Falling Hard Ch. 01

The bell sounded seven times, letting angels know their shift was over for the week.

"Hallelujah!" rang out a few happy voices, and melodious laughter followed. Virta rolled her eyes but smiled as she watched her co-workers fly out the door.

She twisted a lock of midnight hair between the slender fingers of one hand while she browsed the latest job openings on the computer. Many of them she skipped right over, knowing she didn't stand a chance of landing them.

Why even bother to apply? she thought gloomily. I wouldn't even get called in for an interview on most of these. She purveyed the list:

Principalities needed! Advanced knowledge of religions and politics preferred. Strong management skills a must; Relocation required.

Dominions wanted now -- to be considered for position, candidate must have middle management experience, proven memory and note-taking skills required. Full benefits package.

She sipped her mug of Substance and continued to click down the screen. Principalities, Dominions, Powers, Cherubim, Seraphim. She cursed under her breath as she searched, but the list of jobs for which she was underqualified went on and on.

Virta sighed. She'd never be any of those things. It was her own fault that she wasn't climbing the corporate ladder, but her heart wasn't in it. Working at the Office was definitely not her calling.

She wanted very much to be in the thick of things, on the front lines where the real action was: Earth. But everytime she'd applied for the job, she'd been denied. The Managers who interviewed her said that Earth work was gritty, demanding - even dangerous to one's soul. But that sounded perfect for her. She didn't want to be stuck behind a desk for all of her immortal life.

Earth and humanity's day-to-day interactions were Virta's secret obsession. She was especially interested in the baser parts of human nature. This fascinated her to no end.

What must it be like to have a soft, rounded body like an Earth woman - one that could carry and bear children. Humans could actually create life! Virta shook her head in amazement at the power of humanity. While many angels she knew looked down on these creatures, Virta secretly yearned to partake of human nature, even if only for a day.

For example, what was it like to taste Earth food with real taste buds? Food in Heaven was rather bland. Virta wrinkled up her nose at the thought of it. Most of it tasted pretty much the same. It was only eaten for something to do at gatherings, for socialization. It was certainly not a requirement to sustain angel life.

She found she did have an insatiable appetite for watching humans, however. She'd persuaded her best friend, Mick, to patch her into his Watch Over channel online. Due to his position, he had access to a very small portion of the Watch Over program at the Office. When she had time and nobody else was around, she would access the live cam to see what was going on in the life of a human female, Mandi.

Mandi's life was a source of endless fascination for Virta. She was a young woman of twenty years, who had her own life. Nobody told her what to do or think. She dressed in daring attire, earned her own money, and dated men. The girl was brunette with lovely brown eyes and a female form that Virta would have been proud to have. Mandi had sexual encounters of all kinds, and although Virta felt a little bad about watching, she couldn't pull her eyes from the screen.

She would turn the sound on her computer down just low enough that she could still hear Mandi's moans and cries of pleasure as the male human would use his tongue and hands to cause wonderful feelings all over her body.

Sometimes Mandi would take a long, thick part of the man into her own full lips. What was it called? It had many names. She had grown to like the word "cock", since that's what Mandi seemed to prefer.

Virta would watch transfixed while the man stood with his head tilted back, his whole body rigid in ecstasy. Mandi would be down on her knees before him, her face pressed between the man's legs, veritably worshipping the man's cock. And Virta did know a thing or two about worship. At first, sex was hard for her to understand. She would have thought the humans were in pain if not for the glorious smiles these actions produced.

And Mandi was happy indeed as the man shoved his rod-like organ into her body over and over. He would thrust and pound away between her voluptuous thighs.

Virta would sometimes imagine that she was Mandi, and the male was banging her with his stiff cock, watching it grind in and out of her slick, wet hole. But she had no idea how this really felt, since her body was without these pleasure centers.

She could only watch while Mandi would seemingly get lost in her own ecstasy, writhing in pleasure beneath the man, or on top of him sometimes, moaning and gasping.

Sometimes, Virta would slip a finger between her own legs while she sat watching Mandi and her latest partner. She didn't think the cameras mounted in the Office were picking her up since her lap was under the desk. Oh well, if they were. Nobody had said anything to her yet, at least.

