Fee's Writings
An Angel's Touch: Chapter Four
Warnings: None
Warnings: None
Natalie felt a flood of relief as she heard the knock. Liza was one of the few people she knew that could restore a sense of normality to even the most outlandish situations with something as simple as a smile.
Sure enough, as soon as she opened the door and saw her friend grin, a child on each hand, everything just seemed right again.
"Alright, Nat?" Liza said cheerfully, stepping into the house.
It had been several days now since Ameron had first fallen ill, and Natalie had been shocked by his apparent complete inability to fight off the infection. He was no longer feverish, but as of yet he was still prone to bouts of violent shivering that left him barely able to stay conscious. What amazed her still further, however, was that she could now have completely articulate and valid conversations with him. Sure, she had spoken to him almost constantly while he had been bedridden, but surely even a genius could not pick up a language that quickly. It wasn't much, but it was enough, and she got the feeling that he understood a lot more than he could speak.
Currently he was sat on the couch, hair dishevelled and skin pale, clutching a mug of lemon tea - something that he seemed to have taken quite a liking to. He looked terrible, but by God, he was still the most beautiful creature she'd ever seen.
Pushing Emma and Jennifer in front of her, Liza walked in. Upon spotting Ameron, Emma immediately went over, followed by her shyer, elder sister.
Taking Liza's arm she led the woman into the kitchen and closed the door behind her. Liza protested, but Natalie hushed her with the assurance that Ameron would not to anything to her children.
"He's gorgeous!" Were the first words out of her mouth when she had 'calmed down'. "Where did you find him?"
Where did she find him? Haha... that was a story and a half.
"Well..."
She told her everything. How she had come to find him, the circumstances, how he seemed to speak a language that wasn't of this earth - at least not one she'd ever heard, and she'd done a lot of travelling in her student days. Not to mention his obviously quite brilliant intelligence. All the rest, Liza could see for herself. He was handsome, beautiful even, to such an extent that he couldn't possibly be human.
Then, she went over to a cabinet that was on the other side of the room, opening a drawer. Dipping her hand in, she brought out two white feathers, and offered one to Liza.
Flicking coppery-brown curls back over her shoulder, and looking at Natalie rather oddly, Liza took it and her eyes widened. "It's-"
"Warm. I know. So is this one. I found them about a week ago and they've still not gone cold."
Liza frowned, twirling the feather in between her thumb and forefinger. "Nat, he's not human."
"Oh, come on..." Natalie shook her head. She knew that Liza was religious - a lot more than she was - even though she would be lying if she'd said that she hadn't thought of it.
"Liza, it isn't possible. Angels don't exist."
"You don't know that for sure."
Absently, Natalie picked up two cups from where they hung on the wall, opening a cupboard and pulling out a box of tea bags, putting them down on the counter. Switching the kettle on, she leaned against the counter and sighed.
"Liza, you cannot honestly believe that right now, sat in my front room, is a fallen angel."
Folding her arms, Liza raised one eyebrow. "Do you have a better explanation?"
"I-" She made a frustrated noise, stamping one foot on the floor. "Liza, damn you, how can he possibly...?"
Liza shrugged, gaze flicking to the kettle as it clicked. As Natalie poured the tea and searched in the fridge for milk, she chewed her thumbnail. "Nat, think about it."
Taking a cup from Natalie, she made her way back into the living room. The two stopped in the doorway, watching the scene before them.
Jennifer was perched on Ameron's lap, and Emma sat on the arm of the chair, hanging onto his shoulder. Ameron was almost grinning, and it was good to see him happy for a change.
"Are you gonna go home soon?" Emma asked him innocently.
Ameron just smiled. "I hope so."
An hour or so later, Ameron had been drawn into making a puzzle with the children, kneeling on the floor with them while the two women watched. Any other man would have probably found such an act humiliating, if not only a little embarrassing, but Ameron didn't not appear to mind in the slightest.
