LA: snapshot
Jul. 4th, 2006 03:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
un_fallenIt was quite a surprise to run into Jabiel in one of the few shadowed streets in Los Angeles. Less surprising was the argument that followed.
"Look, the second I feel like I can fly for long enough to make the journey, I'm going home," Raguel insisted, eyes flashing.
"No, you aren't. You won't get in," hissed the angel in the alleyway. He looked terrified. Droplets of fire fell like sweat from his sword and were swallowed up by the pavement as though they'd fallen right through it. Perhaps they had.
"And why the hell not?" Raguel asked. There was a sharp edge of fear in his voice. Easy to miss if you didn't know what to look for.
"You left," the other angel spat, growing braver now that he'd gone a full minute without being attacked. "Along with all the others. They said you'd Fallen, and no one there thinks otherwise, not after what you did during the War."
"What I did," Raguel began as the old frustration started to mount, "I did beca--"
He couldn't say it, even now. Not to an angel. And Jabiel continued as though Raguel hadn't spoken a word.
"And now, yes, I can see that you haven't actually Fallen. But it's clear," he added with righteous pride, looking Raguel up and down, "that you've done no better."
He stood in shock for a split second, then stepped forward, intent on explaining - with illustration, if necessary - exactly what he'd been up to for the last few millennia. How carefully he'd been trying to do his job, even without clear direction. But at his approach Jabiel let out a squeak, took a hasty step backward, and disappeared in a sudden, musical illumination of blue.
Raguel stared at the light as it faded. It must have been there the whole time. They must have been listening.
He'd explain. He'd make them understand. He hasn't been struggling with an assignment - if you could call it that - for six long millennia only to be turned away at the gate.
He walked on, feeling just a little heavier than he had in weeks. They could have left the connection open, if they'd wanted to. He could have been there, just like that.
When he gets there, he'll explain. He'll make them understand.
"Look, the second I feel like I can fly for long enough to make the journey, I'm going home," Raguel insisted, eyes flashing.
"No, you aren't. You won't get in," hissed the angel in the alleyway. He looked terrified. Droplets of fire fell like sweat from his sword and were swallowed up by the pavement as though they'd fallen right through it. Perhaps they had.
"And why the hell not?" Raguel asked. There was a sharp edge of fear in his voice. Easy to miss if you didn't know what to look for.
"You left," the other angel spat, growing braver now that he'd gone a full minute without being attacked. "Along with all the others. They said you'd Fallen, and no one there thinks otherwise, not after what you did during the War."
"What I did," Raguel began as the old frustration started to mount, "I did beca--"
He couldn't say it, even now. Not to an angel. And Jabiel continued as though Raguel hadn't spoken a word.
"And now, yes, I can see that you haven't actually Fallen. But it's clear," he added with righteous pride, looking Raguel up and down, "that you've done no better."
He stood in shock for a split second, then stepped forward, intent on explaining - with illustration, if necessary - exactly what he'd been up to for the last few millennia. How carefully he'd been trying to do his job, even without clear direction. But at his approach Jabiel let out a squeak, took a hasty step backward, and disappeared in a sudden, musical illumination of blue.
Raguel stared at the light as it faded. It must have been there the whole time. They must have been listening.
He'd explain. He'd make them understand. He hasn't been struggling with an assignment - if you could call it that - for six long millennia only to be turned away at the gate.
He walked on, feeling just a little heavier than he had in weeks. They could have left the connection open, if they'd wanted to. He could have been there, just like that.
When he gets there, he'll explain. He'll make them understand.
