Negotiations had gone on through the night, in the lazy sort of way that included lengthy breaks to stargaze between points. Both had irritably admitted, to themselves and each other, that they didn't have the authority to make such sweeping changes on their own. And, besides that, neither had brought enough paper to write a contract. Neither was terribly disappointed in that, though they pretended to be.
The sky began to change, a threat that the sun would peek into view any minute. Gabriel looked over when Beelzebub gave a withering sigh.
"I have more important thingz to do." And then ze was gone.
Gabriel hadn't expected anything else, and truth be told he had a great deal of work waiting for him as well. He stood up and prepared to head back to Heaven.
But then he paused and gave his wings a test flap.
Meetings in Hell were soul-crushingly dull by design. Demons were given too much time to present a single idea so every detail was dragged out. The presentations were monotonous due to a severe lack of creativity and tools available to demons to illustrate their points. And, most importantly, they were scheduled back to back for hours to weeks on end. Beelzebub had become convinced it was implemented this way to punish the Dukes and Lords specifically. It wouldn't do to let their ranks make Hell a slightly less agonizing experience.
A new, but just as tedious, aspect had been added since the failed apocalypse: the search for the ineffable plan. Or, at least, the search for any evidence that the opposition had figured it out. The collective answer that day, as it had been for weeks, was "nothing" and "no".
After the last of the presentations had ended, and the lower-ranking demons returned to their drudgery, came the post-meeting meeting. Beelzebub and the other high-ranking demons discussed what had been said, and who's underlings would be saddled with which tasks for the next round of presentations.
Normally, this second meeting was even more downbeat than the first. But now, without Ligur around to have a claim on his underlings, the Dukes fought over how to distribute them. It had quickly devolved into airing personal slights, and then into an all-out war. Hastur had initially, and still occasionally in flashes, seemed disgusted at how ready the others were to pick over Ligur's proverbial corpse. But, well, one didn't become and remain a Duke by passing up golden opportunities. If anything, he might have used his disgust to become the most vicious.
After an hour of this, Dagon tossed her pen down onto her notepad. "This is the most pointless meeting we've ever had," she muttered to Beelzebub. "And that's saying a lot."
"At leazt which demon will do what iz done," Beelzebub replied, dully, as ze watched one of the Dukes get slammed into a wall. "I don't have to be checked in for who'z wing getz a feather."
Dagon leaned in a bit. "Speaking of wings, I saw how much you had to have undone this morning." She smirked, and nudged at Beelzebub as much as she dared. "Who did you let butcher you like that?"
Beelzebub paused, raised zir hand to block zir mouth from the Dukes, and mouthed 'Gabriel'.
Dagon gasped, "No...!"
Beelzebub buzzed, amusedly. "Mhm."
"He's that bad? How?"
"Even worze than it looks. I had to talk him through not pulling on every zingle feather."
"So does he just always get groomed and never...?"
"They don't groom each other." Beelzebub nodded when Dagon's jaw dropped. "Outlawed becauze it'z 'too tempting'."
"Interesting..." She grabbed her pen and made a note of it. "That's very, very interesting."
"All exzept Michael, I guezz. Which, zpeaking of. I want the name of her contact. And if she takez one more ztep in Hell that I have not perzonally zigned off on, she'z never walking anywhere again."
"I'll see to it personally," Dagon smirked. "So, this cooperation thing is a go, then?"
"Onze we put it in writing. More of a non-interferanze clauze, really. I have to bring thiz to the Dark Counzil, but there's a pozzibility of sharing rezourzes and manpower."
"Quite the deal."
"Whatever getz thingz figured out fazter."
"I get that but... sharing that much? I'm not sure they'll go for it. And... grooming the opposition..."
"I know, but-" Beelzebub ducked under a chair that flew in zir direction. "The mozt important thing iz that he'z my deztined opponent. If I can make him hezitate, even for a zecond... Friendz cloze and enemiez clozer, right?"
