It was dark.
Adam could still see, a little better than he would have as a human, but the room was pitch black. Curtains drawn, door closed. He and Bela had - kissing all the while - made their way back to her bedroom, as she had decided they shouldn't stay on the couch much longer if things were going to escalate. But he was positive that, even if he couldn't see, he'd still know every inch of the woman beside him just as easily, every part that he had already explored, every curve and bump and every little scar that littered her body, each one long closed up, a pale white standing out against the tan skin. He traced one up her shoulder as she leaned up for yet another kiss, a smile tugging at his lips as he dipped his head down to comply.
Her fingers dug lightly into the back of his neck, and he grunted a little, breaking the kiss for a second and running his tongue over his lips. She just looked back up at him, amusement sparkling through her deep green eyes, arching an eyebrow almost questioningly as she ran her fingernails down his spine, then up to his shoulders. Every place she touched began to tingle, and he found himself leaning into the touch more and more, no longer fighting his need for contact. He was definitely touch starved, and if there was any way to fix it, it was this.
He sighed, soft and shuddering, and leaned in for another kiss. Her grip on his shoulders tightened at once, pushing herself up against him and pressing her forehead to his. Yes, it was dark, but it didn't matter, because she was the only thing in the room he wanted to see right then, and he was doing just fine with that. Bela abruptly heaved herself up and shifted a little, pushing him off with a hand flat against his chest - Adam frowned a little, but he didn't protest as he was pushed down, flat on his back, and she rolled over, propping herself up over him.
The demon arched an eyebrow at her, but he didn't get a word in before her lips were pressed against his again, and at that point, he had already decided she could do whatever she wanted right then and there, as long as she stopped pulling away.
Unfortunately for him, she did do so - but, luckily, she waited a little bit longer before she broke the kiss, and her lips didn't leave for too long; She trailed them down the side of his jaw, to his neck, and Adam sucked in a sharp breath and closed his eyes for a moment, a small shudder running through him as he felt her lips continue to trail, all the way down to his collarbone, before she lifted up again and brought them all the way back to his lips, hovering over him.
Adam breathed out softly and stared up at her, unable to keep the grin off his face now. In response, Bela's mouth twitched, lips curling upwards, drawing his attention right back to them. He brought a hand up, the other pressed against her back, lightly tracing his thumb across her bottom lip and curling it back over her teeth, parting her lips slightly and tilting his head. He inhaled again, feeling one of her hands trailing down his chest, and brought his hand to the side of her face, leaning up to kiss her again. Bela gave a low, approving hum, her hand drifting to his sides, fingers digging loosely against his ribs as she kissed him back. In response, he dug his fingers into her back, his thumb tracing over yet another scar as his eyes slid shut.
"You know what?" Bela mumbled around the kiss, her voice muffled. Adam let out a low hum of acknowledgement, and, albeit reluctant, he broke apart from her to listen to whatever she was about to say - but he kept himself busy by trailing his lips down to her neck instead, slow and steady, and definitely enjoying the pleased shiver that ran through her as he did so, tracing the goosebumps as they rose up on her back. The other demon just huffed out a soft chuckle, not moving as Adam continued what he was doing. "Mm… I still hate you…"
"I hate you too," Adam breathed against her skin, baring his teeth slightly in a grin and pulling back to bring his eyes back to her face. After a moment, he pushed himself to sit up a little bit, and her arms rose to wrap around his neck in response. He wrapped his own around her waist, keeping her pressed against him as he tilted his head to look down at her, his smile widening ever so slightly. He blew out a long, soft gust of air, blowing her hair out of her face. She giggled a bit, startled, and he couldn't help the way his chest tightened at the sound.
"Oh, fuck you," she mumbled as he started chuckling, but she had a grin on her face now, shifting a little to bring the covers up over them. She wrapped them around their shoulders, while he just blinked slowly at her, once more busying himself with counting the colors that were flickering through her eyes. Once he was satisfied, though, he shrugged and grinned crookedly.
