Long time NO see [Malachi]

[Deleted]

She sat on an old bench working out her limbs. Ever since Malachi had saved her, and the necromancer, Mr. Hazaar, she had ached a little in her limbs. And she hated to admit it, but she missed the Angel more than she thought she would. He had been a lovely person and something inside Varali attached itself to him. What was she thinking? She rolled her eyes at herself and stretched out her legs. For once she had kicked off her high heeled boots and walked barefooted around the old Park. She used to come here when she was little with her brother and they would play for hours. Sometimes even with her friend Anastasia, but she had not seen her in years. Varali missed the company of her family and friends. And she missed the silly Angel Malachi too. Darn, was she never going to get any rest?

Shaking out her boots, sand sprayed out and she grinned. That was from the Fighting Rings last night. Even though she had told Malachi and Hazaar that she wouldn't go back, she lied again. It hurt to lie to them. Especially Malachi because he was so trusting. Varali had felt horrible when she said that she would stop, then left them. What was her problem? They would have helped her she was sure. It was her pride. Her father taught her to be a Mingan and a Mingan always did things for themselves; never taking anything from anyone. Well, maybe that time she should have. They were willing to help, so what was her problem? Shaking her head, Varali picked up her boots and began walking around the old haunts she used to know. Maybe she could find somewhere to sleep for a little while.

Wow, this place was a dump compared to when her mom and dad would take her and Savan out here to play. The benches were a sure sign, she should have realized that. They were broken and even though she was little, she nearly broke the one she had been on earlier. Her side hurt as she walked and she knew she had broken her ribs again. Varali doubted that they would ever be healed again. It had been nice when Malachi had healed them because it had been a long time since she had been healed anyway, and he was warm. Thinking about warmth had her chilled until goosebumps rose on her arms. Jeez, this place was giving her the creeps a weensy bit. Spotting the swings, she decided that they were okay enough to swing in and ran over. Her brother used to push her on these things until she thought she was going to fall out into the clouds. Varali kicked up her feet and began to swing when her senses kicked in.

She wasn't alone anymore. Something else was here. Acting as if she felt nothing, she kept pumping her legs so she could climb higher into the air. If only she could fly. Then she could get away from here and just be free. It must be nice. Her eyes scanned the bushes and trees, but found nothing. Varali knew she felt something though. Great, she was loosing it. Sighing, she ignored the feeling and went back to swinging, as if trying to recapture her childhood.

[Deleted]

Lately, work had been getting more difficult for the white angel. Generally speaking he was an indefatigable man, but still, he wasn't tireless. He had no days off and in a city that literally didn't sleep-- or at least, not at night-- there was little time for Malachi to catch any sleep. Not, of course, when that savior complex and pure heart nagged at him all night for guiltily snoozing while people were being forced into slavery and generally taken advantage of. There was no amount of sheep the angel could count that would allow him to sleep through that. When one had seen enough of the world's dark underbelly, and Malachi had, horror was not hard to imagine.

So, to be redundant, the broad-chested angel was becoming more than a little tired. He had taken a small break that afternoon to grab lunch near some slums he'd been sniffing around, and decided to soak up some summer sun in the little park nearby. Chi had initially intended to sit on a bench to eat his sandwich, but the rotting boards and rusted metal didn't look sturdy enough to hold his weight. So, instead, he had sat easily down on a nice patch of sunny grass to eat anyway. It was nothing to him, really-- he'd probably been around since before people really used tables, or something of the sort. Either way, it was nice to be off his feet.

So, of course, Malachi's sitting posture melted into a recumbent lounging one, which ended up with him just laying flat out on the grass. It was the sort of natural progression that occured when someone was as bone-tired as he. As was the light sleep he sank into once his lunch was gone. With the sun warm on his face, his body finally comfortable and his stomach full, a nap was inevitable. It was the sort of thing one fell into without quite knowing it, slipping away into an easy daydream about a pretty young lycan girl with a charming smile and somehow winding up asleep on the lawn.

He was a beautiful sight, peaceful as he was, whether an onlooker could see the white wings spread out fully beneath him or not. Malachi's hair was slightly ruffled, looking rather more golden-brown than usual in the sunlight. His robin's egg blue button-up was mildly wrinkled and the cuffs were rolled up past his elbows, as usual. Despite a top button being undone, the shirt had managed to stay tucked into a pair of quite well fitting khaki chinos, which were as usual paired with his most prized black patent-leather shoes. All-in-all, Malachi looked, as usual, like he'd gotten dressed in a Gap store.

