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Wemmbu is death, and Eggchan is life.
Two natural important points of population. For each time you blink, there is a person born and a person dead. Not that blinking would kill, but it's about how the world spins so rapidly and how the human population grows and dies with every passing second. In life, there is bloom, and in death, there is rot.
Two roles were respectively assigned to both the key factors. It happened to be the Guardian of Death, and the Guardian of Life. Just as the fantasy books stereotype, they are polar opposites. While one operates on softer fingers, the other shoulders the weight of loss with their calloused hands. It is taboo that life and death clash together.
Not in that way. Not the way where a mother passes after the birth of her newborn,
But the taboo of a romance between the two guardians of humans and animals alike.
Wemmbu was perched upon the gates that surrounded the manor, the luscious curtains of his hair veiling his face like the hood of a grim reaper. He sighed softly, staring down the spirit of the cat that refused to walk through the iron bars. His knees were drawn to his chest, an attempt to make himself as small as he could for the tiny soul to pass into his arms.
“Come on, now, Whiskers,” he called with a mellow voice. After the following beats of silence, the cat never ended up walking through. They stared at the manor, at the messy set of newspapers laid over the tiles where they bled. Wemmbu’s eyes softened with a fragile frown, his hand falling to his side where they belonged afterwards. “I can’t wait forever, buddy.”
Despite his repeated attempts to secure the trust of the cat, the feline never once spared a glance. Their ears perked at the rasp of his voice, but they never tilted their heads. It was a prominent sign that the keepers of the cats were fortunately good owners, much to the point their cat was bittersweet to leave them.
He’s been standing here for.. Well, who knows how long?
This was the life of Death. At the earliest point of newer history, when Wemmbu was early appointed to the job, he was rebellious and stubbornly insistent to seek the Guardian of Life to blow back the soul into the corpse of the dead, to resuscitate and to thread the picture of a longer future. Yet, some things are better left to fate. He learnt the hard way, back about half a decade ago.
Just like life, death partook in many branches from a big, big tree. It could result in grief, love or acceptance and even the start of a new cycle.Wemmbu had encountered so many, a dog who stayed with their owner until they stopped weeping, a cat who clung to her favorite cat-post or mice who refused to wedge out the ceiling, idly laying by their rotting corpse as their kin surrounded their body.
Leaving is hard, and Wemmbu understands the feeling as much as those who watched another’s loss, or their own.
“Damn it, freakin’ cat..” he cursed, massaging the skin of his forehead. His teeth grinded together as he palmed his face, an almost mechanical whirr in his brain. Wemmbu never liked the type who couldn’t move away. There was always surface irritation at the kind, but the weight of their emotion always hung like a burden and covered that messy anger with guilt.
Just as he was about to stand and pick up the feline himself, he heard the soft, orderly thumps of muffled footsteps behind his squatting form. Wemmbu felt a shiver of heat run up his neck and his face, yet as he whirled his head at the presence, the rush of embarrassment dimmed to an aching affection. His eyes tracked the approaching form of the radiant angel with a devoted curiosity.
He stood, clearing his throat to weave his composure into place. He faced the blue-eyed angel and awkwardly spoke. “Hey, Egg. What’re you doing here?” asked Wemmbu, as his hand habitually raised to scratch at the exposed nape, below the collar of his robes. Eggchan’s lips curved into a smile, that glassy skin reflecting the sun with heavenly radiance. “I thought we agreed on pet names.”
Wemmbu scoffed, the tip of his pointed tail stiffening momentarily, swirling in the air to brush away the fluster. “We’re in public. Well, kinda. There’s a lot of spirits around here. I found this cat, and it seems like they've been sitting here for a week or less,” he paused, his eyes darting to Egg’s lips. He caught himself amidst the act and turned. “Um.. we wouldn’t want PDA to all these poor grieving souls, won’t they?”
Eggchan softly giggled, making his way to stand beside the empty spot to Wemmbu’s right. Then, he parted his lip to remark teasingly. “Since when did you care? I bet the animals don’t care if you’re kissing Life or not.”
“Okay, well, I do,” he retorted with a snarl. Albeit the little hiss never meant any offense to Eggchan. Eggchan’s smile widened by a fraction, but he didn’t make further attempts to reply.
Eggchan is the one and only person he’s ever trusted in the line of work. No, he didn’t trust even his previous seniors. When you work a big responsibility, each decision should be carefully crafted so the world wouldn’t stop under the mistake of shaky hands. However, Eggchan is an angel sent from the highest layer of heaven, almost personally for him rather than the job of life, he’d say.
He’s an infuriatingly adorable boy, with respectful mannerism. Though, he has an obnoxiously large ego size and that should speak for how one should expect him to act with his colleague who was far from a counterpart. His mouth was unbelievably clean, as if it had been thoroughly bleached to avoid any mishaps of literal vulgarity.
Even so.. He has possibly the highest authority in terms of flirting. It was either that Wemmbu was easy to fluster and charm, or Eggchan was simply too skilled.
And right now, Eggchan holds the title of his secret lover. Behind the doors of their exhausting jobs, Wemmbu and Egg shared their deepest secrets, their feelings about the lack of faith in their line of work and the physical intimacy held so quietly, the one that never passed a big boundary.
Easily said, Eggchan crawled into Wemmbu’s stone cold heart and grew the life of butterflies that fluttered in his stomach each time they locked eyes. Wemmbu always caught his heart beating in an accelerating rhythm whenever the angel was around and he hated how easily his subconscious accepted the fact.
