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Darkseeker
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Jesus: Yo, bro? You still there. You haven't said anything. "Yeah, sorry dude I must've cut out." Gabe looks over to the clock on his bedside table. "Crap" he hisses through his teeth. "I've got to go man- see you later." Jesus: "Oh yeah, me too, y'know I'm meeting-" Gabe hangs up on Jesus and rolls his eyes, as much as he loves his friend, he never shuts up. He jumps up out of his bed and scurries into his bathroom, showers quickly, throws on a random pair of clothes and bolts downstairs. Luckily, Gabriel's mother lives right next to campus and works at the library. He usually leaves with her when he has morning classes. Today, he just needed somewhere quiet to study. "Ma?" He calls into the dark hall. "Hurry up! I'm leaving!" She yells from the door. Gabriel runs down the hall and quickly into the car. "Gracias mama" Gabe winces as she shoots him a glare, still clearly mad about last night. She pulls her car into the faculty parking lot and they walk side by side to the library doors. Together, they walk into the small building and his mother reaches over and pats him on his head, something she's been doing sense Gabe was young. "Mama!" He jumps away, his hands on his head, swatting hers away. She smiles "Come say goodbye before you leave" and walks over to her desk. Gabriel removes his hands from his head and walks into the library, painfully aware of the people staring at him. He stares at his feet and chooses an unclaimed chair at random, pulling out his computer. Just then, he notices the man from the party, Einar. "Shit" he whispered under his breath. Now he probably thinks I'm a creep. Just as Gabriel was wondering if things could get any worse, Jesus strolls through the doors and spots him. WHAT!? How is this actually happening right now. Gabe quickly looks back down at his computer in a panic, hoping Jesus doesn't recognize him. To his horror, he feels the firm slap of Jesus's hand on his shoulder. "Aye man! Wassup" He smiles cheerfully, clearly unaware that he was being too loud. The ladies working at the desk shoot them a glare. Jesus takes a seat beside Gabe. "Hey dude, how have you been?" Gabe asks, smiling awkwardly. "I've been good, had a hella headache this morning- yo dude" Jesus leans in, whispering something in Gabe's ear. "Is that dude checking you out? Why's he staring at us like that" Gabriel jerks his head backwards and turns to look where Jesus pointed. He finds Einar staring at them weirdly. "You literal idiot" Gabe sighs, glaring at Jesus. "That's your partner! For the project bro, how are you so incredibly dumb" Jesus's eyes widen as if just now noticing this. "Oh! Yeah, yeah thanks man." He finally gets up to leave and is almost gone when he suddenly stops. No, no, don't you dare. "Hey! Gabe, come say hi" He waves Gabe over enthusiasticly and Gabriel shoots him a look which he clearly ignores. Reluctantly, Gabriel rises out of his seat and awkwardly walks towards them. Up close and with no crazy lights, Gabe can see Einar's face much more clearly. He still looks a bit confused. "Hey, hey, dude so you know me, this is my bud Gabe" Gabriel smiles awkwardly. "Nice to see you again" Jesus shoots him a look, almost saying Again? Gabe waves it off by shaking his head and Jesus shrugs. "Yo, Gabe, you're smart right?" Jesus asks, taking a seat across from Einar. "I mean- sure?" Jesus pats the seat next to him. "Come sit down, help us out. Gabriel's cheeks begin to flush, in this moment, he hates Jesus more than anything. "I'm good, I'm sure you have it covered." Jesus shakes his head, persisting. "Come on! Won't hurt." Gabriel looks around the library, it would be easier to just sit down for a minute and get up and leave later. "Fine, for only a minute though." He sighs and sits down next to Jesus. |
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Darkseeker
