Commentary for Jill.

[tammaiya]

It took a shamefully long time to find a chapter with only Metatron and Gabriel in it, you know. And now I've found one, I can't think of anything to say. Airheadedness strikes again! Oh dear. Well, let's see what I can come up with.

Flopping down onto the couch cheerfully, Metatron stared up at the ceiling with a giggle. "Hey, Gabe?"

Still carrying the rather heavy picnic hamper , Gabriel dumped it on the ground and moved to shut the heavy wooden door. "Yeah?"

"Do you think that those chocolate things had alcohol in them? Cause they kinda tasted like it."

Mmm, liquor chocolate. Now, you'd have to be a REAL cadbury (hahah, unintentional bad pun!) to get drunk off them, however much you eat, but it can be done. I know; my dog once ate my father's easter egg and was so very drunk. She even got a hangover afterwards. Anyway, the point of this note is that Metatron is probably slightly tipsy- because he would so totally be a lightweight- but this is added to by his natural hyperactivity and, of course, the caffeine and sugar in the chocolate. Not a lot with the loss of coordination or inhabitions, but very high.

Gabriel froze, a horrible icy feeling in the pit of his stomach. "You mean to tell me," he began calmly, "that there is a possibility that you have been eating a substance that was definitely chocolate and may or may not have contained alcohol?"

The concept of drunk, sugar-high, caffiene consuming Metatron is scary. I created him, and I'm scared. Just envision the energiser bunny on speed, and then make it really clumsy and 'friendly'.
Or... don't, actually, because on second thoughts I don't want to think about the energiser bunny being 'friendly'.

"Well, yes," Metatron answered, blue eyes wide and guileless. He sounded just a little puzzled. "Is there a problem?"

He's not joking. Metatron can be very naive, and I doubt he's been drunk very often- the other angels would have kept him away from the stuff at all costs.

Gabriel cringed. "Oh, nothing aside from the usual horrible thought of you consuming sugar and possibly alcohol."

Metatron crossed his arms indignantly. "Oi! It's not like I have alcohol all the time or anything!"

Again, the naivety. He only picks up on the wording Gabriel uses- 'usual'- and uses the root of the problem as his defense. Drunk!Metatron would be a lot less scary a concept if one were accustomed to it.

"No, for which I am forever grateful," Gabriel muttered, collapsing down onto one of the other couches wearily.

Metatron, deciding that they were getting away from the point, went back to his original question. "So do you think they had alcohol in them?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "How should I know? I didn't eat any of them! In fact, I never even saw…" A horrifying thought struck him about then. "Metatron, you didn't eat them all, did you?"

"Uriel ate some too!" Metatron's tone was dubiously quick and defensive. Gabriel groaned, and when he spoke his tone was one of resignation.
"Oh, bugger. How long ago?"

"Um, a few hours ago, I think. Near the beginning." Metatron replied thoughtfully.

They were chocolate. They did, of course, get polished off quickly.

Gabriel gave a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God!" He waited almost guiltily for the 'you're welcome!' that was bound to come along, but when it didn't, he continued on. "That must mean it's already worn off. Although, I don't recall you being that hyper at the picnic. Only at the berry pelting stage."

God must have been distracted. That, or Murphy's Law works against angels everywhere and God only notices when they least want him to.
Probably both, but I don't remember what God is doing at the time.

Metatron shrugged sheepishly. "I felt kind of sick. Sugar overload." Gabriel briefly commented on this to himself mentally for later observation: Note to self. When Metatron has eaten sugar, just give him more sugar until the crisis is averted. However, he remembered that this probably wouldn't be so fun for Metatron, and changed his mind. Metatron bit his lip. "Do you reckon I could ask Zari if they had alcohol in them?"

Metatron is fixating. Does it really matter if they had alcohol in them? It will wear off, after all. It does to Metatron, though, and this is generally an indication that he's concerned about something. And, might I add, it's not the alcohol.
As for Gabriel, he can be a very insensitive person when he's in a bad mood. He's sarcastic, he's cynical, but we haven't seen much of this side of him yet because he curbs it around Metatron. It's a mark of how stressed he is that he even considered doing something like that to Metatron; he'd do it to his other friends without a qualm if he thought they deserved it (or maybe just because it's funny), but he's cautious to the point of being paranoid about Metatron's well-being and he always suppresses that side of him when with his best friend. He has his reasons. I'm just not going to tell you what they are, cause SPOILERS!

