Chapter 18 Levi
Levi
They got home from the barbecue, delivered a few messages, and then went to bed for the evening.
Levi laid there cuddling Gabriel and thinking about the day.
During the barbecue, he’d had a moment of worry that Gabriel was embarrassed to be seen with him.
It had made his chest ache like a whale was sitting on top of it.
Not very comfortable at all, but he’d hid it from Gabriel.
After all, they were assigned partners. Gabriel hadn’t exactly asked to be stuck with him.
The fact that Gabriel had claimed him and praised him, well, the whale sitting on his chest was gone, and it was like swimming in warm, sunny waters.
In fact, most of his time with Gabriel felt like swimming in warm, sunny waters.
He didn’t want to lose that feeling, and wasn’t that something of a difficulty?
Because why would Gabriel want to hang around with a demon who liked to stay topside?
They were together because of the leadership team partnership, but that probably wouldn’t last forever.
Maybe a decade or two at most, and that didn’t seem like nearly enough time to spend with Gabriel.
There was probably some way to drag out their partnership, though.
They did have a bucket list to complete, and Levi would just have to make sure that they kept adding things.
If they didn’t finish the list, then the leadership team couldn’t end the partnership.
It was a plan, although not a foolproof one.
Since the leadership team was primarily made of fools, in his opinion, he hoped it would work.
Perhaps they’d have to figure out something else as well.
He fell asleep thinking about things to add to the bucket list, and he even managed to dream up some ideas.
Humans did so much, so the list really could be infinite.
Mornings had become something of a routine for both of them, and Levi enjoyed it. Often, if the weather was nice, they’d start off with a swim in the ocean. They did exactly that when they woke up, and Hachi joined them.
Levi watched as Gabriel and Hachi had a splash battle, where Hachi spit water from his siphon and Gabriel used his hands to splash.
Hachi would occasionally swim totally below the surface, and Gabriel stayed above, as if they had unwritten rules to the game.
Then Hachi would pop up and splash Gabriel, who always yelped in pleasant surprise before using his hands to drench the octopus in return.
The angel was laughing, and Levi floated in the water and enjoyed the sight.
Eventually, Hachi went over and attached himself to Gabriel’s shoulder, and the angel talked quietly to him while they floated and watched the sun rise.
Levi swam around and let himself drift closer to Gabriel, who was so busy chatting with Hachi that he didn’t notice.
“I’m sure you think shrimp, crabs, and fish are probably the height of culinary delight, but you’re really missing out by not having cookies.
I did research, and it seems that octopi have no interest in sweet food at all.
I still think you should try a cookie, though, and maybe I’ll offer you one later, but I have to check first and make sure it won’t make you sick.
Or maybe we can make you something else sweet.
Surely there’s a treat that you’d enjoy more than just raw seafood. ”
Hachi was still perched on Gabriel’s shoulder, and the octopus gave him a gentle smack across the ribs.
“Ok, then, you don’t have to try anything sweet. It’s just a suggestion.”
Levi laughed, and Gabriel and Hachi both turned around.
His angel’s face turned a cute shade of pink, and Levi swam over and embraced them both.
They all floated there as the sky turned pink, blue, purple, and orange.
Levi had seen many sunrises and sunsets, yet they were always more beautiful with Gabriel by his side.
Eventually they made their way back to the house, and Levi cooked breakfast—chocolate chip pancakes for his angel’s sweet tooth.
Hachi hung out in the aquarium, and Levi pretended not to notice when Gabriel went over after breakfast and tried to get Hachi to try a chocolate chip.
The octopus tasted it with his suckers and promptly threw it at Gabriel, and Levi had to choke back laughter.
He wasn’t very successful, because both the octopus and the angel shot him disgruntled looks.
After breakfast, they sat down to work on messages, and the morning passed productively.
They handled what they could via social media, texts, and the like, and they set aside in-person messages for the afternoon.
It again amazed Levi how completely comfortable it all seemed.
He would have said that his life before this was perfect—time in the ocean, a beautiful home, an adventure buddy—what more could he want?
If someone had told him he’d want a steady job and responsibility, he would have scoffed.
Yet he found it… fulfilling. He enjoyed the work. He liked sending humans little messages on social media meant to guide them in the right direction, which probably wasn’t very demonic.
Huh. Levi had a thought. Shouldn’t there be a demonic side to sending messages?
Yes, he was that demonic side right now, but they were almost always sending heavenly messages.
Angels made the most use of Gabriel, after all.
It was rare that a demon sent a message through him.
But demons did have messages for humans.
