A Game of Love and War

[Dr. Jones]

The Gaylord Hotel was a grand hotel located in the heart of Washington DC.. The hotel's indoor garden and fountain were spotless as the staff has had just finished their daily cleaning ritual. They’ve heard rumors that an important meeting was taking place at their hotel today; however, they had no clue just how important.

In the large rectangular meeting room, well lid by numerous ceiling lights and even a glass chandelier, a hand full of handsome men gathered. Their expressions vary from amusement to disinterest to boredom as they waited for their “guest” to arrive. Each of them is dressed formally, equipped with different color blazers and ties. However upon closer inspection, one would notice that some of the men’s accessories were far from business appropriate. Chained jewelries and skulls can easily be spotted on the men’s belts, wrist, and neck. Some had facial piercings that would not be seen on any regular business man. Their suits were wrinkled and thrown on with little care; and if one dare to take a peek into the room, they would be immediately be glared at by the many pairs of piercing eyes from within. This is not a gathering of the norm; this is a meeting between the devil and the angel.

Alfred sat, slouched in his chair as he waited for the angels to finally make their appearance. He had just turned 234 in human years and was but an adolescent in devil’s eyes, however he been allowed to participate in the meeting between the angels and devils. Being the son of the King of Hell did help, but it was his unmatched brute strength that earned him the right.

The meeting was a political one that occurs one every hundred years. The highest standing angels and devils gather together for three days in the human realm to discuss the same treaty to make sure no wars will occur between the two races. Events that had occur in the human world due to the influence of devils or angels. Devils and angels are free to roam the human world; however they are not allowed to leave marks. If the rules have been violated, it is up to the higher ups of the violator’s race to take the appropriate action. More than anything, the meeting was but a courtesy measure to insure that the treaty still stands between the angels and devils. Alfred isn’t interested in that, he was interested in the angels themselves.

Alfred had always been a curious devil, ever since he was little, he had wondered about the angels that were supposed to be their polar opposite. Since devils were not allowed to go into heaven, the young prince of hell had tried to search for angels in the human world. However, while devils often went to the human realm for their amusement, angels rarely leave their home in heaven. This meeting is where Alfred knows for certain that he can meet an angel.

[Angel Arthur]

Arthur was rather dreading the treaty meeting between the angels and devils as he and the angels made their way to the meeting room, it was his first treaty meeting ever and he did not want anything to happen while he was here.
Arthur was brought along because his family was rather high up and was a very powerful. Arthur himself was a powerful guardian; agile and swift when he wanted to be. A rather good fighter too. He was mostly here to watch, to make sure that none of the devils tried anything funny. He was told to only step in if he needed too.

When the group made it to the room and entered a small wave of shock ran through them. The devils were here already? This had to be a first in a while, usually the angels were the first to arrive. Scowling at the group across the room the angels seated themselves, all sitting upright and dignified in their chairs. They would at least act professional here.
Everyone in their group were flawlessly dressed, not a wrinkle in sight on their clean suits and looking completely at home in the grand hotel they were in. The only accessories they had on them were a few pieces of gold jewelery worn around their necks or wrists.

Arthur was seated just off the side of the main treaty negoiators, close enough to protect people should the need arise but far enough that he was not going to be dragged into the treaty talk when they eventually got started.
He was wearing a crisp clean suit in pale colours and was resisting the urge to scowl at anyone who so much as looked at him funny. He swore some of the devils were throwing glances his way, mostly at his eyebrows.

The head angel stood up from his seat, adressing everyone in the room. The meeting had started.

[Dr. Jones]

Alfred watches as his father started off the meeting right after one of the angels finish addressing everyone. The young devil easily tones it out. He was just here for looks, the adults are not interested in his opinion, and he wasn’t interested in the treaty. Alfred took the time to observe the angels; each of them seems to hold on to his father’s words. The angels were dressed practically the same, even their suits were all the same, pure white. They had the same shade of blond hair and blue eyes, each wearing the same expression. Alfred wondered if all the angels were like that, or is it just these angels at the meeting. There are chances that all these angels are related, hence the similarity in appearance.

Suddenly a flash of green caught his eyes. Sitting at the end of the table, farthest away from him was an angel with emerald eyes. Alfred has never seemed eyes of that color before. Green was a rare color for demons, red and black being the most common. However, even from the green eyes that Alfred had seen, never had he seen on that green. Forcing his eyes away from the eyes in favor of taking in the rest of the angel’s appearance; the blond almost chuckled. On top of the eyes was a pair of the largest eyebrows he has ever seen.

