A Taste of Heaven
[Joshua Davis]
'Looks good,' he thought to himself with a nod as he laid out another set of spells around the room.
He'd already tested them – three times at that –, but Joshua could never quite shake the fear that he might cast something that'd ruin things and set Ophis off. It was a constant worry when trying to upgrade the Silence rooms, but nothing of the sort had happened yet. Closest he'd gotten was the dragon poking her head out of the room to tell him that she didn't like a new addition and then a few tense seconds of him trying to figure out why.
Joshua wasn't very sure what'd happened that time, but it'd been a fairly tame incident… Once he'd calm down and gone back home to get his thoughts in order. Because the whole time during the actual event had him feeling like he'd just disappear any second. The Dragon of Infinity was a nightmare for him that way.
'Now, the next set,' he decided, taking a deep breath in and steeling his nerves to keep going.
He'd gotten a bunch of ideas for those projects, after what felt like a long time of barely any progress. The Power of Destruction had given him plenty in regards to those, after all. It wasn't quite the same, but the devil bloodline and the Dimensional Gap had some similarities between them, and studying both had bridged the gap – 'That's a terrible pun.' – quite a bit and helped. He'd tried to apply the concept of destruction to create a space of nothingness, but that'd been…
Loud, according to Ophis.
That'd been what caused the aforementioned incident, after all.
There were still plenty to use all his notes from his research sessions with Zekram, but Joshua had had to approach the issue from a different angle. Not something new to him, but he'd have appreciated having a more straightforward time of it. No such luck, however. He was resigning himself to the fact that he'd never have an easy time with things.
"Good, right?" he asked Cheshire, who had been particularly clingy that day and had followed him there. He wasn't a fan, but he was growing a little less terrified of Ophis going off every day that passed. Which wasn't saying much, but it was enough that he was only freaking out a little bit while his familiar stuck to him.
He was going to have words with Friday for teleporting Cheshire with him though.
His feline familiar, however, rolled her eyes at him as if he were exaggerating… He didn't think he was, but… 'Cheshire will do as Cheshire wants,' he thought, taking a sip from the cup of tea he'd brought for himself. He had a history of caving to his familiars' whims, especially Cheshire's. So, Joshua guessed it was a bit of a stretch to think that'd change anytime soon.
Which lasted all of a few seconds after two things happened almost at the same time. The first was that there was a click sound coming from one of the room doors, the one where Ophis was in. The second was that Cheshire stiffened.
And then Cheshire was teleported away as fast as Joshua could manage.
The Infinity Dragons stepped out, face blank as always. Although, he caught her staring at the spot Cheshire had been in for a long second before her attention returned to him. Joshua, for his part, was already feeling cold sweat running down his back.
"Joshua Davis," the being said and he gulped.
"Ophis," he replied with a slight nod, unwilling to take his eyes off of her. "Was the last adjustment bad again?" he asked, and he was surprised that she didn't immediately answer. Instead, she stared at the cup in his hands for some reason. He was halfway through deciding to send it into a Storage Spell before the dragon opened her mouth and his attention was pulled fully onto her.
"No. The opposite," she told him and he blinked. "I like the new changes," she added and he had to take a moment to process that. Not only because it was incredibly good and relieving news, but also because that was the first time she went out of her way to tell him. That meant she either was getting more comfortable with him – which he didn't know how to feel about – or she was really happy with the change, which would be great.
Unfortunately, he wasn't sure how to ask, at least before the dragon spoke once more.
"I think I'll be staying here," Ophis said and he had to consider that for a long moment. Mostly because she was already spending most days there. Joshua was pretty sure he could count the times she'd left in one hand. And she didn't even leave for that long, really. "What is that?" she asked, eyes going back to his cup.
"Tea," he answered straightforwardly. "A drink, it's warm and soft and it helps me relax," he added… not entirely sure why. Sometimes he just felt like explaining a little more, just to avoid any potential misunderstandings… or just out of nerves, he supposed.
