lt_safe_house | A discovery

Entry tags:

A discovery

Date: April 3, 2003, afternoon
Status: Public - complete
Setting: The Manor
Summary: Loki discovers some left-overs from the past. Anyone come play?

Loki returned to his room with a contented smile on his face. He had spend some hours rummaging through things from the manor's past, hoping to find something that would prove interesting and maybe even useful.

What he had found was certainly interesting, while its usability, as well as its usefulness, were still in some doubt. What he did not doubt in the least, however, was that he would find out about both soon enough.

He dragged his low table to the corner from where he could keep an eye on the door. Not knowing quite where his so-called friends and family were would keep him somewhat on edge for a long time, he feared. Or at least until he had enough allies of his own to sleep comfortably again. Not that he slept at all at the moment.

Carefully, he put down the four paintball markers he had been carrying on the table and unslung the bag from his shoulder. Then he laid out the paint cartridges he had collected in it, sorted by color. So now he had some firearms, though admittedly not the type he'd been thinking of when he mentioned them to his other self.

He reached into the box with red paint pellets. Yes, that was definitely his color. He took one out, holding it carefully between him fingers in order not to crush it. The ammunition had gone unused for years, it seemed, and the paint inside seemed to have dried up. Maybe applying a little heat would help.

The first attempt went somewhat awry. The heat flowing from his fingers caused the paintball to swell until it no longer fit into the weapon. It brust when he tried, splashing his hand with red paint.

He wiped it on the inside of the light jacket he wore open without as much as a t-shirt beneath, and tried again. A little less heat this time, and more slowly. He stopped when the outside of the ball started to show the first sign of reaction. This one was much better. Of course he would have to try it out to see if it was truly functional again.

Loading the marker, he went to his open window, sighted on one of the trees on the manor grounds, and pulled the trigger. With a satisfied grin at the result, he went back to his table to put the remaining ammunition into a functional state again, before he collected everything and went downstairs.

In the lobby, he put down three of the markers in conspicuous places, together with the paintfall boxes with yellow, blue and green ammunition. Then he retreated to the doorway to watch if anyone would come in and pick one up. The loaded red marker firmly in his hands and ready for action, he leaned against the wall and waited.

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How to explain the Antichrist to a pagan god who'd been rather... out of the loop for the past thousand years?

"Adam Young is the Antichrist. The Son of Satan, though not literally, I think. Satan, or Lucifer, is... utter evil. Our great Adversary." It wasn't always so, though. "Adam was supposed to bring about the end of the world, the Apocalypse, some years ago, but decided he liked humanity and the world in general too much to let it end. That rather nullifies his role, I think, so I'm really not sure how to define him. I do know that he loves this town very much, so if you want to stay here, don't harm the town or its inhabitants in any way."

He grinned at the thought. "I'd like to read that. Well, I'm also the librarian here, so come to the library one day and I can show you the books on Norse legends."

"I take it you're a young pantheon, if you haven't managed to make peace among yourselves, then. Back home, it worked out pretty well... Hold some discussions, exchange a few hostages, and then no more warring amongst ourselves! As for utter evil - I don't believe in that concept. The same goes for utter good. I mean, isn't it always what two sides of a conflict say about themselves and the other? No, I personally side with neutrality."

Besides, he was the one who was supposed to bring the end of the world about, not some Adam Young. "But I guess it's good that he left the world in peace. It's such a nice world. With many nice, new things that were invented while I was taking my involuntary vacation. Speaking of which..." He hefted his marker. "Do you know how to use these?"

Gabriel bit his lip, running a hand through his hair. "We were peaceful once. Peaceful, and calm, and full of love. But Lucifer... he had his reasons for rebelling, but it changed things forever. A third of the Host Fell with him, and we - Heaven and Hell - have been bitter enemies since. Most angels and demons would kill each other on sight. I prefer not to, but not all of them share my views. Perhaps there is still some good left in Lucifer, but he does glory in evil. You have an interesting perspective, however."

