Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The air was full of brimstone, saturated by the coppery tang of spilled blood. Hovels were alight in flame, casting dancing shadows over the unmoving corpses that littered the land, their blood feeding a cold, stone earth. Distant screams were still audible, voices pleading for mercy or begging for someone long since claimed by oblivion. All of it rose as a cacophonous orchestra, riding the curling trails of smoke that reached out towards the glowing realm above – a sphere of divine light, peering down upon the land in harsh judgment, dismissive of the desperation for help that would never come.

Well, at least help in the way they wanted it.

Adam was more than happy to help them, using his golden battle axe to cleave the head from a sobbing beast, spreading more of that scarlet liquid across the uncaring ground. The annoying wailing was cut off, the horned head landing with a sickening plop, splashing the bottom of his robes with even more crimson blood, likely permanently stained from this year’s round of killings, but he didn’t care. He didn’t even flinch when he swung his axe around and spilled even more blood on his chest, resting it across his shoulder so that he could survey the land around him and the destruction that he had wrought upon a people deserving of nothing less than total annihilation.

When the time came to return to the realm above, his golden wings spread, casting his divine shadow across the results of his time in this vile realm, displaying to those who remained that they had been spared not by his benevolence, but by the fact there were simply too many for him to be able to kill on his own.

It was something that was happening more and more, so when Adam traveled through the portal that he created, landing on the cloud-supported stone before the giant golden gates of Heaven proper, he didn’t feel like celebrating as he normally did. Sure, he fucking loved his job, and his soul always felt that much better after clearing out the dark pit that his old friend had created, but he was beginning to notice that he was leaving more and more Sinners behind. It wasn’t like he was slacking or inefficient; his kill count this year was at least twenty higher than the previous year, but he saw far more faces peeking out of dilapidated stone shacks, hiding behind barren trees, disappearing into the distance as they fled from his current target. No matter how many he killed, he just couldn’t keep up. More souls ended up down there instead of in Heaven.

Adam shook his head to try and clear his thoughts. Dammit, he should be celebrating his success, not wallowing in self-pity. He was one fucking guy, of course he was going to start falling behind. How could anyone be expected to keep up with the flooding of souls down there? And it wasn’t like anyone else was picking up arms to help him.

No, they often coward, just like Saint Peter did as Adam walked up to the golden gates, throwing them open without bothering to wait for the angel to do it for him. He knew how to work the fancy things; he didn’t need to try and wake the little bastard up after yet another fainting spell at seeing blood.

The deep scarlet always did stand out against the softer pastel blues and pinks and greens of Heaven. Even in the town proper, the growing buildings had that palette to them, making the blood stand out that much more. They looked similar to the structures that had just been razed in Hell, only these were made of glowing stone and polished glass that reflected Adam’s appearance as he walked on by, taking backroads to avoid being seen by any Winners. Most had the same capacity to handle the sight of blood as Peter, and he’d already caused a number of fainting spells in prior visits to Hell.

Adam did pause to take a look at himself, studying his white and soft purple robes that were saturated in blood. His face looked troubled, and his hair was even messier than it usually was. There were streaks of red just visible, and that made him inwardly frustrated because cleaning blood out of hair was so damn annoying. And his face was just covered in smoke, dirt, blood, and grime that he looked like he’d been working the fields like when he was still alive.

He hated that look.

Adam brought his thoughts back to his current task of making his way through the city to where his residence was, nestled neatly close to the structures that held the Seraphim. Though he wasn’t one of them, he was a tier above other Winners, putting him in that awkward middle-ground of not belonging to either side. Sera definitely tried to make him feel welcomed, but all his responsibilities involved the secret missions to Hell. It wasn’t a role to be celebrated in Heaven itself, nor was it even widely known by anyone he might spend time with – just constant lies about how the blood came from one thing or another, always dodging the question from Winners and easily avoiding the Seraphim that didn’t bother with the ‘lesser beings of the realm’. The entire thing was just…so isolating.

Man. His thoughts really were bringing him down. He’d just finished a mission, why was he all upset?!

“Fuck it, I’m going to the winery and picking up the first woman that catches my eye!” he announced to his empty home.

Empty, cold, and dark even with the tall windows shining in the morning sun. It was a silence that was almost deafening in its own right, and he quickly rushed for the water basin to clean himself off. He tugged on a fresh, clean set of robes and turned for the door, only to run face first into a long, silvery dress. He stumbled back and quickly fumbled out an apology.

“Shit, sorry, Sera! I mean…sorry, ma’am.”

“I apologize for catching you unaware.” Sera tilted her head down at him. Of all the women in Heaven, she was the only one that he didn’t feel like he could sass. She was much taller, for one. And much stronger. But…she was also the only maternal figure he’d ever met.

“Nah, just…was cleaning up after the trip to Hell, and…all that.” Adam grimaced when he said it aloud and cleared his throat at Sera’s stern look. “A-ah…to that Hell of a good stage performance! That’s…yeah.”

Sera let out a breath before gesturing for him to follow, and he inwardly groaned. Okay, he needed to get better about running his mouth, clearly. But he’d been told that plenty of times before. He wanted to make her proud, but dammit there were just things that tumbled out and he couldn’t help it!

He followed her from the base of his home up to the towering structure that marked the main Seraphim building. The stone it was made of glowed with an ethereal silver that contrasted the gold of neighboring buildings, towering above and casting its divine, protective light over the kingdom of Heaven and its denizens. Even being used to seeing it, Adam could feel a sensation of awe for the structure and the sheer power that radiated from within. He was blessed to be allowed to step through the doorway into the cool, intricately carved halls of the interior and walk through its hallowed grounds.

They didn’t pass by anyone else on the way, so Adam was content to walk in a far more relaxed manner, folding his golden wings up beneath his arms. It was something only he did, though when it came to Seraphim trying to fold six like this would likely be more trouble than it was worth. It just…felt right to have his wings hugging his body rather than always having to hold them out behind him. Made it easier to walk, too, though he was developing a bit of a hunch. Ah well, future problems.

When they arrived in Sera’s office, Adam settled down across from where Sera sat, leaning back in his chair. He’d grown more comfortable as he settled into his role with her, no longer as worried about her opinion when he just wanted to lounge. He’d only been doing these trips to Hell for a few centuries now, after all; by angelic standards, he was practically a child.

“How did the…task go this year?” Sera asked. She waved her hand and a small pot poured hot water into the cups in front of both of them, tea leaves already settled on the bottom. Not exactly his favorite drink, but he humored her whenever she wanted to talk.

“Pretty good, I think? I mean…I killed, like, a hundred and thirty-two of the fuckersss-sorry, Sinners.” Adam shifted. “…but there were a lot more down there when I was leaving than last time.”

“That is an impressive number, but the influx of soul movement has begun to further favor Hell than our realm. We will need to increase the number if we are to keep them in check.”

“What the fuuuuuudge do you want from me, Sera? I’m just one guy.” Adam leaned back in his chair. He didn’t like that it felt like Sera was blaming him for not killing enough. He was fucking trying, okay?! There were just so damn many, and they kept coming year after year, their numbers rising more exponentially than anything in Heaven.

“I understand, Adam. But the fact remains that we will need to see more and more cleanses.” Sera sipped at her cup. Her brows were furrowed in thought, and Adam watched her face for a while before grabbing his own cup to drink. If nothing else, the warm tea did at least help ease some of that tension in his shoulders from the perceived slight.

“If we had an army…” He caught himself, a brow lifting when he thought more on that. “Wait. Sera, would that work? An army?”

She blinked at his question before leaning back, brows knitting as she swirled her tea in front of her.

“I would not wish to risk any souls of Winners by putting out a request to build one.” She leaned back in her chair, shifting her gaze to the ceiling. “The promise of Heaven is comfort and safety. Many of those souls who end up here died heroically in battle. To place them back on the field…”

“There’s got to be some people interested in killing?” Adam rested his cheek in hand, frowning.

“We are also trying to keep this quiet.” Sera’s gaze shifted back down to his, and he wilted a little under her look. Okay, fine, that was also true. No one else was supposed to know about his role in Heaven. Everyone knew him as the First Man – a religious spectacle that had many a follower weak at the knees to meet such a prominent figure of their faith. His actions in Hell weren’t meant to be known by the common folk, or really any other Heavenborn outside of Sera and Saint Peter. That made recruiting for an army rather difficult.

They settled into silence for a while, Adam stewing in his thoughts while he drank at the tea he wasn’t fond of. At least he could busy himself thinking about the winery later, and being able to sink his cock into a woman or two if he managed to get lucky out there. A victorious fuck for doing such a good job in keeping this place safe, regardless of if people knew what he did or not.

Movement caught his attention, and his gaze shifted back to Sera. She had that look on her face that told him she was in deep thought. It was that same look that started all of this in the first place – his eagerness to earn her praise and to try and ease whatever tension and stress that weighed her down.

“…we could create an artificial army,” she finally spoke aloud. That had Adam’s brows quirking.

“An artificial army?”

“Yes. One with artificial souls that we would not have to risk. We can make their bodies stronger, ensuring that they cannot be bested by any Sinner, in fact.” Sera set her tea cup down and got to her feet, beginning to pace behind her gilded desk. “They would not need the standard attitude or personality of Heavenborn, which leaves room to make them effective…warriors.”

“Okay, what the fffff…what are you talking about?” Adam couldn’t help himself. His brows furrowed as he watched her. Creating souls? Sure, he knew they were capable of doing that – his own body had been crafted from dust that they manipulated. But…his soul was real? How would these differ?

“Allow me to show you.” Sera waved a hand.

A small orb settled on her desk in front of Adam. The display showed a building on the outskirts of the realm. Most structures in Heaven were made from beautiful, pearlescent stone that refracted the light of the warm sun and shimmered against the soft pastels of an otherwise cloudy sky. This one looked stonier, crafted from what looked to be shiny obsidian with hints of marble gradients that gave it an oddly dark, almost sinister appearance. The saturation of the color was so different from everything else in Heaven that Adam couldn’t help the way his brows rose.

“…that place looks dreary.”

“It was created with powerful structural integrity and is the production of angelic tools and weaponry,” Sera explained. “Your axe was crafted in these very hallowed halls. It is also capable of the manipulation of artificial souls that can be grafted into realistic bodies. It is a remnant of Heaven from a time before your creation, before we created life in Eden.” Sera’s voice almost sounded sad, and Adam couldn’t help the curious sound. But she simply shook her head and met his gaze again. “Outside of your weapon, it has been left derelict and unused.”

“So…what, we can use it to literally build an army that I can lead?” Adam asked. He studied the strange facility for a while before looking back up at Sera. “I mean…honestly, if you want more deaths in Hell, I’m going to need help. They keep growing in number, and I can’t work any harder than I already am.”

“I know.” Sera settled back in her seat. She still looked troubled, but a sip of her tea eased the expression on her face. “As I stated, this also means we can create them to a specific degree. You can choose what kind of army you would like to lead.”

“Shit, really?” Adam perked, ignoring the look she gave him for his language. “Well then, I want an entire army of smoking hot battle babes.”

“…seriously, Adam?”

“I know women can’t fight, they’re usually just too fragile and weak against men.” Adam only barely caught the end of Sera’s even more annoyed expression at that. “But if they’re created, then we take away that weakness, right?”

“That is very derogatory, Adam.”

“Nah, Sera. It’s fine!” Having an entire army of women loyal to him also meant having an entire army of women that he could sway into bed with him. Hah, he hated that he was getting a little hard just thinking about it, especially when he was still in Sera’s presence. He willed his cock to behave until later. “That’s what I want, I want an army of drop-dead gorgeous women who aren’t afraid of committing mass murder.”

He beamed up at her furrowed expression. She held his gaze for a time before closing hers, reaching to put a hand to her forehead. The way she just shook her head told him that maybe he’d stepped over a few boundaries, and he shifted a little in his seat before clearing his throat.

“You said I could choose what kind of army I want to lead – this is it.” Adam held his head up.

“…I will consider it.” Sera said it in her ‘I’m not really going to’ voice, which only annoyed him. She presented the option to him, so he should get to choose! Surely, that made fucking sense, right? So what if he wanted an entire army of hot women that would have to follow his orders? It wasn’t like he only wanted them for sex!

“Whatever.” He went to roll his eyes, but he managed to stop with a sharp look from Sera at his response. “Sorry, I just…I want you to trust me, Sera.”

“I do, Adam. At least in regards to Hell.” Sera rubbed her temples, a gesture that Adam was used to seeing her do when she had been fretting over the general existence of the threat of Hell. “When I make my decision, I will summon you to the facility.”

That was as much a dismissal as he needed. Adam thanked her and got to his feet, making his way out of her office and the building proper. The conversation had left a sour taste in his mouth, as if Sera truly didn’t believe he would have the army’s best interest at heart while also indulging in the more selfish side of essentially ‘owning’ a bunch of women. But he was THE First Man! If they were created knowing who and what he was, they’d be all over him just like the other Winners in Heaven, surely! He knew how to treat ladies with the respect they deserved.

By fucking them with his amazing cock, of course.

Adam had made it to the winery on the outskirts of town, which was already populated with jovial Winners. If there was one thing he did miss about humanity, it was the variety of alcohol. In Heaven, it was only wine, and even then, it was hardly strong. Enough to loosen lips and throw aside whatever tiny issues arose in an otherwise perfect realm, but it didn’t give him the deep-seeded haze of a proper mug. It had been just developed when Adam’s life ended on Earth itself, but in that time, he had learned to appreciate the feeling of being drunk off his ass.

He could only get so far with wine, and it wasn’t long before he had two of the most attractive Winners at the winery moaning beneath him back in his own home. He was pumping his cock in and out of one while she made out with the other woman, already leaking from a freshly fucked pussy of her own. He was perhaps more vigorous and eager today because he had basically taken Sera at her word that she would get him an army, and his imagination was simply running wild. An eagerness that the two Winners, he didn’t even know their names, had to endure for the evening. He left them blissfully happy, fucked out of their minds, and satisfied, sleeping in his bed until they were able to walk themselves home. He wasn’t going to bother figuring out where they lived, after all; and walking home in Heaven was completely safe.

It was only a few days before Adam got the call from Sera. The sheer excitement, and admittedly sexual eagerness, had him almost stumbling over himself as he made is way out to this strange facility. He’d never been this far from Heaven, at least not in this direction. There really wasn’t anyone stopping them from going there; really, no one had a reason to. Curiosity didn’t need to exist in a realm of perfection.

When he arrived, Sera was there waiting for him. She looked better than their last meeting – a little more relaxed, her usual serene smile in place. He knew better than to believe there was nothing troubling behind that look, but he didn’t press her. Not when he was about to get something as cool as his own army to command.

“As I mentioned when we last spoke, I have made the decision to gift you your army.” Sera inclined her head at him before turning, leading him into the facility proper. “The general design that I went with may be a little…disappointing for you, however. But this is for your best interest. The goal of this army is to train them for the task of cleansing Sinners.” The look she gave him over her shoulder told Adam that she had already guessed what had been going on in his brain before, and a part of him grimaced. Ah…

“I swear, Sera, my intentions and focus have always been on my efforts in Hell!” Adam pressed. There was a bit of concern by what she meant regarding the design being different than he was expecting. He’d already been hyping himself up that imagining anything else was almost deeply upsetting.

“I trust that you would still come through with your performance, but I need you to focus on their training and their capabilities first and foremost.” Sera walked him through the dark halls, and there was a part of him that couldn’t stop the shiver running down his spine, fluffing up the golden feathers of his wings. He stood out here; even Sera looked like she belonged here with her soft blues and whites. It added to that sense of being ‘othered’, something that often happened to him among the higher echelons of Heaven…

“What army am I getting then, Sera?” Adam finally managed to voice is concern.

Instead of answering, Sera walked him into what he could only assume was the largest room in the facility. The forge within was awe-inspiring – all Adam had seen before while on Earth had been the simple ones that humans had been able to create. This was something else entirely, burning with a blue flame that looked as divine as the complex machinations that cradled it. Scientific development in Heaven was at least a few centuries ahead of humanity below, so he didn’t recognize what those notched, circular things spinning against each other that seemed to move a length of metal were. All of it was way too complicated for him to understand it, so he didn’t even bother to.

The room wasn’t empty, either – there were what seemed to be people there.

Most Winners, when they arrived in Heaven, took on wildly different forms than what they looked like while alive. Adam was no exception; he just didn’t like looking at his ‘true self’ in the mirror. Thankfully the Seraphim had taught him the magic necessary to appear as human as he had been before, just with wings and a halo. The figures in this room all looked human, at least upon first inspection. Their skin tones ranged more along the greyscale, from bone-white to storm-cloud grey. Their hair, too, mirrored that same scale. There was as much color in the collection of figures as there was in the walls of the facility itself, save for the variety of eye colors, from yellow to red. A few had pinkish sclera, others had dark grey, but they all seemed to have some kind of color from the yellow to red spectrum in their gaze that really made them stand out compared to other angels.

There was one other glaring issue, however – they were all wearing modest clothing, black gowns that matched the ebony walls of the facility around them. And the front of their gowns, around the chest area, were all flat. Their jaw lines were bulkier than one would expect from a woman. It became increasingly obvious that they weren’t, at all.

“Here they are, Adam.” Sera gestured. They were behind a pane of glass so the newly created soldiers could not see them, but Adam couldn’t tear his gaze away.

“Sera, what the fuck is this?! I requested an army of women specifically! Those are all men!”

“I already told you; I wanted you focused on your duties. I know what you get up to when you are left alone with women that you find attractive.” Sera folded her arms behind her back. “Consider these preemptive measures to ensure that you do not falter in your duties. You may continue to indulge in your interests outside of work, but with the growing population risk of Hell, you will need more of your time dedicated to preparing your missions down there.”

“I’m not a fucking teenager or kid or some shit, I can control myself!” Adam was surprised by the anger and frustration in his voice. He really had spent time imagining all the things he could do with an army of subservient women that this was genuinely enraging. “You gave me the choice and then ripped it away from me! I don’t want to be responsible for a bunch of guys!”

“This attitude and reaction are exactly why I think it is imperative that you do have an army of men rather than women.” Sera shook her head. Her brows were knitted over her gaze, and Adam knew once again that look was of exhaustion directed at him. It made his insides curl up disdainfully, but he pushed that sensation down. “They are meant to be soldiers, Adam – not your personal harem.”

“Wh-…what the fuck, Sera?! That was never…” Adam fumbled over himself. He was angry at her, though he wasn’t sure if it was because she was wrong or if it was that she called him out on it. They would be more than just that, and he wouldn’t take advantage of any of them! Seriously… “Is that what you think of me?!”

“This is not up for discussion nor debate.” Sera turned to him fully. The frown on her face was more from disappointment than disdain, and that somehow hurt that much more. “Your role as defender of this realm, and the role you have in Hell, require far more active effort than an annual visit. You must train an army. I have supplied you with your soldiers, you will mold them into proper combatants. The sooner we do this, the sooner we will be able to curtail any threat that Hell may pose against us.” She spoke with a voice he rarely heard directed at him, and all at once he felt his fight flow out of his body. “Have I made myself clear?”

“Y-yeah. Yes.” Adam hunched his shoulders up, his frown deepening but his words dying on his tongue.

“Good.” Sera’s expression softened. “This is not because I do not trust you, Adam. But I am very concerned about the potential uprising of Hell, so I need you to be able to focus.”

“I…I know, Sera.” He shifted his weight, hugging his wings more around himself. It didn’t ease the sting of being seen as nothing more than a horny bastard, but he really did try and shove that down. Stuck with an army of male, artificial souls was not what he wanted, but it was the only thing he was going to get unless he somehow wanted to keep one-upping his own butchering capabilities.

“Good.” Sera put her hand on his shoulder, and more of the tension melted out of his body from the touch. “I know that you will raise a strong army for Heaven. They only have their designations for now, so spend time giving out names and drawing up a plan on how you aim to train them. If you have any questions or concerns, you can let me know.”

Adam…hated this. He glanced back out the window, watching the way they collectively stood there, almost like dolls if not for a head turning every now and then. They were alive and aware and in there, probably confused, and he was expected to somehow go out there and take charge of them. This was starting to feel like a damn mistake.

“How…do I even go out there?” he asked after a moment, shifting his gaze back up to Sera. “How do I just announce myself as their leader?”

“You just do.” Sera squeezed his shoulder gently. “You hold yourself in that way I know you can, keep your head high and your shoulders broad, and speak with the charisma befitting of the First Man. They are designed to follow and obey your orders, and they do not have references around interacting with others. You will shape and mold them into obedient soldiers.”

“Right.” Adam frowned. He took a moment to inhale a deep breath, forcing his standard smirk onto his face despite it not reaching his eyes. “No problem, Sera. I got this. I’ll show you I’m just as trustworthy as anyone else!”

“I know you will, Adam.” She gave him a soft smile before turning to leave.

As soon as she was gone, however, Adam let his smile fall away. He turned back to the window, his own reflection mirroring the scowl back at him. All of his excitement was simply gone, and now he was stuck dealing with a bunch of random ass guys that were supposed to follow his orders or whatever bullshit… It almost felt like another insult on top of falling behind on the kill count of Sinners. He’d been excited to have his own, specially designed army, and to enjoy the bonuses of being at the top without being among the Council itself. But no, of course he had to deal with this shit.

His frustration peaked when he realized that he would have to direct them even from this moment, otherwise they would just stand there in the facility, looking around in confusion. Fucking Hell, Sera, what kind of bullshit punishment…

The doors flung open, and every eye in the room was suddenly snapped to him. He did his best to maintain the grin he had given Sera before, trying not to let any of this get to him. He could be a leader, the leader, of any group of soldiers, including artificially created men.

“Look alive, men. Name’s Adam. You all don’t know the sheer prestige of getting to see me this close, not to mention to work beneath me. You’re all welcome for the incredible opportunity! We’re going to become the best damn army imaginable, and we’re going to kick Sinner ass!” His voice was proud and confident, the speech shorter than his usual motivations but he thought just as effective.

Instead, he got a bunch of blank stares, seemingly uncertain how to react. He looked each of them in the eye and let out an even longer, more drawn out, dramatic groan. This was already a nightmare compared to what he had been dreaming up, but having them standing before him, he was even more sure now than he had been when he first saw them.

This was going to fucking blow.

Chapter Text

Yep. It hadn’t even been a full week and he was already done with his new responsibilities.

Ever since he had come to Heaven, Adam had been able to enjoy the luxuries of being a Winner. There was a hint of something missing, and he originally thought the offer that Sera had presented to him would fill in that hole – he wanted to be someone important, wanted to do more than just indulge in the finer side of the afterlife. Being the First Man gave enough justification to raise him to the level of arch angel, a status that no other Winner would ever be given because no one else was as awesome as he was. Of course, becoming one meant he got responsibilities. His trips to Hell were the fun part of those responsibilities; the paperwork, not so much. But that had only been once a year.

