RESPLENDENT

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

Taxi was actually surprised when Quinn broke off and rushed to the aid of his sibling. Huh? It's not like the guy was suffering from mortal wounds or anything, and it didn't SEEM like there was a problem in the room. And nothing could possibly be wrong considering how incredibly calm Gabri looked. If something was freaky, the human was usually the first to freak out. Apparently Silas had taken the title from his friend, with Quinn hovering over him and asking him what was wrong while he looked freaked out. Really, the blonde should have been feelings some minor jealously or anger considering how quickly Quinn ran to his siblings side and then ignored him, oh right, and proceeded to yell at his friend.

Wait, what? His lover man was shouting at Gabri! Or at least speaking in a really scary mean voice. And looking like he was going to punch something. Specifically the reaper.

But then the Pole regained his title, genuinely wigging the fuck out. Taxi didn't even take a second to decide what to do. He rushed over to Gabri and wrapped his arms around the taller man in a hug. "MausiMausi don't cry," And then he switched over to polish, "He isn't going to hurt you, don't worry, we're not angry, shh shh don't cry! There's noone else there, everythings normal, no crows, no dogs, no ones mad, it's ok! I'm here, you're safe, nobody is gonna hurt you."

This was strange. Usually Taxi was the one being told not to cry. But here he was, hugging his friend as he appeared to have another episode. It was too much like that night in the hotel. And atleast if Taxi was attached to Gabri it meant that Quinn couldn't throw anything at him.

[Obelisk]

Quinn, thus far, had demonstrated that he wasn't a very nice man and that his saving graces, if there were any, were far an in-between. It was his instinct to react to every situation with anger; it didn't matter how he got there. If he was sad he got angry. If was frightened he got angry. If he was confused he got angry. If he was happy, well, he drew the line there, at least. He wasn't the type to be guilt tripped easily, at least not initially. First he reacted with more anger and then later on he'd feel bad about it.

"What the hell." He stated, tone a mixture between annoyance and anger. Why the hell was Gabri going off the deep end? Quinn wasn't aware of just how messed up the man truly was so his episode was off putting. He was about to say something else, something a long the lines of "stop crying you wimp and suck it up," but Silas grabbed his arm with surprising strength and tugged his younger brother out into the living area.

Taxi was taking care of Gabri and Silas figured the blonde had some sort of understanding of how the Polish man functioned. Silas was still a bit unnerved by Gabri's actions, but his he was far too disgruntled with Quinn to really care.

"Since when were you such a jerk?" Silas bit out, taking on that older sibling look, imposing and chiding. Quinn had always been an asshole but something must've happened. He was meaner than Silas remembered

"How the hell was I supposed to know he was gonna throw a tantrum?" Quinn shot back, green eyes flaring. "Look, all I saw was that you looked scared as shit."

"And I told you everything was fine." Silas interjected, voice going low, not wanting Gabri to hear, afraid he might get more upset.

" I'm not stupid, Silas, I know he did something." Quinn said and to his credit also lowered his voice.

The older Belmont sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. Something about Gabri just wasn't right and as much as he liked the guy, his behavior was disconcerting.

"He killed a cat."

"What?" Quinn's brow shot up, voice incredulous. " That's all?" He was about to get angry again for having gotten angry earlier over something trivial that didn't warrant his anger. Anger anger anger. Add a D and you had danger.

"That's not all, Quinn. I just. It's hard to explain. The cat was just, there, you know? It wasn't a threat. But he took it. He took it and snapped its neck then threw it out the window. He acted like he'd just done something as innocent as take out the trash. It was...." Silas trailed off, eyes falling to the floor.

"Weird?" Quinn offered.

"Yeah, weird." Silas said, giving a weary smile.

"Taxi ate a bird." Quinn said with a shrug, trying to relate.

"What? Why?"

"I dunno. Cause' it was there, I guess."

"That Taxi of yours sure does attract strange people."

"Yeah, Gabri's pretty fucked up."

"I'm not just talking about Gabri." Silas gave a sly smile.

Quinn blinked, obviously not quite getting it. Then it his him and he scowled.

"I'm not weird."

"Says the man who gets off from riding motorcycles. A motorcycle, if I might remind you, Gabri gave you."

