maskormenace | video;

Entry tags:

video;

Hmm... [Says Jane. She's been trying to hold back on this, hoping someone else would do it, and yet...

She can't not do it, and maybe it can be beneficial.]

I'm sure that... there are a lot of people like myself - who haven't been here for terribly long - who perhaps don't understand the significance of what may be happening now. What we've been warned about. [Since the strange message, that is.]

Thanks to a very helpful young man, a while ago I came into the possession of some very detailed note-taking on the past of this place, and the porter, and... well. I'm sure I'll miss something here or there, but...

[She manages what looks like a nervous, slightly forced smile.]

I'd like to help. Atropos, the OTO, all of it... I might have barely known a thing without these notes, and I very much doubt I'm the only one. So. [Jane clasps her hands under her chin, the phone propped up against something.]

Does anyone have any questions... that perhaps I could help them find an answer to?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He stares at her hand before he walks and shakes his head.]

...Being an archangel comes with certain responsibilities and I - just sort of assumed.

It's a bit of a performance issue thing and after last month...

How has your last month been? That seems to be a more prudent thing to focus on.

[Normally he would be focused on the confusion of touch. That said, he's slept. Human norms are becoming...not easier but more...obvious.

He stares straight ahead.]

I could use the distraction.

Oh, it's... been. [He doesn't shrug her off despite the look, so she keeps her hand right where it is. There's a certain measure of safety in holding a gentleman's arm whilst walking through the city, especially in these troubled times.]

I wish I had more time to look into the things I truly want to achieve here, but we've lost one of the staff at the book store, so I've been picking up a few more hours to help the owner out.

[She pauses a moment in thought, then goes on.]

And I really ought to check in with Luther and Vanya after what happened at the party. Do you suppose it's been too long, now? Would it seem strange?

...I'm honestly not sure.

[Here's the thing. Being here there are more and more interactions he has where he feels...odd? Different? People ask him questions and he wants to think about it so he answers truthfully.

It's so weird and he looks uncomfortable for a moment.]

I don't know what human protocol is for events like that. Seems to me they'd be grateful as your friends.

[He shrugs mutely.]

...You work in a bookstore like Aziraphale.

[It's not a question. Just a curious sort of statement.] do you collect them like he does?

Hm, you're probably right.

[And she makes a mental note to get in touch, because it's been a while and absence like this only goes to breed awkwardness.

The topic changes and she glances up. Her expression visibly brightens at the mention of Aziraphale, but she shakes her head.]

Oh, no... I'm really only working at the shop until I find something else. The owner has been very kind to me, though. [She tilts her head slightly as she looks up at him, a curious smile moving over her face.]

Do you know Aziraphale very well?

[Does he know Aziraphale very well.

The question hangs in the air like fruit. The easiest answer is No, not particularly but while he lies he's never been very comfortable with it in person. Lies are easier spread by pulpit or microphone or book and he has never directly spread them, he's just done her will except-

has he? Has he truly done her will? Or has it been his own? How much were her lies and how much were ones he crafted to suit himself? He would argue none but...

He has tasted fire. He has tasted the same fire that Aziraphale avoided by being a freak of nature but he would not have wished that pain on anyone. There are some events in life that shock you out of yourself and make you aware of the world around you. Transforming events.

So he's gone stiff and his shoulders set and he looks more then a little sick for a moment before he says-]

Not well no.

[And he relaxes because - it's note entirely a lie and he would stand up and defend it. He did not know the angel well - as well as he should - as leader of the host he should have known his heart and his goals but Aziraphale had somehow become something else entirely.

Does that count as knowing someone well?

(Somewhere in another reality a fallen seraph is probably laughing his feathered ass off because oh gosh angels trying to form their own concepts of law it's cute.)

Post saying it though, Gabriel looks profoundly uncomfortable and looks away.]

I was his superior. And if there's one thing I've learned it's that ...no matter what you think you know about someone you're in charge they're always going to surprise you.

[She wonders if she's insulted him, at first. In the same way that she'll grimace-smile every time she meets someone non-British who asks her if she knows so-and-so from that-street, even though they live a hundred miles apart. It's strange, though, the way his mind seems to be ticking over with the response and maybe it's just an angel thing?

Either way, she doesn't comment on that.]

Oh, I see... [His superior. Well, that makes sense, she supposes, and it does throw previous interactions and the brief times she's seen them together into a different light. She pats Gabriel's arm gently.]

I think that goes for everyone, whether you're in charge of them or not. People can be interesting that way.

It does?

[He looks at her, genuinely confused.] You have to understand, I've known him for 6,000 years. IT doesn't bode well for anyone if I don't truly know him.

I'd think.

[He stares at his hands.]

...Is that how it is for human beings? Your lives are so short. You can really spend all of them not knowing someone?

Well... sometimes it doesn't matter how long you know a person for.

[She looks down at her feet while they walk. Gabriel is... a confusing person, sometimes. She thinks he really wants to understand, but he's so different to Aziraphale. This conversation wouldn't be necessary with him.]

It's not about the length of time you're aware of a person existing. It's how much time you spend with them. How many conversations you have that really matter. Not how long you know them, but how much you get to know them. [She pauses to tuck a loose wisp of hair behind her ear.]

And you're right, life is short. So we choose the people we get to know, and it might not be every single person we meet. [Jane looks up at Gabriel with one of those warm smiles.]

We call the people we choose to get to know better our friends.

