This is wonderful.

And the last line:

He keeps listening, waiting for those moments. When he sees them, spies on what they fight so hard to shelter from each other and everyone else, he always is in awe. They are familiar and foreign, a combination that would stutter his heart if he had one.

Yeah this is going in my favorites. The idea of the simple things, the diner conversations is what made Gabriel join them not the great overarching heroics. Nice.

I could see Gabriel pulling this easily. That would be the way to win over a humanity-loving archangel. Thanks for the great read.