Work Text:
Devils often did not have names. Usually a devil was named after what they could do, such as how the Future Devil was able to tell the future. Or a devil could be named after what it was, like the Bat Devil or the Fox Devil. It’s not as though no devils had names- the biggest devil of them all (in Angel’s eyes), the Control Devil, who also happened to be head of Public Safety, had a name. Angel didn’t care enough to say it though.
And Angel had a name. Somewhat. An angel was what he was, but Angel was also an actual name. So perhaps he didn’t have an original name, like the Shark Devil named Beam. But Angel was Angel and he was content enough with that. At least his first name wasn’t something off putting. And Angel’s full name sounded nice because it was an oxymoron, Angel thought. Maybe he was just biased. Probably. The Angel Devil. Two words that shouldn’t be next to one another. But that’s all he’s ever known and all he ever is.
Angel wasn’t used to people calling him by Angel, either. Not until recently. He was only ever called the back end of his name, and never in a positive light. Devil, come here. Devil, kill him. Devil, Devil, Devil.
But he was an angel, too. He figured most people forgot that. Sometimes he did too. And, up until he got partnered with Hayakawa for work, he wasn’t used to hearing the word “angel” often.
Now, instead of “Devil, use your power and kill him”, he heard things among the likes of “Angel, come here,” or “Angel, watch your step”.
Which is exactly like what he was hearing right now.
“Angel, please focus,” sighed the man walking beside him. Aki said it with no malice, just tiredness seeping through his voice. The faster they focused up and killed the devil they were assigned to, the faster the both of them could head home.
Angel glanced up at him before promptly ignoring his request. Sometimes, secretly, Angel thought Aki said his name more like a term of endearment rather than his name. Angel knew he wasn’t, but with a name like his, it was hard to think otherwise when Aki said it in that tone of his. He was so distracted, and it wasn’t even his fault.
He wondered what it would be like for someone to call him angel as a term of endearment purposefully. What would it sound like? Would the man beside him currently be the one doing it? Part of Angel already knew exactly what it would sound like. Again, he worked with Aki practically everyday. But he didn’t let himself think about it anymore.
Aki was taller than him. It was much easier for him to look at Angel discreetly than for Angel to do the same. All Aki has to do is slightly glance down, and, if Angel wasn’t looking, which he often wasn’t, he could get away with it. Aki was doing it right now, and Angel, presumably lost in his own thoughts, didn’t have a clue. Aki knew that if Angel knew how often he stared at him, Angel most certainly wouldn’t like it.
˚₊‧꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
“You haven’t been focused all day,” Aki said as he sat down on one of the mauled arms of the devil they had just killed. It resembled a moth, large and unruly, leading it to be called the Moth Devil- which was the name used when the two hunters got their mission assignment. Angel followed suit, sitting on another one of its crumpled up legs nearby Aki.
“Maybe.”
“Not maybe,” Aki replied curtly. “You have been.”
Angel looked at him for a moment before reaching down to pick at the fur on the leg of the dead devil. “Just thinking.”
Aki watched Angel pick at the fur for a second before looking back up at him. “About?”
“Hm. Devils.”
“…and?” Aki prodded. He knew there was more to it. With Angel, there always was.
“Their names,” Angel replied, stopping at his ministrations of picking the fur off the devil and transitioning to petting it instead.
Aki paused. “What about names?” he asked, watching him.
Angel stilled in his movements and looked at Aki. “I don’t know. I was just thinking about devils. And names. And my own,” he started. “Like… Do you think it had a name?” Angel asked, glancing down and gesturing at the dead devil underneath him.
Aki blinked. “The Moth Devil was what was given to us by Makima earlier,” he answered, slightly raising his brow.
Angel shook his head. “That’s not a name. Just a title. I wonder if it had a name.”
A moment passed. Aki opened his mouth before closing it to think further, then opened it once more. “I don’t know. Maybe. Probably not.”
“That’s sad,” Angel replied. “To live a life only known as a Devil who never got to choose a name.”
Aki thought for a moment before replying. “No one really chooses their name,” Aki said to that. “I mean, you can. Some people do. But most names are picked out for everyone at birth. It’s not something they control.”
Angel hummed and stopped petting the dead devil’s leg underneath him. He moved his hands to his lap. “I suppose that’s true. In that way, devils and humans are alike.”
Aki looked at him for a moment longer before glancing away, choosing to look out in front of him instead. “What about your name?”
“Hm?”
“You said you were thinking about your name too. So what?" Aki asked.
“Ah. Well, I like it. I think. Even though it was given to me when I was captured, and… it’s just what I am. But I don’t mind it now,” Angel said, mulling over his thoughts from before.
Aki glanced down and began to mess with his suit sleeves, smoothing them down although they were already perfectly fine. “I think it fits you. Even though it’s just what you are,” Aki said, turning back to look at him.
Angel met his eyes for a moment before averting his gaze elsewhere. He cleared his throat. “Maybe.”
“Maybe,” Aki parroted. “Angel is a nice name.”
A moment passed before Angel spoke up again. “I wish I could remember my name from before. If I even had one.”
That made Aki pause. It wasn’t as though he didn’t know about Angel’s past- or, rather, the lack thereof of his past- yet he hadn’t really considered the fact that, most likely, he did have a name before. One that was chosen for him out of love, not a haphazardly picked out title for the devil in the midst of him being captured.
After brief consideration, Aki spoke. “Maybe you did. Or maybe you didn’t. But to me, even if you weren’t an angel or a devil, I still think Angel would fit you,” he said quietly.
