Perspectives

The moment the music filled the theatre, voices silenced out as everyone’s attention turned to the stage. The dancers moved with such grace and ease, telling a story he’d seen performed many times in the past, and each time it managed to distract him from everything around him. It was a rare occurrence. And tonight, he realized how much he'd needed the distraction. He glanced at his friend who'd invited him here to begin. Someone he hadn't seen for a few decades but each time they were together, it didn't feel that way. When the performance ended, he departed with his friend before he decided to grab a drink at the bar. He walked up a grand staircase and stopped by the counter to order a glass of whiskey. As the waiter returned with his drink, he thanked him with a brief smile and lifted the glass up to his lips to take a sip. Michael’s healing prevented him from experiencing the effects of alcohol that most people did, but strong liquors usually helped him relax, and tonight, that was all he wanted to do. He then turned his gaze to the people in the bar to see if he knew anyone, but it didn’t seem to be the case, so he decided to walk towards the windows to look out at the view of the city.

Saros had been at the venue since early this morning, getting in the final rehearsal with his coworkers, then sitting in makeup and letting them do their thing, before he'd gotten something to eat, and about an hour later, they had hit stage. He loved the custom-made outfit he'd had made for this particular show - one that was following a design from his stepmother. She knew just what he liked, and what would fit into the show... As the director of the show had loved it, too, and therefore had it made. It was clear that Saros was quite perfectionistic, and loved each and every moment he was on stage, putting his all into his dancing.

After the show was over, he had gone backstage with the others, changing out of the clothes and into something a bit more formal, but forgoing the tie as he wanted to be able to relax properly after that explosion of energy on stage. Now in a black suit, he left his duffel bag backstage, opting to only bring it with him when he'd leave after a drink or two. Once at the bar, he ordered a white Russian. No need to pay for it, either - the bartender knew him well, and if they wanted to, all of the performers were entitled to at least one free drink per night they performed, after the show was over. Smiling, he thanked him when he got his drink, and took a sip of it, before he looked around himself... Most people here were probably just regular humans... But he could feel another strong aura nearby... Almost like his own, but just... Stronger. Another angel, perhaps? he looked around a little, trying to figure out who it was, in the middle of this small sea of people. Outside of the city they lived in, it wasn't too often he met other supernaturals, after all.

// Stage outfit and formal wear.

He didn’t stand by the window for long before he sensed another angel in the room. He didn’t meet many pure angels on Earth, so he turned his head in the direction of its presence. He kept his gaze on the angel through the dim lighting, thinking that perhaps he could be helpful regarding the case he was working on. So much for relaxation. Yet he couldn’t quite miss an opportunity like this. He hadn’t had much success talking to locals prior to tonight, and it was always complicated to talk about supernatural entities with oblivious humans. It had been easier back when they were prone to superstition. After all, he wasn’t out to draw attention to himself by revealing who he was. He took another sip of his whiskey before he walked towards him. “Hello,” he said, looking at the angel with a faint smile on his lips. He then placed the glass on the table, looking at the liquid for a moment as if he contemplated something. “I was wondering if you could help me with something,” he said before he returned his gaze to him. Michael had never been one for small talk, so he figured he might as well cut to the chase. “You see, I’m in London regarding a business run by demons and rumor has it they’re selling souls, so… I was wondering if a fellow angel such as yourself would happen to know anything about that,” he said, hoping that he did. Righteous souls weren’t to be traded, consumed, or eradicated. So here he was, making sure that they didn’t rob those people of a safe resting place in Heaven. After all, it was the angels’ job to ensure God’s will and protect those souls. He still didn’t know much of this operation and hence if they had any rules regarding the souls they retrieved. It meant there was a chance of them only dealing with corrupt souls who would end up in Hell regardless. If this turned out to be the case, then the demons could go about their business without his interference for all he cared.

And suddenly, a guy turned - without a doubt, he was the angel whose aura he'd felt, as it only got stronger while he walked closer to Saros.

"Bonjour," Saros just said with a pleasant smile on his lips, when the guy said hello. It wasn't quite a secret that he had grown up in France, after all - all of his coworkers, fans, indeed, most people at the opera house, in general, knew this. "Yes?" he then said, the accent of course there in his English - a bit of a posher one, as he and his twin had, after all, grown up with a very wealthy step mother who had only really brought them with her around the higher society.

