Private Finished Everything Stays

ArcanaFate

aRCANE lORE mASTER
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May 19, 2018
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"I have full faith that you'd have been a fine hero. I mean, you're training to be a scout right now. That's probably as close to an actual superhero this dimension is going to have. Plus..." Gabe paused, crossing his arms over his chest. His lips tightened as he glanced off to the side. It was something that had to be phrased carefully as it could sound almost mean depending on how Angelo took it.

"You don't have the heart to do what your father did back in Halcyon. Or maybe you have too much heart? I don't know what's the best way to say it. I guess the best way is that you have such a big heart, Angelo. You're perceptive and meticulous in everything you do, which would be ideal traits for inheriting the darker parts of your father's enterprise. But, at the same time, you're so open and willing to put yourself out to the world. And you care."

Gabe nodded. "I think you'll be fine no matter what you do, Angelo." Letting out a small sigh, he leaned back against the bench. "Sorry. Didn't mean to get all emotionally deep tonight. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. Am I the only one feeling awkward?" He paused. "Well... more awkward?"
 

Romi

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ANGELO GENOVESE

Maybe he shouldn't have, but the corner of Angelo's mouth quirked when Gabe mentioned that he didn't have the heart to do what his father did. He could understand why Gabe felt that way, but it also wasn't really the truth: Angelo knew his father did care. He know his father cared enough to let himself play the villain for the greater good.

So Angelo did what he could to play it off the way he knew Gabe meant it.

"Thanks, Gabe," Angelo said. "I get what you mean, and... well, it does mean a lot that you'd think that. And..." Whew, there they went... "It's definitely a bit awkward. Honestly, things have been awkward between a lot of the people from Halcyon. I've dealt with Xavier a bit lately and things are kind of going okay there, but I'm not really a huge fan of his girlfriend, and that makes him rocky. I guess that's the cares too much stuff you mentioned, because I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut." At least he was self-aware about it. Risky wasn't his business, but it sure as hell felt like it was.

 

ArcanaFate

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Gabe snorted, then flushed immediately at the fact that he had done so. It wasn't that loud by any means, but it felt loud. "Xavier has a girlfriend? I can't remember if I knew that already or not. But I imagine that she would be rather... unique to be able to keep up with our favorite portal hopper." He adjusted his scarf, seeming unsure of what exactly to be doing with his hands.

"But who else from Halcyon is causing trouble? Or not trouble, but y'know, making things awkward?" He paused. "Wait, am I one of them? Because I left for a while? Or our... separation? Because if it is, I'll probably be saying sorry for like, a full day or something. I don't know how to really make up for that if that's the case."

Gabe continued to babble for a moment, his words rushed and full of apologies and confusion.
 

Romi

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ANGELO GENOVESE

"No, that's the problem," Angelo said with a sigh. "She's worse! Like, it felt like he was improving and now he's with this punk girl who is constantly causing trouble." To say the least. Angelo had personally run into her a number of times, and to say she drove him up teh wall...

Well, that wasn't even the half of it.

"No, it's really just them. I mean, everyone else is kind of... moving on. Everyone has their own lives now. Feels like when we first came through we all pulled together, and then after Xavier's stuff with the-" Angelo winced. "With the holy water, everyone started drifting apart."

 

ArcanaFate

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"Awesome. I was hoping he'd be trying to turn his life around... again... after the whole incident. So he's hanging out with another bad influence and..." Gabe exhaled, rubbing his temples to the best of his ability with his thickly-gloved hands. Xavier was a good guy but his tendency to make poor life decisions was continuing to stress the plant user out.

"And us moving on isn't the worst thing for us. It does suck that the Halcyonites don't have that same sense of unity that we had when we came to this dimension but it means that we're acclimating to our new home. We could have created a separate community, sure, but then what? We keep to ourselves forever? Just barricade ourselves from the rest of the island? I don't think it would've gone well for us..."

Gabe sighed. "But I do get it. I've lost contact with most of the people I knew from Halcyon. Diego's vanished somewhere and I can't help but be concerned. Xavier is apparently content with ruining his life once again... And then there's you. This is the first time we've spoken in months and it's... complicated. I've never done the whole 'friends after the break-up' thing before. Part of me is afraid that we're setting ourselves up to be hurt. Part of me is glad that you're still in my life. And part of me... well..."