Quinn looked away then, hand's sliding into the back pockets of his jeans. He fidgeted, looking like a child who knew he'd done something wrong but didn't want to own up to it. La la la, I'm not listening.

"Quinn. You need to apologize. And you need to lay off of Gabri. I don't think he really knows... what's what. You know?"

"Ah, shit. Why am I always the bad guy?"

"Because you have some serious anger issues."

"Do not"

"Do too."

"Do not."

" Do too."

"DO NOT."

"..."

"...... I'll apologize after he's calmed down."

The rest was up to Taxi.

[Rip]

The sound of a garbage disposal exploded inside his head, banging against his skull and throwing up his thoughts. Gabri tried so hard to hear what Taxi was saying, to hear if Quinn was angrier, to hear if Silias was upset, but the noise was just so damn loud. He couldn't think, he could talk, and worse of it all he couldn't shut it off. If he closed his eyes the jury of birds was still there, all those black, shineless eyes glaring at him and smashing mallets against oak podiums. If he opened his eyes that fucking DOG sat just across the kitchen grinning and chewing on screaming bird-headed children. Chomp, chomp, chomp, crunch crunch crunch. The dog turned into a crocodile and started to cry, trying to lure more children towards it. When they got close enough it snapped it's jaws and tore off heads. It would grriinnnddddd the bones and snap snap snap little children-

The dog smiled and shrieked in over 200 voices at once, "DON'T YOU BE CRYING THOSE CROCODILE TEARS-"

"There'snooneelsethere,everythingsnormal, no crows, no dogs, no ones mad, it's ok! I'm here, you're safe, nobody is gonna hurt you"

Gabri blinked hard three times and gasped, trying to push Taxi off him and looked wildly around the room. No birds. No white shit on the counters. No dog. No feathers. No crocodiles. His eyes were wide and his body shook as he bit his bottom lip, taking shaky, uneven breaths. His throbbing heart slowed little by little. The boy stuttered, looking desperately at his friend, "S-s-s-s-s-sss-so-ss", but gave up and closed his eyes, putting his face in one hand. Deeply ashamed of himself, his eyes rolled behind their lids and he gave a miserable, defeated moan. He felt like being sick all over the place.

When the nausea subsided, he chanced lifted his head a little bit, just enough to peek his eyes over to the blonde (and even then he couldn't hold contact long before dropping it). "...I'm so sorry, hinny."

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

"Shh, it's okay, Gabri." Taxi still spoke in Polish, wanting to make his friend as comfortable as possible. He even resisted the urge to latch back onto him or to soothe him with phyical touches, knowing how much that freaked him out. "There's nothing to be sorry for, it's not your fault, it's THEIR fault, HIS fault." The vampire eluded to the claim that Gabri's mysterious employer was the Angel of Death. "Nobody is mad." It was a lie, probably. Taxi wasn't listening to the other room, he didn't know if Quinn was shouting about wanting to tear his friends throat out or not.

Oh well. Gabri seemed mildly calm now. Atleast he wasn't crying and saying prayers again. Very very carefully the blonde extended a hand upwards to place it on the Pole's shoulder, wary of it getting taken off by a hatchet. Not that he would mind too much. "You gonna be ok, Mausi?" The German reverted back to English, peering up at the other. "Want me to hold your hand? Get you some icecream? What about a song? Want me to sing you a song, or play you one? Huh, Mausi, would that make you feel better?"

He obviously wasn't going to settle for anything less than perfectly-ok-better-again-with-rainbows-on-top. There was a sort of sad hopeful look in Taxi's eyes, desperate to make everything okay again. Sure, he was treating his friend like a child with a boo boo, and probably wasn't far away from offering to kiss it better, but seeing other people in a state of need put Taxi into a serious funk. Atleast when it came to humans, humans who he had a particular fondness and a sense of rather extreme protectiveness over.

[Obelisk]

Quinn hated feeling guilty. He was the typical male in the sense that he loathed to be in the position of the villain because that meant he had to own up to the fact he'd been wrong. Honestly, he couldn't figure out why he was so damned aggressive lately. Gabri really didn't deserve the shit he dished out to him, but the human was such an easy target. East target? Yeah, that made Quinn feel like an ass. Picking on the little guy. The vampire didn't dislike Gabri; maybe he was still jealous over how fond Taxi was over him.

