CH4: Better Red (Lin + Gabe)
Jul 16, 2018 11:00:01 GMT -6
Post by moo!! on Jul 16, 2018 11:00:01 GMT -6
“Gaaaabrieeel!”
Calling his name out was, perhaps, a bit much.
No, it was too much. Crewmembers gave her looks as she sprinted full-speed through the Menaulion in search of one singular Martian. She could have gone about this in a calmer manner, but there were two reasons why she was currently doing about her search like a madwoman:
That Linnea had decided to circumvent being forthright about her thoughts – something she’d always strove to accomplish – in favor of deceit. She felt her stomach twist itself in a knot as she thought about it. Most people wouldn’t feel bad about deceiving a stranger, but they were teammates, and more importantly… he was the first person she wanted to be on good terms with.
There was a third reason for it all, too: Gabriel Crwydryn was absolutely terrifying. Up until now, she carefully kept her distance, painfully mulling over ways to break the ice. Well, no further! She would dive headlong into that ice and she’d shatter it with her own two—
“Gabriel!”
Lin called out his name as soon as she saw him, casually walking down a hallway. Contrary to their previous encounter, she made sure not to run into him this time, and slowed down as she neared him, clearly out of breath. “I… wanted… to talk. To you. Please.”
Almost instinctively, Gabe had moved out of the way the second he heard Lin calling his name. He remembered all too well how their last “encounter” had happened, still feeling sore from her barrelling into him last time.
It had been early in the day when he’d been heading towards the kitchen for his assigned shift. Lin kept her footsteps light – light enough that he didn’t think much of it… until she slammed right into his back, that is. It was a spectacular mess: Lin bounced right off him and fell backwards onto her rear with glasses askew, while Gabe kept his footing but had a good stumble.
A well-timed (and suspiciously well-practiced) “W-wha-aaaah!!” kept Gabe from noticing the feeling of something on his back. Something small, something light: a small jewelry bag that Lin had stuck to his back as she ran into him. A series of semi-coherent apologies kept his attention on her, though she wasted no time in making her hasty retreat, leaving the shorter Martian sore and confused.
… until now, anyway.
He watched Lin try to catch her breath with a hint of amusement, unsure what she wanted this time. “Dammit, why does everyone call me that when they don’t know me? Just call me Gabe. Gabriel is way too formal.” He waited patiently for her to be able to say more than one or two words without taking a breath, expression neutral. “Is this about the package I wound up deliverin’, or just here to actually chat this time?”
She wasn’t sure why she was surprised considering it was inevitable that Gabe found out about the package, but her face turned a vivid shade of red nonetheless. “Yeah! Wait—I mean. I wanted to… actually chat. If you don’t mind.”
She cleared her throat, looking away. “And if you do, well—I at least wanted to apologize for tricking you. And running into you. At full speed. That… probably wasn’t the best way to go about accomplishing what I wanted to do.”
“No. It wasn’t.” He bluntly agreed. “But I guess I can accept the apology, even if your methods are pretty lackluster.” He shrugged, his slightly annoyed expression shifting to a more sly smile. Clearly he wasn’t really trying to give her a hard time. “But ignorin’ the fact that ya couldn’t give it to him yourself or just, yknow, ask me, what did ya wanna talk about?”
“… thank you.” Lin seemed genuinely relieved. “I—… well. I’m not… entirely sure. To be honest I didn’t think this far ahead, ehehe...” She raised her hand and lightly rubbed at the wounds on her cheek – a new habit, it seemed.
Calling his name out was, perhaps, a bit much.
No, it was too much. Crewmembers gave her looks as she sprinted full-speed through the Menaulion in search of one singular Martian. She could have gone about this in a calmer manner, but there were two reasons why she was currently doing about her search like a madwoman:
- She was definitely sleep-deprived and absolutely not thinking,
- She was saddled with a most compelling feeling: Guilt.
That Linnea had decided to circumvent being forthright about her thoughts – something she’d always strove to accomplish – in favor of deceit. She felt her stomach twist itself in a knot as she thought about it. Most people wouldn’t feel bad about deceiving a stranger, but they were teammates, and more importantly… he was the first person she wanted to be on good terms with.
There was a third reason for it all, too: Gabriel Crwydryn was absolutely terrifying. Up until now, she carefully kept her distance, painfully mulling over ways to break the ice. Well, no further! She would dive headlong into that ice and she’d shatter it with her own two—
“Gabriel!”
Lin called out his name as soon as she saw him, casually walking down a hallway. Contrary to their previous encounter, she made sure not to run into him this time, and slowed down as she neared him, clearly out of breath. “I… wanted… to talk. To you. Please.”
Almost instinctively, Gabe had moved out of the way the second he heard Lin calling his name. He remembered all too well how their last “encounter” had happened, still feeling sore from her barrelling into him last time.
It had been early in the day when he’d been heading towards the kitchen for his assigned shift. Lin kept her footsteps light – light enough that he didn’t think much of it… until she slammed right into his back, that is. It was a spectacular mess: Lin bounced right off him and fell backwards onto her rear with glasses askew, while Gabe kept his footing but had a good stumble.
A well-timed (and suspiciously well-practiced) “W-wha-aaaah!!” kept Gabe from noticing the feeling of something on his back. Something small, something light: a small jewelry bag that Lin had stuck to his back as she ran into him. A series of semi-coherent apologies kept his attention on her, though she wasted no time in making her hasty retreat, leaving the shorter Martian sore and confused.
… until now, anyway.
He watched Lin try to catch her breath with a hint of amusement, unsure what she wanted this time. “Dammit, why does everyone call me that when they don’t know me? Just call me Gabe. Gabriel is way too formal.” He waited patiently for her to be able to say more than one or two words without taking a breath, expression neutral. “Is this about the package I wound up deliverin’, or just here to actually chat this time?”
She wasn’t sure why she was surprised considering it was inevitable that Gabe found out about the package, but her face turned a vivid shade of red nonetheless. “Yeah! Wait—I mean. I wanted to… actually chat. If you don’t mind.”
She cleared her throat, looking away. “And if you do, well—I at least wanted to apologize for tricking you. And running into you. At full speed. That… probably wasn’t the best way to go about accomplishing what I wanted to do.”
“No. It wasn’t.” He bluntly agreed. “But I guess I can accept the apology, even if your methods are pretty lackluster.” He shrugged, his slightly annoyed expression shifting to a more sly smile. Clearly he wasn’t really trying to give her a hard time. “But ignorin’ the fact that ya couldn’t give it to him yourself or just, yknow, ask me, what did ya wanna talk about?”
“… thank you.” Lin seemed genuinely relieved. “I—… well. I’m not… entirely sure. To be honest I didn’t think this far ahead, ehehe...” She raised her hand and lightly rubbed at the wounds on her cheek – a new habit, it seemed.