Chapter 7: Interlude

You woke the next morning to a quiet house—a luxury that did not come often these days. You showered and, still yawning, made your way downstairs, passing the guest room in the hall. It was empty and the bed was still made from the day before, unslept in.

Doffy wasn't in the kitchen either, or the living room. The TV was switched off and the coffee machine was unused. You chanced a look at the time on the microwave and then out of the kitchen window towards the forest, where the sun was hanging high in the sky above the trees. It was almost noon.

You hadn't heard him leave last night, but it wouldn't be the first time the errant angel had slipped out to return to the site of the crater and lost track of time. He always came back when he grew hungry, like a cat that had wandered too far from home, though you simultaneously anticipated and dreaded the day he would leave and never come back. A man like that, even stripped of his divine powers as he were, could wreak havoc in an unfamiliar world.

You resolved to go searching for him if he wasn't back by lunch time and went about setting a fresh pot of coffee to brew. Your phone chimed obnoxiously on the counter, the screen lighting up with Nami's name and picture (she had practically commandeered your phone when you'd first exchanged numbers to make sure the ID picture was acceptable). You groaned inwardly, noting the several missed calls and messages from her number before sliding your finger across the screen to accept the call.

"Spill," she said before you could even open your mouth to greet her.

"Nami, I haven't even had coffee yet, can't this wait until later?"

"It most certainly can not. Please tell me the reason you made me wait all morning is because you were getting a lesson in anatomy from Dr. Heart Stealer himself?"

"No such luck, I'm afraid," you sighed. "He didn't stay the night."

"What!?" You had to hold the phone a foot away from your ear as Nami screeched into the receiver. "I went through all the trouble of setting this up for you and you didn't even get laid?"

"Yeah, well, you can blame a certain blond for that."

"Are you telling me you were cockblocked by your cousin?"

You laughed bitterly. "Something like that. He can be… a little over-protective." Well, that was one word for it. "He and Law didn't seem to like each other very much."

Nami hummed. "I can always take him off your hands for a night if you want some time alone with Law." You could practically hear her suggestive smirk over the phone.

"That is the worst idea you've ever had."

"I'll gladly take one for the team."

"You don't understand. Doffy is… extremely religious."

"Are you trying to tell me he's celibate? Because there's no way a man with a body like that is—"

"Nami!" She fell silent at the serious tone in your voice. "Just believe me when I say this, okay. He's a jerk and you should stay away from him. Besides, he's leaving at the end of the week and trust me, it could not come soon enough."

"Okay, okay, I get it. He's off limits," she huffed.

Just then, the back door slid open and Doffy stepped inside as if he owned the place, offering you little more than an uninterested glance before brushing right past you to pour himself a mug of fresh coffee.

"Speak of the devil," you muttered. Or rather, the angel. "I have to go, I'll talk to you later, Nami."

"Alright, fine, I know when I'm not wanted. But if there are any updates on Operation Get [Name] Laid, you'd better call me."

"Is that what we're calling it now?"

"I admit it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but—"

You sighed. "Fine. Sure. Bye."

You hung up before she could protest.

"Good morning," you said to Doffy, your tone clipped.

The angel grunted in reply, burying his nose in his coffee and ignoring you as usual. You rolled your eyes and took a sip of your own coffee, scrolling through the notifications on your phone. After deleting all the missed call notifications and increasingly insistent voice messages and texts from Nami, you were left with two text messages: one from Law saying he'd enjoyed your date and he'd see you on Monday and, thank god because until Law's text you had forgotten school started again in just two days, a message from the computer repair shop saying your laptop was ready to be picked up.

"Finally," you breathed, setting your mug down in the sink with a loud clink, breaking the silence in the kitchen. "I'm going into town."

Another grunt. By now you had surmised that usually meant 'I don't care what you do, it has nothing to do with me'. Doffy was a man of few words. Or rather, no words most of the time. His silence was simultaneously incredibly frustrating and also strangely appreciated. Even his mute brother talked more than Doffy did.

