|Cemetery|

"You're quite sure it's okay for me to be just sitting here?" Madeleine asked Undertaker, sitting on her knees next to an open grave on a blanket. Holding a sandwich in one hand and a glass of water in the other, she really hoped no caretaker would suddenly pop up and start yelling at her for doing something like this.

Undertaker's head appeared from inside the open grave, his hat bouncing slightly on his head during the motion. "Of course it's fine! Anyway, there's nobody around here to notice us anyway. And you can just become invisible if someone shows up."

He had a point with that but still… "They can still see you, dummy. What if you'll get in trouble?"

Her new friend bent forward in the grave again, shoveling out dirt at a steady pace. "I won't. You can trust me, my dear."

Madeleine tilted her head, trying to make sense of the situation. Over the course of a week Undertaker had been nothing but forthcoming, though a tad strange. Still she kept coming back, to her own surprise without having been found out by anyone. Though sooner or later somebody would notice how she was never to be found in the Upper Realm during the daytime.

This small excursion had been an idea of Undertaker. He still had a job to do and though he enjoyed her 'haunting him', he couldn't neglect his responsibilities. Over the course of a week she'd watched as he made coffins and received people who had recently lost a relative. She'd nearly boxed him around the ears when he commented how one corpse would need 'an extra-large size'. After that she'd taken over talking to grieving clients, much to his amusement. And she also talked him out of forcing people to tell him jokes when all they wanted to do was cry. Or at least, they'd struck a compromise with that.

Though the sun was shining the light was far too feeble to provide any real warmth. Moreover the ground had been frozen, which should have made Undertaker's work harder. He'd surprised her by having no seeming effort digging the fresh grave.
She still couldn't put the puzzle together when it came to him. All she knew was that he really liked laughing and had a problem with recognizing personal space. And that he liked holding her hand when walking anywhere. Then again, there had been a few moments when she'd almost gotten lost in the city. Everything just looked different from the ground compared to when flying.

A sudden whine disrupted her thoughts. Looking to the side she noticed a dog sitting near a grave, whimpering occasionally. Undertaker had noticed as well, interrupting his work for the moment. "Don't worry about him. I had to bury his master there around two weeks ago. He comes to visit every day around this hour."

Madeleine studied the poor thing. The fur was a shiny dark brown, the eyes moist and intelligent. It was the whining that broke her heart, the soft whimpering stabbing pricks in her heart. "It's sad."

"Course it's sad, it lost the most important person in his life. But it's a dog, so it can't do anything about it," Undertaker commented without his usual titter. The corners of his mouth turned downward as he rested his chin on his arms.

"But I can feel the sadness," Madeleine replied, pressing a hand against her chest. Animals normally didn't emit much of a feeling but this one radiated such sorrow she felt tears welling up her eyes. Something inside her whispered again, suggesting she could be merciful and help the dog. She didn't have permission to alter a person' Reel but a dog she could do. Gathering power she lifted her hand towards the animal.

And was stopped by a cool hand, covered in dirt, the fingers circling around her wrist. Undertaker wasn't smiling this time. "Don't, dearest."

"But I can make it feel better. If it forgets about it's master, it can live happy again," she protested, looking at the dog again. Was it her imagination of was the same feeling of sorrow echoing from Undertaker's touch? A very faint feeling, like a glimmer in the dark.

"Don't. The happy times don't mean anything without the bad ones. And if you erase that man from the dog's memories it will be like he never existed." Undertaker sounded as if he didn't want her to argue with him. Moreover, it sounded as if he somehow meant more than just what he was saying.

Still she couldn't back off. The angel inside of her demanded she stopped this pain. "But it's the ones that are left behind that suffer the most! Wouldn't you want to be happy again after losing someone close to you?"

The question seemed to hit him hard, causing him to flinch. He took a long time before answering her, choosing his words as if he had trouble collecting them. "Being the one that's left behind is painful. But being the one that's forgotten is even worse. So… leave the dog be?"

