don't you forget about me

🌮 - stop by a food truck

"There's a whole lot to choose from and I want to order something worthwhile, can you blame me?" Gabe chuckled lightly, his eyes scanning as beside him Natalya began plotting. Upon her attempts, he didn’t look up right away. His eyes were still locked on the menu, but the corners of his mouth twitched like he was trying to hide a smile– and losing. “Oh, good,” he murmured, his voice low and steady, though his pulse had picked up under her breath. “Because choosing between the chicken or the beef was starting to feel like a moral crisis.” He finally turned his head, meeting her gaze with the faintest arch of a brow. “But if you keep talking like that, I’m gonna forget how to read entirely.”

"Well in that case she simply has the ability to appear that way." The woman knew how to throw a look, that was for certain. So far he'd not had to endure more than a slightly suspiciously judgemental look on one occasion and that felt soul bearing enough in his opinion. "She must be alright though given you're dating her." Dorian added with a little shrug though he was left laughing a moment later. "Really? Now you... I wouldn't have expected the threat of physical violence from you. Damn... I'll keep my distance, scouts honor." Dorian joked, doing the little move that came with that term. "Yeah, it's not the best situation to be in."

"She's far more than alright. But you know what? I'm glad you're a little weary of her. Means I shouldn't be worried about you trying to swoop in on her, even if I know she's loyal," Gabe then chuckled, not actually worried about Dorian trying to come in and steal his girlfriend from him. "I wouldn't expect it from myself either. Well not me now at least. I could be a little scrappy when I was younger though," he acknowledged, shaking his head at himself. "I trust that you will. And I promise to keep away from whoever you end up setting your sights on for the long term. Seems only fair."

That definitely seemed to light a fire in Natalya's eyes. Gabriel was well aware of just how much she enjoyed hearing him talk like that and the fact he was initiating it even in the smallest measure whilst he was at work, seemed to do even more to her. "Keep going and I'll be lucky if I can focus on making dinner." Natalya warned the man, her voice a little more breathy. "I'll see what speaks to me when I go to the shop then." She already knew there was food in but sometimes seeing something clicked more. "Oh, you will be."

"I'd love to give you a little more of the specifics but maybe I should leave your imagination to do the heavy lifting until I get home," he replied suggestively. The clock seriously couldn't be ticking slower, Gabriel was convinced he'd start counting down seconds soon enough. "I'm counting on it."

"As if I would give up this feeling." Natalya scoffed, a little smile on her face. "No, I hadn't decided what to cook yet. I was going to ask you if there was anything in particular you felt like eating tonight." It was for him she was mainly doing it after all. "And you are absolutely not paying me for the groceries. I'd be making food for myself anyway." Just a bit earlier if she hadn't been waiting for him. "If you want to repay me I'm fairly sure you know the type of currency I prefer."

"My answer to that question isn't exactly appropriate for this environment," he shot back simply in response to her. "But in regards to dinner I'm sure I'll love whatever you prepare," Gabe then said. "You sure? I really don't mind," he insisted, smirking lightly to himself, "I mean I figured that was a given either way. I suppose I was just ready to pay interest."

A hint of a smirk seemed to work its way across Natalya's lips when Gabriel coughed. Rather amusingly, she had heard that sound on several occasions before and knew what it meant. There was a certain rush she got from having that kind of power over his reactions. "Oh, I have a fairly good idea. I'm also pretty certain that most of my time is spent feeling that way." She added, not wanting him to feel as though she was immune from the sensation herself. "Good, I'm glad. It'll be nice to sit down and have a meal with you." Not that they didn't do that but after a long shift like Gabriel had been pulling, it wasn't even guaranteed that he'd eat, never mind have a proper meal and sit down with someone for it.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," he joked when she pointed out that they both often ended up feeling this way. Gabe loved whenever she came around to his work, especially since he couldn't really do the same in the way she could at his, but a lot of the time it made him wish he wasn't on the clock. "It will. Do you already know what you want to make?" he asked curiously, figuring centering in on the topic would distract them both in a more productive way. "Do you need to pick anything up from the shops? I can give you some cash."

"We are; and don't you forget it." Natalya almost seemed to order because if they tackled things together, she knew it would make things much easier to get through. She had gone through a lot on her own and Natalya knew Gabriel had too, it wasn't someone she wished on anyone. There was no time that was lonelier than trying to deal with struggles when you felt like you didn't have anyone to turn to.

"I wouldn't dream of such a thing," he insisted with a shake of his head when she'd told him not to forget it. It felt nice to know he wasn't being a burden on somebody without letting himself second guess it. Gabe would maybe never be good at coming forward about his problems but whenever he did, he also knew that Natalya was never judging.

"If you wanted a date, you could have just asked. Though I think that girlfriend of yours might have something to say about it. Honestly I'm not sure if she'd kill me or ask me to join in. She gives me black widow spider vibes... like she'd mate me and then bite my head off." Dorian spoke frankly, a chuckle falling from his lips. "I'm not sure how you handle her. But a bit of both? I would warn you about mixing business and pleasure. It's not boded well for me in the past."

