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tampered2006-10-14 12:34 pm
againstgod.livejournal.com) wrote in tampered2006-10-14 12:34 pm
Log; Complete
When; The day Del arrived, afternoon.
Rating; PG for Del's saliva bubbles.
Characters; Delirium (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
timebreaks) & Alexiel (againstgod).
Summary; Del enlists Alex’s help to find her doggie in the City.
Log;
Delirium thinks something happened. She thinks she was somewhere not here before this and now she is here so something must have happened. Then again, before this moment she was here. Maybe everywhere is here anyway so before this she was here and now she is here and she will always be here. That makes her confused, but she is always confused anyway so that's alright.
There are pretty white lights lining the street and Del thinks they would be prettier if only they are pink or crimson, or orange. She does not like mangoes very much because there was once this one man who tripped on a banana peel and broke his nose and then he just went all froggy.
...
Was she talking about oranges?
She tilts her head sideways so that the line of lights would look horizontal and not vertical. Horizontal is good whereas vertical is also good. "oOoOOhHH~" she widens her eyes while letting herself fall to her left, keeping both her arms right beside her body and not stopping herself from hitting the ground. Del likes the ground, it is huge and rough and horizontal, only not, because now it's vertical.
The lines of lights look like an equal sign now, but one side of the sign is not so equal. Del does not mind it, she thinks she is also unequal sometimes. Maybe. She blinks and finally remembers what she was doing before now. "pReTty bIrDiE iS nOt hErE yEt~"
Rosiel was mightily upset with the new arrival but, this time, Alexiel couldn’t blame him. The girl’s (Delirium, a fitful name for someone with a personality just like hers) aura was like a kaleidoscope: it changed and swirled with the colors of the rainbow.
That was enough to give them a headache at least and Rosiel was sensitive to the mental imbalances unlike her.
An aura like that was easy to track as well. It saved her from scouting the City from the air. Seldom did Alexiel fly in public unless she must. She never liked to draw attention onto herself.
There is the aura, the Organic Angel concluded, moving across the streets, right out Misery Square, cloaked in sober grays and browns. The noise of the remolding of the new deities summed to the distracting ticking of the countdown clock. The rainbow grew as Alexiel reached the source of the tick-tock and found Delirium wandering aimlessly on the zone.
Smiling at the loud statement Delirium uttered, the angel ventured closer to the younger looking girl, enough to make her presence known and not startle her. “I’m sorry for the delay, I decided to take a… human route,” Alexiel apologized, removing her hood and offering her hand to shake. “I’m Alexiel. Shall we look for your dog?”
Delirium lets herself fall to her back when a voice addresses her. The voice sounds smooth, like hot chocolate with pretty marshmallows on top, or ice cream, a very pretty ice cream. Looking up, Del grins delightedly at Alexiel; she knew pretty birdie will be pretty! "tHat'S oKaY," she rolls over and stands up quickly, almost tumbling from the speed. "i'M dELiRiUm~" she takes Alexiel's hand, still with a slightly lopsided grin. "uHM. i tHiNk i'Ve SaiD tHaT beFOrE..."
She bites her nail in confusion, looking at Alexiel's foot instead of her face. Even her foot is very pretty. Alexiel's words regarding her dog flew past her without even a slight notice. Scratching the half of her head that is almost bald, she ponders what it was she meant to say before. "i WaS pReTTy oNCe," she starts, "LiKe fLutTerBiEs, bUt nOt wItH tHe FLapPy." Del makes a flapping gesture with her hands to accompany her words.
She thinks Alexiel came here with a Purpose, like Scary Bro usually does. He never comes without a Purpose, but Del often finds it hard to hold on to hers so she just makes one up along the way sometimes. "aRe yOu pUrPoSEy?"
Alexiel returned her shake with one of her own - her grasp was firm but light as a feather. Nearing the Endless, she caught the scent of old leather and other smells she could was not able to place, it was dizzying but not unpleasant. Her smile depended when Delirium started to babble, confused and acted erratic; it was a curious attitude that stirred her protective instincts.
Gently placing a hand on Del’s shoulder, she boldly touched the girl’s multicolored hair with wonder. Like her aura, it changed of length and shade. Marvelous. “You’re wrong, Delirium,” Alexiel changed, “You are still pretty in my eyes. You changed but that doesn’t make you ugly.”
Changing, rotting, evolving, and devolving. Rosiel was able to. Alexiel was not.
Delirium had a touch of Rosiel in her. There was a longing of what they used to be and were no longer.
“My purpose?” Alexiel asked, blinking at the question. She tilted her head, twisting her rose lips as if guessing the Endless thought the angel was taking advantage of her for something nefarious. It was almost insulting. But she couldn’t blame her. She was a stranger. “My purpose is to help you. But, I admit, I was curious to meet you as well.” She grinned, shrugging her shoulders in a lay-back manner. “Shall we, then? Or have you changed your mind?”
No, no, Delirium is not pretty, Desire is, or Older Sister, but not Delirium. No one has ever actually told her that she is ugly, and maybe she is not, but she is definitely not pretty. Delirium is delirious, just like how Dream is dreamy. Maybe. "i'M nOt FLaPpY oR bEnDy tHoUgH," Alexiel is flappy and bendy, so Delirium has decided that she is Very Pretty. Not Prettiest though, because that would be Desire, even if she is more bendy than it is.
