Page 41 of How Not to Date an Angel

“I take it you’ve never seen the ocean before?”

“I’ve seen glimpses of it in personal hells… downstairs. We’ve got a whole section of pirates, you know, from back in the day, and their worst fear is drowning, so. Can’t say I’ve ever cared for it, myself.”

“Well. That’s—” Rami sputtered. “That’s just plain terrible. The ocean is beautiful. If it’s terrifying at all, it’s only because of the awe one feels when realizing just how big it is.”

Julian snorted, and Rami nudged him. “Don’t be that way. This is a nice moment.”

And, it was, wasn’t it?

All lit up beneath the magic water tunnel with all these fish suspended above them.

“Who would’ve thought to collect the sea and put it in a building,” Julian mused.

Rami chuckled, and Julian was so struck by the soft, amused noise from the angel that he turned to stare at them. “When you put it like that, it does sound quite silly, doesn’t it?”

“Are they happy in there?” Julian asked.

Angels had always been all about the feelings, not demons. Part of their selflessness, he supposed.

“I’d say so,” Rami answered.

Julian pursed his lips at that, and followed the tunnel into another room, where they looked at a few creatures in their own private tanks.

Hecould feel Rami’s gaze, heavy and curious as it followed Julian through the smaller room until it fed them back into the larger hallway.

As far as seeing Earth went, he supposed this was a pretty good start.

But he wasn’t going to tell the angel such a thing. Instead, he leaned over and read the next plaque for the fish in a small tank.

“Oh. Seahorses! I remember these guys,” Julian whispered, amazement filling his voice. He lifted a hand to place it against the glass before thinking better of it, sticking his hand in his pocket and watching them flit through the water.

“You do?” Rami asked doubtfully.

“Of course I do,” Julian answered, arching a brow at him before turning back to the tank. “Well, from the internet.”

Rami didn’t answer. When Julian shifted his gaze, he found the angel already staring at him. The water and lights were casting a blue-tinted glow over their skin. They were practically glimmering.

“You try spending a few millennia in an office and see how much you remember,” Julian told them, avoiding those silvery, too-knowing eyes.

“Sounds like hell,” Rami muttered, and a laugh cracked out of Julian.

“That’s exactly right, Feathers.” His laugh tapered down and Rami walked ahead, motioning for him to follow.

“We can loop back through—it’s hard to take everything in at once,” Rami explained as they skipped past a few displays and several crowded groups of people.

They passed many hallways, and Julian didn’t bother trying to keep up. He’d just have to stick close to Rami, because the aquarium seemed endless, pathways twisting into more, before a light at the end of the tunnelbeckoned.

This room was crowded, but it was also fucking massive, with benches to their left as they walked in. Rami glanced over their shoulder, and their eyes were reflecting the blue shine of the giant tank that filled the room.

“Come on, you’ll want to be close.”

To what?Julian wondered, and then Rami grabbed him by the design on his shirt and tugged him along.

The only slot available right up against the tank was on the very left. And there was only room for one person.

“Here,” Rami said, and pushed him into the spot. “I’ve seen them before.”

“Seen what?” he asked, and then his eyes went wide as something large moved through the tank. It neared, slow and steady, and then turned right before it reached the thick glass, gliding along the side as everyone oohed and aahed over it.

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