An Angel Walks Into A Bar

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel could tell from the silent way Jake stared at him that he'd overstepped with his demanding questions. It completely unnerved him. His protective instincts fled in the face of a stern-looking District Leader, leaving him awash with guilt and surprise he'd been so bold.

Breaking eye contact submissively, Sam's gaze landed on his blood. He nodded at Jake's offers of financial aid as he lifted the mug to his lips and drank determinedly, Remi's fingers clutching his hand more tightly. He squeezed back automatically, wanting to reassure Remi that he wasn't going anywhere, grateful for his touch.

He couldn't get the mug away from his face fast enough when Jake started talking about Remi's fine. He swallowed his last mouthful and gaped at the screen of the laptop, fear clutching his gut as Jake talked about people wanting to harm Remi. That was his worst fear. The video obviously identified Remi, though, and Sam glared at his profile, furious that this beautiful creature would behave so recklessly. He suddenly saw where Vretil had been coming from. Too late to apologise to Remi's pompous mentor now, though.

When Remi told Jake about his camouflage ring, Samuel rested his elbow on the table and buried his face in the palm of his hand. There would be nothing the District Leader wouldn't know, then. How comforting. Still, even he was drawn in when Remi preluded his final question. When it came, Sam released a puff of air and gazed at Remi's profile in disbelief, feeling an overwhelming sense of adoration for the naive fool. He tamped it down uncomfortably.

He turned to look at Jake for his answer regarding a mortgage. They didn't want that option, they'd want it paid for outright but that didn't mean Remi shouldn't get an explanation first. Hopefully he'd then figure out what to say, leaving Sam out of the conversation and still marginally within Jake's good graces.

[Black Philip]

When Remi put forth the idea that he needed to ask a question before agreeing, Jake feared it would be one about his own motivations.When Remi's real query came forth, Jake blinked, and for a moment had no words. Slowly, he smiled, and broke into a laugh. He'd needed it.

"Forgive me," he said. "I didn't think that would be your question."

Jake then explained the basics of getting a mortgage, the role of the bank, a down payment, etc. He paused for any questions Remi might have, and maintained his patience  throughout. It made Jake like Remi more for some reason. It was an endearing moment. "It might be easier if I just buy it for you," he said finally. "You can of course refuse, and fend for yourself if you like," he added. "The offer will stand open for now."

[Ehcorn]

Throughout the entirety of Jake’s explanation, Remi remained leaned forward and did his best to absorb everything he could about principal, interest, taxes, and homeowners insurance. Around the time Jake began to touch on the intricacies of a downpayment and what percentage of the home’s overall value should be paid upfront, Remi’s brain reached its limit and shut down.

From there on out, the best he could do was try and look like he was learning. He kept his eyes on Jake, nodded periodically, and made small noises of acknowledgment when appropriate. He'd had a lot of lengthy lessons that didn’t allow for much processing time, and had resorted to an old coping mechanism before he realized Jake didn’t have the same teaching style as his mentor, Vretil -- something that became most obvious when the District Leader paused and asked if he had any questions.

Vretil never did that.

Remi breathed a laugh and nodded. Oh, he sure did. He had questions about everything. He'd only managed to get through a fraction of them, though, when Jake stopped him and offered to bypass the entire process by buying the house outright. Remi twisted in his seat to look at Sam, wondering if he thought it’d be a better idea to continue dredging through talk of mortgages or accept Jake’s alternative offer.

The vampire’s pointedly raised eyebrows and furtive nodding made the decision for him.

Remi faced forward in his seat again. "That’s not necessary," he said. "I’ll accept the offer now." Overcome by excitement, he squeezed Sam’s hand again. Then he grinned at him.

No more citations in exchange for an entire house?

It was a better deal than he could've ever hoped for.

[Black Philip]

Jake nodded his approval. "Good," he said simply. "It's settled then. One of my associates will be in touch within the next few days to go over the paperwork with you. I suggest Sam attends to answer any legal questions you might have."

