#stan gray

[saetoru]

guys gray made me a theme it’s so cute brb i must change

[elinetheraven]

Something Kinda Old

For Auren, life was - well - really boring.  Especially when you're Death trying to live as a human with Satan as your "brother".   "What do you think babies eat?"   Then there were times when life throws you the strangest things ever.   "Why the hell do you ask?" Auren asked, raising an eyebrow.  For once their face was makeup-free, revealing deathly pale skin and pure black eyes with very obvious dark circles underneath.   Stan shrugged.  "Just thinking about if when Drew and I are married, whether he'd want a kid or not."   Auren laughed.  "The mighty Satan, taking care of an infant?  Hilarious."  They raised a finger.  "First of all, you're asking me - Death - how to take care of a child, specifically a baby.  I only see infants when they're dead."  They raised another finger.  "Second, I dunno, blood?"   "Fat lot of help you are," he murmured, returning to his...parenting magazine?   "Oh my god!  Really?"  Auren threw their Poe book across the room.  "If you wanna marry and screw the guy, go marry and screw him!  But parenting?  You're Satan!  You torture souls for a living!  Why would you-"   There was a sudden knocking at the door.  Stan instantly brightened and bolted, leaving Death behind.   "Dammit!" they yelled.  "Listen to me, Stan!"  They knew it was pointless, however.  Drew was probably at the door, and Stan was letting him inside, babbling away.   "Oh, Auren~!"   ...Oh you have got to be kidding.   "What do you want, Raphael?"   "Only to see your lovely face!" he replied, winking a blue eye.  "Plus, I'm checking up on Stan.  Because reasons, you know."   “So Andrew’s not here?”   “No, I’m here.”  Andrew smiled, green eyes shining.  “How’re you doing, Auren?”   “Fine.”   “False,” Stan said, coming in with a tray holding cups and a teapot.  “They want a cat, but I say no.”   “Are you allergic?” Drew asked.   “Yup.  How much sugar do you take?”   “None, just black.”   Auren groaned and stood up.  “I’m going to my room.  Don’t,” they looked pointedly at Raphael, “bug me.”  They walked out of the room.   The ash-blonde stood up, looking at the others.  “I’m gonna go do the thing.”    Walking into Auren’s room instantly gave you a feeling of uneasiness.  Both the walls and floor were black, and a small black bed was tucked neatly into the corner.  Candles, some lit and some not, were scattered throughout the room.  As he walked into the room he saw them sitting in front of a mirror, applying paint to their face.   “Working?” the angel asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe.  “Diligent, aren’t you?”   “Death never takes a day off,” they said, pulling up the hood of their jacket, still keeping the painted skull on their face revealed.  “It’s a slow day in this area, so I asked one of the others to give me their shift.”   “You’re not the only Death?”   “Death wears many faces.”  They took a pen from the desk and expertly twirled it, watching as it changed into a large scythe.  “Why are you even here?  I said not to bug me.”   “The dead would feel better if they see an angel beside Death, don’t you think?”   “I could end up sending them to Hell, you know.”   He shrugged.  “Still helps.”   They rolled their eyes.  “Just stay close and don’t act stupid.”  They opened the only uncovered window and climbed through onto the fire-escape outside.  As they climbed up towards the roof Raphael climbed through the window himself, almost getting stuck.   “How do you know who’s gonna die and when?” he asked once he was on the roof with Auren.   “I just do,” they replied.  “Always have, ever since the original Death took us in.”   “The original Death?”   They sighed.  “Don’t they teach angels anything?  Tall skeleton wearing a black cloak and robe, holding a scythe?  That guy.  Long ago he took like a hundred teenagers and taught us how to be Death.  The world was split into sections that we’d watch, harvesting souls as people died.”   “So what happened to him?”   Auren shrugged.  “He just disappeared one day, leaving the souls of the dead in the hands of about a hundred kids.”  They laughed.  “We all took to it pretty well, thankfully.   “But enough with this, we got souls to collect.”  Auren swung the scythe through the air, and a deep, dark purple-blue rift opened in the air.  They held out a hand to the angel.  “Hold my hand tightly, or you’ll get lost in the Void.”   He gripped at the skeleton-gloved hand, surprised at the warmth it held.   They smiled.  “Here we go!”  Death lept through the portal, Raphael trailing behind them.   He felt like his insides were twisting around, and that the entirety of his skin was popping.  It was extremely painful, but thankfully over quickly.  The two landed in a dark alley, abandoned aside from them and a young woman lying on the ground.  Blood matted in her blonde hair, as well as stained a large red flower on her blue dress.   “Oh god.”  Raphael brought a hand to cover his mouth.   “Went to a party with friends, probably got more than a little tipsy, separated from the group, and then either got mugged or plain ol’ murdered.”  Auren poked the woman with the butt of their scythe.  “She bled out quickly.”  They casted a look at Raphael.  “Might wanna get those wings out, dude.”   “You’re so calm about this.”  Bright white wings materialized behind him, being nearly a foot taller than him and just barely touching the ground.  Width-wise, folded close like this, each wing was the same width as him.  Extended, one wing would be as long as nearly twice his height.   “I’ve just done this for a long time, Raphael.  And when I was younger, still learning how to be Death, things worse than this happened a lot.”  They swung the scythe over the body, and a transparent image of the woman rose up.  