Something was wrong.
Azrael opened her eyes and, after that initial jolt of recalling that she was returning to the Silver City that evening, realized that something was distinctly off with her wings. They felt stiff and ungainly and just… strange.
She'd slept with her wings out, something she hadn't done at Ella's apartment due to lack of space. She and Lucifer had stayed up far later than her body could easily tolerate, talking until they had said everything that could be said and then not talking any more but just being together.
Azrael wasn't entirely sure how she had gotten to this room, the one that had been hers when she lived in the penthouse; her last memory of the night before was of struggling to keep her eyes open as her brother looked on in amusement. While she had kept to her one drink limit for once, Lucifer had imbibed enough for both of them and then some; Azrael had restrained herself because she'd known that she would need all her faculties for the next day. Despite the lack of alcohol, she still felt stupid and tired, likely due to the late night.
Trying to summon alertness, Azrael arched one wing so she could see it, the motion taking a little more effort than it should have.
Pink. Her wing was pink. She twitched the other wing forward and, yes, it was pink as well.
Her wings had been coated with pink glitter. Azrael sat up and realized that glitter also covered the bed, outlining her wings like Tinkerbell's murder scene. She ran a hand along one wing and while some of the glitter came off on her fingers, the majority of it remained on her feathers.
Azrael flopped back onto the bed with a groan. "I do not have time for this," she said through clenched teeth. Worse, she wasn't sure she could fly, not with her wings as they were. And while she was certain that at least some of siblings were watching from above and cackling at her misfortune, and that Gabriel in particular would never let her forget about it, she absolutely could not show her face in the Silver City with her wings like that. The Angel of Death did not have pink wings.
Azrael realized that she was thinking of herself as her job once more, and wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that. It was familiar, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. She had, perhaps, gotten a little too familiar with her job, with human lives ending. Was that better than the alternative? She really wasn't sure.
Azrael pushed aside those thoughts and reached for her phone, choosing the appropriate number from her contacts.
"You're up! I thought you were going to sleep forever." Trixie's voice became muffled, perhaps as she turned away from the phone. "Maze, she's up!"
"Trixie, where are you?" Azrael queried, her voice carefully neutral. She was unsurprised to learn that the demon was involved; of course she was. Trixie would have needed assistance, and who better to torment an angel than a demon? While she doubted that Trixie's aim was torment, she had no such thoughts about Maze.
"In the kitchen," Trixie replied, and Azrael realized that she could also hear the girl's voice echoing from the hallway as well as over the phone. "Come have breakfast. Well, it's closer to lunchtime, but it's breakfast food. Don't worry; Maze didn't make it."
"I'll be right there."
Azrael tucked her wings away, changed back into the previous day's clothing, and pulled her hair into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. She could still feel the glitter, even with her wings disappeared; it made her back itch in that impossible-to-reach spot between her shoulder blades. She found herself rolling her shoulders in an attempt to be rid of the feeling as she strode down the hallway and into the kitchen.
The door had barely swung closed behind her before Trixie barreled into her, knocking her back a step. Trixie locked her arms around Azrael's waist and burrowed her head against the angel's chest.
"What?" Azrael said, reflexively catching the smaller girl. She looked to find Maze regarding her, unsmiling. Then Trixie lifted her head to reveal red-rimmed eyes, and Azrael's irritation faded. "Hey, it's okay." She brushed Trixie's hair away from her face, careful not to let her hand catch on the pink streaks in the girl's dark locks.
"But you're leaving," Trixie protested. Clearly, that counted as Not Okay in her book.
Azrael took a deep breath, hugging the smaller girl closer. "Yeah," she agreed. "I am." She cast a look of appeal to Maze, but the demon plucked a double-chocolate donut from the box on the kitchen island and took a deliberate bite of it, making it clear that Azrael was on her own. "My father wants me to go back," she said, the explanation sounding inadequate even to herself.
