A.H.I.G. (closed)

Will didn't sleep through the night. Not much anyway. Opting to keep alert as he feigned sleep. Even with the wards around the apartment, his paranoia was still in overdrive when it came to being safe. Especially after an attack like what happened earlier in the night. It had been the first in a little over a month. He didn't know if someone was following them, if they warlock had just done a shoddy job covering their tracks, or if the three angels being in the city at the same time alerted hunters near the area. Whatever the case may be, he was glad to be leaving the city in the morning. 


Will was the first up and moving when the sun began to peak over the horizon. Mainly to pull the blinds closed. But whatever. He glanced around at the others while the slept, Jackie being in a weird angle with his head dangling over the edge. Adorable little idiot. He sighed walking into what he assumed could be called a quarter of a kitchen, setting some coffee to brew and glancing around for anything to munch on. He didn't eat much. Neither did Jackie. Their human forms didn't exactly react much like normal humans. They never felt super hungry but they would put on or shed off weight depending how they ate. It was weird. They were still getting used to trying to eat every day so they didn't look like skeletons.

Matias was usually the first to wake up so he found it odd when he saw Will up and about. He pulled on a shirt and walked over to him, leaning on the counter.
"Let's go out and get breakfast for everyone. Not as safe as in here, but it beats starving. Lani, Vanya, and I usually burn a lot of calories," he muttered. He didn't mention that Lani and Vanya usually ate more than the calories they needed to burn, which was why they were chubby but he decided against it. Self control wasn't something Lani was good at and as much as Vanya complained otherwise, she was still thirteen years old. "They'll both be safe with Lani."

"I don't really use the word 'safe' anymore. Never seems like it's real" Will says quietly, shutting the last cabinet when he didn't find anything to eat. The last thing he wanted to do was to go out and get food with Matias. He would rather go with Jackie. Or either of the other two, based on his few spare moments dealing with them all. But he was hungry, hungry enough to notice it anyway. 

"Is there something close by or do we have to walk half an hour." He asks turning to look at the angel blankly. Matias was larger than Will, both in height and size. But that didn't really matter much in human form, any amount of power can be hidden if they try hard enough. But the last thing he wanted to do is fight. "Just don't want to be out too long. In case Jackie decides he wants to wander off again." Will says, not without a hint of bitterness in his tone

"Five minutes away. And Lani would just drag his ass back. Vanya's curiosity gets the best of her too, so Lani's used to it. But, hey, you don't have to come if you don't want to. I just figured you wouldn't want to eat any of Lani's drugs or booze for breakfast," Matias said, kicking the small black bag on the floor. He knew there were two bottles of rum in the fridge but that was all. Lani didn't know how to cook for the life of her, Matias had other things to worry about, and Vanya was distracted far too easily to be considered anything but a fire hazard. Matias recognised Will's expression; he knew he was sizing him up. It didn't bother him a bit, he just didn't think it was necessary. He had no intention of fighting him, even if he didn't trust a demon.

No I suppose not." Will replied, easing his stance slightly, his hands sliding into his jacket pockets. "I can't get drunk. I've tried. I'm surprised you guys can." He says, moving by Matias towards the front door.  "Well let's go. I'm sure they will wake up soon and be hungry. May as well get a head start." Will unlocked the door and walked out, waiting near the door in the hallway for Matias to join him

"The harder shit has more of an impact. Ever since she met Sebastian, it's like she's a different person. I mean, you knew her before. She wasn't always like this," Matias sighed. He saw bits of who she used to be when she laughed. She was never good with her emotions, but she never drowned them in drugs or booze. She never had any interest in them. She was far from a perfect angel, but she was kind and good and happy. He supposed she was like that around Sebastian and Will, but the minute she was away from Sebastian she turned sullen and cold. He hoped it was just that she was sad over being away from someone she loved and not that she was losing herself completely in the human world.

Am I supposed to know who this Sebastian is?" Will asks back to Matias as he starts down the hall to the elevator. His tone was plain, probably a bit more 'I don't care' than he meant it to sound. Probably due to the 1 hour of sleep he was coasting on. For the past week. 

"But you're right. She was happier when I first met here, although with a fierce edge. Considering where she was at the time." Will remembered feeling the portal opening, near where he and Jackie were relaxing in the fields, just outside of the city. Remembered bringing Lani to the same place he usually hid Jackie and planning out where to find vanya and how to get them both out. Before things went to shit.

