The Angel Gabriel, Questionnaires 31-39
More from Gabriel, finally. Got a bit stuck working out what his answers would be from the point in the story he's writing from - the beginning. Things change. Which I guess is good. The whole character development thing...
Questionnaire #31 -- Skills (take two)
1. Can you ride a bike?
Well, I could last time I tried. It was a while ago.
2. Can you drive? If so, what?
Again, I haven’t in a very long time.
3. Can you swim?
Yes.
4. Can you fly?
Yes. Look, wings. *flaps*
5. Can you fight?
Yes. Pretty well. It’s part of what I was made for. Fighting and heralding, and...
6. Can you lead?
That’s the other part of what I was made for. I think. It’s hard to tell. I think Metatron ought to have been our leader. He’s the eldest, and the closest to Adai and to God. But I lead when it’s required of me, which seems to be more and more often these days.
Questionnaire #32 -- Either/Or take two
Would you rather...
1. Eat an endless amount or photosynthesize?
Hmm. I wouldn’t mind photosynthesizing, except that we’d go hungry living down here out of the sunlight most of the time. I think I’ll stick with eating.
2. Hold your breath indefinitely or make yourself turn blue?
I can hold my breath pretty much indefinitely, I think. Though I probably would turn blue after a while. I wouldn’t want to just be blue, if that’s what you’re asking.
3. Learn sign language or talk without moving your lips?
Probably the latter. Feels like it would be more useful.
4. Keep your eyes open without blinking or be able to turn off your hearing?
Keep my eyes open, definitely. I’d be able be more efficient on watch.
5. Fly or walk through solid matter?
Well, I can fly. And I like it very much. But walking through solid matter would be really useful sometimes. No, I think I’m going to stick with the flying, thanks.
6. Live forever and stay young or be reincarnated with your old memories?
You know… I’m actually not sure. I’m already going to live forever, and stay young. At least I haven’t grown old yet and I don’t think I’m going to. But to be reincarnated… given a different body, a different life… it might be good.
Questionnaire #33 -- Money
1. Are you poor, rich, or in between?
I’m pretty poor. I don’t have any money. I don’t have a job. We usually steal what we need. Not pathologically, just because we really don’t have any other choice.
2. Growing up were you poor, rich or in between?
Money wasn’t really part of my vocabulary when I was growing up. I’m not sure it really existed - the humans were mostly bartering things at that point. We didn’t want for material comforts, but we weren’t exactly treated like princes either.
3. Is money important to you?
No.
4. How do you acquire money?
I don’t. Not any more. I’ve been known to take jobs here and there, when we were on Earth and almost settled and it didn’t feel right to go on stealing things when we could try and earn them.
5. What is your most valuable possession?
Right now? Probably this jacket. It’s a year or two old now, but it probably should have cost me upwards of £50.
6. What is your most valued possession?
Could also be the jacket, actually. I’ve got some books and stuff that are mine, but really, this is my favourite thing.
Questionnaire #34 - Work, rest and play
1. Do you nap frequently? Where is your favourite place to do so?
I sleep when I’m tired. Usually on my bed (read: pile of blankets).
2. Are you lazy, or active? Somewhere in between?
I’m pretty active. I get restless cooped up in here all the time.
3. What time do you do your best work?
Probably at night. That is, when I go out to patrol or fetch supplies, night time is usually best, for cover of dark.
4. Would you rather work, play, or relax?
Play. Certainly compared to the kind of work I do now.
5. What is your favourite way to relax?
Reading, or talking with my siblings. Talking, that is, not arguing. That’s not so relaxing.
6. What is your favourite play activity?
Flying. In the sky, not in here - it’s big enough, just about, the ceiling’s high enough, but it’s not the same as flying out in the open sky.
Questionnaire #35 -- Random (2)
1. Have you ever touched a dolphin?
No. I hear it’s quite an experience, but I’ve never done it myself.
2. Do you like the feeling of silk?
Yes. Is there anyone who doesn’t? It’s nice.
3. What's your favourite fruit?
Apples.
4. What's your favourite movie? (Favourite story/tale if you live in a world where there are no movies)
Ooh. Difficult. I really like Dogma. I kind of wish the world was really like that. I could get behind a God who was Alanis Morissette. And I bet Metatron was thrilled with his characterisation. Bizarrely, Alan Rickman does look quite like him. A bit.
5. What is your favourite type of storm (ie, hurricane, thunderstorm, etc)?
I don’t like any storms much, but lightning storms are pretty.
6. Have you ever been so tired you fell asleep sitting or standing? What circumstances led to this?
While I was watching over Michael. While he was ill. I would often fall asleep in the chair by his bed.
Questionnaire #36 -- Favourites, The Senses
1. What is your favourite sound?
I quite like silence. Or music. Something restful.
