[O] Relaxing with friends

Gabriel strode out along the beach, allowing himself to pick up a furious pace. His hair streamed down his back, stifling as the heat of the italian night weighed down on him. Irritated, he paused to sweep back his hair into a ponytail, before continuing to march. The new vampire had infuriated him. He snarled a little under his breath in annoyance. To act in such an uncivilised manner when friendship was offered was... at the very least, extremely bad breeding. He sat down and stared out to sea, feeling the adrenaline begin to wash away, his heart slowing as he calmed down. Sweat had begin to dampen his back. He sighed, peeling off his shirt, and lay down on the white sand, staring up at the night sky.

Orion had been stressed out lately, he had not been told anything that was going on within the mansion and was always kept in the dark... No pun intended, and it was quite frustrating. He also had the memory of his younger sisters death on his mind, the anniversary of her death had just passed but still he could not seem to stop thinking about it. That was why he was currently on the beach, to relax and try to push her from his mind, to not dwell on the past. And he had succeeded, if only for a little while. He had fallen asleep on the first large rock he had stepped on as he landed from his jump off the cliff.

But he awoke from his sleep at the sound of footsteps as they met his ears and the smell of anothers sweat hit his nose, the unknown vampire was walking along the beach. He concentrated as he pushed a small amount of soft wind towards and around the newcomer and a rough picture formed in his mind. Tall, long hair, flat chest, muscular... a male. A male that seemed to be a little irritated by the sound of his footsteps.

The soft wind continued until the other man started to calm down and he knew he was not going to attack him, at least not yet and finally let the wind dispart as the other man lay back on the soft sand.

Only here to relax, he should not be a problem.

But instead of laying back down, Orion twisted his body slightly and leaned upon a simular large rock on his right side not wanting to go back to sleep. There he sat and just listened to both the breathing of the man and the crashing of the wave it was....peaceful.

Gabriel felt a prickling on his neck at the presence of the other man. He froze for a second, one hand slipping secretively inside his coat, ready to grab his dagger if anyone attacked. But the attack never came, and so he relaxed. The tingling sensation of another being present was not unpleasant, though he was slightly disconcerted at not being able to see the other man. He lay back and stretched out on the beach, closing his eyes. He wet his lips.

"I know you are there, you realise." he kept his voice light and casual, trying not to betray any nervousness.

He blinked blankly as the voice of the other man traveled up to him on the rocks. He knew this man was a vampire from his scent so he concluded that the other vampire of course had either smelt or heard him move, and if not then it would not have taken long to notice his presence there.
Only hesitating for a second, he thought that maybe the man would want him to leave him be or would have taken no notice of him being there, he opened his mouth to answer in his watery Irish accent.

"...Aye, I know." He shifted his weight to stand. "I...uh... will go if ya want."

He sat up, and turned around, a little relieved to be able to see the other now. Deciding that the man was no threat, he lay back down, but on his front this time, rolling over so he could see the man behind him better. Just in case.

"No, no, it's fine. Please."

He nodded and sat back down slowly back into his previous spot, once again leaning against the large rock, though this time a little closer and more into the moonlight.
He sat there in silence listening to the crashing of the low tide waves for a few minutes, not knowing what to do or say as the man was looking at him, expecting something, he could feel it. He should say something.

But what should I say? Do I say anything? I should start of by knowing who he is.... why he is here? He sighed mentally .... I should really get out more.

He shifted nervously before opening his mouth and speaking to the other man lying down below him on the sand.

"Um.... I guessin' you're with the coven?"

He forced down a grin at the redhead's awkwardness, running his fingers through the fine white sand. It was kind of cute, he thought to himself. "Yes, I've just joined." he smiled at the other man. "I haven't seen you around here before though. Oh, forgive me. My name's Gabriel."

He paused for a second, before adding "deGaulle."

It was unlike him to be formal, but some people expected to know surnames as well.

"I see. It is nice to meet you Gabriel. My name's Orion Astila." He returned someone what automatically. Since he had been here he had introduced himself may times, more times than in the last 45 years, which said a lot about his social life.

He understood why he did not know him now. He must be in the Terra wing as he has not gained a new roommate since Jace. He did not get why the mansion was divided in such a way but he supposed it would be better than everyone living in the same wing, it would be too crowded.... and noisy.

With the introductions out of the way he 'looked' back towards the sea. He could not think of what else to say to the man he had just, as his sister would say, 'Officially just met' so instead he fell into silence. If the other man wanted to talk, then so be it, but he was not normally the one to start a conversation.

Gabriel stretched on the sand, flopping his head back down on his hands. The man did not seem terribly talkative, but he wasn't an unwelcome presence. The silence was slightly awkward, but he didn't mind. It was quite nice just being able to close his eyes for a bit.

"Pleasure to meet you, too, Orion." he lapsed into silence for a moment, almost drifting off to sleep for a moment before forcing his eyes open and smiling at the other man. "Have you lived here long?"

