[Open] Gabriel Log for October

[privatepurchases]

WHO: Gabriel [And possibly you?]
WHERE: Maurtia Falls, Nonah - near YOU?
WHEN: Throughout the month of October
WHAT: Gabriel gets hit with the fallout of his pride, sings out his feelings (in public ugh.) and tries to acclimate to living with humans.
WARNINGS: Gabriel is a walking warning for assholery and also possibly embarrassing human situations. He's also kind of a scary good singer. **UPDATE** will include toplevels for **OCTOBER EVENTS**



LET'S BE ROOMMATE BUDDIES (MAURITA)

[Gabriel doesn't sleep. His pet does and it is being taken care of. It gets a bed. almost a whole bed! Sometimes the human-shaped thing sits beside it and reads and that's when it'll just sit against him and after two days of pushing it away he just allows it at this point. Today though the jackalope gets the bed and the archangel has his very nice expensive coat off and his sleeves rolled up and he is cleaning.

It's something to do and this whole place is filthy. Compared to heaven it's filthy. So he scrubs and reads all the scrubbing things and everything is very very clean. It's gleaming even. The drains shine. Somehow all the dishes get done like it's instinct. Sometimes he can be found scrubbing the grout in the kitchen or the bathroom or wiping things and-]

I'm not apologizing. This place could always be cleaner.

LET'S GET MOTIVATED WITH MAXIMUM EFFORT (MAURITA)

[Gabriel is supposed to be a motivational speaker. He's been given a pamphlet on how to do this but it mentions his phone and using his communicator and social media but he still can't figure it out and finally he slips it into his pocket and approaches the first person he sees.]

Excuse me, would you like to know how not to go to Hell? I can help with that.

[So sayeth the very well dressed guy who may be insane. Feel free to hit him.]

I'M TIRED OF TALKING TO MYSELF HERE (NONAH)

[He honestly believed that this was a test. That didn't make it less painful. He was passing everything and he should have gotten a sign by now. Some sort of confirmation. Some sort of confirmation of just what he was supposed to do.It was a simple useless thing that shouldn't have mattered except -

Except whenever he would close his eyes in prayer or reach for her Grace it was - just as he had described to Eve - like listening to a radio far away and sometimes when he reached out there was...well. Moments of absolute nothing. That had been terrifying. Like what he imagined falling would be like - just that sense of isolation. And then -

Well. He hadn't fallen. There would be more hideous bodily fluids and disgusting behaviors and urges he was quite sure but he would not wish that sense of isolation on anyone for the first time in millennia. This had been what Lucifer and his ilk had deserved but the tables had been turned and...well. Here he was. Taking a walk through the Nonah park at a whim, it's hard not to think about that isolation. This is heavily on his mind, as it should be. He's not an embarrassment. His days with holy choirs were millennia ago when he was practically as close to a child as an angel could get.

Yes. quiet contemplation. That was the way of doing things. He wasn't a fool, bursting into song like he would in the choir. Like people had been doing lately. No. He sang at home. When he was sure she was listening.

And it's like a bell. Just knowledge that she was but that affirmation is gone and and he doesn't realize as he spreads his arms wide in the park and- sings.

Only there's no singing - standing there arms folded. No. He's actually dancing and even if he's not aware that very special musical moment he's not doing too bad at dancing and spinning through a park like he belongs on stage. In fact. Despite the sad song, he's dancing beautifully.]

Mama, I could use some help here
Tired of talking to myself here
Back at home, you don't exist
So here I am in the abyss
Are you really in this place?
It's like the emptiness of space
I could search for all eternity
And never see your face
Help me out

[Literally like the protagonist in a movie - if there were a camera it'd be following him as he leaps over trees and rocks before standing perched on a bench with his hands spread to the heavens. It's a sad-ish sort of song but it's still worth belting out. The heavens should hear. Everyone should! singing is great!

