Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had only been a few days since things began going ary, yet nobody was too sure exactly what was going on.

Mr. Uncanny found himself losing focus an unusual amount however it was different than the ways he would usually disassociate. No, he felt like he was dying.

His body was growing colder by the hour and he seemed incapable of doing anything practical anymore. His hands shook too much to perform basic tasks and his mind wouldn’t stop wondering to quite literally nothing.

“Ppsssssttt- Uncanny! Snap out of it!!” commanded a voice familiar to him yet foreign, as everything seemed foreign at the moment. This voice belonged to a friend of his, he was certain of that at least.

Uncanny fumbled in a minor panic, scrambling to bring his attention back to the woman. He went to call her name back in response, but he had to pause to allow himself time to remember it.

She had coral-pink hair leading down to her lower back, she was about his height.

Why did he have to think so hard to remember his own friend’s name? He was sure that they must have been close.

“Quartz!! I-“ Uncanny’s words left his mouth before his brain could catch up, his mind already wandering. The man found himself mildly frustrated at himself for finding it so challenging to focus, he was never very good at listening but this was getting concerningly difficult for him.

“Are you okay? You’ve seemed fairly out of it recently…” spoke another voice, yet another friend…

They were dressed in all black accented with gold, it complimented their dark skin well. Their voice was soothing yet full of concern in the moment.

Uncanny moved his hand to his face to cover his mouth as he cleared his throat, before long he found himself coughing from his attempts to speak.

It felt as though something was trying to escape through Uncanny’s mouth, coughing out something that should be kept inside but still nothing came to an exit.

Great, now his throat hurt as well.

The second friend sighed, their yellow eyes glinting with worry while Uncanny tried desperately to recall their name.

Adapertio.

Uncanny grinned widely, seemingly proud of himself for remembering something so trivial but his two friends only seemed more put off by this.

“He’s a lost cause, what do you think he’s on?” the pink-haired girl whispered to her other friend, covering her mouth as if the person she was talking about was actually conscious enough to understand.

“I’m not sure, but this is really unlike him…” Adapertio replied before letting out a long sorrowful sigh, looking the man up and down for anything out of the usual.

He just seemed off, in every sense of the word. He was so out of focus that they felt okay talking about him right in front of him, he looked a little paler than they could recall and he was shaking a noticeable amount.

“Something’s wrong…” Adapertio mumbled before moving closer to their now unresponding friend. Noticing an odd little mark creeping out from under his sleeve they brought their hands to his.

Quartz tilted her head to watch curiously as they moved up their friend’s sleeve to reveal a dent in Uncanny’s skin, he seemed too out of it to react to their touch at all.

Adapertio hummed to themself before fully rolling the man’s sleeve up to his elbow, choosing to let go and back away once the spiraled wounds were all exposed.

Gravity allowed Uncanny’s arm fall back down to his side as he stood still, not straining a muscle. Neither of them had ever seen anything like it before and a feeling of urgency had befallen onto the both of them.

Large crevices were engraved into the man’s flesh, seemingly it had been eating and rotting at his skin but the contents weren’t too gory. No, the insides of his body appeared to have become a consistent pattern of repeating white and black circles.

“What should we do??” Adapertio pleaded with the girl, now teary-eyed. They wanted to cry but they felt a sense of responsibility that would prevent them from doing so.

“GET HIM TO A FUCKING HOSPITAL, IDIOT.” Quartz shrieked in response to their question, Adapertio wouldn’t have approved of her aggression normally, this was an exception since the situation definitely called for it. They shouldn’t have even bothered to ask.

Adapertio returned to Uncanny’s proximity, holding him around the torso. They made sure to only be touching the fabric of their clothing since they were admittedly scared of touching the unnatural wounds.

“Call an ambulance then, will ya’??” Adapertio requested, sounding sort of irritated. They just wanted to make sure that their friend was okay, this wasn’t questioned.

Quartz nodded, fumbling with her phone, the seriousness of the situation had her in an understandable state of panic but she got on call as quickly as she could manage.

While holding Uncanny’s body Adapertio could feel his heat, or lack thereof. He was cold, colder than the air around them and even though cotton he was still cold to the touch.

