The Ultimate Rehab

Place: Raymond street nr. 6
Date and time: 05/10/2021, 9PM
Weather: Drizzle
Attire: Ripped black jeans, a grey sweater and greycheckered scarf. Black boots and coat.

Dedicated to: @Max

Now, Max was very familiar with getting a new person to be a guardian angel for. It had mostly always gotten humans, or species that didn’t have the inborn ability to live without dying of old age. There had been a lot of souls he had cared for and brought to heaven when their rightful time had come. It took a toll on a person saying goodbye to people, having been such a big part of their lives. So, when he had found out that he this time would be a guardian angel for another angel, he had thought this would be his time to finally settle down and just focus on one person for the rest of his life. But as he had read up on his case, it was clear that this was more like a punishment than anything else. Then there was the whole thing about how her former guardian angel had been killed, he had never tried it before, jumping into another person’s life when they had already lived so many years. And this one clearly had some horrible years she was still dealing with.

Crying.

Max shook her head, he looked down at the papers in his hands. A small sigh left him, as he got up from his seat and closed his eyes. Letting the ability to teleport towards her current location. The normal glint of light clearly got her disoriented, and as he saw how the situation was unfolding rather quickly went into action and got to her locations in a second. Grabbing her arm just before her arms or head would take the fall that he had just caused. “Hey, sorry” he said with a warm voice, as he got her up standing. “You okay?” he let his eyes glide over her body, making sure she hadn’t hit herself anywhere before he walked over to the bike and pulled it up standing before returning his attention towards her. He gave her a slight pulled back smile, trying very hard not to put his feelings about what he already knew about her into what he saw right now. At least it seemed like she was trying, and crying was a better emotion that everything else she had been doing the last couple of months.

Things were going extremely fast, and before Tien knew of it, someone had grabbed her arm, trying to make sure she wouldn’t get hurt. The bike on the other hand slid away from her. A voice apologized, and she turned her head, making her hair fly in the motion. The person looked friendly – but who didn’t look friendly. She sank a lump in her throat as he asked if she was okay. She pulled her arm away from him, licking her lips shortly. “Yeah, I’m fine,” It wasn’t a complete lie because she hadn’t taken any physical damage of what she knew of. But her mind was a mess, and it was visible on her cheeks and eyes. She dried one of her cheeks. She wasn’t that used to cry in front of other, and mostly did it when she was alone. Only her mother and Sebastian had seen her cry in the process of healing.
He went over and grabbed her bike, and it was first here she started to look at her arms, hands, down her legs and feet. She might have made a small sprain in her ankle, but it was nothing out of the usual. She could almost sense that he looked at her, so she directed her gaze towards him, noticing how he smiled a bit. She reached her hands forwards and approached him with the goal of taking the bike from him. “Thanks,” she mumbled slightly hoarse. She looked him up and down shortly, trying to figure out if she knew him or somehow recognized him. She didn’t. “Can I help you or something?” she wondered, repositioning her bike a bit so she could head home and inside soon. After all, she couldn’t feel any auras or alike. He was just himself, with a good moral compass.

He couldn’t really hold back a small, short chuckle as she told him that she was fine. Well, at least it didn’t seem like she was as badly hurt as she could have been. Would have been nice to be a pureblood angel, then he could tend to that ancle of hers. Being a nurse, it was almost a work hazard not to notice those things right away.

A slight sigh left him, as she asked if she could help him or anything. He could just tell her, but it seemed rather in your face explaining to someone that couldn’t feel it by her heart or the aura. Whatever you wanted to call the thing that connected the two souls together. That she was standing in front of her guardian angel. “No, but it looks like you could use some help, can I follow you home?” he asked with a soft smile looking down the road that the bike was now directed. “Just to make sure that you’re not going to crash again, and this time hurt something more than your ancle” he put his hands into his pockets and watched how she would react to his proposal. “My name is Max” he introduced himself to her making him seem a little less threatening, hopefully. “And don’t worry I’m not some crazy stalker guy” his lips lifted in a half smile and titled his head a little.

He thought it was funny apparently that she said she was fine. Maybe he had noticed her ankle, but no matter what, it didn’t really matter since she just needed the normal healing time, being unable to be healed magically. Oh, the curse of being Tien – or rather, one of the many curses.

