LITTLE OL' ME IN A BIG WORLD

===

Angel's town, Crossrose, may have been considered plain and boring to some, but this was most certainly not the case with Erebus. It didn't take them long to get out of the neighborhood into the main part of town, thankfully for Angel. She was more used to riding her bicycle into Crossrose rather than walking, but it wasn't a bother for her, since she was with Erebus. His presence alone was entertainment enough, since she could answer his stream of questions as they walked.

Everything was so fascinating in Erebus's eyes. The various shapes of the buildings, the cars driving along the asphalt concrete, the clothing of the people - it was all so diverse in comparison to Minecraft's society, and Erebus was loving it. Angel answered any questions he had, even if they would have been considered ridiculously simple to others, and it was amazing, learning how the world worked here and how advanced it was. Every detail, down to the little grooves in the sidewalk and the fonts on signs, intrigued him greatly.

"Welcome to the main part of Crossrose," Angel declared, stopping at the corner of an intersection and gesturing around her with one hand, clutching onto a book she had decided to bring with the other. "This is the town center, where all the cool stuff is. What catches your eye?"

Erebus scanned his surroundings with curiosity, tilting his head as he looked up at a tall building nearby. "That," he said, pointing. It looked similar to a temple found in the villages in Minecraft, but much more elaborate.

"Oh, that's Crossroads Lutheran Church," Angel explained. "That's where Christianity is practiced. I go there some Sundays, but not as often as I had when I was a kid. It's actually a really nice place - by that I mean, it doesn't freak me out like my old church did."

"Where was that?" Erebus asked.

"In the city." Angel motioned for him to follow her as she began to walk once more, shifting the book she was carrying under her arm as she did so. "Remember, I told you I lived in a big city with my parents for a while? Oh, boy, I don't know if you'd like that, it might be overwhelming for you."

Erebus nodded, remembering the story that Angel had told him about her life back when they had been imprisoned by Malacoda. It was a hard thing to think about, for it was impossible to recall her speaking without the memory of how terrified and hurt he had been at the time. Malacoda's torture moments before had left him so helpless, so scared, to the point where he was unable to recognise himself.

Yet, Angel had chosen to help him. She had given him her jacket to help wipe the water from his burning skin, and had told him a story about herself to distract him from the pain. Her hand had felt so warm in his own when he had held it, and ever since, he had longed to feel anything remotely similar to the comfort he had experienced when Angel was with him.

"You good?" Angel asked, tilting her head as she watched him. Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Erebus nodded.

"I'm just thinking," he told her. "What else is noteworthy in this town?"

Angel pointed off to another building across the road. "That's Crossrose Police Station," she said. "The police hang out there until there's a crime or something. I've had to interact with police officers a lot before, they're usually pretty chill."

"The ones here?"

Angel shrugged, glancing down. "Just... officers in general. Here, in the old city - but that's a whole different story."

Erebus nodded, not wanting to push the subject any further. "What was the city called?"

"Philadelphia," Angel told him. "It's a famous place in Pennsylvania. The bigger the city, the more shit people that live in it. Thankfully, this isn't that big of a town, so we're good, for the most part."

She glanced around, before pointing at a building close to the police station. "That's Crossrose Swim Club. You gotta be a member to go there... There's a library nearby, I like going there when I want somewhere quiet... And here we are."

She stopped outside of a building, an excited grin on her face as she placed both hands on her hips. "Crossrose Record Store."

Erebus moved beside her, smiling a little as well upon noticing that she was happy. "What are we doing here?" he asked.

"I wanted to get a new album," she told him, walking up to the door and holding it open for him. "Pink Floyd's Animals."

Stepping inside, Erebus was fascinated to see all of the records - or discs, the term he was more familiar with - lining the shelves. Posters of band logos and albums hung on the walls, and an unfamiliar song was playing on a radio inside. Angel seemed to know it, however.

"'Back in Black', by AC/DC," she said, starting to nod her head to the beat. "God, I love this song... come on, I gotta find this damn album!"

She grabbed Erebus's wrist, pulling him further into the store. "I adore AC/DC, I need to get one of their records..." she muttered to herself. "Probably Highway to Hell, that's got some good songs..." She paused, exhaling slowly. "God, I need to stop rambling..."

Erebus tilted his head. "Angel, you didn't do anything wrong," he reassured her. "I don't know anything about this world's music, and you seem to know a lot. I'm fine with listening to you ramble on, it's-"

Angel suddenly giggled. "Sorry," she said. "'Ramble On' is just a Led Zeppelin song that I like, from their second album - are you sure it's okay if I go into a rant?"

Erebus nodded, and Angel bounced a little. "Yay!"

Pulling Erebus off again, she skimmed the shelves, searching for the one labeled 'L'. "Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd are my favorite bands, if you haven't already guessed," she told him. "There's just something about that style of music that hits different to me... I prefer it over the more popular songs. It doesn't just have to do with lyrics, it's the music itself, and the chords, and the instruments - oh, good Lord, you have no idea how much I want to learn the electric guitar..."

