Fallen Guardian (Sachihiro & BurdgeBug)

[Sachihiro]

The city streets were always busy here, even this late in the evening. Angry carhorns honking at all hours of the night, flashing headlights mingled with flickering streetlamps that desperately need maintenance, and busy, stuffy-looking people in business suits pushing past each other while they yelled into their cellphones were the perfect ingredients for a headache. Nonetheless, something about these settings--or perhaps it was this very one in particular--felt like home to Alexander Goode.

Without anywhere to go, he didn't mind the traffic and without anyone to notice him, he didn't mind the crowd. No one could really see him, unless they bumped into him on the sidewalk, and even then, they would just hurry past without so much as a mumbled apology. Just another stranger in the crowd they would never meet again. Ironically, he felt more alone here, unnoticed in busy streets, than he did anywhere else, so he came here when he wanted to clear his mind. He told himself it was therapeutic, but deep down he knew it was probably more like the counterinuitive desire to listen to sad music when already in a dismal mood.

And his iPod was out of charge.

He took a drag from his cigarette and tried to see if he spotted anything familiar around here for the hundredth time, but it was impossible to come to any real conclusion. His memory from when he was alive was so fuzzy--it was like there was a block in his mind between him and what he wanted to know, more frustrating than disapponting. But being dead, he imagined it wouldn't even matter anymore if he could remember.

 

[BurdgeBug]

A young woman wove her way through the thick crowd along the narrow sidewalk, small sobs bubbling from her throat every now and then. She had tried to keeget from crying while in public but it was no use. Astrid always did wear her heart on a sleeve. Tears ran in tiny rivulets down her freckled cheeks as she looked down at the cracked cement beneath her feet. Could life get any lower for her? She was generally an optimistic person but it seemed as though fate was determined to have her hit rock bottom.

Her hopes at publishing her first book were not going so well. Despite having a vast imagination and intelligence, every agent she went to said that no one would read her work. Fantasy was the ‘out’ thing, apparently. On top of that, her father was sick in bed back home in Oregon. His cancer had returned and he was doing his best to battle it. And, just recently, she lost her job at a sophisticated restaurant down town that paid remarkably well in tips. The young woman had been blamed for stealing money from a table that wasn’t hers but it had been a lie. She would never do such a thing. Regardless, no one believed her.

Astrid sighed, standing at the edge of the curb waiting for the cross walk to turn green. How she could use a hot bath and a tub of ice cream right now. She saw feet moving out of the corner of her eyes and knew it was safe to walk. Despite this, however, a taxi came racing through the street at a speed that far exceeded the limit. The driver planned on going through the red light and didn’t see the pedestrian until it was too late to stop.

Astrid’s large, green eyes widened furth as she looked up to see the car heading straight for her. The head lights reflected in her orbs momentarily before she curled up and braces for impact.

 

[Sachihiro]

The crying was the first sound that caught Alex's attention--too raw and soulful to blur with the other background noises, and he can tell it's close. Interest piqued, he scanned the crowd with narrowed, decisive brown eyes, looking for its source, gaze eventually locking on a fair young girl. Consoling people was never really his forte, and truth be told, he didn't consider himself a good listener, but he considered approaching, nonetheless, both out of genuine good-will and as a simple means to spice up a rather full evening. He could grab her shoulder, get her to notice him, maybe grab coffee and make her laugh, even if the encounter would likely slip her mind immediately after it ended.

Bonds formed with humans were tenuous like that.

But that little stray idea seed doesn't have the time to fully manifest when he catches a glimpse of a taxicab speeding right towards her. Shit.

He took only a split second to look around for another angel--her guardian--but he couldn't see even a single feather, so he acted on instict, more human than anything else. Alex took a long stride forward, more of a leap than a first step, wings positioned out of the way, and he rushed into her, colliding with her back in a way that pushed her just out of the way of oncoming the taxi and traffic while other pedestrians scatter.

Once safe, he panted, leaning slightly over her while he regained his bearings, arms and heavy, dark wings cocooned around them. After a moment, he leisurely pulled himself to his feet, offering the most lopsided smile.

"Hi there."

 

[BurdgeBug]

She should be dead. Certainly she was, maybe she just hadn’t felt the impact? That’s when she heard a car horn and felt something push into her, knocking her off balance. Astrid gasped and fell to her hands and knees, the soft skin scraping against the rough gravel. The honking of the car soon disappeared and all she heard was whispered and exclamations coming in her direction.

