Arthur was on his way home from work. In all honesty, he was bored of his lifestyle – it was the same routine everyday – wake up, go to work, come home, chill in front of the television, go to bed. And the cycle would repeat itself all over again the next day.

It wasn't like Arthur didn't have any friends that he couldn't socialise with. It was just that they worked odd hours, so they were free when he was at work, or he was free when they were at work. And his colleagues were too tired after work to hang out. It was a slightly complicated situation. So Arthur and his friends mostly spent the weekends together.

As he turned into a corner, Arthur caught sight of an ash-haired person huddled in an alley. He was dressed in a white sort of tunic that seemed to be torn. The figure was trembling, and it looked like it was from pain.

Cautiously, Arthur approached the figure and gently placed his hand on the other person's shoulder. The other person literally jumped before turning behind to look at Arthur.

Arthur could see that there were tears in the person's golden eyes and that he clearly was in pain. "Are you alright?" he asked in concern.

The other man shook his head. "H-hurts," he rasped, gesturing to his back.

Arthur glanced at the person's back and was shocked to see two gaping bloodied holes at the area of his shoulder blades. It looked like whatever that was there had been ripped from them.

"Can you stand?" Arthur reached out to stable the other man. "Let's go back to my place and get you treated."

The person struggled to lift himself from the ground, but he proved too weak to be able to even support himself.

Arthur looked at the other man in concern. He then bent down. "Tell me if I'm hurting you," he told the other man as he lifted him from the ground, bridal-style.

The man let out an undignified squeak as he was lifted from the ground and then winced when Arthur's hand brushed the wound on his back.

"I'm Arthur, by the way," Arthur told the man as he made his way home with him in his arms. "What's your name?"

"Yao," the man whispered.

Arthur frowned. Earlier on, when Yao had tried to tell him that he was hurting, it seemed like he couldn't speak properly as well. "Can't you talk?"

Yao brought his hands to his throat. He shook his head. "I temporarily lose my voice when I lose my wings, aru," he breathed.

Arthur blinked. He was taken aback at what Yao had just told him. "… Your… wings…?"

Yao nodded sadly. He did not look at Arthur.

"Care to explain?" Arthur prompted.

Yao glanced briefly at Arthur before he turned to look away. Arthur could tell his face was contorted into an expression of agony. "I am an angel, aru," he exhaled in pain. "Or rather, WAS an angel. I was exiled from heaven for breaking the law."

Arthur was silent. He had thought that angels were messengers of God and performed God's tasks. He had thought that angels were mythical, or that only certain people with gifts could experience them. But here, right in front of him, was a fallen angel.

There were all sorts of questions Arthur wanted to ask Yao, but he didn't know where to start. He finally reached home, and gently placed Yao on the couch. "Don't move," Arthur commanded. "I'm going to get some bandages and some warm water. Just make yourself comfortable."

Awkwardly, Yao sat on the sofa and looked around. Arthur had quite a nice home.

Arthur returned shortly with a basin of warm water, some cloth and some bandages. He sat down beside Yao on the sofa. "Turn around," he told Yao. "I'll help you out of your clothes, so I can clean your wounds."

Yao was about to object, saying that he could do that himself, thank you very much, but one look at Arthur's determined stare made him shut up. He simply blushed and turned around, letting Arthur strip him off the garment he was wearing.

Once Arthur had gotten the top part of Yao's clothes off, he brushed Yao's ponytail to the front so that he could have a better look at the wound. "It's a clean hole," Arthur commented. "It should heal fairly quickly."

Arthur dabbed a piece of cloth in the warm water and gently ran it over the first wound. Yao hissed in pain as the cloth came in contact with the wound. "Bear with it for just a while," Arthur told him. "I'm just washing it, and then I'm going to bandage it."

Yao nodded and shut his eyes tightly. He could do this without crying. His lower lip trembled as tears threatened to fall from his eyes. It was the first time in Yao's life dealing with pain, and he was not used to it. In heaven, everything was blissful and one did not experience pain.

When Arthur was done, he wrapped the bandages around Yao's torso and chest. "We'll change it again tomorrow," he told Yao, smiling.

Yao turned around and looked at Arthur. "Tomorrow?" he mouthed.

"Of course!" Arthur exclaimed. "You don't have anywhere to go, do you?"

Yao shook his head.

"Well, you can stay here!" said Arthur as he grinned at Yao. "I'll even help you adjust to life here on Earth."

Yao was touched by Arthur's kindness. He had only just met the man, and yet here he was, offering his home to Yao. Yao's eyes filled with tears.

"Hey, don't cry," said Arthur, horrified by the scene of the other man crying in front of him. "It's not like I'm doing this for you – I'm pretty lonely myself," Arthur grumbled half-heartedly as he looked away, his cheeks turning pink.

Yao laughed silently and nodded. He wiped his eyes dry with the back of his hand, and smiled widely at Arthur.

"Come on," Arthur took Yao's hand and led him to his room. "Let's get you something decent to wear."

That night, during dinner, Arthur found out that Yao had not tasted meat in his entire life. "Then what do you eat in heaven?" inquired Arthur.

Yao held up a piece of broccoli on his plate, indicating vegetables. "And grains, cereal, rice…" he whispered softly to Arthur.

"Vegetarians, huh?" mused Arthur. "Well, since you're no longer an angel, would you like to try some chicken?" He stabbed a piece of chicken with his fork and held it out to Yao.

Yao eyed the piece of meat apprehensively. After a moment, he took the fork from Arthur and stuffed the chicken into his mouth. Yao looked thoughtful as he chewed on the food item.

"So how is it?"

Yao gave Arthur a thumbs-up sign.

"I'm glad," Arthur grinned.

After dinner, Arthur took Yao to buy some basic necessities, despite Yao's protests. "Look," said Arthur. "I earn way too much for myself, so let me spend it on a friend."

Yao was taken aback by what Arthur said. Friend? He'd only known Arthur for a few hours, and Arthur already considered him a friend? Humans were very strange, indeed.

All in all, Arthur bought Yao a few sets of clothes, and some toiletries. "I'll take you shopping this weekend," Arthur told Yao. "We don't have much time now, seeing as it's a weekday and I have to get up early tomorrow. But this weekend, definitely," he grinned at Yao.

Yao smiled in return. Honestly, he could probably make do with what he had now. He was a fallen angel and had to make atonement for his sins, so he had expected to live crudely.

When they got back to Arthur's home, Arthur showed Yao to the guest bedroom. "It's yours now – I barely have any guests anyway," he said sheepishly. "The sheets are clean, and you can decorate the room however you want."

"Thanks," Yao mouthed to Arthur.

"Hey, don't mention it," Arthur replied gently. "Oh, if you decide to sleep in tomorrow and I have left for work, feel free to help yourself to any food I may have in the fridge – it's not much, but yeah…" he said embarrassedly. "I will be back in the evening to change your bandages for you."

Yao nodded.

"Well, good night," said Arthur as he took a step out of the room.

Yao waved at Arthur.