Video;

[thewaywardson]

[ The video starts with a man looking curiously at the screen. He has dark hair and a faint dusting of stubble on his skin, as though in a few hours’ time he may want to find a razor and have himself a shave.

It may be obvious from the way he’s inspecting the console that he isn’t completely at a loss around technology like this. He isn’t exactly familiar with it, but he’s clearly used a computer or something like it once or twice before. Enough that he isn’t fumbling with it or looking at it as though it’s some kind of mystical portal into another world.

It’s also possible that, prior to his turning it on, one of the kedan who showed him to his apartment explained it to him. ]

Hello. [ He pauses just for a moment, then continues. ] I am Castiel.

[ There’s an odd quality to his voice, deep and slightly rough around the edges, as though it’s still rather new and he hasn’t quite mastered it yet. ]

The kedan who summoned me told me that I’m here to help, but they… [ A slight pause, the corner of his mouth pulling into a tiny frown. ] …neglected to provide the details I require to do that. If anyone can share that information with me, I would appreciate it.

Comments

[guiltapalooza]

[She's about to say it wasn't the lack of wings throwing her off, but rather the holy tax accountant vibe, before he fills in that awkward pause and she's successively diverted.]

Are they nice wings? [she can't help but ask curiously.] I mean, do you get to fly and swoop around and do good deeds? Cause that might be kinda fun.

[thewaywardson]

I am fond of them.

[ There's another pause, and some of Castiel's uncertainty can be see on his face. Just like a note of disappointment and disapproval - not directed at her - can be heard in his voice. ]

Angels are... not like humans believe. We're warriors of God. Soldiers. Not guardians.

[guiltapalooza]

[She can tell there's more behind that than what he's saying, but Willow isn't unfamiliar with the idea that ordained duties have a dark side to them. She looks at him half in more curiosity, and half in concern.]

Sometimes the guarding has to be a little more proactive. And you seem nice enough to me. Just... not so hot with the 21st century.

[That's Willow, giving everyone the benefit of the doubt.]

[thewaywardson]

I have been... proactive. It isn't always successful.

[ That proactivity is what led to his fall. The first one. Castiel's intimately acquainted with falling from grace. He's done it often enough. ]

Human customs are often strange and nonsensical. But I have learned how to use your "mobile phones."

[guiltapalooza]

Well... No. It isn't. [She sighs faintly, hearing an echo of all the years she's supported Buffy through her failures in that.] But you don't really have a choice. You have to keep going, right?

And hey-- mobile phones. That's one up on me. Those only just came out when I'm from.

[thewaywardson]

I do have a choice. [ That, at least, he sounds proud about. ] Free will isn't just for humans anymore.

When are you from?

[guiltapalooza]

[That makes her smile a little.] No, I mean, being a good person means you can't stop trying. You have a choice, but it ends up not being so choose-y in practice.

It was 2002 when I left.

[thewaywardson]

That is before I took a vessel.

Perhaps it works like that for humans. It isn't so easy for angels.

[ He wishes that it was. Then maybe they wouldn't make so many mistakes. ]

[guiltapalooza]

So before that you were all mystical glowy unseeable by human eyes? [Is she getting this straight?

He definitely sounds conflicted with his angelic nature, and Willow innately wants to reassure him, but doesn't know how to go about it. She doesn't even really know him-- her reflex to comfort others is just too strong to be denied.]

I guess I wouldn't know. We don't have any-- that I know of. I've met a lot of demons, but they're not really religious type demons. Just visitors from other dimensions that like their mayhem and slaughter.

[thewaywardson]

I was a multidimensional wavelength of celestial intent approximately as large as the Chrysler Building.

[ He says it matter-of-factly, like there’s nothing the least bit unusual about it. But on the topic of demons, his tone changes to one of curious interest. There aren’t many people who walk away from one demon encounter, let alone multiple ones. ]

You are a hunter? Most haven’t met an angel before. We only revealed ourselves because of the Apocalypse.

