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]

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.

[sunsongs]

Hand over Anael's Coby turned his head enough to press a kiss to Anael's palm. "What can I give you, love?" he asked from where he knelt in front of him. Seeing Anael like this, it should make him afraid or fucking angry, and that was there but buried now, and mostly Coby's love hurt for and with him.

[whispersoflove]

"You're already giving it to me," Anael told him gently, and leaned in for a soft, loving kiss. Coby's love might be wrought with pain, but it still gave Anael something to focus on, something warm, beautiful and pure. It was everything he needed right then.

[sunsongs]

Loving Anael felt like everything, and yet not nearly enough, but it was what Coby could do, and he did. His kiss was warm, gentle, holding his love for Anael and the faith they would fix this. Or They would... right?

Hand resting on Anael's thigh, forehead to forehead, he murmured, "Lie down with me?" wanting Anael in his arms to give what comfort he could.

[whispersoflove]

"Yes," Anael agreed on a breath, and reluctantly moved out of the moment, sliding up onto the bed, drawing Coby along with him, unwilling to be parted from him.

[sunsongs]

Coby wasn't going anywhere except right with Anael, needing to be touching him and as soon as he could pulling him into his arms. His wings settled over them immediately after. How many times had Anael done this for him, providing comfort and shelter, and always love, when the shadows got dark and loud? "I'm sorry, my love, and I'm here."

[whispersoflove]

Anael cuddled up to Coby, hiding his face in the crook of his neck. He felt burdened in a way he had no place being. Was it the way his brethren had felt as they Fell? What if this was it for him, and his ongoing lack of repentance had pushed God to finally sever ties with him? "What if this is Their will, Coby," he murmured, his voice filled with tears.

[sunsongs]

"I can't believe that." As much as Coby believed in God, he believed in a God of Love. They wouldn't give up on Anael like that. What faith Coby had was at some point, because of Anael. Maybe it was right he offer that same faith back again, when Anael was shaken. "And if it is some mysterious ways, it's not an end. You haven't Fallen. You couldn't."

[whispersoflove]

"They could make me a peri," he whispered, leaning his head back enough to look into Coby's eyes. "I love it here, but..." Heaven was where he belonged. God was where he belonged.

[sunsongs]

"'It's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here,'" Coby paraphrased for him. "This isn't home for you; it can't be, without Them." As fucked up as his memories were, Coby was glad he didn't remember what it had been like for Shamsiel. Heaven and God and all those things too big to wrap his head around that he'd lost or given up or whatever. But he wasn't Anael.

"Whoever did this to you... they're just people. Evil, twisted people probably, but people. And we'll find a way to fix it."

[whispersoflove]

Simply because people had done it did not mean that God did not will it so, but Anael simply snuggled back down, breaking eye contact. His faith would see him through, and Coby's helped.

[sunsongs]

Yeah, Coby knew They could work Their will through people, but he had to believe They wouldn't do this to Anael. Or couldn't mean for this to be permanent. "Today's been rough. Rest now, here, with me. We have to have faith tomorrow will be better."

[whispersoflove]

Anael closed his eyes and focused on Coby's smell, taking a few long, steady breaths. "Thank you," he murmured.

[sunsongs]

"Always." Or as long as Coby was Coby, along with the hope it would continue into his next lifetime. (If whatever was happening to him with the return of wings didn't mean this was his last life on Earth.) Curled around Anael, blanketed in quiet, Coby focused on his love for Anael, knowing it would be felt.