She apparently looked like someone who could use some help. She raised her brows a little and looked down at herself, not really thinking about how her face looked from crying. She licked her lips, thinking she looked just fine. She looked up at him as he tried to explain why she needed help. She looked towards her bike and then to her ankle as he mentioned them, sinking a small lump in her throat, and looked up at him as he presented himself. “Tien,” she responded with a little more energy than before, even though she didn’t feel like it. She frowned but pulled on a smile as he said he wasn’t some crazy stalker guy. She chuckled shortly before she started to walk the short distance towards her home. “Yeah, because now you got me convinced” she allowed herself to tease him. “Come on then,” she exhaled giving a short nod in the direction of where she lived.
She tightened the grip a bit around the handles of her bike. “So, you can teleport or something? Why here?” she wondered trying escape an awkward silence.

He was very close to tell her that he knew. But that would just come off as more creepy than necessary. A soft laugh left him, as she told him that he had her convinced about him not being a stalker. Well, maybe it hadn’t been the best choice of words. A small nod told her that he would follow. With his hands in his pocket, he lifted his gaze towards the dark sky, because of the drizzle there wasn’t really any way to see the stars. Which was a shame really, nothing was better than letting one’s sorrow be swept away with just how big the universe was.

He let his eyes fall back to her, as she asked if he could teleport or something. And why had chosen to teleport here. “Yes, one of my many perks” he said with a smile and let his eyes glide in front of him. “I’m guessing you know about guardian angels?” he asked, giving she had been one of the children that had actually been in church every Sunday with their father. He would be very surprised if she didn’t. The question was just, how much she knew about being appointed one, and what it meant.

One of his many perks. God, she wished she had perks. Some would discuss that she had perks, but she never really saw anything she could do as perks anymore. He asked her about guardian angels and she glanced towards him, but only with her eyes. She frowned a little. “Yeah,” she said trying by herself to figure out where he wanted to go with this. To some extend, she was certain that most people had one. But she herself? Well, either hers had been sleeping in the lesson of what a guardian angel was supposed to do or hers hadn’t found her yet. There was many possibilities

She stopped promptly as a thought hit her and she looked towards him. “No…” she tilted her head a bit to the right, “Don’t tell me…” she sighed almost giving up. “You’re not here for me, are you?” she looked at him, almost feeling pity for him. She was such a task by now. Even though Sebastian hadn’t told her, she knew that was the reason. There was too much work.

“Ding” Max let out a small sound and clicked his tongue as she asked if he was here for her. It was almost insulted by how he had said it. “Well to be fair, I’m very new to the job, sadly there has been a lot of demon attacks on heavens gates, and the guardian angel that was assigned to you at the first place, didn’t make it, so now you are kind of stuck with me” he scrunched his nose as he looked at her, stopping up as he could almost feel what she was thinking. Trying really hard not to role his eyes he let out a breath.

“Now, stop that” he said and pulled his hands out his pockets and threw his hands out and let them fall down the sides of his body. “I’m very aware of the troubles that you have been going through, but no one is that far out that they can’t be helped or saved, especially since you have already done a whole lot to get yourself at a better place” his eyes didn’t leave hers as a soft smile formed on his lips “Now come, not walking won’t get us closer to your home, and I’m sure there is people that is questioning where you are” he started moving again in the direction that was her home.

She closed her eyes and licked her lips as he made a sound which made it very clear that he was her guardian angel. Poor Max. She opened her eyes again, looking at him as he mentioned how her guardian angel had died in fight against demons and how he had been assigned to her recently. She nodded a bit, trying to process it. Someone was assigned to help her through her life. Perfect, just perfect.

