Work Text:
Well this will be a pain to deal with.
It’d been a calm day, Angel and Aki on their usual patrol route when a tree devil of all things had appeared out of nowhere screeching about crushing humans under its weight and destroying everything they’d ever built.
The devil had been strong, but the fight itself hadn’t lasted much longer than usual. Still long enough for the roots and giant branches that had sprouted from it to cause a notable amount of damage to the road and some surrounding buildings, but whatever. Angel was a devil which meant that he didn’t really care- and even if he did, thinking about how the damage might affect some humans’ day to day would be too exhausting. For that reason alone he didn’t want to do it.
Besides, there was something else taking up his attention right now- the fact that because of that stupid devil there were now needles and leaves and twigs scattered all throughout his wings. Tiny bits of rubble from when he’d gotten slammed down onto the now-broken concrete were there too. It was almost impressive how many things were stuck in his wings really, some had even managed to burrow themselves under several layers of feathers- which honestly just felt unfair.
Sure he’d helped out a bit more than usual (today had been almost painfully boring, alright?) and even struck the final blow, but Angel still felt like he’d more or less stayed far enough back that he should’ve been able to avoid the source of his current annoyance.
Which led him to where he was now: Standing off to the side and watching as Aki ran over the fight with some public safety officials and local law enforcement, waiting to leave as soon as he could. Luckily these were some of the public safety people who knew about Angel’s abilities and thus made sure to give him a wide berth, because with the itching in his wings the red-haired devil really didn’t want to deal with anyone.
As soon as he was sure no eyes were on him, Angel stretched one of his wings out in front of him and began running his fingers through pure-white feathers. It wasn’t like he cared if anyone saw him cleaning them, but humans tended to have an odd fascination with his wings. Sometimes they’d just stop and openly stare at them like they weren’t attached to a devil embodying the very thing said wings were associated with. The more he could avoid those stares the better.
After a few seconds of brushing Angel gave his wing a small shake, causing a few needles and bits of crushed leaves to fall out. Nevertheless, most stayed exactly where they were, and the way some of them were tangled he could already tell that they'd have to be picked out one by one.
With a sigh the devil realized that it’d be near impossible to get everything out in one fell swoop, especially what he could feel near the base of his wings. That meant staying up most of the night to get them and then being forced out to work again tomorrow with his wings still feeling like a mess.
Ugh. Angel really wished he could be given enough time to go through them both without being dragged out to work the very next day, probably sleep-deprived after staying up so late. Would one of his handlers give the okay for him to skip work so he could deal with this? No, who was he kidding? The only way he’d ever be allowed to skip any work was if he was deemed more of a burden than actually useful.
Well, one could dream.
“Hey, we’re done here. Let’s get going.”
Angel looked up to see that Aki had pulled away from all the boring public safety people now that cleanup had arrived, already securing the area and roping off what remained of the tree devil’s body.
The shorter huffed, dropping his wing. “Already? Talking to everyone usually takes a lot longer than that. Where are we going? You better not actually be thinking about doing more work after that fight.” He really, really didn’t want to keep working when every shift of his wings reminded him of just how dirty they were.
The other, oblivious of Angel’s suffering, rolled his eyes. “Of course we’re doing more work- our job isn’t to just kill one devil and then be done for the day.”
“I wish it was. Especially since we took out a difficult devil like that one.”
“Oh come on, it wasn’t that hard in the grand scheme of things- we’ve fought devils a lot stronger and walked away a lot worse for wear before. Besides, you only have yourself to blame when it comes to the length of the fight. Between the two of us we could’ve finished it in at least half the time it took if you just applied yourself for once.”
Angel hummed, unfortunately not having much of a reply for that- at least not without nearing the territory of conversations he really didn’t want to have. Conversations that reflected on a past he didn’t remember, faces that were more blurred than anything and a deep-seated guilt that sprung to life every time he summoned a weapon.
“Applying myself sounds too exhausting. Besides, you actually like to fight.”
“I don’t ‘like’ to fight,” Aki huffed. “It’s just what needs to be done if we want to get rid of devils and protect people.”
And so you can eventually kill the gun devil.
