Tweak

InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Save the Last Dance for Me"

Mephistopheles (feedsmycontempt) wrote in utr_logs,
@ 2010-09-01 23:19:00

Entry tags:

ariel, jaspre, mephisto

Who: Ariel & Mephisto (with some Jaspre, more than likely.)
What: Ariel's return to Nemo's Rare Books
Where: The book store, London
When: Thursday afternoon
Warnings: Swearing, usual banter.

Mephisto had been keeping the book store safe and lucrative for the past two weeks as he gained his bearings with his new body, and halfway through, his little ward, Jaspre had shown up and immediately put a damper to all amount of freedom he felt he'd had in his human form. She went with him to the store every day and helped him by putting the books away on their shelves, and keeping things tidy, having found a happy chore in dusting the shelves and statue in the far back of the store. Mephisto also brought Magdala with him on occasion, and she was there, perched in her usual place up front on the shelf, looming overhead and chattering at the bell on the door when it chimed as the door opened.

Mephisto, it should be said, wasn't in a poor mood, in comparison to usual. He was simply feeling a little relief that Ariel was going to return today. The alchemist would be a welcome sight, once he returned. As for now, however, the fallen angel simply kept to his chores of pricing books and ringing up customers, while still doing some research on a potential to keep his sight once the year was up.

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defectedfromgod
2010-09-02 05:37 am UTC (link)

The end of the trip had been something he'd been sorry and glad to see. Travelling with Marietta had been a joy. Travelling at all had been something he'd missed horribly. And the momentous, life-changing conversation with Azrael. Yet he still felt like something was missing.

It was with a measure of relief that he walked into his shop. He saw the bird first, and then the angel behind the counter. "No news of murder in my shop that I can find," was his greeting, hoping his good humor would prove contagious.

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feedsmycontempt
2010-09-02 05:43 am UTC (link)

"None yet, at least," shot back the fallen angel with a half smile, "come back in two weeks, maybe then there will be something as grim." He slipped out from behind the counter and put his hands on Ariel's shoulders, "You got some color to that awful pallor you had going for you. Jaspre, look after the register, Ariel and I have to catch up." He said, looking over at the young lady, who smiled and bowed her head obligingly before taking the spot at the register. She was, at the very least, a little less completely starstruck at the fallen angel.

Mephisto guided Ariel into the back room, where he'd put four things on a table - a small music player, a box of tissues, a bottle of brandy, and a glass. "I'm glad to see you. I told you I had something to tell you when you returned."

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defectedfromgod
2010-09-02 05:48 am UTC (link)

"Marietta and Egypt, in that order. In Scandinavia it was more the weather to sit inside near the fireplace." Ariel replied, following into the back. He raised an eyebrow, remembering that cryptic statement. "Is all well?" Something felt ominous. Had something happened? He wasn't terrified; he'd bloody well know if a catastrophe had occurred, but he didn't like the feeling he was picking up off of Raziel.

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feedsmycontempt
2010-09-02 05:54 am UTC (link)

"It's... well enough." Mephisto muttered, nodding to Ariel's chair before taking his own, before summoning another glass and pouring some brandy for himself. "Gabriel made me aware of a band before you left, who had written a set of albums that he'd inspired. Now, Gabriel isn't to be at fault for this, he doesn't have a say in what he inspires, only that he does. These albums..." He paused to take a drink and look at the music player before looking up at Ariel, "Are not unlike an opera. The way in which they're unique, however, is that they are an account of your story. From the moment you were inspired to set off on your journey, until your very death. Musically, they're very well written, but it's the lyrics I find issue with, like I alluded to, before."

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defectedfromgod
2010-09-02 06:04 am UTC (link)

The first emotion he felt was anger. A sense of feeling violated, more like; the thought that everything he'd experienced and suffered was now there for the world to see was untenable. Not only because it was private, but because if anyone sought a path to enlightenment, his path would be the last that he would ever recommend.

At first he said nothing; when he'd stewed for a few moments, he steeled himself. "All right, if we're to turn them on, let's do so." He poured a stiff brandy and sat down without another word.

