Gabriel

Violet eyes shifted as a voice spoke up, her gaze landing on the other. The angel gave a slight shrug of her shoulders, her fingers playing absentmindedly with the stem of her glass. “I suppose I tend not to think much of it. Questioning life here seems to be something that leads down a long path of unanswered things. Some thoughts are better left alone.”

Gabriel smiled faintly at the younger angel’s words. If only she still had that kind of blind faith in their father’s plan. Perhaps this was all a test, but if so it was one He’d set her up to fail. She was created for war, for death; instead left babysitting and bored, surely He must have known the sort of trouble she’d get herself into. The blonde had never been as black and white as her siblings, especially after being forced to live in the grey, smudged lines between the two. “Wise words indeed, Shiloh.” She nodded. “I suppose I simply tire of the same fight sometimes.”

“This accommodating years ago?” Abaddon asked incredulously. “We weren’t in our honeymoon phase anymore,” she pouted, jutting her bottom lip out comically, although it lasted an almost minuscule amount of time on her face, switching quickly to mirror the rare smile on Gabriel’s. “I needed those wars to keep you on your toes and thinking of me…and leave my siblings and co to some lesser beings. You’re a warrior angel, are you not? What better way to keep you to myself than to dedicate wars to you?” Her eyes lingered on the red imprint of her own lipstick left on Gabriel’s cheek smugly, and she slid a couple napkins over, noting with satisfaction that she continued to sip on the cocktail Abaddon had mixed up.

“Come on, you can’t possibly say the Napoleonic Wars were boring – I even groomed Napoleon myself,” she boasted, leaning in to speak into the angel’s ear considering her current position. “Twelve years in close quarters, honey. We’re common law married. That’s history, though, so consider today’s bar-fight, hm, date night.” Sliding back behind the bar, she snapped her teeth at some patrons who were aggressively courting her attention, and watched as they flinched back, seemingly reminded she had just single handedly tossed out two men twice her size. “So?” She added expectantly, grinning wider with every passing second. “Dazzle me.”

Never mess with the bartender, Gabriel thought wryly, observing the pleased way Abaddon scared off her customers. Whatever strange looks the angel got from the rejected patrons she ignored–probably trying to figure out who this person was, to monopolize Abaddon’s attention so much. Gabriel ignored the brief satisfaction she felt at being the object of the demon’s focus; it would never do to examine fleeting emotions resulting from the woman’s flighty moods.

“Common-law polygamy, then,” Gabriel pointed out, matter-of-fact and not making steady eye contact as she wiped the lipstick mark from her cheek. “Joséphine never did like you much, I hear.” Knew, more like–Gabriel had always made a point of keeping tabs on Abaddon throughout history. The demon would likely call that something like fondness or even obsession… But the blonde was pure Chaos, inevitably the one Gabriel would cross paths with the most. The conflicts she began were out in the open, salvageable sorts of wars that gave Gabriel plenty of opportunities to fight or negotiate. When Abaddon started a war, it would be a humanity-building process; be it her intention of not. The angel would never admit to such, but Abaddon’s style was a complement to her own.

Date night, though, that was a new one. Teasing comments about romance and soulmates were not unusual coming from Abaddon in a good mood– but expectations like this caught Gabriel off-guard. ‘Dazzling’ another creature was a completely foreign concept. “You already took my role in this.” She pointed out, a few more hopeful drinkers hovering around the edge of her vision now the commotion had calmed down. “You cause the chaos, I resolve it–but what’s an angel to do when you’ve done my work for me?” Diplomatic wordplay came easily for her, but Abaddon’s whirlwind flirtations were harder to keep up with. The most she could do was raise an eyebrow before taking a long, slow drink, finishing off the cocktail while she waited for some kind of instruction.

“Yep, those are the only two options,” Abaddon quipped in delight, bustling about the bar merrily as if there wasn’t a large bar fight happening around them. She grinned at the blonde, shuffling some bottles and whipping a quick drink up before sliding it over. “Let’s see. No sword, no armour, no scowl, and no ‘what now Abaddon’ – So, since you’re not here to ruin my fun, that must mean… You’re here to see me!” Leaning over the counter in glee and crowding into Gabriel’s space, she reached forward for an overly dramatic, smacking kiss on the angel’s cheek (during which she was sure to leave an imprint of her lipstick), before rocking back on her heels, still beaming. “Aw, Gabbie, if you really miss me, you can always just call me by cellphone.” She dropped her voice into a staged whisper, blue eyes wide. “We don’t need to use carrier pigeons this century.”

