Interesting Place for a Stroll {Aubrie}

[zophiel]

Zophiel grinned at Aubrie, "Nah, you're fine. I'm the one dumping my issues on someone I just met. Seems to me its my responsibility to lighten the mood."

He meant what he said, and he looked over the yo-yo, making sure the red and black toy with the odd symbols on it was in good shape.

"Did you know these were invented to be weapons?" He got it going, up and down, up and down, and with a small push of his angelic power, Zophiel was doing tricks only the pros dreamed of. He shot out the yo-yo and had it wrap itself around the arm of an angel statue near one of the grave markers. With a flick of his wrist, the yo-yo was back in his hand.

"Much cooler than 'walk the dog' right? You should have seen it..." he grinned, "I once fought off a demon with this thing."

He vaguely wondered just then if he had said too much. Did she even know about demons? Vampires and angels and psychics, sure, but did she know about all the creepy-crawlies out there? Just because you know of one doesn't mean you know of them all.

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie smiled at Zoph's trick.

It felt nice to be able to genuinely smile for a change. It wasn't something she had a lot of chances to do lately, with everything that had happened. But it felt good, and she vowed to try and relax more often, to try and see past all the bad and focus on the good things.

She was alive. She still had the use of her hands, despite Darian's best efforts. She had Nikita. And she'd apparently made a new friend in Zophiel as well. Or, at least she hoped she had.

If the smile had come as a shock to her, then the laugh that escaped her when the angel mentioned besting a demon with the yo-yo. Her face lit up at the mental image of Zophiel wielding the toy like the ancient weapon it had been derived from to beat down some unsuspecting demon. Another soft chuckle issued from her, and she shook her head in amusement.

"Something tells me that particular demon wasn't very pleased, huh?"

[zophiel]

Zophiel smirked as he continued to play with the yo-yo with, what appeared to be, little effort or concentration. He flicked his wrist up and caught the yo-yo, holding it out so should could see it better.

"This symbol is sort of like a devil's trap. Kind of does to a demon what Holy water would do. I can swing it around and hit them and it hurts a lot more than just whacking them. Plus, i can take it anywhere. Who's going to look at a yo-yo twice, right?"

Zophiel grinned, relieved that he didn't just open a can of worms by revealing demons to the psychic. He pocketed the yo-yo and rubbed his hands together for warmth. If he had known he was going to be coming here, where it was so cold, he would have remembered gloves.

Then it dawned on him.

"Crap... I just remember..." he looked around, "I came here because I sensed something... creepy. You kinda distracted me... at first I thought it was you, but now I realized its not..."

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie stiffened, looking around the cemetery.

"Something... creepy?" she asked softly, shivering. "Like... what kind of creepy?" Of course, the first possibility that came to her mind was Darian. He could be out there, watching her even now. Maybe even preparing to attack. And could Zophiel really protect her if it was Darian?

"Maybe I should go," she said, biting her lip slightly. "I mean, if its something that you have to... take care of, I don't want to get in your way, you know?"

Truthfully, Aubrie was armed. She always carried a gun with her, something that an old police officer friend of hers had gotten her in the habit of doing. When working with the cops, it had sometimes proved useful to be armed herself. Sure, she'd never actually had to shoot anyone, but the fact was she was ready if she had to.

Not that a gun would have much effect if it was something supernatural. Which, in reality, it probably was if it had drawn the angel's attention. Aubrie suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

She was in danger.

[zophiel]

Zophiel grabbed Aubrie's arm before she could move, shaking his head, "Splitting up now is not a good idea. We haven't been attacked yet so we might be safe."

He didn't know what it was yet, but if it hadn't attacked them yet, then they were probably safe. He was beating himself up anyway. How stupid was he? He came out here to hunt and let a pretty face distract him. They could have both been killed if it was something dangerous.

"Just stay close, alright? I don't know what we're dealing with."

Zophiel held tight to Aubrie protectively as he closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. He was afraid whatever it was may now attack with them aware of it, and he wanted to find it fast. He turned his head as a shadow passed a nearby tombstone, and Zophiel knew what it was. He relaxed considerably and let go of Aubrie.

"Its a ghost... a harmless one. This is something I've gotten very good at... helping spirits cross over. Want to tag along?" he grinned at her, almost like a carefree fashion. He really was a goofball sometimes.

[Aubrie Carpathia]

For the second time since they'd met, Zophiel nearly found himself on the wrong side of Aubrie's gun.