Madeleine's gaze shifted between the whimpering dog and Undertaker. Somewhere deep inside her a voice was screaming she should do her duty. She was angel, created to stop sadness in the name of the Light. At long last she sighed and nodded, fighting the churning in her stomach every second. "If it's that important to you."

He smiled happily as if nothing had just occurred. "Good girl. Keep eating your sandwich now, not much of a picnic otherwise."

"You should eat too. It's no fun on my own."

"Graves don't dig themselves, now do they?" he retorted, letting go of her wrist. His touch left behind several bits of ground, dark against her skin.

She put down her glass of water, flicking her free hand. A shield formed underneath the grave in which Undertaker was standing. Another flick and the dirt rose up and seemingly flung itself from the grave. Undertaker raised his head, the stance of his mouth indicating he'd cocked an eyebrow at her. She shrugged. "Well, I can help you a tad. This is no fun on my own. Now, eat up!"

The angel offered the man the sandwich with a big smile, trying to forget about the previous sadness. Undertaker leaned his hands on the grass with a grin. "I'll eat if you feed it to me. Aaaaahhh…"
He opened his mouth wide, waiting for her to comply with his wishes.

She surprised him by using a shield to toss a clump of dirt at his head. When he yelped in surprise she giggled, hoping she wasn't blushing too much. "If you want food, you should just come and get it."

Apparently those were the magic words because he started to climb out of the hole. It was the almost wicked grin on his face that tipped her to get a head start. "Well then, ready or not, here I come!"

"Ah, my grocery list…" Undertaker mumbled, patting his pockets in search of the scrap of paper. With a smirk Madeleine pulled it out of her own pockets, holding the thin material between two fingers. "Now how did you come by that?"

"You almost left without it, seeing as how you were dealing with a costumer on your way out. Where would you be without me?" Madeleine grinned in response to Undertaker's smile as he took the paper from her.

He surprised her by patting her on the head, cool fingers slightly brushing past her skin. "Maybe I should hire you as my apprentice. I'm sure you'd do quite well."

"Mmmm… I think it'd be quite funny. I don't think people like me would do well running a normal business," Madeleine mused, thinking about it. Maybe soon she'd be allowed to do missions again. It was getting harder these days to slip away every time.

Undertaker laughed as he brushed her hair back into place. "You'd be surprised!"

"Then again, your business isn't quite so normal either," she noted. "So yeah… that might work out. But I think I'll stay with the job I have for now."

Undertaker kept snorting with laughter the entire way to the shop, causing her to smile as well. She was happy to see him in such good spirits. Finally they stopped in front of a shop that smelled sweet, but not like pastries. This was the scent of perfumes and powders. Not understanding Madeleine looked at Undertaker, raising an eyebrow.

"I need cosmetics to make all of my guests looking pretty for their final party. One of the last ones nearly drained all of my supplies," Undertaker lamented, not looking sorry in the least. The way he stood in front of the shop indicated that he relished the idea of being able to splurge on supplies.

Undertaker hurried her in the shop with a sweeping gesture of his arm, the smile on his face betraying how much fun he was having just thinking about his upcoming shopping spree. Madeleine had to sneeze the moment she was in the shop, remnants of facial powder making their way through her nostrils. The sound drew the attention of the clerks and costumers, the former ones looking less than pleased when they saw the new arrival.

"The usual, master Undertaker?" One of them asked, already making his way up to the counter.

Her companion waved a hand in front of his nose, dismissing the notion. "You have a new collection in. I'll browse."
Undertaker grabbed her by the arm, his nails slightly indenting her skin as he moved. Samples of rouge and lip paints were spread out on the table. While they moved the angel could hear the huffed whispers of several matrons, most of them commenting on having to share the shop with an undertaker of all professions.

"If you'd like, we have a powder in that perfectly compliments any skin tone," the other clerk offered, holding a brush that seemingly had been dipped in the stuff. Undertaker accepted the brush and, to Madeleine's great surprise, applied it to his own cheek.

"What do you think?" he asked her.

"W-well… I … you… what are you doing?"

