6122/That Overused Bar Joke

That Overused Bar Joke
Date of Scene:	06 January 2019
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	A Buddhist, an Angel, and a Catholic walk into a bar.. stop me if you've heard this one...
Cast of Characters:	Melinda May, Castiel, Daredevil

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Melinda May has posed:
A SHIELD agent and an angel walk into a bar.

Seriously, they do. May looks as close as she ever gets to openly exasperated, and she gestures the disheveled-looking, suit-and-tie-wearing, trenchcoated man toward the bar.

"Next time I talk to either Winchester, we're going to have a serious discussion about them introducing you to alcohol."

She's particularly annoyed at the angel because he's gone from being reluctantly helpful to obstinate and mulish, and had the gall to demand a drink before offering any more assitance. Hence, their entrance. If she'd had her way, he would have gotten a stern talking-to and a glass of water.

Castiel has posed:
Castiel grumbles as he dutifully paces into Josie's at May's elbow. Totally not his preferred way of showing up places, even if he's getting better at not just popping into most mundane bars.

"Blame Dean," Castiel offers helpfully. Or not helpfully - becuase it might not have been Dean at all, but by virtue of Dean being awol at the time, it delays that conversation for a goodly time.

"A boilermaker," he tells Josie. "No. Two. Wait. A beer and an Apocalypse." Because he suspects a talking to is coming anyway.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt of course was already sitting at Josie's when the pair walk in, it was part of his routine right now, a way to get out of the house, to connect with people to keep his world from becoming all ninjas and costumes. Though, ninjas and his work as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, was still a part of his life, so, while he's sitting at the bar, he nurses a single beer.

He notes May and her companion entering, but makes no move to speak to them, letting them come to him, after all, he can't see, right? Instead he lowers his beer and idly clears his throat.

Melinda May has posed:
May's eyes flick over toward Matt where he's seated, and she waits for the drinks to arrive before deftly scooping them away from Castiel and carrying them over toward Matt's table. Best way to get the angel to follow, right? Make him work for his booze.

"Mr. Murdock." And that's about as much of a greeting as May has the patience to offer currently. She sets the drinks on the lawyer's table for Castiel and waits for the angel to take a seat before sitting himself. Some days feel MORE like babysitting than others.

Castiel has posed:
The irony, of course, is that Castiel would so sympathize with May if only he knew.. and if he wouldn't take offense at the thought she was babysitting /him/.

He obediantly (as much as Castiel ever does anything obediently) sits down in the booth across from the blind lawyer, who he eyes with some suspicion, and waits for May to sit.

"You are still upset that I did not do what you asked," he says, stating the obvious. "I am going to guess that you know this man, and it will not stop you from having words with me."

And because he's pretty sure he's not wrong, Cas downs one of his shots of whiskey, and follows it up with a second.

"I should have let the stupid one sell his soul," he mutters under his breath.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt lifted his head at the greeting, "May?" he asks, dropping the agent in mixed company. "Good to hear you're voice."

He smiles faintly. "The other voice, is that your date?" he asks knowing its very much not the case. He turns his head in the direction of Castiel's voice, "If this is a first date and she took you here..."

He lets that hang, before he makes an introduction: "Matthew Murdock by the way, what's your name?"

Melinda May has posed:
If that's an attempt at a joke, Murdock, May is not impressed. Though that's likely more because she's been having to deal with Castiel all day than because it was lacking in cleverness or timing.

"This is Castiel," she offers before Cas can, and that just might clue the angel in that he's being 'handled'. But hopefully not. "He's a consultant and we've been working together on a project." Vague enough to not give away much of anything at all, while still being mostly accurate.

Castiel has posed:
Castiel looks slightly miffed that May introduces him, but then again, that's really his default expression, so it's hard to tell if it's meant or not. "Matthew Murdock," he repeats, putting the man's name into his memory, as well as the man himself, though it's debatable if Matt's been included in the small circle of those Castiel watches over. That usually takes some incident to manage.

"This is not a date," Cas says indignantly. He's finally figured out what a date it, even if he's not entirely sure /why/ people date. Then turns to May, "This is not a date, is it?"

Daredevil has posed:
Matt smiles to himself with Castiel's question to May, his work here was done.

Though...

"A project... I thought I heard something about souls too earler, that seems a bit metaphysical for your line of work," he offers to May. "Anything you can talk about?" he asks.

Melinda May has posed:
May flashes a flat look at Matt as she answers Castiel. "No. This is not a date. And this is well into the woo for my usual, for the most part. But I do what's been assigned to me, and this has been assigned to me." She doesn't offer any more than that, proving that it's actually not anything she can talk about, though really, Matt should be able to figure it out quickly enough. He's a lawyer, he should at least be somewhat intelligent.

