[crow]

Sunday found Dmitri sitting on a bench in the city square, waiting for Kanon to arrive. That in itself was nothing unusual; he'd been doing so every Sunday for a while now. Deste didn't need him around most of the time--- or rather, she had told him not to interfere with her work--- and he could always free up his Sundays. In fact, he was at a bit of a loss as to what to do with himself sometimes, so the habit was one that gave him something to look forward to.

They'd gotten off to a bit of a strange start. She'd introduced herself as an angel, and he had in turn revealed that he was a demon. He got the impression that she didn't quite believe him. To be fair, she had a point: he hadn't demonstrated any powers, and he looked human enough as far as anyone could tell. He didn't mind. He didn't know whether to believe her assertion that she was an angel either. There weren't any where he came from, only gods and humans and the odd mythical being. Thus far, as far as Dmitri was concerned, their relationship was one of friendly amusement, trading implausible stories for the purpose of entertainment.

That would soon come to an end, however. Today, Dmitri had shown up to tell Kanon goodbye. In truth, they had already wasted too much time here; it had been clear weeks ago that Deste would not succeed in her objective, but she hadn't been ready to admit it until now. Dmitri didn't relish the idea of returning either, but at least he would bear no part of the blame. There was, at last, some advantage to being written off as useless. It saddened him, too, to have to say goodbye to his unusual friend, but that disappointment he had foreseen. He had brought parting gifts in the way of expensive cakes and a small demon-craft trinket, and the figure he cut sitting at the edge of the fountain was a lonely one.

[Atoli01]

Demons were creatures to fear. Nearly five hundred years of instruction had taught me that much. It was curious-- I knew such, yet I sensed no threat in Dmitri. Such a feeling, I thought in passing, could have been attributed to the fact that not once did I believe all those silly stories and legends about demons. Maybe they're bad, maybe they're dangerous, maybe they're cruel and want to kill angels, but they're people too, aren't they? Not all people were the same, certainly. Right? Right...?

Such was the trend; every Sunday, in this park, I'd see my assignment, Dmitri, and every Sunday, I'd question myself, my morals, and all the teachings I had received over the years. It was a curious little secret. Against my better judgement, I had neglected to mention the current situation to Daemon. I came home some nights, we'd joke and laugh like old times, and I'd be gone the next morning. It was a cycle I felt I could become acclimated to. It was warm and tender and chipper. I liked this world. I liked Sundays.

The man's silver hair could be spotted quite easily, even in such a busy city. Silver had become quite a comfortable color, in fact. If our relationship would be that of only meetings and partings (as was the norm for most angels and their respective assignments), there was no need for each and every one to be uniform with the last.

My eyes were directed to the window of a nearby store. Stopping to look at all the peculiar clothing fashions displayed, I wondered only how long it would take for Dmitri to notice me.

Surely he was looking for me. It was Sunday.

[crow]

It actually took Dmitri quite a while to spot Kanon. He wasn't in the habit of looking out for people, besides those few particular friends he had amongst his own kind, and with those he had the happy gift of decades of prior association. Deste, for example, he could pick out of a crowded ballroom with barely any thought--- but then, Deste always stood near the walls on such occasions, and her half self-conscious, half stoic expression was impossible to miss. Dmitri had never known anyone like Kanon, and their acquaintance was still infantile compared to his others.

He had been waiting a while with no success, however, and finally took matters into his own hands by getting up and wandering around the square. There were a number of shops, most of which he had never ventured into. Only now did he glance over the wares displayed in their windows with any semblance of really seeing them. It was in this manner that he, at last, stumbled into Kanon.

"Oh, sorry miss-- Er. Kanon? That is you, isn't it?" he said, looking slightly uncertain at first. He didn't want to suffer through the embarrassing dance of apologies that came with mistaking a stranger for someone he knew. But upon careful examination, yes, it was indeed Kanon. Dmitri's face broke at once into a relieved smile. "Sorry. I'm not too good with crowds," he said.

Was it too early to break the bad news to her? Dmitri looked down at the bag in his hand, and decided that it probably was. No need to depress them both right off the bat.

[Atoli01]

"Mm, Dmitri?" I turned around to smile warmly at the silver-haired man.

