[Open] Waltz of the Flowers

[dancingonapin]

Who: Aziraphale and anyone else whom he bumps into~
Where: On his way home from the Aquarius district going to the Libra district late at night (nearing but not quite at the 13th Hour)
Summary: A certain angel is getting home late from his job after putting together... a little project of his possibly involving a new job. Feel free to either bump into him (literally), or meet him while he's being hindered by demons. Or comment on how mostly-naked his Persona is.
Warnings: Aziraphale is kind of adorable? Also his Persona Eve is nude with only ivy covering her lady parts.

The angel hadn't been paying attention to the time when he'd finally decided to quit his research that night. Putting together forms and papers, mapping out a curriculum, and amassing several books of prayer, worship, and prophecy written in several different languages- all of which he could read, of course- had been his new project for this week. Two days into this project and he was already beginning to feel the burden of what pursuing a job like this would mean...

But things had been rather quiet working in a library. He enjoyed the quiet, honestly, he really did, but having all downtime and no "uptime" meant the most exciting moments of his day involved snatching expensive books out of children's hands, and the occasional run-in with his "brother." In fact, the most enjoyable time he'd had, surprisingly, was teaching his young pupil Pit how to read and write English. It was hard work, a rough endeavor, but the pay-off of seeing him slowly begin to comprehend what he was being taught was unlike anything Aziraphale had felt. And he did "good" things for people for a living.

Which is where this little project had come in... He wasn't sure if he'd go through with it, still, but he figured it was worth at least looking into. It would be something nice to do aside from library work... And he'd be able to really share his passion with others for the first time in what he could only guess was centuries. (His knowledge on religion, prophecy, angelology, and demonology was incredibly vast, after all, which is where the difficulty in putting together a narrow curriculum came in.)

So with stacks of papers, books, and various folders in his arms, the angel is walking home as the hour approaches midnight, wrapped up in warm scarves and warm coats as he hums a rather fitting tune considering the snowy weather. Aware of the hour and the danger that came with it, beside him floats his Persona, a Greek goddess of a woman with ivy snaking up around her, only barely covering up certain areas of her otherwise naked body. The motherly looking woman is holding an apple in her palms and regarding Aziraphale with fondness, seeming to sway along with his humming as he walks.

Aziraphale may or may not be looking where he's going... he may slip on a patch of ice on the sidewalk and drop all of his books and papers. Or perhaps he's attacked by a demon once the Thirteenth Hour is upon him? Or perhaps you're simply curious to know what he's doing out so late at night with such a... strange looking Persona. Decide how you'll find this angel.

Comments

[dancingonapin]

Aziraphale seems to notice the odd reaction to his smile, though he's not exactly going to relent. You're talking to the best friend of a demon, Kazuya, he tends to be able to look past a little abrasive behavior. Especially since the boy offered to walk him home.

"What are you doing out so late anyway, Kazuya? Is practicing your teleporting really such a late night activity?"

[belfire]

"Not really," Kazuya admitted. "But there's less chance meetings like ours at night time. Don't exactly want to pinball between people when teleporting into a crowd or something. I might actually end up with an active social life. Shudder."

He started down the street then, although he kept his strides short and slow. He wasn't worried about slipping again, but he already embarrassed himself once tonight; he didn't want to do it again.

[dancingonapin]

Aziraphale laughs a little at that, giving a short nod. "Well, I wouldn't know about creating an active social life from running into others, but it is lovely to make your acquaintance." He isn't one of those strange people who believes an exchange of words makes you friends, of course. Kazuya, especially, didn't seem like the type to make friends regardless.

"... If you're worried about slipping, actually, I believe there's something I can do about that, for a little while." He glances back at his Persona. "Eve, cast Glide, please." The Persona obeys, and makes it so that Lev's feet very lightly touch the top of the snow. It seems Glide worked with frozen water, too.

[belfire]

"Oh! Oh, this is new," Kazuya said thoughtfully, staring down at his feet. He wasn't even floating, which was a bummer, but it was still pretty useful. Hm, he could teleport and dimension jump, but he couldn't float under his own power?

...could any of the Bel demons float? He couldn't think of any...

Dammit.

"Glide, huh? That a strictly Persona skill?"

[dancingonapin]

"Well... it's a skill my Persona possesses, certainly, but I wouldn't say it's strictly something that only Personas can do... Gliding- or the skill to walk on water- is a popular miraculous event in certain religions. I'm not entirely sure why Eve learned it, but if she's a reflection of my soul... I suppose it could be symbolic of a number of things."

The angel glances down at his own feet. Walking on water was a simple miracle, really, far simpler than turning water into wine, or healing people of disease.

[belfire]

Kazuya was quiet briefly. Miracles...

"So...a reflection of your soul casts miracles and stuff, huh?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck with a small laugh. "Does that mean you're the new Jesus or something? Version two!"

[dancingonapin]

Blink. "What?? Oh, goodness me, no! I'm no Messiah!" Though he supposed he could consider himself a 'son of god' if he really wanted to get technical. "You won't find my name in the Bible, believe me." Unless you were reading his Buggre Alle This Bible, of course, but he didn't think that counted, and he wasn't mentioned by name anyway.

