Gabriel X Reader

Tall Tales and Short Stories

Words: 1300+

Based on the request by: becca-boop1310 (tumblr)

Warnings: Bullying

A/N: My hiatus is over. Miss me?

Nobody ever notices the people in the background. Nobody thanks the lunch lady for serving food, nobody asks the librarian how their day was, nobody ever says hello to the janitor. And that's exactly what Gabriel was counting on.

As the janitor of Crawford Hall University, the Trickster could go anywhere, listen in on anyone, and nobody would bat an eye. It was the perfect disguise, hiding in plain sight. Nobody would ever know, hell nobody would ever ask, who he was.

Except to keep up this cover, sometimes Gabriel actually had to do- ugh- work. He was an archangel, for crying out loud, and he was sweeping the floor!

Cafeteria duty always sucked the most. The mess hall looked like a hurricane had hit it once the students moved out. And dear dad, the jocks ate like there was no tomorrow and cleaned up like there was no trash can.

Today was no different. The students at the university were sitting at their tables of cliques, chattering on about midterms. Honestly, it was worse than high school.

The sounds of a tray clattering to the floor notified Gabriel that it was time to move out of the corner and do his dumb job. A student was on their hands and knees, grabbing items that had been spilled, and trying to put them back on the tray.

"Don't worry, kid. I got it." Gabriel assured you.

Reluctantly, you got up and out of the way. Some students were still snickering, pointing at the pasta sauce that now covered your shirt. You'd been walking when all of a sudden a foot appeared out of nowhere, sending you hurtling to the ground.

"You got two left feet, freak?" Curtis, the head jock and Crawford's reigning asshole, guffawed.

"I don't see why that would be a problem. I mean, you're on the football team." You sassed.

Curtis clenched his fists with anger, but you ignored him. Gabriel tried to hide a smile at your perfect comeback.

You smiled at the janitor once he'd cleaned up. "Thank you." You said, quietly.

The man smiled. "Hey, just doing my job."

Back to being wallpaper, it was, to the both of you, not that you minded. While Gabriel used it as a disguise, you used it as protection. It meant fewer people to bother you, fewer people to use you as a punchline.

Curtis turned back to his friends, immediately forgetting you existed. "You hear about the professor?"

"I heard he tried to get tail and got murdered." One of his friends retold.