Angel~Devil

Chapter 1 - Part 2

(Author's notes: Okay, maybe one a week was a little optimistic. I'm lazy, shoot me. But anyway, here's the second part of Chapter 1!
It's Easter now so I'm hoping to type up at least part one of Jynx's chapter by the end of it.
Likes and comments would be really appreciated!

- Sacrificial-Queen, 06/04/17 )

Eventually, Gabriel gave up attempting to eat. He no longer felt particularly hungry, so he just tipped the soup into Fiona's food bowl, watching as she ran full-pelt toward it and buried her nose into the meaty stew, tail wagging so hard that Gabriel was half sure she was going to propel her tiny body into the wall and crack her skull.

No such luck.

Immediately, he felt the worse for thinking something so cruel, and he tossed a dog biscuit in Fiona's general direction in an attempt to assuage his guilt. Just because he despised the puffball didn't mean it had to DIE. Just go a long, long way away. Maybe to an island. A small one, with too much ocean between it and the mainland for a chihuahua to travel within its lifespan. Unfortunately, he didn't think any islands were that far away.

He could dream, though. He could dream.

Gabriel was snapped out of his cheerful little fantasy soon after, by an awful sound: His mother heading down the stairs. She wasn't usually drunk by this time in the afternoon, but judging from the erratic rhythm of the footfall, and the sound of a glass smashing, it had been a bad day.

As if there was any other sort.

"I'm going out!" He began to shove a few essential items into his bag, already planning to camp out with Toni for the night – It didn't take much preparation; Gabriel was always ready to run at a moment's notice, so he always had spare clothes and a toothbrush stored in the bottom of his bag. It was just easier that way.

He'd almost made it out the door, but he didn't quite get there fast enough - "Gabriel? Aren't you even going to say hello, first?"

Gabriel couldn't help but stiffen, but he returned to the kitchen, giving her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek, "Sorry, Mum. I'll see you later, okay?" She stank of alcohol, so much so that it made him blink, and he beat a hasty retreat, "I'll be back tomorrow." When you're sober. It went unspoken, but the words still hung in the air, and he couldn't help but be thankful she was probably too drunk to pick up on them.

Once he was out of the house, he put his shattered glasses back on. He couldn't see well out of them, but it was safer to wear cracked lenses than none at all. Gabriel put his hand against the wall, using the rough texture to feel his way along.

Before Toni's, he'd have to visit Yano's workshop. They could usually fix up most issues... But he'd have to beg them to do it ahead of payment.

Depending on the mood the optician was in, that was a situation that could go either way.

"Whoa. What in the hell'd ya do to these poor things?" Yano was looking even odder than usual today. Their blacker-than-black eyes were tinted with an oily shine due to some special contacts, which caused them to change colour every time they moved their head. It was a bit unsettling, in all honestly.

Gabriel was starting to feel the tiniest bit creeped out.

To add to the effect, Yano's floor-length, matted blonde hair was strung through with clipped in metallic highlights and glittery ribbons. The effect was almost like they were some alien creature. Not quite human, from some far off world, but oddly beautiful all the same.

He realised he'd just been staring, instead of answering their question, and his cheeks flushed pink - "Some idiot threw them at a wall. Ritual abuse."

Yano didn't look impressed by this, their features twisting with disgust - "That's lovely, ain't it? The frames ain't too wrecked... Have ya got money for some new lenses?"

"...Could I get them in advance of payment, please?" Gabriel caught his lip between his teeth, anxiously, "I can't actually work to get the money if I can't see anything..."

They hummed in consideration, tapping a thick cigar on their workshop table, "Ya know I'll shoot ya if ya don't come up with the cash?"

"I know, Yano." Gabriel swallowed his certainty that Yano would definitely follow through on that threat if he was a minute late. He'd get the money. Even if he had to steal it from somewhere.

Half an hour later, his glasses were back on his face, bringing the workshop and its eccentric owner back into focus, "Is that better, Shorty?"

"Much." He agreed warmly, choosing to ignore the poke at his height. If he was a shorty, Yano definitely qualified as some sort of redwood tree. There probably wasn't a person on earth who didn't look short to a six foot optician in ten inch heels. "I'll get the money by next month."

"Right, right. Now bugger off and do whatever it is you kids do all day. Cult sacrifice or somethin'."

Gabriel opened his mouth to ask what, precisely, that was supposed to mean, then decided against it. Sometimes, it was nicer not to know. Especially when it came to the enigma that was Yano Thompson.