Angel’s wings shifted behind him. He wasn’t sure how to reply to that, and he let the silence speak for him. He wasn’t used to this, to Aki. To having conversations so open it almost made him feel human. Yet that was becoming a more common occurrence for Angel than ever before. He didn’t express any of this to the actual human sitting besides him; it’s not like he had to. Angel knew Aki understood it all too well. They were both treading on the edge of something too interpersonal. Too human. It made Angel want to reroute the entire conversation. Names were too intimate to talk about, especially with Aki Hayakawa who is much more softhearted than he lets out.
Pausing for another moment, Angel started picking the fur off the leg of the deceased devil beneath him once more. “Do you ever feel bad for them?”
“For the devils?”
Angel nodded. Fur fell from his hands to the ground, the wind whisking it away. Angel watched it go.
“No,” Aki replied. “Never.” At this, Angel looked back at the other man.
“Would you ever feel bad for any devil?”
Aki furrowed his brows slightly. “That I kill?”
“Just a hypothetical,” Angel stated.
Aki thought for a moment. Usually, he would be quick to say no again. He didn’t think he had it in him to ever even consider the possibility that he could feel anything but hatred and scorn for a devil, let alone feeling bad for one? That seemed far out of his realm of possibility. But something in the tone of voice Angel used made Aki hesitate. Aki was positive Angel’s question dug deeper than what he stated- again, with Angel, he always meant more than what he outright said.
“Depends.”
Angel dropped his hands from the corpse beneath him and moved them back to his lap. He stared at Aki for a second before looking forward as he opened his mouth to reply. “I like talking to you, Hayakawa,” he said, softer. It sounded raw, genuine. Aki wasn’t sure he was aware devils could sound like that. He was beginning to understand that he wasn’t aware of a majority of things that devils were. “You always have answers to the things I ask,” continued Angel. “Thanks for indulging me.”
Aki wanted to say that no, he wasn’t indulging him. The thought of himself indulging a devil was enough to make him never want to speak again. But he liked replying to the other man’s inquiries, no matter how random they might feel at the time- Aki knew that they certainly weren’t. Angel had a meticulous soul. Whatever Angel said always had some sort of underlying meaning to it, and Aki appreciated that depth to him. It’s been a while too since Aki had deep conversations with another being. Sure, he had conversations with others all the time. But they were always more surface level than with his assigned work partner. He wanted to tell Angel all of this, but Aki said nothing, and the wind picked up once more.
˚₊‧꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
“Can you?”
Angel tilted his head. “I suppose,” he said, crouching down to finish off the twitching devil. It stopped moving after a few seconds, its head lolling to the side. Multiple pairs of eyes stared blankly up towards the setting sun.
“Thanks,” Aki said, sheathing his katana. He stared down at the corpse before speaking again. “That was our final one for today.”
“Mhm,” Angel hummed in reply. He stayed crouching.
Aki looked down at Angel before moving his gaze to the devil corpse beside him. “We should go check in with Makima, tell her we finished,” he said, more so to himself than the living devil besides him. Another drawn out second of staring at the corpse before Aki began turning and started to walk away.
Angel hummed again.
Aki paused after a moment, looking back at Angel. “Come on,” he said, gesturing his head.
The devil didn’t move. “In a minute. I’m tired,” he said, his gaze unwavering from the dead devil in front of him.
Aki huffed out from his nose. “The sooner we go check in with her, the sooner we’re done and can go home. You know that. So,” Aki started, walking back over to the devil. “Let’s go.”
At that, Angel glanced upwards at the other man before sighing. “Don’t feel like it yet,” he replied, moving his gaze from Aki to the corpse in front of him once more before readjusting his position so he was fully sitting on the ground, drawing his knees to his chest.
Sighing hard, Aki decided to bite his tongue and join him on the ground. His suit was already dirty, he was sure of that. He sat next to Angel, close but not touching as he readjusted his sleeves. “So what is it with you today?”
“That’s blunt,” replied Angel dully. He took another moment before replying. “And I don’t know. I’m tired.”
“You’re always tired,” Aki said. He looked over at Angel and didn’t look away. His hair shone nicely in the sunset, making it a lighter shade of red. Aki felt as though he could stare at it for hours without growing bored. Angel wasn’t looking.
The devil hummed. “I’m aware. I’ve been tired for as long as I remember.” He shifted slightly, picking at his sleeve.
Aki waited a moment before replying. “I know.” He didn’t move his gaze.
A beat. “Sorry,” Angel said.
Aki shook his head slightly. “Don’t be,” he started, slightly quieter than usual. “I’ve been tired too.”
Angel didn’t reply to that. He wasn’t sure he needed to. The two sat there in each other's silence for another minute or so before Aki spoke up once again.
“But I’m going to be a lot more tired if we don’t head back now,” he said, a ghost of a smile on his lips. Angel looked over at him for the first time since their conversation even began, his lips slightly turning upwards. The two of them stared at each other for a moment.
“Yeah. We can go now.”
Aki nodded and pushed himself up, dusting off his pants as he did so.
Withdrawing his knees from his chest, Angel resumed his crouching position from before, albeit closer to the devil corpse in front of him. Leaning over, he stared at the multiple pairs of eyes that were still open, eyeing his own reflection in them. He reached out and closed each eyelid before standing up to face Aki once more. “Now it can rest too.”
Looking at the corpse once more, Aki nodded his head before turning. “Let’s go,” he said as he began to walk away.
Angel nodded and continued after him, leaving the setting sun behind him. The devil corpse lay still on the ground, eyes closed, finally at rest.