There was always a way about Gabriel that put her into a kind of hyper state. She was chaotic at the best of times, but there was something about this angel so different from the cherub faced, sickeningly good, creatures of light she’d met. Perhaps it was simply the odd playfulness they held coupled with the great wars they’d fought radiating from the archangel in waves, but this one – oh, this one was hers, the order to her destruction, her counterpart in every sense of the word; the one thing she didn’t like sharing…

The thought that Gabriel was a warrior angel specifically tasked with, well, putting down demons like her crossed her mind for the briefest of seconds, but obviously, she was still here and kicking, which meant that she wanted her around too. Abaddon grinned wider, and the din of the fight seemed to swell to new heights in response. “And you know what, because we’re best friends and because I like you so much,” she stated smugly. “I’ll even break up this little schoolyard fight, just for you, baby.” Darting out from behind the bar, and muscling her way into the crowd, Abaddon grabbed the most aggressive offending figures out of the tight circle that had formed around the small group, pushing them out of the door, cursing them out cheerfully the whole way.

Sitting at the bar, newly made drink still fizzing in front of her, lipstick waxy on her cheek from where the demon had just planted her lips, being called charming little nickname diminutives– It all made the archangel feel mildly less intimidating than she was accustomed to. Abaddon never seemed to be afraid of her presence – perhaps that was why she had tracked down this particular demon tonight, instead of the others she would have no qualms hurting. Not that any of them outwardly acted intimidated either, but at least they had a healthy dose of wariness in their ribbing. Abaddon always treated her like a childhood friend stopping by for a visit after a decade away.

Although, the blonde cleaning up her own messes was new. Gabriel would have had to stop the fight in a few minutes, sure enough, but it seemed exchanging pleasantries with the local chaos-bringer did wonders for her effectiveness. She sipped her drink–surprised to find it palatable, choosing not to investigate how Abaddon knew her preferences in cocktails–and watched the small-framed archdemon’s form march two much larger people out the door by their collars, the men too shocked by her strength and colourful tongue to fight back much.

The fight died down quickly, the agitators cleared out doing wonders for the rest of the crowd’s ability to control themselves. She smiled a little at seeing some of the revellers flinch when the blonde came too close, unable to help it. Gabriel, in this form, was accustomed to humans underestimating her as well. “If only you’d been this accommodating years ago,” the angel pointed out light-heartedly, “think of all the wars we could have avoided.”

Abaddon checked her watch and looked on as more bouncers trickled in from outside. Seconds ticked by, and the blonde found herself wondering when she could expect her company for the evening. This was enough of a commotion to draw Gabriel near, surely – Perhaps the demon was a little self-absorbed, but she knew they were far too attuned to each other after millennias of history for this not to be at least a blip on the angel’s radar – hopefully not too soon, she thought wistfully, watching the carnage unfold with a gleeful expression on her features. This never got old. Hearing distinctive footsteps over the din, she narrowed her eyes slightly. “Gabbie! Don’t tell me that you’re here to ruin my fun,” she called out, voice smoothing over the nickname at the woman’s approach. “Or are you just here to hang out with me?” 

She watched the demon with a casual sort of caution as she approached the bar. It wasn’t that Gabriel was afraid of her, far from it, but more that she knew scenes such as this sent her into a giddy euphoria the angel would never understand. It made her unpredictable, and Gab was simply unsure if she was in a laughing, kill you, or kiss you mood, so she wanted to be prepared for anything Abaddon might throw at the club’s occupants next. The blonde’s smile was twice as smug as it deserved to be. Odd, how chaos-driven demons were so pleased after causing fights and encouraging wars. “Are those my only two options?” The archangel countered, a blase sort of teasing to her own words. “Can’t I just be here for a drink?”

