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“Hey hot stuff, lemme ask you something.”
Husk finished off his drink, slamming it down with a grunt. “What?”
“Can you fly with those wings, or are they just a show piece?”
“I can, it’s just easier to walk.” Husk shrugged indifferently. Then he paused, noticing that Angel had crept much closer. “Why do you ask?”
Before Husk could pull away, Angel slipped his hands into the fur on his back, working his way down Husk’s spine until he found the junction where the cat demon’s wings melded with his back. Angel started to slowly massage the spot, kneading his fingers into Husk’s tense muscles until he started to relax. “Do ya ever wonder if- if you flew up high enough, you could… just keep going? Fly until you can leave this place behind?”
Husk was quiet for a long moment before responding, “I tried it once, when I first got here. Once you get to a certain point, the sky never ends. It’s like… well, maybe it would be easier to show you.”
Angel grinned, eyebrows shooting up in elated surprise. “Aw babe, that’s either super romantic or a really great way to kill me.”
The pair hiked their way up to the roof, where Husk dug out an old rope, thrusting it towards his boyfriend. “Tie yourself to my chest and waist, but make sure not to go too tight around my wings.”
“Ooh, kinky! You want me all bound up for you handsome?”
Husk rolled his eyes. “It’s so you don’t fall, idiot. Now hurry up- it’s a better view at night.”
After a couple more muttered wisecracks, Angel managed to fashion a reasonably secure rope harness that secured him to Husk’s body. While the pair were still on the ground he wiggled around in it, and Husk seemed pleased that none of Angel’s antics even loosened the harness.
“Takeoff is a bit rough, and I’ve never tried it while carrying someone so hold on tight.” Husk stretched his legs, Angel’s long limbs wrapped around his middle. “Three, two, one!”
Despite all of his wishful imaginings, Angel found himself totally unprepared for when Husk leaped off the edge of the roof. With a grunt, the cat demon flapped his way upwards into the night sky, and Angel gulped as he watched the ground slip further and further away from him.
The ground soon faded into a fuzzy gray-red patchwork, and Husk stopped climbing, changing into a more vertical cruising position on his back. Here Angel could lift his head a little and look around, marveling at the clouds surrounding him. “I gotta admit, when you took off I thought we were gonna just fall off the roof and go to double Hell. But it’s neat up here… real neat. Ya know, I died a few years before airplanes became a big deal. I’ve never been up so high, but I always thought flying would be the coolest thing.”
Husk smiled, feeling his heart soften at Angel’s almost childlike wonder. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool up here. But I can take us higher- if you think you can handle it.”
Eyes growing wide as saucers, Angel nodded frantically, bumping his chin into Husk’s fur. He still hadn’t loosened his grip from takeoff, and the spider demon’s limbs were starting to ache, but he couldn’t pass this up. “I can handle anything! But what could be better than this?”
Instead of answering, Husk started climbing.
It was harder this time; the air was much thinner this high up, and the clouds made it difficult to see. But Husk knew that all he needed to do was punch through them-
And into a beautiful new world. Angel gasped when he saw the moon, huge and bright directly above them. Stars shone through the dark like holes in the fabric of time, spotted and sparkling with planets and comets and the shine of far away galaxies.
“I never knew this was here- Husk, this is incredible! I- I- how do you stop yourself from spending every moment up here? If I could, I would never leave.” Angel said the last sentence in a longing whisper, and Husk could feel his thin limbs shaking. “How does Hell have something so beautiful that nobody knows about?”
Husk tilted his head until his view wasn’t blocked by Angel, taking in the night sky for himself. It had been decades since he’d done this. Always a lame excuse to put it off, or another bottle of booze to distract him. “I think that’s the point. It’s always so cloudy that nobody can see anything except their miserable, cursed selves. They’re so convinced that there’s nothing good in this world that even if the sky was clear, they would never look up to see it.”
“Wow, you’ve thought about this huh? I guess this would be a good place to think. Or a good place for anything. Baby? Can we stay up here, just for a little while?”
Husk described himself as a guy who had lost the ability to love, and sometimes he even believed it. But right now, Husk could feel a painful tug in his heart, a feeling that lately seemed to come to him a lot around Angel Dust. How could he take away the first real joy Angel had felt in- well, a long time? “We’ll stay until my shoulders start to hurt, so maybe ten more minutes. That’s not a long time, but I’ll take you up here again sometime.”
Would Husk be sore and exhausted tomorrow? Absolutely. Would he be unable to move without the help of some whiskey and a heating pad? Definitely. Was all of his discomfort worth seeing Angel’s face light up?
Every time.