Snippet #2373628

Gabriel muttered a quick apology when he noticed he hadn’t greeted Gale. He blamed it on the headache, it was quite difficult to stay focused when he felt as if a steamroller had just driven over hishead. When she turned towards her screen, he walked back to his chair. The nausea seemed to be returning. He dug through his pockets and got some painkillers out, which he promptly swallowed. Then he opened his suitcase and got some notes out, briefly going over them. He should have done so yesterday, but after his third glass he had given up on it. One of them was a background check on his neighbour. Unfortunately, the man was a model citizen. A model citizen with a terrible taste in music as far as Gabriel was concerned, but that was not punishable. Not officially at least.

When Igniatius entered, he made sure to greet him, not wanting to make the same mistake twice.
“Morning,” Gabriel muttered with a wry smile as he put the notes back in his suitcase and clapped it shut. The painkillers were slowly starting to work, too bad they had a terrible aftertaste. He once more searched his pockets, this time coming up with a mint package, “anyone want some?” he asked as he quickly put one in his mouth, “they’re not bad. I got them from my neighbour after I threatened to smash his music system. He said it should help me relax,” Gabriel paused as it dawned on him. He quickly spat the mint out and started cussing.
“For the love of.. I hope these are just mints and nothing else. Is my neighbour a drug user?” he asked himself as he quickly got the notes out once more and went over them, now slightly more focused. After flipping through the pages, he mouthed a final curse. He put the notes away and tossed the mints package in a nearby bin.
“As far as we know, he’s no drug user. I suppose the mints should be fine, but, I’m not taking any chances,” he grunted, vowing to have some words with his neighbour this evening. If something had been wrong with those mints, there would be hell to pay.

As Atlas arrived, Gabriel waited for him to stop flirting with Gale before welcoming him as well. The man was simply unbelievable, no doubt headquarters would one day receive a complaint about sexual harassment or something along those lines. Regardless, he was good at his job. As long as he didn't start hitting on anyone Gabriel himself fancied, he didn't mind too much.
“Hey there, I’m sure your clothes put up quite the fight. If I were a piece of clothing I wouldn’t like to be worn by you either,” he joked. He was quite glad he wasn't the one being late for once. After Gale's gesture, he walked up to the table and sat down, folding his hands together and focused on the map. There was work to be done. A shade passed across his face when he saw the docks. He hated the smell surrounding those and absolutely detested seagulls. The beasts were loud, obnoxious and seemed to love using him as target practice. The wretched beasts had already ruined a coat, a suit and two pair of jeans.

As the briefing progressed, his mood improved slightly. He did his best to memorize the faces, hoping they would put up a good fight. While he hated them, tat the very least those Gaia fools posed a challenge most of the time. He resisted the urge to make a derogatory comment at the expense of Beta Team. Naturally Beta needed help, and, as was their habit, they had come running to Gabriel and his colleagues.

When Gale had finished, he raised a hand. The headache and nausea had mostly faded. When he had their attention he cleared his throat:
“Yeah, I’ve got two questions. One, what sort of animals are we protecting here? I’m allergic to rabbits you see, so if one of those things are in there, I’d like to steer clear from them. It would be quite embarrassing if I betrayed our ambush by sneezing at a bad time,” he paused for a second, remembering the nature of the Ark, “Then again, I suppose genes shouldn't be too problematic. They usually don't have fur. It seems I'm still not completely awake," a small flush crept across his face.
"Everyone, please disregard that first question and if possible, forget I've ever asked it. Second question, “he continued with an apologetic smile on his face, “are the Dwyers going in alone or can we expect them to have help? I know ecoterrorists are bold rather than smart, but going in with just two and a hostage, that is very risky,” he concluded as he leaned back in his chair, doing his best to keep the anticipation out of his voice.