elainaofheaven

[elainaofheaven]

elenaridley:

Elena turned her gaze back to Elaina after deciding on a Boston cream donut, in all its sugary glory, and a cup of coffee. She liked it black, a cliche to match perfectly with her love of cigarettes. 

      “I imagine that’s the only aspect I’d beat you in, then. Good for me.” 

She smiled a little, implying not only the notion between them as individuals, but their respective kinds, too. 

      “Oh, I just sort of… think of where I want to go? I don’t use it much, actually —it’s about the journey, not just the destination? However that saying goes.”

Elaina laughed softly at the comment, though she didn’t really think it was true. She was so young and so new to the world - there was so much she didn’t yet know. She never underestimated anyone. The server came and took own their orders rather quickly.

Elena’s comment on wandering wasn’t all that surprising . Ghosts tended to wander and most were lost but, as a wise writer had quoted: ‘Not all those who wander are lost.’ And she could respect (and even relate to) a desire to simply roam and experience. “So there’s no destinations in mind just yet?” She asked gently.

[elainaofheaven]

nova-manning:

Nova’s mother had been her first teacher along with a handful of other demons, but education of the traditional human trajectory hadn’t been a priority at all, though eventually she had studied in more typical ways if for no other reason than to immerse herself in American student culture, figure out how the young people ticked. 

“First degree.” Nova clarified, sipping her drink, “It’s possible you’re as young as you look, but that’s quite the assumption to make.” Regardless of whether she was actually an angel as she was leaning towards, Elaina was not human, and often their age was not what it looked to be. When her story is finished Nova leans in a little closer, one eyebrow raised, “we’re not gonna sit here all night pretending we’re nothing more than the humans we look like, are we?”

Elaina didn’t feel uncomfortable or very shocked with the bluntness and offered truth. She’d known who Nova was the moment she’d laid eyes on her and she knew that demons could tell when a person was supernatural or not. Surely the woman had her guesses. Surely she was curious to know. The only thing that made the angel slightly hesitant was the kind of reaction she might have. But that was purely a fear from her instinct and gut because she was quite certain if Nova hadn’t already made a smart guess, then she still wouldn’t be threatened by the fact the person she was talking to was an angel. After all, Elaina had tried her best to be as amiable as she could be.

“I suppose not,” she said with a small smile. It began it fade a bit and some of that initial reluctance showed. “Although... I knew who you were the moment I saw you. I’m sure someone like yourself could accurately make an assumption from just that. Like I said before, I didn’t come here for anything more but to satisfy my curiousity.” She wanted to make clear she wasn’t an angel looking for trouble.

[elainaofheaven]

nova-manning:

Nova was nearly two-hundred years old but there was always more to do. No wonder humans could get so depressed, they’d barely scratch the surface of their world before leaving it. Granted she’d gone through languid phases, whiling away her time with pointless violence and sexy strangers, but for the most part she kept herself well occupied with plans and learning and business. She’d taken on lots of guises and different jobs over time but did find that being na investor in Alastor and dealing with clients as something of the face of the company suited her well. 

A year? Enough time for a downfall, enough time to have her in shambles before that exam. Or maybe… Let her take it, let her work in a hospital. Just imagining the chaos she could cause with a friend in that kind of work was enough to make Nova’s smile stretch a bit wider. “There’s never quite enough hours in the day for it, is there?” She laughed, light and jovial. “I didn’t have to take any courses- my father and I have worked together in one capacity or another several time so he knew I was capable of the job, but I have earned qualifications over the years that I’d say have certainly helped me. Is this your first?”

Elaina listened curiously, smiling as she found herself relating to her a little more. She hadn’t been taught things the traditional way either. School certificates had been forged for her when she came to town and signed up for the college. Beforehand, the only education she’d recieved was from the arch angels. And, although it had been very strenuous and very, very informative, she’d never earned any degrees.

“My... first school? Or first job?” She hadn’t told the woman what she was yet, and she wasn’t sure if the other had figured it out or if she didn’t and if it wasn’t a good idea to let her know. So Elaina kept up her practiced story. “Well, it isn’t my first school, of course. I needed my high school degree to get in.” Although it was. “But this is my first real job. Otherwise I worked a little for father in Cuba. We was an anthropologist and professor. I helped grade exams and such.” More lies, but at least they were so well imbedded in her mind she could easily give them. And it was necessary.

