Outlaw Blues: Cryophobia

Two months passed quickly after Reven’s hectic arrival into the Maccrea apartment. Within the first week, Kiaria had moved from her bedroom into her brother’s room so that Reuel and Reven would have a place to sleep. Despite the fallen angel’s protests, he couldn’t persuade her to do otherwise once she had her mind set, and he soon gave up and gratefully slept in the soft bed. Ironically, to Kenneth’s apparent amusement to judge by the smirk on his face the first morning, Reven decided that a twin bed was large enough for two people to sleep in comfortably, which he did only after he was very sure that Reuel was well and truly asleep. Luckily for him, Reuel still wasn’t quite aware of the fact that he cuddled up to the demon’s pale chest during the night because before the sun rose to wake the household, the other had left the bed’s warm comforts.

The children had quickly grown used to their unusual guardians, and Reuel had even continued his role as ‘uncle’ to them attending their school functions with a growing delight that seemed to amuse the demon to no end. He attended another of the parent-teacher conferences with Kiaria in which her teacher told him that she was pleased that the girl’s family was finally getting involved in her schooling. He was also party to another of the social worker’s visits to check up on the kids. The meeting went well until Reven had come into the kitchen from a mid morning nap and decided to irritate his fallen prey. The particular shade of red on the social worker’s face, Reuel had decided later, would make a wonderful example for a stop sign. It wasn’t too long after that when the man left, leaving the fallen angel to berate the demon on the stupidity of his thoughtless actions.

The relationship between the demon and the fallen angel was still unsteady to say the best. There were times when they almost seemed to get along, but in the next instant, Reven would once more do or say something to touch off the angel. Kenneth noted one night over dinner that the demon seemed to enjoy the outbursts of frustration almost as much as Reuel hated the cause of them. This sent the angel into a dark pout, which in turn made the demon laugh long and loud. There was little surprise to Reven when Reuel refused the few overtures he had made to share a drink. After the hang over from the first one the angel was in little humor to hear of alcohol.

Despite their frequent catfights, when they were out, the two of them could hardly be seen separate from each other. This was mostly, of course, Reven’s doing as he rarely allowed the fallen from his sight unless he was sleeping. This fact lead to a slight depression from Reuel who had grown used to his occasional brush with a friendly angel. With the demon at his side, even Michael had been forced to keep his distance in order to keep attentions away from his ward. The pitying looks the guardian angel cast in the fallen’s direction, however, intrigued the demon though he said nothing for his part.

Late summer had turned into autumn. The winds blew colder with each passing day or so it seemed to Reuel, who as an guardian angel had rarely stayed in corporeal form for very long and had thus never really felt the biting cold of the wind—no matter what the temperatures. Now, even though he had acquired a heavy coat, he chose to spend more and more time inside curled up on the couch in blankets drinking warm tea and reading the novels he found on the bookshelves.

“It’s cold,” Reuel muttered watching the wind blow fiercely outside the living room window. He snuggled deeper into the comforter and his kimono. Of all the outfits he had acquired since coming to live with the Maccreas, this was by far his favorite and mainly because they had given it to him when they first brought him into their home.

The novel he had been reading—a book by Arthur C. Clark called Childhood’s End—lay face down on the small table beside the couch. He was enjoying them immensely, but after three hours of doing little more than reading and bemoaning the cold, he was growing a little weary of it all. He could go out for a walk, but he knew that the instant he tried, the demon would be right beside him the instant he left the apartment.

It was like having his own personal shadow, Reuel decided unhappily, an unwanted shadow at that. There was little he could do about it, however, though on occasion, he did consider attempting to kill the demon. Something, and he began to think it was his conscience, kept him from doing that. It would be different if Reven was actively hurting humans, but he wasn’t. Oddly in the past two months, he had even helped Reuel kill one demon. Shaking his head at the memory, Reuel settled back against the couch and lay his head into the nest of pillows he had gathered. The demon was without a doubt the most confusing thing that had happened since he fell.

“Don’t you feel useless?”

Reuel’s head snapped up, and he glared across the room at the pale demon. His skin was nearly the color of ivory, and the black hair and black leather pants, which he never seemed to change from, didn’t help matters.

Sighing softly, he decided to humor the demon. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, fallen,” Reven said as he crossed the room from the kitchen to sit on the other end of the couch. “That you are a leech to these kids.”

“What?”

“Oh, don’t doe-eye me, fallen,” the demon said with a sneer. “Or wait, that’s right. You probably haven’t even considered how they pay for things here… Have you?”

“I… haven’t,” Reuel admitted softly. Now that he thought about it, he began to wonder where the money did come from. Living in this apartment wasn’t free, and they had to buy their food and clothes for school. He really didn’t have any clue where it came from.

“Of course not.” Reven ran a hand back though his short, spiky black hair as his eyes rolled in disgust. “How could I ever imagine that you would consider such a thing? You’re a fallen angel. You don’t think about having to pay to live someplace. You just move in and foist all your problems onto their shoulders. You eat the food from their tables, but you don’t worry about where it came from or who’s sweat and tears paid for it. Your nothing but a parasite on these kids.”

Sullenly silent, Reuel couldn’t deny the words were true. He hadn’t thought of it before, and he was now beginning to feel a little bit unsettled by it. Unable to sit still as the worries filled his mind, he threw the blankets off himself and rose to pace the small living room, shivering slightly.

“I never asked,” Reuel said finally. He glanced over at the demon only to find the yellow cat-slit eyes following his movement about the room as a small smirk turned up the sides of the demon’s mouth. Stopping cold, the fallen angel turned to face him with his hands on his hips and a glare burning like fire in his eyes. “Do you know where it comes from?”