She widened her eyes, frowning as he told her to stop. She could almost feel how her heart skipped a beat. It wasn’t like he was confusing her or anything, she was just confused about how he could work with her when she had the ‘gift’ she had. He started to explain how he was aware of what she had been through and that no one was too much of a task to not be saved. She bit down onto her lip. He knew. She had done a whole lot. She looked away shortly sinking a lump in her throat. God. Did he know everything? She started to think about the things that she kept for herself. The things she hadn’t told Zadkiel and the things that Sebastian never seemed to have gotten a chance to guess. It was like a big stone in her tummy, which pressed on most of her organs. He told her to come and it was like she was thrown back to reality and not think too much about the past. She picked up speed and caught up to him. She had many questions flouring around in her mind, but at the same time she didn’t feel all of them were appropriate for now. “So, eh,” she hesitate for a moment, “Are you going to be hanging around or,” she blinked a little Bella-Swan like, “Am I going to pray to you in a specific way or something?” she wondered. The question leaned against how things worked with her ability.

She had some valid question, which he understood. He breathed out, relieved that she wasn’t running away or denying that he was her guardian angel. He had been prepared that she could have reacted in couple of ways. This was preferable.

“Well, luckily for us, our link is slightly different, meaning that your ability isn’t going to interfere with how I can help you” he started with explaining as they started to walk towards the house again. “What it allows me, is knowing how you are feeling, when you are upset, in danger, happy and so on – but I can also see where you are and being able to teleport near you as perks of being your own personal guardian angel” he looked up once again, feeling the rain catch his face. For a second, he dared to close his eyes while walking.

“You can also pray to me, just like you do when you need your mother, but the thing is I will always be there, whether you want it or not, I will always know what you are feeling and when you need help, also meaning I can be there for you through it all – motivating you to get through life in the best way possible” he gave her a slight smile “But if you rather live your life with as minimum interference, I will be there when you are in serious danger, protecting you from any harm” he gave her a soft smile as he turned his gaze towards him “it’s really up to you, just, not the fact that you will have me looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life”

Their link was slightly different, and her ability wasn’t going to interfere. It almost felt like an elephant stood on top of her chest. It must be the same feeling that people who didn’t know about the supernaturals felt. She was so used to no magic could touch her, but now… Now how she was feeling and teleport near her. She licked her lips a little. This was slightly overwhelming and her million thoughts simply spiraled around in her mind.

She looked towards him as he mentioned how she prayed for her mother when she felt the most hopeless. He knew about that. Did he really know everything? He would be there for her through it all. She sensed that he gave her a smile and she shortly looked towards him. This was so weird. She continued to bite her lips a bit. He mentioned how he could also only appear when she was in serious danger. It was almost like it gave her heart a bit of space to beat properly. She had been so sad a moment ago with her mind filled with sad thoughts and now she was trying to organize everything in her mind to make space for this new intruder who was going to be a part of her life, whether she wished for it or not. It was overwhelming and it made her realize just how much of a mess her mind was. But of course, her mind also reflected her room, and her room looked like something taken out of a collector’s series. Filled with junk.
It’s up to you. Looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life. It ran like cold water down her back. She felt like it gave her restrictions, even though he hadn’t said it. She felt like if she wanted a life without him interfering, she had to do better and somehow not get in trouble. It was what she wished for, but having it as a constant reminder that someone was watching you and making sure you didn’t get hurt or something like that felt like pressure to both of them. She wasn’t even going to be able to have a moment alone anymore. She licked her lips and sighed. “Thanks. It’s just what I needed,” she exhaled. She wanted to do like he had done a moment ago, and close her eyes, but she chose not to when she was walking with her bike. She wouldn’t want to trip over herself and give him more work than needed. “What was your name again?” she wondered glancing over to him. God, this was going to be one hell of a ride if she had already forgotten his name. She glanced towards the house she lived at with her younger siblings. It wasn’t far away.

Maximillian. Okay, she got it. Yes. And of course, he remembered her name. He had to, right? She gave a short humming sound ready to listen to whatever he wanted to preach about and looked towards him as he faced her. She took a bigger breath in and nodded. Understanding bond. He elaborated and she let a chuckle leave her shortly. “Good,” she exhaled, “Because as you probably know, I do a lot of stupid shit- or I did,” she frowned a little. She still did some stupid shit but certainly not on the same level. She took a bigger breath in again looking in the opposite direction of Max. It was simply her paranoid self which wished to check if there was someone nearby to follow her inside or alike. She looked down at her bike next to her. “I just don’t want you to get any grey hairs just by looking at me,” she said and rolled the bike a little back and forth before she let it rest against an untrimmed bush, falling into it like if the bike didn’t matter to her. She looked back at him and folded her arms in front of herself. Her cheeks and eyes were less red now compared to when they had just met, but it was still visible to everyone that she had been crying. “I guess I'll see you-” She looked down at her arm as if there was a watch there, “Within twenty-four hours?” she joked, but also warning him that she was good at getting in trouble, though she hoped she wouldn’t be getting in danger just so soon. Almost falling on your bike was more than enough.

