trickntreats: (do you fear the things you love)
Gabriel ([personal profile] trickntreats) wrote in [community profile] caveofsapphires2012-04-10 06:45 pm

suddenly my eyes are open [open]

WHO: Gabriel (Sylvester Wilton) and [OPEN]
WHAT: Gabriel got taken in for a memory-modification. Now he's a little bit weirded out.
WHERE: Sleeping quarters, Bakery, Bar, Temple, streets in-between.
WHEN: Tuesday 10 to Saturday 21 April 2012.

This was one Hell of an elaborate prank. Except that Gabriel was starting to doubt that it was a prank, exactly. Dad wouldn't have thrown him into a place where the inhabitants drilled into his skull. Or experimented on him. Or ... did something Gabriel wasn't quite aware of but which must have happened, because going off to the clinic and then waking up in his quarters without knowing the in-between kind of indicated something happened in the in-between. All at once he remembered the 'dancing alien' prank he'd pulled and wondered if this was in any way similar. Maybe Lucifer had done it, except that Gabriel was fairly sure even Lucifer had no idea where archangels went after they died or how to capture them before they went there.

Maybe this was some kind of archangel's afterlife. If so, Gabriel's only hope was that Luci's turned out worse in the end.

With a groan Gabriel rubbed his temples, trying to wish away the ... it wasn't a throb, exactly. More like a hollow ache. He'd tried to snap it away, naturally, but that had only made the headache worse, so he'd stopped.

"Note to self," he told his reflection in the mirror. "This ain't a game anymore, and pushing the line results in ... in ... something. Just because you've already died apparently doesn't mean it can't happen again. I mean, look at the Winchesters."

With that pep-talk, he staggered to his feet and out the door.

The next five days were, in a word, weird. He still had no idea how to bake, but when he walked into the bakery on Tuesday he found himself automatically pulling out the ingredients for icing and had finished making a multi-tier wedding cake before he realised what he was doing. (Of course, then he had get rid of the excess icing. The cake wasn't actually saleable either, but Gabriel figured he deserved a reward for actually doing some baking and not having it completely burn.)

Tuesday night and Wednesday morning he discovered that powerless archangels in human bodies could, indeed, get sick from eating too much sugar. He made it to work--for a little while--he just didn't get much work done. (Instead he spent most of it looking green and slumped on a chair near the cash-register, with neither the appetite for sweets nor the energy to bake.)

On Thursday after work he went to the bar. If he could get sick, maybe he could get drunk too, and then he could get rid of this niggling uneasiness (fear) that Something Was Wrong. He succeeded in getting drunk quite well, and for a happily oblivious night completely forgot what the hell he was meant to be uneasy about, if anything.

He just didn't make it to work on Friday and spent the day in bed, groaning over the hangover, yelling at anyone who made too much noise and then going back to bed to groan some more.

On Saturday he found the Temple, a tiny little hole in the wall whose only two seats were cut into stone and whose altar sported a couple of thick candles. There was another worshipper, but he left when Gabriel told him to skedaddle, and then the archangel had a very unproductive one-sided conversation with the candles. Anyone passing by might have heard the final rather frustrated and faintly echoing refrain of, "Dad, if you can hear me, get me out of here!"

By Sunday morning something had settled in his mind and he finally became aware that he, in fact, had an extra memory that had been hiding by pretending it belonged there. A memory of baking a multi-tier wedding cake, colour-coordinated with the wedding party, with the mother-in-law hovering over his shoulder. The realisation it was there made him shiver.

He imagined it lurking and giggling, and named it Marie.
tartanisstylish: (gettin' krunk)

[personal profile] tartanisstylish 2012-05-09 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Aziraphale laughed under his breath. What had it been? Crowley'd tried tempting him to bigger things, back when they first knew each other, before the Arrangement, but the first thing that had been successful . . .

