Late at night, in a dark and tranquil room, Mira lay sprawled out peacefully across her bed. Having finally fallen so deeply asleep that her body had thrust itself into a shameless and visually disjointed pose; one that only the truly unconscious could find comfortable. With saliva pooling on her pillow and dawn still hours away her thoughts were silent. She slept alone, the pillow on the other side of the bed clean and pressed as it had been weeks ago, save for two small depressions. Two small creatures, barely a foot tall, sat upon the spare pillow staring at each other, wide awake.

On the left, glowing a soft sunny yellow, sat an angel. Pale white skin, golden hair, soft, downy wings and a loose fitting, conservative white robe. She was the picturesque ideal of an angel, even down to the perfect nails on her hands, the strappy flat shoes wrapped around her feet and winding up to just below the knee. She sighed, just a little, and even that huff carried a few layers, like a chorus of singers were behind her voice. She sat very still but her expression belied her inner frustration. She stared, deadpan, at her companion sitting across from her on the pillow.

Unperturbed by the coldness of her heavenly companion, a demonic, crimson lady stared back and then made an ugly face, sticking out her tongue childishly. The black, leathery bat wings that sprouted from her back folded and unfolded impatiently and she drummed black, pointed claws on her knee. She wore black latex strips that encircled her body in a tight, shiny bodysuit and her feet were encased in black heels with dangerously long stiletto heels. She spoke with a sharp, dry sarcasm, breaking the silence.

"What? What is it, An?"

"You know very well what."

The angel replied, her voice tight and dignified, the faintest hint of a breath loomed before the words, giving it a haughty 'hhwhat" sound when she spoke. A single crooked eyebrow challenged the devil to remain obstinate in the face of the facts.

The devil rolled her eyes, uncrossing her legs and flapping her wings to pull herself up to her feet.

"Oh come on! She was hot, you liked her too, you can't be mad at me for pushing us towards her!"

"Her attractive personality and evident wealth make her a good choice of long term partner, yes. Eating her out in the parking lot is NOT what I had in mind!"

"Oh lighten up, Featherweight, look at us!" The devil strode across the pillow, flapping a little to hop across to Mira's pillow. Storming over to the sleeping girl's form, the devil stuck her toe against a grimy mark on Mira's cheek. "We've still got Her on our face. We had a good time!"

The angel's wings spread wide and she used a few strong wingbeats to cross the distance between them. "Our job is to help make good decisions. A one night stand isn't a good decision!"

"Oh, as if she won't call us again."

"Do we want her to?"

"Um, yeah, of course we d-"

Devil was interrupted by Angel thrusting a perfectly maintained hand in her face. Not touching, but getting very close. Devil's eyes crossed trying to see whatever she was meant to be seeing.

"What is this, Dee?"

"Your bottom manicure?" The devil rapped her short trimmed fingernails on the Angel's long false nails.

"Oh, you absolute…" Angel's face flushed red with embarrassment, a richness of colour to rival her companion's crimson skin. "Not the nails… look at my hand!"

She held it up again, tapping with her other hand to point at a blemish just below the wrist. An inky black spot that seemed to writhe and twist in place. "I don't normally have that, Dee, I don't have black spots."

The devil looked incredulous, cocking an eyebrow and scrunching up her face, taking a moment to actually consider the facts. A firm "Hrmm" was the only response she gave before she got down and crawled under the covers of the bed. Poking and prodding at her Human until Mira shifted in her sleep, right hand poking out from under the covers. Devil slipped back out, flying in the air next to the bow exposed limb, examining the real wrist. "Well, uh, we don't have one of those in real life. That's just you, Angel."

"Noo", she insisted, flitting over to stand, weightless, on Mira's wrist. "I'm not doing this. This isn't me."

The Devil waved her fingers and, in a puff of black smoke, a pen, clipboard and stern glasses appeared in her hands. Her leotard extended down into a tight pencil skirt. "Yes it is, Honey, all superficial changes to guardian angels and their appearance is done at the discretion of the individual alone." She vanished her makeshift teacher's costume, as if to prove a point. "We both know the rules, nothing can make you look different except you."

Angel frowned, staring at the back of her hand, as if an astute glare might force her skin to clear. "Dee… Devil, please… listen to me. This isn't me. This is… Her."

Devil rolled her eyes, flying across the room to settle back onto the pillow. She gave a soft pat pat with her hand as if coaching an animal to rest. "Come here… come on, I promise to listen. Maybe if you hear yourself speak you'll realise what you're saying is nonsense."

Angel hesitated, her anxiety manifesting as an upturned nose and a distrustful sneer.

"Come On one day, when we're rich, I promise you can make Mira sneer like that all you like, but right now, if something IS wrong, we need to fix it, before we give her nightmares when she starts dreaming."

The angel exhaled in a great rush, flitting over with a few hurried wingbeats. She plopped down on the pillow and pointed back at the sleeping figure.

"Look, tonight, at the party while you were busy staring at everyone and telling us to keep drinking, You might have failed to notice that She never parted from us for more than a few minutes."

"She was loaded! We were pretty, she bought us drinks, we flirted, so what?"

"Yeah, but she played a game with us, remember?"

Devil frowned, her brow creasing. She looked away from Angel and stared into the darkness, searching her brain. "A game?"

"Yes! You told us to play! We agreed because you said that it was a good idea."

"I… did I?"

The devil looked utterly lost.

"Yes!" The angel grabbed the devil's hand, pulling it into her lap, and then edging closer so the two sat with knees touching. "You vanished right after we started playing."

