Give me a reason to end this discussion

[dontforgetpie]

WHO: Dean Winchester and Gabriel "Sylar" Gray [closed]
WHERE: A local bar in Heropa
WHEN: The evening of November 23rd
WHAT: Gabriel asks Dean to meet him to drinks. Profit?
WARNINGS: Standard Dean warnings. Language, etc. Will update as needed.


It only takes Dean about ten minutes to get to the bar he'd mentioned to Gabriel. He'd been in the area and the 30 minute timeframe was more of an arbitrary thing than anything else. Dean takes a seat at the bar, angling himself towards the door so he'll know when the other man gets here.

He's suspicious of the invite, even if they had managed to run into each other a few times before now. And it's not like Dean doesn't have an ulterior motive in agreeing to meet up with Gabriel, but he's still not given to trusting strangers and he has no freaking clue if the man has any abilities other than the one he'd advertised. Dangerous abilities. Because it wasn't like Dean walked around advertising that he could talk to animals, but that ability was harmless enough on it's own and he'd done his level best to not publicly advertise his flammability.

Dean presses his mouth into a line as he waits, checking the time once on his phone before waving the bartender over and ordering himself a beer and some loaded cheeseburger sliders that caught his eye. He glances over at the door a few times while he waits for the beer, gives a nod and a smirk to the cute waitress as she walks by him, making sure to keep his imPort tattoo hidden. There are certain kinds of attention that he's definitely not interested in being on the receiving end of. Especially when he's waiting for someone and can't exactly just get up and walk out.

Comments

[gabriel_gray]

Gabriel takes his time; he has half an hour so he takes it, doesn't want to seem rushed, because that might convey some idea of ulterior motives, and when he arrives it's in a fresh new suit - the benefit of having spent a little while in the city - and none the less looking remarkably casual, hands in his pockets, shouldered rolled back, taking in the place almost idly as he steps through the door.

He doesn't scheme, or plan his way out, that's not really his thing. He thinks on his feet, and it's kept him alive so far, at home.

But planning ahead takes control, and it's difficult. Brushing up with Dean to make friends is just one of the ways he intends to get closer to people. Fire is a wonderful power, it would be aggressively offensive, and it's exactly the kind of thing he's going to need if he's going to evade capture around here. If he's going to be up to it the next time he has to protect himself from Peter.

He makes his way across to the bar, having spotted Dean, and slips into the chair beside him.

"Keep you waiting long?"

[dontforgetpie]

Gabriel happens to catch Dean mid-drink and he glances over before swallowing and lowering the glass back to the bar as he hastily wipes traces of foam off his upper lip. "Just got here."

It's a lie, but it rolls off Dean's tongue as if it were the truth. No hint of deception. And it was a little lie, as things went - the sort people told each other every day so that nobody felt guilty over something trivial like somebody having to wait more than two minutes for them. He shrugs, offers a smile that doesn't quite cancel out the wariness in his eyes, and signals the bartender to bring another drink.

"Hope you like beer."

Dean waits a beat before sighing and ruffling his hair with a hand. "So what do you want?" It's not exactly the most tactful opening, but in Dean's line of work people didn't usually ask you to grab a drink with them unless they wanted something from you or they were good enough friends that they might as well be family. Gabriel didn't fit into the latter category, and it left Dean a little suspicious. Could the guy seriously have been in Heropa for more than a month and not have any better options for drinking partners than Dean?

"Just saying. We're not exactly friends and I kind of have a hard time believing there aren't other people here that you know better. I mean. Hey. If you're offering help or whatever, fine. But let's cut the bull."

[gabriel_gray]

Gabriel's smile doesn't entirely waver, even as he nods at the proposal of a beer. It's not exactly his favorite thing to drink, since he doesn't usually drink with other people - or socialize much at all, really - but he brings himself up to the bar regardless and settles onto the barstool beside Dean, casting him a reciprocating glance.

"That's quite an accusation."

It must have taken a lot of courage to come out with it, too, but Gabriel is well aware he puts across a vibe, and when the first thing you ever say to someone is that you killed someone with their power--well, it sets a certain kind of mood for the relationship to come.

The beer is still taking its time coming, so he turns away from the bar completely to address Dean's concerns. Better to tackle them head on, really.

"I wasn't exactly a social butterfly even at home. That's why I moved into the research field; the quiet, the time alone. I'm not very good at making friends, as I'm sure I made very obvious last time we met."

[dontforgetpie]

That's quite an accusation.

But Dean doesn't back down. He has to know what he's dealing with here, in this man. There's a pretty good possiblity, after almost a month of searching, that Sam is gone and that leaves him here alone. If Gabriel is willing to be an ally for the time being, that would be valuable, but he doesn't trust that there aren't any sort of underlying motives. But then, that was sort of human nature.

"Yeah." The corners of Dean's mouth turn up slightly in a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Guess people aren't a huge fan of making friends with a guy who goes around advertising homicidal tendencies. Funny how that works. So you're, what? Trying to change that and make a few friends?"

Dean turns to face Gabriel more fully, leaning his side against the bar. "Look. I'm not exactly the making friends type myself. And in my experience? People usually want something from you. So what do you want?"

Granted, he was guilty of that himself. Dean rarely made friends and generally only socialized when it suited his purposes. He knew that Sam was usually seen as the more approachable of the two of them, so why was this guy so interested in him. The only answer that Dean could think of had to do with his powers, but Gabriel wasn't exactly threatening to kill him, even if saying that he'd killed a pyrokinetic in the past had to be one of the most unsettling conversation starters.

[gabriel_gray]

Gabriel tilted his head, just watching him for a moment. Dean was especially paranoid, and he was happy to be confrontational about it. That didn't surprise him much. He seemed very secretive, and in many ways almost reminded Gabriel of himself. The first time they'd met, Dean had been practicing his abilities entirely alone in an empty car park after dark--not the action of someone who cared much for company. And he'd seemed genuinely shocked to be called up for a drink, even though Gabriel had it on good authority - due to his many years watching his peers in Brooklyn - that inviting each other out for a beer was just the way people worked.

It wasn't something Gabriel cared for, but then his motivations had never run that way.

He had to give Dean something - a good reason - because if he didn't all he'd earn was greater mistrust. He sighed, and turned abruptly away.

"Alright. Okay. It's just..." He shook his head slightly, and since his beer had arrived he took it into both of his hands, staring down into it. "Well you remember that story I told you, right? The pyrokinetic, and the adrenaline? How could you forget? But it's not like I go around killing people all the time--"

A good long pause now, make it seem like this was really hard to say.

"So maybe it got to me. I feel like if I can help you... Maybe I can make up for it; redeem myself somehow.

"Is that what you wanted to hear?"

[dontforgetpie]

There's a moment of silence and Dean narrows his eyes as he tries to figure out how much truth there is in what Gabriel is telling him. He didn't act like someone that couldn't be trusted, but that didn't necessarily mean shit. Either way, Dean was running out of options here and the offer that the other man was giving him wasn't something he could afford to turn down. The last time someone had said they'd help him with his powers they'd disappeared before they could. At least Gabriel seemed to be around. Not that it meant anything to the damn Porter either way.

"All the time?" Dean arches an eyebrow, but most of the suspicion is gone from his face. "So only sometimes then?"

Truthfully, it's not like he had a whole lot of room to judge. He hunted and killed supernatural things for a living and it's not like he knows all the circumstances around Gabriel's 'murder' of this woman. So he'd work with him for now, and keep a close eye out for any funny business.

"I wanted to hear the truth. So yeah. I guess that's a start. How can you help me? Can you... do you really know how to control it?"