gabelarkin

[gabelarkin]

"I'd love to give you a little more of the specifics but maybe I should leave your imagination to do the heavy lifting until I get home," he replied suggestively. The clock seriously couldn't be ticking slower, Gabriel was convinced he'd start counting down seconds soon enough. "I'm counting on it."

That definitely seemed to light a fire in Natalya's eyes. Gabriel was well aware of just how much she enjoyed hearing him talk like that and the fact he was initiating it even in the smallest measure whilst he was at work, seemed to do even more to her. "Keep going and I'll be lucky if I can focus on making dinner." Natalya warned the man, her voice a little more breathy. "I'll see what speaks to me when I go to the shop then." She already knew there was food in but sometimes seeing something clicked more. "Oh, you will be."

[gabelarkin]

"My answer to that question isn't exactly appropriate for this environment," he shot back simply in response to her. "But in regards to dinner I'm sure I'll love whatever you prepare," Gabe then said. "You sure? I really don't mind," he insisted, smirking lightly to himself, "I mean I figured that was a given either way. I suppose I was just ready to pay interest."

"As if I would give up this feeling." Natalya scoffed, a little smile on her face. "No, I hadn't decided what to cook yet. I was going to ask you if there was anything in particular you felt like eating tonight." It was for him she was mainly doing it after all. "And you are absolutely not paying me for the groceries. I'd be making food for myself anyway." Just a bit earlier if she hadn't been waiting for him. "If you want to repay me I'm fairly sure you know the type of currency I prefer."

[gabelarkin]

"We've got to stop meeting like this," he joked when she pointed out that they both often ended up feeling this way. Gabe loved whenever she came around to his work, especially since he couldn't really do the same in the way she could at his, but a lot of the time it made him wish he wasn't on the clock. "It will. Do you already know what you want to make?" he asked curiously, figuring centering in on the topic would distract them both in a more productive way. "Do you need to pick anything up from the shops? I can give you some cash."

A hint of a smirk seemed to work its way across Natalya's lips when Gabriel coughed. Rather amusingly, she had heard that sound on several occasions before and knew what it meant. There was a certain rush she got from having that kind of power over his reactions. "Oh, I have a fairly good idea. I'm also pretty certain that most of my time is spent feeling that way." She added, not wanting him to feel as though she was immune from the sensation herself. "Good, I'm glad. It'll be nice to sit down and have a meal with you." Not that they didn't do that but after a long shift like Gabriel had been pulling, it wasn't even guaranteed that he'd eat, never mind have a proper meal and sit down with someone for it.

[gabelarkin]

"I wouldn't dream of such a thing," he insisted with a shake of his head when she'd told him not to forget it. It felt nice to know he wasn't being a burden on somebody without letting himself second guess it. Gabe would maybe never be good at coming forward about his problems but whenever he did, he also knew that Natalya was never judging.

After Natalya's invitation for evening plans, he cleared his throat. "I was already pretty desperate for this shift to end so I'm sure you can imagine how I feel now," he replied in a low tone. "That'd be really nice," Gabe added softly when she'd offered to make him dinner as well. To say he felt lucky would be an understatement.

"We are; and don't you forget it." Natalya almost seemed to order because if they tackled things together, she knew it would make things much easier to get through. She had gone through a lot on her own and Natalya knew Gabriel had too, it wasn't someone she wished on anyone. There was no time that was lonelier than trying to deal with struggles when you felt like you didn't have anyone to turn to.

Natalya was heartened however to hear the laugh fall from Gabriel's lips when she shifted the mood. It wasn't as though he hadn't done that recently but the sound was a lot less tight and forced than perhaps it had been now that they had dealt with the elephant in the room. "Well..." Came the soft, extended word as she too took a slight lean forward as if sharing a secret with her boyfriend. "If work hasn't worn you out, when you finish I think you have some making up to do after this whole situation. You need to remind me of just what a talent you are." The brunette teased, giving him a loaded glance before putting space between them again. "I can make dinner." Late as that might be given his finishing times.

[gabelarkin]

"I think she'd have a good laugh if she heard you say that," Gabe snorted lightly as Dorian proceeded to compare his girlfriend to a black widow spider. "She is most certainly not as scary or violent as you seem to think– but she's certainly got intimidation tactics down if she ever needs to use them," he considered with a laugh. "And if you two mated it'd be me biting your head off, I'll have you know that much," Gabe added in good humor, knowing that wasn't actually a potential threat. "I'll make note of that. Luckily it hasn't been much of an issue for myself but I can easily see how it could cause some waves."

