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bluejay-writes · 2 months

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Heaven is a Misnomer - Chapter 10

Fandom: Shall We Date?: Obey Me! Rating: Teen Chapter 10 Wordcount: 3074 Characters/Relationships: Jake (Exchange student OC) / Raphael Summary: Jake learns some things about Raphael, and invites him to movie night at Azrael's.

Author Note: I am strongly considering discontinuing the full-text chapters on Tumblr. (Yes, because of the AI garbage.) If you're actually reading it here and not on AO3, send me an ask or reblog with commentary or leave a message somehow about it, k?

You can also read this on AO3, if that's your jam!

First Chapter || Prev Chapter || Next Chapter > (Next Tuesday!)

Chapter 10: I did it for you.

When Jake and Bunny got to the gym, someone was busily pedaling a stationary bike in the machine room. Jake was curious, but he didn’t automatically feel terrified, so it wasn’t Michael, and he decided to leave whoever it was to their workouts. Besides, if it was Fen or Gabriel, they might get spooked by Jake and Bunny barging in where they were working out, and the last thing Jake wanted was to spook someone out of taking care of themselves.

He’d shed the hoodie before they left, knowing that he’d be way too warm in it. The Celestial Realm’s ‘perfect 75 degree weather’ was actually a touch warm for jogging outdoors, given that he came from a cold weather climate. So there he was, in his demon-approved workout wear, stretching carefully before doing lunges with Bunny. It was leg day, after all.

That was the perfect time for the person on the bike to decide they were warmed up enough to come lift. Bunny glanced up and smiled at whoever it was who came in. Jake could hear them racking a few weights onto a bar, but decided not to be nosy, and just finished out his stretching routine. His politeness and commitment to privacy meant that he had no idea who was behind him when Bunny suggested they start with some lateral lunges - for stability, she said. That made sense to Jake, and it’s the same thing they started with last week.

Halfway through the set, Bunny’s phone starts ringing, and she grumbles, but moves smoothly from her lunge over to the shelf she’d set her phone on. While this is happening, a sharp gasp rings out from behind them, and the heart-stopping sound of a barbell hitting the floor and bouncing just that little bit causes Jake to turn around mid lunge in a panic, half to his feet when he realizes the person behind him lifting was none other than Raphael.

In what felt like a fraction of a second, Jake was in front of Raphael, checking him over top to bottom and then carefully looking at his hands to make sure that he’s okay, muttering quietly the entire time, mostly to himself except that he’s admonishing Raphael while he does it.

“You really should have someone spotting for you when you’re lifting like this, Raph. What if no one was here and you hurt yourself with that drop? You lift as much as Bunny does, with this body of yours, you can’t let it get hurt just because you’re a compulsive loner!”

Raphael caught both of Jake’s fluttering concerned hands in his own, and Jake froze and looked up at him, eyes wide. Why was this damned angel so tall, anyway? Like, Jake was tall to start with but Raphael made him feel short. Sure, it was only like two inches, but that was plenty when they were this close.

“I’m fine.” was all he said, and Jake realized what he’d been doing and how close he was to the discipline angel, pulling his hands away and backing up a few steps to give Raphael some space. Oh. Oh no, I even nicknamed him. Angels don’t like that. Go ahead, dig yourself deeper, Jakey.

Before either of them could say anything else, Bunny walked between them.

“Aya needs my help with something, so I am going to go check up on her. Jake, I’ll just do squats later, you should spot for this idiot before he hurts himself.” The gruffness of her tone did not match her usual chipper nature, and both Jake and Raphael turned concerned looks on her as she left the gym.

“Well.” Jake said into the silence that reigned after her departure. “That just happened.”

“It did.” Raphael said, and Jake realized his cheeks were slightly pink. “She’s not wrong. And neither were you. I should have had someone spotting for me. I know better, I just…” He trailed off, and Jake wondered what he was thinking that would make him lift like that without help.

“Listen.” Jake said quietly, as if a normal volume might change the situation too much. “I can’t spot you for what you’re lifting, I’m not strong enough. But I spot Bunny for 200s, if that’s okay? Smaller weight, more reps?”

“Yeah.” Raphael said, matching his volume. “I could do that.” After a moment, he took the extra plates off of his bar, carefully checking them for damage before racking them.

“Actually, if you’re spotting, can we do bench?”

“So.” Raphael said, once they were settled into a routine. “I didn’t take you for a lifter.”

“I’m not.” Jake said, plainly. “Bunny asked me to spot for her right after the program started, and she’s been training me ever since I agreed the once. It’s actually been good for my anxiety. I feel safer, for whatever reason.”

“You can fight back, if you’re stronger.” Raphael said, and Jake sensed that he was saying it with understanding, not just theory. Moments later, he confirmed that with what he said next. “I used to be really afraid of almost everything. Then I started training, and it got better, knowing if I needed to, I was strong enough, fast enough. That I could protect myself. Now, it’s just habit.”

“But you’re the angel of discipline.” Jake said, confused. “Aren’t you like, the strongest?”

Raphael laughed, a mocking bark of a laugh that Jake wasn’t expecting. “That’s my title. Mostly, I like to rain spears down on people. It’s fun, and I’m more than a little bit deadly with one. But I’m not the strongest by far. I’m just Michael’s attack dog. The one he sends out if he needs something… handled.”

Jake shivered. He understood that laugh a bit, now. But it made him a little more uncomfortable with Raphael living next door.

“So you moved in next to me in case I needed that extra bit of discipline.” He said, eyes firmly on the bar, and not meeting Raphael’s.

“No.” Raphael said, racking the bar and sitting up so he could meet Jake’s eye. “That’s not it at all. I asked Michael to let me handle the exchange program because I was worried about you.”

“Me?”

Raphael looked away for a moment, his cheeks darkening just slightly, before meeting his eyes again. Jake didn’t know how to take that at all.

“You, especially. But everyone else, as well. Michael has… a temper. A need to control. And you were pushing his buttons constantly. And as a normal human, he can’t force a covenant to make you toe the line.”

“Azrael said something similar.” Jake said, nodding.

“I knew, if I offered to handle it, he’d relax. So… I’m handling it. Which mostly means just being around in case anyone needs anything. The most it is for me is a smaller room for a year. I can cope.”

Jake chuckled. “Well, if you ever need more space to relax or work on classwork, I have way more space than I need, just knock.”

“Jake, thank you.” Raphael said softly, as they got back to the hallway that led to their rooms. “I really appreciate you being willing to spot me.”

“Anytime, Raphael. Seriously, I actually enjoy spotting for you strong folks. It inspires me.”

They parted ways, and Jake took himself through the shower, spending far too long thinking about a certain ash-blonde angel.

Jake was bouncing around his room, gathering things he’d need for the movie night they’d planned. It was the sort of low-key fun that he and Nia always had, and he was pleased to have made a few good friends here in the Celestial Realm so that they could spend one of their rare off-nights doing this.

“Jake?” Raphael’s voice called from his doorway, and he turned to see the angel, leaning casually on the doorframe.

“Hey Raph.” Jake said, and winced as he saw the light pink appear on Raphael’s cheeks. “Sorry. Raphael. What can I do for you?”

“Well.” He said quietly. “You don’t have to stop calling me that. Just… I won’t be able to respond to it in front of Michael, okay?”

“Really?” Jake grinned, his entire face lighting up. “Thank you.” He couldn’t really explain just how much that meant to him, but he hoped that Raphael understood. Either way… that was two angels who accepted his nicknames. Out of three angels he’d reasonably call his friends, that felt monumental.

“Yes, really. Also, I… got this for you.” Raphael was holding a hoodie that did the same gradient from blue to gold that the undersides of his usual angel attire did. “I’ve only worn it a few times, but I thought you might enjoy having a hoodie that didn’t require you to make sweater paws just to function.”

Jake could tell that his cheeks were red, because they felt like they were on fire. So did his ears. He walked over and took the hoodie from Raphael, immediately exchanging it for the oversized purple monstrosity he’d gotten from Bunny. It was impossibly soft, and while still a little bit large for him, it was in the “this is my boyfriend’s” way, and not in the “I stole this from a giant” way. Aaaaand Jake had probably better not think of it in the stealing clothes from his boyfriend way either. Friend, though… friend was good.

“Thank you.” he said, eyes shining as he looked up at Raphael after half-zipping the hoodie. “It’s incredibly soft.” He paused a moment, and then followed his heart. “You wouldn’t want to come to movie night in Azrael’s room tonight, would you?” Jake was still rather surprised that she even left her room for classes. Suddenly, Jake wondered when she did her angel of death bit, if she was always in her room. Well. He could ask her later.

“Am I invited?” Raphael said, looking a little bit stunned, which given his propensity for non-expression meant that he was very stunned.

“Of course! Movie night was my idea, so it’s my party. We’re just having it at Azrael’s room because she’s a hermit who doesn’t like to leave her room unless someone insists that she must.”

“Fair.” He said, his expression once more neutral. “I’d be happy to come along.”

Jake was excited to get to spend more time with his new friends. It was ostensibly movie night but he had a feeling they’d probably end up playing a game or something that allowed them to chat more, once the movie was over. Hopefully bringing Raphael along wouldn’t be a problem, but he’d smooth it over if it was. They all seemed like they’d get along just fine if Michael weren’t involved, anyway.

Jake swanned into Azrael’s room like he owned the place, Raphael trailing after him a bit like a lost puppy. Bunny and Aya were already there with Azrael and Feniel. There was one spot left on the couch for Jake, they clearly hadn’t been expecting him to bring along a wayward Angel of Discipline.

“Hey, fam! I invited Raphael to join me!” he said, plopping down next to Feniel. Aya and Azrael were in the lounge chairs, with Bunny holding down the floor next to Aya’s chair, since she took up the whole couch by herself if she sat there, and she was perfectly happy with a pillow and the floor.

Raphael took one look at the way the room was arrayed, and settled himself on the floor in front of Jake, leaning against his legs. Jake knew he was blushing, but luckily Raphael was looking the other way, so he would never know.

Azrael was the first to recover, and she just laughed. “Trust the wayward Human to bring their own plus one. It’s fine though, Shiny turned us down, she’s working on a paper tonight that she failed to work on for the last three weeks. Her loss, we’re watching Howl’s Moving Castle tonight.”

Jake grinned. This was one of Nia’s favorites, he’d have to message her about it. He pulled out his phone, and once he’d messaged her, his phone beeped with three incoming messages.

“Oh, better put that on silent.” He said, somewhat breathily at the messages in front of him.

Aya > Jake: Nice new threads - steal them from your boyfriend?

Feniel > Jake: Raphael? Really? How’d you tear him away from his Michael worship?

Raphael > Jake: Please do tell me if I am being too familiar. I wanted to follow Yboun’dih’s lead in sitting on the floor, and I thought you’d be most comfortable with me in your space, when compared to Feniel and Azrael.

Azrael had turned the lights off with voice commands (a neat bit of tech, but also somewhat creepy) so Jake knew he couldn’t respond on his phone, so he did the best he could otherwise. A wink to Aya, a shrug to Fen, and a reassuring shoulder squeeze for Raphael.

The movies had been wonderful. And, if he was being honest with himself, it was mostly because Raphael had actually relaxed against him after the first half hour or so rather than being mister tense. It was also because Jake felt like he was actually relaxing with friends for the first time in months, but he’d also come to terms with his situation. He had a massive crush on Raphael. Spotting for him in the gym gave him time to really get a sense for the angel, and what he’d learned… well, there was one good thing about being trapped in the Celestial Realm for the rest of this year. And it was the eye candy that was his dorm neighbor.

Jake startled when his phone made a little chirp. He hadn’t put it on silent yet. That was step one. Step two was checking his messages. Oh! Nia.

Nia > Jake: Hey, Jakey, you awake? Jake > Nia: Nia. It’s like 4am there, what are you doing awake? Nia > Jake: It’s 2 there, I could be asking the same thing. Jake > Nia: I just got home from movie night. Unintentional double feature because Azrael found out that Raph hadn’t seen Spirited Away, so… Nia > Jake: That’s a tragedy! Jake > Nia: Agreed. Anyway, why are you texting me at 4am? Nia > Jake: I made a pact with Beel.

Jake blinked. That’s a second pact. And not with the boy she’s interested in. Either of them. Or, was she interested in this one too? Beel seemed like a boy Bunny, maybe a hungrier one, but. A real himbo, from what Nia’s said. He didn’t disapprove, even if it wasn’t up to him.

Jake > Nia: Whoa. Two pacts! Nia > Jake: Yeah.

Should he say it? He had to say it.

Jake > Nia: And you’re still the legal owner of your soul, I hope. Nia > Jake: Of course I am, I honestly just agreed to go out to basically every human-safe Devildom restaurant. Jake > Nia: You agreed to endless dates as an exchange for protection from Mr. Beefy? Nia > Jake: I mean… yeah, that’s a pretty good description.

That was one hell of a deal, really. But… Well, Nia was telling him about her relationship things, even if Pacts were like the ultimate platonic commitment and not romantic like his realizations for the evening. He should still share with her even though he knew it would probably keep her from going back to sleep properly.

Jake > Nia: Well, my crush gave me one of his hoodies, so… Nia > Jake: Your crush?! How long were you going to hold out on telling me about him? Jake > Nia: I thought you’d have guessed by now.

Even as he pushed send, Jake knew it wasn’t entirely fair. Even he had only really realized it today. But he also knew how easy it was for his bestie to read him, often before he figured things out himself. She’d clocked the fact that he was gay months before he admitted it to himself. He could see the same in her, it’s why they were so close. Lucikly, they’d never had crushes on the same boy before, so that helped keep them from having petty fights. But if she was going to date every single demon, well, it was only a matter of time before they saw eye to eye on hotness. Mammon was an absolute snack.

Nia > Jake: You talk about Azrael and Feniel enough, but one’s a girl and the other you sa

Jake stared at his phone when the incomplete message popped in. Then, Nia started and stopped typing probably a dozen times before her next message came through.

Nia > Jake: HOLY SHIT IS IT RAPHAEL?!

Jake laughed so loud he had to smother his own face in his pillow to avoid waking Raphael nextdoor.

Jake > Nia: Shh, keep it down, you’ll wake the neighbors.

His phone buzzed as he was sending that message, and what he received made him laugh again, but tamer.

Raphael > Jake: Everything okay in there? Jake > Raphael: Sorry if I woke you, texting with my devildom friend. Raphael > Jake: You didn’t wake me. You and she should probably get some sleep though. Jake > Raphael: You too. Thanks again for the hoodie.

Right. Right. Stop flirting. Back to Nia.

