Ripped Wings

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
No, wait!

The words had barely left his mouth, but the Archangel had already made the decision, the decision to throw him down and oh, how fast he fell! He had watched the clouds suddenly part with a rumble worthy of the greatest storms, the earth appear so far beneath him, and he felt the strong, unforgiving, pull of gravity – one he had never experienced before, grab him and pull him down. He saw the clouds fall away (but it was he who fell), and he reached to grab them, both hands grasping nothing but thin air, repeatedly, desperately. His legs kicked out as if it were a nightmare, nothing jerked him awake. There was only him and the air, and the sharp pain stinging his back.

If he had fallen in to water, perhaps he would have drowned. If he had fallen into a field, he may have laid there and looked at the sky above, listened to the wind and felt the grass, and maybe died of loneliness. If he had fallen onto someone’s doorsteps in a village somewhere, he would have cried and begged for help. But he fell in none of these places. He fell in some deserted alley, onto a pile of boxes, and as his back made contact with them, all immunity was gone and he felt the crumbling cardboard under him, giving way to his weight, and spilling him gracelessly onto the path between the two buildings. On impact, he rolled to the middle of the small alleyway and came to a stop, his face resting against the warm cement. He tried to get up, he tried to find strength, but propping himself on one elbow was too difficult. Eugene let out pained and struggling groan and flopped back to the ground. His white shirt was torn, and he was sure bloodied where they had pulled the wings from, his white pants now dirtied from the ground and tugged and torn too.

He lay still, panting softly and trying to process what had happened, but the pain on his back was too loud, the shame was too great, and he couldn’t think. And there was noise, so much noise. Of cars, of people, of the city life. It was too much, it was overwhelming. Eugene took a breath and suffocated. The air was not pure. It was polluted, as much as this alley with its rubbish and dumps and ripped cardboard boxes. Nothing was pure here. This was earth. Cold, hot, unforgiving earth.

And he felt so lost and alone.

Lily walk through the city, holding her grocery bag close to her chest. She was exhausted and excited to finally be able to get home. The city had worn her down today and she was ready to go home, curl up with her cat, and cook up a small pot of spaghetti. As she was walking, Lily looked around at the things that were happening around her. It was better to be aware of what was going on around her when walking around so late at night. While she never was mugged, Lily had heard enough stories to know to be cautious.

As she was looking down the ally, Lily noticed a man laying in the middle of the ally. At first she thought nothing of it, thinking it was a homeless man, until she saw his blood soaked shirt. Lily gasped, dropping her bag of food before running over to man on the floor. Softly, she grabbed onto one of his shoulders and brought her other hand to his mouth to see if he was still breathing. His breath was soft and warm against her skin. "Sir, are you awake? What happened to you?" Her voice was shaky, and Lily was afraid. Was he attacked? Is she now in danger?

Lily pulled out her phone, her hands shaking as she pressed the numbers in. "What is your name?" She asked him. "The police will want to know who you are."

Eugene was quite ready to give up and bleed out there and then, but someone neared him and he would have flinched at the touch - had he strength. He hoped the person would go away so he could die in peace, but the poor soul was intent on helping him, talking to him, asking him. It took a moment for him to process the words and find the right language to respond with. He tried to reply but instead mumbled something incoherent that sounded like "I fell." His eyes slowly opened to look up at the girl who was reaching in for her phone and pulling the thing out. He looked at her, trying to focus his blurred vision.

"Name? Police?" He mumbled, forcing himself to get up but falling onto his elbows again. As the pain in his elbows flared up, he seemed to come to some senses. "No!" he tiredly threw his head up and looked at her, eyes wide - as wide as tired eyes could go - "No police," he reached up to her phone but dropped his hand, knowing it would be pointless. Instead he quietly said, shaking his head, "No police, please. Please." He tried to sit up now, rolling onto his side to use any muscle except his back. In such, he inched towards the wall to use it for support as he tried to stand, run away maybe. "They won't- I can't- No- Can't treat me. No police." He shook as he stood, trembling and breathing heavily, but looking quite alert now and ready to run. He stepped towards her to make sure she wouldn't call them, and instead sort of tripped and fell towards her.