Silas motioned a sulking Quinn to follow with a jerk of his head and made his way back towards the kitchen. The elder Belmont peaked inside and sighed in relief. Taxi seemed to have calmed Gabri down. The Polish man wasn't freaking out or having a meltdown any longer and for that, Silas was thankful. The werewolf had a big brother complex, really, the protective, likable kind.

" Gabri, are you alright?" Silas asked gently, offering a soft smile. Quinn was lurking behind his brother, absolutely dreading what was coming next. Silas peered over his shoulder, shot Quinn a look to which Quinn rolled his eyes. The vampire pushed past his brother and stood there in the kitchen, arms crossed over his chest and looking like a haughty four year old.

"Quinn." Silas pressed and really his patience was monumental.

The man in question fidgeted a little and ducked his head. " Sorry." He mumbled, tone low and broody. Quinn gave a start when Silas kicked him in the calf lightly and glowered daggers at his brother. There was a short staring match before Quinn turned his eyes to Gabri.

" Look, kid, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you freak out, okay? I'm an asshole. I know. So, yeah, sorry. I'll try not to do it again." Well, the apology did make him feel a little better. He looked at Silas who gave an approving smile.

Quinn then looked at Taxi and tried not to get miffed over the fact of how close the German was to Gabri. Getting jealous and angry all over again probably wouldn't help things.

[iamfuckingripnowpostmypost]

No, there was no crying this time, but there were prayers- they just hadn't left his lips. The 'hail mary' was replaying over and over in his brain like a broken record, though his head-voice spoke it in polish, like everything else. Hailmaryhailmaryhailmaryhailmary f-f-f-full of g-g-
Noise around him faded, only able to hear that faint but comforting voice.

The whispers that surrounding him, the deep transe he was quickly falling into, snapped away once Taxi ran over his list of will-this-make-you-better. Blinking, he looked down at his friend for a moment, face blank, but then he smiled his usual uncertain but warm smile and shook his head. Maybe most people would be embarissed by being talked to like this, but since they were alone and since it was Taxi, it was siller to be ashamed. "I'm alright... really. Some other time you can play me something, ok?" Then something very odd happened.

Quinn and Silias came back and... apologized?

Uh, what?

Gabri looked doubtful- no, shocked. He believed in 40 foot centipeads, rats with ears in their backs, 4 earred cats with moss growing on their fur, the devilous crows... but Quinn apologizing?! That could happen? Maybe he hadn't been giving meat-head enough credit. Gabri felt bad for getting Quinn in apparent trouble with his big brother, but it was still nice. When Gabri spoke, he spoke quietly.

"it's not your fault. I'm," crazy. "..Thank you. I'll try not to annoy you anymore." Then his eyes wandered to Silias, and his face was a painful mixture of confusion and regret. "I'm sorry I scared you."

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

Taxi decided that he liked Silas. Right then and here, his opinion was formed. If someone (other than him) could inspire Quinn to apologize, that was an amazing feat and they obviously had something in common. That, and he had never had an older sibling and the dorky-nice-guy brotherly quality Silas radiated wa more than comforting.

The vampire was so incredibly pleased with Quinns apology that he had to express it in a hug, leaping on the other man and wrapping his arms around his neck. What flew from his rapid-speaking mouth wasn't anything his lover would understand, but unknown to him, his sibling would, and there was a slight chance Gabri would understand SOME of it.

"Aww huggy bear! You're such a sweetie, saying sorry to poor little mouse, ohh but you're so mean and big and strong! So sexy too, my huggy bear, going to say thankyou for you being so nice to little mouse later, yes I am, I am going to-" And from there on he spoke of things that could have inspired the devil himself to blush. It was almost possible to mistake the lewd things the blonde spoke of with the innocent and cute way he was nuzzling into the crook of Quinn's neck.

He was just too happy with how things were turning out. Gabri was crazy, that couldn't be helped. Silas was a werewolf, ok, couldn't stop that. And Quinn was a bit of a dickhead. But this was part of the attraction. So everything was okay in his world, and everyone was getting along just fine.