Lucifer hadn’t announced to everyone that she was on the surface, she knew full well that it would ruffle the feathers of those upstairs. The more she walked on the surface the more angels felt the need to come down and piss everywhere. “I have nothing to say to you, shithead…” Lucifer said quickly when she realized it her, it was Gabriel. The Devil couldn’t help but grind her teeth together. She knew alot of the Arch-Angels hated her, some even missed her….Afterall she had been the youngest and the favorite of their fathers. The Morningstar. But Lucifer couldn’t help herself but look into the mind of God and see the truths of the world. It had been a stupid decision, but Lucifer refused to look back on things, only moving forward with her plans to rule humans rather than serve them. “Did daddy send you down here to spank me because they can’t do it themselves?”

“As amicable as ever, Luci.” Gabriel commented with a faint smile, no malice behind her own words as she raised a glass to her sister. The woman may have hated her now, but she still enjoyed the banter if nothing else. “It’s always such a joy.” The arch-angel added, before taking a sip of her drink. She knew Lucifer was still bitter about what had happened, she had a right to be, but when father gave an order -- Falling from Grace seemed the only outcome for disobedience, it wasn’t something she liked the idea of all that much...And as time passed, her compassion had grown for the humans. In each new generation, she would see a flicker of something she’d once held dear in herself, despite what the brunette before her would have everyone believe. “No spanking for you i’m afraid, you might enjoy it a little too much.” 

To be honest, Abaddon was getting a little sick of how normal everything was, how nothing was happening. The club she’d currently taken to working was a boiling pot of different species and bad blood, yet here people were, flocking to the bar and talking about their little problems like it mattered. It made her feel sick, entropy pressing outwards from inside her chest, begging to be let out – and who was she to deny chaos anything?

All those little pieces of gossip and insecurities came in handy, spilling nearly every single scrap of information she’d collected as the ‘free therapist’ behind the bar this week to just the right person – She flit around the dark-lit interior, spilling secrets like nectar, riling up everyone within her vicinity. Breathing in heavily, she imagined the sickly sweet scent of gasoline. Abaddon watched as people milled around, frustration in the seams of their smiles until finally she struck the match, knocking one man into another before slipping back behind the bar and watching as hell broke loose and the open floor turned into a war zone.

Her scene, truly. Satisfied as the cat that caught the canary and grinning twice as wide, she looked on as some bouncers tried to muscle their way in and failed. Watching as clever words reduced clever people into animalistic savages, she chuckled and turned to the person within her closest proximity. “Drinks and a show; you’re welcome.”

Tracking demons was a side effect of Gabriel’s abilities in war-related circumstances. Most of the time, the demon-attuned sense was useful, leading her to the demon involved in (and often the cause of) whatever strife she was charged with resolving. But life as a pseudo-human, co-existing with a variety of demons and other dark creatures all in one place, it meant that her hackles were near always raised.

She tried not to be surprised when she ended up outside a bar, one she knew for a fact a very specific demon was working tonight. After all, Abaddon was a typical chaos demon at heart; an original, perhaps, but the similarities to her kin never altered. Gabriel had enough history with the woman to know that the tense edge to her jaw was probably connected to something the other was currently stirring up. She had been to the establishment a few times in the past, finding it odd that no bouncers were stationed outside as she entered.

That was, until she reached the interior, the fight stalling her movements momentarily as she watched it unfold – Bouncers pushing in, trying to hold back anyone throwing blows, people scurrying away clutching drinks and plenty of phones being pulled out to shoot shadowy footage of the bar fight. Gabriel skirted past, moving away from the core of the altercation and toward the obvious cause of it. “Must we always meet like this?”

→ GABRIEL is a UNKNOWN year old LESBIAN, GENDERLESS, SHE/HIM, ARCHANGEL. Some people say they look a lot like BLAKE LIVELY. They are DAUNTLESS but can be UNPREDICTABLE. They are WITH Heaven. They are looking to become a GUARDIAN ANGEL

Gabriel has seen the rise and fall of kings and empires; is ancient enough to have been written down as man and reinvented as woman and found shelter in the flow of all that divinity. She’s old enough to know that permanence will always embrace change, that peace is an illusion humans cannot live with, and that it is causality which governs the Cosmos. Someone created for death, sculpted into a weapon -- and then expected to find peace. A walking contradiction;  with a mind for strategy, a heart full of empathy, and a smile made for war.