Maybe both.
"... Can I try?" she commented and he blinked at her again. He felt like he was doing that a lot. "I've seen you drink that a lot." 'Well, that's not worrying at all,' he thought to himself. Mainly because he'd only brought a cup with him to work on the rooms twice, so that meant she was checking on him often, from inside the rooms to boot. He really didn't know how to feel about that.
"Sure, I can-" he started, only to be interrupted as she took the cup from his hand before he could offer to bring one for her. So, he stood there as the Dragon of Infinity tried out tea for the first time. He stiffened when she frowned and passed the thing back to him.
"Bitter," she mumbled, eyes narrowed.
"Sweeteners can be added," he pointed out and he found himself on the receiving end of the intent stare of the dragon once again. "There's sugar, honey and other things. Maybe I can bring you some to try next time?" he offered and she seemed to consider that for a long moment before nodding and walking back into the same room he'd been modifying.
'What the fuck was that?' he wondered to himself.
[}-o-{]
"Only you, Joshua," Gabriel commented and he sighed wearily.
He also refrained from pointing out that Yasaka and Serafall had said the exact same thing when he told them what happened. He sorely wanted to bring it up, but he had a feeling that she'd find it even more amusing than she already did the situation he'd told her about. He didn't think he wanted to deal with that going into where they were… which was Heaven, again.
"I think my life just can never have a quiet moment," he commented, although he wasn't always complaining about that. There were times when the unpredictability of his life was a good thing. "By the way, that's new," he added, deciding to focus on something else, like the black iris that Gabriel had placed behind her ear.
It stood out against her generally bright and light color palette, maybe even looking bad. Joshua didn't know enough about fashion to know for sure, but he knew that it looked great to him. Mainly because that was the flower that he'd given her for their first date, the one from the tradition of sorts that he had started, or followed, if you looked at it a certain way.
"Felt like it," she replied with a smile that he was sure hid plenty that was going unsaid. He almost wanted to ask, but he was a little distracted by how pretty she looked, smiling a warm smile and reaching up to tuck a lock of her blond hair behind her ear around the flower. He was biased, of course, but what did that matter?
"You're beautiful," he said, and he felt silly for being that direct and simple about it. However, he'd learned that it was enough to do that sometimes. It didn't all need to be big and meaningful gestures. That was something that was proven when Gabriel beamed at him. "So, what's special about today?" he asked as they continued on their way to meet her brothers. She always liked to take the scenic route there when they visited, for whatever reason.
Joshua guessed she liked to show off her home-slash-realm, and it was entirely fair. Heaven was magnificent, truly, and it was no chore at all to admire the place. Besides, it was more time with his partner and less time dealing with people he didn't know well, so that helped too. And he'd never complain about being with Gabriel, or Yasaka or Serafall, for that matter.
"I think I'd rather not spoil the surprise," the angel answered and he side-eyed her suspiciously. There was definitely something going on, but he couldn't quite figure it out. His one guess was that they were finally going to do something serious rather than test things, which was… Bold.
Joshua had completely understood the angels' desire to be completely safe on their approach to his capabilities to alter Heaven's System. There was a lot that they could fuck up and they wanted to work on it in a way that wouldn't go against what their father had wished for it to be. They just wanted to deal with some inconveniences left over by the war that had been going on when God died.
Maybe there was something that they wanted to get out of the way quicker than other things? Or something they were more sure about how to deal with. Or both. Joshua wasn't too sure, but he guessed he'd get an answer soon enough. It was just that he couldn't stop his curiosity from being annoying and trying to find an answer.
"I can see the gears turning," Gabriel commented, poking the side of his head and he sighed. "You really can't deal with not knowing things, can you?" she asked, sounding both amused and fond.
"I guess I got used to having all the information. It's what I've needed to get this far," he replied with a slight shrug and a half-helpless smile. "I should learn to deal with it when it's not a necessity, like right now… I think." Even though he said that, however, there was a part of Joshua that rebelled against the idea. Knowing things meant he was safe, after all, and not knowing things meant he was in danger.
