Another Instalment of the Pointless Bran Saga. Now with added Julian!
Bran slipped away while the priest was occupied. He felt that if he’d stayed even a moment longer he’d have fallen into a trance again, and been left starting at the imposing figure of the cross until he was found the next morning. It was a flight of fancy, he knew that – but he still felt good getting out. Being in there made his whole body ache with a phantom pain that was nothing more then a memory, and filled his mind with such serenity and fear that it threatened to overwhelm him and draw him back into a void.

Or something.

All churches did that, of course – even mosques and the occasional temple he’d visited filled him with that odd mix of serenity and fear that he wondered if everyone felt in these places. But only Christian ones made him hurt, which he thought was a pity because he loved the way religions looked. Angel had introduced him to the concept of the old god and the angels – which he’d lapped up as something that spoke to him. He loved angels and demons, as their antithesis. That was why he liked Anna’s angel so much.

He looked over to it as he walked out. The sky was darkening, so the monument was barely visible in the light of the streetlamp. But she was still there, ands raised to the sky imploringly. Perched on her shoulders, the black birds watched.

The wind picked up slightly, cutting through Bran’s series of shirts and brushing against his skin, forcing a shiver out of him. He shrugged his backpack into a more comfortable position and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, keeping a little bit of warmth within his slight frame. He walked to the parking lot where his bike was parked, slowly being dissolved of the parish cars as they returned home.

He was straddling the bike and putting his helmet on when he heard someone speak and brush up against his shoulder.

“Room for two?”

Bran yelped and jumped looking for the source of the voice. A man that Bran hadn’t seen before that moment was standing by his bike. He was almost the epitome of average. He stood at an average height, with hair a shade of dark blonde, or perhaps a strawberry blonde or pale auburn – it was hard to tell in the streetlight. Average grey eyes stared at Bran from a face covered in pale skin that didn’t get as much sun as it should, and loose grey clothing barely hinted at the build of the man within. Bran saw him almost immediately as a pale, washed-out version of Angel.

“I take it you’re my keeper for my holiday?” He asked dryly, a little shaken by the man’s sudden appearance. He simply nodded and gestured to the back seat of the bike that Bran normally used to ferry new recruits – fresh meat for the fold – around to various doctors and locations for their preliminary trials. Bran nodded, and the other man glided onto the back.

“Julian.” He said, just loud enough for bran to hear. “What do you feel like to eat?”

Bran blinked, a little confused. “Chips?” He suggested after a moment.

“That works.” Julian agreed. Bran tried to look back at him, certain he could hear a smile in his voice. “We’d best move now – it could take a while for this to start up, and we need to get there before they close, agreed?”

“It won’t take that long.” Bran said dismissively, fiddling with the clutch and walking the bike back.

“It may. Better start now.”


20 minutes later, Bran pulled out of the car park and onto the street.

- posted by Washi @ 1:05 pm