tryingitall: (artwork (trueform))
The Angel Balthazar ([personal profile] tryingitall) wrote in [community profile] kore_logs2013-06-22 08:44 pm

consumed by either fire or fire

Who: Balthazar, everyone and anyone! (Balthazar's vessel may also make appearances!)
Where: Memories, mindscapes, and dreams.
When: Days 83-88
What: An orgy, the Titanic, Heavenly angst, and Art. The city is also an option, I just didn't write a blurb for it.
Warnings: Sex, angst, potential violence, possible deaths depending on scenario.


The room is a mess. Blankets and cushions are strewn about the floor, a lamp has been knocked over, and someone has spilled liquor across of the piled clothing in the corner. The scent is overwhelming in the humid heat: sex, incense, sweat, alcohol.
It’s hard to tell how many bodies are entwined together here. A dozen? More? There are four on the bed, one person clinging so hard to the headboard that it creaks with every movement. Three more are clustered around a chair, the occupant’s whines and moans muffled by the close press of nude bodies. In a corner, a young woman is giggling as another girl licks drops of wine out of her cleavage.
Somewhere amidst the knots of slick bodies, there is an angel. He may be hard to track at first, but his voice winds its way through the gathering, burning through the noises of panting and the smack of skin against skin, a litany of soft endearments and reverent curses. There, good, yes, don’t stop, don’t stop…



The sky is black overhead, dotted with frosty stars, and the water rolling beneath the hull of the ship is the color of gray pearls. Titanic is far from shore, and her passengers are cheerfully oblivious to the danger drawing near. Balthazar rode this ship once before, as a faux-first-mate. This time, he’s a stowaway, a dark figure leaning against the railing near the bow. Only an observer to a history irrevocably written down.
“Pretty night,” a man pauses to greet him, on a stroll around the deck. “Cold as hell, but pretty.”
“It is, isn’t it?” The angel agrees, looking up at the sky. “I daresay it’ll get colder before the morning comes, though. We’ll see if you still think it’s pretty then, shall we?”
The stranger laughs. “Or I could just go inside.”
“No. Enjoy the beauty while it lasts.” Balthazar gives a small, deadened smile. There’s ice close ahead. The tragedy will begin and end in only a few short hours.



Balthazar’s not sure why his mind works so selectively. He can remember vivid flashes from his first days in existence. Comets sailing past the earth, the bubble of the primordial sea, and laughter, from an archangel, that seemed too big and bright for the skies that echoed its refrain.
After Lucifer’s Fall, the memories get dim and tangled. Heaven went darker, quieter, but how quickly did it happen? How soon after the clash did Gabriel go, too? He can’t be sure, and it’s unsettling for a being that isn’t supposed to suffer from age.
Still, the young angel has his own recollection of the moments after Gabriel was gone, when it felt like Heaven itself had a gaping wound.
He’s in a garden drenched with dew, like a morning in late spring. There are no flowers, only bare lily stamens left after petals fall away. It’s quiet, and gray, and Balthazar can feel his Grace aching, trembling on the edge of collapse. Can’t you bring him back, Father? Can’t you bring them both back?
There’s no answer, but he’s not sure he expected one. God doesn’t talk to the youngest angels. Perhaps they’re too frail to hear the Divine Voice directly. Thy will be done, he adds as an afterthought, but he doesn’t mean it, and he knows it.
Still, if God isn’t hearing his prayer anyway, there’s no harm in lying. A thousand angelic eyes blink rapidly, as if to clear themselves of tears they weren’t even designed to shed.



Dead. Castiel: dead. Uriel: dead, along with the siblings he murdered. Anna: locked away, untouchable, maybe soon to die, too.
Cas. Dead.
The walls of the Heavenly armory are thick, and Balthazar is the only one inside it now. The snap and ripple of energy from a thousand enchanted weapons dances over the walls, casting shadows of his own wings that seem to shiver in constant motion. His Grace is clenched into a dense, dark knot in the center of his being, a core of emotion drawing tighter, tighter, until everything outside it feels numb. Floating.
One by one, he closes all of his eyes, and time twists away from him. He’s not sure how long he blacks out, but when he’s sensible again, the wards are smashed, the weapons strewn all over, and both vessel and trueform ache, blue with bruises.
Balthazar looks blankly at the mess for a long moment, then moves to pick things up, piece by piece. It’s not until his arms are full that he realizes he has no intention of putting them back in their proper places.



