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Mephistopheles ([info]feedsmycontempt) wrote in [info]utr_logs,
@ 2010-12-09 20:26:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:ariel, astaroth, mephisto

Who: Snark twins ahoy! and later, Astaroth.
What: Just another day in the shop, or is it?
Where: the book store, as usual.
When: Morning-ish.
Warnings: Oh, the usual antiquated obscenities.

For what it was worth, Mephisto hadn't had a boring day as a human. Quiet ones, yes, and certainly there were lulls between things to fascinate him, but just as soon as he thought he'd got the hang of things, his body threw him a curveball, and sent him reeling into fascination and bafflement once more.

Today, it seemed, would be one of those days. He woke up and promptly realized that he felt drained of all life, of all energy and desire, and that his digestive system was completely out of sorts. Which was why, when he walked into the shop, he was even more pallid than usual, and he didn't seem to carry himself with the same amount of grandeur and regal posturing that he generally did. He did, however, have his second journal with him, and a smile on his face as he walked in, quickly silencing the bell above the door with a swift movement of his hand thrusting up to lightly hold the bell as he closed the door behind him.

"I believe I'm ill," stated the fallen angel, matter-of-fact, and possibly more smugly than one would usually say it. It was as if the cat had caught a bird and was boasting about it.


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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-10 03:50 am UTC (link)
Ariel looked up, brow furrowing when he heard the fallen angel. He was about to call nonsense, but upon further inspection, the stubborn old goat did look rather sheet-white. "You don't look well," he admitted grudgingly. "Why do you look happy about it?" It wasn't one of the more pleasant things to experience as a human.

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[info]feedsmycontempt
2010-12-10 03:55 am UTC (link)
"I've been mainly hoping to experience all facets of human life, and all that comes with it. Do pardon me if I make a hasty retreat to the lavatory today," Mephisto slipped behind the counter and set his journal aside before taking a seat with a genuine sigh of relief. "It's bloody awful. I feel like every joint and tendon has decided to seize on me. But on the other hand, I'm... glad to know it. It's an experience." He shrugged slightly. "Don't worry, I'm fairly certain that if it is catching, you've already gotten it. Symptoms don't usually show until a bug stops being contagious, after all. And how are you, today, Ariel?"

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-10 04:03 am UTC (link)
It made sense, in the angel's usual warped way. Ariel sighed. "I'm all right, I suppose. I'm three-quarters of the way through your book. It's getting to the point where I have to concentrate to have a conversation in English, for better or worse." Thanking customers in the True Language inevitably got him stared at.

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[info]feedsmycontempt
2010-12-10 04:10 am UTC (link)
"Mm, immersion is a funny thing," Mephisto said, his head tilting subtly to the side as he looked over at the alchemist. For what it was worth, he felt proud of the man. "You don't sound so pleased about it, however. Is all well? Would you like to take a short break from it, to collect yourself?" Of course, Mephisto knew that there was no way that Ariel would approve of that for himself. He was a man who sought to strive onward, even if the end of the road meant discomfort for him. But the offer stood.

"Do realize that you have no particular deadline, though at this rate, I would put the culmination of your learning leading to ascension on, appropriately enough, Epiphany." Ariel was raised Catholic, the man would know when that was.

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-10 04:35 am UTC (link)
"January sixth," Ariel murmured automatically. It was appropriate, after a fact. It was also not unreachable. Even at a slower pace, it was not perhaps unreachable.

He said as much. "I can complete the book by then, though I'm not certain how much time I'd need for your so-called 'riddle.' And I know I have no real deadline, but I never see much of a need to stop." He had few friends and no lady in his life, why not stick to magic? Bill had dragged him out forcibly a few nights, but only a few.

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[info]feedsmycontempt
2010-12-10 04:46 am UTC (link)
It was a lonely life, but one with which Mephisto could sympathize. He shook his head, "The riddle isn't important to your ascension. It would take you repeated readings of it to even catch onto where and what it is. And anyway, it's more a secret than it is a riddle. A closely guarded one, a hidden one. But you are more than welcome to keep digging. Eventually, you will find a thread that leads you to it. I have faith in you. If any being could find it, and understand it on as deep a level as it is, you would be that one. To be honest, I would love to see what you'd do with it."

