Who: wanda and others When: april & may Where: solvunn, horizon What: catch-all for the month, closed and open prompts within. Warnings: none at the moment, will mark as needed.
It was a statement of fact. If you care to take it as a compliment as well, I encourage you to.
[Facts can also be compliments, but it's important to Michael that she know he meant it as obvious truth rather than just to praise her. Flattery is cheap. A proven ability to succeed is worth far more than words.
Michael pulls the book off the shelf. This tome was in the wrong place to begin with. He turns, takes a step away to slot it on a different set of shelves entirely, and turns back ready to move yet another book out of his line of sight.
He looks pensive. He doesn't see how work in the Cities is better for Matt, but she's got something of a point about all the rituals in Solvunn.]
There is that—though I'll note that I manage despite the infiltration of pagan beliefs into everyday activities.
[Which ought to be harder for a former servant of God to stomach than a simple fanboy, he thinks.]
[michael is a lot more fastidious about putting hte books right in the shelf that has no real significant order than wanda is, but she makes no comment as he walks away for a moment to put the book in another shelf. she will just make a pile of three books by the time he’s back to the shelf they were accommodating together.]
You have dealt with the reality of divinity and god at a close range, though. Matt’s just — [a fanboy] — a believer. One of many. I would imagine that it would be easier for you to digest all this.
[knowing what is and isn’t, what exists and what doesn’t, how it affects ‘the grand scheme of things’ and all.
but, she’s not here for a philosophical conversation. rather, she just blurts out:]
He said he loved me. [fanboy, indeed.] He’d make it work for my sake, but I don’t— [it’s moving too soon, isn’t it? feels like, sometimes. there is no real measure to time when it comes to things like this. wanda’s worries are, as usual, larger than herself. her piling up books for michael to organize slows down significantly, her voice taking on a quiet quality, muffled, mumbled, downward as her head tilts towards the floor, glancing down at her hands that are now devoid of any books to put up.] Nothing good ever happens to those I love.
[It was a collection of fictitious short stories among nonfiction books, Wanda. What was he supposed to do, just leave it there? Even if this part of the library is sorely in need of true organization and structure, knowing it's in the wrong place would have bothered him all day.
Michael would argue the fact that it is all the more real to him is precisely why Solvunn's religious leanings are more difficult for him to stomach than most, even the fanboys. They offend him on a personal level. He has the sense to realize that this is not about him, however. It isn't really about Matt, either.
He ignores the books for the moment, coming around to Wanda's side of the shelves.]
I can relate. Nothing good ever came to those I love, either.
[Some would say he's been the reason for some (all) of their misfortune, but maybe Wanda can relate to that, too.]
Wanda, if you saw me as I am I'd burn the eyes from your head; the sound of my voice would liquefy your brain. The only thing that prevents it is this—[He holds up a hand, turns it over.] A few millimeters of skin. Meat and bone. We are dangerous creatures, you and I. Being aware of the threat we pose is the cost of living among those not like us.
But harm is a choice. You are not responsible for acts you haven't committed. Even if something bad were to happen to him I'm sure your beau would have something terribly romantic to say about it, like 'loving you was worth it'. That's why you like him, isn't it?
[Honestly he has no idea. They've got pretty disparate tastes, so he basing it on what he's observed of the man.]
[wanda glances at michael as he makes his statement about the fate of those he loved and nothing ever good coming to them. she figures he might mean the soul of the man whose body he inhabits—adam—to look more palatable, as he puts it, without burning her eyes and liquefying her brain. she also figures that he might mean his siblings, tasked with them as the eldest.
she takes a step to the side, raising her head as michael comes to stand near her.
to be put in the same category, ‘dangerous creatures’, as an archangel means a lot to her because it comes from michael, her focus not on what it implies, but rather on how michael works to sympathize with her.]
…this is really out of your area of expertise, isn’t it?
