WHO: Saint Agatha and Satan WHEN: Wednesday afternoon WHERE: A coffee shop somewhere, anywhere, in NYC WHAT: The great tempter and a woman who thinks she's beyond temptation WARNINGS: tbd?
She'd finished her volunteer work at the cancer center but Agatha had to go to work in a couple of hours, so it seemed pointless to go home for it when she just had to come back again. So instead it was to a busy coffee shop she took herself, a book in hand to pass the time, and ordered herself one of the many and varied options on the board. (Agatha loved all of them, probably more than she should. All things with that caffeine kick brought her joy.)
There were a lot of people around when she found a table and sat, but one of the gentleman kept drawing her gaze. She met his eye for a moment, accidently, and then dropped her own eyes quickly. The man was attractive - she supposed - but there was something about him that unnerved Agatha, and she found herself concentrating very hard on her book instead of looking up again (even though she was tempted to do so.)
A few moments passed and she looked up from under her lashes, hoping to find him gone. But he wasn't (of course) and she shook her head at her own uncomfortableness and then carried on reading.
Satan was beginning to think that God was displeased with his little saints. Why else would He keep tossing them in Satan's path? (The possibility that Satan was just looking for a fight crossed his mind and was quickly dismissed.)
He didn't recognize this one right away, which wasn't terribly surprising. They all looked the same to him, usually. Still he slid into the seat across from her, smiling pleasantly, coffee in hand.
"This seat taken?"
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[info]shallnotmove 2010-11-18 04:22 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select A wise voice inside her head told her to send him away, but the man had given her no reason to think poorly of him. (Other than that twisting in her guts which she should have listened to. It rarely steered her wrong.)
Agatha shook her head. "Feel free," she told him. But as soon as she'd said it Agatha actually looked at him properly - looked beyond that human casing - and realised who she was speaking to and who'd she'd just invited to join her.
She closed her book calmly. "I know who you are," she told him.
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[info]ancientserpent 2010-11-18 04:32 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "But I can't say I recognize you," Satan said, leaning back in the chair with a friendly smile. "No offense. You see one blood-soaked, half-dead human bleating for God to pay attention to them, you've really seen them all."
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[info]shallnotmove 2010-11-18 05:02 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "Saint Agatha," she provided, despite realising it might be in her better interest to keep that to herself. "Of Sicily."
She met his eyes more easily now that she knew what she was dealing with, and her expression was firm, unyielding. "I'd apologise for the fact that my 'blood-soaked bleating' bored you so much, but I'm afraid it would be a little ingenuous."
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[info]ancientserpent 2010-11-18 11:46 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "Oh, I remember you now," Satan said. "They cut off your breasts." He chuckled. "I really do have to hand it to the human race. They come up with the most creative tortures. We can hardly keep up with that kind of depravity down Below."
He took another sip of his coffee. "Well, you seem to have gotten out of the whole thing unscathed. Good for you."
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[info]shallnotmove 2010-11-18 11:51 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "You must just be squirming with jealousy," Agatha said dryly, unwilling to sip her own coffee while he was there. It felt like he'd poison it just by being there. She didn't want to think about Hell either. Didn't want to think about how he was impressed by the humans and their horrible natures.
"Have you come to discuss something with me," Agatha asked him curtly, "or are you just enjoying the idle chit-chat?"
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[info]ancientserpent 2010-11-18 06:26 pm UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "I'm just enjoying chatting with one of God's representatives on Earth," Satan said cheerfully. "You're so lucky, you know. Some people get tortured to death horribly and don't get anything out of the deal. In fact, some of them were murdered by your fellow Christians, if I recall. But you! You got immortality, eternal youth, a chance to live a life free of fear. That must have been some impressive suffering that you did."
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[info]shallnotmove 2010-11-19 02:31 pm UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select Agatha set her jaw tightly. Her first instinct had almost been to make some comment about how she must have done better than them, done it for better reasons, but she recognised the pride before it reached her lips. Agatha refused to be prideful, especially in front of Satan.
"I think that you should leave," Agatha told him firmly. "You've quickly worn out your welcome."