That's how his mind had started to work.
Sometimes, he'd manage to deal with unknowns to some extent, but others… Others he couldn't stop his mind from overthinking things, worrying about every single bad thing that could come from an unknown. 'I really should do something about that,' he told himself, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath in. Then he opened them rather abruptly when he felt Gabriel taking his hand.
"You've had a lot to worry about so far and still have plenty," she told him and he gave a smile that might as well have been a grimace back to her. "It's completely understandable that your mind is used to not liking unknowns. They tend to make you nervous because you see them as potential problems for yourself and those you care about," she explained, as if reading his mind. Maybe she knew a thing or two about that kind of situation. She had lived through at least one major war.
'Actually, I should brush up on supernatural history, at least from the bible factions and the youkai…' he mused to himself before deciding to focus on the present. He always ended up feeling bad when he drifted off too much on one of his partners, especially when it was a one-on-one situation rather than in a group one.
"So, other than the mystery thing, anything else I should know?" he asked, doing his best to put all his attention on Gabriel. He was pretty sure she noticed, just like he was pretty sure he saw the corner of her lips pull up into a wider smile than the one she was already wearing.
"Not really, but I'm sure you'll have plenty to talk with Raphael," she told him and he almost sighed.
"No offense to him, but he's exhausting and he gives me headaches," he replied and she giggled. He wasn't even joking. That one particular Seraph was probably the one he liked the least, and that was saying something when Uriel was right there, always on the verge of hating his guts. However, Raphael was like Ajuka in the sense that they were too much like Joshua. Being in the same room with one of those and any kind of business talk was bound to give him a headache just with how many ideas they ended up bringing up.
Most of which weren't even useful.
"He shares the sentiment," Gabriel told him and he wasn't really surprised. Although, the Seraph certainly did a better job at acting like he was fine than Joshua and Ajuka did when they were met with that situation. Maybe that was an angel niceness thing. "Do you think we could go somewhere after this? Or did you have something to do?"
He had been planning to go conduct some research with Grendel again, sure, but how could he say no to Gabriel?
"Nothing at all," he said, knowing full well that the angel would see right through him. He did it anyway though, because why not? "Did you want to go somewhere in particular?" he asked, instead of addressing that.
"Not really. I just feel like monopolizing your time for a bit. Is that greedy?" she asked and he could hear the joke in her tone. As if she even could be greedy. Although… 'No, no flicker of her wings,' he noted to himself with some relief.
That kind of thing was still happening from time to time, and it worried him greatly. He was really hoping that once they got to easing up on the System's restrictions on angels, things would get better in that regard. And if worse came to worst, then he'd just be a greedy fuck and just change the System himself. That'd be bad, but it wouldn't be worse than the alternatives, at least in his opinion.
"Stop worrying about it. I'm fine," Gabriel told him, poking his side softly with her fingers. "We're going to make this easier on us now, and that'll help a lot, not only for me but for everyone."
"I know, I just wish we didn't have to walk on eggshells every time we're together," he told her, being brutally honest. He could lie or underplay it, but she'd read right through him, and there were things that he didn't want to lie about. There were things he didn't want to do that with, no matter how much she could see through things.
Maybe he was just very particular about that kind of thing though, Joshua was aware of that much.
"And I appreciate that," she said, pulling on the hand she was holding and bringing him closer to her as she hugged his arm. "Now, some other topic, Joshua," she said and he knew she was making fun of him. She knew, after all, that he was terrible at carrying a conversation by himself. Especially one that he didn't have predetermined topics to address for some reason or another.
"You're very mean for an angel," he pointed out and she just smiled wider, the meanie. "Well, I think we can take a break in Asia's garden when we're done here. What do you say? It's been a bit since I've seen it all and she's been doing a lot of things. And got Karin's help to do a bunch of others."