Alexiel said too many words; first she said all Purposey things then she changed to all Curiousy and now Delirium is confused. She is not sure of which one she should answer, the Purposey or the Curiousy. They seem equally important. "uHM," she tilts her head, trying to rearrange Alexiel's words into something she might be able to understand. 'help to you My purpose is. admit, I But was I meet you curious was well as. then we, Shall? you Or changed mind your have?'
"cHaNgE~ CHaNGe~" she starts singing after giving up (or forgetting) what she was trying to do with all those words. Twirling around with one arm outstretched and another on her hips, Delirium looks like a spinning toy gone berserk. "oH," she stops immediately then looks at her toes which have different finger puppets on each. "dOgGiE!" Delirium is feeling very accomplished.
Alexiel watched the delirious girl babble once again. She was a patient being, despite her impulsive nature sometimes, she could wait until she finished everything to answer. It depended of the element she was in tune for sometimes - the rational wind, the emotional water, the explosive fire or the serene earth.
“You’re a different kind of beauty,” she protested, offering her hand to start looking for the dog. “To me, you’re very pretty, Delirium.” She paused and cleared her throat, noticing Del did not understand a word she had spoken. “Yes, I came to help you to look for your doggie,” she assured the Endless, her hand still on the same position whilst Del spun and twirled in merry abandon.
Delirium and the carousel were alike when she moved herself as that, both dazzling without trying but for the purpose of existing. Alexiel’s smile faded, looking sad to reach that conclusion. She mused about choices and if Delirium possessed the ability to choose.
"yOu'RE nICE~" she adds a lilt to the end of her sentence while hesitantly curling her fingers around Alexiel's. Delirium thinks that Alexiel is different, not in the weird kind of different, but simply different. The other Pretty Birdie she met before was quite unlike Alexiel, but Delirium cannot quite put her finger on where the difference lies, not that she is good at putting her fingers on things, like cake. "LiKE cAkE," she voices her thoughts although not quite meaning it to be related to what she said earlier at all.
Delirium stands on her tiptoes while looking at the Carousel with wide eyes containing neither fear nor shock. The horses are pretty. There are so many pretty things in this place, she thinks she will like this place very much. If she can find Barnabas. She drops back on her heels and scrunches up her face as if trying to make her forehead and cheeks swallow her different-colored eyes. She does not like this place if Barnabas is not here.
Like a sulking child, she drops herself to the ground while still holding on to Alexiel's hand. She crosses her arms while keeping up her weird face. Pouting her lips, she spurts spit bubbles in the shape of puzzle pieces and elephants and mushrooms. Delirium also spurts out the letters 'doGgiE' before blowing one in the shape of Saturn from her nose.
Nice like cake. She knew the girl did not mean to but, having lived in a world where angel flesh was consumed and being one of the sinners who partake on it, Alexiel shuddered inwardly, the grip on Del’s hand tightened. It was a fleeting reaction, before she reminded herself that Delirium was merely complimenting her.
“Sometimes I am,” Alexiel pondered, her voice was sullen. “But that doesn’t change who I am.” She was about to move forward, to take a step to advance in the quest when Delirium distracted herself again. The angel was noticing the constant erratic and absent-mind behavior of the Endless and wondered how she managed to live that way.
It fascinated her. How different Delirium was from most beings, there were shades of Mad Hatter and Rosiel but in a more concentrated manner.
Alexiel turned fully, looking down to watch the amusing antics that the child-like being pulled. She started to clap in wonder at the bubbles that changed shape and Saturn. But her patience worn thin and deemed it was better for them to move. Too much stasis, made her sluggish. When she felt tired, she would sleep to never awake in a long time. Or so she always feared.
With a smirk, Alexiel declared: "Forgive me, but up you go!"
Bending down, the Organic Angel swiftly reached for the Youngest of the Endless, sweeping her off into her thin but strong arms. She was so thin, almost weightless. Gallantly, Alexiel inclined her head and moved forward. "Call your dog," she suggested.
When Alexiel lifted her up, Delirium suddenly forgot what she was doing on the ground. But it does not matter now because she is not on the ground anymore. "WhEeEEe~" Delirium outstretches her hand as if she is going to fly out of Alexiel's arms. She likes being lifted around, like when Dream's dragon-thing did. It was fun. Like Disneyland, without the giant not-green mouses.
"dOgGiE~" she obeys Alexiel's suggestion, "DoOoOOgGiEe~" she puckers her lips unnecessarily, letting out more spit bubbles with alphabetic shapes. A few of them gathered in the air into discernable words while others shifted into other shapes, like giant mouses only not so giant. "yOuR hEaD's nOt cOloRfuLly," she comments while letting a shaped bubble get out of her nose with a soft plopping sound. "nOT LiKe hIM."
Shifting in Alexiel's arms, Del puts her face quite uncomfortably close to Alexiel's. "i CaN pUt cOLoRs iN yOuR hEaD," she suggests, "i'Ll pIcK tHE nIcEsT ONeS, LiKe vIRiDiAN."
Delirium was having fun while Alexiel played both, the white stallion and the knight in shinning armor. That did not bother the angel in the slightest, no matter how Delirium moved and stretched; her slender arms were like marble.
Several heads turned to watch the pair cross the streets beneath the neon flashing lights. Alexiel paid no heed to their amazement or mocking, she limited to keep her route, eyes wondering to the saliva bubbles sometimes. Rosiel would have disliked that habit immensely. But, she had always been his polar opposite.
