Page 12 of Azriel

“Not really. Other angels didn’t agree with God. They didn’t agree with Lucifer either, so when they fell, they stayed on Earth. Some of the angels regretted it, and they wanted to go back to God, but it was too late then. They remained as angels. The ones who didn’t care to go back became demons. We had to get along, and it was fine for a while. We started having children, and there were nephilim, and cambions, which is a demon and a human. Nephalem are part angel and demon, but they don’t exist anymore.”

“Why was it fine for a while?”

“God wanted to get rid of everything, so there was the Flood, but we went to a new realm that some of our Father’s created.”

“Your Fathers?”

“Our original ancestors. We don’t really know how that happened because there’s no proper record of it that explains it all. Not too long afterward, we ended up in a war, and it’s still going on.”

“You’ve all been fighting for thousands of years?” asked Vali.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because…” Because the angels were foul pigs who deserved death. “One side decided it all belonged to them. You know how it is.”

“Like when Kings decide to take over a country even though they don’t need the land or anything from it?” asked Vali. “But why did you leave?”

“I don’t want to fight.” It was partly true. “So many of us die, but we never get anywhere. We take a spot, lose it, get it back, have a standstill, push on, get pushed back. It’s the same shit century after century.”

Vali was quiet for a moment. “I think I’d want to leave too. Er, do I need to hide you better?”

Azriel side-eyed him. “Why would you hide me better?”

“If a soldier deserts, sometimes they put some effort into finding him. That’s how it is on Earth. Is some other angel going to break into my house to find you?”

“No,” said Azriel. “If we get to Earth, they pretty much leave us alone. It’d be hard to send out soldiers to look for me. I could be anywhere, and they’d have to worry about staying hidden.”

“How do you get out?”

“There’s a spell to leave the barrier around the place. It’s a different realm, and it’s sort of on Earth, but it’s not like you can just walk in, so don’t worry about getting lost there if you go traveling or something.”

“So what now?”

Azriel hadn’t thought much beyond escaping, and after that, he'd been desperate to feed. Unvern’s fists had busted more than one rib and left bruises all over him. He’d also needed to soothe the hunger. “I-I don’t know.”

Vali spoke slowly. “I think you need time to relax and get through stuff, so you can stay here. I guess living in that place was hard, and, erm-do you have parents or family?”

“No.”

“Well, you can hide out here. Mother never comes into my room. I take my own clothes to the laundress and clean up after myself. I’m not working right now since I lost my last job.”

“Why?”

“The boss kept complaining and saying I wasn’t keeping the shop straight and that I was completely lazy, so I told him he was an asshole.” Vali rolled his eyes. “I always straightened up and cleaned around the place, but he was never happy. He never could really point out what was wrong either. He’s one of those people that like to complain even when there’s nothing to bitch about.” He vaguely gestured. “It was a clothing shop with cheap, plain stuff that's already made. Mother works at a general shop, and we do pretty well.”

“Oh.” There was no point in Azriel staying here, but there was no point in him going away. What would he do in the long run? “How can you even stand to look at me?”

"What? You're not some gross-looking monster."

"I mean, after what I did."

“Because I thought I was dreaming at first, so that's why I was fine with it. I realized it wasn't a dream, but…I liked it a lot. Also, I wasn’t so scared of you because I thought you were an angel who came to fulfill my fantasies, and I hoped you'd keep coming back.”

Azriel stared at him. “You thought an angel simply came to fulfill your dirty fantasies?”

Vali flushed. “Yes. It’s not like anybody else wants to touch my dick. I thought you came to give me something I wanted and use your sex magic to make angel candy.”

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