Lower Tadfield Safehouse

"Lollipops," Aziraphale added. "They're quite good at reducing one's perception of their own age as well."

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"But not very suitable for shooting," Loki pointed out. "Their shape is all wrong. They won't fly properly, I bet."

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"This is very true. They would make everything a sticky mess as well, although splatter less than the paint," Aziraphale agreed. "Lollipops are definitely not designed for warfare, but rather for times of peace and sweet-cravings."

He could go for something sweet right now. Sigh.

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"I have yet to try a lollipop," Gabriel commented. "I love chocolate, though."

He took another bite of cake, eye fluttering shut momentarily. This was... almost heavenly.

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"Chocolate is far preferrable to lollipops, but sometimes lollipops do the trick," Aziraphale said. He summoned two of them, both flavoured cherry, and handed one to Gabriel. He put the other in his mouth. "They last longer and are less messy."

Really, was he having a conversation about lollipops with an Archangel, a demon and a Norse god?

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Gabriel carefully laid his fork down and accepted the lollipop curiously. "Thank you."

He unwrapped it carefully and tentatively licked it. Then he put the whole thing into his mouth, sugary sweetness washing over his tongue, and his eyes closed momentarily. "Mmm." This was good. Chocolate was far better, but still, this was... good. Gabriel took it out again and grinned at Aziraphael. "This is good. I still prefer chocolate, but this is... nice, to say the least."

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Aziraphale beamed. "That's two things I've managed to do right over the millennia, then," he said fondly, referring to chocolate and lollipops.

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Loki cleared his throat to catch Aziraphale's attention and surreptitiously pointed at himself and Baraq.

Those things hadn't been around when he had been around the last time either, and he was curious, too. And apart from that, if Aziraphale wanted to do things right, he could just as well do them right the whole way.

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Aziraphale beamed even more as he miracled two more cherry lollipops, handing one to Loki and one to Baraq. "Here you are then, dears. I didn't mean to disclude you, but I simply had to see what Gabriel thought of it."

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Lokis lips curved into a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He disliked strict hierarchies, unless he was at the top of them, and if Aziraphale needed his supervisor's permission to even dish out sweets, he wasn't sure how well he the plans he harbored for the angels would work out after all.

"Thank you," he said. Then he looked at the three in turn. "Anyone of you up for a game of cards?"

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Gabriel wouldn't have minded in the least if Aziraphale decided to dress up as the Sugarplum Fairy and skip through the Manor, strewing sweets everywhere. He would definitely have been very amused, though.

He shrugged. "I only know how to play whist and bridge, I'm afraid. They're probably a little outdated by now."

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"I bet they are," Loki said. "But nevertheless I've never heard of them. Maybe one day you'll teach me?"

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"Of course," Gabriel smiled. Loki must have missed a lot, what with being imprisoned for so long; he couldn't imagine being incarcerated underground, let alone for such a length of time.

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"Good," Loki said. "Catching up is always a good thing to do. How about I drop my your library one of these days?"

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"Well, you hardly need an appointment," the Archangel laughed. "I should be there from about midmorning to evening on weekdays and midmorning to late afternoon on Saturdays, except for things like lunch breaks. But feel free to browse whenever you like, even if I'm not there."

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"You're sure?" Loki said with a mischievous grin. "I might accidentally set something on fire there. I bet your books would burn just beautifully."

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Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "They would, I'm sure. I'm also sure I could contain the flames, though."

Edited Date: Monday, 7 June 2010 15:32 (UTC)

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"Even if you're not there?" Loki grinned at him and hoped the angel would not take his banter seriously.

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Aziraphale bit down on his lower lip hard, valiantly resisting the urge to smite anyone who dared mention violence against books, even jovially.

He had shot someone in the face for getting paint on one just this afternoon, after all.

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"If you set the books on fire while I wasn't there, I think that even if I was persuaded not to hunt you down, Aziraphael would," Gabriel responded, glancing at the Principality. "I do have a higher opinion of your survival skills, though."

He grinned at the Norse god.

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Aziraphale merely gave a little smile to that and sipped his drink, hoping that Loki got the hint.

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Loki grinned at them jovially, pushed back his chair and got up.

"Well," he said, "I really enjoyed our game and our talk. But I hope you'll excuse me now... I have some libraries to set on fire."

He hoped the joke would be taken as such.

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misterbkeele.livejournal.com

Barnaby made a rather wry expression at the talk of book burning, absently tapping his forehead where the paintball had hit it. It was healed, but one didn't forget that in a hurry.

"I think I'll take my leave as well," he said, standing and pocketing the lollipop. "If you folks run into any winged babies with toy swords, tell them I said hi."

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