Who: Alucard and open When: First half of June Where: Free Cities, Norwich, Al’s domain What: Getting up and functioning again, updating one’s domain, taking stock of his new physical change thanks to event 18 Warnings:Added as needed
[Michael gives a brief nod. Fair enough. He's never liked ambiguity, so he can appreciate the direct approach.]
Condolences. It wasn't the most enlightened era. [It sounds to him like ignorance is the problem over faith, but he knows the two go hand in hand often enough that he's not going to open that argument.] Though I may be a figure in multiple religions, I don't consider myself religious. I'm not here to build churches or bring the word of God to the faithless. I believe humanity's best left to govern itself.
[That might still be an ugly end for them based on what they were doing to the planet back home, but if extinction is their ultimate fate, still better that it be one they choose for themselves than one they're driven towards by up above.]
I take it your mother was human. [Witch-burnings killed more fellow humans than anything else, to his recollection.] What are you?
From what I've gathered in world history, that's something of an understatement. [The tone is dry, but knowing where the other stands is helpful in lowering some of the dhampir's immediate hackles.]
Dhampir. My father was a vampire. [So far as he is concerned though, turnabout is absolutely fair play. So he lifts an eyebrow, gesturing to Michael himself.]
They're a little better off by the year two-thousand.
[Less burning at the stake of witches, at least in the places his vessel lines are from. Earth as a whole is still far from peaceful but that's the consequence of giving every member of a species a mind of their own and free will. Growing pains.
Alucard is entitled to his wariness. Michael himself doesn't believe in fully trusting anything that's half-monster at first meeting, either.]
For a given meaning of incarnation. The reason I first took this vessel is no longer relevant, but his name was Adam. He no longer inhabits this body.
[Michael is alone in here. He's come to realize that's a necessary footnote. People are rightfully wary of that which can take over a body and suppress the will of it soul.]
Half-vampire is as good as full vampire in my world. Do you prefer bread to blood?
That's the sense I've gotten, although it seems there's much to get through first. I'm...certain that I will experience it, if I am forced to go back.
[If and force are words Alucard doesn't mind using bluntly. He doesn't want to return home, thank you, and has been comfortable saying as much for some time now.
He pauses, frowning.]
Was Adam on purpose or just one of those funny accidents?
[His eyebrow lifts, suggesting this is a genuine question.]
I don't require blood to survive at all, such as it is. I like cooking, although I have a fondness for blood sausage that I do suspect is a trait from my father.
[He can't blame him for his reluctance to go back. Waiting through some five hundred years to get to the good part is a long time. Less so by archangel standards, but still an unpleasant amount of time to be stuck on Earth. Michael doesn't see Abraxas as all that much of an improvement however.
Alucard gets a pause in return. He's sure the man must be asking about how he came to be in Adam, rather than if Adam himself was an accident, but he did have a hand in setting up his vessels' bloodlines.
(Adam's father would undoubtedly say yes; his mother more likely to say he was a happy accident.)]
Taking him as a vessel was intentional. I needed a body at the time. Evicting him wasn't by my choice.
[Playing the season for comedy lets Alucard sidestep more important truths, like patricide and crippling depression, as well as poor life choices about romantic partners and impaled corpses.
He had meant to only joke about the name. Michael's response instead raises more eyebrows and absolutely makes the dhampir shift uncomfortably in his skin.]
Solvunn occasionally sacrifices people to their gods.
[It might as well be the 1470s over in his corner of the continent. It's not really intended as an argument, though, simply a counterpoint. He hears Alucard's own point that when and where one comes decides one's opinion on Abraxas more than anything else.
Michael's no stranger to making people uncomfortable. He observes Alucard with an almost avian sort of interest. He's not as blind to social cues as his younger siblings, but he's still an archangel. Jokes are never the first thought on his mind.]
As in his soul was removed from this body. I did say he was no longer in here.
[He tries not to think about it. Especially not what they all witnessed with the ending of that cult, as cathartic as knowing it was over and done with happened to be.
Noted. Angels are bad at jokes.