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[info]ancientserpent 2010-11-21 05:20 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "Actually, Aggie, I think you're the one who's worn out your welcome," Satan said. "Look around you. This world turns away from God, it turns away from you cute little Saints, and falls at the feet of heathens. It belongs to me, and has for a long, long time."
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[info]shallnotmove 2010-11-21 05:29 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select Agatha looked at him, her eyes narrowed. "Apparently it's a free country, so think what you like," she sneered. "But you're not welcome around me, and you don't scare me. I thought that you might," she admitted, "but I can see right through you."
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[info]ancientserpent 2010-11-21 05:37 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "You're right," Satan said, tapping his lips thoughtfully. "You're like a brick wall of holiness. No temptation getting through."
He shrugged. "Fortunately, your fellow Saints are a little more pliable."
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[info]shallnotmove 2010-11-21 05:39 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "Fortunate that we stand together. You strike one of us and we will take it as a personal assault." She knew who Satan was talking about but she wouldn't say Patrick's name.
"I have nothing more I care to give you," she told him, opening up her book again.
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[info]ancientserpent 2010-11-21 05:47 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "Agatha, sweetie, do you really think that I became who I am by hitting where it's obvious?" Satan laughed, and it wasn't a particularly nice sound.
"Our mutual friend Patrick is a drunk, and I'm fairly certain that if he had to pick between God and an endless bottle of Irish whiskey, it wouldn't be a tough choice. There's no challenge there. But there's Sebastian, and he looks a lot more promising."
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[info]shallnotmove 2010-11-21 05:54 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select Agatha's hand gripped the book but her attention was back on him. When she spoke it was with real venom, the sort she very rarely had within her. "Don't you dare touch him," she hissed and then, with a slap of her hand across the table she knocked his coffee into his lap, hoping it was still hot enough to burn.
Wrath was a sin, but Agatha was not above such human things. The thought of Satan touching her Sebastian was too much for her to think about.
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[info]ancientserpent 2010-11-21 06:05 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select Satan let out a distinctly snake-like hiss, the coffee scalding, and grabbed her wrist. He squeezed down hard enough to crack a human's bones.
"How saintly of you," he said, voice dark and amused. "And darling, I don't have to lay a hand on Sebastian. I have a feeling he'll come crawling, just like he did to that Drug of his. Sebastian is weak."
He released her, the stain and liquid vanish from the fabric of his pants with a blink. Having humans believing that he was nigh-omnipotent was very helpful sometimes.
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[info]shallnotmove 2010-11-21 06:13 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select Agatha hissed her breath but glared at him as he held her wrist tightly. She had no words for him so she just glared, breathing angrily through her teeth. She would say nothing of Sebastian. She wouldn't let Satan know how her wrist throbbed.
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[info]ancientserpent 2010-11-21 06:20 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select Satan leaned back, looking smug. "It's not as easy as you'd have it be, little Saint. See, you're just as weak as anyone here. You feel doubt, fear, hate, rage. But that's not what will trip you up. No, the tried and true method for humans has always been love, and devotion, and passion. Oh, and good intentions. Can't forget about those. There's no shielding yourself from those, Aggie, as hard as you try. It's not in your nature." Satan smiled. "Would you sell your soul if it would save his?"
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[info]shallnotmove 2010-11-21 07:41 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "No," Agatha told him simply. "You'll never have my soul, at any price." She would do a lot to protect the man who was like a son to her, but she wouldn't do that.
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[info]ancientserpent 2010-11-22 08:34 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "What about to save someone else?" Satan asked. "What about to save everyone in this shop? In this city? You martyrs think you're special because you sacrificed yourself, but any idiot can do that. When it comes to sacrificing someone else, though, you've got no idea what to do. And there are sacrifices coming, Aggie. Make no mistake."
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[info]shallnotmove 2010-11-22 08:37 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select What would she give her soul for? Would she hand over her very faith to protect an entire city of people? Yes, she would if that was the choice. He was right to remind her that she was a martyr because that meant sacrificing everything. She could do it if she had to, but was Sebastian enough? One soul for another? Agatha didn't even know.
She said nothing to the Serpent, instead just glaring at him, willing him to just go.