He laughed at that. "I know what you mean. I was in Heaven for about a century and when I returned here... well, I'd followed major developments like wars and leaps in medicine, of course, but everyday life itself has changed drastically in a short time." He looked down at his own gun for a moment. "No, I don't. I have nothing against learning, though. These only fire paint, right?"

The angel didn't appear too peaceful and full of love to be a worthy ally, Loki thought. It was also easy to be peaceful and calm and full of love when no one was objecting to anything. It was the way those whp did object were treated that in said most about any given ruler, be it one who ruled a pantheon or otherwise. Having been at the receiving end of that treatment, Loki considered that meeting this Lucifer might be interesting.

For the moment, though... "Yes," he said. "That's what they do." You were probably also supposed to wear some kind of padding to take the sting out of any hits, but where would the fun be in that? In one swift motion, he raised his marker, aimed in the direction of the angel as well as he could at that speed and fired, then ducked out of the way of the retaliation that was sure to come.

"Oof!" Paint it may be, but it stung, especially because of the close quarters, and he staggered back slightly. He should have been able to duck that, but he hadn't expected it to be so sudden. Well, if that was what Loki wanted...

Loki, unsurprisingly, had ducked, and the first wild shot landed in the wall. My apologies, Ms Hodges. He turned swiftly, managed to aim properly fairly fast, and fired.

When the second shot came, Loki realized that he had made a mistake when he had chosen the place to stage his paintball-competition. Large the lobby might be, but it was far too small for this particular game.

He had tried to drop out of the way when the angle had turned, but he hadn't been quite fast enough to evade the paint. Blue stained his jacket, and he resisted the urge to rub his arm. Instead, he brought up his marker and gave off another shot in the general direction of the angle, more in a hope of keeping him too busy evading the paint to shoot than to actually hit. Maybe that would give him just the time he needed to get to the door and outside, and draw the game where they had actually some cover and didn't have to deal with breaking furniture...

Gabriel quickly dodged the paint-pellet heading his way, and a splotch of blue paint stained one of the sofas in the lobby. He winced, waving a hand to miracle away the red and blue stains on the wall and sofa, before swiftly ducking behind the sofa.

"Outside?" he called. Loki thrived on chaos, but surely he didn't plan to vandalise the lobby thus.

Now that was one handy move, Loki thought as he watched the angel remove the paint on the wall without any visible effort.

"Definitely outside!" Loki replied and lunged for the door. The one outside first would definitely have a certain advantage. The other one had to come through that door as well, after all.

Gabriel laughed, running towards the door as well. He aimed at Loki's leg and shot, not really trying to hit him but hoping it would delay him slightly; just enough that Gabriel himself would have time to make it outside first.

He certainly hadn't expected something similar to a training session, but the adrenaline rush was exhilarating.

For the second time that day, a tall grey-clad figure wandered his way up the manor drive. His walk about the village had done Barnaby a world of good: the lines about his eyes were less pronounced.

He looked around and blinked. An oak tree on the grounds was splattered in, no, not blood, red paint. Shouts and thuds and running footsteps could be heard as he approached the front of the building, but edged with laughter rather than otherwise.

"What in the world?"

Trying to change your direction in mid-leap was not always a good idea. While he tried to stay in the angel's path and not be hit by the paint at the same time, he tripped on something and stumbled.

He grabbed for the first part of the angel he could get a hold of, as much to keep himself upright as to hold him back.

Gabriel gasped as the god's hand closed around his knee; he cut a rather undignified figure as he threw out flailing arms, trying desperately to keep his balance.

Wings burst out from his back instinctively, flapping hard to keep him airborne; unfortunately, they were a sudden pull against Loki's grip, and his other foot slipped against the edge of the carpeting.

The angel and the god landed rather hard on the floor in a tangle of limbs and feathers. Gabriel pulled away enough that his wings were not touching Loki, then tried to apologise, but all that came out was laughter.

Laughing as well, Loki scrambled to his feet and picked up the marker. He brushed off his pants and took in the wings with interest.