“Fine, you win. But if you’re going to be that way, can’t we just stop and rest for a little while? I need to clean up. Besides, not everyone is a workaholic who can’t slow down for even one single second.”
Aki stared at him, eyes narrowing as he scanned Angel, clearly searching for what the devil needed to ‘clean up’. He was about as free of gore as a devil hunter could be, and neither of them had sustained severe injuries. Whatever the black-haired man found must have been enough though because, with a defeated sigh, he said: “Okay, but not a long one. We still have about three hours left of patrolling and I’d like to try and kill another devil before the day is up.”
“Like I said, you're a workaholic.”
“Just because I want to actually be productive and do my job doesn’t mean I’m a ‘workaholic’.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
After a few more seconds the two of them left, Angel lazily trailing behind his partner and subtly fluffing his wings to at least attempt to get more of the random debris out from between his feathers. Maybe (hopefully) when they sat down he could go through them a bit more without Aki asking too many questions.
The last thing he needed from the human was proof that he cared.
_____
The two of them eventually came to a stop atop the roof of a building tall enough to overlook the block around them so Aki could keep an eye out for any devils in the area- being able to do that had been the only way for Angel to convince the black-haired man that they should actually take a longer break.
I must really look like shit if he's agreeing to this.
Angel was sitting criss-cross, one wing in his lap as he lazily picked at the needles and fucking pine cone seeds he’d just discovered on top of everything else. If he had any say in it the tree devil from earlier would actually be named the annoyance devil for making him do all this.
“Is that what you needed to clean up?”
It showed how wrapped up Angel was that the red-haired devil hadn’t heard his partner approach him. The other stood next to him, looking down curiously.
“Yeah. Turns out that you don’t really think about how much stuff comes off a tree until you’re getting covered in it and it’s getting stuck everywhere in your wings.” With a dramatic sigh, “why did we have to be the ones to run into that specific devil? Why not something like… I dunno, a heat devil? Something to warm my wings up instead of getting them wet or covered in garbage for once.”
His partner let out an amused huff. “Makes sense. It’s annoying enough when I get stuff in my hair, I can’t imagine how it’d be with wings.” Aki suddenly paused, a contemplative look on his face as he fell silent.
Angel waited, expecting the other to say something. When he didn’t:
“You look like you want to say something. What is it?”
“... You mentioned that it’d take a while to finish cleaning them all the way. Would it be faster if I helped?”
…
….
“What?!”
Surely. Surely Aki wasn’t suggesting what Angel thought he was.
“I can help. I may not have wings, but even I can tell that they probably take forever to get through on your own.”
“You’re insane. Why would you even think about doing that?!”
He expected Aki to pause, maybe explain how that genius thought had occurred to him. The man was almost always complaining about how stupid Chainsaw and the Blood Fiend could be, had some of their stupidity rubbed off on him? Or had he always been like this and just hid it extremely well?
However Aki didn’t pause to explain why he thought that was in any way a good idea, instead barreling on:
“I can wear gloves if you want, but it’s okay if I touch your wings without them, right? Otherwise when I grabbed you that time during the typhoon devil-”
“Like an idiot.”
“- I had your back pressed against my chest and your wings basically covering all of me without any of my life force getting drained by them. So is it safe?”
Angel looked down at the ground, eyes narrowing. Leave it to the self-sacrificing idiot with a lifespan that’d already been shortened long before the two of them even met to ask if it was okay to touch any part of him without gloves on. Why couldn’t he be more like the rest of public safety, who shot Angel looks of either fear or disgust the second he took a step in their general direction?
He could lie. He could tell Aki that if he touched them for too long the wings would start to suck his life force. Maybe he could bullshit and say that the two of them must have gotten lucky that day and normally his feathers did suck people's life force (like hell the man would believe that though). He could even just say that it was too dangerous and leave it at that. Aki would probably argue some, but ultimately the man would back off.
So yes, Angel could (should) say those things, but for some reason the next words out of his mouth were:
“You’re right, it’s safe to touch my wings without gloves on. At least for the most part.”
It wasn’t granting the other permission to touch them- and even if it was then Angel wasn’t saying the other could actually do so without gloves on. No, he was merely stating a fact. Yet… For some reason it felt like something more. Even when it probably shouldn’t.
