— the mortal sun has risen and set a thousand thousand times, and 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞 is yet bound to the earthly realm, the reincarnation loop continues. this time their mortal coil has taken the shape of cameron monaghan, a human born on 11th of november, 1995 a scorpio and named 𝐠𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥 ‘𝐠𝐚𝐛𝐞’ 𝐛𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐬.
with selene’s consciousness tucked away from their own, they have no indication of the complexity of who they are, and what they are, and that has only really served to add more confusion and questions. when, or even if, the barrier between the immortal selene and the mortal gabe is broken down, they will be able to harness 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩-𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 (𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧). until that day, as the titan goddess of the moon, gabe continues to unknowingly influence the world and be influenced by, the immortal being within them, 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐞.
in the mean time, gabe is non-binary using he/they to define themselves, and is 25 years old. life goes on for them as most everyone else’s does; working at queensland university as an astronomy professor, and if they can’t be found there, they can usually be found at the agoge gym, boxing. originally from new york, they now live in rock rose park without room-mates but with their cat, a three legged rescue named ayla. to date, gabe has been on magnetic island for 12 years.
FULL NAME: gabriel bay michaels
AGE: 25
BIRTHDAY: november 11th
STAR SIGN: scorpio
PRONOUNS: he/him
BIRTHPLACE: new york, new york
ORIENTATION: bisexual
ALLERGIES: slight milk intolerance, and pollen
LANGUAGES: english, polish, a little sign language, conversational french
HEIGHT: 6′1
FAMILY: mother - dorothea michaels (deceased), father - eric michaels, sister - dina michaels
TATTOOS: n/a
PIERCINGS: n/a
PETS: an australian shepherd named taylor
CHARACTER INSPO: derek hale (teen wolf), hernando (sense8), alec lightwood (shadowhunters), simon eriksson (young royals), prince eric (the little mermaid), jamie sullivan (a walk to remember), wall-e, luna lovegood (harry potter), connell (normal people), jessica day (new girl).
TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR GALE’S BIO: cancer and death of a loved one
( SIDENOTE I’M REWORKING/ADDING TO BIO TO FIT THIS RP PLS BARE WITH ME)
(ages 0-14) the day dorothea michaels found out that the cancer that had plagued her body was finally defeated, she was told that she was carrying life. a child was growing inside of her – she believed him to be her little miracle, her second chance of life. gabe michaels was born on the 11th day of the 11th month and named on the 11th hour. he was gentle, and he was kind, he was always polite, and strangers thought him to be the quietest child that they had ever encountered. thea taught him everything she knew, how to read cards, and the stars, how to play the piano, and speak her native tongue. all of these things were gifts gale held close to his heart, talents he cherished and would continue to honour for the rest of his life. unfortunately, when he turned 9 years old, the cancer had come back, and just before his 10th birthday, his mother, thea passed away, leaving behind a hole that gabe, his older sister, and his father would no never be able to fill again. watching his mother grow sicker by the day made gabe an anxious boy, developing a stutter that lead him to the bullying of his peers. in the end, he decided it would be better if he didn’t say anything at all, so he became mute by choice.
(ages 14-21) to cope with the loss of his mother, and the painful isolation he felt due to his inability to speak around others, gabe set up a youtube channel and found an interest in athleticism. it was within this channel that he began to build a following, and eventually, he was able to build his confidence. it was easy for him to talk to a camera, and life wasn’t so lonely when you had the whole world at your fingertips.
