Disclaimer: I own very little.
A/N: The one chapter before the last, and it contains Michael's secret lover, too!
Chapter 24:
Loathing Lovers
Michael floated in the air, watching as the angels gathered onto the sky, all ready to sing praise to their Lord. He caught a glimpse of an angel in white and green robe standing before the main choirs and smiled. It was definitely a high time for that -- after all, Uriel had been escaping his duty for two millennia.
"Oi, Michael!" called out a voice. "Fancy seeing you here! Would you care for a drink?" Turning around, the Prince of Heaven saw the Prince of Hell sitting on the edge of a cloud rather carefreely.
A smirk crossed the archangel's face. "Begone, vile beast," he muttered, sitting down next to his hellish counterpart and accepting the beer that was offered. "What are you doing here?"
"The same thing I do every year, of course," replied Beelzebub calmly. "You should know by now." Now, it was the demon's turn to smirk. "I'm here to enjoy a drink in literally good company."
Michael snorted, sipping at his drink. "Still not afraid of the Host gathered, I see," he commented lightly. Not that he'd expected anything else. On Christmas night most demons chose to stay as deep in Hell as possible, unable to bear the holy aura that filled the skies everywhere in the world as all of the Heavenly Host gathered to sing together. Beelzebub, however, had for many years now chosen to instead sit up on a cloud with his celestial counterpart, enjoying the peace of the skies with no fear of fight.
Like Michael's words had been some kind of a trigger, the angels then began to sing. Beelzebub tilted his head, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Their leader is better this time," he then commented. "What's happened? I thought Raphael and Gabriel were going to lead the choirs again, but that's neither of them."
At that, Michael chuckled. "Well, those two kind of sneaked away together," he said with a smirk. "So, Uriel was left with no choice but to accept his rightful place as the leader of the heavenly choirs."
"No choice, eh?" The demon raised an eyebrow. "Why couldn't somebody else do that just as well?"
"Well, I managed to convince Uriel that it should be an archangel," the angel replied, still smirking. "And anybody who's ever heard me singing would beg me to stay silent for the whole night, not ask me to lead the choirs. So, the Angel of Arts is now doing his job for once -- and doing it well."
"Well, that's blessed true about you, Angel," Beelzebub laughed. "I've heard you singing, and I don't want a repeat of that experience. That's the very reason why I come up here every year, you know," he then added with a smirk. "I have to make sure you don't start singing and scar all those angels for existence. Of course, the fact that your presence lets me hear them singing without being burned helps too."
Michael laughed, too. Nobody else was around; there was no reason to live up to their roles now. "Well, if I actually sang, you might be even better off," he chuckled. "It'd completely undo the others' praise!"
"Doubtlessly," Beelzebub replied with a smirk. Then, he said, "So you got Crowley in the end. Well, feel free to keep him. I, for one, will definitely not miss him much." With a sideways glance at the archangel, he added, "Just don't expect me to Rise, too. I'm fine exactly as I am now."
"But of course, my dear," Michael said, mimicking Gabriel's voice. "It took about six millennia for the first demon to rise. So, I won't start expecting anything to happen until around year 8000, if even then."
The demon raised once again a dark eyebrow. "Indeed," he muttered, smirking a bit.
"So... Did you get orders to leave those two in peace, too?" asked Michael then casually. "Because if not, then I have to wonder why nobody from your side attacked them earlier."
"Well, there indeed was a prohibition against doing anything to them," Beelzebub replied. "It appears that some middle-class demon managed to convince several others that it wasn't true. They managed to somehow send out a Hellbeast to get rid of your angel, and when that didn't work, they decided to try a direct approach. One might think that being beaten by a single angel and a lower demon and then being put into a holy water shower would be quite enough of a punishment to them all." With a smirk, the Prince of Hell then added, "Of course, that doesn't mean that they aren't going to be punished more."
Michael smirked, too. "I'd figure so, yes," he said with a tiny chuckle. "Put in a few for me, too."
"Oh, I think I will do just that." Somehow the demon's arm had managed to end up wrapped around the angel's shoulders at some point. Beelzebub leaned towards Michael, his breath tickling the angel's ear as he continued with a tiny smirk, "Of course, I'd much rather put something into you."
The angel gazed at him with one blond eyebrow raised. "My dear demon, is that all you can think about?" he asked dryly. "Really, I should smite you for having such thoughts." Then, however, a smirk spread onto his lips as well. "I never knew you fancied such public places, though. You know, if you make me lose my concentration, you'll find yourself in a pretty bad situation."
"What do you mean?" asked Beelzebub, grinning. "I'd only have the auras of the whole Host singing praise battering me... Not to mention, should they notice my aura, the Host itself doing that."
"Well, I think that by the time they recovered from witnessing us having sex, you would be far away," Michael commented, still smirking. "It'd be sure to do wonders to both of our reputations, though."
At that, Beelzebub laughed aloud. "Definitely," he chuckled. "Your people would come after me for defiling their mighty leader and my people would go after you for tricking me. Unless, of course, He Above and He Below decided to give us the same protection as they gave those two," he added with a smirk.
"Doubtful," the angel laughed. For a moment he was silent, resting his head against the demon's shoulder. Then, however, he suddenly stood up. "Come on, Beel. Let's get ourselves somewhere private."
"Eager, aren't we?" asked Beelzebub, the smirk still firmly on his face. "Not that I'm about to protest..."
Later they both lay on a bed, limbs tangled together, sweaty and sated. Their hair was mixed on the pillow, black and white locks happily clinging to each other on the heavenly white surface. Just as well their wings were stuck together, black and white crossing each other, one's feathers sliding between those of the other's. For a long time they were both silent, almost still, hands slowly gliding over naked skin in gentle caresses. Finally, though, one of them sat up, drawing his hair and wings away from their counterparts.
"It'll soon be morning, so I'm off here," Beelzebub said. "You coming to walk me home?"
"Hardly," replied Michael, lazily raising a hand and tracing invisible patterns on the demon's bare back with his fingertips. "I'd rather not risk having to face all of Hell's demons alone. However," he then added with a small smirk, "I'd be more than happy to walk you to neutral ground."
"Excellent." The demon raised an eyebrow, smirking back. Then he stood up and wished for clothes. Offering a hand to his lover, he then asked, "Shall we go, then?"
"Definitely," Michael replied. Rising to his feet, he then wished for clothes as well and quietly led Beelzebub out of his apartment. He felt the demon flinching a bit as they passed Raphael and Gabriel's quarters, but otherwise there was no reaction as he led his lover through the whole Golden City. Aside from the two other archangels -- and Anael, Unsurel, and Lyriel -- every angel was in the skies of Earth singing. Well, he suspected that Aziraphale and Carowiel were down on Earth despite the fact that they could have been together up among the choirs for the first time ever, but that hardly mattered. The point was, the Golden City was empty for all but them, and Michael's aura was more than enough to protect Beelzebub from the holiness of the city. This was the only night of the year when they could meet on unneutral ground.
On the Pearly Gates he finally reluctantly let go of his lover's hand. "I believe you can find your way from here," he said, raising his hand to place it on Beelzebub's chest for the last time.
"I believe so, yes," the demon replied. Then he leaned forward to kiss Michael. Pulling back, he smirked a bit. "I'll see you around," he said, then turned and dove down through the clouds. For some time Michael looked after him. Then he, too, turned, and returned to his apartment, at the same time mentally going over his schedule for the next few weeks to find a convenient spot for a meeting with Beelzebub.
When he returned to his apartment, he found a single black feather lying on the bed.
Next chapter:
The conclusion. Azi & Carowiel celebrate Christmas.