Rhys found himself in another home, staring out of a large window down at the streets. It was hard to believe that they were down there mere hours ago. Everything was so incredibly small. The weather had calmed somewhat, though Rhys didn't want to leave. Exhaustion weighed on his mind and he certainly wasn't going to go back and be reminded of what had occurred out in the halls. Mehira sat on a nearby bed. In-between prayer she would pick at the exposed plating. Rhys managed to keep his curiosity on a leash and avoided staring into the wound.
The man tried to imagine what the city might look like with all the people walking around. It was almost dizzying how many people could fit down there. Vehicles moving about. Drowning noise buzzing over everything. And this small home embedded in a tall, tall tower. There would be people going about, enjoying their lives. Only a mere hundred years ago or so but it felt quite a lot longer. Edwin wasn't that old, Rhys said to himself with a smile. He turned his attention down the rows of buildings. It also felt like they were a hundred miles away from home as well. Not a soul to be found here at all. They could've been on an entirely different planet for all he knew.
Having seen enough of this new and old world, Rhys moved over to Mehira's side and sat down.
"I know I keep asking, but are you certain you're alright?" Rhys asked.
Mehira prodded at the plate a bit more. "I am fine. Although..."
"Although?"
"Although there was a strike at my fiber. In that moment there was a sense of unending dread. Death is not a factor for my being. An eternal, unbreakable soul guides my every move. Yet I was scared to cease being here physically." She crossed her arms, folding one over the wound. "I do not know why."
"Well... What would happen if you did?" Rhys didn't actually want to know, but if going through the technicalities eased her in any way, he wanted to talk about it.
"I suppose we are guided back to whence we came. Straight to the heavens. Which would be returning home. I had spoken to a small few who have done the very same. Shed their form through combat."
"Then you don't want to leave?"
Mehira looked to the window and nodded. "Perhaps I have much more I want to participate in on the Earth. Perhaps I fear the failure of death at the hand of the sinned." She shrugged.
"I'm not sure what there is to do here that you don't have up above."
"Protect. There is the joy of saving the chosen creature," she said, a smile in her voice.
"I think you've done enough saving for many lifetimes," Rhys said, smiling back.
"There is a particular joy to be had by saving your form."
"And likewise, I think there's joy to be had in being saved by you, but I'm sure any other man would say that."
Mehira uncrossed her arms, placing her hands on the bed. "Man and not woman? Person, even?"
"I don't think many women would be able to appreciate your beauty." He set his hand down close to hers. His other hand rubbed at his neck. "Even if it is a shell of a shell, as you might say."
"Thank you," she said.
There was a long silence. Rhys briefly wondered if he said the wrong thing.
"I believe that in some manner," Mehira said, "I do not want to leave you specifically." Her cool fingers slid over to his, intertwining them.
Rhys' heart began to flutter as he felt her touch grace him.
"I feel much in the same way," Rhys replied. Such a lame, stiff way to put it. Rhys' heart hammered all the same just from saying it. There was the added weight of the woman in question being an emissary from the heavens, but she was still very much a woman.
"Humans treat us with such awe and fear. I am grateful you have indulged in all our simple conversations, even going so far as to tread into deathly grounds alongside me." Her hand crept forward more, grasping at his palm. "I know you make much talk about the futility of life as it is now, however I peered into the fear you held. With all that you still kept by my side. Thank you."
"Thank you for being here, Mehira. It's selfish of me, but I wish-- pray that you could stay here." The center being as empty as it was, was a sign of things coming to change. "Not that I wish for the sinned to be here, of course."
"Of course." She looked down before looking back to Rhys. "I would not want to stretch across the years to wait for you above. Somehow I feel as though speaking with you in this manner is a sin to be denied." Mehira inched closer. "And I also feel as though it isn't."
"It couldn't be, right?" Rhys wanted to hold her now. That simple instinct in his mind to embrace the thing he admired. The thing he loved. What an odd duck you are, he chided himself. You refuse the company of a human woman for the angelic. Was the standard not good enough? You had to seek out the impossible to satiate your desires? Or maybe you're such a strange fellow that you could only interact with what could only be called human on the most fringe of terms? Rhys looked to her head again, where her eyes would sit. No, she was as regular a person as any other, only that she was burdened with the challenge of serving them.
Cautiously, Rhys leaned over and rested his head on her shoulder. At first he was stiff, but quickly relaxed against her once she made no protest. That certainly had to be a sin, right?
Rhys pursed his lips, then asked, "If you do not make love, do you still feel it between one another?"