Gabriel threw his hands up into the air exasperatedly. "Metatron, why are you so focused on the damn alcohol?"

Gabriel knows Metatron better than anyone except perhaps Met's twin Sandy. He knows the warning signs that something isn't right, but this one is only minor; he won't get suspicious until one of the more conclusive signs crops up, which is why at this point he's only exasperated rather than concerned. There are probably alarm bells starting to shiver at the back of his mind, though.

Metatron mumbled something incoherent. Gabriel raised an eyebrow and waited pointedly for him to say it louder. Looking distinctly uncomfortable, Metatron did so. "I feel kind of… funny. I think I might be tipsy. And alcohol makes me go a bit… well, you know. Friendly." He blushed faintly. Gabriel's chocolate eyes widened incredulously.

Yes, that's right- Metatron is a friendly drunk. Personal space? A thing of the past. Judgement? Utterly shot. A drunk Metatron would do a lot of very unadvisable but interesting things.
... I've changed my mind, I do want to see this. Now, how to make it happen...

"Friendly?" He exclaimed. The word 'friendly' created the rather unaccustomed concept of a flirtatious Metatron, which in turn conjured up some rather interesting mental images. He began choking, before he realised something else. "Hey, I've been your best friend for almost all of eternity, right?"

No, he's not exaggerating; Gabriel and Sandy have been looking after Metatron since they were all created. As for the choking, he has a few very good reasons- the most obvious of these is his own feelings for Met, making the concept of a vulnerable and drunk Metatron cracking onto him- or worse, someone else- very disconcerting. The other is that Metatron is intrinsically a very innocent character; he's friendly when sober too, but platonically so. He's almost childlike in his lack of sexuality, and it's easy to accept that as it is; Gabriel is used to that, and the concept of a more sensual Metatron is therefore disturbing. However, you have to remember how old Metatron is. You don't reach that age and remain as innocent as Metatron appears to be, and you can sometimes see flashes of that in his conversations with others. Metatron's innocence is a consciously portrayed front, connected to his self-image, and that is why it gets dropped when he is drunk.
Hm, am being a bit spoileriffic.

Metatron watched him suspiciously, wondering what this could possibly be leading up to. "Yes?"

Metatron is a lot deeper than he acts. He never wants to discuss any problems he may or may not have, which can make it hard for Gabriel to find out what the problem is even after he's realised there is one. Metatron is understandably wary about where this line of questioning is going, as it's a pretty ominous question and it's possible that Gabriel has decided they need to Talk.

"Then how come I've never seen you drunk?" Gabriel asked plaintively.

Luckily for Metatron but not so fortunately for Gabriel, it was much less serious than that.

Metatron made a face at the sheer ridiculous nature of the question. Of all the things he had been expecting Gabriel to say after such an ominous beginning, this certainly wasn't one of them. In all honesty, it confused him somewhat. "Probably because I never get drunk in Heaven. I only tend to on Earth."

Now there's another interesting concept. Why on Earth? Again tied into the projected image thing; Metatron doesn't feel the need to pretend on Earth, because he's not trying to protect/deceive his friends.

Gabriel felt a bit cheated by that. All those missed opportunities to laugh at Metatron… Then again, it was probably just as well. The temptation of a coy Metatron was one he may very well be unable to resist, and if he took advantage of his best friend while the other angel was intoxicated, he'd never forgive himself. EVER. It did lead him to wonder why Metatron only got drunk on Earth, although when he thought about it, none of them really did get drunk in each other's presence. That was strange, and it was something that he felt needed to be remedied. Hopefully by him- he'd add it to his 'to do' list. "Aw. Why?"

Again, the dualism of his slightly less noble personality and his protective instincts. Missed opportunites that he wouldn't have taken.
As for not getting drunk in each others' presence, the immortals are wise enough to be wary about doing irreparably stupid things around each other because they'll be paying for it for the rest of eternity. They did enough dumb shit in their youth.

Metatron grinned. To him, that was perfectly obvious, so he had no idea why Gabriel felt the need to ask. "Because if I do something I'll regret the day after, you guys won't be around to tease me about it for the rest of forever."

This is creepy, I keep making a comment and going on to find that the fic says the same thing in the next paragraph.
I must think predictably, or something.