Now? Now he was stuck trying to draw up training plans and completing other requests nearly all day every day, and he was already sick of it.

The sun rose outside of the office that he had been given, lighting the silvery blue walls and illuminating the pile of discarded bowls of wood. Bits of bone, primarily rib bones, and semi-untouched vegetables spilled onto the carpet, leaving a stain on top of the one already there, and a few goblets still dripping wine rested on the other side. That corner wasn’t the only messy part of the office; scrolls and papers were strewn about, stacked in disorganized piles and suffering similar staining from other types of garbage. He'd only been there for a little while now, but things were already a mess.

And really, Adam didn’t give a shit. He didn’t have women to clean it up like he should, after all.

Feet kicked up on the desk, he lazily popped a few grapes into his mouth, studying the bit of paperwork that had caught his attention – a list of women that he’d managed to get information from after one or multi-night stands. He was trying to put together a party inspired by some of humanity’s other idols; in this case, this Dionysus fucker seemed to know how to party. Lots of drinking, lots of revelry, and it seemed a more recent take led to more sex, too. Looked to be right up his alley, he just needed to pick out who he wanted to gather up in his home for the celebration.

A knock at his door had him scowling and rolling his eyes, another grape popping into his mouth. He waited to see if the intruder was going to leave, but another knock followed, and then a voice spoke up. Once again, he was reminded at his frustration of having a manly voice speak to him when he had spent days imagining women actively seeking him out around the office.

“Sir? The…troops aren’t sure what they should be doing?”

“Ugh, just…I don’t know. Run some fucking drills or something.”

“What drills are written?”

“Don’t you all come preprogrammed with this shit? Fuck’s sake, do I have to do everything?” Adam dropped his feet off of his desk with a loud grumble, pushing himself up. He brushed at the wrinkles of his robes a few times before marching around to open the door.

The man on the other side almost seemed too meek to be considered a solider. Either that, or he was intimidated by Adam. Which would make sense – Adam was the best, after all. No man could compare to him, he proved that over and over again.

“We know…basic training?” the smaller man offered, taking a step back and bringing a hand up to salute him. Alright, well at least that was something Adam could get used to; these fuckers had no choice but to show him respect, and they had to salute him like he was some important leader or something. Which…he actually was, though he only wanted the status, not the work.

“Then go and do that,” Adam told him, turning to walk down the hall. He had to suppress another roll of his eyes when he heard the footsteps following after him.

“Sir, with all due respect, shouldn’t we have some guidance? We’re supposed to be preparing for a battle that we know nothing about. You’ve been in so many, surely your insight would help us?”

“Don’t fucking die? The filth in Hell can’t even harm us, so what’s there to be afraid of?” Adam waved a hand as he pushed through another set of double doors. They opened out into a larger room, and a few other soldiers were milling about. They really did look lost; some were seated by windows, staring out towards Heaven, while others were studying the furniture as if they had never seen things like that before. Which…okay, was probably true, but it still looked stupid. “What are all of you bastards doing in here? Go outside!”

There was frantic scrambling and salutes thrown in his direction, but Adam just scowled. He followed to ensure that they were doing as he told them to, including the one that had interrupted his morning, and stood at the open doors that looked out to the training field in the center of the barracks.

Heaven hadn’t had much of an army before, so the structure had been newly built alongside the soldiers’ creation in the facility. Unlike that building, however, this one had the more standard Heavenly coloration; the outer walls fencing in the training field were the same soft, pastel blues with golden accents, reflective of the sun above. There were also windows all over, lighting up the inside of the building, chasing away the shadows so that the only ones that yet lingered were the black-feathered men themselves. It was close enough to the main city that it blended in with the other hovels. No Winners should question it, and that gave them the opportunity to keep secret what the black halos meant.

Out on the training field, at least a group of the men were already in the middle of training. Adam’s gaze shifted from one to another, annoyed that he couldn’t even appreciate the view from where he was standing. His frustration grew right up until his eyes landed on one man in particular.

At first glance, he wasn’t any different than his brethren; he was small, definitely smaller than Adam by quite a bit, and he wore the same uniform and black feathers as the rest. Unlike the others, however, his skin was bone-white with hair to match, giving him an even more monochromatic appearance than those around him. His hair was cropped short, with sections of it tied back to stay out of his face while he focused on his exercising. Adam couldn’t place why his attention was so drawn to this guy, and he tried to pull his gaze away multiple times but it kept snapping back to him. He watched as the soldier finished a series of exercises before jumping into a jog around the training field, as if he was following a routine despite everyone else around him seemingly unsure of what to do. Some tried to follow, but no one could keep up.

Adam’s brows furrowed when he finally came back to himself, and he shook his head to dispel whatever was catching his attention. The guy was just a weird looking fucker with pale skin, that was all. He turned away and closed the doors behind him in an attempt to make it back to his office so he could resume what he was doing.

Of course, the second he stepped into the room, the communications orb on his desk began to glow. Sera’s image was projected within its pearlescent surface, and the look on her face made Adam immediately grimace. Great…

“Hey, Sera! Heh, sorry, was out working the boys hard on the field!” Adam said quickly, straightening his back a little more for her.

“I am pleased to hear that. How is their training going?”

“Oh, y’know, they’re…working hard out there.” He coughed into his hand. “They’ll be set up for success when we go down to Hell in a year, don’t you worry!”

“Do you have actual reports to provide? I need more evidence than your word, Adam.” Sera’s brows rose, and Adam grimaced a little. He rubbed his neck before gesturing with a roll of his hand.

“Yeah, I mean…you know, I maybe don’t have it all…recorded.”

“Adam…”

“Get off my dick, woman.” His eyes widened when hers narrowed, and he quickly let out a series of coughs. “S-sorry. Look, I’ve been working too hard on the field itself to throw together any paperwork. You just have to trust me, Sera!”

“I trust that you will perform your duty well. Where I am questioning is your capability of managing others.” Sera let out a breath. There were stress lines growing more evident next to her eyes and in the deep, downturn of her lips.

“Oh, come on, I just got them! It’ll take a bit to figure out the swing of things, but I promise everything will work out just fine!”

“You should consider getting help,” Sera responded, and Adam was taken aback. He felt a flash of frustration at her implications that he couldn’t do this himself, but he struggled to stamp it down. He wasn’t going to disrespect Sera, at least not directly to her face. He wanted to keep this opportunity because he fully acknowledged he needed help slaughtering Sinners.

“Ffffffiiiiiiine. What do you have in mind, exactly?”

“I propose you set up a rank structure. You are the commander, but from my limited knowledge of war, a commander always has a right hand. Whatever you have to do, however you decide, you should name a lieutenant to help you ensure your work gets done.”

“Ugh.” Adam dragged a hand down his face. That annoyingly made sense; when it came to wars on Earth, the ones he saw before his own death at least, there were always multiple leaders at the charge. Sure, there was the main one, but there was also someone that stood at their side. Problem was, he didn’t want that; it meant sharing control in a way that went against what he wanted in the first place with a created army built to obey him. “Look, I’ll think about it, alright? You haven’t even given me much time to get settled with these guys!”

“…very well. I will give you your time, but I ask that it remain at the forefront of your mind.”

“Yep. You got it, Sera.” Adam ran a hand back through his hair and flashed one of his wide grins. “Won’t disappoint you.”

When the orb communications cut out, however, he groaned and slumped backwards on his chair, scowling at the door as if daring another one of the boys to come in to interrupt him.

How the fuck was he supposed to choose a lieutenant? He didn’t want to spend time with any of them, he never had to even consider something like that while alive. It was always him at the forefront, him at the top. Of his homestead, of the towns that grew as his children spread across the lands, of the family. It was all him! To share that power with someone else, especially forced to with these soldiers who didn’t know anything about being human or angelic…

Rather than figure it out, Adam decided to try and push the issue. In the coming days, he did at least try to draw up training plans. None of them were coherent, he’d never had to train an army properly before, and it seemed to only confuse a lot of the men even more than before. There were multiple times where he just snapped and told them to run fucking laps because he fumbled trying to explain what he had in mind. And when it came to figuring out the forms for ordering weapons, Adam just quit for the day and made his way out to one of his favorite wine bars.

Fuck. This.

It didn’t take long for Adam to be called directly to Sera’s office, however. Her disappointment was that much more evident, as was her frustration, and he could only offer his little nervous smile to assuage her. Not that it worked this time, her eyes just narrowed further and he felt the weight of her stare press down on the back of his neck.

“Look, Sera-!”

“Why am I hearing about you spending more time in wineries than in the barracks with your new army, Adam?”

“I need time to relax! Fuck, it’s hard work actually trying to get them fucking functioning like an army.” Adam brought up a hand to rub the back of the other one. “I’m working my ass off, Sera.”

“Have you chosen a lieutenant yet?” Sera asked after a moment. Her words felt like a stone smashing over his head, but he held himself up a little more and met her gaze once more.

“I don’t need one, I’m doing fine on my own-”

“This is no longer a request, Adam – this is an order.” Sera held her hands behind her back as she turned, walking over to the nearest window. “I had to pull a lot of strings to have an army created for you; I expect you to not waste my effort.”

“If you’d given me what I asked for, maybe I’d be more interested in that…” Adam bit out under his breath. When Sera turned to look back at him sharply, he cleared his throat and coughed into his fist a few times. “Er…alright, alright, I’ll take this seriously. How should I find a fucking lieutenant or whatever?”

“If you have not yet decided upon one simply by interacting with them, then perhaps you can hold a competition of some sort. If you require aid, we can sit down and determine the parameters of success-”

“Nah, I got that, Sera!” Adam quickly interjected, but he held his tongue when her eyes narrowed.

“Every time you say that you will handle something, you do not seem to take it seriously. I think this time, I will retract my words – we will sit down together and determine the parameters of success for which of your soldiers will be given the rank of lieutenant.” Sera lifted a brow at his expression, which he tried to school so that she didn’t get further annoyed.

“…fine. Alright, whatever.” Adam couldn’t keep it from his tone, however. He closed his eyes before brushing his robes. “When should we start?”

“Now.” Sera walked back to her desk and sat in it, towering above him even seated. “We are going to do this now. The next trip to Hell is in six months, Adam; we need to ensure your army is prepared.”

Adam inwardly groaned but managed to resist the roll of his eyes as he walked over to the chair across from the seraphim. He dropped his head onto his hand, eyeing the paper she already had laid out on the surface of the desk. It looked like she had already begun writing things out, as if she knew exactly how the meeting would go. Okay, maybe he was a little obvious in that regard, but it still felt like a strike to his pride. Did she think that low of him?

“A lieutenant must be loyal and capable,” Sera started, plucking one of her own feathers from her wings to dip into an inkwell. She underlined the first two points before looking up at Adam. “Loyalty is already assured for these soldiers, of course. Capability…”

“You mentioned a competition of some sort? Back on Earth, there were always people fighting to show off their weapon handling or physique.” Adam put his other hand to his forehead before gesturing with it. “I haven’t ordered weapons yet, but I guess that could be a good start. Maybe it’ll be an annual thing, like the exterminations; a competition to make sure the most capable is always at the top.”

“Would you not prefer someone to place your trust in?” Sera asked, tilting her head to the side. “Someone consistently at your side?”

“I should trust all of them, right? That’s the whole point.” Adam furrowed his brows. “…you know my issues with trust, Sera.”

The seraphim studied him for a time before exhaling, choosing not to push the subject. Which Adam appreciated; it wasn’t something he liked to think about. Placing his trust in anyone would take a lot of time, and no one had really earned that in his time in Heaven. Not after…Eden. It was so long ago now, but that first betrayal still cut deep, and he preferred to simply not bother with trusting anyone because what was the fucking point? It was the easiest way to get hurt.

Adam pinched the bridge of his nose and refocused on the task at hand. Working with Sera, they were able to list out a number of parameters that they could use to measure the potential of a candidate for becoming lieutenant. Primarily, it had to be the strongest of the bunch, so a tournament of strength was definitely worth putting together. He also had to be smart, dutiful, a hard worker to ‘help Adam finish the paperwork’. That seemed like a reasonable place to start. And if he proved ineffective, they could just try again.

“…have you given them names yet?” Sera asked once they had finalized the list. Adam blinked up at her in surprise before leaning back.

“No. No, I…haven’t,” he admitted. There was no reason to lie to her at this point, not that he had been doing that good of a job before, anyway. He looked off to the side. “Sera, I’m just…not sure about this anymore, alright? I had it in my head that I would have this army of badass bitches, and I got…”

“You got what you requested – an army.” Sera got to her feet, frowning down at him. “This is your responsibility now, Adam, whether you like it or not. We need to cleanse more of those souls, and you need help doing it.” She walked around the desk and put a hand on his shoulder. “They are yours to command, and they need you to lead them.”

Adam groaned inwardly but he did slump under her touch. After a few moments of petulant pouting, he did finally turn and press his face against her robes. Her hand shifted from his shoulder to his head, holding him in a light hug. It was enough to at least settle his concerns in the moment, and he felt a little better when he got up and left her office.

By the time he made it back to the barracks, the sun had long set. The building itself reflected the vast array of stars visible above, reflecting the light of the moon in a way that made the structure seem to glow. His army… He rubbed his arm against the semi-chill of the night before pushing the double doors open and stepping inside. Like before, there were soldiers sort of just trying to figure out what they were doing with themselves. He really hadn’t thought through how little they would know of everything going on. It was almost…pitiful.

“Alright boys, come here,” he called, taking a stand by the front door. There was a lot of shuffling, but eventually they all made it in front of him. Some knelt, others leaned against the wall with their arms crossed. Once again, Adam sought out the white-skinned one that stood at attention, holding his arms behind his back and his wings stiff. The way his piercing yellow eyes met Adam’s… He shook his head and refocused. “Tomorrow, we’re going to get a tournament set up. You’re going to fight each other until only one is left standing. The strongest among you will become my lieutenant. Any questions?”

Nothing for a few moments, then a darker skinned man lifted his hand.

“Will we be fighting with weapons?”

“Hm.” Adam thought on that. “Not the first round. I need to see who’s scrappy enough to fight in case they get disarmed. Plus, none of you have really trained with a weapon, right? We’ll work more on that later.”

“What does being a lieutenant mean?” came the question from another.

“It means you get to help me put together trainings, finish paperwork, and…fuck, I don’t know, you get to make the call on what food we order in.” Adam hadn’t really thought about how to sell it. “Plus, you get to be in charge when I’m not around.”

Glances were exchanged between them, but it seemed to be enough to sell them on the opportunity, and that helped Adam relax a bit more. He really hadn’t thought about what to offer them, he just…assumed they’d fall in line. This was the first time he really kind of noticed how different each of them seemed to be from each other. He had expected single-objective focused artificial beings, not…other angels? He cocked his head to the side before clearing his throat.

“Anyway! May the best man win tomorrow!”

Once they were dismissed, they all sort of filtered out. His eyes once again tracked the pale-white warrior as he walked for the training grounds, and he curiously tilted his head to the side before slowly following, staying far enough back to avoid being seen. Through the windows, he saw the man immediately resume what looked to be the same exercise routine as earlier.

There was something about him, something that kept pulling Adam’s gaze over, and he truly did not understand why. He was a pale-ass freak of nature that somehow managed to stand out among the other soldiers that he should otherwise have blended in with. His hair looked soft, and it was whiter than even the clouds in the sky. The movement of his body with each one of his reps showed the muscle even beneath his uniform. He wasn’t ripped by any means, but his lithe form still had muscle definition that stood out whenever he flexed his limbs. His pale skin almost made the sweat from exertion invisible, giving his face more of a shine that looked crystalline. The black coloration of his lips and the heavy black around his eyes contrasted that, and there were his sharp yellow eyes that…that were staring right at him through the glass.

Adam cursed and whipped around, storming out of the barracks. Where the fuck was his mind going? He was comparing some dude’s fucking skin to a crystal? And why would he give a damn if the guy’s hair was soft to the touch? It wasn’t like he had any intention of running his hand through it. This whole thing was already starting to frustrate him, but he forced himself to focus on having a good night before tomorrow’s tournament. At least it was easy enough to get a lady home with him to fuck. Her soft gasps and eager moans were more than enough to flush out his weird line of thought towards that fuckass soldier.

He was almost late to the start of the tournament the following day. Cursing, he fumbled out of bed, shouting at the lady still there that he had to run and she should head out, too. He wasn’t looking for anything more than a quick fuck, after all. Silverware and cutlery clattered around him as he worked on getting a quick bite before he was taking off to the sky, still pulling his robe on along the way. He wanted to look professional, though he realized too late that his hair was unkempt when he arrived. Everyone else was already there, including Sera, in an arena that she had created just behind the barracks. The look she gave him made him grimace, but he shook his head and refocused on the task at hand.

“Alright, men! As I mentioned the other day, you’re going to all be fighting for the right to be my right-hand man!” He did his best to hold himself up, despite the wrinkle of his robes and the mess of his hair. “We’ll start by pairing you up. Winners advanced, losers…I don’t know, don’t advance. Or you run drills or some shit, whatever. Point is, we go until there’s one winner standing. Got it?”

“Yes, sir!” The group collectively saluted. Alright, that was a good start.

“Alright! So…er…okay, you two. No, not you two, YOU! Wait, no I meant…” Adam scowled. Okay, fuck, he really did need to start giving out names. “Fuck it, everyone just find a partner! We’ll figure this shit out later.” He moved to sit in the seat prepared by Sera, next to the one she already occupied herself, and ran a hand through his messy hair. “Names come after this.”

“Very well.” Sera’s voice had a small hint of amusement to it, and that just made him grumble more. Of course she was right about the naming. She seemed to always be right…

With how many soldiers there were, they had the pairs all start at the same time. All of them leapt into the fight almost eagerly, and this was where Adam really got to see exactly what part of the programming would make them such good warriors. They were deadly with even just their hands. The fighting style was sloppy, but it added a certain scrappiness to it that illustrated how they differed from Winners and even other angels. He got to watch as one of them slammed the other into the ground by his throat, only for the one to turn it around by driving his knee into the other’s stomach. Beyond them, another pair had each other in a headlock, and there was no holding back in attempts to target limbs or weak points. Angels weren’t able to get hurt by most means, but that didn’t stop them from trying.

The first round ended pretty quickly after that. He had the losers gather up on the other side of the arena so that they could watch the next round. This one lasted a little longer, and somehow the fighting got that much more aggressive. There was biting involved, full body tackles into the ground, attempts to actively knock the other combatant out. There was a part of the aggression that was appealing to Adam; this was the kind of soldiers that he wanted for his army!

Now that the fighting had been narrowed down, Adam once again found his eyes seeking out…aha, of course he wouldn’t have been taken down that easily. The pale soldier had already knocked his other opponent out, being the first of this second round to be cleared for the next. When it was over, he did the same in the third round. It didn’t seem like a single one of the other soldiers was capable of stopping him. The ferocity with which he fought, the definitive strikes he took with each punch, the cold stare that never wavered or flinched, not even when someone got a lucky sucker punch against his face, nothing seemed to shake him.

Adam could not figure out why this man kept grabbing his attention. The final round came down to the pale soldier and a light gray soldier that was a little taller than him. This was a fight that lasted a while; the pale soldier charged forward only to get slammed to the ground. But he didn’t stay down, instead using his place to drive a foot up between the legs of his opponent. There was a collective grimace vocalized among the soldiers – even if they were artificial, they did still have certain body parts, and they understood that particular weakness it seemed – and the pale soldier drove his knee into the other’s face, knocking loose some gold that spattered the ground and his pants. Though most had never seen angelic blood spill, something seemed to trigger in the pale soldier. His eyes flashed, and the aggression he displayed towards his brother in arms was downright feral. He tackled him to the ground, dragging an arm behind his back and pinning his face into the ground with his foot on the back of his head. The other soldier flailed a little before tapping his free hand, the universal sign of surrender.

For a few moments as Adam watched, the pale soldier seemed unwilling to actually heed that. He watched every muscle quiver with an instinct that he himself knew very well – a desire to kill, to end the fight in proper fashion. He’d never seen that in any other angel, not to this extent. They usually were too soft, too weak-willed, too willing to hear the enemy out. It was why he was the best option for leader of Heaven’s army.

And in that moment, he realized that same attitude was why that soldier was perfect as his right-hand man.

“Enough!” Adam got to his feet. His voice seemed to dispel whatever had hold of the pale soldier because he immediately released his opponent and turned to face him. Despite a few scrapes, no one had really managed to lay a hand on him, and his yellow eyes with slit-shaped pupils bore into Adam’s with that same ferocity from before. “Congratulations, soldier. You’re the winner of our little competition.”

“Yes, sir.”

The voice…Adam’s eyes widened a fraction. He hadn’t actually…heard his voice yet. It was gravelly, like someone trying to speak as if they had just woken up, and incredibly sharp. Even in just two words, it sounded like there was a growl echoing on his voice. Huh…

“Well, you’re now my lieutenant. Good job and, uh…all that.” He walked up to him. Up close, he wasn’t too tall, coming up to just above Adam’s stomach. But nearly everyone in Heaven was smaller than him save Sera, so that was hardly a problem in and of itself. He flashed a lazy grin before leaning forward so that they were more level. “Hmmm. And I think it’s about time we start giving you fuckers names, yeah? Now, let’s see.” He tapped his chin.

Names came easily to him; it was just something he had been good at all the way back to Eden. It was an innate sense, something that he had no control over and couldn’t do at will, but when it did occur it was definitive in his mind. He looked the soldier from toe to halo before meeting his gaze once again.

“You’re the first of my little band of soldiers, so you deserve a name befitting something so important. From here on out, your name will be…Lute.”

The soldier tilted his head to the side, studying him curiously for a time, before he brought his hand to his head in a salute, his wings flexing out behind him.

“I look forward to working with you, sir.”

Chapter Text

The sun was starting to peek through the windows near the roof, indicating that it was reaching noon. Its lights reached into the office, showing off a corner that no longer had stains, and piles of scrolls and pages that were neatly organized and filed away. The desk no longer had stray seeds or random scraps of paper; it was set up with swift action in mind, and no sign of personal papers in sight. Everything looked far more professional and well-managed, and it was part of why Adam was so damn pissy when he opened the door and saw it.

“LUTE!”

“I told you if you weren’t going to clean your office up, I would take care of it.” Lute stepped around him to enter the room, immediately working to put up the tapestries that he had taken down to clean. It all just looked too perfect for Adam’s taste, and it made his eye twitch.

“I told you not to touch my shit, asshole!” he growled, marching in. He expected Lute to actually listen and obey his orders, and to step back when he threatened him. But the shorter man held his ground, turning to look Adam in the eye.

