[And here he comes not but four minutes later, decked out in a pair of exercise pants and a tank with his jacket tied around his waist and his hands buried in his pockets. Where you at, tiny little angel man?]
[ joshua does not stay there because he spends the first five minutes getting coffee.
somehow he has a feeling that this isn't a conversation that he should be having uncaffeinated, never mind that it's like god knows what hour in the night.
so, one minute after beel arrives, joshua saunters in with a cup of coffee (only for himself, obviously) and proceeds to plonk himself into the nearest gazebo and gesture for beel to come in, too, so that they won't be overheard. ]
Someone's early. Eager to see me?
[ weird angel human hybrid smell thing should also be way stronger up close. ]
[He shrugs as he drops heavily into one of the opposite chairs, frowning at the vibrant smell of coffee when it was already getting dark out.]
You gave me a time. I at least owed you the courtesy to meet it.
[...]
Do you have any kind of sensing abilities, Joshua? I didn't see it on your profile, but... I'd rather not waste time talking about things you already know.
[ there is a split second where joshua's facade fades a bit, his eyes narrowing for quick moment as he connects the dots in his head, makes his assessments--
--and gambles. ]
Some. They're stronger when I'm in my true form, but here? It's limited to having well... decent intuition.
[ on account of having seen him transform, joshua has a pretty good idea of what he is, so he leans back in his seat, takes a long sip of his coffee, and: ]
You're definitely not from the Higher Planes. But, from what I've seen...
[ he has his coffee in one hand but the other hand is free, so he ticks it off as he goes: ] Lord of the Flies, avatar of gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins, possibly a demon? Did I miss anything?
[ most of it is guesswork, but beel doesn't need to know that. ]
[ a raised brow, because you've pretty much guaranteed that he's going to be calling beel by that title just to be Annoying, rip. ]
You don't say.
[ he's laying on the sarcasm a little thick, but not as thick as he would normally because contrary to popular belief, joshua does recognise a tentative truce when he sees one. ]
I know everything that happens in Shibuya, especially if someone like you came to pay a visit~ You could say it's something of an... internal problem.
[ haha. sometime josh thinks he's funny. ]
What happened to the previous demon king? Indisposed?
[ look at beel connecting the dots! joshua's so proud. (no.) ]
Once upon a time, I was human. Then I died, and that's when my life began~ ☆ [ don't ask how he can make the star sound in speech it just. happens. ] Can your angels appear on the human plane?
[ joshua laughs. ] I'm honoured to be your first, then.
[ salacious wink. I'm sorry but he saw the opportunity and Took It. ]
I took out my predecessor and Ascended about... a century ago? Give or take. Time gets rather... confusing after a while, it all blends together~
And I suppose that makes me a rule breaker of some sort - I had some business to settle on the human plane, Tuned down to appear visible, and now I'm stuck in this form.
And you, personally? I didn't think demonic lords deigned to walk among humans either.
[The wink doesn't get a budge of reaction out of him, so either he's really good at ignoring it or that point went flying right over his head.]
We don't, usually. Our laws are different than the Celestial Realm, and our prince wants to avoid another war. We'll still run errands sometimes in the human world, but you need permission to even make the trip without walking the whole way by foot. [Not to mention Lucifer never would let Beelzebub out on his own anymore.]
...
You had a predecessor? You killed an angel, as a human?
[ what is with all the oranges on this island ignoring his flirting :( why is it that only neku will entertain him smh ]
Not as a human. There's like... an in-between state. Purgatory, in your terms, maybe. [ a shrug ] She never saw it coming, and it's survival of the fittest, after all.
I'm surprised Father even let you near the heavens after that.
Or... your world's version of Father. I guess. [He doesn't really want to think about it too hard because that would mean acknowledging something like Joshua could have been his pseudo-brother in another universe and he's not ready for that conversation.]
I have a little bit of a reputation as a trouble maker in the Higher Planes that I have to maintain, and Ascending to actually being on the Higher Plane would be terribly boring. I quite like where I am and the domain I control, even if my city languishes now.
