cape_kore | 010 | Private Audio to assorted residents

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010 | Private Audio to assorted residents | Day 117

[Things suddenly got complicated. Crowley is a manageable annoyance, as far as Balthazar is concerned. He's been here before. Michael, though...

Honestly, he'd rather have Lucifer back, and he feels just a bit guilty for it.

The net result is that he's on edge and worrying what this means for certain friends and acquaintances around town.]

Private to Donna

I'd like to visit as soon as possible, if I may. Some of the new arrivals are...look, let me come and set up some warding for you, please, love?

to Ellen

Do you know how to angel-proof? Might want to consider it. We've got a volatile situation.

to Raphael

Have you met the boy with Dean's face? Alec. How close to Dean's genetic makeup is he, do you suppose, and what, if anything, ought we to do about cutting off potential trouble there before it starts? [Because he can't see Alec being anything but obnoxious toward Michael, and probably rather incautious, as well.]

to Castiel

[A brief, simple audio:] Cassi? Do me a favor and don't do anything foolish.

to Mina and Fortescue

Hello! I've been distracted by our new arrivals. If you're not worried, you should be. But I've promised to introduce you to one another. Would you be available to meet at the library after dusk? I can explain more then.

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I don't know Donna, but I can promise that. And don't worry, I know how to keep my mouth shut.

Consider it a deal. [You're lucky, Ellen! Last deal he made was for a soul. But he won't be mentioning that, since the last thing he wants is to give his brothers reasons to smite him.]

I'll come by late tonight.

You keep up the supply of things, and I'll get the still back up and running and keep you supplied.

I'll be here, don't worry.

Ah! That will be my genuine pleasure.

[He ends the feed there, but well after dark he turns up at the bar with a sheet of paper, a can of paint, and a couple brushes.]

[She has a candle burning, not because there's no power, but because she just wanted to sit quietly in the dark, and think. She's got a glass of moonshine at her elbow, but she's not drinking it.

Ellen hates nights like this. Her mind is a morass of things that there's no one to talk to about and she just wants to let go of the present and live in her memories, just for the tiniest bit.

Hearing Balthazar come in, she pushes herself up and turns on the light.]

Howdy. Whatcha got?

[She walks over, curious, all of her mental ramblings off of her face. Now, she's just the concerned bartender, nothing more.]

[She looks pensive, he thinks, and more than a bit melancholy. When he enters, he's tempted to hug her, but he's not sure how that would go over. In any case, the maudlin air is banished by the lights coming on.]

Sketches, and paint. I advise you to select one or two rooms for this. The more space you try to protect, the harder it is to keep warded.

[He meets her eyes seriously.] I'll guide you, but you're going to need to paint these yourself. How's your memory for sigils and forms?

[She's already got it planned. The back room, the still. That'd give them places to retreat if things get bad. And they'd still have all the alcohol and food.

At his question, she raises her eyebrows and looks around the bar.]

all of this is done from memory.

[Including the Key of Solomon that's right by the front door. She shrugs.]

Edited 2013-10-03 17:51 (UTC)

Good. [He gives a slight, grim nod.] Better if this isn't done in my handwriting. For both of us, really.

[He sets the paper on the bar. The surface of it is covered with Enochian writing, complex and elegant.] And while I'm here, I'll advise you to ask one of the Winchesters about the angel banishing sigil, but only in the case of extreme emergency. It hurts, and any angel you use it on will come back angry. But it might buy time.

There's a banishing symbol?

[She hadn't thought about that. She's used to demons and bad things. Getting rid of the admittedly assholish angels never occurred to her. It makes sense though, now that she thinks about it.

Her eyes don't lift from the paper. She's trying to memorize them as quickly as possible, so that they can be written all over.]

Anything else I need to know?

[She looks up at him.]

I can't guess how hard this is for you.

There is, yes. On our own world, it'll send an angel across the planet. Here, I have no idea what it might do. Which is why I suggest you leave it as a last desperate resort.

I know the boys know it, though, and if one of them teaches you, you can tell everyone it wasn't me, with complete honesty. [Yeah, he's afraid.]

Thank you. I...have never really spoken with Michael before. I'm not even certain what will happen. Just that he's used to being in command.

As long as I can keep them out of some places, I'll handle it.

[She puts a hand on his arm. Ellen can tell fear when she sees it.]

If you need help, even against those two jackasses, I'm here, alright?

[She may only be worth a shoulder to cry on, or for a hug, but it's better than nothing.]

You're too kind. [He smiles gently, placing his hand over hers and patting once.]

It's all right. I knew I'd have to face the music eventually. I just don't want to see anyone I like get hurt for no good reason.

[She smiles a bit crookedly.]

Family always cares. And don't think about standing up to them on your own, alright? They may be able to take me down with a blink, but I'm not one to back down from a fight, understand?

[She means it Balthazar. This is too much of a fishbowl to hold too many grudges. Meg is different.]

[He's still for a moment, processing her words. His first instinct is to brush it aside with an insistence that she stay out of trouble, but that first little sentence catches his attention.]