“By cleaning, I found fourteen missing reports that need to go to the Seraphim, and seven weapon orders that needed to be sent yesterday if we’re wanting to get those before the trip to Hell.” Lute held up a stack of papers, smacking the top page with the back of his hand. “I’m going to get this to the facility now to make sure we stand some kind of chance.”

Adam stared at him before he let out a frustrated groan. Here he was, arguing with someone that was supposed to be loyal to a fault and want nothing more than to please him. Okay, yeah, he wanted a woman, and he bet if Lute was one like he’d originally told Sera, she would be passive and submissive to his whims. Right now, however, he was really starting to lose his patience with his chosen lieutenant and his unwillingness to just let him relax.

“Seriously, Lute, your ass needs to unclench. You’re way too strict with timelines and shit.” Adam collapsed in his chair, the wood creaking under him. He dumped his bowl of food on top of some papers and began munching away at the savory delights. “Why don’t you go get laid or some shit, you know you’re not completely stuck in here?”

“Sir, with all due respect, we have an invasion of Hell in just a couple of months and we need to be ready for it. You still haven’t fully drawn up attack plans, we aren’t even sure what we’re looking for when we do go down there, and again we still don’t have weapons!” Lute walked over and moved the bowl of food so he could grab the papers there. “Sera has requested a full report of our plans going down into Hell, and I can’t do that when I don’t know what we’re getting into.”

“Holy fuck, you bastard, would you get that stick out of your ass?”

“There isn’t a stick in my-”

“It’s a figure of speech. Fuck, remind me to teach you sarcasm at some point.” At least then the soldier would recognize it when he used it. “Seriously, though, you worry too fucking much. When I first went down there, I didn’t know what I was doing. I had no attack plans, no allies, nothing. And here I am, toooootally fine.” He leaned back in his chair, fixing Lute with a bit of a scowl on his face. “Get the weapon requests sent, but the other reports can just hold out for a little bit. Sera’ll understand.”

Lute eyed him for a while before he shook his head. He grabbed the weapon orders and turned, leaving Adam alone in his office. Fucking Hell, he really was starting to regret his decision already. It all seemed right and made sense when he’d first chosen the best warrior, but now it felt like Sera 2.0 where he couldn’t escape the constant nagging to get things done. At least this one he could order around and have him get the shit done himself.

It became quite the constant struggle between the two of them; Lute was always wanting to get things done as early as possible, considering on time to be too late. And Adam…just didn’t. He didn’t care, none of this responsibility was something he actively wanted to work on. He wanted to be the commander of an army and to go down and kill demons – that was it. So, having someone constantly badgering him, it really was making him regret choosing Lute as his lieutenant.

Sera, of course, was very happy about it. She lavished praise upon the soldier, even in front of Adam sometimes to the point it made him feel like he was invisible. To his credit, Lute never did direct ire at him, though; when Sera was giving him plenty of compliments, he would always bring up how Adam helped. For as frustrating as he was to deal with, he was still loyal. Either something in that programming of hits, or perhaps Lute really didn’t mind doing the work even if he didn’t get the credit. It was hard to say with how often the two of them were really butting heads.

Some days, it felt like that was exactly what they were doing.

“Lute, I swear to fucking everything, if you keep this up, I will throw you out of this window!” Adam scowled at the pile of papers and scrolls on his desk.

“You can try. I’m still going to get paperwork moving on your desk.” Lute put his hand on his hip, waving his other around. “Seriously, sir, you can at least try and be helpful here. This is all stuff that should have been completed years ago. I want to get them cleared out so we don’t end up with even more once the attack begins.”

“Bullshit, I wasn’t responsible for paperwork for the last while!”

“According to Sera, these have been missing from the grand archive room. You told her they were done.”

“They were! You must have done something!”

“…sir, that’s a stretch. Even for you.”

Adam groaned. He shoved him aside and went to flop down heavily at his desk, running a hand through his hair. Okay, so maaaybe he’d fallen behind on paperwork a few…decades ago. And maaaybe he’d been lying to Sera over and over again about what had happened to said papers, but still! Archive shit was boring, he didn’t want to do it!

“Isn’t that why I have you, Lute? You can do all the paperwork while I do the training routines.”

“You don’t even do those.”

“Get off my dick, for fuck’s sake, I’m working my way up to that point! This whole leadership is pretty new to me, y’know.”

“With the fullest amount of respect I can give, it’s new for me, too. I was literally just created.” Lute stood on the other side of the desk.

“Yeah, well, you ain’t a leader here, are you? Yoooooou are one of my soldiers.” Adam pushed the pile of paperwork over at him, watching his brows furrow. “And since I get to call the shots and tell you what to do, I order you to finish this shit up and get it organized away into the archives.”

Lute stared. There was a little twitch to his eye, but he did reach and gather up the sheer volume of work, carrying it with him out of the office.

With him gone, Adam grinned and leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up once more and reaching for a smaller crystal ball so he could plan his next steps. As in, who he was going to spend tonight with. The trip to Hell was soon, but he really wasn’t worried. None of the bastards down there could hurt them, and he had seen his boys in combat during the tournament. They would be fiiiine, all this preparation and paperwork and shit meant nothing when he could just go down there, chop off some heads, and be back in time for a wine celebration downtown.

By the time Adam finalized his evening, he hadn’t realized how late it had gotten. Lute hadn’t yet returned with the paperwork, which was somewhat unlike him. Then again, this round was quite a bit more than what Adam usually dumped on his plate, so maybe he was just taking a little longer? Adam clicked his tongue as he pushed himself to his feet, making his way out of his office and down to the lobby area of the barracks.

Ever since Lute had been given power and sway over the other warriors, they moved around with a lot more purpose and focus now. Sure, a few were still lounging next to some of the windows, the setting sun illuminating the darkness of their black feathers. Others were moving in and out of offices carrying papers, and when he looked close enough, it was clear that some of it had been what he had given Lute to work on. Delegation, huh? Well, he hadn’t specified that he wanted Lute specifically to finish them; he just wanted them done and filed away and out of his fucking mind so he didn’t have to keep hearing about the paperwork. But…good. That was good.

Speaking of, however, another scan of the building showed no sign of Lute. Even once it got late enough and the warriors decided to turn in for the night, Lute was nowhere to be seen. There was no way he was slacking like Adam would, right? He’d seemed so work-focused before, even forgoing breaks to set up exercise routines or finishing reports. He seemed to rarely separate himself from his work, even more so than any other warrior. More and more, their individual personalities were starting to come out. At the back of his mind, it was something he made note of; an observation that he’d explore after he figured out the weird dynamic between himself and a lieutenant that conveniently went missing after pushing finished paperwork to others.

There was movement out on the training fields that Adam noticed when he was standing at the window. The building directly across from him still had lights visible, and a shadow moved across the window on the bottom level. Everyone else had gone home except Adam, and who he could only assume was Lute since the lieutenant had been avoiding him otherwise. It made sense that Adam would just ignore this and go home, but there was a part of him that was perhaps a little more on the curious side. So, he slowly made his way out to the training fields, stuffing his hands in his sleeves against the nice, cool weather of Heaven’s evening.

He didn’t notice the steam until he pushed the door open, and the heated air ruffled his hair and made him close his eyes. The temperature difference between the inside and outside was enough to make him shiver once the night began to creep inside. Right, this was the bathhouse. He hadn’t spent enough time around the barracks to fully remember what every room was, so he had forgotten about this one. Which meant Lute was inside, cleaning off for the day.

Any other guy, Adam wouldn’t care. He’d either leave and talk to the other man later, or he’d just walk in because it wasn’t like he was going to react to a naked man. He’d spent plenty of time in various bathhouses with them where they just talked about whatever sport came to mind, or other activities that he rarely cared about but just wanted to be involved in the talk.

This time, though…his brows furrowed and he hesitated. There was no real explanation as to why; it was just his lieutenant in there, the same man that he had spent the last little while bossing around and establishing dominance. He was the one in charge, Lute had to listen to him, there was nothing scary about seeing more of Lute revealed than at any other point. He wasn’t going to react to seeing the other man’s…well-toned body, or his hair wet from the water, or his-

Adam slammed his thoughts to a stop as soon as it went too far, not at all interested in letting his mind wander towards anything that would suggest he was actively looking forward to seeing his lieutenant inside. Perhaps even without a towel.

“Sir?” The voice pulled him out of his spiral and he stiffened, whipping around to face the very thing he had been worried about.

There was Lute, his white hair slicked down after a bath with some of it in his face. His otherwise perfect ivory skin was flushed gold from the heat of the water, and he got to see so much more of it than he had up to that point. His arms had well defined muscles, and his chest and abs were just as much. Unlike Adam’s body itself, Lute’s was almost entirely hairless other than what was on his head, giving it a near statue-like texture. Adam couldn’t stop the way his eyes continued to move down Lute’s body, right down to the edge of the black towel tied around his waist. It did little to hide the well-toned thighs that stuck out from beneath it, but there was a part of him that just…wished that the cloth would move aside, just for him to see…

“Uh…sir?” Once again, the voice interrupted Adam’s panicking brain. His eyes snapped up to hold the sharp, yellow gaze of the other man’s, and he did his best to flash a lazy grin that he hoped hid whatever thoughts his damn head was trying to place on his face.

“At ease, soldier. Everyone else has gone home. I was wondering who else was here,” he offered, trying not to stumble over his own words. What the fuck was wrong with him? Why were his eyes…why were his thoughts so jumbled up? He had to actively resist his gaze wandering like he would normally have allowed when an attractive woman was in front of him. But this was a man, this was his lieutenant, this wasn’t…

“I’m usually the last to leave anyway.” Lute’s voice was as deadpanned as ever. He turned his back, giving Adam the perfect view of here his black wings were connected to his toned back, and there was the shape of his ass just beneath the towel. “You’re usually the first, so I’m not surprised you didn’t know that.”

“H-hey!” Adam blinked before huffing, trying to rope in his mind with that insult. “I have important things to do, too! I can’t just hang around the barracks all day.”

“That is literally your job, sir.” Lute stepped back into the room he had come out of, picking up the uniform that he had folded up neatly on one of the benches inside. Adam was unable to stop himself from following, and his body yet lingered in the doorway as he watched. There didn’t seem to be any shame when Lute bent over to grab his boots from the floor, nor was there hesitation in letting the towel drop.

Adam’s mouth went dry. He’d slept with plenty of women over the years, each one a brief flash in his mind. He’d held so many asses, massaged so many cheeks, held so many hips, and yet…his eyes were inexplicitly drawn to the shape of Lute’s now on full display. It was just…perfect. It had likely been created perfect, but Lute had gone out of his way to keep it well toned in the few months since his creation. The curve of it down to where it connected to his legs and the thin hips that completed the look felt like they were being burned into his brain.

“Fuck! A little warning before dropping the towel, soldier!” He turned quickly, shaking his head to dispel the thoughts. He was sure his face was flushed, and he had no interest in letting Lute see him in such a state.

“You’re the one who stepped inside the bathhouse after me. You could have waited outside.” Lute’s response was so…relaxed, so nonchalant. Maybe he hadn’t seen, or maybe he wasn’t familiar enough to recognize what such a reaction from Adam could mean. If nothing else, it at least helped cool Adam off. So long as the other man didn’t acknowledge it, he didn’t have to, either.

“You still could’ve warned me.” Adam huffed.

Lute made a noise that sounded like it came from the back of his throat, but he otherwise didn’t respond. By the time his boots were clicking against the stone ground, Adam looked to find him fully clothed in his uniform. His hair was still damp, but he worked to fix that up in the mirror.

“…are you going to keep me in here or is there something else you need, sir?” Lute lifted a brow when he turned, and Adam realized he hadn’t moved from the doorway still. His eyes widened a little and he stepped off to the side, clearing his throat.

“No, there’s nothing I need. Dismissed.”

“…thanks?” The soldier gave him a funny look on his way by before turning and simply walking off. There was no reaction, which made Adam wonder if there was simply no interest in him at all.

And then he realized what he was thinking.

As soon as Lute was clear of the door, Adam was rushing out and pushing himself into the air, his wings easily carrying him quickly from the bathhouse and all the way over to his own home. The entire flight, he was hoping the wind would steal from his mind the thoughts and images that had been branded upon his brain from just stepping inside of that damn building. He was desperate to find an explanation for all of this, or to at least clear out the degeneracy that was threatening to eat away at him.

The chilly evening air was enough to at least cool his flushed face off; by the time he landed at his door, he was feeling a bit more like himself. He’d spent far too long planning and then speaking with Lute to be able to act on his evening plans – not many Winners were up at this hour, so he had to find a different way to distract himself.

There were many reasons Adam didn’t want to bathe in the same bathhouse as the rest of his boys – he wasn’t interested in seeing naked men, though that was suddenly up for discussion, much to his dismay, and he didn’t really want to show off the way his gut had slowly begun to grow. As a human, Adam had worked hard out on the fields, tilling hard soil and harvesting the resulting crops. As a Winner, he had spent a lot more time lazing around. He liked it in the moment, but when he removed his robes and had to look at himself in the mirror of the bathroom, he couldn’t help but scowl at the way his gut had begun to round out, and the abs he once had were long since covered.

Ironically, the self-disdain spiral distracted him as he started the basin to clean himself off after the day. Somehow, it was better for his mindset to be focused on that instead of…the body he’d seen earlier.

Only, his mind did not linger there.

As soon as the warm water hit his skin, it was like he was once more at the bathhouse. The air was warm, saturated with steam, and he could feel it on every inch of skin. Naked. He found himself once more standing in the doorway of the changing room. Rather than dressing, there was Lute once again, the same as before. Only this time, he was peeling off his uniform. It started with his gloves, which he set on the bench, and then off came the boots. Those deft fingers, the hands of a future-killer that were somehow soft looking, worked to free the rest of his body. For a moment, Adam wanted to imagine that the shirt would come off and reveal a pair of dainty breasts, perfectly shaped and sized for someone so thin. Instead, he was once again unable to tear his gaze away from Lute’s pecs, running down to a set of abs that put the ones he had lost to shame.

The cotton in Adam’s mouth was back, but this time he didn’t rip his gaze away. Instead, he hungrily drank in the image in front of him, mapping out the pristine ivory as it was unveiled from dark clothing. The pants came off next, leaving him only in a pair of simply briefs that he had seen before Lute had dressed earlier. Black as the rest of his outfit, as the towel that had originally hidden Adam from the part of Lute that he was actively finding himself interested in.

When he lifted his gaze back up to Lute’s face, the sharp, yellow eyes were tunneling into him, almost like a physical presence that he could feel digging into his flesh. Lute was perceptive of everything, so he was so sure that he knew and understood what Adam was feeling. This Lute did, anyway. This Lute that shimmered in and out of the bathhouse steam had a smile quirked on his black lips, something that Adam was sure he hadn’t seen before. And it was directed at him. His body hands moved down his body, gripping the edge of his briefs. Adam’s gaze followed, his eyes widening. The pull was slow, and…

Adam leaned his head back, taking a spray to the face from the water pouring down on him. His eyes snapped open, and he looked around the washroom, his breathing rapid and panicked. He’d been so eager to see, but now that knowledge was bothering him. A throbbing sensation had his gaze dropping to his cock. Sure enough, just thinking about the bathhouse earlier had him rock hard and aching. Surely that wasn’t caused by Lute, right? There was no way…he’d just been wound up from planning his evening and not having a pussy to fuck. That had to be it.

He let out a breath and reached a hand down, wrapping it around his shaft and lightly stroking himself. The flesh was hot, even under the water still cascading down his body, and his next exhale trembled with the pleasure. Rub one out and that would take care of the image that had been burned into his brain, surely. There was hardly any reason to be so hung up on whatever he had been thinking about or doing before.

Adam turned to face the wall, resting his forehead against the slick stone and doing his best to steady his breathing, watching his own hand work his cock. It wasn’t a pussy, but it would have to do since there was no other…

Lute’s bare ass sparked in his mind again. A jolt that ran down the entire length of his spine, causing his wings to flare out behind him, spraying water around the bathroom that he felt splash along his back, until it made it to his cock. He felt it pulse in his hand, and another exhale trembled out of him, along with a wanton moan that startled him. He tried to push the thought from his mind, to focus on just the moment he was currently standing in, but there was no escaping the ivory skin. He’d wanted to touch it then, and now that he was alone in his own home, he could just imagine what it would feel like to grip both cheeks.

In his mind, Lute groaned, a sound Adam was sure he’d never and would never hear from his lieutenant. As if it wasn’t bad enough that he was imagining a guy, it was also his subordinate; someone he was supposed to lead, not fuck.

That didn’t stop the image of him pressing up behind Lute, his cock slotted between the toned thighs and his stomach resting against Lute’s ass. His had squeezed tighter in an attempt to mirror the sensation his brain was throwing out, and a little gasp escaped him that sounded almost pitiful compared to his usual, eager grunts. Fuck, what was happening to him…?

His eyes closed and his teeth clenched as he forced himself to adjust his line of thought. He imagined the last woman he’d slept with; a cute little thing, her Winner form giving her a soft tail that he was able to pull on while thrusting deep inside of her. The moans that pushed out were high pitched and eager, and her pristine wings were a pure white, matching the colors of soft clouds. Each time he bottomed out, she was singing for him in a melody befitting of a choir. This had been a keeper; one Adam had wanted to call again.

Only…the white wings slowly darkened, like storm clouds filling the sky. There was no longer a tail, only pale white hips that he could almost wrap his hands entirely around, his finger tips nearly brushing together across toned abs instead of the previously soft belly. He was filling a tighter space, but that didn’t detract from the pleasure; on the contrary, Adam bucked his hips harder, letting out a low groan that was echoed by another, deeper one. Not the gentle gasps of a soft Winner, but the guttural grunts of a man.

The black wings arched and flared out behind him, giving Adam a great view of his back up close. He couldn’t help the way he leaned down, nipping along his shoulders before kissing up to the lobe of his ear. His head tilted to the side, giving Adam all the room he needed to bite down on the side of his neck, pushing out another cry. The sound of flesh slapping flesh echoed through the bathhouse, muffled by the heavy steam and pattering of water that poured freely into the basin. At his size, Adam was practically crushing Lute beneath him, and the sounds only further his thrusting until it reached a punishing pace. Almost…almost…

Once again, Adam managed to pull himself out of the scene. He was in his home again, blinking away tears of pleasure and the water still pouring down his face. His hand was still wrapped around his cock, stroking the pulses as each one fired off his release to be consumed by the drain at his feet. The hitching of his breathing that gave way to desperate panting told him how intense it had been, and the yet lingering steam made it difficult for him to fill his lungs with air.

It was a struggle to collect himself after that. Adam cleaned himself off again and shut off the water, grabbing a towel to dry off his body. He’d worry about the splashing his wings had done another time; instead, he made his way into his room and flopped face first on top of it, groaning loud into his pillow. His wings were soaking the bed, but it wasn’t something he was presently worried about.

No, what he was worried about was the fact he just got off thinking about fucking Lute’s tight…firm…round ass. Fuck!

His fingers dug into his hair and he let out a frustrated sound into his pillow. What the fuck was going on with him? He’d seen plenty of men before and none of them had brought out such an overreaction from him, yet this fucking…artificial soldier that was made male specifically so he didn’t sexualize him would not get out of his head. There was already a stirring in his lower belly again after he’d had enough time to recover from one release, and he had to fight to shove the sensations down so they didn’t start to fog his brain. But why the fuck was that happening? He wasn’t attracted to men, that much he was sure of! He wasn’t interested in guys; he didn’t want to have his hands around the waist of one.

He frowned more to himself before letting his body just melt into his bed. Maybe he’d ask Sera about it or something. There was no way she made Lute to be appealing to him, because she didn’t know what he liked; he liked all kinds of ladies! All women were good! He had been so sure of his interests and sexuality that everything about this situation was just making his head hurt. There had to be an explanation further than he just thought Lute looked good, because that wasn’t supposed to make his cock hard!

“What the fuck is going on with me?” he grumbled into his pillow. He shook his head and rolled onto his side, gaze shifting to the mess in the corner of his room. Crumbled up balls of paper were stacked on top of one another, bearing similar names to women who he had spent time with at least within the last year. All contact information and addresses that they had given him, all hoping for another shot at the First Man himself because of the experience. All of them, and yet not a single one made his stomach clench and flutter the way it did when he looked at Lute. The way he thought about Lute. The way he wanted to go back to that bathhouse and see if the smaller man would be interested in…

No. No, he was not going to let himself think that. It was a passing fling, one he would snuff out as soon as he could, and then their relationship could be once more professional. Yeah. That was a good plan.

Chapter Text

Little moans were pushed out of the body beneath him, deeper sounding than they should have been. Black feathers flexed in his face, a white hand dug desperately into his pillow, tugging at the cloth. Eager hips were pressing into each of his thrusts, tight walls squeezing around the full length of his cock. He couldn’t help himself from hunching over the figure, the strength somehow able to bear his entire weight despite being significantly smaller. There wasn’t even a tremor to the arms that his own, much bulkier ones were boxing in. No one else was able to bear his entire weight while he slammed into them. No one had ever managed to before.

“S-sir,” the voice broke through the haze of grunting, and Adam turned his head to the side. “Please, sir. A-Adam…!” He was speeding up his thrusts, eager to reach his climax deep inside of-

Adam sat bolt up-right in bed, eyes snapping around the still dark room of his home. His breathing was rapid and strained, and he brought a hand to his chest to rub at the lingering heat that he swore he’d still felt; a body, pressed up against his. A look to his right confirmed that no one else was in bed with him, and he hadn’t brought anyone home the night before. Fuck, he hadn’t brought anyone home in quite a few weeks now, despite feeling pent up.

Speaking of, a throbbing need brought his attention to the tent forming beneath his blanket. Ah…that made sense. He scowled a little at it, as if it was at fault for where his mind kept going. Which it was, sort of – the damn thing would not let him forget about what he’d seen in the bathhouse a little while ago, as if it had a better memory than whatever was in his head. In fact, it was that much more creative and imaginative, too; it kept coming up with all of these scenarios that never happened, should never happen, yet they felt so real, so vivid. He could still feel the soft skin against him, skin he had never touched before. The feathery white hair that brushed against his chin, the smell that he couldn’t quite put words to filling his nose. None of it was something he’d experienced before, yet his little head decided it was going to distract him.

With a groan, Adam flopped back down and slipped a hand beneath the covers, wrapping his hand around his cock to try and deal with the frustrating morning wood. A cautionary glance out the covered window showed the sun had long since risen, so he was probably already late to the barracks to begin with. Great, he’d have to deal with being chewed out by his own lieutenant.

Who was the reason he was late to begin with, whether he knew it or not.

He cleaned up the mess he made once his cock spilled free all over his hand before getting to his feet to start his day. If he was already late, there was no reason to rush now. Plus…he really wanted to try and clear out his head before he had to face the very person burdening his mind. When he stepped into his kitchen, he uncorked a new wine bottle and just tilted his head back, taking a deep swig of the bitter liquid that burned his throat and made his eyes water. Chugging never felt good, but at least it was a decent distraction from the whole mess that was his morning. Really, his last few weeks had been the same, so drowning his mind in alcohol as much as was possible in Heaven was absolutely fucking worth it. Eventually, things would settle down. Eventually, he would no longer have to face the prospect of getting hard to a fucking man.

When he finally arrived at the barracks, every warrior was out on the training field. They were now collectively performing exercises in tandem with one another, showing off a level of direction and unity that they had lacked before. Curtesy of Lute, most likely. He really hadn’t spent any time around his soldiers, and a part of him was starting to realize that it wasn’t a good thing that he hadn’t. His brain was a little too fuzzy to think much beyond that, though. But his eyes did seek out the familiar head of white, and he immediately made the decision that he was going to avoid him. Whatever sway his own lieutenant had on him and his dick, he was not going to allow it.

Adam collapsed at his desk, dropping his head into his hand to hold it. Morning drinking was a bad idea, he recognized that now, but it was a little late for regrets. Instead, he reached for the papers that held the names of all the ladies he’d wanted to spend time with, attempting to use them as a distraction from where his mind kept wandering.

And it was successful, for a while. He’d arrived at around noon so he could just put all of his attention on this for half the day, ignoring the rest of the barracks. Lute had it, that was enough for him. Up until Lute sought him out, at least.

The first time, Adam had just stepped out of his office to take a walk when Lute called out to him down the hall. He wasn’t exactly sure what possessed him to, but Adam simply turned and fled in the opposite direction. As he wasn’t expecting it, Adam was able to lose the otherwise perceptive warrior when he slipped behind a statue. He let out a breath and rolled his eyes. Great, now he was running from the bastard.

The next time, Adam was near a group of warriors when he heard his title come from a familiar voice. He focused on the group instead, learning that they were struggling with some of the formations that Lute had drawn up. When said lieutenant walked up to try and get Adam’s attention, he waved him off stating that he was helping Lyre, Viola, and Harp with something. He’d catch up with Lute later. The trio looked just as surprised as Lute, but the other man just eyed Adam and made his way down the hall.

“Sir?” Lyre glanced up at him once Lute rounded the corner. “What’s…going on?”

“Would you shut up and just pay attention?” Adam grunted, and Lyre immediately ducked his head back down, shifting his gaze to the paper in front of them. “Now, see this right here? It ain’t that complicated if you take the chance to really look.”

Tch. They were created to be intelligently tactical on the battlefield, yet they struggled with simple formations? What a damn waste. Though…okay, Lyre was a softer-spoken man that fumbled through his hesitation to try and get his point across. The nervousness seemed to be consistent, and something that Viola knew how to handle as he lightly patted his shoulder. The comradery was not something Adam had expected to see, at least not on the emotional side; he expected them to be more like the toy soldiers he used to whittle for his children on Earth.

Instead, he was beginning to notice in each of them a personality that was curiously unique to themselves. Where Lyre was soft-spoken, Viola was loud and proud. He was more than happy to speak for the other man – not over, but in support of. And Lyre seemed to appreciate it by the way he leaned more into Viola. Harp was near silent, his eyes softer than any others that Adam had seen or interacted with. But there was a sharpness to them that spoke of someone that was observant, and he was the one that kept eyeing Adam after he’d managed to escape Lute.

When he’d settled Lyre’s concerns, he found himself moving to the next group of warriors. There were two, Chorus and Melody, that looked near identical – as if they were perfect copies of one another. Twins, that was something he wasn’t as familiar with as he’d never had any. And it made sense that artificial souls would look more similar than most humans. In fact, Adam had just assumed they all were copies of one another; he had no idea that they all had their own unique appearances. And even looking the same, Chorus and Melody managed to be different. Melody’s voice was pleasant to listen to, likely built for the stage for performing. He was talking away animatedly to Chorus, his hands moving through the air. When it was Chorus’ turn to speak, he mirrored everything Melody had done with his hands, even copying the cadence and tone of the other warrior’s voice, albeit in shorter responses.

“What are you two doing over here?” Adam asked. He’d seen Lute lingering down the hall again and was doing his best to continue looking busy. Plus, it was almost…nice learning more about the warriors under his guidance. The better he understood them, the more successful of a leader he could be.

“Sir!” Melody was the first to fire off a salute, with Chorus following his lead a moment later. “We’ve been talking about weapons. We can’t just go down there and rip out throats with our hands.”

“We could.”

“Well, okay, we can. But it would be better with weapons, right?” Melody puffed himself up. “I’ve looked through the training options and I think I want to go with an axe!”

“A halberd,” Chorus commented behind him, looking just as happy.

“Yeah! It’s like an axe but longer.” Melody looked back to Chorus before meeting Adam’s gaze again. “We really want this first trip to Hell to go well, sir. And we intend to.”

“We intend to.”

Adam looked between them. The way they were so connected, and seemingly in tune with each other’s thoughts with how Chorus echoed Melody. There was a part of him that found it creepy, but another part that was also curious. They weren’t like the other three, they were…unique. Huh…

“Well, we’ll see about getting those weapon orders through. Lute’s been talking to the factory, right?”

“Yeah! He’s been asking all of us for our preferences, but he hasn’t been able to get confirmation from the factory that they can approve his requests.” Melody shook his head before folding his arms. “He’s running into roadblocks.”

“Stopped.” Chorus was watching Adam with an expression that had him shifting a little.

“Wait, you mean someone’s stopping him?”

“Sounds like they just won’t review his request without…well, your input.”

“Oh.” Adam blinked a few times. He looked between them before letting out a light laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, fuck, guess I should probably meet up with him then, huh? Need to get you boys your weapons before we go down there and fuck shit up.”

“Sooner the better, sir!” They both fired off a salute before turning back to their previous discussion about the differences of axes and halberds.

Adam stepped away and looked to the final group of warriors in the room. There were four of them; two were in the midst of wrestling while the other two were cheering them on. Sonata, Symphony, Stanza, and Serenade. Funny how the four of them flocked together even before he’d started giving them names. They seemed completely engrossed in their current competition, with Symphony and Stanza trying to put each other into a headlock, and they completely missed him being nearby. Which was fine, he didn’t need to talk to all of them. He was just…so much more cognizant now of their different personalities. In his effort to distance himself from Lute, he was learning about his soldiers the way he probably should have started over half a year ago.

And…now Lute was back on his mind.

Another part of why he’d wanted to look at each of his soldiers was to see if there was any attraction to them the way he had towards Lute. He was able to recognize the fact that they all had a degree of allure, yet his eyes never lingered on anyone in particular. There was appreciation for a sharp jawline here or a bright yellow eye there, but none of them really caught his attention. It was like Lute alone was able to sway his attention towards him without any effort, and that just…made Adam feel weird. He wasn’t sure what to do with this information.

In an effort to fully avoid Lute, Adam spent more and more time around the rest of the soldiers, right up until Lute – ever the punctual one – called them outside for more drills out in the training field. That gave Adam reprieve and time to relax for the day, and before there was a chance to ambush him, he left to go home early. There was just a lot to think about, and all of it was more confusing than anything he’d ever had to contend with before.

That evening, he waited to see if any of the other soldiers popped into his mind. He thought about them in depth, yet there were parts missing from his memories. Were Melody’s eyes gold or orange? Did Sonata have white hair, or was it more of a storm-cloud grey? Did Harp have those little spots of black amid the white feathers of her wings, or was that unique only to Lute? The harder he tried to imagine the parts he couldn’t remember, the more Lute’s figure filled them in.

Fuck. And as soon as he started thinking about Lute, all he could think about was that time in the bathhouse, and how he felt at home right after that. It was like…he was obsessed. He’d experienced this with some smoking hot ladies before, but with Lute it was…he wasn’t sure what it was, but it was all consuming. Almost to an unhealthy degree. The confusion was part of why he couldn’t figure out exactly what was wrong with him.

It was why he continued to avoid him in the coming days. Every time Lute tried to flag him down, he would duck into a side room or meet up with other groups. He knew it was beginning to piss the soldier off, but what the fuck else was he supposed to do?! Admit the fact he was getting turned on by the idea of fucking the other man’s tight ass? That he was dreaming about what his cock looked like?! None of that was okay, or something he’d ever done before!

Lute didn’t give him the chance to continue avoiding him.

It was the end of the week, and Adam was determined to go to the wine bar and find at least a couple of women to take home with him in a desperate attempt at cleansing his mind. He’d reached out to a few of his older contacts through the communications orb on his desk and was planning on meeting up with them. When he turned to leave, however, Lute was standing in the doorway. His eyes were narrowed in a way that Adam had come to recognize meant that the other man was pissed. Which…okay, well that made sense after everything.

“Uh…hey, lieutenant, do you mind? I need to get going. Meeting up with a couple of gals at the bar downtown, so I need to…you know.” Adam tried to be as neutral as possible, to not push the other man too far while still getting free. But Lute didn’t move. “Hey! Lieutenant, I gave you a request. Don’t make me change it to an order.”

“No.” Lute closed the door behind him and marched forward, causing Adam to take a few hesitant steps back. The warrior was keeping himself firmly between Adam and the door, his black wings flared out behind him. All of his feathers were spread as far as possible, giving him a much larger appearance. It wasn’t exactly that intimidating given the fact he was still half of Adam’s size, but he’d never actually had another angel challenge him quite like this. Well, other than Sera.

“The fuck you mean no? If I give you an order, you have to obey. Simple as that.”

“Not right now. I’m going to talk, and you’re going to listen.” Lute jabbed a finger in his direction. “I’m sick and tired of you avoiding me, sir,” the added title seemed to almost pain him, “and I want to say what I’ve been trying to say before you rush out of here like you’ve been doing for the last few days like some…prissy ass little bitch.”

“Watch your fucking tongue, I’m nothing like that!” Adam huffed. At least his anger was starting to move in so he didn’t feel nearly as cornered. He opened his mouth again, but Lute gave his wings a solid flap.

“Yeah, you fucking are.” He moved closer, ensuring his wings and body continued to block the exit. Adam could so easily shove him aside and run past him, but something had simply rooted his feet into the ground. His gaze continued to follow Lute as he stood on the other side of the desk. He slammed a fist on the surface. “What is wrong with you?!”

“Me? There’s nothing wrong with me! You forget yourself, soldier.” Adam held himself up now, almost mirroring the pose Lute had taken. His own wings were huge, filling up the room as they spread wide. The display was almost enough to cause Lute to take a step back, a brief moment hofesitation causing his foot to linger in the air, before he took a firm step forward and held his ground. It was a display that once again caught Adam off guard, and his eyes widened.

“I am your lieutenant, and that status means I am free to bring up questions or concerns to my commanding officer as the need arises.” His voice was confident, something that Adam himself wasn’t even sure he had in that moment. There was a fire in his sharp, yellow eyes, and the pupils were thin enough to be nearly invisible in his anger. “You are going to tell me why the fuck you’re avoiding me, but only after I tell you all of the things I’ve been trying to tell you all week. Whatever punishment you deem suitable for speaking out of order, I’ll deal with. Do I make myself clear?”

Adam scowled. There was a wave of indignation mixed with…something else that he couldn’t quite place. Something that sent a little tingle down his spine, that settled in his stomach and made it clench up. He should be snapping at him for daring to talk down to him like that – Lute should know his fucking place! Instead, he found his mouth clenching shut, as if he was willing to listen when the other man wanted to speak. What the fuck…?

“Good.” Lute took a deep breath before slamming a number of papers down on the desk. “I can’t order weapons without your signature. I need you to review these and sign. If you can’t be bothered to read my work, just sign. We’re not far out from our first trip to Hell, and the soldiers need to be experienced with their chosen weapons. Or have time to swap if they would prefer something else. This is priority number one.

“Priority number two,” he tapped the front page of another stack of papers, “I need you to look over the training lessons I’ve come up with. I’m making sure the boys are following through, but as I have little experience actually fighting in Hell, I need someone to tell me if any of this is appropriate or even good.

“Finally, the uniforms we’re working with are ill-suited for combat.” Lute tugged at her shirt. “They’re loose-fitting, the boots aren’t comfortable, and during training I’ve found a lot of it is easy to grab to pin one of us down.” He held up another piece of paper and tapped it. “I’ve also been studying the atmosphere of Hell. Though we can’t get sick in Heaven, there’s a very real chance that the air in Hell will impact us. We should have some kind of filter on our faces capable of giving us a safe way to breathe.”

Lute set the paper down and stepped back from the desk, his arms across his chest and a scowl once more on his face as he eyed Adam, who was just looking on in surprise. All of this in just a few months was pretty damn impressive; he hadn’t expected someone to even care that much. Unlike the rest of the soldiers that Adam had spent time getting to know, Lute acted exactly what he expected from someone artificially created. Yet he was also the single most direct, disobedient, and frustratingly confident person Adam had had to deal with in quite some time.

When he didn’t say anything right away, Lute pinched the bridge of his nose before flinging a hand forward at him, a little growl on his tongue.

“Sir, I’m trying to make this work. Why did you bother picking me as your lieutenant if you aren’t going to do any of this work yourself or help me?”

“You’ve been doing fine on your own. If I need to sign something, toss it on my fucking desk and I’ll deal with it when I have time,” Adam answered. He was trying to be dismissive in the hopes that Lute would get the picture and just leave, but of course he wasn’t nearly that slick or lucky. Rather than take him at his word, Lute slammed his hands down on the surface of the desk and leaned over, his gaze burning into Adam.

“No, that’s not how we’re doing this. With all the respect I can have for you in this moment, sir, we need to talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about, asshole.” Adam reclined in his chair, kicking up his feet with one crossing the other. He snatched up one of the piles Lute had left on his desk, absently thumbing through the pages. “You’ve done all the work that you need to do, you’ve got it all on my desk, and now I know it needs to get signed. Let’s just work from there, alright?”

Lute’s eye twitched.

“Should I resign?” he finally snapped, and Adam’s gaze shifted back up to him. He took in the golden flush of anger across his lieutenant’s face, and an uncomfortable churning settled in his stomach. This was…what he wanted, of course – the discomfort must be something else, something more akin to rage at his subordinate undermining him. And the longer he focused on that, the more rage seemed like the correct word.

His golden wings flared out behind him when he pushed himself to his feet, almost knocking his chair over and causing Lute to take a hesitant step back. That didn’t cleanse the rage from his pale face, but it did cause him to give pause, which was enough for Adam to keep pressing forward.

“You want to know what my issue is, lieutenant?” Adam growled. He could feel himself becoming undone – the rage and frustration over the last few months boiled inside of him, lifting the volume of his voice until the tall walls of his office echoed with his irritation. “You can’t seem to finish things on your own, despite me giving you the title to do so. You keep coming to me for help, for signing shit, for completing orders that you have the ability to do yourself!”

“I’ve tried, sir! Or were you not listening?!” Lute’s momentary hesitation had been replaced with a fiery rage, and his own wings were once more flaring up behind him. The gold of Adam’s easily dwarfed the black of his lieutenant’s, but that didn’t stop him from holding his ground. The shorter bastard was really fraying his nerves, but what was worse than that was the sharp heat that ran down the length of Adam’s spine, blooming where the discomfort originally had been within his gut and sending a shiver that made the feathers of his wings fluff up further.

“Why the fuck would I bother listening to you?! I want nothing to fucking do with you!” Adam lost his control. He flung the desk aside, the furniture easily moveable with his size, and took a step towards Lute. To his credit, the smaller angel didn’t back down this time, though that only frustrated Adam more. “I can’t fucking stand you; I made a fucking mistake choosing you as my lieutenant. I should have chosen someone else because you clearly aren’t meeting expectations!” He was shouting now, his voice loud enough to echo off of the walls of his office, surrounding them and causing Lute to flinch. Or it was the words themselves, but Adam didn’t care either way. He was on a roll, and he couldn’t stop himself. “You’ve been nothing but a pain in my ass since I made the decision, and I’m fucking done dealing with it! I’m stuck with you as my lieutenant now, so you better figure out how to actually do the work you’re expected to do, or I’ll send your scrawny, pale ass packing back to the damn facility!”

When Adam was done, the room was deafeningly silent save for his heavy breathing. He hadn’t realized just how worked up he’d gotten until he felt the continued vibrations through his own body from the ringing in his ears. The entire time, his gaze never moved away from Lute, who was staring at him with an unreadable expression. From his outburst, he’d expected the shorter man to respond emotionally, even if he wasn’t some fucking woman. He wanted to see rage being shot back at him, he craved to be given a reason to actually hate this man other than the fact he made him feel things that didn’t sit well with Adam.

Instead, Lute’s expression settled into something more neutral.

“…understood, sir,” he intoned, folding his arms behind his back. His wings tucked closer to his spine, yet his head was held up high. If Adam looked close enough, he could see a slight tightness near the corners of Lute’s yellow eyes, and a little tug at the corners of his mouth, but otherwise he looked even more stoic than usual. That…just made this all so much worse.

“Fuck,” Adam finally managed to exhale. He held a hand up, but Lute was already turning his back to him.

“You have the papers for the current requests,” he stated. Everything sounded so deadpanned now, as if there was simply no emotion or even thought. That made his throat close a little, especially thinking back to learning about all of his boys earlier. They were unique, not…whatever this was. “Should you have questions, you can reach out to me. Otherwise, I will see if I can complete them myself.”

“Hey-” Before Adam had a chance to finish, Lute was already closing the doors behind him, leaving him in the now turbulent silence of his office. The pressure seemed to drown out more of the sound from his ears, muffling the world around him until all he could hear was his hammering heart.

After everything, he hadn’t expected Lute to just…accept him at his word and leave? He thought the other man would get angrier, jump into the fight even more forcefully, not just abandon it all together. There was no way of knowing what the other man actually thought or felt because he’d always been good at hiding everything other than anger, but right now Adam really wished that he could. All of the heat that had been pooling in his belly earlier had dissipated, leaving an almost hollowed out sensation that made his heart ache and his hand curl his robes into a clenched fist. The realization that he’d practically spilled his guts out to his lieutenant, ones that weren’t even necessarily true, was really beginning to sink in. It left him falling backwards onto his chair and letting out a defeated groan, a hand reaching up to tug at his hair.

Well…he’d gotten what he wanted, but at what cost? Adam frowned as he eyed the papers in front of him. One by one, he carefully pulled them over to read, inspecting Lute’s work and ensuring nothing was missing. Which, of course, nothing was. Everything was done to perfection, and all of it made sense to boot – weapons for the trip to Hell, training plans, and…uniforms. Everything that made a good lieutenant, all laid out in front of him without him having to do any of the work himself. And now he’d upset the person responsible.

“What the fuck is wrong with me…?” Adam groaned, dropping his face fully onto his desk and letting out a miserable little sound. He’d just…maybe look for Lute tomorrow. That way, he could try and make amends like this never happened. They were guys, right? They didn’t need to worry about touchy-feely shit when it came to duking it out like men, but there was still a twitch of his own guilt that had him reaching for a pen and drawing out a few things he wanted to say to Lute when he got the chance. It would all be worked out, and within a day, they would be back to working together as if nothing happened.

It was well into the evening when Adam finally left. There was a selfish part of him that paused on the training fields, on the off chance he’d see Lute again. But the barracks were completely dark and silent. For the first time in who knew how long, Adam was the very last one to leave. That…somehow felt more foreboding than the neutral expression Lute had worn on his way out.

Fucking Hell, why was this shit so damn confusing?

Chapter Text

A ray of sun struck Adam directly in the eye, tearing him free from yet another dream where he was hunched over Lute’s prone form, driving his cock deep inside of him and listening to his subordinate’s eager moans of pleasure. The dream had left a thin sheen of sweat on his skin, and yet another boner to put up with. He groaned loudly and pressed the heel of his hands into his eyes, trying to dig out the image of Lute’s pale body in all of its glory. He had really hoped that the blow up between himself and his lieutenant would stop these damn things, but every day since he was still waking up with Lute’s perfectly shaped, bone-white ass engraved in his skull. At this point, he couldn’t even think of anyone else other than this fucking man.

Once he managed to deal with his big morning problem, Adam dragged his ass out of bed and set about getting ready for the day. Judging by the sun outside, it was earlier than his usual time, which had become more of a habit as he actively wanted to spend more time with his boys. He was really starting to learn each of their personalities, their interests, and shockingly…dreams. Given they were artificial, he hadn’t expected them to have those, yet Harp wanted to listen to more of Saint Peter’s choir, even have a chance to join it. Lyre was too nervous to perform publicly, but he wanted to help Viola, who was far more open to the idea of showing off. Melody and Chorus had found memory orbs showing off a beach, and they wanted so badly to visit one at some point. The other four were all scrambling over various dreams regarding scroll writing and art.

Heh. The irony in all of this was he was learning more about them, yet the one he couldn’t take his mind off was still such a mystery. And almost absent outside of brief moments between training and papers.

Adam frowned a little, emptying his cup of water and staring into the basin of his kitchen. A few days since their fight, and Lute was still giving him the cold shoulder. It made no sense – men weren’t supposed to fucking care about shit like this, right? They should just shrug off whatever was bothering them and move on. And these were artificial soldiers; they should be hardier than any man. What was the point of holding a grudge? And there was no chance he’d actually hurt Lute’s feelings, right?

His lieutenant seemed dead set on avoiding him, and the desire hadn’t lessened any. Adam would see him leading training routines out in the field, but he wouldn’t even look in Adam’s direction. If Adam tried to speak with him after, he simply said he had to get to work, punctuated with a ‘sir’ that sounded like it was being forcefully clawed out of his throat. Yet his voice remained neutral and steady. It was such a confusing dilemma that Adam had no idea what to make of it. And when he tried to talk in his office, Lute would simply drop off the paperwork that required his attention and leave. No attempts to push Adam to do it in a timely manner, and no follow up after. The signed documents and scrolls were simply scooped up when Adam wasn’t looking, as if Lute wasn’t even really there.

A miserable whine escaped his throat as he once again looked up from his own work to notice the pile was gone. There was nowhere he could put them that Lute wouldn’t find them without him even noticing, and by now he was actively starting to miss the other man’s attempts to get him to talk. He hadn’t realized just how good he’d felt having someone actively seeking him out, wanting to engage in conversation with him, and willing to do extra work if Adam didn’t want to. Okay, the second part there was maybe a little selfish, but still!

“Hey.” During lunch that day, he caught up with Lute yet again. Well, cornered him, rather, while he was bringing his food back to the room that he had claimed. Not that…Adam ever found him in there, either. Bastard was like a shadow that could just appear and vanish at will.