Jake > Nia: I say, and then wake my neighbor laughing anyway. Jake > Nia: But yes. He’s so hot. And nice. And I’m pretty sure he fumbled his lift because of my spandex ass earlier. Nia > Jake: OMG what?! Jake > Nia: Aya loaned me workout clothes so I’d stop working out in jeans. Nia > Jake: And…? Jake > Nia: It’s leg day. Nia > Jake: And he fumbled a lift? Boy was checking you out! Jake > Nia: I thought so too. But he was so smooth about it, and he’s Michael’s right hand man, so… Nia > Jake: Oooooooof. Yeah. okay. Jake > Nia: I shall admire him from a respectable distance and enjoy the hell out of this hoodie. Nia > Jake: That sounds like a great plan. I am gonna… sleep. Nia > Jake: Oh right!!! I made cookies with Beel and Luke, btw. So expect a delivery #soon. Jake > Nia: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

Jake set his device aside, making sure it was plugged in properly, and crawled into bed. Pajamas and Raphael’s hoodie? Absolutely. He slipped the eye mask that Azrael had gifted him over his eyes to keep the perpetual sun out, curled up, and slipped off to sleep with thoughts full of cute boys and impending cookies.

#omswd #obey me shall we date #chapter fic #longfic #fic update #obey me!#obey me raphael #om celestial realm #celestial realm #om raphael

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bluejay-writes · 2 months

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Heaven is a Misnomer - Chapter 9

Fandom: Shall We Date?: Obey Me! Rating: Teen Chapter 9 Wordcount: 2992 Characters/Relationships: Jake (Exchange student OC) / Raphael Summary: Turns out demons aren't very good at writing ethics papers, but Jake looks damn good in spandex. You can also read this on AO3, if that's your jam!

First Chapter || Prev Chapter || Next Chapter > (Next Tuesday!)

Chapter 9 - Dear Jakey, Sweater Paws

“Jakeyyy~!” Aya crowed as she practically danced in circles around him. “You brought me lunch? This is the sweetest thing a human has ever done for me!”

Jake laughed. Bunny had literally left him holding the bag - of chicken strips. Her phone rang as they got back to the dorm, and she took her lunch and disappeared to who knows where. Probably some kind of workout session, knowing her. Yoga, maybe. Anyway, now he got to deal with the entire force of Aya’s personality all by himself. He should be scandalized or horrified or even just being sarcastic but he was honestly just happy. Aya was a fun friend, and her energy was contagious.

“I may have carried it, but Bunny paid for it.” Jake said, not about to take credit for generosity that wasn’t his.

“Aw, she’s the sweetest. She always thinks I need to eat more so that I, how did she put it, bulk up properly? Something about sick gains. I don’t know. All I know is that I’m just destined to be tiny. Doesn’t matter what or who I eat, this is the size I am.”

“Well, you’re adorable and even if I could change you, I wouldn’t.” Jake said, handing the girl a sweet tea.

“Oh, you charmer! You’re just lucky you’re the gayest thing since Elton John.”

Jake considered. “Wait. Gayer than Lil Nas X?”

“…Who?” Aya blinked, and then shrugged, and Jake realized that he had some educating to do.

“You seriously don’t know who… oh, honey.” Jake reached for his phone only to realize that he didn’t have it because Gabriel was trying to fix it.

“Jake, where’s your phone?”

“Broken.” He muttered. “It wouldn’t turn on this morning. Gabriel’s looking at it, but I have felt completely naked without it today. I’ll text you some pics of Lil Nas X once I get it back.”

“Yes, please. He sounds intriguing. Well anyway, you won’t need your phone to do classwork, but I need you for it. Please, for the love of all that’s unholy help me with this ethics paper I’m dying.”

Jake laughed and let himself be led to the lounge - the best place to both eat their lunch and work on homework.

It took most of the afternoon to get through writing their ethics papers, Aya was exactly as clueless about Celestial Realm ethics as Jake would expect a demon to be, so it was more like a tutoring session that he also wrote a paper during. Which was fine, honestly, Aya was great company. And they got the work done, so he really had nothing to complain about. Except possibly not having his phone.

As Jake was taking his study materials back to his room, Gabriel called out to him.

“Hey, Jake. I’ve got your device.”

“Oh, cool!” He said, glad that he would soon be able to message his family again. And text Aya those pictures. Seriously. How did she not know modern rappers? “Let me just set these things down. C’mon in.”

Gabriel followed him into the room, waiting patiently while Jake set his armload of notebooks and study materials on his desk before turning back to the angel.

“So, what was wrong with it?”

“I have no idea.” Gabriel said, a vague irritation in his tone that Jake knew wasn’t at him, but at the vagaries of broken technology. “I tried everything I could to diagnose the issue, but you may as well have handed me an expensive brick this morning for all the good it did me. Luckily, I could swap the storage media into a new device, so you’re back up and running relatively quickly.”

“Huh. Uh, well thanks for getting me a new one, then? And if you ever do figure out what I did to break that one, let me know? That way I don’t give you a second expensive brick.”

Gabriel grinned at that, and Jake was happy to see it.

“Gabriel.” Michael called from his office, and the angel stepped inside.

“You called, Michael?”

“Yes. Sometime last night I lost my connection to Jacob’s C.C.C. I think something may have happened to the oversight application.”

Gabriel winced. He was hoping that Michael wouldn’t notice the change, because it would mean that the angel wasn’t as obsessively cyber-stalking their new exchange student as much as Gabriel just knew he would be.

“Ah, well, actually…” He sighed. “The C.C.C. that Jake was using broke, and so—“

“It broke? Did he throw it against a wall or something?”

Gabriel cleared his throat, adjusted his glasses, and continued what he was saying. “Something in the internals fried overnight while it was charging. I haven’t had a chance to pinpoint the exact problem, but I moved his data into a new device. Unfortunately, I forgot about the oversight application as I had too much on my mind today. I can get it back from him for some ‘preventative maintenance’ if you would like me to get the application added back, but I can’t guarantee he won’t notice at that point.”

Michael muttered something under his breath that Gabriel didn’t catch, but shook his head. “No, it’s fine. The oversight of the exchange students is Raphael’s responsibility now, I suppose I should have transferred the oversight application to him regardless. Do check in with him, he may want you to add it back.”

“I’ll check with him this evening, then. Is there anything else?”

“No, that was all. Thank you, Gabriel.”

Free time wasn’t something that Jake got a lot of, and so on nights like tonight when he had all of his homework done and had nothing else going because everyone else was busy with their own things. So there he lay, like a starfish on his way-too-big bed, thinking about the mischief he, Nia, and the girls could be getting up to if only he weren’t in this hell masquerading as heaven called the Celestial Realm.

Nia > Jake: Jaaaaaake Jake > Nia: Hey girl, what’s up? Nia > Jake: I need help

Jake stared at his phone. How was he supposed to help his bestie from all the way up here in the Celestial Realm? He supposed he could call her mother and exert some influence that way.

Jake > Nia: Are you hurt? Should I call someone? Nia > Jake: No. I… I kissed Satan tonight.

Oh. OH. That kind of help. He was here for this. So much better than any other conversation he could be having at this point.

Jake > Nia: Tell me everything.

For the next hour, Jake and Nia talked back and forth. She’d found herself falling in love with the very demon she’d sent her first Devildom-selfie of. But he’d known that she had feelings for Mammon as well. Add that to the amount of time she’d been spending working out with Beelzebub (mirroring his own time with Bunny, he’d not hesitated to tell her in his amusement) and it was a very complicated time for his naïve bestie.

After hearing her out, he gave her the best advice he possibly could in the situation. He didn’t know really anything about Demon relationships, but he knew that Nia was an incredibly open-minded but self-sacrificing girl, and needed to be encouraged to do things that were good for her and not just for everyone else. Also, she was going to be there an entire year, but only a year. So she should live it up and not be afraid to make mistakes.

Jake > Nia: Girl, you’re far too caring for your own good. You’re in literal hell. If you feel like kissing boys, kiss boys! Jake > Nia: But if you feel more than just kissing, if you actually think you might like one of them, you have to talk to them about it. I bet there’s a lot more to it for them to be with a human.

Nia didn’t respond after that, but given how late it was, he wasn’t really surprised. She’d probably fallen asleep. Which was a thing he should probably also think about doing, because he had a run planned with Bunny and Aya bright and early in the morning.

Jake woke, hopped out of bed and into his workout clothes. Which were the jeans and t-shirt he’d been wearing when he got teleported here. He still hadn’t figured out if there was a way for him to go shopping - he didn’t have any spending money. Well, he had the $10 that lived in the coin pocket of his jeans for emergencies, but he had the distinct impression that human world money was going to be useless here.

A soft knock at his door told him the demon girls had arrived, and he swung the door open, waving as he bent down to tie his shoes.

“Glad to have you joining us this morning, Aya!” Jake said quietly but energetically.

“Jake.” Aya said, and the deadpan tone of her voice made him stop and look up at her. “You are not seriously working out in jeans.”

“Yep.” he said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s that or uniform khakis, and…”

“Ew.” Aya said with a shiver. “I have spare workout clothes. They’ll fit you.” She grabbed his hand and practically dragged him behind her up the stairs to her room. She didn’t seem to care that his shoes were still untied. Maybe it was for the best, if he was changing.

Aya let him go once they were in her room, pulled out one of the drawers of her dresser and threw a pair of black/white/vibrant blue color blocked leggings and a practically paper thin long-sleeved top in a coordinating black at him.

“Change.”

Jake blinked. “Here?”

“Duh, idiot. I’m not into you, you’re not into me, get on with it we’re wasting day— shit, I was going to say we’re wasting daylight but I could just dump all the daylight out and still have too much.”

“I miss the moon.” Bunny said sadly from the doorway.

Jake pulled his top and jeans off in record time, and shimmied into the spandex-heavy leggings that fit him like a surprisingly comfortable glove, at a nice capri-length. Then he pulled the top over his head. It did not fit him near as well, seeming more 3/4 sleeved and crop-top length.

“Uh… I’m not sure if…” He said, awkwardly, trailing off less because he didn’t know what to say and more because he got to watch Aya shift into and then promptly right back out of her demon form.

“Be sure. Those look better on you than they ever did on me. They’re yours now. I never want to see them unless they’re on your body or the floor.”

“Wait, why the floor? And are you okay?”

“She lied about not being into you. She thinks you’re sexy, but she respects that you’re gay. Don’t worry about it.” Bunny said with a chuckle. “Can we run now?”

One good run later, Jake and his demon girls were heading back to their rooms to change for breakfast. It was a day off of classes, so Jake had agreed to not only the morning run but also spotting weights for Bunny after breakfast. He wasn’t going to change out of his workout clothes, but he wanted to grab his hoodie to keep his midriff covered for breakfast. And, because the cool indoor temperatures were going to chill him down pretty fast, so he needed something more than an almost-present workout top.

He said ‘his hoodie’ but of course it was one of Bunny’s that she’d loaned him early on when she learned he didn’t have one. So, he was practically drowning in the oversized thing, conveniently hiding most of his workout clothes from his dormmates’ prying eyes. Which, if Aya’s reaction when he’d first put them on was anything to go by, was probably a good thing.

Just as he was picking his phone back up with his sweater-paws, it chimed in his hand. Nia was awake, and messaging him. He pushed his sleeves up so he could type back to her, leaning on the wall while he waited for Aya to come back downstairs so they could walk to breakfast together.

Nia > Jake: Thanks, Jake. You’re the best, you know that? Jake > Nia: Of course I know that! I’m happy to help, just keep talking to me okay? Nia > Jake: Duh! Oh, hey, I’m gonna ask Diavolo if I can get some of my books from home, is there anything you want from home while I’m asking? Jake > Nia: Girl Scout Cookies? Nia > Jake: I will do my very best to acquire cookies. Jake > Nia: Thanks!!!!

As Aya started down the stairs in front of him, Jake went to put his phone in his pocket. Of course, he fumbled it, sending the brand new device skittering across the floor.

“That’s why we have cases.” Aya said, bending down to pick his phone up from where it slid to a stop by her feet, unashamedly reading the messages from Nia that were up on the screen. Jake was suddenly glad that a majority of their conversation about kissing demons had scrolled off the top with their talk about home.

“Oh! I always wanted to know this, and you can tell me!” She said, as she handed him his phone back. “Are girl scout cookies made with girl scouts, the way chocolate chip cookies are made with chocolate chips?”

Jake looked up at her, suddenly wondering if she meant literally. The shit-eating grin on her face told him she definitely didn’t mean it.

“No, and they aren’t even baked by girl scouts anymore. They’re just small batch shelf-stable cookies that support little girls doing outdoorsy shenanigans.”

Aya stuck her tongue out at him for not playing along, and they shared a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Bunny asked, as they met up just outside the dining room.

“Jake’s friend is going to have cookies sent for him!” Aya said, and Jake mirrored her previous action and stuck his tongue out at her.

“I’m trying to. Who knows what Nia can pull, you know?”

For not the first time, Jake wished that he could leave a meal early. He’d finished eating five minutes ago, but he wasn’t allowed to leave for another five. It felt like an eternity and a waste of his precious, mortal life. He dropped his super-long sleeves over his hands, returning to his comfort-place of sweater-paws, and put his head down on the table where his plate used to be, before Bunny swiped it to steal his leftover syrup. After the day she’d eaten an entire bottle of syrup on her pancakes they started limiting how much she could have, and Jake hated that, so he always took too much so she could have his extra.

He chuckled behind his sleeves, remembering the first time he’d offered his extra syrup to Bunny, the way Gabriel’s face had tensed up. The IT angel thought the idea of sharing the leftover syrup on his plate was the grossest thing he’d ever seen. Jake was just glad he didn’t let his squicks about food keep him from being willing to fix Jake’s tech when it failed him.

When he looked over to see if Gabriel was being grossed out as usual, instead his eyes caught on Raphael’s. The discipline angel was looking curiously at his sweater-paws, so Jake flopped them out at the angel and made a face. “Nyaa.” He winked, causing Raphael to look away awkwardly. Well. Maybe he wasn’t a fan of sweater paws. Why did I wink at him?! Well, that was obvious. Because that was his usual. Being a bratty kitty with his sweater paws at Nia’s sisters, and then winking at Nia when she teased him about it. It was reflex. Just reflex.

When lunch finally adjourned, Jake helped clear the dishes to the kitchen - he was on dishes duty with Azrael today.

“Hey, Az. Erm, Azrael, sorry.” He said, greeting the angel who was transferring any leftover food into containers to store in the refrigerator.

“Jake.” She smiled at him, not acknowledging his slip into habitual nicknaming. “I saw you take too much syrup for Yboun’dih again this morning.”

“What can I say?” he shrugged. “Gotta look out for the little guy.”