“Shit, shit, shit.” Adapertio cussed to themself under their breath. They were never really the type to swear often but at this point, they didn’t give a fuck. Quartz must have heard them, but she was both far too busy on call to the hospital and too panicked to take note of it.

It wasn’t long before Adapertio to feel Uncanny collapse into their arms, they didn’t mind carrying him while he was out of course but they sure as hell was worried.

The two waited and waited for help to arrive, and by the time it did, they were convinced it may have been too late.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Quartz let her foot tap aggressively against the flooring, leading the soft sound of her sole against the cool tiles to be the only sound echoing through the room. She was always barefoot for some unknown reason, no one could ever understand why but at least for now the coolness of the waiting room flooring was serving as a minor distraction.

They must have been waiting for an hour, yet still nothing had arisen. Seemed Uncanny would be staying in hospital care for a little longer.

At last Quartz couldn’t take it anymore, letting out a deep sigh before asking.

“Do you think that he’ll be alright?” her voice had softened to a quieter tone than she was known to speak in, almost whispering to Adapertio as if she didn’t want anybody else in the room to overhear even though it was just her friend and the receptionist who wasn’t paying attention anyways.

Uncharacteristic for her however suited for the situation, nobody was paying any mind to the way they were acting.

“I don’t know… but I hope…” Adapertio trailed off, they didn’t really know how to handle all this. They looked over to the hallway, hoping for anybody to come out. Anybody, they just needed something to happen to get their mind off of things.

After what felt like an eternity the two heard footsteps coming from the hallway, causing the both of them to perk up and move their attention to the figure entering the waiting room.

Not only was this person a doctor, he was also an angel. Oh, that can’t be a good sign…

Starting to give up hope Adapertio sat back down but Quartz kept her stance, ready to hear whatever reassurance this doctor had to give them.

“So…” The doctor started, Adapertio already picking up on his deep and soothing tone of voice. He sounded calm, but there was a look of worry in his eyes which just seemed off in some way. They could tell something was wrong.

“My name is Luke, you're here for your- er- friend?” he spoke, his voice still calm but Adapertio could tell something was wrong by his expression.

“Yes! Mr. Uncanny??” Quartz clarified with an irritated tone, it still felt rude no matter how badly the situation called for it.

Luke nodded, ruffling out his wings a little as he readied himself to speak. His wings appeared feathered and really fluffy, curious that none of those feathers had shedded within the hospital walls as Adapertio could imagine they would get everywhere.

“We’re not too sure, it seems things will only get worse from here…” Luke paused, he needed time to think of a way to explain the situation in the kindest way possible. He kept his tone soft, he knew any hint of negativity in his tone would put off the two waiting.

Well, Luke shouldn’t have really cared all too much under normal circumstances. He didn't personally know this man, why should he care for his fate? But there was something more, something deep inside him was urging him to believe there was more afoot.

“But we will keep trying, I’m just saying things could still get better. We haven't completely lost hope yet.” the angel continued, putting on a fake smile as his eyes met with Adapertio’s who was not really taking his reassurance on the matter.

Quartz sat back down with a little bit of relief. “Is there anything that we could do to help? Visit him perhaps?” she asked hopefully.

Luke let out a disappointed sigh, lowering his wings in sorrow. Uncanny was currently still unconscious, as Luke was just with him he was well aware of that and just chose not to inform them of that fact.

“I’m afraid not miss, I recommend you two return home now.” Luke stated flatly, feeling a little pinch of guilt for sending the two away without the someone they had come for in hopes of picking up.

Adapertio reluctantly stood up, gently grabbing Quartz’ hand as they did. She didn’t seem to want to go, but she let them take her with hopes that she would be able to return sometime soon.

“Can we return tomorrow?” She asked again still with hope glimmering in her eyes, she refused to accept that her friend may very well be gone for good.

“Don’t.” Luke said more firmly.

He knew there was something different about what Mr. Uncanny had, out of all of his decades working in the medical field and his status as a divine being he knew there was something different about this sickness. This wouldn’t one end.

The Angel exhaled loudly before raising his head as he spoke again.

