When after all, it was you and me [open]

[saunteredvaguelydownwards]

Who: Crowley, Dan Palmer, Nathaniel Howe, Regis & YOU
Where: Catchall for all my characters around the Citadel
When: Event times!
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Will personal make top levels if requested!
The Story:

Comments

CROWLEY [open]

[saunteredvaguelydownwards]

It might be easy or difficult to find Crowley in a place as large as the Citadel, depending entirely on where he is when you happen to be looking for him (or stumble across him). He might be in one of the bars, enjoying a drink and watching the asari dancers with barely disguised interest. Or, in the largest casino, smoking a cigarette and giving gentle nudges here and there to the gamblers, making sure they change their minds just before they walk away from their losses and quietly smiling at their fury.

Away from people, or in the quieter parts of the place he can be found simply touring by himself, or sitting on a high walkway at the top of the Presidium - exactly where he really isn't supposed to be at all.

Sometimes, it's as if he doesn't want to be noticed - in those moments, he slips from view in a blink, appearing somewhere else several hundred feet ahead. At least once, he stops to listen to a hanar giving a sermon in the Commons, seated on a bench with his chin resting on one curled hand.

And sometimes.. just sometimes, he can be caught looking out of a window at the stars - usually in the middle of the 'night' when few people are expected to be awake.

[manicuredangel]

Aziraphale has had a bear of a time getting used to this. He only just got to Wonderland when everything changes. And if there's one thing that can be said about Aziraphale, it's that he doesn't adapt to changes all that quickly. Sure he can think on his feet when the time comes, but the way the world around him usually changes is even a little fast for him. He can never keep track of fashion, for example.

Perhaps that's why he goes out looking for Crowley. If there is one thing he can count on over the course of the millennia, it's Crowley's presence. Even if they are on opposing sides, even if they believe in fundamentally different approaches, even if Crowley can be downright frustrating at times, he has always been there.

He finds Crowley star gazing at some remote window. He looks so peaceful that the angel hesitates for a moment before approaching his friend. He doesn't say anything, just enjoying the view and his presence and finding the strength to calm his rattled nerves.

[saunteredvaguelydownwards]

He feels Aziraphale coming from the other side of the Commons. It comes with a certain kind of tingle, a prickle in the hairs on the back of his neck that would have been a warning once upon a time but was now little more than an indication of a not-so-opposing force in the vicinity. All angels felt a little different when they came near him, and he could always tell the difference.

That's why he doesn't look around, but rather waits until he can see the faint outline of Aziraphale's reflection approaching from behind him. He shifts the position of his shoulder against the frame of the window.

"Funny to think about, really," he says after a few minutes of companionable silence. He rarely feels uncomfortable around the angel anymore. "Humans might achieve this one day, or something like it, because of what we did."

[manicuredangel]

He nods, considering the statement. "I suppose it is inevitable. They've always looked to the stars for inspiration."

But he finds himself wondering just where they fit in a future like this. Would they remain on Earth? Would Earth be so polluted by that point they would be forced to leave? Things haven't been looking so great lately for the future of their home planet, after all.

"You would be more than happy to follow them out here, I suspect."

[uncaging]

Elizabeth likes the Citadel even more at night; when the bustle of the place has died down there seems to be less between her and the stars. She still isn't used to the idea of being in space, but there's something very grand about it, something special that she hasn't felt in a long time.

"Oh! Mr Crowley!" She waves excitedly as she sees him, stopping in front of the window he's gazing out of. "Isn't it magnificent?"

[saunteredvaguelydownwards]

"Just Crowley," he corrects her, with the idle, detached tone of someone who has made the correction several times and has resigned themselves to the idea that it's never really going to stick. He looks out of the window, considers what she says, and then nods.

"It is." The demon doesn't go on to say there's something wistfully familiar about the view. "Earth is that way." He points out to the stars in a direction which seems entirely arbitrary, but he's entirely certain of it.

[uncaging]

She looks toward where he's pointing, squinting a little as though she'll actually be able to see Earth, feeling more a curiosity than any actual homesickness, though her longing for Paris is still eternally present.

"How far away do you think it is?"

DAN [open]

[thecourier]

Dan, by his nature, gravitates quickly towards the casinos, where he teaches himself how to play Quasar with relative ease given previous experience with card games and racks up a decent number of credits before he decides that the sidelong looks being given to him by the staff are a good indication that he should leave.

Out of his depth in this kind of scenario, however, much of the time he spends by himself is taken up with wary observance of the various alien races inhabiting the station, mostly around the Commons, until he wanders his way down to the markets and finds himself in one of the gun stores.

His wonder at where he is isn't lost, though. As often as he can, he's seated by windows, or glass ceilings, looking out at the stars. Particularly in the docking bay, where he spends hours watching the ships come and go.

Once he discovers the firing range, his attention becomes divided between his wonder and what is undoubtedly a passion. Somehow, though, he always finds his way back to the docks.

firing range

[shivving]

Joel takes his time exploring the station. It's like nothing he's ever seen, and the people...he hasn't seen this many people in one place since before the outbreak, and even then it had been rare.

