Other Options


 * Shaded Path - 


 * This unpaved dirt road - a glorified wagon track grown wide from years of traffic coming and going - cuts through an ancient forest of leafy green trees. Small animals can be heard scurrying through the bushy underbrush.


 * It is a cool evening. The air is stagnant, not stirring with the slightest breeze. The skies are perfectly clear.

Miran rides along at a leisurely pace, sidesaddle on her mount. She pauses sometimes to hop down and investigate a rustle in the undergrowth, sometimes emerging with a small rodent to sling in the sleigh, but often empty-handed.

Zariel flies overhead, seemingly for recreation rather than travel. He's low enough to be clearly visible should one look in a slightly upward direction, but high enough that he only skims the tops of trees when he dips down.

After one such foray into the forage, Miran catches sight of Zar as she swings up onto her mount. "Hmm," she bites her bottom lip for a moment, thinking, and then cups her mouth with both hands. "ZARIEL!" she bellows.

Pausing mid-sweep with a powerful wingbeat, Zariel looks around for the source of the call. Catching sight of the other demon, he raises an arm in a wave. "What's up, Miran?" he calls back, altering course to swing over the road.

"Oh, just wondering how things go," Mir replies, settling into the saddle. "Doesn't seem right to talk to you in public."

Zariel shrugs, landing on the road and approaching Miran casually. "Unlife's a little complicated, but nice," he says, "As for talking to me in public... well, you could always say you're trying to tempt me back into evilness or something. How've you been?"

"Pft. Yeah, 'cause you know, those clowns from down under are real up on their logic." Mir shrugs and indicates the sleigh. "Just hunting. Nothing exciting."

Chuckling, Zariel nods, "Good point." He regards the sleigh briefly at the mention of hunting, before remarking, "You know, I'm kinda surprised. Other than a little fun time with Xerum, demons seem to really not care about what I've been up to. What gives?"

Miran headtilts. "What do you mean "not care"? You're the veritable focus of the realm, y'know. Everyone cares. Or do you mean, the demons seem remarkably passive in attempted thwarting of your most noble ambition?"

"Yeah, that," Zariel nods, "One is plotting something, one always gave me a hard time regardless, one is actively trying to get to me, and the rest are pretty much leaving me alone."

Ticking off her fingers as Zar outlines the other Descendant plots, Mir chuckles. "Unless you're including the two lackeys, you know of more demons than I do. Look, darlin', some of it comes down to intelligent self interest."

"I'm counting the lackeys," Zariel says, before quirking an eyebrow, "And would you mind clarifying that? I'm a very dense guy, and my brain's got too much swimming through it to bother trying to figure out what you mean."

"That might not be very intelligent of me," Miran replies with a smirk. "Can't have you exploiting my options. On the other hand..." she narrows her eyes, "informal alliances are always useful."

"They are," Zariel nods, "What did you have in mind, then?"

Miran thinks for a moment. "It kind of depends. What does this whole 'ascendant' bit look like for you?"

"Ascendant bit?" Zariel tilts his head, "I'm trying to become a human, not an angel. And it looks like seven months of asking myself 'How the fuck do I do that?' to put it bluntly."

"That's not terribly helpful," Miran notes coldly. "Do /what/, exactly?"

"Seven tasks given to me by an archangel," Zariel explains, "I have a month to complete each one. I'm not allowed to ask for help, although apparently people are allowed to help me if they choose to. Angels aren't allowed to help me at all, though. This month's task is to save a specific soul."

"Oh jeeze." Miran facepalms for a minute, then speaks from behind her hand. "So you're not trying to be an angel, they're just asking you to do the work of an angel, to get back to the business of being human. How ridiculous. How victorian. In fact," the demoness lifts her head, "how utterly impossible of them. Ineffible my ass."

Zariel grins, "You're more worked up about it than I am. It's /supposed/ to be a bitch to do."

"Its stupid. It sets bad precedent. It contradicts things. Most of all, it makes more work for the rest of us. How irritating." Miran sighs and bats a hand towards Zar. "Don't laugh. I'll laugh while I watch. I wonder, though, if I get busted for not deliberately sabotaging. I wouldn't want to ruin the show, you see. Plus...hm..." Mir tilts her head. "Let's pretend, for a minute, that the Great and Mighty Trio actually /allow/ you to succeed. You go back to being mortal, right? No strings."

"Supposedly," Zariel agrees, "I imagine I'll still have problems with demons, but that shouldn't be too bad seeing as I won't have a True Name for Xerum to play with anymore."

"Well." Mir taps her finger on her nose. "Now, this is all provisional, of course- nothing official. Completely deniable, on both ends. But. Let's say...just pretend...you pull this off. With your particular previous sympathies, if you will, towards the Descendant realm, could we call on you, sometimes, to provide...perspective?"

"Perspective?" Zariel asks, tilting his head, "What do you mean, exactly?"

"Well. A mortal perspective." Miran shrugs. "We can guess all we want but, failing to be human, we can't ever be sure, right?"

"Some of us were mortals, once upon a time," Zariel remarks, "In some ways I've been more human here than when I actually /was/ a human. Although I'm still failing to see what you'd need a mortal's perspective for."

"Most of us, point and fact, and I'm not saying we will. But we might." Miran pats the neck of her mount and shifts slightly.

"Mm," Zariel nods, "I guess. So that's all you want? If I manage to rise, you want my perspective on something?"

"I want the option to seek your persepective on productions or projects, should we need a test market," Miran clarifies. "A consultant, if you will."

"All right," Zariel says, "I need to head back to Necromundus for a bit, but maybe we can talk more about this little 'alliance' some other time." He smiles lightly and turns to walk northward, "Catch you later, Miran."

"Mhmm." Miran waves then nudges the reindeer down the path.

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