InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Narf!"

of castiel ♃ (castieli) wrote in silverage,
@ 2011-06-01 19:05:00

Entry tags:

!log, castiel, selina kyle

Who: Castiel and Selina Kyle
Where: Selina's flat
When: Thursday morning
What: Prayer and commission
Rating: PG

The jostle yanked him from his stupor.

Where his head had dipped irreverently towards the tempered glass, he jerked awake. This struck him immediately as peculiar, being that angels were not known to sleep. In that threshold between dreaming and waking worlds, he blinked at a wisp of grey smoke that rose into the ceiling. Directly beneath its trail was a tobacco pipe wedged firmly between the lips of a passenger whose face was obscured by a grey felt hat. He was at once seized by the notion that he had dreamt most vividly, though of what he had promptly forgotten.

Presently, they plunged headlong into a pitch black tunnel. The row of bare light bulbs fizzled, casting strange shadows at war on a battlefield of verdigris steel as the ceiling fans hummed in the background. He was on the E train, he realised. Across from him overhead was an advertisement for petroleum, insisting that the reader PUT A TIGER IN YOUR TANK! It was accompanied by an illustration of a tiger with an uppity grin from ear to ear, pushing against the back of a motor vehicle. He did not understand. Tigers did not express emotions in such a way, and anyway, how could a tiger fit in the tank of an automobile?

He turned his attention to the rest of the car. They were alone, he and the man in the homburg. The man was murmuring something incoherent. With a frown, the angel glanced about, and seeing no one, he leaned in, the better to hear what the man had to say. This was met by a meaningless grunt that released another puff of cloud. Then the man proceeded to snore very loudly.

Somewhat put out by this, the angel returned to an upright position. No sooner did he hearken a voice deep in prayer. Though by no means obligated to answer it, when next the lights flickered in the subway train, its fare dropped mysteriously from two to one.

On the other side of the city, a quiet sigh of air announced his arrival behind the person's shoulder. It was a misty morning, echoing in the distance the muffled din of a city full of people readying themselves for a new day.

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castieli
2011-06-05 04:48 am UTC (link)

"No," the man in the trench coat explained, bland yet dead serious. "But I do serve Heaven."

Not since two thousand years ago had celestial intentions taken physical form on Earth. Human faith had taken much abuse over these last centuries, but a smattering of doubt had never been uncommon in even the most devout believers of the olden days. Castiel, though, was a little naive in this respect, uncomprehending when people did not take his word for it that angels existed. Their dedication to scepticism baffled him, when one stood right in front of them.

However, the thinly veiled accusation brought an immediate chill to his soul-piercing stare. "My name is Castiel and I am an angel of the Lord," he bristled in clear affront. A few measured strides delivered them inches apart. "I covet no fruits of iniquity."

He was well aware of the double life that Selina led, but he knew also every intricacy of her past, a bold claim for a man, to be certain, though not so for an angel. Despite his display of annoyance, he was not here to judge, and besides, it was not her excellence in secretarial duties that brought him to her flat in these early hours.

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thatdarncat
2011-06-05 05:55 am UTC (link)

Well, that was that. She had a lunatic in her apartment.

"Has there been a mass break out at the hospital or something?" she wondered, and finally placed the whip back down.

"Okay - Castiel, was it? Castiel, I'm not quite sure what I've done to, uh, 'summon' you, but would you like me to show you the way out? I'm sure you've got lots of, uh, seraphim things to do."

She was still baffled how he got in. She had left the kitchen window open for Isis to get in and out, but it was still cracked just as she had left it the previous night. She must've left the front door unlocked. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

She perked her senses up, hoping this guy would just exit quietly and find someone else to harass. She waited for any sudden movements. She was fairly certain she could take him down with a few swift moves, but her shoulder was beginning to throb, and she didn't want to make it worse if she didn't absolutely have to.

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castieli
2011-06-05 07:00 am UTC (link)

"Your source of information is flawed," Castiel replied earnestly. The heavy dose of sarcasm in her voice went poorly heeded. "The seraphim are a different order of angels. They serve no earthly function."

"You entreated aid in eluding your superior, Joan," he continued, happily unaware that she remained woefully unconvinced by his words. He could have searched her mind if he cared to. The paradox of it was that for him to have a reason, he had first to sense something amiss. "But you did not 'summon' me. I came because we have work for you."

