Love and Destiny - LOCKED to Ace "burnt_offering"

[fate_aspect]

[It's midday in Fayren's Guardian Tower. Itherael is finished patrol duty, but the they're never quite off-duty. Daily responsibilities made up so much of their life for millennia; they can't help but putter around the tower a little while longer. There might be something else to do.]

[They've also found themselves indulging in something fairly new: curiosity.]

[It's curiosity that has them following the sound of a conversation in a nearby break room. Especially because that conversation sounds strangely one-sided. That's Ace's voice they hear, but where is the person they're speaking to?]

[The archangel slips into the break room, wing tendrils shifting slowly in a sign of intrigue.]

Comments

1/2

[burnt_offering]

[Ace is very sentimental, and thrives in a romantic relationship. His world changed for the better when Smoker came into his life a second time, and while technically he's not supposed to make personal calls on the clock, he's on break and more visiting to help out than seriously working anyway.

So he refuses to feel bad about a little check in with the person he loves.] I'll be home early. It's a quiet day, and I miss you so bad. [It's honestly not possible for Ace to look more enamored than he is now as he stares at the screen.] Love you. [Smoker's voice isnt quite as clear, but a rough sound, a long pause, and finally a "Just get home to me fast, brat." can be heard. The level of warmth is there, even if he doesn't say the words in return. And as the video call ends, Ace holds his phone in his hands for a moment and sighs contentedly.]

2/2

[burnt_offering]

[Ace startles though, perhaps a bit dramatically, when he realizes he's not alone.]

Damn. When did you get here? I didn't think anyone else would be in the breakroom.

[fate_aspect]

[Oh, right, a communication device. Itherael's not quite used to them. Also, it seems he startled Ace again. A sheepish waver runs through his wings.]

My apologies. I did not mean to intrude. I arrived only a moment ago.

[Curiosity still there, Itherael thinks back on what he overheard.] You were speaking to a loved one?

[burnt_offering]

It's not intruding, this place is for anyone to use here. So don't apologize for something like that.

[Ace nods.] Yeah, I was just checking in with my man. I wanted to say hi before I got back to work.

[fate_aspect]

The love that mortals share is rather fascinating, isn't it? I know little of it, save that it can drive humans to do great things. And that it can be...

[They shift their grip on the Scroll of Fate.]

Unpredictable. You said that you miss him; how long has it been since you last saw each other?

[burnt_offering]

Yeah. It can really give people a push to do more.

[Unpredictable, he supposes is another good way to put it. Love made him give his life, love made him chase someone down to try to kill them, love made him give his all for his family. And now, a very different form of love makes him feel redeemed.] Nine, I think? I had breakfast with him before I came to work.

[fate_aspect]

You saw him today? Oh...I had presumed from your words that the two of you had been kept apart far longer.

[Humans do live such short lives, though. Does mere hours apart feel like an eternity to them?]

[burnt_offering]

We live together, of course I saw him today.

[Ace reaches his fingers into his hair and scratches along his scalp as a nervous gesture. This is nothing less than awkward, and maybe it's dumb to miss Smoker after just a few hours, but before he took this deputy position he spent a good deal of his time with Smoker. So it's taking a bit of an adjustment to not be able to be with him whenever Ace wants.] I guess we're kinda attached.

[fate_aspect]

Perhaps I have underestimated the power of the bond formed by love. [Their previous hypothesis still holds, but this is a new idea, too.] Though angels care for one another, we do not form these sorts of relationships.

...At least, not typically.

I do have another question, but I do not wish to be rude...

[burnt_offering]

Without love, I wouldn't even be alive. [Ace leans back, and tries to figure out how to put this...] Love, with friends, family, lovers, it's the only reason a lot of people keep going. It makes the hard stuff worth it.

[Ace doesn't even know really what an angel is. He doesn't get Itherael, even if he does like him a good deal.

The question doesn't bode well, though.] Shoot. We're friends, right? So you don't have to worry about bein' rude.

[fate_aspect]

[Oh...there's a simple beauty in those words. A further understanding of humanity clicks into place, at least as far as they're able to understand.]

I will remember that.

[Oh yay they're friends now too! A joyful flutter runs through their wing tendrils, at least for a moment. Time for the next question.]

I had been told that humans pair man to woman. But you are a man in a relationship with a man. Is that common?

[burnt_offering]

[Ace doesn't know how to really put this. He loves Smoker, he's always preferred men, and the idea of being with a woman is entirely unappealing to Ace. And to make things more complicated, he had been enemies with Smoker in life.

Well, in Ace's life. Smoker had never died. Regardless, he doesn't get why he likes men more, or why he fell in love with a man.

And Ace doesn't know anyone offhand that's also in a gay relationship, and that makes it harder to pick examples of "Sure, it's common, it just happens whenever." Because for Ace, he's in an unique position as far as his circle of friends go. But when it comes down to it, he figures that people just don't get much of a choice in who their heart chooses.]

I don't know a lot of people that like other men. I know that my brother did, one of 'em anyway. But my other brothers paired up with girls...

[Ace takes a moment, to think about this. And his mind comes up with something easily.]

I guess that people just love who they love. You don't choose it, it just happens.

[fate_aspect]

How very...human. You have given me much to ponder, Ace.

I think, perhaps, that my kind have underestimated the power of love. Taking what you have said into account, perhaps that is humanity's strongest aspect. It is how the humans of my realm came to be, despite impossible odds - [They hold up the Scroll of Fate] - and all the predictions of Fate itself.

[burnt_offering]

I guess so. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about what's human or not. I'm more focused on living every day to the fullest.

[Having died once was enough to get Ace even more set on living his best life, every day, like it was his last one more. And that was part of what helped push him right into Smoker's arms, despite his brother's strong dislike of the situation.] I guess I'm glad I could help you? [Ace eyes the scroll.] Can you really trust something like that for all of the predictions?