can't seem to find our state of grace

[tryingitall]

Who: Balthazar and OPEN
What: Exploring and chatting.
When: Day 54
Where: All over the place, but eventually the bar and House 11. Encounter him anywhere you like.
Warnings: Probably none, will update if that changes.


Balthazar's not sure whether to be optimistic about this brave new world or not. There's no question but that certain individuals here are a threat. Raphael and Lucifer? Scary. Whatever's got them all trapped here? Also scary. At the moment, though, the weather is fairly pleasant, there's no looming apocalypse, planned or otherwise, and even the demons here seem to be, if not civil, at least tolerable.

Probably the other shoe will drop before long, but until then he's going to try to enjoy himself.

Hence the search for the bar he hears is around somewhere. He circles through streets, looking over houses, buildings, and...hmm. Rubble. That's a little worrisome. But not too far off he finds what he was looking for, and slips curiously through the doors.

Comments

[foundacause]

Discovering Lucifer didn't give a damn about her and all the other demons had been quite the devastating blow - so much for being a Lucifer Loyalist for all those years. She's mostly over it now. She had a new cause.

"Not all angels are jerks." Well, okay, they are. Every single one of them. Some are just less jerky than others. "Most of you just have your heads so far up your own asses you can lick your tonsils."

[tryingitall]

"We're different kinds of jerks." He sets the bottle down. "Which reminds me. Why Castiel?"

Not that he blames her; far from it. But he's curious. It's a rare thing for a demon and an angel to spend time in the same room without killing one another, much less develop any kind of attachment.

[foundacause]

Oh man. Trust Balthazar to drive the conversation straight to Castiel and those awkward feelings she's been trying to ram deeply down out of the way. She shrugs her shoulders. Seriously, talking about it is hard.

"Why not Castiel?"

[tryingitall]

"No reason, just the whole wings and Grace and the close association with Winchesters?" He manages to keep a straight face, just barely.

"Truly, though, I didn't even know you were on his radar until he told me he was trying to protect you and Dean. I'm curious what circumstances drove you together, I suppose."

[foundacause]

"It was a business relationship. I needed allies. The Winchesters and the angel were all I could get at short notice." Seriously, she had only ever wanted to use him as a giant angel shaped shield. Then things got messy.

"I became an angel babysitter. You spend all day, every day with the guy and he kind of grows on you."

[tryingitall]

"You must have presented a convincing case." He has an easier time imagining Castiel rationalizing not killing her than the Winchesters.

Uncomfortably, he realizes she must be ahead of him in time. That's unsettling, but at least it means Castiel has a chance of surviving this insane gambit for Purgatory souls. "And you grew on him, as well, evidently."

[foundacause]

"What can I say? It's my charming personality and winning smile. Don't I just have a face you want to trust? I mean sure I killed half of the Winchesters' friends and tried to kill the Winchesters, but to be fair, who hasn't? Come on. We've all tried."

Still, desperate times, desperate measures. She needed back up, they needed someone to look after poor, broken Castiel.

"Didn't you know? I'm the saint who stayed with him when no one else did?"

[tryingitall]

If he's honest with himself, she does have a fairly sweet face. Or, her vessel does, at least. He's not going to dignify that question by commenting aloud, though, rolling his eyes and drinking some of his beer instead.

But the last bit draws him up short. "No one else, truly? Where was I?"

[foundacause]

"I don't know. Didn't exactly do an angelic roll call. The guy was broken, he needed someone to look after him. That someone was me. Apparently if you consume all the souls in Purgatory and then left the Hell scars off a Winchester it leaves you less than healthy."

Still, it isn't really her tale to tell. She was just the babysitter. It was Cas' story really.

[tryingitall]

She's wise to provide only the sketchiest of details, but even that much is enough to leave him visibly upset. He flounders a moment, drains the entire remainder of his beer, and rubs temples unhappily before answering. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to that."

On the other hand, it seems that Castiel did survive. That's worth something.

[foundacause]

She flicks her wrist, sending a bottle of scotch from the wall across the bar to stop just in front of Balthazar. It's not laziness, it's just convenience. And he looks like he can use something harder than the crappy beer.

"I get the feather clan don't exactly appreciate a demon being near an angel. It's unclean. I'm corrupt. I get it, I do. But I am fond of the little tree-topper, 'kay?"