alex wasn’t sure if he could survive another round of this, especially if he was going to be the one with gabe’s tongue and lips on him. who the fuck thought doing body shots was a good idea ? right, that would be alex. always full of good ideas. so, he gives them a shrug. “ you know i’m ticklish. so you’re gonna have to take it easy on me. ” he was hoping that would alleviate some of the intensity of how this was going to go. if alex didn’t find someone to keep on his arm soon after this, he was afraid he was going to cave and pounce on gabe. “ so, take your pick. i’m free-for-all all over. ”
any other time gabe would find this nerve-wracking, but honestly? he was too drunk to care. alex was everything, in so many senses of the word, and something gabe needed to protect, both their relationship and him in general. he loves him, it’s hard to find the line that stands between romantic and platonic love when it comes to alex. “free-for-all.” a wet tongue passes his lips, and gabe gives that little awkward nod of his that suggests he’s mulling it over. “i know.” he doesn’t know if he’s saying this to himself, or alex, but it’s quiet enough to be both. gabe places the lime between alex’s lips to shut him up. after a moment of pause, gabe leans down to lick a long stripe across alex’s abdomen before dusting it with salt and cleaning it off with another maybe too long lick at his skin. moving upwards, he takes the shot glass from his chest with his mouth and tips his head back, downing it quickly. all that was left now was the lime, and he almost doesn’t, because that’s just toying with fire. their lips have already come this close to touching once tonight, whos to say he’s going to be able to break away this time? he doesn’t think, clears his head of thought and pulls it out with his teeth, their lips barely brushing, enough for a spark of electricity but gabe doesn’t dare stay long enough for more than that.
It was one of the rare days where the hospital was quiet. A wonderful occurrence, if he had to be honest. That burn patient he had taken care of was not a pleasant sight and if he had to choose between that and helping out in the clinic area, he would gladly take people with their minor gripes any day. Ripping open the packet for the sanitized gloves was highly counter intuitive, he was sure, but he was in a rush.
“Good evening. I am Dr. Jin. What brings you in today?”
A sprain while boxing, typical. He hadn’t warmed up sufficiently before stepping into the ring, and while he had managed to snag the win, he’d left feeling a bit of a pull in his ankle after a funny fall. He was out of practise, and needless to say he wasn’t doing his best. Too much was going on in his head, too many distractions that were fucking with his mind, romantic and otherwise.
Gabe looks up at the doctor with a wry smile on their lips, his foot up on the bed as he gestures to it lamely. “I took a bit of a fall and landed funny on my foot. Haven’t been able to walk on it for a few hours now, think it’s getting pretty swollen.”
Magnetic Island was one of the few places where a person would want to do winter yoga on a beach. It was a comfortable, breezy morning; the high was projected to be 23 degrees when she checked her phone upon arrival to the Bay. With her yoga mat on the sand, and not a soul in sight, Dez moved through her regimen with power and purpose, letting the stretches linger as her joints release the tension caused by the week’s demands. The area was still for much longer than she had expected, hearing nothing but the calls of birds and the rustling of lazy waves. Taking a breather, she rested on her knees and reached into her knapsack, pulling out her phone to double-check the time when the sound of sneakers against the ground caught her attention. Only expecting to take a quick glance, her gaze became fixed when she realized the sneakers were being worn by someone with a familiar face. Wearing a cheeky grin, she rested flat on her knees as they approached. “I should’ve known I’d see you around here sooner or later.”
it was a warm day, nothing like the usual blaze that set magnetic alight but just enough to bring you out for the day. his bottle of water hung from a single finger, he had just completed half of his run when he spots her. she greets him with a bright smile that could outshine the sun and gabe can’t help but blush just a little - a natural reaction to anyone happy to see him. his pale face and freckles betray him most of the time when it comes to emotions. “i was wondering when you’d notice me. i promise i wasn’t stood here long.” gabe clarifies, not wanting to look creepy by any means. “it’s pretty peaceful out here today. i think everyone took to the beach for a swim.”
neck it is. although, when it’s bare and in his face like that, it’s hard not to try to talk gabe into doing abdomen instead. they did have a pretty torso, alex had always noticed it and how muscular it was getting the older they grew. one day, gabe grew up and muscles grew with him, and it was harder to look away and not stare. he takes another lime, sliding it in a line across his neck so that the salt that he pours over it sticks, rather than getting salt all over the bar. finally, he leans in, and what an odd feeling it was, to be licking salt off of your best friend’s neck… it wasn’t supposed to make people feel the way that alex currently was when they do things like this with their best friends, but here they were. he takes it a step further, and starts to suck a little on their neck, trying to see how far he could push the boundary before he got called out. finally and reluctantly, he breaks away from their neck, goes for the lime out of his mouth — the brush of their lips then was a rush. he stands up straight, once again reluctant, and spits the lime out with a little proud grin on his lips. “ hope my tongue wasn’t too slimy for you, michaels. ”
they have to clear their mind, or else all thoughts would be completely drowned in alex. he was intoxicating. every slight touch and brush made them completely scatter brained. they weren’t used to wanting this much, but that was probably down to the years of built up tension. they’d both changed dramatically since being teens, in ways neither of them had addressed to one another. having watched alex go from a slightly awkward kid to some, silver tongued sex symbol was definitely a shift. for himself? it had been a much different change, one that involved glasses, suits, meetings with people who spoke with words you had to google later on that evening. everything gabe did was controlled, meticulous, nothing short of boring. alex and their friends happened to be gabe’s one last tie to chaos, a little escape route from the grey path they were currently on. while alex is on their neck, they list all the different known planets in their head, their temperatures, and the gravity levels -- anything to keep him from gasping when alex’s lips finally move over his. “i’m going to call you slug tongue from now on.” they tease, pushing up from where they lay and brushing a hand through red hair. “now, is it my turn to do you or have you had enough?” gabe smirks, grabbing a slice of lime from the bowl.