"Oh, well, that might be why I don't remember. It's not unheard of for us to vanish. You disappear all the time. It's kind of the whole deal, we exist to help her choose. You're always the big picture, long term, discipline and healthy happy life stuff. I do all the short term, wild child, temporary bliss shit. The stuff that makes life worth living, in the moment!"

"You make it sound like spending all our money on booze, all our nights drinking and all our days hungover is the best possible plan!"

"OK ok, we had this argument to death when we started, An, we don't gotta hash it out again. I know and I concede your point. We do need long term, healthy, positive, strategic decision making to be happy and thrive." She lets the words hang in the air, expectant.

"Yes yes, And quick, harmless, superficial pleasure means that the 'now' is just as good as the 'soon', I'm very well aware. But you vanished."

"Yeah, so what? We were at a party and Mira didn't need any more devilish advice. You disappeared that one time she studied for like 7 hours straight. Sometimes she doesn't need any more choices one way or the other."

"Very much not the point I'm making. It's not alarming that you disappeared at all. It's alarming that you disappeared when we were flirting. You're an exceptionally necessary element of the whole 'enthusiastic consent' part of…" Angel paused stiffly.

"Go on, say it…"

She huffed "... Sex." Angel rolled her eyes, huffing through pink cheeks. "Why did Mira decide she didn't need you to play a game with Her?"

"I dunno, but you were there, it worked out OK didn't it? You didn't force us to make any 'long term' choices so it can't have been too bad."

Angel squeezed the Devil's hand, laying it flat on her bare thigh, palm down with red and black fingers splayed out. Angel started tracing her finger in a slow circle, a single heavenly finger rubbing the back of Devil's hand, just above the wrist.

"This is what she did… This was the game, Dee. This simple motion, round and round… and round… was the whole… game."

The Devil blinked… She didn't look down, didn't see the motion with her eyes… but she felt it. Deep down. Electricity raced up her arm and her heart started beating hard and fast. She swallowed heavily and a deep shiver ran down her spine. Angel's words meant… something but she didn't hear them. The touch on her hand was electric, divine energy and she felt nothing but that circle.

Angel, for her own part, had stopped talking. Her mouth felt dry and her thoughts were slow. She couldn't remember the point she was making. Couldn't remember the next part of the game. There had been talking and she was listening, along with Mira, but the words wouldn't come to mind. Just the visuals. The way She looked. Her beautiful eyes, Her gorgeous hair, and soft skin. The way She almost glowed, radiant in Her own beauty. Angel had never seen an archangel but she imagined that She must set the bar for all divine beings to aspire to. We listened with baited breath. Angel and Mira, Her every word was like oxygen and we inhaled it deeply. Angel lost herself, reliving the moment with an empty expression, drawing endless circles.

Devil was glazed over, the circles on her wrist had left her blind, eyes losing focus as her imagination took over. The memories from after the party. The car, Her car, was parked around the corner, a poorly lit alleyway. We followed Her giddy and drunk. We hadn't had much but tonight we were lightweight. Swaying and unsteady, She held us up until we reached the car. The doors opened upwards, like a spaceship, we liked that, and She sat down in rich leather seats. We loved the smell of leather and Devil had been trying hard to persuade Mira to buy some.

The woman, She wore latex. A classy silken evening gown to the party, but she pulled that aside. At some point we kneeled down, Mira's knees got bruised on the concrete, kneeling and leaning into the car door. Pulling aside Her dress, She had rubber Panties, latex, which she slipped off so easily. A heavy, thick thigh slung over our neck, the weight pulled us down and we licked. We ate. We devoured. Mira had never eaten pussy before but Devil had never let her abandon the possibility. With Her hand in our hair, we lapped at Her pussy with desperate, needy enthusiasm and Devil had roared with pleasure. Devil had screamed in delight. What was the angel doing? Devil couldn't think, only remembering the taste, the sweet, salty musk of a gorgeous woman. Angel was….

Kneeling too, just like Mira, and the rubber Panties were pulled aside. Devil's Panties, Angel pulled them out of the way and thrust her tongue inside and-

Devil jerked her hand back.

"You ate me out!"

Angel blinked, bleary and confused, as if she were waking from a long nap. Her voice cracked and dry, as all the moisture in her mouth had gathered and dripped across her white top.

"I… we ate Her out and…"

"And you had a go at me! Mira and I were focused on licking Her, and then you…"

Angel squealed. "Oh by the gods! No no no no no no no no, no I didn't, I… I would never… you're…" She pressed a hand to her mouth, abstract shock across her features and a bright blush on her cheeks. An anxious, uncomfortable fear settled in her creased brow.

Devil was taken aback. She embodied sin and depravity, perversion and pleasure that was her purpose but…

Well…

Angel didn't. That wasn't who she was. Devil could respect a 'No' just as well as anyone and saying a wise, firm 'no' was Angel's whole thing. Angel would never, they were friends, sisters almost. Always had been.

"An…. Are you ok?"

Angel looked down at her hand, the blackness had spread, covering her whole hand, dying even the fingernails black. It was stretching up her arm now, long, inky black tendrils that writhed with a hungering reach.

She looked back up at her friend, a sister she would never admit to caring about.

"Dee… your hand."

The devil glanced at her own hand, where the circles had been drawn, and saw that same inky black spread, wrapping around her wrist like a thick, bulky manacle.

The two stared into each other's eyes, unspoken fear running in their gaze, before they turned in unison to stare at Mira.

The woman they were supposed to protect.