Unfortunately, the information that follows makes the dhampir even more uncomfortable. The idea of such a thing in and of itself is concerning, better known as the understatement of the century.]
So you're wearing a suit and...does the owner get the luxury of return once it is discarded, or are they fully removed forever?
[Michael is great at jokes, thanks. He just has to be the one issuing them.
He's about to say yes, of course, but then Michael thinks of the state his brother Raphael left his vessel in. Donnie got his body back, but by then it was more of a prison. Then there's Castiel, still running around wearing Jimmy Novak's face long after the soul has passed on. He's not so invested in presenting angels as a monolith these days.]
Depends on the angel. Returning it had been my intention, but here, there's no one to return it to.
[Adam is back home, restored to life and once again sole master of his body. It doesn't look like any of this information is reassuring to Alucard, though, so Michael takes pity on him.]
We do need the owner's permission in the first place. In your place, I'd worry about the creatures that don't.
[Saying "the opposite of possession" might have been better, but he wouldn't have learned as much. Michael is right in clocking that none of the information is reassuring to the dhampir, mostly because it isn't.
Not because you know, there's angels running around and some of them definitely take issue with the whole religion part. It is absolutely the soul suppression thing and he'd like to digest that without additional eyes on him, please and thank you.
He's not exactly sure how to turn the conversation at this point. Silence hangs heavy for a few moments, and--]
[Alucard's got the gist of it, so Michael nods an affirmative. As for how he spends his time in the Horizon—]
The ones that are open to visitors, yes. I find it informative.
[That whole permission thing, and their earlier point that those who don't care to receive guests build their walls high and keep their doors locked. Most don't, so there's much to be learned from walking the Horizon.
It's not lost on him that Alucard is making conversation like men do when trying to get away from it. The man did say he likes to be alone, sometimes.]
I'll take that as my cue to leave. Enjoy your solitude and your bread-baking.
[This one can. If Alucard expects it to be a universal skill, he'll be in for a surprise when he tries to get Castiel to read between the lines.]
A little early to be issuing invitations when you're still thinking it over, isn't it?
[It's not a dig, and he's not insulted. His tone is light and if anything, a touch amused. There are far more upsetting realities in Abraxas and he expects he'll get over it. If not, well—there's still plenty of forest to wander in Solvunn.
Michael heads back the way he came, walking rather than disappearing with a flap of his wings. It really is a nice walk.]
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abraxaslogs2024-06-01 02:10 pm
no subject
Condolences. It wasn't the most enlightened era. [It sounds to him like ignorance is the problem over faith, but he knows the two go hand in hand often enough that he's not going to open that argument.] Though I may be a figure in multiple religions, I don't consider myself religious. I'm not here to build churches or bring the word of God to the faithless. I believe humanity's best left to govern itself.
[That might still be an ugly end for them based on what they were doing to the planet back home, but if extinction is their ultimate fate, still better that it be one they choose for themselves than one they're driven towards by up above.]
I take it your mother was human. [Witch-burnings killed more fellow humans than anything else, to his recollection.] What are you?
no subject
Dhampir. My father was a vampire. [So far as he is concerned though, turnabout is absolutely fair play. So he lifts an eyebrow, gesturing to Michael himself.]
Is this an incarnation situation, or...?
no subject
[Less burning at the stake of witches, at least in the places his vessel lines are from. Earth as a whole is still far from peaceful but that's the consequence of giving every member of a species a mind of their own and free will. Growing pains.
Alucard is entitled to his wariness. Michael himself doesn't believe in fully trusting anything that's half-monster at first meeting, either.]
For a given meaning of incarnation. The reason I first took this vessel is no longer relevant, but his name was Adam. He no longer inhabits this body.
[Michael is alone in here. He's come to realize that's a necessary footnote. People are rightfully wary of that which can take over a body and suppress the will of it soul.]
Half-vampire is as good as full vampire in my world. Do you prefer bread to blood?
[Does he still eat people?]
no subject
[If and force are words Alucard doesn't mind using bluntly. He doesn't want to return home, thank you, and has been comfortable saying as much for some time now.
He pauses, frowning.]
Was Adam on purpose or just one of those funny accidents?