[Angel Arthur]

Arthur was trying to pay attention to the meeting, it would not do to miss out on anything important that was being said. He was also trying to keep an eye on the devils in the room, who knew what would happen if one of them did something. It always paid to be slightly suspicious and guarded around devils, especially when they were in large groups, like now.

At the moment he was busy looking over the devils, most seemed to be listening to the talking even if they had bored or annoyed looks on their faces. One however, seated next to King of Hell, was clearly looking towards him. Arthur stared back at the devil, noting the way he was dressed and rather carelessly slumped in his chair, and raised an eyebrow at him. Why was someone who was obviously important, he had to be to be sitting so close to the King of Hell, just sat there doing nothing?

Sighing and rolling his eyes Arthur turned his head away to look back at the Head Angel, who was currently talking again. The man had brought some his family along Arthur noted. They were sitting around and close by him and the more Arthur looked the more family groups Arthur could see.

[Dr. Jones]

Alfred continued to stare shamelessly at the green-eyed angel, even after he noticed that the other had realized that he was being watched. It’s not like the devil particularly care that the other notice. Although Alfred did caught the rolling of those almond shaped eyes, and chuckled to himself quietly.

The volume of the speech went up a notch and the air around the room tensed up as the angel spoke of the incident known to the humans as World War II. It was a slip up on the devil’s part when one of relative of the king went to the human world and influenced a man, Hitler, which led to the genocide of millions. These are the things that the treaty was supposed to prevent. Of course the devil had been caught and properly punished, but the deed was done. The angels were not happy about it.

Alfred sighed to himself. Wondering what the angels are going to demand this time. Every time something like this happened, the treaty gets stricter on the devils. As of now, while the angels have unlimited access to the human world, there had been a restriction on the number of devils allowed. There was also a time limit the devil was allowed to stay and a prior approval from the king. It was a tedious process to get that approval, and more than once, Alfred had sneaked into the human world since if he waited, it would have taken years.

[Angel Arthur]

Arthur fidgetted nervously in his seat from the feeling of being watched and a quick glance around the room confirmed that the devil from before was still staring at him. He tried to pay attention to the discussions but was unable to stop himself from looking back at the other. He was slightly startled to notice that the devil had shockingly sky blue eyes and got momenterilly distracted with staring intently back. The colour was really pretty. Expecially for a devil.
He was one of the few Angels who reguarly visited the human world and was sure he had seen one or two devils wandering around, generaly looking like thugs and scaring the humans without even talking to them, and was sure they had mostly brown eyes.

He jolted out of his thoughts at the sound of raised voices and whipped his head back round to focus. He blushed a light shade of red when he realised just what he was doing and let out a slow breath.
Okay... They were discussing World War II. He could focus on this. It wasn't a pleasant subject but he needed to pay attention as he knew the Head Angel was planning on tightening restrictions again. Sometimes these did not go down well with the devils.
He watched as one of his higher ups stood up. "I demand that any further mistakes made by any devil that cause any major harm within the human world be dealt with by the angels instead of their own leaders. We can not have another incident like this caused because one of you feels the need to mess with human affairs!"

Arthur winced as the noise level grew in the room. The devils were obviously not happy with this demand, some angels were not happy with how the demand was worded- it could have been made to sound less acusing- while others agreed to it. The Head Angel started discussion with the one who had spoken and looked rather annoyed.

[Dr. Jones]

Alfred felt a pleasant shiver when their eyes met for a split second. The angel in question quickly turned away but Alfred could still see a tiny dusk of pink against his pale skin. How cute.

Besides him, the King of Hell rose up to his full height, fully refusing what the angels have requested. Of course he did, that would give angels too much power over the devils. “You have no right to punish our people!” The king’s voice was firm and commanding, leaving no room for arguments. All the other devils shouted in agreement to their king that Alfred couldn’t help but joined in. It was his duty to back up the decisions of his father after all. Not to mention it does sound unreasonable.

Searching blue eyes caught emerald, as Alfred lock eyes with the angel from before.

[Angel Arthur]

Arthur watched as everyone started shouting at each other across the room. The devils were obviously in uproar about the demand and many angels were yelling at the one who had spoken. The meeting had fallen to peices in less than a minute. Arthur studied the reactions of the devils carefully and again caught the devil from before looking at him and stared right back.

Sighing to himself Arthur scribbled a note on some paper and sent it whizzing down the table to the head angel with a small amount of magic, he had a lot of it after all and that was what made him quite a good guardian so making a peice of paper move was hardly a chore for him. The head angel stopped his yelling at the devils to calm down and read the message before he frowned at it. Looking up he raised his voice to be heard over everyone else, "We shall settle this matter later. As of now we are calling for a break so that everyone can calm down. We will meet up again in half an hour to continue these discussions."