Trixie took a short, hiccupping breath, easing back a little but reaching for Azrael's hand. "Sometimes I don't do what my dad says," she confided. "Like when he wants me to brush my teeth, I go into the bathroom and let the water run on my toothbrush, but I don't really brush my teeth." Trixie gave the angel a conspiratorial grin, adding, "He doesn't get the right toothpaste; his is too minty. Mommy gets the bubblegum kind."
Azrael caught the edge of Maze's look: eyes widened meaningfully, brows at a sarcastic tilt. Her intent was clear: See? Disobedience! Even the kid gets it.
Azrael cleared her throat. "Well. This goes a little beyond tooth-brushing, I'm afraid. I really do have to listen to my father."
Trixie pondered Azrael's words, then asked, "Will the bears come get you if you don't?"
"What? No." Azrael regarded the smaller girl in amused puzzlement. "Probably just my brother Michael. Honestly, I'd rather bears at this point. Michael was kind of a jerk the last time I saw him." That elicited an amused noise from Maze, though when Azrael sent a glance her way, the demon was stone-faced. She led Trixie to the table, taking a glazed donut from the box as she went. "Do you mean specific bears, or is it just bears in general?"
Trixie grabbed a pink-frosted, rainbow-sprinkled donut. "I was at Bethany's house last week and she had a Bible in her room," she explained, before pausing to take a bite of her donut. "Mm, yummy. I knew it was your dad's book," she continued, "so I asked if I could see it, and she told me a story about how bears attacked these kids who made fun of a bald guy."
"Elisha," Azrael murmured, shaking her head. "All right, not everything in the Bible is from my dad, and the bear thing was really exaggerated, okay? He doesn't do stuff like that any more." Maze snorted in derision, and Azrael turned to regard the demon. Knowing that she was making a mistake even as she spoke, that taking her feelings out on Maze was never a good idea, she asked too-sweetly, "Would you like to participate in the conversation with actual words, Mazikeen? Or is that just a little too much for you?"
Maze started forward, one hand disappearing from view, but then she saw Trixie and hesitated, instead giving the angel a look that made it perfectly clear that only the little human's presence kept her from knocking Azrael on her ass.
Azrael looked away from the demon's challenging gaze after a moment, though part of her would have welcomed a sparring session; when she and Maze trained, she had no room in her brain for anything but the moment, which would have been a nice change from the current turmoil of her mind. She would have relished a distraction from her worry over her upcoming return to the Silver City.
"Guys," Trixie protested, drawing Azrael's attention. "Don't fight."
"We're not fighting," Azrael reassured, before taking a bite of her donut.
"Not yet," Maze agreed, with a smirk. "You'll know when we're fighting, little human."
Azrael couldn't help but smile at Maze's response. She patted Trixie's arm, then got up to get some coffee, certain that caffeine could only help her mood. It occurred to her to wonder who had made the coffee, though the question she asked was, "Where's Lucifer?" She turned in time to see the look Trixie and Maze exchanged, but she couldn't interpret it.
"He's busy," Trixie replied, trying to keep a serious face but not entirely managing it.
Maze added, unconcerned, "Something came up at Lux. He said we should keep you occupied."
"Is that why my wings are pink and sparkly?" Azrael queried. She gave Trixie a look that requested an explanation, but the girl only giggled.
"Aren't they pretty?" Trixie asked, clearly delighted.
Azrael took a breath to reply, only to pause as she felt the sharp application of Maze's elbow to her ribs, though the demon had been several feet away a moment before.
Maze leaned casually against the counter next to Azrael. "Cream and sugar?" she asked, though no coffee additives were present.
Azrael gave Maze an annoyed look, casually lowering a hand to rub at her newest bruise, but she did modify her words to, "Pretty isn't even the word."
Beaming, Trixie asked, "Can I see them? It was kind of dark in your room."
"Ah, that would explain the glitter all over my sheets," Azrael teased, and Trixie grinned.
"It was kind of messy," Trixie admitted. "I got some on my hands," she added, displaying several sparkly fingers.
