The Talk

[cattygabriel]

Time: April 22nd, evening
Place: Michael's room
Status: Private (Gabriel, Michael) - Complete
Summary: Awkwardness reigns as Gabriel decides that he needs to talk to Michael.

Gabriel had gotten very little rest since the previous night's nightmare. After the initial fear and revulsion at himself, he had just begun to calm down in the library when he remembered what Daniel had told him of the problems with the Dreaming, and that strange shared dream with Loki. He had felt strangely giddy during the dream...

If that had really been Michael in his dream, if their dreams had somehow merged, then what had happened in the dream... He shuddered, running his fingers through his mussed black hair for the umpteenth time.

Why don't you just leave Heaven forever and get it over with? You're halfway gone already.

I've loved you since the moment I saw you.

Suddenly it was all he was aware of, the pressure of warm lips against his own, the soft but strong grip on his arms, the sudden warmth pooling in his abdomen -

Gabriel shuddered again, face paler than usual. How could he face Michael after that, even if it had simply been an addled dream of his own? Yet he had to find out if it had simply been a dream of his own or if - he bit his lip - it had been a shared dream, if Michael was aware of what had happened as well.

I need to find Michael.  And he knew that Michael was in his own room. Gabriel took a deep breath, quitting his room and knocking on the door next to it.

"Michael?"

Comments

[angelofawesome.livejournal.com]

Michael had been hiding staying in his room. He'd had a dream where he had at first insulted Gabriel horribly and then told him he loved him oh geez...

Dreams weren't real. Dreams were crazy things in people's heads that happen when they sleep, right? It's why Michael wasn't going to sleep again ever.

But he really felt rotten. He wanted to apologise. But then again, that would admit he'd had a dream about Gabriel, and emotionally abused him in said dream, and he'd never do that in real life, stupid nightmare...

"Michael?"

Michael fell off his bed in shock. "Yeeeees?" he asked, hoping his voice didn't sound too weird.

[cattygabriel]

There was a thump, as if something had fallen. Gabriel frowned slightly.

"Are you alright? Can I come in?"

[angelofawesome.livejournal.com]

"Me?" Michael asked nervously, scrambling up and starting to hastily clean his already immaculate room. "I'm fine! Just fine! The door is open! That door is so unlocked, like an, an unlocked thing! Come on in!"

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel entered, fingers nervously twisting the hem of his shirt. "Er, good evening. Did you sleep well last night?"

[angelofawesome.livejournal.com]

Michael's eyes widened in utter shock. "Laaaast night? Errrrr. Did I kick the wall and wake you up? Because I do that in my sleep. Not that I sleep that often. Yep."

[cattygabriel]

"No. Are you alright? You're acting even odder than usual." Gabriel dropped his gaze to the floor. "Actually, I, well..." How does one start discussing something like this? He bit his lip. "Have you had any odd dreams?"

[angelofawesome.livejournal.com]

"I'm fine!" Michael squeaked. "Niiiiiiiightmares? Ohhh. Ummmm. Sort of! I told lies and I told truths and you were there and it was awkward and that'smakingthisalotworsesoHOWABOUTYOU?"

Saint Michael the Archangel: Patron Angel of Tact and Cool.

[cattygabriel]

Oh. Oh no. Gabriel opened his mouth and then shut it, trying to find his voice. The strangely dizzy feeling from the dream had returned.

"I - I also..."

Perhaps he was being silly. It might have been a coincidence. He shut his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"There's a possibility of shared dreams," he said very fast. "Two or more people's dreams merging, so they, well, interact in the dream, and with people or things from each other's dreams."

Michael's room had very nice flooring.

[angelofawesome.livejournal.com]

Michael's jaw dropped.

"So you're the reason I said all that nasty stuff about you that I didn't want to say! With the Falling and the, the stuff!" Michael exclaimed, standing up in excitement, "Because I was acting out your nightmare! And the things with my wings, that must've been mine! Oh that's - that's the best news I've heard all day! I'd hug you but that would be super awkward."

And then he thought about it. He did love Gabriel, so that wasn't part of his nightmare. ... That might have been part of Gabriel's.

Oh. Oh shit.

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel's head snapped up, eyes widening. So it was true. It did happen.

"... Didn't want to say? So you've thought them? And - " he stared at Michael. "Michael, you said a lot of things. Things I hadn't considered before."

the Emperor of Hell... that's what you've wanted all along

I've loved you since the moment I saw you.