Lute only stopped and eyed him because he had no other choice. He adjusted his hold on his tray and turned to more fully face Adam, his black wings pressed firmly against his back and his head held high. The sharp, slit-shaped pupils of his eyes were harder than Adam had ever seen, and he just knew that his subordinate wanted nothing to do with him and was eager to escape as soon as he possibly could. It was strange, to be on the receiving end of that.

“Yes, sir?”

“You can drop the formalities, asshole.” Adam tried to keep the bite from his voice, but the expression on Lute’s face hardened even more. If that was possible… “Sorry. Fuck, I mean…you can drop the formalities, lieutenant. We’re on lunch, right?”

“Right…?” Lute’s eyes narrowed a little, looking Adam up and down. He wasn’t sure what the other man was looking for, or if he was just that on edge and expecting Adam to do something, so he did his best to look at unassuming as possible.

“Well, I figured…maybe we could eat together? You’re my lieutenant, and-”

“You can’t stand me,” he interrupted, and Adam’s mouth snapped shut. The shorter man walked up to him, brows furrowing as he held his gaze with the sharp, yellowy one of his own. “You made that plenty clear, sir. That you made a mistake choosing me.”

“That’s not…I mean, I know I said those things, but-”

“There are no buts, sir.” Lute shook his head. “You said what was on your mind, so I’m going to focus on getting my work done just like you requested that I do. Is that good enough, or do you want me to promise something else?”

Adam grimaced. He had Lute’s eyes drilling into him, and his stomach churned uncomfortably. The way he watched him wasn’t something he expected from someone that was supposed to be his subordinate, yet there he was. He stood up to him in ways that no one else really had, which only made it that much more frustrating that he was enamored with the bastard. He shifted his weight, reaching to rub his arm, before taking a deep breath.

“You aren’t required to eat lunch with me,” he said slowly. “I wanted to offer it up because I figured things got pretty heated between us in my office, and I wanted to…hear you apologize for your behavior. That’s unfitting of a lieutenant, to talk down to your superior officer. Once you apologize, we can just push this behind us and let us move forward. What do you say?”

“Are you serious right now?” The hardness in Lute’s voice told Adam he’d fucked up, and he immediately took a step back.

“I…yeah?” he offered meekly, but the other man’s expression didn’t ease.

“…then, respectfully, I’d like to eat my food alone, and get back to training.” Lute immediately went to sidestep around Adam, his gaze shifting away from him as if in disgust, and Adam simply stepped aside and watched, his brows lifting. He hadn’t…had someone speak like that to him before. Not quite so directly. And it wasn’t even badmouthing or something worthy of punishment or reprimand, it was just…him walking off to get back to work.

It just left Adam awkwardly standing there in the mess hall, up until a hand on his elbow had him shifting his gaze down to Viola’s curious expression.

“You alright, sir?” he asked, pulling his hand back as soon as he noticed Adam’s expression. Lyre was right behind him, something that had become quickly obvious while learning about them – they were nearly as inseparable as Melody and Chorus, though more individual than those two. More like best friends than creepy twins.

“Fine.” Adam shook his head, furrowing his brows. He wanted to just stalk off and eat lunch on his own, but he stopped himself before he could take a step. “…can I eat with you two?”

“Uh…” Viola glanced at Lyre, both of them exchanging looks of surprise, before Lyre just offered a shrug and Viola glanced back up at him. “Sure.”

Adam followed the two to a smaller table on the side of the room. Despite the size of the place, the army really wasn’t large yet. These were simply the first, the experiment to see if they would be good on the field of battle in Hell. There were a lot of stakes riding on this, but it seemed Sera was confident enough to commission a large building that would be capable of housing an army rather than a squadron. He had to wonder what this place would look like, thriving and bustling.

The trio ate in companionable silence for a time before Lyre’s softer voice broke through.

“Sir, are you and the lieutenant fighting?”

“What? The fuck makes you think we are?” Adam huffed, lifting a brow over at him. There was a small bit of hesitation, but Viola stepped in to rescue his fellow soldier.

“He’s just been a lot angrier lately. Like…a lot angrier. He broke a few weapon shafts during training the other day,” he offered, waving a freshly cleaned bone around for emphasis. “And he almost sent Symphony through the side of the building while sparring.”

“…that so?” Adam’s brows knitted. He hadn’t really sat in and watched them train much, but that still sounded rather extreme for just a spar. “Is Symphony…?”

“He’s fine,” Lyre spoke up again. “We were all just surprised, but Lute just resumed training as if nothing happened.”

“He’s never been that angry before. I mean, guess we’ve only been alive for a few months, but I’d like to think I’ve got a good read on the rest of these chumps.” Viola glanced over his shoulder, looking at each of the other soldiers in turn.

“And…he did put together a-” Lyre stopped himself when he jerked, and Adam could pretty easily guess Viola had kicked him under the table with how he had moved along with Lyre.

“He put together a what?”

“I-it’s not…” Lyre shifted, looking that much more uncomfortable now. He glanced at Viola a few times but kept dropping his gaze.

“Lyre…”

“…ugh. Lute fashioned a training dummy that looks pretty much like your face, sir,” Viola finally relented, allowing Lyre to relax a little. “He keeps it hidden behind the bathhouse and only brings it out when the rest of us are going to bed. Lyre’s the only one that’s actually seen it, though.”

“It’s real!” Lyre insisted. “And the lieutenant looked pretty mad when he was…you know, beating it up.”

“Huh.” Adam furrowed his brows. Okay, so maybe Lute was just a little angrier than he had anticipated. And it was a lasting anger that was starting to manifest in somewhat worrying ways. Knowing that an artificial soldier had it out for him was a little intimidating.

And…hot.

The thought slammed into Adam hard, and he had to take a moment to put a hand to his forehead and rub at the spot. Somehow, the image of a furious Lute beating up a stuffed dummy with his likeness had a strange effect in the pit of his stomach that made a nice tingle run along the length of his spine, and he felt his feathers puff up as a result. Given his nightly and morning activities, this was likely to just add yet another dream to wake up hard to. Great.

“You said it was out behind the bathhouse?” Adam asked, trying to shake his head and clear it of the image that had been planted there. He’d deal with it later.

“Yes. He caught me watching when he tried to stuff it away, so he may have moved it.” Lyre shifted a little. For such a timid thing, Adam spared a thought to worry what he would be like on the field of battle. He should be the perfect soldier, designed to kill, not act like this.

The concern was easier to think about than the growing sensation in his crotch as he imagined Lute tackling him to the ground, grabbing him by the collar of his robe, slamming their lips together-

Fucking Hell, what was wrong with him?!

“Thanks for letting me know. Can you keep an eye on him?” Adam finished his meal and made to get to his feet. “I’m just…a little worried that he’s maybe malfunctioning or some shit. We don’t have a lot of information on your souls and how they’ll function long term, so if something’s affecting him…”

“You’ll just send him to the facility or something?” Viola’s gaze had hardened a little, and one of his wings opened up to wrap around Lyre. Protective. As if Adam was the threat, which…okay, he understood where the concern was coming from.

“No, no, nothing like that. I won’t send any of you back, no matter what. I just want to make sure he doesn’t start actually attacking anyone or some shit, alright?” Adam held his hands up, trying to placate them. It seemed to work at least semi-well because Viola lowered his wing, though his gaze was still on Adam with a distrustful air that made Adam worry he’d lost all that progress he’d been making with them. “It’s the rest of Heaven that I’m worried about. The stuffy Seraphim would probably demand you be sent back if they catch wind of anyone acting out.”

“…oh.” Viola frowned more at that, and his shoulders fell.

“Look.” Adam moved over to their side of the table and crouched down to their level, something he’d only really done before when he’d been talking to his kids. But he recognized how large he was compared to the soldiers, so this felt appropriate. “You lot are mine now, right? And I want you just as you are. No one’s allowed to steal from me.”

The two gave him a surprised look. They exchanged glances with each other before Lyre offered a wider smile, and Viola finally seemed to relax.

“Wow, sir, what got into you? First you want nothing to do with us, now we’re yours. Which is it?”

“Smartass comment like that will get your ass fifty laps around the training yard,” Adam warned, but Viola just threw his head back and laughed. Lyre joined in with a softer sound, but his eyes were sparkling in a way that made Adam feel better. It sort of just…hit him just how much he genuinely cared about his boys now. Even Lute.

With that, Adam bid farewell to the pair and set out back to his office. There was no way he’d be able to investigate this supposed dummy while everyone was still active, and who knew where Lute was. He didn’t want to upset him further by snooping where he didn’t belong. Which, of course, meant he had to spend the rest of the day doing what little work he was willing to stomach while still trying to catch his lieutenant.

Which, of course, didn’t work.

By the time everyone was heading to bed, Adam had seen Lute maybe twice during the rest of the work day. The first time was dropping off paperwork, the second was once more leading drills out on the fields. He tried to approach both times, but he either stated that he was too busy or that he needed to get somewhere else. This marked a full week since Adam absolutely insulted him, and he was still this pissed off. Or…hurt. Ugh.

Adam did make sure that he saw Lute leave, however, before he was investigating the backside of the bathhouse. He first checked the stone walls to see if there was anything loose, something he’d done when he was still alive to hide things, but no luck. Nothing in the bushes that framed the structure, and nothing inside in any of the nooks and crannies. It really was likely that he moved it, and Adam made a bit of a face at that. The only other place he could think of was… He paused before turning and marching towards the main building, moving through the halls and opening the door to Lute’s claimed office.

Compared to his, Lute’s office was pristine and immaculate – nothing was out of place, everything was perfectly stacked and organized, set up in ways that he could never even imagine his own looking like. But it also meant that seeing something out of place caught his attention, and that came in the form of a slightly tilted pile of scrolls in front of what looked like a small, wooden door. Almost every other scroll was filed away in a cubby, so this pile was interesting, and the door behind it even more so. It was locked, but a little magic fenagling was more than enough for Adam to pop it open so he could reach inside.

“There you are.” It was a training dummy, a sack of hay with a target drawn on its torso. The head really was drawn in such a way that, if Adam looked into a mirror, he could see the resemblance. Not that Lute was a good artist. It was the A painted across the forehead that mirrored the one Adam wore on his robes that made it obvious who this was supposed to be. Heh, angry enough to create a dummy to beat up. He really had fucked up.

The image came up again – Lute, a man half his size, dragging him to the ground without any struggle. In Adam’s imagination, he would pull his arm behind him and pin it against his back, a sharp knee shoved against the small of Adam’s back. He could just feel those black lips brushing along the shell of his ear, Lute’s hot breath sending sharp tingles down his spine that made his golden feathers fluff up. There would be an anger to the voice that spoke, but there were no words that Adam could put into his subordinate’s mouth to make this moment feel real. Instead, he focused on the way the smaller body would roughly grab him by the hair, yanking his head back and making an undignified sound escape Adam’s throat at the angle. One hand would then grip the golden feathers, moving through each one to find the muscles of his wings, following their length to where they joined to his back.

Fuck… Adam bit his lip and had to forcefully pull himself back to reality, shoving the dummy back into the little crawl space and locking the door. He dumped the scrolls back in front of it, trying to make it appear the same as before. Surely Lute wouldn’t notice those being in disarray…right? The paranoia was at least helpful in cooling off the growing tightness just below his robes. No, he was not masturbating in his subordinate’s office because he was imagining the smaller man pinning him down. Nuh uh. He’d…just go home. That was fine.

That was…perfectly fine.

It was not fine.

Adam barely made it back before the overwhelming need buckled him onto his bed, and he had no choice but to deal with the situation now. Bastard lieutenant had a hold over him that was so unlike any other situation that he had ever encountered. He wasn’t into men, he wasn’t fucking gay, he was just…confused. His cock was just confused, thinking that slim build of the soldier was a woman. Totally.

Yeah…

Fuck…

Of course, Adam’s attempts at trying to hide his snooping did not go well. The moment he saw his lieutenant the following day, along with the sharp gaze that somehow remained professional while also feeling like daggers being driven into his stomach, he knew. But Lute never brought it up, so he never openly admitted it. And it became their collective secret in the coming few weeks as their trip to Hell came closer and closer. Lute was somehow even more hostile, but he still managed to get his work done. And Adam was just left completely and entirely confused by his feelings on the matter.

His little spies in Lyre and Viola were helpful in at least letting him know some of what Lute was thinking, not that he was super friendly to any of the other boys. Lyre had gone to Lute’s office to drop off paperwork. Without magic, she had to pick the locked cubby the dummy had been in, and was able to confirm that it was no longer there. Where that ended up, neither of them had any idea as it wasn’t behind the bathhouse anymore. Meanwhile, Viola managed to get some words out of Lute while they cleaned off after a rough time on the field. According to him, Lute wanted nothing to do with Adam and was even contemplating approaching Sera to see if he could step down as lieutenant. That had a pit twisting in Adam’s stomach – on the one hand, that was exactly what he’d wanted Lute to do during their fight.

On the other…

He groaned and rubbed his head, gaze shifting over to the calendar counting down the days until the first ever trip to Hell. It was something that the boys were starting to get excited about, because that was what they had been created for. The weapon training that Lute had set up was really starting to pay off, with each of them finding their preferred weapons of choice. No one seemed interested in learning a bow; it was all up close and personal, anything that had them able to get their hands into the fight as well. The fact they were actually able to fight was all because of Lute…he’d almost thrown them into the fray without any leadership…

“Sir.”

Adam yelped, pushing away from his desk and ending up on his back. He stared at the ceiling for a while before groaning and picking himself up, peeking at the doors to his office. Lute…

“Uh…what’s up?” he asked, righting his chair and settling back down. Trying to stay calm…he didn’t want to dig a hole even deeper than he already was.

“Have you thought about what speech you’re going to give before we storm Hell?”

“Is…that a requirement?” Adam’s brows furrowed a little. What was the point of a speech? They’d go down there, they’d fuck them up, and then they’d come home. It was just that simple, wasn’t it? Fuck, when he went down to Hell and slaughtered, it wasn’t like anyone gave him a pep talk.

Lute let out a breath, closing his eyes for a second before walking over. This was the first time he’d actually stayed in the room with Adam for longer than a few minutes, and the closest he’d gotten since their fight. Adam sat up a little straighter, watching him closely.

“This will be our first actual battle. None of us have seen a real demon, none of us have fought something to the death, and at that none of us have even seen death.” Lute leaned on the desk. “There are nerves that you should help to settle…sir.” The last word almost sounded like she was trying to force herself to be respectful.

“Uh…” Adam leaned back in his chair, summoning a scroll in front of him and absently plucking one of his feathers, dipping it into an inkwell. “Okay, like…what, do you need some direction, or…?”

“No. Just…” Lute paused before starting again. “You’ve done this before, right? Even if we can’t be hurt by them, there’s still that general concern going into battle. I’ve tried to settle them, but they just tell me I don’t know anything about Hell. That I could be wrong. So, you need to do something.”

Adam suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. He shifted his gaze to the paper in front of him before letting out a little breath. A speech, huh? He tapped the tip of his feather lightly before peeking over at Lute.

“…want to help me?”

“I wouldn’t even know where to start.” Lute stepped back from the desk. He did pause, eyeing Adam for a moment. Whatever was on his face, his lieutenant just let out a little breath. “…ugh. I can at least make sure it’s spelled right.”

“Hey! I’ve been alive a long time, I know how to spell shit!”

“Good, because it’s a four-letter word, and pretty straightforward.”

“Lieutenant!”

Adam was bristling, but he caught a little twitch at the corner of Lute’s mouth. Oh? Oooh, what was that? Possibly a smile? A positive reaction towards him? It was quickly wiped away, but that gave Adam a little bit of hope. Maybe there was a chance to fix, or fucking rebuild, the bridge that he’d set to the torch. He gestured to the stool next to his desk, and Lute hesitantly sat down. Together, they laid out the scroll Adam had summoned. It was his first chance to talk to Lute, and he’d take advantage of it. Even if Lute was only there for the speech, and he left immediately after, leaving Adam to sit down and practice the written words on his own.

Motivating others…heh, how hard could it be?

The motivation of the speech maybe wasn’t necessary since it wasn’t going to be much of a battle, given the fact Hell was under populated and lacked any form of weaponry that could threaten divine beings such as them. Still, he’d spent the better part of a year getting to know his boys, so he wanted them to be prepared for this. And he and Lute had worked so hard on this. So, a few days later when he had gathered his boys outside of the front gates of Heaven, he cleared his throat and presented himself with as much authority as he physically could.

“Already, fuckheads!” He walked forward wearing his battle robes, darker to look more unified with his army. “Today’s the day we go through and see how well your training has paid off. Be aware, Hell is a pretty fucked up place. Everything down there just sucks, and the goal is to make it worse for the poor, unfortunate bastards that ended up there!”

As he walked around, Lute had stationed himself right behind him. He had felt, in their time together, that maybe there had been some degree of reconciliation. But the bastard’s face was far too difficult to read and get an understanding of what he was thinking. He watched him over his shoulder for a moment before addressing the small crowd again.

“Your goal is simple – kill as many as you can. We’ll even keep a score board; the one who gets the most kills will get…uh, I don’t know…I guess something awesome?” It wasn’t like Heaven required coin to buy anything, it was all freely available. Because this shit was perfect, or at least meant to be. And neither he nor Lute had come up with anything good in their brainstorming. He’d promised to think of something, but even now he was fumbling. “I’ll think of something when it happens. Got to make sure it’s perfect for the winner, right?”

The skepticism that had briefly swept through them was replaced by eager chatter. It took some fumbling before there was chanting. His boys, all ready to get going, all eager for bloodshed. It wasn’t exactly…angelic, or divine, to be so eager to kill. But it was something Adam had felt, even with his arrival there, and having others that were like him was strangely comforting. It felt like he had a place to belong now, beyond just being Heaven’s golden boy.

He turned his back and snapped his fingers, reaching out to the magic that Sera had given to him for this. Normal portals were small with unnecessary presence. The one to Hell, however, was meant to be grandiose; it was an alert to all in Hell that their day had come, that their afterlives were now ending. The image shimmered, showing the deep red through its rippling surface, its golden border stretching further before locking into place. It wouldn’t close until the chime of the Embassy’s clock.

Plenty of time!

Adam took a deep breath before summoning his golden axe. He turned to appraise his boys, seeing in their eyes both eagerness and perhaps some apprehension, uncertainty at what awaited them in the disgusting realm beyond. One purge, that was all it would take for them to collect their confidence. At least for them – Adam already believed in them.

“Alright, gentleman.” Adam drove his axe into the pearly ground beneath him before flaring out his wings. “Attack!”

The flurry of black feathers took to the sky. They still lacked formation, but that was alright, it was their first time. He turned to watch them go. His eyes briefly caught Lute as he brought up the rear, but he didn’t cast a single glance back at Adam. So, still tension there…

Adam shook his head and slung his axe across his back, taking off after his boys and through the portal, which opened them all out above the towering, glowing Embassy that forced Hell to live in its radiant shadow. No sooner had the soldiers arrived, they were splitting off and chasing after the screaming, terrified Sinners.

He wouldn’t admit this to anyone in Heaven, but there was a certain melody to the panicked, desperate screams and shouts coming from the victims of the purge. He liked to close his eyes and listen to it, and with more soldiers, the screams were more plentiful and far louder. The sounds filled his body, easing the tension that had built in him after the last year of change, and he gripped the hilt of his axe.

Fuck did he need this.

Chapter Text

The brimstone was wonderfully familiar, a comfort that was comparable to the clean air of Heaven. Screams of horror rose, choked by the flames of burning buildings before being silenced by various weapons. It was so much louder than usual, yet also quieter as more bodies fell to the ground, saturating stone roads and barren soil with scarlet. Black wings darkened an already bleak, smog-choked sky, silver flashing in the depths like writhing serpents that lashed out at anything that dared to breathe in its vicinity.

Adam’s wings held him suspended above the small little town that Hell had become. It was evident that it was growing, despite the annual exterminations, as the place was that much larger than when he had last been there. In only a year, these vermin were spreading further and further into the crater that held this level of Hell aloft. This was something to bring up to Sera later, but he filed that away in favor of turning his attention back to the desperate cries for mercy below.

He hadn’t yet joined the massacre because he wanted to see how his boys were performing first. It was important to gauge their performance, so that he could bring good news back to Sera that this little experiment was successful. She had been concerned, given some earlier reports, that artificial souls were simply not good enough to perform such tasks. That they might be decommissioned. The thought alone had Adam growling in the back of his throat, but he shook his head to chase the thoughts away, and he gave a strong flap of his wings to carry him over the little town.

The first of his boys he found was Melody. His weapon of choice was a scythe, something he was using to great effect to decapitate Sinners that seemed to be trying to fight him. Curious, the Sinners had never tried to fight Adam, but perhaps they didn’t realize what his boys were. The soldiers were new, and the little scum perhaps thought they had a chance.

One of the Sinners seemed to try and catch Melody by surprise, leaping for him from atop a building nearby. Adam felt his muscles tense, but he forced himself to stay in place. He couldn’t interfere; this was the first real test, to see if they truly were invulnerable like him, and if they could handle themselves in a fight.

Melody grunted as he hit the ground, but he quickly rolled with the momentum and shoved the demon away. There had been a flash of metal, but when he got to his feet, Adam couldn’t see any sign of injury. Either the Sinner had missed, or… He looked to find the now cowering bastard, making note of the blade that had been bent at an angle. There it was – no damage to his boy, and the measly little weapon the Sinners had simply could not pierce divine skin.

Its head went rolling when Melody spun, swinging his scythe.

So far, so good. Though it was interesting seeing Melody away from Chorus, which probably meant that the other one was…

Adam had the perfect vantage point to see the rocket of black feathers diving into a larger demon that looked to be charging at Melody. Whether he thought the bastard could hurt his fellow soldier or not, Chorus didn’t seem to care – his broadsword had cleaved the Sinner entirely in half, from head to torso. Both parts bloomed like the petals of a bloody flower, viscera spraying and covering the soldier. His eyes, a sharp orange in a sea of grey, were practically glowing as they snapped to the next target. The weapon he held was heavy and unwieldy, but he still swung it with effect towards anyone that attempted to charge him, or especially anyone that threatened Melody. He was as silent as ever while Melody began laughing and egging the Sinners on, demanding they give him a challenge. Pompous and full of it, but why not? They were invulnerable to the weaponry Sinners had down here.

The pair went in separate directions, chasing after Sinners that were now desperately attempting to flee for their lives, no longer having any degree of confidence or bravery to face down their doom.

With that confirmation, Adam turned and flew across the town, scanning the roads for more of his boys. It wasn’t long before he heard the telltale chorus of the largest group of his. He landed on the tallest building, which was really only a few stories above the ground, but he settled down to watch the absolute sadistic carnage below.