Life was good. Or.. Death.

[Obelisk]

"Don't worry about it, Gabri. I did ask you to get rid of the cat." Silas offered a sheepish smile and rolled his shoulders in a shrug. He'd have to get used to odd antics from everyone if he was going to survive within their motley crew of...strangeness. Two vampires, one flamboyant and happy, the other mean and an asshole, a sweet-natured serial killer, and a white version of Bill Cosby who happened to also be a werewolf. Weird didn't seem to cover it.

"Yeah, well, it was my bad." There he was admitting guilt again, maybe it wasn't so hard. Quinn didn't expect Taxi's attack and his eyes widened comically. Through the blonde's spiel of words -- none that he could understand, Quinn could only give a grin. Whatever it was, Taxi sure seemed to be happy. Maybe that meant some action later on, a reward for his efforts? Maybe he should try to be nice more often. That broad, roguish grin faltered and Quinn shot a glare at Silas, who was apparently trying his best not to laugh?

"What?" Quinn asked, face scrunching in annoyance. What the hell was so funny? Silas looked like he was about to break apart from the humor of it, whatever it was. The older Belmont was covering his mouth with his hand, snickers sputtering out, snorting every now and then.

"What the hell is so funny?" The younger brother demanded, arms circling around Taxi, holding the blonde loosely. If his brother still had issues with his choice in gender then he could shove it, because Quinn wasn't going to take any shit. Before he could get more annoyed, Silas managed to talk, keeping the need to laugh at bay.

"Oh, nothing. I just. It's cute. You and him." Silas didn't want to say what Taxi had said. He didn't want to mortify his brother. " Huggy Bear." Or maybe he did. It was surprising how devious Silas could look and the smirk he wore bordered on criminal.

"What the fuck...?" Quinn's voice trailed off and he dropped his green, green gaze to Taxi. " Huggy Bear...?" He was staring at his lover in disbelif. "Really?"

And at that, Silas broke out into a full laugh, the warm sound filling the small space of the kitchen.

[Rip]

The guilt and the panic lost their edge, and Gabri slumped more in his chair. At least no one was angry with him though- not anymore anyway. And at least the birds were gone. .. and Quinn's raptor head. Yeah, that had been pretty odd.

"I don't like cats." he noted, crossing his arms loosely over his stomach. He turned his head and watched Taxi assult meat-head, trying to pick out what small amount of german he knew. It was incredibly rude to ease drop, but since they were in the same room and since the blonde nightmare was... not... whispering, it had to be alright. Lets see. Mausi- he reconized that. 'You're so mean'? And sexy? Gabri blinked. Mean = sexy? Taxi was weird. Then there was that word he used for Quinn. Gabri heard it once before, when he was younger and working in his father's shop. A german couple that insisted on calling each other the sappiest pet names that scary, angry language would allow. He didn't know the meaning to this one though, and it was driving him crazy.

Oh look, Silias knows what it means, what luck.

Huggybear? A grin slipped onto his face, looking up at them. If it was anyone other then Gabrjel (Gabri, Mausi, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU, Gabe), the expression would have been smug. However, the pole just looked lightly amused.

From meat-head to stuffed animal: de-evolution? Deflation of masculinity? Then a thought occured, and he looked over at Silias, one eye brow raised. "Why do you know that?" Not how. Why.

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

Although Taxi was a bumblebee, he did a pretty damned good impression of a puffer fish. Cheeks puffed up and brows furrowed, shooting Silas an look that would have made flies drop dead. Or fall to the ground giggling. Arms tightened around Quinn and legs joined, latching onto him like some demented monkey.

Maybe he didn't like the older Belmont so much after all. "If you knew German, why didn't you say so?" Huff. Puff. Huff. Puff. Sneaky. Sneaky doggy. Taxi was going to have to switch languages now that Silas could tattle on him, like a big mean tattle tale. Had probably been hoping to keep it quiet, know what Taxi was saying and never tell anyone. Pah. Bah! But what to switch to?

"Szczeniak jest œrednia arytmetyczna." A sad little frown was thrown at Gabri. Except, in order to do this, he had to roll his head back to look directly behind himself. That was dealt with, and now to deal with his poor emasculated lover. The blonde released his death grip and smoothed over the other vampires shoulders with his hands, showing just how big and broad they were.