Aki clearly agreed, if the way he heard the man’s breath catch had anything to say about it.
“It’s only skin on skin that drains lifespans,” Angel continued for god knows what reason. “So my feathers themselves are fine. If I was more like a bird you’d hit skin and bone pretty quickly, but my wings are about 90% feathers. Got just enough to move them and fly, but even I have trouble getting that deep most of the time.”
“Really? I've never compared you to a bird in my head but that… Makes sense. Your wings probably would've broken a lot by now if they were normal.”
The red-haired devil paused, eyes flicking up to meet Aki’s before he replied. “I’d say that it’s odd, but I also have a glowing halo that floats above my head- you humans weren’t necessarily thinking about biology when you were creating angels. At least not the ones you’re afraid of.”
Aki hummed thoughtfully. “I guess I’ve never really thought about that. Funny, considering that most devils look…”
“Like monsters?”
“Yeah.”
The two of them lapsed into silence for a moment before Angel leaned back on the palms of his hands and stretched his wings out to their full length. He could feel more than see Aki’s eyes widen as the other just stared at them- and for some reason the devil found that he didn’t mind those particular eyes on him.
“Tell me, human. Why even ask if it’s okay to touch my wings without gloves on? You wear gloves every time we patrol together, so it’s not like you don’t have any on you.”
Aki paused for a second, and when Angel turned to look his way the other seemed lost in thought. Maybe he was reconsidering his offer. Good.
“I don’t know,” Aki slowly replied after a few seconds. “I just- you’ve mentioned before that barely anyone at public safety outside of division four willingly gets close to you. I figured that doing this without gloves would make… Maybe make up for some more of that than if I did it with gloves on.”
Angel wasn’t sure that was the only reason, but he let it slide. Instead, he simply scoffed. “You’re an idiot. I thought you were the number one devil hater, yet here you are trying to what, comfort me? Make me feel more accepted? I know my place- what I am. You doing something like this won’t change any of that.”
Aki’s eyes narrowed, and Angel could tell he wanted to say something. Yet he seemed to actually use his brain for once and decided against it.
“Contrary to your personal belief, I’m not actually an idiot. I’m smart enough to know that it won’t change your mind, but even if you annoy me and only put any effort in when you feel like it doesn’t mean I can’t be nice to you. So, do you want me to help you with your wings?”
Angel paused. One scan over Aki was enough to tell him that the man wasn’t going to take any answer that wasn’t ‘yes’ or ‘no’ at this point. It made the red-haired devil scowl, something in him whispering this isn’t a good idea. It’s only stupid to get closer to him. Because you will, won’t you?
Angel probably took longer than he should have if he wanted to keep up his aloof persona.
“Fine,” he said after a few seconds with a long-suffering sigh. “If you’re going to be so pushy about it, then fine. The sooner I can get this over with the better.”
Eyes sliding over to meet the other’s, Angel felt something shoot through his chest when he saw that under his controlled face, Aki looked… Proud? Happy that he’d been given permission to do this one little thing when it didn’t even benefit him?
The devil didn’t want to think about what that meant.
A second later Aki was moving away from his side and behind Angel, the red-haired devil listening as his partner sat down behind him. Instinctually, he tensed up and leaned away from the human. Sure, it was okay to touch his wings and hair, but that didn’t mean anyone ever had. At least not anyone that he could remember.
“Alright,” Aki said after a few seconds. “I’ll start with your left wing since that looks like it has more stuff in it. Just tell me if you want me to stop, okay?”
Angel closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying his best to keep up a bored exterior. “Got it. Now get on with it, human- since you were so insistent on doing this and all.”
“Right- of course.”
A second later, and warm fingers came to rest on his outermost feathers. Angel’s breath hitched, body freezing. The fingers stayed there and, for a second, Angel expected them to pull back. For a shred of sanity to come back to Aki and the man to realize how much he was tempting fate by doing this one stupid thing.
Yet the fingers stayed there. And after a few seconds, they buried themselves in his feathers and began to move.
