Angel In His Pocket

[Maxpphire]

Dreki heard the ding of the elevators and turned to face them as they opened up. He watched the figure walk towards him. No wings, which meant one of three things, either Remi finally hid his wings which was doubtful, that is was someone else walking out, or that it was Sam. He got his answer before Sam even spoke as not only did Sam stop right in front of him, but he was close enough to recognize Sam.

"I can tell," he responded as he stood up. Words spoken in a very cold and professional tone of voice, to hide his emotions like he had done in the past. Sam had such an annoying way of introducing himself to Dreki. Dreki hated it, he hated that Sam ever found out that he was blind. The comment about the numbers felt like a slap in the face. Already off to a not stellar start as he followed Sam.

"Are the numbers not even raised?" He asked keeping his professional tone while following Sam, hoping that Sam would catch the hint at least if they were raised. If not then he would accept that answer. He had found where his class needed to be held and the library without issue but he was otherwise unfamiliar with the rest of the building.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel blinked at Dreki's tone, surprised by his barely-concealed hostility. He briefly considered it might be something he'd done but soon dismissed it as Dreki being upset about whatever had rattled him tonight. The reason he was here. Sam forgave his coldness, in that case, because he couldn't help being upset. Sympathy surged in his chest and he was briefly compelled to take Dreki's hand in order to soothe him but fought it off. He'd likely interpret it as him leading him around and Sam had learnt the hard way that Dreki valued his independence.

"Naw, they're - I think it's called bevelled?" Sam mused as he and Dreki walked back to the lift side by side. When he pushed the button, the doors to the same elevator opened immediately because they hadn't dallied and the lift hadn't been called to another floor in that short amount of time. He was busy thinking about the room plaques, considering if he had the right word or not as he stepped in and watched closely as Dreki followed. He hit the number fifteen button and they were on their way upward.

"Bevelling is where the numbers are kind of dug in to the plate, isn't it? That's what they are, either way. You're smart enough to figure it out, of course, I just figured coming to get you was way more efficient," he shrugged, sliding his hands into his pockets because the urge to soothe Dreki was growing again. He blamed Remiel and his fear of enclosed spaces. He was suddenly expecting every angel he knew to have issues with it, apparently. He wasn't sure his hands on any part of Dreki would be welcomed at this point, though.

He fell quiet then, knowing there was no point in asking about what a terrible night Dreki had had because then he'd just have to repeat it when they got into his apartment and that was the only other thing on his mind (besides bevelled plaques and a certain sexy angel, of course).

[Maxpphire]

He followed Sam into the elevator, and while he didn't like elevators, it had more to do with his time at the facility than anything else. To get to Hofflan and to leave he always took an elevator. He made his way into a back corner of the metal box and leaned against it, gripping the two handbars on whether side of him tightly enough that he was white knuckling it.

"Makes sense," was all he said to respond back to Sam as he stayed focused on the door. He didn't want to close his eyes because of possible flashbacks and he had a bad enough night as it was. Once the elevator got to their floor he moved pretty quickly to get out of it, if Sam was in front of him he'd stay behind Sam and get out after him but if not then he'd be very quick to get out and wait for Sam to continue following him to his room.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel frowned when Dreki moved to the back of the silver box, feeling awkward about moving back there to lean against the wall beside him when it seemed like he went there in order to stay away from Sam. The opposite of the last time they'd been in an enclosed space together, in Echelon's elevator. Sam hovered near the doors, glad that The Luminary's lifts were powerful and swift and their ascension took very little time at all.

He stepped out and led the way towards the end of the corridor, where the entry to his corner suite was. "I live in fifteen fifteen," he said conversationally as they both paused at his door for him to swipe his card and unlock it. "It's an easy number to remember," he added inanely, walking in and holding the door open for Dreki to enter. As he swivelled around the edge of it, he noticed Remiel had moved out onto his balcony and wasn't surprised.

