"Hold on, your WHAT?" I quickly sputtered, looking between all of them.
Rory hugged Seth by the waist, looking smug while the male in their arms was a blushing mess. Orwell and Briget were giggling just beside them, finding my reactions amusing.
"Yep," Rory let out proudly. "You were the one to start it! Don't act all surprised when we actually do it!"
I gulped, feeling dryness in my throat. "W-Well, it took you guys a long time to actually do it, so I thought, maybe you didn't do it?"
"We aren't scaredy-cats!" Rory defended.
"Actually, we had been together for a while. We just hid it until the right time." Seth interjected.
"And right now is a good time?" I let out. We were all standing at the base—well, the outside of the arena—where they had planned to drop me off and leave. But since the session had not started yet and no one was here, they decided to spring this on me. I turned to Bridget and her cupid. "Did you know about this?"
"They told me before we flew to you," Bridget said. "So you're the third one to know!"
Oh, goddess. I mean, I'm happy for them. But telling me this now? And they were hiding it? They had been together this whole time and had just now decided to say to me, after I was the one who had encouraged them to do so.
I let out a deep breath, sighing loudly to regain my composure. Turning my frown into a smile, I looked at the two couples in front of me. "Well, I'm happy for both of you. Now you don't have to act all weird and can be open about your feelings."
Both of them blushed. Seth turned to hide it, while Rory shook it off. Hugging Seth tighter, their wings hugged him around his shoulders.
"You're right! It was mainly him, though."
"Sure." Briget giggled from the side. Sliding herself into Orwell, who stayed standing beside her.
I couldn't help but tense up at the sight of both couples. After that weird dream, no.. that weird feeling of rejection from Dawson. The emotions that followed made me feel jealous at the sight of all of them being so happy with someone they loved.
I couldn't help but wonder..
Was I deserving of such love?
"Hey Vienna?" Bridget called back, forcing me to step out of my self-pity. "We also wanted to check up on you."
"Huh?"
The emotions shifted, their shoulders tensing and frowns appearing on the faces of all four of them. A creeping sense of dread began to build within me, even though I had no idea what she meant by that. Deep down, something inside me understood, and I wasn't ready to discuss it.
"Are you doing okay? Like really okay-"
My wrist buzzed at the perfect time, and I swung my arm up to rudely cut her off. "Oh, sorry, but the session is going to start soon. You guys should leave before the others come."
"Oh.." Disappointed signs went all around, and I had to swallow my relieved sigh.
"Sorry." I moved around them, trying to walk backward into the arena so I could wait for everyone else. "Maybe we could talk next time?"
"Sure." Bridget smiled happily, and the slight drop in her wings was very noticeable. Orwell looked at me, and an overpowering stench of flowers filled my senses. I covered my nose, realizing my mistake as I noticed his expression. No one else seemed to smell it—only I could.
The smell faded when I waved goodbye to them as they flew off. They were soon replaced by the Warrior Angels. Ballona was not far behind, preparing by selecting the next two to go up. Casey was one of them; he would be fighting against an older warrior.
We sat in the same spots as last time. Arthur was wholly invested in the fight.
"He is such a great fighter!" Arthur mused, eyes looking on in a dreamy state.
I followed his eyes, watching the older warrior toss Casey to the ground. I stifled a laugh, "y-yeah. He sure is."
I sat there, unable to find interest in the next two fights that followed Casey's. I wanted to be out there fighting. Yet, I was stuck here, raising my hand every time we had the chance to be chosen. The Warrior Goddess completely overlooked me; she glanced right past me and selected the person behind me.
She must be doing this on purpose. It was apparent she didn't like me, but not letting me fight? I am a warrior now. I know how to fight.
Almost everyone had the opportunity to battle one another until the session concluded. I crossed my arms, waiting for Arthur to help me onto Flint. Once again, he set me down back at Angels Cove, flying close to Kingston and Casey before taking off.
Casper bounced around the cove, nearly colliding with a group of cupids that were leaving. I apologized, scolding the pup and insisting he stay close to my side. "If you want to stay with me, you have to stick by me."
He yipped, his tongue hanging out, as I made my way to the door. The moment I opened it, I was tackled by Rory, along with everyone else inside. They pulled me in, and the door closed behind Casper, who jumped onto the bed with Bridget. This time, it was just her, Rory, and Seth in the room.
I pulled myself from Rory's strong hug, looking over their shoulders to the others. "What's this about?"
"Well.." Seth started off, tugged Rory away from me. "We thought we could hang out with you here."
I curled a brow, looking past him to Bridget, who was petting Casper in her lap. "You came back from a session, right? We thought that if you're tired, we could just talk and hang out here with you." She blushed, looking slightly embarrassed, "and.. well… We kinda want to hang out with you, Vienna."
