He then turned his attention to archangel Michael. “You have always let us make our own decisions. It was my decision to summon this demon and keep him here.”
“According to leadership, the summoning was revoked,” archangel Michael stated. “I have come to take care of the problem.” The archangel stepped forward again, Gabe stepped back into Az, and Az took a slight side step. If he could make it over to the fridge…
“I revoked the revocation!” Gabe yelled out. Archangel Michael had his sword at the ready, and it was clearly making Gabe nervous. Hell, it was making Az a bit nervous as well. He wasn’t sure exactly what an archangel’s sword, especially this archangel’s sword, would do to him.
“He has clearly brought you under his thrall,” archangel Michael replied. Human Michael had skedaddled, the coward, and it was just the three of them in the room now.
“I did not. They are immune. So put the sword away and let’s talk like civilized afterlifers,” Az declared, holding his hands up and stepping back and over so that he was standing in front of the fridge.
Gabe, thank demons, moved as well to stand in front of him again, and Az put his hands down, letting one rest on Gabe’s shoulder.
“I am immune. I was never lustful with Az.” Gabe stopped and blushed then. “Well, I was never lustful because of Az’s powers,” he continued.
Az tried his best to listen with half an ear, but most of his focus was on his hand that was currently touching the fridge.
The stainless steel fridge.
Not quite a window or a mirror, but Gabe kept that fridge shiny enough that you could almost see your reflection in it. Az could only hope it was enough.
He noted that Gabe’s voice had taken on a pleading tone, and that dickhead archangel still sounded grumpy and stiff as fuck.
He finished the runes, but nothing happened. It took him a moment to realize that his back was to the fridge and he had done the damn things backwards.
Fuck.
He started again, but his concentration was interrupted when he heard the door open again.
Everyone stopped and looked at the kitchen doorway; it appeared human Michael hadn’t ditched them after all. He had, in fact, gotten Grams.
“Michael!” she said, walking over and giving the archangel a huge hug. Right over the armor and everything. Michael, meanwhile, looked like someone had just stolen his favorite toy. Disgruntled didn’t even begin to cover it.
“I can assure you I have this well in hand,” he stated coolly. Az noticed he didnothug Grams back.
“Hmph,” she said, then walked over to hug Gabe and whisper something in his ear.
Then, much to Az’s own bewilderment and shock, she walked around Gabe and enveloped him in a hug too.
Az stood there sort of stiffly, having no clue what to do. She smelled like home, which was really weird, considering home smelled a bit like lava and poisonous flowers not found topside (they had a lovely odor that made Az think of sex, but then most things made Az think of sex).
Az looked up and saw Michael’s face, and the archangel actually rolled his eyes, as if to say,Can you believe this? She’s interrupting a divine war!
Well, he certainly wasn’t going to be in agreement with the dickhead, so he reached around and gave Grams a big hug right back.
She was warm and plump and motherly and made him feel safe, and Az took a moment to revel in the feeling. They should bottle this essence up. It was all things warm and homey that Az didn’t even know he had been missing.
“You keep writing,” she whispered in his ear, giving one last squeeze before she pulled back.
Az hadno cluehow she knew what he was doing, but he wasn’t going to disappoint her, so he put his hand back down and tried to carefully think through the runes backwards in order to summon Luce.
He didn’t think Grams was enough of a back-up, although surely it would buy them a little more time.
Grams positioned herself in front of Gabe, blocking archangel Michael. Human Michael was gone again, but Az couldn’t worry about that now.
“Michael. I don’t recall getting in touch with you,” Grams stated coolly. Az was a little surprised; he didn’t know she did anything other than warm and bubbly.
“My namesake called me forth, and I have come to rectify an afterlife issue that does not concern you,” he stiffly replied. For whatever reason he did not appear happy to have her here.
“Well,” she countered, “Az comes under my protection and my summoning, and I can assure you that your interference isnotrequired. So hurry back to your little end-of-world war planning and leave me to the job that I was entrusted with.”
