Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Charlie, my apple tart, what do you think about the hotel?” The devil stared up at the hotel, smiling. He had done a great job on it if he said so; of course, it wasn’t just him who did it, but he did do most of the work, like rebuilding the hotel's fundamentals.

Charlie looked up at the hotel with a bright smile before she gave her dad a body-crushing hug. Lucifer grunted. It took him a second, but he hugged her back, smiling. When she released him, the smile still hadn’t faded. He was happy his daughter had finally decided to let him back into her life, and this time, he wouldn’t just disappear again. He decided to stay at the hotel. The decorations and layout were almost the same as before, with a touch of his style here and there, but everything now looked cleaner. The days of the little cyclops sinner running around the place killing roaches were gone.

“Dad, are you listening to me?” Lucifer hadn’t noticed his daughter was talking to him until she had placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Sorry, apple pie, what were you saying?”

Charlie looked at her father, rolling her eyes before speaking again. “I asked is that big room on top of the hotel mines and Vaggie’s?”

The room she was referring to was behind the giant fake version of Keke that was on top of the hotel. “Of course, Char-Char, who’s else would it be?”

Standing in the middle of the hotel’s lobby were Vaggie, Charlie, and Lucifer. Everyone else had already gone to claim their rooms and settle in. He figured his daughter would next, considering there wasn’t much to do but celebrate the successful fight against Adam and the exterminators. The devil sighed as the first man’s final moments replayed over and over in his head. Why had Adam been so full of hate and anger? He wasn’t like that when he first appeared in Eden he had been the most docile and curious human he ever met; well, at least he thought that was the case until Lilith had told him about the times where he had tried to control her.

“We’re gonna head up to our room then.” Lucifer nodded his head, waving at the two as they disappeared down the long hallway.

With a snap of his fingers, a portal opened up in front of him. On the other side was his bedroom, which he had reserved for himself as he helped rebuild. It looked identical to the one back at home, just without all the rubber ducks, but he’d soon fix that. He took off his hat as he stepped through the portal, setting it on the bed as he sat down the day had drained a lot from him, but his work wasn’t done yet; he still had more work to do for one he had to figure out what he would tell heaven about the first man’s death he figured that they would want some time type of reparation for there now deceased angel. Speaking of the first man, something Lucifer couldn’t wrap his head around was why did they have Adam leading the extermination. He wasn’t a high-ranked angel, and he definitely wasn’t a seraphim, so why would they give him such an important role? If it was to fuck with Lucifer then congratulations Heaven you have succeeded in your goal.

His eyes settled on the window next to his bed, the sky was the same hellish red it usually was; nothing was surprising there. His focus was now on the ground the uneven landscape of the dirt in front of the hotel was the usual the big crater in the ground though was where his eyes were now, he could see Adam’s body in front of it that was a little odd though shouldn’t the cannibals have eaten him by now? Before Lucifer even got the chance to really study Adam’s body, which was unusually still intact, he was blinded by a beam of light shining over the body, he stepped back from the window a little his vision having time to readjust. He snapped his fingers, and another portal appeared in front of him on the other side was the shining light and Adam’s body he waited for the light to dim a little and stepped through. When the portal closed he was standing over the first man’s body.

Well, Lucifer was eighty percent sure this was the first man, but his appearance was very different from the last time he had seen him, which was not even that long ago. Instead of the black, white and gold robe that he died in the clothes were now black and red, and he was not as tall as he looked before. Crouching down, he could see him better now. His body was no longer just human; the bottom half of him had brown fur on his legs, and his feet were replaced by hooves, his head was the same except his skin was now a greyish color, his hands had golden claws at the end and his arms were now pitch black and it seemed he had a tail the same kind an hellborn imp would have, his wings were entirely pitch black. He could tell from the appearance alone that Adam was no longer an angel, but he couldn’t figure out why it even happened in the first place none of the other exorcists were reincarnated as a sinner before, so why now? And why Adam? Lucifer groaned as he snapped his fingers once more, and a portal opened leading to his bedroom again.

Lucifer grabbed the first man and tossed him over his shoulders like a bag of potatoes and walked through the portal, normally any human soul that walked through the portals would suffer side affects like nausea but since Adam was unconscious he didn’t think that it would affect him unless the sickness was subsided until he woke up. After setting him down in the bed, he sat down at the desk that was off to the side of the bed. He didn’t know what he was going to tell Charlie this man had tried to kill her and her friends a couple of hours ago, and suddenly he's a sinner and inside the hotel? Now that he was thinking about it why had he brought the man inside the hotel Adam himself would surely be mad once he woke up, but something told him he had to grab him, that he couldn’t leave him out there for all of hell to get a hold of, This weird nagging feeling he had wouldn’t go away and it was bothering him to no end even after he put him down in the bed. Once Adam woke up he would surely have to do damage control, the devil groaned as he leaned back into his chair he looked up at the ceiling every scenario for tomorrow running through his head. It’s like his brain was running a mile a minute he didn’t even realize that he had fallen asleep soon after.

Chapter Text

When Lucifer had finally woken up, he wasn’t entirely sure if it was the same day or the next; his room didn’t exactly let in the hellish light often. Standing from the chair he stretched a little before looking towards the bed, Adam was still unconscious which was to be expected, when Lucifer had first fallen he forced himself not to sleep until he had found a place for them to settle and once they did he slept for over a month straight at least that’s what Lilith had told him. Walking over to the window next to the bed he opened it, the minuscule amount of light that entered through the window made him sigh; he would have to fix that but for now it was enough. Grabbing his hat from beside the first man on the bed, he left the bedroom closing the door behind him. Snapping his fingers a seal appeared over the door, preventing any sinners from getting in or out. He didn’t want someone to find Adam and cause a scene before he even got to tell Charlie.

When he had made it to the first floor of the hotel, he was a little shocked to see everyone talking to everyone else on the couch near the fireplace. Charlie had proven to him that she truly believed in her mission to rehabilitate sinners and even though he didn’t believe it himself, he was more than happy to help his daughter. Now that he had time to think about it, Adam was here in hell so maybe it was possible for dammed souls to ascend. Then again if you were to ask him Adam was the last soul that should have been in heaven the only reason he believed that they let him in was because he was the first man, but besides that the man hadn’t actually proven he was actually a god bearing soul. Walking over to the group he stopped a few feet away and watched as Charlie spoke to the group.

“Alright everyone, since we were able to stop the extermination, I say we have another party to celebrate same rules as before but do remember not to drink a lot since tomorrow we are going to start our usual activities.”

“Aw hell yeah pour me a shot Husker baby.” The freakishly tall spider demon happily stood from the couch and walked over to the bar.

Everyone else on the couch had slowly trickled out of the lobby before he finally got a chance to speak to his daughter. Her girlfriend still accompanied her he was pretty sure he had said her name wrong a few times so he decided not to say it much if he could help it. When Charlie finally realized her dad was in the lobby as well she walked over to him.

“Sorry, dad I had to get everyone situated also good morning.” Lucifer’s long dead heart warmed as he watched his daughter smile as he greeted her back.

“So what’s up were you looking for me?”

The devil frowned as he remembered his real reason for looking for her, he wasn't entirely sure if he was making the right choice at the moment.

“Actually honey crisp, that’s the thing. Something happened yesterday and I'm not sure how you’ll feel about it.” Charlie’s face turned into one of confusion as she listened.

“What do you mean?”

Her father sighed as he snapped his fingers, opening a portal to his bedroom again. He motioned for Vaggie and Charlie to follow him through. When they were all on the other side of the portal, it closed with a gust of wind. Charlie took a few minutes to look around the room but didn’t see anything significant; her eyes landed on the bed where a lump was on the bed. Lucifer stepped forward, motioning for them to come closer. Once they were close enough to see who it was Vaggie immediately grabbed Charlie and backed away from the bed. Charlie herself was just as shocked as her girlfriend.

“Adam? But how? Dad, why is he here? And why does he look so…” Charlie’s eyes roamed over the first man, noting the difference in skin tone and pitch dark arms. “Different? I thought he was dead?”

“I’m not sure how he survived being stabbed so many times with an angelic weapon, but I know why he looks different.” Lucifer leaned forward on his cane as he spoke. “He’s fallen.”

It took both women a minute to understand what he had just said. When it finally clicked with them, the first to speak up was Vaggie.

“Why is he here? Did you forget what he did to the hotel? To Charlie?”

The memory of Adam strangling his daughter was enough to make him want to punch the first man a couple more times, but he held back as he ran his hands through his hair, standing straight again.

“I figured if anyone required redemption it’d be this asshole”

Charlie squeezed Vaggie’s hand before stepping forward again, She stood by her dad looking over Adam again. She looked from head to toe, taking in the fur on his legs and the hooves on his feet identical to the ones her and her father had, Looking back at her dad she spoke her next words.

“Why are you telling me this? Do you think after everything he did I would let him hang around the hotel?” Lucifer hadn’t expected his daughter to actually hold a grudge, Don’t get him wrong she had every right to, but Charlie was such a sweet person that even when people wronged her, she seemed to brush it off and help them anyway.

“I don’t expect you to want to help him, but I’m telling you this because I know you're trying to step up as the princess, so I figured why not?”

Lucifer had never been the best at explaining things to his daughter, which led to the once every couple months calls in the first place, but he forced himself to try and explain what was going through his head. Charlie stared at her father for a couple more minutes before looking at the bed and speaking.

“Well, this is a hotel for redemption, and if Adam needs to be redeemed then I’ll help”

Vaggie didn’t look to keen on the idea, though he could see where her disdain for the man stemmed. He was the former commander of the exorcists angels and he had just stood by as her wings and eye was ripped from her body by his batshit crazy lieutenant seriously what was wrong with her?

“Charlie, are you sure? Adam thought the whole idea of redemption was stupid what makes you think he’ll do a one-eighty and suddenly want to- you know what, now that I hear myself it sounds extremely likely he’d do that.” Vaggie rubbed the bridge of her nose as she sighed. “What are we supposed to tell the other? He did kill Pentious after all.”

The two Morningstars stared at Vaggie they had completely forgotten that everyone else was more likely to try and kill him again than let the man even step foot around them, let alone do group sessions with him.

“Then how about I give him solo lessons until everyone gets comfortable around him?”

Lucifer doubted that the others would ever come around to having the man in the hotel and he himself wasn’t to keen on letting Charlie talk one on one with the douchebag of a first man he didn’t know what kinda obscene and crazy things he would tell his daughter.

“I don’t know about that Charlie, You know how he can be.” Lucifer had a frown on his face as he looked over at the bed poking the first man’s arm with his cane.

“What other choice do we have dad? He started to answer his daughter, but she raised her hand to his face, halting him. “And no I don’t want to just throw him out there for random sinner’s, he may have been an asshole but he’s here now and I want to help him”

Her father could tell she wasn’t going to budge on the matter whether it be good or not, she had her father's stubbornness he leaned against the wall and sighed as he looked back at Charlie. “Alright, but I have one condition.”

Charlie smiled and nodded her head quickly she was excited as he was when Eden was first created. It was kind of adorable honestly, but he couldn’t stay happy long knowing exactly who he was gonna have to leave his daughter with for an hour every day. “When he isn’t doing activities with you he is to stay in his room.”

Charlie frowned as she stared at her father. She couldn’t believe he wanted to isolate the man, that wouldn’t do much for the socializing part of the rehabilitation. She knew the she could eventually change her dad’s mind about that once Adam actually made some progress. While she was worried about what the others would think about him staying there, she had no doubt in her mind that the man could change. Although he led the exterminations, she knew he remained human at heart, and he wasn't inherently vengeful; something else must have caused his bitterness.

“Ok, dad I’ll do as you say, but when he wakes up try not to antagonize him; he’ll need time to warm up to the idea.”

The devil let out a forced laugh, he had planned to rub it in Adam’s face once he woke up. He could see it now Adam would be beyond pissed he’d probably try to say he didn’t belong in hell that’s when he’d tell him that his soul was damned now and he could do nothing to fix the situation he’d even throw in a whole spiel about how god has forsaken him and that he was no longer the angel he thought he was. Then he’d give him the ultimatum of doing the rehabilitation program for a shot to get back into heaven or he would live on the streets for the citizens of hell to get their grubby demonic hands on him, but he wouldn’t tell Charlie that Instead he nodded holding his hands up.

“You got it, Char-char no bullying the douche no matter how much he needs it.”

Vaggie looked at Adam from behind Charlie, she hadn’t thought that the man would ever become a patron to the same hotel he destroyed not that long ago. Seeing Adam in the bed in his new form was as much as a slap in the face to her while also being a glass of water on a hot day. The last time she could recall he was in the bed like this was when she was still an exterminator herself. It was the first lesson on combat that Adam had taken from Michael, Adam though he claimed he had been training day and night got his ass handed to him by the archangel. Granted, it was an archangel he was fighting so it’s not like he would realistically beat him, but he hadn’t even managed to get one hit on the angel that day.

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“Sir Adam, are you sure you’ve been practicing?” Adam was on the ground looking up at the angel, huffing and puffing, trying to catch his breath. Holding his hand up he spoke.

“Yeah I have, your just crazy fucking strong” Adam stood to his feet as he brushed off the robes leaning against the nearby tree his eyes scanned the field as he watched the other exorcist angels practice his eyes caught two of his star players practicing with each other. “I’ll be right back.”

Adam walked over to the women and smiled as he watched them spar. It was something about watching his girls kick ass that made him fill with pride like a father watching his kids succeed at something they had been practicing for weeks to be able to do, the weird feeling that often consumed his thought after he had died began to creep up on him, he wasn’t entirely sure what this feeling was but he had been pushing it down deep as of lately. For fuck’s sake he was the first man and now the leader of the exorcist angels he couldn’t be weak, he shook his head ridding the thought from his mind when he finally focused his attention on the two girls in front of him again he had the actual wind knocked out of him as one of the girls came flying at him what amazing luck. When the girl crashed into him he managed to wrap his arms around her before he himself hit a tree behind him. While he was on the ground he was heaving and coughing a bit his lungs were definitely working over time right now.

“Shit Adam are you ok?” He knew the voice after all it was his best girl on the force so far.

“Shit Vaggie you almost killed me” Vaggie rolled her eyes as she grabbed his arm and putting it over her shoulder to help him stand.

“Sir are you alright?” The other girl Vaggie had been fighting ran over and grabbed his other arm doing the same thing that Vaggie was, again he knew she was he didn’t even have to look up from the ground to know it was Lute.

“I’m fine fuck I need to take a break.”

Without any warning and in complete silence, Michael had materialized in front of the three, scaring the shit out Lute and Vaggie. “Is Sir Adam alright?”

Vaggie nodded her head before telling Michael the rundown of what happened as she spoke, she made a mental note of the various faces he had made from curiosity to what looked like disappointment. Michael snapped his fingers, and a golden line zipped downward towards the ground before it split and opened into a portal on the other side was a house which the two figured was Adams house.

“Take sir Adam home he need’s rest.” Vaggie and Lute didn’t hesitate to step through the portal without another word. She’d never tell anyone else but she never liked Michael; he was unsettling with how cold he seemed most of the time and that look he had given Adam she wasn’t to fond of it.

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Vaggie chuckled to herself softly at the memory but then it hit her, Adam hadn’t always been a dick had he? What happened to him?

“What’s so funny Vaggie?”

Charlie and Lucifer stared at her; looking at Charlie, she resembled Michael, except for her color scheme. Sometimes, she would wake up in the middle of the night, convinced Michael was beside her before realizing it wasn't him. She shook her head as she looked up at them. “It was nothing just something funny I thought about, now how do we break this news to everyone else?”

Chapter Text

“No fucking way princess” Cherri tensed on the couch as she bitterly looked at Charlie. “He killed Pentious are you fucking serious?”

Charlie knew this would be the pushback. Honestly, she didn’t know what she could say that could make them want him here any more than now, but she couldn’t give up. Adam needed her help whether he realized it or not, and she wouldn’t fail her people. Lucifer was standing behind his daughter as he looked over the people standing in front of them. His eyes landed on Alastor that smug son of a bitch was sitting in a chair with his usual shit eating grin it made the king’s skin crawl, while there first meeting might have been just shits and giggles the more he watched the radio demon the more it came apparent to him that he was truly an unredeemable soul it had been a couple days since he had told Charlie about Adam and he took that time to do some research on the souls that were constantly around his daughter.

“Look, I know we all hate Adam’s guts and I don’t want him around any more than you do, but he kinda needs this more then anyone else here.” Vaggie had stepped forward and placed her hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “Besides, it would kinda be hypocritical if one exorcist angel got the chance to change, but the other didn’t.”

“Well, you didn’t kill Pentious did you?” Angel spat the words like venom as Cherri put her hand on his arm.

Charlie looked nervous. Of course, she couldn’t justify why bringing him here was a good idea but she couldn’t just drop it she knew what could happen to someone’s soul in hell, and even though she hated Adam just as much as everyone else she wouldn’t leave him to the wolves like that. 

“Guy’s I’m not asking you to get along with him or anything. I’m just asking to at least stay calm around him.” 

“I think this is a wonderful idea!” The staticy, cheerful voice made the devil groan. Melting into the shadow of the chair Alastor soon appeared beside Charlie, his hands on her shoulders now. “Imagine how entertaining it would be, Adam the first man, former commander of the exorcist angels now in hell struggling to climb his way back up to heaven.”

Lucifer lifted his cane, ready to smack the demon's hands from his daughter's shoulders, but Charlie herself pushed his hand off frowning at him. “This isn’t supposed to be entertaining; this is supposed to help him get better.”

Vaggie stepped back as she moved her hand from Charlie’s shoulder, she knew where everyone was coming from but what she didn’t understand why she was more on Charlie’s side than anyone else, of course she’s truly did believe in Charlie’s mission of redemption but the way she felt right now was more than just that, She genuinely believed in Adam's potential for redemption. However, she still had doubts about whether he would take the activities seriously. 

“Look, he'll remain in his room unless he talks to me; you won't even notice him.”

Cherri groaned, closing her eyes and leaning back on the couch covering her eye with her arm, Angel placed his arm on hers as he looked back at Charlie. “I don’t even want to see that asshole’s garbage in the same bin as ours”

Charlie immediately burst into a wide grin as she nodded her head. This was her chance; she was going to show everyone that her hotel worked. Lucifer smiled as he turned on his heel and left the lobby. Truth be told, he was a bit happy that they had decided to let Adam stay in the hotel. As much as he was excited to crush Adam’s dreams of getting back into heaven, he wasn’t as heartless as he was trying to make himself out to be. However if it were Lilith, she would have just thrown him onto the streets of hell while he was still unconscious. He sighed as he rubbed his head; he was thinking about her again. He tried to keep her from his head lately, especially since Adam was there, It’s not like he was worried about his mind being read by the newly formed first man, but he just genuinely wanted to stop thinking about her; nothing good came from it. Thinking about her often made him retreat to his room and then disappear and ghost Charlie in the process, which was something he wanted to avoid especially since he lived in the same building as her. Arriving at his room door, he snapped his fingers, and the seal over the door flickered before vanishing. He sucked in his breath as he prepared to enter, a habit since Adam came to be at the hotel.

Lucifer pushed open the door, expecting to find Adam unconscious on the bed as he had the past couple of days, but the sight of Adam sitting up thoroughly shocked him. When the door opened, he turned to face it; that’s when Lucifer could finally see his eyes. His right eye was red around the pupil, but the pupil itself was golden. His left eye though, was normal like a human’s eye and the pupil was brown.

“What the fuck? Why the fuck are you here? And where the hell am I?” Adam seemed calmer than he thought he’d be. Walking into the room and closing the door, Lucifer stood at the foot of the bed, smirking and leaned on his cane.

“You're in hell, remember? You were trying to kill my daughter and I stepped in and saved her.” Adam scowled as he remembered the events it pissed him off even more than he already was.  

“Why am I here in this shit hole instead of heaven? When Sera finds out about this, it’ll be your ass.”

Lucifer laughed as he looked at Adam, his grin wide. Adam hated the grin with his entire being. He gripped his clothes, and as he did he accidentally stabbed himself in his leg. Cursing slightly, he looked down at his hands and almost threw himself out of the bed.

“What the hell did you do to me?!” Adam stood from the bed and immediately fell to the floor. Horrified he pulled the robe up slightly and he was about to scream again but Lucifer gripped his face with one hand.

“Believe it or not, you belong here in hell more than the ones actually here. You should have been down here the moment you died. Why they let you in heaven is beyond me.” Lucifer roughly pushed Adam’s face back as he stood up. “You're welcome to call them if you’d like, but the minute they lay their eyes on you, I can guarantee that they’ll leave you here just like they did to me.”

Lucifer smiled as Adam stared at him with a disobedient look in his eyes. He hadn’t seen Adam much after Eden, but the look on his face then when Eve bit the apple and now were the same, scarily so it almost made Lucifer chuckle at the memory. The devil watched as the other let the information sink in. Was he really trapped in hell forever? If so, why had Lucifer grabbed him off the streets? Adam touched his head, groaning in irritation at the presence of horns. He took a second to look around the room. Beside the bed he was on was a desk with a bunch of paperwork on it, and to the left of it was a standing dresser. It was normal-looking despite the teeth design on the door, or maybe it was real teeth? Adam wasn’t entirely sure.

“You have to be lying there's no fucking way heaven would leave me here! I’m fucking Adam I don’t belong here.” He used the bed to pull himself up as his legs trembled, struggling to get a handle on his new legs. When he finally was able to still himself, he had tired himself out and just sat back down on the bed. “Fuck this is ridiculous.”

Adam couldn’t believe what he was hearing, he chose not to believe it because there’s no way heaven would leave him in hell he had a purpose, he had a life up there, he had children up there. To be fair he did have children in hell but he never really seen sinners as his children they had chosen to sin and this was there punishment.

“Well I would say you're stuck here if there wasn’t an alternative” Adam looked up at the king at breakneck speeds, he could get out of hell? 

He felt relief wash over himself he could actually get back home, good he hated hell he wanted to see his son’s Seth and Abel. Now that he thought about it, Cain was down here wasn’t he? Would he want to see him? Adam may never usually acknowledge sinners as his kids but there was an acception for Cain maybe because he was his first born? Or maybe because even after everything that happened he still loved him and he knew from speaking to Abel about it that he too didn’t hate him. After thinking about it what did the seraphim mean by there was a way to get back to heaven? That shouldn’t be possible not unless, then it hit him he looked up at the man in front of him he had another wide fucking grin on his face.

“You don’t mean-”

“Oh yes that’s exactly what I mean!” Lucifer wrapped his tail around his cane holding it. Waving his hands in the air above his head an image of the hotel appeared surrounded by red smoke. “By participating in Charlie’s hotel heaven just might let your sorry ass back in”

Adam could feel the anger begin to boil over, there’s no way he was going to participate in the stupid kindergarten bullshit that Lucifer’s daughter was trying to get away with. Not to mention that the assholes in that hotel had killed more than just a couple of his girls that day. Don’t even get him started on the little shit stain that stabbed him.

“Oh brilliant idea because singing songs and holding hands are definitely going to help me get back into heaven, and I guess i’ll just forget all about how you all killed me.” Lucifer frowned as he waved his hand again and the image disappeared, grabbing his cane again he walked over to the side of the bed and stood looking at Adam it freaked him out. It also seemed nostalgic, but he wasn’t about to unpack that at the moment. “What? Your freaking me out dude.” 

Without warning, Lucifer leaned down, grabbed Adam by the collar, and Adam immediately tried to remove the fallen seraphim's hand. However, as he had witnessed a couple of days prior, he lacked the strength to move it. "I don't think you fully understand where you are. This is hell—cold, merciless, and unforgiving. Charlie is offering you something rare down here: purpose, protection, a chance to matter. You can refuse, of course—but ask yourself how long you'll last in this place without her."

Lucifer pushed Adam away as he stood straight again, holding his hands behind his back he stared down at the first man. He knew Adam hated the hotel but he also knew that he would hate being on the streets of hell far more. “So what will it be?”

Adam angrily clutched his robe. He couldn't understand why all of this shit had to happen to him, he had done everything he was told while he was in heaven even when he didn’t want to and this is how they repay him? By leaving him in hell with the same person that ruined his life all those years ago, he turned to face him angrily he spit out his answer. “Fine! Fuck.”

Chapter Text

“Welcome to my office, Adam. I'm glad you decided to join me today.” Charlie’s smile was wide. It reminded him of her father, which he wasn’t happy about.

“Didn’t really have a choice I'm sure as shit you know that princess” Adam didn’t plan on playing nice with her it’s bad enough he had to with Lucifer, his pride could only take so much.

“Well, even so I’m glad you're here. I’m sure Dad has told you, and you already know, but this is a place for sinners to redeem themselves so I ask that you refrain from debauchery.”

Adam didn’t like what she was insinuating; nothing Adam had ever done in his long lifespan had he made any mistakes, his father and mother were the ones who screwed over all of humanity with there bullshit idea’s.

“Yeah, whatever. Can we get this over with? I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to be.”

Charlie frowned as she wrote something down on a clipboard she held in her hands, setting the pen down on the desk she looked back up; she didn’t really know what to start with, but maybe she’d start with the basics: a simple story. Leaning over to the side of her desk, she grabbed the old book, It was basically hell’s version of the bible. Holding the story up, she brandished the book like it was a prized possession.

“The story of hell? What kind of stupid bullshit are you trying to read me? "I'm Adam, the first fucking man, and I know how hell was created," Adam said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.  Did she think he was dumb or ignorant of his own origins?

“I know you do but this is a story I normally tell my participants it’s sort of like a tradition.” Adam groaned as he let her begin the story while he didn’t really give a shit about the creation of hell but it was better than talking about feelings and all of that other mushy bullshit.

“Once upon a time, there was a glowing city protected by golden gates known as heaven. It was ruled by beings of pure light, angels that worshiped good and shielded all from evil.” Adam hadn’t said anything he knew what angels were there for and she hadn’t said anything wrong, maybe Lucifer wasn’t such an asshole as he thought at least he had the decency to not lie about the beginning of humanity.

“Lucifer was one of these angels. He was a dreamer with fantastical ideas for all of  creation.” Adam sputtered as he heard the girl speak; he had spoken too soon. While Lucifer may have seen it that way, he knew for a fucking fact that the shit he and Lillith had done ruined his life, he never even gotten an apology from the two he doubted they even cared about what they had done to him and Eve. “But he was seen as a troublemaker by the elders of heaven for they felt his way of thinking was dangerous to the order of their world, so he watched as the angels began to expand the universe in their own ways.”

The first man already felt irritated by the story. He figured the next part was going to be about the garden; he missed his first home. After he and Eve were booted from Eden, his life had been hell, no thanks to the curses god had given the two. There were times when he thought he would starve to death; it drove him insane, not to mention rather troubling thoughts had appeared in his head not long after eating the apple. He doubted that Hell’s version of the holy bible would go in depth about it though.

“From the dust of earth they created Adam and Lilith equals as the first of man kind but despite this Adam demanded control and Lilith refused to submit to his will she fled the garden drawn in-” Her story was cut off by Adam stomping his hoof on the ground making her jump a little.

“Those assholes said I tried to control her?! Fuck of course they would say that why did I expect anything different” Charlie looked at him confused, what was he so mad about? Was something wrong with the story? That couldn’t be it; her parents wouldn’t lie about this.

“What do you mean?” Adam frowned as he crossed his arms and sat upright in the chair.

“What I mean is your parents are full of shit I never tried to control Lilith and Lucifer’s little fantastical fucking idea’s almost killed me!” Adam was pissed off not only had Lucifer threatened him the day before now he finds out that him and that bitch had been lying to every single soul that stepped foot in this fucking place?! “That stupid kiddie bullshit fantasy your parents told you is a fucking lie, I never tried to control Lilith and I know they are your parents but those bitches screwed my entire mortal life over.” Adam’s finger was pointed at Charlie he knew she had no idea what he meant, but instead of being more confused, she looked angry.

“What are you talking about? My parents wouldn’t lie to me. I’ve been reading this story all my life; it’s what strived my want to redeem sinners this can’t be a lie!” Charlie slammed the book down on the table her eyes were turning the same red he had seen the day he died for a second time.

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you girlie, I know what happened and I know whatever that shit was it wasn’t that.” Adam leaned back in the chair, his arms crossed. He was agitated, but he didn’t want Lucifer or Warrior Vagina to come running into the room.

“Alright then, why don’t you tell me what happened?” Charlie took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair. She had to calm down; she was supposed to help him, and maybe this story would give some insight into his mind.

“Hey, I didn’t say I would share anything.” Adam cringed as he watched the girl make an insane puppy face, and he sighed as he rolled his eyes. “Alright quit making that fucking face.”

🍎🎸🍎🎸🍎

He awoke in a peaceful forest. Small noises filled his ears, but he couldn't tell what was making the sound. His eyes slowly opened, and the light made him recoil. He pushed himself to sit up. The area around him was, in one word: beautiful. The lighting in the garden made it hard to see. As he put his hand over his head, the first thing he saw was a white cloth. The person in front of him didn’t seem to walk on the ground. 

“Welcome to paradise, Adam. I am Sera.” She smiled as she held her arms out toward Adam.

“I am Adam? And you are Sera? This is paradise?” Adam looked around himself he couldn’t explain the feelings he felt at the moment but it wasn’t a bad feeling.

“Yes, you are the first human man ever to exist.” She smiled as she leaned forward and grabbed his hands, helping him stand. “I am Sera, the seraphim. I am known as an angel, and my purpose is to help heaven run earth the place you happen to find yourself standing on today.”

“Do I have a purpose to?” Adam was confused he didn’t even know what having a purpose even meant.

“Yes, my dear child, your purpose is to name and take care of the other living things here in the garden while also populating the earth with the first ever human woman to exist, Lilith.” Adam perked up there was another human? Someone like him but not at the same time?

“Where is Lilith?” Adam looked around himself as he tried to look for someone else who looked like he did and wasn’t walking on all fours.

“She is somewhere in the garden you will find each other, but take this time to walk around and explore.” Sera gestured to the garden. Adam watched as she stepped back from him; she bowed to him, and with a flash of light, she disappeared leaving him alone once again.

Ignoring how the light hurt his eyes again, he took a couple of steps. The ground beneath him felt scratchy, but it wasn’t unpleasant. Moving forward, he felt almost everything he could from the trees to the ponds, and even a couple small insects that had been still enough for him to touch, he hadn’t named anything he figured it’d be best to do that later. After walking into a clearing in the middle was a small pond, and in the middle of the water was something brightly colored. Stepping towards the water he sat down and watched as the creature seemed to glide over. Then, it stopped in front of him. He slowly moved his hand and held it out towards the small thing. It sniffed his hand and stepped out of the water. He first noticed how fluffy and soft it was when it stepped onto his hand. Pulling his hand to his face, the small creature made a high-pitched noise before it rubbed on his face. He couldn’t describe how he felt, but what it was far beyond being unpleasant, it comforted him. As he moved to sit the small creature back into the water a small insect landed on top of the head, it was a color he had yet to see in the garden it was a mixture of light colors while white being the prominent color, he didn’t know at the time but he would soon come to call the insect a butterfly. He quietly and carefully moved his hand towards the insect, but before he could reach it, it flew off of the animal's head. It fluttered by Adam's head for a second before a cloud of smoke covered his vision. Using his hand, he covered his eyes, and he waited for the smoke to dissipate. What he saw before him was no short of divine.

“Adam I am Lucifer. My role is that of a helping angel, specifically assigned to you and the first woman, to oversee and maintain the health of this forest.” The being in front of him was an angel? Although his appearance was unlike Sera's, he didn't give the discrepancy much thought. What he did notice however, was this angel also seemed to be wearing something over himself.

“What is it that you have on you?” Adam stood from the ground and walked over to Lucifer before stopping in front of him. “And what are those things behind you? I have seen them on different things here.” Adam was referring to the wings sprouting from his back.

Lucifer smiled as his wings settled behind him. The inside of the wings were a soft blue while the outside of the wings remained white. “These are called wings they are used to do what is called flying.” Adam looked down at the ground as he noticed that this angel’s feet were actually touching the ground. “And these are called clothes; it is something we angels use to cover ourselves.”

Adam had been drawn in completely; he had questions to ask the angel, like what was the big thing he saw that seemed to have something growing from it’s head, or what was that animal he had seen crawling out of a cave. “Wow, you know a lot of things Mr. angel”

Lucifer chuckled as he grabbed Adam's hands, pulling him along as he began to walk past the clearing of the forest they were in. “No need to call me that just Lucifer is fine, dear Adam.”

Adam smiled as he followed the angel. While they walked, Lucifer explained that the bright things he had seen that had been blinding him earlier were called light, and all the colors he saw around him were the result of light. He even told him some of the color’s names, like the ground he walked on was the color green, and that the sky above him was blue, and that cute small creature he had seen in the water was yellow, which ended up being his favorite of the many colors. After walking for a while Lucifer came to a stop in another clearing. He let go of Adam's hand, and the empty feeling of it was not something that made Adam happy, but he kept it to himself. Looking from beside the angel, he saw someone else they had long blonde hair and their back to the two.

“Is that Lilith?” Upon hearing her name, the woman turned around when she realized who it was, she smiled and walked over to the two.

“You must be Adam, my husband.” Lilith smiled as she gave Adam the small arrangement of flowers she had been holding. 

Smiling, he put the flowers to his nose and smiled at her as he smelled them. They smelled amazing; it was the best scent he thought he would ever smell in his very short existence. “They’re beautiful. Thank you Lilith.”

Lucifer smiled as he watched the two first humans interact; as an angel, he never really had time to find someone whom he could call a significant other, so a little part in his stomach clenched as he watched how happy the two seemed to be despite only knowing each other for a collective five minutes. He pushed his feelings down and clapped his hands together, calling the attention of the two.

“Lilith, I am Lucifer. My role is that of a helping angel, specifically assigned to you and the first man, to oversee and maintain the health of this forest.” Lilith nodded her head as she smiled at Lucifer.

“Thank you, Mr. Angel.” She bowed, and it was then Adam noticed he hadn’t done anything like that when he met the angel, so he bowed as well.

Lucifer’s face went a light shade of gold as he held his hands toward the two. “Please stand you two. I am a mere helper, Angel. I do not deserve this bowing. You should offer your praises to my father once you meet him.” Adam and Lilith stood as they looked at him, confused.

“Your father?” Lilith looked around her as she spoke, trying to see if she could find this other person he was talking about.

“What is a father?” Adam asked as his eyebrow raised, remembering he hadn’t seen anyone else there but him, Lucifer, and Lilith. 

“My father god, he is your creator. He is also all-seeing.” Adam and Lilith looked almost frightened by the news as they spoke.

“He can see us all the time? Why can we not see him? Is it a bad thing if we do see him?” The two firsts had spoken at the same time and their questions muddled in Lucifer's head.

Holding his hand up, it halted the assault on his brain. “There is no need to be afraid of him, you may not be able to see him but do not let this frighten you; he is a gracious and nice god who will grant you eternal life as long as you follow his rules.” Adam nodded as Lilith looked at him confused.

“Why does he not come and visit us? Do we not make him happy?” Lilith’s hair had begun to blow as a breeze began; this made Lucifer look towards the ground in respect of the first woman.

“I am not sure why father does not come down, but he has his reasons, so do not fret, dear Lilith.” The woman nodded her head slowly. Lucifer then clapped his hands together again, making the two in front of him jump. “Now I must warn you there is a tree here, and it bears fruit that you must never eat.”

🍎🎸🍎🎸🍎

Adam frowned as the memories turned sour, why the fuck was he telling her anything? It’s not like he was even taking this session seriously and he definitely didn’t want to talk about his emotions. 

“Why did you stop?” Charlie looked at him confusion was clear on her face; she had her hands clasped together on her desk. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that she was actually listening to the story, but he knew better than that. No one ever thought the stories he told were true, granted some of them weren’t, like the one he had told Charlie about fucking a rocker chick after a concert. He had done a show that day, but he went home by himself.

“Isn’t my hour up?” Adam and Charlie looked towards the clock on the wall over the door frame.

“You’re right, though I wish we could have gotten more done. But today wasn’t bad. Thank you Adam, for telling me a little about yourself maybe next session we could finish the story?”

He wasn’t sure if he would ever finish telling her that story, but he just rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

Chapter Text

Being in this hotel was going to drive him insane. Ever since Lucifer had brought him back to his room after his session with Charlie, he had decided to lie down in bed since he didn’t have another option. He didn’t even have a way to get in contact with either of them. He sighed as he surveyed the bedroom, noting its difference from Lucifer's. The sheets and blankets were red; god, if he saw one more red-themed thing, he was going to kill someone. Standing from the bed, he walked over to the door, giving a little tug when it didn’t move, his tail thrashed against the floor. 

“Fuck how do they handle these fucking things?” He looked around the room again, trying to see if he could find another way out that he hadn’t noticed before.

He walked to the dresser that was next to the door, and once he opened the doors, he began to search through the clothes inside. He wanted to change, and he didn’t trust anyone else to get anything for him. After a few more minutes of looking, the only thing he could find that didn’t have any type of red in it was a pair of ripped jeans and a white short-sleeved shirt, along with another shirt that was missing sleeves entirely but had a part that covered the neck. Quickly changing his clothes, he walked over to the bathroom connected to the bedroom and sighed as he stared at his reflection in the mirror over the sink. He raised his hand but stopped before his fingertips even got the chance to brush the horns on his head. He clenched his hand and slammed it back down onto the counter. He didn’t want to touch the disgusting things;  if he did, it would make this entire situation feel more real than it already did.

“Fuck, this is so” His voice faded as looked down at the sink this sucked not only had he died but he was reborn as a demon? This didn’t even make any sense. He hadn’t even done anything wrong. “I did everything those assholes asked and now I'm fucking here?!”

He angrily stepped out of the bathroom and slammed the door shut. He looked around the room as he stood by the bed everything in this room was pissing him off he hated the red, he hated this stupid ass hotel, he hated Charlie and her fucking traitor girlfriend and he hated Lucifer. He didn’t want to have those stupid sessions with Charlie, and he wanted to kill Lucifer. He angrily stomped over to the trash basket next to the dresser and kicked it over. He looked around the room, trying to find anything else he could trash, but sadly, besides that the room was rather empty. He walked back over to the bed and sat down on it with a huff, There was nothing else he could trash; he couldn’t contact either Morningstar, and he couldn’t even leave this stupid room.

“Fuck, is this how I’m supposed to live now?” He looked down at his hands and looked over them over and over again. Instead of normal fingernails, his hands had stretched into claws, and where the nails were supposed to go were sharp and gold. “Fuck I look like a fucking freak.”

Before he could wallow in his feelings any longer, there was a knock on the door. He hadn’t responded to the knock. Whoever it was, he didn’t feel like talking, and he didn’t want to see Charlie, which was who he guessed it was since Luifer wouldn’t knock on the door like that. After a few seconds of not answering, the door slammed open, and standing in the doorway was the last being in this god forsaken place that he wanted to see.

“Must Clean!” The small cyclops woman began speeding around the room at such a crazy speed that he couldn’t even comprehend.

Adam frowned as his hand pressed to his chest, trying to dull the stinging sensation as he watched the small cyclops move around. She began to make her way towards the bathroom, getting closer to Adam in the process. He clenched his chest tighter, the stinging began to get worse. When she was standing beside him at the bathroom door, he pushed himself off the bed and stood on the other side of the room. His heart hammered so hard in his chest he thought he would die for a third time. Looking around the room, he noticed the door had been left open and without any other thought, he left the room.

Adam had been there at the hotel for almost a week, and despite that, he didn’t even know his way around, granted he was sleep until yesterday. Looking at the walls as he passed the gold and red were burning into his eyes, was any place in this fucking hotel that wasn’t red? He kept walking and looking at the walls, trying to see if he could find any route that didn’t lead straight. He sighed as he got to the end of the hall and saw two flights of steps, one leading downward and the other leading up. He stepped towards the flight leading down, but before his hoof could even reach the first step he heard voices. He stopped before frowning and turning around as the second flight of stairs suddenly looked way more appealing. After he finished the very short climb to the top of the steps he pushed open a set of double doors and walked inside. On the other side of the doors was an open area, it seemed to be a balcony and from it he could hear the voices from the steps more clearly.

“Oh come on guy’s he seemed to be trying.” That was Charlie’s voice his face turned into a scowl as he stepped forward a bit, just enough for him to peek over the railing.

“Charlie there’s nothing you could say that could make us want to be around the fucking asshole.” Adam recognised the lanky spider demon as the client that Charlie said was redeeming himself, though to be honest he knew Angel Dust way before then but he wasn’t exactly proud of how he came to know him,  so he decided to just push the thought away.

“Oh come on Angel, he had his first session today, and it went well! He’s actually trying.” Adam scoffed softly as he heard the plea to the unamused guests in front of her.

“He’s probably fucking with you Charlie don’t let him fool you, I’ve known that douchebag for a long time and he’ll never change.” Adam angrily clutched the bottom of his shirt as Lucifer walked into the room.

He had no right to say he knew Adam, he didn’t know shit about him. Pissed off would have been an understatement, his blood was boiling. Lucifer was the reason he lost his home, Lucifer was the reason he had that stupid fucking curse, and Lucifer was the reason he lost both of his wives. His chest began to sting again as he got angrier and angrier by the minute. He clutched his chest again as he cursed under his breath. He had been so preoccupiped with trying not to lose his shit he hadn’t even noticed when his own shadow slid from underneath him.

“Well, well, well, isn't this a pleasant surprise?” Standing in front of him was Alastor with a smile plastered on his face, but instead of it being his usual grin, it seemed almost sinister. Before he could get the chance to even say anything, his vision was encased in darkness.

Adam immediately began to panic he hated being in complete dark it reminded him of the day that him and Eve had eaten that fucking apple. It was the only thing he had ever really been afraid of, even after his mortal death. He covered his ears as he curled into himself.

“Adam?” The voice in his ear was familiar, opening his eyes, he was met with Charlie crouching in front of him, her hand hovering over his back.

He quickly pushed himself into a sitting position and looked around the room in front of him in confusion, he wasn’t in Eden the realization making his body relax a little. But he was sitting in front of a group of people who were all giving him the meanest stink eye.

“Alastor, why did you bring Adam here?” Instead of walking like a normal person, he melted into the shadows before appearing beside Adam.

“Well, my dear Charlotte, I found our little guest happily watching you all on the balcony and thought maybe he would like to be in the conversation too!” A laugh track played from his staff as he gripped Adam’s horns and shook his head a little.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” Adam pushed himself to his feet as he pushed Alastor’s hand away. “And you! Don’t act like you know a thing about me!” Adam’s aggression had turned to Lucifer, whose face remained the same.

“Adam, calm down you're acting like a baby right now.” Adam angrily turned to face Vaggie, and he felt the stinging sensation in his chest begin to flare again.

“Shut the fuck up you traitorous cunt!” Adam was seething at this point; if he could breathe fire, he would burn this hotel to the ground with everyone inside. 

“Adam! Don’t say that to her!” Charlie angrily yelled at him, her eyes turning the same shade as earlier that day. He felt that fucking sting again and groaned as he placed his hand on his chest, Charlie’s face fell as she noticed. “Adam, what’s wrong?” She stepped forward to try to place her hand on his shoulder, but he backed up as he stared at her.

“Don’t get any closer to me damn it!” Whatever was going on with his chest had to be their fault; it had to be because these stupid pains were never an issue before. “I don’t want any of you filthy fucking demons touching me!”

Everyone in the room, except for Charlie was staring at the frantic behavior with disdain in their eyes. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re a-”

Those were the only words he could hear as the pain in his chest tripled, when the small cyclops demon came running into the room. He knew there wasn’t any apparent danger, but whatever the fuck this is was enough to make him think otherwise. Lucifer had stepped in front of Adam and looked over him.

“And they say I’m the theatrical one.” Adam glared at him as he looked at the devil bitterly. “Why can’t you ever take responsibility for your actions you aren’t a fucking kid.”

“Shut up! Shut the fuck up! You are the last person I ever want trying to tell me any fucking thing! You and that bitch ruined my life and left me to fucking die! Then fucked off and had a fucking kid!” Adam felt like he was suffocating standing in front of Lucifer, it was the most unbearable feeling in the world, and to think he had once yearned for his presence.

“Oh get over yourself Adam, me and Lilith didn’t do shit to you. You’re just mad you couldn’t control her.” Charlie looked at her father before looking at Adam she could tell he was about to blow a gasket at her father’s words, so she stepped towards Lucifer and placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Dad maybe you shouldn’t-”

“Are you fucking kidding me?! You and Lilith ruined my entire mortal life! Do you even care what you did to us?! To me?!”

“What the hell are you talking about? Lilith and I were in Hell, what could we have possibly done to hurt you?” Lucifer rolled his eyes as he saw how Adam was almost doubled over, his face scrunched up.

“Fuck don’t act dumb! You and that fucking apple! You and your lies! You fucked me over and you have the fucking gal to tell me to get over it?! I hate looking at you, I hate knowing you even exist!” Lucifer had his hand over the top of his cane as he watched the man’s angry rambling. He didn’t understand why Adam seemed so pissed nothing he said was making any sense he and Lilith hadn’t talked to him since they agreed on the yearly exterminations.

“Are you done?” Adam felt like he was about to throw up; the pain in his chest mixed with the anger and the bitterness he felt was too much.

“Dad!” Lucifer turned to see Charlie frowning at him, his face fell as he turned back to Adam. 

“Enlighten me, what did I do that ruined your life?” The question was his breaking point.

“Fuck are you serious?! Eve gave me the fucking apple and after you and that bitch were kicked we were both casted from Eden I was cursed to grow plants in soil that couldn’t even handle it! Eve and I almost starved on our first few nights! Don’t even get me started on what happened to my kids because of you!” Everyone remained silent as they listened to his story. Charlie frowned as she saw the pained expression on Adam’s face. “Oh ho not to mention I had to live nine hundred fucking years watching my children and grandchildren die! Do you even know what that’s like?! Of course you don’t because everything works out for you every fucking time! I lost my son to you Asshole Cain died because of you! He went to Hell because of you! And I’m stuck down here in this shithole because of you!” Adam was panting as his anger began to die down a little, but it wasn’t long before he was on his knees, heaving as he threw up.

Charlie ran over to Adam and placed her hand on his back, he didn’t have the energy to move her hand; he didn’t even have enough energy to look up as Lucifer spoke. “I…I didn’t know.”

Adam scoffed as he glanced up slightly. “Bullshit.”

Lucifer shook his head as he clenched the cane tightly. It didn’t make sense if something like that happened; why hadn’t he known about it? “No, Adam I really didn’t know.”

Chapter Text

Charlie sat down on the couch in the lobby of the hotel, after she and her dad had taken Adam back to his room, he practically passed out on the bed. Vaggie grabbed her hand, rubbing her thumb on the back of her hand. Charlie looked at her and smiled before turning to look at her dad, who stood in front of everyone, seemingly lost in thought with his head down.

“Dad?” Lucifer looked up and let his eyes scan over everyone in front of him, save for Alastor.

“Ok i’ll be the first to ask, what the fuck was that?” Angel crossed one pair of his arms as he made hand movements with the other two as he looked over at Charlie and her father.

“That’s what I wanted to tell you all, during my session with Adam, I read the book of Hell to him.” Lucifer tensed as he realized what had gotten Adam so mad. “He told me that everything in the book regarding Eden was a lie.” Turning to her dad, her expression hardened. “Dad, is that true?”

A minute passed in silence as Lucifer grappled with a strange and unexpected nervousness, unable to comprehend why he found himself so hesitant to validate the truthfulness of his daughter's statements. It’s not like he wrote the book; Lilith had done that. But after hearing what Adam had said, every decision he ever made began replaying in his head.

“Dad?” Lucifer dropped his head again as he nodded.

Everything around Charlie froze as her dad confirmed that she had the entire story wrong and her own parents hadn’t even bothered to clear it up with her. Considering they turned the false truth into a book, it was more likely that they hadn’t ever wanted to tell her the truth.

“Why, Dad? Why did you lie to me? I built this hotel because of that book; all of my beliefs about redemption came from that book!” Charlie’s voice was higher than she’d like while talking to her father, but she was so upset it didn’t even matter to her at the moment. “Say something Dad don’t just stand there.”

Lucifer’s mind began to spiral; everything that had led up to now was now weighing on his mind. He was the reason Eve had eaten the apple, but he hadn’t planned for Adam to eat it he knew how much the other loved the garden, and he hadn’t wanted to take it away from him, but that’s exactly what he had ended up doing.

“Dad?” Charlie was now standing beside her father, concerned she had never seen this look on his face before. “Are you ok? What’s the matter?”

He felt like he wanted to cry, or punch something, anything to get these feelings out of him. He looked up at Charlie and smiled wearily before red smoke swallowed his body and disappeared again, leaving the spot where he stood empty. Charlie frowned as she sat down on the couch again, she put her head in her hands.

“What am I supposed to do now?” Vaggie leaned her head on Charlie’s shoulder before slipping her hand into hers.

“Look lets give everyone some time to cool off then we can talk to Adam and in the mean time you can go check on your dad, I can take care of everything here” Charlie looked over at her girlfriend wearily.

“Are you sure I don’t wanna put to much on you” Vaggie nodded her head as she smiled at her.

Charlie smiled as she kissed her girlfriend’s cheek. “I don’t know what I would do without you”

Standing quickly she began to make her way through the hotel hallways to her fathers room. She didn’t exactly know what she would say to her dad but she would let him talk and see what’s going on with him. She had never seen her dad look so distraught over something before it unnerved her a little. Passing by the same looking doors for a couple more minutes she finally made it to her fathers room, taking a deep breath she knocked on his door softly.

“Dad? Are you ok? Can I come inside?” There was silence for a minute before she knocked on the door again. “Dad?”

A couple seconds after knocking the door opened and in the doorway was Lucifer he looked the same not like he had been crying or anything so there’s one piece of good news. “Dad are you ok? I know that must have been a lot earlier.”

Lucifer smiled as he began waving his hands around as he spoke. “Of course Charlie why wouldn’t I be ok?”

Charlie could see over her dad’s head into his bedroom and inside she could see on his bed spread out were many different pieces of paper the contents on them though she couldn’t see. “What’s all of that on your bed?”

Lucifer looked behind himself then back to Charlie before sighing and stepping back allowing his daughter room to walk inside. Charlie hesitantly stepped inside. The change in her father's appearance, from his earlier look to disheveled, surprised her. She realized he'd probably used an illusion at the door, which only increased Charlie's worry. Walking over to his bed she grabbed a piece of paper and read the content’s. It was a list that showed the numerous people that passed though Hell’s metaphorical gates why was he looking at this? Walking over to his daughter he stood by her ad began looking through the papers again.

“What is all of this” Lucifer grabbed the paper from her hand and looked through the names on it before setting it back down and grabbing another one and looking over it.

“These are all of the documents I have ever gotten from the day I was cast from heaven, though they don’t like to share documents anymore these should at least have something.”

“What are you looking for?” Charlie began looking at the many pieces of paper trying to help her father.

“A letter from Heaven addressed to me, or anything with my name on it from heaven they had to have sent something they wouldn’t just have left me out of something so important would they?” Lucifer didn’t want to believe it though he knew how big of jerks heaven could be he would have hoped they didn’t hold something like what happened to Adam back from him.

“Are you looking for something about Adam?” Lucifer’s hand’s paused as he held onto a piece of paper tightly.

“Yes, but I’m starting to think they didn’t want me to know” Lucifer placed the paper on his bed before sighing and leaning on his arms onto the bed his tail had wrapped around his leg.

“Maybe it was on accident, I forget to tell people stuff all of the time” Charlie tried to cheer her father up but it wasn’t working the way she wanted it to.

“No Charlie heaven is full of a bunch of hypocritical assholes if they did’t tell me it was on purpose” Pushing some of the papers to the side he sat down on his bed as he frowned and leaned on his knees head in his hands.

Taking a couple of careful steps she sat down beside him, the awkward silence was killing her. “So you didn’t know.” She was tapping her hands on her knees as she glanced over at her dad for an answer.

“No I didn’t” Lucifer chuckled in disbelief as his head went through every argument and every fight they had gotten into since he had became the head of Heaven’s army. “He hated me for years and I didn’t even know the entire reason I thought he was just being a bitter bitch about Lilith.” 

Charlie didn’t really know how to respond she always thought it was a bit weird that her parents had been in a love triangle with Adam but she tried not to think about it since it wasn’t something she really had to worry about before. “Look dad maybe he’ll understand he seemed to calm down a bit when you told him you hadn’t known.”

Lucifer scoffed as he thought about how Adam had looked moments before he had thrown up on the floor of the hotel lobby. “I doubt it, Adam isn’t the type to forgive, and I mean I wouldn’t blame him after everything that’s happened.”

Charlie didn’t know how to respond to her fathers pessimism, he was always so cheery even when she wasn’t but seeing him like this now was making her sad, Sighing she leaned back on the bed putting her hands behind her and as she did her hand landed on an envelope.

Looking behind her she picked up the letter and looked at it, the name on it read Lilith Morningstar. Curious she opened the letter and pulled out a piece of paper, holding it in her hands she began to read over it.

Dear Lilith Morningstar,

Today, Ms. Morningstar, is a day filled with sorrow, though I doubt you know the reason, it is because after a lifetime dedicated to atoning for his sins Adam had now reached our heavenly realm. It is of utmost importance that you convey this to Lucifer, especially since he had a protective role over you both and the garden, considering how we haven’t received any word or questions from him you must haven’t told him about what happened to Adam and Eve after your fall. I implore you to tell Lucifer if not out of the kindness of of your heart then do it for my brother because I know how much he treasured both of you and he would want to know.

Signed Michael

Charlie bit her lip as she read through the letter, her mother had known what happened to Adam after Eden but hadn’t told her dad? But why? Did she hate Adam that badly? It was wrong and messed up on many different levels, glancing over at her dad she began to debate in her head weather or not to show her dad the letter. He would surely be angry at Lilith and demand answers but neither of them had seen her for seven years so it’s not like he could ask her themselves. Looking back down at the letter again she sighed and tapped his shoulder.

“Dad I think you should read this” Lucifer looked up at her and took the paper from her hand and began to read over it.

As she watched her dad read the letter she could see the many different emotions passing over his face as he made his way through. Reading the letter was infuriating to say the least why hadn’t Lilith told him about Adam he knew for a fact that she didn’t hate Adam as much as she tried to pretend she did. So what was the reason to hide the information, knowing her she probably thought it would upset him but still that wasn’t a reason to not tell him something this important.

“ This is ridiculous.” Lucifer groaned as he set the letter down on the bedside table. “I feel like such an asshole Charlie, I hadn’t meant for things to turn out the way they did and now he hates me and Lilith is gone, Why did I even do everything I did?”

Charlie placed her hand in her dad’s back as she rubbed his back, she understood where her dad was coming from there were times when she thought that about the hotel but she always had Vaggie to back her u and support her but looking at her dad he didn’t have anyone to support him he was alone and confused and she wanted to help him. Placing her hands on his shoulders she turned him to face her and look her in the eyes.

“Dad I am going to help you become friends with Adam again” Lucifer blinked at his daughter confused, he tried to speak but Charlie cut him off. “No objections dad you and Adam are both hurting and it’s clear to me that you feel bad for what happened so while Adam tries to redeem himself you can redeem yourself as well!”

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Hiiii everyone I don’t have anything special to say but I wanted to show off something I got it’s literally the best thing I’ve ever owned🔥

https://www.tumblr.com/ellisonthescene2003/781319111512866816

Chapter Text

Vaggie looked at everyone in front of her as she paced the floor. She had told Charlie that she could handle everything that pertained to the activities for the day, but she didn’t know exactly what to do. She thought about what Charlie had been talking about earlier and decided to give it a try herself now that everyone might be sympathetic towards the former commander of the exorcist army of angels.

“So about what Charlie was talking about earlier-” Vaggie was cut off by Angel holding one of his many hands up, Cherri was sitting beside him as she leaned on his shoulder.

“Look we get why Charlie wanted to help him, he’s kind of a fucking loser.” Husk smiled as he wiped down the counter of the bar.

“He’s just another one of the princesses projects, like us we get it.” There wasn’t a hint of malice in the demon cat’s tone.

“Wow, all it took was one pathetic break down huh?” Vaggie had one hand on her hip as she smirked, looking at the three in front of her.

“Still hate the guy, but after seeing that it’s kinda hard to stay angry at him.” 

“Fuck him for killing Pentious, but if the princess wants to help I’ll be nice for now.” Cherri crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned back into the couch.

Vaggie nodded her head as she turned her attention to the fourth person in the room, sitting in an armchair next to the couch his hands were clasped over the microphone staff he carried with him.

“And you please, I beg don’t antagonize Adam any further.” Alastor titled his head to the side.

“ Very bold of you to assume I’d waste my precious time antagonizing someone so pathetic! ” A laugh track came crackling from his staff as he laughed alongside it.

Vaggie ran her hand down her face as she sighed. “Please just…Just don’t ok?” Alastor rolled his eyes as he waved his hand at her. “Alright, let me go grab Charlie’s planner, and we can start the first activity.”

Vaggie left the lobby, making her way through the hotel's hallways towards her and her girlfriend’s shared bedroom, after making it to a flight of stairs that led upwards. She stopped before the first step and let her wings emerge from her back she then began flying through the many long long halls of the rehab building, the only good things about there room being on top of the hotel was the view and Charlie liked to walk the hallways with Vaggie at night as a way for them spend time with each other. Vaggie looked around her and paused when she flew past a door, and inside she could hear quiet sniffling. She let her feet touch the ground before her wings hid themselves again. Knocking on the door, she touched the palm of her hand to the door.

“Adam?” The sniffling stopped, but there was no answer, so she knocked on the door again. “Adam, I know it’s you, you’re the only person in there room, open up!” She knocked on the door harder again as she waited for an answer. When none came she reached into her pocket for the hotel’s master key, but as she was pulling it out the door opened.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d think that being loud was all you were good for Vagina.” Adam said bitterly as he looked down at the girl in front of him. Vaggie scowled at him as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Look, I didn’t come to fight I came because I heard crying.” It was Adam’s turn to cross his arms over his chest.

“Crying? Look I don’t know if being down here in this shit hole has fogged up your memories but I don’t cry.” The former angels were now locked in a staring contest as they both gave each other glares.

“Whatever you consider crying doesn’t concern me, I just came to check on you.” Vaggie rolled her eye as she looked him over.

“I’m fine I don’t need you checking on me like a little fucking kid.”

“You sure were acting like one in the lobby earlier with all that screaming,” Vaggie smirked she knew this would piss him off but she never had the chance to mess with him like she always wanted, sure it may have been the exact opposite of what she just told everyone else not to do but it’s not like anyone would find out she said it.

“First fuck you I’m not a kid and second you know next to dick about me to be trying to insult me so why don’t you fuck off to your Disney princess of a girlfriend,” Adam smirked as he seen how angry Vaggie got at him, she couldn’t push his buttons like he knew that he could hers and it was the only highlight from the day.

“God why are you such a dick?! Charlie is trying to help you get back to Heaven, I thought you wanted that?”

“Of course I want to go back to Heaven who would want to be stuck in this shithole for there entire afterlife?” Adam had moved from the doorway and sat down on the bed, leaving the door open so he could see and talk too his old exorcist subordinate.

“Well you aren’t acting like it, You bitch a fit in front of everyone then when I come to check on you, you insult the woman who’s trying to help you!” Vaggie stepped into the room, closing the door behind herself before crossing her arms.

“I never asked for her help! I know that none of you want me here in the first place, and that fucking weirdo downstairs is getting on my nerves.” Adam was moving his arms as he spoke, it reminded Vaggie of when he would sit at lunch with her and Lute and tell many, many stories that probably weren’t true.

“I told Alastor to leave you alone, and you should be grateful that Charlie even decided to let you stay here, you almost killed her or did you forget that?”

“I know that ok, how could I ever forget that? This place seems bent on making me never forget.” Vaggie looked at him confused.

“What do you mean?” She then looked around the room for a second, trying to see if anything looked different than usual.

“I’m saying I woke up from that short ass fuck nap because of a nightmare, it was the most screwed thing I’ve ever had the displeasure of seeing and that’s saying a lot when you think about it.” Adam looked over at Vaggie as she wore a confused expression.

“What was the nightmare about?” He side eyed her trying to see if she was just fucking with him but when her facial expression stayed the same he sighed.

“It was about…Eden, it was me and Eve she had just given me the apple than the sky went dark but instead of ya know the angels and shit that were supposed to come down it was Lucifer and that brat with Lilith he said something I couldn’t really understand before the area changed around me..” Adam looked down at his hands before closing his eyes, not wanting to look at the ugly things. “Then in front of me were my son’s Cain and Abel and what happened next, I’m sure you know.”

Vaggie frowned as she noticed how reserved Adam seemed when it came to talking about his kids. She knew he had some and what happened to them, but she never really pressed further, considering at the time it would have been bizarre to talk to the man about his kids while he was her boss. 

“Then get this after I watched it happen, Lucifer was in my ear saying that everything was my fault.” Adam had said more than he planned to tell her already, and he knew that she probably wouldn’t just go away until he finished she was a lot like her girlfriend in that sense. “I mean, when I look back at everything that’s happened since then, he might be right, my son was the first murderer, and it’s my descendants down here maybe I’m still repaying my punishment from then but no one I’ve ever grown close with has stayed with me from quite literally the start I’ve been alone.”

Vaggie was more than a little shocked, she was completely taken aback. Adam was never one to share his emotions, and this was the first time he told a story that didn’t sound like bullshit. “What about Eve? I mean you both had kids together, doesn’t that mean anything?”

Adam scoffed as he looked way to bitter to be talking about Eve, the supposed love of his mortal life. “She didn’t care about me, especially not after what happened to Abel, she didn’t even talk to me properly until Cain was born.” Adam rubbed one of his fingers as he thought back on when he and Eve used to live in the same house, it was always full of silence or arguing, thankfully never in front of their kids. “After what happened in Eden, she had much preferred being down here in hell than on earth with me.”

Vaggie watched his facial expression; she could tell he was hurt, and who wouldn’t be? Being told that your partner would rather be in one of the worst places known to man then be with you has got to be depressing she couldnt imagine if Charlie said she’d rather be somewhere else other then with her, it would tear her up so she can only guess how it had made Adam feel which only made it harder for her to be angry with him. 

“Adam, why don’t you join us in today’s activities? Charlie isn’t going to be there right away, so if you want, it’s an offer.” She felt weird to be throwing a bone to the man who left her for dead in the very same place he was now bound to, talk about karma.

“Um, no thanks those things down there aren’t very fond of me, and I’d rather not have people sighing at me when I enter the room.” Adam rolled his eyes as he looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Look I already talked to everyone about that, after your show today, they feel bad for you.” Adam scoffed again as he leaned back on the bed.

“I don’t need there fucking pity, or your pity, or Charlie’s pity, or anyone’s pity for that matter!” Adam was angrily flailing his arms as his tail thrashed on the bed. “You all didn’t have pity before when you killed me, so don’t have it now.”

Vaggie sighed as she ran her hand down her face for the second time today. “You were trying to kill us, if you remember correctly, also you’re lucky everyone down there is as nice as they are you killed Pentious, or did you forget about that?”

“You mean that snake demon? Good riddance I mean snakes are the worst thing to ever exist, along with those fucking apples.” She looked him over before putting her hands together.

“Look, I’m really trying here Adam Charlie wants to help you, and believe it or not I can kinda see why, but if you want to get back into Heaven, you have to at least try. So if you don’t want to do it simply because you think it’s dumb, do it so you can have a chance to get out of Hell.” 

The room was silent as Adam stared down at the wings that were wrapped around him. It was the same way he usually kept his wings, the only difference being the loss of their glorious gold color. He wanted nothing more than to go back to his home in Heaven he missed Abel, Seth, and Lute It was killing him knowing that he couldn’t just fly up there and demand he be let back in but that would only prove to scare more souls then good so he sighed as he sat forward.

“Ok fine, I’ll do the stupid activity.” Vaggie smiled as she stood up, making Adam feel the need to stand as well.