"Looks like we'll be talking outside," Sam observed, smiling at Dreki as he walked in. The sliding glass door had been left open, the exit almost directly in line with where they stood at the door, though Sam was relying on Dreki seeing Remiel to guide him more than anything. "Head out. I'll get an extra chair," he explained, closing the door in Dreki's wake and heading to his severely-overloaded dining table. Dreki thought his apartment was messy with one box out of place, Sam wondered what he thought of the mountains of books, papers, notebooks and his laptop gathered on and around his main work area.

He nabbed a chair to add to the two currently situated either side of the outdoor table on his balcony, thinking of Dominic's visit - the last time he'd gathered an extra chair. He hoped like hell this meeting ended much more civilly, though Dreki's demeanour already wasn't reassuring. He followed after Dreki with his prize, not game to tell him about the step down (he remembered the gutter incident well) and finding the warm timbre of Remiel's voice greeting the hybrid angel both comforting and arousing. Unfortunately.

[Ehcorn]

Like the last time Remiel had escaped outside Sam’s suite prior to a meeting, he’d rested his forearms on the railing that wrapped the balcony and leaned over as far as he could, inspecting the city sprawl beneath him while wind licked his face and stirred the feathers on his back. If he closed his eyes and spread his wings to catch the air, it lifted them and felt enough like the moment before takeoff that his muscles tensed in anticipation.

Though faint to ears buffeted by the wind, Sam’s voice and the sound of his apartment door shutting was a good reminder that it wasn’t time to fly. He settled his wings against his back again and turned in time to greet Dreki, already shifting his inner eye open to inspect the hybrid angel’s aura. As he took in colors that denoted agitation and hints of fear, his expression turned grim. He’d been annoyed and frustrated that he’d had his time with Sam interrupted, but now all he felt was guilt that he’d reacted that way to begin with. Dreki wouldn’t have reached out unless he needed to, and clearly, he’d needed to.

"I’m glad you made it safely," he said, stepping forward to gently squeeze Dreki’s upper arm. "Sit if you want." Remiel gestured to the three chairs that were now situated around the table, taking a moment to smile his gratitude at Sam for being considerate enough to ensure there were enough seats for them all. He didn’t take one for himself, though. He returned to the railing, casting a final look at the glittering cityscape before he turned and faced the direction of Sam’s apartment.

Remiel didn't waste any time before he addressed the matter at hand. "So you said there was an angel, but they… seemed like they wanted to attack you and offered to help? What happened, exactly?"

[Maxpphire]

"Very easy to remember, some might say, lucky." He said keeping his professional tone but it has more of a sense of neutrality to it now. Still hiding his emotions to the best that he possibly could but also happy that soon this whole conversation would be over and done with and excited to have some answers even if he wasn't looking forward to the conversation as a whole.

Entering Sam's apartment he viewed it as a little messy by the work area but otherwise clean, much like how he saw his own place, he had a habit of making his own messes out to be more than what they really were. When Sam mentioned they were likely going to speak outside and to go ahead and make his way there first, he just nodded and made his way to the porch, unsure of what to expect as he couldn't see Remi through the glass doors. When greeted by Remi he felt a bit more at ease.

"Yeah, it was weird. They had a pair of daggers out nearly the entire time they where speaking with me and even seemed to be disgusted to be near me at one point. They made their daggers disappear at the end much like how I can do with my sword so I'm guessing that's what their weapon is, but also what they said to me at the end of it all was really weird. They asked if I knew that in order to stay down here that I'd have to change. I've been like this for 11 years now, plus the person who did this to me is dead, I can't change any further, can I?" Something about being near Remi caused him to break his facade, as he just kind of frantically let loose.

[Ehcorn]

Remiel scratched at the underside of his jaw as he focused on two pieces of what Dreki had told him so far: the person he’d encountered had been disgusted by him, and they’d suggested that he’d have to change.