"Sounds like a plan," Gabriel said, visibly pleased with herself for whatever reason. Maybe getting his socially awkward ass to do anything even remotely social was a victory of some sort for her. If that was the case, Joshua didn't like the fact that he'd be put on the spot more. He couldn't even complain either, because he kind of loved the look on her face at that moment. "She does beautiful work."
"I know, right?" he replied with a smile of his own. "I'm thinking about getting her a bigger area to work with, and maybe some help. Because she's great with that," he added, and he wasn't even thinking about all the materials he'd get from a bigger garden, although that was a plus. Asia just had a gift with gardening, for one reason or another. And he thought it was a shame that it'd never popped up in the actual series… or so he thought, at least. He could have forgotten. "I wonder what she could do with more to work with… Although, I might have to make sure she doesn't try to work the entire thing by herself, because she might actually try."
"Sounds like her," Gabriel agreed and he nodded, happy to have that confirmed. People weren't his forte, so it was nice to have some help from time to time. "And I'm sure she'd love that," she added.
She didn't say anything after that, simply walking beside him in silence.
"You're being very mean, Gabriel," he said and she giggled.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied and he could see the smile on her face getting wider. Even he could put two and two together. He wasn't that socially obtuse. "So…"
"Did I do something to make you angry?" he asked, almost whining, and he wasn't even ashamed of that fact. To that, she giggled again, but at least she didn't keep the silence going, so that was a plus, he supposed.
"I'm just in a good mood, I guess," she commented and he smiled despite his growing awkwardness. "I love you."
"I love you too."
[}-o-{]
Eventually, however, they did make their way towards where the rest of the Seraphs were waiting and Joshua had the feeling that they really had been waiting. As in, Joshua and Gabriel had kept them waiting. He'd have felt sorry or even worried, but that was all on his partner and he was not taking the blame for that. He'd gotten there at the time Gabriel told him to and he'd followed along with her, so it was all completely on her if they were late.
Not that he expected any of the three angels would take that as a good excuse, but still.
He was innocent.
"Finally," Uriel grumbled and Joshua kind of lamented the loss of some points with him. Then again, he rather doubted the Seraph would ever like him, so it wasn't a terrible loss, he supposed. And if Gabriel was happy delaying and such, then he'd do what she wanted.
Was he whipped? Certainly.
He didn't think anyone would blame him for that, all things considered.
"Sorry," he said, not quite shrugging, but he considered it. "Got a little sidetracked," he explained and he heard Gabriel stifle a giggle from beside him. And if he noticed, the other three definitely did, which was probably the reason why Uriel's expression twitched. "So, what are we working on today?"
That seemed to be enough to set off Raphael and a moment later Michael. Gabriel and Uriel, like usual, settled off to one side of the table to just listen and chime in here and there. For the most part, the two of them didn't usually have much to add to the conversations, but they still were there. Joshua wasn't complaining about having Gabriel there, at all, but he could have done without the grumpy one, admittedly.
All the same, he focused on work and that helped him calm down, at least. It was a little awkward at times, for sure, but he was good at turning his brain into research-mode and that was something that the discussions very much allowed. Raphael being kind of similar-minded to him helped too, even if it was also exhausting in an entirely different way.
Unfortunately, the topic of the day was one that made things extra hard for Joshua. Because apparently they were discussing the Lust restrictions on the System and it was very awkward to do that with Gabriel's brothers. And he couldn't decide if the fact that Gabriel herself was in the room helped or not. Uriel was just the cherry on top of the awkward cake, honestly.
At least his partner was benevolent enough to help him out, getting him a cup of tea.
He was still very much looking forward to being done with it all. The only reason he didn't try to cut things short was that… Well, they would have to get through that eventually, and he had a vested interest in it being sooner rather than later. Gabriel falling during one of their dates would suck, after all, and he didn't like the idea of possibly making an enemy out of Heaven when he inevitably pulled on his control of the System to fix that.
