kore_logs | Backdated Bloodlust

Entry tags:

Backdated Bloodlust

Who: Balthazar and anyone who wants a piece of him.
Where: All over the halls, possibly the kitchen and/or atrium.
When: During the Bloodlust event.
What: Snark with a sharper edge than usual. Possible violence.
Warnings: None yet, if things get gory I'll add a note.

It starts small, just a feeling of restless irritation. He chalks it up to the loss of some of his hobbies, and tries to distract himself by mapping out the place, like he'd told Michael he would.

Of course, the place isn't amenable to being mapped, and the activity reminds him that Michael's here, and that makes him feel watched. Trapped. Like a college student who's been forced back into his parents' home to live, he finds he resents the idea more than he ever did before.

It builds from there, and before long, he's quietly vandalizing furniture--breaking chairs, picking panels off the walls, even drawing his sword to jab at various inanimate objects. He leaves a trail of damage in his wake, everything from bolts and screws to broken glass.

If anyone catches up to him, they'll find him in an empty room, balancing his blade in one hand to fling into the wall, embedding it halfway to the hilt, only to withdraw it and try the same trick again. Repeatedly. Swissshhhhh....thunk!

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Heaven knows Gabriel isn't the most proactive of people or, for that matter, the most concerned about other people. But living in fairly close quarters with Balthazar has made it difficult to ignore all the destruction, and his brother is one of the few people for whom he's willing to drag his lazy ass out of bed. It's a slightly more touching gesture during this experiment than it normally might be, but he's relatively confident that Balthazar's not that angry with him - and it sounds like either Balthazar needs some help calming down, or (if the worst case scenario is true, which he's really hoping it isn't) some help with whomever it souds like he's gotten into a fight with. Either way, Gabriel's pretty sure it's worth the risk. Pretty sure.

Even so, it would probably be wise not to just pop up announced inside the room. He does it anyway. And, well, no one seems to be trying to kill Balthazar. That's a good thing, at least... though it does leave him now with issue of an apparently rather pissed-off little brother to deal with.

"Redecorating?"

Balthazar's not specifically angry at Gabriel, although with the current mood of the place, it might not take him much to get there. But they've had their exchange of feels, not all that long ago. It doesn't change where he's been hurt, but up until now he's certainly felt like they were slowly crawling toward a resolution. Hopefully Kore isn't about to destroy the delicate peace for good.

Mind you, it's not an auspicious beginning, as Gabriel pops in as Balthazar yanks his blade out of the wall. Balthazar suffers an instinctive reaction, turning and stepping back into a defensive pose, like the soldier he was trained to be. His arm even jerks slightly, like he's prepared to throw the blade again, this time with a more specific aim.

Luckily, he stops himself, and slowly his arm lowers to his side. But he doesn't apologize, eyes stormy as he forces a weak smile. "I suppose so. The place could use a once-over."

Gabriel doesn't flinch. Balthazar's sword might hurt him but it won't kill him and, well, archangels are proud. He'd rather risk a minor injury than look scared - stupid, but that's Gabriel. He does at least eye the sword warily, even if his body language is ostensibly casual.

"Some of the inhabitants, too."

At least Balthazar seems to have kept himself from that, if his taking his stress out on the wall is any indication. That's a relief: Gabriel may not care much about the damage Balthazar could inflict on many of the other inhabitants, but he suspects that Balthazar would care, once the ordeal was over and everyone was back to normal.

"I'm not quite myself, I think." He's lucid enough to recognize that wanting to hurt everything in his path isn't like him.

He's also lucid enough to recognize that a real fight between him and Gabriel would not end with him winning. As much as he wants to take out his anger on someone, a sucker punch is beneath him. After a moment, he flicks his wrist and sheathes the blade. For now.

"You remember the Leviathan thing? A bit like that." Less hungry, though.

"Yikes. Not planning to take a bite out of anyone, I hope?"

