Guardian Angel

3 Ghost Hunters

It was still dark when Zak woke up, his heart pounding his chest and his eyes wide. He got up quickly off the couch, his wings shook behind him to rid them of sleep. He made his way down the hallway to Aaron's room to wake him. God be damned, he didn't care if his best friend was still asleep.

Bursting into Aaron's room like a man on a mission, he walked up to the foot of the bed. The room was dark like the rest of the house, which was just the way they both liked it. Zak was almost afraid to pull back the covers in fear of what lay underneath. Was it one girl? Two girls? God, I hope it's one girl, Zak thought as he grasped the edge of the Batman comforter. What he really hoped for, though, was a dressed Aaron underneath the blankets. He didn't want another memory of a naked Aaron etched into his brain. That was horrific in itself.

Quickly, he pulled the blanket back and yelled, "Aaron!"

A large feminine, male scream was his answer.

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"Man, Zak," his best friend groaned as he rubbed at his temples, "I really hate it when you wake me up like that," his dark eyes connected with the bare back of his best friend cooking over the stove. His black wings ruffled and tensed each time the bacon on the stove crackled.

"Sorry," Zak responded as he picked up the jumping frying pan and walked over to Aaron at the breakfast bar on the far side of the kitchen.

"No, you're not," Aaron moaned and plucked at the hot meat with dainty fingers.

Zak laughed, "Okay, okay, Mr. Grumpy," and he sat down at the bar next to Aaron, the metal bars of the chair digging into his wings. He shifted in his seat uncomfortably, which Aaron noticed.

He looked up at the black wings with curiosity, "Haven't seen you with wings in centuries."

Zak nodded and picked up his fork, cutting up the eggs on his plate, and placed them in his mouth, "Needed a breather," he simply said. Aaron was silent in response and Zak knew what he was asking. He looked up at Aaron, his fork still shoveling food into his mouth. Aaron had a puppy like expression, "Go ahead," Zak responded like a parent giving permission to a child.

Aaron was already shirtless when Zak woke him up, but thankfully had a pair of pajama bottoms on. He closed his eyes in response to Zak's voice, his fork clenched in his fist. Then, suddenly, a pair of wings burst from his back, Aaron's face pinching slightly at the pain. They were white, unlike Zak's own, but that was because Zak was fallen. Aaron was chosen to come to Earth, while Zak was forced to in order to gain favor with God once again. He didn't like to talk about how he had fallen and even Aaron didn't know the reason and left Zak to his own devices concerning it. Aaron opened his eyes and gave a happy sigh, "Ah, thanks, man."

With that, the two angels continued to eat their breakfast in peace until Aaron decided to speak again, "Why 'cha wake me so damn early anyway, Zak?" his mouth was full of eggs and bacon.

Zak looked up at his best friend and swallowed the bite of egg he had in his mouth, "I had an idea regarding our task."

Aaron stared at him to continue, "Go ahead."

"Well, last night I was watching another one of my TV shows," Zak told him, placing the plastic, silver fork down next to his paper plate. They were both too lazy to wash regular dishes and had no idea how to work a dishwasher, "And I was struck by how simple our task would be and I can't believe I didn't think of it before. We should become ghost investigators. We could be back in Heaven by the end of the century!" Zak smiled wickedly, his feathers ruffling behind him in anticipation.

Aaron looked at him curiously wondering if maybe some other fallen angel by the name of Zak had taken his best friends place in the middle of the night, "What?" he froze mid chew, his own wings stopped ruffling, "Are you... insane?"

"Well," Zak thought for a moment out loud, "There was that man during the late 1800's that thought I was an extreme form of what he called the 'id,'" Zak responded out loud and then gave Aaron a cheeky smirk, "But I think I'm just fucking psychopathic."

"That is probably the most absurd thing I have ever heard you say," Aaron swallowed the good in his mouth, "And that is saying something."

Zak leaned forward in his seat toward Aaron, "Think about it, Aaron. We disguise ourselves as mortals and get invited into places and hunt ghosts," each verb was drawn out as he punched the sentence into Aaron's mind, "No more illegal trespassing and no more trouble with the police. From now on, we could be completely bonafide."

"Bonafide?" Aaron chuckled at the word, "When the fuck did you start using that word?"

"All the damn time, bone head," Zak fired back with a teasing smirk, "Now, what do you say to that plan?"

Aaron thought for a moment, his wings ruffling on his back. He then looked at Zak and raised his glass of pure water up to him, "This may be the craziest, damned idea you have ever had Zak, but I am not letting you do this alone," Zak lifted his up in response and clanged the glasses together, the ping radiating throughout the apartment.