"Oh, sorry. Sebastian is her... fiance? Boyfriend? They met about a month or two after she escaped hell. He's human, which is why I refuse to keep him around. We're supposed to protect humans, not put them in more danger. And yeah. Lani was like that. Sunshine and rainbows until you made the wrong move and there was a knife at your throat. Now, she's all hard edges. I hope someday she can be better, happy again. All she wanted to do was save Vanya and this is all she has to show for it," Matias shrugged and walked to the elevator. Lani rarely talked about her time in hell, only to talk about how kind Will and Jackie had been to her, even though she was an angel. She never spoke about what happened down there, so Matias had no clue. He wish he did, so he could help her.

Will took a slight offence to Matias' reply, his tone icy but still fairly restrained. "I made no wrong moves. Everything went exactly as we planned. I just don't know what happened. If a guard saw Jackie, or what. We were in the clear, and then we were surrounded. There was nothing more I could do. They got out unharmed, that was my end goal." He stepped into the elevator and hit the ground floor button, leaning against the wall. "I think about that almost every day. I never came up with what went south. As for the Sebastian guy. Good for her. She deserves some kind of solice in all this bullshit"

"What happened to them - to you all - wasn't anyone's fault. Sorry, I misspoke. Sometimes, I think it would've been simpler if you let them die down there. Angels... we're warriors first and foremost. It would've made more sense to cut your losses and just leave them to die. Hell, maybe Lani and Vanya would've at least died instead of living the way they do. I know Lani has nightmares about that day, even if she won't talk to me about it. Vanya is the same, but you can actually hear her. I don't know who you were to each other or whatever the fuck happened down there, but whatever happened... it looks like it destroyed you all," Matias walked out into the cool air and started walking down the street. He didn't draw attention to it, but he was always watching, making sure they were safe. He wasn't being hunted, but Will was and Lani and Vanya would be very upset if he got hurt. "Sebastian is... he's a mess. I've never met him, but if he could get Lani into drugs and alcohol, I'm pretty sure he's a drug addict. Humans... they're messy. I didn't meet up with her again until a few months after she met Sebastian, so I never met him. But I would at least like to heal him so hopefully he'll be a good influence on her this time. I'm not even quite sure how they met, now that I think about it. I guess it's one of those things."

Unfortunately that's not how I'm wired." Will said, his tone still blank as he follows Matias outside. "Letting them for wasn't something I could do. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe it's a bad thing. I'm not that great of a demon, if you havnt noticed. Not exactly a harbinger of evil. Maybe I'd be better off if I was." He was slightly annoyed, reliving the events in hell again. A whole hour before his usual daily crisis of flashbacks. "As for the human he's probably a lost cause. If he's a druggy he could be dead in a gutter at any time." 

Will absentley switched back and forth between his normal vision and aura sensing as they walk. Nothing out of the ordinary, but auras weren't a perfect measure of danger. "So you guys are being hunted too, then? What's after you? Or, did a superior Angel put a hit on you're guys heads"

"Well, then you and Lani make a great team. She was bad at being an angel, but not cause she was evil or anything. She just wasn't good at following any semblance of orders. Angels leave behind the weak or injured. That's just how we are. She's not like that. When Seraphim Celes gave Lani the order to stand down and let Vanya die in hell, Lani couldn't do it. But that's not why she got stripped of her wings. Angels... we only really have one cardinal rule: we are not allowed to betray any living thing. That's how we get our wings stripped from us and cast down. Lani probably would've gotten punished another way for disobeying a direct order. But that's why she's being hunted down. We get our wings stripped and our powers revoked. Lani got away before they could take her powers and immortality. The angels don't care about Vee or me," Matias shrugged and walked into a bakery. He smiled at the guy standing at the counter as he waited in line.
"And Sebastian... yeah, the angel part of me just wants to leave him to die. But Lani is my sister. I want to at least try to cure him of his addiction. I mean, I know he's alive. He calls her every morning and night. He's devoted, if nothing else. But then again, angels mate for life. I think that's pretty fucked, to be honest. But you haven't been around them these past years. I would do anything to make them happy, and if that includes curing Sebastian of his addiction... I'll do it. Love is... odd. Angels don't really deal in those things. We're warriors, we don't really have time for them. They're burdens. But if it makes them happy, I'll do it."

If you asked anyone where I grew up about love, they would reply that it isnt real. Or that its a useless emotion." Will says dryly, his voice dropping a bit as they walked inside. People were more likely to hear them when they were inside, and the bakery was occupied with customers waiting. Normal looking types. Basic customers, shady looking bystanders further back. One of whom Will recognized as an acquaintance to the Warlock he had paid for an aura dimming spell earlier that week.

