Similitude of Ashes and Feathers

Chapter 6: To See the King

Alex made sure to clarify that only he would fetch Aaron, for his safety. If they insisted on at least taking Hercules with him then he would, his friend was much more relaxed than other angels so he expected it to be alright. Going back to his wing he entered his room to speak with Aaron.

Hercules remained silent but ready to defend Alex if he needed to, not aggressive but defensive. Alexander opened his door and was greeted by Aaron sitting in almost the same spot he left him in. This time with a lot more blankets. "... I thought I told you not to go snooping in my room?"

"... It's very cold," he spoke softly. "I swear I only looked in your closet, assuming that's where extra blankets would be... I was right." And he was grateful for the extra blankets because it made it a little easier not to set things on fire.

"We really need to get you sweaters, turtle necks like that one if you like but with sleeves. You can't exactly have every blanket in the castle." Alex walked into his room, letting Hercules follow.

Aaron was immediately ten times more nervous than he had been before, tightening the blankets around himself. His fear was apparent through his expression. If this was a secret execution there was almost nothing he could do to save himself and he knew it.

"This is Hercules," Alex gestured to him, "he's my personal guard and the guardian angel I was telling you about." It didn't take a genius to know Aaron was afraid of him. "He isn't here to kill you... But he is here to make sure I come back to the dining hall safely and you're with me."

Aaron only looked more horrified, "what? But you said-" he sighed and spoke more softly, "all you do is lie to me. Is that because of who I am or do you lie this much to everyone?"

He looked a little apologetic at that because he did feel bad for him. Alex couldn't imagine what he was going through, typically he didn't take other people's feelings into consideration. "I'm sorry but it might be better this way?" He knew that wouldn't make the demon feel better at all but he didn't know what else to say. "I'm trying here, cut me some slack."

The second most disappointing thing about having to be in front of the king was that he had to leave the warmth of the blankets. Alex would've offered him a jacket but it might not look very good if he came out wearing some of his clothes. Accepting his defeat, Aaron did free himself from the blankets. Hercules hadn't said a word the entire time and the demon wasn't sure if that was what he preferred or not. Everything felt bad in this situation and he wished more than ever that he hadn't left Hell.

His legs had felt like they were filled with lead the entire walk there, at the same time trying not to let his knees give out on him. Actually entering the dining hall he found it incredibly difficult not to give in to an overwhelming bout of nausea caused by the intense anxiety he was experiencing. The demon had nervously glued his gaze to the floor, knowing it was impolite but fearing the worst if he did look.

"This is him," Alex said, "this is Aaron."

The clicking of boots against the wood flooring gave away how the king moved closer, but when Aaron could see his boots he couldn't help but slowly look up at him. The boy was shaking like a leaf, reasonably so seeing as George Washington was very tall and intimidating while he was not either of those things.

Washington opened his mouth to say something but he hadn't even managed to finish one word before Aaron's vision went dark, his tense body had relaxed, and he collapsed on the floor.

"... well sh*t, you could kill him with only a look." Alexander frowned, "that might be a good thing if he'd deserved it but he didn't." Alex looked up at his father, folding his arms across his chest. "Can't you stop being intimidating for five seconds?"

The king gave Alexander an incredulous look. He didn't plan for that, he was just trying to decide what to say and do as he got closer to look at him. It wasn't like he'd been trying to be intimidating.

Martha had come over as soon as the young boy had fallen to the ground. "Oh poor dear," he was breathing so she didn't need to check for a pulse but she did place the back of her hand to his forehead. "Goodness, he is burning up."

"He's a demon, Martha. I can't imagine that isn't due to the altitude and lack of experience with how cold our home is in comparison to his own. It would take him a while to adjust before he'd be able to not feel that way." He wasn't wrong, Aaron had tried to explain that much earlier to Alex. "He just needs an outside source to warm himself. Of course he would need cooled down before we could use fabric to help at this point." It wouldn't surprise anyone at this point in time if they wrapped Aaron in a blanket it might just ignite.

"So what do we do?" Alex raised a brow in question. "What can we do?"

Unlike humans or angels a demon experiencing a fever wasn't a fever, their body temperature was always much higher than either one. So using something cold to try and bring his temperature down would only make it worse since his body responded to being cold much faster and more intensely.

"We could use hot water, right?" Martha looked to her husband, "would that work? It might stop him from just lighting on fire as well as help to warm him. I'm afraid I don't know much about his kind's physiology." Most angels didn't, that wasn't their priority.

The king nodded, "I think that would be best."

Alex was impressed they were so calm about helping Aaron, made him feel less bad for breaking his promise. Of course, he still wanted to be involved in helping but there wasn't much he could do other than request to go with the servants that were helping Aaron. The king and queen said not until after dinner could he be excused. He hadn't eaten since breakfast and they knew it, so it was important to them that he stayed at least for the meal.

When they'd finished, which he'd gone out of his way to hurry, Alex did get his adoptive parents permission to go to him. Until Aaron was a bit more stable they thought it would be best if neither of them went to him yet. Maybe Martha could go, but they didn't want to take any chances.

The servants had taken Aaron to an extra bedroom in Alex's wing, the last thing they needed was to have this get out faster than they already knew it would. The servants filled a bath for him with boiling water and carefully got him in it. Per the king's request they didn't remove his garments, he needed every bit of warmth he could get and they planned on getting him dry clothes.

That news in particular was something Alexander was excited for, a small bit of comfort and kindness from the king and queen would probably be appreciated by the demon. Alex also felt guilty about putting him in such a stressful situation in the first place. That being the case he made sure to be the one to bring Aaron the new articles of clothing made for him, a tailor could fit the clothes to him better but an estimate was the best they could do at the time.

It was only a matter of waiting for Aaron to wake up now that he had been properly taken care of.