple of weeks, and then they start all over again. Drew was sick of putting all the effort into their relationship while Maxxie did fuck all. 

“Don’t do that.” He pulled Maxxie’s hand away from his face, and traced their brightly painted fingers in his hand. They’d been doing this dance for far too long, and Drew wasn’t sure if he could handle another round of their chaos. It took too much out of him, and he swore it derailed the stability in his life every time. His life was good, balanced. He loved Maxxie, but he couldn’t do this again. “Please… don’t… just… that.”

Drew was on his feet, away from Maxxie’s touch. “Don’t do that please.” And he could tell by the look on Maxxie’s face that they weren’t expecting that reaction. They really thought that Drew would just let them into his bed again like nothing happened. 

“Don’t do what?” And if anything Maxxie looked confused.

Maybe Drew was making a big deal out of nothing, but it made him think of something his dad told him once. After his dad and Johnny got back together, he asked him why he left him in the first place and his dad said: It was something I needed to do. I didn’t know I needed to leave him to find myself again, but in that moment, it was the only thing that made sense. 

He finally understood what his dad meant.

“Don’t just, like, come back into my life unless you’re expecting to be here for a while.” And to anyone who knew they worked together, it probably sounded like a dumb statement, but there was a difference between work Draxxie and lovers Draxxie. They knew how to place nice, if only for his dad. And he knew Maxxie knew what he meant because they started to open their mouth, but Drew didn’t want to hear it. “I’m serious.”

When their mouth immediately shut, Drew knew whatever was going to come out of their mouth wasn’t of substance. He closed his eyes for a moment and nodded before pulling out some rumpled bills from his pocket and throwing them onto the table. “I’ll see you at work, Maxxie.” And as he all but jogged out of the bar, Maxxie made no effort to follow after him. 

Maybe this really was the end.

[gvbejvmesmichaels]

Task 34

A larger view of Gabe’s family tree can be found here. 

Gabe’s family tree is a little... tricky. His maternal grandparents are Angelica (nee Albertson) and Irving Palmer. They had two children together: Maria and George. The latter married Elizabeth Garcia, and they had one daughter -- Annie who’s son George, named after her late father and late cousin, passed away at the young age of 5.

Maria married Francis James. She wasn’t his first choice in wife, but when his first love died while he was stationed in Vietnam, he chose someone he viewed as weak and usable. Together they had two children, Gabriel (named after a song in Anything Goes) and Georgiana (named after Maria’s brother and mother). Georgie and her husband passed away at the ages of 25 and 27. 

Gabe has been married twice: once to Nancy Conrad and currently to Jonathan Michaels, who at one time he thought he was divorced from. Gabe and Nancy had two children together: Constance and Andrew. He has an adopted daughter with Johnny, Bella -- who is Constance’s biological daughter.

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Drabble: Avoidance

Title: Avoidance

Relationship: Gabriel/Jonathan

Summary: A bad habit of Gabe’s has always been to run away when a problem is too much for him to handle — or rather: all avoidance of the problem altogether.

A bad habit of Gabe’s has always been to run away when a problem is too much for him to handle — or rather: all avoidance of the problem altogether. Part of it had to do with the way he was raised, and the rest of it was just pure Gabe. Why face a problem head on when you can prolong it for awhile and plot your revenge?

Why he fucking signed up for Gossip Queen’s blog alerts is beyond him, but signed up he did. And now he’s absofuckinglutely regretting it. Most of the time it’s super petty stuff, and it typically doesn’t have much to do with him. When it does, he rarely lets it get under his skin, but today for reasons he couldn’t explain, her post just dug into him. Probably because it hit too close to home, and was causing flashbacks to 5 years ago. Fuck… had it really been that long? Regardless, it was a self-inflicted wound that reopened from time to time.

Trouble in paradise. Are the dads of New York breaking up? 

Fuck her. And her fucking blog.

He and Jay had been back together for over two years now. And technically when they were separated they were still hooking up. Okay, Gabe had been calling his estranged husband for booty calls. Whatever. They went to marriage counseling, and worked out the issues that caused them to separate in the first place. 

