temptationaccomplished: (every little thing she does is magic)
Aziraphale ([personal profile] temptationaccomplished) wrote in [community profile] tramitem_log2020-04-01 01:34 am

ᴹʀ. ₐ.ᶻ. Fₑˡₗ's Aᴍᴀ𝓏ɪɴ𝓰 Aₚʀᶦʟ ᴇᴠᵉₙᴛ Cₐₜ𝒸ₕ₋ₐₗₗ ₗₒ𝓰

(Well. Not really amazing. I tried.)

Who: Aziraphale/Mr. Fell and OPEN
What: Oot & Aboot. Random encounters of the Aziraphalean kind.
When: April 1st-5th, the Truth or Lie event. Aziraphale is forced to tell the TRUTH.
Where: Various Locations, mostly Manhattan-adjacent since that's where he lives.
Rating/Warnings: Uhhh. ?? Warnings for witchcraft and witchery?

Mr. Fell goes to the NYC Public Library

Armed with his reading glasses, his book-bag, folders for organizing, a legal pad, and change enough for many, many xerox copies, he stationed himself nearest he could to the philosophy and religion sections... And set to work.

In short order, he had amassed a stack of books on various topics surrounding the art, history, mythology, and practices surrounding alchemy and witchcraft in Europe and North America. Several photocopies, post-its, and highlighings later, he had tangented into reading about Matthew Hopkins, about a James Stewart film, and about the definition of a warlock according to current iterations of a fascinating tabletop roleplaying game.

Research was going terrifically. By which I mean it was utterly frustrating.

Memories had led him to believe this was magical in nature, but nothing in any of the books were exactly what he had been doing. He had recreated some of the content[1] onto notes which were cluttering the table. A significant portion of the text wasn't in English, nor Latin, but the word Sundering appeared multiple times. The sigils varied, but there were two repeated independent of anything else in his notes: a simple glyph and a more winding shape doubling back onto itself.

He wasn't sure what Sundering ultimately was, but that appeared to be what he had been trying rather desperately, passionately to do. And he had been trying not to get caught doing it. Which was worrying, because... to sunder, by definition, seemed rather alarming.

(Later he would treat himself to a cupcake at the attached bakery and try not to think too hard about the fact that he was going to try it anyway.)


For now, though, he had his nose turned down to his bag in an urgent search and hadn't even bothered to look up to greet the newest occupant of the table: "Terribly sorry, but I seem to find myself without a pen. May I borrow one of yours?"




Mr. Fell takes a walk (after a truth-telling)

In a moment of undesirable candor, he had admitted that he was NOT sleeping well, had been accosted by men in suits, and was pretty sure he was some kind of wizard in another life.

Bridget laughed. "You've cracked. The paint fumes have finally gone to your head." He would have said more, insisted he wasn't kidding (and why? Why did he feel so suddenly free with this information? To Bridget of all people), but she had waved him off, blowing a stream of smoke from her upturned lower lip before fanning it away. "Get some fresh air, smoke a joint, get laid. Go see a show. Do whatever it is the kids do these days. You'll be fine."

She pushed a cigarette on him despite his protest of: "I haven't in ages," and then snuffed out her own with the toe of her boot.

"Then you're due. Look, I better get back in there, do the rounds, thank them all for attending, et cetera. Like I said, you'll be fine. It's a ...late midlife crisis or something."

Which left Aziraphale alone on the curbside at dusk among the dwindling crowd of gallery attendees, fidgeting with the cigarette and wholly without a lighter or match.

A walk would do him some good.





Mr. Fell goes to the pub

It was late evening and friends had cancelled, so he was alone under the reddish amber glow of the low-ceiling pub, enjoying the atmosphere. It was one of those places that looked like it had history, and did. The building and original establishment pre-dated Aziraphale's own grandfather and had once been a working-man's pub until sometime after Prohibition.

He liked it. The place felt like a pub should: kind of dark, with the smell of old tobacco and aged alcohol and wood. There was a hint of sawdust on the floor. It had billiards. It had ambiance. If it had stopped there, one might have called it charming and quaint...a bit old-fashioned, not unlike Aziraphale himself.

Instead it was cozy, cultural, with posters and flyers from now and ages past; it blurred a line between antique and avante garde. A little seedy, a bit questionable, but not boorish. Intimate but a bit loud. Nothing glitzy or fashionable or cold. Nothing too pretentious or corporate or sleek.

And the bartender wasn't half bad to look at either.





