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]

[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...

[thewaywardson]

[ That sufficiently derails the conversation on Castiel's end. His brow furrows as his head tips slightly to the side. ]

Humans come from apples in your world? On the Earth I'm familiar with, they've descended from monkeys.

[guiltapalooza]

[She wrinkles her nose at him like she's not sure he could actually be this dense.]

It's a metaphor. You know, talking about one thing that isn't really that thing?

[thewaywardson]

I am familiar with the concept of a metaphor, however human colloquial phrases sometimes elude me.

[ This statement is also known as the biggest understatement of the millennia. ]

[guiltapalooza]

Yeah, I see that. I'd tell you to watch more TV but that's not really an option here.

[thewaywardson]

[ Now there's something he understands and he brightens considerably. ]

Yes. I enjoy television. Especially the parable of the wiley, steadfast coyote and the ever elusive, unknowable roadrunner.