Mephisto turned his head with a grimace then, and bit back a sensation of discomfort, willing it away as best he could before continuing, albeit a little shaky. "Epiphany it shall be, then. The gradual process of ascension that you've been experiencing throughout this lesson is only leading up to one thing, and that is your ability to... withstand what will happen when I give you the knowledge I possess firsthand. To be honest, I'm not entirely certain I can, in the flesh, but I'll find a way to work around that."

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-10 04:51 am UTC (link)
Not without black humor, Ariel shrugged. "I've been mad before." He was completely uncertain what might happen himself, but he wasn't about to stop now. "You know what dangling a challenge in front of me leads to ..." He was about to go on, but broke off. "You really do look white as a sheet. Have you caught a chill?"

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[info]feedsmycontempt
2010-12-10 04:55 am UTC (link)
"A fever, actually," Mephisto explained, and then his brow quirked, as he realized exactly what set this into action. "It's most likely food poisoning. Excuse me." He bowed his head before standing and walking with long, rushed strides to the back of the shop, to the restroom.

Ten minutes later, he returned, having splashed his face with water afterwards, and was drying it with a paper towel as he sat back down. "As you were saying?"

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-10 04:58 am UTC (link)
"You look a shade better," Ariel told him before resuming. "I was merely saying that I worry about absorbing all that knowledge, frankly, but there are those who would say that I've never had much control of my mind, that this kind of shock would make it no different. Excuse me." He broke off to point an elderly woman over to the romances. Silly things to stock.

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[info]feedsmycontempt
2010-12-10 05:06 am UTC (link)
The romances were clearly there as a reminder to the shopkeepers that there was such a thing. As for Mephisto, however, he chuckled at Ariel's supposition. "Oh, you'll be fine, I have no doubt, but it will likely pain you as much as the nao sha did me. And with a similarly wonderful outcome. However... Knowing all that I do. Hrm." He rubbed his jaw as he considered it. "I've never done it before, you see, I'm not sure if you'll gain memories on top of knowledge. I suppose that they're separate, but knowledge is useless without the experience to back it up."

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-10 05:16 am UTC (link)
Ariel blinked. Memories? Memories of Raziel and Mephisto? "I'd be more afraid of those," he said, somewhat without thinking, but he doubted the angel would take offense, and if he did, so be it. It was the truth. To relive all that pride, anger, fear, jealousy, physical pain?

Well, he could handle physical pain. "I can take pain if there is a reward at the end of it, at least; no worrying about that."

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[info]feedsmycontempt
2010-12-10 05:24 am UTC (link)
"I wouldn't allow you to see my life firsthand, Ariel. I wouldn't have wished that on you when I was mad and perceived you as an enemy. It's a slim possibility, in any case. Knowledge alone will suffice, as it did for me. You're so very young yet, and simply handing you that experience would be... well, it would be cheating, now wouldn't it?" He gave a sly smile before summoning himself a small bottle of ginger ale, uncapping and taking a sip of it. "It would do far more good for you to gain the experience. Half the fun of knowing all that I do, I suppose, is that it inherently isn't at the hand of experience. I learn backwards more often than not. I have the knowledge, but no wisdom behind it, until I look into it. It's like picking up a particularly arcane, vast spellbook, I suppose, and performing the most advanced things first, to get a grip on the amateur spells."

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-10 05:39 am UTC (link)
He understood the analogy, even if it seemed mad and dangerous to him. Then again, the angel did seem to take the most complicated way to everything. "Will that become my modus operandi, do you think?" He damned well hoped not. "Or is it merely an offshoot of your personality? I know well enough that you can be extremely methodical, when it's called for." It was mere curiosity, at this point.