"I can't really agree with either argument. But it can be more of a hassle than its worth. Maybe that's some common ground our kind share." It wasn't the only thing either, Demons prided themselves as being warriors too. Well, ruthless killers more than warriors, but there wasn't much of a difference when it comes to fighting in Will's view. He offered to carry the food, taking the to go bag from the worker before heading towards the door, the warlock's acquaintance's eyes following the two out. "Angels may not be interested in you or Vee. But other people certainly are." Will says quietly, matching the boy's gaze as the door shut behind Matias. "we should probably put a hurry on leaving."

Matias wasn't going to argue with him so he just nodded.
"You go on ahead. Whoever it is is after you, right? You take the food and go on ahead. Neither side is actually after me," he said, his jaw set. Plus, if he didn't make it back, someone had to protect the others.

Will went to say something but paused, breaking off. "Sure." He muttered shaking his head and walking out of the shop, rolling the top of the bag he held shut. He wasn't sure how long he and Jackie would be with the group of angels. While it was nice to have other people to watch your back, they became easier targets for aura seekers. That and the fact they may not get along that well sort of hurt the idea as well. Maybe just until we get out of the state. Break off in Philly. That could be a plan. 

Jackie stirred awake, opening his eyes to an upside down room. He had somehow moved in his sleep so that he was hanging his head off the bed. With a yawn he slid back more so he fell out of the bed, rolling backwards to his feet. It was quiet in the hotel room, "where'd Matias and will go?" He asks himself after a moment, finally realizing what was different.

Lani rubbed her face with her hands and sat up, looking over to see that her sister was on the floor. Again. She sighed and slid off the bed, scratching her head. Lani looked over at Jackie.
"They probably went to go get food. Although I don't know why. We have food," she shrugged and pulled out the black bag Matias had thought was full of drugs when in reality, it had scones and a pumpkin muffin. "Want some while we wait for them to come back? Matias will keep Will safe."

Matias hung back, following Will at a distance so he would be able to attack anything that came for him. He could feel it, the wrongness, the heady taint that filled the air - the feeling that marked an underworld creature to angels. It was like a warning sign, one he was not going to take lightly. Lani and Vanya would be upset if anything happened to the demon boy so he was going to do what he could to protect him.

Jackie turned when Lani spoke, happily taking a scone that was offered. "Thank you," he started, sitting down on a chair and taking a small bite of the scone, unsure if he liked them or not. After the initial taste he decided he did and continued eating. "You'd think Matias would know what all you guys would Have? Seems like the taking inventory type." He says in between bites, looking up at Lani, "you guys move around a lot?"

Will made it back to the hotel without much issue, besides a homeless man being a tad irate when will ignored his request for change. If he was just with Jackie he may have been able yo spare a little food for the guy but that wasn't the case. He took the elevator up to their floor and unlocked the door, walking inside quietly as to not wake anyone up. 

"Hey will" Jackie greeted, mouth half full with a scone. 

Will looked at his brother with a confused look, "tall and brooding said we didn't have food. Where'd you get that?" He asks, setting the bag he carried on the table.

Lani snorted a bit, trying to stifle her smile. She made a shushing gesture to Will then pointed at Vanya, still sleeping on the floor.
"Don't be so mean to him. He's really sweet when you get to know him. And I keep some food for myself and hide it in there. Matias thinks I do drugs just cause my fiance does so it's easy to keep food in that bag cause he never looks inside it," Lani said, a satisfied smirk on her face. She took her small victories where she got them, even if it was just skimming food. Matias walked in, looking over everyone in the room to make sure they were there. When he wasn't looking, Lani held a finger to her lips to Jackie so he wouldn't tell Matias.
"We should leave in an hour or two. I got that thing off our tail but I wouldn't push it," Matias said, looking over at the sleeping girl on the floor. "Why is she still sleeping?"
Lani just shrugged and took a pastry from the box.

A playful smile popped on Jackie's face, nodding that he wouldn't say anything about the hidden food. It was a good idea, even if hiding food when in a group seemed to be a bit wrong to him. He took another pastry from the box Will had put on the table and looked at Matias, "Something was following you? What wa-"

"Something is always following us, Jackie." Will interrupted him, his voice carrying a tinge of annoyance, not towards his brother per say, but Jackie did shrink a bit from Will's tone, making Will wince. "Sorry. I'm not sure what it was, but it looked like a middle school kid, really creepy smile, lots of piercings. Not the look I would go for when trying to blend in, but. It is New York" He shrugs, grabbing a doughnut from the box. "But I agree, we should scaddadle soon. How far away is this RV you guys are buying?" He asks, glancing from Matias to Lani. "And where were you planning on going? South? North into Canada?"

