Logfile from Brass&Steel.

                          
From afar, Harriet's Player is fine, and it's actually fairly warm,
considering. Harriet is barracaded in her apartment. :)

Long distance to Harriet: Zach is happy for HP, and starts digging in his
closet to find the siege engine he built while exuberantly drunk
yesternight!

From afar, Harriet giggles. "She'll let /you/ in. And have hysterics all
over you."

Zach is a tall man in his thirties, probably about 6'3". Slim, well built
and rather handsome, his apperance is one of goodnatured machismo. He
carries himself well, with an air of cheerful confidence and a flirtatious
sparkle showing in his green eyes. Movements are smooth and precise. His
hair is relatively short cut, black and wavy. A workman's tan is visible,
and hints to much time being spent outdoors. On his right upper arm is a
magnificent, intensely colored tattoo depicting a phoenix sinously rising
from an inferno of flames.
	The man is wearing a red sleeveless t-shirt, black shoes and black
leather trousers with a line of silvery ornamentation up along the seam on
his left leg.

Zach knocks on the door marked 'Number 4B <4B>'.

From afar, Harriet opens the door a crack, and looks out warily. Her face
lights up with relief when she sees Zach. "Zach! Come in. Quickly, you
know?" She opens the door and shoos him inside.

Terrace Lofts -- Number 4B

Zach smiles a loving, sparkling smile at her and scoots inside toot sweet!
He then gathers her into the customary Big Hug, lifting her tiny form off
the floor in the process. "Hey sweetie, I've missed you! What's going on?"
The words are somewhat muffeled by the fact that he's got his face buried
in her neck.

Harriet stiffens in pure, reflexive terror as he touches her, but recovers
fairly quickly, and throws her arms around his neck and holds on for dear
life. "A Shedite attacked Roger, and made some fairly graphic threats
against me. Making me do things...words like 'drug-dealing' and 'child
porn' were used, and those were only the ones he told me about, and none
of you have been around, and I've been too afraid to leave and I don't
know what to do!" It all comes out in a frantic rush of words.

Harriet pages: How's that for a greeting? :)

Struck by lightning. So this is how it feels... Zach stands stock still in
utter shock and horror, a sickening feeling starts to spread in his gut.
This cannot be happening. It just can not be. The only thing he's able to
to for a while is hold on to Harriet, still leaving her feet to dangle
above the floor. He tries to speak several times, but the words just
refuse to come. It seems he's forgotten how to work his vessel. After a
long, endless while he manages to croak out, "Sweet Jesus bleeding on the
cross!! Harriet!" There is no mistaking the agony in his voice as it
cracks.

You paged Harriet with 'Hellfire!! :)'.

Harriet pages: It has not been a good two days. Oh. Lucian's back, too. :)

You paged Harriet with 'Seems like I have to start working on my
kidnapping plan with Boh.. :)'.

Harriet was rather hoping for reassurance, but will take an echo of her
own emotions. She just nods, and clings to him frantically. "I'm scared,"
she admits softly. "Really, really scared."

Harriet pages: That'd be a good plan. :)

Zach manages to force himself out of his little cocoon of horror enough to
carry her over to a chair where he places himself and his extremely
precious cargo. He starts reflexivly stroking her head, back, knees, arms,
thighs, hair and every other bit of Harriet that he can. Cuddling is a
life saver, but how do you cuddle people on the inside? How do you put
band aids on your soul? "I'm here now, sweetie. I'm here... Oh God I'm so
sorry I wasn't here when you needed me the most, though." He chokes
slightly again, then pulls himself together. "Can you tell me more about
what happened, please?"

Harriet is cuddled, and snuggles against Zach with every fiber of her
being. "I don't know much," she admits. "Yesterday evening, Roger came by
and told me that he was attacked by a Shedite. It was the head of a woman
he was dancing with, you know? It knocked him to the ground, and...made
threats. Against me. About p-p-possessing me, and making me do horrible
things..." she trails off, unable to continue for a moment. "I'm not sure
of many of the details. Roger was as shaken up as I was. He talked to
Cosmo, but I haven't seen him."

Zach goes still again and very carefully asks, "So...it hasn't attacked
you yet, is that what you're saying? It hasn't posessed you?"

Harriet shakes her head. "I don't think so. I came right home, and I
haven't left since. I haven't felt any urge to do anything...wrong, you
know?" She looks up at him. "Can you tell? Can you resonate me and tell,
Zach?"