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Einar tossed his phone haphazardly into his bag as his project partner strode through the library doors. He was about to raise a hand to wave him over when the man ducked to the side of the aisle quickly. Einar guessed he was speaking to someone, but he couldn't see the person from this angle, other than the vague outline of their shoulder. He had just tugged his laptop from his bag when Jesus strode towards him again. This time, Einar grinned and waved at him, but Jesus stopped again, turned back to whoever he had been speaking to previously, and dragged them alongside him as he made his way to Einar. It was the guy from the party the previous night. Of course it was. Einar wondered distantly if the universe was trying to tell him something, making his friends so obsessed with this man and then giving him a project partner who apparently knew him well. Jesus hauled the man from the party into one of the chairs across from Einar. Gabe, he called him. Well, at least now Einar could put a name to the face. He shot what he hoped was a soothing smile and not a grimace towards him. "Hey." He wasn't sure yet if he should bring up meeting him at the party or just pretend not to know him, for Jesus's sake; he didn't want things to turn awkward if Jesus wasn't aware that they had met. Einar flipped open his laptop and pulled up their project. "I know we've been kind of stuck on the presentation part for a while now, so maybe we should work on that first." They volleyed ideas back and forth until Jesus unexpectedly turned to Gabe and insisted that he help. The two argued for several minutes while Einar watched, bewildered, but Gabe finally agreed to help. "Um. Okay." Einar turned his laptop so that Gabe was able to see the screen. "So our professor's basically having us write a book report on our textbook, which I think is stupid because it's a history class, not English or whatever. We just don't know how to translate the paper into a presentation and still make it sound good." He slid the laptop across the table's surface towards Gabe and cast a quick look towards Jesus, who was beaming at Gabe as though he was about to solve all their problems in life. Einar decided it was best to bring up the party instead of sitting in awkward silence as Gabe scrolled slowly through their presentation. "I think I saw you at that party last night, right? I feel like we keep bumping into each other, it's weird." The more he looked at Gabe, the more familiar he appeared. Maybe he had seen the other man around campus more often than he'd thought and just didn't realize it. After a few more minutes, Einar excused himself to go get another coffee. The party had obviously taken more energy out of him than he'd anticipated. On his way back to the library's coffee shop, a woman about his stepfather's age behind the help desk caught his eye. She looked remarkably similar to both Gabe and his little sister Isabella. Einar wondered if they were related; maybe he would get a moment ask Gabe before he and Jesus left the library. With his cappucino refilled, he headed back to where he , Jesus, and Gabe had set up. He was pleasantly surprised to see that, together, they'd made a decent amount of progress on the presentation during his absence. "Wow, maybe you guys should present it and I can just watch." They made some more progress on the presentation before they decided to call it a day. Einar still had a stack of homework to get done, so he remained in his seat while Jesus and Gabe packed up. Before he could think his words through, he leaned forward and tapped the table to get Gabe's attention. "Hey, would you maybe want to go get coffee sometime? I feel like we keep running into each other and it's a sign or something." Jesus, thankfully, was pretending not to listen to their conversation as he shoved his laptop into his backpack. Einar leaned back in his seat and watched Gabe carefully. There was still a definitive air of awkwardness between them, especially since they'd only met because Gabe mistook him for someone else. There was something intriguing about the other man, though, and Einar would be lying if he said he didn't want to get to know him better, even if it was from a purely platonic perspective. |
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Darkseeker
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(sorry for any errors, i'm writing this in the span of like 10 minutes during my break, it's very rushed!) Gabe leaned forward, staring at the computer screen. He quickly read through their essay and nodded to himself. "May I?" Gabe asks, reaching for the computer. Einar hands it over and Gabriel begins to read more thoroughly through the essay. He was painfully aware of Jesus staring at him expectantly.
