Gabriel gently guided Raphael back to the bench, still keeping one arm around his fellow as the other leaned heavily into him. He'd only just begun to notice the winter chill that stung his cheeks and the tip of his nose, and the Heavenly scent of Raphael's ruffled feathers hung thick and sweet in the air around them.
He still didn't know what to say.
"No one hates you, dear," he began carefully. "Even the best of us are faced with some confusion. The others will understand just as I have. We are, as you said, family, after all. And - and Michael..."
He chose his words cautiously, feeling with every syllable as though he tread across ground that shifted beneath his feet, leaving his path unclear. There was so little left to him that he understood, and that which he had once been sure of seemed to slip from his thoughts, as elusive as liquid mercury. His lips curved upwards in a wry smile at the dormant garden beyond. He was in no place to advise another archangel, not with his own emotions so raw and thoughts of Belial still dizzying in his head.
And yet...
"I think you need to ask yourself, my dear, if loving Michael diminishes your love for Him in any way. I suspect you'll find that it doesn't. We are, after all, meant to love what God has created..."
"You couldn't recognize love if it so slapped you in the face."
"And I don't think, so long as you keep that faith, Raphael, which has always shone so brightly around you, I don't think you shall ever Fall..."
"Is it a sin, Gabriel, to love the flesh that God has created?"
"And as for - as for the other..."
"What is it that you want from this life?"
Too heavy for his own skin, and yet still not heavy enough to anchor his spiraling thoughts, Gabriel sank against the other angel. Even as the scent of soft feathers enveloped him, he knew he longed only for the feel of another, and that knowledge overwhelmed him like a rush of cold water, so strong as to leave a man shuddering and breathless.
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He still didn't know what to say.
"No one hates you, dear," he began carefully. "Even the best of us are faced with some confusion. The others will understand just as I have. We are, as you said, family, after all. And - and Michael..."
He chose his words cautiously, feeling with every syllable as though he tread across ground that shifted beneath his feet, leaving his path unclear. There was so little left to him that he understood, and that which he had once been sure of seemed to slip from his thoughts, as elusive as liquid mercury. His lips curved upwards in a wry smile at the dormant garden beyond. He was in no place to advise another archangel, not with his own emotions so raw and thoughts of Belial still dizzying in his head.
And yet...
"I think you need to ask yourself, my dear, if loving Michael diminishes your love for Him in any way. I suspect you'll find that it doesn't. We are, after all, meant to love what God has created..."
"You couldn't recognize love if it so slapped you in the face."
"And I don't think, so long as you keep that faith, Raphael, which has always shone so brightly around you, I don't think you shall ever Fall..."
"Is it a sin, Gabriel, to love the flesh that God has created?"
"And as for - as for the other..."
"What is it that you want from this life?"
Too heavy for his own skin, and yet still not heavy enough to anchor his spiraling thoughts, Gabriel sank against the other angel. Even as the scent of soft feathers enveloped him, he knew he longed only for the feel of another, and that knowledge overwhelmed him like a rush of cold water, so strong as to leave a man shuddering and breathless.
"As for that, I honestly don't know."