driftfleet | { so have a little mingle }

[Oh. Neat. So helpful, those powers. It would be so nice to clean clothes that way, so Dean can't do something offensive to his clothing. Like iron it with beer. He nods, though he looks just as curious as before the explanation.]

Looks different how?

Maybe not you specifically, though you did say I look... blurry. Most mortals can't see seraphim, or hear our voice. A seraphic arte like this would look like water appeared out of nowhere and started washing enchanted clothes.

[He closes a hand into a fist around the robe and pulls it out of the water; once it's free, the sphere dissolves as if it was never there, and the robe looks slightly damp instead of soaked like it should. He hangs it up and goes for the next pile of salted clothing.]

... I see...

[He rubs his chin, thoughtful.]

Must be how often I interact with gods and ghosts and everything inbetween.

[He's just a supernatural magnet, okay. See: him as a six month old.

Crazy shit, man.]

...That... would likely explain it, yes. Humans with natural resonance to begin with have a better chance of seeing seraphim the longer they're in proximity, or so I've been told.

[Interesting. Maybe this guy's similar to Sorey and Rose in that sense?]

I see... I guess that would make sense; I've been surrounded by the supernatural since I was pretty much a baby, and then some. [A soft chuckle. Not only that, but he ended up having powers of his own for a while; if he still has them, has the power to tap into them... he's not sure. He'd be terrified to try it again. Would rather throw himself into a fire, unless the world — or Dean, but fat chance — needed it from him.] I'd honestly be more surprised if I couldn't see you, in that case.

It's the same situation as Sorey, then. He's human, but since he grew up in a seraphim village with me, his resonance developed since we were children.

[It's kind of comforting to know that there are others like that.]

I see. That'd make sense, then.

... I'm Sam, by the way. Sam Winchester.

[He puts out a hand; can you shake hands? Yes? :'D]

You're, um...?

[Give him a second, he's just gonna blink in surprise at that hand, first. He can, sure, but he usually doesn't. People in his world are shy about trying to touch the seraphim most of the time.

Kinda refreshing, actually, even if it's a little irreverent. He accepts the hand.]

Mikleo.

[He gives the hand a firm shake; he's reminded of his first time meeting Cas, of the eagerness he found in meeting an angel. Nothing'll ever come close, and nothing will ever match the way his faith was punched in the gut then, but it's always nice to feel like that again. Meeting a new supernatural thing, something not to hunt, but to be enthused around.]

... Sorry again for the clothes.

[He smiles thinly.]

I'm guessing Earth isn't your usual world? Well, okay, I'm just guessing there based on my own experience. So I'm probably jumping the gun, but...

No, it's a fair assumption. I'd never even heard of Earth before I came here, and even now, I can't say I know much about it. There have been some conflicting stories.

[Sometimes there are supernatural elements, sometimes those are all fiction... granted, that's the case with a few people in his world, but it's pretty rare. The seraphim aren't that far removed from human history to be considered make-believe.]

Ah, yes. The joys of multiple universes.

Have you found anyone from a similar world yet? Or someone with similar supernatural beings?

There's someone on this ship who said seraphim were similar to beings on his world- ageless immortals known as Ainur, or Holy Ones. Others have spoken of spirits of some kind, but none of them are all that comparable.

[It's not intended as a brag, but seraphim are pretty unique, in his (biased) opinion.]

I mostly hear the "angel" parallel, but I don't even really know what that means.

Mmm. That would make sense.

[He nods.]

Where I'm from, they're soldiers of our god, capable of all sorts of abilities -- they can make themselves invisible, smite people, perform miracles, hear prayers... They're a holy sort of being, made from grace. But they also have to gain the consent of a person to possess their body, in order to walk the earth.

For us, though, they, um. They can be real... dicks. One of my best friends is an angel, but a lot of them also think humans aren't worth a second glance; "hairless apes", they liked to call us.

I've had a lot of bad run-ins.

[Haha.]

I see... that explains the attack.

[Yeah, he's not forgetting any time soon. Though he doesn't sound angry about it anymore. At least it was only salt?]

If angels are servants of a god, then the seraphim definitely aren't like angels. For humans, we'd be more like the gods themselves, I guess? There are churches and shrines devoted to seraphim, and people pray and offer gifts in exchange for their blessings. And we can dwell inside a Shepherd's body, but that's more complicated than just asking permission.

[A-ahaha... ha...

Sheepishly:]

... Actually, I thought you were definitely a ghost.

[8'D he waggles the shut-off EMF machine.]

[....

....

Well, it's not like he's the first... still, Mikleo can't help sighing.]

Why salt, out of curiosity? I've never heard of that method before.

[Back home you just smack them with seraphic artes until they're purified.]

[oh no don't ask him--]

Well actually, salt's been around as a way to purify for a long time -- in religion and in supernatural folklore. The idea is that salt is a natural element from the earth and was even used as an antiseptic; it's been used to combat demonic forces and to chase off witches, as a ward against evil or something not truly cleansed. For ghosts, it's essentially effective because they're unnaturally trapped in the veil between the living and the dead.

But for demons, it's likely... um...

I mean -- anyway. Salt rings are really helpful for protection, for hunters.

Hunters.

[Like. A profession?]

....So. You hunt spirits.

[He may or may not be j u d g i n g you.]

... I do.

[He gives a nod, but he doesn't look sheepish or ashamed; it's simply just a quiet agreement, as if a normal fact of life.]

We don't seek out just any spirits, but the ghosts of those who have gone vengeful. What a hunter usually does is find mysterious deaths and murders, see if it's something supernaturally caused, and stop whatever is causing it from killing anymore people.

For spirits, that means burning their bones or getting them to find peace.

Then they can move on to wherever they belong in the afterlife.

...I see.

[Surprise! He wasn't actually judging you. Actually, it's kind of a familiar story.]

So, really, it could be said that you're... purifying them of the negativity that's causing them to act violently, using fire...?

[He nods.]

Something like that, yeah. We salt and burn their bones because usually ghosts are tied to the living world through their remains. But there are a lot of instances where they're tied to something of theirs from when they were alive -- a ring, or a house, or maybe a painting. Some kind of tether to keep them from passing on.

But in my world, most ghosts can't exist like they are. Sooner or later, they'll either become shadows of their former selves, or they'll go vengeful.

Interesting. I ask because that's what I do, on my world. Not with spirits, specifically, but creatures known as hellions- we purify the negativity and set them free, in some cases from the world itself.

[He smiles at that.]

Hellions. Sounds a little like demons.

They're human souls tortured for a long time -- until they're twisted into immoral tormentors of sorts themselves. Not quite so easy to cure, but... it's possible.

Not quite the same, though I've heard the term "demon" before. Not all hellions are humans. Animals, plants, ghosts, and even seraphim have the potential to generate malevolence and become a hellion. Essentially, if something possesses a living soul, it can become corrupted.

There's a lot of similarities with my world there, definitely. Living souls take a pretty long time to corrupt in my world -- I mean, really corrupt, but once they are, it's pretty bad.

[He's so eager to talk about this, you got him all hyped, Mikleo. :'D]

Plants have souls in your world? Are they sentient?

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