When he sees signs for a firing range, it's almost a relief. Something familiar, though he suspects this won't be much like the targets he visited with Evelyn back at the mansion. And he's right, he realizes as he surveys the high-tech guns available. Picking the one closest to what he's used to, he steps inside, only then noticing the range's other visitor. He's human, recognizable as someone he's seen around the mansion, though the man's name escapes him at first. Joel gets as far as nodding a greeting before he realizes where he'd seen him before.

He'd tried to kill him in the library.

His expression twists into a grimace mid-nod, at himself rather than at Dan. Time for another awkward conversation, and yet another apology.

[thecourier]

No weapon he had found felt like the kind of gun he was used to but he had settled on experimenting with a pistol or two until he found one that didn't feel like it was trying to break his wrist every time he fired it.

At first, he doesn't fully realise he has company. The awareness of it comes with the instinctive knowledge that he's not in any danger, and while he acknowledges the nod with a small one of his own he doesn't register just who it is until he looks over.

"... Oh. Huh. 's you."

Yeah, he remembers you, buddy. The guy who tried to kill him then set fire to the library.

"'S up."

[shivving]

"It's me."

He says it with a sort of resigned geniality. Joel's learned to live with the fact that he's always going to be known first as the guy who set fire to the library. Might as well make the best of it.

There's a pause, and then, since Dan doesn't appear to need reassurance that Joel's not about to try the same thing again, he skips that step and just adds semi-apologetically, "Fraid I didn't catch your name in all the fuss, though."

NATHANIEL [open]

[noble_son]

For Nathaniel, this is an eye-opening experience that involves a lot of walking around trying not to stare. As someone who could never have even conceived of space-flight, let alone seen it in his lifetime, venturing too near to any windows results in an unpleasant dizziness that he can't get himself past, regardless of how much he wants to stare in wide-eyed fascination at everything on the other side of the glass.

He sits in the Commons with his eyes on the ground, unable to look up at the way the Citadel curves over him for fear of nausea, though he does sneak very frequent looks at the alien species walking by. A turian pauses to ask if he's feeling well, and he can barely say 'I'm fine' without the words sounding like they're strangling him. He's given directions to the hospital, just in case, and left in peace.

Eventually, he finds his way to one of the quieter bars, where an asari takes it upon herself to keep an eye on him each time he appears there. Though he doesn't have the words to ask what everything means, he finds himself occasionally hovering by terminals, tentatively operating them in idle attempts to find information.

His uncertainty and wariness makes him easy enough to find, when he rarely strays from the same small area.

walking

[heroica]

Nathaniel might be surprised when someone grabs a hold of him, slinking their arm through his.

"Enjoying yourself?" Robyn asks, beaming, walking alongside the other Warden. She certainly seems pleased, herself; Robyn is usually on the more optimistic side of things, but their trip to the Citadel has been overwhelmingly positive for the young woman.

"Isn't this incredible?" she presses, glancing around, finally freeing his arm. "I heard from Shepard - from Commander Shepard - about some of the alien races from her world, but seeing them in person is..."

[noble_son]

It is a surprise, with the way she manages to sneak up on him being a surprise in itself. He starts visibly at the physical contact, looking down at her wordlessly for a few moments before he remembers how to speak.

"It's... something," he forces out, glancing up and then wishing that he hadn't attempted it.

"I'm having some difficulty with acclimatising to the..." The rogue waves his hand in the general direction of, well, everything. "To this."

[heroica]

"I know," she agrees firmly. "I don't think I've even dreamed of anything like this before."

Let alone imagined she might see it. Their world is full of wonders all its own, but none like this, like the Citadel.

"Have you seen Anders?" Robyn asks brightly. "I imagine he must be just as dazzled."

Who wouldn't be?

REGIS [open]

[mandrakes]

The vampire isn't someone who had ever really conceived of finding himself in space, though conversation not too long ago had caused him to consider the possibility. In the time and place he comes from, the heavens are still far out of reach save for in the minds of the most imaginative of augurs.

He spends a good deal of time after they arrive quizzing one of the Avina holograms on every detail of the station, until an official decides that giving him a datapad might be a better idea. After that, he can be found in the Commons for the following day, poring over every detail.

With little regard for warnings, he decides on exploring as much of the place as he can and finds himself in the wards. It doesn't take more than one person attempting to rob him before news travels that he is a person best left alone, and Regis himself comes out of the altercation with no damage at all.

He can be found in most places over the course of the few days they spend in the Citadel, from the wards to the docks, to the marketplaces and Commons, he has the look of someone eagerly drinking in a new experience. In fact, it is very clear that he doesn't even attempt to keep up the guise of needing sleep for the entire four days, spending all of them on foot.

[eyething]

Damon's heard tale of the individual who walks away unscathed from multiple mugging attempts. In fact, Damon catches the tail end of one now. Someone tries to mug Regis, and Damon starts to lend a hand before he is reminded that Regis hardly needs his help. It's again the mugger who ends up running in the other direction. He smirks.

