Golden Boy [Immortal fahc fic]

Chapter 1

He's painfully aware of how they think of him.
Out there, in the view of everyone else he might be the golden boy. In here he plays the fool.
Today has been stressful, and Gavin stares deep into the mirror, into his own eyes.
Smears the blood on his chin when he wipes at it with his hand, none of this is permanent anyway, he thinks.
He doesn't like how his knuckles look with blood on them, he washes his hands and uses lots of soap.
'Gav!' comes Geoff's voice, Gavin glances up at himself in the mirror, considers not replying.
It isn't surprising that Geoff would be looking for him.

They expect him to be nearby, happy and bouncing if not working at a computer.
Gavin's pretty sure the only time they take him seriously is when he's at a computer, and even then they don't notice the way he spends literal days at the computer, chugging energy drink, only leaving his chair to use the bathroom.
They think the only possible mask he has is the one he shows to the outside world. Gavin doesn't want to prove them wrong.
He uses a rag to quickly clean off his face, and leaves the bathroom to look for Geoff.
Gavin bumps into Ryan outside the bathroom, the older male is easily much heavier than him and this fills Gavin with a kind of broken pride he doesn't really want to feel, they both quickly apologize to the other. As if simply bumping into each other in the hall actually matters, nothing they do does.

He goes still when Ryan frowns, raising a hand to wipe something from the corner of Gavin's mouth, thumb steady, 'is that blood?' he inquires, one eyebrow raising.
Gavin feels unsteady, he blinks, unsure of how to respond.
'Probably fell on his ridiculous big nose again,' chortles Michael.
Lies and pretense are so easy, thinks Gavin to himself, he doesn't laugh at what Michael has said, but no ones eyes are on his face anyway.
Michael gestures for Gavin to follow him, Ryan comes along too.
Mentally, Gavin is fixing his mask into place.

'Gavin fell on his stupid nose again,' announces Michael grandly on entering the room, gesturing with his hands as if also announcing Gavin's entry into the room.
It's easy to pretend the blood on his person is a result of clumsiness, Gavin supposes, it's an act he doesn't need to contribute to, they carry it on without his help easily.
Geoff moves closer, loops one arm over Gavin's shoulders, Geoff is slimmer lately, observes Gavin, a result of giving up drinking, he's not sure he ever sees Geoff have anything other than water and those stupid candies.

'You're alright, you fool,' Geoff tells Gavin, pulling him closer and ruffling his hair.
A quick glance at the clock tells Gavin it's late, he's surprised Geoff is here, though he supposed he shouldn't be too surprised, Geoff has been around more often since his divorce.
Geoff notices his glance, 'yeah,' he says, 'I was about to head out, wanted to say goodbye to my little Gavvy-wavvy,' he ruffles Gavin's hair again, 'you could come spend the night.'
Gavin was pretty sure Geoff still viewed Gavin as a son of sorts, ever since taking him in so many years ago. They'd discovered their immortality together, in a blaze of fire. That kind of thing tended to bring people closer together.

'No thanks,' replies Gavin, he offers up a lopsided grin, 'I'm going to work on the system firewall, and possibly take a crack at hacking the presidents twitter.'
Jeremy rolls his eyes, he's perched in front of the large TV, but holds a small handheld, something Ray has left behind years ago if Gavin is recognizing it correctly. He's noticed Jeremy seems to have adopted all and any object left behind by Ray, which is mostly various handheld gaming items.
'Alright, call me if you need anyone,' Geoff hugs Gavin closer for a moment before releasing him, 'Make sure you get some sleep,' he heads for the door now, calling out a goodbye to Jack before leaving.

Gavin silently disappears back into his room, unwilling to try maintain any act of any kind.
He's honestly just tired, exhausted even. That morning they had met up with another crew, negotiating some kind of alliance.
The Fake Achievement Hunter crew was strong along of course, had been for a great many years, but Geoff felt it was time they built some bonds with other crews in the city.
None of the others had protested this, and as the usual face of the crew it was up to Gavin to talk, Geoff at one side, making the ultimate choices on anything, Ryan over his shoulder, looking vaguely threatening.
That isn't a part of the job Gavin enjoys, he's sure at one point he enjoyed the grand act of being the golden boy. He doesn't now, he just wants to fade away into his office, mentally shackled to his computers, working until there is no work.

After the mornings meeting, they had hit up a bank. It had been a somewhat difficult bank. In his own foolishness, Gavin blew himself up with a grenade, Michael had tried to prevent it, but Gavin's pretty sure Michael just ended up being caught in the blast.
No doubt the crew would be staying low after that one. Already some news sources are trying to say they saw the golden boy die.
It'll blow over, as it always does.
With a sigh, Gavin flops onto his bed, mentally and physically exhausted from an evening eating and purging. A cycle that never halts.