Random adventures of Sophie the Strange!

Mojo Lessons2

"Flying?"

"Flying."

"Um. Yeah, bout that, see there's this thing, I have this Condition, and uh, well.....no." I said deadpan, staring at the men in front of me. Annoyed looks from some, consoling and supportive looks from others, and stupid Satan smirking. Balthazar snorted.

"You just sprinted at least a hundred miles, and you're opposed to this?" He asked, incredulous. I shrugged.

"Hey," I said, throwing my hands up. "If I fall when I'm running, I fall exactly five feet. If I fall when I'm flying, well I might not die, but it's gonna hurt like a witch."

"You won't fall far, we'll catch you." Red proclaimed smoothly. I rolled my eyes without actually looking at him.

"Says the fallen angel." I quipped. Then I checked myself, ready to apologize if I had offended him, realizing I had said something so insensitive. He bristled at first, then took a look at the regret painted on my face and relaxed, chuckled a little.

"Such a gentle soul, so easy....." He mumbled very very quietly, probably thinking I couldn't hear him.

"Sophie, do you think I would let you fall to your death?" Castiel asked seriously. I studied him and sighed.

"No." I answered sadly. "Ok, so where do we start?" Castiel did one of his tiny smiles and the other angels were glaring at him for some reason.

"Well." Micheal cut in. "Since we all don't know what your-"

"Was I asking you?" I cut into him, my voice steel razors, and my glare ice. He was slightly surprised, cocking his head to one side.

"Um, no?" He answered, more in the former of a question than anything else.

"Then you were not required or requested to speak?" I asked another. He looked offended.

"Sophie-" He began, reproachful at my blatant disrespect. I did it again.

"Yes. Or. No.?" I hissed, in a seething rage, my hair lifting with a wind that was not there.

"No." He huffed shortly. "But-"

"Then shut up." I said dismissively, holding his strong gaze, not backing down.

"Do you know who I a-" He began angrily. I released my aura, and he cut himself off, seeing that it was at least 100x his own.

"Hold. Your. Tounge." My tone of voice and anger level made even the devil himself rock back on his heels, and what was truly scary was that this was just a tiny percentage of my hidden rage, not just at him but at many injustices towards me that I had buried deep to cope, using it as fuel for times like this when I had to be more than intimidating. I had to be deadly. Worst thing, my fury wasn't red-hot, my anger never really is, it's cold. And it burns.

They were all holding their breath, waiting to see if I would blow up. In a matter of two seconds, I had reigned it back in, going back to my usual self like flipping a switch. Confusion.

"Well, Luci my bro," Gabe blurted out, popping the sucker out of his mouth. "At least we know why your here." I pursed my lips.

"Little offended." I mumbled. Red's piercing blue eyes cut into me, he wasn't exactly smiling but his face lit up like he should have been.

"Little proud. Anyway, do you want to know where to start or not?" He asked, I nodded.

"Ooh! Idea!" Exclaimed Gabriel, clapping his hands and gaining our attention. God I wish I had his energy, you could practically feel it radiating off of him. "Since there is no way in Luci's Land that we are going to be able to teach you together without you killing one of us or us killing each other, why don't we take turns, hm? Each training time gets a different teacher. It certainly would give you a chance to get to know each one of us individually. Maybe even pick a favorite." At each over-emphasized word, he gave meaningful glances all around that I've given up on deciphering, it's probably stupid anyway.

"Sounds good to me." I complied, shrugging my shoulders indifferently. There was a sort of feel of acceptance of the idea, and then a new tension arose.

"Yes, marvelous idea, brother of mine. So if you blokes could just bugger off Sophie and I could begin. Please and thank you sweets." Balthazar said pleasantly, making shoo motions with his hands toward his annoyed siblings.

"Now you already knew that wasn't gonna work." I told him, amused and shaking my head. He shrugged, sending me a quick wink.

"Worth a shot." He told me quickly, then, just as quick, spoke again to quell the oncoming argument he started. "So how are we really going to pick who goes when?"

"Seniority?" Micheal offered, apparently brave enough to speak again.