@ ashen knight;
The man's panic response only really freaked Lily out more. However, she still felt like she had the need to help him. Slowly, she walked forward to him. At least she did until the man started to fall. Lily reached out and managed to catch him before he fell completely, but under his weight she ended up falling to her knees with the man in her arms. She looked down at him, not entirely sure what she should do for this stranger. After pressing her lips together, Lily tried to reassure him with a soft voice, "No police. I won't call them."

Lily put her phone back into her purse before leaning over the man and looking at the back of his shirt. The whole thing was soaked in blood, and she was scared to see what she would fine. But still she lifted the back of his shirt, revealing the two large, bloody scars. A small gasp came from her lips before she pressed the shirt back down against his skin. Lily looked back into the stranger's eyes. "It's going to be okay. Would you be safe going somewhere else? Maybe just a hospital? Do you have anywhere to go?" It was obvious that this man had to go somewhere to heal. She couldn't just leave him in the middle of an alley with wounds like that! Surely that would just be leaving him to die.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Her reassurance he welcomed with open arms, for Eugene did not think he could protest any longer given that he could barely stand. He wasn't sure why he felt so weak, perhaps it was the lack of wings, the lack of freedom and weightlessness. Feeling her lift the shirt a little, he grunted, "Don't" but it was too late. Her eyes said enough for him to look away in shame, even if the mortal didn't understand.

"No hospital," he started with the same urgency as he had for police, and quietly added as he shook his head, "No. I'm not from around here." Yes, he thought, that would work. "I don't know where I am." Eugene glanced at the ground. How would he convince her? He wondered if telling her who he was would work, and he opened his mouth to say so, but decided against it at the last moment. And instead he said, "I have nowhere to go."

@ ashen knight;
Lily felt her chest tighten a little as the man explained his situation. She had already told him that she wouldn't call the police or the hospital...and apparently he had no one in the city to turn to. But Lily really could not just leave him here. if she did, she was positive that he would be dead by the time she returned in the morning. Though Lily thought she had a chance if she could tend to his wounds and watched him throughout the night.

Oh this was probably going to be a huge mistake... "I guess you'll have to come to my home then." Lily said softly before slowly moving onto her feet, bringing him up with her. "It's only a block away, do you think you can walk a little?" It was a huge risk for her to bring home a stranger, especially since she did live by herself. Now she just had to hope that he wasn't part of some gang or wasn't going to rob her blind...

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Anywhere was fine, as long as it wasn't here. Eugene nodded when she asked, and used what little strength he had left and her support to raise himself onto his feet. He looked down at the ground for the whole time that they walked, watching and careful to make sure his feet were placed correctly, placed right, so that they wouldn't drag and show his tired state. He was fallen, but there was a mortal who wanted to help, and he would not give up now. She had given him enough hope to stand on his feet, to walk with her. He would pick up whatever shambles were left of his pride and accept all the help he could get.

The girl had said the house was a block away, but it felt like forever. When a car drove past, he flinched lightly, instinct to hide kicking in aware his wings could be seen - but the action was not followed through for he was all too quickly reminded that he was wingless. He wondered if he had any of his powers left. Was he denied of everything? Surely there was something left. Even Lucifer had something left when he fell and crawled under earth to become the demon lord.

And so observed with his thinking was he that it made the journey less painful and when he looked up - they had stopped in front of a door, and the girl was reaching to open it. He let her go, using the wall as support so that she could have her freedom to move. "Thank you," he said quietly after a moment.

Lily glanced down at the bag of groceries she had been carrying with her before they left the ally. She wasn't going to be able to carry both him and the food so she was just going to have to leave it behind. Fortunately, the walk to the apartment was not as bad as she might have thought. Even though the man was heavier than her, and she had to help, at least he was able to uphold enough of himself that she could help him with the rest. She stopped for a moment when she heard the man thank her. Her head lifted up to give him a small smile. "Your welcome. It just wouldn't have felt right to leave you out there."