Castiel has posed:
Castiel shrugs as May declares this to be a not-a-date. "It could have been," he says without any particular inflection. "It's not like you do anything like most people." Which is an oddly astute observation for Castiel to make of Agent May.

Matt gets a nod of chin, "What's your story."

Daredevil has posed:
Nodding in aquiescence to May's non-answer answer about if she could speak about this project or not, Matt can't help to smile about her and Cas not dating. "Shame, you look like a cute couple," he says wryly, knowing if Kate had been around to hear it she would have groaned and he assumed, rolled her eyes.

He takes a sparing sip of his beer to celebrate but blinks when confronted with that question. "Not much, just your friendly neighbourhood blind lawyer," he offers with a tight grin. "Friend of a friend of May's. How about you? Some sort of missionary?" he asks pressing about the whole saving souls peice he'd heard earlier. Sure May couldn't talk about it but maybe Cas could.

Melinda May has posed:
May is particularly unamused by Matt's comment about their being a cute couple. He CAN'T SEE THEM. It's alsmot impressive how quicly the lawyer has managed to challenge her ability to refrain from rolling her eyes. In fact, she decides now is a good time for a drink, and stands to go get one from the bar.

It's either that, or take a swing at a blind man. And just... no.

Castiel has posed:
Matt's comment about 'looking' like a cute couple has Castiel peering at the man. "We do not look like anything. You are blind. I do not understand this.." He stops himself, and nods. "Oh. This is a joke."

He doesn't laugh. What he does is down another whiskey. Because. Because as painful as this is for May, it's just as painful for Castiel, but for other reasons. He's had his fill of humanity over this 'holiday season' and another bit of good cheer might well have him smiting the innocent. And while he's thinking on it, Sam had better have that tree out of the apartment when he gets home...

"A missionary?" Castiel's tones radiate his very unflattering opinion of the ilk. "Misguided purveyors of His Word? Dime a dozen and wrong, the entire lot." He reaches for his beer. "No. I'm an angel. Formerly of The Choir." (He even says it in capitals). "Made the mistake of feeling sorry for one of you lot. Not that it did me any good."

Daredevil has posed:
Matt continues his grin through May's deadpan reaction, but it breaks a little at Cas' discovery of it being a joke. "A bad one, but yes, a joke."

The rest, well, all of that earns a slight chuckle from Matt. "Sounds like you can tell a joke or two yourself. But no, what are you really?" he asks.

All of this though does deserve another sip of his beer. "Though I give you full points to your commitment," he adds with a nod thrown Cas' way.

Melinda May has posed:
May returns in time to hear Matt's question to Castiel, and she guesses that the angel told the lawyer he's an angel. Reclaiming her seat with a tumbler of whiskey neat in her hand, she says just as deadpan as she does everything else, "If he told you he's an angel, he's telling you the truth."

She takes a very tiny sip of the whiskey. Hm. She's had worse. "Please don't ask him to prove it."

Castiel has posed:
"What do you mean what am I really?"

Castiel looks between May and Matt. "I'm an angel, you idiot. You're blind, not dumb."

Again he looks to May. "No wonder you lot are in such sorry shape. I am not going full on Gabriel here for the man. Would be wasted anyway. Can't see a damned thing. Beginning to think Tweedledee and Tweedledum aren't as bad as I've been telling them."

He pauses, beer lifted to his lips. "You don't need to tell them that I said that."

And back to Matt, "Next you're going to tell me you don't believe in Him or His Presence. I get the Choir going over your head. What proof do you even want? Want your sight back. I can arrange that for you." He even reaches over towards Matt in anticipation of the other making a snarky comment about 'yeah, right' or 'sure'.

Daredevil has posed:
"What?" Matt says head turning towards May when she says Castiel was telling the truth. "Bullshit," he says with a shake of his head. I mean he'd heard some weird shit in his life, hell in this bar, but that had to be most outrageous.

Castiel's words though set him on edge and his smile becomes his tight, Daredevil grin.

"Actually, I do believe in Him and I know what the Choir is," Matt says. "Would have thought an angel could tell. As for my eyes, this is His work isn't it? What happened? What happened after? What sort of angel would cheapen that to win an argument in a bar?"

Matt shakes his head then tilts his bottle back to drain it.

Melinda May has posed:
May looks at Matt squarely, even though she doesn't think he can tell the difference. "Have you ever known me to be the sort to lie to someone?" Okay, maybe that's not the best question to pose to the lawyer, but hopefully it'll get him to shut up and listen.

