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[hollowly]

[he'd been thinking of home.

and what he means by that is that he'd been thinking of the house his mother had died in. there have been so many things on his mind as he and his brother go through the motions of preparing for what he's about to do – for them, he keeps telling himself – and he can't help that that is one of them. he can't help but to think of the mother he'd never known, when seeing her ghost had been the only real time he'd ever been able to lock in an image of her face.

funny, the things you think about when you think you're about to die.

when he'd found himself in the mansion, it had taken him a moment to realize the change in his surroundings. that dean wasn't rambling in the background about nothing at all while he cleaned his pistol, that bobby wasn't sitting quietly off in a corner watching them both like he so very often did – even castiel's presence is absent, and it has something very unsettling curling in the pit of his stomach.

sam swallows around the sudden dryness in his throat, it's too .. quiet. and though he doesn't feel like he's in any immediate danger, growing up with a hunter as a father has taught him to always be aware. always be on-guard. never let 'em get the upper hand, sammy, he'd always say.

there's something about thinking of how comforting it would be to have him here right now that has something else curling up in his stomach, something unpleasant and cold, and when he starts walking around the mansion, it's simply to take his mind off of the things that he can't change.

make the best of the situation, right? scope things out, figure out your options .. that's what he needs to do. and that's what he's going to do. he lifts his head, peering around the giant room he's in, breathing a soft sigh and marveling at how much such a small sound echoes all around him.]

Hello? Anybody .. anybody here?

Comments

[tricksterofthelord]

Wow, look what the wind pick'd up; Sam 'Messed-up' Winchester.

[Gabriel might appear happy and merry, but he's just over some serious Halloween-fest, he needs distraction and Sam, you're just in time. He's smirking around a lollipop as he slowly walks closer.]

How d'ya find your way here?

[hollowly]

[.. so this is about one of the last people he'd have expected to see.

because .. um. he's dead.

not that sam doesn't have plenty of experience dealing with the recently deceased suddenly not being deceased, but .. still.

have a blink, or two, and a slightly slack-jawed expression.] .. Gabriel?

[darkercalling]

[Riku doesn't usually come to the mansion - reminds him of somewhere he'd rather not think about. Still, here he is. Because he needs to find his friends after all of this... mess that everyone's been put through, and someone might have come here.

He wasn't expecting a stranger, though. ]

Yeah. I'm here. [Riku stops in the doorway, leans one shoulder against it.] Lost?

[Hopefully the blindfold and the long, black, hooded coat don't make him look too suspicious. ... ... Hah. Yeah right. He gave up on that a long time ago.]

[hollowly]

[he's pretty much expecting any and everything unfamiliar - but when that hooded figure shows up, he can't help but to be instantly on-guard.

because that's just .. odd, all right?

and yeah, a little bit suspicious. but .. he'll try not to be judgmental. that's dean's job, and as far as he knows, he isn't here.] I .. guess you could say that. Yeah.

.. Who're you?

[tricksterofthelord]

[Well that makes Gabriel stop for a second. He's overly curious how on Earth this stupid boy knows his name. The Winchesters still supposed to think he's a Trickster, going after him with stakes and toys and stuff... Different timelines, huh. Then this is problematic, he already has problems hiding his angel side anyway.]

That's not really an answer to my question, bro. [Smirk.] Ya mess'd up your research pretty bad, don't you think? Here, let me help [Points at the other.] Sammy Boo-hoo Winchester [Points back at himself.] the Trickster. Hmm? Rings a bell?

[hollowly]

[and here, sam is just going to lineface at him. because he knows exactly who this is, exactly what he's done - even if .. well, he's kind of helped them in his own way, despite how he decides to go about it - but there's still the matter of having seen him dead at the hands of lucifer himself.

.. he really doesn't want to remember that evening. he has enough problems.

he folds his arms over his chest, brows furrowing.] You haven't been just the Trickster for a while. Doesn't that whole ordeal with Baldur and Kali ring a bell? [hello, confused winchester here.]

[tricksterofthelord]

For a while? [What the Hell could have happened. They were never so smart when it came to 'monsters', so Gabriel's suspicious. But wait, wait wait wait, Kali? And Baldur?!]

Whoa, slow down... how d'ya know about them?

[Because screw Baldur, but if they hurt Kali... The thought makes him angrier, but more open to accept that Sam's familiar with his real background.]

Alright, fill me in bro, what happened? Share all the juicy details too.

[hollowly]

[and now he's looking at gabriel like he might have a couple of screws loose. because .. um. yeah? how can he not know about all that?

he hasn't quite figured out this whole different timelines thing yet. give him a moment.

he takes a second, scrubs a hand back through his hair and shoves his hands in his pockets. what else can he do but tell him what he wants to know, even if he thinks he should already know it?] You don't .. remember the hotel? What .. what happened with Lucifer?

[and there's a small twitch at the mention of that name, because for himself, he knows what it means - and what it means for gabriel, as well.

so forgive him if he seems to be a bit reticent to fill you in.]

[darkercalling]

[Well, he'd probably go without the coat if he could, but there's a particular blonde-haired kid around here in a similar coat that he needs to continue to troll dodge. So yeah. He's got his reasons.]

I'm Riku. [He steps away from the door frame and moves a pace or two forward.] You're new to the Plane, aren't you?

[lamb_of_gold]

There are many people here. You just need to look.

[Why is Mu in the mansion? NOBODY KNO--okay that's a lie he's avoiding someone. Sam doesn't need to know that though.]

[tricksterofthelord]

[Lucifer... the mention of the name indeed makes Gabriel lose all his humor. This starting to sound more and more dangerous and awful. Just right after the amnesia scare, Gabriel has to deal with another one. Brilliant. He pops the lollipop out of his mouth, stepping closer.]