[she huffs, amused, a small smile on her lips to accompany her words. he’s trying to be comforting, and that much isn’t lost on her. she’s quiet for a moment, fingers fidgeting over the shelf at the height of her chin, smoothing her fingers over the surface now devoid of dust, eyes following the aimless journey of her fingers.]
I like him because he knows that I can be dangerous and that I’ve done horrible things, but he’s willing to look beyond that. [“i can fix her”, basically. but that’s just matt’s type. she drags her hands down the shelf, grabbing at another book now.] I know that everyone looks at me and sees my magic, how it defines me, but I like getting to be normal with him.
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no subject
[Facts can also be compliments, but it's important to Michael that she know he meant it as obvious truth rather than just to praise her. Flattery is cheap. A proven ability to succeed is worth far more than words.
Michael pulls the book off the shelf. This tome was in the wrong place to begin with. He turns, takes a step away to slot it on a different set of shelves entirely, and turns back ready to move yet another book out of his line of sight.
He looks pensive. He doesn't see how work in the Cities is better for Matt, but she's got something of a point about all the rituals in Solvunn.]
There is that—though I'll note that I manage despite the infiltration of pagan beliefs into everyday activities.
[Which ought to be harder for a former servant of God to stomach than a simple fanboy, he thinks.]
no subject
You have dealt with the reality of divinity and god at a close range, though. Matt’s just — [a fanboy] — a believer. One of many. I would imagine that it would be easier for you to digest all this.
[knowing what is and isn’t, what exists and what doesn’t, how it affects ‘the grand scheme of things’ and all.
but, she’s not here for a philosophical conversation. rather, she just blurts out:]
He said he loved me. [fanboy, indeed.] He’d make it work for my sake, but I don’t— [it’s moving too soon, isn’t it? feels like, sometimes. there is no real measure to time when it comes to things like this. wanda’s worries are, as usual, larger than herself. her piling up books for michael to organize slows down significantly, her voice taking on a quiet quality, muffled, mumbled, downward as her head tilts towards the floor, glancing down at her hands that are now devoid of any books to put up.] Nothing good ever happens to those I love.
no subject
Michael would argue the fact that it is all the more real to him is precisely why Solvunn's religious leanings are more difficult for him to stomach than most, even the fanboys. They offend him on a personal level. He has the sense to realize that this is not about him, however. It isn't really about Matt, either.
He ignores the books for the moment, coming around to Wanda's side of the shelves.]
I can relate. Nothing good ever came to those I love, either.
[Some would say he's been the reason for some (all) of their misfortune, but maybe Wanda can relate to that, too.]
Wanda, if you saw me as I am I'd burn the eyes from your head; the sound of my voice would liquefy your brain. The only thing that prevents it is this—[He holds up a hand, turns it over.] A few millimeters of skin. Meat and bone. We are dangerous creatures, you and I. Being aware of the threat we pose is the cost of living among those not like us.
But harm is a choice. You are not responsible for acts you haven't committed. Even if something bad were to happen to him I'm sure your beau would have something terribly romantic to say about it, like 'loving you was worth it'. That's why you like him, isn't it?
[Honestly he has no idea. They've got pretty disparate tastes, so he basing it on what he's observed of the man.]
no subject
she takes a step to the side, raising her head as michael comes to stand near her.
to be put in the same category, ‘dangerous creatures’, as an archangel means a lot to her because it comes from michael, her focus not on what it implies, but rather on how michael works to sympathize with her.]
…this is really out of your area of expertise, isn’t it?
[she huffs, amused, a small smile on her lips to accompany her words. he’s trying to be comforting, and that much isn’t lost on her. she’s quiet for a moment, fingers fidgeting over the shelf at the height of her chin, smoothing her fingers over the surface now devoid of dust, eyes following the aimless journey of her fingers.]
I like him because he knows that I can be dangerous and that I’ve done horrible things, but he’s willing to look beyond that. [“i can fix her”, basically. but that’s just matt’s type. she drags her hands down the shelf, grabbing at another book now.] I know that everyone looks at me and sees my magic, how it defines me, but I like getting to be normal with him.