“If you want some advice from me personally, I actually recommend you two just chill in your homes for a while…”

~~~~~~~~~~~

As the two walked home together neither of them seemed to be able to shake the feeling that they had been cheated out of.

“This isn’t fair,” Quartz muttered to herself while also keeping her voice just loud enough for the person walking beside her to hear, hoping maybe they’ll comfort her if they heard her rambles. “There’s something they’re not telling us.”

Adapertio angled their head a little to look to her face curiously. “Surely, but there must have been a reason.” they tried to reassure as they suspected she wanted them to, looking off to the distance to try and clear their mind.

The city was noisy and vibrant as usual, yet it also seemed quiet now, presumably since they didn’t want to pay attention to any of the surroundings at the moment.

“We can wait and see…” Adapertio continued, the coolness of the air hitting their lips as a cold sigh formed a small fog in front of themself.

Unsatisfied with that answer Quartz groaned snarkily, a little bit of her usual personality beginning to show again for a moment.

“Promise me things will be alright.” she followed up on her expression, her words still as soft as before. Adapertio had never seen her like this.

For a moment Adapertio let their feet settle to speak as their step met another paver “I can’t make any promises.”

“I know that but I don’t give a fuck, promise me.” Quartz continued desperate for any form of reassurance, slipping back into another irritated tone as if it should have been obvious.

Adapertio waited for the girl to stop walking as well so their eyes could meet hers.

They weren’t sure if they were to believe what they were about to say, but it had to be said regardless.

“I promise you.”

Chapter Text

News travels fast, especially when you’re as in tune with the local community and gossip as Price is.

Mostly due to their field of work, they had a lot of contacts and models loved to gossip. Price would be lying if they said they didn’t enjoy engaging with it all, as much as they knew that they shouldn’t.

It was a perfect day to spend some time outside, but Price had heard some rumours. Some sort of dangerous virus, akin to a zombie apocalypse? Fucking impossible. They didn’t care for conspiracies, it was a perfect day out and they were determined to make the most of it.

What better way to spend the perfect weather than by being out in the park, picnicking with your very own boyfriend? Yet still they couldn’t help but at least seem a little uneasy. It was unusually quiet outside, and scarily so. Price could have sworn there were usually more people around, especially on a Saturday like this.
An alert, Price could feel their phone buzz again but they didn’t want to move to check it as it may disturb the person resting upon their lap.

Percy; their boyfriend was a little bit of a peculiar man, 16 arms and an unusual abundance of eyes that Price never cared to count the quantity of. To the best of Percy’s recollection he was born with that all but either way it didn’t seem to bother his significant other in the slightest. In fact, they found it rather appealing in a strange way.

The man was fully asleep enjoying the sound of silence. Percy was always a pretty deep sleeper, he seemed to be able to rest anywhere if he was really determined enough to.

Silence still, it was starting to worry Price as they began to actually feel some concern for their safety, possibly being at risk of something that they didn't even believe in.

Price finally decided it was time to wake the person sleeping in their arms with a gentle nudge. He grunted in response, letting his many eyes begin to flutter open.

Percy brought his gaze to his partner, staring with unfocused blurry vision as he still was trying to wake up properly.

“The sun’s goin’ down soon, don’t ya think it’s about time we head home?” Price asked in a light-hearted tone with a usual hint of a southern accent, but Percy seemed to pick up a little more intention to their suggestion.

“What for? Don’t we usually stay out a bit longer…” he asked, sounding a little sceptical. “besides, I was feeling quite relaxed” he chuckled, moving to sit up on the grass to give Price’s legs a little room to breathe.

Price watched with a little smile tugging at their lips as the man stretched his arms above his head, all of them. It was certainly a sight to behold and it never failed to allure them.

Stalling for an answer for a moment, Price just hummed in response as they reached for their phone which had finally been released from its confinements in the mass of his ugly sweater.

Seeing Percy stretch made Price feel the urge too as well, lifting their right arm up above their head as they turned their screen on to check the notification.

“Fuck.” The individual muttered almost to themself as their entire body flinched, almost dropping their phone and lowering their arm to catch it out of reflex. It wouldn’t have mattered whether or not they caught it anyways, the ground was soft and padded with grass.

“That didn’t sound good…” Percy mumbled as he let his abundance of arms fall back into their default position, resting along his back for all excluding the two arms positioned at his shoulders where human limbs typically should be.

The being’s voice was soft as usual, he may have looked like an intimidating monster but his personality was quite the opposite and anybody who had ever been close to him was well aware of that. There was a slight bit of concern in his tone at the moment although he rarely ever strained his voice.

Cussing was fairly expected from Price, they did it a lot but this time it seemed different. Their eyes had an irremovable layer of static to them that made it hard to read their expression at times, but Percy knew them well enough to not ever need to be able to see their face.

“What is it?” Percy requested an answer a bit more forwardly this time, beginning to get impatient as they worried about what could have happened.

“Perc, we have to go.” the model spoke, sounding noticeably more nervous than usual, as if this should be urgent. The use of the nickname did not help reassure the way it was intended too, it felt as though they were just trying to lighten the blow a little and sounded a touch hurried.

Percy sighed, lifting himself up from the ground as he could tell that his partner’s decision was already made final. “Is everything okay?” He asked, beginning to sound fearful yet still empathetic.