He was a rare gem to find in a gloomy a place as this, but that was how angels were. It was easy to rest in opulence and safety, but he was not sent to earth to lead an easy life. Instead, he wandered, homeless but fearless, armed only with a very old golden sword-- and even then, half the time he didn't have it. Like today, for instance. He would've been better off, probably, with a gun, but the man had just never gotten used to carrying one, and he'd never been good with any sort of projectile weapon anyway. Besides, there weren't many people he fought who had over 3000 years experience in hand-to-hand combat, as Chi did. With the angel, it was only a fight until he disarmed you.

But the man in the grass of the old, overgrown park was quite harmless for the moment. In fact, he didn't hear the little lycan princess when she passed nearby and alighted on a swing just on the other side of some bushes from him. But the swings were noisy, and their creaking soon roused Chi from his slumbers, albeit slowly. His eyes eventually shuddered open, blue-gray hues immediately taking in the position of the sun. Like many of the elders that still roamed the world, he had lived in the time before clocks and could get a decent idea of time just from the placement of the sun. Mmmmh, daaamn that was nice... He rolled onto his side, surveying the area around him. It was, thankfully, unchanged and not possessing any creatures meaning him any malcontent. The white angel's large wings followed him as he sat up, rubbing his eyes lightly and shaking his feathers to rid them of grass and twigs. A napkin and the plastic that his sandwich had been wrapped in were still trapped beneath his feet. There had been a bit of a breeze today, and he hadn't wanted the trash to blow away.

He was safe for the moment, though, which was good news, but-- what was that creaking noise? A swingset? In this sinister environment, the thought of something like a playground instantly made Malachi think of his most recent threat. A black angel named Layla, childlike and innocent on the surface but terribly dark and twisted beneath, and her vampire-possessed stuffed rabbit, Kyle. A shudder ran down his spine. He was sure that was who occupied the swingset-- she was there, certainly, waiting for him with some plot in mind. Well, Malachi Logos wouldn't be letting that happen! He rolled to his feet, a motion made fluid by the counterbalancing of his hefty body with a massive wingspan.

Chi took in a steadying breath, pulled his fists up, and charged into battle. Or, well, that's what he thought he was doing. Really, the darling angel was charging through bushes, but his face was pulled into a mask of righteous anger and his eyes shone with light, as if he really was charging into some holy battle. Well, he was guessing Layla lay on the other side of the bushes, rabbit in one hand and a large knife in the other, possibly twisting around in some poor soul's guts. Unfortunately for his self-image, Malachi found no foe on the other side of the foliage, despite his triumphant cry upon exiting the bushes.

Nope, just that cute lycan girl.
Oops.

He stopped abruptly, as soon as he saw Varali swinging happily. Blood flooded into his cheeks, his face reddening in mortification. The angel's eyes faded back to normal, but he seemed to be comically trapped in his aggressive pose, fists up and feet in a steady position. Chi's mouth opened once, as though to speak, but then closed again-- it was quite obvious he was wholly dumbstruck and completely embarrassed. After a moment, he seemed to come to his senses and relax his posture, one hand going to scratch the back of his head as he tried to think of an excuse. "Errrmm....uh...Varali! Erm. Was not expecting...to see you..." The angel, thousands of years old, bit his lip, feeling like a twelve-year-old boy.

[Deleted]

The swings were a little rusty, but not too bad. Varali wrapped her slim fingers around the chains to get a good grip so she could fly higher. She wished she had wings sometimes. She could just fly away from all of this and never look back. Sure, she'd miss her old home...some of the old friends she had used to know...and there was always that Angel that kept sneaking up into her daydreams. He was currently the star of several of those and it made Varali angry with herself. It wasn't like he had flirted with her or anything. Malachi had just saved her that was it. So why was she worried about hurting his feelings so much? Smacking her forehead with an angry growl, Varali cleared her thoughts and continued to swing back and forth, trying her best to forget a pair of robin blue eyes.

Savan used to push her on this very swing when they were little. Their father would call out to be careful, that Varali was too little to push too hard. Varali had stuck out her tongue in defiance and ordered her big brother to push her harder so she could catch a cloud for mommy. Tears threatened to spill over the brim of her violet eyes and she was silently cursing herself for remembering. Telling herself over the years that her family had been gone that she needed to buck up and be strong. She was a Mingan! Migan's never cried; they sought revenge. Which she was trying so hard to do too. If only she knew how to track them down, why they did it, who was behind it all. Maybe then she and Savan could have found peace. Well, if she ever found her big brother.

As soon as she heard the bushes rattle, Varali was jumping off her swing and facing whatever it was coming at her. Her nails turned into curled claw like talons and her eyes has shifted into their dark purple in a fit of Lycan rage. She was tiny and she was considered a shrimp to her race, but Varali was not going to let anyone kill her. She had too much to fight for to die right now. Maybe later, but not now. She let out a snarl, ready for the attack, but only found a set of white feathers and a familiar pair of blue eyes looking back into her raging purple ones.

