Dumb Ways To Die - - - [Gabriel]

tagged: kun shui wei. time: may 8, 2012 - 12:00PM. speech: gabriel. notes: this is really shitty post, i'm sorry.

He wasn't very sure how he had managed to land himself where he was now. The suit he was in was more than just a little stifling, but what he was here to do would make donning the darn thing worth it. It had began with a lecture in one of his classes, one about religions around the world, and archangels had been mentioned. Archangels, like he and Michael had been named after, and that had upset him terribly. (And he had been doing so well too, in concerns to not thinking about it as much as he could of up until that point.) Apparently, his sad expression was enough to merit concern, the professor had called him up after class, and (as creepy as it was) said that his upset expression looked like someone she had known before. One thing led to another, and eventually referred him to one certain Mr. Kun Shui Wei.

Upon entering the building, he stated his business to the scretary managing the front desk, and he was then directed to the floor that the man he was supposedly having a meeting with had his office. Supposedly. Gabriel felt like he was treading on thin ice or something -- this was the first time he had found himself in such a... formal sort of business setting. And he wasn't even here for any actual business, he just wanted some information. That was all. This was already nerve-wracking as it was, and the security he encountered did nothing to ease that sense that his stomach was going to drop at any given moment. To say that it was the most extensive security check he had ever had to go through was an understatement. But after that, he found himself outside the door to Kun Shui's -- should he be calling him Mr. Wei instead? -- office. Okay. Okay, he could do this. He could. For Michael.

Gabriel took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. What was he supposed to say? Unable to decide what to call the man who was supposedly on the other side of the door, Gabriel said instead, "Sir, I am here for the appointment at noon." Polite. Be as polite as possible. Be respectful. Be courteous, Be tactful. Be... on perfect behavior, basically. Now would be a good time to pray -- if he still believed.

tagged: kun shui wei. time: may 8, 2012 - 12:00PM. speech: gabriel. notes: please pm me if there are problems.

He had heard a voice tell him to go into the room. A very detached sort of voice that only served to unnerve him further -- no. He had to do this. He had to. His only clue about Michael up until now had been that letter. This could very well be where he got his second one, he just had to make sure he played his cards right. Hopefully, he could. Gabriel gave himself a slight slap to his face to steel himself before he let himself into the office -- and promptly wanted to just turn right around and quickly leave, because good God, he had not seen a more intimidating man in many ages.

Immaculate was the first word that came to mind after intimidating. Intimidating and immaculate -- someone who might as well have been imperial in some way or form. Great. Just great. To be very fair, Gabriel didn't even know where to start. The plan had been to walk in, civilly introduce himself, get the answers he wanted -- no, needed -- in the most polite way possible, thank the man for his time, and leave. That didn't seem to be very likely, what with how... unimpressed this man looked? Not that Gabriel was trying to make any sort of impression, but he was hoping beyond all hope that maybe, just maybe, he would be moderately friendly at least. That did not look like it would be the case right now, no matter how he looked at it.

But he had something he was here for. It didn't matter if this man was the least friendly person ever on the face of the planet. With that thought in mind, Gabriel steeled himself and walked over to take a seat in front of the man he knew for a fact had to be the Kun Shui that his professor had referred him to. "Thank you for taking the time out for this, sir," Gabriel said, as calmly as he could despite the fact that he was visibly tense. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm Gabriel Kingston. I... I will keep this as brief as possible as to keep inconvenience to a minimum, but... I have a few questions that Professor Jacqueline Li has referred me to you for." He was felt like he was going to be sick with anxiety right now, but that was not an option at the given moment. Gabriel was really, really trying his hardest to stay at least half-calm.

tagged: kun shui wei. time: may 8, 2012 - 12:00PM. speech: gabriel. notes: please pm me if there are problems.

