Chapter 21
Gabriel
Humans could be so… Gabriel didn’t know the word. He did know that booping that kid on the back of the head hadn’t been very professional. Apparently Levi was rubbing off on him.
And was that really a bad thing? He was doing his job better.
He knew that. Levi made him think outside the box, and he felt the most effective he’d been in ages.
Plus, he hadn’t even known how lonely he’d been.
Levi was right about what he’d said—everyone needed companionship and love.
Gabriel hadn’t known how much until he’d actually gotten it.
He thought maybe, probably, that he loved Levi. Maybe the demon might even love him back. Sometimes Levi looked at him and smiled in a certain way, and Gabriel thought there was possibility there.
Gabriel was thinking about all this as he transported them out of the college room, then he realized that he had no idea where he was supposed to be going.
He hadn’t asked Levi who they had to deliver a message to.
It seemed the demon somehow knew this, because Gabriel felt the grip of tentacles around him, and Levi took over their destination.
“Bruh! So good to see you guys!” a voice boomed out.
Gabriel groaned, almost prepared to transport them right back out. He would know that voice anywhere—Arioch, Infernal King of the Underworld, Demon of Vengeance and Chaos, Seer of Things Past and Yet to Come (and also major pain in the ass).
He looked up at Levi, who grimaced. “Sorry. Should have warned you.”
Gabriel looked at Arioch. “It’s fine. I just didn’t expect to have to deal with him again so soon. Once every century is more than enough.”
Arioch laughed, as if the entire thing was amusing to him, but Michael came up behind him, frowning. The human was quite protective of his soulmate.
Gabriel looked around and realized they were in Michael’s kitchen, and the human motioned them to chairs, as if it was perfectly reasonable for them to show up out of nowhere.
“What can we do for you two?” Michael asked, taking his own seat.
Arioch sat down and pulled Michael’s chair up next to his, but not even a minute later he popped back up. “I almost forgot!” he exclaimed, and then he headed into the other room.
Michael groaned theatrically, but he had a small smile on his face.
Gabriel did not have a good feeling about this.
“Dudes! I thought you might be regulars at group get togethers, and I couldn’t resist getting these made when I saw this graphic! It was too perfect!” Arioch yelled from the other room.
Michael glared at them, whispering, “It’s very nice he wanted to get you something.”
Gabriel understood that Michael was telling them they better pretend to like the gift, whatever it might be, but Gabriel wasn’t falling for it. If Michael had to warn them, then it couldn’t be good. Hopefully Arioch’s soulmate would have stopped him from doing anything too outrageous, though.
“My sexy s’more, where are they?” Arioch called out.
Michael got up, heading into the other room to help Arioch find… whatever it was.
Gabriel looked over at Levi, a low level of panic thrumming through him. Levi put his hand on Gabriel’s knee.
“I’m sure it’s not that bad, Buttons.”
“You never had your feathers fall out because of him,” Gabriel answered.
Levi stifled a chuckle, and Gabriel didn’t take offense. His feathers had, at least, grown back.
“It’s probably a butt plug or something else ridiculous,” Levi said.
Gabriel looked at Levi, horrified. “You don’t think he’d actually give us… intimacy toys, do you? And if he does, we are not using them, because they’re probably a prank of some sort.”
Levi laughed just as Michael and Arioch walked back in.
Michael gave them a glare and then sat down, looking fondly at his demon.
Arioch, meanwhile, was still standing and held two t-shirts in his hand.
Gabriel was puzzled for half a moment, and then Arioch flashed the t-shirt open, announcing, “Ta-da!”
Gabriel stared in disbelief, and he heard Levi trying to stifle giggles next to him.
“I know, dudes! Isn’t it perfect!” Arioch crooned, looking down at the shirt.
It was purple, which was fine. The material looked very soft and comfortable, which was also fine.
It did not have intimacy toys pictured on it, so Gabriel supposed he could be thankful for that.
Instead, it had an octopus on it—a cartoony looking octopus that he supposed might be considered cute. The octopus, strangely, had wings. Angel wings. Like his.
In bold, all capitalized letters, it stated “ADVENTURE BUDDIES” across the shirt.
Gabriel opened his mouth, then he closed it. He looked over at Levi, who was sort of smiling at the t-shirt.
“Thanks, Ari,” Levi said.
“I know how you love having a buddy along for all your adventures, and since Gabriel is your new buddy, I thought you could use matching shirts!” Arioch looked down at the shirt again, beaming.
Gabriel cleared his throat. “Um, yes. They’re… very nice shirts. Thank you, Arioch.”
Arioch looked even happier, and he threw one shirt at Levi, and one at Gabriel. Levi looked over at Gabriel, pleasantly amused. Gabriel was sure that his demon knew he would never actually wear the shirt, but he supposed it was a nice gesture.
“What brings you two here?” Michael asked, and he looked much more at ease now that everyone had appreciated Arioch’s gift.
“The memo Levi sent, of course!” Arioch announced. “I have a message to give!”
Levi looked vaguely surprised by this. “I thought I was supposed to give you a message, although it didn’t say who it was from.”
“Nahhhh, bruh, I have the message.”