(I'm done with college next week, so hopefully I can start replying to things a bit more frequently)

Matias looked at Lani, slightly annoyed. She looked down at the carpet, rubbing the back of her neck. The whole RV thing had been her idea and he knew exactly where she was going to go first. She knew her brother didn't approve and it made her a little uncomfortable saying it out loud because of it.
"We were going to head South, into Georgia. I wanted to pick Sebastian up before we headed into the Caribbean," Lani muttered and took a bite of her pastry. She didn't want to look at any of their faces, fearing what she would find there.

"Sounds good to me," Will said after a moment, in an uncharacteristically upbeat tone, taking a bite from his food. "That's plenty of ground to cover, that's pretty much the main thing we've been focused on." He added, jabbing a thumb toward Jackie, who was now unfocused from the conversation, looking out the window. "Well. What ive focused on. He doesn't do that much."

"I wish we didn't have to leave. This place is awesome." Jackie said a bit somberly. "No other city we've stayed at had a toy store that huge." He added, remembering the store they had all run into each other at the night before. "I never got to get anything there." He muttered, letting the curtain fall back to cover the window.

"We can get you something at the toy store after we pick up the RV, okay? Will's a bit of a stick in the mud, so who would you like to go with?" Lani asked Jackie.
Lani smiled a bit at Will's comment, trying to look unbothered. Something about the whole situation felt off to her. Having Sebastian, Will, and Mathias meet seemed wrong to her, as if something wasn't quite right. Like the situation should be different somehow, but she wasn't sure what should be different. But part of the reason she felt that way was because of her decision in Hell, and she still wanted to pretend for a bit longer that she and Will could really be friends. She would tell him the truth at some point, just not today. She'd always been a selfish creature, so why do anything differently now? She turned away and scraped her curly hair back in her best attempt at a ponytail and went to wake her sister up.
"Hey, lazy. Rise and shine," Lani chuckled a bit and touched her shoulder. Vanya shifted away from her cold touch as she slowly woke up.


Mathias wrinkled his brow at Lani, not quite sure what to make of how she acted. He just assumed she was odd around Vanya, but he noticed she acted strangely around Will too. As if she wanted to get close, then stopped herself and retreated. Mathias missed her, how she used to be, and could sometimes see a flicker of the person she was when she was just around himself or Jackie. Mathias might hate demons, but so far Will and Jackie had done nothing to deserve his distrust. Mathias was a man of reason, and so far he had been given no reason to hate Will and Jackie. He went up to Will and leaned next to him on the wall.
"Sorry I've been such a hardass. Vanya is just a kid and Lani doesn't take anything seriously enough to be of any real help, so it's just been me dealing with everything that gets thrown at them. I'm not too keen on demons, but if Lani and Vanya trust you, then so do I. They're both good judges of character."

Will glanced up at Mathias briefly when he started speaking, looking away at the others after a moment. "Well. Trust me i know how it feels not to have much help when it comes to problems." He mutters, his voice bitter. "I love the kid, but Jackie isn't exactly easy to keep track of. Seems to go back and forth between the mind of a little kid and a somewhat smarter bigger kid. If that makes sense.

"And don't worry about it. You being a hardass is the least of any of our problems... and I'm glad they seem to trust me. I know that can't come easy to angels. But then again... I did go through some shit to make sure they stayed in one piece." He sighed and stood up from the wall, turning to Mathias and holding his hand out, "I promise I will try to cause as little trouble for you guys as I can. I owe you anyway of you guys are letting us tag along. We good?"


Jackie smiled brightly at Lani, "you guys would do that? That's so cool!" He said excitedly, "I guess it wouldn't matter who I went with. Even Will would probably be fine..." he trailed off, thinking. "He seems angry and frustrated a lot. But I know it's because he's trying really hard to keep me and him safe. Kind of like you and Mathias I would think. You guys seem a little less stressed though"

Mathias nodded, watching Vanya smack Lani with a pillow, batting her away. Lani stuck her tongue out at her.
"Yeah, I know how you feel. Lani is my sister, but sometimes I feel like her father. Vanya hates Lani for some reason but seems to like me well enough. I was actually one of the ones telling Lani not to go rescue her. I just wish I knew what happened in Hell to make Vanya hate her. Some days, it's a trial to even decide what we're going to eat. They've been on better behaviour since you and Jackie showed up, though. So sorry about them, if they get bad again. And yeah, we're good."

Lani smiled at Jackie and nodded.
"Why don't Will and I take you? Will's better at detecting demons and I'm better at saving his ass," Lani chuckled, but her laughter faltered a bit. The nagging at the back of her head telling her she most certainly did not save his ass when he needed it.

Do you have anything specific you had in mind in terms of them getting the rv? Feel like a short time skip would be in order, either them showing up to get the rv if there was plot events you thought of or we can go shortly after them leaving or anything really)