hypocrisy is digging in (open)

[whele]

Who: William Whele + anyone.
Where: Bar, Stairwell, hallways.
When: Month of February.
Rating: pg- 13 warning for alcohol consumption to forget problems.
Summary: William decides that drinking is going to be the cure to all his depressing thoughts.
The Story:

[It starts almost innocently enough in a way. Wonderland is no longer being kind to the principate of Vega, or ex-principate as the young man now labels himself in his head. He hasn't been principate of anything for almost half a year and he's pretty sure the title doesn't count by this point. Things had been as okay as they could get for a while, but now it's all upside down. The love of William's life has been brought to Wonderland and everything has become awkward and, for him, upsetting. Back home they'd been the best of friends and betrothed through necessity. William loves Claire and knows full well that she doesn't love him, and that was okay. They'd even managed to get married, and when he'd found out she was pregnant with the Chosen One's child he had struggled to get past that and offer to bring said child up as his own.

It just so happened in the same exact moment, Claire found out that William was the lead black acolyte, and needless to say their marriage and friendship had ended in that instant. And now Claire was in Wonderland with the Chosen One, and from a point where she knew what William was. If there was such a thing as torture, this was it. Suddenly the young man is fed up with Wonderland and everything it supposedly has to offer, finding it tedious and wanting nothing more than to go home. He may be exiled to roam outside of Vega, but he'll take it. William not only misses home but his father too in some weird way. William will take that jerk over most people in Wonderland any day.

And so William finds himself in the bar more often than not, sitting there in a silent and drunken daze as he waits to go home. Gabriel could talk the talk, had managed to talk William into accepting Claire wouldn't give him the time of day enough to take his wedding ring off, but it didn't mean it wasn't going to hurt. The alcohol had originally been intended to help sleep at night, lying down to settle merely meant his brain kicked into overdrive to remind William on how differently he could have handled things. And as such it's started to spiral out of control, William finding it easier to be drunk and not have to dwell on things than actually get over them. He knows that drinking to soothe problems is wrong, but at the end of the day the young man has spent a lifetime watching his own father drink and David Whele has done well for himself regardless. The alcohol dulls his ability to thought and William is just fine with that, able to ignore the hurt and sinking feeling in his stomach that seems to haunt him.

Anyone who approaches William at the bar will find him idly turning an empty glass in his hands, or staggering out in a drunken quest to find his room on the tenth floor. Considering the amount of stairs he could be bumped into in the stairwell where he's sat down to rest his eyes for a second on some steps. Or perhaps he's wandered onto the wrong floor and is in the hallway wondering which way his room is.

[ooc: feel free to bump into william in the bar or in the hallways/stairs. he'll be drinking in the bar every day for a good while so this log is open for the month.]

Comments

[freewill]

[At this point, Castiel can't say that he's surprised to see a professed man of God steeped in sin like this. He hasn't had much consideration for sin in some time, ever since he divested himself from Heaven. If someone who worships his absent Father also wants to drink copiously in their spare time, then who is he to judge?

If William believes that he's going to make it all the way up to the tenth floor in this state, though, then he truly is delusional. Castiel raises an eyebrow and then shifts his stance to point down the hallway.] The stairs are that way. But...

[He glances back. He might need to ask a favor of this man one day, if Dean's fears of leaving and coming back here a demon ever come true. It would be advisable to get on his good side.]

I could save you the trip. [Which really isn't much of an explanation, but it's not like he has visible wings that he can move around to make his point. Besides, it might be best to skip over the whole angel aspect of this for the moment.] I can warp -- and take someone with me.

[whele]

[William may be the head of a church, but the church itself is a whole different kettle of fish to the ones back in the 21st century. Not that William is going to differentiate about. He's the head of the church and the main religion of Vega, and in reality he's more a man of God than anyone else realizes. Though as to if it's God's will that he's carrying out, that would be anyone's guess.

The young man snaps out of his thoughts when Castiel mentions saving him a trip, looking up from where he was peering down the hallway where the other was pointing. Save him the trip? What? Anyone who can save the principate from those dammed stairs is obviously a savior though he at least has some sense left in him to look concerned at the mention of warping.]

Warping? How does that work?