Everything is light and fire and eyes. The human within the angel feels the pressure of power and age, burned to cinders and crushed into diamonds by the being within him (or is he within the angel now?). He’s died a hundred thousand rapturous deaths, cried in pain until his voice is transmuted into something ethereal and sharp as an ofan’s wing. But he’s still there, here, everywhere the angel is, and he remembers, and dreams.
Ink slices across a page. A fine gray haze of graphite dust hangs in the air. Paint drips and rolls down the shaft of a brush, stains his hands and sleeves, rich and sensual. If he could erase his mistakes and paint himself over, he would use shades of blue and gold; he would rip himself off the canvas and re-stretch to his limits and beyond.
He curls and uncurls his fingers, and suddenly his hands are wings, fine-boned and light, brittle and soft at the edges and heavy all the way down his arms.
“I promise, you’ll have Heaven,” the angel told him. “Someday.”
“Fuck it,” he answered. “I don’t need Heaven.”
Levi has what he needs: a half-wild brainfever, an infinite blend of Paradise and Perdition where the Muse is the only God that matters. Being a vessel hasn’t taken that away. Nothing ever will.
undomesticated: (Smile - 2)

[personal profile] undomesticated 2013-07-31 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
If it didn't bother him, it didn't bother her. Nudity was relative and she wouldn't have been uncomfortable around him naked if he hadn't been... happy at the time.

She looked at them, seeing the familiar face staring back at her from the large painting. It was more than recognizable and she smiled at him. "It's good. Was he famous, your vessel? As an artist, I mean."
hung_garian: (Getting away with murder)

[personal profile] hung_garian 2013-07-31 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
"Glad to hear you have such helpful friends."

His tone might be a little wry, but it's not as if a drinking habit is likely to harm an angel. Not in the quantity available in a bar, at any rate, and even if Balthazar does end up getting smashed, it's better to do that with Ellen than on his own. Besides, he's always got Gabriel to look after him if he does stagger in drunk - and that, no doubt, is reason enough to keep him from drinking too much.

"I would have, of course." He's a little surprised Balthazar even has to ask. "It's not as if there's a health risk, and I'm not exactly picky. It's a shame no one did, really. Other times they have - but I suppose Kobra was busy pissing off Lucifer, and Elle must have been gone by then. But, y'know - the trolling was fun too. Not as fun, but I suppose one night stands are trickier to arrange in a population as small as ours."
happytobleed: (welp)

[personal profile] happytobleed 2013-08-01 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
Castiel moves after him, placing an arm on Balthazar's shoulder.

"You mean a great deal to me, too." He senses that there are subtle differences in that and he's not sure that he can reciprocate those differences, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care. He loves Balthazar.
servingmichael: (Are you serious?)

[personal profile] servingmichael 2013-08-01 06:21 am (UTC)(link)
He did indeed remember. It's part of why his face ticks so badly. "Does he even understand what you are taking? Or did you decide you hadn't fallen far enough?"

It's a scoff, sneered. A tone Raphael almost never uses with the youngest angels - there's no need to. "Millions, billions prey for help every day. Going to shred Heaven's arsenal to fuel their revenge? How do you chose which ones to help?" Raphael knew you couldn't. He'd tried.
blackmagus: (♒ haha no really)

[personal profile] blackmagus 2013-08-02 09:11 am (UTC)(link)
"I mean it... physically doesn't exist in my world. Some believe in it anyway. The Church of the Empire and their flock, but not many others." She shrugs. Despite his tone, it does feel a little awkward to say that to an angel. "We have the five Planes — Order, Chaos, Shadow, Light, and Thought. ...though I suppose some correlations could be made from Order or Light. But angels don't inhabit the Planes."

Somehow, it doesn't seem likely that the Guides, and the Behemoths, would share. While not necessarily violent, she knows the entities are territorial. They are with humans, at least. This is knowledge that not many in her world have, though, to be fair, that's mostly because of the taboo against Blood magic. If more put stock into it, they would have learned of the Planes a long time ago. And they would remember their Guides, and know for certain where their magical talents came from.

"You wouldn't like it there," she tries to joke, smiling. "It's crowded."
undomesticated: (Profile - Talking 1)

[personal profile] undomesticated 2013-08-04 07:38 pm (UTC)(link)
She moved to get a better look at the picture, fingers hovering in the air above it as she traced over some of the features while she looked it over. "Googly eyes on a wheel." She grinned up at him. "I thought you said people couldn't see your true form."
hung_garian: (Guess my invite got lost in the mail)

[personal profile] hung_garian 2013-08-04 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Gabriel probably would be worried, if he knew. The angels, possibly as a result of those darn daddy issues, tend to have quite addictive personalities. With access to enough intoxicants (of whatever kind), even they can develop quite a problem. He's mostly got that behind him now, but for a few centuries after he'd left, self-control and moderation had been pretty much the only things he hadn't experimented with. He'd been in a position where he could afford that luxury - the Cape, however, doesn't allow for that, and nor does being on the minority side of an angelic civil war.

