#lcveflcres

     ── he’d grown used to this sort of game. he’d show up, produce a few charms or spells, tell people what they want to hear, and disappear once money exchanged hands. rarely did anyone expect much more of him, and he was good at playing it up, the mysterious sort you’d expect to sell off magic. it suited him well. gabriel was a different kind than the others, though, kaiden supposed. most of those who come to him for help were desperate or naive, betting against their better judgements on his unfounded solutions--- all humans with too much belief in magic or not enough. gabriel was something else entirely, certainly, though kaiden was still piecing together what exactly that meant. it created enough of an intrigue for him not to mind their meetings much ; they helped sate his curiosity.

he’d shed a few of his more common defenses, strung his silver ring on a chain so it was hidden beneath the fabric of his shirt and away from skin contact, rubbed away the ink of a sigil or two high on his arms. he found that people trusted him more if his worn magic wasn’t innately warning them away--- and besides, while he didn’t quite know gabriel, he hadn’t found whatever his type of fae stock was to be a threat. for a moment he settled himself, taking a slow breath. the magic gabriel usually wanted felt just out of kaiden’s reach, the prophetic kind that slipped through his grasp when he tried to get a hand around it. he’d learned that meant little, though, he could sift his way through blurry thoughts and fill in the incoherent parts with whatever fabrications suited the asker. most people didn’t want any real answer, just hoped to find a direction or confirm their own suspicions. it wasn’t clear what gabriel was looking for, exactly, though kaiden supposed it didn’t matter much.