diatu | August Event Log

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August Event Log

August Event Log

Speed of Lightning, Roar of Thunder

And Break the Laws That They Should Fear

A rash of thefts plagues Anastara and the Magicademy both. Nothing huge, nothing heavy -- little things, like food, jewelry, trinkets and knickknacks... because the perpetrators are rats. Large and obviously clever rats, who have somehow wormed their way through defensive enchantments and mundane security both with the fearsome tenacity of their species. Look around at just the right time, and you might spot a rat scrambling for the safety of the caverns, something clutched in its jaws. Maybe something of yours?

The Cry Goes Up Both Far and Near

Finals draw ever-closer, and right about now students start realizing that maybe they don't understand this or that; maybe they could do with some outside material; maybe a second viewpoint would come in handy. Thus this week brings the Diatu Book Exchange! Outside of the Great Hall, students of all sorts brings books they no longer need and exchange them for books they do. The Book Exchange goes past merely scholarly works, though; time has grown it to encompass books of all sorts, from genre fiction and unlikely stories about seemingly ordinary kids attending an engineering boarding school to comics to philosophical works and more. Come to trade, browse, or lust -- there's something here for everyone!

Research on the SUNDERDOG! (Sunderdog!) SUNDERDOG! (Sunderdog!)

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[Yotsuyu sniffed primly, but she is somewhat amused. She doesn't blame the man for wanting refreshments, but the Sundering researchers are...not usually the type to do so.]

I fear the only tea I have with me is a headache remedy; one I do not suggest if you do not have one. It tastes abhorrent. Nor have I any sweets to tide either of us over.

[Yotsuyu ponders. A pity, that. She really ought to remedy that oversight sooner rather than later, but even she isn't quite mad enough to attempt Discovery magic so near Sundering.]

Although we could grab a bite after this? Somewhere in the city, and I shall treat. [Considering she hasn't seen this fellow about before, and so he's not likely to have the coin of the realm on him.]

[ He was poised and ready to thank her and accept the tea--only to abruptly close his mouth on the comment and grimace at the thought. No tea was better than bad tea. At the mention of sweets, he hopefully pat down his waistcoat pocket and determined that, no, he had no lemon sherberts or dinner mints squirreled away on his person either. Very disappointing.

Her offer though brightens his expression considerably and he practically glows with delight. He wants to say yes, of course outright, but politeness dictates he shouldn't take advantage (even if he very much wants to sample some cuisine and be treated to dinner). Oh, but what if he coyly plays the "I couldn't possibly" and she doesn't respond with the proper kind of temptation? He could miss out on dinner with such lovely company.]

I should really say no, but I admit your offer is very tempting. [Which means yes, nicely...of a sort.] I would love to. Thank you. Where would you like to eat?

[Normally Aziraphale would be in the position to decide on the meal, but she was not his normal dining partner. So since she was already being kind enough to pay, he would definitely not be so selfish as to make any demands on restaurant choices.]

Do you like spicy food, or no? The place I have in mind has a selection of both. It is Noan cuisine. It is very much like food from my homeland, so I admit to having a fondness for it.

[Both styles, really, though as to what she might choose depends on the day. Or the hour. Still, the Potbellied Emperor caters to all palates, so of course she would give them her business again! She does so, often.]

If that does not suit, I am sure we could go for a walk and follow our noses, and see what speaks to us?

[Yotsuyu's done well in learning how to compromise, since arriving here.]

As much as I do enjoy a good browse, if the first place is a good approximation of something significant to your culture, I would be honored to share it with you.

[He's a very adventurous gastronome and will try anything once, but he's especially fond of regional cuisines prepared by native chefs. After all, there's nothing better than sushi in Japan or crepes in France. So whatever Noan cuisine is, he's eager to try.

And very eager to discuss food.]

You have to tell me more about the cuisine. What sort of spices?