“Him?” asked Alexiel, curious about the identity of the said person. “No, my hair is of a boring shade of brown.” Nothing stopped the angel’s stroll, not even when Delirium shifted to face her at eyelevel, she returned to look with a serene expression. Nudity, closeness, lack of manners and nasty habits did not make her uncomfortable. There were natural things she could understand as someone raised alone in a cage disguised as garden.
“You could try,” Alexiel explained gently, sighing at the suggestion. Rosiel's expression when she returned home would worth it. “But my body doesn’t change, I don’t know if it will work.”
"tHe uGLy bIrDiE, bUT noT tHe sQuaWKy oNe," Del replies, while blowing colored spit bubbles. "nO, i MeAn iNsIDe LikE gLasS bOwLy," she taps her own head as if to accent on her words. "tHeRE aREn'T aNy fIsHiE eItHeR," she frowns in displeasure at this while letting a trail of fluorescent green spit roll down the side of her lips. Sometimes she hates going all fishie, but it feels better after she has gathered herself back, so Del likes fishies quite well. It must be hard if you cannot go fishie once in awhile.
"dOgGiE dOEsn'T cHaNGe eiTHeR bUt i MaDe hIm gROw mUSHrOoMs oNce," she grins proudly at Alexiel, displaying her rainbow-colored teeth. "uHM. hE dIdN't liKe iT," she pouts her lips in thought, "hE sAid tHiNgS LiKe 'messing around with nature' aNd 'how dare you' LiKE ThAt." She puts her arms around Alexiel's neck and rests her head on his shoulder, blowing one last pink spit bubble with a bored look on her face.
"mY LeAst fAvOriTe cOlor iS tuRtLeS," she states with a hilariously serious look on her face. That is of utmost importance, so Del must put on the Importantly face like Dream always does. Everyone listens to him when he puts on that look and it is very necessary that Alexiel knows this one fact about her so she must use that look. She wonders if she should change her hair to something like his but finds it too hard to maintain the same hairstyle all over her head so she gives up on it.
Ugly birdie? “Another angel?” Alexiel asked again, puzzled about the comparison. Was someone she knew or an angel from Del’s world, perhaps? She didn’t quite understand the Endless’ point after the mention of the angel. It wasn’t surely something she was supposed to know.
She spun a corner, making her away out of the carousel zone or misery square district. The new ‘deities’ were running about doing changes there and she preferred to not interfere with that. The number of people around them diminished as soon they stepped near Xanadu. Alexiel could smell the sweet vanilla perfume of the flowers from her position. The contact with the serene soil soothed her soul. It was quieter but there were no signs of any canine either.
“Hmm, I think I could change if I really, really wanted to,” Alexiel contemplated bemused. “But, like your dog says, it wouldn’t be natural, it could disturb nature itself.” She recalled that some of the angels were affected in their performance by the simple hair trimming. When the girl leaned on her neck to rest, the angel reached out to brush her hair tenderly, still holding her tightly with her other arm.
“Turtles?” she repeated, her voice wasn’t mocking, just surprised. She could not judge without knowing if there wasn’t a turtle color where Del came from. Probably not, but there was an important matter for her. “My least favorite colors are God and blood,” she replied with equal seriousness, shooting Delirium a thoughtful look. “Should we scan the City from the sky? If you see your dog, I’ll land.”
"oKaY~" she replies quite absent-mindedly while still trying to figure out how 'god' and 'blood' looks like. Perhaps they are new colors that Alexiel just made and if they are then Del wants to know about them. But 'blood' and 'god' rhymes with 'rod' and rod is not a very interesting color. Del thinks she likes platypus color better than rod. "tHe cHeRrY sToNEs tOLd mE i'Ll bE a kAngArOo wHEn i gRoW uP," she tells Alexiel while leaning her head against the angel's neck.
She would like to be a kangaroo, she thinks, going all jumpy and pockety sounds very nice. Del wonders whether kangaroos can grow mushrooms on their head or not, because she likes growing mushrooms and it wouldn't be so nice if she can't once she grows up. "wHaT's tHAt wOrD whEn yOu wANt tO bE sOmEtHInG bUt tHeN yOu rEALiSe yOu aRe ALreAdy tHAt sOmEtHiNg bUT yOu dOn'T wAn'T tO bE tHaT sOMEtHiNG aNYmOrE?"
Del thinks she really needs to know what the word is because Scary Bro told her what it is once but she forgot. She doesn't really want to tell Scary Bro that she has forgotten because then he might make that sound like the one a huge squishy bed crushed by a thousand and twenty one bugs plus a kangaroo makes. Del doesn't like that sound, it makes her go wobbly.
As soon as Del agreed, Alexiel held her close with both arms and manifested her three wings. She took a small jump before soaring into the sky; the rustle of the wings showered the entrance of Xanadu Garden with glowing, white feathers. The afternoon breeze was gentle at the height the angel was flying; her eyes hawked the ground in search of any clue of a possible dog nearby without success.
“A kangaroo, you say? Mmm,” murmured Alexiel, thinking how to handle that conversation. She had a fondness for children, especially girls. Delirium was likely older than the majority of the city but she looked and acted young, that was enough to stir her older sister mood. Just like Princess Kurai. “Sometimes people –and cherry stones- lie about what you’ll be. I was told that I was going to grow to be a caged songbird without wings and without voice. You could be whatever you want to. If you want to be kangaroo, so be it.”
