dear_mun | canon: Book of Joby

[Gabe grins back, unfazed by her impatience, and tugs her down the beach, his feet kicking up sand and water.]

Look.

[He points at a group of children playing in the sand. There's a definite landscape around the area, with moats and bridges and castles hip-high. As they watch, a girl of maybe eight leaps up and shouts.]

I am the dragon and I've come for my prize!

[She curls her fingers and roars, racing around the sandcastle. A boy so alike to her in appearance he could only be her brother cowered behind one of the castles, pointing at her with a shaking hand.]

It's the dragon! She'll burn down the whole castle if we don't give her what she wants!

Never fear!

[A third child, another girl the same age as the first, leaps to her feet and strikes a pose, her sword in hand and a crown of ~~seaweed~~ jade on her brow.]

A knight is here! En garde, dragon!

[The dragon eyes her, snarling and claws digging the 'earth'.]

Challenge me, will you? It's your life!

[Thus a duel begins between dragon and knight, with the townsman shouting encouragement and, occasionally, tossing buckets of water to douse the dragon's flames. It's a play of such wild, joyful abandon that Gabriel watches them with a broad, slightly melancholic grin.]

[ She watches them silently, her smile slipping away. She wonders if it's as fun as it looks; she'd only ever played solo, her brothers not being much for play. And when she glances sideways at Gabriel, she frowns at the complicated expression on his face. ]

Do you know them?

[Gabe looks a bit startled at her observation, but then offers her a sweet, sad smile.]

No. But they remind me of someone who was once like them. Someone who doesn't deserve what his life has become.

[ She looks away from him again, back to the children, her expression unreadable. ]

Children generally don't deserve what they get.

No.

[His gaze returns to the three children. Apparently the dragon knew how to use a sword.]

But Joby's fate was ... is ... particularly cruel.

[ She lets go of his hand, almost violently, and folds her arms, clutching her elbows. She will not look at him anymore, she decides. ]

Then help him. What the hell is fate?

[The loss of her hand makes him feel oddly cold, but he lets his arm drop and answers quietly, his voice pained.]

I did. I disobeyed my Master's order to do so. It nearly made him lose all of Creation.

[ Oh. Damn. She should've kept her mouth shut. ]

But . . . his fate was unchanged?

[For a moment Gabe is silent, staring past the children as if seeing something beyond them, or the beach, or the ocean. Then, finally, he turns and looks at Mal.]

I don't know. My brother won't let him go so easily. But maybe ...

[He smiles, a slow, uncertain but hopeful smile.]

Maybe what I did will give him some time for peace and to heal before the next battle.

[ She . . . gives him a small smile in return. She can't help it. Damn him. ]

Sometimes that's enough, I think. [ And then she frowns. ] I . . . think.

[Well, it brightens his, at least. Or perhaps unfortunately?]

I hope so. I mean, I'd--I'd like to think so too.

What, you're not allowed to hope?

[He ducks his head a little in chagrin.]

No, we are. I just--it's not something that's been necessary. I've always known.

[That was one of the things so frightening about this whole wager. It was weighted so heavily in Lucifer's side that Gabriel can't say for sure if God will win. And now, through his own actions, he doesn't know what his own fate will be.]

[ dryly ] Well, now you know something more about humanity. We're always uncertain.

[He gives her a smile, tiny and secretive, as if he's in on a secret.]

Not always. Much of the time--but not always.

[ She smiles, a bit teasingly. ]

Enlighten me.

[He grins back.]

Usually it involves having a bit of faith.

I have very little.

[ Although her gaze flickers, and she wonders if she's lying. ]

I did say 'a bit'.

All right, none then. [ As if she's trying to prove something. ]

[But Gabriel only laughs and takes her hand again, tugging her down the beach. He won't stop her if she tries to pull away, but as long as she doesn't, his bearing screams with enthusiasm.]

Let's see if we can find you some, then.

[ She rolls her eyes and follows after him, nearly running to keep up. ]

canon: Book of Joby

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject