"So where are we going?" Astraea questioned Morpheus as they were walking. She hadn't thought to ask him whilst they were at the park.
"A pub" Was his only response. She knew that Morpheus didn't give out much information, but this was vague even for him.
She stopped where she was, "A pub?"
"Yes, is that a problem?" He had stopped in front of her, still holding her hand, turning his head to face her.
"No, just. It's a bit vague." He sighed again, he seemed to do that a lot, and turned to fully face her. He looked into her eyes before speaking again.
"Hmm. You want more information, okay? Lets see, we're going to see a 600 year old human who is experiencing immortality because I do not see the appeal. He, on the other hand, loves it. We meet in the same pub every 100 years on the same date. I missed our last appointment because, as you know, I was confined. The only place I know where to meet him is at the pub, so I have to hope that he is there." He looked away, suddenly nervous of her judgement. He had looked into her when they had escaped and he had had the time. Astraea, goddess of Justice in Greek Mythology. She cast her judgement on people - a key figure, though mostly forgotten in the modern day. Very little remains of her myths, just her name and her connection to justice and Zeus' thunderbolt. He had seen the thunderbolt in use when they escaped. Shattering the glass surrounding her and freeing her from captivity. Like a bird free from a cage.
"Well... Let's hope he's at the pub then." The conversation had clearly ended. He couldn't help but hear the clipped tone in her voice, clearly judging him for his decisions.
Silence overcame them again like a tidal wave crashing into the coast. The longer they stayed in silence and the tidal wave kept crashing, the more the comfort of each other's company eroded away. Instead, the air was now stale and awkward as the coast plummeted into the sea.
"How are your wings?" She froze. She seemed to be doing that a lot. She still hadn't looked at them. Fear prickled at her skin at the thought of her wings. She had heard tales of the damaged wings of angels long before her time. It was a celestial law that angels must be allowed to stretch and reveal their wings on a regular basis. It was a law for a reason.
"I haven't checked." He paused at that, it had been the first thing he thought she'd do. He had had dealings with Angel's before and they were very prideful of their wings. Though, angels were not capable of pride as they would say. The only difference between angels and demons were their fashion choices in his opinion.
They continued to walk in the direction she assumed the pub was in. She could see his hesitancy at questioning her more on it.
"Do you remember the story of the angel, Apollo? The Virtue? He was also worshipped by the Greeks. I didn't know him very well, but he seemed nice, if not a bit boastful. He fell for a human, Hyacinthus. He loved him that much that he forgot about his angelic duties, brushing them off to spend time with the prince. He didn't reveal his wings for months. When Hyacinthus died, he mourned so much that his wings decayed. He still didn't check on them and when he finally did, they were barely stubs on his back. He hadn't revealed them in two years. I haven't revealed mine in over 100 years, I can't bare the thought of them not being there." She couldn't look him in the eyes as they walked. Each step felt heavy on the pavement, waiting for his reply.
"I cannot say whether your wings will be fine or not, but not checking on them when you have the opportunity to do so is idiotic." She couldn't believe his arrogance. He didn't understand what she was going through, he had nothing to compare it to.
"Wings are sacred to angels, it isn't as simple as checking them when I feel like it. If they are damaged, I could be cast out of heaven. I'd be exiled" Tears gathered in her eyes at the thought of never seeing her friends again. The only thing that helped her to have hope during her imprisonment was the thought that her friends were waiting for her in Heaven. Artemis and Persephone were always fun to hang around with and Bastet always had gossip to share. They were her friends and she missed them. She knew, though, that if her wings were damaged they wouldn't think twice about casting her away. Apollo had been Artemis' brother and even she had stopped speaking to him. He hadn't returned to Heaven since, allegedly exiled into oblivion.
"You are right, my apologies. I should not give advice when I know not what I speak of." He had closed off again. Colder. Harsher. He had grown in warmth since leaving the Burgess' estate, but now as his eyes darkened and his head ducked down to stare at the floor, she was reminded of her first few years in captivity with the brooding Endless captured beside her.
She didn't reply.
For all that it was worth, she valued his opinion. She was just too afraid to listen to it at the moment. It was strange, they had barely spoken, living their lives in silence next to each other. Yet, she felt close to the man. Currently, she felt closer to him than she did to her own brother. They came to a worn down building, the walls caving in on themselves and graffiti sprayed on the antique brickwork. She could only guess at how old this building was.
"It's gone... the pub is gone." Her heart ached for the man beside her as his voice broke. This building evidently meant a lot to him, as did the person they were going to meet.
