[RL] Castiel + Regulus [Title TBD]

[treatinferiors]

[He's not used to London from this side. Usually, they took Floo Powder, or else apparated when they grew old enough. When they wandered down the street, it was always firmly on the Wizard side of the invisible line. This is Muggle London, and it is different, and part of him still has to swallow on the word 'Muggle' so nothing worse comes out.

He found a place in the Park, and a bench to sit upon. He doesn't know where to look, or what to say, so he looks down and says nothing. It's almost like being a shadow. He's gotten rather used to it.]

Comments

[loyalbound]

Yes. Even with the Apocalypse averted, there has still been much to do in Heaven.

[ like attempting to bring some order to Heaven after Michael's sudden departure; like trying to teach the rest of the angels that they can and do have free will if they so wish, and how to use it. it's no surprise that for the most part, the latter hasn't been anything but a frustrating upward struggle. for all that he believes it's what God wants for all of them, that this is the right thing to do - angels weren't made for free will. learning it is a trial. ]

[treatinferiors]

There's always work to do.

[And he can't do it. He can't go home. It would go seventeen kinds of bad. All he can do is trust Kreacher to finish what he started. There's guilt on his face, but he shakes it off. Or tries to. Maybe it makes little appreciable difference. It matters to him.]

I think it can be done.

[He knows what no one else knows. And somehow despite that, he can sit in a park and talk to a friend. So it's not all bad, on the other side of the cave. It's just harder.]

[loyalbound]

That is my hope. [ it will take time, he knows. he hasn't heard much from the last remaining archangel since his return, either, which may be something to look into. but things will fall into place.

which is why his own business feels of little consequence at this precise moment. ] What of yourself? What will you do?

[ he doubts, somehow, with parallel worlds at his disposal, that Regulus has been hiding on his own world. he also knows the frustration that can come with that kind of displacement from home. ]

[treatinferiors]

I can't go home. [He should be dead. And if he goes back, they most probably will be. Despite all that has happened, all that has changed, he still refuses to let his family be placed in the line of fire. They'd done everything right. Everything expected of them. It would be wrong to ruin that for them.

Well. Besides attempting to murder their boss. But He deserves that. And it will take a very long time to stop capitalizing that He.]

But I can't merely watch and do nothing. Not any longer.

[There's an end left hanging, involving the locket and Kreacher. He can't go home to close it.]

I need to help.

[In whatever little ways he can. To make up for the little evils he's done.]

[loyalbound]

[ he wishes he could provide a solution to Regulus's problem. he can hide people from other angels in a heartbeat. hiding people from humans - let alone humans who work with different parameters of magic to those used on his own world - that's a wholly different matter. I'm sorry, he wants to say, as if those words would make some sort of difference.

he knows they won't. ]

Could there be a way to influence matters from off-world?

[treatinferiors]

I don't know.

[It's an honest answer. And he gives it after a moment's thought. He knows his brother's here, after all. Sirius may not be high up on his list of favorites. Doesn't really want to deal with the inevitable finger pointing of how right he was. But it's a better option than telling Bellatrix. Still, he hasn't seen Sirius in awhile, not really, and he's not sure he'd take Regulus' sudden reappearance well.

But it's an option.]

There might be someone I can talk to.

[If he doesn't ask too many questions.]

[loyalbound]

Then it may be worth a try.

[ better than the feeling of not being able to contribute anything, of being useless. better than that by far. ]

[treatinferiors]

It's all I can do.

[Try. And hope the effort matters. Despite his relatively somber mood, he actually sounds somewhat proud here. He did his damn well best, everything he possibly could have done, and it's only by a quirk of community that he's still here enough to do something more.]

How long can you be down here?

[After a pause, a sort of comfortable one.]

[loyalbound]

[ he leans forward a little, as comfortably as that pause, resting his elbows on his knees, his chin on his clasped hands. ]

I can spare some more time. There is confusion, but it's the quiet sort. Rachel is quite capable of handling things for a while longer.

