Truth or Dare: Nexus Edition

[the_rebel_son]

Lucifer isn't quite sure how this madness started. The angels had opened up the council chamber for visitors and of course Beelzebub had started them drinking, then they got rowdy and people started joining them. Who had brought up the idea of Truth or Dare was unknown but it rippled through the amassing group to a uniform good idea, despite the objective nature of it being a disaster.

Then there was some vote that Lucifer missed where Galahad, Prometheus, and Belial were made judges to keep things in line. That might have been the most reasonable and sane thing since this conversation started. Chairs were rearranged to a big circle.. and all the chairs from the villa had been taken. It was crowded, specially when they decided the judges should have chaises to lounge on. This was some true ancient Greek style madness with the drinking and the topics that were sure to come up. Still, it was all fun and games, right?


Rules of the Road:
1. Top level with your character.
2. Note if you are opting this in as canon for Nexus. This may be done in top level or in individual responses (If there is any questions about this please seek out players OOC.. Discord, PM in Dw etc)
3. A character may only ask truth or dare of the same character once.
4. However, a character may ask as many different characters as they please.
5. Characters may ask questions without doing a top level. However the 1 per the same character applies
6. If your character is crossing threads for a dare, please link back to the original comment where the dare was issued.
7. When in doubt ask?

Comments

[sacredeyes]

"I think it's better for the people here if the church stands without a priest." She comments. "Unless one shows up here that can be as unbiased as I am toward the visitors."

She smiles modestly as the conversation turns to Lucifer. "He seems kind despite the scriptures. It makes me wonder of his counterpart in my home. It's troubling to question my faith but it's worse to hold false witness against someone else."

She takes a long time considering Aziraphale's question. She didn't do much for herself and then she smiled broadly. "I spend time with Agatha. It makes her happy, too. Or singing."

[sohoangel]

"That'd be a tall order," he muses. "Especially for a priest, as they are most often tied to one specific religion. But, anyway, the church has you, my dear, that's more than enough for it to stand."

Aziraphale smiles sympathetically. "I've already struggled with that for quite some time. My Heaven had many things to say about demons, which Crowley has proven untrue. Although if it helps you any, we all come from different worlds. What is true in one might not be true in another. All we can do is extend the grace that God has given us to others."

In the time it takes her to answer, the angel starts to worry if he'd asked too personal a question. When she responds brightly, he smiles in relief. "Oh, that's delightful... er, who is Agatha?"

[sacredeyes]

"I know it may not be true for my home." She smiles a little more. "I'd like to find out sometime, what kind of Lucifer lives in my world."

She looks around the room, mostly down low. The angels had all but taken Agatha as soon as she had arrived with her. "Agatha?"

There's a little high pitched yap and a pure white Pomeranian comes running across the tile floor so fast she is sliding. Peninnah opens her arms and the little pup jumps up on her lap. "This is Agatha. She was a gift from a friend in New York."

The little dog is already trying to climb into the angel's lap to sniff him.

[sohoangel]

"I hope you find an answer to your satisfaction," he replies, although he looks a bit concerned. "The Lucifer lives up to the scriptures. But he has far less influence on humanity than some would have you believe."

Aziraphale also looks around instinctively, although he has no idea who or what he's looking for. His curiosity is quickly rewarded when the little dog comes running up to Peninnah. "Oh! A dog!" He smiles and laughs when the creature tries to climb in his lap. "Oh, she's adorable! Is it all right if I pick her up? Just to set her in my lap."

He offers a hand to the soft white pup to sniff. The angel smells like old books and cocoa, and a bit like the wine he had been enjoying earlier.

[sacredeyes]

She pauses looking down at her lap before sighing and returning her eyes to the angel. "I don't know that I want to go back home again."

It wasn't exactly sadness she felt but a sense of loss that also brought happiness. "I fit in better here than I do at home."

"Yes, She's very friendly." Peninnah beams with cheer. She did love the little dog. Aziraphale is likely to find he has a wiggly dog that adore to lick faces and get affection.

[sohoangel]

"Well, I'm not entirely surprised. You've made a home and a purpose for yourself here." He smiles at her kindly. "There's no reason that you can't go back now and again. I can keep an eye on the church for you when you aren't around."

Once given her approval, the angel wastes no time in scooping up Agatha and depositing her on his lap. He is immediately rewarded with doggie kisses all up and down his face. "Ah!" he laughs helplessly while Agatha licks his neck, but doesn't mind in the slightest. Dog does the same thing to him when he gets a chance.

Finally, he settles her down with some petting. "What a sweet dear. She's like a little cloud."

[sacredeyes]

"I really don't want to." She looks down at her hands in her lap. "My home's not nice to things that aren't human."

