caveofsapphires | Walking where we want to

Entry tags:

Walking where we want to

WHO: Izaya |

knifedances and...anyone else who's not so good at sticking to the rules/want to apprehend him?
WHAT: Snooping after curfew
WHERE: Around the Cave
WHEN: Sunday night, 15/04, around midnight
WARNINGS: Nothing much, but will update if that changes

Boredom and inertia were two things that had never sat well with him, and both of these words could be used to describe the state he was currently occupying. The busy work they had him doing at the library until he could 'resume' his position in the City was monotonous at best - though at least it provided him with ample opportunity to look up details on the history and folklore of this world, something it seemed prudent to accustom himself with if he was going to be staying here for a while...and that was certainly how it looked right now - and evenings spent entertaining himself with little more than reading were never going to sustain him for long.

Besides, he was never one to abide by the rules that society attempted to place on him, he'd spent his life living only by the precise specifications he'd devised for himself, and even if he was now being told the life he remembered was nothing more than a dream-induced fiction - something he wasn't prepared to buy into for a moment, though also something he intended to keep to himself for as long as there was risk involved with anything otherwise - he still had every intention of abiding by that internal set of values. He wasn't one to take unnecessary risks, sure, and he was well aware of the fact that he was likely to be caught out, but the guy had said he'd be let off with little more than a 'warning', and the risk - minimal as it was - seemed worth it when faced with yet another mind-numbingly dull night spent cooped up inside.

He wanted information, to engage in the human observation he enjoyed so much - and yet which was so limited right now, with so very few people around to observe - and maybe his nocturnal explorations would be brought to a halt within minutes of stepping outside, but at least it would have provided him with some minor form of distraction. It was better than nothing, at least. Besides, remaining unseen when he needed to was just one of his particular skills.

It was already late by the time he stepped outside, the strange stillness of the Cave which he so disliked seeming to have intensified with the late hour and enforced curfew. His movements were smooth and fluid as he stuck to the shadows, pleased with the small thrill of anticipation that even this small transgression was able to bring him.

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Poland didn't mind rules if they were rules that were good for everybody. This just seemed a lot more like rules made for prisoners and that was enough to make Poland want to rebel. If he had to go to bed at a certain time then he definitely was not going to do that. Simple as that.

He wasn't interested in information or anything. He just wanted the freedom in knowing he had made his own decision. Though he was wondering if there was any special reason why he had to go to bed when they wanted him to. That was totally sneaky sounding.

Sticking closer to the walls, he sneaked around, though paused when he thought he heard someone else. He stopped walking and went quiet, trying to figure out if he was alone or not.

He wasn't alone, of course. Izaya couldn't say he was surprised to find that someone other than himself had grown tired of the curfew being enforced on them; one didn't need to be an information broker or social deviant to want to subvert rules that held such infantalising connotations. Besides, he couldn't be the only one who was feeling a little curious.

He did nothing to reveal himself for the moment, however. He wasn't out here to engage in polite conversation, after all, and instead contented himself with leaning back into the shadows at the mouth of the alleyway he currently occupied, his sharp eyes narrowing slightly as he observed the other man.

Now that Gabriel knew exactly what sort of punishments the Workers meted out, he was more careful than ever. Oh, he still pretended to be as slapdash as he was, but he took greater care in where he talked about his 'dream' and there was a faint edge of wariness for those observant enough to notice it.

On this night, his interest was in the tunnel leading up out of the Cave. It was guarded; he hadn't bothered to try and get through it yet, though he had wandered past and made remarks at security.

At this particular moment he was perched in the shadow of a building not-quite opposite, where the darkness was deepest. The crags in the cavern were Dad-sent; they broke up the shadows, so that the lumps and shape of a person were even more formless provided he kept still. Which he did--mostly. He had a bowl of icing with him, and whenever he knew the guards were looking away he would calmly eat another spoonful (with a non-reflective spoon, thank you very much).

