(no subject)

[nottheboss]

It's late at night. The corridors aren't quiet; they're full of men and women restlessly trying to sleep in their quarters. Bossie should be one of them. But instead he slips barefoot down the hallway to Carver's room, where he knocks.

"Hey, man, you up?"

Comments

[graveyardboots]

He kisses him back just as slow.

Thinks how nice it would be for Gabe to be able to sleep quietly at night--if not every night then at least a few. Nights when the Devil might otherwise have visited. Thinks how nice it would be for Gabe to be able to put the Devil's head on a spike.

"Will you teleport with me, then? To meet them?"

[minuteofangle]

He sighs into it, squeezing Mancea's wrist tight. Softening, ever so slightly. It feels good to have someone at his side. Someone who trusts him as much as Gabe trusts them.

"Yes," he agrees softly. "You and me, we'll get it done."

[graveyardboots]

"We should go armed, just in case. They may not want to trade for it." Which would be regrettable. "But I think if they see what you can do they will be more...open to it."

[minuteofangle]

Gabe nods slowly. It's just what has to happen, isn't it? "I'll come in with you. Bring the rifle. We can make a show of it."

[graveyardboots]

He chuckles, kisses Gabe's shoulder. "A downside to me not being in the field much anymore is I never get to see you kitted out and in action."

[minuteofangle]

That gets a faint, fond huff. "Ah, you missing it? You should stick around when we run combat drills. I'm all sexy then."

They can still play, he realizes. They can still flirt.

[graveyardboots]

"Oh is that right?" He grins, nuzzling against Gabe's neck, grazing his pulse with his teeth. "I'll make sure to come by then. I'll be waiting just there at the end of it, to whisk you away, sweat and all."

[minuteofangle]

Oh, that feels nice. Gabe groans softly, closing his eyes to sit with the sensation. Let it settle in his bones. "Whisk me away, huh?" Gabe teases. "I'd like that, Andrei."

[graveyardboots]

"Well then I'll do it," he promises, smiling, teasing at Gabe's neck a moment longer until the coffee machine beeps that it's ready.

"I'll let Pope know we're going after the sword."

[minuteofangle]

Gabe nuzzles against him a moment longer, sighing. "And I'll run interference for Bossie. Pose the whole coaching thing. I think he'll go for it if I spin it just right. Training Austin hasn't blown up in our faces yet."

[graveyardboots]

"I believe there's very little you couldn't talk Pope into," he says, amused, as he pours the coffee. The same is true of Mancea; Pope listens to them in ways no one but Shaw has managed.

"I just worry he'll want to punish Bossie for missing training this morning."

[minuteofangle]

Gabe sighs, holding his hand out for coffee. God, he needs caffeine. He needs sleep, too, and he won't be able to get any for a while yet. That's the job, though. Always has been, probably always will be. "He made a judgement call staying up with Carver, which meant he got no sleep, and running PT on no sleep's gonna lead to injuries, which fucks up Shaw's spreadsheets and our training system. We can't have people out injured, we're running too hard for it. That's what I'll say."

[graveyardboots]

"Hold to it." The logic should sway Pope. "Sometimes I think he gets so caught up in hunting demons that he forgets our limitations."

He sips his coffee. "I want you to try to sleep tonight. After we get the sword."

[minuteofangle]

"It's been a hard road," Gabe murmurs, sipping his coffee. "Okay. I'll give it a shot. Assuming we don't get into a long-ass firefight."

[graveyardboots]

"Mmhmm I think we should take someone as backup. I didn't expect we'll need it but..." Anything could happen.

[minuteofangle]

"Always a possibility," Gabe agrees somberly. They lead such exciting lives, don't they? "Normally I'd tap Carver, but he's not up for this right now. Washington or Fisher, maybe?"

Good, solid close-in fighters. They won't balk if there's weirdness, either.

[graveyardboots]

"Fisher, I think. I want Washington here to help Carver sleep if he can, while Bossie rests." It's such work, juggling who is awake and when, when they all have to be alert at all times.

[minuteofangle]

Gabe nods slowly, thinking. "We gotta balance everybody out. Shaw's been experimenting with staggering shifts, but it's hard. Everybody's tired, getting cabin fever, tempers are flaring. Kittens are helping, but they need a lot of care on the hour, too."

It's a lot, is the thing.

"Fisher will be good. We'll prep him, get him armored up."

[graveyardboots]

"The cabin fever will be hard to combat. Getting them out today to get fun things as well as supplies will help," but this can't go on indefinitely.

[minuteofangle]

"Shaw and I were talking about doing some camping, wilderness training and shit."

Gabe puffs out a breath.

"But I think that might be a bad call if somebody gets a dream out there. Least here we still have doors."

Some semblance of privacy.

"Bossie's gonna get some video games and shit. We can schedule some tournaments into the rec time. Keep everybody busy."

[graveyardboots]

That's the thing, isn't it? They can't choose if they're attacked. They can, however, control to some degree where they are when they're attacked, and the best place for it is here.

But in some ways, he knows, it makes some of them feel more helpless. That there is no safe place because, really, there isn't.

"I've never played a video game," he muses. "Maybe I'll let them teach me."

[minuteofangle]

"It's fun. I used to like it," Gabe admits. "I think it'll be good here. Give everybody a chance to unwind a bit. Have some fun. Maybe we can get the girls involved. Mario Kart's kid friendly, I think."

Make it a family thing.

[graveyardboots]

"We've had several people offer to babysit," he says. "I had doubts at first but they seem to really enjoy doing it. And I think the mother is glad for the help."

[minuteofangle]

Gabe brightens at that. "Shit, really? That's good - I didn't ask them to do that."

Which means they volunteered all on their own. And that's a promising start, right? That's something.

"I know it's rough on everyone right now. But....fuck, man. Everybody's really trying."

[graveyardboots]

"They are." And he is so deeply proud of them all for it. "We'll get through it. It just won't be easy."

But they're pulling together. They have a purpose and they have each other; what more could they need?