OTA

[whispersoflove]

Coby wasn't home, and hadn't left a note for him, so Anael was walking through the streets of London to get to Alcuin's home, enjoying the chill in the air, the way his breath fogged on the way out, the ebb and flow of love in the hearts around him. Hands in his jacket pockets, he paid no mind to the odd looks he occasionally received for wearing nothing but a denim jacket over a t-shirt in this weather.

It began as an itch in his back, a barely there scratch where his wings would be. He did not think much of it, only shifting his shoulders the way he normally did when the urge to let them out came over him. But then the itch burrowed deeper, and increasingly hotter, until it was more of a burn than anything else, and his lungs were alive with it.

He'd hurried into a side street with little foot traffic and leaned against a wall there, his breathing short and heavy. He tried to cloak himself, but he couldn't keep a hold on the miracle through the pain he was so unused to, and he collapsed to his knees as he heard words in a rough language that scraped against every fiber of his being, a language of Hell. His wings wouldn't come out and he folded to his side on the wet ground, seeing shadows on the other side of the street. They were all saying the words, out loud and right into his mind, and one of them came forward, a pair of boots stopping right in front of him. They pulled his t-shirt collar down and drew a symbol between his collarbones, their fingers red with - blood? The symbol felt like it was searing into his flesh. Anael cried out, physically as much as spiritually, praying out to God with all of his being.

The words ceased suddenly, pain abating slightly, and the dark figures dispersed as someone ran over to him.

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[whispersoflove]

"Keep the priest busy?" Anael requested, turning hopeful eyes on Coby. This would be easier to do without anyone questioning what it was exactly he was doing.

[sunsongs]

The arm around Anael tightened for a moment. Coby didn't really want to let go or leave him, but keeping the priest from wanting to know what Anael was doing was probably a good idea. "I love you," he murmured low, right at Anael's ear. Then he went toward the priest who'd just noticed them and was starting their way. Coby wasn't sure exactly what he was going to say, but once they started talking, questions and buried doubts that might or might not have been his found their way out.

[whispersoflove]

Anael closed his eyes as he listened to those three words and felt the love that came with them, closed his eyes and held both words and feelings to his heart, close and cherished. Then he glanced in the direction of Coby and the priest, and moved towards the font, dipping his fingers as if to cross himself. Instead, he only crossed the glyph branded into his skin, and murmured a quiet prayer in one of the languages of Heaven.

Once he was done, the glyph still stood on his skin, now washed clean of blood but not of the deeper brand. He could feel it in detail now, and feel what it did.

He knelt in the knave, and sent a prayer of Love to God, then stood to see where Coby might be.

[sunsongs]

Coby'd just run out of things to talk about with the priest, unless he wanted to get into a long ass conversation, when he saw Anael on the other side of the chapel or whatever it was called. He thanked the priest for his time and promised to think about what they'd discussed, then went to rejoin Anael.

The angel still didn't look all right, but at least the blood was gone, and Coby reached for him once he was close enough. "Ready?"

[whispersoflove]

Anael took his hand in his and laced their fingers together as they headed out of the church. "Can we go to your home?"

[sunsongs]

"Exactly what I had in mind unless you needed something else." Coby's thumb brushed softly over the back of Anael's hand. Not actually knowing what they attackers had done or been trying to do, he realized he had to ask. "Do we need to get a cab?"

[whispersoflove]

"No, I can fly," Anael assured him. As they passed through the doorway out of the church, he cloaked them, and then brought his wings out, waiting for Coby to join him.

[sunsongs]

Coby's wings formed out of his tattoo with a thought, and with a shared look they were ready, they took off into the sky and toward Coby's place, on a more direct route than they usually took when there was flying to enjoy together. Coby kept an eye on Anael as they flew; worrying wasn't going to stop until whatever those assholes had done to Anael was fixed.

[whispersoflove]

Anael focused on the flight, and resolutely did not meet Coby's eyes when he cast him those worried looks. He could feel his worry enough as it was; if he had to acknowledge it in any way he might not be able to hold his own fear at bay long enough to reach Coby's home. So he focused on the flight, riding the winds until they could see the former church, and they started their descent.

[sunsongs]

Coby didn't say anything as they landed, simply keeping Anael's hand in his as they went the short distance from the roof down to his flat and he could close the door on the world behind them.

Then he tugged him close, wanting to wrap the angel in his arms. "What the fuck was that?"

[whispersoflove]

"I don't know," Anael admitted a little shakily, wrapping his arms around Coby. The words stuck in his throat, but he forced them out, "They've bound me in this form. On this plane."

[sunsongs]

"Fuck." Coby's arms tightened around the angel, holding him steadily, and he pressed a kiss to his head. He both did and didn't understand what being bound here entailed, but he didn't want to think what would happen if they couldn't fix it.

