Angel on earth

"So you can't go back to being 16?" Aaron raised an eyebrow.

"...I can't do it. Maybe I can try harder in the future."

Mikhail curled his lips and languished.Aaron stood on tiptoe, out of reach, pulled his collar and kissed him:

"I'm just curious. You're fine now, like a true saint."

"I'm not a saint now," said Mikhail.

"Well, what does that matter? Don't I have a part of Mithra?" Aaron blurted out, only to realize that something was wrong, but the flowers he had bloomed out of the pile of spirits still had Mikhail Bewildered by her beauty, the rest of the words came out like this:

"Be my saint, Mikhail."

Mikhail opened his eyes wide and swallowed.The two looked at each other for a long time, Aaron blushed and looked away in embarrassment.

But just as he was about to say "just a joke," Mikhail put down the box and knelt down in front of him.

"Then, baptize me."

He raised his head, his eyes without pupils fixed on Aaron, with a sincere and joyful smile on his face.

Aaron took a step back, and Mikhail took his black-gloved hand.Mikhail's hand was strong and warm, as if he would never let go of him, and there was no problem in sinking down with peace of mind, but he found himself trembling, and his spine and teeth were rattling.Mikhail opened the remaining wooden box with one hand and pried open two bottles of alcohol.

"God the Father poured out the libation with water and ointment, and this is what we will use."

Saying so, the young saint lowered his head and leaned the back of his head.

In the dark sky, fine snow swirls down.A street lamp stood alone on the side of the road, emitting a dying yellow light.

Aaron put down the medicine box, took off his hat and gloves, picked up a bottle of alcohol and poured it on Mikhail's tan head.His movements were stiff, he didn't know whether he was frightened or frozen, but he still stretched out his hand and carefully rubbed the hair on the perfect bones and flesh, and then flushed the second bottle, feeling his arms were terribly cold.

Mikhail's hair has completely returned to the light golden color of the early morning sunshine at the turn of spring and summer. The alcohol and water evaporated quickly, and he seemed to be reborn through this baptism.

The young saint stood up and kissed the vampire, put on gloves and a hat for him, picked up the medicine box, put one hand on his shoulder, and continued to follow him to No. 66, Friendship Avenue.

When passing Victory Square, the two saw that the cathedral was still lit.A girl with bare calves was running panting on the street, she probably didn't get in the line for Baihua Square, she wanted to try her luck at the Victory Church and see if she could go to the back door to pick up some leftovers.

Aaron sighed.

"The last pack." He took out a box of candy in a beautiful tin box from his cloak, looked up and said, "It was originally reserved for you."

Mikhail picked out a beautiful colored candy cane and handed it to him. He hesitated between chocolate and hard candy, and left the fat-rich chocolate in the box. The two walked towards the back door of the church.

"Merry Christmas." Mikhail's voice was light and soft, as if singing a hymn in front of the Ark of the Covenant in Lieyang City, "I wish you a happy Christmas Eve, miss."

The girl rubbed her hands, looked up and was stunned.Then she screamed and babbled a bunch of heavily accented Aerysian dialect, and Aaron hurriedly took off the cloak and threw it over her:

"Don't be afraid, you're still alive."

Mikhail still bent his knees in embarrassment, Aaron turned his head, patted him on the shoulder, sighed, and said with a smile: "She thought you were here to pick her up, and asked you to wait a little longer, Her father and brother are still waiting for her to bring food back."

Mikhail pushed the candy box to the girl and saw her close her eyes and let out a dreamy sigh.Her cheeks and joints were red from the cold, and at this time they slowly recovered their temperature, stretching out as if after a late sleep.

"Thank you...thank you!" She stammered her thanks, took two steps back vigilantly, turned her head and ran away.

Mikhail looked at Aaron blankly, and Aaron stroked his soft blond hair and said, "Don't chase her, it will cause trouble for her. We can't adopt her, Mikhail, we still have to go to church fugitives."

"You always say such cruel things," Mikhail muttered, but rubbed his chin on his bonnet.Aaron pouted, opened the candy cane, and said:

"At least you'll get a piece of it.—Speaking of which, in the Norren language, this thing is called Candy Kane."

He put it in his mouth and looked up.Mikhail bit off a few pieces, chewed them and swallowed them, and quickly put them on his lips. It took a while before he hooked the curved handle contentedly.

The two stood on the street where the snow was falling, quietly savoring the taste in their mouths.Mikhail opened his eyes wide, a piece of candy clicked from the left tooth into the right mouth, and clicked back again, looking up at the snow falling.Aaron leaned against him, not so cold, lazily looking at the Victory Square not far away, squinting his eyes and wondering what he was looking at.

