multiversallogs | A stranger I've just met, a woman who I hardly know at all and should forget [CLOSED]

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A stranger I've just met, a woman who I hardly know at all and should forget [CLOSED]

Who: Mina and Castiel
What: Either a date or an exercise in poor decision-making
Where: A pub
When: The end of monster week (back-dated)
Notes: None
Warnings: None yet

Mina made it a point to arrive at the pub earlier, after doing a cursory job of tidying up a bit. She had managed to wash most of the blood off of her, but she was hardly as put-together as she usually liked. The sleeves of her purple button-down were rolled up, her collar unbuttoned, her tie untied. Normally, she liked to be meticulous with her appearance (perhaps due to so many years of having to hide certain parts of her body) but the onslaught outside had set Mina's priorities, if nothing else. Quite frankly, she hated the idea of leaving her first aid station, but she had to feed and meeting with Castiel gave her a reasonable alibi. Fortunately, she had found a few volunteers to mind the shop.

After quickly scanning the room, and making sure that she had arrived first, Mina sidled up to the bar, ordering herself a drink. She took whatever it was that passed for blood around here, having it mixed with copious amounts of alcohol to mask the smell and the texture. She'd call it a 'Bloody Mary' or something. Extra virgin. Although that would apparently offend the Hellsing people.

Taking a sip, she sat down, resting her elbows on the bar, watching the door. What new surprises lay in store tonight, she wondered. Castiel clearly had some kind of agenda. No man ever called her beautiful without having some kind of agenda. Furthermore, she wondered what he was. If he came from 2014, or whatever, and remembered the 20's, he was something other than Human. But what? He hadn't recognized her subtle hint about the Mekhet, so clearly not a Kindred.

If nothing else, it would be interesting...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"A refreshing response. You should hear some of the bullshit the men in my...circle, for lack of a better word, use." She took another sip of her drink. "Under normal circumstances, I'd spend the next hour or so pestering you with probing questions until I found out what it was that you wanted." She set down her drink. "Thank God these aren't normal circumstances."

A moment's pause. "Is that offensive to you?" she asked curiously. "If I speak of God? In all honesty, I'm a lapsed Anglican with hedonistic and pagan inclinations. Some people get offended."

Cas looks almost touched at her admission toward religion but only bows his head a little in response. "I'm used to it."

Mina tilted her head to one side, a bit perplexed by his response. "Everyone gets used to uncomfortable things. Like bad smells or sexism. If you ask me to stop, I'll stop. Just don't tell Demirovna. I rather enjoy tormenting her, but that's our own private game."

Crone. Crone. Crone. Crone.

"Forgive me for saying it but...you just seem so..." She struggled for a moment to find the proper word. He seemed to be everything that the Kindred were not. Unless he was a nutter, but Mina found herself inclined to believe most of what he said. "...open." Yes, that was a proper word for him. He seemed incredibly open.

"Well, eventually you get past yourself," he said with a slight roll of his head on his neck. "It stops being of use to be judgmental."

"Judgmental?" That made her feel a bit uncertain. "I'm not quite sure what you mean by that. If your purpose is to...help demon hunters...doesn't that mean you're required to be constantly making judgments?"

"Maybe once," he replied in utter honesty. Before he'd been more than pious. Humanity and being knocked down a few proverbial pegs brought him some humility. "Not so much anymore."

Mina watched him quietly for a moment. "Do you miss it?" she asked finally, catching his gaze with her blue-green eyes. "Do you miss the life and the power you used to have?"

Someone once asked Mina if she missed her mortal life. She had been surprised by the question initially. Her immediate response was no. She didn't miss being human at all. Except for sunshine, of course. Sunshine and fresh baked bread. Sunshine, fresh baked bread, and sailing. Sunshine, fresh baked bread, sailing, and Tom. And suddenly, for a brief instant, she missed everything about it.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I keep asking you all these personal questions. What must you think of me?"

"I think questions get answers and they are the query of an intellectual mind," Cas said flat out with no need to think about it or dwell on the topic whatsoever. "And yes, I miss it."

With a slight nod, Mina pulled back, both intellectually--as he put it--and physically. She understood well enough and despite her typical amusements, knew better than to bait a bear. "I'm so sorry," was all she said, giving him a truly sympathetic look.

"It's true what they say, fate is a cruel mistress and Atropos is crueler than most."

"Atropos?" Mina said with a hint of a smile. Crone. Crone. Crone. Crone. "Well, she'll find good company here, I think. I recently met a gentleman who informed me that he was Apollo, the god of prophecy."

Cas looks touched for a moment but says nothing, "This place is just a cultural melting pot, isn't it?"

"A cultural melting pot," she repeated, testing out the words on her lips. "I think I like that. If nothing else, perhaps you could find work as a poet."

She smiled slightly. "I tried my hand at poetry once. I wasn't terribly good."

Yeah. Serious disaster.

"It's actually a very common phrase," he said with a smug looking grin. "Writing isn't really my strong suit either."

"A common phrase in your time," she said, teasing him. "I'm still adjusting to the fact that no one around here uses the word 'zozzled' in a bar to refer to a drunken idiot." Among other things.

Vaguely, she wondered if former angels got zozzled.

"Not a poet, then? Well, what do you do for amusement?"

He leans in unknowingly and his hand that was on the table slides back over toward his glass. "Sex, mostly."

Well. That was both brutally honest and a bit unexpected.

"I suppose," Mina said slowly, watching him carefully, "that would explain your network post about orgies."

Vaguely, Mina found herself wondering if that was the reason she had been invited on this little escapade. She bristled to think that Castiel was anything like Doyle. But maybe he was. Maybe all men were the same really. Unless they were insane. And that was a particularly depressing thought.

"Well, I'm sure you could make a fine occupation of it in some of Baedal's red light districts."

"Solicitation isn't really my forte," Cas replied with a mock smile while leaning to one side. "I prefer the act to be both consensual and freeing."

"Well, I'm not much of an expert on the subject."

Mina frowned thoughtfully, resting her temple against her fingers. "Forgive my ignorance. My knowledge of the monotheistic religions is sadly lacking. But it seems to me that what you're saying goes rather against everything the priests used to shout about on Sundays."

Cas only laughs, chalky, deep somewhere in his throat. "Well, I'm no longer an angel."

There was something in that laugh that Mina found a bit eerie. She couldn't put words to her feelings at the moment. But then, she had never been very good at understanding them to begin with. Still, a bit of an involuntary shiver ran up her spine. "Who among us is?" she replied dryly.

Cas just leaned back in his seat to think on that. He understood what she meant but she probably would never understand what he'd fallen from and how he felt about that. He was silent for a moment.

Mina watched him. For a moment or two, she was respectful of the silence. But Mina had a very low tolerance for silence. That was why she had become such a brilliant storyteller, it was why she was always the life of the party. Silence led to thoughts and thoughts had a way of hurting her more than words or deeds. Especially now, in light of all she had gone through in Chicago. The silence was deadly painful.

"I like you, Castiel," she told him quietly, "but I must admit, I find you confusing."

"I like you too," Cas scratched at the back of his neck and called the bar keep over for one last drink, changing his mind. "You can't compare what I was to what I am."

"No," Mina agreed. "I can't. I can only make judgments based on what's in front of me. And that is precisely what I am judging to be worthy of my attention." It was a bit of a line, but Mina figured that women were every bit as much entitled to lines as men. And anyway, she was being genuine for this rare moment.

"I sense that you've been brutally honest with me," she continued. "And I fear, I have not returned the favor."

A stranger I've just met, a woman who I hardly know at all and should forget [CLOSED]

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