Here is Chapter 7. Still in flashback mode. I really enjoyed writing the dialogue for both Celeste and Gabriel. May the fluff ensue ;)
Celeste made her way to the brown, leather couch and upon the insistence of Gabriel she sat down. Her body was rigid, her hands were clamped firmly on her lap.
"Are ya hungry? Because I am," Gabriel waited expectantly for Celeste to tell him what she wanted. He knew more about this kid then he wanted to let on at this moment in time. Miserably Celeste shrugged her shoulders as her eyes continued to dart around the room.
"Relax. This is a house not a prison. Seriously kid your wish is my command. Anything you want you can have," Gabriel made his tone exciting and he gave her a mischievous wink when Celeste had frowned at being called kid. Although she didn't dare complain, besides kid was wonderful compared to the other soul destroying words she had been called throughout her life so far.
"Voila popcorn," Gabriel declared as he snapped his fingers.
In his hands was a large plastic bowl filled to the brim with steamy, salty popcorn.
Popping one into his mouth, Gabriel offered the bowl to her but Celeste shook her head. She was overwhelmed by this stranger's kindness. All she feared about archangels had been wiped out in a couple of minutes, especially when Gabriel had saved her.
"Thank you. No, not for the popcorn, for saving me," Celeste murmured as her eyes shone with gratitude.
"Don't mention it kid, Celeste. Now are you sure you don't want any of this sweet, delicious, mouth-watering popcorn? Cause if you don't eat some of it. I will eat all of it," Gabriel teasingly addressed Celeste as he passed the bowl under her chin.
Wafting up the wonderful smell hit Celeste's nose and her shoulders involuntarily lifted upward.
"That's it. Breathe it in," Gabriel mocked her lightly before finally picking up a piece of popcorn as a cunning thought entered his mind. "Hand," Celeste obediently held out a hand, palm facing upwards, it trembled slightly. "Mouth," Gabriel quickly said and Celeste opened her mouth whilst glancing down at her hand in confusion. With his lighting quick reflexes, Gabriel flipped the piece of popcorn gently into Celeste's mouth before she had a chance to react. "Score!" Gabriel smiled smugly as his eyes danced with mischief and he punched both fists in the air. He then sat down next to Celeste and slopped backwards into the couch.
Celeste chewed the popcorn and felt something tug at the corner of her mouth. She tried with all her will to hold it back, but she could not prevent a smile from showing and then a hearty laugh pierced her lips. Gabriel grinned; he always thought children had the most adorable laughs and Celeste's was no exception. Its rhythm was like the pealing of bells.
"You should laugh and smile more often Celeste. You have a really pretty smile. That is what life should be about, laughter and fun," Gabriel said genuinely as he put the bowl in between them. "How about we watch a movie? You like horror films?" Gabriel asked as he turned on his flat screen TV and conjured up The Woman in Black DVD. Upon reading her distraught expression Gabriel smiled and said in a high-pitched tone, "Disney it is then."
Celeste raised an eyebrow quizzically and Gabriel explained,
"One of my little sisters is a huge Disney nut. This is her favourite, I have a feeling you will like it too."
Gabriel stood up and placed Finding Nemo into the DVD player.
The beginning of the film made Celeste nestle in closer to Gabriel when Coral was killed. Rather than questioning her actions Gabriel had slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to his side. For the rest of the film the pair had been mindlessly eating the popcorn and when the film had finally finished it was dark. Yawning Celeste stretched and Gabriel smiled gently.
"Alright time to get some sleep kid,"
Celeste regarded the archangel with surprise,
"You mean I can stay?" she whispered in disbelief.
"Well I uh, I have a spare room and yeah. If you want to of course. I am not going to force you or anything. I guess it gets kind of lonely here all by yourself," Gabriel responded awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head.
Tears began to brim in Celeste's eyes and Gabriel felt his heart melt. Maybe he had been too forward and he had frightened her?
"Hey, hey. What's wrong?"
"No one has ever been this nice to me before," Celeste admitted as her body shook with the force of her sobbing. Her hands raced to her eyes as she desperately wiped at her tears.
Gabriel realised that the poor kid must be overwhelmed having all of this attention placed onto her. He could only begin to imagine the hell she must have gone through due to what she was.
