ｔｈｅｙ ｂｒｏｋｅ ｔｈｅｉｒ ｂａｃｋｓ ｌｉｆｔｉｎｇ Ｍｏｌｏｃｈ ｔｏ Ｈｅａｖｅｎ．
Something tells Uruha that he should stop staring at the dead bird under his wheel.
The first Word is fuck and the second, shit.
ｔｈｅｙ ｂｒｏｋｅ ｔｈｅｉｒ ｂａｃｋｓ ｌｉｆｔｉｎｇ Ｍｏｌｏｃｈ ｔｏ Ｈｅａｖｅｎ．
uruha, kai of The GazettE
pg-13, 1743w unbeta'd
● based on the picture above + prompt below for uruai jessica rabbit writing challenge
● (unconventional) angel au, car mechanic!kai, car cemetry!eden, (someone's)mustang-sitting!uruha. tweaked it a little... all angels are assumed 'male'! God is missing, the worlds of heaven and earth are reversed, forcing the angels to live like humans while said humans are having a ball of a time in paradise.
● title referenced from Allen Ginsberg
Good job Shelby, he sighs, patting the car door. There's a broken trail of ants around the crushed wings, indicating that the bird had been dead a while ago before he ran over it. The bird looks like what the humans would call a 'lark'. Uruha runs his fingers through his fringe, untangles some knots, half-closes his eyes in silent prayer, then gets back into the car.
He sticks a cigarette into his mouth but doesn't light it. He jabs the music player with his thumb and plays Another One Bites the Dust at the highest volume. Then he cruises along the highway, speeding up only when another car appears.
●
Uruha stops by a petrol kiosk to take a leak. There are no other vehicles around and the pillars are of a flaking yellow, which makes Uruha feel uncomfortable in the crotch. The logo of the kiosk (a bright blue car with huge wings) looks good as new and hurts to look at. He jogs over to the nearest bathroom and relieves himself. Then he shuffles through the narrow aisles of the minimart, picking up a pack of beer and some snacks.
" 'sall, sir?" The cashier-angel asks, tearing his eyes away from the magazine he'd been reading. Uruha shrugs and rummages through his pockets for money. While he does that, the cashier-angel takes a quick glance outside and tilts his head. "Say, is that black Mustang yours?"
"That's Shelby," Uruha replies and drops a few coins and notes onto the counter. He sticks his fingers into his back pockets. "But I didn't name her that." Also it's not really mine.
The cashier-angel raises an eyebrow while he drags his thumb across a crumpled dollar bill. "Where're you heading for?"
"Eden."
"Oh, the place where the Tree of Life is? Cool." The cash register makes a loud noise, like it's breaking apart. Uruha watches pale hands slide his dollar bills into the drawer one by one. "You know, I've always wondered about this man. The one on the dollar bill."
Uruha gathers his things. Lips drawn into a thin line, like a tight rope with unsaid words balancing, forced to balance.
"It's odd. He has no face..."
Cashiers talk too much these days, he thinks as he exits.
●
When Uruha calls Kai, he usually doesn't say anything into the phone, he just breathes and waits.
And then Kai always breaks the moment the way he breaks an egg by asking how Uruha's day was.
Today, Uruha drove past a group of young angels who looked drunk or high, or were perhaps both. They were clad in bright, flashy clothes, their hair and wings dyed in several different colours. They shouted protests and held signs that said things like DOWN WITH THE SERAPHIMS and ANARCHY NOT HIERARCHY. Here Kai laughs and says, ah it's good to be young.
He drove past several posters of said Seraphims in various poses (ranging from the serious to the comic) with slogans promising the return of His Presence and Heaven as it should be - up here, not below. Uruha scoffs.
Round the bend, a lone angel sat in front of a closed church. Past the church a mob of angry angels burned human mannequins. There were strange, heavy noises coming from the dark alleys beyond. Then there was the dead bird incident and the cashier-angel at the petrol kiosk.
"Are you at Euphrates now?" He can almost hear Kai's smile.
"Yeah. Coming?"
"Not today."
"You just don't want to buy me drinks. But it's ok."
"Uruha?"
He hums in response, running his finger over the rim of his glass. Across the bar there's an angel making eyes at him. Uruha finds it unsettling.
"Don't come over again, ok?"
●
He takes the young body in his hands, his long fingers pulling and kneading at soft skin, moulding it into a familiar shape. Uruha thinks about how this one has cream-coloured skin, lighter than Kai's. This one has darker eyes and fuller lips than Kai. This one has wings on his back, Kai doesn't.
He bites on a spot right between the dirty wings and the angel beneath him moans, hands scrambling for something to hold onto. Uruha squeezes his eyes shut. His mind is a heavy cloud of messy thoughts, waiting to rain down upon him any moment now, this isn't what I want this isn't what I want and the car shakes, like an earthquake is happening and it's dizzying stop stop stop but his body keeps moving and the car won't stop shaking until-
The angel cries out for God.