"It's okay if you don't want us here," Seth interjected, looking displeased with the words.
Rory pulled away from me, hands on their hips. "No, we don't!" They turned their fiery expression to me. "You have to hang out with us!"
"Rory-" Both Bridget and Seth said at the same time.
I laughed, putting my hand up in defense. "It's alright. I didn't really practice today; we just had to watch the others fight today." I put them down, brushing hair from my face. "I don't mind if we hang out here."
"Yesss!" Rory explained, falling backwards towards my bed. They hit Seth along the way, dragging him down into Brudget and Casper. The short angel let out a giggle, and Seth growled in frustration.
I suppressed a laugh, feeling a flutter in my heart. Moving closer, I smiled down at the group of angels sprawled on my bed. Suddenly, Rory reached out, grabbed me, and pulled me into their lap. I chuckled as the others made jokes, but Seth was the only one who scolded their partner for making a mess of my bed.
"I don't mind." I giggled, moving off their lap.
Seth pushed Rory off, allowing both him and Bridget to move over to the pillows by the board bed. Casper took my place by jumping onto the redhead. Rory laughed, deciding to play with the Heaven Pup since none of us wanted to play.
I moved over to the headboard where Bridget was, lining up my shoulders with her own. "So.." She looked up to me. "Where's Orwell?"
Her eyebrows shot up, "Oh. He is with Rue, Brick, and Aleida."
I turned to her, "Who?"
She smiled, "Their gift child from the Euphorian Goddess." She then looked surprised. "Right, you haven't met her yet, have you?"
"No, you guys already saw her?" I turned to the two at the end of the bed.
Rory was now lying their head in Sethe's lap, Casper wiggling his way onto the redhead's chest. I called for their attention, and Seth looked slightly guilty while Rory looked back with a sly grin. "Sure did. You missed our girl!"
I crossed my legs, rocking back. "Heh. I guess I did."
Seth punched them in the arm, earning a groan. "What?" The red-headed angel defended, scratching Casper's head.
I turned back to Bridget. "What did she look like?"
"Oh, she is just the cutest." Bridget giggled, fanning her wings, "Her hair is the same blonde as Rue's. She has Brick's eyes, though; they are a very dark brown."
"She is just so cute." Rory jutted in, their arms up in the air while Seth brushed his fingers through their hair. "She wears this cute little tutu that has flowers on it. Her hair is in little fluffy pigtails." They shot me a smirk, "You really missed out."
"Okay, stop rubbing it in," I complained, cuffing my wings around my shoulders.
"Can you meet her after your next session?" Bridget sat up, her face turned sour. "If you want to, of course. You don't have to if you're too tired."
"No-no." I placed a hand on her shoulder. "I would love to meet Bridget."
Her wings fluffed up, with evident joy in her eyes. She continued on, turning down to the couple near our feet. I called for Casper to come to me, and Rory pointed out the collar he wore.
"That's a new collar, isn't it?" I nodded. "What's it for? What's it even doing?"
"I think I've seen the Heaven Wolves wear them."
Rory quickly sat up, knocking Seth in the face as they did so. "Oh, you told us he took the place as your companion, right? Can he turn big? Can he fight?"
"Well, yeah-" I shrugged, feeling like it was a lie. It wasn't, he could, he had done it before. He just won't do it again.
"Rory, you idiot!" Seth grabbed them by their waist, pulling the angel into him. "You hit me!" He began to tickle them, earning a giggle from Rory like they were a child.
"Stop—stop, you know I hate this!" They began to laugh, tossing around in Seth's hold.
Briget nudged me, her eyes looking down at Casper. "He can become big, right? I think I remember you telling us this."
I patted the dog on the head, allowing him to lie in both of our laps. "Yeah, though. He had only done it once."
"How was it?" She beamed, altogether skipping over my statement of how he had done it once.
I was taken aback, scratching my neck as I responded. "Well, I was kinda injured at the time, so I can't remember that well. Though he was huge, when he stood over me, he blocked the sun out."
"Goddess," she exclaimed, looking amazed. "What a good boy. Protecting his partner!" She gave the pup a good scratch on his head, and Capsers wagged his tail in response to the affection. "I think he is better than a Heaven Wolf. Those are so big and scary."
"And they also don't like belly rubs!" Seth interjected from the end of the bed. They had managed to knock Seth down, sitting on his back where his wings were sprawled out. "Heaven Pups are just cuter as well!" They ignored Seth's attempts to free himself, even though Rory was stronger than him, keeping him pinned down with their mere weight.
I shrugged, stretching my wings out. "Well, surprisingly, some of the Heaven Wolves do enjoy petting their companions."
"But from their companions only, right?" Rory countered.
