2020 Wilma: My semester is over a week early and I have no pressing responsibilities... is this what free time feels like? Anyways I'm kinda bored of all my long term projects that I want to get published at some point rn and really just want to do some non serious writing so I guess this is what I'm hyperfocusing on atm.
2022 Wilma: Dude, we graduated and we LOVE all the free time that comes with it.
2020: Thank God.
The winter wore on, Angeline's days spent holed up in the manor to avoid the cold, reading in the library or sitting in the parlor and watching the never ending winter landscape out the window. It was snowy winter, the days often overcast, the clouds threatening to drop their condensation on London at any moment.
Today was one such day that Angeline found herself in the parlor, sipping tea to keep her warm and occupying herself with a book, as usual. Idly, she wondered if Pluto would be alright in the snow.
The new year seemed altogether so far away, yet far too close. Angeline couldn't remember the face that had once so frequently haunted her nightmares- Ash's face didn't show in her dreams anymore, but he was certainly still there. Dreaming of the angel without a face was almost worse, and she often woke to Sebastian standing over her bed, worried, with a hand on her shoulder from his efforts to wake her.
This was the only indication she had that Sebastian still cared. After Christmas, he remained distant from Angeline, making her already lonely existence even more isolated. He had pulled away from her so abruptly, had spoken to her so coldly, that she didn't dare seek him out. Even during their visit with the Queen Sebastian stayed silent and stoic, further driving her away. She did not know if her company was welcome and she preferred not to find out.
Had the cat been a mistake and scared him away? She saw the creature now and then, seeming to be very well fed and loved, but for all she knew the cat with her namesake- if she was even still named after her- was cared for by the rest of the chaotic and misguided but kind staff.
Angeline often felt as though she was alone in the massive manor, the other occupants worried about their own tasks and seldom with time to keep her company. She knew Sebastian was still close, she could feel his presence in the shadows, a constant which told her that he was always there, always watching over her. Angeline knew that Sebastian unwavering presence should frighten her, but she found it to be an immense comfort to her. Did she not know better, she'd think he was her guardian angel. She certainly would have felt that way if she had known him before the night her family perished, when she was still so naïve.
Angeline was bored. Not just now, but all the time. Her life was nothing but day after day shut inside the manor, the walls providing an impressive performance of safety theatre. She did feel safe within the grounds of the manor but Ash, though not recently, had tried many times to infiltrate the property with only Sebastian standing in his way. Often Angeline found herself wondering what would have happened during that night that felt so long ago had Ciel not woken to find her when Ash showed himself, putting her to sleep and pulling her out of bed through the wretched song about London Bridge.
"A penny for your thoughts?"
Angeline gasped and turned to face the newcomer in the room, though at this point she'd recognize that voice anywhere. "About time I saw your face," She said to Sebastian, who was now sitting in a chair beside the chaise she occupied. Juliet hopped onto the chair after him, turning in several circles in his lap before settling down with a yawn. Sebastian stroked her behind an ear as she purred from her spot curled up on his lap.
"I apologize for what happened at Christmas," Sebastian began. "And not keeping you company. I thought it best to stay away, as it might make it easier for you. You see... you haven't said it, but it appears to me that you have a fondness for me as I have for you, and I don't want my presence to confuse you. But," He continued before Angeline could argue. "I cannot stand seeing you look so lonely and sad anymore. And you could never be a mistake."
"You can't keep saying things that hurt me then disappearing," Angeline said. "My forgiveness will not continue to come easily."
"I understand," Sebastian said. "And I am sorry. I would not blame you for being weary of me."
"I am," Angeline said. "Yet I find myself unable to find the resolve not to forgive you."
"I am grateful under any circumstance for your willingness to let me remain your companion," Sebastian said.
When Angeline remained silent, he leaned forward in his seat, his apologetic gaze meeting hers. "Please, Angeline," he said. "I cannot spend the rest of my eternal existence with more regrets- especially when it comes to you. I will beg, if I must, for you to see me as a friend again."
