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“I was thinking of trying that new receipt one of the recently arrived souls brought. It’s called “Meat Tornado” and it looks so fucking delicious!” Adam mentioned as he and Lute walked down one of heaven’s many streets.
The two were listing suggestions as to what they could eat during their movie night, or at Adam was. Lute had remained mostly quiet, as she failed more and more to ignore the odd and tiresome sensation that had continued to get worse these last few days.
“Hey! Lute! You okay babe?” Adam called out, snapping his fingers right in front of her face.
Lute’s reaction was delayed. “Ah? Eh?” She asked, looking around confused, trying to figure out where she was or what that spanning sound was.
“Oh!” She finally exclaimed, before standing at attention like the soldier she was. “Sorry sir. Did you say something?”
Adam just stared at her. “Fuck! I knew doing it so close to the headboard was a bad idea!” Was all he said before moving closer to Lute, looking at her head to make sure she wasn’t trying to hide a head injury.
“Sir, get off me!” Lute protested, trying to push Adam away.
Adam just ignored her and continued messing up her hair looking for any signs of an injury. “Not until I made sure I didn’t cause you brain damage. We might get freaky in bed but-”
Before he could continue, a very flustered Lute graved Adam by his shirt’s collar to be face to face with him. “Sir, I’m fine. Now please stop making a scene.”
“Bullshit!” Was all he answered with, ignoring that a few souls and angels had stopped to look at them. “Lute, last time I caught you off guard, by pure reflex you suplexed me against my shower floor.”
Seeing as there was no way out of telling him, but also not wanting to get more unnecessary attention to what should be a private matter. Lute decided to answer Adam. “Fine sir, there’s something… off. But keep it down, you are making a scene.”
That last part made Adam do a double take and look around him, realising that they indeed had gathered a bit of an audience. “Hey! Can’t a man talk with his girl without fucking eardroppers!? Get the fuck out of here!”
With the exception of a few muffle sounds, most of the ground did as demanded, and continued going about their business. With Adam staring at them with murder in his eyes, making sure no one tried to look back at our hang around close.
“Now, are you going to stop being a baby and tell me what’s wrong?” Adam asked, turning back to look at Lute.
Lute just sight, trying to figure out how to explain why was wrong with her. “I-I don’t know,” she finally admitted, looking away from him.
“Don’t lie to me!” Adam exclaimed exasperated, putting his hand under her chin and making her look at him.
“I’m not!” Lute replayed, graving Adam’s wrist and taking his hand off her. “I-I… just don’t know sir… These last few days I have been feeling tired and dizzy.”
Adam just looked at her confused, “b-but you being kicking ass all week! Heck you almost beat me a few hours ago!”
“And yet I also threw up a few hours ago… also I did beat you,” Lute retorted.
“Fine,” Adam answered, rolling his eyes. “It was a tie.”
Lute chose to ignore the fact that he was more focussed on his ego and not the fact that she was feeling unwell. “Sir, please. I know you love movie night, but do you think we can just go back home? I just want to lie down.”
“Nope,” was all Adam said as he leaned forward with a childish smile on his face.
“Why not!?” Lute protested, seriously considering just walking away and leaving him alone.
In a fraction of a second Adam snapped his fingers, opening a portal next to him and Lute. “Because I know what can make you feel better!”
Before Lute could say anything, as she suspected whatever ‘simple solution’ Adam had come up with wouldn't work. He picked her up in the so-called ‘bridal style’, with Lute leaving on the ground whatever protest she was about to make. It was a cheap trick, but one weakness of Lute that Adam had come to love using against her.
Adam looked at Lute with a massive shit-eating grin on his face, brought about by the blushing face of the exorcist in his arms. “Fine sir, but this better be quick!” Lute relented, her annoyed tone betrayed by the small smile on her face.
“That’s the spirit,” was all Adam said before stepping through the portal. At that moment Lute realised that she didn’t know where they were going, that is until Adam spoke again. “Knock knock! Hi Emily… Sera. Hope we aren’t interrupting anything!”
In a panic Lute looked around, confirming her suspicion that Adam had recklessly opened a portal into the seraphims’ office. Worse, Sera was there, and she was looking at the two with a raised eyebrow; as for Emily, she had flown to greet the two closely.
“Mister Adam, misses Lute. What brings you two here?” The younger seraphim happily greeted the two.
“And more importantly, why are you caring for your subordinate Adam?” Sera asked as she stood up, slowly walking towards them. “Did she injure herself during training?”