“Alright, great head back down to the lobby, I’ve gotta stop by me and Charlie’s room for her planner.” She made her way back to the door and opened it before Adam spoke.

“Wait, where is little miss Sunshine and rainbows?”

“She’s trying to figure out what went down between you and her parents” Vaggie was glancing over her shoulder at him noticing the confused look on his face. “I know you don’t believe him and I myself haven’t known him for to long but what I do know is he’s Charlie’s dad and if Charlie came out the way she did than maybe there’s truth in what he said.”

“That doesn’t make any sense Vagina.” She sighed as she walked out of the room.

Chapter Text

When Adam made it to the lobby again, as he figured they would do, everyone turned and looked at him. Uncomfortable wasn’t a strong enough word to use for how he felt. He stepped towards the sitting area and sat down on the couch that faced away from the middle of the lobby. When he sat down, he kept his eyes down at his lap. He hated looking at his hands, it only proved to him that he had in fact woken up in Hell, not that he didn’t know that, but he had still held onto hope that this was all just a really long, horrible nightmare. Glancing up, he took a peek at everyone around him since he hadn’t really paid attention to how they looked. Looking at the lanky pink creature to his right, he knew it was Angel Dust, so he quickly looked beside him and saw the girl next to him, she had one eye with strawberry blonde hair and freckles. He didn’t know her name, and he wasn’t even going to ask; he’ll find it out when someone says it eventually. Moving his head again, he didn’t dare look at the deer demon, he might actually get in trouble this time if he started an argument. His eyes landed on the cat demon tending to the bar. The first thing he noticed was his wings, god they needed a brush, do the souls down here not know how to take care of themselves? Wait, his wings weren’t? His eyes shot down to look at them as they were nestled against him. He let out a quiet sigh as he saw that they were still in top shape, which only goes to show what happens when you take care of yourself.

“Alright, I’ve got the planner.” Vaggie walked back into the lobby holding a bright pink and sparkly binder.

Setting it down on the table, the sparkly rainbow stickers on the front and spine were now visible. Adam cringed as he saw how the hotel’s light’s basically reflected off of the damn thing. “So the first activity she has listed down for today is called Secret box.”

“Uh what the fuck is that?” Angel looked up from his phone as he raised an eyebrow.

“It says that everyone is supposed to write down a secret and put it in the box, and they get read out loud without saying anyone’s name.” Adam looked at Vaggie like she was talking in a language that he didn’t understand, which by the way, would never happen since he proudly boasts about knowing every language ever created.

“And just what the hell is that supposed to teach us?” With a growing sense of annoyance towards the activity, Adam settled deeper into the soft embrace of the lobby's couch, his displeasure clear as day.

“It says it’ll show people that they aren’t alone in their struggles.” Vaggie looked at the explanation a little confused, but shrugged her shoulders as she closed the book.

Vaggie motioned for everyone to come circle up, which didn’t really do much to add to the number of people in the sitting area since the only people not there were Husk and Niffty. Husk sat down next to Adam, which surprised him a little, but it also made him distrust the cat immediately. Nifty hurriedly climbed onto the table and sat down as she looked up at Vaggie. She seemed to be jittering, which was weird, and that made him conclude that he still didn’t like her.

“Box.” Vaggie motioned her hands towards Alastor, and as she did, he snapped his fingers. A small box appeared in her hands, and decorating the box in many different directions was the eye of the radio demon’s staff with deer antlers over it. Adam frowned; he definitely hated this more than before.

Setting the box down on the table, she opened the planner and flipped to the back of it, and there were blank small slips of paper. Grabbing them, she began walking around and handing everyone a slip. Upon completing her task, she turned her attention to Alastor, and as she watched him close his eyes, he snapped his fingers, causing a pen to materialize in each person's hand. Adam frowned as he looked over the pen in his hand. He hated that he had to write with something given to him by that thing for lack of better words.

“Alright, everyone gets five minutes starting now.”

Adam looked down at the slip in his hand and just stared at it. He didn’t know what to write. He didn’t want to write something so obvious that people knew it was him, but he also didn’t want to write anything too personal. Pressing the button on the pen, he had begun to write. What he had was more personal than he had hoped, but it was such a common fear that no one would know he wrote it. After the five minutes were up, Vaggie walked around the group holding the box out. When she finally made it to Adam, he folded his slip and hesitantly dropped it into the box. Looking back up at Vaggie, he noticed a small smile on her face that he was sure wasn’t there when she first walked over to him. She walked back to the table and set the box down as the small cyclops woman dropped her own slip inside. She then pushed the box back and forth on the table to shake up the slips. Vaggie reached into the box and was about to pull a slip out.

“Oh, you started the activity already?!” Charlie came rushing from the hotel’s hallways with a very exhausted-looking Lucifer in tow behind her. Adam groaned softly as he looked over at Vaggie, who in turn was looking at him as she shrugged her shoulders.

“Yeah, I was about to start reading the slips.” Vaggie gestured to the box on the table, Charlie clapped her hands together, smiling.

“Great! Dad, why don’t you do this one too?” Charlie had turned to look at Lucifer, who wasn’t looking too excited to be invited to the activity.

“I don’t know Char-Char, I didn’t think it’d start today.” Adam turned to look at Lucifer, who hadn’t noticed him yet.

“You said you wanted to make it up to-” Charlie had begun to look at the people on the couch, and when she saw Adam a big smile spread across her face. “Adam! You decided to do the activity?”

All eyes were on him again, and he began to wish he had stayed in his room. “Uh, yeah vagasaurous convinced me to give it a try.” Adam had used his thumb to point to Vaggie in a dismissive way.

Charlie turned to her girlfriend and gave her one of her sickly sweet hugs. “Aww, thank you for helping so much Vaggie!”

When they hugged, Adam rolled his eyes and put the pen he held behind his ear. Seeing Lucifer’s brat and his former subordinate mash their bodies together wasn’t on his list of things to see and do in his afterlife. After finally letting go of Vaggie, she turned and looked at her dad, giving him the same puppy dog eyes she had given Adam earlier that day.

“Ok, ok fine, I can’t say no to that face.” Lucifer sighed and smiled as his daughter began to giddily grab a slip of paper and hand it to him.

Vaggie walked up beside Adam and snatched the pen from behind his ear and handed it to Lucifer. Frowning, he looked up at her and was about to say something, but decided to just keep it to himself; he didn’t have the energy to start a fight, even though he seemed ok his mind kept playing that damn nightmare over and over in his head, specifically the Cain and Abel part and it was driving him insane. After Charlie explained what he was supposed to do, he quickly wrote down his answer before slipping the paper into the box. Walking over to the couch, he stood behind Husk and leaned on his cane. The only other clear thought Adam had in his head at the moment was the word weirdo.

“Alright, so the first one says: I like to write fanfic of bad boys.” Everyone, aside from Adam, looked at Niffty. His realization that she was the one who wrote it did not surprise him; her behavior had already confirmed his suspicions about her being as crazy as he thought. 

Charlie reached into the box this time and pulled a slip out. “Alright, this one says: I’m afraid of being alone.” Her face fell as she read the slip she couldn’t really tell who wrote it since it was so vague, but she felt pity for whoever it was.

Adam kept his face as straight as he could manage. He expected his to be near the end, not the second one that was pulled, but you know what they say, just gotta rip the band-aid off. Glancing around at everyone else around him, he felt relieved when he saw no one really seemed to know who wrote it, which was good since that was the whole point of the activity. Looking back towards the front he caught Vaggie looking at him with a sympathetic look on her face which pissed him off of course she’d be the one to know it was him if only he hadn’t ran his mouth so much earlier.

Vaggie reached into the box next and pulled another slip from the box. “Alright, this one says: I’m afraid of not being accepted.” No one could really tell who wrote it, but it managed to make Adam upset, not because he felt bad for these souls, and definitely not because he related to it or anything.

“Alright, three more.” Charlie reached into the box and pulled another slip from it. “I’m afraid of the people I love getting hurt.” Adam, much to his displeasure, could tell who had written that slip.

Anything Lucifer did seemed to piss Adam off, and that one slip of paper did a lot more damage to his mind than good because all it did was prove to him that if that statement was true then Lucifer had never actually cared about him in the slightest. Consumed by a fresh wave of bitter anger, he sat with his tail wrapped around his leg, pushing back against the unwelcome thoughts that flooded his mind. He felt the familiar stinging resurface in his chest, but it wasn’t enough to make a scene about. 

Wiping her eyes, she reached into the box and grabbed the next slip before reading it through her almost comical tears. “I’m afraid of losing control of my life again.” Honestly, it could go for any one of the hotel’s participants since they were all in Hell after all, so as expected, no one really tried to figure out who had written it.

Vaggie reached into the box and pulled the last slip from the box. “I’m afraid of losing my friends.” Adam looked down at the floor after she finished reading it, and an unknown feeling had crept into his body. Glancing up, he noticed that the girl who was sitting beside Angel was glaring daggers at him with her one eye. It was the most unsettling thing he had felt in a while.

“Alright, that’s it for that activity why don’t we move on to something more fun?” Charlie clapped her hands together as she grabbed the planner up off of the table and began flipping through it. Her sudden change in activity was probably a way to change the subject and change the mood.

“Alright, the next thing on today’s to-do list is called Song of my life!” Charlie reached into her binder and pulled out full sheets of paper and began walking around, passing them to everyone. “This is a group activity for everyone to get to know each other.”

Adam inwardly groaned as he grabbed the paper from her, he doubted anyone in this shit hotel had the same music taste as him which also proves to him that no one down here had a good taste in music. When she was done passing the paper out, she stood back by Vaggie. “Alright everyone, you have ten minutes!” Adam looked down at his paper, and that’s when he remembered that he didn’t have a pen.

“Uh, I don’t have a pen, you want me to write stuff down with my mind?” His snarky tone didn’t go unnoticed by everyone around him, and to be frank he really didn’t care what anyone thought about his attitude; he didn’t even want to be here.

“Oh, sorry about that here.” Charlie smiled softly and held out a pen towards him, it was pink with a fluffy red ball at the end of it with silver stars and sparkles.

“Oh come on, don’t you have something else?” Adam twisted and turned the pen in his hand, looking for even a small space where the sparkles hadn’t covered it, but he had no such luck.

“Sorry, I don’t but it’s only for a couple of minutes, can’t you use it?” Charlie looked confused as if she didn’t understand what the problem was, he couldnt write with such a frilly looking pen he was fucking Adam! His whole personality yelled rock and roll, and this pen definitely wasn’t yelling rock and roll.

Sighing, he rolled his eyes and turned his head back down to his sheet of paper. As he wrote, he began to notice that all of the music artists he liked were more from the current era, which he didn’t really pay any attention to. Speaking of rock, where the hell was his guitar? He wanted to play it so bad he felt like an addict suffering from withdrawals. Back in heaven, there wasn’t a day he didn’t strum on it. Finding himself unable to communicate with others, the first man turned to his guitar for comfort. Adam was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed that the ten minutes were up until Charlie was standing in front of him asking for her pen back. Once he handed it to her, she walked back to the front.

“Alright, I’d like to hear what everyone has.” Charlie began scanning the area, and her eyes instantly landed on Adam. He could feel the way her eyes burned a hole into his face with her gaze and knew what her next words would be. “Adam, why don’t you go first?”

He groaned as everyone turned to look at him, which he noticed included the girl who had been glaring at him like that earlier. “Ok so I doubt any of you know these songs since I’m sure none of you have as good of a music taste as me.” 

Vaggie groaned as she massaged her head everyone else seemed to have largely the same reaction, which confused Adam since he had told the truth in his opinion. “Ok, so for number one, I’ve got Riot by a fucking amazing group called Three Days Grace and then for the second I have Awake and Alive by this fire fucking band named Skillet than I got Already Over by a band called red than for the fourth I’ve got Bohemian Rhapsody by the group Queen then-” Adam’s non stop spiel was interrupted as Angel put his hand in the air.

“Uh, yes, Angel?” Everyone turned to face Angel, Adam included. He hated being interrupted, so he could already tell he wouldn’t like the spider demon very much. 

“Isn’t that gay guy uh…Fred Mercury sing for that band?” Instead of being upset about him pronouncing the man's name wrong, he was more shocked that he knew the band.

“It’s Freddie Mercury, and I’m surprised you know him, it’s not just because he’s gay that you know him, right?” Adam frowned; he didn’t like that some people in heaven only knew he was gay.

Angel let out a small chuckle. “At first, but then I listened to the guy’s music, it isn’t half bad.”

“Thank fuck, you know some of those assholes back home only knew who he was because he was gay they never even gave the music a shot.” Charlie smiled softly as she looked back at Adam.

“Yeah, well, a lot of humans thought that being gay gets you a one-way ticket to Hell soo...” Vaggie said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Yeah I know and it was the dumbest shit humanity could have come up with.” Adam rolled his eyes as he looked back down at the paper in his hand.

“Wait, aren’t you like a homophobic prick?” A confused expression was on Vaggie's face as she looked at him, her arms folded defensively across her chest.

“Uh, no? Do you know how many of the girls in my army are Lesbian? I talked to at least four of them, and they all were lady-exclusive.” He was confused by her question, she used to work with him; how could she not know?

“Then what was with your lap dog calling our love blasphemous?” Charlie looked at Vaggie confused, she hadn’t heard anything about that before.

“As in the love between an angel and a demon, not two girls, Lute is literally the most gayest person I’ve ever met in fact, she used to like you,” Adam said, putting the paper he held into his pocket.

“W-What? But she never acted like it?” Vaggie looked between herself and Charlie as if asking for confirmation that she had seen everything that happened between the two.

“When you were still an exorcist, she liked you. After everything else happened, she tried to act like she didn’t, but I know she still did for some time.” Adam apologized to Lute in his head, she would definitely kill him when they met again.

“You weren’t trying to like get with any of the exorcist, were you?” Angel raised his hand again, causing Adam to twist his face in disgust.

“Hell no? I see the girls as well, my girls or more so, like I see them as my daughters. Plus all of the girls are kinda crazy I don’t know if you could tell, and you are never supposed to stick your dick in crazy.” Vaggie groaned as her hand slid down her face. Angel laughed as he set his phone down on his lap. “I made them, ya know?”

Charlie’s eyes lit up as she looked at Adam, and everyone else besides Vaggie seemed interested. “Really?! So does that mean you made Vaggie too?!”

Adam smirked as he saw how exasperated Vaggie was becoming. “Yup, I sure did, still can’t believe you didn’t like the name.”

“Who would want a name like that?” Vaggie arched one of her eyebrows, looking at Adam like she was holding a grudge against him for her name.

“I literally named you after one of the best fucking things in the world! Who wouldn’t want a name like that?”

“Anyone with half a brain,” Vaggie rolled her eye before staring at the first man unimpressed.

“I think the name is fucking amazing” Angel smirked as he looked towards Vaggie, Adam threw his hands up, finally someone who understood his genius.

“See the porn star gets it”

She rolled her eyes as he had basically proven her point. Adam sat back down on the couch and leaned back into it. “Do you have any more songs?” Charlie asked, clasping her hands together as she smiled at him.

“I had a couple more, but they're from the same groups.” Adam shrugged his shoulders as Husk turned and looked at him.

“What are those two bands that you named Griddle and Blue?”

Adam couldn’t tell if the cat demon had said that to piss him off or if he really had forgotten the bands names. “Not their names, it’s Skillet and Red”

“Yeah, aren’t those christian rock bands?” Adam smiled widely as his sharp teeth were visible.

“You bet your ass they are, and just cause there christian doesn’t mean that the tunes are all preachy and shit.” 

“Weren’t you an Angel? Can’t you get in trouble for talking like that about them?” Charlie asked, looking between him and Lucifer.

Adam hadn’t ever gotten in trouble for his shit talking and the criticisms of heaven, either they didn’t really care about what he had to say which he couldn’t have been more grateful for it. Or the thousands of complaints he had written went straight to the garbage. “Yeah but I didn’t hang with anybody but danger tits really so no one really said anything, I mean even if I did nobody would have said shit to me, I was basically protecting everyone there.” 

“Wait, are you telling me you’ve never had other friends before?” Adam glared at the princess, only to be met with a genuine sad expression.

“Hey I had fucking friends, but they were to fucking lame to be around.” He wasn’t about to admit to her being right, but he also didn’t care what they thought; the conflicting thoughts only made him more irritated.

“So, have you had slumber parties?” With her hands clasped tightly together, her giddy demeanor was more than he could comfortably accept.

“Lute used to spend the night, but that’s it, maybe a couple songs and snacks but that’s it.” 

Charlie’s mouth spread into a huge grin as she began jumping around. After a few more seconds, she grabbed Vaggie by her shoulders and shook her before letting her go and facing Adam, speaking so fast that the words almost blurred together in his mind.

“How about we all have a sleepover here in the lobby?!” Adam frowned as he scooted forward on the couch, about to stand and just leave.

“Hell yeah! Sounds fucking fun.” Angel said, grinning as he grabbed Cherri’s arm. “Come on Cherri, I know you’ll like it ya know whenever it’s me and you there’ll be a party.”

“Oh, I don’t think that-”

“Fuck yeah you know I’m down to clown with you Angie! As long as the cat gets the drinks.” Cherri cackled as she and Angel turned to Husk who's only response was a defeated sigh.

The first man’s shoulders drooped a little; he didn’t like the freaks and losers here, but he also didn’t want to stay in the hotel any longer than he had to. Maybe this could be some type of new experience which is something that definitely interested him, although his curiosity was always something that seemed to backfire against him, he decided to trust it just one more time, besides, it’s not like he had anything better to do.

“Soooo?” Charlie was now in his face as her big eyes were making him uncomfortable to the point that he actually put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back a bit.

“Alright, I get it. Back the fuck up.”

Chapter Text

Adam was sitting on the bed inside his room racking his brain with a million different things he would rather be doing than having a slumber party with a bunch of fucking demons, It didn’t even make sense how did a conversation about songs turn into a sleepover? To make it worse he didn’t even have any fucking pajamas, it hadn’t even occured to him that even if he wasn’t doing this stupid sleepover that he would have had to sleep in his underwear which he was dying to get another pair of by the way. He really didn’t want to ask any of these god forsaken creatures for anything but he needed some clothes and soap and oh fuck a toothbrush and a brush. Adam leaned over to the dresser beside the bed and opened the drawer, maybe there would be some paper or a pen to write his list of demands on.

“Fuck yes!” Adam said triumphantly as he grabbed the pen and paper, in the corner of the notepad was a small image of an apple if it were split down the middle. “Oh for fucks sake, are you kidding me?”

Adam groaned as he began writing down the multiple personal necessities as well as some recreational things he could use to spruce his room up. After he finished he sat back and reread what he had written, it wasn’t a small list but he wasn’t exactly concerned about how big the list was because it was Lucifer, he could create shit out of thin air it wouldn’t be hard to get the stuff he wanted.  After he finished reading through it, he stood from the bed and walked over to the door, opening it as he sighed, preparing himself to try and find at least one of the Morningstar’s it wasn’t important which one. Turns out he didn’t have to go far since the minute he opened the door, the devil himself was standing in front of it.

“Standing outside my room waiting for me to come out like a stalker, can’t say that isn’t on brand for you.” Lucifer rolled his eyes as he used his cane to point at Adam.

“I just got here myself, thank you very much.” 

Adam crossed his arms as he looked down at the king of Hell eyeing him. He had always been the type to sit there and spy on whatever he and that broad were doing back in the garden, so excuse him if he still thought that way.

“Whatever, what are you here for? If you came just to stare at me, take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

“Can you stop acting like a prick for five minutes? I’m here to actually talk to you.” Lucifer sighed as he set his cane back down on the carpeted floors of the hotel. “Inside, if you don’t mind.”

Adam stared at him for a minute before groaning and stepping to the side. Lucifer walked inside, and Adam closed the door behind him. He leaned against the door and crossed his arms as his tail swayed idly. ‘’What is it that you wanted to talk about so badly?”

“I…I wanted to talk about what happened after Eden.”

Adam felt the hair on the back of his neck stand, why the fuck is that what he wanted to talk about? The first man would much rather be talking about something else, like the large empty garden he could see from his bedroom window. “No fucking way I am not talking about that are you serious right now? It was bad enough that you pretended not to know in front of your kid, now you've come to rub it in my face?”

“I promise I’m not lying, I had no idea what happened to you and Eve back then. I don’t know how to prove it to you, but I swear I didn’t.” He looked desperate, and that was something Adam wasn’t really used to seeing from him. Maybe it was true, maybe he hadn’t known.

“So you expect me to believe that you were just down here with no fucking clue about what was going on? I’m supposed to believe that I was alive for nine hundred and thirty years, and you just never knew what was happening the whole time?”

He knew it sounded insane, but Lucifer needed him to believe him at least a little. During those years, Hell was just beginning, and he and Lilith had a bunch of things to work out with the new domain that they had found themselves in. They had to figure out which sin would rule which ring, they had to come up with ways to feed the sinners that had arrived once humans began to die, and there were a million other things at the time he had to focus on. Sure, Lilith hadn’t told him which was another huge factor in all of this, but he was sure she had her reasons for what she did.

“A promise from you is literally the most useless thing ever.”

He glared at the king of lies; he could tell he wasn’t lying exactly, but there was something he wasn’t telling him. He could tell by the way Luifer couldn’t even seem to look him in the eyes, it was either that or maybe guilt, but he doubted it was something the devil felt often. A look of dejection clouded Lucifer's features as he began to thoughtfully rub the apple that sat atop his cane, his mind seemingly miles away.

“What can I do? I get that you don’t believe me, but is there something I can do to start to make up for it?” Lucifer looked up at Adam and stared into the man's mismatched eyes, making him more uncomfortable than he already was.

“Stop staring at me damn it, what’s with you Morningstar’s and staring.” Adam looked away from him and down at the floor, groaning again. He pushed from the door and stood straight. “You’re damn right I don’t believe you, but since you’re offering here.”

Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed the list he had made and handed it to the shorter man before he looked down at him, frowning as the obnoxiously large hat on his head was basically smacking him in the face. He noticed he had lost some of his height in this form, then when he was an angel and he was not happy about that. Instead of towering over the king of Hell like usual, he was now only a good two feet from towering over him.

“You want this stuff for your room?” 

“What kind of stupid question is that? Of course I want it for this unbearable ass cesspool of red. Speaking of which, you guys should mix up the colors around here.”

The seraphim nodded his head as he set the paper in his pocket, waving his staff over the door way a small puff of sparkling red smoke appeared at the base of the bed, sitting there were the things he asked for from the tooth brush all the way down to a recreational guitar he had asked for not entirely expecting to get it.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about, it seems you do have your uses.” Lucifer rolled his eyes as Adam walked over to the foot of the bed and began to look through the various things. “I didn’t think you’d actually get me a guitar, since ya know I used one against you and your stupid daughter's hotel.”

“Don’t call Charlie stupid, I don’t understand why you always have to be such an asshole, she’s trying to help you remember that?”

Of course, how could he forget? The ever-so-gracious princess of Hell was such a bleeding heart that she brought the man who tried to kill her and her friends back into the hotel with said friends. Adam rolled his eyes as he set the guitar off to the side and picked up the clothes that were folded in a pile next to the multiple band posters he had written down. He began to look through them and frowned when he came across what he guessed were supposed to be his pajamas. Picking up a pair of black shorts he grimaced at how short they were, did the devil want him walking around the hotel and in front of his daughter with his ass out?

“Short’s are you fucking serious?” He looked at Lucifer and frowned as he tossed the piece of clothing at him. “I don’t want any twinkie booty shorts man, give me some longer pants.”

Holding the shorts in his hand, the devil snapped his fingers and the red smoke swirled around the legs of the pants, stretching them longer and longer until it vanished, and in Lucifer’s hands were a pair of black jogging pants. He tossed them onto Adam’s bed before stepping back towards the door.

“Alright, my friend seems we’ve had a good talk. I look forward to our next meeting.” He had his hand on the door knob ready to open it but the man speaking behind him made him stop.

“You aren’t doing that dumbass sleepover that your oh so great daughter is hosting downstairs?”

Lucifer turned to look at him, the expression the man wore wasn’t any different than usual, so it might just be a genuine question instead of an insult at him and his daughter, like he thought would have come from the first man’s mouth.

“Oh no, Charlie didn’t really invite me, I don’t want to intrude on everyone there.”

“But I’m pretty sure she asked all of us, and you never said no, didn’t take you for the type to ditch your own daughter. Oh, wait, you did that even before I got here, didn’t you? Damn man you're a really shitty father ya know that?”

Adam’s snarky comment didn’t elicit the reaction he thought he would receive; instead of arguing with him and saying something just as egregious back, his face fell as his head soon fell as well, startling the first man. “Look what I meant is, she invited everyone including you, I don’t think she would be happy if her weird fucking dad didn’t show up as well when he was clearly there when she asked.”

The king's eyes, searching for even the smallest sign of insincerity in the man who once commanded Heaven's legions, his eyes were lifted to meet Adam's gaze; however, instead of finding any hint of falseness, he was met with an honest expression, which surprised him. It was a little unsettling, but he didn’t say anything to the first man about it.

“Are you trying to be nice?” He asked, unsure as he watched the man’s tail stiffen behind him as he growled a little, a new sound that surprised himself, along with the king.

“No, I just don’t want to hear your frilly little spawn bitching and moaning since I’m the one who has to listen to her later.” Adam stood as he set the pile of clothes onto the bed. “I don’t really care what you do, but since I was a better father than you, let me give you some advice: when you promise your kids something, it’s considered weird when you don’t show up. I know your the king of lies and shit but that’s still fucked even for you.”

Without another word, Lucifer let the sparkly red smoke envelope him, and he disappeared from his spot in front of the door. Adam rolled his eyes as he looked back down at the stuff in front of his bed. He might as well fix his room up after he takes a shower. Grabbing a white shirt from the pile of clothes, and unfolded it, looking at the design.

“Is he doing this to piss me off or what?” On the front of the shirt was the same kind of A that used to adorn the robes he wore whenever he so graciously came down here to murder sinners and walk around heaven in.

Putting the shirt on his shoulder, he grabbed the jogging pants from the bed and walked over to the bathroom, setting them down on the counter. Walking back into the main room, he grabbed the essentials to clean himself and his hair before walking back inside and closing the door. Leaning over to the shower, he turned it on and began to take his clothes off. After getting the shirt off, he looked at himself in the mirror and took a double-take when he saw the multiple red X’s over his chest.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

He turned around and turned his head just enough to check in the mirror, and sure enough, there were multiple red X’s on his back as well. He figured that’s where the little crazy creatine stabbed him the day he died. The hair on his chest stayed in the same place, which he couldn’t thank Heaven enough for, but the place where the marks were was completely free of hair. Groaning, he pulled the rest of his clothes off and stepped into the shower. At first, he let the water run over him before actually using the soap. As he scrubbed his body, the water turned from clear to brown from all of the dirt and blood. After he made sure the water came out clear, he began working on his hair. As he washed his hair, the water came out brown, which didn’t surprise him like it should have, considering his hair had gotten lighter as the dirty water drained.

Once he had finished, the water was turned off, and he stepped out, his hooves making a small, almost musical clicking sound as they contacted the cold, smooth tiles of the floor. Grabbing the towel from the rack beside the toilet, he opened it and put it around his waist before grabbing another and drying his hair with it. Standing in the mirror, he took the time to look over his face and make sure there wasn’t anything on it. His eyes traveled to his horns as he finally had summoned the courage to touch them. He let his hand slide from the base of the horns to the tip of them. Under his hand, he felt ridges, and that was when he decided he had had enough of exploring his new body for one day. After he dried himself off, he put his pajamas on and set the towel down on the back of the toilet. Walking out of the bathroom, he walked over to the bed and grabbed the brush and fixed his hair. After he had died, he began to take care of his hair, brushes were the best thing ever invented; at least one thing his descendants made was useful.

Sitting down on his bed, he finished his hair, then he set the brush down next to him, looking down at his wings, he opened one and placed it on his lap. His wings were a source of immense pride for him, a feature he cherished and admired above all else. In fact, when Charlie had stabbed him with her pitchfork the day of their fight, he had jumped for joy in his head as she missed his wing and hit his shoulder instead, it still hurt like a bitch but he was just as happy his wings had come out unscathed aside from the fact that they were now black.

He lightly placed his hands on the wing and began to preen it. Back when he lived in Heaven, Lute or one of the girls would do it for him since it was harder to do it on his own than with help. But there was no way he was going to ask anyone to help him down here. Lucifer and Vaggie had wings, sure, but he wouldn’t allow himself to ask them; it stood against everything he even stood for in the first place. Although simply being in Hell was against his very existence, he chose not to think about it. As he preened his wings to the best of his ability, he noticed that the golden claws on his fingers helped better than he had expected; it didn’t hurt since he wasn’t a very heavy-handed preener, though if you asked Lute, he didn’t know how to properly preen because of that, but he hadn’t payed attention to his second in command because her wings weren’t as high maintenance as his were. When Adam was in Heaven, his status as an Archangel wasn’t something to scoff at. It confused him when they had made him one, but he choked it up to him being the first man as the reason, but his wings were the way they were because of his status of course he wasn’t as high as a seraphim but he wished he could have at least gotten Emily to pull one of her stupid angelic magic tricks so he could see what he looked like with wings like hers or Sera’s.

Upon completion, he surveyed his wings; they weren't perfect, not quite what he'd hoped for in the end, but they were certainly better than no wings at all, he decided. When he was in Heaven, he made sure to take care of them at least three times a week. Most winners who had seen how he took care of his wings thought it was excessive, but those low-level angels wouldn’t know how to take care of them, even if God himself had told them. Standing from the bed, he stretched his wings behind himself and turned to glance out of his bedroom window. The hellish sun had begun to go down, and the sky’s vibrant red had become crimson with pink on the horizon. He had spent more time on his wings than he had planned. Walking over to the foot of his bed, he grabbed the guitar and set it down by the standing closet. Turning back around to the bed, he grabs the clothes from it and places them inside the closet. Looking at the posters for the bands rolled up on the floor, he picked them up and set them on the bed. He decided he’d put them up tomorrow.

Adam leaned down to grab a small box with tape inside it. Once it was in his hand, there was a knock at the bedroom door. He groaned under his breath as he walked up to the door and opened it. On the other side was Vaggie, she was in a white dress that stopped just above her knees, the straps on her shoulders were skinny and black.

“What? I haven’t done anything.” Vaggie rolled her eye as she sighed and peeked behind him.

“Charlie told me to come and get you.” It was then Vaggie seemed to notice the pajamas he was wearing, frowning as her eyes landed on the A on the shirt. “You really think that shirt will win you any brownie points with anyone downstairs?”

“I’m not after brownie points bitch, besides Lucifer was the one who gave it to me so if you want to shit on anyone let it be him.”

“Whatever, grab a pillow and blanket.” She leaned against the door, waiting for him to move, but he hadn’t yet.

“Why are you going along with this?”

Adam didn’t get it. He knew Vaggie hated him but she was just willingly going along with this stupid sleepover. It didn't make any sense. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean this.” Adam gestured his hands at himself before gesturing to the hallway behind her. “And that? I know you don’t like me and I know you definitely don’t want me here so why are you just going along with it? Why not just kill me and finish the job?”

“God I don’t know how many times I have told you this, but I believe in Charlie’s cause ok, and I’ll stick by her whenever and if she ever decides to close the hotel doors.”

“You sure seem loyal to that naive bimbo, what if she turns on you one day?” 

“Not everyone is like you Adam! And Charlie isn’t naive or a bimbo! She’s been trying so hard to try and redeem sinners, and you just shit on it! In case you forgot her and the hotel are the only chance you have at getting back into Heaven!” Vaggie was seething; she stepped forward a bit, pointing her finger at him, almost poking him.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?! What the fuck is wrong with me?!”

“Ok lets see for one you left me to die after that crazy bitch took my eye, my halo, and let's not forget my wings! Two you attacked Charlie and the hotel even though it was specifically against the contract you signed with Lucifer-”

“Lute isn’t a bitch! She’s my right hand, and I hadn’t known what she did until after I had already seen you. Besides, it was my job to protect winners. What would I look like bringing back someone who spared a filthy demon?”

“It was a kid Adam! You can't seriously say you believed that me sparing a child was going to cause problems in Heaven!”

“Who’s to say it wouldn’t? I don’t understand how everyone can just sit here and act like what I had been doing was any different than what the fuck was going on down here! Sinners kill each other all the time but when I do it all of a sudden it’s fucking wrong?!”

“Do you not hear yourself? Nothing you were doing was any different than what was going on down here, and somehow you were in Heaven? Don’t you think that’s weird? In my opinion you should have been a sinner when you died the first time.”

Adam was livid he was staring at Vaggie with a murderous glare, on guard she summons her spear and holds it out putting distance between the two. “You shut your whore mouth! You don’t know shit about me! You have no damn right to say that to me! I fucking made you, you ungrateful cunt! You should have been in Heaven with me and Lute you should have stayed loyal to me! Not Lucifer’s airhead daughter!”

Adam stepped out into the hallway as his angry spiel continued to spill from his mouth, at some point while he was getting his bitter feelings out his mind had fogged up he didn’t even know what he was saying to the former exorcist anymore. He was yelling just to yell and it was to some extent making him feel a bit better about his situation however fucked that may be he didn’t have time to think about it right now.

“God, you’re such a fucking hypocrite! You’re whining and complaining about being down here like it’s so strange it happened to you! Like you're some kind of revered god! Wake the fuck up Adam you’re human just like every other sinner down here you aren’t special!”

Adam angrily stepped towards Vaggie and reached out towards her, he wasn’t going to hit her but he wanted her to put that stupid spear down. If a fight broke out between the two it’d be unfair if she had a weapon and he didn’t, his hand had gotten within range of the spear before he was suddenly being restrained.

“What the fuck?!” Adam began to thrash around in whatever was holding him. Calming himself down enough he took a look at what had him restrained and what do you know it was fucking pitch black tentacles, Immediatly the first man knew who it was and that only caused his anger to double.

“ Now, now calm down Adam. My job is to keep this hotel in tip-top shape and protect its residents! I am simply doing my job. ” His voice was heard before he made himself known coming out of a shadow of the floor.

Vaggie clenched her spear tightly as the radio demon was now standing next to her. She looked at Adam before noticing that they weren’t the only people in the hallway anymore. Standing a little ways behind Alastor was Charlie. When she deemed it safe enough, she ran over to Vaggie and grabbed her shoulders, a panicked look over her face as she spoke quickly.

“Vaggie holy shit what happened?! Why were you and Adam yelling in the hallway?! He didn’t try to hurt you did he?!” Before she obnoxiously resumed checking Vaggie over, Adam received a swift, sharp glare from her.

“Babe, calm down, nothing happened. We got into an argument, he still doesn’t seem to understand why he’s down here.” She shot Adam a glare as well, which threw him completely over the edge. Who was she to look at him like that? Like he was trash?

“Fuck you! I shouldn’t be down here! I had a job, a life, a purpose! Now I’m down here and i’m forced to do fucking group therapy activites and a dumb fucking sleepover?! If this is how you planned to get sinners into Heaven then it’s a dumb fucking plan and it will never work!”

Charlie had stepped a bit towards the restrained man as she fiddled with her fingers. “Well, no, this isn’t something I usually do, but I was trying to help you, since you don’t have any friends, I thought that-”

“Shut the fuck up! I don’t want or need pity from you! I bet you and that asshole are just eating this shit up!” As Adam's yelling echoed from the upstairs to the lobby, more and more people started to fill the hallways, their curiosity piqued by the commotion.

“Wait I, I wasn’t trying to say I pity you. I just wanted to help you feel better, I thought that since you agreed to it that you were starting to warm up to everyone.”

“Must be nice living in that tiny bubble you live in where everything works out if you care enough! Wake the fuck up babe Heaven doesn’t give a shit about your little hotel because if they did than you would have won that stupid fucking trial! And just what made you think that I would ever warm up to these fucking bottom feeders!” 

Charlie frowned as she looked Adam in the eyes, her own never changed but they never left his. “Why are you so angry? You were like this even when I met you at the embassy.”

The first man was almost stunned by her stupidity, he had told her and everyone else accidentally earlier that day about why he was so fucking angry. “Because this isn’t right! I shouldn’t have fucking horns! My wings shouldn’t be fucking black! And I should have fucking feet not these fucking hooves! This shouldn’t exist!” Adam could only gesture to the hotel with his horns.

“What do you mean this shouldn’t exist? Are you talking about the hotel? Because if you are, I’m not going to-”

“No fuck! Hell! Hell shouldn’t exist! You shouldn’t exist! This is fucking ridiculous I should be in Eden! Not here! Everything about this is fucking wrong!” Adam felt like he was talking to a brick wall, no matter what he said, it was like no one understood what he meant.

His attitude was getting him nowhere and the memories of his life before Heaven and his life in Eden were starting to play in his mind at a rapid pace over and over again. He hung his head as he tried to calm himself down, he hadn’t cried since Eden and he sure as Hell wasn’t about to cry in front of all these fucking demons especially since Lucifer’s daughter is one of them. Charlie had stepped closer to him carefully, he had gone quiet and it was starting to become unnerving.

“Adam are you-”

Charlie was cut off when she looked at his face and saw tears sliding down his grey cheeks. Charlie began to think that everyone calling her a bleeding heart must have been correct because as soon as she saw the first man's tears her heart broke in two. She stepped into his personal space and wrapped her arms around him, as she did Alastor’s shadows placed the man on the floor of the hotel hallway. Adam couldn’t stop his tears, he had tried to push Charlie away but her grip was so tight she would be choking him if her hands were around his neck which he would much prefer than the hugging right now.

“Fuck, get off me.” His weak protest was met with Charlie squeezing him tighter.

“I’m sorry Adam.” The first man was confused as he gave up trying to push her away and just let her rest her head on his shoulder as he felt something wet fall on his shirt.

“No way you’re crying right now.” It was almost funny how easily she seemed to cry. He hated how it reminded him of who he used to be in Eden. Sighing he put his hand on Charlie’s back and rubbed it, which not only shocked himself but everyone else that were standing behind the radio demon. “Besides…You got nothing to be fucking sorry for.”

“No I do, I never asked you what you wanted. I tried to force my own curriculum on you without even asking if you were comfortable. I know you don’t believe in what the hotel can do but I genuinely do and I want you to as well, I want to get you back into Heaven Adam I really do but you have to at least give it a chance you never know until you try right?” Charlie was now holding Adam by his shoulder as she stared into his eyes with the same determined look he had once seen on Lucifer and Lilith, he hated how comforted it made him feel.

“Ok, I get what you’re saying princess.” Adam sighed as he had finally calmed down enough to stop crying, he wiped his eyes before looking Charlie in the eyes again. “I’ll give it a shot.”

Chapter Text

This was the most embarrassed the first man had ever felt in his entire existence; not only had he failed at keeping his tears to himself, but he let Lucifer’s daughter hug him. He was now sitting down on one of the two couches that were in the lobby of the hotel, everyone had on pajamas, and a mixture of different blankets and pillows were in a pile on the floor next to the TV. Next to him on the couch was the cat demon; he still hadn’t learned any names since earlier, but none of them would wanna talk to him anyway, so it’s not like he needed to know them in a rush. Charlie smiled as she finally pulled herself together she looked over everyone, looking in any other direction but hers, he began to see if he could spot Lucifer anywhere. When he hadn’t spotted him, he turned back towards Charlie, and she looked like she was looking for something or someone as well, her hands were clasped together over her chest as she looked towards the hotel's main hallway. It was truly a pitiful sight maybe his words from earlier had gotten to the devil, though he highly doubted that. Seeing Charlie look around like a lost child at the mall made him feel bad for her which was extremely weird considering he didn’t give a shit about her feelings, he sighed as the group all stared at the princess as she hopefully looked towards the hallways. This was way too pitiful to just sit back and watch.

“So, princess, what kinda activities you got for the sleepover?” Adam had cleared his throat before speaking, drawing everyone’s attention to himself. “I mean, there are activities, right? Can’t be a slumber party without any.”

Her eyes snapped forward as she seemed to break herself from a trance. She forced a smile as she looked at Adam. “Of course, I’ve got a lot of activities for us to do!” Clapping her hands together, the pink sparkly binder from earlier had appeared out of thin air. When she separated her hands, she caught the book as it fell and began flipping through the pages. When she found what she was looking for, she grabbed a piece of paper. “Alright, so our first fun activity is going to be Uno! I heard it's a really popular game among humans on earth.”

“Charlie, I’m not sure ya want us playing that,” Angel said, snickering as he elbowed Cherri.

“What? Why not?” She looked back down at the paper in her hand, second-guessing herself already. “Is the game something bad?”

“No, unless you count ruining friendships as something bad.” Cherri snickered as she looked at Charlie’s horrified face. Vaggie placed her hand on her girlfriend's shoulder.

“Calm down hon, they aren’t serious the game can lead to arguments, but it’s nothing to be scared of.” 

“Really? Have you played it before?” Charlie gleefully jumped up and down, causing her partner's face to turn an incredibly red color, which shouldn’t even be possible considering she was just as desaturated as the first man.

“Of course she’s played it! We used to use it to decide who would pay for lunch!” Adam smirked as he looked at Vaggie, who was now glaring at him like he had said something wrong.

“Oh really? Who would win?” Angel looked over to Adam, one of his freakishly long legs crossed over the other as he leaned back into the couch across from him.

“Who else? Me of course I’m the Uno fucking master, I’ve never lost a game.” Adam crossed his arms over his chest as he turned his nose up.

“I’m calling bullshit.” 

The sudden voice caught him off guard, as the person walking inside the lobby couldn’t have been who he thought it was. “Dad! You made it!” Charlie practically ran to her father as she looked over his clothes, giggling a bit.

“Is that a fucking duck onesie?” As Adam looked at the fluffy yellow onesie, a brief memory of its first appearance surfaced, prompting him to shake his head and then continue what he was saying. “And what do you mean you call bullshit? I’ll have you know that not a single girl in my army could beat me.”

Lucifer patted his daughter’s arm as they made their way to the seating area. Adam watched as the devil walked over to the armchair next to the couch he sat on and sat down, leaning the staff he constantly carried like some evil genius against the side of it. 

“I call bullshit, I bet I could beat you,” Lucifer smirked as he put his head in his hands as he rested it on the arm of the chair.

“Have you played it before Dad?” Charlie looked at her father like he had been keeping some type of jaw-dropping secret.

“I mean no I haven’t, but if Adam can win, then I know it’ll be a breeze for me.” Adam glared at Lucifer at the jab at his intelligence.

“Hey believe it or not I’m not fucking dumb, and I have ears so I can hear you shit talking me.” Lucifer laughed lightly as his jab had the desired outcome, snapping his fingers, a new pack of Uno cards appeared in his hands.

 “How about a game between you and me?”

Adam thought for a second before shaking his head. “I’m not dumb enough for that, you would cheat.” Lucifer put his left hand in the air as he spoke. 

“Left hand to my creator, I won’t cheat.” The irony of Lucifer putting his left hand to god as the literal devil wasn’t as lost on him as the devil thought it was.

“You know that makes you like one hundred percent more untrustworthy, right?”

“So what I’m hearing is that before I said that, you trusted me to some extent.” Adam groaned as he flipped him off.

“Uh fuck you, you know that isn’t what the hell I meant, and besides I play for prizes. So you can forget it.”

“How about a prize then? The winner can ask the loser for anything they want.” 

Adam smirked as he snatched the box of cards from the king’s hands. “Now you’re speaking my language.” Lucifer raised his finger in the air, about to speak. “If you say that you speak every language I will punch you in your damn face.”

Lucifer put his finger back down, huffing a small breath before snapping them. With a puff of obnoxious red smoke, a table was now in the middle of the lobby with multiple chairs around it. Walking over to the chair, Adam could now see that on the tabletop, there was red fabric over it like a dealer's table in a casino. Rolling his eyes, he sat down at the table, and everyone else followed behind him and took their seats at the table.

“What the hell is up with this table?”

“Well, I thought since we have an experienced dealer here, why not set the mood since we are playing for keeps here.”

The first man noticed the smug tone in his voice, however, this did not faze him in the slightest. He was the undefeated Uno champ for a reason, and besides even if the devil tried to cheat by putting the cards up his ass or something he was a vigilant person so he wouldn’t actually get away with it.

“I hate to admit it, but you might actually lose.” Vaggie sat down next to Lucifer, and across from her was Charlie, who sat next to Adam for some unknown reason. “He lies about a lot of things, this isn’t one of them; he even saw through the girls who would cheat.”

“Fuck you, you’re just bitter that I always saw through you’re cheating specifically since you’re so damn bad at lying.” Charlie looked over at Vaggie, shocked as she put her hand on the table, Vaggie placed her hand on top of hers.

“Only because whenever he won against us he would order a bunch of fucking food, it was so damn annoying.” Adam scoffed as he opened the cards and shook them out of the box.

“I did not order that fucking much, you’re just being dramatic.” Adam handed the cards to Charlie, pointing at the cat demon. Charlie looked between the cards and Husk before nodding her head and handing them to him.

“One time he ordered a rack of ribs to eat at the restaurant, then ordered another one to take home at the same time, he ordered a large drink, and then with that other order of ribs he got another drink.” Vaggie grimaced at the memory.

“Oh yeah, when I met you at the embassy that day, you were eating a whole rack of ribs.” Charlie tapped her finger on her chin like she was trying to remember something from a thousand years ago instead of a couple of months ago.

“Ok, not loving the fact that you two are tag-teaming me here.” Adam crossed his arms over his chest as Husk stood from his seat. 

The cat demon walked to the head of the table, shuffling the cards as he explained the rules of the game to the king. The explanation was initially confusing for him, presenting some obstacles; however, his status as the king of Hell meant that there was nothing he couldn’t achieve. Once he had completed his rundown of the game, he dealt five cards to each of Adam and Lucifer before placing the remaining cards onto the table. 

Flipping them over, Adam looked at his cards, and Lucifer turned his cards over as well and began looking over them. Smirking, he looked back up at Adam. “Your ass is grass.”

“That’s such an old saying, you make me feel younger, well, I mean I guess I am technically younger than you.” The first man commented as he grabbed a card from the spare card deck and flipped it over, laying it on the table. The card was a green three.

“Alright, give me a quarter.” Lucifer looked up at him from his card’s an eyebrow raising slightly at the demand.

“A little early for you to be asking for a prize that might not even be yours.” Adam groaned as he looked over at Vaggie. She reached into her pocket and handed a coin to him.

“I wasn’t asking for money idiot, it’s to decide who goes first, and fuck you I am gonna win like I said I’m undefeated.” Adam put his thumb underneath his pointer and placed the coin on top. “Heads and I go first, tails, you go first.” 

Adam flipped the coin, and it launched into the air. It went higher than he thought it would. He didn’t feel like he was being particularly aggressive, so the height was a little weird. He’d have to investigate that properly later. Once he caught the coin, he put it on the back of his other hand and closed his eyes for a second, silently praying that it would reveal to be heads. Pulling his hand away, he looked at it.

“Bitchin!” Adam exclaimed excitedly as he held his hand out towards the devil, the coin had indeed landed on head; either god had somehow heard his prayer, or he was just incredibly lucky.

“Damn it, alright hurry up.” Lucifer sat back in his chair as he held his cards. Vaggie, beside him, peeked at his cards and actually began to smirk.

Adam felt his brow twitch, something about the former exorcist leaning so close to the devil was pissing him off. While he couldn’t explain why he felt so weird seeing them so close, he decided that the only way to get revenge was to do the exact same thing to Charlie. Looking over at her, he motioned with his hand of cards towards her. She looked a little confused at first, but soon realized what he meant. Charlie scooted closer and leaned over, and took a look at his cards. As she did, Adam glanced slightly at the pair across from him and to his absolute delight, both Vaggie and Lucifer were glaring at him. As he turned back to face Charlie, a subtle smirk played on his lips; her upward gaze and beaming smile conveyed an almost manic level of excitement.

“Thank you for showing me your cards Adam. That was a nice thing to do.” Adam frowned as he groaned.

“Oh my god, don’t make this any weirder than it already is.” Charlie nodded as she straightened herself in her chair, not making a move to scoot back to where she had been before. Her constant foot tapping under the table betrayed her efforts to appear calm.

Adam looked through the cards in his hand. He picked up a blue three and set it over the green, and looked over at Lucifer. The devil was looking through his cards for a minute before sighing and grabbing a card from the extra pile on the table. Adam chuckled if he was already pulling extra cards, then he already had this game in the bag. With his knowledge and experience, the former general was cautious not to underestimate the devil, though, and thus he diligently kept a record of all the actions taken during their game of Uno. Turns out Lucifer was a lot better than the first man thought he would be as a beginner. Throughout the game, the two were constantly hitting each other with color changes and pulling cards. The game of Uno ended up going for way longer than the first man thought it would; everyone else had begun to really get into the game, placing bets on who would win. 

“Not so bad for a beginner.” Adam placed a reverse card over the current card before placing a draw four card on top. “But still you aren’t gonna win.”

The devil groaned as he grabbed four extra cards from the spare deck that at that point had been reshuffled from the already played cards twice. Adam quickly placed down his own number card before looking back at the devil. Looking through his cards, he placed a reverse card before placing a skip, then putting a change color on top, then putting a blue three. Now finished with his combo, he looked up at Adam smirking. He was now down to three cards in his hand. Adam looked down at his own hand. He had three cards left as well, only one of which could help him right now. He was now stuck looking between the cards on the table already played, the cards in a pile next to them, and the cards in Lucifer’s hand. Sighing, he began to reach for another card, but before he could, he felt a tap on his leg under the table. Looking in front of him, Vaggie and Lucifer were talking, so it couldn’t have been one of them. He looked next to him and saw Charlie looking at him.

“What?” Charlie looked at her father and Vaggie before placing a color-changing card on his leg. Shocked, he looked down at the card before narrowing his eyes at her. “Is this some kind of trick?”

“No, I just thought that maybe I could help.” She was smiling, but she was also fiddling with her fingers. Clearly, she wasn’t used to doing something so insanely crazy like cheating in a Uno game. 

“But why me? Why not give this to your dear ol daddy?” He grabbed the card, his hand still under the table as he looked it over to make sure it wasn’t a trap.

“Well, you were nice enough to let me see your cards earlier, so I thought that I would do something nice for you.” 

“So you help me by cheating to win against your dad?” The smirk that graced his face was almost immediate, he got a kick out of the man's daughter helping the very person who tried to kill her and her friends in an Uno game against her own dad. It may or may not have been the most ironic thing he’d ever seen in his long lifespan. “I can’t wait to rub this shit in his face.”

Adam grabbed the card and slid it into his other hand discreetly while pulling out one of his number cards and placing it in his pocket. Looking back at the game, he put down the card and gave the devil a smug look. “The color is green.” He then put down a green skip, and right after, he put down a green six, looking as smug as ever. “Uno out.”

Vaggie and Lucifer turned to look at Adam, they both held a look of disgust on their face as they watched him stand up and laugh as he walked over to the same side as both of them. “Looks like I won again, I knew you couldn’t-” The first man came to a stop as he stood behind the devil’s chair, in his lap were Uno cards of all kinds, it looked like it was a new set actually. “I fucking knew you would cheat!”

Adam grabbed the devil’s chair and pulled it out. Once he did, the cards fell off his lap and onto the floor. He leaned down and grabbed the half-empty box, and tossed it onto the table, he stared down at the two in front of him.

“I’m not surprised Vagina would do something like this, but you put your hand to big G. Which I mean in hindsight meant nothing but I am flattered that you felt the need to cheat against me.” Adam laughed again as he watched the two fallen angels in front of him rolling their eyes and groaning.

“Whatever, it’s not a big deal, like you said, I’m the devil, it’s normal for me to do stuff like this, don’t let it get to your head.” Lucifer snapped his fingers, and the cards that were on the floor were now back in the box on the table. “What do you want for your prize?”

“Wow, didn’t think you’d actually give me a prize.”

“Do you want it or not? I can always take my offer back.”

“Fuck you of course I want it.” Adam placed his clawed hand on his chin as he thought for a moment, then his face lit up. “I want control over this place’s garden.”

The request perplexed everyone who heard it, the garden was a new addition to the hotel after it had been rebuilt. No one knew what to do with it really, since no one at the hotel knew how to take care of plants. Even so, they hadn’t thought that he would ask to take control over it.

“Do you even know how Hell plants even work?” The one-eyed angel asked, placing her head in her hands as she leaned on the table.

“Um, ever heard of earth plants?” He looked down at Lucifer as he pointed at him. “This asshole can get me some plants from earth, I don’t wanna take care of stupid Hell plants.”

“The soil here will kill plants from earth, genius.” Lucifer stood and snapped his fingers, and a portal to the garden opened.

Charlie stood excitedly as she ran to stand beside her dad, grabbing Vaggie’s hand, she pulled her to her feet, her death grip tight. Lucifer walked through the portal, followed by his daughter and her girlfriend. Looking back through the portal at Adam, he raised an eyebrow. “You gonna walk through or what?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” Adam didn’t want to walk through a portal created by the devil. He hoped this new form would somehow help with the sickness he often felt after walking through one. 

He stepped cautiously through the portal and stood on the other side, looking around a bit. He sighed happily as he realized this new form had stopped- Adam covered his mouth as he leaned away from the portal and threw up. Groaning, he dry heaved, gripping the soil underneath his fingers, which felt hotter than the soil he was used to. Lucifer wasn’t kidding; something like this would definitely have killed earth plants. Standing again, he wiped his mouth with his arm and sluggishly began to catch up with the other three. Looking around, he could see how big the garden truly was, it looked big enough to fit another one of these dumb hotels.

“Why did you make this garden so fucking big if you weren’t gonna use it?” Adam kept looking around the garden, already mapping in his head what would go where and where he would have flower beds. “I mean, I know it’s only been a couple of days since the hotel was trashed, but you had to have had something planned for it.”

“I was originally going to just magic some plants up, but since you want it, you can do whatever you want with it.” Lucifer had motioned towards the empty area in front of them. “Ya know I’m a little shocked you wanted the garden considering…”

The first man knew what he had been getting at, and he would be lying if he said that wasn’t what he wanted the garden for, but since he couldn’t even get earth plants, that plan was down the metaphorical drain. “Ok, one, kill yourself for bringing that up, and two, I wanted the garden because I like to work with this kind of thing, it’s in my blood. You of all people should know that.”

“You know you don’t have to take care of the garden just because heaven made you back in Eden. You can do whatever you want now.” Charlie was standing next to her dad frowning softly, almost pitifully.

“I know that damn it, I just like to  even if it’s something they made me do back then.” The way he had kept his cool at the question shocked both himself and the other two standing beside the princess.

Charlie’s frown had turned into a smile as she jumped up and down and launched herself at Adam again, giving him a hug, groaning. He patted her back a couple of times before pulling her off of him. “Enough with that hugging crap.”

The devil and Vaggie’s jaws were slack. Did Adam just let Charlie hug him? They knew she had hugged him earlier, but he had been crying and upset, so they hadn’t even really thought about it. But right now? When he wasn’t crying or upset and looking completely normal, he let her hug him, and he even reciprocated. It was weird, he had to be planning something.

The princess was happy, even after she stopped hugging him. “So what do you plan to do to the garden?”

“Why are you asking? I won’t destroy it if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Charlie looked at him confused as she raised an eyebrow, which made her look a hell of a lot like her father. “No? I’m just curious about what you’re gonna do for it. I’m sure whatever you do, the garden is gonna turn out great!”

Adam placed his hand on his chest as he felt his cheeks warm a little. He wasn’t used to people actually being interested in his hobbies, well, besides Lute, but she was only ever interested in the music part, not the plant part, which arguably he liked his plants way more than the music.

“Oh, well I thought about putting some flower beds over there and then over there I was going to have a vegetable patch for whatever constitutes as fucking vegetables down here.” Adam and Charlie had begun to walk around the empty lot of soil as he rambled on.

Vaggie turned to look at Lucifer as she spoke skeptically. “What do you think his plan is?”

“I don’t know, I've never really seen him this cooperative before.” The king looked at the first man and his daughter before turning back to her.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something bright and colorful by the portal on the ground. Walking over, he noticed that they were a patch of flowers. Red, yellow, and white flowers were bundled together. Kneeling down, he touched a petal before being hit with an obnoxious smell, he covered his nose as he stood and stepped back. Just as he stood again Adam, Charlie, and Vaggie had walked back over to the portal.

“Why are you leaning down over where I threw up?” Lucifer turned to look at Adam a shocked confusion spread across his face. 

“You threw up right there?”

“That’s what I just said, isn’t it?”

“Why, what’s wrong Dad?” Charlie tilted her head to the side a little as she questioned him.

He didn’t say anything as he stepped to the side. When Adam’s eyes landed on the small bundle of plants, he looked back at Lucifer. “I thought you said earth plants couldn’t grow in this soil?”

“These are earth plants?” Charlie knelt down next to the flowers and touched the white flower. “What are they called?”

Adam knelt next to her as he looked over the plants. “That one is called a Poppy flower, there’s no scent to it.” Adam moved his finger from the red flower to the yellow one. “These are called Black-Eyed Susan’s, weird name I know, but that’s just what it’s called. These don’t smell either, they're used more for how bright they are.” Moving his finger over to the white flower, he frowned as he bit his lip the other two flowers he had named where just for shits and giggles but this one had a bitter feeling behind it. “And this one is called the White Lily, it’s used for weddings most of the time. They have a floral and citrusy smell.”

Lucifer stepped forward as he looked at the white flowers as if he knew the story behind them, knowing him, though he probably did. “Is that…Is that the flower you named after Lilith?”

Charlie and her girlfriend’s mouths dropped as they looked over at him. He felt his face heat a little at the words like they had been an accusation instead of fact. “You named a plant after Mom?”

“Yeah I did, fuck it was so stupid I don’t know why I did something so dumb.” Adam grabbed the flower and pulled it from the soil. He wanted to crush it and throw it onto the ground and destroy it like how he felt emotionally shortly after he had named that same flower, but he was never the type to take his anger out on unarmed plants, and the look on Charlie’s face told him exactly what to do with it. “Here, take it, it’ll probably die in a couple of days unless you like press it or something.”

Charlie had lightly taped the flower petals in confusion before looking back up at him. “Like that?” Adam ran his hand down his face as he groaned.

“No, pressing is when you get flowers and put something called parchment paper over it and close it in a book.” Adam made the movement of closing a book. “Then after you leave it like that for a bit, the flower will dry out and keep its form this one might lose a little color, but it’ll stay the same besides that.”

“Holy shit you actually know what you’re talking about don’t you?” The former exorcist was genuinely shocked, she thought the only thing the man knew how to do was eat and kill.

“Of course I know what the fuck I’m talking about, you think I would ask for an entire fucking garden if I didn’t?” His eyes wandered back to the flowers before he turned to look at the devil. “Back to what I asked you before, I thought you said earth plants couldn’t grow here?”

Lucifer shook his head, mirroring the same confusion as the first man. “I had tried before, and they died within the first couple of weeks, but these might be a bit more special than normal earth plants.” 

“How is that?” Adam looked back down at the plants, the stems were the same color they usually were, and the petals were the same size and color, so what could be the-than it hit him. “It’s because of my throw up isn’t it?”

The devil snapped his fingers as he looked up at the man. “Correct! I believe this just might be your sinner power!”

Chapter Text

“Ew don’t call it a fucking sinner power” Adam looked back towards the flowers as he tapped his chin in thought. “What even is the power? Magical plant growing throw up? Cause if so, this is useless.”

“It’s probably something with your bodily fluid in general, which makes this a hundred percent weirder.” Lucifer had motioned towards the man with his hands before looking at the flowers as well. “We’ll have to test it.”

Charlie was bouncing beside Adam with another face-splitting smile. She grabbed the man’s arm and spoke, pulling him to the side. “Come on, try spitting or something, see if that’ll work.”

“Alright, alright, let go of me.” Adam freed his arm from the overexcited princess and kneeled down in front of him. Charlie knelt as well. “So I’m gonna spit don’t get to close unless you want spit on you or some other weird shit.”

Charlie nodded her head moving away a bit as she waited for him to act. Adam used his hands and pushed a small pile of the soil to the side before getting enough saliva in his mouth and spit into the small indent in the ground. Using his hand again he pushed the upturned dirt over the small hole, his eyes stayed on the small lump of dirt. 

“Aren’t these powers supposed to be immediate or something?” He turned to look up at Lucifer as he stood beside him, staring down at the lump.

“I’m not really sure since demonic powers are different from angelic powers, but from what I’ve seen over the years, it can vary, especially since you have the uncommon factor of having been an angel first.” Adam rolled his eyes as he flipped off the devil.

Adam turned back to the soil frowning his previous powers allowed him to do anything he wanted the moment he wanted it, these powers were just as useless as the princesses attempt at this redemption shit. He stood ready to leave, but he froze in his tracks when the pile of soil began to glow a small white light. Charlie squealed as a small green bud emerged from the ground. Within a few seconds, the flower bloomed to full length. When the flower opened, a small amount of golden sparkles shot from the middle of the plant, and as they fell over the plant, the petals turned from white to yellow.

“What’s this one called?” Charlie pressed her finger to the flower's petals as she looked up at him.

“These are called daffodils, I didn’t actually want to grow that so I’m guessing these powers just grow whatever it fucking wants.” Adam leaned down and began to try and pull the plant out, but as soon as his finger touched the petal, he pulled back and covered his ear. “Fuck! Why the hell are you guys screaming?”

Charlie had backed away from Adam, Vaggie’s weapon materialized in her hand as she ran in front of Charlie, pointing the spear at him. Lucifer however, hadn’t moved, but he did now have his staff in hand. 

“What are you talking about? We weren’t yelling?” The princess had her hands on Vaggie’s shoulder and arm, trying to get her girlfriend to lower her weapon.

“Then what the hell was that yelling I heard?”

“I don’t know, all you did was touch the flower!”

Adam shook his head as he removed his hands from his ears. He looked back down at the plant and thought for a minute. He heard screaming but everyone else around him hadn’t, he knelt back down and sucked in a breath before touching the plant again. A shrill scream sounded off in his head as icy tendrils of terror seized his mind. He clenched his jaw, forcing himself to act.

“Shut the fuck up!” The screaming in his head stopped, sighing his grip tightened on the plant a little. “Why are you screaming?”

Around him, everyone was giving him a strange look; to them, he was talking to himself. “He’s gone insane.” The devil shook his head as he watched the man talking. After a couple more minutes, Adam stood.

“So I think I know what my powers are, they’re a lot cooler than I thought, suits me of course since I’m fucking awesome.” Vaggie sighed as she dematerialized her spear and stood normally.

“Whatever, what’s this cool fucking power?” Vaggie crossed her arms as she looked him up and down.

“I can talk to plants! I know I fucking rock please please hold your applause.”

Lucifer and Vaggie rolled their eyes as Charlie moved from behind her girlfriend and knelt down beside the flower again. “So what did it say? Was the screaming you heard coming from the plant?”

“Yeah, it said it was afraid to be picked. Apparently, the flower I pulled earlier was also sentient to some degree.” Adam looked down at the flower, eyeing it, the flower didn’t move like it was sentient, but everything else down here was fucking weird so he didn’t give it much thought.

“Wait, like the flower actually said that to you? Like with words?” Lucifer looked over Adam skeptically, like he didn’t believe anything he had said.

“It’s more like thoughts, not words, whatever the plant wants to say, I hear it like a thought.” 

Adam looked down at his clawed hands and thought for a minute, if he could talk to plants and grow them, what else could he do? Surely this wasn’t it, he had to check, but he didn’t even really know how. The man sighed as his gaze subconsciously slid to the portal that sat beside the first set of plants. Sitting at the table the rest of the hotel’s inhabitants were playing Uno and right then the one eyed cyclops woman who often hung around Angel jumped up onto the table holding two round bombs lighting them and getting ready to launch them at the smaller janitor who was manically laughing while holding two cards in her hand.

“Uh, not that it’s any of my business, but I think one of your heaven-worthy guests is trying to kill your janitor.” Charlie jumped alarmingly as she grabbed Vaggie’s hand and ran through the portal, leaving Adam and Lucifer in the barren garden. “Aren’t you going to go help you’re precious daughter?”