<OOC> Zach spends essence to boost TN to 10

AutoJudge:  Zach spends 4 essence.

AutoJudge:  Zach rolls: 2 + 2 = 4 . Check die: 5

<OOC> Zach says, "Ha! That"

<OOC> Zach says, "is a CD 7"

<OOC> Harriet snickers. "She hasn't been possessed. Not since she became
Aware, anyway, and it didn't make her do anything that time."

Zach nods and looks her straight in the eye with intense, green eyes
searching her soul. He relaxes as he sees that her heart and soul is still
as pure as it was last time he checked. "You are as you were, Harriet. No
sign of any taint." In utter relief he kisses her fully on the mouth.

Harriet blinks as she is kissed, and smiles. "That's...good to hear," she
says, faintly, when she can speak again. "I...can't do those things, Zach.
I already told Roger, but I don't know if he can do what..." Her hands
tighten convulsively around his neck. "You mustn't let me do those things.
No matter what it takes, Zach. Okay?" Green eyes meet green eyes, and hers
are as serious as they've ever been.

Zach's equally serious eyes gaze back at her. "I won't. I'm going to hunt
that thing down and destroy it is what I'm gonna do. Tell me - have you...
Have you had any disturbing dreams the last weeks or months? I mean..
/really/ disturbing. Nightmares."

Harriet nods. "Good." She considers his question, and gives a weak
chuckle. "Zach.../think/ about my life the past month. Yes, of course I've
had some nightmares. Some pretty nasty ones, actually. But," she shakes
her head, "nothing that really haunted me after I woke up, if that's what
you mean, you know?"

Zach looks mildly uncomfortable and snugs her gently. "I'm sorry if that
was a stupid question, but... There's a Nightmare shedite active in town,
and I think it's the one that's been bedeviling me and now Roger and you
for weeks and months. It's been tormenting another young girl in the area,
and she's seen some pretty whacky things in her sleep. Us angels... Well,
we don't sleep and we don't dream so it's not something I really
understand much. But if these nightmares haven't affected you much,
then..."

Harriet shakes her head. "Nothing to speak of," she says, faintly. She
gives him a bit of a lopsided smile. "Would like what was going to be good
news, except that I screwed up and now it's just news, you know?"

You say, "Eh?"

Harriet snuggles around to a slightly more comfortable position in his
lap, and sighs. "There's /three/ Malakim in the city, not two. Except that
the third is about as stable as fifty year old dynamite in a bad Western,
and Bad Things happens, and I called Delia to help her, except that Delia
is Judgement and no one told me just /how much/ some Angels don't like
Judgement, and now Brynn's really pissed at me, and I didn't help her at
all, you know?" It's another rush of words, this one thick with
self-recrimination instead of fear. That's almost an improvement.

Harriet pages: Harriet's Attract Malakim skill is working quite well.  
Unfortunately, she has about a -2 in Heavenly Politics. :)

Zach blinks and startes at Harriet. "Brynn's a kite?! And hates Delia
because... 'Unstable'.. Oh sweet lord - she's Divine Fire!" He actually
chuckles in horrified amusement.

Long distance to Harriet: Zach guffaws! :)

Harriet blinks. "Yes. Yes, she is. Is that bad?"

From afar, Harriet resolves never to tell Zach about how Harriet
discovered this. He probably would not approve of her dragging a suspected
violent demon back to her apartment and interrogating her by way of
aggressive cuddling.

Zach snorts and ruefully shakes his head. "No, no it's not. You just gotta
know how to handle 'em. Which is /very carefully/ until you know 'em well
enough. They are as a rule incredibly intense, and some of our brightest
brothers and sisters. Their mission is to burn the cruel with the wrath of
Heaven."

Long distance to Harriet: Zach would faint!! :)

From afar, Harriet nearly did. I /really/ though she was going to get
splatted.

Harriet sighs. "So I've learned, you know? The thing is...she's /still/
hurting, and I was going to track her down and do some serious
apologizing, except that this came up, and I haven't left the apartment."
She tucks her head under Zach's chin. "I was just trying to help."

From afar, Harriet does note that the best way to reveal that one is Aware
to a Malakite of Fire is probably not with a CD 6 sketch of a Balseraph's
celestial form. For future reference. :)

Zach holds her close and does his best to comfort her. "It's as much my
responsibility as it's yours. I should have stressed the importance of
secrecy to you. Even, and personally I hate this but, even among /angels/
secrecy on Earth is really important. Having your cover blown by somebody
else, can get some angels riled no end. Even when the intention is good.
I'll go find Brynn and explain a few things to her."