About halfway through the number a collection of marathon runners, two construction workers, and a group of people at a child's birthday party join in to sing those background numbers. They even dance, cheering him on and man where was this in their old singing days-

Before he falls. On his knees in the grass, ruining his perfectly good pair of pants-]

The nothingness ahead of me
Is this the end you meant for me?
Every living minute
There's no home without you in it
I'm falling
Quit stalling
Your daughter is calling your name
I've burned all my bridges and games

[Except. You know. He's not dead, and even if he doesn't have her the choir is waiting and it's like something he'd forgotten he could do. He's the first musician. He's her musician and if she sent him here...well. There's adaptability. The humans all have plastered fake smiles and it looks so familiar that he just jumps back in and he's just so thrilled his wings unfurl. Dancing with those is a trick.]

I'm gonna get back home
Micheal, Sandalphon, Uriel and the Demons who're sad
It's messy but they're all that I have
I'll make the best of being flesh and bone
The best of being here alone without you-
Mama, I'm going home
Home
I'm going home!
Mama, I'm going home!

[The music fades and he blinks, staring at his arms before looking back at the collected people who are rubbing their heads and looking at him very confused. One points and he looks upward before his wings curl back.

Well.]

Folks I just want you to know? You did just almost as good as actual heavenly choirs. Heavenly choirs! Boy that was a lot of fun wasn't it? You should be really proud. I think we all needed that right? Not just me?

[Their expressions all say "no it was just you." and they were dragged along for the ride. Thank Her he doesn't need to eat. A few look at him with pity and he pulls out his wallet.]

Right okay. How much to make you all forget this ever happened and I am willing to pay in favors. Trust me. I'm Gabriel! Yes, the archangel that's why I have wings also please - please never mention that it's embarrassing.

[The birthday girl, in a moment of charity, tugs on her mother's skirt and asks her to invite the sad man to the party since apparently he misses his mama but both Gabriel and the mother wave it off and the marathon resumes, the party resumes, and he sits on the same bench that was his stage and stares at nothing. Wow. Ten minutes into his musings the mother has returned with that same pitying look and a slice of chocolate birthday cake that he accepts, stares at, and sets beside him.

Oblivious, still digesting what happened, the first person who approaches him to laugh or otherwise will get offered the cake.]

Want some? It was a gift from that nice woman over there at the birthday party. We were just singing in a possessed musical number about my emotions.

FIND HIM SOMEWHERE

[Find him in Maurita, Find him in Nonah, those are the two places he's been the most thanks to sheer dumb luck. He arrives in a crack of lightning and disappears just the same.]

Comments

Nonah

[tricksterofasgard]

The wings were a nice touch.

[ The probably still familiar voice speaks from behind the bench where Gabriel may spot Loki, once again dressed in a dark shirt and black pants, arms casually crossed and clearly looking amused. ]

Just tell me, were you referring to yourself as your mother's daughter?

[privatepurchases]

[Still kind of shell shocked by what he has now put together Aziraphale warned him about-events affecting them- he looks up, stares, then looks annoyed before looking down at his feet again.] Gender is a human construct. Sometimes it's easy to forget [his voice and affect are flat.] When we were first issued corporations mine was female. You change them out every millennia. Micheal's kept being female since we were made. Me? [he shrugs.] I've invested a lot in this one.

[tricksterofasgard]

I would not call it a solely human construct. You will encounter it far away from human worlds as well. Though I admit being able to choose freely has its perks.

[ No details on what he may distinctly be referring to, though. ]

You made my job harder, by the way.

[ Loki remarks casually, then nods pointedly in the direction of the birthday part where Gabriel may spot another Loki, currently creating an ice unicorn out of seemingly thin air, quite for the delight of his young, mostly female audience. ]

You made the girl sad.

[ Now guess who had been hired for this party to deliver entertainment? ]

[privatepurchases]

[Gabriel stopped thinking of himself as a being a millennia ago mostly because you fade into a solid routine and whatever personal feelings he had about humans - or alien species alluded him. They were all her creation.

He - strictly - sometimes, well. Forgot.]

I've never been to Alpha Centauri. It's the only other inhabited solar system in our universe. considerably more advanced then humans. Different project.

[Affect still flat he stares at him, then at the party, then at the cake.]

...Human feelings are not my fault.

This place and it's strange magic is to blame. There's a whole group of human beings I now have to pay to forget that I was out here with my wings out singing...whatever that was. That wasn't sound of music. That's the only music worth listening to that's not heavenly.

