9/6/2003

12:38 AM

Logfile from Gabriel.

 

Gabriel's

Opening from the front facade is a rather simple plate-glass door, banded on one side by a showroom front window giving hint as to what is currently available and trendy at this moment in time for the fashion conscious. Once within, the smell of new fabric and leather mingles with that of jasmine and tea rose.

The flooring is old wood varnished to new glory, but the entryway is set with a stone mosaic in the form of a starburst, both relics from the original building and diligently revived. Pale blue, nearly white, adorns the walls where brick and mortar do not just as the lighting is warm, hopefully inviting patrons to spend some time within. Clothing racks are set here and there along the floor just as the walls as well, a handful of clothing articles to each setting to dismiss any cluttered appearance.

Trendy desires are in evidence, along with that which might be considered more understated and simple in design -or as the proprietor would say: more able to enhance the person wearing the clothing, not the clothing itself. Along the back wall are a trio of changing rooms, and off to the left side is a long counter where transactions can be made.

Obvious exits:

Exit   Stairs

 

The interior of the store is somewhat dim, but that can only be attributed to the fact that about half of the lights within are off. Possibly discouraging anyone from entering, even if the door is still left unlocked. Gabe is back at a counter, patiently ticking through an inventory sheet, and comparing it with another.

 

Okay, it took a bit, but Malachai managed to get himself away from the penthouse for a few hours. That took a lot more effort than he'd imagined, but once he felt like he could stand up without having his knees go weak and all, he got dressed and excused himself out to run a few errands. Not to mention finding some food to eat, catch up on local news, that sort of thing. His wanderings take him through the Village again, but it is the sort of place an artist would find home, so it's no surprise. Ah, his brother's store... it brings another impish grin to his face as he eyes the dimmed lights for a moment before trying the door anyway. "Oh Gabriel..."

 

Gabriel scratches off another item on the list with the flick of the pencil against the paper, running a finger along until finding something else to mark off. At the sound of the door opening, his head lifts with the hopefulness that it is one person, only to blink as instead is it someone else. This requires another blink as well at the voice. He straightens some in his seat, body leaning to the side to catch full sight of... "Malachai?" Obviously.

 

Malachai steps in and closes the door behind him, leaning against it as he takes a quick look around the store but doesn't spy anyone else other than Gabriel. "Yes, it's me. Just thought I'd drop by, was in the neighborhood and all." Not a difficult thing since Manhattan is just a 5 mile island. "I take it you're restocking after the first day of School rushes?" All those NYU students going nutso and all.

 

Nope, everyone else is gone. Just him. And as Malachai well knows, there are  perks in living in the same building that you work at. Home is just up a flight of stairs for him. With a nod of his head, he actually waves the other in closer, "Come on in then." He sighs slightly though, "Yes. I didn't plan on so many, but if I'm still here next year, I'll have to remember to have more selections on hand."

 

Malachai is mildly surprised at the invitation, but then again their last encounter in here was at least polite, strained but not disastrous. "Plan on it being busy around Halloween too then. Big party season for the college crowd around then and your selections look like they might attract certain crowds." He does a quick glance at the racks, but looses interest quickly since probably the best items have been picked clean already. The oni doesn't comment about next /year/ though, even he can't predict what will be going on by then..

 

Gabriel is just the good brother like that. He nods his head in understanding, considers, and then actually jots down something upon the paper he was making notes upon before. "Maybe I should actually try to hire someone that does know a thing or two about actually running a small clothing store, instead of still bumbling my way through this." Yep, he admits that much. He can run a country, but not a business. Figures.

 

Tell that to Mayor Bloomberg too, before he screws up the City's economy. The businessman is treating the city as if it were a business and it's effects on small stores and local franchises is likely going to undo all the good the previous Mayor had managed. "Don't look at me, I'm just speaking from what I've witnessed, that's all. My own local business doesn't quite have the same clientele that you do." He pushes away from the door and moves slowly towards the counter rather than continuing to try and speak across the store. "I'm curious though, why a clothing store?"