[His eyebrow lifts, suggesting this is a genuine question.]
I don't require blood to survive at all, such as it is. I like cooking, although I have a fondness for blood sausage that I do suspect is a trait from my father.
no subject
[He can't blame him for his reluctance to go back. Waiting through some five hundred years to get to the good part is a long time. Less so by archangel standards, but still an unpleasant amount of time to be stuck on Earth. Michael doesn't see Abraxas as all that much of an improvement however.
Alucard gets a pause in return. He's sure the man must be asking about how he came to be in Adam, rather than if Adam himself was an accident, but he did have a hand in setting up his vessels' bloodlines.
(Adam's father would undoubtedly say yes; his mother more likely to say he was a happy accident.)]
Taking him as a vessel was intentional. I needed a body at the time. Evicting him wasn't by my choice.
no subject
[Playing the season for comedy lets Alucard sidestep more important truths, like patricide and crippling depression, as well as poor life choices about romantic partners and impaled corpses.
He had meant to only joke about the name. Michael's response instead raises more eyebrows and absolutely makes the dhampir shift uncomfortably in his skin.]
Evicting?
no subject
[It might as well be the 1470s over in his corner of the continent. It's not really intended as an argument, though, simply a counterpoint. He hears Alucard's own point that when and where one comes decides one's opinion on Abraxas more than anything else.
Michael's no stranger to making people uncomfortable. He observes Alucard with an almost avian sort of interest. He's not as blind to social cues as his younger siblings, but he's still an archangel. Jokes are never the first thought on his mind.]
As in his soul was removed from this body. I did say he was no longer in here.
no subject
[He tries not to think about it. Especially not what they all witnessed with the ending of that cult, as cathartic as knowing it was over and done with happened to be.
Noted. Angels are bad at jokes.
Unfortunately, the information that follows makes the dhampir even more uncomfortable. The idea of such a thing in and of itself is concerning, better known as the understatement of the century.]
So you're wearing a suit and...does the owner get the luxury of return once it is discarded, or are they fully removed forever?
no subject
He's about to say yes, of course, but then Michael thinks of the state his brother Raphael left his vessel in. Donnie got his body back, but by then it was more of a prison. Then there's Castiel, still running around wearing Jimmy Novak's face long after the soul has passed on. He's not so invested in presenting angels as a monolith these days.]
Depends on the angel. Returning it had been my intention, but here, there's no one to return it to.
[Adam is back home, restored to life and once again sole master of his body. It doesn't look like any of this information is reassuring to Alucard, though, so Michael takes pity on him.]
We do need the owner's permission in the first place. In your place, I'd worry about the creatures that don't.
no subject
[Saying "the opposite of possession" might have been better, but he wouldn't have learned as much. Michael is right in clocking that none of the information is reassuring to the dhampir, mostly because it isn't.
Not because you know, there's angels running around and some of them definitely take issue with the whole religion part. It is absolutely the soul suppression thing and he'd like to digest that without additional eyes on him, please and thank you.
He's not exactly sure how to turn the conversation at this point. Silence hangs heavy for a few moments, and--]
Do you just walk other's domains?
no subject
The ones that are open to visitors, yes. I find it informative.
[That whole permission thing, and their earlier point that those who don't care to receive guests build their walls high and keep their doors locked. Most don't, so there's much to be learned from walking the Horizon.
It's not lost on him that Alucard is making conversation like men do when trying to get away from it. The man did say he likes to be alone, sometimes.]
I'll take that as my cue to leave. Enjoy your solitude and your bread-baking.
no subject
Alucard has the good grace to look at least a little embarrassed. This is personal, but on his head rather than Michael's.]
You're welcome back, so long as the walls are low. This is...simply a lot to digest, such as it is.
no subject
A little early to be issuing invitations when you're still thinking it over, isn't it?
[It's not a dig, and he's not insulted. His tone is light and if anything, a touch amused. There are far more upsetting realities in Abraxas and he expects he'll get over it. If not, well—there's still plenty of forest to wander in Solvunn.
Michael heads back the way he came, walking rather than disappearing with a flap of his wings. It really is a nice walk.]