It's tempting to follow that up with some vaguely sexual comment, but he doesn't want to risk really pissing Balthazar off. And besides, he'd rather not make too light of the Leviathan situation - it's a long time ago now, but it's still scary to remember.

"No. Not literally. It's not affecting you at all?" That's almost disappointing.

Then again, everyone's safer without Gabriel in a bad mood.

"I was hoping breaking things would make me feel less like breaking people." He takes a few slow steps closer to the archangel, tempting fate. "Hard to tell if it's working."

He's still tense, wound tight, but he doesn't seem to be planning to attack, for the moment.

"Guess not. Maybe it's just being drowned out by my innate misanthropy."

Sarcastic, though perhaps not entirely without truth - Gabriel's devoted a lot of effort recently to trying to clamp down on any urges that might start trouble. The furthest he's gone is being rude to Michael, and he usually even manages to hold back from that, but the truth of the matter is that he's repressing rather a lot of anger, both at his family and at mankind in general. He can't take it out on either, and maybe that's helped a little with this particular experiment.

Then again, perhaps he's overestimating his self control. Perhaps he's simply not been affected - he's not sure that he's dealing with any more simmering resentment than usual.

"Well, things are easier to replace - but then, people heal better." The problem with any kind of perceived challenge is that Gabriel will take it every time, even if it's a really bad idea. He steps forward too, not hostile, just quietly asserting his authority. "Just don't stab anyone too fragile and you oughtta be golden."

"You're not fragile. Not against me. I couldn't make more than a dent in any of you four." They're well within arm's reach now, and Balthazar's still a coiled spring. "Not without a significant boost."

He breaks into a small, mean smile. "When I think about all the toys I had in my hands...and I just let them go. Barely even used any. Just the Salt. I must have been out of my mind."

"I'd advise you not to try."

Balthazar's right - there's not much he can do to harm Gabriel. But hurting him is another thing entirely; archangels may not be vulnerable but they feel pain just the same, especially if they let themselves get too comfy in a vessel. And Gabriel has definitely done that. It's partly that, and partly a sort of muscle memory from when he'd been human and Balthazar had been a Leviathan, that has all his instincts telling him to back the fuck off. He's reining in that urge without too much trouble, but he's tensed up visibly as a result, and he's standing his ground now- no more approaching, certainly, and if Balthazar gets much closer he's not sure he'll be able to keep himself from backing away.

"Well, if you ever miss your toy collection, you're welcome to share mine. Less holy hand grenade and more silicone, but at least as much fun."

He's not sure how much of what gets said during this little 'experiment' is just the rage and how much is genuine sentiment that's just not let out otherwise. He's not sure he wants to know, either.

Balthazar stops pushing forward now; maybe on some level he recognizes they're at a balance point, or maybe he's not sure whether another step forward will result in Gabriel retreating, or in him snapping back.

He takes a long, slow breath, meeting the archangel's eyes (and maybe it's kind of nice that he can look down a little). "You're still my favorite," he comments, and it's meant genuinely, even if there's a large helping of bitterness mixed in. "But I wonder about you archangels sometimes. You're too much bigger than the rest of us. Perhaps we'd have been better off if all of you had left."

There's another breath, and then he shakes his head and turns, backing off a few steps. The restless anger is unabated, but...he and Gabriel really have covered this ground. He'd rather scream at Michael or Raphael, even Lucifer, even if the risks there would be much, much greater.

"I can't go on like this. Someone's going to get hurt."

"Perhaps you would, at that."

It's not worth arguing about it, after all, and in all honesty Balthazar might have a point. In trying to take care of Heaven Michael and Raphael might have done more harm than if they'd just left well enough alone. He doesn't think so himself, but there's no point in speculating. Even if he did feel strongly one way or the other, it's not an argument he'd be eager to have - especially not with Balthazar.

"Can't you? I don't see how you've got a lot of alternatives. Whatcha gonna do, huh?" It's not sarcastic, despite how it sounds - it's a genuine question. "Bottle it up and hope this ends before you explode? Find yourself an angel-proof straitjacket?"