[elainaofheaven]

elenaridley:

Elena nodded, rolling her eyes a little at herself for even asking —of course they were a metaphor. Though if she imagined it hard enough, she could see a halo fitting perfectly atop Elaina’s golden hair. Paired with a set of wings, and she’d be the picture of what she had always thought angels were meant to look like. Of course, it helped that she was beautiful. 

As they sat down, she read over the menu above the register, squinting a little as she spoke. Her voice was lowered now that they were in the presence of more people, supposedly human.

      “So you can fly, and I can teleport —which one do you think’s faster?” 

Elaina had already tried absolutely everything in almost every cafe and restaurant she could find in West Hollow, especially Ethae. So now she quickly scanned the menu for her favorite pastries and decided on a warm chocolate croissant. As she did, she heard the question and smiled up at Elena. “Oh?” She chuckled. “I imagine you’d be faster then. Believe it or not, they’re large enough they can get heavy after a while. It’s like another muscle. You can’t use it long before you get tired. How does the teleportation work?”

[elainaofheaven]

elenaridley:

Elena’s eyes widened at the information —it was endlessly strange to hear of the creation of angels, more so than demons, even. It didn’t surprise her to learn that evil walked the earth, but holy beings? It seemed too good, too pure, to be true. 

      “Sounds to me like you are special, but the humility’s charming, truly.” 

She passed her another smile, and looked her over. She looked… normal. Striking, more than most, but normal, for the most part. Maybe that was the point. 

      “So do you have… wings? A halo? Where does the truth start, and sterotypes end?”

Elaina laughed softly, stopping to open the door for Elena as they walked into the cafe. “... Halo’s are a myth. They were simply meant to be symbolic for the light we possess. And I don’t mean light metaphorically, I can quite literally conduct light. As a tool or weapon, should it be necessary.” She said with some amusement as they picked an empty table. “As for wings... those are certainly real. White and quite large. Very handy for travel.”

[elainaofheaven]

nova-manning:

Of course, Nova knew where all her siblings were. Those still living, anyway. which some of them were simply because they didn’t pose enough of a problem to be worth the effort of killing them, but still she kept a wary eye on their lives in-case one or two should get grandiose ideas about taking her place. In this circumstance though it boded better to just be a little awkward about their existence, not sure what to make of having so many brothers and sisters.

“MCAT that’s the medical college test thing, right?” She questioned, despite already being certain that it was. “That’s cool, explains your concerns too. I guess you do see a lot of our patrons once we close our doors.” Nova laughed softly, lightening the serious statement. “I bet, job like that must keep you busy, can you take the MCAT whenever you’re ready or do they have scheduled testings?”

Elaina nodded at the question with a small smile. In heaven, there was hardly enough time to squeeze in the necessary studying to pass for a good paramedic. Especially not when there was so much basic human information she had to learn first. But she had chosen to take that a medical career path on Earth and that was the fastest one she could do. She did enjoy it but she also looked forward to learning more and at her own pace now.

The angel nodded a little with a more sheepish smile at the lighthearted comment on her seeing a lot of drunk Alastor injuries. She could not laugh, however, remembering how a lot of it looked like and how much she’d worried. “... Oh, they have scheduled months.” Elaina answered with a nod. “But I don’t expect to take the exams for at least another year or so. There’s a lot of studying I need to do first. Did you have to take any business courses prior to working here?”

[elainaofheaven]

nova-manning:

Nova wanted to have her her flashing strangers and rubbing pixie dust on her gums by the end of the year. Seemed like a long time for a small goal, but angels were no easy target, especially not as young as she was predicting Elaina to be. Her downfall was going to be a slow, sweet journey and she’d enjoy every minute of it.

