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Angel wasn't sure if he'd ever really get used to this
He had been working with Alastor for just about a month now but still, everytime they ducked out to the human realm for something and came back, it was kind of a shock to his system
The Hall Of Doors- as Alastor called it- that took people to different holiday realms never stopped being fascinating, and although they always made a bee-line to Valentine Town, Angel never wasted an opportunity to get a good look around at the other doors
He always took things slowly, keeping a pace or two further behind Alastor than he really needed to, and today was no exception on that front
However, what it was an exception from was his usual dismissal of the other doors
Typically, he would always follow Alastor back to their own realm and leave the others be, even if he did sometimes want to explore them, today however, he couldn't help himself
I'd rather be dry but atleast I'm alive, rain on me, rain rain, rain on me, rain rain
Someone was playing Lady Gaga...?
And even more curiously, Angel could hear it?
Now too intrigued to stop himself, Angel found himself slipping away as Alastor headed into Valentine Town, reaching towards the door where the sound was coming from and carefully pushing it open
He shifted the bags, trying to keep a better grip on them as he stepped through the door, eyes widening
Technically, he could still hear the music, but he wasn't paying any further attention to it- instead, his focus was entirely on the world around him
The breath-taking, gorgeous world around him...
It was blanketed in snow, soft and fluffy and up to his ankles, it chilled him to the bone, but it was a beauty to see
There were quaint little street lamps all around him, Christmas lights strung across every lamp, fence, and telephone pole, the air smelled like gingerbread cookies and there were some snowmen crafted up ahead...
He must have been in Christmas Town...
Unable to stop himself from smiling, Angel's eyes utterly glistened, his feet crunching on the snow as he took a few carefully placed steps forward
He had always loved Christmas, it used to be his favorite holiday...
Ofcourse he hadn't really celebrated it in years now, but back in the day....
His nose twitched, sighing softly in pleasure as the scent of sugar cookies filled his nose, fresh baked from.... somewhere...
He wanted to go find them
He'd always had a sweet tooth, but he didn't usually get to satisfy it before becoming one of Alastor's "helpers", now he was surrounded by chocolate day in and day out and that was no longer such a problem, but.... Christmas Cookies were different, and it'd been so long since he'd had them....
He started walking towards the smell, noticing then that he was getting close to the music at the same time
Curiosity was winning today it seemed, and he soon found himself ducking into what was apparently a nearby bakery
Just stepping inside made him want to cry from the feelings of joy and comfort that were evoked in him, the smells of cookies and fresh bread and cranberries and peppermint were overwelming, the warmth of the bakery put his soul at ease in a way that the chocolatiers' places never did back in Valentine Town, and he found himself reaching out towards a plate of cookies that were set on a display in the center of the store....
"Oh, hello!"
Jolting, Angel dropped the bags he had been holding, suddenly feeling like a kid who'd had his hand caught in the cookie jar as his attention snapped up towards an equally tall man with soft features and long silver hair
The Lady Gaga was music was close, and given the portable CD player the guy had strapped to his hip, he was willing to bet he was the one playing it
"I haven't seen you around here before! I'm Stolas, it's nice to meet you!"
Angel was tense, feeling suddenly awkward and shy and the words I haven't seen you around here before rang through him like sirens, begging of a warning for him to get the fuck out, that he wasn't supposed to be here, that he should leave for his own good...
The silver-haired stranger looked like he was about to say something else, but Angel didn't give him a chance, suddenly bolting out of the shop and running back to the door that would take him to the Hall Of Doors as quickly as he could
He sprinted through it, shut the door to Christmas Town behind him, and raced back through his own door, letting out something softly akin to a hiss of discomfort as he ran- quite literally- into Alastor, almost nocking the shorter man over in the process
"Ah, there you are dear," Alastor hummed, apparently unflumexed as he straightened himself out and reached out to gently take Angel's hand and help him reassert his posture
"I was just about to come looking for you, come on, Niffty is waiting for us,"
Angel just nodded, face pink, wanting to put the entire incident out of his mind and locking his fingers around Alastor's
The Cupid glanced over his shoulder at him, a brow raised, but said nothing about the hand holding, his expression not so much as flickering, and pulling Angel along with him
Angel was happy for the distraction, his other hand falling into his jacket pocket as he followed his..... yeah, he was loosely going to just call Alastor a "freind" for now, nothing else really fit...