While Del asked the question, Alexiel paid half attention; she was dodging the apartment buildings ahead for she had to fly low for the sake of spotting the lost animal. The riddle sounded like remorse or regret, but the angel had another, more accurate term. “Whining. They should have taken responsibility of their acts if they wanted something.” She turned to the Endless with a smile. “Should I go higher or lower, Delirium? Any clue about your dog?”
Del nods slowly at Alexiel's explanation. For all her confusion and delusions, she does not find it hard to understand what Alexiel is trying to say at all. She understands what the other was saying by those words quite perfectly since she also knows the reason why Alexiel is saying it also. Del lets her lips form a faraway smile while she plays with a long red strand of her hair.
"i wAnT tO bE a FLutTerBy..." she mumbles softly against Alexiel's neck. Flutterbies, Butterflies, are always so happy and fluttery so Del wants to be like one. They are also not lonely because they have the flowers and bees and bugses and cherry stones to keep them company always. Del thinks she would be all flutterby-ly if only her siblings would keep her company. She knows they are there and that she can always come to them but she is lonely anyway.
A dog would be nice, since that is what people usually get when they feel one-ly. Del remembers that there was a dog once just as Alexiel reminds her of it. "i'M nOt vErY fUlL of cLueS," she bites her bottom lip while scanning the city below her. "i LiKe gOiNG uP~" Del says in reply to Alexiel's question. The Pretty Birdie is very very nice, like marshmallows but not the toasted kind. "WiLl yOu LeaVe oNcE i FiND dOgGiE?"
Alexiel was relived Delirium was smiling to her words. Sometimes, those created for purposes (angels counted there) angered to the mention of freedom, offended as if they were insulted by the sole idea. They, in Alexiel’s opinion, were merely afraid to take their lives on their own hands because it was easier to pretend all sins, all mistakes; everything was forced upon them by divine grace.
“Then become that, Delirium,” the angel encouraged with a determinate expression. Her head dipped slightly as if was a secret between them. “It’s not going to be easy, to grow and to become what you want to be but if you truly wanted to, you could accomplish it.” The sacrifices made, the blood spilled, the tears shed. Everything to say her brother she loved him. “And even when you reach your goal, at the end of the lie, you whine. It is part of life, I guess,” she added, mirthful, her tone was light teasing.
“We’ll go up,” Alexiel told as she soared up, near the clouds of the City. Some of them weren’t white - they changed colors like Delirium on her arms, like the streetlights below. “Mmm? Do you want me to? I could stay. You could live with me in the Cathedral and see me at your leisure.”
She hoped that Rosiel would not go hysterics for that. He brought that monster into their household. He shouldn’t complain.
"sTaY~ StaY~" Del makes slow flapping motion with both of her hands while looking down at the city with wonder. She really loves going up because then she can see little people moving around and doing things just like the little people in her head. The little people in her head are always doing stuff, they are very responsible and busy, like her Scary Bro, only tinier. That reminds her of her brother, or not-brother as he himself put it.
"sHoULd i gO To sCArY BrO?" She tries to remember their last conversation over the journals but finds herself desperately failing. "uHm. hE didN'T saY 'yEs' or 'Not-yEs' thouGh," she narrows her eyes while trying to look at a tiny speck of platypus color that might be the doggie she is looking for. If Scary Bro will promise to be nice and not make the swishy huffy sound then Del thinks it would be alright if she does not find her doggie soon.
Del is just lonely really, blowing colored spit bubbles all by yourself is not so fun. "i fEeL oNe-Ly..." she sighs while dropping her head on Alexiel's shoulder.
Alexiel’s smile was broad when Del accepted to stay. She had grown attached. She felt something vulnerable in the girl and wanted to protect it. It was in her name, how she was assigned into the world. Alexi was protection. She only rebelled against the El part of it, the God one.
She did a zigzag near a caramel cloud and dived closer to the ground once all the tall buildings were left behind. She did not like smell that much; it always deceived, like the sweet aroma of the Forbidden Fruit. What smelled too sweet, tasted bitter.
“You should visit him at least,” Alexiel advised thoughtfully, “Family always be family. Even the scary ones.” She was not in the best terms with Morpheus after he tricked Rosiel. She understood his reasons but she could be biased in favor of her brother’s hurt feelings.
She admitted that freely. Rosiel was her most important person - hers to love, to hate, to kill, to save. It was an all consuming, possessive tie that did not let them exist as separate beings – a hunger. Hers had diminished when his original body returned within her but his continued as strong with the replacement the City had weaved.
Her usual cold features softened at the mention of loneliness. She brought Del closer to her, engulfing the Endless with her aura and feathers. “You don’t have to be lonely. It’s a terrible feeling. I used to be alone. Always.” She paused. “The Cathedral shelters many within: some are nice, others could be scary. But it’s not lonely.”
Del likes it when Alexiel brought her closer because it makes her feel warm, like toasted marshmallows, but not burnt. She thinks Alexiel reminds her a lot of her brother, the other one, not the scary one or the serious one. Her brother liked to take her up too; up his shoulders and up the mountains or trees or horsies. The horsies in this place are not as nice as her brother's horsies, they are too squeaky and spinny.
"i waNna gO to thE cAtheDraL thEn, i don'T wAnna bE oNeLy," She figures that the scary ones Alexiel mentioned are not like Scary Bro scary. Del is only scared of Scary Bro looking at her and making huffy squishy noise, after all, or Destiny not-looking at her and saying nothing. People with metal cone heads does not scare her, so she thinks she can be flutterby at the Cathedral. Maybe Alexiel can help Delirium keep herself together like the Prodigal and Barnabas used to.