I shrugged, "Well, yeah. But still-"
"Then my statement stays the same." They swung their heads stubbornly.
"You can't just walk up to a random heaven Wolf and expect them to let you pet them like a pup, Rory." Bridget giggled.
"Yeah- well-"
Before Rory could defend themselves, Seth swung his wing and knocked the redhead off him. Instead of letting Rory fall to the floor, he jumped after them to cushion the fall. They began to wrestle on my carpet, with Rory easily gaining the upper hand while sitting on Seth's chest. Despite this, Seth continued to banter with his wings extended, sending feathers flying everywhere.
"Come on, you two," Bridget sat up. "This is Vienna's cove, don't mess it up!"
A sudden knock caused us all to freeze. We all looked at the door, and both of the angels on the ground stood to dust themselves off. Seth looked back at us, eyes looking at me. "Can I open the door?"
I jumped, feeling confused about why he was asking me. "S-Sure."
He did so, and a bright light suddenly flooded the dim room. I move up, my wings fluffing up at the entrance of the goddess. She ducked to fit through the door, her hands holding together and her eyes a bright, gentle sight.
The others stood up, bowing respectfully in the presence of the goddess. Jnaus let out a small smile, her wings flowing gracefully behind her. "There's no need for my angels," she said. The angels stood still, concern and shock evident on their faces. Jnaus continued, her gaze finding mine. "I came to check on Vienna."
"Of course, goddess," Bridget replied. She left the bed and bowed her head before the tall goddess while the couple shifted around her to exit through the door. Before leaving, Bridget looked back at me and asked, "See you after your session?"
"Of course," I waved them off, moving to the end of the bed to Janus.
They left, leaving the door closed with only me and the tall goddess in my room. Feathers still all over the ground, the goddess swept her eyes back at me. "How are you, my dear?" Her hand came out to rub my cheek. "It has been a while. I missed you."
I placed my hand over her larger one, sinking into her touch. "I missed you too.."
We both said nothing, sitting in the silence as Janus allowed me to hold onto her touch for a little longer. She moved away, sitting beside me with a wing coming out to put weight on my lower back.
"How are you?"
I smiled brightly, "I am well. I feel better seeing you." I lay my head on her shoulder, my face burning with her warm touch.
She ran a hand through my hair, and I took it like a touch-starved child. "That is good to hear. I have been told that you are down at the battle arena with Ballona?" She smiled, "How is it?"
"It's pretty fun," I mumbled. "The new environment is cool, but I don't like that the Warrior Goddess doesn't let me fight in the arena." Janus let out a sigh, but I continued. "I mean, she doesn't say anything, but she always skips over me whenever I raise my hand or try to get her attention."
"You want to fight in the arena?" Janus asked, her fingers as light as a feather.
"Yeah.. I like doing it; it makes me feel strong. I'm good at it, so I don't see why I can't"
The goddess nodded, allowing a bit of room for silence to come in before responding. "Of course, you are strong. Though, she might be a bit reluctant with your.. predicament…"
"Because I can feel pain..?" I pressed my head closer into her, letting out a sigh. "Right.. I can handle myself, though. I had done it all throughout my training, so why is it any different?"
"I cannot say my dear," Janus said, her hand moved from my hair to my wings, gliding around the feathers. "Though if you do end up participating in the arena, please be careful."
I giggled, looking up to her with my chin on her shoulder. "I always do, Janus."
She smiled back at me, her expression bright and comforting. Her fingers gently ran through my wing, brushing against the feathers that fluffed up at her affectionate touch. My gaze moved down to her lips, and I felt my breath catch as my eyes widened. I gulped, feeling an unexpected pull that I couldn't ignore.
I didn't like that feeling, but I wanted to do it.
My mind flashed back to Dawson.. back to when he had moved away. It would hurt so much if Janus did the same. I can't say if she will or not, but to have her rejection…
I'm unsure how to feel.
I held back, gulping away my urges with my face tugged down to dig into my skin. Soft and light, the pale beauty in her made me want her more and more.
She was a goddess. The Gate Goddess.
How can she ever feel such a thing for me? I am just an angel; Janus deals with them all the time. How am I any different?
"I know how you feel for her, Janus."
"Your relationship with the angel will get in the way of your rational thinking."
I remember Minerva saying that. My face blushed madly, my thoughts second-guessing myself.
Maybe.. maybe I'm wrong about that? I turned slightly, hugging her tightly just as her hands stopped moving through my feathers.
It then occurred to me that Janus could possibly be reading my thoughts-
I looked back up, staring at the goddess. I ignored the deep blush on my cheeks. "I-I actually have a question."
She tilted her head, clearly looking doubtful at my sudden statement. Instead of brushing it off, she gave me a low nod. "What is it, my angel?"
"It's about the Lord Goddess."