The angel was sitting at a massive, burgundy wooden table in a dark office, propping his beard on his hand in thought. He sat all alone, looking over his glasses somewhere into the darkness. It was impossible to tell what was taking over him, just as it was impossible to say why he was awake at such a late hour. However, no one has yet come to know.
Annika believed that no one cared about his schedule or whether he violated it.
And very in vain.
The hinges, which had not been oiled for fifty years, creaked like door hinges - the door, in contrast to the high-tech interior of the building, looked (and sounded) very strange, of course. Following the creak, first a beam burst into the room, and then a ball of dim light, and, without wasting time, headed straight for Annika.
Such an intrusion caused the angel to emerge too quickly from the depths of his thoughts, causing him to flinch, immediately removing his hand from his beard. A light chuckle sounded from behind the angel, and on the table, which until recently was a support, someone's thin hand placed a heavy candlestick with a burning candle.
- It's just a candle, - a female voice said with a kind smile. She shouldn't be so scared.
- Professor Tommy, is it you...
The angel turned around. Indeed, she is. Stands up straight and arms crossed, smiling with a smile that slipped somewhere to the side. And in the eyes and lenses of thin glasses, lights are dancing, only the angel could not understand in any way - is this a reflection of the flame of a candle or those same devilish lights?
- No, it's not me, it's a candle, - Tommy answered calmly, shaking her head. However, the smile showed that the demoness was humorous. Annika, being by definition without a sense of humor, only sighed, but the Tommy accepted the phrase as an answer to his unspoken question.
"You are with a candle," Annika specified. The demoness silently raised her eyes to grief, shrugging her shoulders. However, if he really needs it to come with a candle in the kit, then why not? - Please, take a seat, - the angel pushed the chair next to his from the edge of the table, unobtrusively inviting his colleague to join the night vigil.
The demoness, still silently, but by actions, expressed her consent: after waiting for Annika to let go of the chair, she gracefully sat down on it and moved closer to the table, placing her hands on the surface. The angel professor took the pose of an obedient first-grader, straightening up almost to a crunch in his spine and modestly folding his forelimbs in front of him at a minimum distance. With a soft "ha" to make his voice louder, he gently asked:
- Do you have something specific for me?
After all, it was his office.
"Curse and confuse," Tommy said mischievously, raising her index finger up, "now you will read in poor lighting and plant your eyesight," she winked at the angel.
Annika blinked very slowly. And he even opened his mouth to answer, but since he did not understand humor, he could not come up with anything intelligible as an answer. I had to close my mouth and start adjusting my glasses - this allowed me to buy some time while Tommy giggled softly into her fist.
The angel had to answer unintelligibly, but, as it seemed to him, quite logically:
"Thank you for your concern, but if I want to read something, I'll just turn on a floor lamp or a chandelier," he said with a truly merciful smile.
- Well, if you don't want to read, but instead prefer to relax in a comfortable chair and think, will you turn on the floor lamp?
Annika did not specify that until the demoness with a candle invaded his shelter, he was doing just that without any floor lamps.
"Probably not," the angel replied calmly.
- Well, if you want to put the book aside for ten minutes while reading and think about what you read? Are you going to flick the light back and forth? - the demoness even depicted exactly how Annika would click the light.
"Probably not," he repeated. "These are unnecessary actions that will only distract from the process," he considered it necessary to clarify.
- Here! - Tommy with a satisfied look raised her index finger up. - A candle in this position is best. Not bright enough to break the fog of thought; but also bright enough to indulge in fascinating reading. For only a tiny price of half a diopter, two pleasures at once, - she even raised her middle finger to her index finger to highlight her thought.
"Ahem," the angel said for lack of other words. Thanks, I'll take your words into account.
However, Annika did not specify in what context he would take them into account. Still, it was not in his nature to chase pleasures, and even pay with useful things for them. It's been difficult. And did not offend, and did not lie. To get up for a book, despite all the ardent concern of Tommy, he, nevertheless, was in no hurry, going back to his thoughts instead.
And the demoness silently looked at him.