Okay, good, so he did have the right man. He hadn't actually gotten lost and ended up in the wrong building. (Not that there was any way he could have -- it was a very, very obvious building.) The man did indeed know his professor, and he was offering to answer his questions -- even if he still looked as unimpressed and stoic as ever. Still, now that he had the go-ahead, all that was left to do was to go forward. Alright then. He could do this. He could do this and he would do this.

Gabriel took a deep breath, and then asked, "... This will sound very odd, but... do you know a Michael Kingston?" He could feel his voice shake just a bit. Just a little bit, but it was still obvious. Because it had been so long since he had said his twin brother's name. It was the first time in a long time that he was even able to actively search for his brother, and... if he could get even just the smallest hint here, that would be a start. And from there... who knew? Maybe he could find something that would lead him to Michael -- or lead Michael back to him. It had been years, so many years. Or at least, it felt like it had been a very, very long time.

tagged: kun shui wei. time: may 8, 2012 - 12:00PM. speech: gabriel. notes: please pm me if there are problems.

"He is my brother," Gabriel replied, looking up for just a moment. A brother. If only he had remembered that. Or rather, regarded that fact. Maybe then this wouldn't be happening right now. Maybe that way, things would still be as there were since he was eighteen. Maybe things would still be alright and he wouldn't be sitting here right now in his office digging for information as to where the other was. Maybe he could give information if he gave more specific information though. "Twin brother, specifically."

It felt so cold and clinical to just... give out information so factually. This entire situation was anything but cold and clinical. "Professor Li said that you might have met him before, hence why I was directed to ask you." Maybe his professor was wrong. Maybe Kun Shui didn't know where Michael was. Gabriel wasn't even counting on Kun Shui knowing where, just if he had met him before. If he did, then Gabriel had his questions lined up. And if all things panned out well, this would either lead him straight to Michael or to his next source of information. It was a good thing that he was going to stay in America over the summer this year -- the last thing he had heard about Michael was that he was in Los Angeles. But the question was... was he still in Los Angeles?

tagged: kun shui wei. time: may 8, 2012 - 12:00PM. speech: gabriel. notes: please pm me if there are problems.

Gabriel felt his heart drop when Kun Shui said that he didn't know anyone with Michael's name. A false lead then. Was knowing the fact that Michael had been in Los Angeles at least once when he was there too as much as he was ever going to know? Was this it then? Was that second chance he thought he had just going to slip out through his fingers like grains of sand just like that? Gabriel had been just a few seconds away from standing up and thanking Kun Shui for his time when the other spoke again, and it would seem that just as quickly as he had become downtrodden, he seemed nervously determined all over again.

The fact that Kun Shui seemed to at least be very, very, very slightly willing to help him out was encouraging, actually. He would take what he could get. "Anything that can tell me where he is, really," Gabriel answered, seeming like he was gathering his bearing just a bit better than he was earlier. "I know that he had to of have been in Los Angeles at some point recently. I've received a letter from him in that time, but I don't know if he would still be in Los Angeles anymore at this time. It has been... a little while since I've received the letter." A pause, and then Gabriel added, "I actually... brought the letter with me today. In case it might be of any help." A last minute thought, but still one nonetheless.

tagged: kun shui wei. time: may 8, 2012 - 12:00PM. speech: gabriel. notes: please pm me if there are problems.

Truth be told, Gabriel was very wary about handing over the letter. Aside from the ring around his left ring finger that was shaped like a feather, the letter was his only reminder that Michael had ever existed in his life, that his twin brother wasn't just some figment of his imagination. (Now how bad would that be, if he was?) The letter, however, was the only recent reminder that Gabriel had of Michael, his only proof that the other was still alive out there somewhere and not dead in a ditch. However, if all the other man wanted was a photocopy... that he could do. Even if he still didn't like the idea of the letter being in someone else's hands.