"The land I come from is called Doma; it obviously is not on this world, but Noa is much like it. As for spices--ginger, garlic, ginseng, dragon peppers, daikon radish, soy and miso..." Yotsuyu shrugged. There were more than that, and perhaps what she'd named were not all precisely spices, but she felt that the man could get a sense of the cuisine from such things.

"If you do not prefer to eat meat, as some do not, their vegetable based dishes are just as lovely as their dishes with poultry or pork. And the desserts are quite good as well!"

If the research team had been expecting conflict, they would sadly be disappointed by these two. Then again, Yotsuyu delighted in throwing proverbial wrenches into their plans, so that might count as conflict...

To Aziraphale, it sounded very much like some type of East Asian cuisine, probably defying any one specific culture as perfectly analogous. In any case, it sounded absolutely delicious and he was game to try it with his new dining companion.

"Oh, my, you are speaking my language; and so many thoughtful considerations." How kind! She had considered whether or not he might like spices or might be a vegetarian. Oh, he couldn't possibly make her pay for dessert on top of the meal, but something sweet sounded like the perfect end to a spicy, flavorful meal. "It all sounds absolutely scrumptious. I will definitely have to see what catches my eye on the menu, thank you."

Minor disruptions to expected outcomes definitely sounded like the kind of conflict-causing Aziraphale could get behind, had he known she was up to such mischief. However, he remained blissfully ignorant in his fellow research subject's delight.

He could talk about food forever, but he might as well take this time to get to know his fellow classmate. "Would you tell me more about Doma?"

"What would you like to know?" It wasn't the hot-button question for Yotsuyu that it might once have been, but if he sensed hesitancy, Aziraphale would not be off at all. Still, she would answer.

"But before I do, might I have your name? I am Yotsuyu goe Brutus--you know I am from Doma, on the world called Hydaelyn." She inclined her head politely at the man, and offered him a smile.

He might be surprised--it was not as if she minded paying for the entire thing, especially since she occupied herself by teaching and was quite frugal in her spending. Taking friends to lunch was a pastime she quite enjoyed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What sort of terrible manners I must appear to have." He offered his hand, as was the custom on his world when greeting someone new, and a bright smile. "You may call me Mr. Fell. I'm from Soho in West London, which is part of England, of the United Kingdom, on a world called Earth." What a pedigree that gave his little address, when worded like that. Geography was so unnecessarily complicated sometimes, especially since it really probably made no difference to her.

"And I should like to know anything about Doma you'd like to tell. Your culture or religion or history, maybe. I own a bookshop back home; I suppose I just have an interest in knowing things."

"You are quite all right, Mr. Fell. Of course, I could have asked at any time as well. Please, call me Yotsuyu." Earth. She was fairly certain that there were a few here she knew who also hailed from that world, though he certainly seemed unique compared to some of the others.

"Doma was a monarchy once, before coming under the sway of the Garlean empire for--oh, a quarter of a century, if memory serves? It was liberated at about the same time as Ala Mhigo was, thanks to the Warrior of Light and an army of Xaela tribesmen, led by Hien Rijin, the crown prince. It was my duty as Acting Viceroy to foil them, but I failed--and that is one reason why I am here, now." Not that she really regretted it; things here were preferable to what other fate awaited her on Hydaelyn.

"We worship the kami--mostly nature spirits. Though I believe some might worship the Eorzean's Twelve, and even I have been known to invoke them from time to time. But an interest in knowing things?" There, Yotsuyu chuckled. "Clearly 'twas fate that directed me to you. That is an interest we share!"

Given the robust population of Earth, Aziraphale was quite surprised to not yet have met anyone who claimed to be from there (at least, that he hadn't had such discussion with), but that just meant meeting and learning about other places. Besides, he certainly didn't know everyone yet, so there might just be a few Earth-humans around.

Aziraphale gave her an odd, considering look. Fate. Was it fate? How ineffable that humanity's interest in knowledge should form the genesis of another potential friendship.

Then he beamed, looking incredibly tickled. "I'm afraid knowledge is the greatest temptation of all."

