entrancelogs | OPEN | here come the night

Entry tags:

OPEN | here come the night

Who: Adam Milligan (

halfwinchester) and whoever else might be admiring Ewaymas!
Where: Around the mansion.
When: Dec. 13, anytime from late night to mid-afternoon.
Rating: G for now!
Summary: What the hell's with all this Christmas stuff? At least one newcomer is out and about looking at the changes.
The Story:

_{[Very rarely does Adam sleep through the night--or at all, if he's being honest. When the light fades and the mansion gets quiet, it's the perfect time for thoughts of his time in the pit to creep back in, and almost every night begins and ends with him sitting wide-awake until he's too tired to mount a defense. Sometimes he likes to ward away his nightmares in the bathroom. It's smaller in there, and reminds him of the times he'd hidden there when he'd been sick with the flu as a young child.

That night, he's counting spots on the ceiling of his room when the snow starts to fall, and it's the first thing that grabs Adam's attention before the noise starts. Snow? Had that been in Wonderland's weather report? By the time his curiosity wins out over his apprehension, the noises outside his door have long since stopped.

He creeps into the hallway in bare feet to see what going's on. Christmas decorations? Is it Christmas?

The mansion looks beautifully done up in the late hours of the night, and for a while Adam looks around until the pull to return to his room grows too strong. He can be found downstairs inspecting the giant Christmas tree once daylight breaks, dressed for the weather in a heavy sweater. His breakfast is an apple, which he eats while poking at ornaments on the branches.

For once, he has something to do in the mansion that isn't simply "avoid angels." It's strange enough thinking it's already December. A lot of the time it feels like he just arrived, soul broken and all.]}

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[The archangel makes a little face. Adam makes it sound like he joined Team Winchester. If he did, it was only because Team Winchester also happens to be Team Humanity.]

Eh, I'm no fan of the Wonder Flannels, but yeah. I'm not with Michael or Lucifer.

_{[Wonder Flannels? The angel has a way with words. Adam looks a little bemused at that, and maybe a little amused, too.

It seems impossible that in the grand scheme of things anything will ever make him trust a winged powerhouse again, but strangely enough the comment is enough to unwind him the slightest bit. Being constantly tensed and on his guard is draining; if he can believe in even a fraction of what the angel's saying, though, then maybe he doesn't need to worry as much about being lined up in someone's cross hairs because of something Dean is or isn't doing.

A person can dream, can't they?]}

I don't remember seeing you.

_{[A comment like that has the potential be loaded, but it's not.]}

You wouldn't've. Kinda kept to myself, most of the time.

[But not enough, because he's dead and he's here. Or probably dead, in any case. If what the Winchesters have said is true — and they probably wouldn't lie — he hasn't shown up since Lucifer made him a kabob, and no one's made a mention of him. So, probably dead.]

I didn't make it to that whole averted apocalypse, anyway.

[It's a gamble, telling a potential vessel of Michael's something like that, but what the hell.]

_{[Adam squares that information away, but in all honesty he's not sure what to make of it. If this one's telling the truth, then an angel who hadn't backed Michael or Lucifer is probably a lesser evil, like Castiel.

Given how fucked up both sides of the fight had turned out, in retrospect keeping your head down and going about your business seems like a good policy. He hadn't been smart enough to do the same, and for all his trouble his mother is still dead.

Fighting the good fight? Overrated.]}

Michael forgot to mail your invitation?

_{[He asks this after a short pause. Anyone on the outs with Michael is better than anyone on the in with him.]}

Hard to receive mail when you don't have an address.

[So, yes, definitely no invitation. Gabriel smiles, but there's something edgy to it.]

Kinda ran away from home and did my own thing for a while.

_{[And "home" is...?]}

From Heaven.

_{[So he hadn't been a part of that shit show because he hadn't wanted to be, not because Michael or Satan had removed him from the picture like Castiel? When the end of the world had actually been happening, Adam would have thought sitting on the sidelines was a d-bag move, but now with the wisdom of hindsight he can see that running away from the whole thing might have been the smart idea.

Michael probably wouldn't have let Adam sit it out in Heaven, at least he wouldn't have made it so easy for them if he'd refused from the beginning. What he wouldn't give for a re-do.]}

That'd be the place.

[Heaven hadn't been the same after Dad had left. When Dad had been there, he never would have even considered leaving. There was no feeling more safe and secure, perched on His shoulder while watching everything that he was allowed to see (and some things that he wasn't). Creativity had been one of Dad's best traits, and he well remembers how much he'd admired it.