"Yes, give me just a moment," Gabriel said, and reached into his jacket to retrieve the envelope that contained the note. The envelope itself had clearly been opened in a hurry, but the actual letter would be in nearly the same condition that it arrived in -- Gabriel had made very sure to preserve the letter as best he could. Because the letter had been handwritten, and in an odd way, he took comfort in having a sample of Michael's handwriting to look at. He could pretend he was there sometimes. Almost. "If it is possible for you to ask them, I would be very grateful, sir," Gabriel said, pushing the letter across the desk over to Kun Shui. "I'm willing to take all the help I can get, to be honest. This is... a very important matter to me."

tagged: kun shui wei. time: may 8, 2012 - 12:00PM. speech: gabriel. notes: please pm me if there are problems.

"Unfortunately, no," Gabriel replied in concerns to the signature, shaking his head a bit. Was a signature important? If it was then... why? Why would it be important? Maybe... he signed something? Was that it? Gabriel didn't know, but he did have to wonder. But then again... he knew practically nothing about Michael right now. That, unto itself, was terribly, terribly horrifying and devastating revelation. Gabriel swallowed thickly at the lump that had formed in his throat. That... was just so upsetting, the thought that his twin had practically become a stranger to him already. Nonetheless, a very, very important stranger.

He watched Kun Shui place the letter in the photocopy machine, at least until the other looked back at him, his expression still one that Gabriel could not read even if he tried. But hours. Hours. Kun Shui knew someone who could possibly find people in hours? Gabriel took in a deep breath, trying to keep his heart from beating as hard as it was at the moment. "Would you be able to contact him any time soon, if that is not too much trouble for you?" Gabriel asked, looking up almost a little too quickly, and maybe just a little too hopeful. "I'll try to tell you what I do know about him, if that will help. It's just... none of it would be very recent at all. I haven't been able to contact him for a while by now." The letter hadn't had a return address.

tagged: kun shui wei. time: may 8, 2012 - 12:00PM. speech: gabriel. notes: please pm me if there are problems.

It was pretty urgent, now that he knew that finding Michael was something that was within the realm of possibility. He didn't know how or what Kun Shui's contact for this would do in order to work that sort of magic -- it would certainly seem like magic to him if he did manage to find him. It didn't even need to be a few hours, it could be a month and Gabriel would still think it was some sort of miracle.

The mention of a price, however, did make Gabriel stop and think. A price, one that Kun Shui specified would be steep. How steep was fairly steep? His mind jumped to money right away, and he immediately started calculating how much of his scholarship he could take out to use for this, what he could cut back on to make it all work out. But judging from the way the building he was currently sitting in's appearance alone, he was pretty sure that his version of fairly steep was significantly lower than Kun Shui's would be. After all, Gabriel was from a middle class family, so he tended to think of prices in terms of that specific bracket of people.

After a brief stint of contemplative silence, Gabriel asked just a little hesitantly, "... May I have an example of what a price might look like?" It hadn't even occurred to Gabriel yet what price actually meant; he still believed they were talking about a monetary price here.

tagged: kun shui wei. time: may 8, 2012 - 12:00PM. speech: gabriel. notes: please pm me if there are problems.

Oh. Oh. So money wasn't what the price was going to consist of. But if not money, then what could it be? Gabriel wasn't... sure, to be fair. He had to wrack his brain for more options that wouldn't involve money. It didn't occur to Gabriel to think of the... less than savory options, because it never occurred to him that Kun Shui might be involved in such things. No, to Gabriel, Kun Shui was just a businessman. A very wealthy, very stoic, very intimidating businessman, but an honest one. Oh, if only he knew how wrong he was.

"... If it's not money, then what would the price consist of?" the blonde-haired man finally ventured to ask. Part of him had a sneaking suspicion that he didn't want to know, but a larger part of him definitely wanted to know. Because if he could afford it, he would probably end up paying it. Some people would think he was crazy to go out this far on a limb for an estranged twin brother. He might have been. But to Gabriel, all of it still made sense in his head.