Of course, had no sexual organs between her legs like the human, but she would pretend. She would rub herself like she watched Mandi or her boyfriend do, and then make the same cooing, moaning sounds of pleasure.

It was fun, but it did not satisfy her. Oh, how Virta would love to trade places with Mandi if only for an hour! Just to feel what a human body could feel during these acts. Why were angels denied this? She thought in frustration.

She looked down at her own glorious angelic body. Though it was perfect in every way, it had no parts designed for sexuality. The only way that could happen, she knew, was to get a human assignment on Earth, and even then there was a strict "no sex" policy, or -- and she could barely make herself think the word -- to Fall, that is, to get herself kicked out of Heaven and become a demon.

Not an option, thank you. For all of the ways her heavenly life sucked, she had no desire to turn into a savage monster.

There were times though, when she was feeling at her lowest, she would muse that her real father must have been a devil. After all, she had such wicked, rebellious thoughts and desires.

But she knew this was not so. She was just an angel, created the way all angels were made; not through any type of procreation, but simply fashioned out of common stardust. During orientation, Virta and her class had even been able to watch more angels being made on demand, as they were needed for Office work.

There's always the need for more entry-level peons as the older angels move up in position, she thought wearily.

Virta herself had been crafted out of the need for more support at the Office. And no matter how much she begged and pleaded for just one chance at an Earth assignment, she was always denied.

The Managers said she was better suited for life at the Office instead of in the trenches. The irony was, when she did apply for an Office position above hers, she was always told the same thing: Go back to school; Get this class under your belt, and then come back and we'll talk; You need to learn to play by the rules, your attitude needs work, blah, blah, blah.

But Virta didn't want to sit in a classroom and hear more of those tedious lectures. She knew she did her best learning hands-on. If only management would give her a chance to prove herself, but she knew it was very unlikely. She was doomed to the rat race of an Office job. She sighed deeply.

The Office was the command center of the Universe, one could say. There, Virta did menial tasks such as filing, answering phones, making Substance, and being everyone's "gopher".

She realized the value in such work, but it was not what she wanted to spend eternity doing. Her longing for assignment on Earth crowded more and more of her thoughts each day. She figured there had to be a way to break into a position there without going back to school for years.

Virta sipped her Substance and thought of some of the other angels who had been in her same class, those who'd worked their way up from Clerk to the title of Manager in almost no time at all. Some had even gone on to be Dominions, Principalities and Powers.

How could she not know? She'd read about them in the newsletter that circulated at the Office and all over Heaven. She'd sat and watched each year as her old classmates marched across the stage to thunderous applause to receive their medals.

These were not like those medals of honor on Earth which were pinned onto hero's chests, but rather medals that angels coveted -- more feathers for their wings. Angels were proud of their magnificent wings, even if pride was a feeling they weren't supposed to have. There are many things angels aren't supposed to think or do, Virta thought. But that doesn't mean they don't go on in angel society.

Virta spread her right wing and examined the pale feathers under the light over her desk. Angel feathers weren't exactly like those from birds. Everyone started out with the basic set, like Virta's, but through work (and Virta would say kissing up to Upper Management), new, glorious feathers could be attained. The feathers that were awarded were made of copper, silver, gold, platinum, and even rare metals not found on Earth.

You could always tell the angels who had advanced, because their wings were plaited through with shiny, firey, deceptively delicate-looking feathers that glowed with intricate craftsmanship.

And it seemed to Virta that many of these angels loved to flap their damned wings in her face when she was handing them a fax off the machine! Her saintly face turned into a scowl. She rubbed her forehead with her fingers and fluttered her wings quietly to calm herself.

Her feathers were pretty in their way, but all of them were still soft and plain. She rarely displayed them in public. It was just another way she didn't fit in, in this stuffy, rigid world she lived in. She sighed and retracted her wings until they were gone out of sight. She preferred to keep them invisible anyway. It made her feel more human.

