Diego’s Dance with Death - 13. Two Brothers Attend a Ceremony

The elevator doors weren’t entirely open yet, and already Theo had to endure Halaliel’s grating voice. “Theliel, to the boss’ office asap.” When he automatically trudged towards the mission room, Halaliel snapped, “To his office, not the mission room! Do you need your ears cleaned?”

“Aiming for the asshole-of-the-day award again, Hally?” Ignoring Halaliel’s ‘Bitch!’, Theo asked himself what he’d done now. Did I forget to refill my test kits? Damage Ayil’s bike when returning it to the storage room? Maybe I messed up the reports? No, it has to be something serious for me to be called in on my day off. At least the message said noon, so Sablo and I could sleep late.

Inhaling deeply, he knocked gently on Ayil’s office door.

“Come in!” Theo rolled his eyes. Man, the boss was ultra-energetic today. While his hand was still hovering over the handle, the door was ripped open from the inside. “Theliel! I decided you’re going to accompany me to the GC award ceremony as my adjutant.”

“Diego’s award this afternoon?”

“Exactly. I expect you ‘porting to my office at two-thirty sharp in your official CC attire.”

“My what? Do you mean the short, white, fluttery dress that barely covers my ass?”

“Pardon me?”

Theliel slapped hand against his forehead. “I forgot the golden bow in my hair!”

“Theliel! What are you talking about?”

“As far as I know there’s no official CC uniform, so I remembered olden times when...”

“I’m already regretting my decision.” Ayil narrowed his eyes at his best Cupid, not that he would ever tell him. “You will be here wearing a pressed, dark suit, white, crisp dress shirt and absolutely no shoes two hours and twenty minutes from now. We will show them how it’s done. Knowing those Guardians, they’ll clomp about with their combat boots, against proper protocol. Understood?”

“Umm... Yes, sir!” And why couldn’t he have told me this over the phone? Now I have to bike all the way home on my sore butt and get changed. As he left the office, Theo thought he detected a smirk on Ayil’s face, but he told himself it had to be a coincidence.

Theliel appeared in Ayil’s office on time, which wasn’t a small feat for him. Looking around, his eyes widened when he saw two gleaming bows on Ayil’s desk. Just when he reached out to touch one, his boss came in, wearing a slim, navy blue three piece suit, white shirt with his bright red hair gleaming in the sun, not tamed by the usual braid.

“Ah, I see you found the new bows. Aren’t they beautiful?”

“Bows, sir?”

“Of course. This is an official ceremony. Knowing their commander, the Guardians will prance around with their crude swords.”

“And you thought we’d show them the beauty and elegance of a ranged weapon?”

“I knew you’d understand this.” With that, he set two quivers full of silver arrows beside the bows.

Theo grinned. “Are we making them sweat, sir?”

Ayil slapped Theo on the shoulder so hard he had to brace himself against the desk. “Maybe just a little. No fear! They’re fake. Let’s go.”

Apart from Azrael, they were the first to take their position on the podium. Theo stood behind Ayil’s chair, which looked uncomfortable as hell. The Guardians trickled in and gathered in small groups in front of the podium. He spent the waiting time comparing their butts with Sablo’s. Indisputably, his man had the finest behind of all the Guardians. As his boss had predicted, they all were in full combat gear, elaborate harnesses holding their swords. Suuuper butch. He rolled his eyes, which netted him a glare from Ariel. The man had to chill sometime.

The wary glances all the Guardian Angels shot at them after they’d noticed the quivers full of silver arrows was fun. Having a bunch of excited cupids arriving at the last possible moment and mixing in with the stuffy soldier boys made them even twitchier. Watching Rahmiel and Diniel elbowing each other and probably listing assets of the present Guardians was fun too.

Another entertaining part was the shock of an imp from hell accompanying one of the visiting commanders, even if the little devil was clearly part of an Angel and Imp team. Theo had his suspicions about the identity of this A.I. duo, but at a distance it was impossible to tell. He didn’t dare employ his aura reading talent on the blue angel who was keeping the red hellion in order, in case someone misunderstood his intentions.

