milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Ambriel comes in from outside, frowning.

The sunset seemed less convivial than it usually does here. And not because the 'days' are shortening, either.

There is something in the woods, frustratingly just outside the angel's senses; which is frankly unusual. Perhaps someone else has noticed? Would Security really protect a patron with an aura that stank of rot?

If it is a patron at all.

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"Ambriel," X says, moving quietly to the angel's left.

Several feet to the left.

Just to be safe.

"You are okay?"

Blame the frown.

"Hello, X." Ambriel nods to her. "I am well. Though I think there may be something out in the woods."

The angel turns a sharp gaze on her. "What happens, if one patron is actively seeking to harm others? Not just breaking the rules."

X's attention sharpens.

A lot.

"You can tell me more? About it. It is in the fog?"

Then she pauses, head tilting as she considers Ambriel's actual question.

"They have been thrown out. In the past. When they will not stop. There are incident reports."

Not many, but some.

"We cannot stop them from coming back. But sometimes they do not."

Edited 2012-10-12 03:51 (UTC)

"I have not seen any fog that was not naturally occurring," Ambriel says. "Have there been other reports?"

"E -- "

X stops herself.

"My friend said that it made her lose control. I do not know if it does that for everybody."

Beat.

"You are not cold?"

"I don't feel the cold the way humans do. Or most mortals. I did sense something, but it was very unclear."

Ambriel hesitates.

"X, if I find something that would be harmful to the bar, I would probably try to stop it. I would turn myself in after, I do understand the rules. But I could not just leave."

"Tell me."

X's response is prompt.

"First. Or Mel."

Beat.

"If the patrons are in danger."

She hesitates again.

"And it will be better if it is not happen inside."

"If it was inside, I would likely be able to tell what it was. Unless it was hiding from me specifically."

Or angels specifically.

"I promise to tell you if I find something."

"Thank you."

X's response is prompt.

But it does not stop there.

"It seems like it would be hiding from you? Specifically."

Beat.

"What is in the woods."

It could be important.

Ambriel blinks. "I don't know. I haven't sensed it well enough to tell if it is something I have previous experience with. It might not know I am here at all."

Or it might not care.

"It would be problematic?"

Beat.

"If it noticed you. Or knew you."

"It is very unlikely it would know me." It's pretty hard to follow someone across the universe.

"And I am not afraid of it noticing me."

"I am allowed to ask?"

X is curious. And it could be important.

"Why it is unlikely."

"I told you that I was recently tending to new stars in a nebula. It was very far from here, and I was there for a long time, by mortal standards. Anything that could track me from there to Milliways would not be able to hide from me."

Ambriel remembers the aspects of the angel's most recent foes very well.

X hesitates.

"Because they would not want to hide? From you. Or you are better at finding things. Or people."

"Because I would recognize the...things that I fought there. Would you know 'Them', if you met again?"

"Yes."

X seems fairly sure of that.

"But They are only good at hiding until you know how to see them."

Mostly. Or at least that is what she understood.

Edited 2012-10-13 04:09 (UTC)

"Yes. I was wounded, in the battle. Which is part of why I am here, to recover."

Ambriel shrugs.

"That makes it easier for them to find me. But it also makes it easier for me to find them. They are not here."

"I do not know if that is good. Or not."

X looks uncertain, too. It's something about the eyes. And the set of her shoulders.

"I think it would be better if we knew. What was here. Even if it is difficult to fight."

"I agree. It is always better to know what you face ahead of time. For preparation, or so your imagination does not invent something worse than the facts."

Ambriel puts a careful hand on X's shoulder.

"I know you will do your best, whatever it is."

If X leans into the touch for a second, it is far from an accident.

She is not afraid, not really.

But she is worried.

"You will, too. I know."

Some ambiguous increment of time later, or mmmaybe even earlier depending on how you squint, Ava is in a booth with a fresh mug of tea. She is still huddled under a blanket.

She eyes Ambriel a moment.

"Hello, Ava," the angel says, frown vanishing under a veneer of pleasant blandness.

Ava coughs.

Then she swallows. It doesn't really make her feel better.

"Hi."

"Are you well?" Do part demons get sick? This is not something Ambriel has a lot of experience with. They don't tend to have long acquaintances.

"I'm fine."

Ava rolls her eyes.

"It's a seasonal thing, or something."

She takes a long sip of her tea.

Ambriel stares at her, like her atoms could be visible if the angel tried hard enough.

(They are not.)

Ava stares back.

Crankily.

"What?"

"I don't have much experience with sickness. I am curious."

Ambriel gives a small shrug. "It does occasionally overcome my manners."

"You can't take my temperature."

Ava rubs at her temple, more subdued than sour but not by a lot.

"I won't," Ambriel assures her.

Yeah sorry, nothing else is really happening.

Ava lets her fingers relax before pressing in again. Sometimes that helps.

(So far, no.)

She drinks her tea balefully.

"Should you visit the infirmary? They have doctors here."

Ambriel met Malcolm!

Maybe Ava should talk to him about being part demon.

"You don't go to the doctor just for a cough."

She hefts her mug.

"I've got honey in here. And it's green tea. That's like, super good for you."

"I tried green tea here," Ambriel says, pleased to share this experience.

"Why not? There is medicine for coughs." The angel might not know what they are called, but they definitely exist, and have for thousands of years.

Ava subsides crankily into her blanket.

She should've made a fort. if she'd had the foresight to bring down her comforter, she could have draped it over the whole table, maybe added a few pillows ...

Of course, then she couldn't see out.

"Whatever."

"Ah, I see. It affects your mood as well."

There may be a smile fighting to get out. Ambriel battles valiantly.

"Seriously?" she squeaks, which because she is already somewhat scratchy about the throat, ends in another cough.

It takes her a moment to stop.

"I'm gonna throw something at you."

"I'll leave you alone. Make sure you do tell someone if it gets worse. Goodnight, Ava."

Ambriel congenially wanders off.

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