“What are they shouting about out there… what did I say?” Albaer asked himself aloud, then stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist and quickly went about brushing his teeth. His hair dripping wet and body still damp, whatever it was that they were going on about, it could wait.

“Anyone who would say something like that, we can’t trust, let’s get out of here!” Lialah’s voice was muffled, but she was clearly outraged, and ‘what’ she said hit him like a ton of bricks.

He heard them walking away and panic set in, ‘If they go out in broad daylight…’

He spun on his heel and snatched the door knob, flinging it out hard enough to hit the wall, he saw they were already out of his bedroom. He rushed out after them and down the short wall, out into the living room and saw them just as they were reaching the door by the kitchen. ‘Why couldn’t they be more familiar with toilets and less familiar with doors?! I’m not going to make it!’ He shouted in his head, his eyes wide with alarm, they flung open the white painted door and took a step outside.

Their wings opened, ready to fly, Albaer jumped, ‘Best leap of my life.’ He thought as he dove forward, snatched them by their ankles, and tripped them up before they could gain momentum.

“Hey! Let go of us!” Lialah and Raziel looked at him with cold, furious eyes, but driven by raw adrenaline, he yanked as hard as he could, sending them sliding over the smooth entryway and slamming the door shut just as they let out a shocked outcry of their own. Albaer thrust his back against the door, arms and legs open and breathing hard.

“You can’t go out there!” Albaer hissed.

Raziel looked him over, whatever she wanted to say, she didn’t say it, though Lialah’s angel wings were beating hard to bring her to her feet, she put her hand on her sister’s shoulder. “No.”

Lialah’s mouth closed slowly on its own when she saw what her sister did. Albaer’s face was contorted with raw fear, fear they’d seen a thousand times over in their world. He was breathing hard, his limbs were tense, and sweat was already springing onto his skin. “No… you can’t…” It was practically a beggar’s plea for coin, or a starving man’s plea for food.

“Ah- Alright… alright…” Lialah raised her soft lily hands up and waved them up and down, “Just… calm down, okay, we’re not going… I promise… just calm down…”

“I-I told you… it’s dangerous out there for you… you have to trust me… I’ll… just promise me you’ll stay inside today, OK? I’ll tell you anything you want later, but don’t go outside…”

“Apologize to my sister.” Lialah said and crossed her arms, “Apologize to her, and I promise we’ll stay here and we won’t leave.”

“No. If that’s what he thinks, that’s what he thinks…” Raziel was back on her feet again, one arm dangling and the other holding onto it, she didn’t look at him. “It’s a common enough sort of thinking, I’m used to it.”

Albaer’s racing heart began to go down, he put a hand on his chest, and fear gave way to confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about… help me to understand.”

“Soul sucking… calling someone a soul sucker is one of the worst things you can say, it’s incredibly intimate to share something like that… so just… sucking it out… I thought we didn’t exist here, so I didn’t expect to hear that.” Raziel explained, she refused to look at him, and now that he thought about it, Lialah had turned her face away too.

“I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t know. It was a joke… in our myths and legends, demons sucked souls and things like that in some stories… I didn’t mean to say something hurtful… I promise. Really…” Albaer lowered his head in contrition.

And noticed that his towel was gone and lying several feet behind them.

“I forgive you, I guess I should have figured you wouldn’t know, I was just caught by surprise… but could you maybe… your towel?” Raziel replied and covered her face. She was naturally red of flesh, but her sister, clearly, could turn close to that color, and did.

“Pervert.” Lialah muttered and covered her face as well.

Albaer groaned and walked past them to pick up his towel. “You two don’t have anything else to wear… and… what do you eat?” He wrapped it around himself and returned to his room. They didn’t quite follow him, seeming instead to prefer taking in the rest of the apartment and speaking to him from a distance.

“Plenty, we eat plenty.” Lialah said just as her stomach rumbled.

“I’ll make some breakfast, and show you how to do things around here to look after yourselves while I’m away.” Albaer said a little louder from his bedroom.

“Sure thing.” Lialah said just loud enough for him to hear before he emerged in long pants and a long shirt.

“Is that comfortable?” Raziel cocked her head, “It’s warm out there and you-”

“It’s fine, it’s necessary.” Albaer answered curtly and brushed past to go into the kitchen area.

“Okay…” Raziel replied and the pair walked tentatively after him.

“I don’t have ‘lots’ of time, so just a few things and we can do more when I get home.” Albaer said and pointed to the large black rectangle shaped box. “This is a refrigerator, food that will go bad, goes in here. Help yourself, but be careful.”

Lialah nodded, “Not to worry, I know a lot about nutrition, get me a few books on what the stuff is and I’ll figure out if it’s safe for us or not!” She flashed a charming pearly white smile which he didn’t return.

Her smile faded when one didn’t come back her way, and he turned to a white wooden door. He opened it and pointed to the foodstuffs, “Do you have cans like these in your world?” He asked and pulled out a can of soup.

Albaer extended it to Lialah and both she and Raziel handled it back and forth, “Metal, yes, but nothing shaped like this? Is it a weapon?” Raziel asked and shook it up and down in one hand. “Do you throw it or…?”

“No, it’s got food in it.” He said and taking the can back, he pulled an electric can opener away from the wall. “Put this here…” The magnet clipped into place against the top, “Then hold the lever down here…”

Raziel watched the can spin around and the little black device held it in place while it made a steady whirring noise.

Then there was a click, and he pulled it away and held the can upright and out to them again. “See?” Albaer asked, “Soup.”

“But where do we start a fire to heat it up?” Lialah looked around for a fire pit or fireplace and found none.

“You don’t.” Albaer answered, “You absolutely do not, start a fire.”

“But how-” Raziel was cut off.

“Like this.” He said and poured the thick, chunky yellow contents into a large wooden bowl that he removed from the cabinet.

“Put it in here, and hit the numbers one, zero, zero.” He spent the next few minutes explaining microwaves, what not to put in them, and the fundamentals of not burning down his home.

He had them demonstrate it a time or two, and showed them the workings of the sink and how to handle washing the dish afterward.

Short as the lessons were, it was enough. And when he was done he said, “Later I’ll show you some really good stuff, but for now… stay in my room. You can read, play games, watch TV, whatever, just keep it down. My mother will come home soon, she must be working another all nighter, so after you’re in my room, stay there.”

For a moment the fearful look filled his eyes again, and the two nodded emphatically.

“We will, we promise.” The pair said at once.

“Okay, good, I’ve got to go… I’ll… see you later.” Albaer said to them, and ventured out the door.

It shut and locked behind him with a click, they watched the brass latch turn, and heard him depart.

They looked with at least a little anxiety at the closed door. “He must be serious about how dangerous it is out there. That’s like battlefield fear.” Raziel said with pity.

“I guess…” Lialah said peaceably and went to take up the bowl of soup, and with that they headed back to Albaer’s room. “I wonder if all humans have splotchy skin like that though, or if it’s just him.”

“Who knows?” Raziel replied and got her game going again while Lialah closed the bedroom door and sealed themselves away.