lt_safe_house | And the Wind Became Still as Death

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And the Wind Became Still as Death

Time: May 11th, around mid-afternoon
Place: Outside the Manor
Status: Public if anyone wants to be effected/notice or can be a one-shot
Summary: Raphael plays with his element

Raphael lay beneath the tree, staring up at the clear blue sky. It was a beautiful day in Lower Tadfield, the kind that would send those normally indoor-people outside to enjoy the fresh air and cool breeze.

Rising to his feet, he ruffled his feathers and slowly raised a hand to the sky. He had no powers, not anymore. His presence was weak, almost non-existent. But he was the Prince of the Power of the Air, just like his demonic counterpart. Presence or no presence, he could control his element as long as it existed around him. Air was everywhere.

A wind kicked up, swirling green leaves and dandelion tufts around him. He threw up both hands, concentrating hard. The clouds began to move in quickly, growing dark as they curled above him, covering the sky in a thick blanket. His uneven crimson locks whipped across his face.

A strike of lightning hit a few feet from him, another cracked behind in an explosive flash of white. The rain came down in torrents, soaking through his clothes and his wings and streaming from his stiff body planted in its place.

He brought a hand down, not breaking his concentration. Raphael waved it towards the sidewalk, causing a new swirl of wind to force back the flash flooding roaring onto the grounds. The angry water seemed to slap against an invisible wall, growing higher as the torrent continued to fall.

Large chunks of hail stung his face.

He brought the hand holding back the floods slowly upwards. The other hand he slowly moved down until both were clamped together in front of his face. Raphael whispered in the Angelic Tongue, drowned out by the swirling storm twisting to touchdown before him. The water was immediately sucked into it, as were the leaves and branches twisting together around him. A few feathers came loose from his wings but he held his gaze, not moving but for his clothes and hair.

Then, abruptly, he spread his hands out and the funnel separated. The clouds returned to the skies far away. The water returned to the sea. The leaves floated from the sky like snowflakes.

And Raphael dropped to his knees, breathing heavily, a satisfied grin on his face.

((•))

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"There," Loki said as Raphael's wings were lying flat again.

"Now all you need is a haircut, really."

He moved around the angel and sat on the stool across from him.

"Joe, do you have any idea of what happened to the other guy with my name?" he asked as he caught sight of the singed stool behind the counter and was reminded of their barfight.

"No," Joe admitted. "He hasn't been here in weeks. I guess he left the hotel."

Raphael smiled gratefully. "Yes, thank you for your help in all that. If you hadn't found me out there who knows what would have happened."

His cheeks colored as he raked his fingers through his uneven hair. "Yeah, I uhm... hacked it short." He didn't mention anything beyond that.

"It is certainly more practical that way," Joe noted diplomatically as he settled himself on his own stool.

Loki cocked his head slightly as he listened.

"Care to fill me in?" he suggested finally. "I seem to be somewhat underinformed here."

Raphael tried not to fidget. "I was having a hard time and got frustrated with things beyond my control. I hacked off my braid with a knife. Nearly cut off my wings too." He chewed on his lip. The scars; he knew, were still there, hidden beneath the soft crimson feathers.

"Fortunately my wings seem to be okay. My hair however..." He raked his fingers through it again. "Is a bit of a mess."

"You met before, apparently," Loki elaborated what he had meant. "Under less than comfortable circumstances I gather?"

He, personally, saw nothing wrong with the angel's hair, but then again where he came from, hacking off hair with a knife was simply what one did when it grew too long.

"I'd only singe your hair if I tried something," he said anyway. "But maybe there's a hair stylist in town?"

A... A stylist...? He chuckled and shook his head. "It's alright, it'll grow back in time." He swallowed some hot chocolate, letting out a deep purr of contentment. Yum.

"So," Loki said, "What are your plans here? Have you come to join Michael?"

After all, Michael had been rather forthcoming about ending the world and all...

He tried not to seem uncomfortable with the question of what his plans were. He honestly had no idea when he arrived. Actually, he had no idea period when he arrived except that he had been teetering on the edge of discorporation. "I might see if I can find a job as a mechanic," he said. He gave a smile at the mention of his brother. "And I would very much like to spend time with Gabriel and Michael. I have missed them terribly."

He remembered how worried they had been and was struck with a pang of guilt. He had become quite a burden on them.

"So you aren't here to help Michael with his project?" Loki asked vaguely.

He finished his drink and put the mug on the counter for joe to refill.

"Project...?" The confusion was evident as he looked at him with his head tilted slightly. "I haven't heard... He hasnt said anything to me about any project."

"He said something about bringing about the end of the world," Loki hinted.

A nasty thought crept up on him. What if that Michael had only said that by way of making fun of the jötunn and was now sitting somewhere laughing at his gullability?

Raphael nearly choked on his hot chocolate. "He hasnt said andything to me about that," he finally managed to croak out. "But then, I've been... we've been quite... distracted..."

Why didn't Michael tell him? It was a pretty important bit of information! Had he feared he couldnt trust him?

"Oh," Loki said. "I was led to believe that it was something like his official task?"

Just his luck, the first true ally that seemed to present himself turning out to be a fraud!

"Well I knew it was his task eventually, I just didnt know that was why he was here..." He pouted a little. Well, to be fair, Raphael had been in pretty bad shape. Helping him get better and then throwing in Hey! The world is ending! would have been a lot to swallow.

"Sorry for breaking the news then," Loki said. "Anyway, I don't think it's going to happen while he's here. Harm no one and all."

Of course when the world ended being thrown out of the manor wouldn't matter anymore.

Raphael downed the last of his chocolate, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. Surely the world couldn't end yet! But then, if Michael didnt end the world, humans would destroy themselves anyway. It was their nature, after all.

"I'm afraid its inevitable no matter what happens or who brings it," he sighed, shaking his head. "Humans are destructive by nature. No matter how we try to help them they will always find a way to end it all." There was an underlying bitterness to his tone, something uncharacteristically cold to his normally warm and gentle eyes.

Loki didn't particularly care about the world of humans one way or the other. His main target lay, as he had informed Michael, in Asgard.

Here, the way to gaining an accomplice seemed to lie down an only slightly less straightforward route than with Michael. "Not only humans," he said, mirroring the other's tone of bitterness. "Other beings, too." He paused for a moment. "What did they do to you to feel that way?"

There was no mistaking the bitterness in his eyes, a stark contrast to the normally gentle gaze he held. He seemed to be staring at something far beyond the walls of the bar, as if trudging up something from the murky depths of shadows long buried.

"I watched them destroy themselves," he finally said. "I watched as innocent blood was shed. They do not listen to reason." His voice seemed to be coming from somewhere inside of him, deep and ominous like the storm he had created. "They only want to destroy until nothing stands. When the world ends, it will be of their own hands." He closed his eyes, images of war and destruction and cries of children filling his mind. How could Father allow this? How could He expect His angels to stand aside and do nothing?

"Now, now," Joe said to the angel. "We're not all like that I should hope!"

The guilt was evident on Raphael's face. Joe had saved his life. If he hadnt found him he'd have caught his discorporation out there in the storm.

"Not all of them," he said quietly, looking up at him. "No... Not all of them..."

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And the Wind Became Still as Death

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