action; closed

[senseandcecilbility]

Date: October 1st
Location: Away from the Observatory
Character: Kevin & close CR who feels like dealing with sad and sick celestial beings.
Summary: The guardian angel of Britain is experiencing technical difficulties.
Warning: Transparent angels?

[Uriel doesn’t need to be at the Observatory. When the time comes, he discreetly slips away on unsteady feet, hand clasping his chest as his whole body is shaken by unremitting agony. Millions of prayers, millions of dreams, millions of lives binding him. Where are you, where are you at a time like this? Who will account for us? Who will take responsibility?

He stumbles into an empty room and falls to his knees. When the first bomb touches the ground, he feels the blast on his very skin. Every single scarred soul, every single pointless loss, he feels their screams perpetuate into infinity. His. He grasps empty air and reaches out for them, uselessly.

Uriel, on the other hand, makes no sound. He would not, even if all wind had not been knocked out of his lungs. His face becomes a mask of silent and desperate shrieking. And for a nanosecond, his divine aura explodes and surges across three different plans of existence, then collapses into itself and all but disappears. What is left is barely perceptible, a frayed and lacerated veil of light for those who can sense such things.

For a brief moment, his body becomes transparent around the edges, and that is when awareness deserts him. Right before his eyelids finally close, he gazes at the walls of the room he has taken as haven, now entirely coated with variegated crystals. ]


(ooc: Since the nuclear attack destroyed his alternate people and territory, Kevin will be a mess for a few days and then recover gradually.)
 

Comments

[maddeninghatter]

[ He takes all of this in, and turns it over in his mind. What keeps angels alive? Whence comes their longevity?

"I am theirs."

He had assumed that Kevin had wanted to stay behind out of some misguided self-sacrificial impulse, but - what if he knew he wouldn't survive such bloodshed? Saved from a quick, fiery death, but now doomed to dwindle and waste away in agony... ]

Yes. You did.

[ This is his fate: to make everything worse in trying to make it better. ]

[senseandcecilbility]

[He curses under his breath and tries to slap Break's leg. It is the saddest slap in the world.]

D-don't you dare make that face, sir! It is...not...It is not permanent.

[It probably would be, if this were his Britain, but Break doesn't need to know that.]

I---I will get better in a couple of days and...push you into that damn pool!

[He lets out a heavy sigh and closes his eyes again. This was the most exhausting outburst ever. Mister Break, you idiot.]

[maddeninghatter]

Eh--?

[ ...had he really made such a pitiful face? ]

S-shut up.

[senseandcecilbility]

Be a little more reasonable, please!

[He tugs at Break's foot, now embarrassed about his own behavior.]

I-I bet you have not been sleeping well either.

[maddeninghatter]

[ He doesn't react immediately to the foot grab, but when he does, it's a frown. He pulls his foot from Kevin's grasp and swings himself up to the top bunk. After a small interval and some rustling noises, he drops down again, holding what was formerly the upper bunk's blanket, which he unfurls over Kevin.

(Your hands are cold. You sound terrible.) ]

Tsk.

[ He sighs, a very put-upon and impatient noise. ]

I suppose you'll be wanting some tea and biscuits.

[senseandcecilbility]

[Well, Kevin has just reached a new level of embarrassment... and now he feels scolded on top of that. He tries to get rid of the new blanket, but is obviously too weak to even try.]

I-I am not hungry. P-please, I-I know it is too much trouble.

[And Break is tired. He knows it.]

1/2

[maddeninghatter]

[ He waves dismissively and leaves without another word. ]

[maddeninghatter]

[ Ten minutes later he returns with a thermos and a box of butter cookies, of a quality that one finds only occasionally in the Exsilium markets (hence rare and expensive, but he'd spent all his money on food in those last days, because what use would there be for Exsilium marques, up here on the moon...). ]

Do you take sugar in your tea? It doesn't matter, haha~! Cos I've already put sugar in, you see.

[senseandcecilbility]

I...Where did you find all these?

[Now that Mister Break has gone through all the trouble of getting him a proper meal, and wasting all that expensive food on him, he is way too polite to refuse. Even if he would rather have a glass of Port first thing in the morning. Not that he can manage any alcohol now, but still. The...overly sweet tea will have to do. At least it is not herbal tea, right?

Besides, he is genuinely touched. Nobody but young master has ever tried to bring him breakfast in bed, and - even if Kevin would never say so - young master was a very questionable cook at seven.

If his voice sounds too broken, it is for a very good reason:]

I...thank you. That is v-very kind of you, sir.

[Which leaves him with the hard task of sitting up.]

[maddeninghatter]

[ He knows too well the sound of someone ineffectually struggling, too weak to sit up. It's a memory he treasures, even though it's sad: Lady Shelly, in her last days. So it's with practiced hands that he lifts Kevin into a sitting position and props him up, with the aid of pillows that he swiped off the top bunk already. ]

Collette has an enormous tea collection, it's too much to fit in the room. And nobody likes these biscuits, they're not sweet enough, but it seemed a waste to throw them away.

[ It's a lie. He knows Kevin knows it's a lie, but it's his way of saying "you're welcome." He unscrews the thermos and pours the sweet tea into the cup that doubles as a lid, but doesn't let go until he's sure Kevin can manage it. ]

Don't flatter yourself, by the way. I'm only here cos I'm bored. There's little to do on the moon.

