May 26, 1959

Merle sweeps around the shop while humming along to the radio, it's a slow day and there aren't any customers in, so he's taking the time to clean, when suddenly he hears a loud horn outside, he looks and sees a red car outside of the shop, he puts down the broom and walks to the front of the store, the car very nice, long and sleek in a beautiful shade of red with chrome lining and a tan roof, clearly one of those new fangle convertibles, it has long fin-like protrusions coming out of the back and a whole lot of lights, Merle counted at least twelve, eight on the front and four on the back, it looks brand new or at least well taken care of, probably owned by some hotshot with way too much time and money on his hands, Merle rolls his eyes and opens the door, "Hey fancy boy, ether come into the store or move your car, this is a business, not a parking lot,"

He hears the driver's side door open and sees someone come out of the car.

"Knew that would get your attention," Davenport says as he leaves the car, adjusting his leather jacket and wearing the biggest smile Merle has ever seen on him, Merle was pleasantly surprised when the angel had taken to the greaser fashion of the decade, currently wearing a black leather jacket over a white T-shirt, dark blue jeans, and black combat boots, and his usually slicked back hair is now in a pompadour, this is his usual look, rarely changing it up aside from a different shirt or switching out the leather jacket with his favorite red aviator jacket he got from an air show in '52, and a stark contrast to Merles own fashion sense of button-ups and khakis,

Merle chuckles and walks out of the shop, "Shoulda guessed it was you, cool car you got there, whose is it?"

Davenport rolls his eyes, "As it just so happens, it's mine, I just bought it today fresh off the belt, Oh, and look how cool it is! All sleek and beautiful made of aluminum and chrome! And it's even better under the hood, 345 horsepower and can go up to 130 miles per hour, it's got an air suspension, and god did you hear that horn!?"

Merle nods his head pretending he understands, he's always loved when Davenport talks about something he loves, but this is the most excited he's ever seen the angel, with a smile brighter than any star and talking 100mph, "So I take it you like the car,"

"You have no idea, so, wanna go for a ride?"

"Sure, why not," Merle snaps his fingers, and the door clicks and his apron is off, "It's a slow day anyway," Merle walks over the passenger side door and hops in as Davenport walks to the other side and climbs into the driver's side, "So, where we going, maybe drop by make-out point," Davenport playfully smack him on the arm, "Kidding, kidding,"

The angel shakes his head, "I wasn't thinking of anywhere specific, just thought we'd, you know, drive around and see where it takes us,"

Merle smiles, "Yeah, I like the sound of that,"

Davenport starts the car, feeling the motor purr beautifully as he pulls out of his parking space and drives down the road, he turns on the radio and the sound of Bill Haley and The Saddlemen fill the car.

The first few minutes of the drive is a comfortable silence, Davenport focuses on the road whale Merle looks out the window as the radio plays, "So, what do you think of her?"

"She's pretty cool, must've cost a fortune,"

"Yeah, though when you can make money out of nothing a price is just a number,"

"Heh, true that."

"Oh, check this out," Davenport presses a button above the windshield, and the roof and windows roll down revealing the bright blue sky and late afternoon sun.

They stop at a red light, a second later another car parks next to them, same car as Davenports but this one was yellow with a black stripe from hood to tail and being driven by a young man, next to him in the passenger seat is a woman, possibly his girlfriend, and in the back is another man and woman, the driver turns his head and sees Davenport, "Hey oldtimer, ain't you supposed to be at the old folks home?"

Davenport smirks, "I don't know, kiddo, isn't it past your curfew?"

"Oh, so you're a wise guy, huh, well tell you what, I just got this baby today, what do you say to helping me break it in with a little race?" the other driver says cockily.

Davenport looks a little concerned, "I don't know, that sounds a little dangerous,"

"Aw, what's wrong old man, you and that ugly f*g of yours afraid of a little competition?"

Davenport's eyes widened, "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

The young man in the back seat rises up, "He said you and your boyfriend are a couple of pussys!" the other three laugh like it was the funniest joke ever.