Lily then turned back to the door, opening it up and then helping him get inside. Lily assisted him into the elevator and into her apartment on the 3rd floor. Once inside, Lily helped him through the entryway and onto the bed in her room. For a moment she had thought about putting him on the couch, but with the fact that his injuries were on his back she knew that was not a good idea. Now that he was on his stomach, she headed out of the room. "I will be right back." She assured him before disappearing into the rest of the apartment.

A couple of minutes later, Lily came back inside with a first aid kit. "I don't have a lot in here, but I should be able to fully cover up both of your wounds." She said softly before lightly lifting up his shirt. Once again she paused for a moment to look at his scars. They were so identical, and she wondered how he got them.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Eugene welcomed to softness of the bed with very little grace, practically falling down onto it with a painful grunt to follow as soon as his head hit the pillow. He buried his head into the soft blankets and nodded when she excused herself, but stayed otherwise quite still, and remained so until her return to the room. Turning his head, he warily eyed the first aid kit, and slightly tensed when a pair of scissors appeared - but having identified the object and its purpose, and given its size, he decided it was relatively safe and too small to cause much panic. Though as she lifted his shirt he winced in pain as fabric slid over the wounds, and his shoulder blades ran under his skin, moving with his shoulders as he bent his back away from the fabric, Eugene softly hissing at the sting.

Keeping watch as she set about with her kit, he saw a bottle of antiseptic be pulled out, and the smell that hit his nose was not welcoming. He shied away from it. “What is that?” he asked nervously, bending in such a way that put a tiny bit more distance between him and the mysterious fluid. “What are you doing?” He wasn’t used to this. He had no idea what she was about to do. Would she make him be in more pain? Was he mistaken to trust her? In his world, healing was completely different to this process – he had observed it many times but never experienced it on himself, so he never bothered to know the details

@ ashen knight;

Lily glanced away from her first aid kit and looked down at the stranger. She was a little surprised that he seemed not to know what antiseptic was. Though maybe he never used it himself. "It is rubbing alcohol. It is going to clean your wounds to make sure that it won't get worse in the future, like getting an infection. Though it will hurt a little when I apply it, but not for long." With her small explanation, Lily assumed that he had understood what she was doing now. Taking the antiseptic, Lily pour a little onto a small cloth, wrinkling her nose at the smell. Then she leaned over his body and pressed the cloth down onto his scars, making sure to dab some a little all the way down both of them.

With that taken care of, Lily applied gauze to both of the wounds separately. She had thought about just using a large one, but decided that it wouldn't be a good idea in case one was worse than the other. "All done. See that wasn't too bad?" She smiled at him softly. "Now lets get that shirt off of you, I am sure that you do not want to be sleeping in blood tonight." Lily pulled the shirt the rest of the way off. For this one, she didn't really care if he wanted it off or not. She didn't want blood all over her bed.

Now that his wounds and the blood were taken care of, Lily set down a glass of water and some pain relievers next to the bed. "Here is some water and pain relievers if you need them. Is there anything else you'll need before you rest?" While Lily really wanted to ask him questions, like his name, she doubted that he would be up for it tonight. The man looked defeated, and he was clearly in a lot of pain from whatever happened. It was probably best that he got some rest.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons

Her explanation wasn't the best to his understanding, but he didn't get much choice to stop her - she seemed to be determinant and he let it happen. He tried to feel for the vibe coming off her, to taste and differ if the energy was positive or negative but it seemed that along with his stripped wings, most of his powers were gone too. There was only a little, a tiny little bit, that he felt was available for use. A wisp of a power. Eugene became momentarily afraid of the sudden helplessness and not knowing of the world around him. He wondered how humans managed to cope. Perhaps it was because they never knew, and they did not know how to be afraid of not knowing.

All these thoughts were enough to give the girl time to apply the antiseptic, and it stung his wounds - Eugene hissed in small surprise at the pain. He grit his teeth and waited it out, and true to her words the pain faded. A moment later she was taking his shirt off - he did little to make it easy, his arms sore and his muscles aching - before finally he was resting on her bed again and in silence. He watched her put the pills down. Pain relievers? "No," He quietly said when she asked. He was not sure what he wanted. A rest. Yes. A rest was good. He closed his eyes. "Thank you." Surely, he would be dreaming this right now? He would wake up, the sun would be shining, and he would be in his wings, and life would be quite good again. He couldn't help it but his lips twitched up in the corners, the faintest of smiles gracing his lips. Before long, Eugene fell asleep.