“I don’t know whether to take that as that I should keep my guard up around you, or that you somehow consider that demoness the underdog in the situation. She certainly isn’t little.” Azrael was laughing softly, so Jake wasn’t worried that she was actually concerned, and flailed his sweater-paws in her direction. “Okay, and also where did you get a sweater that is that large on you? Oh wait. It’s in return for your syrup tithe, isn’t it.”

Jake chuckled and shook his head. “Bunny just realized I was cold one day and didn’t have a sweatshirt, so loaned me one of hers. If I tuck my knees up to my chest I can basically hide all of me inside of it without stretching it, it’s great!”

“Okay, Sweater Kitten. Come dry dishes so we can both get on with our day.”

Jake set his sweatshirt aside and worked side-by-side with Azrael on the dishes in companionable silence. He really felt like he’d made friends with the angel of death. Though, just thinking of her as the angel of death made him wonder if he’d somehow dreamed the whole thing. He should ask her about what it meant to be the angel of death at some point. Like, she’d said she didn’t like talking to mortals because of it, but he knew nothing about what she actually did, and he cared enough about her to want to find out. Next time, though. He wanted to give the conversation the time and attention it deserved, and Bunny was waiting for him in the common room.

#omswd #obey me shall we date #chapter fic #longfic #fic update #obey me!#obey me raphael #celestial realm #om celestial realm #om raphael

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bluejay-writes · 2 months

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Heaven is a Misnomer - Chapter 8

Fandom: Shall We Date?: Obey Me! Rating: Teen Chapter 8 Wordcount: 3188 Characters/Relationships: Jake (Exchange student OC) / Raphael Summary: In this week's episode, we find out about Feniel's job as an angel, and in general learn more about the general disregard in which angels hold each other. You can also read this on AO3, if that's your jam!

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Chapter 8: When watching isn't simple.

In a dramatic twist that would likely surprise his mother most of all, Jake found that his favorite chores around the dorm were definitely doing the dishes. And so, when Friday rolled around and there was no evening seminar planned, and it seemed like everyone was gearing up to go out somewhere, Jake wasn’t surprised when Aya came up and begged to trade chores with him.

“Please? Just this once?”

Jake pretended to be considering it, but obviously he was going to agree. It’s not like he was going to go out clubbing with her anyway.

“Who’s your chore partner?”

“Today? Feniel. He’s real good at dishes, you won’t even get bored.”

And so, Jake found himself drying dishes on a Friday night while just about everyone else seemed to be getting themselves dolled up to go out somewhere.

“How are you finding the exchange program so far, Jake?” Fen asked cheerfully.

“Meh.” Jake responded, not sure what Fen was really asking, or if he was just making conversation.

“No, actually I’m curious. If you’re willing to tell me what you honestly think.”

Jake took a moment to actually think about it and collect his thoughts before he answered.

“Honestly? It’s fine. I mean the classes are about as hard as my AP classes, so probably what college would be like. The administration needs some work, and my classmates are incredibly biased against anyone who’s not an angel, but the people in my dorm don’t suck and I feel like I might have made some friends.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, there’s this one angel who seems to care about my wellbeing and surprisingly my mental health? Super cool. I’m a fan. Maybe you know him, his name’s Feniel?”

Fen had the decency to blush in response to Jake’s teasing compliments. “I, uh. Thanks?”

“What about you, Fen? What’s it been like for you, having Humans and Demons in your dorm?”

“Weird, but also… normal? Don’t get me wrong, It’s startling to see Yboun’dih just chilling on a couch in the lounge, and not smell whatever sweet concoction Luke is baking. But it’s not as jarring as I thought it would be to have non-angels in our space. All four of you are surprisingly polite. Nothing like we’ve been taught to expect from humans, and especially not from Demons.”

“Fair, it’s been a lot like I’d expect studying abroad would be like back home, personally.”

From there, the conversation devolved back into talking about classes, and eventually the dishes were finished. They didn’t take long despite the number of people in the dorm. Or maybe it was just the good company while doing them.

Later, Jake sat in the quiet lounge on the top floor of the dorm building, taking notes in one of his spare notebooks about his experiences in the Celestial Realm thus far. He knew he had to write a report on a topic at the end of the year, and he wanted to make sure he didn’t forget his initial feelings about the whole thing by the time the year was up.

Raphael taking over for Michael had been the biggest boon for his sanity. He basically never saw the overbearing asshole of an angel anymore, just his discipline lackey. Which sounded like he didn’t care for Raphael, but honestly he just hadn’t gotten a chance to know him outside of classes. Raphael was probably the most attractive being Jake had ever encountered, especially when he smiled. Sure, sure, Jake had only seen a smirk, but even that just about ended him the first time he saw it out of the corner of his eye.

“What are you thinking about with a look like that on your face, Jake?” Feniel said, having walked up utterly silently.

Jake startled, and blushed. “Uh. Nothing.”

“Mhm. And nothing makes you blush.”

“Lots of things make me blush! The way you angels dress by default makes me blush! I was just writing about my initial experiences here so that I’ll have notes for my paper at the end of the year.” Jake said, brushing off his thoughts about Raphael with a general observation, instead.

“Oh, that’s true.” Fen said with a smile. “Thanks to the sun being out constantly, it’s generally ‘summer attire’ in the Celestial Realm. Lots of skin showing, for certain.”

“Based on our mythology about Heaven, I expected angels to all be prudes.”

“And yet.” Fen said, laughing.

“And yet.” Jake agreed. “Can I ask you a personal question, Fen?”

“Sure, go for it. We’re friends after all.”

“What’s your job as an Angel? I mean, Michael’s in charge, Gabriel’s IT, Raphael’s in charge of punishments, Azrael is the whole ass angel of death but what about you?”

“Oh, well. That’s both simple and an entire kettle of fish to open. For one, I’m doing a shit job at my job right now. And I’m irritated about it. But that’s neither here nor there.” Feniel settled on a couch. “I’m the one who’s set to watch any immortals that are outside of Angel and Demon kind. Have you heard of Solomon the Wise?”

“Oh, yeah definitely. He’s the other exchange student in the Devildom, right?”

“Other? Wait, no, we’ll come back to that. Yes, he is. And, he’s immortal. And it’s literally my job to watch him, but I didn’t get chosen to go to the Devildom for the exchange program, which would have made my job not only possible, but actually doable, you know?”

“Wow. That… seems like a major oversight.”

“Yeah. I’m still mad about it.”

“Well, you’re immortal, so at least you won’t die mad about it?”

“Unless someone kills me, but yeah.”

“Let’s not let that happen then.” Jake chuckled, but he really really didn’t like to think about people dying. Especially not his newest friend.

“But enough about me being a sore loser. I’m used to having to scry on Solomon to watch him, but he never gets up to anything interesting when I do. He can sense that I’m watching and just does normal old dude stuff. Very boring.”

“Yeah, sounds like it would be. Are you supposed to be watching him to keep him from doing something, or to learn something in particular about him?”

“Oh, well, no not really. Just that immortals are very rare and can cause a lot of problems if they get uppity, so it’s my job to watch for mental instability that might need to be corrected, you know?”

“So you’re like Solomon’s secret social worker.”

“Kinda, yeah. Weird, I know.”

“No, it makes sense. I mean, like, he can outlive everyone else, so he may as well have some angel watching so he doesn’t go stir crazy. Or just general crazy.”

“Yep, that’s basically it. Anyway, what did you say about Solomon being the other Exchange student?”

“Oh. Well. That’s an easy answer. My bestie is down in the Devildom right now. We were supposed to be together for the exchange program, but something got twisted so she’s down there and I’m up here.”

“Oh. OH! That is so cool!” Feniel said, grinning. “Okay, so not the splitting you two up part, but the fact that she’s down there. Maybe this would be a good way to do some extracurricular Solomon watching! We can have your friend tell us if he gets up to anything interesting. He wouldn’t know I’m watching, you know? They can regale us with Solomon Stories.”

Jake laughed. “I can ask. I know she was going to ask him if he really would have cut that baby in half back in the day.”

“I have always wondered about that. Did she say what he said about it?”

“No, I never followed up, but I can totally ask. Give me a sec.”

Jake > Nia: Hey did you ask Solomon about cutting that baby in half? Nia > Jake: Oh I totally did. Nia > Jake: He said he wouldn’t have, that he’d have kept the baby for himself because they wouldn’t have deserved to raise it.

Jake laughed, and shared the bit about the baby with Fen.

“Wait, raise it like his own kids? Damn, Solomon would be such a time as a dad.” Fen said with a smile. “I mean, imagine your dad always looking the exact same age and then finding out he’s immortal.”

Jake > Nia: Aw, he sounds like he’d be a cool dad. Nia > Jake: He’s really touchy about family stuff - something about any time he gets too close to someone, or has a kid, they and the kids get dead. Jake > Nia: Yikes on Bikes. Nia > Jake: You’re telling me!

Jake passed on the information he’d learned from Nia.

Fen winced. “Yeah. I think the family stuff is the hardest part about watching Solomon. I have to watch his descendants, too, because while his Immortality shouldn’t be inheritable, it could happen, so I’ve… seen it all, really.”

Jake reached out and put a hand on Fen’s shoulder. That had to suck. Your job meaning you had to watch wives and children die… he couldn’t even imagine it.

“Did you have to…”

“You want to know if I had to actually watch them die.” Fen said, darkly, and Jake just nodded.

“No. I never managed to be looking when it happened. Just before, they looked scared. Just after, with the blood still wet…”

Jake wasn’t prepared to deal with a crying angel, but damned if he was going to let his new friend cry without any support. On impulse, he pulled the angel into his arms when he started sobbing, and just held him. Feniel had been there when he was having a panic attack, he was going to be here for Fen while he dealt with the grief of so many deaths.

As they were sitting there, Fen calming down slowly but surely, Jake heard the sound of someone else’s footsteps, clearly trying to make themselves heard. Then he heard someone clear their throat before a glass of water was set on the side table next to Jake.

“He’ll need this.” Raphael’s quiet voice carried over his shoulder, before the footsteps retreated. He wondered, then, how much the other angel had heard of their conversation. But then, they’d known each other for hundreds of years. Raphael probably knew all about what was going on with Fen.

Another few minutes, and Fen shifted himself out of Jake’s embrace, and Jake handed him the glass of water.

“Sorry about that. Sometimes it just… hits.” He said. “It’s been a long time since I cried like that.”

“Well, I’m glad I was here to lend a shoulder.” Jake said, fidgeting. Now that he didn’t have his arms full of distressed angel, he didn’t know what to do with himself.

“Me too. You didn’t have to do that, but it was leaps and bounds better than crying alone.”

“You didn’t have to sit with me through my panic attack the other day, either. But you did.”

“Well.” Fen said, as though it explained everything.

Jake walked him back to his room, and then retired to his own space. As he walked down the hall, he saw that Raphael was waiting for him, leaning on the doorframe of his room.

“That was kind, helping him through that.” Raphael said, speaking to Jake without prompt for the first time.

“Anyone would have done what I did.” Jake said, brushing off the praise. It wasn’t a praiseworthy thing, holding someone while they cried.

“No. They wouldn’t. Feniel’s dealt with that pain mostly on his own this entire time.” Raphael said quietly, with a tone full of guilt. “Sometimes I can tell when he’s feeling down and I can be there to help, but other times I’m only there to help pick up the pieces after. Everyone else seems to avoid him when he’s feeling down.”

“I’m sure everyone else has their own problems, but also that’s shitty, and he deserves better. I’m glad I was there, then. Even though it was my thoughtless questions that brought him down.”

“Really? How did it come up?”

“I asked him about what his job was, as an angel. I wanted to get to know him better. You know, you’re discipline, Azrael’s the angel of death, all that. He’s already such a good friend, you know?”

Raphael nodded. “You’re a good friend, too. Jake. Have a good night.”

“Thanks.” Jake said, stepping into his room. “I will.”

For the first time since the exchange program started, Jake woke in the morning not from a nightmare, but from a knock at his door. He reached out to check the time on his phone, but despite being plugged in, it seemed to be powered off.

“Jake, you in there?” Bunny’s voice called to him from the other side of the door.

Jake rolled out of bed and opened the door, not even worrying about his bedhead and rumpled presentation.

“Morning, Bunny.”

“Mornin, boyo! I was wondering why you didn’t appear to jog with me this morning, but you only now woke up!” Without his phone to look at, Jake turned to his trusty watch - it was 10am? What in the world was going on? He had alarms set for 8:30 and 9am, so that he didn’t skip taking his meds. He’d never once been asleep when they went off, but that was entirely beside the point.

“Yeah, I… my alarms didn’t go off.” Jake said awkwardly.

“Well I was about to go hit the gym, do you wanna come spot me, maybe do some lifting? I can wait for you to get changed and stuff.”

“Did you just get back from your run?”

“Yeah, but I stopped in the middle for breakfast.”

Jake nodded. Bunny’s appetite was a known quantity. From what Nia said, she wasn’t as overboard as the avatar of gluttony, but he was pretty sure those two would be good friends.

“Cool, uh…” Jake had been fiddling with his phone, but it wouldn’t turn on, and it had been charging all night. “I need to swing by Gabriel’s room before we go - my device is broken.”

“Okay! I’ll wait for you downstairs.” Bunny said, practically bouncing off.

Jake laughed and closed his door, getting himself ready in the only non-uniform non-pajama clothes he had so that he could go lift weights with Bunny. Jeans weren’t ideal, but like hell he was wearing khakis to the gym.

He wasn’t looking forward to bothering Gabriel about his phone, the angel constantly looked over-worked, but Jake literally couldn’t fix it himself. He wasn’t a whiz with technology to start with, and this was Celestial Realm tech, so who knew what might actually be wrong with it.

A few steps down the hallway, and there he was, knocking on the door and hoping beyond hope that Gabriel was actually in his room. Otherwise he’d have to have someone call the angel for him, and—

The door creaked open, and a cranky-looking Gabriel looked out at Jake as though he’d personally offended him before schooling his expression.

“What can I do for you today, Jake?” Gabriel said, running a hand through his hair.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but my device won’t turn on - it turned itself off at some point overnight, and so my alarms didn’t go off this morning.”

“Did you forget to charge it?” Gabriel said, reaching for the offending tech even as he asked the obvious question.

“It was plugged in all night.”

“Well.” Gabriel said, sighing. “I have meetings for a majority of today, but I should be able to get this working by dinnertime. Will you be alright without a phone today?”

“Yeah, the only time I’m planning to leave the dorm today is to go work out with Bunny in a bit, so I should be reachable if you need anything from me, too.”

“Alright Jake. Thanks for being patient, I’ll try to get this back to you as swiftly as possible.”

“Don’t stress yourself too much.”

Gabriel laughed mirthlessly. “I’ll try.”

“Bunny, I’m not sure I can spot you for something this heavy.” Jake said, concerned.