[ there's just a mild, brief frown for just a moment, and then it is gone. ]
[ after like, everything related to this past weekend the buffet is pretty much the last place that josh wants to be--
--but it's also the best place to find beel that isn't his cabana, probably. so josh is here, lurking (though beel will probably be able to smell his presence?) and waiting till beel gets some food from the buffet, and then he will join beel at the same table, a plate of the exact same things beel took earlier being pushed across the table towards him.
a peace offering for like, making beel eat heart tissue during that mess of a trial? probably, ]
[He definitely smells the angel lurking around. But he doesn't have the energy to care quite as much.
The demon isn't eating with as much vigor as he usually does. Beel doesn't look hurt, but there's a weight in his exhaustion that the act of eating can only dull so much.
When another plate hits the table, Beelzebub stops mid-bite, looking over to his company, then back down to the food.
...
A hesitant nod, as he slides the extra plate to his customary pile that normally surrounds him.]
...The others are exhausted, and I don't want my stomach keeping them awake. [So he doesn't know if he'd call this his usual appetite. But maybe big was just big to someone that wasn't in tune with his portions like his family.]
[ how do genuine compliments end up sounding smarmy when they come out of joshua's mouth, it is a mystery. but oh, does that second part intrigue him just a little bit. headtilt, leaning forward in his chair a little. ]
Depends on what kind of a favour it is, my dear Beel~
...Can you tell me what happened? With Lobelia, and the trial.
Everyone I've talked to has been avoiding it. I don't want to push them. They're tired, and hurting. But I feel like I deserve to know at least something.
[ he's going to start to count it off on his fingers ]
He provoked you, you literally tore his arm off in your rage and killed him, I think you were aware about that part but somehow he used that Tower tarot card power of his and killed you instead, literally ripped you apart and splattered you all over the floor to come back, and he made us watch him die a thousand times, over and over again.
Then Overhaul killed him for real and put you back together, which is why everyone's kind of terrified that you're going to crumble to pieces at any moment because for a moment, you actually were in pieces.
Thiiiiiiink that is the highlight reel, if that was what you were after.
Edited (maybe one day i won't hit enter too early) 2023-06-07 12:13 (UTC)
[ you find yourself immersed in a memory. you're in a small, quaint tea shop, one that smells old, but it's cold, almost. devoid of life, of people, of chatter, and there's that ever present scent of ozone and lightning in the air, but it's thicker, more cloying.
the seats in the main hall are empty, but there's something that draws you towards the back of the tea shop, where you can hear just the faint muffled sounds of a conversation behind the closed double doors.
but just before you can reach the doors, there is a hand that closes around your wrist.
it's joshua. the real one, not the one from the memory who is behind those doors.
ostensibly it's to stop you, but there's not much force in it. it's memory, after all, it's already run its course. ]
[It's not a cozy spot, tucked in the sea caves on Seagem. The rocks are cold, and the rock cage a little colder, fused with the back of the cave wall.
There is a kittybot nearby, just out of reach to actually be touched but routinely depositing snacks. Beelzebub, behind the stone bars, is pacing back and forth, occasionally reaching through the bards to grab whatever is handed to him and shove it into his mouth in the midst of his pacing.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
WEEK 2 - TUESDAY NIGHT (un: Beelzeburger)
Nice bones guy. Joshua, right?
We need to talk.
no subject
ten minutes. i'm at the gazebos by the book cafe.
no subject
[And here he comes not but four minutes later, decked out in a pair of exercise pants and a tank with his jacket tied around his waist and his hands buried in his pockets. Where you at, tiny little angel man?]
no subject
somehow he has a feeling that this isn't a conversation that he should be having uncaffeinated, never mind that it's like god knows what hour in the night.
so, one minute after beel arrives, joshua saunters in with a cup of coffee (only for himself, obviously) and proceeds to plonk himself into the nearest gazebo and gesture for beel to come in, too, so that they won't be overheard. ]
Someone's early. Eager to see me?
[ weird angel human hybrid smell thing should also be way stronger up close. ]
no subject
You gave me a time. I at least owed you the courtesy to meet it.
[...]
Do you have any kind of sensing abilities, Joshua? I didn't see it on your profile, but... I'd rather not waste time talking about things you already know.
no subject
--and gambles. ]
Some. They're stronger when I'm in my true form, but here? It's limited to having well... decent intuition.
no subject
Can you tell what I am?
