maskormenacelogs

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[OPEN]

WHO: Jane Porter & YOU
WHERE: De Chima
WHEN: 28th - 30th
WHAT: Firstly, the moon is back. Secondly, religious crises are had. Thirdly, what are these awful rocks killing off all the plants?
WARNINGS: Will update as/if needed.

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a; the moon! | 28th

[It's not as if she makes a point of being outside late at night, and certainly not after dark, but today happens to be a day when the bookshop was open particularly late, followed by her employer politely but firmly asking that Jane draw a few pictures for some pieces of card he wanted to put up around the shop to encourage people to look closer at the books that don't sell as well as others.

She had thought it a better idea to stay behind to do that, as there could be too many distractions at home.

The moon has been made conspicuous by its absence for a while now, so when she notices that the light in the street is silvery, when she looks up and sees it hanging there again as if it had never left at all, she can't help but grab the arm of the next person passing at such a late hour and point up excitedly.]

Look! The moon is back!

b; be gentle, we're having a religious crisis | 29th

[She is standing outside a church.

She hasn't gone inside yet. Jane is standing just far enough away for it not to look too strange, but she's been standing there for long enough now that it's probably being noticed. She looks up at the building, nestled unobtrusively between a sandwich shop and a small supermarket, and her lips press into a thin line.

A religious crisis of any kind isn't something that has ever bothered Jane Porter. Far too concerned with her work, with helping her father with his research, religion has never taken a place in her life. And yet... now she's actually met an angel, and a demon, and she finds that this, of all things, is what starts her questioning. She steps forwards, though only one step, and instead of going to the door diverts her track to a bench not far outside, where she sits and sighs as she braces her elbow to her knee and puts her chin on her hand.]

Oh, this is just silly. [She says out loud, her lower lip moving into a brief pout.] You're not going to find any answers in there, Jane, are you?

[And then she fishes her phone out. Fidgets with it. Perhaps she should just give Aziraphale or Crowley a call, instead..?]

c; white kryptonite | 30th

Oh, not another one--

[Jane clicks her tongue in annoyance as she picks up another recently fallen rock, already happily at work killing the vegetation around it, with a pair of iron tongs and drops it into the metal bucket in her other hand. She's been working around De Chima all day, but is currently in one of the larger wooded areas in the suburbs, exploring while also doing her good deeds for the city. After all, we can't just leave all of this terrible stuff lying around to kill everything it touches!

How she's going to get rid of it all when she's done hasn't really crossed her mind yet, but she's sure she'll find something to do with it. Perhaps one of the research departments - so numerous in De Chima - would like to take it off her hands. For a small fee... perhaps, if they're willing to pay it (a bookstore clerk salary doesn't amount to much).

It's a humid day, and while it's only a little warm under the trees, the humidity is taking its toll on her. She puffs and straightens up, rubbing the base of her spine with the heel of her hand.]

I should have brought more water. [Jane sighs, flicking her hair out of her face.] What a nuisance... I'll have to go back.

[And in that moment, a small rock bounces through the trees and lands in a patch of lavender, which immediately begins to die off.]

... Is that some kind of a sign?

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I get being pushed. It throws you for a loop.

[ She didn't ask to find out the truth but, what was the saying? Though, to be fair, she never made a deal with the Devil. She fell in love with him, which was an entirely different, complicated issue. ]

I... A little helpless, I guess. And confused. Really scared for a while. But, yeah, it does change how you look at it. A friend back home told me once that knowing all the answers defeated the point in having faith at all. [ She wonders what Ella would think of all this, if she knew. If it would make her happy to know the truth, or if it would ruin her. ] Sometimes I have to remind myself that even though I know a lot, I still don't know everything. There's still some faith in there to be had.

[And there, Chloe hits on the heart of the issue. If you know the answers, then what's the point in having any faith at all? Jane's has always been somewhat shaky as it is, but what she knows now has thrown it all for a loop.]

Yes... yes, I suppose there is.

[Jane smiles distantly, smoothing her palms across the fabric of her skirt.]

And I do believe I have more of a reason to believe in those things now than I did before.

[ Pressing her lips together, Chloe directs her gaze back to the church and nods. She hasn't stepped foot in one since she decided to take Lucifer's side in the fight between good and evil. It ended up being the right side, after all. And while she knows now that there's a God out there, somewhere, maybe listening to everything going on around Him, she hasn't felt particularly beholden to Him, either.