“Hey, Sonata! I’ve got one!” Stanza had a Sinner by the throat, his halberd being used for him to lean against as he watched the Sinner struggle desperately, claws scrabbling at the iron grasp. Across the road, Sonata grinned and adjusted his hold on a silvery club.

“Toss it!” He adjusted his weight. When Stanza threw the demon, chucking it by the throat, he swung the club just as it got closer. The sound of fracturing bone and squelching brain matter soon overtook the wailing sobs of other Sinners as the rat was sent into the far building, becoming nothing more than a red splatter on the side.

“That’s a hit!” Symphony pumped his fists into the air. His own halberd, a double-sided one compared to Stanza’s single sided but larger one, was currently embedded in a large Sinner’s chest cavity, the creature still gasping weakly for air as its life slowly drained away. When he reached and ripped it out, a chunk of a momentarily beating heart came with it before the Sinner finally collapsed. “My turn. Come on, Serenade!”

Adam folded his wings back as he watched. Not only were they not struggling even remotely, they were full on playing. It was a sick, twisted game, using the bodies of sobbing, begging Sinners essentially as either target practice or some sort of sport. When Serenade threw another Sinner, arms already carved off, at Symphony, he swung his halberd through the air and cleaved the body completely in two, with both sides hitting the road and bouncing off into the distance. Something like this would be frowned upon if Heaven saw it, seen as cruel punishment.

But to Adam, this was perfect. They had the same sadism as he did, which was exactly what he needed to see in his soldiers if they were going to work as one unified group.

“Commander!” He was shaken from his thoughts by Stanza, who was waving him down. “Want a go?”

“Count me in.” Adam grinned, and one powerful push of his wings carried him down to the street level. He pulled his axe out and twirled it. “Let’s see how hard you can throw that thing!”

Stanza grinned, reaching to grab another Sinner by the throat. He didn’t care that he was crushing the thing’s bones and body to shape it into a more aerodynamic shape; his gaze remained on Adam’s, and soon he was throwing the balled-up Sinner right at him.

At first, Adam had every thought to spike the Sinner into the ground, but he adjusted his axe at the last minute and swung the broadside forward, slamming into the Sinner and sending him rocketing into the sky. Blood and viscera splashed across his robes and face, and there were definitely remnants of the thing’s skull on his axe when he pulled it back down. But the body flew through the air, vanishing in the distance.

“Woah! Nice one, sir!” Stanza grinned. He ran over and offered his hand up, which Adam clapped his own against. “You definitely won the longest strike.”

“It ain’t just my swing that’s the longest,” Adam chirped, and that earned a rolling laugh that drowned out the desperately groaning and screaming around them. “You boys having a good time then? Any issues?”

“Nope.” Symphony joined them, jamming his halberd into the face of a Sinner that had been bleeding out at their feet. “Fuck, this is the most fun I’ve had in my life!”

“You’re a year old, is that so surprising?” Serenade asked, draping an arm across his shoulder. They were all covered in varying degree of gore except Symphony, who immediately pushed Serenade away with a huff.

“Don’t get that shit on me!”

“Come on, you’re bound to get all bloody at some point. Embrace it!” Serenade grinned, but Symphony still kept his distance, sticking his tongue out. He reached for his weapon, a javelin that he seemed quite partial of.

“Not a chance. I want to keep my distance.” He huffed, using the shirt of a dead Sinner to clean the point of his javelin.

“Suit yourself.” Serenade shook his head, but there was no fight that Adam needed to break up, at least. The group stepped back, with Stanza turning to grin up at him.

“I’ll keep an eye on them, if you’re worried.” As if he could read Adam’s mind. He shook his head but grinned, clapping Stanza on the shoulder.

“Good shit. Now, clear out this whole sector. Don’t get too distracted with playing games, yeah?”

“Yes, sir!”

All four of them saluted as Adam opened his wings and took to the sky. That was most of them, which left four others for him to check in on. One of which he was almost excited to see in action, and he had to hope he had time to get to him. But it was important he checked in on everyone. No favorites. Well…one favorite.

Viola, Lyre, and Harp were next. They’d taken an entire block by themselves, and Adam could hardly believe his eyes when he landed on his perch and saw Lyre in action.

This man had always been timid, ducking behind Viola and letting the more brash soldier do the talking. He’d been unsure of himself, lacked any degree of confidence, and had been on Adam’s radar as far as concerns for his performance.

Yet he was drenched in scarlet blood, both of his blades dripping with excess viscera that was flung across the bodies strewn on the road when he wrenched them free from the throat of a Sinner. His head turned when Harp shouted out another group of Sinners that were trying to barricade themselves in a nearby building, and he went crashing through the door. Soon, the building was full of the sound of breaking furniture and desperate cries.

“…holy fuck, is that Lyre?” Adam landed next to Viola, who glanced up at him, a grin on his face.

“Yep! I didn’t know he had it in him.” He leaned back, resting his own axe on the ground in a similar pose to Adam. “I know you were worried if he would be able to do this…I think this is proof, huh?”

“Fucking shows me wrong, huh?” Adam shook his head and laughed before glancing up where Harp was perched. “What about him?”

“Those eyes of his are good at catching the cowardly fuckers hiding.” Viola nodded, holding a hand out. “He hasn’t really killed anything so far, other than a few that thought they were safe behind some broken rubble. He turned them into a pin cushion.”

“Huh.” Adam leaned on his axe before looking to Viola himself. “And you?”

“I’m making sure nothing gets past Lyre. Think he really needed this, he was feeling all bad about not living up to your expectations, sir.”

“I…really?” Adam blinked. Fuck, had he been that obvious? Given Lute’s reaction to him…he really wasn’t good at hiding anything. Ugh, fucking great. “Well, tell him he’s doing a good job. Think he’s got the kill record so far, so I’ll figure out some kind of reward for him if he wins this.”

“Sounds good, sir.” Viola fired off a salute before whipping around and swinging his axe when Harp called out a nearby Sinner, driving the body into the nearby building to pin it there. “We got this from here.”

“Nice work.” Adam lifted himself back up into the air, angling his wings to the only section of the town that he had yet to visit.

Of course, Lute wasn’t going to lose the competition. For as hard as Lyre seemed to be working, even with the support of Harp and Viola, Lute was simply on another level. He was the one that won his place as Adam’s lieutenant, after all, and that hadn’t been luck. Not given the scene he had arrived upon.

The streets were full of bodies, all of them not only dead but eviscerated. There were no gasps for life, no pleas for mercy, no begging for safety. Just…dead. Dead silence, broken periodically by a shout that was soon silenced by a blade piercing the victim’s throat. Each blade slice had been precise, only one swing across each body strewn around. If it wasn’t the throat, it was the heart, or through an eye. Precision, swiftness, and deadliness.

Adam landed on a flat rooftop and peered over to watch, not wanting to be seen like he had with the others. He wanted to watch Lute on his own, the only one of them that wasn’t currently grouped up with any other of the soldiers, yet there were just as many if not more bodies surrounding him.

Lute’s uniform was splashed with red, covering his hip and shoulder, dripping from his chin and stuck in his hair. His wings were speckled in it and, when he spread them wide and flapped, blood spattered across the street. His silver blade was coated in it as well, having just been ripped out of the body in front of him.

At the moment, his back was to Adam, so all he could see were the muscles of Lute’s just beneath his clothes. There was tension there, also in the way he held his wings. The uniform left little to the imagination, though; it accentuated the firm muscles, not too large on his otherwise lithe body, but clearly strong. And his ass…why the fuck was Adam looking at his ass?! But once his attention had snapped to it, he simply could not pull his gaze away. His ass was on full display, connected to thighs that could probably crush his head if Lute tried. The whole package was picture perfect, more so than any woman he had ever had the pleasure of feeling up. He could just imagine that supple skin, likely hardened by rigorous training, but still as pristine as the ivory statues that humans used to depict gods. Oh, how they had haunted his dreams for so long, and now he had a front row seat to watch how the muscles flexed when a Sinner went running, and Lute charged after.

“Fuck.” Adam reached, trying to clean drool that had leaked a little out of the corner of his mouth. Drooling over a man’s ass, of all things? But there was something about seeing Lute like this, in combat and actually killing, that differentiated his interest that he’d shared back in the barracks.

Especially when Lute turned around, and Adam caught a glimpse of his burning, yellow eyes and that smile. That sick, twisted, demented smile that looked more at home on a monster than an angel. It stretched his face in a way that Adam had never seen. He knew Lute was dutiful in his training, but feral like that?

Adam had to sink down on the roof, eyes wide as his heart thumped rapidly in his chest. Oh… He could only imagine what having that look, that expression, directed towards him would feel like. The feathers of his wings fluffed up behind him, and he reached to try and pat them down, still not wanting to be caught watching the other angel. He wasn’t sure why, the others that he’d approached all seemed happy to share their progress. Lute hadn’t…really wanted to be around him before, though, and even the little interaction in his office hadn’t settled that much. It had been for business.

On the streets below, Lute had another Sinner by a horn, ripping its head back and bracing the edge of his blade against its throat. With one easy twist of his wrist, the body fell away while the head remained, suspended in his grasp with droplets of blood painting the ground at his feet, a few catching on his boots. And there was…laughter. That was fucking laughter coming out of his demented lieutenant. Sure, the rest of his boys had been enjoying themselves, but to see Lute on his own, away from everyone else, and reveling in the actions…

It was the hottest fucking thing Adam had ever seen.

Now was absolutely not the fucking time, yet his cock seemed to have other ideas, as it had the last few months – really, ever since he’d first started looking at Lute. At the most inopportune times, his damn body decided that he was absolutely attracted to a man, and the only thoughts that filled his head was taking those well sculpted thighs, shoving them open, and burying his cock into what he could only imagine being the tightest ass ever. Especially given the stick Lute seemed to have shoved up there at all times.

Adam bit his lip and rolled onto his backside, pressing his shoulders and the back of his head against the half wall of the rooftop that he was perched on. Staring down his body, there was the fucking bulge just beneath his battle robes. The fact that even now, when he was in Hell and ready to slaughter Sinners, his body prioritized imagining how he and Lute could celebrate after was something fucking else. He bit his lip and reached, cupping and squeeze the lump, sending a pleasant wave of pleasure running down his spine. Fuck…

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he grumbled before shifting. He started bundling his robes up, slowly but surely pooling them between his stomach and his pecs. The heat of Hell made his already warm body that much hotter, and he bit his lip when he went to trace a finger along the band of his undergarments. Was he really going to do this? In fucking Hell of all places? Where any one of his boys could stumble upon him, especially Lute?

The idea sent another wave of pleasure that had his cock twitching. Well…that answered his thoughts.

He pushed the band of his undergarments down until it hooked just beneath his balls, allowing his cock to spring up at full mast. The temperate realm of Heaven was far more pleasant than the overpowering, near suffocating heat of Hell that he was currently surrounded by, and sweat was already beginning to run down his forehead when he reached to wrap his hand around his pulsing length. He was…really fucking doing this.

“Just…a quick one,” he panted, starting to move his hand at a steady pace. He could still hear the silencing of screams down below, and every now and again the cackling glee of his current obsession. It was easy to play the scene that was burned into his head out – Lute charging forward, grabbing another Sinner, impaling their chest to silence their filthy heart. Another that he grabbed by the throat and seamlessly cut their lower half from their upper half, letting the blood splash across his uniform and bits of uncovered skin.

Or…in Adam’s mind, his fully bare body. That beautiful, ivory flesh flushed with the gold of his blood beneath the curtain of Sinner red. His bloodied hand reached forward, and Adam imagined his hand closing around it, almost taking in his full wrist as well. His own body was pure, unsullied by the blood of Hell at least during this purge, yet Lute’s body pressed up against his. The blood spread across his robes, which soon fell away for only Adam’s sun-kissed skin to be on display, colored by his own flush that was being consumed by the red that practically cascaded off of Lute’s body.

A little whimper escaped his throat as he squeezed his pulsing cock, speeding up the movement the more he imagined Lute’s body wrapping around his, wings and arms folding into a hug that didn’t even cover his entire body, nor did either set of limbs touch on his other side. The man was so much smaller than Adam, yet commanded so much of his attention and focus that he struggled to direct his thoughts anywhere else. He was soaked – in reality, in sweat, yet in his mind it was that disgusting blood that spilled freely from Lute’s victims, the very substance that he’d reveled in during previous trips to Hell. But he’d never found it appealing, not until it was the only color decorating his otherwise monochromatic lieutenant with piercing yellow eyes…

“L-Lute, fuck,” Adam breathed, bringing his other hand up to cover his mouth as he sped up the movements of his hand. The heat of Hell was starting to consume his body, making it difficult to hear anything beyond the thundering of blood in his ears, drowning out even the desperate screams that had slowly depleted in the immediate area. The very realm of Sin, and Adam was there unable to stop his mind from falling towards something that he had never thought himself interested in, something so deliciously wrong that it only added to the way his belly fluttered and the length of his cock seized.

Close…he was getting close, fuck.

There was no explaining why the scene, so vivid in his mind, was so appealing to him in ways that no other partner of interest had managed to come even close to. And even compared to his prior ones, it wasn’t him fucking the man; it was the man wrapping himself around Adam. It was him reaching, pulling Adam down to his level, taking command in ways that Adam had never experienced. It was those black lips pressing against Adam’s, cold against the heat pouring off of his body, demanding from him what he was so hesitant to give. Yet it was somehow the most attractive thing anyone had done to him. Demanding his attention, wanting him and no one else.

The shock of it ran through his system, causing Adam’s eyes to snap open as he pumped himself to his release, spilling over his hand. It left him breathing hard, unable to wrap his muddled brain around the idea that…that he’d just fucking masturbated to the idea of his bastard lieutenant kissing him. It hadn’t been the rough, vigorous sex he’d imagined before. And in the realm of Sin itself, he was having a hard time really and truly understanding what had just happened.

“Fucking…fuck,” he cursed, cleaning off his hand the best he could and putting himself away, pulling his undergarments up and shoving his robes back down over his body. His head was still fuzzy, his attempts to focus a little slower than usual, but he got to his feet and turned back to where the carnage was below him.

Lute had seemingly finished, and his head was turned towards the Embassy tower in the center of the town. When Adam followed his gaze, he made note of where the clock hands were. Ah, time to go then. Fuck, he hadn’t had the chance to get a single kill in, too focused on checking in on his boys. Ah well… He did his best to pull himself together before flapping down to where Lute was.

“Lieutenant, hey! Nice fucking work.”

“Sir.” Lute turned. That demented expression was immediately hidden behind his usual, neutral face. Adam missed the look, but he didn’t push. Especially since he didn’t want Lute to know he’d been spying, and…fucking masturbating to him…

“So, think you won the competition?”

“Without a doubt.” Lute looked around. “Though a few escaped me. I’ll have to work harder in the future.”

“Take the victories as they come, huh?” Adam clapped Lute on the shoulder before turning. “Time to head back. Go collect the boys, yeah?”

“Yes, sir.”

Getting back to Heaven was always refreshing. For as fun as Hell was, the heat was awful, the atmosphere was suffocating, and being covered in grime and blood wasn’t pleasant when it started to dry. They returned to the Golden Gates and immediately made their way out to the barracks, keeping out of sight of Winners as Adam had always been told. They weren’t…meant to see this sort of thing.

Though their activities were always meant to be silent and hidden from the world, Sera did lavish praise upon Adam when he met up with her to discuss their results. Obviously, the trip to Hell had been a success, and even if Adam himself hadn’t done any killing – not that he’d admit it to Sera – the final number count was still much higher than even his best years. It was considered a resounding success between the two of them, and Adam couldn’t help but preen with pride when Sera congratulated him on a job well done. It showed that this little project had validity, and ultimately that Adam himself could be considered a proper commander with a reliable army.

When he returned to the barracks, he damn right threw a celebration with his boys. They’d never experienced such a thing before, but they all became quick fans because of the wine and the food that Adam had delivered, and just the general atmosphere. All, of course, except for Lute.

His lieutenant, dutiful as ever, had made his way back to his office and immediately got to work on next steps. All of that joy and eagerness that Adam had snooped on and seen in Hell was replaced by his normal stoicism. It worried him, because it would do no good if one of his own was unhappy outside of the annual trip to Hell…

“Lieutenant?”

“Yes, sir?” He glanced up from his desk, twirling the quill in his hand.

“You know we’re celebrating your success in Hell, right? I mean, all of you guys did amazing, but you’re the one that won the actual count?” Adam hesitantly walked over. For once, he’d actually wanted to remain aware of himself, so he had yet to have anything to drink. Just in case he did something stupid, like what he’d done on the rooftop earlier that day… “You don’t have to work right away?”

“That’s…not really my scene.” Lute shook his head. He furrowed his brows but his expression didn’t shift much beyond that. “I don’t like crowds. Besides, I’m your lieutenant, even if you hate that. My performance doesn’t need to be celebrated, it’s to be expected.”

“Who’s pushing that expectation? It isn’t me.” Adam looked surprised. He walked down and sat in a chair that he dragged over to Lute’s desk. “You can relax, you did a good job.”

Lute just offered a shrug. At least he wasn’t asking Adam to leave, or stonewalling him. It gave Adam at least some degree of hope that things were finally settling between them.

The room fell into silence for a little while, other than the scratching of the quill on paper. Rather than break the silence, Adam leaned forward to see if Lute would allow him to look at what he was working on.

For the most part, it looked to be a full report of Lute’s performance in Hell. But along with it were notes regarding potential struggles, and possible improvements, targeting primarily the acrid atmosphere that they were forced to breathe. There was also the issue of their uniforms being a little too loose, and other improvements to be made including steel boots in place of the ones they wore now.

“What are those?”

“…I was going to present these to you.” Lute shrugged before tapping the scroll. “After experiencing the realm myself, there are adjustments I think will help our performances. If…you’d like to listen to them…?”

“Fuck it, let’s hear everything you got.” Adam took the olive branch as soon as it was offered. There was a flash in Lute’s yellow eyes, surprise mixed with caution, but he ended up scooting his chair closer and presenting the notes more formally so Adam could read them. But rather than focus himself, he asked that Lute describe all of it.

That was the rest of their evening. Lute was still stiff and a little wary of him, but Adam kept encouraging him to talk freely. He got to see the ways those yellow eyes lit up whenever he brought up something interesting, such as the improvements that he wanted to make for the army. The investment that he had in the rest of the soldiers was actually nice, and only further solidified Adam’s choice in making Lute his lieutenant.

By the end of the night, the ideas that had stuck involved filtered helmets to better handle the brimstone-ladened atmosphere of Hell. They would also be used to unify the look of the army, and in Adam’s own words, “would look so badass.” What he ended up sketching out had both of them eagerly agreeing it was just what they needed. They also had some improvements to the uniforms overall, bringing something more reliable and functional rather than the general angelic look. For Adam, robes worked just fine, but he recognized his boys wanted something more practical.

When Adam was heading out for the evening, having not realized that he’d missed the rest of the party because he’d gotten so engrossed in this discussion with Lute, he heard the other man clear his throat on the way out.

“What is it, lieutenant?”

“…it’s stupid,” Lute admitted after a moment. “But I was wondering if we wanted a better…word for what we’re doing in Hell.”

“What, killing Sinners ain’t good enough?”

“I was more thinking…” Lute rolled his shoulders. “What we’re doing, it’s more than killing – we’re purging that realm of creatures that don’t deserve their afterlives.” He glanced up and gestured. “Sera probably wants to sugarcoat it because it’s her dirty little secret.”

The boldness in how Lute casually called Sera out surprised Adam. Much as he liked the angel, there was a degree of truth to his words.

“What do you have in mind instead?”

“…why not call them what they really are? These are exterminations.” Lute sat up a little straighter. “Exterminations, and we’re exterminators.”

“Hmmm. It’s got a ring to it.” Adam tapped his chin. “But I think there’s a better word to describe what you and the other boys are.”

“What’s that?”

“Exorcists.” He grinned. “It makes it sound more heavenly, right? You’re exorcising the Sinners. But I do like the idea that the day itself is extermination.” He clapped his hands together before nodding. “I like the idea a lot, bitch. From here on out, we’re calling today Extermination Day. And you are my ever-loyal exorcists.”

Lute perked a little at that, and Adam felt good about it. He lifted a hand to offer a wave, and he earned a small smile with a wave in response.

The warmth that filled him went beyond the lustful obsession he had felt earlier that day while wanking it in Hell to the absolute massacre that Lute had performed – this warmth was nice. It was…gentle, enticing in ways that he hadn’t felt from anyone else since…a time he didn’t like to remember. But rather than focus on that hurt, he went home and fell asleep cradling the image of that soft smile towards him close to his heart.

Chapter Text

The first purge, dubbed Extermination from that moment on, had been a success. The following was just as successful, and the four more after were similar. Adam’s exorcists were performing better and better after each one, the Sinner body count rising by dozens with the ten of them working. Even better when Adam started holding competitions for second place kill counts, promising whatever they wanted. Not that he could stop himself from taking them out to places or giving them things during the year that they asked for, especially when Lute won every competition he set. There really was no beating him in a killing competition, it seemed.

Of course, eventually the numbers started to taper off. Despite all of them working hard to cleanse that pit, more and more Sinners were being left behind. Adam had to request the creation of more exorcists as a result. Ten became twelve, twelve became fifteen, fifteen became twenty. Advancements in humans on Earth gave way to more instruments and melodically related terms to add to the names, such as Chimes, Flute, and Orchestra. He also threw in others when he ran out. Even if they were still all men, he couldn’t help but use some other things he was interested in! Like…Tits, Vagina, and Thighs. He got looks at these, but eventually they settled in as well.

Before long, Adam had an actual army, one that filled the barracks almost entirely. It was hard to hide them from Heaven properly with some of the more adventurous natured ones, so slowly they were given the freedom to wander into the city, integrating the dark-feathered exorcists with their brightly pastel-colored charges that they had been created to protect.

Lute had still been relatively cold to him, even after years of working together. The small smile from that first Extermination hadn’t taken down any of the walls that he’d built up to keep Adam out; their relationship at work was professional, and Adam had to suffer from constant morning wood and sexual fantasies that made it near impossible to enjoy company in his bed like he had for decades before Lute. There were times that he almost got another smile, or got close enough to Lute to spend more than a few minutes outside of work with him, but he’d say one thing or another and his lieutenant would immediately turn away and leave him.

Years of this.

Adam groaned as he slumped on his desk, absently spinning a little knick knack he had there. Humans really did come up with some of the most interesting things to keep on their desks, despite them serving no purpose and just taking up space. But he could admit that watching the golden rings spin and circle the dark sphere within was helpful in trying to pull his thoughts away from the frustration that he’d clung to for a while now.