"You already did." The demon paused, brushing his lips over hers, grin widening. "Unless you're asking for a round two - which, of course, I have nothing against…"
Bela pushed her hands against his chest in response, but she was grinning as she threw herself forward, capturing him in another blinding, heart-stopping, breathtaking kiss. She shoved him down into the bed, and he reached one hand out to bring the covers up with them, pulling them over their heads and letting them disappear into the darkness.
Adam buried the side of his face into the pillow beneath him, once again tracing one of the scars on Bela's arm. The other demon was curled up beside him, eyes closed, a smile lingering on her lips. He had to admit - and he hated to admit - she looked all too innocent this way, all too sweet, and it was just a little harder to hate her. And yet, at the same time, it was easier than it should have been. The demon sighed, looking back down at the scars, eyebrows furrowing together faintly as he finally turned his complete focus to them. There were so many, too many. Standing white against the skin, the tissue long dead by now. Most of them were long, running from the top of her shoulder to the base of her wrist. Upon further inspection, they looked like animal wounds - he knew because his mother had sometimes allowed him to assist with patients every so often, something of a learning experience for him in pre-med school. Unfortunately, animal attacks weren't all too uncommon, and he recognized the signs.
It didn't take long to piece it together; Hellhounds.
"What are you thinking?" Bela murmured, and Adam flicked his eyes back to her face at once, blinking, eyebrows furrowing. He dropped his hand from her arm, resting it curled against the bed in the small space between them. Her head tilted, green eyes inquiring, questioning. Once again, he was a puzzle she was struggling to figure out, but there was something different to it now, some kind of need, like she was more desperate to figure it out now. Adam ran his tongue over his lips and lifted his head slightly, shifting his arm under him, propping himself up ever so slowly on his elbow and looking down at her. She shifted a little, not moving her gaze from his.
"I'm thinking…" The demon looked back down at the scars, and this time, her gaze followed. She shifted her arm over at once, not in an attempt to hide the scars, but an attempt to see them a little better, eyes narrowing faintly. "I guess that happened on the highway to Hell," he noted quietly, his eyes scanning the length of the longest scar.
"Mm." Bela shrugged, looking back up at him and offering a small, cocky little smile, her eyes once more searching for his in the darkness. "Some of the scars didn't heal. It's not a big deal. I hear scars supposedly make a man sexy - why can't it be the same for a woman?" She arched an eyebrow at him, her smile widening just a little bit, and Adam couldn't resist ducking his head down to press another kiss to her lips, his own grin appearing as a low chuckle escaped his lips.
Man, he really was beginning to not hate her. Shame she was probably an evil bitch who was out to get him and/or his brothers. Sighing, the demon broke the kiss and let himself fall back into the bed beside her once again, sinking his head down into the pillow.
"You know." Bela stretched out a little bit, snuggling deeper into the blankets, and Adam hummed quietly in acknowledgement, shutting his eyes. "You never did tell me your name."
Adam looked over at her for a moment, quiet and considering. Sure, he had let his guard down, most definitely so, but that didn't mean he wasn't still cautious. He still wanted to stick to the need-to-know policy, as much as he could - but then again, if he was going to find out more about her, he was going to have to make some sacrifices. Let her in just enough to show her she could let him in. It wasn't going to be easy, but it was necessary. And after this, Adam was definitely sure of one thing - he had to get through to her one way or another.
"Adam," he murmured after a few moments, shifting onto his side to face her. He held his head up with one hand, elbow propped up on the bed, digging into the pillow. In response, a small smile appeared on Bela's face, a little softer than he would have expected - before she paused, ripping her gaze away for just a second, the expression masked as quick as it had come. She looked like she was kicking herself for it, too, the brief moment of vulnerability, but Adam ached to see it again, some kind of sign that maybe she wasn't the villain he was worried she might be. It was always good to be cautious, but if there was a way - any way he could maybe really begin to trust her… Adam would be lying if he said he wouldn't like the chance to get to know her. To genuinely get to know her - no hidden agenda, no caution, no distrust.