Skimming through the albums on the shelf, she let go of Erebus's wrist and pulled out a record with a brown and yellow cover. "This is Led Zeppelin's second album," she declared, holding it up. "It's got some bangers on it."

"You mentioned lyrics," Erebus said. "Do they have meaning?"

Angel nodded, flipping the record around to look at the back. "Mhm. They're usually about women and relationships... usually those aren't the best, since a bunch of them are about the woman cheating on the singer. Not all of them are like that, though."

Erebus raised a hand, pointing at the name of the third track, 'The Lemon Song'. "How do you write a song about lemons?"

"Oh, god," Angel giggled. "That one... he only talks about lemons once in it, and it's a euphemism for sex."

A soft scoff escaped Erebus as Angel said this. "Are a lot of songs on this album about sex?" he asked, pointing to a few other questionable titles, such as 'Whole Lotta Love' and 'Moby Dick'.

Angel laughed. To Erebus, the sound was melodic in itself like the music playing on the radio, and he didn't quite understand why. "Actually, 'Moby Dick' doesn't even have lyrics," she told him. "It's a four minute long drum solo - mostly. Anyway, that's Led Zeppelin's second album for you. It's amazing, but I already have that. What I don't have is..."

Taking Erebus's wrist again as she trailed off, she brought him over to the shelf labeled 'P', earning a small chuckle from him. "Hm?"

"I was just curious when you were going to make up your mind," he said, stepping closer to her. "Do you want to hold my wrist properly or not?"

With a quiet yelp, Angel let go of him, turning away to hide her flustered expression. "Don't embarrass me," she muttered. Erebus chuckled to himself. "You're starting to sound like Clara."

"What did she say?" he asked, starting to look through the records for the one Angel had mentioned before.

"It's stupid," she huffed. "She suspected me of making this a date or something, when it's obviously not like that, and from what Tom was saying, he doesn't seem to be any better with it... I think that they think I'm lonely or something, 'cause I haven't dated properly before."

Erebus looked up, mildly surprised by that. "Really?"

"When would I have gotten the chance to?" Angel shrugged a little. "Everyone was a dick when I went to school, and I obviously don't want to date a dick. Those guys that I encountered in the park basically ruined my reputation at the school I went to here, since they somehow figured out that I identify as a girl when I shouldn't, so that's out of the picture, too. There's no one that I really get yet, y'know?"

Erebus nodded, trying to ignore how deeply he was able to understand what Angel was saying. "Is this the album?" he asked, pulling out one of the records. On the cover was a large factory, with a pig floating in midair above it.

"How'd you know?" Angel's eyes widened as she snatched the record from him, staring at the back. "This is it, this is Animals - I only mentioned the name to you once, didn't I?"

Erebus nodded. "I didn't want to forget it once you told me," he told her.

Angel blinked in surprise, unused to having her interests listened to so avidly. "I-I appreciate that," she said, glancing down at the back of the record. "That's... yeah, thanks." She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Why are there only five damn songs on the album? They must be some pretty long songs... but I supposed that's Pink Floyd for you."

Shrugging, she tucked the album under one arm along with the book she had brought along, grinning up at Erebus. A now-familiar gleam of excitement was shining in her eyes, and he couldn't help but smile as well. "Would I be able to listen to the music with you?" he asked.

It took a moment for Angel to put her thoughts into words due to how excited she was at the request. "I- yeah, totally, that'd be great, no one's ever really done that before, and I- wait, we should probably listen to Dark Side of the Moon first before we do that, since it'd be nice to get you acquainted with Pink Floyd's style, along with the fact that you're not familiar with this world's music..."

Angel had regained her train of thought as quickly as she had lost it. It was fascinating to Erebus, the way her demeanor changed when she spoke about something she was passionate about. When it came to music, she sounded like an expert, though this could be attributed to the fact that Erebus barely knew anything about music. Of course, Minecraft's discs were something he had listened to time and time again; however, from the sound of it, the physical world's music was much different than that which he was used to. He couldn't help but feel excited to listen to the albums Angel wanted to show him, and to hear everything she had to say about them.

"Can we do that once we get home?" Erebus requested. Angel nodded eagerly as she started to move over to the counter.

"Of course! I could show you a couple songs from the Dark Side of the Moon album. Oh, 'Time' has a sick guitar solo, I think you'll really like that, and 'The Great Gig in the Sky' is absolutely beautiful - those are definitely ones I'm going to show you."

"I'm looking forward to it," Erebus told her. The sincerity in his voice was something Angel had rarely heard from anyone besides Clara and Tom, and it made her feel warm inside as she walked to the counter to pay for the record. It was a warmth she had been deprived of for over a month, a warmth that only came to her when Erebus was near. It wasn't something she understood, but it was certainly something she was grateful for, and right now, she felt as if she wouldn't trade it for anything.