Mr. Fell ____ (Ok, so I didn't want this to get tooooo long and scare people off)

- Goes to lunch! He loves to eat.
- Buys wine! He needs to replenish after that "Mr. Fell Gone Wild" network post last month (T_T)
- Visits the cafe! And searches for a new place to find masterful scones because Anthony made the last place awkward.
- Rides the subway!/Catches a cab! Maybe even rides his bicycle!
- Make your own or suggest a personal starter!






[1] The circles resembled, for lack of easier comparison, something out of a Japanese anime that Aziraphale does not know about, but was widely popular among certain social groups in the mid-to-late 2000s, so we will assume the audience has familiarity with them and won't go into further detail. (Unrelated, but interesting, a purely meta find.)

* (Aziraphale had himself a handful of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances who classified themselves as forms of modern pagans, but aside from what he could get away with asking under the guise of "purely academic inquiry" and small-talk, he was hesitant to divulge to any of his social groups anything about the Bureau or this whole bloody mess he'd found himself wrapped up in. If nothing else, he thought it rather rude to equate whatever ridiculous fiction he had been doing in the memories with the actual practices they performed. Also, respect and prudence aside, he was simply embarrassed. So asking them was rather out of the question, not that any of them would have any idea what a Diatu was.)
traceofeffort: (013)

library, let's say Thursday;

[personal profile] traceofeffort 2020-04-01 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Lisa had been having a little bit of a stressful week, if she were being honest. After the thing with the earrings Sunday, she'd done equal parts mild handywoman work putting up a few cheap security cameras, and research into the song "she'd" played at that concert. The former had been easy enough given a stepstool, and Lisa could privately admit she'd never been so happy for her phone not to tell her something.

No, she was here this morning because she needed to do a little more research, and armed with a somewhat imposing Japanese-English dictionary and a plastic bottle full of lemonade, she'd slid into a chair at the table with an undignified huff, messenger bag softly plopped onto the table with the rest of her things. She'd come to find a little bit of solace in the earrings from the other day, now, and she relaxed a little as their weight shifted as she rummaged through her bag and pulled out a spiral notebook with a (somewhat roughly) hand-drawn symbol of a rose in blue ink, and a small sheaf of sheet music, largely blank. A few notes were filled in, but the most obvious mark was the title "LOUDER" boldly written across the top of the first sheet.

She'd gotten to the point of giving the lot a blank, lost stare before a voice close by requested a pen. She immediately went back to her bag, absently answering, "I'm not certain I have one, but I can check," as she emerged with a handful of utensils - a well-worn gel pen, a woodcase pencil, and a plain black pen, the last of which she offered across the table. "Mm, here," she prompted, before she stopped cold. I always carry half a dozen pens, why did I say that? She shook her head, wrote it off as a bad brain moment, and smiled up at the person asking for the item.
darkenedmoon: (huff)

Taking a walk, at least to start.

[personal profile] darkenedmoon 2020-04-01 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"You seem like you're in need, darling." The voice wasn't precisely a familiar one, but Yotsuyu wasn't terribly inventive when it came to the network; there's no mistaking the eyes, at the very least. She'd used a candid photo of herself. Still, here, she's smiling, even as she offers up her lighter--after lighting her own cigarette.

Demurely, she puffs her smoke down and to the side. "I suppose the lady had a point, you do look as if you could use a breath of fresh air. I can certainly keep my own counsel, if you wish to walk in silence. But if we were to end up at a place for a snack and a glass of wine or some such, I might find it in my heart to pay. Since we aren't precisely strangers."

Strange enough, perhaps, but not entirely so.
traceofeffort: (004)

[personal profile] traceofeffort 2020-04-02 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Lisa wasn't doing much better herself, but she didn't notice him shuffle things out of the way, so at least he could take that as a small mercy. Her answering smile was slight but present, until he got hiw response out, and she frowned. "Not that I'm anyone important anyway," Lisa felt herself say, before her eyebrows shot into her bangs. "Uh. That didn't come out right. But still, are you worried about what you're working on? Something important? It's not like we're going to jump down your throat for working on memory stuff. Probably," she added, not quite understanding why it came out of her mouth.
Edited (Tenses and stuff) 2020-04-02 17:53 (UTC)
darkenedmoon: (coy smirk)

[personal profile] darkenedmoon 2020-04-04 05:10 pm (UTC)(link)
"You're quite welcome," she said, taking a drag off her own cigarette again. It was a terrible vice, she knew, and one Elliott would likely glare at her for if he caught her at it, but with all the turmoil, it was a calming vice, and calm was something Yotsuyu desperately needed at this time in her life.