While working on the project, he didn't pay much attention to the whispered conversations around him until, Einar brought up the party. "I think I saw you at that party last night, right? I feel like we keep bumping into each other, it's weird." Gabe looked up with an awkward smile, "Yeah, we do keep bumping into each other." At least Einar didn't seem weirded out, just more amused. He turns back to working on the project, Jesus cutting in from time to time giving him ideas or suggestions. Gabriel didn't notice Einar had even left until he returned minutes later with a coffee in hand. Gabe's stomach grumbled, he hadn't had anything to eat yet. Gave sets down the computer, stretching out his arms. "I think we'll call it a day." Einar suggests. Gabriel and Einar stand up, Jesus begins to pack up his things. Gabe is itching to get out of here, somewhere where he can hide away from people forever. He doesn't enjoy the awkward silence. Just when he's about to leave, Einar taps the table. Gabe startles, whipping around to look at him. Einar sits back down and suggests meeting for coffee. Crap. Gabriel can feel his hands start to sweat, he shoves them in his pocket and glances, startled, at Jesus. Unfortunately, Jesus seems occupied, staring at something in his bag. Forced to answer, Gabriel runs his hand through his hair awkwardly. And with nothing else to do, nods. "Uhm, yeah sounds good." He stumbles over his words, surprisingly anxious around Einar. "Friday? I have no classes. I'll uhm let Jesus give you my number. We can work it out over text." Gabriel quickly heads out, grabs his bag and walks towards the library doors, turning left into the "Employees Only" door. "Ma?" He calls. His mom sticks her head out of her office, eyebrow raised. "Hm?" She asks. "Im leaving now, see you at home!" He calls rushing out of the door, his heart thumping in his chest. Gabriel contemplates taking his mothers car but ultimately decides to just walk. Even though there's almost no one on the street, it feels like everyone is watching him. Gabe feels sweat rolling down his back and his hands. He freezes then quickly turns right down a street and into a shopping center. The Gym is right in front of him. He walks through the automatic door and flashes his ID at a man at the desk. The man nods and says something to Gabe but he barely hears. Gabriel rushes to the locker room and chooses a random locker. He sets his bag on the floor and sits on the stool in the corner, leaning on his hands. "I'm so awkward" he murmurs to himself and lets out a huge sigh. Why was he acting like this? He throws on a tank and athletic shorts then locks his bag into one of the built in safes on the wall. He throws his phone in his bag before he leaves and walks out of the locker room, still fuming about his reaction. |
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"Friday sounds good," Einar replied, smiling as he watched a blush rise in Gabe's face before the other man hurried off. Jesus sent him Gabe's number, and the two went their separate ways. As Einar rummaged around in his backpack for his notebook, his phone began to ring. He snatched it from the table before the librarians could snap at him and cursed as he spotted the caller's name: Dylan. "I'm in the library," he murmured as he accepted the call. His stepfather ignored his warning, his booming voice deafening in Einar's ear and surely audible to the students around him. "Working hard, I hope?" "Of course," Einar muttered as he fished his notebook from his bag and dropped it onto the table before him. "Did you need something?" "Just checking in." Dylan's voice dripped with sickly-sweet condescension; it made Einar want to gag. "I know your mother's birthday is coming up soon, and I'm sure it's difficult-" "I'm doing okay," Einar said sharply. His mother had died when he was eleven, almost a decade ago, but Dylan acted like it was still fresh in his mind. "Thank you," he added quickly, knowing how prone his stepfather could be to shouting if he thought Einar was being ungrateful. "I'm glad to hear it. You know, if you ever need anything, you can always come home, for however long you need." Einar could hear the challenge in his stepfather's voice. "Your pack misses you." "Well, I miss them too." Einar shot back. "But it's important to me that I get an education. It's what Mom wanted," he added. Dylan was quiet for a moment, the only sound that of his breathing on the other end of the line, and Einar braced himself for a shouting match. "Will you be coming home for Thanksgiving break?" his stepfather said finally, his voice icy now that Einar had shot his suggestion down. Einar bit back a sigh. "Yeah, sure thing. It'll be good to see everyone." He could almost see Dylan's obnoxious smirk. "Great! I'll let everyone know. They'll be so excited to hear from you." His voice dripped with sarcasm; he believed that the rest of their pack harbored the same distaste towards Einar for leaving to attend college, even though that wasn't true. "I'll talk to you later, son." Einar rolled his eyes. "Yeah, talk to you soon. Bye." He had to resist the urge to throw his phone across the library as soon as he hung up. Dylan disliked him, it was so obvious; he had no idea why the man had fought so hard for custody after Einar's mother died. He had family on his father's side that he could have gone to live with, but Dylan had told him that because they weren't werewolves, they would never be able to love him the way his pack could. And Einar, at eleven, had obviously believed him, and wanted to stay. He sighed and began to shove his things back into his bag. There was no way he could concentrate after a conversation with Dylan; he was always too angry afterwards. He stalked out of