2026-03-15 19:44 - X PST
Gabriela got home after a long day and turned on the TV to the Hallmark channel. Sam was out, back later. She wouldn’t return home that night.
Then, there was a knock at the door. Just outside was Marouth, and a woman Gabriela would later learn was named Irene. She quickly pulled them both in, asked what was happening and when Irene said she was just here to drop Marouth off, she let her go. Then, without looking at Marouth, Gabriela began to obsessively check every corner of the apartment. Checking for unseen spies, suspicious cars across the street, turning up the TV so the neighbors can’t hear.
Gabriela takes a second or two to finish checking anyways. Then, she walks to the TV, picking up the remote and turning up the volume. She doesn’t want anyone listening through the walls. She’s not honestly sure if anyone else lives in this apartment building, but she takes the precautions anyways. On the TV is a Hallmark movie. It’s the breakup at the end of the second act.
“You can’t be here,” She repeats. Through none of her anxious rituals has she even looked in Marouth’s direction. She walks back to the closet to put the broom back. She looks at the wooden stakes piled neatly in the corner. She doesn’t turn back around.
“Why not?”
She checks her phone. Any new messages? She checks a few times anyways, closing and reopening it each time. She sees her recent history at the top. Sam. Roy. Zora. Mordecai. She fixates on the last two. “You know why.”
Marouth explained that she had nowhere else to go. That the Sheriff had tried to kill her, and she was only saved by Irene. Gabriela couldn’t bring herself to speak anything other than “I can’t.” Marouth called her a coward, and struck the wall beside her, walking to leave. Then, Gabriela finally turned to face her.
They couldn’t do this. They were enemies, and Gabriela had sworn to drive a stake through Marouth’s chest1.
“We can leave this place, together?” Marouth suggests, with halfhearted resolve.
“Marouth,” She speaks her name slowly, as though trying to hold onto the air as it leaves her. “I’m sorry.”
“Why?” She deflates almost immediately.
She was responsible to others now. Gabriela suggested hiding. It was a terrible idea. It wouldn’t work. The Tremere could track either of them down at will, as Irene had to find Gabriela, and Calimastia had to track down Marouth2. And besides, if they were staying, Marouth would see her plans to fruition.
“Marouth, be reasonable.” She reaches steps forward and grabs her hands. “We can’t both… If we’re going to do this we can’t work against each other.”
“Then we need to work together.” Marouth stares intensely at Gabriela.
She looks into her eyes and isn’t sure what to say. She’s afraid of what that might mean. She’s already stretched thin as is. It’s unreasonable. It’s a terrible idea. It doesn’t make sense. It’s putting herself and everyone she knows and cares about at risk.
“Okay.”
She nods and repeats, “Okay.”
“Are you really willing to do this, with me?”
She promised Zora. Her blood screams at her to think. “Yeah.” There’s a relief in her words. “Whatever it takes.”
It would start with the Giovanni gala.
“Stop the Camarilla, stop Calimastia if she’s there.”
Gabriela would do her best. But they still had time before then.
After a few moments, she nods.
“Okay.”
Her breathing slowly starts to normalize. Then, she laughs. Not the sort of laugh when a friend tells a joke, but the kind that bubbles up in the wake of catharsis. Like a ripple in a still pool.
That moment of tension release spurs laughter from Marouth.
Gabriela pulls back so that she can properly look at Marouth again. Once the laughter subsides, she smiles and places a hand on her cheek.
“I missed you.” She doesn’t say what she really wants to.
“I missed you, too.”
“You said the park is full of warlocks?” She doesn’t wait for an answer. “Do you… have someplace to stay?”
“I do.” Marouth looks to the door. “I should get going.”
“Oh.” There’s a disappointment in her voice. “I should… probably not know where it is. If Z- if the Banu Haqim ask me where you are I would have to…”
“Tell them I’m right behind them.” Marouth breaks away from Gabriela, though continues to look at her.
Gabriela thinks for a moment. She remembers when she left for the first time, and old regrets bubble up to the surface. She takes a step forward. She thinks about how to phrase it. She’s thought a lot about it before, but she’s never figured it out. Then, she asserts herself.
“Marouth. Stay with me.”
Then, after a second she adds, “Please. Just for the night.”
Marouth pauses. “Are you sure?”
She nods, assured. “Yes.”
Marouth hesitates, until her mortality dawns on her. She almost died, and would have died without closure with Gabriela. She resolves herself to stay. “I will.”
As Gabriela steps toward Marouth, the camera pans away, drifting toward the television. During their conversation, the cheesy Hallmark movie had progressed from the breakup at the end of the second act, to the reunion toward the end of the third. A woman from the city, and a simple country boy meet crying in the rain after a heartbreak apart. Promising to each other that despite their differences, despite everything, they loved each other. A promise they’d do anything to keep, sealed with a kiss. This movie is likely unrelated to the rest of the scene, and should not be read into.
Additional Notes from Sand
gabriela's co-opting via yuri fanfiction is complete. she will join the sabbat conspiracy starting at the day of the gala. shipping continues to be a disease.
Rebuttal from the Notetaker
>yuri
>shipping
it's literally not yuri they're just good friends the hallmark movie was unrelated i don't know what you're talking about