I didn't plan this

The luckiest, Steve wondered how the elf would have gotten himself captured if he was the luckiest but, again, that was a thought for another moment. There was no need to focus on those details when there was so much at stake at this moment right here. He eyed the ring and then August as he said he did not have anything that belonged to his fiance. And then he could not take it off? There was a deep sigh that he held in- not wanting to insult the other since August already looked so darn sad and miserable.

“Fine, well let’s see if this demon can help us.” As a former demon-hunter this was horrible, but he knew not all demons were made from the same cloth and this was necessary.

“I don’t know if that is where your uncle brought your fiance but if it is we need to get there before he does to your man what he did to the owlite.” With that he rolled the scroll open and scanned the parchment, finding a phone number (which was awfully modern for a parchment like that) and took out his phone.

He called and the phone rang twice before someone picked up and a man’s voice sounded as he frowned and hummed “I need to cash in that favour you owe me,” he muttered and with that there was a sudden knock on the door-

“Hello there- August what are you doing here?” The demon in question was, of course, Hemlock. Who had been in the neighbourhood and enjoyed freaking out Steve with appearing too quick for comfort when they were called. Their eyes on August with amusement and then on Steve with wonder. “it’s not often that I find my ex-adorers in one place and I have to say I did not think either of you was each other’s taste” Steve rolled his eyes. Of course Hemlock would know his client and he looked at the fae with a tired expression. “You know him?” And you came to ME? when you know a DEMON??? He eyed Hemlock from the corners of his eyes since he never fully trusted the other. Never trust demons- or apparently the fae.

“A tree, right.” he did not really know much about trees. Ancient or not- but he supposed it had a meaning or something, like everything in this damn magical world that he did not understand. He wondered if he should pick up a Bible and start reading that, he always hated homework. Maybe if he treated it like one of his cases it would be easier to get through. How many pages were there in the Holy Book again?

Right, he was trailing off again. Focus, Steve. He stared at the other. “How do I know what to ask, I don’t even know why I am an angel.” he spat out- annoyed at the other, the situation and most of all himself. He did not know why he was even still here. Staring at the other man who was talking about trees and now nicknaming him ‘Lost one’ which somehow sounded like an insult. Steve let out a deep sigh as he straightened his wings and looked at the man again. “You didn’t give me your name,” he added, wondering what he would nickname the other. Lord Prickface came to mind but he did not think it would be taken kindly- even if it was true.

Childish thoughts aside the other asked and he shook his head. “Not religious, my parents were Buddhists but I never followed any religion. Went to church a few times for Christmas when my fiance went.” he thought of her, her full lips and lustful hips. Another distraction. DAMN IT STEVE, FOCUS.

He wondered if Lord Prickface liked women too, and what his opinion was on breasts.

“I learned a few prayers from when I hunted demons, but that’s about it. I know, uh, God as a dude and Jesus of course, Mary, I think Joseph?” He shrugged. “Not much more, oh and the bad guy, Satan? I think that is all that was discussed during the Christmas visits.” He did not hear any whispers and by now even if he had, he wouldn’t admit it to stroke the other’s ego even more.

“I have plenty of fun, thank you.” I am not like other angels, I am a fun angel. he did not say it but he thought something like that. It was easy to think of the other angels as them and himself as, well, him. An angel but not quite like the others. Always on the edge of falling off. “You have a lot of opinions on angels, you met a lot of them??” He asked and there was an unintended urgency in his voice- not like he wanted the other to know that he was desperate for some angelic inspiration.

“Angel points, do I get some sort of stamp card and then get discounts?” he asked as he stepped into the shop confidently. Not letting some demon scare him- even if the shop gave him the creeps and he made his wings disappear immediately in the store. Not wanting to knock something off the shelves and get Amos all upset. “Sure, show me your wares salesman.” he said as he looked around and hummed. There was a lot here and not everything was unfamiliar. When he had still been a human he had seen many demonic artefacts- it was nothing odd to him. Then it had been evidence and hints where to find darkspawn only to slit their throats. The blood was washed away from his hands but he could swear the skin was still stained with how many lives he had ended.

“You make these?” He asked as he tapped one of the tomes on display- it oozed dark energy. It tickled- he noticed how familiar the feeling was and wondered whether he had been a lot more correct than previously thought. Were angels and demons really so different?

