They wandered in silence for a time, her hand engulfed in his for once. He usually insisted in carrying her in his arms. “Sometime I wish I was an Angel. Is that weird?” A stray cat dropped out of a tree and sauntered across the cracked uneven sidewalk. “No London, it is not weird. But I will tell you this. If you were an Angel, you would be far too young for dating. Or conversely, we would not know each other because you would not have been on Seteri to save me and Zoe from the space station. Therefor we would never have met. So I am very glad that you are NOT an Angel.” Ezekiel nodded once before leaning over to brush a kiss to the top of London’s currently lavender curls.
She persisted, “But you’ve been alive for at least four thousand years. I’m most likely going to die in the next.. I don’t know, if I don’t fall in the shower… hundred years or so. Even before then, I’ll get old and infirm and frail and you’ll still be.. well, you. Beautiful and young and.. I don’t know, I’m overthinking things again.” He tilted his head and looked at her in amusement. “Should I contact someone and have your shower replaced with a soaking tub?” They settled in the shade of an ancient tree before he spoke again, his head resting on her lap as he stared at the Spanish moss dripping from every branch.
“London, we all die eventually. Even Angels. And what I like about you, why I am with you.. why I choose you. Has nothing to do with your body. I mean, I like your body. It’s a great body and does.. uh.” He paused, color infusing his face. He took a few moments to compose himself before beginning again. “I chose to accept your advances before you were in this body. Your spirit is what I care for, not the vessel it resides in. Wait, sort of yes, but not totally. I like your body, really like it. But I liked your last one as well. They are both pleasing visually and.. um.. But what I mean is before that, what drew me to you was your struggle over leaving Dio, how you dealt with with your abuser during the interrogation. In not letting the turmoil that obviously stirs within you, cloud who you are. All of that has nothing to do with the body that houses you.”
“Yes, you are showing me what it means to be human and why I should care about humanity at all. But you are more than that to me. Also, I would be very sad if you fell in the shower and passed away, for several reasons.” A rare smile lifts the corners of her mouth at this declaration as he continued.
“But I would also find you again when the time was right. I feel that our souls journey together is just starting. And if that means I am forced to search for you all over creation then so be it. Letting go is not something Angels do well or easily. Just look at what Gabriel was willing to do. To shatter the universe to bring Lucifer back. Or Michael, who will wait until the end of time if it means she can spend one more minute with him.”
They were in the Crescent City for the last four days. Today was spent exploring the Garden District after sampling some of the cities offerings for lunch. Ezekiel still had a dusting of powdered sugar on his shirt where he had absently tried to shoo a fly away from his beignet. London found it endearing for some reason.
As usual, most of their excursions centered around or at least included food of some sort. Any good soldier will tell you there are two things you never turn down, a chance to eat or a chance to nap and the golden eyed angel was nothing if not a good soldier. “But, what if I reincarnated as a dog or something?” He lay his head in her lap, wings splayed slightly across the grass. “Devotion we do very well. I always wondered what it would be like to be a pet caregiver. Is that the right term? Or was it pet parent?” Shutting his eyes he hummed softly at the feeling of her fingers sliding through his hair.