He's... gone after them? But they didn't do anyth- Alright, look, obviously our clocks're ticking a bit differently here, see? Timelines? I'm sure you've seen all the tv shows about how those work, I'm all over them lately. [Yyyyep.]

So, you know all the spoilers I don't, and from what I already heard I don't want to wait 'till the finale. So pull yourself together and sing.

[He sounds frustrated, maybe because he is? Lately, a lot of people got hurt who are important for him after all. Not to mention he got a good lesson about his own father, it wasn't a good experience.]

[blackstarsenal]

[ Shyly, and still slightly shaken from the events of the past week, Tsubaki calls for the attention of the very tall man. ]

Yes-- and, well there are many others.

[bornofwisdom]

( not that she's the most extroverted person when meting new people in the first place, but she's especially more quiet with everything that had taken place over the past week. so it goes without saying that for some time, annabeth is ignoring the boy's presence while she examines things within the mansion for herself, being that she's still relatively new to this place herself.

when he calls for someone though, she raises her brows and turning her head, drinks in the form of the older boy. cautiously, because things have been strange lately, she moves to approach him )

Loads of people are here, maybe not right here — but, you know. ( she shrugged lightly )

[hollowly]

[everybody's got their reasons, whatever they end up being. lord knows sam has his own for certain things - things that he isn't entirely comfortable putting a voice to - so he's not going to be the one to point fingers, here.

again. dean's job.

but at least he has a name, and that's enough to go on for now. he can see about getting more information out of him later ..] Ah, yeah, actually .. how'd you guess?

[tiny, sheepish smile, get.]

[hollowly]

[well, if this isn't a side of gabriel that he .. doesn't think he's ever seen. even when he was serious about something, there was still that smirk of his - but with it gone, sam realizes that he's set something in motion.

way to go, kid. how in the world are you going to explain this? where are you even going to start?

he takes a deep breath, the corner of his mouth twisting into a half-scowl as he stares first at the floor, then at a point on the wall behind gabriel's head. he isn't the type to stall, but he really doesn't know where to start with this whole thing.

so .. here goes nothing.] I - [pause. and there's a frustrated little noise that catches in the back of his throat that has everything to do with not knowing what in the world to say here.] There was this .. meeting at a hotel. With all the ancient gods. Baldur, Kali, Odin .. and they all thought you were Loki, still. Like, the Loki, not .. just a loki. [he stops for a second, because it sounds like he's rambling, and he's about a breath away from doing it if he doesn't stop himself.

because this doesn't sound like anything he has any right to be telling him.] And then .. Lucifer showed up. And he .. wasn't exactly in the best mood.

[yeah. he's trying really hard to keep from telling you that he killed you.]

[hollowly]

[well what he doesn't know won't hurt him. even though he would be curious as to why this guy is avoiding someone.

none of his business.] Oh, well .. I guess I'd better start looking, huh?

[yep. this is .. this is sam winchester.]

[hollowly]

[sam looks at her for a moment, and his immediate instinct says that he needs to ask her if she needs any help.

though it doesn't appear that he's in any position to provide any.] .. How many?

[so we're going with an obscure question instead.]

[lamb_of_gold]

It will not be a challenging search, but this is not an often populated building, I'm afraid.

[hollowly]

[well .. you don't really have to be extroverted to find it easy to talk to him. he's the kind of guy that attracts conversation; he always has a friendly smile, and he doesn't feel the need to fill any silence with mindless chatter.

(unlike some people, bot those people aren't here and don't matter.)

he misses her completely until she actually opens her mouth to say something - and when he finally does see her, he quirks a brow, tilting his head faintly to the side.] Yeah, well .. I figured they wouldn't all be right here. [have a laugh, a nervous sort of thing, and a shrug.]

You've seen them, then? I'm not crazy and think I'm all alone in this giant, creepy mansion?

[bornofwisdom]

( she couldn't help but smile faintly at the nervous laugh and even the tilt of his head was mildly amusing. straightening herself up, annabeth set her palms to the small of her back and shrugged her shoulders to the stranger once more )

Not unless I'm some figment of your imagination, which I'm not. ( she gave a smile, tilting her head very slightly herself ) Except, I guess thats something a figment might say to make you think otherwise.

( with another careless shrug she disregarded what she had just said ) Anyway, I'm not pretend or imaginary and neither are the other people here. Actually there are loads of people around usually, maybe you just arrived here on an off day for them.

[darkercalling]

Well, first, I haven't seen you before. [And he's been here a while...] Then, you said you were something like lost. That's a pretty normal reaction to this place the first time.

[He crosses his arms.] I could help, if you want. You know, answer questions.

[This kid is so used to playing welcoming committee...]

[hollowly]

[have a little bit of eye-narrowing. because he wants he wants to be amused, but he also doesn't want to let his guard down.

but .. there are always questions to be answered, aren't there? okay, we'll go that route.] All right, you got me .. so, uh. [he looks around the mansion again.] I don't even know where to start.

[hollowly]

.. So you're saying I should go out there - [he's pointing to the front door of the mansion, toward the unknown.] I don't even know what's out there.

[uncomfortable? yeah.]

[lamb_of_gold]

Just empty space and jumbled stars. There's nothing to fear out there that will not affect you in here as well, so there's no reason to be afraid of it. [Not a lie!]

[hollowly]

[he can't help but to feel a little awkward, even given the circumstances - because how often do you find yourself in an empty mansion, in a place you've never been before, contemplating the existence of the person in front of you?

.. okay, well. given where he's come from, some of that doesn't sound so unfathomable. but .. he doesn't have to tell her that.] That's exactly what a figment of my imagination would say - but I'll have to take you at your word. [he tries for a smile again, and this time, it comes a little easier.] Since you're real, what's your name?