"Well, this is awkward," Magnus mused as he stretched his arms over his head, "Not that I mind it too much, mind you."

"I hope you understand..." Pit said quietly. His hands hung in front of his body shyly; he looked truly embarrassed with himself. He'd never imagined he'd have to ask another man on a date. He'd not had anything against the idea, particularly. It'd just never even crossed his mind, and he didn't know how Magnus was going to think of him as a result, for he didn't know if the same thing had crossed Magnus' mind at any point in his life either.

"Sure I understand," Magnus said with a smile, "It's not like it means nothin'. But it'll be nice to catch up with you all the same."

"What, really?"

"Sure thing. Been a while and some stuff's happened since Hades went down. Nothin' spectacular or anything," Magnus continued, "What about you? Anything new going on up in the land upstairs?"

"Oh, well... nothing except this, I guess," Pit hummed, racking his brains for interesting news, "Just a lot of peace and happiness like always." He paused, remembering the previous date. But he didn't really see it having any great consequence; not at the moment. Viridi was just... easy to anger, he supposed. He smiled up at Magnus fully. "And that's how I like it."

Magnus snarled slightly. "Sounds boring to me," he huffed, "Don't you tell me you didn't find the whole slaying evil thing a little exhilarating at least."

"Oh, don't get me wrong. It's not like I don't like action. I wouldn't be the captain of Lady Palutena's guard if that was the case," Pit retorted, "But I'm an angel. Peace lets me know I've been doing my job. And it's a habitat angels are supposed to reside in, right?"

"Don't ask me. You're the angel here."

Pit chuckled sadly, his answer coming hesitantly. "I don't really know much about angels," he mumbled.

"What? How's that possible?" Magnus asked, bemused.

Pit didn't really know how to say what was on his mind. It was kind of unnecessary to bring up, he knew. Especially on an occasion as informal as a date—even one that wasn't even real or voluntary. He was quiet for a few more seconds than was natural. So Magnus leaned down to his level suspiciously.

"Why don't you?" he asked slowly.

"There... aren't any but me," Pit admitted sheepishly.

Magnus' eyes sharpened and brow furrowed. That was something he wasn't exactly expecting. Pit could see this. He wondered if Magnus was even born when it happened. He didn't exactly know how old Magnus was; he was a human, after all, and the one thing he did know was that angels didn't die of old age, and as such their ageing process was far slower than humans'. Pit was many years old and he supposed he probably beat Magnus in the age department. But he would make no assumptions. He supposed that Magnus simply did not know.

"The first time Medusa rose to power, the rest of the angels in our army were turned to stone. I survived, because I wasn't flying up in the sky in battle like they were. They fell to their deaths. They couldn't be resurrected. There was no way they could. Their stoned bodies were crushed into pieces where they fell. I suppose that even if I'd been turned to stone then, I'd have been able to be turned back since there wouldn't have been a drop. But... I was already imprisoned in the Underworld when the great battle between the angels and Medusa was going on."

He quickly ducked his head down, almost flinching into the action.

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly, "We don't have to talk about this, really."

"Huh," Magnus grunted, "Dark stuff. Bet you're pretty glad you can't fly now, huh?"

"Well, in a way, I suppose so," Pit agreed, slightly raising his head, "I got to stay Lady Palutena's personal guard with no competition. I lived on and managed to save everyone after Medusa turned bad. I could prove my skills even though the angels had been pretty doubting of a kid's strength back then, but..." He sighed. "I was a kid after all... And I didn't like knowing that a child who couldn't even fly was the only angel going to survive. It didn't feel natural. I was surely the only one meant to die."

"Now, now," Magnus scolded, "Don't be saying any of that. You, the captain of Palutena's army, this little kid who's got the maturity of an adult... at least when he wants to... You, the guy who managed to plough through all that? I think you were the only one ever meant to survive."

Pit blushed. "You think...?"

"I think." Magnus nodded, "Chin up, kid. You might be the only angel left and that's kinda sad and all. But look at where you are now. You met me, didn't ya?"

"Wh- what's that supposed to mean?"

Magnus burst out laughing. "We're on a date, right? Little banter like that ain't gonna hurt nobody."

Pit slowly smiled and nodded, a sheepish but guiltily pleased look going over his face. "Sure."

Magnus took Pit back to his place.

"So how's it been going, this date thing, I mean?" Magnus asked flippantly on the way, "Who's it been so far?"

"Uh... Just Lady Palutena and Viridi so far," Pit said diffidently, "Lady Palutena kept teasing me, and Viridi and I ended up in a bit of a tizzy... Nothing serious, I guess."

"Not a natural, I gather," Magnus said with a smirk, "So who is it you like? Not me, hm?"