She’d have to find out who this brother was too. They seemed tight knit so one way or another he had to be taken care of. Nova could drag him down too or turn her against him, shove him out the picture and put herself as Elaina’s number one. “Oh, ‘hah…” Nova laughed, the sound filled with faux nerves “I’m sure you’ve heard enough about Carreau’s reputation… I’ve probably got plenty of siblings, fuck knows who or where they are.” She sipped her cocktail, feigning an awkwardness “and I talk to my mother but we’re not all that close… Just me and dad for the most part.” Nova waved a hand through the air, dismissing the topic. “Tell me more about you though, you know where I work- what do you do?”

Elaina listened attentively, genuinely interested to hear about her family. Not even simply because it was important information for someone like her to have, but because the angel tended to always be filled with curiousity and an unwavering desire to connect with others. She offered a small smile, trying her best for it not to look too sympathetic because Nova did not seem like the type of woman who wanted pity in any way.

“Oh...,” She was caught off guard by the question. A small breath of a laugh escaped her lips as she took another quick sip of her water before answering. “I’m a paramedic at West Hollow hospital and I’m also part time studying for the MCATs at the nearby college. It’s a bit difficult to study when there’s so much to do around here... but I’m in no rush at the moment.” Unless she was killed, technically Elaina knew she had an eternity. Time was on her side and she had only just begun.

[elainaofheaven]

nova-manning:

Angel. Nova knew it as soon as she said that shit about corruption. Only an angel would care so much about that. How. Exciting. So maybe tonight wasn’t the night to really get the madness going, it would take a fair bit longer to turn an angel into a crazy party girl, but she was patient enough for it.

Besides fallen angels made for a brilliant addition to the roster, so full of angst and self hatred as they were. “Fair enough.” She shrugged, sipping her own cocktail. “Oh don’t worry about it, really my job mostly entails sitting around waiting for disasters to pop up, so.” Nova scans the place, sees things ticking over as normal, turns back to Elaina “you live with your brother then? What’s that like?”

Elaina was pleased to find the other woman was not in any hurry to escape her company. Perhaps that meant they could be much more well acquainted, and that was something the angel valued very much. She wanted to know and be close to all. She especially wanted to avoid as much violence as possible.

When Nova asked about her brother, Elaina smiled to herself and then looked over. “... Oh, it’s wonderful.” She said. “He’s a tad protective at times, but I can’t imagine being here without him.” She eyed her, suddenly bright with curiousity. “What about you? Do you have any brothers or sisters? Any close family besides your father?” She was certain no more children of Carreau were around town, as she would have been told that. But perhaps on the woman’s mother’s side there was more family the arch angels hadn’t deemed important for Elaina to know of.

[elainaofheaven]

elenaridley:

Elena laughed, a ringing, genuine sound —something that rarely came from her aymore. She took a moment, surprised at herself and her enjoyment of the angel’s company, to let her grin fall into an easy smile. She flicked her hair over her shoulder as they walked, and a part of her, however small, felt alive. Perhaps it was the fact that her companion was an angel, the goodness in her radiating something that penetrated deep into Elena’s soul. Whatever it was, she wanted to be around it; to be around her. 

      “Well-educated, I see —or do angels just know things? Either way, I’m happy to show you whatever you want to see, though preferably somewhere without any… civilians.”

Elaina chuckled softly and shook her head as they walked towards the cafe. “No, no, I was taught everything I know,” she said as she flashed a smile over to her and then looked in front of them again. “Since you were kind enough to educate me, I should at least share a little, yes? Well, most angels these are born from other angels. My brother and I... we’re the only angels in many centuries to be created by the Gods. Not to say we’re any different than the other angels. Were not anymore powerful, especially not compared to the arch angels. In reality... sometimes I feel as if not being born normally puts me at a disadvantage. I did not grow the way most grow. I was never a child, I never had any parents. The moment I was made, I was taught as much as I could by the arch angels before coming down to Earth.”

[elainaofheaven]

nova-manning:

Hook. Line. Sinker. Carreau was going to get a laugh of of this when they got together next, some gullible sweetheart coming into the club all guns blazing, dismantled within minutes by a little bit of friendly conversation. She was Nova’s favorite, honestly, she’d be tracking her down just to tell her more lies, see how far she could push the story, what kind of mad shit this girl would do.