Her soul.   “Wha-where am I?” the lady asked.  “And who are you two?”   Auren waved.  “Death.”  Their voice sounded different than normal; more hollow, more deep.  Older, too.  “And this” they gestured to Raphael, “is an angel.  Sorry to say, but you’re dead.”   A look of shock came onto her face.  “B-but I didn’t...I didn’t get to tell Evan that I loved him!  Please, I have to live!!”   Raphael opened his mouth to speak but was silenced by an upheld hand from Death.  “Life isn’t fair, and neither is love.  But if it helps you, I can ask a...friend to tell Evan how you felt.”  They held out a hand to the lady, who shakily touched it.  Almost instantly, the soul shimmered out of existence.   Auren turned to look at the angel.  “Don’t talk.  Just seeing you - an angel - will give the souls of the dead a sense of peace.  Your job lies in being Andrew’s guardian when he needs it, not consulting the dead.  That job currently belongs to me and my kind, the many Deaths in the world.”  They turned away from Raphael, scything another rift into space.  “If you don’t think you can handle seeing these, then leave, because it’s only gonna get worse.”   “I’m going to stay, Auren.  You know I would.”  He placed a hand on their shoulder.  “You seem like you need someone to be with you.”   Death shrugged and just grabbed his hand, pulling him with them through the Void.   This time the popping sensation was much less painful, though still uncomfortable.  Landing was a good bit less terrifying this time, though.  They were in a hospital room, and a child no older than eight lay in the bed, hooked up to an IV and a couple machines.  The ECG showed only a flat line.  The boy was dead.   “I hate these ones,” Auren said.  They swung the scythe, and the child’s soul sat up.  Death pulled back their hood, a sad smile on their face.  “Hey, kiddo.  How are you feeling?”   He looked at them, a scared look on his face.  “Who are you?” he whispered, fearing hinting at his voice.   “I’m...Death, sweetie.  I’m sorry, but…”  Their voice hitched a little.  “You’re dead.”  They reached a hand out and touched the boy’s forehead, watching as he disappeared.  Auren crouched down, placing their head between their knees.   Raphael crouched down next to them.  He didn’t say anything, just put an arm around their shoulders.   After a little while Death spoke.  “Kids are always the worst, you know?”  Their voice was back to normal, Raphael noticed.  Younger, more emotional.  “They don’t expect it, and there’s so much left for them in life.  Plus, it’s so hard to break it to them.”  They took a deep, shuddering breath.  “Babies are easier, strangely.  I dunno why.”  They stood back up.  “I’m calling it a night, Ashley’d understand.”   “Feeling okay?”   They shook their head, cutting the air.  Silently they took the angel with them through the rift…   ...Only to end up reappearing in the living room of the Gray’s apartment, right in front of Stan and Andrew.   Auren sighed.  “Oh, for &^%$’s sake…”   “Great timing, you two,” Stan said smiling.  “I was just getting to your guys’ part.”   “Are you serious?!”  They threw their scythe to the floor, where it clattered in the form of a pen.  “You told him?  After only a month?!”   “He needed to know!”  He nudged Drew.  “Auren’s Death, by the way.  At least, one of them.”   “I see…”   “You know, the whole ‘Hi, I’m your boyfriend, but I’m also Satan’ thing?”  Raphael said.  “I’m actually surprised as to how well you’re taking it.”   Drew smiled.  “I’d always thought something was a bit off.  But now I know, and I’m actually really okay with it.”   Death just stared at the human.  “Are you insane?  You just found out that your boyfriend is Satan - the devil himself - and you just...calmly accept it?!”   He nodded.  “Is that okay?”   They laughed, starting off quietly and gradually rising in an almost maniacal way.  They collapsed against the wall behind them, covering their face as they laughed.   “A-Auren?” Raphael ventured out, concern evident in both his face and voice.   The laughter died down.  “Oh, this is perfect.  Just perfect.  The human accepts the fact that his boyfriend is Satan and - most importantly - did not fly off the handle upon having the truth revealed.”  Their hands dropped, revealing a perfectly calm expression on their face.  “All the worry for nothing.”  They gave a nodding look to Andrew.  “Great job, kiddo.  You have absolutely amazed me.”   “Thanks, I guess?”  He rubbed the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed.  Being praised was always awkward for him, but being praised by Death?  That was really embarrassing.   Auren smiled at him.  “Welcome to our screwy family.  It’s my hope that you’ll stay.”   Stan put an arm around his boyfriend and kissed his cheek, receiving another in response.   “Mission accomplished!” Raphael exclaimed, throwing his fists in the air.  “No major explosions!”   “If you don’t mind my asking,” Drew said to the angel, “but just what is your role?  I mean, I know you’re an angel, but...I don’t know anything else.”   The blonde smiled.  “Normally, I can’t tell.  But, considering that you’ve already been exposed to some the supernatural extremes, I think I can.  You know how sometimes you’ve had those near-death experiences?”  He received a nod in reply.  “Well, I’m the reason they’re only near-death and not actual-death.  I’m your guardian angel - have been since you were born.”   Auren huffed a little.  “And it’s because of angels like him that we Deaths feel cheated sometimes.”   “You’re joking, right?” Raphael asked.   They gave him a deadpan look.   “Okay, you’re not.” SO.  I like writing, a lot.  And about...a year ago, I think, I wrote this.  I was pretty proud of it, too.  And now with a Tumblr, I thought “Why not put it here?”  So enjoy, I hope!