"Neeiinn you're mean and strong, really, you had Gabri pissing himself! Isn't that right, Gabri? A grizzly bear, a fuzzy bear, a big scary huggy bear," Quinn's beard was nuzzled with his nose to show just how 'fuzzy' he was. Fuzzy wuzzy. "Rrrrr roaarrr snarrrl rooaarr growwlllllllll rrr RRR!" and the rest degenerated into mimicry of animal noises, making clawing motions with his hands for added effect.

((Translation: Puppy is mean. : ( ))

[Obelisk]

Quinn was glowering something fierce, looking so disgruntled and woeful about his not-manly nickname that it only fueled Silas' laughter. Quinn wasn't even mad, really, just trying to come to terms with it. It wasn't like he could tell Taxi "no, don't call me that," it was impossible to deny the blonde of anything. He was so whipped and even Quinn was aware of it. Fine. Huggybear. At least he only ever said it in German so in most cases he'd be spared the embarrassment. That said... Quinn's eyes shot to Silas.

"Yeah, how the fuck you know German?" This was said as Taxi was showering him with sweet words trying to puff up his bruised ego. It worked, mostly because Taxi was goddamned adorable and his antics were amusing. He could only grin bemusedly and place a kiss against Taxi's forehead. "Thanks, babe." What more could he say? Eyes were back on Silas, everyone apparently waiting for an answer.

Silas straightened himself up, wiped the tears from his eyes and replaced his glasses. He sniffed and smiled, trying to stave off a grin. Enough of laughing at his brother's expense, at least for now. Hopefully there'd be many opportunities in the future, though.

"I was in college while Quinn was off fighting the good fight in Europe." Silas said, " I thought it would've been good of me to learn German before enlisting, so I could serve as a translator." Of course he was talking about the Second World War, but Gabri wasn't likely to believe that. No matter.

"You were going to enlist?" Quinn asked, genuinely surprised.

"Yeah, It didn't feel right with me safe in college and you over there." Silas said with a shrug. "Anyway, things clearly didn't work out after I was 'changed'. I was able to pick up my studies again, however." His expression turned mischievous, so strange on his dorkish appearance. Blue eyes were turned to Gabri. " It seems 'Huggy Bear' is a popular pet name." Then his expression turned sheepish and he blushed lightly, remembering. " I'll admit, I was once a 'huggy bear' myself." Which was part of the reason he'd found it so hilarious.

Quinn pursed his lips and quirked a brow. " You were boning a German chick?"

Silas looked taken aback. " I was dating a very lovely German woman for a while, yes."

Quinn grinned. "Looks like you and I have similar tastes, cept I like dicks and you don't."

"Could you get anymore cruder?" Silas was flustered now, frowning deeply.

"Sure can, want a demonstration?"

"No, no thank you. I'll pass." Silas returned, crossing his arms over his chest and standing awkwardly in the kitchen. "So, what now?" It was a valid question. They'd been running around with no real plan for months, it was starting to get to him.

"Dunno. Can't stay here forever. Maybe just tonight cause it's late. You got any ideas, Taxi?" Quinn questioned then shifted his eyes to Gabri. "What about you, Gabester, where do you wanna go?" They really were like one incredibly fucked up family.

[Rip]

Taxi was funny but the idea of Silias with a girlfriend was even funnier. Unfortinatly, it would be incredibly rude to voice that opinion (even if it was justified, the guy had ordered juice at a biker bar for godsake), so he kept his mouth shut and when he laughed, he made it look like he was laughing at Taxi.

The talk of war confused him though. He knew very little about Quinn, except that he was a vampire (lolyeahok),a mean jerk who threw things, and is gay with Taxi... who he apparently raped. Alright, so maybe he knew a tad more about Quinn then he thought, but Gabri didn't know anything about the army. And war. At first, Gabri thought they might mean the Iraq war, but why the hell would they need German translators for that? Weird.

