“Arthur, meu caro amigo.” Gabriel greets the Brit with a warm smile. “It’s been too long since we had a chat over tea reminiscing about good times together, don’t you think?”
“I love you so much, but you test me every day.” [ if you're still accepting shdfsg ]
“You do?” Peter grins, soaring waaayyy past the second half of Arthur’s words, and clasps his hands to his chest in a disguise of exaggerated, over-theatrical joy.
“Aw, but what’s the occasion for tellin’ me then, all the sudden? Did you just get finished watchin’ some sappy film and couldn’t rest until you came ‘n told me?”
@albicns | pie jesu - imagine someone asks your muse “what have you become?” write how they respond to that question. | REQUIEM | accepting
"You've changed."
"Lugus, I--"
"It's Gabriel now."
"Right...right. Gabriel." Resheph sat in front of his son, wondering how to even reconnect after so long. He didn't even know how he'd been able to return to the world of the living, but he knew he was going to take full advantage of the fact. "So. How have you been? You've changed, what have you become?" Seemed a simple enough question to start off with.
Gabriel went quiet, eyes distant as he gazed into his coffee mug. They'd sat at his kitchen table after Resheph had surprised Gabriel in the middle of the night, and now the kitchen saw an awkward family reunion two millenium late. Finally, he spoke up, his eyes drifting to the night sky outside the window. "I tried, you know? I tried to follow in your footsteps. I did everything I could trying not to turn out like Rome." The smile on his face doesn't reach his eyes. "I hated knowing how much influence he had over me. My people, my language, my self."
He turned back to look at Resheph. "I hated you for not being there enough, for dying, for not coming back." Resheph flinched, opening his mouth to say something, but Gabriel cut him off. "But I let go of all that. And all I wanted was to see you one more time." A dry laugh escapes him, his coffee still forgotten as he goes on. "I was a warrior child when you died. A ball of fury with no heed for authority. Hadn't even heard the word Portugal yet. I had no idea what was in store for me."
Resheph remained quiet, intensely focused on Gabriel and nodding along. He remembered the ferocious child Gabriel had been, always biting at authority and eager to explore. Cute in his own gremlin way. Good in small doses.
Gabriel continued on. "Rome took me and tried to mold me into one of his own. As did others. And I resisted with every fiber of my being. I am above all who I made myself. I made myself a power to be reckoned with, something no one ever thought a tiny kingdom surrounded by Spain could do. And I made myself into an empire, the first global empire and the longest. I thought God had blessed my path, for me to take control." He sighed into his coffee, pausing to take a drink of the now cold drink. "I was a fool. God didn't bless me to do what I did. But, I learned from it all."
"I've become a republic, but in my heart I'm still a fallen empire. An old man trying to enjoy what peace and quiet he can get after a long life of war and exploration." Gabriel shrugged, finishing off his answer with a definitive nod and deciding to finish off his coffee as well.
Resheph stood, abruptly crossing the distance between them and wrapping his son up in a warm hug. Gabriel jolted in surprise, not sure how to react at first. But then he stood and returned the hug, burying his face in his father's shoulder. "I'm proud of you, son. You've grown up well." At the words he'd wanted to hear so long, in an embrace he hadn't dared to hope for, Gabriel broke out into tears. Resheph smiled into his hair, giving him an affectionate kiss to the top of his head. "We have so much to catch up on."