However, as usual, Agatha and her excitement over the angel brightens her mood. She even giggles, hand covering her mouth.

"She is! It takes a lot of brushing and someone bites the brush." She leans in and Agatha bounds up to lick her face.

[sohoangel]

Peninnah has only alluded to her past, but he sympathizes easily, reaching over to pat her arm. "You certainly don't need to. In fact, I dare say that your presence here is necessary. In all my wanderings about the Nexus, I have yet to find another house of worship that is so welcoming to all."

The little dog is very good at brightening the mood. Aziraphale continues to giggle, even when Agatha switches targets to her owner. "Oh dear, someone likes to get fresh with the hair brush. The result is certainly worth it, though." He admires Agatha's fluffy fur before sighing wistfully. "I have often considered getting a pet of my own. I love dogs, but they require a lot of care, and up until recently I was at Heaven's beck and call. Even now, I'm not sure how well one would tolerate a bookshop. They are so precious, though. Such a joie de vivre, and so affectionate, too."

[sacredeyes]

The compliment brings a bright smile, and a faint blush to her cheeks. "Thank you. Everyone deserves a place where they're welcome."

The already bright smile broadens as the angel speaks so fondly of animals. Peninnah wouldn't trade her dog for anything. "Maybe you could foster one? Or dog sit instead of having one all the time?"

It would help people and dogs. That was a worth cause for an angel.

[sohoangel]

"In the Nexus more than anywhere else, I'd imagine." The eclectic collection of residents and visitors is proof enough of that.

"Foster?" he repeats curiously, before his expression turns thoughtful. "That would be more of a short-term commitment, wouldn't it? A few weeks and then it'd be ready for a new family."

Or he'd grow so attached to it that he'd end up adopting it. In fact, given all possibilities, that was most likely.

"I'd need to talk about it with Crowley, of course. The bookshop is his home, too."

[sacredeyes]

She nodded agreement. "So many are here to get away from oppression or being outcast at home."

She listens and brightens. "One of the nuns would pet sit, especially for soldiers who were called to war or someone who was taking care of a sick relative or if they were traveling. That was only a few days or weeks sometimes."


Peninnah really enjoyed the idea of pets, especially in her isolation. Agatha never turned away from or was upset by her form. Before the Nexus, she was the only one.

[sohoangel]

"That is certainly true. I have a home for myself in my world, but even I appreciate the fact that I don't have to hide my nature in the Nexus." Even if he rarely chooses to let out his wings.

A few days in a row also sounds manageable to Aziraphale. He's definitely warming up to the idea of fostering or pet-sitting. "You know, I did care for a rabbit for a few days. His name was Harry, I was using him for a magic show. Terribly sweet fellow, all white like Agatha here. Things, ah... got a little intense immediately after my performance, so I gave him to a nice family in the neighborhood. That's my only recent experience with animals."

He decides it's better not to mention the dove he accidentally let asphyxiate in his sleeve. (At least it got better!)

[sacredeyes]

"I believe that is why this place is beautiful. It is the love and acceptance to be found here." She would understand the hidden wings. Hers also remained hidden most of the time.

"Rabbits are adorable." She can definitely see the angel with a rabbit in his lap, petting it. "Do you visit Harry?"

There's a brief pause and a smile. "I didn't have any experience with animals before Agatha. My friend's dog had puppies that needed homes and he brought one to me when I was living alone."

There are many fond memories of the tiny, barely a tea cup of a puppy that she had received all that time ago. Many things had changed since then.

[sohoangel]

Aziraphale has an affinity for rabbits, especially the white ones. Perhaps subconsciously feels as though he has something in common with them. The question, however, has him looking somewhat embarrassed. "I used a bit of magic to have the family believe that they'd always owned Harry. I think it'd be peculiar to have an acquaintance ask to see their rabbit, so I haven't tried."

In truth, he likely could have handled that situation better, but he and Crowley had less than a week to find the real Antichrist and somehow stop Armageddon, the angel didn't think he had the time to explain and formally hand over Harry to the family.

"He's much better off with the Johnsons, they can give him the care he needs." He blinks and smiles at her admission. "Is that so? You were a fast learner, then. What are the parts of owning a dog that are the hardest work, in your opinion?"

[sacredeyes]

"I understand. It's good that you found him a loving home." She doesn't want him to feel embarrassed about his choices if it was in the animal's best interest.

"oh." She's a little surprised by both the compliment and the questions. "Thank you. I had help learning. Training is hard because you have to be stern and unwavering even when they're being cute... and you always have to be there for them. It changes how you live. If I'm going to be gone for too long I have to take Agatha with me or find someone to care for her."

