A LITTLE IDENTITY NEVER HURT NOBODY

===

"Angel, do you remember that business proposal I accepted about a month ago?"

The family sat around the small, circular dining room table, Tom's voice breaking through the silence. Angel nodded, humming in affirmation through the mouthful of chicken flavored ramen she had. "Mhm..." she said, chewing and swallowing her food. "What's the guy's name again?"

"Richard Feynman," Tom told her. "The man that created the 3D digitizer. He's flying in from southern California to meet with me and have a discussion about how to market it. I will be using the headset that you used to enter Minecraft as an example, and to advertise it with him."

Angel raised a hand, giving him a thumbs up. "Cool beans," she said, smiling. "When's that happening?"

"Not tomorrow, but the next day," Tom said. "He's bringing his family along, a wife and two kids. You'll have the house to yourself that day - well, not entirely, now."

Angel glanced over at Erebus, who was sitting beside her, appearing unsure of whether he belonged there or not. Doubting that he would want soup due to the fact that it was mostly hot water, she had given him a loaf of bread, which he had hardly touched. He seemed to be quite lost in thought - about what, Angel was unsure.

"I can manage," she reassured Tom.

"We should have them over for dinner," Clara suggested. "I'd love to make a nice meal for them."

"Bribery," Angel muttered, before chuckling. Tom raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, you've gotta get them to advertise your stuff somehow! But that'd be pretty fun... I'll help make the dinner, if I can." There was a brief pause. "How old are the kids?"

"The oldest is twelve," Tom said. "The other is eight. They both enjoy Minecraft, maybe you could show them around your worlds."

Angel made a face at the thought of playing Minecraft with two younger kids, but didn't say anything. Erebus nudged her slightly, and she looked over at him, tilting her head.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, his voice soft and uncertain, as if he wasn't sure if he was allowed to speak.

"Oh- shit, yeah," Angel muttered. "Tom invented that virtual reality headset I used to get into Minecraft. He works at a big fancy company and discusses his invention with other inventors. This Richard guy is someone that contacted him around a month ago about an invention of his, so they're meeting sometime soon to talk about marketing it or something. I don't know too much about it, but it's interesting."

She shoved a forkful of ramen noodles into her mouth as she said this, muffling her last words a little bit. Erebus nodded in understanding, looking down at his loaf of bread like it would insult him if he touched it.

"Erebus, I'd love to get to know you a little more," Clara spoke up. "From what Angel told me, you seem like a very interesting person. Back where you came from, you were a figure of royalty, were you not?"

Erebus glanced up at her, nodding again. "King of the Endermen, yes," he said.

"And was that a particularly dangerous position to have?" Clara asked. "Or did you enjoy it?"

"Sometimes it was, yes," Erebus mumbled. "But I liked it. I was... good at it, I suppose."

Angel giggled softly to herself, and Erebus turned to face her.

"Sorry... that just reminded me of something," she clarified. "From this show I watched, about drugs. You remember drugs, right?"

Erebus's eyes widened slightly. "Of course."

"Oh dear..." Clara chuckled softly. "We don't need to get into that just yet... In any case, what sort of things did you like to do in your spare time, Erebus? If you had any as a king, of course..."

Angel's and Erebus's eyes met briefly, and the mutual understanding that telling Clara the truth wasn't a suitable option was shared between them. She didn't need to know that Erebus's hobbies included casual murder and controlling armies to wage wars on children.

"I... I suppose I collect things," he said after a moment, turning back to Clara. "Jewelry and shiny stuff. Anything that I think is worth keeping, I collect."

It was Tom's turn to chuckle. "Like a magpie," he commented. "No wonder you and Angel get along."

Erebus looked back at Angel, raising an eyebrow. "What does he mean?"

"Oh-" Angel giggled again. "That would make sense... My choice in fashion involves a lot of funky jewelry. You saw all the chains and stuff I wore in my Minecraft skin - think that, but a lot more."

A gleam of excitement shone in Erebus's eyes as she spoke, and she couldn't help but smile a little, finding this newfound eagerness of his slightly cute to watch.

"I'd like to see what you're talking about, if I can," he told her, and it was clear from the tone of his voice that he was holding back how elated he really was. Angel nodded quickly as she leaned over her bowl, shoving a massive forkful of ramen noodles into her mouth and yelping at how hot they were.

"Easy, dear," Clara warned, placing a hand on Angel's shoulder as she winced, humming with discomfort as she winced. "You don't wanna hurt yourself, do you?" Angel looked away at Clara's words as she chewed her noodles, mumbling something unintelligible. "What was that?"

She paused, swallowing her food, before continuing. "But I'm excited... and he is too!"

Gesturing to Erebus, she could see him look down, mildly embarrassed by all of the attention he was receiving. Despite this, he was still softly smiling, and she couldn't help but grin in turn as she continued to shovel noodles into her mouth. Quickly finishing, she leapt to her feet, motioning eagerly for Erebus to follow her. "Come on, come on, I keep my shit in my room!"