[freewill]

[Castiel has already learned a few things about William's world -- such as that Gabriel has ravaged most of the United States and other countries besides. It was hard to imagine how anyone could remain loyal to the idea of God in light of that, but it's not Castiel's business. Which doesn't mean he isn't curious to some extent. Even his faith had only lasted so long.

It's understandable that William would ask such a question, but Castiel's at a loss for a moment as to how to explain without giving away what he is. It's not that he's secretive about being an angel, most of the time, but this doesn't seem like the best circumstance in which to drop that kind of information.

Then again, William is already familiar with angels. He may figure it out on his own, sooner or later.]

I have an ability that allows me to... transcend time and space, to some extent. It means that I can move from one location to another in a matter of seconds, regardless of how far the two points are from each other. [A matter of five floors is nothing.]

[whele]

[If Castiel thinks to ask William about the damage the angels had caused, the actual numbers would probably be a shock. In the battle of Shanghai alone there were two hundred million lives lost, and in 2018 angels wiped out every metropolitan center between Boston and Charleston on the Eastern Seaboard. And yet William still sided with Gabriel, knowing that the losses were God's Will and that eventually the creator would come back. Such was blind faith.

Transcending time and space sounded complicated, even if it was to some extent and William is still squinting at Castiel. Normal people couldn't do that, but then he's met normal people with extra things added so that didn't mean diddly squat. After a fatal run in with Lucifer, William has learned that taking things at blind value tended to result in being smeared into a paste across the floor, and he pulls back the hand that was slowly reaching out. The drunk in him is curious to see what the transcending would be like, but survival instinct is trying it's best to kick in.]

What are you that means you can do that?

[freewill]

[It's not as if Castiel expected William to agree right off the spot. He has no real reason to trust him, though his intentions are in fact completely pure. He may be nothing more than a glorified taxi service at times here, and yet still Castiel does what he can to be of help to the people in Wonderland. It's about the only purpose that he's been able to find, and it serves him well enough.

Still, there's the question, the one that he had been trying to avoid. William is familiar enough with angels that he isn't going to balk at the answer, but then again, given the types of angels that he has experience with? It may make him immediately run in the other direction. In that sense, Castiel is curious to see his reaction.]

I'm an angel. My name is Castiel.

[Since he doesn't think he ever actually gave it out to him before. Those last three letters in his name say a great deal. Granted, he has plenty more proof where that came from, if William were to demand it.]

[whele]

[Angel. Castiel. If Castiel looks closely enough he can probably see William slowly mulling that information over. Castiel doesn't look like an angel and William slowly leans to one side as if trying to look behind the other being to check for wings sprouting from their back. Nothing there, but then even Gabriel could hide his wings.

Now the question was just what kind of angel Castiel actually is. Wonderland sees fit to have two kinds from different worlds and William racks his brain to try and figure it out, huffing quietly when the young man realizes there's no way for him to know without asking. He had been all for getting to his room and passing out, but now William is just going to fold his arms and try to stand his ground against gravity as he tries to get some information from Castiel.]

You're not an archangel from my world. Not scriptured anyway. If you're from the other one that Michael and Lucifer are from then... I don't know. Don't throw me out a window. At least your Michael is nice enough. I'm going to sit down with him one day and ask him about your - [Gives a vague handwave.] - stuff. He liked Zadkiel anyway.

[Now William is definitely distracted, enough that he's drunkenly rambling about who he does and doesn't know. He's run into Michael a few times before now and they've managed to hold discussions, whereas Lucifer knows the easiest way to annoy the other Gabriel is to kill off his acolyte. Such is a life that is lived amongst the denizens of Heaven.]

I've forgotten what it is you wanted. Sorry. [William rubs his face with one hand as if trying to wake himself up.] Can I help you with anything, Castiel?

[freewill]

[It's not as if William's the first person who's responded to that news by looking for wings. The glance causes Castiel to shift both wings in against his back, not that it would be visible to a normal human. But it's a self-conscious response to being scrutinized.

He can see that even in his drunken state, William is doing his best to sort through this revelation. Castiel has nothing but time, and so he doesn't mind waiting until the implied questions come in. He doesn't know what to make of the knowledge that William actually likes his version of Michael, although there's something else he says that's more alarming.]

