[⛤ VIDEO #1 ]

[sparkofgoodness]

Soooo, that was unpleasant.

[ Crowley is recording while sat at a desk with a few books scattered around. It's clearly Odinhaus, to anyone who has been inside, and also clearly Aziraphale's to anyone who recognises it.

This is not especially a surprise to anyone else who lives there, given that his voice can probably be heard from somewhere in it nearly all the time. ]

Tree thing. Bad tree. Gnome thing, too, very weird -- wouldn't expect that of gnomes, kidnapping people and all. Thought they just hung around in gardens and looked after princesses.

[ Isn't that right? It's possible Crowley's information is, uh, irrelevant. ]

Anyway, speaking of trees -- I did learn something about the other tree. The, uh, main big tree.

[ The name has a lot of letters and he keeps getting it wrong ]

Big, important tree.

[ A sedate, if slightly frustrated background voice says Be clear you're talking about Yggdrasil. It's definitely Aziraphale's voice. ]

Yeah, that one. So, turns out the uh... whole... absorbing you without the bracelets thing might have something to it. Or, at least, the tree definitely does that -- I mean, less absorbing and more... unravelling you, sort of... permanently... from having ever existed. Little bit murkier on if it's definitely connected to the jewellery not being worn, but proving that seems... difficult.

[ 'Hey, do you mind taking off your bracelet to see if you get permanently deleted from history' seems a bit of a hard sell. ]

Anyway, interesting though. Weird, but interesting. Oh! Another thing --

[ Crowley turns his recording so there's a quick pan of some of the tiny room in Odinhaus. ]

Bit pokey, aren't they? These little dorm rooms. Feel like I'm in a budget hostel.

[ It isn't... that bad... ]

Has anyone moved out of these places? Must be other places you can live.

[ Aziraphale's voice pipes up again: Other places you might live where company is allowed overnight, he specifies. Crowley shoots him a slight frown off screen, tries to act relaxed about this correction. ]

Yeah, you know, places you don't get kicked out early.

[ Right. That. ]

Comments

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[thequitecontrary]

[ It is that bad. Mary agrees wholeheartedly. ]

My room in Tyrhaus is awful. There are seven other people in it. I no longer stay there and currently am living in Peter Quill's spaceship. It's not perfect, but it's much better.

Thus, it is possible to move out and go to a neutral place where people from different god houses can live, though you have to build it yourself. Are you or your friend [ She smiles because she can hear him in the background. ] particularly handy?

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[sparkofgoodness]

Seven people?

[ He remembered she didn't like it but honestly, that's a bit much.

Still. Are either of them 'handy'? Well, when the scale is building a house... ]

Be easier if we could just buy one. I can't wait until this place invents currency.

[ Please, bring him capitalism. Please. ]

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[iustise]

[John is not exactly one to talk on the topic of living quarters. While he is not exactly enamored with his own space, it is at least better than a tent on the parade ground.]

I do believe there are quite a number of persons who have found their own space outside of their assigned dormitory spaces.

[He offers what he hopes is his most polite and understanding smile. He did recognize that voice, after all. And after their last several interactions, he has most certainly begun to connect the dots and form some conclusions of his own.]

Mr Crowley, are you perhaps looking for an accommodation together with Mr Fell?

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[sparkofgoodness]

[ Oh, it's this guy again. Mr Snoopy, who helped him during what in his mind is termed The Gnome incident. Mmmm. ]

Well, he has all the good wine.

[ As good a reason to live with someone as any, right? ]

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[tealeafs]

[ There's a lot of information here. Chizuru needs a moment to think about what to even comment on first as she tries to take it all in. The information about the tree is the most worrying part - which is exactly why she doesn't start with it.

Instead.. ]

Excuse me, but did they have those "gnomes" where you come from? Back home?

[ They didn't look like anything Chizuru has seen before. ]

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[sparkofgoodness]

[ Errr.

Hmmm. ]

Sure.

[ Crowley, why. ]

Never met one personally or anything, read about them a lot though.

[tealeafs]

Oh, really?

[ She instantly believes him. It's easy to see on the video feed - not even the slightest doubt passes over her face before she answers. Instead she just looks surprised. ]

I was already wondering if they also came from one of our worlds! It does seem that everything that poses some danger to us here actually comes from the home world of one or more people stuck here, right?

[momsboy]

Do you mean Igrasil?

[ No, Peter, that's not how the tree is called at all. Not like the Guardian ever gets the name right. Stupid Nordic gods and their complicate names for everything, geez. ]

Did you actually manage to shake off the bracelets? What were you thinking, man. I get enjoying science, but going all 'I will see if I unmake myself by taking these off' is a bit too far.