“I doubt she wants me helping her so much, it handicaps her. She’ll be fine, she’s got Maggie anyway.” 

Adam looked at the king of Hell with bewilderment. What did he just call her? “Did you just call her Maggie?”

“Of course, that’s her name, isn’t it?” Lucifer frowned as he looked at Adam with a face that screamed, ‘Are you dumb?’

Adam doubled over with laughter, gripping his sides, his noticeably sharper than before canines flashed into view. “Holy fuck you’ve been calling her that and she hasn’t corrected you yet?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” He was confused. Was that not her name?

“In truth it’s pronounced as Vaggie ya know like Vagina, but she changed it to Vaggie a fucking waste of a good name if you ask me.” The devils face went a small shade of gold as he made the realization. “I don’t really get how you could mess up a name like that, dude.”

“Oh shut up, she probably hates the damn name anyway she’d probably like Maggie better.” Lucifer rolled his eye’s his pride a little hurt at Adam being the one to correct his mistake. “Why aren’t you going back through the portal?”

Lucifer had straightened himself back out, well as straight as someone wearing a duck onesie could be. “I gotta try out these new powers, figure out what I can do.”

“Oh, that gives me even more reason to stay behind.” Snapping his fingers, a puff of red sparkly smoke appeared and disappeared, leaving behind a stone bench.

“As much as I love an audience, I don’t want you as one.” 

“Well, I don’t know if you can tell, but I don’t really care what you do or don’t want me seeing,” Lucifer said almost in a sing-songy voice. “Besides, what if you need my help with something?”

“I’d rather die a third time than ask you for anything.” Adam turned away from the devil, frowning as he walked further away from the stone bench to maintain some type of privacy.

He knelt on a fresh area of dirt and put his fingers in the dirt, he still couldn’t comprehend how hot the soil was. In heaven, the soil was always moist and supple, the perfect conditions for growing plants but down here it was like the environment was against its own inhabitant plants, which maybe shouldn’t have surprised him, considering he was in hell, but it still did nonetheless. Pulling his hands from the dirt, he dusted them together, removing excess, before spitting in his hands. The first man shivered as he felt it in his hands. There had to be a less disgusting way to do this. He closed his eyes and stuck his hands back into the dirt. He tried to think of any plant he could, anything that would show him he had some type of control over what plants they became. After a few more seconds, he removed his hands and opened his eyes. A small bud peeked from the dirt before abruptly growing to its full size and shooting gold sparkles all over itself the petals remained white, but the middle of the plant turned yellow. A daisy, so he did have control over which plants he could grow. He wiped his hands on the dirt as he thought about what else he could do. He wanted to try so many things. If he could grow the plants, could he change how a plant looked by messing with the seed? Could he make his own plans with new abilities? The first man was getting genuinely excited, he hadn’t been happy to discover new things since Eden. While it may have been a bittersweet feeling, he welcomed it anyway.

Adam looked around his body as he thought of a new way to grow these plants, other than spitting. He remembered that the plants also grew from his bile, but he wasn’t about to make himself throw up anytime he wanted to grow something, so that was off the table. Then a thought occurred to him, Lucifer had said that his bodily fluid in general is the reason why he was able to grow the plants in the first place, he wasn’t even about to try peeing, cause that would be even grosser than the spit. He looked down a his lap, his golden claws catching his interest, if all he needed was his boldly fluid, maybe blood could do? Sure, it was going to hurt a lot more than spit, but he couldn’t explain why he would rather that than the spit; surely it was nothing. Looking down at his arm, he held it out next to the flower and took a deep breath.

He pushed his claw into his wrist, flinching a bit as the nail pierced his skin, the blood slid down his wrist slowly before falling onto the dirt. After staring at the ground for what seemed like forever, he realized that maybe it wasn’t enough. Frowning, he slid the nail more towards himself, making the smaller wound bigger, causing more blood to slide from his arm and onto the ground. He stopped right before the middle of his arm. He kept his eyes closed as he tried to catch his breath. The pain in his arm was beyond excruciating, but it didn’t make him feel as bad as he thought. As fucked as he knew it sounded it made him feel a little relief, he was the one who caused the wound and he was the one who could control how far it went. It was some kind of control over himself and the situation he was in.

When Adam opened his eyes, he had begun to panic. His arm was still bleeding, and he didn’t have a way to stop it; he could ask Lucifer, but he was too stubborn to actually ask him. Groaning, he held his arm and looked down at the soil, and his mood soured. His blood, instead of being its gorgeous gold color it was now red like the color it was when he was on earth, when he was considered a sinner himself. Adam was now pushing himself to stand, and as he did, he felt a weird vibration in his feet. Lifting them up, he looked at the dirt, but there was nothing he could see that was causing it. Then, before he could even get his bearings, the ground shook violently.

“Fuck! Fuck! What the fuck is this some kind of earthquake?!” Adam turned around to face Lucifer, who was now standing from the stone bench using his staff to keep his balance.

“There called hellquakes!” The king of hell corrected the first man, like the name of whatever was going on mattered in the moment. “What the hell happened to your arm?!” Lucifer’s eyes were widened as he saw the man’s arm dripping onto the dirt.

Before Adam had the chance to respond the ground shook harder making him fall back onto his butt. A small green bud emerged from the ground between his legs and began to rapidly grow, the green color turning brown and getting thicker. Pushing himself back quickly, he scrambled to his feet and stepped back as the plant was now full size.

“Well shit, its a tree.” Lucifer was now standing beside Adam. “Did you use your blood to grow this?” He reached out ot grab the man’s arm, but Adam snatched away, glaring at him.

“Yeah I mean this is better than spitting or some other weird shit.” The first man moved his injured arm around, causing his blood to fly off his arm, making the devil move out of the blood's trajectory. “And don’t fucking touch me.”

“I mean, if you want to keep growing big trees, then be my guest, but I don’t think you’ll be able to decorate the garden the way you want if it’s covered in trees.” Lucifer held his hand out and waited, groaning he put his arm in the seraphim’s hand.

The king placed his finger on the start of the cut on his wrist and slid his finger down the wound the skin his fingers left behind closed, leaving a golden line down the newly closed skin. When he was finished, he moved his hand letting Adam take in the new scar on his body. “I’ve never really used my magic on a human soul, so I didn’t know it would leave a-”

“No..It's ok…Uh thanks, I guess.” 

“Why didn’t you say you were gonna use blood? Don’t just do stuff like that willy-nilly, especially since we can’t tell what kind of things you can do with your power.”

“Don’t tell me what the fuck to do, I’m not stupid I didn’t mean to grow a big ass tree!” Adam crossed his arms over his chest. With a groan, he looked back towards the tree. He knew he was going to have to rely on the devil more than ever, considering his position right now, but it killed him on the inside just knowing that.

“So what’s this one called?” Lucifer had ignored the first man’s comment and was now looking up at the tree.

“It’s called a weeping willow.”

“So let me guess it’s called a weeping willow because it’s bending down like someone crying?”

Adam frowned as he looked down at the roots of the tree. “I wish that’s why I named it that.” The base of the tree had what looked like red veins leading from the dirt up into the tree.

“Well, why did you name it that?” He was now looking up at Adam, the first man looked at him and could see the genuine quizzical look he now had on his face.

“I don’t wanna tell you, you’ll just tell me I’m being a fucking crybaby.”

Lucifer frowned as he thought of the implications behind the first mans avoidance of the topic, it must be about Eden. He hated that his actions made someone like Adam —a naturally curious and naturally optimistic person— become this hateful, angry, and frankly sad man, both emotionally and literally. 

“I won’t say anything like that, I know you don’t trust me, but I promise I won’t say anything, I’ll just sit here and listen.” The king snapped his fingers, and the stone bench he was sitting on before appeared behind him. Quietly, he sat down and looked back up at him, kicking his feet like an excited child.

Adam stared at Lucifer for a minute, weighing the option in his head before groaning and sitting down on the edge of the bench. “I swear if you make fun of me, I’ll kill you for real this time.”

The king laughed like it was a genuine joke before wiping a nonexistent tear. “Oh, I’m sure you could, buddy.”

“Shut the fuck up, or I won’t tell you.” Lucifer nodded his head as he made a zipper movement over his lips.

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His heart hurt; the first man had never felt something like this before. It hurt so bad he almost couldn’t breathe, and what was this water leaking from his eyes? He didn’t know that could happen, to be fair, he didn’t know a lot of stuff that happened to him could happen. Lilith falling in love with Lucifer didn’t make any sense she was his wife; didn’t god make her just for him? So why didn’t she love him? He loved her, didn’t he? An image of Lucifer lingered in the back of his mind; the angel’s betrayal of his trust hurt a lot more than Lilith’s betrayal. The angel of joy had been his first friend, the first person he had ever felt any type of joy from showing his new discoveries to, and he had been the one he told everything to, from his troubles with Lilith to his curiosity about the tree of knowledge. Lucifer had been the only one who would tell him what the tree was for, and even after the angel had given his rather troubling opinion on the tree he never once thought that he would do something like this. Maybe he should have expected this then maybe he wouldn’t feel like this. Eden’s atmosphere had seemed to dim; the normally very active animals and insects were now hiding somewhere, where even Adam couldn’t find them. 

“First son, are you alright?” A voice called out to him before a flash of light consumed his surroundings. Replacing the light, Sera stood in front of him. “What is the reason for such sadness, child?”

Oh sadness, he felt sad right now. “Lucifer and Lilith have fallen in love, but I thought that she was my wife?” Adam looked up at the taller angel. Surely she had some answers for all of this.

Instead of giving him the explanation he thought he was going to receive, he was now being hugged by her and her wings. “I’m sorry, first son, this wasn’t supposed to happen.” She squeezed tighter as she rubbed his back. “Lucifer and Lilith will be punished for their transgressions, and we will make you a new bride.” The promise of punishment for Lilith and Lucifer, coupled with the chilling promise of a replacement, left the man heartbroken.

What? A new bride? Punished? None of this sounded like good news, he didn’t want a new bride he wanted Lilith. And punishment? What kind of punishment? They won’t harm them, will they? He knew from experience that getting hurt, well, hurt, and he didn’t want them to feel something like that, even if they had made him sad.

“Wait, you won’t hurt them, will you?” Adam had pulled away from Sera frantically. “Miss Sera please, don’t hurt them. I understand they have done unforgivable thing’s but they are important to me!”

“First son, they have strayed from the path that the lord has set for them. They have planted the seed of darkness into the earth, into your home. They must be punished.” The words felt like a hammer blow, crushing his hopes. Leaving him feeling worse than before she had arrived.

Adam couldn’t understand what he was feeling this time; it wasn’t sadness, and it wasn’t happiness. He had heard the word from Lucifer before when he told him that Lilith had concerns about giving birth. “Miss Sera I’m…afraid.”

Sera swept her hand across Adam’s face, pushing some hair behind his ear as the water from his eyes fell faster than before. “Do not weep, first son, everything is going to be alright.” Her hands were on either side of his face as she placed her forehead to his. “Now, first son, what do you call this beautiful plant we have found ourselves under?”

Adam wiped his eyes, his earlier emotions subsiding a bit at the reassurance from the angel. Though a small part of him wondered if everything was really going to be ok? His wife was being replaced, and the only two people he had ever cared about were going to be punished, and he couldn’t do anything about it. Looking up at the tree he took note of the wilted branches he knew the plant was the same as another in the garden he had named black willow (Lucifer and Lilith at the time had told him that the name didn’t make any sense considering the color of the leaves, but he knew that he had just thought it was a funny idea) but the tree before him, with its withered branches and sorrowful posture, mirrored his own disheartening emotional state perfectly.

“It’s called a weeping willow.”

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Lucifer was looking down in his lap, he didn’t know how to respond. The story he had just heard was one he had never known about, yeah he knew that there were a lot of things he never knew about apparently but this one, this one was so different form the person telling the story. The Adam of Eden and the now were so different it’s almost jarring how much the man had changed and he was the one who had caused it, it made his shoulders feel like they gained an even heavier weight then the one he currently had. He didn’t regret gifting free will, that he would never regret even as he ruled over hell, but regret over how he handled going about everything.

“Adam…I don’t-” The first man held his hand up silencing him.

“Don’t say a fucking word, no matter what you say It’s gonna piss me off so just don’t.” Lucifer nodded his head as he looked back down at his lap, the silence between the two was the only thing being loud.

“Dad! Adam! What are you two still doing here?” Charlie had walked over towards the two, followed by the rest of the guests. “Oh my goodness! This tree is so beautiful!” 

Charlie ran over to the tree and began touching the trunk and encouraging everyone else to get closer as well. “Adam, what’s this one called?!” Charlie was bouncing again, the first man sighed, chuckling a little before standing and walking over to the group.

Chapter Text

When Adam opened his eyes, the red light from hell's sun almost blinded him. Last night, after everyone left the garden, the cat demon gave everyone a drink, even Adam himself got one, which confused him even more than when he gave him a slight head nod after. Yawning, he sat up and looked around himself. He was on the floor in his own pallet of blankets, surrounded by the other participants of the hotel. He was positioned with Charlie to his right, where she was cozy in her pallet held closely by Vaggie, whose arms were around Charlie's waist; to his left, Lucifer was situated. In the king's hands was his staff, clenched tightly as he slept relatively quietly aside from the small snore he would make every couple of minutes. Pushing himself to stand, he quietly made his way back over to the cat demon’s bar and began to look through the multiple different drinks, sure he knew that stealing a drink from the bar would get him an earful from Lucifer’s delusional daughter. However, he still felt like shit from the memories he quite literally unearthed last night. As he searched for another drink, he turned them around to try and see what the alcohol percentage was, but to no surprise, he didn’t see one. Shrugging, he grabbed two clear bottles with no labels on them and walked back over to his pallet on the floor, leaning down, he grabbed the blanket and pillow and began to walk back to his room. When he made it to his room, he pushed the door open and threw everything onto his bed and closed his door, he walked over to the bed and grabbed one of the bottles, unscrewed the lid, and took a sniff before turning the bottle upside down in his mouth.

When the liquor touched his tongue, he ripped the bottle from his mouth, but not before a good amount of it had fallen down his throat. Coughing he wiped the excess off of his lips and screwed the lid back on. “H-Holy shit, no wonder heaven didn’t allow this shit.”

He grabbed the other bottle from his bed and walked over to the closet, pulling the bottom half of the closet open, he hid them underneath some clothes and pushed it closed. Standing again, he looked around the room before his eyes landed on his bed and the multitude of posters he had lying on them, walking over he grabbed the first one and the tape and began to work on finishing his room. It took him all of fifteen minutes to figure out where he wanted each one to go, but when he did, he smiled and looked around the room; now it looked more to his taste. Sure, the walls were still that awful red color but he could deal with that better than if the walls were still bare and red. Adam walked over to the window that sat beside the bed and looked down at the giant tree in the garden, It was near the back of the barren soil, which gave the first man the perfect idea for the layout.

Turning back towards the door of his room, he decided that he wanted to go down to the garden. He didn’t really know what he would do once he got down there, but he couldn’t really think of anything else he wanted to do at the moment. The first man wasn’t really sure if the alcohol was the reason for his sudden interest in the garden right now or not, but he wasn’t about to complain, especially when his brain had just given him the brilliant plan of testing his powers out some more. Opening his door, he walked out of the room and made his way back to the first floor. In the sitting area of the lobby, he could see that everyone was still asleep, minus the devil, who was missing from the group along with his blanket and pillow.

Adam rolled his eyes as he grumbled under his breath and began looking around for a door that looked like it led to the hotel’s garden. When he couldn’t see one, he decided to try and check the kitchen. Walking out of the lobby, he made his way down a rather empty and dark hallway before he was met with a huge archway at the end of the hall that led to a kitchen so big it would give the garden a run for its money in size. He felt around the walls for the light switch, and when his fingers found it, he flicked it on.

“Well damn, do they even use everything in here?” Adam looked around the various countertops and cabinets when his eye landed on a stone bowl and its matching masher. Picking it up and he looked over it, he could make medicines and other things with the plants he grew with this. “Aw hell yeah, fuck you Lucifer I don’t need your damn help.”

Looking down at his tail, a thought crossed his mind. Lifting his tail, he curled the tip into itself and set the bowl on top. It didn’t hurt, but it felt weird; he wasn’t used to feeling things weighing him down from the back besides his wings. Looking around the kitchen again, he spotted a door beside the fridge with a small window on it, looking through it, he could see the garden. Smiling, he pushed the door open, upon walking outside, his smile disappeared as he saw the devil sitting on the stone bench from last night sitting in front of the tree. Adam made his way over to the tree, looking to his side as he passed. Lucifer gave Adam a questioning look.

“What are you doing out here so early?” The devil was still in his duck onesie, but the hood of the onesie wasn’t on his head like it had been last night.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Adam knelt down in front of the tree as he set the bowl down next to him.

“Is that my mortar and pestle?” Lucifer pointed towards the bowl, frowning as he was thoroughly unimpressed by the first man stealing things.

“Yeah, what of it? I’m sure you can get more I mean you can just create shit out of thin air can’t you what’s the problem?”

“That’s not the problem here; the problem here is you can’t go around stealing stuff from the hotel.” Lucifer was now standing next to Adam, the foot of the staff was beside the first man’s hand on the ground. “And don’t tell me you’re going to use your blood for another experiment? You know I told you not to do stuff like that without me around, what if you grew something even bigger and destroyed the hotel or something?”

“Get the fuck off my back, I wasn’t even going to try anything with my blood.”

Simply being in the seraphim’s presence was messing with his head; maybe he shouldn’t have drunk that alcohol. “Adam, I get that you don’t want to be here but you can’t just go around mopping because of it.”

“Fuck you, I don’t mope around!” Adam had turned his head to face Lucifer, a small growl emerging from his throat. “And you’re damn right I don’t wanna be here, who would? Did you forget this is hell? Or are you as stupid as you fucking look?” He hadn’t meant to come off as aggressive as he had, but it was too late to change that now.

“Whoa, what the hell is your problem?” Lucifer’s tone had changed to one of confusion. “I didn’t say anything wrong.”

Normally, the first man would have ignored a comment like that; normally, he’d just say something just as snarky back, but today he couldn't deal with it. His head was fuzzy, and he was too emotionally raw to sit through an argument with the seraphim. The longer he was around Lucifer, the angrier he got, and it didn’t help that the alcohol was warping his already messed-up perception of the former angel.

“Why can’t you just leave me the fuck alone?” Adam turned back towards the ground and closed his eyes trying to collect himself, he felt his eyes stinging but there was no way he was about to cry in front of this asshole. “You always do this to me.”

“What are you talking about?” Lucifer walked a little closer, bending down to try to see the first man’s face.

“This pretending you give a crap about anything other then yourself stick you’re doing, you can’t possibly tell me you give a damn what happens to this shit hotel! A couple of months ago, you didn’t even believe that sinners were good people!” Adam’s tail angrily lashed at the ground as he buried his fingers into the ground, his temper getting the best of him.

“After extermination day, I realized that maybe it could be possible, and besides, Charlie means the world to me, so even if I still didn’t believe it, I’d still do anything to help her achieve her dream.” The devil kneeled beside him as he placed his arms out on his knees, staring at the tree trunk in front of them. “People change Adam, you out of everyone should know that.”

That one singular sentence set the first man off. “Oh, right, I should know because I changed for the worse, right? I should know because I’m not the same naive little bitch from Eden right?!” Adam stood up from the ground and began to pace around in front of the tree angrily. Every step he took, small vines would emerge from the ground.

“Come on Adam, you know I didn’t mean it like that.” Lucifer stood, placing his staff underneath his arm.

“Then what the fuck did you mean huh?! God you sure know how to ruin someones fucking mood don’t you?! Not that I’m surprised I mean how long have you been screwing me over?!” The first man turned to face the king, frowning as he did, in front of him, instead of seeing the devil, he saw the angel he had once grown to trust. “What did I do to you?! What did I do to you to make you hate me so fucking much?! What did I do to deserve this?!” Adam motioned around them before motioning to himself.

“You tried to kill Charlie! You went against our contract! What was I supposed to do? Let you kill my daughter?!” Lucifer was angry now as he snarled at the first man, his eyes changing from their normal color to the deep red the first man despised so much. “Why can’t you just accept responsibility?! You’re here because of your own actions! Because you became greedy for power! Because you wanted to get back at me!”

“You know why I wanted to get back at you?! Because you fucked me over! In the garden and after! I trusted you! I told you everything! I thought you cared about me!” Adam growled as he thought back on the times he had waited by the edge of the garden, hoping the two would come back. “I never even got a fucking sorry, do you know what that feels like?! I die and suddenly have to lead a thousand angels and kill my descendants every year! You live here and didn’t even try to make things right with me! Now I’m here at this stupid fucking hotel and all of a sudden you wanna apologize to me?! I’m not as dumb as you think I am!” Adam turned away from Lucifer as he felt the tears in his eyes begin to fall.

“I didn’t do all of that to mess with you! I tried to talk some sense into you, but you wouldn't listen! What else was I supposed to do?!” 

“How about not steal my fucking wife?! And as if that wasn’t enough for you, you make a pit stop back to the garden and give my second wife the apple, are you fucking kidding me?!” He kept swiping his arm over his eyes, trying to stop himself from being so weak, especially in front of his enemy.

“Lilith said you were trying to control her! What else was I supposed to do?! What was I supposed to think?! If you had come to me saying Lilith was trying to control you, I would have done the same thing!”

“Oh bullshit! You did it because you’re so damn prideful! You did it because you felt so fucking good about fucking someone else’s wife and decided to go for two in a row!”

“I don’t know how you got this weird notion in your head that I did all of that to fuck with you but I didn’t! And besides, Charlie and I are the ones who are owed an apology! You tried to kill her! You killed her friend! And you even destroyed her hotel!”

The first man didn’t care about what the king was saying, his head was filled with unbearable feeling ever. He wanted nothing more than to just kill him right then and there, but he knew it wouldn’t work even if he had the means to which was proven to him on extermination day. The vines around the two grew smaller and smaller until they were no more as Adam had fallen to his knees, the alcohol in his system combined with the blinding rage he felt, caused his brain to relive every traumatic moment he had ever been through. His chest hurt a lot more than yesterday. He placed one of his hands on the ground and the other over his chest as he cried.buzzing. He hated how the stinging sensation in his chest began as Lucifer named the things he had done to them. It was strange he had never felt weird about it before, so why now? Maybe it was the alcohol, yeah, that had to be the reason for the weird heaviness he was feeling right now.

“So what?! You think I’m gonna apologize to you?! Fuck you I hate you!”

Lucifer rolled his eyes as he pointed his staff at the first man. “See this is what I was talking about yesterday when I called you a douchebag! Look at how you’re talking! Do you honestly believe that you belong in heaven after listening to yourself?!”

“YES!” Adam angrily turned yelling at the king, his tears never faltering. The vines that were at his feet began to grow in size and began to move around erratically. “I should be in heaven, I earned it! After everything you put me through, I deserve that much! Do you not understand what you did to me?! The first night out of the garden, I had to kill an animal for me and Eve to eat! I had to stay awake every night watching over her, making sure she didn’t die or a wild animal tried to eat one of us! I had to sit in a house arguing with a woman who didn’t give two shits about me!”

Lucifer looked around the two as he used the staff to smack away any vines that tried to grab him. “Adam, calm down. I get that you’re mad, but-”

“No! You don’t get it! That’s the whole fucking problem! I had kids too you prick! The only things I had ever cared about! Because of you and her, I had to find my son’s dead body! Then you walk around telling me to take responsibility for my actions and you won’t even admit to fucking up my life!” 

Adam was full-blown crying right now. He knew he looked pathetic, but he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He couldn’t stand seeing Lucifer’s face; it only reminded him of what he had lost, and that pain was the most unbearable feeling in the world. The vines began to shrink smaller and smaller until they were gone. Adam had fallen to his knees in the soil and was crying hard.

The king, alarmed by the first man’s fall, ran over to him and kneeled down beside him and began to rub circles on his back. “Hey, what’s-”

Adam slapped the man’s hand away, glaring up at him slightly as his tears hit the soil, causing small flowers to sprout, the golden dust from the middle turning the petals blue. “Don’t fucking touch me.”

Lucifer frowned as he looked down at Adam. He looked broken beyond repair. He had never seen him look like this before; his own chest began to tighten. Seeing the man before him, now he really looked like the Adam from Eden. It pained the devil the first time he had seen the man cry back then, and it pained him now.

“Look Adam, I really am sorry for everything I did to you, I never meant to hurt you. I know you don’t trust me, and I don’t deserve it.” Adam lifted his head a little and peered up at Lucifer. “But please know I did care about you, and nothing I did was to hurt you. I didn’t fall in love with Lilith to spite you; it just happened.” Lucifer slowly brought his hand to Adam’s face and wiped the tears away.

“So, you didn’t actually hate me?”

“Absolutely not, in fact, I viewed both you and Lilith as the most exquisite and stunning creations I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing.” The king moved his hand from Adam’s face and grabbed the first man’s hands. “I still do, even in this form you’re still one of the most exquisite creatures I’ve ever met.”

Adam’s grey cheeks were turning a deeper shade as he pulled his hands away and cleared his throat to calm himself down. “Well, I don’t think so, I look like a goat mixed with a bird.”

The devil chuckled softly. “And where does the bird come in? The wings?”

“Uh Duh” Adam looked down in front of him as he noticed the small flowers in front of him. “You wanna know what these are called?”

Lucifer looked down at the flowers and nodded his head as he picked one of the flowers. “They're called Forget-Me-Nots, you wanna know why I named them that?” Adam stirred the soil around in front of him as he looked back up. “I call them that because of their color, they're the same color as your wings back then. I used this flower as a reminder of what happened. After I died, I never really tried to grow them, so I’m more than a little surprised right now.”

“Wow, ok, I don’t really know what to say. You hated me that much, huh?” Lucifer’s face was sympathetic as he patted Adam on the back. 

The first man rolled his eyes before taking a deep breath. “Look, I’m only gonna say this once, so pay attention….I’m sorry for trying to kill your daughter, that was pretty shitty of me considering what I went through.” Lucifer’s face softened as he smiled. Adam groaned as he pushed his arm off his back. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Tomorrow.” The first man gave him a confused look.

“What’s tomorrow? I can’t read fucking minds.”

“There's a meeting at the embassy tomorrow. I'll bring you with Charlie and me, and you can talk to whoever shows up.” Adam narrowed his eyes as he looked over the devil.

“You aren’t lying to me, right? You aren’t fucking with me right?”

Lucifer nodded his head softly as he stood back up and stretched. He then held his hand out for Adam. Contemplating for a minute, he grabbed the devil's hand and stood before letting go. “So what were you trying to do?” 

Adam looked down at the ground, his eyes wandered to the mortar and pestle before looking back at the fallen angel he didn’t exactly trust him but he didn’t really have another choice. The first man was certain that if he didn’t tell Lucifer what he was planning to work on he would surely take the mortar and pestle away from him, and he definitely didn’t feel like trying to beg him for it.

“I was just trying to see if I could grow certain plants to make medicine with.”

“Why? I can heal any wound.”

“Yeah but like, I don’t wanna ask you for jack as it is.” The first man bent down and grabbed the mortar and pestle before standing back up and turning to face the tree. “And I wanted to see if I could grow some plants that aren’t natural.”

His gaze turned to the tree in front of them, the red veins starting from the roots definitely weren’t normal. Stepping closer, he placed a hand on the veins before snatching his hand back just as quickly. The veins in the tree pulsed as if it were alive. Stunned, he placed the bowl on his tail and placed both hands back onto the tree slowly.

“What are you doing?” Lucifer had stepped closer and stood beside Adam, staring up at the tree before placing his hand on the tree. “Holy cow, is it alive?”

That’s what Adam was trying to figure out himself: had he brought life to the tree? But how? Sure, he knew his powers were technically already bringing plants to life, but this tree seemed different, almost sinister in a way that unsettled him. Pulling his hand away, he wiped his hands on the side of his pants and stepped back.

“Nope I am not dealing with this today, I can not handle anymore deep or profound bullshit.” 

Adam ignored the devil’s confusion, walking past him he practically ran into the hotel. Upon opening the door, his face scrunched up as he saw the radio demon standing in the kitchen holding a bowl and a whisk.

“Ah, Adam! I see you’ve found the kitchen! I must say it’s a little strange to see you walking around the hotel without causing a fuss.” Alastor turned to face him, and he could finally see the apron he wore.

“Gumbo season is the best season? Wow, could you get any more lame?” Adam smirked, shaking his head at the demon. “Aren’t you like the security or some shit? Why are you in here cooking…your cannibal food?” Adam peered over into the bowl, and inside was a beige liquid. Liquid that he guessed was pancake batter. "Well I mean I've never seen cannibal pancakes do you put like fingernails or some shit in it? Cause I can tell ya right now that no one is gonna eat the nasty shit."

 Alastor turned to his left and set the bowl down on the counter before turning back to Adam. "Wow, the first man judging my cooking skills, I’m truly honored! I mean, you obviously know what tastes good, right?” Alastor’s teeth seemed to glow as his grin became wider, as his gaze went from Adam’s face to his stomach, then back up at him.

“The fuck did you just say to me you piece of shit?! I’ll kill you!”

“Now, now, Adam, don’t get so angry. It was simply an observation.” 

There was no way that this red bitch was talking shit to him, Adam the first fucking man! Last time he checked, he wiped the floor with the radio demon last time they had fought each other shouldn’t he be shitting bricks around him?

“I don’t want you observing me you fucking freak.”

“I’m a little shocked you don’t like it, I mean, you should be used to it by now, right?” A grin stretched across his face, widening as a faint crackle of static, like a tiny radio, could be heard from him.

“And I’m a little shocked that you’re walking around, I mean considering the fact that I wiped the floor with you. How’s that wound by the way?” 

The smile on the radio demon's face never faltered, but his eye twitch gave away that what Adam had said had gotten under his skin. The first man felt gratification from pissing off the demon, something about him wasn’t right and he knew for a fact that other people could feel it to. Though why they're keeping him at the hotel even while knowing that was beyond him. The longer he stayed at the hotel, the more his perspective of Charlie as an innocent and naive princess became undeniable and irrefutable.

“Don’t worry, I’m working on some medicine, maybe if you kiss my ass enough, I’ll make you some for that wound.” A sharp, high-pitched noise emitted from the demon.

Adam laughed at the sound taking it as the obvious sign it was that he had thoroughly pissed him off, maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Messing with Alastor was beyond fun it was comedy gold.

Chapter Text

Adam's anger was immediate and intense after a day of tedious group therapy; he was exhausted, he'd gone straight to bed, slept the day away, and missed dinner, a fact he later regretted considering his consumption of the pilfered, mysterious liquor. When he woke the next morning, hell’s sky was darker than usual as grey clouds covered the sky and rain beat down on the hotel’s windows. Yawning, he sat up on the side of his bed and pushed himself up, wincing a little, he placed his head in his hand’s trying to compose himself. The small thudding he felt in the back of his head was not a welcoming feeling. Groaning, he looked outside at the garden below. He could always create a willow tree for some of its bark, but that process would take too long, and this headache was a problem now. Sleepily, he walked into the bathroom and took a moment to give himself the sweet release of going to the bathroom. Once finished, he flushed the toilet and washed his hands. Turning off the water, he closed his eyes as he sucked in a breath holding it as he opened his eyes.

Looking back at him in the mirror was a hideous monster, a shell of a once former archangel. From the horns on his head to the tail behind him, it upset him deeply to think that this was some kind of punishment. He knew that he had fucked up in life and that’s what had lead him to being put out of the garden with Eve, but after he had gotten to heaven he thought that he had finally repented enough, that he had finally done something right. His awakening in hell was not merely a change in location; it was a cataclysmic shattering of his very essence, a complete reversal of everything he thought he knew, leaving him in a state of utter disorientation and confusion where his previously held beliefs were not only challenged but outright contradicted by the stark reality before him. He hated to think that god had given up on him, but each day he awoke to the red walls of the hotel room, the more he began to think that’s what was happening.

Sure, he hadn’t been in hell that long, but with everything around him moving at breakneck speeds, he felt like he had spent a thousand years inside the damned place. His descent into madness was halted when a small knock on the bathroom door cut through his thoughts.

“Adam, my dad and I are ready to go whenever you are.” Charlie’s soft voice spoke as she stood on the other side of the door. “Take your time, but like try to be reasonable. Not that you are unreasonable or anything! You’re like the most reasonable person I know!” Charlie halted her rambling as she thought to herself, mumbling the next part under her breath. “Well, maybe not the most reasonable.”

The first man chuckled at her tangent, while yes, he still did think that Charlie was naive, she had begun to grow on him. She was the only person who actually seemed to listen to him without the need to belittle him or be passive-aggressive towards him like Lucifer or Alastor. He also didn’t want to admit it, but in her, he couldn’t help but see Emily and his son Abel. While he had been dismissive of Emily’s support of the hotel, he secretly thought it was hardcore that she believed in something that much. There was a time he had that kind of light within him, but it was taken and extinguished right before his very eyes. The worst part is that he was too stupid at the time to see the deceitful ways of the ones who claimed to care about him. Another knock on the door made him come back to reality.

“Adam, are you ok in there?”

“Yeah I’m fine princess don’t go freaking out.” The first man opened the bathroom door and stood in the doorway, staring at the girl in front of him. A gender-bent version of her father was an accurate description. Sighing, his next words came out a bit shakier than he had intended. “So, do you know who’s going to be at the meeting?”

Charlie’s eyes softened as she heard the nervousness inside the man's voice. She didn’t know much about Adam yet, considering they had only had one session together so far, but she could tell when a soul was in distress, her empathy confusing her parents and the rest of hell alike. “I know for sure that Emily is going to be there along with Sera, but that’s it.” The mention of the seraphim of joy made the thudding behind his eyes unrelenting, groaning, he placed his hand to his head. “Adam, are you ok? Are you sick?”

“No, I just have a fucking headache. God this shit down here is fucking intense.” The first man grumbled as he rubbed his head. Looking over Adam softly, she clapped her hands together and with a puff of familiar red sparkly smoke, a clacking pink bottle of pills appeared above her head before she caught it in her hands.

“Here, some medicine from the sloth ring. Aunt Belphagor’s medicine is the best in hell.” Adam grabbed the bottle from her and looked over the pink bottle with oblong pills inside, turning it again, his eyes landed on the name of the person who owned them.

“You’re giving me Lucifer’s pain medicine?”

“Dad hasn’t needed it recently, so I’m sure he wouldn’t mind, and besides, he could always get some more if he wanted.”

“What do you mean by he hasn’t needed it recently? Why did he have em?”

Charlie mentally slapped herself. She hadn’t meant to bring up her father’s condition, but she had gotten carried away with her explanations again. She hoped her father wouldn’t be too upset about her telling the first man.

“When dad fell, hell’s fire scorched him from the inside out, he was always in pain, and ever since medicine like this had become available, he would take them nonstop.” Charlie rubbed her fingers as she thought back on the times when she was a kid and she would see her father take two, sometimes three, at a time. “But lately he hasn’t needed them, so I thought that he wouldn’t mind.”

Adam watched the princess with a small frown, while he did hate the fallen angel, he hated seeing Charlie look so pitiful. “Well, since he isn’t taking them, then he must be better, so don’t look so sad about it.”

Charlie smiled as she clasped her hands together over her chest. “Aww, are you worried about me?”

“What? No, but if you’re sitting in the middle of the meeting with heaven worried about your demonic daddy, then we won’t be able to convince the angels to let me back into heaven.”

Charlie’s face morphed into one of confusion. What was Adam talking about? He hadn’t even been rehabilitated yet. “What? But you haven’t even finished the hotel yet?”

“Yeah, but you just said Sera is gonna be there, maybe she can fast-track my case through heaven or something and get me back quicker without having to do all of this.” Adam gestured around the two of them, referring to the hotel.

“But I thought you were doing pretty well, don’t you want to finish? Don’t you want to become a better person?” Adam felt the fur on his legs bristle, even though she had said it with no malicious intent behind it, the first man had taken it very personally.

“I’m a good person damn it! But I don’t want to be here in hell, I feel like I’ll go insane down here.” The twisting in his gut began as he let the lie fly out of his mouth. He knew he wasn’t a good person, but he had never been corrected; he had never been reprimanded for his actions. Like how he had cursed in court, and it was fine, but when Charlie did, everyone gave her a sideways stare. “Look, I’m going to put this in a way I think you’ll understand, I can’t be in hell, it goes against everything I am as the first man. Just like how the exterminations were against everything you stand for.”

The princess couldn’t help the coiling in her stomach as she thought about what he said. She didn’t think that would be possible, but she could clearly see that Adam was trying to hold onto what little pride and sanity he had left. Charlie wanted to tell him that, yeah, it was definitely possible, but considering heaven hadn’t even told her or her father what this meeting was about in the first place, she highly doubted that as a possibility.

“Uh yeah, we’ll see, um…I’m gonna go wait with dad downstairs I’ll see you when you come down.” Charlie backed up to the door and waved at him before closing the room door.

Adam groaned as he was now left alone in his bedroom again. He made it awkward without meaning to, but it seemed to him that she was just being weird again. Looking at the bottle in his hand, he opened the lid and shook out a single pill. Looking over the pink pill, a weird, anxious feeling swirled in his gut. He knew next to nothing about Hell's pharmaceuticals, but he didn’t have anything else, and the more he stood there, the more his head began to hurt. Putting the pill in his mouth, he walked over to his closet and grabbed the alcohol from the drawer, and took a swig of it, swallowing the pill down with it. If you asked the first man why he kept drinking the liquid that so graciously burned his throat every time he took a sip, he couldn’t tell you why. Maybe it was the way it made him feel, or maybe it’s because he liked the numbing sensation it had on his body. Standing straight, he looked through the closet and pulled out his clothes for the day.

Even though he wouldn’t admit it, he wanted to make a good impression on the high seraphim of heaven. He grabbed a black leather jacket, a white t-shirt, and some black ripped jeans. Setting the outfit on the bed, he looked over the clothes. It was good, but he wanted something more, maybe some accessories? Stepping into the bathroom quickly, he looked at his face. His eyes traveled from his lips, then to his ears, then stopping over his neck. He had seen some souls in heaven who had piercings and a part of him wanted to get one too, but it never really matched with his aesthetic. Maybe he could ask Lucifer to conjure up some piercings for him, though he hated to ask.

Turning around, he turned on the shower, then walked back into his room and grabbed his clothes. Once back inside the bathroom, he stripped his clothes and stepped into the hot water, sighing. Under the water, he felt his muscles relax. He was too tense, he just needed to calm down. Everything was going to work out. In a couple more hours, he’d be strolling through heaven with Lute by his side, and everything would be right with the world again. Reinvigorated, the first man quickly scrubbed himself down and stepped out of the shower. After drying off, he quickly put his clothes on. Walking back out to his room, he grabbed the brush from the bedside table and used it to fix his hair. Once he was finished, he looked over his wings, they were in good condition. Breathing in and out, he looked over at the window by his bed, the rain was still heavy as it pelted against the window. 

Leaving his room, he slowly made his way to the first floor, each step he took made his hooves feel heavier. His tail even lacked the small hook position it usually held, opting to drag on the ground, even though he was certain he’d be able to go back to heaven a small part of him knew he probably wouldn’t be able to and if that turned out to be true he didn’t know what would become of himself. When he made it to the first floor, he walked into the lobby. His eyes landed on the two royals standing by the front of the door. The area was empty, which made sense considering how early it was, well, at least he guessed it was early, he couldn’t really tell since the sky was dark and dreary.

“Adam! You look amazing!” Charlie clapped her hands excitedly as she jumped beside her father. “You look like a rock star!” Adam smiled as the compliment eased the tension in his shoulders a little.

“I must say the new look suits you, but you’re missing a little something.” Lucifer snapped his fingers, and the sparkly red smoke appeared over his wrists and ears. When it disappeared, his wrists were now covered with spiked wrist bands, bringing his hand to his ear, he felt the multiple earrings in his ear. His hand stopped as he felt the bar starting from the top of his ear and coming out on the other side in the lower part of his ear.

“Holy shit, I was just about to ask you to do this. Quick, give me a mirror.” Charlie clapped her hands, and with a puff of smoke, a makeup mirror appeared over his head. Catching it, he opened it and held it closer to his face, tilting his head a little. “This is so fuckin punk rock.”

“Adam, what do you say when someone does something nice for you?” Charlie’s smile was wide as her eyes darted back and forth between her father and the first man.

“Fuck, do I have to?” Adam groaned as he looked at the princess. When her grin somehow got wider, he sighed, turning to face Lucifer. “Thanks, I guess.”

The king smiled widely as he leaned on his staff. “You are quite welcome, Adam. Now, how about we get going? You know how heaven can be, don’t wanna be late.” Lucifer twirled his staff before putting it under his arm and pushing the front door open, holding it open. “Ladies first.”

Charlie smiled as she thanked her dad and walked through the door. When Lucifer didn’t move, Adam gave him a confused look. “What? I said ladies first, didn’t I?” Adam frowned as he flipped the devil off, walking through the door, he purposely pushed against the door, making Lucifer stumble back a bit, a small growl emerging from the king’s throat. “Dick”

Lucifer fixed his hat as he walked out behind the first man, in front of the hotel, a white limousine rumbled softly as smoke billowed out from the back of the car. “Not very environmentally friendly, huh?”

“Hell’s air is already toxic as it is; a little more smoke won’t make a difference.” Lucifer opened the car’s door as Charlie leaned down and got inside, Adam crossed his arms as he stared down at the king. “Oh, come on, we don’t have time for this.” Rolling his eyes, Adam mumbled under his breath as he leaned down and sat down inside the car.

Lucifer got inside the car behind him, slamming the door shut, leaning forward, he tapped the metal divider. It slid down, and in the front was a demon from the envy ring; their skin was a purplish grey, and their hair seemed to move like water. They wore a black suit with a tie and sunglasses, their purple hair cascading over their shoulders. 

“Maroon, my dear, how are you this hellish morning?” The demon rolled their eyes as they pulled the glasses from their face, looking over their shoulder.

“Cut the bullshit Lucifer where do you want to go?”

Maroon and her family had been serving the royal family for as long as he could remember. Maroon themself had actually been born around the same time Charlie was, so it was only natural that he would hire the demon to cater to his daughter. It also helped that the two had become friends over the years.

“Hi Maroon! We’ve got a meeting at the embassy today!” Charlie leaned forward, sticking her hand through the divider, waving at the demon.

Marron smiled as they gripped the princess's hand for a second before letting go. “Hey Charlie, alright buckle up.”

Charlie pulled her hand out from the divider and sat back in the seat. Lucifer sat back as well, the metal divider sliding up. The car began to move along the streets of hell. Adam turned his head, looking out of the princess's window. The rain hadn’t let up; in fact, it had actually begun to rain harder. An uncomfortable feeling in his stomach began to rise, why was he practically shitting himself at the thought of seeing the angels? The princess glanced at the first man, noticing how tense he seemed she bumped her shoulder into his. Adam looked over at Charlie with a confused look.

“I know, things seem scary right now. But I’m here for you no matter what they decide, ok?”

The first man’s eyes scanned Charlie, he didn’t want to believe that there might be a chance that heaven wouldn’t take him back. The longer the ride took, the more he began to overthink. When had he become such a weakling? He had never felt this before when he lived in heaven. “You don’t gotta worry about me, I’ll be fine. But thanks, I guess.”

The king glanced at his daughter and the first man, he hadn’t noticed before, but Adam had been growing closer to his sweetapple. It unsettled him a bit, considering how much of a loose cannon the man was, but if Charlie didn’t mind it, then he wasn’t going to say anything about it. His daughter was a strong woman and knew that if the first man ever stepped out of line, she would be able to put him in his place, not to mention that her girlfriend was more than capable of protecting her. The car ride lasted in silence for another twenty minutes before it came to a stop outside a towering white building.

Lucifer got out of the car first, holding his staff over his head an umbrella popped out from the bottom of it, covering him. Adam stepped out of the car, the rain pelting his head, cursing under his breath, he ran past Lucifer and ran into the building, stopping as he looked around the embassy’s front lobby. The sterile white look of the building's walls while a familiar sight, it felt a lot emptier than he last remembered. Granted, not many angels came down to hell, but he could have sworn there used to be more people around. Walking in behind him, Charlie and Lucifer walked up beside him and began walking to the desk that stood at the back of the building.

Charlie rang the bell that sat on the desk, and a golden piece of paper flew from above them, levitating in front of them. Lucifer grabbed the feather pen and signed his name after he finished the paper and the pen flew back towards the ceiling, and a door beside them abruptly opened.

“Fuck, was it always that fucking weird here?” He turned to look at Charlie, who only nodded in response.

Walking behind the two, he followed them into the room, it was dark as the doors closed behind them. It took a couple of seconds, but soon the lights turned on, and his breath caught in his throat as his eyes landed on the high seraphim at the head of the table.

“Lucifer, pleased to see you are doing well.” Sera bowed slightly, her hands folded in front of herself.

“‘I bet you are!” The king’s voice rose in sarcasm as he waved the staff a little before placing it back on the floor.

“Hi Charlie!” Emily waved frantically as her manic smile only seemed to grow as she giddily jumped and stood from her seat.

“Em! I missed you!” Charlie ran from beside her father and scooped the seraphim into a hug, spinning her before setting her back down.  “we’ve got a little shocking news!”

Charlie stepped to the side, holding her arms out, gesturing towards Adam, who was now standing beside the king. When the seraphim’s eyes landed on the first man, she couldn’t recognise him at first as her eyes roamed over the man in front of her. The sharp gasp that came from the head of the table caused the room to turn and face her, her additional eyes that decorated her hair, and on her chest were open as they moved erratically, looking over the first man.

“Son Adam?” Sera’s hands were covering her mouth, her eyes wide. “But your second in command said you died.”

Adam scratched the back of his head, he couldn't help but feel like he was being judged by the seraphim. While he may have been used to the feeling, it didn’t make him feel any better than when he was in the car.

“Uh, hey..Sera, so turns out I’m alive, big surprise, I know.”

Sera stared at the first man for a while before the eyes on her body closed, breathing in she ran her hand through her hair before placing her hands in front of her. Gesturing towards the seats that surrounded the table. “Please have a seat, we have much to talk about.”

Adam stalked behind Lucifer and sat down at the end of the table, he leaned on the table as he watched Charlie talking to Emily. His head felt a little fuzzy, his body just a little numb, just the way he wanted it. After a couple more minutes of silence from Sera, she placed her hands folded on top of the table.

“Lucifer, Princess Morningstar, I’d like to give you the floor to speak about your recent development first.”

Charlie looked at her father, waiting for him to speak, but instead he motioned with his hands at her. Her eyes widened a bit as she pointed towards herself. Lucifer nodded his head, holding an arm out towards the table. Giddily, Charlie stood and practically ran behind the first man’s chair, putting her hands on the back of it.

“So, actually contrary to popular belief, I lived after…y’know, extermination day.” Adam could feel his hands sweating, what the fuck was this anxiety he felt? And his mouth was so dry it could counter the Sahara desert. “And I know I’ve been down here for a minute, but I’m sure big G wouldn’t mind. Oh, actually, have you spoken to Abel since the extermination? I had promised him I would teach him how to-”

Sera held her hand up, stopping Adam’s tangent. “Son Adam, do you not see what your current form looks like?” Adam looked over himself, sure he looked a little different, but that didn’t mean anything, right? He was an angel after all.

“Oh yeah, I’m sure big G wouldn’t mind fixing me up.” 

A laugh forced itself from his chest as he made constant gestures with his hands. “You have horns, a tail, and are those claws?” Sera narrowed her eyes as they scanned him again, landing on his hands.

“I mean..yeah, but I always technically had those.”

“It was your uniform, son Adam, your fair complexion has changed, and even you're wings have changed to reflect your soul. All signs that you are no longer of the divine.”

Adam felt like his heart dropped to his hooves, no longer of the divine? Was she calling him a- “Are you calling me a sinner?”

The high seraphim lowered her head as she clenched her hands, her expression and voice full of sorrow. “I am sorry, son Adam, but yes, you are a sinner, and I’m afraid you can not re-enter heaven’s gates.”

The fuzzy feeling in the back of his head turned into a splitting headache. What was she saying right now? He wasn’t going home? But why not? He was Adam, humanity’s father, the leader of the exorcist army, he was someone important, wasn’t he? No, he had to be; if he wasn’t, there was no way they would have given him the status of archangel.

“But Sera, you know as well as I do, I don’t deserve to be down here.”

The angel raised her head as she took a deep breath, composing herself. “Son Adam, I believe this is your punishment for breaking the contract with Lucifer.” His blood ran cold. Was she saying he deserved this? Was she giving up on him? 

“Are you saying you think I deserve this?” His voice was shaky, Charlie frowned as she looked over the first man.

“Regrettably, the outcome of the extermination was because of your actions, I’d say this is the consequence. You must atone for your actions first son.”

His mind went blank. Atonement? Why the fuck was she talking about atonement? Hadn’t he already atoned for his sins when he was earth? He lost his son, he lost children to wild animals, diseases, and hunger. Was that not enough? “But I thought I had atoned for my sins when I was alive, ya know, on earth? What was the reason for everything I went through if I’m not even allowed what I’m owed?”

“Mind your language, first son, for heaven was not a birthright; it was conditionally promised to you upon your continued faithfulness to God and obedience to his divine plan. But you have strayed from that path, resulting in your new form, and with what your original sin is, I figured you would eventually fall from grace.”

The stern tone in her voice normally wouldn’t have gotten to him, but his emotions were running high. His life was falling apart in front of his eyes, this wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right, after everything he had done for them, they were just going to get rid of him when he didn’t have a use anymore? And what the fuck did she mean she figured? Did she never have faith in him about anything? 

“If that’s true, why make me an archangel? Why make me do all of this shit if you figured I was just going to fall anyway? If what you’re saying is true, then why make me feel important?! Why make me feel like I had a purpose if you had so little faith in me?!”

Adam slammed his hands on the table, scratching the table with his claws as he balled them into fists. The three seraphims and Charlie jumped a little. The first man could feel his mind shutting down on him. Was he the problem this whole time? Was everything bad that ever happened to him his fault? Was he unlovable? Did he disgust people so much that they didn’t ever believe in him, let alone want to be around him? Did everyone think the same way as Sera? Did everyone who said they trusted him lie? Was his friendship with Lute a lie? Did Abel and Seth hate him too? Pulled from his self-deprecating thoughts by the touch of a hand on his shoulder, Adam turned to his side and glanced up to see Charlie. She had a sad smile on her face, squeezing his shoulder a little, but he shook her hand off angrily. It’s not that he didn’t appreciate her trying to help him feel better, but he didn’t want her comfort right now; he wanted answers, he wanted to go home.

“Sera, I get that I wasn’t the best winner, but come on. You know what I went through, you know me. Don’t leave me down here, and besides, without me, who’s going to lead my girls? I know you think Lute is too much of a loose cannon to lead them.”

“Need I tell you to watch your tone?” Sera closed her eyes for a second before opening them and turning towards Lucifer and Charlie. “That’s actually one of the things I wished to discuss with you today, I’d like for you to meet the new leader of heaven's army.”

Sera clapped her hands, and in turn, the door behind Charlie and Adam opened. There were two people, the first man held his breath as the first person to walk inside was Lute. Her new golden arm was the first thing to catch his attention. He hadn’t been able to see her for long before he died a second time, but he at least knew she had lost her arm in the fight with Charlie’s girlfriend. Beside her was someone who wore a black robe with three golden buttons down the front of it, the accents of the outfit were gold, and the exorcist helmet they wore looked almost identical to the one he wore, but the horns bent more inwards and were longer. The longer he looked at the person, he felt like he had seen them before, then it hit him hard, he knew who it was.  

“Abel?” Adam silently mumbled to himself, this couldn’t be happening right? No way he was being replaced by his son. Why were they replacing him with his son? 

Lute walked inside, looking over him, confused like she couldn’t tell who it was. The second person walked inside, and once the door closed again, they pulled off the helmet. When it was confirmed that the person under the mask was Abel, Adam began to feel lightheaded. Abel looked at the first man curiously, then his eyes narrowed as he began to recognize who it was. Then, with a gasp, he spoke. 

“Dad?”

Chapter Text

Adam slammed his hands on the table again as he glared at the high seraphim. “You can’t be fucking serious Sera?!”

Everyone, except Lute, jumped when the man slammed his hands on the table; his outburst was so powerful it gave her the immediate recognition she needed to know who it was.

“Holy shit, Sir?” The exorcist's eyes widened as she took small steps towards the first man as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Is that really you?”

He wanted to smile, after all, he had missed his right hand in command, but the thought that Sera was going to make his son the head of the army took up all the space in his brain.

“Abel isn’t the type for violence. Why would you make him the leader?!”

His voice, seething with a barely contained fury, betrayed his inner torment; he desperately wanted to shield his son from the brutal realities, the unspeakable atrocities he himself had witnessed during the initial years of commanding the extermination units, a life of unimaginable depravity that had scarred him beyond repair. For fucks sake Abel was murdered why would Sera put him in charge of the exterminations? It made no sense. Abel and Lute made their way to the seats at the table that were across from Emily and Charlie’s seats and sat down, his son placing the helmet on the table. Feeling the tension in the room, Charlie made her way back to her seat and sat down.

“I am not obligated to answer your questions on who heaven has chosen as the next leader of our army, now I do believe this was a meeting with Lucifer and Ms Morningstar?”

Adam opened his mouth ready to argue back with her but Lucifer held his hand up, offended by the gesture the first man turned his head to let out his wrath on the king but he was stopped by Charlie placing her hand softly on top of his, turning to face her she shook her head squeezing a little. The first man sighed as he sank back into the chair.

“What’s the meaning of this? Why show us the leader of your new army? You don’t plan to continue the exterminations, right?” Charlie’s blood ran cold. No, that couldn’t be true, right? Her head began to spin as she placed her hand on her head.

“Of course we do, have you forgotten the reason why they were implemented in the first place?”

“But heaven broke the contract first, it’d make more sense if this meeting was you groveling at my feet asking for forgiveness.”

Sera closed her eyes, clearly agitated, as she settled herself and opened them. “Be that as it may, the reasons for the extermination are still warranted.”

The seraphim of joy couldn’t stand this, looking towards Charlie, she could see the despair etched onto her delicate features. Then there was Adam, who had changed so much that it was baffling. But what was that earlier? Was Charlie able to calm him down? Does he trust her? Was he at her hotel? 

“Well, actually, there might be an alternative.” Emily had spoken softly over the quiet that had settled over the room.

Charlie slowly looked up at Emily through her fingers, the seraphim let her gaze find Sera’s, which was etched with disapproval over her actions. But this was important, it wouldn’t be fair to just leave things like this, it hurts too many people.

“You know, after the extermination…a soul was redeemed.”

The air in the room stilled. Sera’s disappointment was written all over her face. Emily turned away from the high seraphim and turned to look at Charlie, trying to gauge her reaction. With a sudden burst of energy, Charlie jumped from her chair and ran over to Emily, grabbing her hands.

“Oh my goodness, are you serious?!” Her eyes had doubled in size as her laughter filled the embassy’s meeting room. “Who?! Please tell me you know who it is!”

Emily smiled as she laughed at the princess’s excitement. She could feel the joy radiating from her. Her wings shimmered a little in response. “He said his name was Sir Pentious.” Charlie’s body went still as she heard his name, a sad but prideful feeling welled in her chest, and tears welled up in her eyes.

“I’m so happy for him!” The princess sniffled as she wiped her eyes before smiling and turning to her dad. “Did you hear that, Dad?! My hotel worked!”

Lucifer smiled as he saw the celebratory dance his daughter was trying her best to hold back, glancing over at the other people at the table, his eyes landed on Abel and Lute. He had seen Adam’s ex-second-in-command plenty of times at their monthly meetings, but he had never really given her a second thought. He couldn’t really discern what she looked like since she was always wearing that damn mask, a mask that was made to mock the demonic image something he’s sure Adam had a part in. His eyes slid over to the boy sitting beside her, his hair was blonde, and he wore a robe that had been similar to his father’s, adorned with the same giant A that Adam’s used to have. He seemed softer than his father, almost like he hadn’t come from the first man; he looked fragile. Adam may have been right about his son not being too soft to lead something like heaven's army.

While everyone around him was celebrating the news of the first sinner to be redeemed, Adam couldn’t cheer; he couldn’t even feel right now. What do you mean sinners could be redeemed? He had been killing them for years and years, certain that they couldn’t be redeemed. Only certain because Sera had told him it wasn’t true, she had told him that the people who went to hell were dammed and that they couldn’t change their fate, and hell was their punishment for their sin and straying from the path god had set for them. Why was it all of a sudden, after he died, that the rules changed? Had everything he had ever been told been a lie? Did anyone around him tell the truth? If heaven wasn’t telling the truth, then who was? Placing his head in his hands, he groaned quietly, his head hurt, and he felt something foreign surging through his blood, something that he had only felt the day he was finally smart enough to understand what the feeling was. He felt rage, unbridled, uncapped rage. He wanted to smash this building into a million pieces, he wanted to claw Sera’s eyes out for lying to him, for making him feel like he was important when the truth was he wasn’t, for making him believe she cared about him when she hadn’t. How many betrayals had this been now? One would think after being backstabbed by people so many times, the blows would lessen when it happened again, but this revelation had only shattered his soul instead. He wanted to cry, this was too much for him to handle. God, he was so weak and pathetic, it only motivated his self-hatred at the moment, and all he could do was wallow in it.

Sera held her hand up, causing the two girls' laughter and celebration to stop. “One lucky soul does not guarantee that there will be more.”

“Oh, come on! If one can get redeemed, then that means others can you have to at least let us try!” Charlie had stepped forward a bit as she pleaded with Sera.

“I don’t know why you even try with this redemption shit, I’m sure there was just a mistake. Once a sinner, always a sinner.” Lute shot a glare at the princess, her arms folded over her chest as she looked at the princess with pure hatred.

Charlie frowned at the exorcist's grim view. She wished that she could somehow see her way, but there was barely any getting through to Adam about the topic, though she figured it would change after today’s meeting. “You all don’t even know what gets someone into heaven, how can you say it was a mistake?”

“Because he was originally a sinner, if he was meant for heaven, he would have gone to heaven.”

“But he’s there now, so obviously he deserved it.” The princess quickly added after Lute, the woman’s mask, displayed a frown as she glared at Charlie.

The princess turned to face the high Seraphim as she looked at her with pleading eyes. “Please, I beg, at least let me try.” Sera looked at the princess wearily, about to disapprove of the plan, Emily spoke up.

“Please, Sera.”

Sera’s resolve weakened as the younger seraphim looked at her with pleading eyes as well. “Even if I were to allow this, how would we even keep track of the hotel’s progress?”

Emily jumped, slamming her hands on the table, smiling widely. “I could stay at the hotel and watch over its progress!” She had always wanted to visit hell and see Charlie’s hotel, and this was the perfect excuse for it.

“Absolutely not! You’re the seraphim of joy, your job is to be in heaven and bring joy to its winners, and hell is too dangerous a place for you to be residing in.” Sera was stern as her hands were crossed on top of the table, which wasn’t good. Emily had to think fast. 

“But it’s heaven, it’s not like anyone is going to be sad without me! And if you’re worried about me being in hell by myself, then let me take someone with me as protection, like a bodyguard!”

“And just who would be your bodyguard?”

Emily racked her brain for multiple answers in her head, but ultimately came up blank. Sighing, she began to sit down. “I’ll be her bodyguard.” Her eyes shot up as she saw Abel raising his hand slightly, a small pink shade to his cheeks as he tried to avoid eye contact with her.

“And how will you protect her? You haven’t even undergone Michael’s training yet.”

Lucifer bristled at his brother's name. Was Michael training all of heavens army? Of course, he would, who else would? Had Adam trained under the man to? He hated to think so. 

“Well, yes, I haven’t, but there’s someone down there who has.” 

Everyone’s eyes fell on Adam, and he tensed in response. He hadn’t been listening to most of the meeting after it was revealed that sinners could be redeemed; he had only just begun listening when he heard Abel volunteer to protect Emily from what he didn’t know. Clearing his throat, he tried not to let his voice shake under the immense pressure he was feeling at the moment. 

“Uh, sure, I guess, I could do that.”

Emly excitedly waved her arms in the direction of Abel and his father. “See Sera, I’d be so safe not even a mosquito could bite me!”

Sera looked unsure as she looked between Emily and Adam. “I don’t know about this, Emily.”

“Come on, Sera, please, they’re human soul’s they deserve a chance.” Emily had made her way to the high seraphim’s chair and grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes.

Sighing in defeat, she pulled her hands away from her and hung her head slightly as she turned back to face the table. “Alright, I’ll allow you to go to hell with Abel to watch over the hotel’s progress. You will have a year to prove you can redeem sinners. If no sinner is redeemed in that time period, the exterminations will continue.”

Lute’s jaw hung in disbelief as she pulled her helmet off and set it on the table. “Forgive me, your highness, but are you sure you aren’t making a mistake? Sinners are filthy creatures who have earned damnation. Is it wise to give them a chance to infiltrate heaven's gates?”

Sera held her hand’s her eyes closed. “My decision is final, no further questions, Leuteineit.”

Lute begrudgingly leaned back into her chair as she glared at Charlie again. Emily clapped happily as she ran to Charlie and hugged her, the two girls jumped in celebration as the seraphim of joys glowed a soft purple color.

“Thank you so much, Emily! You’re so amazing!”

“You’re the amazing one, Charlie! You redeemed a sinner!”

Sera smiled as she watched Emily jump around. She was happy that the seraphim was happy, but something about sending her to hell had her uneasy. It made her feel like she wouldn’t be able to watch over her; she knew no harm would come to her since she’d be with Lucifer and his daughter, but she couldn’t help the feeling in her stomach. Speaking of hell, the fact that Adam had become a sinner deeply wounded the high seraphim. Although the man had become rather crass as of late, he wasn’t always like that. When she had first met the man, he was nothing but a simple and naive human with an interest in everything around him. But seeing him now, he was just a sinner, his appearance twisted and warped by hell’s environment; he was no longer heaven material, and it pained her to see it, even if she had anticipated it.

“Alright, settle down, please take a seat.” The younger seraphim and Charlie nodded as they took their seats, now looking at her, she spoke. “You and Abel will go down to hell in two days.”

Sera held her hand in the air, and with a quick flash of light, a golden piece of paper floated above her hands, a matching feather pen floating beside it. Grabbing it, she signed her name to one side of the paper. Once she did a thin light slid over the paper, solidifying the seraphim’s name on it. She pointed her hand towards Lucifer, and the yellow paper flew towards the devil, stopping in front of him. Grabbing it, he read the contract’s stipulations, nothing seemed out of place, and nothing seemed amiss. Grabbing the pen, he wrote his name on the other side of the paper. Once his name was solidified, she beckoned the paper back towards her and rolled it up with a flick of her wrist. The paper floated in the air as she snapped her fingers; it disappeared with a flash of light.

“And that concludes the meeting.”

Charlie stood and began talking to Emily as Sera held her hands out in front of her, spreading her arms out hands open. A small golden circle grew bigger in size until the on the other side, heaven’s front gates could be seen. Adam looked at the portal, despair tightened its grip on him as he saw his way back home a couple of feet away from him. Why wasn’t he going back? Why was he always the one left behind? Why was he always left alone? The hand on his shoulder shook him from his thought’s looking beside him, Lucifer was standing halfway behind the chair with his hand on him, trying to comfort him. Looking away from him, he grumbled as he pulled his shoulder from his touch and stood, his eyes landed on Lute who was standing by the portal. Sucking in a breath he slowly made his way to her while the high seraphim spoke to Abel.

“Hey..Lute.”

The exorcist turned her head, frowning as her eyes ran over her former commander. “Sir…Adam..is that really you?”

The first man scratched the back of his head as he tried not to think about the disappointment on her face. “Yeah, I know I changed a lot, but like it’s still me.”

“Are you sure? The Adam I knew would never have yelled at Sera like that.”