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[info]feedsmycontempt
2010-12-10 05:47 am UTC (link)
"You will remain yourself, if that's what you're worried about. The way you act will always be how you act. That is you. However, knowing all that there is to know without any experience is grating." He took another sip of his ginger ale, and looked down. "It is how I was made. I didn't need to learn, I already knew all that there was to know. Things that your kind has yet to learn, things that have passed on into obscurity. Science, magic, nature, and the stars hold no mystery to me, but as you know, Ariel," he looked up at the alchemist, catching a momentary bit of eye contact, "it is not about the knowledge itself, but the experience and wisdom that comes with it that is our drive. You will hold all this knowledge, but you will seek to find things to do with it. It is why Alchemy exists, why science is an art."

He smiled faintly. "And you will find more happiness in it, I feel, than any other part of this entire venture."

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-10 06:03 am UTC (link)
"My life has rather been governed by the 'why'," Ariel agreed. "There are still mysteries for me, of course, but even if I know that things are, finding out why they are will please me for ages." He wondered, of course, whether it would please him for eternity, or if he'd wind up as tired as Raziel. But there was no answer to that question.

He had to be curious, though. "I know you hadn't beforehand, but at this point, have you told anyone else what you're planning? Mere curiosity." Being able to lean on people like Gabriel right at the beginning of his new life would be invaluable.

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[info]feedsmycontempt
2010-12-10 06:07 am UTC (link)
"I may have mentioned it to Uzza, and Kokabiel clearly knew you served some purpose, so she may have some knowledge of it. Gabriel," he said, smiling as he spoke his brother's name, "is extremely bright when he allows himself to be. If he hasn't figured it out yet, he will. Of course, you're more than welcome to confide in whomever you like." He also told Mary, but she was gone, and with her went the knowledge, among a great amount of other things of value, in Mephisto's opinion. "My dear friend Ash has come here recently. I'll no doubt tell her."

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-10 06:16 am UTC (link)
Ariel nodded. "I simply didn't want to betray a confidence. I might discuss it with Gabriel at some point." Gabriel knew the being before him better than anyone, and anything Raziel didn't wish to discuss, Gabriel probably would. "Who is Ash? Another angel? Someone I should meet, or merely a personal friend?" The more allies he could have, the better."

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[info]feedsmycontempt
2010-12-10 06:27 am UTC (link)
Mephisto considered answering the question with a lie, for once, but resigned and sighed a little. "Ash is not an angel. She is a being not made by the Creator. There were beings in this world before God came and laid claim to it, even humans. Humans were created by many gods over time, including our Creator's Adam and Eve, all around the same time. It was, and is, extremely complicated, but Ash got mixed up in with us, and was sent to Hell for... heaven knows what. She's a good being, despite that." He pushed his hair back over his shoulders and sat up as best he could. "I see no harm in you meeting a being older than myself, for once."

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-10 06:36 am UTC (link)
How fascinating! She must have been Assyrian or something even older. "A similar origin to Asmodeus? You said she was good, of course," he added hastily. "But that old? What stories she must have to tell."

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[info]feedsmycontempt
2010-12-10 06:40 am UTC (link)
Mephisto smiled, "Oh, yes, they're from the same pantheon, in fact, if memory serves. She's been just as twisted and contorted in human reckoning as I have, however. A deity turned demon, turned male, turned magic 8-ball." He knew Ariel wouldn't know what the latter of those were, so he summoned one and handed it over. "Ask it a question, and flip it over for an answer. The only difference between this novelty toy and summoning Ash, is that Ash tells nothing but the truth." He paled again and grumbled. "Bloody intestines, I'll be a moment." And off he went to the bathroom again.

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-10 07:18 am UTC (link)
He took the little ball, examining it and laughing; it was clearly just a toy, so he could be amused. He could see the amusement in something like this, as long as it was only amusement.

When Raziel returned, he handed it back. "A handy accessory for costumes at All Hallow's."

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[info]feedsmycontempt
2010-12-10 07:23 am UTC (link)
He chuckled and set it down on his side of the counter, deciding that if anything, it entirely complimented the crystal ball that was there and did much the same thing, with much the same results. "I like novelties, if only because they're simple amusements. I really ought to head home, I'm doing no work, and feel I likely won't be able to get anything done today. Though..." He considered it and tilted his head, "I'd be more than happy to give Ash a call, and see if she wouldn't like to keep you company instead."