When it became clear that the angel had no intentions of coming with you this time, you snatched up your keys and left him alone. After last night, he had proven he could, at the very least, be trusted not to burn down the house. But part of you still dreaded, despite the property being so far out of the way, that someone would come knocking and meet an unfortunate end because they rubbed him the wrong way.

At least you could be sure Law wouldn't come around unannounced. He'd seemed adamant about not coming anywhere near the house and its resident angel. Even when he'd dropped you off, he'd maintained a safe distance from the front door and refused to leave the car. You had been a little too distracted at the time to take much notice (damn, that man knew how to kiss) but now, as you pulled out of your driveway and into the street, you were beginning to realise just how strange his reaction had been. Did he feel threatened by an apparent 'other' man in the picture? How could you convince him that definitely was not the case?

You tapped the wheel idly in thought, humming along absently to the song playing on the radio. "Your date is not who you think he is." What had he meant by that? Whatever the reason, Doffy would be out of the picture soon enough and you could get on with your normal, ordinary life and have hot sex with the man of your dreams without fear of Heaven's judgement from the very next room.

You found yourself in an unreasonably good mood as you pulled up in front of the computer store, the tune you had been humming following you inside and all the way up to the counter. But after the initial joy of being reunited with your laptop after a week apart, your heart slowly sank as you realised just how much work you had to do to prepare for next week's lessons.

The technician had managed to salvage most of your files, and you had them all backed up to a cloud service anyway, but everything you had been planning to get through over the last week now had to be condensed into a day and a half. Needless to say, when you returned home twenty minutes later, you were in an even more sour mood than when you had left.

Doffy looked up briefly from the television when you slammed the front door sharply behind you and stormed off to your office, but otherwise made no comment on your return. You thought you heard him mutter something that sounded suspiciously like "humans" before you slammed the door of your office behind you too.

You let out a frustrated sigh as you sank into the chair behind your desk. This whole angel business was beginning to get to you. Or maybe it had gotten to you long ago and you were just now realising how irritable you had been over the last few days. Your date with Law had been a welcome relief and for a few hours, you'd forgotten all about angels and gods and the heavenly courtroom that awaited you less than a week away. What you wouldn't give to go back to that—to be naïve again, oblivious, but…

There was still so much you wanted—needed—to know.

Your eyes drifted away from the untouched document open on your screen to the pictures adorning the walls of your office. A child with a gap-toothed grin astride a bike while her father stood by; a young girl holding a science fair trophy flanked by two proud parents; a young woman dressed in graduation robes and a mortarboard, her smile tight and strained and eyes full of worry, this time alone. Your eyes blurred with tears as you recalled the night of your graduation. When that photo had been taken, you hadn't known. The text had said they were simply running late and despite the heavy feeling in your gut, you kept believing that they would be there any minute, that they would push through the crowd to take you up in their arms, apologising profusely even though they knew you would have forgiven them anything. Especially now.

A stray tear slipped down your cheek. Were they up there? Were they looking down on you right now? You swiped the tear away and got to your feet, padding over to the door and cracking it open to peer out into the living room.

Doffy was still seated on the couch, eyes glued to the screen. He didn't notice you cross the room but his gaze flickered to you in surprise as you sat down silently beside him, drawing your knees up to your chest. You both sat in silence, the television anchor droning on in the silence between you.

"Doffy?"

He grunted. Hey, it was better than the usual silent treatment.

It took you a few moments to gather the words you wanted to say. You were prepared to be disappointed, but you had to know the truth.

"When humans die, they go to Heaven, right?"

His eyes flickered to you again, suspicion in their blue depths. "Not always. But, yes."

"Where else would they go?"

"Hell. Purgatory. Some are reborn into a new life. Some simply fade into nothingness if their souls are not strong enough."

"And what determines what happens to them?"