Malachi.

Her whole body stood still with both shock and the force of her swift change into attack mode. She was still on her swing, trying to make it as if she was playing dumb about an attack, but now her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were huge and questioning. Malachi was blushing? Poor thing, he probably thought he terrified her and well, he had a little, but not badly. He still looked like he was ready to pounce her as she jumped off her perch and moved towards him. He was embarrassed to death that was easy to see and Varali had to hold back a fit of laughter that threatened to bubble over. As he tried to talk, Varali's face split into a smile and she giggled.

She couldn't take it anymore. Varali practically ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist in a breathtaking hug. "You scared me to death, Malachi. What were you thinking?" She grinned up at him as she let go and placed her hands on her hips. He had obviously been expecting someone evil on this side of the trees and was feeling foolish because it was only her. "It is good to see you though. Even if you were about to jump me. Are you okay?" Varali walked around him, checking for any scraps, cuts, or pain but Malachi seemed fine. Stepping back in front of him, she beamed a smile and began to let go of that laughter from earlier. To think, she was going to rip off his head about thirty seconds ago.

"I'm so glad it's you. I was so scared it was that Lycan from the other night that-" She shut her mouth quickly and gave him a sheepish grin. She had said she wouldn't fight anymore, but she had gone anyway. She had new cuts and bruises too and hoped that he didn't notice them. Though her lip was busted and killing her; so he could see that. But Varali could say that nothing was broken, or at least not badly, and her ribs were just sore. So if he gave her a hard time, she could tell him to get over it. "Sooo....what are you doing out here." It was just then that she realized that she had left her shoes and was only about five foot compared to his height. How humiliating.

[Deleted]

There was a tense, confused and completely embarrassing moment where both angel and lycan stared at one another in shock, still but tense. They were quite a pair, both lionhearted, neither strangers to a fight, and yet, neither with anything but the best of intentions. When they'd come to their senses enough, Malachi noted how purple his little friend's eyes had gotten, and the claws that her nails had become. Yeah-- despite her size and youth, he was definitely glad she hadn't run at him with murderous intent. There was little doubt in Malachi's mind that three-thousand years of experience fighting demons and suchlike was enough for him to not be threatened by a lycan girl, but yet there was a wildness in her eyes when she was in a fighting stance that unnerved him.

Which made the next scene, one including the pretty young girl running up to embrace him in a rapturous hug, rather amusing. The angel didn't resist a little good-natured chuckle, his face finally falling back into his usual sunny, calm disposition. "What was I thinking? I was expecting a particularly unpleasant Fallen angel I know of...I'm much happier to see you, though." And that was certainly true, even if she was damn-near hugging the breath out of him. He reciprocated the gesture, of course, being who he was. Hugs were one of his favorite of humanity's expressions of love and friendship. Among angels, of course, there was no hugging or kissing or anything of the sort-- Malachi had been completely at a loss for what to do the first time someone had hugged him. That had been long, long ago, however, and he was now quite comfortable in the affectionate embrace.

As she let go to set her hands on her hips, Malachi had to chuckle again, looking down at her. "Sorry I scared you, Minn--er, Varali. I'm very fine, as always." He had to laugh as she circled him, checking him over for some sort of injury or other. He'd always thought it sort of cute and funny when people asked after his health. He was well aware, as a healer, that others became injured quuite easily and commonly, but as a high-ranking white angel, and one with strong powers of healing, he didn't personally worry about such things very often.

When Varali spoke again, it was Chi's turn to cross his arms and raise an eyebrow at the girl. Only then did he take in her bloodied lip, and the few cuts and bruises on her that he could see. "You've been fighting again, huh?" Chi couldn't help but smirk at her in bemusement, though, wondering how the other guy had come out of the scuffle. "I feel like if I healed you at this point I'd just be encouraging you." He had to laugh, though. It was damn-near impossible for Malachi to keep himself from healing the people around him who were hurt, especially when he was fond of said people...and he was quite fond of the lively little lycan before him. Chi stretched his wings out for a brief moment at her question, and then resettled them on his back before responding. "Well, I was doing some, er, fieldwork before I stopped for lunch...and then uh...fell asleep in the grass back there..." He gave a sheepish little smile, his posture relaxing quickly out of the patronizing stance he'd taken when he'd realized Varali had been sparring with the lycans again. In fact, he moved slightly to take a seat again, his golden bracer visible on his left forearm and shining in the misty sunlight that filtered like a stranger into the gloom of the old park. "And yourself, miss Varali? Are you here for more than a swingset?" His easy smile stayed on his face, blue-grey eyes less gray today than usual...perhaps because of his surroundings, his company or the fact that he'd finally gotten a bit of sleep...