"Right this way dear~" Alastor hummed, leading Angel down a street that he was unfamiliar with
Valentine Town was huge- much bigger than he had ever anticipated it being, and much larger than it appeared to be from first entrances
It was filled with long winding cobblestone streets that twisted and turned and practically made a maze of things
The weather always seemed neutral, a bit on the cold side but definitely nothing like the frigid New York Februaries Angel had grown up with
He wondered if that was because Valentine's Day it's self wasn't really associated with the cold the way that Christmas was, or if it had to do with the experiences of the Cupid in charge- Alastor had mentioned once being from New Orleans, it must be warmer for Valentine's Day there than it would have been in New York City...
The weather did change though, from place to place, some streets were considerably warmer and barely required a jacket, others were a fair deal cooler and even snowed at times, Angel wanted so badly to ask about it but hadn't yet found the opportunity...
Among the regular things that filled towns like restaurants and shopping centers, Valentine Town was filled with an unusual amount of post offices and mail centers, it specialized in housing bakeries, chocolatier shops, and florists, with boutiques and poetry shops- not bookstores, Angel was surprised to find, though bookstores also were common, but poetry shops where you could just... buy poems to be written- also populating the place quite a bit
He glanced over his shoulder, in the direction of Alastor's abode and his "workshop"- as he called it- and frowned a bit upon noticing how far away from it they were going
He had found, with some surprise, that there were parts of Valentine Town that Alastor himself was quite a bit unfond of- there were "red light districts" as he called them that catered to sex that he- understandably- avoided like the plague, but then there were some places that he just... wrote off as being uninteresting to him, Angel hadn't quite connected the dots between them yet, but wherever Alastor was taking him now, it was definitely one of those places
...Or atleast, Angel thought it was at first, until he found himself staring in surprise at another door
But it wasn't just any door
It wasn't like the doors that lead to the boutiques and bakeries or houses or post offices, it was like one of the doors from the Hall Of Doors
It was large and wooden and on the outside there was a wooden carving of a white heart, matching in all but color to the red heart displayed on the door to Valentine Town
"I think you'll enjoy this little feild trip darling," Alastor smiled fondly, earning an eager nod of Angel's head
Angel was always interested in exploring more, that was one good thing he could say with certainty about his new position
He was never bored, and he was always intrigued by something
Alastor reached out, giving the door a gentle pull, and revealing a beautifull city full of whites and golds, lacking the more saturated colors of pinks, reds, blacks, and browns that Valentine Town was often soaked in, this place looked oddly pristine and almost celestial....
He pulled his hand out of his pocket, tapping Alastor's shoulder to get his attention, before pulling his other hand away from his freind's to sign- "You aren't taking me to Heaven are you...?"
"Ha! No," Alastor promised joyfully
"Nothing like that I'm afraid- I'm taking you to White Town,"
Angel's nose wrinkled, cringing a little
"That doesn't sound good man..."
"Yes I know I know, but it's nothing like that,"
Angel gave Alastor a skeptical look, but followed anyway- as seemed to be the gist of their relationship so far
Angel honestly wasn't too sure of much of what Alastor did and said, all of this was still so new to him and he still felt ambivalent about most things, but he always followed all the same
After all, anything was better than the life he'd lived before...
"Have you ever heard of White Day my darling?"
Angel shook his head, looking around at the beautifully pristine town around him, watching in only mild surprise as a few cherubs flew by, and trying to take in as much of the scenery as he could
Alot of the locations were nearly identical to Valentine Town- post offices, chocolate shops, bakeries, florists...
