A Lifetime Full of an Archangel

Pairing: Adam/Michael
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: language
Spoilers: all of season 5
Beta: tattooeddevil (on livejournal)
Word count: 2,079 words

Summary: A look into Adam and Michael's relationship; the reason why Adam can't move in bed, what an archangel watches on TV (if he gets the remote), who buys groceries and who makes a mess of their home.

Note: This series of ficlets was inspired by a meme a friend did on her journal. Commenters gave her a pairing and she told us 13 things about them. I gave her Adam/Michael and her answers inspired me to write a series of ficlets.

1. Who is the big/little spoon?
His mom used to say that as a baby he wouldn't stay still in his sleep. As soon as he was able to turn over on his own, he kept doing it, twisting into all kinds of positions she had never even thought of, let alone considered good for him.

She'd probably be happy to hear that he has become a much calmer sleeper. It's not because of hell. That should actually have had the opposite effect on him. It's because it was kind of a necessity: Michael practically drapes himself over Adam, hindering any movement with a possessive arm and a leg thrown over the human, but also chasing away bad dreams. He protects Adam from the cold, which is the only reason Adam accepts it. Really.

2. What is their favorite non-sexual activity?
They go out for dinner every Thursday and the Indian restaurant near their home is by far Adam's favorite. Michael doesn't really voice his preferences because, well, angels don't need food. Adam has sworn to himself that he'll make Michael change his mind about it one of these days.

After dinner, they go to the movies, or they go home to watch a DVD. Adam thinks he needs to educate Michael on the human world.

In exchange, Michael flies him to more places than Adam has ever dared dreamed about. And from every place, Michael brings him souvenirs. Adam appreciates each of them and keeps them in his bedroom in a special box until there are too many of them to keep in the box. So he displays them in one of the many rooms in their house which they don't use but Michael insisted on, until those are full, too, and Adam gets the impression that he's gathered more treasures than any museum and is in serious need of a curator.

3. Who uses all the hot water in the morning?
A lot of things have changed since Adam returned from the cage. In fact, his whole life is different. So it is reassuring to still have some habits that don't need changing. Like showering. It might be a trivial activity; showering is a necessity and part of a routine but it is one of the very few parts of Adam's routine that haven't changed. Adam isn't one to take long showers, although, if one asks his brothers – which Adam doesn't – fifteen to twenty minutes is in fact a long shower for Winchesters. But Adam is a Milligan and as far as he is concerned, Winchesters can go screw themselves.

The point is, that Adam never runs out of hot water. Michael doesn't shower anyway, unless Adam talks him into it and pulls him under the spray of hot water because blowjobs in the shower are the best.

4. What do they order from take out?
"Why must you insist on eating that?" Michael asks, glaring at the take-out bags spread all over the kitchen table.

Adam shrugs. Who cares, he thinks to himself.

"This food," and the emphasis Michael puts on the word shows exactly what he thinks of it, "will be your death!"

Adam laughs. "Right. As if I could actually die."

The archangel gives him an unhappy look. "Why didn't you call me? I would have brought something!"

"Didn't know whether you were busy."

And Adam enjoys junk food from time to time. As much fun as it is to have Michael play delivery boy, he doesn't always want to eat healthy. His lover would just have to deal with that.

Of course Adam's stomach growls not two hours later and Michael gets to snap up food after all. Adam takes the plates out, a bottle of juice and two glasses, because while he doesn't mind eating Michael's food, he refuses to do it alone.

5. What is the most trivial thing they fight over?
Adam isn't always the most careful man, he admits that. But Michael is just being over protective. So what if Adam eats junk food from time to time (at least once a week) or shares drinks and cigarettes with friends (every Saturday)? So what if he likes to do free climbing once a month? Life is short, as he knows from personal experience, and he wants to do something this time around.

It's often the cause for arguments in their home.

"You need to be more careful," the archangel would usually start. "The fact that you think so little of yourself saddens me."

And if Adam doesn't comment on Michael's speech then, he'll simply growl because his past has shown more than clearly enough what he is worth: an accident for his parents, second choice for Dean and Michael, and Sam forgot about him faster than Adam could say 'Hell'.

But Adam doesn't want to reveal his own weakness so he uses a different argument instead which is less about himself and more about Michael and how the archangel got him to say 'yes'. It usually puts an end to their fight.

6. Who does most of the cleaning?
Adam's love for fast food aside, he does like cooking, too, when he has the time. Sometimes, he feels like a housewife. Even though he doesn't stay at home to clean up after his messy, TV-watching, beer-drinking husband (because Michael doesn't drink beer), Adam was the one who cared for the house. It was a bit like back when he lived with his mother. As a nurse, she had been busy and had to work hard to keep them both afloat so Adam had been forced to help doing housework from an early age.

Now, he still had the habits instilled in him at that time. Michael could help without even picking up a broom by simply directing his laser-like angel eyes at a mess to disintegrate it into nothingness but Adam would always have to ask because archangels didn't think of such menial tasks.