[guiltapalooza]

Wow. That must look impressive on your resume. [It's a joke, but Willow does look suitably impressed, looking him over with new eyes. It says something about her life that she believes that part so much more easily than she believes him being an actual angel.

Not recognizing the word in this usage, Willow sends him a puzzled glance.] Well, I don't hunt anything. I'm more... back up and research girl for the Slayer. We've had several almost apocalypses and definitely no angels. The Hellmouth's opened once or twice and everything. I'd think they'd show up to party.

[thewaywardson]

I don't have a resume.

[ Nor does he understand all the references that follow. He's silent for a moment, puzzling it over, until he reaches the conclusion that she's talking about one of the doorways into Hell. ]

Gateways into Hell have been opening frequently. There's been unrest since Lucifer was freed.

[ Because it sounds like she works for a hunter, he doesn't go into detail, assuming she already knows. ]

It wasn't much of a party.

[guiltapalooza]

[Of course he doesn't have a-- Right. Literal. It's sort of like talking to Angel, except an actual angel who's even more clueless. Willow can adjust.]

Uh... No Lucifer. For me, I mean. And Hellmouths opening tend to be-- catastrophic, so not that either.

We're from different dimensions. I don't think our rules are all that, shared.

[thewaywardson]

A parallel version of Earth? Yes, I'm aware of these dimensions. They stem from temporal reactions to...

[ He catches himself before he launches fully into an explanation. Humans, he remembers, don't seem to enjoy them. ]

Is that why I'm here? To transport you and others like you home?

[guiltapalooza]

[Willow might actually find that kind of interesting, but she doesn't protest the subject change.]

I doubt it. No one's been able to do their usual... transporting. I've seen people teleport without the bounds of the barrier, but trying to get outside it? Nada. You were probably selected through the same process we were. Whatever that is.

[thewaywardson]

[ This is news to him. ]

What barrier?

[guiltapalooza]

There's a barrier surrounding the turtle that prevents anyone from going past it. Even if you can, I think abilities start to fail? I was backreading on the network and the previous times we've made landfall, that's what happened when you step off of Tu Vishan.

[thewaywardson]

That sounds like magic.

[ He's getting really tired of magic. Though that's more to do with being used to cast the angels out of Heaven than it is because he doesn't like it in general. ]

I will see what I can do about it.

[guiltapalooza]

Probably, [she admits.] I'm assuming we're using Tu Vishan as a mystical battery. At home that's Earth, so we don't ever leave to notice it.

--Be careful? It's probably dangerous. You could get hurt. [And she seems genuinely worried about that.]

[thewaywardson]

[ Not that he knows what humans do and don't know about magic, but that seems a little more knowledgeable and accepting than what he's expecting. Even from someone affiliated with a hunter. ]

You're familiar with magic?

[guiltapalooza]

Sure. I'm a witch. I'm so familiar it's like a... a bedfellow.

[She says that with all the straight forward nonchalance he'd said I am an angel of the Lord except with maybe a slight hint of pride.]

[thewaywardson]

[ Immediately, his tone and expression turn wary and guarded. All witches aren't bad, per se. Logically, he knows this. His experience, on the other hand, says otherwise. ]

What kind of witch?

[guiltapalooza]

[That prompts a frown. Willow is as ready to defend against anti-witch prejudice as ever.]

A good one. [Usually, she adds to herself, pouting slightly.] Firmly on the apocalypse-preventing side of the fight, remember?

[thewaywardson]

[ Yes, she had said such things before revealing herself for what she is. And it isn't as though hunters working with unconventional allies is entirely new to him. Castiel thinks about it for a moment, then nods. ]

Yes. My apologies. My experience with witches has not always been positive.

[guiltapalooza]

[The quick apology is enough to get her to relax and smile approvingly at him.]

It hasn't always been positive for me either, [she agrees.] But we're just like anyone else. Some good apples and some bad apples and some... apples that change goodness and badness...