There was a strange pounding in his ears.

[angelofawesome.livejournal.com]

"No! I didn't think them either! They just came out of my mouth! It was weird! I mean, lots of things that I didn't think or want to say, I mean..." He struggled to find the words to explain himself, but it wasn't coming out right. "I mean, I... I just..."

Turn it around, Michael!

"It was your influence, putting words in my mouth. Things you wanted someone to say to you; well, not wanted, but thought should be said to you. So um, apparently you think you're going to Fall? That's not going to happen at all, I promise."

[cattygabriel]

"How would you know, Michael? How can you be so sure? I mean, you made sense." Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault."

That didn't explain the other thing. A light blush appeared.

"You also said... well, you, er, said some other things."

[angelofawesome.livejournal.com]

"No I didn't," said Michael quickly, looking at the floor. "You're making that up. Unless you want me to have said other things, in which case, I said them. Yep."

[cattygabriel]

It was a wonder the floor wasn't smouldering, really, with the intense gaze of two archangels concentrated on it.

"They hadn't occurred to me before," Gabriel said softly. "I mean, I was worried about something else, after something you let slip when drunk, but... I should probably go."

[angelofawesome.livejournal.com]

"You don't have to go," said Michael, "unless you want to. I mean, you're not being held captive here or something, but um, I'm not kicking you out."

Oh, great. Rejection.

Well, we knew it was coming, Michael thought to himself.

That doesn't mean we wanted to hear it, he responded.

Point.

"Woo."

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel swallowed, forcing himself to meet Michael's eyes. He'd faced demons and humans and Lucifer himself, and yet, somehow, this was harder.

"If that was really you in the dream... You said you loved me."

It can't be true, it can't be true, laugh at me, tell me I'm being an idiot, please...

[angelofawesome.livejournal.com]

Michael did not laugh at Gabriel. He did, however, laugh. It was high-pitched, slightly maniacal, and incredibly nervous-sounding.

He couldn't bring himself to say anything else, but really, the laugh always gave him away.

Stupid laugh.

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel knew that laugh. It meant Michael really, really did not want to admit to something, but at the same time couldn't lie.

The wall was cold against his back - when had that happened? He didn't remember backing away - and Michael's eyes were closed.

"No," he whispered, hand blindly feeling behind himself for the doorknob.

[angelofawesome.livejournal.com]

Oh, Michael couldn't remain quiet about that. It was too...

Well, he did love Gabriel. But he'd loved him long enough and with nothing returned to no longer walk around on eggshells when he was there.

"Ooo, ouch. Didn't realize I was so repulsive! Sorry! Guess I'll go off and shove my head up my own ass!" And, because he was an angel, he tacked on, "Thanks for stopping by! Have a nice day!"

Michael was the First of the Host, Second only to God, and he was Gabriel's superior. He had never pulled rank on Gabriel except in life-or-death situations. But Michael's heart was breaking, so in a sense, that's what this was.

He focused his Will, held out his hand, and Banished Gabriel from his room, being polite enough to make sure Gabriel didn't land on his arse outside. He sealed the door shut with his sigil.

He wanted to fly outside, to forget everything that had just happened, to get closer to the Presence, but it wasn't safe out there at the moment. So instead he curled up in bed and wrapped himself in his wings.

[cattygabriel]

His hand had only just closed around cool metal when Michael responded, and he winced. No, it's nothing of the sort, I won't be the reason for your coming anywhere close to Falling, he wanted to say, but then he found himself standing in the corridor, staring at Michael's sigil on the door.

Gabriel stared at the door for a moment. He instinctively turned to his room, wanting to take a long shower and then burrow into his nest of pillows with a warm cat on his lap, but his room was right next to Michael's, and the Presence of His Second would still be painfully bright in there. It had been soothing, once, to feel his friend nearby.

Turning to the stairs, he quickly made his way to the entrance and out to the grounds, where he spread his wings and flew to the roof of the Manor. Sitting half-concealed by a chimney, he let his halo show.

What am I to do, Father?

But there was no answer.

[angelofawesome.livejournal.com]

Rather, there was no answer to Gabriel.

Instead Michael, curled up in bed as he was, heard a very soothing, bemused voice.

SMOOTH MOVE, DUMBASS.

He snickered despite himself. God always knew what to say to make His Children feel better.