capeandcowllogs | if the elephants have past lives

Entry tags:

if the elephants have past lives

WHO: GIL and YOU
WHERE: anywhere! The park, a grocery store, the streets, around his workplace, etc.
WHEN: between 12/10 and 12/13
WARNINGS: references to Thunderhungerdome events
SUMMARY: In spite of everything that's happened, Gil has to try and carry on with City life.
FORMAT: starting with quick but tagger's choice!

[ If there's anything Gil is always quick to buy, no matter how stingy he can be with money, it's cigarettes and a brand new lighter. He's not too fond of those cheap ones from the corner stores, even if they do work in a pinch. But so do matches. (The odd stare every now and then doesn't both him when he's craving a long drag of nicotine. While he's well are of the laws against public smoking, when he really needs (re: wants) a cigarette, he can't help himself. When he's working, he avoids it as long as he can before he lights one outside the building.

Attempting to quit doesn't cross his mind. There's a lot on it.

He's even lost count of how long it's been since that night in the stadium. There are fleeting moments it feels like it was a decade ago, buried under the other painful events that seemed to consistently plague his life-- and then the vivid moments like it was just yesterday and his senses are overloaded with the smell of copper and screaming ringing in his ears.

It's the brief seconds of remembering Lenalee and Damian's bodies that jostles him out of his daze and he needs to stop and catch his breath. ]

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[ Well, Gil may not recognize him, but he certainly recognized Gilbert. He tipped his tophat slightly, peering at him from behind sunglasses that were colored a peculiar shade of dark violet this evening.

Odd, perhaps, that someone would wear sunglasses at night, unironically, and look pretty decent and at home doing it. Of course, nothing about the guy was conventional. From the sunglasses and tophat down to the ascot and cane. Everything about him screamed that he was a constant, even if he looked perfectly content in a modern setting. ]

Yes, good evening. You wouldn't happen to be Mr. Nightray, would you? [ His voice was missing an accent, for the most part. There was the faintest hint of something that may have been the Queen's English, but it was so faint, only emphasizing the odd vowel or dropping the odd consonant. ]

[ Parallel to Shade, Gil's like some younger representation of his choice in fashion; donning the hat Ada had given him (it's cold and he doesn't like to go often without it), black coat and of course the cravat.
One might think a periodic play might be in the works here.

Gil moves closer under one of the street lights, squinting his eyes to catch a glimpse of this other person's face properly. Really familiar. It's right on the tip of his tongue and somehow he feels at a loss. Maybe he's worked himself too much today... ]

Who are you?

Edited 2012-12-12 08:14 (UTC)

[ It was a funny little study, the two of them, but at the question, Shade just smiled, leaning back and tapping the foot of his cane on the concrete of the path. ]

You don't recognize me? Why, we spoke on the network. [ And he paused, because that probably wasn't helpful, and really quite rude not to introduce oneself. Victorian sensibilities died hard in some ways, as modern as the Shade could be. ]

I introduced myself as the Shade, before.

[ It hits him like a boot to the face.

He jumps slightly, all of it coming back to him. This strange man... he didn't know what to make of him back then, so he certainly doesn't know what to think right now. ]

You?! [ Instinctively, he looks around their immediate vicinity. Is it just coincidence to run into each other in this park? ] What are you doing here...?

[ Relaxed and free, an amused quirk of a smile lit across his face, watching the jump like he was some dastardly villain splitting from the shadows around him.

Oh, he did enjoy that. Like he was still a supervillain, and he'd just stopped by to say hello to Jay. Ah, no matter on that. Those days were long passed. ]

I thought it a fine night for a walk. Did you not think the same?

[ He glances every-which-way, as if he needs to contemplate an answer before responding. ]

I suppose it is...

[ The park is one of the few places that still looks lovely, against the dark and cold winter evenings. ]

[ And in the dark and the cold was a place that the Shade felt secure and comfortable. Of course, he also enjoyed long nights by the fire, a warm drink, and and something to read, or perhaps write, but a night like this? He walked out in the City for a reason.

Not just because of the interesting sorts that he could meet, although it was always something of a perk to being out of the house he'd...procured... on Long Island. ]

You only suppose? Come now, there's little making this night anything but enjoyable.

[ The MAC isn't a terrible place overall, but it's not cozy enough for Gil's liking. It's probably the amount of other imPorts who live in the apartments that make him feel somewhat suffocated and without much privacy. For months now he's entertained the thought of moving out.

But for now, long strolls through the City satisfy him. Sort of. It's hard to feel at ease knowing the scar hidden underneath his collar and cravat will never fade, or that Lenalee still hasn't made contact with him. ]

It's alright. [ He says quietly. ] It's always quieter in the parks around this time.

