Levi Open Post ((for nexus_crossings))

[tryingitall]

The angel Balthazar spends most of his time at Lucifer's villa these days, to no one's surprise. He hasn't let go of his apartment, though. He's only rearranged it for Levi's comfort. The sleek modern furniture has been replaced with antique reproductions, and the plain walls covered with art that matches the painter's tastes. Levi's very fond of copper, and shades of deep blue. The art studio that used to be dedicated to one small room has now expanded to encompass all but the bed and bathroom of the place. There are shelves of supplies, several paintings in progress, books and references, sculpting supplies, and in one room there is even a workspace dedicated to glass. Nothing bigger than jewelry or small vessels can be made there--there simply isn't enough space, but Levi relishes the opportunity to experiment.

It's weird having a time-share situation with his own body, but he can't deny that he's never had this much encouragement for his art before, neither in the way of supplies provided or financial support. If only Bart could have seen this!

Well, maybe he will, some day.

In the the meantime, even with all the opportunity surrounding him, sometimes when the angel retreats to let him play, all he wants to do is drink coffee and sketch and watch the world go by. That's what he's up to today, sitting on the veranda outside the lobby of the apartment building. It's late afternoon, and he's watching the tawny sky darken over the Nexus, listening to music of various ages and styles and planets drift from open windows in the apartment building above him. He's got an open sketchbook, a pile of charcoal pencils and tortillons he's stuffed into an empty dopp kit bag, and on the table at his elbow is a very foamy caramel-coffee drink, and a half-eaten plate of cheese fries.

It's hard to tell what he's drawing at a glance. It's a subtle swirl of gray, but if you sit with him long enough, a picture may emerge...

Comments

[skeksisheretic]

When skekGra comes to visit Levi, he's brought urGoh the Wanderer with him. The Mystic looks around in his slow, deliberate way, reading the environment.

"urGoh! We're here to say hello to our friend, not to look at scenery!" He shakes his head at Levi apologetically. "Sorry about that, he does it on purpose to annoy me. That is my other half, urGoh the Wanderer. I don't believe we've met in person, exactly, though we've met your other half."

It was easy for them to grasp the concept of angels and vessels. Two creatures sharing one body - in a way, it's the opposite of their own situation, one creature divided into two separate bodies. skekGra wonders if that's what being an urSkek again will be like, or if the skekGra parts and urGoh parts will simply be fused together, as if they were never divided. Maybe that's what the Skeksis fear so much. It is death, of a sort. The Skeksis and Mystics have their own memories and experiences now that would be taken away.

The Wanderer speaks up next. "You...are Levi...right? We...know Balthazar. Pleased...to meet...you."

[tryingitall]

He was only half expecting visitors. Balthazar has made all sorts of contacts in the Nexus, among all sorts of species, and he's informed Levi about most of them. Good thing, too. The sight of the skeksis and the Mystic would definitely be surprising if he hadn't been aware of them already. As it is, he's still surprised to hear they've come specifically to see him, but in a good way.

"Hello," he greets with a wry grin. "Yeah, I'm Levi Gilman. UrGoh and skekGra, right?"

His accent differs from the angel's, but the voice is the same. His body language is different, too, more slouched and tired, but there's something sunny in the smile that carries over between them both. "Are these chairs all right for you to sit in? I was thinking of moving to the garden anyway; there are benches there."

Look, he may not have been expecting them, but he wants to be a good host now that they're here.

[skeksisheretic]

"That's us," skekGra says with a stately bow. If Balthazar watches them, he'll see urGoh rolling his eyes affectionately. skekGra is a bombastic old drama queen of a Skeksis, but he's urGoh's Skeksis and he loves him. "We'll go to the garden, if that works for you! A lot of chairs aren't really built for us. We're designing some of our own."

He gives a shrug with his primary arms. It comes with being a large, odd-looking alien in a multiverse inhabited by mostly humans and humanoids from what he's seen.

"He broke...a few," urGoh says. "Too...heavy." skekGra blamed the make of the chairs a few times, but even he eventually gave in and started using sofas and beanbag chairs instead. When he wasn't poking holes in them by mistake with his claws, that is. skekGra thinks human carpentry skills, while good, need some improvement, and who better to provide help than a former Lord of the Crystal.

skekGra gives Levi a toothy smile. "We're artists, too. Playwrights! Musicians! Historians!"

[tryingitall]

Levi knows from bombastic old drama queens. Angels are almost entirely bombastic old drama queens. "Sure thing! The garden's pretty inspirational, anyway, and the sun's good for me."

He tosses his fries away, since he was done with them anyway, but after a little bit of juggling he manages to carry his sketching supplies and the remnants of his coffee down the short path to the building's garden. There are benches and picnic tables, and he parks himself at one peacefully.

"Too heavy, really? You're tall but you don't look like you'd break a chair." He must be heavier than he looks. "I keep thinking someone should make chairs to fit the angels' wings better, too, but I'm no carpenter."

"That so?" He smiles. "I can make myself available if you want a hand painting sets sometime. I did that for a couple years for a theater in Chicago."

[skeksisheretic]

"We'll have to take you up on that offer." skekGra grins. "Hand painting set, eh? We know about theater, but we don't know so much about...Chicago, you called it? Is that some kind of Earth place? We don't know too much about the Earth."

"We're from...another planet," urGoh explains as the Mystic and Skeksis look over the garden and get themselves settled. "The planet...of Thra. We're...aliens."

"Well, to us Levi's the alien," replies skekGra in a huff. "There are no humans on Thra, and there are no Skeksis or Mystics on Earth. Besides, everyone's an alien here in the Nexus. It's a hodgepodge of people and stuff from everywhere in the multiverse. Don't confuse him. Sorry about urGoh, Levi, he's insufferable..."

urGoh finds himself a place on the bench, and if it's hard for a Skeksis it's even more awkward for a Mystic, with six functional limbs instead of four. Nevertheless, the Wanderer manages to get himself as cozy as possible.

"You're taking up too much space!"