Who: Gabriel and Cath Pinkerton What: Playing hooky Where: Wild World When: Sunday 11/12 Rating: Low, probably.
Cath’s home was more like a manor than a house. To get to the front door, one had to drive through the front gate and down a hundred yard driveway to where it curled around the fountain in front of the house. There were red rose bushes along the driveway.
The home itself was absolutely huge; harboring more than a dozen rooms. The front doors were massive; wood with brass knockers and door knobs. There was a small pool and spa in the backyard. There was also a large grassy area for croquet--though Cath didn’t really understand the mallets and balls. Where were the flamingoes and playing cards?
Cath was up before the sun, as was her way. She’d put up signs at the bakery that she wasn’t going to be in today, but her deliveries were still made by the crew she used for those. So she wasn’t leaving too many people in the lurch. Besides, she didn’t really care either way. People could go without their pastries for one day. She waited for Gabriel in the foyer on the settee with a good book and a cup of coffee.
--
The driveway was long, and the manor was big. Gabriel probably would have been more impressed, of course, if he’d actually had to drive up those full hundred yards in order to get to it, past the fountain and the rose bushes and whatever parts of the yard were visible from the front.
He hadn’t driven though because -- well. He didn’t have to. Human transportation, while endearing and sometimes fun, was generally slow and Gabriel felt like there’d be enough on his plate today to take up his time. No need to add driving and parking to that list.
He’d texted first, a warning he’d be showing up, but it was unlikely that she’d expected him within the next few minutes. But there he was, standing at the front door and using the brass knocker (hehe) like some kind of proper gentleman caller. Which he wasn’t, but it was a lovely set up to a scene regardless.
--
No, definitely not a gentleman caller. Cath didn't get those. She was a queen, however, and had become accustomed to a certain lifestyle. One that included long driveways, rosebushes, and extravagant ballrooms. The bakery wasn't for an income, but a thing to do. Something to keep her occupied, give her an outlet for her one true passion; baking. She had no heart, no need for friends or suitors, she just wanted to continue on.
The knock came as something of a surprise, as Cath had assumed it would take him longer than a few minutes to get to her front door. She closed her book and stood to answer it.
"...you certainly got here quickly," Cath said with a smirk as she saw Gabriel on the other side of the threshold. "Eager to get to the roller coasters?"
--
Gabriel smiled back, a goofy sort of thing that turned crooked near the end, and he wiggled his fingers in response to her greeting. Interesting place she had here. He wasn’t sure he’d seen anyone properly use a foyer in decades. Certainly not one of this size. “Oh, I suppose,” he said after a beat. “They do have their ups and downs.” Terrible joke, so of course he loved it.
“Aren’t you?” She must have been somewhat, although it was difficult to get a read on her the way he usually could with folks, but she had closed her shop for the day, so that was telling enough.
--
The terrible joke brought a smile to Cath's lips--something that only happened seldomly since she'd given her heart to the sisters of the treacle well. She appreciated the humor, though. Stupid was certainly funny. Gabriel was like Dean in that way--he could entertain her in a way that made her feel... almost happy. Almost. It was as close as she got these days.
"I'm not sure eager is the appropriate word," she said, coming through the doorway to join him. That's when she noticed he didn't have a car with him. She raised an eyebrow. "Shall I call for my driver to take us there?"
--
It was a good smile too.
“Excited then,” Gabriel amended with a shrug, because she’d posed the word in the first place, hadn’t she? “Everyone likes an adventure. And with a place called Wild World, I’m sure we’ll find just that.” All action packed and family friendly. Maybe not the best adventure, but it was certainly a start for a woman who’d never been on a rollercoaster before.
He glanced behind them as well, like he was just as surprised that his car wasn’t there. Except, well, not really. “Nah,” he said, “I figured we’d take a faster route. Got everything you need?”
--
"All right," Cath conceded. "Excited. I suppose excited is good enough." She closed the door behind herself and tucked her hands into the front pockets of her coat. Since they were going on roller coasters today (and she'd seen how crazy those things looked) Cath had foregone the skirts and corsets and took a page from the book of some of the locals. She was wearing trousers out of jean material, and a fleece jacket. It was warm and soft. She had on sturdy, sensible boots, and had braided her hair away from her face.