 

Gabriel sets down the pencil onto the paper, tapping it once with his finger. He looks back up and over to Malachai. "You arn't the first person to ask me that, actually. Why? because it was better than waiting tables again. I've a couple of connections in the industry and has money to invest. I'll try to make a go of it. If not..." And he shrugs his shoulders negligently.

 

Malachai quite imagines that Gabriel would have gotten some very interesting tips if he were a waiter still. There are enough fan girls in the city have made life rather interesting. Heck there are a few restaurants in Little Italy who's waiters are real eye candy and... Pulling his thoughts back into place, Malachai shakes his head. "Waiting on tables? Yes, I'd imagine that owning your business has a certain satisfaction to it. Though I think if you can afford it, I'd recommend that you hire some help. I mean, the city has cleaned up a bit in the last decade, but now that all the students are back and the crowds get bigger, you're going to get shop lifters and grifters. You'd need at least a second set of eyes to watch your back while you're helping customers."

 

Gabriel nods his head in the affirmative, "I do have an assistant though that does come in on most days." Same assistant tends to bring in her friends so they can stand off in a corner to gawk and giggle. He looks back over to Malachai with a soft glance, "Satisfaction? Yes. It certainly does."

 

There are probably a few 'art admirers' that come along to Malachai's gallery for the same reason, on the off chance that the artist is around. "Oh good, probably will make it easier for you. Glad to see that you're doing okay here then." For a moment, there is a flicker of something that crosses the oni's face, a disturbed look that makes him look like he's hesitating on the verge of maybe offering more than he aught. "Say.. Gabe.. Have you heard, I mean spoken with the others? I mean the other Suzaku?"

 

Gabriel leans back in his seat, the chair creaking in protest at his movement. "Well enough. But, if I manage to go under... well, there is the waiting tables." Doesn't hurt to fall back on that. Heck, he probably would make more in tips doing that then running this store. He blinks back at the other in confusion for a moment and then replies, "Do you mean as in lately? Or simply in general? Yes, I know of all of them. Why do you ask?"

 

Malachai briefly considers offering Gabe some sort of job if the situation arises, but then stops. It probably wouldn't be accepted anyway. Though if he ended up serving at say Lin's Dumpling House, would it be wrong to call him Dumpling Boy? "Yeah, I mean lately. I don't exactly want to worry you..." He growls slightly in frustration. "Actually this is probably more like a tip off, though I'm sure that kid, what's his name, Chiriko probably has some idea, but I wouldn't exactly... count on next year."

 

Gabriel would probably not take kindly to being called Dumpling Boy. Then again, it is probably doubtful he would even work in such a place. He straightens right back up in his seat, actually moving to stand next with a smooth movement. "Hiroshi? You have spoken to him?" He frowns for a moment in consideration, and possibly a little bit of confusion, "No? Then there's something that you seem to know about the future? Is this for certain?"

 

Malachai leans on the counter, giving a slightly hesitant shrug. It's not a gesture that seems to go well with the usually spirited and not to mention quite overly confident mien he usually carries. "Yeah, that one. Oh, yes I've spoken to him. On an unrelated issue actually, needed him to find..someone for me." And his expression goes dark for a moment, lips tightening into a grim line. "It's not that I know the future precisely, just that there are... events in motion and things are likely to change very soon."

 

Gabriel's eyes cloud as well in near mimicry of the other, only for a different reason. This doesn't sound pleasant at all. "Change for the worse you mean?" Gabe asks, looking for clarification. "Or for the benefit of your god and the others?" He shakes his head from side to side, a wealth of hair falling over his shoulder.

 

Malachai pauses for a moment before giving a short nod. "Yeah, there are going to be changes alright. It's not all going to happen right away of course." He leans closer across the counter, voice dropping low. "Keep an eye on the news alright? You'll see what I mean when it happens." It'll probably something spectacular, not subtle at all. "I don't exactly want them to happen, I mean I've got it pretty cushy with what I have now. But when a god speaks... you have to listen."