[senseandcecilbility]

[Kevin looks extremely flustered at Break’s attention, very much like the coy maiden the man thinks he is. His ragged aura envelops the room for a panicky second just to collapse again. In order to disguise his anxiety, he does his best to hold the improvised teacup with his unsteady hands, thankful for the warmth they seem to provide.

Still, he cannot help but wonder how Break got his surprisingly decent beside manners. The smile he offers him is completely devoid of malice, and only half conveys the gratitude and – strangely enough – resigned contentment in his voice.]

The moon must be, indeed, exceedingly dull, if even watching over an oversized pigeon has become a source of excitement.

[maddeninghatter]

Too right. There's no pool alas~! ♥

[ He doesn't know what to make of Kevin's fluctuating aura, whether it's a sign of his illness or - as on previous occasions - merely a symptom of his mad crush. But he can tell that Kevin's hands are shaking, so he stays close by, crouched down beside the head of the bed. ]

Even so, I think you ought to learn to swim. If you can stand to get your feathers wet.

[senseandcecilbility]

[There is no mad crush!!!

But there is certainly further blushing and aura fluctuation at Break’s proximity. And he most certainly shudders at the thought of wet feathers. So disgraceful. But he also understands that his inability to swim could have cost them their lives during their little rescue mission.]

Are you volunteering, sir?

[He is unsure whether he should be grateful or terrified. Perhaps a healthy amount of both. Too focused on the concrete side of things, it has not occurred to Kevin that swimming lessons might require swim suits.]

[maddeninghatter]

When you're feeling up to it. D'you want me to take that?

[ He reaches for the improvised tea cup, in case Kevin's hands are really too weak to hold it for long. ]

There's a rumor that there are places here where one can turn off the, er, gravity.

[ This much, at least, he has learned about the virtual reality rooms. ]

Perhaps you can teach me to fly.

[senseandcecilbility]

[He cannot help but find Break's care rather endearing, but sheer self-consciousness prompts him to put some extra effort into holding the cup properly.]

I believe...I would not mind getting my feathers wet now and then.

As for flying, I am rather surprised that Mister Break has not learned it yet, considering your performance on our way here.

[maddeninghatter]

I think, perhaps...

[ Learning to fly...

It hadn't been that moment when he'd suddenly become weightless; but earlier, when he had let Kevin's aura envelop him, let himself be looked after, even if someone like him didn't deserve that divine light.. ]

I might have learnt the basics.

[ Flying. He can't quite call it that. Just - flapping out of the nest. Something like that. ]

[senseandcecilbility]

[Things Kevin didn't expect right after a nuclear attack on Britain: human kindness. He nudges Break's hand with his now warm fingertips, as if trying to reassure him he can handle this whole drinking tea business on his own. Probably.]

I wonder if teaching a young human like yourself to fly works just like resurrecting faeries. All you have to do is believe in them.

[Of course, Peter Pan was after his time, but he made good use of Exsilium's library until it was razed. Wendy was his favorite!]

[maddeninghatter]

[ That the usual warmth has returned to Kevin's fingers is indeed reassuring...

But he grimaces, suddenly, as though someone had fed him brussels sprouts instead of an eclair. ]

Goodness! Don't get all squishy.

[ He had been crouching next to Kevin's bed, but now he straightens up and stands. He is still holding the box of butter cookies, so he sets about opening them. ]

[senseandcecilbility]

[It is a good thing Kevin has a vast experience with tsuns. He starts chuckling, but ends up coughing instead. Finally, he slips under the covers, watching Break with an intrigued expression on his face. He is not hungry at all, but keeps quiet like a good kid.]

1/2

[maddeninghatter]

I don't see what's so--

[ --funny, he was going to say, but Kevin's cough cuts him off. Concern flits across his features. And then he just sits down, appropriating real estate on the bed once more, this time more towards the middle. He has the box open by this time and withdraws a butter cookie. He hands it to Kevin... ]

[maddeninghatter]

[ .........aaaaaand yanks it back again, cramming it into his own mouth! ]

[senseandcecilbility]

[Kevin didn't know he was capable of both laughing and fretting at the same time, but Break seems to make a point of broadening his horizons.]

Mister Break! Not without Mister Gilbert's permission, you can't!

[What follows is the most pitiful attempt to stop Break from swallowing the butter cookie, which involves both grabbing his throat and trying to push him off his conquered bed space...with very feeble arms.]

[maddeninghatter]

[ This very feeble attempt is met with only a puzzled expression as Break thoughtfully chews and swallows his cookie. ]

Oh, I see.

[ Whilst trying to disengage Kevin's hands, he adds: ]

That foolishness ended the night--

[ --the night that everyone had been taken, and started the whole chain of events leading to the destruction of Exsilium, and their being here on the moon base. His expression falls. ]

[senseandcecilbility]

What are you talking about?

[It is his turn to be puzzled. Break easily succeeds at disengaging his hands, but now Kevin tries to caress his face.]

I...I might be a little out of practice regarding these things, but I am quite sure there is no instance of gluttony unleashing the doom of an entire nation.

1/2

[maddeninghatter]

[ He still blames himself for slipping off to eat cake clandestinely, that fatal moment at the party. Oz and Collette had been kidnapped out from under his nose. ]

I don't...

[ He doesn't blame himself for the loss of Exsilium, but any long-term consequences to Oz and Collette's health after their abduction is his fault.

He is lost sufficiently in these thoughts that it takes him a moment to register what Kevin is doing. ]