Is that a new hat? Nice, very pointy. Classic.

 
Timeline/World: Until Tomorrow – New York City
Characters: Gabrielus Ursi
Race: Human
Age: 27
Current residence: New York City Ruins, New York
Final Word Count: 770 words
 

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Now, I’ve never been big on fashion. If I could find something pink to wear, I was a happy boy who could wear pink. I wore pink at school and if people didn’t like it, that was on them. I’m pretty sure that most of the school who at least knew about me thought I was the most flamboyantly gay kid there was. They would have been wrong on that subject but that was for them to think about. I didn’t really care all that much what they thought, so long as they left me alone.

The only time I couldn’t wear pink was when I was around Cel’s mom and that was just one of those things. She’s gone, as is the vast majority of the population at this point in time. I don’t know that I really miss that woman, she wasn’t great and Cel could have used a better mother figure.

Anyway.

Fashion nowadays is all over the place. I don’t think there’s really any single theme, mostly for the fact that the clothes people are still wearing have either been mended together by others or they’re made through new methods that have been discovered. That does mean, however, that clothes, for the most part, are not something you can just throw out as you please because quantities are limited.

Sure, people have found old stores where the clothing had survived the snow fairly well and these have been brought up and into the main store where people can pick up certain things and even drop others off as they might be but what I’m trying to say is that I don’t think I’ve seen anyone prancing around wearing leather or these old shoes that had like three-or-four inch soles and anything else that could have been considered fashion at some point in our lives. Clothing now is what’s comfortable and what fits.

Some people clearly are pickier than others—I’ve seen a woman wearing around with a shawl through which she’s added feathers and that was disquieting. For the most part, however, people seem to be wearing whatever comfortable clothes they have that fit them and that’s really that.

Every now and again, some of the people that go out there and underground find new stores or places or I know that there was a warehouse discovered some weeks back but they’re still trying to ensure that the whole huge place is safe, do find new places and bring back new things.

There’s this one woman—different from the one with the shawl—who seems to have found a collection of hats somewhere. Over the last few months, every time I see her—which is only every other week or so—I feel as though she’s wearing a new hat. I don’t know where she’s gotten them all but it’s a thing and, I’m not going to lie, it does make me smile a little.

I don’t have a lot of interactions with that woman, I’m going to be honest, she scares me a little on most days. It’s not as though she looks like she could eat me whole or she looks crazed, there’s just something about her that makes me uncomfortable, and I prefer watching her from afar if I can help it. It’s just one of those things.

She was walking up the street a day or two ago with this new hat—to no one’s surprise since that’s her thing. It was an odd little thing, very pointy and while I bit my lip to stop myself from commenting that it reminded me of a triangle of cheese someone might have tried to turn into a hat, someone from the building across the way called out to her, asked her if that was a new hat because it was very nice and pointy, a classic look for hats. It made her smile, she waved, looking happy as could be, and she kept on her merry way.

This is probably also one of the reasons why I don’t interact with her. I can see from these interactions she has with others that she’s probably a sweet woman but, for one thing, I’m not outgoing at all, and for another. There’s still something about her behaviour that sits oddly with me and I don’t know what to make of it all.

So, whenever I see her, I just sort of smile and watch her go by. I don’t even know where she might live or what she does to help out around, if she does at all, not that it matters, does it? Not really.

I told you I’d call in my favours one day. Well, that day is today.

 
Timeline/World: Through the Looking Glass – Lost in Translation
Characters: Dalath Dryhten
Race: Angel – Stars
Age: 17 000 015, physically about 27
Current residence: Heavens
Final Word Count: 775 words
 

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Watching the young ones act out their little power-play fantasies is always an interesting enough sight. As far as I’m concerned, nearly everyone up here on this islet of ours—I’m aware that the size of our land is bigger than that of what an islet would be and seeing as we can support life, it shouldn’t be called that—is young. Only a few are close to my age and only two that I know of, off the top of my head, are older than I am. At least of those still up here.

I have come and gone from helping with the welcoming committee. I have agreed to let Seraphiel keep my name on the rota, much as Uriel and Hoshi both have done. Our presence there is uncommon but every so often, we go. It isn’t even because our powers might be necessary but merely because our knowledge of things helps us with newcomers.

Most of the time, I admit, we mostly stand back and let others do it; it is a good experience for them and helps them understand what it is like to essentially be in a place of power.

My schedule still remains one of night-time and night-time is permanent around the globe. Our nighttime is not as we live via our own clock, but it is nighttime somewhere on the globe at all times. I stick with my hours because they are easier and because it helps the others I need to keep on my team used to the look of things at night. The work is not complicated but trying to explain it would take more time than might really be necessary.

Two or three evenings back, after a quiet walk about on a night when I had little else to do other than to keep to myself—I deserve to have nights when I do not work, after all—I came across two young elemental angels. Both of the earthen type. It was in their aura and that is truly the only reason I mention it. I accept angels in all shapes and sizes, gifts and non-gifts alike. We do not judge here. Those who judge should not.

They were trying to be seen as little as possible and this made me smile. My sight might possibly be a little better at night than the sight of others but that is solely because of my title and the fact that I have opted to keep my life going on during the darker hours of our world. They were nearly unseen along the side of a building, both dressed in somewhat dark clothes.

One looked faintly skittish while the other held himself tall as though trying to appear braver than he possibly felt. All I really heard from them as I was passing by—darkly clothed, the stars in my wings possibly giving me away—was something about calling in favours and that today was the day the favours were being called. Now, I sensed nothing truly terrible that could potentially have happened between these two. Favours of any shape or form can only go so far and these younger souls don’t have half the reach they think they do with older angels.

Still, I knew where they likely slept and if I began to worry about things, I would see about possibly bringing it up but it has been a few days since and from what I’ve heard from the news that still gets passed around to keep everyone updated, nothing life-changing has happened anywhere so I figure that we’re good.

Who knows what those favours might have been. At most, I see this more as two children playing together after dark and making big plans that might involve a school bully or something of the sort. I know that at my age, most might not think that I truly know what school and bullies might be about, but my age does not define my knowledge of things. I do pride myself on keeping up to date with a lot of things. The one thing I have little desire to keep up with is all that new technology that those of the earthen realm seem to cling to. Televisions, cellphones, computers. All things that I’m certain have their uses but they are things I have no need for in my life and will not even entertain the thought of wanting.

Now, it’s not that these things are not a possibility up here, we do have a system for messages, but it is more magic-based than technology-based and that’s all I need.