InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Never give up,never surrender!"

Gabe Wilder (afterwedie) wrote in we_float,
@ 2010-07-02 20:36:00

Entry tags:

character: gabriel wilder, character: zadkiel thrush

Who: Zadkiel Thrush and Gabriel Wilder
What: Zadkiel wants to meet and discuss a number of things.
When: Friday, July 2
Where: The clinic, then who knows?
Status: Open; in progress

He wondered why Zadkiel wanted to talk.

It wasn't a question that Gabe would ask but it weighed on his mind as he lit his cigarette and inhaled the smoke, feeling the warmth against his lips and simply holding it there for that reason alone. He leaned against the wall, feeling cool red brick press against his cheek as he took another drag. Six o'clock and he wondered if Zadkiel would come outside or if he'd need to go in.

There were a lot of things that Gabe was wondering- it was easiest to stick with the same things than to look back on the others. Particularly after his conversation with Maxxie. Everything repeats, he told himself. Especially other people's advice.

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	lifeibreathe 2010-07-04 04:11 am UTC (link)
	"I don't know that there's much left to say," Zadkiel admitted with a soft laugh. "I've told you pretty much everything I was never supposed to tell anyone." Except one thing, and what was left to lose now? "What have I told you about my siblings?" he asked. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	afterwedie 2010-07-04 04:13 am UTC (link)
	"Not a lot," he answered. "Just that there were several." There had been other details but it didn't feel that it was what Zadkiel wanted. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lifeibreathe
2010-07-04 04:21 am UTC (link)

"I have five sisters, all older, who share the same mother. I have twenty-four other half-siblings, who have two different mothers. I may have talked about some of them but called them my cousins. My brothers that are closest in age to me. We don't talk about that, either. That men have more than one wife." Zadkiel looked at Gabe sidelong, trying to gauge his reaction. "That's pretty much the last thing I was never supposed to say."

It really was a relief not to have to carry it around.

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	afterwedie 2010-07-04 04:23 am UTC (link)
	"The Mormons used to do the same." It was something that Julie frequently rolled her eyes about when her brothers teased. He remembered that. "But... uh... twenty-four? How do you keep track?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lifeibreathe 2010-07-04 04:31 am UTC (link)
	Zadkiel laughed. "How do teachers keep track of the names of students in their class?" he countered. "Esther, Marah, Sarai, Joanna, Eva, Elijah and Elisha, me, Asher, Faith, Bethany, Benjamin, David, Silas, Nathanael, Phineas and Phoebe, Grace, Ethan, Micah, Ezra, Joy, Lucas, Mercy, Hannah and Rebekah, Charity, Naomi and Jonah. In birth order." He grinned. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	afterwedie 2010-07-04 04:33 am UTC (link)
	Gabe's jaw dropped. "Uh, damn. I heard it sucks to be a middle child but... um, yeah. That must've really sucked." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lifeibreathe
2010-07-04 04:44 am UTC (link)

He shook his head. "I was the last baby my mother had, and her only son. I was born early and they didn't know if I would live, but I did. Since I was smaller than other kids at first, they all coddled me. I shared a room with the Elis and Asher all of my life. At night I still expect to hear them breathing. One day my dad will step down as the Elder for my family and one of the Elis will have to step up, or maybe both of them. They're identical twins, and they've always been pretty much inseparable. Except they'll be married off soon, and they'll have their own wives and families. But they're the eldest boys. And I can't imagine them doing... if they had a child born a joker, I can't imagine them having to..." He shook his head again. "I don't want that to be their lives, just because they don't know any different."

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	afterwedie 2010-07-04 04:46 am UTC (link)
	"Things can change," Gabe said quietly. "They do change, eventually. Maybe your brothers will be different." Or maybe they just won't have joker children. He didn't voice the thought aloud- it seemed too heavy for the moment. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lifeibreathe 2010-07-04 04:52 am UTC (link)
	"I hope so." Zadkiel stared at his hands. "I wonder sometimes what they think happened to me. If they miss me." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	afterwedie 2010-07-04 04:53 am UTC (link)
	"Of course they do," Gabe said. "I'd miss you. I mean, if you were gone." He glanced away, watching the leaves of a nearby tree blowing in the breeze. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lifeibreathe
2010-07-04 04:59 am UTC (link)

Zadkiel blushed. "I think about going back, maybe, at some point. To try to talk to them. To tell them that there's another way. I just don't know if they can change everyone there. And I don't want to take their whole lives away from them like mine's been. But I can't stomach the thought of them becoming murderers, either." And that was the plain truth of it, of what every man in the community was or would become.

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afterwedie
2010-07-04 05:03 am UTC (link)

"You've got time to think about that. And um, maybe this isn't it." Gabe reached out, lightly pushing Zadkiel in the side. "Come on. Let's go... I don't know. Walk. Something. You can tell me the good bits- you've got to remember that part too."

It might be all that Zadkiel had in this city- Gabe didn't want to take it from him by forcing him to remember the bad.

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	lifeibreathe 2010-07-04 05:12 am UTC (link)
	Zadkiel made himself smile as he stood up and brushed himself off. "All right. If you're sure you want to listen to me go on and on about people you've never met." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	afterwedie 2010-07-04 05:14 am UTC (link)
	"It's not going on and on." He pointed out. "Besides, it's nice to just listen. People don't let you." Gabe smiled and took the first step for the street, wondering where the rest of the night would take them. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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