“ of course i do. have you ever been to a bachelor party ? men are such a bore. they don’t know how to throw a party like women do, and especially bachelorette women. you’ll probably blackout with them in two hours. ” they grin, giving them a little once-over. “ of course i do, ” they respond to the compliment before looking back up at gabe. “ it’s funny. you don’t seem like the type to respond to impulse and leave with a complete stranger. ” they observe, excited to see what else they can talk him into tonight. “ i’m arsyn. ”
that sounded accurate. gabe didn’t have the highest tolerance of alcohol, probably due to the fact that they’ve cut down massively since training for boxing. however, they did leave a little wiggle room for nights like this, an excuse to let their hair down. usually it was alex convincing them to get out and do something stupid, but with everything going on, it was probably best gabe saved those nights for someone else -- like arysn. “gabe.” he smiles, introducing himself. “and you’d be surprised, i’ve been known to...sometimes take home a complete and total stranger.” mostly false, gabe rarely ever let themselves get intimate with anyone who they weren’t completely comfortable with.
“not officially?” robbie frowned, wondered at what they (gabe his mind supplied) meant. perhaps gabe had been a customer of his, though robbie would have thought his own memory was better than that if this was the case. surely he would have remembered gabe. if gabe wasn’t a customer, robbie was sure they didn’t meet elsewhere (was he, sure?), especially not at the university.
“sorry, i’m trying to think where he could have unofficially meet. i don’t think i ever had business with an astronomer.”
robbie turned his eyes back in front of him, though they fell unconsciously on the blue sky above them. a memory then, came to mind. he remembered the feeling, looking up at the afghan sky, glorious in its crown of stars and darkness. robbie had thought he’d die, then. his last vision of the night and its bright lights, calling him home.
“it’s a small island, and i’m a pretty quiet guy. we have mutual friends -- i’ve seen you talking to alex once or twice. i generally don’t make an effort to get to know new people.” he would go on to explain further that he suffered from a stutter, that years of loss and bullying had made him mute for many valid reasons, but gabe didn’t really feel like opening up more than that. it was difficult enough getting to know someone you’d never spoken to before, let alone speak of the reasons for why you are the way that you are. “that and i always leave a party early. prefer my own company.” he’d show face at a public event if needed, but at the first chance, gabe would be skipping back home to spend an evening with their cat and a book.
“are you alright?” they ask, noticing that they seem to be somewhere else right now, mind distracted. hoping they aren’t intruding on some deep thought, gabe turns to look at the other, eyebrow arched in genuine curiosity.
they’re satisfied with the fact that this total stranger was so willing to come with them to… wherever they end up going. they loved to see people giving in to their impulses and hedonistic choices ( unbeknownst to them, it was what kept them fed ). “ no clue yet. i think i overheard a woman talking about a bachelorette party over at bacchus that’s starting in an hour. god, i wish i packed my purple boa with me — ” they speak more to themselves in that last bit, before turning their attention back to gabe. “ you down, gingie ? ”
“you want to crash a bachelorette party?” something about that sounded like a lot of fun, and probably not gabe’s usual kind of go-to. a flirty group of women probably a little depressed about the fact that their friend is getting married and not them? send in two pretty faces to cheer them up? hook. line. and sinker. “i bet you look real pretty in purple, too. missed opportunity right there, maybe we’ll manage to snag something similar on the way, can’t have you not looking the part. course i’m in, got nothing better to do.”
