An Angel's Heart

Angels, Angels, Everywhere

As soon as Kongpob walked into the restaurant, he realized that Arthit was right. The situation around Yo was very, very delicate. First, it was obvious that Pha was over the moon about Yo and from a few subtle hints, Kongpob could tell that Yo felt the same. Thank the heavens that Yo had promised not to give his heart to Pha yet, or there could be serious consequences for the little angel.

Second, though Yo didn't realize it because he hadn't taken his Aura Exam, there were too many people around him that couldn't be trusted. Example: Pring. Kongpob could see that she was clearly a demon and she was working very hard to make Pha hers. A thwarted demon would be more dangerous than anything Yo had ever handled before. To complicate matters further, Pring was a high level demon, used to having her way. If she didn't get what she wanted, she was the type to go ballistic and that was something no one wanted to witness.

Of course, with a demon princess so close to a group of humans, there were some obvious dangers. It was one of the many faults of human nature, they were easily seduced by greed and lust — which was exactly what a demon princess would be perfectly poised to offer. Most humans could be persuaded to do very bad things for her. Until they knew her goal, she shouldn't be anywhere near Yo.

Forth could be either an ally or an enemy. Fallen Angels could be more problematic than humans and demons together. They weren't as easily taken in by demon seduction, of course, but they were Fallen for a reason. To Fall was to turn your back on the Heavens. The Fallen maintained many of their powers, but lost the connection to heaven that gave them strength. So they could use their powers, but their human bodies could only do so much. The problem, of course, was that you never knew what side they were on.

Some Fallen were simply interested in experiencing human life. If that was the case, they could live as a mortal until they were redeemed and took on their immortal lives or their mortal existence came to its inevitable conclusion and they faced judgment. Some had lost their faith and were making trouble for the other angels because they had nothing better to do. Either way, the Fallen had as much right to agency as any other creature. So they tended to make as many mistakes or sin just as often as any human, but with celestial powers to aid their decisions.

Kongpob couldn't think of many reasons that a Fallen would be trying to get close to an angel, so he could only hope that Forth's interests weren't unfriendly. Yo was the sweetest angel and the most innocent. Kongpob already considered Yo his younger brother, though his wedding to Arthit was still some time away. He didn't want to see either his brother or his lover hurt.

After taking stock of the relationships between all the different players at the restaurant, Kongpob took Yo back to his apartment. Tonight, he would stay in Yo's room and as soon as his little brother was asleep, he'd use the room's connection to the heavens to get a message to Arthit. He couldn't be sure, of course, but he thought he might need some backup.

"Oh! What are you all doing here?" Yo asked when he came out of the bathroom the following morning. His room was currently occupied by no less than four angelic visitors.

"Sorry, I called in some back up," Kongpob said, giving Yo a quick hug. "We were able to get the room next to yours, by switching with the student who was living there. Tharn and Type will move in, to keep an eye on you. And Knock is going to take you to and from your Moon and Star practices."

"Where's Korn? They only got married three months ago. You shouldn't give them separate assignments yet," Yo said, always thoughtful about the needs of others.

"He has a contact in the local Fallen community, so they're meeting right now, but he'll be close," Knock answered for Kongpob.

"Okay," Yo answered, giving in. He didn't understand why every angel was making such a big deal out of one angel's mission. In his opinion, they were really going overboard with worry. "Are you hungry?"