Angel didn’t know what he expected Aki’s fingers to feel like brushing across his wing, but it certainly hadn’t been this. Warmth from another’s touch after… He couldn’t remember how long. A long, long time though. Even beyond the warmth, the way they dug deep felt relieving, like something instinctual in him was settling at someone else cleaning his wings- like it was special. Did devils even have instincts like that?
Whatever, that didn’t matter. What mattered was Aki’s fingers gently flowing through his wings, taking their time as the man brushed out all the needles, twigs, bits of leaves, and other things the tree devil had blessed him with.
Aki was thorough, the man’s natural determination and learned patience transferring easily to the task in front of him. Angel couldn’t help but think of all the nights he’d spent in front of his pitiful room’s tiny bathroom with his back to the mirror and a brush in hand struggling to do the very thing his partner was doing with ease.
The brush always hurt, tugging on feathers whenever it got close to a particularly messy bit- there was none of that from the other man now.
Angel looked at where his right wing rested in his lap. He’d had full intention to go through it himself so the contact between Aki and his entire body was limited, but now the devil found himself putting that off. Maybe… Maybe just this once it would be okay if he let someone else handle it.
Just this once.
Just. This. Once.
Got that Angel? Don’t let this happen again.
“Are you doing okay?” Aki asked, ripping Angel out of his thoughts and back to the present. “I hope I’m not hurting you or making this worse.”
The red-haired devil snorted, lips twitching up. “Do you really think I’d let you keep doing this if it was making things worse?”
Aki huffed a laugh. “True. Don't know how I forgot that part, I think that I'd actually be more concerned if there came a day when you didn't complain about something.”
Angel shrugged. “I don't have a reason to keep any complaints to myself, so I don't see the issue with telling you about them- even if you do ignore them most of the time.”
That statement was true for the most part- not that he was going to tell Aki there was anything else. All the complaints he voiced were superficial, things that didn't really matter in the long run. They weren't the ones that kept him up at night.
Angel didn't complain about how he had nightmares of all the people he’d killed over the years, even if most of their faces were blurred. That he got the distinct feeling some of them had cared about him and vice versa, how one in particular had even loved him (but that didn't make sense, did it? Not a single person should ever care for or love a devil in any way). He didn't tell Aki that he hated using his powers because it felt like he was putting those lives to waste by reducing them to nothing more than a spear or a sword.
He didn't tell him about how much it hurt sometimes, not being able to touch anyone without killing them. The fact that something as simple as Aki grabbing his hand for a few seconds had taken two entire months off of the man’s already pitiful lifespan.
Nothing was fair in this life though. He’d realized that long ago.
Instead of focusing on that, Angel closed his eyes and let his wing fully relax into the other’s grasp. If Aki was going to do this anyhow then screw it, he might as well enjoy himself.
The two of them sat there for who knew how long, Aki methodically running his fingers through the other’s wing and picking out all the debris in them. A few feathers easily fell out too, and the black-haired man had to hold back a snort. Almost like he’s moulting.
Angel, for his part, stopped picking away at his left wing altogether. Instead the devil simply sat there, unconsciously leaning back into his partner’s hands and let himself be absorbed in the feeling of warm hands on him. It was nice.
Neither knew how much time had passed before Aki let go of the wing. It immediately almost fell onto the dirty rooftop, causing the black-haired man to jump and grab it in his hands. Its owner jumped at the sudden movement, turning to look behind him.
“I’m done,” Aki said after a few seconds of red eyes meeting blue. “Are you finished with the other wing?”
The red-haired devil paused, looking down at where it lay slack in his lap. “Uh- I got a bit tired and stopped. This kind of thing is exhausting, you know. Especially when you’re doing that.”
“That?” Aki prompted, raising an eyebrow. There was a hint of amusement in his eyes, like he knew, and Angel barely fought back the tint of red threatening to cover his cheeks. Why did the other have to look at him like that?
“Essentially giving me a massage,” the devil muttered after a moment, looking back down at his lap. “Just give me a few minutes and I can get this one done. How long have we been sitting here anyhow? It’s definitely been longer than you were going to let us sit.”