Friend, Angeline thought bitterly. They had been friends- but Angeline knew that she had already sacrificed her eternal soul, had already begun falling for him as something else. There was no saving herself now. If the only way to keep Sebastian in her short human life- before she was sentenced to an eternity of suffering- was as a friend, she would take it. She had to make sure the sacrifice was worth it.
So they would continue, she supposed, acting as though they were friends. They would continue to pretend that they were not, and did not want to be, more than friends despite the obvious and overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Silenced had lapsed between the two as these thoughts raced through Angeline's mind- and not the sort that Sebastian had grown accustomed to and fond of. Their silences were usually companionable; peaceful. This one was tense, a silence Sebastian couldn't stand. "A penny for your thoughts, miss Redthorne?" He asked again.
"Does living forever get tiresome?" Angeline asked. "These days I spend in the manor, they all feel the same. Surely you must feel that way too?"
"Yes," Sebastian said. "I often find immortality tiresome and boring. The only lifetimes I can say I've enjoyed and found much more exciting have been the lifetime in which I met Sophia, and... and now. With you."
"You say you're trying not to confuse me, then you woo me by saying I'm the most exciting thing to happen to you since the sixth century?"
"It is selfish, I'll admit, saying this to you, but yes. Though I am practically invincible, the young Earl has a talent for putting himself into life threatening situations and it is an incredibly taxing task to protect him. You are a breath of fresh air."
"Do you not find it even more taxing now? Having two people to protect?"
"You make it easy, dear Angeline."
Angeline scoffed, turning way from Sebastian and covering her reddening face.
"It's true," Sebastian said simply.
"I don't doubt that," Angeline replied. "And that is precisely the issue."
The two sat in understanding silence, watching the heavy clouds roll by. It would surely begin to snow soon.
"Can we go on a walk?" Angeline asked, her voice piercing the silence in the parlor.
"It'll snow soon. I fear you've begun to lose your mind, miss Redthorne," Sebastian said with an amused smile.
"I'm afraid so. Entirely bonkers," Angeline concurred.
"But I'll tell you a secret," Sebastian continued.
Angeline smiled. "All the best people are."
"I can say that this century is producing some of the most impressive literature I've seen," Sebastian said. "And you are exceptionally good at keeping up with your reading."
Sebastian stood, crossing over to Angeline and holding his arm out to her. "Shall we?"
Angeline took Sebastian's arm and they exited the manor. "I forgive you, by the way," Angeline said. Sebastian visibly relaxed at her words. She knew, despite what she had said about her forgiveness being hard to come by, that she would always forgive him.
It was chilly outside, the wet cold quickly seeping into Angeline's bones, but she didn't mind. The fresh air felt nice, and Angeline couldn't remember the last time she wasn't breathing in the air of the stuffy manor. Even opening the windows didn't give her the relief she felt now. She looked at the bare branches of the trees, the air around her and the rest of the manor silent. The flowers were long gone, even the dead buds Angeline had seen when she arrived trimmed by Finny, useless to their spectators when their beauty faded, cast away when their purpose was served. Angeline's purpose was the Queen's pawn to defeat Ash. In what manner would she be cast away when her part had been played?
"I fear you'll fall ill in this cold, miss Redthorne," Sebastian commented. "You haven't been in the best of health as of late."
He's right, thought Angeline. Since the first day she started feeling unwell, she would wake up often under the weather. Some days were better than others, but as of late she spent many hours resting in bed. Sometimes a full day would go by without her stepping foot outside of bed. She couldn't find it in herself to care much, as she was convinced that she had little options to how she could live her life. The first was to succumb to Ash, or be taken by force, eventually to join him by his side, whether she had a say or not. The second was living in the manor forever, never leaving this limbo of avoiding Ash, never quite safe enough to leave Sebastian's careful watch. Third was that Sebastian eventually did conquer Ash and Angeline was cast out of the manor with nowhere to go. Fourth was succumbing not to Ash, but her feelings toward Sebastian, and leaving her life behind. Though Sebastian did claim to care for her deeply, she wasn't sure he would want her joining him in his immortality for eternity. Truth be told, she wasn't sure if she wanted it either.