Orion though about it, counting the months in his head, which was not hard to do as he had not been here all that long.

"Hmm...About 5 months, give or take." He started slowly. "Seems like yesterday, time seems to creep away from you here." He did not know why we added the last bit on but, it was just something that he wanted the other to know. The truth is, he did like to talk, very much. He used to talk and talk and not stop for hours when he was human.... but things had changed since then.


Spend your time wisly here, time goes past so fast that I have been here for so long and yet I have not done much and have not met many people. I have been spending too much time alone.

He had not expected Orion to have arrived so recently. Most of the people that he had met were newcomers. He briefly wondered if the mansion had only been opened up recently.

"How long has Cacciatori di Sangue been accepting people in, then?"

"From what I gather the Elders and the Chosen Regents have known each other for many years, but the coven has only started letting people in....maybe 6 or 7 months? All I know is that I was one of the first to stay."

He frowned. That was the most he had spoken in at least a week. And for only a sentence or two... it was pretty sad.

Maybe I should go out my way more... make new...friends.

With that said, he rose from his large rock and slowly mad his way down towards the other man, keeping his head bowed in concentration as he used his wind to find his way.






(The group has only been open 6 months or so, so I am going with that )

Gabriel hummed. Only six or seven months? He was surprised. They seemed to be a fairly established community already.

He smiled up at the man as he started to walk down the rock. He considered asking the redhead if he wanted a hand, as he seemed to be blind... but he seemed to be getting on fine by himself, and he did not want to seem as though he was being condescending. He often found it a blow to his pride if people asked him if he needed help, and he didn't want to make the other man feel the same.

"Do you like it here, then?" he returned the question, half-wondering why Orion didn't seem to appear very often.

He walked slowly down towards the other man, down onto a large bolder he hopped and then to another before hopping once again down onto the sand in his path down below, landing in a low kneel.

"I guess it's okay... It's even started to feel somewhat like a home."

Straightening up he walked over to Gabriel and sat down not too far away, not directly in front of him, but to the side more.... diagonal. He sat somewhat tense and rigidly, not used to trying to make conversation with others, normally they came and talked to him. At least he was trying, right?

"Uh... I guess I haven't been around much 'cause I’m not... used to people?"

He realised that he did not really have much on an excuse. Sure he was more nervous around strangers because of him past but it was a very long time again and being around others that accept him was making him want to be around other a little more.

Gabriel considered this for a moment. His social skills weren't exactly brilliant either, having offended quite a few people on his first day, after having gone for so long without vampire contact. But he was amazed at how quickly they had managed to come back. Maybe Orion was just naturally more shy than him.

"You should come out more often." he smiled. "I'd like to see a bit more of you. And you'll only get used to people if you start to spend more time with them, right?"

He nodded slowly as he turned left ear to the sea, listening closely as the salted waves crashed against the soft sanded shore. He smiled gently.

"I guess...." He replied. Though his smiled disappeared as he whispered quietly to himself, "...Though I am not sure that I WANT to get used to people..."

He carried on listening to the crashes of the sea quietly. He may not go out very much but when he did he spend most of his time here, the waves fascinated him. He did not have the chance to see the ocean when he was human, and when he was a vampire... He could not see the waves or the ocean in general even if he did have the time to do so, hearing them the first time he came to the coven was an amazement to him and it was the best it was going to get. He had never even been in the sea

Gabriel cocked his head at the Irishman. "Surely you can't hate people that much?"

He could not understand how someone could not like people. The blond had never been fond of humans, sure, and sometimes he rubbed people up the wrong way, but he still found people fun. Fun to bully, fun to tease, fun to spend time with. They were all so different. You could never get bored.

Hate was a word that had more meaning in for him than it did to most others. He did not 'hate' people, that would imply that he wished them tied up and suffering at his hands while screaming apologies before being granted death only to be fed to wolves and ending up as....

He shook his head lightly at the mans words. No, he did not 'hate' people.... Not even Ignicio.

"No, I do not mean I hate all 'People'. Only certain People, which in return has made me not all that fond for others."

Gabriel grinned at him. "But people are so interesting! Even if you don't get on well, they're all different! They have such entertaining reactions! They are so much fun to watch."

He stretched out on the sand, staring up at the stars. "I went for sixty-three years without vampire contact. You have no idea how much I appreciate it after that long."

Orion chuckled softly, he guess he understood where the other was coming from, he did miss contact with others, that was one of the reasons he had entered the mansion in the first place.

"I guess they are quite interesting though I would not know about watching their reactions. I have been away from people since I was around 25, it has been a while so it has taken a while to even consider it." He explained, turning his head towards the sound of the others voice.

"Though not as long as you, you have been away nearly as long as I have had a life to live." He explained turning his head towards the sound of the others voice, his lips quriked into a small smile.