There was a reason for this. For a time, before he had gained status in the choirs and the larger wings which had been his downfall, he had worked in the Seventh Level of Heaven with Metatron, in the school there for the souls of prematurely dead children. Not that Natalie or Liza would have known that. As far as they knew, he was just good with children.
"So, what are you going to do with him?" Liza asked quietly as she watched them.
Natalie shook her head, sipping her tea. "I have no idea. I didn't call the police when I found him-"
"Obviously."
"Yes. Anyway, I didn't call the police. Something told me not to."
"'Something'?" Liza's eyebrows went up.
Natalie scowled at her, then sighed and looked down into her now empty cup. "I probably should have, but it didn't seem right. After all, he didn't speak any English and he seemed so lost and confused..." She looked at him fondly as he played with Liza's daughters, then she sensed eyes on her and slid her gaze to one side, catching her friend watching her. Liza gave a knowing smile, then hid her face in her mug, finishing off her tea.
* * *
"Bye-bye Auntie Nat! Bye-bye Ameron!" Emma waved cheerfully as Liza took both girls back to the car. Motioning for Ameron to go back inside, Natalie closed the inside door and stood on the porch as Liza locked the car doors and came back over, her hand shoved in her pockets as she hunched her shoulders against the unseasonably cold weather. Pushing her flyaway hair out of her face, she let out a quick exhale and tilted her head to one side.
"So." she said bluntly.
"So?" Natalie responded.
"... What do you think of my theory?"
The dark haired woman spluttered, glancing down as she felt something nudging her leg and bending down to scoop up the bundle of gangly legs and paws that was Suzie. She must have slipped through the door before it was closed. Absently scratching the dog's ears, she frowned. "Your theory? That Ameron's-" She cut herself off and lowered her voice. "That Ameron is an angel?"
A nod.
"I think you're crazy."
The woman grinned. "There's a fine line between genius and insanity." she quipped.
"And you have just erased that line." Natalie replied, finishing the quote that she recognised as one of Oscar Levant's.
They laughed then, and Natalie just shook her hair in a despairing fashion. She didn't take Liza seriously - she never had - but she had to admit there was some measure of probability in what she said. That was, if Natalie believed in angels in the first place.
Which she didn't.
Of course.
"Nat... from what I've seen and what you've told me, this is either some very elaborate scheme, or he really is what I think he is."
"How would I be able to tell? He looks human, he doesn't have wings-"
Liza held up her hand to stop in its tracks what she knew would probably turn into a long theological rant on Natalie's part. That girl just couldn't take things at face value, could she? "He would have had them taken..."
She frowned again, and shrugged, putting Suzie down and opening the inside door, letting her run back into the house, pulling the door to. No doubt the little rascal would be going to Ameron. She always did. She really did love that young man.
"I'll see you soon, hon." Liza said, leaning forwards to kiss Natalie on the cheek and hug her before she left.
Natalie waited until she saw the car turn the corner at the top of her street, then headed back inside. Ameron was sat back on the settee, Suzie on his lap, silently rubbing behind her ears as she nuzzled his chest.
"Ameron," she said as she closed the inside door. He looked up expectantly, the curiosity of a child in his eyes as he did so.
You could lose yourself in those eyes.
"Yes?" he asked, gently pushing Suzie out of his lap and getting to his feet as she came closer to him.
"Take off the shirt." She had never referred to things as 'his' for some reason. Perhaps it was that in the back of her mind some part of her still saw him as a stranger, and if she started giving him things, she didn't know how he would take it.
As with all her out of the ordinary commands - and she had made a few - Ameron diligently did as she told him and held the shirt loosely in one hand as he watched her with a slightly confused expression. She walked around him, carefully looking him up and down, then paused as she got to his back, eyes fixed on two slightly shiny streaks of skin that marked his back just inside his shoulder blades. One hand lifted, tentatively, and her fingers brushed one of the marks. She felt him shiver, and withdrew her hand, looking up as he glanced over his shoulder and fixed her gaze with his. There was a moment of silence in which the look in his eyes was so solemn that it almost moved her to tears, and then he smiled and laughed softly, pulling the shirt back on without buttoning it up, turning to face her.