Price let themself pause for a moment to hold one of his many hands with both of theirs, turning it over to rub his palm with their thumb.

“I’ve just received some news. Please, I don’t want to see you scared.” Price said more softly, feigning a small smile in an attempt to comfort Percy but he wasn’t falling for it.

“Well then, what is it??” Percy pouted, seemingly already prepared to leave the park yet being willing to comply didn't quench his need to know what was wrong.

Price sighed shakily, catching his attention as their breath caught in their exhale. “C’mon bud, I’ll explain on the way” they urged gently, very lightly tugging at his arm to signal him to start moving.

Percy nodded, and started getting along.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you kidding me??” the man queried, he had no reason to not believe his partner’s word but the end of the world wasn’t really something he had been expecting when he woke up that morning.

His voice was full of agitation, however typical for him he was still refraining from yelling. At least Price had found a small sense of comfort knowing that the person they were staying with could help himself keep together through this.

“I wouldn’t kid about that type of shit.” Price answered trailing off slightly, taking a few steps off of their track to stand in front of a street sign settled into the edge of the nature strip.

Percy gave them a look of confusion as they stopped but he didn’t comment on it at all since he figured they probably knew what they were doing. Moving his gaze up to the sign he couldn’t understand what was so worth stopping for it.

“You see this right here pal?” Price exclaimed with a notable amount more enthusiasm than they had just previously been speaking with, moving their hand to grab around the metal pole of it.

“Dogs must be kept on leashes..?” Percy read the lettering of the sign out loud, very much aware that he was missing the point as he did so. “Where are you going with this??” he asked, willfully admitting to his cluelessness.

“Well we’ll need somethin’ to defend ourselves, won't we?!” Price continued, as they pushed against the sign in attempts to get it to come loose.

It didn’t budge.

Chuckling awkwardly with a tad bit of embarrassment Price kept trying, now moving their hands near the solid plastic head and kicked at the base of it where it was planted in the ground.

It still wouldn’t move.

Percy was starting to see where they were going with this, yet he still failed to resist the urge to cringe a little at their failed attempts to achieve that goal. Regardless he couldn’t help but give an affectionate little chuckle witnessing them try.

“I see,” Percy replied slowly, moving closer to them. Price let go as he approached, invitingly giving him room to try for himself.

“Here.” Percy offered while pulling it out of the ground effortlessly. “Is that what you wanted?” he continued, seemingly a little smug. To the delight of their partner, who didn’t mind a little bit of smugness.

“Ah right, thanks…” Price could feel their cheeks heating up a little, they knew he was stronger than them. They probably should have just asked in the first place.

“Are you sure you can carry this..?” Percy asked with a faint smile, holding it out for them to take.

“Uh-huh!” Price nodded while taking a hold of it, faltering a bit as it soon became clear to them that the sign was in fact a little too heavy but their pride got the better of them and they continued their attempts in remaining their stance with it.

The man hummed, stepping back onto the path. “It is beginning to get dark, I suppose we should find somewhere to camp out quickly. Would you have any ideas or are we just wondering?” he asked, turning his plentiful gaze back over to the model for guidance.

“Hmm, well-” Price started, beginning to fall into thought as they spoke as if to mask the fact that they had already come up with a plan, worried he may not like what they had come up with. “I was thinking about the ol’ panopticon… It isn’t far from here.”

Although it was only a few seconds, it felt as though the wait for Percy’s response was dragged out as he gave them a sceptical glare with his many eyes. “Why..?”

The response made Price feel a little wave of guilt for suggesting such a thing, although he didn’t seem mad he still seemed to dislike the idea they had prompted.

“Well you can see everythin’ going on around you in the centre of the building right?” Price smiled slightly, trying too seem their usual level of confidence. “-and we live in the city, it’s not like we can head back home”

“I guess, but I don’t think-” there was a slight crunching sound at their feet, Percy had simply stepped on a dry leaf yet somehow it was enough to stop him dead in his tracks.

Price gave him the most sympathetic look they could manage with the minimal facial expressions they were cursed with. “You’re really on edge…” they obsessed softly.

A little reluctant, Percy nodded in agreement, starting to feel a little embarrassed. “Alright, I suppose you know what you’re doing…”. It certainly wasn’t an idea he was particularly fond of, but he knew his partner was much smarter and more experienced than he was.

There were other reasons for his compliance as well, such as a weird feeling Percy couldn’t shake about there being an oncoming presence of danger.

The sixth sense Percy had for something happening was only validated when a little down the trail they walked upon a clump of something peculiar on the concrete. Something he had never seen before, monochromatic spirals in what seemed to resemble flesh- oh.

Another stare was initiated from Price, first to his expression before moving it down to what was at both of their feet.

“Eugh- what do ya’ think that is?” Price asked curiously, almost going to kick it before Percy pulled them away from it.

“It very clearly reeks of rotten flesh, love- infected flesh at that.” Percy cautioned, inhaling to double check, only to face regret as the foul odor hit his sensitive nostrils. There was a hint of sourness in the smell, it wasn’t something he ever had thought to be possible but at its core it still smelt like flesh. Very rotten flesh, nothing but tarnished and long decayed.

“Aah… okay…” Price whispered, now deciding to walk around it “so somebody’s already been here then? Don’t look like any sort of skin I’ve ever seen before...”