"It's a holiday in several east-Asian countries, the second half- one could say- of Valentine's Day,"
That definitely perked Angel's interest, glancing up at Alastor curiously
"It's actually got an interesting history, though I'm afraid like so many things it ties back to capitalism,"
Alastor hated capitalism, that was one thing Angel had learned about him very quickly and was a large part of why he had a distaste for Valentine's Day it's self, even though he was Cupid
There was more to it than that, Angel felt, but Alastor hadn't provided him with any further details.... not yet anyway
"Valentine's Day started being celebrated in Japan in the 1930s and was popularized in the 60s, it became a holiday for girls to express their feelings to boys that they liked by presenting them with chocolate, one day a sweets shop started advertising marshmallows as something for the boys to give back to those they'd received chocolate from on March 14th, they were advertising it then as Marshmallow Day but soon renamed it 'White Day' to be more broad and open-ended, over time ofcourse different traditions started to develop, at first the concept was for boys to buy something white for their paramours but these days that's less popular, the current traditions also focus moderately less on romance- although it's still popular to express your affections to someone you have romantic feelings for on Valentine's Day, it's often seen as appropriate for girls to give chocolate to any male in their life that matters- family members, co-workers, freinds, different chocolate can sometimes symbolize different things, and traditionally, homemade chocolate is seen as a particularly good way to express your feelings for someone, then on White Day recipients give back something that's three times as expensive,"
"I could get behind that," Angel grinned back, earning a roll of Alastor's eyes
"In any case, White Day- due to it's direct association with Valentine's Day- is technically part of Valentine Town, that's why the door is located inside my realm, but it does have it's own ruler,"
Angel tilted his head with curiosity as Alastor lead him into a small shop- Angel wasn't sure what it was for, there was no store name posted anywhere outside and the inside looked oddly empty, almost abandoned...
It was kind of eerie, to be honest
Alastor however- naturally- was unbothered, leading Angel instead towards the back of the building, towards an elevator
Funny though, the store was so small, Angel didn't think it looked like it could hold a second floor...
Alastor pressed the button, and almost instantly, the doors opened to a shimmering golden elevator, just as gleaming and pristine as every other inch of this world seemed to be
Angel was a little afraid to step inside, he didn't want to track dirt in with him...
But Alastor didn't seem at all concerned with that, instead just pulling him inside and pressing one of the only two buttons on the panel by the door
It glowed gold, a little ding sounding as the doors shut, and then the elevator began to rise
There was no music, but Angel supposed that made some amount of sense- it barely took any time at all for the doors to open again, presenting them with a glimmering white stone floor, surrounded by gold accents and feathers...
Angel pursed his lips, tapping Alastor again to get his attention before signing- "Are you sure we're not in heaven?"
"Oh quite sure my darling," Alastor laughed, giving Angel an affectionate pat on the shoulder before gesturing him forward, leading the blonde down the stone pathway and towards an absolutely massive wooden desk, easily big enough for Angel to crawl under and hide from the world
It was so pristine too, made of some sort of red oak or cherry wood, something with a reddish finish on it, it looked like it had never been touched, like one of those peices of furniture that you'd be afraid to breathe on....
Angel kind of hated it
Scratch that, he kind of hated this entire place
Yeah, Valentine Town was clean, but it had that sort of homey vibe to it that made Angel feel.... safe
Sure he didn't feel encouraged to roll around in mud or grind glitter into the carpets, but he didn't feel, either, like he was going to lose a limb if he spilled his drink on the furniture
But this place made him feel like any speck of dirt that may have followed him in was going to get him crucified
Suddenly, motion caught his eyes, and he looked up, watching the big leather chair behind the desk spin around and present.....
The tiniest person Angel had ever seen
She was very pretty and absolutely adorable, with delicate, pixie like features, a soft pink flush to her cheeks and cherry red hair carved into a blunt bob, wearing a stark white, lacy, lolita style dress and little white gloves that were just as delicate and demure, and she sported a pair of fluffy white wings too- small, though, like everything about her, not looking very practical- she looked like she had either stepped right out of a maid cafe' or a J-Pop girl group, Angel wasn't really sure wich...
"Alastor!!" she chirped with excitement, beaming as if she had just been handed a bottle of pure sunshine
"You brought company?"
"I did indeed!"
Alastor turned to Angel, offering a grin before gesturing to the girl
"Angel, this little darling is Niffty! She's the Angel In White- Niffty, this is Angel, my protege`!"
"Hi, I'm Niffty! It's nice to meet you!" she greeted enthusiastically, holding her hand out for Angel
Angel himself hesitated breifly before shaking her hand, only for a moment, just long enough to make sure the polite gesture was received, before pulling away and turning back to Alastor
"Angel In White...?" he signed in confusion
"She chose her title," Alastor shrugged
"Niffty is the one and only ruler of this realm, White Day only came about after I took over the job as Cupid, you see, so when I chose Niffty to take this job, she got to choose the title, just as the original Cupid chose her title,"
Angel's brows raised- damn did he have alot he wanted to ask....