 

Gabriel frowns once more, watching Malachai quietly. "While I respect the Yin gods, I don't exactly like their means, or their ends that much either." And then that brings Gabriel to something else along that same line, interest evident, "Why, Malachai? Why are you one of theirs?"

 

Malachai goes still, looking away from the man that in another life was his brother. "It... started a long time ago... brother." he says softly, flicking that auburn hair back over his shoulders. Mitama was never sure which of the gods it was that chose to remind him of who he was by turning his hair back into the shade it belonged. Was it Suzaku who did it as a sign that he was once one of his? Or was it Amatsumika to mark him with what he once was? "I lost everything. Everyone I knew, everyone I loved, and it seemed to me at the time that it was all your fault. I'm pretty sure it was Amatsumika who came to me even then. I didn't want to die, Hotohori... I was bitterly resentful of that."

 

Gabriel doesn't bow his head with guilt, doesn't look away in embarrassment. No, the man instead keeps his gaze steady upon the other. "What happened then was completely out of my hands. If it was within my power to change things, I would have, but everything was already in motion." He frowns then, sighing, "So becoming one of them was the only choice you thought could make at the time?"

 

Malachai's expression is bitter for a moment, but then changes after a moment's reflection. "I was very very angry at the time, but would you be surprised that a Yin god would catch me at my weakest? It wasn't offered at first, no first came that attempt to get back at you. That didn't...turn out well." History nearly repeated itself there. "Then as I laid dying, he offered me another chance. What would you have done then?" He turns back to look at Gabriel, calm enough on the outside, but oddly serene. "I wonder what things would have been like if I hadn't made that choice. I don't regret it though. Don't think that I do, but it's probably not the reason you imagine. See, if I hadn't come back.. I would have never met... the others." His lovers he means, but it's not something he'd shove in Gabriel's face.

 

"No. When you say it that way, I suppose I am not all that surprised at all," Gabe responds, shaking his head from side to side. He rests a hand lightly upon the back of the chair, frowning for a moment. "I don't know what I would have done then, and I am glad that I wasn't faced with such a choice. I might have chose differently, but you are a different person than me. So..." He shrugs his shoulders.

 

Malachai gives Gabriel a rather wry expression. "You were the seishi, not I. Not that I was aware that you would be reincarnated precisely, but there was definitely no option like that for Tendou." He shrugs as well. "I did what I thought I had to do at the time and it has brought me here. Strange isn't it? I think we've actually managed to spend more time together in this lifetime than last."

 

Gabriel actually chuckles, "And that would include the quality brotherly bonding as we impaled each other on our swords? Yes, I suppose that could be a part of it." Hand removes from the back of the seat to instead push the chair out of the way and against the wall.

 

Malachai laughs back, rueful but amused too. "We always hurt the ones we love." he mutters under his breath before he nods back at Gabriel. "I suppose that skewering each other might have been a little extreme, but we both survived this time? I'd imagine it was still better than trying to beat each other into pulp with our fists or something equally base and barbaric."

 

"I don't think you would have gotten me into a fist fight. Sparring with the swords, yes... but not some brawl." Come on, at least some seishi need standards. And he'll have to make up for quite a few of the others out there. But he simply can't allow one thing to go, "Love?" Definitely eyebrow quirk there.

 

"I'd have to agree there, there's a certain finesse to sword fighting, but I have a certain aversion to having to chance breaking my hands unless I've no recourse." Most artists do have that reluctance. Malachai blinks at Gabriel for a second. "Hmm? Oh did I say that outloud?" he replies with a fluster, pushing away from the counter. "I think I'd best be going, did plan on being home for dinner and all."

 

Gabriel is left to simply blinking at Malachai for the longest moment. "That's very true." After all, one simply cannot have split open and bloody knuckles. Nothing at all pretty about that. "Thank you for stopping by though. It was a pleasant surprise." Especially when swords aren't being brandished. "Good night."