He was unnaturally stationary, the exception being his eyes when they strayed briefly to her shoulder and lingered before travelling back up again. He saw that the old injury bothered her still. The work they had for her was a relatively simple one as far as physical security was concerned, but it was made dangerous by the demonic presence in the area. The shoulder would need to be treated before he left.

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thatdarncat
2011-06-05 06:35 pm UTC (link)

Against her better judgement, at the mention of work, she lowered her guard a little.

"This guy must be speaking in code. From some agency." She offered him a small smile, "That's how he got in. He must just be a lot better than I am. So why me?"

It was true that the guy was weird - he didn't fidget or look around, just briefly pausing on her shoulder, causing a small twinge. He must've been well trained, probably since childhood. She had to play this right if she wanted the job. She picked her purse off of the floor, and headed towards her kitchen.

"Is there anything I can get you, Mr. Castiel? Water? Coffee? It's five o'clock somewhere, if you'd prefer a gin and tonic." She glanced back at him, grinning. "I'm very interested in, ah, assisting you with whatever it is you need."

She poured herself a cup of coffee (which had been sitting out since she had first woken up, but enough milk could make anything tasty) and gave the man another glance. Handsome, if a little zany. Maybe he was European. That would explain the name.

She took a sip of her coffee, and muttered under her breath, "Very interested."

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castieli
2011-06-05 06:47 pm UTC (link)

The angel appeared slightly perturbed by the usage of an honorific before his name. "Just," he pointed out, all too solemnly. "Castiel. And no. Thank you."

As Selina disappeared into the kitchen, he was left by himself in the foyer with only a hatstand for company. He could see her moving about in there, catching glimpses of her distant figure whenever she sashayed into view through an open arch in the wall. Glancing clumsily at his surrounding, he was wondering whether he ought to follow her, when Isis performed a jeté off the couch and landed softly on its paws. It stared at him with its glowing eyes and emitted a childish meowl before proceeding to prowl around his legs. He watched the creature with an identical catlike curiosity as it began to rub its whiskers against his trousers in incremental vigour, marking him as its own.

Castiel's attention was removed from feline courtship by the sound of Selina`s voice. He took a step, lips parting in response, but Isis, firmly inserting itself in his way, frustrated his efforts before a word could escape his mouth. He tried glowering down at it, but this proved outstandingly ineffective. Once more, he stared mutely in the direction of the kitchen, then in the next moment, he stood directly in front of Selina, too close for human comfort, perhaps.

"That is good," he remarked. "Heaven will be grateful for your service."

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thatdarncat
2011-06-05 07:01 pm UTC (link)

Selina smiled as she heard Isis meow. The cat was normally scared around strangers, only emerging around calm or quiet people, and calm this man certainly was. Though Isis had not been the best judge of character in the past, once making very friendly with a policeman who had come to question Selina, she was heartened to hear Isis making herself known to the man. It seemed like a good omen.

She turned from the coffee pot towards the fridge to grab one of the several cartons of milk inside, and gasped loudly to find him just in front of her, almost spilling her entire cup.

Isis had followed him. She prowled around her owner's legs now, keeping her large eyes on Castiel, purring almost as loudly as a motorboat. She was certainly acting strange.

Regaining her composure, Selina tried to smile again, though now she was thoroughly confused and a little annoyed.

"Mist...sorry, just Castiel. I'm not ashamed to say that I'm proud of my abilities, and I could get almost any prize you've got your eye on," she stepped back, perturbed that there was a wall behind her and a man in front of her - no easy escape should she need one, "But you seem to be quite adept in the arts of stealth, yourself. Why do you want me?"

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castieli
2011-06-05 07:37 pm UTC (link)

"The Lord's reach knows no limit," Castiel agreed, blind to her confusion. He spoke always with an intensity, as though each and every word was of great import. "But there are ways—ancient ways—to ward a place temporarily from divine interference."

"There is a shortsword. Silver in colour." Without taking his eyes off of her, he extracted a gleaming blade one-handedly from within a sleeve. He raised it to give her a good view. Light danced on its edge, or perhaps it was the one giving off the light. It was a shimmering, almost living thing that had been forged from no human metal. "Looks like this."

While she examined the weapon, he brought his other hand to her forehead and touched lightly, implanting visions of everything she needed to know about the location.

