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heroslayerIt should be easy, sixteen-year-old Gabriel Gray thinks as he tries to sneak in the door, one afternoon after school. So easy. It's just a piece of paper, and if he can make it past his mother, she'll never need to know. He can just take it to his room and shred it to tiny pieces and stuff it in the space between his lumpy mattress and rickety box spring. Or maybe take it out back and set it on fire, while his mother sits on the couch and watches Her Stories in the stretch of minutes between twilight and dinner.
Or - Gabriel? Is that you? - his mother can catch him, amid his escape to his room. That's always a possibility, too.
He cringes, clutching that singular, simple piece of paper to his chest as he turns. "Yeah, mom. It's me." Not that she can't already tell that, since she's come out of the kitchen and moved halfway down the hallway to stare at him, as if waiting for something. She doesn't seem to have noticed the paper though, and he's surprised.
Virginia Gray - What's that you're holding? - notices everything.
"It's nothing," he promises her, closing his hand more tightly around the note. It's too late. She moves swiftly to close the distance between the two of them, and snatches the paper from his hands. She looks it over critically, frowning, and he's almost sure that she recognizes how bad it is. He's relieved, thinking for once she gets it, as she's raising her eyes to him, and her expression hasn't changed.
But - The school is doing Romeo and Juliet? And you're the Apothecary? This is wonderful! Gabriel, why were you trying to hide this? - she disappoints him as usual.
"Oh ... this is just the bane of my existence. That's all," he mumbles, and thankfully his mother misses it. It's the only relief he's had all day.
Muse: Gabriel Gray (Sylar)
Fandom: Heroes
Word Count: 325
Or - Gabriel? Is that you? - his mother can catch him, amid his escape to his room. That's always a possibility, too.
He cringes, clutching that singular, simple piece of paper to his chest as he turns. "Yeah, mom. It's me." Not that she can't already tell that, since she's come out of the kitchen and moved halfway down the hallway to stare at him, as if waiting for something. She doesn't seem to have noticed the paper though, and he's surprised.
Virginia Gray - What's that you're holding? - notices everything.
"It's nothing," he promises her, closing his hand more tightly around the note. It's too late. She moves swiftly to close the distance between the two of them, and snatches the paper from his hands. She looks it over critically, frowning, and he's almost sure that she recognizes how bad it is. He's relieved, thinking for once she gets it, as she's raising her eyes to him, and her expression hasn't changed.
But - The school is doing Romeo and Juliet? And you're the Apothecary? This is wonderful! Gabriel, why were you trying to hide this? - she disappoints him as usual.
"Oh ... this is just the bane of my existence. That's all," he mumbles, and thankfully his mother misses it. It's the only relief he's had all day.
Muse: Gabriel Gray (Sylar)
Fandom: Heroes
Word Count: 325
