Falling Angels: Chapter Five
Nov. 8th, 2009 02:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_siobhanThe trouble with having somebody who is a major force of personality running a project is that when the person is gone the project falters. It doesn't matter how well the system works or how much sense it makes, the people who take part in the project on a daily basis look to that leadership. For weeks after Wayne's disappearance we spent a ridiculous amount of time enforcing systems that had previously worked effortlessly for years. I spent a lot of time feeling like I was pounding rounds pegs into round holes.
I had spent my fifteenth day in a row explaining the Rules that had existed for years without anybody questioning them. I was sitting on the roof after sundown and I was lighting a joint and I don't even swmoke, dammit. And I saw that tell-tale glow and the next thing I knew I was looking at an angel.
The glow was so bright I couldn't look at it directly. Somebody was trying to be impressive. I looked at the space just off centre from all the light and said, "Gealhaad."
The light faded adn there he was. Tall skinny and blond. I don't know how they tell each other apart at parties. He smiled at me. "I've come to help," he said.
I ground the joint out against the shingles. I actually kind of wanted to smoke it but I couldn't think of a more evocative physical gesture of dismissal than grinding a butt out against the roof. "What makes you think we need your help?" I asked him.
"Somebody you care about is missing. Somebody I care about is missing. I think these things are connected. I think we can help each other."
Oh.
Crap.
I stood up. My knees felt wobbly. i wanted to throw something, I wanted to burst into tears, I wanted to run up and grab this fucker by the throat. Instead I kept my voice completely even and unaffected. "Are you saying you might know what happened to Wayne?"
The light pulsed a little. I am now firmly convinced that light can convey smug. I don't know how, but it can. His voice conveyed complete innocence. "I don't know what happened to Wayne. But I am looking for somebody who disappeared under similar circumstances - you didn't want to hear about it when I came to you for help. But maybe now we can help each other."
All I could think of to say was, "I'll get back to you."
I had spent my fifteenth day in a row explaining the Rules that had existed for years without anybody questioning them. I was sitting on the roof after sundown and I was lighting a joint and I don't even swmoke, dammit. And I saw that tell-tale glow and the next thing I knew I was looking at an angel.
The glow was so bright I couldn't look at it directly. Somebody was trying to be impressive. I looked at the space just off centre from all the light and said, "Gealhaad."
The light faded adn there he was. Tall skinny and blond. I don't know how they tell each other apart at parties. He smiled at me. "I've come to help," he said.
I ground the joint out against the shingles. I actually kind of wanted to smoke it but I couldn't think of a more evocative physical gesture of dismissal than grinding a butt out against the roof. "What makes you think we need your help?" I asked him.
"Somebody you care about is missing. Somebody I care about is missing. I think these things are connected. I think we can help each other."
Oh.
Crap.
I stood up. My knees felt wobbly. i wanted to throw something, I wanted to burst into tears, I wanted to run up and grab this fucker by the throat. Instead I kept my voice completely even and unaffected. "Are you saying you might know what happened to Wayne?"
The light pulsed a little. I am now firmly convinced that light can convey smug. I don't know how, but it can. His voice conveyed complete innocence. "I don't know what happened to Wayne. But I am looking for somebody who disappeared under similar circumstances - you didn't want to hear about it when I came to you for help. But maybe now we can help each other."
All I could think of to say was, "I'll get back to you."