Page 17 of Azriel

“That's fine. Erm, do you need to feed?”

Azriel looked down. He was rather hungry. “No.”

“Mother said that angels lose their magic over time.”

“Yeah, we do,” said Azriel. “I might as well get used to it.” Even though it scared him. It would take away something he could defend himself with if he really needed it. “I’ll have to eat and drink too.” He heaved a sigh.

Vali laughed.

“What?” asked Azriel.

“I’m sorry! The way you sighed-like it’s such a bother. Eating and drinking is so normal to me.”

“But then I’ll have to use the privy all of the time.”

Vali pressed his lips together like he was trying not to laugh again. “Trust me, it’s not that bad unless you eat something that’s gone off or too much of something like grease. And pissing a few times a day is nothing.”

Easy for him to say. Azriel had only pissed a few times in his whole life, and he couldn’t imagine doing it multiple times every day. What a waste of time and energy.

“Have you ever used the privy?” asked Vali. "Or eaten?"

“A few times,” said Azriel. “I threw up once because I ate six fruit gels during an eclipse.”

Vali squinted. “Do you mean fruit leather?”

“No. Fruit gel is fruits that are boiled down to gel and put on a stick so you can eat it. Like raspberries and snaffleberries.”

“I don’t know what that last thing is…”

“Snaffleberries are pink. They only grow on the angel side.”

“Are eclipses common?”

“They usually happen every three or four years. Everybody fucks for energy because you get a lot more. You’d probably think the city looks like an orgy.”

“But you decided to stuff yourself with fruit gel instead of…participating in the giant orgy?”

“Yeah.” Azriel had done it to distract himself because he'd been having a bad day, or more like a bad week. It hadn't worked.

“Can you tell me other things about the realm?”

Azriel told him about some other stuff since the Fallen realm wasn’t all full of badness and orgies. Vali got comfortable on the bed, but after a couple of hours, he started to doze off. Azriel got up to pull one of the blankets over him before he put out the lantern and went back to his blanket on the floor.

Vali was probably tired after learning so much today. Azriel was tired because he always was now. It was strange to have someone so fascinated by everything. If the nasty parts of life didn’t exist in the Fallen realm, he’d like to bring Vali there because he’d probably love the constantly mild weather and all of the little flowers and animals that he’d probably think were funny-looking.

Azriel didn’t ever want to go back.

Azriel

Azriel dropped the parchment on the floor as his hands shook, and he barely made it to the couch. He had one month until he had to go report for duty. One month until he had to go fight and possibly die for the side that had wrecked his youth without a care.

His little sitting room blurred as he curled up on his couch by the wall near the front door. He couldn’t fight for these people. In general, they didn’t mean shit to him.

Demons were terrible because they liked to keep humans as sex slaves, but at least they didn’t do what the angels did. They didn’t ruin their own people.

He started to sob because he’d have to fight for the side that used him, and he wouldn’t have a choice. Grunts often had to draw straws in their squads, and whoever got the shortest became a bottom for whoever wanted them. When an angel wanted or needed to store more energy, they could be with whoever, but one party might not like them or feel like sex. Having a few designated bottoms made it a little easier.

Whoever got the short straw didn’t have a choice. It wouldn’t matter if Azriel was having a bad day. Even if he didn’t draw a short straw, he’d still have to feed and replenish before battles. He’d have to fight.

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