Keeper

IX. Sea Eyes, Flaxen Hair

"I...um...brought you something," a musical voice said from the doorway to Morgan's cubicle. The keeper had been studying a report and drumming her pen on the edge of her desk. She was still rumpled from the night before, a stakeout that had turned into a chase after a lamia intent upon eating Seisyll for whatever idiotic thing had come out of his mouth. Morgan turned in her swivel chair, facing the disguised angel. Inasyah tended to shift into human form whenever she was in the mortal realm, because it was easier to navigate the average hallway without wings getting in the way. The angel was pretty in the girl-next-door kind of way, with green eyes and wavy brown hair.

"I will never understand what it is with angels and plants," Morgan said with amusement when she saw the small potted plant. She smiled at the angel. "Thanks, Inasyah."

"I thought maybe...um...you could take it home with you," Inasyah said, shuffling her feet a little as she stepped into the cubicle to set the little plant down on the desk. "It'll get bigger, but peace lilies are very easy to take care of and they're very pretty."

The keeper studied her new charge before looking back at Q's sister. They weren't blood relations from what little Morgan understood, but they might as well have been since they had shared a Dominion. The hierarchy of angels was baffling to Morgan, but she supposed she didn't have enough reading done to understand just yet. "I'm glad you had your audience in mind when you were plant-shopping." There was something endearing about Inasyah's awkwardness. The angel seemed completely unsure of what to do around Morgan, probably because she wasn't used to dealing with humans. "I've got a spot on my kitchen windowsill that gets a lot of sunlight. I promise that you're giving it a loving home. My very own pet."

Inasyah laughed. "I thought pets were animals."

"Hey, anything can be a pet if you think of it as one. Gayevoi gave me a pet rock as a gag gift during the last Solstice party." None of the keepers really shared any holidays other than solstices, which meant Morgan's days off were a bit odd. Still, she got enough vacation time to compensate, not that she was social much outside of work. Other humans didn't understand her job or the world she spent most of her time in, so making conversation there was hard. But she couldn't go home to a life and a place in the Unseen either. Morgan was mired between worlds, which was frustrating sometimes. It made her grateful for the friends she had at work, who understood something of both.

"Was it cute?" Inasyah asked. "I hear that's important."

"Dunno. Makes a great paperweight, though." Morgan turned the rock sitting on the stack of papers in her outbox around so Inasyah could see the glued-on googly eyes.

"Very cute," the angel said with amusement.

Morgan arched an eyebrow, ready to tease. "I know I am, but what about the rock?"

Inasyah turned red. "I...meant...t-the rock."

The keeper put a hand over her heart. "Oww." She grinned when she saw the blush deepen. Inasyah was looking increasingly flustered and Morgan knew she should have felt bad, but it was adorable.

"Morgan, be nice," Q said as he stepped into the cubicle. "Hey sis. What are you doing here?"

Inasyah took a deep breath. "I was just bringing a plant. And...umm...saying goodbye."

"Goodbye?" Morgan said, surprised. "What are we going to do without our office sunbeam flitting about?"

The angel gave Morgan a little, sad smile. "I know. I'm going to miss you too, but I have to go. My Dominion wants me back. I thought you might like the plant, so...um...maybe you might remember me?"