Not that it could be felt on him - he wasn't the type of arrogant prick some people became, by mainly having to do with that type of people, no, he was still generous and kind as ever. Possibly due to his race more than anything else. "Oh... That. Yes, I've heard a bit about it... Not too much, though, but I know someone who might know a bit more. If we can just go somewhere a bit more private, I can call him and see if he can point you to someone who knows? I was only told to be a bit careful, that's all I, personally, know of it."

He was French with a distinctive accent, so perhaps he hadn’t stayed in London for long enough to have heard about the demons, yet Michael stayed hopeful. If he’d been raised as most angels, he knew how important it was for them to ensure that these demons didn’t get away with taking souls who were entitled to Heaven. However, he was surprised to hear that he knew someone who might know more about it. It surely spiked his interest. “That would be great,” he replied, lifting the glass up to his lips to finish his drink before he placed it on the counter, ready to follow the guardian somewhere private. He understood that the person he was talking about wasn’t going to disclose the information in front of all these strangers. After all, you never knew who could be listening. But the angel had no reason to be careful around him otherwise. “Who’s this informant? Is he another angel?” he asked, looking into his eyes as he considered this. Michael knew many angels, and it was his first thought, that whoever had the information was one of their kind. “I'm Michael, by the way,” he introduced himself, politely reaching his hand out to shake his. It was only appropriate for them to be properly introduced if he were to help him.

Smiling, Saros finished off his own drink, too, before they walked into the nearest of the private rooms. Once the door was closed, he fished out his phone, scrolling through his contacts to find his brother. "Hmm? Oh, no, no... He's, well, quite the opposite of an angel." he sighed, but then smiled. "It's my twin brother, Lyric. He's an incubus." of course, the smile on his lips was already proof that he liked his brother a lot. "But don't worry, he's a good one." he knew that could sound a bit weird or even naïve - but he knew that deep down, Lyric wasn't such a bad guy as people liked to portray him as from the very moment they knew what he was.

"And I'm Saros. Nice to meet you, Michael." the bright smile was back in place as he shook his hand. "Now, let me see if he knows anything..." and then he found the number, and rang him up. On the other end of the phone it was easy to hear that he was in a night club of some kind. "Lyric? Lyric! Sortez pour que je vous entende. Il faut qu'on parle." and as soon as it was easy to hear Lyric had, indeed, moved out to some place calmer, Saros got around to asking him. And looking pretty intrigued with his brother's answer. It went on for a few minutes, with some explanations from Lyric's side, Saros nodding and making small affirmative noises so his brother knew he was still listening. In the end, he smiled as he said "Bien. Vous recommencez alors à vous amuser. Je t'aime, à demain." and with that, he hung up.

//The French translates to; "Go outside so I can hear you. We need to talk." and "Alright. You go back to having fun then. Love you, see you tomorrow."

He looked at him with a confused expression as he said he was the opposite of an angel, finding it hard to believe that the guardian’s very own twin brother was an incubus. It was exceptionally rare. He raised a brow as she told him not to worry because he was one of the good ones. “Yeah, well, brother or not… from my experience, the good ones only represent a small percentage of demons,” he said, not wanting him to have a naive view of their kind just because his brother was one of them himself. It could turn out to be dangerous. But many angels were like that. Always wanting to believe that everyone was predominantly good. However, demons had an unholy darkness beyond most beings, and that bad, it was in their blood. It was hard for most of them to defeat that in the long run. Michael had once given demons the benefit of the doubt and a goodhearted faith that they'd turn to God and steer away from their fallacious life. But almost all of those times had ended in a worse corruption of the humans. He watched Saros as he called a number, but he couldn’t hear what his brother replied to his question, making him raise a brow as he hung up on the call. “What did he say?” he asked, looking expectantly at him. Perhaps his brother had bought souls from this place in the past. And if he had, it was very likely that he had valuable intel regarding their operation.

Saros was used to people looking rather confused when they heard an angel and a demon were twins. They were even identical twins - they looked exactly like one another, but for some reason, their mother's angelic heritage had been more prominent in Saros, and their father's demonic one was prevalent in Lyric. He brushed the other notion off completely, too - he did know how to tell a bad demon from a good one. Or so he thought, at least. His judgment hadn't been wrong so far.