Get any grey hair from looking out for her, or as she phrased it, looking at her. “I’ve been here since before the first crusades, I’ve helped cases worse than yours, so don’t you worry” he gave her a kind smile, really meaning it when he said. Of course, he hoped this wouldn’t become something that would be her entire life. Because then, yes, he might just have grey hair, and not just a couple.

He kept looking at her as she told him that she would be seeing him in twenty-four hours. “If you want” he said with a soft smile, of course he understood that it had meant as a joke of her being very clumsy. He looked behind her as he saw that there was still light in the house. So, people where home, maybe it was best just to let her go for now. To process all that has happened. “I can also stay for tea, if you want to get to know one another?” he questioned closing one eye, giving her a charming smile. He then nodded towards the window where a young boy was looking out. Quickly ducked as he saw that Max had seen him. “It seems like your brother is quite eager to see that you are home alright” he licked his teeth and nodded a little for himself. Going back to the idea that it might be the best to just let her be for herself tonight. He could come back when she needed it. Not saying she didn’t need help or comfort now. But he wasn’t there were he could give it to her, and she could accept it. It took time, and it took understanding on another level. Something he wasn’t going to force.

He told her he had helped worse cases than hers. What a relief, huh. She pulled on a little smile, not really knowing what she should think about the fact that he might’ve dealt with people who was worse than her. They way he agreed that they could see each other within twenty-four hours made it impossible for her not to pull a little smile, even though she didn’t really wish to smile. Fucking hell.
She opened her mouth to reject the invitation to getting inside, because something about the way he smiled hit her, was something she didn’t know how to handle right now. She wanted to form words when Max nodded towards the window where Tien let her eyes follow. She just noticed how the dark hair disappeared. Kemuel was watching her too. She exhaled and closed her eyes, turning her head down, pointing at her feet. “Yeah, I-” she looked up at Max, “I probably have to explain a lot now,” she exhaled and licked her lips a bit before she took a step towards her front door. She looked over her shoulder. “Let’s hope we won’t see each other again,” she said pulling a sad smile, not really wishing to burden him. If he could live without the chores of taking care of Tien, things would be great. She turned her gaze back at her front door as she continued towards it. Her hand hovered over the door handle for a moment before she turned around. “Hey Max?” she said letting her hand rest on the doorhandle. “Don’t smile at me like that,” she told him before she turned to open the door and close it behind her, breathing out. She only had a moment before she probably would be questioned about who this new guy was.

It felt like it was a triumph as he saw a smile form on her lips. Knowing at that moment that she wasn’t finding it as nice as he did. Not that he was going to let it put a damper on his feeling of success. “Well, that is a possibility, luckily for you, you don’t have to lie about this” he took a deep breath in as she walked towards the door, waiting for her to lock herself in before leaving. He was looking down at his feet, as her voice brough his gaze back towards her. Don’t smile at me like that. To might sound cruel. But to him it only brought a giant genuine smile on his lips. “Oh, what? Did I crumble your dying soul, not wanting to feel love anymore?” he winked at her as she stepped inside. “Have a nice night Tien!” he shouted before he teleported away and back to his apartment.

Kemuel wasn’t fast enough to move and got as the door opened it hit his head. “Shit, that hurt” he mumbled letting his hand find his head as he rose up in his full height. A smile formed on his lips, clearly showing that he knew he had been caught. “Sorry, I just heard voices, and wanted to see who it was” he mumbled rubbing his head a little more before putting his hands into his jeans’ pockets. “So, who was that?” he asked, looking towards the spot where the guy had been standing. Now gone. Weird. He turned his attention towards his sister instead giving her a curious look. “I got something for you, by the way” he declared and rolled on his feet while he waited for her to take off her coat.

