I Still Stand Alone (Nathaniel)

[Gabriel Cole]

It was a late Thursday night, and people were more than ready for the weekend to arrive. Just one more day. A back door to a small bar suddenly flew open, the handle smacking into the brick wall loudly and echoing in the alleyway. A young man was suddenly shoved out into said alleyway, his black button-up ruffled and his hair askew as he stumbled and struggled to find his footing. After a few heart-stopping moments, the boy did manage to teeter on his toes and stop bumbling about. Gabriel spun around, just in time to catch his acoustic guitar that just so happened to be tossed through the air right at that very moment. He staggered back a little from the impact, his back making contact with the other wall of the alleyway. The dark-haired boy glared heavily at the much buffer man who had just thrown him out of the bar. What the hell? He had just been singing a song, it's not like he was endlessly screaming profanities at the crowd or anything. Sure, his song may have been a little bit too depressing and dark for some of the viewers, but really now! They didn't have to f*cking kick him out for it! All they would've had to do was ask him to perform something else, and he would've obliged gladly just for a little cash! Dammit. Gabe huffed, royally pissed, and watched as the security of the little dwelling shut the door in his face. Well, so much for that opportunity.

Pushing himself off of the wall, the tall brunette looked over his guitar. Thankfully, no damage had been done. Gabriel rolled his eyes, then suddenly realized something. The case. The guitar case. Where was it? The young man looked around the alley. Had the stupid watchman not thrown it out with him?! Gabe was about to go up and slam his fist on the back door when his eyes suddenly caught sight of a very familiar looking material. His eyes darted to the item. Of-f*cking-course, it just had to land in one of the puddles in the alley. Seriously? Gabe glared up toward the sky for a moment before he walked over to the case. It was undeniably soaked. The young man let out a long, irritated sigh. Of course. Of course this had to happen. Everything bad always happened to him. Even after he tried to escape everything that could really get to him anymore, he still managed to find something to just screw that whole escapade up. Figured. Gabe reached down and slowly drew the guitar case upward, watching with a grave bleakness as water cascaded down its sides. The boy took a deep breath. He needed to stay calm. It's not like the case wasn't expensive or anything, ohhh nooo, it was worthless! Ha, as if! Gabe was tempted to just throw the thing to the ground and leave it there to rot, but he really hated to part from the item. He had had it for quite the number of years now.

Letting out the slightest groan, the boy let his head hang for a moment as he stared at the case. He knew that the water wasn't going to "fatally" damage the case (he had had his fair-share of run-ins like this before), but he really didn't feel like cleaning up the mess the puddle-water was bound to leave. And, thanks to the case's old age, there was probably water leaking into it as well. Wonderful. Gabe shifted a little in his spot. He didn't want to set his guitar down... But he would have to if he wanted to even attempt to start cleaning up the case... Furrowing his brow in frustration, the young man sent a death glare to the back door of the bar before grabbing both his guitar and his guitar case. One hand was nice and dry, and the other was getting wetter by the second. The dark-haired boy glanced around, his grip tight on the two music-oriented items. So... Where to go now was the problem. He would need somewhere relatively dry and safe to place his guitar down at so he could get to work on his case. Though, such a place as that was not available at this time of night in this area of the city. Typical. Ugh, damn it all. Gabriel sighed again and started to walk towards one end of the alley, his hair still messed up and his shirt wrinkled. He might as well try to go and find somewhere to fix this, even if it meant he just ended up walking all the way home.

[Deleted]

The dark haired man leaned against the bar on his elbows, his hands folded on top of the wood surface. He glanced at his silver watch and smirked. "Show time." He raised his hand and the burly bartender slide a glass of scotch on the rocks across smooth top into his open hand. He turned around before he tossed back a greedy sip and then looked at the glass nodding approvingly. Blue eyes looked up to the shady men in black suits at the corner booth towards the back of the room and smiled crookedly. Using his one free hand, he messed up the finely cared for curls so it stuck out in different directions and hen he loosened he red tie so the knot hung at an uneven angle and the fabric lay across his shoulder. He tossed back the rest of his drink and set it behind him on the bar. With an arrogant gleam in his eyes, Nate popped up his white color for one last touch and made a scene of drunken stumbling to the back corner and put on a flawless British accent. "Gaius! Its been ages mate."