The blonde felt a soft breeze against her face and turned her head just in time to see something feathery move behind a tall figure. Did she.....just see wings? No, that was impossible. She blinked several times and then they were gone and it was just a normal, handsome young man standing over her. Astrid gaped up at her savior as he spoke. So then, was she alive? That much seemed to be evident by the small crowd forming around them.

“Are you alright?”

“You aren’t hurt, are you?”

“Do you need an ambulance?”

It took several moments for her to speak and she shook her head at the bystanders. “N-No....I’m fine.” She then turned her gaze to the dark haired male. “Hi.....uh...thanks for saving me.”

 

[Sachihiro]

He hoped the crowd not acknowledging him didn't seem strange to her, as he wasn't really in the mood to give a long explanation as to the circumstances of his existence to shake the foundations of everything she knew just yet.

He continued to eye her for a long moment, as if lost in thought, before snapping back to the situation at hand and saying, "Oh! Right. No problem."

He extended a hand, that damned crooked smile never once fading. "I'm Alex."

Out of the corner of his eyes, he kept searching for a guardian, one he could berate for doing their job so poorly, but none came. That seemed dangerous. A guardian should have some sense telling them when their human was in danger, they should have shown up immediately, or at least right after.

"Can I walk you home?"

 

[BurdgeBug]

She hesitated only for a moment before taking his outstretched hand into her own. His skin was warm and slightly calloused but what was the most peculiar was that a small electric shock occurred when they brushed finger tips. Astrid, however, didn’t think too much about it for her mind was still reeling with the fact that she had nearly been hit by a car.

She stood with Alex’s help and gave him a shaky, but sweet, smile. “Astrid. Nice to meet you.” Her eyebrows then rose to nearly meet her hairline at his question. But she simply cleared her throat and nodded. “Oh! Yeah, sure.”

The crowd gave her concerned looks but didn’t say anything more on the subject, deciding that she was alright to leave. And so the young pair began their journey towards Astrid’s home. “I don’t know how you managed to push me out of the way in time. He was going pretty fast. Jerk.....”

 

[Sachihiro]

If Alex was aware that he--a tall, dark-haired man with many piercings and a heavy coat--could be seen as intimidating by many, he didn't acknowledge it at all or seem to care. He followed her lead, his steps a little heavy and slow because he was on the lookout for a guardian to chew out, despite his motivation being simple enough to sum up as hating it when pretty girls die.

Plus, those other angels were always so pretentious in his eyes. For lack of a better word, they had a holier-than-thou aura about them he just couldn't stand.

"Yeah, that was a dick move. Probably some passenger thinking their business is more important than everybody else's throwing a little exits money at the poor, underpaid driver or something. People like that are the worst."

He side-eyed her. "And you're sure you're not concussed or anything...?"

 

[BurdgeBug]

She chuckled softly at his question, placing her hands into her jacket pockets to keep them warm against the frosty air. “I’m fine. I didn’t even hit my head when I fell.” Though, maybe she was if she thought that she saw angel wings. But Astrid never stated this as they continued walking down the street. The throngs of people slowly thinned out as they began entering apartment territory.

She turned into one of them and sighed at the heat that greeted her inside. There was a security guard sitting behind the main desk, reading a paperback novel when he suddenly looked up to see who had entered. He gave her a pleasant smile that she returned before his nose was once again buried in the book.

Astrid entered an empty elevator with Alex hot on her heels and they rode it in silence, soft bells chiming whenever they reached a new floor. It stopped on the sixth and they hopped out before taking a right and traveling down the corridor before coming to a door near the end.

“Well, this is my stop, thanks for walking me home. I didn’t think men did something like this anymore.” She teased, her green eyes sparkling up at him. Goodness, he was handsome. She found her pale cheeks turning crimson as she looked shyly down at her feet.

 

[Sachihiro]

"Heh, maybe they don't, but I do! No need to give all men credit for me being such a gentleman, right?" he asked, toying with his eyebrow ring. "But you're welcome."

He leaned against the doorframe for just a moment, as if he had something more to say, but only reaffirmed, "I'm glad you're okay. It would be a shame if something happened to a cute girl like you."

He almost concluded the evening right there, but he was still bursting with curiosity and somewhat drawn to this situation in general. Just as he turned to leave, that lopsided smirk of his reared its head again, and he held up a hand to ask, "Maybe we can grab some coffee or a burger sometime? I'd like that very much."