"Did... you... find what you were... looking for?" he said hesitantly, unsure if the words he was using were correct.
Natalie glanced up at him in surprise, eyes widening briefly. He didn't react, just watched her, and Natalie got the intense feeling that he knew something that she didn't, and would never, be able to fully comprehend.
"I think so." she said quietly by way of a reply, sitting down and almost flattening Suzie in the process.
"Ameron?" She spoke up after a couple of minutes, in which Ameron had buttoned up the shirt he was wearing and perched on the edge of the chair he had been occupying earlier. He played almost childishly with the handle of one of the mugs that rested on the coffee table in the middle of the room, and looked up as his name was said again.
"Mm?"
"If I go out and leave you here alone, will you be alright?"
Instantly that uncomprehending look came over his face. He didn't understand what she'd just said, so she sighed quietly, and licked her lips. "If I go out..." she said slowly, making a couple of hand gestures. He nodded. "Will you be okay... by yourself? Not with me?"
Very slowly, Ameron nodded.
Suzie woofed, and Natalie laughed. "You have Suzie here." she pointed out. Ameron smiled.
Natalie took about ten minutes getting ready, finding a black coat that she hadnt worn outside the house for a long time - the last time she'd worn it had been to a funeral... it was just too smart for her, but she felt it suited.
She was going to church.
"I'll be back soon, okay?" she said to Ameron as she picked up the bag she'd left on the couch and headed for the door.
"Okay..." he replied quietly, watching her leave. As the door closed, he sighed, leaning forwards and resting his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands.
'Damnit...' he thought desperately. 'What am I going to do...? It wasn't supposed to end up like this...'
Sensing his distress, Suzie whined and nosed his leg. Drawing her into his lap, the fallen angel buried his head in her fur, and sobbed.
Sure enough, as soon as she opened the door and saw her friend grin, a child on each hand, everything just seemed right again.
"Alright, Nat?" Liza said cheerfully, stepping into the house.
It had been several days now since Ameron had first fallen ill, and Natalie had been shocked by his apparent complete inability to fight off the infection. He was no longer feverish, but as of yet he was still prone to bouts of violent shivering that left him barely able to stay conscious. What amazed her still further, however, was that she could now have completely articulate and valid conversations with him. Sure, she had spoken to him almost constantly while he had been bedridden, but surely even a genius could not pick up a language that quickly. It wasn't much, but it was enough, and she got the feeling that he understood a lot more than he could speak.
Currently he was sat on the couch, hair dishevelled and skin pale, clutching a mug of lemon tea - something that he seemed to have taken quite a liking to. He looked terrible, but by God, he was still the most beautiful creature she'd ever seen.
Pushing Emma and Jennifer in front of her, Liza walked in. Upon spotting Ameron, Emma immediately went over, followed by her shyer, elder sister.
Taking Liza's arm she led the woman into the kitchen and closed the door behind her. Liza protested, but Natalie hushed her with the assurance that Ameron would not to anything to her children.
"He's gorgeous!" Were the first words out of her mouth when she had 'calmed down'. "Where did you find him?"
Where did she find him? Haha... that was a story and a half.
"Well..."
She told her everything. How she had come to find him, the circumstances, how he seemed to speak a language that wasn't of this earth - at least not one she'd ever heard, and she'd done a lot of travelling in her student days. Not to mention his obviously quite brilliant intelligence. All the rest, Liza could see for herself. He was handsome, beautiful even, to such an extent that he couldn't possibly be human.
Then, she went over to a cabinet that was on the other side of the room, opening a drawer. Dipping her hand in, she brought out two white feathers, and offered one to Liza.