[belfire]

"That's probably for the best," Kazuya said, shrugging his shoulders carelessly. "If you're in the bible, you're either a jerk or you get shat on at some point."

From his rather biased experiences anyway, that was true. Cain and Abel - he died and his 'brother' got punished for all eternity. Jesus Christ - Crucified. Adam and Eve - they got tricked by a serpent and kicked out of Eden by God. God. Don't even get him started on God.

But, maybe there were people in the Bible that were genuinely kind and had happy things happen to them. Remiel hadn't been that bad, really. He'd been one of the less jerkier angels.

[dancingonapin]

"Huh..." He's not sure if that's true, but then again he's not entirely sure it isn't either. He can tell, though, this guy definitely doesn't go along with 'Good's definition of the Bible. Which to Aziraphale translated to an interesting thinker.

"That's a strange way of looking at it.... but certainly interesting too. While a 'messiah' interpretation of my Persona is a bit too literal, I can't say my Persona is entirely metaphorical either. It isn't exactly surprising that Eve is my Persona, really."

He looks down at his feet in thought, a finger hooked across his lips in thought.

[belfire]

"What would Eve represent, anyway?" Kazuya wondered aloud, kicking up a clump of slushy snow and watching the lumpy pieces fly through the air. He smirked to himself. "Fertility or life, right? Or if we go with negatives, disobedient, weak-willed, prone to temptation, deceitful, and seductive."

While he was unfamiliar with the bible, everyone knew the story of Adam & Eve. Taking the apple from the tree of knowledge against God's rules, tempted by a serpent. Eve got shafted a lot even though Adam took an apple as well. Kind of unfair, really, but what did a Demon King know about fairness, right?

"So you a tempter or what?" Kazuya asked teasingly, grinning a bit at Aziraphale. "Or are you just really into life?"

[dancingonapin]

Aziraphale shakes his head at Kazuya's general guesses. "Eve was tempted by knowledge, by a serpent... By free will. She was disobedient to Him. In that regard, I suppose we have way too much in common. At the same time she represents the idea of a motherly nature, of a general Good and innocence, even though her sins taint her."

The more he thought about it, the less he was surprised that Eve was his Persona.

Plus there were the other things that he wouldn't say, like the fact that he knew Eve, and that the serpent who tempted her happened to be his best friend.

[belfire]

Kazuya's expression was thoughtful now, his gaze a bit calculating as he observed Aziraphale. "So, you're 'disobedient' against God, then? As in, not in a spiritual way, but in a blatant 'I know God is real and I'm flipping him the bird anyway' way?"

[dancingonapin]

Aziraphale furrows a brow at Kazuya. That was certainly... an interesting yet almost accurate depiction of the kind of disobedience he was talking about.

"Believe me, I know better than most that He exists, I'm just not always so willing to carry out his will... I was never blatant about it, though, not really. I tried to be subtle, it's not as though I wanted to be caught. I could've lost my job."

He's thoughtful for a moment, and pauses a little, staring down at his books... "Well, until last year. I was a little more blatant than usual, which is why I believe I was put on temporary suspension. As a word of caution, it isn't exactly a good idea to try and trick an all-knowing being."

[belfire]

Kazuya abruptly let out a loud "HAH!" noise, pointing at Aziraphale with a triumphant expression. He looked more than a little pleased with himself, and he should be! He knew something about Azirephale was bugging him in a familiar way, and he just realised what it was!

He didn't feel identical to the angels he knew, there was something different about him, but the similarities, and what Aziraphale just admitted, that cinched it for him.

"I knew it! You're one of His servants, aren't you? An angel, right?!"

[dancingonapin]

Aziraphale jumps terribly when Kazuya shouts at him, and he nearly drops all of his books and papers again. He was hoping that Kazuya wouldn't have jumped to that conclusion, that he would've inferred something more along the lines of a pastor or something- he supposes he just wasn't very good at acting all that human, to be figured out like that.

"You seem awfully excited about that prospect!" Was he supposed to confirm or deny that??

[belfire]

"Well!"

Well, er.

Kazuya coughed, calming down considerably. "Not excited! Just... something was itching me, and I'm just glad I realised what it was," he mumbled, squinting at Aziraphale with a curious look. "Hmm, you seem alright though. Most angels are bastards, so..."

Eh.

"I'm gonna give you benefit of the doubt."

[dancingonapin]

"I, I don't recall either confirming nor denying your statement!!" It's kind of a pitiful save on his part, especially considering someone who wasn't an angel would probably outright say so instead of acting cagey about it.

"I... I don't want any trouble!"

[belfire]

"Wha- I just said I'm giving you benefit of the doubt! I'm not gonna mug you or anything!"

Kazuya puffed out his cheeks slightly, childishly offended at such an accusation. He normally had a shoot first, ask questions later thing when it came to angels, but since he was far from His domain... well, he was on vacation too! He didn't want to go angel hunting on his day off!

"Geeeeeze... I'm a classy Demon King. Classy. Unless you do something to warrant me thinkin' you're gonna pull some of His shit, I'm not going to do anything to you."