November 30, 2003

Title: Providence

Chapter: Plans (1/?)

Author: Lycthem

Disclaimer: Nothing here but original characters and plot situations belong to me. Everything DIGIMON related I claim no ownership over and I'm receiving no monetary profit from this writing.

    1.

The man sitting next to him in the bar was cheating on his girlfriend with the tall waitress serving drinks around the room. The woman talking to the young girl on his other side had no idea what she was talking about and was on her way to giving the poor girl the worst advise of her life. The two guys dancing nearby weren't gay but thought the other one was, and were only dancing to prove they could tolerate dancing with each other. The singer in the stage was thinking about his girlfriend back in his apartment, while singing a song about murder and betrayal. And he, well, he was on the verge of getting a migraine.

Well, that was not exactly correct. If you've never had a migraine before in your life, you're not really bound to have one all of the sudden. Of course, normal people didn't have all those useless facts thrown into their heads just because. He gulped a fairly large amount of whatever the bartender had thrown in his mix of alcohol and grimaced. It was really vile, but he had paid for it and money didn't just appear for people like him, so he had to drink it. He stopped and contemplated about what he'd thought moments before. That was another lie. Money did appear just like that for him.

He drank what was left on his glass (most of what was in it in the first place), and signalled the bartender (Bill, father of three, divorced, loved reality TV) for another of – whatever it was. It had been a horrible last few days and the fact that the music was enough to inspire the drinker in you to come out and live fully just made him drown drink after drink. Yet another hopeful person managed enough courage to ask him for a dance, and he declined. About the migraine thing never appearing on people if they've never had one before, maybe he was one of those rare few that caught on late.

It was apparent that his night was not going to get any better than this, and the reasons why he had thought it a good idea to visit this bar were starting to escape him. After a few hundred years he should've realized that when things didn't go his way, it was not a very smart plan of action to visit a bar and getting drunk. But when did he ever listen to himself?

He stepped out of the bar before he became too smashed to properly reach his flat, and headed slowly in its direction. He was in no hurry, and no one was waiting for him. Not really. Less than one thousand years old, and behaving like a human with some middle-age crisis. He shook his head, and the longish brown bangs fell over his eyes. He moved them irritably, and continued walking. Maybe he should consider spreading his wings and just fly home. But then again, if he was caught or seen my some mortal he would be taken directly to- he shuddered before he thought the word. Even going to prison would be better than what awaited him if he flew in plain sight. When he reached his flat, he laughed quietly at himself, what was he thinking of. He could've just turned invisible. What the hell would he do with wings on earth if he didn't remember he could be invisible if he wanted? Alcohol really wasn't good for you. Wasn't good for his feet either. Opening the knob, he entered and headed straight to his bed. That shower would have to wait.

It was a hard life for him. Things weren't as easy for him as they were a few years back to those before him. They had less work to do, and in the end the reward for their efforts was more satisfying. The one's he helped now a days were ungrateful, and couldn't tell manners from a pink elephant even if the elephant bit them and then danced the Macarena across them on a box. And it was not like he wasn't being fair to the people now, but really, it was a tiring job, and he liked to receive a bit of thanks every now and then. Humans were so uneducated. Wise were those who did not have to deal with them on a regular basis.

Still, life went on, time passed by, and he fell asleep.

*

*

There was something special about Christmas time. He had decided that in the first days he had really seen people interact during those days. Oh, it was a time of happiness and forgetfulness of ugly things. Times you put aside whatever feelings you had for your ungrateful aunt Gremmie and gave her that hideous violet sweater you know she likes. It made people randomly burst into holiday songs and hug strangers. Made them walk happily (and look very sexy) across the street and cause distracted drivers almost to crash into them, then invite that driver to drink some coffee on a nearby café. Then, actually pay for the coffee and add another friend to an already long list of others.

He had long since decided that though it was a magical time for everyone, he wanted to spend less time thinking about Christmas in general and just enjoy the moment. And the beautiful company, of course.

"I'm so glad I said yes to this cup of coffee," she said smiling at him while they said goodbye in the entrance of the café. "It's nice meeting people this way."

"What can I say? Nothing inspires people to bond more than the rush of escaping accidental death."

She laughed, a bit used to his sense of humour after spending a few hours with him and nodded. "I had a great time, Taichi. I can honestly say I've never met anyone quite like you." His smile widened at that remark, and he fake blushed.

"Aw Mimi, you're just saying that to flatter me." She smiled and hugged him.

"I have your number, you have mine. Call me." She said walking towards her car. "If you don't I'll track you down, ok?"

He mock saluted then said to her, warningly with a big smile on his face, "And don't go around knocking more cute guys with that car of yours. You wouldn't like to see me jealous, now would you?" She just shook her head and waved off. Yes, Christmas time was definitely a magical time, and he was planning of making his Christmas help something he'd never forget. Smiling mischievously for the world to see, he thought to himself with a sort of sinister chuckle, humans in trouble, beware. Here comes Taichi, temporary guardian angel, and he's setting his sights high.

*

*

It was never easy looking for someone to help. First he had to make sure that there was not another angel with their eye on that person. Once, he chose someone that already had a guardian angel and it was not a pretty trial. Angels can get pretty possessive about their charges. And that one had not been a temporary one. Still, he firmly believed that since that guardian angel was permanent he should've been doing a better job. The poor man was almost ruined.