And of course, personally she wouldn’t have chosen to come into the world any other way, but this chick clearly had hangups about her situation, and that was usable. But she didn’t know if she could actually agree without laughing at herself, so Nova just hummed sympathetically and sipped her cocktail. “Well thanks, I do my best. And from what I can tell you’re not doing so bad yourself.” She patted Elaina’s knee, smiling warmly. “Now come on, let me get you a drink, I’d feel bad if you went out of your way to come here and just drank water all night.”

While Elaina continued to smile, it grew rather sheepish. Instinct made her uncomfortable at the touch, which felt strange when she had decided she liked the girl. She had to learn to trust her gut, but for now she just decided it was probably the conditioning on demons she’d recieved in heaven.

“Oh, it’s really alright,” she insisted, shaking her head. “Alcohol is too easily corrupting and... I’d rather not tempt myself or risk it. Especially not tonight when my brother is expecting me home.” Her smile grew just a little at the thought of Caleb. She straightened herself up to prepare to move. “Besides, I should let you get back to work.”

[elainaofheaven]

nova-manning:

Nova was the pretty face. The candy coating on the sour bomb. She had years of practice, could charm her way in and out of any situation as she pleased. You’d be surprised how many people were willing to forget she was the daughter of a notorious demon just because she had a nice smile and always remembered to say please and thank you. But people wanted to see the best in those around them, which in her opinion had always been stupid, and she exploited that fact as often as possible.

Especially in the case of Elaina here, a supernatural who clearly liked to think she was a badass but couldn’t keep from falling pray to Nova’s facade. “I’m very wise.” She quipped with a smile, sipping her cocktail. “Clubbing isn’t for everyone.” She agreed, lifting her shoulders in a small shrug “I myself usually prefer to sit at the quieter end of the bar with a fruity cocktail and keep an eye on things.” During her shift anyway, outside of that she could be quite the party animal. Nova pretended to be bashful in the face of all the praise, flattered by the assessment of some nobody. “Well, thanks” She giggled, as if overcome by nervousness “I’m just- look, I know my dad has a reputation and he’s not the most fun to hang out with or whatever, but he’s my dad y’know? I’m just doing my best here, he wanted a club that would be welcoming for everyone so that’s what we created.”

Elaina, plain and simple, was very inexperienced and there was not much she could do about that except to keep experiencing. Her good heart and desire to see the best in others accompanied by her new start on Earth made for dangerous naiveté. She was learning, and learning quicker than most, but she couldn’t help wanting to see the young demon as a potential friend. At least, she hoped very much for that. 

“I know none of us choose how we come into this world,” she said with a small, smile. Elaina hadn’t chosen to be created by the Gods the way she was, nor to be tasked with the life and duty she was forced to carry out on Earth. But that is how it was. She wondered if, in any way, Nova felt a bit trapped by her own birth status. For some reason, she didn’t think it was too likely. “But you seem to do good with what you’ve been given. I hope to do the same.” 

[elainaofheaven]

nova-manning:

Of course the reality was that Alastor being run by who it was did aid the states people got in, there was no one properly checking ID’s at the door, no was stopping drug use or refusing service to those too drunk. But if Nova could play it off as the prejudice views of another species, well, why not. “Of course, it’s important to be aware of whats going on where you live.” She nodded sagely and sipped her drink, angling a little to face the towards the dance floor “as you must be aware there are several species’ of creature lingering on that dance floor, supernatural and human alike. and the biggest danger is being persistently hit on by someone too drunk to give up. People aren’t coming to Alastor to make trouble, they’re coming to Alastor to forget their troubles, no matter who they are.”

Despite her father’s reputation and what she knew about demons, Elaina decided this woman wasn’t that bad at all. And the truth of that made her smile. She liked her, in a way. The angel had heard how unpleasant Carreau’s company tended to be, but his daughter showed none of that thus far. Elaina was always loathe to judge another by their species, especially since she was practically forced to do that for demons. It was her Gods-given duty to be the shield protecting others from their hellfire. But, in her eyes, not all of them deserved to be treated like loose cannons. And she never wanted to in the first place.