“You can’t lift 300?”

“Nope.” Jake flailed comically with his noodle arms.

“Oh, well! Let me help you figure out what you can lift, and then I can just do more reps with that. Better safe than squashed.”

After some testing and training, Jake learned that he could safely bench press about 150 pounds, and they felt safe having him spot Bunny for a 200 pound lift. Not that she ever needed his help, but that was beside the point.

Jake spent a lot of time that morning thinking about the level of safety and care that Bunny put into everything she did. She looked like your stereotypical gym rat; big and dumb. And yes, the demoness was rather large, and possessed a childlike joy about a great many things, but she was far from stupid.

He found himself thinking back to what Shiny had said his first day here. That he shouldn’t let his assumptions about the basic nature of angels and demons color the way he actually felt about them as people. And so far, the demons that he’d met were far better friends than the vast majority of angels he’d had the chance to talk to.

As Jake and Bunny were leaving the gym, they passed Raphael, who seemed to be about to get his workout time in. Jake waved and smiled, receiving a nod and a slight smile in return from the angel. Every time Raphael smiled at him, Jake considered it a personal victory.

“Wow, he noticed you.” Bunny said, and Jake realized he’d been watching the angel walk away. (It was just as good a view as watching him from the front, could you really blame him?)

“Yeah, ever since he moved into our dorm we’ve been talking more, it’s nice.”

“From what the brothers always told me, he never really talked to anyone that wasn’t them. And it seems pretty true, all told.”

“The brothers… you mean the ones in the Devildom who are all avatars of sins?”

“Yeah.” Bunny said, nodding. “They used to be angels. Avatars of virtues instead. That’s part of why I wanted to come up here for the exchange program - I wanted to see the environment that formed them, you know? Beelzebub and I could be twins, to look at us. I mean, he has his own twin in Belphegor, but… We’re still a lot alike. I’ve always been a demon, though. Maybe we were made at the same time, so we came out the same. I’ll never know, though. Too shy to ask him about it.”

Jake considered the idea of Bunny being shy, and it made him chuckle. “Well, maybe you’ll get to meet him because of the Exchange program? Maybe it will be him that talks to you instead.”

Bunny laughed. “That’d be the day.”

On the way back, they stopped to pick up lunch for themselves and also Aya. Bunny determinedly paid for Jake’s lunch, as a thank you for spotting for her.

#omswd #obey me shall we date #longfic #fic update #obey me!#obey me raphael #om celestial realm #celestial realm #om raphael #chapter fic #obey me OC

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bluejay-writes · 2 months

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Puppy Love Picnic

Fandom: Ikemen Prince Pairing: Silvio/Airin (OC) (You can also read this on AO3 if that's your jam!)

This is a gift for @airin-queenz for the My Ikemen Valentine Gift Exchange hosted by @ikemenlibrary. I hope you like the story!!

Silvio had been planning the perfect picnic. Everyone knows that the perfect picnic starts with a prime location. Then, add a super soft blanket, good food, and delicious drinks. He’d be set. There was no way that Airin could get a better date anywhere. He’d bet on it.

The location was the hard part, but Silvio had gotten Emma to show him this hill that overlooked the entire town, her “secret place”, and she promised him she would stay away from there on Saturday. She’d loaned him her favorite picnic blanket and basket, giving him a wink and telling him not to mess up his date with her best friend.

He’d even bribed that idiotic mutt to get Yves to make the food. The cat’s cooking was far better than anything he could get in town, and while there was nothing he could do directly to convince him to put together picnic foods and desserts, he knew that Rio was entirely capable of making it happen.

Drinks were something he didn’t need help with. He’d brought some of his favorite bottles with him from home, and he just knew that the sparkling white he’d been saving was perfect for this occasion.

Once he had everything settled, all he had to do was find the girl in question. But for some reason, every time he got anywhere near close to Airin, she ran off, or someone else needed his attention. It was to the point where he was starting to lose his mind over it. He hadn’t gotten to see her in days, and he was starting to think maybe he’d read her wrong, and she wasn’t interested in him.

Finally, he ran into her in the hallway, or well, she ran into him. His mind was elsewhere, and suddenly the Mad Dog of D’Avalos was pinning him to the wall. All 4’10” of her, but still she had him contained. He flinched and drew back from her before he realized who it was, and then relaxed all at once with a laugh.

“Spend your Saturday with me, Airin.” He said, just as she said,

“Your Saturday Night is mine, Silvio.”

They blinked at each other, and then laughed like idiots.

“Okay, two more steps. One more… and stop.”

“Silvio, what are we doing out here?”

Silvio chuckled and stood behind Airin with one hand protectively on her lower back before taking the blindfold off, the whole of the city arrayed before her in the afternoon sunlight. The soft sound of her gasp as she took in the view made all of the planning and the stress worth it. The picnic itself was all a bonus after that, but it was still a bonus he’d worked hard on.

“Can’t a man just do a nice thing once in awhile?” He half-growled in irritation.

“No. He cannot.” Airin laughed, turning to look at the picnic spread out in front of her. “What is all of this?”

“Shut it, dog. It’s a picnic.” He answered, looking at her like she was an idiot as he settled himself on the blanket with a muffled jangle. “Come, sit. I have a particularly nice sparkling Moscato to drink.”

Airin settled herself on the picnic blanket and smirked at him, trailing a hand down his arm, causing him to startle and flush slightly.

“Do you want the wine or not?”

Airin held a hand out, and Silvio poured two glasses before handing her one and setting the bottle aside. Next should have been offering her food, but Silvio found himself distracted by the satisfied smile she wore after taking a sip of the wine. At least he knew he’d done one thing right for this picnic. For her.

After a potentially awkward amount of staring, Silvio shook his head to clear the cobwebs, and offered her some of the food that Yves had made. There were various kinds of finger sandwiches, various fruits and nuts, a small spreadable cheese with lovely crackers to spread it on, and even small meat pies. For dessert he’d sent some honey-pistachio layered triangles that looked like a sticky mess that he couldn’t wait to lick off of her fingers, if she’d let him.

Over the course of their picnic they fed each other bites of food, sometimes laughing over a touch or a fumbled bite, but neither spoke much, until Airin met his eyes.

“Did you plan this yourself, Silvio?”

“I did.” He said, smirking. “Does it meet your expectations?”

“And then some. How did you get Yves to cook for you?”

“I called in a few favors.”

“For this?” Airin looked dubious, but was wearing that flirty smirk that he adored. Not that he was likely to admit that to her. Ever. Silvio pouted as he realized the wine was gone. That meant they were running out of time for conversation, and were going to have to pack everything up and head back. He hadn’t even managed to steal a kiss yet. Where were his priorities?

“For you.” He clarified gruffly. “Wanted you to have something nice, instead of all the hell you’ve been going through with Eyepatch lately.”

Airin smiled in a way that lit up her face, and Silvio felt himself relax just a bit. Ah, right. That smile. That was the priority.

When they returned to the castle, Gilbert immediately arrived, sent a look to Airin that Silvio could in no way decipher, and then turned to Silvio himself.

“I need your help with something, jangler.” Gilbert said, before turning and walking off, assuming that he would follow, the tap-tap-tap of his cane infuriatingly regular.

Silvio winced and turned to Airin. “I know you claimed my attention this evening…”

“Go. We both know what a bother he can be if he doesn’t get his way.” Airin muttered. “Just… come by my room when you’re free?” She reached out and tapped his nose, smirking at the way he startled from her touch, and then ran her finger down his neck to his shirt collar before turning on her heel. “Get going, lover boy. You know he’ll keep you longer out of spite if you dawdle.”

She turned on her heel and walked away, leaving Silvio no other choice than to follow where Gilbert led. Great, just great. Now eyepatch is making me go back on my word with Airin, too.

A few hours later, interminably filled with Gilbert going over numbers and expectations about business situations that normally would have been interesting challenges for Silvio but were instead something he simply needed to get through in order to keep a promise, Gilbert stops talking and stares at him.

“Why are you so useless today?”

“You’re forcing me to break my word to Airin, eyepatch.”

“Oh, did she have something exciting planned?”

“Perhaps. She asked for my time, and I promised it to her.”

“Did you not spend all afternoon in her company?” Gilbert smirked knowingly.

“Yes. That was a favor she did for me, and I would like to return it and not be in her debt.”

“Ah. So she has something she wants you to teach Emma again, I presume.”

Silvio paused. That was usually, in fact, what Airin had in mind when she asked for his time. Something that Emma needed, or to help Emma understand how royals worked. The two were very good friends, which made sense for the Belle of the Kingdom of Roses and the Rose Lady of Benitoite.

“Princess…” he sighed, mostly under his breath. He’d hoped for some time alone just the two of them after the lovely picnic they’d had, but if she needed his help with something for Emma, he was still going to happily provide it. Well, with his usual veneer of snark, anyway. Wouldn’t want the girls getting too comfortable after all.

“Are you done torturing me?” Silvio grumbled, looking over at Gilbert with irritation. “I should go see what Airin and Emma want.”

Without waiting for a response, he stood, and stalked out, heading for Airin’s quarters at the fastest pace his dignity would allow.

Silvio knocked on Airin’s door, startling slightly when he heard her call out instead of opening the door. “Silvio, is that you?”

“It’s me.” He said. “Answer the damn door.”

“It’s unlocked. Come in.”

He was going to have some choice words with this woman about leaving her door unlocked at this time of night, Silvio reasoned.

Of course, reason went right out the door when he saw what was waiting for him on the other side. Airin, bedecked in lingerie that showed almost more than it hid, lay posed in perfection on top of her blankets like some kind of feast.

“It’s time for the second half of your picnic.”

#ikemen prince #silvio ricci #ikepri silvio #silvio x oc #my ikemen valentine gift exchange

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bluejay-writes · 3 months

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Heaven is a Misnomer - Chapter 7

Fandom: Shall We Date?: Obey Me! Rating: Teen Chapter 7 Wordcount: 3563 Characters/Relationships: Jake (Exchange student OC) / Raphael Summary: Jake comes into conflict with an angel. Gets help from an unexpected source, but the conflict continues when he gets 'home'. Chapter Warnings: Panic Attacks

You can also read this on AO3, if that's your jam!

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Chapter 7 - I'm not panicking, you're panicking.

As Jake went back to his room, Raphael’s eyes followed him in concern. He started after him, determined to make sure the human was alright after an encounter like that with Michael, but was stopped by Feniel once he reached the hallway.

“Don’t.” Feniel said, quietly enough that his voice would reach the office but his words would not. “I’ll go check on him, but you need to stay here. Don’t let Michael know you care, he’ll use it against you.”

Raphael nodded, but said nothing. Feniel turned and followed after Jake. As Raphael took his place again by the office door, Michael called out to him.

“What did Feniel need, Raphael?”

“He was confirming that tonight’s lecture was at 7:30. He didn’t want to be late like last time.”

“Ah. I see he’s finally starting to take responsibility for his failings.”

Raphael made a soft sound that could be taken as agreement or simply acknowledgment, and the room once again fell silent.

Jake didn’t know how, exactly, he made it back to his room. One moment he was walking up the stairs from the basement, and the next he was sitting on the floor between his bed and the wall, knees tucked up to his chest and tears rolling down his cheeks. His phone lay next to him on the floor, the chat with his mom open.

Jake > Mom: Is everything okay? Are you okay?

He was in such a state of panic that he was absolutely certain that something had happened with his father when he wasn’t there. That he’d get home and find out that since he wasn’t there to deter his father from hurting her that she’d be dead and there’d be no one to know, and it would be all his fault. It was always all his fault.

Jake tried to breathe. He knew breathing was how he was supposed to get a handle on himself when things like this happened, but each breath felt like he was filling his lungs with needles. He was so focused on breathing that he didn’t notice his door opening - he’d forgotten to lock it behind him - and was startled when someone appeared crouched down in front of him, holding his hands in both of theirs.

“Jake, are you with me?” a soft voice broke into his thoughts.

Jake couldn’t even bring himself to open his eyes and look at whoever was there. They must be a friend because they called him Jake, but he couldn’t get out of his head enough to interact.

Whoever it was squeezed his hands, and just waited with him until he could calm down enough to be a person again. Jake didn’t know how long it took, but whoever it was had the patience of a saint. Or, well, an angel. Because when he opened his eyes, Feniel was kneeling on the floor in front of him, a concerned look on his face.

“Jake?”

Jake looked at him in confusion for a moment. Why was he here?

“Jake, are you okay?”

Jake shook his head. “Nope.” he managed to get out, his voice sounding like a gritty mess from the tears. “Sorry.”

Feniel sighed, and handed him a glass of water. Where had he gotten that from? Did he bring it with him knowing Jake would need it? He had so many questions.

“You don’t need to be sorry.” Feniel said, taking the now-empty glass from him. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Jake chuckled, but it was a mirthless sound. “Are you going to twist my words back on me, too? No, I think I’m good, thanks.”

Feniel winced. “I’m not Michael.” he said, but sighed. “But I won’t push you. Can I do anything for you?”

Jake considered, remembering Feniel’s concern about him not sleeping before coming here to start with, and then his derailing Michael for him earlier. The angel had done nothing but be kind to him, which was more than he could say for others.

“Fen, I’m sorry.” He said with a sigh. “You didn’t deserve me biting at you like that.”

“Fen?” Feniel said, with one eyebrow raised.

“Shit. Feniel. Sorry, I’m bad about nicknames, I—”

“Actually, I like it.” He said quietly. “You can call me Fen.”

“Really?” Jake looked up at the angel in shock. “I thought angels didn’t do nicknames.”

“Yes, well, not all angels or whatever.” Feniel said with a shrug.

“Okay Fen. Sorry again for being an asshole. I get… angry… when I’m coming down from a panic like that.”

Feniel nodded, and looked like he wanted to say something else, but then his pocket started ringing.

“Oh. I should take that. You’ve got about half an hour left before lecture. Maybe wash your face and take a minute to yourself before you come down?” He waved, answering the call as he walked out of Jake’s room and back to his own.

Twenty minutes later found Jake back down in the seminar classroom. He was ten minutes early, but already angels were starting to fill the seats. The evening seminar room was in their dorm building, which was both good and bad. Good because he didn’t have to go outside to get back to his room, bad because he had basically no excuse for missing or being late to evening lecture. Not that he planned to, but that wasn’t the point! Jake picked a spot in the second row, not quite at the edge. If Angels were anything like his usual teachers, they’d completely ignore that spot when looking for people to answer questions. While he didn’t have a book to read like Nia usually did, Jake still got out his notebook and pens, and busied himself doodling on the cover. He’d have to get more colors of pen, just blue wasn’t cutting it.