Yotsuyu had said she had been Acting Viceroy to an empire that was overthrown--no, liberated--thanks to an army led by the crown prince. That was an intriguing choice of words from someone whose position suggested they were presumably expected to be loyal to their empire. Maybe not unlike being a Principality who thought Heaven's plans for Armageddon might have been a bad thing.

Fate indeed.

"But why do you think your actions there caused you to come here?"

"I think I agree with you there." Gods know since she came here she'd been tempted again and again by knowledge. Thankfully, the island and the academy itself had more than a wealth of such things to give to her, and she had few other draws on her time to take her away from reading when the urge took her.

"Though I find I am a mite jealous of your job!" Or at least the one he'd claimed. Bookseller? That is like letting the bear among the beehives...

Yotsuyu just inhaled calmly and gave Mr. Fell a wry grin. The researchers, of course, had heard this all before. "Oh, I was slain. I summoned a primal against the direction of the Empire, and while the Warrior of Light defeated me, my brother Asahi shot me to 'finish the job'."

He was, admittedly, very pleased with that job, though it took him a second to cotton on and remember she meant the bookstore. The bookstore where he persistently tried to not sell a single book. It was a rather lovely little place; better still when it wasn't open to the public.

"Oh." He wasn't sure how to handle that. He had, after all, had very limited experience talking to the dead; his post put him primarily with the living, so he was more used to the condolences offered to the grieving families and friends, not the dead themselves. If she was smiling because of the irony, if she was just blasé like a certain someone, or was putting on a brave face, he wasn't sure, but his stumbling reply was evidence enough that he wasn't certain how to address this. "Oh, I'm...I'm terribly sorry." And her own brother too.

He hesitated, fussing nervously with his cuffs before leaning in close and lowering his voice. Obviously it was likely the researchers would hear, but Aziraphale didn't want it to be so ...obvious.

"I know this is in poor taste to ask, but--" He looked up at her, looked away, and then peered back over. "Are you suggesting... that is why you are here?" So...did that mean everyone here was dead? The little ducks and the boy acolyte, and with girl with the octopus? All of them?

"I suggest that I, personally, am likely here because I am no longer alive on Hydaelyn. I do know of a few others who have this affliction; but most here are quite alive, merely displaced." At least to the best of Yotsuyu's knowledge, but she was not about to name names, either.

But hopefully, even her somewhat cagey answer was enough to soothe Aziraphale and let him know that it wasn't terribly likely that those he had yet met were all in the lands of the departed. Only a few. But she certainly was.

"Well," she said, expression softening. "If I do not wish to speak of my family, you know one of the reasons why." Also because her aunt and uncle had never been good parents to her either, despite naming themselves her mother and father.

He nodded, relieved a little because not being 'dead' (for all that amounts to as an angel anyway) was a relief and it was also good to think that not all of these people (all of whom had been rather kind and welcoming so far) were stuck in some kind of odd purgatory.

"Understandable. It's not the same for me," he said. "But I do understand. I can't say my... family," because he had to put this in a way that sounded mortal (and he couldn't very well claim it was related to his job now that he had outed himself as a shopkeeper) "and I parted on great terms either and, they most probably would like me dead. But rest assured," he patted the back of her hand gently, "if you ever do wish to speak of them and are in need of a sympathetic ear or a shoulder to lean on, I am here."

Yotsuyu laughed at that, but it was more amusement than anything. Time was when it might have been both bitter and cruel--but this place had been good for her, the gods knew.

"Why would your family like you dead? Though I've my own experience with that, my stepbrother was jealous of me--he felt I had more sway with the true Viceroy than I had--since Zenos had named me acting viceroy in his stead." She was certain it wasn't true--she'd been named such to crush Doma due to her anger at and hatred of her homeland. But Asahi had never been the most rational of individuals.

"That is kind of you, though! I usually do not wish to speak of them, but should I choose, well." She chuckled quietly, then. "I almost think I would rather hear you speak of your world."