“A girl left that here,” Steve said, gesturing at the rosary and then looking at the unnamed angel in front of him- who had spoken but he had been more preoccupied with his own train of thought. The light was holding something that had been left there- on purpose. “I think she will be back for it,” he added as he stepped a little closer and took in the other.

Definitely an angel- not a young one like most here and he sensed the danger as well as the arrogance. Was it earned? This angel obviously felt more than him. Then again- any angel was higher in the hierarchy at the moment. Was he supposed to kneel? Kiss the man’s knuckles? Steve did not kneel. Instead he opted to bow lightly- like he had done a dozen times in his human life.

“How do you know that I am looking for something?” the angel asked, wondering if he resembled a lost pup that much. He liked to think he didn’t- but it was entirely probable that he did. He felt lost. “Are you able to answer questions?” he questioned and there was a faint shiver of hope buried in that simple question. The golden locks that draped over the other’s shoulders reminded him of gentle waterfalls that shimmered in the light of the golden hour. He wished he looked like a proper angel like the man in front of him- or was it even a man? Transcended gender perhaps? He would have to ask in a very angelic way- did angels have pronouns? He had them- fuck, was he supposed to? The young angel was getting lost in his own thoughts again as he furrowed his brows and contemplated the usage of pronouns before looking up again.

A thief and a murderer. Seemed like pretty normal demon things if he was being honest. Though it still irked him- not enough to do something about it but enough to have it show on his face as he glared at the pocket where the other had put the trinkets. “Thanks, but no thanks.” He figured he would end up in Hell in the end anyway. Sooner or later they would figure out that he was an absolute failure and put him where he ultimately belonged: a cosy cell in hell.

“I can be ravished here just fine, thank you.” he cleared his throat and touched the invisible golden halo around his neck, giving himself some air as he thought about the last time he was ravished.

Steve still felt the anxiety of the crime scene but relaxed a tad being in the safe magical borders once more. The wings and halo came back out again as he was no longer in immediate danger. Even if Amos wanted to harm him he knew that on the academy grounds it was impossible for him to die.

Steve did not know, yet, he was immortal and that death was a long-given-away dream. He would figure that out sooner or later. Perhaps even in the company of the demon.

“I think Heaven is as interesting as Hell, you know, just two sides of the same coin and Earth and such are the side of the coin.” he said as he pulled out a coin and showed Amos as if he did not know how to visualise it.

It was not lost on him how ironic it was that an angel had lost his faith- not that he had ever been very religious. Steve knew that God existed; Satan did and so did demons so God and angels had to exist as well. Simple math- it was all just simple back then. Angels on one side and demons on the other and he sort of swaggered on the line between them as a human. He never saw himself as pure, he fucked, smoked and killed. He was not a saint nor did he attempt to be one. Instead he craved every sin known to mankind. It was something that fuelled his ability to ignore all the pain and anguish that filled him every night. If not for the soothing substances and the warm bodies he paid for- then he would’ve truly lost his mind.

So, it had to be a mistake. This, his new existence. The wings on his strong back and the halo that hung above his head when he did not wear it as a golden choker. The extra eyes that looked at him when he blinked too fast while looking in the mirror. It had to be a mistake- someone had royally (or Heavenly) fucked up and had made Steve an angel. This was the truth that Steve was functioning on. He did not know who made the mistake (some Heavenly clerk?) but he knew for sure that out of all the people in the world he was least deserving of becoming an angel.

Now, dear reader, Steve was often wrong and this was yet another instance. He had been chosen for he had a heart of gold- even with it’s impurities and the ways of the Gods were hard to understand. But the soul of the angel was very much one that deserved to be winged and decorated with golden flecks. Steve did not know this of course, he assumed a mistake was the far more likely option. Rather than someone valuing him in a way that mattered. Steve never felt like he had mattered much, to anyone. Especially not after his engagement to the love of his life had fallen through.

So, the angel stood on the marble grounds of the Cathedral of Light and looked around. It was gigantic and there were other angels everywhere. He had never been among so many of his kind and he felt like an imposter. Were there other angels here who were not born but reincarnated like he had been? The angel wondered as he wrung his hands together. His large wings touched the ground as he walked around and he looked… lost. Of course he did, he was lost.

