Saviour

Chapter 15: Solis

December 3, 2002

Hell isn't so bad..

He ducked as an airborne hound flew over his head.

Nope, fuck this.

He stood at the entrance to the portal, counting down the minutes till the boy was born. Till he could finally leave this place.

Three... two...

He allowed himself to fall, knowing that it would be painless. That's what the others had said.

"OW!"

"What the hell?"

He faced the sky, the portal still swirling above him and grunted when a jean clad leg passed over his face.

"Um.. terribly sorry, but could you get up?" A voice trilled from under him, "You're kinda killing the moment."

Struggling around four other limbs, he rolled to his feet, getting a clear look at his fall breaker.

He was around the same age, or at least, looked like it. Same eyes, of course, but with dark hair.

He leaned back as the boy flashed him a wide smile, holding out his hand. "Hi! I'm Solis."

"You're the angel.." It was more of a question than an observation, hand extended all the same. "Name's Dagas."

The angel chuckled, holding his hand for a little longer than necessary, "So we're dawn and dusk."

"Excuse me?"

"Dagas and Solis; dawn and dusk." He tilted his head like this should've been obvious.

Dagas was very interested only in changing the subject, "Were you standing under the portal or something?"

The angel scratched his forearm before replying, "I got bored. I thought you were stuck or something."

This is gonna be a long lifetime..

"I didn't know what a demon was gonna look like, so.."

Dagas raised his eyebrows.

"My friend Ignis said all demons are really ugly but.. I think you look.."

"Normal?"

"Nice."

Solis flashed a smile again. They were so easy for him.

"Our human's gonna be born soon," he pointed at a portal in the ground. It wasn't the same as the one they came through. This one was only for looking. "You wanna watch?"

Dagas was unsure how to reply. He was supposed to hate the angel. Fight him but he couldn't or at least he didn't want to.

"Come on! It'll be fun," Solis dragged him by the arm, both with faces close to the 'screen'. "I've never really seen a baby being born so I'm kinda excited."

Oh, you poor bastard.

Dagas tried, he really tried to stop laughing as the child was born. The angel was just too far gone, dry heaving at the sight.

Finally, through their tears, they saw the baby boy.

Dagas crinkled his nose, "Gross."

"His name's Daniel." The mother said to the nurse, breathless.

"Daniel.. 'of infinite wisdom'. I like it."
Solis got to his feet just as Dagas snapped his fingers over the portal. Down on earth, the baby screamed.

"What'd you do that for?" Solis grabbed his hand, pulling it away from the floor.

"Wh- they're supposed to cry!" Dagas didn't like explaining himself, "I'm doing my job."

"I... I know. I'm sorry." He looked like he was trying not to cry. "I just thought we could do something.. different."

The angel wasn't leaving him much choice there. "What did you have in mind?" He sighed, rolling his eyes.

Solis brightened, "We could try raising him!"

"Excuse me?"

"Look, I'd much rather be down here, helping someone," he paused raising his eyes to meet Dagas's. "Don't you wanna get away from hell too?"

He thought about it. "Do I still get to do minor inconveniences?

"Hm... Fine. But you have a limit."

"And you can't spoil him."

"Deal." The negotiation was closed with a handshake and the tight grip of his hand made Dagas realize that this angel was not to be messed with.

Over the next few years, they grew closer as Daniel grew older. They spent every hour he was awake, together, huddled around the portal, shoving playfully as one of them messed up.

"You can't get him a cat just because he asks for one." Dagas explained, patient as always.

"Why not?"

"Because he's two and he doesn't know what he wants."

"It's just a cat." Solis flashed him the puppy eyes but Dagas was immune.

"A cat that he is allergic to." He pulled out a list of allergies he had written down since Daniel's birth.

"Oh.. I'll just make one cross his path then." He began tracing his finger over the image like a child in a sandbox.

Damn. He's so cute.

Where the hell did that come from?

According to Solis's design, a small black cat appeared on the wall across from Daniel, only to jump into oncoming traffic.

"Ooooooohhh" Dagas put his fist to his mouth, wincing at the child's cries.

"What?! I didn't know that would happen!! Dagas!" Solis turned on him, slapping him repeatedly on the shoulder.

"Hey, I didn't do this!" He grabbed his wrists, wrestling him to the floor, laughing as they got tangled again.

"We have to add that to the list of mental scars.." Solis grumbled.

Dagas wasn't listening. He was thinking that it wouldn't be so bad if they stayed like this for longer.

He didn't care that other angels and demons were giving them dirty looks.

All he cared about was Solis's faraway look, muttering about pets.

Because to him, in that moment, they were the only ones in existence.