"My world? Oh, it’s quite lovely. Humans live all over the globe. They have spread out astonishingly since the Beginning--in all kinds of different societies and cultures and climates. I tend to stay to my little piece of London these days, however, since it has all sorts of modern conveniences and wonderful foods and stage plays and the like from the world over." There were a lot of advantages, staying in his neck of the woods. London was a hub of cultures, both historically and currently, and there was no shortage of things to experience there, even if he did tend to always come back to St. James' Park and his little bookshop. "It's really rather nice."

Her question, however, had been put off but would be impolite to completely ignore. His grimace said he was debating, and it also said It's complicated.

"As for why my kind--well. My family is powerful and has long been in a feud," not a lie, exactly, "with a rival family. It had come to a head, as it were, and they wanted violence, so Crowley and I were trying to prevent the whole thing from blowing up something spectacularly...and we stepped on a lot of toes. Ruffled a few feathers on both sides of the line. I believe they'd like to pretend it didn't happen right now, since it was probably all a bit embarrassing for them," and if he looked a little pleased with himself here, it's because he was. "But I'm not sure how long they'll continue to leave us alone."

"Humans?" A pause, because that was a vaguely unfamiliar term to her. "Hyur? That is what we call folk such as I where I am from." But that slight snag unfurled and straightened, she nodded and let the man continue.

Oh, complications. The gods knew that such things were something that Yotsuyu could understand completely, and so the woman waited patiently. Either the explanation would come--or it would not, and she found that she was content with either. Their acquaintance--and she hoped, friendship--was new. Things need not be rushed.

"Crowley? A friend of yours?" She hoped. Yotsuyu knew that by no means she'd admit that of, say, Gosetsu--and yet the old samurai might have been the only one she'd had, at the end. It was why she paid tribute to him in the name of her familiar--and the rather large blue racer remained coiled around her waist, as was his usual wont. She pondered Mr. Fell's words, brows furrowed a bit.

"Well, there is the fact that they may be thrown off the trail for a time, considering you are here now, and not there." Not that Yotsuyu had any clue of the scope of this 'family feud'...

Hyur. He filed that away to ask more about later, curious if humans and hyur differed at all.

"Crowley is my dear friend," and it still felt good to say so to someone else, after denying it far too long. A smile took form of its own accord and if he had mentioned his demon in an unconscious hope of talking more about him, well... Aziraphale was often guilty of such selfish little indulgences. "We were supposed to be hereditary enemies, you know," he admitted, tickled to pieces over recounting their history, "but we got on like like a house on fire instead and we've been friends since forever." Even if the Angel was often lousy best friend, but that didn't need mentioning to someone he's just met. "We dine together, go for long drives in his car ^[1], stay in for drinks in my bookshop--"

His smile faded to distress behind his eyes. Got on like a house on fire... Her words were not as comforting as she might have intended them to be. Sure, they might be thrown off Aziraphale's scent for a while, but there was still someone presumably left in London, alone, with an empty bookshop and a Bentley that couldn't out-speed the forces of Heaven and Hell forever.

"I'm not there. But he is. I've left him all alone."

[1] They'd be longer drives if Crowley would learn to SLOW DOWN.

"Not on purpose, certainly." Yotsuyu frowned a bit at that--she might be absolutely rubbish at being in touch with her own emotions, but she could see Mr. Fell's face fall, and it gave her no comfort. None at all.

"Perhaps something might be done about that, then. Though what, precisely, I am uncertain of. Still...if anything should come to you, I should definitely be more than happy to give it my full attention." Not to mention pulling what strings she could to call in favors to get ahead...

"That does sound like quite the friendship, though! I think I am a bit jealous!" Because she'd never had a companion like that on Hydaelyn, and no one here was quite the complete confidante that Crowley sounded like he was to Fell.

Not on purpose didn't rectify the situation, though it consoled him a little.