She didn’t have to lie about it. Well, that wasn’t something for him to decide. She was quite unsure what her family would think about her having a guardian angel. One who only just got her assigned, because her other guardian angel had died in battle or something like that No, this seemed like a stupid think to talk about with her family, and she was quite sure that she wouldn’t be telling the whole truth. She saw how Max’s smile seemed to grow even wider as she told him not to smile at her. She tried to contain herself because his smile was contagious. She even noticed how he winked at her. It was quite annoying that Max could feel what she was feeling, because she was used to let her feelings flow around in her body and conceal it with her expressions. She did everything she could to suppress the god damn feeling that this was going to be good. She had given up on good things like that. She just wanted her family and nothing else. That was all she needed, or at least, that was what she believed. She didn’t respond to him as he told her to have a nice night. She almost felt flustered.

She cursed herself in her mind, and even more as she heard Kemuel and jumped a bit away from him. She locked the door. “Kemuel, for God’s sake. Are you alright?” she asked, approached and let her eyes shift between his eyes and where he held his hands. She exhaled a bit as he explained why he had been standing by the door. Of course, he wanted to know who it was. She would’ve reacted the same way. She crossed her arms as he asked who it was and pouted her lips a bit, narrowing her eyes. She took a step away towards the hanger for her jacket and with a simple technique got her jacket off and hung it on the hanger. “Well, I almost ran into him with my bike on my way home,” she explained. Kemuel knew she had been to rehab because she had told him that she left the house before she even went anywhere. “So he followed me home to be sure I didn’t run down anyone else,” she explained, even though it wasn’t the whole truth. She frowned a little as he said he had something for her. “For me?” she said and turned towards him while she took off her boots.

“Yeah” the word being slightly dragged along the vowels, his hand still holding onto the spot where the door had hit his head. “I’m fine, just a bruise on my self-esteem nothing more” he gave a small awkward smile, but as she explained who the guy was, he had to hold back a laugh. Seriously, if there was anyone in the family unlucky enough to run a person over with their bike, it would be Tien. “Well, what a upstanding citizen, making the streets of Aston safe from you on your bike” he teased waiting for her to take of her jacket and then her boots. “yep” he confirmed as she asked if he had something for her. Now it wasn’t something big or anything alike, but he knew that things had been rather uncomfortable between them after he had come back home. Now he knew both of them had be equally bad at keeping themselves in check when it came to their temper when being pushed. “Its in my room" he rolled a little on the ball of his foot before he walked upstairs to his room.

He walked over to his desk where he found the painting that he had been working on for a couple of days. Even with his ability he still liked to use a certain amount of time to actually finish a piece. “Well, I just, its not really anything big, but I thought it might be the start of a bridge to mend what was broken between us” he said with a low voice not actually looking at her as he pushed the drawing he had made for her.

Even though her little brother told her that he was alright, he was quite sure that he was still sore from the hit, and it saddened her that she had accidentally hurt him, but his awkward remark made her smile and giggle a little of him. “It’ll heal,” she said confidentally and cheer.
But the laugh was soon dimmered a bit as he complimented Max’s act keeping the streets safe from her on her bike, “Hey!” she laughed poking him teasingly on the shoulder. She gave him a slight nod as he said it was in his room and followed him as he headed upstairs.

Even though what he had for her was inside his room, she didn’t dare to go to far inside, and simply stood three steps away from the door with her hands on her back. She had just had an emotional flip, and wouldn’t want another to come down if she did something wrong, like stepping on something she hadn’t noticed. As he started to talk about something she didn’t really know what was, she felt like she needed to get deeper into the jungle of Kemuel’s room, and she dared to step forward until she could see what he pushed towards her. Her jaw dropped as she could see the drawing completely and a heart warm feeling spread in her chest. “Jesus, Kemuel…” she said and leaned a little closer to look at details. “It’s… It’s so artistc and bea-” she stopped herself and looked up at him, “Not anything big? Kemuel, stop,” she laughed and nudged his shoulder a little, “It’s fucking grand!” she said and looked back at the drawing once before she looked back up at him. She didn’t want to accidentally ruin the paper and therefore didn’t pick it up but threw her arms around the neck of her brother. “I love it and I love you. Don’t ever let anyone convince you otherwise,” she mumbled, standing on her toes. She loosened the grip she had around him, “I think I would need a frame for it,” she said and glanced down at it once.