A few minutes later, a shadow fell over Jake’s notebook, and he looked up to see none other than Raphael taking the seat next to him. He was still feeling a bit shaky from his panic attack earlier, and he wasn’t entirely sure that the angel wasn’t sitting there to monitor him, so he was guarded, if quietly pleased at the company.

The lecture itself wasn’t bad, actually. Boring, for sure, but actually basic and useful information that would help him understand some of the cultural differences between his usual life and living here in the Celestial Realm. Jake knew this. He tried to internalize as much as he could. Of course, this was between glances at the angel next to him. Something about Raphael was compelling. The ash-blonde hair. The abs on display without a shred of modesty. Jake couldn’t seem to stop stealing looks. And he knew he’d been caught when his eyes met Raphael’s. Had the angel been stealing glances back? Or was he just tired of Jake staring?

The blush on Jake’s cheeks would give him away instantly if someone looked, so he stopped stealing glances at the (attractive eye candy) angel next to him, and instead put his energy into taking deep breaths while trying to pay attention to the lecture.

This worked for a sum total of ten minutes before he was back to sneaking glances, of course. But with better self-control. And that is the only thing that saved him from gasping in surprise like an idiot when the next time he looked at Raphael, the Angel met his eyes… and smirked.

The seminar had gone long, and Jake was exhausted by the time he got back to his room. All he did before curling up to sleep was plug in his phone on his bedside table. He didn’t even check his messages. He probably should have. It was a mistake he was unlikely to make again.

The next morning, Jake woke early once again from the ever-present nightmares in his life. He grabbed his phone, which was blinking, and checked his messages.

Mom > Jake: I’m fine, Jake. What’s up?

Then, half an hour later,

Mom > Jake: Jakey? Are you okay?

Again;

Mom > Jake: Jake, you’re worrying me, honey.

Then ten minutes later, a message from Nia.

Nia > Jake: Jake? Your mom called me. She’s worried. Are you okay?

And an hour after that,

Nia > Jake: Damnit, Jake. Call your mother.

So many messages missed. He had a lot of them. And missed calls. Maybe he shouldn’t have it on silent…

Jake > Nia: Sorry, yesterday was… a time. Gonna call mom. Will explain later.

Jake looked at the clock. 5:30, so late enough that he could call mom. He tapped her contact and let it ring.

“Jakey?!” his mother’s worried tone rang through his phone, and instantly he felt horrible. “Hi mom, sorry. There was an evening seminar and I forgot to check my phone before I went to sleep.” “You worried me, young man.” “I’m sorry.” “And why were you messaging to ask if I was okay, anyway? I’m fine. Everything’s going well here. It’s been three days, nothing much has happened yet.” “Sorry, I just…” Jake felt himself get choked up, and willed the tears not to fall. “Jake, honey, are you okay?” “I’m okay. Just had a panic attack yesterday, so I was worried about you.” “Panic attack? Did something trigger you, honey?” “Yeah, just there’s someone here who reminds me too much of dad.” “Oh, honey. You’re safe from him there, okay? Find someone you trust to hug. Maybe the other human?” “Yeah. Shiny would probably give me a hug, she’s nice.” “She’s the one you sent the photo of, right?” “Yep.” “Yeah. She looks nice.”

A knock at the door startled him, and he suddenly worried that he’d woken someone up with his phone call.

“Someone’s knocking at my door mom, I gotta run.” “Okay, baby. Text Nia and tell her you talked to me or she’ll still be worried.” “I did already, mom.”

Jake ended the call, and went to answer the door. Standing there was none other than the most daunting of exchange students, Yboun’dih, or as he liked to call her, Bunny.

“Hey, Bunny. What’s up? I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“No, no. I was awake because I was working out, and I heard you talking. I guess I was eavesdropping… but did I hear you say you needed a hug?”

Jake laughed, and invited her in so that she didn’t wake anyone else up.

“I was talking to my mom on the phone, and she suggested that I needed a hug, yeah.”

“I give good hugs! Can I hug you?”

Jake blinked. Why the hell not?

“Sure.”

Bunny reached out and pulled him into what was one of the most amazing hugs he’d ever experienced.

Raphael steeled himself for the conversation that was to come. He wasn’t expecting it to go well, but he had to try something. Feniel had told him what had happened after Jake left the night before, and all he could do was grit his teeth. He wanted to go up to the human’s room and make sure he was still alright this morning. Gabriel had mentioned offhandedly that the boy had been early to help cook breakfast, but he’d looked impossibly tired during gym class. There was no way he’d slept enough, and if it kept up, he was likely to make himself ill by not sleeping. Humans were notably weak about things like getting enough rest, and who knows how a human would react to a simple head cold or stomach bug in the Celestial Realm. He didn’t, at the very least, have any idea. And he didn’t want to find out simply because he did nothing when he could have intervened. And it’s not that he cared specifically about this one human. It was the principle of the thing. And, you know, saving himself more work down the line when something did happen.

Raphael reached out and knocked on Michael’s office door. Not his temporary office in the basement of the mixed dorm, but his proper office in the school building.

“Come in, Raphael.” Michael said, his voice reverberating through the door.

“Michael.” Raphael said, stepping into his office. “Do you have a moment? I have a suggestion.”

“Oh?” Michael set down what he was working on, and looked up at Raphael.

"I was thinking about my workload, compared to yours, Sir.”

“How do you mean?” Michael raised an eyebrow.

“Well, with the addition of the exchange program, you now have a lot more work on your plate. Given that the exchange program looks like it might be a discipline issue, I was wondering if it would help you to have me pick up the oversight on the exchange students. I could move into Feniel’s room, and keep them out of trouble. Then you could return to using this office and actually have some time to relax. Sir.”

“Ah, I did see you sitting with the human boy last night.” Michael said, clearly thinking it over.

“Yes.” Raphael said, nodding. “Given that you already had to speak to him once, I thought it couldn’t hurt to make my presence known, to avoid further stepping out of line.”

“Mhm.” Michael said, nodding. “I could certainly use the assistance. Let’s go with your idea, Raphael. Thank you for being such a devoted member of my staff.”

Raphael nodded, and turned to leave. “Of course, Michael. I will move after classes today.”

“Oh, and Raphael?” Michael said, as the angel crossed the threshold of his office. “You may take the standard punishments in hand - just give me a weekly report on transgressions.”

Raphael nodded. No further discussion was required, so he made his exit.

That conversation went flawlessly. As though Michael had already thought of it. Or was looking for someone to pass the work off onto. Raphael couldn’t help but be concerned about what the Voice of God was thinking with this entire mess, but if he could keep the exchange students from butting heads with Michael constantly, it would make the year that much better.

Jake stared at the page on the desk in front of him in satisfaction. There was no seminar tonight, so he’d sat down to work on all of the assignments he’d gained this week. Sure, he could have waited for the weekend to do all of his homework, but he really liked to get things done. Besides, getting everything done meant he could sleep more. Which he needed, around the nightmares that plagued him constantly. It was almost like they were worse now that he was away from his mother. He woke every morning feeling like he needed to call and check in with her. Of course, this made her happy because she wanted to hear from him and know how he was doing, but it was getting harder to keep his mind under control with all of the stress, and he really didn’t want to have to deal with a repeat of yesterday. Being so tired meant that he was likely to accidentally run into someone again, and if the situation with Ophaniel was something that was likely to repeat, well, he should focus on trying to get more sleep to avoid it.

With all of his assignments complete, however, Jake found himself without anything else to do, and it still seemed too early to go to sleep. Not that the utterly unchanging daylight gave him any real kind of circadian rhythm. That was, of course, about the time he started hearing noises next door. For a moment, he wondered if the demons were getting up to something, and then he realized that the noise was coming from Fen’s small room, the one that was supposed to be vacant.

Jake made his way to the door and peeked out to see someone carrying something into the room next door.

Someone tall, attractively built, unreasonably dressed, with ash-blonde hair... Wait a minute. Why is Raphael bringing things to Fen’s old room?

“Raphael?” Jake called, questioning. After a moment, the angel in question stuck his head back out of the room, a curious look on his face. He didn’t say anything, but the question in his eyes was enough to tell Jake he was wondering why he’d called the angel’s name. “Uh, what are you doing?”

“Moving in.” Raphael said, before ducking back into the room, as though that was absolutely enough to answer every question Jake could have had. Hint: It was not.

Jake walked over and leaned on the doorway. “You can’t tell me you don’t have some kind of extravagant room in a different dorm. Why here, in Fen’s tiny room?”

Raphael looked at him, and shrugged. “It’s closer to the exchange students. You’re my problem now.”

Jake grumbled, puffing out his cheeks. “I’m not a problem.”

That smirk was back on Raphael’s face. The same one he’d worn that first seminar night. “Not to me, you’re not. Michael on the other hand…”

Jake felt his cheeks heat up, and made himself look anywhere but at the angel in front of him. “I don’t know what you mean.” He didn’t want to be a problem to anyone, but Raphael was definitely a problem for him. An attractive problem. Yep. This was most definitely a crush. On an angel. He’d been here less than a week! Nia was going to tease him so much. “Anyway. I’ll let you finish moving in. I’m, uh, next door if you need anything. Which I’m sure you knew already but…” Stop while you’re ahead, Jake. “Bye!” He ducked back into his own room and shut the door, leaning against it.

What the heck, Jake?!

Jake grabbed his phone and looked down at his messages, seeing a new one from Nia blinking at him.

Nia > Jake: So, uh. I just made a pact with a demon.

That was not at all what he was expecting to read, and tapped the call button.

“Jake!” Nia said, laughing quietly “You called right away.” “Of course I did, are you kidding? What do you mean you made a pact with a demon?” Jake went right for the point, pulling no punches but also keeping his voice down so as not to share her news with the entire dorm. “Well, some things happened the first night I was here, and Mammon wanted to make sure he could find and protect me in case anything happened. But, like, don’t worry. I didn’t sign away my soul or anything.” She yawned, and Jake could practically hear her jaw creak. Girl was tired. The pact must have really taken it out of her. “Shiny said that souls weren’t a requirement for pacts and covenants, but that they needed something usually, to tie to or whatever. So what’d you give him?” Jake said, nudging her into telling the whole story, as was their usual habit. “W-well.” She stuttered, and Jake knew this was about to be some juicy gossip. He was enthralled immediately. “Mammon’s the avatar of greed, so…” “Spit it out, Nia. You’re obviously tired, and I don’t want you to fall asleep before the reveal.” Nia laughed, and Jake’s heart warmed to hear it. His bestie was happy. He missed her. So much. But that warmth was immediately washed away in shock when she finally answered him. “My first kiss. Something he couldn’t get anywhere else. Something he can’t be forced to give back.” Her voice was a hushed whisper, and Jake’s mouth just hung open like a fish. “Girl! You gave your first kiss to a demon?!” “He’s sweet. And careful with me. And everyone here treats him like shit, including himself. And, not that it was an important factor but it certainly didn’t hurt: He’s hot as hell.” “Well, I mean you’re in hell.” “No, wait, check this out.”

Jake pulled his phone away from his head when it beeped, and a picture of a demon with his abs on display at a photo shoot waited in his chat with Nia.

“Oh my.” Jake said. “He’s delicious, Nia.” “Right?!” He could hear the blush in her tone, and he loved it. He loved hearing his bestie so happy. And if what Shiny had said about pacts was correct, now she had someone who had a vested interest in protecting her. “I’m actually glad you did this pact thing, Nia.” “What? Why?” “Well I was talking to Shiny - Angels have something similar, they’re called Covenants up here though. And it sounds like you’ve made a good bond with someone who really just wants to keep you safe. And it makes me feel so much better about being away from you. I mean, I know how you were bullied at school, and I can’t help if you get bullied by demons this year, you know? But it sounds like Mammon can. So… good.” “Jake, you’re the—“ She yawned mid-sentence, still trying to talk through the action. He was pretty sure she’d said he was the best friend ever, but one could never be sure with yawn-speak. “Yeah, yeah.” He said, brushing it off. “Just don’t forget about me now that you’re making lifetime besties with a demon.” “How could I ever? You’ll always be my best friend, Jake.” “Same, Nia.” Jake said, smiling so big he felt like his face would break. “Now get some sleep. I’m gonna crash too.” “Niiight.”

#obey me shall we date #omswd #chapter fic #longfic #fic update #obey me!#obey me raphael #om celestial realm #celestial realm #om raphael

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bluejay-writes · 3 months

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Heaven is a Misnomer - Chapter 6

Fandom: Shall We Date?: Obey Me! Rating: Teen Chapter 6 Wordcount: 3115 Characters/Relationships: Jake (Exchange student OC) / Raphael Summary: Jake comes into conflict with an angel. Gets help from an unexpected source, but the conflict continues when he gets 'home'. Chapter Warnings: Bullying, Abuse of Authority, Panic Attacks

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Chapter 6 - Conflict

At the end of his first class, Jake stretched, glancing back at the pages and pages of notes he took. He was going to need multiple notebooks for this class, he just knew it. Which was fine, honestly. He’d rather be learning a lot about a topic he was ignorant in, even if disinterested, than be bored to tears in a standard high school class. Honestly, he thought this was probably what college would be like, so he was taking it seriously.

Looking back at his things, he checked the schedule that he’d taped to the front cover of his planner. His next class is in this same room, but he needs to choose a seat that’s closer to the front. He couldn’t always read the board, and he was damned if he was going to need glasses just to exist in the Celestial Realm.

As he moved past the crowds of students who were leaving the classroom to head elsewhere, he bumped into one of them. Or they bumped into him. He would never be sure which. The angel in question looked angry, and turned on their heel to pin him with a glare.

“Watch where you’re going, mortal.”

Jake blinked. He knew immediately that this was a garbage bullying situation. He’d been a bystander to all of Nia’s issues at school, and he could practically smell a bully from a mile away. “Oh, I am so sorry! I thought I was being careful, but I clearly wasn’t careful enough. It won’t happen again.”

“Are you mocking me?” The angel said, and between one blink and the next Jake went from looking at a generally average looking guy to looking at a very tall, very winged, four-faced being. Maybe there was some merit to be not afraid and he should stop making fun of it.

“Absolutely not.” Jake said, seriously, taking a deep breath to try and calm himself down. “I simply wasn’t watching where I was going. It’s my first time here, and I’m very distracted.”

“You’re going to be very something if you don’t start treating me with the proper respect.” The angel said, his voice even louder in this form.

Jake winced, and looked away. This was not how he expected his first day to go.

“That’s absolutely enough, Ophaniel.” A voice said from behind Jake, and he turned to see Azrael, still in her ‘normal’ guise, but looking so angry she was just as frightening to Jake as the angel in front of him, apparently named Ophaniel.

The angel in question suddenly popped back into their standard form, eyes wide, but lips sneering.

