do no harm.

-&-

“Well…” Arthur playfully smirked and pretended to ponder, reeling his head back and looking up at the clouds as if asking the Lord above for an answer. It looked like a real head-turner but the answer was actually quite simple. “Boring innocent people with historical lectures is a common occurrence at this point. Lost, innocent old ladies specifically? Now that’s a first.” His second in command erupted into a hearty chuckle, setting his hands on his hips in defeat. “Oh, c’mon Raul. You’re allowed to laugh! In fact, I encourage it!” God knows that the tension around the Agency made it hard to breathe easy some days. And, judging by that look on his face, Raul was in need of at least a little chortle. “Hell, I’ve got half a mind set on making you my next victim. Should I start with the park’s new ducks or its old trees?”

“That was...” Raul began, statement punctuated by a gentle roll of the eyes... “exactly the kind of answer I expected from you.” At Arthur’s laugh, Raul couldn’t help but join in. What he wouldn’t give to feel carefree again. If even for a moment. It had been so long since life had been simple and straightforward. “Okay, fine.” He huffed a sigh as if the pause to his day came at great cost. “Enthrall me with your remarkable knowledge of ducks and trees.” 

.

It was an odd land tradition. To place a wish on a piece of metal and toss it into a statue that spit water. But Delphina wasn’t about to knock anything until she tried it once. She exhaled pressing her lips together as she shut her eyes to conjure up a small request before tossing her own coin over her shoulder. The siren blinked as she heard a voice beside her. “This is actually my first try at this.” She explained with a shrug of her shoulders. “Maybe it’s more like because you’ve actively done something to make your wish come true you are likely to get it? But really your guess is as good as mine.” She smiled but turned to face the fountain. 

“Well then, I’m happy to have been part of your introduction to an age tradition.” With a half smile and a slight nod of his head, Raul gestured for her to proceed. “Apologies for interrupting. I know that wishes can be sacred moments for some.” He couldn’t count the amount of wishes he’d whispered throughout the years. The majority had gone unheard and unanswered. So now, the time honored tradition. It was enough to make a skeptic of even the most devout. “So, god helps those who help themselves, then? That’s probably where I’ve gone wrong all these years.” 

“I’m gonna go with the first one but believing helps the magic.” Ivy shrugged as she tossed a quarter in “Either way a homeless person is gonna have enough quarters to buy a few hotdogs.” Making a wish through a fountain and believing it’ll come true is just a half assed as Santa and the Easter Bunny.

“One size fits all then,” Raul confirmed with a nod. “I can’t help but consider the implications of that,” he continued, only half focused on the conversation. It was a departure from the things that usually consumed his thoughts. So, naturally, he was now completely consumed in considering all the ways wish granting magic could go wrong. “Seems like a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands, know what I mean?”

⇌

A stark contrast to the sunny spring day, Ken came to this little shindig wearing black and his standard look of disinterest, expect this time there was a hint of suspicion added to the mix. He couldn’t be blamed for not trusting the supernatural folk with throwing events anymore, and he wouldn’t have attended had it not been for a good cause, or well a cause directly relating to him. So, here he was walking around with hands in pockets and would’ve carried on had it not been for a question that made him scoff. “If you don’t believe it in, why are you wishing for things?” Ken asked, “But you know this fountain nonsense is just a lure for the gullible, right?” 

“That’s a somewhat dismal outlook.” Raul wouldn’t admit that the majority of him agreed with the sentiment -- he’d seen more than a few scams find success simply because they tapped into the deepest desires of their audience, and wasn’t the power to have one’s every wish granted the oldest scam of them all? Still, he couldn’t help but bristle slightly at the word gullible. “Sometimes people just need something to believe in. Some things are bigger than our own existence.” 

Raul had never considered himself a believer in luck or fate. There were too many ways for plans to go awry when left to simple chance, and yet, as he stood in front of the fountain, quarter clutched in one fisted hand, he couldn’t help but think that this was just that -- asking the universe for some sort of small morsel of luck. Tradition, he thought to himself as his hand came up, quarter flying over one shoulder. “So, is this supposed to be a one-size fits all ask and you receive kind of thing or does the person in charge know when someone doesn’t believe?” 

Raul Emanuel Vargas | 40 | he/him | trauma surgeon, seraph leader