Snow began to fall, first slowly, as if tiny kisses were falling onto Angeline's face from the heavens. With only those four options, she didn't see how it mattered that she was suddenly so frequently sick.
"What is on your mind, Angeline?" Sebastian asked.
The snow began falling harder, fat snowflakes blocking her view of the garden and the frozen water melting to run down Angeline's face, soaking her outer layer of clothing and threatening to seep into her skin. "I'm afraid I am terribly confused."
Sebastian quickly lead Angeline back inside the manor. In the foyer, Sebastian took Angeline by the shoulders. "You worry me, Angeline. What thoughts ail you? What is your confusion?"
Angeline's teeth chattered from the cold, snowlfakes stuck in her hair and eyelashes, her shoes tracking water onto the pristine floor. She looked up at Sebastian, weary but comforted all the same by his familiar but so clearly inhuman crimson eyes. "You," She said, the word coming out in a breath between her teeth chattering. "You are my confusion."
Sebastian sighed. "Come," He said, taking Angeline's hand and turning away to lead her further into the manor. "We must get you warm."
She stood her ground, tugging at Sebastian's hand to signal at him to turn around and look at her. He could easily get her inside if he wanted, he was much stronger than her, but he turned toward her nonetheless. He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to say something. Instead, she stood on her toes to press her lips against Sebastian's. He didn't stop her, only held her waist by one hand.
The doors to the manor swung open forcefully, the howling wind sounding through the foyer and rain pelting Angeline and Sebastian's already damp clothes. Angeline broke the kiss in fright, instinctively holding onto him tightly.
"Get your filthy demon scum hands off her!"
"You are in no position to be making demands," Sebastian said cooly, wrapping his arm further around Angeline's waist and pulling her toward him, away from Ash's close reach.
Angeline cursed herself for letting her guard down. She should have known that Ash wouldn't wait until November to strike again.
"Your pitiful attempts tire me, angel. How many times do you have to lose before you quit?" Sebastian asked. He leapt from the foyer into the parlor, then onto a balcony, setting Angeline down on the floor of the second story. Quickly, as Ash took suit, he left a reassuring kiss on her forehead before leaping down from the balcony, meeting the angel mid-air for battle.
Angeline stood, paralyzed as she watched the two otherworldly creatures brawl. She took spectacle for only a moment, then turned to flee down the hallway in pursuit of somewhere to hide. While Sebastian was incredibly deft, strong, and could leap unbelievable distances, the angel did take advantage with a fight in mid-air, seeing as he had something Sebastian did not: wings. Heart racing, Angeline turned to look at Sebastian just in time to see Ash throw him to the ground. "Sebastian!" Angeline exclaimed, startled.
With half the distance to cover and wings to aid him, Ash flew at Angeline, beating Sebastian to her and catching up to her from behind. Ash wrapped his arms around Angeline, holding her arms tight to her sides. He hoisted her into the air, flying toward a large window. "No!" Angeline yelled, trying in a futile attempt to wriggle out of Ash's grip. As they drew closer, the window burst open and Ash flew through it.
Angeline watched helplessly as she was carried away, gasping when Sebastian appeared outside the window. It was too late, even Sebastian couldn't leap the distance it would take to catch them.
"Angeline!"
"Sebastian!" Angeline screamed, watching as the window, and Sebastian, disappeared behind a thick curtain of falling snow.
2020 Wilma: OOOOOOOOOH! Now that I got the boring stuff out of the way last chapter, I feel like I'm finally in a groove again! Let's see how long this frequent updating lasts. Hopefully until the story is done, ha.
2022 Wilma: ...Yeah, we deleted the boring last chapter.
2020 Wilma: Wow. Rude.
2022 Wilma: We had to rewrite it, which was annoying, if that makes you feel any better. We're almost done for real! Just a few more chapters and we'll have finished our decade old story.