For The Crownless Queen, I hope you like it.

Prompts used: Angst (all the angst), Friendship, Romance, 'Daylight's Gone' – Motopony & ethereal. Also ghost, kind of.

The working title of this was: i swear, this is not good omens

Word Count: 1,323

meeting up in the middle

The centuries upon centuries Theodoriel had spent on Earth as the only angel permanently stationed there had changed him considerably, there was no denying that.

He had not Fallen—not technically—but in the end it did not really make a difference. He was down here, all alone, without any of his brothers and sisters to support him.

If anything it made it worse, because at least those who had Fallen had either the support of others or did not remember what they were missing.

Theodoriel, however, did not have that. He had absolutely nothing.

And sometimes—in his darkest hours when he was close to losing Faith—he wondered if the ethereal plan was really worth this.

Once again, Basile wished that he had made different choices. Out of all the ways his life could have gone, he had to chose the possibly worst one.

Being a demon was terrible. Not by Hell's definition, of course, because in Hell terrible meant good and good meant terrible.

Not, that his human life had been that good...bad...whatever in the first place.

Sure, the pyramids looked cool, but building it had been a real pain. Half of his family had died over the time. A few wrong choices later and here he was.

And sometimes—in his lightest moments when he was close to remembering—he wondered if there was a way to end this, forever.

Theodoriel had not gotten new orders from Above in literal ages. The last time had been when his half-human brother had walked on the planet, so he was a bit worried.

Quite frankly, at this point he wasn't sure he wanted to be a part of the ethereal plane ever again.

He had learned so much from human race and his family had abandoned him for a single mistake. In his eyes, he had not even done the wrong thing.

Theodoriel had simply ensured that Abel's spirit would be visible to his parents for a final goodbye.

They had pushed him away, simply because he had acted on his own accord, not on their Parent's order.

He still fulfilled them, but his metaphorical heart—because he did not have one, only his vessel—wasn't in it.

Basile had always hated it when he was caught by a Hunter. Thankfully most of them had no idea how to handle demons, never mind killing them.

He might not be a good...terrible...screw it. He might not do his job the way his superiors hoped he would, but that didn't mean he was suicidal for Sat- Go- someone's sake!

Basile just wanted to be left alone, but apparently, that was too much to ask for.

He sighed and entered his original Pierce Silver Arrow [1].

Being a demon had to have some benefits, after all. He had yet to regret buying it; it was simply so much more stylish than simply arriving in a pillar of smoke.

Over the years, Theodoriel had developed a slight reluctance to use his wings.

Humans didn't like it when things were different—even if they were infinitely better than his ethereal 'family'. The former were fine with change under certain circumstances and even then a lot would always stay the same, no matter what was said at that time.

Another point was, that there was always something to see and if he were to use his wings, he would be quite a bit too fast to actually appreciate any of the hard work his Parent and/or the humans had put into it.

And that was really not nice at all. He might be a bad angel, but that didn't mean he had to be—dare he say it—rude.

Theodoriel shuddered at the mere thought.

Basile had never liked his superiors. And, quite honestly why the hell should he?

Not counting the fact they were literal demons, they always stuck to traditions, even when there were so many new ideas. The demons of Hell did not understand the human world and had not since they had left the middle ages.

It was frustrating and there were so many better ways to spend his time, like binge watching Doctor Who or something.

Humans had invented so many things over the past centuries and Down Below did not acknowledge a single one of them.

You'd think they would at least look at things like the nuclear bomb and all the other things humans used to hurt each other, but no, that was apparently beneath their notice.

They were fools.

It was a chance meeting, but it happened nevertheless.

Theodoriel and Basile met.

It was in Astana somewhere in Kazakhstan, sometime in the winter of 1991.

Theodoriel was there to perform a few miracles; Basile was trying to hide from his superiors.

As for how they actually met?

Funny story that.

You see, Theodoriel had somehow remained completely oblivious of the fact the he was walking right next to a demon, until Basile rapidly paled.

Please, angel, do not smite me. I am not doing any nefarious work...at least not currently.

It was safe to say that this got the angel's attention. It was not everyday that you heard a voice in your head after all.

Well not once you had distanced yourself from Above's communication network, at the very least.

When asked how they had gotten into a conversation, both would give conflicting answers that changed every time, but what could you expect?

They were the rejects from Above and Down Below, so it was reasonable that one was too good and one too bad of a liar.

Despite their conflicting natures, Theodoriel and Basile actually got along fairly well.

Both of them were equally shocked about that, that much was fairly obvious, but it was the undeniable truth.

They were an odd mixture; it worked nevertheless.

Neither of them would admit to the idea, but they stuck together from that point onwards.

They could rise and shine in their own way.

"Do you ever think about The End?" Theodoriel questioned on the evening of the eleventh September, 2001. They were in Namibia at the time, but on that day, it really did not matter where on the planet you were.

The horror was not contained by such laughable concepts as borders. It was just as omnipresent as They—Theodoriel's Parent, in case there was any confusion—were.

"Frequently," Basile admitted, his eyes not moving from the screen—that was unsurprisingly still replaying what happened in New York City earlier that day—for a second. "I suppose we will be around for that, no matter if it's caused by your side, mine, or the humans."

"That is exactly what scares me," the angel admitted.

"Me too."

"Now that the night has come, you can be yourself again," Basile greeted Theodoriel as he entered their shared apartment in Manhattan sometime in mid-2011.

"I know," Theo—for that was a tad more inconspicuous than his full name—responded as he took of his jacket and revealed his wings.

"I still don't get why you insist on working," Basile—or Blaise, as he was calling himself now—commented, watching the angel's movements carefully.

Theo crossed his arms. "It keeps us better hidden from any side—damned, human, or ethereal."

Blaise smirked and wiggled his brows suggestively. "You're hot when you get all defensive."

"Are you offering temptations of the flesh?" Theo questioned.

"Do you even need to ask at this point?" Blaise chuckled. "It isn't like this is the first time. Or fiftieth."

A couple of hours later, were lying next to each other, side by side.

"A gift from Them, indeed," Blaise muttered with a smile on his face. [2]

"Oh, stop it, you little devil," Theo responded, his vessel's eyes shining with amusement.

A few seconds later, both of them broke out laughing.

"We are so immature," Theo declared once they had somewhat calmed down.

Blaise snorted and raised an eyebrow. "Would you rather we act our age?"

Theo shook his head.

"That's what I thought."

[1] Basically it's a fancy car form 1933. The one I used for the cover.

[2] Theodore happens to mean 'Gift of God'.

Please tell me what you think!

~Marvelgeek42