Templario

A/N; I`ve changed it some, now it`s hopefully better. Please, let me know how I`m doing, R/R.
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All this Heaven thing is pretty overrated.

I`ve been working for this people for an eternity
now. And you`d think the Gods would be more
generous - with the amount of gifts they receive
from those damn mortals all the time - but no, a
little raise is too much for a faithful Shrine
Keeper to ask for!

This is a tough job too, you know. All these
clouds everywhere - and I know they`re just for
show - don`t make anything easier. I`m always
falling in the holes between them, where the
gases, or whatever they`re made of, are scarcer.
And we, the Keepers, just have to do all the hard,
annoying tasks too - the Angels do nothing but loiter
around.

Like today, I had to go to another Temple to
deliver some stuff. I`ts heavy, today is hot - thus my long, dark hair being held on a ponytail, which is, not surprisingly, against some stupid rules - , and it`s soo far away... Alright now, I know I`m whining. But just after having my raise rejected for the last time 3 CENTURIES in a row, I guess even a holy worker is entitled to be a bit cranky.

As I pass through all this blinding whiteness, carrying
this heavy golden urn, my fellow workers wave me
hello and I try to sidestep the holes in the
clouds. These days have been pretty busy, there`s
some important deity or another coming to visit.
Not sure which, really, this stuff gets kinda boring after a while.

I`ve been on this directly-with-the-gods function
almost all my career here in Heaven. I`m one of
the oldest workers - not that it shows, I`m stuck
on the 25 look forever - and it hurts sometimes
that, although I`m the most experienced and best
at what I do, I get no recognition at all.

Talk about a dead-end job.

Then I finally arrive on the Temple I was
supposed to do the deliver to. Man, this is also a big
one, I hope they don`t try to tag me along to do
any more service here, I`ve got a lo-

``Carat! There you are. So good you came to help
us. Now, could you please just put the urn over
there, and I`d really like this wall painted assap!``

Oh God, I can`t believe this! But no, really, I
can`t BELIEVE this, I hold back from shouting at the bald, plump God that just approached me. Aren`t you the God of Good Faith - hence the big shrine, humans love him -, how can even you explore me like this?!

Ha, see if I`ll obey! I`m tired, I haven`t had a
single break in two weeks! BYE.

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Carat quickly spun on his heels, holding with trembling hands, in anger, the sides of his simple white toga. He hurried to depart from the temple before the God that owned it could ask him to do anything else, or even before he did something that he`d regret later.

He strode away and, in minutes, found himself at a field of clouds that, because of it`s irregular landing -
reminiscent of the steeps of Earth - was mostly deserted.

He sat down with his back to a lump of practically-firm grey clouds, shutting his dark brown eyes, and settled for a little bit of much deserved rest.

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I sigh as I lay there. Now, that`s nice, - if there`s one single good thing about this cloud business is that everything is so soft - pity that, even if I close my eyes, it`s still so frickin bright!

``Oh, hello. You`re Carat, aren`t you?``

Gah! Another bad thing about our fluffy white
landing is that someone walking makes absolutely
no sound. I wearily open my eyes to find a
coworker standing a few feet ahead of me. I have to squint against the light that surrounds him but, eventually, recognize the light blond hair and smiling grey eyes.

``Hi, yeah. And you`re - humm - Oden, no?``

He nods and comes to sit beside me. I hardly
know him, really. He`s new here, one of the people
transferred after the last big reformation. I
wonder what he did before that? I ask him about it.

``Well, I used to work at the Human Management
Section. You know, that one where`s the big pool
where we can see stuff that happens down on Earth?``

``Hum, I`ve never really been...anywhere but
here, so I`ve no idea. What did you do there?``

``We mostly just had to keep an eye on the pool
to watch if the humans weren`t doing something
they`re not supposed to and, if they were, allert
some God for them to deal with it.``

``Wow. A place where the Gods actually have to
DO something? It must be heaven.``

``Ha ha. Yeah, I was surprised that they don`t
do much of anything around here, do they?``

``You`ve got to tell me all about this Human
Management Section, I think I`ve been sent to the
wrong place all along.``

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A few hours later I go back to work with a smile
on my face. But, please, don`t be mistaken; I
still hate my job. I`m happy because I`ve actually
made a friend! Oden was really nice, and we didn`t
only talk about his old position either. It
turned out that he was also taking a bit of an
unauthorized break.

