Gray Clouds

Chapter 9 - The Deal (Again.)

The room was a lot smaller than what Eli was used to back at his parent's place, but it didn't make it any less comfortable. It was just a desk in the corner, a TV that would be the only source of Eli's entertainment, a large window that he pulled the covers over, an aircon and his bed, where he spent most of his day huddled up under blankets in. He could only hear the sound of the aircon and the muffled buzzing of conversation and glasses clinking downstairs. Emmanuel wasn't lying when he said the bar tended to get busy in the afternoon.

Eli's sleep was interrupted when he felt hands grab him and shake him senseless, looking up to see Gray with an irritated expression.

"Seriously, are you just going to lay here for the entire day?" Gray grumbled, still shaking Eli out of his slumber. "We've got an entire city to explore!"

"I don't feel like going out today, Gray..." Eli groaned, swatting Gray's hands away.

"But I'm bored out of my goddamn mind!" Gray complained, his feathers ruffling in annoyance. He slumped onto Eli's bed, wings outstretched and brushing Eli's cheek. "I wanna go out! I don't like being stuck in a small room for so long... I need to stretch my wings somehow!"

"You already are... And you're getting your feathers all over my face..." Eli huffed, pushing Gray's wing off his face.

"Then we can go out so that I can do so without hitting your face."

"Then go out yourself."

"I still have a job to do!" Gray sat up, folding his wings back. "It's obligatory Guardian Angel rules, I can't just wander too far from your side."

"Then just go to the window, then."

"Fine, I'll do that then!"

Gray hopped off of the bed, pushing away the curtains, opening the window and letting light and a gust of fresh air into the room. He sat down and leaned forward on the windowsill, taking a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket. He took out a cigarette, flicking the end with his fingers. A spark was created and lit up his cigarette, and he took a long drag out of it.

"...So, uh, how's the city going for you?" Gray asked, expelling a puff of smoke into the air. Eli was thankful he was smoking out of the window. "Squeaker's mortal seems chill. Kitty's hot as hell, but bartenders are always a catch."

"I'm doing fine." Eli shrugged. "I'm still a bit overwhelmed by everything."

Eli stayed silent for a while longer, before a thought crossed his mind.

"Gray, you say that Guardian Angels aren't supposed to be seen by the people they're protecting. Wouldn't it mess up your chances of being redeemed if you're breaking rules?"

"I dunno." Gray shrugged, smirking. "I bet I can do it anyway. I'm pretty good at what I do, don't you think?"

"You don't seem like you really care about redemption."

"Trust me, I care about a lot of things." Gray muttered, staring off into the city. "I've had to learn the hard way not to take things for granted."

"So you do care about redemption."

"Nah."

"Then why bother looking after me?" Eli asked. "Why not just let me do what I want?"

"Hm... Because I see a little bit of myself in you."

"What?" Eli sat up, puzzled, but Gray put out his cigarette and threw it in the bin next to Eli's desk.

"Oh, yeah, I meant to show you this on Sunday." Gray sat back down on Eli's bed across from him, pulling out a red-cased phone from the opposite pocket to the one with the cigarettes. He put in his password and opened YouTube, handing it to Eli. "Since you don't have your phone to look, I'll lend you mine for a bit."

Eli took the phone, and what he saw on the screen was enough to make Eli's heart skip a beat.

It was two things that shocked Eli.

One, Dust—the VTuber he really liked—had apparently returned, despite having said that he was taking a break for a while a few days before.

Two, he was making a video about a song. But it wasn't just any song: It was the song Eli had posted on his channel as part of his deal with Gray.

"The fuck?" Eli was jumping in his spot, his face flushed in embarrassment and excitement as he stared at the thumbnail. "I hardly even have any subscribers on my channel, how did he find me?!"

"Things happen. You get lucky sometimes." Gray shrugged, grinning. "Also, the video was posted a few days ago. You have way more subscribers now."

"How much?" Eli searched up his own username into the search bar, instantly stunned by the number under his name. "Fucking five thousand?!"

"It's not a million, but it's better than nothing." Gray chuckled, raising his eyebrows smugly. "So, I recall we had a deal?"

Eli stared at his view count on the song he posted: Nine hundred thousand. All from Dust's viewers, one of them being Dust himself. The money he had earned from that was enough to get him a supply of cup noodles for a long, long time! An overwhelming amount of the comments on his song were positive, along with the expected hate comments that were mostly just people who hated Dust for some reason. His entire soul was filled with a sense of elation, a hope that he could maybe do something with his life.

"I guess we did." Eli sighed, rolling his eyes with a slight smile. "Alright, you win. Once I find a way to get back into composing, I'll try this as a gig."

"There's that smile." Gray hummed, ruffling Eli's hair. "We'll figure it out. We'll also find a way to get you a phone so that you can access your bank account again. You remember your passwords, Starboy?"

"Yeah." Eli nodded, completely omitting the fact that he used the exact same password for all accounts for anything he used. He made a note in his head to change that once he got his phone again.

"You think we could ask Sky for some money again? I'm sure he'll understand." Gray suggested, standing up and stretching his arms.

"Absolutely not." Eli glared daggers at Gray.

"Worth a shot." Gray picked up Eli out of bed by under his arms. The angel opened the door, letting the sounds of the bar flood the room more clearly. "Jeez, stop squirming."

"I'll stop when you quit picking me up!" Eli grumbled as Gray set him back down in front of the door. "This is just an excuse for you to leave, isn't it?"

"Yep." Gray said bluntly, nudging Eli out excitedly. Eli groaned, eventually giving up and leading the way downstairs back into the bar.

The Crow's Gem was a lot less crowded than he thought it would be, but that didn't mean most of the seats were already taken by customers. Most of them were either people going on dates or people coming in either by themselves or with some friends for a drink. There were about two groups that Eli guessed to be family going to The Crow's Gem for lunch. Eli couldn't help but feel a pang of envy as he watched the families, but he managed to tear himself out of the thoughts.

He could spot Emmanuel behind the bar. He was talking to a rather short person, their legs hardly reaching the floor from the stool they sat on. They looked distressed, speaking quickly. What caught Eli's attention was what the mysterious person was talking to Emmanuel about.

"...Mocha was acting a little weird lately, especially with this one text he sent in the middle of the night, thanking me for being his friend! He said he was okay, but now it's been a few days since he texted me and I'm worried about him!"