"I think she'd have a good laugh if she heard you say that," Gabe snorted lightly as Dorian proceeded to compare his girlfriend to a black widow spider. "She is most certainly not as scary or violent as you seem to think– but she's certainly got intimidation tactics down if she ever needs to use them," he considered with a laugh. "And if you two mated it'd be me biting your head off, I'll have you know that much," Gabe added in good humor, knowing that wasn't actually a potential threat. "I'll make note of that. Luckily it hasn't been much of an issue for myself but I can easily see how it could cause some waves."

Natalya couldn't help but tenderly brush her thumb against his chin, eyes soft as she rubbed the area. She could feel the stubble, light against the pad of her finger, oddly reassuring in its familiarity. "No, I suppose it isn't. I don't want to jump to conclusions though." Natalya added with a wry smile, well aware that kind of behaviour could get a person into trouble. It was a loss she found herself disliking when Gabriel finally pulled back once more, the conversation causing her to want to seek out that closeness but her choice of battleground didn't really allow for that kind of contact. It had been with intention that she'd picked his bar though. It was much harder for him to escape her probing.

He huffed out a low laugh, "You're really gonna stroke my ego and my trauma all in one go, huh?" Gabe glanced down at the bar top, running a hand over his jaw where her thumb had just been, as if trying to keep the sensation there a little longer. Then Gabe's eyes flicked upwards to meet hers again. They lingered over her features, thinking over everything they'd shared up until this point. The good, the bad– it had all really been worth it even if some of it had been incredibly difficult to go through at the time. Gabe paused, letting a smile tug at one side of his mouth momentarily. “I’m just glad we’re in this together... you know?" he shrugged. He couldn't imagine worthing through all of this with anyone else at his side but her.

"And what did we have Gabriel?" Silas played up a little, leaning forward a little with that teasing expression on his features. "I've never been very good at settling." Silas admitted, because he knew that he always tended to set himself more goals when he hit his last lot. Thankfully, it'd worked out well for him though.

"If I have to tell you then maybe it wasn't as special as I thought," he huffed as though wounded by Silas' response. "And look how well that's turned out for you," Gabe then offered up a smile.

"Used to? What changed that?" Because Aaron couldn't imagine anything managing to sway how he felt about things. It was what got him through each day, for better or worse.

"I met people who averted those expectations," Gabe admitted with a light shrug. "Showed me that not everything in the world was worst case scenario and that things could be better than I thought. And while I'm not a changed person on a daily basis I certainly find myself being a little more hopeful in my day-to-day."

"I tend to change my choice of place but it is one I prefer to go to, especially when there is a good game on." He explained with a little smile, knowing that he didn't want to make his habits too well known when it came to anyone who wasn't in his friendship group. "Why? Are you wanting to spend more time with me or jealous I don't come to your bar more often?"

"And what if it's a little bit of both?" Gabe chuckled in reply to his friend's questions. "I can miss you and miss the business you bring at the same time, can't I? Or does that not fly in your book?"

"Is this you being an attentive bartender now or a prospective friend?" He asked with a little grin, more than happy to share of course but he didn't want to put that on someone who was simply doing their job. He had a good idea which one this fell under but it didn't hurt to check of course.

"Maybe it's a little bit of both," he shrugged, wiggling his eyebrows for good measure. "But it can be whatever you want it to be if that means it'll get a cool story out of you," Gabe chuckled.

Entwining their fingers, Natalya brought his hand up to her mouth, pressing a kiss to the skin gently. "I'm glad you feel that you can talk to me. I'll be ready whenever you want to talk about it but if you don't that's also obviously an option." She didn't need to know all the details of his life. As long as she knew where she stood and that he was able to come to her if he ever did want to talk, the rest could wait.

"I know that," he assured her softly, resting his chin on their intertwined fingers after she'd left a gentle kiss upon his skin. "I know it and if I ever feel like I'm in the place to talk about it with you... I will. But I also feel like a lot of it isn't difficult for you to piece together with what you already know," Gabe then added, letting their hands rest on the surface between them as he leaned back slightly to sigh heavily. It really wasn't something he enjoyed thinking about. Talking about it would be incredibly difficult if he was ever able to bring himself to start the conversation in the first place.

"That must be difficult. To be so used to having them around but not having one of your own." He mused, fussing over the creature a little. "No, no pets of my own. Honestly, I'm probably just about able to take care of myself so I'm not sure it'd be wise, especially with all the travelling I do with the guys. Though I've heard that dogs can make good emotional support animals."

"I guess so. They were never mine so I suppose that made the difference," he considered with a shrug. "That's fair enough and honestly responsible of you. Too many people bite off more than they can chew and then poor animals get neglected because of that," Gabriel remarked. "But yes, they absolutely can. If you ever have the means to give one a good life, I'm sure it'll do nothing but bring joy into yours in return," he replied. "Godric– I sound like I work for a shelter or something– I swear I don't," he then chuckled.