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feedsmycontempt
2010-09-02 06:08 am UTC (link)

"Not just yet," Mephisto said, "I'll only turn it on after I explain further." And he did. He pulled out a pad of paper upon which he'd taken extensive notes about each song, about what was particularly correct, and even the words that rang a bell, as they WERE words that they'd both spoken. He handed the notes to Ariel. "This is a rather passionate band, so do be prepared for loud music." That said, he started it up and leaned back. He wouldn't make Ariel sit through more of it than he could stomach. Even Mephisto himself took several times before he pushed through into the end. It was just too true, too real.

But it was beautiful.

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defectedfromgod
2010-09-02 06:17 am UTC (link)

He made it through about the first half with barely a flinch, though the music wasn't his proverbial cup of tea. He was trying to keep calm, to pay attention and at first, he managed. "Gabriel knows me better than he lets on," was all he said, and that softly and slowly. The goose was walking over his grave, that was certain.

When the story progressed toward his meeting with Mephisto, Ariel had to set his jaw. The song was painfully real - the singer replicating the almost-seduction he'd fallen for with silk in his tones. The brandy steadied him somewhat, but only a bit. "Are you angry," he asked at length, "that they've painted you as what you were? Do you think a fairer trial was required?"

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feedsmycontempt
2010-09-02 06:22 am UTC (link)

Ariel's question was one he actually had asked himself after listening to it. Was he angry because of how he was portrayed, or for other reasons?

"It's fair. Honest. They didn't paint me to be a monster until I was one, which you'll hear later. No, they did me no service or wrong by their portrayal, I was an antagonist." He closed his eyes and smiled faintly, "Though," his tone went smooth, "one gets no sense of how long it took for what happened. The story is told as if it was only one winter, when it took several years. That's the only qualm I have with it as far as that is concerned. As for the... fact that it exists at all, however, I'm more upset for you. They didn't play you out to be even remotely heroic."

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defectedfromgod
2010-09-02 06:37 am UTC (link)

"I wasn't." He could at least be honest on that score. "I was a spineless fool saved by a lucky chance." He would have said more, but a softer song was on now, and it purported to tell the story of his and Helena's finding each other again. Ariel closed his eyes, hanging his head, bracing himself. It ached, to the point where he could feel a dull thud behind his eyes, mirroring his heart. "Blessed Mary Ever-Virgin. Gabriel ..." He couldn't be angry. It wasn't Gabriel's fault.

Still. It hurt, badly, and when he heard the next song - himself telling Helena to go, utterly sure of himself, practically able to hear her sobbing in the background - he couldn't help it; Ariel threw the empty brandy glass at the opposing wall, as hard as he could. He heard it splinter and closed his eyes.

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feedsmycontempt
2010-09-02 06:40 am UTC (link)

And Mephisto silently disappeared the fragments of the glass and replaced it with a new one, set on the table where the other once was set. "Ariel," he murmured, his tone low, gentle, and warning. "I won't make you listen to the next one. I can't bear to. I'll leave if you must hear it, but..." He shook his head and finished off his own brandy, setting the glass aside.

"It only gets harder from here."

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defectedfromgod
2010-09-02 06:50 am UTC (link)

"I'm afraid now." It was true, but at the same time, he wanted to hear it. He had to try, as painful as this was getting, as angry as he was starting to feel. "If you need to step out," Ariel murmured, "feel free, but it may not be necessary for long."

Once the fallen angel had left the room, he hit play, listening with real fear. At first it was innocuous, merely the sounds of wildlife, perhaps meant to ape a forest or a road. But then the song truly began, and in an instant Ariel understood why Raziel could not listen. He couldn't remember exactly what Helena sounded like, but this woman ... He felt like a voyeur, like he was standing at the riverbank as he'd so often prayed to, at the moment of her death.

He banged his finger down on the button to stop, once, twice, innumerable. His hands came up over his eyes, but he didn't cry; at least not right away. It was more to shut out the world, and the knowledge that such an intimate part of his nightmares was now fodder for all the world to hear. "Bastards," Ariel breathed half against his hands. "Utter bastards."