the library and back towards the apartment. The air had turned noticeably colder during the time he was in the library, and it nipped at his cheeks and nose as he hurried down the sidewalk. When he rounded the block, he spotted the car in the driveway. Adriana was home, then. He fit his key into the door and shoved it open, albeit with a bit more force than necessary. Adriana was in the kitchen, and she glanced up as he stormed in. She took one look at his expression and asked, "Dylan again?" Einar nodded tightly, kicking off his shoes by the door. "Wants me to come home for Thanksgiving." Adriana frowned. "I thought you were going with Jonas." "I was." He tossed his backpack onto the couch and slumped beside it. "I'll get to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins, at least." He wasn't biologically related to any of his pack members, but they all considered themselves one large family. "Where's Jonas?" "The gym," Adriana responded, cramming an apple slice into her mouth. "Did you just come from the library?" Einar nodded. "The craziest thing happened. You know the guy who came up to me at the party last night? He's friends with my project partner, and he helped us out with our assignment. I feel like I keep bumping into him, so I asked him to go get coffee." Adriana did a little dance around the kitchen island. "Me and Jonas were going to make bets on you two going out." Einar snorted and scooped his backpack off the couch. "We're just going as friends," he told her. "He seems nice, I just want to get to know him a little." With that, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and headed back to his bedroom. |
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Darkseeker
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( Sorry for the last post, most of the posts I made previously were in a bit of a rush. Hence the poor word choice and grammar. I have a bit more time now to try and sit down and write at least a decent response for once. :') ) - Gabe grabs a towel off of the rack as he passes the bathrooms and slings it over his shoulders. He exhales, his breath heavy and pushes against the swinging door of the locker rooms. The door swings open to reveal an empty room. He takes a seat at one of the benches and leans back, staring at the ceiling. Just then two other men walk through the door, talking loudly. Gabriel sighs and sits back up, leaning down to slip off his sneakers. The two men laugh, banging around the locker room with obnoxiously strong movements. Gabe rolls his eyes and grabs his bag out of his locker and slings it over his shoulder, shoes in his other hand. He walks over to the gym bathroom, showers off quickly and changes into a random pair of pants and shirt.
When Gabriel was in high school, he had a very lanky build. Tall and thin. Although he wasn't bullied for it, he was always self conscious of his looks. From a young age, he found the atmosphere of gyms to be motivating and calming, a way for him to de-stress. Ever sense he's been a sort of a gym rat, appearing at the gym frequently. Gabe rummages around through his bag, searching for his wallet when his phone buzzes in his pocket. 📞 Message from Jesus and Unknown Number 📞 He stares at his phone, his eyebrow furrowed in confusion. He clicks on the notification, opening the group chat. Jesus: Yo, wassup dudes. I figured I'd make this group chat so Gabe could help us with our project 😎 Gabe shakes his head in exasperation, why was Jesus so desperate for Gabriel's help with this stupid project. He didn't even like the work unlike other people. He turns off his phone and drops it into his pocket, grabs his bag and walks out of the gym. As soon as he steps outside, he's hit with a wave of warm air. The sun is low in the sky, late afternoon. Gabe turns to the right, walks out of the shopping center and back home. He soon arrives at his house. As Gabriel walks up to his door, he reaches out to grab the handle but the door is swung open before he can touch it. His mother stands in the doorway, hands on hips. Gabe jumps back, startled. "Where have you been!?" She exclaims, throwing her hands in the air. "Isa was home sick all day by herself! I thought you would be home in time to at least pick up your brother. Instead you've wandered off, where were you?" Gabe's shoulders slump, Crap. He'd forgotten about his brother. "Poor Isa had to go pick him up." She shakes her head, her hands clenched into tight fists, she wasn't happy. "Sorry ma, I was at the gym. I completely forgot about Diego." She hisses something through her teeth and steps aside, letting him into the house. Isa was laying on the couch, on her phone. She laid her phone down on her stomach and glared at him. "Well look who finally showed up." Gabe flips her the bird, stalking away from the living room and into the kitchen. Diego is sitting at the counter, writing something on a worksheet. "¿Cómo estuvo la escuela?" He asks, setting his bag down on the counter. "Good" he shrugs, still leaned over his paper. He never gets mush of an answer out of that kid.
Gabriel washes his hands at the sink, picks his bag back up and sets it by the stairs. He takes his phone out of his pocket and sits on the first step, scrolling through his phone. That's when he gets a text from Colton. Colton: Hey man, I'm inviting some friends over tonight, about 8, you gonna be there? Gabe rubs his temple with his hand, he felt pretty exhausted and still had work to catch up on since he completed close to nothing at the library that morning. He types out a quick message. Gabe: Sorry dude, I'm pretty smoked from today and still have work to catch up on. Maybe another time.
Colton: Damn, nerd alert 🤓🤓🤓
Gabriel lets out a snort of laughter, shaking his head.