Gabriel considered this carefully as he pulled himself up and back over to the door. Alright, maybe that would be why they didn't get drunk in front of each other. When put like that, it made an awful lot of sense. Amazingly so, once one took into account that it was Metatron logic. Still, he didn't remove the point from his aforementioned 'to-do' list- he still thought it was absolutely vital in the grand scheme of things. That quite possibly being his semi-sadistic amusement. "Okay, good reason. But one of these days, I really have to take you out and get you smashed."

Metatron sniggered. "Oh, if you think you must. But I warn you, it won't be pretty!"

Gabriel waved his hands dismissively, leaning back against the wall. It won't be pretty? Not a problem! "Of course I must, it's practically a duty for one to get their best friend drunk and then laugh at them! I believe I'm sadly neglecting my responsibilities as your best friend. Besides, if I'm drunk too, it'll hardly be that bad."

Famous last words.
Er, not that I have a scene planned. But if I DID, those would definitely be words he'd regret.

Metatron just smirked at this. "Doesn't that mean I have to get you drunk and laugh at you sometime? Anyway, don't say I didn't warn you. I did mean it when I said it wasn't pretty." Pausing briefly, Metatron looked down contemplatively. "Do you think I can just sleep right here? I don't think I want to move any more."

Metatron wants to change the subject. He said it's not pretty, and often it's hard to tell with Met if he's joking or not.
Well, he wasn't. He meant that- which doesn't necessarily mean it's true, just that he thinks it- and he doesn't want to talk about it anymore. See? He can do subtle, and because people don't expect him to, it makes it even harder to spot when he does.

Gabriel glared at him as he tried to drag the hamper to a less obstructive location. As funny as it would be to see someone trip over it, he'd probably receive abuse for it shortly afterwards. Besides, it wouldn't be so funny if he tripped over it.

... not to HIM, maybe. *snigger*

"Metatron, your room is about 5 meters away. Move your lazy behind." Sighing, Gabriel deciding to give up on the hamper for now and get a drink of water. Whilst he was searching the kitchen for a clean glass, he heard Metatron grumble something that sounded like, "Oh, fine." Shortly after that, when he was pouring water into the glass he had finally found, he heard a loud thump, followed by a surprised yelp. Wandering out of the kitchen, he started laughing as he noticed Metatron sprawled over the hamper, partly due to the irony of the situation but mostly because it was amusing. Metatron scowled at him. "Gabe, why are you laughing at me? Help me up!"

We all saw it coming, I know, but that's why it's so funny. Scharden freud! Think Itchy & Scratchy, for an extreme example. Other people's pain is FUNNY, if it isn't serious.

Still laughing, Gabriel pulled Metatron up. "Friends are like slinkies," he informed Metatron prosaically. "You laugh when they fall down the stairs. I think you really are tipsy, you know."

I would just like to give credit to my friend Claire, who told us that particular saying. *grin*
For the record, Metatron might be slightly tipsy, but that's not why he tripped. That's just his normal dorkiness.

"Oh, shut up," Metatron muttered sourly. As memorable as the slinky sentiment was, he wasn't sure he appreciated its applying to him. "I'm going to bed. Don't wake me up in the morning, because whatever it is I probably don't want to know."

Gabriel watching Metatron drag himself into his room and called after him cheerfully. "Don't worry, you only get a hangover if you get really drunk!"

He's nicer to Met than everyone else, sure, but that doesn't mean he's never makes mean comments.

"Oh, screw you."

Gabriel was really beginning to wish that Metatron would replace that particular bit of his vocabulary.

For obvious reasons, especially since he actually tries not to think of Metatron in those terms for Metatron's sake. He accepted the fact he loves Metatron a looooooong time ago, but he still doesn't want to bring sex into it if he can help it.

Anyhoo, I didn't even like that chapter at the time I WROTE it. It just feels so... fillery. Only chose it cause it had Met and Gabe in it. ^^;


In other news, scanlation of Act 5 of Yellow has begun, as I've finished the translation for that act.

Comments

[minkhollow]

yay!
(Well, I wouldn't've minded if there'd been other people in as well, but it's all good.)
::ahem:: 'Friendly.' Right. Like Ade, then?

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

(Probably would've driven me insane, though. XD Also- icon! Which I didn't draw, it's from a manga hence the crossed out name.)

Not quite like Ade. A lot less art to it. And it's not exactly intentional. *g*