Diplomatic Envoy to Fantasyland and a Letter to Cayce (RP, Aziraphale and Psyche)

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

A few days after the prayer meeting and Sylar's rude interruption, Aziraphale set out to run some errands. The first, unfortunately, proved in vain, and he dropped a letter in the mail with a heavy heart before proceeding to the second.

Dear Miss Cayce,

I am loathe to be the bearer of possible bad news, but I stopped by to see how Mr. Adams was doing this morning, and both the first aid station and the opera house appear to be abandoned. Have you seen or heard from him or from Susan since the prayer meeting?

Aziraphale

A short time later found him approaching the clearing next to the Small World ride, carrying a bouquet of flowers and looking pensive.

Comments

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

He sighed. "You're more forgiving than my own people would be, then. The man had chosen to abandon, or suppress, his own sense of right and wrong, and I had no right to take that choice away from him. Such things are very much against the rules, and for good reasons, including but not limited to those you just cited." He rubbed his forehead distractedly. "I could reverse what I did, of course, if it wouldn't run contrary to his wishes now. Of course if I did, he'd go right back to being a danger to everyone else, and possibly invite even more severe retaliation..." He thought he could feel a migraine coming on.

[late-born-myth.livejournal.com]

"No," she said immediately. "Don't you see, it's so much worse, to have a chance and then have it taken away again. Even if it feels like a relief at the time, it's like dropping something on your foot and then cutting it off to make it stop hurting."

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

The angel nodded. "I won't, then. But I fear that leaves my hands tied, apart from apologizing, when and if he's willing to hear it."

[late-born-myth.livejournal.com]

"I know." She sighed. "Matters aren't improved, of course, by the fact that he's one of the mortals my mother-in-law has been...toying with."

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

"Oh dear, that...is a bit of a complication," said Aziraphale in the same tone of voice in which he might have said, 'Why yes, I believe that is Beelzebub.'

[late-born-myth.livejournal.com]

"She has a fine instinct for destructive potential," said Psyche wryly. "Of course, she also has a tendency to trip herself up, so we must just hope for the best and trust in her inability to form a coherent plan. For all I know she doesn't have the least idea any of this has happened."

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

Aziraphale considered. "Actually, I should think this development would interfere with any plans she might have involving him. If she finds out, I expect she will do her best to persuade Gabriel he would rather go back to being Sylar. They seem to have so much more in common."

[late-born-myth.livejournal.com]

"Hm. Possibly. Certainly Sylar is more, um, 'blessed' with hubris. The trouble is," Psyche said ruefully, "so few people here have really any notion of what gods are, and what it means to deal with us. People who meet her are apt to either revere her too highly, or else to treat her as just another new acquaintance who happens to have a pretty face and a useful set of talents. I wonder, sometimes, if I haven't led the public astray by trying to be...human, more or less, to the people who don't stand in immediate need. It may have left people with a false impression. She's...of a much older breed."

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

Aziraphale gave her a look over the rims of his spectacles that reflected, for an instant, just how old he was and how many pagan deities he had seen come and go over the millennia. Psyche would have struck him as quite remarkable simply for having survived so long, even if he hadn't rather liked her. "But you are human, my dear. Arguably more so than most people. You'd do yourself a grave disservice if you tried to deny it." He wasn't about to get into the matter of her soul, but there was no question in his mind that she still possessed one.

"As for Aphrodite, I doubt that false impression is any sort of accident. She may crave mortal worship, but I'm sure she knows how to use their ignorance to her full advantage as well."

[late-born-myth.livejournal.com]

"Yes. I am." Her eyes twinkled back at him. "But I'm a bit unusual in that respect; I have a sort of dual citizenship, if you like." Of course she still had a soul. She was Soul.

"Believe me, you can't tell me anything about my mother-in-law and how she operates. Hopefully Gabriel's recent change will have given him a chance to reconsider associating with her. But if he made any promises to her she'll certainly hold him to them, regardless." She shook her head. "There was a time when people knew better than to treat conversation with gods lightly. ...Hence much of the disguising themselves as shepherds and so on, I suppose."

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

"No, of course I wouldn't presume. Just thinking aloud," the angel assured her. He smiled sadly at her observation. "People no longer treat many things with the seriousness they deserve. I blame science, personally. They seem to think they can explain away anything if they try hard enough, and if they can explain it, that means they can control it. Utter rubbish, of course."

