halo 'n horns [klance au]

2. Impression

https://orig00.deviantart.net/da7f/f/2016/247/e/6/tum_lance_by_evil_usagi-dagij5c.jp

Keith

I woke with a start, blinking dazedly. The first thing that I noticed was that it was dark out, but bright lights and sounds of the world came from the street outside the alley I was currently laying in. I internally glared at my father when I noticed that I was situated right next to a giant dumpster, which nearly made me gag.

The second thing that I noticed was that it was raining. I'd never been in the rain before (because it doesn't rain underground, duh) and it took me a second to understand what exactly was going on. I stared up at the dark sky, letting the rainfall over my face, cold and wet.

The third thing that I noticed was that I was completely out of place. Glancing at the humans hurrying past the alleyway, a tail and horns were not the norm. Focusing, I retracted them back into myself uncomfortably.

Then focusing on my physical state. I never let my body get out of shape in the Underworld- it was harder training then- but here I let myself regain some weight, running my hands down my torso to smooth over the bones that visibly stuck out from my skin, layering fat and soft muscle over them, just so I looked healthily fit. It would help me out in the long run.

I never really messed with my face. I had sharp eyes, a strong chin, and black hair that fell to my neck, but I never spent too much time looking at myself. Down in the underworld, I never cared about how people viewed me. I was already doing better than them, I mean, they were completely dead. I was only partially dead, so I decided I was probably fine.

As for clothes, I probably needed something for the rain. As of now, I wore my regular T-shirt and jeans. My converse and the seat of my pants were already damp from the tiny puddle I was sitting in.

I focused again, this time on the image of a raincoat, expecting it to materialize in my hands as it would in the underworld, but nothing happened. I frowned. Dad had taken away my conjuring power. Predictable, but still unsatisfactory. Sighing, I smoothed back my hair and stood up, looking around. I needed shelter, somewhere to go.

Walking out into the street, my senses were nearly overloaded. Around me, people bustled past, carrying bags and umbrellas and talking into their phones. Everyone seemed so busy, in a hurry. On the street past the sidewalk I stood on, taxis and cars honked their way down the road, windshield wipers powering furiously.

On each side of the road, shops stood bright, signs lit up with fluorescence, looking pleasing and warm out of the cold rain. The signs read things like Starbucks and Apple, and while I had no idea what they held, I decided that I should probably go into one before I was completely soaked and figure out what the fuck I was going to do.

Father hadn't given me much to go off of. He had just said to discover something, to find something meaningful that I could learn from. I guess this was my one chance at freedom before spending the rest of eternity in the Underworld. What was I supposed to 'find' though? Shiro had said friends, but I doubted that would happen. Without my abilities or any money, I was pretty immobile.

Wherever I was, I hoped they wouldn't mind a loner wandering the streets for however long I was supposed to stay. That was another thing- Dad hadn't told me how to get home once I was ready to come back, but I assumed I'd just have to solve that problem when I got to it.

The rain was really starting to get cold. I wondered what season it was- another thing we didn't have in the Underworld. Furthermore, I wondered what year it was. At home, Shiro and Kuron were the ones to deal with the souls, interacting with them and sorting them and catching up with the world, but I never listened in to their conversations, always off doing something else. That was probably a fault of mine.

Maybe I could ask someone inside that Starbucks... I eyed it from the other side of the road, the big green and white sign. Dad may have taken away my abilities, but he hadn't taken away my sense of smell, and whatever was over there smelled delicious. I had tasted every food you could imagine, but I'm not sure if I've had every drink.

But, of course, there was the problem of money. That problem being that I didn't actually have any. I wasn't so stupid as to disregard funds- I knew that this world took cold cash with no exceptions, but that didn't help my situation at all. I wasn't about to beg, and probably wouldn't steal unless I had to, but at least Starbucks, whatever it was, would be warm and out of the rain.

I stepped off the sidewalk to cross the road to it, but with the blare of a sharp horn and the yank of fabric around my neck, I was pulled back, a taxi speeding past were I had just stood. Coughing, I stumbled back.

"Do you have a death wish? There's a crosswalk for a reason," a disgruntled voice said behind me, and I whirled, surprised.

The boy looked to be in his late teens, maybe early twenties, and he was looking at me like I was an idiot. He had soft brown hair that fell over his forehead and dark blue eyes that popped against his smooth brown skin. He had a sort of ski-jump nose, but it suited his face. He was wearing an olive green jacket, hand still raised from grabbing my shirt collar.

I rubbed my neck, scowling. "Oh, don't give me that look," he said sourly, "I just saved you from being hit by a taxi." He tousled his hair with one hand and held out his other to me, expecting a handshake.

"Fuck off, mortal," I spat, annoyed, "I know how to cross a street."

"Do you?" The boy asked inquisitively. "And I'm not a mortal. I was sent here to find out who you were and why you were here. It's been a few centuries since we last had a devil up here. How're the twins?"

I stepped backward, confused. Lance rolled his eyes, hand still extended, and in an instant, blindingly white limbs spread from his back, growing into unmistakable wings. The pure white feathers ruffled in the buffeting wind, and I could just make out a thin gold circle above his head. I'd never seen an angel before.

"The name's Lance." He looked at me expectantly, and I reached forward to shake his hand, still a bit baffled by his identity. But then I realized what was happening.

You know those songs that you hear for the first time and you immediately don't like? That's what it was like shaking hands with Lance, the fucking angel from the Upperworld.

He had this aura around him, a faint white glow that felt so good that I wanted to melt (but, of course, I couldn't admit that). Because I was a fucking devil and devils were pretty much incapable of feeling any positive emotion. I guessed that the good feeling was probably greed or one of those stupid "deadly sins". I was a devil, did they still apply to me?

I noticed I hadn't introduced myself and I rushed to respond, "Keith. Can they see you?" I asked, gesturing to the mortals hurrying around us.

Lance shook his head, "They only see what you let them see," he wrinkled his nose, "including that awful mullet."

I self-consciously smooth down my hair, blinking rain out of my eyes. "I think it looks fine," I said defensively, frowning. Two minutes in and this guy was already criticizing me.

"You've got a lot to learn, Grandpa," Lance responded dismissively, looking over my shoulder at the Starbucks. "You want coffee? We need to talk. Hopefully out of the rain."

I grimaced. I most definitely didn't want to be stuck with this guy. Angels and devils... they just didn't get along. The Upper- and Underworlds were separate for a reason. But, to be fair, he could probably find me somewhere to stay while I figured out what I was going to do up here.

"Fine," I said, "But put those away," I looked pointedly at his wings. They were gone in seconds.

...

Hey guys :) I'd just like to say hello and introduce myself. I'm cal. You can refer to me with any pronouns, I don't mind. Hello again if you've read Beat Drop or Swim With Me?, and it's nice to meet you if you're new to my works :) I update every week, sometimes more, and I'm planning for this book to be about 30 chapters long. Let me know if you want me to do QOTDs or a quick a/n every chapter- I'm open to anything. I hope you enjoy my work :)