Lute’s blush jumped from her cheeks to the rest of her face, at the realisation that Adam was carrying her like a bride in front of two of heavens' top angels.
“No ma’am!” Lute answered. She tried to get back on the ground but Adam refused to relax his grip. In the end she had to remain in his arms, trying to hide her red face from Sera and Emily.
“Lute is fine Sera, she only enjoys being carried.” Adam answered in a joking tone, the small hit he received in his stomach making it clear that Lute didn’t appreciate his ‘joke’.
“I mean, I can’t blame her.” Emily commented in an innocent and unaware tone. “I too like it a lot when Sera carries me around.”
Neither Sera, Lute or Adam said anything. Although, despite also being as red as Lute’s, Sera’s expresion and the look on her eyes made it clear that if either Lute or Adam didn’t keep what they hear a secret. She’ll turn the ancient angelic saying of: ‘BE NOT AFRAID’. Into: ‘BE VERY AFRAID’.
After a few more moments of awkward silence, that were rather confusing to Emily, Sera cleared her throat. “Anyway, what brings you 2 here?”
“Oh r-right.” Adam’s tone was a bit disorientated. “Lu is feeling a bit under the weather. I thought Emily could help cheer her up”.
Sera stared at him with crossed arms, annoyed that Adam was wasting their time with something so trivial; something he ignored, Lute however didn’t.
“My apologies for interrupting you with such trivial matters, your highness.” Her tone was as respectful as possible, turning to see the two seraphims despite her still red face. “I wanted to just lie down and wait for it to pass but my superior insisted on taking me here”.
This however flew completely over Emily’s head. “Don’t worry about it, miss Lute, you know I’m always happy to help.” Her cheery tone contrasted with Sera’s disapproving stare. “Also you can just call me Emily or Em, Emmy, E, whatever you want, I go by whatever.”
“Now, I think it would be better to take you to the infirmary. Your face is so red you might have a-” Emily continued talking. As she did so, she moved her hand to put it on Lute’s forehead to check for a fever; however the moment Emily touched Lute, she felt silent.
In a snap of a moment Emily’s smile crew, her eyes becoming as big as plates as she made what sounded like the joyful squeak of a very happy child.
“Miss Emily? Is everything alright?” Lute asked, a bit unsettled by the seraphim’s reaction. With Adam just tilting his head trying to understand what’s up with her.
Rather than answer Emily thrown herself to hug both Lute and Adma. “OHMYGOSH! OHMYGOSH! OHMYGOSH!!!” Emily exclaimed with immeasurable joy; somehow she was able to take flight, spinning as she did so, still holding in her arms both the human and exorcist.
“Careful!” If it wasn’t for Sera’s warning, Emily would have hit the ceiling; or probably smashed through it, considering flying while embracing Adam and Lute didn’t seem to be difficult for her.
“Oh!” It was only then when Emily took notice of what she had done, or who she was embracing.
“I’m so sorry,” Emily apologised while slowly defending with Adam and Lute still in her arms. “I sort of got carried away”. She continued after returning to the ground, Lute still in Adam's arms, both dumbfounded as to how the little angel had managed to pick up both with such ease.
Emily didn’t register their confusion, continuing to apologise. “Sorry, I just… this is the first time I get the chance to congratulate a couple with big news”.
That last sentence made Lute’s face go from red to pale. While they hadn’t been the most discreet about it, especially Adam; she was hoping neither seraphim knew of their relationship. The way Sera’s eyes narrow made it clear she and Adam were in trouble.
However Adam didn’t seem to care about Sera. He had become stiff, Lute didn’t notice it but his hands were starting to shake. “What do you mean with big news?” He asked, his tone lacking any of his natural confidence; almost like he was scared of the answer, one that he seemed to already know but feared the confirmation of.
Again Emily didn’t notice this. “Miss Lute is pregnant!” She exclaimed with such a joyful tone.
Tone that clashed with Lute and Adam’s reaction. “WHAT!?” The exorcist shouted in shock, angry and confused, her voice lacking any of the formality or constraint she had when her superiors were present. She was hoping it was some sort of out of character joke from Emily’s part. As for Adam, his mind seemed to freeze. His already stiff body didn’t even react, even his hands stopped shaking; but a moment later his arms seemed to become weak and limp, causing him to almost drop Lute. Had it not been for Emily helping Lute to her feet, the exorcist would have ended ass first on the floor.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t think the news would catch you off guard,” the young seraphim said as she helped Lute, before hugging her again. “Still I’m so happy for you, I’m certain you’ll be a great mom.”