"I'm as pale as a corpse, which is why I'm buying this. If it looks good on my skin it'll do my dear guests a world of good. Well?" Undertaker pressed her, examining his cheeks in the mirror. At least, she supposed he was. The Light only knew how he was able to see anything through his bangs.

Finally she gave her opinion. "It's not really blending well… I think…"

"You heard the lady. Maybe I should try this one," Adding the deed to his word Undertaker applied some white powder to his other cheek before asking her opinion again. When she confirmed it was better than the first one Undertaker waved the man away before he moved on to the lip paint.
Madeleine clasped a hand in front of her mouth when he applied the deep red on his own lips, making a kissy face at one of the mirrors available.

"Sir, please refrain from doing this," the unhappy clerk implored at once.

"I'm a professional dear boy. Don't worry about me, help your other clients," Undertaker at once shushed the man before leaning closer to the mirror.

Madeleine pinched Undertaker in the side of his stomach, making the man flinch. A smudge of lipstick went outside the line of his lips, making a ridiculous little mark. "You're being rude to people."
Maybe it was because of his age. Older people often had little idea of how to be kind, at least that was her impression. Wisely she kept this opinion to herself.

"I'm not being rude, I'm being honest. I have far more experience putting make-up on people than these people," Undertaker objected with a serious face.

Madeleine had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing at the sight. "Still rude. Now c'mere, you have a little spot…"
Undertaker bent forward under her instruction. With her thumb she gently wiped the red smudge away from his lips, spreading her other fingers across his cheek. He was cool underneath her touch, his skin surprisingly supple for what she had assumed to be an old man. For a moment they paused like that.
"I really can't read you. I don't even know how old you are, let alone how you know me."

He tapped her nose playfully. "I'm older than you think, let's keep it at that. But… not too old."

"Not too old for what?"

As an answer he took the hand that had cradled his face and ran the tips of her fingers past his lips. The angel felt something tickle in her stomach at the feeling of soft skin beneath her fingers. When he let go of her hand she at once thrust it in her pocket, trying to seem composed.

"Now then, would you care to help me? I'll need a model for this," Undertaker announced, holding a small jar of powder. "Don't worry, it'll look quite natural."

"I'm not so sure…"

"Trust me?"

Madeleine pursed her lips for a second before she closed her eyes. It was only makeup. What was the worse he could do to her? Gently he dabbed the brush across her eyelids, applying powder in smooth small strokes. With his free hand he cupped her cheek, making sure she kept perfectly still.
With her eyes closed all she could do was concentrate on either the sounds in the shop or the feeling of Undertaker touching her. Judging from the muttering the women were all giving their opinion of Undertaker wasn't too high. But focusing on the man himself wasn't really helping her much either.

He had moved on to eyeliner, warning her to keep her eyes closed. The callus on his hand pressed against her cheek, his thumb brushed past her lower lip for a moment. She knew he must be standing close to her because the scent of vanilla and dirt enveloped her. The situation seemed to become increasingly intimate for two people in the middle of a shop.
"Master Undertaker?" she asked, barely moving her lips for fear of upsetting his work.

"Almost done, dearest," he told her in the same hushed way. As he brushed a lock of hair behind her ear his long nails ghosted by her temple. Her knees started to feel a tad weak at the touch.
Dearest. She was always dearest. She had heard him say 'my dear' to quite a number of people but only she was ever named so. The angel hadn't asked him about that yet. She wasn't sure what the answer would be, or if she would like it.

"Prettier than any picture," he commented at long last, after applying some of the lipstick to her mouth as well. That action had really made her knees weak, the only thing keeping her standing stubborn pride.

When she looked in the mirror she had to double-take. Though he had indeed been subtle somehow her eyes seemed clearer than before. "This looks amazing."

"Well, I had a pretty good subject," Undertaker announced before he pointed at the materials on the table. "I'll take these as well. Thanks."

On their way back Madeleine thought they attracted quite a number of looks, though she couldn't exactly pinpoint why. Perhaps it was the lively conversation between the two of them. When they arrived at Undertaker's shop it suddenly hit her. "You're still wearing the red lipstick! That's why everyone was staring!"