“What’s with the cat?” Eggchan asked, quietly. His voice was always so smooth and soothing, it burnt every last bit of Wemmbu’s anger to a silent ember. Wemmbu hummed in response, his arms crossing as he elaborated. “The guy’s been there for a week. I just found him yesterday, and have tried coercing him since. It’s like he’s a statue, you know..” he exhaled, exasperated.
“Hm,” Egg nodded briefly and shifted his weight onto a leg.
“..Aren’t you gonna help call him here?”
“Why should I? He’s your catch, not mine.”
Wemmbu’s neutral expression fell to a subtle pout as he replied. “..Egg,” he called, begrudgingly. His crossed arms fell to his chest, where they fiddled with his silky monotone robes. “I know you’re teasing me. Can you just help me already?” he pleaded with a jutted lower lip. However, that would help nothing, he’s sure. Egg was still a jerk, and no amount of love could stop his bastard-like attitude.
“Mm–Mm,” the angel shook his head, batting his eyelashes with a suggestive haze in his eyes, which made Wemmbu’s tail stand in restraint. Despite his platform shoes, Wemmbu was somewhat shorter than Egg. It was humiliating, to be loomed over an angel with pride. He found a perverse endearment in it, however.
“Egg,” he whined. “Come on, dude.”
“Is that what you call your lover?”
Wemmbu was silenced by the pure audacity of the angel. He felt the urge to snap, to let the bitterness he held from both work and irritation to Egg. Though, how could he ever argue with those beautiful, beady blue eyes? Just like the sky, mesmerizing and calm. It deactivated his walls in a pitiful second.
“I know you can do it. I'm just here for support, not to do your duty.”
Wemmbu took that as a cue to release his frustration.
“.. The cat just won't comply. It's getting tiring,” whispered Wemmbu, his eyes fixated on the curled form of the cat who hadn't moved an inch from their spot. Egg's posture minusculely slouched around Wemmbu's vulnerability as he began to weep his feelings.
Eggchan seemed to notice the distress in Wemmbu's behavior, the scrunch of his face, the jut of his lips and the nails that dug tight into his calloused palms. It hurts to see his lover so distressed.
With an absentminded sway, he closed the distance between the shorter guy.
His head tilted down where Wemmbu's lips puffed, and gently, he pressed his lips over Wemmbu's.
Wemmbu stiffened, the sudden and alarming contact had left him paralyzed in his spot. Though, only partly realizing that it was none other than his cheeky lover, his hands awkwardly placed on either side of Egg's chest with a shy tenderness. His tail quivered in the air as he fought to gain some semblance of dignity, or to let himself loose into the contact of those strawberry-like lips.
Eggchan barely pulled away for a single breath, and chased Wemmbu's lips before he could protest. Once again, Wemmbu was left defenseless and utterly at his mercy, while Egg's hands slithered tight around his waist and played with the flowy silk of his cape.
The touch was sickeningly filled with love and life, which were two things Wemmbu thought he'd never obtain in the span of working as the Guardian of Death. He thought he never should be able to receive a love so adorable when he himself takes away the lover of another.
Even so, they both knew that this was wrong. In the eyes of heaven, Death and Life should not be together, at least, romantically. It was as taboo as the pairing of the highest angel and the deepest devil. One would be bathing in the light, and the other would be bathing in magma. Created with opposing factors, and yet, they manage to magnetate towards one another.
It was funny how humane they were despite being an anomaly between creations. They owned monstrous features, but they were just as humane as the people beneath the clouds. It's funny how humans crave something that isn't created for them, and Life and Death share that sentiment.
They wonder if the previous guardians dating back from Adam's generation had ever been as intimate with each other before.
Despite how guilty he was, Wemmbu never explicitly pushed Eggchan away, even with every shaky finger telling him to toss his stupid lover off himself.
The mellow and fuzzy feeling of butterflies swarming his lungs constricts the longer the kiss lasts. Wemmbu whimpered against Egg, a quiet plea for even some proper air in the midst of their ragged breathing. Egg's fingers gently pressed into Wemmbu's back, tracing the faint outline of his spine under the smooth skin.
Eventually, even the angel began to lose his breath. He finally pulled away with a gasp, leaving Wemmbu panting just below him.
“What the hell, Egg?” He huffed, wiping his sleeve over his bruised lips. Egg's smirk seemed to grow wider at Wemmbu's desperate attempt to dust off his uniform, as if Wemmbu could ever wipe away that feeling of intimacy when it wouldn't. He knows that he kissed him in front of many hundred souls.
And he knows the PDA might get them both in trouble. But if it was his lover, then everything was worth the risk.
Wemmbu doesn't share the same sentiment, despite his personality, he is always afraid to take further risks with Eggchan. After all, he is Death. Death understands loss more than anybody.
Anyway, Egg had stuff to do. He cleared his throat, his head tilted shy of Wemmbu's ears as he suggested under a quiet breath. “You should come to my room tonight, Wemmbu. I'm gonna wash my sheets tomorrow anyways.”
Wemmbu pushed him off, the fury of a blush spreading across his cheeks as he turned back to the cat. Eggchan patted his shoulder as a goodbye, and turned the opposite direction. Wemmbu's tail was tightly curved around his thigh, either from anger or arousal; there'd be marks from the bruising grip.
Although… he had to admit, Eggchan lifted his mood by a dozen. He felt somewhat refreshed, as if Eggchan had been a mini charging station to clear away the negativity in his mind.
Wemmbu sighed.
‘Okay, well. Let's try this again.’