~~~~~~~~~~~

The two stood in front of a run down circular building, the insides appeared fairly open and it was certainly decayed enough for them to be able to catch a glimpse of the insides from outside.

Percy was a little nervous, but he kept his mouth shut on it as he figured it was best not to object. After all, he was at least familiar with the building.

His thoughts were interrupted by a light suddenly entering his vision, looking over only to see Price was holding up a lighter.

“Huh- where did-” Percy started before being cut off

“I always carry a lighter on hand.” Price stated flatly. “You never know when you may need it.” they certainly made a good point, the light source was very much appreciated and definitely was proving their point. He wouldn’t be able to argue with them on this at all.

Percy was left with no choice but to follow along as the light moved inside. Not through the doorway, the walls were all run down with old age as a few attempts had been made to tear it down throughout the years. There were several gaps in the walls big enough to enter through.

“What else do you have with you??”

“A pocket knife.” Price stated bluntly, a bit more confidence returning to them as they pulled the thing out of their pocket and flipping it open with a smirk, a trick in which they had obviously had lots of practice with to Percy’s amusement “I always wanna make sure I’m prepared for any shit like this.”

Percy sighed, reluctantly taking steps forward into the rundown building, the walls around were crumbling and not many of the cells were still fully intact yet still he had an old sorrowful familiarity that was drawing him in despite the aura of dread surrounding it. Price followed suit, trailing their way with their makeship lightsource.

“How does this building even work exactly?” Price asked, a vague idea already but looking for some clarification from the one who had spent the most time there”

“It’s like a prison built up in a circle so all of the prisoners can see the watchtower in the middle, however they have no clue if the people inside of it are looking back due to it being masked with one way glass. The cells on the walls are arranged in a way where they can not see any of the other prisoners either” he paused for a moment to think “It’s built off of the paranoia that if you’re in one of the cells you have no way of telling when you are and aren’t being watched, I guess being in the watchtower part would be beneficial given that design although admittedly I’ve never seen that room myself…”

By the time Percy was done explaining everything he knew, they had both made it to the top of the tower. Price immediately went to open the door only for it to once again not budge with their weak grasp, Percy moving in to take their place once again. He really was the strength between the two, but Price certainly still made themselves useful with their resourcefulness and with their combined mutual trust in each other they made a pretty good pair for surviving any sort of travesty.

