[Sebastian H. x Lilith C.]
-SL-
Sebastian walked through the towering white pillars while carrying a pile of papers containing the names of new souls who had become angels. His job now expanded, he believed he would be working overtime throughout the month to teach these souls the intricacies of the heaven tier they would occupy, or simply teach them to use their wings (some fell from the clouds accidentally while he was on duty).
He greeted several heavenly committees who passed him by, sometimes they could chat a lot about work. Outside working hours, he would just relax in his small cozy apartment while reading a book.
"Hey, Sebastian!"
The owner of the name turned, his bicolored eyes caught a man who was flying towards him and was about to land so he stepped aside a bit. "Hello, Matthew," Sebastian greeted back and smiled. "Since when did you come back from Earth? I didn't get your entry permit at all."
"I was just about to give you that." Matthew laughed briefly before pulling a letter from under his gold embroidered robes for Sebastian. "Watching over those who are still alive in their own world is quite tiring."
"Still better than getting a new file from someone who died, let alone a baby." Sebastian exhaled and turned around to continue walking, his friend also followed him. He folded his wings and glanced up at the wide sky that was clearly visible to his left. "Moreover, if your partner doesn't help at all."
Matthew raised his eyebrows upwards. "You still working with Anderson? I presumed you have filed a comparison for changing partner to the Heavenly Courts."
"I already did," Sebastian replied calmly as he looked at Matthew beside him. "They accepted it, actually today I will meet my new work partner. So, after I give this to the higher-ups of the Court, I'll meet whoever it is at gate fourteen. They say she lives in the sixth heaven."
"Sixth Heaven? Man, she's such a saint!" Matthew responded excitedly, before his forehead scrunched up and his smile dropped slightly. "Well, most of the people who live there actually have high egos, the majority of the rich people in the world."
Sebastian snorted softly. "You can't judge them from the outside," he said casually. "Not all of them are like that."
"Are you sure she'll be more reliable than Anderson?"
The dark-skinned man's forehead wrinkled. "Of course, I believe in the Heavenly Courts. Beside—"
His words stopped as soon as his eyes caught the figure of a woman from a distance talking to another angel. And Sebastian was stunned, he had met many interesting women. However, that blonde-haired woman—something about her amazed him. She looked elegant, she looked impressive, she looked awesome. It was as if she is full of love, full of tenderness, full of grace.
"Sebastian?"
Matthew's call was ignored by Sebastian, then Matthew also followed where Sebastian's gaze was fixated. Matthew rounded his mouth and muttered in amazement. "She is indeed very beautiful."
Sebastian immediately stared at Matthew, then he stared back at the woman again. "Mhm."
"You are completely mesmerized by her."
"Kind of."
"You like her?"
"Possible."
Matthew laughed, he could catch Sebastian blushing faintly. "This is the first time you've seen Carter?"
Then Sebastian turned to Matthew again. "You know her?"
"Who doesn't even know Lilith Carter? Lots of people know her!" Matthew hit Sebastian on the shoulder playfully. "You died longer than me, even than her! How come you don't know about Carter?"
"I know, I hear the name a lot," Sebastian muttered. "I just never met her in person."
"Now you know." Matthew grinned. "Imagine if she is the person who will be your new partner at work."
"I think that's impossible," Sebastian replied, frowning.
"But—think again! Your new work partner lives in sixth heaven, Carter also lives in sixth heaven!"
"It must be just a coincidence."
Matthew rolled his eyes in boredom. "Come on."
While Matthew had keep rebuked him for the possibility, he decided not to care too much and chose to walk again, he had to submit these papers. Eventually Matthew gave up and said goodbye, Sebastian only gave Matthew a brief good bye.
He entered a room, no one was inside. The air of this place was always cool, if he could maybe he would linger longer in his superior's office. Sebastian placed the files on the gold table, then watched how the pile of papers glowed before disappearing. Now that his work for the day was done, he heaved a sigh of relief and headed out. Even so, his mind was still focused on the blonde woman—Lilith, a beautiful name.
His wings sprouted and expanded as he closed the door to the chamber, then without waiting too long he flapped his wings hard and flew away from the main palace, he plunged into gate fourteen in the west of the fifth nirvana. Sebastian looked at the scenery below, he could see the terraced heavens.