[we may skip to the next day if you want!]

@ ashen knight;

Next Day:

After calling into work, telling them that she would be out of the day, Lily headed into the kitchen. As she passed her bedroom, she looked inside to see that the man was still sleeping. At least he seemed to be at peace, instead of having that pained expression on his face. It was definitely better this way. She smiled a little before heading into the kitchen. At least the stranger hadn't stolen her items and disappeared into the night. Not that he was any condition to do so anyways...

Once in the kitchen, Lily made scrambled eggs, toast, cut fruit and bacon. She figured that he would be hungry, and that the food she made might make him feel a bit better. At least making a good meal made her feel better when she wasn't feeling well. When everything was finished cooking, Lily set the table and put the food down. It might get cold before he woke up. But even if that was the case, Lily was going to eat her share. She walked back to her bedroom, looking in to see if he was awake. "Hello?" Lily whispered, knowing that her voice wouldn't be able to wake him.

Eugene had woken up when the sun peeked into the room, when the birds outside started to chirp and the sound of cars startled him into consciousness. He opened his eyes with a start but quickly the memories of yesterday came back and he quickly shut them, relaxing into the bed. Right. At least he didn't feel so much pain. It was an ache, a burning ache but tolerable. Eugene rested his head into the pillow again and rolled off his side and onto his stomach. It was a while that he stayed like so, trying to drift back to sleep but the cars were so loud to his ears and the birds weren't the same. He couldn't. After what seemed like a long time, he heard footsteps and the smell of food drifted in from the kitchen. Should he get up? He contemplated on the action until she came to him herself. She spoke and Eugene tilted his head, exposing his face from the pillow and looking at her with the one eye he managed to free from the softness.

"Hello." He freed a hand from under the pillow and let it flop out down the side of the bed and offered her a small smile. "Where am I?" He then considered she would tell him he was in her house, and that information he knew, so he added, "What city?"

@ ashen knight;

Lily walked further into the room once she knew that he was awake. Soon she was standing at the side of the bed, looking down at the man who she had let inside her home. Some worry came over her face when he asked where they were. She hoped he didn't lose his memory, or that he wasn't just dropped here. "We are in Seattle, Washington." Glancing down at the man, she could already tell he was feeling a bit better than yesterday. There seemed to be less pain on his face and he certainly was more conscious. "I made breakfast. Eggs, toast, bacon and some fruit. I am sure you are hungry." Lily gave him a small smile. "I can help you to the kitchen if you need any. Or we can go sit on the couch instead since it is a bit more comfortable. Whatever you think would be best for your back."

@ Mother.Of.Dragons

"Seattle, Washington," he repeated and took a moment to quickly place his location in the world. That was to the east of the great ocean, the 'west' in the human tongue. She spoke of breakfast, perhaps a thing that humans did and he nodded. Would human food satisfy him? He wasn't sure. It sure didn't when he was an angel. But he felt hunger, and this was new. With a grunt and some effort, he forced himself up onto his hands and elbows and sat up. He didn't ask for her help - she had helped enough already. "I will sit, I think." Eugene took a small rest and stood, rolling his shoulders back to ease the pain out before following the girl through the many rooms to the presumed kitchen where he acquired a plate and food. Sitting down, he took the fork and carefully prodded at the white food. Eggs. He broke them into smaller pieces and tasted some, slowly beginning to eat and making sure he kept his posture as he did so (slouching hurt). Occasionally throughout his meal he would sneak a glance at the girl. To introduce himself to her was not even a thought - he was unaware of such human behavior - but he was curious as to who she was. After a while, he dared ask, "What is your name?"