You paged Harriet with 'Like 'if you hurt my protectee again we are going
to have ourselves a problem..."'.

Harriet just nods, and doesn't say anything. Well, actually, she does. "I
had permission, actually. I asked for it. It was just the /Judgement/ part
that she broke apart about. And, she had to...she got some really
difficult orders, and there was blood. I'm really no good with blood, and
I couldn't get her to come to my apartment, or anywhere, and I just sort
of panicked..."

From afar, Harriet grins, and winces. "She's feeling rotten enough.
Harriet doesn't even /know/ about some of the stuff she's done to herself.
If she did, then she'd be at the dorm, Shedite or no.

Harriet pages: Yes, Harriet is trying to mother a Malakite of Fire. Said
Malakite is mostly bemused. :)

Zach frowns slightly. "Er... Harriet could you please tell me what
happened? I'm confused here, what with drippers and firekites and blood
and soldiers and Stuff."

You paged Harriet with 'This MUSH needs no Cherubs. Not as long as Harriet
and Zach are alive and cuddlin'! :)'.

Harriet winces. "Ah. I can't. You'll have to ask her. She'll probably tell
you to go soak your head; it seems to be her usual response, you know?"
Harriet sighs. "And you're confused? I didn't even know what Fire or
Shedites /were/ until yesterday..."

From afar, Harriet would give her eye-teeth to have chosen Psychology
instead of Driving. Harriet is so unprepared to be made makeshift
counselor for all the people who've been confiding things to her. :)

Zach nods and sighs. "I was going to give you some time to get work out
your feelings and get over the shock of....you know, Lucian's death and
the stupid fake suicide stunt we pulled. You know, time to heal a bit
before I started telling you about all the stuff you'll need to know about
Heaven and Hell and angels and demons. If you still want to take an active
part in the War, that is. If you still want to become a Soldier of God."

Harriet smiles up at him, and finds it easier to place a gentle kiss on
the underside of his jaw rather than move around too much, so that's what
she does. "Of course I still do, Zach. It's the right thing to do, you
know? And nobody ever claimed it would be easy, safe, or even particularly
sane." She clucks her tongue at him, mildly chiding. "Don't go insulting
me like that." Her voice turns the tiniest bit uncertain. "I mean...unless
you don't think I'll work out? I mean, I don't want to be a burden..."

Zach bows his head a bit to catch that nice little kiss. Then listens to
her while his expression goes from lovingly amused, to lopsided to
serious. "I feel utterly certain that you will make one absolutely
wonderful Soldier! You are such an outstandingly beautiful and strong
woman; loving, selfless, and gutsy. and you're a brilliant artist to boot.
I think we should start prepping you for initiation quite soon. And try to
get hold of my Creator, Father and Boss!" He beams at her.

Harriet blushes deeply, and looks down. "You're very kind," she says
softly, and leans her head against his chest. "And I would like that, you
know? I've felt kind of useless around here," she admits quietly. "There's
all this stuff to be done, and I don't know how to do any of it."

Zach smiles faintly. "Only God really knows, Harriet. The rest of us just
have to do what our hearts and minds agree on, one step at the time. And
you're /not/ useless. You have made a lot of friends and contacts by
simply being yourself. Think about it Harriet - you're touching a lot of
people here. Both mortal and not-so-mortal. Not to mention all the people
you touch through your art. Peopple you don't even know exist. No human
being is useless."

Harriet smiles. "So I'm a perfectionist. Sue me, you know?" She yawns,
then brightens. "Oh. Sarah was hitting on some guy, so I went over and was
cheerful at her until she went away. He's a writer for an acting troupe,
you know? Interesting guy..."

Zach laughs. "She still around? I though Cosmo would have had her guts for
garters by now. Sarah..." He sighs. "Man she really disappointed me. I
wish I could bring her round to face the truth of what she is."

"She's still around," Harriet says, a touch darkly. "And she's /still/
hanging around Warren, you know? He's going to get her to model for him,"
she adds, sounding worried.

Zach hmms. "I hope I get to see him again. He's an interesting fellow.
Nice and friendly, but seems to have some trouble with his self esteem and
all. That's usually the case when people go looking for insults. But -
back to you, my love. What have you learned about the War and its
participants so far?"