God, yeah, he really hated himself for that. Groaning a little, the demon rolled back onto his back and crossed both of his arms over his face - and he was glad she couldn't see the smile that appeared on her face when she huffed out a laugh at him, heaving herself up and scooting a little closer to him, closing the distance and stretching her arms across the demon's chest. Adam raised an eyebrow and lifted his arms from his face, looking over at the woman silently.
"I think I prefer Insufferable Fool," Bela murmured, and Adam rolled his eyes slightly.
"Mm, and I prefer Crazy Bitch- wait, no, sorry, Queen Bitch," the demon corrected himself with a sweet little smile, and it was the other demon's turn to roll her eyes, lightly dragging a finger across Adam's chest. In response, Adam heaved out a soft sigh and closed his eyes, biting down on his lower lip to keep the smile off of his face. She seemed to recognize how touch starved he was, how much he longed for and yet hated the contact at the same time. Hell, she'd recognized it from the very first time she'd touched him, and she seemed dead set on doing whatever she could to raise the goosebumps on his skin beyond a normal level. And the worst part of it all was that Adam was more than happy to allow her to do so.
Bela sighed and let her head fall sideways onto Adam's chest, silent for a while. Then, after a few moments of silence, as the demon lightly drew his hand up and down over Bela's back, fingers curling into her hair, lightly twirling the strands over his fingers, the other demon reluctantly heaved herself up off of him, grunting a little in the process - and then suddenly Adam was left cold, nothing but the sheets and blanket to warm him, but it did absolutely nothing in comparison to literally having a non-human heater pressed against him. He sighed as she disappeared, frowning - then jumped, gasping, when she appeared beside the bed.
"I'm going to take a shower." Adam twisted his head to look at her, quirking an eyebrow and looking her up and down for a second - before she rolled her eyes and reached out, yanking one of the sheets out from under him and simply wrapping it around herself, much to his disappointment - but he wasn't going to voice that, he could tease her in a different way…
"Can I join you?" His mouth lifted into a light, teasing grin, and Bela quirked an eyebrow down at him. Then, with a smirk, she leaned down, one hand pressing into the bed beside him, lips hovering just inches above his own - but, when he leaned up to kiss her, she pulled back, winked, and turned away, striding over to the door to flip the lights on before heading toward another set of doors - he presumed leading to her closet. The demon flinched away from the light and pulled the blankets up over his head, heaving out an exasperated sigh.
"You can take your shower after me, love," she told him over her shoulder, rustling through her clothes. Adam only sighed again, closing his eyes and listening to the sound of the hangers clicking together as she searched for something to wear.
"Mm…" Adam reluctantly pushed the blanket down under his chin again. "Only if you have something for me to wear other than a tux."
Bela paused at that, turning to face him. "You're serious?" She demanded, searching his face, and he stared back at her silently, eyes narrowed, completely adamant - yeah, he wasn't squeezing himself into another tuxedo and he wasn't going to be uncomfortable for the rest of the day, really, fuck that. Bela wrinkled her nose and sighed, but she didn't even seem too irritated - truthfully, she seemed somewhat amused. "Mm, fine. Lucky for you, I washed that suit of yours I found you in, so I'll grab that for you." She arched an eyebrow. "Happy?"
"Ooh, very," Adam replied, lips curling back slightly in a smile once again - it came so naturally now, and a part of him kind of hated it, to be completely honest, but he was getting used to it. "Though, I'd be even happier if you let me join you-"
"Keep dreaming, slick," Bela laughed as she finally decided on an outfit, pulling it off the rack. With that, and with a grin and a wink in Adam's direction, the demon vanished again. Adam stared at where she had been for a good few moments, his own grin appearing, and he huffed out a soft laugh before finally heaving himself to sit up, rubbing his eyes and running his fingers through his hair. Yeah, and he'd thought he'd been exhausted before - turns out, demons had a lot of stamina. At least, demons who didn't get tired. Adam still had to wonder why that was… he wasn't particularly stressed at the moment, was he? He frowned, furrowing his eyebrows, then closed his eyes, struggling to focus. There was no more anxiety from Michael's side, in fact, the emotions he could feel from the archangel were… kind of calm, surprisingly so. It was definitely a good thing, but he couldn't help but wonder what was going on wherever he was.
