4 solas

[sarcastass]

The concept of interdimensional travel and teleportation wasn't at all a new one to Szel. Why would it be, after everything that had already happened, after all? It may as well have been just another Saturday at Velvet Lust at this point, right? Ho hum, just another instance of dimensional displacement, same as it ever was every other week, la dee da.

Except no, it wasn't, and no, he isn't going to act like he isn't interested. At least, not when no one was around to call him out on that. The second he was sure he didn't have an audience, he was invested in this situation, slipping away into more empty areas of the club for a little investigating. It was a task easier said than done; Velvet Lust attracted more than just Azrael's and Camael's attention, the place was almost immediately swarming with curious fae and even the odd intelligent undead and ghost. It almost acted like a magnet for them, something he honestly shouldn't have been all that surprised about but he was going to be cranky in regards to it anyway.

In any case, here he was, hunting for anything even remotely different about the club after it's unexpected jaunt. Midge's eyes darted over every single feature as the two of them moved through the empty hall, the sound of one hell of a party thumping loudly in the rooms adjacent to them. At least everyone else would be preoccupied, he'd just have to tolerate all the goddamn noise.

The demon paused suddenly as a difference in the hall caught his attention like a blazing, bright red beacon; a loosened brick. … Alright, not exactly what he was looking for, actually, and his disappointment was practically palpable as Midge glared at the thing, almost accusing. How dare this shitty little brick get his hopes up for something interesting? Fuck this brick in particular, honestly.

… Not hard enough to do anything destructive about it, but fuck this brick, fuck it right back into the wall where it came from actually. He lifted his cane and pressed it down upon the corner of the loosened brick, carefully nudging it back into place. It was still Tannusen's place here, after all, displaced or not. Szel wasn't in any hurry to break Tannusen's things, not anymore anyway, and he may as well do the absolute bare minimum by making sure it all stayed unbroken. With a disappointed huff, he turned his back on the wall, and was immediately greeted by a door on what he damn well knew had been a blank wall just moments prior. He didn't see the door appear, but then again, wasn't that just how Tannusen's magic worked anyway?

Made as much sense as anything else, and Midge only took the briefest moment to look around before Szel reached out and grabbed the door knob, sticking his head through first before slipping in the rest of the way. Dark in here, where's the light swi-

Where's the door. No, actually no where's the door? He let go of the handle for just a second to fumble for a lightswitch before Midge's eyes adjusted, but in an instant no light was necessary, and no door knob was available. Here he stood on a singular floating slab of earth, surrounded on all sides by the discombobulated rubble of a building? Maybe? Or maybe just a previously very well articulated mountainside, those definitely looked like they might have been stairs once. Maybe.

Well. Shit.

He would never ever, not in a million years, not even before the heat death of the universe, say he was scared. Not under pain of torture nor fear of death would he ever say that awful shit out loud, he'd scarcely even allow himself to admit that. He's not scared, he's perturbed. He is inconvenienced. He is really starting to perhaps maybe get somewhat concerned at the growing noises and increasing feelings of not being entirely alone here maybe he should consider drawing a weapon. Or doing the rough approximation of that.

The awful, wretched shrieks and screams of the less pleasant denizens of this weird liminal world would be ringing out soon enough, any demons lured in by the promise of a fat and delicious meal finding the tables ironically turned the instant they came upon the mutilated monster making his stand right here in the Fade. Tattered and broken wings spread wide, just like his eternally torn and bleeding mouth lined with needle-like teeth, the spider-demon sat now within a whipping frenzy of rusty and blood slicked living steel cables. What better way to soothe rage and fear than with a bit of a binge, after all? Sure nothing here tasted good, but he couldn't think of a more permanent solution to his current problem.

Down the fucking hatch, he'd address everything else once he'd earned a little peace and quiet.

Comments

[sarcastass]

"That's for her to decide." After all, he couldn't shake how patronizing it would feel to have someone insist they knew better about how one's life should have gone. Just thinking about it, he could almost feel her glaring at him if he were to open his yap about that.

"I can't tell her in what way she should be happy, that's for her to judge. If she's pleased with how she is now, then she's better off." No, that wasn't exactly something he personally believed. He did actually think she'd have been better off without the pain, without the burden. He just didn't have the right to tell her that.

[the_dread_wolf]

Solas nodded at that. Yes, good.

"Our people, as you know, began as spirits. She did not directly, but she is descended from my generation."

The first generation of elves.

"There is something of the spirit in her, still. Hers is..." he considered for a moment, gazing over Szel's shoulder into the distance while he thought.

Back to Szel, he settled on, "Leadership, I think. A variant on Justice and Protection, and encompassing both concepts."

There was a lot of overlap, with some spirits.

"Those concepts would not exist in a perfect, painless world."

He drew a hand from behind his back, holding it up as though to halt something.

"I am not saying I think the pain and misery of life is inherently better. But it is what we have, and there are small benefits that should not be disregarded. Flowers grow thick on old battlefields."

[sarcastass]

"Well yeah we wouldn't need them." It's why Raguel existed, for what use would justice be if there was never any injustice to be had? Why have the concept of order if there was no chaos? It was something Azrael had mentioned before in their many, many attempts to explain things to Szel, before the demon's ire had grown too strong and the oldest seraph had to remove themselves from another hopeless situation.