[Well. It was rather nice though. And poignant. Besides the kid has her family.]

She'll be fine.

maurita

[planetary_bonds]

[So this little punk definitely looks like the type of teenage hellion who'd end up in hell one way or another, either through gang nonsense or horrible shenanigans or other. And he actually does seem to believe that he doesn't deserve to go anywhere else, nor is he inclined to think differently. Intense self-loathing does that to a guy, even a decent one like him.]

...Not interested. I've got too many people waiting for me there.

[Of course, he just looks like a little rebellious shit when he answers in that deadpan of a way.]

[privatepurchases]

[...Ah.

Still. No reason to be deterred.]

Heaven offers great rewards and the earth will eventually give up it's prisoners.

[He should know. He has a song to play just for the occasion. Falling into step beside him, he then stops and calls out-]

Why would they want you to suffer?

[planetary_bonds]

The promise of greatness...isn't that what makes people fall?

[The greatest duel gang in the Satellite. The one and only King of Riding Duel. The ultimate god that could destroy and remake the world anew.

The discovery of the ultimate power source that would never tire, never stop turning...

Hadn't he seen it so many times, the destructive pursuit of greatness?]

...There's no one else left to answer for them.

nonah

[anathemic]

[ 'Gabriel Looking Sad On Park Benches' is becoming something of an art form. The classical Renaissance painters probably could've made something of it.

Anathema had heard the tell-tale strains of music starting up in the distance; unlike some imPorts who tried to flee the scene, however, she was always bemused by it, and tended to drift a little closer to catch the show. Sometimes these days she clapped politely if it didn't seem too personal, or gave a single approving whistle. Because every musical number should technically be performed for an audience (even if that audience is silent, and unnoticed, and waiting in the wings), and some of the performers really are impressive singers. She skirts the edges just far enough to not get caught up in the extravagance herself, but close enough to watch.

Once the spotlight's faded and he's moping with the piece of cake, Anathema wars with herself for a moment — before making up her mind and approaching. Gabriel's not a friend yet, exactly, but he's looking a little miserable and sorry for himself, and that's worth fixing. ]

I liked the footwork, [ she offers. ] Do they teach dancing in Heaven?

[privatepurchases]

[the sudden question makes him sit up straighter and stare at her before he moves the cake and sets it on his opposite side. It's not an invitation per say- but while he looks ready to lecture it droops.

He's weary. So this is weariness.]

No.

[you do have free will. Crowley made it a curse and trying to explain it is hard.

If he does have free will. Okay let's test that ]

We used to sing more than we do now. Choirs and music. Not just praise either, I mean it's all praise to her and from her. We all had our choirs though and I play horn.

[okay. God must have wanted him to test himself. And this information, well. Humans must have guessed it right? It's the easiest to understand.

He's not chosing this. It-

He adjusts his scarf and watches her warily.]

The idea of angels dancing is a theological question about the nature of reality and how much space living beings occupy.

But no that was that possession. Not me. Song wasn't either.

[he wouldn't be that open.]

[anathemic]

[ tongue-in-cheek: ] Like you're just a physical vessel or something, huh?

[ And lo, Anathema goes ahead and seizes that not-an-invitation and plants herself on the free side of the bench. It's an easy, low-commitment social setting: it can look like sheer circumstantial happenstance that they happen to be sitting side-by-side, even if they do actually know each other, recognise each other. ]

You could still play horn in this world. I've seen a few instrument shops around. I wouldn't trust the ones in Jeopardy, though, there might be some weird spirits embedded in the brass section. Haunted violins and the like.

[ There's an art to chatting to Gabriel, she's quickly realised, and it means not looking at him too closely. It's like looking at one of those magic eye drawings. If she lets herself unthinkingly slip into Aura-Vision™, the everyday plane slips away like a mask and she catches a glimpse of what's underneath and she risks blinding herself. So she always glances away right when it's about to sink in: over to the other people in the park, and the birthday party in the distance. ]

You do have a very nice voice, though. From all that choiring.

Nonah

[hisfavoriteson]

[It's some kind of major coincidence that he's here at the right time to catch an angelic musical number. (Even if he did give any credence to miracles, this wouldn't be one.) Miss Lopez lives in this city, and Eve, and while he hasn't entirely managed to forgive her yet, he supposes that he also can't abandon her entirely. If only because he knows Chloe would never let him get away with that.

