[Ninth]

[midgardserpent]

Action: Zemekis Corp. Offices

[Yes, Jormungandr still works as an office guy. No, he still doesn't like it. He still has no idea what the papers are for, or what all it means, and he doesn't care. All he does is draw scribbles or type random letters on papers he's handed and somehow it works and no one talks about it. Sometimes he just sits and stares at the ceiling all day long. That's what he's doing now, actually. He's a master of patience and being able to sit in one place and do nothing. He never thought he'd be doing it in a place like this, though.]

Action: The Park, Late Afternoon

[He still likes the park. It's kind of nice. And it's away from the house and the nagging of the drone wife. He doesn't like her, but he tolerates her. He puts up with her by staying away from the house as much as possible. And so that means he spends a lot of time in the park.

He's sitting on a bench at the moment, staring at the sky. He's been here for half a year and he still hasn't really gotten used to having a sky. It's actually fascinating to him. All that blue, and the clouds... and the sun. It's like nothing he's ever dreamed.]

Action: Olney's Tavern, Evening

[Crowley had inviting him to come by when he was on duty sometime. Now, Jormungandr has no idea if Crowley is on duty or not, but he's decided to go anyway, to see what it's like.

He's sitting at the bar, watching the people around him. They're drinking, talking about strange things... He wonders what the point of this activity is. He wonders why humans even bother. Their lives are so short anyway, like the tiniest grain of salt in the vast ocean, dissolved into the greater whole and never noticed by anyone. How do they manage to survive?

...what? He can get philosophical if he wants. What else was he supposed to do on the bottom of the ocean?]

Comments

[midgardserpent]

[He snorts. No wonder you and Loki got on so well.]

[eyesofaserpent]

And despite how you may torment them, they surprise you with how inviting they still are. I'm a demon. My job is to make their brief lives miserable. And yet, look how many here have welcomed me and gone so far as to call me "friend".

[midgardserpent]

[He's noticed that.

So.

Crowley.

You're not planning on tormenting Jormungandr any time soon are you?]

[eyesofaserpent]

What? What are you looking at me li--- I'm not going to do anything like that to you. I can't even tell what people want right now. Not easily, at least.

[midgardserpent]

[Well good.

He'd hate to have to rip your head off.

It'd be tragic. Really.

Anyway. Nice drink.]

[eyesofaserpent]

The only one on our level I mess with is Aziraphale...

[His voice trails off and he busies himself with polishing a glass.]

[midgardserpent]

[Oh well now that's interesting. He raises his eyebrow.

Go on.]

[eyesofaserpent]

[He knows what you want, but he doesn't want to spill the beans. So he's going to play dumb.]

What?

[midgardserpent]

[He's not stupid. He rolls his eyes and sits back on the stool and just kind of looks at him.

You want to be that way? Fine. Whatever.]

[eyesofaserpent]

[Yes. He does want to be that way. It's firmly in the category of "Things I don't want to deal with". So it's time for an obvious subject change!]

Did you have much mead back home?

[midgardserpent]

[He snorts. It's actually very close to a laugh, surprisingly enough.

He lived under the ocean. What do you think, Crowley?]

[eyesofaserpent]

No, probably not... Well, at least you're able to get out and about now, even if it is Mayfield.

[midgardserpent]

[He shrugs.

He's been here half a year and he still doesn't know if it's better.

It's just a different kind of prison, isn't it?

...but still.

He's never gotten to see the sky so much before.]

[eyesofaserpent]

[There was a time when he had been stuck underground for far longer than should be healthy. And then he was ordered to go topside and cause trouble. Crowley never looked back. His life on the surface has always been much, much more interesting.]

Well, there are worse places than this hell hole.

[midgardserpent]

[He shrugs. He's never been anywhere but the ocean and here.

He'll take your word for it.]

[eyesofaserpent]

By definition, Hell's worse.

[midgardserpent]

[He snorts. Maybe where Crowley comes from. Where Jormungandr comes from his sister rules the equivalent and from what he hears it's not eternal torment so much as eternal boredom.

Which, for the Norse, is eternal torment, so it's all in how you look at it.]

[eyesofaserpent]

I've met some incredible beings here that don't exist in my world.

[midgardserpent]

[He shrugs. So has he, but he doesn't care as much.]

[eyesofaserpent]

[He shrugs.] Perhaps I'm just a sentimental old serpent.

[midgardserpent]

[He doesn't respond to that, just takes another sip of his drink.]

[eyesofaserpent]

But of course one day we'll get back home, right?

[midgardserpent]

[Jormungandr looks up at Crowley and eyes him with a piercing, thoughtful gaze.

Finally, he shrugs.

Maybe.

Maybe not.]

[eyesofaserpent]

Right...

[He seems lost in thought.]

[midgardserpent]

[He watches Crowley, head tilted, curious.]