“Wha-” Adam looked at her in confusion. Were they not in the same meeting? “Well, I mean I just learned that everything I fought for was a lie so I think my reaction is fucking justified.”

Lute turned away from him, crossing her arms over her chest. “If you’re really Adam, why would you let this happen? Why didn’t you say anything against Emily and Abel going down to hell? Why did you agree to train Abel?” Lute waved her arms around before they landed on his son, who was standing behind her.

“Wha-I..I didn’t know I wasn’t even paying attention, I didn’t know.”

She scoffed as she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she looked down at the ground. If only she was wearing her mask, then Aadam wouldn’t have to see the sadness that was written all over her face.

“I thought you died, I missed you so much. I even slept in your bed. Why didn’t you come back to heaven if you were alive?” Her voice wavered a bit as she held back her tears.

“Lute, look at me, do you think heaven would let me come back like this? They would have killed me at the gates.” Adam stepped forward as he placed his hands on her shoulders, turning her to face him. “I missed you too, I promise all I’ve been thinking about is getting back to you and heaven. I even started the brat’s hotel, and you don’t have to worry about any sinners making it to heaven I did some of those stupid fucking exercise’s.”

Lute was staring at the first man in horror, he was at the hotel? He was actively participating in her fucking activity’s? Did he not see what was wrong with this? And don’t think she hadn’t seen that hand touch that the hell spawn had done to him earlier, what the hell was that about? Why did he listen to her after that? He didn’t trust these fuckers did he? Adam kept speaking like he didn’t understand the crazy things he was saying to her.

“I mean one of her fucking idea’s for trust building was a slumber party, and don’t even get me started on how fucking embarrassing it’s been living in that hotel with those freaks, I was so fucking angry I ended up crying I know pretty fucking lame I know but-”

Lute snatched herself from his grip, her face showing the betrayal she felt. “You’re having fucking slumber party’s with them? Crying in front of them? You never cried in front of me, what do you trust them more than me?”

Adam felt dread seep into his blood. “Well when I was in heaven I was always happy always satisfied, but here I’m surrounded by assholes always trying to tear me apart. And I would never trust those freaks, you’re one of the most important people in my entire afterlife.”

She believed him, that was the fucked up part. She knew Adam wasn’t lying to her, and she wanted to hug him and tell him that she trusted him, but the fact that he was a sinner was something that still stood as a boundary between the two.

“I…I can’t believe you, you’re letting that brat and those damn sinners cloud your judgment. You’re participating in that stupid fucking hotel and crying about your feelings, the Adam I knew would rather have wandered around hell then shack up with Lucifer and his bimbo daughter!” Lute pushed past him and grabbed her mask from the table, sliding it over her head. “Have a nice fucking life with them sir.” Her mask morphed into a glare before angrily stomping through the portal.

The little color Adam’s body had drained from him. None of this went the way he wanted it to. His shoulders drooped as he groaned and slid his hands over his face. Suddenly, he felt tired, turning around, he walked back to the front of the room and began to push the doors open. A hand landed on his arm, stopping him from pushing it open.

“Where are you going?” Lucifer’s face held sympathy as if he had seen the interaction between the two, which he probably did.

“I’m just going to the fuckin car.” Adam yanked his arm out of the king's arm and roughly pushed the doors open, making them slam against the walls in the hallway. “And don’t fucking touch me.”

The meeting room was silent as the first man stormed from the room, and the doors slowly closed behind him. Charlie frowned as she fiddled with her fingers. She had been so caught up in the fact that a sinner had been redeemed, she didn’t even think about how he would feel during the meeting. Not to mention, she had seen the conversation he had with Lute; her heart ached for the man. Don’t get her wrong, she deserved to be excited and focus on her main goal, but she wished she could have focused on him a bit more. She knew by the way he was acting before they even got to the embassy that he was in emotional distress, but there wasn’t much she could really do; it made her feel helpless. She hated feeling like she had no control in her life, so she could only imagine how he must have been feeling. She turned to Emily and smiled softly at her.

“Uh, we should get going. I’ll see you in a couple of days, I’ll even have a room ready for you and Abel!” Charlie looked behind Emily as Abel stood beside Sera and the portal back to heaven.

“Great! I’m so excited to stay at the hotel, maybe I could help a bit too if that’s ok with you?”

Charlie’s face lit up as she squealed, nodding her head quickly. “Of course! It would be amazing if you helped! You’re the angel of joy, why would I say no?!” She could already see how different the activities could be with the seraphim of joy around.

“I can’t wait!” Emily smiled as she hovered over to the portal. “Byee Charlie!!” The princess waved at her as Emily, and the other angels went through the portal. When everyone was on the other side the portal shrunk and disappeared quickly.

Charlie sighed as she walked over to her dad, and he looked up at her, smiling. “I’m so proud of you, my apple top.” 

Charlie felt tears well in her eyes; she missed her dad, and for him to be there with her in one of her proudest moment’s she couldn’t have asked for more. She leaned down and engulfed her father in a hug. “Thanks, Dad, it means a lot to me that you’re here.”

Lucifer reached his hand up and lightly placed it on her cheek. “Of course, I’m always here for you. I promise.” The king moved his hand before sighing and hanging his head low. “Alright, let’s go get in the car, no doubt he’s probably in there sulking his ass off.”

The princess and the king made their way from the meeting room and walked back outside to the car. Stepping outside, they realized that it was no longer raining. It was as if the meeting had cleared hell’s atmosphere, Lucifer opened the car door, and Charlie stepped inside, sliding next to Adam. After she was inside, he stepped in and closed the door, signaling that they were ready to go back to the hotel. As the car pulled off, Charlie began to rub her hands on her pants. She didn’t know exactly what to say to him. She didn’t want to make him any more upset than he already was, but leaving him like this was cruel. The princess extended her hand, ready to place it on her shoulder, but Adam held his hand up, turning his head a little.

“Don’t, I’m not in the mood for any of that.”

The princess withdrew her hand, setting it back down on her lap. She didn’t really know what to make of the situation, and to be honest, she would much rather see him acting like his usual crass and vulgar self than quiet and depressed; she hated to admit it, but he was way more predictable at his usual then now and it unsettled her a little. The rest of the car ride was silent as the streets outside of hell began to fill with sinners and hellborn alike. After the car pulled to a stop in front of the hotel, Adam was the first to open the door and get out of the car. Walking as quickly as he could, he pushed the doors of the hotel open, and everyone who sat in the lobby, –which happened to consist of Vaggie, Angel, and Alastor– turned their heads.

“Whoa fuck happened to you?” Angel smirked as he leaned on his hand as Adam walked by.

“Blow it out your ass porn star.”

The first man stomped by the rest of the hotel’s occupants, and Lucifer and Charlie walked into the hotel not far behind him. By the time they had gotten inside, Adam was already missing from the lobby. Turning towards her girlfriend, Vaggie walked over to Charlie and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Holding her hands, she gave her a confused look.

“What the hell happened to him?

Chapter Text

Two weeks it had been two weeks since the meeting with heaven, and Adam had yet to actually leave his room. To be exact, he had yet to leave his room while everyone was awake; at night, he would sneak out of his room and steal bottles from the bar in the lobby. Even after Abel and Emily had shown up at the hotel, he still refused to come out and do the activities. At first, Vaggie would come to his room every day, knocking on the door, telling him he had to participate in the day’s activity, but when he never showed up to any of them, she eventually gave up and stopped trying to get him to come down. Charlie even tried to have a session with him but there was no way he was going to talk to her about his problems when the whole reason he was down here was because she couldn’t accept the fact that sinners were shit people. Made even more apparent than before the meeting, he was a sinner. Disgust wasn’t a strong enough word to describe how he felt about himself at the moment. He used to be so loved, so revered, so beautiful, but now he was ugly, and everything he had been told was a lie. Adam was lying down in his bed, the covers pulled up to his chin, the window next to the bed let in the hellish, dark red moonlight. Groaning, he sat up in the bed and pulled himself to the edge of the bed.

Walking to his bedroom door, he opened it slowly and closed it back quietly as he stepped into the hallway. He walked as quickly and stealthily as his legs would carry him, his movements a blur as he made his way to the lobby, where he immediately headed straight for the bar. Looking through the bottles, he grabbed the two mystery drinks and turned to leave the lobby.

“Ohh, so you’re the one who’s been stealing Husky’s drinks, huh?” Adam whipped his head in the direction of the hallway that led to the other rooms of the hotel, and in the archway stood Angel Dust.

Sighing he turned to face the demon, twisting off the cap of one of the bottles and took a sip. Grimacing he swallowed it down and put the cap back on. “What are you gonna tell on me or some shit?”

Angel walked over to the bar and grabbed a bottle of his own and twisted the cap off, and began to down the liquor. Adam eyes widened with shock and suspicion as he looked over the demon. “Nah, I do it all the time.” The lanky demon sighed as he sat down at the bar stool and leaned his head on his hand while the other set held the bottle in his hand. “So why have you been drinking like someone who’s trying to kill themself?”

“I am not drinking like I’m trying to kill myself, and why do you care? I thought you all didn’t like me.” His eyes traveled up and down before crossing his arms as best as he could as he held the bottles.

“Well, sometimes you just need people to talk to. We don’t have to like each other, and besides, I don’t entirely hate you, especially after finding out Pentious is alive and up there behind those pearly gates.” His free hand on the first set of arms wiggled as he called heaven's gates the ‘pearly gates’.

Groaning Adam sat down at the bar, setting the bottles on the counter. “Ugh, fuck don’t even talk about that.”

“Ha! I knew you were sulking about the meeting!”

The first man turned his head to the demon, giving him a scowl. “Fuck you. I’m not sulking, you wouldn’t fucking understand.”

“Yeah? Try me.”

He leaned on his hand, his head resting on it, his face contorted in an expression that suggested constipation, while internally he weighed the advantages and disadvantages of revealing the truth to the demon. He gave up on thinking about it and spoke. “Heaven wouldn’t let me back in, that bitch Sera made Abel the leader of the exorcist, and Lute fucking hates me for even just being here at the hotel!” He grabbed a bottle and unscrewed it, taking a large sip before putting it back down on the counter. “And I just found out that even when I thought I was important, when I thought someone finally cared about me, it was all a lie.”

Angel nodded his head slowly as his face softened, someone who you thought you could trust turning out to not be who you thought they were, he knew that well. Taking a small sip he waited until the first man finished talking before butting in. “I know how it feels, at first I thought my boss Valentino was a good guy, but when he showed me his true colors it was already to late for me to run away. I sold him my soul and now I’m stuck with him.”

Frowning, Adam turned his body towards the demon. “What does he make you do?”

Angel gave him a confused look before laughing a little. “You might be the only person in hell to ask me a question like that, he makes money off of the porn he forces me to make.”

“Wait, he forces you to make it? I thought you liked sex?” The first man grimaced at how unsensitive he sounded. Wait, since when did he care about being insensitive? Especially towards demons?

“At first y’know I didn’t have a problem with it, but then he started scheduling me for all day shoots with no breaks and forcing me to fuck ten guys at once.” Angel's usual light that seemed to surround him dimmed as he thought about his boss. “You never know who you can trust, especially down here, but I was new and didn’t have any experience with this stuff on earth. So I know how ya feel.”

Adam’s face turned sullen as he thought on his next words, biting his lip for a second, he spat the next words out. “Everyone betrayed me, everyone left me, I don’t understand why no one wants to stay with me. I get like maybe not wanting to be around me now, but what’s the excuse for before that?”

“Before, ya mean with the short king and Ms. Songbird?”

“Yeah, I mean, I was a new human, I thought Lucifer was someone I could trust. He was assigned to me and Lilith, to watch over us but instead of doing his damn job he was off somewhere smashing faces with that..that…cunt!” Adam took another swig of his drink before speaking, moving his hands as he spoke. “Instead of actually being there for us, for me! He was stealing my wife, and fucking up my life! Then he has a kid with her and they lie about how all this shit even started!”

Angel smirked as he looked over the first man. “Sounds to me like you, liked the short king and you’re pissed because Charlie’s mom got to him first.”

Adam whipped his head to the side and stared at the demon with an unimpressed and confused look. “Uh, how the hell does it sound like that? I just said the guy stole my wife.”

“Yeah, but did you even like her?”

“Wha-Of course I did, she was my wife!”

Angel held a finger up in his face as he wagged it back and forth, clicking his tongue. “She can be your wife, and you don’t like her, it’s called arranged marriages.”

“Lilith and I weren’t arranged, we were quite literally made for each other.”

“Ok then, how about this? How did you feel about the king? Did you get happy whenever he was around? Did you ever wanna show him cool stuff, or like did you give him gifts?”

“Hey, that doesn’t count. I was a new soul! I bet if it had been any other angel, I would have done the same thing!”

“So did you? I know the short king wasn’t the only angel you saw, you were the closest to heaven a human soul could be while alive.”

Adam’s mouth shut as he began to think back on his time in the garden. He remembered distinctly, at one point before Lucifer’s fall, that Michael had come down to visit him and he had given him a flower that he named that day.

🍎🎸🍎🎸🍎

Adam leaned against a giant willow tree, reveling in its shade from the hot sun, and he was bored. He wanted to go plant naming with Lucifer and Lilith, but he couldn’t find either one of them. This had become a common occurrence as of late. Whenever Lucifer would come down, he would spend a little time with Adam before disappearing, saying he’d be right back, but then never doing so. It saddened him since he didn’t know what he had done to warrant such weird behavior from the angel, even Lilith had been acting strangely. Just yesterday, in fact, when he had finally managed to find her, he had begged her to spend even just a little bit of time with him, being alone in such a big garden was starting to make his chest feel weird, and he began to feel an emotion he couldn’t quite name. But she refused, saying she had seen some flowers she wanted to weave into a crown for him, and she wanted it to be a surprise for him so he couldn’t follow her. He never got the flower crown, and he also never saw her after that. Sighing, he looked up at the sky and spoke softly.

“God, do you know where they are? Are they off having fun without me?” When he got no answer from the invincible force, he looked back towards the ground and wiggled his toes in the grass.

“First son, why are you alone?”

Looking back up towards the sky a flash of white light blinded Adam before he rubbed his eyes and opened them back up, in front of him was an angel he was the same height as Lucifer but instead of his wings being blue they were gold, and the circles on his cheeks were gold as well. He looked like Lucifer, but the way he presented himself, the first man could tell it wasn’t actually him, not to mention this angel seemed to wear something he learned from Lucifer was called pants and a shirt. Nothing like the white robe his guardian angel wore.

“Who are you? Why do you look like Lucifer?” Adam pushed himself to his feet and took a small step towards him, stopping right before him and looking over him.

“I am Michael, I am Lucifer’s twin brother.”

“Twin brother? What’s that?”

Michael gave the first man a confused look as he folded his hands in front of himself. “A twin brother is someone who is the same age as you, and a brother is someone who has the same parents as you.”

“What’s age? And what are parents?”

“What’s going on? Has Lucifer taught you nothing? What has he been doing down here this entire time?” Adam lifted his shoulders lightly, he wasn’t sure if he should tell the angel that he hadn’t seen Lucifer lately; by the way he talked, his guardian angel would surely get in trouble.

“Oh, well, he’s been helping Lilith a little more lately, she um has been going all over the garden lately, and Luci doesn’t want her to get lost, so he tags along. They should be back soon.” Michael narrowed his eyes at the first human.

“You aren’t lying to me, are you, Adam?”

“Lying? What’s lying?”

“Lying is when you tell someone something that is not true. You are not doing that, are you, Adam? Lying is not a good thing, first son.”

Lying, so he was lying right now? And Lilith and Lucifer had been lying to him? He was upset now. Why had they been lying to him? Were they doing something bad? Adam hung his head, “I’m sorry for lying, I have not seen Lucifer or Lilith today or the day before. They don’t stay with me like they used to. I don’t think I’m any fun anymore. Maybe they're bored with me.”

A small frown found its way to Michael’s face as he thought, looking over at Adam, he sighed. “That can’t possibly be true, first son, Lilith is your wife, you are to bear children with her, she will never get bored of you. You two were made for each other.”

“Bear children? How are we supposed to do that? And what are children?”

Michael ran his hand down his face as his lips formed a thin line. “It angers me that Lucifer is failing at his job; perhaps he should be switched out.” Adam didn’t want that, even though Lucifer had been kind of weird towards him; he didn’t want him to be changed.

“Please don’t, I still learn new things every day, and he does tell me when I ask. Maybe he is just resting his brain.”

Adam could tell the angel didn’t believe him, but he was telling the truth, well, he was telling him a little bit of the truth, so it wasn’t technically considered lying.

“Alright, but I will have a talk with him. He must learn to split his time between the two of you.” Michael floated a little closer to the first man as his hands were crossed behind his back. “Lilith and you are going to start humanity by reproducing, it is a practice where you use something you have called a penis, and Lilith has something called a vagina. You must copulate and use your seed to have children with her.”

The first man’s head spun; that was a lot of information in such a short period of time. Lucifer would have explained it a bit slower for him to make sure he understood, but this wasn’t his guardian angel; it was his brother. “Oh, that sounds hard to do.”

“On the contrary, dear Adam, it is quite easy. You will see once the time comes for you to have children.” Michael took a second to look around them, spotting a small pink flower growing by the base of the tree. “Do you have any more questions, first son?”

“Yes, um, what is that thing you said earlier? Anger, what is that?”

“Anger..Anger is when you feel so unpleasant that it makes you uncomfortable. It can happen because someone has done something bad to you, or it can happen because of you’re own actions.”

That’s it, the feeling he felt earlier. He was angry, angry that Lilith and Lucifer had been lying to him this whole time, ditching him to have fun with each other, or to do something bad. Which he hoped wasn’t the case, he didn’t want anything to happen to his friends. The angel in front of him floated closer to the pink plant he had spotted a few minutes ago.

“Now, what do you call this plant, Adam?”

The first man looked down at the flower and thought for a minute, normally, he’d tell Lucifer or Lilith his awful idea for a plant and they would make a disapproving face before coming up with a real name for it, this angel may not look like Lucifer but they were brother’s surely he’d be able to get the same reaction from Michael right?

“I call it the Cyclamen flower.”

Michael looked at the first man questioningly before turning back to the flower, pressing a finger to it speaking. “A weird name for a flower, but still a name nonetheless.” Michael stood straight as he turned to face Adam. “Now I must go and find Lucifer.”

Before Michael could leave, Adam crouched down and pulled the flower from the ground, and held it out towards him. “Here, it’s a gift. Thank you for answering my questions.” The angel looked at the flower for a couple of minutes before smiling and taking it from him.

“Thank you, Adam.”

As Michael took to the skies, Adam sat back down underneath the tree, he was nothing like Lucifer. He didn’t have the funny comments Lucifer usually made at the names he tried to give things; he was missing the blue coloring that adorned his wings and the circles on his cheeks, and he was missing the feeling that he got whenever he gave his guardian angel gifts. The longer he sat under the tree, the angrier he got. Why was he alone? Why were the only two people he cared about lying to him? What was going on? What weren’t they telling him?

🍎🎸🍎🎸🍎

Angel was staring at Adam, his face stuck in a shocked expression. “Holy shit, you weren’t lying when you said he stole her from you.” Adam took another swig of the alcohol, letting the burning liquid slide down his throat.

“I don’t even know why I’m telling you this shit, no one fucking cares about what happens to me anyway.”

“You didn’t deserve that, no one does. And hey, even when you think no one cares, I do.”

Adam scoffed as he lolled his head to the side, his head down on top of the bar counter. “Oh yeah, and why is that? I killed your friend, don’t you hate me?”

“Wow, you must be wasted. I told you earlier, he’s alive technically, so not many hard feelings behind that, and besides I’d say after tonight we’re friends, dontcha think?” Angel turned his head to face the first man as he took a sip from the bottle in his hand.

Adam was silent, he didn’t really know what to say. His only friends had been the other exorcist and Lute, not to mention that this was a demon. But Angel had been nice enough not to say anything about him stealing the cat demon's alcohol, and he had listened to his sob story; maybe the spider demon was right. Though he wouldn’t call him a friend, more of an acquaintance who happens to understand the shitty situation he was in.  

“Yeah, uh…friends right.” Angel could see the man was forcing himself to say the word like he was physically unable to; it irritated him a bit, but he knew that Adam needed time to actually accept the situation, so he didn’t push it.

“Alright, I’m going upstairs, got a shit tone to do at work tomorrow.” Angel stood from the chair and stretched his arms. “See ya later, handsome.” Angel snapped his fingers as he winked at Adam, laughing as he saw the disgusted face he made in return.

“Uh, hey, I don’t know you that well, but you don’t seem so bad, you didn’t deserve what happened to you either.” He was shocked, was the asshole trying to be nice right now? Angel smiled softly, causing Adam to wave his hand in the demon’s direction. “Ugh stop looking at me like that damn it.”

Angel chuckled as he began walking away. “Thanks, real nice of ya to say that.” Adam scowled at the back of the demon’s head as he disappeared down the semi-lit hotel hallways.

The first man stood from his seat not long after and grabbed his bottles before walking back to his room. As he walked, he passed a room with its doors open, a small glinting light caught his attention, turning, he cautiously stepped into the room and made his way over to the bookshelf that sat against the wall. Setting the bottles down on the half-empty shelf of books, he grabbed a blue book and pushed it out of the way. Behind that book was a crack on the back of the bookshelf, but it didn’t look like a crack that would have shown up from old age or a crack that had formed from an accident. This was intentional, sliding a claw through the small opening, he hooked it on the wood and pried it open. Inside was a small tin box, grabbing it, he looked it over before popping the latches on the front of the box and opening it up.

“Shit, drugs? Are you serious?" Looking side to side and behind himself, he stared at the contents inside the box.

The only thing he could tell apart from the rest of the contents in the box was the small baggie of weed that sat in the corner, but the other multi colored pills and baggies full of powder he couldn’t tell you. This had to be Angel’s; no one else in the hotel would have hidden drugs around like this, at least that’s the impression he got from the demon. Yet despite the alarm bells going off in his head, he closed the box back before tucking it under his arm and grabbing the alcohol bottles from the shelf, and made his way back to his bedroom.

When the day rolled around, Charlie stood in front of the other hotel participants, and her father pacing back and forth. “Charlie, babe, maybe you should calm down.” Vaggie placed her hands on the princess’s shoulders.

“Calm down? Calm down?! How can I calm down?! We made a deal with Sera that Adam would train Abel, and Adam hasn’t even come out of his room since the meeting! He won’t eat anything, and he won’t do the sessions!” A nervous laugh erupted from her as her horns popped out of her head, and her eyes changed color briefly before returning to normal. “I thought that once Abel got here, he would leave his room, but he still won’t come out even for him!”

“Well, the man did just find out his entire afterlife was a lie, you gotta give him some time,” Husk spoke softly as he wiped down the counter before turning to face the shelf of alcohol. “Oh goddamn it who’s been stealing the liquor again, i’m getting tired of it.”

The demon cat’s comment was ignored as Charlie spoke quickly, panic evident in her voice. “But it's been two weeks, don’t you think that’s enough time to adjust to the truth?”

“Well, that’s a lot of information to get at once, maybe give him some more time to adjust?” Angel leaned forward on the couch a bit as he leaned on one of his hands as he scrolled on his phone with the other.

Charlie’s shoulders drooped as she hung her head, Angel was right but she didn’t want her deal with Sera to be a bust. This was her only chance to prove sinners could be redeemed, and she didn’t want anyone messing it up, as messed up as she knew it sounded she wished he could just snap from his depressive episode for an hour each day so he could train his son.

“You’re right, I’m just being impatient, we have a whole year he’ll have time.” Charlie ran her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath before smiling and clapping her hands together. “Alright everyone let’s start our group activity for the day!”

Another week had flown by without any word from the first man about how long he intended to stay MIA for. Now it was time for Lucifer and his daughter to begin trying to get him to leave the room. It was Charlie’s turn first. Whenever her light knock woke him from his liquor-induced coma, he would groan and tell her that he had a headache. Whenever Lucifer’s fast and hard knocks woke him from his sleep he would simply respond with a “Fuck off asshole.” Before turning back over and going back to sleep. When Adam woke up again, he sat up on the side of the bed and held his head in his hand’s trying to calm the raging headache starting to pound behind his eyes. With his eyes still closed, he reached over to his bedside table to grab the pill bottle, but when he grabbed it, and the familiar sound of pills clacking inside the container was missing, he opened his eyes and scowled at the empty bottle.

He knew he had been taking to many whenever his hang over’s got bad, but the numbing feeling the medicine gave him was the only time he didn’t have to think about the shitty situation he found himself in right now. What’s even worse is he wanted to see Abel so damn bad it was driving him crazy, but he was afraid that if he seen him he’d break down all over again. Groaning, he threw the pill bottle across the room before it hit the bedroom door and fell to the floor, rolling over to the standing dresser before stopping. Looking at the dresser, an idea popped into his head. He didn’t need pain medicine really, even though the pills helped with the minor inconvenience of the headache, he would much rather just be in another world completely right now. Walking over to the dresser, he tripped over one of the multiple empty alcohol bottles that littered his bedroom floor, mumbling under his breath as he did so. When he was at the dresser, he leaned down and opened the drawer, picking up a set of clothes. He grabbed the tin box from underneath and closed the drawer back, walking back over to the bed, he grabbed a half-empty bottle of mystery liquid that sat by the doorway of the bathroom before sitting on the mattress. Opening the box, he set it down next to him and began to look through the contents. There were multiple small bags either with pills, or powder in them, sucking in a breath he began picking up the different baggies and reading the labels.

“Angel Dust? Ok weird.” His eyes scanned over the other names as he read them to himself. “Crack, Oxy, Christ, is that Acid?” The more he looked, the more he started to think that this was a bad idea, but when his eyes landed on a clear bag with blue pills, he grabbed it and looked at the front.

“Benzo? I think I heard some of the winners used to take this on earth, it’s got to be the safest one, right?” Opening the bag, he pulled one of the pills out and turned it over in his hands. “What was this for again? Depression?”

Stilling his nerves, he put the pill in his mouth and leaned over, grabbing the alcohol bottle from his dresser. He poured some of the liquid into his mouth and sighed as he set it down. Grabbing the tin box, he put the rest of the paraphernalia inside and put it inside his bedside dresser. As he leaned back in the bed, he let his body calm down, rolling over on his side, he stared up at a poster on his wall. 

“Fuck is this my life now? Sitting inside a hotel, nowhere to go, nothing to do?” The poster in front of him seemed to mock the man.

Adam turned away and laid on his back looking up at the ceiling. As the minutes turned into hours, the drug began to take hold of him. At first, he didn’t notice, but when his mood had slowly begun to improve, he was thanking the stars that he hadn’t died. “Well shit, no wonder winners in heaven used this stuff.”

Chapter Text

“Adam, are you...ok?” The first man was sitting in the lobby on the couch, slouched, leaning back into the cushions. Vaggie placed her hands on her hips as she eyed the man. “You look like shit.”

Adam waved his hand lazily in her direction. “I’m fine, go away.” He would not tolerate anyone ruining his high right now.

She glared at him before groaning and walking out of the lobby, leaving him by himself. Another week had flown by, and the first man had finally made some progress; he actually left his room, but he still wouldn’t eat anything, no matter how hungry he got. His refusal to train Abel persisted as well, fueled by his strong aversion to the idea of his son, who was by nature gentle and peaceable, becoming involved in violence. Sighing he sat forward and put his hands on the side of his head massaging, he wasn’t supposed to think of things like this when he was in this state, he figured that out the hard way when he had such thoughts last week and it ended with him balling his eyes out in his bed. Normally, the medicine he took wouldn’t give him the high, but over the past week, he had been upping the dosage every time he took them, at first it was just two, then three. When the small baggie had run out of pills, he anxiously searched the hotel until he found a small hiding spot in the kitchen behind the fridge. When he moved the fridge, he grabbed the box and happily took it back to his room.

“Adam?” Charlie had called out to the man as she rubbed her fingers, looking up, he saw her with an anxious look on her face. Her girlfriend and Lucifer were standing next to her.

“What is it?”

“Well, um…You don’t look so good, you aren’t like doing anything bad, are you?” He glared at her as he clenched his teeth.

“What are you trynna say, princess?”

“What she’s trying to say is you look like shit, you’re pale and you aren’t eating.” Lucifer had butt into the conversation as he leaned on his cane looking over Adam. “You aren’t doing any drugs or something, right? I mean shit down here can get pretty dangerous.”

“Are you kidding me? Do I look like one of those weak, pathetic sinners? I wouldn’t put that shit in my body.” Charlie frowned as she clasped her hands together.

“Please don’t call them that, but if you’re feeling ok, why not eat a little. Maybe that’ll return your color.”

“Uh, no thanks, I don’t want anything that cannibal radio host makes, I don’t wanna eat a finger or something.” He dismissively waved his hand at the three, hoping they would go away; he’d definitely have to take some pills to bring his high back.

“I’ll cook it then.” Adam gave the king a sideways glance as he tried to hold back his laugh at the joke, but the longer everyone stared at him in silence, the more he realized it wasn’t a joke.

“Wait, you aren’t joking? Look, thanks but no thanks, I don’t trust anything you cook anymore than him.”

“Dad is an amazing cook! He usually makes pancakes, but he can make a bunch of other stuff!”

“I don’t care what the hell he makes, I’m not eating anything from that asshole.” The first man crossed his arms over his chest. He wouldn’t admit it, but the comment Alastor made that day was getting to him. The more he looked in the mirror he began to notice what he meant and it pissed him off to no end.

“Come on, Adam, just a couple of bites, you don’t have to eat it all. I’m worried about you.” Charlie pleaded with him as she stepped forward a bit. “I don’t want you getting sick.”

“I’m in hell getting sick won’t kill me, and even if it does won’t I just respawn or some shit?”

Vaggie sighed as she ran her hand down her face, she was tired of him acting like a little kid all of the damn time. “I figured you’d say something like that.” The ex-exorcist looked towards the hallway and yelled, “Alright, you can come in!”

Adam turned his body a little and looked at the hallway with an eyebrow raised. The mop of blonde hair was the first thing he noticed. He quickly turned away from him, closing his eyes, holding his hand on the side of his face, and glared up at Vaggie.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now you’re trying to use my son against me? That’s low even for you bitch.” Lucifer was about to reprimand him for the derogatory word he used on his daughter-in-law, but Abel beat him to it.

“Dad, that’s rude, don’t call Vaggie that. She’s just worried about you. And so am I.” He was now standing in front of him, but Adam didn’t have the guts to look up at him. “Please, Dad, just eat a little something.”

Abel placed his hand on Adam’s shoulder, he flinched in response. Realizing his mistake, he finally looked up at his son. “I-I didn’t mean to do that.” The angel smiled wearily at his Father and pulled his hand away from his shoulder. Adam stared at his son for a minute, the gold color of his eyes making his stomach twist inside. “Just a little?”

The angel nodded his head quickly as he smiled; this time it was genuine. “Yup, just a little!” Adam sighed as he ran his hands through his hair, accidentally hitting the horns on his head. Snatching his hand away quickly, he had forgotten they were there, they weren’t heavy like he always thought they would be.

“Ok, ok fine, but if you use him against me again I swear to god I’ll kill everyone inside this shit hotel.” 

Adam flinched as he heard himself swear to god, he hadn’t said that in a while, and now that he thought about it, why was he still in this hotel anyway? Did he still want to go back to heaven? If not, then what was his purpose now? What was there left for him to do? “How about dinner?”

Adam snapped from his thoughts as he heard Charlie getting closer to him, looking up at her, he tilted his head a little. “Uh, what?”

“Jeez, were you not listening? She asked if you’d be ok with having dinner with everyone tonight.” Vaggie rolled her eye as she stared at him unimpressed.

“Everyone in the hotel?” 

“No, with heaven, who else would she be talking about?” Adam grit his teeth at the comment, fuck her rubbing salt in his already flesh deep wound.

“Fuck you, why would I do that?”

“I’ll be there, you know I’m here too, Dad.” He turned to Abel, who was scratching his arm awkwardly. “I’d like to have dinner with you, it’s been a while.” 

Ever since Abel had been born, Adam had made it his mission to never disappoint him and never make him worry. But looking at him now, he had done exactly that. What kind of father was he? He had been boasting to Lucifer about being a good Dad when he himself wasn’t, and here he was struggling to even look him in the eyes, god, he was pathetic.

“Alright, I’ll have dinner with everyone.” Charlie jumped excitedly, clapping her hands, looking over at Abel, who was just as excited as her. Adam looked away, rolling his eyes. “Can I go now?”

Charlie smiled, nodding her head rapidly as she grabbed Abel’s hand and ran through the lobby, into the hallway, and into the kitchen. Adam muttered "Finally," under his breath as he rose from the couch and began making his way to his room, only to be halted by a hand reaching out and touching his arm. Looking down, he could see the king, his eyes were there usual half-lidded state, but there was also a hint of concern in them.

“Are you sure you aren’t doing anything from down here? Not even by accident?” The first man sighed as he peeled Lucifer’s finger from his arm, then held his hand by the pointer finger. 

“I’m fine I’m not taking anything, I’m just fucking tired so if you don’t mind I’d like to go take a nap.” Adam dropped his finger and walked out of the lobby.

Upon making it back to his room, he immediately threw himself into the bed. He wasn’t lying when he said he was tired, lately, he didn’t have much energy to do anything but sleep. Looking over at the window next to his bed, he looked down at the garden, the giant tree in the middle of it swayed in the wind. The red veins going through the tree seemed to dim the leaves falling off, as well as they surrounded the bottom of the tree. Groaning, he laid down and turned away from the window. He’d have to go out there eventually and figure out what was wrong with it, but right now he needed sleep. 

Downstairs in the kitchen, Charlie was tying an apron around her waist, walking in behind her, Lucifer looked at her, confused. Motioning towards her waist with his staff, he spoke. “What are you doing, apple tart?”

“I’m going to help you make dinner!” She clapped her hands, and another apron appeared above her hands. After catching it, she pushed it into Abel’s hands. “And I thought, why not have Abel help us?”

The king, confused, tilted his head, raising an eyebrow in response. “And just why is that?”

“Well, I thought, since Adam hasn’t been feeling well, let’s make the things he likes for dinner, and who knows that better than his own son!” Charlie gestured towards the angel as he tied the strings behind his back.

“Oh, don’t worry, Dad only likes a couple of foods, they're not hard either.” Abel smiled as he looked at the king.

“Oh? And just what does he like?” Lucifer snapped his fingers, an apron appeared over his chest as he tucked his staff under his arm, walking over to the counter, he stood by his daughter.

“I know he likes ribs, which is ironic considering Eve came from his rib.” Charlie tapped her finger on her chin, lost in thought.

The angel laughed awkwardly as he rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. “Yeah, uh, I thought that was a little weird too, but it’s not like they’re human ribs.”

Noting his awkward tension towards the topic, Charlie panicked as she waved her hands in front of herself. “Oh crap, I’m sorry maybe I shouldn’t have brought that up. I wasn’t trying to make you uncomfortable.”

“No, it’s ok, it’s just so weird hearing people say that. Like, I know it’s true, but it’s weird hearing people talk about my parents like an urban legend or something. Every time heaven gets a new winner and they meet me, they all ask that question.”

“Well, that’s to be expected, you’re parents are kinda like a what if on earth.” Lucifer gestured around them before pointing to the ceiling. “Along with all of this.”

Abel watched the king move his hands around his face, showing his obvious curiosity about the king. “You know, you’re a lot different than what I thought you’d be.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well it’s just the way everyone talks about you, I thought you’d be I don’t know a lot scarier.” He placed a finger on his chin. “And harrier, with more goat features.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes, he had long gotten tired of every human soul thinking he was some kind of anthropomorphic goat. After the first few thousand years, the novelty of the idea began to wear off. “No, I honestly don’t even know where people began to get that idea from.”

“But aren’t we part goat?” Charlie looked at her father, confused, as she looked down at her feet.

“Well, yeah, but even I don’t know why that happened. Maybe it was the old man’s way of messing with me or something.” Lucifer mumbled under his breath, snapping his fingers, and a small cloud of red sparkly smoke covered the island in the middle of the kitchen. “Now, we don’t wanna wait too long, let’s get cooking, Abel, what’s Adam like?”

“Right, well, dad likes ribs, he also likes black bean and beef tostadas, oh, oh, he also likes tandoori chicken.” Abel crossed his arms as he thought for a minute.

“Wait, that's a lot more…universal than I thought. How’d he even find out about all of this stuff?” The confusion laced the king's voice as he looked at the first man’s son skeptically.

“Oh well, I’m not sure what heaven looked like when you used to be there, but after humans began to split into different ethnic groups, heaven started serving the same kind of food. There’s literally anything you could ever want.” Abel’s eyes lit up as he looked at Charlie. “We should definitely make some apple pie, Dad loves that stuff!”

“Oh, he does?” Lucifer found this extremely amusing; the first man loves apple pie. To be honest, he thought the man would have an aversion toward the fruit, but lately he had found that everything he once thought about the first man was irreparably wrong.

“To be honest, I think Dad only likes it when I make it.” Abel laughed a little as he settled.

“Oh, why is that?” Charlie asked as she walked over to the island, followed by the two men.

“Well, I think Dad hates apples; he never says it explicitly because you know, toxic masculinity and all that, but when we were alive, when Cain offered Dad an apple, he got angry at him and yelled at him to never offer it to him again.” Lucifer flinched as he imagined how that must have reopened the wounds from Eden, especially seeing it in his own son. “But Dad did apologize to Cain afterwards, I think he was just blinded by his anger.”

“Oh, so he does know when he’s in the wrong?” Lucifer mumbled under his breath before clearing his throat. “So uh, why does he only like it when you make it?”

🍎🎸🍎🎸🍎

Adam groaned as he rolled out of his bed, falling onto the white tiled floor of his bedroom. “Fuck! Damn it! I gotta get these fucking floor’s changed.” Adam rubbed his hand over his butt before standing to his feet.

Stretching his golden wings, he yawned and slipped his feet into a pair of golden house shoes. He snaked his hand under his shirt, scratching his stomach as he shuffled out of his room. Walking down the hallway of the huge house, a house he happened to share with his direct descendants. And by direct descendants, he meant Abel, Seth, and his two granddaughters, Rania and Iman. As he walked down the hallway toward the kitchen, he passed the family pictures that lined the walls, a collection that puzzled him since those pictures had been in the house when he first moved in. Walking into the kitchen, he planned to turn on the coffee pot and get ready for a day at work, but when he stepped into the kitchen, his nose was assaulted by the smell of apple and cinnamon. Pinching his nose, he glared at his son Abel, who was standing by his niece Rania by the oven.

“Ohhh, that smells so good, Abe!” The girl squealed, her brown hair moving erratically as she danced around her uncle. “There’s no way you’re gonna lose!”

“You really think so? I think I may have used too much cinnamon, It's practically the only thing I can smell. I hope Dad doesn’t smell it.”

“It’s to late for that you little shit. What the hell are you making in here with apples? I told you I don’t ever wanna see these things here!” Adam angrily tapped his foot as he crossed his arms. 

Abel and Rania turned quickly, shocked by the sudden third voice, freezing the blonde sighed before he walked towards the kitchen table, setting the pan down. “Dad, I didn’t know you’d be up this soon.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. What the hell are you doing?” Adam asked, his patience was very thin right now, and he did not want to deal with a sudden late-after-death rebellion from his kids.

“Abel entered a baking competition!” Rania smiled as she walked over to the table with her uncle, peeling back the foil on the pan, a waft of smoke came from the dessert. Assaulting the first man’s nose with another dose of apple and cinnamon.

“God damn it cover that shit up.” Adam pinched his nose again as his face scrunched, turning to his son, he spoke. “I didn’t know you entered a baking competition.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t think you’d care really.”

The first man’s jaw couldn’t have dropped faster. Sputtering, he looked at his son, confused. “What? Why wouldn’t I care?”

“Well, because it's a Halloween-themed baking competition,” Abel spoke quietly, almost like he was afraid to say the word.

“Halloween? You mean that holiday that celebrities that asshole? Why would Sera hold a competition about that?”

“Well, it’s actually a winner that’s hosting the competition; her name is Molly. She said it was a holiday on earth where kids dress up as characters and go door to door knocking and asking for candy.” Abel spoke whimsically as if he were remembering it from his perspective. “Then she told me that around the time of Halloween, pumpkins and apples get really popular, so there are a bunch of foods and desserts with them in it. So I asked Emily if she knew how to make one, and she taught me so when Molly invited me to join the competition, I told her I would make apple pie.”

“But why choose apple pie? Why not pumpkin pie? Surely there’s that? Why did it have to be fucking apples?”

“Because I think it tastes better than pumpkin pie, and I think if you tried it, you would like it too, Dad.”

Adam narrowed his eyes at his son as his face twisted into a frown. “Absolutely not, why the hell would you even say that?!”

“Oh, come on, grandpa! It won’t kill you!” Rania whined as she looked at her grandfather, disappointed. “You’re being mean to Abel.”

“How the hell am I being mean? Because I don’t want to try fucking apple pie?”

“Abel worked hard, Iman and I tried the pie, and we told him it’s good, but you’re his Dad, grandpa, don’t you think he would want to know what you think?”

The first man turned towards his son, the words almost seemed to confuse him. Did Abel want to know what he thought? He had kinda assumed that after he had died that he didn’t really give a shit about what he thought anymore. I mean, that’s normal, right? A lot of winners had said that when they got older they stopped giving a shit what there parents said or thought.

“But you never tell me about anything that you do, am I supposed to somehow use my non-existent mind-reading powers to find out about it?”

“You never talk to me, Dad, you never talk to any of us! You never ask any of us what we’re doing or how our days are. If you actually cared, you would bother to check in. We shouldn’t be the ones chasing your attention; it isn’t fair, Dad.”

Adam was stunned and silent. Abel had never said anything like this, not even when he was alive. How long had he been feeling like that? Sure, he hadn’t talked to them in a bit, but he hadn’t thought it had been that long. He had been so busy at work, the job cruel but easy. But training the exorcists took up much of his time, and attending meetings with other arch angels or being stuck in a meeting with Sera. He barely got any time for himself, even when he had days off, Lute was always following him.

“I…I’m a busy guy, I didn’t even realize I hadn’t been talking to you.” Adam scratched the back of his head, Abel and Rania’s eyes followed him as he moved to the table and pulled a seat out from underneath, sitting down. “Alright, I’ll try the pie. If that’s what you want.”

“That was surprisingly easy.” Rania eyed her grandfather as Abel smiled and went to grab a plate.

“Shut up, before I change my mind.” 

Rania made a zipper motion over her lips as she went over to the counter with Abel, grabbing herself a plate. When they returned, Abel grabbed the knife and cut a piece for Adam and Rania. Sliding them the plates, he sat down and covered the pie. Rania was the first to take a bite, smiling as she covered her mouth with her hand.

“It’s so good, Abe, you have to make these for me every day.”

“I don’t know about every day, maybe sometimes is enough.”

Adam grabbed the fork and picked up a piece of the pie, bringing it to his lips, but before it could make contact, he stopped. The apple smell was so close it was almost making him nauseous, the chills he felt up his shoulders as he remembered the last time he had an apple in his mouth. He felt himself beginning to sweat, closing his eyes for a second he sucked in a breath and held it before breathing back out. Opening his eyes, he quickly put the fork into his mouth. When he did, Rania and Abel were literally on the edge of their seats as they gripped the ledge of the table. Despite the unexpected and slightly unpleasant taste of a small piece of apple, Adam continued chewing the pie and found it pleasantly surprising overall. The cinnamon inside the pie overpowered the apple by miles, he didn’t mind, actually, he could pretend that the apple was a different fruit. 

“You know, I think I like this, I can barely taste the apple.” He grabbed another piece with his fork and put it into his mouth. “But I’m guessing it’s not supposed to taste like that.”

Abel sighed as he put his head in his hands, leaning on the table. “No, you’re supposed to taste the apple more.”

Adam, before taking another bite of his pie, stated his belief that if his son didn't win, the competition was rigged, adding, "Well, I like it like this".

“Wait, I think that too!” Rania said quickly as she grabbed her uncle’s arm.

🍎🎸🍎🎸🍎

“I didn’t win, I was in third place. Dad made a big deal about it when I got home.” Abel chuckled at the thought before sighing, his face falling as he turned to look at Charlie and her father. “Do you think Dad is ok? He hasn’t seemed himself, I know he said nothing was wrong, but I can tell.”

“I agree. I think he’s hiding something from us,” Lucifer said as he began sorting out ingredients on the island.

“Dad!” Charlie said almost angrily, looking up from the island, he looked at her before looking over at Abel, who had a sad expression on his face. 

“What? I can’t lie to him, Char-Char. Adam is hiding something, and he won’t talk to anyone, so it’s up to us to figure out what’s going on.”

“What do you mean?” Abel asked, confused, as he moved closer to the island to grab ingredients for the pie.

“We’ll use the dinner tonight to watch him, ask him questions, and see what’s going on.”

“What if he doesn’t slip up?”  Charlie asked as she grabbed bowls and pans from the cabinet behind her.

“Then I can always just spy on him.” The king stated as he pulled the plastic packaging off the different meats.

“Dad, you are not spying on him.” 

“Just a suggestion, apple crisp.”

Chapter Text

Sitting downstairs at the large dinner table, Adam felt like every nerve in his body was on fire. When Charlie had come to grab him from his room he had taken more of the pills three more to be exact, he had only those left in the bag from the new stash he had gotten earlier that week and since his high was already gone when he woke up these three would only prove to give him the same high he had before right?

“ Adam, I’m surprised you decided to join us! ” The static voice of the radio demon slithered its way into Adam’s ear, making him frown.

“Fuuck you.” Adam closed his mouth as quickly as he opened it, why the fuck did he sound like that?

Everyone at the table gave the first man a confused look, and his son tightened the grip on his fork as he looked down the table at his father. He looked worse than earlier; something had to have happened when they were cooking earlier. Angel cleared his throat as he tried his best to dissipate the awkward atmosphere. “So what’s tonight’s dinner? I see the ribs, but what’s this other stuff?”

Charlie turned to Angel and smiled as she pointed at each of the large portions of food on the table. “Well, this one is Black bean and beef tostadas, and this one is Tandoori chicken. And this one is apple pie, Abel made it!” Charlie happily pointed to the pie.

“Oh, I didn’t know angels could cook, isn’t stuff like pre-made for you in heaven?” Husk asked as he looked between Emily and Abel.

“Yes, but hobbies are highly encouraged in heaven; everyone has one! In fact Adam taught gardening classes! Though I’m not sure who’s taken them over since.” Emily spoke the last part softly as she peeked down the table at the first man. “Uh, can you pass the tostadas? They look amazing!” The seraphim quickly changed the subject as she pointed to the food.

Charlie grabbed the plates and began passing them off to everyone at the table. As the multiple plates were passed around, they finally made it to Adam. As they sat in front of him, he felt bile begging to rise in the back of his throat. It looked delicious, but the mere thought of eating was so sickening that he was half expecting to throw up all over the table. Looking up from the plates, everyone was engaged in conversation, well, everyone except his son, whom he saw from his peripheral vision was staring at him. Cursing under his breath, he picked up one of the tostadas and placed it on his plate, grabbing a piece of chicken and a rib, he placed that on his plate too. The first man raised his head and scanned the table a little bit, realizing no one was staring at him anymore, he let out a sigh of relief.

Turning his attention back to the food in front of him, he frowned as the rib on the plate had an ominous feel to it. Surely there wasn’t anything in it, was it? Abel was in the kitchen with them when he made it, so surely there was nothing wrong with it; he just had to force the food down, then he could get rid of it later. Stilling his nerves the best he could, he began to eat the food on his plate, every bite was actual hell. Putting this garbage into his mouth was slowly killing him on the inside; he felt like he had gained twenty pounds with each bite he took.

“So, what’s with that tree outside?” Abel asked as he took a bite of his food, looking at the king and his daughter across the table from him.

“Oh, Adam did that, accidentally, but still. That’s our garden, he said he’d take care of it for us!” Charlie clapped her hands together as she spoke happily.

“Oh really? That’s wonderful! Have you thought about what you’re going to be putting back there?” Emily asked as she looked at Adam, the rest of the table turning to look at him as well.

“Oh well…I..I wanted to put a paaathway.” Adam closed his eyes to calm himself down. He sounded pathetic right now and more than a little suspicious. “And I planned to make different areas for different p-plants.”

Lucifer gave Adam a curious but skeptical look. He could hear how the man was stuttering and slurring his speech. That wasn’t normal, and it sure as hell hadn’t been happening the whole time he was here. Angel turned to face Adam as he looked over the first man; he too heard the way he spoke, it felt familiar, and it confused him because surely what he thought was going on wasn’t actually happening right?

“That sounds beautiful, I can’t wait for you to start!” Charlie smiled as she tried not to comment on how weird the man was acting. “Actually, I noticed the tree was wilting more than usual. Is something wrong with it?”

Adam cursed in his head as the princess drew attention back to him. He held his hand to his forehead as he tried to get his thoughts in order. His brain was moving way faster than his mouth at the moment, and he didn’t want to say something stupid. But the longer he kept quiet, the more concerned and confused the rest of the table got. To Adam, he had only closed his eyes for a minute, but in reality, he had them closed for a good ten minutes.

“Adam?” The first man’s head shot up as he looked at the princess. “Are you ok?”

His eyes scanned the table, falling on Abel he sucked in a breath. “Yeah, just way more tired than I thought I was, uh, pass me the pie.”

Adam’s attempt at changing the subject seemed to work as Charlie handed the pie to her father, who passed it over to the first man, gulping silently, he grabbed a piece and set it on his plate. Picking up his fork, he could hear the rest of the table go back to their idle chatter, grabbing a bit with his fork, he held it to his mouth. He could smell the overpowering cinnamon like he knew he would, but his gut was telling him not to eat it, but disappointing his son was not an option. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the fork into his mouth, as he chewed on it, his body began to lose its tension, maybe he could actually get through this dinner. But that all came crashing to a halt when he bit into a piece of the apple, his body seized, and as it did, he covered his mouth and stood from the table and tried to go somewhere. Anywhere that wasn’t here at the table with everyone, but he couldn’t get far before he doubled over and began to throw up.

“Shit Adam! Holy crap!” Charlie jumped from her seat and ran to stand beside him, kneeling.

“Dad!” Abel ran over to Adam, putting his hand on his back. Vaggie frowned as she watched the scene in front of her unfold.

“I knew it! Something is wrong with you! What the hell did you eat?!” The ex-exorcist stood from her seat as she made her way to his seat and began to look over the half-eaten food

Angel stood abruptly as he rushed past the other hotel guests. Husk confused followed Angel. As the two made their way down the hallway of the hotel, the cat demon finally spoke. “What the hell is going on? And where are you going?”

“I think Adam is doing drugs.” The blunt reply from the spider demon left Husk dumb founded.

“But it's Adam, he’s way too full of himself to do something like that, I’ve never even seen the guy drink. At the sleepover, he didn’t even want to take it at first.”

As the two made it to his room, Angel slammed the door open. When the door hit the wall, a shattering sound came from behind it. Pulling the door away from the wall, Angel sighed. Husk crossed his hands over his chest as he frowned.

“So he’s been the one stealing from the bar, huh?” He looked up at the spider demon with a disappointed look on his face. “And you knew, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but a little alcohol never hurts anyone, but that isn’t what's got him actin like that.”

Husk rolled his eyes as Angel began looking through the first man’s room. Opening the closet, he shuffled through the clothes, tossing them out onto the floor. Pulling open the drawer part of the closet, he tossed those clothes out too, pulling out a couple of full alcohol bottles and handing them to the cat demon. When he hadn’t found anything, he looked around the room before spotting the bedside table. Taking long strides, he made it to the table and snatched the drawer open.

“God damn it.” Angel grabbed two tin boxes from the drawer and opened the first one. “The confusion and the slurred voice. He’s strung out on Benzo right now.”

“What? How did he get his hands on this stuff?” The cat demon peered into the box.

“It's mine, he must have found my stashes.” Husk didn’t say anything, but his face showed disappointment. “Alright…let's go show Charlie.”

The two quickly made their way back to the lobby. Once back inside the room with everyone else, Angel knelt beside the princess and the unconscious first man. Setting the boxes on the ground, he opened them and pulled out the two empty baggies.

“Are those drugs?! How did he get those?! Why did he have those?!” Charlie looked horrified as she placed the man’s head on her lap.

“Wait, drugs?! Dad’s taking drugs?!” Abel looked around the room, confused. “I thought this place was safe from all of that?!” He turned to look at Emily, who also had a terrified look on her face.

Lucifer knelt beside Adam and placed his hand over the man’s mouth, feeling air coming from his mouth, he sighed and looked at the two angels. “He’s alright, just unconscious. How did he get that?” The king glanced towards the tin boxes before looking up at Angel.

“It’s mine. I have stashes around the hotel, and he must have found them.” Vaggie angrily walked over to the tin cans and snatched them up.

“Angel are you fucking serious?! I thought we told you to get rid of these things!”

Charlie’s voice was light as she turned to look at him. “Angel, I thought we talked about this?”

He looked down at his lap, he didn’t know what to say. He had the stashes around because, in all honesty, he had relapsed; the whole reason he hid them, though, was so they wouldn’t be in reach, he’d have to go out of his way to get them. And he hid it pretty well, he thought. But it was his fault that the first man looked like this right now. How did he not notice this whole time? He had talked to him every night. Charlie lightly placed her hand on his arm, and he looked at her, his face sullen.

“We’ll talk about it, ok? I’m here for you always.” Angel nodded his head, sighing softly, he looked up at Abel.

“I’m sorry about Adam, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

Abel looked down at his father, good news, he was breathing, bad news is he was doing drugs. Not a sentence he ever thought he’d string together, but there it was, to be honest, he didn’t know what to think about it all. On one hand, he hates that the drugs were around in the first place, but on the other hand, he also knew it was his dad’s choice to use them. He sighed as he shook his head, smiling wearily at the spider demon. 

“Nah, it’s alright. Dad had a hand in it just as much as you did. What’s important is he’s alive.”

Angel looked back down at Adam as Vaggie tossed the tin boxes at Alastor. Snapping his finger’s a shadow tentacle grabs the boxes and pulls them into a black hole before closing.

“He’s about to go through one hell of a detox.” The demon commented as he looked at Charlie, Lucifer, and Abel. “He’s gonna need your support. It’s gonna be hard for him. I doubt he’d admit that, though.”

“Wow, you care about Adam, huh?” Charlie smiled happily as she nudged her shoulder into his arm.

“Well yeah, actually we’re kinda friends now..” The princess's mouth dropped as she looked at her dad, then Abel.

“Ahhh, did you hear that they’re friends! Wait, when did you become friends?” Her cheers died down as confusion settled on her face. Angel looked away as he spoke.

“Uh, actually, he might be an alcoholic, too. I sneak Husky’s drinks at night, and his room was littered with bottles.”

Charlie’s eyes widened in horror as she looked back down at him. Abel snorted before covering his mouth. Everyone turned to face him, shocked and confused. “Did you just laugh at your dad being an alcoholic?” Emily almost couldn’t get the question out.

Abel smiled before frowning, trying to rid the expression as he looked around the room, but he couldn’t take it and began laughing. “Look, I know this is sad and all, but I mean, that sounds more like something my dad would be.”

The king snorted before, covering his mouth. Charlie turned to face her dad with a shocked expression on her face. “He has a point; it makes a lot of sense.” 

Lucifer composed himself, sucking in a breath of air he sighed, standing he put his arms underneath the man’s arms and picked him up, putting him over his shoulder. The king's might shocked both the surrounding demons and angels. Snapping his fingers, a red portal opened in front of him. Turning to look at Charlie, he placed his other hand on the man’s back, making sure he wouldn’t fall.

“I’ll be watching Adam until further notice; everything he eats and does will be under my supervision.”

“Uh, don’t you think that’ll make him mad?” Charlie asked cautiously as she looked over the man’s unconscious face.

“Which would you rather have? An angry Adam or a dead one?” Angel placed his hand on the princess's arm.

She nodded her head in understanding, maybe she’d get to talk to him a little later. “Alright, thank you, Dad.”

The king nodded his head before stepping through the portal. Once it closed, he was standing inside his bedroom. Walking over to the bed, he placed the first man down on it. He sat down on the bed beside him as he ran his fingers through his golden hair. “You are not gonna be happy.” Speaking to himself, he looked down at Adam, his hand moved on its own as he moved the man's hair from in front of his eyes. Now that the first man was being silent and not being a complete ass he could see why he always boasted about his looks.

But the demon king knew that even during Eden, Adam was attractive. Chuckling to himself, he thought back on the time the three of them created a rather amusing-looking animal.

🍎🎸🍎🎸🍎

“Come on, Luci, I know you can make it!” Adam smiled as he stood beside Lilith, who was beside the two as she looked back and forth between them.

“Don’t you think it would be a little…unsightly?” He turned to face Lilith, when her face too held a little fondness towards the first man's suggestion, he sighed. “Do you agree with him?”

“I do think it would be a little funny to see an animal like that.” She spoke softly, laughing.

The angel sighed as he closed his eyes, holding his hands out in front of the two. Surrounding the first humans was a small trail of golden light, which twisted and turned, getting lost in the strands of grass and flowers around them. The light soon pooled into a small circular object in the middle of the three before practically blinding Adam and Lilith as it took its form. Once the light disappeared, in its wake was a pale blob; it had a huge nose and big lips, and behind it, there was a tail used for swimming.

“Wow, look at it.” Lilith smiled as she picked up the fish, the gelatinous body molding to fit into her hands. “It’s so cute.” She turned and pushed the animal into Adam’s face. “What should we name it?”

The first man looked over the fish, his eyes taking in the form of the blob in front of him. Then it hit him. “How about a blob fish?”

“That’s a very straightforward name, isn’t it?” Lucifer commented as he poked the fish in Lilith’s hands.

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t really look like anything, so I think it fits. What do you think?” The first man turned back to Lilith as he grabbed the fish from her hands.

“I think it’s perfect, hey Luci, since it’s a fish, it needs water, right?” Lucifer perked as he heard the first woman say his name, nodding his head. Lilith grabbed the fish from Adam’s hands. “I’ll go find a pond to put it in, you two stay here, I’ll be right back.”

The first woman smiled as she began making her way into the forest behind them. Adam wasn’t really worried about her getting lost since she was always wandering around, but Lucifer seemed worried as he kept watching the area behind the two for her return. Sitting in the silence as he watched the empty area was more than a little awkward, but since the man hadn’t known what the feeling was called at the time, he just ignored it.

“Luci, Lilith will be ok. She knows how to get back here.” The angel turned to face the confused human. “Actually, since Lilith is gone, I have some questions for you, if you don’t mind?”

The question and the unsure look on the first man's face made Lucifer mentally berate his actions. He was the angel of Joy and creation, and he was also both Lilith and Adam’s protector. It wasn’t fair to pay so much attention to only one. But even he himself had no idea why he was so worried about the first woman, this was her home after all, of course, she would know her way around.

“Of course, I apologize for my neglectful behavior, Adam. Speak, what are your questions?” Lucifer walked over to the first man and sat down in front of him. Adam followed suit, crossing his legs and leaning on them as he spoke.

“Well, recently I met another angel, he said he was your twin brother?”

“Ah, you met Michael, what was the reason?” The angel asked, noting how tense Adam seemed to be at the question.

“I think he was just visiting, but he seemed to get upset when I told him you were always with Lilith.”

Lucifer nodded his head, so that was the real reason behind his brother's spontaneous desire to talk with him last night. Though he danced around the subject, he never said that was the explicit reason; he just kept saying, “Is that all?” after he would finish a sentence. He wasn’t angry but just a little confused about what the first man was asking.

“He also told me that lying isn’t good, and I don’t know if this is correct, but I think you’ve been lying to me.” Lucifer gave Adam a confused look as his cheeks glowed blue slightly.

“Lying about what? I’m certain I have not told you any lies.”

“What are you and Lilith doing when you are not around me?”

The question made the angel do a double-take. Why was he worried about that? In truth, he really was just watching over the woman as she walked around the garden, answering a couple of questions whenever she asked, but never anything else. The woman had even given him a flower crown a while back, saying it was a token of gratitude for his guidance.

“I answer any questions she has about the garden, just like I do with you.”

“Is that all? You are not doing anything dangerous?” Adam’s face held concern as he looked over Lucifer.

The angel put his left hand up and the other on his chest. “I swear by my title as Seraphim, I am not doing anything dangerous with Lilith. I would never endanger her, just like I would never endanger you.”

The tension in his shoulders eased as he dropped them, sighing, he looked down at the ground. “It’s not just her…I don’t want you to get hurt either,” Adam spoke quietly as he fiddled with a strand of grass he pulled up from the ground. “I’m worried about you, too. I don’t want you to endanger yourself either, Luci.”

The angel’s face softened as he smiled at the first man. He knew humans were a fragile being, along with his fascination with how they lived, he had a fascination with their emotions. With such curiosity and devotion towards the species, it wasn’t a surprise to his siblings when he began to display the same behavior in his everyday life, placing his hand softly on the man's cheek, his wings opened slightly, showing the bright blue that colored the inside of the appendages.

“Thank you for being so thoughtful, Adam. I am a seraphim. So every day I have to endanger myself to make Earth a place for you and Lilith to live.” The first man's face turned a slightly darker shade as he stared into Lucifer's eyes. “But I thank you for your concern, I will be extra careful so that I may come back to you and Lilith in the garden.”

Adam nodded his head slowly as Lucifer pulled his hand back, his wings folding back neatly behind him. The first man turned away from the angel, trying to figure out why his heart was beating a mile a minute; when he spotted the same plant he had given Michael the day he visited, reaching over, he plucked the flower and held it out towards the guardian angel.

“For you, I named it, the Cyclamen flower.” Lucifer took the flower and brought it to his face and sniffed it, at least that’s what Adam thought he was doing since there wasn’t a nose that he could see on the angel's face.

“Interesting name, why did you choose it?”

“The petals grow in a circle, see?” Adam leaned forward a bit, placing the tip of his finger to the petal.

“Oh, that’s such a clever name, very straightforward but still clever. Great job!” Lucifer clapped his hands as he began putting the flower in his pocket.

“Wait, wait. Not there, you can’t see it there.” Adam grabbed the flower from his hand and put it in the angel's hair. “That looks a lot better.” Adam pulled back, smiling. Once at a safe distance, he cleared his throat. He hadn’t noticed how close he had gotten to his guardian angel.

“It changed its form!” Lilith happily ran back into the forest clearing before stopping in front of them, noticing the flower, she looked down at Adam, then back to Lucifer. “Would you like to see it?”

Lucifer nodded as Lilith ran back through the clearing and away from them. When he stood, he held his hand out to the first man. “You want me to come too?”

“Of course, the blobfish was your idea after all, and I really am sorry for excluding you. No more of that.” Adam nodded his head as he smiled softly at the angel, taking his hand.

“Lead the way, Luci.”

🍎🎸🍎🎸🍎

Lucifer pulled his hand away from Adam as he pondered that last scene from his memory. Back then, he hadn’t noticed anything weird when he had given him the flower. But thinking back on it now, the way his face had shifted from its normal color to a darker red was just a little more than weird; maybe he was just overthinking things. There was no way what he thought was going on was what actually happened. Standing from the bed, he walked over to his desk and sat down in the chair. He’d figure out what to do with the first man once he opened his eyes, whenever that would be.

Chapter Text

Sitting up in the bed quickly, Adam covered his mouth and ran into the connecting bathroom, hunching over the toilet, he emptied his stomach. Jolting up right Lucifer rubbed his eyes, looking over at the bed he was about to question himself about where the first man had gone but when he heard the retching from the bathroom he quickly stood up and made his way to the room, standing in the archway he looked down at Adam as he sat on the floor of the bathroom leaning against the wall.

“Fuck…why me.” The first man mumbled to himself as he lifted his head slightly to look up at the king. “What do you want?”

Lucifer crossed his arms over his chest as he tapped his foot. “Benzodiazepines? Really Adam? It’s known to essentially turn off your nervous system.” The first man kept quiet as the king gave him an earful. “And you were drinking? Alcohol and medicine, especially psych medicine, are like a big no-no; most humans know that.”