He wasn't planning anything. He was just sitting there, watching, considering, and noting anything that happened at all--let alone oddities. Of course, that meant he wasn't paying quite as much attention to the alleys nearby as he should have been ... especially as it was easy to forget, now he had adjusted somewhat and was no longer quite so aware, of how human he really was.

Unlike Izaya, for whom the human endeavor was one he had always lived, and was particularly well adjusted to. He'd always been something of an expert when it came to remaining silent and unnoticed, a skill that was innate to him and somewhat essential when it came to partaking in his preferred 'hobbies', something he was already itching to get back to given the boredom he'd experienced since waking to find himself here. His excessive curiosity may have extended to encompass the strange situation they were currently experiencing, but the shine on the excitement he'd felt once the initial shock had (rather quickly) worn off had soon lost it's lustre after days of monotonous work and relative inactivity.

Not that snooping around an almost deserted environment was proving to be of any particular interest, but it was better than sitting around indoors and attempting to entertain himself with endless pacing and reading, at least. He's well aware that this area of the Cave is well-guarded of course, and unlike some of the other guests he's not certain he really wants to sneak out of here, not without a comprehensive - and trustworthy - knowledge of what was out there waiting for them. Still, it wouldn't hurt to have a better idea of the guard's habits, whether they ever slipped up, whether there was ever a window of time when the tunnel was left unguarded.

Or just the opportunity to spot a potential escapee, perhaps. He'd noticed the guy with the bowl of...something, was now watching him from the shadows of one of those alleys he'd failed to account for. Izaya has seen him around - it wasn't exactly challenging to keep an eye on the people he was here with, when there were currently so few of them - and for the moment he was hanging back, waiting to discover whether he intended to do anything interesting or whether he was - like him - just there to watch.

He wasn't keen on the idea of making himself known, but he was just bored enough that he'd consider approaching the other guy once he'd determined he wasn't going to provide him with some much needed entertainment without a prompt.

It was the gaze on him that did it. Usually, Gabriel was the one who made people paranoid by watching them. It wasn't a particularly nice sensation to feel it being done to him. But, eventually, he felt that prickle up his spine and shuddered without meaning to.

Then he very carefully looked around to try and see just who it was who was giving him the feeling, irritated and curious in equal amounts.

Even from this distance he picked up on the shudder, lips curving wide in an amused smile as he watched the other man attempt to pin-point his location. It occurred to him briefly to simply slip away, to leave the guy wondering whether there really had been someone there or whether it was nothing more than his imagination, but ultimately his boredom wouldn't allow it. Despite the enforced curfew, disappointingly little was actually going on out here at night, and he needed to entertain himself somehow.

He waited until he was certain the guards' attention was directed elsewhere before slipping out from the shadows just long enough to ensure his fellow 'Sleeper' would catch sight of him, before stepping back into his hidden position again to wait for a reaction.

It was definitely not his imagination. Gabriel didn’t do ‘just his imagination’. There was always a cause, even if he, irritatingly, couldn’t see what it was at first glance. (Made even more irritating because he ought to have been able to.)

His slow scan of the buildings caught the movement and his eyes snapped to the location, even after the man had vanished again. Gabriel didn’t try to squint for him, or otherwise indicate how well (or badly) he could see the other man; instead he just rolled his eyes. A phantom watcher? So boring. Gabriel could’ve done so much better, if he’d wanted to. He lifted his hand and waggled his fingers in a mocking, ‘I see you there’ fashion, wearing a smile to match.

A little boring perhaps, but at this stage in the game Izaya intended to do little more than continue with his 'human observations' (and as far as he knew, this guy was human, after all); he was an occasional instigator and catalyst of unpleasant events, certainly, but above all else he was an observer, someone who watched from the outside. He'd recently awoken to find himself in a strange new world with a strange new identity; any of the games he preferred to play, any of his 'hobbies' beyond watching other people, they'd all have to wait until he had gathered enough information to know exactly what he was playing with.