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feedsmycontempt
2010-09-02 06:58 am UTC (link)

When he stepped back into the store, he checked on Jaspre, fed the bird, and made quick, but polite conversation with a customer, but all the while, he knew what was going on in the back room and he couldn't bear to let Ariel sit there, tormented. He praised Jaspre for her good work, and went back in, making certain the song wasn't playing before walking and putting his hand on Ariel's shoulder, and shook his head.

"There is nothing I can say that will make the anger subside in you, but from an outside perspective, if they did not put that in, the story would be incomplete." He whispered. "I can't stand the song. Can't stand to hear it. Or the one after it, because I remember that, too. I remember your grief, Ariel, that fresh cut wound in your heart, and how I used it to my advantage. The last song is the only one on this album that I can stand to listen to until the next album, which is... well, it's the end of the story, certainly." He stood and walked to his chair. "I can't say this is easy for either of us."

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defectedfromgod
2010-09-02 03:37 pm UTC (link)

He mustered a ghastly smile, looking like the corpse he was beginning to feel like. "Perhaps I'll skip that one as well." The last song was not pleasant either, but at least the woman playing Helena had a part which uplifted the darkness of the devil.

He tried to be rational, objective, as the album ended. "While the music is not the sort I would listen to, there is real passion and talent. Perhaps all they needed was inspiration." Rational. Yes. "How does Gabriel inspire people? Simply having thoughts and transmitting them?" He couldn't help wringing his hands, back and forth, as if needing something to do.

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feedsmycontempt
2010-09-02 03:47 pm UTC (link)

Ariel's nervousness was grating, if only because it mirrored Mephisto's fury that someone had dared to take the poor alchemist's life and transpose it into song. It was a miserable affair, and the way Ariel tried to rationalize it was fucking annoying, and Mephisto knew it did nothing to help him.
"Stop trying to write things off, first," He scolded, although there was no malice in his tone, only simple sympathy, "and secondly, the way Gabriel's ability to inspire music is a mystery to me, though I suppose it works the same as my own ability to inspire brilliance in the ways of..." He looked over at Ariel and smiled, almost sheepish as he admitted it. "In magic. It just happens, there's no bent to it that we can influence, there's nothing we can control, and inspiration only comes to those who are willing and able to do something with it. I never see my ability to inspire as anything more than a harmonizing of like minds. I assume Gabriel is the same." He looked over at the player and then back to Ariel.

"This next album is tolerable to me, even though they accurately depict my fall... Are you ready? It's like pulling off a bandage. The faster you do it, the faster it's over."

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	defectedfromgod 2010-09-02 04:01 pm UTC (link)
	Ariel nodded, trying to process that; it made sense, after all. In reply to the last, he nodded again. "Getting it over would be nice, yes." But he had to hear this, and he knew it. It would have eaten him if he'd not known how these strangers had taken his life and what they'd set it up to be. (Reply to this)

feedsmycontempt
2010-09-02 04:07 pm UTC (link)

Mephisto started the player again and sighed, sitting back and closing his eyes as the first song started to play. He did like this song, for what it was worth - it was just a play to his ego, and it was very obviously the show of his power, in a very minor way. He may not have realized it, but when a certain line came along, his head bowed and he grinned to himself.

He opened his eyes a moment later and looked up at Ariel. "There are just some fundamental parts to me that won't ever change."

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defectedfromgod
2010-09-02 04:14 pm UTC (link)

He could also tolerate this song, though not for the same reasons as Raziel. It was fairly general, or at least he chose to interpret it as such. "It would take heaven's own magician to change every inch of you," he replied, sitting back.

However, the next song, he knew from the notes, dealt with Marguerite. It was hard to separate the real woman, the passionate, delicate lady he'd known, from that devil's bitch. He said nothing, figuring the fallen angel knew damned well what was going through his mind. Never mind him, that woman had done the real Marguerite a great disservice, wherever she was.

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feedsmycontempt
2010-09-02 04:20 pm UTC (link)

"I was heaven's own magician," Mephisto said, before chuckling. "Perhaps that was your point, though..." He drew quiet and tutted faintly and left his seat to walk up to the work bench, which he'd temporarily commandeered in Ariel's absence, for his work on the neutralizing spell. He was almost finished, and decided to work on it for the songs before the one that Ariel left his kingdom.

