Fucking hell…

He groaned, because he saw two glows in the dark. It was not something he had wanted to see; it was something that he prayed would not be there when he would get back from the lake. He jumped down a small ledge slowly, and then glared at his clearing. His amber eyes looked angrily at the armor, which was still there, near the river and trees, even if it was keeping its distance.

Alexis halted his steps besides the fire, which he had not lighted. He raised his inquisitive gaze to the haunted armor, with an eyebrow raised. The armor did not move; it did not make a single noise. It did not take that spear to explain itself; it was just standing there like the dead. It was like a statue, but those glows were there, always watching from the inside of the helmet. He let his bag fall off his hand onto the ground, to cross his arms.

“I told you to leave.”

Silence. It did not even nudge that spear.

Alexis lost his patience. He huffed, and then yelled, exasperated.

“Leave me be I said!”

He could only growl, because the only thing that the armor did was crouch slowly. It sat against a tree, firmly, to show it would not move again.

It was not going to leave. So the angel resigned to take a deep breath and close his eyes. But that did not mean he did not plan to show his anger to Uriel.

Uriel flinched a little when Alexis kicked the ground suddenly, in order to cast gravel and dust onto the fire. The armor lighted it for nothing. His angel nodded and smirked spitefully, satisfied that the flames were dying.

He would not accept help. He would eat raw fish if he had to. He hoped Uriel would get it already.

The devil felt another sting in his heart, as his angel grabbed his bag and bolted for his cave. He hid in, and did not get out for the rest of the day.

—————————————————

The morning was calm and silent.

There was no worry or thought; not until something struck his marionette’s helmet, making a loud creak echo through the armor.

Alexis smirked, seeing the armor panic and trash onto the ground, not having expected a rock to be flung its way. Its violet glows glinted with what could be seen as shock and surprise, and then it stared at the rock and ground. Meanwhile, he stepped out his cave, and lashed out mockingly.

“That’s for ignoring me again.”

Alexis did not flinch when the armor stood to its feet angrily. Its master had been awakened, suddenly and harshly.

The angel rolled his eyes, because the armor seemed to try to growl with a leaned stance and began to make offended gestures with its gauntlets. But it soon halted and froze, remembering that nothing could be said.

Alexis’ glare softened a little when the armor began to fumble with its hands, just like Uriel used to. He decided to lower his tone slightly, tried to make things clear.

The armor stomped a foot onto the ground and raised its helmet to a side. Without growls or yells, it was not convincing or intimidating at all, it only looked silly…

Alexis began to pretend he was alone; he decided to just keep working. He said nothing while he headed for the river with a wooden bucket in his hands. He filled it up, and then went to throw the water on his garden. He did not look behind him; he hated to see that armor.

Uriel was mocking him with his actions. He was not here, and at the same time he was. He told him to not approach him, and in a sense, he complied.

But this is just stupid…

Alexis did not know how to feel about the matter exactly, but it was clear that he did not like it. Deep inside, it hurt him that Uriel was far. He could only see a simple armor, not his true self. And he knew that Uriel was hurting himself with this.

It would be great if he just stopped stalking me. For both of us.

The sound of water was calming. The lake was a place where he could forget. He needed to forget. Uriel kept on following him, constantly. He was keeping a distance, but he was always there. He did not have to look behind him to know, he could feel those eyes on the back of his neck. Each time he awoke for another day, he felt that eerie feel, of someone watching.

Indeed, Uriel never went away, not matter for how many days Alexis showed his anger. The armor was now standing between trees, watching his angel for the fifth day. That glow never faded. The demon feared that if he looked away from him, anything could happen. He could not care for the hate he saw in those amber eyes, he only wanted his safety. He could take his curses and anger. He would not leave, even if it meant suffering.

For he did suffer. It hurt to control this inanimate object, to see through it. It hurt to keep his mind and soul in two places at once, far away and close at once. It made him feel torn. But in reality, what ripped him apart was the coldness. He destroyed Alexis’s trust; he only left behind a weary angel. It hurt him to hear the curses, to see the glares… And worse of all, it killed him to see that below all that, there was still a trace of care. His angel did not blame him, not anymore; but he was still angry.

And, with all that… there was something that he could not bear to witness; something that he was seeing quite often now. He could endure the hate, but he could not stand to see the sorrow.

Uriel sighed and looked at those amber eyes again. They were full of resignation and sadness while they stared at the water. His hands were barely holding the net; the fish in it plopped and managed to jump free again. Alexis did not even pay mind to it. He was looking at the depths intently.

He was trying to remember better times.

Alexis’ expression gained a trace of wonder, for just a moment. In that moment, his hand neared his shoulder, to brush it with uncertainty. However, that expression faded quickly. Whatever thought had crossed his mind, it was pushed away. His eyes lidded with resignation.

