A Complete Gathering for Dinner
Jason and Lynne arrived back at the apartments at almost the same time. Josh let them up, and put his finger to his lips as they walked in the door, motioning to the back room. Evalyn was asleep.
"She passed out not twenty minutes after you had gone. I don't think she has slept in days..." He whispered.
Almost on cue, the buzzer went off, startling everyone.
It was Karen returning from the airport. Josh buzzed her up, as the two angels checked on Evalyn. She was still asleep.
Karen and Melanie piled into the room, and brought with them a new person.
His shirt hung out to the side, his hair was uncombed and, even though shaven, he managed to convey the image of a man who cared little for his appearance, trying as hard as he was able to dress well. A five o'clock shadow added to his distracted appearance. He put down his bags, tucked himself in, looked about and then again unsurely at Melanie for input. He was five foot eight, average to thin build, blue eyes, with yellow blond hair.
Melanie did the introductions. "Jason, Lynne, Joshua, this is Denis Sheil. He is a biochemistry student at MIT. Jason is an EMT, Joshua and Lynne are journalists from England."
"And a partridge in a pear tree..." Sang Josh softly, as he held out his hand to the man and gave him a warm smile. "Pleasure."
Jason smiled comfortingly "Welcome to my home. Please," taking his bags to one of the bedrooms "make yourself comfortable." When he returned he continued "I have taken the liberty of ordering food. It should arrive in about 10-15 minutes. I hope pizza is OK with everyone?"
"Denis, if you would like to wash up there is a bathroom off your room. I know Karen tends to travel in a hurry, so I'm sure you haven't had much time to relax. There are towels and such on the bed. I'll make sure Josh doesn't eat all of the pizza before you come out." he said with a smile and a wink at Josh.
Jason continued, softly, once the door was closed. "Karen, Lynne brought someone else back, she is the Doctor who was seen at the church when Nathaniel collapsed. We have a lot to bring you up-to-date on, but I think it might be best to do so after Denis and Evalyn, the Doctor, are in bed. They both seem pretty beat, so we can probably talk after dinner. OK?"
Karen nodded, her voice similarly quiet as she said "We've had quite a day as well. Did you find any sign of Nathaniel?"
Lynne nodded and summed up briefly, without a great deal of sympathy for the man. "Yes. I think he fell. I have a number for him at a local detective agency -- I checked it out this afternoon and it seems legit. I thought perhaps we might give him a ring tonight, if he works late. It is connected with Evalyn, but there is a possibility that he might not be irredeemable." She smiled cautiously to Jason, "At least, if Jason is as good at reading destinies as I suspect..."
"Also, we do want to make some time to talk to you about police procedure, don't we Jason?"
Karen looked as if she'd like to ask more, but with barely a pause to hear the answer to her question she glances at the closed door through which Denis went "Drat. Before we go too much further, I�d better tell you about Denis. Jason, I think I�m going to be asking rather allot from you by way of healing tonight. I've found out more about what is happening with Sonja, the one I lost while guarding"
"That is fine, it is in fact my pleasure." He said with a smile. "Unfortunately I am short on Essence, and expect to be for some time. I have a lot of preparations to do which I will go into later."
At this point in time, although Karen tried to gloss over the renewed pain at failing the duty of her word, her aura became slightly more noticeable, and those looking at her couldn�t help but notice that the giant winged panther form was hurt - her paw held off the ground and slowly bleeding, just as the blood was slowly beginning to seep through the bandage on Karen's hand.
Karen continued with barely a pause "When I attuned to Denis I saw into his future to discover that Sonja will indeed be turning up to meet him within the next week or so, but that she is either willingly or unwillingly working for those below. She will bring a virus to Denis, who has AIDS, and this will lead to his death." Her voice becomes forceful and determined as she looks around from Josh to Melanie to Lynne to Jason "I have absolutely -no- intention of losing Denis as I lost Sonja, so I�d like to ask you all for your help to try and heal him."
"I will do what I can, and I may be able to find out more about his Fate and his Destiny if it will help. Don't be surprised if Sonja is being manipulated by the same forces at work on Nathaniel and Evalyn. At least we have some time to deal with that."
Orli nodded also, more solemnly. "I have some essence if any of you need it for healing. I don't know of any way to heal AIDS though -- maybe it would be more useful to do something about that paw of yours?"
"I can understand that you want to keep your attunements safe... this time." More approval in the tone.
Karen then quickly added, her humour returning slightly as she smiled, "Oh and I have no idea how I�m going to explain this all to him... he already thinks I�m a total nutter. Frankly I don't think I�d have gotten him to even come here without Melanie's help." She then finally shut up and allowed the others to add their comments.
"If you want to freshen up a bit before dinner, feel free." was Jason�s comment.
Lynne grinned at Melanie, "Good work then!" She glance at the door Denis went through thoughtfully. Fiddling in a pocket she paused and plucked something out, turning to Josh. "Oh, I forgot about this. Thought you might like it as a souvenir, since we haven't managed to get any sightseeing in."
Her smile brightened and she gave the object a shake and passed it over.
Josh receives the small glass half orb and raised an eyebrow. He peered into its snowy depths, and caught a glimpse of the Empire State Building and the Statue of liberty. Then, unable to hold his serious expression, he grinned at Lynne. "So, we don't visit the darned things, but at least we get the merchandise?" he said in mock indignation. Melanie chuckled at him.
