Chapter Text
Kashmira Bulsara
It was bloody cold .
Kash walked as quickly through the market, grateful that it wasn’t as crowded as it usually was. She had dreaded the idea of trying to fight through hordes of people just to get to the stall and praised herself on coming on a Tuesday afternoon.
Turning the corner, she wrapped her coat even tighter around her and set into almost a jog until she reached Freddie’s stall. As always, the piles of clothes were messily organized and stuffed into the small stall. Not as always, there was a blond man leafing through a magazine perched on a stool in the corner.
“Hello, where’s Freddie?” She asked and blue eyes flicked up to hers.
That’s when she saw the wings.
For a moment she thought that Freddie had dreamed up some ridiculous advertising scheme and had suckered this poor guy into wearing wings. Then, the wings twitched and pulled in a bit tighter as she continued to stare.
He was an angel.
There was an angel working in Freddie’s stall.
Freddie had an angel.
“Um…Freddie is out at the moment,” the angel slouched a bit, fingers curling around the sides of the page.
“Who are you?” Kash blurted.
“Roger.”
She blinked a few times, not quite sure what she expected. “Did…does my brother own you or rent you or…”
The angel’s brow furrowed and then his eyes widened in understanding. “Oh! No! None-“
He was interrupted by Freddie sweeping into the stall, brandishing two paper bags. “Honey! I’m-“
She had to admit it was satisfying to give him a solid whack with her purse. Freddie’s hands fluttered up to block her flying purse but she continued to hit at him, screaming all the while.
“FARROKH! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU!” She shrieked. “OWNING AN ANGEL? I NEVER, EVER THOUGHT YOU WOULD STOOP THAT LOW!”
Freddie batted her hands away, clearly startled. How dare he? How dare he own someone? Kash knew that he had dreams of being a rockstar but never thought he would stoop this low, playing famous by buying a person.
“For fuck’s sake!” Freddie managed to wrestle the purse away. “Stop! Listen!”
She stilled, breathing hard, and let her hands fall back to her side. After a pause Freddie gingerly held out the purse and she snatched it back. “Okay. Talk.”
“Roger is our friend. His previous master was a fucking monster and hurt him badly, we bought him so we could help him,” he fixed a too big smile on his face and Kash scowled. “Seriously!”
“It’s true,” the angel finally spoke up, stepping towards her. “After my last master broke my wing he helped me set it, he gave me a home, and he is teaching me how to read.”
“What?” Kash frowned at Freddie who gave her a little shrug.
“He saved me,” Roger said softly, eyes flicking between the two of them.
“What the hell is going on?” Kash frowned, looking between the two of them.
Then Freddie told her the whole story. He told her about how Tim horrifically abused Roger, going a bit pale and glassy eyed as he recalled when they had to reset Roger’s broken wing. He told her about the struggle as they helped Roger healed. He told her about the discrimination he suffered from. He told her about what a gifted musician he was.
By the end, Kash felt hollowed out.
She had always hated the idea of owning an angel, thinking it was truly disgusting. Still, she ignored most of the truth around it. If she didn’t know the horrors of the world, then she didn’t have to think about it.
But now she did.
And now she was able to put a face to the pain.
“Are we good?” Freddie asked, eyebrow raised.
“Yeah,” Kash nodded.