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Chase truly was an angel who wasn't good at…many things.
He wasn't good at being a guardian angel; oh, he certainly had tried, he really wanted to help — but unfortunately after enough serenading-related "incidents" occurred, the archangels decided that he wasn't the best fit for the job.
And demon hunting or the position of an angel of death were really not up his alley; one time he accidentally cracked an egg in a bird's nest from a failed landing attempt, back when he was younger, and he had cried for three days straight. So everyone decided that he wasn't up for the task of killing anything, be it demons or humans.
That was just fine with him; there were other tasks he could do up in heaven, that didn't involve killing or getting involved with demons.
So what did he do? He totally got involved with a demon.
Totally gotten involved with the demon he was currently struggling to princess-carry flying full-speed in the air with, fleeing from the archangel who had just tried killing him.
And it was now that he was realizing he was not good at trying to balance in the air with his half-dazed boyfriend bleeding in his arms.
Nevermind the fact he was completely freaking out, because Buddy was only kind of reacting to Chase shouting his name, and oh my god his wing was not supposed to be bending that way.
He shot a glance behind him — and, surprisingly, the archangel wasn't hot on his heels. Maybe he was just playing with them, playing with him — and was giving them a head start. What a CREEP.
If Chase was being honest, he never had trusted that particular archangel — Deacon seemed to look up to him, borderline idolizing him, but something about him just…rubbed Chase the wrong way. Sure, he had a pretty face to some, but once you knew what lay underneath he looked to be anything but.
Chase had mentioned him, offhandedly, to Buddy a few times — mainly about how he'd be answering to him if it was found out he was canoodling with a demon. A flicker of recognition would flash across the demon's face, but whenever Chase pried he'd refuse knowing who he was talking about.
And now, Chase so badly regretted not prying further, because, upon being summoned to the archangel's office, he had been presented with his badly battered and bruised partner, apparently dragged to heaven against his will and being used to rub the angel's apparent sins in his face.
Certainly, the end goal here was to kill the demon in front of his face, as a kind of torture — why receive death as punishment when you could be given a fate far worse?
Chase wasn't even sure how he made it out here, how he was able to grab his Buddy from the clutches of the archangel — it was all a blur, but here he was, flying through the streets and between the apartments and cafés that made up this heavenly neighborhood.
Buddy coughed as his eyes fluttered open, looking up at Chase's face, at his filled with panic and terror. "C-Chase?"
The angel in question practically yelped upon his name being spoken, faltering in the air with excitement at hearing his boyfriend's voice. Straightneing himself with an extra flap of his wings, he veered down an alleyway, where hopefully no prying eyes would see them — see them yet.
"BUDDY! Oh my god thank heaven you're okay. Except don't thank heaven because heaven is totally the reason you're all beat up."
He stuck his legs out for a less-than-perfect landing, far too full of adrenaline and concern to time it correctly. He quickly laid his boyfriend on the soft ground, a sort of mix between solid and cloud, and began looking him over, before his eyes trailed to the demon's left shoulder.
"Nooooo, no no no noooooo."
The demon's wing was shredded and tattered, bent at an unnatural angle as purple blood oozed from the multitude of wounds. Chase had never seen it before — demon blood, and he wished, so desperately wished, that his first time seeing it wouldn't have been like this, have been Buddy's.
He instinctually went to reach for the mangled limb, wanting to cradle it in his arms, just as he had so many times before, before jerking his hands back upon realizing that would only hurt him more. There wasn't anything he could do to fix this, fix him.
It hung weakly from his shoulder, and you didn't need to be a doctor to tell that he'd never be able to fly again after this.
Assuming they lived through this.
The demon tilted his head, trying to glance over at his wing — most likely noticing he was unable to move it — upon which Chase cupped his face between his hands, making sure he couldn't look at anything other than him. "D-don't look at that right now, just focus on me."
Angels flew overhead, most likely looking for them, Chase noted, and he hitched his wings above their heads, trying to distract the demon from the fact he was completely surrounded by enemy territory. At this point, it seemed like they both were.
Nox met Chase's hands with his own, as if stuck between deciding whether to try pulling them off his face or pressing them closer against his cheeks. "Chase, you need to go, I'll only slow you down, just…leave me h—"
"No." Brushing away a smear of blood with his thumb, Chase leaned closer to Nox's face, until his whole world was swallowed in icy blue eyes. "You seriously think I'd actually leave you here? Do you even know me, Buddy?"
The demon let out a sigh, the breath tickling Chase's face from their proximity. "Unfortunately, I do know you, which is why we're in this predicament in the first place." After a brief pause, he continued, voice lowered, "they'll kick you out of heaven for this, you know."
Arms were suddenly wrapped around Nox's waist, extremely careful to avoid his limp wing. Hands found his hair, stroking through the dark strands, nails gently scratching against his scalp.
"I don't care. If they're kicking me out for just loving someone, then that's the stupidest thing in the world, and I'll punch them in their big jerk faces if they try taking you from me. Again."
"Idiot." The quietly muttered word had no malice, no true insult behind it; simply a resignation from the demon that his angel wasn't going to listen to reason. Despite how badly he wanted Chase to be safe, to save himself, he truly didn't want to be alone; his spiked tail absentmindedly find its way to the angel's wing, idly curling into the soft, warm feathers he knew so well.
"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry, I'm—" the angel's voice choked, tears welling in his eyes at the thought that this was his fault, if he had just stayed away from Buddy, then he would've never been dragged here in the first place, and he'd be fine and his wing would be fine and—
"Stop." Now the demon pulled back and cupped Chase's face between his hands, gazing into honey-glazed eyes. "I knew just as well what I was getting into as you were. Unlike you, I'm not an idiot. It's not your fault; if it's anyone's, it's his." His face soured at the thought of the archangel, as if that was more painful than his unfunctional wing.
Chase gave a small smile at that, before his eyes drifted back over to the wing, and his face fell again as he winced. It truly was painful to look at, and if it was painful for Chase, it had to hurt way more for Buddy.
"We could— my uncle, he knows how to—"
"Oh my god, are you this much of an idiot?" Buddy hissed through his teeth, wincing in pain as he tried adjusting his shoulder, his wing flopping along with it. "The last thing you should do is get your family stuck in this too, and even then, you think the higher-ups aren't thinking of checking with them if they've seen you? Obviously they'd think that'd be your first thought, and because you're Chase, of course it was."
"Ugh, okay!" He glanced back up at the sky, at the growing number of feathered wings entering the air above them. "Then, w-we need to get down to earth. We can, maybe…I don't know!" Looking back at Buddy, at his now useless limb, he felt so helpless. "I don't know how to fix you," he choked out, the thought of his partner being grounded for eternity suffocating him.
"That's the least of our worries right now, Chase." Now it was the demon's turn to hug the angel, sinking his fingers into the soft, delicate feathers that adorned the wings he loved so. "I don't care. As long as I'm with you, I don't care."
"So, you…" Chase began to rise, extending his hands to pull his boyfriend up into his arms. "Do you trust me, Buddy?"
"To the ends of the earth."