Things of note in the apartment...there's a huge plaster column in the
center of the room, with heaps of different types of cloth around it. All
the pillows and stools have been shoved to the periphery.

Harriet shrugs. "Not much more than I knew last time you saw me, you know?
I now know what Shedites do...which," she adds with dry humor, "is
knowledge that I probably could have done without, and that Fire and
Judgement don't mix." She smiles at him. "That's pretty much all I can
remember."

Zach grins. "Do you know /why/ they don't mix?" His eyes glance around the
apartement and rest briefly on the column and the cloth. Well, Harriet's
gotta have something to do while holed up in her fort, right?

Exactly. "Not in any detail. Delia mentioned that some of her fellows
might tend to be overzealous on occassion but," she sighs, "that was all,
and since it was obviously a touchy subject, I didn't want to pry, you
know?" She notices the sleeveless shirt for the first time, and cranes her
neck to peer at Zach's tattoo. "Pretty," she murmurs, and strokes the
lines with one finger.

Zach smiles and enjoys the tickly sensation as she fingers his tattoo.
"It's a bit complicated, but the short and sweet of it is that the angels
of Fire blame the Archangel of Judgement, Dominic, for driving the
Archangel of Fire, Gabriel, mad and out of Heaven. Dominic accused Gabriel
of heresy after he quoted the Quran to Muhammed, Gabriel went ballistic
and stormed out of Heaven when Dominic called the trial, which was
stopped. Gabriel these days is a primal force, as unpredictable as her
Word. Her angels love her fanatically and completely, and they bear great
animosity toward Judgement for what they consider an unfair and cruel
treatment of their Bright Lady. Judgement on the other hand feel that the
angels of Fire go a bit overboard with punishing the cruel all over the
place. They also snark about the insane followers of an insane Archangel,
which don't go over to well with Fire." He shrugs a bit and sighs.

Harriet stops fingering the tattoo for a moment. "Oh," she says, faintly.
After a moment's thought, "It occurs to me that being immortal means that
you have lots of time to build really intense grudges, you know?" She
frowns faintly, and starts stroking the tattoo again. "Brynn's not insane.
She's just highly strung, and under a lot of stress." Harriet's voice is
slighty defensive.

Zach tries to repress a chuckle with moderate success. "They all are. Like
I said, angels of Divine Fire are /intense/. I think it would be fair to
say that they are some of the most hard working angels in all of Heaven. I
don't think they are insane, nor do I think Gabriel is. She's a primal
force - sanity don't apply. That and she's in a lot of pain. Has been ever
since Lucifer named an infernal Prince of Fire to battle the Divine
Flame."

Harriet frowns. "They have the same Word? Can you /do/ that? I kinda
thought it was," she waves vaguely, "first come, first serve or something,
you know?"

Zach sighs. "It was. But then the Fall happened, and Lucifer is so
powerful that he can infringe on the Symphony - reality in terrible ways.
He can give out infernal Words, and so he has. Infernal Fire is all about
destruction and pain and destruction. Divin Fire is cleansing,
inspiration, passion, and punishment of the cruel. For the last thousand
years and more, Gabriel's been more and more focusing on the punishment
bit."

Harriet blinks. "Oh," she says, again, as the information is duly filed
away for review when she's feeling less exhausted. She snuggles against
Zach, yawns, and says, "I think I should go to bed, you know? I'm
beginning to go all fuzzy around the edges."

Zach cuddles her and agrees. "Yeah, bed sounds like a good idea. I'll tell
you more about stuff in the morning. I'll stay with you tonight."

Harriet nods and smiles at him. "I'm very glad you are, you know?" She
staggers down from his lap, and slips into the bathroom to change into
pijamas.

Zach pads around turning the lights off, undresses and gets under the
covers to starts warming up the bed for Harriet. He keeps the bedside
light on, though. It wouldn't do for his charge to stumble in the dark and
hurt herself!

Harriet returns, and makes her way towards the bed, managing to get there
without major injury, all though she does stumble over a couple piles of
cloth. She tumbles into bed, and wraps herself in the covers, and around
Zach, hugging him close.



Zach moves and winds a bit to make blessed sure that Harriet is as comfy
as possible, then relaxes and just holds her close, slowly stroking her
back and her arm while feeling her fall to sleep... "Sleep tight my love,"
he whispers. "I'll be watching over you."

<OOC> Harriet awws!

<OOC> Zach is a hopeless sap! :)

Harriet murmurs something mostly incoherent, and falls asleep quite
quickly in his arms.

The end....