“Of course Raphael, you know you are welcome to come to my offices at any time. Of course, Uriel just lets herself in whenever she wants, not that I have tried to enforce rules,” He smiled kindly at Uriel, and she chuckled merrily. Raphael smiled and nodded in respect to both Angels, then left the offices. He walked back the way he came, lost in his own thoughts. Perhaps Metatron was the best person for the job, she was the oldest and wisest of the Angels, she might uncover something in the library that no one else would. He passed the gardens again, this time on his right, and he stopped by a tall marble column, bright white in the sunshine. Heaven had various gardens scattered around its kingdom, some small, like the gardens that were outside the Death Offices, others huge, almost field like, like the ones outside his own small office complex. Raphael had the smallest Offices, but the largest gardens, sharing them with Uriel, as she had chosen her offices to be the other side of the vast garden, opposite her best friend. Gabriel was a little taken aback from the decision, as he doted on his little sister, and thought she would choose somewhere near him, but Raphael was glad she had chosen opposite his own buildings. He felt safer with her close by, it was a comfort to have someone who was kind and loyal as your best friend. Raphael didn’t make many friends, as he was quiet, shy and often stayed away from Angelic social events, but Uriel had taken a shine to him and he to her. Many thought they would become a couple, but they had remained best friends for hundreds of years, neither showing romantic interest in the other. Raphael smiled to himself. Uriel was the best of friends, he wouldn’t trade her for anything. He just wished she could be more sensible sometimes, but that wild, unrestrained side of her was part of her overall charm. Gabriel had tried, as she was maturing, to calm her down, but nothing could stop Uriel from being the unstoppable force of fun and demon killing she was.

“Raphael, sir,” an Angel interrupted his thoughts and he turned to see one of Azrael’s Reapers, patiently waiting for a response.

“What is it? I’ve just come from Azrael’s offices, I’m sure if he wanted anything, he would've said then,” The Reaper looked slightly put out, though smiled that kindly smile all reapers had.

“Unfortunately, my message is not from my boss, but from another of your fellow Arch Angels,” Raphael sighed. There was only one Arch Angel who had the arrogance to use a Reaper to send his messages. He liked doing it because he thought it would scare other angels, but Raphael was immune to the tingle of Death that hung around Reapers. Death herself, he was not immune to, but these solemn, kindly looking angels were no more scary to Raphael than any other normal angel.

“So what does Michael want?” With an apologetic smile, the Reaper handed him a folded note with an ink stamp of Michael’s symbol on it. As soon as Raphael took it, the Reaper bowed deeply and practically floated away, without one more word. Reapers didn’t speak much to others. Raphael looked down at the note in his hand and sighed. This could definitely wait till he got back to his offices. And even if it could not, the wait was sure to annoy Michael no end.

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