[late-born-myth.livejournal.com]

"Ah, well, I suppose there's always been that desire to believe that one has more understanding and control of The Way Things Work than one does. If it isn't science it's dogma; if it isn't dogma it's sophistical philosophy. After all, I know very few immortals, either, who'd care to have a continual sense of perspective about their own importance in the universe."

"Which doesn't stop me from wanting to slap people upside the head when they blithely enter into compacts with she who is called the Gravedigger, and the Killer of Men. I mean really. And it's usually for such damn silly reasons."

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

Aziraphale nodded. "Oh, always. You should talk to my associate sometime. His people don't even pretend not to be acting against humanity's interests, and yet people sign away their souls as though tomorrow will never come. They simply don't grasp that there are consequences." He sighed. "What do you suppose she might require him to do? Even under duress he could do an incredible amount of damage with all those stolen abilities."

[late-born-myth.livejournal.com]

"I have no idea, really. Obviously he's not really in a position here to kill anyone, but she might like to play around with the lesser powers around here by having him prey on them. Or just stir up trouble. If I were trying to protect someone in particular, for example, she'd no doubt want to send Sylar after him or her." Psyche tapped her wine glass thoughtfully. "She's not really used to having pawns with supernatural talents, you know. Aside from perhaps a particularly strong warrior or beautiful woman. It would be much easier to predict what she'd do to an ordinary mortal."

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

Aziraphale frowned slightly. "Are you aware of anyone else in the park with whom she has had disagreements or rivalries, who might be likely targets?" Alas, he was completely unaware that at least three people of his own close acquaintance fell into that category.

[late-born-myth.livejournal.com]

"Anyone particularly attractive or powerful who doesn't pay her or her avocation proper attention?" Psyche suggested whimsically. "She doesn't exactly confide in me, you know: when she mentions other people at all it's usually taunts or an unsubtle attempt to draw me into an intrigue."

"That's what I worry about most," she added. "The little games she likes to play - mortal lives as pawns. Well, it isn't only her, most of the older gods like that kind of thing. But there's nothing Mother would like better than to play that game against me. She's always been convinced I cheated, the first time."

Psyche paused, then admitted with a quirk to her lips, "And of course I did. By some definitions, anyway, and I'd do it again. But, well. Having the two of us here, surrounded by mortals - I'm always in fear that she'll decide to interfere with someone I'll feel honor-bound to try to protect."

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

Well, Aziraphale understood about occasionally bending the rules for a good cause. "I used to worry about that sort of thing with Crowley before we came to our Arrangement. But Aphrodite hardly sounds like the type who can be reasoned with."

He started to say something else, then stopped and laughed wryly. "There, now, I was going to offer to help if such a situation did ever arise, but considering my track record thus far I should probably leave well enough alone. Nonetheless, if I see or hear anything that seems relevant, you will be the first to hear of it."

[late-born-myth.livejournal.com]

She smiled back at him. "I don't suppose you could call long-simmering, catty resentment an Arrangment? I suppose it does do us both good to have an enemy in sight, and I have been a member of her House for a long time now."

"But thank you for that, at any rate. And I'll try to keep you informed, as well."

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

"Thank you, my dear. For that and the refreshments, and your charming company. I suppose I should be getting along." The angel rose, picking up the books. "Do you know, I've often wondered why humans have seen the need to devise deities for themselves when they already have a perfectly good Creator. It would make a great deal more sense to me if more of them were like you." He did hope that came out to the compliment it was intended to be...

[late-born-myth.livejournal.com]

Psyche's expression went a little distant, but she smiled politely as she rose with him. "Well. That's a bit of a complex issue, and one we're likely to have different views on. But, ah, thank you for your good opinion of me."

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

Sensing he'd misstepped, the angel chose to quit while he was behind, bowed slightly, and wished her a pleasant afternoon before retreating.

Well, that was a stupid thing to say, he told himself on the walk back to the tea shop. But there it was: there were some...prejudices, he supposed he had to call them if he were being honest, that more or less came with his job and couldn't be overcome if he wanted to remain what he was. Associating so closely with one of the Fallen was dangerous enough, but at least he and Crowley were fundamentally in agreement as to who was ultimately In Charge. Coming to this place had raised a great many new questions to which ineffable was an unsatisfactory answer, but it was still really the only one he had.

Well, at least they'd come to some sort of accord over the matter of Sylar. Gabriel. Whatever he called himself. He wasn't sure he felt any better about anything, and he didn't suppose he'd been much help to Psyche either, but perhaps some good would eventually come out of it. He hoped.