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“Of course I can see you, silly boy,” Roberta said brusquely, but there was a note of fondness in her tone. When Death looked to Bunny for approval, Roberta cut off the interaction. “She’ll be along in a minute,” she assured him, turning to the angels. “You're both officially responsible for gathering the rogue souls and smoothing over any icky human concerns about 'missing' or 'murdered' people. Got it? Now scoot!”
Michael and Raphael flanked Death and marched him across the Lobby with divine purpose. Before long, they disappeared into the gently swirling mist that covered the place.
“Right,” Roberta barked as soon as the boys were out of earshot. She fixed Bunny with a piercing stare. “You wanna fill me in on whatever it is you’re not sayin’?”
Panic flared inside of Bunny as unwelcome as a hot flash in the middle of July. “I’m not sure I understand,” she lied, hoping she was convincing. Turns out she wasn’t.
“Sure you do,” Roberta drawled, not fooled. “Your expression is guiltier than sin. Spill the tea, girl.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” Bunny insisted. Her insides squirmed as her attempts at lying piled up beside her like a steaming pile of crap. The smell was enough to make her want to hurl.
Roberta laughed harshly. “There’s something to tell,” she insisted, “or you wouldn’t be so sure there wasn’t.”
“Fine!” Bunny declared, throwing up her hands in defeat. “I kissed Death! Are you happy?”
“You kissed him?” Roberta asked, obviously shocked as she started shaking her head. “The real question is, are you happy?”
“Well, I mean, I’m pretty sure it was mutual,” Bunny stipulated. “But yes. We kissed, okay? And now he’s completely hollow, and it’s all my fault, so I wouldn’t say I’m particularly happy!”
The admission brought all of Bunny’s guilty thoughts and insecurities to the fore. She felt her cheeks redden even as her eyes pricked with tears that she fought to hold back. She refused to cry and make even more a fool of herself than she had already.
“How do you figure that?” Roberta’s voice was softer and more supportive than incredulous as she moved closer to Bunny.
“The kiss is the only thing different, other than his pendant missing,” Bunny explained, trying to slow down and control her breathing.
“That you know of,” Roberta pointed out. “He’s a celestial being, Bunny. And contrary to his own usual opinion, he’s not all-knowing. I’ve seen him do plenty of dumb shit in my time at the gate, and it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that he’s done something dumb to get himself screwed up this time, too.”
The idea of Death being fallible wasn’t really an option she had considered before now. Deep down, Bunny had been thinking the reason he’d had such an adverse reaction to kissing her was because she just wasn’t good enough for him. It was a pathetic self-pitying thought, but one that ensnared her, nonetheless.
“Really?” She turned her hopeful gaze on Roberta.
“Really.” The receptionist flashed her a quick bolstering smile that vanished in the next instant. “So quit beating yourself up over it. Frankly, it’s exhausting to watch. We’ll figure it out and fix it.”
Bunny couldn’t help but smile. It was so good to have Roberta back. “I hope so.”
“I know so.” Roberta shrugged. “We don’t have any other choice.”
A heartbeat passed. Bunny briefly considered not asking her question but gave into it in the end. “What happens if we don’t?”
“Honestly?” Roberta met her gaze, her worries hiding in the depths of her piercing blue eyes. “I got no fucking idea. But it ain’t gonna be good. I'll start by mentioning it to Upper Management. This is serious enough that it warrants going straight to the top.”
"Ugh," Bunny groaned.
"Tell me about it," Roberta commiserated.
* * *
The Archangel Raphaelwas sniffing the recently bleached linoleum floor when Bunny stepped into Mr. Grisham’s vacant room. She winced to see his face that close to the spot where poor Mrs. Howard’s goopy remains had lain in a pool of ooze. He looked up guiltily as Bunny paused in the doorway with a grimace on her face.
“It’s not what it looks like,” he started, earning himself an amused scoff from Mike.
“Actually, it’s exactly what it looks like,” the well-muscled angel corrected his partner in crime with a smirk.
“Hey, you do you,” Bunny said to Raph, even though the idea of what he was doing grossed her the hell out. “Find out anything useful?”
“We have a faint scent,” Raph confirmed. “I’m pretty sure I can track the creature.”
“That’s great, right?” Bunny asked hopefully. Being able to get some more info about where it had gone, and potentially why, could possibly lead them to more answers.
