Hellooo.
It's been ages since I've updated this story and I decided to go on, after all in Italian I have still many chapters ready it's just a matter of translation… and maybe it could be the proper time to finally go on writing the new chapters.

I don't even know if someone still recalls it, if you want to read it for the first time, you're more than welcome ^^

Correction: not only I have Italian chapters ready, I still have to post here something lie 15 updates that I err.. forgot? ^^'
Let's start with this one, even if I'm sure no one is following this story anymore, which is more than understandable, don't worry.. but I'm doing it anway, cos my BellDom fever is back (check my WOTP era one shot called 'My first choice' if you don't believe me, lol) , so no matter what XD

Chapter 26: Summary:

Carnival is coming!

Not betaed, I hope my English is not to horrible… :/ I apologise.

You could find tons of references to songs and real stuff in this part, hope you won't mind ;)

Chapter XVI II: We all need a little change

"Wait, maybe I can help you!" Matt smirks, sort of enlightened, making him lie down on the bed, face down.

"No, Matt, I don't think that…" Dom protests, while Matt crawls upon his back, grabbing the tip of his wings and pushing them into two opposite directions.
It's only a matter of seconds, before both of them jolt, victims of a very unpleasant shake.

"Ouch! I begin to think that my Boss spends too much time with yours!" Dominic complains, even more aching than before.

"Yeah, and I don't know if this amuses me or makes me worry!" Matt grumbles, healing the light burns that he got, before he resumes taking care of his angel.
"You'll see… it's only a temporary punishment…" He comforts him, caressing his hair.

"I don't know; I had never been punished so far." The other grumbles, while he tries to sit up on the bed and rests his wings against the headboard of the bed, without too much pressure.

"It's funny, no matter how impossibly tired I am, I just can't sleep!" He laughs about his condition, and then he glances at the devil, who is already lying down on the bed. "I'm sorry, Mattie, but tonight I won't be able to give you my wing." He adds, sorrowful.
Matthew stares at him bewildered.

- He's suffering like hell and his main concern is that he can't give his wing to me who are more than fine? – He wonders, puzzled.

"Oh, don't worry." He smiles at him, sliding closer to the angel. "I've just happened to find another very comfortable bed." He says, resting his head on the blond's lap, who smiles at the brunet.

"'Night, Matthew." Dom murmurs, switching the light off.

He tries to close his eyes and sleep a little even in that oh so uncomfortable position, but the constant pangs he feels make him yelp upset, preventing him from having some rest.

Also Matt realizes that and he parts from him, switching the light on.

"It's useless. I just can't sleep, knowing that you can't. I … I don't find it fair." He mutters, sitting on the bed as well.
"Matthew! But this is…" The angel looks at him, touched.
"Sympathy! Yeah, I know.. I shouldn't even feel anything barely close to this!" Matt mutters.

So, no matter if they're both dying to sleep, they spend the night awake, talking, with Matthew recalling the funniest moments or the most important ones they have been though together. Dom talks with him about new stuff and learns from Matt equally new stuff.

The more Matt speaks to him, the less Dom minds about his painful pangs and Matthew has figured out that.

It's a very big relief that, when the sun is about to lazily rise up, Dominic's wings unglue, regaining their typical softness and elasticity.
Dom and Matt don't waste any time and lie down to sleep during those few but precious and calm hours that are left to them.

Despite every pessimistic expectation, when Chris arrives to wake them up he already finds them awake, lively and willing to do lots of stuff.

"Very good, because we have to work hard. You all heard Miss Howard, didn't you? She gave us two, no, wait, one month to bring five unpublished songs to her and so far we just have two completed songs ." Chris recaps, sitting on the sofa with a notebook, ready to take some important notes.

"Correction: we already have two songs!" Dominic makes him notice, cheerfully.

"Less optimism and more ideas, Dom!" Chris strikes back.

"Hey, wait a minute, shouldn't you supposed to be at work now?" Matthew questions him.

"Not today, I asked for a day of leave, and tomorrow I'll give Mr. Sober my month of advance notice." Chris explains. "But don't you dare change topic. C'mon, guys, it's brainstorming time!" he exhorts them.

The two supernatural creatures get rid of the bed and sit close to their protégé.

