thewarningafter | IC inbox for Snowblind

[ That's fine- he's happy to give the good news to everyone. He'll just...ask for privacy a little later. Sure. ]

That's why I'm trying to get him set on just answering the phone when it rings. He's trying to work around it already, but if someone's on the tablet with him 24/7, we can keep him focused and get him back to you guys. Ideally, we'll get him to a building he can stay in and you can go pick him up.

Yeah -- yeah, absolutely. If he can just stay put for a day or two, there aren't any morgues so far out of the way that we can't get there by way of the maintenance tunnels. Does he know where he is?

Yeah, he's at the police station. So a little out of the way, but not too bad. Since he couldn't stay, I'm having him head for the aquarium. Figured that'd be a good place to wait, but if we're all on top of him, he can probably make it to the hospital. I haven't tested just how hard it's going to be to corral him yet.

[ He's oddly sort of looking forward to that- as horrific as the death prices are, the level of detailed control they have over people's brains is teaching him new things. ]

We recently took the trip from the new area to the grocery store and back, and it only took us a week. So you should definitely be able to make it in a few days.

Figures this place isn't done with Peter yet. He's had a pretty rough time already here, huh?

The aquarium....

[He falls silent a second, consulting his mental map.]

Probably just as quick to go straight there above ground from here; if we turn south now we might reach the entrance to the caves tonight. Not the worst place he could have ended up, assuming he can make it to the aquarium.

[The next question is more emotionally difficult, but of course today has been only good news so far.]

You could say that. Looks like we're finally getting a break, though.

[ Gabriel's not absolutely sure he'd say the same, even if he's appreciated what this place has done for him a time or two. But he keeps it to himself. ]

He did luck out there- you're pretty close. Not that anything takes more than a week or so with the maintenance tunnels now.

There is something else I wanted to ask you about, before I get back to Peter. House told me you 'stole' his drugs from him, and are using them yourself? -not that I care about how that all went down, I assume House exaggerated at least half of it. But I wanted to ask if you have been taking any- basically if you're dealing with pain right now, MN poisoning or otherwise.

Okay, wow. I'm just gonna stop you right there.

[Not in front of Rocket and Gamora, Gabriel!! Frankly, not at all. He's fine. He doesn't need this inquest.]

Don't worry about me. That's my job, not yours. Thanks for letting me know about Peter, I really do appreciate it.

[ Yeah, he kinda figured. But at least now Strange can't say he didn't ask. ]

Okay, okay, I get it. Just- if you need any more at any point, I've got some extra. I had some MN poisoning flaring up pain awhile ago, but it went away pretty quickly. Just trying to make sure it gets to people who need it.

[ See? Isn't he being nice? He's not going to push, promise. ]

And- y'know, make sure you knew House was spreading rumours about you, not like that's any surprise.

[The sharp intake of breath indicates that this wasn't the angle Stephen was expecting. For a moment he feels a pang of -- what, regret? -- before he clamps down on it. He has more than enough. He has enough for himself even if he ends up giving some of the supply away. He knows exactly how much extra he has.]

No, it's not. He's good at forgetting details that don't suit his personal narrative.

[ Of course, these particular details are sounding more plausible, considering Stephen's defensiveness and surprise at Gabriel's angle of approach here. Gabriel narrows his eyes, but doesn't let any of his thoughts leak into his voice, which stays easy-going. ]

He sure is. Sorry you got on the wrong end of him, but- well, seems like he gets on the wrong end of everyone eventually. I keep wondering when it's going to be my turn.

When you get close to him. When he needs your help, when he's hurting and vulnerable and you do the decent thing -- that's when. When he comes out the other side and doesn't need you anymore, that's when it's your turn.

[ That gets a quiet, bitter chuckle from Gabriel. ]

Guess I don't have to worry, then. That used to be my M.O., so I knew not to expect all that much.

Wish he hadn't blindsided you, though.

I knew what I was getting into.

[He keeps telling himself that. He likes to think it's true.]

Helping him doesn't mean he was ever my friend.

Nope. But sometimes he can do a good impression of a friend, right?

It's easy to let our guard down here, when we have to keep it up for so many other things. But with House, he keeps hauling it back up again.

[ Not that Gabriel wouldn't have been taken in if he spent any time traveling with the guy, but he'd like to think he'd recognize the defensive measures. ]

If he hadn't died --

[That's the worst part of it. Stephen still thinks they could have gotten through the entire program without this level of bullshit if only House hadn't spent half of it as a child and needed to push away everyone who'd seen him that way.

But going down that road risks blaming Peter, which isn't fair. He's as much a victim as anyone else.]

Yeah. But that's the big problem, isn't it? There's a whole lot of death and nothing we can do about it.

[ He's not even thinking of blaming Peter. He considers any of that mental manipulation to be 'brain-washing' and worse for the people affected than the people who died. If he didn't, he'd have to judge himself far more harshly, and he doesn't feel like doing that. ]

There's always something that pops up that we can't control. So every one of us tries to find the tiny bits of control we can hold onto. For you, it's trying to help. For House? It's making sure that wall is there.

Yeah, I'm told I have some issues with control.

[But he's lost so much of it here. More than he could have imagined.]

That's kind of what he's said, too. In shittier words.

Think all of us have issues with control. We're all used to being masters of something, skills far beyond the normal populace. It chafes when we've got to start respecting the laws of physics again.

Trying to help is not a bad goal, though. It's what's gonna get us through this, as much as House's single-minded stubbornness is. This place is trying to rip away our control, but people like you and Al have made a difference- even if it doesn't work out more times than you'd like. If you knew what I was like when I first got here...well, you'd see it in me, at least.

Extraordinary people, the whole bunch.

[A theory that's come up before.]

I can kind of, uh. Guess. Based on what you told me, based on what I know about, you know. Psychopathy. You know you're doing really well, right?

[ Gabriel wouldn't be Gabriel if he didn't try to single out the 'special' people from the general populace.

He sounds oddly shy when he replies. ]

You think so? ...thanks. I don't know if its sinking in as much as I give the impression- I'm still so used to faking it 'til I make it, you know? But I'm trying.

I know.

[Yeah, he knows better than to trust what he sees on the surface...even if he sometimes forgets.]

You're trying, though. I know that's true.

That's- ...I've heard it from Al, but it's nice hearing it from another source, you know?

[ Gabriel sounds slightly flustered- he's honestly not sure how to handle people believing in him, still. Al has gotten him to be a little less suspicious of it, at least. ]

I'm going to go ahead and call Peter back, make sure he's still en route. You guys interrupt whenever, and I'll make sure he takes the call.

[Stephen grins to himself, unseen.]

Yeah, alright. Tell him he's an idiot for me, will you? And that we're glad he's back.

[ That gets a snort of laughter from Gabriel. ]

Will do. Thanks for giving me the excuse- he's kinda tough to wrangle.

[ And Gabriel's trying to be patient because he knows it's (mostly) a death loss. ]

Talk to you later, Stephen. Stay warm and all that.

You, too. And keep us updated.

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