She knows where her heart belongs, and being in a church isn't exactly conducive to that. At least, not yet, anyway. ]

Did you find out about all of it here?

Hm? Oh, yes. Quite abruptly.

[When a snake started talking to her, and she fainted. Oh, she's still a little embarrassed about that, but she feels like she recovered rather well.

Jane hasn't been in a church for some time, either. Perhaps that's why she chose to sit outside, instead of going in.]

I might have liked a little more time to come around to the idea, but... that's what this is all about, I think.

[ Jane shouldn't be embarrassed. Chloe wishes fainting was the worst she'd done. ]

I don't know if there is a way for it not to be abrupt. [ She sighs, leaning forward and slightly in towards Jane, although she doesn't look directly at her. ] It's all true where I come from. And believe me, I had the opportunity to know--to get used to it--if I had taken the time to listen to someone I cared about.

[ It's not as if Lucifer had made much a secret about it. And it wasn't as if there hadn't been a small, small part of her that had believed it all along. ] I guess I wasn't ready to know. Or I just didn't want to know. But if it helps any, it's like any big change in life. Scary at first but, after a while, it just becomes a part of how you see the world. That makes it a little easier.

[Jane nods. She supposes that, in the end, what helps the most is that Crowley and Aziraphale are so very... normal. She might never have noticed, or at least not for a good while, if she hadn't seen the demon as a snake and heard him speak.

Ignorance can be blissful, indeed.]

As long as I'm here, I shouldn't think I need to give it too much consideration... [Except she will, and that's why she's sitting here now, but she'll get over it.]

How did it happen for you?

[ Chloe sighs. She hadn't really told anyone about how she learned about it, besides Aziraphale, and he was an angel so it wasn't the same. The only person Chloe could even talk to about it back home was Linda, and Linda had been so preoccupied, fairly so, with everything she was going through. In the end, Chloe had to deal with figuring it out on her own and while that had been for the best, it also made it difficult to tell other people.

However, she can absolutely relate to what this other woman is going through. And just because Chloe had felt alone didn't mean Jane had to. ]

I know the Devil. In my world. [ She puffs a breath out through her lips. ] We've worked together for a long time. We started out as work partners and then... He became my friend. I always knew there was something off about him, something he wasn't telling me, but I tried not to push it, you know? I thought I wasn't pushing it because I didn't want to make him uncomfortable but, honestly, I think I also didn't push it because part of me knew. And I didn't want what we had to change.

[ And when she found out the truth it all had, in some ways. But in the most important ways, it stayed the same. ]

One day I saw his face. His real devil face. And... I ran away. [ She can't help the amount of shame and heartbreak that make those words so heavy. Out of everything she's done, she regrets that most of all. ] He was protecting me when it happened. He had just saved my life. But that part of him came through and I couldn't pretend like it wasn't real anymore. So I had to face it.

[Jane's eyes widen, but she doesn't interrupt. She doesn't have that particular experience, and her introduction to both Aziraphale and Crowley feels somewhat tame in comparison. To know the actual Devil is... well... it's another level up, isn't it?]

I'm sure... most people might have run away. [She murmurs carefully. If Crowley had been something less tame than a snake, would she have done the same?]

It must have been difficult. For-- for both of you.

[Ah, that feels strange to say.]

Yeah. Most people probably would have.

[ Chloe liked to think she wasn't most people but, when it came down to the wire, she'd been stupid. Linda hadn't run away. Linda hadn't gone to Europe for a month and obsessed over religious texts and built up a picture of a person in her mind that was the complete opposite of who the person really was. Linda hadn't just assumed the worst and fell into line with everything that came with that.

That's probably what makes her feel the worst about it. Chloe shouldn't have been most people. But she was. ]

And it was difficult. I thought more for me than him but... It was really hard on him, too. I didn't really have any idea what he was going through, I got wrapped up in everything I was scared of and I... [ She lets out a long, sad sigh. ] I forgot him. For a while, anyway. [ She manages to push out a smile. ] How did you find out?

[Her thoughts drift off, only to be sharply brought back into line by the question. She's kept things vague so far, despite knowing that her new friends have been somewhat more open about what they are than they could ever be in their home world.

Jane folds her hands primly on her lap. Mostly because part of the story is slightly embarrassing.]

