Celestial (FallenAngel!Doffy x Reader) CHAPTER 6

“A human, Dophiel? Well, this is certainly a turn of events.”

You felt Doffy stiffen beside you and, though it was entirely possibly you were imagining it, take a step forward as if to shield you from view. You shook your head. No, you were imagining it.

You peered around the angel to inspect the intruder. He was tall, far taller than Doffy, his shaggy blonde head almost brushing the ceiling of your kitchen. Sharp, copper eyes peered from beneath his bangs and his wide mouth was set in an amused smile. His face reminded you of Doffy’s, but rounder, gentler, and he wore a simple white suit, the jacket thrown lazily around his shoulders, which seemed strangely hunched. You thought you saw something shift under the coat, the faint rustling of feathers reaching your ears, but again, you could have been imagining things.

“Raziel,” Doffy said. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

Raziel? Where had you heard that name before…

The man’s voice echoed in your head again, though his mouth remained firmly shut. It gave you the creeps. “I apologise for my lateness. You know how Father can be.”

Doffy lips tightened. “Why are you here, brother?”

That was when it clicked. Raziel, an archangel within the teachings of Jewish mysticism, who is the ‘Keeper of Secrets’ and the ‘Angel of Mysteries’…

“Woah, woah, woah! Wait a second. No.” Both angels turned to you. “One of you was bad enough. I have a date tomorrow; I do not have time to deal with two of you!” You turned to Raziel, pleading. “Can you just… take him home already? He’s very sorry and he won’t do it again. Just get him out of my house.”

Doffy glared at you, and Raziel looked at you apologetically. His voice in your head was kind and sincere, so different from the man standing beside you.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. If he is to return home, he must first be tried in the Supreme Court of Heaven.”

You stared at him, incredulous. You were vaguely aware your mouth was hanging open, but your mind was too busy trying to imagine a fleet of angels all in powdered wigs and robes. You heard him chuckle inside your head and you suddenly realised you did not need to say your thoughts aloud for him to hear them. You blushed beet red and cleared your throat.

“So, uh, what does that entail exactly?”

“He will be tried before a judge and jury, as you would be here on Earth, and they will deem him worthy or unworthy of regaining his Grace.”

“His Grace?”

“Only those with Grace may enter the Gates of Heaven,” Doffy said, not looking at you as he spoke. “One loses their Grace when their wings are broken. Only God himself can restore it.”

Raziel spoke again. “When an angel loses their Grace, they lose their connection to heaven, their power, their immortality. It will all slowly fade away, until they are barely more than human.”

Doffy snarled at this. You stared at him curiously. No wonder he was so desperate to go home.

You turned back to Raziel. “So when’s the trial?” The sooner you could get rid of your errant angel, the better.

“Consider this your official court summons,” said Raziel. “You will both be expected to present your statements seven days from now before the court. A guide will be sent to—”

“Wait, what?!” Now you really had to be imagining things. It almost sounded like he’d said…

“That’s right,” the voice echoed. “It’s not often we call on human witnesses, but you have been requested to testify as a character witness on behalf of Dophiel.”

“But, why me?” you sputtered. “Do I even have a choice in the matter?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

“What if I don’t want her there?” growled Doffy. “She’ll only be a nuisance.”

You glared at him. Who was he to call you a nuisance?! “See, he doesn’t even want me to testify.”

“Then I’m afraid, dear brother, your case will be sorely lacking. Your chances of returning to Heaven will be slim without a witness to vouch for you.”

Doffy’s mouth pressed into a hard, thin line and he said no more.

Inside your head, where Doffy couldn’t hear, you pleaded with Raziel.

“In case you haven’t noticed, Doffy and I aren’t exactly on the best of terms. His attitude is… abrasive to say the least. I don’t think I’ll be any help to his case.”

His voice echoed back, and from the stony expression on Doffy’s face, you knew you were the only one who could hear it.

“You have spent the most time with him as of late. You are the only one equipped to provide an accurate judgement of his character.”

“But I don’t even know him! He refuses to even acknowledge my existence most of the time.”

He sent you a mental image of him shrugging. “You are not dead. That, when it comes to my brother, speaks volumes.” He left you to ponder his words and turned back to Doffy. “I’ll see you in a week, brother. And you, Miss [Name].”

And then, with the sound of rushing wings, he was gone.

You and Doffy stood silently for a long minute. The angel was glaring at the empty space where Raziel had stood, jaw muscles working furiously as he ground his teeth. You were busy pinching yourself, hoping you had somehow just fallen asleep at your desk while reading one of your angel books. No such luck.

When you said you had a date, a date with the Supreme Court of Heaven was not exactly what you’d had in mind.

You sighed heavily and rubbed your temples. “Everything would have been so much easier if you’d just fallen in somebody else’s back yard,” you muttered.