Not letting go at all, he began to back further into the apartment, headed for the bedroom by memory alone. They were always most comfortable there, in ways that didn't have to have anything to do with sex, just the two of them being together. He wanted to get a better look at the mark the attackers had left on Anael, to be what Anael needed here and now, to fucking fix things. His wings popped out again, unconsciously, to wrap around them, loose enough they could walk, but sheltering warmth when Coby needed it and Anael probably did too.

[whispersoflove]

Anael let himself be led, trying to focus on the feel of Coby instead of the mounting panic inside him. This was never supposed to be his form. This plane was not supposed to be his home. He already longed for Heaven with all of his being.

[sunsongs]

How many times had they traveled the path from door to bedroom in a fog, barely noticing they moved, words unnecessary or impossible, when touch and closeness said so much? But this wasn't like those other times. The love was still there, warm and deep, but Coby's desire was only to help.

What do you need was a stupid fucking question, when what Anael needed was to not be bound here and in this body, but Coby couldn't give him that. Or if he theoretically could, he didn't remember how. "I'm here," he murmured. "Long as you need me. Anything I can do."

[whispersoflove]

They reached the edge of the bed, and Anael looked up at Coby, his eyes full of hope and love among his confusion. "May I..." The very fact that he had to ask this question slashed him to the core. "May I stay here?" He did not doubt that Coby would agree, but the fact that he had to stay anywhere was so contrary to what he was and where he belonged that he did not know what to do with what he felt right then. So he bunched his hands in Coby's shirt and kissed him, slow and deep, because that always meant something, that was still right, that was untainted. Their love was untainted.

[sunsongs]

"Yes," emphatic answer half buried in the kiss that answered just as easily. "Until we find a way to fix this, or as long as you want." Selfishly, Coby didn't want Anael staying anywhere else when he couldn't be in heaven where he belonged.

"Can I... Can I see what they did? I don't know, maybe it'll mean something." And if not, Coby still need to know.

[whispersoflove]

Anael sucked his lips in, then nodded. With most people, he would have simply tugged his collar down, but with Coby, he took his jacket off, then stepped back to pull his t-shirt over his head. The blood of the mark was gone, but the glyph still stood ugly and dark against his pale skin, the one directly around it slightly pink as if inflamed, and Anael didn't quite meet Coby's eyes now that it was bare.

[sunsongs]

There was a flare of something in Coby's chest seeing Anael's body marred that way, and for a second he almost couldn't even see the glyph. Fingertips ghosted over the skin around the glyph, then over to rest his palm over Anael's heart. "I'm so sorry, lovely.

"Lie down with me?"

[whispersoflove]

Anael felt sick at the thought of Coby touching that glyph, of anything like it marring him, so he was glad when his palm slid lower. "Of course," he agreed, t-shirt still in his hands, but he pulled away to put it back on, first. He'd still be able to feel it there, of course, but at least Coby couldn't see it anymore.

[sunsongs]

That Anael felt the need to cover up with Coby only added to the protective surge at not only knowing someone had done this to him but finally seeing it. Coby lay down on the bed, arms out to wrap around Anael. "I love you. We'll find a way to fix this. We have friends. And... They can't let you be cut off for long, you're Theirs."

[whispersoflove]

Anael made to climb onto the bed, then realised he couldn't vanish his shoes and socks the way he normally would, and slumped on the edge of the bed, turning his back on Coby and leaning his elbows on his thighs, hands over his face. It was only for a second, and then he was angrily tugging on his laces to get them undone.

[sunsongs]

It took a second or two for Coby's brain to catch up. In some ways it was such a tiny thing, having to undress physically, but in others, one more sign of how cut off Anael was, and it made Coby's heart ache. He sat up enough to curl around the angel, his lovely, loving, and loved angel, and pressed a kiss to his shoulder through the t-shirt. He didn't know how to fix this. Yet. All he could offer was his love, and his faith in Anael, so he focused on those things as much as he could.

[whispersoflove]

Anael had managed to unlace one boot, and he was pulling angrily at the laces of the other one, when Coby's solid weight behind him had him abruptly stop and lean back against him, finding his hands to lace their fingers together and wrap all of their arms around his middle. His eyes were closed and silent tears were running down his face as he tried to focus on Coby's love, rather than the fears and anxieties inside him.

[sunsongs]

Coby held him, his body a solid presence against Anael's back and wrapped around him, as warm and steady as the love he felt. He wasn't sure how long they sat like that, Anael could have that shelter as long as he needed, but after awhile, Coby slid off the bed to kneel at Anael's feet.

"Let me, lovely," he murmured, his hands going to the boot laces to work them open, turning the act of getting Anael's boots off from something that had to be done to something he wanted to do.

[whispersoflove]

Anael took in a deep, slightly shaky breath as Coby turned to his shoes, and wiped the tears off his face, for all that there were some more in his eyes. He could only watch Coby work his boots off, any word he might have said stuck in his throat. He lifted his foot when appropriate, humbled by Coby's love in a way that reached to the very core of him. Once they were off, he reached out to stroke his fingers along Coby's jaw, love shimmering plain and clear through his tears.