"I haven't told you lately," he said offhandedly, between tracks, "that you've become something greater than you ever were then. You are you, Ariel, but magnified."

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defectedfromgod
2010-09-02 04:24 pm UTC (link)

"It was my point." Ariel replied, before turning his attention back to the music. It almost felt comfortable to be able to be angry, instead of in pain. "What a self-indulgent little fool," he murmured, listening to a song about abandonment. Yes, he'd been abandoned, but who had set that train of events in motion if not himself? Stupid prideful idiot.

Hearing Raziel's calm statement, however, drew his attention. "Why do you think so? Because of what I've been able to accomplish with your help? Or something else?" And how much of such a "magnification" was his own doing, if any at all.

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feedsmycontempt
2010-09-02 04:33 pm UTC (link)

"You're not a twit or a fool as you were back then. You look before you leap, but you still leap." He continued to clean up his mess, though he left three things out - the notes he'd written, a coin of metal, and a jar he'd filled with saliva prior to his becoming human. He summoned up a metalworking tool and started to scratch out the symbols he'd designated to embody the spell he'd created for this very thing. "You've gained that confidence I told you about. Perhaps it's because you now have reason to be confident in yourself. You don't have a diabolical influence behind you, tearing you down little by little. You don't have poppies in your head. You are the man you had wished you were back then."

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defectedfromgod
2010-09-02 04:41 pm UTC (link)

It wasn't praise, per se, but it felt like it, and he couldn't help a tiny influx of pride. Still. "I think I'd be remiss if I claimed all credit," Ariel replied, shrugging. "While I'm not complaining about lesser burdens, I cannot say that change is my doing alone. But I suppose no one changes entirely of their own will." Raziel certainly hadn't.

He fell silent for a few more songs, paying attention to the brief interludes meant to guide the story. When a song came on that was faster and louder, however, Ariel felt his blood run cold. "Confrontation?" he murmured.

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feedsmycontempt
2010-09-02 04:47 pm UTC (link)

Mephisto's eyes fluttered as the song came on and he shivered a breath. The memory was strangely fresh for him - the scent of winter, the violent swinging open of the doors to reveal a resolved Ariel. The last hour of the kingdom was upon them. "Correct." This song, and the next two were the cause of nightmares of that last hour, for the past week. He focused back on the metal, whispering his incantation in the True Language, sending the coin under his fingers singing out in a key that was strangely in tune with the music.

"Sometimes, when I feel the need to be alone, I go back there," He murmured, "to the ruins of my city. But never the great hall."

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defectedfromgod
2010-09-02 04:58 pm UTC (link)

"I knew you'd returned at least once," Ariel murmured, quiet. "I was there myself not long ago. I saw the statue." He had to admit, were it anyone else's story, he would find this mesmerizing. One could feel the tension rising to fever pitch; it robbed him of breath. His memory of that time was clouded but firm, and he could swear that some of what he'd actually said was right there, wrapped up in song. "By all that's holy."

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feedsmycontempt
2010-09-02 05:03 pm UTC (link)

"Did you really," Mephisto murmured, not really a question. "I'll be up front if you need me," He finally said with a sigh and took the coin with him, as well as the jar. "I cannot listen to this next one. The last one is the best of all. Cold irony." He patted Ariel on the shoulder. He hated how perfect the words were, how the conversation was told in lyrics and angry guitars. He had to get away from it. He could almost feel his soul being torn and transformed into the demon that he was. It made him nauseous.

He did nothing with the saliva or coin when he was in the front. He simply sat down and breathed slowly, to keep himself from being overwhelmed.

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defectedfromgod
2010-09-02 05:09 pm UTC (link)

It was hard for Ariel to listen to as well, though obviously for different reasons. It was painfully real and raw, and he felt sympathy for both of them, to be quite honest.

When the last notes had sounded, when the voice had ceased whispering his name, he stood unsteadily, and walked back to the front. He had no doubt that he'd gone pale, and walked like an old man. "If there is more, I cannot hear it," was all he said, leaning against his counter, feeling it almost calm him. It was familiar and unassuming.

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