[It's not like he's been quiet about it, and Joshua has seen him transform. But it's better to know if they are on equal grounds here.]
no subject
You're definitely not from the Higher Planes. But, from what I've seen...
[ he has his coffee in one hand but the other hand is free, so he ticks it off as he goes: ] Lord of the Flies, avatar of gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins, possibly a demon? Did I miss anything?
[ most of it is guesswork, but beel doesn't need to know that. ]
no subject
Possibly?]
Yeah, you did. [But if Joshua doesn't know, he won't change that just yet.]
You know how to read the profiles, though. And you know my title. So you're smart and observant.
...
Do you know that angels carry a smell, Joshua?
1/2
[ he looks pensive for a moment, and then--
no subject
I did not, actually.
[ there is still a smile etched onto his features, but his gaze is sharper, more calculating now, even if he keeps his tone light, airy even. ]
And I smell like one to you? How sensitive is your nose anyway?
[ undone by smell, of all things....... ]
no subject
Sensitive enough.
...
You're not like angels I've met. Your scent is too... human. But it's still there.
I don't have anything personal against the heavens anymore. But I'd be pretty stupid to not expect the other way around sometimes.
no subject
The Higher Planes are like that, sometimes. They know how to hold a vendetta.
But to answer your unasked question, my dear Lord of the Flies~
[ a pause for dramatic effect, but it's also mostly because joshua still has his coffee and is debating how much he should say: ]
I have nothing against demons. Unless you're trying to destroy my city, but we're all not where we're supposed to be right now.
no subject
His lips thin at the pause, only to exhale firmly out his nose at the response.]
It's Beelzebub. No one actually calls me by that title.
[AKA please do not.]
Mn. I haven't been anywhere. If you've got a problem in your city, it's not my fault, and I can't help.
The current acting demon king wouldn't be ordering something like that right now, though. Either in the human world or towards the Celestial Realm.
no subject
You don't say.
[ he's laying on the sarcasm a little thick, but not as thick as he would normally because contrary to popular belief, joshua does recognise a tentative truce when he sees one. ]
I know everything that happens in Shibuya, especially if someone like you came to pay a visit~ You could say it's something of an... internal problem.
[ haha. sometime josh thinks he's funny. ]
What happened to the previous demon king? Indisposed?
no subject
...
No. Just asleep. His son took over a while ago, after the war.
Shibuya's part of Earth, isn't it? Why that city? Last I checked, angels couldn't interfere with humanity in that extent.
no subject
Better asleep than erased from existence, I suppose.
Hm... [ he makes a show of thinking for A While. ] Put it this way: I don't interfere. I oversee, I judge, and I decide.
[ a wry smile follows. ] Plus, you can say that I'm a little bit... attached to the place where I died.
no subject
[Full stop, nothing else mattered in there. Hello?]
You don't smell like a ghost. What do you mean?
no subject
[ headtilt, because joshua is allergic to giving straight answers. ]
no subject
It means you're probably not the type of angel I imagined. That's all.
Which were you first? An angel? Or something else?
no subject
[ look at beel connecting the dots! joshua's so proud. (no.) ]
Once upon a time, I was human. Then I died, and that's when my life began~ ☆ [ don't ask how he can make the star sound in speech it just. happens. ] Can your angels appear on the human plane?
no subject
[No wonder the name isn't ringing a bell.]
They can. I think most choose not to. Like I said, direct interference isn't allowed for them.
no subject
[ salacious wink. I'm sorry but he saw the opportunity and Took It. ]
I took out my predecessor and Ascended about... a century ago? Give or take. Time gets rather... confusing after a while, it all blends together~
And I suppose that makes me a rule breaker of some sort - I had some business to settle on the human plane, Tuned down to appear visible, and now I'm stuck in this form.
And you, personally? I didn't think demonic lords deigned to walk among humans either.
no subject
We don't, usually. Our laws are different than the Celestial Realm, and our prince wants to avoid another war. We'll still run errands sometimes in the human world, but you need permission to even make the trip without walking the whole way by foot. [Not to mention Lucifer never would let Beelzebub out on his own anymore.]
...