"I think someone is tired," Gabriel said in a babyish tone in an attempt to lighten the mood.
To his surprise Celeste's eyes flashed indignantly and she pouted,
"I want to talk for a while!"
Gabriel didn't have the heart to say no Oh if looks could kill my house would be a crime scene right now, Gabriel thought to himself as he chuckled inwardly.
"What about?"
"Why did you save me?"
"You mean from Commundos?"
Celeste nodded her head vigorously.
"Cause the guys a jerk."
"Who is he? Isn't he your brother or something?"
"Not exactly. Well," Gabriel struggled to find the right words to explain to Celeste how he did not view Commundos to be his brother for various reasons.
"So you don't consider him to be your brother. Like he is different," Celeste voiced her thoughts and Gabriel looked stunned at Celeste's ability of being able to sense his inner emotions.
"He is the general of one of our armies. A cruel, hard task master. I swear he coined that term. The reason why I intervened is because I pitied you. I would pity anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with Commundus," Gabriel said in a solemn voice.
"Even your enemies? Such as me," Celeste murmured as her bottom lip wobbled. She had been foolish to think Gabriel actually had a soft spot for her. Who was she kidding? She barely knew the guy!
"Now hold on there. What gave you that idea? I do not consider you to be my enemy," Gabriel scolded Celeste gently, who gave a watery smile in return.
"Why aren't you in Heaven?" Celeste suddenly asked, this question had been floating around her head for a while and she really wanted to understand why a powerful archangel was living on Earth seemingly by his own free will.
"Let's just say things upstairs are not so good at the moment. A multitude of potential problems and no sound solutions to any of them. All the arguing was giving, me, a, headache so I decided to skip town, and head down here for some peace and quiet," Gabriel admitted casually.
"But you got me," Celeste said apologetically and Gabriel frowned.
"You really beat yourself up about a lot of things, don't ya? None of this is your fault. You didn't ask for help. I made that choice. And for the record I'm glad I did," Gabriel said honestly.
"I have some questions of my own for you," Gabriel began but upon noting the reluctance and fear in Celeste's eyes he quickly changed his mind, "But right now I think we both need some sleep. The doors right over there is you would rather go back to your pack though. I don't care," Gabriel pretended as if he didn't mind but inside he hoped with everything he had that Celeste would stay.
Celeste did not even glance over at the door. Instead she headed into the spare room.
"Apologies that it is bare. If you decide to stay here permanently I will fix it up. Goodnight kid, get some sleep. Tomorrow you and I have got a whole lotta fun in store!" Gabriel grinned from ear to ear as he walked over to Celeste, who had disappeared under the covers, clearly relishing in the fact she had a soft bed to sleep in.
"Stop calling me kid. I don't know why, but I find it irritating," Celeste mumbled with a trace of attitude.
Gabriel smirked, Boy once this kid comes out of her shell we are going to have so much fun together.
"Well I guess I will have to find some sort of nickname for you kid. Your name is sweet, but I prefer to give those I know well a new name. It is kind of my thing," Gabriel arched an eyebrow as Celeste rolled over sleepily and addressed him with her eyes shut,
"Whatever you say Mister Gabriel."
Gabriel cringed and said with mock sternness,
"Oh no. You are not going to be formal with me. Not while you're living under my roof. Just call me Gabriel,"
"I only wanted to show you how annoying it is to be called something you don't like. I guess kid makes me feel, well, like a kid," Celeste responded pointedly.
"You are a kid. I don't know about human years, but considering angel years you are only on the brink of becoming a child," Gabriel quickly stopped and internally kicked himself. Luckily Celeste seemed to have drifted off to sleep already.
Damn it that was close!
It was true that Gabriel knew more about Celeste and her kind then he cared to let on. But now was not the time to reveal that to her. No. Right now he wanted to build a bond with her and keep her safe at all costs. In time he hoped that a bond would grow between them.
Although Gabriel was being open with Celeste when he admitted it could get lonely living by yourself, he never really let on how isolated he felt. And now he had been given a chance to have someone in his life he was not going to blow it. He was pleased it was Celeste. If any kid deserved to be given a proper home then it was her.