(no subject)

[the_reapers]

He forgets, often, that Gabe can't read texts. He takes for granted that Gabe can get them read to him by an app or an onlooker.

So it's late at night, beyond midnight, when he texts, "I'm about to be arrested you down to pick me up? I got cash to bail me out at my apartment."

Comments

[the_reapers]

"Well I won't do it if he's armed." Getting punched is small price to pay for a joke, right? "Take me with. We'll have fun. And hey, we can show off together too."

[minuteofangle]

“Not really one for showing off,” Gabe admits. “I don’t like putting on shows for a crowd. But don’t let that stop you. Live your bliss and all that.”

[the_reapers]

"You gonna cheer for me? Applaud and all that when I'm shakin' my ass for everyone?" Gabe won't be able to see it but, "I bet you'll feel how sexy I am."

[minuteofangle]

That gets a huff of laughter. He flicks Austin in the ribs, playful. "You got a bit of an exhibitionist streak, huh? But I'll applaud for you. You'll be sexy as fuck. Bring all the boys to the yard."

[the_reapers]

He laughs and nuzzles in against Gabe's neck. "Well when you got what I got you gotta flaunt it," he teases. "C'mon back to bed and let's order that food, I'm starved! Must've burned like a thousand calories with you."

[minuteofangle]

"I'm a hell of a workout," Gabe agrees cheerfully. "Mhmm, let's eat."

[the_reapers]

He leads Gabe back to the bed and lays down beside him, pulls out his phone to start ordering.

"And you're gonna stick around after or you gotta go?" He tries not to sound bothered either way but he doesn't do so well on his own anymore.

[minuteofangle]

Without thinking about it too deeply, Gabe just flops down next to him with a groan. Petting absently at Austin's sides and trailing his fingers over scars. "You got me all tucked out," he murmurs. "I'll stick around a while. But you gotta wake me up for training tomorrow, kay?"

He thinks it's better to keep watch over Austin. He thinks Mancea and the others would understand.

[the_reapers]

He feels a little pang of longing. Morning PT? Yeah he misses that.

"I'll get you up," he promises. He sets the alarm just to be sure. "So...uh you like this new job you're doing?"

[minuteofangle]

“Like it fine. It’s not the same as being out in the field again, but…”

Gabe sighs.

“Figure it’s as close as I’ll get. And Pope’s good people. Doesn’t fuck with me or anybody else.”

[the_reapers]

"...Can I try out or sign up or, how's it work?" He fidgets. "Because I haven't been able to hold down a job."

[minuteofangle]

Gabe just smiles and trails his fingers over Austin’s stomach. Quietly, secretly, he’d been hoping Austin would ask. That it wouldn’t seem like charity then if Gabe said yes.

“Come train with us tomorrow. Pope signs off, you’re with us.”

Gabe hums a little.

“How long you paid up for this room?”

[the_reapers]

"Yes," he says, delighted, like he's just won a winning goal.

"I'm paid up till Friday. I could probably pay for the weekend too but then I couldn't get food and I can only live on ramen so long you know?"

[minuteofangle]

Okay, Gabe thinks, nodding slowly. “I’ll pay up for another week or two. Think you can bunk with somebody? We’re working on housing but we gotta be creative about it.”

[the_reapers]

"Everyone I know is already set. I'm okay though man, I still got a tent and everything." If it comes to that. "I only started sleeping indoors 'cause I wanted Rochelle and the baby to stay with me."

[minuteofangle]

“You’re not sleeping in a tent,” Gabe replies firmly. “Shaw would bite my head off. You good to bunk with Powell?”

[the_reapers]

"Yeah I can do that! You mean it?" He just has to wow Pope tomorrow. He can do that. He's all but vibrating with excitement for it now. "Powell's good. Get my ass kicked if I don't make my bed right in the morning, that'll be good."

[minuteofangle]

"I mean it."

He flicks Austin in the ribs. There's not enough room at Mancea's place right now and it'll do Austin some good to have supervision. Powell's solemn and serious in the field, but he knows how to relax out of it. Knows how to keep Austin on track and probably how to make sure he eats a vegetable occasionally, too.

"You pass, Shaw'll get you all set up. We take care of our own."

[the_reapers]

The thing is, his girl will never bring the baby back to him if he does this. If he joins a private firm that goes out killing people.

But that thought only floats in his mind, obscured as always by his impulses and his excitement. "How many of the old crew are in this thing?"

[minuteofangle]

"Carver, Shaw, Bossie, and Turner. Wash's been making noise about coming back, too, and we're waiting on Delaney to finish out her contract." He ticks them off his fingers one by one. "And Powell just showed up a few days ago. Didn't say where he'd been."

None of them asked. It'd just be another variation on the same story.

[the_reapers]

It'll be like a family reunion, he thinks, only better. No half-cousins or long lost aunties; no this is a reunion of all the people you would kill and die for. The people you would be happy to stay alive for.

"No kidding! I wondered what Turner's been up to." He's glad, now, that he told Gabe the story about the cock ring. It's fun to share but you have to have the right audience. He gets up, pacing eagerly. "Man we gotta get everyone together! Make it just like in Afghanistan."

[minuteofangle]

"Maybe," Gabe allows. Though quietly he wonders if it won't end up like that one of these days. He didn't know all of Pope's people but he remembers the ones he ran with over in the Valley. A lot of them are struggling now, a number high enough that it hurts him a little to think about. "The others will like having you around. You got a talent for lightening the mood."

[the_reapers]

He grins and flops back down on the bed, making Gabe bounce with it. "That's me, man. Every class needs a clown." Pope's got more than one, but Austin is the one most notorious for it.

"How long does Delaney got left?"

[minuteofangle]

Goddamn, Austin’s got energy for days. Gabe huffs at him, prodding his hip. “Two months, give or take. Carver’s over the moon. You’d think those two were fucking, I swear.”

[the_reapers]

"He's too smart for her," Austin laughs. "Have you ever met the rednecks she picks up?" Never a braincell in any of them.

He lays his head on Gabe's shoulder and thinks how glad he is that he won't be alone tonight. "I think I'm starting to come down." He doesn't have the need to pet anything now.