Lute was…so difficult to figure out. Even Vagina, someone who hated his name immensely, he felt he had a better relationship with. If nothing else, at least he spoke to him. But not Lute. And it wasn’t only him; very few of the other man seemed to get much out of their lieutenant when he wasn’t barking orders or commands, snapping at them for being lazy, or otherwise making sure everyone did their jobs. Adam didn’t have to do it, but that was still the only time he got to hear a lot of Lute’s voice.

Speaking of, the door opened and the man always on his mind stepped in, carrying paperwork with him. He set it down on the desk and stepped back, lifting a brow down at him.

“Did you finish the documents I gave to you on Monday?”

“Uuuuuuh.” Adam blinked slowly before jerking straight up, scrambling around for which of the growing piles were the papers of interest. “Yeah, lemme…fuck, hang on. I’ve got them somewhere.”

Lute let out one of his ever-familiar exhales, and Adam felt himself twitch in irritation. But he clamped down on his reaction – the last time he’d lashed out at his subordinate’s disappointment, Lute had stopped talking to him directly for a few months. He’d had to force the interactions, and even then, it was only him talking for a while. So, this time, all he did was bite the inside of his cheek and continue to search for the paperwork.

“Aha!” He lifted up the stack. Aaaaand yep, he hadn’t finished it. Fuck. “Right, I’ll put this at the top of the list-”

“Sir, this needed to get done yesterday. I told you that. Were you not listening?” Lute put a hand to his head, brows knitting together.

“I was listening, bitch!” Adam defaulted to his usual insult, though Lute reacted with an eye twitch and a clenched jaw.

“Clearly not if you haven’t finished it! Sir, please? By the end of today, I need to get those to Sera.”

“Ugh, fiiiiine.” Adam waved a hand before plucking a feather from his wing. He paused to reach over and start playing a little device that had only recently made it to Heaven – a fancy little thing that played music, without needing to get out instruments or hire an entire orchestra to cram into his office. Not to mention the new genre.

As the music filled the office space, he found himself bobbing his head to the tune, his feather scratching ink over the scrolls and papers that Lute had given to him to complete. Now this was something to distract him! And it was working really well so far; it gave his brain something to focus on other than his frustrations, and passed the time of paperwork.

Of course, movement out of the corner of his eye had him peeking a little. Lute…was actually still there. Normally he’d leave Adam with whatever work he needed from him – this time, he was standing there. But there was a little sway to his hips, and a rocking to his body. It took Adam only a few moments to recognize that he was tapping his foot to the melody, and a part of him began to perk up. Oh? Was this something Lute actually liked?

He didn’t want to ruin this. He subtly reached over and turned the volume up even more, especially when the song got to a really good beat drop, and that got more of Lute moving to it. Adam himself had once again lost his focus because he wanted to watch his lieutenant move. It wasn’t even the usual parts of his body that had lived rent free in Adam’s head for so long; he loved watching the way those black feathers fluffed up, how the wings flexed softly, trying not to move too obviously. He turned his head more when he noticed Lute had closed his eyes, and he took in the somewhat more relaxed expression on his face.

That was the moment, Adam decided, that there was a lot more to his interests than just lustful desire.

When the song ended, Adam found his gaze meeting Lute’s. The exorcist stiffened a little and he half turned away, but not before Adam noticed the golden flush crossing his cheeks.

“Hang on, you don’t have to leave,” Adam offered, moving to get to his feet. Surprisingly, Lute actually held his stance. He slowly glanced over his shoulder at him, quirking a brow. “Heh…no one else that’s listened to that song has been that interested,” he offered lightly. “You’re the first one that really rocked out to it. Have you heard it before?”

“…” Lute studied him before slowly turning to fully face him again. “I…have a few of their records, yeah.”

“No shit?” Adam blinked before perking up, and he felt a grin cross his face. “Maybe I can come over some time and listen?”

Lute blinked a few times in surprise at him, and it took Adam a few moments to realize what he’d said. He leaned back and cleared his throat, shifting his gaze off to the side or anywhere in the office that wasn’t the piercing yellow eyes now locked on him.

“I, er…I mean…you know, it’d be cool to see what you’ve got,” he fumbled over himself a little. “Doesn’t even have to be on personal time, you could bring them in, or…y’know…”

“…there’s more on your mind than human music, isn’t there?” Lute said, and Adam stiffened. He bit his lip and furrowed his brows before glancing over.

“I…fuck. Look, I don’t like how things are between us right now. How things have been for a while now. We’re supposed to be commander and lieutenant, right? But it’s sort of mostly…you on your own, only coming to me when you need something.”

“As if you don’t?” Lute’s face hardened, and Adam ducked his head. Fuck, idiot, he needed to not put his damn foot in his mouth for this.

“That’s not what…I mean I…” Adam took a deep breath to try and refocus. “I more meant that I’d…like to...you know, we should work together more, not just because we have to but because we trust each other, right?”

“…”

“Fuck, I’m not saying this correctly.” Adam cursed himself before he got to his feet and kept his gaze on Lute’s deep yellow eyes. “Lieutenant…Lute…I’m sorry for the shit I said all those years ago. I’m sorry for saying I wanted nothing to do with you, and I’m sorry for saying I wish I hadn’t chosen you as my lieutenant. I’m sorry for all of that shit.”

He was tense when he finished, and he peeked at Lute with a slightly furrowed brow, trying to gauge his reaction.

Lute was watching him. For the first time in…probably ever, really, his face was openly stunned, and Adam could read the expression there far easier. There was a wariness, an uncertainty that Lute clung to, but the tightness around his eyes began to relax. Lute brought a hand up to run through his hair, and Adam’s gaze followed it.

“…you’re actually sorry?” he asked after a moment. “You’re not just pulling my leg or something?”

“It’s what’s been bothering you for a while, huh?” Adam rubbed his neck. “I mean, we ain’t really fought since then, and you were still mad at me, it seemed, so…”

Lute offered a little shrug. He crossed his arms and adjusted his weight, seemingly scanning Adam more like he was prey than his commander. Freaky, feral bastard.

“I’ll…think about letting you come over to listen to music,” he finally relented. “Permission to freely speak, sir?”

“Uh…yeah, granted.”

“The shit you said back then makes it hard to trust you now. But if you’re actually sorry about it, then maybe I’ll believe you.” Lute shifted his gaze off to the side, a furrow to his brow, before he looked up at him again. “Thanks. For apologizing, I mean, just…thanks.”

Adam looked surprised at that reaction. A lot of that tension that had permeated between them suddenly seemed to disperse, and for the first time since meeting him, Adam felt himself actually able to let himself relax.

“Sure thing. Now…” He tapped the papers he was supposed to be working on. “Do you mind? I’m overdue on these, after all.” He flashed a playful grin, and Lute rolled his eyes but seemed to mirror that expression.

“I’ll be back to collect them at lunch.”

That had been good…really good. Adam had never really apologized to anyone before, so he was surprised by how strong the word could be. Lute really had held onto those words that he’d struck him with, and realizing that added clarity to the silence since then. And it gave Adam a new desire to try and fix things further. This was the olive branch that he needed, and maybe he could at least start with friendship before he tried exploring the feelings he was starting to accept.

As promised, Adam got the papers ready for Lute when his lieutenant came back to collect them, and they spent a few moments more talking about…just random things. He even got a bit more of a smile from the otherwise stoic man, something that got stuck in Adam’s head for the rest of the day after he sent everyone home. A smile that made his stomach feel jittery, and his heartbeat speed up a little. He wanted to see more of that.

Something he hadn’t actually done much of since his interest in Lute had grown was go out, not since he stopped really looking for women to bring home. So, on a whim he decided that he wanted to that evening. As soon as he got home, he traded out his casual robes for something a little nicer. He wasn’t necessarily dressing up for anyone in particular, just…wanted to look good. He even put effort into fixing his hair, fluffing it up while watching his reflection in the mirror. He flashed his reflection a grin and a wink.

When he stepped out of his home and opened his wings, the sun had begun to set and Heaven itself came alive with those who loved the evening. And he couldn’t blame them; it was nice and chilly, the lights of the buildings yet radiated the warmth of the setting sun, and the braziers lit with beautiful blue flame, casting dancing shadows with people passing by on their way to whatever their evening activities included.

Even on the way to the winery, Adam found his eyes wandering. Though it hadn’t been his intention, this was sort of his final test – to see if he was interested in anyone else, or if Lute really was the center of his focus now.

There was a group of female Winners talking and laughing on the corner, holding onto what looked to be cups of coffee. At this hour? Geez. One was busty, with breasts that hung heavily from her chest, cupped and suspended only by a tight-fitting dress. Her face was done up well with makeup, giving her a sultry appearance that bordered what was allowed in Heaven on the scale of sinful lust. The very woman Adam would have casually walked up to and flirted with, unashamed. And yet…he didn’t care. He was able to recognize that she was beautiful, that she had everything going for her, but she just wasn’t what he wanted. Same with her friends – the shorter one, someone that would be a tight fit for someone of Adam’s size, had a bushy tail that he had loved pulling in the past. Her perked ears flicked on her head, and her laughter shook her body just enough to add an allure to her respectable breasts, yet Adam’s gaze just passed right on to the final girl. This one was rather flat chested, and her fur was a pristine white color.

Like Lute’s body.

Adam exhaled, but he couldn’t help a small smile on his face. This was the proof he wanted, the proof that he really…was done with other people. Until he actually approached the idea with Lute, he really had saved himself for him. Unlike before, though, it didn’t bother him – he was already planning out his next steps.

By the time he got to the winery, it was fully dark outside. The bartender rose a goblet for him, and he already had Adam’s favorite wine poured out by the time he got to his seat.

“Been a while since you’ve been around, sir,” the canine commented, tilting his head to the side. “Thought you found a new favorite place to drink.”

“Nah, just super busy with work.” Adam swirled his drink before tipping his head back to pour the liquid down his throat. The bitterness had him shiver, but it also added a nice warmth that pooled in his stomach. “Can’t imagine this place has been any less full without me.”

“Ah, I got a few of your regulars looking for you. And they stopped showing up after thinking you weren’t coming back.” The bartender offered a shrug. “Just good to see you again, hope work’s been going well.”

“Very well.” Adam grinned and turned his back to survey the rest of the winery around him. So many Winners, so many that he would be interested in trying to coax to bed were it not for his mind focused elsewhere.

The one downside that Adam hadn’t considered was being there alone was kind of…boring. A few goblets in and he was bouncing his leg, his brows a little furrowed as he tried to find something to just…do? What the fuck did anyone do at a winery if they weren’t trying to flirt with people? There was just nothing that seemed to catch his eye, which was starting to spoil his mood just a little bit.

He had just turned back to the bartender, intent on asking for a bottle to take home, when he heard the bell at the entrance ring out. Plenty of people had come and gone, but no one arriving had caused the surprised gasp that radiated through the people already inside. When Adam turned around, he saw why.

The exorcists hadn’t been allowed to explore Heaven properly for the earlier years of their life, but the more there were, the more likely Winners or other patrons of Heaven’s royalty were going to see them. With Sera’s blessing, Adam had started letting them go into the main city of Heaven. To hang out, to interact with their charges, just…be normal angels. Of course, their black wings and especially black, monochromatic halos stood out quite a bit, and many Winners hadn’t seen them before.

The group that had just walked in were done up quite nicely, some in black and gold robes, others in well groomed suits. It looked to be a reasonably sized group, too; the four S’s were there leading the pack, with Tits and Thighs following. Rock’n Roll was leaning on those two, his arms around their shoulders in a way that Adam was surprised he hadn’t seen at the barracks. Probably hiding it from him, not that he cared if they started banging each other. It wasn’t like they had a lot of options until they were allowed out into Heaven proper.

It was the last of the exorcists that caught Adam’s eye, of course.

Lute was dutiful, and likely overworked himself constantly. Even to this day, he was always the last one to leave the barracks when it was time to end the day. Seeing him there, dressed in a black suit that Adam had no idea he owned, his hair fixed up and tied back, other than his ever-familiar bangs, really caught the First Man off guard. The jacket was also popped open a little, showing off Lute’s white pecs, just visible in the V-shape of the clothing.

Holy…fuck… Adam’s mouth felt cotton-y as he took the sight in, drinking in every inch of Lute’s appearance outside of his uniform. Not that he didn’t look good in that, but this was something new. And special.

For his part, Lute actually looked somewhat uncomfortable. He scanned the room in that way Adam knew meant he was taking in exits and danger spots, something he did in Hell during the Exterminations, even if Heaven was perfectly safe. When Sonata noticed him hanging back, he was dragged forward by the arm, causing him to stumble in surprise but fall into step after the other exorcist.

Adam lifted a brow before pushing himself up, moving to settle into the booth right next to where his boys were, just to listen in. Spying was perhaps not the best thing to do on troops that he should trust and should trust him, but he didn’t want to surprise them with his presence.

“…looking like a lost child,” Symphony was saying, and the others were chuckling in amusement.

“This just…isn’t my scene.” That was Lute’s voice. It still had that same, harsh undertone to it, but it also sounded a touch softer in this moment. “What the fuck do you even do at a winery, anyway?”

“Uh, you drink. Come on, lieutenant, you could stand to loosen up just a little!” Tits scoffed lightly.

“Wine doesn’t really do much for me.” Those were the last words Adam heard from Lute for a little while, the booth becoming louder with all of the others’ voices.

Adam relaxed against the wooden seat and flagged down the bartender again, getting himself another goblet to enjoy while he listened to his boys. They sounded like they were having a lot of fun, at least from the voices he could hear. They had been warned to not discuss business outside of the barracks, and it seemed like they were all keen on sticking to that rule because they were mostly talking about how cool some of the local stores were to visit. A few even mentioned wanting to take some Winners out on some dates. They were getting the chance to be real, normal angels in between the annual Exterminations, and that just made Adam smile.

He hadn’t realized that Lute had slipped away from the group until there was movement on the other side of his own table. He turned his head and caught those sharp eyes watching him.

“Lieutenant! What’re you…?”

“You really think I didn’t notice you when I walked in?” Lute just settled back. The voices in the other booth stopped, but then they slowly picked back up with the same cadence and tone, without changing topics. “We all did. Kind of curious how you’d act, because I know you saw us, too.”

“Sheesh, asshole.” Adam’s face warmed a bit in embarrassment, and he scratched at his cheek. “I didn’t want to interrupt your time out, that’s all.” Not to mention, he hadn’t been invited to this little outing. Normally, he’d have no problem crashing a gathering, but with his boys…he wanted to do right by them. Especially with Lute.

Lute lifted a brow at that before simply taking a seat across from him, resting his cheek in hand. Adam wasn’t…sure what to make of the action or display, but the imagery really made it seem like they were dating. If only they actually could.

“Not going to rejoin them?”

“I’m a bit more interested in why you’re here, alone.” Lute’s gaze shifted to scan the interior of the bar. “Any of these women catch your attention?”

“What? That’s…I mean, I wasn’t really looking, I…” Adam shifted. He peeked at Lute before uttering out a groan. “No. And that’s not what I came out here for, I just wanted to get a drink. The bartender’s also an old friend and I wanted to catch up with him.”

“You with friends?” His words were somewhat mean, but that look on his lieutenant’s face was a lot lighter. Adam’s brows rose before he flashed a smile instead.

“Hey, I got friends! I’m pretty popular out here, you know. You’re talking to the First Man, after all.” Adam held his head up, putting a hand to his own chest. “You should be just as amazed.”

“You know, I could be. If I hadn’t seen the state of your office before I started cleaning it.” Lute’s eyes held his gaze, and there was a smirk there, too. An actual smile, directed at Adam, and it made his stomach flutter pleasantly. “Or the stained robes after you eat lunch. It kind of dispels that regal image.”

“H-hey!” Adam’s cheeks colored, both in embarrassment at the callout and the way he was feeling because Lute was smiling at him. “I’ve gotten better!”

“Uh huh.” Lute hummed. He was still watching Adam until a waiter came by to offer them both drinks. Adam’s hadn’t actually been finished, and Lute looked over to meet his eyes. “…what are you drinking there?”

“Technically it’s a special blend made only for the First Man,” Adam responded, trying to sound important there. When Lute lifted a brow, however, he just flashed a grin. “Kidding. Get a goblet for him, and I’ll take a top off.” He lifted his own, and the waiter inclined her head.

With that interruption gone, they both settled into companionable silence for a few moments. Adam caught Lute’s gaze shifting around the room a few times. Instead of that wariness, there was perhaps a small sense of wonder there. He never showed emotion back at the barracks, not quite like this.

“First time at a winery, I take it?” Adam asked.

“You only just started letting us go out,” Lute pointed out.

“You know the strings I had to pull to even get Sera to consider it.” Adam rested his cheek in hand, swirling his goblet before taking a sip.

“I know. I proofread your report.”

Adam felt a grin cross his face at that, and he was pleasantly surprised to find it mirrored back at him.

The waiter came back with the requested drink. Lute tried a large gulp, and Adam couldn’t help but laugh at the way his face twisted at the taste of the bitter liquid.

“You’re supposed to sip wine,” he explained, bringing his up again and lightly sipping along the rim. “You can’t just chug it like you do with water after an exercise routine.”

“I’ve seen you chug this stuff!” Lute coughed. “How do you stand this?”

“Decades upon centuries of practice.” Adam grinned. “I’m pretty damn experienced, you know – aged like a fine wine.” He lifted his goblet. Lute rolled his eyes at that, but he did bring his own up to clink against Adam’s.

“Or you just have bad tastes because you’ve festered,” he countered.

“Says the bastard that has a hard time cleaning his uniform,” Adam responded, keeping out the rest of that sentence.

“I don’t…!” Lute fumbled, and his cheeks burned a little. That color was incredible on his pale skin, and actually getting the chance to fluster his lieutenant gave Adam a sense of pride that had him grinning even more.

“You literally did all of the paperwork while wearing it the last time,” Adam teased back. “You didn’t realize that, did you?”

Lute huffed and took the chance to sip from his goblet, turning his head away. But it wasn’t like the time Adam had actually upset him; his cheeks were still flushed, whether from embarrassment or something else, and he did peek over at Adam out of the corner of his eye. When Adam met his gaze, he looked away again.

“…fine, touché. You got me.” He set the goblet down and shook his head a little. He glanced up at him again. There was something in his expression that Adam couldn’t quite place.

“What? What’s that look for?”

“Nothing.” Lute paused and considered before gesturing at Adam. “Just…you’re actually kind of fun to talk to. When you’re not talking about the women you want to pick up, or ranting about yourself.”

“I’ll have you know that I’m a very interesting topic!” Adam held his head high. “And you should be honored that I’ve taken interest in you!”

“Taken interest in me, huh?” Lute rested his chin on his hand.

Adam opened his mouth before pausing. He hadn’t…actually meant to say that, and his cheeks burned a little with his embarrassment. He tried to look anywhere but at Lute, but his eyes kept shifting back over to him.

“…fine, fuck. Alright, look, I like spending time with you, lieutenant,” he admitted, sinking in his seat. “I fucked up a while ago because I wasn’t sure why I wanted to spend time with you, and it was weird to feel that interested in someone else. But now, I guess I’m just…realizing that I actually sort of like your stupid, obedient, angry ass.”

Lute gave him a surprised look at that. He seemed to hold his gaze for quite some time before Adam was forced to look away, but not before he caught the tail end of a smile cross Lute’s face.

“Despite all of the issues I’ve had with you, sir, I think I can enjoy being around you, too. And I think we work well together, too, as commander and lieutenant.” Lute nodded. He actually did look happy, and Adam found himself watching him curiously. Either he hadn’t picked up on what Adam was insinuating, or…well, it wasn’t like the exorcists had dated anyone before.

“Yeah. We do, huh?” Adam grinned lightly. He moved to his feet after finishing his wine, stretching his arms above his head. “Anyway, I should probably head home. You boys have fun tonight, yeah?”

He’d almost made it to the door when he heard movement behind him, and he turned to see Lute was following after him. At the booth behind him, the other exorcists were smiling and waving after him. Huh…

“I…figured I’d fly you home, sir,” Lute offered up at him. “I only came out today because I wanted to see what it was like. To be honest, this isn’t really my kind of scene.”

Adam blinked. A part of him wanted to reject Lute, it sounded like a guy trying to walk a girl home because he’d done this before. But…the lieutenant’s eyes were brighter than he had seen them before, how could he push him away? Especially now that he was beginning to accept…

“Alright, sure.” Adam nodded and opened his wings, lifting off of the ground with a strong push of his wings, Lute following in behind him.

It was nice. Even though neither of them said anything at first, Adam found a serene sense of peace flying with Lute. The two brushed feathers a few times, and he couldn’t help the playful little flick when he angled his wing to ruffle the other man’s. Lute responded in kind, and before he knew it, they were both tumbling through the air. Adam hadn’t done this with anyone before because no Winner could keep up with him. Lute, though…while he wasn’t better, he wasn’t bad. He followed after him in the flips and dives, the swoops and rolls, and by the time they made it to Adam’s penthouse, the two of them were actively laughing.

“Fuck, you are the first person that actually gave me a challenge,” Adam commented, landing on the balcony. Lute remained hovering just next to it, but he was wearing a bright smile of his own.

“You’re someone I aspire to beat, sir,” he offered. “And I’ll train until I do.”

“Good fucking luck.” And…Adam actually meant that. He stood there, watching Lute for a while, before he nodded his head. “Thanks for tonight. Started as a pretty lame evening, but got a lot better thanks to you.”

“I’m just glad I got to spend some more time with you. Now that you don’t hate me.”

“I never…” Adam let out a breath before offering a grin. “Hey, maybe we can spend more time outside of work?”

“I’d like that.” Lute nodded.

“Deal. Have a safe flight home.” Adam watched Lute until his black feathers vanished into the evening sky before turning around to step into his penthouse. Heh…that had been a really good night after all. And he now knew exactly what he wanted to do next.

Chapter Text

Adam had never really had to try when it came to attracting someone else for a date. Not that this was a date he was planning! This was a…not-date. Something just to see, after the night at the winery, if they could actually spend more time together and still maintain that playful closeness that they had really experienced on the way back to Adam’s penthouse. He wanted, so badly, to believe that Lute was feeling similarly. But he also recognized that the exorcist was entirely new to the world of dating, so he likely didn’t even know what flirting was. It didn’t seem innate like it was with some of the other guys; Lute had no idea what he was doing, clearly. And responded earnestly to anything Adam brought up or mentioned. A good subordinate, and that would make him a loyal wife, but that obedience wasn’t what he was looking for.

That was a strange thought in and of itself, too.