Once inside Price requested their boyfriend to slide the sign they had picked up earlier between the door handle and against the wall to barricade off the door, the sign of which Percy had already ended up carrying for them a little after they left off with it.

He sat down on the floor, placing their sizable picnic basket onto the floor along with a sigh, Price sitting across from him to accompany.

“Your lighter, knife and everything in that basket, is that all we have on us?” he asked, half anticipating more tricks up their sleeves. “Yeah, apart from the sign we picked up on the way, tha’s pretty much it.”

He a bit reluctantly opened the basket to view its contents, since he eats a lot they had packed quite a bit of food for their simple picnic. “If we really salvanged as much as we could I say this could last us maybe two or three days…”

Price seemed a bit surprised with that response but also a bit relieved, trying to remain composed. “I’ll see what sorta help we can contact while we work off of that…”

“And what if we run out of supplies before help arrives?” Percy asked with scepticism.

“First we’ll wait and see if it comes to that, and when it does I’m sure we can figure it out then. For now I just want to be with you and wait it out.” Price followed up on, still trying to sound reassuring while beginning to rummage through their supplies

They set up a small camping pot and stove they had brought to cook a pack of noodles, looking out the pillar and surrounding walls that remained from the structure while waiting for their meal.

They ate together, what might have been the start of a series of meals leading up to a final they were currently unaware of, but with eachother’s reassurance they were full of hope and believed that things would be resolved or calm down before they ran out. They would be safe to go back out soon, they were sure of it.

Chapter Text

Luke was starting to feel dreadful amounts of guilt outweighing his rationality, he looked over behind him to the one thing that was keeping him together. His partner seated on their dusty old couch, an angel as elegant as the word itself. That’s Angel in a literal sense, just like himself Epta was an angel gifted with feathery wings and adorned with a halo.

They weren’t a very aware Angel, being an immortal being they were able to survive quite a lot however getting your brain removed will take a toll on your mental capabilities no matter how alive you still are after the procedure.

Luke sighed, sitting back down next to them and holding out his arms as they found their way into his embrace. Epta could sense his turmoil, he was sure of it. Although they wouldn’t have known what his emotions were regarding, they still felt the need to comfort their boyfriend.

Luke didn’t fill them in on anything, he just took them into their safe abode in the holy plane to use as a bunker of sorts. He saw the early infection begin to spread right away, he saw the signs and did nothing to stop it. How selfish must he have been? Taking himself and his love away to hide as the rest of the world suffers, this was on him. He was the reason they had to hide in the first place.

He held Epta close "I’m sorry…", a soft tone leaving his lips, contrasting his naturally deep voice

They tilted their head, they didn’t know what for. All Epta knew was that they weren’t supposed to leave the building, they were fine with that as it was what Luke had told them to do and they trusted his judgement. They were barely even capable of caring for anything, especially not when Luke was with them. No matter what they were always happy knowing Luke was safe, but there was something going on to imply that he wasn’t so okay.

Tears started to stream from Luke’s eyes, soon to be gently wiped away from one of Epta’s soft yet large hands. Their head rested in the nook of his neck had quickly turned Luke’s tears into soft sniffles, he didn’t want to cry around the other being.