“I am very sorry.” She knew the people on the island didn’t know her yet. She wasn’t sure half the time why she left the comforts of her home to come here at all. But she was thankful for the kindness she was seeing, especially when she literally plopped herself into people’s lives. “The usual hostess I see here isn’t here today and this other one is..” She looked back to the woman in question, seeing her raise a brow and then talk to a member of the wait staff with a laugh. “Not very nice?” She shrugged and turned back to her companion, hand out to say hello. “I’m Sasha. Nice to meet you and possibly crash your meal.”
“A little judgy?” Gabe agrees with a warm smile, reaching out to take her hand and give it a small shake. “I haven’t ordered yet, so you’ve come just in time.” They look back down at the menu in front of them and give it another glance before realising he was rude enough to forget to tell the woman his name. “Sorry, I’m Gabe.” It was probably clear enough that they weren’t great at social interactions, especially meeting new people -- but she seemed friendly enough to be accepting of that. Oftentimes his anxiety got the better of him, but thankfully his stutter had yet to make an appearance, it probably had something to do with the wine he’d been drinking. “You want a glass?”
Mysha knew how she could come off— blunt, tough, she even bordered on harsh from time to time. It all came from a place of care. She cared so much she actually didn’t know where to put it all. She was also very much like Gabe in the sense that she liked control. No matter how many drinks she knocked down she wanted to be on her feet. The only difference it was less about anxiety and more about wanting to be vigilent. That didn’t mean she never had any fun. As a matter of fact her brows raise up at the suggestion. “You know what? I would unironically love to see you chug some water. I’ll be getting another cocktail.” She begins to move towards the bar and assumes that they will follow.
They’re a little wobbly on their feet, and perhaps Mysha was right, and Gabe needed to take a small break from drinking. The last thing they wanted was to have to strategize a tactical chunder in order to continue the night. Gabe hated the dizziness that came with drinking, and if she hadn’t mentioned anything, they probably would have skipped to that part. It was nice to have someone with their wits about them, especially since they were feeling especially impulsive that night. “Don’t get the orange one, it’s bitter.” He warns, “Go for the green one instead, it tastes like apple candy. Or the mermaid one, it comes with a cute little tail.” They clutch a pint solo cup of water and take long sips, chewing on the ice cubes as they come along.
“Send it my way, whatever it is you like instead of you think I might. I’m so used to handing someone else the aux when I’ve got people over that I don’t ever think of jotting down what I like,” He admits. “I just wait until they come back over and hope they play that one little beat that gets stuck in my head.”
He was right. It had been longer than Bellamy intended to stay away, but he had immersed himself in work since the Pink Moon. If he wasn’t on Magnetic running between meetings with donors and investors, he was making his way to the nearby cities to do just the same to promote the foundation or show face where it had invested itself.
“Work, man, it’s brutal,” He said. “Summer’s around and people are traveling, so more potential donors left and right. What about you?”
“I’m your person.” Gabe says with a little nod of their head, already putting together a mental playlist for the lad. If there was one thing Gabe knew, it was music, it happened to be one of their only solaces during the silence that they were so well accustomed to. You didn’t have to speak to people if the music was loud enough, or deep enough, it felt like a whole other way of connecting to those around you, one that he could get on board with without opening his mouth.
“Getting back into boxing, thinking I should probably quit smoking if I’m going to take it seriously this year. Schools going to be out soon so I’m looking for new ways to fill my time.” Roughly, they spent around 10 hours a week at the gym or the ring, but as soon as the university shut for the semester, they’d throw themselves into it a good 20-30 give or take. “Might be good for me.”