Such a deduction wasn't a hard one to make. Rather, the moment Dmitri opened his mouth, I already knew the person who was calling my attention. (That is, disregarding the fact that he was the only person in Evelon who knew my name.) It was pleasant to hear a new voice calling my name, rather than that of one of my many stringent superiors or Daemon's, whose voice I had heard daily for nearly as long as I could remember. Only... what, eighty more years left with this one?

Believing that he was in fact a demon was a thing that could only be labeled as impossible to do. Yeah, and I was a flying cat. In all fairness, "angel" didn't sound any more believable, by any stretch of the imagination.

That unusually flustered Dmitri made me giggle a bit. "Don't worry about it, Dmitri. I'm not very used to crowds either... I can't say I hate them though. They're... different." Angels weren't exactly the most... plentiful race in existence. It was enough that Daemon and I were only two years apart. Even that minuscule age gap was a rare one.

"Anyway, it's about time you noticed." I stuck my nose up snobbishly (although it didn't do me much good, as Dmitri towered above me). "I've been waiting for a while."

[crow]

Dmitri's laugh at Kanon's comment wasn't as carefree as he would have liked, but then acting was never his forte. He could only hope that she wouldn't notice. That was one advantage to a recent acquaintance, at least--- she wouldn't know enough, hopefully, to catch him in a lie. Or, in this case, a little deception.

He really was a disgrace for a demon. If his father put his mind to it, he could sell someone the clothes off their own back. Alas, Dmitri wasn't made for that kind of thing.

Thankfully, this was one of the few times in his life where that didn't make him stick out like a sore thumb. "Sorry to keep you waiting," he said, passing her the cakes he'd been holding. "I got these for you. Though, of course, if you're feeling generous, I wouldn't say no to a bite myself." Now he grinned with more genuine mirth, raising his brows.

"That aside though, what do you want to do? I haven't got any plans, so I'm yours to command for today." He peered at the shop that she had been studying before he arrived. He wasn't one for fashion, preferring to wear whatever was reasonably warm and comfortable. Unfortunately, he'd had to make a study of human fashions when he first began crossing over, and he'd been dismayed to discover that the trends for young men his age gravitated toward things that clung to his skinny frame.

He didn't mind shopping if it wasn't for himself though, and said as much. "Ooh, we can pick out a new outfit for you! Want to go in and try stuff on?"

[Atoli01]

"Eh? Cakes...?" I batted my eyes several times, staring at Dmitri quizzically. "For... Me...?"

Oh, I just knew I had gotten the lucky draw! He was such a doll; what other human would buy their angel cakes? He really did know the way to my heart. Regrettably, it slipped my mind to ask for the occasion before receiving those fluffy, sweet confections. "Thank you, Dmitri! I'll... Hm... Certainly check later to see if I'm feeling generous today." I winked at him, knowing I had all the intention to share with him from the beginning.

It wasn't very often that I spent time with friends, much less without a specific goal in mind. (Dmitri could be considered my friend now, right?) I haven't ever associated with too many people throughout my life, much less ones who chose to label themselves as my friends. Most everything was business. There weren't many others my age. Because of such, it was rather difficult for me to give any solid ideas as to what today's activities were to be.

Dmitri's suggestion for shopping, though puzzling and a bit strange, I thought, was good enough for me. A souvenir? Kind of? No, not really... I was curious to see what humans wore. Some ought to look cute on me, right? "Shopping... perhaps. It's fine, I think." I grinned, grabbing one of Dmitri's large hands and tugging him into the store with me.

Ironically, the first thing that caught my attention was a short sleeved, black dress.

[crow]

Dmitri grinned. "Good; I didn't know what sort of sweets you liked, so I just picked my favorites," he said. It was, however, a jest. In fact, he'd spent more time than he was willing to admit agonizing over his choice of cakes, to the point where the shopkeeper had begun to look as if she would throw him out of the shop. In the interest of playing it cool, he was just going to forget that little detail.

As he was pulled into the store, Dmitri was relieved that the shop's selection was overwhelmingly devoted to females. What he would do in a mens clothing store, he had no idea. The dresses and blouses were all pleasant enough, he supposed, though truth be told, he couldn't be said to have much of an opinion when it came to fashion. His suggestion had merely come about because the shop was there, and because Kanon had seemed interested in it.

