Gabriel, I'm not angry. Stop making that face like I'm about to come yell at you, because I'm not.
[ They've texted enough for Greg to have a pretty good sense of what Gabriel's mood is like just through that. He's expressive, even in text, and anyway, Greg knows that he has a strong tendency toward beating himself up over mistakes. For far longer than he needs to and over some things he shouldn't feel guilty about at all, in Greg's opinion, at least as far as he's seen. In this case, Greg was upset, and honestly he's regretting letting that get through at all.
He shouldn't have responded at all until he'd had a chance to think about it, until he was away from the constant stress of work. True, it had been far less than any sort of angry outburst, but it obviously got to him, and Gabriel is too good at picking up on that. All of this over something that he's sure Gabriel would have felt far too guilty about all on his own. He really didn't need any help.
It was stupid to let it get to him at all. Gabriel flirts on the Hellnet all the time, he always has, but when he compares that to knowing Gabriel personally, it's obvious that he doesn't mean it. Not that Greg is taking the time to read through every single word that's posted, unlike a certain consulting detective that lives upstairs. Why had this been different? Probably because it was just too much all at once, in addition to the annoyance of having his own face on the thing, he thinks. Jealousy's not a good colour on you, Detective Inspector. He's got no right to be jealous, anyway.
By the time he's walking up the street in Little Eden, finally out of the ever-oppressive heat, he's gotten through most of a pack of cigarettes, and feeling slightly less flustered about the whole thing. Anything like true frustration or jealousy has long since been burned out, not least of all due to his confrontation with that demon earlier. Having to deal with actual anger, of the violent sort, tends to put his own emotions in perspective.
Princess spots him the moment he's walking by the shrubs that line the front garden, and is all too happy to race him to the gate. She wins that contest every time, of course, and her happy bouncing and pacing makes him smile every time, regardless of his mood. He edges carefully through the gate, as usual, making sure that she doesn't end up on the wrong side of it. Stepping on her isn't as much of a problem, but he does also tend to move slowly around her so she has plenty of time to get out of the way before tiny paws can get caught underfoot. ]
I found something for you today, powderpuff.
[ Now that the gate is closed, he crouches down to pet her, ruffling her fur momentarily before he starts digging into a jacket pocket. The thing he pulls out is dark grey and black, and fairly fuzzy. It immediately has the puppy's full attention, of course, because she knows what it is. It's a toy. In particular, it's a rather so-ugly-it's-cute-looking stuffed mouse that was made to withstand one of hell's felines, but it's soft, light, and just a little bit smaller than she is. And it's nearly indestructible. She has plenty of toys already, of course, but... well, Greg saw it and thought she would like it. ]
You can chew on this instead of my socks, right? Go show your Papa.
[ She's more than happy to take it from him and give it a good shake or two before getting it properly positioned in her mouth so that she can trot proudly with it along the walkway. Obviously she didn't really need any encouragement to go show Gabriel her new toy.
Greg will straighten and take another drag from his cigarette as he follows. ]
no subject
[ They've texted enough for Greg to have a pretty good sense of what Gabriel's mood is like just through that. He's expressive, even in text, and anyway, Greg knows that he has a strong tendency toward beating himself up over mistakes. For far longer than he needs to and over some things he shouldn't feel guilty about at all, in Greg's opinion, at least as far as he's seen. In this case, Greg was upset, and honestly he's regretting letting that get through at all.
He shouldn't have responded at all until he'd had a chance to think about it, until he was away from the constant stress of work. True, it had been far less than any sort of angry outburst, but it obviously got to him, and Gabriel is too good at picking up on that. All of this over something that he's sure Gabriel would have felt far too guilty about all on his own. He really didn't need any help.
It was stupid to let it get to him at all. Gabriel flirts on the Hellnet all the time, he always has, but when he compares that to knowing Gabriel personally, it's obvious that he doesn't mean it. Not that Greg is taking the time to read through every single word that's posted, unlike a certain consulting detective that lives upstairs. Why had this been different? Probably because it was just too much all at once, in addition to the annoyance of having his own face on the thing, he thinks.
Jealousy's not a good colour on you, Detective Inspector.He's got no right to be jealous, anyway.By the time he's walking up the street in Little Eden, finally out of the ever-oppressive heat, he's gotten through most of a pack of cigarettes, and feeling slightly less flustered about the whole thing. Anything like true frustration or jealousy has long since been burned out, not least of all due to his confrontation with that demon earlier. Having to deal with actual anger, of the violent sort, tends to put his own emotions in perspective.
Princess spots him the moment he's walking by the shrubs that line the front garden, and is all too happy to race him to the gate. She wins that contest every time, of course, and her happy bouncing and pacing makes him smile every time, regardless of his mood. He edges carefully through the gate, as usual, making sure that she doesn't end up on the wrong side of it. Stepping on her isn't as much of a problem, but he does also tend to move slowly around her so she has plenty of time to get out of the way before tiny paws can get caught underfoot. ]
I found something for you today, powderpuff.
[ Now that the gate is closed, he crouches down to pet her, ruffling her fur momentarily before he starts digging into a jacket pocket. The thing he pulls out is dark grey and black, and fairly fuzzy. It immediately has the puppy's full attention, of course, because she knows what it is. It's a toy. In particular, it's a rather so-ugly-it's-cute-looking stuffed mouse that was made to withstand one of hell's felines, but it's soft, light, and just a little bit smaller than she is. And it's nearly indestructible. She has plenty of toys already, of course, but... well, Greg saw it and thought she would like it. ]
You can chew on this instead of my socks, right? Go show your Papa.
[ She's more than happy to take it from him and give it a good shake or two before getting it properly positioned in her mouth so that she can trot proudly with it along the walkway. Obviously she didn't really need any encouragement to go show Gabriel her new toy.
Greg will straighten and take another drag from his cigarette as he follows. ]