"Ability? " Red countered.

"Association?" Castiel rumbled.

"Good looks?" Balthazar stated
under his breath, and I laughed softly.

"A GAME!" Gabe yelled, and my eyes sparked in interest.

"Hells yeah! Let's play!" I agreed, pumping my fist. I loved games, loved winning, loved playing. Gabriel laughed and pointed at me like he'd found a long lost friend.

"Yooooo!" He said kindly, still very much animated.

"Brooooo!" I yelled, pointing back in a classic frat boy pose.

"Nooooo." Balthazar drawled sarcastically. "So what game?"

"The challenge game." Cas replied immediately. "Sophie is good at being the game maker and it's not biased."

"What's that? "Red asked.

"Uh, it's where the game master makes up, like, six challenges and who've wins the most wins the game, good for ranking too." I explained.

"Oh, that's a good idea, we'll just do that." He agreed. "So what's the first one?" I thought for a second or two, and settled on three physical challenges and three mental ones. Yeah, that'd be great.

"Um, first ones a foot race, test your speed and all since not one of you caught me when I ran. " I said, a little distracted as thought through some other ideas. "From here to the end of the meadow, and I'll run with you to make sure you guys don't cheat." I finished, satisfied with my challenge.

"No problem," Luci said, rolling his neck, popping it. I winced, never being to fond of the sound it made.

"Piece of pie," Gabe added, jogging in place. "Been running my whole life."

"Ok, everyone line up!" I asked\shouted and they complied, the order being oldest to youngest. Michael, Red, Gabe, Balthazar, and Cas, with me on the side. "Ready?" They lined up their feet. "Set." They all leaned forward slightly, almost in sync. "Go!" And we were off! They were faster than I anticipated, almost the speed of light, and I had to work hard to keep about five feet ahead of the leader, Micheal, who was winning by inches, followed closely by Red and almost a foot away was the other three neck and neck with Gabe in front of Cas and Balthazar by centimeters. We were half way there and the order hadn't changed yet, but they were all breathing heavy and had thier game faces on. Micheal looked cool and collected, taking long, quick strides on his toes, having eyes only for the finish line, taking short and measured breaths in through the mouth and out the nose. Red was taking longer strides and was quick, but the milliseconds he lost because he refused to only use the tops of his feet were mounting, his choice for balance over speed was taking its toll, and unlike his brother he was seething, his teeth gritted together as he bored holes into his brother's back, so close all he had to do was lift his hand and he would be touching him and weirdly, I don't think he was breathing. I looked back at the trio. Gabe, in my opinion, was by far the quickest, his legs a blur as he struggled to stay in third and catch up to his brothers, and I knew if he wasn't so much shorter, he would have won the race, even with his breathing being ragged and his eyes showing the absolute adrenaline that was coursing through him, making his eyes and his smile feral. Cas and Balthazar were about identical, glaring at each other every once in a few strides. Unfortunately for them, I got bored.

"Y'know," I said casually, and no one turned their heads to me, but that's ok, they can hear. We're three quarters of the was there now. "The only rule I set was that it had to be a foot race. The only rule is that you have to stay on the ground." The reaction was instant. Red's choice for balance proved actually a good one as he, mid stride, threw a punch at Micheal catching him in the ribs and causing him to drop into second by a foot or two, just out of reach from Luci. He ran harder. Gabe immediately began running in more of a swivel, not losing ground, but not an easy target for Cas and Balthazar either. He didn't need to worry because the youngest angels had started a shoving match, both dropping behind even farther. The treeline was coming up, and I 'blinked' to the other side to watch the race, taking a knee at the treeline so I could watch their feet. In the back of my mind I wondered when I learned how to do that, but decided it wasn't important. Michael had caught back up to Red and they were running side by side, alternatively glancing at the treeline and each other. Exactly a nanosecond before either of their feet crossed the finish line, they pushed each other simultaneously, and both flew in opposite directions, and guess who blew past them before they could recover? You guessed it.

"GABE! WINNER!" I yelled, announcing that the challenge was over. Gabe started prancing around me pumping his hands in the air, still breathing very heavily.