Yes, that sounds completely flutterby-ly.
Rating; PG for Del's saliva bubbles.
Characters; Delirium (
timebreaks) & Alexiel (againstgod).Summary; Del enlists Alex’s help to find her doggie in the City.
Log;
Delirium thinks something happened. She thinks she was somewhere not here before this and now she is here so something must have happened. Then again, before this moment she was here. Maybe everywhere is here anyway so before this she was here and now she is here and she will always be here. That makes her confused, but she is always confused anyway so that's alright.
There are pretty white lights lining the street and Del thinks they would be prettier if only they are pink or crimson, or orange. She does not like mangoes very much because there was once this one man who tripped on a banana peel and broke his nose and then he just went all froggy.
...
Was she talking about oranges?
She tilts her head sideways so that the line of lights would look horizontal and not vertical. Horizontal is good whereas vertical is also good. "oOoOOhHH~" she widens her eyes while letting herself fall to her left, keeping both her arms right beside her body and not stopping herself from hitting the ground. Del likes the ground, it is huge and rough and horizontal, only not, because now it's vertical.
The lines of lights look like an equal sign now, but one side of the sign is not so equal. Del does not mind it, she thinks she is also unequal sometimes. Maybe. She blinks and finally remembers what she was doing before now. "pReTty bIrDiE iS nOt hErE yEt~"
Rosiel was mightily upset with the new arrival but, this time, Alexiel couldn’t blame him. The girl’s (Delirium, a fitful name for someone with a personality just like hers) aura was like a kaleidoscope: it changed and swirled with the colors of the rainbow.
That was enough to give them a headache at least and Rosiel was sensitive to the mental imbalances unlike her.
An aura like that was easy to track as well. It saved her from scouting the City from the air. Seldom did Alexiel fly in public unless she must. She never liked to draw attention onto herself.
There is the aura, the Organic Angel concluded, moving across the streets, right out Misery Square, cloaked in sober grays and browns. The noise of the remolding of the new deities summed to the distracting ticking of the countdown clock. The rainbow grew as Alexiel reached the source of the tick-tock and found Delirium wandering aimlessly on the zone.
Smiling at the loud statement Delirium uttered, the angel ventured closer to the younger looking girl, enough to make her presence known and not startle her. “I’m sorry for the delay, I decided to take a… human route,” Alexiel apologized, removing her hood and offering her hand to shake. “I’m Alexiel. Shall we look for your dog?”
Delirium lets herself fall to her back when a voice addresses her. The voice sounds smooth, like hot chocolate with pretty marshmallows on top, or ice cream, a very pretty ice cream. Looking up, Del grins delightedly at Alexiel; she knew pretty birdie will be pretty! "tHat'S oKaY," she rolls over and stands up quickly, almost tumbling from the speed. "i'M dELiRiUm~" she takes Alexiel's hand, still with a slightly lopsided grin. "uHM. i tHiNk i'Ve SaiD tHaT beFOrE..."
She bites her nail in confusion, looking at Alexiel's foot instead of her face. Even her foot is very pretty. Alexiel's words regarding her dog flew past her without even a slight notice. Scratching the half of her head that is almost bald, she ponders what it was she meant to say before. "i WaS pReTTy oNCe," she starts, "LiKe fLutTerBiEs, bUt nOt wItH tHe FLapPy." Del makes a flapping gesture with her hands to accompany her words.
She thinks Alexiel came here with a Purpose, like Scary Bro usually does. He never comes without a Purpose, but Del often finds it hard to hold on to hers so she just makes one up along the way sometimes. "aRe yOu pUrPoSEy?"
Alexiel returned her shake with one of her own - her grasp was firm but light as a feather. Nearing the Endless, she caught the scent of old leather and other smells she could was not able to place, it was dizzying but not unpleasant. Her smile depended when Delirium started to babble, confused and acted erratic; it was a curious attitude that stirred her protective instincts.
Gently placing a hand on Del’s shoulder, she boldly touched the girl’s multicolored hair with wonder. Like her aura, it changed of length and shade. Marvelous. “You’re wrong, Delirium,” Alexiel changed, “You are still pretty in my eyes. You changed but that doesn’t make you ugly.”
Changing, rotting, evolving, and devolving. Rosiel was able to. Alexiel was not.
Delirium had a touch of Rosiel in her. There was a longing of what they used to be and were no longer.
“My purpose?” Alexiel asked, blinking at the question. She tilted her head, twisting her rose lips as if guessing the Endless thought the angel was taking advantage of her for something nefarious. It was almost insulting. But she couldn’t blame her. She was a stranger. “My purpose is to help you. But, I admit, I was curious to meet you as well.” She grinned, shrugging her shoulders in a lay-back manner. “Shall we, then? Or have you changed your mind?”
No, no, Delirium is not pretty, Desire is, or Older Sister, but not Delirium. No one has ever actually told her that she is ugly, and maybe she is not, but she is definitely not pretty. Delirium is delirious, just like how Dream is dreamy. Maybe. "i'M nOt FLaPpY oR bEnDy tHoUgH," Alexiel is flappy and bendy, so Delirium has decided that she is Very Pretty. Not Prettiest though, because that would be Desire, even if she is more bendy than it is.
Alexiel said too many words; first she said all Purposey things then she changed to all Curiousy and now Delirium is confused. She is not sure of which one she should answer, the Purposey or the Curiousy. They seem equally important. "uHM," she tilts her head, trying to rearrange Alexiel's words into something she might be able to understand. 'help to you My purpose is. admit, I But was I meet you curious was well as. then we, Shall? you Or changed mind your have?'