[so sorry, I had some dumb eye injury; I may skip days to reduce eye stress ah, sorry about this inconvenience again!! ]

@ ashen knight;

Lily stayed quiet throughout most of the meal. She had so many questions to ask him, like what his name was. Though he was quiet and eating his food so methodically that she thought it best to just let him eat. Plus this was the first time that he had been fully conscious since whatever had happened yesterday, maybe he just needed time to process it all. Though as she finished off her glass of juice, she heard him speak to her. "My name is Lily Winters." She told him with a soft smile. Now that he seemed ready to speak, maybe there was a chance to hear the full story of what happened...or at least to get his name. "And what is your name?" Setting down her knife and fork atop her plate, Lily looked at him intently. She couldn't help but realize that there was just something about his face that was simply perfect. Maybe he was a male model?

[It's okay! Better to give them rest now then to have more issues in the future! ]

@ Mother.Of.Dragons

"Lily Winters." Eugene repeated thoughtfully, noting the name down in his mind and looking at her to assign it to a face. She did look like a Lily now that he looked at her, fair and bright, her facial features quite petite and dainty, like the innermost parts by the stamens of the lily flower. And she seemed to blossom right before him. Quite adorable. And winters, and it seemed as if she were the winter herself, but a sunny day of winter. The warm day of winter, carrying all the gracefulness of snowflakes and yet carrying warmth in her heart, and kindness in her soul.
He set his fork down but almost immediately picked it back up and put more food into his mouth at her question. His name? He considered it, using the food to stall for time. "Eugene," he said after swallowing. There was no surname for him. Angels did not have surnames. He hoped she wouldn't ask. And there was no harm in telling her his name, surely. He was no longer an angel, she could not call him down. She could not pray to him or beg him of things. He had no way to hear. He had nothing to give. At the same time, he hoped she would not ask more. Humans were curious creatures. But they also did not always believe everything that they are told. If she was no believer of God, she would not take easily to his answers on who and where. Noticing she had been looking at him quite intently (more so at his face it seemed), he hesitated at the next mouthful. "Is something the matter?" He lifted his hand and touched his cheek, checking for more wounds.

[Hopefully it heals soon :') Its quite annoying ]

@ ashen knight;

"Eugene." Lily whispered to herself, smiling a little as she did so. She couldn't pin point what about the name seemed perfect for him, but it just simply did. He just looked like a Eugene and that was that. Though she quickly snapped out of that when he asked her another question.
Her cheeks turned a light red when Eugene asked her what was wrong. Lily couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed at the situation. It was obvious that she might have been staring at him a bit much in a particular way. Though with the way that Eugene started to touch his face, she also couldn't help but smile a little. "There is nothing wrong with you face." Lily reassured him. "I didn't mean to stare at you so much. It's just that I am so curious about your story. Could you tell me where you are from and how you got injuried like that? It's just that I've never seen scars like that before. Both seem almost symmetrical." Lily couldn't figure out what had caused his back wounds. They were so strange, and she was thinking that it came from the same weapon. Though, she was most concerned about whether or not they people who hurt him would try and do it again. "Or could you at least tell me if they might come back looking for you?"

@ Mother.Of.Dragons

Although comforted that there was nothing wrong with his face, lest he had overlooked some injury, he was not comforted by the questions she seemed to fire at him. He was quite overwhelmed, he did not know where to start. Did he go ahead and tell her the truth or avoid it altogether? He could not lie, it was not in his nature and he wasn't about to taste the temptation of sin, but he did not think she would so willingly believe him. He set the plate down and looked at it for a little while, for a time that seemed almost too long to be natural. "I-" He tried and broke off, rubbing his finger around the rim of the plate. Better off to reassure her that they would not come after her - he hoped. "They might. But they will not harm you, you need not to worry." He glanced at her, quickly adding the latter in case she was alarmed and threw him out onto the streets. "As for me, I am... what you would call an angel. I was cast out from Heaven. They tore my wings and I fell." The silence that followed it was so awkward, and very unreal it seemed. He did not know what to think. Eugene shut his mouth and glanced her way, his face turned away in such a manner that in all he looked like a dog who had done wrong and knew it, and feared the punishment the master would give, ready to flinch, to fight, to run away. Eugene looked away and took a breath that he had been holding.