"What are you laughing at you fat booger" Isa shouts from her sprawled out position on the couch. "Nothing, mind your bees wax." He retorts. He can hear her shifting and then see her head pop up over the side of the couch. "No one says that anymore." Gabe rolls his eyes and grabs his bag, marching upstairs to his room. He throws his door open, drops his bag on the ground and collapses on his bed. He lays there for what feels like forever before rolling over to his side and opening his messages. He clicks on the group chat Jesus made and opens the info panel. This must be Einar's number. He clicks the number and then "Create a new conversation." He lays there for a minute, phone in hand, staring at the blinking bar. He types out a message. Gabe: Hey, got your number from Jesus. How are you? No, that sounds too personal. Gabe: Yo, excited for Friday. Ew. Gabe: Hey, Jesus just gave me your number. This is Einar, right? Good enough. He clicks send and awkwardly waits there, staring at the conversation before setting his phone on his bedside table and marching back downstairs. |
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Einar tossed his backpack onto his desk chair and flopped onto his bed with a grunt. He was ridiculously tired for only having met up with Jesus for their project; he supposed the full moon was coming up, and his body would need more rest as it expended extra energy to prepare for his transformation. He shifted as his phone buzzed: a text from Jesus. Einar grinned as he realized that his project partner had made a group chat including himself, Einar, and Gabe. Poor Gabe would likely end up doing enough work on this project to be credited as another partner. Einar's phone vibrated again, this time with a text from an unknown number. He clicked the notification to find a message from Gabe. He smiled despite himself; he harbored no notion that their coffee date would turn into some romantic relationship, but Gabe seemed like a nice guy. Jesus thought the world of him, anyway, and Einar had learned that Jesus's intuition regarding others was almost always right. It was eerie, really. Einar sent a text back to Gabe quickly. Einar: Yes it's me! Hi :) Einar: Sorry Jesus keeps making you help out with our project lol. You must be some sort of genius or something, he's really adamant about it. Einar knew that the second text was blatant flattery, but hopefully it would help dispel the remnants of awkwardness from earlier. Einar: You said Friday works for coffee, right? Einar: My roommate works at a place on Main Street that has really good coffee, we can always go there. Maybe he could get Adriana to get them a discount, Einar thought, and then he would feel less uncomfortable about paying for Gabe's coffee. He was the one who had asked him to meet up, after all, so it was only right that he paid. Adriana's place of work was notoriously expensive, though, and the idea of paying for two specialty coffees from them made his bank account shudder in fear. Einar sent a text to his aunt Sophie next. The two weren't biologically related, but Sophie had belonged to the pack long before his birth and had been like a sister to his mother. Einar: Hi Sophie! Hope you're doing well. I wanted to let you know that I'm coming home for Thanksgiving before Dylan can tell you and make a big deal out of it lol. Sophie was one of the only other pack members who distrusted Dylan as much as Gabe. She had seen how he treated his stepson in the wake of Einar's mother's death, and it had altered her perception of him permanently. She stayed in the pack for Einar and her other packmates, but Einar suspected she would leave if he ever cut contact with Dylan. Sophie: Hi honey, he already let us know. Was very grumpy about it, lol. Einar groaned and tossed his phone onto his pillow. Of course Dylan would have to make Einar's return home all about him. He hadn't seen his pack since that summer, when he'd left to move in for school; he made a point of staying away from home unless he absolutely had to return. If he had declined Dylan's offer to come home for Thanksgiving, his stepfather would have likely told the pack some lie about he was abandoning them and betraying his fellow werewolves by fraternizing with humans. Einar sighed and scooped his phone back up. Einar: Damn it lol. Well I'll see you then I guess. Sophie: See you then. Love you hon. Sophie: Your mama would be so proud of you! Einar stared at her text for a moment, grief thick in his chest. Dylan had a penchant for holding his mother's alleged wishes over his head; she'd have wanted him to stay with the pack instead of going to school, she'd have wanted him to marry some nice girl and settle down, and more. He threw her memory around whenever it suited him, and it grated on Einar's nerves to no end. He had been young when his mother died, but he remembered her well; kind and loving. He knew she would have wanted him to do whatever made him happy, even if it wasn't what she wanted for him. He sighed and turned his phone off, rising only to shut his door before collapsing back onto his bed. He could feel sleep tugging at his eyes as he curled up beneath his comforter, and he was asleep in seconds after his head came to land on his pillow. |
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Summer 
Night 
Fog Moon: 