"I am ready. What is the faster route?" She asked, turning bright eyes to him.
--
She didn’t necessarily look at home in the modern clothing, but Gabriel, ever modern himself (because who didn’t like denim? Jeans were one of the best inventions of recent history), thought the look suited. The jacket was cute, anyway.
He grinned at her when she asked what the quicker route was, and didn’t bother offering any explanation before settling an easy hand on her shoulder and -- well. Off they went. One second they were standing at her doorway, and the next they were standing inside the roller coaster park, only the faint sound of wings noting the change in space and place.
And really, why pay for entry when there were such easy ways around it? ---
It was a bit strange to be wearing modern clothing when she pretty much lived in fancy dresses and corsets back in Hearts. But when in Rome? Er, Preya? Cath figured it was the best way to fit in. Though, she wore dresses and aprons when she was at the bakery. Going upside down in a dress was probably not the best bet.
She raised an eyebrow when he touched her shoulder, and then…
Then. Then she wasn’t in front of her home anymore, but in the park. Inside the amusement park. She gave a little startle, looking up and around, shocked at the sights, sounds, and smells that hit her.
“...what?” ---
“What?” Gabriel repeated the question innocently enough, even though his expression was mischievously amused. He couldn’t help himself - even if this was his normal mode of transportation, there was always something fun about showing it off to people who didn’t normally ride sidecar, so to speak. “Oh, would you look at that,” he went on, tilting back on the heels of his tennis shoes in order to get a better look at the ‘coasters and the food stands nearby. Something smelled good. Was it corn dogs? “We’re here!”
---
Cath was a little breathless with surprise, but other than that there were no ill side effects to this method of transportation. She blinked at Gabe, then back to the amusement park, fingers tingling. “...This is… wow. That’s quite remarkable!” She said, finally wrapping her head around it. He was a magician! Of sorts. A smile broke out across her face. “What a wonderful trick!”
She was warming up to him, now. There had been a time when she wasn’t sure, but now she was pleased. She stepped over and looped her arm through his elbow. “Let’s go find a roller coaster, then!”
---
Oh, well. She certainly had rolled with that quickly. Gabriel grinned too, actually rather impressed with how she decided it was an excellent trick and wasn’t horrifying or disconcerting at all. He could like her, he decided. Not that he hadn’t already, but this was nice and reaffirming. It was rare, these days, that people weren’t generally wary of the things he did. Not that he could really blame the Winchester crew, but still.
“It’s a great trick,” he agreed happily. “Saves on gas. It’s good for the planet. And my delivery times are--” he pressed his thumb and index finger together in the probably not all that universal symbol for great. “Out of this world. But okay -- which one first? I always think going with the biggest one as a first try is the best option.”
--
There were things that Cath just had to accept. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t experienced some really ridiculous and inexplicable things before. There was magic in her Kingdom. Well, of a sort. And this world was all completely magic to her. Completely foreign. She was taking everything in stride--as much as she could, anyway.
“I hear the big thing is lowering the carbon footprint.” Cath didn’t really know what ‘lowering the carbon footprint’ meant, but it was something to do with keeping the environment healthy. That was all right in her book, she supposed.
“Hmm… which one? The biggest one? Must be… that one.” Cath released his arm so she could point up and over at the largest coaster she could see.
--
Gabriel snorted over that, but had to admit it was a decent comeback in terms of what he’d been saying in the first place. Carbon footprint. It wasn’t wrong. And really, it was something humans should have been more concerned with anyway. The planet had changed an awful lot since it’d been made. And he should know; he’d been there. “Just doing my part,” he agreed cheekily.
“That one it is,” he said, squinting up at the rollercoaster -- high and undoubtedly fast, with a few loop de loops thrown in for a good time. “Let’s go!”
Luckily for them, it was early enough in the day where the lines weren’t particularly long yet (Gabriel wasn’t quite a dick enough to encourage they skip that queue completely, even if he would have happily done it on his own) and so they likely wouldn’t be milling around for long. “So? What’s your story?”