Officially 'out of the mood', Adam pushed his legs over the side of the bed and pulled the blanket with him, hunching over forward and rubbing his hands down his face. Michael was probably asleep - he was usually at his calmest when he was sleeping, except when he was having a nightmare. The thought of the archangel having a nightmare made him feel anxious, though, because he wasn't there to wake him up from it now. The demon sighed, leaning back.
He sat there, silent and lost in thought, until Bela returned. She was wearing a suit of her own now, a dark blue color, buttoning up the top and adjusting her sleeves with a grin. Adam watched her in silence, a faint smile tugging at his lips for a second. He couldn't deny it, she was beautiful. Crazy, bitchy and possibly evil, but beautiful. He flicked his gaze back up to hers when she turned to face him, wiping the smile off of his face just before her own appeared, shaking her head free of some droplets of water and flashing him a cocky smile. "Done."
"Mhm." Adam glanced her up and down, not moving.
Bela rolled her eyes and turned away for a moment, back to her closet. Adam raised an eyebrow and continued to stare until she turned back, tossing a towel in his direction, along with a rag, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Your clothes are already in there."
"Awh, you're so sweet," Adam cooed, and Bela just snorted and rolled her eyes, a smile playing on her lips as she shook her head. The demon chuckled and finally heaved himself to his feet, letting the blanket fall from around him and pretending not to notice the way Bela stared until he had wrapped the towel around himself instead. He looked back at her, opening his mouth slightly, debating on asking if she wanted to join him - but, he refrained this time, because he had a feeling he was only a few comments away from getting a smack on the head. "So, we heading to Minnesota after this?" He questioned, grabbing the rag.
"Sweetheart, do you know what time it is?" Bela all-but burst into laughter, looking at him incredulously. "Well past midnight, I'll tell you that. I'm no night owl - you think this just comes naturally?" She gestured to herself, and Adam quirked an eyebrow. "Well- it does, but the point is, demon or not, a girl needs her beauty sleep, too. No, we're not leaving tonight. I'm going to bed." The other demon paused, glancing toward the bed. "After I replace the sheets."
"Oh, good," Adam muttered, and Bela shot him a curious look - to which he quickly added, "I mean, good, 'cause I'm… beat."
Bela raised her eyebrows and hummed a little bit in understanding, lips twitching slightly. She eyed him for a moment, then cracked a grin. "Well, good. Hope you don't mind the couch."
"Saw that coming a mile away…" Adam couldn't help a grin of his own despite himself, more or less somewhat smug that he knew her enough to know she'd be kicking him to the curb, so to speak. That was fine, though, he'd gotten a lot further than he'd thought - even if he had enjoyed it, most definitely, along the way - so he'd take the wins. The demon turned to leave the room, ready to step into the shower - hell, aching for it - but he paused when Bela suddenly stepped forward, grabbing him by the arm; Before he could react, he was pulled into a kiss.
It was short, sweeter than the demon would have expected, and he blinked down at her as the woman pulled away, offering nothing more than a wink. "Just a goodnight kiss." She reached up, brushing her hand over his cheek, and he leaned into the touch just a little, eyes closing. He held back a disappointed sigh when she had pulled away, and, with one last glance back at her, he continued on his way and left the room to take his shower.
The warm water against his skin was welcome, and he took his time just letting it rush over him before he really began cleaning himself. There was nothing quite like the sensations, the feeling of the droplets of water dripping down his hair, down his skin. It kind of took every worry away, every bit of anxiety, erased the seemingly constant feeling of blood sticking to his skin. To be honest, that was a feeling he was used to, so much so that it was hardly noticeable until he was in the shower - only when it went away, did he realize it had been there in the first place. And only when he was in the shower did he ever truly begin to feel clean. He tilted his head back, letting the water hit him right in the face, and relaxed with a soft, breathy sigh.