"I got it!" Matt grins enlightened, after a few minutes of pondering. "Why don't you sing about people that will burn in Hell for all their sins?" He sneers expectantly.
"I don't know, Matt, I don't think it's the best feather in the cap!" Chris babbles unsure, fidgeting with his pen.

"That's right, we could do much better." The angel agrees. "Chris, you should sing for absolution!" He suggests him, thrilled.
"Oh, please! I'd like to meet someone who is so pathetic to sing about such a boring topic!" Matthew snorts. "Chris, don't mind at him!" He adds.

"I wouldn't accept anyway. I mean, Dom, it's a really good idea." He congrats. "But I'm looking for something less demanding."

"No, Matt, it's useless that you insist, I'll never proclaim myself God in one of our songs." Chris sighs, exasperated, after more than one hour they spent suggesting stuff.
"Wise choice, sonny, you're a good guy. I'm sure that, despite his endless clemency, my Big Boss wouldn't be happy about it." Dominic states.

"Coward! If it was only a song of mine, I would do that!" Matthew mutters, insulted.

"What about a good, quiet love song? If we finish it for Valentine's day, I can sing a preview to Kelly…" The human suggests, already daydreaming about it.
"Christopher, no distractions!" Dominic reproaches him.

"A love song before Valentine's day? Geez, big guy, could you be any more banal than this?" The devil rolls his eyes.

"I like love, it's such a great theme for a song!" Dominic approves, thrilled.

"Oh, surprise, surprise!" The brunet snorts. "C'mon, Chris, ask him for help, because his freedom comes naturally, because he resonates stupid happiness; no matter what he does, he's utterly unable to hate anything, he resets envying, because he's so stupidly beloved by everyone, they watch him from above…" Matt rants, without even being aware of that.

Chris gets up from his sofa, sort of enlightened.

"Matthew, please, take all the time you need, but repeat everything to me, word by word." He spurs him, sitting at the piano, ready to take notes on a sheet of paper.
"Huh?" The devil frowns at him.

"This is very brilliant material for an unpublished song, I just have to fix something, and it will turn out amazing!" The bassists explains, excited.

Dominic is still shocked by all the things Matthew said about him, which more or less can be considered good things.

It takes them only a couple of hours to obtain very satisfying lyrics, and then Chris invites Matt to reach him at the piano.

"Which music do you think it would suit better to such lyrics?"

The devil starts to compose his answer, pressing the keys of the piano.

As he listens to him enraptured, Dominic thinks about how the drums could accompany the song, while Chris is already experimenting with his bass.
At the end of the morning, tired but satisfied after all that hard work, the three guys can consider it a very well done third unpublished song.

"So, guys, how do we want to name it? I was thinking about 'Everything about you' " Chris suggests, before starting to cook the lunch.

Matthew glances at Dominic, recalling that river he keeps blathering about.

"No, Chris, let's name it 'Bliss'."
-

Days go by, Valentine's day – among Chris's gift for Kelly and the song he sang to her in first preview and left the girl speechless – is a total success; but with some precautions also Matt and Dom find a way to spend some time together, without the devil forcing the angel to do anything he doesn't feel ready yet for.

"Hey, guys, it's going to be Carnival soon!" Chris rejoices, the morning after, pointing at the calendar. "Finally, for once, you'll be free to display your natural aspect and the only risk you run is to win the award for the best costumes!" He goes on, surprised when he sees his two listeners shaking their head.

"Too easy, it wouldn't be in the real spirit of Carnival!" Dom asserts.

"Besides, we could never have a chance like that again!" Matt chuckles.

Chris stares at them, frowning.

"Wait a minute, what are you two planning to dress up?"

Dom and Matt exchange a look and smile in a way that can't bring to anything good.

"Well, you know, we called Kelly before." The brunet announces.

"She's coming here with all the necessary!" The blond informs him.

When the bell rings, Chris doesn't even need to find out who it is.
As a matter of fact, Kelly rushes inside, holding a box full of stuff.

"Thanks for calling me, guys, I adore this kind of things. Trust me; I'm going to do a masterpiece!" She grins, placing the box on the floor.

"Oh, I forgot to say: Paul will have a costume party at the Madness. Not only he doesn't expect you all to dress up, but he wants you as the headliner band! So, keep free for next Saturday!" she informs them.

