(Untitled)

[gilded_voice]

Date: March 18, 2003(?)
Status: Public (Gabriel, Phanuel) [Complete]
Setting: Tadfield Manor, restaurant
Summary: Dinner.

Comments

[cattygabriel]

"If training doubly hard can be considered a proper outlet, then yes, I suppose," Gabriel murmured. "I still don't think it's healthy, though."

"I'm sure they will. Humans seem to have a remarkable talent for getting themselves in the worst sort of trouble imaginable, and then finding a way to set things right, or as right as can be possible after major changes." Humans had fought two major world wars and several smaller ones, and yet today the world was - mostly - healed.

His lips twitched at the angel's flush. "Indeed. Although red hair is nice, I think I myself would look rather odd as a redhead. I'll leave that to you and Raphael," he smiled, reaching towards Phanuel's reddish-brown hair and gently taking a lock between his fingers. It was soft - angels, after all, didn't get split ends or anything of the sort - and the warm colour, strangely, reminded him of the ancient desert lands he had loved. The light caught it, sending a red gleam racing up and down.

"It does suit you," he repeated, releasing the lock of hair and sitting back. "I've always liked the colour red, although as I mentioned, it doesn't really suit me. Ah, that was fast."

The waiter set his pasta in front of him. It smelt delicious. Gabriel picked up his fork, spearing a mushroom covered in tomato gravy. "Bon appetit."

[gilded_voice]

"If they're out of people's hair, though, I'm sure that's a help," Phanuel said, with possibly more cheer than was needed.

He nodded. "It's a good thing, to be able to rebuild," he said. "Even when important things are lost…" He stopped for a moment. "It's good," he repeated.

He shifted awkwardly as Gabriel examined his hair. It wasn't exactly close, but it felt rather like it. It wasn't something that happened often. Ignoring his flush as best he could, he said, "A-ah, thank you. Um… Perhaps it might be that it would take a bit of time to get used to."

"Bon appetit," he repeated, and began taking apart his pie.

[cattygabriel]

"Quite frankly, I'm thankful for assignments that take me away from them," Gabriel confided in a mock-whisper.

He stared unseeingly at the pasta for a moment, running his free hand through his own hair. "You have to rebuild. Life, or existence, goes on regardless of losses in wars. Sitting around mourning does not help. Activity, though, helps you forget, for a while."

Gabriel smiled suddenly. "I did try red hair once, in Ireland, I think. I stuck with it for about a week before returning to black hair." He took a bite. "Mmm. Delicious."

[gilded_voice]

Phanuel smiled. "It's good to have a change from things," he agreed.

Another nod. "Grieving forever helps no one," he said quietly, and picked up a carrot and a piece of pie.

"Did you?" He turned his head and smiled, tone lightly teasing. "Did anyone happen to see?" He ate the food he had on his fork and nodded. "Mm!"

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel tilted his head, remembering. "A young warrior named Finn Mac Cool and about half the Fíanna he commanded. I was trying to spread the cardinal virtues, and to introduce Christian values, and somehow ended up in the army of the High King at Tara. I didn't want to be there long, though, so I was a little more careless than I should have been in a skirmish." He shrugged. "They were honourable men, but true to their animist faiths. There was little I could do." He didn't mention that they'd also been wondering why a young warrior with good prospects had no wives.

He took another bite of pasta, smiling. The food really was good.

[gilded_voice]

Phanuel listened, intrigued. "What was it like, to be there?" he asked.

He would have agreed again, but really, the best part about good food was appreciating it, and he was quite ready to set about doing that.

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel smiled as he remembered Ireland. "Ireland, or Erin or Eire as it was known then, was beautiful. You could see why they worshipped nature spirits, with such beauty surrounding them. The Celtic language reflected it too; it was melodious, like music but spoken." He ate another mushroom. "Of course, they lived life to the full too. I wish you could have seen one of the royal wedding feasts. Celebrations would carry on well into the night." He frowned slightly. "And there was the Fíanna, a band of roving fighters, but they developed a strong sense of honour and discipline under Finn."