Gabriel, Levi, and even Michael all stared expectantly at him.
“You dudes want some coffee or something? A snack?” Arioch asked, heading over to the kitchen counter.
Michael smiled, and Gabriel appreciated how much they must be in love for the mortal to put up with all of Arioch’s… Ariochness.
“I think they want the message,” Michael said kindly.
Arioch came back over and sat down at the table. “Ah, yeah. Well, I don’t have it yet. You’re a little early. Or maybe late. Not sure.”
Michael nodded, but Levi looked confused.
“You have a vision for us?” Gabriel asked. He turned to Levi, adding, “It’s easy to forget that he’s the Seer of Things Past and Yet to Come, especially when he embraces the chaos and vengeance part so well.”
“Ah, that I do, my dudes, that I do!” Arioch answered.
And with that, he delved into a story about a recent case he and Michael had worked on.
Michael chimed in on occasion, and Gabriel found himself enjoying the mortal’s dry sense of humor.
Arioch and Michael were total opposites, but they were a good match.
The story—something about a dictator in a small country—was rather amusing, especially with Michael to fill in the missing information.
They ended up chatting for an hour or so, and Michael eventually got everyone coffee and cookies.
Levi told some humorous stories from recent message deliveries, and Gabriel added in things now and then.
Gabriel was even secretly pleased when Arioch raised his hand for a high five when Levi told them about him booping the kid on the back of the head.
He did not, of course, high five him back, which only made everyone laugh more.
Gabriel even cracked a smile at that point.
It was… nice. He supposed this was what coworkers often did.
They got together and “bitched” about their jobs, as Arioch called it.
When there was a lull in the conversation, Arioch slapped his knees in what seemed to be the universal language meant to say it was time to wrap things up.
Gabriel and Levi stood, ready to take their leave.
There was some hand shaking and back slapping (on Arioch’s part, of course), and when he reached out and patted Gabriel on the back, the demon’s eyes went a little swirly. It reminded Gabriel why they were here to begin with—the demon had a message for Levi to deliver.
“Ah. So you need to tell them you’re both damned.” Arioch’s eyes cleared then, and he was smiling.
Gabriel stared at him. “Tell who?”
Arioch shrugged. “Dunno.”
“When?” Levi asked.
“Dunno.”
“Who’s the message from?” Levi asked.
Arioch started to answer, but Gabriel held up a hand. “Let me guess—you don’t know.”
“Sorry, little dudes—I don’t make the rules, I just have the visions. But hey—good luck! And enjoy those shirts! You should totally wear them!”
With that, Gabriel enfolded Levi in his wings and transported them home, feeling aggravated all over again.
Unfortunately, the shirts made it back with them just fine.
“I can’t believe you’re wearing that,” Gabriel said, but he had to admit the shirt actually looked cute on Levi.
Levi just smiled, still looking at his tablet.
He’d donned it the moment they’d gotten back.
Gabriel had no intention of wearing his, though he had a vague thought that it would be cute if they matched.
Perhaps they could match with something more professional than shirts that said “adventure buddies.”
“Any idea on who that message is supposed to go to?” Gabriel asked. “It seems kind of harsh—telling people that they’re damned.”
Levi looked up, sighing. “Yeah, I have no idea. But then that’s Arioch for you. I’m just supposed to walk up and say, ‘Hey, you’re damned’?”
Gabriel shrugged, because he didn’t have a clue. He looked down at his own tablet and handled another message, and then…
By heavens, was it possible? He scrolled through again, but, yes…
“I think I don’t have any more messages to deliver,” he stated, somewhat shocked.
Levi looked down at his own tablet, then he nodded. “Yup, I’m clear, too. That’s good. We can do some more bucket list stuff tonight.”
Gabriel was stuck staring at his tablet in utter disbelief. He waited for a message to come in, but one didn’t. He could barely remember a time when there was a break in messages. Usually he was always backlogged. This was nothing short of a miracle.
“I haven’t been all caught up in the last few thousand years,” he told Levi.
It was as if his words were a trigger of some sort, because a message began to scroll across his tablet. Based on Levi’s indrawn breath, he must have gotten it, too.
To Whom It May Concern:
Due to the increase in message productivity and effectiveness, the Professional Development Partnership between Leviathan, Demon of Envy, Embodiment of Chaos, and Serpent of the Sea, and Gabriel, Messenger of the Lord, the Divine Herald, the Angel of Revelation, and the Bringer of Souls, has officially been dissolved.
We are pleased that all parties learned and developed from this partnership and that the goals have been successfully achieved.
Please report to your usual positions immediately. We look forward to continued improvement in your areas of expertise.
Sincerely,
The Management Team
“They can’t do that!” Levi insisted. “We haven’t finished our work! We have tons of stuff still on our bucket list!”
Gabriel could only stare at the message in shock. It was like they were being punished for doing their jobs well. It was absurd.
“Well, just because they dissolve the partnership doesn’t mean we can’t continue to work together,” Gabriel said, because that was perfectly logical.
He looked up to see Levi’s face at the suggestion, but he had only a glimpse of the demon before he was transported away.