His mentor, Vretil, would've likely been as disgusted by Dreki as he had been by a vampire, so that didn’t automatically rule out another angel of light, but changing? There were, of course, guardian angels that could transform into full angels, but Dreki wasn’t like him. He hadn’t been born to angelic and human parents. Dreki had been patched together like a quilt in a lab, his human parts replaced by angelic ones. As far as Remiel could tell, if it hadn’t been for his intervention, the separate parts would’ve eventually devoured each other and Dreki might not be standing in front of him now, detailing this perplexing encounter of his.

"As far as I’m aware, you wouldn’t be able to change. Unless…" he said, sliding his hand upwards to rub at his chin and bottom lip. He dropped his hand to reveal a deep frown. Angels could fall, and fallen angels could change into dark ones. Could they have mistaken a partial angel for a fallen one?

"Do you have access to records on Saraekiel and Zoheret? Could you see what weapons they use?" he asked, aiming his frown Sam’s direction.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel had been quiet the whole time, having followed behind Dreki and then deposited his chair on the cement balcony. He wasn't really surprised that Remiel didn't sit (though he vowed he should probably not bother bringing extra chairs out any more), he remained standing against the metal railing instead. Sam squeezed between the two angels, trailing a hand across Remiel's stomach in a familiar manner as he passed, confident that his touch was subtle enough to not be picked up by Dreki.

He tucked himself into the chair on the other side of the glass-topped outdoor table, listening to his companions' exchange. When Dreki started speaking of his confusing encounter with the other angel, Sam started paying attention. This was the reason Dreki had come all the way to The Luminary, after all. - so he could use his abilities on him, to help him remember. clearly. It was very easy to observe everything once Dreki was thinking about it and Sam barely even had to nudge his memories to get details about the full encounter from his former lover's mind.

Although Dreki spoke mainly of parts that happened towards the end of his encounter with the stranger, he would find himself suddenly - and calmly - reliving the incident from the moment he'd become aware of the angel flying above him, all the way to the end, when the angel flew away over the water. This was Sam looking at it all and capturing it.

As Sam had expected, seeing through Dreki's eyes had offered only confusing and indistinct details but his mind had filled in a lot of blanks. Considering the daggers should've been too small for a blind man to make out (in Sam's opinion), Dreki had seen more than his panicked mind had registered. The height of the angel, for instance, and the general shape of him screamed male. A very tall and powerfully built male, which was. a description Sam knew neither of the two dark angels Remiel mentioned fit.

Given his preoccupation with getting all of the information he wanted out of Dreki's head, Sam hadn't paid any attention to his and Remiel's conversation up until that point and it showed when he responded. "Uhhh... probably not," he warned, feeling like such information would be a closely-guarded secret and not on the Oligarchy's files no matter how hard he looked. It didn't mean he wouldn't though, for Remiel. "It wasn't either of them, though, he was much too tall," he confided. Dreki had been looking up when he'd talked to the angel - they'd got fairly close together - and Dreki was the same height as him.

To prove his point, he transferred everything he'd observed in Dreki's mind to Remiel's with minimal fuss. He couldn't even remember how he knew that Saraekiel wasn't very tall, he was pretty sure he'd just seen him at social gatherings like the opening of the Academy or at Lazarus' trial. Possibly at something he'd been to years ago, when he attended with Vomas. Some official function or other. He guessed it would be a surprise to Remiel to receive the informations so he didn't rush off to get his laptop straight away. He watched as the memory he transferred was reviewed by Remiel and then he hurried inside to get his computer.

When he returned, he shared with Dreki what he'd done. "I showed Remiel your memory of the encounter." He sat and situated the laptop on the table top, opening it up and logging into his Oligarchy database to see what he could find out about Zoheret and Saraekiel, as requested.

[Maxpphire]

He was about to explain it wasn't Zoheret for sure because he spoke to a guy, but he had doubts about it being Saraekiel because this angel sounded so off in their speech and he didn't think a district leader would sound that off edge, but could be wrong, until Sam spoke. When he had relived the experience while talking to Remi, he didn't think anything of it beyond recalling what had happened and trying to frantically put it into words. It was filled with so much detail and he figured thats because of how fresh it was in his mind, but he was suddenly reminded of how Jeanne fixed his memories after having found his mind in it's broken state before. He looked at Sam, his more frantic and scared expression turned into one of dread.