“Oh, I see. Poor mortal. Caught Azrael’s attention? Your days are already numbered, I don’t need to waste my time on you.”

They turned to leave, and then called out one final remark; “Thanks for the assist, Azrael.”

Jake turned to Azrael who didn’t look any less angry. Was she mad at him? Was he the actual problem here?

Azrael took hold of the hem of his shirt like he was an errant toddler in need of handling, and hauled him and his armload of things over to a seat, and settled him into it.

“Clearly you’re not capable of keeping yourself out of trouble, so let me do you a favor and have you sit with me.” She settled him and then snagged his planner off the top of his stack, looking over his schedule with a close eye. “We have all but one class together, so you should be covered from here out.”

Jake just blinked at the whirlwind that was Azrael. “Uh. Thank you? And I’m sorry.”

Her sharp eyes turned on him, and then suddenly softened. “Why are you sorry?”

“Well, I mean, you had to protect me, and you don’t like humans, and now you’re putting me next to you in class, and… you’re mad at me.”

“Mad at you? What would give you that idea?”

“You’re mad. And the angel who got all big thought I was in trouble with you, so…”

Azrael sighed, and shook her head. “Mortals. I forget you look grown long before you are. Jake, I’m not angry with you. I’m angry with that idiot for letting his bias show and making the Celestial Realm look bad on your very first day.”

“Oh.” Jake said quietly, feeling his throat tighten. No, Jake. No crying. Admonishing himself was unlikely to help. He wasn’t very good at dealing with people yelling around him. Nia was good at dealing with the angry ones. Even his mom was better at dealing with them than he was. He just curled up into a little ball and let it pass. If it passed.

Azrael sat back in her chair and didn’t say anything. Whatever her intent, it gave Jake some time to get ahold of what was going on in his head. When he managed to shake off the stillness that had overtaken him, he turned to look at Azrael again.

“Thank you for having my back.” He said quietly. “Sorry about all this.”

“No need to apologize. You’re a good kid. I don’t mind playing babysitter.”

Jake laughed ruefully. “You look like you’re my age. It’s weird to think about you being old enough to casually call me ‘kid’.”

Azrael smirked. “I’m old enough to call your great grandparents ‘kid’.”

Jake nodded. “That tracks. The angel of Death has been around a bit.”

Azrael chuckled. “Yeah, a bit.”

“Hopefully I don’t need a babysitter too long.”

“Well, you’ve got one anytime we’re in class. Except Gym class. You’ve got that one with Raphael though, so I’m not worried.”

“Yeah I was going to ask about that. Gym Class… seems…”

“All angels are expected to be a certain level of physically active and fit. For those of us with wings it is often used as flying practice, but as you’re a wingless type, it’ll probably be running.”

“Ew.”

“Agreed. I got an exemption so I don’t need to take it.”

“I wonder if they’d waive it if I told them I already completed my P.E. credits back in high school.”

Azrael paused as if in thought, and Jake waited while she found the words for what she wanted to say.

“Unlikely.” She said, “But you could always ask Michael. I’d normally say it couldn’t hurt to ask, but I never know what’s likely to set him off these days.”

Jake huffed out a breath. Michael seemed like a problem. Before he could respond to Azrael again, class started, and his mind was lost to taking notes once again.

Lunch came, and Azrael showed him the way to the lunchroom. Shiny, Aya, and Bunny were all waiting for him at the doorway, and after a bit they all settled at a table with their lunches, to chatter and eat food during their break.

Jake didn’t even consider the fact that Azrael was still stuck to him like glue until Shiny raised an eyebrow as she settled into the chair next to him at their table.

“Jake, who’s your shadow?”

Azrael scoffed, but let him answer the question on his own, which he appreciated.

“Oh! Shiny, Aya, Bunny, this is Az! Erm, Azrael. Sorry.”

Azrael just smirked.

“Oh. Azrael. I. Uh.” Shiny looked awkward, and Jake remembered Azrael’s comment about her the first time they met.

“Shiny, Azrael’s cool. She won’t bite, I swear.”

Shiny blushed bright red and muttered something under her breath, and suddenly Jake was sure that Shiny’s avoidance of the angel wasn’t about what Azrael knew or didn’t know about life and death but instead was more about the angel herself.

“Aw!” Aya said with a smirk and a wink. “But biting’s the fun part!”

Trust a demon to break the tension, Jake thought as he laughed.

“Anyway,” Jake said between bites of his sandwich, “Azrael and I have almost all of our classes together, so we’re hanging out. She’s promised not to let me fail any tests.”

“No, I promised you wouldn’t fail any. It’s not up to me, it’s up to your brain.”

That made everyone laugh, and Shiny finally seemed to get over whatever weird blushing mess she’d turned herself into. Jake couldn’t wait to ask her more about that later. Lunch devolved into chatter about classes and angels, and the same normal kind of gossip and shenanigans that Jake had loved from his usual school life. It was admittedly weird to be having a lunchroom lunch instead of having his half-hour of therapy every day. He wasn’t sure he wouldn’t rather have had the therapy still. Not that lunch was bad, but his new school was an entire time.

“Azrael.” Shiny said, “Why did you ask Jake if he had signed a covenant with Michael yet?”

“Not signed with. Made with.” Azrael said sharply.

“Jake can’t. He’s completely normal.”

“I know that now.” Azrael muttered.

“Wait, what’s the difference?” Jake asked, confused.

“The wording implies who is bound by the covenant, and who benefits from that binding.” Azrael said. “In this case, you are incapable of making a covenant because you have no magic to bind you to your word.”

“Oh.” Jake said, suddenly wondering even more about why Michael would want to make a covenant with him.

“Yep.” Azrael said, just as forthcoming with her words as usual.

As though summoned, the bell rang, shrill and irritating, sending the lot of them scrambling to get back to class.

Jake is still on cooking duty for dinner that night, but to his great joy, it just amounts to the same kinds and amounts of work as breakfast; Gabriel gave him vegetables and fruits and the like to chop up, and had him set the table.

As usual, Michael was joining their dorm for dinner, and Jake found it hard to eat the food on his plate, even though he’d helped prepare it. He knew it was good for him. He even knew it was delicious, because Gabriel had convinced him to taste things as they went and give opinions. But something about having Michael staring down the table made eating food seem like the worst idea. His stomach was in knots.

“Tonight is the first of our evening seminars that we’ll be holding. The topic will be a high-level overview of Celestial Realm History, etiquette, and other important topics for those of you who are new.”

Jake winced. Evening seminar. This implied it would take up his entire evening. At least he didn’t have a lot of homework yet?

As if he’d been waiting for some kind of complaint, Michael speared him with a glance. “These seminars are of course optional, and a lack of attendance will not directly hurt your grades here, however you will likely miss important information that will make your time here harder than it needs to be. I can’t recommend strongly enough that you all attend. It would be a good refresher for the rest of the dorm as well.”

Oh. Okay. Optional. Like Mrs. Frank’s extra credit. Sure, it wouldn’t directly affect your grade if you didn’t do it, but if everyone else did it and you didn’t, the curve would make it affect your grade regardless. He had a feeling that while it wouldn’t have a direct effect on his marks to miss the evening seminar, Michael would make it affect him in some way or another. Great. Great. The more he learned about this Head Angel in Charge the more he disliked the man with every fiber of his being.

“Ah, and Jacob.” Michael said, pinning him with a look. “I’d like to see you in my office after dinner, please.”

Jake started to open his mouth to once again correct Michael about his name. Again. He was interrupted by Feniel across the table.

“Excuse me, Michael. Weren’t we supposed to talk about…”

Jake didn’t get to hear the rest of Feniel’s sentence, as next to him Azrael hissed in his ear. “Stop fighting him in public, Jake. Don’t give him reason to find a way into binding you.”

Jake wanted to argue. He hated when people used his full name more than almost anything, because the only one who did was his dad. But the look in Azrael’s eyes, that slight panic she was trying desperately to hide, convinced him otherwise. Before he could respond, of course, Michael had already turned his attention back to him.

“Alright, Jacob, fifteen minutes after dinner?”

Jake just nodded. “See you then.” He could practically feel Azrael relax next to him. What in the world did Michael do to engender that kind of panic in the angel of death of all people? He was worried.

Even though dishes weren’t his chore of the day, Jake helped get the table cleared after dinner so that he wouldn’t have to just go back to his room for a couple minutes before going to talk to Michael. And because it was his only chance to try and get some more information out of Azrael about what she’d said at dinner.

“Azrael.” he said, catching her attention before she got to the actual washing of the dishes. “Got a minute?”

“Just one.” She said tersely. She clearly knew what he wanted to ask and didn’t really want to talk about it.

“What did you mean about binding?”

“That’s what the covenants do. Bind you to someone.”

“But I don’t have any magic. He can’t.”

“If you keep pushing, he’ll find a way.”

Jake blinked, a cold chill creeping down his spine. “Oh.”

“So please. Do us both a favor and just… fly under his radar a bit, okay?”

Jake nodded, needing no further push in that direction. His dad already had a vice grip on his life, he didn’t need a garbage celestial dad with a magical vice grip, thanks.

Jake passed Feniel in the hallway, and they shared an awkward smile. He knew full well the Angel had probably gotten a talking to for interrupting Michael at dinner, but he seemed pretty okay, all told. He did have something he needed to talk to Michael about, so it was probably fine. Jake couldn’t just go assuming that Michael was going to be garbage just because the angel reminded him of his dad.

Of course, the minute he saw Michael’s ‘office’, all charitable thought went out the window. It was creepy. It was a small room, separated from the basement lecture hall by a cutout wood panel wall. Not a true wall at all, just a pretend wall. It wouldn’t keep light or sound in or out, so only gave the thinnest veneer of privacy. Add to that the presence of a bed in the corner, and Jake was more than a little creeped out.

Michael looked up as he entered, giving him a moment to take in the space completely before speaking.

“So, Jacob. I heard you had an altercation with an angel during passing time today.”

Jake nodded. This was true.

“Tell me what happened.”

“It was between classes, I was moving up closer to the front of the classroom, since I had an issue hearing my first teacher and didn’t want the same problem for my second class. I was distracted thinking about what we covered in my first class, and ran into him. I apologized, but he was��”

“That’s absolutely enough. Ophaniel came to me this afternoon in tears. Clearly your apology wasn’t sincere.”

“Wait, in tears? That’s not right.” Jake said, immediately feeling the need to defend himself. “He got very angry with me and got so much bigger than he was before. Azrael—”

“Oh, I know this part.” Michael said, with a bitterness to his tone. “It’s not right that you should be relying on your status as an exchange student to get you out of situations where words would suit. He told me that Azrael set you straight, so I’ll forego any punishment, this time.”

Jake just blinked at him. What? That angry so-and-so in tears? He’d been about to be paste on the classroom floor until Azrael stepped in. And Azrael was the one that set him straight, and not Ophaniel?

“Punishment. For being attacked? I never once said anything but an apology to the angel in question, Michael.”

“You’re kidding, right Jacob? This whole thing is a joke, haha, joke’s on Michael. ‘I didn’t harass the angel, he harassed me!’ As though I’m meant to take your word over someone with whom I have a covenant?”

Jake felt himself freeze, fear running through his veins like ice. Azrael’s words came back to him then, and he definitely regretted talking back to Michael even the tiniest bit. He knew that his mother wasn’t here to get him out of this confrontation, and it was going to take everything he had to get out of this in one piece.

“I will be more careful in the future.” he said, keeping his eyes on the desk in front of the angel. Maybe looking passive was the way through this. His mother always admonished him to pick his battles. Maybe it was time he learned that lesson. This wasn’t one she could fight for him, after all. He really hoped she was alright.

“I don’t believe you.” Michael said sharply. “Look me in the eye and swear that from this point on you’ll behave while you’re here, Jacob.”

Jake swallowed his retort, and nodded, looking up to meet Michael’s eye. He knew he was probably even paler than usual, and he could feel the soft tremors starting in his fingers. He needed to end this conversation and get out of here before it got out of hand.

“I will be on my best behavior while I am here in the Celestial Realm.” He said, and if he was proud that his voice didn’t shake, he was also relieved that pride didn’t bleed into his tone. “I promised my mother, and I make the same promise to you.”

Michael nodded, and dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “See that you do.”

Jake took the dismissal and all but bolted out of the office. He needed to get back to his room, and fast. As he left he passed Raphael standing near Michael’s door, and wondered how much the Angel of Discipline had heard. Had he been there in case Jake made a scene? In case Michael decided he required some discipline? Did he require discipline? He certainly hoped not. Raphael nodded to him, though, and didn’t move. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Jake knew he should be proud that Raphael even acknowledged him, but mostly he was terrified.

#omswd #obey me!#obey me raphael #obey me michael #raphael x oc #longfic #fic update #OM Raphael #OM Celestial Realm #Bullying #abuse of authority #panic attack

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bluejay-writes · 3 months

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I really appreciate your writing. You can tell you have a lot of passion for what you put out, and you always put your heart and soul into what you create.

Wow. Thank you so much for this lovely compliment. I'm stunned. I'm so glad you like my writing. 💖

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bluejay-writes · 3 months

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Heaven is a Misnomer - Chapter 5

Fandom: Shall We Date?: Obey Me! Rating: Teen Chapter 5 Wordcount: 3412 Characters/Relationships: Jake (Exchange student OC) / Raphael Summary: First night and first morning in the Celestial Realm, punctuated by nightmares.

You can also read this on AO3, if that's your jam!

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Chapter 5 - Evening and Morning, the First Day.

Likely unsurprising to the rest of his dorm mates, Jake took the first possible opportunity to escape to his own room once dinner was finished. He didn’t notice the concerned eyes of his new friends following him, nor the concerned ones of the few angels he’d met. He was busy thinking about how he was possibly going to survive an entire year here having already alienated the head of the Celestial Realm in such a short amount of time.

Is he homophobic? Jake wondered, as he closed and locked the door of his room. As he’d shown with the girls earlier, he really was notably gay if anyone tried to look. Something about him just exuded a “boys only” vibe, he supposed. And Michael was biased against him because of his sexuality, he wouldn’t be the only one. Jake was prepared for a year of shitty bias, but that didn’t mean he was excited about it.

With that thought rolling around in his mind like poison, a knock came at the door, startling him so hard he dropped the packet of papers they’d gotten at dinner.

“Shit.” he hissed, and bent to pick up the scattered papers. If it was Michael on the other side of that door he didn’t want to be a literal mess the first time he laid eyes on the man in a one-on-one situation. “I’ll be right there!” He called towards the door, glad in that moment that he’d compulsively locked it, and that Shiny had shown him the key so that he didn’t have to fumble around like an idiot just minutes ago. He wouldn’t have had the brain after supper.