"Am I?" Undertaker wondered. He raised his hand to his mouth but stopped halfway, suddenly stooping down to her. Before Madeleine could react he pressed his lips against her cheek. She froze as he retreated an inch to examine his mark. "Well, fancy that. You were right."

"W…y…h…" From the shock she couldn't say a thing until finally emotion burst loose in one word. "Dummy!"

"You're blushing! Red like a ripe tomato!" Undertaker laughed, mussing up her hair once more. "I can't even see the lipstick anymore!"

"Well, you're blushing too! So who's the tomato then?"

"Am not!" Undertaker shouted, bringing his sleeves to his cheeks.

"Still a dummy!" Arguing like that the two of them entered his store. Madeleine didn't know what to do about the fluttering in her stomach until she had an idea. She motioned him to come down to her level. When he obeyed she pressed her lips against his cheek.

"Awww, mine isn't as red as yours," she complained, though her action did have the benefit of seemingly sending all of Undertaker's blood straight to his cheeks. The tall man averted his gaze from her, scratching his nose while studying his ceiling as if he hadn't seen it in a long time.

"Who's the dummy now, huh? Don't go around kissing men you don't know all that well," he muttered, pulling his hat closer to his nose as if attempting to disappear.

"You're the one who started it," she reminded him, hopping on top of the counter from where she could observe him while he started to rummage through his groceries. "That makes you the biggest dummy."

"When you say dummy so often, I can't help but think of it as praise. Madeleine, I l-" he paused in the middle of his sentence before smiling. "I'll give you a first hint because I had so much fun today."

"You will?!"

He nodded, retrieving the bill from the bottom of his bag. "You were a Lady once, before you died. One who would have acted like you did today."

"You're late," Tamrat said when Madeleine entered her room. The black angel was sitting at the desk, rocking back and forth on the chair. "Very late for someone who wasn't even supposed to be away."

Madeleine froze, putting her hands behind her back and using her best innocent face.

"Why do you have lip paint on your cheek?" Tamrat sounded genuinely confused about that.

With a gasp Madeleine slapped a hand against her cheek. She'd totally forgotten about the print thanks to her little argument with Undertaker. Furiously rubbing the red stickiness off she tried to think of a good excuse that wasn't a lie. "I.. Was with a friend."

"Hmm, were you now?" Tamrat asked, the beginning of a smile dawning on her lips. "And who ever could this friend of yours be? I didn't know you had a thing for girls. And here I was thinking you were chasing after Lord Michael."

"It wasn't a girl!" Madeleine blurted out before she clasped her hands in front of her mouth.

"Must be quite a character if they're wearing hot red."

The angel slumped to her bed, throwing herself onto her pillows face first. "You have no idea."

"Are you going to tell me about them?" Tamrat continued, draping her arms over the chair.

Madeleine bit her lip, trying to think about what she could say without betraying her friend was mortal. "He's very nice. And funny, even if it's a really weird humor. I like him."

"Are you going to see him again? Spill the beans!"

For a moment she thought about it. If Undertaker hadn't known who she was, if he couldn't give her information, would she be going back?
"Yeah… I think I will."

I still have exams and I still hate them. Send me some good luck vibes because I have a real bitchy exam on the 12th T.T
The shopping trip was inspired by a post on the Tumblr blog theundertakersfinebooty. They were kind enough to let me borrow the idea and turn it into a cute fluff moment, so that was very nice of them ^^
Also, if someone wants to be a proofreader that'd be cool too? I'm not forcing anyone though. Basically you have to read the chapters before I publish them (you get first read!) and let me know if I messed up anywhere.

Amandalucia : Don't tell me you have exams too right now? Because if you do (or if you recently had them) my most sincere sympathies T.T And yes, being crazy actually is a good thing, and quite fun if you're good at it ^^

NightlyRowenTree : I aim to please my dear ^^ I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it ^^

Guest : Thank you for the kind words! ^^ I hope you'll continue to like the story and keep supporting me ^^