Erebus stood up as well, moving over to Angel and following her as she began to walk off.

"Don't stay up too late, Angel," Clara told her. "You can show Erebus to the guest bedroom once you're done, right?"

Angel nodded quickly. "I'll do that."

"See you around, magpie," Tom said, smiling warmly at Erebus. He froze in place for just a moment as he processed this - he had never been called by a real nickname before, and it had startled him. This time, it was pleasant, unlike the other things he had been called. The name made him feel warm inside in a way he was unfamiliar with, but he knew to brush it off. It would go away soon, like the majority of the good things in his life.

Following Angel, he walked down a thin hallway, with two doors on the sides of each wall. On one side was the bathroom and Clara and Tom's room, and on the other was the guest bedroom which Erebus was going to be taking, and Angel's room. Angel paused just outside of her room, her face flushing slightly.

"Um... it's a bit of a mess inside, so please just ignore that," she mumbled, embarrassed as she pushed open the door. "I haven't properly cleaned in quite some time."

Erebus peered inside. "It's not so bad," he reassured her. "I've probably seen worse."

"Try and make yourself comfortable with what little space you have, I'm gonna grab my notebook real quick," Angel said, motioning for Erebus to enter the room. "I'll be right back."

She quickly moved off as Erebus stepped into the room, avoiding the clothes that were crumpled up on the ground near the bed in the corner. His eyes scanned every inch of the room, absorbing every little detail, and he was fascinated by what he saw. A computer sitting on the cluttered desk was turned off, and he assumed that that was what she played Minecraft on. Clothing was folded up in the open drawers of a dresser, along with a few jackets and other garments hung up in a closet nearby. Stepping over to the bookshelf that was about half his height, he tilted his head, observing the vinyl player on top of it - this was a device that he was vaguely familiar with, having seen jukeboxes in Minecraft before. There was a record already sitting in the middle, and he looked down at it, reading the words in the center of it.

STEREO ONE

BLACK DOG (4:55) Page - Plant - Jones

ROCK AND ROLL (3:40) Page - Plant - Jones - Bonham

THE BATTLE OF EVERMORE (5:51) Page - Plant

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN (8:02) Page - Plant

"Led Zeppelin 4."

Erebus jumped slightly at the sound of Angel's voice from behind him, and turned to face her. She was clutching the notebook she had retrieved, a broad grin on her face upon seeing what he was looking at.

"That record," she clarified. "It's got the fourth album by Led Zeppelin on it. It's got some bangers... I like the third one the most, personally. It's got Friends/Celebration Day on it, and Friends is one of my favorite Led Zeppelin songs. Then it's got Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, which is about one of the band member's dogs... you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

She chuckled nervously, looking away to hide the embarrassment on her face. "I ramble a lot, especially about music. Ignore me if you want."

Erebus quickly shook his head. "I was interested," he told her quickly. "You said that one of the songs was about someone's dog?"

Looking back up, Angel continued. "Yes," she said. "The members of the band are Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones. Robert Plant had a dog named Strider, named after some character from a book series, and he wrote a song about Strider, which I think is adorable." She chuckled, raising her arms up to her chest and bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. "'Tell your friends, all 'round the world, there ain't no companion like a blue-eyed Merle...' That's the type of dog Plant had."

Erebus nodded in understanding. "You must like music a lot, then, to know the story behind that song," he commented.

Angel giggled. "It's that damn obvious?" she asked. "Yeah... music is a very important thing for me, it's always been. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd..." She paused briefly, raising a hand as her eyes shone with excitement. "I have an idea. Because you're new here and all, I could show you around town, and take you to a record store - I wanted to buy a new one anyway. Convenient timing..."

Erebus tilted his head. "You want to show me around your town?"

Angel nodded. "Yeah, if you're gonna end up staying here, you might as well get familiar with the place," she reasoned, shrugging. "Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, I suppose," Erebus said. "From what I've seen, it's pretty interesting."

"It is," Angel agreed. "I like it here. Better than the city, at least - I'm getting really off track. I need to show you my shiny things."

She dashed over to a shelf, where a small box was sitting on the top, and brought it over to her bed, pushing the blanket to the side and dumping it out. A various assortment of chains, necklaces, and rings fell out, and Erebus's eyes widened.

"Feel free to borrow any of this stuff," Angel said, gesturing to the objects on her bed. "I'm not sure if the rings and stuff would fit, but it can't hurt to try."

"Where did you get all this stuff?" Erebus asked, reaching down and picking up some of the rings and examining them closely.

"Most of them I got from this store called Hot Topic," Angel explained. "Some stuff Clara and Tom got for me. A few of the chains went with other clothes that I have, like this."