Virta took a long drink of Substance, stretched her slender arms, and began to clean up her work station before she left for the day. Suddenly, Mick popped his head over the top of her cubicle.

"How's my favorite dark angel?" He asked with a playful grin.

"Hey, Mick." Virta looked up and smiled at her best friend.

Mick was an Office Assistant. He had had started at the same level as Virta, on the same day. They'd gone through orientation together. But while he had slowly advanced through the ranks, she had stayed in the position of Clerk I.

And while it was obvious to anyone that Mick had a "partner crush" on her, she didn't feel anything for him but friendship. Partnering, which was the only kind of male-female relationship that angels were allowed to have, was just not for her.

Nothing against Mick, of course. He would make a fabulous partner for any angel. But he said he was content with having her as a best friend if that's all she could give him, for now.

"I'm still hanging in there, Mick. Got plans for the weekend?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Some of us were going to get together after work and just hang out, watch some TV and play some games at my place. You wanna join us? I bet it would do you some good."

"Sure, it sounds like fun. You know I can't pass up a night of Earth TV."

"You only like me for my illegal Earth TV box." Mick grinned.

"Oh, you found me out, Mick." Virta teased. "But seriously, I'd go crazy if all I had to watch was the God Channel."

She knew she'd said the wrong thing when Mick's face lost all humor "That's all we're supposed to watch, for a reason, Virta."

Uh oh. Mick had slipped into sermon mode again.

He continued on, "I mean, it's one thing to watch a few Mayberry reruns, but quite another to watch the stuff you're channel surfing for. I don't want to be responsible for corrupting you with illegal broadcasts from Earth."

"Aw, Mick, if anyone catches you, just let me deal with them. Nobody corrupts me, I'm self-corrupted." She laughed but saw that he still didn't look convinced.

"Don't worry, I haven't had too much of a desire to blow up stuff just because I've watched some of the 'A Team' reruns." She rolled her eyes.

Mick smiled a little at last. "You know what I mean, Virta. It's not just the violence and the bad language on Earth TV. It's the... you know." Mick stammered a little, so Virta blurted it out for him.

"Sex?" She purposefully said it loud and clear. "Is that it, Mick? The Sex?"

Now Virta rose to her feet, put a hand on her side and another in her hair as she'd seen human women do on Earth TV. She swayed her body like she was in a music video as she spoke, shaking non-existant breasts at her friend.

"Sex? Sexy, Triple --X- Rated, Sexy Sex?" Her voice came out silky and voluptuous, the way she'd heard some Earth girls speak.

Mick's normally pale skin flowed scarlet, and he shook his head vigorously, as though he could silence her with a gesture.

"Virta!" His tone was scolding, as he looked around to see if she'd been overheard.

When he was satisfied that nobody had been listening, he looked back at her. His face was a mix of fear, anger, and something she normally didn't see... was he more than a little interested in her attitude about human sex?

But she knew she was taking him places he did not feel comfortable going.

"Oh, Mick, I'm so sorry." Virta said in a lower voice, as she slumped back into her chair. "I don't want to get you in trouble. Forgive me?"

He smiled brightly again. "Always." Then his blue eyes locked with hers. "But it's you I'm mainly worried about, Virta. You must be careful though about what you say and do in public. There are eyes-," he gestured to the cameras posted on the ceiling, "everywhere."

Virta sighed. "I just don't get the problem God has with Sex. I mean, he did create it, right?"

"Look, this isn't the time or place for a theological debate on -" Once again, Mick glanced around the room, and then lowered his voice to a whisper, "-sex."

He took a deep breath and spoke all in a rush: "We both know that God's OK with Sex as long as it's just between one human man and one human woman who are joined in holy matrimony, for the purposes of procreation only."

He gasped in a breath of air. "And anyway, we angels have nothing to do with Sex. That's for the humans. We don't even have the right parts on our bodies, as I'm sure you've figured out."

He winked.

Virta returned it with a grin. "You learned that spiel in one of those classes didn't you? What, do they make you memorize the official policies?"

Mick just stared at her for a moment. "Please, just tone down the..."S" talk from now on."

"But you've never even been curious about it?"

