and i've been dreaming of revenge to make you love me more

[smithnjones]

But I don't want to play God either. I can't do that. I don't want to pick and choose.

But you have before.

Martha Jones is seated at a cafe, pouring over notes that her wedding planner gave her. There are choices she has to make even she told the woman that it doesn't particularly matter to her as long as she marries her fiance, as long as the

Comments

[callyourselfa]

With a flap of wings and a smug sense of superiority, a magpie alights in Elizabeth's tree.

"You know," he says, without preamble, "humans don't belong in trees, and I imagine angels wouldn't either, except that you folks are supposed to have wings. Ever thought of using them?"

[pplrunincircles]

Elizabeth blinks at the bird...the bird that's talking. She grabs hold of the tree limb tightly to keep from falling to the ground underneath her.

"Are you- A talking bird." She blows the curl that falls in front of her eyes out of her face. "Just when I thought I'd seen the weirdest wanderer ever, the Rift throws a talking bird at me." She smiles. "That's kind of really cool though. I think all animals should talk."

She grips tighter to the tree limb and stares at him.

"My wings aren't really big enough to do much. Do you think- It wouldn't give me better balance would it? I kind of thought they'd get caught in the branches and like totally screw me over."

[callyourselfa]

One For Sorrow makes an indignant noise. It'd have a lot more effect if one didn't get the impression that One For Sorrow takes umbrage at things for fun. "Maybe all animals do talk," he says. "And you're too careless to hear them."

He hops to a lower branch, fluttering his wings to control his descent.

"There," he says. "See what I did there? These wings," and he displays his proudly, "turn falling into flying. Granted, you're a big old heavy human-ish thing, so in your case maaaaaybe it'd be gliding, but even parachuting would be better than going bump-bump-bump like a kitten all the way down."

[pplrunincircles]

"You're probably right," Elizabeth admits, examining the branches that lie under her still. "I can be kind of careless. Not on purpose usually, but it happens. I'll have to listen to animals more carefully. Next time I run into one

[callyourselfa]

"I," One For Sorrow says, "am corvidae. I am always right."

He hops to another branch, watching her wings come out and watching her descend. She's ungainly, but she's human-shaped. The poor things have none of the natural grace of the animal kingdom. He'd pity them if he weren't so busy cackling at the strageness of their lives and feeling inherently superior.

"Cats land on their feet," he says. "Kittens are hopeless. I'm sometimes amazed that kittens can find their own feet."

Yeah, because baby birds are that much better.

[pplrunincircles]

"Corvidae? What is that? I mean, that's not English, is it?" Elizabeth wrinkles her nose as she lowers herself to another branch gripping it with her legs as her hands are preoccupied holding the branch over her head. "And hey, I'm like almost never right so. Is there a word for that? A fancy word? Or should I just say not corvidae?"

She's not really as surprised as she should be that she's talking to a bird who is smarter than she is but it's of her opinion that it's not difficult to be smarter than her. It's not like the fact bothers her much. She doesn't need to be all knowledgeable which is why dropping out of school was not a big deal.

"Kittens are hopeless and adorable," she says with a tiny smile, stretching out from the branch and landing on the ground relatively uninjured. Elizabeth wipes the hair out of her face and brushes off her clothes, glancing at the house warily as if she expects her dad to suddenly appear even though she watched him leave in a cab. "Thanks for the advice! How'd you know I was an angel anyway? Most

[callyourselfa]

One For Sorrow buries his bill in his breastfeathers for a moment, frantically straightening and smoothing them down before he looks back down at her. Well. She's on the ground, and he's in the tree, and now, at least, both of them are where they should be.

"Corvidae!" he says. "It's the name of an extended family. Magpies like me. Crows. Ravens. Jays. The smartest of all birds! You are hominid, I'd believe, unless this place has a different word for all of that. You and demons and humans and all those. And I don't... know."

He turns, walking back up the branch a bit before hopping around to face her again.

"I just recognize people. That's all. Every last person I see, like I'd been introduced. So I know you're Elizabeth Jules, Angel of Death, just from looking at you, just like you'd be able to look at this tree and say, 'Oh, that's a tree.' Clear as day. You tell me what that's about." He turns, putting a pinion feather back into place. Not that it was out of place to begin with.

[pplrunincircles]

"Oh," Elizabeth says. "I don't know a whole lot. I mean I was never good in school, cause I can't really pay attention for long enough for anything to sink in. Dad- People used to think I might have ADD or something. I will try to remember that so at least I've learned something recently. Something that sounds smart anyway. I have learned stuff but not stuff that comes out of a book kind of... yeah."

Though she's not really sure when she'll have to use that word. It might come in handy. Maybe she can use it at someone to sound like she's smart. There's an idea.

She stares up at him a moment and then smiles slowly. "That's kind of cool actually. I mean, useful. I can only tell that you're a wanderer and if I saw another angel, I'd know that they were one but not names or types. Well. Since you already know my name. What's yours?"

[callyourselfa]

One For Sorrow puffs up. "I," he says, "have a grand auld name, from an old tradition of augury. My name, Ms. Elizabeth Jules, is One For Sorrow."

You're supposed to marvel or something.

"Books! Real learning doesn't come from books," One For Sorrow says. "Real learning is passed down through generations and the laws of the wild. From queen to kitten. From Magicou to..."

He trails off.

"Well. On like that."

[pplrunincircles]

If he wants marveling, Elizabeth will be happy to do that. She tends to get excited about the little things. "Oh, wow. I like that a lot," she says with a wide smile, waving her hands enthusiastically. "I mean it sounds grand. I don't know what those other words mean, but... I like it."

She raises her eyebrows at him.

"Oh. Queen to kitten?" And then she shakes her head before he can answer, which... hurts. Ow. Headache right. She has that. It's probably not helping her focus much at the moment, but she doesn't have time to focus on laws of the wild or anything else. "I'd like to learn more about... learning and stuff, but I should probably go before my dad comes back and hauls me back in the house, making the whole jumping down from the tree... experience. Next to useless. Other than getting to meet you of course."

[callyourselfa]

"Right!" One For Sorrow makes his way down the branch again. "Lovely to meet you, good luck with your grand escape. Maybe I'll see you around somewhere."

And with that he launches himself from the branch, off to explore the city, recognize more new people, and snark wherever his snark is needed.

It's a tough job, but a corvid has to do it.

[pplrunincircles]

Elizabeth watches him fly away, folding her arms and staying put for a moment while she tries to gather her strength.

"What an awesome little bird," she says to herself, and then heads off in the... in- Right. That direction. She totally knows where she's going.