●
Kai only let Uruha into Eden because he wanted to make sure that Shelby was all right. He says it's his duty after all, and Uruha pretends that it's true. They park Shelby near the dead tree in the middle of the cemetery, and Kai insists on having her lined up beside the other Fords neatly but Uruha says this isn't a carpark. Then they make small talk back in Kai's tiny office.
"How's business?"
"It's ok, I suppose, though there are fewer customers coming by these days. They prefer getting those new-fangled fancy rides instead of having their old ones fixed... " Kai says. He places Uruha's coffee on the tiny table he made out of scrap metal.
"You know, the younger ones don't actually need cars since they have wings. Only used angels like us need some extra help moving about. You put sugar in this, right?"
"Two sugars. You always have two sugars in your coffee."
"Maybe you're not so forgetful after all." Uruha grins, putting the mug to his lips. "When are you going to leave this place for good?"
Kai wipes the corner of his mouth with his thumb. Uruha stares at grease-painted skin stretched over sharp cheekbones. Then he watches the corners of Kai's mouth curl, two dimples framing his trademark smile. "When He comes back, of course."
Of course, Uruha directs his gaze elsewhere. Always the same response. "What if He never comes back?" Always the same question. He knows what Kai's answer is going to be, but it doesn't matter as long as the conversation keeps going.
"He will be back before you know it." I don't remember how he looks like.
"Have you been reading those trashy magazines again? The ones that tell you that they've figured out the secret behind Coca-Cola and stuff?"
Kai sighs. "Uruha..."
"And all those moments that they claimed to be signs of His Presence? The Seraphims must have been behind it. Doing things with what powers they have left." He says, sweeping his fringe from his eyes. "The Coca-cola thing turned out to be a hoax, by the way."
" ... It was a hoax?"
Uruha sighs.
●
will be back when i find him
take care of shelby!
R.
●
While Kai is busy getting upset over the mess Uruha made in the car, he hides behind the dead tree to take a nap. The sun's yolk is melting into the moon, and although this place smells too strongly of gasoline, Uruha doesn't mind. It's peaceful, almost like it's Heaven again.
Kai joins him on the other side of the tree after a while.
"You done with her?"
"No."
"You're mad at me."
"I'd appreciate it if you chose a better place to fuck."
"You're scary when you're angry..."
"I told you not to come back."
Uruha reaches around the tree trunk, placing his hand next to Kai's fist. "I know."
●
For the tenth time or so, Kai tells Uruha that he does not want to eat lamb chops for obvious reasons despite the fact that dinner's on Uruha. They end up calling Pizza Hut and Uruha tries to stop Kai from putting too much mayonnaise on the pizza ('mayonnaise is one of the best condiments humans have ever invented and deserves to be worshipped').
At ten in the evening when Uruha is smoking outside and Kai refuses to have a cigarette, he grabs Kai's face, presses their lips together and blows smoke into his mouth. The car door closes. The car starts to tremble.
At ten in the morning, Uruha wakes up on the sofa and Kai is cleaning Shelby at the rusted gates. He throws on some pants and a shirt, helps himself to breakfast in the tiny microwave oven. It's scrambled eggs and bacon, which is funny because Kai always makes the eggs sunny-side up. He finishes it off, puts the dish into the sink, then heads out of the office.
Shelby is parked outside the gates while Kai is leaning against the dead tree.
Uruha strides towards Kai. The moment he reaches the brunette his fingers curl around the collar of Kai's shirt, twisting it. "I'm not leaving unless you come with me."
"Let go, Uruha."
"No."
"Let go." Kai grabs his wrist and yanks it away, and all Uruha can think about is how much Kai's grip burns, as if an invisible fire is right under his skin, scalding them both.
"Let's leave this place. Or rather, this world."
"That's impossible," Kai mumbles. "Unless He returns, nothing will change."
"What the fuck is wrong with you? I don't fucking get it, He's not coming back, nobody's coming back, not even R-"
He stops short. Silence sliced their tongues and now the air is stagnant and heavy and painful. Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, Kai stares at Uruha's limp hands. He tells him, I need to be here. Says he needs to keep watch, says he can't fail a second time.
But nobody's coming back, right, Uruha replies. This wasteland will remain the same forever, right. We'll never get away from here, you'll always be waiting and making me wait.
For once, Kai doesn't break the moment the way he usually does. He lets Uruha walk out of the gates of Eden, past his car. Kai waits.
He doesn't want to let Uruha know that for the past week or so, tiny leaves have been growing on the top of the dead tree in Eden. Meanwhile, a balloon floats into the sky, a bright red fish rolling among clouds, an apple in reverse, a little girl blowing a bubble-shaped kiss that will never reach anyone.
sosorryforthecrappyjobaaargghhblocks