Dawn at Belvedere Castle - Déjà vu

[nomorekaraoke]

At first, there's barely a sound, barely a speck of color among the shadows of the deceptively old structure. Not anything remarkable about the place, except for its location, perhaps. The air is crisp, the ground is slippery here and there, ice covered in sludge losing the war against the patches of green grass spreading all around.

He's always liked spring. Especially now, when his eyes are closed and his senses are focused outward; every little hint of it is like a peck on the cheek or the ear or the back of his neck - there's a certain smell to the air, a green scent that resonates within him. He remembers the first spring on Earth, and the winter that came before it. He kept imagining the snowflakes were fairies - tiny little darlings dancing in the air only to become it if they ever touched you. Evaporating, melting... It's an end he wouldn't wish on anyone. But spring... Spring is hope. Spring is being born again.

Slowly, softly, color seeps into the world between the cracks. Yellow tones, orange and ocher battling against the dark in an eternal war.

It's beautiful. It gives him hope. The world didn't end tonight. It's just begun anew. Turned a new leaf, if you will.

He opens his eyes, the warmth reflecting in the red of his irises. Maybe today, he can turn a new leaf too. Maybe it isn't too late.

Maybe there's hope for him yet.

Comments

[stilljustandrew]

Really it would make more sense to walk around the front of the Turtle Pond instead of going up the rise behind the pond, past the little toy castle, and down the other side. But Andrew's pretty sure that from the railing of the castle's courtyard he'll be able to get something close to an overhead view of the bronze King Jagiello on his pedestal, and maybe some further clue as to what Vayan and his people were doing there that night last month.

It's not really all that cold, but he’s been out in it for a couple of hours and that's enough to make his muscles stiff and complainy as he climbs the rise. "Quit whining, legs," he mutters under his breath. "We're almost done and then we can find a Starbucks and get a hot chocolate, okay?"

[nomorekaraoke]

And then, apart from the birds starting to chirp in the distance at the first few rays of sunshine, there's something else. Not just any something either, Lorne notes. Quite some something. A two-legged, upright most certainly humanoid something.

Lorne freezes in his darkened corner, eyes widening in a most telling way.

Humanoid doesn't necessarily mean human. But if it does...

He takes another step backwards, slinking as far into the shadows as he's able, hoping against hope he won't be seen. He recognizes that voice, but he can't be sure before he catches a glimpse of the face. Only problem is he would need to stick his neck out for it, and he isn't at all about to do that, neither literally nor figuratively speaking.

He stops breathing.

[stilljustandrew]

Andrew rounds the corner of the building, makes his way up the broad shallow stairs leading up to the castle courtyard –- and stops, straightening slowly.

There's just enough pre-dawn light to see the silhouette against the stone wall.

[nomorekaraoke]

Fuck. Familiar, but he hasn't the faintest idea from where. This could get sticky, and fast. Slowly, ultra-rapidly in fact, the ever present pressure around his chest tightens; even more so when he knows he's been spotted, because now he can't just stand there anymore. He has to do something.

Fight or flight? Which instinct wins, when every last muscle in your body freezes up? Neither.

He's frozen to the spot.

[stilljustandrew]

Andrew recognizes the face. It'd be hard not to, really, considering how recently he saw it at the other end of a shotgun aimed at Angel.

Waiting for me, is his first thought, except the expression on the face doesn't bear that out; it looks like this guy wasn't expecting to see him here at all.

He draws a breath of the chill dawn air, lets it out slowly.

"Hi."

[nomorekaraoke]

He swallows; hates the way it's audible in the pre-dawn silence, hates the fact he's here, alone, hates the fact the gun safely tucked away in his shoulder holster is all he can think of when faced with someone who - as far as he can tell - is unarmed. He hates the way he wants nothing more than to run away.

"Hey."

[stilljustandrew]

Awkward.

(For some reason he hears the word in Sam Winchester's voice. Bizarrely, that helps.)

He keeps his voice steady. "Look, let me save you some time. I'm alone, I didn't come here looking for you, and for today I'm good with just passing by on the other side and pretending I never saw you."

[nomorekaraoke]

Something a lot like a smile tugs at the corners of his mouth, and it might just look like it if his mind weren't racing with paranoia. "You saying we'll pretend this is neutral ground?"