He'd suggest finding some way for Balthazar to vent his anger safely, but he suspects it'd sound like an offer, and, well, much as he loves his brother he's not prepared to play punching bag for him, unless as an absolute last resort.

"I don't know. I could go pick a fight with Michael. That'd put me out of commission one way or another." Maybe permanently. Then again, that might be preferable to this unresolvable angst and frustration. But if Michael didn't blow him up, then he'd have to heal and that would be obnoxious, too.

"What are you doing? Were you checking up on me or something?" It comes out sounding aggressive, but it's just sudden curiosity.

"Try it and I will get you that straitjacket."

And lock him in a room until the anger wore off, too. Gabriel's not taking any chances, and Michael's not exactly known for mercy even without bizarre mood-altering drugs, or whatever it is that's making everyone act so oddly.

"Or something." He does take a step or two back now, so that he's in the doorway. It's not exactly a very convincing attempt at looking unconcerned, but he figures he has to at least try. "Just wanted to make sure you didn't damage any walls too badly. Don't want to lose the security deposit, right?"

"I have yet to hear a better suggestion from you," he snaps, just for the sake of letting off steam. He looks more sullen now than aggressive, which may be an improvement.

Lips pursed, he studies Gabriel with overt suspicion. Were he in his right mind, he'd be downright touched. Big brother is watching over him, in some sort of awkward fashion. Unfortunately, his mood means he interprets the concern as 'big brother is watching him', which is somewhat less heartwarming.

"If you're not going to let me be, then you'd best have a distraction in mind. Cards? Hangman? Eye Spy?" He's not sure now whether he's being sarcastic or not.

"Sure, 'cause I'm known for nothing if not good ideas and great advice."

And responsibility, don't forget responsibility. Honestly, as much as he cares about Balthazar, it's tempting to just say 'well, I tried' and leave. He doesn't think Balthazar's far enough gone (or stupid enough) to pick a fight with anyone he can't take and, well, for the most part Gabriel doesn't care much about the humans here. There are a few he'd like not to get hurt, and ideally he'd rather no one was maimed, but if Balthazar were to go off the rails and stab a hole in one of the lesser beings, Gabriel probably wouldn't be too bothered. If it did Balthazar's psychological state any good, he might even consider it a blessing in disguise, even if he wouldn't actively condone it.

"Anything you like, so long as it isn't dull. Or Monopoly. Somehow I think that'd just make things worse."

Well hey there, Balthazar. Fancy seeing you here. Easy with the angel blade, never know what you might hit and kill. Seriously, those things do a lot of damage to pretty little demons like Meg.

She's still a little shaken up from her encounter with Raphael, but she's alive and that has to be something to be thankful for, right? And she still hasn't given into the rage bubbling up inside her.

"Having fun there, Sugar?"

Balthazar's first impulse seeing Meg is more or less what the typical angel's should be (and therefore unlike him): a mix of revulsion and anger, not unlike a human seeing a large roach on their kitchen counter. He hasn't lost his mind entirely, though, and after consideration, Meg is slightly less objectionable than some of his elder brothers.

That and, you know, they've had sex.

He flips the blade in his hand, a vague and uncertain threat, and shrugs one shoulder. "I always have fun. I think the place is getting to me, though."

It was pretty good sex too. He was her first angel. Sob. So romantic. Or well, not so much romantic as convenient. And on the plus side she learned sex with an angel wasn't an instant death. Good to know.

"Tell me about it, Sweetcheeks." Her hands are still bloody and torn to pieces from digging her nails into her palms to try and ebb the rage away.

"Oh? You too?" He runs a thumb over the flat of the blade thoughtfully. "Aren't you usually a little on the cranky side?"

He sees those injuries, and it's easy enough to guess what they're from. If Meg is controlling herself, he ought to be able to do the same. He's not ready to put the sword away, though. He remembers she has an angel blade of her own.

"But that's almost reassuring, if it's something that's going around."