Then he felt some kind of unease- one that warned him of upcoming danger or unrest. Turning around he saw a light-

“Are you asking me out for dinner, because I say yes.” he laughed as he started the car and drove. It was not a very long trip but he enjoyed driving- it had been his go-to matter of transportation before he had the wings. “I want to pick up a few books myself and see if we can find somewhere to get me some new clothes?” he asked her, looking at her from the corner of his eyes before returning his gaze to the highway and avoiding a car that swerved in front of them.

He hit the gas for her and the car roared as a beast that was finally freed from its restraints. He grinned at it as he pushed the car more. The car was registered to a ‘Ho Mi Young’ - whoever that was. So he wouldn’t get the fine either way. Was this also considered bad in the eyes of God? He did not know the opinion of God on traffic laws and speeding tickets. He added it mentally to his list of questions to ask whenever he would be able to meet the big man himself. Theirself? Herself? He did not know.

He took the exit that led them to the big mall as he knew the general direction and when they got into the more busy part of the city asked Jieun for directions. Eventually ending up in the large underground parking garage. With the parking ticket between his lips he managed to find a good parking and disappeared his wings and put his golden halo around his neck as a choker.

Steve couldn’t- or well that was before he became an angel against his will. Now he could of course, but it was different. He focused on the way the other was sitting there and thinking, the insecurity written on August’s face and Steve felt bad for the other and the worry he carried all the time. An arranged marriage? That explained a thing or two.

Promising to stay- when you were in an arranged marriage was not a good promise. Steve was humming lightly as he considered the high elf to have left on their own instead of being taken. Still, August had that uncle… Who had done weirder shit.

“According to his social media use, I’d say you’re correct.” The way this Ethirdil guy positioned himself on social media was a story all on itself. A confident and cocky guy, someone with too much money and too much time on his hands. The angel did not like people like that- but who was he to judge the man August was about to marry? Though it was a lot clearer why the other tried to get into Steve’s pants.

“Your friend, huh.” Steve commented- there was a hint of judgemental energy there but not overly so. He started to look at more of the social media posts and tried to find the more often visited places as possible starting points.

Then August spoke again and the angel looked up from the screen, his dark eyes turning white as he realised what the other was saying. “What do you mean, luck.” He asked and frowned at this information as he felt some anxiety form in his stomach. “You said that about owlites and I researched it, yeah they’re lucky. The owlites. Are you saying that your fiance is also… lucky?” he asked slowly as he looked at the social media posts again and then things suddenly connected.

Ethirdil showing off a ticket to a sold-out music show. Ethirdil laughing at the front of a crowd. Ethirdil with a collector’s toy and the caption ‘Last one in the store and 10000th customer!’

Fucking DAMN it. Steve looked alarmed now as he plucked his halo from above his head and started to polish it with his shirt. An anxious habit he had started developing ever being ressurrected. “Fuck.” he whispered as things started to get together and damn it the little fae was right.

“Your uncle is looking for luck in all the luckiest places and it so happeend that you, you his family member brought someone close to him who was the personification of luck.” Steve stated as he watched August and then walked over to his desk as he pulled open some of the drawers. They smelled dusty and like old wood and paper- the desk had belonged to his previous boss. The one who had gifted him this office.

“Such a big amount of luck, a source of luck. We have to be able to find it somehow. Do you have anything that belongs to your fiance?”

—>

The room was dusty and moist. Ethirdil hated what this would do to his hair and he felt sick to the stomach. His whisp had been caught too and was in a small glass container on a desk not too far away. the sound of it trying to escape was annoying him- the constant flap sound as it hit the magical barrier of the glass container gave the elf anxiety.

His captor had been hiding in the shadows ever since he had been taken and he had only heard their voice. It had sounded familiar but he couldn’t place it. He had never been very smart- he thought with a small and sad chuckle. He wondered where his friends were, and where August was. He hoped they were having an atrocious time without him.

←

He should’ve known, he had been a hunter for fucks sake- next to being a PI. He really had been a sucky hunter not knowing what the other had been. And right under his pretty nose too, it was frustrating.

