To my cool new pen-pal, Nyasha
Goodness gracious, you really went above and beyond. Thank you so much! The gift was lovely. I unfortunately can't wear it without potentially stirring trouble amongst my peers, so I'm keeping it safe at home. I'd keep it out and in the open but the eyes would make it pretty hard to fall asleep. It's really impressive how the artist got the eyes to look like that! Spooky. (Also I completely forgot about how greater the risk of theivery is down there. I'm so sorry. I'm so happy you liked it nonetheless!)
Your work sounds really cool though. Wow! It must be pretty stressful having to handle something so specific and important like that. It'd be nice to learn more though I don't think I'd actually understand what you're telling me. It's a shame your skills don't get used more at the hotel, you seem incredibly pretty smart and helpful. I think if another meeting were to happen up here, I could definitely ask Sera to keep you in mind.
Funny to hear we're pretty much in the same boat though. I tend to just record who and who doesn't get into heaven. During Sir Pentious's trial, I openly got called Heaven's "Glorified Mascot" and no one disagreed to it. LOL. At least we still have work in the end, right?
Speaking of Sir Pentious though. Did Emily never tell Charlie how he ascended? He spilled his guts about his life and everything in front of us just to explain it. General gist of it is that he counteracted the sin that got him into hell (inaction) with his act of heroism (action). His sin was really easy to do that with though. I doubt it'll be as easy for much more complicated sins. I've noticed something weird though. It took a couple days for Sir Pentious's name to appear in my book and it's in much lighter ink than everyone else. Great for documentation but still puzzles me.
Anyway, sounds like that printer was really giving you troubles huh? Hope you've been able to settle that since you sent your letter. Vox was that guy who made the death ray right? TV head guy? Yeah it makes sense he sucks even by hell's standards. Hearing that there's music and art down in hell despite all that misfortune is nice though. Can't say you were wrong about my not being down for more sexual artworks though but it's not even for a heavenly reason. It's just not my thing. People are still "active" up here. It's just done in healthy moderation.... mostly. Adam's case is an outlier on the matter and I wouldn't count it.
For what songs I sing, it's pretty ranged actually. I prefer pop songs but I'll dabble into the classic Christmas song, dramatic stuff, and a good handful of whatever people request. People love a vast majority of genres here from heavy metal to classical. It all depends on cultures and tastes really. And yeah we do a lot of live preformances up here. Sometimes they'll preform right outside or in wherever fits them. I might take you up on your offer someday by the way. That place you mentioned sounds chill.
Lastly, don't worry the entirety of heaven isn't guarded by me alone. I've got a team of cherubims who guard sections of the gates and other locations in heaven! They're just never really seen because the front is under my watch. When I need step away for whatever reason, one of them tends to be tasked with gatekeeper duty until I can return. We do have an army but my team is the first line of defense. Everything else is for more severe or personal matters.
Sorry for taking so long to write back. I was originally going to try and hope you'd just assume the letter took a while to come in but I think I can just admit I got caught up in a lot of stuff. April Fools especially threw me for a loop. I hope your Fools Day was fun too!
@gaslightgatekeepgoldengates
PS- I love your little wax stamp! I'd use mine too but unfortunately I'm supposed to only use that for very important, work-related letters only. It's got a little tilapia with a coin in it's mouth. Super cute but very very enchanted.
Nyasha opened the letter, their hands tired and needing a break from work. They felt their mouth curve into a small smile simply from reading the address line. From anyone else, such a casual title would have been an affront, but it was meant genuinely. It was nice.
Their mood was only improved hearing he appreciated the gift. They chuckled a bit hearing he wouldn’t be able to sleep with the eyes on him, but their attention returned to that comment on it potentially stirring up trouble. What did that mean, exactly? Was hellish iconography completely banned? They had always imagined Heaven being a place with freedom, as they could not imagine a place meant for eternal peace and joy without it, but if such a thing as a bracelet served to be a threat amongst his peers... Well, that indicated something more rigid. They wouldn’t ask, but it was interesting.