[That is...a lot to digest. Friendship is Crowley and Aziraphale, he's not stupid even though their friendship made them stupid but he had friends. Sandalphon and Uriel and Michael.

He knows them. Really knows them right? He knows uriel likes art galleries and michael likes swords and sandalphon...sandalphon...

He doesn't chew on anything but he stares at the human at his side and looks profoundly confused. It's frustrating. He wants to understand this, he has to because Michael and Uriel and Sandalphon apparently have free will too and he has to help them because they're in charge.

And the thing is. He never talked to Aziraphale. Unless.]

Getting to know people.

Like showing up and...giving them awards or...

[He gestures with his free hand.]

Planning operations with them? Making sure to read their reports?...

Oh... no. Not like that.

[They're close to where she lives now, and she's of the opinion that Gabriel definitely needs this interaction for far more reasons than just feeling a little bad at the moment. It gives her something to entirely take her mind off the impending end of the world with, and that's perfectly fine with her.]

That's just being their boss. It's things like...

[Hmm. She makes a small noise of thought.]

What's your favourite colour, Gabriel? Mine's yellow.

Bosses are friends. They're good friends...

[But Aziraphale would beg to differ. Did he not know him? Could he have prevented this or understood it better or...

Then she asks about colors.

Technically he shouldn't have a favorite color. Technically he shouldn't have anything she didn't want him to have. He frowns, his features set. He has grown beyond that. Free will, okay so what did he like? If he had really been liking it and it hadn't been a directive of hers?]

...Violet.

[yes.]

Like my eyes. Human eyes beautiful. Angel eyes look nothing like this so it must be violet right?

Yellow is a nice color. I didn't know anyone who worked on colors in the beginning but I'd imagine they were happy. And it suits you.

That's very nice of you to say. Thank you.

[Outside the block that she lives in, she makes a small wordless gesture to indicate 'this one' and subtly tightens her arm around his to guide him up to the door. Once inside, it's only a short walk to the apartment itself.

Jane's abode is slightly cluttered but clean, with an easel (currently empty) propped up by one of the windows. The desk beside it is covered in papers and books, and a box full of paints keeps the chair in front of it from being pushed in all the way.

The technology to be found is limited. A television, a gas cooker in the kitchen, a camera on the coffee table. She has little use for anything else. When they walk in, a small jackalope with stunted antlers hops into the main living space, takes a look at the both of them, turns around and hops away again.]

Well, this is where I live. Sit down, I'll make us some tea. How do you like yours?

...Take it what? I don't take it. Are we taking it somewhere?

[Instead he studies the jackalope and his features soften.] Is that your jackalope pet? It's very good. I like it.

[He's not going to follow it around, instead he just stares at things before nodding approvingly. It's a nice little apartment.]

I will listen to you take it and help you if you'd like.

[... Interesting.]

Oh, yes, that's Sylvi. [She chuckles softly. Her little companion isn't much for visitors, but might venture out again later.]

And I mean do you like milk in your tea, or sugar?

[Maybe he doesn't usually drink tea?

She doesn't wait for his answer but brings the pot and two cups over on a small, round tray, along with a little pot of sugar cubes and a matching milk jug.]

Here we are. Now, why don't we get to know each other a little more?

[She is.

So nice. So so nice. He stares at it and then at her blankly before he smiles broadly. Get to know each other.]

Wait. This is human small talk right? I thought we started with the weather but I can answer about myself.

[Shoot. That tea. And she is being so nice but he doesn't want to say no. Picking up the tea and pulling it to him he sets it down and looks up before chuckling because that feels right, before he leans back.

It's awkward, like someone learning - or mimicking something.]

Well, I'm an archangel. That means I was alive when creation was created. God - Mom for the sake of these conversations? Mom gave me a trumpet when I was created and sometimes I play that. And um. Now. You say things about you.

[He gestures with the cup. He's used to giving commands to humans the last person he had a conversation with was-

Mary.

He hmms and inhales the tea. Without drinking it. Pausing. She is being really nice.]

[He's trying, isn't he?

Jane picks up her own cup, adding a cube of white sugar, and she lifts it to her lips to take a small sip. His... 'command' makes her smile and she rests the cup in her lap, cradled with both hands, while she answers.]

Well... I'm a zoologist, and an artist in my spare time. I live with my father in London when we're not exploring for his latest research. My mother passed away when I was young, but daddy has taken very good care of me.

[And not such a normal thing, for a man of the time period.]

He's a professor, and he always says I take after mother.

[A pause, another small sip of tea.]

Now it's your turn.

[The longest of pauses. It seems so inconsequential - human beings and their short lives but she speaks with such interest. He considers what she said, watching her movements.

It's a simple structured conversation. He has never said anything beyond commands and orders to human beings.

He can do this. First things first.]

I am sure she was very ...nice. But-

[Not as nice as my mother. No. That's prideful.]

It's sad. She's not. Here.

[He nods slowly. It's such a simple conversation.]

Well...I'm an archangel. I'm not the oldest, but I was one of the first made. We're all close and we all work together - but we're not - family which I'd imagine is strange to humans but we just operate on a different level.

[another pause.] I'm...Lord of Hosts and I oversee multiple departments - prayers, afterlife and uh- earth management and planning. That's a committee though.

My mother is still alive. Naturally. Don't believe what philosophers told you. But she...she's not really around so much? She trusts us to take care of all of you-

All of humanity.

[A long pause.] ...In my spare time I guess I...shop? Human beings focus on how people look and it's...nice.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

video;

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject