Diego’s Dance with Death - 6. Two Brothers at the Office

- after a bit of jam fun  

Theliel sat cross-legged on their new king size box bed and looked at the different test tubes laid out in front of him. On the left – Diego’s green, on the right – Azrael’s swirling purple vials. He hadn’t seen such different samples since he evaluated the Angel / Imp team, but he instinctively knew they’d match anyway. Seeing Diego standing beside Azrael had been stunning. Their auras reminded him of a butterfly’s wings. They’d even become iridescent when they mixed.

He opened his portable reader, certain he wouldn’t need it to confirm the match. However, knowing Ayil’s obsession with protocol, he pushed one of Diego’s vials into one of the slots, then Azrael’s beside it. The resulting numbers confirmed his initial assessment. To be on the safe side, and because it was proper protocol, he tested a second set. Just when the confirming ‘ding’ sounded, the door opened and Sablo came into the room. “You started without me!”

“Of course. I don’t need you hovering and bombarding me with questions. This is a CC matter, Sablo.”

“It’s my brother.”

“Which is why I’m sharing this with you, against proper protocol.”

“As if you care for protocol. Give me the results, please.”

“What I said before. Their auras match.”

“Are you sure?”

“Nah, why would I be?”

When Theliel saw the immediate relief on his lover’s face, he continued, “I randomly said what came to mind.”

“What!?”

“I’m kidding. Jeez!”

“Why the fuck would you do that?”

“Because you’re annoying. Of course I’m sure! Do you know how long I’ve been doing this?”

“No, it didn’t come up until now.”

“Seriously, Sablo!”

Finally understanding he’d just insulted Theo badly, Sablo relented. “I’m sorry, baby. It’s just....I don’t like this Azrael guy.”

“Azrael is a wonderful angel and person. Diego can count himself lucky.”

“Did you…?”

Theo raised an eyebrow, silently daring Sablo to continue that question.

Sablo couldn’t contain himself any longer and yelled, “Were you two together?”

“For a short time, yes.”

Sablo glared and opened his mouth to comment. It was the perfect moment for Theliel to swoop in. He pressed his lips onto Sablo’s and pushed his tongue in between. His lover’s indignation instantly blew over. He instead opened his mouth wider, moaned, and grabbed Theo’s ass.

“How about having some of the scones you bought together with cake? Before I reward you for being such good host earlier and not offending your brother’s future partner.”

“You’re reading my mind.”

Fetching a plate with the scones and two mugs, Theo closed the door by pushing his butt against it. Then he placed everything on the floor and jumped on the bed beside Sablo. He leaned down, snatched a scone and took a huge bite. “Yum. I didn’t know scones could be delicious. They always looked so dry and boring.”

“Stop right now!” Theo froze mid-bite. “You forgot the cream and strawberry jam.” Sablo did a small come-hither gesture, and the two containers appeared next to him. He fumbled with the snap cap of the small jam jar. The lid flew across the room, and a large red blob landed on his chest.

Theliel eyed the mess slowly dripping down Sablo’s flat stomach hungrily. Lightning fast, he grabbed the other jar, opened it, and poured the whipped cream on top of everything. He dipped his scone into the mix. “Perfect.”

Sablo swiped a finger through the cream. “Are you going to clean that up?”

“Naturally.” Theo pushed him until he was resting on his back, wiggled himself between Sablo’s legs, and licked across a nipple. “Delicious.”

It was a long while before they finally slept.

***

The next morning, Sablo was woken by his phone ringing insistently. Next to him Theo grumbled about the noise while Sablo fumbled for the annoying device. He took the call without checking who it was from and barked, “What?”

The icy voice of Ariel almost made his eardrum freeze. “What the hell were you thinking? I asked you to deliver a message, not cause a war between Cupid Central and Guardian Central.”

“Um, Sir, we were actually rather polite, but Ayil…well, he seemed slightly deranged, Sir.”

At the mention of his boss, Theo sat up and stared wide-eyed at his lover.

There was a slight pause before Ariel’s tone thawed a bit. “I wouldn’t take your word for it, but since your brother implied the same thing, I guess I’ll have to believe you. Unless the two of you conspired to tell the same story?”

“We parted ways right after the meeting with Ayil, Sir. Diego came for dinner last night, but Theo and another angel were present, and we didn’t discuss the meeting with the Cupid Central boss at all.”

“Hmpf, well, I’m officially assigning you to go with Diego on his next mission as the GC representative. For some reason,” his voice grew new icicles, “Ayil seemed to think you’d be there. I don’t trust him to do an impartial evaluation, so you’re to document every step. There must be no doubt of your brother deserving the award.”

“Yes, Sir. I’ll do my best for Diego and Guardian Central.”

“A good answer, Sablo.” The commander hung up, and Sablo groaned.

“What was that about Ayil acting deranged?”

“I’ve only met him a few times, but he definitely acted different yesterday.”

“I still can’t believe you complained to him about me being away for too long when I got sent to Australia.”

“He was the one who shot us, so he should expect crazy romantic stunts if he dispatches my lover on stupid missions. But my whole point is, Ayil was annoyed then too, but he listened to my arguments and gave me answers. He didn’t mumble to himself or suddenly decide to take it out on my boss.”

Before Theo could reply, Sablo’s phone rang again. This time he checked and smiled with relief when Diego’s name popped up on the screen.

