#going to revamp my pinned today (again) & get to my owed replies

[inpryno]

my first day off in two weeks & it feels good to be alive < 3

[transientwordsmith]

Gabriel, Cloaked

So for my newest story that is also vaguely spn-esque, I wrote a scene that’s been in my head all day because of this prompt. So yeah. There will probably be spelling and grammatical errors but I don’t care at this point. Enjoy or whatever :) TW: mentions of murder and torture | Words: ~1200 | Characters: Naphtali, Gabriel

Naphtali sat on his knees before the court of angels. The tension in the room was palpable. He could tell that the High Court Angels didn’t want to offend him, since they were his underclassman, but also needed to uphold the law, which he had broken. Twice, at least.

After what felt like forever, one of the High Court Angels began to commence the trial.

“Uh, order! Order in the court!” he said to no one, as the room was previously silent. He cleared his throat. “Naphtali, Baron of Heaven, Opposer of Asbeel, Weapon of God, you are being accused of the torture and murder of the Angels Kotz and Anaf, and you are also being charged with treason from Heaven. How do you plead?”

He was going to plead guilty. He really was. He had no lawyer (which wasn’t exactly a thing in angel courts), and he had no alibi. He did do those things and there was no reason why he should say he didn’t. He also didn’t have a good escape plan yet.

But then, BANG! The doors slammed open and in walked a young man in a muted blue bowler hat and suit. He walked with purpose and intent. His face was mostly schooled, with a hint of a smirk. He made his way to stand next to Naphtali and simply told the courts, “He pleads innocent.”

Naphtali stared up at this man. He felt very familiar, but Naphtali knows that he has never met this man in his life. Which was a very long one, so far. He also did not know how this man was going to save him, since everyone there knew that Naphtali committed those crimes, the trial was just a formality.

“Sorry?” the High Court Angel managed to say. Everyone present was surprised by this man’s entrance and assumption of authority.

“Naphtali pleads innocent. You know you all should revamp your justice system. Feels a little dated to me. You didn’t even give Naphtali here a chance to look for a lawyer!” the man said.

“He pleads innocent. Very well,” the High Court Angel repeated to himself. “And how shall I refer to you…?”

“Mr. L, please.” the man said, raising his left hand in admission.

“Well then, Mr. L, how do you intend to prove your…client…innocent?” another High Court Angel asked with a sneer.

Mr. L then launched into a lengthy explanation about how while yes, Naphtali was at the scene of Kotz and Anaf’s murder, he was not the murderer. Or the torturer. He was just there.

“And whom would you like to pin the murder on, then?” asked the High Court Angels.

“Oh, there will be no pinning here. I know exactly who did it.” Mr. L replied. You do? Naphtali thought. I know for a fact that their blood is on my hands.

“It was Asbeel. Clearly. You all know that the footprint of Asbeel and the footprint of Naphtali are very similar. They’re opposites but are still two very similar looking sides of the same coin.” Mr. L stated, satisfied with his answer.

“But how? We checked the scene and Naphtali’s angelic footprint was most definitely there. It was his.” the Court countered.

“Well then you need to get better crime scene experts because trust me, I’ve been down there and it was definitely Asbeel’s.”

The Court and Mr. L then debated the accounts of Naphtali’s treason. That was a more difficult argument to convince them of.

“Listen, I’m telling you, those comments were heard out of context! That’s not what he meant! And, anyway, why do you have spies tailing him? He’s your upperclassman! He should be able to do what he wants!” “Him being our upperclassman does not negate the fact that he needs to obey the law of Heaven.”

“Nobody would have found out he ever broke it if you all weren’t bugging his friends! That has to be illegal, or at least compromising! If nobody genuinely reported it, and the statements were taken out of context, then it’s like you were setting him up to be accused!”

There was a pause. Then, a sigh.

“Fine. Naphtali, I’m sorry to have caused you this inconvenience. If things went the normal way, this would have all been done…” the High Court Angel checked his watch. “Around an hour ago.”

Mr. L muttered under his breath. The Court did not ask him to repeat what he said.

“Order! Order in the court!” the High Court Angel said once again to a silent room. “Naphtali, Baron of Heaven, Opposer of Asbeel, Weapon of God, has been found innocent of all crimes he was accused of today. You are free to go.”

Naphtali was dumbfounded. Somehow, this complete stranger waltzed in and proved him innocent of crimes he most definitely committed. Who could want him out of jail that badly? Wouldn’t he know them?

Someone came over and uncuffed Naphtali. He stood up to his full height and stretched his wings (partially because they were sore, and partially for intimidation–he was a Baron of Heaven and he wasn’t going to let them forget that.) Mr. L came and put his hand on Naphtali’s shoulder, and led him out of the courtroom. Naphtali dared not say anything until they were gone, for fear that this miracle would come crashing down around his ears if he did.

“Who are you?” was the first thing he asked when he deemed it was safe. Mr. L looked left and right before realizing that Naphtali was talking to him.

“You don’t recognize me?” he asked. Naphtali shook his head. “Come on! I thought since I’m your favorite you’d recognize me no matter what I look like!” The word “favorite” made something click in Naphtali’s head. Gabriel, his older brother, the archangel, had regarded Naphtali as his favorite sibling when they were all in heaven together. To Naphtali’s knowledge, he still did.

“Gabriel?” he asked.

“Finally! Oh, man, I thought you forgot about me!” Mr. L, now Gabriel said, his form changing. Instead of a man in a blue suit, his form changed to be more of a young adult. Now, he wore a red t-shirt with a leather jacket and black ripped jeans.

“I could never,” Naphtali said. It was true. He did love Gabriel (if he was honest, a bit more than his other archangel siblings) and he knew Gabriel loved him. “It’s just, I probably could have gotten out of jail if I wanted to, so why did you show up? You have your own life.” Naphtali asked.

“Man, you’re the only brother I can stand, so if I can help it, you’re not going to jail in the first place. And, if you ask me, I think those Court Angels are a bit entitled sometimes so I really wanted to come and put them in their place.” Gabriel explained.

“Thank you for that, really. I owe you. But, I did do those things. I did speak out against Heaven, and I did…I did kill those angels.” Naphtali reminded him.

“Shh! Not so loud!” Gabriel whispered. “Yeah, I know you did those things, but there were circumstances. There still are. I understand them, but I don’t expect them to. I’m not saying this makes it right, or okay, but you have time to amend that with whoever you need to.” Gabriel pulled him in for a tight hug.

“I love you,” Naphtali said.

“Sap,” Gabriel replied. Naphtali blew in his ear. “So where are those humans you’ve been with?”