Flicking coppery-brown curls back over her shoulder, and looking at Natalie rather oddly, Liza took it and her eyes widened. "It's-"
"Warm. I know. So is this one. I found them about a week ago and they've still not gone cold."
Liza frowned, twirling the feather in between her thumb and forefinger. "Nat, he's not human."
"Oh, come on..." Natalie shook her head. She knew that Liza was religious - a lot more than she was - even though she would be lying if she'd said that she hadn't thought of it.
"Liza, it isn't possible. Angels don't exist."
"You don't know that for sure."
Absently, Natalie picked up two cups from where they hung on the wall, opening a cupboard and pulling out a box of tea bags, putting them down on the counter. Switching the kettle on, she leaned against the counter and sighed.
"Liza, you cannot honestly believe that right now, sat in my front room, is a fallen angel."
Folding her arms, Liza raised one eyebrow. "Do you have a better explanation?"
"I-" She made a frustrated noise, stamping one foot on the floor. "Liza, damn you, how can he possibly...?"
Liza shrugged, gaze flicking to the kettle as it clicked. As Natalie poured the tea and searched in the fridge for milk, she chewed her thumbnail. "Nat, think about it."
Taking a cup from Natalie, she made her way back into the living room. The two stopped in the doorway, watching the scene before them.
Jennifer was perched on Ameron's lap, and Emma sat on the arm of the chair, hanging onto his shoulder. Ameron was almost grinning, and it was good to see him happy for a change.
"Are you gonna go home soon?" Emma asked him innocently.
Ameron just smiled. "I hope so."
An hour or so later, Ameron had been drawn into making a puzzle with the children, kneeling on the floor with them while the two women watched. Any other man would have probably found such an act humiliating, if not only a little embarrassing, but Ameron didn't not appear to mind in the slightest.
There was a reason for this. For a time, before he had gained status in the choirs and the larger wings which had been his downfall, he had worked in the Seventh Level of Heaven with Metatron, in the school there for the souls of prematurely dead children. Not that Natalie or Liza would have known that. As far as they knew, he was just good with children.
"So, what are you going to do with him?" Liza asked quietly as she watched them.
Natalie shook her head, sipping her tea. "I have no idea. I didn't call the police when I found him-"
"Obviously."
"Yes. Anyway, I didn't call the police. Something told me not to."
"'Something'?" Liza's eyebrows went up.
Natalie scowled at her, then sighed and looked down into her now empty cup. "I probably should have, but it didn't seem right. After all, he didn't speak any English and he seemed so lost and confused..." She looked at him fondly as he played with Liza's daughters, then she sensed eyes on her and slid her gaze to one side, catching her friend watching her. Liza gave a knowing smile, then hid her face in her mug, finishing off her tea.
* * *
"Bye-bye Auntie Nat! Bye-bye Ameron!" Emma waved cheerfully as Liza took both girls back to the car. Motioning for Ameron to go back inside, Natalie closed the inside door and stood on the porch as Liza locked the car doors and came back over, her hand shoved in her pockets as she hunched her shoulders against the unseasonably cold weather. Pushing her flyaway hair out of her face, she let out a quick exhale and tilted her head to one side.
"So." she said bluntly.
"So?" Natalie responded.
"... What do you think of my theory?"
The dark haired woman spluttered, glancing down as she felt something nudging her leg and bending down to scoop up the bundle of gangly legs and paws that was Suzie. She must have slipped through the door before it was closed. Absently scratching the dog's ears, she frowned. "Your theory? That Ameron's-" She cut herself off and lowered her voice. "That Ameron is an angel?"
A nod.
"I think you're crazy."
The woman grinned. "There's a fine line between genius and insanity." she quipped.
"And you have just erased that line." Natalie replied, finishing the quote that she recognised as one of Oscar Levant's.