“... That a very wise way of putting it,” she said, still smiling. “Despite it not being completely fitting to my tastes... I can tell you provide a good service. And the place is certainly very popular.” Elaina said, glancing away at the dance floor and all the people before her gaze returned to Nova. “Honestly, I’m glad to have met you, Nova Manning. You don’t follow your father’s reputation and that’s a great relief for someone like me.”

[elainaofheaven]

matty-boy:

It was disappointing to hear that he couldn’t tell anyone else and he’d do his best to keep it to himself. As well intentioned as Matty always was, in the back of his mind he knew that he would slip to someone unintentionally out of excitement and devotion to Mystery Inc. Though he usually told his mother everything, he knew this wasn’t the type of thing to go to her with. For his mother, angels sat behind the scenes and did the work. They didn’t jump out in front of moving vehicles to save distracted humans. Telling her would involve a lot more explanation about the other activities that he hid from her like Mystery Inc. 

��If it takes more than a speeding ambulance, what does it take?” His eyes widened as he realized how that question probably came off. “Not that I want to hurt you! I promise! I just am curious. That’s all.” 

Elaina chuckled softly and put a hand on his arm. “I know you wouldn’t,” she assured him gently. “You seem... very much like a good person.” The way she said and her expression - it was very genuine and honest. It was always that way with her when she expressed what she thought. But the angel also seemed very happy and grateful to Matty for making her feel that way. It was daunting enough for her to have revealed herself to a human and it surely would have been worse if he was someone else.

“Just promise me you will take good care of yourself, okay?” She asked softly. “It seems as though technically we’re co-workers so... I will always be here if you need me.”

[elainaofheaven]

elenaridley:

      “I was just in Talbot’s, so Ethae’s might be a nice change of scenery, if you’re up for more of a walk?” 

      She shrugged and stuffed her hands in her pockets as she began walking towards the sidewalk with Elaina. It was a nice night, so she really didn’t mind the walk —and she didn’t mind the company, either, even if they were a bit more curious than she tended to prefer. So far, she was no more than a stranger, and an angel at that, so who better to share with? 

      “Uh, there’s plenty to tell, I guess. Walking through walls, disappearing—” 

      As she said the word, she flickered out of sight just for a moment, and smirked at the angel as she came back into view. 

      “Maybe it’s easier to start with what you do already know?”

“Of course,” Elaina responded easily to the suggestion of Ethae. She adored that little cafe, and walking around town was one of her favorite activities. There was always so much to see and admire as someone so new to the world. 

The sudden disappearance caught her off guard, jaw opening and then closing into an amused smile when Elena appeared again. “Wow...” She breathed out, just as they made it out of the alley and onto the street sidewalk. “I don’t know much, really. Well... I do know all the tricks but I’ve never seen anything except the disappearance just now.” Elaina smiled. “I like to think you never really know something until you see it for yourself. Because I do know quite a lot but... I have yet to experience it all.”

[elainaofheaven]

🍸 + "How old are you, again?"

Elaina giggled softly, having to take a moment to calm herself down before answering. “… Maybe… 6 months,” she said, trying to withhold more giggles but failing.

[elainaofheaven]

nova-manning:

Ah, now this was interesting. Nova had no feud with the vampires of course, and it was still plausible this chick actually was one of them spreading false information, but if this was legitimate and more people wavered over the safety of Lestat? That was pretty good.”Josie and I get along well enough. I can’t say I interact with her all that often, Lestat isn’t a place I frequent but we haven’t run into any issues.” She sipped her drink and sighed, contemplating “look, it seems reasonable to me that you would encounter issues with the lounge. But lets cut the crap here, if Alastor was run by humans you wouldn’t think there was anything unusual about some of the states people leave this place in- and if you did, then you just haven’t seen enough nightclubs.”

Elaina listened patiently, brows raising her slightly. “... Perhaps not,” She turned her gaze away to the bar. “I’ll admit, I’m here for more reasons than just to question about the frequent haunts of West Hollow... I came here primarily to assess the... supernatural dangers.” She looked back at the woman. “It’s what I do. But not to stir any trouble, of course. Just to know.”

[elainaofheaven]