I'm alive...

[heroloverprince]

Enter Gabriel Brown. Sixteen years old. Also sixteen years dead, not that you'd know it to look at him. He looks perfectly alive and real and solid, not like a ghost at all. Ignore whatever his sister may tell you about him not being real

Comments

[lightsoflongago]

The lamplighter wanders over and leans on the railing nearby, not saying or doing much else, except looking out over the water.

[heroloverprince]

Gabriel glances over at him, studying him for a minute before speaking.

"Hi! I hope you don't mind my asking, but... where am I?"

Besides on a boat, because that much is obvious.

[lightsoflongago]

"Oh, you're on a boat. In an ocean. Much besides that, I cannot tell you." He turns to smile at Gabriel.

[heroloverprince]

"Oh." Gabriel nods slightly, and smiles back. "Okay then. ...I'm Gabriel. Hi."

[shes_notthere]

Natalie doesn't come out of her room except for her trips to the plothole much anymore, but -- either lucky or unlucky for her -- Gabriel happens to be standing there when she comes out to wander around for a bit.

She stares for a few moments, in utter shock. She knows who it has to be, but she doesn't want to believe it is. Doesn't want to believe he'd show up now, just when she's getting used to things around here, or that he'd show up away from home, where she can just explain him away as a figment of her imagination brough on by Dad's ramblings.

Finally, she speaks, and even though it's one word, there's anger, hope, and maybe a little fear in it, along with emotions even she couldn't (or wouldn't) name. "Gabriel?"

[heroloverprince]

Gabriel recognizes Natalie's voice immediately, but it's a moment before he turns to face her, with a slow smile. She hadn't seemed exactly happy to see him, but then, things are always weird in his family, so he's not entirely surprised by that.

"Hey Nat," he says lightly, and adds after a second or two, "I missed you."

[shes_notthere]

So it was him. There was a moment of maybe-relief flitting over her face before it settled into a blank mask, not showing him any hint of what she was thinking.

Not that she knew what she was thinking.

"Hey," she said quietly, her only response. If it was anyone else, she'd run to him, wrap her arms around his waist, and hug him tightly just for the fact that it was a familiar face. But it was Gabriel. She'd be hugging air. She couldn't deal with that now.

She wrapped her arms around herself to stop from doing it anyway.

[heroloverprince]

Gabriel smiles faintly, and leans back against the rail, without glancing over his shoulder or checking that it's steady like most people would. He's not afraid of falling. Gabe's remarkably fearless when it comes to... everything, really.

He doesn't say anything. Just watches her with that quiet, ironic little smile. He can guess what she's thinking, and isn't sure whether to be bothered by it or not - he supposes he should just be grateful she's admitting he exists.

[lovesleuth]

Hi, there!

[heroloverprince]

Gabriel blinks for a moment at the rather... sparkly man who'd just spoken to him, and then smiles a little. "Hi."

[lovesleuth]

*^__^* You're new here, right? I'm Zanna.

[heroloverprince]

"Yeah. I'm Gabriel Brown."