She picked up one of the chains, untangling it from the others. A star shaped ornament hung from one end. "This went with a skirt that I got not too long ago, along with one of my belts. Hang on, lemme show you..."

Walking quickly to her closet, she pulled off a skinny belt from a metal ring hanging there, tossing it onto the bed next to the chain she had separated from the others. "I think you'll like the color scheme of this one, even if it might not be your thing, as far as clothing goes."

"What makes you say that?" Erebus asked.

Angel glanced behind herself as she rummaged in a drawer. "Well, it's a skirt," she said, shrugging. "I shouldn't assume where you stand with clothes and gender roles and shit like that. Personally, I don't give a shit, as long as you're comfortable - in any case, here."

She held up a red and black plaid skirt. "I love this thing," she chuckled, walking over to the bed and setting it beside the belt and chain. "It reminds me of you."

Erebus tilted his head. "Do you love it because it reminds you of me?"

For the first time since coming to the physical world, he was smiling, the cocky glint in his crimson eyes that Angel had grown familiar with shining there once more. Angel couldn't help but smile as well, so caught up in how nice it felt to see him relax that she forgot to hide how flustered she was by the comment.

"Well, I did get it after meeting you," she explained. "This was before I made that deal with Herobrine. I suppose since I was thinking about you a lot during that time-" She paused, feeling her face start to heat up at her wording. "That's not what I meant - I mean, you died and all, so of course I was thinking about you! And it was just a coincidence that I got this skirt during that time, and... yeah, you get it."

Erebus tilted his head, his confident smirk not fading in the slightest. "Whatever you say," he chuckled. "Off the subject, but I like your rings. Some of them actually fit me."

He held up a hand, a few of Angel's silver rings adorning his slim fingers.

"Ooh..." She moved forward. "I wasn't sure if they would or not, since everyone's hands are different. Here, give me your hand."

Erebus hesitated momentarily as Angel held out her hand, her palm facing him. He raised his own, pressing it against Angel's, comparing their sizes.

"Hm... your fingers are roughly the same size as mine, despite being longer," Angel murmured. "Your hand in general's bigger than mine, too. I don't know why I'm surprised at that, since I know what your hands feel like..." She paused for a moment, looking up at Erebus as she recalled being in Malacoda's cage, holding his hand in hers, the simple touch comforting both of them. "Your hands are surprisingly soft, too."

Her fingers shifted slightly, slipping in between Erebus's as if she was about to take his hand in her own, but decided against it at the last moment, pulling her hand away. "In any case, I should probably put all this stuff away. It's getting a bit late, we should probably get some sleep before tomorrow. I have an idea of where I want to take you around town tomorrow."

Erebus nodded, lowering his hand and glancing down. "I'm looking forward to it," he told her sincerely as he started to pull off the rings he was wearing. "Where am I staying?"

Angel motioned for him to follow her out of her room. "The guest bedroom," she said, walking over to the door next to hers, opening it for Erebus.

He tilted his head as he peered inside. "It's not as interesting as yours," he mused.

Angel chuckled. "Nah, but you ain't staying in my room, if that's what you're implying."

She couldn't help but laugh a little at Erebus's stunned reaction. "Angel, no- that's not what I was-"

"I know, I know, I was just messing with you," Angel giggled. "It's what you get for flustering me earlier with that comment about you reminding me of that skirt."

"So I flustered you?"

Angel blinked. "Not the point," she muttered, motioning quickly for Erebus to go into the guest bedroom. "Get in there, and try and get some rest. I'll see you in the morning, okay? If you need anything, let me know."

She smiled softly at Erebus as he walked into the room, lingering slightly as he did so. "Angel..." he said softly, turning to face her. "What you did, to bring me here... you didn't need to do that at all. I didn't- I never asked for this."

"I know." Angel nodded, a frown crossing her expression. "I wanted to, though... did you not want to come here?"

Erebus looked down, slightly lost in thought. "That's not what I meant," he told her. "I just... The thought of you doing something for me, after everything that happened between us, is hard to process. That, combined with being in a new world like this - it's just a lot for me."

Angel nodded in understanding. "I get it," she mumbled. "But I'm here to help you, okay? If there's anything you don't understand, or anything I can help you with, I'm always here, okay? It's not a problem for me at all, I want to help you."

She took a step back, offering Erebus a reassuring smile. "Tomorrow, we'll get to be together more, and I'll show you around the town, and we'll have a good time, okay? For now, just try and get some sleep."

Erebus nodded. "I will," he said. "Goodnight, Angel... I'll see you in the morning."

He hesitated for a moment, as if there was something else that he wanted to say, before shaking his head, grabbing the door handle and pushing the door shut. Angel started to walk off to her room, a wide grin spreading across her face as the full realization of everything that had happened today filled her mind.

Erebus was here, he was alive, and she couldn't be happier.