"cHaNgE~ CHaNGe~" she starts singing after giving up (or forgetting) what she was trying to do with all those words. Twirling around with one arm outstretched and another on her hips, Delirium looks like a spinning toy gone berserk. "oH," she stops immediately then looks at her toes which have different finger puppets on each. "dOgGiE!" Delirium is feeling very accomplished.
Alexiel watched the delirious girl babble once again. She was a patient being, despite her impulsive nature sometimes, she could wait until she finished everything to answer. It depended of the element she was in tune for sometimes - the rational wind, the emotional water, the explosive fire or the serene earth.
“You’re a different kind of beauty,” she protested, offering her hand to start looking for the dog. “To me, you’re very pretty, Delirium.” She paused and cleared her throat, noticing Del did not understand a word she had spoken. “Yes, I came to help you to look for your doggie,” she assured the Endless, her hand still on the same position whilst Del spun and twirled in merry abandon.
Delirium and the carousel were alike when she moved herself as that, both dazzling without trying but for the purpose of existing. Alexiel’s smile faded, looking sad to reach that conclusion. She mused about choices and if Delirium possessed the ability to choose.
"yOu'RE nICE~" she adds a lilt to the end of her sentence while hesitantly curling her fingers around Alexiel's. Delirium thinks that Alexiel is different, not in the weird kind of different, but simply different. The other Pretty Birdie she met before was quite unlike Alexiel, but Delirium cannot quite put her finger on where the difference lies, not that she is good at putting her fingers on things, like cake. "LiKE cAkE," she voices her thoughts although not quite meaning it to be related to what she said earlier at all.
Delirium stands on her tiptoes while looking at the Carousel with wide eyes containing neither fear nor shock. The horses are pretty. There are so many pretty things in this place, she thinks she will like this place very much. If she can find Barnabas. She drops back on her heels and scrunches up her face as if trying to make her forehead and cheeks swallow her different-colored eyes. She does not like this place if Barnabas is not here.
Like a sulking child, she drops herself to the ground while still holding on to Alexiel's hand. She crosses her arms while keeping up her weird face. Pouting her lips, she spurts spit bubbles in the shape of puzzle pieces and elephants and mushrooms. Delirium also spurts out the letters 'doGgiE' before blowing one in the shape of Saturn from her nose.
Nice like cake. She knew the girl did not mean to but, having lived in a world where angel flesh was consumed and being one of the sinners who partake on it, Alexiel shuddered inwardly, the grip on Del’s hand tightened. It was a fleeting reaction, before she reminded herself that Delirium was merely complimenting her.
“Sometimes I am,” Alexiel pondered, her voice was sullen. “But that doesn’t change who I am.” She was about to move forward, to take a step to advance in the quest when Delirium distracted herself again. The angel was noticing the constant erratic and absent-mind behavior of the Endless and wondered how she managed to live that way.
It fascinated her. How different Delirium was from most beings, there were shades of Mad Hatter and Rosiel but in a more concentrated manner.
Alexiel turned fully, looking down to watch the amusing antics that the child-like being pulled. She started to clap in wonder at the bubbles that changed shape and Saturn. But her patience worn thin and deemed it was better for them to move. Too much stasis, made her sluggish. When she felt tired, she would sleep to never awake in a long time. Or so she always feared.
With a smirk, Alexiel declared: "Forgive me, but up you go!"
Bending down, the Organic Angel swiftly reached for the Youngest of the Endless, sweeping her off into her thin but strong arms. She was so thin, almost weightless. Gallantly, Alexiel inclined her head and moved forward. "Call your dog," she suggested.
When Alexiel lifted her up, Delirium suddenly forgot what she was doing on the ground. But it does not matter now because she is not on the ground anymore. "WhEeEEe~" Delirium outstretches her hand as if she is going to fly out of Alexiel's arms. She likes being lifted around, like when Dream's dragon-thing did. It was fun. Like Disneyland, without the giant not-green mouses.
"dOgGiE~" she obeys Alexiel's suggestion, "DoOoOOgGiEe~" she puckers her lips unnecessarily, letting out more spit bubbles with alphabetic shapes. A few of them gathered in the air into discernable words while others shifted into other shapes, like giant mouses only not so giant. "yOuR hEaD's nOt cOloRfuLly," she comments while letting a shaped bubble get out of her nose with a soft plopping sound. "nOT LiKe hIM."
Shifting in Alexiel's arms, Del puts her face quite uncomfortably close to Alexiel's. "i CaN pUt cOLoRs iN yOuR hEaD," she suggests, "i'Ll pIcK tHE nIcEsT ONeS, LiKe vIRiDiAN."
Delirium was having fun while Alexiel played both, the white stallion and the knight in shinning armor. That did not bother the angel in the slightest, no matter how Delirium moved and stretched; her slender arms were like marble.
Several heads turned to watch the pair cross the streets beneath the neon flashing lights. Alexiel paid no heed to their amazement or mocking, she limited to keep her route, eyes wondering to the saliva bubbles sometimes. Rosiel would have disliked that habit immensely. But, she had always been his polar opposite.