The armor kept quiet when Alexis stood, took his net, and began to leave. Only Uriel kept looking at the clear blue water.

The demon knew what thoughts haunted his angel…

——————————————-

He poked the fire again with a stick, and made the flames rise a little. A single small fish lied on the flat rock above it, heating up. He was only going to eat this one. Not much… But he did not feel like having more.

Not that he had more. He couldn’t focus on a damn thing.

He sighed loudly and let himself lean backwards; he supported himself with his arms, which he outstretched behind him. He sat there, admiring the fire. It was late, for darkness had fallen over everything.

He did not like the dark. But he had no intention of going into his nest. Not yet. He had not slept much these days, and it had nothing to do with the fact that Uriel roamed in the nights. He was just… tired. But not enough. He always spent most of the nights awake, to try to exhaust his body and be able to sleep. This was just another nigh, part of another meaningless day.

Maybe-

He jolted a little, because he heard a noise. He quickly leaned to look sideways, where the bushes rustled. He would have run; now he was always ready to do so. But he did not flee, because he noticed that it was only the armor. His eyes narrowed, seeing it standing there, at a much more daring distance. He could see something else.

Was that… water?

Alexis blinked at it, because he was seeing small droplets of water fall from the gapes around its body. Any part that was not made of metal was of leather, and said leather was soaked. He grew even more confused when it dared to step towards him, slowly. Its gauntlets moved, and reached to open its empty chest.

Alexis thought it was empty; so he thought. Uriel opened the chest plate, and his other hand reached for what he had collected, not so easily. Alexis stared mouth agape when the armor lowered its hand, for him to see what it held. There were a few shells.

Uriel feared, because the confusion on Alexis’ expression turned into anger, slowly. He feared he would reject the shells, even if he knew he loved them. He dreaded that the hate would be too strong for him to accept this; this, something he cherished. He only wished for him to eat a little more, he had hoped it would be enough. His gauntlet trembled while Alexis seemed to doubt, not knowing what to look at, or what to say.

So… the devil just dropped the shells at the angel’s side, on the ground, carefully. And then, he moved the armor away, into the forest, because nothing could be said.

The angel sat there, baffled. He glared at the darkness, still able to discern the tall figure of the armor; there, slumped against some bushes.

He glanced down at the shells, reluctantly. He had not asked for them. But he could not let them spoil either. He would not be able to throw them back into the lake in time; they would die before he could. He really did not like to see death without reason, even if they were just clams.

“Such a waste…”

His whisper was heard, and feared. And that fear remained until the sun rose back.

Uriel’s real violet eyes cried next morning, when he saw that those shells were empty near the fire, not thrown away uneaten.

——————————-

The days flew by slowly. Neither spoke. Both went on with their own business. Alexis worked in meaningless things, while Uriel roamed somewhere in the woods.

Uriel was not leaving, nor tiring. And every day, he was growing more silent, he was more distant. He barely saw that armor now. He should be content with that. He felt he should.

Alexis still denied that he felt lonely, and hopeless

Why do I even care?

His devil couldn’t understand him; so he would not bother to ponder about their actions.

His dark thoughts matched the strong rain that was pouring down.

He was lying on his bed, staring with unfocused eyes at the storm. He could hear how the waterfall roared with the added flow, how it hit the river strongly. He kept brushing away his worries for his demon, while he remembered a night when he sheltered him with his own wings.

The angel did flinch a little when the first loud thunder echoed. He tugged the cape over himself, because he saw and heard the rain grow fiercer. Every minute, it got worse. With time, not even his eyes were able to discern between darkness and droplets of water. The lightning was the only thing that gave him light, and each one made him brace himself for the roar that followed every time. Every thunder made the ground and his cavern rumble. He feared it could crumble down over his head and crush him; or maybe even drown him, because the waterfall flowed above.

He had not seen a storm like this in a long time. And it seemed like it was not going to stop anytime soon. He liked wind, but not this. He never dared to fly with this kind of weather. This was a raging flow of air, which seemed to wail.

The angel hid his face under his hood, to try to ignore it all. He had never appreciated storms. It was a natural fear for winged souls.

But now, I do not have to worry about it, right?

The water would never soak his wings again; he would not plummet down with the added weight. The thunders would never strike him, and the wind would not tear away any superficial feathers. His flight would never be challenged.

He did not know if to laugh or cry. So he did neither. He just hugged his cape and closed his eyes.

He could not see Uriel out there. He hoped he had found some shelter. God only knew if that clunky armor could be blown away to pieces. Maybe this time Uriel would leave him alone; maybe the armor would crumble down enough, and it could not be moved anymore.

It is not like… I have to worry that it could hurt. If it scatters all over and it stops moving, Uriel will finally stop haunting it. Right…?