He pushed his tumbler forward about an inch, raised an eyebrow, then pulled it back and drank. "Did you honestly think I took to drink of my own volition?" he asked, grinning a bit, and let it fall back to the table with a clunk.
tartanisstylish: (that's not ACTUALLY your opinion . . .)

[personal profile] tartanisstylish 2012-05-10 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
"It's a . . . vice that deserves a lot of attention," he allows, and then poorly conceals his reaction to the sex thing, which was just going to keep coming up, no matter what he did, wasn't it? To his credit, he did not flush, or at least not any more than could be blamed on the liquor.

He tried out various responses in his head and finally settled on, "Oh," which, he was quite sure, was not the right one. At least he hadn't spilled his drink this time. He was improving? Sort of?
tartanisstylish: (j'accuse!!)

[personal profile] tartanisstylish 2012-05-11 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
"My idiot - no," the angel stuttered, sitting back in his seat and glaring righteously at Gabriel. "No, he very much doesn't. That's not - no. And it's none of your business whether - oh, and that's answered your question."

He huffed and looked away. It would just keep happening no matter what. This was absurd. Why everyone was so fixated on their genitals he absolutely couldn't fathom.
tartanisstylish: (i suspect you're an idiot)

[personal profile] tartanisstylish 2012-05-11 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh Somebody, this was horrifying.

"Well, I'm glad I've provided you with some comic relief!" Aziraphale said sharply, and took a breath, finished his scotch, and waved over a server again impatiently. Politeness was all well and good, but he hadn't had nearly enough to drink for this stupid conversation.

"Do you always badger people about their sexual histories?" he said. "Or am I just very special?"

He would not dignify the bit about the - young ladies with any sort of response. It didn't deserve it.
tartanisstylish: (did you lose the banks account you dip)

[personal profile] tartanisstylish 2012-05-12 11:07 am (UTC)(link)
"I've seen enough," Aziraphale said, words pulled from between gritted teeth - because 'enough' was a subjective measure so perhaps he could get away with it - "but there's a major difference between seeing and deriving any sort of - enjoyment from it. And my time with Caligula was not recreational, believe you me." He shuddered delicately. "I was trying to save lives. Thwart evil, and things. Sometimes work took me less than savory places."

There had been a few times, a few people with the Lord in their souls, whom he'd attempted to help (in the most bumbling and accidentally judgmental way possible) get out of the trade. Generally they hadn't been receptive. Then again, he never really had any money to offer and the job market in Caligula's time in particular had been grim. Obviously. Still, he'd tried. While studiously avoiding eye contact. It really wasn't his place, it was a human thing.

Cognitive dissonance being what it was, he had temporarily forgotten that he was human now, and would likely continue to have selective amnesia on that front.
whowillsaveyou: (Hear the dogs howling out of key)

hope you don't mind backtagging into oblivion >_>

[personal profile] whowillsaveyou 2012-05-12 08:50 pm (UTC)(link)
The pun had the Doctor's brows quirking with mild amusement, the old man giving a soft chuckle. "It certainly seems you have quite a few talents, hmm?" So far none of them technical, but hey, entertainment was useful, too. And, of course, if Gabriel ever managed to figure out his baking skills, the Doctor would be glad for some tasty treats. "I consider myself something of a jack of trades, dabbling here and there. Not so much in areas for entertainment, but, well, we can't all be comedians, now can we?"
whowillsaveyou: (On holiday!)

yay! :D

[personal profile] whowillsaveyou 2012-05-13 05:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Multi-talented people were very useful, and if he had many more that the Doctor didn't know of, well. Not that the Doctor only cared about usefulness, but it did open up options when one needed certain... talents. He just had to figure out what Gabriel's other talents were, at some point.