Jake considered other topics to broach with the angel before letting him fly away. His masquerade violations and living situation had been the main topics, and yet, he didn't want Remi to leave. He liked Remi.

Sam was fine, although Jake admitted his lukewarm feelings towards the younger vampire might have something to do with the literal barrier he put up to talking to Remi privately. Why did he want to speak to Remi privately? What would they even talk about; birds? Good deeds? Golcanda?

Hey you ever met the archangel Michael?

"Was there any questions you had about the district, the ward, or are there any other special accommodations that angels require to be happy here?"

It had been phrased as generically as possible, to catch as many new avenues of conversation as possible. His tone made it seem like the meeting could end now, but a close observer would see an interested set of eyes, and a shade of the Black Prince creeping into the young leader's face.

[Ehcorn]

Remi’s eyebrows went up when he was offered yet another opportunity to ask questions. He’d worried that dealing with the District Leader would be worse than dealing with the Ward, but Jake hadn’t ridiculed him or breathed a single threat in his direction — he’d only striven to ensure that Remi understood the far-reaching effects of being seen as anything other than human.

He stared at the frozen image of him mid-landing, wings spread to their fullest extent. Until now, he’d thought the field was empty at night, making it safe enough that he’d been willing to take Sam there. But he’d been wrong. Someone had been watching and waiting for him to make a mistake.

"I want to know more about the Ward," Remi said, looking from the computer to the vampire that sat across from them. "They threatened to clip my wings if they caught me flying again, and I know they lock people up for repeat offenses." His lips thinned and a muscle in his jaw jumped as he clenched his teeth. If you think an elevator is a cage, Sam had said, imagine how you’d feel in a real one.

It was all too easy.

Walls closing in, ceiling falling down, lungs withering, heart stuttering.

He tightened his hand around Sam’s, forcing himself to focus on their physical connection. Sam had said other things, too. Reassuring things.

You're going to be fine.
Breathe for me.

After a deep inhale and an equally deep exhale, Remi was able to continue, "I don’t plan to break my promise to you, but if it happens and they catch me, what can you do to keep them from harming me? From caging me?"

[RPC Admin]

As the tension mounted in the room due to Remi's challenging question, loaded with the threat of promises expected to be made, Jake's phone rang. Not many people had access to this particular phone number and the phone number that appeared on the screen wasn't one Jake would recognise.

[Black Philip]

Jake regretted an earlier insult he'd made to Zoheret, regarding the caging of birds like her. For someone as loathsome as the North-West leader the insult made sense. However, as he looked at Remi, sensing his anxiety and fear, he felt guilt for his earlier comments. He thought of Scrooge, and his proclamation that the poor should die to decrease the surplus population. It had been a fine thing for Scrooge to say, until he met Tiny Tim, and learned that he was the surplus population. Jake imagined he felt like Scrooge would've felt. His mouth formed a tight frown.

Jake had been about to answer Remi's question, when his phone rang. Jake didn't often give out his personal number. Family had it. His top, top people had it like Maria, and lastly people like Arik and Murphy had it. He didn't recognize the number, and that alone made him want to answer it. He looked to Remi and Sam and shrugged, saying, "district leader in demand." Then, he turned and picked it up.

"McCloud speaking," he said formally, eyes turning away from the pair in front of him. He turned his body slightly too, not to cut them off, but to indicate that he wanted some modicum of privacy.

[RPC Admin]

"Helloooo!" a jovial male voice greeted him at the other end in a British accent. It wasn't a voice Jake recognised either.

"Thank you so much for picking up, Mr McCloud, I am quite sure you're a very busy creature of the night, so I shall endeavour to make this phone call extraordinarily brief, I hope you will forgive me thus." The male chortled and continued before Jake had a chance to process the lengthy greeting and reply.

"My name is Zim Parry and I am the Dean at the Kerr Galvin Academy of the Supernatural. I'm in bit of a muddle here, as I have students gathering in Ms Sam Reid's class but she hasn't come in as of yet. I don't know if you know this but Ms Reid's class is one most popular here at the Academy, so you must be quite proud. Oh dear, I've gone on a tangent, haven't I? Well, back to the point. I've been calling her for the past half hour with no success and so I realised I must bite the bullet and call her emergency contact! That's yoooou! So now that we're chatting, I ask if I may find out where she is and if she is coming in. I do hope she is quite alright and not unwell. Can vampires catch colds? I have no idea!"

