A World Like That

Chapter VIII

-Ariel-

He flew back up to Heaven, hoping his friends weren't already there. Just as he was about to break through the clouds, he noticed Jael, Charmeine, and Raguel flying upwards. He didn't have time to hide.

"Ariel!" Charmeine called out. "What are you doing?"

"I was just testing out my wings," he said, quickly coming up with a lie. "I thought I'd do it below the clouds so I could see when you all came back."

"How are your wings?"

"Itchy. The new feathers are coming in. But at least they don't hurt anymore."

She smiled. "That's good. I'm glad you're feeling better."

"We'll have dinner ready in a half hour," Jael said.

"Do you want help?"

"No. Sit. Rest. We don't want you overdoing it so it takes even longer for you to be able to come back down to Earth."

Once again, he felt horribly guilty about deceiving his friends, especially since he'd had such a good time today. He'd not only had fun without them, but he'd been with a demon. He was breaking all the rules and he knew it.

He settled into a cloud and watched the sun bathe the clouds in orange light. When it was approaching the end of the day, the air seemed to grow warmer, and it was like being wrapped in a comforting blanket.

His thoughts drifted to Dante. They'd come a long way from their first meeting when Dante had ripped out a third of the feathers on his wings. It was hard to believe that the cruel demon who had hurt him was the same as the fun, curious demon he'd hung out with today. But when he thought back to that first meeting, he remembered that Dante had let him go. Dante hadn't just stopped and flown off, he'd backed away and seemed to watch, almost to make sure he was able to fly away with his damaged wings. He'd have to ask Dante what was going through his head at that moment.

He realized that meant he trusted Dante enough to ask the question without fearing that Dante would get angry. Even though there'd been one scary moment today when Dante growled, he'd felt at ease around him otherwise. Maybe that was foolish, but he was enjoying having a new friend.

-Dantalion-

The next day, he ditched his friends and flew to the tropical forest he'd explored with Ariel yesterday. He was excited to see more, and he had to admit that he was excited to see Ariel too. He'd never imagined getting along with an angel, but he'd also never put much thought into it. All he knew about angels were what he'd heard from his father and friends. According to them, the angels were privileged and pampered. They were overly righteous and took everything too seriously.

That hadn't been his experience with Ariel. Sure, Ariel was a little naïve and perhaps too trusting, but he seemed like he knew how to have fun and worked hard at gathering fruit. He was also somewhat of a rebel by coming down to Earth alone and hanging out with a demon, although he wondered if that had to do more with Ariel's trusting nature than any sort of desire to be different.

He found the waterfall and dove into the teal water of the pool below it. He wouldn't ever be able to go back to bathing in stagnant water after this. He splashed around, occasionally diving under the water and gliding along beneath the surface. When he came back up, he saw Ariel sitting near the edge of the pool, just watching.

He swam over and stood up in the shallow water before playfully splashing Ariel. Ariel cringed slightly, trying to avoid the water, but he laughed and smiled widely. That bright smile caught Dante off guard, and he suddenly felt light-headed. Ariel was beautiful. He shook his head, partly to get the water out of his hair and partly to stop thinking about Ariel's appearance.

"You don't want to join?" he asked.

"Not today. It took my wings a long time to dry yesterday. But I want to show you another area with some fruit you haven't tried yet."

"I'd like that," he said. "How many kinds of fruit are there?"

Before Ariel could answer, he squirmed, shifting his wings. He watched as Ariel reached over his shoulder and tried to reach a spot on his wings.

"Are you okay?"

Ariel stopped trying to reach the spot. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just the new feathers growing in."

"What's it like to grow feathers? Does it hurt?"

"No, it just itches a lot. It's hard to scratch them because I can't reach most of my wings myself, and almost everything in Heaven is soft. Being on Earth where I can rub them against something hard like a tree is the only time it's easier."

He felt guilty hearing that. He was the reason Ariel was going through this.

"I can scratch them for you. It's my fault anyway," he admitted. "I mean, if you'll let me," he added, not sure that Ariel would want him touching his wings again.

Ariel appeared to be considering it. "Okay," he agreed. "That would help."

He moved to sit behind Ariel and studied his wings. He could see tiny feathers beginning to poke out from the bare spots. Gently, he began to scratch the spot near the base of Ariel's wings that he'd been trying to reach. He didn't want to risk hurting him, so he kept the pressure light.

Ariel's body relaxed and he made a small noise.

"Is this okay?"

"It's great," Ariel sighed. "It feels really good."

Satisfied, he continued scratching, moving from one area to the next. When he was worried about scratching too much, he started to rub the areas instead. He liked having his hands on Ariel and breathing in his flowery scent, and he felt like he was making up for what he'd done to Ariel, at least partially.

When he was sure he'd covered every spot that had new feathers, he let his hands slip from Ariel's wings. "How are they now?"

"They feel so much better."

"Good." After a moment, he added, "I'm sorry I did this to you."

Ariel turned, an inquisitive but serious expression on his face. "When you attacked me, why did you stop?"

"I realized I didn't know why I was doing it," he said, thinking aloud. "It's what demons do and what my friends had been encouraging me to do, but I wasn't having fun. I mean, why do something if I'm not enjoying it and don't see the point?"

Ariel nodded. "Most angels get away at some point during an attack, but you let me go."

"I felt bad," he replied quietly. "It was the same when I attacked you again. I couldn't hurt you just because I was having a bad day. You had never done anything to me."

-Ariel-

As Dante explained, he closely watched his face. He couldn't discern any emotion in the demon's solid black eyes, but he believed Dante was telling him the truth.

"Was I the first one?" he asked, something in Dante's explanation tipping him off to the possibility.

"Yes. My friends had been angel hunting for years, but I preferred to hang out with another friend of mine in Hell, or explore Earth on my own. I finally decided to try it after hearing a few of their stories. Obviously, I didn't find it as fun."

Ariel gave him a small smile. "I appreciate you telling me that. It may have been a rough start for us, but I'm glad we're friends now."

Dante was staring at him, and he felt self conscious. He had just said they were friends, but maybe Dante didn't see it that way.

"I mean," he began, trying to clarify, "We've been getting along, and it's been fun, so I thought -"

"You mean that?" Dante asked, interrupting. "You'd consider us friends?"

"New friends, but yes," he admitted. "At least from my end, I do."

"Good," Dante replied. "I was thinking the same thing."

He broke into a smile, feeling relieved. He hadn't misread the situation after all. He had a new friend.