A Trip to the Mall
[I wrote this during s1! So it sorta has that energy, it's pre-ep6, but I figured I'd launch it out of drafts during the hiatus because it's cute lol]
If anybody had announced an angel visitation at the Emerald Square Mall on a random August day, the cameras and busy-bodies (if any showed) would have surely gazed up at the glass-paneled ceiling or waited expectantly in the parking lot. But they wouldâve missed the whole event. The angel sat in front of the Cool Kidz Fun Zone playground, next to the JC Penney, eating a whole cheese cup from Auntie Anneâs like a big fruit gusher.
Occasionally, children did point and stare and laugh, but it wasnât Ariel they were noticing. On either side of the angel, who wore a haphazard bundle of perfectly normal clothes, two young men were arguing pettily about nothing, and both wore loud suits despite their lack of class.
âI saw something scurrying around in there and you know it, whatâs wrong with Victoriaâs Secret?â This was Lev, who wore a sky blue suit, and looked a little bit like a balloon animal in its folds.
âYouâre kidding. You want to go in the bra store, and you want to make us come with you. Youâre always right after all, youâre especially right when you want to waste time at the boobie mart when we already know where it is!â Silas pointed at Lev with a half-eaten pretzel, scattering salt onto Arielâs lap.
âI liked that store,â Ariel said. âI donât see anything wrong with it!â
Lev rolled his eyes. âNow I donât wanna go in. Yâknow, I thought it might be nice to do something lower-stakes for once, but no, itâs still all about wasting time. Whose time are we wasting here? And maybe I did want to go in there Who could blame me?â
Silasâ nose wrinkled and he let out a light, yet somehow threatening, little laugh. âOkay, Lev. Whatever you say!â
At that moment, Ariel swallowed the remains of a napkin and sat up straight. If they had visible wings, they wouldâve jumped. âHey, look over there!â
A puffy, grey tumbleweedâvery hairy and rotundâscrambled up an escalator. Soon it was out of sight, gone onto the next ring of shops one storey above the ground floor. Damningly, the thing had a pink thong stuck in its fur, along with a lollipop and someoneâs keys.
âI told you!â Lev shouted, louder than he should have.Â
The kids in the play area stopped to look at him. âMom, whatâs wrong with that guy?â one of them asked.
Silas snorted, ignoring everything but the escalator. The sooner they could finish this dumb creature off, the sooner they could get back to meaningful endeavors, which may or may not involve necromancy. But that was Silasâ prerogative, and Lev didnât need to know.
âIâve got it,â Ariel called, leaping up the steps.Â
Several meters away, the grey ball bowled at top speed through an earring rack in front of Claire's. At the end of the walkway, it bounced off a kiosk like a pinball, obliterating a mannequin. With a set of pointy white teeth, the creature began to gnaw on the mannequinâs arm, looking like a bootleg Pacman.
Customers fled from the creature, some yelling for security. Ariel made a dash for it, but in an instant, the ball glanced up (or presumably glanced, since no eyes could be seen through its fur) and tore off into a Forever 21.
âDammit.â Lev sighed, a little out of breath. âWe gotta corner it.â While they would usually have guns, the mall security would be on their backs in no time; and seeing as the creature was mostly harmless, Lev wanted to catch it without hurting it.
âI wish we could murder it,â Silas said wistfully.
Ariel frowned, starting after the ball. âItâs just a little guy. I like little guys.â Ariel had, at first, also wanted to do violence to the ball. But if there was still any semblance of a celestial Plan for Ariel to follow, Levâs word was at the center of it, and ought to be followed. If Lev didnât want to see the beast harmed, it was out of the question.
In the Forever 21, they followed a vague trail of disarray across the sales floor. âWow Lev, some of this stuff would really fit you,â Silas said, his voice saccharine. He picked up a very bright tropical shirt with a deep collar. He used his powers of suggestion, reaching into Levâs mind and plantingâI dress like a homo.
âNo I donât!â Lev snapped, going pink. Ariel blinked, looking confused, before shrugging and pushing on. Silly Lev was always saying stuff like that.
Lev did not dress like a homo, or thatâs what he tried to convince himself. His look was carefully cultivated, it had a cultural resonance, it was fitting and masculine! Didnât everybody match their hat-band to their pocket square? His look had no bearing on whether he was a fruit. Silas had no idea what he was talking about.
But what if that thought had been his own and not Silasâ? It was getting harder to tell these days. For a small moment, Lev wished he could put his own thoughts into Silasâ head, just to give him a taste of how it felt. What could it be like in Silasâ mind⊠Lev could barely imagine, but he got distracted trying.
âI have an idea,â Ariel said quietly, picking up a big, thick woolen coat from the clearance rack. The ball had rolled into the changing area. Following along, the three of them crept into the row of stalls. A shadow stopped at the end, snuffling softly.
Silas and Lev shared a look, then glanced in the direction of the ball. Unfortunately, they did not actually grasp Arielâs idea before going into action, Lev trying to tackle the creature and putting his head through a bit of drywall, Silas nearly grabbing it but getting flattened in its wake.
Still, when the ball attempted to escape, Ariel leapt onto it with the coat, quickly zipping it up and creating a lumpy sack. The ball, knowing when it had been caught, went sadly limp.
Lev pulled his head out of the wall, dusting off his hat. âNice,â he said after a moment. âNow how the fuck are we gonna get it out of here?â
0 notes