"...I was wondering who had everyone so spooked."

Hey, buddy.

[mandrakes]

"Indeed."

Regis, for his part, appears to be entirely unruffled by the experience. It hasn't been difficult, merely a little annoying, and he has never once needed to break from the appearance of simply being an inquisitive old man finding his way into the wrong parts of the Wards. He brushes himself off, looks over to Damon, and smiles briefly.

"I believe, my boy, that they no longer wish for any monetary gain, but rather the potential accolades of being the one to finally take me down."

[eyething]

Insert record scratch. Damon rears back and stares briefly at Regis in surprise.

Did Regis just refer to him as my boy? Did that actually happen, or did he mishear? Because what. It's never happened before in his life likely because his father was an abusive ass, and who the hell else would call him that? His mother. He doesn't have good memories of his mother either, but she did call him it once, didn't she? In the phoenix stone where he was forced to live out one day in his life over and over again, it wasn't real. It was what his subconscious wanted her to be, do, say to him, and she never did. Because he ruined that. She came back from the dead, and destroyed his life, and he ruined his chance again.

My sweet, sweet boy, she'd said. And he'd replied with words he'd never dared to say to her.

"Did you just-" Damon shakes his head, glancing upward as he walks over to Regis and breathes out through an abrupt, strange emotion. He clears his throat. It's not a big deal. What the hell is wrong with him. He smirks, because he's good at this. Shelve away, shrug his shoulders, move forward. "They're in for a nasty surprise. I'd like to think people wouldn't be so dumb after awhile, but we've both been around long enough to know better, right?"

closed to Evie; [space date]

[thecourier]

Do y' think they keep fish in the lake?

[He asks the question of Evelyn as they walk side by side beside one of the large, open lakes in the Presidium, while his hand reaches for hers and he snags her fingers. It's an idle question, one he asks to make her smile, clear enough by the mischievous glint in his eyes when he looks at her.

He has an ulterior motive, unusually for him, and gently pulls her to a stop to kiss her forehead.]

This whole place is mindblowin', but uh, turns out 'm pretty good at one a' the games they got here. Thought I could take y' out somewhere nice. Lady's choice.

[nascensibility]

Hm?

[Perhaps she's a little harebrained with all of this new stimuli, foreign in every conceivable way, but it takes Dan's fingers to gently tug her out of thoughtfulness after he speaks. Evelyn had not been thinking about the lake, nor had she considered its potential stock of fish, instead wondering how many potential languages might be floating through the station and how many words she might pick up in the time they have at their disposal.]

Oh, I- hm. [Evelyn stops as he pulls her in to kiss her forehead, flushing darkly at the openness of the gesture in such a public place. (There is slight privacy, but only just.) She clears her throat.] I'm a- a little overwhelmed, to be honest, and-

[What he said registers somewhat too late.]

...are you asking me on a date?

[thecourier]

[What he had said, when she calls it out for what it is - and what he had not originally realised that it was - hits him very firmly the moment the words are out of her mouth.

Dan had never asked anyone on a date. It had never been high on his priority list.]

I, uh. [He... was, wasn't he?] Yeah. I guess 'm askin' y' out on a date.

[He grins at her.]

So, how 'bout it?

closed to Cullen; [why are you headbutting a krogan]

[mandrakes]

[What attracts him to the scene first of all is the sound of a fight. Not an uncommon thing in the wards, but he has broken up several already simply by being present.

What he doesn't expect to find when he turns the corner is Cullen Rutherford, forcefully headbutting a krogan to the ground with another three humans already flat out on the floor around him. He pauses mid-step to assess the situation, both eyebrows lifting up in disbelief.]

Ah, Cullen... [He says, then quietly clears his throat.] I feel the need to ask what led you into this situation.

[In the meantime, he checks if each of the unconscious combatants is still alive.]

800 YEARS LATER [ for the vine!!!!! ]

[morework]

[ Cullen stumbles backwards, until the steel railing steadies his weight. He will need to rethink his finishing move against these opponents considerably. Or pray that no further occasions to improve his strategy find him.

He takes a gulping breath. The voice rings familiar, even before the blurred twin images before him merge back into a clear outline. ]

Apparently no world is too advanced for common bandits.

[ Cullen rubs his forehead, but the last traces of his daze linger persistently. He blinks, and searches their surroundings for reinforcements. ]

--I hope this was as many as Wonderland can spare.

\o/

[mandrakes]

There will always be opportunists. That is simply the way of things.

[He checks the last of them, finding them all still with a pulse (and, in the Krogan, what he assumes is a pulse), and straightens with a brief smile. No doubt such a move has the commander's head ringing - the Krogan's head looks to be far more solid than Cullen's - and Regis has just the suggestion for it. First of all, however, a more pressing recommendation.]

Perhaps we should vacate the area, before the local authorities deem it wise to investigate the source of the commotion. [With a small gesture, he indicates that the man should follow.]

Unless you find yourself struggling to walk, in which case I am certain I can fabricate some reason for us to be the only ones left standing.