[sylvanSpider]

Heaven

Sage pressed his ear to the wall, not able to hear a response, though he could hear someone's body shifting on their bed clear as day. He knew he was heard, but why wasn't he receiving an answer yet? He resumed his former position, but his brooding was no focused on something other than the bullshit afterlife agenda and now on his neighbor. He'd been in Heaven all of about a week, and he knew they threw them up in the free, shittiest of all apartments to ensure that all of the new angels would either a.) get a job or b.) get their asses out onto the battlefield. The latter he knew to be especially true for himself. But whoever his new neighbor was, apparently they were a shut in. He wondered how long he'd been there without his realizing it.

Finally, he heard a knock at his door, and it was little wonder that his face was one of confusion when he answered. The boy standing before him had platinum white hair and looked as though recently he'd been crying. With most of the new angels being cooped up here, it didn't take much to guess as to why. If he'd died young, it was little question as to why. He'd been going through his own shit. “Hey, I'm Sage. And you are...?”

> > >

“No, no. It's my fault; I was ah...in a hurry,” Kat responded with a certain earnest twinge in her voice. Please let this be my fault, I cannot forgive you if it isn't... She pulled the other woman up and held out her hand to shake, “I'm alright, I promise. I didn't hit the ground that hard, and after earning this,” she held up a necklace that was in her pocket, “A fall like that is nothing. Name's Katarina, by the way.” The woman's German accent had faded over the years, but the accent was there regardless. She offered the other woman a smile.

Hell

Axle sighed, narrowing his eyes at the newcomer. He'd seen this type before. So, he propped his elbows up on the bar, plastered his best “I don't give a shit about you” face, and said “I imagine you would have to actually be heard of to be everyone's anything, let alone anyone's favorite. Tell me, Red, how many angels have you sent back to the mortal realm?” He cocked an eyebrow and grabbed a glass, “To answer your question, just like everywhere else, you ask for one and then you pay. What are you drinking?”

Olivia didn't notice the newcomer until he all but grazed her thigh as he clambered onto his barstool. She spun her whiskey around and cleared her throat, tossing the contents of the glass down her throat. She held out her glass to Axle, knowing he'd know to refill it, which he did promptly.