“ would it surprise you to hear that i’ve never done a body shot before ? not received, nor given. ” he responds as he watches them hoist themself up on the bar top, getting ready to get a little sticky and wet — in a much more PG sense. as PG as doing a shot of alcohol off someone’s body can be. at the comment with the knife, alex can’t say he wasn’t a bit taken back. he wasn’t sure what hit him harder, the surprise that sweet little gabriel, would be into such things… or the fact that it sent a jolt through his own body, trying to remind himself of the circumstances and how he shouldn’t be thinking with his dick right now. “ alright, you kinky bastard — shut up and put this in your mouth, ” he tells them with a small grin, placing the sliced piece of lime in front of his lips. when they did, he grabbed the salt, pausing for a moment, “ abdomen or neck ? blink once for abdomen, twice for neck. ” he demands with a small laugh, knowing he can’t speak now with the lime between their lips.
friends. friends. friends. he reminded himself of this daily, especially in the presence of him, in the closeness of their embraces, and the grazes of skin to skin contact. it should not feel this good to have alex’s skin against his, and now with alcohol running through their body, it was a much harder reality to ignore. gabriel gives the lightest of hums as they make themselves comfortable, an odd giggle slipping out here and there. alex thinks they’re kinky? maybe they are -- they’d never thought about it. they open wide to take the lime between their teeth, grinning around it when alex asks them to blink. considering it for a moment, they decide to blink twice for neck, not trusting their bodies reaction to what kind of feelings it’ll bring about in the redhead if alex was to place their tongue on his abdomen. neck seemed like a safer bet, in any case. he doesn’t do it on purpose, but his entire body tenses, awaiting the inevitable to happen. alex looks so pretty up there, peering down at them with eyes the colour of melted caramel, deep enough to drown in if you stared too long. he wants to tell him to hurry up, but all he can do is wait and hold still cause soon enough his lips would be on him somewhere, and the thought alone was enough to send them into a slight panic of ‘hey, maybe i shouldn’t have agreed to this’ but too late now, impulsivity won once again.
scrolling through tiktok, after tiktok, after tiktok… god, if i hear that fucking deal with god song one more time. arsyn was beginning to get restless and agitated with the lack of movement. they needed to get up and do something, at least one absurd thing today. “ the fucking boredom. ” he complains out loud, letting out a dramatic huff with it as they throw their head back and close their phone. when they look back up, they make eye contact with the person in front of them. “ wanna come crash a party with me ? ”
they’ve been stealing glances at arysn for as long as they’ve been sat there. something about them was so fascinating, alluring, not even in a sexual way. though, gabe had to admit they were definitely attractive, but that was not it. arysn had an energy about them that almost made gabe feel as though they could do anything, wanted to do anything. ”where’s the party?” gabe asks, already agreeing with themselves in their head that they would probably do anything that arysn asked them to right now.
The restaurant was packed with people. She hadn't been here long enough to really show up with anyone, date, friend, what have you. Coming alone wasn't something that usually bothered her, but the hostess made her feel so awkward. "Hi. You don't have to speak to me or anything. But can I sit here? I won't bother you. I just don't want the hostess to look at me like I am the saddest person she has ever seen."
The restaurant was packed with people. She hadn’t been here long enough to really show up with anyone, date, friend, what have you. Coming alone wasn’t something that usually bothered her, but the hostess made her feel so awkward. “Hi. You don’t have to speak to me or anything. But can I sit here? I won’t bother you. I just don’t want the hostess to look at me like I am the saddest person she has ever seen.”
Gabe had learnt to ignore people, the stares, the awkward comments, anything that used to make him feel anxious back in the day. He was a different person these days, finding confidence in a lot of new comforts. They actually liked hanging out alone, especially in restaurants or cinemas, places his friends usually deemed socially unacceptable to be seen alone. When Sasha sits, Gabe raises a brow, a little surprised she had come to join him but he didn’t mind all the same, he knew what it was like. “Of course not. I’d love the company.”
time seemed to stop, for a few moment. people came and went, passing both of them without a word, without a glance. slowly, robbie’s back met the bench once again, his posture more relaxed. less hunched over himself, it was as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders. a gentle breeze added to the now serene atmosphere and robbie sighed, closed his eyes for a moment. just. the silence in his head, and the heaviness in his heart. it was almost like it was dulled, only a small buzz under his skin.
another few minutes, and robbie turned his head to the young individual next to him. watched them a few seconds before humming. “who are you?” the words, much like his previous ones, made it outside his mouth without much consideration as to why they were pronounced. it was a pull, on a string inside himself. often tugging at him, forcing him to notice things, people. the why of it all never explained.