Her recent post shouldn’t have been bothering him, and yet… it was. It was like a reminder that he’d fucked up. That there was a time when he threw away the best thing that had ever happened to him. And that was what was really bothering him.

Their relationship was rock solid. It was the taunt from Gossip Queen that was fucking with him. Because that’s what it really was - a taunt, a mock, a tease. A reminder that she knew he was keeping a stupid conversation with Jesse a secret from Jay — that he was making a man he didn’t even care for lie to Jay.

He closed his eyes for a moment before going back to his avoidance project, which was removing every door knob from the interior of the house and painting them intricate swirling patterns. Instead of doing them one by one, he’d removed all of them at once. Just like the time he’d removed all of the outlet covers to paint them. 

He was back to painting and ignoring the post, which was still lingering in the back of his head when…“Briel, where the hell are all the door knobs?”

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I feel comfortable in black. — Johnny Cash

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Drabble: Saying Goodbye Pt 1

Title: Saying Goodbye (Part 1) Word Count: Characters: Gabriel James-Michaels, Jonathan James-Michaels, Georgiana (James) Adams (mentioned), Maria (Palmer) James (mentioned) Relationships: Jaybriel, G Squared Trigger Warnings: Mentions of canon murder and a canon medical condition Summary: They say you can never go home again.

The suitcases were mocking him. They were sitting in the corner of the bedroom, and Briel swore to fuck that they were mocking him. He’d heard somewhere that you could never go home again, and while he’d long since stopped associating Roswell with home, that phrase had been bouncing around in his head ever since Jay had gifted him with the tickets to his hometown. Fuck, he’s not even sure if Roswell ever truly had been home. It wasn’t like he ever felt comfortable when he was living there. He always had to hide half of himself. Going back to town now, completely his true self? Well, that was a scary concept. He was 48 years old, and he felt like a fucking child.

Briel scrubbed a hand over his face before continuing to study the suitcases. He’d come into the bedroom almost a half hour ago (for what he couldn’t remember), but all he’d done was collapse against the pillows and stare at the suitcases. It was like a pit of anxiety had settled into his stomach and was spreading like a virus, infecting every inch of his body and making him incapable of doing anything other than stare glumly at the suitcases.

The idea of going back to New Mexico is nerve-wracking. On one hand, he wants to show Jay and Bella where he grew up, but on the other hand, it’s the place where his life was absolutely destroyed. It’s where he lost his sister and his best friend within months of each other. It’s a place of loss and going back there feels wrong. And yet… it feels like something he needs to do. Especially this year. Twenty years on August 15th. Twenty years since his sister was murdered. Twenty years. Fuck. That’s the thing that’s both making him want to go to Roswell and stay the hell out of there.

He swallowed. How the fuck was he going to do this? Because he had to do this. He had to go back there, if only to finally lay the ghost of Georgie to rest. And maybe that was the reason he was so hesitant to go back to Roswell. He’d been there since her murder, of course, but it was always for short law-related trips, and once when his mother had her stroke a few years back. But this trip was different.

Georgie’s ghost had been his constant companion, the voice in the back of his head helping him make his choices, and this trip… Well, he knew in his gut this was going to be the trip. The one where he finally said goodbye. Twenty years later and saying goodbye was still terrifying.

“Briel?” His husband laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. And fuck, Gabe could have been in their room for 30 minutes or 3 hours. He honestly had no idea how long he’d been up here lost in his own trauma. His hand instinctively wrapped around his husband’s. Now, this felt right. This was his rock, his home, his person. And holding his husband’s hand? There was no better cure for his anxiety and stress than his husband’s hand in his.

He didn’t say anything, and neither did Jay. Finally, Gabe tugged him onto the bed next to him, and leaned his weight against him. “I don’t want to go.” He admitted, staring back at their suitcases yet again.

“We don’t have to go.” Johnny soothed him. “We can trade the tickets in and go somewhere else. Take Bella back to Disneyland.”