"You could always try commitment. Y'know, if you're into that sort of thing."

Evidently he's not - he says it as if it's the filthiest kink he could imagine. He's not so much concerned about hurting anyone's feelings himself, but if there were some kind of misunderstanding about Feelings, and the existence thereof, things could get awkward. Breaking someone's heart he could deal with. Awkwardness, not so much. That's no fun at all - at least, not when he's directly involved.

"Otherwise - well, it's a standing offer, if you're interested." The wry little smirk suggests he might not be serious: he seems to be well aware of just how badly wrong that could go. Still, there's no telling with Gabriel. He's not usually one to turn down sex, after all. "If you ever find yourself in the neighbourhood, feel free to look me up."
blackmagus: (♒ smile)

[personal profile] blackmagus 2013-08-05 08:42 am (UTC)(link)
"I do, and others of my particular school of magic do. But we were given a connection to the Plane of Shadow, and that means we get to open up rifts and see through them to the others." She pauses. "Well, some of us. Enough to write it down. I can only open up rifts for a few seconds at a time. The headaches are unbelievable."

And some of them last for days. Of course, it's a useful tool in combat if she's backed into a corner. So sometimes she opens rifts anyway.

"Most people think magic comes from vents in the Earth. That's the popular theory, since my type of magic is... ah, frowned on."
hung_garian: (I'd double that entendre.)

[personal profile] hung_garian 2013-08-05 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"Point. That'd definitely make the commitment a lot less long-term."

His tone is dry and perhaps darker than one might expect - people vanishing hasn't affected him in terms of romantic relationships, but his siblings have always meant a great deal more to him than lovers. It hurts more to lose them again than if he were to lose some girl he'd only known a few months.

"With a few millenia's worth of practice under my belt? Oh, I do. I really do." Though it's probably best if Balthazar just takes his word for it. "But I don't think now's the time. And actually, I'm thinking now'd be a pretty good time to wake up, so unless you have any more emoting to do..."

Who said he wasn't going to be awkward about this? Was it him? He may have been lying slightly. Oh well- he'll try, anyway.
hung_garian: (And that's how we got banned from Paris)

[personal profile] hung_garian 2013-08-06 12:47 am (UTC)(link)
"Might stop people getting too attached."

It won't, of course. People are still people - if anything the constant threat of disappearance will make them get attached faster. He's aware of that, but as always, he'd rather try to ignore it until it goes away.

"I think knowing you're dreaming and trying to wake up oughtta be enough. Apparently that's how it works for humans." Admittedly he is basing this assumption on 'that's how it works on tv', which is not always entirely accurate. "Worth a try, at least. No offence, the company's great and all, but I'd rather be conscious if I have a choice in this."
servingmichael: (Default)

[personal profile] servingmichael 2013-08-06 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
"You have no idea how far you have to Fall. None." It's almost growled, like a rumble of thunder, than spoken. "It matters because I haven't done what I've done to allow this." That wasn't the whole reason, or even most of it, but it was part of it.

Raphael wouldn't hurt the boy, but he might send him away if he can. "And what's to stop someone from taking it from him, and doing worse?"
bluesrat: (cautious)

[personal profile] bluesrat 2013-08-06 10:00 pm (UTC)(link)
"You've never dreamed?" His eyebrows rise, and he shakes his head a little. "Sorry if this is a rotten first time, then. Seems like my dreams have been pretty weird lately, too." He shivers, long skinny arms wrapped around himself.
servingmichael: (Default)

[personal profile] servingmichael 2013-08-07 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
"Until Castiel was raised after Sam Winchester pulled Lucifer and Michael into the Cage, I believed God to be dead. I haven't believed he was going to return since long before Gabriel left." Not that he'd told that to Michael. "But you're wrong about no one caring what we do." He cared, if nothing else.

"And the rest of the pieces?" It's not like there is a war going on and would attract attention, right?
servingmichael: (No Orders!  No nothing!)

[personal profile] servingmichael 2013-08-07 04:32 am (UTC)(link)
"Of all of us who knew, Michael and Joshua were the only two who really believed it, and even Joshua admitted he was never told anything about a return. What was it Joshua said? 'He knows what the angels are doing. He knows that the Apocalypse has begun. He just doesn’t think it’s His problem.' Ask Chuck, he saw it." It's cruel, yes, but it needs to be said. God didn't care, not about any of them.

"Good, then give it back."

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