"Beer?"

Michael looked up, despite Adam's internal protests. He didn't know whether it was because the demon just wanted to finish this chapter of the book they were reading, or because he had recognized the voice of the person talking to them and just didn't want to deal with it, but either way, Michael knew it would be rude to ignore them. They were back in the classroom, back to reading Cujo since Adam hadn't had the chance to finish, and Michael, for one, was a little irked at the interruption, simply because it was a Winchester. He was glad it was Sam, and not Dean - truth be told, he still wasn't all too fond of the hunter. Not to say he was fond of either of them, he still stood with Adam above everything, but Dean… Shaking their head a little, the archangel fixed his gaze on the hunter's face, then brought their eyes to the beer he was holding.

Adam twitched. The archangel had to bite back a sigh at the emotions that had risen up; the strongest of which was deep irritation because yes, Adam wanted the beer, but on the other hand, he didn't want to accept anything from his brothers. It would have been amusing if Adam hadn't been, not just avoiding the Winchesters, but actively trying to get under their skin recently for the past few days. Ever since the talk with Gabriel, he had been like that - more snarky comments than usual, furious glares and making it all too clear how much he hated them.

It was the closest thing to actually attacking them that Michael would allow, but even then, he didn't have much pull. His quiet warnings and attempts to calm the demon down were steadily becoming less and less effective. Something had scared him, the other day, and he was acting out because of it. Michael wished he would just talk to him, but the demon refused.

"Sure, thank-" Michael started to agree, but the very second Sam had put the beer down in front of them, Adam reached out. Thinking that he was going to grab it, the archangel allowed him to do so - only for the demon to press one finger to the neck of the bottle, pushing it so that it tipped over onto its side, and promptly use that same finger to roll it straight off of the table. Too stunned to react, both Michael and Sam winced, simultaneously, when it hit the floor.

"Oops," Adam said flatly. And with that, he leaned back, adjust the book, and redirected their attention right back to it, completely ignoring Michael's internal protests and Sam's frown.

That was mean… Michael sighed. Adam just shrugged.

"... okay, uh…" Sam inhaled sharply, and Michael flicked their gaze up once more. Adam narrowed their eyes the slightest bit, and Sam seemed to hesitate, pulling a chair up to the desk they were sitting at and taking a seat with a frown. "Can I… talk to Adam?"

"No," Adam declared sharply, now propping the book up on the desk so he could start reading again. "Go fuck yourself." Michael had to bite back his objections this time. He couldn't control Adam; If the demon didn't want to talk to his brothers, he didn't want to talk to his brothers, and that was fine. Michael just wanted him to be happy, to not be so angry all the time.

Scowling, the demon flipped a page, remaining unresponsive.

Sam continued to hesitate, silent. Michael ended up retreating slightly to read along with Adam again, albeit hesitantly - on the off-chance that the hunter said something triggering, Michael had to be ready to keep Adam from doing something he'd end up regretting. Truth be told, he was doing a lot better as far as physical violence went; He still wanted to punch his brothers in the face every now and again, and snap their necks, and stab them, etc, but, he hadn't made any kind of attempt to do so in a while. Michael was honestly proud, but still being careful.

"Dean told me…" Sam suddenly spoke again, causing Michael to jump ever so slightly. Adam's fury seemed to intensify, just from that, but all he did was tighten his grip on the book. "He told me that you, uh… well, that you didn't really like us, very much." The hunter paused. "I-"

"Dean's wrong," Adam interrupted, sounding surprisingly calm, but still cold. Even Michael was a little bit startled by that, though - bewildered, even. Judging by the wary surprise edging Sam's tone when he spoke next, he was just as taken aback.

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah." Adam turned another page, but paused this time and let their gaze flicker up, tilting their head up a little bit so that he could focus on Sam again. "I loathe you. There's a difference." With that said, ignoring the way Sam visibly deflated at the words, the demon leaned back once more and lowered their chin, redirecting his attention to the book. Michael frowned.

"I…" Sam paused again, and Michael started to look up, but Adam resisted, looking back down at the book with a frown. "I- well, we've all been busy lately. Trying to figure this out, especially now that we're back to square one, but…" The hunter trailed off and, after a good few seconds, Michael abruptly took enough control to put the book down, keeping it open so that the demon didn't lose his place.