I moved out of my god house, my spaceship fell from the sky into the city some months ago and I was already used to living in the Benatar with my team. You could build a house, I know other people are doing that.

[ At the kicked out early, he smirks because one of the reasons why Gamora and him live in the ship it's so they can sleep together all night.

Now he gets it. ]

Ah, you want a lovenest.

[sparkofgoodness]

[ We-ell.... ]

Pretty sure this place has some of its own dangers. Everywhere does, right? Probably some native giant bears or something.

[ Polar bears like snow, right? Lots of snow, probably there are lots of polar bears or something. ]

etc.

[iustise]

[Lord John has, luckily, a most impressive poker face. He needs it for conversations such as this one.]

Indeed. He seems to be quite the gourmand.

[He has reason to believe that this is not the only reason that the two of you are living together, but he can leave it there. For now.]

Dare I ask exactly what you mean by, "unraveling"?

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[advivo]

[ Oh, he knows whose room that is alright. Dante chuckles, shaking his head. ]

Yeah, the rooms are pretty terrible. Aziraphale's done pretty good with that one though, certainly more books since the last time I dropped by.

[ He really should do that sometime, wow what a terrible roommate he has been, huh? ]

Well I kinda moved out of there, into a building my brother got given but it's still technically apart of Odin's... spehere? District? That thing. [ Dante makes hand motions, frowning a little. ] I think it still suffers from the whole 'kicked out early' problem, though I haven't invited anyone over for the night so who knows.

[tealeafs]

[ The slightest pause, and then-- ]

Have you seen any native giant bears here?

[ She hasn't heard anyone mention them. But even so it sounds like the question isn't born out of suspicion as much as it's just curiosity.. If there really are giant bears, she'd like to be prepared. ]

We didn't see any out on the road to the outpost, I think.

[sanityinruins]

A bit picky, aren't you?

Also stop drinking all my wine.

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[sparkofgoodness]

Nnngh.

[ There's an implication here that he isn't sure if he's meant to object to just in case. He opts for just the sound, glancing around the room again and letting out a disappointed sigh.

Bit boring when the party ends so early, I'm used to drinking all night.

[ There, a mild sort of redirection just in case. ]

[sparkofgoodness]

Well polar bears are white, blend in with the snow don't they?

[ He's helping.

This is what helping looks like. ]

[sparkofgoodness]

[ Hold the phone. ]

Hang on, I'm not drinking your wine. If it's going missing, it isn't me.

[ The two of them have had plenty since December, when Crowley requested Aziraphale's wine collection and (surprisingly) actually got given it. ]

[sanityinruins]

Really?

[ A slight huff or annoyance. ] Honestly you would think that there was a better way to keep tabs on who's in the stuff around here.

[tealeafs]

[ Clearly. ]

W.. Wait!

[ .. okay, maybe it's not helping a whole lot. It's mostly just helping Chizuru panic. ]

Are you saying there could have been giant bears all along and we just passed them without knowing it?!

[sparkofgoodness]

Yeah, it's camouflage. That's how they hunt, polar bears. Blend in.

[ It's simply A Fact. ]

[tealeafs]

That's so scary..

[ She definitely doesn't want to go anywhere near that sandy road again now, thanks. ]

I wonder if everyone else knew about it. I know I'm usually a little slow to catch on to those things, so maybe they did see it.

[sparkofgoodness]

Oh, I dunno. Might not be polar bears where they're from, they might not know to look for them.

[ This is still helping. ]

[sparkofgoodness]

[ Ooh, this topic again. Crowley isn't a fan. ]

Well, imagine your life like a big knit scarf. Then imagine someone grabs a thread and starts pulling.

[ That helps, right? ]

[sparkofgoodness]

[ There's a lot going on here.

One, he never said he managed to shake off the bracelets. Not true! He did not take them off to see if he unmade himself!

He asked Odin to take them off, in the hope that he could escape.

Two, a spaceship all of a sudden? Falling from the sky? That's new.

Three -- ]

Hang on --

[ Is all Crowley manages before Aziraphale's voice interrupts in the background.

Did he say lovenest? How rude! He shouldn't call it that. It's a home.

Crowley turns around, squints at him off screen as he continues to mutter Well, as much of a home as one could have here, then glances back at the display. ]

Anyway, not much of a builder myself.

[ Moving on. We're ignoring that whole situation, thanks. ]

[sparkofgoodness]

[ A better way? ]

Dye trap? See who ends up coated in the stuff?

[ Just a suggestion. ]

[tealeafs]

It's a good thing we have you around then! [ Yes, Chizuru. Because that's clearly what this place needs. A troll polar bear expert. ]

And honestly, more than anything I'm just glad nothing happened involving the bears on top of everything. The incident with the gnomes was already scary enough.