Human fashion was different from the demon trend, though he'd be hard pressed to say precisely how so. Perhaps it was the brighter colors, or the difference in cloth, but there was just something lighter about it in general. Glancing back at Kanon, he followed her gaze to the black dress, and laughed. "You're not looking to become a demon yourself, are you? Not that black's a bad color, mind you," he said, quickly back-pedalling as soon as he realized that his words might be taken as an insult. "It's just... it reminds me a little too much of home for comfort." It wasn't anything any of his female friends would wear, but he wouldn't rule out seeing something similar at a court gala--- one of the lower circles, or perhaps one organized for the youths.

That thought led to the remembrance that he would soon be seeing them again, and he sighed. In the beginning, he had been opposed to being sent away, but he'd learnt to enjoy these trips more than his time in his home realm. The fact that he wasn't really responsible for anything helped, but mostly it was the unoppressive lifestyle he had here. Making a friend, in retrospect, had been a mistake. He was just going to have to leave again, and who knows whether she'd still be alive when he next came back?

Try as he might to act like his usual self, he couldn't keep an element of despondence out of his manner entirely.

[Atoli01]

"Ah, haha, maybe you're right. I guess black would be a pretty common color for demons, huh?"

Kanon didn't know if she herself didn't wholly believe in demons, or if she didn't want to believe that Dmitri was in fact one, or a whole other issue entirely, but in a way, admittedly, she still couldn't bring herself to believe in Dmitri's words entirely. Yes, that was certainly why she had yet to inform Daemon of this matter. However... Humans existed. Angels existed. Certainly the same could be said about demons...? They were supposed to exist. The government made up so many things in this day and age that...

No, demons existed, but Dmitri definitely was not one of their ranks. Probably just some cruel joke when she announced her status to him. A mockery! Kanon frowned at the thought, though she hoped it wasn't a noticeable gesture. Oh, humans were so, so cruel.

Puckering up a lighthearted grin, she let the fabric of the black dress slip from her fingers. "Hm... But I still want to get something black. We don't wear much black, so... well... it'd be a nice souvenir! Or... er... something like that." Kanon chuckled before passing by several racks of clothes and humming, "Maybe something cute."

It was a hard pill for her to swallow, but getting Dmitri's approval on a dress wouldn't be such a bad thing. Kanon's bag of cakes still in her hand, she pushed he bag out onto her arm as she procured a rather charming dress from an adjacent rack. This one seemed to carry with it a more youthful feel than the previous, more grown-up dress. She might be five hundred and some years old, but she was still a kid!

"So Dmitri, how about this one?" The sheer fabric and looseness of the dress reminded her of a doll's, and, much like Dmitri's acceptance of her outfit selection, wasn't a thing she was opposed to either.

[crow]

The second dress that Kanon indicated was, thankfully, not in the style of home at all. To Dmitri, it looked more like a night-dress than anything, but then again, he'd seen ones of a similar type worn by human girls here and there. He paused to consider it, then looked back at Kanon. "It's nice," he said. "Simple, but that's a good thing, I think. You won't know for sure until you've tried it on though." His words were honest, if not particularly eloquent or effusive. He was trying his best to be helpful, since it had been his idea to come in here in the first place, but in truth he was only really of any use when purchasing books.

The fact that his mind kept wandering again to the bad news he had to deliver wasn't helping. He supposed he might as well do something about that. "Before I forget," he said--- as if it were actually possible for him to forget--- "I have something to tell you, when we're done here. But, uh, take your time! No rush! Like I said, I've got the whole day free, so..." Ah, yes, trailing off awkwardly. One of the many beautiful tools in his repertoire of clumsy conversation blunders. He sighed. Maybe Iaezun was right; he really did need to leave the library more often.

((sorry for the short post; and I know we talked about fast-forwarding but this seemed a weird place to do it before they actually try or buy anything, so...))

[Atoli01]

Kanon slid the dress's hanger onto her wrist, clapping her hands together in delight. "Perfect! I really should try it on before I buy it, huh?" The angel had no knowledge of how the clothing sizes of humans ran, but she concluded that the dress with a neat little S printed onto its tag couldn't be too far from the size of her figure. (Most angels, she noted, were, as a whole, thinner than many humans she had seen. Maybe it had something to do with their bone structure? Or eating habits, maybe? It was another aspect of Evelon which fascinated her.)

