The Happiness Trade

He supposed most children his age believed in Angels. It was one of those things, just like the boogeyman and the monster under your bed, and maybe even pixies and fairies and unicorns (but those were for girls, surely), that children believed in but never really got to see except in storybooks and Word Of Mouth from the adults around.

Angels however, Alfred thought, were a little different to boogeymen and monsters which waited for the lights to go off before they crawled out from under your bed. Adults still believed in them. They carried those sparkling images out of childhood and painted them onto stained glass and printed word.

Angels were kind of like God, Alfred had thought.

He didn't really remember when was the first time he saw his first (and only) Angel, but it was definitely Very Long Ago. As long as Very Long Ago could get for a boy of age twelve.

"I'm here to make you happy," the Angel had announced, "So speak, human child. What will bring you True Happiness?"

It was all too deep for Alfred back then, and so he asked the Angel what he meant by True Happiness. The Angel replied that he did not know. It was his mission on Earth, he said, to learn what it meant to be Truly Happy. Humans knew - or so God had said - and all Angels would have to learn by helping a Human gain True Happiness.

"You are my charge from now on." The Angel told him. "I will protect you and bring you whatever this Happiness is."

Alfred paused. "Okay!" True Happiness sounded pretty awesome, then. Alfred's mom had once said that happiness was a box of chocolates. Or something like that. So true happiness must be the whole candy shop then, concluded Alfred's logic.

"What's your name?" He asked, staring at the angel's eyebrows. They were pretty huge. "I'm Alfred," he said, just like his parents had taught him to with meeting new people, sticking out a hand to shake. He was pretty sure an angel counted as a new person.

"I don't have a name," the angel said, eyeing Alfred's hand confusedly.

Alfred cocked his head, hand dropping back down to his side. "You gotta have a name!" He frowned, indigent. "Everyone has a name!"

The angel settled down to crouch at eye-level with Alfred, his wings spread to balance him. "Will me having a name make you happier then, Alfred?"

Alfred's brows knitted together in thought. This angel asks really hard questions. "Yeah."

"Alright then," he said, without hesitation. "You can give me a name."

Alfred's eyes scanned the room, as he frowned. He hadn't thought of this, having to give the angel a name. He took long enough to give his teddy bear a name, and that was with Matt constantly throwing names at him. But someone without a name is really really strange... His eyes fell onto the hard-cover book on his shelf.

"Arthur!" Alfred proclaimed, decisively, smiling. "Your name's Arthur. Like King Arthur! Who was really awesome."

"Ohh." Arthur smiled too, a reflex to Alfred's. "Arthur. That's... Quite nice, really. What did this King Arthur do?"

"Uhhh..." Alfred frowned, thinking. "I... Can't remember," he admitted, shrugging a little. "But I think he was pretty awesome, y'know? Being a king and all."

"I see," smiled Arthur, a little uncomprehendingly. "Aw-some, was it?"

"Yeap!"

He seemed to study Alfred for a while, before deciding. "I think I'd like that."

"Arthur?"

"Hmm?" Arthur hummed in reply, idly flipping through one of Alfred's comics. He'd been spending more time with Alfred lately, in the interest of studying people, or something like that.

"What do you do when you're not here?" Alfred asked, curious. In the few years that he'd met Arthur, sometimes, the angel would go away for long periods, before tapping on Alfred's school windows in the middle of class, smiling and waving.

"I go back to Heaven," Arthur said, matter-of-factly.

"Oh. Heaven, huh." Alfred thought for a while, thinking over the concept of fluffy clouds and a really sunny, pearly-white and bright place. "What's there to do in Heaven?"

"Lots of stuff," replied Arthur distractedly, as he squinted at a panel of Captain America.

"Do you have friends there? Like other angels or something?"

Arthur's thick brows furrowed momentarily, before straightening out again. "... I suppose I do, sort of," he answered, warily, as if unsure of the right answer.

"Then why don't you stay there and hang out with them?" Alfred was puzzled. He'd never had a lot of friends in school, mostly because they'd all thought that he was weird. He could be loud, and kind of obnoxious, and the fact that he kept trying to introduce them to (what seemed to be) a blank space beside him as "Arthur" didn't help. But, Alfred thought, if I did have friends, I'd always wanna hang out with them.

"Because you're my charge," said Arthur, looking up to look at Alfred, half-confused as to why he was asking this. "You're my responsibility, and I'm supposed to take care of you and to give you True Happiness. That's my duty. Till then, I'll be with you."

Alfred frowned, still thinking. Arthur always made him think the hardest. "... Am I your friend then?" He ventured.