but here, right now, looking at the young person next to him- something tugged on the string. “sorry. that was blunt,” he frowned, wondering if he knew them. was that this feeling? “i’m robbie.”
they find comfort in the silence, people watching to pass the time. gabriel had a lot of patience, they had to, for someone who watched the stars for a living. time and space moved at it’s own pace, you couldn’t force the sky to bend to your will -- as far as they knew. sitting here with robbie was nothing compared to the many nights gabe had sat with their telescope, waiting for something amazing to happen so that they could document it and bring back to the students at the university.
when robbie speaks, they turn their head and give a little hum at the question. the forwardness is nothing compared to the attitude he sometimes gets from students when they’re convinced they know better than the professor. “gabe. i don’t think we have met before, at least not officially.” they didn’t make that much of an effort to get to know new people, not unless they were coaxed by friends or in a group setting. confidence was not gabe’s most prominent trait. he becomes aware of the effect he’s had on robbie, how he’s helped which has seemingly sparked a lick of interest from the older man. “i’m an astronomy professor at the university.”
although this island was tiny, alex and gabe did a pretty good job at avoiding hanging out ever since the pink moon — they’ve seen each other in passing, said their hello’s before rushing off, but never really hung out. he supposed that gabe must have been just as anxious as alex was about the whole thing; after all, this was uncharted territory for them, despite the one kiss they had, despite all the touches and looks… saying it all out loud meant a whole different thing. but seeing gabe tonight, something was different — it’s like they remembered what they were before all of this: best friends, and in the end, they really did just absolutely love each other no matter what. he practically jumps into gabe, almost knocking him over if it wasn’t for their incredible build. “ me ? where the fuck is your shirt, casanova ? ” he grins. once the part of the bar where body shots were taking place caught his eye, alex turned to gabe, and he could already tell gabe knew what he was thinking. “ have you ever done one before ? ”
how are they supposed to stay calm around alex? they ponder the last real interaction for a brief moment, aware that there was still something so profoundly unspeakable going on between the two of them. alex was confusing -- how could someone be so close and yet so distant from him at the same time? this man flirted with anything that walked, even gabe, yet, at the sight of anything even slightly too physical, the two of them recoil as though they’ve been burned. it scares them, a palm sweating kind of fear. losing alex would mean losing the very person they care deepest for. not even alex hurting him, which is totally possible, but what if he hurt alex? he knows his affections are fickle, that his attention and desires dwindle when the lust runs out. he can’t imagine ever tiring of alex, but the possibility is always there. his best friend is no where near as strong as he plays out to be, he knows what lies beneath, his desires to be loved. “not since college.” gabe admits, peeking over at the bar once more. “and in my defence i was a lot drunker than i am right now -- but fuck it.” it takes him mere moments to hoist himself up onto the bar, long legs taking up a lot more space than the girl who was there previously. “i feel like a fucking buffet. if you pull out a knife i can’t guarantee that i won’t enjoy it.” maybe alex didn’t need to know that side of gabe just yet.
“Not even close I’m afraid. It isn’t a bad drink choice though.” She wasn’t actually upset, Gabe was an adult and could do what they wanted, it was just in her nature to look out for others. Tonight was supposed to be a celebration so she had to remind herself, relax. Mysha was only two drinks in and preferred to space it out. Tipsy enough to allow herself to have some fun but aware enough to stay on her feet. Although depending on how the night progressed she might be interested in a shot or two. For pride. “Forgot.” The woman echoes with a scoff. “Promise me you’ll have something, yeah? You will thank me later when your head isn’t pounding in the morning.”
“Not bad at all.” Muses the redhead, returning to take another sip of the drink in hand. There’s a goofy, childlike grin on their lips, seemingly enjoying the effects that the alcohol was having on them. Goodness, it was fucking great to let loose for once -- Gabe was so often tied up in their own anxieties and stress that they forgot what it was like to live like a free individual. He was an adult, and there was so much more to life than work, books, astronomy, and boxing. It was so easy for them to stay focused on what they could control, and Gabe was the type of person who didn’t like having no control, so it was easier to watch their alcohol intake. They rub their lips together and give a delicate nod of their head. “I can do better than that, I promise to down an entire pint of water right now if you come with me.”
