Original: "A Little Bit of Heaven." Femslash
I hope the mods will forgive this. I had this written yesterday and returned from Thanksgiving break to find that my housemates cat had chewed through the cord for our wireless router, so we only just got internet up again.
Anyway, I'll keep this short and sweet. This takes place in the same universe as Light in the Darkness and Warmth. Hope y'all enjoy. Probably won't be the last snuggle in this 'verse.
Theme 16. Fuck
Summary: Terry found Lailah at Bailey's, so it seems logical she might find other good things there.
Fuck!”
Terry rolled her eyes as Lailah flopped down onto the bed belly-first, wings sprawling over her haphazardly. “You don’t even know what that word means,” she pointed out, trying to edge her papers out from underneath her imaginary friend.
Lailah peeked up at her through her fringe and feathers. “I do so. Mostly. I think.”
Terry giggled and flopped down next to her, careful not to sit on any of Lailah’s feathers. “So that’s a no. You were imagined by a minister’s daughter, hon. I doubt that word was in anybody’s vocabulary before you went to the Home.”
Lailah stuck her tongue out, but stretched a wing out to encompass Terry anyway. “Are we going again today?” she asked quietly, looking sidelong at Terry.
Overcasually, Terry stared at the ceiling and said, “I thought maybe we could go to Bailey’s Home for Imagined Beings today…where I found you.”
There was a flurry of wings and feathers as Lailah scrambled up so she could look at Terry. “You would be okay with adopting a ‘friend’?” she asked.
Terry smiled softly. “So far, the best thing in my life has come from Bailey’s. Why should this be any different?”
The brilliant smile that Lailah turned on her might’ve been lethal if Terry hadn’t given into the angel years ago. “Can we go now?” Lailah didn’t wait for her response before bounding off the bed and out of the room. With a fond smile, Terry followed more sedately.
*~*~*~*~*
She knew which imagined being Lailah would want an interview with as soon as they looked out the window to the backyard. The little being had black wings that looked like he was still growing into them, skinny in a way that suggested they might be something other than feathered. They were tucked in close against him, as he sat reading next to the pond that housed some of the water dwelling ‘friends’ at Bailey’s.
They’d called ahead, made sure that this sort of adoption was even a possibility. The Bailey’s were sweet folks, and they’d been delighted to hear from her, and to hear she and Lailah were looking to provide a home for another ‘friend.’
When they’d pointed out the ‘friend’ they wanted to meet with, Mrs. Bailey had hesitated uncertainly but sent her son to collect the being anyway.
Five minutes into the interview, and Terry was completely lost about what was going on. This wasn’t the first time she’d been in one of these interviews, but it was certainly the first time one of them had gone at all like this. The little being had stalked into the interview room in complete silence, thrown himself into a chair, and merely glared at them. Considering he resembled a miniature gargoyle up close, it was actually mildly foreboding. Confusing barely covered it.
Lailah leaned into her side, wings tucked back behind her, brows furrowed in confused concern. “Is something the matter?” she asked, though Terry wasn’t sure who the question was directed at.
The little being glowered more fiercely at them, chin jutting out mulishly as he decided to answer the posed question. “I won’t go with you and you can’t make me. I can’t leave.” The last was said somewhat desperately, but the glare hadn’t lessened any.
Terry tried to smile kindly. “Okay. We wouldn’t force you to come with us if you didn’t want to. We came looking for a friend who might like to join our family. We know ours is a little different than most people, but we think two moms can work just as well at providing a good home.”
The little being’s wings jerked in surprise, scowl shifting into something like shocked guilt. “Oh, I…It’s not because of that,” he stammered out, wings twitching uncomfortably.
Lailah stretched her wings slightly before settling them again, tipping her head curiously. “What is it then? Do you simply not wish to be adopted? That’s fine, you know.”
He was wringing his hands now, wings unable to still. “I…I have a kid. She’s the one who imagined me. They made her leave me here when they moved her to a new group home. She still visits me though!” The little being’s wings trembled and he looked close to tears. “I can’t leave. She won’t be able to find me the.”