Hey, Adam snapped, and while he didn't move to pick the book back up, he craned his neck a little bit so that he could continue reading. Someone was about to die.

Michael sighed and flipped the book over so that all they could see was the cover and the back, much to the demon's chagrin. He couldn't force Adam to forgive his brothers, and he didn't want to. But he knew that, on some level, the demon did want to - he just wasn't going to admit it, anytime soon. At the very least, Michael wanted him to be able to move on; But he couldn't do that when he was staying so angry at them, all the time. And he was going to continue to be angry if he didn't actually make an effort to listen every now and again.

Adam was silent, but judging by the way he lifted his gaze back to Sam, albeit reluctantly so, he had at least taken those words to heart, somewhat. Either that or he just wanted to get on with this so that he could go back to reading. Hard to tell.

"I haven't… had a chance to properly apologize to you." Sam took in another breath and shifted slightly in his seat, looking a little uncomfortable as he met their gaze. Adam narrowed his eyes in response, and Michael retreated once more, just enough so that he could be able to see and hear and take control again if needed, just in case Adam lost his temper. "There's no excuse-"

"That's right, there's not," Adam interrupted, "so, bye."

Sam fell silent for a good few seconds, but now he just seemed frustrated. Whether at Adam, or at something else, Michael couldn't quite tell, but he could sense the tension rising with each passing second, and he didn't like it one bit. "I want to make things right with you."

Adam's shoulders twitched ever so slightly in response. He sat still, and the fury simmering through him didn't intensify, but it certainly didn't fade a bit. Michael, on the other hand, faltered. Just those words - make things right - it was enough to give him pause. It was a completely different situation, and he knew that, he knew that, but he couldn't help but soften, if only slightly. The archangel sighed a little, but stayed silent, while the demon's eyes narrowed.

"You can't," Adam finally replied, dark and simple. "And that's just that. You and your brother - you didn't want anything to do with me when I was stuck in a Cage. I don't know why you suddenly do now, but it's just too little, too late. I am pissed, and I do hate you, but that's about as much as I'm able to feel toward you." The demon glanced down, reaching to pick the book back up, as he continued, "and that's about as much as I'm willing to, too. So you be sorry - you oughta be, but don't think, for a second, that an apology is going to make up for anything."

Sam opened his mouth, but he faltered, unable to respond. Michael just frowned, his chest aching. He sympathized, for sure - but the worst part was that he felt for the both of them, and he had absolutely no idea what to do about that. After a moment, the hunter nodded, looking tired. "If there's anything I can do…" Sam started, strained. "Let me know. I… I want to try."

"Don't hold your breath." Adam stood up and shut the book, using one of his fingers to keep his place. Michael paused, ready to take control, but the demon merely stepped around the desk and walked past Sam without another word, leaving the room.

Michael took in a breath and finally surged up again. "You okay?"

"Uh huh." Adam opened the book and looked down, reading as they walked. Michael spared glances ahead every now and then, not wanting to run into anything, but he tried not to interrupt the demon's reading as much as possible now. He stayed silent for the most part - it was Adam who broke the silence a moment later, not looking up from the book. "I can sense your disapproval, you know."

"I don't disapprove, I-" Michael stopped, hesitating, and sighed. Adam quirked an eyebrow, and the archangel frowned, reluctantly speaking up again. "I just think you'd feel a lot better if… if you would try a little harder to forgive them, you know?" He didn't get a response, so he continued, "I know you want to, Adam, I can feel it, but- I don't know why you won't just let yourself…" He trailed off, and the demon huffed out a low sigh, finally lifting their gaze. "I mean, you deserve to be happy, so why…?"

"Yeah, maybe I do, maybe I don't," Adam snapped, eyes narrowing faintly as he turned them down a corner, looking for the library. "But that doesn't matter. They left me in Hell, and they didn't even try- they don't deserve forgiveness. I was doing just fine before I met them, and I'll do just fine once we leave. I don't need them, or their pity."

