A discovery

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

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.

Comments

[stillnotfallen.livejournal.com]

Had he not been so distressed, Aziraphale would have lamented the arrival of a second Loki, pointing out that in his estimation one had been far too many. However, there were more important things to worry about at the moment. Such at revenge teaching others how to properly treat valuable manuscripts.

Oh bugger it. Aziraphale was entirely too angry to come up with legitimate justification for why he was about to do what he was about to do.

He wordlessly held out a hand to Gabriel, took the paintball gun, and cocked it loudly*.

--
* Whether or not the gun had been capable of being cocked in the first place is a subject best left alone. Aziraphale didn't change any of the mechanisms behind the gun - he didn't know the difference anyway, best to let freedom fighters use them instead of him - but it got the point across.

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

Huh? Loki thought as he heard the sound. What was the newcomer doing over there? There were a few things that he could imagine that sound being, and none of them were particularly good, from his point of view.

He pressed close to the ground and remained still and unmoving, not wanting to experience any truly painful surprises. He had never tried it, but he did not expect to be bullet-proof or anything.

[misterbkeele.livejournal.com]

What was going on over there? Voices, yes, but not much movement, and that mechanical noise. Unable to resist, Barnaby peered around the oak tree, still holding the marker aimed.

[stillnotfallen.livejournal.com]

Aziraphale, still wordlessly, held out the paintball gun and aimed it at the part of Barnaby showing from behind the tree. Oh, he liked Barnaby well enough, but the demon had been part of the team that had damaged the poor Bible, and as such was a fair target.

The paintball sailed through the air.

[misterbkeele.livejournal.com]

And headshot!

He pulled the trigger of his own gun reflexively as the pellet struck him in the forehead. When his vision cleared, Barnaby found himself flat on his back, with a stinging welt on his head, and, yes, splattered with yellow.

"...ow."

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

Under the cover of the shrubbery, Loki crawled over to the demon.

"Are you alright?" he whispered, wondering how good the ears of angels were.

[cattygabriel]

Barnaby's shot hit his chest squarely, and he couldn't suppress a small grunt of pain as the green paint blossomed over his shirt.

"You hit his head?" he hissed. "That's going to hurt."

His own head snapped up as he heard something - in humans, adrenaline heightened the senses, and with angels, who had heightened senses even on normal days, this was more marked.

He aimed at where the whisper had come from and fired.

[stillnotfallen.livejournal.com]

"I didn't mean to," Aziraphale admitted, feeling a twinge of guilt as he lowered himself further to the ground, "He poked his head out and - well, this is a paintball war."

He watched Gabriel fire at the whisper. "Do we have a plan?" he asked.

edited

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel was a little worried about the shot Barnaby had taken; he doubted paintballs were made for firing at faces. Pain aside, the paint would have spread over the demon's eyes, nose and possibly even his mouth. Hopefully he could take care of himself, though Gabriel had nothing against calling a truce to heal him if he needed it.

"Er, no. No, we don't," Gabriel admitted. "I think it's more of 'hit them as much as possible and try not to get hit'. He ducked even lower, pressing himself to the ground.

This was almost like training, but more fun.

[misterbkeele.livejournal.com]

He blinked to steady his vision, then quickly shut his eyes and wiped the paint from his face before it seeped past his eyelids. "Oh," Barnaby said vaguely, "you know, I never did try a form with blonde hair. I guess I don't need to now."

A pause, before he shook himself, drawing himself up on one elbow and retrieving his marker. He pressed a finger to his forehead, creating another jolt of pain, but the angry welt began to subside.

"Hello, Loki. Just bruised dignity. I think I owe them some repayment, though."

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

Loki ignored Gabriel's hit as best he could, hoping it would seem as if he had missed. He nodded, looked around and then grinned at Barnaby.

So if he was going to lead one of the two sides ad Ragnarök, he mightj ust as well start getting some leadership experience, right?

Using hand-signs that he hoped were obvious to the demon, he indicated to Barbaby that he should move backwards, out of reach of the angels, and then try and round the building without being seen to come out behind the two others. He'd see to the diversion.

That particular plan meant that he was splitting his forces, but if your forces only numbered two people to begin with, splitting them could hardly be avoided.