He grasped onto his husband’s hand again, tracing the familiar lines on the palm of his hand. “I don’t want to go, but I need to go. I need to do this.” He closed his eyes as he tried to find the words for what he was trying to communicate. “I don’t want to go, but I want to go. Does that make sense?”

Even though he couldn’t see him, he knew Jay was looking at him like he was out of his mind. “No.” He said with a slight laugh. “Not at all.”

“I’ll show you what I mean.” Briel said with a yawn, suddenly exhausted. “Tomorrow.”

[gvbejvmesmichaels]

[gvbejvmesmichaels]

@gjmichaels: I got 3 moods; that's it: 1) I don’t give a flying fuck, 2) happy as fuck, 3) fuck the fucking fuck off.

It depends on when you catch me, what I’m doing, and who I’m with. If you haven’t noticed, Little Girl is never in any of these pictures with me and that’s intentional as fuck.

[gvbejvmesmichaels]

Task 31

task #31,

If your character was an animal, which animal would they be?  A cat. Definitely a cat. A lazy house cat. Hell, Gabe is practically a lazy house cat as it is.

Does your character pick wildflowers when they see them? It depends on his mood, and who he’s with, but yeah. He’s definitely the picking flowers type of person.

How do they see themselves in their head? Is the image accurate, or not? Gabe will probably always see himself as an outsider. As much as he loves his current life, a part of him will always think he doesn’t deserve it, which is 1000% not true.

If they talk in their sleep, what do they say most often? Oh, he’s definitely a sleep talker. It’s typically something random from one of his dreams, but he’s good about having full conversations with his husband while being asleep.

Do they like muffins or cupcakes more? Why? Gabe isn’t the biggest on sweets, but he does like cupcakes for one reason and one reason only: frosting.

Do they prefer arm day or leg day more? Prefer? Leg day for sure. What does he need more? Arm day.

What is the longest your character has ever slept in? After his “divorce,” he was big in sleeping. Although to be fair, he was also partying a bit more back then. It was common to not get home until 5 in the morning and sleep until 6 or 7 at night.

What is their most embarrassing middle school moment? Getting hit in the face with a baseball during a game. Catching a ball with his face was not one of his best moments.

What is/are their favorite pizza toppings? Meat lovers all day. He also likes Hawaiian pizza -- fight him.

What was the last dream they had? It’s a dream he’s had before. It’s just him and Georgie sitting on the roof of their childhood home, watching the stars.

What is one possession they should get rid of, but can’t/won’t? The shitty flip phone he bought in 2002. The number isn’t even active any more, but it’s the last phone he talked to G on, and he can’t bring himself to get rid of it.

If your character spray-painted a wall, what would they write/draw? You mean, spray paint again? He’s spray painted his fair share of walls, but it would be a mural of some kind. Maybe a crack in time with things from different eras crawling out of it.

What would your character want their final words to be? It’s a toss up between ‘I love you’ and ‘fuck you.’ Why? Why not?

What is one aspect of their physical appearance that they like? His tattoos. It’s the part of him he created.

Do they prefer jeans or sweatpants, or something else? He tends to wear jeans, but he loves it when his husband wears gray sweatpants. Yum.

How far can your character spit a watermelon seed? He’s done some weird things with watermelon seeds, but he’s never tried that before.

Are they more likely to notice the shapes of the clouds or the color of the sky? Fuck. Is both an option? Because both. How can you see one without the other?

Do they laugh during serious moments? Yes. It’s definitely a major problem of his. It’s caused problems in the past.

On a road trip, are they usually the driver, in the passenger seat, the DJ, the backseat driver, or the one napping in the back? No one would ever allow him to be the DJ. EVER. It depends on who he’s with, but he’s typically the driver. Occasionally the one napping in the back, but mostly the driver.

Does your character sleep in normal clothes, pajamas, or something else? It depends, but it’s typically boxers, pajama bottoms or nothing at all. He used to be weird about needing to wear a shirt, but now he’s more comfortable about letting his back scars show.

When they sneeze, do they use their hand or elbow to cover their mouths? Neither. He sort of holds his head down into his chest.