Once the phone call was over, he wrote down something on a nearby napkin. "He told me he himself haven't used their 'service' so to speak... He didn't want to the moment they didn't answer him about where the souls came from. But he did manage to get an address before he cut off his conversation with them, so I've got that for you." Saros said with a bit of a smile, handing the napkin to Michael, on which he had written the address. "That should be of use to you, to investigate further, right?"

Naturally, he was concerned about this demon-brother of his, but it seemed that perhaps he was one of the better ones. Perhaps. At the very least, he seemed to have some sort of morality regarding where the souls came from. It could be due to the fact that he'd been raised by an angel - assuming that one of their parents had been an angel and the other a demon. And normally, that was a big no go in their society, but Michael himself had fallen for a demon once, so he was hardly one to talk. For that reason, he trusted Saros' intuition about his brother being one of the good ones.

Michael lowered his gaze as he wrote something down on a napkin. Explaining that he had an address in relation to these demons. “Perfect,” he replied as he took the napkin into his own hand and read the handwriting on it. “Yes, it is.” An address sped up the investigation quite a lot, so he was pleased to receive this information. “Thank you,” he added as he folded the napkin and placed it in a pocket inside his suit jacket. For a moment considering whether he should pursue the lead right away, but decided that it might be better to stay and talk to Saros for a bit longer. He moved his gaze back to the young angel. “So, how is it living in London? Is it all well?” he asked, wanting to make sure that there wasn’t the amount of trouble that was present in Gaia and Moonlight Falls. But if there was, he wouldn't hesitate to extend his stay. Besides that, he simply asked to learn more about him. Saros spoke with a fluent French accent, so he knew that he hadn't always lived here.

Of course Michael couldn't know, but neither Saros nor Lyric had been raised by their parents. After their angelic mother had died giving birth to them, their demon father had put them in an orphanage where they had subsequently been adopted from... By someone who was part demon, part angel. She had been able to relate to them both like no other would have.

"Good. And you're very much welcome. I mean... If you need any further help... I would be happy to provide it to you." maybe his ability to imbue things with holy energy could help, unless Michael could do that already, of course.

"Oh, I don't live in London, I just work here." he then said with a smile. "Whenever we have a show, I travel here, but I train and live with my brother in Moonlight Falls. He just goes to London with me whenever I have a show, too. Says it's to look out for me, which... Is rather sweet, to be honest." then again, they had relied on each other for so long, so he guessed it was just natural that they stuck together like glue by now.

// har svaret fra telefon så gider ikke bekymre mig om farverne lige nu. xD

A smile formed on his lips as the guardian offered his further assistance. “I appreciate it.” Michael wouldn’t normally take other angels along for his missions, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t provide help in another way. However, Saros already had done plenty by calling his brother for information regarding these demons. “The best you can do is report to me if you have any suspicion of a supernatural crime. Particularly when it comes to unholy creatures.” The more people that did this, the easier it was for him to make the Earth a better and safer place for the good people who lived on it.

Michael had been wrong to assume that he lived in London just because he worked here. But he already kept up to date on what happened in Moonlight Falls, so he wasn’t nearly as interested in knowing how it went there. “I see. I'm sorry.” He was a bit surprised to hear that his brother went with him whenever he had a show. But it seemed very supportive of him. And it just went to show that they had a close relationship with each other. Despite their differences. “I’m happy you got each other.” Michael believed that all demons had a darkness that was in their blood, so he could only imagine that having Saros as a brother would help him stay away from that. “How long have you lived in Moonlight Falls?”

"I mean..." since they were alone, he might as well spill it, especially seeing as this was an arch angel... A more trustworthy person would be hard to find. "Even if I'm not going to come with you for anything. If you need anything sanctified - you can always come to me. I have this... Ability... To imbue things with holy energy. If you don't have another way of getting that, I'll be more than happy to help. I can also heal smaller injuries... I can only help my person with bigger injuries than like... Cuts and bruises." he had very quickly found that out when Asher had broken a leg - he hadn't been able to heal broken bones before, but on Asher, it wasn't an issue.

"But don't worry, I'll report to you if anything happens." he then said with a smile, and nodded. "Oh, don't be. It's an easy assumption to make." he then said, regarding the apology. "We moved to the city just about a year ago - and I guess there was a reason I felt like following my friend here, as I met my person just a few months ago in the city."