The door to the small club opened suddenly but there was no one there. Or well, it appeared to be that way. The door shut again, with no one touching it, but as the bolts clicked quietly in their terminals, a hand appeared. Then soon, all of Nate's tall and toned figure became visible once more. He chuckled darkly and turned away from the door, thumbing through the aged pages of the ledger. " So much hanging on the numbers of this pocket sized notebook.." He shook his head with a successful grin on his face and tucked the book into the hidden inside pocket of his grey vest. He wiped away a trickle of blood from a busted lip that had probably already healed by now, and took a step forward raising his gaze back to the ally. His lips twitched back into a dark crooked smile he was famous for and he cocked an eyebrow, his hand slowly dropping back to his side as he studied the boy and his instrument before him. He could feel dark, bitter emotions coming off the stranger in waves. A quick glance to the dripping guitar case told the Saccularius that tonight, Nate wasn't the only one who had run in with a little trouble. He couldn't help but chuckle lightly at this.

"People and their opinions these days.." He tucked his hands into the pockets of his grey pants. "They can be so overzealous." The smirks and chuckles seemed almost endless this evening.

[Gabriel Cole]

It seemed that life took great enjoyment in challenging Gabriel. It threw him hurdle after hurdle, and once he finally made his way over the ones in his way, a mess of honey and feathers was thrown over his face, blinding him and throwing him off track all over again just for him to end up finding a new set of hurdles just waiting to be stumbled over once his vision cleared. While many had the pleasure of being able to enjoy the lovely smells and colors of life's bouquet, Gabriel unfortunately had all the thorns to deal with. He never seemed to be able to reach the top and just stop and enjoy things, if even for only a moment. An irritated sigh of frustration leaked from his mouth as he stood in the alleyway. He glanced up to the sky, glad that it at least wasn't raining, and then fixed his gaze back downward, allowing his dark eyes to skim over the contents grasped within his hands. At least his guitar was fine. Not a scratch or scuff-mark was on it, which provided at least a small hint of light in this situation. He had expected the jerk of a security guard who threw him out to have tinkered with it somehow. But, he hadn't... Or, from what he could see, he hadn't. Gabe slid his eyes over to the case held in his other hand. That, unfortunately, was another story.

Turning to walk away, Gabe paused suddenly as the alley was greeted with yet another opened door. The boy stood silently, watching over his shoulder with the faintest hint of a puzzled look on his face as nothing came from the door. He mentally shrugged it off and took a step ahead, his head facing forward again as he proceeded to leave. Or, would have proceeded to do, if the door didn't click shut behind him him and a male voice made its way to his ears. Gabriel stopped dead again, his eyes narrowing. If it was that security guard from earlier, he swore, he was going to... "Hey, I got the message, I'm leaving. No need to get your f*cking panties in a bun-" Gabe went silent as he turned, his eyes landing on someone who did not at all look like the security guard from earlier. His cheeks flamed for the briefest second as the stranger chuckled. Was he laughing at him? The dark-haired boy settled his straight-faced mask back onto his face as he stood there. He wasn't just going to be laughed at by some man he had never even seen before in his entire lifetime. That was ridiculous. Shifting slightly in his spot, Gabe prepared to say something else, but he was cut short when the stranger spoke. Something about the dark smirk on the man's face caused a shiver to go tumbling down his spine, and he watched with dark eyes as the stranger slid his hands into his pockets.

A short moment of silence followed the man's words, and the Oushaga could only find himself staring at the man as he tried to figure out just what the hell it was he wanted. If he thought he was going to somehow land his hands on either of the objects in Gabe's hands, he had another thing coming to him. Gabriel furrowed his brow and licked his lips quickly, adjusting his hold on both the handle of his case and the neck of his guitar. It wasn't everyday that somebody actually conversed with him, especially in an alleyway during the middle of the night. Briefly, Gabe's mind fluttered to his siblings, especially to Nari. He hoped to whatever higher power there was out there that none of them, particularly his sweet, innocent sister, had shady run-ins like this. One of the downfalls of being an older brother that cared. Constant worry. Whether it was in the back of the mind, or the front, it always managed to nag nag nag. Gabriel refocused his attention on his only other companion in the alleyway. He had to admit, the man wasn't too hard on the eyes. Maybe a little bit too sugar-coated for first impressions. After having lived through all he had, like he had, the dark-haired boy knew better than to fall for those with alluring faces right off the bat. Living up to the stiff and distrustful name he had made for himself, Gabe took a slight step back, his ruffled button-up completely tilted and messy looking as he stood there in the puddle-filled alley. "I wouldn't be surprised if your own opinions were just as bad," he retorted, feeling his fingers begin to ache slightly from the death-grip they had on his personal belongings. Oh, couldn't he just learn to say hello like a normal person already?