cape_kore | 010; accidental video/action; early hours of day 75

The whole family.

[ The eyebrows shoot up at that, but she doesn't give any more comments. It sounds like a recipe for disaster - and god, she has to find out how Chuck is coping with that one - but she's hardly about to argue. Whatever keeps the family from switching back to self destruct mode: Anna kind of likes the progress they've made here, thank you very much.

And yeah, there's definitely a shove aimed at Gabriel's shoulder for that comment, but at least he's got her smiling a little more genuinely with it. She rolls her eyes but keeps hold of his hand, and just like that there's the familiar sight of the crappy couch and useless TV. It's really, really good to be back. ]

At least you didn't completely wreck the place. [ She smirks and drops down onto said crappy couch, dropping an arm over her face and sighing. Exhaustion was an understatement, it seems. ]

[Balthazar has been lurking in the attic, trying his best not to drive Chuck insane with his presence. To that end, there's a makeshift screen around the writing area he set up for the Prophet, and the angel's spent time outdoors during the day. Now, though, he can sense Gabriel returning with Anna in tow, and he's downstairs in an instant.

Hope you didn't want any personal space, Anna, because he's in it at once, looking for injury and weighing the potential consequences of an abrupt hug without prior permission.] You're back!

[ The injury checking isn't exactly something she's surprised by - if even Gabriel is at it, they must have been worried. She's pretty prepared for that at least, but the hug, not so much.

Not that it's unwanted. It's not something she's prepared for, but that doesn't mean she's going to push him away. It's just that she's used to a completely different type of interaction from her siblings - they all are. They don't hug - honestly, the first time she'd ever done as much had been here, in this town. Balthazar though, he's like her. Like Gabriel. Like Castiel came to be, as far as she can see. ]

Yeah, I'm back, don't get too excited. You didn't drive Chuck insane?

[ She's teasing, because that's so much easier, but the smile at her face is genuine. If she hugs back a little harder, tightens her arms just a little more, well. She's allowed to miss her brothers, right? ]

[He'd stepped aside almost the moment they'd arrived back, and he's now sitting cross-legged in a chair on the other side of the room. The younger ones tend to be better with this functional relationships stuff - not that that's saying much - and they're closer with each other than with the archangels, that's a given, just as the inverse is true: he doesn't want to be in the way. Still, that doesn't mean he's going to just disappear. Or, y'know, stop making stupid snarky comments. Both of these may be disappointments, but he doesn't let that stop him.]

Despite our best efforts, no. Chucky's the paragon of sanity and balance he always was.

[Not that he's seen him much lately. He supposes if he were human in a house full of high-strung angels, he'd be keeping out of the way too.]

[Balthazar is all about the hugs. Especially since the physical contact reassures him that she's all in once piece, and that the one piece isn't too badly damaged. He holds on for as long as he thinks she'll let him get away with, and sits at the opposite end of the couch once he lets go, smiling at both her and Gabriel.]

I don't think we did. He's been spending a lot of time in the attic. I don't know if he's actually working or if it just feels safer there.

[ Anna's had time off, she's a lot more tolerant of those snarky comments than usual. Not that they ever really bother her, but Gabriel doesn't even get an eye roll at that, and even if her words might come close to scolding she just sounds too damn fond to really put it off.

She missed them too, okay? No big deal. ]

Play nice, Chuck's a good guy. Nicer than some around here.

[ Not naming any names, of course. She's the perfect picture of innocence here as she settles into the seat. It's easy enough to smile, because she's back and she's here, and no one has died while she's gone but...

It doesn't last. It's a little harder than usual to maintain the trivialities, and she looks around the room for a moment before shaking her head. ]

So I was gone for five days? That's...a lot of time I can't account for.

Eh. Five, four, two, eight... like I said, I wasn't counting. It's a wild stab in the dark... like Castiel's sex life.

[He studies his fingernails, because they're even more interesting than he is subtle. Shhh. He doesn't care about anyone. Everyone knows this. It is fact.]

Frankly, I've been on worse benders. And you don't have a penis drawn on your forehead in magic marker, and you still have both eyebrows, so really you've got nothing to complain about, compared to a stag fortnight with the Greco-Romans. [Beat.] You are as intact as you ever were, oui? I counted four limbs, but I'm reasonably certain that's the number you started off with, so...

[Aware that he's completely failing at pretending not to care, he makes a noise like a grumpy cat, and gets up.]

I'll put the kettle on. Balthazar, I assume you want tea - I always assume you want tea, it's the accent - Anna, coffee? Cocoa? Cocaine?

[Balthazar doesn't want to hear about Castiel and stabbing right now, much less his sex life. He gives Gabriel a look that's somewhere between reproachful and incredulous, but manages to keep his mouth shut for the remainder of his spiel.]

...Tea sounds fine. Sure. [Refocusing on Anna, he adds:] I told Raphael you're back, as well. I don't know if he'll want to see you for himself or not.

[ Balthazar is at least more subtle than Anna, who straight up rolls hers eyes at the comment - though at least she keeps quiet. Instead of saying anything she just gestures vaguely in Gabriel's direction, shrugging her shoulders. ]

All of the above.[ And very quickly after because really Gabriel don't take that seriously. ] Cocoa. Please, and thank you.

