"Oh, really?" Gabriel blew a raspberry. "If you've got any ideas, bro, go ahead and stop holding out on me. Not to rush you or anything, but this could get old fast."

His words were, suddenly, far more caustic than was warranted, and even though the archangel didn't physically pull back it was obvious there was a mental shift. The reminder that people could just disappear hadn't been a welcome one. What if Aziraphale or Balthazar disappeared?

What if Gabriel became alone all over again?

It wasn't something he could even bear to consider, and yet he still began to pull back in preparation.