Someone asks your character to dance and pulls them out to the dancefloor. How would they react? He would laugh, and pretend to protest, but in the end he’d go willingly and dance -- albeit poorly. 

Are they more of a cat or a dog person? BOTH. He is an animal person. Give him both.

What alternate time period would they enjoy living in?  God, that’s a difficult question. He likes now because he doesn’t have to hide his sexual orientation, but if he had to pick, he’d say the height of the Greek empire. You know... the days of Troy.

Does your character keep a diary? If so, what do they write about? Nope. He’s always been the type of express himself through art.

When they’re stressed, do they stress shop, bake, eat, clean, etc.? He cleans paint brushes. Like he’ll sit there with a bucket of dirty brushes for hours and just get them perfectly clean.

Do they prefer raw cookie dough or fully baked cookies? Fully baked cookies -- all day. He doesn’t get the appeal of raw cookie dough.

What game is your character bad at playing? Chess. It doesn’t matter how many times it’s explained to him -- he just doesn’t get it. 

Are they ticklish? Sort of? Sometimes he is, and sometimes he isn’t. It depends.

What’s inside their car’s glove box? A camera, his insurance card, registration, and pink slip, a sketch book, a charcoal pencil, an epi pen, and an old pacifier of Bella’s he hasn’t been able to bring himself to throw away yet.

What’s their birthstone? Do they like it? Why or why not? March has two birthstones: aquamarine and bloodstone. While he likes the color of aquamarine more than bloodstone, have you seen bloodstone? It’s fucking gorgeous, and it just has so much depth to it.

Which Avenger is your character most like, personality-wise? This is a hard question... Probably Tony Stark, if only for the wild creations, and the even more wild words that come out of his mouth.

Does your character pay attention to the weather forecast? Hell no, and it gets him in trouble all the time. Without fail, he’ll take out the motorcycle and it’ll start raining or worse, snowing. 

When was the last time your character got sick? Did anyone take care of them? Probably a couple of months ago? Maybe? Jay definitely took care of him, and Bella and Drew tried to help.

What’s a weird/wacky/embarrassing story about them as a young child? He doesn’t really have a lot of good stories from his childhood, but if he had to pick one, it would probably be the time he got his head stuck in the slats of the staircase. Their parents weren’t home so he had to convince Georgie to take a hammer to the stairwell to get him unstuck. To say their parents were pissed when they got home was an understatement.

If they eat steak, how do they like it cooked? Rare -- definitely rare.

Do they prefer to write with a pencil or a pen? If a pen, what color? It depends on what he’s doing. If he’s drawing, he prefers pencil -- charcoal pencil. Then .05 black ink fine line pens. But if he’s just writing, a blue ink roller ball pen is perfect.

Imagine your character on the beach, waist deep in the water. A big wave rolls up and towers over their head. Do they dive under the wave, body surf, freeze and get swept off their feet, or something else? He would probably have to say... body surf. He’d ride that sucker out and then swim back for more.

What are the last five items in your character’s Google search history? Do they often clear their search history? It’s usually a combination of weird things. Right now its: 1) Easy hairstyles for kids, 2) Is witch hazel poisonous for dogs? 3) is my cat trying to murder my husband? 4) How do I spell... 5) Water color binder recipe.  He forgets all the damn time that he can clear his search history.

Does your character sing in the car? In the shower? He does, but he can’t carry a tune in a bucket. His voice makes their dogs whine.

Do they have a harder time going to sleep at night or getting out of bed in the morning? He struggles with both, but he definitely has a harder time getting out of bed.

Would they rather fly or be immortal? Fly. All damn day. He hasn’t met a roof he hasn’t tried to climb up.

What’s the dumbest way your character has been injured? He’s an artist. Most of his injuries are dumb. The most recent dumb injury was when he used his husband’s coffee grinder to chop up shells for a project, and it literally exploded in his face.

Are they able to fall asleep in the car? On an airplane? On a boat? He can sleep in the car, but only when he’s hungover. He’s never been able to fall asleep on planes or on his husband’s damn boat.