And so he just watched as the guy he was observing gave him a mocking little wave, lips still curled in a smile as he leaned against the closest wall and folded his arms over his chest. He intended to make no further move for the moment, preferring to see what this guy would do now, whether he'd simply ignore him and continue with whatever he was doing - planning an escape, perhaps? - or whether he'd go for option b, whatever that happened to entail.

Well, that was even more boring. Gabriel sighed emphatically, threw his arms up a little, and then raised his bowl to show there was something inside. And then he beckoned. Come on, join him already. Hard to talk when you're all the way over there, and he had food! (It was sweet food, even better.)

Well, if you insist. He's always had something of a paranoid streak, one that had grown steadily sharper and keener following certain events that had recently occurred within his 'dream' life, and so there was a slight pause before he decided he may as well head on over; he was something of an expert in the art of escapology and besides, he was more than a little bored and curious. He'd half-hoped the guy he was currently observing might get it into his head to try sneaking past the guards and out into whatever lay beyond the mouth of the Cave, though as reckless and foolish as that plan would be he supposed there could still be time for it even if he did take up that silent offer. He personally disliked sweet food, but as things stood he remained unaware of what was being offered, and it was conversation more than sustenance that he craved right now, besides.

He waited until the guards were once again pre-occupied before slipping from the shadows of the alley's mouth, moving soundlessly across the short expanse between them before coming to a stop beside his fellow Sleeper, lips curled into a perfectly friendly smile.

Gabriel didn't let on, but he found it difficult to track the man through the darkness, and concealed any faint surprise at the other Sleeper appearing next to him. Instead he lifted his eyebrows deprecatingly and offered the bowl.

"Icing?" he asked innocently, speaking in a low voice which didn't carry. "I'd offer you popcorn, but that's kind of hard to get."

Izaya responded with a raised brow of his own, lips still curled into the hint of an amused smile. When he spoke, his voice was equally low and quiet, with an ease that suggested he was well-accustomed to communicating in such hushed tones.

"You're eating a bowl of icing?" and he shook his head, "I'm not overly find of sweet things, as it happens, but I appreciate the offer nonetheless."

"Sure, why not? It's a change from the cardboard they're feeding us otherwise." Gabriel shrugged and grinned, pulling the bowl back to his chest, scooping out a bit more and shoving the spoon in his mouth. "More for me. So, what d'you think of our friends over there?" He nodded toward the exit and its guards.

"Each to their own, I suppose," and he returned the other man's shrug with a fluid one of his own, settling back into the shadows in order to better observe the guards his companion had just indicated towards.

"I suppose that depends on how you mean it. As in, what I think of them as people, or how competent I think they'd be if it came to preventing someone from leaving, should they decide to risk it.

Gabriel considered that for a long moment, making absent smacking sounds as he ate--too quiet for the guards to hear, but enough to (potentially) annoy his new companion. It was half a test, half just because he could. "All of the above," he decided.

Loud enough for him to hear, certainly, but Izaya was not the kind of person to become so easily irritated, not over something so slight as a noise. He took little notice, choosing only to answer the question, instead.

"I've only spoken directly to one of them, and he seemed a little hostile towards us so-called Sleepers, though eager enough to converse with me. As for their competence...I doubt they'd have been chosen for the job if they weren't capable, and the one I spoke with certainly seemed keen to put his katana to good use should anyone decide to make a transgression," he shrugged, then turned a little towards the other man, lips curled in a smile, "I suppose the only way to find out for sure would be for someone to test them."

Tough customer, hm? Good. Gabriel needed some tougher customers. His brothers were just so damned easy to annoy sometimes. And that Anselmo guy? Pfft.

"Good idea," Gabriel said brightly, and jabbed his fork at the other man. "I'll bet we can find some poor schmuck among the Sleepers to con into trying to walk out." Brit-man ... probably not. Maybe that alien guy from the show with the wormholes; he seemed naive enough to throw to the wolves.

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Walking where we want to

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