Finally, bringing himself to get dressed and leave the bathroom, he spared a glance down the hall toward Bela's room when he stepped out into the hall, eyebrows furrowing. A part of him wondered what it would be like to fall asleep beside her, and to wake up next to her in bed - but he shook those thoughts off just as quickly. He had to remember he couldn't trust her, not yet. Not until he figured out who she really was, and what she was really after. Running his tongue over his lips, the demon turned and headed down the hall, back to the living room. On the way, he fixed a few picture frames that had been knocked sideways, righted a vase that was tilted slightly on the edge of its stand, where they had bumped into things in their desperation to get back to the bedroom. And he smiled, slightly, recalling her arms around him, her lips on his.
Reaching the living room, he fell back onto the couch, letting his eyes slip shut before he'd even properly hit the cushions. It didn't take long for the darkness to take him in, to pull him under - he was already so exhausted, so ready to give in to sleep while he could, and so he let himself be buried in the silence, letting the peace consume him completely, relaxing into the couch.
Blinking his eyes open, he found himself in the place his dreams often took him.
For a moment, he almost grinned, looking around. The park reminded him of Michael now, almost all memories of his mother stifled underneath the ones he and the archangel had made. But the smile faded, turning confused. Something was off - not wrong, it didn't feel wrong, but it felt off. Those content feelings stirring deep inside were stronger now, pulsing even brighter, even bigger, and he could feel them as if they were his own again. But they weren't his. The demon ventured a few steps forward, slowly scanning the area, before turning around. His gaze darted down at once, to the ground, to the figure buried in the mulch, lying flat on his stomach with his head in his arms and a soft, peaceful smile written across his face, eyes shut. Relaxed.
Adam almost couldn't bring himself to believe it, there were several explanations for what he was seeing. This was a dream, after all - but the emotions pulsing in his chest, those were real. He knew it deep in his bones, he knew it with every inch of his heart, it was real. Breathing in slowly, the demon took a cautious step forward, almost afraid that he would disappear if he tried to approach too quickly. But he didn't, he laid still, peaceful and silent, almost asleep.
Swallowing and licking his lips, the demon brought up the courage to call out to him. "Halo?"
At once, the figure stirred and lifted his head, looking tired, uncomprehending at first. Their eyes met, the exhaustion not fading, and Adam went rigid. In response, Michael stiffened, the archangel's eyes going wide with complete shock, and then confusion, and disbelief, and then something hopeful flitted across his face. Heaving himself up, the archangel steadied himself and took a few stumbling steps forward; Adam moved forward along with him.
"Adam?" The archangel wandered forward a little more, uncertainty raging through his eyes, and Adam just inhaled sharply and stepped forward again, almost numb. Yeah, that was him. The demon didn't know how, but he knew his best friend, and this was Michael.
For a moment, they just stared at one another, wide-eyed, shocked and confused.
And then, ever so slowly, the relief broke through the other emotions. Such a blinding, dizzying relief, on both ends. Adam felt Michael's before he felt his own, but on both ends, it was just as strong. The demon exhaled, then took in a sharp breath again, a grin slowly appearing on his face. It wasn't long before Michael was smiling, as well, and in a few quick strides, the archangel was already closing the distance between them, just desperate to get close to him. After being separated for this long, Adam definitely knew how that felt.
He stepped forward to meet him, and, as soon as he could, he practically threw his arms around the archangel. Michael hugged him back just as tightly, burying his face into the demon's shoulder, and Adam couldn't help but huff out a few laughs as he did the same. "Oh, man…" He screwed his eyes shut, feeling the tears beginning to rise, but there were no negative emotions accompanying them - no, just pure relief, pure joy, genuine joy, for the first real time since his Transformation. The demon laughed a little bit, the sounds muffled by Michael's shirt.
The archangel shook a little, himself, and the breathless laughter that reached Adam's ears was probably the sweetest sound he'd ever heard. It didn't matter how, it didn't matter why, it didn't even matter how long - but they were together again and that was all they cared about.