Maze added, with a wicked smile, "You slept through the whole thing, TD. We could have done anything."
Azrael shook her head, not especially reassured by this comment from Maze. "So, wings," she said to Trixie. "Let's go on the balcony, assuming it's not raining again. They'll be more sparkly in the sun."
Trixie bounced to her feet. "No, it's sunny," she assured Azrael. "Come on," she urged, already halfway to the balcony.
Azrael grabbed her donut before starting after Trixie, calling over her shoulder, "Trixie being upset isn't my fault, Mazikeen."
"Yeah, it is."
But the demon followed nonetheless.
"Now," Azrael said to Trixie, who had perched on a chair on the balcony. "While I appreciate that you wanted to make my wings pretty, this is the sort of thing you should have asked before doing, okay?"
Trixie considered that, then asked, "Would you have said yes?" Azrael hesitated, and Trixie nodded. "That's what I thought. Lucifer said that if you really, really want to do something, you should do it. And Maze helped."
"How nice of her," Azrael muttered. More seriously, she added, "I believe that Lucifer said that, but doing something to someone while they're sleeping, that's not okay."
Trixie nodded, looking contrite. "Sorry, Rae."
Maze, leaning against the doorway, smirked. She obviously had her own opinions on acceptable things to do to sleeping people. "Just show her the wings, Fun Size."
Azrael flicked a quick, irritated look at Maze, but loosed her wings nonetheless. She had to admit that the combination of sunlight and glitter was not entirely unattractive, and Trixie's delighted squeal brought a smile to Azrael's face.
"Rae, they're so pretty!" Trixie hopped down from the chair to get a closer look and Azrael arched her wings, preening despite herself.
"What did you use to make them glittery?" Azrael asked.
"In case you want to do it again?" Trixie grinned over at Maze, then added, "It was a spray we got at Walgreens. Don't worry," she added, "It comes out in the shower."
Azrael nodded, relieved. It could have been much worse, after all. "I'm going to have to go get a shower pretty soon, then. I've got a lot to do today."
Trixie pleaded, "Just a few more minutes? Besides, Lucifer took care of some of your stuff already. He said."
Azrael nodded. "Just a few minutes." She leaned against the balcony wall, frowning thoughtfully at the mention of her brother. "Is everything okay at Lux? He's been gone a while."
"It hasn't been that long," Maze replied, her tone not inviting further questions on the subject.
Trixie looked between the angel and the demon and sighed. "I'm gonna get another donut. I'll be right back."
Looking after the girl, Azrael asked Maze, with a gesture toward her wings, "Was this really necessary?"
Maze shrugged. "Necessary? Probably not. But it got the little human to stop crying, so it was worth it. You took one for the team, TD."
Azrael gave Maze a skeptical look, certain that the demon was not motivated solely by altruism, even as she felt guilt twist somewhere south of her collarbone. "My feathers just dried from that rainstorm last night," she complained.
Unsympathetic, the demon replied, "Let the kid go after them with a blow dryer. She'll love it."
Azrael pursed her lips as she considered the suggestion. "That's… actually a good idea. Thank you, Mazikeen."
"I know."
Azrael settled to a seat and took a bite of her donut. "Might want to mention Bethany and her stories to Chloe," she suggested.
Maze nodded. "On it. But Elisha and the bears, that's not the weirdest thing in that book."
Looking amused, Azrael replied, "It was probably a children's Bible, though. I'm sure they cut out the inappropriate stuff. I mean, Song of Solomon has its nice parts, but it's not the best for kids."
Maze smirked. "Ezekiel 23:20."
Brows lifting sharply, Azrael said, "I didn't realize you read the Bible."
"No, I don't," Maze replied, with a wry look for the thought. "But Lucifer liked that part. He's quoted it a couple of times."
"I'll just bet he has." Azrael was quiet for a moment, then looked after Trixie with a worried frown. "Was she really that upset?"
The demon gave Azrael a hard look. "She likes you, so, yeah. She was that upset. I mean, the kid doesn't know if she'll ever see you again."
