lt_safe_house | (no subject)

Current Location: the restaurant

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(no subject)

Date: April 3, 2003
Status: Public (Aziraphale, Baraq, Gabriel, Loki II) - complete
Setting: The restaurant
Summary: The paintball players get together for some beverages and lunch afterwards.

Aziraphale, wrapped up in a large blanket and sipping on hot tea, reassured for the umpteenth time that the Kraken Bible was again paint-free before returning his concentration to his three companions.

"So, that was interesting," the angel chattered out, still quite chilly and very damp from having triggered the sprinkler system. "Do I dare ask how that all came about?"

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Gabriel tugged at a paint-caked lock of hair and smiled at Aziraphael. "Well, I'm hardly balking. But I rather doubt we'll be using guns when we do end up fighting." It was a little awkward talking about this with the demon there, and he shifted in his chair.

"What then?" Loki asked amiably. "Swords? Spears? Don't you think that's a bit out-dated?"

He grinned, knowing full well that beings like them probably didn't much care for fashion. "And I didn't know you were the powers that be or anything, librarian. Does that mean I shot some angel bigwig out there?"

"Mad American painter," Barnaby said vaguely. "Alcoholic, I think. That probably doesn't narrow it down very well."

He cleared his throat, discomfited, and refilled his glass to cover it.

"Alcoholic, hm?" Loki said, sipping his mead. "The man has taste. Though I've never been that involved with artists."

Barnaby didn't seem to like the way the conversaion was going, so he tried to change the subject. "So, what do you guys do here when you're not irritating Mary Hodges by painting her garden?"

Aziraphale sighed, thankful for the change in conversation as much as anyone else was. "Not much for me, unfortunately. I'm simply a guest here. There isn't much I could do, anyway, considering." He pulled the blanket around him tighter and sipped his tea again. "I run a book shop back in London, however."

Oh, his books. He hoped they were still all right. He was going to have to pester Crowley to leave his room for once and take him back to London soon.

"Considering what?" Loki wanted to know. "And what kinds of books are you selling?"

Get to know people, show an interest, even if he found his mead much more interesting at the moment. That was what would eventually gain him allies. "Why is Gabriel running the library if you are the expert on books?"

"Because I got here first," Gabriel interjected, grinning. "I have a feeling that if he had gotten here first, he would be the librarian. And, well," he had never liked talking about ranks, "I did tell you I was second in command of the Heavenly Host. I'm also, well, the second highest angel in Heaven. I don't mind the shooting, though, it was fun."

"Who's the highest?" Loki asked quickly. "Not that I meant to imply you're not good enough or anyhting - But if the second-highest approves and the highest-ranking one doesn't, you might just be outranked. And as the initiator of our little target practice out there, I'd rather not be there if that happens."

He grinned as he said it.

"Michael?" Gabriel smiled. "Oh, I'm quite sure he'd approve. He might even be disappointed that he didn't get to join in."

"Invite him, and we'll repeat the exercise," Loki offered. Wouldn't it be just great if he could get this Michael to led him the Heavenly Host for a small battle?

"Though having to ask permission and wearing 'protective gear' might take some of the fun out of it."

"He assuredly won't want anything protecting him," Aziraphale offered weakly. "He's sort of... unique like that."

"He likes pain?" Loki asked. "Well, to each his own. I personally have had my fill of pain for the next... mmmh... couple of millennia in the very least."

"I'm.... not entirely sure he feels pain, to be honest," Aziraphale admitted with a nervous laugh. "I was in his army for a time, and I saw him endure so many wounds without complaint, then he would laugh them off and say he hadn't even gotten touched, only to pass out from blood loss."

He sipped his tea. "An odd duck." He glanced at Gabriel in hope he hadn't just overstepped his boundaries.

"Adrenaline," Loki suggested. "It does weird things to a fellow's pain tolerance."

He leaned back and let his hand dangle over the side of his chair, glass still held in it. "Sounds like you had a hot youth."

Gabriel rolled his eyes, looking annoyed. "It was irksome, to say the least. The rest of us would worry about him, but he'd refuse help. Adrenaline has nothing to do with it; that's the way he is. I can think of far worse names for him than 'odd duck'."

The subject changed to slightly smoother grounds, Barnaby was content to sit and listen for a minute, tracing squiggles on the tabletop from the condensed water leaking off his glass.

"If my memory of him is still correct," he said carefully, "I would count myself out of this hypothetical future match. I imagine he would be a little more than an odd duck if I was on the opposing team."

Loki grinned. "Sounds like a true warrior. I think I've known one not totally unlike him in my time. I'm not too keen on meeting that one again, though. Opposing sides, you know?"

He rubbed his face with his free hand, wiping away a flash of imaginary pain. "I think among mortals, the effect was called 'going berserk'?"

"Thor?" Gabriel asked. He hid the resultant smirk by taking a large gulp of lemonade.

Michael and Thor; that was something he'd have to tell him, though he might have to explain who Thor was. It was odd; Gabriel actually did miss Michael. The Warrior infuriated him like noone else could, and yet... I never thought I'd miss being annoyed all the time.

"He'd be a full-time berserker, then."

"You probably wouldn't have to worry about running into Thor, here," Barnaby said to Loki. "From what I can tell, we'd hear news he was in the country long before he got anywhere near Tadfield."

Loki's smile was only a little forced. "Thanks," he said. "That's very reassuring. The moment I hear he's anywhere near, I'll be gone."

Only if he wasn't sure enough that everyone else was on his side, of course, but he saw no need to mention that.

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