Author's note: Thanks so much to Nicolene B, Maknatuna, Quiet Crash, Maddy Love Castiel, LeeMarieJack, keacdragon, Crazy as a Cheshire Cat, LadyGrelka and CherylB1964 for last chapter's reviews!
Special thanks to Treeni for beta-reading!
[Takes place toward the end of 46 Problems]
"Phillips screwdriver," Hope said, extending her arm as she waited for Michael to locate and hand over the requested item. After days of painting walls, putting together furniture, installing lamps and then putting together more furniture, Hope had to admit that maybe just paying someone to do all those things for them would have been better. It would have been less strenuous in any case and at times less frustrating. However, they were moving into their first shared home, so doing as much as they could themselves just felt right. At least it did to Hope and Michael never objected.
Maybe having a good reason to push more of the wedding preparation duties on her aunt and uncle had played a part in Hope's decision as well. Not that she didn't want to be married to Michael, in fact she couldn't wait for that part, but wedding preparations were somewhat tedious and stressful. Especially since they decided on a very quick wedding. There was also moving out of Hope's family's home as soon as they were married, if not a little earlier.
"I could help you, you know?" Michael stated just a little exasperatedly as he reached for the tool and passed it on. Hope was admittedly doing a very good and quick job of putting together tables, chairs, bookshelves and whatever else they bought that still needed to be assembled, but Michael felt just a little useless as things were.
"I know, honey," Hope replied in faked seriousness, before she gave Michael a quick peck to the lips and added, "But I value your physical integrity too much to hand you any even moderately sharp tools and we can't exactly call Otheos to heal you right now."
They were currently working on a little surprise for their angelic protector after all. Luckily, Otheos complied when they asked him to just leave for a while, or Hope would have felt seriously awkward and possibly paranoid with being watched over every second of every day. For all they knew Otheos really left and only paid minor attention to any signs of serious distress at those times anyway. Then again, the way Otheos reacted whenever he had to witness Hope and Michael being too affectionate it was pretty much a given the angel would either pull a face or give himself away in some other way the next time they saw him, if he was peaking.
"What does a man have to do around here to get some respect in his own home?" Michael asked exaggerating his frustration for effect. He couldn't even call his brothers and complain, because Michael knew they would laugh at him. At least Lucifer and Gabriel would laugh, possibly loudly enough to be heard without the aid of a phone.
"How about not hitting your finger every time you as much as look at a hammer?" Hope suggested with a cheeky grin. They had worked together -on Michael's insistence- when the time to put their new bed together came. If Otheos hadn't healed him, Michael would still have the scars to show for it. To his credit, Michael was awesome at handing over tools and holding things together until Hope could get the screws in.
"I'm a warrior and a leader, not a handyman," Michael groaned. Given the time, he could have learned all those skills, there was no doubt about it, but they were a little pressed for time as things were. Of course, it was their own fault for rushing things along. Or rather it was partly Michael's fault for insisting on a virginal wedding -as far as he was concerned, that train had left the station where Hope was concerned years ago and Hope's love life before she met Michael was not for him to judge anyway- and partly Hope's fault for insisting on a quick wedding then. Not that either one of them had any objections to the compromise. It just meant that they were pressed for time in some matters.
"I know," Hope smiled, before she leaned in for a lingering kiss, "And your waffles are to die for."
Michael nodded contently and went back to handing over the tools Hope requested without protest. Even though there was never any serious doubt about it, it was still good to hear that his input was valued.
The room was still very much bare, even though it had a desk, a chair, a couch with a glass table, a cupboard and some shelves. The one somewhat personal item Hope had put up was a dart board. It had been easy enough to convince Michael to give a call to Castiel once Hope told him about her idea, so there was a photograph of Balthazar's face in the middle of the dart board.
"I value the sentiment, but what is the cover story for this?" Otheos stated after he took in the room he had just been told was supposed to be his. Not that the guard needed his own space in the house, but it was a very nice gesture and the dart board was a much appreciated personal touch.
"Polyamory?" Hope shrugged casually and then immediately had to laugh until she had to hold her stomach and gasp for breath after seeing the shocked and scandalized faces of both Michael and Otheos. The only reason why Hope would suggest something like that was to see the stupid expressions on people's faces anyway, particularly innocent angle types who have been closed off from earth for far too long, so the mission was already accomplished.
"If anyone asks I will just tell them I am your probation assistant," Otheos gave Michael a small smirk. Not that probation assistants usually lived with their clients as far as the angel knew, but it still made for a better and especially less embarrassing cover story than what Hope suggested. Less embarrassing for Otheos that was.
"Oh, that sounds dangerous, I like it!" Hope nodded to herself a couple of times. Of course, her family wouldn't buy it. They knew -or thought they knew- too much of Michael not to call the lie the moment they heard it. A lot of other people might not exactly have a problem believing that Hope ended up marrying a convicted criminal. The fact that they obviously had enough money to buy a four bedroom home in a good neighborhood would only add fuel to the rumors.
"What? No! You two cannot be serious!" Michael protested strongly, before both Hope and Otheos started to laugh at him. Michael huffed out a breath with crossed arms before he added, "If anything you are the butler."
Of course, saying that Otheos was their butler or anything of the kind would not hold up to scrutiny. The way the guard talked to Michael and Hope hardly spoke of someone employed by them. Michael also wasn't comfortable with the thought of seriously claiming that he had employees to begin with.
"That might come across a little... racist," Hope pointed out with a slight shrug. Otheos' vessel was clearly Indian after all. Not that there was anything inherently racist about employing Indians for any kind of work, but casting the Indian guy in the role of the butler for a lie seemed a little wrong.
"The well paid butler with all social benefits whom we love like a member of the family," Michael retorted a little too quickly. The moment he said it, Michael already realized that the description sounded a little odd. It could easily give the wrong impression anyway. Then again, Hope might like that.
"Which brings us back to polyamory," Hope immediately shot back with a snort.
"It's sad that this far that would be the best cover we have been able to come up with," Michael huffed out a chuckle, before he added strongly, "Which doesn't mean I approve, because I don't!"
That Michael did not view anything Hope got up to before she met him as a problem didn't mean that he wouldn't see it as a problem to share her with someone else in the present. Something like that was simply not in the cards as far as Michael was concerned. Of course it would only be a cover story without any truth to it, but Michael drew the line at even letting anyone believe he would be fine with sharing his fiancée like that.
"Don't worry, if anyone asks he's a friend from my Baltimore days who needed to get out of the city," Hope finally suggested. Otheos could have also been one of Michael's friends, but Michael still was quite bad at making up lies on the fly. Hope wouldn't have a problem just coming up with a little backstory that was believable and stick with it to the end.
"How... open-minded of you to allow a male friend of your future wife to share your home," Otheos commented seriously, without a hint of humor.
"Nothing to worry about, after all you are gay," Michael replied, mimicking his brother's tone.
"I have no such preferences," Otheos insisted with a deep frown. As a matter of fact, Otheos did not have any preference at all. Angels were sexless beings. Some of them came to identify more with one gender than the other, but at their core they all were sexless beings. That Otheos' vessel was male did not mean he fully identified as male and most of all it didn't say anything about any sexual preferences he might or might not have. Actually, as things were he simply didn't have them. Not that any of that held any meaning for an angel, who was still very much an angel and not humanized.
"When I tell the story, you do." Michael patted Otheos' shoulder amicably as he went past his brother and out of the room. They still had a lot of things to unpack and the garden to tend to, all things Michael could do without problems or help from the apparent handywoman of the house.