"Hardly, I suggested it!" Yotsuyu couldn't help but pick at the bone of contention. She was somewhat argumentative normally, it was true, but she was also afflicted with honesty lately, it seemed. "I am willing to walk, however. Perhaps we'll have to do it again, then, so I might repay the favor. Normally I am not so forward, but you're quite memorable. I believe I saw you at one of the meetings." She didn't elaborate, but it was fairly certain Mr. Fell would know which one she meant.
serpentinthegarden: (Always with shades)

Mr. Fell takes a walk (after a truth-telling) - 2nd

[personal profile] serpentinthegarden 2020-04-07 04:42 am (UTC)(link)
Grace had been very understanding. She always was but she also hadn't grasped very much of what he had said. Saying I had this terrible dream elicited immediate sympathy but some how she hadn't understood how real the dream had felt or how oddly it had mirrored something a stranger had said to him the month before. He had gone for a drive after that, just left Grace's place, climbed onto his motorcycle and taken off. Anthony had driven for hours. He half wondered as he drove if he would ever see that odd little man again or even if he should. There were so many new thoughts and feelings that required mulling over that even though he had to stop for a light he almost missed seeing the white haired fellow standing on the sidewalk.

Mr. Fell. He did stand out in a crowd and he almost looked lost as he fumbled with the cigarette hanging from his mouth. It was an automatic response, barely thought out. Anthony pulled over to the curb as if he were parking and lifted the visor on his helmet.

"Bad habit those."
serpentinthegarden: (Calm plotting)

[personal profile] serpentinthegarden 2020-04-07 07:04 am (UTC)(link)
Anthony's head bobbed as he glanced back out at the traffic he had just left.

"There's not much joy in it."

His own candor surprised him but once freed it simply couldn't be stopped. It was just how it had been with Grace. One moment they had been having a nice spot of tea and building a cat tree and the next he had been telling her everything he had up until that point been trying to keep hidden.

"I've been driving around for hours, trying to make sense of things... and searching for all the crepe shops. You know there really aren't that many, not good ones. It's ridiculous."

With a light frown he glanced back at Mr Fell, finding very little welcome in his eyes but oddly enough not recognizing that as much of a barrier at all.

"You've been on my mind since we last talked."
serpentinthegarden: (Listening)

[personal profile] serpentinthegarden 2020-04-07 06:24 pm (UTC)(link)
"Some one is... or I thought they were."

Maybe he had been left with the wrong impression or maybe things like that didn't transfer. Mr. Fell wouldn't know a good crepe from a bad one? So... searching for a French restaurant for the good ones wouldn't be worth anything? It left him a touch puzzled, so that he looked back to his bike's switches and dials as if checking the gas gauge when really he was just wondering where to go from here.

He understood he had left an impression, a rather bad one he suspected what with that whole accusing Mr. Fell of being a hitman and all. It was a moment. Everyone had moments!

"You wouldn't want to go have some?"

Anthony looked up, trying to catch those eyes just to judge how well received that question might have been.

"Cafe Triskell. It's supposed to have the best genuine French cuisine in Astoria."
serpentinthegarden: (We talk together)

[personal profile] serpentinthegarden 2020-04-07 09:09 pm (UTC)(link)
He wondered if the sorry to disappoint would continue into a polite refusal of the lunch offer. It would have been justified, he supposed. Who would want to sit down to eat with some one who had loudly accused them of being a hitman... anyway maybe it was a mob thing instead. Not that that thought made it any better.

Anthony reached around behind him and unlatched a second helmet from the seat. These days he always carried one with him, it was the law if you had a passenger. This was held out towards Mr. Fell on silent offer.

"This will be my treat. A way to apologize for the first time."
traceofeffort: (023)

[personal profile] traceofeffort 2020-04-08 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
"Fantastic," Lisa drawled, as she picked up her own pen and twirled it briefly. "I'm certain attracting much more of their attention will end well." Because really, it can only get so much worse from here... well no, that's not quite true. It can still get quite a bit worse, can't it?

Her eyes widen at the explanation, though. "Magic...? Holy shit. That's-" totally insane- "actually plausible? Look at everything else people are talking about. Wonder if it'd work here. Uh. If you could do it without burning something down," she quickly adds. "Which is probably what you're researching, then. It'd be exciting if you had a risk like that, wouldn't-"

That gets her attention again, and she claps a hand over her mouth. After a second, she cautiously uncovers her mouth, muttering, "What...?"
serpentinthegarden: (Edgy)

[personal profile] serpentinthegarden 2020-04-08 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
"Relax. I haven't gotten anyone killed yet."