Sebastian shot quickly, then he landed on the soft ground with thin clouds. Several people who knew him greeted him, they were the souls who were under his guidance when they just came to heaven. Sebastian smiled in greeting and nodded politely, then walked to gate fourteen which was guarded by two gigantic gargantuan. He wished he wasn't late for their meeting, he didn't want to give his new work partner a bad impression.
The closer Sebastian walked, the more his forehead frowned when he found a woman he had just seen in the main palace, playing with the angel children who happened to be at the border. Now Matthew's words came back again in his mind.
Could Matthew be right?
It seemed a little impossible. Working with someone like Carter was probably the most amazing thing. He often heard about Carter's achievements even though he had never met her in person. Sebastian gulped for a while, then decided to get closer to the woman. Carter's eyes met his, the color of Carter's eyes reminded him of dark ebony. He loves it.
He saw how Carter put on a sweet smile as soon as they looked at each other, he saw how Carter said goodbye to the children and immediately approached him quickly, he could smell Carter's scent from this close and he felt very nervous.
"Hi! Are you Sebastian?"
Her voice was light and melodious, like a harp, pleasant to listen to. "Yes," he replied stiffly, before giving her a slightly awkward glance. "How do you know my name?"
Carter smiled even wider. "Aren't we going to be work partners? Your name is on the letter."
Sebastian's jaw dropped slightly as he heard that and gasped—he had no idea about that at all. He immediately pulled out the folded letter from his trouser pocket and re-read it carefully, while he could hear Carter's chuckles making his face feel hot. Then he saw the writing;
... we will pair you with Lilith C. as a further work partner in ...
He felt his face burning more and more, he didn't realize it at all—earlier he just read it quickly and found out that his proposal to change work partners was accepted. Now Sebastian felt embarrassed, his cheeks were perfectly red, and Lilith's laughter was getting louder.
Sebastian tried to shake off the embarrassment and cleared his throat a little. "That's right, my name is Sebastian Holmes," he said, trying to keep his cool. "Pleased to meet you."
Carter gave him a soft smile. "Nice to meet you, Sebastian, you can call me Lilith."
-SL-
"Cheesy cheap classic cliché story."
"Here it is, Ennard's 4C." Michael laughed heartily at his husband's response, while Ennard ignored him by frowning deeply at his mother who was sitting with Sebastian in front of him. "But I think your meeting was pretty sweet and simple!"
"At least someone appreciates it," Lilith joked while laughing, her son's face turning sour.
Sebastian grinned softly. "Your mother completely diverted my world."
"I can divert you to hell right now."
"Noah, be nice," Michael scolded, slapping Ennard lightly on the arm while Sebastian only laughed in response. "Simon once said your relationship broke almost everyone's heart."
The bicoloured eyed man nodded and smiled triumphantly. "And I'm the lucky one to get her heart."
Lilith's cheeks reddened, she used her palm to cover her lower face while laughing. "Oh please," Lilith said amusedly, before giving Sebastian a small kiss.
Ennard rolled his eyes lazily and looked away in disgust from his mother as she did so, then he locked eyes with a grinning Michael. "What?" he asked curtly, apparently grumbling incoherently after that.
Michael giggled. "Nothing," Michael replied, then focused his attention on Lilith and Sebastian. "So are you two getting married?"
Ennard glared in disbelief, before his mother could speak he jumped in first. "No! No marriage!"
"Aww Enn come on! Haven't you blessed Sebastian to be with Mum?"
"Yes, but no! Not this fast! No!"
Sebastian raised his eyebrows in interest and chuckled, before he glanced at Lilith then whispered loudly on purpose so that the two men in front of them could also hear him. "It seems I have to return the ring you gave me when you proposed to me back then."
Lilith giggled. "I guess you're right."
Ennard stared at his mother in distrust. "Mother!"
"Basti was just kidding, Noah." Lilith stood up and approached Ennard to pat the top of his son's head. "We still have no plans to get married, don't worry." Lilith smiled softly at her son. "By the way, do you want toast with honey?"
The red-haired man grumbled again. "Yes."