He also needed to be sure that that person really needed his help. Sometimes those humans, contrary to what most guardian angels believed, were able to get themselves out of their problems. He also had to be sure that there was something he could do to help. Some people were so out of his reach they were left for other more permanent angels to take care of. Angels that -unlike him- were willing to give up their temporary guardian angel status to stay with that person.

Not that it was bad to be a permanent guardian angel. It was just that Taichi didn't like to be restricted to one person. And after being the permanent angel of so many others before, and given the choice to be a temp, he was not about to give up his freedom so easily.

Snow fell lightly and he didn't bother shaking his head or passing a hand through his hair, since he thought the contrast between the snow and his dark brown hair was quite fetching. Not that he would ever say that, of course. Scratch that; he probably would. With a light step and quick footing, he reached the small coffee shop that had become his haven when the thoughts in his head became too much. Most people who frequented it were aspiring writers and their thoughts were interesting enough, and simple enough most of the time, to allow him a few moments to clear his own mind. 

The place was rather quiet for a Friday afternoon, but he didn't mind the lack of people and set out to planning on what type of problems he was going to set to help someone. After his usual cup of coffee was brought to him (black, no sugar), he closed his eyes and focused on the people around him.

'Maybe he could enter the white doorway into the other realm, yes that sounds about right...'

 '…Oh my, I can't believe this is the fifth time I've come to this place and I still haven't come up with the courage to…'

'…I don't think I can handle the pain, why does it have to be so painful. It's just a pierce in the ear, no big deal.'

'…One spoon of sugar, two spoons of sugar, three spoons of sugar…'

'I can't wait for my shift to end, this is so boring, if I didn't need the money so badly I wouldn't even step in here, and the tips are horrible…'

'…Four spoons of sugar, five spoons of sugar…'

With a snap, Taichi opened his eyes and looked at the door. At that precise moment, a slender young man, in appearance about the same age as him, walked into the establishment. He had presence, there was not doubt about that, and he was gorgeous to boot, but what caught his attention was not the way his hair fell over his azure eyes or some romance-y detail a mushy person would take notice of, nor the way he seemed to look so tired –many people looked tired now a days- but the extreme feeling of self-hatred that seemed to emanate from such a being. If he hadn't been as trained as he was, as used to so many of other people's emotions in his head, the feeling would've made him flinch. As it was, he set his eyes on the man, and took a small breath. This was a big challenge if he ever faced one.

The man's life (Yamato, older brother, lived alone) was shit. Oh yes, it had its happy moments, but those seemed to be so far away that is was a wonder he even found them at first glance. It's just that everything in this man's life seemed so complicated, as if some cosmic joke was being played on him. If Taichi hadn't been sure that all prankster demons were banned from this realm for at least five hundred more years, give or take a decade, he would've bet his money that this man was being purposely screwed.

Floating behind the blonde man was a small fairy-like being, which, upon noticing him, flickered a dark blue, but continued to follow the man until he sat down on the table next to his. Taichi frowned in the general direction of the flickering being, and placed the coffee on the table.

Dark blue meant overwhelmed.

Being invisible to your charge meant that you were a permanent angel.

If he wanted this one, he was going to have to become a permanent angel later on and replace the other one. And renounce his semi-freedom.

Taichi looked at his table and, almost imperceptibly, shook his head. No. No matter how much he wanted to help this Yamato…No. He was not going to lose his freedom. Not now. He heard the other angel sigh, but didn't bother raising his head. Having more experience than the permanent one, he could probably do a better job, but after so many years –hundreds- of being invisible, he liked to be seen again. From a seemingly far distance he heard Yamato order something and start to play with a packet of diet sugar. He was not being heartless; he would help someone else. Besides, the superiors would take care of this sooner or later. They always did.

When Taichi looked up at last, almost half an hour later, he saw that the young man was already gone. It was probably for the best, he thought, but a frown made its way to his face nevertheless.

*

*

He had discarded many people before, and while he always thought about them for a while thinking of how he –maybe- could've helped them, not one made him feel as guilty of not helping as the young man from the coffee shop. While he didn't take on the others because he was positive someone else would do a better job than him, right now he was almost positive that he could do a better job than the overwhelmed guardian angel of one Yamato Ishida.

In the sanctity of his home, away from prying eyes and invading thoughts, the brunet angel contemplated his decision. If there was something being an angel for so long taught him, it was that things happened for a reason. At first it didn't seem so, and it made you think there had been a mistake made somehow, but in the end you saw how things came out and realized that somehow it made sense. Shimmering with an almost ethereal glow, he spread his wings and sighed. Minutes and hours were almost no bother to him anymore, after living hundreds of years, days and weeks and months seemed to be the same thing; but now every second seemed an eternity. An eternity in which he spent thinking about the problems revolving around the blue eyed young man, and how he was able to help solve them. Darn angel goodness. Maybe he could come to an agreement with his superiors about remaining visible. But as he thought those words, he couldn't fool himself into believing them, for the apparent lack of conviction behind them was too noticeable to ignore.

*

*