Just a thing that came to mind when I was supposed to be getting ready for bed! LOL!
Besides, Raphael and Gabriel are my favs and my life.
There was not much Raphael did these days out among the crowds and masses. He stuck to himself mostly, going about his day watching bemusedly as the others would jump from his path as he walked passed and how they would cower when he turned a look in their direction.
He had withdrawn from his family and seeming forgotten what it was he had been created to do.
Not answering calls for help anymore and allowing them to suffer the pains of life.
Life was full of death and destruction and who was he to take those parts away from them.
It had been even longer since the call for healing came from the one he had just been contacted by.
Gabriel had not spoken to him in eons let alone actually come to see him for even longer.
So that's why it came as such a shock when there was a knock at his office door, he bid them a stiff 'enter', and the aforementioned archangel opened his office door and stepped inside.
"Gabriel?"
The golden winged younger sibling rubbed at his arm nervously.
"Don't just stand there, is there something you needed?"
Gabriel nodded, "Yea, I, ummm, needed your help."
The elder raised an eyebrow and set his pen down at such a statement.
"You? You need my help? With what?"
"You can't tell Michael!"
Why is it whenever Gabriel starts his tale with something like that, that he automatically knows he is not going to like it, and it would most likely be something that would undoubtedly not please their older brother.
"Well that depends on the issue, doesn't it."
Gabriel stared at his older brother and digested what he had just said. His eyes widened as it sunk in that if he so deemed it worthy of passing on that Raphael would most definitely tell their older brother what it was that ailed him and the, what he assumed would be, most interesting story as to how it occurred.
He twitched nervously and turned slightly, "Well, in that case, I'm sure it'll fix on it's own. Thank you brother."
He tried to make a run for it, he well and truly did, but once he got that much out of his mouth he also knew that he would be lucky for escape.
Raphael flicked his fingers in the direction of the door lazily, leaning back in his desk chair, the locking clicking into place. Let it not be said that Gabriel didn't try to open it even still after he heard the lock click into place.
"Well now, you came all this way to see me, don't make this trip for nothing."
Gabriel stiffened.
"Out with it little brother."
Sighing deeply the younger turned back around. Raphael gave him a pleasant smile (and let it be known that his definition of pleasant is so much different then his brothers is) and made a gesture to a chair in front of his desk.
"Your not going to like it."
Raphael felt his worry grow just a tad, for it to be so bad that Gabriel thought to warn him before he even got the chance to even take a look then it must be really bad. Something to be worried about clearly, for him to say such things, and it did nothing to appease the older sibling.
"I am not going to like what? Speak clearly."
"It's bad."
He felt his eyebrows meet in concern this time, openly showing such emotion at those words, "Gabriel what have you done?"
The Messenger played with the folds of his robe and kicked a foot softly over the marble floors of his brothers office. Raphael was not known for his patience but he felt this time he could make an exception.
"Gabriel?"
"I think I broke my foot."
And he deflated into astonishment. All that work up and upset and it was merely his foot. Here he had him worried it was something so much worse.
Raphael narrowed his eyes slightly, "Your foot."
Gabriel nodded, "My foot! I think it's broken!"
Sighing heavily the elder archangel motioned him closer, "Come, sit up here, I shall take a look. Do not frighten me like that again, I was concerned it was something serious!"
His younger brother crossed the floor slowly, the limp now noticeable that he was being told to move, he must have indeed done something. Raphael shook his head as he scooted himself back and motioned for him to sit on the desk before him. Gabriel sidled up and passed him his injured foot.
It was indeed broken, but nothing Raphael couldn't heal right away.
"It is serious! It's broken!"
"I can see that, thank you for pointing it out to me, are we sure that you're meant to be the Messenger?"
His older brother bit back a retort and shook his head in exasperation, though it had been such a long time since Gabriel had come to him with minor but worrisome all the same injuries, it was easy as ever to fall back into that teasing role of older but fond caregiver.
"And how, dare I ask, did you come to break your foot?"
Gabriel shrugged leaning back on his palm, lounging atop his older brothers desk while silently ordering him to simply get along with it. Raphael hummed softly and ran his fingers up the younger's sole, grace seeped into the skin and tingled underneath to mend and protect. Gabriel grit his teeth and twitched slightly at the prickly feeling.
"Raph, all I need is to be able to walk, let go."
"You did scare a good couple eons off my life, making me think it was something more dire then a mere broken foot, that deserves rectification, does it not?"
"You're completely overreacting! This is why I wasn't even going to come to you!"
Raphael froze and Gabriel realized too late that he had spoken, his older brother turning to look at him with narrowed eyes.
"What did you just say?"
"That you're the best older brother ever and I love you."
"I'm sure. It sounded suspiciously like 'why I wasn't even going to come to you!', were my ears deceiving me again Gabriel?"
"Well, you're not exactly as young as you used to be, now are you."
A pause followed this statement and both archangels stared at each other for a long period of silence. Then there was a sudden flurry of movement. Gabriel yelped as he was pushed back on his brothers desk, deft fingers digging up under his shirt, and clawing into the skin playfully.
"No! Raph! Stohohoohop!"
His heels made purchase on the edge of the desk below him and he tried to push himself away, but his brothers arms blocked him from going much of anywhere until he released him again.
"I'm still lively enough to bring you to your knees!"
Gabriel threw his head back and shrieked, twisting up into his side, Raphael smiled in such a way that he hadn't seen in such a long time and he would have cried at the sight of it had he not been under such extreme tickle torture.
Ten fingers moved in a playful dance to dig into his side.
"This ihis what I wahas taltahalking about! OVER REACTING!"
He squealed out loud when those fingers dug into his armpit, and he opened his eyes only slightly to peer up into his older brothers shining gaze, he hadn't seen Raphael look so much like his older brother in such a long time and it only made him want to cry even more because he missed his older brothers with every fiber of his being.
"Overreacting? This is merciful. Now, overreacting would be me threading my wingtips through those wiggling toes of yours and making you suffer it for every minute you even assumed you would be able to keep an injury hidden from me."
Gabriel's tear filled golden eyes widened because his brother was absolutely right, that was torture, and he'd been known to follow through on more then one occasion.
"Or I could use this belly as my new desk, and wouldn't it be just your luck that I have piles of papers to sign today, now that would be overreacting as well. Would you like me to overreact little brother? I would be more then happy to oblige."
"NO! RAPH! PLEASE! I CAN'T!"
"Can't what little brother? Can't decide? I'll make it simple for you, do you apologize for being so ridiculous?"
Gabriel could only laugh and shriek and nod his head as quickly as he could. One last tickle to the pudge on his little brothers belly, he sat back again, fingers doing a quick dance over the back of his thighs and it made him squeal and jump.
"Good. Now shoo, " He gave his little brothers rump a playful smack, "Before I decide to take up my suggestion on those neglected toes of yours."
Gabriel was still giggling when he flipped back off his older brothers desk, snatched up his writing implements, and rolled easily to his feet on the other side. Raphael raised an eyebrow at his daring.
"Payback. No work for you."
And he tore the door open and ran down the hall. Now Raphael could very easily snap himself up another set of pens to write with, but, he stood and made chase anyway.
Where was the fun in that?
Older brother had to have fun too.
"Just you wait Gabriel! When I catch you, and I will catch you little brother, I'll thread my wingtips through those toes of yours and so much more! Perhaps I shall doodle today! Haven't done that in a while!"