"She doesn't need to worry," Azrael protested. "I mean, I'll come see her when…" Her voice trailed off, full of uncertainty.
"Yeah," the demon said flatly. "You have no idea what's going to happen up there. So you'd better not promise anything you can't deliver." Azrael didn't respond, and Maze persisted, "You can't just show up when you feel like it, the way you did with Lucifer."
"That's not how it was," Azrael snapped, her voice defensive. "I came when I could. The job -"
"It's always the job," Maze replied scornfully. "Look, Lucifer understood how it was, but Trixie doesn't. And if you lose track of time, which we both know you'll do, what then? She's a little kid, but if you take off for years at a time…"
Azrael fumbled to put her half-eaten donut on the small table. "I know. I…" She took a breath. "I'll see what happens in the Silver City. Take it from there. Maybe my father…" She shook her head, not looking particularly optimistic.
Maze exhaled a huff of exasperation. "I know you'd never cross Daddy on your own behalf, but maybe think about everybody down here. Maybe think about Trixie."
"I am thinking about Trixie," Azrael snapped. "What, you want me to go back to the Silver City and say, 'Hey, Dad thanks for my body. Now I'm going to bail on my job. Bye!' And that's assuming I want to bail on my job, which I don't. I like my job."
"Whatever, Fun Size," Maze replied, unconvinced by Azrael's tone. Shaking her head, she added, "I would have a lot more to say to your father, and I wouldn't be starting with a thank-you."
"You're not the one who has to face him," Azrael said, her words clipped.
"Yeah, and he's lucky."
Azrael got to her feet. "Are you kidding me, Mazikeen?" she demanded incredulously.
Maze folded her arms across her chest and regarded Azrael with a challenge in her eyes, obviously not kidding.
As she usually did, Azrael looked away first. "I actually believe you," she said, her voice quiet and holding a hint of wonder.
Maze nodded, looking smug. "So when you go see Daddy, tell him you're going to do what you want."
"It's not that simple, Mazikeen," Azrael replied, frustrated. "My father has his plans, and questioning them doesn't really work out well."
Shaking her head, Maze asked, "When was the last time you tried? Before the thing with the bears, right? Maybe he's mellowed."
"Maybe he hasn't," Azrael replied flatly, trying not to think too hard about the possible repercussions of questioning her father.
Maze studied Azrael, then said, "You're wound tighter than usual today, Fun Size. Want to try to hit me?"
"It's a little disturbing that that was your solution," Azrael said, not bothering to deny that she was tense and not wanting to admit that trying to hit Maze would probably help. Still, she didn't approach the demon, instead stepping to the balcony wall and looking out over the city.
With a shrug, Maze replied, "Only solution you'd agree to, anyway. Suit yourself."
Azrael turned away from the view, asking, "Where's Lucifer?"
"What," Maze taunted. "Are your feelings hurt that he took off?"
Azrael wasn't about to admit to that, instead taking a long drink of her coffee.
"And I'll bet you're pissed off that we decorated your wings." Maze added, mood shifting to teasing amusement as she considered the pink, sparkly angel. "Come on, don't be mad. It's funny."
Azrael, catching sight of Trixie approaching, put one hand over her coffee mug, stepped closer to the demon, and flapped her wings hard, dislodging a wave of loose glitter onto Maze. "No," Azrael replied, not bothering to hide her smile. "That's funny."
Trixie emerged with a donut in each hand; Azrael suspected, given the duration of the girl's absence, that more that two were missing from the box. "Oh, Maze, you look so pretty!" she enthused. "Now you guys match!"
Maze exhaled a short huff, a puff of glitter escaping her lips, and Trixie giggled. "My turn," she requested, presenting herself before Azrael. The angel grinned and flapped her wings again; while the gust of glitter was smaller, it was still enough to put a fine, sparkly layer over the girl. Trixie beamed in delight, announcing, "We all match, now."