You had a predecessor? You killed an angel, as a human?
no subject
Not as a human. There's like... an in-between state. Purgatory, in your terms, maybe. [ a shrug ] She never saw it coming, and it's survival of the fittest, after all.
no subject
Or... your world's version of Father. I guess. [He doesn't really want to think about it too hard because that would mean acknowledging something like Joshua could have been his pseudo-brother in another universe and he's not ready for that conversation.]
no subject
I have a little bit of a reputation as a trouble maker in the Higher Planes that I have to maintain, and Ascending to actually being on the Higher Plane would be terribly boring. I quite like where I am and the domain I control, even if my city languishes now.
[ there's just a mild, brief frown for just a moment, and then it is gone. ]
week 2 post investigation
?????? was this u?
Un: Beelzeburger
Yeah. I think it was.
no subject
bro u ok? what did the kitchen do to you
no subject
I'll be fine. Sorry.
Why do you ask?
no subject
anyway not like he's gonna actually admit that, ha ha ha. ]
I'd hate to see what happened to the other guy if you were in an actual fight~
no subject
[laughtrack from the future in week 3]
no subject
[ worry frog LMFAO but that's the only text he's getting ]
no subject
Not all of them, though.
[So yeah, possibly Big Ew.]
week 3 Sunday vague hand gestures at something late night
--but it's also the best place to find beel that isn't his cabana, probably. so josh is here, lurking (though beel will probably be able to smell his presence?) and waiting till beel gets some food from the buffet, and then he will join beel at the same table, a plate of the exact same things beel took earlier being pushed across the table towards him.
a peace offering for like, making beel eat heart tissue during that mess of a trial? probably, ]
no subject
The demon isn't eating with as much vigor as he usually does. Beel doesn't look hurt, but there's a weight in his exhaustion that the act of eating can only dull so much.
When another plate hits the table, Beelzebub stops mid-bite, looking over to his company, then back down to the food.
...
A hesitant nod, as he slides the extra plate to his customary pile that normally surrounds him.]
...Joshua.
You're up late.
no subject
Technically, I don't really need to sleep~
[ gestures at angel/god biology????? i hate this canon. ]
Good to see that you're back to your usual appetites, though~
[ must be cleansing the taste of lobelia out of his mouth, huh ]
no subject
...
Hey. Uh.
Could you do me a favor?
no subject
[ how do genuine compliments end up sounding smarmy when they come out of joshua's mouth, it is a mystery. but oh, does that second part intrigue him just a little bit. headtilt, leaning forward in his chair a little. ]
Depends on what kind of a favour it is, my dear Beel~
no subject
...Can you tell me what happened? With Lobelia, and the trial.
Everyone I've talked to has been avoiding it. I don't want to push them. They're tired, and hurting. But I feel like I deserve to know at least something.
deadeyes i had to reread the entire thread again
hm
a simplistic request, but also
how loaded ]
Has no one told you anything?
[ he's going to start to count it off on his fingers ]
He provoked you, you literally tore his arm off in your rage and killed him, I think you were aware about that part but somehow he used that Tower tarot card power of his and killed you instead, literally ripped you apart and splattered you all over the floor to come back, and he made us watch him die a thousand times, over and over again.
Then Overhaul killed him for real and put you back together, which is why everyone's kind of terrified that you're going to crumble to pieces at any moment because for a moment, you actually were in pieces.
Thiiiiiiink that is the highlight reel, if that was what you were after.
week 5 memshare (laugh track)
the seats in the main hall are empty, but there's something that draws you towards the back of the tea shop, where you can hear just the faint muffled sounds of a conversation behind the closed double doors.
but just before you can reach the doors, there is a hand that closes around your wrist.
it's joshua. the real one, not the one from the memory who is behind those doors.
ostensibly it's to stop you, but there's not much force in it. it's memory, after all, it's already run its course. ]
Are you sure you want to see this?
[ it's curious. ]
WEEK 5 - POST TRIAL
There is a kittybot nearby, just out of reach to actually be touched but routinely depositing snacks. Beelzebub, behind the stone bars, is pacing back and forth, occasionally reaching through the bards to grab whatever is handed to him and shove it into his mouth in the midst of his pacing.
He doesn't notice his company.]