[ And there's probably more on her mind, given that she only pauses with her mouth open long enough to give Balthazar a chance to speak, but when he mentions Raphael she just goes quiet.

He's family, as much as either of these two, but it's complicated with Raphael. Even with the brief human rendez-vous, things were still tense, and honestly - he scares her still. Scares her almost like Lucifer did.

Heaven's forbid she actually say any of that though, so she just swallows and offers a weak smile Balthazar's way. ]

Well, I'm sure he'll get in contact soon enough.

Oh, he will.

[He's not unobservant. He can see how nervous Raphael makes her, and he can imagine how he's likely to react to Anna returning without Lucifer. But since he's confident Raphael won't actually hurt her, he doesn't let it bother him, and settles for just letting it bother her instead. He can't find it anything but amusing when not too long ago Raphael was a winged toddler.]

One tea, one cocoa, one chocolate margarita. Coming right up.

[And, fair play to him, he does actually leave to make the drinks manually. He's doing this properly. It's the proper thing, right? (And it's absolutely not just an excuse to get out of the room and leave them to it.)]

[Balthazar understands why Raphael makes Anna jumpy--or thinks he does. Archangels are scary, and Raphael has historically been one of the less personable ones. Lately, though, Balthazar's gained a new appreciation for all the siblings in this place, and he's recognized Raphael's very real desire to protect them. Especially the younger group.

He's not taking anything for granted yet, but he's feeling safer around Raphael here and now than he ever has before.

Gabriel, on the other hand, is as much a cipher as he ever was. A fascinating, annoying, compelling cipher. He shakes his head as he retreats.]

A chocolate margarita sounds like a dreadful idea to me. But to each his own, I suppose. [Turning back to Anna, he pats her on the arm gently.] Don't ever vanish again, all right?

He can definitely keep that one.

[ Family is family, but most families don't kill and torture their own quite so rampantly as the angels do. She's still wary, even these days, and regardless of how well they're getting on, how much things seem to be improving, she can't let her guard down.

She doesn't know everything that's coming for her, if she ever gets sent home, but she knows enough. ]

And leave you two on your own? Not a chance. I'm amazed the house is still intact.

[ And she really grins at that, family fear be damned, because despite everything else she's back. She's back here, with them, and it's not home - but honestly home isn't all that preferable anyway. ]

I'll make you a deal, I'll avoid a vanishing act if you promise the same.

[Sometimes, Balthazar tries to look at the Host objectively, analyze and convince himself why the concept of them all as siblings doesn't work in the way human relationships do. But feelings tend to overrule that, and in the end he's left with a lot of devotion he doesn't know what to do with.

But Anna's safe for now, and joking makes everything better.]

Oh, come now, we're not that bad. Anyway, if we broke everything, Gabriel could theoretically fix it. [He leans back in his seat, releasing some lingering tension in a small sigh. This is okay. Things are okay.]

Deal. I'm not going anywhere. I've got a question for you, though.

Theoretically, but I wouldn't expect that much out of him.

[ And oh, how fond it sounds when she says that. There's no denying that there's a special place in her heart for Balthazar and Gabriel. After all, they all ran. They all left, to get out and make some semblance of a different life for themselves. They all made it, too, for different amounts of time, but for a little while there they'd all made it.

Life has a way of getting in the way of that, and they all share a different fate too but well...no one likes to think much about that. ]

If you're going to ask me if I remember anything useful, rest assured it's still a no.

[Balthazar chuckles softly and shakes his head. He's not getting in between Gabriel and Anna, not even for just a friendly bickering match.]

No, no...possibly it's better you don't remember what happened. [His expression clouds briefly, but it's not long before the sparkle of mischief is back.] There's this fellow who goes by Ghoul around, you see. He sounded very concerned about your absence.

[ Well that's certainly one way of looking at the memory loss, one that she hadn't actually considered before.

...Not that it's going to stop her from letting Raphael try to do what he can about it, because regardless of how unpleasant it might be they're still her memories, and she still wants them back.

But it's hard to dwell on that too long when Balthazar continues, and that look combined with the mention of Ghoul certainly brings her out of any consideration about missing memories that might have been happening. Anna's good at hiding her emotions, but not so much when she's been caught by surprise, and Balthazar definitely has that element to his advantage.

She clears her throat quickly, sits up a little straighter and replaces that look of surprise with an attempt at something more neutral as she nods. ]

I...know him yes. We're- [ What exactly? Complicated? That's hardly the answer she wants to give over. ] Acquainted.

[ So smooth, Anna. So, so smooth. ]

[She would be wise not to tell him 'it's complicated'. He'd immediately start calling Ghoul her Facebook friend.]

Acquainted! Excellent. That's how all good friendships begin. [He really, really wants to tease her about this. But if he milks it for too much now, she might get touchy later, so he relents and squeezes her shoulder gently.]

He seems all right as far as I can tell. Genuinely concerned about you, at least.

[Which Gabriel takes as his cue to make his return. They seem to have got their Emotions out of the way, at least as much as they're likely to. Besides, he'd hate to miss an opportunity to tease Anna.]