Aki hummed. “I don’t know, actually. But here- give me your other wing. If you’re ‘too tired’ to properly clean it then it’ll just be faster if I do it instead.” The black-haired man tactically ignored the ‘massage’ part of what Angel had said, instead motioning for Angel to give him the other wing. “Not to mention that it’s probably easier for me to just do it in the first place. It’s not nearly as awkward as trying to do it yourself, right?”
Angel paused, unsure of how to respond. Maybe he should call the other an idiot again, say something about how Angel could just do it himself later if the man was in such a rush. There’d already been enough of a risk for skin to brush skin, why should they push that? While Aki shouldn’t have made cleaning his wing feel so damn good it was partly on Angel for letting himself give into the feeling.
“If you’re sure,” he replied after a few seconds of silence. “I won’t complain. Less work for me.”
The red-haired devil shifted his wing out of his lap and backwards, where Aki gently (oh so gently) grabbed it and shifted it into the same comfortable position that he’d held the other.
When warm bare fingers started running through his left wing the devil couldn’t help but let out an audible sigh. His shoulders loosened up again, and his eyes fell half-closed. Belatedly, he realized that the sky had started to turn orange as the sun set. How long had they been sitting here?
Sure it was the cusp of fall, meaning that the sun set far earlier than usual, but the sky had definitely been a blueish-gray when they sat down. They’d still had a little over an hour before the sun fully set.
If warm colors were starting to fill the sky, then… Had they really been here for almost an hour now? What happened to getting another kill or two in before the day was up?
Angel didn’t mention that though- not when there was even the slightest risk of Aki snapping out of whatever relaxed state he’d settled into and urging them both back to patrol. You know, what they were supposed to be doing.
It reminded Angel of when they’d first started working together. Aki had made it perfectly clear that he wanted nothing to do with him, treating Angel like everyone else did in Public Safety. Bored and wanting to do anything but work, Angel had made it a game of seeing how long he could force his new partner to put off what they were supposed to be doing. Demanding as much food as he could possibly get, groaning and dragging his feet, refusing to get up after their breaks were over.
Aki probably would’ve killed him day one if Makima hadn’t made it perfectly clear from the start that he was only allowed to do so if Angel was truly burdensome- and the black-haired man wouldn’t ever dare to disobey her. Which, unfortunately for Aki, meant that he couldn’t just kill Angel for being a pain in the ass.
It was funny to think back on that and compare it to what was currently happening.
The two of them sat there long enough for the sun to nearly finish setting, the few stars visible from the city slowly popping into existence. Most of the city noises didn’t reach them up here, and for a second Angel wondered if this was close to what life in the country might be like.
Finally, after what felt like both forever and no time at all, Aki let go of his wing.
“Done,” the man said. “You were right about this taking a long time- I can’t imagine how long it would take to reach certain places and clean them properly.”
“... Yeah,” Angel murmured after a few seconds. “So thanks, I guess. Now I won’t be up all night fighting with that stupid brush. It’s made for hair, not feathers.”
Aki snorted as he stood up and brushed his pants off. “Yeah, I can see that getting annoying.”
Angel shifted around on the ground, stretching his arms above his head and his wings out as far as they could go. God, that felt good- they felt so much better than when he’d first climbed up here. “I might have to get you to do this again,” he said after a few seconds. “Between you and that brush you’re an easy pick.”
“I’m honored,” Aki replied, reaching into his side pocket and digging around for something. “And you’re welcome, by the way. Just let me know if you ever want me to help out again. It was-” the man ever-so-slightly blushed, “relaxing, I guess. Mindless. So I didn’t mind it.”
Angel felt his eyes widen ever so slightly. Was the other being serious about this? Genuinely, honest to god serious?
The devil was about to say something when a second later Aki found what he’d been looking for and pulled out a pair of all-too-familiar black gloves before slipping them on. Angel couldn’t help the way his wings slumped against his back when he saw them. Guess the moment’s over now, huh?
Yet Aki seemed to be dead-set on surprising him today, because a second later the man reached a hand down in front of Angel, silently prompting him to take it. Which- it wasn’t like he’d never done that before. He’d done it dozens of times at this point. But the look on the man’s face…
It was soft. Unguarded for once. A faint smile danced on his lips, and his normally narrowed eyes were relaxed. To think that something like cleaning Angel’s wings for him made the other man look like this…
“You going to stand, or do I have to physically pick you up?”
