Chapter Text
“Happy birthday, Nahida!”
Rukkhadevata entered the balloon-decorated dining room, holding a metal platter with a small cake. Her daughter was sitting on her chair, swinging her legs back and forth in anticipation. Six unlit candles stood upright on top of the vanilla frosting.
After the platter was placed on the table, Rukkhadevata pulled out a box of matches from her apron’s pocket. As she struck the match, Nahida watched the light of the flame reflecting in her mother’s eyes.
“Careful,” Rukkhadevata said as Nahida tried to lean forward to stare at the fire. “We don’t want your pretty hair to get burned.” That immediately forced Nahida back into the back of her seat.
“Do I get to make a wish?” Nahida asked as the candles were almost all prepared.
“Of course!”
Nahida tilted her head, resting her cheek on her palm. “Mm, what do I wish for?”
“Anything you’d like,” Rukkhadevata replied as she blew out the match and placed it down onto a napkin.
Nahida put her finger to her chin, tapping while she thought. “I know!” She raised her finger into the air. “I wish to be smart and pretty like you!” Her eyes glistened as she always did when she idolized her mother. After all, who wouldn’t want to be like Rukkhadevata — the hardworking and humble world-renowned mathematician, famous for changing the academic landscape of computer vision and other related fields?
Rukkhadevata was someone who could only be described as a “genius”.
“Like me?” replied her mother with a warm smile, hand on her chest.
“...Can I do that?”
Nahida smiled as her mother patted her little head and ran her fingers through her hair. “My darling Nahida, you can do whatever you set your heart to.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that when you grow up to be big and strong, anything will be possible.” She pushed Nahida’s bangs back and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Now, how about you blow these candles out with those growing lungs of yours.”
Nahida nodded and clenched her fists in determination. She took in a big inhale, puffing out her chest, and blew out as hard as she could, extinguishing half of the candles. The other three flickered but remained burning. Nahida frowned and tried again, extinguishing one more.
“You’re so close!” Rukkhadevata exclaimed, sensing Nahida’s disappointment. “Would you like some help?”
Nahida pouted and kicked her feet. “No! I don’t need help!” She tried one more time and finally blew out all the candles. “Does this mean my wish won’t come true?” she asked, sounding disappointed.
As Rukkhadevata began pulling the candles out and placing them on a spare plate, she replied, “No, I think it will come true, just maybe not in the way you expect.”
“But… I couldn’t blow out all the candles…”
“Just because you couldn’t do it all in one go doesn’t mean you weren’t able to do it. It doesn’t matter how many attempts it takes, as long as you’re making progress to where you want to go. Everyone moves at their own pace.” After all the candles were off the cake, she grabbed the blunt cake knife on the table. “Okay! How much cake would you like tonight?”
Outside of the birthday girl’s window, there sat an angel on the roof of the neighboring building. He was lounging with a book in his hand, his legs comfortably crossed. Every once in a while, he looked up from his reading to take a glance at the young girl and her mother through the window. He watched her attempt to blow out the candles on her cake, frowning each time he saw her laugh and smile at something her mother said. A sense of dread began developing in his chest.
That feeling was immediately disturbed by the sound of a scream coming from above him. As the scream continued, it appeared to get closer and closer—
THUD.
The sound landed behind Alhaitham. He heard someone make wordless whimpers and then grumble some curses. It was a familiar voice.
As Alhaitham turned his head, he saw a familiar devil groaning and pushing himself off the ground. The devil rubbed his lower back, wincing in pain from the fall.
“Senior Kaveh?”
“Ah, it’s you! You didn’t see that…did you?” Kaveh asked as he quickly brushed himself off. His hair was still tousled from his fall from the sky, golden bangs tangled between his dark horns. He pushed the locks back with his fingers.
“No, but I heard it. You were quite loud.”
Kaveh blushed. “Not exactly the best impression to give a junior…”
“What happened?”
“Oh… I—” Kaveh scratched his upper lip and sighed, hanging his shoulders. “I lost balance on the way here.” Crossing his arms and pouting, he continued to make excuses. “It’s just… the atmosphere is different here than it is in the Hells. It’s colder. The air pressure is higher.”
“You know, you’re allowed to admit it’s not your strong suit.”
Kaveh glared in response. “I… anyway, let’s forget that happened. You’re Alhaitham, right? I’m surprised you remember me. We only met a few times back when we were students. What are you doing here?”
“How could I forget?” Alhaitham replied, though the only thing he really remembered about this senior was the heated debates the two had. “Likely, we’re both here for the same reason.” He nodded towards the window. “I wanted to check up on my next assignment.”
Alhaitham had received the notice from his higher-ups earlier in the morning. As a guardian angel from one of the Heavens’ academies, it was his job to watch over and guide children who were deemed in need of assistance. It was also a cushy job, all things considered. Just the way he liked it.
His placement hadn’t started yet — if Nahida looked out the window at that instance, she would have seen an empty rooftop. However, his supervisor gave him enough of a job summary and client information for him to go and find her. So, to satisfy his curiosity, he took the time to check up on her.
“You? A guardian?” Kaveh scoffed. “Hah! You’re kidding, right?”
Alhaitham shrugged. “A job is a job. Unfortunately, the work-life balance isn’t great, but it lets me spend time on Earth away from all the pretentious angels in the Heavens.”
“Ha, look who’s talking,” Kaveh mumbled under his breath.
“I didn’t quite hear you. Would you like to say that again?”
Kaveh narrowed his eyes and placed his hands on his hips, but did not repeat what he said. “Is this your first placement?”
“It’s my second.”
“Mine as well. How did your first go?”
“Pretty standard. You?”
“I… uh…” he hesitated and sighed. “I got in a bit of trouble. Wouldn’t be surprised if your supervisor tells you to keep a strict eye on me later.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing bad. I… got a bit too emotionally attached. And when it was time to leave, I tried to refuse.” He gritted his teeth and looked away.
“But given your appearance here, I assume you conceded?”
Kaveh nodded. “They gave me a stern explanation of the punishment involved.”
“If I recall correctly, one of the first things they teach at the academy was how to remain impartial and detached.”
“Well, I just don’t think that’s a good way of dealing with children. Anyway, I wanted to come here to warn my angel counterpart about what I did. I didn’t want you to get the impression that I’m a criminal or that I’m going to ruin the child’s life. We devils already have a bad enough reputation among your type, as is.”
“Don’t worry. I try not to assume things without evidence.”
“That’s… good, I think?” he said, wrinkling his brow. “Either way, it’ll be nice not being alone in this assignment. It may even be interesting getting to know one another, despite our differences in the past.”
“We’re always assigned in pairs. With every angel comes a devil, and vice versa. That’s the point. Or did you not learn that either?”
“I’m aware of how the system works.” Kaveh rolled his eyes. “It was just an expression — a greeting or courtesy of sorts.”
“Ah, well, in that case, I’d argue that getting to know one another makes the job easier on both us and the child, so it’s more or less part of the job itself.”
“Sure, that’s fine too,” he grumbled. He finally sat down on the roof, next to Alhaitham, and looked inside the window for the first time. His expression softened as he watched the girl dig into her first slice of cake. “Do you happen to know why we were assigned? She looks happy and loved. I’m not sure why the academies think she needs guardians.”
“They didn’t tell you?”
Kaveh shook his head and scoffed in response. “No? I wasn’t told a single thing. I doubt they trust me very much.”
Alhaitham closed his book and looked at the two once more. Inside that house, they lived in their own little world. The girl looked at her mother as if she were the sun, the only guiding light she would ever need.
Alhaitham wondered how fate could be so cruel.
“Soon, that girl will be an orphan.”