hearts open wide

@Thoth

"Yeah, that's where it's from. A little straightforward, but I liked the character." Even if Tybalt in the play died. It was a violent death, but he didn't mind that too much. "Besides... I think his personality kind of suits me. Don't you?"

He was teasing a little, of course. The Tybalt in the play had also been rather cruel in a way that he definitely was not. He couldn't help but grin ever so slightly at the hedgehog's little twitching nose. "How cute... Well, the hedgehog, and you for taking him in."

Tybalt stood up straight again with a bit of a sigh. "Was never much of a pet person myself. Humans live short enough lives as it is. I don't need the constant heartbreak of animals dying, too."

@Thoth

There was a pause before Tybalt sighed a little again. He seemed to sigh a whole lot. "I'll buy you a copy of a few of the more popular plays." Just a little bookset sort of thing; he didn't need all of them. Tybalt, on the other hand, basically had it all memorized off by heart.

His real name, though... Tybalt paused for a couple seconds, mulling it over. Oh yes, he hadn't spoken his true name in a very, very long time. It wasn't as if he tried to forget it, but the connotations were just rather painful. Besides, some people were very religious and they were likely to immediately recognize him.

"I could tell you, but..." Striking a deal, then? Well, on Angelo's side, it might have been a deal with the devil had the devil not been a literal angel. "If I tell you my name, you've got to let me see something about you."

And he had exactly what he needed in mind.

@Thoth

Sure. He wasn't expecting it to be that simple. He was expecting a little resistance, maybe some qualm or two where he would say it wasn't fair. But no, he just told him sure and that was that, even if he didn't look too happy about it. Tybalt hesitated just a little before deciding it was now or never, and he'd never bring it up again.

"I need... I need you to think about the worst thing you've ever done." Murder. He knew it was murder, but there were different kinds. He didn't say 'murder' specifically because there may have been something even worse than that. If he wanted to be with him, he'd have to judge for himself whether he was capable of forgiving him for whatever he'd done.

"And I need to see it. You don't have to say anything out loud, just close your eyes and... Think about it."

It was a tall order. Then again, so was his name.

@Thoth

Tybalt breathed slowly, knowing he was about to dive into something he probably didn't want to see. It wasn't like he was particularly squeamish; in fact, far from it. He'd seen into the souls of millions of humans and surely some must have been worse than Angelo. But this was his partner, someone he was (supposed to be?) in a relationship with and otherwise a huge cuddly teddybear with a pet hedgehog.

He nodded, leaned forward and gently laid a hand over Angelo's chest, right where his soul glowed dimly between his collarbones. At first there were just vague flashes of light as he wormed his way in, picking up the memories. There would be one on top of the 'pile' so to speak, the one Angelo was thinking about currently.

It was dim, perhaps some sort of hallway... Concrete, stains along the walls. He couldn't see a door anywhere, or a window. His view panned down, and there it all was.

Definitely not the worst he'd seen, but pretty terrible. A man looked like he'd been beaten to a pulp, hanging onto life by just a finger or two. And there were hands around his neck, what he only knew were Angelo's just throttling him. He almost felt the pressure under his own palms.

Tybalt finally pulled back, looking a little stunned. He glanced down at his own hand for just a second as if expecting there to be blood there.

"Puriel."

@Thoth

Both his hands folded in his lap as he rewound the images in his head. He'd killed someone, strangled them to death with his bare hands. It was bloody, he'd perhaps done more than that before dealing the final blow. It was far from the most gristly thing he'd seen, and as an angel he'd seen a whole fucking lot.

"Hm..." He hummed quietly. So the man he'd strangled to death was the one that sold his friend out. Among the many other murders that turned his soul murky and grey, this was one of the more prominent ones. He hadn't said he regretted it, but that was another grey area he didn't want to touch at the moment.

How complex. But as humans are, so were their situations.

His eyes fell to the cover of the book that Angelo took out and he couldn't help but make a vague sound of amusement. A dictionary of angels, huh? Tybalt knew he'd likely be in there. He was an ancient one, and he was prominent for certain... traits.

"Yeah... Yeah, that'd be me." The angel who allowed wrath and apathy for the human race become his downfall. It had been a tough pill to swallow, but he hadn't had a choice.