“Fuck off, I-I didn’t know that shit. It wasn’t around wheeen I was on e-earth.” Adam groaned as he leaned his head back onto the wall.

“God, do you not hear how you sound right now? You’re out of your mind right now. There’s no use talking to you like this.”

“Good f-fuck off then I-I don’t neeed your help.”

“Uh, actually, you do. You're under my watchful eye until further notice.”

Adam frowned as he hurried to his hooves, holding onto the toilet and wall as he did. “Absolutely not! I-I’m not a fucking k-kid!” The first man attempted to leave the room, holding onto the sink as he made his way to the bathroom door, but instead of moving, Lucifer kept his boots planted to the ground. “Move t-the hell out o-of my way.”

The devil shook his head as he clicked his tongue. “I don’t think you understand, you don’t have a choice in the matter. I already told everyone I’d watch you, including Abel, and you don’t want to disappoint him, do you?”

Adam stopped as he glared at the king. Using his own against him was a low blow, but when did the ex-angel not hit home when he talked to him? “Fuck you h-how would you feel i-if I used Charlie against you?”

The devil wagged his finger as he clicked his tongue again. “You did more than just use her against me; you tried to kill her.” Adam rolled his eyes as he kept his grip on the sink. “Quit being so difficult, and just let me help you.”

“Why do you waant to help me now? You never have b-before.”

“I was literally your guardian angel.”

“Yeah, and a l-lot of good t-that did meee.”

Lucifer’s face fell, sure he wasn’t the best, but he also knew he wasn’t the worst. If Michael had been his guardian, then maybe on extermination day he would have died, or perhaps the exterminations wouldn’t be needed; he wasn’t really sure, and he didn't have the mental capacity to think about the what-ifs and take care of the first man at the same time.

“Look, I know we haven’t been getting along that much, but I swear I'm really just trying to help you. So please just let me, nothing sketchy, I mean it.” Lucifer put his left hand in the air and the other over his chest. “By my title as the king of hell, you have my word I will not let any harm befall you.”

Adam felt his chest tighten, and his heart stuttered a bit. Scoffing, he looked down at the floor, letting himself calm down. He sighed and finally looked back at the king. “F-fine, but I swear you t-try anything funny and I’ll killll you.”

Lucifer laughed as he waltzed into the bathroom, grabbing one of Adam’s arms, he put it over his shoulder. This caused the taller man to bend a bit as he helped him back into bed. “Funny joke, Adam, you always were such a riot.”

“I didn’t e-even say anything funny, you’re just being an asssshole cause you know I can b-barely move right now.”

“No, I’m being realistic, you’re a sinner, and I am the king of Hell, so it's only natural I’d be stronger than you.”

Adam glared at the king as he called him a sinner, even though he now accepted the truth for what it was, it didn’t make him feel any better. “Which by t-the way, I r-remind you is your fuucking fault.”

“You don’t know how to accept accountability for anything, do you?”

“Y-your one t-to talk.”

Lucifer shook his head as he held his hands up. “Nope, we are not doing this again. Just lie down while I go grab Abel.” Adam shot up from the bed as he gripped the wall.

“W-what the fuck f-for?” Lucifer grabbed the man's arm and peeled it from the wall, holding his arm, he helped him sit back down onto the bed.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, he just wants to check up on you. I mean, he did just find out you were on drugs.” The first man narrowed his eyes as he studied the devil for any hint of insincerity. After finding none, he sighed and waved his hand at him. 

“F-fuck you.”

The king rolled his eyes as he walked out of the room, leaning back on the bed Adam ran his hands over his face as he sighed. He felt like shit, he never felt like this even when he drank wine in Heaven, but to be fair nothing up there was as intense as it is in Hell. A knock on the door made him look up from his lap, the door slowly opened.

“Dad?” Abel stepped into the room, his hands behind his back as he closed the door with his foot.

The first man smiled softly as he looked up at his son. “Y-yeah, uh..Sorry you haad to see aall of that.”

The angel nodded his head slightly as he smiled at his father, walking over to the bed, he sat down next to him. “So…You wanna tell me what’s going on with you?”

Adam cringed as he heard the stern voice his son used, it was as if he was the child instead of him. “Well, I dooon’t have anything to tell you really I j-just wanted to t-try the medicine the winners have been raaving about.”

The man shook his head as he frowned at his father. “No, Dad, I know that’s not it, something is wrong. You can talk to me, I’m here for you.” Adam was silent as he turned his head away from Abel, the blonde lightly placed his hand on the first man's shoulder. “Please, Dad, you don’t have to suffer through this alone. You have me, Charlie, Angel, and even Lucifer and Vaggie.”

The first man rolled his eyes as he turned his head away from his son, looking at the ground. “Lucifer d-doesn’t give a ssshit about me and neither does that b-bitch Vagina.”

Abel sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Dad, I can only tell you what I know, ok. I can’t tell you what you want to hear, and what you want to hear is that everyone hates you and you have a reason to piss people off.” He put his hand on his father's shoulder, making Adam turn his head to face him again. “And that isn’t true, you can’t keep acting like an asshole to the people who care about you.”

“B-but that’s just it, they doon't care about m-me. I’m sure this is aall a part of the plan to get heaven to accept her h-hotel bullshit.”

“But you don’t know that, I know it’s hard for you to accept, but people change, Dad. Even you.”

Adam scoffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. Of course, he knew people changed, but what happened between them wasn’t something you could apologize for and be done with. Lucifer had ruined his life, then he had a kid with the woman who was supposed to be with him.

“He r-ruined my life, he’s the reeason why you died, how c-can you evennn stand to be around him?” Adam took a deep breath as he tried to quit stuttering. “H-he is the reason why you couldn’t live in E-Eden. How can you sit here and say all of that?”

Abel smiled softly as he put his hand on his lap. “I know why you hate him, and I know why you don’t want to trust him, but he means well, and I think he meant well then as well.” Adam raised a finger as he began to speak, but his son held his hand up to stop him. “And Cain made the choice he did, Lucifer didn’t whisper in his ear and convince him to kill me, just like there was no one whispering in your ear when you decided to attack Charlie’s hotel.”

The man shook his head as he frowned at his son. “L-last time humanity trusted him, he doomed it, soo excuse me for not wanting to m-make the same mistake.” Why did no one understand where he was coming from? No matter who he talked to, they all said the same damn thing. It was starting to tire him out. “You don’t get it, he was my ffirst friend, the first p-person I ever trusted, and look what happened to me.”

“Yeah, he may have betrayed that trust, but Dad, he isn’t the reason you’re here now; that falls completely on you.” The first man’s head hung as he looked down at his golden claws. He knew deep down that his son was right, but he didn’t want to accept that. If he did, then what was the reason for everything he had done? “But even if that’s true, you don’t have to face this alone. You don’t have to turn to alcohol or drugs, I’m here and I care about you even if you think no one else does…I love you, Dad.”

Abel placed his hand on his father's as he smiled widely at him, Adam’s breath hitched as he saw the small boy he had raised on earth. His eyes glossed over as he brought his hands to his face and wiped them, but he wasn’t able to stop the tears as they flowed down his face. The angel brought the sinner into a hug as he rubbed his back. After making sure his father was ok, he stood from the bed and put his hands behind his back.

“So now that you’re more open to talk, I have some people who want to talk to you.” Adam groaned as he saw his son back up to the room door and grip the handle, and open the door. Charlie fell into the room as she toppled over her father and her girlfriend.

“Oh foor f-fucks sake, have they been there the whole f-fucking time?!”

 Charlie rubbed her head as she scurried off Vaggie and helped her stand. Now on his feet, Lucifer scratched the back of his head as he spoke. “Well, you are in my bedroom, I just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t go snooping around where you aren’t supposed to.”

Adam began to retort to the short king, but Abel placed his hands on his shoulders, calming him. “Dad, is ready to talk to everyone. I know you all have your grievances with him, but please just hear him out.”

Lucifer snapped his fingers, and a red smoke cloud appeared over the first man's head like a helmet before disappearing. “What the hell was that?”

Adam shocked himself as he touched his head lightly with his hands. “I figured this would take a while, and I did not want to hear you stuttering and slurring while you talk.”

“You could do that the whole time, and you didn’t?” Adam raised a brow at the devil, the man shrugged his shoulders as he snapped his fingers again, this time three chairs appeared in front of the bed. 

The three new guests sat down in the chairs and stared at the first man, sitting next to him on the bed. Abel sat patting his father’s back. “Come on, Dad, I know you can do it.”

Adam nodded his head and closed his eyes, breathing in, he steadied his nerves and blew out before speaking. “Look, I know I haven’t been… the kindest to you three, but…I’m sorry.”

Vaggie scoffed as she rolled her eye. “You think sorry will fix what you did?” The first man shook his head as he tried to keep his anger in check.

“No, but if you’d let me finish…I know I can’t fix anything I’ve done, but I was hurting too, I still am.” Adam scoured his brain for a way to say the next words without sounding pathetic, but he found none. “I…I thought that if I hurt you, then I’d be hurting him, and I wanted him to hurt so bad, to feel what I felt when I lost Abel, but it was all for nothing.”

The first man wiped his eyes again as he successfully held back the waterworks. “But what about me? Why did you hurt me?” Vaggie asked, but the more he stared at her, the more he could see how she was almost begging for an answer from him. “It can’t be because I spared that child.”

Adam thought for a minute, sure he hadn’t been the one to actually hurt her, but he left her there. To be honest, at the time, he wasn’t even sure if that was the right thing to do, but when he returned to heaven, no one had said a word to him. He closed his eyes as he tried to think back on the moment when he had first seen her with her missing eye and wings. He thought that it was what she deserved, but now it felt as if he saw himself in her, as if he was giving her a chance to repent, like he had been given all of those years ago.

“I think..I think I wanted you to go through what I went through.” The woman gave him a confused look. “After I ate the apple, they sent me to earth, and I repented, but it was literally hell on earth. I wanted to give you that chance as well, but the more I thought about it, you betrayed me, and I hated you so much for it.”

The room was quiet as Adam tried to string the sentences together in his head. Why was this so hard? He opened his eyes quickly as he felt a hand touch his. It was Charlie, she was smiling, and rubbing her thumb on the back of his hand. Taking another deep breath, he continued speaking. “I’m sorry, I really am, I know I was dick and you can kick my ass if you want to but I mean it.”

Vaggie looked over the man, trying to see if she detected any sign of malice. When she found none, she looked down at her hands in her lap as she fiddled with the hem of her skirt. “I can’t forgive you, but I do accept your apology.”

Charlie smiled as she hugged her girlfriend, laughing a little. Vaggie blushed as she hugged her back. He’d have to get used to that, but for now, he turned his head and met the king's gaze. It caught him off guard at how hard Lucifer had been staring at him; he hadn’t noticed before, but now that he was looking at him, he could see an almost sympathetic look on his face. Abel placed his hands on his father's shoulders as he smiled at him.

“Alright, one more person.” Adam groaned as he rubbed the side of his head. This one would be a doozy. He had said everything he had ever wanted to say to the asshole during his angry spouts, sighing he closed his eyes as he turned his body to face Lucifer.

“Ok so there's a lot of shit to say about you.” Abel pushed his father's shoulder roughly, and Adam sighed as he rolled his eyes. “What I meant to say is I have a lot to say about you…I trusted you, I thought you were my friend, and then I found out that you were planning on how to steal my wife the whole time. Do you know how shitty that feels?”

“That wasn’t my goal. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

“Ok, but it happened, and not only did you do it once, then you came back and did it again, what was your reason then?”

“We thought it wasn’t fair, just because you wanted to stay in Eden doesn’t mean Eve had to as well.”

The first man felt his blood begin to boil. Every time he talked to Lucifer, this was how their conversations turned out: same old thing every single time. “But you had no right! You didn’t even want to tell me what was going on, you had planned to give the apple to Lilith and Eve and just leave me there alone!” Lucifer raised his finger to speak, but Adam angrily looked at him and pointed at him. “No shut the fuck up and just listen to me for once! You didn’t even try! Why would you offer everyone a chance at freedom but me? You gave Eve and Lilith the chance to choose for themselves if they wanted it, but you just decided that I didn’t want it?!”

The king gave Adam a confused look. This wasn’t where he thought the conversation was going; it seemed as if he was angry over something else entirely. “Wait, are you mad because I didn’t offer you the apple?”

Everyone turned to face the first man, the question catching him off guard, he scoffed. “No, that’s...that’s not what I’m angry about. I’m angry because you never even gave me a chance. Did you ever really see me as your friend? Or was I just an inconvenience because I wasn’t as smart as they were?”

“What? No, that’s not true, sure you were slower at learning than they were, but I always considered you a friend.”

“Then why? If you saw me as your friend, why did you do it? Why did you never say anything to me?”

The king thought back to the day he had offered Eve the apple. He had wanted to give Adam the apple, but Lilith thought that he wouldn’t want it, considering his views at the time, and he was hesitant, Lilith at the time had told him Adam tried to control her and he thought it was true so why would he even bother when he thought he knew the answer to the question?

“I, I really didn’t think you’d eat the apple, and for the sneaking around, I really am sorry. We didn’t think you’d take it well, we were afraid you'd go and tell Sera or Michael.” Lucifer hung his head in shame as he heard himself; he sounded so pathetic that it almost damaged his pride. “And could you blame us? You were so far up there asses that we thought you’d never listen.”

“Yes, I can blame you! Because you never asked! You don’t know what my answer would have been if you never asked!” The weight of Adams' words crushed the devil like an anvil.

“Would you? Would you have said yes?”

The room fell silent again as the three guests in the room questioned themselves on whether or not they should be listening to such a private conversation. “I…I don’t know, maybe. I don’t think I would have wanted to be left alone, so I guess I would have.” Adam shrugged his shoulders as he looked down at his hands. He couldn’t look at Lucifer right now; he was too nervous to see the expression on the man's face.

“I…I didn’t…I’m sorry.” Adam’s head shot up like a rocket as he stared at the seraphim. “I should have asked, I should have told you what was going on, but I was so afraid that Michael and Sera would find out that I hadn’t even noticed how I was messing with your life.”

Adam didn’t know what to say to that, sure the seraphim had been apologizing to him since the day he respawned in hell but this one seemed more genuine, not to say he thought the others weren’t but this one made him feel like the devil finally understood what he had been feeling for so long.

“Um, I don’t know what to say to that, so I’ll just move to the next topic.” Vaggie groaned as her hand slid down her face. She was so over this awkward tension between the king and the first man. “I don’t really know what I want to do anymore.”

“I thought you wanted to get back into heaven?” Charlie cocked her head to the side quizzically as she looked at Abel then back to him.

“I don’t know if that’s what I want anymore. Heaven made it very clear that I'm replaceable and meant nothing to them.” The princess put her hand over her chest as Adam lost his energy and deflated against his son like a balloon. “With my son, the very son who couldn’t hurt a fly at that.”

“Hey, I can totally fight if I wanted to, not to say I would fight you.”

She waved her hand in his direction as she smiled, scooting her chair forward, and grabbed the first man’s hands. “You have eternity to figure out what you want to do, and I’ll help you do it, and just because Heaven couldn’t see your worth doesn’t mean we won’t.”

Vaggie nodded her head as she scooted closer and grabbed one of Adam's hands from Charlie. “Even though you’ve been an asshole to me, I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Adam turned his head as he felt a hand resting on his knee. Lucifer smiled wearily at him. “I know you don’t trust me, but I won’t let anything happen to you, and not to sound weird, but heaven could never replace you, there’s only one first man.”

Abel placed his hand on Adam’s shoulder and shook him a little. “See, I told you, they cared about you.” 

Adam looked at the people around him: His son, his enemy's daughter, his enemy, and his ex-soldier/sort of daughter, and began to cry. He had done everyone so disgustingly dirty, and they all found it in themselves to give him another chance; he didn’t deserve this. 

“D-don’t cry because if you cry I’m g-gonna cry.” Charlie stuttered as she squeezed Adam’s hand, as she tried not to burst into tears. Vaggie smiled softly at the girl as she stood and grabbed Charlie’s hand.

“I’m gonna go take her to take her back to bed.” The woman chuckled a little as the princess wiped her eyes, trying to rid them of tears. They walked towards the door and opened it, but before they could walk out, Vaggie turned to face Adam. “It was nice…talking to you.”

The door closed as Adam began to cry again, his son smiled as he hugged his dad. “Aww, I’ve never seen you cry this much before.”

“Of course you haven’t because I’m a real man and real men don’t cry, but for some reason ever since I got here I’ve been doing it non-stop.” Abel patted his father's back as he decided to keep that conversation for another time.

“I’ve got to go talk to Emily, are you going to be ok?” Adam looked at Lucifer as the devil seemed to be stuck in his thoughts.

“Yeah, I’ll be ok.”

Chapter Text

After Abel left the room, Adam turned his gaze back to the king as he sat in front of him. “Alright, what do you wanna talk about?”

The king raised his head as the words seemed to snap him from his thoughts. “Uh, what?”

“I said, what do you wanna talk about?”

“I never said I wanted to talk about anything.”

“Yeah, but I can tell, if I had to spill my guts today, then so do you.” Adam scooted closer to the headboard and tapped the spot next to him. Lucifer gave him a confused look as he looked at the empty area, then back to him. “Come on, while I’m still trying to be nice.”

The devil nodded as he stood and sat down on the bed, looking down at his hands, he was silent. “I just feel like everything I did was for nothing. I gave the apple to Eve and Lilith as a way to give humanity free will, and look how that turned out.” Adam nodded his head as he listened to Lucifer. He honestly hadn’t thought the seraphim could feel remorse over the situation. “And then I just disappeared on Charlie and barely spoke to her, all because I was upset about Lilith disappearing.”

“Well, I mean, have you told Charlie that?”

“No, she wouldn’t understand. Plus Lilith is her mother I don’t wanna damage her views on her, but I’m guessing you already did that?”

Adam scratched the back of his head as he looked away from the devil. “Only a little but she still loves her, just like I know she would still love you even if you were being a neglectful piece of…” Adam’s sentence died in his throat as he looked back at Lucifer and seen how dejected the man looked, he had never seen this type of expression on him, and as much as he would love to rub it in his face right now he felt bad for the seraphim.

“Look, what I meant is, talk to her. You’re her Dad, and I know she cares about you, don’t leave her hanging, tell her how you feel.” He placed his hand on the devil's shoulder and awkwardly patted it.

“Are you seriously trying to console me right now? And you were crying like a little bitch earlier?” Lucifer chuckled a little as he looked up at the first man.

“Well fuck you to then.” He moved to pull his hand away, but stopped when he felt Lucifer’s hand on top of his. 

“I never said it wasn’t nice, I…appreciate you trying to make me feel better, even after everything I put you through.” The first man’s cheeks darkened a bit as he scoffed and looked away, keeping his hand on the seraphim’s shoulder.

“Yeah, don’t mention it, and I put you through a ton of shit too.”

The two fell into a silence as Lucifer pulled his hand off the first man, and Adam pulled his hand away and put it in his lap. “So…I’m guessing you were depressed, huh?”

He scoffed as he waved his hands around. “Depressed is an understatement. I was like a shell of my former self. I still kind of feel like that, but I have to be there for Charlie now, so I can’t just disappear again.”

“I bet you wish you could have been there for her, huh?” Lucier nodded his head solemnly, and Adam sighed as he put his arm around the devil's shoulders and leaned on him. “Let me tell you something someone fucking amazing told me: You don’t have to face it alone, you’ve got your daughter, Emily wouldn’t mind listening to you and I guess I wouldn’t mind either.”

Lucifer peered up at the first man, astonished at the offer, which almost made him fall off the bed. “You?”

“Yeah, I mean I’m pretty fucked up in the head too but that doesn’t mean I can’t listen to you and reply here and there.” Adam made movements with his hands before letting them drop on the king again. “Plus I mean, you wouldn’t mind listening to me bitch about stuff so why not do that for you to, you don’t mind that right?”

“Of course I don’t mind…Thank you, I don’t understand what you’re trying to get at by being nice to me, but I appreciate it.” Adam rolled his eyes as he sat up straight and moved his arms, but not before rustling the seraphim’s hair. “Hey! It’s already messy!”

“Don’t mention it, Luci.” 

Lucifer froze as he turned to face the first man. Did he just call him Luci? Adam hadn’t called him that since Eden. Does that mean that he was actually being honest about changing? This was huge; it was so big he felt like he should go around on horseback and shout about it to the top of his lungs.

“Actually, I have a question about everything you said. Were you really upset I didn’t offer you the apple?” Adam froze before sighing and rubbing the side of his head.

“Yeah, it was one of many reasons. I couldn’t understand for the life of me why I had to be alone, and why everyone I ever cared about left me, you, Lilith, and Eve.”

“I never meant to make you feel alone.”

“Yeah, well, you did, and that’s in the past. Just don’t do it again, or I really will kill you.” Lucifer chuckled as he turned to face him, patting the man on his leg.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” 

The king stood up and clapped his hands together, taking a few steps forward. Adam watched as he turned around on the heel of his boot. “Now let’s deal with your eating situation, what would you like to eat?”

“Well, uh, I don’t need anything to eat. Kinda full from dinner.” Adam patted his stomach as he tried to get him to drop the topic.

“Um, if I remember correctly, you threw everything up, plus that dinner was two days ago.”

“What?! I was knocked out for two whole days?!”

“Uh, yeah, I mean can’t you tell? Look at me.” 

Adam looked over Lucifer, now that he was actually paying attention to him, he saw how the jacket he usually wore with his suit was missing, the arms of his shirt were rolled, showing the blacked arms underneath. His hair had already been disheveled, not getting any better, thanks to his ruffling of it.

“Wow you look like shit.”

“Thanks, that made me feel so much better.” Lucifer’s voice fell flat as he gave the first man a deadpan stare.

“If this is your room, why didn’t you take a shower or something?”

“I was too afraid something would happen to you while I was in there. Now that you're awake, I’ll be doing just that.” The devil stood and walked over to the bathroom door and opened it. He then turned around and pointed at Adam. “Stay here, I don’t need you wandering around looking for any more stashes or drinking from the cat's bar, as a matter of fact.” Lucifer snapped his fingers, and over the door, a giant pentagram appeared over the door.

“Fuck off, I wasn’t going to leave the room, It’s too embarrassing after what happened.” Adam flipped the king off as he flopped down in the bed and covered himself with the blanket.

Lucifer shrugged his shoulders as he closed the bathroom door. Once he heard the shower start running, Adam sat up and took his time to look around the room. His confinement didn't stop him from looking around and seeing what Lucifer wanted to hide. Yes, he knew that Lucifer had only said that to try to cover for his eavesdropping, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t true. Standing up, he began walking around the room as quietly as possible. His first stop was the apple-shaped closet by the room's door.

“Jesus fuck, does he ever wear anything else?”

Adam mumbled to himself as he saw the disgusting number of white suit jackets and pants that hung from the hangers. Closing the doors, he scanned the room, his eyes landed on the desk that sat next to the bed. Walking over, he sat down in the chair, which was surprisingly comfy, and began to open a couple of drawers. The first one he opened was filled with nothing but rubber ducks; these, though, looked like they were meant to be different people inside the hotel. The red one with a broken cane must have been Alastor, and the smaller one with a duster had to be Niffty. Pushing those out of the way, he spotted two that looked very familiar. Pulling them from the back of the drawers, he held two ducks in his hands. One was its normal yellow color with a set of golden wings on its back and a pair of horns on top, the other was grey with horns on its head, while the wings on its back were black. 

The first man could feel his face begin to heat up. How long had Lucifer had these? When did he make them? Especially the one that was supposed to represent him as an angel. Holding the small toys, he felt like a hole was being burned into his hands. He put them back in the drawer, then removed the adjacent toy, its horns and purple painted dress identifying it. With disgust, he threw it back into the drawer and grabbed another that was next to it, but this one seemed like it must have been a prototype because it didn’t even look like a duck. It had a small apple attached to the side of it with a white hat on top. Was this supposed to be Lucifer? It looked like it had been thrown together haphazardly; the eyes were missing, along with its beak, and on the back of the duck, there were six holes. Was that supposed to be where his wings had been severed from his body? He put the duck back and closed the drawer. He had a lot of baggage, and Adam had just signed himself up to hear about it whenever he wanted to.

Shaking his head, he patted his cheeks. He couldn’t regret it now, after everything he had said earlier, there was no way he’d go back on his word, that's just the kind of guy he was. Looking below that drawer, he opened another, and this time it had a bunch of paper in it. Grimacing at the amount, he was about to close it back, but when his eyes spotted an envelope addressed to Lilith, his curiosity got the better of him. He grabbed the letter and saw that it was opened; then, pulling out the opened letter, he began to read.

“ Dear Lilith Morningstar, Today, Ms. Morningstar, is a day filled with sorrow, though I doubt you know the reason, it is because after a lifetime dedicated to-” Adam spoke to himself softly as his eyes began to read the letter quicker than before, his voice then died in his throat. “She…she fucking knew, what the fuck?”

Adam put the letter back inside the envelope and leaned down to put it back into the drawers. That’s when he heard the water of the shower turn off. Cursing under his breath, he closed the drawer with his hoof and sat back against the chair as the door to the bathroom opened.

“Oh my fucking god, why didn’t you put any clothes on before you came out?” Adam spun the chair around and faced the wall as he tried to rid the image of the devil in a towel from his mind.

“Why are you sitting at my desk?” Lucifer ignored the man’s question as he made his way to the desk. “You weren’t snooping through it, were you?”

“Pshh, I have a lot more to worry about than whatever the hell is inside your desk.” Adam wanted to roll his eyes, but he knew he was lying; there was no way Lucifer wanted him to see that letter, cause if he did, he would have already shown it to him. “Anyway, why didn’t you put on any fucking clothes?”

“I left them out here.” Lucifer looked towards the closet as he walked over to it.

“But can’t you just magic up some fucking clothes?”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t get to hear you sounding so disgusted if I had walked out dressed.” He chuckled as he opened the doors and began to look through the countless pants and jackets.

“What the hell are you looking for? Don’t you wear the same thing every day?”

“Well, it’s night time, you don’t think I wear a suit to bed, do you?” His hand reached past the suits and pulled a shirt from the oblivion, it seemed.

“I can’t see shit from that small ass window by your bed so forgive me for not knowing it was night time.” Adam rolled his eyes as he put his hooves on the wall. “Are you almost done yet? I would like it if I wasn’t talking to the damn wall.”

Lucifer laughed as he pulled a shirt over his head. It had a duck on the front of it as it seemed to be laughing. “Alright, I’m finished.” Adam turned the chair around and looked at the shirt as he read the words on it.

“You quack me up? Ok, you should definitely kill yourself for having a shirt like that.” The devil rolled his eyes as he walked over to his bed and sat down on it. “Hey, can you like, I don’t know, magic up my pajamas? I don’t wanna sleep in jeans if I don’t have to.”

Snapping his fingers, a ring of red smoke traveled over his body before disappearing, leaving him in a t-shirt and shorts. Grabbing the bottom of his shirt, he pulled it so he could look at the front of it.

“I wish I had a wife instead of this big dick?” Adam looked up and glared at the king as he tried not to burst into laughter.

“Look I even added the dick part, don’t you like it?”

“You are a dick.” Adam stood from the chair and walked over to the bed and sat down, scooting back against the headboard.

“Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?”

“Uh, lying down? I only see one bed in here, or can you not count?”

“I can count perfectly fine,” Lucifer said as he groaned. “Don’t you have a problem sleeping with me in the bed like this?”

The first man placed his finger on his chin as he thought for a minute. “Well, last time I checked, that was pretty normal for us.”

“Yeah, in Eden. Not so much now, and I didn’t think you’d want to do that again.”

Adam looked down at his lap as he sighed. He missed being close to the devil, but after everything happened, they naturally drifted apart. Mostly because of his actions, but still. “I might miss it just a little bit, actually, in heaven I used to sleep with the girls around me like some type of nest.” Lucifer smiled as he imagined the interaction. “Now it's the question of whether you miss it.”

“You’re making this sound weird…But I guess I do.” The first man smiled and lay back on the bed, putting his hands behind his head. He turned to face the king, who shifted his body to face him.

“Then what’s the problem?” He then moved one of his arms from behind his head and placed it down on top of the pillow. “Come on, I’m fucking tired, crying really drains the energy.”

“You want me to-” He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Adam leaned up and grabbed the devil by his shoulder and pulled him down onto the bed.

“Cut it out with the questions; you're not showing much pride,” Adam smirked as he looked down at Lucifer. “And you're supposed to be the king of Hell? Please, I have more pride than you in my left nut.”

“Oh, haha, laugh it up, I’m not used to you being so nice, especially to me.” 

Adam understood what he meant, while he may have been acting like this was no big deal, on the inside, he was berating himself and questioning every move he made. He didn’t want to make the devil uncomfortable -ironic- but he also was afraid to let himself actually be close to him again. If he were to abandon him again, he doesn’t know what he would do with himself. 

“Adam?” The first man looked down at the king, who was giving him a concerned look. “Why don’t you want to eat?”

Completely surprised by the abruptness of the question, the man was momentarily stunned, his thoughts interrupted. “What makes you think I don’t wanna eat? I ate everything at dinner that day.”

“Yeah, but you were forcing yourself too, I’m not stupid. Plus, you show everything on your face.”

“I was not forcing myself, I just…I wasn’t hungry at the time.”

“Right, just like how you said you weren’t doing drugs?” Adam glared at the shorter man, but it didn’t do much to deter his questioning. “You love to eat, why don’t you? You even tried to tell me earlier that you weren’t hungry, when I know you haven’t eaten in days.”

The first man was silent for a while before sighing. “It’s nothing, I’ve just noticed I wasn’t as good-looking as I was in Eden, so I was just cutting back.”

He didn’t feel like spilling his dark secrets anymore today, so he lied to the king. When Lucifer gave him a confused look, he figured he hadn’t convinced him like he wanted, but he wasn’t going to explain anymore.

“Alright, it’s time to sleep, it’s probably three in the morning or something.” Yawning, he closed his eyes, effectively ending the conversation.

The seraphim dropped the question in his throat and groaned before sighing, turning to face the other side of the bed, he clapped his hands and the lights in the room turned off. “Night, Adam.”

When the sun came back up in the daytime, the door of Lucifer’s door slammed open, making the king and the first man startle awake. 

“Alright, Adam, today is the first day of your detox! I did a lot of research and-” Her voice died as she stopped in front of the bed in shock as she stared at the two. “Uh, am I interrupting something?” Charlie asked as her mind tried to come up with a reason for her father and Adam to be cuddling right now.

It took the two a minute to come to their right minds, but once they were, they quickly separated, successfully falling onto the floor. Adam rubbed his back as he groaned.

“No! No, Charlie, you weren’t interrupting anything; we were just sleeping.” The princess gave her father a skeptical look before nodding her head.

“Yeah, ok, I’m not going to question any of this, Adam! Today is the first day of your detox! I did some research and figured out today’s activity! Get dressed and come down when you’re done!”

Adam groaned as he stood from the floor, rubbing his lower back. “You know she probably thinks we’re fucking right?”

The devil sighed as he rubbed his hands over his face, as he stood up. “Yeah, I’ll have to talk to her.”

The first man sat down on the bed and put his head into his hands, trying to wake himself up. He took his time as he did so hoping that Lucifer would leave the room. He felt immensely awkward after being discovered cuddling -his face scrunched- with the man by his daughter, he could only hope she wouldn’t tell Abel.

“Soo..about last night.”

“Nope, we are not talking about that, I was an emotional little bitch yesterday so just let it go.”

The devil held his hands up in surrender as he nodded his head. “Alright, alright, calm down I’ll leave it alone.”

Walking over to his closet he grabbed one of the many suit’s hanging up and looked over it before closing it back. Walking to the bathroom he turned to face Adam. “Stay here, we’ll go to your room for some clothes after I come out.”

The first man gave him a thumbs up as the door closed, once it clicked in place he looked up at the desk in front of him. He wanted to ask Lucifer about the letter, no he wanted to ask Lilith about the letter. If only he could go back to heaven and talk to her maybe his questions would get answered, but seeing as no one else knew about the arrangement of the first woman’s presence in hell besides Lute and Sera, he couldn’t exactly go around talking about it. Though it began to dawn on him that maybe he should tell the princess and her father about where the woman was but he was genuinely terrified at what the devil would do to him if he found out, especially since he couldn’t defend himself yet.

Adam hadn’t realized he was staring at the desk for as long as he was until Lucifer stepped out of the bathroom and tapped him on his shoulder. “Uh, you seem fascinated by my desk, was the chair that comfy?”

“Uh yeah..comfiest chair down here in this hell hole.” Adam stood from the bed and stretched, the devil quickly turned his head as the shit he wore rod up a little showing a bit of the man’s stomach. The king felt like a man who was just shown ankles for the first time, which he coined as weird and pushed the thought to the back of his mind. 

“Alright then, ready to head back to your room? I heard Abel cleaned it so well you couldn’t even tell anyone was in the room before.” Lucifer snapped his fingers again and the giant pentagram flickered before disappearing.

“Wait Abel cleaned it? Why not the little bugger?”

“He figured that was the last person you wanted in there, just the sweetest boy isn’t he?”

Adam smiled as he thought of his son and the way he comforted him the day before, he had grown both on earth and in heaven. “Yeah, he really is isn’t he?”

Walking out of the room behind the devil scrunched again as his mind was brought back to the day of the meeting, it was so strange that someone as sweet as his son was named the new leader. Why not Seth or Rania? Surely one of them would have been a better option.

“Adam?”

The first man looked up as his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his name being called. “Uh, yeah? What were you saying?”

“I was just saying you passed your room, are you ok?” Adam looked to his left and right and noticed that he had indeed passed his room. Turning back around, he shook his head.

“I’m fine just thinking about what your amazing daughter probably has planned for this detox.” Pushing his room door open, he turned to close it, but as he did, the apple cane Lucifer always carried was wedged in the door. “Ok what the fuck?”

Pushing the door open, Lucifer stepped inside and then closed it back. “I told you that I was going to supervise everything you did.”

“Even changing my clothes? That's Kinda gay.”

The devil’s face dead panned as he leaned on his cane. “I just learned recently that I’m pansexual, actually, but trust me when I say you would be the last person on my dating bucket list, buddy.”

He didn’t know why, but the first man took offense to that. What did he mean by the last on the bucket list? Why was there a bucket list? And why was he at the bottom? He was the most attractive person in existence no way was he at the bottom of a fucking list.

Chapter Text

“Alright, I’m so happy you both decided to show up!” Charlie clapped her hands as she stood in front of the spider demon and the first man.

“Well, I don’t really have a choice, and besides, even if I did, I wouldn’t be here. I’m not addicted to anything.” Adam crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back into the couch.

“Well, you were taking a bunch of benzos, so I'd say you were addicted. Trust me, I have plenty of experience.” Angel leaned back into the couch as well, turning his head to face the first man.

“And your room was littered with alcohol bottles,” Charlie added as she looked at the cat demon behind the bar.

“Which I don’t appreciate by the way,” Husk said as he wiped the counter down. Adam rolled his eyes and turned back to the princess.

“So anyway, I have an activity for you two that I’d like to try!” The princess smiled as she clapped her hands before catching her binder in her hands, flipping through it, she stopped on a page that had an overwhelming amount of green on it. “How about a nature walk!”

The first man perked up a little. A nature walk doesn’t sound bad. He could take this time to check out what plants hell had to offer, maybe even figure some stuff out about his powers. “I don’t mind that actually.”

With a groan that seemed to emanate from deep within his soul, Angel slowly slid his hands down his face, his expression conveying a sense of frustration. “I don’t want to do a dumb fucking nature walk.”

“Hey, plants aren’t dumb, they're like the best thing Earth still has to offer.”

“And animals”

The spider and the first man turned to face the hallway as Abel walked in with Emily holding her hand. Confused, Adam pointed at their hands. “So what’s going on there? Are you dating or something?”

His son’s face turned a light gold as Emily smiled and squeezed his hand tighter. “Yeah, we are, actually it’s me, Abel, and Peter!”

Adam almost spit out his imaginary drink as he looked over his son, “Peter, as in Sir. Peter?”

“Oh, the nice guy we met at the gate when we went to heaven?” Charlie looked at Abel and Emily. 

“Yeah, he’s very nice, the sweetest person in all of heaven.” Emily giggled a little as she turned to look at Abel, then at Adam. “You should know you’ve met him before.”

“Yeah, I have. I'm not really surprised you three are dating.”

“You don’t care?”

“About?”

Abel sheepishly looked away from his father before speaking. “Y’know, the fact that I’m dating a man, and two people?”

“Wha- why would I care about that, don’t tell me you thought I was homophobic too?” Groaning, he rolled his eyes. “You’re literally my son, you should know better than that.”

“Well, you never really talked about dating a man, so I just began to think…” The angel glanced down at the ground as he deliberately avoided his father's gaze.

“Well I mean, I’m the first man so I don’t really fuck dudes, but why would I care about who you roll around in the sheets with?”

As Emily turned from him, the two angels' faces turned honey-colored, and Abel groaned, his shoulders shrugging. “Dad, don’t talk like that, it’s embarrassing and beyond gross.”

“Um, there’s nothing gross about it. It is quite literally the most natural thing in the world. I should know.”

Adam stood as he laughed at their reactions. The garden openly encouraged sex, yet he couldn't understand its taboo status. Looking at the princess, she held an anxious look on her face, like the topic disgusted her.

“So I’m guessing you’re both coming on this walk, huh?” 

Fixing his posture and clearing his throat, he nodded his head. “Yeah, I thought it’d be nice to see hell’s animals and plant life, surely they have to be different from the ones in heaven and on Earth.”

“Of course they’re different, look at the place they grow in.” Adam held his hands up and moved them around the hotel. “It isn’t exactly Earth plant material.”

“Hey, we might not have Earth plants, but the ones down here can be just as beautiful.” Charlie crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

“Yeah, I’ll believe that when I see it, princess.”

Charlie pouted at him as she walked over to the couch and grabbed Angel’s hand, pulling him up off the couch. The other angels walked to the front door and stood by Adam once the others made their way to the door. Charlie pushed it open. In front of the building was the same white limo that had taken him and the Morningstars to the meeting with heaven. Frowning, he closed his eyes and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. As the group made their way to the car he his heart began to beat faster. The first man could feel the sweat beginning to form on his forehead. The car didn’t scare him, but the memories of that day are still so fresh that it could rival even the freshest seafood.

“Adam?” The man flinched as he looked down beside him, Lucifer was tapping his arm as the door to the car opened. “You ok? You seem I don’t know, nervous to get in the car.”

“I’m not a pussy, a car doesn’t scare me.”

Looking away from him, he knelt down and sat down inside the car. The king got inside right after, as he sat down next to Adam. He tucked the cane in between his legs as he leaned back into the chair, looking behind her. Charlie tapped the metal divider.

“Hi Maroon! Today, some of our guests are going on a nature walk! So take us to Cinderbloom reserve!” The demon turned and took in the sight of the two angels and the king.

“So the angels are normal then?” They asked, motioning towards the two.

“Yeah, these are our holy guests, Abel and Emily! Guys, meet Maroon, she’s our family's chauffeur!”

The two waved at the demon, and they waved back before giving a thumbs up to the princess. “Alright, buckle up.” The metal divider slid back up, and the engine of the car roared to life.

The princess, Emily, and Abel started to talk to each other as they both began asking a million questions about everything they rode past. Adam, however, wasn’t in a good mood; the longer he was in this car, the more his mood soured. Ever since he woke up that morning, he felt like his energy was slowly being sapped away from him. He would love nothing more than to go back to his room and crawl under the covers, not that Lucifer would let him sleep in it anyway. But the thought of going back to the hotel and passing out was enough to help him power through it, plus he might see some cool plants. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back onto the car seat. 

Beside him, Angel was making small talk with Abel; whatever was said caused the spider demon to burst out in obnoxious laughter. His laughter and sporadic hand movements caused the first man to try and scoot over, but this only caused him to bump into the king. Groaning, he looked down at him and spoke quietly.

“Shit, my bad, Don’t got much room.” Adam placed his hand on the seat between them as he used his hand to keep as much distance as he could.

“Not at all, Adam, I know how rowdy Charlie and her friends can get.” After ending his sentence, his gaze lingered on the first man.

“Fuck what is it? Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Are you sure you’re ok? You haven’t spoken much since we got in the car.”

Adam shrugged his shoulders; he didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t about to spill his guts again, and certainly not in a car with five other people. “Nah, I just don’t have much to say.”

“You? You’re like the most talkative person I’ve ever met. Charlie even told me you took up the entire meeting that day just talking about yourself.”

“Ugh, was there anything she didn’t tell you?” 

The king gave Adam a look that said, ‘Yeah, why wouldn’t she?’ Rolling his eyes, he looked away, huffing. Lucifer sighed as he placed his hand on top of Adam’s firmly. “If something is bothering you, you can tell me. Remember, you can talk to me.”

He felt his hand tingling; he wanted to snatch it away, but his body wouldn’t move. Clearing his throat softly, he turned his head away and spoke, using his free hand, he ran it through his hair. “I’m fine, just thinking about some stuff.”

“Is it stuff I could answer? To make you feel better?”

“No, not really, but you can keep holding my hand. Not to be gay or anything, but it’s kinda grounding me right now.”

“Oh, Adam, that’s gay, but if it helps you feel better, then I don’t mind.” He squeezed his hand a little.

“Uh fuck you too.”

The king wagged his finger in front of him, clicking his tongue. “Ah, ah, ah, what did Charlie say about saying thank you?” Adam grimaced as he gave him a face that said ‘You’re fucking joking right?’

“You seriously want me to thank you?”

“Well, I mean you don’t have to, I suppose you can always ask Abel or Charlie to hold your hand, oh wait, I bet Agnis would.”

“One it’s Angel not Agnis, two fuck you once again, and three, thanks, I guess.”

Lucifer’s smile was soft as he nodded his head and turned his attention back to the window beside him. Slumping a little in the seat, Adam sighed. He felt a little better, even though he felt weird sitting in the car holding the devil's hand like it was some type of secret. Which technically it was, since he would actually kill himself if someone saw him, but whatever helped him stay emotionally numb was welcome.

“Alright! We’re here!” Charlie giddily clapped her hands as she squished her face against the window.

Looking beside him, he took a couple of minutes to ground himself. Looking out of the window, he could see a metal gate. An arch was over the gate, reading the name of the reserve. The first man sighed as he got out of the car, stretching a little. He stood off to the side by the devil as everyone else got out of the car, then Charlie began to speak.

“Alright, everyone! Today is a free day where you don’t have to do anything at all!” Charlie clapped her hands together, and a stack of notebooks fell into her hands. “Well, nothing but this.” She walked around the group and handed everyone a book.

“Uh, what the hell is this?” Angel opened the book and flipped through it, only to find empty pages. “I thought you said we didn’t have to do nothin'.”

“I know I said that, but this is a therapy exercise…” Angel rolled his eyes as he fanned his hand at her pouting.

“So today, while you look at the plants, I want to know what you feel as you look at each one. Don’t forget to write the name of the plant down before you do, so you can identify them later.” 

With a sharp snap of his fingers, Lucifer caused a pen to materialize in the hand of every single person present. Adam's gaze dropped to the guitar resting on the pen, and in a brief shift of his focus, he saw Angel's pen. Its appearance was identical to the one that he had seen previously at the hotel. Adam's head snapped around, his eyes immediately focusing downward on the surprisingly short king, a subtle shift in his posture suggesting a mixture of surprise and perhaps slight amusement. Was he being considerate?

“Ok, so we meet back here in three hours! Then we’ll head out for something to eat!”

Lucifer stole a glance at the first man, noting the disappointed look on his face at the mention of food. He frowned as he looked down at the book in his hand. Did Charlie want him to do the exercise too? He had extensive knowledge of hell's plants, but he hadn’t looked into some kind of meaning for them. When he heard a loud exasperated sigh, he looked beside himself and watched as Adam began walking into the reserve. Walking faster, he caught up with him and began walking beside him.

“Do you have you have to follow me everywhere I go?”

“I already told you that I was responsible for you.”

“Oh come on, it's a plant reserve, how could I possibly get hold of anything here?”

The king shrugged his shoulders as he looked around. “I don’t know, but knowing you, I wouldn’t be surprised if you somehow got your hands on something.”

Adam scoffed as he rolled his eyes and began looking around at the other plants. A little further away was a metal fence, and behind it was a giant plant that seemed to move back and forth as it idled. This one caught the man's attention, making his way over to the plant, the king followed behind him. Once they were standing in front of the weird-looking foliage, Adam opened his notebook and clicked the button of the pen. The flower was a dark purple, and the stamens of the flowers moved fluidly as if they were alive.

“Ok, what the hell? What kind of freaky plant is this?”

Lucifer stepped from behind the taller man and looked at the flower. “It’s called a snapdragon.”

“Hold on, I’ve seen snapdragons and they look nothing like...” Adam looked back at the plant and motioned at it with his hands. “Whatever this is.”

“Obviously, it’s not the same as the ones on Earth.” The king looked around at the ground for a second before spotting a stick. Grabbing it, he tossed it at the plant. 

The fence around the plant shook violently as the plant’s stamens extended and quickly swiped at the stick, breaking it in half. Adam blinked a couple of times before smiling. “Holy shit! It was so fast! Throw another stick at it!”

The king was a little surprised by his enthusiasm, but he still leaned down and grabbed another stick, tossing it at the plant. Lucifer glanced at the first man as he watched the plant break the stick in the air. He had a look on his face, a look that the king was way too familiar with. He felt his shoulders slacken as he watched the unfiltered joy and curiosity take over the first man’s face. He looked exactly like he had all of those years ago; he felt his heart clench at the thought that he was the reason that it disappeared.

“Uh hell to Lucifer, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

Lucifer shook his head as he looked up at the man. “Uh, sorry, I was thinking about something. What were you talking about?” 

Adam was silent for a minute as he looked over the seraphim in front of him. “I was just asking what’s that one over there?” He pointed further into the reserve at a plant behind a metal fence.

The two made their way over to the plant, the first man writing down his thoughts on the previous plant. When they stopped in front of it, Adam’s eyes lit up again as he took in its appearance. Its shape resembled a reverse teardrop, it’s leaves were green, and had eye’s all around it. The plant watched Adam blinking its eyes at him slowly.

“Whoa, ok, what is this?”

Before Lucifer was able to respond to the question, he was interrupted by another demon stepping beside the two and began talking. “If you don’t mind me interrupting, it’s called a Necrosprout, it’s a carnivorous plant that doubles as a nice house pet.”

Adam lifted his head up a little, figuring he’d see the demon’s face, but the more he craned his neck, the more he deemed it impossible to see its face. When his eyes finally made it up to the demon's face, he gave him a confused look.

“Are you like a owl demon or something?” Lucifer pushed Adam off to the side as he stood in front of him, smiling up at the demon.

“Stolas, it’s been a while.” 

The first man looked back and forth between the two before gasping. “Stolas?! As in Stolas the goetic prince?!”

“Wha- How do you even know who he is?”

“I had a job to do, and I took it pretty seriously, might I remind you. I had to do some research before coming down here.” He crossed his arms over his chest as he looked back at Stolas, specifically his clothes. “You are a prince, right? Where the hell is the regal jewelry and cape?” Lucifer turned back to the demon and took in his appearance. Adam was completely right. Last time he had met the prince, he wouldn’t have been caught dead in a pair of sweats and a…Loo Loo Land t-shirt. The fuck was Loo Loo Land?

“Oh well, it’s a long story.”

Adam looked over the owl demon; he was so freakishly tall that he made the king look like a dwarf, which, to be fair, he might as well be; he was shorter than everyone in the hotel after all. When a flash of red ran behind the goetic prince, Adam jumped a little. What the hell was that?

“Uh, don’t care if I’m interrupting, but something is-”

He shut his mouth when the red jumped onto the back of the prince; he didn’t seem to be as shocked as the first man felt, so he figured he must know what or who it was.

“Who ya talking to, Stolas?” 

As the red thing climbed off the demon, he could now see the familiar-looking tail and red skin. So this was an imp? Adam couldn’t really tell at first since he never really discriminated on what kind of demon died during the exterminations, less was better, even if they weren’t a sinner.

“Oh, silly me, Blitz, this is-”

Blitzo strutted towards the king and squinted at him. Lucifer gripped the apple on top of the staff as he tried his best not to seem disgusted by how close he was.

“Sorry, this is my bottom, and we aren’t looking for another.”

Adam and Lucifer stared at the imp for a second before the first man burst out laughing as he put his hands on his knees. The king’s face turned a small shade of gold as he looked at the imp, flustered. Lucifer turned around to face the first man bitterly.

“It’s not that damn funny.” Adam held his stomach with one hand, and the other came to rest on the king’s shoulder.

“It’s fucking hilarious.” Groaning, he shook off the man’s hand and turned back to face the other two demons.

“Blitz, this is Lucifer. The KING of hell.” As the Stolas emphasized the seraphim's role as king, it finally clicked inside the imp's head.

“Oh, oh shit, well if it isn’t the big man of hell himself!” He looked him up and down before stepping next to him. “Ya know, you’re a lot shorter than I thought you’d be.”

With a witch-like cackle, Adam doubled over, his hands returning to his knees as he let the laughter flow from him. Lucifer plastered a fake smile on his lips as he tried to remain composed, he didn’t take to kindly to a lowly imp disrespecting him like this. Especially in front of other royalty and guests, it was the same way when Alastor had commented on his height that day. Stolas let out a tiny squeak as he scrambled to put his hand over Blitzo’s mouth.

“please forgive him your highness, he has no filter.” 

“It’s alright, I know someone who doesn’t have a filter either.”

As he spoke, he turned his head to face the first man, who, despite his best efforts, was on the verge of another fit of laughter. “Fuck you, I don’t need a filter.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes as he turned back to the owl demon Adam though let his eyes shift over to the imp that stood by the bird his tail lightly swaying and hitting the other in the leg. As the prince and the king talked he decided to make small talk with the imp.

“So what do you do?”

Blitzo looked around before pointing at himself. “You talking to me?”

“Of course who the hell else would I be talking to?”

“Well I’m so glad you asked! I am an assassin, but not just any assassin. Me and my crew take jobs from sinners to kill people on earth.”

Although the imp seemed to be rather proud of his job, Adam, on the other hand, was far from it. Sure, he may have been killing sinners, but sinners were already dead, killing souls that were alive was a whole different ballpark.

“How the fuck do you even get to earth, and you do know that you’re killing souls for sinners who are nothing but pieces of shit?” Adam crossed his ars over his chest as he glared own at the smaller hell being.

“Aren’t you a sinner?” Blitzo gave the man a confused look as he crossed his hands over his chest. “Wait a second..”

The imp walked over to the man and circled around him, similar to a predator circling around its prey. Adam crossed his arms as he watched the imp with an annoyed look on his face. “You done yet?”

“I knew it! You’re that Adam guy the one who did the exterminations!”

Blitzo grabbed his phone from his pocket and typed on it for a few seconds before he began climbing the first man. Adam wiggled as he felt extremely uncomfortable but stopped once he realized he wasn’t going to get him off. The imp held the phone out in front of him and pressed play on a video.

“We’re also hearing reports that Adam leader of the angelic legions and totally fuckable bad boy has been slain by a filthy janitor!” Adam snatched the phone from his hand as he rewinded the video.

“Fuck why did they have to use this photo of me, its so damn ugly.” He frowned at the photo of him eating a rack of ribs with sauce all over his face. “Makes me look like a fatass.”

The imp grabbed his phone back and crawled off of him, standing in front of him he put it back into his pocket and began to look him up and down his hand resting on his chin. 

“I mean, you aren’t skinny.”

“Ok fuck you, asshole. I’m not even that big.”

“Hey I ain’t judging, I find it hot.”

As the most tiresome conversation of his day wore on, Adam reacted with a grimace and an eye roll. His sole desire was to leave for another plant, and as he turned to face the king, a wave of relief washed over him upon seeing Lucifer concluding his discussion with the owl demon. As Adam turned to face the king, Blitzo watched; his eyes widening a bit before smirking. He discreetly and cunningly gave the man’s lower leg a sharp nudge with his elbow.

“Ahh, I see, you and the head honcho, huh?” His eyebrows moved up and down as he kept elbowing him.

It took a couple of minutes before he understood, but when he did he groaned before glaring down at the red demon.

“Ew, he’s the last person I’d fuck believe me.”

Chapter Text

Walking beside the king, they took time to look at the many different plants inside the reserve. When they were finally able to get away from the owl and imp Adam, he finally let the tension fall from his shoulders. The comment Blitzo made before they left made him confused. He was sure he and the king didn’t look like a couple, nor did they act like one, since he wasn’t the only one who made that comment, he began to ask himself some rather uncomfortable questions. Rubbing the side of his head, he sighed and closed his eyes, trying to center himself again.

“You alright? You don’t seem as excited as you were earlier.” The king stood in front of him, his face displaying a look of concern.

“Uh yeah, I’m fine, just tired.”

Lucifer tightened his hands over the cane in his hand. He didn’t know what he could do to help him feel better; it seemed like the man wasn’t going to tell him what the problem was. It was the same way in the car, then an idea popped into his head. Slowing his pace, he was now beside the man, and he then slid his hand into Adam’s. The first man jolted a little as his head whipped downward to look at him.

“Wha? What the hell, man?”

“What? It worked when you were in the car, didn’t it?”

“I-I mean, sure it did, but not in front of a bunch of people.”

Lucifer looked around them, since they had seen Stolas and the imp, he hadn’t seen anyone else inside. “I don’t think there’s anyone else here.” 

Adam paused for a brief moment, taking the time to survey his surroundings and the people near him. After carefully checking his surroundings to ensure complete solitude, he breathed a sigh of relief and allowed their intertwined hands to remain clasped.

“So are all of the plants down here dangerous or creepy looking?”

The king looked up at him and let his mind quickly shuffle through the plants that grew in hell. “Well, there’s one that I know for sure isn’t dangerous, it's one of the best plants we have.” Lucifer smiled softly and began leading the first man toward the plants he spoke of. “I’m surprised you haven’t asked for the seeds for any of these plants yet.”

“Didn’t think you would give me any, ya know, you got me on suicide watch or something.”

Groaning, the king rubbed the side of his head. He couldn’t possibly understand why the man constantly chose the crude way to refer to things. “You're not on suicide watch, it’s more of a drug watch thing.”

“Technically, the same thing.”

Adam shrugged his shoulders as he looked up at the greenhouse in the upcoming path. The seraphim groaned as he ran his hand down his face. He didn’t feel like explaining to the man that he was yet again wrong, so he just opted to keep it to himself. Looking up at the greenhouse, Lucifer opened the doors, and the scent of flowers overwhelmed Adam as the door closed behind them. Looking around, he could see multiple flower beds with colorful plants in small bundles.

“Wow, gotta admit, didn’t think that hell had such nice-looking flowers that didn’t kill you.”

“I could have told you that.”

Adam looked at a nearby flower bed. The flowers were dark red, with petals folded into themselves. Leaning down to sniff, he heard a tiny squeak from the flower just before a cloud of dust erupted in his face. Snatching back away from the plant, he snatched his hand from the king's as well as he used his sleeves to wipe his eyes.

“What the fuck was that?!” He spat out the little that got into his mouth.

Lucifer began to internally panic; the flower he had gotten so close to was a flower that he had made during his first years ruling over the infernal pit. While initially created as a method of torment against sinners, the practice eventually struck him as inhumane, forcing individuals to repeatedly confront their most painful memories—a realization that wasn't entirely unrelated to a certain accidental botanical mishap involving the spraying ability. He named the flower Memorisa and, quickly destroying the rest, kept the single remaining plant in the Cinderbloom reserve. He stepped in front of the first man and held his hands up cautiously.

“Hey, are you ok? This plant has um…Special effects with it.”

Adam took a few minutes to look around at himself and his surroundings. Everything seemed fine. He didn’t feel any different, and he didn’t see anything different.

“I think I’m good, everything seems fine.”

Lucifer sighed. He didn’t know what he would have done if Adam had begun to spiral in the middle of the trip, and he wouldn’t have known what to tell Charlie. She hadn’t even known Mermosia existed; he was too ashamed to tell her. Even though he was the devil, he knew his daughter wouldn’t agree with its very existence. Walking again, the two made their way to the plant they were looking for, pushing open another set of double doors, they were now in the back of the greenhouse, and in front of them was a field of flowers.

“These ones aren’t gonna spray me right?” He looked down at the flower, cautiously.

“No, these ones are totally harmless; they just exist to add a pop of color.” As he spoke, he popped the P and turned on his heels to face Adam. “Aren’t they just gorgeous?”

The first man stepped forward and crouched down; he let his hands touch the petals of the plant. In his head, he heard a small squeaking noise, a noise he coined as good since it didn’t begin screaming right away like the last flower he touched had. He had to admit, though, the flower was pretty, obviously not better than earth plants, but it was nice in terms of hell.

“Yeah, they’re nice, the color is very hellish.”

“And that means?”

“It means you use the color red way too much.”

Lucifer crossed his arms over his chest as he crouched down beside Adam, pointing at the flowers. He ran his finger over the red and pink petals. “Uh, don’t you see the pink here?”

“Uh, duh, I see it, but that’s literally one of the only pink-colored things down here that I’ve seen, and even so, it’s not fully pink; there’s still red.” Adam shook his head as he glanced at the king. “Don’t know why you’ve got a raging hard-on for the color red, didn’t your signature color used to be blue?”

“Ew, don’t call it that, and blue just doesn’t suit me the way it used to.”

“And red does?”

“Pride doesn’t exactly scream blue, it was either this or orange, and I’d rather not be wearing Wrath’s colors. Orange doesn’t suit me.” Lucifer snapped his fingers, and all of the red accessories he wore changed to orange; his shirt’s red stripes changed to orange as well.

“I don’t know, this color isn’t half bad.”

“You’re only saying that because orange is a couple of shades away from gold.”

Adam chuckled as he shrugged his shoulders, neither denying nor approving the accusation. “So, is there like a deeper meaning behind this plant? Because if there is, I can’t tell what it is.”

“Well, this one might be the only one in hell that has an actual meaning behind it.”

The first man opened the book he held and wrote the name of the plant. Looking back at the king, he waited for him to continue. It felt weird to be on the listening end instead of the sharing end of the plant naming business, but he was always up for new experiences. Lucifer sucked in a breath as he sighed, looking back at the plant, he grabbed one and plucked it, twirling it in his fingers.

“I made this flower when I finally started to accept myself a little.”

“A little?” Adam gave the king a confused look. “Accept yourself as what?”

“As the king of hell, years upon years after my downfall, I thought, why me? I just wanted humanity to know the liberating feeling that came with free will.” He glanced at the first man, checking his facial expressions. After he didn’t see any anger or disdain, he continued. “I hated myself for a long time afterward, but I had Lilith to help me through it all, and after a while, I was confident enough to call myself the king. So to celebrate my newfound confidence, I made this flower and named it the Infernis Rosa.”

“Let me guess, the secret meaning behind it is Love and healing, right?”

“That easy to guess?”

“I mean, Earth has a flower just like it, since you named it Infernis Rosa, I’d guess you knew that already.” Adam looked back at the flowers as he took in the gold that lined the petals. “And after hearing the story, how could I not figure it out?”

The first man smiled as the colors on the flower seemed more vibrant than before. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he looked over at Lucifer. “Here, take it.”

Adam scoffed as he hesitated. “You know it’s like super gay to give me a flower where the meaning is healing and romance, right?”

“Oh my fucking- just take the flower, ok, it’s a gift.” The king let out an exasperated sigh as he pushed the flower into his hand.

Adam looked down at the flower as he held it between his thumb and index finger. It was a beautiful flower, he had to admit. Not bad for a hell plant, smiling a little, he lifted his head to thank the king, but when he did, his surroundings were different. Now he was crouching in a field, and beside him sat a tiger, purring and rubbing against his leg. Standing up, he looked around, and all he could see was lush green trees and beautiful plants as far as the eye could see. Everything was perfect, too perfect for it to be hell.

“What the fuck? Is this Eden?”

🍎🎸🍎🎸🍎

Taking a couple of steps forward, he petted the tiger as it stood as well standing by his side. The sun beaming down on his face felt as hot and bright as it did back then, but the question was how? How did he get here? How was he back in Eden? And why now? Hearing a rustling sound behind him, he whipped his head around, and a woman with long blonde hair and dark skin ran out of the bushes.

“Eve?”

The woman smiled brightly as she ran over to him, flailing her arms around. Adam took note of the makeshift dress she wore over her body. “Adam! I have some great news!”

Cautiously looking over her, he crossed his arms. “What news?”

“I have found the most delicious fruit, not only was it sweet and juicy, but it also bestowed upon me what the angels have been keeping from us!” Reaching into a makeshift pocket, she pulled out a red apple, a small bite taken from it.

Adam’s jaw dropped almost instantly. Rushing over to her, he snatched the fruit from her hand and threw it on the ground. “Are you insane, woman?! That is the fruit from the tree of knowledge! The angels told us not to eat it!”

“Yes, I know, but an angel told me it was ok to eat it.”

He placed his hands on her shoulders, shaking her a little. “Who?! Who told you it was ok to eat the apple?!”

A confused look began to spread on her face as she placed her hands flat on his chest. “Adam, you’re scaring me. What is the matter? Nothing has happened to me.”

“Answer the question, Eve! Who told you it was ok to eat the fruit?!”

“H-He said his name was Lucifer, t-there was also a woman with him, but she didn’t tell me her name.”

Adam felt his entire world come crashing down in those next couple of minutes; the angel that stole his first wife had come back and given his second the fruit of knowledge. Lucifer had doomed the second first woman, and he knew it, but the fact that Eve was here and not yet blown to smithereens meant that maybe the angels hadn’t found out yet. Picking up the apple, he looked and turned it over in his hands a couple of times.

“It’s ok, maybe the angels won’t find out.”

Eve placed her hands on his shoulders as she smiled softly at him. “I know you're scared, but see, I'm fine. The apple didn't harm or kill me, and the angels haven't appeared to punish me. Maybe this is ok, maybe it’s time for us to eat the fruit.”

Adam paused as he looked at her. Maybe she was right, perhaps it was time to eat the fruit of knowledge, but the singular fact that kept creeping into his mind was how could it be time to eat the apple if Lucifer was the one who offered it and not god himself? Surely, something this important, he would at least tell them himself.

“I…I don’t know Eve, god hasn’t spoken to us about it, and the other angels haven’t said anything about it.”

“But what about the angel that told me I could?”

“That angel is a bad angel. Why didn’t you tell me you met him?”

The woman pressed her pointer fingers together as she kept her gaze on the ground. “He approached me in the form of a white snake. I thought he was another animal from the garden.”

Adam groaned as he turned towards a nearby river and wound his arm back. “Let’s get rid of this thing, then we can tell Sera.” Eve, shocked, ran over to him and grabbed his arm.

“No wait! You should eat the fruit too!”

“What?! Are you insane?! God told us not to!”

“Yes, but think, no one will ever know. We will be smarter and way more resourceful with this knowledge! I have already come up with a bunch of ways to cover ourselves with clothes made from leaves!”

“God will know, he always knows! Did you forget he’s all-seeing?!”

Eve rolled her eyes (Which up until that point he had never seen her do before) before crossing her arms. “God hasn’t done anything so far, I’m still here, aren’t I?”

The first man lowered his arm back down and looked at the apple in his hand. “But you don’t know what will happen, everything can be fine now, but what will happen when I eat it?”

“You’ll gain knowledge! Knowledge about so many things, you won’t believe the many different things you’ll know how to do! Nothing will be hidden from you! You’ll understand it all!”

The excitement on her face he couldn’t pretend he didn’t see, what would happen if he ate it? Will god smite him for disobedience? Will the angels punish him and make another just like they had with Lilith? A single thought drowned all of those possibilities out: If he didn’t eat the apple, would Eve leave him like how Lilith and Lucifer left him? Looking back up, he gulped.

“Are you sure about this, Eve?”

The woman nodded her head vigorously. “I’m absolutely sure!”