Lute still didn’t know how to react, to either the news or being hugged by heaven’s royalty. She looked across the room to Sera, who’s expression made it clear she and Adam were now in a world of trouble; however for a moment Sera softened her expression and gave Lute a nood, giving her permission to return the hug.
Awkaly Lute returned the hug, “is alright your high- I mean, miss Emily”.
Both fail to notice that Adam wasn’t doing well, his entire body had gone from stiff to shaking, with his breathing becoming laboured. Until he finally exploded.
“T-T-HE F-FUCK… I-ISN’T ALRIGHT!” He shouted, making all 3 angles jump in place; even though it seemed like he had to fight to get every word out.
In an instant Sera put herself between him and both Lute and Emily. “Adam, calm down!” She commanded him, trying to put rank on him as seraphim.
He however didn’t care. “S-SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Sera was taken back by that; despite his careless attitude Adam knew full well not to curse in front of either her and especially Emily, even more not to talk back that way to either of them.
Sera’s shock didn’t last long. She would have used her powers to show why even powerful souls like him were considered to bellow angles, had it not been for Lute sprinting around her to get to him.
“Sir please, calm down. I know you’re mad at me, but-” That sentence seemed to hit him like a bag of bricks.
“I-I’m n-not… I-I w-was’t… I-I d-didn’t… y-you don’t…” Adam stumbled on his words as he stared at Lute, panting between each one as his body continued to tremble. He then began to take a step back, his eyes darted around the room as if he was afraid of Lute, so afraid to even look at her.
Whatever was happening to him, it finally overwhelmed Adam. He didn’t say a thing, he just snapped his fingers, becoming a blur as he flew through the portal he had just opened.
“Wait, sir!” Lute shouted, taking flight to go after him, only for the portal to close right in front of her. “...Please…” She whispered as she stared at where the portal was, hoping he would come back, almost afraid that he had abandoned her.
“I’m so sorry miss Lute,” Emily apologised as she approached her. While she was still a bit shaken by Adam’s reaction, the seraphim knew Lute was probably feeling worse. “This is my fault, I-I didn’t think he would react like that.” She added while resting a hand on Lute’s shoulders, trying to console her.
Lute flinged at the contact, realising her mistake she turned to look at Emily. “My apologies your highness, I-”
“Is alright Lute,” surprisingly it wasn’t Emily who said that but Sera.
“T-thank you ma’am,” Lute answered, bowing her head, Sera nodded at her; however at the same time put her hands around Emily, making it clear that while understanding Lute’s reaction, Sera was still more concerned about her younger counterpart.
Emily looked up at Sera, assuring her that she was okay, before returning her attention to the exorcist. “You better go find him. I don’t know what made Adam react like that but, you need to talk with him.”
“He’s probably in our apartment,” Lute answered, her tone and posture returning to that of a soldier addressing their superiors. “If you would be so kind as to open a portal to it, I’m sure he and I could reach some sort of agreement regarding this situation.”
Emily however looked through Lute’s act. “That’s not how this works. Whatever Adam is feeling he needs his partner with him, not his subordinate”.
“She’s right,” Sera added. “I know this isn’t your forte, but you’ll have to try”.
Lute sight and looked at the floor. “I’ll try ma’am, but… I can't promise anything”.
The younger seraphim put her hand on Lute’s shoulder. Unlike her previous attempt to console the exorcist, this time didn't flinch, instead looking at Emily who gave her an assuring smile. “He just needs you there for him.”
Lute returned the smile, “thank you ma’- Emily”.
With a snap of her fingers Sera opened the portal Lute had requested, a subtle way to cut in on the conversation and remind the exorcist that she had something else to do. “Now knowing Adam, he's probably in The Valley. The portal will take you there but you’ll have to find him yourself”.
“Thank you, your highness.” Lute answered as she moved away from the two seraphims and towards the portal.
Before Lute could step through it, Sera spoke again. “And Lute, I still need to have a conversation about this with you and Adam”.
“Understood ma’am,” was all Lute answered, her calm tone disconnected from the sensation of humiliating the idea of being lectured and reprimanded by heaven’s royalty. At least Emily showed her usual kindness by wishing good luck to Lute as she crossed the threshold of the portal.