He wants to ask why he's here, but he might have to answer the same question, and that would just be too private.

[stilljustandrew]

"Sounds okay to me."

Which he's aware won't help him if Mister Green decides his brain needs a good housecleaning like Fitz got --

Don't think about that. Just don't.

[nomorekaraoke]

His insides - or something like them - coil in the beginnings of a nauseated sense of doom, and suddenly his jaw clenches in defiance. This is his only me time this week, and he won't let anyone mess with his head, won't let anyone ruin this.

"You come here often?"

He knows it's a moot point to push. He would've seen him - And-something, Andrew? Maybe. They would have run into each other before, which prompts another question, or an echo of an earlier one. Why is he here now?

[stilljustandrew]

"Not really. Not this time of day, anyway. Just ... coming off the tail end of a job and wanted a look at the view from up here."

There. Not a lie. He's supposed to be able to tell if you lie.

[nomorekaraoke]

He nods, averting his eyes as he steps out from his shadowed corner. Why keep up the pretense of hiding, after all. As much as he'd prefer to hide his face, it doesn't do much for establishing something like mutual...trust would be pushing it, but the sentiment lingers.

"It's a nice view," he agrees, hands in his coat pocket, looking out over the expanse of the gigantic park. "Especially at sunrise."

[stilljustandrew]

The back of his neck prickles as he leans against the railing and folds his arms, slowly turning his head as though to take in the entire view: the Turtle Pond below them, the Great Lawn stretching beyond it, the just-budding trees beyond that. Hoping he won't appear to be focusing too intently on one particular piece of that view.

"How about you," he asks, "you come here a lot?"

[nomorekaraoke]

"Every morning." He ducks his head briefly, as though it will hide the secret shock of hearing himself admit it (even if it's a modified sliver of truth), then leans his arms on the cold stone railing. "I like watching the dawn...watch everything come alive. You know?"

He doesn't really care if he does. It's just making small talk. It's stalling, but he isn't sure for what.

[stilljustandrew]

"Yeah ... dawn is usually Nature's way of telling me it's bedtime."

The Pylean's pose, his tone, they're almost companionable. And that sends the shivers right up Andrew's spine, even though he's not getting any real sense of being played with; even though he'd swear the demon's as unnerved by the chance meeting as he is.

The statue of Jagiello is surrounded by trees. If they were in full leaf, he wouldn't be able to see a thing; as it is, the little plaza is faintly visible through a grey scrim of branches.

[nomorekaraoke]

It's habit, pure and simple. It's a front, a mask, but no less genuine than any other day, or for any other stranger. It's his last line of defense.

"Me too. Not that I sleep, usually." His tone is casual, maybe even skirting glib, and that's a lie in and of itself. Everything about him is a lie. "But... Maybe we should leave it at that. You do whatever it is you came here to do, and I'll-- I'll get out of your goldilocks."

He won't stay around when neither of them feels welcome to, albeit for different reasons.

[stilljustandrew]

"'Preciate it, but, uh, I'm pretty much about to mosey on home anyway."

It’s no good; either he can't see anything or there's nothing to see. He turns away from the railing, stuffs hands into pockets, and takes a step or two backwards. Toward the stairs down to the Shakespeare Gardens and the west side of the Park. "You go ahead and, um, finish watching the sunrise or whatever. I'm out."

[nomorekaraoke]

With a not quite mock-salute, Lorne goes back to doing just that for another two, three minutes before heading home. He'll take the mother of all detours on the way, just to make sure he isn't being tailed.

He won't be coming back here for a while. Not for the foreseeable future. Not anytime soon.

[stilljustandrew]

At the bottom of the stepped path, Andrew has to stop and lean against a lamppost to catch his breath. His heart is triphammering, and it's not from the minimal exertion of the walk.

As he starts walking again, one hand comes out of his pocket with his cellphone, flipping it open and thumbing one speed-dial button with the unthinking ease of long practice. On the other end of the line, four buzzes and then the voicemail message.

"Angel? Just leaving the Park. I ran into your old friend with the nightclub. Make sure I still remember that when I get in, okay?"

Probably excessive paranoia on his part, but ...

Yeah.