[ there's a small note of pride when he talks about Rachel. they'd been in the same garrison, but he hadn't expected her to welcome him back as warmly as she did. let alone take to trying to understand things the way she has. he's glad to have her by his side in this. ]

[treatinferiors]

[He thinks, and looks up at the sky and the park around him. The next part comes out without any real effort on his part.]

Want to take a walk?

[More sheepishly. As sheepish as someone as Noble as the family allows.]

I've never been to Muggle London before.

[He's sure Castiel's must be different from the one he never explored at home. But maybe those details don't matter. The spirit of the place, not the letter.]

[loyalbound]

Neither have I. At least, not in any capacity that allowed me to look around.

[ that's not to say he knows nothing about the city. Castiel's human history is, most of the time, better than that of most humans; it's the finer points of everyday interactions and culture that escape him. but knowing isn't the same as experiencing. ]

I'd be glad to take a walk.

[treatinferiors]

We had better things to do than... mingle.

[A lot to imply in that mingle.]

Alright, good.

[So walking now. In a park. Nothing but muggles around. Hopefully muggles. And trees, which aren't muggle at all, except for the planting. And paths, which aren't muggle at all, except for the people walking along them.

Secret meetings take place at night. Everyone knows that. That's why this one happened in the afternoon.]

[loyalbound]

[ like almost all large cities on his Earth, London isn't exempt from a supernatural influence. but here and now, there isn't a threat that Castiel can sense, which makes for a pleasant change. ]

How separate is magical London from its non-magical counterpart?

[treatinferiors]

Most important buildings are invisible to muggles. Our home was.

[He thinks a bit longer.]

If you know other ways to go, you hardly have to walk down the muggle streets at all.

[loyalbound]

I see.

[ how strange, that the two could be that separate. magic and the supernatural has never truly been separate from what most would think of as the "normal" world here. more like covered with a fragile, translucent veneer. slipping between the cracks and entwining itself with the usual world without anyone noticing that was what it was doing unless their eyes were already opened. the idea of it being separate, hardly ever touching - he supposes in many ways it's safer. safer to look at, anyway. ]

This must be somewhat strange for you, then.

[treatinferiors]

[He's sure there's holes in the magic concealing bit. Lots of them. But he never much noticed them before, because to be honest, he never much cared before. Wizards had their own places to go, Alleys and hospitals and villages and places so very far away from it all. They liked to pretend that what happened Out There had no effect on In Here. Much more the other way around. But he thinks maybe, perhaps, there's more to this muggle, mundane world.

He smiles a bit.]

Funny, isn't it? The normal things... they're what's strange.

[loyalbound]

Normality is relative. [ the answer comes swiftly, almost without thinking. but he knows what Regulus means, really. and he agrees. he had fleeting brushes with what passes for normality when he was human - fleeting because for all his brief humanity, he was still immersed in the supernatural world, still fighting against the apocalypse - and it still seems strange to him. ]

But I would have to agree. The lives many humans lead remain alien to me.

[treatinferiors]

I wonder what we missed.

[They were both different sorts of away from it all. Removed. And this might be one of the few times he's said 'we'.]

[loyalbound]

If Dean is to be believed, many things.

[treatinferiors]

Rachel kept trying to make me watch musicals.

[He'd been in Lima, Ohio since...well. Since.]

[loyalbound]

[ ah, so that's where he's been. he makes a quiet note of that; doesn't ask for confirmation verbally, but it's noted nonetheless. ]

I imagine she would have. [ beat. ] I can't say I've ever watched any.

[treatinferiors]

[Beat.] Les Miserables isn't bad. [He admits.]

[loyalbound]

[ oh wait that title sounds familiar... ] There's a book by the same name, if I'm remembering correctly.

[treatinferiors]

I think so, yes. I haven't read it.

[There's time now.]

[loyalbound]

It's quite long, but I remember it being interesting. Of course, it's been a while.

[treatinferiors]

There's always more to be done.

[Even reading.]

[loyalbound]

[ ... oh yes, that was what they were talking about. it's not like him to allow himself to wander off-topic for so long. ]

So there is. I don't find that to necessarily be a bad thing.

[treatinferiors]

No. It's quite nice, actually.

[Free time's funny that way.]

[loyalbound]

It can be. I do find being active preferable.