"Ta, dear. Seriously." He waved the glass object in the light at Lynne, then settled it down on the coffee table in front of him. The fake snow swirled about in Brownian motion, seeming both random and chaotic, yet guided by complicated forces and interactions only barely understood by mortal science.
Denis came back into the room, and smiled shyly at everyone. Lynne looks at him and concentrated carefully.
There came an abrupt buzzing at the door, and Jason let in a pizza delivery man with a large number of boxes, and paid him generously.
"Oooh... pepperoni." muttered Josh, claiming a box and whisking it away to a corner of the room, and putting it on a side table. "No one eats this till I get back..." he added tapping the box, and staring around at everyone dangerously. "I'll just go and get Evalyn. I am sure she needs something warm in her tummy."
And he left the room, to return five minutes later with Evalyn. "Denis, Evalyn. Biochemist, Doctor. In that order." He said, coming back into the room and looking about for his claimed pizza box. They shake hands awkwardly, and looked about this group of strangers for moral support.
Walking over to Evalyn and Denis, Jason guided them to the table. This gives Evalyn and Denis time to take in all of the people before introductions.
"OK, I know you're both probably pretty hungry, so I will do one quick round of introductions so everyone knows who everyone else is. Doctor Evalyn Willis, works at Mt Sinai here in NY. Denis Sheil is a bio-chemistry student at MIT in Boston. Lynne and Jason are journalists for the News of the World out of London. And Karen McKinnon and Melanie Lonard are Police Detectives from Washington D.C.. I am Jason, and am an EMT here in NY. And this is my apartment, which you are free to use as long as you like."
Sitting and grabbing some pizza he continued "I know that this is all a bit confusing, but I think after some food and a good night's sleep everything will seem a bit clearer."
Evalyn nodded to each person as they were introduced, then gently smiled her thanks to Jason, but did not speak while all these people were about her. She quietly found herself a comfortable space on a single reclining chair, and ate two slices of Pizza, occasionally staring speculatively at each angel in turn as though considering or analyzing them without judging them.
Karen greeted Evalyn as she emerged, then went to sits quietly as the pizza was dealt out and the conversation flowed, obviously troubled, but keeping it to herself. She settled on a couch and took a slice of pizza, which proceeded to get cold as she absently examines the dabs and splashes of colour on its surface.
Lynne kicked off her shoes and sat cross-legged on one of the sofas, leaving some room. She peers at Denis for a moment, then pushed her hair behind an ear and focuses a smile at the mortals.
"Biochemistry?" She waved them across. " Sounds a bit high-flying! Am I allowed to ask what your research is on.. or is it likely to be a bit over my head, Denis?"
She picked at her food as delicately as was possible with pizza and told the doctor, "You look a lot better. I only wish we could get pizza like this at home. Or on second thoughts, it's probably better for some people's waistlines, //naming no names// that we can't..."
Josh looked over in her direction with a mouthful of Pizza, and swallowed hastily to give himself the opportunity to poke his tongue out at her. Melanie covered her laughter with a delicate hand.
Denis looked about himself at the place as if finally seeing it, and then plunked himself down gently next to Lynne as though attempting to remain cool in spite of his obvious nervousness at all the strange people. "Well..." He began. "I guess it is kind of involved. But I am not actually a researcher yet. I am working on getting my degree... I am actually more of a student, really. I Do a bit of lab assistance work, mostly to pay the bills, you know, in the same office that I study in. My professor is doing work into genetic mapping of viruses. Quite important work, very complicated. It is mostly theoretical at this stage... but we have had some success in analyzing viruses and determining which genes in their makeup are characteristic and how they can be altered... In the long run it has all kinds of potential applications in virology and fighting diseases... In the long term."
Karen looked up from her reverie, slightly startled as Denis mentions fighting diseases and softly murmured "Oh so that's why..." She then trailed off, shaking her head at Melanie's questioning gaze and uttering a curt "Never mind", softened slightly by a worried smile. Her gaze quickly returned to the congealing cheese and meat on her slice of pizza, although she was obviously listening with more interest to the conversation now.
Lynne looked at him for a moment and then nodded, concentrating on food briefly. "I think it sounds fascinating -- that's a marvelous legacy to be able to leave. A new hope... You're going to finish this degree you know."
She suppressed the urge to give the guy a hug, and moved swiftly on to give her best shot at discussing interesting science-fiction books and other less painful subjects. She glanced briefly at Jason and had gained the look of an angel with a Mission...
Jason smiled, suppressing a chuckle at the thought of the transformation of a Mercurian of Judgement into a Cherub.
The dinner progressed quite quickly, and Evalyn thanked Jason then excused herself early and headed back to bed. Josh and Melanie kept up a simple line of small talk, but in short order both of them begin to edge into that tired resistance of sleep that dogged the mortals that hung around busy angels for too long. Denis in turn looked exhausted, the flight having taken more out of him than he was letting on. Lynne, sensing their individual moods, maneuvers each of them to turn in. Melanie spent a few minutes on the phone, and smiles sadly to Karen, with a mouthing of "let me know how it goes..." as she also went to find herself a cumfy bed.
And the Angels were left alone.