But he didn't get the chance, with Niffty jumping in quickly
"Oh! He signs!? Is he deaf?"
Angel huffed slightly, turning back towards her
"Selectively mute,"
"OOoh! Sorry, I just assumed, how selective are you?"
Angel blinked, not.... at all sure how to answer that, he'd never been asked....
Instead he only offered a little shrug, but Niffty seemed done with him anyway, her focus turning back to Alastor almost immediately
"You think he'll work out as Cupid some day?"
"I think so yes, Angel and I have alot in common," Alastor hummed
This wasn't the first Angel had heard of Alastor's plans to turn him into the next Cupid, but he still knew very little about it, once again he wanted to ask... but he just didn't have the opportunity
"Anyhow Niffty dear, Angel and I are here to help! You have those forms all worked out for us yes?"
"I do!" Niffty chirped excitedly, spinning around in her chair and snapping her fingers as two more chairs appeared beside her
Alastor didn't have to lead Angel this time, he assumed one was for him and was on his way as Niffty pulled out an absolutely enormous tray full of pappers, one that was almost as big as she was
Angel wrinkled his nose, tapping the desk to get Alastor's attention before signing- "What's all this?"
"Ah, Niffty's in charge of what I like to call 'uncertain love', it's not quite unrequited, but it's what happens when one member of a potential partnership has romantic feelings and the other doesn't feel the same way yet, in those cases it's up to Niffty and I to decide if the relationship will work or not, Niffty can decide quite a few of them herself, but for some of the more.... I suppose you could say 50/50 cases, she needs my collaborative help,"
"So what am I here for?" Angel frowned
"Secretarial work! Once Niffty and I decide on a case, you'll put the correct stamp on the papper and sort it into the correct pile! Then it will be Niffty's job to nudge the proper feelings along through enchanted chocolates and the sort!"
Angel sighed, already sinking into his seat
A fucking secretary....
Oh well, boring as it was, he'd take the job with as much joy as he could manage- atleast it wasn't like his last job....
~+~
"It's so strange, he just ran off as though I'd spooked him," Stolas pouted, pulling the tray of chicken nuggets out of the oven and setting them on the stove
"Try not to take it personally hermosa, some people are just weird like that," Blitz shrugged, resting his cheek against his fist and peering over Stolas's shoulder
"Hey, what's in those bags down there anyway? You've had 'em since earlier,"
"Oh! These are what the frightened creature dropped, they appear to be full of letters,"
"Letters?" Blitz echoed with a frown, jumping down from the hightop chair he had been sitting in and strolling over to the bags
"Not letters to Santa though right? It's way too out of season for that,"
"No not Santa, they all have different names on them,"
Ok, that was more than a little weird....
Approaching the bags, Blitz opened up one of them and pulled out an envelope, brows raising as he stared at the name- Lena was printed sweetly across the back, the front was sealed with a heart sticker, and already Blitz was starting to get an idea of what these were
Still, just to be safe, he slit the top open and pulled the letter out, gasping quietly as an absolute cascade of hearts and flower petals poured out of the envelope, swirling around himself and Stolas like a little tornado of pinks and reds
His heart was beating louder and faster, and he was struck with the sudden urge to pull Stolas closer and kiss the life out of him-
A desire that Stolas was acting on within seconds, pulling Blitz close and delivering such an affectionate, deep, yearning kiss that Blitz could feel his pining all the way down in his fucking bones, it was the kind of kiss that came from someone who had been craving a lover's embrace for years
...
Yeah, these could only belong to one person
Blitz pulled back a little, clearing his throat, face pink, and hurried to shove the letter back into the envelope as the blizzard of hearts started to fade
"I uh..... ah.... figured out who these belong to,"
"Who?" Stolas asked curiously
Blitz sighed, quickly sealing up the bag he'd drawn from
"Cupid,"
~+~
"Thank you for your assistance earlier Angel, it was quite appreciated!"
Angel only responded with something akin to a quiet, muted hiss of dissatisfaction
He thought that fucking job was never going to end
How many fucking people had unrequited- excuse him, uncertain- love in this fucking world? And according to Alastor, Niffty had already sorted out the easy decisions and had only been collecting these for a few weeks, as Alastor evidently made monthly visits- if not sooner- to her mini realm
It was kind of a concerning statistic, but who was Angel to judge?
