Chapter 8
Levi
Buttons seemed calm and happy on the boat ride home, and Levi was glad for it.
If he felt just the teeniest built guilty… Nah. Nevermind. He didn’t feel guilty at all. He was a demon, after all, and making Gabriel feel good was not something he was going to feel guilty about.
Plus, he reminded himself, it actually did sound like a good plan. He might have been making it up as he went along, but it really did make sense. Humans of old used to be amazed much more easily than today, but with so many new experiences available, it took more to catch their attention.
They sailed back in peaceful silence, with Gabriel staring out across the water and occasionally up at the night sky. He looked more relaxed than he had since the moment Levi had met him on the dock, and it was a heady feeling to know that perhaps he had contributed to that.
He planned on making Buttons relax a lot. And he didn’t mean just sex, although he was definitely looking forward to that. There were so many other joyous things that topside had to offer, and he couldn’t wait to share them with Gabriel.
Levi docked the boat, and they headed back to the house. Hachi decided to stay behind for now, and if he wanted to make his way to the house, he had a path of saltwater pools he could take.
By the time they made it inside, he could sense Buttons starting to get… rigid. He didn’t know how to explain it. He didn’t think his angel was ready for another round, but he needed to figure out a way to make Gabriel settle down again.
It was late, and he had two ideas. “We’re done working for tonight,” he told Gabriel. “We’re going to act like the mortals, so we’re going to sleep. Then tomorrow, after a good breakfast, we’ll make a bucket list.”
Gabriel stared at him, his confusion clear in the way he ever so subtly fiddled with the button on the cuff of his shirt.
“Sleep? Whyever would we sleep? We don’t need to sleep,” Gabriel said.
“No, but humans do, and they enjoy it. They even dream. And they cuddle.” Levi looked at Gabriel’s suit, adding, “And they wear comfy clothes to sleep in.”
Gabriel cleared his throat. “If you, ah, think that would be beneficial… I am unsure what we would need buckets for, however.”
Levi couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him. “Oh, Buttons, a bucket list is like a list of things you wanna do or see. Or things you wanna try.” Levi winked at him on the last part, and Gabriel blushed adorably.
“Ah, yes, ok. Should we begin the list now? Or after we do the… sleeping?” he asked.
Levi smiled. “Sleep first.”
Poor Buttons had clearly had a lot of new experiences already, and the demon didn’t think he’d be comfortable enough to create a bucket list, especially not with some of the items Levi was hoping to put on there.
Besides, cuddling up with Gabriel in comfy clothes sounded extremely appealing. Levi often rested under the water, because he liked the pressure of it against his skin, and he enjoyed being in that form. He thought that he would be able to rest just fine with Gabriel tucked up against him, though.
Plus, dreams sounded like an excellent idea. As a demon of envy, he’d dropped in on his fair share of human dreams in the past, and he thought he’d be able to help Gabriel find dreams as well.
He was suddenly more excited to rest than he’d been in ages. Gabriel, however, looked cautious.
“May I?” Levi asked.
Gabriel didn’t seem to know what Levi was asking, but he nodded nevertheless, which sent warm feelings cascading through Levi. Aww, look at how much the angel trusted him. He really was sweet underneath all those buttons.
It was with great delight that he blinked the entire suit Gabriel was wearing out of existence, giving the angel a pair of extremely soft white boxer shorts instead. He gave himself a pair as well, although he wore black.
Gabriel looked down at himself, asking doubtfully, “This is what humans wear to sleep?”
Levi nodded. “Yup! Although sometimes they sleep without any clothes…”
“Oh, this is fine,” Gabriel quickly answered.
“I even gave you a button, Buttons.” Levi smirked, and he watched with fascination as Gabriel examined the button on the fly of the boxers.
His angel was too cute and too sexy. But enough of those thoughts. Sleep. That’s what they were going to do.
Levi walked forward, lightly touching Gabriel’s arm to lead him into the bedroom. The angel was warm, his skin soft, and he looked up at the touch, willingly following Levi. Oh, the ideas it gave the demon. But sleep. They were getting sleep.
Gabriel looked doubtfully at the bed. “It’s rather small, isn’t it?”
Levi shrugged. Yes, he could’ve switched the bed to a king, but snuggling was part of the process, and so the smaller mattress would do nicely.
Levi enjoyed pleasures of the flesh, so he had the softest sheets and a lovely, fluffy comforter.
He always kept the air temperature cool in the bedroom—he liked the weight of the blankets on him when he decided to rest on land, and despite being a creature of hell, he’d grown used to the cooler temperatures of the deep sea.
He quite enjoyed watching Gabriel’s nipples harden in the chilly air, too, but he whisked the covers back and motioned for the angel to climb into bed. Gabriel did so, a slight sigh escaping his mouth at the softness of the sheets as he turned over to face Levi.
Levi climbed in, and he almost chuckled as Gabriel tried to scoot over so their flesh didn’t touch.
“Humans cuddle,” Levi said again, pulling the angel close so they were skin to skin, chest to chest, their heads resting on pillows right next to one another.
Gabriel looked a little shocked at all the contact, but Levi just slid down a bit and cuddled into the angel’s chest. Gabriel instinctively put his arms around Levi, which made the demon smile.
He tangled his legs with Gabriel’s, enjoying the feel of the soft hair on the angel’s legs rubbing up against his.
