Closed 🌺 Exploration [Voice Testing]

[unknownmoirai]

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She didn't know what to make of this place. The world was paved and bordered with cement while tall buildings set in the skyline. She's been traveling for awhile now but each new city and each new town surprised her. This one was no different. She paused by the park, watching as the children played and smiled. The world was a mixture of dark and light, with buildings blotting out the sun but laughter filling the sweet crisp air. It was a balance that she couldn't disrupt nor did she attempt to try.

There was something here, hidden beneath the city... a story that had to be told and she was searching for it.

It was a tiring walk and she didn't have money for a hotel. She found a seat on a park bench, watching as people past and sirens echoed through the city. A fountain bubbled and curled in front of her while a man with a violin began to play. She didn't have the money she needed but she pulled out a dollar and set it in the violinist's case before retaking her seat on the bench.

Her long hair was tied in two pigtails while a warm jacket covered her shoulders. She didn't need the jacket but there was something comforting in the weight of the material against her skin. A shadow fell over her and her chin lifted. "Can I help you?"


[ooc: wild card for anywhere else in any city/town/whatever.]

Comments

[godsinsolence]

Some angels of Heaven got off on being more cryptic than they needed to be, but they couldn't lie. Even with that not exactly attached, no meant no. Which meant that Zed had a lot less to worry about than he'd thought.

"My city?" Those owlish eyes of his blinked, the line of his mouth softened in quiet amusement. "Nah. I — I just live here..."

He was still weighing the coins in his palm. He could actually use them, but it felt disingenuous, the way he'd asked for them. While he was no longer bound to truthfulness, old habits died hard. So he stayed like that, for now, holding the quarters in his palm. Not offering to give them back, but not pocketing them either. It gave him something to do, anyway, worrying them around with his thumb.

"Honestly, I was wondering if there was some reason I should be getting out."

[unknownmoirai]

"It's your home. Isn't it?" She lifted her chin and met his gaze with a soft smile. "It's alright. Nothing bad will happen to you. I don't want that. I'm afraid that I can't tell you why I am here but it might be for nothing at all."

The wind picks up and the young angel lifts her hand into the air to catch a daisy as it flew towards her. "While I am here. You're welcome to call on me. I might not be able to help but I try too." She pinched the stem of the flower between her thumb and forefinger and idly spun it.

She didn't lie but it wasn't because she couldn't. That was simply how she was and what she believed. There was good in everyone, it didn't matter what race you were.

[godsinsolence]

He watched her catch and spin the flower — it was enough of a distraction to snap him out of his indecisive trance. His fingers closed around the quarters and slipped them into his pocket with the rest of his spare change.

There'd definitely been a change in the air since they'd started talking. The violinist was carrying on with that uplifting tune, and now flowers were getting caught on the wind. Zed let it put him at ease. He held out his hand toward her again, but this time for a shake.

"I'm Zed. Sorry for being weird — too much experience with Heaven's emissaries."

[unknownmoirai]

She placed the daisy gently on her lap and took his hand. "It's nice to meet you Zed and I understand you worry but I'm not exactly Heaven's emissary." Her expression saddened but there was an unmistakable strength and warmth in her eyes.

"Like you, I have no home to go back too. I have not lost my way or my wings but my path is different." She picked the Daisy back up but just held it safely in her palm.

"I know that it's like to be on your own. It isn't easy and I would never ask you to trust me."

[godsinsolence]

Zed spread his hands. Now that he knew she wasn't here on Heaven business, he was a lot more relaxed.

"This doesn't have to be an interrogation. One question, though... do you have a name?"

Asked like he actually wasn't sure. He'd never met an angel who wasn't — or hadn't been, at some point — aligned with Heaven. Maybe they didn't have names.

[unknownmoirai]

She shook her head. "No. I don't." Names were designed to label and define. There was no purpose of having a label when you didn't need those definitions. That was her home was like and she missed it but she also knew that she couldn't go back there.

Even if she found her sister, she'd be too changed by the world around her.

"Where did the name Zed come from?"

[godsinsolence]

"Zedriel. The rage and fury of the Lord, once upon a time. More recently: God's insolence."

Zed shrugged a shoulder - like it was all old news. No big deal. He moved to sit down on the other end of the bench, and leaned back with both hands in the pockets of his coat. He shifted a little to get comfortable against the back rest.

"You said I'd be welcome to call on you...? What for?"

[unknownmoirai]

"Zedriel." She repeated in a soft voice. "It's a beautiful name."

Sometimes she wanted a name but it was always a passing fancy. Not all angel's were meant to have names but she'd been in the human realm for over six years and... it was lonely. There wasn't anyone who understood her situation and at times that loneliness was crushing.

"If you needed help with anything." She paused thoughtfully. "There isn't a lot I can do but I'd like to do what I can wherever I go."

[godsinsolence]

"You almost sound like a guardian."

But guardian angels, as Zed understood them, were always specialized. Attached to a particular human or subset of humans. There was no way he'd have one, and anyway, she'd said wherever I go, so she couldn't mean just him.

[unknownmoirai]

Her mouth curved into a warm smile. "I am nothing that dramatic." She might have gotten permission to come to Earth but her calling wasn't all that simple.

She had to right what her sister made wrong.

"It's just how I am. I never really questioned it."

[godsinsolence]

"That sounds familiar, too."

All angels Zed knew at least started out that way. Not questioning. Seemed like that counted even for the ones who didn't belong to Heaven.

It really didn't seem like she was here for any world-shaking purpose. He could deal with feeling that buzz at the back of his neck for another day or two. If she stayed longer than that, her presence might start to be a bother... but he'd cross that bridge when and if it arrived.

"Thanks for the bus fare. I won't keep you." He nodded, then stood again. Paused.

"Just — for curiosity's sake." There was a hint of reticence there. Curiosity was still, sometimes, a dangerous thing. "If you don't have a name, how am I supposed to call you?"

[unknownmoirai]

Her mouth curved into a light smile. "I think you could find me if you wanted too. I'm afraid that I don't know where I'll be staying or I'd tell you." She didn't have a place to sleep but she didn't need to sleep. If it came to it, she'd stay up and spend the night wandering around the city.

"If you'd like a way to contact me faster. I can give you a marker."

It was a trick using her magic to point him to her but it wasn't something she gave out often. It wasn't safe. If any of her sisters men found it... she'd never be safe.