Davenport's face turns from shock to anger, he sees Merle out of the corner of his eye, clearly upset but trying not to show it, and the angel's rage begins to rise, he bucks his seatbelt "Alright, let do this,"

Merle turns to Davenport, "Come on Dav, you don't have to do this,"

The light turns yellow, "I know, but it's happening anyway, now buckle up and hold on," Merle dose's as he's told as Davenport puts the top and windows back up, his left hand on the wheel and his right hand on the gear stick, the two drivers wait in anticipation for the light to turn green.

The light turns green and they're off, Davenport puts the stick in drive and stomps at the gas as both cars start driving as fast as possible, he puts his right hand back on the wheel and keeps his eyes dead set focus on the road, only looking away to see his competition, they were both neck and neck, they turn the corner and Davenport fall back a bit as to not crash, but he catches up quickly, in the corner of his eye he sees the man talk but he can't hear him, he rolls down the window, "What!"

"I said you're falling back, old man!"

"Oh, trust me, kid, I'm just getting started!"

They continue for a few more miles, shifting between first and second place, eventually, the girl in the passenger seat speaks up, "Johnny, you're going too fast! What if we crash?!"

"We ain't gonna crash, babe, I know what I'm doing!"

Hearing this make Davenport realize how dangerous this was getting, he also notices that none of the passengers in the other car are wearing seatbelts, making the event of a crash deadlier, he leans out of the window a little, "Hey, this was a stupid idea in the first place, but this is getting dangerous, so how about we call this a draw!?"

"Hah, I know what you're up to old man, but you ain't fooling me!"

Not a second later, Davenport sees a sign that says 'Construction Work Ahead' on the side of the road, "Hold on, Merle!" he says as he slams on the brakes, there's a horrible screeching metal sound as the car stops in its tracks, Davenport see the yellow car still driving, the driver seemingly unfazed while his friends start to freak out as they realize the danger that their in as they're fastly approaching the construction site, Davenport quickly snaps his fingers and the car stops inches away from the construction, the angle breathes a sigh of relief, he then turns to his friend, "You alright, Merle?"

The aforementioned daemon breathes heavily as he tries to regain his baring, his hands on the seat belt, his glasses slightly askew, and his back as far into the car seat as it can go, "Y-yeah, yeah I'm, I'm good," he puts a slightly shaky hand on Davenport's shoulder, "P-promise me y-you'll never do that again,"

The angle nods, "Yeah, I promise."

Merle sighs in relief "good," they both see the other car and its passengers still there, the young man appearing to be trying to get the car to start again, with his other slightly shaky hand, Merle snaps his fingers and a cop car suddenly drives up to the car, Davenport turns to Merle who just shrugs, "Karmic justice," the officer gets out of his car and tells the four kids to get out of the car, they do and the cop starts to question them, Davenport decides that he's seen enough, he turns the car back on, turns it around and drives off.

A few minutes later and Merle has fully calmed down, "Feel better?" Davenport askes.

Merle sighs, "Yeah, I'm good, Christ, I can't believe you actually did that, didn't think you had it in you,"

"Heh, yeah, didn't think so either, but I just couldn't let him get away with saying what he said to you,"

"You didn't have to do that, Dav, I've heard way worse than that, I'm used to it,"

"You shouldn't be," Davenport says as he turns a corner, "Nobody deserves that kind of abuse, especially you,"

"Demon, remember,"

"Still, your a good guy, Merle, and what that cocky whippersnapper said was just wrong,"

Merle chuckles, "Well, thanks for defending my honor," he smiles softly, "And for what you said,"

"No problem,"

As they drive for a few more hours, enjoying the sights and each other's company, the sky turns pink and orange as the sun goes down, and soon the stars and moon come out as the sky turns black and blue.