How do they like their coffee or tea? When he drinks coffee, he likes it with half and half and a little bit of sugar. For his tea, if he’s drinking a black tea, he likes it black or with a little bit of half and half. For green tea, he likes it with honey and orange. For red teas, he likes it with sugar. For any other types of teas, he’ll usually add a little bit of honey.

[gvbejvmesmichaels]

Pop up task

1. What is your sexual orientation?

Gay is what he usually tells people, but he also uses queer. 2. Who was your first celebrity crush?

Burt Reynolds. Definitely Burt Reynolds.

3. What would be your dream date with your crush?

With Burt Reynolds? Crashing a party. With my forever crush, District Attorney James-Michaels? Anything. As long as we're together.

I may have a type.

Top row: Morrissey, Oscar Issacs, David Boreanaz

Middle row: David Duchovny, Jonathan James-Michaels, Burt Reynolds

Bottom row: Tom Selleck, Pedro Pascal, Harrison Ford

Bonus - Women I wouldn't kick out of bed

Penelope Cruz, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez

[gvbejvmesmichaels]

Task 30

Below the cut.

Zoey: If you could be any artist in the world, who would you choose to be?

art artist - Andy Warhol because great decade, fantastic colours and lets be real not only did he meet all the cool people but he lived his best life.

actor - hedy lamarr i know she's dead but she was an incredible woman, had it all the smarts, the beauty the charm and a heart of gold

Thackery: If you spent all day working with your hands, what would you do?

Build a new place for the homeless. 

Harrison: If you lived the life of a cartoon character, which one would you select and why?

Aang from Avatar: The last airbender. Because it would be cool having those powers. plus Appa and Momo

Lilly: What is the one thing that surprised you about visiting someone else at their home?

One home I visited for work belonged to a hoarder. I knew they existed, but walking inside the home was shocking. From floor to ceiling there were items of everything from toys to trash. I was instructed not to touch anything because if you did, a row could fall down and it sometimes took a half hour to dig yourself out. I’m a pretty clean person, even Adlee’s room is cleaned every week, so this was quite the shock to me.

Amelia: Who is the most artistic person in your family and why?

He's not technically a family member, but I've been around him so long I feel like he's family. He's one of the Reyes bodyguards, Timothy. Growing up I was having issues in band and he really helped me along with the clarinet. From there I learned he knew almost every instrument and he played beautifully. I still like listening to him play occasionally when we both are free.

Sejun: What is the strangest piece of artwork you have ever seen?

Hands down, it’s gotta be the lobster telephone. Although that mother bird Momo statue thing is also pretty freaky as well.

Kennedy: How would you spend your money if you won the lottery?

If I won the lottery, I would put a majority of the money in a savings account for the little bean. 

Emilio: If you had to be stuck at a particular age, what would that age be? Why?

Twenty-one, because you're fully legal to do all the adult stuff, but you're young enough to think that you have tons of possibilities in the world.

Avery: In three words, how would your family and friends describe you?

my family would describe : A sinner? A waste of space 

My friend - probably describes me as being carefree, a chill dude

Illyana: What's your most favorite place to travel to, and why?

New Orleans is my favorite place because it’s a great party spot. Everyone is drunk, wild, and no one is judging anyone. The vibes are amazing.

Saber: If a caveman and an astronaut got into a fight, who would win and why?

I wanna say the caveman would win, because they were more self sufficient and resourceful, and probably a lot more unrestrained and brutal.

Frankie: Do you believe that the X-Files is a real division of the government? And why?

Oh my goodness, 1000% yes I do feel like The X-Files is really apart of the government.  I fully believe that we have been visited by extraterrestrials and they have planted stuff on our planet for us to find so they can study us.

Devin: What’s your favorite genre of art? 

Contemporary art is my favorite! 

[gvbejvmesmichaels]

Postcard

Below the cut.

Kaleidoscope Johnson 6 Avenue B New York, NY 10009

Kale, I’d say I’d wish you were here, but... I really really don’t. It’s an artist’s day dream. Except... I haven’t been painting that much since Jay got here. You should see what the clear water makes his skin look like. And of course, I don’t mean that literally... -G