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thatdarncat
2011-06-05 07:54 pm UTC (link)

"This code speak is getting a little confusing," Selina mused, and was about to open her mouth to speak when he removed the sword from his sleeve. She jumped a little, but was learning not to be surprised by this man. She took the sword in her hands. It was almost unnaturally light - and beautiful. She didn't think she had ever seen such a material.

"It's lovely," she murmured sincerely. She glanced back up to find there were cool fingers on her forehead. There was a brief moment of confusion, and suddenly, as if she had been thrown into a pool, she was overwhelmed with images. A bookstore - small, and cramped. A dark staircase leading downwards. Flashes of symbols she didn't understand. A gleaming sword, lit by no source she could see, twinkling gently. Books crammed around it. A window - the weak point of the building. More symbols. Light.

As he removed his fingers, she felt as if she needed to catch her breath, but was also overcome by a sudden sense of calm. She stared hard at Castiel for several moments, putting the pieces of this very unusual morning together.

"You're really an angel," she finally realized.

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castieli
2011-06-05 08:13 pm UTC (link)

"And dangerous," Castiel reminded as she marvelled at the weapon's beauty. The one that needed to be retrieved had belonged to a lower level angel and therefore less potent than some of its brothers, yet it could render certain angels and other supernatural creatures no less dead. In the wrong hands, it would be a liability that they could not afford. Heaven's force was not infinite, especially now that only a very small fraction of it found itself trapped in this city with no way to contact the outside world.

When Selina came reeling back to the quiet flat occupied by an unlikely trio of a thief, an angel and a sleepy cat, it was Castiel's turn to be afflicted with mild confusion. "I've already told you," he said with a frown. Had that not been obvious all this time?

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thatdarncat
2011-06-05 08:33 pm UTC (link)

With eyebrows furrowed, Selina couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "Yeah..." she murmured, and handed the sword back to him. She was still reeling from the shock of realizing she was in the presence of a real angel. Oh man, did she have some atonement to do.

She leaned back against the counter, mind racing.

"So if an angel can't access this thing...I'm not going to have to go up against demons, am I? I'm not really equipped for that," she chuckled nervously.

"I can't believe I'm making jokes about this. This is insane."

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castieli
2011-06-05 09:18 pm UTC (link)

"That would be preferable, yes," Castiel acknowledged. Uriel, in his usual gusto, had been much too happy to offer to smite the entire block and be done with it, but such would have left untold amount of casualties. As Heaven could not be reached for input, Anna gained the upper hand on behalf of the block's inhabitants and Uriel had withdrawn his suggestion, muttering about mud monkeys. They had laid siege and culled what they believed to be the majority of the demons from the vicinity, but the Enochian warding made the inside of the building an expansive blind spot. In truth, they could not be sure what, if anything, lay wait inside. The implication was that it was preferable that the chosen human not go up against demons, but the job did not come with guarantees.

"We believe that you are uniquely qualified for the task of covert entry. It will not be easy. But first, there are a few things we must prepare you for . . . in case." In case of what, he did not have to say.

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thatdarncat
2011-06-05 09:36 pm UTC (link)

This suddenly didn't sound fun anymore. He didn't deny the possibility of demons, which she took to mean as an almost definite guarantee that there were going to be demons. She was in over her head.

"In case..." she repeated, and as if knowing he would not continue the thought, added, "In case of what?"

Isis purred beneath her legs, and Selina picked her up, squeezing her too tightly. Isis mewed in protest, but Selina needed something to grab on to.

"I'm not going to be possessed or something, am I?" she added, almost feeling silly.

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castieli
2011-06-06 12:51 am UTC (link)

"In case we were wrong about your abilities," Castiel ended with the same dryness with which he'd begun, no more ominously than if he'd said she ought to bring an umbrella in case it rained. "Possession is one of the things for which you must be prepared," he agreed, approving of her line of thought.

It was a good thing she was already backed up against the counter for support. Before she could really have another say, he was examining her with a tilted head. "This will be uncomfortable," he warned, then laid his hand over her solar plexus. There was a warm glow that soaked through her skin and soon began to burn until lines of complex inscriptions in Enochian were etched into all twelve pairs of her ribs. The process stung badly, but also mercifully quick.

"This will protect you from demonic detection." Isis, who had been struggling and hissing nastily in her arms, clawed at his sleeve as he removed his hand. "And also possession. It will not ward against ordinary perception, however. I trust that will not be a problem."

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