He had no reason to think about it. Not now. He had to wait for the storm to stop. He had all the time in the world to wait. He did not need to get out.

Who could be insane enough to be out there anyway? …Excluding a stubborn devil, of course.

Another loud rumble echoed, loud as a roar. But this time it did not echo alone. Alexis gasped when a loud crack followed the thunder. He smelled a faint scent of burned wood. There was a faint sound, very faint and quiet. But he heard it. He heard a scared little growl. He could not hear it for long, because it was muffled by a loud thud; something hit the ground hard.

Alexis lied there, tense. The silence was only broken by the rain, and the sound of smoke flowing up. He did not move. Not until he heard it again. Small growls, this time more weak and… pained.

The angel frowned and sat up a little. It sounded like a small animal. He could smell smoke, which had been caused by thunder, surely. He doubted, as he looked outside worriedly.

He stood fully when he heard another little cry. He bolted for the cave’s exit reluctantly, and pushed aside his drapes to peek. His eyes narrowed, to try to see through the fierce rain. He could see a trail of smoke in the distance, between the trees, not too far.

I must be getting crazy…

He dashed out his nest; he raised an arm over his head to shield his eyes. He slowly made way out of his clearing. He walked against the strong wind, which forced him to halt a few times and stomp his feet on the ground.

He should have not gotten out, he knew. It was stupid. It was against common sense; thunder was striking the forest. He was crazy, because he was heading straight for a dense patch of trees, a perfect place for lightning to strike again.

He soon saw what had caused that loud crack and thud. His eyes widened as much as they could, because he saw a big fallen tree on the ground, between others, cracked in half. It had a lot of parts burned and smoked, fire contained by the rain. There were splinters everywhere. But that was not what caught his attention. It was another thing that made him slow his steps even more and let out a worried breath.

He had followed the sound of the cries. And now he saw. He knelled carefully besides the trunk, while his hands trembled. The small shadow between the ground and trunk gave another fearful growl.

Alexis saw the small rabbit show him its small teeth, how it tried to crawl away from him. It was stuck. His amber eyes filled with distress, and he almost felt the same discomfort when he saw that its lower half was trapped under the heavy log. Its hind legs were barely visible, and he wished he could not see the little he could of them.

He quickly reached for the log, ignoring the distrustful and fearful yelp he heard. He had no time to try to show that he meant no harm. He began to push the trunk with his hands, to try to move it away and free the animal under it. He made sure to try to push upwards, in order to not harm the poor critter.

He panted while his eyes glared down; he saw that he did not even move it an inch. The tree was three times his size, and it was tall. The wooden debris all around him did not help, most of it was bundled on top of each other.

That did not mean he surrendered. He slammed himself against the trunk with a growl, shoulder first, with his fists clenched. He tried to push with his feet, desperate.

After a couple of minutes, he could only slump and stop, because he felt too much strain on his scars.

“F-fuck!”

His curse was barely heard through the raging rain. But he could hear. He dammed his inhuman hearing when the rabbit let out another whimper. He began to cry in disbelief, his tears mixed with the rain, when he saw the little animal go limp. The strong rain was making big puddles of water, a small flood under the log.

“Fuck no.”

The angel snarled loudly, and then slammed his hands onto the log again. He did not care that he got a few cuts; he kept trying to free it. But not even he could move the thing; he, an angel, a being naturally stronger than a human.

He closed his eyes, and mourned. He was unable to do anything. He would have stopped; he would have sat there, lamenting his lack of strength. But his eyes opened instead, because he heard rustling at his side. His amber eyes went wide when he saw a familiar glow. He saw two gauntlets slam under the log. He stared at the armor, which was crouched at his side, pulling and pushing.

The log moved an inch. Alexis gasped, realizing that the armor could not do this alone. Its metallic hands were creaking under the weight. He quickly dashed; he did not waste time and slammed his hands under the log as well. They began to push it upwards and back.

The demon halted a little; the armor was trembling while it held the tree inches above ground. It gave a quick nod down with the helmet, and Uriel felt relief when his angel understood. The armor did not let go when Alexis did. He reached quickly for the animal, and took it out of the water and away.

Those gauntlets shook and shattered a little under the weight, but there was enough time for the critter to be saved. The angel took it into his arms, before the armor was forced to let go and let the log fall.

The tree fell noisily onto the ground. Alexis stood frozen as the armor leaned a little to glance back at both. Then, it slumped down, with a creak that resembled a tired sigh. The violet glows in the helmet disappeared as it went limp onto the log.

Alexis would have stayed, he was worried for Uriel. But he had to shield himself and the animal under his arm, because the rain still fell fiercely. He could not stay; there was blood on the animal’s fur.

While the angel ran towards his cave, a demon fainted, in the safety of his own room. The last thing Uriel had in mind… was the gratefulness he saw in those amber eyes.