Gabby and Zag were in the kitchen, with the former scrubbing away at the dishes in the sink while the latter sipped some tea at the table
Breaking the silence, Zag spoke
"So Gabs..." he began, his voice even
"We've been here for a while now, and I was wondering when you were thinking of maybe moving on?"
The sounds of scrubbing stopped
"Moving on?" Gabby responded distantly, her back still turned to him
"Yeah, move on, off to the next place that needs us or whatever."
She didn't respond
"The streaming can be accessed from anywhere thanks to the whole internet thing, and since we can move around out here now then maybe we-"
Gabby interrupted him
"Oh, I see... Well I can't really see myself leaving anytime soon, I can't leave Jonah all alone again."
She sighed
"He needs me, after all..."
She resumed her scrubbing
"Zag snorted derisively into his tea in response
"Needs you?" he asked doubtfully
"He's a grown man now, I think all he really needs is a nice mortal woman to keep him occupied when he's not helping us with-"
A sudden sharp snapping sound coming from the sink stopped him, like something had just snapped in half under the soapy water
"A nice... mortal... woman..." Gabby repeated slowly, finally turning away from the sink and facing Zag
She made her way over to the table and sat herself opposite him, her eyes wide and her face oddly expressionless
"Uhh yeah..." Zag continued, a little taken aback by her odd reaction
"I mean, you've helped a whole bunch of kids like Jonah over the years, and then at the end you let them go live their lives and move on... so I don't really get why you are still hanging around here when he's not a kid anymore and doesn't really need you."
"Need?" Gabby asked, her voice deathly calm
"What about what I need Zagzagel?"

"You're right, I've helped many children over the years, and each time I've left them with only the vaguest memory of my involvement and I've been contented with simply knowing that they are safe and well..."
"But it's a thankless, endless task Zagzagel, and one I undertake without expectation of reward or relief."
"Gabs..." Zag began, but she wasn't finished
"Then there was Jonah, the one boy I almost failed, the one I had to jeopardize my whole mission to save..."
"He came back for me, he came back and sought to help me with my mission, without hope of reward himself, just because he wanted to, for me."
Gabby's voice then changed slightly, taking on a more secretive tone as she spoke
"Then there's the things that he does to me at night Zagzagel." she whispered
"T-things?" Zag asked, unsure if he wanted to know where this was going
"Yes... he does such wonderful things to me when we are in bed together, things like you wouldn't believe a mortal capable of..."
Zag tried to pull away in horror
"Gabriel for the love of-"
She wasn't done though, and grabbed his hands from across the table, holding him painfully in place
"You should see what he has 'down there', Zagzagel, it's wonderful."
Her eyes had a mad intensity to them now, her stare boring into him as she confessed
"If I wasn't an angel he would have split me in half, I swear it..."
He tried to pull away again, but she held him firmly
"Then, when he's all the way in, he does this thing... where he just turns me around while I'm skewered on him, and I can feel all my insides turn right around him as he does it..."
"Damn it Gabriel snap out of it!" Zag pleaded
"It's like I can feel the whole of God's green earth turning with me..."
Then just like that, she let him go, allowing Zag to fall back into his chair, rubbing at his wrists as he did
Gabby simply smiled at him, all the intensity gone
"He says he needs me, you see." she said simply

"He needs me, and I need him."
She stood up and made her way back over to the sink
"So to answer your question, no, I don't think I will be moving on for the foreseeable."
Zag watched as she continued with the dishes like nothing had happened, as she pulled the two broken halves of the pan from the water she had snapped earlier and placed them on the draining board carefully
She hummed a happy little tune as she washed, as if she was completely carefree
Despite his now shaken demeanor, Zag sipped at his now lukewarm tea and had to admit to himself...
Gabby seemed a lot happier here than he had seen her anywhere else in the past
He just really wished she hadn't put all that mental imagery in his head
He was going to have nightmares now for sure
Meanwhile, under the table...
Francis sat clutching a box of pop tarts
His innocent ears had heard everything
"Oh my munch goodness..." he drawled, chewing on his snack thoughtfully
"Who woulda guessed that angel Gabby and young crunch Jonah liked to make skewers at night time?"
"I do so like a bit of barbeque... I wonder if they'll let me have some next time?"
He continued to munch on his pop tarts, completely and blissfully unaware...

End