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-10 07:38 am UTC (link)
Ariel chuckled himself as the toy was set next to the "real" crystal ball. "It feels odd to say, but perhaps you really should get some rest. I won't be held responsible for that flesh golem breaking down." A gentle jest never hurt anyone. "As for the lady, she can come in if she'd like to, but I learnt long ago to never demand anything of a woman if one can help it. Especially women who are your elder by millennia."

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[info]feedsmycontempt
2010-12-10 07:42 am UTC (link)
"Don't say that to her face, she's forever 800," joked Mephisto as he stood and took his journal in hand. "I will assuredly feel better in two days, when I've said I'll come in again. Don't work yourself to exhaustion, Ariel." He stepped down and to the door before his brow furrowed and he cocked his head to the side before turning again, "And Ariel, a word of advice, do stay clear of the authentic Indian restaurant a few blocks south of here. It tastes fine, but, well..." He put his hand up to keep the bell silent as he opened the door and left without another word. He'd call Ash once he got home, to see if she wouldn't mind keeping Ariel company while he was nursing himself back to health.

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[info]astarte
2010-12-10 07:48 am UTC (link)
Ash had gotten Mephisto's call, and she was more than pleased to go visit one of her friend's pupils. She willed herself to his shop, sitting down on the counter by the cash register almost moments after Mephisto had left.

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-10 08:06 am UTC (link)
Ariel had been in the stacks, and thus was slightly nonplussed when a beautiful woman was seated on his counter. "You must be Ash. Or at least, that's what Raziel calls you." She was stunning, not just beautiful; proportional, with lovely eyes.

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[info]astarte
2010-12-10 08:10 am UTC (link)
"It's my preferred nickname. He calls me by my real name sometimes, which is also acceptable. I've been given so many false ones, that it's a luxury when someone knows who I am. You must be Ariel." She smiled brightly at him, hopping off of the counter to go meander through the stacks.

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-10 08:26 am UTC (link)
"I am." He would have said more, but he figured she could look around. There was no harm. It would give him time to hide Raziel's book, and just keep his notes out. Raziel had said the two were friends, but who knew how much of this he wanted her to be aware of.

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[info]astarte
2010-12-10 08:51 pm UTC (link)
She went immediately to the oldest books in the stacks, humming as she perused the tomes in Latin and French. "How's your grooming coming?" She turned her head to grin at him, biting her lip as she looked at him. "I see why he likes you. You're adorable."

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-11 04:58 am UTC (link)
He hadn't expected that, and turned a piquant shade of red when she smiled at him. "Who, Raziel?" He didn't comment on the 'adorable'; it was a word best used for kittens and children, not grown men. "The process is going well, though, miss. Thank you."

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[info]astarte
2010-12-11 05:00 am UTC (link)
Ash nodded. "I'm glad it's going well for you. It's a lot of work you'll be doing. Not many can take on what you're doing."

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-11 05:16 am UTC (link)
He felt faintly embarrassed that he couldn't stop staring at her. She was no doubt used to it, but nonetheless. How rude.

He tried to be polite. "I'm all right with that; this life has been a very long, strange journey. Another stop is no trouble." To say nothing of his Helena. Helena, who might be waiting for him at the end of this Ascension.

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[info]astarte
2010-12-11 05:20 am UTC (link)
She'd stopped noticing people staring at her long ago. She'd been made to be looked at, and she didn't mind it, really. Smiling a little, she looked at him. "You're very graceful, Ariel."

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-11 07:02 am UTC (link)
"Graceful?" Ariel raised an eyebrow. He didn't want to seem ungrateful, but he didn't quite understand what she meant. He took a seat behind the counter, figuring she'd sit down of her own accord.

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[info]astarte
2010-12-11 07:25 am UTC (link)
"You're taking all of this in stride. It's wonderful." She had her arms filled with five or six books, chuckling a little. "May I purchase these?"

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[info]defectedfromgod
2010-12-11 08:05 am UTC (link)
"Oh." Yes, Ariel m'lad, you still run a bookshop. "Yes, of course. Give them here, please; I need to see the codes on the covers." He took them as she handed them over, admiring her natural grace. "Surely you don't need me to tell you how elegant you are."

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