“Oh,” she had not seen Harper. His hope shattered like a glass throne of secret wishes. He sighed as he looked at his own glass and swirled the drink around. “Sounds like her, she likes to sightsee. Take pretty pictures for her Instagram,” He had always liked her photos and still had a few saved on his phone. When he died he had lost his phone but through a series of not-so-legal break-ins he had retrieved his phone and with it his photos.

“I haven’t seen her, I don’t think she knows I am alive again. Or well, whatever this is. I am pretty sure she was invited to my funeral but no idea whether she visited…” He regretted that he had not been able to see his own funeral- but maybe that was only for the regular dead and not the people who were yanked out of the after-life to live once again as an angel? Steve did not know, he wished he knew.

“Are you graverobbing- well, not grave since they’re not buried yet but stealing on top of murder?” he asked as he watched the other pick up a piece of jewellery. That was disrespectful and his cheeks reddened as he whispered a light prayer for the fallen hunters- even if they had been an enemy. They deserved to be guided up- or down.

He followed the other as they left the crime scene and frowned. “So, you live in the magical area as well.” Steve concluded as they turned the corner and his angelwings and halo disappeared to make him look human. “I haven’t been in hell.” he answered and frowned “What is it like? Is it really just fire, torture and tears?” he couldn’t imagine anyone wanted to live in a place like that.

Heaven though- he did not know how that looked either. He had been revived and then just woke up here on Earth. He assumed he had to have been in Heaven but did not have any memories of that time. Instead, all he got was Earth and then a few realms here and there he visited for work or relaxation.

@steve-ia

“I don’t know.” he shrugged- having no idea why the cupid had been so angry at him (or the world, really). He did not want to read too much into it. He did not know anything about any kind of feud about angels and cupids- then again Steve knew nothing about the angelic ways at all. Just thrown back to Earth after dying and then expected to just figure it out himself. It had not been a good time for the angel.

“Excuse me, I hunted demons. I think I can handle you and your boyfriends but fine, be greedy and keep them all away from me.” his eyes glistened at the threat and he licked his lips amused. A bit deviousness from old times resurfaced as he looked at the man who was suddenly so protective over his little brother.

“I don’t need your or anyones help with fighting, but thank you anyway Aster dearest. I don’t have a plan- should I have a plan?” He frowned “I think it is better to just work and see what else is happening. I have some cases I am working on, saved an owlite from a crazed person. I think, maybe, I was brought back because I did something right in life. So I guess I just have to continue what I was already doing?” The angel offered the other man and almost looked like he needed Aster to confirm that he had been doing something good.

“You can feel it,” Steve repeated and while he, himself, had a ‘bad things’ sensor he did not know if the other had that too- or if he simply had anxiety. Nonetheless he listened as he watched his client through the smoke of his cigarette and hummed as a sound to let the other go on. “Your fiance,” he determined as the other spoke. There was always the chance that his fiance had just gotten up and left.

“Okay, well, have you checked his place? Don’t you and your fiance have a… confusing relationship? Is there not a chance that Ethir... left?” he felt bad suggesting it but August had tried to get into Steve’s pants while being engaged and usually that wasn’t part of any engagement. Though Steve could be wrong- he had only been engaged once.

“What do you mean you had a dream? Do you have dreams about the future?” he asked as he leaned in slightly and made a few notes. Maybe there was something going on? He wondered as he picked up his phone and typed in the name of the other’s fiance. Nothing on their social media for… “Three days, Ethir hasn’t updated his social media in three days. Is he an active user of social media?”

Ethirdil, Steve saw, was very active on several platforms. Having loud opinions and pictures with friends and expensive brands. He pressed his lips together- it seemed like Ethirdil was either taken or did not want to be found…

He straightened his back slightly as he tried to collect himself again. The other was… A friend of Harper- and while he did not know whether Haprer knew she was a demon or not, he needed to be nice. In case any of it went back to Harper… And in general because he was a good guy.

His halo was itchy.

“I was just saying hello,” he admitted and his eyes shot to the blonde the woman had been oogling before and then eyed Harper suspicious. Was she a lesbian? Steve did not care about the act of lesbianism in the slightest. While he was an angel he had no need for any religion-fueled mumbojumbo of hatred. No, he was immediately wondering if she was fucking Harper- or had fucked Harper.

A thought for another day perhaps. He took another sip from his beer. It tasted good. He should slow down.