He approaches the bench and remains standing at the opposite end from the one occupied by Gabriel.]

You do know you don't have to rely on others to tell you what to do. If you don't have direction, you can do things on your own.

Re: Nonah

[privatepurchases]

[He -

There is a part of him that wants to just strike him down. To bring down thunder and lightning and fuck all of them but when Lucifer says that he looks at him. Gabriel is haunted and puts his head into his hands.]

...Free Will.

[Something has happened to the sad man in the bacon tie. He stares at him.]

Lucifer...in your world do Angels have free will? Did God tell them they do?

[hisfavoriteson]

Of course they have it. [Amenadiel had eventually figured that out for himself, although in a rather less dramatic way than Lucifer had. Even Uriel had experimented with the idea when he went ahead and did something he thought their father wanted without actually being told so.]

They just don't use it.

Nonah I can't resist

[goodtobebad]

Not bad, all things considered.

[ He says this in all honesty, and also to keep some levity in the situation, because Gabriel is singing about some things that Crowley has not had access to since before the Earth existed, and while he is really quite happy with his own existence right now, he is still Fallen. He's still Unforgivable. And being ripped from the Host had hurt, more than any mortal wound could ever hurt.

Perhaps that's why he takes a moment's pity on the poor, lost archangel. ]

You haven't Fallen, and I doubt you're going to, for what it's worth. Also, we live five blocks away, so if you're here to talk to Aziraphale you're getting warmer but not quite there.

[ He does perch on the bench next to Gabe, though, figuring the roses he's got from the nearby florist can probably wait a moment or three. ]

Yes good.

[privatepurchases]

[Gabriel mentally files away the "Five Blocks" and despite not seeing any building blocks he will go back to his house and look it up. The demon by all rights shouldn't be talking to him. He despises him but honestly-

Honestly out of the two Aziraphale's betrayal hurt more because he hadn't expected it. But that's free will. He had chosen to work with the demon. They chose to be together but Aziraphale's name hadn't been stricken from the books.

He pressed his lips together and stared down the street.]

Thank you.

[It's...strangely kind. Gabriel regards him with suspicion for a moment before he lowers his head.]

I'm trying to decide what to say. So not yet. But thank you.

[he pauses] I was talking to Lucifer. Not our Lucifer. Fucking asshole. Ours. Not this one.

[The anger is there and deep and real but the archangel lowers his head and clearly calms himself.]

The other one, from the other universe who seems tolerable? He said all angels and demons in his world have free will, they just don't use it.

I think that's true for us too.

[He leaned back and stared skyward.] So I can't decide if I want to go home to -

[Yell at her. Drag all of it down. Cry. scream. rage.] talk to her or just to be home.

I don't know what to do. I just know I can't say anything to him yet because what he did hurt and I don't want to hurt him here.

Or there. Honestly I want to understand it and that means not killing him. Or you.

[Someone has confronted the fact that he was an asshole and realized hes an asshole. Which means...trying to figure out what to do.]

[goodtobebad]

[ Well. This is definitely an improvement. Somewhat. Crowley actually relaxes a bit, leaning back on the bench to study Gabriel. ]

Not sure how tolerable he is, I suppose compared to ours. Whinier than a human baby, though.

[ Sorry he's just got to dig at Lucifer every chance he gets. Of course, Gabriel is being just as whiny, but perhaps it's because Crowley understands slightly more of the context that he isn't quite as bothered by it.

Or maybe all his bitching about anyone being whiny is ultimately good-natured, because he's not terribly bothered by anything right this moment. He is, after all, in love. ]

But yeah, you do have free will. No offense [ he totally intends to cause offense ] but you lot have just had your heads up your own arses so long you never thought to consider the possibility. I mean, I don't blame you, the last time anyone in Heaven tried to really exercise free will, we wound up with... well. Satan. And me. And all the rest. But making choices isn't always terrible. You make little choices all the time. Aziraphale made a big choice, and he's doing great, at least, last time I checked.