“Yo, bro, did you get woken up by an angry Roman too?”

“Never mind that. My mission starts three hours from now. Get yourself together and come down to my office pronto.”

“What’s the hurry?”

“We need to talk. Is Theo there?”

“Yeah, he’s sitting next to me.”

“Tell him thanks for a great meal last night, and sorry for dragging you out of bed. Then get your butt in gear.”

Sablo stared at his phone in astonishment as Diego hung up on him.

“Um, Baby,” he began, but Theo cut him off.

“I heard him. You can grab the shower, and I’ll make you a quick breakfast.”

“You’re the best. I’ll make it up to you when I get back.”

“Yes, I am, and I’ll hold you to that promise.”

***

When Sablo entered his brother’s office and temporary home, Diego was sporting a fresh crew cut and crisp, new, army boots and fatigues. It reminded him of another unanswered question.

“How come you’re exempt from the regular angel look of bare feet and longer hair?”

Diego snorted. “You wouldn’t believe the bureaucracy shit I had to go through for this. The boots weren’t too difficult; I simply told Ayil I was distracted from my missions because I felt uncomfortable with bare feet in combat zones and disaster areas.”

“You’re not substantial enough to feel anything you walk on.”

“I’m substantial enough for those kids to feel me hold their hand. But I meant uncomfortable in my mind, idiot. You try walking on a battlefield with dead bodies, or running on burning embers, and see how it fucks with your head.”

“Fair enough, since you wear those boots all the time anyway. But how did you get the commander to agree to your hairdo?”

“I never liked the requirement of letting my hair grow, so I always kept it as short as possible. But having it past my ears and fluttering around the top of my neck was bloody annoying.”

“Let me guess. You wrote a petition to Ariel for a crew cut rather than simply doing it.”

“Yes, yes, we all know you’re the rebel who hates asking for permission. Don’t you get tired of that image after more than 70 years?”

“We may evolve to keep up with human society, but our personality stays the same. You know that.”

“It’s OK to change and mature. You already did. Otherwise, you’d never have settled down with Theo five years ago.”

“Stop changing the topic. How did you manage to wrangle a crew cut out of Ariel? I’ve seen the surprised looks you get from other Guardians, and some of those crusty, old idiots would love to report you.”

“You’re right. I’m all for respecting tradition, but flexibility is necessary too. When I convinced Ariel I needed something familiar to ground me during those special missions, he gave me a signed and stamped chit. If anyone tries to give me grief over my looks, I show it to them, and tell them to take it up with the commander.”

Sablo burst into laughter. “I bet that shuts them up quick as fuck.”

Diego chuckled and nodded.

“Now, if you’re done bitching about my hair and how I dress, we need to talk about the mission.”

“Sounds ominous.”

“It’s not too bad. We’re going to a boat with refugees in the Mediterranean Sea.”

“A boat?”

“Mmhmm. Do you still want to go with me? I know you get seasick just looking at waves.”

“I have to. Ariel’s made it official. He said he doesn’t trust Ayil.”

“Makes three of us, then. And maybe your new Guardian body can’t get seasick.”

“No such luck. Theo took me on a boat trip, and I puked my guts out when it got windy.”

“But like you said, if you’re on a mission, you’re not substantial enough to be affected by the physical world.”

“Let’s hope it works for nausea too. But I think I’ll skip lunch, just to be sure. Do you know how long the mission will last?”

“No idea, but I hope it’s short, as I have you and Ayil breathing down my neck.”

“Let’s hope the kid is a survivor.”

“I talked some more with Azrael after we left last night. Apparently, the special cases are children who have higher than usual potential to achieve good in the world. Their souls are collected to be reborn immediately. Or if the kid survives but loses a good person who’s essential to them, the soul of that person will become their future Guardian Angel.”

“Why are you suddenly being all chummy with Azrael? Yesterday you freaked out over the idea of dating Death.”

“I don’t know. But we had a talk in Azrael’s garden, which is absolutely amazing by the way, and I want to find out more. So going on a date seemed logical. You suggested it, bro. How come you’re all upset?”

“I know, I know. I just didn’t expect you to go for it. Have you found out if Azrael is male or female?”

“We haven’t been on a date, and you think we had sex already?”

“So last night wasn’t a date?”

“No, that was bringing a friend for dinner. Theliel’s friend too, as it turned out.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“They’ve lived a lot longer than us, Sablo. Are you going to be jealous of who your partner’s been with a hundred years or more ago?”

“Good point.”

“And you weren’t exactly inexperienced either, before you met Theo.”

“Whatever. But him and Azrael having a fling suggests he’s a guy.”

“Fine with me. I’m interested in Azrael as a person; gender is secondary. In fact, the mystery of not knowing adds to the allure.”

“You were always attracted to that…that what do you call it?” Sablo tilted his hand back and forth.

“Ambiguity? The androgyne look? Genderqueer people?”

“Whatever it is, Azrael seems to have it.”

“I admit I wouldn’t mind having both. Perhaps that’s possible with an angel like them. If Azrael can change gender at will….” Diego let the sentence go unfinished, getting a dreamy look on his face.

“Hmm, no wonder Theo’s testing showed a perfect aura match.”

“What?!”

Special thanks to @Thorn Wilde for help with the gender aspects.
  to @Valkyrie for great editing and beta work.