2. What is your favourite thing to touch?
Things that are soft. The sleeves of my jacket. Michael’s hair.
3. What is your favourite smell?
Cooking food, practically anything, but especially cooking meat. It’s a treat, usually.
4. What is your favourite taste?
Food. Again, almost anything, but… nice solid food rather than sweets or anything like that.
5. What is your favourite sight?
The sky.
6. Which of your senses is your favourite?
Hmm. Probably touch. We’re quite touch-sensitive creatures, angels. I like touching things.
Questionnaire #37 -- eating and drinking
1. Can you cook?
Yes, given the raw materials. I like cooking.
2. What kind of food do you normally eat?
The very basics, usually. We get what we can - bread, fruit, things in tins. It’s not very healthy, so it’s a good thing we don’t really need to eat, we’ve just got into the habit.
3. What food is a special treat (like for a birthday)?
Sometimes we can get bacon, which is great, and sometimes even real vegetables, though we usually can’t cook them properly over our fire. We do try to get hold of cake or something like that for special occasions.
4. Do you drink alcohol?
Yes, quite regularly. Whiskey mostly. It helps keep the cold off.
5. Have you ever been drunk? Relate the most memorable time.
I suppose it’d be the first time. We weren’t supposed to be drinking, but me and Metatron and Lucy - it was before she Fell - and a couple of others had disobeyed a direct order and traded some of our good, sturdy robes, which the humans were in dire need of, for some of their alcohol, which they weren’t. We got stinking drunk and sang, and Michael - he was only about six at the time - walked in on us and we didn’t notice he’d started drinking it too until it was much too late and he was sick all over the place and we had to own up because we were worried about him. We all got in trouble. Metatron got it worst, cause he was the eldest, but I felt awful for letting Michael get involved.
6. What is your cure for a hangover?
Lie down in a dark corner and wait. And if at all possible, avoid being yelled at by an irate God.
Questionnaire #38 -- time
1. Do you wear a watch? Describe it.
Yes. It’s old and battered, and pretty ordinary. Black leather strap and a white face with black numbers on.
2. Are you usually early, late or just on time?
I’m usually on time. I think. I haven’t been many places at specific times recently.
3. Where do you lose time? Bookstores? Computers? Talking on the phone?
I don’t, think I do, to be honest. I usually have a good idea of time, even when I’m immersed in a book or daydreaming. Maybe I used to lose track of the time when I was out exploring, when I was younger, but not any more.
4. What is your favourite time of day?
The beginning of it. Waking up, sorting out breakfast if there is any, good-morning-ing. I like having things to do.
5. What one thing do you spend most of your time on besides sleep?
Talking, maybe. Or reading. Or walking around the hall.
6. If you could travel through time, 'when' would you go to?
I’d go back to when I was young, before God began to make us do things we didn’t want to do, and I’d warn myself about it. Tell myself to prepare better and leave earlier.
Questionnaire #39 -- Crime and Punishment
1. Have you ever witnessed a crime?
Yes. Plenty, of one sort or another.
2. Have you ever commited a crime?
Yes. We have no way of making money, so we have to steal our food. I’ve also inflicted my share of grievous and actual bodily harm, though never on anyone I wouldn’t say really deserved it. And it depends how you define crime, anyway. If you’d say the ten commandments were laws, for instance, laws made by God that therefore automatically cover me and my siblings, then the adultery - all the women they forced me to sleep with were married - counts too.
3. Have you ever been wrongly accused of a crime?
Yes. They accuse us of things all the time, to make the Citizens afraid of us and unlikely to help us if we were ever to need their help. They say we’re monsters - murderers, and mutilators. That’s why we have to steal our food, why we’re really stuck down here. Even if we could avoid God in the outside world, everyone else would be on the lookout for us too.*
4. Have you ever been arrested?
No.
5, Have you ever been to jail/received punishment?
Yes. They locked me in my room after I insisted on breaking out of the City to stop Abraham sacrificing his son - my son - Isaac.
6. What's the worst thing you've ever "gotten away with"?
I don’t think I can answer that question. Not the way you mean it. I can tell you what the worst thing I’ve ever done was. And I can tell you what the thing I got away with, that other people didn’t want me to do, was. But they weren’t the same thing.
Worst thing? Well… of the seven girls I was sent to impregnate, only one really didn’t seem to want me to. It… it wasn’t rape. But it was deeply unpleasant, for both of us. I curse myself for not being stronger, not just standing up at that point and saying no more. But I couldn’t. I was afraid, I suppose, of what they’d do to me - and more importantly, what they’d do to Michael.
And the thing I got away with was leaving them. We haven’t been caught yet, anyway.
* Author's Note: (I really wanted to put this in, but this version of Gabriel doesn't know it yet) about a chapter and a half into the book they're accused of planning a terrorist attack on a Tube station.