Big minds think alike. And we found out that we
had a lot in common, even the unprecedented dislike
for the use of gases as flooring! Thereafter, of
course, we`ve compromised to meet again soon. Yay!
Finally a bright spot in my dull and tiresome
existence, I almost can`t wait.

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You know, we, the holly workers, don`t need to
eat nor sleep. But we think and we get tired and
bored after a while. We`re not machines that can
just work no end and never question. I think the
Gods don`t realize that.

Anyway, machines where something I also didn`t
know about - never having to deal with humans
myself. But Oden has enlightened about them, his
shifts at The Pond - as the pool where they watch
Earth is called - tended to resume to overseeing
the temples built down there, but the few times
he`s seen beyond them, in the human world, he`s
learned quite a lot.

We`re meeting constantly recently, since work is
gracefully on a down time - the visiting deities
already came and went. Our friendship is sailing
smoothly and every other day, when I get to see
Oden, it seems that I learn something new obout
him or the world he knows about. It`s great, I
really care about him and even the mortals seem
pretty interesting.

It feels, more and more, as if I`ve stumbled upon
a very special treasure.

I`m now sitting against the clouds on the same
abandoned field where we first met. Today is
blessedly cool and I know I won`t have to wait
much, Oden is very punctual. The only problem is
that he alwa-

``Carat.``

Gah! He always manages to startle me. I close
my eyes for an instant and, when I open them
again, there he is sitting beside me. Damn clouds!

``Hi, Oden. Now, could you stop doing that?!``

``Sorry, you were just looking so relaxed back
then, I couldn`t resist.``

``You stealthy person, you`ll make me jump and
fall in a cloud hole all the way down to Earth
one of this days``

``Aww. Don`t say that, I`ve squeezed out of work
today just to see you.``

I humphed and settled back on the fluffiness, arms crossed before my chest, closing my eyes. Just then, I felt his shoulder leaning against mine, he must have done the same as me for we stayed like that for a long time.

It really was a nice day, and I could feel myself
comfortably relaxing, basking in my friends
warmth. But, after a while, he moved and, for an instant, I believed he`d say something, - We hadn`t yet decided what to do that day - I quickly knew I was wrong.

Still with my eyes closed I felt a very soft heat
against my mouth. Thus I - you can guess how
surprised I was - quickly opened them and sprang back,
only to see Oden - his own eyes half lidded and heavy - leaning slighly towards me.

``W-what was that?``

``Ah, I`m sorry. I`ve just...always wanted to try
it out.``

``But, what was that?``

``Hum, you know, baci, beso, beijo...hum..kiss.``

``Kiss...?``

``Sorry, I-I`ve got to explain. When I still worked
at H.M.S. I saw humans doing this thing a few
times. And, well, when I asked my colleagues about
it, they said that was how it was called and that
it was a pretty normal thing done in relationships,
that the mortals do it all the time. Since then
I`ve always wanted to try it. And as you`re my
friend...``

``Oh.``

``Well, it wasn`t bad was it?``

After his explanation I understood a little bit,
it was another of these human things I knew
nothing about. I`m even sure that I`ve seen a
couple of Gods doing something like this once -
touching lips - but had no idea that it was normal.
To answer Oden`s question I had to think back on
it, it was so quick.

``I guess not...but are you sure that it`s for
friendships too?``

``Yeah, of course, why wouldn`t it be? So, hum, do
you want do to it again? I think it was nice.``

Looking at Oden`s eyes I saw he didn`t know much
about that either, but he valiantly squared his
shoulders and kept looking at me. I shrugged. I
had to admit that I was curious too. And just
thinking of doing something that only mortals and
Gods did, sure helped to make my mind. Of course, the touch really wasn`t bad, either...

``OK.``
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-WIP-