“Him?” asked Alexiel, curious about the identity of the said person. “No, my hair is of a boring shade of brown.” Nothing stopped the angel’s stroll, not even when Delirium shifted to face her at eyelevel, she returned to look with a serene expression. Nudity, closeness, lack of manners and nasty habits did not make her uncomfortable. There were natural things she could understand as someone raised alone in a cage disguised as garden.
“You could try,” Alexiel explained gently, sighing at the suggestion. Rosiel's expression when she returned home would worth it. “But my body doesn’t change, I don’t know if it will work.”
"tHe uGLy bIrDiE, bUT noT tHe sQuaWKy oNe," Del replies, while blowing colored spit bubbles. "nO, i MeAn iNsIDe LikE gLasS bOwLy," she taps her own head as if to accent on her words. "tHeRE aREn'T aNy fIsHiE eItHeR," she frowns in displeasure at this while letting a trail of fluorescent green spit roll down the side of her lips. Sometimes she hates going all fishie, but it feels better after she has gathered herself back, so Del likes fishies quite well. It must be hard if you cannot go fishie once in awhile.
"dOgGiE dOEsn'T cHaNGe eiTHeR bUt i MaDe hIm gROw mUSHrOoMs oNce," she grins proudly at Alexiel, displaying her rainbow-colored teeth. "uHM. hE dIdN't liKe iT," she pouts her lips in thought, "hE sAid tHiNgS LiKe 'messing around with nature' aNd 'how dare you' LiKE ThAt." She puts her arms around Alexiel's neck and rests her head on his shoulder, blowing one last pink spit bubble with a bored look on her face.
"mY LeAst fAvOriTe cOlor iS tuRtLeS," she states with a hilariously serious look on her face. That is of utmost importance, so Del must put on the Importantly face like Dream always does. Everyone listens to him when he puts on that look and it is very necessary that Alexiel knows this one fact about her so she must use that look. She wonders if she should change her hair to something like his but finds it too hard to maintain the same hairstyle all over her head so she gives up on it.
Ugly birdie? “Another angel?” Alexiel asked again, puzzled about the comparison. Was someone she knew or an angel from Del’s world, perhaps? She didn’t quite understand the Endless’ point after the mention of the angel. It wasn’t surely something she was supposed to know.
She spun a corner, making her away out of the carousel zone or misery square district. The new ‘deities’ were running about doing changes there and she preferred to not interfere with that. The number of people around them diminished as soon they stepped near Xanadu. Alexiel could smell the sweet vanilla perfume of the flowers from her position. The contact with the serene soil soothed her soul. It was quieter but there were no signs of any canine either.
“Hmm, I think I could change if I really, really wanted to,” Alexiel contemplated bemused. “But, like your dog says, it wouldn’t be natural, it could disturb nature itself.” She recalled that some of the angels were affected in their performance by the simple hair trimming. When the girl leaned on her neck to rest, the angel reached out to brush her hair tenderly, still holding her tightly with her other arm.
“Turtles?” she repeated, her voice wasn’t mocking, just surprised. She could not judge without knowing if there wasn’t a turtle color where Del came from. Probably not, but there was an important matter for her. “My least favorite colors are God and blood,” she replied with equal seriousness, shooting Delirium a thoughtful look. “Should we scan the City from the sky? If you see your dog, I’ll land.”
"oKaY~" she replies quite absent-mindedly while still trying to figure out how 'god' and 'blood' looks like. Perhaps they are new colors that Alexiel just made and if they are then Del wants to know about them. But 'blood' and 'god' rhymes with 'rod' and rod is not a very interesting color. Del thinks she likes platypus color better than rod. "tHe cHeRrY sToNEs tOLd mE i'Ll bE a kAngArOo wHEn i gRoW uP," she tells Alexiel while leaning her head against the angel's neck.
She would like to be a kangaroo, she thinks, going all jumpy and pockety sounds very nice. Del wonders whether kangaroos can grow mushrooms on their head or not, because she likes growing mushrooms and it wouldn't be so nice if she can't once she grows up. "wHaT's tHAt wOrD whEn yOu wANt tO bE sOmEtHInG bUt tHeN yOu rEALiSe yOu aRe ALreAdy tHAt sOmEtHiNg bUT yOu dOn'T wAn'T tO bE tHaT sOMEtHiNG aNYmOrE?"
Del thinks she really needs to know what the word is because Scary Bro told her what it is once but she forgot. She doesn't really want to tell Scary Bro that she has forgotten because then he might make that sound like the one a huge squishy bed crushed by a thousand and twenty one bugs plus a kangaroo makes. Del doesn't like that sound, it makes her go wobbly.
As soon as Del agreed, Alexiel held her close with both arms and manifested her three wings. She took a small jump before soaring into the sky; the rustle of the wings showered the entrance of Xanadu Garden with glowing, white feathers. The afternoon breeze was gentle at the height the angel was flying; her eyes hawked the ground in search of any clue of a possible dog nearby without success.
“A kangaroo, you say? Mmm,” murmured Alexiel, thinking how to handle that conversation. She had a fondness for children, especially girls. Delirium was likely older than the majority of the city but she looked and acted young, that was enough to stir her older sister mood. Just like Princess Kurai. “Sometimes people –and cherry stones- lie about what you’ll be. I was told that I was going to grow to be a caged songbird without wings and without voice. You could be whatever you want to. If you want to be kangaroo, so be it.”
While Del asked the question, Alexiel paid half attention; she was dodging the apartment buildings ahead for she had to fly low for the sake of spotting the lost animal. The riddle sounded like remorse or regret, but the angel had another, more accurate term. “Whining. They should have taken responsibility of their acts if they wanted something.” She turned to the Endless with a smile. “Should I go higher or lower, Delirium? Any clue about your dog?”