"Well, it's Lady Palutena, of course." Pit didn't seem to have much trouble relating this to anybody other than her. "Of course, I don't know if it would ever work..."

"D'aw," Magnus cooed, "But I can just imagine you two. You act like you're married half the time anyway."

"That's just the way an angel and goddess are supposed to act," Pit informed, "If I liked anybody except her, it would mean I wasn't totally devoted to her, after all. And an angel must always have only his own goddess in his sights."

"You're taking that too seriously, for starters," Magnus scoffed, "I know you're always taking things literally, and you always want to do things perfectly and all, but surely there's nothing like that in the rulebook."

"I haven't checked, to be honest," Pit sighed, "I just... don't want to lose Lady Palutena. I'm happy only to serve her. That's what I want to live for. Not just as an angel. But as a guy as well."

"You really are in love with her, huh?" Magnus said pitifully.

Pit slowly nodded. It was the truth. He was one hundred percent in love with the goddess of light and he wasn't proud nor ashamed of it. It was just the way it was. The more he dated other people as a result of this stupid dare, the more he realised he wanted to be back in the arms of his goddess instead.

He thought back to their date together. It had ended on rather a high note, he thought. But even despite everything, she still hadn't told him how she felt like she had promised him. At least, he thought she had promised him—that she would let him know after the date. But after they had retired for the night, Pit realised that she had still left him hanging on that question. He could only think the worst. That she was not planning to mirror his feelings after all.

"Kid," Magnus said, waving a hand in front of Pit's face, "What's wrong with you?"

"Oh... Sorry," Pit said meekly, "I was just daydreaming a little."

"Suits you," Magnus grunted, "But you didn't really answer my question."

Pit smiled, and slowly nodded. The words he spoke were now the one hundred percent confident truth. "I love Lady Palutena," he stated, "But I know we don't have a chance. I've accepted that." And that was where the lies started. "It's okay. I'm an angel. I'm not meant to love or be loved in that way. I'm just supposed to symbolise that love and happiness for everyone else. Viridi told me once what angels really were. Servants. Errand spirits. But I'd known that all my life. She just drove it home. I live to serve and that's all my life is there for; that's the reason it was created. And I'm perfectly okay with that. I wasn't designed to think in any other way."

Magnus sighed, looking over Pit with unbelieving eyes. "You know I can't believe any of that, right?"

"Why's that?" Pit asked hesitantly.

"For starters, that makes it seem like you've got nothing about you that a robot wouldn't have. But you've got an attitude. You've got personality, free will, like any human or animal does. And you've certainly got emotions. You can't deny that. I've seen 'em. Oh, dear god, I've seen 'em."

Pit rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"And any creature with emotion can love, right?"

"Sure thing. Love makes the world go 'round."

"So how are you an exception to that, huh?"

"Well," Pit started, as though he was going to go on, but then gave up in that very same breath, "I don't know. I totally made that up."

"Yeah, I know," Magnus replied, "That's what I was getting at. I'm not stupid, Pit."

Pit shrugged. "Still."

"Still, what?"

"Lady Palutena and I..."

"It could never work, right?"

"Yeah. Despite everything."

"So what're you gonna do about it?"

Pit paused in thought. He hadn't really thought about that. On one hand he didn't want to move on, because at any point, Palutena could finally meet the terms of her promise and tell him her feelings towards him. If that happened, he still wanted to have her and only her in his own sights; if he had started to stray at that point, the sense of obligation towards taking her up on her feelings' offer would still overpower him, due to his binds to her as her angel. But he wouldn't be able to be totally happy then. On the other side of the coin, there was the agony of waiting for her forever, and never hearing her heart sing if she never delivered on the promise she made.

He then realised that neither of those options would lead to hurting Palutena. Instead, both of them could potentially lead to his own pain and loss. That, of all things, made him smile. Either way he went, his decision would not hinder his beautiful goddess' life. That was what he lived for even outside of his romantic ventures.

As such it didn't matter what happened. He would end this struggle as soon as possible as a result.

"I'm going to ask for Lady Palutena's feelings as soon as I'm through with all these stupid dates," he decided, "And whatever way she feels, I'll graciously accept it."

"Damn, that's brave."

"It is?" Pit asked innocently. He didn't know what Magnus was getting at. Magnus clearly saw this. And he didn't think it right to dampen his spirit with explanation on the matter at this moment.

"Never mind. You'll find out soon enough."

"R- right." In truth, Pit no longer wished to speak of this. He was starting to get hot and red in the face just thinking about it.

Magnus patted the angel on the head with a smile. "Anyway, you wanna get on with this 'date'?" he offered. He could sense the discomfort building in the other. And of all things, it was an odd feeling—but he liked to feel the angel's happiness rather than his sadness.

He supposed the angel had just had an effect on him.

"Sure thing..." Pit replied quietly.