The other’s voice brought him back to reality. “I’m getting up,” he groaned, leaning his head back. “Just give me a minute.”
“We’ve been sitting here for over an hour now, you can get up.”
The words were harsh, but paired with Aki’s face and gentle tone it came across as more fond than anything. He motioned with his gloved hand once more, and with one last exaggerated sigh Angel took it and hauled himself up.
The devil stumbled as he stood up, giving a few small flaps of his wings to stabilize himself. “So what now?” He asked. “I hope you aren’t thinking about going back to work after all this, because I physically can’t. I refuse.”
“Uh-huh,” Aki rolled his eyes. “Today was very draining for you, I’m sure.”
“It was. I fought a tough devil and then had to sit on the top of a dirty roof for an hour? Draining.”
“You mean sit on a roof and let someone else clean your wings for you while you fall asleep sitting up? Don’t bother lying, I could tell you were nodding off.”
Belatedly, Angel realized that Aki was still holding his hand. Actually- he was doing more than just holding it. At some point between Angel taking it and now, their fingers had intertwined. Did he know?
When red eyes drifted up to meet blue, Aki squeezed his hand. Ah, so he had noticed. More importantly, he’d noticed and not immediately pulled out of the devil’s grasp like any rational human being would’ve.
Then again, what did they say? That you could only work for Public Safety if you were truly insane? If that was the only qualification then Aki had more than earned his position.
The two stood in silence for a moment, simply looking at each other before Aki sighed. “Fine,” he said. “I’m not feeling like doing much either. Let’s cover a bit more of our route, then how about we go grab dinner? Something a bit nicer than a convenience store this time.”
“Who are you and what have you done with my partner?” Angel asked, a smile dancing on his lips. “The Aki I know would never turn down the opportunity to work.”
“He wouldn’t?”
“Not in a million years.”
“Well since I’m apparently not him, how about we go with my plan instead? My treat.”
“Well I don’t earn any money, so of course it’s gunna be your treat.”
“Don’t ruin this,” Aki huffed in amusement. Still holding his hand, the black-haired man started leading Angel over towards the fire escape they’d used to get up here earlier. “I’m trying to be nice.”
Something warm fluttered in Angel’s chest, and it stayed there even as Aki let go of his hand to start the climb down. Angel simply walked over to the edge of the building and stepped off, letting his freshly cleaned wings do the rest of the work before turning to watch as his partner climbed down after him.
“So where are we going to eat?” He asked as soon as Aki came to stand in front of him.
Aki let out an honest-to-god laugh, shaking his head. “Be a little patient. We’re finishing another section of our route first, I literally just told you that. Besides, the place I’m thinking of is along the way so we’ll have to head in that direction anyhow.”
Angel sighed. “Fine, I guess I can put up with a bit more work- but this place better worth it.”
“It will be,” Aki replied, walking towards the alleyway entrance and back onto the sidewalk. The number of people had decreased at this point, a fact that made Angel relax ever-so-slightly as he fell alongside his partner.
As the two of them walked under a streetlamp, Angel caught the way that his wings caught the light and somehow looked even brighter than usual. Aki had been thorough, hadn’t he?
The devil couldn’t help but spread his wings ever-so-slightly as soon as he had the room to properly see Aki’s handiwork, and wow. He’d only been referring to how nice it was when he’d mentioned preferring Aki to that stupid brush he’d been given earlier, but if the other could make his wings look like this maybe it’d have to become a semi-consistent thing.
He knew it shouldn’t, Angel knew he was being an idiot, but he couldn’t help it. Looking at the man next to him, he didn’t think that Aki would turn down a repeat of earlier. It’s relaxing, the man had said. I didn’t mind it.
So maybe they were both idiots.
Idiots getting closer than they should, acting in ways that alluded to something more, thinking about the future when it was wiser to not give it the time of day.
Angel found that he didn’t really care.
And, if the way that Aki’s gloved hand was brushing against his, the man who supposedly hated devils more than anyone didn’t really care either.