Suddenly fond and affectionate, Arthur smiled and leaned over to ruffle Alfred's head. "If you want to be, then of course you are."

Alfred grinned happily under the touch. "Good," he affirmed. "I don't really have many, so you always have to be my friend, okay?"

Arthur tilted his head to the side a little, considering Alfred. "You don't? What about Matthew?"

"Matt's my brother," Alfred rolled his eyes. "That's different."

Arthur studied Alfred for a little longer, the practiced silence spreading between them. "Would you be happy with more friends then?" Arthur asked, slowly, as if chancing a guess.

Alfred shrugged. "Yeah, maybe? I mean, you're my friend right?" Arthur nodded. "And you make me happy, so more friends would make me more happy, right?"

"Right," repeated Arthur, eyebrows knitted in concentration again. His gaze flicked out at the sky beyond Alfred's bedroom window. Alfred knew that look.

"Are you going again?"

"Yes," Arthur sighed, patting Alfred's head again, before moving to stand up, letting his wings straighten out. "I really should. I'll... I'll make sure you're happy though, in my absence." He looked down at Alfred, giving him a hug. "I promise."

Alfred watched him open the windows, preparing to leave. "Okay," he mumbled, wishing Arthur would stay instead.

"Be back soon, okay?"

Arthur turned around to look at him, already sitting on the ledge of the sill. He smiled, a little rueful. "I'll try."

The next day, Alfred was paired with Toris and Kiku for a science project in class, and the three of them came to excitedly bond over a shared interest in comics and Star Wars.

Arthur didn't come back for two years, until Toris moved away, back to Lithuania.

"Alfred." Arthur liked to enter by his bedside window. Alfred was now used to it, but the first few times he had been scared out of his skin by the sudden intrusion. It wasn't be cause he was afraid or anything, but, really, sudden noises like that from behind him? Not healthy.

"Arthur!" Alfred tossed his homework to one side and jumped off his chair. "What took you so long! It's been a week and-"

"Ah, well, you know how things are in Heaven." Arthur waved a hand in the direction of the sky outside Alfred's window dismissively. "To make it up though, I've brought you a gift!"

For a Guardian Angel, Arthur was rarely around. Most of the time he was in Heaven - "It's an Angel's job to report to Heaven what happens on Earth. Don't worry, I'll hear you if anything happens." - and every now and then he would drop by, entering through the window, a package under his arms.

Arthur had taken it upon himself to bring Alfred happiness. This came in many shapes and forms - the newest toy in the toyshop, new clothes, a brand new water gun, a puppy, and the occasional Miracle that Alfred was slightly skeptical about. Miracles were glowing balls of Light that Arthur insisted would have some effect on him - intelligence to get him through his next spelling test at school, charm to get that pretty girl in class to notice him - if he swallowed them, but he was doubtful of those to say the least.

"Really?" Alfred's eyes lit up for a moment, before he stopped himself. "Arthur," Alfred started, trying to be as matter-of-fact as possible as a twelve year old in the face of an adult (he wasn't sure of Arthur's age, but he certainly looked like he was Grown Up), "The last time you brought me a puppy I got scolded by Mom and Dad."

"Well," Arthur coughed, settling himself on the bed, wings folding a little awkwardly across his back, "That was a mistake on my part. I did not know that pets apparently required Parental Approval." He cracked into a grin, "It's some Video Game thing." He pushed the package towards Alfred. "I did my research, it's pretty big amongst kids your age isn't it?"

"A video game?" Alfred leapt up and began pulling the wrapping paper off the box. "Whoaaa it's a PSP! Seriously? I can have this? I mean, I've always wanted one and-! Oh man! Cool! It comes with games too?" He threw his arms around Arthur and gave him a squeeze, "You're the coolest Angel."

"So... uh," Arthur started very carefully. "Are you happy?"

"Happy? Of course I am! I mean-" Alfred froze in mid-sentence, the all-too-familiar chill in his stomach spreading upwards. He raised his head warily to look at Arthur, "I mean, you gave me this and I- I really, appreciate it. Yeah." He hated this part. "But uhm, it's not-"

"Not enough, is it." Arthur's expression clouded over. A few hasty pats on Alfred's head before he pulled away, sinking back into deep thought.

Alfred found himself treasuring Arthur's visits more, in sharp contrast to the gaping juxtaposition of months of self-imposed unhappiness, tinged with the constant hope that Arthur would somehow feel it too, and come back.

A/N:

Hopefully the random crack of the first chapter didn't put you off this series too much. We promise that it'll make more cohesive sense soon :D Comments and everything are always appreciated, thank you for reading!