It didn't sit comfortably then, and it failed to now, though at least with a clearer head he could understand it better. Truth didn't have to be comfortable, quite often it was just the opposite.

At least Solas had the sense to mention that this was far from a perfect system, that it was necessary for pain to exist for the benefit of some mysterious 'balance'. The lack of cryptic words and hidden meanings helped, alongside an easily graspable metaphor. It still didn't please him, but the frown on Szel's face lacked the usual depth and underlying simmer of unspoken rage this time. It's what we have, after all.

"You can only play with the cards you're dealt." Human idiom, one he'd heard plenty of times before, and one that was apropos for the conversation. "Sometimes the hand you get is shit." A fact of life, and far more grounded than that god awful lemonade quote.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it though." He wasn't about to pretend he was at peace with the idea.

[the_dread_wolf]

"Very true," Solas said, to all of that. Finally, he turned back toward the way they'd come, gesturing thataway. The sun was touching the horizon, now.

"I do not intend to peel our Inquisitor from family until she is ready to go," he said, "but shall we check on her?"

[sarcastass]

Oh... yes for as badly as he wanted to go home... Alley had actual family here. And her cousin seemed so happy to see her... The idea of trying to hurry her along was quite suddenly grotesquely distasteful.

Szel sighed regardless, Midge ensuring that each and every hair was perfectly in place before fixing his tie and his cufflinks. He'd be going back looking more put together than he was when he left, at least. The last thing he needed was for Shianni to keep fussing over things that comparatively didn't matter, given the circumstances.

"It's not like we have to rush, anyway." Yes, lets go back and check on her, Midge turning his head towards the way that they came. Another set of words found themselves stuck in his throat, the demon's face briefly contorting in a frustrated grimace before he spoke again.

"... Thank you."

[the_dread_wolf]

Solas saw that expression. He couldn't help but tease a little, starting the walk back along the bridge, "Did that hurt on the way out?"

[sarcastass]

Ah, back to normal, and he was more than happy to fall right back into that comfortable position. Teasing or not, it's honestly comfortable.

"Yes, actually. I think I might be dying." And how dare you laugh at him in his final moments.

[the_dread_wolf]

"Any final words, master Szelhamos?"

Why yes, he was going to keep this ball in the air a while longer.

[sarcastass]

"Whatever you put on my gravestone it better not be one of yours or Alley's shitty puns or I'm coming back for you."

Don't threaten him with a good time.

[the_dread_wolf]

"Hmm, I will have to think of something good, then."

Oh, are we done with jokes?

"We will of course do your funeral in the elven way. The body preparations alone take months."

We are not done with jokes.

[sarcastass]

"You put my body right in the ground the second I drop or Midge is going to eat you."

The raven let out a series of clicks before immediately interjecting: "I will not."

"Thanks for nothing, traitor."

[the_dread_wolf]

"We will of course have to shave the body," Solas continued, "I am this bald because I am so old I may as well be dead, you see. We will match."

[sarcastass]

"You are so full of shit." Offended! Angry! How dare you lie to him. Alright, so Solas wasn't the only one full of shit here, though between the two of them, he was the better actor.

Someone had to try just a little too hard to keep from actually smiling at the batshit thing he just heard.

[the_dread_wolf]

"Am I?" Solas, the god of lies, treachery, and rebellion (depending on the story) asked, "How can you be so certain?"

[sarcastass]

"Because I'm a grown-ass adult, the next thing you'll be telling me is that if I'm not a good boy I'm getting coal for Christmas."

That's right, have some home world lore thrown out as both a reference and a caltrops, he doesn't have to answer that question. It's a fake question!

[the_dread_wolf]

"My mistake," Solas didn't take the bait of the weird reference, sorry Szel. "I presume you prefer the coal from your wings, any other would be an inferior gift."

[sarcastass]

"Oh leave them alone, that shit doesn't come off." Well, not permanently anyway, the demon giving the plumage an almighty shake. Partially to show what he meant.

Partially to see if he couldn't get some of that soot on Solas, you big jerk.

[the_dread_wolf]

"Careful," Solas waved soot particles away from his face, "or I will have to steal some to sketch with."

[sarcastass]

"Well if you're going to say that I might have to give you one so I don't wake up plucked."

[the_dread_wolf]

"Truly?" Solas asked, curious now. "Would that not hurt you?"

[sarcastass]

"They fall out every now and again. It's not like they work anymore either, I can part with one." The question of 'pain' just flew over his head, it barely even registered. Why? The pain of a single feather lost was incomparable to everything else.

"I'm serious about the soot, it's never going to wash off forever." A permanent writing implement, if only a little unsettling.

[the_dread_wolf]

"Well, when one does come out on its own," don't pluck one right now, Szel, "I would not object."

[sarcastass]

He can wait! He's not that desperate for validation!

"Happens all the time, you'll probably get one before we even get to the library." Hell, he'd yanked one out himself back in the Fade after that little tiff with the rage demons.

Hopefully, he wouldn't be doing that again with present company any time soon.

[the_dread_wolf]

"Are they brittle? Regular feathers often are, and yours sound very much like glass."

Is he going to need a box to put it in or can it handle being in a pocket, basically.

[sarcastass]

Now, this, this he liked. This was his comfort zone right here.

"It's similar to glass, but not exactly. They're a lot more durable than they look, you'd really have to try to break one. After all, considering how they're placed and the general duress they go through in order to fly, they'd have to be pretty sturdy."