"I don't, I, I didn't say," he was at a loss for words as his anxiety rose skyward, with his heartrate and breath increased and his hands became noticeably shaky, "you can't just, please keep out." He said as he put his face into his hands, trying to calm himself down by doing his best to control his breathing. Having had that done as seamlessly as Sam had done it, reminded him of Hofflan and the mental abuse he had put up with of his memories being touched, hidden, manipulated in ways without having ever been asked and it just being forced upon him. His mind was forcing flashbacks upon him, flashbacks of how Hofflan manipulated his memories for so long, memories that even had nothing to do with the facility had been hidden on him to help keep him under Hofflan's radar.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel froze as Dreki folded in on himself, realising that he was the cause of the other angel's distress. Thinking back, Dreki hadn't sounded convinced that Sam helping him with his memory was a good idea (over the phone) but then he'd still turned up, so Sam had dismissed his concerns. He shouldn't have, he saw now, and he felt terrible for violating the other's mind. It had just seemed so easy to get the information to them efficiently, with Dreki thinking about it... but that wasn't the point.

Throwing an apologetic look at Remiel, Sam hastened out of his seat and crouched in front of Dreki, wanting to touch him but realising he shouldn't. Instead, he stayed low, keeping his eye level below the other man's and looking up at him with wide, sincere eyes. "Hey, I'm sorry, Dreki," he breathed, feeling like it was inadequate but necessary. His hands curled into fists on his knees so that he didn't touch and upset the angel further. "I should've checked again, I just thought... because you came... I'm really sorry," he added again, his voice vibrating with genuine emotion.

All he could do was wait to find out if he'd be forgiven or if he'd ruined this irrevocably.

[Maxpphire]

He nodded when Sam had finished apologizing. It wasn't so much him forgiving Sam as it was at least a sign of Dreki saying that he didn't hate Sam while still acknowledging it all.

"I told Remi over the phone that I wasn't fully comfortable with that idea when he proposed it," He spoke in a quiet and calmer tone, it was without malice and showed he was still willing to work with them, "There are thoughts of mine I wouldn't feel comfortable with you knowing, and, with how my memories were treated while stuck at the facility. While I know you meant to help, you did something in a very similar way that my adoptive dad did, and now I keep seeing those moments where he did that. I just need a moment to breathe, I'm still listening, was going to say the way they worded things sounded too chaotic to even be a district leader."

He was mostly calm again, although still somewhat shaky and jumpy. It was clear though that he needed a bit of a breather.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel listened to Dreki's words - really listened to him, rather than hearing what he expected to - and felt about ten times worse when he was compared to the monster who'd tortured Dreki and ruined his life. He gave in to his instincts and wrapped his arms briefly around the waifish man, his face pressed against the top of his head.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered into Dreki's hair, giving him a squeeze before pulling away and leaving his personal space. It was probably too much but he hadn't been able to fight himself any longer. He cared for Dreki, they'd been on the verge of being something more when Remiel had returned just a handful of nights before, blowing Sam and all his intentions sideways. He'd done enough to hurt Dreki as it was. He needed to start making things up to him.

Sam moved past Remi and dropped lithely into his seat, opening his laptop. It took a few seconds to come to life and connect to the internet after being asleep for fourteen hours and he used that time to glance up at Remi, smiling at the sight of him. When his computer was ready, he'd get to the Oligarchy database and do his best to search up all the information there was to find about District Leader Saraekiel.

In the meantime, he'd lean his elbow on the table and rest his chin on his curled hand and he'd admire his beautiful... friend as Dreki took his moment to breathe and silence settled around them.

