Characters of a Minor Sort (jesschars) wrote in btvsal, @ 2010-12-31 20:44:00 |
|
|||
Current location: | Gabriel's Apartment |
Current mood: | tired |
Entry tags: | gabriel burgess, kayla barnes, place: la |
Vacation Maybe?
Who: Gabriel and Kayla
Where: Gabriel's apartment
When: Wednesday, December 29th - around 1am
Kayla didn't exactly have the best day yesterday. Nothing seemed to go her way. She was klutzy, forgetful and quick to anger (although, remarkably, she refrained from physical violence) – which was a rare but brutal combination. After a brief shift at Avarice, she at least wanted the day to end well, which was why she was at Gabriel's front doorstep at 1am, dressed in her favorite purple Doc's, hip-hugging jeans and a lace basque, which was threaded with lace and black velvet with adjustable shoestring straps at the back.
She knocked on the front door, idly wondering if Gabriel was even awake, given the hour, but since she was here... there was no harm in trying to see him, was there?
Gabriel was semi-awake at the moment, idly flipping through a book with only one lamp on so that he could see. Being something that could turn into shadow, he actually had very good night vision, so even the light he had on he didn't truly need. When he heard the knock on the door, he shook himself a little more awake and, after getting up and seeing who it was through the peep hole, opened the door to let Kayla inside.
"Hi," she murmured as she stepped inside, clearly exuding 'foul mood' despite herself. She quickly ran a hand through her short hair (which she'd dyed back to its natural black a few days back – with a streak of purple, just to be different). "I wasn't sure if you'd be awake."
"I haven't gone to bed quite yet," he said to her as he closed and locked the door behind her. "I was simply reading." He could easily feel that she had not had a good night. "Things not going well?" he asked her.
"That's... an understatement." She wrung her hands together and stepped from side to side, idly grateful that she had sense enough not to go out looking for a fight. That wouldn't end well now, would it? "Remember when we first met and I said that I get in bad moods sometimes?"
"I remember," he said to her with a nod. "Is this one of those times?" It certainly seemed like it. He could see how antsy she was.
She ducked her head and rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah. I'm sorry to just... BE here, but you always seem to calm me down without even trying, so I figured..."
He nodded. "It's fine, Kayla," he said to her with a soft smile. "You know that I'm always here for you, no matter what." He was glad that he had a calming affect on her. It was good that she could be calmed down at all, after all.
"Thank you," she murmured, nodding her head sheepishly. She looked up to meet his eyes and couldn't help it but smirk, if only slightly. "So. What were you up to before I barged in?"
"I was simply reading, actually," he admitted, nodding slightly over to the book that was now sitting on the sofa. "Would you like something to drink or anything?"
She mulled that over briefly. Beyond being in his company, she didn't really care what they did. "A drink'd be nice. You get to chose what kind, though."
"I'll be right back," he said, heading into the kitchen. "Make yourself comfortable," he called out from the other room. A few minutes later, he came back into the room with two beers.
She took a seat on the sofa, next to where he'd been presumably sitting, and worried her lower lip between her teeth, before looking up when he reentered the room with a soft smile. She accepted the drink with a small 'thanks' before asking: "What were you reading?"
"Just some demonology," he said simply as he sat down next to her and took a sip of his beer. After marking his spot in the book, he picked it up and handed it to her.
She crossed one of her legs under the other one and took the book, careful not to spill her drink, and read a few paragraphs. One of her eyebrows slowly arched as she read. "You have... an interesting way to spend your time," she teased lightly before taking a sip of her beer.
"It's more work related than anything," he said to her with a slight smile. If she knew what she was looking for, she'd even find information on the species that he shared genes with as well in that book.
She actually did flip through a few pages, stopping every so often to read a page briefly. It had never bothered her that he was half demon, honestly. He was just always Gabriel to her. "Do you have a close relationship with your parents?" That was... an interesting segue.
He arched an eyebrow at her. "It's cordial but I'm not sure it would quite fall under 'close,'" he told her. "I'm fairly certain they didn't know what to do with me when I was growing up. I showed more interest in the occult than my ah...full blooded father ever did." Sometimes he just didn't know how to put things.
She nodded and took a sip of her beer, before snapping the book shut and handing it to him. "Sorry. I know it's a bit random to bring up."
He shook his head. "It's not random," he said to her. "Well...maybe a little, but it's not something I mind talking about." He liked his parents fine. They just had little in common now.
She smiled faintly, almost sadly. "It just occurred to me that I don't really know much about your family, or your heritage or whatever." Reading the book had taken her mind there, obviously. "Is it weird that I'm asking, or that I've never really asked?"