He might have started to put two and two togeather if not for that Gabester comment, which produced a nice bright violet throughout his face. He pushed it back with a hard swallow. "Out of the country, if I can." That had been his original plan, before he was picked up and thrown in that nuthouse. Ugh. Out of habit, he started fiddling with the plastic hospital bracelet around his wrist. "I'm wanted for... two murders. oh wait, those people when we got chased. So... five, at least. Oh, the doctor-... seven? Also for escaping from prision, though that was technicly Taxi." Getting out of the Us would prove to be an interesting challenge, especially since he had hardly enough money to pay for pizza. "If I could pick it would be out of the country, anyway. Other wise just somewhere far from Las Vegas and Philadelphia." An odd thought struck him. "You could go to the moon if you wanted to, right? Since you're dead." Just like walking on the bottom of the ocean.

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

After recieving his kiss Taxi turned around to face the other two and grabbed one of Quinns arms, pulling it around himself. Szczeniak may be his brother, but Taxi his his lover, and there was a certain amount of possession in his body language at the moment, still disgruntled about having his secret revealed.

'The good fight'. Hard set programming in his brain automatically caused the vampire to twitch slightly, grip tightening on the others arm. It actually took him a good dozen or so seconds to put two and two together. Well, technically, it had taken him since the time Quinn called him that hurtful name and then when he had seen that photograph to put it together. That explained a lot. It explained the hostility towards his nationality, why he was a pilot, and.. Well it just seemed obvious now, and Taxi felt too.. whatever, to ask about it. So lost in his thoughts he had tuned out most of the explanation, looking down at the floor in contemplation.

The knowledge seemed to put him in a calm somber mood, chewing on his tongue and looking up with a hmm? when he heard his name. Attention quickly shifted to his friend.

"But I was just out of the country." He whined quietly, only very slightly pouting. The blonde didn't get much further before the human broke his brain. In half. It wasn't bad enough that because of Gabri he had been shot in the head, but now he had to confuse him. "Well.. We can't.. fly... through space... and.. isn't there that, that sun thing, and, and, then, isn't there, pressure in, space, and, but, the moon, has, dark side, and, and, and-"

You could practically see when his thought process fizzled out. Eyes squinted shut and he gave up, raising a hand to rub at his forehead as though he had a headache.

[Obelisk]

Quinn would only suspect that Taxi had figured out that he had served in WWII after seeing that photo of him as a pilot. He wouldn't think that the blonde had just put two and two together, and since it had never been an issue before, it wasn't an issue now. The past was the past, well, as far as "bad" memories were concerned. The happy ones he'd keep with him and -had- with him in the form of an older and very annoying brother.

Quinn had been doing pretty well running around without a plan or thought for the future. It was obvious to him now that playing it by ear wasn't going to work anymore, not with his lover, Gabri, and a werewolf to look after. They'd have to figure something out. Quinn would rather be gutted, impaled, and left out to roast in the sun than head to Mexico, though. Gabri was a fugitive; that only added to the urgency of getting the hell out. They were living on borrowed time, anyway, as Quinn was relatively certain that the landlord would be stopping by to demand rent within the week. With no answer he'd open the door and find his patron dead and ripe in the bathtub.

"That's kinda...uh, not gonna happen. We don't have a rocket ship anyway." Was Gabri actually serious? The moon? Quinn was starting to wonder just how convoluted the young man's mind truly was. "Nice thought, though." Might as well placate the man and try to be nice. At least until he got pissed off again.

Silas noticed the obvious lull in the conversation, Quinn drifting off into thought.
"Well, we need to figure something out, that's for sure. Maybe Canada? Mexico?"

Quinn shot his brother a look and shook his head.
"Hell no. I ain't going to Mexico. That place is a fucking shit hole of epic proportions. No way, nu-uh. Try again."

"I'm just trying to be helpful." Silas returned flatly, affording Quinn with a long-suffering look.

"Hell, maybe we should just spin a fucking globe and see what country our finger lands on. " The vampire rubbed at his face tiredly. He wasn't physically taxed, no, that was damned near impossible, but his mind was demanding rest. It just didn't want to cooperate. " Fuck. We can figure this out later. But for sure by tomorrow night we need to get out of here. That dead guy is starting to smell something fierce." Sometimes it didn't pay to have super senses.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired as it is. It's been an eventful night, for sure. We'll figure something out, Quinn, don't worry." Silas offered with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, yeah. Shutup and get some sleep. You, too, Gabri. " Quinn's tone left no room for discussion. Well, it did, but he'd likely get miffed if you tried.