He sipped some water. "And there was their mythology. They believed the Túatha De Danáan to be everpresent, watching them. Finn himself believed his first wife was one of them. And I don't blame him; when those bards struck up their instruments and began singing, you could almost believe in it yourself." He sighed. "It's hard to describe an entire culture; it has to be experienced. There were times I wished they had more seasonings for the meat and more bathing facilities, but they certainly were not barbarians, as the Greeks thought they were. It was a beautiful land, with beautiful people and a rich culture, and I spent less time there than I would have wished."

Gabriel ate another forkful of pasta, chewed, swallowed and dabbed at his mouth with a napkin. "What about you? Any particular place you enjoyed?"

[gilded_voice]

"It sounds wonderful," Phanuel said softly. "Perhaps I shouldn't, but… I feel sorry that it is gone."

He laid his cutlery down for a moment, thinking. "I'm not quite sure, he said. "There've been so many places I've been, over the years… I've always have a fondness for the White Cliffs, I suppose."

[cattygabriel]

"And so do I," Gabriel responded softly. "Today's Irish have held on to quite a bit of their culture, but it certainly can't compare with the golden age of Eire."

He reached for the pepper shaker. "The White Cliffs of Dover? They're indeed beautiful." He was reminded of a poem* he had read once, some years ago. "As an English poet once said of them, the cliffs of England stand/ Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay."

*The poem, Dover Beach, is by Matthew Arnold.

[gilded_voice]

"No," Phanuel agreed. "But there's nothing to say that what people make today can't be magnificent in its own right."

He nodded. "Possibly best admired from a distance, though," he said with some wryness, and returned to the pie.

[cattygabriel]

"True," Gabriel conceded. "Still, I feel sad sometimes, thinking about all those ancient civilisations I wandered amongst, whose descendants know so little about their own history, their ancestors' way of life."

He picked up on the wry tone. "Why? Did you accidentally smash into them while flying, or something of the sort?" he grinned.

Really, he shouldn't tease Phanuel about such things. After all, he himself had crashed into a tree only a few days ago, and Uriel could bear witness to that. He smiled; in retrospect, it was quite funny, but at the time he'd been terribly embarrassed.

[gilded_voice]

"I don't think that that's anything but understandable," Phanuel said, with an attempt at a smile.

He shook his head and swallowed. "Not to date, and I'd prefer to avoid doing so," he said (or if he had, wasn't about to admit to it). "Of course, it'd all be all right, but it wouldn't be quite the same, would it?"

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel shrugged. "I met a Babylonian goddess when I arrived, and it reminded me how much I missed the Middle East."

He burst out laughing. "By 'it', are you referring to yourself or the cliffs? I'm sure we could have you healed, but the cliff would be another matter."

[gilded_voice]

Phanuel blinked. "A Babylonian goddess? What was she doing here?" he asked, mildly bothered. He really was out of sorts if he hadn't noticed that. He'd have to improve his perception if he wanted things to stay quiet.

"The cliffs, naturally," he answered, suppressing irritation. "It wouldn't improve the area at all, I'm sure."

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel smiled at the memory. "Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love, war, sex and fertility, is actually quite easy to talk to, and very endearing." He chewed some pasta thoughtfully. "You know, I don't believe I ever actually asked her what she was doing here. It didn't crop up. But she does own a conglomerate of businesses, so perhaps she either wanted to open an outlet here or simply take a break from work."

He laughed again. "Indeed. The outline of an angel, wings and arms spread, in the cliffs would be quite the tourist attraction, though." The mental image was enough to make him laugh again, as he took another mouthful, and he started to choke suddenly.

[gilded_voice]

The image of the kind of business Phanuel imagined Ishtar would be working in didn't quite seem to fit what he'd seen of Lower Tadfield, and he stared at nothing in particular for a moment before shaking it off. "It does seem to be a good place for a break," he said. "Not quite where I would have expected, but it'd certainly be a change, wouldn't it?"

The image didn't appeal to Phanuel quite as much, but he smiled- at least, until Gabriel began choking. "Gabriel!" He got to his feet, trying to remember what to do. Surely it was simply, but-

He shook himself. There was no time to dither about. Hoping that he wasn't about to do Gabriel some serious damage, he banged him on the back.