Commander Ariel began his speech as soon as the clock struck three. It was as stuffy as expected, but mercifully short. “Guardian Angels put duty before anything else. They are devoted to protecting the humans who have been deemed worthy of a Guardian for a short period or, in some cases, for most of their lives. We all know the satisfaction of a job well done, but some of us also know the frustration and sadness when humans are harmed or die prematurely, in spite of our best efforts. It takes a special Guardian to handle cases where children are in mortal danger and not expected to survive. To be with them in their last moments and make sure their spirit survives unharmed even if the mortal shell is lost. Today we are gathered to honor a Guardian who has completed one hundred such missions, never failing in his duty or losing the compassion needed.”

Boring. Seeing Sablo on his best behavior as Ariel’s official adjutant on the other side on the podium, trying to look alert, did compensate a bit. Sablo’s proud face as Ariel called for his brother to ascend the podium: Cute. Diego’s obvious trepidation: Fun. Seeing his expression lighting up when his gaze fell on Azrael: Cute again.

A murmur went through the audience when the Angel of Death came forward. Ariel frowned and glared at them sternly, which made everyone quiet down. Azrael was holding something on a thin golden chain. It wasn’t a medal, and the pendant shimmered in the shelter of the angel’s hand as Diego stared at it. His lips were moving, but no one except Azrael could hear a word, nor any reply. Meanwhile, Ariel was droning on about ‘higher rank’ and ‘great responsibility’ and waving a printed certificate around. Did he also say something about special privileges?

Theliel almost missed Azrael handing over the award. Diego bent his head to let it be slipped on and settled around his neck. Did anyone else notice how their auras mingled when Azrael’s fingers rested against Diego’s chest for a few seconds? A many-voiced war cry startled him out of his musing. The Guardians had actually thrust their swords towards the sky as one. Unbelievable. Guardians.

But at least it was done. Theo feared the dreaded socializing would happen before they could split. And GC hadn’t even provided any champagne and canapés to make up for the boring ceremony. However, to his surprise, the guardians quickly dispersed, with the cupids following. Most likely they would congregate in the bar over at CC. The commanders gathered for a brief chat. Perhaps he and Sablo could sneak off? No, I have to wait for Ayil, so he can take the bow and quiver back to CC. Damn.

***

Sablo was relieved the ordeal was over. He wanted to get Theo home, so they could enjoy the rest of their two days off. But he should congratulate his brother first, and maybe pick up his bags from his room. Diego was talking to the Angel of Death, so they had to wait for a bit. Or perhaps he could catch up with him later?

Before he could suggest leaving, the A.I. team sauntered over to where they were standing off to one side of the platform. Sablo was fairly sure this was the imp who had taunted him outside Patricks’ shop five years ago, especially when he began talking.

“Well, well, I see lover boy managed ta win ‘is flutterbutt cupid back. Ya sure looked silly with balloons ‘n kittens ‘n whatnot.”

“Shush, Imp. He looked adorable. I’m very happy for you.” Angel smiled at Sablo, who stopped frowning at Imp to give the blue angel a curt nod.

“Ya’re lucky me partner would’na let me play tricks on ye, or yer silly little scene could ‘ave been the laugh of the year.”

Sablo took a step towards Imp, looking intimidating, but the cheeky little sod simply grinned and waved his tail at the Guardian.

“Ye can thank Angel here for preventin’ yer balloon from explodin’, yer stuffed kitten from turnin’ into a tiny hell cat, and yer pants from fallin’ down ‘n exposin’ yer mushy ink.”

Angel nodded. “I told him you should not pay for the Cupid’s transgressions.”

“Why the fuck would you want to interfere? And why do you care about what Theo did? Everything he said and did to me was well deserved.” Sablo was more confused than angry now.

The imp doubled up as he chortled wickedly. “Oh, I bet ya enjoyed every moment after that horny dude ripped them leather pants off yer sexy butt. Y’all got so much lust floatin’ around yer all the time, I’m surprised yer stuffy commander lets yer flaunt it around his borin’ guardie guys. Might be contagious, ya know?”