"If you wanted a date, you could have just asked. Though I think that girlfriend of yours might have something to say about it. Honestly I'm not sure if she'd kill me or ask me to join in. She gives me black widow spider vibes... like she'd mate me and then bite my head off." Dorian spoke frankly, a chuckle falling from his lips. "I'm not sure how you handle her. But a bit of both? I would warn you about mixing business and pleasure. It's not boded well for me in the past."

[gabelarkin]

He huffed out a low laugh, "You're really gonna stroke my ego and my trauma all in one go, huh?" Gabe glanced down at the bar top, running a hand over his jaw where her thumb had just been, as if trying to keep the sensation there a little longer. Then Gabe's eyes flicked upwards to meet hers again. They lingered over her features, thinking over everything they'd shared up until this point. The good, the bad– it had all really been worth it even if some of it had been incredibly difficult to go through at the time. Gabe paused, letting a smile tug at one side of his mouth momentarily. “I’m just glad we’re in this together... you know?" he shrugged. He couldn't imagine worthing through all of this with anyone else at his side but her.

When she all but smirked at him, he shook his head lightly with a laugh, undeniably familiar with that particular tonal shift. Gabe leaned on the bar with that familiar lazy confidence and said under his breath, “And you better believe I’m not giving up that either. I know a good thing when I’m tangled up in it.”

Natalya couldn't help but tenderly brush her thumb against his chin, eyes soft as she rubbed the area. She could feel the stubble, light against the pad of her finger, oddly reassuring in its familiarity. "No, I suppose it isn't. I don't want to jump to conclusions though." Natalya added with a wry smile, well aware that kind of behaviour could get a person into trouble. It was a loss she found herself disliking when Gabriel finally pulled back once more, the conversation causing her to want to seek out that closeness but her choice of battleground didn't really allow for that kind of contact. It had been with intention that she'd picked his bar though. It was much harder for him to escape her probing.

Natalya had to give a bit of a scoffed laugh at Gabriel's appreciation though. "Babe, if we're doing comparisons when it comes to things like that, you're a god damned angel next to me. I have quite literally had you find out one of the worst things a person could probably drop into a conversation and you still stuck around. How could I possibly complain in return?" Natalya pointed out before a suspicious smile drew over her face. "But the fact you're great in bed also keeps me around... I couldn't possibly give that up over something so small."

[gabelarkin]

"If I have to tell you then maybe it wasn't as special as I thought," he huffed as though wounded by Silas' response. "And look how well that's turned out for you," Gabe then offered up a smile.

"And what did we have Gabriel?" Silas played up a little, leaning forward a little with that teasing expression on his features. "I've never been very good at settling." Silas admitted, because he knew that he always tended to set himself more goals when he hit his last lot. Thankfully, it'd worked out well for him though.

[gabelarkin]

"I met people who averted those expectations," Gabe admitted with a light shrug. "Showed me that not everything in the world was worst case scenario and that things could be better than I thought. And while I'm not a changed person on a daily basis I certainly find myself being a little more hopeful in my day-to-day."

"Used to? What changed that?" Because Aaron couldn't imagine anything managing to sway how he felt about things. It was what got him through each day, for better or worse.

[gabelarkin]

"And what if it's a little bit of both?" Gabe chuckled in reply to his friend's questions. "I can miss you and miss the business you bring at the same time, can't I? Or does that not fly in your book?"

"I tend to change my choice of place but it is one I prefer to go to, especially when there is a good game on." He explained with a little smile, knowing that he didn't want to make his habits too well known when it came to anyone who wasn't in his friendship group. "Why? Are you wanting to spend more time with me or jealous I don't come to your bar more often?"

[gabelarkin]

"Maybe it's a little bit of both," he shrugged, wiggling his eyebrows for good measure. "But it can be whatever you want it to be if that means it'll get a cool story out of you," Gabe chuckled.

"Is this you being an attentive bartender now or a prospective friend?" He asked with a little grin, more than happy to share of course but he didn't want to put that on someone who was simply doing their job. He had a good idea which one this fell under but it didn't hurt to check of course.

[gabelarkin]

"I certainly did a lot more of it in my youth but I still find myself doing it every now and again," Gabe admitted. "It is. And let's make sure the both of us have it in spades, yeah?"

