God's Gone AWOL

[11] She's Shrinking

The hands on the grandfather clock had shifted somewhat, but Atticus was not paying attention to the time.

Bentley remained motionless, her body was still nothing more than an empty corpse. Although his grip on her was strong, Atticus soon found that he couldn't continue holding onto her or else he might just drive himself insane. He wasn't used to such traumatic episodes like this, and he definitely hadn't been taught how to deal with his emotions properly. As a result, he could only back away, and put some distance between himself and Bentley in hopes that his mind cleared up somewhat.

It did clear up —a little bit. Once he had retrieved his old cello for some distracting concerto, the dead weight sitting in the base of his heart gradually lifted a little. As his fingers slid up and down the smooth neck of the instrument, the press of the rough cords and constant motion of the bow kept the memories of hellfire mostly at bay. And he was also comforted by the knowledge that if Bentley came back, she would find herself shrouded in sweet music instead of dirt and mud like last time.

Frances had disappeared from the room. Atticus wasn't sure what they were doing exactly. Maybe they were continuing their ongoing research. Maybe they had stolen Atticus' phone and were now trying to get ahold of their uncle to apologize for running away. Maybe they were just taking a nap. Either way, Atticus understood that they didn't want to be around himself and Bentley while the two of them were in their current states. If he were stuck in a house with a corpse and an emotionally unstable widow, he might also wish for a convenient reason to disappear.

A small, half-empty cup of cocoa sat on the coffee table. It had long since lost all traces of its former heat, but the touch of cinnamon gave it a little spark. Once Bentley's soul came back and the issue with Heaven was resolved, he would invite everyone over and make a giant pot of hot cocoa to celebrate. Himself, Bentley, Frances, Hazel, Lucy, Xander, —even Smythe and Hephzibah if either of them wished to join in. They would all finally be able to sit down together and relax without having to worry about anything.

Once the whole Camael-invading-Hell situation was over and done with, Atticus had a whole list of things he wanted to take care of. He had been putting off so many smaller problems and emotions because of recent events. Once he had a chance, he would make sure to handle them properly without leaving any loose ends.

First of all, he needed to have a proper conversation with Ophaniel. They had been in the middle of one of their first and only decent interactions when Atticus was dragged off against his will. There were so many unanswered questions and unspoken apologies between them, and both needed a proper resolution. What that resolution would look like, Atticus wasn't sure, but as long as they had a chance to properly build up a better relationship, he knew that everything would all be alright.

Once that was done, he would have to apologize to several people for his continuous troublesome behaviour. He would visit Reuben, drop off Frances properly, and find some way to make it up to both of them. Maybe they would let him run the shop for a few decades or something as penance. Then he would stop by Micaiah's house, and offer up some home-made gluten free biscuits and a bag of kitty treats as a thanks for all the trouble. If Camael survived the encounter with Bentley, maybe he owed her an apology as well for turning against his former superior. More people would probably come to mind as Atticus tallied up the list of everyone he had bothered over the past few weeks. He would apologize to everyone in time.

Theoretically, Atticus had defected from Heaven. But since Camael had carved a control spell directly into his eyeballs, he wasn't actually sure how much jurisdiction he had over his current social situation. If all went well, and Camael ended up imprisoned for her crimes or otherwise deterred from her original goal of causing a massacre, then Atticus would be able to sort out his own personal agenda. It was his intention to continue living amongst the mortals in Jericho until everyone eventually outgrew him and he needed to move on. During that time, he would continue making hot cocoa, feeding stray cats, and giving innocent creatures like Hazel a warm place to stay when the world turned against them.