He ventured back out into the street, glancing around at the towering ruins – The way they leered toward him, their gaping mouths edged with jagged metal teeth where cement had crumbled away from the framework. Their eye-like windows, lit from within by lanterns, seemed to follow him, ready to devour and destroy.

Silently, he shook his head, putting an end to his childish fantasy – No matter how unnerving the buildings looked, they hadn't eaten him for the last twelve years of his life. It was unlikely to happen today.

Gabriel was suddenly gripped by a painful melancholy as memories of his father, and the life he'd had before his death, washed over him. Those had been wonderful, carefree days, before his father had died and left his five-year-old son all alone to care for his wreck of a mother.

Letting out a snort of bitter laughter, Gabriel ducked under a scrap sheet of corrugated metal that was leant up against a wall, using it as a hiding place as gunshots rang out, only a street or two away.

Living in the Ruins, violence was never too far from Gabriel's doorstep; It no longer frightened him, although he fervently prayed those bullets hadn't been aimed at anyone he considered his friend.

He'd been planning to stay safely hidden until he was sure the shooters had moved on, but a moment later, a decidedly feminine shriek sliced through the air.

Jynx.

Of course. Who else?

With a groan of exasperation, and absolutely no risk assessment, Gabriel was on his feet and dashing around the corner – Just in time to see Jynx lying on the ground, clutching a bloodied arm, minus her school bag.

He raised his eyes to see her attacker running down the street. He could tell from the worn, stripy blue hoodie that it was Rat; A middle aged beggar who was well-known for mugging anyone who stopped to show him charity – Usually his victims escaped without injury, and without their wallets, but Jynx obviously hadn't. From the way she was holding her arm, Gabriel suspected she'd either been knifed or grazed by a bullet. As annoying as Jynx could be, some things really couldn't be tolerated.

Gabriel raised his gun – The real handgun from his bag, not the silly toy he used to scare off school children – narrowed his eye, and sent a bullet streaming through the air, right into the back of Rat's skull. The thief dropped like a stone, blood spurting out onto the rocky ground.

Shit.
He'd been aiming for the shoulder, but that couldn't be helped now. Jynx let out another little shriek of terror, but Gabriel ignored her this time, striding over to the body and yanking her bag from his filthy clutches. "Sorry. It got a little bloody."

The bag landed at Jynx's feet, but she didn't do anything more than stare at it, trembling. He didn't have much patience for it – People would no doubt be coming to investigate the commotion – So he yanked her to her feet, then into an empty building nearby, shaking out the contents of his rucksack and grabbing a packet of bandages, before pushing Jynx's sleeve up to her shoulder and beginning to bind up the bleeding wound. It wasn't as serious as he'd suspected, only a few millimetres deep. Still, he expected it stung like the devil.

"That was..." Jynx still looked shaky, wincing as the bandage pressed into the cut, seeming to search for the word to end her sentence, and Gabriel opened his mouth to explain, or apologise, or just something - only to close his mouth in shock as she finished with "Amazing!"

She was staring at him like he was some sort of hero, like she'd... had fun. "I've never seen a proper fight before! That was so cool..." Her honey coloured eyes were sparkling as she grinned at him, and something inside Gabriel snapped.

"It's not exciting and it's not cool!" He growled at her, "A man just died! And now I'll have to explain it to his family! It is not funny. You could have been KILLED! Life here's not like an action movie, Jynx! Get it through your head, and for the love of God, DON'T come down here again!" He trailed off as he saw the expression on her face. She'd gone from blissful excitement to crushing shame in the space of a few sentences. He felt like an ass.

A justified ass, but still.

"I only wanted to make sure that you were alright." Her voice was achingly quiet, "He just... He looked so hungry... I only gave him some money..."

"I know." It came out as a tired sigh, because he did know that in Jynx's world, charity was something to be rewarded. He also knew that in the Underground, it would only serve to have her chewed up and spat back out again.

"I'll walk you home." It was all he could think to say. After all, it would be dangerous for her to walk home alone now; the gunfire would have certainly attracted the more dangerous types of criminals – The ones who went out of their way to make trouble. A young, injured girl was an easy target on her own.

Jynx nodded, still a little bit shaky as she stood up, the creamy skin of her knees that was just visible between the bottom of her skirt and tops of her boots grazed and bloodied where she'd fallen.

"I really was just trying to help." She repeated, sounding more sure of herself as she slung her bag back over her shoulder, apparently ready to leave. Maybe she had some sense after all.

"I know." Gabriel repeated once again, poking his head out through the door of the building to check the street was clear, "But I don't need your help. I need a miracle."