Kanon was in the process of moving her arm to grab Dmitri's wrist when he spoke. She stopped immediately, offering him a puzzled expression. "Eh? Seriously? Ah... okay, I guess. Don't make me wait too long." The blonde wanted to add something along the lines of, "Why can't you just tell me now?" but she refrained. She tried to push his words to the back of her mind, but a person telling you they "had something to say" wasn't the most settling  bit of info one could be given.

"Before I try it on though," Kanon directed her eyes at the dress, trying to transition to a more comfortable subject. The awkwardness that Dmitri radiated wasn't a thing that had gone unnoticed. "shouldn't I get a different pair of shoes? I don't think my boots will look too nice with this..."

"Would you hold the cakes while I'm gone? I'll find shoes quickly, I promise. Wait for me outside the changing room, alright?" Kanon shoved the cakes into his arms before running straight to the shoe aisle. She had faith in Dmitri's ability to find the changing rooms.

[crow]

It had obviously been the wrong thing to say, based on Kanon's reaction. Dmitri sighed. For all his love of books, he had no talent for words himself--- just for storing away useless facts in his head. Well, at least it wasn't news to him. She seemed determined not to make too much of it, for which he was relieved, and he offered her his best smile as he said, "Yeah, I won't." The news was going to break sooner or later, and part of him was dying to just tell her and get it over with. No use delaying the inevitable, no matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise.

He was more relieved than anything that he wasn't going to be part of the shoe-selection process. Dmitri's own shoes were a pair of beat-up boots from several decades ago, kept for comfort. He had only ever needed to pass as human, so any pair of human shoes would have done him just as well. "I'll be here," he said, though it didn't seem like Kanon had heard him in her rush to go off and find the shoes she wanted.

He didn't mind though. She was having fun, wasn't she? That was all he wanted out of today.

[Atoli01]

Kanon, in nearly no time flat, managed to find a pair black ankle boots to accompany the dress. Scooping the shoes into her arms, she trotted herself over to the fitting rooms. The attendant stationed out front asked if she needed assistance, though Kanon assured the woman that she would fine. Kanon made quick work of her clothes once she locked herself in the fitting room. Taking but a moment to admire herself in the mirror, she concluded that she a little more than satisfied with her appearance. The folks back home would probably have a fit upon seeing her adorned with so much black, but Kanon thought it had it's own sort of charm.

Kanon changed back into her original clothes and thanked the shop attendant before leaving to find Dmitri. She was a bit dismayed to see that he wasn't outside of the fitting rooms like she had instructed him to be, but then she figured that maybe he had a bit too much faith in the human male stuck in a female clothing store. Backtracking her steps to where the pair was last together, she found Dmitri standing there.

"Dmitri! Look at the shoes I found!" Kanon smiled brightly dangling the shoes from their backs for Dmitri to see. She quickly tucked them back into her arms however before she grabbed hold of Dmitri's hand. "I think that's all, so let's go pay," Kanon told him, tugging the man toward the register. She recalled putting a bit of human money into her pocket this morning; she refused to let Dmitri pay. This was coming out of her own pocket.

[crow]

Dmitri looked up at Kanon's approach and smiled. "They look great!" he said, though to him, they looked like... shoes. Nice shoes, he supposed. He really would have been put to better use in a book store, or at least an antiques shop. It almost made him want to introduce Kanon to Iaezun; his cousin was always impeccably dressed, though Dmitri didn't know if Iaezun took any pleasure in it. Then he remembered that Iaezun was a demon, and a scion of the main house at that. Even if he wouldn't have been cruel on principle to a human (or an angel), they were never going to meet.

At the counter, he was preparing to pay himself, but Kanon beat him to it. She seemed determined, so he let it slide. Maybe it was for the best; he had deliberately chosen cakes as a goodbye present because they were transient, gone as soon as you finished eating them. There was no such thing as moping while staring at the cakes that someone had given you a year ago.

Any bonds he made here had to be like that: transient, and hopefully easily forgotten. He wasn't really supposed to be consorting with locals at all unless he had plans to ruin them one way or another, but it had been a long time since the higher-ups expected him to do anything useful beyond shuttling Deste around like a handler.