“Don’t be silly, Imp,” the angel chided him. “You know very well their feelings of love and…um…attraction only affects them. And I wasn’t talking about those events.” A cold blue stare was turned towards Theo, who flinched slightly.

Sablo stared at his lover in surprise. “Do you have any idea what they’re going on about?”

“Um, maybe. But I can’t talk about it. It’s…um…CC business.”

“Is it about hitting Patrick and his intended with arrows? I thought the A.I. team approved of this. Wait, did you get in trouble with Ayil about not following ‘proper protocol’?”

“As if I giva shit ‘bout stupid cupid protocol,” Imp hissed, and made fake puking noises. “We could’na care less about sneaky tippy-toes shootin’ red arrows or humans.”

Angel frowned at the imp’s use of a swear word, but nodded in agreement to the last sentence.

“Shooting the destined lovers didn’t mess with our assignment. But this was only a decoy for his real mission.”

Theo didn’t say anything and refused to meet Sablo’s gaze. The penny dropped, but before he could say anything, Ayil spoke behind him.

“I’m pleased this renowned A.I. team chose to join us today. Theliel did an excellent job, and it’s good to see the result for myself.”

“We’d no fuckin’ choice, ya connivin’ bast—” the imp began, but his companion clapped a blue hand over his mouth.

“You may have acted on orders and with the best intentions, but we still resent the intrusion and the meddling.” It was clear the comment was directed at both Theo and Ayil.

“But not the result?”

Sablo was surprised to see a glint of amusement in Ayil’s eyes. Theo didn’t say anything, but his head was tilted slightly to the left in a familiar way. He had exactly the same pose as he studied Azrael when Diego brought the Angel of Death for dinner.

“Your joint auras are even stronger now. No one would dare separate you.” Theo spoke with conviction, and Ayil patted his back in approval.

A delighted smile appeared on the blue face, and silver wings sprouted on Angel’s back. “Truly?”

Imp growled, and his tail lashed back and forth. “They’d regret it, if anyone tried.”

His angelic partner simply reached out and caught the diamond-shaped tip of the tail. “Home, Love.”

“Fuck! Don’t call me….” The outraged voice of the imp faded as the A.I. team disappeared.

Booming laughter made Theo and Sablo jump. They turned round to see the head of the A.I. teams clapping Ayil on the back. The cupid commander rolled his eyes and stepped sideways, but listened politely to the tall, broad-shouldered angel with the huge white wings.

“I don’t regret giving CC permission to test those two. They’re a source of much amusement to me with the various ways they try to conceal their relationship. It’s a shame we don’t have more A.I. teams like them. They complete even the hardest assignments successfully.”

“I’m glad to hear that. If we get information of any other A.I. pairs with silver arrow potential, Theliel will be on the case.”

The A.I. boss grinned at Theo and Sablo. “I can’t think of anyone better suited to the task than a cupid who’s been hit himself. Congrats on sorting out your little lovers’ spat.”

Sablo had had enough. “Thanks. If you’ll excuse us.” He grabbed Theo’s hand and ‘ported them back home.

“What the fuck? Does everyone know about our troubles? It’s none of their business! I’m gonna wring the neck of that imp if I ever come across him again. Did you really shoot him and the angel? Serves them right! Did you see Ayil smirk when that idiot ‘congratulated’ us? And why was Ariel scowling at us? He always assumes the worst about me—or us. Damn, I didn’t even get a chance to talk to Diego.”

Sablo paced up and down the room as he ranted. From the corner of his eye he noticed Theo shedding his jacket, tie and shirt. When Theo unzipped his pants and let them fall to the floor, Sablo’s jaw dropped at the tent in his boxers.

“Um, I…what…?”

“You’re so hot when you’re all worked up with righteous anger. Makes me hard every time.”

“It does?”

“Mmhmm.” Theo palmed his erection and licked his lips. “Ya gonna do somethin’ ‘bout it, lover boy?”

In two strides Sablo reached his partner and slung him over his shoulder. “You bet I am, you horny little devil.”

Theo giggled all the way to the bedroom, where Sablo did his best to make him moan and beg for ages.