She placed a hand on his shoulder as he looked on, not allowing tears to fall from his eyes, "Morpheus, I am so sorry." He placed a hand over the one on his shoulder, gently squeezing looked down, trying to hide his tears from Astraea. As he did, his eyes focussed on the words painted onto the fence. "New pub this way" An arrow was painted next to it pointing down the road.
He moved out of Astraea's reach, her arm falling to her side, not expecting him to move so suddenly. He started in the direction of the arrow without explaining to Astraea. She stayed where she was for a moment before muttering under her breath "Bloody Endless" and following him.
It wasn't long before another building came into view. This one was much more well kept and Astraea could see the appeal of such a quaint building. She would have loved to live in such a building when she was younger, fantasising about gallant princes coming to sweep her off her feet. She was an angel though, and as shown by Apollo, falling for human prince's doesn't end well.
Morpheus walked up to the building and opened the door, keeping it held for Astraea to walk in before him. It hadn't been cold outside, but the refreshing heat of the pub flushed her cheeks and made it look like she was blushing. She met the eye of a woman off to the side eyeing her and Morpheus, she smirked at Astraea before raising her eyebrows and turning away back to her pint.
"Robert." Morpheus breathed out as he spotted a man across the room, sitting and writing something across multiple sheets of paper. He walked across the room and Astraea took a seat nearby to be able to hear what was said without intruding.
Morpheus stood in front of the man for a time before he noticed him standing there."You're late." Was all that he said as he stared up at the Endless. Morpheus chuckled, his eyes flitting to Astraea as if he was pulling courage just from her being near by.
"It seems I owe you an apology. I've always heard that it was rude to keep one's friends waiting." She didn't know why being referenced as a friend made the man's face light up in joy more than she would have expected at the term of endearment, but before she knew it, Morpheus was being dragged into a hug by the immortal man.
"Robert, let me introduce you to my friend, Astraea." Astraea got up from her seat off to the side and made her way over to the duo. "Astraea, this is Robert Gadling. Robert Gadling, this is Astraea."
Astraea went to shake is hand but he pulled her into a hug before she so much as stuck her hand out to him, "My friend's call me Hob."
As he pulled away, Astraea was left cold at the lack of contact. It had been so long since she had had physical contact. She was a very sociable angel before the century long incident, she could remember the amount of times that she had spent comforting the Archangels when Lord Morningstar had fallen to Hell. She had made a particularly close bond with Amenadiel due to that. "So, what happened to you?" Hob sat back down in his seat and this time Morpheus and Astraea sat down with him.
"It's a long story." Morpheus dismissed him.
"We have time, Morpheus." Astraea's curt response was laced with a cold undertone. She was warning him to not be rude. She liked this Hob man.
"Huh, so that's you're name." Hob's voice cut across the table. Astraea turned to look at him in shock as her eyes flitted between Hob and Morpheus.
"You've known him for 600 years and you didn't tell him your name?" Morpheus winced under her scrutiny. He could definitely see why the Greek's had worshipped her as the Goddess of Justice. It felt as if his heart had been ripped out of his chest and was being weighed by her night raged on as Morpheus and Astraea told him all about their capture. By the end of the night, Astraea felt as if she had known Hob for years, he was a lovely man who made everyone in his prescence smile. The pub had closed hours ago, but they were still sat talking as if the night would last forever and they had nothing to wake up for.
When Morpheus and Astraea finally left, her cheeks were sore from smiling so much.
"Hob seems like a nice man." They spoke as they walked. They were walking back to the park from earlier today and after that Astraea was going to transport herself back to the flat.
"He is." Morpheus hesitated to speak again.
"You should really check your wings." He thought it best to bring it up again while she was in a good mood.
"Hmm... I know." She sighed. It had been weighing on her every since he had mentioned it. She was just so scared.
"I'll stay with you while you check if you want, as support." He whispered, barely trusting his voice to come out steady. She glanced at him.
They had reached the park. No one was out.
"Okay..." She motioned for him to stay where he was as she walked a few paces in front. She turned to face him and closed her eyes. Her head tilted down and she took a deep, ragged breath before reaching inside to a long dormant part of her being and extending her wings. She could hear them cracking as the extended, casting a shadow over hew where the light from the lamp post hit them.
Morpheus watched on in awe. They were gorgeous. Predominantly white as all angel wings were, but with swirls of blue and black within them, like the night sky. Diamonds of light fluttered across them like stars, blinding him momentarily. He could vaguely recognise that they formed the constellation Virgo.
"They're beautiful." He breathed out.
And then the first feather fell.