"They're your brothers, though," Michael responded slowly. "I mean, they're your family. What they did was wrong, but maybe they're actually trying to make up for it now. At leas-"

"That's seriously your defense right now, Michael? They're my brothers?" Adam stopped walking, rather abruptly; Michael took a good look around, alarmed, making sure nobody was around to hear the argument as Adam continued on, practically seething now, "this is coming from the archangel who was more than willing to kill his own brother just because dear old Daddy told him to, and now, what, you feel bad because you ended up getting the same stony treatment? Sorry, buddy, but you are the last one that needs to be lecturing me about family. So mind your own damn business for once, would you?"

Michael had long gone silent at that point, completely still. There was nothing to say - I mean, hell, what the fuck was he supposed to say to that? It was true, wasn't it? The archangel swallowed, letting out the breath he hadn't known he was holding in a long, slow, shaky sigh. True or not, hearing it from Adam, hearing the demon spit such absolute fury and hatred toward him now, that hurt. And he tried to convince himself that Adam hadn't really meant that, that it had to have just been his fury getting the better of him now, but even then, it continued to hurt.

On Adam's end, now that his rage was starting to fade, there was nothing but horror beginning to stir up in the demon's chest, having realized exactly what he'd just said. The guilt was overpowering on both ends, especially considering that at the moment, they were both feeling it at full force, but somehow, Adam's seemed even stronger. But even he had fallen silent, at a loss for what to say after all of that, stunned speechless by his own words.

And so they stood, wordless and unmoving, until Lucifer's voice piped up from behind them. The Devil approached, blissfully oblivious to the argument, to the words that had been exchanged. "Jeez, took forever to find you two. Almost thought you left the school, for a second there. What're you doing just lingering in the hallway?"

Adam was silent. Slowly retreating, the demon seemed to be having an internal battle of his own; After a good few seconds, Michael forced himself to move, turning to face his brother and sucking in a deep breath as he fought past the steady torrent of pain flooding his chest. "We- We were just…" The archangel stopped, struggling, his gaze flickering hopelessly over his younger brother, unable to say any more than that.

Lucifer slowed to a stop, eyebrows raising expectantly as he crossed his arms over his chest, adjusting a small, brown paper bag he was holding. He looked confused, but there was something else on his face, an emotion Michael couldn't quite place - but, at the moment, one that he, admittedly, wasn't all too focused on. He couldn't focus on much of anything right then. "You were just…" He prompted, raising his eyebrows further, and Michael just blinked.

"Talking." That was Adam speaking, now, sounding strangled. Michael retreated a little, himself, as the demon rose up to take half control again. Not because he didn't want to share control with the demon, but because he wasn't sure of his own place there, anymore. But, he held onto his control, keeping their gaze steady on Lucifer. "What's up, Luce?"

Lucifer stared at them, skeptical, but after a moment, his expression seemed to relax slightly, giving in. "Well, after yet another failed attempt from Rowena and yet another day with the obnoxiously suspicious Crowley, I need a drink." He held up the bag.

"You can't get drunk," Michael pointed out quietly, reluctantly.

"I can sure as hell try, Michael, I can sure as hell try," Lucifer sighed dramatically, pulling two bottles out of the bag. "Don't worry, I brought some for the two of you, too. I'm also not allowed to enter that particular store anymore, and I'm currently not allowed to cause trouble - which means killing humans - so try and make it last, 'cause I'm not going back anytime soon."

Adam reached out and took the bottle with his free hand, while Michael summoned up the courage to speak again, managing a quiet, "thanks", as Adam popped the cap off one-handed and immediately took a sip. A very long, very large sip.

"You enjoy that. I'm gonna go curl up in a corner and question my life choices." Lucifer brushed past them and headed off on his way. Michael spared a glance after him, then looked down at the beer bottle. Then, ever so silent, he lifted it back to their lips himself and swallowed down a few mouthfuls. Of course, logically, he knew he couldn't get drunk, and Adam likely wouldn't be able to now, either, but - like Lucifer had said, they could sure as hell try.

"I…" Adam trailed off, and then he was silent again, completely. Michael didn't respond, still not quite knowing what to say to the demon, how to react. After a moment, the demon took in a breath, took another long sip, and turned on their feet to continue on his way to the library. Michael retracted what was left of his control and simply stayed quiet for the rest of the day.