"What are you going to change into? A swan?" he asked, quickly checking the marker and satisfied that it had not taken any damage. Red paint would look nice on those white wings.

Gabriel, too, got to his feet, brushing off his jeans and picking up his paint-gun. He laughed again.

"I'm not going to change into anything, least of all a swan," he smiled. "This is closer to my natural form. We appear almost human, but with wings." He folded them and they disappeared, as did the rips in his shirt; with Loki there holding a paint-gun, it seemed the safest thing to do.

"When I have wings, I'm about this size." Loki indicated the size of his eagle shape. "Now... are you still armed?"

He wasn't sure how much those markers could take. That his own was still functional didn't mean that the other one's was. Also, while the angel was checking his, he might be able to go and take a suitable position outside.

"But you turn into an actual bird as opposed to a winged man?"

Gabriel shrugged. "I assume it's working." And so it would be. "Oh, and I claim that clump of bushes." Without waiting for an answer, he quickly ran towards it, still alert in case Loki decided to take advantage. It should provide fairly good cover.

Gabriel turned, sensing someone else there. "Baraq!" he called. "Choose a side or get barraged by paintballs!"

Grinning, Loki ducked being another bush close enough to the building that no one could come at him from behind and waited. He wasn't going to shoot the angel from behind. At least not while there was still a completely un-painted demon around.

Oh, he thought. Of course. Everyone's gone mad. How nice.

"So," he said, inching carefully towards the front doors, very aware that even if this was a game, he was still A) unarmed, and B) exposed, "Is this a regular event or a spontaneous free-for-all? Just so one can be forewarned for the future."

"You know, I'm not too sure," Gabriel grinned. "This was spontaneous, though, as far as I know. Check with Loki, he started it. And pick a side before one of us shoots you."

"Or start one of your own", Loki suggested. "Green and Yellow are as yet untaken. Equipment is inside. Now hurry!"

He concentrated on the angel again, aiming a shot that would hopefully get him to jump up or out, and then firing another at the place that he expected Gabriel to jump to.

For the second time, Gabriel was hit by red paint, and he winced. It was even worse because the paintball had missed him by an inch; it had struck the tree just behind him, and the paint had splashed onto him. He rubbed at his arm, before aiming at where Loki was.

A glimpse of blond hair though the leaves. He fired lower, at what he hoped was the chest region.

Unfortunately, Loki moved right into the shot. He winced as the pellet hit him and exploded on his bare skin, leaving a large blue stain. If they had been playing by the rules, he'd be dead now. However, no one had stated what rules they played by, or if there were any rules at all, so...

He quickly fired another shot in the direction of his opponend, then dropped flat to the ground and crawled behind the next bush as quickly and silently as he could. That put him farhter away from the wall, but if the angel hadn't noticed his relocation, it might be worth that little loss of protection.

Barnaby had opened his mouth to say something, then the shooting had started again and he dove into the safety of the building.

"Crud," he said, shrugging off his grey jacket (now streaked with grime from the lobby floor, but bugger if he was getting it dirtier) and tossing it at a chair. Despite himself, the spirit of the game was catching.

Well, when in Rome... He picked himself up and awkwardly loaded a marker with green paint capsules. After a moment's hesitation, Barnaby scrambled out the window directly into a shrub. What else? Oh:

"Sorry, Messenger," he called to wherever the angel was, "but Loki's as new to this place as I. It's only fair if I team with him, isn't it?"

Not about to give away his new hiding place, Loki didn't answer to that, though he whole-heartedly agreed. He stayed where he was, waiting for the angel's next move - or the demon's first.

Gabriel's shirt could no longer be called white. He gasped as Loki's wild shot hit his waist, splattering red paint over the shirt like blood.

It was fair, he supposed, but now he was outnumbered. Dropping onto his stomach and wriggling so he could peer out from beneath the bushes, he caught sight of one of the bushes rustling a bit. He aimed at where he hoped Baraq was, and fired.

This was rather fun.

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A discovery

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