Contrary to popular belief, demons didn’t want mortal souls to end up in hell. First of all, few demons enjoyed working the pits for all eternity—it got kind of boring. Second, the leadership team got bent out of shape when there weren’t enough souls to recycle.
Most demons just wanted humans to experience more while on the mortal plane. More lust, more chaos, more good food and drink, more relaxation—basically, more fun. Angels were an uptight bunch, and if they had their way, everyone would be living the most boring lives.
So why weren’t demons sending messages? Encouraging people to do the fun thing?
“You look lost in thought,” Gabriel commented.
Levi looked over at him. His idea was probably odd, and maybe even stupid. After all, demons did interact with mortals. They sent messages in person and influenced things all the time.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
Levi sighed. “Just a silly idea. I was thinking demons don’t really have a messenger, and they could probably encourage humans to be a little more free-spirited through messages.”
Gabriel stared, and Levi laughed self-consciously. “I told you it was silly.”
“I don’t think it’s silly at all,” the angel said, starting to tap buttons on the tablet in his hand. “I wonder…”
Levi watched him, a little bemused as he started mumbling to himself. He was typing away for a few moments, then he looked at Levi, smiled broadly, and handed the tablet over.
It was, essentially, an advertisement stating that the new Department of Afterlife Message Delivery would be happy to send important messages to mortals who desperately needed more demonic influence in their lives.
“Department of Afterlife Message Delivery?” Levi asked.
“We can just call it the D-A-M-D. You know how the leadership team loves their acronyms. Makes it all sound a bit more official, doesn’t it?”
It did indeed. Levi chuckled at the fact that D-A-M-D sounded like “damned” when you put the letters together, but Gabriel obviously hadn’t thought of that. Or maybe it was his hidden sense of humor coming out.
Levi nodded enthusiastically, tweaking the message a bit before sending it off to a few select demons. He didn’t want to inundate the entire underworld with the message, and he knew the upper level demons would spread the word.
Perhaps somewhere in the back of Levi’s head, he also had the thought that if the two of them were a department, an actual official sounding afterlife department, then they wouldn’t be split up anytime soon. You needed more than one afterlifer for a department, after all.
He supposed now he just needed to wait and see exactly what sort of chaos he’d set up for himself. If he got to spend more time with Gabriel, he thought it would be worth it. In the meantime, they had lunch to eat. Levi really did enjoy meal times so much more with the angel’s company.
“What in heaven is that? Did you throw a banana peel at me?” Gabriel yelled.
Levi cackled in glee, racing ahead in the game.
“Why are we under water? How can you race a car under water? There is no logic to this game!” the angel shouted.
Levi noticed that Gabriel was still frantically trying to get ahead, pressing buttons on the controller and moving his entire body as he played, like if he moved to the side his car would move to the side as well.
Levi had never met anyone so terrible at video games, and it was actually cute as hell.
They’d decided to play a bit after lunch and before getting back to work (Levi’s suggestion, obviously).
They’d started with an RPG game, but Gabriel definitely hadn’t gotten the hang of that.
He’d kept walking into walls and even off cliffs, and he couldn’t figure out how to navigate the world on the screen.
So Levi had decided to go more basic, and they were playing a racing game. He’d thought this one was easy.
“Buttons, you’re driving backwards. That’s why your place in the race keeps dropping,” Levi commented.
“Poop! That son of a plankton just did something that made my screen go splotchy! I can’t see! That rotten cookie!”
Levi couldn’t help doubling over in laughter. Gabriel’s version of profanity was probably the best part of this experience.
“Ha! Take that, you eight-tentacled cheating cheater!” Gabriel cried.
Levi managed to look up to see that the angel had pulled ahead of him in the race somehow, probably because he’d been so busy laughing that he’d taken his finger off the button. “You never said I couldn’t use my tentacles to play.”
Gabriel jumped up, waving the controller around as he crossed the finish line. “Look at that! I came in… eleventh! Ha!”
Levi giggled again. “Buttons, you do know there are only twelve spots.”
“Yes, but you came in last place, not me!”
Gabriel was smiling broadly, and Levi couldn’t even be offended. He stood up as well, wrapping the angel in his arms (and tentacles).
“You’re cute when you get competitive, although I have to admit I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so bad at video games before.” Levi leaned in and kissed him to take any sting out of his statement.
Gabriel kissed him back, not seeming the least bit offended.
When their mouths finally parted, Gabriel murmured, “Perhaps we should try some of the other things that bring humans pleasure.”
Levi grinned. He was definitely on board for a little midafternoon sex, and he really hoped that’s what Gabriel had in mind.