Adam stared down at the apple for a minute. Maybe she was right, maybe nothing bad would happen, and if he ate the apple now, then he wouldn’t be so foolishly trusting as he had been with Lucifer and Lilith. Stilling his nerves, he brought the apple to his lips and took a bite from it, as he chewed on it, thousands upon thousands of thoughts began to flood his brain. Looking down at himself, he could now comprehend that he was naked, which made him feel beyond uncomfortable. Another feeling he hadn’t known before now, looking back up, Eve held her breath as she watched him.

“So? How do you feel?”

Adam opened his mouth to speak, but as he did, the piece of apple he had been chewing on had gotten caught in his throat. Dropping the apple, he began to cough. Eve, shocked and concerned, quickly was behind him, patting his back as she tried to help him spit out the piece he had. The woman began to panic the longer he coughed; she hadn’t had a problem like this when she bit into it, so why did he? Adam peered up at her as she ran, grabbing one of their wicker baskets. Quickly, she made it to the nearby river and put water into it. Running back over to her husband, she handed him the water.

“Hurry, drink it! Before it leaks through!”

Adam grabbed the basket as he chugged the water, and the piece dislodged and went down his throat. The first man began to heave as his hands were on his knees; he had almost choked to death just then. Certainly, this was a sign he had made a mistake in trusting Eve’s words.

“Are you sure this was the right choice?! I felt like I was dying! And nothing dies in Eden!” He was huffing after the bitter outburst; he had so much more he wanted to say to her. So much more he wanted to call her, but he held them back.

“I-I don’t know! That didn’t happen to me, you have to believe me!”

He wanted to retort that he in fact, didn’t believe her, but the shaking of the ground cut their conversation short. Beside them, the animals that had been happily walking around them began running around before disappearing. The sky above them turned dark, encasing the rest of Eden in complete darkness. Adam had only ever felt fear once, but this kind of fear was far more stifling and terrifying than the one he felt before. Adam instinctively pulled his wife closer to him, and Eve held close to Adam as she spoke in a soft voice.

“W-what’s going on?”

As if answering her question, the darkness above them opened up just enough to let a white light shine down on the two; descending from the clouds were three angels. One of which he had seen before, the other two were new. The three now stood in front of them, making them both cower.

“I am disappointed in you, Adam, and you too, Eve. You let my fool of a brother stray you from god’s plan for you.” Michael crossed his arms as he shook his head at the two.

“Now, Michael, they are about to suffer enough; no need to rub salt in the wound.” The angel that spoke turned towards them, smiling softly. “I’m Gabriel, I am the angel that speaks for our father, and what do you know our dear old father has something he’d like to tell you both.”

Clapping his hands together, a scroll hovered over them, grabbing it from thin air, he unfurled it and began reading it.

“Due to your disobedience, you both shall be banished from the garden and forced to live on earth. You both will have curses that will affect you.” Turning to Eve, he let the scroll hover above his hand. “A curse of painful childbirth will be yours, Eve. Along with a strained relationship with your husband.”

Her face blanched as she looked like she was about to fall over. “But-but the angel told me I could eat the apple!” She stepped forward a bit, her face full of fear.

“You have been tempted by Lucifer; he is not our father. You should not have listened to him.” Michael glared at the woman, causing her to shrink back into Adam.

“And you, Adam, shall be forced to toil the land with little to no results.” Gabriel rolled the parchment back up and let it float beside his head.

The two humans didn’t have time to react as Michael reached his hand into the air, in an instant, white light shot down from the skies and engulfed their vision. Eve buried her head into Adam’s chest, while he used his arm to cover his eyes. Then there was silence, the first man, trembling slowly lifted his head.

“L-Luci?” Eve lifted her head as well, sharply gasping, she covered her mouth with her hand.

In front of them, Lucifer and Lilith were on the ground on their hands and knees. What caught the first man’s attention, though, was the golden chains around both of their necks.

“Michael? What’s the meaning of this?” Lucifer had his fingers over the top of the chain around his throat pulling at it.

“You know why you are here, how dare you disobey father!” 

The angel's voice shook the ground, causing birds that were resting in trees to fly away. Lucifer covered Lilith’s ear as he held her close. Adam was hurt and disgusted at the sight, but he was too afraid to actually say something to them in that moment. Gabriel placed his hands together, and the scroll beside him changed red before unfurling in front of him.

"Lucifer and Lilith, for meddling in the fate of the first humans, you have been condemned to eternal banishment in the underworld." 

Lucifer’s face fell as he tried to stand to his feet. Michael pulled the chain around his neck, causing the seraphim to fall on his knees again. “But you can’t! You know how dangerous it is down there!”

Gabriel shook his head as he closed the scroll, a frown gracing his soft features. “I am sorry, brother, but father has chosen your fate.”

In the blink of an eye, a giant hole began to open in front of them, the abyss seemed endless with a red glow emanating from it. The stench was so pungent it burned Adam’s nose, and he covered his face with one hand. The seraphim’s eyes widened he gripped Lilith’s arm tightly as she glared at the angel.

“Michael, come on, I’m your brother, you can’t seriously be doing this!” 

With a burst of speed, Lucifer soared upward, his wings unfolding, freeing himself from his bonds. Scanning the ground, he spotted no sign of Heaven's protector before a sudden hand grasped his wings. He looked up, meeting his brother's gaze; then, in a flash of light, a sword of white flame materialized in his hand. His question died in his throat as hot prickling pain shot through his back as the sword came into contact with his wings. Letting out a scream of agony, Lucifer fell down to the ground.

“Luci!” Lilith, being kept down by the chain, crawled her way to him. “Oh my god, Luci! Speak to me, are you ok?!”

Seeing the golden blood pouring from the seraphim's back horrified Adam; his heart pounded, the urge to rush to the angel's side overwhelming him. He was in too much trouble to help, so he opted out, burying his face in Eve's hair with his eyes closed. He could hear the commotion from them as he heard them being dragged across the ground. He didn’t dare to look up even as he heard Lucifer calling out his name. Once it was quiet, he slowly lifted his head, making eye contact with the third angel present, who was crouched down in front of the two.

“First man, do you regret your actions?”

“Yes, I regret it so much, Mr. Angel.”

He held his hand up, smiling softly at him. “Please refer to me as Zadkiel.” Reaching behind him, he grabbed a small scroll that emanated white light. “I’m afraid it’s too late for your wife; evil tempted her to disobey father. But if you follow God's plan for you on earth, it’ll earn you a welcome into Heaven; however, after your death, your mortal body will return to dust.”

Adam turned to face Eve, concern etched all over his face. She wouldn’t be able to go to Heaven? Where will she go then? Tilting her head up, she stared at him, frightened. “Adam?”

“So what is your decision, son Adam?”

🍎🎸🍎🎸🍎

“Adam?! Oh, thank goodness you’re awake!” Adam blinked his eyes as he stared up at him, confused. “You passed out, and you were crying. Are you ok?”

Adam sat up and looked at the blurry king in front of him. Was that a dream? If so, why now? God, this place was hell-bent on making him relive traumatic events; he was about sick and tired of crying every day at this point.

“I…I just remembered something really shitty.”

Chapter Text

Walking out of the reserve, Lucifer and Adam met up with Charlie and the rest of the group standing by the car. Something bothered him; actually, it bothered him intensely. He hadn’t thought about that day in so long that he almost forgot about it. Stupid Lucifer and his stupid plants, after the king had told him what the plant was actually about and used for he felt the blood in his veins boil, yeah he understood that it was basically the seraphim’s job to torture souls but the way he chose to go about it was so mentally taxing it was enough to make anyone go insane. Now you’re telling him he had to sit through more of these memories until the effects wore off? 

“Adam, are you ok?” Charlie walked over to him as she had a weary look on her face. “You don’t look so good. Did something happen?”

The first man glanced at the king, and he understood that Lucifer didn’t want his daughter finding out about something he made that was so grotesque in nature it gave people with vore kinks a run for their money.

“Yeah, I’m good, just tired, is all.” Adam let out a fake yawn to convince her, and she seemed to buy it as her shoulders loosened from their tense state.

“Oh, ok, we’ll just go have lunch and head back to the hotel, then you can get some rest.” She held her hands out excitedly as she finished talking. When Adam gave her a confused look, she chuckled a little. “Can I see you’re book?”

“Oh crap, I forgot I had it.” Handing the book to the princess, she opened it and began flipping through the pages. Pausing on a page, she seemed to be studying it, looking back up at Adam, she turned the book to face him. “I’ve never seen this plant before. Where did you see it?”

On the page was a crude drawing of the Memorosia. Cursing under his breath, he scoured his brain for a believable lie. “Oh, uh, I didn’t actually see a flower like that, it’s just a concept I wanted to try growing. I was going to use the Infernis Rosa as a base seed for it.”

Charlie’s eyes lit up as she stared down at the paper, then back up at Adam. “You're going to modify plants? That’s so cool! Can I see them when you're done?” She had gotten so close to him in her excited frenzy that he could smell her very fruity perfume.

“Yeah, just back up, ok.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back a little. She happily bounced on her feet as she ran over to Emily and Abel with his book.

Adam sighed as he walked over to the car door. Standing beside it was Lucifer, who had been watching the whole exchange with a small smile on his face. “She’s growing on you, isn’t she?”

The first man rolled his eyes at the question, crossing his arms over his chest. “I don’t hate her if that’s what you’re asking, but I do hate her constant stream of positivity; there’s no way someone who was born and raised down here can be that happy.”

Lucifer chuckled as he glanced over at his daughter, who was laughing with the other two angels. “Yeah, Lilith and I thought it was weird too, but it’s endearing in a way.”

Hearing the woman’s name made him tense up, the memory from earlier surging back to the front of his brain. He fell silent as he tried to think of anything to make the pain he was feeling go away. Feeling a tap on his arm, he looked over and saw Lucifer looking up at him with a frown on his face.

“Hey, are you sure you’re ok? Were you remembering something?”

Scoffing, he looked away and opened the car door. “No, I wasn’t, just a lot on my mind, and I would love just a few minutes to think, is that too much to ask for?”

The king held his hands up in surrender as he watched Adam get into the car. He knew that whatever the first man was remembering, he didn’t want to talk about, he hated that he didn’t want to rely on him, but he also couldn’t really blame him. After he settled in, Lucifer got in beside him, closing the door. Charlie and the others entered on the other side and closed the door. The princess knocked on the metal divider behind her, and it promptly slid down.

“Hi again, Maroon! Please take us to The Sinful Spoon, please!” Adam looked up at the princess as the driver gave her a thumbs-up and slid the divider closed.

“What’s The Sinful Spoon?”

“It’s a restaurant that’s all about veggies! I figured it’d be nice to eat healthy today. Plus, Vaggie loves the cheese and broccoli soup here.” 

Adam shook his head as he leaned his head back on the seat, closing his eyes. Soup didn’t sound so bad, not really any calories in it, though he would have to look over the menu to make sure. But the more the car ride went on, the more anxious he got. He didn’t actually want to eat anything, but he also knew that if he didn’t,` everyone was going to act like he was trying to kill himself. He could feel the king slide his hand into his

The grounding feeling Luifer’s hand had earlier that day was gone; he only felt a tingly feeling. Not wanting to make the king worry anymore than he already had, he left his hand there and just tried his best to empty his mind. When he felt his hand being tugged, he turned his head to the side slightly, peering down at the king.

“We’re here. How was your nap?”

Blinking a couple of times, he looked around the car, and the only people left inside were him and Lucifer. “Crap, when did we get here? I could have sworn I only closed my eyes.”

The seraphim stepped out of the car, and the first man climbed put behind him, closing the door once he was out. Standing by the car, he watched as Charlie skipped to the front doors of the restaurant, sighing. Adam looked up at the sign on the building. There was an image of a coiled basket scooping some type of liquid from it.

“Hmm, I haven’t seen anyone use a coiled basket before; everyone uses wicker now.”

Abel stood beside his father and looked up at the roof, smiling lightly. He turned to face him. “Nah, they're still around but just not as often.”

“Yeah, I just said that.” Adam looked down at his son with a confused look on his face. Abel gave him an exasperated look before sighing.

“Never mind, let’s go inside.”

The father and son made their way into the restaurant and stood behind the princess. “Hi! I have a reservation for six?”

The demon standing at the podium looked up lazily, sighing. He flipped through a book before looking up at her. “Name?”

“Uh, Morningstar? Charlie Morningstar?”

He flipped through the book for a couple of seconds before tapping the page he was on. “Right, Ms. Morningstar, this way please.”

Leaning down behind the podium, he grabbed some menus and began leading the group to their table. After passing by a dozen other tables, they finally made it to their assigned booth near the back of the building. Charlie slid into one side of the booth, and everyone else followed suit. Adam slid in after his son, and the king slid in beside him. The waiter handed the group their menus and bowed as he left. Everyone began looking through the options and smiling as they discussed what they wanted. Adam took his time as he looked at the different calorie counts and food names. The more he flipped the pages, the more he realized that he didn’t really like any of the foods on the menu. Flipping to the last page, he scanned the options until his eyes landed on the last thing.

“They serve Kanuchi?” Abel perked up at the name as he leaned over the table.

“They serve Kanuchi?! Where did you see it?” Emily gave her boyfriend a confused look as she watched him excitedly flipping through the pages.

“What’s Kanuchi?”

“Only the best thing in the world.” Abel grabbed her menu and flipped to it, and pointed.

“Oh, it’s a Nut soup? And there are two different versions!” The seraphim of joy clapped her hands together as she looked at the picture.

“Is that the one you’re gonna get?” Rubbing his chin a little, Adam nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll get the cashew version. Ya know, now that I think about it, I haven’t had that since…” 

Adam groaned softly as he put his hand on his head, fighting back another memory was the hardest thing he’s ever had to deal with in his afterlife. Abel, smiling softly at his dad, placed his hand on his arm. The first man ran his hand over his face before looking up at his son.

“I’m fine, just a headache.”

“Well, that’s to be expected, you were doing the equivalent of crack, so it’s to be expected ya get a few headaches.” Angel chuckled a little as he leaned back on the leather seats of the booth.

With his speech concluded, the waiter reappeared at the table, standing before it.

“Alright, how about the drinks for today?”

“Hi, I’ll take a cherry lemonade, a coffee, a mango lemonade, and two strawberry lemonades.” The demon wrote everything down before looking over the table.

“Anything else?”

“I’ll have a pineapple juice.”

Nodding his head, he flipped to the next page in his notebook and looked back up at the table. “Are you ready to order?”

Charlie quickly rattled off everyone’s order before promptly adding, “And can I get the cheese and broccoli soup to go?”

The waiter wrote down the order, then, closing the book, he put the pen inside his apron. “I’ll be back with your drinks,  Ms. Morningstar.”

As the demon waiter scurried off, Adam could see him taking small glances at Lucifer, who was, of course, completely oblivious.

“You know that waiter is like scared shitless of you, right?”

“Well, they should be, I heard there have been some people who haven’t been treating my char-char like the princess she is.”

Angel laughed obnoxiously as he put his arm on the back of the booth seat, turning his head to face the short king. “Did she ever tell you about when Val licked her?” 

The table fell quiet as Lucifer slammed his hands on the table, his red horns beginning to push from his forehead. “That bastard did what?!”

Charlie shot Angel an angry look as she reached across the table and laid her hand on top of his, squeezing a little. “I’m ok, Dad, no need to get so angry.” She cringed as she remembered the interaction. “Yes, he was out of line, but that was a while ago, so it’s fine now.”

He stared at her for a couple of seconds before sighing, his horns retreated as he put one hand to his head and the other turned over to squeeze his daughter's hand. “You’re too nice, honey crisp.”

“I’ll say, she should let you maul him alive.” Angel finished his sentence with a small smile as he imagined the interaction.

“He might have been in the wrong, but hurting him doesn’t make you right.”

He stared at the joined hands for a minute before looking towards Adam. “What do you think?”

Adam snapped out of his daze as he looked at Lucifer, and silence returned to the table; everyone's confusion was evident. Well, everyone except Angel, who had a smirk on his face.

“Uh, what was the question?”

“One of the overlords dared to lick Charlie’s arm.”

Adam placed one of his golden claws to his chin as he thought. “Without consent?”

“Of course it was without consent, I am dating Vaggie after all.” She sounded offended as she deadpanned at the first man.

He held his hands up as he feigned ignorance. “Hey, I don’t know what freaky stuff you and Vagina get up to.”

Emily and Abel cringed as they sighed. Charlie’s face turned beet red as she snatched her hand out of Lucifer's and covered her face. The king frowned at Adam, speaking in a lower voice than normal.

“Watch yourself, don’t speak of Charlie and her girlfriend like that.”

The first man frowned as he glared down at the king. Obviously, he wasn’t going to start a fight, but he wanted the devil to know he wasn’t happy about the embarrassment. “Fuck nobody can take a joke around here.” He leaned back into the booth seat as he crossed his arms. “But yeah, if someone just up and licked Rania or Iman, I’d kill them for sure.”

Charlie peeked through her fingers, her interest piqued. “Who’s Rania and Iman?”

Before he got the chance to answer, Emily let out a small squeal, turning towards Abel, who smiled and began pulling his phone from his pocket. “Rania and Iman are Seth’s daughters, my nieces.”

Opening his phone, he began swiping through pictures before picking out one of the family inside their home. Adam stood behind everyone else in his usual get-up, the only difference being that his helmet was missing; his smile was soft as his hands were around Seth and Abel’s shoulders. In front of the two sons were two girls, one with dark skin and long blonde hair, the other a tan girl with brown hair that didn’t reach past her shoulders. Charlie smiled as she passed the phone across the table to Angel.

“They're so pretty! So you all have those golden wings, huh?” She turned her attention from Abel to his father. “What’s the deal with that anyway? All of the other human souls in heaven have white wings.”

Adam stiffened at the question; he couldn’t exactly divulge stuff like that. He never even told Abel why they had the color they had, but why did he care even now, after all Sera and Heaven had done to him? Placing his hand on his head, he pushed down the memory of Abel bleeding on the ground that began to resurface. Now he remembered, he didn’t want to lose his family a second time, even if after all of the kids he had, he only had four left, and he was going to protect them.

“Sorry, even I don’t know that. The first time I got to Heaven, they were already like that.”

Charlie slumped over on the table as she sighed. Abel laughed a little as Emily rubbed her back. “I don’t know if that’s true, but he’s told me that too.”

Angel passed the phone over to Lucifer as he began talking with Charlie, seemingly asking her if he could get alcohol with the drinks. The devil looked over the photos, and his breath almost left him. The entire family was amazingly beautiful in every way. “Wow, exquisite. Divine even.”

Adam looked down at the phone before giving him a confused look. “What the hell are you talking about? That’s a normal photo, and we all look like shit. I hadn't even preened my wings yet for this photo.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes as he turned the phone to face him, pointing to Adam in the picture with his other hand. “You were already exquisite, I’ve told you this before, but,” He pointed to Abel and Seth. “When your genes and Eve’s genes were inherited, she gave birth to two exquisite children.”

“Three, I had three kids.” Adam corrected him, his voice glum but stern. “Cain, the first murderer.” He glanced at Abel, his expression begging to become vacant,

The devil cursed under his breath as he put the phone down on the table. He checked the other guests at the table, and they were thankfully not noticing the situation. Grabbing Adam’s arms, he shook the man a bit. 

“Adam, I am not going to let you start crying at the table.” Lucifer quickly snapped his fingers and created an illusion over the small part of the booth, grabbing the man by his shoulders, he shook him some more. “You have to wake up, ok, you’ll kill me if I let you cry in front of everyone like this.”

He knew the man couldn’t actually hurt him, but the situation called for some over exaggeration. After shaking the man for a minute, he still hadn’t woken up, groaning he placed his hand softly on the man’s cheek. Tapping it a little, he sighed as Adam began to blink his eyes slowly. He rubbed his eyes as he looked between them.

“That was not the one I wanted to fucking see.” Lucifer dropped back down in his seat as he put his head in his hands.

The waiter finally made his way back to the table, one hand holding the drinks, the other holding the straws. He leaned down and began placing the drinks on the table. Angel grabbed his own and passed the other two drinks towards the king and the first man. Adam grabbed his drink and took a small sip from it before holding it out and looking at it.

“Wow, this tastes so fresh I’d think it came from Heaven.”

The waiter finally smiled as he picked the drink tray back up. “Actually, our boss, the founder, has a deal with someone in Heaven and every so often they deliver fresh fruit and vegetables to the restaurant!”

Charlie and her father’s brows both raised as they looked up at the demon. “How in the nine circles does the owner have a deal with Heaven?”

“If you’d like, I can have him come and talk to you about it after your meal.”

“Thank You! We’d love to!” 

The waiter bowed again as he disappeared again, the princess went back to talking and laughing with the other guests, Adam kept the straw of his drink to his lips as he watched them. He didn’t want to think about anything, but he also didn’t know what to say to join the conversation, so he kept to himself. At least he was trying to, but Lucifer turned to face him and began talking to him.

“Are you ok? You aren’t going to conk out again, are you?”

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, I’m fine. This place is worse than Earth; at least on Earth,  nothing forced me to remember things every couple of minutes.” Adam mumbled as he looked over at the king, an annoyed look on his face.

“Sorry, I should have told you that the flower was there, I just forgot. It’s been so long since I tried to use it.” 

“That’s one evil ass flower, making someone relive their shitty memories. Only something you would make.”

Lucifer gave the man a confused look, turning his head a little to stare up at him. “Uh, what the fuck does that mean?”

“It means only you would make something that insane, it’s like the time when you made the fucking platypus.”

“That was the second best animal I ever made, thank you very much, its little beak and tail look amazing.” 

The king turned his nose up as he looked away. Adam chuckled a little as he took another sip of his drink. After a couple more minutes, the waiter made his way back over to the table, holding a tray with soups and different foods. As he stood beside the table, he began placing the food on it. Adam places his drink on the table as Lucifer passes him his soup. Picking up a spoon, he put a little of the Kanuchi inside and slowly brought it to his mouth. He inhaled through his nose, closed his eyes, and then spooned the food into his mouth. As soon as the nutty soup hit his tongue, his eyes shot open in surprise.

“Wow, this tastes just like how I used to make it.”

Adam looked across the table at Abel, who had the same look of surprise on his face. His face held a bit of confusion as he spoke. “Yeah, it’s a little weird.”

“Well, aren’t you two literally the first family? I mean, it’s not weird that something you cooked would be down here.”

“No, I get that, but this tastes exactly like how Dad used to make it. To a T, actually.” Abel spooned more of the soup into his mouth as he looked over at his father. 

“It’s not hard to believe that your descendants would know how to make something you did, is it?” Charlie questioned as she began to stuff her food into her face, letting out a groan of satisfaction. She swallowed her food. “This place always tastes so good, it's so fresh you can taste every ingredient.”

Adam smiled softly as he slowly ate the soup; it was the only good thing he had tasted in a while. Even when he was in Heaven, the food never tasted like this; it felt nice. This might be the only thing he genuinely enjoyed since he’d woken up in the infernal pit. The first man watched as Abel pushed his bowl towards his girlfriend, smiling as she grabbed a spoon and put it in her mouth.

“Wow, this is good! You used to eat this every day?!” 

Abel snorted a bit as he looked over at his dad. “Well, not every day, just whenever dad or…” His voice trailed off as he looked down at his bowl.

“What’s the matter Abe?” Emily placed her hand on his shoulder as she leaned into him a bit.

“It’s just…now that I think about it, the only one who would make it like this,” He lifted his head to look at Adam. “Was Cain.”

Adam, in the midst of dropping his spoon onto the tabletop, was suddenly seized by a coughing fit. Confused and slightly concerned, Lucifer offered a pat on the back to the man. Frowning, Adam looked intently at Abel, his expression conveying disapproval. “Don’t bullshit around like that.”

“No, I swear, the only other person who cooks like this is Cain. You didn’t cook it did you?”

“What if it’s one of his kids or something?”

Abel stared incredulously as he put his hands on the table. “You know Cain didn’t have any kids.”

“Maybe he had kids when he got down here.”

“Um, well, I hate to interrupt, but sinners can’t have children,” Charlie interjected quietly as she took another bite of her food. “Winners can’t have kids either, right?”

“Yeah, he knows that, he just doesn’t want to admit Cain might be the one who made this.” The first man scoffed as he put more of the soup into his mouth.

Although similar in taste, he found it impossible to believe Cain worked at a restaurant in Hell and only just discovered it. Especially if he had a deal with someone in Heaven. Adam quickly finished his soup after only a couple of minutes, then he pushed his bowl forward, out of the way. Looking around the table at everyone else, Abel’s words were replaying in his mind. There was no way Cain could be working here, could he? And if he really did have a deal with someone in Heaven, why didn’t anyone tell him? Even if the agreement wasn’t anything serious, it still happened without even so much as a written contract on his desk.

“Is everyone finished?” The princess looked at everyone in front of her, her eyes roaming over the bowls. Clapping her hands, she leaned over the side of the booth and waved her hand, flagging down their waiter.

The demon walked over, placing his notepad in his apron pocket. “Are you ready for the check and the to-go order?”

Charle nodded her head quickly as she smiled widely at him, one finger in the air as she spoke. “Also, please get the owner out here, we’d love to talk to the owner as well!”

He nodded his head before departing from the table. Under the table, Adam was wringing his fingers. It didn’t make him feel any better, but he didn’t know what to do with his nerves right now. If Cain actually worked here, and he was about to come to the table, he didn’t know what he would do. He hadn’t seen him in so long, and he highly doubted that he wanted to see him. He held his breath as the waiter stood in front of the table again, and another person was behind him just short enough where they couldn’t see the face.

“Alright, Ms. and Mr. Morningstar, this is our owner and cook.”

Chapter Text

Abel and Adam were stark still as the owner stepped from behind the waiter. “Wha- Dad?! H-how the hell are you here? I heard you were dead.” He scanned over the table before his eyes landed on his brother. “Abel?”

The table was engulfed in awkward silence as the three looked at each other. Adam looked over his son, a small yearning for the past surfacing before he squashed it down. “Cain…Is that really you?”

The oldest crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at his father and brother. “Of course it’s me, how the hell are you two here, and why do you look…” He looked his father up and down before screwing his face up in confusion. “Like that?”

Adam looked down at his lap as Abel twisted his hand around his fingers anxiously. “Well, um…Dad is a sinner now…”

Cain whipped his head to face his father in an almost confused astonishment. “You’re a sinner?” He looked beside him at the waiter and shooed him away with his hand. When he was gone, he turned back to face his father. “How is that possible?”

The oldest scanned his eyes over everyone at the table before they lingered on the king and princess. With eyes fixed on the table, Charlie rubbed her arm, feeling the intense tension. Adam scratched the back of his neck before letting out a sigh.

“Yeah, I am. Not proud of it, but I can’t….I can’t change that right now.”

He spoke as if his son were a bomb that, if not handled correctly, would explode. If he was being honest, he was nervous. Nervous that Cain wouldn’t want to talk to him after today. Nervous that he wouldn’t know what to say to his estranged son. He was confident that he hadn’t ever treated him any differently than Abel. But after everything went down, it was obvious he hadn’t thought the same. A snarky grin graced Cain’s features as he smiled maliciously at his father.

“Serves you right, the way you came down here killing people. Not to mention the way you used to treat me.”

“Hey, I was only doing my job, and what do you mean by how I used to treat you? I didn’t treat you any differently than Abel.”

Cain glared at Adam. If looks could kill, then he’d definitely be dead right now. “You always treated me differently than Abel!”

“How? I taught you everything I know, just like I did him!”

“As if, every time I showed you my crops, you never gave them as much praise as you did Abel’s Animals!”

“That’s not true! Dad always told me how proud of you he was!”

Turning his icy glare toward his younger brother, Cain delivered his angry words with such intensity that they seemed to spit from his mouth. “Shut up, you only stick up for him cause you’re his favorite!”

Charlie held her hands up as she nervously looked between the three men. “Look, um we weren’t here to cause trouble. I wanted to meet you since I love your food, and I heard you had a deal with someone in Heaven?”

Cain turned his head to face Charlie, clearing his throat, bowing his head a little. “My apologies, princess. Yes, I do have a contract with someone in Heaven. Every two weeks, I get a delivery from the embassy of fresh produce.”

“Well, if you don’t mind, care to tell us who your supplier is?”

Cain was silent, a hand resting thoughtfully on his chin as his gaze shifted between the two royals, then, after a moment of consideration, his eyes flickered to his brother and father, lingering on them before he finally inhaled sharply. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you that.”

“I am the king of Hell; surely there isn’t anything that you can’t tell me, especially since it pertains to Heaven.”

Cain narrowed his gaze at the king as he thought it over. It would have been easy to just refuse the man, but he was the king, and he didn’t want to lose his restaurant or anything like that. Scratching the back of his head, he let out a loud sigh before looking at the king as he spoke. 

“Queen Lilith is my supplier.”

Another bout of silence engulfed the table. Charlie tilted her head in confusion as she turned to face the king, who also wore a shocked and confused look on his face. “What is he talking about? Mom isn’t in Heaven…Is she?” The princess placed her hands on her head as she gripped her hair a little. “He’s lying, right?”

“What do you mean, Lilith is your supplier? Hot it’s she in Heaven?” Lucifer felt a weird stinging feeling in his chest; confusion graced his porcelain-like face as he struggled to comprehend what the first sinner was saying.

“Why don’t you ask Dad?” Cain looked over at his dad, scowling at him. The two royals whipped their heads around to face Adam, causing him to shift uncomfortably in his seat.

“Adam? Why…Why would he know?” Charlie’s face and voice held skepticism in them as her eyes roamed over the first man’s face.

“The queen mentioned a deal she made with him, but she wouldn’t tell me any more.”

Adam felt the blood drain from his body as he felt the stares of everyone at the table. He hadn’t meant to hide it as long as he had. But he was so caught up in his constant stream of emotions and healing his emotional wounds that he forgot about it. Cussing under his breath a little, he looked between the two Morningstars as they stared daggers into him.

“That…It was a while ago, when I still hated your guts.”

“You knew this entire time where Lilith was, and you never told us?” 

Adam felt like the restaurant around them had dropped in temperature, from warm to cold. He felt like he was frozen not from confusion but fear. He knew he actually couldn’t beat the devil if he decided to fight right now. And he frankly didn’t want to fight the seraphim simply because they had gotten past that already, at least he they had. After this, he wasn’t so sure anymore.

“I…I forgot, I’ve been so busy with all of this emotional shit that it kinda…just slipped my mind.”

He felt like the food he had just eaten was about to resurface, and he was not going to throw up in front of everyone again. Pushing everyone out in front of him, he ignored the confused ‘What the fuck?’ that came out of the spider demon’s mouth as he made his way to the bathroom. Opening the door, he went inside one of the stalls and began to let it out. Once he started, he couldn’t stop; his stomach emptied everything he had just eaten, and there was nothing he could do about it. He didn’t want to do anything about it either. He kneeled over the toilet and gave himself a minute to recover the best he could. After a few more minutes, he stood up and wiped his mouth with his sleeve before flushing the toilet. Walking out of the stall, he walked over to the sink and washed his hands, looking up at the mirror, he nearly freaked at the look of his reflection.

“What the fuck?”

His eyes appeared in different shards of the broken mirror where his face was supposed to be reflected, but his entire face remained unseen. Scrunching up his nose, he looked away from the mirror and turned the water off, walking over to the paper towel dispenser, he took a few pieces off before drying his hands and tossing them in the trash can. Breathing in a little, he gave himself a pep talk in his head before breathing out and stepping out of the bathroom. Beside the door was Abel. He stood with his back to the wall as he looked over at Adam.

“Shit! I didn’t see you there. Why aren’t you with everyone else?”

“How could you do that to Charlie?”

“Huh, what the hell are you talking about?”

“You knew where her mom was the entire time. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You don’t get it Abe, I can’t just go around talking about Heavenly secrets, who knows what would happen to me?”

“So other people in Heaven know about this too? What else are you keeping from me? I bet you actually know where mom is, don’t you?”

Adam felt a surge of anger. Abel had no idea what was going on. To be fair, he barely had a hold on this situation anymore, but his son knew that he didn’t know where Eve was. Sure, he had looked for her after he made it to the pearly gates, but when he couldn’t find her, he went to Sera, who could only answer with a ‘If she’s not here, then she’s in Hell.

“Don’t Abel, you know I don’t know where Eve is.”

“Oh, do I? You’ve been lying to them, how do I know you’re not lying to me?”

Adam put his hands on the side of his head as he fought back another intrusive memory, trying to resurface. “I have no fucking clue where Eve is Abe, I don’t know what else you want me to tell you!”

Abel frowned at his father before walking away from him. The first man groaned as he made his way back to the table. Once he regrouped with everyone, he did his best not to let the stares that everyone was giving him worsen his already destroyed mood. Walking back over to the table, Cain gave the princess a white bag and a piece of paper. Was it bad that Adam hadn’t even noticed that his oldest had left the room?

“Thank you, Cain, I’ll be in touch.”

The man nodded his head as everyone began leaving the restaurant. Adam let everyone walk in front of him so that when Angel dust walked out, he would be the only one left inside. Frowning, Cain crossed his arms as he glared at his father.

“What do you want?”

“I…I just wanted to say I love you, son.” Cain rolled his eyes as he flipped the man off before shooing him out the door.

Walking over to the car door, he slid in after everyone had gotten inside. Leaning on the door, he kept his head on the window as they pulled off. Even though he had just thrown up, he felt like his stomach was doing flips. What would happen when they got back to the hotel? Was Lucifer going to kill him? Was he going to kick him out on the streets? Was he going to be lobotomized?! The arrival of the car in front of the hotel ended his anxious worrying; he gulped, stepped out, and waited by the limo door. Adam's fight or flight instincts kicked in as his body was desperately trying to choose the flight option. The closer they got to the double doors of the hotel, the faster his heart beat. Upon walking through them, the group found Vaggie at the bar chatting with Husk. Turning at the sudden noise, she smiled as she stood and walked over to Charlie, hugging her.

“Welcome back, how did the reserve go?”

Adam stepped back from the group a little. After the revelation, he didn’t feel as welcome as he had before. Plus, he didn’t want to be in Vaggie’s swinging range when Charlie told her what happened. Looking around himself, he decided to sneak out of the lobby; it was better to be gone before people started to retaliate against him. Slipping down the lobby quickly, he made it to the hallway and walked leisurely before sprinting once he was sure no one could see him. Slamming open his bedroom door, and slammed it closed just as quickly. 

“Fuck, why the hell is all of this happening now?”

Running his hands down his face, he sighed and slunk his way over to the bed and sat down on it. Looking around his room, he took in the posters before wandering over to the guitar. He missed the feeling of the strings underneath his fingers; he looked down at his hands, lights gleaming off the golden claws. Probably wouldn’t be a good idea, he wouldn’t be able to ask anyone for anything in a while, so he didn’t want to break the strings. He kicked his shoes off his hooves and buried himself underneath the covers. The day's events were too much for him; usually, he could handle the evil glares people gave him. But for some reason, he couldn’t this time, so maybe some sleep is what he needed.

The world came back slowly as the man began blinking his eyes, yawning a little, he sat up and rubbed the sleepiness from them. Looking beside his bed, he looked down at the garden before sighing. The sun had gone down, bathing Hell in a dim red light.

“Fuck how long have I been asleep for?” 

Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, he wasn’t entirely sure if it was the next day or the same one that he so desperately wanted to escape. Pushing himself to stand up, he stretched and made his way into the bathroom. He goes through the cycle of using the toilet and washing his hands. Walking out, he pushed open his room door slowly before he stuck his head out and looked up and down the hallways. Once he confirmed that no one was in the hallways, he began making his way to the lobby. Now standing in the archway for the lobby, he glanced over at the bar. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes he rubbed the side of his temples. He turned away from the lobby and began walking down the hallway that led to the kitchen.

“That was a lot fucking harder than I thought it’d be.”

Walking inside, he flipped the light switch on and walked over to the pantry. Pulling the handle, the door swung open softly, revealing a plethora of snacks and kitchen basics on shelves or hanging on hooks. Walking inside, he looked at the different items before stopping and grabbing a roll of unopened paper towels. Closing the door after he walked out, he made his way to the garden door and walked outside. It closed softly behind him as he walked outside. He let his tail drag on the ground, letting the heat of the dirt warm it. He finally stopped in front of the weeping willow and knelt in front of it. 

Looking at the trunk of the tree, he traced the red veins that ran through it up into the branches. He could see them pulsing slowly as the red liquid moved through them. Crossing his legs, he scooted closer to the tree and set his tail in his lap. Sighing, he wiggles his fingers as he moves his hands closer to the tree.

“Alright, let's see what I can do.” 

Closing his eyes, he placed them on the tree and began to clear his mind. Taking small breaths, he let a question fall from his mouth. “Are you alive too?”

There was a beat of silence; the night was silent as well. Not a sinner or animal in sight.

“Yes, I am. Don’t you know your child when you see it, father?”

Adam opened his eyes in shock as he snatched his hands away from the tree. The plant swayed before the trunk bent a bit. The half-naked tree was now bent as if it were looking at him, freaked out, the first man froze as one of the branches reached toward him. Stopping right before his face, Adam stared at it for a second before understanding what it wanted him to do. Gulping, he slowly reached out and closed his eyes, and wrapped his hand around the branch.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, I thought you knew I could talk, I thought Daf told you.”

“Daf? Who the hell is Daf?”

“Daf, the daffodil. One of the first plants you created.”

Adam faintly remembered the small daffodil that he had grown with his spit the night of the slumber party, but it didn’t take long for his mind to settle with the fact that the plants could obviously talk to each other somehow; he was more stuck on the small detail that the tree had just dropped.

“You guys have names?”

“Of course we have names, we are living beings after all.”

“But you can talk. Last time I checked, normal trees and daffodils couldn’t talk.”

“But we aren’t whatever is normal for our species, we are from you. From your blood.”

That caught him by surprise; he had created them with his DNA, sure, but he only thought it was some type of fertilizer or a seed, not something that could create new plants from nothing. Though he couldn’t say he hadn’t been thinking about it with the seed manipulation idea.

“So you're saying I can create any plant I want, but it just has to be with my DNA?”

The leaves of the tree rustled as some fell off, almost like it was nodding its head.

“I’m not sure, but I think so. I am still rather new, so I don’t have much experience with magic here.”

“You know a lot for something that’s only a few weeks old.”

“Well, I am very observant since I am so tall.”

“Wait, you have eyes?”

The branches on the tree’s leaves shook as if it were nodding its head yes. “If I said yes, would that confuse you?”

“Obviously.”

“Well, then pretend I didn’t say that. I can't see you at all.”

Adam opened his eyes and deadpanned at the tree, which shook a little before it returned to its wilted position. Returning to the base of the tree, he ran his fingers along the vein before closing his eyes again.

“Why do you have these veins?”

“It is my blood, don’t you have blood?”

“But it’s also my blood, at least I think it is. Isn’t that how it works?”

The tree pondered for a bit before the base expanded and then deflated like it was sighing. “I am not sure, but I am thirsty. My beautiful leaves have fallen off due to your negligence.”

“What? How did I cause that?”

“Well, you’re supposed to water plants, aren’t you?”

Adam opened his eyes as he looked over the tree. He had thought about that, but he wasn’t entirely sure that it was due to the lack of blood; he simply thought that Hell’s weather had been the culprit. No wonder it looked bare. If he had to use his blood to water the tree, how often would he have to do it? And how much does he have to use to satisfy it? Skeptically, he placed his hand back on the tree and closed his eyes.

“How much of my blood do you need?”

“The same amount that it took to make me should be enough.” The tree turned a bit as it rubbed its leaves on his head. “But you already knew that, I’m assuming?”

“Yeah, when I saw the blood disappearing from the veins, I figured.”

Opening his eyes again, he looked down at his arm. He knew that it wouldn’t hurt as much, but the thought of not being able to heal himself immediately after made him hesitate. What would the others think if they saw his arms filled with cuts, but then again, he was pretty sure no one else would want to talk to him after what happened, so if he wore jackets, they wouldn’t notice, right? Sighing, he held his arm out towards the tree and used his claw to cut from his wrist to his forearm. He flinched a little as the red blood trickled off the side of his arm, he felt that weird pit in his stomach again before pushing the feeling away as best as he could.

As his blood landed on the soil, he watched as the tree’s veins filled with the liquid. It was a beyond weird experience, but he also felt like he finally understood how women felt. Staring at the blood staining the dirt, he felt like a complete fool. As he let his mind leave its survival mode, his doubtful and bitter feelings came surging to the forefront of his mind. He realized that he had been a complete fool to think things could go back to the way they were before. Not when there was still so much left unsaid and so many secrets between them. Hell, the king still hadn’t even told him about that letter, and now that he thought about it, why was Lucifer being such an ass when he hid stuff from him as well? Why was he doing anything for any of these people anyway? If they were just going to turn their backs on him the moment that they learned something they didn’t like about him. Sure, he hadn’t said anything about Lilith being in Heaven, but he also wasn’t exactly in a place where he could talk. Especially not as of late.

“Father, the blood is enough.”

Adam looked up at the tree as he felt a leaf brush against his cheek. Scrambling, he grabbed the paper towel and ripped the plastic off before wrapping his arm in the absorbent material.

“What is the matter? Your blood tastes rather sour today.”

“You can tell how I'm feeling based on my blood?”

The tree shook lightly as if it were nodding its head, and the branch on his cheek moved to sit on his head. “Yes, and like I said earlier, I am rather observant.”

Adam quickly let the blood absorb into the paper towel before ripping off some more and changing them. “I’m not in the best mood.” He sighed as his head dropped. “I just feel like shit.”

“Care to expand on what you mean by that?”

He gave the tree a skeptical look up and down before realizing how insane this would probably look from any other perspective. Turning around, he scooted up against the tree and leaned his head back onto the trunk, his horns stopping the back of his head from touching it completely. Closing his eyes, he tried his best to explain to the tree what had happened. As it sat through his explanation, it made small shakes of recognition.

“I think you may have been in the wrong.” Frowning, Adam furrowed his brow.

“And just what do you know? You’re a tree?”

“I may be just a tree, but even I know what’s wrong and right.”

Adam fell silent as he opened his eyes, rolling them, he pulled away from the tree and changed the paper towel on his arm again. “I don’t have to listen to this; you barely know anything about me. You’ve only been alive for what? A month?”

A branch slithered its way onto his leg as he shuddered from the weird sensation.
“Please listen, I do believe you were in the wrong, but I’m not saying the king isn’t in the wrong, either. But you can’t make something right by being wrong too.” 

Stepping back from the tree, the branch retreated and returned to its original position, completely motionless now. The branches that were once bare now had leaves growing, and wilted just like the others before them. Standing up, he gathered the bloody paper towel and began making the walk back to the kitchen. Once inside, he tossed the trash but kept the paper towel, tucking it underneath his arm. Tuning off the kitchen light, he made his way back down the hallway and into the lobby again. Once he was standing in the archway, he stared down the bar, for some reason, he didn’t feel as hesitant to grab a drink this time.

Walking over to the bar, he grabbed one of the bottles and opened the cap before taking a huge gulp from it. Burping, he sighed contentedly as he screwed the cap back on and took the bottle with him on his way back to his room. Looking at the different doors, his eyes scanned for a familiar room. Smiling once he saw the door stretched open as usual, he walked over to the bookshelf and scooted a pile of books to the side. Opening the hatch on the wall, he slid the bottle inside and closed it back.

Chapter Text

Stretching her arms, Charlie yawned as she sat up in her bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She looked down beside her and smiled as she saw Vaggie fast asleep. Leaning down, she kissed her on the forehead before softly and quietly sliding out of the bed. Walking out of her bedroom, she made her way down the dozens of steps that led to the lobby of the hotel. Standing inside the empty area, she gave it a once-over before turning and walking towards the kitchen. Once inside, she walked over to the pantry and opened it. Walking inside, she grabbed an apple-shaped teapot. Her eyes adjusting to the dark, she spotted a missing paper towel roll, cocking her head in confusion, she chalked it up to someone from the hotel needing it. Closing the door, she flicked on the kitchen light and walked over to the sink, filling it with water. Placing it on the table, she turned it on and turned around to lean on the island counter. In her peripheral vision, she noticed a red color in the trash can near the refrigerator.

“What’s that?”

She walked cautiously towards the can and peered inside it. Her eyes widened as it clicked in her mind that it was multiple bloody paper towels. Her hands shook a little as she reached inside and picked it up, opening the crumbled piece in her hand. She dropped it just as quickly as she saw the amount of blood on it.

“Who…who’s hurt this bad?” Her voice was shaky as she looked around the kitchen, trying to find any sign of what had happened.

After looking all around the kitchen, she thought back to the missing paper towel, so does that mean whoever got hurt had the other roll? Rubbing her face with her hands, she took a deep breath before releasing it and calming herself as best she could. “No, I won’t invade anyone’s privacy. I’ll just watch everyone today at the session. Maybe I’ll see something.”

The kettle began to whistle, causing her to turn around. Reaching overhead, she grabbed two small teacups, one bright red and the other lavender purple. The purple caused a small smile to grace her face. Vaggie was the light of her life, even though she had kept some rather important information from her, she still could never stop loving her. Sure, she wished she had told her sooner, but she understood why she was afraid too. Grabbing the small, clear container, she opens it and scoops some of the leaves into the cups. Closing it back, she poured some water into the cups. Humming softly as she watched, the water began to turn a soft pink.

“Bonjour Charlie Chéri, How are you feeling this fine morning?” Alastor stood behind her as his body took its solid form.

You would think that the radio demon appearing behind her would cause her to jump or scream or have any sort of reaction, but this was a normal for her and him. When he first became the hotel's hotelier, they met in the kitchen one morning and talked to each other for a while. It felt good at the time, as her father was unfortunately avoiding her. Don’t get her wrong, she loved that he wants to better himself and better his relationship with her, but she had kinda gotten used to telling Alastor almost anything.

“Hello, Alastor! Good morning, here to make breakfast?”

Walking over to a hook beside the light switch, he grabbed an apron and began to put it on. “Yes, I plan to make some sweet potato biscuits, with some fresh strawberries.”

Charlie clapped her hands lightly as she jumped up and down. “Ohhh! That sounds so nice! I can’t wait to try it! Do you need any help?”

“Oh no, darling, I am quite fine on my own. You should go spend time with your little girlfriend, and I know you need to make your little curriculum before the other sinners wake up.”

She smiled, holding a hand over her heart. “Aww, that’s so considerate of you Al!”

He hummed lightly, placing his staff(still in a somewhat disfigured state) against the counter. The little speaker on the staff began to play a low static sound before turning into jazz music. Charlie quickly grabbed the two teacups and did a small bow before quickly moving out of his way. Standing in the archway, she stopped suddenly before turning back around to look at him.

“Hey, if you notice anything weird with any of the resident’s can you tell me?”

The music on the staff turned down a little as he turned to face her, a never-ending smile still gracing his face. “Is there something wrong, dear?”

Charlie thought for a minute, should she really tell Alastor? I mean, he was technically in charge of keeping everyone safe at the hotel. What if someone had broken in and hurt someone inside the hotel? Biting her lip a little, she sighed.

“There was some bloody paper towel inside the garbage. I just wanted to make sure everyone was ok.”

Alastor whipped his head around and flicked his finger, causing a shadow tendril to shoot up from the bottom of the trash can holding the paper towel. Slithering over it placed the paper towel into his hand as he started to inspect it. After a few more minutes of staring, he handed the piece back to the tentacle before it vanished.

“I’ll be sure to keep an eye out, wouldn’t want anyone hurt now, would we?”

The music on his staff abruptly turned back to its original volume. Charlie bowed a little to the man once again before making her way back to her bedroom. Passing by a couple of doors, she stopped as she stared at Adam’s. She was upset beyond any sense or form of the word. Why would he hide this from her? She thought they had become quite friendly lately. Was he faking the entire time? From the day they had their first session, was he lying then, too? The princess shook her head as she continued walking; she wasn’t going to let herself go down that rabbit hole so early in the morning. Besides, she still believed in his ability to get rehabilitated; sure, he may have been hiding something huge, but she believed that up until that point, he was being as honest and trusting as he could be. She wasn’t about to allow something like this to stop her from helping him, though she wasn’t so sure about how her dad felt about the situation.

Finally walking back inside her room, she smiled as she saw Vaggie stretching her arms and yawning. “Morning, Hon.”

Charlie walked over to the bed and placed the lavender cup in her girlfriends hand before sitting beside her on the bed. “Morning Vaggie!” She leaned over and gave her a kiss.

“How do you feel?”

She cocked her head a little to the side as she took a sip of the tea in her hand. “What do you mean?”

“I mean…How do you feel about what happened yesterday?”

Charlie placed her cup on her leg as she kept her fingers on the handle. “Well I’m hurt that he didn’t tell me something like that. But I do understand that he hated us when he first did it.”

“You’re not sympathetic are you?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, I’m so angry about it but at the same time, he’s been changing can’t you see it?”

Vaggie looked down at her tea cup before blowing on it and taking a sip. “He’s always been an asshole, some things just don’t change”

Charlie rubbed her thumb on the handle of the cup. “I don't blame him now, but I do blame the him from the past.”

Her girlfriend looked down at her cup, looking at her reflection in the drink. “You gonna put him out?”

Her eyes widened as she whipped her head up to face Vaggie. “What?! Of course not! I still want to help him, I just wish he would have told me ya know?”

“I get it, but I would also understand if you did. What if he doesn’t even show up to the session today?”

“I’ll believe in him, I don’t think he’ll want to disappoint me.”

Vaggie deadpanned at the the princess, cocking her head to the side. “You do know who we’re talking about right?”

Charlie shrugged her shoulders as she set her glass down on the bedside table. “I think he’ll do the right thing.”

The former exorcist Places her hand on the princesses shoulder. “You know I'm with you, no matter what you choose. But please don’t hurt yourself because you want to help him.”

Charlie gripped her girlfriend’s hand as she moved it from her shoulder to her cheek, closing her eyes. “I know, thank you for always caring about me.”

Once the sun began to rise the two began to ready themselves for the day. Now standing in the lobby she scanned over the faces present, she pursed her lips as she noticed the lack of the familiar brown hair. Standing beside her Vaggie placed her hand on her shoulder, breathing in a quick breath she began to speak.

“Alright how about we get started on today's exercise?”

Angel raised one of his many hands as he arched one of his eyebrows. “Uh where’s Adam? Isn’t he supposed to be doing this too?”

Playing with her fingers the princess laughed somberly. “I don’t think he’s coming today.”

Everyone turned to face the king as a small exasperated sigh escaped his lips. “Typical Adam, always running away.”

Charlie narrowed her eyes at Lucifer as she wagged her finger at him. “Dad don’t say that, he might just be a little nervous to show up after what happened yesterday”

“And he should be,he’s lucky I didn’t kick his ass.”

“You couldn’t kick my ass, even if I laid down and took it”

Everyone’s heads whipped around as they watched Adam walk into the lobby, a wide smile graced her face as she clasped her hands together happily. 

“Adam you came!”

He shrugged his shoulders as he walked over to a seat beside Husk. “Yeah, you thought I wouldn’t commit to this?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time it happened.”

The princesses eyes widened as she watched Adam glare at the king. “The fuck was that? I didn’t hear you correctly.”

Charlie quickly ran in between the two as she saw the tension escalate. “Hey, hey, calm down you two. We don’t wanna create a bad atmosphere.” Her eyes moved back and fourth between the two, silently praying.

They both narrowed their eyes before Adam sighed, slumping back down in his chair. “Fine, I don’t have the ego the size of hell like your dad so I’ll cooperate.”

“You son of a-” Lucifer closed his eyes as he sat back down in his seat, running his hand through his hair before straightening his jacket. “I have better things to do then entertain your foolish behavior, you know I’d do anything for you char-char.”

The princess relaxed as she ran her hands down the front of her face, gripping them before sighing. “Alright then, so today’s exercise is called Appreciation web!”

Clapping her hands together a yellow ball of yarn appeared over her head, catching it she wrapped a small amount around her finger as she spoke. “We are going to pass this ball around and say one thing we like about the person we tossed it to!”

The group collectively groaned, Angel flopped all over Cherri as he put his legs on the arms of the couch. “That’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. How is giving each other pansy ass compliments supposed to help us get into Heaven?”

“Oh come on, it’ll help you all see the best in yourselves!”

Vaggie glared at the group in front of her, holding her hand out the familiar angelic weapon materialized in her hand. “Alright gather in a circle unless you want me to hurt you.”

They all sank to the floor in a lopsided circle, each person radiating their quiet disapproval in the forced participation of the activity. Now standing in front of them Charlie sank to the ground crossing her legs, and clapping her hands excitedly.

“Close your eyes before you toss it.” She closed her eyes and tossed the yarn into the air, everyone watched it go up before it came back down. Angel caught it, slowly moving his head up making eye contact with Charlie’s wide ones. “Ohhh I have to come up with a compliment for you!” She clapped her hands happily as the spider demon wrapped a small amount of the yarn around his finger.

“Don’t waste your time, you don’t even know much about me.” Charlie gasped as she covered her mouth.

“Don’t say that Angel! I know a lot about you, in fact I love that whenever we paint each other’s nails, you take the extra time to sit and talk to me while they dry.”

“I knew it was you, she can't draw hearts that well.” Charlie looked at her girlfriend, giving her a sad puppy dog look. “Don't give me that look, babe I love your cute pictures, but you gotta admit that you aren't the neatest.”

The princess nodded her head as she leaned her head on Vaggie’s shoulder, letting out a small sigh.

“I didn't think you noticed that, to be honest.” Angel shrugged his shoulders a little as he smiled softly. Closing his eyes he tossed the yarn into the air, once it landed everyone’s eyes fell on Adam.

“Ok this has to be rigged or something.” The first man groaned as he wrapped some around his finger, his tail thumped against the floor in a quick rhythm, a clear sign of disapproval.

“Ah come on I know you pretty well.” Adam frowned as he deadpanned at Angel. “Come on, how about this. I like how you sit and listen to my problems, it's nice.”

The first man was thoroughly shocked, scratching the back of his neck, a small blush spreading on his cheeks. “A lot nicer than I thought you'd be.”

Angel smiled softly, his shoulders lifting in a playful shrug. “Thought I’d be a little serious, for Charlie.”

Adam looked down in his lap, rolling the ball in his hand. Sighing he closed his eyes and tossed it into the air, once it landed He opened his eyes. Only to find it landed in the cat demons lap, putting his finger on his chin he hummed a little in thought.

“I don't know much about you, but I like that you didn't get to angry at me for stealing from the bar. Plus you aren't trying to antagonize me every minute, so thanks for that.”

Husk looked at Adam with an unamused expression, grunting tail came to rest in his lap. “Wow, thanks so much.” The sarcasm was heavy in his voice as he wrapped some of the yarn over his finger. Closing his eyes he tossed the ball into the air, opening his eyes once it landed.

Sighing he took a moment to rack his brain for a compliment on the cyclops that held the yarn now. Snickering Cherri wrapped some of it around her finger. “I can't wait to hear this.”

Making a small groan of content he looked up at her. “I like that you make Angel happy.”

Adam let out a whistle, the sound cutting through the almost romantic tension in the air. Angel's hands darted towards his cheeks, an attempt to mask his growing embarrassment. With a teasing grin, he quipped, “Do you love me that much, Husky?”

Husk rolled his eyes, choosing to save his breath instead of engaging in the banter. Cherri, however, wasn't deterred; a playful grin lit up her face as she leaned over and gave the demon cat a friendly smack on the arm. “Ang told me about your little rescue mission,” she said with a wink. “So I guess that makes us friends now!”

Leaning back against the couch, she closed her eyes and tossed the yarn into the air. Once it landed Adam covered his mouth as he held back the obnoxious laugh he was about to let out. Opening her eyes Cherri looked over everyone left until her eye landed on Lucifer who held the yarn in his hands.

“I haven't even known him that long.” Cherri looked at Charlie as she gave her a confused look. “What am I supposed to tell him?”

“Think carefully; I know you've got some kind of opinion about him," she urged, her fingers drumming thoughtfully on her chin as she pondered her father's encounters with the hotel guests. "Or maybe a pleasant misconception?”

Cherri hummed as she leaned her head back, looking up at the chandelier that hung over the lobby. “I guess I’m happy he’s here now, some of these overlords need their asses kicked”

Lucifer chuckled smugly as he wrapped the yarn around his finger, chuckling. “Well said Merry dear, well said.”

“Uh my name is Cherri-”

“Uh dad I don't think that counts.”

The girl's words bounced off the king as he closed his eyes and threw the ball in the air. Everyone went quiet, and when he opened his eyes again, Vaggie held the yarn in one hand the other hand up and a nervous smile on her face. “You don’t have to say anything, sir. I mean, you don’t really know me that well yet.”

“Nonsense, I”ve got plenty of things to thank you for!” Lucifer smiled as he leaned forward a bit. “I love that you love Charlie. You make her so happy and protect her even when I can’t.”

Charlie happily grabbed her girlfriend’s shoulders as the former exorcist tried her best not to burst into tears. “I…I don't know what to say sir, she means the world to me.”

Adam averted his gaze from the three, his lips pressed together tightly. It wasn’t jealousy that drove him to look away; it was the nauseating display of affection that unfolded before him. He couldn't bear to watch their sugary sweet moments, each one more sappy than the last, and instead chose to indulge in the comfort of his own thoughts.

“You let me know if you need anything, ok Maggie?” Pulling away from the fallen Angel he held her shoulders smiling at her.

“Uh Dad, it’s Vaggie. Not Maggie.” Charlie leaned over to her father's ear, his face shifted to one of confusion.

“Uh right, I knew that. I was just testing you all trying to see if you all listened to me! Congratulations! You passed.” Husk shook his head as Angel snorted and covered his mouth, Lucifer motioned his hands towards her in an urgent way. “Uh, why don’t you throw the ball now?”

Vaggie nodded her head as she wrapped some yarn around her finger, closing her eyes she tossed it into the air. Opening her eyes after a couple more minutes traced the string to the ball that now sat in Niffty’s lap. The small cyclops woman jittered as she wrapped way more yarn than necessary on her finger.

“Well that's easy, I love how much you help us Niff. The hotel is always clean when you're around” Niffty giggled as she clasped her hands together.

“Aww, that’s sweet, almost as sweet as the treats that roaches can’t resist!” The group exchanged uneasy glances, clearly unsettled by her peculiar comparison. It was evident that the woman had an abnormal edge to her. As she focused on the yarn in her hands, her gaze darted to Charlie with a playful spark. “Now it’s my turn to throw it!” 

“Uh well Niffty everyone went already, so throw it to me.” 

The cyclops deflated as she groaned and tossed the yarn at Charlie. “Aww fine.” Catching the ball the princess gave the janitor an excited look as she waited. “I like that you watch my roach puppet shows.”

Charlie let out a nervous chuckle, her smile softening as she gazed down at the tiny demon. "Oh, it’s no trouble at all," she replied, her voice bright, though a hint of strain edged her words, as if she was trying a little too hard to mean it.

As Charlie turned to face the group, she paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts and allowing the weight of the moment to settle within her. Finally, she inhaled deeply, her heart swelling with pride, and a genuine smile broke across her face. “I can't express how thrilled I am that each of you embraced this session with such dedication. You’ve all made me so proud!”

Adam awkwardly came back to his senses when he saw how choked up the princess was becoming. There was no way something as small as this was making her this emotional, he sighed as he once again was hit with the reality that she was indeed just like her father. Angel nodded his head slowly as he raised his hand, once she acknowledged him he lazily dropped his hand back down.

“I know your happy and all right now but I’ve gotta go to work. Is this done yet?”

Charlie brushed away the few tears on her cheeks and gave a nod. “Yeah, the session's done!” She clapped her hands, and a bright red camera popped up in front of her. “But before you all head out, what do you say to taking a picture?”

A warm wave of affection washed over Vaggie as she watched Charlie cradle the camera eagerly in her hands. Smiling softly she moved to stand in front of Husk, who leaned casually beside Angel, while Adam stood just behind them. Niffty dashed forward, and plopped down proudly right at Vaggie's feet, her enthusiasm evident. Meanwhile, Charlie let the camera float gracefully in the air, her heart racing as she hurried to join her girlfriend, ready to capture this perfect moment.

“Alright everyone when the camera goes off, hold up your finger with the thread and say friendship!”

The group groaned as the princess snapped her fingers, an audible countdown could be heard from the camera. Once it reached two everyone held up their fingers and all said something different. None of which was the word friendship.

Chapter Text

Charlie stood by the door of the kitchen as she peered out of the small window to the garden, sitting on his legs, Adam was kneeling in front of the willow tree. His hands were on the trunk with his eyes closed. “What do you think he’s doing?”

Turning to face Abel he shrugged his shoulders as he glanced back out the small window, he wasn't exactly sure what to think of the weird scene. “He looks like he’s praying.”

Charlie rested her fingers thoughtfully on her chin, tapping gently as she pondered. “Well, it kind of resembles a praying position, but there’s something a bit more sacred about it, don’t you think?”

“I might be wrong since it’s been so long but, I think he actually used to sit under a tree like that when he prayed.” Abel sighed softly as his shoulders dropped. “I feel bad about what I said the other night, but I just hated how he kept something so important hidden from you.”

Charlie cocked her head to the side as she raised one of her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“I got upset at him and accused him of lying to me about mom.”

Charlie cast a lingering glance at the door, her fingers twisting nervously as she replayed Abel’s words in her mind. She felt a deep pang of unease, knowing how much his comments had undoubtedly affected Adam’s progress. Yet, part of her understood his son’s feelings—how could he not be angry? 

With a heavy sigh, her thoughts drifted to a revelation that had shaken her to the core: her mother was in Heaven. A rush of questions filled her mind. Why hadn’t her mother reached out? Why no letter, no sign, nothing to let them know where she was? The bittersweet ache of abandonment gnawed at her, especially during a time when she needed guidance the most. As the minutes ticked by, the relentless train of thought spiraled further, tugging her deeper into a well of uncertainty and longing.

“Maybe you should talk to him?” The princess looked back towards him as she scratched her arm.

Abel turned back to face Charlie as he shook his head. “Nah not right now, I feel weird after saying all of that. I never said something so disrespectful to him before.”

“Even when you were alive?”

“Especially not when we were alive.”

The two blondes let out a sigh as they stepped away from the garden door, now standing next to the island Charlie turned around and handed him a cup. Taking it in his hand he brought the cup to his lips before blowing on it and taking a sip.

“Wow this is amazing, I didn't think Hell had anything like this?”

The princess laughed softly as she grabbed her own cup taking a drink from it. “What, you thought Hell was just full of nasty food or something?”

Abel let out a resigned shrug, struggling to keep his tone light. “I don’t know, but isn’t it kind of the worst place to end up after you die?”

Charlie looked down at her cup as she placed it down on the marble island top. “I know Hell isn't the best but it’s my home, I can't help but feel some type of love for it you know?”

“Yeah, I really miss Earth. I get why you’re so passionate about making a difference for Hell, but let me tell you—Heaven isn’t as open as you might believe. Every single soul that arrives there is drilled on the dos and don’ts to avoid ending up in Hell. Do you honestly think they’ll pay attention to what you have to say?”

Charlie frowned as she tried not to imagine a world where the exterminations continued to ravage Hell. “Then what do you think I should do? Let my people be slaughtered? I have to try something even if no one else thinks it’ll work.”

“I think it’ll work.”

The sudden voice made the two whip their heads to the side, standing in the archway of the kitchen Emily wore a combination of wine-red and black, its high collar tied with a bow that sat above the ruffles that fell like petals. The full skirt was edged in layered frills that swayed as she rocked back and forth.

“Oh my gosh, how long have you been standing there?” Charlie asked excitedly as she ran around the counter and put her hands on the seraphim’s shoulders. “And where did you get this cute outfit?”

Emily twirled with joy, her skirt swirling around her like a vibrant dance. As she spun, her ponytail bounced playfully, secured by a hair tie that resembled delicate seraphim wings unfurling, creating a halo effect, while her real halo hovered normally above her head.

“I asked Vaggie to help me fit in around the hotel more, this is what she gave me to wear! I made the ponytail holder myself, and it even does this!” She snapped her fingers and the wings began to slightly move up and down imitating flapping.