"I think we can actually get some things tweaked today," Raphael said and Joshua narrowed his eyes. Because he could understand him being in a hurry, or even Gabriel. But Michael? Raphael? Uriel? Those made less sense, because he had it on good authority that they were very much single, and he rather doubted they wanted to rush for some one-night stands.
Then again, it was the DxD world that they were talking about, so…
"If you're sure…" Joshua replied tentatively, looking between all of the Seraphs and trying to see if he was missing something. It was Michael that seemed to decide to just explain things to him, a weary smile on his face.
"I think it's no secret that our faction is the smallest of the three, Joshua," was all he said, and that was very much an explanation, he supposed. He just… hadn't really thought about that much, considering the faction seemed fine. Then again, he guessed it was difficult for them not to look like that, considering they were… Well, Heaven, and angels and all that. They were probably contractually obligated to look all kinds of nice… as it were. "Our people have been under harsh restrictions for way too long, which hasn't helped. So, we're all rather eager to ease things at least a little," the leader of the faction explained further and he nodded slowly.
Now that he was looking further away than his own situation, Joshua could see a little more. Like what Michael wasn't saying. Because he was pretty sure the Seraph was implying that Lust might be the Sin – or one of the Sins, at least – that got the most angels to fall. If they could cut down on that, and maybe increase the chances of the numbers of their faction going up, then it was all wins for them.
That was… interesting to think about.
Still awkward though.
"Well… what do you want me to do?" he asked, because ultimately, he'd do whatever they wanted. He might have the power, but he'd rather not have the responsibility. If he could have made Michael an Administrator, he would have, in all honesty. He didn't know their faction as well as they did, not even close, and he was a human like any other. Joshua was no saint and he was very aware of that fact, so he'd rather not make decisions for a faction such as Heaven.
All Seraphs smiled at that, Gabriel wider than most while Uriel was still somewhat scowling somehow.
They got to work though, making small adjustments here and there that Joshua could barely understand. Much as he could read and comprehend the system, there was a lot that kind of went over his head still, because he just lacked the context and adjacent knowledge necessary. Another reason why he'd decided to just trust Raphael and Michael, really.
Surprisingly, it didn't take much time at all, but that was probably because the two angels had probably gotten most of the prep-work necessary out of the way before he even dropped by.
"I think that's enough," Michael commented, a pleased smile on his face. "It probably doesn't seem like much, but it's a huge step for us," he added, turning to look at Joshua fully. "Thank you, Joshua."
"Don't mention it," he replied with a smile of his own. "Happy to help," he added… before a hand grabbed his arm and all but pulled him to his feet.
"Now, if you'll excuse us, we had plans to visit a garden," Gabriel said, all beaming smiles… But Joshua didn't miss the way her brothers' expressions turned awkward… and a little scared.
He didn't even have time to ponder on that though, because was suddenly standing in the middle of Asia's garden.
He didn't get to look at it either though, because Gabriel's lips stole his whole attention immediately.
Suddenly, several things were making a lot of sense, he had to admit, not that he had a lot of presence of mind to notice until later.
[} Chapter End {]
Hey guys! How's it going?
Well…
That happened.
I'll be honest. I didn't expect Gabriel and Heaven and such to take up so much of the chapter. It was originally just going to be like… 1k words? Which is to say about a quarter of a chapter. Yet here we are, I guess.
Once more, my plans have been thrown out the window.
And it makes the first part kind of awkward, because it stands out as very different from the rest of the chapter… Oh well. Ophis parts always feel awkward anyway, at least to me. Guess it's fine… probably.
With that said, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.
As always, if you can't wait until next week for the next chapter, or if you just feel like supporting my writing, there's up to three new chapters in my Patreon (linked below).
Random Question: Do you use sweeteners with your drink of choice? I use sugar with my tea (sometimes honey if I've got a sore throat or something, but usually not even then), but I drink my coffee as is unless it's particularly bitter for whatever reason.Is that contradictory? I feel like it is