"You do? I had not noticed," Jack said. It wasn't really her vibe, to be honest. She never saw the need to pretend to fit in for any situation and if people didn't like her being there, she just left, "You are right about that though. It is about having fun."

[gabelarkin]

"I know that," he assured her softly, resting his chin on their intertwined fingers after she'd left a gentle kiss upon his skin. "I know it and if I ever feel like I'm in the place to talk about it with you... I will. But I also feel like a lot of it isn't difficult for you to piece together with what you already know," Gabe then added, letting their hands rest on the surface between them as he leaned back slightly to sigh heavily. It really wasn't something he enjoyed thinking about. Talking about it would be incredibly difficult if he was ever able to bring himself to start the conversation in the first place.

Gabriel nodded, letting the corners of his lips twitch upwards briefly at her gentle teasing. "Well then thanks for being understanding about all of this," he opted for in turn. "Understanding and patient. I know you're not the type to give up on things and it means a lot that you never give up on me either. Even if I don't make it easy for you from time to time," he offered with a weak smile, reaching up to brush her chin softly with his thumb.

Entwining their fingers, Natalya brought his hand up to her mouth, pressing a kiss to the skin gently. "I'm glad you feel that you can talk to me. I'll be ready whenever you want to talk about it but if you don't that's also obviously an option." She didn't need to know all the details of his life. As long as she knew where she stood and that he was able to come to her if he ever did want to talk, the rest could wait.

"Trust me that if you ever did or said anything that made me think otherwise, I'd let you know about it. I'm not exactly known for my subtlety." Natalya pointed out, giving him an amused smile. "I mean you communicated them... mainly by appearing like a startled deer when it was mentioned." She pointed out with a soft laugh. "But yes, I would prefer if you were open with me. At the end of the day, I don't want you to be worrying about things that we can hopefully fix together. That's what being in a partnership of any kind is about. You need to be able to rely on one another." And she did rely on him. She trusted him implicitly. "And I'm not going to throw a tantrum when you have opinions or feelings you need to convey... well most of the time..." She added on as an afterthought because occasionally she was somewhat overzealous with her responses. "And if I was, I like to think that after a short time to consider everything, I'm fairly level headed and reasonable in how I deal with things."

[gabelarkin]

"I guess so. They were never mine so I suppose that made the difference," he considered with a shrug. "That's fair enough and honestly responsible of you. Too many people bite off more than they can chew and then poor animals get neglected because of that," Gabriel remarked. "But yes, they absolutely can. If you ever have the means to give one a good life, I'm sure it'll do nothing but bring joy into yours in return," he replied. "Godric– I sound like I work for a shelter or something– I swear I don't," he then chuckled.

"That must be difficult. To be so used to having them around but not having one of your own." He mused, fussing over the creature a little. "No, no pets of my own. Honestly, I'm probably just about able to take care of myself so I'm not sure it'd be wise, especially with all the travelling I do with the guys. Though I've heard that dogs can make good emotional support animals."

[gabelarkin]

"Even if you were, there's nothing wrong with that," he assured him with a soft chuckle when he described what sort of dog he'd probably be. "And I can definitely see that for you. You've got something very friendly and approachable about you."

Noah gave a little laugh at that. "Um, no though I do think that a better take on that one would come from outside opinions. I think we can be so inward facing sometimes that we don't always see ourselves for what we are. I'd imagine I'm some sort of soft, bright eyed dog though given how much people say I tend to be optimistic and endearing. I promise I'm not just trying to flatter myself with those statements though."

[gabelarkin]

AARON TVEIT as GARETH RITTER

BRAINDEAD | 1.06 Notes Toward a Post-Reagan Theory of Party Alliance, Tribalist, and Loyalty: Past as Prologue

[gabelarkin]

"What can I say? I miss what we had," he offered up playfully with a hand placed dramatically over his heart. "However, that's an incredibly valid argument to make. I suppose I can't fault you on that. You've created an impressive life for yourself– perhaps that is the key then. High expectations and not settling for less."

"You're beginning to sound like a spurred lover now." Silas responded with a little laugh, though he nodded his head. "But I will take that into consideration in the future. Duly noted." He grinned brightly. "And lower my expectations? I would not be where I am if I did that."

[gabelarkin]

"New Years feels like the acceptable time for clichés," he shrugged. "They inexplicably don't feel as corny as they typically would... so I say go ham."

"Me neither," Alastair replied, "Seems like it all went by in a blink. Which is the first New Year's Eve cliche I've said tonight. Probably won't be the last either," he joked.