"How are you supposed to fly up against him if you let him keep doing that to your wings?" She asked. "A few more sessions and he's going to pluck you bald. And then what?"
"He won't do that," ze said. It came out more confident and comfortable than ze'd expected it to.
"He's an angel," Dagon said, forcefully. "They're sneaky bastards, and he's the worst of all of them."
"I know what I'm doing," Beelzebub insisted, irritably. "You act like thiz iz my first temptation."
"I suppose... just don't get sucked in, alright? They have a tendency to do that." Her voice went softer, "I don't want to see you get hurt."
"You zound human."
Dagon scoffed and muttered, "For strategic reasons."
Beelzebub looked her in the eyes, face serious and as soft as anyone in Hell would dare. "I'll be fine, I promize. Just keep thiz between uz." Ze looked at the other demons who were still locked in their war. "Think they'd notize if we juzt left?"
"No."
Beelzebub announced "meeting dismissed" in a voice too soft to be heard over the brawl, and the two Lords left the room.
When an angel unfurling their wings, it set off a chiming notification to Heaven. This was supposed to be noted, but was almost always ignored since it almost always meant maintenance. Taking flight set off a slightly louder bell that was written down, as there would need to be paperwork. An angel flying erratically, too quickly, or for too long, set off their own warning bells.
Over the course of this 'meeting', Gabriel had set off all of them.
The Archangels exchanged a worried, though not necessarily surprised, look. Michael nodded, drew her sword out of thin air, and descended.
She touched down in a defensive stance. The uneven footing was of no matter to her, as the ground moved to be where her feet expected it. What nearly threw her stance off completely, though, was that the mountains around her were quiet and intact.
Michael hadn't paid much attention to Beelzebub during the Great War, seeing as Lucifer was her assignment and more than enough to keep her occupied. But she remembered how Gabriel had looked after. And, as Ligur had pointed out, Beelzebub had kept an iron grip on their... zir rank for a reason.
She tragically wasn't sure what Beelzebub was capable of. But, she was positive, a mere mountain on Earth shouldn't have been left unscathed. There wasn't even smoke in the air, and that made it even scarier. Had she been too late?
No, evidently, as Gabriel swirled past a mountaintop in a dive that was neither injured nor distressed. He wasn't being pursued... she'd dare say he was doing it for fun.
Michael would have rubbed her eyes, but she didn't want to give Gabriel the honor of ruining her meticulously-applied makeup. She instead unfurled her wings and took off after him.
"Gabriel!"
He pulled up fast with a look of shock but not a hint of apology. Then he moved his sleeve to look at his watch, shook his wrist and tapped at the face plate.
"It must be broken," he said. "It still says I have five minutes."
"We thought you were in danger! Instead, you're out here playing-"
"Training," Gabriel said, firmly. "I haven't worked on my evasive flying techniques in a long time, and this is the best place to do that without arousing suspicion."
Michael knew Gabriel well enough not to push past that. She sheathed her sword more aggressively than necessary, though. Not that he noticed. "Of course. How did the negotiation go?"
"We have to draft paperwork, but I think it went very well. We've agreed to share information, maybe resources if necessary. At least as far as figuring out the ineffable plan is concerned." He straightened his coat as he received a hard stare. "I thought you'd be happy. What with your 'back channels'."
Michael pulled a taunt smile. Her back channel was a pile of goo somewhere on Earth, but she couldn't say that. "Who's idea was this?"
"We both decided."
"Are you positive about that?"
Gabriel's smile fell in confusion. "Excuse me?"
Michael came in close and lowered her voice. You never knew when you were being watched. "Demons are cunning, they're manipulative. They'll convince you that things are you idea, that's how they converted millions of us."
"I'm not going to fall," Gabriel told her with a laughing smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I've got everything under control."
"Of course," Michael agreed after a beat that Gabriel ether didn't acknowledge or pick up on. "Now let's get back before the others start coming down."