The Garden of Eden is described as ‘a piece of paradise on earth’; that leads to a silly yet reasonable question: Where did said piece come from? The answer was ‘The Valley’. A beautiful field amongst mountains that extended beyond the horizon; at its centre there was a crater, a piece of land that was carved out and turned into the Garden of Eden. The missing chunk remained on earth, hidden from humanity and even the souls that made it into heaven.
Haven’t ever visited the place properly, only knowing of its existence and watching it from afar. Lute felt a mix of awe and dread as she observed the landscape. On one hand the place was gorgeous, it even seemed to have some sort of calming effect; on the other, its vastness meant that Lute could spend the rest of the day and all night searching for Adam, and she would likely not be able to find him.
Lute sighed before taking flight hoping that she might be able to find Adam with a simple overfly. She kept herself at tree height, her speed also being relatively slow, all to make sure she didn’t accidentally miss him. Fortunately for Lute she didn’t have to look for long, the peace and serenity of the valley was cut by what sounded like a scream of anger, followed by a shing gold light and tree collapsing at a distant grove.
She immediately recognised the light, Adam had more than likely summoned his beloved ‘guitar-axe’ before letting out his frustration on the closest thing he found.
Lute landed outside the grove, she almost called out Adam’s name, but decided against it, fearing he might fly away. As such Lute slowly began to make her way between the trees searching for him.
As Lute walked deeper into the groove she began to hear what appeared to be someone panting. She followed the sound, soon finding a small clearing; Adam’s weapon and mask were laying next to the stump of the tree he had cut down, with him sitting on the trunk with his head and shoulders low as he looked at the floor.
“You had to fucking ruin it didn’t you? You fucking idiot!” Adam began to rant to himself causing Lute to take a step back, thinking he had realised she was there; but as he continued she realised that wasn’t the case.
“You finally found someone loyal! Someone who actually loves you, and what do you fucking do!? You drag her down with you by putting one of your hellspawns in her! … I’m the worst…” Adam seemed to finally calm down with that last insult, or at least that appeared to be the case.
Not wanting for him to explode again, Lute decided to make her move. Her approach was silent, she knew she had to say something, but she had no idea where to even start. Despite every step she took feeling like an eternity, when she was finally next to Adam Lute almost froze as she still couldn't find the right thing to say.
“Sir, do you mind if I sit with you?” She finally said the first thing that came to her mind. She felt incredibly stupid as Adam turned and stared at her.
“Of course,” Adam’s short answer as he tapped the spot next to him restored some of his confidence. Lute however chose to ignore the trunk, instead sitting sideways on his lap. She had no idea what she was doing, but she imagined that maybe being close to her would help him.
The surprise on Adam’s face made Lute fear she had made things worse, however the possessive hug, followed by the small kiss he gave her, and the simple “thanks” he whispered made it clear that wasn’t the case. Lute just returned the hug before resting her head on his shoulder, the two choosing to remain in silence afterwards.
However, as much as Lute enjoyed the peace of the moment, and how she wished she and Adam could remain in the clearing forever. The weight of Adam’s reaction to the news still remained on her shoulders. She needed to know why and what had made him react like that, not to mention what his rant was about.
“Sir… Adam,” despite their relationship it was so unnatural for Lute to call him by his name. “I know neither of us is good with… this sort of thing but… I need- no I want to help you, but… I can’t if you don’t talk to me”.
Adam gave her a weak smile, it was so weird and kind of cute for him to hear what he could describe as ‘heaven’s most badass bitch’ stumble with her words like that; yet, he still appreciated that he wanted to help him.
With a sigh Adam answered her question with one of his own. “Lute, babe, what am I?”
“M-my partner? Sir?” Lute answered a bit confused, thinking that maybe Adam was looking for some sort of reassurance regarding her feelings towards him.
Adam chuckled hearing that, leaning forward and giving her a kiss on her cheeks. “Thanks Lu, but I didn’t mean that.” After another sight he continued his explanation. “As you know I’m the first human to make it to heaven, yet I wasn’t the first one to… kick the bucket as they say.”
“I knew Cain wouldn’t be here, nor I wanted to see that cunt… but when I discovered Abel wasn’t here either I-I…” Adam took a deep breath, looking upwards trying to hide his glassy eyes, only to remain in silence. Lute had never seen Adam like this, then again he had never talked about his kids. She thought she knew why, both Cain and Abel were infamous in heaven and hell.