“I didn’t ask to land in yours,” he snapped.

“What, there’s no steering on the train to perdition?” you scoffed.

“There’s no train to perdition, what are you—?”

“I was being sarcastic!” you cried in exasperation. “Maybe if you spent more time learning about humans instead of hating them, you wouldn’t have such a stick up your ass all the time!”

“There is not a stick up my—”

“Don’t,” you cried, holding up a hand, “finish that sentence. Please.”

He scowled at you. “You humans are the strangest creatures,” he said. “I will be glad to finally be rid of you.”

“And I, you,” you hissed.

“You best make yourself useful at the trial then.”

“Oh, trust me, I’ll give you a glowing review if it means getting you out of my hair.”

The two of you glared at each other for a long moment, then huffed and stormed off in opposite directions. Doffy sat down on the couch and turned the TV to a news station, immediately falling silent as he grew absorbed in the report. You stomped upstairs to your room, slamming the door behind you and collapsing face first onto your bed.

Out of all the backyards in all the world, it had to be yours. Out of all the angels in heaven, it had to be him. You were never one to believe in fate, but the circumstances had you wondering what you had done to piss off the universe in such a way.

You sat up in bed, staring at the wall and pondered. Then, for the first time since you were a child, naïve and so full of imagination and hope, you pressed your palms together and prayed. Your parents didn’t raise you religious, but you had once resorted to asking God for a kitten when your parents had refused your begging. It didn’t work, naturally, but maybe now He would be more inclined to listen to your words. After a few moments though, you only felt silly and dropped your hands back onto the sheets. Even if God was listening, with your present company, you were sure He wanted nothing to do with you.

Friday dawned bright and sunny, but your mood when you woke was sour. The remnants of a dream you couldn’t quite remember clung to your subconscious, trying to coax you back to sleep, but you could hear Doffy in the kitchen downstairs and you were loath to leave him unchaperoned in case he put his fist through the microwave because it looked at him funny. He already gave the toaster the death glare every time he passed it because it once startled him (though he refused to admit it) by popping its toast while his back was turned. You’d had to convince him you weren’t secretly plotting to kill him with the kitchen appliances.

You sighed as you heard something smash downstairs and threw the covers back over your head. Next week could not come fast enough. You only hoped you had some sanity left by then.

When you finally got downstairs, you found your favourite mug in pieces on the kitchen floor. When you looked to Doffy for an explanation, he only glared back. It looked like he had been trying to make coffee (you were pretty sure you’d accidentally gotten the angel addicted to it now) but when you went to smell the concoction in the pot, it was so bitterly strong you almost gagged.

Twenty minutes later, the rancid brew had been tipped down the drain and a new pot was now steaming beside you as you sipped from your second favourite mug, the remains of your favourite one laid to rest at the bottom of the trash can. You hadn’t managed to coax an explanation from Doffy as to how it ended up broken, but you had the sneaking suspicion he had been trying to make peace with you. Well, it was the thought that counted. But he’d have to try harder than that if he wanted to get on your good side before the trial.

“I’m going out tonight,” you said suddenly over the kitchen table and he glanced up from his coffee.

“This… date?”

“Mhm. You’ll be here alone, so don’t get into any trouble. I don’t know how long I’ll be, maybe all night if it, uh… goes well.”

He scowled at you. “Why would you…?” he began but then he seemed to realise the hidden meaning behind your words and his mouth pressed into a thin line. “Lust is a sin,” he said coldly.

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t need a lecture from you. You’re hardly one to talk. Isn’t pride also a sin, Dophiel?”

“Hmph,” was all he said before burying his face in his mug again.

That was the extent of your conversation that day, at least until it was time to get ready for your date.

Law had texted you earlier with a ‘Can’t wait to see you, I’ll be there at seven’ that made your stomach flutter with nerves. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d been on an actual date—at least, not one that didn’t end in a one night stand with you sneaking out in the middle of the night because the mere thought of waking up next to someone petrified you. Even the number of one night stands had dwindled down to nothing in recent years.

So, saying you were nervous was an understatement. But this was the first time in a long time you had let yourself have romantic and—dare you say, sexual—feelings for anyone, and damn it, with everything that had been happening lately, you deserved to have a little fun!

You nodded resolutely to yourself in the wardrobe mirror. You were ready. You had spent a long time debating what to do with your hair and makeup, but in the end, you settled on a minimalist approach to keep the dress to focus of the ensemble. You took a deep breath. It was almost seven. Your phone buzzed in your clutch and you fished it out, rolling your eyes as Nami’s text lit up the screen.

If I don’t get all the delicious details in the morning, I’m disowning you. Have fun, girl! ;D

You snorted, dropping your phone back into your clutch and snapping it shut. You took one last glance at yourself in the mirror, tucking away a stray hair that had escaped its pins, before finally deciding it was time to make your way downstairs and wait for Law to arrive.