He admires it less, now, after being killed by a brother who had seemingly come to the same conclusion he had: that Dad was never coming back. And yet, Lucifer had pushed for the Apocalypse anyway. The confusion and pain his family had gone through...

And now Gabriel's dead, and things are worse than ever if what he's heard is true. Wonderland is his own fucked-up Heaven.]

Hung out with the Pagans. Lemme tell you, those guys know how to party.

_{[Adam hadn't ever been one to beat around the bush. Here, he could say something blunt, maybe ask if hanging out on Earth involves torturing the life out of human beings as some of Gabriel's "brothers" seem so keen to do.

But this is still a powerful being he's talking to, even if angels are no better in the end than monsters who possess innocent people, and he's... he's just a human. Less than human nowadays. This angel being on the side of the people doesn't put him on Adam's side, since the fact is, there could be any reason in the world for helping heal Michael's vessel, more than what Gabriel's saying.

He's really, really tired of opening his mouth and ending up on the receiving end of some angelic punishment, so in the end, he just nods.]}

So you've been around a while. Sounds like a blast.

[He shrugs. It's been a lonely experience. A true coward would have stayed in Heaven, would have hid away, would have waited for the end to come and Paradise to happen. Being on Earth, by yourself, without any idea how to really talk to humans? Now that had been a rocky start.]

I'm not gonna say it's been all roses and sunshine, but hey, humanity's made it fun, mostly. And I don't say that about every species. A new thrilling experience around every corner. Like mead, or Nutella. Or strip clubs.

_{[There's another long pause where Adam looks over Gabriel in silence--or his vessel--before he ventures to say anything else. The angels asking for this one:]}

You don't act like the others. Like... Michael or Castiel.

_{[He leaves it at that for a second. Compliment or insult, he'll let Gabriel decide.

Zachariah, he doesn't mention, because truthfully Gabriel remind him of the other angel. Zachariah had known how to josh around like humans and spin a story, too, seeming almost relatable up until the moment he hadn't.]}

[Compliment. Always a compliment. Not that it's his brothers' fault. Some of them don't know how to act any way other than the way they do. Gabriel shrugs, though, because Castiel and Michael have a grasp of free will.

Or they're supposed to, anyway. Michael's never quite acted like he knew what the words meant. In fact, Gabriel suspects it makes him uncomfortable. Like a wedgie. He gives orders just fine, but he waits to take them, too. From one very specific being.

His big brother is, maybe, waiting for a train that will never come. Dad's gone. He's not coming back. He's left them to act the way they will.

Like a bunch of five year olds who trash the room the second an adult leaves.]

I'm me, muchacho. But which parts are you referring to?

[Color him curious.]

_{[This angel--Gabriel--has only used his powers on him once, but Adam's already finding that direction questions make feel slightly edgy. Everything, down to their human bodies, feels like a trap with angels, and he's making a big mistake by talking to one.

He sighs a little in defeat, gaze flickering along the floor somewhere around Gabriel's feet.]}

I mean, you fake it better.

_{[There are more diplomatic and more wordy ways to put it, but that's the essence of his thought, and Adam doesn't care in the moment of it gets him in trouble.]}

You know, I think my tiny little feelings are hurt.

[No, they're not. Hurt, that is. And he generally prefers if people think he's an unfeeling ass, since it leaves things remarkably uncomplicated. If a little depressing, sometimes, when he's sitting around all by his lonesome.]

Life's too short to fake anything except for surprise and, sometimes, interest. [Pause.] And sometimes you have to fake a little enthusiasm, but seriously, just a little if it's absolutely necessary.

[Adam is definitely dealing with the world's oldest five-year-old, here.]

Speaking of which, I think I have some mistletoe to haunt.

_{[That's the point:angels don't seem to have feelings. They're not like people, they don't... think like people. What he'd meant is that Gabriel seems to know how to hit all the right marks to pass himself off as human like Zachariah, and he's not sure if that's a good sign or an even scarier sign than dealing with someone like Castiel, who doesn't even try. But saying anything more would require stepping on the landmine that is discussing an angel's "feelings" and Adam's not so stupid as to stick his neck out like that to keep asking questions.

He's also not so fond of Gabriel's kind that he'll try to apologize or backpedal.

He takes the middle ground by saying nothing at all. Just a small nod when the angel up and announces he's ready to get going. Maybe Gabriel will just flap off and leave him in one piece.]}

[Gabriel gives a very wry smile, shrugging. The silent treatment. Not exactly unexpected.]

See you 'round, kid.

[In this place? Maybe they'd accidentally run into each other again sometime. Who could say. He winks at Adam before, in the blink of an eye, vanishing.]

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OPEN | here come the night

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