Well. I met two quite lovely gentlemen when I first arrived, and saw them in person at the-- ah, the 'swear-in'. Only... one of them was a snake, and he spoke, and I fainted.

[Ehem.]

When I came to, they told me that one of them was an angel, and one was a demon. It was quite the shock for me, I must say...

Oh?

[ She's not going to make fun of her for fainting. It's not exactly the easiest thing to process, and it's probably one of the better reactions in the grand scheme of things. ]

Yeah, Crowley can come on a little strong. I think he thought he was going to pull one over on me, too. [ At least, she assumes it's Crowley. She doubts there are any other snake-shaped demons running around, and she's pretty sure besides him, Aziraphale, and Lucifer, there aren't many if any other celestials who had made their way into this world yet. ] I'll admit, I was a little worried you were going to say it was Lucifer.

[ After all, the man can't shut up about it. ]

[Definitely Crowley. Jane isn't aware of any other demons running around, and definitely no other demons who can turn into snakes. What catches her, though is that other name.]

Lucifer? [And... that's...

Hm.]

I did... speak to someone by that name. Not too long ago.

Lucifer Morningstar?

[ As if she needs to ask. Granted, it is possible that there are other Lucifers wandering around, but she can't know that for sure. ]

Tall? Dark hair? Obnoxious English accent?

I wouldn't have called it obnoxious.

[Have you heard Jane talk?]

But he was definitely English. Or-- [Ah...]

Or, aha, well, I suppose he isn't... at all... is he...

[Why are all the demons she knows British.

Why does she even know demons.]

[ Welp she probably should have thought that insult through better.

And Chloe has had the same though. She even asked Crowley about it, though his answer didn't help much. Maybe demons just liked how British accents sound. ]

Not really, I guess. Or maybe he is. I don't really know how angels work when it comes to Earth's regional rules.

[Probably.]

... Isn't it funny that Aziraphale and Crowley both sound English as well?

[Yes. Let's go back to that. Let's not linger on the fact that she had a conversation with the devil about how nice his name is.]

I asked Crowley about that. He said something about how he spent a lot of time in Britain and I guess he likes it?

[ As far as she knows, Lucifer never lived in Britain. He just sounds English because it's ~fancy~, probably. ]

I think it's just a celestial thing. It makes them sound old and wise or something.

[Jane titters softly at the thought. Oh, she can think of many different accents that might make a person sound old and wise that would be far better than one from inner London, but that would be a digression.]

Do you think they really believe that?

[She's trying, but she can't quite keep the smile off her face.]

It's terribly easy to forget they're not human, isn't it.

[ She shrugs. Most of the celestials she knew had believed for a long time that humanity was beneath them until they became embroiled in it. ]

I think it's easier for them to forget they're not human, sometimes.

Edited (clearer wording) 2019-09-20 03:07 (UTC)

[And Jane lets out another of those laughs, soft and in the back of her throat, almost like a hum with a touch of humour in it.]

I hardly understand how they could, but... perhaps you're right, in a way. They're not at all like I would have expected.

[ At least it seems like she might be coming off the proverbial cliff. And she certainly handled it all better than Chloe ever did. ]

They aren't. I think it's a bad idea to try to expect anything of them, really. They're all just as different as humans are.

[ Which is, in of itself, pretty unexpected. ]

[Jane is quite certain that she's heading towards some kind of mental breakdown somewhere along the line, and aside from the fainting has been very impressed by her own handling of things so far.]

Oh, I know, I know... [But she does sigh, staring very hard at the church across the road.]

You can't believe everything you hear about anything, can you.

[ Chloe doesn't blame her in the least. She had her own breakdown. At least Jane isn't trying to dose her boyfriend to get him back to Hell. ]

No, you can't. You can listen to what they say, but at the end of the day, you have to trust your own gut. [ She follows her gaze back to the church. ] You should go in there, if you think it would help.

[She gives the church another long, steady look, then shakes her head with a slightly helpless-looking smile.]

No, I don't think it will help at all. I do think I would like to go and get some tea, though. I know a lovely shop not too far from here.

[ In a way, Chloe is a little relieved. She would have felt obligated to keep Jane company, and she's not sure she's ready to step foot in a church again. ]

Come on. [ She nods, standing up. ] I'll keep you company. I don't really have anywhere to be, anyway.

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