Nonah - here for the cake

[bookshopped]

[Aziraphale will, of course, take that cake without any reservations. It looks lovely, and it would be a shame to let a kind gesture like that go to waste simply because certain angels find food more trouble than it's worth.

That said. He settles himself on the bench, uninvited as he may be, and he nods.] Yes, I had noticed that. Very enthusiastic.

[He was there for the entire show.] The production value was surprisingly good.

[Theatre critique aside, he adds, voice a great deal more thoughtful.] I realize this must all be difficult for you. I can't pretend I understand all of what you're going through -- Heaven knows we're far too different for that -- but some of it is rather familiar.

[And then the words he really can't believe he's saying, but here they are leaving his lips anyway,] Can I help?

[privatepurchases]

[Oh and-

The little girl is looking at them as the party progresses to presents. Gabriel stares at it before staring at Aziraphale like he's seen a ghost before he stares straight ahead.]

If you like the cake that's from her. You should thank her. She uh- she said I was sad and that I missed my mommy.

[He's aware enough to know that he presents himself as a grown man and that was embarrassing in and of himself. When Aziraphale asks if he can help it's on the tip of his tongue to ask if they chose to work together. If it was free will that saved him and his demon friend? lover? partner? He had said lover.

Instead he points at his bowtie.]

...You picked that. Because you liked it. Not because you wanted to dress as she wanted you to dress. Because you liked it.

[It's a statement. Not a question. He pulls his tie out of his pocket - it's still bacon colored and he shoves it back into his pocket.]

That's not the tie I put on this morning but it was a nice color that I liked - and I'd ask if you saw anybody else with strange color changing clothing- you haven't have you?

[He'd like to fix it.]

[bookshopped]

[Why so they are being looked at. He lifts a hand to wave at the birthday girl, who will find another present tucked away in the pile, a small plush unicorn. Because everyone likes unicorns. And also because Aziraphale is a sucker for things having meaning.

But he takes a bite of the cake before nodding.]

I'll be certain to. But yes, children can be very perceptive. And very kind. After all, she's not exactly wrong, is she? You aren't the only one who misses Her.

[Though in his own case, it's quite different.]

Well, yes. I like it quite a bit, and if you have opinions on tartan, I don't need to hear them.

[Huff!! But. oh. Look at that.] Ah... no, I can't say that I have.

[But he has a shortlist of suspects for who may be behind it. But he certainly won't say that.] Strange things have a tendency to happen in this place.

Here though, allow me. [A quick flourish of his fingers and if Gabriel checks his tie again it'll be back to the color it began the day as -- though that won't prevent Adam from redesigning it later.]

Maurtia

[devilishly_handsome]

[Anton sees the man approaching a random stranger and is amused. Naturally, he just has to approach them, too.]

I can give you advise on this as well!

Re: Maurtia

[privatepurchases]

[That has him confused because that is -

HE takes a step back.]

You look like the type who could advise people on how to get into hell.

[devilishly_handsome]

That, too! Really, anyone who knows how to get into Hell certainly knows how to not go there and vice versa!

[Okay, yeah, he knows that this guy is mistaking him for an actual full blooded devil, but he doesn't feel like correcting him quite yet. It's more fun to mess with him a bit first, after all.]

Nonah of course

[perfectlyhuman]

[ Well, that was...a lot.

He was just taking Dog for a walk in the park. The weather's still nice, the park's pretty cool, and, oh, of course, the random musical numbers that have been plaguing the town are usually hilarious, or, sometimes, really cool.

And Gabriel, well, lets say Gabriel's is pretty hard to miss.

It gets a little sad at the end. He actually feels a little bad for him.

After a while of silence and watching people awkwardly move away from him, Adam pulls the dog's leash over his wrist and just claps idly.]

[privatepurchases]

[Up close, his tie is made of bacon. Or at least it's fabric bacon. straightening his tie he grimaces at the boy before folding his wings back behind him.]

...Enjoy the show? Feel free to start laughing.

[perfectlyhuman]

[ It's very strange that this is the third set of wings he's seen on a person shaped creature. But not too strange, really.

He shrugs a little, smirking faintly. ]

I'm not laughing.

[ That tie, though, is really very good. ]

I think you did great.