With that said the rest of the angels started gathering up notes that they didnt want to leave in the room and started leaving. Arthur followed after them and was one of the last angels to leave as he made sure none of them were going to be suddenly attacked when their backs were turned. While arguing was expected, physical attacks in the treaty areas were a serious crime but with how things had turned out there was a chance of it happening. From either sides.
Making one last sweep of the room Arthur again caught the devil looking at him, and blushed again as he quickly stepped out.

As he walked down the hall towards the hotels indoor garden he couldn't help but wonder exactly why the devil kept watching him. Shaking his head he sat down and looked around sighing to himself. This was only his first meeting and so far it had been positively rubbish.

[Dr. Jones]

Taking a deep breath, Alfred got up and stretched his limbs. He wasn’t exactly very involved in the heated debate, but the atmosphere itself was suffocating. The blond for one was glad for the break call. He leisurely waited, watching as almost everyone filed out of the room, before getting up himself. His eye once again caught that angel’s from before as he left the room, the last of the angels. Alfred allowed himself to chuckle this time as he caught sight of the same blush.

Most of the devils went back to their room, probably for a drink. Alfred was about to do the same thing when he caught sight of the same angel before walking towards the man-made garden. Suddenly, following the said angel seems like a much more appealing idea. Soundlessly, the young devil walked toward the garden. The garden was empty like most of the hotel for the devils has booked the whole place. The workers have finished their morning duties and returned to their other posts. This make following someone so much easier. Alfred does not know why this particular angel caught his interest, but he wasn’t questioning it. He just doing whatever he wants to do, and right now, he wants to know more about that little angel.

[Angel Arthur]

Arthur didn't notice that he was being followed, to preocupied with making his way to the garden. It was really pretty for an indoor one and was calm compared to the tense atmosphere of the meeting room.

He let out a slow breath to calm himself and leant back in the chair he was sitting in with his eyes closed. So peaceful and quite, a small smile crossed his face at the calm atmosphere.

[Dr. Jones]

Alfred chose to sit on a chair mostly hidden by a large indoor tree. He wasn’t stalking per-say; he was merely sitting in a chair that happens to have a good view of the angel while the angel doesn’t. The smile did not go unnoticed, making the devil sat up straighter for a better view. That smile was, though small, had manage to made Alfred felt very relax and light. He wondered if all angels’ smile had that ability, or is it just this particular one.

However, sitting at the side and silently watching someone really wasn’t Alfred’s forte. He wants to get that angel’s attention, want to talk to him, to hear his voice, want to look at those pretty emerald eyes again and feel if that pleasant shiver from before will happen again. With a snap of his finger, the devil summon a small gust of wind in the enclosed garden and send it towards the angel.

[Angel Arthur]

Arthur was to busy daydreaming too know that the devil was in the garden with him hidden behind a tree, too busy thinking about all the magical creatures he had heard about from children when walking around as a 'human'. It was really quite cute listening to human children talk, they had such strong imaginations. Plus it always made him laugh when they spoke of angels, if only they knew they were actually talking to one.

At the gust of wind hitting him Arthur sat upright in the chair and whipped his head around in the direction the wind came from with a small frown on his face. There shouldn't be any wind here. It was an enclosed garden and he hadn't heard any doors opening.
Looking around carefully he finaly noticed the devil from before hidden mostly behind a large tree looking right at him. Jumping up from his chair he scowled and stared back. "What are you doing here? Why did you follow me?"

[Dr. Jones]

“I didn’t follow you.” Alfred lied easily without missing a beat. “I just happen to visit the garden too.” He got up from his seat and took a few easy steps towards the angel until they are but a few feet part. The angel seems to flinch at the close approximately and Alfred couldn’t help but grinned. Up close, the angel is half a head shorter, just a few centimeters below Alfred.

“So little angel, what’s your name?”

[Angel Arthur]

"Of course you didn't follow me. Just like how you haven't been watching me all through the meeting." Really, did the devil think he hadn't noticed constantly being watched? "And the mysterious wind had to have come from somewhere. So far the only thing that has changed in here is you showing up."

Arthur tried not too but couldn't stop from flinching when the other stepped closer and only left a few feet between them. Arthur wasn't exactly the tallest angel but he was still used to some people being shorter than him, having a devil stand so close to him and actually be taller was not comforting. Plus he could not help but notice that the devil had a much bigger build than him. Arthur was thin and not exactly muscley but had enough strength to fight well enough as he did train himself. No matter what he did though he could not seem to gain a lot muscle mass and the little he did manage barely showed.