"I look ridiculous," Maze muttered.
Trixie protested, "Aw, Maze!"
Azrael echoed, "Yeah, Maze!" The demon eyed her, and she appended, "-ikeen." She took up her discarded donut and got to her feet, trying to look more casual, less like she was fleeing. "I'm going to get a shower, since I'm not sure if I can fly with my wings like this, and then could you help me dry my wings, Trixie? That was Mazikeen's idea," she added, as Trixie nodded, delighted. "After that I need to deal with my stuff at Ella's," she added, pausing as Trixie shook her head.
"Ella's doing that," the little girl informed her. "She says to text her if there's anything you want, and she can take care of the library books."
"Oh." Azrael frowned just a bit, but said only, "That's nice of Ella." Most of her accumulated possessions, such as her clothing, wouldn't be necessary, but she could think of a few things that she wanted. She also wanted to bid the tech farewell, but she supposed she could do that when she went to pick up the items she wanted to take with her, like the drawings Trixie had made for her.
Trixie added brightly, "While you get a shower, Maze and I can sweep up the glitter. It's everywhere; I saw it when I went to the kitchen."
Azrael couldn't keep back a smile as she thought of Lucifer's likely reaction to a penthouse covered in pink glitter. "Thanks, Trixie. Thanks, Mazikeen." And then she did beat a hasty retreat.
Despite the shower, Azrael was reasonably certain she hadn't rid herself of all the glitter. Would she still be finding pink sparkles in her wings when she had been restored to her true form? She wasn't entirely sure how the change had been accomplished, and so didn't know if the glitter would remain, but she guessed that she would find out soon enough.
Trixie had, unsurprisingly, loved helping Azrael dry her wings. It had taken a little experimentation to figure out just how to make it work; at one point, Azrael had peered through her feathers to see Maze offering advice to the little girl on proper wing-handling technique.
"What?" the demon had said defensively, seeing Azrael's curious look. "Your brothers used to have wings. I get how they work."
"I didn't say anything," Azrael had replied, settling back to enjoy their tending. It took a while; though her wings weren't as large as her brothers' even when she was in her own body, and were even smaller in this form, they still had a lot of feathers.
She'd checked her phone a few times throughout the drying process, and while Ella had replied to her text about the disposition of her belongings, there had been nothing from Lucifer.
When Trixie (and Maze, not that the demon was likely to admit to her assistance) had finished, Azrael had to admit that her wings looked good. Not that they ever looked bad, of course, but she appreciated the effort and attention, and told them so.
"You're welcome," Trixie replied, and though Maze didn't say anything, she smiled.
Trixie came around to sit in the chair with Azrael, settling lightly against her. "I'm going to miss you," she said, her voice quivering. She added earnestly, "And not just 'cause you have wings. I liked you before I knew about your wings."
"I know you did," Azrael replied, swallowing hard against the sudden ache in her throat. She hugged Trixie close, adding softly, "I'm going to miss you, too." One wing curled around the little girl, and Trixie hid her face against Azrael's chest.
"Hey," Maze said, her voice as gentle as it ever got. "Not to interrupt your moment, but Lucifer just texted. He wants us to come down to Lux."
Azrael swiped at her eyes with the back of one hand before turning her attention to Maze. "Give us a minute?"
Maze shrugged, but Trixie took a deep breath before pulling away from Azrael, ducking under her wing and moving to the demon's side. "It's okay," Trixie said, trying to smile despite her tears. "Let's go."
Azrael didn't move. "Mazikeen, why?" she protested. "We don't have to go right now just because Lucifer texted."
Maze put an arm around Trixie, her voice exasperated as she replied, "Just do it, okay? Your brother wants us downstairs, so let's go downstairs."
"It's okay," Trixie reiterated. "But can I have a Cosmo?"
"Sure, kid," Maze replied, just as Azrael suggested, "Maybe a Shirley Temple instead."
Azrael got to her feet and, after one last look at the city, followed Maze and Trixie to the elevator.