Ooh, edited: I just realised I said Gabriel's killed people. It's not true, he very specifically hasn't. They don't. Apart from Michael, who can't help it. Took that out...
Questionnaire #31 -- Skills (take two)
1. Can you ride a bike?
Well, I could last time I tried. It was a while ago.
2. Can you drive? If so, what?
Again, I haven’t in a very long time.
3. Can you swim?
Yes.
4. Can you fly?
Yes. Look, wings. *flaps*
5. Can you fight?
Yes. Pretty well. It’s part of what I was made for. Fighting and heralding, and...
6. Can you lead?
That’s the other part of what I was made for. I think. It’s hard to tell. I think Metatron ought to have been our leader. He’s the eldest, and the closest to Adai and to God. But I lead when it’s required of me, which seems to be more and more often these days.
Questionnaire #32 -- Either/Or take two
Would you rather...
1. Eat an endless amount or photosynthesize?
Hmm. I wouldn’t mind photosynthesizing, except that we’d go hungry living down here out of the sunlight most of the time. I think I’ll stick with eating.
2. Hold your breath indefinitely or make yourself turn blue?
I can hold my breath pretty much indefinitely, I think. Though I probably would turn blue after a while. I wouldn’t want to just be blue, if that’s what you’re asking.
3. Learn sign language or talk without moving your lips?
Probably the latter. Feels like it would be more useful.
4. Keep your eyes open without blinking or be able to turn off your hearing?
Keep my eyes open, definitely. I’d be able be more efficient on watch.
5. Fly or walk through solid matter?
Well, I can fly. And I like it very much. But walking through solid matter would be really useful sometimes. No, I think I’m going to stick with the flying, thanks.
6. Live forever and stay young or be reincarnated with your old memories?
You know… I’m actually not sure. I’m already going to live forever, and stay young. At least I haven’t grown old yet and I don’t think I’m going to. But to be reincarnated… given a different body, a different life… it might be good.
Questionnaire #33 -- Money
1. Are you poor, rich, or in between?
I’m pretty poor. I don’t have any money. I don’t have a job. We usually steal what we need. Not pathologically, just because we really don’t have any other choice.
2. Growing up were you poor, rich or in between?
Money wasn’t really part of my vocabulary when I was growing up. I’m not sure it really existed - the humans were mostly bartering things at that point. We didn’t want for material comforts, but we weren’t exactly treated like princes either.
3. Is money important to you?
No.
4. How do you acquire money?
I don’t. Not any more. I’ve been known to take jobs here and there, when we were on Earth and almost settled and it didn’t feel right to go on stealing things when we could try and earn them.
5. What is your most valuable possession?
Right now? Probably this jacket. It’s a year or two old now, but it probably should have cost me upwards of £50.
6. What is your most valued possession?
Could also be the jacket, actually. I’ve got some books and stuff that are mine, but really, this is my favourite thing.
Questionnaire #34 - Work, rest and play
1. Do you nap frequently? Where is your favourite place to do so?
I sleep when I’m tired. Usually on my bed (read: pile of blankets).
2. Are you lazy, or active? Somewhere in between?
I’m pretty active. I get restless cooped up in here all the time.
3. What time do you do your best work?
Probably at night. That is, when I go out to patrol or fetch supplies, night time is usually best, for cover of dark.
4. Would you rather work, play, or relax?
Play. Certainly compared to the kind of work I do now.
5. What is your favourite way to relax?
Reading, or talking with my siblings. Talking, that is, not arguing. That’s not so relaxing.
6. What is your favourite play activity?
Flying. In the sky, not in here - it’s big enough, just about, the ceiling’s high enough, but it’s not the same as flying out in the open sky.
Questionnaire #35 -- Random (2)
1. Have you ever touched a dolphin?
No. I hear it’s quite an experience, but I’ve never done it myself.
2. Do you like the feeling of silk?
Yes. Is there anyone who doesn’t? It’s nice.
3. What's your favourite fruit?
Apples.
4. What's your favourite movie? (Favourite story/tale if you live in a world where there are no movies)
Ooh. Difficult. I really like Dogma. I kind of wish the world was really like that. I could get behind a God who was Alanis Morissette. And I bet Metatron was thrilled with his characterisation. Bizarrely, Alan Rickman does look quite like him. A bit.
5. What is your favourite type of storm (ie, hurricane, thunderstorm, etc)?
I don’t like any storms much, but lightning storms are pretty.
6. Have you ever been so tired you fell asleep sitting or standing? What circumstances led to this?
While I was watching over Michael. While he was ill. I would often fall asleep in the chair by his bed.
Questionnaire #36 -- Favourites, The Senses
1. What is your favourite sound?
I quite like silence. Or music. Something restful.
2. What is your favourite thing to touch?
Things that are soft. The sleeves of my jacket. Michael’s hair.