[ Yeah... it's nice. ]

[ Well, he certainly was the sort to provide all kinds of conversation, in Shade's opinion. He, of course, was more curious than anything else, and when someone caught his eyes in terms of curiosity, he often found himself making an effort to figure things out for himself.

Blame bored immortality. ]

That's because most don't enjoy being in the cold, or the dark. I've heard whispers that it's a dangerous time of night. [ He paused. ]

Which, of course, begs the question. Do you think it so?

Dangerous? [ Gil reads the local papers; he knows there's the occasional theft and other armed robberies that happen throughout the park. He's certain he's not in any danger, though. It's dark, but not that dark. ] Not really.

[ Of course, he feels the comfortable weight of his gun tucked inside his coat. He can't carry it on a holster on his leg in this world. The gun laws here are pretty different and he isn't going to risk a fine carrying a weapon without a license from this place. ]

It's not that late.

But it seems later than it really is. [ He took a sharp inhale of the chill air, and when he exhaled, there was no steam of condensation from the air heating so quickly. ]

Most normal people scurry around at this hour, quick to get home, lest something step from the shadows and into the light long enough to snatch them free.

[ Maybe Shade was a little creepy, but he knew it. He offered him a sharp smile, lifting an eyebrow and tipping his head toward the deep shadows underneath a tree. ]

What makes it that you have little to fear?

[ What is with that question? He can feel the hairs on his neck rise steadily and tension digging into his shoulders. He hates to be pressed and intimidated, although it's working a bit on him now. ]

Sorry, but I don't think that is any of your concern.

[ All he can do in response is laugh. He meant nothing by it, but the Shade, in all his two hundred year old charm, didn't really give much thought into how some people may feel about him. Then again, in his world, he's generally well known, but what he doesn't know, he normally had a way of finding out.

He knew far too much about people in his world, it was probably a bit creepy for them, too. ]

Perhaps, perhaps. You don't have to share. Believe me, if I wanted to use it as research for a dastardly deed or two, I wouldn't have asked.

[ He exhales slowly, still eying Shade like he might spring at him at any given moment. ]

... This is incredibly suspicious.

[ What is Shade?? We just don't know. ]

Is it?

[ He asked it innocently, peering over his sunglasses for just a moment, before he took on a light, only half-amused smile. ]

I apologize, if it is.

[ But the expression pretty much said he really didn't. He was the kind of guy that just honestly didn't care. ]

[ He wonders if he should just leave... that was hardly a sincere apology, although Gil senses he's not the type to do so. ]

Is there something you need? [ It's quite clear this entire situation is weirding him out. ]

Not in particular. [ He looks out to the rest of the park, but makes no motion to leave. Gil would have to do that on his own, if he so wished. ]

I was walking, and thought I would say hello. It would be rude not to.

[ As strange as this guy is, Gil does have manners. He'll try to keep up a polite image. ]

Do... you come to this park often?

From time to time. When the mood strikes me. [ He gestured out to it. ]

Little traffic at this time of night, it's quiet, secluded. All the things a reformed supervillain would want when they go out for a stroll.

[ He just said supervillain. ]

[ And he's been here long enough to understand what that entails. Somehow, the "reformed" part is long forgotten by the time he reacts. ]

You're... a criminal?

[ And the tension returns, as well as some awful, lingering memories from the stadium.

Don't. Not now. ]

I was once a supervillain. In my time of greatest boredom, I found it enjoyable to dress up in an outlandish costume and fight superheroes.

[ He dodges the direct question that he's a criminal, of course. There are small ways that he still breaks the law, of course, but how could he not? The laws were so terribly arbitrary.

Especially to someone who had seen laws come and go in his time. He would do what he wished, after all. Human laws were just that. For humans. ]

There's something exhilarating about fighting against them, you see.

[ He listens quietly, assessing the story and trying to determine whether or not Shade's words hold some truth or that he's playing around with Gil. He does think, why would someone talk about a troublesome part of their life in the open?

Strangely, he doesn't feel the need to reach for his gun. ]

Why tell me this?

You seemed curious.

[ He answered it simply. The Shade was an odd sort. He wasn't so weight down by guilt about his past. He'd enjoyed it, after all. Most reformed ex villains were likely reformed due to realizing how awful their misdeeds were, but Shade had simply retired out of boredom.

But that didn't mean he didn't have his own history with dastardly deeds, or that he hadn't done some more recently.

After all, he maintained that he was still something of a villain, when he wasn't doing the rare good deed. ]

Why would I hide it?

[ The point. What is the point? He actually looks perplexed, trying to think of an answer. ]

no never it is his eternity's mission

what has gil done to deserve this

he exists therefore he deserves it

wow that's rude!!

SHADE DOES WHAT SHADE WANTS!!

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