He felt tiny compared to the other.

No matter how small he felt the little comment got him annoyed. "I am not little! Just because you look like a giant does not make me little." If Arthur had his wings out he was sure the feathers would have puffed up slightly and the wings stretched out behind him. Much like a cat puffing itself up to make itself seem bigger. "And why should I tell you my name? How about you tell me yours first, devil."

[Dr. Jones]

The little angel is aggravated, how cute. Alfred thought to himself. “You want to know my name?” the young devil asked playfully with a wink. “Well in the human world, I go by Alfred. Alfred F. Jones.”

“And I wasn’t watching you. I was merely … studying the angels.” Alfred replied. “We don’t see them often.”

Alfred lean a bit closer to the angel without physically moving forward, towering slightly over the smaller angel even though they’re merely a few centimeters apart.“So, what’s your name? Or should I continue calling you “little angle?”

[Angel Arthur]

Arthur hoped it wasn't obvious he was blushing from the wink. Was he being flirted with? Was a devil flirting with him? The idea was absurd. Surely the wink meant nothing. And the devils name was Alfred? It actually seemed normal sounding...

"I wonder why we don't see each other often. You lot arent exactly the best at spotting angels walking around the human world. We don't try so hard to stand out. And do I hope you realise that your 'studying' seems suspicious."

Arthur glared when Alfred leant closer, he guessed it was because the other wanted to try imtimidate him. Arthur was not going to let that happen! And he was certainly not going to keep being called 'little angel'. "I guess what I go by is Arthur. Arthur Kirkland. But why exactly are you here? The rest of you are probbly off talking to each other and here you are. Talking to an angel of all things."

[Dr. Jones]

“Arthur.” Alfred repeated, testing the name on his tongue. The name sounds… natural when the angel, now known as Arthur, spoke it in his unique and distinctively British accent. It didn’t have the same effect when Alfred said it. The blush did not go unnoticed, and Alfred fought the urge to tease the other.

The devil waved his hand nonchalantly, “that’s where you’re wrong, Arthur.” Alfred paused, the name still sounds foreign to him. “They’re probably off drinking in their rooms.” The blond chuckled to himself before catching Arthur’s gaze. “I, on the other hand, think I found something much more… amusing.”

[Angel Arthur]

The sound of his name being said by Alfred was rather odd, this had to be the first devil he had actually spoken too in his 243 years of living, so he reasoned that was the reason why. "Well, Alfred, don't you think it makes you suspicious that the rest of you are off drinking when you're here." Drinking at these important meetings? Arthur resisted the urge to roll his eyes, did the devils not care about maintaining the treaty at all?

"I guess I am the thing that you find 'amusing', right? Nice to know that you are easily entertained. But maybe you should pay more attention during the meetings instead of acting like a child who can't pay attention for more than a few minutes." he snapped.

Arthur then looked off to the side, the way Alfred was looking at him was a bit disconcerting. He glanced down at his watch and almost groaned when he saw they still had 15mins to go untill the meeting started again. He couldn't make the excuse that he wanted to head back when all he would be doing is sitting around. Even if angels liked to be on time to things.

[Dr. Jones]

“Oh, you must have been watching me if you noticed that I wasn’t paying attention.” Alfred replied, grin ever present. “Besides, just because all the other devils are doing something doesn’t mean I would be too. I don’t see any other angels here but you. What are you doing here by yourself?”

Alfred looked over Arthur’s body. He knew that angels were suppose to have wings, and unlike the devil’s, they were compose of pure white feathers. He wants to see them, to feel them, but sadly they were hidden from view due to the human disguise. It’s been hundreds of years since any devil had seen the angel’s wings, the angels are always in disguise in the human world, and without conflicts, they never drop that disguise. He could picture them on Arthur’s back, it is very fitting.

[Angel Arthur]

Arthur scoffed, "It is not exactly hard to miss when someone is staring at you across a table. Expecially when I was actually doing my job and watching the meeting. You happened to have a seat right in the middle of the table so of course I was going to see you watching me."

Arthur felt himself feeling more and more suspicious at the questions being asked. Why was Alfred, a devil, even talking to him? Usually their races ignored each other at best and got into small arguments (when they did manage to meet outside the meetings) at worst, the treaty stopped them from actually getting into serious fights. "I came out here for some quite, the meeting got far to loud. However that plan got dashed when you showed up."

