Chapter Text
Breathe, he reminded himself. In, out. Hold it together. Keep a lid on the madness. It was alright if the pain showed, so long as the inhumanity didn't; Gabriel was fine with his hands shaking a little if it meant being able to look normal for this. Looking normal was important for what he wanted to do. He wasn't Reaper, not then. He was just a man in his late 50's, out looking for gifts.
"All these years and you still can't figure out how to layer up for the cold," Jack had teased him on the way out, squinting through a woefully inadequate pair of glasses as he sifted through a closet full of his old Overwatch-era civvies left behind at the Watchpoint. Less than what he'd had at Zurich, still just enough to toss a long woolen overcoat at Gabriel. "There's gloves in the pockets. Don't stay out too long."
And as it turned out, the coat ended up being a good idea. The bone-deep aching and burning in his muscles weren't helped by the cold, and the longer he stayed out, the worse it'd get. Gabriel figured he had a few hours before he broke, reverting to a state somewhere between "zombie" and "amorphous blob". But a few hours was more than enough. He'd made sure to wait out the Christmas rush, coming in a couple of days late just to lessen the amount of stress such a trip would put on him. People would just have to suck it up and deal with getting New Years' gifts from him instead.
There was a tinkling sound above his head as the bells on the door heralded the newest customer; both the college-age girl and the omnic behind the counter looked up as he came in, straightening themselves out and pulling out the Customer Service Body Language the moment he set foot in the door. He offered a fleeting smile, certain that it had to look strained.
"Ladies," he greeted. Both ducked their heads respectfully. Probably just shocked to see anyone coming in at such a weird off-hour two days after Christmas.
(He and Jack had spent Christmas together instead, watching old TV shows and marathoning bad movies after having made off with an entire pie and a can of whipped cream from the Watchpoint mess hall. Best Christmas that Gabriel'd had in years.)
Pulling down his hood, Gabriel walked up to the counter, looking through the glass cases at the dazzling array of merchandise. Sombra had suggested stealing, but Gabriel wanted to do things right. Besides, she'd probably be watching his purchases anyway, the little shit that she was. She'd know that at least one of the gifts was for her the moment she saw it come up on his credit chit.
"Would you like some help finding something, sir?" the girl behind the counter asked, smiling politely. Her dark hair was tied back into a braid, and her English was faintly accented; received pronunciation, very proper.
Gabriel shrugged, still eyeing the display cases. "I have a general idea of what I want. There's three people I'm shopping for."
"Oh?" The omnic tilted her head; her tone was pleasant, conversational. "Well, if there's anything we don't seem to have, we can order it for you from a catalogue."
He nodded slowly. Looking over the selection, he pointed to the earrings on display. "Crystal or diamond?"
"Diamond, sir," the girl said. "Crystal's on the other side."
"Ahh." Gabriel shifted his focus accordingly. Sombra wouldn't approve of the lengths people went to when it came to mining diamonds. "Those little silver studs-- can I see them?"
The omnic chirped a quick yes, sir and went to open the display case and pull out the earrings in question. They were platinum, not silver, but without diamonds, the price was almost reasonable. She'd probably still scold him, but it would be less because he'd gotten her an expensive thing and more because he'd gotten her anything at all.
Acceptable.
"I'll take this," he said, setting the little box down on the glass countertop and tapping it. "Got any watches with leather bands in larger sizes?"
Both the omnic and the girl gave him equally incredulous looks. "Not-- not really, sir," the girl said.
"Catalogue?" Gabriel suggested. The omnic nodded quickly and ducked into the back, her co-worker having to sidestep quickly to avoid getting shoved or stepped on.
Meanwhile, the girl gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry," she said. "It's a specialty thing. Watches are really rare these days, and the leather bands are even rarer."
"The guy I'd be getting it for wears cowboy boots unironically," Gabriel told her, and she stifled a giggle.
"She's used to getting yelled at when we don't have things," the omnic chimed in on the way back, turning her head just enough to throw an admonishing look towards her co-worker; the girl pouted and shoved at her, and she gently shoved back with one hand as she set a number of thick, ragged catalogues out with a series of soft thumps. "Here. We'd have digital ones but the owner likes being 'authentic'."
Gabriel raised an eyebrow as he opened up one of the heavy tomes and began sifting through it. Page after page of ornate watches, some not functional at all and existing purely for the sake of aesthetic, some digital, some downright archaic. Real leather cost a hell of a lot more than fake leather did, and the mechanisms and methods of staying wound varied as much as the styles did.
After a few minutes of hunting, he found the right one; scratchproof, waterproof, pearl face, gold hands, gold plated clasp, gold plated casing, numbers instead of roman numerals, and mechanical. The band was real leather in a reddish tone, with black stitching for the accents.
Not something they had in stock, but that was fine. "Can I send him in to pick it up when it arrives, or do I have to come get it myself?"
"As long as he has the receipt, he can pick it up himself," the omnic assured him.
Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief, letting himself relax. Thank God; he didn't think he could do these outings all that often. His concentration was already fraying, and it'd only been an hour. Pain was pricking at the edges of his consciousness, eating away at him. He was falling apart faster than he'd thought he would. "Then put it on a seperate receipt so I can hand it to him when I see him. Lets him get the sizing right that way."
The girl spoke up. "And the third gift, sir?" Her voice had gone soft, like she was worried. Like she could see his exhaustion, even if she couldn't begin to know the cause.
He was sure she wouldn't be so concerned if she knew who or what the man behind the forged ID and credit chit was. "A ring," he said, leaning heavily against the glass display case.
Intrigued, the girl leaned forward with him, her chin resting on her hands. "What kind of ring?" she asked.
"Platinum. Maybe with some gold. His hair-- used to be blond, started going silver a few years back." Gabriel smiled to himself. "But he's a soldier, so nothing too flashy or impractical. He'd hate it if it stuck out too much or got in the way."
The girl nodded sagely. "Something understated."
"Yeah. Maybe some stones, something that isn't gaudy. Something in blue."
"Sapphires?" she suggested; her co-worker hurried off to one of the display cases, out of Gabriel's line of sight.
"Think softer. More like blue topaz or aquamarine." He'd seen a few examples online, but nothing compared to looking at something in person. A bit like fabric-shopping, which was yet another thing Sombra had teased him for when she'd found out about it.
The girl behind the counter hummed as her co-worker returned with a selection of rings, gleaming even when not accented by the display case's strategic lighting. Gabriel straightened as he regarded them, picking them up to look them over one by one. Prices, gold content, sizes, gem quality, practicality. Picky? Sure, but not without reason.
Eventually, he settled on a thick platinum band with a gold inlay, bezel-set with a round, subtly faceted blue topaz. There was a faint tremble in his fingers as he held it, and he hoped to whatever deities might exist that he wasn't exhaling puffs of black smoke because fuck if he wasn't having trouble keeping his composure.
He was really going to do this.
"Think he'll like it?" he asked, not looking up. His focus was on the ring, the metal cool against his burning skin. It'd look good on Jack's hand, bringing out all the cool undertones and emphasizing the squareish shapes and angles.
While none of this was known to the girl behind the counter, she smiled anyway. "I think he'll love it," she said. And somehow, even if she had no idea what Jack was like, just hearing someone else agree with his choice made him feel a bit better.