(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."

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[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.

[minuteofangle]

“Nah, but I heard the stories.”

Everyone’s got a type, Gabe supposes. Even if it’s the laughable kind. Quietly, he reaches up to run his fingers through Austin’s hair.

“Good E,” Gabe agrees. “Remember to drink water.”

[the_reapers]

"You won't tell Pope I've been dealing again right?" Don't tell anyone, he hopes. It doesn't need to get back to Rochelle. It doesn't need to get back to anyone.

[minuteofangle]

That’s probably something he should run by Shaw and Mancea before answering, Gabe thinks. He puffs out a breath. “Don’t get caught,” he murmurs. “And don’t come to training high. Yeah?”

[the_reapers]

He'd planned to top the morning off with coffee and an edible but Gabe's right. He wants to do this right; he needs to wow Pope.

"I'll be a stone sober badass," he promises.

[minuteofangle]

“Good.” He sighs and rubs Austin’s head. “I know you will.”

Maybe they all need this. Something like family. Enough structure to keep them from going off the rails. None of them, it seems, are doing so hot out there on their own. And Gabe realizes with a quieter sort of sadness that he hasn’t been on his own since he was a kid, not really. There was always someone telling him what to do.

At least Mancea and the others actually care about him. The Wolves never did.

“Wake me up when the food’s here,” he murmurs, setting back against the pillows.

[the_reapers]

Gabe gets a good half hour of sleep before dinner gets there, and Austin wakes him. He eats, brushes his teeth, and then curls up beside Gabe, determined to sleep before training. With the warm weight of someone else in the bed, he sleeps well, for once. When the alarm goes off he'll be ready.