First Day

[Matrim Gallagher]

"No, I'll talk to him, thanks for the offer though. I would appreciate it though if you found him to let me know or something. After all these years I think it important that we see each other. Thank you for all of your help. If you know anything else that could possibly help that would be much appreciated. I just want to know what he's been up to or if that kid got even more fight happy."

"I wouldn't know about the fight happiness, but if I had to guess I'd say so. Everyone around here tends to get that way. At least, more so than before they came here," Matrim said, his arms crossed over the tabl, "People... they change here. Shit happens, and I don't know this guy, but I can guess how long it may have been since you have seen him since... well last time I saw him was awhile back."

I was a reaper so there has been some amount of time. Not a horrible amount but....

"How long has it been since then?" He asked, at least curious about the last time he saw Patrick, "And what was he like? I mean besides fight happy. What kind of person was he?"

Time to get nosy....

[Quan Tian Meng]

So he was probably more fight happy huh? Quan couldn't be too terribly surprised by that he guessed. Patrick had always been one to solve problems with his fists more often then not. He always seemed to have a way with words. Always knew just the right thing to say to piss a person off. Quan wouldn't be surprised if as he had gotten bigger that he would be more likely to fight then talk his way out of a situation. After all, a stronger person was generally better at fighting then others, though there were different kinds of strength, to be sure. Being fight happier didn't bother Quan too much.

"People... they change here. Shit happens, and I don't know this guy, but I can guess how long it may have been since you have seen him since... well last time I saw him was awhile back."

Quan really didn't like where this was going though. It sounded ominous if not bad. He had had his suspicions before that Matrim was hiding something. This certainly did not help. It was like the guy was trying to get Quan to brace himself. That he had news that Quan didn't want to know. Did and didn't. He had to know what had befallen his friend, though that didn't necessarily mean that he wanted to know. Saying people change, shit happens, it all sounded bad. And when things sounded bad the hopeful notes tended to not sound out as much. That was the case as Quan's mind raced through the possibilities, all of them negative.

"How long has it been since then? And what was he like? I mean besides fight happy. What kind of person was he?"

Damn, how long had it been? On the streets time passed unanswered a lot of the time, unknown. Time from one event to another mattered little to Quan. The important thing was that he was still waking up. His mind didn't go to how long he had made it really, only that it did. He had a general sense of time but still it was hazy.

"I dunno," Quan said thinking back, with some uncertainty he asked and stated, "Eight years maybe?"

"What kind of person?" Quan asked moving on, a grin slowly forming on his face, "Stupid. Well not stupid but not always the brightest ya know? He tried to do too much. He had a big heart, he was always accepting kids into our ragtag gang of sorts. Maybe too big for his own good. Well not a gang, he despised when I called it that. That was probably his biggest pet peeve, or maybe even character flaw, he hated gangs like no other. But anyway probably the helping and accepting almost any orphan into our group probably got us in trouble. Because you see, to the eyes of others we were a gang, on that was growing, one that was encroaching on the turfs of other, legitimate gangs. I dunno, I always wanted to tell Patrick we couldn't take anybody else but ya know? How do you tell someone that we can't take anymore kids? Yeah, maybe caring was a bit of a character flaw but he was that kind of person. He was very selfless."

[Matrim Gallagher]

"Yeah, maybe caring was a bit of a character flaw but he was that kind of person. He was very selfless." He said, and Matrim gave a rather sad smile. He didn't know if Patrick had changed, but he would have to investigate further to know the full story. He still didn't want to assume anything, but he would at least tell Quan something so that he would at least be prepared. Matrim couldn't let him go away with nothing, so he would tell him before leaving him to go on.

"I was in a gang known as Reapers," Matrim said, "Who's philosophy was do what you want, when you want. We attacked people for the fun of it. The one time I saw him was at a meeting for this gang. We weren't the good guys, we weren't good people," Matrim said, "I wasn't a good person then." He got up from his seat, "I'm not saying he isn't, he could have been there for his own reasons, threatened to join or even espionage, but just... be careful if you find him. People change...."

He would walk by the guy, his arm patting him on the shoulder, "If you need anything, anything at all, find me. I don't expect favors in return or loyalty or anything like that, just a thanks if I end up helping at all. Alright?" If there was nothing else from the kid he'd take his leave. He didn't mean to drop a bombshell like that, but he figured it was best he wasn't in ignorance about his friend, it may just be too much for him to accept now, but he had to at least hear it so that he wasn't completely blind sided when he saw Patrick.

[Quan Tian Meng]

As Quan gave his description of Patrick He noted Matrim's reaction. The sad smile elicited nothing short of an "Oh shit." It told him one thing, Matrim had information that wasn't exactly going to be pleasant. As much as he had told himself that he wanted to hear it no matter what it was under this it all crumbled. He wasn't so sure anymore. To hear something that was going to completely shatter your assumptions about your closest friend. That was some rough stuff. But He had decided that he wanted to know and so he would see this through to the end.

"Who's philosophy was do what you want, when you want. We attacked people for the fun of it. The one time I saw him was at a meeting for this gang. We weren't the good guys, we weren't good people,"

Quan wasn't sure he believed it. He wasn't sure he wanted to believe it. That gang was some serious stuff. The kind of gang that one could end up dead for being in. The kind of gang that Quan could not imagine Patrick being in. He couldn't imagine Patrick being in any gang though. It just didn't add up. Patrick hated gangs more then anything last time he checked. They orphaned him and left him with that scar. It just didn't add up that Patrick would ever associate himself with such a gang. Sure Matrim had said that he might of been there to dismantle it but he didn't see it that way. He only saw the worst in things to be safe.

Quan was rather impartial to the whole gang thing. He himself would not, or probably not join one again just to stay out of trouble. That wasn't to say that he didn't disapprove but he just didn't care. He wasn't quite a good or bad person either way. He didn't feel strongly one way or the other about things. What he did care about though was his friend and his soul. He knew that Patrick had hated gangs with a passion like he had never seen. He could not have ever seen him putting up with one long enough to slowly dismantle one. Quan couldn't help but wonder, what the hell happened?

What Matrim said, "People change....", loomed heavy in his mind.

"If you need anything, anything at all, find me. I don't expect favors in return or loyalty or anything like that, just a thanks if I end up helping at all. Alright?"

"Yeah, thanks," Quan said, lost in thought. He had to admit he was caught of guard. That was a surprise in of itself but still. What happened.

"What the hell happened Pat?"