Gabe hesitated and glanced away from Angelo. Was it weird to admit you missed your ex to his face?
 

Romi

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ANGELO GENOVESE

"Could have been like Chinatown was," Angelo pointed out. Even if it was deeply implausible, that had always been how he'd imagined it: Little Halcyon, a small community that would build itself up on the island. In his head, La Bussola sat right at the entrance. Maybe there would be a statue of the people who'd died to allow them to be there.

But it was a pipe dream, and Angelo knew it. There simply weren't enough of them, and so many of the mundane Halcyonites had already left the island, resettling in the narrow reality. Relatively few of them remained, and even then there was no one cohesive thing keeping them together. Enclaves tended to pop up because of a shared language or culture, but the Halcyonites were completely different, sharing only a dimension of origin.

"You're still doing better than me," Angelo pointed out. "I've never even had a—" He paused, picking his words carefully. "A boyfriend or a girlfriend before." Would partner have been better? "So this is just... the first time for me. If media taught me anything, we should hate each other forever."

 

ArcanaFate

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"Oh thank god you had the same thought process I did." Gabe let out a massive sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping down as his body relaxed. "From the moment we planned to meet up, I've been freaking out about how I'm supposed to act. I keep thinking we were gonna be awkward- well, more awkward,- and we wouldn't get along and our whole friendship would be ruined." He rambled for a moment and then rubbed his eyes. No, he wasn't beginning to cry, that's a ridiculous notion.

"So now I'm sitting here, trying not to freak out because I'm so relieved that you still like me yet having that horrible realization that you're right; that we've lost our support system in the other Halcyonites because none of the other islanders are going to relate to us in the same way. I know that there are other refugees but none like us. Similar, but not. It's... a bit scary." He ran his fingers through his hair a few times, trying to relax.

"Apparently I'm not as adjusted as we thought..." He laughed, trying to diffuse his moment of anxiety.
 

Romi

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ANGELO GENOVESE

Maybe he shouldn't have (no, he definitely shouldn't have), but Angelo found himself smiling just a bit when Gabe confessed to not being nearly as well adjusted as they thought.

"I guess that's probably why they don't want us setting up enclaves. If you only stick with the people from your home, you'll never really adjust. They probably want us really settling in, and... well, that's a lot easier when you jump in feet first, I guess."

Angelo still had his safety net (at least some of his friends were still around, and his father was still there), but he liked to think he'd adjusted pretty well. He had his mentors on the scouts, and he had Alma and other people he knew. Some of his best friends—people like Erione—were island natives, after all.

"How's school been?" Angelo asked, trying to turn the conversation to something a bit more... friendly.

 

ArcanaFate

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"School's been busy. Getting ready to graduate then move onto college in the fall. I've been trying to get all of my classes set up and figure out where I stand. I honestly just want to be done and get to working full-time." Gabe laughs, a bit thankful for the distraction. He would prefer to not have an ugly cry from stress. But, he was getting better at not stressing all the time.

"Time off the island helped me prioritize. Honestly, it kind of helped reshape my perspective on a lot of things. I was childish and scared of everything here and it wasn't good for me mentally so it was a nice change of pace to just do something I wanted. And figure out my future." He gave a small laugh, placing his hands in his coat pocket. He wasn't quite sure what to do with them right now, honestly.

"...How's your dad? The restaurant still running well?"
 

Romi

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ANGELO GENOVESE

"I honestly felt the same way," Angelo admitted. "Being a hero was work. Like, it was something I wanted to do, but it was still a job. With my arm the way it was, I wasn't able to go to school, so suddenly going back to school felt so... so jarring."

Angelo's eyes drifted down to his prosthetic arm before snapping back up.

"I don't blame you for wanting to just get out there. I guess it depends on what you want to do as far as options go, though. I thought about doing a business degree or something like my dad's old job, but scouts seemed like a good way to burn off all that excess energy instead. Eventually I'll retire and get a normal job, but until then... well, good use of my time."

Which sort of nicely connected to Gabe's own question.

"La Bussola is still doing good. I help out when I'm on-island and they're shorthanded, but it's doing pretty well. I think a lot of the island has never had real Genoan food, so good northern Italian cooking is pretty nice to them. He's still tinkering and coming up with ideas and everything, but as it stands he's happy where he is."

 
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