Terry didn’t need to confer with Lailah, knew her angel better than she knew herself sometimes. She smiled softly as she asked quietly, “Is your imaginer, perhaps, also looking for a home of her own?”
The little being was no longer merely close to tears, gray cheeks streaked with tear tracks. “Y-you would do that? Adopt us both?”
Terry had felt Lailah light up beside her and she could see her angel beaming from the corner of her eye. “We’d have to meet her, of course. Make sure we’re the kind of family she wants.”
“You are! I mean, you will be - I mean, she’ll love you or I’ll talk her into it or -”
Lailah was the one to cut off his excited rambling with a laugh. “Maybe you should actually tell us something about yourself first. We didn’t even get a name.”
The little being blushed to the roots of his hair, the gray of his skin darkening. “My name is Gregoire. And Aurelie is my imaginer.”
Terry smile as Lailah squeezed her hand excitedly, unable to hold back a giggle as Lailah’s wings bumped her as they fluttered. “I’m Terry, and this is Lailah. I think,” she stood, squeezing Lailah’s hand again. “I’m going to go talk to Mrs. Bailey about meeting Aurelie. I’ll leave you to ask Lailah all the questions I’m sure only another imagined being could answer.” She left with a wink.
Mrs. Bailey wasn’t far, watching over what looked to be some of the youngest imagined beings. She looked worried to see Terry, but that melted away when Terry explained that they simply wanted to try to meet Aurelie as well. Her son was called again to run the errand, and Terry was content to watch the imagined beings play, not even seeming aware of their differences, the wings and tails and horns that set them apart from one another.
“Miss Terry?” The small voice came from behind her, and Terry turned to find the epitome of a little angel, hair a golden halo of curls around a pale face sprinkled with freckles. She was anxiously smoothing the shirt of her white dress, glancing uncertainly over her shoulder at Mrs. Bailey’s son. He gave her an encouraging nod and she turned back, giving a little dip of a curtsy. “My name is Aurelie.”
Terry smiled, because she could’ve been Lailah’s actual daughter, bright blue eyes huge as Terry offered a hand to the little girl. “Why don’t we go see Gregoire and I can introduce you to Lailah, and we can all get to know each other? I’m sure we’re going to like each other.”
Aurelie took her hand shyly, a small, hopeful smile directed at Terry. “Craig says she’s an angel,” she ventured softly as they walked back toward the room. When Terry nodded, she continued, worriedly, “Do angels and gargoyles get along?”
A chuckle escaped Terry before she even thought about it. “Lailah gets along with everyone and I’m sure gargoyles are part of that.” Aurelie sent her a grin as they reached the door to the room and heard giggles from the other side.
Opening the door, Terry rolled her eyes, completely unsurprised to find Lailah flat on her back and beating her wings in short, abrupt bursts to send Gregoire bouncing into the air, overlarge wings catching the updraft. Aurelie vainly tried to hide a giggle behind her hand and Terry lightly squeezed the fingers of her other. “So what do you think? Do angels and gargoyles get along?”
The girl stopped hiding her grin, nodding eagerly as Gregoire finally noticed them and landed ungainly in his excitement to greet Aurelie. Terry couldn’t understand what came out of Gregoire’s mouth next, though it sounded like rapid-fire French. Whatever it was was said with much excited gesturing and wide smiles, so she supposed it was probably good. Aurelie’s smile seemed to widen anyway. She responded to Gregoire in similar fashion but made no move to extract her hand from Terry’s or to move away.
Lailah had sat up to grin at them when Gregoire’s attention shifted, but her expression softened into a small smile as she found Terry’s gaze over the heads of the chattering young ones. She smiled in answer, wondering how they’d gotten lucky enough to find two lost children for their home.
A short time later found them in the car, both Homes neatly dealt with, Lailah’s fingers intertwined with hers, soft and warm. Terry looked in the rearview mirror at Aurelie and Gregoire, heads bent together and wearing the same look of joyous disbelief. Catching her angel’s smile out of the corner of her eye, Terry thought that this was probably as close to heaven as life could possibly get.
