God's Gaze

Part Two Chapter Seven: Respecting the Forgotten

       Thanks to his ice powers, Jeremiah was released from the hospital after three days on the request that he stay well rested at home. He was ordered to take it easy, but knowing himself he did exactly the opposite. Despite still being incredibly sore, he went to work as usual, but today was important; he had to make sure his employees were ok after the attack at the office. Some of them visited him at the hospital, but he had to properly address everything.

       Even Florian begged him to stay home that morning. It felt appeasing waking up next to him and seeing the morning light shine against his wings. As if all of Jeremiah's sacrifices led up to experiencing blissful dawns such as those. However, his heart twanged uncomfortably knowing that Jeremiah would grow wrinkled and old while Florian would appear the same for eternity- that eventually Jeremiah would die, and the God would live on without him.

       He knew what he was getting into when he challenged Citadel, but it still made his heart sink at the thought.

       Before leaving, Jeremiah checked himself out in the bathroom mirror at all the new scars that bloomed all over his raw skin. Most would vanish within a few months, but... his hand trailed along the jagged, circular burn spread over his chest. That one would never go away. He wouldn't see it very often, but it'll be a reminder of how close he was to losing everything.

       When he arrived at the company building, the emergency fire exit was blocked off due to construction happening within it. The office itself was covered with sheer plastic tarps with bright yellow lamps where renovations occurred behind them. The giant hole in the window has yet to be patched up, but all the glass was cleared from the blood-stained carpet. It was almost unnerving coming to work seeing all the chaos going on while his employees worked unaware of the construction.

       His employees all tore their eyes away from their computers and watched Jeremiah move over to the gaping hole in the window. He faced them and cleared his throat. "I apologize for what happened the other day. It was entirely my fault this dispute happened, and I understand if some of you may want to resign because of it. You didn't sign up for conflicts between Gods and I couldn't protect you when you needed me most," he said, putting on his most authoritative voice. He practiced that speech all morning on the drive here so he's glad he didn't fumble his words.

       After a moment of silence, Jeremiah gave a tight-lipped grin that was more like a grimace before he headed for his office. He halted in his tracks when he remembered that it got destroyed by Citadel and he no longer had an office. One of his employees stood up from behind their cubicle and said: "We didn't sign up for that, but... we all discussed this earlier, and we decided to stay."

       Jeremiah slowly spun around, confused.

       "We trust you and we trusted Mister Belsara. The company survived losing its previous CEO, so this slight set back is nothing but a drop in the lake," the man continued as his coworkers nodded in agreement. "We don't hold any resentment towards you. You nearly sacrificed your life for us, so you hold our deepest respects."

       Surprise engraved on Jeremiah's face before he grinned with a slight exhale. "That means we'll have to work as hard as ever, and I'll do the same!" He garnered the smiles from his employees and thus Jeremiah began his workday assisting them all trouble shooting their devices.

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       When Jeremiah returned home from work, Vivienne flung herself off the couch and scurried to him. He started to slip his shoes off, but she stopped him and asked if they could go for a walk. He raised an eyebrow at that since she never asked him to go for walks at night. "I guess?" he said, confused and retied his half-off shoe.