... Did Lucifer throw you out of a window? [He's heard more shocking things, yes, but Castiel spends a lot of his time here hoping that his brothers don't make trouble. That's obviously too much to ask for.] I apologize for that. I'm not an archangel, but I am related to both of them.

[It's clear that William's completely lost his train of the thought, and the sooner that Castiel can get him to a bed, the better. He takes a step toward him.]

I was offering to transport you to your room.

[whele]

[The question momentarily has William pausing, expression perfectly neutral and held in place as he feels his blood briefly run cold. He wished Lucifer had thrown him out the window. It would have been a lot less painful. William can tell just how much bad news Lucifer is and somewhat despairs at the ones who roll their eyes when they hear the other's name. Everyone needed to stay far away from that being, but being stuck in a confined place meant that wasn't even possible. And so William isn't going to say anything on that matter, blatantly passing over it with only a slightly disturbed gaze. No way was he going to piss Lucifer off even more.]

If he did I wouldn't be standing here talking to you. [It's not exactly a lie....At least William can just seize on the next part of conversation without too much issue, giving a slow nod at something. Teleporting, right? Transporting?]

Alright. And then tomorrow I can ask your Michael to go through the bible with me. [William gives a small smile. Oddly enough, Michael doesn't seem too inclined to crush the acolyte under his foot.] I want to see which ones are real and which are ....[A pause. There's definitely a word for it.] ... metaphors.

[freewill]

[Castiel doesn't miss the fear that passes over William's face at that question. He's been scared into silence by him somehow, hasn't he? It wouldn't be the first time, and while Castiel would like to make it clear that William can confide in him -- he's hardly a fan of Lucifer either -- he doubts he trusts him enough at this point.

William could still be standing here regardless of what Lucifer did to him, seeing how death is impermanent here, but Castiel doesn't point it out. William appears to be eager to get away from that subject, so he'll let it drop for now.]

You won't find any mention of me in the Bible. [Castiel shrugs his shoulders.] Not all of us were recorded down in scripture. [The idea of Michael sitting down with some human and giving them a Bible lesson seemed downright bizarre, but better he was doing that then trying to obliterate them all.

He takes a step closer.] What's your exact room number?

[whele]

[It was more that William had an idea of the things Lucifer could do rather than being scared or coerced into silence. Even his own Gabriel knows just how much of a problem Lucifer could be should the other have a reason to, and just that alone is enough to have William saying nothing on the matter. Gabriel had to coerce it out of the acolyte to begin with. William knows Lucifer has no boundaries, and if he makes an enemy out of that being then it isn't just William who'd suffer, but those closest to him.

William is of the opinion that saying nothing will help him more than discussing it, opting to just keep his head down and stay well out of Lucifer's way. And so far it's working, though apparently that archangel isn't one for visiting bars. Castiel's comment about the bible is enough of a thing to catch William's full attention again. Angels that weren't listed in the bible? He has to wonder just how many, and Castiel will be able to see there's mild interest and curiosity there. What other things weren't written down by man?]

Oh uh. [William worries his lower lip for a moment as he double checks to make sure he gets the right number. Otherwise it could end awkwardly.] 532 is the Michael from my world... 536 is the Gabriel from my world. 533 is my ex-wife's, so mine is 534.

[freewill]

[In all honesty, Castiel's usual strategy for handling Lucifer is also to stay out of his way. For the most part it works, except for when events see fit to toss them together. Castiel still feels unclean whenever he remembers the way that he'd happily carried around a younger version of Lucifer during the holidays. That's a memory he would gladly trade away to a vendor, if he had the choice.

He listens carefully as William lists off a few different room numbers. It's useful information, to know where some of the other angels are situated. Then again, if they're anything like Castiel, they don't actually use their rooms very often. The mention of an ex-wife is interesting, too. A failed marriage among a man of the clergy is hardly rare, but it does imply certain things.]

534. [He nods.] Brace yourself, this is going to be disorienting. [Without much more warning than that, he steps forward and clamps his hand down on William's shoulder. A split second later, they're on the tenth floor -- which might not be immediately obvious, as the hallways look more or less the same. Nonetheless, Castiel nods to William's door.] We're here.