"WOOO! FIRST PLACE! TAKE THAT YOU LONG LEGGED BASTARDS! YEAH!" And then he jus stopped right in front of me very suddenly, looking fatigued. "Running is bad." He said solemnly as Cas and Balthazar finally arrived. Then he plopped down on the grass to catch his breath.

"I agree. I also think I should either be more specific about the rules, or you guys should be more perceptive. And creative." I announced as they all slowly picked themselves up, save Gabriel, who decided he was better off peering up at me from the floor.

"Let's go with the first one." Balthazar recommended. I nodded my aknowledgement. I put my fingertips to my chin, tapping absently while in thought of what to do next. Got it.

"You guys ready for the next one? It's not physical, I promise." I asked with a smile, and I sat down, facing Gabriel, and motioned for the others to sit in a circle as well. When we were in place I began to explain. "This one is more of a compatibility test than anything, 5 questions, you all answer truthfully, and after the game is over I choose whose answers were closest to mine. Rules: no getting in my head, I stay out of yours, you stay out of each others, lying not recommended but not illegal, and no sabotage. Got it?" They nodded their understanding.

"Proceed." Red said, drawing out the E sound some when I stalled with my first question. I rolled my eyes.

"Favorite Marvel character?" I asked, wondering of half of them even knew what that was.

"Loki, duh." Gabe answered first, gesturing to himself.

"Iron Man. Just something about him." Balth shrugged.

"Falcon, I like how loyal he is to Captain America." Cas answered seriously. I made a mild surprised sound, I always thought he prefered Cap.

"Um, I'm not sure what we're talking about?" Micheal asked, seeming confused. I didn't like him anyway.

"Pays to know some nonsense every now and then. Just try." I said, impatient.

"Captain America." He said and we all knew he only picked that because Cas mentioned it. Now we were all staring at Red, who was staring at me again. So intensely that I actually had to do a self evaluation to make sure he wasn't reading my mind. He wasn't.

"Rocket Raccoon." He answered finally and my eye twitched. Darn it. He small, victorious smile. That cocky little rat with wings already knew he won the point.

"Though Gabe came close, Loki is my second pick, Red got my all time favorite so a point to him." I told them, a little annoyed.

"Before we continue luv, why do you call him Red?" Balthazar asked curiously. I involuntarily looked at him like he was stupid.

"Because of his wings. Blood red." I answered slowly, trying to sense if there was an unspoken question I was supposed to answer.

"You can see his wings? Can you see mine?" Gabe asked quickly.

"Yes and yes, I can see all of your wings, I don't know why." Everyone but Cas and Red looked kinda surprised.

"Prove it." Micheal demanded. For the second time, I rolled my eyes.

"His," I pointed to each one in turn. "Blood red. Yours: white. Balthazar's: an emerald green blending into a peridot into a gem like turquoise. Very pretty actually." He smiled and humph-ed self importantly at my praise. "Cas's: such a deep black that in the right light you can see purple hues bouncing off of them. And the last but not least: Gabe's is more of a brilliant rose gold than anything. Are we good?" I asked the lot. There was alot of nodding and Micheal looked a bit sad that all he got was 'white'. "Good. Next question: favorite book or series?"

"Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling is a genius." Balthazar stated firmly.

"Maximum Ride by James Patterson, I identify a bit." Gabe drawled.

"Sherlock Holmes." Cas answered quietly.

"The Bible." Miheal answered, making it obvious in his tone hat that was the only book he'd ever bothered to read. Red was staring at me again, but more like through me, at something else. The corner of his mouth turned up.

"Strange Angels series by Lili St. Crow." He said confidently. My brows furrowed as I stared back at him. Without looking away from him I spoke.

"Red got it exactly right." But how? Almost everyone always thinks I like HP more because I read it more. I squinted at him suspiciously. He smiled at me innocently. I squinted at him harder. I decided to ask one Noone ever gets right. "Favorite art medium?"

"Oil paints."Balthazar began.

"Pastels." Cas said. I smiled, knowing the only reason he liked them was because I showed him how he could smudge the colors with his fingers.