Zim chortled again and then there was silence.

[Black Philip]

Jake's lip quivered at hearing Sam's name, and within moments any distraction Remi and Sam had provided crumbled. His voice stayed steady, but a pair of tears ran down his face, betraying him to his two companions. Jake had never met the new dean, and under different circumstances would've been delighted to chat about anything academy related. Jake may not have liked Ben, but he loved that he'd started the academy, and he loved that even Ben couldn't hate Sam for being his child.

"Ummm, I'm so sorry nobody called earlier. Ms. Rede is..." and here his stoic voice cracked. "Missing!"

He'd said it louder than intended. "I- I thought one of my junior officers would've called to inform the academy. We are... looking for her. Is there anything I can do to help the school in the meantime?"

He looked at Remi, and then Sam. He looked like a kid again, neither the Black Prince, nor District Leader McCloud were in his expression. He was just, Jake.

[RPC Admin]

There was a moment of dead silence.

"Oh," Zim Parry's voice floated down the line. "I suppose one must take advantage of an opportunity to give themselves a surprise holiday. She's normally so reliable. If you could please assist the Academy by supplying someone who can take over her Masquerade class, she is one of only two lecturers here who have both first and second year students. I do hope when you catch up with Ms Reid you will remind her that advance notice before making a mysterious disappearance would be most gracious!" He chortled again, but with less humour. "Thank you, Mr McCloud, I have to get to her class now, before the natives start getting restless!"

[Black Philip]

"I'll have someone there by her next lecture, a real pro," Jake assured. "Good evening, and thank you for calling." He wanted to tell the dean that she wasn't on holiday, and that she had been abducted. It had been in some of the papers but not all of them. He decided that he'd correct the record when he sent someone to teach the class. He knew that he had the knowledge to teach it. Most of what Sam used as primary sources came from his own library. Granted, she was likely more well versed on the material at this point, having been teaching for years. He wondered if Lisa-Joe could do it. No. Jake imagined a student sassing her and the subsequent broken arm that would follow. It needed to be someone steady, and better yet, someone who'd seen it all. Then he remembered Tyler was in town.

He hung up the phone to let the dean run to Sam's class. He put the device on the table, and a silence filled the room. Even the drag show seemed to blur away.

"I'm sorry," Jake said, still looking like shit. "I- I am in the middle of a family emergency, but as the leader of this community I still need to work. That was... a reminder."

He looked to Remi and Sam again, meeting their eyes. "Umm. What was your question? I'm afraid I've forgotten."

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel's hearing made both sides of the phone conversation available to him. He didn't know details about Jake's life but he was startled to see the District Leader visibly upset. The meeting was invasive and weirdly intimate once that happened and that made Sam uncomfortable enough to want to cut it short.

Remi's lack of foresight in not alerting him to the fact that this was happening felt almost deliberate, now that they'd been ambushed with such a personal moment. It motivated Sam to speak before Remi got a chance to.

"I believe you were going to reassure Remi that the City Ward hasn't got as much power as you and that you can protect him from dire consequences," he said tentatively. That was how it seemed on paper but Sam wasn't certain that that was the exact application of power in this city. His expression softened with sympathy, the desire to escape this meeting vying with his compassion for Jake's current trouble.

"And once you do that, I think we should take our leave," he said gently. "You've clearly got a lot going on and you've been more than generous with your time." He'd explained home financing to an angel, for goodness' sake. Sam certainly didn't doubt Jake's dedication to his constituents... well, to Remi, anyway.

He tried to be reassured by that.