Lute had heard stories about them, of how back when souls were allowed to exist outside of the ring of Pride; Cain, who ended up in the ring of wrath for the sin of murder, began to capture hell-born imps, teaching them his trade of farming to use them as slaves. This was used to explain the ring’s agrarian nature, and how imps born in wrath seem to have a finity for agresion and killing. It could be said that even though he wasn't their master anymore, imps in that ring were and will always be Cain’s slaves.
As for Abel, no one was exactly certain what had been of him. Some thought Lucifer and Lilith had captured and tortured as payback for being sent to hell. Some accused him of being the inspiration for Cain, with Abel taking over a ring of hell and turning it into his playground long before his brother’s arrival to hell, the problem is no one knew what ring he landed in.
Theories suggested that he ended up Gluttony, Greed or Sloth, believing he had picked the trade of hunter to satisfy his desire for constant meet, or so that he could use the animals as offerts in an attempt to hoard god’s favour, or because he saw hunting as a less demanding task. Others thought differently, and rather than accusing him of taking over a ring, suggested that Abel influenced an entire species of hell-borns; they proposed that he became a deranged nomad hunter, who used slaved hellhounds to hunt down all of hell’s creatures, regardless of if were sentient of not. This theory was used to explain why hellhounds seem to be despised by almost every hell-born, including imps.
Lute herself had always dismissed these stories as hearsay or dumb legends created to patch up holes in hell’s messy history. But now, she couldn't imagine what Adam must have felt as the father of who could have been not only hell’s first overlords, but it's more important architects after Lucifer himself.
Finally, Adam broke his silence and continued. “I felt so sick… for years I mourned Abel’s death, hoping he was at least in a better place. Instead when I died rather than finding him in heaven I discovered that he was no better than his bastard brother… I was so desperate to see Eve again, to have someone who could understand the pain; but as you know after her death her soul disappeared, no one knows if she ended up in hell or if her ghost is wandering the earth”.
Adam then graved Lute’s hands, almost as if he was afraid she would banish like Eve did. “And then came the millenniums of watching my descendants pile into hell... Generations of idiots who listen to Lucifer and his lackeys, to the point where hell is so full of sinners they might be able to threaten heaven!”
He finally broke down, his voice cracked and he finally stopped holding back the tears. “And all that mess came from me, Eve came from me, Cain and Abel are my kids, so are all the sinners in hell… Lucifer might be a bastard, but sometimes I wonder if I’m the problem. What if I and the other souls that make it to heaven got lucky? What if something is fucking wrong with me?”.
“You drag her down with you by putting one of your hellspawns in her.” Lute whispered, quoting the part of Adam’s rant she had overheard, finally understanding what he meant. “Oh sir!” She exclaimed before throwing herself at him, desperate to make Adam feel better.
Adam returned the gesture with a possessive hug, the two covering the face of the other with small kisses. Lute in an attempt to cheer him up and Adam thanking the support she was giving him.
When the two finally calmed down, Adam put a hand on Lute’s belly, finally knowing what to say. “I want us to have this baby, but I’m worried… scratch that, because I’m afraid of making the same mistakes and end up with another kid in hell.” He then turned to look at Lute, “Knowing that you failed that badly, the feeling is not something I want you to experience Lute; I love you too much to let you know it, it almost drove me insane.”
Lute offered him a smile in response, before caressing his face. “And I won’t sir, look at you. I never seem you care about something like this. You might not think so, but I think that’s a sign of someone who’s trying to be a better father after countless mistakes; and I know you’ll do better this time”.
Adam smiled hearing that, “you have too much faith in me”.
“Is not faith,” Lute interrupted herself by kissing him. “Is a fact, you’ll do great; you might even need to tell me what to do, considering I have literally no idea where to even start”.
Adam giggled at that before standing up with Lute in his arms. “Well, normally the first thing would be to get you something more loose and comfortable to wear when you get bigger; but it is not like you haven’t taken some of my cloaks already, so that shouldn't be an issue”.
Lute just looked away, “can you blame me? They are so comfy… besides they smell like you”.
He just gave him a kiss on her cheek, “and now you’ll have an excuse to steal more and wear them in public”.
Lute gave him a playful punch in his shoulder, a childish smile on her face. “Besides that, what else do we need to start?”
Adan answered by snapping his fingers, making a portal appear in front of them. “Well, if I remember correctly you mentioned feeling tired and wanting to go rest, so I figured you could take a nap while I get something to eat for the tw- three of us. Maybe we can turn our movie night into a ‘dinner in bed with movie night’?.”
“Sounds like a date to me,” was all Lute said as the two crossed the portal back to their bedroom.