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Edge of Thorns 3 - Pt 27

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Part 27
The more I think about it, the more curious I am about that off-hand remark he made about my aura.

"Actually," the writer said, smiling sheepishly while he rubbed the back of his head. "It's been kind of nagging me since you said it, but what exactly did you mean when you said my aura was pretty freaky?"

Scott grimaced, but waited for everyone to gather at the table before he answered. "Uh, yeah, freaky is the only way to describe it: you don't have one. To be honest, it's one of the reasons I keep hounding you: I've been waiting to see if one would pop up."

"Auras don't typically work that way," Alton told him, still standing so he could carve the turkey. "Even powerful entities who are aware of their auras, like us angels, are hard pressed to deliberately suppress them, or even accidentally suppress them." He raised an eyebrow. "Suppressing someone else's aura is easier, but you'd still read something."

"There are exceptions," Gabriel said quietly, glancing over at Alton with his eyes narrowed. The other angel laughed.

"Yes, of course there are exceptions. But there are no hard and fast rules for that, are there?"

Gabriel frowned and looked down at his plate. Micah cleared his throat and turned towards Scott, who looked even more confused than before.

"What he means to say is that no two people have the same impression of auras," the angel explained. "What you are reading as no aura may very well be how you see a suppressed one, or an aura that simply has the appearance of not existing. Lumiel would know more about the subject than I would, though."

Scott's brows knotted. "Lumiel...?"

"My actual name," Alton said as he began cutting. "Well, one of them. I have many, but that's the one I'm usually referred to by."

Enya snorted. "At least the nicer version."

Alton simply smirked and began serving plates. Micah started passing side dishes around, so everyone could take what they wanted.

Nathan wasn't sure what to make of this news: he had no aura? Somehow, he figured there was something else to that. The angels didn't seem very worried (except for Gabriel), and it probably wasn't best to linger on it. They were trying to get Scott to be more at ease, after all. "Okay," he said instead, still curious about the auras. "What about the angels? What are theirs like?"

Scott smiled again, passing the sweet potato casserole to Enya. "This is going to sound stupid, but I can see their halos." He circled his finger around the top of his head. "Right about here, they've each got a sort of corona of light." He shrugged. "Guess now I know what to make of that."

"Do they all look the same?" Enya asked her twin. "Oh! And what does mine look like?"

"Back up, En!" Scott laughed. "I'm still getting used to sharing. Maybe some other time, we'll talk about yours." He looked at the rest at the table. "If it's alright, I think I'm done talking about my senses for now. I usually try not to notice what I see, because it gives me a headache and more often than not causes more stress than it's worth."

"Fair enough," Alton agreed, placing a cut of turkey onto his plate. "We can bring you up to speed with everything you've missed in the meantime some other time. Maybe tomorrow, after a nice breakfast. Today, let's just get through Thanksgiving. Nathan, do you and Lidia want to stay the night too? It would make a breakfast meeting easier."

"I think we'll pass," Nathan said with a polite nod, even though he didn't mind the offer so much this time: he was given more of a choice than when he had to stay before. "It'll already be crowded here, and I left my medication at home."

The angel simply smiled and nodded, and Nathan was grateful he didn't press the subject. He was ready to relax, just like everyone else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Nathan called the bookshop to touch base. Alton said they'd already filled Scott in on what he needed to know, and that he and Enya had already left to find a place to stay for a while, until Scott was was comfortable returning to their apartment. He also told him not to worry about getting back to work (they were both off for the weekend because of the holiday, and their respective ordeals); the reporter had told Alton to let him know he was still good for carpooling.

Lidia was still asleep in her chair-boat bed while Nathan fixed some scrambled eggs for both of them. He wondered whether or not the little girl was in school, and was starting to worry about what he would do when he did go back to work. It wasn't like he could take her with him every day. He needed to get his priorities straightened out; there would be a lot to do with the holiday season coming up. Sins, work, taking care of Lidia and any number of other issues they couldn't foresee. Before he woke the child, he needed some plan.

As chaotic as things have been lately, I need to get my act together. There's a lot to do on my plate, but if I take the time to organize and prioritize, I can handle it. Just need to find a place to start...
Feeling a little burnt out this weekend. I had a panic attack yesterday because of being invited to go bar-hopping with a coworker in celebration of her daughter's 21st birthday. I feel bad about not going, but I had a full-blown meltdown and just couldn't do it. My roommates are going to help me get over my social phobia a little less dramatically. Plans to start small (namely, at the bar of a restaurant I've been to many times) and work my way up from there are in the works. I hope it helps.

So anyway, the (unfortunate) net result is that I was somewhat less creatively invested in this chapter than usual and drawing a serious blank. For once, I'm really hoping for a lot of suggestions I can work with. My brain is temporarily in a rut, it seems. Oh well. This was looking to be a more exposition chapter anyway...

THE CHOICE HAS BEEN MADE: Read Part 28 to see his decision!

<<< BACK TO PART 26

ON TO PART 28 >>>

START AT PART 1
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UltimaMage578's avatar
I meant to comment on this earlier but I was kind of out of it unfortunately. It's rather interesting, Scott's powers and he seems to be rather excited about them or at least talking about them. He is so adorbs.

Awww Lidia, she is such a cute but poor kid. Getting in all this.