Now that Peninnah thinks about it, maybe that is a benefit to these angels being so close by. Fallen they are but she's never seen cruelty in them, especially toward animals.

[sohoangel]

He smiles sheepishly, appreciating her understanding. "I'd only had him a short time, anyway. I'm sure he's much happier with a whole family to look after him. Rabbits are social creatures."

Compared to him, Peninnah is a dog expert, so he listens closely to her answer, unconsciously nodding and looking a bit stern himself as per her recommendation. Of course, his expression immediately melts into a smile as soon as he looks at Agatha again. No doubt any cute animal in his care is going to walk all over him.

"Yes, that's the main hangup of mine, who might care for a pet if I owned one and had to be away. I do have a number of friends I could call on, at least." Peninnah could find any number of competent caretakers here, although if she left Agatha in Beelzebub's care, the little dog will likely be returned wearing armor.

[sacredeyes]

"I don't know much about rabbits except that they seem fond of living in cemeteries." Most of Peninnah's up close interactions with rabbits had been in those conditions. Though, she didn't travel much so her experience was limited in many ways.

"Agatha is small enough that I usually take her with me." However, she could think of situations where she might not be able to take her along. It was true that there were many here she would trust, and that was still a surprise given how many fallen angels were in this room. However, war-like didn't mean cruel and that was a lesson she was learning. Her smile brightens though.

"If you want practice, you can come spend time with Agatha. She adores visitors and is well behaved."

[sohoangel]

"Is that so? I know that they live in burrows. A cemetery must be a nice, quiet place for them to live."

Agatha isn't that much bigger than a rabbit, come to think of it. He wonders what it would be like to have a little animal companion to keep him company during the day. Or does Crowley already fill that role? Technically he's a serpent... not very little, though. He amuses himself with the thought of carrying Crowley about as a large snake before returning his attention to Peninnah.

"Oh, may I?" He beams at the idea. "I would like that very much, my dear."

[sacredeyes]

"Of course." She brightens at his obvious excitement. "I may return to my own world, in the summer, for a few days, if you feel confident to babysit for me until I return."

[sohoangel]

"I'd be honored," he replies, thrilled at the thought of watching Agatha. "I'll read all I can on the matter of caring for dogs so that I'm fully prepared."

He smiles at the small, furry canine, delighted at the opportunity. This will be excellent practice if he decides to foster a dog of his own. He'll bring it up with Crowley, but he's certain that the demon will not mind an addition to their household for a few days in the summer.

[sacredeyes]

Penninah leans over and gives the angel a gentle hug. "Thank you."

She pulls away smiling. "No, I shouldn't take up all your time among your own people, or close to your own people." She pauses worrying her lip. "Do you consider them all your kin? The fallen, I mean, and well I guess the ones from other places?"

[sohoangel]

Aziraphale returns the hug easily and then settles back in his seat. "We'll have a wonderful time, won't we?" he says to Agatha, although he doesn't expect her to answer.

"Oh, I don't mind, dear, although perhaps I should make the rounds a bit before I leave." The question surprises him and he has to think on it a moment, hands folded in his lap. "Lucifer and his court have been extremely welcoming to me, and despite our opposing theologies, we share a love and compassion for humanity... so, yes, I do view them as kin. And Balthazar, certainly, he's the only other angel I've ever met who's anything like me."

The angel's smile is bittersweet. It is a wonderful feeling to be regarded with affection and respect from other celestial entities, but it also highlights how cold and distant the angels on his world were. The ones that should have been his kin treated him like anything but.

[sacredeyes]

"No, I shouldn't keep you from your other friends."

Peninnah looks down, slightly embarrassed. "I was curious. Lucifer has been very nice to me and.. and I was worried it was trickery. I try not to judge people but the scriptures and writings make him sound to be deadly. I trust your judgement of his character."

[sohoangel]

Aziraphale smiles at Peninnah reassuringly, leaning forward a bit to hopefully catch her gaze. "It is perfectly reasonable to be cautious. I was much the same way when I first spoke with him, and I'm sure that I handled it with far less grace than you did. But I can say with confidence that Lucifer's kindness is genuine. He is certainly not immune to pride, but he won't abuse your goodwill or otherwise betray you."

There is a pause before the angel adds ruefully, "He does like to tease, but it's all meant in fun, and I suspect that I get the brunt of it because he sees me like a little brother."

[sacredeyes]

She's glad for the understanding and leans close to the angel beside her. "I was worried about the church, but I think I like having it so close to his Villa. One of the angels came to purify the church and bless it."

She giggles at his comment. "He harasses me about being tiny and my hair."