In any case, he was just thrilled to finally be leaving White Town and stepping back into Valentine Town- the brown and black cobblestones were a warm greeting after all the whites and golds he'd been surrounded by for the past several hours, and he was suddenly having a chocolate craving like nobody's business....
Damn, he must have gotten more addicted to his daily sugar hits than he had realized...
"Ready to head home and start sorting through those love letters sweetheart?"
Angel paused, expression shifting to a cringe as Alastor began his journey down the street
The bags of love letters.... he'd dropped them back when he had been exploring Christmas Town....
Shit shit shit shit SHIT
What if Alastor got mad about that? What if he decided he didn't want Angel around anymore? What if he sent Angel back to the fucked up life he'd been living before?! What if he-....?
...
The best thing Angel could think to do was delay the inevitable, hurrying to catch Alastor by the arm, not caring that the Cupid bristled under the sudden touch and hurrying to sign something to him
"Are you joking? I'm starving!! Chocolate first! Please? I need chocolate!"
"...That big of a sugar rush already are you?" Alastor chuckled, but didn't seem overly concerned
"Alright, alright, let's go to Rosie's then,"
Angel nodded quickly, hurrying to turn around and start back towards Alastor's personal favorite chocolate maker
"Isn't it kinda weird though, that her name is Rosie but she works with chocolate? Wouldn't that have been a better name for a florist?"
"Well I don't choose their names dear," Alastor laughed
"Nor do I assign anyone their professions, they can choose whatever they like, Rosie chose chocolate,"
...Oh....
Angel bit his lip, wondering if he should try to keep the conversation going, when suddenly the decision was made for him
"Hey Cupid!!!"
Both startled by the shout, the two turned around, Angel immediately going pale when he caught sight of the silver-haired man- Stolas, right?- from Christmas Town and the short brunette companion he had with him
It was the companion who had been shouting
"What in the realms...?" Alastor muttered
But far more concerningly than just their presence was what they were carrying- the letters
...Yeah there'd be no way for him to play stupid or conjure up a better excuse about what happened now...
"Yo! We got your love letters!"
"My love letters?" Alastor echoed, staring at the bags breifly before glancing up at Angel, who winced as though his life were about to be put to a violent end
And in some ways he felt like it might just be...
Before any words could be exchanged between them however, the two Christmas inhabitants had arrived, dropping the bags in front of Alastor and Angel
"Hi there," Stolas greeted softly, giving Angel a wave
"I'm so sorry if I spooked you earlier, I'm not sure what I did but.... I'm sorry, um... you dropped these, I just wanted to return them,"
Things were quiet for a moment, Angel's face now officially red as he slowly signed back a response, but to his slight surprise, Stolas looked... confused
"Oh! You're speaking sign language, I'm sorry, I don't...."
"Sorry, he's not from here, are you deaf or just mute?" his companion signed back quickly, the sound of jingling bells following every motion of his hands
"He's mute," Alastor answered for him, earning a huff from Angel
"Selectively," Angel signed back
"Yes, selectively mute,"
"Then would you prefer for us to speak or sign?" the brunette signed
Angel's brows raised
He had... never been asked that before....
Even Alastor had just assumed he would prefer speaking...
"Speak," Angel signed after a beat, the silence was uncomfortable, and besides, he didn't want Stolas left out of a conversation, he knew all too well how that felt....
The brunette nodded, offering a slightly awkward smile
"I'm Blitz, one of Santa's elves, this is my boyfreind Stolas, he's human, so uh, the magic of being a polyglot hasn't hit him,"
Oh.....
"Angel," Angel signed back, earning a nod from Blitz as the elf turned back to his companion
"Angel said he was sorry for running off on you like that, you took him by surprise and he didn't think he was supposed to be in Christmas Town so he didn't wanna get ratted out,"
"Oh! But we're allowed to go anywhere we want, right?" Stolas frowned, head tilting
"Yes, I don't know why you thought you couldn't be there," Alastor agreed, turning his attention back to Angel
"You can explore anywhere and any time you please, though I'd appreciate some notice so I don't entirely lose you,"
Angel, who was now about as red as Niffty's hair, just gave a little nod of understanding
"Thank you for returning those letters by the way," Alastor hummed, moving to collect the bags, an action Angel quickly copied
"No problema, you've got yourself a human freind too huh?" Blitz asked, his wrists jingling again as he shoved his hands in his pockets, catching Angel's attention once more
It was then that he was able to notice what was making the noise
Now that the sleeves of Blitz's sweater had moved up a little, Angel could see a set of jingle-bell bracelets decorating his wrists- bright red and green, and full of sound....
