Charlie Intermission III
For the first time in months, Charlie felt normal.
Walking down the sidewalk feeling refreshed with Luke and John by his side, he almost forgot he was in Hell.
The prince walked with a commanding presence at his side.
A paper bag with two of the biggest sandwiches the priest had ever seen in his life were in Lucky’s hands, and a rolled dog bed was tucked under his other arm.
He seemed upset. The devil was usually loud and sarcastic, trying to pick fights and being annoying, but he was quiet today.
His golden eyes flicked from side to side behind his red sunglasses, alert and on guard.
Lucky’s pointed ear flicked, his golden earrings reflected the hellfire.
Something was different, but Charlie didn’t feel as if it were really his place to ask.
Even if it was, he didn’t know what to ask.
Still, he wanted to know. He wanted to ground himself to something other than the endless screaming around them, and he needed to stop thinking about the feeling of Lucky’s large hand on his hip.
“Are you well, sir?” Charlie asked.
“What?”
“Is everything well? You seem uneasy.”
“I don’t like walking.”
“Oh…”
“N-not that it can be helped. You don’t like the car and I don’t want that mutt in my ride, but walking makes me uneasy.”
Charlie looked at him, he had to crane his neck to do so. It was uncharacteristic of Lucky’s usually calm and collected demeanor to be so uneasy. He didn’t have much time to ponder it as Luke and John tried to go after a wandering will-o-wisp that floated by.
“I’ll try to not be scared of the car,” Charlie said.
“We’ll figure something out. It’s not a far walk, we’re almost there,” Lucky replied with a small smile. “I just hope you’re ready to work, we have a lot to do.”
“I’m ready.”
“Good.”