Anyway, I'll keep this short and sweet. This takes place in the same universe as Light in the Darkness and Warmth. Hope y'all enjoy. Probably won't be the last snuggle in this 'verse.
Theme 16. Fuck
Summary: Terry found Lailah at Bailey's, so it seems logical she might find other good things there.
Fuck!”
Terry rolled her eyes as Lailah flopped down onto the bed belly-first, wings sprawling over her haphazardly. “You don’t even know what that word means,” she pointed out, trying to edge her papers out from underneath her imaginary friend.
Lailah peeked up at her through her fringe and feathers. “I do so. Mostly. I think.”
Terry giggled and flopped down next to her, careful not to sit on any of Lailah’s feathers. “So that’s a no. You were imagined by a minister’s daughter, hon. I doubt that word was in anybody’s vocabulary before you went to the Home.”
Lailah stuck her tongue out, but stretched a wing out to encompass Terry anyway. “Are we going again today?” she asked quietly, looking sidelong at Terry.
Overcasually, Terry stared at the ceiling and said, “I thought maybe we could go to Bailey’s Home for Imagined Beings today…where I found you.”
There was a flurry of wings and feathers as Lailah scrambled up so she could look at Terry. “You would be okay with adopting a ‘friend’?” she asked.
Terry smiled softly. “So far, the best thing in my life has come from Bailey’s. Why should this be any different?”
The brilliant smile that Lailah turned on her might’ve been lethal if Terry hadn’t given into the angel years ago. “Can we go now?” Lailah didn’t wait for her response before bounding off the bed and out of the room. With a fond smile, Terry followed more sedately.
*~*~*~*~*
She knew which imagined being Lailah would want an interview with as soon as they looked out the window to the backyard. The little being had black wings that looked like he was still growing into them, skinny in a way that suggested they might be something other than feathered. They were tucked in close against him, as he sat reading next to the pond that housed some of the water dwelling ‘friends’ at Bailey’s.
They’d called ahead, made sure that this sort of adoption was even a possibility. The Bailey’s were sweet folks, and they’d been delighted to hear from her, and to hear she and Lailah were looking to provide a home for another ‘friend.’
When they’d pointed out the ‘friend’ they wanted to meet with, Mrs. Bailey had hesitated uncertainly but sent her son to collect the being anyway.
Five minutes into the interview, and Terry was completely lost about what was going on. This wasn’t the first time she’d been in one of these interviews, but it was certainly the first time one of them had gone at all like this. The little being had stalked into the interview room in complete silence, thrown himself into a chair, and merely glared at them. Considering he resembled a miniature gargoyle up close, it was actually mildly foreboding. Confusing barely covered it.
Lailah leaned into her side, wings tucked back behind her, brows furrowed in confused concern. “Is something the matter?” she asked, though Terry wasn’t sure who the question was directed at.
The little being glowered more fiercely at them, chin jutting out mulishly as he decided to answer the posed question. “I won’t go with you and you can’t make me. I can’t leave.” The last was said somewhat desperately, but the glare hadn’t lessened any.
Terry tried to smile kindly. “Okay. We wouldn’t force you to come with us if you didn’t want to. We came looking for a friend who might like to join our family. We know ours is a little different than most people, but we think two moms can work just as well at providing a good home.”
The little being’s wings jerked in surprise, scowl shifting into something like shocked guilt. “Oh, I…It’s not because of that,” he stammered out, wings twitching uncomfortably.
Lailah stretched her wings slightly before settling them again, tipping her head curiously. “What is it then? Do you simply not wish to be adopted? That’s fine, you know.”
He was wringing his hands now, wings unable to still. “I…I have a kid. She’s the one who imagined me. They made her leave me here when they moved her to a new group home. She still visits me though!” The little being’s wings trembled and he looked close to tears. “I can’t leave. She won’t be able to find me the.”