Did you just claim me as family? [His expression is comically confused. Some angels would be offended, perhaps, but if he's interpreting her correctly...well that's downright touching.]

[Ellen looks up at him. Is she? Sure. Cas is too, whether he's with Meg or not.]

Family doesn't stop at blood.

[It's something she's learned over the years, and when someone has needed her, Ellen has tried to be there.]

You're sticking your neck out to protect me and Jo, Balthazar. That's what family does. Don't let anyone tell you different.

[He stares for a moment, then sits on the nearest stool, just a bit heavily.]

That's more than I'd ever have thought to ask of you, you know. [It's quiet, and slightly hoarse. If he weren't an angel, he'd probably be teary right about now. As it is, he looks both flattered and flustered.]

Do try not to vanish on me, then, won't you?

[She looks at him and walks around the bar, sitting on the stool next to him.]

That's the other thing family does: more than you'd ever ask of them, but they do it anyway, because it's the right thing to do.

[Ellen smiles a bit.]

And I'm not planning on going anywhere.

[He averts his gaze, clearly thinking this over, and wondering if his own perceptions of family are skewed. The Host hasn't been allowed to love freely for a while. What is family to an angel? Loyalty, yes, and unity of purpose, but tenderness? Not so much.

Riley told him he shouldn't have to fear his brothers, and he was inclined to dismiss the advice. Mortals aren't built like angels. Why should their relationships be constructed the same? But what Ellen's saying rings truer. The Right Thing isn't following orders or conforming to the Divine Will. It's in sticking one's neck out for someone who's important in a barely-rational way that can't even be put into words.

At last he looks up and gives Ellen a misty half-smile.] In that case, I think I was promised a drink? And I may need a hug.

[Mostly the latter, really, but he wouldn't want her to think he's gotten too sentimental.]

[Her smile softens her face and her eyes are warm and open in a way that really only Jo has ever seen from her. She keeps the shields up, even with the boys, because she's seen too many come through the roadhouse, too many lost and broken souls that end up dying on a back dusty road without anyone to hold their hand and no one to know they're gone until much, much later.

She's lit too many candles, and said too many prayers in the dark of night for people that she barely knew the name of. And then there's the old friends, the ones that were just that step too slow, just that tiny bit off, who get lost in the fight that they'd always been on the front line. Old friends that just don't come back one time, and she never gets to say good bye to.

Getting up, Ellen doesn't reach for the alcohol, she doesn't fetch a glass, or play the good bartender. Instead, Ellen wraps warm, strong arms around Balthazar and drags him into a hug, resting her cheek against his head, and just holding him. She knows how hard it is just to ask for something so simple as a hug. Ellen will never deny anyone the peace of this tiny bit of physical comfort. No matter how mad she is at them.]

[Maybe he's starting to understand what Castiel sees in the Winchesters. With a faint sound between a sigh and a chuckle, he hugs back, leaning slightly, and closes his eyes. He's gone to great lengths in the past to keep himself from thinking by overloading his physical senses with all the contact and pleasure he could get. This is different. A hug doesn't stop him from thinking, but it makes the thinking hurt less.

In the long run it won't keep either of them from dying or make circumstances okay, but he won't forget it.]

Thank you, love. I'm honored.

[She chuckles, actually dropping a kiss on the top of his head. She collects the misfits, the unwanteds. They're hers and she will fight anyone - angel or demon - for them.

The roadhouse hadn't just been a physical place. The physical building had helped, but there'd been a lot more to it too. She pulls back and gets them both glasses and a bottle of the moonshine.She pours them both heavy doses. Then she tilts her glass to him.]

To family.

[Sometimes, human generosity is breathtaking. He saw it in his own vessel, who drew portraits of him as they talked. He's seen it in others in Kore, ready to befriend him despite the differences of species and age and power. Maybe looking after him is business as usual to Ellen, but it's special to him.

He picks up his glass and clinks it against hers gently, lighting up in a warm grin. He shouldn't be any less frightened, but somehow he feels better.]

To family. Cheers, Ellen. And thank you.

[Humans are a lot nicer than angels seem to think they are. Ellen is the first to admit they're screwed up and wrong, but they have a depth of compassion that cannot be equaled.]

Cheers. You're welcome.

[She slams back the drink and sighs.]

I'd better get started on this. You gonna be alright?

Sure. I'll be fine. [Somehow or another. He smiles wryly, but for the moment he actually means it. It's something to know that if the Host is devoid of the warmth he hoped to find there, at least it can be found somewhere else.

Plus, alcohol. That's always helpful. He drains his glass and stands.] Yell if you need help. I won't be able to come inside the room, but I can peer through the windows and see how you're doing.

Oh, and say hi to Jo for me. [Apropos of nothing other than camaraderie.]

Don't worry. I still know how to scream like a damsel in distress.

[Because they both need a little bit of levity in their lives. She nods.]

I will. You be careful.

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010 | Private Audio to assorted residents | Day 117

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