The Fat and the Proud

Chapter 3: Mistakes

Feeling guilty and defeated, Michael couldn't think of anything else to do but going back to the Droplet and talking more with Zachary, hoping he'd have finished eating and would be willing to talk more about the Ophanims so he could distract himself.

He went back down to the 80s themed club, looking around: there were a lot more people now, which was making the Seraphim quite uncomfortable; he really didn't know how to deal with great amounts of humans like that, but, more surprisingly, he couldn't see Zachary anywhere!

"Ah, Michael, was it?"

Michael flinched and turned around, seeing the chubby man from before. "Oh... yeah, and you're Eden, right?" he asked, looking slightly annoyed he'd found him instead of the fallen Angel.

"Oui, in the flesh!" He cheerfully replied, "What brings you here again so soon?"

"I was... looking for Zachary, is he not here anymore?" Michael asked, looking around.

"Ah, desolé chérie, he left a while ago... well- more like, got dragged away by his flatmate while completely wasted and stuffed to the brim" Eden giggled "You should've seen him!"

Michael shivered a bit, he certainly did NOT want to witness that. He sighed. "I guess there's nothing I can do about that..." he muttered.

"Something the matter? You seem troubled..." Eden eventually asked, noticing the expression on Michael's face. "I heard you were looking for Ezekiel, Hezzy's boyfriend, right?"

"I- yes I was, I talked to him" Michael answered, surprised Eden had heard his conversation with Zachary and knew the big Angel as well.

"Oh- you two are friends then?"

The Seraphim somewhat shrunk down "F-friends...? I... I don't think he'll want to see me ever again after tonight..."

The chubby bartender widened his eyes "Oh mon dieu- what in the world happened between you two?!"

Michael looked to the side, that human seemed to at least know Ezekiel... perhaps he could open up to him? Or... maybe he shouldn't have trusted the human so easily-

"Come on, you have to tell me what happened, Ezekiel is my friend too, maybe I can help" Eden encouraged him, walking him to the counter, where Michael finally took a seat, sighing deeply. "I... think our relationship might be too complex to be so easily fixed... I thought I was acting in his best interest, but apparently I was totally wrong" he said, slowly relaxing.

"I-I see..." Eden said, a bit taken off guard, he certainly wasn't expecting such a reply from the man standing before him "Oh- can I get anything for you? It's on the house... for this one time"

"Uh... iced orange and cinnamon tea... no sugar" Michael shyly said, he supposed that a drink could've comforted him.

The chubby bartender was a bit surprised by his request, much too used to his customers asking for beer and cocktails, still he nodded and got to work making the tea for him. "So... you said you thought you were helping him, but you were wrong? Can I ask you what you were trying to help him with, chérie?"

Michael held his breath for a moment. He couldn't allow the human to learn about Heaven and Angels, he had to come up with something else. "I- I was... trying to bring him back... to an old group he was part of before he moved here, but he refused! I don't understand why... and- and he was so confrontational! I'd never seen him so set on something before... we ended up arguing... and he... kicked me out of his house. He didn't falter for a second, he was so determined- it felt like talking to a whole other person!" the Seraphim explained, getting more and more worked up.

Eden chuckled "looks like he's not as easy to influence anymore, huh?" he teased "He's learned to say 'no' a lot more often and voice his opinion too, he's matured a lot during this year"

"It all felt... so surreal though... he kept talking about his happiness... I thought he was happy with us but now- I don't even know anymore" Michael continued, putting his hands in his hair and ruffling them.

"Have you ever actually asked him how he felt back there?" Eden asked quite sternly "Because I don't think I've ever heard him say anything nice about his life prior to moving in with Hezzy" he added, placing the iced tea on the counter.

"I-" Michael had to admit... Ezekiel was a nervous, insecure mess back in Heaven, he never stood up for himself... he had no goals or desires... and he was in constant need of approval. He'd gotten so much more confident during this year spent on Earth. "No... you're right... he never looked really happy back then..." he mumbled, thanking Eden for the tea and sipping on it... it was surprisingly good, even if it hadn't been made in Heaven... it was almost better than what he usually drank actually, but of course he would've never admitted it.

However, Eden could tell Michael was enjoying his iced tea from the light sparkle in his eyes upon tasting it, he smirked a bit and went back to the conversation "Yeah, I thought so... and well- look at him now! He believes in himself a lot more, he's actually confident in his abilities now, and it's all thanks to Hezzy loving him so much!"

"True... she hasn't been helping him with his waistline at all though..." the Seraphim complained.

That got a good chuckle out of the bartender "Who cares about that?! Don't be so judgmental of a person's appearance, despite him getting a bit chunkier he's actually doing so much better, dare I say, he looks a lot happier!"

Michael lowered his glance, sipping more of his tea. Ezekiel had friends here, and not only that, he'd also found unconditional love and genuine happiness on Earth... and he was just about to take all of that away from him just to prove his point to the Ophanims. And that was so wrong in so many ways, he should've never involved someone else in his plans.

"I'm such an idiot..." he muttered, quickly gulping down the rest of his tea, getting up and rushing outside.

"Hey where are you going?!" Eden called out.

"Not now, human, I need to think" he shouted, closing the door behind him and storming off into the streets.

The weight of his pride was already starting to weigh on his back, there might've been a much more effective way of getting his point across to the Ophanims, but he was so sure Ezekiel would just do his bidding all the time- he remembered Jonah's words... he should've listened, but he never did, and now he was going to pay the consequences, there was no way he could avoid his demise... not after he'd made a deal with them, no way they would back down from that... and no way HE would back down from that... despite everything that was going on, he still wasn't willing to let his ideals go, no way he would've suffered the humiliation of admitting he was wrong and come crawling back to Heaven like a cockroach. He was going to stand by his statement, even if that meant he would be banished from Heaven.