Reuel’s smile broadened. “Of course, I do, you fool. I’m just amazed that you never even wondered. You amaze me sometimes, fallen, with how inconsiderate you can be of those you claim to care about.”

“So where does it come from?” Reuel demanded suddenly feeling much like a mouse being toyed with by a cat.

“Tut-tut,” Reven said wagging his finger at the platinum blonde angel. “You wouldn’t learn anything if I just told you.”

Growling under his breath, the fallen angel returned to his pacing. I admit it, he thought bitterly. I’m not perfect. I’m an utterly thoughtless person sometimes but damn him!

As he neared Reven, he lunged swinging a fist at the demon. There was a solid thud, and the demon smiled and squeezed the smaller fist in his hand.

“Do I make you angry?”

“Yes! Leave me alone!”

“You would be lonely then wouldn’t you?” Reven murmured. His eyes gleamed with pleasure as he drew his prey closer. “You would be all alone.”

Shaking his head fiercely, Reuel snapped, “I wouldn’t be!”

“The children? The girl will live for a while and die, and the boy will live a little longer but he will also die. What will you do then, my fallen angel? They will be gone, and you will have no one—ever again.”

Grey-violet eyes filled with tears as Reuel began to shake. Just the thought of being alone again hurt him incredibly. Lashing out to keep his tears back, he punched Reven solidly in the jaw. The pale face turned to the side with the impact, and though he hid it immediately, the demon eyes widened slightly in an instant of intense pain. With a gentleness that took the angel off guard and finally allowed his tears to fall, Reven drew him forward into his lap and began stroking his platinum blond hair.

“But I’ll always be here, fallen. I promise,” he murmured softly to the man curled in his lap like a terrified child. “From now on and for as long as you live, you will never be alone.”

The smile that curled the demon’s lips held satisfaction and a wicked delight when Reuel nodded pressing his eyes to the crook of the lean neck. As the angel breathed, the feather at the end of the long, thin braid fluttered slightly, a pleasant reminder of all that he had lost and would never have again. The safety and security of his own kind was gone, and he now sought the same instinctive comfort in a demon.

After the angel calmed slightly and fell into a half doze, Reven raised a hand to his left jaw. A large purple bruise discolored the ivory skin, and it was tender to the touch. He grinned with the pleasure.

When he had first found the feather, he hadn’t been sure that such an angel would be worth it. The paltry scrap gave him little information about his quarry. A mere flash of the angel’s pain was all that it would surrender to him. He had been in the process of hunting down another angel—an actual guardian this time, but a weak and timid fool with whom he had been toying. It was from him—the poor Kevin—that he had begun to figure out the nature behind the fallen angel’s feather. After he had finally tracked down, the unelusive, but seldom solitary, angel, Reuel had taken the time to listen into his conversation with one of his fellows.

“I would have cast him out as well,” Kevin snapped angrily at the other. “His record may have been perfect, but he still broke the most sacred rules.”

The other angel had frowned at him then. “And where would you or I be if they cast every angel down for something so terrible as falling in love.”

“He killed someone! That’s why they cast him down,” Kevin had insisted, clearly irritated by his companion’s defense of the fallen.

“Perhaps—rumor has it though that they were afraid of him before that. Some even speak of a conspiracy inherent in the demon’s choice of prey that night—“

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing much, just that there are some who think that Reuel was made to fall that night, and they used his human to bring him down.”

“That’s absurd!”

“Is it? Perhaps it is, but there are still some who question the council. They think his punishment was too swift and too severe for someone who had never shown any signs of rebellion before. I’ve also heard that no one expected him to actually kill the man. Most people I’ve spoken with seem to think that he was meant only to stop the man—breaking our visibility laws. Yes, there are quite a few rumors around the heavens now, but I’ll let you alone now. It appears that your ward is ready to leave.”

“Thank you for the news, but you’re wrong. To kill a human is inconceivable, and to let him go unpunished afterwards would have been detestable.”

Reven had watched his prey saunter after his human for a second before turning to stare at the angel only to find himself being watched as well by the cold green eyes.

”What do you think of my news, demon?”

“I think I shall enjoy the hunt,” the demon murmured as he had then with satisfaction. He had as well. The fallen’s trail had long since gone cold, and he searched long and hard attempting to locate any word or rumor of his new prey. There had been nothing concrete for nearly five months, but then he overheard several demons speaking amongst themselves about a fallen angel in a near by town. Thrilled he had sped onwards in hot pursuit.

Reuel stirred slightly and Reven petted his hair and neck with a gentle touch. His mind wandered for a moment and he suddenly found himself frowning out the window. The angelic council had been afraid of this angel—of that he had little doubt now. Reuel was powerful to be sure, but more importantly, he truly cared for the humans.

The demon’s husky voice broke the silence of the room once again startling the angel’s grey-violet eyes open. “Did you know that angel and demons were once the same?”

“Huh?”

Continuing to stare outside the windows, Reven ran a finger down the angel’s jaw before he answered the questioning sound.

“Hmmm… yes. It was the humans who divided us,” he explained. “Some wanted to torment this new and weaker race, believing it was their right, and others wanted to protect it, believing it was their duty. There weren’t any ‘fallen angels’ then. All angels were as compassionate towards humans as you are.” He paused for a moment then continued bitterly. “Then they became cold, heartless—caring more about their precious laws than for the lives of the humans they wanted to save!”

“Reven?”

The demon blinked looking down at the startled face of the angel in his arms and smiled. “Oh—nothing. It’s nothing. Forget about it.”

Watching the demon’s eyes, Reuel found himself wanting to remember the words more than forget them. The tirade had come completely out of the blue, and he pushed himself awkwardly out of the demon’s lap.

“I… I’m going to go take a bath before Kenneth and Ki come home,” he said walking quickly from the room.

***
End Chapter Cryophobia
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