[Ehcorn]

Tears sprang from Jake's eyes and Remi's whole bearing shifted. He leaned forward far enough that he had to rearrange his feet beneath him and slid his forearm onto the table to support himself. His brow furrowed and his eyes darted over the District Leader's face for the entirety of a distressing conversation about a missing person. Presented with someone who clearly needed to be consoled, Remi wanted to do exactly that, but until Jake was off the phone, he didn't feel like he could say anything. So he waited. And he watched.

When Jake finally pulled the phone from his ear, hit the red circle to end the call, and dropped the device on the table, Remi opened his mouth to express his sympathies, but Sam's voice cut through the air first. His brow furrowed further. Sam acknowledged Jake's troubles, but he felt like leaving would be the best solution for him? He shook his head slightly and huffed a small sigh.

Remi wouldn't leave until he'd offered to help. 

"If someone is missing, though, I can try and help find them. I could at least give you a pair of eyes in the air." He squeezed Sam's hand again, but paired with the sidelong glance he gave the vampire, it became a reproachful gesture.

[Black Philip]

There was something strangely sobering about Samuel putting words in Jake's mouth. The district leader had asked what Remi's question was, not what his answer was going to be. The tentative nature with which Samuel said it was filled with passive aggressive weakness. The accuracy of Samuel's words was irrelevant to the presumptuousness. Of course this man worked for Ben. He thought it was within his purview to tell a District Leader his mind, especially his District Leader. He'd shown vulnerability, and felt Sam was repulsed by it. He might've been rude, save for Remi's next words.

The reaction was so opposite, so considerate. Jake didn't like Remi seeing him in such a state of weakness, but as much as Sam seemed to want out of this situation, Remi had offered to help and seemed engaged. It made the whole thing less embarrassing. He ignored Samuel all together, but his icy body language spoke plenty.

"Thank you Remi, but I don't think she'll be spotted that way," he said. "But I'll be sure to get you a description just in case. Don't feel obligated though. You're adjusting to the city, and you just met me."

He would email Tyler to see if they would teach Sam's class. He assumed they would. Now back to the subject of the Ward. "Samuel is mostly correct regarding the ward," he assured. "Nobody will cage you for flying as long as I'm in charge. That said, don't push it with them. The Ward works hard to keep our city safe. They're not the bad guys, and neither are you, and neither am I."

Jake then gave more generic information about the Ward, that it was founded by a friend of Jake's, that it was Conner's way of insuring the district leader's didn't ignore the needs of the common folk. He highlighted that the ward kept the districts equal and at peace. He hoped it soothed Remi's tensions.

"Does that all make sense," he finally asked, looking at Remi.

[Ehcorn]

Despite Jake’s best efforts, Remi wasn’t convinced the Ward’s roster was filled with ‘good guys’. He remembered the first time he’d been apprehended flying. One of the wardens, a burly demon with a sour face, had possessed an aura that was an unsettling combination of fiery red and brown brimstone. He’d been the one that’d suggested arresting Remi and clipping his wings. If it hadn’t been for the warden’s partner, who’d pointed out they were dealing with a first time offender, Remi wondered if he would’ve relented and stowed the golden thread he’d claimed could cuff even an angel.

Next time, the warden had promised, Remi wouldn’t get off so easily. Next time, he’d make sure he'd never be able to fly again. Heaven or Earth, people who gravitated towards positions of power didn’t always have everyone’s wellbeing in mind. Sometimes, they only sought a way to make themselves bigger and better than the next person. There would be a mixture of types on the force, surely.

When the District Leader asked if he'd understood everything he'd said, Remi extracted himself from his thoughts and nodded. Yes, he now had a better understanding of how the Ward worked, but the most important thing was the promise he'd received from Jake. No matter how upset they got with him, Jake would never allow them to toss him into a cage.

He looked from Jake to an unusually quiet Sam and frowned. Something wasn’t right. Was he upset because Remi hadn’t taken the first available opportunity to leave the meeting?

“That was my only question,” Remi said, dragging his gaze from Sam back to Jake, though something of his frown still remained in the deep furrows of his brow. He pulled his forearm from the table and sat back in the booth; he was making overt I'm-ready-to-leave motions. “For now, anyway. If I think of any more, what's the best way for me to get in touch?"