7. Who controls what they watch on TV?
"This is embarrassing," Adam says with a grimace of disgust. "Seriously, do you have to watch this? It's for freaking four-year-olds!"

"What's wrong with that?" Michael asks curiously, glancing up at the human from his place on the couch.

"How about the fact that you're an archangel older than dirt? Give me that!" Adam grabs the remote from the couch and changes the channel.

"There's gotta be something worth watching," he mutters as he flicks past various news channels and football games – he has never liked sports; the only reason he went with John to the ball games was because that was the only time they spent together. He stops briefly at a talk show where a woman looks like she's about to throttle a man and the tv host looks as if he is high. Finally, he settles on a rerun of Karate Kid.

"This, you have to see. I watched it so many times when I was a kid!"

8. Who's the one to always push to go out for a change?
Michael is watching him worriedly. It's been weeks since Adam has left the house on any other occasion than their Thursday nights.

"Don't look at me like that," the human snarls, nose buried in a book he's been trying to read without success for days now. He still doesn't know who the main character is.

"Locking yourself into our home isn't good for you. You should go out."

"I don't want to," Adam replies mulishly.

It's one of those times again. When the lines between past and present, reality and imagination blur a bit too much and he wishes for nothing but peace of mind. One of those times when he doesn't want to see anyone. Eventually, Michael will be able to change his mind. They might go shopping for groceries together, or take a walk in the park. It may not be today. But perhaps tomorrow.

9. Who calls up the super/landlord when the heat's not working?
The heat isn't working and Adam knows that the landlord will refuse to come until Monday. Michael could generate enough heat on his own for a power plant. But he isn't always there and Adam is generally cold.

Before being possessed by an archangel, he had a pretty normal temperature. But Michael is the epitome of heat. Being possessed by the archangel did not only leave mental scars, it screwed with Adam's body temperature. Now, he can never get warm enough. He'll always crave the archangel's heat even though he Michael isn't using him as a vessel anymore.

So Adam calls Michael into their house to act as a furnace until Monday when the landlord will hopefully finally come to fix the heating.

10. Who steals the blankets?
"You don't share easily," Michael notes.

Adam frowns heavily. "What do you mean?" It was not a nice thing to hear early in the morning – before his first cup of coffee even!

"When we share your bed, you always take away the blankets. I thought the point was for us both to lie under them?"

Adam gives a shrug and retorts: "It's not as if you need them."

Judging by Michael's expression, he is not satisfied by that answer.

"You grew up as an only child," the archangel begins.

"Yeah, so?"

"Children who grew up without siblings are not used to sharing."

"That's crap," Adam denies. "'Sides, Sam and Dean grew up with each other but I'm not sure I agree with their kind of sharing."

11. Who leaves their stuff around?

Michael clearly has compulsive hoarding. He'll take anything home that catches his eye and then Adam has to find a place for the archangel's collection. No matter how worthless the item is, Michael has to keep it. And it is amusing for a while.

Then, Michael starts bringing home animals. First, a bird. It has a broken wing, so Michael heals it, but instead of letting it go immediately, he keeps it for several more weeks until Adam accidentally forgets to close a window.

The hedgehog is just disgusting – too many ticks. When Michael brings a cat, Adam is very glad that the bird has flown away. He can already see himself as the next Noah with one animal of each species. He'll keep an eye on the weather report for a while just in case.

12. Who remembers to buy the milk?
Adam cursed at the empty fridge. Forgotten, again. He wanted to beat his fist against the wall because this was the last straw in an overall fucking shitty week but he didn't because mom was asleep and he didn't want to wake her.

Adam is very good at remembering to buy groceries. Again, Michael could take care of it with a snap of his fingers. But it has been ingrained in the Milligan. As a kid, he was forced to learn to take care of himself at an early age. Groceries were his responsibility because his mom worked long hours and usually didn't have time for that. But sometimes Adam forgot and he was forced to go hungry until the next day when either he would do it himself or his mom would wake up and get groceries for him.

"We're out of milk," Michael greets him when Adam came home.

"No, we're not," Adam replies, setting the milk on the table.

13. Who remembers anniversaries?
Unlike some couples, they don't need to remind each other of anniversaries. They celebrate the day they got out of the cage, and they celebrate the day they became a couple, both the actual day it happened and the day Michael announced it officially to his brothers. But they don't celebrate the day that they met because that would be awkward.

The reason for celebrating the event twice, are Sam and Dean. Michael asked the Winchesters for advice, and they insisted that, yes, Michael had to celebrate as many anniversaries as possible because that was what a girlfriend would want. Which is exactly the point: His brothers' only experiences are girlfriends and Adam is not a girl.

He'd never admit it, but, in a way, he thinks it's cute. And he'll gladly take a lifetime full of sick animals, bad children's shows on TV, and an archangel for a blanket.