The two are parked at the edge of town, laying on top of the hood of the car watching the stars as the radio plays, Davenport swung by the drive-thru earlier for dinner (they don't need to eat, being ethereal beings, but they enjoy it anyway,) the angel point to the sky, "Oh, look Merle, Orion's out, see those three stars, then then the two stars below them, then the three stars above?"

"Mhm," Merle says through a bite of burger, "you make that one?" he says after swallowing.

Davenport shakes his head, "No, I was never that high ranking to have made any of them, my job was mostly sea life, I actually came up with the idea for the Kraken,"

Merle chuckles, "Wait, really?"

"Well, back when I first saw a squid, I told the guy, 'Hey, what if there was a giant version of this just roaming around the ocean', then in the 12th century I was in the Netherlands and heard stories of a squid of monsters proportions that's supposedly been sinking ships, of course it could have just been a coincidence, but still,"

Merle smiles, "No wonder you took a liking to it," he says, gesturing to the angles covered bicep where an old tattoo of an anchor wrapped by giant tentacles is.

Davenport smiles back, then looks back at the sky, pulling his knees to his chest, "I didn't make any of them, but I've always loved the stars, their just so beautiful, and so important, so many sailors have used them to guide themselves home, and many have written stories and even created mythologies on them," he picks up his cup and takes a sip of his coke, "they've inspired so many people, and have influenced so many to strive for a brighter future, they've already put a man in space and now they're playing to put one on the moon, can you imagine?"

Merle smiles loving at Davenport, he's heard many different version of this monologue, and he never gets tired of it, the first time he remembers Davenport doing this he stopped and apologized for rambling, but Merle reassured him that he liked hearing him talk, suddenly, as Merle is finishing his burger, he hears Davenport sighs, he sees him staring off into space lost in his own thoughts, he sighs again and lays down with his arms behind his head.

"Merle, do you think I'm a bad angel?" Davenport asks.

Merle turns to him, "What, of course not, you're an amazing angel, probably the best I've ever met!" he reassures him, "Jesus, where did this even come from?"

Davenport looks down, "Its, its nothing, just forget I said anything,"

"No, what got you thinking that?"

Davenport stays silent.

"Is it Gabrel?"

Davenport sighs, "Yesterday, I had to go to the office for an assignment I'll be working on soon, when I left, Gabrel notecet the brochure for the car in my pocket, he asked about it and I told him about it and I told him I was planning on buying one, then he started basically lecturing me on how all my earthly possessions and interests were interfering with my work, which isn't too unusual for him, but then he started to go off on how that's the cause of 'all my recent failures', whitch, first of all, in my entire over 5,000 year existence, I've only ever had one failed mission, and it was completely out of my controle, and second of all, my failure has nothing to due with my 'earthly possessions and interests', and god he is such a hypocrite, I know he gets his clothes professionally tailored and I've seen him reading fashion magazines, if he can have interests outside of work, then why can't I?"

Merle shakes his head, "People can be like that sometimes, hell, just last week at the grocery store I overheard the town pastor talking to some boys and telling them not to indulge in their new urges and desires, next day I saw him at the strip club,"

This gets a small laugh out of the currently melancholy angel, "Wait, really?"

"Yep, just tossing bills at girls, and that man doesn't make shit so that money probably came from the charity box,"

Davenport sucks in his teeth, "Yesh"

"Yeah, made sure to cause him so that something bad will happen to him, nothing deadly but you know, it's the mentality of 'it's only ok if I'm doing it, but if someone else does it it's wrong,' lucky we're smart enough to see through that bull shit."

This makes Davenport smile, but as soon as it arrives it falls, "It just got me thinking, am I really a good angel? I just, I don't know, I know I said I've only had one failed mission, but I've had so many close calls, so many times that the mission almost when south or times that I almost got discorporated, and there's so many un-angle things I've done, like spending ten years as a pirate caption, or befriending you,"

"Hey,"

"No offense, but I'm sure that befriending a demon was the worst thing I could have done as an angel, and you've influenced me to do a lot of things that Gabrel disapproves of, please don't get me wrong, I very much value our friendship, but, I don't know, I'm probably just being ridiculous,"

Merle lays there in silence for a few moments, then he rolls on his side, "So you've made a few mistakes, so what, I'm sure plenty of angels have messed up a mission or two before, that doesn't erase all the good you've done, and you've done so much good, hell I bet you've done more good then a hundred different angels," Merle says.