---
His response brought a smile to her lips. Cath had known pretty much nothing about carbon footprints or saving the environment back in Hearts. This was all new to her. But she got a kick out of the somewhat opposing sides on the issue, and couldn’t for the life of her seem to take it all seriously. Maybe she’d have to research it all later, but that was neither here nor now.
They stepped into the line and Cath watched as people climbed in and out of the cars, then started up on their own roller coaster adventure. They had a good amount of people in line ahead of them, so they had time to talk.
She leaned back against the railing so she could face her companion and gave her shoulders a gentle shrug. “I was a queen. I didn’t want to stay where I was--too many bad memories--so when the opportunity came to come live here, I took it.” Along with quite a bit of wealth she probably shouldn’t have taken.
--
“Didn’t like being a queen?” Gabriel rose an eyebrow, curious. But then, he knew that royalty didn’t always have it best, and she had mentioned being stabbed in the back, even if it was in a non-literal sense. Probably her position had something to do with that.
“Fair enough, I guess. Small business ownership is probably a bit more entertaining in comparison.” Gabriel tended to think so, anyway.
---
“Being a queen was wonderful.” Cath responded. And that was true; being a queen and the power that came with it? It was better than she’d expected. “It was other circumstances I wasn’t fond of.” The King, for one. Combined with the fact that the marriage hadn’t been her choice, and that she’d just lost Jest and Mary Ann in one go… it meant she was a pretty miserable, heartless queen. Once her vengeance had been served, there was no reason for her to stay in Hearts.
“I have always loved baking. It was my one true passion. Though, I was told that queens don’t own bakeries.” She shuffled forward as the line moved. “Just another reason I fit in better here in Preya than I did in Hearts.”
---
Gabriel always was sort of fond of the kinds of conversations where the things that weren’t said were the important ones. Lots of people thought him without tact or, for some hilarious reason, proper comprehensive skills, but he figured he managed well enough. And, well, when it came down to it, most situations that ended poorly had a lot to do with relationships.
“Hearts, huh?” Not a place he’d heard of, which was fairly rare for him, but hey, alternate dimensions were a thing here and even he hadn’t been everywhere. “Well, their loss, huh?”
---
"That's a lovely way to look at it, yes." Cath said, giving him an amused expression. It was their loss, wasn't it? Thankfully she wasn't there, she didn't have to deal with their crap anymore. "I would never go back. I quite like it here." She found that she was missing her heart, though. Something she didn't think was possible. Maybe there was still a sliver of it in there--enough for her to have some feeling from. Or maybe it was residual? Or maybe this place was so magical that it was healing her. Could one re-grow a heart?
"What about you?" She changed the subject. Kind of. "What's your story, Mr. Gabriel?"
---
Gabriel stood on his tiptoes in order to eye the line, seeing if it was in fact moving. It seemed like it should have been, given that the ride itself was only a minute or so long at most. And yet, here they were. Sometimes he was sure that time just moved slower when he was waiting for something. “I like it here too,” he said, and was being quite honest about it. It wasn’t as big as the world he’d once played in, but it had a quaintness to it that he enjoyed.
“My story?” He asked, glancing back at Cath before offering a bit of a smile. “Oh, I don’t know. It’s long and a bit boring in some places.” --
“Now, I can’t imagine that anything about you is boring.” Cath said, giving him a little smile. “You’re pulling my leg, aren’t you?”
Sure, the line was barely moving… but at least they had good company. At least, Cath thought so.
“What did you do before arriving in Preya?”
---
Definitely good company. And not just for Cath, even though Gabriel really was extraordinary in terms of being entertaining. He grinned, stuck his hands in his pockets for long enough to unearth some salt water taffies and offered his open palm out to her in order to share.
“Oh. Back home? Well, it depended on the day, I guess. I’m an archangel, but I liked to pretend I was a trickster god instead, in order to avoid family troubles.” Yeah, that wasn’t boring at all, was it. --
That was one of those things about talking with Gabriel. He was easy to look at, easy to listen to. And he offered sweets! “Ooh! Thank you.” She reached forward for one piece of taffy from his hand. Her fingertips were chilly as they brushed against the skin of his palm.