"Water colors." Gabe answered.

"Glass pieces, like for a mosaic." Micheal confirmed, figures he'd want something structured. Red was looking at me again, he seemed to never stop, and I dared him with my eyes to take a guess.

"...just a plain pencil. Maybe graphite." He said slowly, like he was reading every word off of a paper. My jaw dropped just a little.

"Don't tell me he got it right again?! He has to be cheating." Gabe complained. I shrugged, just as confused as he was.

"He isn't, I checked. He won." I said, a confused expression on my face.

"Of course I did." Red proclaimed smoothly.

"Okay but how? Noone knows all that stuff about me." I said, know full and well that wasn't true, but that person is thousands of miles away, and these guys didn't even know about him, just Cas.

"Not noone." He drawled. I stared at him intensely working it through. I whirled on Cas. I'm a smart cookie, I can figure out the snitch.

"You didn't." I said my voice low.

"Oh but he did." Red looked positively cheerful. "We were going to find out eventually, he just warned us that he was off limits for leverage. And that you had a special connection. Honestly all I had to do was follow that connection and sift through his memory of you. I didn't harm him, he doesn't even know I was there, and I won. No rules broken." He bragged and I was appalled, ..... and slightly impressed. Cas wouldn't even look at me, and I didn't know why, I wasn't that mad.

" I......I wanna be angry.... but that was d*mn clever." I said with a smile, holding my fist out. His eyes widened just a little, I guess that's not the reaction he he was expecting, nonetheless he smiled back and tapped my fist with his. Then I got an idea of payback. "I got the next one, ready?"

"Mental or physical?" Cas asked. I shrugged getting up, and the rest followed suit.

"Bit of both, more mental. You angels are always saying trust me trust me trust me! so let's see if you can return the favor. Extreme trust fall." I said and beamed like an evil genius. They looked wary. "This is how it works. Red," I called him out and he gave me the 'what?' Look. I held my hand out. "Gimme your archangel blade." He hesitated big time, even leaning away from my hand like it was going to bite him.

"Why?" He asked slowly.

"It's part of the game. I'm not going to attack you." I said, avoiding a straight answer. With deliberate movements he retrieved his angel blade from his person, and reluctantly offered it to me, handle first. I grabbed it but he didn't let go immediately.

"I want it back." He said in a sort of scary tone, and I gulped before I could help myself.

"And you'll get it." He let go then. I then drew a line in the grass deep enough to be visible and then a few feet from the line I stuck the blade in the ground, pointy end facing up. Basically it was set up to if one of them fell back from the line, the sword would peirce somewhere in the chest. "So each one of you will go to the line, face the other way, and fall back. Trusting me to catch you before you hit the blade. I monitor how well you did and pick a winner." They all looked at me like I was insane.

"You want us to risk our lives...on a game?" Micheal asked.

"Your not risking anything if you trust me. And no getting in my head or my brothers. You're first." I pointed at Micheal, giving him a creepy grin. His eyes widened comically. "Seniority rules." He looked at his brothers but found not help. He walked to the line with jerky, robotic movements. Before he turned his back on me he said one word.

"Please." I sounded as near a sob as he would ever get, wich was a plea. I almost felt bad for what I was about to do. Almost.

"One. Two. Three!" He tensed his body leaned back, beginning his fall. I smiled as I pushed the blade over flat, to where it wouldn't hurt him. And waited. Half way throught the fall when he didn't feel my hands on his back he panicked, thrashing about and bending at the waist, but he'd already committed, it was too late. Literally an inch from the ground I caught him. Only his heels touched the ground and he was close enough to feel the cold outline of where the bade was, laying harmless on the ground. I looked down at him smiling.

"I said I would catch you." I said taunting like, and flipped him over on his stomach so he wouldn't land on the weapon. He was breathing hard, still on the edge of thinking I was going to let him die. I could hear Red laughing in the background as I set the sword back up.

"You. You are the reason humanity has trust issues." Micheal yelled at me after he'd recovered his breath. I smiled an impish smile at him and he just huffed at me, getting up and dusting himself off.

"Red?"