"A Carnival party?" Chris repeats, in disbelief.
"Yep, and you can't refuse, not if I'm going to make you dress up like this!" The girl smirks, drawing out a Captain America costume. She perfectly knows how Chris is fond of that super hero.

"Wow, it's amazing!" Chris rejoices, thrilled.

"I knew you would love it. I'm going to dress up like Wonder Woman!" She assures.

Matthew and Dominic take a mental note about asking more info about it later.

"Alright, now let's take care of you two, my dear little angel and devil!" She smiles.
If Chris was drinking he would spit it all on the floor, but lucky for him, he's not drinking.
"How… how did you just call them?" He wonders, but then he catches a glimpse of the box, where he sees a pair of stuffed white wings and a black, plastic fork.
He figures everything out.

"Please, tell me this is not happening!" He rolls his eyes, while his custodians innocently smile.

"Dominic, go try this suit on!" Kelly turns to the angel, throwing a tight, red, suit to him. "And you, Matthew, tell me if this tunic fits or it's too large." She goes on, handing another specific cloth to the devil.
"Oh no, it's even worse than I guessed!" Chris grumbles, puzzled, while he rubs his face with his hands.

In a bunch of minutes Dom and Matt are ready and their costumes prove to fit them to a T.

It's useless to say that Matt is unable to take his eyes off of Dom, which red and skin-tight is a very succulent temptation.
On the other hand, Dominic does nothing but staring at Matthew in all the baby blue of that tunic which set his eyes off in a very prohibitive way.

"Aww, you look wonderful, guys!" Kelly approves, while she fastens a belt with a stuffed, black devil tail around Dom's hips. "Now, the last arrangements." She singsongs, wrapping a cloak of black silk around his neck and placing a fork in his hand.

"No way! You're getting it wrong! Devils don't wear cloaks and the forks belong only to the archdevils, in order to mark the highest hierarchies!" Matthew points out.
"Excuse me, but what do you know about that?" Kelly turns to him, pissed off, especially after all the work she's doing for them.

"Right, what could I ever know about that?" Matthew rolls his eyes, making Dominic smile.

Dominic frowns when he sees Kelly handing a kithara to Matthew who studies that ancient instrument with curiosity.

"I beg your pardon, dear girl, but you're getting it wrong once again. Angels with kithara or arrows is only a common and untrue cliché. Besides, angels wear white tunics, not…"

Kelly confines herself to glaring at him, while she arranges a yellow, stuffed halo above Matthew's head.

"But after all, what could I ever know about angels?" Dom gives in, letting her do her job, while Matt observes the whole scene amused.

"Hey, Chris, this tool is not so bad," He turns to the bassist, already playing the kithara oddly well, although he has been practicing only for a few minutes. "What about using it for a song?"

"Maybe in our twentieth album, Matt!" Chris rolls his eyes, before admiring again his beloved super hero's costume.

"Okay, I'm done with you two!" Kelly states and the supernatural creatures thank her, before she goes cuddling her boyfriend a little bit.

"Hey you, evil, dirty devil, why don't you abandon everything and follow me in my Realm? We'll walk hand in hand, sing stupid songs, entwines stupid flowers and do a billion of other stupid things! What do you think?" Matthew has fun teasing Dom, while he mills around and plays the kithara.

"No way, it sounds so bloody boring! Why don't you follow me? We'll let flames surround us, we'll sin in every possible way and we'll challenge each other to find who condemns more souls to Hell; hmm?" Dominic plays his same game, hitting him playfully with his fork.

"Ahah, can you hear them?" Kelly giggles, pecking Chris' lips. "Those two seem to be born to play those roles!"

"Uh, no, baby, not really…" The bassist grumbles.

******************************* (In the meantime)

"Hey, One-Thousand-Feathers, keep free for next Saturday!" Tom commences, with authority.

"Someone should teach to you archdevils how proper phone calls start." Morgan patiently sighs, while he feeds his Shine with birdseeds and the nightingale thanks him with lovely chirpings.

"I give a fuck to proper phone calls! You heard me or what?" The brunet snaps.

"I did. Just… how? We go there hidden from anyone or…?"