Then she listened while she unwrapped her candy. She nibbled a piece off the side, then cocked her head a little. “What is an archangel?”
--
“More where that came from,” Gabriel offered with a wink (which was true. He always had candy. Sort of like really old guys and Werther’s originals, except his candy was good. Just kidding, Werther’s were delicious, too). He unwrapped his own piece and momentarily contemplated her cold hands before shrugging it off. If she complained, he could fix it. He was nice like that, but not too nice.
“Uh. Hard to explain to someone from a place with different religions and all. Basically? I’m a nigh omnipotent immortal being who can do some pretty cool stuff. It’s not a big deal.”
---
He did own a sweets shop. Cath shouldn’t have been surprised that he had candies coming out of all his pockets. Actually, she quite liked it. Cath had a big time sweet tooth--one of the many reasons she wanted to own her own bakery.
His explanation made Cath’s eyebrows rise. Then her jaw go a little slack. She had enough manners to prevent her mouth from gaping entirely, but the surprise was obvious on her features. “omnipotent immortal being?” She asked. “You know everything and will live forever? Or am I not using the correct definitions of those words?”
---
Gabriel shrugged, chewing on his taffy and helpfully escorting Cath a few feet forward when the line moved. She looked like she needed a bit of help, in all her shock. Which was to be expected, he supposed. Most people wouldn’t just take an admission like that without at least blinking. “I don’t know everything,” he said, “although I know some things. Knowing everything is omniscience. Having unlimited power is omnipotence.” Language lessons with professor Gabriel.
--
Thankfully, Gabriel was paying attention to the line as it moved, because Cath was absolutely distracted. That was even … worse? More shocking. Even more shocking. Cath’s jaw actually dropped a little. Unlimited power?? Did that mean he could do anything? Magic?
“Wow.” She said, finally able to close her mouth again. She swallowed down some of the taffy (which was absolutely delicious) and then cleared her throat. “I’m… I’m very impressed. I sure hope that was your aim, because you’ve succeeded.”
---
Sure, that was absolutely what that meant. Pretty much anything. It could be considered magic, in its own right. And there were certainly times when Gabriel showed off (he had flown them here in the blink of an eye, after all) but he was mostly currently being modest. Or, as modest as he got.
“Are you?” He asked, a smile playing at his lips. “You don’t even want me to show off at all?”
--
Cath considered him for a moment, regaining her composure slowly as she thought about it. She liked the smile on his face, the air about him. It was pleasing to be around him. Cath was happy they were spending time together today. And the roller coaster was a bonus.
“Do you want to show off?” She asked.
They’d reached the front of the line now, and simply had to wait for the roller coaster to run its course before getting on for the next ride.
---
Good question. Gabriel considered it with a serious air for a moment before shrugging. “I always want to show off. But maybe it’s not needed this second. Wait til you see how you like the roller coaster, and then we’ll skip the lines on all the next ones.” That was showing off, but with a purpose. Double whammy!
---
Cath had no qualms about cutting in line. She had no heart, after all. She nodded, grinning, and clapped her hands together. “All right. We’ll see about this roller coaster business, and if we decide to go on more, we can bypass the lines.”
The gates opened, and they were instructed to step inside and put the harnesses on. Cath felt nerves flutter up in her stomach as she climbed into place and … all that junk that people on roller coasters do. She glanced over at Gabe to settle her nerves. Excited nerves.
---
Gabe was leaned forward as much as the harness would allow but glanced over at her when she looked over and offered a grin and an open palm. “It’s fun,” he said, like it was obvious. “Like flying while drunk.” That was really all the warning (if it could even be called that) he could give before the ‘cart was ticking up the track, slow and steady since it was getting ready for a big drop first.
--
When he offered up his hand, Cath slipped her own into it. She nodded, and was about to say something in return when the floor came out from under them, and the roller coaster started with a massive drop. She squeezed his fingers and squealed with joy.