They laughed then, and Natalie just shook her hair in a despairing fashion. She didn't take Liza seriously - she never had - but she had to admit there was some measure of probability in what she said. That was, if Natalie believed in angels in the first place.
Which she didn't.
Of course.
"Nat... from what I've seen and what you've told me, this is either some very elaborate scheme, or he really is what I think he is."
"How would I be able to tell? He looks human, he doesn't have wings-"
Liza held up her hand to stop in its tracks what she knew would probably turn into a long theological rant on Natalie's part. That girl just couldn't take things at face value, could she? "He would have had them taken..."
She frowned again, and shrugged, putting Suzie down and opening the inside door, letting her run back into the house, pulling the door to. No doubt the little rascal would be going to Ameron. She always did. She really did love that young man.
"I'll see you soon, hon." Liza said, leaning forwards to kiss Natalie on the cheek and hug her before she left.
Natalie waited until she saw the car turn the corner at the top of her street, then headed back inside. Ameron was sat back on the settee, Suzie on his lap, silently rubbing behind her ears as she nuzzled his chest.
"Ameron," she said as she closed the inside door. He looked up expectantly, the curiosity of a child in his eyes as he did so.
You could lose yourself in those eyes.
"Yes?" he asked, gently pushing Suzie out of his lap and getting to his feet as she came closer to him.
"Take off the shirt." She had never referred to things as 'his' for some reason. Perhaps it was that in the back of her mind some part of her still saw him as a stranger, and if she started giving him things, she didn't know how he would take it.
As with all her out of the ordinary commands - and she had made a few - Ameron diligently did as she told him and held the shirt loosely in one hand as he watched her with a slightly confused expression. She walked around him, carefully looking him up and down, then paused as she got to his back, eyes fixed on two slightly shiny streaks of skin that marked his back just inside his shoulder blades. One hand lifted, tentatively, and her fingers brushed one of the marks. She felt him shiver, and withdrew her hand, looking up as he glanced over his shoulder and fixed her gaze with his. There was a moment of silence in which the look in his eyes was so solemn that it almost moved her to tears, and then he smiled and laughed softly, pulling the shirt back on without buttoning it up, turning to face her.
"Did... you... find what you were... looking for?" he said hesitantly, unsure if the words he was using were correct.
Natalie glanced up at him in surprise, eyes widening briefly. He didn't react, just watched her, and Natalie got the intense feeling that he knew something that she didn't, and would never, be able to fully comprehend.
"I think so." she said quietly by way of a reply, sitting down and almost flattening Suzie in the process.
"Ameron?" She spoke up after a couple of minutes, in which Ameron had buttoned up the shirt he was wearing and perched on the edge of the chair he had been occupying earlier. He played almost childishly with the handle of one of the mugs that rested on the coffee table in the middle of the room, and looked up as his name was said again.
"Mm?"
"If I go out and leave you here alone, will you be alright?"
Instantly that uncomprehending look came over his face. He didn't understand what she'd just said, so she sighed quietly, and licked her lips. "If I go out..." she said slowly, making a couple of hand gestures. He nodded. "Will you be okay... by yourself? Not with me?"
Very slowly, Ameron nodded.
Suzie woofed, and Natalie laughed. "You have Suzie here." she pointed out. Ameron smiled.
Natalie took about ten minutes getting ready, finding a black coat that she hadnt worn outside the house for a long time - the last time she'd worn it had been to a funeral... it was just too smart for her, but she felt it suited.
She was going to church.
"I'll be back soon, okay?" she said to Ameron as she picked up the bag she'd left on the couch and headed for the door.
"Okay..." he replied quietly, watching her leave. As the door closed, he sighed, leaning forwards and resting his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands.
'Damnit...' he thought desperately. 'What am I going to do...? It wasn't supposed to end up like this...'
Sensing his distress, Suzie whined and nosed his leg. Drawing her into his lap, the fallen angel buried his head in her fur, and sobbed.