3. What is your favourite smell?
Cooking food, practically anything, but especially cooking meat. It’s a treat, usually.
4. What is your favourite taste?
Food. Again, almost anything, but… nice solid food rather than sweets or anything like that.
5. What is your favourite sight?
The sky.
6. Which of your senses is your favourite?
Hmm. Probably touch. We’re quite touch-sensitive creatures, angels. I like touching things.
Questionnaire #37 -- eating and drinking
1. Can you cook?
Yes, given the raw materials. I like cooking.
2. What kind of food do you normally eat?
The very basics, usually. We get what we can - bread, fruit, things in tins. It’s not very healthy, so it’s a good thing we don’t really need to eat, we’ve just got into the habit.
3. What food is a special treat (like for a birthday)?
Sometimes we can get bacon, which is great, and sometimes even real vegetables, though we usually can’t cook them properly over our fire. We do try to get hold of cake or something like that for special occasions.
4. Do you drink alcohol?
Yes, quite regularly. Whiskey mostly. It helps keep the cold off.
5. Have you ever been drunk? Relate the most memorable time.
I suppose it’d be the first time. We weren’t supposed to be drinking, but me and Metatron and Lucy - it was before she Fell - and a couple of others had disobeyed a direct order and traded some of our good, sturdy robes, which the humans were in dire need of, for some of their alcohol, which they weren’t. We got stinking drunk and sang, and Michael - he was only about six at the time - walked in on us and we didn’t notice he’d started drinking it too until it was much too late and he was sick all over the place and we had to own up because we were worried about him. We all got in trouble. Metatron got it worst, cause he was the eldest, but I felt awful for letting Michael get involved.
6. What is your cure for a hangover?
Lie down in a dark corner and wait. And if at all possible, avoid being yelled at by an irate God.
Questionnaire #38 -- time
1. Do you wear a watch? Describe it.
Yes. It’s old and battered, and pretty ordinary. Black leather strap and a white face with black numbers on.
2. Are you usually early, late or just on time?
I’m usually on time. I think. I haven’t been many places at specific times recently.
3. Where do you lose time? Bookstores? Computers? Talking on the phone?
I don’t, think I do, to be honest. I usually have a good idea of time, even when I’m immersed in a book or daydreaming. Maybe I used to lose track of the time when I was out exploring, when I was younger, but not any more.
4. What is your favourite time of day?
The beginning of it. Waking up, sorting out breakfast if there is any, good-morning-ing. I like having things to do.
5. What one thing do you spend most of your time on besides sleep?
Talking, maybe. Or reading. Or walking around the hall.
6. If you could travel through time, 'when' would you go to?
I’d go back to when I was young, before God began to make us do things we didn’t want to do, and I’d warn myself about it. Tell myself to prepare better and leave earlier.
Questionnaire #39 -- Crime and Punishment
1. Have you ever witnessed a crime?
Yes. Plenty, of one sort or another.
2. Have you ever commited a crime?
Yes. We have no way of making money, so we have to steal our food. I’ve also inflicted my share of grievous and actual bodily harm, though never on anyone I wouldn’t say really deserved it. And it depends how you define crime, anyway. If you’d say the ten commandments were laws, for instance, laws made by God that therefore automatically cover me and my siblings, then the adultery - all the women they forced me to sleep with were married - counts too.
3. Have you ever been wrongly accused of a crime?
Yes. They accuse us of things all the time, to make the Citizens afraid of us and unlikely to help us if we were ever to need their help. They say we’re monsters - murderers, and mutilators. That’s why we have to steal our food, why we’re really stuck down here. Even if we could avoid God in the outside world, everyone else would be on the lookout for us too.*
4. Have you ever been arrested?
No.
5, Have you ever been to jail/received punishment?
Yes. They locked me in my room after I insisted on breaking out of the City to stop Abraham sacrificing his son - my son - Isaac.
6. What's the worst thing you've ever "gotten away with"?
I don’t think I can answer that question. Not the way you mean it. I can tell you what the worst thing I’ve ever done was. And I can tell you what the thing I got away with, that other people didn’t want me to do, was. But they weren’t the same thing.
Worst thing? Well… of the seven girls I was sent to impregnate, only one really didn’t seem to want me to. It… it wasn’t rape. But it was deeply unpleasant, for both of us. I curse myself for not being stronger, not just standing up at that point and saying no more. But I couldn’t. I was afraid, I suppose, of what they’d do to me - and more importantly, what they’d do to Michael.
And the thing I got away with was leaving them. We haven’t been caught yet, anyway.
* Author's Note: (I really wanted to put this in, but this version of Gabriel doesn't know it yet) about a chapter and a half into the book they're accused of planning a terrorist attack on a Tube station.
Ooh, edited: I just realised I said Gabriel's killed people. It's not true, he very specifically hasn't. They don't. Apart from Michael, who can't help it. Took that out...