"I'm not naturally the most forthcoming person on the planet, either," he reminded her with a slight smile. "I'm happy to tell you about anything that you'd like to hear...for better or worse." Not all of his past was so carefree, after all.
"Then... tell me things." She murmured. She set her drink aside so that she could cuddle into him a little bit. "About where you grew up, or... if you have any cousins or evil twins that are only identifiable by goatees."
"I'm an only child of only children, as far as I know," he pointed out to her. "So, no evil cousins or twins of any sort." He chuckled, then sighed. "I'm trying to think of stuff." After a second, he came up with something. "When I was ten, I tried to summon a Tylak demon. He reached for his book and opened it up, showing a picture of this. "Luckily, I didn't succeed."
Kayla's eyes bugged out a little bit at the picture, since it was a disturbing image (which was putting it mildly). "What--Why did you try to summon it?" She looked up to meet his eyes.
"To see if I could," he admitted with a slight sigh. "I found out that I was part demon, but my father didn't want to talk about it. If anything, I think it was my way of trying to rebel." He rolled his eyes. "My family eventually got into contact with the Watcher's Counsel. They figured that, if I was truly going to be into the supernatural, then I should do some good as well."
"I think that... well, maybe they wanted you to have a healthy respect of the supernatural, as well. It's smart. I wouldn't want you summoning a demon that looks like a prehistoric dinosaur, or something. It'd poke your eyes out. Or worse." She smirked faintly and brushed the hair from his forehead.
"I'm sure that, too," he admitted. "I'm very glad I didn't pull off summoning that thing. I'm not terribly sure why I picked that instead of...a leprechaun or something."
"Well... it looked fairly impressive. Not sure how you'd go about potty training it, though," she joked lightly. "And, y'know what? I think you turned into a decent man in spite of it."
"I'm not sure I thought part trying to get it to appear, much less turning it into a pet," he said with a chuckle. He smiled at her. "I'm glad I finally turned out half decent."
"It only took 70 years..." Oooh, another shot at his age? She grinned cheekily, already starting to feel in a much better mood.
He nudged her lightly. "I'm hardly anywhere near that old," he pointed out to her. "And what are you doing hanging around me so much if you're that old."
"It must be your good looks and charming personality." The funny thing was, she said it in such a way that you weren't sure if she was joking or being completely serious.
"Obviously," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Anyways...is there anything else that you'd like to know about?"
"I don't know. I hate that. Sometimes I'm so burning for questions but when it comes time to ask them, I completely forget." How frustrating. "Is there anything that you'd like to tell me? Or ask? It's only fair."
"I'm not the most interesting person in the world," he said, trying to think of something that he felt OK talking about. If she asked, he'd tell her anything, but he may not volunteer just about anything. "How close are you with your family?" Other than meeting her brother one time, he knew nothing about them.
She curled a little more into him as she thought about her answer, her eyes darkening briefly. "Not very. I mean, we used to be, but now it's just birthday's and Thanksgiving that we really spend any time together." She shrugged. "It doesn't really help that I've got school and... other things, though."
He reached up and stroked her hair lightly when she leaned in toward him. "What is your brother up to lately? Is he still in LA?"
"He's still here. Last time we spoke he said he had three different jobs. He's so smart, though. It's not a challenge for him." She sometimes envied him that. Then, she did think of a question for Gabriel: "Do you... have any dreams or aspirations? Or, something that you've always wanted to do?"
He thought on that for a moment. "My dream for so long was to be a Watcher to an active Slayer." And not fail her. Like he had done once before. "I think I've managed to pull that off. Do you have any?"
"Graduate and survive, mostly." She chuckled and then pursed her lips together thoughtfully. "I think after graduation I'd like to take a break. Go on a holiday, or something."
He nodded. "Where would you like to go?" He didn't spend much, and his family had a fair amount of money (they sent him to the Watcher's Academy, after all), so anywhere that she'd like, he'd make it happen.
"I hadn't really thought about 'where', just 'somewhere else'." She admitted. "Maybe a beach somewhere... or near the snow, just to be different..." She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand.
"My family's country estate has lots of snow this time of year," he said to her. "We could head to there in England if you'd like."
"You'd really take me to your family's estate?" She asked with an arched eyebrow. A little... uncertain what to think of that.
"It would just be for a vacation," he said. He didn't want her to get too worked up over what any of it 'might' mean, after all.
She nodded, seeming to accept that. "Can we... talk about this in the morning? I'm kinda tired," she admitted. That, and it would give her some time to think.
He nodded. "No problem," he said to her. He knew that she had a bit of commitment fear, but hopefully she wouldn't feel that this was pushing it in that direction.