fandomtownies | Our Lady of Fandom, Tuesday all day.

Karal came in to the church with coffee and some muffins, and stopped, staring at the altar. "I do not think that is what they mean by an offering," he said, shaking his head slowly back and forth

"I've stopped trying to make sense of Cat," Gabriel replied, looking at the food. "You stayed away from the angels, right?"

Karal looked at him sharply. "I was not taken by any of them," which wasn't the same thing at all. "Gabriel--" he hesitated, and then asked, in a very quiet voice, the question which had been whirling around his mind since it had been revealed the angel statues were responsible for the disappearances. "Were they anything to do with you? Or with who you used to be?"

"Of course not. Impostors. None of my kind would attack people randomly like that." Not without a purpose at least. And apart from the fact that they had been statues Gabriel was fairly certain that had they had anything to do with his kind they would have paid him a visit.

Karal breathed a very obvious sigh of relief and relaxed, smiling as he moved to hand Gabriel his coffee and muffins. "I did not think they were, but I still had to ask."

Gabriel didn't seem to take offence, and was clearly pleased with the food Karal had brought. "Have a seat," he said generously, then took a large bite of the muffin.

He sat, looking at Gabriel hesitantly. "My thanks," he said quietly, and folded his hands in his lap. "I was wondering if you had thought any more about helping the child."

Oh. That. He shrugged. "Well," he said. "If you think we should..." He sipped his coffee. It would seriously be a bad idea, but he knew Karal could be stubborn.

Bright flame. Karal's eye widened a little in shock. "You would help simply because it is what I think we should do?"

"You're going to insist, aren't you?" Gabriel didn't seem to think this was strange in any way.

He had a sense of balancing on the edge of a tall building, and the wrong word, the wrong breath would see him fall. Vkandis Sunlord, help me to not make a mistake. Very carefully, he nodded, "I...yes. It is right to help."

"See? I knew that. So I'd get no peace until we've done this." He deliberately left out the part where they might be very peacefully dead after helping the Nephilim boy.

It was frightening that Gabriel was going to do this simply on his say so. And, now that it was a real possibility, the idea was frightening. These were the affairs of angels, avatars of a god, in rebellion against both their god and against humanity.

Karal suddenly felt ill.

"Altra will help," he finally said. "And others. I need your permission to speak about this, to," he searched Gabriel's face, "to others about who, about what you once were. I trust them not to speak of it to anyone else."

"Sure," Gabriel replied with his mouth full. "Just don't cause a panic. That's so annoying."

"Glory, are you certain?" It just slipped out. He hadn't expected Gabriel to agree so easily.

He shrugged. "If you're going to have second thoughts about this we can just as well skip it. It won't be a picnic."

"No, no second thoughts! I was simply surprised." He bowed his head in thought for a moment. "Just surprised," he repeated. "I will speak with them as soon as I'm able. Perhaps we could visit the boy sometimes soon? Just to ensure that he is well?"

"Sure. Bring him donuts and all." That last part was added with some sarcasm.

He sighed, somehow comforted, and shook his head. No matter what happened, Gabriel would never change. "Do you know where he is to be found?"

"Oh, L.A. is where I would look first," Gabriel replied, not seeming to consider this a problem. "I can think of a few people to ask. And you know how to use these...." he waved his hand "...technology things."

"I, yes." Not, admittedly, very well or very comfortably, but he could ask Evey to help him with what was needed. "All right. And if there is no portal, Altra should be able to Jump us."

"Jumping, right." Gabriel hadn't figured out about the portals yet. "And you can talk to the kid?" Karal was probably good at that.

"I will talk to him, yes." He was afraid of what Gabriel might say to him. "Does he know anything about who he is?"

"No idea." Gabriel looked thoughtful. "Some signs might have started to show up."

Karal swallowed. "Signs?" he asked hesitantly.

"Visions, things like that." Gabriel didn't seem to take an interest in this. "He's a Nephilim."

Oh, Sunlord. What have I gotten myself involved in. "Of course. A Nephilim. I will speak with some people, and when we find him, we can go and ensure he's safe, and, if he has been experiencing stranegness," Karal felt a sudden surge of sympathy for the boy, and it fuelled his determination, helped to push aside the fear gnawing at his gut, "we can explain why it is happening, at least in part. He must be so frightened," he added softly.

Gabriel hadn't considered that the boy would be scared. "You think so?" Well, maybe Karal was right. "You talk to people. You're good at that."

"If strange things are happening to him and he doesn't know why, I'm sure he must be scared." The confidence Gabriel had in him was both unexpected and surprisingly touching. "Sunlord knows, I try," he said softly. "I will find out what I can, and speak with Evey, and perhaps you and I could go and see him this weekend."

Talking to people was a very human thing and Gabriel was happy to leave that to Karal. He took another large bite out of the muffin. "Good plan!" It wasn't really a good plan at all, but why not. It wasn't like he had much of a future here anyway.

Karal wasn't sure it was a good plan, either, but simply making contact surely couldn't do any harm, and he couldn't get the thought of a frightened boy, who didn't understand what was happening to him, out of his mind. "All right. I'll come and see before I open the library on Friday and now," he glanced out the window at the sky, "I had best go, or I'll be late for class."

"See you on Friday." Gabriel seemed lost in thought and he stared down into his coffee mug.

Karal nodded and turned to go. He paused, though, looking back. "Gabriel? Thank you for deciding to help. It means a great deal to me."

And then he hurried off, heading up to the school and class.

Our Lady of Fandom, Tuesday all day.

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