Then Castiel bandies about the idea of restoring the man's vision and she looks at the angel with as much of a frown as she ever manages. "Castiel, don't."

Castiel has posed:
Castiel's hand is *right there* at Matt's brow, as the man is taunting him - and May is telling him 'no'.

So it is that Matt's sight *doesn't* get restored, but he does get a full on angelic experience as the angel's hand touches his brow, and there is no doubt as to the Grace held within the man. It also serves to mark one Matthew Murdock as Castiel's for any and all who can see such things. Because as surly and as irritated as he is, Castiel is also odd that way, and sometimes it's the ones he'd most likely wish to toss into the Hudson, metaphorically, that he takes under his wing. "You know nothing, boy."

His hand falls away and he grumbles at May. "I wasn't going to leave him that way. Just a taste."

Daredevil has posed:
"To be honest," Matt says to May. "I haven't known you for that long." Though while that was true he'd never caught her in a lie, but this, this was something else.

Then there's the touch. At first Matt flinches away but as the sensation takes hold, he simply forgets what it was he was trying to do. "Oh my God," he breathes without irony. The feeling that rushes through him is indescribable, pure, beautiful, almost painfully so, like he was glimpsing the universe and His plan for it, there were no words and no details but it was good, and right and over too soon.

When Castiel lets his hand fall, Matt lets out a shuddering breath like a sob, but the courtroom orator has no words. None of them feel up to the task. He's not sure when he can speak exactly after that, time becomes fuzzy, but eventually he does. "W-why are you here?" he asks. After all angels just didn't appear they came with a purpose. Or so Matt believed anyhow.

Castiel has posed:
Matt's response to his touch has the angel making a face - he's totally seen that look before amongst the devout. It never really bodes well. "Hadn't pegged you for one of those," Castiel mutters, turning to May to ask permission, with a snarky, "May, May I please tell him why I'm here?" Innocently echoing the children's game line, falling short of the full 'Mother may I', but close enough one can almost hear children's laughter floating around the small grouping.

Melinda May has posed:
May considers for a moment, then reaches into her pocket and sets a five dollar bill in front of Castiel. "Give him that, then you can tell him." Yes, she just told Cas to invoke client-attorney privelege on the man.

But does she explain to Cas WHY she's telling him to do so? No. That would make sense.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt is still coming down from his brush with the divine, the 'one of those' comments gets missed in the religious bliss.

The offer of the money to Castiel begins to bring him back. "What, huh?" he asks as though he's just realizing that he's standing in Josie's and remembering the rest of the evening as well.

Castiel has posed:
Castiel has no clue - NONE - why May has given him a crumpled bill to hand to the lawyer, but he plays it perfectly, like he was given the straightman lines to read off of a card.

"I can tell you, but only after you take this."

May gets a look like 'did I do that right?' and the angel waits for Matt to respond.

Melinda May has posed:
May nods to Castiel to assure him that he did that correctly, then looks at Matt to see when (if?) he catches up with the program. Come on, lawyer boy. You're not proving your intelligence, here.

Daredevil has posed:
Even half in a daze Matt's able to put things together. "Really?" he asks May, his voice still having a distant distracted quality to it.

Still, he takes the offered money even if this all felt a little 'money changers in the temple' sullying what had been a holy moment for him. "Alright," he asks carefully. "Why are you here?"

Castiel has posed:
Castiel has no clue, only it seems to have pleased May for some reason, so he's willing to go with it.

The angel settles back in his seat, hands cupped around his beer as he considers the last two shots of his whiskey and if they're going to be enough.

"If you must know, I kept an idiot from trading his soul to a demon in exchange for his brother's life. Then raised the other idiot from the dead. Turns out He took some offense to that."

Castiel ponders that moment in his 'life', adding, "Well, more it was felt I'd overstepped my bounds and should apologize for the audacity. Turns out I wasn't feeling so gracious. I can't figure out why, yet, but you mortals strike me as needing a champion and it's not like anyone else was stepping up. So here I am. Left with just enough of my Grace to remind me how big a mistake I've made, but not so gone as I'm not useful. I'm still working on that one. If you ask me, there's more going on than there seems."

That much Castiel has worked out. If he'd actually committed such an atrocity with his act, he'd have been fully stripped. That he'd been left with all but a portion of his Grace, and essentially been left to help the mortals suggested maybe his act of independance wasn't such a sin of pride after all.

Melinda May has posed:
While May is glad that Matt is back with them enough to accept the money from Castiel, the angel's explanation is ... far from stellar. Nonetheless, it's his explanation to give and she has no room to step in for him. Though, looking at the lawyer, he's still a bit shell-shocked from having Castiel essentially do a Matrix-style download into his brain.