The bike bounced a touch on its shocks as Mr. Fell settled into place behind him but his newness to the art of riding was readily apparent when his hands hesitated in taking a firm enough hold. It was a very common issue with new riders. They never did know where to put their hands.

"Right, I'm going to need you to hold on to my waist tighter than that. I'm not a china doll, you can't hurt anything."

Anthony waited until Mr. Fell had a firmer hold and checked to make sure his feet were securely on the foot-pegs before gliding the machine back out into traffic. It was a slow start. Naturally one didn't jet out into traffic with a new rider, not unless they wanted to send their passenger tumbling across lanes of cars. Once they were out on the freeway however Anthony opened her up. Here there was no need to worry about traffic lights or cars slowing suddenly to turn around a corner so they could pick up speed, just enough to flummox the police but not enough to really get into trouble. He loved the feel of the wind whipping past them, the speed which coursed through the tires as they tore over the assault. Sadly it barely took them any time at all to make it to their exit ramp and the bike's pace naturally slowed as they entered start and stop residential traffic.

Anthony pulled up to the curb in front of a small cafe. It's woodwork had been painted a bright red and there was a small grouping of tables and chairs out front for those wishing to eat out of doors with more inside for those you preferred eating with a roof over their heads. The key turned in his hand and the bike rumbled to a stop.

"Still with me, Mr. Fell?"
darkforcerising: (Default)

Chess in the park

[personal profile] darkforcerising 2020-04-09 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
"Do you prefer speed chess or a slower pace?" Anakin started out asking, like he did with everyone who sat down across from him. He usually left it up to the other player to decide, not giving any more insight into how he played. But today he felt like adding more.

"I'm terrible at a slow pace, so if you want to win, then you should go that route." That was a bit more honesty than he we used to sharing from the get go, but he supposed it wasn't a terrible thing.
serpentinthegarden: (Always with shades)

[personal profile] serpentinthegarden 2020-04-10 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Tittering. Mr. Fell was tittering. Not with a barely suppressed laugh but verbally, just saying anything that seemed to come to mind. Anthony watched the display with wry amusement as he kicked down the stand and worked at freeing himself from his helmet. He had never seen anyone carry on quite like that before and oddly enough it seemed to stir some sort of barely remembered feeling. He couldn't put a name on the emotion but it was endearing watching the stuffy little fellow figuratively letting his hair down. He looked so happy, almost glowing... Anthony might even have called it cute so long as no one was around to hear it.

Anthony's helmet was strapped down to the seat and as soon as Mr. Fell's was removed it joined it's partner on the bike. Mr. Fell was right. The small establishment did look quaint. It was one of those hidden gems, a small business tucked away in a very narrow space which some one had managed to turn into something special through their ingenuity and skill.

"Outdoor seating work for you?"

He smiled as he took up one of the outdoor chairs and reached for one of the menus conveniently placed in the center of the table for walk ins. He had suggested crepes and there were two sorts to chose from, the more savory lunch variety or there was the sweet dessert version. It proved more difficult to chose between them than he had anticipated but he did feel he ought to order before, potentially, making things awkward between he and Mr. Fell again.

"I think... I'll go with the Scottish Smoked Salmon Crepe and a Cappuccino. It's been a while since I've been home and that feels nostalgic."
serpentinthegarden: (You are so weird)

[personal profile] serpentinthegarden 2020-04-10 09:02 pm (UTC)(link)
The waiter who had been Johnny on the Spot once they had both taken their seats wrote down the two orders and disappeared back inside.

"My father was Scottish, Mother is English. We had a little place up in Hexham. Have you heard of it? Might not have... Londoners like you don't usually travel that far north."

The menu was folded and set back onto the middle of the table as he pondered over why he had left. It wasn't a subject he spoke very much about not even with his family, but now the words fairly tumbled from him.

"I think I just wanted to get away. I had spent so long trying to do what was expected, getting into the right schools, trying not to disappoint anyone... And knowing I was going to fail at that as soon as the family found out the things I was doing in my free time... I just needed space. America seemed to be the place to go for that. There are all those road trip movies. It looked like fun."

He frowned and drew himself away from the table as he looked at Mr. Fell like the man had cast some sort of hex on him.

"I've never told anyone that before. Not even Lilith when she finally caught up with me in New York."

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