Work Text:
There was an angel dressed in white standing at the creek's mouth. Julchen didn't know her name.
Freshwater swayed through her toes, nipping at the braided thread around her ankle. Her dress went down just enough to soak the hemline. The smooth breeze lifted her wavy brown hair away from her back and alongside the dandelion seeds. Her face was turned away but Julchen was sure it was just as breathtaking as the rest of her.
Had she died? Surely this sight is too surreal. The pond in front of the angel, the nostalgia of the nature, the subtle embroidery dancing around her dress.
Julchen couldn't say anything.
The angel girl never turned around. Julchen stared into the back of her head until finally deciding to take her shoes and socks off. She placed them on the bank and trudged through the creek herself. The gravel pinched and poked, but if the angel could do it, so could she. Julchen stopped when she was next to the girl and gazed ahead at the family of ducks crossing the pond. The frogs and birds and dragonflies shuffled in the corner of her vision as she took a deep breath to engrave the memory in her lungs.
"I used to play here when I was a kid," Julchen reminisced. The angel looked over. Her eyes were the color of oak with hints of green in the right light. "When my brother was old enough, I would bring him along and make sure he didn't do anything stupid as we played in the clay."
The angel exhaled and watched the dragonflies dart around. Her Italian accent was heavy. "I would bring my little sister."
"What made you stop?"
The girl scoffed, "what made you stop?"
"My brother grew disinterested and instead devoted his life to his studies," Julchen lied. She couldn't get herself to tell the truth. Not when she still believed her brother was out there. "What made you stop?"
"My sister and I drifted apart."
"How so?"
"Why do you care?"
The angel had an attitude, but Julchen didn't mind. "Because you're beautifully mysterious. I'm awesome. We make the perfect pair."
"Pfft. I'm not mysterious." Yet the compliment still made her face redden. "I'm just skeptical. That's it. Now go away or stop asking questions."
"Why?" Julchen grinned.
"Must you answer my question with a question? And what did I just say? Leave, would you?" She used her hand to shoo her.
"You haven't answered my question yet!"
"I don't care."
"But I answered yours! It's only fair, bro."
"I don't care," the girl enunciated, pointing a finger into Julchen's chest. No way was Julchen leaving that easily!
"Do you not like your sister?"
The angel's fists grasped tight at her dress. "It's none of your fucking business! I don't even know you, for fuck's sake."
"I'm Julchen!"
The girl hesitantly glanced over to see Julchen holding her hand out with an obnoxious grin on her face.
"I'm not telling you my name. You don't need it."
Still, Julchen's grin refused to falter. She bluffed again, "don't worry, I know you!"
"Why do you know who I am?"
"Ahem. 'It's none of your fucking business!' Right?"
The girl groaned, her hands loosening their grip as she dragged them down her face. "I hate you already."
"I thought you were an angel when I first saw you standing here."
The girl froze. "What?"
"I saw you and your white dress and I was like, 'damn, this can't be real.' Not to mention your unmatched attractiveness and alluring sassiness and I realized you would be a banished angel if you really were one. And that would mean you have lore. Jackpot!" Julchen pinched a corner of the girl's dress, rubbing the satin between her fingers. She was promptly slapped away.
"Hey! What the fuck does that mean?! Why are you so crude?!"
Julchen flipped her ashen hair with a smirk.
"Answer me!"
"Why? You just told me to leave a few moments ago. You're suddenly interested? Color me impressed, kleines Engelsmädchen."
"Oh my God! Fine! I'll tell you what you wanted!" she threw her hands up for effect. "I hate my goddamn sister! She's nonno's favorite and she's good at everything! I come here after I fight with them to cool off and you're ruining everything! Now I'll have to sleep at a friend's house instead of facing them. Che palle."
"Shit, my bad. You coulda... nevermind. You can come over to my house if you need."
"And why would I do that? I just met you! For all I know, you could kill me!"
Julchen and that annoying grin. She wanted to slap it right off that smug face. Julchen propping the girl's chin into her fingers to force them to look at one another made it so much more annoying!
"Why would I do that! I don't even know your name yet, but you know mine. You could kill me."
"Let go of my face." Surprisingly, Julchen complied. "My name is Chiara. Chiara Vargas."
Julchen giggled and put her hands on her hips.
"Well, Chiara! Let's be friends! But, uh, can we get out of the water? I can't feel my toes."