[tryingitall]

Oh, that's thoughtful, actually. He gives her a distracted nod and opens the bottle. A long drink and a soft cough later he returns his gaze to her face. "I believe you."

It's comes out as an angry growl, but not directed at her so much as the whole situation. "Angels and demons are anathema to one another. I don't know yet whether I like you, and I definitely don't like the situation. But if you want to protect him badly enough to turn on an archangel, then I'd rather have you around him than most of my own siblings."

[foundacause]

"Glad we see eye to eye. I'd really hate to have to kill you after we've been getting along so nicely. Isn't it so much better when all the little boys and girls play nice together and hold hands?"

And technically she has the weaponry to kill him, of course, he could smite her from across the room before she ever got the chance to get close enough, but hey, details.

[tryingitall]

"Sure, sure. No killing." He shrugs distractedly and goes back to the scotch. "Are you planning on killing anyone else, just out of curiosity?"

He's wondering how her and Dean are getting along, but that's really Castiel's problem, not his.

[foundacause]

"Crowley will get what's coming to him one day. Other than that? No. As shaming as that is to admit, I'm kind of content not to go around murdering everyone. Of course, if Raphael or Lucifer were to spontaneous combust - I wouldn't be shedding any tears."

Meg and Dean called a truce and then she snogged him, it's a good working relationship all things considered.

[tryingitall]

"Only met Crowley the once, so I see no reason to interfere there. I think we'll get along just fine, then." He's downed about a third of the scotch already, and pauses to frown at the remainder pensively.

"I suppose I should offer to share this, as you're the one who got it out for me."

[foundacause]

"Lucky. I wish I had only met the smarmy bag of dicks once. Even once is too many times in my opinion." He makes her skin crawl and want to stab him in the face repeatedly.

She arches a brow and moves from her bar stool to swipe the bottle from him, taking a long swig. "Sharing and caring. Love it."

[tryingitall]

Hey, now, he didn't actually offer yet! But if there's not enough liquor in the place to get him as drunk as he'd like to be, he may as well pretend his tolerance is human-ish and go halfsies. He watches her drink with a mildly forlorn expression. "It's possible I owe him for being a thorn in Castiel's side...but I want to hear Castiel's opinion on that before I jump into trouble."

That, and Balthazar would always rather finish trouble--or avoid it entirely--than start it.

[foundacause]

Uh, hello, demon. She didn't need to be offered things, she will always just take whatever she wants. It comes with the territory of being a demon.

"Just be gentle with the little tree=topper 'kay? He's a little bit fragile." Or maybe she's just overly protective.

[tryingitall]

Oh, well, fair enough. He can't criticize anyone for stealing with a straight face any more.

"He didn't seem...fragile." Frown. "But then I only spoke to him over the network. I'll do my best." It won't be easy. There are unresolved issues between them.

He sighs and leans against the counter. "But I wouldn't want to make things worse for him."

[foundacause]

"He's better than he was." He was a broken little mess. Poor little guy. Like a delicate glass vase dropped onto the floor. And now? The pieces had been stuck back together somewhat. Actually, Meg's pretty sure his mind is sound again now, but she still feels protective over him.

He's her unicorn.

"He's kind of unique, isn't he?"

[tryingitall]

It hurts to hear that, but he's not looking to weep on Meg's shoulder. Balthazar leans over and makes a swipe to grab the scotch bottle back. "He's unique for an angel. Yes. Very much so. Of all of us, he's the last I ever expected to rebel, because he was always so single-minded. Now I think maybe I just never realized he was devoted to a higher ideal than the rest of us."

[foundacause]

"I've said it before and I'll say it again - most angels are dicks." It is true. It is a fact she'd gladly stick by.

"So, never thought good little soldier Castiel would stand up against his big bully brothers and an absent daddy? He's pretty cute when he's bad."

[tryingitall]

"He's a rebel with too many causes, is what he is. I tried, once, to get him to drop it all and enjoy himself, but he never listens to me." He swallows another substantial measure of scotch, then sets the bottle between them, within her reach.

"I don't think he realized at the time how absent Daddy was. Makes it all the more interesting."

[foundacause]

She takes the bottle and takes another long drink from it. "Really? Cas? You can picture him just letting go and enjoying the finer points of humanity?" Sex, drugs, alcohol and the wayward angel? It would be like watching a car crash in slow motion.

"Daddy dearest is a bit of a jerk too."