After a while, when Mikhail seemed to have finished eating the candy, Aaron said:

"Mikhail, do you remember the ending of the Happy Prince?"

"what?"

"The swallow took all the gold leaves from the prince's body and sent them to every poor man."

How can Mikhail Kupala laugh so silly?Only those brainless and uneducated Abaddons could laugh so foolishly.

Aaron looked up, blinked, patted him on the side and said:

"Misha, good Misha, if you want to do it, then do it. You are not the Happy Prince, you are my own Mikhail, but isn't there a Happy Prince here? As the chief priest of Lieyang City, On this beautiful Christmas Eve, let everyone's wish come true!"

He raised his arms above his head, like two believers meeting to praise Mithra.They strode towards Victory Square. Aaron rubbed his arms and shivered, and stopped at the edge of the square.Mikhail strode forward, stood still in front of the obelisk, sank his center of gravity, punched the pillar, and then retreated calmly.

There was a rattling sound of the pillar, and it slowly accelerated and fell forward. The Happy Prince happened to fall into the arms of Mikhail who had just stopped, and the stones shattered on the square.

"What a beautiful waltz!" Aaron commented with dignity, "Mishenka, you know, I have always wondered why a bank was built behind the Victory Cathedral? Don't money and faith always conflict? Is it? Now I know, it must have been prepared for you by God the Father.—We can sell the Happy Prince to the bank."

Mikhail asked seriously: "How much is he worth?"

"A lot." Aaron said seriously, "If it is auctioned, it will definitely sell for a high price. After all, he has received worship in Victory Square for so many years. However, it is all for the brothers and sisters, and it is okay for the church to suffer a little bit, yes Isn't it? We can make a discount and erase the change, in order to make a quick transaction... Well, do you think it is reasonable to take [-] crowns, Your Highness?"

"The ruby ​​on the hilt of this sword may be more than [-] ecu." Mikhail looked at him and laughed. "It's not too much for me to reprocess it for him and take [-] ecu, right?"

"Well, we two are the kindest philanthropists in the world."

Aaron said with a smile, walked towards the bank with vigorous steps, and skillfully pried open the door of the bank.

Mikhail placed the Happy Prince in the center of the hall and straightened the gold leaves and precious stones on his body. Aaron had already kicked open the underground door and brought out two large boxes of banknotes.

"Now, we can go shopping for Christmas supplies," he said.

"The kind gentlemen and wives must be willing to give a small discount to the hungry and cold children." Mikhail said firmly.

"That's great, Mikhail, you're still so kind." Aaron looked serious and raised his chin triumphantly.

They bought countless candies, bread, salt, clothes, and shoes in unmanned factories and shops. Aaron also made his own way, went to the back kitchen of a certain club to get some apples, and told Mikhail that making such a big apple The business of pens deserves a little gift, and it's the first time you go out by yourself, so be careful not to be scammed.

Mikhail raised his head and made a sound between wild animals' calls and songs, and Emile quickly crossed the city wall and came to the entrance of Biton General Food Store.They took her to give Christmas gifts to people who didn't have enough food and clothes for the winter. Even the Red Moon people who couldn't keep their gifts could enjoy a hot meal with bread, butter and meat in a dark and cold shack. .They moved very quickly and made very little movement. Maybe it would be a few hours before everyone crawled out of bed tomorrow morning to find the missing goods and the shabby banknotes on the ground.

Aaron drunkenly sang "Song of the Conquest of the Holy Mountain." Mikhail didn't understand why it was this, but Aaron's slightly husky young voice sounded right.Mikhail felt that his wish had come true. He had never found his wish to be such a simple and happy thing: every child who left the Cathedral of Flowers disappointed got a package exactly like everyone else.There was a little boy who was awake, but he didn't recognize him, and told him seriously not to blame Santa Claus, but to prepare carefully next time and ask Santa Claus to bring enough gifts.Aaron laughed at him and said that the boy thought you were Santa's boss, and asked the boy why he blamed this man.The boy said it was because he saw Santa Claus crying when he left the square.

After walking out of the hut, Aaron didn't care whether anyone was watching or whether his glasses would be blurred, he threw himself on Mikhail, buried his face in his chest, and said, "It's very kind of you, Mishenka.There is no one better than you in the world.You still say me, didn't you secretly hide and cry?I am older than you, and I should be the one to comfort you.Well, my Mikhail—let's go to Richter's steamer Gloria, which is piled high with shoes and clothes from the Carrier Pigeon Clothing Company, and leaves tomorrow for the Commonwealth.

Mikhail lowered his head and took a deep breath of the smell in his hair.Just now, he saw Aaron pat the boy on the head and quietly stuff a wad of banknotes into the straw-cored quilt.