As it almost always was with anyone, Aubrie's initial reaction to Zophiel's touch was to pull away. That was followed almost instantaneously by her newfound reflex to go for her gun, a trait that she'd picked up over the past few months, mostly thanks to Darian. Not that the weapon would have any real affect on Zoph, of course, but that really wasn't her first thought.

Aubrie was aware that the angel was speaking, but the words were lost to her as she tried to calm her mind down. Zophiel wasn't a normal person, she didn't have to worry about psychic overflow or backlash from him... Still, his touch made her nervous, and as he clung to her more tightly, she feared that her limited self-control was about to shatter altogether.

Finally he let go, and she took a step back, breathing a sigh of relief and wiping sweat from her brow. When Zophiel said that what they were dealing with was only a simple ghost, a lost spirit, Aubrie let herself finally relax completely. The truth was, she was very familiar with spirits, and with helping them move on. In fact, besides touch-reading, her strongest gift was probably being a medium--communing with the spirits of the dead.

She told Zophiel as much.

"So, will you need any help?"

[zophiel]

Zophiel realized after releasing Aubrie that he had messed up again. She was nervous about being touched, and he could understand why. Zophiel used to be able to do something similar to her touch reading, but that was just one of the gifts he lost when he fell, along with the time warping and his angelic sword. The rest of his powers were there, more or less, just severely weakened. The difference between his touch reading and Aubrie's was that he had complete control over it. She did not.

Still, he didn't want to give up. He wanted to be friends, and in order for that to happen, she needed to be comfortable with him. He wouldn't push it though. There was a ghost here. He needed to focus on that first.

He looked around, and saw a shimmer across the field. It appeared to be a woman in an old-- and he meant OLD-- nurses uniform. Her hair was up and she was gray, as most spirits are. She was sad, though. Not at all threatening. He looked at Aubrie again, and held out his hand.

"Some help would be appreciated. I see her over there. Care to join me?"

It was harmless enough. She could take his hand if she wanted, or move ahead without. He left the choice completely up to her.

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie eyed Zophiel's hand for a moment before walking gently past him, toward the wayward spirit.

She hoped that he wouldn't take it the wrong way. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, rather, she didn't trust herself. Or her powers, really. The fact was, even though Zoph was an angel, Aubrie was still able to pick up some faint psychic feedback from him, and she knew that if she touched him, it would only be amplified. She couldn't always rely on her gloves to protect her, unfortunately.

"If you don't mind," she said, looking back over her shoulder, "I wouldn't mind watching you do it. I'd be interested in seeing your technique, really. I'll step in and help if you need me to, of course."

[zophiel]

Zophiel watched Aubrie walk by and lowered his hand. Hit and a miss. Oh well, he figured she was just worried about her powers. She had been friendly otherwise, so he doubted it was because she didn't like him. And come on, who couldn't like Zophiel?

Demons, monsters, hunters, vampires, ghosts, his brothers and sisters...

Yeah okay, we get the point.

He walked up with Aubrie and just smiled at her. "Sure, I like showing off for pretty girls."

Zophiel had to look around again and concentrate to see this spirit. He knew it wasn't the spirit's fault that he couldn't see her easily, either. He figured Aubrie's powers were stronger than his when it came to this kind of thing. Still, he could help one ghost right?

"Hello there, ma'am..." the spirit didn't speak, but looked rather surprised that someone could see her, "I'm here to try to help you move on..."

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie chuckled a bit when Zoph called her pretty.

That wasn't something she was used to hearing. The way she lived her life, always working or burned out from too much use of her touch-reading, it didn't leave a lot of time to get to know people. And even if she had had the time, she never would have gotten close, as doing so was usually too dangerous. Until Nikita, it had never occurred to her to try and be with something other than human...

And now, she was happier than she had been in a long time, even with the shadow of Darian looming over her.

Pushing these thoughts aside, Aubrie returned her attention to the business at hand. Helping lost spirits pass on was something that Aubrie had a lot of experience in. In fact, other than touch-reading, being a medium was probably what she was best known for. Many people had come to her in the past for help, and she had a perfect record in helping wayward ghosts.

Still, she was interested in observing Zophiel's technique, and thought she might be able to pick up a new trick or two. That didn't mean she wouldn't step in, though, if she was needed. But for the most part, she was content to simply observe.

Turning her attention to the spirit, Aubrie watched patiently and curiously, wondering what exactly Zophiel would do.