"Oh, you know. This and that. Mathematics, botany, zoology, archaeology, a bit of anthropology..." What could he say? He studied things. A lot. And while that was certainly not the extent of his dabbling, it was what he thought of given his research into this planet. "And I do brew a fine cup of tea, if I do say so myself," he added, a hint of a grin on his face before he took a sip from his cup.
tartanisstylish: (i'd rather you didn't thanks)

[personal profile] tartanisstylish 2012-05-13 10:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Aziraphale sighed. "Your definition of 'roadtest' is remarkably specific," he managed, and refused to look directly at Gabriel. He wished the archangel would sit still. Also stop talking, ideally, but of course that wasn't going to happen.

Rubbing his temple as the server approached, he took his refreshed scotch and held it close like a child or a lifeline, then swallowed half of it in one gulp. He still wouldn't look at Gabriel as he said, "I've never seen the appeal, honestly. It just seems - messy. Unnecessary. Base. Not really a tempting prospect."
Edited 2012-05-13 22:27 (UTC)
tartanisstylish: (oh i didn't see you there)

[personal profile] tartanisstylish 2012-05-14 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
"Don't mock me," he said mildly, though of course he was used to it, and he wasn't surprised. That didn't mean he'd put up with it.

He focused on the table while Gabriel spoke, allowing himself a few measured sips as he considered the archangel's words. Aside from this conversation being one of the most embarrassing of his existence, Aziraphale had to admit that his time as a pagan god had given Gabriel time to perfect persuasion. It didn't sound patently unpleasant, at the very least, although part of this might have been because Gabriel was not being particularly graphic.

Still, there was something about what the archangel was describing that seemed incomplete - and certainly not worth it. (That and the comparison to mud wrestling was not well-received. He'd had enough of mud for all time by the sixth century and had been thankful when humans invented the shower.) He shrugged and glanced up at Gabriel for the first time in several minutes with a gentle smile. "I suppose I'll have to take your word for it."
Edited 2012-05-14 03:57 (UTC)
whowillsaveyou: (Hear the dogs howling out of key)

[personal profile] whowillsaveyou 2012-05-14 04:48 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh, now, I don't get all that excited over it." That was a lie. He loved finding new places to explore and new societies to learn about. Well, new to him, since he traveled through time as well as space, but still.

The Doctor laughed. "Math can be quite useful, but everyone has their strong points, hmm? You may not be good with numbers, but I'm sure you make up for it in other areas." Everyone had something. Even the average, ordinary person. "Your sense of humour, for instance."
whowillsaveyou: (And bleed)

[personal profile] whowillsaveyou 2012-05-15 04:59 pm (UTC)(link)
He chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure you'll get better at it." He hoped so, anyway. Having a supplier of tasty baked goods on hand would be, well, delicious. "Math, as well, if you're truly interested. I am supposed to be a professor, after all." A professor of science, but math was pretty much required in many scientific fields.
tartanisstylish: (shit my hair is falling flat)

[personal profile] tartanisstylish 2012-05-16 06:52 am (UTC)(link)
Had Gabriel mentioned those other things, Aziraphale might have paused and stopped thinking for a moment and considered the possibility, the validity of that kind of connection. After all, what else were they here for if not to create connections, to become, in their own ways, human? He could at least have used it as an excuse. He would at least have thought about it; the idea would have niggled at the edge of his mind.

Instead he dismissed it. Hedonism was not his cup of tea, or so he liked to tell himself, and as such he refused to think about this topic any longer.

"I'll take the mockery, then," he said, with a firm but friendly smile. "You can corrupt me any way you like but that one. It simply won't work."
whowillsaveyou: (This is the dawning of)

[personal profile] whowillsaveyou 2012-05-16 04:20 pm (UTC)(link)
With something of a mischievious grin, the Doctor asked, "Does that mean I'll be seeing you at the library?" That was where the students went to study, after all. "Unless, of course, you'd prefer private tutoring. I'm sure we can arrange for that, hmm?" It wasn't like he really used his room for much, anyway, just storing things to read after hours. Acursed curfew.

He rather enjoyed speaking to Gabriel, as well, so in a way looked forward to it, even if he didn't much enjoy being a professor.

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