Angel needed those
"Yes, I'm training him to be the new Cupid, when my time in this blasted job is up I'll finally be free to do something else, and I'll pass the mantle on to Angel,"
Stolas tilted his head, but decided to wait and ask Blitz about-..... all of that... later when they were alone
Blitz looked like he was about to say something else, but was cut off by Angel signing again, quickly, excitedly, Stolas was impressed Blitz could apparently keep up
"Oh the bracelets? You want a pair?"
Angel nodded rapidly- that, atleast, Stolas could understand
"My daughter made them," he beamed
"She's been making them like crazy the past week- her newest obsession, I'm sure she'd be more than happy to make a set for you in whatever colors you want,"
Angel lit up like a Christmas tree, quickly signing something back, wich Blitz was happy to translate
"He said thanks, he would love some so it's easier to catch people's attention when he needs to say something- and pink and white, if Via has those,"
"She has them," Stolas confirmed
"I'll get you a set,"
Angel smiled again, pressing his fingers to his chin and gesturing outward
Stolas could kind of remember that one
"You're more than welcome,"
The way Angel's eyes lit up, he must have gotten it right
"Anyway, we'll leave you guys alone and come back with the bracelets tommorrow," Blitz offered, earning a nod from Angel
"Certainly, and thank you again for bringing the letters back," Alastor said with a polite wave
"Sure, not like we could've used 'em anyway," Blitz shrugged back, giving a wave of his own before taking Stolas's hand and leading him back towards the exit door
"Blitz?" Stolas chimed as they walked, once he was sure they were out of earshot
"Hm?"
"Do you... do you think you could teach me some ASL some time? I'd... really like to be able to communicate with Angel without a translator,"
And it was as Blitz had said before, being part of Christmas Town, you needed to be able to communicate with every child, Stolas wasn't sure if he'd ever be communicating with human children himself, but just in case...
"Sure," Blitz nodded
"It'd be my pleasure,"
~+~
So Alastor hadn't been mad
Much to Angel's extreme surprise and releif, he hadn't been the least bit sour over his losing the love letters
Maybe Angel hadn't given him enough credit, maybe he had been comparing him a little too strongly to Valentino....
Maybe Alastor really was as different as he first presented himself as being....
Angel hoped so
He took a breath, stretching out on the couch and staring aimlessly at the TV- an invention Alastor hadn't even had in his house before Angel requested one....
Yeah....
Yeah, he must have been different from Val....
He was so lost in his thoughts that the sound of a nock on the door caused him to jump, heart damn near beating out of his chest from surprise
Alastor, who had been cooking in the kitchen, didn't seem nearly as startled, moving towards the front door without missing a beat and pulling it open
"Ah Niffty darling! This is a pleasant surprise, come for dinner?"
"Not specifically, although I'd love to stay!"
"Ofcourse," Alastor nodded, stepping aside to let her in, her little white heels clicking against the hardwood floor of the entryway
"What did you come for then?"
"I have a question for you,"
"You came all this way for a question?" Alastor chuckled in surprise
"Yeah, it didn't seem like something I could ask over the phone or through a pigeon,"
Right... communication in this town took place primarily through old rotary phones and fucking carrier pigeons, sometimes Angel wondered if he was even experiencing this world at all or if he was just really fucking high....
"Oh, well now I'm curious," Alastor chuckled
"What's this big question dear?"
Niffty hummed, plopping down into one of the chairs across from Angel
"What do we do if a holiday spirit is in love with a human?"
~+~
A quiet sigh left the blonde, her hair spread out over the bright feild of green below her as she reached out, plucking a clover from beside her and twirling in between her fingers
"She loves me..." she hummed, plucking one leaf from the clover
"She loves me not," she sighed, picking off another leaf, her lips stretching into a grin as her fingers grazed over the last leaf
"She loves me..."