His mind was ticking away at that now. Perhaps something might be done about that, indeed. But what? It wasn't like he could just call Crowley and ask him to come over. Or send him a post. Ask him to stop by for a luncheon and then just ask him to stay around. Crowley had always just managed to show up when needed, even if not when expected--except that once with the bookshop, but he couldn't be blamed for not being there for that; that was entirely Aziraphale's foolish mistake with the open transportation circle...

Oh. But if anything might work--
No. It was dangerous. And if he made a mistake, he might summon Hell upon this world. And if he succeeded, he would effectively have outed Crowley as a demon to a score of beings with magical powers--far stronger in their magic than Aziraphale and Crowley would be.
But. Maybe a teeny spell, if he were really careful? No one had to know. Surely there were wards he could put up, though holy water might be too risky to bring along.

"I appreciate that, dear girl. I will have to consider my options in this. I really do appreciate the offer, but I do not want to enter into anything lightly." Or to brainstorm ideas in the room where their whole purpose is being observed.

Despite himself, Aziraphale felt proud that the friendship was at all worthy of jealousy; certainly no one in Heaven or Hell would appreciate the two feeling belonging in each other's company. Besides, someone should be jealous that he has Crowley. After all, Crowley was truly a good person and a great lot of people had missed out on calling him a friend. Yes, Aziraphale was extremely lucky to have this friendship and he hoped, now that Armageddon was a thing of the immediate past, that he would have many eons to properly appreciate it himself.

"I have faith you'll find someone like that," he said, patting her hand. "You're young, and such a friendship takes time...and Crowley and I have had, if nothing else, a great deal of time. And it's a challenge, learning to allow yourself to BE yourself with someone, and to allow them the room to be that in return. It's all time and acceptance, because it means seeing all the ugly bits of a person along with the good ones, and loving them wholly."

"Of course not. 'Tis best to do things meticulously. Planning and forethought." If Yotsuyu had done a bit more of that when alive, she might not have to worry about what had happened. But she hadn't, and here she was, and in truth, she sort of preferred it that way...

At Fell's kind words, Yotsuyu shrugged. "Perhaps. Perhaps I already have, and it simply hasn't occurred to me, because I've little experience with that sort of thing, in truth!" A sad fact, perhaps, but a fact nonetheless. Though if anyone came close to that, it was likely Eleven, but she wasn't certain. There were familial overtones, there--and while Yotsuyu's blood family had been utterly terrible, Eleven was far from that. A simply wonderful young man, in her book.

"I cannot even say I know how to love, properly. My family, if you could call it that, certainly was rubbish at teaching that, and they showed me none at all. It was simply what could I do for them? How could I advance their fortunes? Selfishness at its finest." Though she'd been learning here. At least how to not be terribly selfish, to others or in her own right.

"I'm sorry that was the family you were dealt." They were wretched to her, all things considered. "In the end, we often have to make our own families, though nothing quite replaces the sense of--" loss, failure "--betrayal at the denial of their love."

To have little experience with familial and platonic love was a sad truth to a being of love, but he had little experience with a true friendship before Crowley either. Among the angels, he had had his purpose, and when Aziraphale overstepped that role, he had been summarily put in his place. Without Her love instilled in his creation, he wondered sometimes would he even have recognized love when it was extended to him in the form of an enemy?

"I don't think that any of us know how to properly love, even those of us who were made for that. We're just at various stages of the endless lesson. Everyone's just confused and scared and hiding behind our armors. Love is terrifying. It really is. You feel so very fragile and exposed and silly. It's all a bit much. But it's rather like riding a bicycle. Or a horse. ...Or anything, really," he added, as an afterthought, realizing she might not actually have either bicycles or horses in her world. "It's big and scary and you fall off a bit. Rather a lot, actually. Make a mess of your trousers." Err... He started to turn a bit pink. "Metaphorically." He cleared his throat and continued. "In ANY case, it is learned. And rather worth the effort of learning."

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August Event Log

Research

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This Tag Contains SPOILERS for Good Omens, if anyone else is reading this

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cont'd spoilers

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