"Nope, we'll act openly. It's time to act, it's time we made a speech to those idiots! You saw how well your punishment worked!" Tom snaps, smashing his hand against the desk so hard that the poor Shine flies away, scared.

"Well, at least it kept them apart for a while." The archangel grumbles.
"How long? Ten hours?" The archdevil makes fun of him. "We need drastic measures!"

"You're right, it's time to stand up, we can't hide behind a feather anymore!" His counterpart agrees.
"Your mother's dress." Tom corrects him.
"What?"
"That's the correct way to say it."

"Huh, well… in Heaven we say it differently…" Morgan shyly protests. "Besides, I don't even have a mother…"
"Oh, Morgy, you're so damn cute whenever you learn something new from me, we can say that I've got you wrapped around my finger!" Thomas smiles. "So, we have a deal. We'll spend Saturday night among the humans. Besides, did you see how those two dressed up? I have to immortalize such moment!" He chuckles.

"There you are, I knew you had a second goal1" The blond rolls his eyes.
"I always have." The other proudly sneers.

"But you heard them, didn't you? It's a costume party, so we can't go there normally dressed." The archangel reminds to him.
"You're right, we need a costume. Let's see… we could dress up like… like… " Tom mumbles, while he searches around the web with his Mac, until he sees a pop up of a dance house.

"That's it. We'll dress up like dancers!" The archdevil establishes.
"Uh? Dancers you said?" Morgan repeats, a little puzzled.

"Yep, why? Does it disturb you somewhat?"
"Huh, nope, it's a bit unusual, but it's going to be fun. Besides at Carnival some craziness is allowed!" The blond approves.
"That's the spirit!" The brunet giggles.

"So, Tommy, can you tell me which one?" The archangel murmurs.
"Which one what?" Tom frowns.
"The finger where you have me wrapped around." The blond points out, eager to have an answer.

"My middle finger, if you don't stop asking me such stupid questions!" The archdevil growls, annoyed.
"There's no need to be so rude!" Morgan hangs up, insulted.

It's the craved Saturday night and everyone is proudly showing their costume, without any shame.
While Paul congrats with the whole crowd, ready to send Chris and his band on stage, not very far from there, in a properly isolated place, Tom shows up.
He's waiting for Morgan, but he can't see him anywhere.

A few seconds later, the archdevil 's iPhone 666 starts to insistently ring, and the owner of the mobile just has to glance at the display, before picking the call up.
"Change of plans. You can go there, but I'm not joining you." Morgan blathers.

"What the fuck does it mean that you're not joining me? Move your holy ass and come here, NOW!" Tom thunders.

He hates waiting and he hates even more being dumped before a date, even if it's a job meeting.

"The- there was a mis-misunderstanding with the costume. Yo-you said dancers and I figured out something else…"

"What? I couldn't have been clearer: dancers. Hip-hop. Street style!" Thomas explains.

As a matter of fact, he's wearing very large black, baggy pants, an open, black hoodie that reveals his naked chest, set off by a very showy golden necklace with a flashy dollar shaped pendant, a black baseball cap with the visor turned over, showy rings on all his fingers and black sunglasses, no matter if it's already pitch dark outside.
And he's too cool for words.

"There are several kind of dancers and… I thought about something more hazardous…"

"Bloody Hell! Can you quit with all this bloody enigmas and reach me here? No matter how the hell you're dressed up!"

"Do you promise you won't laugh of me?" Morgan wonders.
"I promise." Tom assures.
"Then… turn around!"

As soon as the archdevil follows his advice, he stares at a very embarrassed Morgan who's wearing tights, a white tutu with a lot of wispy tulle and matched slippers.

TBC

Notes:

Do you believe me if I swear that I wrote it LONG before Panic Station video ? XD

I was double shocked when I saw Morgan dressed like a school girl , lol XD

About 'Bliss' well , I perfectly know that song wasn't created in that way, but… I found it cute, forgive me! ;P

Hope you'll like it, if you want let me know I'll be very happy, but probably after being so late I don't deserve anything, not even a kudos :/

However, I swear that I won't abandon this story, it can take me ages to update, but I always will, also because it's still so, so long, so much stuff still has to happen..

* sends hugs and runs away *