#as well as their finished collab with v1's one dozen little freaks and the ferryman's perfect little shepherd

[cherubchoirs]

Ferryman sways constantly in the apartment which worries Gabriel but it isn't from their wounds, it's their sea legs that haven't adapted to dry land yet.

But wow, that would be some intense trauma for the Ferryman to work through. outside the outright denial of heaven, basically all their hobbies and joys have been outright condemned as well. how would they be able to pick up a paintbrush or chisel without Micheal's words and actions coming to the forefront of their mind?

At least they have Gabe and V1 to lean on and the routine change should keep their mind from going to dark places.

Actually, if you combine this with Gabe learning to repair v1 (later reviving V2) then that would be a good way for them to bond again since the Ferryman could know mechanics from ship repairs and the hologram gabe shows that they do know a fair amount of robotics (depending on when they died they could already know alot about blood machines) plus their friendship with V1 would encourage them to collaborate and teach Gabe a thing or two. a cool new dynamic, teacher Ferryman and student Gabe.

(see this!)

YEA....it's a lot for the ferryman to process. it's one thing to feel unworthy in their own mind, to not truly believe beneath it all, despite gabriel's kindness, their holy cloth, and their sincere repentance, that salvation will come, because they know they've lost their chance. but to have those thoughts voiced by an archangel, to hear the prince of heaven lay out their ugliest thoughts is entirely something else. it's confirmation, no matter the faint hope they carried or the comfort gabriel gave them, it's all gone. michael has to be the final say, he is the one that visits souls at the hour of their death to offer one last chance, he is the one that binds all the evil of hell, he is the one that cast lucifer out of heaven. if he condemns them, they are truly lost and they can no longer even dream they may one day reach heaven even purely as fantasy.

i do really love that it gives them the opportunity to be with gabriel and v1 though,,,,they would initially feel so lost, not just in their thoughts but without any work to do. the apartment is of course nowhere near the size of their ship and they don't constantly have to be aware of their direction, yet like you mentioned, they can't find it in them to engage in their art which once brought them so much comfort. yet they can't feel like a burden either, no matter how much gabriel insists he wants them just to rest and v1 absolutely doesn't care about christian work ethic mentalities. but after a couple days of rest, they simply need to do something to help out...so i like the idea that they set to fixing up their apartment to a much higher standard than gabe or v1 could manage. they know how to repair just about anything, from structural issues to a squeaky door, so while gabriel continues to tell them it's not necessary, they set about to making the apartment like new (hell-wise). eventually gabe does relent, since the ferryman gently lets him know it helps them to have work...and soon he has to be actively involved, lest he want v1 making all the paint/wallpaper choices.

and i LOVE the idea of the ferryman helping gabe learn electronics/robotics aaaaaa ;o; the first time v1 goes out on its little exploration trips, they see gabriel pulling out his study materials and sheepishly explaining that well....he wants to be able to perform maintenance on v1 since he fears blood won't always be enough. the ferryman, not wishing to be presumptuous, tells him of their own modest experience and that he just needs to take it slowly, but gabriel immediately asks for assistance since it would be much easier to learn from someone else than pouring over terminal schematics and the scant literature he's gathered. and it could really bridge the gap that's grown between them, as well as the one that had always been present since the ferryman never felt worthy of his presence when he was an angel besides. they're starting to see gabriel now as full person, which can be difficult and even mindbending to accept in a divine being, but his kindness hasn't diminished in hell, his radiance shining through tarnished armor and still so warm in spite of a cold body. and they even find he can be a bit of a stubborn student, always wanting to do things how he thinks is best (and always slow to admit his mistakes) not humility an angel should have, but maybe he's always been imperfect. and maybe that's okay. they have lost their idol but perhaps, living as they all are now, it's more important to have a friend.

gabriel does notice the ferryman's lack of enthusiasm for their old hobbies though, even as v1 tries to encourage them by sculpting terrible little figures to show them. again the ferryman won't admit to anything, doesn't even want to articulate a single word michael said to them for all the pain it would cause them. because they are ashamed, ashamed of how they created and, at the same time, grieving how their comfort, their joy, has been stolen from them. they were proud in their works, they believed them to be the one good thing their hands could still produce, and now all they feel is utterly foolish for ever thinking so. when they continue to deny gabe and v1's attempts to get them to create again, gabriel finally decides to broach the topic himself. it's not hard to guess after all, not with the wounds the ferryman had come to their door with. it was michael. he asks about their art, their ship, and they say nothing. he knows that means it's gone - michael wouldn't let any of that survive, of course. gabriel's entire body tightens, knowing damn well what all of that meant to the ferryman and they have so little, the thought of it all burning into the sea sparks a fury in gabriel. yet he knows too his words, his comfort, mean very little next to michael's condemnations and his anger can offer nothing. so he apologizes to them, not just for what they lost but for having to endure the personal ugliness of heaven - michael is unwell, determined to cause unparalleled pain...but gabriel also can't lie. he can't tell them michael is twisting god's will - he's following it to the letter as he always has, and it's that will itself which is warped. but he can't say that all now. they're dealing with enough.

so gabriel instead tells them, for what it's worth, their art always brought him joy, and he knows v1 loves creating with them - in fact he knows they inspire it since it's created dozens of little clay renditions of each enemy its ever fought by now, as well as curious um....animals that it generates in its mind. and it never would have done so without learning from the ferryman. it doesn't mean they have to create again, it doesn't mean they need feel any pressure, but he just wants them to know their art was loved by someone, and gabriel is truly grieved it's gone. similarly, v1 starts sitting by their side while making its weird little clay creatures, always being sure it brings plenty of extra clay. just in case anyone ELSE wants to make something. and in spite of themselves, the ferryman feels an ounce of reprieve from their desolate thoughts, no longer feeling so isolated with gabriel's shared pain at their loss and charmed by v1's odd little homunculi. their art had touched others, even if it didn't touch god, and soon perhaps they take v1's quiet invitation to make something small again (gabriel knows immediately when it's happened too, since v1's strange tiny zoo seems to have a shepherd now)