It had been a couple of weeks since that winery trip, and Adam was finalizing the plan he had started writing that day. He looked over what he had written out and nodded to himself. The nicest place in Heaven with the best food, and slightly fancier robes. He’d even forego the mask that he’d started to wear all around Heaven and make sure his hair is done up nicely. For the not-date. Yeah. Yeah…

“You wanted to see me, sir?” Lute poked his head into the office, carrying the ever-familiar pile of scrolls and papers that came from day-to-day activities in the barracks.

“Yeah, uh…yep! I did! Come on in, lieutenant.” Adam gestured to the chair opposite his, to which Lute settled down attentively. “How’re…things today?”

“Good?” Lute tilted his head in slight confusion before he cleared his throat. “I mean, as good as can be expected. All new weapons have been created, and the training has gone really well. There’s a new one among the group that is proving to be a force to reckon with, too.”

“Nice to hear.” Adam grinned lightly, kicking his legs up onto the desk. “And the paperwork?”

“All caught up on. Everything currently open is still in progress, so the backlog has been completely eliminated.” Lute’s voice sounded so much lighter at that, and he held his head high.

“Nice fucking job,” Adam praised, and more of that eagerness flashed across the exorcist’s otherwise passive expression. “You really have done wonders for this place, bitch.” He leaned back more in his chair, pushing the front legs up off the ground. “Honestly, we wouldn’t be nearly this well off if we didn’t have you.”

“I…thank you, sir.” Lute was doing his best not to break, but the corners of his mouth turned up.

It was the complete opposite of when Adam had snapped at him, and that smile seemed to only be directed at him because whenever they were anywhere else, Lute maintained that passive, neutral scowl that looked so out of place in Heaven. In a sense, it felt like it was meant for him and him alone; as if Lute maybe…felt similarly to him? He shook his head to dispel the thoughts. That didn’t matter, because he was going to take them on a not-date, as colleagues.

“So, you remember how I brought up spending more time together outside of work?” he asked, trying to remain casual and not let his nerves – why the fuck did he have nerves?! – get the better of him.

“Yes, sir?”

“Well, there’s this…place downtown. Makes incredible food, and I was thinking of going there this evening. So, y’know, if you’d like to join up with me or something?” Adam scratched his cheek.

Lute blinked a few times in surprise. The expression on his face wasn’t something Adam was able to place, but there was a brief moment of fear that the other man was going to immediately turn it down. Or, worse yet, accept it because he felt forced to do so.

Instead, Lute tilted his head to the side, watching Adam with that attentive gaze.

“Is…this for any particular reason?”

“Reason? Hah, why does there have to be a reason? You’re my lieutenant, right?” Adam waved a hand, trying to keep the uncertainty from being audible in his voice. “And, like I said, spending more time out of the office.”

“Without the boys, I take it?”

“Yeah! Just…y’know, just the two of us.” Adam tried reading the expression on Lute’s face, but it was so damn difficult to figure out what the bastard was thinking. “Like…you and I. Together.”

“Together? Like a-?”

“NOT a date.” He shook his head quickly. “It’s not a date; it’s an outing with commander and lieutenant. To this nice, amazing place to eat. We should recognize your incredible work, after all, right?”

“I wasn’t going to say date.” Lute was still watching him, and he felt his cheeks warm up at that.

“Right. Of course not! I was just…making sure.” Adam shook his head. “Look, are you interested or not?”

“I am.” Lute leaned back in his own chair. After a few seconds, he cracked a smile and quirked a brow. A real smile, something that had Adam’s heart hammering a little in his chest, and there was a weird, fluttery feeling in his stomach. That was a smile for him and him alone. “You sure you don’t want it to be a date? It sort of seems like that’s what you’re implying?”

“I’m sure!” Adam huffed at him. “This is a not-date because we aren’t a thing or…how the fuck do you even know about dates? Have you been on one before?”

“Uh…no.” Lute crossed his arms. “I’ve just read a lot of stories and watched performances involving courting.”

“Well, this isn’t courting. This is a professional night out in an unprofessional setting, where two work colleagues are going to spend time together and casually enjoy non-work-related conversation.” Adam turned his nose up to his ceiling.

The next thing he heard only made his stomach flutter even more – laughter. But it wasn’t cruel, mocking laughter. It also wasn’t the manic, crazy laughter he sometimes heard from Lute during Exterminations. Instead, it was just…a warm, hearty laugh. He sounded genuinely happy. When Adam looked over, he saw a sparkling in Lute’s yellow eyes that made his own blush increase. And those sharp pupils were oddly round.

“When and where, sir?”

“When and…oh. Oh! Uh…okay, right, so it’s this place here…Taste of Louisiana, whatever a Louisiana is. All I know is it’s got damn good food. And maybe…let’s say 6:00 PM tonight?” Adam tried to regain his composure after hearing that magical sound from his lieutenant, though it had left him quite flustered. “It’s nothing too fancy, but I feel like taking out a robe I haven’t worn in a few centuries, so if you want to…wear something…”

“I’ll just use that suit. You seemed to like it.” Lute nodded. Adam couldn’t quite tell if he understood entirely what was going on, if he…expected this to be anything different than a not-date. Did he think Adam really wanted it to be a date? Did he suspect anything? He was still wearing that smile on his face, but was there more behind it? Would he ruin this if he approached it like a date…?

Adam had to shake his head to dispel the questioning line of thoughts. He wasn’t going to ruin this again, he wasn’t going to yell at his lieutenant this time. Instead, he pushed himself up and flashed a lazy grin over at Lute.

“Let’s meet here at 5:30 sharp, yeah? We’ll fly together.”

“Yes, sir.”

The rest of the workday flew by, and Adam was constantly watching the time count down until he could send the rest of the boys home early. There seemed to be an idea of what was happening, not that he suspected Lute had talked about it, but he didn’t care. Not after all this time, after finally finding some footing with the person that had been haunting his dreams for years now. He didn’t answer any questions; instead, he simply sent them home. Of course, he had to make sure Lute was aware of the time, too, and he was pleasantly surprised to find that he had already chosen to take off. Punctual as ever.

That just left…Adam. He got home with plenty of time to spare, but that also meant really taking the time to look at himself.

After he shrugged off his work robes, he stood in front of the tall mirror that he had in his room. The man staring back at him was…not who he had spent a particularly long amount of time looking at, and the lazy smile on his face faded a little. He hadn’t realized just how…large he’d gotten. Where he normally stood, he’d be able to see his entire body; now, his sides expanded far enough to be cut off by the edges of the mirror. The abs he once had were long gone, hidden behind the rounded flesh that had only grown bigger over his gut. He’d taken good care of himself, he was well-groomed in all the right places, but this size was just…not something he had really spent time thinking about.

When he closed his eyes, he could see Lute’s pale, naked body from that day at the bathhouse all those years ago. He was likely still that fit, what with his rigorous training and routine, and there were so many angles on his sharp body compared to Adam’s more…rounded figure. He had abs, toned pecs, strong shoulders, all of the things that marked a powerful warrior and soldier. Adam had none of that, and in comparing the two of them, he was really starting to wonder if he was…all that he thought he was.

His fingers gently grazed the scar on his side, his brows furrowing a little. Lute’s skin was perfect, flawless, as if nothing could mar the surface. Adam, on the other hand, had scars. He had body hair, he had scruffy skin, he just lacked that perfection. Would Lute like this body? Would he ever want to actually spend time with him in a more intimate level? What if that’s what happened with this not-date, that things just led to one thing or another and Lute had to see him in this state, this ugly…version of who he once was.

“The fuck are you doing? You’re the First Man, for fuck’s sake.” Adam shook his head hard and smacked his own cheeks, trying to erase the debilitating self-doubt that he thought he’d long since buried under mountains of experience scoring female Winners in Heaven. “He should be honored that you’re giving him your time!”

Most of the time preparing was Adam trying to push back the concern eating away at him, though it manifested in him checking himself multiple times in the mirror while he was getting ready, ensuring that his robes weren’t too messy, that his hair was well slicked back, that he did a little bit of landscaping with his scruffy facial hair. By all accounts, he was damn sure he looked good. But would Lute think so…?

He was so focused on his concerns that he didn’t notice the time. His eyes widened when he read it was already a quarter to five, and he turned and immediately took to the sky as quickly as he could. His well-groomed hair whipped by the wind, and his robes got swept around behind the heavy push of his powerful wings. The frantic way his heart hammered in his chest was so unfamiliar to him – like he was a fucking virgin trying to court his first crush. What the fuck was this?!

Lute, naturally, was there when he arrived. And he was wearing that suit that had caused Adam’s mouth to run dry, which led to his eyes scanning the body in front of him that much more eagerly. Fuck, he pulled the look off so damn well.

“Sorry! Heh, sorry, got a little held up on the way over.” He stumbled to a stop next to the exorcist, cartwheeling his arms in an effort to keep his balance because he really had come in hot. “Hope you weren’t waiting too long.”

“I wasn’t.” Lute had quite the amused expression on his face, and Adam realized he would never get tired of it. That look was exactly what he wanted from him. It was so foreign, so unique, so…focused on him and only him.

“Good! Right, awesome. So…” Adam rocked on his heels. This wasn’t a date, and Lute wasn’t a woman… “Race?”

“You’re fucking on.” Lute’s eyes flashed, and his black wings flared open behind him. “Count us down?”

Adam’s smirk grew, and he shook out his own wings yet again and took a step back so he had space to spread them, twice as large as the other man’s. But who was showing off?

“Three…two…” He suddenly pushed his wings and took to the sky, shouting, “ONE!”

“Hey!” Lute’s response was swallowed up by the rushing win. Adam was already rocketing in the direction of the restaurant. All that time spent on his appearance, and the wind was making quick work breaking down his efforts. But he was also grinning, and soon there was a flurry of black feathers working to catch up to him.

The other residents of Heaven were mostly on the ground or within the buildings, so it gave the pair plenty of freedom to swoop and spin as they rushed through the city. At some point, Adam could hear another bit of laughter from Lute, and the weightless joy of his body wasn’t even comparable to how much his heart seemed to float within his chest. This was still a not-date, but dammit if he didn’t fully enjoy the joy coming from the other man.

At some point, he realized that Lute was right there, nearly at his level, and he had to push his wings forward to maintain his lead. But he did take a moment to dip low and flip upside down, grinning back at the exorcist and meeting one in return. No one else in the barracks, or in Heaven, got to see this expression – this was for him and him alone. The warmth in his yellow eyes, the smile on his face, the way the wind whipped back his short, white hair.

Fuck, maybe they could have a real date after this not-date…?

Naturally, Adam was the first one to arrive at the restaurant. He was the one who knew where it was, but even if Lute had, he would have won. He pumped a fist and flexed his wings, nearly knocking over a nearby Winner.

“Fuck yeah, I win!”

“You had advantages! Several!” Lute huffed, arriving only a few moments later. His own wings flapped a few times to keep himself steady.

“Name one.”

“You knew where the place was, I didn’t!”

“…name another.”

“You got a head start!”

Adam hummed lazily but just grinned at him, leaning over to poke his nose.

“Always take the advantage in a competition or a fight, right? No matter how dirty or underhanded, you should always come out on top.”

“Alright, so next time I’ll do the countdown-”

“Ah, ah, not with me,” Adam corrected. When Lute tilted his head, he just grinned wider. “You should never underhand me. I’m special, and deserve respect, and should be the only one ever cheating because I should always win.”

“That…logically makes no sense, sir.” Lute shook his head and reached to try and fix up his jacket. “You can’t always win.”

“Fuck you, yes I can.” Adam waved a little hand before turning, tucking his wings under his arms once more. “Anyway, come on. You’ll love the ribs here!”

Because of how important he was, and because he did call ahead and ensure they had this, they got their own, isolated little room on a balcony overlooking Heaven. The sun was setting in the distance, lighting up the city proper with the soft, pastel colorations that were so familiar with this realm. But what made this balcony location nice were the lights that turned on; white, dancing little lights that shimmered along the branches of the grown tree nearby as well as the railing and awning of the balcony.

When they were seated, Lute looked around curiously, and the lights lit up the yellow of his eyes. His marble skin even shone with it, making it that much brighter. Adam was happy to admire the look until he realized Lute was looking at him, at which point he brought up his menu and cleared his throat.

“R-right! Er…the ribs here are to die for, which is a figure of speech, by the way. They won’t kill you,” Adam amended quickly, and Lute lifted a brow.

“That’s just…a weird choice of speech then. Why would you want to die after eating something?” Lute shook his head incredulously.

“Eh, who knows? People like to use things like that to really emphasize how good or bad something is. In this case, they’re fucking incredible and you’ll love them.” Adam was sure of that, too. So sure, in fact, that he outright ordered a rack for an appetizer. He also pointed out a few choices of wine that he wanted Lute to try, and the exorcist happily seemed to order them.

After the waiter stepped back inside, Adam looked back down at the menu, tapping his finger on the table as he thought. What would Lute actually like? Normally, he’d order for both himself and the woman with him. She shouldn’t make decisions, after all; it was a man’s job. But Lute…well, Lute wasn’t a woman. When he glanced over, the other man was looking over his own, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“Got that look on your face,” Adam spoke up casually, pulling Lute’s attention back up to him. “What’s up?”

“I was trying to decide what I wanted to try, too.” Lute rubbed his chin absently. “This place all sounds really good, though I don’t know what…half of this is.”

“Oh.” Adam blinked. “Fuck, right, I guess you boys just started going out places, huh?” And he hadn’t exactly brought a lot of good food to the barracks, at least not the fancy shit like this place. He rubbed his head awkwardly before sitting up a little straighter. “Alright, uh…fuck, point out a few things and I’ll try to walk you through what they are.”

That was their next few moments. Lute ended up scooting the chair closer so that he was next to Adam and was able to point out things on the menu that he didn’t recognize, which really did come down to a number of foods that they hadn’t had the chance to try given the fact they were locked up in the barracks all the time. Adam made a mental note to at least order in more varieties for their lunches during the day, and to give them more free time to explore places in the city properly to be able to experience these kinds of foods. Right now, though, he appreciated the closeness on this not-date, and being able to watch Lute’s eyes light up every time he made the connection between the food on the page and Adam’s words.

By the time their ribs came out, Lute had seemingly settled next to Adam, and didn’t bother moving back to the other side of the table when he reached for the first bite. With a fork.

“Come on, bitch, you don’t get to be classy with ribs!” Adam reached and plucked it right off the utensil. Instead, he simply grabbed a rib by its bone and held it up. “This shit is finger food!”

“But it looks kind of messy…?” Lute hesitated, brows furrowing.

“That’s what tongues are for!” Adam wiggled the rib until Lute took it before reaching over again and grabbing one for himself. “You clean the bone, then you clean your hands!”

Okay, he had dressed all nice and pretty for this not-date, his robes a combination of pristine white and gold with his symbol on the front, as all of his clothes had. And he really should have thought about the place they were going and the food they were eating because it was only a few bites in that he dripped some of the sauce on him. He wasn’t exactly used to eating ribs with any degree of decorum, he just…wanted to show Lute his favorite food. The realization of what he was doing kicked in just as he was finishing, and there was a bit of a mad flush to his cheeks at the embarrassment. This was…usually the point his female date would look disgusted, or have that forced smile on their fucking face as they tried to find a way to get out of the situation.

When he looked at Lute, however, he found that the other man had mirrored him in his voracious consumption. The bastard was licking the bone of remaining sauce and meat, having also dropped some of it on his suit in the process. But he wasn’t paying attention to that; instead, he was eagerly cleaning his fingers off with his tongue, those sharp eyes lit right up.

“You were right, those are amazing!” Lute was already reaching over for another rib, pulling it up and ignoring the mess he made by dripping more of the sauce on the white table cloth, or even over his lap.

Adam…had no idea what he was thinking in that moment. All he was aware of was the thumping in his chest as he watched the way Lute just devoured the food in front of him. His appetite was almost comparable to Adam’s, and at this point he had sauce all around his mouth and fingers. What Adam wouldn’t give to just…

“F-fuck yeah!” Adam shook his head quickly and reached for another to distract himself. “You’ve got good taste, lieutenant.”

The pair made quick work of the rest of the plate of ribs, and Lute was already ordering another rack before Adam had a chance to open his mouth. The small bit of tension and uncertainty that had been in him when they arrived at the restaurant was completely gone; now, Lute was relaxed in his chair, eagerly going through the menu to point out other things he wanted to try. At one point, he was leaning back against Adam to ask about one of the meals on the page. Being outside, there was a nice chill that settled around the balcony, so Lute’s body pressing against him was a nice little source of heat. He shifted before resting his weight a little more on Lute, and one of his hands draped around him to hold him close. If Lute noticed anything, he didn’t react.

By the second rack, Adam was able to confirm what he had assumed before – the bastard could eat. Adam himself was large, so him eating a lot made sense. Maybe he’d let himself go here and there, but that didn’t even cross his mind after watching this thin, short little thing keep up with his eating.

“This stuff is so damn good,” Lute was practically cooing. After the rib appetizers, he’d ordered a couple of meals that had really caught his attention, and he was already done with one of them. He was only one plate behind where Adam was, and he was still looking at the menu.

“You ain’t feeling full enough yet?” Adam absently teased. Lute was still leaning against him, either unaware of what he was doing, or…maybe wanting to.

“Fuck no. I mean, the food is good, but the portions are too damn small.” Lute shook his head.

“I’ve seen your tray at lunches. You don’t eat this much food?”

“That’s because you don’t see how often I go back to the kitchen.” Lute waved a hand. “There’s a reason I bring you restock requests almost every other day.” He lifted a brow up at him. “Don’t tell me you haven’t read those?”

“I just thought it’s because we have a lot of boys now!” Adam defended, his cheeks warming a little. “Seriously, how much do you fucking eat?!”

“Want to find out?” Lute’s voice dipped in a way Adam had never heard before, and he was sure he was about to pop a raging boner right then and there. He stared at the exorcist and that sharp gleam in his eye.

“Find…out?”

“I bet I can eat more than you,” Lute hummed, sitting up a little straighter. “In fact, I know I can.”

Adam blinked. On the one hand, his horny brain had expected that to go in a completely different direction. On the other…did this fucker just challenge him? All thoughts of his cock were flushed from his brain the second that realization hit him, and he mirrored Lute’s posture.

“Oh. You did not just challenge me to an eating competition,” he growled, leaning down to poke Lute’s flat stomach. “You only got so much room down here compared to me.” He slapped his hand on his much larger stomach. “There’s nowhere inside of that body of yours that you can fit what I can eat!”

“Then I guess we better get to ordering the next round of meals, huh?”

“You are fucking on!”

If Adam were anyone else, he might have felt bad for the kitchen and wait staff. But in this moment, he had this scrawny, pale ass twig to beat in a competition. Because where the fuck would the food go? He ordered a bunch of the meals Lute had been asking about and immediately grabbed the first one as it got to their table, digging in before Lute even got a chance to try it.

Of course, that didn’t stop the little bastard from sneaking a fork in to take bites, usually faster than Adam could catch. But he knew he was eating from his plate because, for as quickly as Adam was at eating, the food was disappearing faster than expected. And yet whenever he looked, Lute was halfway through the plate he currently had in front of him. He wore a grin on his face that held so much confidence that Adam almost believed that he could win.

By the tenth plate, that belief was gone.

Lute leaned back in his seat, one hand on his stomach. After eating so much, it genuinely looked like he had somewhat of a gut down there. Honestly, it was impressive he put away as much as he did, but Adam wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of praise. He was currently licking his eleventh plate clean, and he still had one more in front of him that he had every intention of finishing.

“Give up yet?” he asked lazily, waving a rib in front of Lute’s face. He huffed at him, those pale cheeks turning a little gold.

“Lucky win. I won’t lose next time,” he said. Adam just laughed and made to finish his last plate, settling back and patting his stomach. All the space in the world compared to what Lute had.

By now, he would have maybe been a little embarrassed by how much he’d eaten. During any other date, he often times went hungry because the woman wouldn’t be able to eat even the one plate she had, and he didn’t want to come off as gluttonous. Not sinful, after all. But this, this not-date, he got to feel full without having to make plans for second dinner later. The peace and serenity that settled over his bloated stomach brought a smile on his face that felt oddly genuine. Sure, he smiled a lot, but this one just felt different.

He glanced down at Lute again and saw a similar smile. The exorcist was always so serious, and even the few times his mask had broken around Adam, he hadn’t looked this relaxed. This at peace.

“Think you can fly home? Or should we walk?” Adam asked when they finally left the restaurant. He felt so damn heavy and full that he was hoping he wouldn’t have to try and work his wings too hard.

“I could. But I think I’d like to walk?” Lute offered. He glanced up at him and offered a smile. “It’s a nice night. May as well enjoy it.”

“Yeah.” Adam gestured ahead of them. “Lead on.”

The exorcist paused at that, his brows lifting, but eventually he started off with Adam following after him.

At no point did Adam even think about leading Lute to his own home. In the past, everything he wanted to do was for the purpose of getting his dick wet. He wanted to get the woman all hot and bothered and eager to pull up her robe or drop her panties, all so he could shove his cock into the warmth of her already wet walls. Right now, though…he just wanted to walk. He wanted to spend time with Lute, he wanted to walk with him in the nice, chilly evening. He wanted the smaller man to lean up against him for warmth, and he wanted to drape one of his golden wings over his body to help stave off the gentle wind.

He just…wanted to have him around.

The walk back to Lute’s home was quiet, but they didn’t need to say anything. Really, they hadn’t said much to each other since beginning the competition. Instead, the conversation came from the little twitch of feathers or the gentle brushing of knees and legs. The way Lute had started leaning more into Adam’s side, their fingers brushing against one another to almost entwine. This wasn’t a date, but Adam had never felt so satisfied after a night out.

“This is me.” Lute stopped them in front of the building the exorcists had been given to live in. Just far enough away from the main section of Heaven that Winners wouldn’t have seen them until they started going out on their own. It was nice enough, though Adam hadn’t actually seen the rooms inside. Then again, everything in Heaven was just…nice. In an annoyingly perfect way.

“Right, well…” Adam shifted. He didn’t want to go, but he didn’t want to impose. “Thanks for tonight. Hope you had a good time?”

“I did.” Lute paused at the door. He glanced back and studied Adam for a time before tilting his head. “…would you…like to go out again next week?”

“Again?” Adam blinked. He hadn’t actually thought about next steps, too interested in living in the moment. He jolted a little and quickly nodded. “Fuck, yeah, again! Yeah, let’s make this a weekly thing, maybe?”

“I’d like that.” Lute gave Adam another one of those incredible smiles before disappearing into the apartment complex, leaving Adam standing outside and staring at the wide grin of his own reflection.

He had to remind himself, on the way home to collapse in the bathtub after shoving his robes into the wash, that this was just another not-date. But that didn’t stop the jittery joy that set his heart thumping in his chest.