It would be so easy to give into the anger and rip this entire place apart - especially since she knows how many shiny, shiny instruments of torture there are just begging to be used. But come on, the second she gives into her rage there will be a line of angels and hunters screaming 'told you so' over her so-called helpfulness.

"Reassuring isn't the word I'd use." Cranky? Meg? Rude! "Don't suppose you'd be willing to help me scratch a very different kind of itch would you, hot stuff?"

"I'm not your personal sex toy," he says archly, but there's no hostility in it now. He's thinking it over, still thoughtfully rubbing the end of the sword in his hand.

Bad idea to let this become a habit, after all. On the other hand, he can't think of a single better way to horrify and anger all his siblings at once. Castiel included.

Turning to the side, he thrusts the angel blade into the wall next to him and holds out his hands. "All right. Put yours down, too. We're both going to leave marks. Wouldn't want any accidents to happen, would we?"

It's a darker promise than the last time they found themselves like this.

It is a dangerous game they're playing. Meg reaches for her angel blade and tosses it aside. They might both be unarmed, but they both know ways of harming the other even without weapons. Proper, real harm too, not just a little superficial damage to the pretty little meatsuits they're wearing.

In fact, if they don't walk away from this with superficial damage to their pretty fleshy meatsacks Meg will be thoroughly disappointed.

"I do hope you're not planning on holding back on me."

The dangerous games are the ones most worth playing, in Balthazar's opinion, but he's not looking to come out of this missing pieces of his anatomy. He'll behave as long as Meg does.

He glances around the room, which isn't really equipped for a romantic interlude (just as well this isn't one). It does have a table, though, and it seems reasonably sturdy.

"Have I disappointed you yet?" Turning back to her, he grabs her around the waist, pulling her roughly close and delivering a demanding kiss. Good thing neither of them really needs to breathe...

"You have a 100% record of not disappointing me so far." There's only been one time though, so it doesn't really count. And she was that sexually frustrated that he could've been rubbish and she would still've enjoyed it. He wasn't rubbish though, but that's beside the point.

This time it's different though. She isn't overwhelmed with sexual tension and frustrations, she's filled with pent up rage and anger.

The kiss is a welcome distraction. She goes with it, letting him drag her close. His kiss might be demanding, but it doesn't stop her from biting at his bottom lip.

"I think I can keep that rating up." He backs her toward the table as they kiss, giving a faint growl of approval at the bite.

Just in case she thinks she's getting away with anything, though, he's quick to tangle his fingers in a fistful of her hair. He allows the kiss to go on for several moments, nipping back and pressing in so hard their teeth clash. It's hard to say at this point which of them is more aggressive, or which will come out on top.

Isn't half the fun not knowing who is going to win? Where's the excitement if you know how things are going to end before you do them? The thrill is in the chase. Or something.

She holds out a hand, using her demonic powers to slam the door shut. The last thing they need is a rude interruption.

"Confident, are you?" She growls and kisses him harder.

He was going to close the door, himself, but she got to it first. Good enough. He grins briefly, unwittingly getting a mental picture of the mess they're going to leave this room in before they're done. Chuckling, he returns the kiss a moment longer, then pulls back, using his grip in her hair as leverage, as well as bringing his free hand up to her throat.

"Fairly, yes. Tell me, love, are you any good in a fight? In my experience, the demons that are good at torture are so often worthless in combat. But you're unique, aren't you?" If it sounds like a challenge, that's because it is. "Think you can pin me?"

Unique is definitely one way to describe her. There aren't many demons who would sacrifice everything for the love of a broken little angel, after all. Love isn't exactly a demon thing.

"You think a girl can survive this long on her looks alone?" Or hiding. She is incredibly good at hiding. But she's also good in a fight.

And she loves challenges! How can a girl resist a challenge? Challenge accepted.

"Pin you? I plan to make you bleed, beg and bow to me, angel boy."

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Backdated Bloodlust

action, because i am a bad person

delighted to have you!

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