Well, we're all genuinely concerned about Anna, what with the terrible life choices and the hideous fashion sense and all that.

[He breezes back in, apparently trying to balance the three drinks the human way. Any success he has is limited at best, but he manages not to spill anything. With as little ceremony as is physically possible, he plonks Anna's cocoa down on the table in front of her, then passes Balthazar his tea before retreating back to his corner. Next time he might consider using a tray.]

I haven't missed the girl talk, have I? You know me, there's nothing I like better than a good gossip session.

['Missed', he says, as if he hasn't been listening the whole time. What is privacy?]

[ See, the problem is that the 'genuinely concerned' part of Balthazar's sentence prompts the start of a smile veering dangerously close to 'big' and 'dumb' when Gabriel makes his entrance, and of course it would be right at that very moment. She's well versed in the dry look that she directs at Gabriel, but shifts up to take the cocoa quickly and mumbled a thank you against the rim.

...No, she's definitely not using the drink as an excuse to give herself a few seconds head start on how to approach this. Not at all. Definitely not. ]

So you liked him?

[ No. Wait. Goddamnit, that wasn't what she'd been going for, and the momentary hesitation shows as much. With a quick frown and a shake of her head, she pauses again just short of actually saying anything, takes a breath and then starts over. ]

I just meant- well, you see. He's become somewhat...important to me, over the time we've been here.

[ 'Important', she says, as if it can really be summed up that casually. ]

Thank you! [Balthazar practically chirps at Gabriel, and doesn't even react to the accusation of 'girl talk'. He's enjoying this way too much.]

Well, he didn't seem like my type. [He tells Anna, eyes sparkling.] But who am I to judge?

Truly, though, I haven't spoken to him enough to make an educated judgment, but so far, so good. [He glances at Gabriel to see what he's making of all this.]

Edited 2013-06-20 02:12 (UTC)

That's probably for the best. Last thing I want is you crazy kids bickering all night over who Romeo thinks is prettier.

[As for his opinion... well. He stirs his drink with one finger, considering.]

Obviously I hate him on principle, that's my fraternal duty, but I'm not actually sure who this guy is, so if you want any more detail than that you'll have to wait. If it's any help, I probably made fun of him if we ever did speak.

[Gabriel just pretend you are not here, seriously. You're not helping. Leave the conversation.]

If it's any help, I'd rather you didn't speak to him. [ She's just going to pointedly raise eyebrows at Gabriel for a moment, and though Balthazar gets a look shot his way too for good measure, it's clear where she thinks most of the risk lies here. ]

I promise you guys, Castiel has already pulled the overprotective big brother card. He doesn't need another two breathing down his neck.

[ She rolls her eyes a little before she sips her drink, just to demonstrate just how utterly ridiculous she thinks the behaviour is. But they've kind of won already, the little fond smile isn't going away any time soon and she just gives an oh so casual shrug. ] ...I'm going to tell him, soon. About, the angel deal. I actually wanted to bring it up with you two first.

Wait, is it my fraternal duty to hate him, too? I thought all I had to do was threaten to damage his dangly bits if he ever breaks Anna's heart. [Balthazar looks genuinely inquisitive about this point of honor, but it should be noted he hasn't done any of the above as of yet. There may still be time to stop him.]

Cas threatened him? [There's a ghost of a frown, some sort of irritation or bad feeling he doesn't dare frame in words, even in his own head. He shrugs to dismiss it, determinedly.] For what it's worth, I'm not making a public announcement, but I've given a few friends notice that I'm one of the winged set. I don't mind.

That's the bare minimum. If you were a really good brother - like I am - you'd threaten to rip off all his extremities if he so much as breathed wrong. Trust me, Balthazar. I'm the human expert here, aren't I?

[Well - no, he's not, not with Anna in the room, but her input doesn't count on this matter. She's biased.]

There's a few people who know about me, too. Not sure how, since I sure as fuck didn't tell 'em, but apparently word spreads. So, y'know, if you were thinking about blowing my cover, I guess someone's already got that covered. You might wanna mention it to him before he finds out on his own though 'cause, uh, finding out your snuggle buddy's a different species than you thought tends to be an even messier reveal if you have to hear it off the grapevine.

No, no he's really not. Don't you listen to him, Balth. [ She quickly points between the two of them, entertained enough to still be smiling but with the I'm Serious Here eyebrows raised for good measure. ] You leave him alone. He's a decent guy. He's sweet. Put up with more drama from you lot than he should have.

[ But Balthazar and Gabriel's comments do sober her slightly, because she's not exactly outing everyone by telling Ghoul what she is, but it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. -you mean the way your Mina friend deduced me after some careless comments from your mouth? But don't worry, we're getting there. [ She hadn't ever gotten around to berating Gabriel for that, what with how complicated things got shortly after. Voice loss is one hell of a distraction. ]

See, I'm telling him because me and Castiel. We thought that maybe coming clean could...help restore some order in the town. We're not asking you two to do it as well, we'll keep you under the radar, but something needs to change. People are getting more reckless. They're going to get everyone killed.

010; accidental video/action; early hours of day 75

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