Terry didn’t need to confer with Lailah, knew her angel better than she knew herself sometimes. She smiled softly as she asked quietly, “Is your imaginer, perhaps, also looking for a home of her own?”
The little being was no longer merely close to tears, gray cheeks streaked with tear tracks. “Y-you would do that? Adopt us both?”
Terry had felt Lailah light up beside her and she could see her angel beaming from the corner of her eye. “We’d have to meet her, of course. Make sure we’re the kind of family she wants.”
“You are! I mean, you will be - I mean, she’ll love you or I’ll talk her into it or -”
Lailah was the one to cut off his excited rambling with a laugh. “Maybe you should actually tell us something about yourself first. We didn’t even get a name.”
The little being blushed to the roots of his hair, the gray of his skin darkening. “My name is Gregoire. And Aurelie is my imaginer.”
Terry smile as Lailah squeezed her hand excitedly, unable to hold back a giggle as Lailah’s wings bumped her as they fluttered. “I’m Terry, and this is Lailah. I think,” she stood, squeezing Lailah’s hand again. “I’m going to go talk to Mrs. Bailey about meeting Aurelie. I’ll leave you to ask Lailah all the questions I’m sure only another imagined being could answer.” She left with a wink.
Mrs. Bailey wasn’t far, watching over what looked to be some of the youngest imagined beings. She looked worried to see Terry, but that melted away when Terry explained that they simply wanted to try to meet Aurelie as well. Her son was called again to run the errand, and Terry was content to watch the imagined beings play, not even seeming aware of their differences, the wings and tails and horns that set them apart from one another.
“Miss Terry?” The small voice came from behind her, and Terry turned to find the epitome of a little angel, hair a golden halo of curls around a pale face sprinkled with freckles. She was anxiously smoothing the shirt of her white dress, glancing uncertainly over her shoulder at Mrs. Bailey’s son. He gave her an encouraging nod and she turned back, giving a little dip of a curtsy. “My name is Aurelie.”
Terry smiled, because she could’ve been Lailah’s actual daughter, bright blue eyes huge as Terry offered a hand to the little girl. “Why don’t we go see Gregoire and I can introduce you to Lailah, and we can all get to know each other? I’m sure we’re going to like each other.”
Aurelie took her hand shyly, a small, hopeful smile directed at Terry. “Craig says she’s an angel,” she ventured softly as they walked back toward the room. When Terry nodded, she continued, worriedly, “Do angels and gargoyles get along?”
A chuckle escaped Terry before she even thought about it. “Lailah gets along with everyone and I’m sure gargoyles are part of that.” Aurelie sent her a grin as they reached the door to the room and heard giggles from the other side.
Opening the door, Terry rolled her eyes, completely unsurprised to find Lailah flat on her back and beating her wings in short, abrupt bursts to send Gregoire bouncing into the air, overlarge wings catching the updraft. Aurelie vainly tried to hide a giggle behind her hand and Terry lightly squeezed the fingers of her other. “So what do you think? Do angels and gargoyles get along?”
The girl stopped hiding her grin, nodding eagerly as Gregoire finally noticed them and landed ungainly in his excitement to greet Aurelie. Terry couldn’t understand what came out of Gregoire’s mouth next, though it sounded like rapid-fire French. Whatever it was was said with much excited gesturing and wide smiles, so she supposed it was probably good. Aurelie’s smile seemed to widen anyway. She responded to Gregoire in similar fashion but made no move to extract her hand from Terry’s or to move away.
Lailah had sat up to grin at them when Gregoire’s attention shifted, but her expression softened into a small smile as she found Terry’s gaze over the heads of the chattering young ones. She smiled in answer, wondering how they’d gotten lucky enough to find two lost children for their home.
A short time later found them in the car, both Homes neatly dealt with, Lailah’s fingers intertwined with hers, soft and warm. Terry looked in the rearview mirror at Aurelie and Gregoire, heads bent together and wearing the same look of joyous disbelief. Catching her angel’s smile out of the corner of her eye, Terry thought that this was probably as close to heaven as life could possibly get.