“Oh my gosh, that's so cute! I love it!”

The seraphim smiled at Charlie before walking over to Abel and standing in front of him, her hands behind her back. A slight golden hue dusted her cheeks as she looked up at him. “What do you think Abe?”

His face mirrored Emily’s, yet it shimmered with a deeper hue of gold. “I-uh, wow, you look absolutely incredible,” he stammered, unable to take his eyes off her.

She smiled making her way over to her partner, she then planted a kiss on his cheek before pinching it. Abel slapped his hand over his face as he gave her a confused look.

“Ow, what was that for?”

“Shame on you for having no belief in her plan.”

Abel sighed as Emily put her hand on his cheek and rubbed softly. “I never said I didn't believe in her but knowing Sera it’s gonna be really hard to convince her of the hotel, I mean you saw how she treated dad at the meeting that day.” Rubbing his arm he glanced down at the ground.

Emily pulled her away as she placed it on her chin in thought. “The longer I think about it the more I see his point.”

“But aren't you guys reporting back to her?”

The seraphim nodded her head as she snapped her fingers, with a flash of light a small clear sphere now floated over her hands.

“I am but that doesn’t mean she’ll listen.”

She gently traced her fingers over the surface of the orb, and within moments, Sera's image materialized before her. The stern expression on Sera’s face was unmistakable as her voice began to resonate from the orb, filling the air with an intensity that demanded attention.

“It is a shame that Adam wasn't able to reconcile with his son, but I am not entirely surprised at the fact either.” Abel’s face scrunched up in confusion as he listened to the high seraphim voice. “But Hell is for the unforgivable so I'm sure it’s nothing out of the ordinary.”

Abel slid his hand on the orb causing the image of Sera to pause, looking more than just a little displeased. “Why is she talking about my family like that? I know Cain and my dad aren't the best but they aren't the worse.”

Emily frowned as she looked over at Abel, she understood his anger with how Sera talked about his family, she herself wasn't too happy when Sera and she had the conversation a couple of nights ago. 

“I don't know, I scolded her when she said it. But you know how Sera can be.”

Abel crossed his arms over his chest as he frowned at the younger seraphim, he thought it more than unfair that she was belittling his family. 

“Hey um speaking of Cain, you wouldn’t be opposed to, I don’t know inviting him to the hotel?”

Abel put a hand to his chin as he thought about the princess's proposition, Emily on the other hand was jumping and smiling while clapping her hands.

“That sounds like a great idea!”

“Mmn I don’t know Em, Cain didn’t look too happy to see Dad or me.”

Charlie couldn’t argue with that, even though they had only spoken a few words his actions were more than enough to prove his disdain for the two. 

“Have you had another session with Dad yet?” The blonde perked up at the mention of the first man’s therapy sessions.

“Nope, we’ve been so busy I haven’t had time.”

“How about this, we invite Cain over and  have a group family session?”

A wide smile graced Emily’s face as she snapped her fingers and the crystal ball she held disappeared with a sparkle. She grabbed her boyfriend’s shoulder as she shook him.

“That’s an amazing idea! It’ll give you three a chance to work things out!”

Charlie’s hand was on her chin as she tapped it lightly, her gaze falling to the small window on the door that leads to the garden.

“I don’t know about that guys, I mean my first session with Adam left a lot unsaid, maybe I should have another session with just him first.”

Abel shook his head as he waved his hand at the princess. “I know Dad, he misses Cain, this is the best choice.”

“But I thought you were nervous to talk to your dad?”

Charlie tried her best to convince the man that this was a bad idea, but when it was clear that he wasn’t listening to her she sighed before apologizing to the first man in her head.

“You have Cain’s number right?” Emily asked happily as she grabbed the princess's hands.

Forcing a smile on her face she nodded her head. “Of course, I’ll give him a call.”

Charlie pulled away from Emily and smiled as she exited the kitchen, making her way through the lobby she ran over to Vaggie once she spotted her sitting at the bar with Husk.

“Vaggie! Vaggie! I don’t know what to do!”

The ex-angel turned towards her girlfriend a confused look etching itself onto her face. She placed her hands on the princess's shoulder to calm her down. “What’s going on?”

“Emily and Abel want to have a family therapy session with Adam, but I don’t think he’s ready for that yet,”

“Ok, so what’s the problem?” Vaggie raised an eyebrow at Charlie.

“The problem is they won’t listen to me! Abel said he knew Adam better than me which is probably true but this…I don’t think he’s right about this, and I told them I would give Cain a call.” 

The princess gripped her hair as she began pacing in front of the bar, she began to internally berate herself for bringing up the topic of Cain in the first place. The ex-angel stood and grabbed her girlfriend’s arm and turned her to face her.

“Babe, calm down ok. If you can’t cancel it then how about I sit in with you four, just in case the situation needs mediation.” Charlie looked down at Vaggie, her face still displaying unease.

“Are you sure? I don’t wanna put too much pressure on you.”

“Of course, besides I know how that asshole can be. This might give me a little more insight on how to deal with him.”

While this did help Charlie feel a bit better she couldn’t stop fidgeting with her fingers. She had a bad feeling about inviting the man’s estranged son over. Sighing she smiled softly at Vaggie as she reached into her pocket.

“Ok you’re right, I mean what’s the worst that could happen?”

Hell’s sun made Adam consistently wipe his forehead before placing his hands back onto the tree, closing his eyes he gripped the tree trunk lightly.

“You do know you’ve been out here the entire morning? Don’t you think they’re worried about you?”

Adam scoffed as he brushed off the words of the tree. “Yeah right if they were worried they would have come out here by now.”

“When you close yourself off, it is not easy for people to approach you.”

“Well I wouldn’t close myself off if everyone here wasn’t an asshole.”

The tree shook lightly as if it were disapproving of his actions. “From what I’ve gathered everyone has been relatively nice to you, especially Mr and Ms Morningstar.”

“Oh so now you’re defending them? I grew you ya know? I basically gave birth to you.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t tell when you’re the one in the wrong.”

Adam frowned as he pulled away, he wasn’t about to sit there and get reprimanded by a tree, granted a really weird tree but still. Standing up he brushed off his pants and stretched, sitting in that position for hours is more than just a little tiring. Yawning he began making his way back to the kitchen, once inside he was stopped in his tracks by a smiling Emily.

“Adam! You were outside for such a long time, welcome back!”

An eyebrow arched as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Ok what’s going on?”

The seraphim clasped her hands together as she tried her best to seem trusting, which considering her job you’d think be easier. “Nothing is wrong, it’s just me and Abel were worried about you. He said you haven’t been yourself lately.”

“If that’s true why isn’t he here with you?”

Emily waved her hands at the man as she quickly made her way to his side. “He’s in his room talking to Peter on the ball, we haven’t seen him in a while and he misses him.” When Adam didn’t speak but instead gave her a cautious glare her smile grew a little wider. “Anyway Charlie said she wanted to speak with you, she’s in her office.”

The first man groaned loudly as he dropped his hands to his sides, the last thing he wanted was to sit through a session with princess goody two shoes. “Alright, see ya.”

Emily excitedly waved as she was basically vibrating as Adam walked out of the kitchen, he knew she was hiding something but he couldn’t tell exactly what. Her behavior was more than just a little off, but without any proof he couldn’t say she had been replaced by one of Hell’s shape shifting demons. Or maybe there was nothing wrong and he was just overthinking this whole thing. Once in front of Charlie’s office he knocked lightly.

“Come in!”

Hearing the chipper voice of Hell’s princess Adam twisted the knob and began pushing the door open. “I’m not in the mood for any of that feelings crap, so today can we not-” His voice died in his throat as he took in the people in the room.

Vaggie was a new addition that he honestly wasn’t too upset about, but Abel sitting in front of the desk was a definite shock, hadn’t Emily said he was talking to Peter? Then his eyes slid over to the form sitting next to the blonde, the familiar brown hair and the literal stone texture of the man made him freeze in place.

“What the fuck is this?” Adam frowned as his head shot up to glare at Charlie.

The princess fidgeted with her fingers as she looked away from Adam. “This is a family counseling session.”

“Don’t worry I’d rather be anywhere else too.” Cain hadn’t even turned around to look at his father, but Adam could tell he was dead serious.

The first man paused, uncertainty washing over him. But as adrenaline surged through his veins, he pushed himself to move. He swiftly closed the door behind him, then crossed the room to the seat across from Cain. Though Cain's back was turned, Adam could feel the gravity of the moment; he knew his son was dead serious.

“Alright so first things first I’d like to thank you for coming into my office today.”

“No problem Char!” Abel smiled as he spoke a little too loud for his older brother’s liking, Cain covered his ears as he shot a glance at Abel.

“Blow my fucking eardrums out why don’t you?”

Abel cast a sideways glance at Cain, a frown tugging at his lips. “Oh no, I didn’t mean to hurt your ears,” he said, his voice laced with genuine concern.

The apology hadn’t made his brother feel any better, instead he removed his hands from his ears and glared at him. “Yeah you are fuking sorry.”

Adam whipped his head to the side as he angrily spoke. “Don’t talk to your brother like that.”

“Like usual you only ever say something to me when something happens to him.”

“What? I’ve never done that.”

Cain angrily faced his father as he pointed an accusing finger at him. “You always take his side no matter what happens! Mom was the only one who ever actually gave a shit about me!”

“That’s not true I always paid attention to you!”

The stone demon frowned as he sat back in the chair. “Oh yeah? How about when you yelled at me when I tried to give you an apple?”

The first man rolled his eyes as he sighed. “You know why I did that, it wasn’t anything against you. You know that, I even apologized to you.”

“Oh yeah? Last time I checked Abel showed you a snake one day, You didn’t have the same reaction.”

Abel looked over at his brother as he began speaking, though it came out more anxiously than he wanted. “Actually Dad did get angry at me, he even forbade me from bringing them around the farm ever again.”

“But did he yell at you? No in fact all he ever did was talk to you like you were some fucking baby! Meanwhile he always put the most on me!”

Adam looked over at his oldest shocked, a disapproving frown falling into place. “Abel was a lot more fragile than you! And I didn’t even put that many responsibilities on you!”

“You made me take care of the garden! You made me hunt for our food and you made me cook when you or mom didn’t want to! You dumped everything on me!”

“You were more dependable than Abel when it came to those things, if I had sent him out there we would have starved!”

Abel’s face fell as he heard his fathers words, he hated to think that he might be the reason Cain never was able to get along with their father. Charlie looked over at Abel and her heart ached as she saw how heartbroken he looked, clapping her hands she smiled at the three. 

“Alright boys, how about we calm down? We can’t get anywhere if you’re only arguing.” She then turned her head to face Adam as she clasped her hands together on top of the desk. “Adam what Cain is trying to say is, it seemed like you were picking favorites.”

The first man shook his head as he gave the princess a confused look. “I never played favorites, he just needed some more help then him.”

“You ever thought you’d be hurting his feelings by only paying attention to one?” Everyone’s eyes fell on Vaggie as she sat back in her seat beside Charlie.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I mean you did that even when you were training us. I didn’t give a shit but a lot of the other girls cared especially Lute.”

The room was silent, Adam was thinking. He couldn’t understand how helping other people would make someone else upset. “I don’t get it, it’s not like I ignored you guys.”

Charlie held her hand in front of her girlfriend to prevent her from talking again, she thought for a second there had to be a way to make him understand, then it hit her.

“Adam think about as what happened with you and my parents.” 

The first man could feel his world stop in that instant. What did she mean by that? Who the hell was he supposed to be in this situation. “Are you saying I’m…I’m like fucking Lucifer?”

The princess felt like the temperature in the room just dropped, the pure confusion and honest to god terror on his face made her heart clench. “Well I mean I wouldn’t say exactly like-”

Cain interrupted Charlie’s sentence as he turned angrily to face his father, small cracks began to form on his face. “No if that’s what it takes for you to understand what you did, you are just like Lucifer!”

Chapter Text

Charlie, Abel, Emily, and Cain were standing outside of Adam’s bedroom door, speaking in hushed tones as the princess paced back in fourth. “I knew this would be a bad idea.”

“I’m sorry I really didn’t expect it’d turn out like this!” Abel leaned on his fathers door as he kept his ears open for any signs of movement from inside. “I didn’t expect Cain to trigger him like that.”

Cain glared at Abel as he tapped his foot on the ground. “How the hell was I supposed to know he’d deflate like a sad fucking balloon.” He shrugged his shoulders as he kept his hands in his pockets. “Usually he’d curse me out or something.”

Charlie stepped towards Adam’s door as she thought whether or not to knock. “Adam has been…going through some discoveries since he became a sinner.” She stopped in front of the door and raised her hand before pausing. “He has been very emotional.”

Charlie knocked softly on the door and paused as she waited for an answer. When it was answered with silence she knocked again before speaking softly.

“Adam it’s Charlie, can you please answer the door?” There was silence again, sighing softly Charlie turned around to face everyone else. “Maybe we should give him some space ok?”

Emily grabbed Abel’s hand and rubbed his shoulder to comfort him, his pitiful expression broke her heart. “She’s right, maybe Adam needs time to think things through.”

The blonde nodded softly as his wings drooped and dragged across the hotel’s carpet as they began walking back to their rooms. Charlie then turned her attention to Cain and smiled nervously. 

“I’m sorry about everything that’s happened, I know you probably don’t want to. But I would love, if you could stay a couple days here at the hotel, maybe see what we have to offer in terms of redemption.”

Cain scoffed as he crossed his arms looking at the princess with an incredulous look. “Redemption isn’t possible for me, I’m literally the first murderer.”

Her face fell slightly as she clasped her hands together. “Well I don’t think that’s true, in fact I’ve proven it during the last extermination, we lost a friend but recently I learned he was in Heaven.”

The sinner cast a sideways glance at her as he narrowed his gaze at her. “How did that happen?”

“Uh well, we aren’t really sure yet. But I can guarantee it can happen again, once we figure it out.”

Cain gave her a skeptical look, did she really think he’d agree to this. His Stoney brow furrowed as small cracks formed in his face. “You really think I could be redeemed?”

Charlie smiled as she nodded her head, grabbing his hand, she gripped him sternly. “Absolutely, if I didn’t think people could be redeemed I wouldn’t be helping your dad.”

The man’s face softened a bit as he sighed and pulled his hand away. “Alright, where do I find my room?”

The princess burst into a gigantic grin as she jumped. “Thank you so much! Head down to the Lobby Vaggie should be able to help you. Oh that’s the woman with the giant red bow red x over her eye.” Charlie motioned her hands over her right eye.

“Alright, I got it, calm down with the theatrics.” Cain chuckled softly as he turned to walk to the lobby. “Oh by the way, if you talk to my dad tell him…tell him I’m sorry.”

The princess nodded her head as she watched him leave the hallway, once she was alone she turned towards Adam’s door once again and knocked lightly.

“Adam, I know you heard him. You have people that care about you, me included.” She put her forehead on the door, trying her hardest for the man who killed so many of her people. “I know there’s a lot of things to talk about but I’m here to talk.”

Feeling a mix of disappointment and understanding, she sighed and took a step back from the door. She knew that people occasionally needed their space, but it was hard for her to accept leaving him alone in this moment. Just as Charlie turned to walk away, a faint creak from the bedroom door caught her attention. Whirling around, her heart lifted at the sight of that unmistakable mop of brown hair peeking through the crack. A smile broke across her face, lighting up her worry as hope surged within her.

“Stop being so sentimental damnit I can’t handle it when you do that.”

“Adam, oh my gosh how do you feel? I know today was a lot and I should have stopped-“

Adam held his hand up, stopping her. He’d much rather slam the door in her face then go through one of her apology tangents. “Don’t do that, just…just come inside I wanna talk to you about something.”

Charlie’s eyes widened a bit as he mouth fell into a shocked expression, clasping her hands together she nodded quickly. Adam stepped away from the door and made his way back over to the bed, the princess followed him inside and closed the door behind him before standing at the edge of the bed.

“Go on, sit down, I won’t bite you.”

Hesitantly the princess made her way to the bed and sat down, putting her hands on her lap she smiled softly at him. “Alright, what did you want to talk about?”

Adam scratched the back of his neck, going to her first was kind of just a heat of the moment thing. Perhaps he should have thought this through a bit more.

“Uh so I don’t really know how to start this…” His head dropped as he brought his hands to his hair.

Charlie gave him a confused look before recognition fell on her face. “How about an apology?”

Adam raised an eyebrow in shocked confusion as he looked up at her. “Apologize? What the fuck am I apologizing for?”

“Well I mean you were hiding my moms whereabouts, don’t you think you were wrong for that?”

The first man deflated at her answer, he knew she was right but he hated being wrong. But then a thought made its way to the front of his mind, if this had been the other way around how would he feel?

“Y-you’re right,” he stammered, regret flashing in his eyes. “I should have been honest with you." A tentative smile blossomed on the princess's lips as she absorbed his words, her hands gently resting over her heart. “But you must understand,” he continued, his voice lowering, “I was only trying to protect my family. Who knows what Heaven would have done if they discovered I was telling the devil and his daughter their secrets?”

“Why was it a secret? Why is she there in the first place?”

Adam looked down at his claws, tapping the tips together as he seemed almost nervous. “I don’t think you’ll like the answer.”

Charlie moved her hands to the man’s shoulder as she gripped gently. “I’m sure I probably wouldn’t, but you’re different now.”

🍎🎸🍎🎸🍎

Adam let out a low groan as he leaned back in the immaculate, sparkling white chair of the embassy. He was acutely aware that he wasn’t physically present, yet everything around him still reacted as if he were—one of the many perks of residing in God’s good graces. The sudden, loud ding of a bell jolted him upright, and he firmly planted the chair on the polished floor. 

At that moment, a single piece of paper cascaded down from overhead, fluttering like a fallen leaf. Curiosity piqued, he snatched it out of the air, only to scoff at the name inscribed upon it. With a flick of his wrist, he rolled the paper into a tight cylinder and sent it spinning away. 

The heavy doors of the room swung open, and Lute swiftly strode back towards the holographic image of the captain. The man observed her approach, captivated by the sight of the familiar woman. Her flowing blonde hair cascaded in soft waves, glistening under the ethereal glow of the office lights. Despite the purple horns that adorned her head, she retained an air of elegance, unchanged from their time together in the vibrant garden. To be fair, he found himself unchanged as well, sensing the familiar pulse of their shared memories lingering in the air.

“Well if it isn’t the backstabbing bitch, what brings you to the embassy?” Adam crossed his hands as he leaned back in the chair, looking the woman up and down.

“Please refrain from using words like that, it’s a very unsavory way to talk.” Her voice was firm but soft, making her way to the table she pulled the chair out and sat down crossing her arms. “And I’m here to talk about the deal you made with my husband.”

Adam clenched his fist as the mask morphed into a disgusted look. “And just what the fuck else could you want? We’re already sparing your pathetic family.”

“I want an exemption for hellborn citizens as well, and don’t even think about attacking the other circles.”

The man held back a laugh as he covered his mouth, she had to be joking right? “Uh huh and I want to be Eden right now, we both want the impossible.”

Lilith’s lips twisted into a frown as she placed her hands on the table. “This isn’t a joke Adam, these are souls that have done nothing wrong, they were just born there.”

“There’s no way we’re doing that, who’s to say you won’t use them to try and fight against Heaven again?”

Some things never change, she had only been there for five minutes and she was already annoyed. “And we’re being punished for that with the exterminations, no need to harm the innocent.”

He scoffed before sneering at her. “Hell is for sinners no matter Hellborn or not, so there’s no such thing as innocent.”

“Then what do you suppose we do? Stand by and watch as you murder my people?”

“That would be preferable yeah.”

Lilith slammed her fists on the table as she glared at Adam, her eyes seething with pure anger. “What will it take for you to leave the Hellborns alone?”

A devious smile crept onto the man’s mask, crossing his arms he leaned back in the chair making the front legs hover over the ground. “Well if you’re so desperate there is one thing that could work.” Lilith’s hands slackened as she gave a questioning glare. “Leave Hell, not a single word to your precious daughter and not a word to that fucking asshole.”

Adam watched as the woman grew confused after processing his words. “Are you out of your mind? Charlie needs me, she needs my guidance.”

Adam smiled as he put his hands up palms out. “Even better, maybe she won’t be as naive as her stupid parents.”

Lilith’s face fell in defeat as she shook her head. “What happened to you?”

The man cocked his head to the side as the mask of the helmet displayed a blank expression. “What?”

“You used to be kind, I remember when we first met you brought me a flower. It was the first time I felt joy.”

Adam groaned as he dropped the chair back onto the ground, creating a loud clank sound. “You know what the fuck ypu and that bitch did, don’t act innocent. I’m not as stupid as you both like to think I am.”

“Don’t talk about Lucifer like this, he did nothing wrong. We both did nothing wrong, you’re just still upset that I chose him and a better future over you.”

“All he was doing was make bullshit promises, you listened to him and look at where the fuck you are!” The hologram glitched a bit as his voice rose to a yell. “Seeing you with him is beyond disgusting, you weren’t made to be down here!”

“And what? You preferred that I stay with you? And live like a naive follower my entire life?”

“Im not a fucking follower, I chose what to do with my life and obviously I chose the right option.”

The room fell into silence as the exorcist beside the first man shifted on her feet, a bit more than just uncomfortable with how tense the room had gotten.

“So what will it be? Leave your precious family or let every being in Hell be slaughtered, your choice.”

🍎🎸🍎🎸🍎

Charlie felt as if her heart had plummeted into her very soul. The anger simmered within her, a storm brewing beneath the surface. Yet, amidst the turmoil, she couldn’t shake the realization that he was no longer the same person who had stolen her mother away. Time had reshaped him, just as it had warped her own feelings, leaving her to grapple with a complex mix of resentment and understanding.

“Why is it that you took mom and not dad? Not that I would have preferred that, I’m just curious.”

Adam shook his head as he rolled his eyes. “There was no way Sera was going to let Lucifer come back to Heaven, plus your dad had kinda lost his spark already the threat was Lilith.”

Charlie felt the weight of the world pressing down on her as she stared blankly at her lap, struggling to wrap her mind around the shocking news. Her mother was up in Heaven, a captive in a dangerous bargain designed to save the lives of other Hellborns. A flicker of hope sparked within her at the realization that her mother was actually safeguarding Hell through this deal. But just as her spirits began to rise, a chilling thought crept into her mind, threatening to pull her back into despair.

“Um I know this is kind of a weird question but, I remember during the meeting with Heaven you said you would train Abel. So you’ve trained under Michael right?”

Adam felt his wings literally ruffle as a small frown formed on his face. “Uh yeah, I did. It was…it was something, not sure if I’m up for talking about that though.”

Charlie quickly held her hands up as she shook her head. “No no it’s fine, I was just curious. How about we just come up with a plan on what to say to my dad?”

The princess could basically see a question appear over his head as she mentioned her father. “Why? What do I have to say to him?”

“Well don’t you think you should apologize to him too? I mean Lilith is his wife.”

An annoyed expression fell over his face as he crossed his arms. “Hes been hiding shit from me too.”

Now it was her turn to be confused: “what do you mean?”

“I was looking through his drawers one night, and I found a note tucked away in his drawer. It was a letter to Lilith from Michael.” He gripped his arms tightly, his claws piercing his jacket and tearing the arms.

Charlie gasped a bit as her hand flew to her mouth in shock, she knew the letter he was talking about she had found it for her dad that day. She hung her head as she put her hands in her lap.

“Uh what the fuck is up with you? You look more deviated about this than me.”

Her voice was quiet as she spoke guilty. “I know what letter you’re talking about, I found it with dad. He had no idea and I swear he was upset when he found out.”

Adam’s head flew up in rage as he looked at her. “Oh my fucking god you knew?!” He got up and angrily began to pace the room. “You knew about the fucking letter and didn’t say anything to me about it?!”

Charlie frantically waves her hands as she tries to calm him down. “I was afraid of this hurting your feelings!”

“Oh this is fucking rich! You want me to apologize to you guys and you held something important from me too?!” His tail thrashed the ground angrily. “Talk about fucking hypocritical!”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have hid it from you. I just didn’t want to hinder your redemption.”

A gentle breeze slipped through the open window beside his bed, stirring the air and carrying with it the faint scent of brimstone. Adam could feel his blood simmer beneath his skin, a potent reminder of how dramatically his life had spiraled since he descended into Hell. The atmosphere was thick with tension, and in the princess's peripheral vision, she caught sight of the weeping willow that had embraced Adam earlier that day. Its long, cascading branches swayed, their movements almost resembling the slow, sorrowful gestures of a lamenting figure, the veins of the tree pulsing rhythmically, as if it throbbed with anger of its own.

Taking in the sight of Adam, she noticed the way his tail lashed against the ground, its fervent thrashing reflecting his inner turmoil. When she redirected her gaze to the willow, she found it had transformed from a drooping silhouette to an upright, vibrant form, as though it had reclaimed its strength, standing tall and defiant against the landscape. With a deep breath, she turned back to Adam, speaking to him with a calmness that belied the chaos around them, her voice soft and soothing like a lullaby in a storm.

“Uh Adam, maybe…maybe you should sit down.”

The man angrily rolled his eyes as he stomped his hoof on the ground, glaring at her. “I’m not about to just let this go, this shit is ridiculous!”

Charlie’s eyes quickly looked back at the tree, it once again had changed its position and one of the branches was stretched out as if it were pointing at the room. The princess bit her lip as she tried to think quickly on how to get the man to calm down before something happened.

“Adam I get that your upset but-“

The man angrily kicked the bedside table, as he turned around to face her. “You don’t get it! God you sound just like your fucking Dad right now!”

It all unfolded in a blur, too rapid for either of them to fully grasp the chaos. The initial sound that pierced the air was the sharp crack of shattering glass, a violent prelude to the moment. Adam staggered back from the window, eyes wide in disbelief, while Charlie tumbled from her seat, instinctively shielding her head with her arms. The room fell into an eerie silence, the aftermath of the sudden commotion wrapping around them like a heavy blanket. Slowly, Charlie dared to peek out from the protective cocoon of her arms, her heart racing in her chest. As she regained her composure and pushed herself to a sitting position, her gaze found Adam towering above her, his expression she couldn't see. She felt a flicker of safety in his presence, and looked up at him, searching for answers in the storm of uncertainty that surrounded them.

“Adam? Are you-“

The door to the room slammed open and in the doorway was Vaggie, and Lucifer. Both ran over to Charlie and grabbed under her arms helping her stand up. 

“Babe what happened?!”

“Apple tart are you ok?!”

The two leaned in, their scrutiny sharp as they assessed the princess. She felt their hands on her, one gripping her arms and the other brushing against her forehead. With a flick of her wrist and a determined shake of her head, she stepped back, reclaiming her space and dignity.

“I’m fine guys, don’t worry.” She looked back at Adam and stepped closer and held her arms out towards him. “How about you Adam? You didn’t get hurt did you?”

As the man turned to confront her, she couldn’t help but gasp in surprise at the sight before her. Three vibrant green leaves were embedded in his arm, their edges a striking contrast against his skin. Drawn by a mix of curiosity and concern, Charlie reached out to touch one of the leaves. The moment her fingers brushed against it, he flinched, snatching his arm away as if stung, his eyes wide with surprise.

“Fuck! That stings.” Blood ran down his arm as he held it out of reach of anyone else.

“Uh how the fuck did that happen?” Vaggie looked between the two as she finally seemed to catch on that Charlie wasn’t the one who had gotten hurt.

The princess wasn’t to keen on speaking right now, she was in helper mode and right now she needed to get Adam some medicine. “Here lets get these off of you, Vaggie can you go get me the med kit?”

The woman nodded her head with confusion, but left the room to retrieve the box. Standing beside the bed Lucifer watched as his daughter began trying to coax the man into letting her help him.

“I don't need your help, I can fix this on my own.” Charlie frowned as she grabbed onto his other sleeve, trying to pull his arm. 

“Come on I won’t hurt you I promise!”

Frustration simmered within the king as Adam continued his defiance. With a swift snap of his fingers, the fabric of Adam's jacket evaporated into thin air, leaving him startled and fuming. The first man shot a fiery glare at the king, his eyes blazing with disbelief. In contrast, Charlie's breath caught in her throat as she beheld the sight of his exposed arm. The once radiant golden line—a mark from Lucifer’s earlier intervention—had transformed into a jagged scar that looked raw and barely healed. Her heart raced as a torrent of questions flooded her mind, each one more troubling than the last. What had happened? What did it mean?

“Adam, how did this happen?”

Chapter Text

“I told you to come to me before you do anything with your powers!” Lucifer angrily paced back in fourth between the princess and the first man.

“I mean it’s not like you would’ve helped me.” His arms were crossed over his chest as Charlie secured the bandages on his arm.

“Yes I would have! Sure it wouldn’t have been fun but I would’ve!”

Charlie closed the med box and set it down beside her on the bed, frowning she grabbed Adam’s hand. “You know this kinda constitutes as self harm.”

“What? But I didn’t do it cause I was depressed.”

Lucifer pinched the space where the bridge of his nose is supposed to be, which confused the first man. “Leaving you by yourself was a mistake, you’re gonna be sleeping in my room again.”

“No fucking way, I’m not a little fucking kid!”

“Then stop acting like one!” A growl left the king’s throat, as he angrily whipped his tail. “You could have lost your fucking arm to one of Hell’s a million diseases!”

“Fuck you my arm would have been just fine!”

“God he’s so fucking dumb, can you believe this babe?” Vaggie rubbed her forehead with her hand as she listened to the two beings argue.

“I don’t know, Adam thought that Dad wouldn’t help him, he told me earlier.”

“Speaking of earlier, what is up with the broken window and those leaves in his arms?”

Charlie took a second to look outside the window, the willow tree was back in its original state as if nothing had happened. “The tree, it seemed to react to Adam’s emotions.”

“So what? He was upset and the tree decided to try and protect him or something?”

Her eyes glanced over at  Adam, a small smile playing on her lips. “I think so, it’s honestly really adorable.”

The woman's soft, whispered chatter was suddenly pierced by the sudden thud of a sharp willow leaf as it landed with precision on the mattress beside the ex-angel. Startled, she quickly scrambled backward, tumbling down onto the floor with a soft thud. In an instant, Charlie sprang to her feet, rushing over to her girlfriend. With a gentle urgency, she slipped her arms under hers, lifting her back up from the ground. Momentarily distracted, they both glanced over at her father and the first man: Adam stood frozen, his expression frozen in a mix of disbelief, while Lucifer's eyes grew wide, staring unblinkingly at the leaf that had barely missed striking his daughter-in-law.

“You did that on purpose.” Lucifer’s voice was full of surprise.

“What?! No I didn’t!”

Charlie made sure Vaggie was ok before walking over to the older beings, spreading her arms out she tried to mediate the situation. “Alright how about we all calm down, there’s still tension between you two. Why don’t we all sit down and talk about it?”

“Char char he just tried to kill Maggie!”

“It’s Vaggie you fucking idiot.” Adam crossed his arms over his chest as he glared down at the king.

“It’s not that either you ape.”

The princesses patience was shot, between the close call with herself and her girlfriend, she was getting tired of listening to her father and the first man arguing. 

“Alright be quiet!” When silence fell over the room Charlie quickly composed herself before taking a deep breath. “You both obviously have stuff you need to talk about so why don’t we head to my office?”

“I’m not sitting through another ridiculous meeting; one was more than enough for today,” Adam huffed, frustration evident in his voice.

“Please, Adam! This time it’s my idea. You trust me, don’t you?” she implored, her sincerity shining through.

He glanced down at her, and to his surprise, her eyes seemed to expand, sparkling with an almost magnetic intensity. With a resigned roll of his eyes, he let out a long sigh and let his hands drop to his sides. “Alright, alright. Just quit staring at me with those big ass eyes!”

Charlie’s face broke out into a wide grin as she began to clap her hands together, while her father behind her had a dumbfounded look on his face. The fact that his daughter was able to calm the first man so fast was a bit jarring.

Inside the dimly lit office, Adam slouched heavily into the plush leather chair, his arms crossed defiantly over his chest, the fabric of his shirt creasing under the weight of his posture. Beside him, Lucifer maintained an air of composed elegance, sitting upright with one leg casually draped over the other, his sleek, polished staff leaning against the side of his chair, a silent testament to his authority. Vaggie, with a knowing glance, had opted to step away from the meeting, disappearing down the corridor before they could reach the princess's office. Charlie, the embodiment of youthful determination, intertwined her fingers as she rested her forearms on the desk, her bright gaze focused intently on the scene about to unfold before her.

“Now what we’re going to start with is stating the problem.” She gestured towards her father. “You first Dad, what are you angry at Adam about?”

“Hmmm I don’t know, probably the fact that he knew where Lilith was this entire time and didn’t say a damn word.” He glared at the man.

Charlie nodded her head slowly before turning towards Adam. “And what are you angry at Dad for?”

“For hiding that fucking letter.”

The king’s face twisted with confusion. “Letter? What letter?”

“The letter in your desk, the one from Michael to Lilith.” It was Adam’s turn to glare at Lucifer, who in turn had a shocked look on his face.

“So you did go through my desk that night.”

Charlie took the moment of silence and grabbed a piece of paper and pen, writing down her observation she looked back up. “Obviously you both have things to apologize for and work through so how about we start with Adam first.”

She turned to look at him, he flopped his head back and groaned. “I already apologized to you, at least give me time to get ready sheesh.”

Lucifer’s eyes widened as he quickly whipped his head to the side. “You apologized to Charlie?”

“Yup! He even came to me first! Well I mean I told him he could come to me and he took the offer!”

The king sat in thoughtful silence, his mind racing as he processed the unexpected closeness between Adam and his daughter. It was unsettling, to say the least; he hadn’t anticipated their bond would deepen to this extent. Yet, beneath the flicker of unease, a sense of relief washed over him. Finally, Adam had found someone special—a person who seemed genuinely good for him. The notion was comforting, even if it stirred up a mix of emotions within the king.

“Alright Adam, come on you can do it.” The first man groaned again, this time a little longer than the first. 

“Ughh…ok listen well cause I’m only saying this once.”  He rubbed his hands over his face before sighing. “I’m sorry for not telling you about Lilith, it’s a big secret in Heaven. Not many people know other than Lute and Sera, soo…yeah.” 

A genuine smile spread across Charlie’s face, she was overjoyed at how genuine Adam was. She expected there to be more cursing, or passive aggressiveness. She wrote down the improvement before turning to her Dad.

“Your turn Dad.”

Lucifer looked down at his lap as he clasped his hands together. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, I just found out about it myself.” He sighed as he rubbed the golden band on his ring finger. “I don’t like that Lilith hid all of this from me, and I didn’t even know she had contact with Michael.”

The first man crossed his arms as he tapped his foot against the floor in silence, he didn’t really know what to say he honestly hadn’t thought they’d ever get to this point. Charlie smiled as she wrote down her thoughts, once she was done she turned towards Adam. 

“Now that we’ve gotten apologies out of the way, let’s work on your relationship.”

The sudden change in topic made Adam sit up in confusion. “That’s it? I mean those were some brief apologies.”

“Well after apologizing the thing to work on next is yourself, and how you present yourself.” She rolled her pen with her thumbs and pointer finger as she spoke her next words. “And you have a lot to work on.”

As much as he wanted to retort to her words, a heavy sense of truth weighed down on him, and he found himself unable to disagree. Deep down, he acknowledged the turmoil that brewed within him—the emotional baggage he carried like a leaden cloak. Yet, he was painfully aware that he wasn’t alone in his struggles. His gaze drifted towards the king, who met his eyes with an intensity that sent a shiver down Adam's spine. He quickly looked away, a tempest of defiance swirling in his chest, unwilling to entertain the notion that they shared any common ground in this complex web of turmoil.

“Now I know you both have a lot to talk about but let’s start with just a situation first. Adam, when was a time that you feel Dad had done you wrong?”

🍎🎸🍎🎸🍎

The sun hung high in the sky, casting a warm golden hue over everything and prompting Adam to swipe the beads of sweat from his forehead. A languid boredom settled over him; Lilith had vanished into the ether, and Lucifer had not descended to join him today. While the other angels—Sera, Michael, and Gabriel—were kind and approachable, Adam felt a lingering reluctance to seek them out. They weren't unkind, but the bond he shared with Lucifer was unique, and the thought of imposing on his fellow angels made him uneasy.

Just then, a gentle rustling in the nearby bushes caught his attention. Curiously, he turned to see a small white rabbit emerging, its delicate ears pressed flat against its back. The creature paused and locked eyes with him, its dark button-like eyes filled with an innocent curiosity before it began to hop toward him, each little leap full of cautious excitement. Leaning back against the sturdy trunk of the tree behind him, Adam extended his arm, inviting the timid rabbit closer. As it nestled in his lap, he began to softly stroke the little creature’s head, a tender smile spreading across his face as he absorbed the gentle presence of this unexpected companion.

“You’re hot too huh?” It’s small body snuggled against him. “Maybe I should find a lake where we could both cool down.”

Adam rose to his feet, cradling the small bunny gently in his arms. As he glanced around, the soothing sound of water reached his ears, signaling that he was nearing a nearby waterfall. The thought of a refreshing dip in its cool waters was enticing. He started his trek towards the falls, captivated by the vibrant flora and fauna surrounding him. Each delicate flower and busy creature thrived in the lush greenery, all yearning for the much-needed water just as he and his furry companion were.

When he finally arrived at the base of the waterfall, he was greeted by the sight of crystalline water cascading down the rocky ledge, sending up mist that danced in the sunlight. With a smile, he carefully set the little rabbit on a warm, sun-dappled rock beside the gushing stream. Without a moment’s hesitation, Adam dove into the lake, the refreshing water enveloping him in an exhilarating embrace as he emerged with droplets sparkling like diamonds on his skin.

The bunny watched with its nose twitching curiously, before cautiously making its way to the edge of the lush green grass. Adam, sensing its need for hydration, knelt beside the rabbit and cupped his hand to gather some cool water. Delicately, he poured it over the soft, furry back of his companion, watching as the bunny’s eyes brightened with contentment.

“Does that feel good?” 

The bunny yawned widely, its little pink nose twitching as it stretched its soft, furry body before settling down on the plush grass. A small laugh escaped the first man, delight dancing in his eyes as he gently rubbed the animal’s head, feeling the warmth of its fur beneath his fingertips. With a sigh of contentment, he propped one arm on the ground and rested his head, allowing the gentle breeze to play with his hair. Despite the lingering heat of the day, he found himself longing for the lively company of Lilith and Lucifer—his boredom ebbing away like the last rays of sunlight.

The tranquility of the moment nearly lulled him to sleep, but then he caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye. Faint whispers floated through the air, followed by the soft crackle of leaves. Curiosity piqued, Adam lifted his head and scanned the surroundings. To his astonishment, Lucifer and Lilith emerged from the dense underbrush, their expressions revealing surprise at finding him there. The glint of mischief in their eyes suggested they had not anticipated encountering him.

“Adam? What are you doing here?” Lilith ran her hands through her hair, straining any stray strands.

“This little bunny and I were feeling a bit too warm, so I thought I’d find a way to cool down. What brings you here?” Adam asked, glancing over at Lucifer, who was standing next to the woman with his arms crossed in front of him.

“That’s what I came to do as well, Lucifer decided to join me.”

“Oh I hadn’t even known that Luci came down here.” He looked over at the angel directly now.

“I just arrived not too long ago, dear Adam,” he began, a warm smile lighting up his face. “I had every intention of seeking you out, but I must admit I was sidetracked when I stumbled upon dear Lilith.” He moved gracefully toward Adam, crouching down to meet his gaze, his hand gently resting on the soft fur of the bunny's head. “Thank you for tending to the animals with such care; your dedication has not gone unnoticed. Everyone in Heaven is truly delighted with your work.”

A smile lit up Adam’s face, a bright beacon of joy that seemed to radiate from within. Heaven was pleased with him? The thought sparkled like sunlight on water, overwhelming him with warmth. He had carried the weight of uncertainty for so long, never certain if anyone had noticed his efforts. But the revelation that the angels were proud of him wrapped around his heart like a comforting embrace, filling him with a sense of fulfillment that he had never experienced before. In that moment, he felt as if happiness could never reach such heights again.

“Well since you both are going to get in the lake, would you like to join me?” He stepped to the side a bit, Lucifer looked back up at Lilith who in turn nodded her head slowly. 

“We’d love too!” 

The first man gazed up at the angel, his eyes filled with awe as Lilith gracefully knelt and slipped into the shimmering lake. With a soft sigh, she bent her knees, allowing the cool, inviting water to rise gently to her shoulders. Adam's attention shifted to Lucifer, who began to strip away his garments. However, when Lucifer caught the unwavering gaze of Adam, a faint blush of gold crept across his cheeks, causing him to pause mid-motion, his hands suspended on his clothes.

“Please turn around dear Adam, undressing is rather embarrassing.”

“Why is it embarrassing? I walk around without any of those silly garments.”

“Yes, but I am an angel,” the being replied, his voice was so melodic that it seemed to echo on the breeze. “We are different from you. We hold something dear called privacy, an invaluable treasure where one can engage in the most intimate of actions without the watchful gaze of others.”

Adam, his brow furrowed in contemplation, thoughtfully tapped his chin. He took a moment to ponder the angel’s words, the weight of them settling in the space between them. After a brief pause, he shrugged his shoulders, a gesture that conveyed both curiosity and a hint of dismissal as he continued to grapple with this otherworldly perspective.

“Ok, I’ll look away then.”

Adam turned around, his gaze drifting down to the shimmering surface of the water. The distorted reflection staring back at him brought a smile to his lips; he had missed the two of them dearly, and now they were finally here—here with him. As he stood there, anticipation swirling within him, his eyes roamed the scene, searching for any sign of Lucifer finishing up his transformation. 

As his focus shifted from the water’s gentle ripples, he noticed a small, crimson mark adorning Lilith’s arm, contrasting sharply against her flawless skin. Curiosity flickered in his eyes as he cocked his head to the side, an unspoken question dancing on his lips. He gestured lightly toward her arm, breaking the silence that hung in the air. “What happened?” he asked, his voice filled with concern, yet laced with an underlying warmth.

Lilith glanced down at her forearm, her breath hitching for a moment as her gaze fell on the reddish mark marring her pale skin. With a gentle sigh, she instinctively covered the mark with her other hand, as if shielding it from view and memory. “It’s nothing,” she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper, but the softness of her tone evident. “I just fell in the forest earlier” A fleeting smile graced her lips, delicate and tentative, as she met his gaze, hoping to brush off the concern that flickered in his eyes.

“It didn’t hurt did it? Things aren’t supposed to hurt here.”

The woman shook her head gently, a flicker of amusement dancing in her eyes as a small smirk tugged at the corners of her lips. “Oh no, this didn’t hurt at all. In fact, it almost felt good,” she replied, her voice laced with an intriguing warmth. Adam tilted his head, his brow furrowing in confusion, trying to unravel the meaning behind her enigmatic words.

“Wow you fell and it felt good? You have to show me that sounds interesting.”

“Now, now, let’s shift our conversation to something more pleasant, shall we?” Lucifer’s cheeks glowed with the same radiant golden hue, but it seemed to have intensified, casting a warm light around him.

He stood in the shimmering water, its coolness lapping at him, but his tall stature kept the surface just below his shoulders. The sight of the angel nearly submerged in the depths sparked a wave of laughter from him, the sound rich and melodious. Lilith, unable to contain herself, joined in with a sweet, tinkling giggle that echoed in the air. The first man watched, a wide grin spreading across his face, feeling that if each day could unfold like this, he would embrace it without hesitation.

🍎🎸🍎🎸🍎

Charlie cast a bewildered glance at Adam as he concluded the story. “There wasn’t anything wrong with that story, was there?” she asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

The first man shifted his gaze downward, fixating on the legs of the desk in an attempt to avoid eye contact with the king. He was unwilling to meet Lucifer’s eyes again. Which felt too heavy with unspoken tension. “But the mark on her arm that day—what was it really?” he pressed, urgency creeping into his voice.

Lucifer's eyes dropped to his own hand, tracing the outline of his wedding band as memories washed over him. “It was… it was a hickey,” he finally admitted, his tone almost light, as if trying to deflect the gravity of the revelation with unintended humor.

A soft chuckle almost escaped the first man, realizing the absurdity of the situation. The story he had just recounted belonged to a time long before Adam ever learned of the relationship brewing right under his nose. It dawned on him how expertly both Lucifer and Lilith in question had concealed their little secret. For ages, they had danced around the truth, spinning their little web of deception, while he remained blissfully unaware of the tangled emotions lurking just beneath the surface.

Chapter Text

“Here” Charlie stood in front of Adam’s bedroom door, holding a small cellphone. 

The first man looked at the phone before looking back to Charlie’s face. “Uh, what the fuck is this?”

She stared at the phone in her hand, the sleek device reflecting the overhead light, before glancing back at the first man, her brow furrowed in confusion. The bewilderment that washed over her was far greater than when she had originally chosen this model for him after a lengthy discussion with Angel. “It’s a phone,” she said incredulously, her voice tinged with disbelief. “Do they really not have these in Heaven?” The question hung in the air, a mix of curiosity as she tried to understand the disconnect.

“What? No, of course they had phones in Heaven, but why are you giving it to me?”

“I think it’d be good for you, maybe use it to take your mind off of things sometimes.”

“Uh yeah no thanks, I’ve seen enough victims in Heaven from those things.”

Her shoulders drooped slightly, and a hint of disappointment crossed her face as her expression softened. “Oh, come on,” she said, her voice tinged with exasperation. “You’re always here at the hotel. Nothing like that is going to happen.” She extended the phone towards him, the screen glowing with possibilities. “Look, all I did was set it up, you’re free to decorate and download whatever you want.” The first man cast a quick glance at the phone, then leaned casually against the door frame, arms crossed.

“You aren’t gonna let me go until I take it right?” The smile returned to the princesses face as she frantically shook her head. Adam sighed as he held out his hand. “Hand it over.”

Charlie squealed with excitement as she thrust the phone into his hands, her bright eyes sparkling with anticipation. She bounced on the balls of her feet, unable to contain her joy as she watched him scroll through the screen. “You’ll see,” she said, her voice bubbling with enthusiasm, “I’ve saved a couple of important numbers in there, just in case you need anything or if something unexpected comes up.”

Adam raised one of his eyebrows in curiosity as he pressed the small button on the sleek surface of the device. With a soft click, the screen illuminated, revealing a simple keypad ready for action. His fingers danced briefly over the layout before he switched tabs, and a list of four names appeared on the screen. Each name felt laden with memories, pulling at his thoughts as he contemplated his next move. The dim light of the hallway flickered in the background, casting a soft glow on his concentrated expression.

“Wow you, Vagina, Angel, and your fucking Dad? Such a great starter pack.”

“I know you’d probably rather toss the phone out the window than have Dad’s number, especially after that last session. It was a lot to take in.” She glanced down at her hands, nervously intertwining her fingers as she spoke softly, her voice barely above a whisper. “But I’m asking you to keep it, just in case. You never know when you might need to reach out, even if it feels like the furthest thing from your mind right now.” Her eyes were filled with a mix of hope and concern, as if she understood just how heavy that choice could be.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, I won’t delete it or anything. I’ll just ignore him if he texts me.”

“Uh, well, I would really appreciate it if you could make an effort to work through things with him. But let’s take it one step at a time, I suppose.” She clasped her hands together, her eyes sparkling with hope as a warm smile spread across her face. “Oh, and by the way, I have an assignment for you to focus on for our next session.”

His head shot up, and his expression twisted in disbelief. “Wait a minute, I didn’t think I’d be getting homework right now.”

“It’s not really homework, I promise! It’s more like a little nudge to help you step out of your comfort zone,” she replied, her tone light and encouraging as she rocked gently back and forth on her feet. She clasped her hands behind her back, a small smile playing on her lips. “How about trying to get to know Husk, Cherri, or even Alastor? I know Al doesn’t have a phone but I know Cherri and Husk do, maybe try asking for their numbers?”

Adam scoffed, crossing his arms tightly over his chest as if to shield himself from her suggestion. “Absolutely not! Seriously, he’s way too creepy for my taste. And let’s be honest, there’s no way he’d want to talk to me after I kicked his ass on extermination day,” he said, the memory of that chaotic day making him chuckle. The sound was a stark contrast to the small frown that crept onto the princess’s face. Her expression reflected concern, as if she genuinely wanted to see him connect more with those around him. Which was way worse than if she were joking with him.

“That’s not true, Alastor is a pretty nice guy. I talk to him every morning.”

Adam let out a laugh before pretending to wipe a tear from his eyes. “As if, that guy is fucking weird, don’t know why you let him stay here. I’m surprised Vagina hasn’t said anything to you about him yet.”

She took a deep breath, trying to shake off the unease that crept in at the thought that both former angels had eerily shared the same observation. Rubbing her arm absently, she glanced away for a moment before responding. “Well, she definitely has. But I talk to him pretty often, and honestly, he seems pretty trustworthy to me.”

Adam bent down to be at her eye level. With a flick of his tail, using it to grasp the phone, his eyes locked onto hers. “Just because someone has a friendly face doesn’t mean they’re genuine. Trust me, I’ve learned that lesson the hard way more than I’d like.”

Charlie stepped back, a wave of frustration rising within her as she confronted the familiar condescending tone in Adam's voice. “If he really does have an ulterior motive, just know that I’m more than capable of handling the hotel and everyone inside it,” she declared, trying to maintain her composure.

Adam scoffed, straightening his posture as he gestured dismissively towards the shattered window beside his bed, shards of glass glinting in the afternoon sunlight. “Yeah? We’ll see about that. But in the meantime, is anyone going to fix my window? It’s kind of annoying to have a stunning room with a gaping hole in it.”

“Actually, that’s Alastor’s responsibility since he’s the hotelier,” Charlie replied, glancing at the damaged window before meeting Adam's gaze. “I’ll have him take care of it while you talk to Cherri and Husk.”

Adam's incredulous expression deepened as he shook his head. “There’s no way I’m leaving him in here by himself. Who knows what he’ll start snooping through? The last thing I need is him rummaging through my things.”

“I highly doubt he’d go through your personal belongings,” Charlie responded, her brow furrowing in disbelief.

“That’s your naivety showing,” Adam shot back, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth as he regarded Charlie skeptically.

Charlie stared at him, deadpan, as her arms crossed defensively over her chest. “Why are you being so defensive? Is there something in there you’re not supposed to have?” She raised an eyebrow, the challenge evident in her tone.

“Wow, what happened to trust?” Adam exclaimed, feigning indignation as he placed a dramatic hand over his chest, an exaggerated gesture that usually elicited laughter. However, the steely look Charlie shot him made it clear that she wasn’t in the mood for his usual antics—especially when it came to something as serious as his recovery. 

He noticed her crossed arms and furrowed brow, signaling that this wasn't a moment for jokes. “Oh, come on, calm down! I really don’t have anything to share,” he continued, attempting to diffuse the tension. “I just happen to value my privacy-why is that so fucking weird?” His voice softened slightly, revealing a hint of vulnerability beneath his icy facade.

The princess's expression shifted dramatically as the weight of his words sunk in, a wave of guilt washing over her. “Oh, Adam, I truly am sorry,” she exclaimed, her voice laced with genuine concern. “You’re absolutely right; you deserve your privacy.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully, her brows furrowing in concentration, before a spark of inspiration lit up her eyes. “What if I go find him right now? He could come in and fix this while you’re still here, so you won’t have to wait too long.”

Adam paused for a moment, considering her suggestion. A flicker of uncertainty crossed his face, but he ultimately nodded, albeit with a hint of skepticism. “Alright, but just so you know, if he tries anything stupid, don’t hold me if I kill him. I won't hesitate.”

Charlie chuckled nervously, a fine sheen of sweat forming on her forehead as the tension in the air thickened. She extended her hands in a placating gesture, her tone light yet earnest. “Maybe we can avoid that scenario altogether? I’d really appreciate it if we could keep things peaceful.”

Adam waved his hand dismissively at the woman, a flick of irritation crossing his features, before standing up tall again, his posture rigid with disdain. “Make sure he does it quickly; I don’t feel like enduring his ugly mug for long,” he said, his voice dripping with contempt.

Charlie’s face fell slightly at the disparaging comment aimed at the radio demon, but she only offered a resigned sigh as she turned and made her way down the dimly lit hallway. The atmosphere felt heavy with tension, and the faint echo of her footsteps resonated against the walls. 

Once alone, Adam sighed deeply as he closed the door behind her, the soft click of the latch punctuating the stillness. He sank onto the edge of his bed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. His gaze drifted out the window, landing on the graceful willow tree swaying gently in the garden, its long, delicate tendrils brushing the ground like fingers reaching for the earth. He knew he’d have to have a serious talk with the plant, to figure out what happened.

The room was enveloped in a surprising stillness, a serene quiet that felt almost surreal. So tranquil was the atmosphere that the first man, Adam, hadn’t even registered the momentary change in the shadows around him. Then, with an abruptness that shattered the calm, Alastor materialized beside him, manifesting like a specter summoned from thin air. The sudden appearance startled Adam, causing him to instinctively grip the edge of the bedside table, knuckles white with surprise.

“Damn! Is it too much to ask for you to act a little more normal?” Adam exclaimed, his voice a mix of annoyance and disbelief.

Alastor, the deer demon, merely clicked his tongue in mock disapproval, his expression teasingly playful as he wagged a long, elegant finger. “Now, now, you knew I was coming, did you not?” he replied, an amused glint in his crimson eyes that seemed to twinkle with mischief.

“Yeah, but I didn’t expect you to appear like some sort of magician materializing out of nowhere! Honestly, I should be used to it by now, but every time, it still catches me off guard,” Adam retorted, exhaling a weary sigh as he attempted to relax his tensed muscles. He turned to face the demon fully, the vibrant red aura that radiated from Alastor's form hitting him with an almost tangible wave of irritation. The color seemed to seep into his vision, harsh and overwhelming, like staring directly at a blazing fire.

“Are you just going to stand there basking in your own aura, or are you actually going to fix the damn window?” Adam asked, gesturing toward the shattered glass that lay scattered like confetti on the floor. 

The demon's eyes flicked toward the window, a glint of mischief in his gaze, before he snapped his fingers with a flourish. Instantly, two stark, monochromatic demons materialized at the foot of the bed, their forms shifting like shadows in the dim light. “Repair the fellow’s window,” he commanded, his voice bearing an authoritative edge. “I have pressing business to attend to.”

Adam rolled his eyes, propping himself up on one elbow, weariness etched across his face as he scrutinized the demon. “Aren’t you supposed to tell Charlie about where you're going before you just vanish?”

With an eerie swiftness, the demon’s head spun one hundred eighty degrees, his grin stretching impossibly wider, revealing pointed teeth that glimmered in the scant light. “I am not a pet to be confined,” he replied, his tone dripping with disdain. “I require no permission from the princess when I choose to leave.”

Alastor's body pivoted smoothly to confront Adam, an unsettling grin stretching across his face. He leaned down, his fingers brushing gently through Adam's hair in an almost mocking gesture. Adam’s reaction was immediate; he swatted Alastor's hand away with a fierce glare that could pierce through steel. “Don’t fucking touch me, we aren’t fucking friends,” he seethed, anger radiating from him.

“Oh, trust me, dear Adam,” Alastor replied with a smooth, velvety drawl, his eyes glinting with amusement. “I would never dream of forging a friendship with someone of your... limited stature.”

Insulted, Adam placed a hand dramatically on his chest, feigning shock before a smirk crept onto his lips. “I don’t know what delusions you’re clinging to, but last time I checked, you’re just an overlord, right? What are you now—fifth in line in Hell’s twisted hierarchy?” He scoffed, his disdain palpable as he leaned in, eyes narrowed. “By the way, how’s that little wound of yours healing? The one I gifted you when I decisively kicked your ass on extermination day?”

Alastor’s expression darkened, a flicker of irritation rippling through the corner of his lip as one of his eyes twitched in agitation. “I’d advise you to watch yourself,” he warned, his voice smooth yet laced with an underlying menace.

Adam, unconcerned, leaned back against the headboard, a lazy smirk playing on his lips as he rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and what exactly are you going to do? Kill me? Just a friendly reminder, I’m a participant in this twisted game, and your role is to fix whatever chaos I unleash and protect me whenever I call for it.” He lifted one of his golden claws thoughtfully to tap his chin. “Not that I particularly need your assistance with that front. After all, I’m the one who gave you that wound.”

Alastor shot him a glare that could freeze fire, but his expression quickly shifted, the corners of his mouth curling into a sardonic smirk that danced on the edge of playful malice. “And in case you’ve conveniently forgotten, you’re no longer the formidable force you once were. That wound is but a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.” His voice dripped with dark amusement. 

“And in case you’ve forgotten,” he said, his tone dripping with defiance, “I’m not a bitch.” 

His piercing gaze locked onto Alastor’s, a challenge simmering just beneath the surface. “You might think you’re intimidating me, but trust me, I’ve faced far more terrifying things than you could ever imagine.” The air between them thickened, his unwavering confidence radiating as he stood his ground, unflinching under the weight of the radio demon's narrowed eyes.

Alastor fixed his intense gaze on Adam for a few moments longer, an inscrutable expression dancing across his face. With a sudden snap of his fingers—a crisp sound that echoed in the otherwise silent room—he caused the shadowy goons he had conjured earlier to dissolve into wisps of darkness, their menacing forms fading away like mist in the sunlight. 

Startled, Adam turned his attention to the window, his breath hitching in disbelief as he noticed it had been completely restored. The jagged glass shards that once littered the floor had vanished, leaving no trace of the chaos that had just unfolded. 

He shifted back around, ready to voice his confusion to the enigmatic radio demon. But as he did, he found that Alastor had vanished without a sound, as if he had simply evaporated into thin air. A chill ran down Adam’s spine, the lingering sensation of unease settling in the air. “What a fucking weirdo,” he muttered under his breath, shaking his head in a mix of frustration and bewilderment.

Adam reached for his cellphone, the cool metal feeling reassuring in his palm as he lifted it off the rumpled bedspread. He stood up, arching his back and stretching his arms overhead, feeling the pleasant release of tension in his muscles. The sunlight streamed through the window, casting a red glow in the room, the undesirable atmosphere, made him feel reluctant about the day ahead. 

But he had promised Charlie he would at least make an effort to socialize, despite his natural inclination to shy away from crowds and small talk. With a deep, steadying breath, Adam reminded himself that he wasn’t one to break a promise—especially to someone he trusted. Resolute, he glanced at the screen of his cellphone, mentally preparing himself for the challenge of mingling and engaging with others, hoping that today would be different.

As he stepped out of his bedroom, the soft creak of the floorboards echoed through the dimly lit hallway. With a practiced swipe, he unlocked his phone, inputting his password with a sense of urgency. His finger hovered over the screen as he navigated to the wallpaper settings. Lacking any personal images, he surveyed his surroundings for inspiration. 

He turned the camera towards himself, adjusting the angle to cut out the clutter around him. As the shutter clicked, he caught a glimpse of his reflection. The sight almost made him fumble the phone. It was a face he had become somewhat familiar with but still struggled to accept. The long, twisted horns curling from his temples were an oddity he had come to terms with, but the stark contrast of his black wings close to his sides was a far more troubling sight. They seemed to absorb the light rather than reflect it, enhancing the unsettling impression of his transformation. Despite their retained elegance, the wings carried the weight of his past in Heaven and his future in Hell.

Sliding his phone into the pocket of his worn jeans, Adam strode down the dimly lit hallway of the hotel, his footsteps echoing softly against the polished floor. As he approached the staircase, a door caught his eye—one he had never really noticed before. It was adorned with a striking neon pink heart that pulsed invitingly against the plain walls, surrounded by an eclectic collage of photographs featuring various guests of the hotel. As he squinted at the cheerful faces frozen in time, he couldn’t help but notice the substantial presence of the spider demon, Angel Dust, among them. It seemed clear to him that this was most certainly the demon’s room.

An idea sparked in Adam's mind: perhaps if he approached Angel first, it could pave the way for conversations with the others in the hotel. With newfound determination, he raised his hand to knock on the door, only to be startled as it suddenly swung open, revealing none other than Angel Dust himself, draped in his signature flamboyance.

“Geez, were you gonna stand out here until you keeled over?” the spider demon quipped, a teasing glint dancing in his eyes.

Taken aback, Adam jumped slightly, his heart racing. “What? How did you even know I was out here?” he stammered, a mixture of surprise and confusion.

Angel shrugged his shoulders, the movement casual yet deliberate, as he leaned against the doorframe, his posture exuding a blend of confidence and casual ease. “When you have a job like mine,” he said, his voice low and resonant, “it kinda becomes second nature to hear people outside my room.” 

Adam stood frozen for a moment, uncertainty flickering across his features. The reality of Angel’s line of work weighed heavy on his mind—he knew all too well what the spider demon was capable of, and he found himself at a loss for words.

“So, are you gonna come in?” Angel’s tone was inviting yet tinged with a hint of amusement, a small smirk playing at the corners of his lips. 

Adam blinked rapidly, his moment of gawking abruptly coming to an end, and he shook himself from his stupor. “Uh, yeah, my bad,” he stammered, feeling a flush creep into his cheeks. 

With a graceful motion, Angel stepped aside, holding the door open wider as a gesture of welcome. Adam took a step forward, crossing the threshold into the room.

Chapter Text

Inside the dimly lit room, Cherri and Husk sat across from each other on a vibrant pink heart-shaped rug with walls that were adorned with posters of the spider demon and flickering neon lights, giving the space a chaotic yet inviting atmosphere.

“Well, if it isn’t the leader of the exorcists,” Husk remarked, a smirk spreading across his face as he leaned back against the demon’s plush bed.

Adam frowned, annoyance flickering in his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest in a defensive posture. “Funny joke, asshole,” he shot back, the words laced with irritation.

Angel walked toward the giant pink carpet, his movements fluid and confident. A questioning smirk danced on his lips as he took a seat across from the other two demons. His gaze flicked up to Adam, curiosity piqued. “So, what’d you knock on my door for?” he asked, his tone teasing yet inviting.

Suddenly, Adam felt the weight of their stares pressing down on him, a wave of awkwardness crashing over him. He was accustomed to commanding attention in the ethereal realm of Heaven, where his presence was met with reverence. But here, in Hell, the scrutiny felt far more predatory, a silent challenge emanating from their eyes, even if they harbored no malicious intent.

“Charlie… she insisted that I should try to be more social or whatever the fuck it is she said.”

As Adam spoke, the spider demon perked up with an unexpected enthusiasm, hus eyes gleaming with interest. “Oh, she actually got you the phone. How is the model? I helped her choose it, after all.”

Adam glanced back at the demon, his expression a mix of surprise and curiosity. He turned his attention back to the sleek device cradled in his palm. “It’s…nice, I suppose. I haven’t really checked it out yet.”

Angelflashed a disarming smile, his many limbs arranging themselves in a welcoming manner as he patted the soft carpet beside him. “Come on, don’t be shy. We promise we won’t bite.”

With a heart full of hesitation, Adam slowly maneuvered himself to the designated spot beside Angel, finally settling down. This was an unusual encounter for him—sitting face to face with any demon was very unusual but then again ever since he came too in the infernal pit, he seemed to be doing things he never would have done before.

“So… what were you talking about?” 

Before Angel could respond, Cherri let out a playful bark of laughter, her eyes sparkling with mischief as she turned to the man sitting next to her friend. “I thought you didn’t enjoy the company of demons?” 

Caught off guard, he felt a rush of heat flood his cheeks, the unexpected scrutiny weighing on him like a heavy cloak. It is true or at least it was; he didn’t particularly relish being in the presence of demons, but the situation had become far more complicated than mere preferences. Seeing how quiet Adam had gotten Angel waved his hand in front of Cherri’s face.

“He ain’t like that no more, he’s my friend after all.” He turned to face Adam and smiled as he put his arm around his shoulder and pulled him close, their heads touching. “Isn’t that right?”

The man felt the fluffy fur of the demon’s face and immediately began to pull away. “We are acquaintances at most.” He placed a hand on his face and pushed it back, but struggled as Angel kept his tight grip. “How the fuck are you so strong?”