[stillnotfallen.livejournal.com]

"Er. As I said, it was an accident. I'm sure Barnaby can heal himself, and if not I could always do it for him," Aziraphale admitted out loud, still trying to justify his shot to both him and Gabriel, as the more time passed the more he felt guilty. Bugger. Barnaby was so nice and hopefully wouldn't come to hate him for this...!

But the Kraken Bible was urging him on.

"Well, we need a plan, I think," he said, "We should find someplace higher up, ideally with very few obstructions that we can monopolize." Really at this point he was pulling plans out of his arse: he had been a member of the Host, yes, but not in a tactician role. "That way we can see them and fire at them but be ourselves fairly well protected. If there is such a place on the grounds..."

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

Trusting that Barnaby would a) understand, b) agree and c) comply, Loki raised himself up a little, got off two quick shots, and threw himself back down into the cover of the bushes, trying to get away from where he had just been visible.

[cattygabriel]

"Good idea," Gabriel agreed. Luckily, he was already pressed to the ground, so neither of the shots got him, but he wasn't sure about Aziraphale. He fired off a shot at where Loki had been, although he was doubtful if the Norse god would still be there. "But where do you suggest?"

Gabriel had been a tactician, of sorts, but he was a little more used to open warfare than this sort of stealthy gunfire. Still, he'd have to adapt.

"I suggest you keep your voice down," he murmured. "Those shots didn't seem particularly well-aimed. I suspect a diversion, but from what?"

[stillnotfallen.livejournal.com]

"I have no idea, we'll have to look around first."

Two objects whizzed overhead; one sailed by harmlessly, the other collided with Aziraphale's large blonde curls and the tree, turning the angel into a redhead.

He stared at his new hair colour and muttered back, "Probably moving positions."

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

Once more, Loki came up just as far as he dared to. This time, he aimed a bit lower than before. he took the time for three shots, then dove into the bushes again. He hoped he could keep the two angels moving for a bit.

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel had to fight back laughter at the younger angel's new hair colour, but when part of his own hair turned red as well it wasn't quite as funny. He remembered telling Phanuel that he himself wouldn't look good as a redhead, and here was the proof.

"Move!" he hissed softly, already moving away on his stomach. "Keep changing position."

[misterbkeele.livejournal.com]

Barnaby nodded once to show his understanding and vanished into the shrubbery. It seemed as good a plan as any, and it wasn't as if there was time to argue it out.

He kept to the undergrowth until he had reached the wall and had ducked around the corner, where he could stand safely and start sprinting around the building.

This was going to look very odd to anyone indoors.

[stillnotfallen.livejournal.com]

Aziraphale slithered away with Gabriel, keeping his ears open for the sounds of any sort of movement around them as well.

He didn't like this one bit. "All the shots are coming from one direction," he hissed softly to Gabriel.

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel bit his lip. "Then... either they're sticking together in the same spot, which is unlikely, or one of them is moving away and it's a diversion." It was probably what he would have done, had he been mounting an ambush.

He reached out with his senses, feeling for Baraq's demonic aura, and frowned. The demon wasn't where he should be, where the shots were coming from. "Baraq's not there. I'd say he's going to ambush us. I'm going to see if I can sneak up on Loki. Stay here and cover me, but move around a bit so they don't catch on like we did," he murmured very softly, almost inaudibly, trusting in the other angel's otherwordly hearing.

He began to move again, wriggling on his stomach, in Loki's general direction.

[stillnotfallen.livejournal.com]

Aziraphale agreed to this course of action with a slight nod, slowly moving in the opposite direction, not far or fast enough to stop watching Gabriel's back, but hopefully enough that he wouldn't appear stationary.

[cattygabriel]

He should probably have known anyway; the shots coming at them now were red, which had been the colour of the paintballs in Loki's gun.

Thankful he'd decided to wear jeans today - robes would have been difficult to do this in - he moved until there was a slight gap between two clumps of bushes; if he moved forward, Loki might be able to see him. He turned, looking at Aziraphale, silently willing the Principality to process his situation and distract Loki with some shots in the other direction, giving him enough time to dart for cover.

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

Loki remained pressed close to the ground and tried to catch sight of the others' feet through the tangles of bushes.

When he glimpsed something that seemed promising, he shot, hoping that the paint would not be completely deflected by the angels' cover.