Davenport rolls to his side to face Merle, "You really think so?"

"I know so," Merle says, "your amazing, Dav, and smart and sweet and gor," he stops himself from saying 'gorgeous', "great, just great, and whatever that square says won't change anything, and hell, even if you are a bad angel, at least you're a good person,"

Davenport smiles softly, "Thank you, Merle, and you're a good person too,"

"Hey, I'm a demon, I'm not supposed to be good,"

He giggles, "Ah yes, an evil demon that does such diabolical things like opening a community garden in your own yard,"

"An illegal community garden, which means that everyone that uses it is breaking the law,"

"And whos gave out more flowers then he's sold,"

"They technically took them without buying them so technically they shoplifted them, again, breaking the law,"

"And who punishes people who deserve it,"

"Brought misfortune to innocent people,"

"And who's encouraged me to try new things like opera or boxing,"

"Encouraging you to rebel,"

Davenport giggles again and rolls on his back, his hands resting on his chest, "Yeah, so evil and diabolical,"

Merle chuckles and rolls on his back with his arms behind his head, they lay there in comfortable silence for a while, the late spring air is warm and the sky is so beautiful, the soft sound of a guitar starts to play as another song starts to play on the radio.

~I don't want to set the world on fire

I just want to start a flame in your heart

In my heart I have but one desire

And that one is you

No other will do~

Merle has heard this song many times before, but on this night the lyrics really hit him. Merle isn't what you would call a good demon, he's screwed up more than half of the missions that he's been assigned to, even though he tries to complete them as adequate as possible, whether out of his own incompetence or his conches getting the better of him, he's known around Hell for being shit at his job, which is why he always gets assigned the easy jobs, 'sleep with this guy, sleep with this girl, maybe cause a scandal,' basic stuff and even then he's messed some up, so the fact that he got assigned to corrupted an angel dispute all of his past screw ups he'll never get, and of course the angel he gets assigned to is the best damn angel he's ever met, the same angel that's been his friend for the past 40 years, the same angel that should have smited him when they first met, but, for whatever reason, he didn't, and he stuck around, something that Merle is truly grateful for, even though he knows he doesn't deserve it.

~I've lost all ambition for worldly acclaim

I just want to be the one you love

And with your admission that you feel the same

I'll have reached the goal I'm dreaming of

Believe me

I don't want to set the world on fire

I just want to start a flame in your heart~

But there's a selfish part of him that wants more, more than just friendship, hell more than just sex, he wanted something real, he wants to hold the angel's hand, call each other pet names, tell him sweet nothings, maybe even kiss him, the kinda things he sees other people do and pretends to gag at for being sappy and gross but secretly yearns for.

But Merle knows that Davenport would never want that, not with him at least, so he just has to be grateful for what they have now, they have a good thing going on and Merle's happy about that, no need to ruin a good thing.

"It's getting late, we should get back," Merle is pulled out of his thoughts when Davenport speaks up.

"Yeah, we should," Merle says, a little disappointed, they finish off their food, throw away their trash, get back in the car, and drive off. It takes about a half-hour before getting back to the shop, Davenport parks in front and Merle opens the passenger door and walks around the car to the driver's side, "I had a really nice time tonight, Dav," he says.

"Me too, Merle," Davenport says, "And thank you for what you said earlier, you really meant it right?"

"Every word,"

He smiles softly, "Well, thank you again, it means a lot to me,"

"No problem, Dav, you get home safe, ok?"

"Of course, good night Merle,"

"Night Skipper," Merle says, then Davenport turns the car back on and drives off, Merle smiles, turns and walks back to the shop, a little disappointed that the night had to end but happy that it happened anyway.