Worn out from his shift and calming down in his lover’s embrace, Luke began to slowly drift off as his wings subconsciously found themselves wrapped around Epta, leaving Luke hugging them in his sleep like a teddy bear.

~~~~~~~~~~

Everything felt uncannily warm, like there was a layer of lightly boiled water encasing Luke’s entire body. A confused state soon turning to panic as Luke found himself lying alone, looking to the exit of the room only to be greeted by a wide open door.

In a motion of desperation he could barely even comprehend Luke found himself on his feet, chasing after his lover who he thought to be in peril.

A bright blinding light lay beyond those doors, only staying for a brief moment before fading away to a change of scenery.

An opening in a deep forest, trees so dense it was unclear whether it was dead of night or they were simply catching the theoretical sunlight.

In the muddy dirt layed Epta, back turned and exposed as their wings were positioned to their front as they hugged the appendages for warmth and comfort in an already balled up motion. Said wings along with their robes now darkened out of their natural white colouring in the filth.

“EPTA?!” Luke called out in both the relief of having found them not so far gone and the panic of seeing them in such a state. His legs felt weak as he ran, a feeling of which he pursued through up until he could fall to the ground beside them.

“Epta..?!” He cried out once again, voice now weaker than any bad cold had ever rendered him, almost completely unable to voice his current state of grief.

He turned their body over to see their face, wings moving limp in suit of the rest of their body. Revealed was a disfigured face of the person they loved, their eyepatch now off revealing black and white lines canyoning their way into the exposed flesh of their face.

Mouth agape and remaining eye opened wide and lifeless, Luke backed away crying immensely however still unable to feel his supposed tears running down his cheek in the heat.

Before his very eyes the lines stretched along the pale angel’s skin in all axes, duplicating and merging apart and back together as they danced their twisted beholdment within Epta’s flesh.

With no other option’s left, he ran. He ran and ran, not looking back as the infection chased after him, the pictured lines of death imprinting themselves into the ground until they caught up to Luke’s feet as his legs slowed. He was full of adrenaline but he was still in horrendous pain and losing his speed.

~~~~~~~~~~

Suddenly he was back where he started before the spread could stake their claim, a soundly sleeping Epta safely in his arms as reality began to dawn back down onto him. Unpleasant outside still, but the both of them were safe and that’s all that mattered.

Epta announced their stir with a wide yawn, proving Luke’s panic to not only result in himself having awoken. They blinked, staring back at him with concern in their eyes.

Such a pure expression, one that he didn’t want to be spoilt. He hugged Epta tight into him once again, admittedly a touch too tight. It was a passionate embrace, all in his love for them, his relief that they were safe with him as well a little bit him attempting to reassure them that things were okay.

They were angels, immortal beings of a different plane from the one in peril, they should both be safe. More importantly; Luke was also a skilled doctor. If there was some sort of cure, some sort of remedy to save the infected society from the virus inflicting them he could quite possibly be the only person to be able to do anything about it.

Perhaps the people out there even needed him more than Epta did and after all, ridding of the cause would mean safety for him and Epta as a result. If he could just go spend some time out to deal with the issue the two could continue to live their life as normal. If not for the human race, for the both of them.

Luke carefully untwined himself from Epta’s arms and feathers. His pulling away led to Epta gesturing a confused nod of the head, as if to ask what his change of direction was for.

"I have to go…" he whispered weakly, a tone of which made Epta aware he had something important to deal with although they had put their trust into him and let him leave. "Don’t leave the room until I can tell you it’s safe." Luke cautioned while stepping away after giving Epta a farewell kiss on the cheek, moving for the door.

"I’ll be back, I promise." Luke reassured before leaving Epta to wait by themselves

~~~~~~~~~~

Epta sat, and waited in solace. They had grown quite accustomed to their head being nothing but fog, things happen and they follow along in what must be the only way for one to truly live in the moment.

Luke’s scent was strong, it always was. They could sense his presence even after he had left, they knew he must not have gotten very far already.

A strange aura of fluffy affection he had left behind, unsure whether that jittery feeling was from the love he was giving or the way that Epta interprets his scent through their own feelings of affection.

They sat in that scent, waiting for him to return to strengthen that aroma once again… waiting… and waiting…

Luke’s scent faded overtime, becoming duller and harder to distinguish. A long time passed and Epta was almost completely unaware, with no sense of time they were left to do nothing but follow that order he gave before he left.

Don’t leave until he says it’s safe

It wasn’t safe yet, Epta couldn’t leave. He had not returned to tell them it was safe to do so, that they were safe yet that reassuring scent filling his absence was slowly fading. Still yet to fully diminish…

A long time passed, a long time of which Epta could not comprehend with their inability to gather such measurements coherently however they had nothing to do but wait, so wait they did.

They waited until his Aura had completely dissipated, leaving them with nothing but an emotion they didn’t even know they were capable of feeling. An emptiness that felt more daunting than the emptiness they had felt first adjusting to living without thoughts when it had finally become clear he really wasn’t coming back. Luke might really have been gone for good.

Maybe waiting in ignorance would have really been bliss.