Crimson seeped further into Mick's normally-alabaster cheeks. He did another quick check around the area.

Most everyone else had already left for the day, and the weekend shift was just clocking in. Their workspace was still empty save for the two of them.

Mick sighed. "Haven't we all? If any angel tells you different, they're lying. And we know they don't do that, right?" His tone was sarcastic. "But come on, Virta, why all your preoccupation with something you'll never do? Even if you got an Earth assignment, procreative activites are forbidden for us."

Virta fingered her raven locks. "I guess it's the sense of the forbidden that gets me. I know it's wrong of me, but in case you haven't noticed, I seem to have a rebellious streak."

"Yeah, everyone can see it as plain as day." Mick raised an eyebrow teasingly. "I mean, you're the only angel I know in all of creation that dyes her hair and has body modification. Come on, nobody is blind to that dog on your calf, you know."

"Well, you know that dog spelled backward is god." Her smile and tone of voice dripped iniquity. "It's not that bad, really. I'm keeping with the religious theme, right?"

Mick shuddered at the blasphemy.

Virta suddenly pulled down the neckline of her shirt to expose another tattoo that ran across the top of her chest. "And did you know about these?" She looked up at him through her lashes, her face innocent.

Mick took it all in. She was beautiful indeed. She had no breasts; those were human appendages. But angels normally kept most of their bodies clothed anyway. It was policy. Mick had never seen what was under her top before. His eyes were wide and unblinking as he took in the inked cats playing across her perfect, twinkling skin. Her chest heaved as she proudly displayed her tats.

He swallowed. He felt his own body tense up involuntarily.

Then, as if suddenly remembering who he was and where he was, he quickly averted his eyes from his friend's exposed body. Mick glanced up at the camera and then back to her, making sure to keep his gaze only on her liquid green eyes. No lower.

He silently pleaded with her to cover up. The two of them weren't mind readers, but she had to know what he was wanting. She glanced at the cameras herself and then flicked her top back up to her neck with a sigh.

Mick looked relieved. "Virta, better keep that rebellious streak under control before certain authorities get tired of it, and do something to you. They've been more than forgiving with you so far. But I don't know how much longer that will last."

Her face scrunched up at her friend's words.

Mick looked straight into her eyes, his own brilliant blue eyes glittering. "I'm not kidding, Virta. I don't want to see anything happen to you. Angels have gotten in a lot of trouble just for voicing some of the things you are saying about... about the "S" word, about a lot of things. You're just asking too many questions, mainly."

"But why, Mick? I've never undestood why we can't we have freedom of speech and thought."

"Why do you think? God is perfect and good, and if he says something, that's what goes. There's no reason to debate or wonder about anything. Just do what you're told and things will go well for you."

"Boy, you sound like you've memorized the handbook or something." Virta crossed her arms over her chest, noticing Mick's eyes flash to her now-covered front for a second before his gaze moved up to her eyes.

She smirked. "But I want to learn and experience everything first hand. Is that really so wrong?"

She saw Mick trying to relax his body, and she felt bad. She hadn't meant to cause her friend any discomfort. He turned his sad gaze on her.

"Virta, the truth is, you haven't advanced in the Office because of your attitude. I mean, I've seen your file. Everytime you come up for a review, it's the same thing: Bad attitude, questioning authority, insubordination... the list goes on. If you want to advance, you need to fall in line. Why not take some more classes and learn more about God? The more classes, the less you'll have hard questions like this; the less rebellious you'll feel."

"Classes? You mean those brain-washing sessions? No thanks. If I don't get to be myself, then I'd rather not climb the ladder. Apparently it makes one a robot." The smirk returned to her angelic face.

Mick frowned. "I don't want to see you get in trouble is all, Virta." He said. "It's an attitude like that that lead to... to... Falling." He almost had more trouble getting that word out than the "S" word.

"Oh my fucking god, Mick!" Her voice was little more than a breath. She'd never heard gentle Mick use such language. "You said the "F" word!"

Mick blinked. "I mean Falling, as in getting kicked out of Heaven. Or, as some angels have done, Falling of their own free will."