It was a soft yet shy smile that shadowed his lips as she looked at the painting that he had made for her. What he hadn’t expected was how she reacted towards it. His eyes widened a little nudged his shoulder and then exclaimed that it was grand. Or fucking grand as she put it, he felt a little uncomfortable with the swearing, but didn’t say anything to it, as he didn’t want to ruin the mood that was not reacted which was much nicer than when they had been screaming at each other or just out right ignored the other existing as that had been easier. When Tien hadn’t asked if she could sleep beside him, which hadn’t gone over all that well as she had quickly walked out. He bended down as her arms flew around his neck to pull him into a hug. A little awkward he hugged her back and a soft chuckle left him as she told him that she loved him. “I love you to sis” he mumbled, before letting her go again. His fingers glided over the back of his neck and a soft nod escaped him. “I might have one around here” he pushed hos brows together and looked around before he poked his head under his bed and fished one out with a wide black frame. “you can use this until you find something that fits your style, should be big enough for the picture” he said handing it to her.

The relationship between the two wasn’t all that good. It was awkward and nothing really worked like it should. But moments like this was something Tien appreciated. Even though Tien wasn’t the biggest fan of receiving gifts, there was just something so truly magical about things that people had made all by themselves. They had put thought into the gift, and they had taken their time into it. A meaningful gift meant a lot.
The words were sent back to her. I love you too sis. It warmed her always aching heart. Even though she couldn’t read body language like a professional, she could see how thought went through his head. She didn’t know what kind of thoughts that went through, but she let it pass as he explained that he might have a frame somewhere. She folded her arms around herself as Kemuel looked for a frame. She studied his figure a little more. Yes he had been home for months, but when things had been a little too rough she had chosen just to priotize herself and focus on getting herself just somewhat better. The detail was that it didn’t always go that well. But now, when she stood here in her little brothers room, she felt like it was the first time in forever that she had seen him again. So tall. Slim. She took everything in and for a moment she felt like her throat tightened, making it more difficult to breath.

A wide black frame was pulled out from underneath his bed and she was pulled back to reality. Frame, yes. She took the painting he had made and put it on top of the glass of the frame before she picked up the frame. “I really appreciate it,” she mumbled while looking at the painting again. She wanted to put it into the frame when she was in her own room, so she could do it in her own pace. She looked up at him and pulled a little smile, “Thank you,” the mouth left her lips and made her eyes blink a little. She savored the moment for a second, before she felt like it was getting too awkward. Her eyes ended on the painting and she shrugged a bit, “I’ll put this in my room,” she said and started to turn towards the door so she could leave.

Kemuel nodded as Tien thanked him, “Yeah don’t mentioned it” he mumbled, as his hand found the back of his neck, not really knowing how to express the feelings that was going through his body and mind. Mostly because it had been hard coming back, finding out what had been going on after his mother had died. That Laila wasn’t there, and it seemed like Zadkiel was just breaking apart not being able to keep the façade up any longer.

“Do that” he said with a soft smile and let his hand fall from his neck down the side of his bother. His hazel eyes watched her as she turned around so she could leave. “You do know that you’re enough just the way you are? Even though you piss me off sometimes, that doesn’t mean that I want you to chance, just that you find happiness” he said giving her a little wider smile he then walked towards her “now please get out of my room, because this is too much sibling love for my teste” he laughed and pushed her out, he winked at her before he closed the door after she had left. A small sigh left him, as he walked over to his desk and sat down. Not really knowing what to do, he sat down and started drawing all over.

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Kemuel told her to put it in her room which she nodded to. She was on her way out of the room when she suddenly heard his voice again. While he spoke, she turned a little around towards him, still keeping her eyes on the painting he had made for her. She looked up at him as he mentioned that he wanted her to find happiness. “Thanks,  camel,” she responded, giving him a light smile. She laughed a little as he told her to get out of his room. “Okay, okay! Goodnight,” she chuckled and walked towards her room so she could get dressed for another night of no sleep.

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Out