Once he had the papers stacked up and set on the desk, he walked over to the door, unlocking it and opening it gently. The person on the other side of the door was none of the people he’d considered might have come to check on him after dinner, and he was entirely uncertain how to greet them.

“Oh. Hi, Feniel, Sorry for the wait, I…”

“Are you alright?” He asked, suddenly. “Sorry for interrupting, I just came to tell you something, but you look… off.”

Jake waved him off. He didn’t know the angel well enough to tell him anything. “I’m fine, I just got startled by the door and knocked my packet down. Wanted to pick it up before i opened the door.”

Feniel nodded at that, and Jake was relieved that the Angel seemed to take his words at face value. It was true enough, but implied he was doing way better than he actually was.

“Well, Jake. I just wanted to tell you that this room next to yours is usually mine, but since Simeon is down in the Devildom for the exchange program, he said that I could use his room for the duration, so… I won’t be in my room, but will be across the foyer in his, if you need me for anything.”

“Oh.” Jake said, nodding. That made sense. “So who’s going to be staying in your room?”

“For their sake? Hopefully no one.” Feniel said with a self-deprecating smirk. “My room is punishingly tiny.”

Jake gave him a dubious look, and Feniel gestured at the door behind him. “Don’t believe me? Come look.”

He stepped out and looked into the room next to his. It really was tiny. Barely large enough for a twin sized bed and a chest of drawers.

“Whoa.” he said, eloquently.

“Yeah.” Feniel chuckled. “Now you see why I borrow Simeon’s room any time he’s away.”

“I do.” Jake nodded. “You could fit that room into the one I’m staying in like three times over. How come your room is so tiny?”

“It’s a long story. It wasn’t always my room.” Feniel shrugged. “I could tell you sometime, if you want. Just not tonight, you look done in.”

Jake was, in fact, at that moment stifling a yawn.

“You’re not wrong. Not sleeping last night wasn’t fixed with a short nap this afternoon, that’s for sure.”

“You didn’t sleep last night?” Feniel looked concerned, and Jake learned in that moment that he had no idea how to handle that kind of concern from someone who was at best an acquaintance.

“Yeah, well.” He shrugged. “Nerves. New school, you know?”

Feniel chuckled. “I wish I knew. I asked to go to the Devildom, but they turned me down.”

“Huh.” Jake said, wondering what the process had been like.

“Ooh, we’ve devolved into one-word responses. You go get some sleep, Jake. I’ll see you at breakfast in the morning, and we can share our rants about not getting what we expected already out of this exchange program.”

Jake laughed. “I’ll definitely be there, I’m on cooking duty already tomorrow.”

“Have fun with that, you’re with Gabriel. He’s a great cook, you could learn a thing or three from him.”

“Oh, sweet.” Jake wasn’t a bad cook, he just wasn’t a cook at all. His mom did all the cooking, and there wasn’t a place for him in the kitchen. Not as far as his dad was concerned, at least.

“Anyway, goodnight Jake.” Feniel said, turning with a wave.

“Night, Feniel.” Jake said. He shut and locked the door before letting out a long sigh. Feniel seemed pretty okay. He was still nervous dealing with any of the angels since they seemed to follow Michael without question, and that angel was terrifying. Jake wasn’t sure what it was about Michael that set him off earlier. But he’d been as afraid of the man at dinner as he often was of his father, and he wasn’t particularly interested in that being a dynamic he needed to manage ever again, thanks.

Determined to make a fresh start in the morning, Jake went to the wardrobe and looked through it with a closer eye. Yes, the school uniforms remained baby blue polo shirts and khakis. But there was also a neat stack of underthings, a caddy of bathroom necessities, a stack of pajamas sitting on a shelf, and white sneakers in the bottom of the closet. He felt the same relief he had earlier at the existence of pajamas that looked like something he’d actually wear.

Too tired to consider a bath before bed, Jake slipped out of his clothes, depositing them in the empty hamper before putting on the pajamas from the closet. They were perfectly oversized and cozy, which implied they were actually chosen for him, not just generically. Weird. They probably asked his mom about his sizes or something.

As Jake plugged in his C.C.C. on his bedside table, he paused. Nia hadn’t gotten back to him after he’d sent the selfie with Shiny before dinner. Hopefully things were just busy and exciting for her down in the Devildom, and she wasn’t having the stressful mess of a time he was having here.

He reached to shut off the light and realized… he’d never turned it on. It was still bright as day outside, and his curtains were sheer. Was he supposed to just sleep with the sun still on? Fuck, fine. Whatever. He was tired. He could nap during the day, he could get a whole night’s sleep during the endless day. It was fine.

As his eyes started to drift shut, Jake’s last thought before sleep was simply to be grateful that he was tired enough to sleep and not plagued by his usual insomnia.

Jake woke with a start, looking around his familiar bedroom. This was wrong. Something was wrong. It was too quiet. Something had woken him, for sure, but there was nothing making a sound, not even the television downstairs that seemed to be on 24/7. He got out of bed, and padded over to his bedroom door, opening it slowly before looking out into the hallway. No sign of either of his parents. Moving carefully, certain to the very core of his being that if he made any fast movements he’d be caught in an instant, Jake made his way downstairs. What he saw horrified him. The front door was open, his mother’s suitcase sprawled out just past it, the contents scattered all over the front step. Now he heard the way the screen door rattled in the wind. He wondered why he couldn’t hear that upstairs, but put it out of his mind. He had to find his mother.

“Mom?” He called quietly, still worried about being heard and caught. He strained his ears for any sound he could hear, and there was nothing. No wait. There. In the kitchen.

Jake moved as quickly as he dared to the kitchen, and what he saw there made his vision swim. His mother lay in a pool of blood, bruised and battered and cut, like she had been torn to pieces by an angry beast.

“Jake.” she rasped at him, fear clouding her eyes. “Jakey, you have to run. Get out. Your father—“ the fear in her eyes grew larger and unfocused, as if she was looking over his shoulder at something

Just then, a shadow covered the entire room, and Jake turned to see what was blocking the light—

Jake sat bolt upright in his bed in the Celestial Realm, his heart pounding out of his chest.

“Fuck.” he said, shakily, pushing his sweaty hair back out of his face. There really wasn’t much else he could say after a nightmare like that.

After a few minutes of breathing and counting, Jake felt a little more stable, and reached for his phone. He needed to message his mother and make sure that she was okay. She’d know exactly why he was asking, of course. He could never keep his nightmares from her, and he was certain that being on an entirely different plane of existence would not stop her caring motherly powers.

His room was bright as day. It had been the exact same brightness when he went to bed. Maybe he could get Mom to send him some blackout curtains… shit. Mom.

Jake > Mom: Good morning, mom! Sorry for the early message. I just got worried. Is everything okay?

Figuring he wasn’t going to get a response right away, and very certain he wasn’t going to be able to get any more sleep, Jake grabbed the shower caddy and a uniform out of his closet and went to take a shower at some unreasonable hour of the morning.

The dorm building was absolutely silent. There were no sounds of people snoring, or of anyone else even vaguely considering being awake at this hour. It was the same kind of eerie that his dream had been, and Jake spent his shower just waiting for something terrible to happen.

When he returned from the shower, clean and smelling acceptably of what seemed to be Rosemary and Mint, his device was blinking. He realized that with the sun constantly on, he had no instinctive guess as to what time it was. And his watch was telling him all kinds of wrong information.

Jake plopped down on his bed and unlocked his device. 5:30 am. Well. That was as unreasonably early as he’d felt like it was, for sure. Ah, a message from his mom.

Mom > Jake: Don’t worry, it’s not early here. Nightmares, Jakey? I’m doing fine. Mom > Jake: I’ve moved out of the house, staying with a coworker for the time being.

He smiled. Of course she was staying with a coworker. They were all good people, for the most part. And everyone loved his mom. He’d have expected her to just stay with Nia’s family if they didn’t live so close that it’d just be like not moving out at all.

Jake > Mom: As long as you’re safe. Mom > Jake: Of course, honey. Good luck on your first day. Jake > Mom: Thanks, Mom.

Jake ran his hands along the legs of his pants while he tried to decide what he should be doing with his morning. At least the fabric of the horribly chosen uniforms was nice to the touch. There was a ray of sunlight in his dismal fashion future. A tactile, soft, ray of sunlight.

Before he forgot, he set his watch, and wound it to match what his device was telling him the time was. Better not to be completely confused mid-day. He just hoped their days were still 24 hours, else he was done for.

Steeling himself against what was going to be a long day on broken problematic sleep, Jake grabbed the dorm rules syllabus and scanned through it for what time he was expected to help with breakfast. 6:15? It wasn’t even 6 yet by this point, but maybe he could take some time familiarizing himself with the kitchen if he went and got started now. Maybe if breakfast was ready a bit early he’d have more time to pick up his first day supplies from the office before classes started.

The kitchen was just as easy to find as Jake figured it would be. He was expecting maybe labeled cabinets and some expected recipes. What he wasn’t expecting was to see Gabriel already working on breakfast. Before 6.

“Oh. Am I late?” Jake said, peeking in the doorway.

Gabriel startled, but smiled.

“You’re not late, I decided I wanted to get started early today and make something nice for the first day all of you exchange students are here. You’re here earlier than I expected, though!”

“Well, yeah. I woke up early.”

“Ah, you must have been who I heard in the shower around five, then.”

“Sorry, did I mess up your routine?” Jake winced. He hated being in the way.

“No, no. I have my own bathroom. I’m just not used to anyone else being up this early. I’m usually awake because someone’s broken the internet again.”

“That again sounds ominous. At least for your sleep schedule.” Jake said with a chuckle. “So, Gabriel, how can I help?”

Breakfast was ready with minimal input from Jake - Gabriel had him set the table for everyone, and cut up some fruit for a fruit plate. Mind you, it was weird looking fruit. One of the apples was red on the inside like a strawberry, and there was a starfruit looking thing that was blue and glittery on the inside. Even blueberries weren’t actually blue, and Jake was dubious. Gabriel assured him that everything that wasn’t safe for humans or demons had been banned from the dorms for the duration of the exchange program, so he shouldn’t worry about it and try anything he liked. He’d basically had everything else ready to go on the stove or in the oven by the time Jake got there, and Jake was happy he hadn’t waited until 6:15 to come down, or there wouldn’t even have been that much to do.

Everyone had good things to say about breakfast, which made Jake happy. Sure, he’d cut up fruit and put plates on the table, but even Gabriel spoke to how grateful he’d been to have Jake’s help. It was a bit overwhelming. Much like the blue starfruit, which was so sugary he was sure it was a candy and not a fruit.

In what was probably the most unsurprising reveal of the day, Shiny and Aya had decided they were walking Jake to class. And Bunny was damned if she was going to be left out. Cue the four exchange students walking to the school office together to pick up their things. At least someone had the decency to put together notebooks and pens as well as their school books so that they could take notes and otherwise be prepared for success.

Jake remembered reading that they were being given a stipend for necessities, and that it would be good of them to spend from their first stipend to get a bookbag delivered from the local delivery service. He also remembered in a very visceral way the advertisement from said delivery service. “Harp Express”, which ‘locals just call us X these days’ their ad said - though he doubted it. Their slogan proudly proclaimed ‘Be Not Delayed’. Jake shuddered at the business pun. That was… definitely… a slogan. Also their logo had too many eyes. Biblically accurate logo. No thank you.

Supplies gathered, they went their separate ways to their first classes. Jake’s first class of the morning was Virtues.

Is patience technically a virtue? Jake was going to ask just to be a smart-ass the first time he had a chance. Jake slid into a seat that didn’t look like it was going to get him yelled at for taking someone’s seat, and pulled out his phone. He still hadn’t heard from Nia, so he decided he should text her naggingly until she responded. It occurred to him that he didn’t know if the Celestial Realm and the Devildom were synced time wise. Given all the time zones on earth, probably not. Which meant he should check so he didn’t text at some ungodly hour. He should also confirm things with Mom, since she said that it wasn’t too early when he texted at 5-something.

Jake > Mom: Hey, just want to get it in my head so I don’t text you at bad times - what time is it there right now? Mom > Jake: About noon! You? Jake > Mom: It’s about 8am. Mom > Jake: Ooh, Alaska time.

Jake chuckled. Sure, sure, the Celestial Realm was Alaska. That tracked. Next, Nia. He’d ask about time if he managed to get her to respond about anything else.

Jake > Nia: Hey. How’s the devildom? Not too full of torture and blood? Jake > Nia: I saw your hot boy pic. Is that really Satan? Nia > Jake: Totally is. He’s supposed to be the Avatar of Wrath, but he’s actually a sweetheart who reads as much as I do. That selfie is in his room, btw.

Oh hey look at that, she responded right away.

Jake > Nia: Hey, what time is it there? Nia > Jake: About 10am? I mean, I think? Yeah, my D.D.D. says 10am. It’s always dark here, so… I honestly never know what time it is unless I check. Jake > Nia: I know the feeling kinda, it’s always bright out here. And it’s like 8am here. So not too far off. It’s Noon at home. Nia > Jake: California is Hell, you heard it here first. Jake > Nia: Only if that makes Alaska Heaven… Nia > Jake: I think they swapped names. Jake > Nia: Seconded. Jake > Nia: Have you met the Celestial Realm transfers yet? Nia > Jake: Not yet. I haven’t met the other human exchange student yet either, though we locked eyes in class earlier. He’s… a time, if my housemates are to be believed. Jake > Nia: What do you mean? Nia > Jake: Remember Solomon the Wise from history? Jake > Nia: Wait a damn minute, the other human exchange student is some old dude? Nia > Jake: He doesn’t look that much older than us, his hair is silver though. Nia > Jake: It’s weird, he reminds me of my dad a little. Jake > Nia: Is it the jokes? I bet he makes dad jokes. Nia > Jake: Haha I have no idea. But I’ll totally try a dad joke on him tomorrow. Jake > Nia: Or you could ask him if he really would have split that baby in half. Nia > Jake: THAT. I am going to ask him that. Jake > Nia: How’s your uniform? Mine… has khakis. Nia > Jake: Oh no! I’m in mine, let me take a mirror selfie. Nia > Jake: [image] Jake > Nia: Dang, girl! Your makeup though! Nia > Jake: Crazy good, right? I had the Avatar of Lust handle me this morning. Jake > Nia: Handle you? Nia > Jake: OMG Jake, Not like that!!! Jake > Nia: I jest, but be careful, okay? Nia > Jake: Duh!

Jake was still chuckling about Solomon the Wise when the classroom started to fill in with normal students. They looked for all the world like they could have been his classmates back in high school. A little bit more visual age distinction, but like, not a ton. Freshman level college classes age diversity maybe. But they also… just looked like people. If he didn’t know that they were all angels of some variety, he would never have guessed that he wasn’t just in some pretentious boarding school. Maybe if he just pretended it was an exchange program to a pretentious boarding school, it’d go by faster.