They were proud to have left a positive impression on him with their skill, though that feeling came with a bitter aftertaste. He didn’t know what they really did. What overlords truly were and what they did on their behalf. They thought of perhaps telling him they didn’t do that kind of work anymore. They thought of perhaps telling him they only worked for the hotel now, actually, and never left to deal with overlords. They decided to say nothing.
Hearing him so casually refer to being called a ‘glorified mascot’ them the wrong way. While they were used to such an understatement being a ploy, it was clear that he was simply downplaying it. That, or he’s so used to it at it is a joke. How distasteful. To think the gatekeeper of heaven faced such blatant disrespect. Who in their right mind said such a thing? Someone higher than him, likely, given nobody else disagreed to it. Even Heaven isn’t free of such awful treatment.
Reading that account of Sir Pentious... it was brief, but so straightforward. Charlie had come up with the idea but they had yet to implement it. They promptly copied it down to their notebook - ‘redemption linked to specific sins committed during life.’ They didn’t record people’s sins, as most were incredibly cagey about their human lives and what precisely they had done in the past, but it was a real step forward. They were already thinking about how to implement more focused plans and activities...
What had originally been a simple idea net them information that would genuinely benefit the entire hotel. They would certainly thank him for it.
Reading about the printer, they groaned, leaning back in their seat and screwing their eyes shut for a moment. They hated dealing with those finnicky machines in the first place, let alone everything going on with it by now. What a nightmare. It had yet to function at all, and that’s the entire reason their desk was currently crowded with papers they had to write out without the help of an automated process machine.
Seeing him fixate on ‘sexual’ rather than ‘violent’ made sense. Heaven had made themself clear on definitely not being against violence in any capacity. They readjusted their position in their seat to lean onto their left side as they continued reading.
They had expected choir music for a choir leader, but he made himself out to be a proper singer, and they could only smile, hearing the description of what music he sang. They didn’t listen to a lot of pop, but they had more than a few musical numbers they might want to share with him at some point... as soon as they figured out which ones weren’t too vulgar. They had become pretty desensitized, it would be difficult to see if there was a piece of media from hell that wasn’t too harsh. They would consider finding something. As it was, they could only imagine the variety of music in heaven. They must have direct access to earthly media up there. If only they could access such a library. What if they even did live performances of musicals from Earth? That would be incredible.
“Pff- Peter,” they shook their head at that reference to their invitation. A pleasant joke. As if he’d ever visit hell.
Hearing of a team of cherubims made sense, though they couldn’t help but feel a bit bitter that the army was used for ‘server or personal matters.’ The leader of their heavenly army could do whatever he pleased, and all his soldiers were at his beck and call, none of them under any obligations to the true safety of heaven, which was left to him, who was faced with disrespect so casually.
Heaven certainly appeared to have its own issues. They wanted to know exactly what they were, but didn't want to demand such information from him. They left it for later, once they had something more substantial to try and ask about.
They didn't mind how long it had taken him to write; by all accounts, he had been quite fast. And he certainly had reason.
April Fools had been an ordeal. Even beyond the hotel, Nyasha had dealt with so many obstacles trying to deliver Angel Dust's birthday present. They'd gotten the card signed by everyone, ensured the candy in the basket was his favorite (Cherri Bomb confirmed it), and then had to traverse the streets of hell.
Someone had blown up a building as a 'prank.' they'd had to die the debris, and then avoid far too many street fights, and then get to Vee Tower itself. They'd gone about seeing Angel Dust the easiest way possible - paying for it. It eliminated all obstacles. They'd arrived in the studio, and....
... They wished they weren't acutely aware of exactly which drugs he was on. They wished they could have heard that voice and seen those eyes, the ones that didn't seem to recognize who was in front of him, and not known exactly what he'd gone through.
They decided to give him an abridged version of that story.
They smiled at the postscript and set the letter aside. They had work to get done before they wrote back to him.