"Any questions?" she asks the blind man, mostly just to see his reaction.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt just blinks at Castiel's story. It's not entirely unlike what he had imagined but the way it was told was unexpected.

"So, you were kicked out for saving a soul?" he asks, boiling it down to it's barest of bones. "And for questioning?" He didn't know what he thought of all of that. It was definitely not what he understood of God.

"And so many," he answers May. "But we'll start with these."

Castiel has posed:
Castiel reaches up, and scratches beside an eye with a crooked finger. "I don't think you got it all. I didn't just question, boy. I interfered. You don't get it. You're pawns, the lot of you, and I decided I wasn't going to accept that. Not quite the same as questioning."

And because he's really not caught on to why May had him pay Matt to listen, the irony of Castiel confessing to Matt as his lawyer is completely lost upon the former angel - even if the Lord followed the laws of mortals when it came to defense.

"The soul wasn't mine to save. Nor was the boy I brought back. You all live your lives like they're the most important thing there is, but the truth is that you're nothing but a blink in the cosmic picture. I should have let them both go."

Melinda May has posed:
At Castiel's laset words, May frowns faintly. She disagrees with his observation about human lives, but she doesn't state as much aloud. Rather, she sits back with her tumbler of whiskey and sips an ever so tiny amount of it while the other two baffle each other in turn. If anyone can break the lawyer's brain, it's Castiel. But let's see if the lawyer can confound the angel with some astute questions first.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt shakes his head, he wasn't in a questioning mood. "It can't be like that, we, all of us, we have to matter, we have to matter to Him or what's the point? What is all of this for?" perhaps he did have questions after all.

"I felt your Grace as you called it, it was good, and pure, how could that come from someone who looks at us as merely pawns? Ones worth so little effort, that your saving two of them saw you cast out and your grace diminished," he says suddenly wishing he hadn't finished that beer.

Castiel has posed:
There's a snort from Castiel. "I didn't say I thought you were pawns," he corrects. "Well, maybe a bit. You are in the greater scheme of things. You're like points each side is fighting for. Nobody wins. Nobody loses. But there's a tally and it matters to each side. Fact is, you don't matter to each side. Not as individuals."

He sips his beer and ponders. "I suppose they'd sit up and notice if the lot of you were wiped out all at once. But then again, that's kind of what the one side is trying to do. I'm not sure they care if that means they win or lose. They're more of the they don't want our side to win, so anything goes. There won't be much of a fight left if you're all gone. So I suppose you all matter in that respect. But you're still pawns. You're still just an anonymous cog in the wheels of it all - and don't give me any of that I was saved crap. Do you honestly think He couldn't stop all this with a thought if that were truly the goal?"

Castiel shakes his head. "I got tired of it. I've been watching this since you all were created and nothing has ever changed. So it was a small act of rebellion that means little when it comes right down to things, but I did it anyway."

Melinda May has posed:
"So you're saying we're just poker chips on the table of a giant cosmic poker game?" That is likely one of the odder things May's heard, and she's seen and heard a LOT of odd things. "I'm sorry, but from the point of view of the poker chip, we all have very important roles in the scheme of things. Otherwise, why are we here at all? Why aren't we just ... dinosaurs?"

Daredevil has posed:
It was all so...depressing. If not for the touch of Castiel's grace, he could have dimsissed it all as just the ravings of some mad barfly. But he'd felt it, felt the realness of it, the purity....

It all felt so incongruent. How could such a feeling come from such a dispassionate source. "There has to be more than that, the poker game," he says nodding to May. "It must mean something, I mean why allow all this suffering just to beat the other side?"

His position was based on scant evidence and the belief that the universe had to make sense on a fundimental level ro well, that way lay madness.

"Maybe you weren't told everything," he surmised. "Maybe all of this is part of some larger plan. Though, I am with May, no matter what you say, the cogs, we matter."

Castiel has posed:
Castiel rubs his grizzled chin, and shrugs, downing his second last whiskey before answering. "Didn't say I believed it all. Remember me? The one stuck here with you lot, without all my Grace? I was'nt just a peon, boy. Not a Michael, but I wasn't a peon either. Maybe that's why He left me what he did and didn't strip it all way."

The last whiskey is downed, and Castiel frowns at the empty flight.

"The universe existed for eons before you lot showed up. It's likely going to for eons after. What significance could you have? What significane could the inhabitants of a single blue-green planet have?"

There's another shrug. "Maybe it means nothing. Maybe it means everything. I took a chance. I suppose I'll find out."