#omswd #obey me shall we date #longfic #fic update #chapter fic #obey me!#OM Raphael #OM Celestial Realm

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bluejay-writes · 3 months

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Heaven is a Misnomer - Chapter 4

Fandom: Shall We Date?: Obey Me! Rating: Teen Chapter 4 Wordcount: 2953 Characters/Relationships: Jake (Exchange student OC) / Raphael Summary: In which Jake learns some interesting things about himself, about covenants and pacts, and about Michael. Notes: Hey fam. How has it been a week already? I'm confused. Anyway, it's Tuesday, so new chapter time! I think this is the first chapter that'll give you a bit of a visceral "oh dear" moment if you've read Devils in the Details. Lemme know if you spot it. XD

You can also read this on AO3, if that's your jam!

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Chapter 4: Witching Hour

Shiny’s room was gorgeous. Very pink and flowery. Jake was expecting it to be witchy and gothy like her general demeanor, and it very much was not. And, thinking about it, that made perfect sense. It wasn’t really her room, it was just the room she’d been assigned for the exchange program. Jake wondered if over the course of the year it would end up becoming more her style, or if she’d keep it pristine and pink and floral for the mental break it caused to enter the space.

Sitting in her room was Vriyaya, looking more like a human and less like a demon. Jake didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed. She was gorgeous either way.

“So, Jake. You say you’re a normal human, right?”

“Yep. Boring inner city kid with a shitty life.”

“Would you be offended if I wanted to test your theory?”

Jake blinked. “You have some kind of test that will tell you if I’m actually an angel or a demon in disguise?”

“Well, yes. But also if you’ve got latent magic. Magic like I use.”

“Wait, you’re not just a witch by religion?” Jake didn’t realize there was any other way to be a witch. He just figured she was Wiccan or Pagan or something and let it go. It seemed like the sort of thing that the Celestial Realm would begrudgingly let in to prove that their version of religion was right.

Shiny laughed. It was a musical thing, and Jake liked to hear it. “No, I’m a witch because I do the magic shit. Mostly potions more than like, visible magic things, but I do know how to do a testing array. I at least learned that before I stopped my formal training."

“Formal Training?”

“Yeah, I was learning under someone but she was… well… horrible. So I didn’t get any good fancy magic but I can at least do this, and the other realms let me into their libraries to study sometimes, so…”

“So you jumped at the chance to be away from the mostly boring human realm for a year, and if I want to find you and you’re not here I should look in the library.”

“Oh, he is smart, Shiny, you meant it.” Aya said, and Shiny nodded.

“Yeah. Very sharp. Thus, I want to test him.”

“Okay, okay, I give.” Jake rolled his eyes. “What do you need to test me, a vial of blood?”

Aya eyed Shiny and grinned with the pointy version of her teeth.

Shiny laughed. “Not a vial, but a single drop will do.”

Jake paused. He’d been joking. “Oh.”

“If you let me bite your finger,” Aya said with a little purr, “It won’t hurt in the slightest, or even scar.”

Jake considered, and then shrugged. “Okay. I mean, if you promise. Why would you choose to bite me when I could just like… get a safety pin?”

“Because she gets to taste you.” Shiny said, laughing. “See, Aya. I told you.”

Aya sighed. “Yeah, you’re right, my charm really did roll right off him, he is gay as hell.”

“Is hell gay?” Jake said, eyeing Aya.

Aya rolled her eyes “Generally yeah, I mean. We assume ‘yes’ before ‘no’ generally, and that leads to most demons just being open to whatever.”

Huh. Jake thought. The Devildom might be an interesting time for Nia.

“Anyway, so the biting? You want to taste me?”

“I can learn a lot from someone through their blood. Just like Shiny can do her neat little array and look at pretty lights to learn about you, I get it all from a taste of your blood. You might be able to fool one of us, but not both of us, is what it basically comes down to. Someone really powerful might be able to fool both of us, but not both of us and the angels because, well, realm balance and shit. Someone can always tell with their method. And the angels vetted you and called you normal, so if you’re not, one of us can tell.”

“Cool.” Jake said, and held out his hand. “As far as I know I’m totally normal, so bring it. I’d love to learn something new. It’s like 23-and-me except with magic shenanigans.”

Shiny wasted no time setting up her array. It was simple pentagon with some reagents in places and symbols written in places. As she set it up, she babbled about what she was doing, and Jake was trying to pay attention but he only caught something about “flame-testing elements like in chemistry” because that was his favorite thing about Chem class even despite Mr. Cook’s bigotry. Also his favorite computer game as a kid was an edutainment title that had a big flame-testing puzzle and he loved it.

Once she was set up, Aya took his hand and bit into his thumb with one fangy little tooth. True to her word, it didn’t even sting. He felt the wet of the blood drip onto the glass microscope slide that Shiny held out, and then she licked the wound with the tip of her tongue and it while it tickled a little, it sealed back up without issue.

Jake watched the colors flare up just like Shiny said they would and even where she suggested they would if he truly was normal. There was a little something-something going on in blue in a section she had told him would be dark, so that was interesting.

After a moment, Aya shrugged. “There’s some potential for something maybe? Defensive. I mean, it could be that not only are you very gay but you’ve got some kind of innate charm defense.”

“Yeah, the blue in that spot, looks like passive defense. Pretty cool, normie.” Shiny said. “Probably had a magic-type somewhere way back in your lineage.”

Jake smiled. “Oh, well. Huh, that’s neat and potentially useless information. I’m just going to keep telling people I’m normal.”

“You are normal.”

“It’s working already.” Jake said, with a wicked grin that both girls returned.

Aya professed a need for a snack after working her magic like that, and headed out to raid the kitchen. Jake turned and looked to Shiny, meaning to ask her about covenants. He’d been curious ever since Azrael asked if he’d made one with Michael, and he figured asking his fellow human would hide his ignorance better than other options. Just then, his phone-shaped device (He’s never going to call it a C.C.C. again, that shit is irritating to even think) buzzed with a message. And then again. And before he could even get the thing out of his pocket, a third time.

“Who even has this number?” He muttered, and unlocked the thing. “Oh, mom maybe.”

He was wrong. The messages were from Nia, of course. Who else?

Nia > Jake: They teleported me in my pajamas. Nia > Jake: It’s Hot Boy Summer. Nia > Jake: [picture]

The photo was of course his bestie Nia, curled up on a bed with a blond-haired green-eyed hottie, against a backdrop of a concerning number of books. It was like Nia’s ideal situation. Excepting perhaps the blonde. She’d always joked that she liked gingers best. Jake whistled, because she seriously wasn’t joking about hot boys. He was seriously attractive, and Jake was envious immediately.

“What’s the message? You’re invested enough you’re ignoring me.” Shiny said, with a teasing pout on her face. “Boyfriend?”

Jake shook his head. “Nah, just my bestie. She’s in the Devildom right now, actually. Sent me a selfie with her newest friend, I guess?”

Jake turned his phone-shape so Shiny could see, and she grinned.

“Your friend is super cute! Also I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Satan smile, so… hold onto that picture, it might be worth a lot of money someday.”

“Satan?” Jake said incredulously.

“Yep. Avatar of Wrath himself. She’s made powerful friends. Also, pretty sure that was taken in the House of Lamentation, so she probably knows the rest of the brothers.”

“Huh, cool. Hey, you wouldn’t want to take a selfie with me to send back?”

Shiny grinned. “You mean a photo of a cute blonde boy and a black girl with epic hair? In trade for a photo of basically the same thing? How could I refuse?!”

Jake laughed, and took a photo with Shiny, the florals of the room in good display as a background.

Jake > Nia: This is the other human exchange student, Cheyenne. Jake > Nia: Envious of your hot boy experiences already Jake > Nia: Can’t wait to hear all about your first day. Jake > Nia: Mine has been tedious. It’s weird to be normal.

Jake turned back to Shiny, determined to get his questions answered while he felt safe to ask them.

“Shiny, what can you tell me about Covenants?”

“Oh, did someone talk to you about them already?” Her eyes were sharp, and concerned, almost the way Azrael’s had been. He didn’t like it.

“Azrael asked me if Michael had made a covenant with me yet, and I said no, but like, I don’t even know what a covenant entails, and I feel like that’s a very bad thing to be ignorant about while I’m here.”

“You’re not wrong. Okay. Let’s come at this from a different angle. Have you heard about “making a deal with the devil”? Or like, did you ever watch Supernatural?”

“Yeah, well to the former. I didn’t watch Supernatural, my dad didn’t think shows like that were acceptable, so…” Ugh, he hadn’t meant to mention his dad. He really didn’t want to talk about what home was like.

“And yet you’re gay. Okay. We’ll unpack that later.” Shiny chuckled, and Jake was happy when she didn’t press it. “So basically, the real life version of deals with the devil aren’t just ‘trade your soul for power’, they’re more the demon binding themself to the bearer, like a loyalty commitment. Whoever has a demon’s pact mark can generally control said demon, depending on their level of magical prowess and power. You, for example, could probably do nothing at all with a demon, but having their pact would prevent them from doing anything that would harm you directly. They say it makes them want to protect you, as well, but as I’m not a demon, I wouldn’t know about that.”

“Okay, so what do pacts have to do with covenants, then?”

“Everything. Covenants and pacts are the same thing, with different names. The symbols one tends to get for a covenant are different, but otherwise they are functionally the same. Basically just the names are different, and the character set used to mark them. Kind of like a language diaspora can make differences occur with perfectly identical topics otherwise.”

“Oh, so the human realm has to have our own version of them too, right?”

Shiny nodded. “Contracts, of course.”

“And boring normal humans like me could make a contract, covenant, pact?” Jake asked, trying to figure out how that would work.

“Well, someone could make one with you. A magic-capable human can make a binding contract, demons make pacts, angels make covenants. But, the ones with the magic are the ones who are bound by them, not vice versa. It’s a willing sacrifice of your own autonomy. I think the fact that humans without magic can’t be forcibly bound to someone is good. And it’s an incredibly intimate thing. Most demons and angels have their own rituals that go along with binding themselves to someone.”

“So how did something like that get twisted in folklore and myth to be ‘trade your soul for power’?” Jake was curious, and Shiny seemed to love explaining things. He was glad he’d asked her about it, and not someone else.

“Well, since the one side is voluntary and holds all the magic, they can ask for anything they want, and bind that into the spell. Most of the rituals require something to be given. And demons are very good at getting desperate people to give up just about anything. I once knew an old woman who had to make a pumpkin pie every day from first harvest until the new year, for a guaranteed perfect harvest every year. It was a lovely bargain, and the demon in question was surprisingly kind, she just loved pumpkin pie more than any other food, and especially that woman’s. I’d honestly believe that when she dies she’ll have a place in that demon’s house in the devildom. No torture, only endless baking. That woman would probably find it to be heaven.”

“That is the sweetest story.” Jake said, his eyes misty. “Like, wow.”

“I know, right? Don’t buy into the ‘all demons are evil and all angels are good’. They’re just people. Different races of people, with millenia of bias piled on them.”

“So you’re saying it’s probably entirely safe that my bestie is in the Devildom right now?”

“Yeah, for sure if she’s with Satan. He can be a cranky ass, but he’s mostly just a bookworm with a short temper. If he’s already let her in his room, she’s probably entirely safe.”

Dinner in the dorms was a much more formal affair than Jake was used to, with a set start and end time. It was quieter, less chatter while people ate, because they only had so long to eat before dinner was over. He worried about Bunny getting enough to eat, but she seemed like she was capable of taking care of herself. The food itself was exactly the kind of weird Jake had been expecting about his time here in the Celestial Realm. Everything was a different kind of food, but it all had this weird happy vibe to it. Like cloud cakes and Ethereal Buckwheat pasta, and some soup that glowed. They promised him that everything he was eating was entirely safe for humans. Even Shiny told him about the foods she’d eaten before so he had a better idea of what was actually safe.

And, to its credit, the food was all delicious. The textures were sometimes a little bit off-putting, but he figured after a year he’d get used to it, right? By the time he went home, even Nia’s mediocre cooking would be such a piece of home that he would cry to eat it. Not to speak ill of his bestie, but she knew how to cook exactly five things. And they were all acceptable. 6/10 would eat weekly.

Over dinner, Michael lectured them about what the expectations for the exchange students would be over the course of the year, insofar as chores were concerned. There was a rotation for basically every chore that Jake could think of, and then some that he didn’t even know what were, and was going to have to learn from the few angels who actually lived in this dorm building (Apparently the ones who were in other realms for the program normally lived in these rooms, and did these chores.)

Certainly Jake was expecting the explanations of chores to be rough. He was expecting to have to learn a lot of new things. But basically everything that Michael was saying was couched in weird language that made it sound like it was a choice, and optional, and only for their benefit, but sounded like an absolute drag. Like the evening seminars, which were voluntary, but so much could be learned, why would you ever skip them?

His mind spiraling on possible absolutely terrible experiences that this year in the Celestial Realm might have in store for him, Jake unintentionally tuned out the last twenty minutes of Michael’s lecture. It wasn’t until Aya was nudging him under the table and he noticed the irritated look on Michael’s face that he snapped back to reality.

“Well, Jacob?” Michael asked, as if waiting for an answer to his question.

Jake blinked at him, for a moment hearing his father’s voice instead of the angel’s.

“Oh, were you talking to me? My name’s Jake. Can you ask again?”

Jake instantly regretted using Nia’s usual strategy of talking back to problematic authority figures at the way Michael’s eyes flashed. It was terrifying, in a way that sent chills down his spine that he was utterly unable to control.

“I was asking if you understood your responsibilities whilst you are here.”

Jake wasn’t sure he could even react with the fear flooding his system, but just as fast as it hit him, it drained away and left him once again in control of his voice.

“Oh, for sure.” Jake said, nodding as if they hadn’t just had a moment in which he was certain he was about to be the victim of an epic smiting. “Don’t worry, I’ll behave. And besides, you gave me a paper copy of all of the rules—” He tapped the packet, which he liked to think of as his syllabus for existing, and tried to put the smile back on his face. “—Just in case my ADHD is too much and I need to remind myself.”

Michael scoffed and turned back to the room at large.

“Now, usually it will be only the residents of this dormitory who are eating and sleeping here. However, as I am overseeing the exchange program and am responsible for the safety of our other-realm students, I will be here most days, at least for dinner but often during other times. Conveniently, one of my offices is located in the basement of this building, so if you are uncertain as to my location, you can assume I will be working there for the foreseeable future.”

Jake tried not to shiver. Something about Michael made him intensely uncomfortable.

#omswd #obey me shall we date #fic update #obey me!#chapter fic

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