"Some may crave the romantic closeness. We do not practice it. That is what the chosen souls, the humans, are blessed with the right to partake and indulge." She squeezed his hand. "It would be a sin to experience the jealousy that it brings, yet it would also be a sin to say I do not experience it. I envy the mortal plane. To experience all its challenges and rewards."
"I must seem awfully rude now, denying a gift like that."
"Recall when you said ignorance is bliss? I believe that collides with our situation. The grass is always greener, is it not?"
"True, true."
It was hard to think that someone straight from the paradise promised to all pious people would want to linger on this Earth. Then again, if life were not beautiful, people would not be complaining about the shortness of life. There would be no fear of death. There would be no regrets. He had to appreciate the small slice of his soul's existence before it was snuffed out. Besides, who would be so lucky as to have the company of such an extraordinary being?
Mehira stretched out her wounded arm and with a flex, the armor fell from it. The thing clattered to the floor. "Before you speak, yes, I am fine," she said with a giggle.
Rhys hardly heard her words, being far too focused on her skin. It was like a finely crafted marble, smooth and reflective. Rather than the bright white he expected, she was a dark black.
"The bare wind is a greater relaxation than I had figured." Her body had a similar squish to regular skin. Rhys also noticed the lack of any garment on her arm. Was she entirely nude under there as well? "You must find this form odd. A golem among the living."
He reached out and gently took her bare hand, causing her to freeze up. While Rhys expected her to be cold, her hand was intensely warm. Soft as well.
"You feel as alive as anyone else," Rhys said.
While she was mostly smooth, he could feel the little marks that made up her polished form. The notes of grey almost mimicked the celestial heavens as they streaked across the black of her skin. As Rhys explored her arm, she tentatively did the same, running her fingers across his bare skin. The gesture was no more than any touch, but it bore the taboo of a bare angel's skin. Her hand was much larger than his, allowing her to soak up more of his form. It took little time for him to break into goosebumps at her gentle grace.
The touch, a mere sampling of the divine was enough to make Rhys crave more. His free hand edged onto her lap. Of course, armor was no substitute for the touch of bare skin, yet he would take any closeness he could afford. Their focus would dance to and fro from their eyes to their arms. How desperately now he wanted to be graced with Mehira's visage. Curiosity burned up inside him, alongside the human desire to put a face to the refined voice and kind soul. That really didn't matter though, did it? All Rhys needed to know was that she was indeed a kind soul.
As quickly as their trade of bodies came, it left, and the pair pulled apart. Embarrassment stoked in Rhys' mind and he carefully pulled away. Mehira gave a small nod, glancing away. She picked up her discarded portion of armor, replacing it on her body. Just like that, it was all over. Much like his life, Rhys had to enjoy the brevity of the moment. He had already begun memorizing what little was shown to him. It dawned on him that she bore no wounds. None that he could notice, anyways. Heavenly armor was far more resilient than he had expected.
The pair focused back out at the window. "Thank you for the exchange," Mehira said, suddenly.
Rhys couldn't work up much of a response other than a nod. That taboo lingered in the back of his mind, making him wonder what the ramifications of such a touch could be. The angel showed no remorse nor had strained tone, but he couldn't help feeling as though he had broken some unspoken rule. If so, let the heavens open up and strike him down on the spot. Rhys did indeed watch the clouds part to reveal the sun, just that no smiting bolt came. Mehira probably had some sort of internal reaction to sin regardless that would certainly go off if he made such an error.
"Your body has trudged through plenty. Take this moment to rest," Mehira said, patting the bed.
"I feel as though I should help keep watch at least."
"Then you may do so at a supine angle." She patted again.
"I suppose that's fair." He quietly apologized to whoever previously owned the bed and lay down. Rhys quickly realized this wasn't a thing made of cotton or spring, rather some strange foam he had never experienced. He looked up at Mehira, who had turned to look down at him. The thoughts in his head still ran around and around imagining her. "If I do fall asleep, I ask that you don't complain about my snoring."
"Do not worry. I find your nighttime vocalizing to be a cute factor."
"And how would you know?"
Mehira lagged on her answer then said, "Angels know more than you may perceive." She nodded.
Something told Rhys that wasn't exactly right. He wasn't going to argue in any case. Certainly no arguments as the bed gripped him, pulling his eyelids closed. For just the briefest moment, Rhys thought he saw a spark flicker in Mehira's helmet. Trick of the eye, perhaps.
"Good night," she said.
_