With the peace between the angels and devils maintained by the treaty, displaying your wings, when not using them for something like flight, was a rather private thing to do with anyone not an angel. Angels did walk around in their angel forms up in heaven but their wings were often tucked down so they didnt get in the way when not in use.
To physically touch anothers wings was an incredibly intimate gesture, usually reserved for just family, loved ones and very close friends.

[Dr. Jones]

“Hey Arthur, will you show me yo-“

“Hey Alfred! What are you doing down there?!” A voice interrupted him right before Alfred got a chance to ask the angel to show him his wings. The voice came from the second floor; the hallway overlooks the garden located at the ground floor. The older devil was standing on the edge of the rail on the second floor hallway. “Is that an angel with you?! So not awesome man!”

“Don’t worry about it man!” Alfred shouted back, annoyed that his rare time with an angel is interrupted. “What do you want?!”

“The king wants to talk to you! Can you believe they send the awesome me to get you? I’m way too awesome to be running errands!” The devil with silver hair shouted back.

[Angel Arthur]

Arthur raised an eyebrow at the question only for it to be cut off by a very loud voice calling down at Alfred. He visably flinched at the sound of the other voice. Another devil's voice. This was not his day, first he gets followed and now someone has actually seen him talking to a devil. Arthur scowled upwards at the the new devil standing on the rail of the upper floor. "Why do you lot feel the need to be so damn noisy?! You don't need to yell the whole building down!" he yelled back. Great idea, yelling about them yelling.

"Is there anything else you need before I leave? Even if you're a devil I wont keep you from the King. It wouldn't be very good to keep you here if you are needed when the point of these meetings is to maintain peace between our races." he said back to Alfred once he stopped his sudden glaring match with the devil on the upper floor. If his eyebrows were good for anything, it was making his glares a bit more imtimidating than normal, if the person didnt crack up at the sight.

Just to be an arse, and quite possibly to make himself feel better with the impending large headache he could feel forming he looked back at the silver haired devil and yelled up at him. "What make you think you're awesome? I can think of many more things more awesome than you!"
The rules never stated anything about not starting arguments and taunting the others, only about not starting physcial fights and threatning each other, and this new devil had a far to big of an ego for Arthurs liking.

[Dr. Jones]

“I’m awesome ‘cause I can kick pretty little angel’s ass like yours! Now Fuck Off! I’m not talk to you!” The other devil yelled back. Alfred chuckled, the hot headed devil, Gilbert, was not known for his well manners.

The younger devil grinned at the angel, “Sorry, gotta run.” He told the angel as he walked pass him, low enough that the other devil could not hear him, which wasn’t really not low. “My room is 605, come visit sometimes.”

“What’s taking you?” Gilbert shouted, cutting off whatever reply the now blushing angel would have gave. “Do I have to come down there and drag you up?!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” the blond devil shouted back as he made his to the elevator.

[Angel Arthur]

Arthur was about to yell something else back at the second devil about how this angel was not that easy to kick about and that he was in no way pretty because he was not a girl, but instead stopped and blushed heavily at what Alfred said as he walked past. His throat refused to work and produce any sound leaving him standing there opening and closing his mouth like an idiot.
Oh god... He was being flirted with then. Why else would Alfred tell him his hotel room number and to come visit sometime?

Tea. He needed tea. A lot of tea. He had grown fond of the drink when walking round as a human and some other angels who also reguarly visited the human world and worked as merchants up in heaven had started to bring it back with them along with another drink named coffee. Rubbing his still hot face he walked back to his own room where he still had some complimentry tea left and struggled to get the coffee maker working to get the hot water.

It was when he finished the tea, which he still thought tasted terrible, that he suddenly remembered the meeting. Swearing he glanced down at his watch and saw he had three minutes to get back to the meeting room or he was going to be late. He just remembered to grab his keys before running out of the room.

[Dr. Jones]

The talk with his father was quick, merely 5 minutes, though with promise of perhaps more to come. Right after his talk with the king Alfred left for the meeting. Although he wasn’t usually one to be punctual, the young devil had a lot on his mind afterwards and just wants to sit down a think about what he was told.

When he entered the meeting room, two other angels were already there. They stare at him, eyes alert, as he walk to his seat. Alfred relaxed into the chair and waited for the meeting to proceed. It wasn’t long before more angels filed in, and one or two devils that were more serious. The angels tried to pay him no mind, but the devils nodded to him before taking their sets and spoke to themselves in their native languages.

A minute or two before the meeting is officially starting, all the angels were present and most of the devils had started to arrive, all the angels except for Arthur. Alfred wondered what had happened to that angel. He doesn’t look like the “late” type.

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