Del nods slowly at Alexiel's explanation. For all her confusion and delusions, she does not find it hard to understand what Alexiel is trying to say at all. She understands what the other was saying by those words quite perfectly since she also knows the reason why Alexiel is saying it also. Del lets her lips form a faraway smile while she plays with a long red strand of her hair.
"i wAnT tO bE a FLutTerBy..." she mumbles softly against Alexiel's neck. Flutterbies, Butterflies, are always so happy and fluttery so Del wants to be like one. They are also not lonely because they have the flowers and bees and bugses and cherry stones to keep them company always. Del thinks she would be all flutterby-ly if only her siblings would keep her company. She knows they are there and that she can always come to them but she is lonely anyway.
A dog would be nice, since that is what people usually get when they feel one-ly. Del remembers that there was a dog once just as Alexiel reminds her of it. "i'M nOt vErY fUlL of cLueS," she bites her bottom lip while scanning the city below her. "i LiKe gOiNG uP~" Del says in reply to Alexiel's question. The Pretty Birdie is very very nice, like marshmallows but not the toasted kind. "WiLl yOu LeaVe oNcE i FiND dOgGiE?"
Alexiel was relived Delirium was smiling to her words. Sometimes, those created for purposes (angels counted there) angered to the mention of freedom, offended as if they were insulted by the sole idea. They, in Alexiel’s opinion, were merely afraid to take their lives on their own hands because it was easier to pretend all sins, all mistakes; everything was forced upon them by divine grace.
“Then become that, Delirium,” the angel encouraged with a determinate expression. Her head dipped slightly as if was a secret between them. “It’s not going to be easy, to grow and to become what you want to be but if you truly wanted to, you could accomplish it.” The sacrifices made, the blood spilled, the tears shed. Everything to say her brother she loved him. “And even when you reach your goal, at the end of the lie, you whine. It is part of life, I guess,” she added, mirthful, her tone was light teasing.
“We’ll go up,” Alexiel told as she soared up, near the clouds of the City. Some of them weren’t white - they changed colors like Delirium on her arms, like the streetlights below. “Mmm? Do you want me to? I could stay. You could live with me in the Cathedral and see me at your leisure.”
She hoped that Rosiel would not go hysterics for that. He brought that monster into their household. He shouldn’t complain.
"sTaY~ StaY~" Del makes slow flapping motion with both of her hands while looking down at the city with wonder. She really loves going up because then she can see little people moving around and doing things just like the little people in her head. The little people in her head are always doing stuff, they are very responsible and busy, like her Scary Bro, only tinier. That reminds her of her brother, or not-brother as he himself put it.
"sHoULd i gO To sCArY BrO?" She tries to remember their last conversation over the journals but finds herself desperately failing. "uHm. hE didN'T saY 'yEs' or 'Not-yEs' thouGh," she narrows her eyes while trying to look at a tiny speck of platypus color that might be the doggie she is looking for. If Scary Bro will promise to be nice and not make the swishy huffy sound then Del thinks it would be alright if she does not find her doggie soon.
Del is just lonely really, blowing colored spit bubbles all by yourself is not so fun. "i fEeL oNe-Ly..." she sighs while dropping her head on Alexiel's shoulder.
Alexiel’s smile was broad when Del accepted to stay. She had grown attached. She felt something vulnerable in the girl and wanted to protect it. It was in her name, how she was assigned into the world. Alexi was protection. She only rebelled against the El part of it, the God one.
She did a zigzag near a caramel cloud and dived closer to the ground once all the tall buildings were left behind. She did not like smell that much; it always deceived, like the sweet aroma of the Forbidden Fruit. What smelled too sweet, tasted bitter.
“You should visit him at least,” Alexiel advised thoughtfully, “Family always be family. Even the scary ones.” She was not in the best terms with Morpheus after he tricked Rosiel. She understood his reasons but she could be biased in favor of her brother’s hurt feelings.
She admitted that freely. Rosiel was her most important person - hers to love, to hate, to kill, to save. It was an all consuming, possessive tie that did not let them exist as separate beings – a hunger. Hers had diminished when his original body returned within her but his continued as strong with the replacement the City had weaved.
Her usual cold features softened at the mention of loneliness. She brought Del closer to her, engulfing the Endless with her aura and feathers. “You don’t have to be lonely. It’s a terrible feeling. I used to be alone. Always.” She paused. “The Cathedral shelters many within: some are nice, others could be scary. But it’s not lonely.”
Del likes it when Alexiel brought her closer because it makes her feel warm, like toasted marshmallows, but not burnt. She thinks Alexiel reminds her a lot of her brother, the other one, not the scary one or the serious one. Her brother liked to take her up too; up his shoulders and up the mountains or trees or horsies. The horsies in this place are not as nice as her brother's horsies, they are too squeaky and spinny.
"i waNna gO to thE cAtheDraL thEn, i don'T wAnna bE oNeLy," She figures that the scary ones Alexiel mentioned are not like Scary Bro scary. Del is only scared of Scary Bro looking at her and making huffy squishy noise, after all, or Destiny not-looking at her and saying nothing. People with metal cone heads does not scare her, so she thinks she can be flutterby at the Cathedral. Maybe Alexiel can help Delirium keep herself together like the Prodigal and Barnabas used to.
Yes, that sounds completely flutterby-ly.