Even as Quinn spoke he was trying to ignore a tight feeling in his gut. Maybe they should head out tonight. They were taking a chance by staying put, especially with god knew how many people after them. If they left it'd be risking the sunrise and that would be bad. Silas wasn't showing it but Quinn knew his brother was dead-tired as well. No, they'd have to stay, no matter how much he didn't like the idea. He was careful to keep his anxiety underwraps.

[Rip]

The late Mr. Smelly was currently renting a two bedroom apartment for reasons unknown. Gabri might have found this suspicious if he was in the mental state to be so precise. Unfortunately, he was awfully tired and the couch looked more inviting then rummaging through the personal affairs of a stinky corpse in the bathtub. Why did dead people have an obsession with bathrooms anyway? As if Mr. Clay back in Vegas weren't enough... and he wasn't rotting. Regardless if whatever company Smelly was/had been keeping, the Pole couldn't concern himself with it. The couch was too comfortable.

Even if anyone else had insisted the living room he would have denied them, because he was the last guest and thus got the last of everything. Not that he wouldn't have done the same thing even if it was HIS apartment, but he needed a reason to give if anyone asked. He was happy enough though, and had assumed he would escape getting fucking stripped (he hoped to god anyway, because waking up with a heart attack was really NOT the best way to start a morning). Gabri was laying neatly under a single blanket, facing the back of the couch, unmoving.

The first noise came around three, four AM. Nothing but a scratchy rap-rap on the floor. Over time it grew louder, loud enough to disturb the wannabe reaper's sleep, and when he woke and looked over his shoulder with groggy eyes, he saw a fat, black cat with a patch of white on its chest perched on the arm of the couch. Through his blurry vision, Gabri thought the cat must be missing his head, but after rubbing both eyes with a fist he discovered that it most defiantly had a head- it was just pressed against its back. The neck had been snapped somehow, somehow he thought he should remember but couldn't, and the head just rollllleedd between the shoulders as the cat maneuvered it to the front. The bright yellow eyes were sunken' in and rimmed with white pus, and jutting from the base of the neck was the collar bone, yellowish white and with a jagged edge along the break. Gabri made no movements, stiffening and waiting for an opportunity to either run or smack it away, but the cat opened its mouth and gave a yowwlllllll that quickly formulated into a coarse voice that was for some reason familiar.

" 'Sup?"

Gabri blinked once, then again, and finally a third time to find the cat replaced by a chubby teenage boy. His head too lolled due to a broken neck, and it was propped up by the right shoulder. The eyes were blue instead of yellow, but still sunken in and pussy, and instead of fur he wore cheep jeans with multiple tears and novelty T-shirt (stained with blood, gravel and grime). The collar bone sticking out ruined the punch line. The boys hair, which might have actually been naturally read, was missing in parts, especially around the gaping wound on the left side of the skull that exposed grey brain just above the ear. The boy was grinning, the remains of catlike mannerisms.

"Sup, Gabe? You thought my head came off, but it didn't. See?" He demonstrated that his head was attached, letting it fall against his back before rolling his shoulders in a way to retrieve it. Gabri said nothing for a while, until there was an odd noise at the front door and a green light that flashed under the crack. It sounded like knocking, but whoever was knocking was using the their finger nails.

"Pi, you are dead."

"Do you hear that noise, Gabe?" The split lips grinned, gushing blood down the chin.

"Pi, you are dead."

"Those are tommy knockers, Gabe. Tommy knockers knocking at your door."

"Pi-"

"The tommy knockers got me, now they're going to get you too."

"No-"

"THETOMMYKNOCKERSTHETOMMYKNOCKERSKNOCKINGAT YOUR DOOR! THEY GOT ME ANDNOWTHEY'LL GET. YOU. TOO!"

"STOP IT PI!"

"THETOMMYKNOCKERSTHETOMMYKNOCKERSTHETOMMYKNOCKERSTHEYGOTMEANDNOWTHEYWIL-"

Gabri snapped awake, giving a stifling gasp, numbly aware that there might actually be noises outside the door.