Doffy was absorbed in the evening news report again and barely noticed you enter the room, but when he finally did, he couldn’t take his eyes off you. You smiled nervously, doing an awkward twirl.

“How do I look?”

He inhaled through his nose, eyes narrowing. “Like sin,” he said, the dark tone of his voice sending a shudder through your spine.

You both stared at each other for a few more long moments, a strange tension in the air, when suddenly it was broken by the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. You both turned to look at the front door as not long after, the doorbell interrupted the silence. Doffy was on his feet in a second, on high alert, eyes wide and body tense as if ready to fight.

“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

“Do not answer that door,” he said, his voice hushed and missing its usual venom. It almost sounded like he was… afraid.

“I kind of have to,” you said. “My date’s behind it.” You made to answer the door but he caught you by the wrist, his grip almost bruising. “Hey, what the hell!?”

“Your date is not who you think he is,” he said cryptically.

You tugged your arm out of his grasp. “What, you can read minds now too? Does he have bad intentions? Well, news flash, you’re not my father, I can make my own decisions about who I spend my time with.”

Doffy’s jaw only tightens as he stares at the door, the bell ringing again. This time, he didn’t try to stop you when you walked over to answer it.

Law greeted you with a smile, standing casually on your porch with his hands in his pockets. He looked like absolute sex on legs with the sleeves of his black dress shirt rolled up to his elbows, showing off his tattoos, and more black lines marked the sliver of tanned chest revealed by his unbuttoned collar. All thoughts of Doffy’s strange reaction were suddenly gone from your mind as he pulled you in to plant a lingering kiss on your cheek.

“Ready to get going?” he asked. He glanced over your shoulder and froze suddenly, his eyes growing wide. You followed his gaze and rolled your eyes at what you found.

“Oh. Sorry, this is my cousin. He’s visiting from Europe.”

Law didn’t relax, standing stiffly as he stared the opposing man down. “I see,” he said, and there was a strange undertone to his voice. “Where in Europe?”

Doffy said nothing, meeting Law’s stare with defiance, hands curling into fists.

“Sweden,” you said quickly when it looked like Doffy wasn’t going to respond. “He’s just here for the week.”

“Nice country,” Law replied, his eyes never leaving the angel.

There were a few more moments of awkward staring, then you cleared your throat, catching Law’s attention. “So, uh… shall we get going them?”

He blinked. “Oh. Yes.”

He offered you his arm and you took it gratefully, letting him lead you out the door. As you pulled the front door closed behind you, you cast one last glance at Doffy, but he was too busy glaring daggers into the back of Law’s head to notice your not-so-subtle reminder to behave while you were gone. You sighed and let the door fall shut behind you, hoping to God that when you came home, you still had a home to return to.

“Sorry about him,” you said. “He’s kind of an ass.” Understatement of the year right there.

Law laughed, seemingly to relax now he wasn’t being scrutinised but a seven-foot Swedish model. “Don’t worry about it,” was all he said, but you could see the way his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously.

But he didn’t let the strange encounter ruin the night, with dinner and dancing that had him sweeping you—quite literally—off your feet. When finally, he pulled up in front of your house late that night, the windows dark, you realised it was the most fun you’d had in a long time and… you didn’t want it to end.

“Do you… maybe want to come inside?” you offered, glad for the darkness that concealed your flushed cheeks.

Law chuckled, bringing up a tattooed hand to caress your cheek. “You make a tempting offer, [Name]-ya,” he said, and you shuddered as his thumb ran over your cheekbone. “But I don’t think your cousin likes me very much. I wouldn’t want to incur his wrath.”

Your heart sank as you remembered that you were, indeed, harbouring a rebel angel in your very own home. As much as your hormones were urging you to just jump Law’s bones already, you didn’t much fancy getting it on with the ears of God listening in. Talk about awkward. You sighed.

“Yeah. Yeah, I don’t blame you.”

“Perhaps, next time,” he chuckled and leaned in to press a kiss to your lips. It was slow and passionate, and seemed to harbour all his hidden wants and desires, and had your body screaming at you to just take him here in the front seat. You pulled away reluctantly and smiled.

“Next time,” you said. “I’ll call you.”

“I look forward to it.”

You climbed out and gave one last shy wave as he pulled out of the driveway, before trudging up the front steps. You pulled out your keys and unlocked the door, only to be met with a shadowy figure in the hallway. You screamed and dropped your keys, only to realise seconds later that it was just Doffy.

“Jesus, Doffy! How many times have I told you not to do that?”

He looked down at you, a look of disgust on his face. “You reek of him,” he said simply, before turning and storming away. You watched him go with utter bewilderment.

Next Thursday could not come fast enough.