[ That got his attention, didn't it? Gabe's grin widens and he settles back against the wall, falling into gossip mode, storytelling mode, however the label falls. There are places out there in the universe where you have to trade to survive, work with people, talk to people, can't just beat the shit out of a stranger and expect everything will work itself out. And he likes talking, in the end: likes it enough that sometimes he forgets the evil shit that other people pull. When it's just him and another person talking, telling stories, it almost feels like the old days with Missy and the others.

Almost. ]

We thought we were real badasses, [ Gabe says, a little wistfully. He misses Gilly. ] Gonna run away and live it up real good. Course, that was before we realized why nobody was looking for it: damn thing was slated for scrap. It barely ran. Definitely wasn't anything in the back.

[ He snorts. ]

But for about fifteen minutes, we thought we were rich. Teenagers do dumb shit, you know?