Levi reached up and softly pet Gabriel’s chest. “Perfect. I’ll be the little spoon this time, and you can be the little spoon next time if you want.”
“Little spoon?” the angel asked, perplexed.
Levi hid his grin in Gabriel’s chest. For a messenger angel, he really wasn’t familiar with slang. Levi supposed that wasn’t his fault, since the rest of the afterlifers gave the most horridly boring messages ever. A little slang would go a long way in making them more understandable to humans.
“It’s just a phrase for cuddling. The big spoon holds the little spoon, like one is resting on top of the other.
I’m resting on you like a little spoon would rest on top of a big spoon.
If you’d like, you can rest on me, instead, and be the little spoon nestled inside the big spoon.
” And yeah, maybe Levi’s voice got a little suggestive when he talked about nestling inside. He couldn’t help it.
“No. This is… nice,” Gabriel answered, and he felt the angel shift a little closer. There was a pause, then, “So… now what?”
Levi grinned again. “Now we sleep. And you should open yourself up to dreams, too.”
“Dreams? I’m not sure I can dream. And how do we sleep?”
Aw, his angel really didn’t know how to rest. In fact, despite their cuddling, Gabriel still felt a little stiff.
“You have to sort of… let your body melt. Let every muscle relax. No more stiffness, Buttons. You can’t sleep if you’re stiff.
And you should breathe deeply. Focus on my breathing, and follow it, and just…
let your mind drift, let your eyes close.
Feel like you’re floating, all comfortable and soft, everything blurry and gentle at the edges… ”
Levi continued to softly talk, his voice getting lower, his breathing deep between phrases, until he felt Gabriel’s breathing match his own, and the angel’s body slowly relaxed into his. He thought he was still softly murmuring even as his own eyes drifted shut, and he let sleep overtake him.
Levi was in a very white room, and a beautiful, androgynous figure sat at a white desk. Gabriel, in all his angelic glory with white robes, was standing in front of him speaking to the figure.
Levi somehow knew that this was Yah, and as he opened his mouth to say something, he watched as Yah disappeared and cracks began to appear all across the walls.
Gabriel looked alarmed, and he tried to seal up the cracks, but they kept appearing more quickly than the angel could seal them.
He could tell Buttons was starting to panic, and he walked forward and took the angel’s hand in his own.
Gabriel turned, shocked. “You can’t be here.”
“It’s a dream,” Levi answered.
That didn’t seem to register with Gabriel, and he turned back toward the walls, but the cracks had stopped spreading. Gabriel’s brow furrowed.
“They stopped,” he said simply. “Why did they stop?”
“Don’t you want them to stop?” Levi asked, unsure what was going on.
Was Buttons having a nightmare? He had clearly dropped in on Gabriel’s dream, but this wasn’t exactly what he’d hoped for when he’d suggested dreams to the angel.
“I can’t stop them,” Gabriel said, and the sadness in his voice made Levi want to cry. “I work and I work, and I deliver every message, but none of it stops the cracks.”
“But they’ve stopped,” Levi reasoned. “You’re here, and they stopped, so you must have done something.”
Gabriel looked at him. “No. I never stop them. I can’t stop them.” He looked surprised as he added, “You’re here. You must be stopping them.”
Levi let go of Gabriel’s hand and held both of his up. “Nope. I’m not doing anything.”
As he said it, Levi could see, from the corner of his eyes, the cracks appearing again. Gabriel saw it as well, gasped, and then grabbed Levi’s hand back in his own, looking at the walls.
No more cracks.
“Ah,” Gabriel sighed out, but Levi had no idea what the ‘ah’ was for.
He certainly didn’t mind holding Gabriel’s hand, though, so he wasn’t going to complain.
Gabriel just continued to examine the walls with his eyes, clearly thinking.
Levi was a little bored with the plain white room, cracks or not, so he snuggled up next to Gabriel, resting his cheek against the angel’s chest and wrapping the angel in a hug.
Did he sort of hope that maybe he could lead the dream in an intimate direction? Well, of course he did. He was a demon. And Buttons was cute and sexy, and he was warm and soft, even in dreams.
“Surely you have more to dream about than this,” Levi muttered. Ok, so maybe he was complaining a bit, but the room was boring, and Gabriel wasn’t taking the hint about sexy times, because he was way too distracted by the boring walls.
“I think the cracks are getting smaller,” Gabriel whispered, awe in his voice.
Levi looked up, resting his chin against Gabriel’s chest, probably digging in a little bit, but it made Gabriel look down at him.
Was Levi pouting? Yes. Yes, he was. Because they were staring at cracks, and it was boring. But he sighed, because they must have meant something to Gabiel.
“Buttons, they’re just cracks in the wall.
I’m sure they mean something to your subconscious—maybe a fear of losing control, or of not doing your job well, or of not being perfect—but no one can be totally perfect, and what’s the fun in perfection, anyway?
A few cracks won’t harm anything. It gives the room a little character, you know?
It’s pretty boring otherwise. Sometimes you just gotta go with it and embrace a little imperfection. ”
Gabriel gazed down at him like he’d just said something profound, and then the angel smiled. It was blinding in its beauty. “It’s you,” he said softly.
Levi shrugged. “I’m me, for whatever that’s worth. But let’s have fun in your dreams, Buttons. I’m not the one in the driver’s seat—that’s you. It’s your dream. So what do you like? Dreams are for anything you want.”