A slight frown marred his features as he answered. "It's not as simple as whether they were good or bad. There are many factors that determine where the soul goes once the body can no longer sustain it. Every soul is different."

You fell silent again, watching the images flit across the screen. When you spoke again, your voice was so faint you weren't sure he could even hear the words.

"Do you think my parents are in Heaven?"

"Who knows."

"Would I be able to see them again if they were?" You were crying again, unwittingly. Doffy seemed to be becoming increasingly more uncomfortable the longer this interrogation session went on. The appearance of tears made him balk.

"Why all these questions?" he snapped.

You stared at each other for a long moment, then you hung your head. "I'm sorry. I was just… I was thinking. I never believed in any of this, you know? I never thought I'd see them again after… And now suddenly angels are falling out of the sky and God is real and the impossible is suddenly possible and—"

A finger pressed to your lips stopped you in your tracks and your eyes went wide. Doffy was watching you, a slight furrow to his brow as he appeared deep in thought. You gasped softly and as your lips parted, they brushed his finger ever so slightly. His frown deepened and his own lips parted as if in response, but then all too soon, he seemed to realise what he had done because he pulled away, withdrawing his hand as if it had been burned. He averted his gaze and got stiffly to his feet.

"Your mouth moves faster than your mind," he huffed, and made to turn away. As he did so, you heard him mutter: "I'm sorry, I don't have the answers you seek."

And then he was gone and you were left alone on the couch with nothing but the TV for company. You could still feel his touch against your lips, a tingling, electric sensation that left your cheeks burning and your mouth dry.

What just happened?

You sat and watched the TV a while longer, not really taking in the news stories that flitted across the screen. Your mind was far, far away from Earth and its wars and disasters. You're not sure when, but eventually you fell asleep, the incoherent sounds of the TV lulling you into a light doze. When you woke, the room was dark, the television switched off, and a figure sat perched beside you on the couch. You recognised his figure immediately.

"Doffy?" As you shifted, the throw rug from the couch slid down your shoulders and you realised he must have placed it over you while you slept.

"What happened?"

"Hm?" You stifled a yawn.

"Your parents."

"Oh…" You shifted into a sitting position, pulling the throw rug up to your chin. You fiddled with the tassels as you gathered your thoughts. "They died ten years ago. Drunk driver hit them on their way to my graduation ceremony."

Doffy only watched you silently.

"I can understand your hatred of humans, you know. The guy who hit them, he just… drove away. Left them there to die on the side of an empty road. For so long I hated the world and everyone in it. I was so consumed by it, I lost sight of the good and only saw the bad in everything." You stared at the blank television screen. "I realised that hatred was destroying me. So, I stopped watching the news, stopped assuming the worst of every situation and threw myself into work."

"Ignoring the evil in the world does not make is disappear."

"I know that. I just… sometimes it's nice to just pretend, you know? I try to see the good in people, no matter how hard it is to find." You let yourself be drawn into his icicle blue stare. "Like with you."

A fleeting look of surprise crossed his face before it was back to its usual stoic façade. "You're a fool for trying."

"Maybe," you admitted. "And maybe it'll be my downfall one of these days. But spending your whole life afraid of the world is no way to live."

"But what is the point when you live for little more than a second in the eyes of God?"

"We're not on this Earth for long. It's for that reason we should make the most of what little time we have here, don't you think?"

Doffy said nothing in return. Maybe you had finally stumped him. Maybe he was just sick of arguing with you.

"I should go to bed…" you sighed, getting to your feet and letting the throw rug slide off you. You handed it to Doffy as you walked past. "Don't stay up too late, okay?"

He said nothing as you left, his eyes downcast in thought as he clutched the rug in his lap. At the foot of the stairs, you stopped and turned around. He looked up when he heard your footsteps grow still.

"I'm going to help you get home," you said softly. "Not just because I want you gone, but because I really do believe there's a good person in there somewhere."

Then you ascended the stairs before you could wait for his reply.