Once they were outside the shop, he steeled himself. "So, Kanon," he began, clearing his throat and trying in vain to tamp down his discomfort. "I'm, uh... I'm leaving tomorrow. For home. My partner's finished up here, and I've just been waiting for her to..." Find the guy, kill him, maybe torture him for some information before she slit his throat or however it was that Deste liked to kill her marks. If there was one thing they agreed on, it was that her methods were none of his business. "Well, we can't stay any longer," he finished lamely.

[Atoli01]

Kanon dropped the cakes. Rather, it would be more accurate to say that they slipped from her now limp fingertips. If it weren't for the fact that the clothes bag was secured around her wrist, it would have followed the cakes just the same. Leaving... huh? She muttered the word softly under her breath, but it seemed like something of a foreign tongue. "I... see..." Meeting his eyes was something the girl absolutely could not do. Kanon choked back tears, but only barely. "I understand, Dmitri, so... leave. Now."

Her eyes drifted toward the cakes that now law sprawled out on the ground. The frosting of one decorated its clear plastic top, and the others looked lopsided and pathetic. Happiness never lasted forever. This was especially true for an angel. She was just going through a low phase, she told herself. Dmitri was the first person, aside from Daemon, who the girl considered to be a friend. "Hey, Dmitri? It was... ni..." Her voice cracked. Immediately, she turned away from Dmitri, brushing a strand of hair from her face. Fight or flight seemed to kick in at that moment, and rather than let him see her cry, she broke off into a sprint through the crowd.

Kanon didn't know how far she ran, only that she was still in the city. It seemed as though it were something that was meant to happen as she skidded to a stop into an old alleyway. "I'm an... idiot!" she panted, hands on her knees, small drops of water hitting the concrete around her feet one at a time. Daemon. She wanted to talk to him, and cry to him and tell him what happened, but it seemed like she didn't even have enough fight left in her to even press her earpiece's call button. In the end, she unfurled her wings and curled her body tight into a ball behind a few of the alleyway's boxes, the bag of clothes she was holding earlier now sitting beside her.

Right... He wouldn't find her. The cakes were gone. She was alone now.

[crow]

He was a little disheartened to see her reaction, but he did as she asked and left. He hadn't thought she would take it so hard, really. Sure, yes, it was sad, but people went away all the time, and... No, maybe he was just resigned to it because he had always known it was coming. And yet, the idea that anyone could get sufficiently attached to him to cry at the prospect of him going away baffled him, and it troubled him the whole way home.

Not home, he corrected himself, temporary accommodations. Home is Underside. But Underside hadn't felt like home in years.

Deste was waiting for him near the door. "I take it you've finished your business?" she asked. As always, her tone was impossible to read. Her face, when he glanced up at it, was similarly impassive.

He quirked a brow at her. "I take it you've finished yours?" he said. Something in his expression must have failed to sell it though. She frowned at him, that same frown she used every time she found him out in one of his lies. He shrugged.

She inclined her head at him, eyes widening a little. You're not going to tell me?

He smiled sheepishly back: Sorry. She sighed, weary, but to his relief she let it go. They'd known each other too long. Dmitri figured he'd probably tell her eventually, but he felt as tired as she looked, and he wasn't in the mood for making explanations. Besides, it wasn't as if this was something that would jeopardize their mission, so Deste had no reason to care.

"I am finished, yes. I've been back for a few hours now. We'll be heading back soon; they've begun preparations on the other side for us. It will be done by morning." Walking down the narrow hallway into the room and a half that they'd been sharing for the past few months, she picked up a scroll from where it had rested on her bed. "This is for you." A missive, the date and time and the exact instructions for how to open the gate. Deste didn't have the magic to do it, so that was why he was here.

"I finally get to pull my weight, huh?" he said. Deste, in her infinite wisdom, said nothing. They ate, they washed, and went each of them to their beds. In the morning, just before the dawn broke over the city, they packed their scant belongings and went to the rendezvous site. Tucked in a decrepit alley in a mostly-abandoned district, it reeked of garbage and worse. Dmitri held a handkerchief to his nose.

"Let's get this over with," he said, and lifted a glowing hand to the brick wall in front of him.

((sorry this post ran so long; I figured I'd just move the plot along so they're not each on their own for too long))