[Maxpphire]

He had leaned into it when Sam had embraced him. It felt nice but served to him a painful reminder of what he couldn't really have anyway. When Sam had let go, he had felt the sudden emptiness around him, but it did help him calm down quite a bit quicker than if he had just done so on his own. After a moment of hearing Sam type away, he looked up, ready to continue the conversation.

"If what you're thinking is correct, then I probably can't go back to the beach ever," He mentioned realizing that would be the main way to not run into this angel ever again, "I've faced up against vampires more powerful than Sam before, but I doubt I could take on a Dark Angel. Or a full Angel for that matter. I don't think going to see them again just to reject their offer would end up without a fight either. Sort of funny, was my first time on the beach in general, the noise of the water against the cliffs had been relaxing and helping me through my thoughts but that night they were too rough to be so I had moved to the beach." The vampire bit he was mostly referring to Hofflan, and he used Sam as a base of comparison only because both he and Remi knew who Sam was.

[Ehcorn]

He thought he’d have to intervene on Dreki’s behalf, but when Sam moved to crouch in front of the hybrid angel, Remiel stayed put. He settled his weight more fully against the metal railing that wrapped the balcony and watched them with a budding smile. Given the chance, Sam not only acknowledged his error with Dreki, but he also endeavored to fix it. And then, to Remiel's growing amazement, Dreki had responded to the vampire’s efforts positively. His aura had shifted from agitated and anxious to… slightly less agitated and anxious, but it was an improvement.

Remiel met Sam’s gaze and his smile bloomed. He pushed himself off the railing and followed after him, wings clamped tightly to his back so he didn’t knock into anything or anyone, and came to stand behind Sam’s chair. Still smiling, he rested a hand on the vampire’s shoulder near the curve of his neck and tightened his hand briefly, then left it there. He wasn’t able to say it, but he was proud of Sam in a way that made his heart light despite their search — one that promised a dark angel at the end.

"No, you shouldn’t return to the beach," Remiel agreed, his smile fading as he glanced at Dreki. "Not until the situation has been dealt with, at least." He returned his attention to the computer screen and in turn, Sam. While he observed the vampire work, he idly swiped his thumb up and back again, feeling the short hairs at the nape of Sam’s neck and the cool skin beneath that.

But his hand grew still when Sam stopped typing, stopped clicking, and looked up at him with an apologetic expression.

Remiel puffed a sigh through his nose. "Nothing, then?"

[Existentially Odd]

There'd been a breathless minute where Samuel hadn't believed he'd be any use to Remiel whatsoever. Possibly not ever again. The way his gentle, approving touch caressed Sam's neck was electrifying, though it made him freeze as the goosebumps crawled across his skin and puckered it unrelentingly. He shivered, inhaling just to exhale in case it helped release the incredible tension in his muscles. It was delightful and incapacitating, causing Samuel to hunch as his body vibrated.

Somehow, he managed to get past it and do his best to search for as much information as he could find on the known dark angels in the city. Saraekiel was identified but there were only basic details given; age, physical description, place of business/residence, a list of events he'd been involved in in the city since he'd moved there. There was nothing damning in the evidence given and nothing about him fighting or using a particular weapon. He was surprisingly boring.

Samuel shook his head and smiled as he tilted his chin and leant back to look up at Remiel. He shouldn't feel so happy about having nothing interesting to offer but he couldn't help it, with Remi touching him like that. "Nothing about his weapon. Not much about him at all, actually. He seems to lead a relatively quiet life, considering he's a dark angel," Sam said wryly, his voice sounding a little odd because of the angle his neck was at.

"There's a lot more information on Zoheret but the angel Dreki met wasn't female so that doesn't help us much. There are possibilities in her sphere of influence, though. She apparently has four dark angels in her entourage - or her employment, it's unclear. There aren't many details on them, just that three of them are male. Nothing of the weapon variety. Maybe Dreki met one of them? Those are all the male dark angels listed as residing in the city. It's possibly one of them... but who knows how accurate these records still are?" he shrugged.