The demon didn’t bother answering the question as he turned to look at the cyclops and cat demons. “So do you have it?”

A smirk widened on Cherri’s face as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small clear bag. “Oh you know I’ve got it.”

Husk’s face scrunched up as he crossed his arms, his face showing disapproval. “So I’m guessing you’ve given up on your plan to get to Heaven?”

Angel scoffed as he leaned forward, his arm still around the first man’s shoulders pulling him forward with him. “Calm down, it’s only weed. Besides I’ve had a very long week, I need something since Charlie banned me from the bar.” The cat’s face didn’t change as he kept his disapproving frown. “Oh come on Husky a little isn’t going to flush all my work down the drain, and plus I don’t think weed is something that gets you banished to Hell. I mean it is a natural plant after all.”

Although he wasn’t particularly impressed, the cat demon let out a resigned sigh, deciding it was best to simply let the matter go. Adam glanced at the trio with a puzzled expression, furrowing his brow as he grappled with the situation unfolding before him. Finally, he broke the silence, his voice laced with curiosity. “Uh, won’t Charlie smell that?”

“Nah, I always toss a towel at the base of the door to keep the smell contained.” With a sly smile, Angel finally released the first man and stood up, snatching a towel from his dresser.

Cherri glanced at Adam, a playful smirk dancing on her lips. “You sure you want to stick around for this? It might be a bit much for you.” As she spoke, she began to unravel a small baggie, retrieving a metal tray from the spider demon’s bedside table. “Or are you gonna try some?”

Husk leaned forward, a deep frown creasing his brow as he extended a hand towards the cyclops woman. “Whoa, hang on! The guy’s already dealing with one mess—no need to throw another his way.”

Adam crossed his arms, irritation flickering in his eyes as he shot a glare at the cat. “Thanks for the support, buddy. Real classy.”

“I’m just trying to have your back here,” Husk replied with a raised eyebrow, shrugging nonchalantly. “Besides, I’d rather not be caught in the middle if the princess catches wind of this.”

Cherri waved him off dismissively, her focus now on sealing the concoction she had been crafting. “Oh please, he’s just being a buzzkill. He acts all high and mighty like he’s above the rest of us, but let’s be real—the only reason he’s still here is that he’s dying for a hit too.” 

She laughed, a sound that irked Husk, who retaliated by flipping her off, a low growl rumbling in his throat.

Angel settled down on the carpet next to Adam, snatching the joint from Cherri’s grasp with a playful grin. He pulled out a small heart-shaped lighter from his pocket, the flicker of flame dancing in the dim light. “C’mon, Husky,” he said soothingly, “everyone deserves a bit of relief now and then. We’re not going to die from this, and it’s not like we’re doing it every day.”

With a practiced flick of his wrist, Angel ignited the lighter and brought it to the joint, inhaling deeply as the smoke curled around him. “You know, Adam, if you’re not into it, no pressure at all. I’d never dream of making you do something you don’t want to.” He took another drag, savoring the moment.

Adam sighed, propping his head on his hand as he leaned against his leg with a bemused expression. “I mean, come on. I was basically doing Xan; there’s no way this could be any worse.”

Angel rolled his eyes and shot a smirk at Adam, his confidence on full display as he passed the joint to Cherri. “You’ve never tried this, have you?” 

Adam shrugged, a slight grin forming on his lips. “Clearly not, but honestly, how could it possibly get any worse?”

Cherri let out a light, playful laugh as she took another drag from the joint, sending a few ashes fluttering into the gleaming silver tray. With a teasing smile, she leaned closer to Husk. “Just a tip—when you use it, make sure you inhale. But don’t overdo it, unless you’re in the mood for a coughing fit!” She waved the joint in front of him, inviting him to join the moment. “Trust me, there’s nothing sketchy here. If it were laced, do you really think I’d be sharing it with Angel?”

Husk regarded the joint skeptically for a moment, then sighed, feeling the weight of his bad day pressing down on him. With a resigned shrug, he accepted it from her and took a drag. The smoke curled in the air, and he couldn’t help but feel a sliver of relief.

Adam watched the exchange, a smirk creeping onto his face as he recognized Cherri’s earlier assessment of the cat demon was spot on. “You know, I’m starting to like you a lot more,” he quipped, a spark of amusement in his eyes.

Rolling his eyes with mock annoyance, Husk took another drag before passing the joint to Adam, a reluctant smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. The atmosphere shifted, filled with a mix of tension and laughter that seemed to lighten the mood just a bit.

With a mix of determination and nerves, Adam stared at the joint perched between his fingers. He took a deep breath, brought it to his lips, and inhaled. A hush fell over the room as all eyes locked onto him, anticipation hanging in the air like smoke. Unsure of what to do next, he instinctively held the smoke in his lungs. 

At that moment, a burst of laughter erupted from Angel and Cherri, their amusement infectious. Puzzled, Adam glanced over at the spider demon, as he placed a reassuring hand on the man’s shoulder. 

“No Adam don't hold it in, that doesn't do anything.” Angel chuckled, giving him a few friendly pats on the back. With a gentle nudge, he urged Adam to exhale, which ended in a sputtering cough that sent him reeling. 

“Damn, my throat is on fire! Is that supposed to happen?” Adam wheezed, his eyes wide with surprise. 

“Oh, for a newbie like you, definitely. But don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it soon enough,” Angel grinned, patting him on the shoulder with an encouraging smile.

After what felt like an eternity of gasping for air, Adam finally found a rhythm, taking deep, steady breaths. He sank against the dresser, feeling as if he’d just sprinted a marathon. Was this what people did for fun? Because right now, he could hardly believe it—one hit and it felt like he was on the brink of a heart attack.

But as the minutes ticked by, something shifted. Adam gradually got used to taking smaller puffs, and surprisingly, he began to ease into the sensation. He wasn’t sure if it was the weed or simply the comfort of his surroundings, but the intoxicating feeling of walking on clouds wrapped around him like a warm blanket.

“So,” Angel broke the haze of silence, exhaling a plume of smoke that danced in the dim light. He passed the joint with a playful grin. “Any new developments with you and the Prince of Darkness?”

Adam shot a scoffing glance at the demon, skepticism written all over his face. “And just what the hell are you implying?”

Angel nudged him playfully with his elbow, a knowing smile tugging at his lips. “You know exactly what I mean. Remember what we talked about the first time we met?”

With a bitter chuckle, Adam pushed Angel’s arm away, crossing his arms defiantly over his chest. “I’ve discovered more bullshit, if that’s what you mean.”

He snatched the joint from Angel's hand, taking a slow, deliberate puff that filled his lungs with smoke. As he exhaled, wisps of it curled into the air with every word he spoke. “You won’t believe this,” he began, a mix of disbelief and frustration in his voice. “Turns out he’s been tangled up with Lilith far longer than I ever thought. It’s unbelievable—the nerve of that guy.” He took another deep drag, the smoke swirling around him like his thoughts. “I mean, he has the audacity to lecture me about taking responsibility for my actions, yet for ages, that bastard never even bothered to apologize for what he did to me.” He puffed again before passing the joint, leaning back with his head resting on his hand. “Hypocrite is too kind a word for him.”

Angel shrugged nonchalantly, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the screen of his phone as he scrolled through an endless stream of notifications. A casual remark slipped from his lips, “Have you given him the chance to explain things to you?”

His gaze shifted lazily to the spider demon, a patronizing glint in his eyes as he added, “Why should I? There’s nothing in Hell or Heaven that could possibly justify what he did to me.”

“Of course, there’s no excuse,” Angel replied, his tone softening slightly, “but remember, he might be dealing with his own demons. He lost a lot in the fall, just like you did, even if his actions set everything in motion.”

Adam rolled his eyes dramatically and turned his head away from the small gathering, frustration evident in the tension radiating from him. Deep down, he loathed to admit that Angel might have a point, and the thought gnawed at him. His past interactions with the Devil’s brother had revealed a glimmer of vulnerability hidden beneath the cocky facade—a likely possibility that he too was wrestling with regret and loss, though Adam found it difficult to fathom.

Angel let out a frustrated sigh as he turned off his phone and stuffed it into his pocket. He wrapped an arm around Adam’s shoulders, pulling him in with a playful grin. “I’m so hungry! Is there anything to eat around here?”

Cherri rolled her eyes and put out the small end of her joint, leaning back against the comfy fabric of the spider demon’s bed. “I have no idea. I usually just wait for someone to offer me food, but that doesn’t happen much.”

Husk groaned, fighting the urge to crawl into the cozy bed behind him. “All I ever see in the kitchen are raw ingredients. You’d think the princess would at least consider getting some snacks for the rest of us.”

Adam frowned, leaning his head back to look at the demon holding him close. “There’s no way you could pay me to eat anything from down here.”

“Come on, don’t be like that!” Angel teased, a twinkle in his eyes. “Not everything down here is made from, well, gross stuff, you know. This isn’t  cannibal town.” He gave the demon a skeptical look which made Angel scoff. “What do you think everyone in Hell eats people or some shit?”

“Hey, I don’t really know what goes on down here; I’ve never been a sinner before,” Adam remarked, his tone flat. Angel deadpan as he regarded the first man with incredulity. It was hard to fathom how someone could sound so naïve.

“Well, that’s just not true,” Angel continued, a hint of exasperation in his voice. “We might not have the top-tier ingredients like they do in Heaven, but we manage just fine with what we have down here.” He rose to his full height, stretching his back with a satisfying crack as he effortlessly pulled Adam up alongside him. The man squirmed in Angel’s grasp, trying to wriggle free, but Angel’s grip was unyielding, firm enough to make any attempt futile. “If you’re so worried about what goes into your food, why don’t you just make something yourself?” Angel challenged, arching an eyebrow at him.

It struck Adam like a freight train, the realization crashing down upon him with an intensity he hadn’t anticipated. How had he overlooked such a simple yet profound solution? As he delved deeper into his thoughts, he recognized that his mind had been clouded by the tumultuous emotions swirling around him, a product of the jarring shift in the trajectory of his life after everything had changed.

“That’s actually not a bad idea,” he muttered under his breath, the frustration evident in his tone. “I just wish I had come up with that sooner.” Seizing the moment as Angel’s grip on him slackened, Adam yanked himself free, stumbling backwards as he barely managed to avoid crashing into the door behind him. Using the wall for support, he took a moment to catch his breath, the overwhelming sensation of his life flashing before his eyes feeling almost absurd given the circumstances. It was a bitter irony he couldn't quite shake off.

“Okay, so how the hell am I supposed to cook when I just almost dropped out of existence five seconds ago?” he exclaimed bewilderment lacing his voice.

Cherri, a lively presence in the room, chuckled lightly and leaned against the doorframe with an assured posture. “Don’t sweat it, man. We do this all the time. We’ll help you figure it out,” she said with a playful smirk, giving him a light tap on the arm. The sudden contact sent him off-balance again, wobbling as if the very ground beneath him was unsteady.

“Damn it, quit touching me! I feel like I could topple over at any moment,” he retorted, exasperation creeping into his tone as he fought to steady himself.

Angel and Cherri stifled their laughter as the spider demon casually removed the worn towel that had been propped against the bottom of his door. Turning toward the lethargic cat demon, who had practically dozed off in the corner, he let out a sharp whistle that made the tufts of fur on Husk's ears twitch in surprise. "Alright, come on Husk! Don't waste a perfectly good joint by drifting off to dreamland."

With a reluctant sigh, the cat demon stretched his limbs before making a slow, deliberate trek toward the others, his posture oozing nonchalance and an unmistakable desire for sleep. "Just so everyone’s clear, I'd much prefer to be snoozing right now," he muttered, his voice thick with drowsiness.

Angel rolled his eyes in mock exasperation but couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him. He unlocked his door and swung it wide open, revealing a stark contrast between the sweltering heat of the room they had just occupied and the refreshing coolness of the hallway beyond. Adam, who had been lingering nearby, immediately felt a palpable difference; the crisp air brushed against his skin like a gentle caress. He inhaled deeply, relishing the invigorating sensation, only to be interrupted by a sudden coughing fit that rattled through his chest. It was only now, outside of that stifling room, that he truly felt the slight sting in his throat, a reminder of what he had inhaled into his body. Shaking off the weird feeling he turned towards the other three.

"Alright, to the kitchen!" Adam announced, infusing his voice with an upbeat energy as he began leading the group down the corridor.

“Wow, look at you, Mr. Confident!” Angel teased, shooting a playful glance at Cherri. Her laughter chimed in response, filling the air with slight chatter as they all moved forward.

It didn’t take long for the group to make their way down the narrow hallway towards the kitchen. As they walked, Angel playfully jabbed Adam in the arm, a mischievous grin spreading across his face as he cracked a vulgar joke that sent Adam into a fit of laughter. The sound was raw and genuine, catching him off guard as he nearly doubled over, tears streaming down his cheeks. It was a cathartic moment—a fleeting reminder of joy that had become a rare commodity since his arrival in Hell. For a brief instant, the weight of his circumstances lifted, even as he felt the familiar pang of realization that such moments were ephemeral, just like all the others.

As their laughter faded, the group reached the archway of the kitchen, but they came to a sudden halt, frozen in their tracks. The scene before them was unexpected; three individuals stood clustered around the counters, their body language tense. The first man, tall and imposing with arms crossed defiantly over his chest, narrowed his eyes and glared at Lucifer, who leaned casually against the countertop. 

“So what’s going on here?” the man challenged, his tone rich with skepticism. The air thickened with an unspoken tension.

Chapter Text

Lucifer couldn’t shake the feeling that his life was spiraling out of control. The harsh reality hit him like a bitter gust of wind: his wife had sacrificed herself for the sake of sinners, and Adam was the catalyst for that devastating decision. A deep pang of hurt twisted in his heart, especially given how close he and Adam had gotten for the first time in millennia. Yet, as he wrestled with his emotions, a painful truth emerged—he was not the victim here. After all he had put Adam through, it seemed unfair to direct his anger at him.

With a heavy sigh, Lucifer rose from the disarray of his bed. The familiar emptiness gnawed at him, a reminder that his relentless brooding needed a distraction. The need for food tugged at his stomach, serving as a stark reminder that even the Prince of Darkness needed to eat. He made his way down the dimly lit corridors, the hotel echoing his footsteps, searching for solace in something as simple as a meal, hoping it might ease his emotions within.

As he rounded the corner, he found himself framed in the doorway of the kitchen. Inside, two figures turned their attention toward him: Abel and his brother Cain. An awkward hush descended upon the room, thick enough to cut. The king suppressed a groan, running his hands down his face in exasperation.

“I’m just grabbing a snack; I swear I’ll be out of your way in a minute,” he offered, attempting to ease the tension.

Abel shot him a bewildered glance, shrugging slightly. “You’re not bothering us, really.”

With a nod, the king ambled to the fridge, his hand diving deep into the vegetable bin. Even as he searched for something to quell his hunger, he felt their eyes boring into the back of his head. Finally, with a sigh, he turned around, confusion etched on his face.

“What? Is there something on me?”

Cain turned away abruptly, a flicker of discomfort crossing his face, while Abel nervously scratched the back of his neck, fidgeting under Lucifer’s intense gaze. The more Lucifer stared at the two, the more he realized how strikingly different they looked from their father—more like Eve than Adam. He couldn’t quite tell how Adam felt about the resemblance.

"Um, can I ask you something?" Abel asked softly, clutching his cassock with tentative fingers. His eyes were wide with anxiety.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow, closing the fridge door and leaning casually against it. "Sure. What's on your mind?" 

The boy hesitated, then exhaled slowly, gathering his courage. "Can you actually read minds?”

Lucifer’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, then furrowed as he scrutinized the brothers, glancing between the two with suspicion. "Did Adam put you up to this?" 

The tension fell out of Abel’s shoulders a bit as he looked at the king confused. “What no? Why would you think that?”

Cain scoffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you honestly think I’d listen to a word of what that idiot says to me?”

Lucifer then stepped up to the counter and rested his hand in it. “Then I don’t understand why you would look so nervous only to ask me if I could read minds? I thought maybe you would want to talk about what happened with your parents..” His voice trailed off as he noticed the uncomfortable tension that began to fall over the room.

“We already know everything about what happened between you and our parents,” Abel finally said, his voice steady yet tinged with curiosity.

“Yeah, it was all Dad ever talked about when he was alive,” Cain muttered, a scowl darkening his face as he reminisced about those times.

“And after he passed away,” Abel added softly, sighing deeply and letting his arms fall to his sides, “I’ve been more interested in your side of the story. What really drove you to do what you did?”

The king’s expression shifted, first clouded with confusion, then melting into a look of discomfort. “Oh, well, no one really cares about that,” he replied dismissively.

Cain took a slow breath, stepping over to the island and resting his hands flat on the countertop. “Honestly, that’s all I’ve ever thought about. Something must have happened—because from what Dad used to say, I could tell you weren’t all bad.”

“Not trying to be a follower or anything but I agree, whenever he talked about you sometimes he would get sad.” Abel added as he stood beside his brother but staying enough away to not make him uncomfortable. “Not to be a jerk either but…after today I can see why.”

Lucifer rubbed his arm a bit as he could practically feel the sweat beading down his forehead. “Uh then…what do you wanna specifically know about?”

Abel tapped his finger on his chin before glancing up at his older brother, the older frowning a bit as he spoke. “Start with the beginning I guess.”

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“Lu, are you ready yet? Michael is waiting for our arrival.” The angel’s long hair flowing like water, the light shimmering off of the purple color.

There was a thin sliver of pale light emanating from beneath the door before it quietly slid open, revealing Lucifer standing in the doorway. He smiled warmly as he looked up at his younger sister, his expression a mix of amusement and slight annoyance. He was dressed in a long, flowing white robe with intricate red lining along the neckline and the cuffs of his sleeves, the fabric slightly shimmering in the ambient light. An unpleasant look briefly crossed his face as he spoke. “What could Mike want now? It’s bad enough I had to switch with Gabriel.” His majestic wings unfurled slightly, revealing feathers that had shifted from their usual gentle light blue to a striking, luminous red, shimmering softly with each movement. “I mean, Uri, just think—what if you had to completely change your aesthetic because Father decided to create another child?” 

Uriel smiled gently, her eyes holding a hint of affection and understanding as the door of the room closed quietly behind them. Together, they began down the grand, long marble hallway, its polished surface reflecting the soft glow of their surroundings. “You say that now, but you’re actually looking forward to training Gabriel, aren’t you?” She added with a teasing tone, the warmth in her voice contrasting with the coolness of the hallway.

The angel rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest with a sigh. "That doesn’t mean I can’t be upset about it. Now I’ve got to get used to it—plus, Lilith and Adam are going to be so confused about why the color is different.”

A soft giggle escaped the woman as she let the cloud beneath her feet dissolve. "Just a small question—no offense, but aren’t you getting a little too close to the first humans?”

“What? Of course not," he replied, waving a hand dismissively. "They just need a bit more guidance than you or Gabriel would. I mean, Father won’t even let them have the apple, so they don’t know much yet." He shrugged as Uriel pulled her hair over her shoulder, then held out her hand to him. With a snap of his fingers, a purple brush appeared in her hand, and she smiled softly as she began to run it through her hair.

“You know why Father doesn’t want the humans to eat the apples yet—it’s too soon," she said softly.

Lucifer rolled his eyes anew, pouting. "I think they’re ready. Besides, I’m with them almost all the time. If anything happens, I could help."

She shrugged as she tied her hair into a neat ponytail. "I get your desire to help the first humans, but be careful—especially since Michael is working with you," she warned.

His flamboyant attitude slightly deflated at the mention of his twin brother, a subtle sign of underlying respect or perhaps apprehension. Don't misunderstand; he loved his brother deeply and was never afraid of him physically, but Michael's reputation for being serious and disciplined stood on a different pedestal. Michael was known for his strict, no-nonsense attitude—an approach that he soon realized wasn't always appropriate when he found himself suspended from duty after unintentionally causing a cherub to cry during a children's event, a mishap that, although accidental, highlighted the stark contrast in their personalities.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry, Uri. I'll be careful, the woman smiled reassuringly at him, her eyes kind but determined. 

With a swift snap of her fingers, a small, sleek black doctor's bag appeared in her hand. She gently slipped the delicate brush inside, adjusting the thin, silver glasses perched on her nose, which reflected the soft glow of the overhead light. “Alright, you ready?" she asked, her voice calm yet tinged with anticipation.

In front of the duo stood a massive, ancient-looking white door, its surface smooth and polished, with a striking golden line running vertically down the center, which shimmered faintly-signaling the threshold to something extraordinary. The door slowly slid open, revealing the grand chamber beyond. On either wall flanking the entrance hung imposing paintings: one of Eden, lush and vibrant with flowing rivers and blooming flora, and the other of Heaven, with its radiant clouds and golden gates.

"Ready as I'll ever be. Let's see what ol' Mikey has in store for us," Lucifer said, taking a deep breath and stepping forward.

Inside, sitting at a long, ornate marble table carved with celestial symbols, was Gabriel. His towering figure immediately caught the eye, dwarfing both Lucifer and Michael. His youthful face, bright and full of energy, contrasted sharply with his immense stature. Gabriel's eyes sparkled with excitement as he spotted Lucifer.

"Luci! Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry for taking your color!" Gabriel exclaimed, bouncing slightly in his seat. His broad shoulders practically shook the table as he gripped the table anxiously.

"It's alright, Gabe. Besides, the kindness ring suits you way more than me," Lucifer replied with a smirk, casually draping his arm over Michael's shoulder, his tone light and teasing.

Raguel, seated beside Gabriel with a book open in his lap, scoffed gently, a small smirk playing on his lips.

His eyes flicked up from the pages as he commented dryly, “Oh, and being in the Chastity ring suits you? If we had a pride ring, that'd suit you more."

Lucifer put his hand over his chest with faux surprise.

"What! I would never! Michael, don't you think I belong in the chastity ring?" he asked, feigning innocence. 

He then draped himself over Michael again, the younger brother sighing heavily with a stern expression. Michael responded with calm authority, turning to Raguel. "Pride is a sin, and Lucifer would never sin-that alone is enough to welcome him to Chastity," Michael said firmly.

Raguel nodded slightly, opening his book once more."I hear ya, Mikey."

As Lucifer was draped over Michael, he could feel his brother's growing frustration at their younger sibling's dismissiveness. Not wanting to escalate the scene, Lucifer slowly stepped back, straightening up and placing his arm over Michael's shoulder again.

"Alright, calm down, Mikey. It was a joke. Let's focus on why we're here, yeah?" he said, trying to keep the tone light and cooperative.

Michael turned to face Lucifer, locking eyes with him, and felt the weight of tension lift from his shoulders. “You’re right,” he admitted softly, running a hand through his tousled hair. With a decisive clap of his hands, he signaled for attention, prompting Lucifer to pull away and take a seat beside Uriel and Gabriel.

Stepping to the front of the table, Michael placed his hands behind his back, his wings unfurling slightly, the golden feathers catching the light. “As many of you are aware, before Eden came into being, Father created Beta Earth. Lately, however, unsightly creatures have been attempting to emerge from it. We must act swiftly to contain them before they create chaos.”

A hush descended over the room as his siblings began to tuck away their various items, the weight of the conversation settling heavily in the air. Lucifer leaned his head into his hand, his elbow resting on the table, a familiar smirk playing on his lips. “Why do we always have to destroy them? Maybe they’re just seeking a better life.”

Michael's frown deepened as he glanced around the table; only Gabriel remained silent, while the others sighed in exasperation. This back-and-forth between the twins had grown tiresome, a recurring dance that left everyone else weary. “This isn’t a joke, Lucifer. What if these monsters find their way into Eden?”

The thought sent a shudder through him, imagining the havoc they could wreak on Lilith and Adam. Lucifer’s demeanor shifted; his expression hardened as he sat back in his chair, crossing his arms. “Alright then, what’s our plan?” he demanded, determination blazing in his eyes.

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Lucifer’s narrative was abruptly interrupted by a resounding noise echoing from the hallway just outside the kitchen. The trio turned in unison toward the archway, curiosity piqued. Entering the kitchen was Adam, his figure framed by the doorway, flanked by three other hotel participants. Though he hadn’t had the chance to learn their names yet, he was determined to do so in time.

“What’s happening in here?” Adam asked, his arms crossed firmly over his chest, a slight frown creasing his brow as he leaned against the archway, assessing the scene before him.

Cain remained silent, caught up in his thoughts, but it was Abel who turned to meet his father’s gaze, a gentle smile lighting up his face. He stepped forward, placing a reassuring hand on Adam’s arm. “Nothing to worry about, Dad. Mr. Morningstar just came to grab a bite, and I had a quick question for him.”

Adam narrowed his eyes, the faintest hint of skepticism crossing his features as he regarded Abel. Finally, with a resigned sigh, he stepped further into the kitchen, shoving Lucifer aside with a shove. Angel smirked, amused, while Lucifer grumbled under his breath, rubbing his arm and shooting Adam a glare.

“Hey, are you hungry?” Angel spoke, looking down at the king beside him. “Well, he,” he gestured towards Adam, “is about to whip up something for us to eat.”

With a handful of colorful ingredients clutched in his hands, Adam closed the fridge door with a decisive swing of his hoof and made his way to the kitchen island. He meticulously laid out the items, creating a makeshift cooking station. “Uh, just to be clear,” he said, his voice a mixture of exasperation and determination, “I never said I’d cook for everyone. I don’t mind making extra for you two,” he pointed at his sons, a hint of affection softening his tone. But then he turned, a glare aimed at Lucifer. “But you? Why the hell would I want to cook anything for you?”

Lucifer’s expression twisted into a mix of confusion and concern as he took a cautious step back towards the archway of the door, his movement abruptly halted by a gentle but firm grip on his shoulders. He glanced over his shoulder to find Angel standing behind him, his four arms resting reassuringly on the man’s shoulders, a gesture that radiated both support and encouragement.

“Maybe because you don’t want to set a bad example for your children?” Abel chimed in, his fingertips interlaced in front of him as he leaned forward slightly, eager to make his point. Adam shot him an incredulous look, narrowing his eyes at his middle child before turning his glare toward the figure of the king. The tension in the room was palpable.

“You present an interesting argument,” Adam said, his tone dripping with sarcasm, “but let’s not forget we’re dead here. What does any of that really matter? Besides, aren’t you both way past the point of needing an example?” His deadpan expression conveyed his annoyance, and his eyes bore into Abel, who merely shrugged, a lopsided grin forming on his face as he resorted to a familiar expression—a mischievous glint reflecting in his gaze.

“Did the Princess teach you her damn tricks?” Adam continued, the hint of exasperation evident in his voice, raising an eyebrow as he addressed his son.

Abel’s grin widened, his eyes sparkling with mischief as he clasped his hands together in a pleading gesture. “Pleeeeease, Dad?” he echoed, his tone exaggeratedly innocent. The sight was almost comical, and Adam couldn’t help but let a frown settle across his face as he pushed Abel playfully away with the palm of his hand.

“Alright, alright, cut it out with that ridiculous face,” Adam relented, unable to maintain his stern demeanor any longer. The moment the words left his lips, he could see Abel’s expression transform from one of hopeful pleading to sheer elation. The laughter that erupted from Abel’s mouth filled the space with warmth, the tension dissipating as he broke into a bright smile, illuminating the room around them.

 Adam let out a weary sigh as he began the process of opening various food packages, the crinkling of plastic and cardboard filling the kitchen air with a slight noise. He dove into the drawers, his hand pushing past utensils and old kitchen gadgets in search of tools he would need. “Alright, I can’t cook with so many people in the kitchen. Everyone out,” he declared, his tone brooking no argument. At once, the bustling crowd that had gathered began to disperse, each person eager to comply with his request for space.

As he withdrew his hand from the depths of the drawer, he caught hold of Lucifer by the back of his shirt, pulling him back into the kitchen. “Not you,” Adam said with a hint of smirk. “I might need something this place doesn’t have.” 

Lucifer, taken aback and momentarily confused, frowned as he found himself struggling against Adam's grip. When Adam finally relented, Lucifer dropped unceremoniously to the floor, the impact causing the air to rush out of his lungs with a heavy thud. “Thanks, asshole,” he muttered, irritation seeping into his voice as he pushed himself up, brushing off invisible dust and frustration from his clothes.

Standing at the island with Adam, he peered over the assortment of ingredients laid out on the countertop. “Pasta, parsley, salt… are you making spaghetti?” he inquired, a hint of skepticism in his tone as he scrutinized the items.

Adam cast him a sidelong glance, his expression laced with annoyance. “No? Does butter look like it goes into spaghetti?” he retorted, reaching for a sturdy pot tucked away in a cabinet beneath the sink. He placed it firmly on the stove, the metallic clang against the surface echoing in the briefly quiet kitchen. “Can you eat shrimp? You aren’t allergic to any of this stuff, are you?” 

Lucifer looked at him, bewildered by the unexpected kindness. He glanced down at the counter, seemingly lost in thought. “Why are you being nice to me?” His voice was softer now, subdued, as doubt threaded through his words.

For a moment, Adam stared at Lucifer, contemplating the question as an uneasy silence enveloped them. Finally, he sighed, leveraging the moment with a slight shake of his head. “What the fuck are you talking about?” He filled a pitcher with cool water, the gentle rush of liquid breaking the tension as he moved to pour it into the pot.

Lucifer’s gaze remained fixed on the ingredients, an uncharacteristic vulnerability etched across his features. “I mean… you don’t have to make me anything to eat. I know you’re not afraid to say no to them,” he confessed quietly, the weight of those words lingering in the air.

Adam regarded him thoughtfully for a moment, sensing the deeper current behind Lucifer’s statement. “Despite you calling me an asshole, I have at least some common decency,” he finally replied, a hint of sincerity creeping into his voice. He continued to prepare, pouring the water into the pot with purpose. “And I’m feeling rather generous today, so I’ll make enough for everyone at the hotel. So quit moping and help me.” 

With that, he set a determined tone for the cooking session, urging Lucifer to assist in the preparation, transforming the earlier tension into a collaborative effort.

Chapter Text

Hello everyone, I hate to do this to you all but shortly after I posted my last chapter I lost my mother so I’m not entirely sure if I’ll be able to update Saturday I’m sorry for the delay but it’s a little hard to write at the moment I hope you all understand.T^T

Chapter Text

“Huh, what’s going on here?” Charlie stepped out from the dimly lit hallway, her girlfriend’s hand clasped tightly in hers as they both took in the scene unfolding in the bustling Lobby. “Why is everyone crowding out here? And where’s Dad?”

“He's in the kitchen with Adam, whipping up something for us to eat.”  Angel replied, lounging back on the couch with an air of nonchalance, his feet resting casually on Cherri’s lap.

Charlie’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “What?! That’s incredible! Why aren’t you all in there helping?”

“He kicked us out,” chimed in the cat demon, his voice a soft rush as he settled deeper into the cushions. “Said we were just in his way.” 

A wave of excitement surged through Charlie, enveloping her in an electric current of anticipation as her mind raced with the myriad possibilities of the creative masterpiece that Adam and her father were collaborating on. She looked down affectionately at her partner, a warm smile spreading across her face as she gently squeezed her hand.

“I knew they’d eventually become friends again,” she mused, tapping her finger thoughtfully against her chin as she contemplated the turn of events. “Though, I must admit, it happened much faster than I anticipated.”

Angel, lounging lazily on the couch, scoffed dismissively as he set his phone down on his stomach, a hint of skepticism in his voice. “I highly doubt it, but at least they’re on speaking terms now, which is a start.”

Charlie made her way over to the plush couch, stopping just behind it. She placed her hands on its back, leaning in slightly as she regarded Angel with curiosity. “So, he’s been talking to you? I hope it was about good things?”

Angel raised an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth curving into a smirk. “I ain’t telling you anything unless he spilled it himself.” He picked his phone back up, his fingers deftly gliding over the screen as he returned to whatever engaged his attention. “It took me a while to earn his friendship, and he’s actually a pretty chill guy, so I don’t want to jeopardize that, you know what I mean?”

Charlie quickly shook her head, holding her hands up in mock surrender. “No, no, I get it! I wasn’t trying to pressure you or anything.” 

Vaggie, perched on the edge of the couch across from Angel, raised an eyebrow skeptically at Angel’s comment. “I’ve never heard ‘Adam’ and ‘chill’ used in the same sentence. All he knows how to do is overreact.”

Cain leaned casually against the wall next to the bar, crossing his arms with a resigned expression. “He’s the king of overreacting—he basically invented it.”

From the far side of the room, Abel chimed in with a laugh. “If Dad is the king of overreacting, then Seth is definitely the prince. When Rania got her first girlfriend he followed them around Heaven their entire date.”

“That’s more like overprotectiveness,” Emily mused, her voice warm with nostalgia. “But I’ll never forget that day. I’m really the only reason he stopped; it was quite a sight seeing him tucked away in those bushes, trying to remain hidden.” As she spoke, Emily’s delicate wings fluttered gently, catching the light as they glimmered softly. She landed gracefully on the ground beside Abel, an amused smile lighting up her face. “I had to take him out to a restaurant just to help him forget about it all. It turned out to be a delightful evening—getting to know your brother was unexpectedly nice. And now,” she added, her playful gaze shifting to Cain, “I’ve got another brother to discover.”

Cain’s expression soured slightly, and he turned his head away from the angel, a clear indication of his disinterest. “Don’t plan on it,” he muttered curtly, crossing his arms defensively across his chest.

Undeterred, Emily raised an eyebrow, amusement lingering in her expression. Just then, a boisterous voice echoed down the hallway, drawing everyone’s attention. They all turned to see Adam standing in the archway, a look of exasperation on his face as he accompanied Lucifer, who was comically dusted in flour from head to toe. The sight was enough to stifle a laugh that had been bubbling up in Charlie’s throat, her hand quickly flying to her mouth in an effort to contain it.

“Dad, what in the world happened to you?” she exclaimed, her eyes wide with a mix of concern and amusement.

Lucifer, attempting to regain some dignity, was futilely trying to brush off the flour that clung to his clothing. Meanwhile, Adam took it upon himself to answer her question. “He dropped an entire measuring cup of flour,” he stated with mock severity, “and I swear, I’m never cooking with him again.”

“I wasn’t that bad,” Lucifer retorted, glancing up at Adam with a hint of indignation. He continued his futile attempt to remove the flour specks from his shirt. “You’re just a terrible teacher.”

“Regardless,” Adam interjected, his tone shifting to a more authoritative note, “everyone needs to gather around the table now.” He stepped out of the archway, striding purposefully through the room. As he reached Abel, he playfully nudged him and Emily toward the dining table, a gesture meant to encourage them to follow. “And you too, Cain. Don’t even think about disappearing,” he added with a smile, placing a hand on Cain’s shoulder. 

The older brother shot Adam a glare, pulling his shoulder away from the friendly grip before reluctantly trailing after his younger sibling.

Meanwhile, Charlie approached her father, who now seemed to have surrendered to the fact that he was going to be flour-coated for a while longer. Leaning against the archway in mock defeat, he smiled warmly at her, his hands resting gently on her arms. “I can’t wait for you to try the cherry pie I made. I wanted to whip up an apple pie as well, but he flat-out refused,” he said, gesturing towards Adam. “I understand his reasons, but it’s still a bit of a bummer.”

A look of confusion crossed Charlie’s face as she tapped one of her father’s hands with her own. “What? Shouldn’t there be enough for just you guys?” she asked, a hint of realization dawning upon her.

Lucifer chuckled and released her hands, folding his arms across his chest, his typically playful demeanor returning. “Well, we kind of made enough for everyone,” he explained, gesturing towards Adam again. “It was his idea actually, surprised me when he said it too.”

A look of surprise flickered across the princess's face as she cast her gaze towards Adam. He was doubled over with laughter, clearly amused by something Angel had just quipped. Watching the two interact, her heart fluttered at the sight of his genuine happiness. It felt like a little victory; her plan to help him find redemption was starting to bear fruit. Just a couple of weeks ago, the weight of his despair had been palpable—Adam would have sooner chosen despair over engaging with anyone he deemed a sinner. Yet here he was, joyfully preparing meals for everyone in the hotel, a stark contrast to the darker days.

“I’m really proud of him, Dad. Look how far he’s come,” she remarked, her voice tinged with warmth and admiration. Lucifer was taken aback by her words. He turned his attention to Adam, who was now animatedly chatting with Angel Dust’s pink-haired friend. A subtle smile tugged at the corners of Lucifer's mouth, but it quickly faded when he considered the underlying tension in his own heart. “And soon, you’ll be standing right next to him, laughing and chatting away like old pals!” Charlie added, her eyes sparkling with hope.

However, when she turned back to her father, her smile faltered. He had lowered his gaze, shaking his head slowly, his expression a mixture of sorrow and resignation. “I doubt that, Char. He’s still angry with me, and he probably doesn’t want to be friends with me anymore anyway,” he replied, his voice heavy with regret.

Charlie's expression hardened into a frown as she crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. “You can’t keep doing this, Dad. You know you’re only holding back your own progress, and his too, right? Clinging to old wounds won’t help either of you.”

Lucifer sighed, his gaze drifting to the floor as if the weight of his past hung heavily on him. “Well, what do you expect me to do, Charlie? He hardly wants to look at me most of the time,” he admitted, frustration creeping into his tone.

“Talk to him, Dad,” she urged, her voice steady but laced with urgency. “Explain to him what you were going through. It’s clear he’s been searching for answers ever since he arrived. That’s all he’s ever asked for, right?”

Lucifer turned away from her, shame washing over him like a cold wave. “It’s not that simple, Charlie. I can’t just fix everything I've broken. What good would it do for him to know?” 

“Dad, it doesn’t change the past, no,” she said gently, trying to keep her frustration in check as she rubbed her temples in an effort to stay calm. “But it could give him some understanding—maybe even a sense of closure about everything. You have to face this, you can’t keep putting it off!” 

There was a heavy silence that followed her words, charged with anger and desperation the weight of the two’s complicated history making the air between the father and daughter duo palpable. As the two were staring at each other Adam popped up beside the king and smiled at the princess before placing his arm on top of Lucifer’s head.

“You should head to the table too,” he said with a tone of annoyance lingering in his voice. “As much as I dislike that guy, if that red-haired idiot is hungry, there’s more than enough food to go around.” A grimace crossed his face as he added, “Not to mention that little terrorist you all insist on calling a maid.”

Charlie beamed at him, showcasing her warm and supportive nature, before she reached for Vaggie’s hand, intertwining their fingers as Vaggie halted beside her. “Just so you know, I don’t eat meat,” the former angel stated matter-of-factly, one hand resting confidently on her hip, while the other remained firmly grasped in Charlie's.

Adam, unfazed, shot her a look that was equal parts incredulous and deadpan. He crossed his arms over his chest, a gesture that radiated his unyielding demeanor. “You do remember who I am, right? Of course I know you’re vegan. In fact, you all are. That’s the way I designed all of you.” His tone was laced with a mix of exasperation and a hint of pride, as if he relished the uniqueness he’d instilled in them.

The princess's interest was piqued at the unexpected question that blossomed in her mind. With a curious tilt of her head, she inquired, “Actually, why did you choose to make the exorcist vegan? You certainly aren’t.”

Adam's gaze momentarily shifted, and he instinctively brushed his hand over the lower region of his chest. Hidden beneath the fabric of his clothing, a scar served as a haunting reminder of the chaotic events that led to Eve's arrival—a trauma he carried with him, one he wasn’t quite ready to confront or share. He dismissed her inquiry with a subtle wave of his hand, wanting to evade the deeper discussion looming between them.

“It’s just something I thought would be interesting,” he replied, attempting to downplay the significance of his choice. “Mostly, it has to do with Cain.” There was a hint of truth in his words, layered with complexities he wasn't prepared to unpack.

Charlie observed him intently, her eyes narrowing as she noticed the man's unusual gestures and the hesitation that colored his response. She mentally noted each detail, curious about the nuances behind his demeanor. A smile broke across her face, warm and encouraging. “Wow,” she said, “you really weren’t joking when you said they’re like your kids.” Her words hung in the air as Vaggie shifted uncomfortably on her feet.

Adam rolled his eyes as he grabbed the princess by her shoulders and began pushing her and her girlfriend towards the archway. “Yeah yeah, I know I’m an amazing Dad. Tell me something I don’t know.” He finally released her when their feet passed the archway threshold. “Alright go on to the dining room, and that goes for all of you.”

Adam’s gaze shifted towards the trio of friends—Husk, Angel, and Cherri—who were humorously entangled in one another. Angel lounged with his legs draped casually across Cherri’s lap, a lazy grin spreading across his face. Husk, the reluctant participant in this chaotic scene, allowed the spider demon to affectionately pet his fur, though his eyes rolled in mock annoyance. As Adam focused on them, the trio let out a collective groan, a mix of amusement and resignation, and slowly began to untangle themselves. With a series of playful nudges and laughs, they finally managed to free themselves and started to make their way to the dining room, their voices mingling with lighthearted banter.

The lobby was now shrouded in an unsettling silence, the kind that amplifies the echo of one’s thoughts. Only Lucifer and Adam remained, enveloped in the fading remnants of an atmosphere that had once been charged with energy. Adam took in a deep breath, filling his lungs with the stale air that clung to the room, and ran his hands over his face, feebly attempting to reset his mood. The high he had been riding was dissipating, and he was acutely aware that he needed to seek out Angel soon for another release. 

As he finally opened his eyes, the soft glow of the dimmed lights caught his attention, leading his gaze toward Lucifer. He found the demon king staring back at him, a perplexed expression shadowing his usually confident demeanor. The confusion in Lucifer’s eyes startled Adam momentarily, a flicker of vulnerability that felt out of place.

“What are you looking at me for?” Adam asked, his voice tinged with a mix of curiosity and unease.

“Are you okay? You seem… tired?” Lucifer replied, taking a step closer to the enigmatic figure who towered before him.

Adam made his way toward Lucifer, the air tense with the weight of their past as he halted just a few feet away. “Are you asking because you care? Or because you feel some type of pity for me?” He challenged, his tone edged with skepticism.

Lucifer met Adam’s gaze with an intensity that spoke volumes, his expression earnest as he attempted to convey his sincerity. “I promise I don’t pity you. In fact, I feel terrible. I hate what I did to you,” he confessed, his voice dropping almost to a whisper. He looked down at his hands, clasping them tightly together as if holding onto a fragile hope. “I wish I could take it back. But I can’t change the past. What I want is to do right by you now. I want to be friends again…but I know that’s asking for a bit much right now.”

Adam stood frozen, disbelief washing over him like a cold tide. Was Lucifer—the formidable king of demons, the embodiment of darkness and deceit—actually apologizing to him? The sincerity etched on Lucifer’s visage felt disarming, and for the first time, Adam considered that perhaps this wasn’t a facade. Yet, a nagging question burrowed deep in his thoughts, relentless and urgent, as he wrestled with the tumult of emotions coursing through him.

“Why did you do it?” Adam questioned, his voice steady despite the storm brewing inside him. “If you can’t tell me that, you can forget about even being my acquaintance, let alone my friend.”

The king stiffened at the question, defensiveness flickering in his eyes like a flame. It was uncanny how both of his children had asked the very same thing earlier, revealing a thread of curiosity that seemed to run deep in their family. “I promise I’ll tell you everything tonight, you have my word.” Lucifer held his pinky out towards Adam, his eyes basically begging him to trust him.

“What? Is this some kind of spell to make me trust you or something?” Confusion clouded Lucifer’s expression as he gazed up at Adam. The tension hung in the air until Adam erupted into laughter. “I’m just fucking with you, I know what a pinky promise is,” he said, leaning down to intertwine his pinky with Lucifer's.

Lucifer's heart raced. “You… you trust me?” The words felt surreal, almost too good to believe. When Adam pulled back, Lucifer instinctively crossed his arms, the uncertainty creeping back in. 

“I trust pinky promises,” Adam replied, shrugging his shoulders. “If you’re willing to make one, then I’ll give you a chance—just a little one. But if you break it, I swear on everything I love, you can kiss any chance of even talking to me goodbye.”

Lucifer shook his head, stepping forward until only an inch separated them. “I’m not lying! I swear, I’ll do better.”

A wave of nostalgia washed over Adam as he noticed how close they were, reminding him of their days in Eden before everything unraveled. A strange sensation, like goosebumps, raced up his arms. He hastily averted his gaze, before stretching his arms and his wings. 

“Alright, let’s head back to the kitchen and pass out some food for everyone,” Adam said, stepping back and trying to regain his composure. Lucifer followed suit, straightening himself out.

Inside the kitchen, the duo deftly maneuvered around stacks of dishes, their tails expertly gripping plates while their hands overflowed with more. As they made their way to the dining room, a lighthearted banter filled the air. But nothing could have prepared them for the unexpected full table, even Alastor and Niffty were there, much to their amazement.

With a flourish, Adam set some plates down on the table, Lucifer following closely behind, both quickly darting back to the kitchen for the next load. At the table, Charlie wore an infectious grin that seemed to brighten the entire room. She looked back and forth between Cain and Abel, her eyes sparkling as she gestured animatedly towards their father.

“Doesn’t he seem so much better?” She mused, as Abel fixed his gaze fixed on the doorway and a smile creeping onto his face.

“Yeah! Do you think Dad and Mr. Lucifer are chatting again?” The younger brother prompted, glancing up at Cain, curiosity etched on his features. “What do you think, Cain?”

With a casual shrug, Cain’s eyes flicked over Abel, feigning indifference as he replied, “Who knows? Who cares? I just want to eat and call Lyon.”

A mischievous grin bloomed on Emily's face, her hands braced against the table as her light purple ponytail tumbled over her shoulder. “Ooooh, who's Lyon? A friend or something more?”

When Cain didn’t reply, she jumped to her own tantalizing conclusion. Abel could practically see the stars sparkling in her eyes just as their father returned, laden with even more plates, accompanied by Lucifer, who balanced a tray full of drinks. Once they set the final dishes down, they took the only two available seats next to each other, perhaps by the princess’s subtle design.

Charlie beamed at her father, nudging his arm playfully. “What’s got you rubbing your arm like that?” he laughed, turning to face her.

“I’m just so thrilled about you two reconnecting!” Charlie exclaimed, her excitement bubbling over. “There’s so much I want to ask Adam now—maybe he’ll actually share some answers!” Her feet bounced beneath the table, a rhythmic dance of anticipation as she leaned closer to her father, her eagerness evident.

Lucifer raised his hands in a placating gesture, eager to quell his daughter’s energetic outburst. His fingers gently made contact with her shoulder, and a warm smile danced on his lips as he tried to infuse a sense of calm into the moment. “Easy there, Char-Char. Let’s save those questions for after tonight.”

“Why tonight in particular?” she asked, her eyes wide with anticipation.

Drawing his attention away from her, the king allowed his hand to slip from her shoulder, acknowledging her curiosity. “I promised to reveal everything, but I can’t predict how he’ll respond to it all,” he admitted, a flicker of uncertainty crossing his face.

“Well, naturally, you don’t know, Dad. That’s part of the process. But remember, you and Adam are the only ones who can make that choice. Don’t shy away from him if he has a negative reaction; instead, be there for him,” she urged, her voice steady despite the underlying intensity of her feelings.

Lucifer’s brow furrowed at her words, recognizing the fierce love wrapped in her more aggressive tone. It struck a chord within him, highlighting the weight of responsibility he felt. Her concerns resonated deeply, and he resolved that tonight, he would ensure Adam understood the importance of their bond and the support he was willing to provide.

Chapter Text

The food turned out to be way better than anyone had  expected, there were even some dishes that only Abel, Cain and Adam seemed to know. 

“I haven’t had Lentil soup in so long!” Abel happily remarked as he repeatedly brought the spoon to his mouth.

Adam smiled at Abel as he felt a sense of pride well up in his chest, cooking for his sons gave him a euphoric sensation that he hadn’t felt in a long time. Turning towards his first son he clasped his hands together and gave him a small smile. “So what do you think, Cain?”

The oldest peeked up from his plate, sensing the desperation in his fathers voice he sighed and looked up at him, setting his head in his hand. “It’s..alright, I didn’t think you remembered how to make challah bread, let alone vegan challah bread.”

“Dad used to give cooking lessons, then after he stopped that, he started giving plant care lessons.” Abel added as he gave his brother a glance.

Charlie’s eyes lit up as she recalled the man’s extensive knowledge of plants. “Hey Adam, how about we organize a session tomorrow where you could teach everyone about different plants? Maybe even share a few tricks of the trade?” she suggested with excitement.

Adam pivoted to meet the princess’s gaze, his face a canvas of uncertainty and deep thought. “Hmm, I don't know... you know how dirty it can get when I use them,” he said, as he shifted his healing arm a little in his lap.

Abel and Cain shot each other bewildered looks, intrigue written all over their faces. “Hold on, you have powers?” Abel exclaimed, skepticism lacing his tone.

With a wry smile, Adam extended his hand and shook it from side to side in a vague gesture. “Well, I have kind of powers—more like a curse, really, because of how I use them,” he explained, his tone laden with a hint of warning.

Abel, now intrigued, chuckled and leaned in closer. “What? It can’t be that bad, right?” he prodded, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

Adam shook his head slowly, his hand resting thoughtfully against his chin. “Nah, it’s a bit more intense than you might think,” he admitted, his voice laced with unease.

Cain scoffed loudly as he set his fork down with a clatter, his expression twisted into a sneer aimed directly at his father. “Really, Dad? More intense than the yearly extermination of sinners?” The biting sarcasm dripped from his words, indicating deep-seated frustration.

A heavy silence settled over the dinner table, punctuated only by the ticking of the clock on the wall. Adam, caught off guard, felt his stomach knot as he clenched his fist beneath the table. He couldn’t blame his son for harboring resentment over the brutal ritual, which had become a grotesque tradition. Yet, he had always believed he raised Cain to know better than to bring up such sensitive subjects during meals—a time meant for family and peace. Rubbing his temples with one hand, he let out a resigned sigh, feeling the weight of parental responsibility.

“Cain, please… let’s not do this at the table. You know better than that,” Adam said, attempting to maintain a measured tone.

But Cain’s stoic mask shattered, replaced by a fierce glower as he leaned forward, his anger radiating from every pore. “Don’t talk to me like I’m some little fucking kid.”

Before the tension could escalate further, Charlie, quickly intervened, waving her hands in a placating gesture. “Hey, I really didn’t mean to stir things up. It was just a casual question! Why don’t we just drop it, alright?”

Adam glanced over at Charlie, grateful for her timely intervention, though the frustration still simmered within him. He groaned, dragging his hands down his face in exasperation before turning back to the table, desperate for a distraction from the rising tension. “Great idea, princess. Anyone want to talk about absolutely anything else?” 

Niffty excitedly waved her hand in the air, her movements rapid and erratic as she bounced in her seat with barely contained enthusiasm. “Oh, oh, oh! Pick me, pick me!” The candid exuberance of the little maid drew the attention of everyone seated at the table, their collective gaze drifting downward to her. After a moment, Niffty lowered her hand and clasped both of them together, her eyes glinting with mischief. “Today, I encountered a family of roaches attempting to invade the hotel! But fear not, I thwarted their plans with great force!” Her declaration concluded with an infectious, maniacal laugh that echoed through the room.

The reaction at the table was a mix of confusion and mild disgust, as several of the others exchanged puzzled glances. The exception was Alastor, who reached over to affectionately pat Niffty on the head. “You always have the most entertaining stories to share, Niffty darling,” he remarked, his voice smooth and playful.

Adam, seated a little distance away, turned his gaze away from Alastor. The sight of him stirred a deep discomfort in him, a visceral aversion he couldn't shake. He wished desperately for Charlie to recognize the predator lurking behind Alastor's charming facade and send him packing, though he understood the likelihood of that happening was slim. After all, if the princess trusted him, it seemed Lucifer was not inclined to interfere—a stark reminder that he didn't want to step on his daughter's toes.

His attention drifted down to his plate, which held nothing but a single piece of plain Challah bread. He found solace in this simplicity, especially as his appetite had dwindled following an earlier high that had now faded. Just the sight of the food in front of him caused his stomach to churn uneasily, the very thought of eating making him feel slightly nauseous.

“Adam?” The voice pulled him back to reality. He looked beside him to find Lucifer, regarding him with a concerned expression, his brow furrowed. “Is that all you’re going to eat? I mean, look at how much we prepared for everyone.”

Adam shrugged his shoulders weakly, casting his eyes back down to the plate. “I’m just not as hungry as I was,” he replied flatly, the weight of his disinterest clear.

Lucifer’s face contorted slightly with disapproval as he reached over, grabbing a plate filled with Boreka, the delicious pastries piled high. He set it down next to Adam with a determined thud. “You can’t possibly expect to go without eating. At least have a little,” he insisted, his tone firm yet laced with a hint of concern.

Adam narrowed his eyes at the assortment of food, well aware there was nothing wrong with it, but the mere thought of putting anything into his stomach was daunting—especially since he had a conversation with Lucifer looming ahead. There was no way he was going to risk throwing up in front of the king again.

Seeing Adam’s reluctance, Lucifer frowned deeper. He then grabbed a set of silver tongs from the table, carefully picking up one of the Boreka and placing it decisively onto Adam’s plate. When Adam turned to glare at him, a mix of disbelief and irritation crossed his features. “What the hell are you doing?” he snapped, exasperation clear in his voice.

Unfazed, Lucifer simply set the tongs down and motioned for Vaggie, who was nearby, to pass him another plate. This one contained an assortment of small, torpedo-shaped pastries. With the tongs once more, he selected two and placed them on Adam's already burdened plate.

“I’m determined to get you to eat again, even if I have to force-feed you,” Lucifer declared with an unwavering resolve.

Adam crossed his arms defiantly, giving Lucifer an unimpressed, deadpan stare. “You do realize it’s bad to force someone with an ED to eat, right?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Lucifer returned Adam’s glare with one of his own, a hint of skepticism evident in his expression. “Are you seriously concerned about that, or are you just messing with me?” 

Adam glanced back down at the plate, his expression twisting slightly as he grimaced at the food. After a moment of contemplation, he looked back at Lucifer. “Can it be both?” he replied, a twinge of sarcasm in his voice, despite the underlying seriousness in his tone.

Lucifer’s expression shifted from curiosity to concern as he gazed up at Adam, sensing an undercurrent of anxiety that went beyond the simple fear of tampering with his meal. With a resigned sigh, he reached out to place a reassuring hand on Adam’s arm, the warmth of his grip contrasting with the tension in the air. “I’m genuinely trying to be nice, Adam. You don’t need to consume everything on your plate, but I’d appreciate it if you could at least take a few bites,” he urged, his voice steady yet persuasive.

Adam maintained a skeptical expression, his brows furrowing as he pondered the situation. However, as Lucifer’s steady grip lingered on his arm, coupled with the unwavering eye contact that seemed to peel away layers of doubt, Adam’s resolve began to wane. He let out a resigned sigh, finally relenting as he clasped Lucifer’s hand briefly. “Alright, alright, I’ll give it a try, but if I end up hurling later, you’re absolutely going to take the blame for it,” he warned, a hint of humor peeking through his reluctance. He then pulled his hand away, exhaling a small huff of exasperation.

As conversation buzzed around them and laughter filled the air, Lucifer’s focus remained unwaveringly on Adam. He observed closely, watching as Adam maneuvered his fork through the unassuming food on his plate. Admittedly, the selection was minimal and lacked the vibrant colors of nutritional diversity, but it was a step up from living on nothing but a crust of bread. With each cut and tentative bite, Lucifer felt a sense of relief; the act of eating, even if just a little, was a small victory in showing him that Adam was slowly getting better.

As the dinner slowly wound down, the atmosphere in the lavish dining room shifted. Guests began to rise from their seats, drifting toward the exits, their conversations fading into the background. Only a small group remained: Lucifer, Adam, Charlie, Alastor, Cain, Abel, and Emily. The remnants of the feast littered the table, the tantalizing aroma of exotic dishes lingering in the air.

Adam, finally finishing the last bite of his meal, pushed his plate away with a resigned sigh. Taking a moment, he cast a sidelong glance at the king sitting next to him. "Happy now?" he queried, a hint of sarcasm layering his words.

Lucifer, allowed a satisfied smile to grace his lips. He nodded appreciatively, his eyes glinting with amusement. “Indeed, I am. I imagine you must have missed this stuff.”

Adam shrugged his shoulders, the motion almost instinctual as his hands subconsciously gripped the fabric of his pants. The golden claws that adorned his fingers pressed into the material, leaving faint tears in their wake. “I don’t really know. After everything that’s happened, eating was the last thing on my damn mind,” he replied, his tone betraying a mix of frustration and resignation.

As their conversation morphed into a light-hearted argument, laughter bubbling up around the table, another presence at the far end of the room simmered with barely contained fury. Alastor,, loathed Adam with an intensity that few could comprehend. The wound over his chest, a testament to their violent encounter, throbbed with every heartbeat. Rage coursed through him; he longed for revenge, to exact a toll from the first man that transcended the pain he felt.

Yet, Alastor was acutely aware of the repercussions of acting upon his impulses. A confrontation with Adam would surely provoke Charlie’s ire, potentially leading to his expulsion from the hotel. Furthermore, Lucifer, in his protective fatherly role, would certainly side with his daughter, and the thought of facing the king’s wrath sent a shiver through him. 

Just as doubt began to creep in, setting his thoughts adrift, a malicious idea sparked amidst the chaos of his mind. A wicked smile spread across his face, illuminating his eyes with a glint of vindictive glee.

“Charlie, darling, I believe I’ve finally unearthed the identity of that cursed paper towel,” Alastor declared, a mischievous glint flickering in his eyes.

Charlie stared at him, her expression shifting from confusion to dawning realization. A few days prior, she had tasked him with uncovering the source of the mysterious item, and now a sense of dread began to settle in her stomach. “Oh no, you don’t-”

Before she could finish her warning, the radio demon snapped his fingers with a flourish. An unexpected small black hole erupted above the table, swirling with shadows and filled with an unnatural energy. From the darkness, a quivering, black wispy tentacle emerged, reaching out and dropping onto the polished surface a crumpled wad of paper towel, grotesquely soaked in dark red blood. The sight was enough to send Emily recoiling, her hands flying to her mouth in a mix of shock and horror, her eyes widening as she struggled to comprehend the grim scene unfolding before her.

“It appears this little piece of evidence belonged to none other than our charming Adam,” Alastor continued, his tone laced with a blend of amusement and something darker.

The atmosphere in the room transformed abruptly, a palpable tension settling heavily in the air as Abel and Cain's heads whipped around to confront their father. Their expressions reflected a kaleidoscope of emotions, with alarm carving deep lines across their faces. Cain's usually calm and composed demeanor cracked, revealing a mix of confusion laced with genuine concern. His brow furrowed slightly, as if he were grappling with the enormity of the revelation looming before them. 

On the other hand, Abel's reaction was far more visceral; sheer terror painted his features, his eyes widening to a striking degree as he absorbed the grim implications of the bloody material. Panic seized him, and he took a hesitant step forward, his voice trembling with urgency. “Dad, what happened?! Why is there so much blood on it?!” he exclaimed, desperation ringing through every word as he searched his father’s face for answers, hoping for reassurance that his worst fears were unfounded.

Adam sat rigidly in his chair, his body tense and his heart racing as he consciously avoided the worried gazes of his children. The room felt suffocating, but his attention was sharply fixed on Alastor, whose infuriating grin only fueled his fury. Clenching his fists, Adam slammed his palm down hard on the table, the sound echoing around the room like thunder in a quiet storm. “You piece of shit, you did that on purpose!” he shouted, voice raw with emotion. “I swear to god I’ll kill you!”

Charlie, sitting across the table, jumped in her seat, her eyes wide with panic as she felt the charged atmosphere shift. “Adam, wait! Please, just calm down—” she pleaded, her voice trembling with concern.

But Adam was beyond reason, his frustration boiling over. “No! I’m so done with this bullshit! He’s been messing with me ever since I got here!” His voice was full of hurt and anger, each word dripping with resentment.

Abel, visibly shaken by his father’s outburst, stood up from his own chair and crossed the distance to Adam’s side. He gripped his father’s arm firmly, trying to ground him in the moment. “Dad, what happened to you? When did you get hurt? How did you get hurt?” His voice was urgent, filled with confusion and fear for the man he looked up to, desperate for answers amidst the chaos.

Lucifer frowned deeply as he rose to his feet, his brow knitting with concern. He placed a reassuring hand on the shoulder of the frantic boy beside him. “Why don’t we take a moment to cool off and gather our thoughts?” he suggested calmly.

“No, no! Dad, please tell me what happened!” the boy urged, his voice trembling with anxiety.

Adam turned slowly to face his youngest son, Adam's gaze flickering briefly toward Cain, who was watching intently with a furrowed brow. But when he caught sight of Cain's worried expression, he let out a heavy sigh. “I wasn’t planning on sharing this with either of you, you know,” he muttered under his breath, shooting an irritated glare at Alastor, who stood nearby. Feeling the tightening grip of Abel's hand on his arm, he gently tapped it in a gesture of comfort. “It’s just… something that happens when I use my powers.”

Cain gave his father a disbelieving look, crossing his arms defiantly across his chest. “Your powers make you lose a shit ton of blood? Seriously?”

“It’s… it’s more about how I choose to use them,” Adam replied hesitantly, his gaze drifting away as his voice trailed off, leaving an air of uncertainty.

The confusion on Abel and Cain’s faces deepened as they exchanged looks, struggling to understand their father’s words. “What the hell does that even mean?” Cain pressed, scrutinizing Adam from head to toe, searching for clarity.

As Adam's grip on his own arm tightened, he grappled with the weight of what he needed to say but couldn’t bring himself to articulate. Just then, Lucifer stepped in closer, gently prying Abel’s hand away from Adam’s arm and instinctively placing himself between them. 

“Your father has the remarkable ability to grow plants,” Lucifer explained carefully, “but the catch is, he can only do so by using his own bodily fluids.” 

Abel blinked in bewilderment at the devil standing before him, the weight of the phrase "bodily fluids" swirling in his mind. Did that imply all types of bodily fluids? His thoughts raced, branching out into countless confusing scenarios. “But... if it’s bodily fluids, can’t he use something else? Why specifically his blood?” Abel’s question echoed in the dining room, drawing the attention of the other occupants, who turned their curious gazes toward Adam, searching for answers.

Adam’s expression shifted to one of discontent; he frowned, his brow furrowing as he processed the implications of Abel’s words. With a resolute shake of his head, he rose abruptly from the table, a palpable urgency in his movements. Abel instinctively stepped back, instinctively aligning himself with Lucifer, who looked on in surprise as Adam reached out and gripped the back of his shirt, pulling him away from the heated conversation and out of the dining room. The suddenness of it all left the others behind, their minds flooded with more questions than Adam was prepared to address.

Lucifer squirmed against Adam’s firm grasp, his confusion escalating. “What the hell? Why’d you drag me out of the room?” he exclaimed as they entered the dimly lit hallway.

Adam fell silent, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his pants, wrestling with a tumult of conflicted feelings that surged within him. How could he begin to unravel the tangled web of thoughts swirling in his mind? After tonight’s revelations, he anticipated a barrage of questions from his children and Charlie, leading to a sense of impending dread.

“Adam? Why are you so quiet?” Lucifer pressed, his curiosity piqued.

With a deep groan, Adam rubbed his hands down his face, allowing the sensations of fatigue and frustration to wash over him. He paused in front of Lucifer’s door, his heart heavy with the weight of unspoken truths. “There’s just way too much to unpack,” he finally muttered, “I just want to sleep right now.”

Lucifer studied him with a puzzled expression, his eyes reflecting a mix of concern and anticipation as he pushed the bedroom door open, holding it wide as Adam stepped inside. “But I thought you wanted me to tell you everything tonight?” he inquired, a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

Once the door clicked shut behind them, Adam flopped onto Lucifer’s plush mattress, burying his face in the soft bedding, feeling the cool fabric against his skin. “We can talk about it tomorrow,” he murmured, the exhaustion evident in his tone. “We pinky promised, remember?” The agreement felt like a faint lifeline amid the uncertainty ahead, a reassurance that they could tackle the weighty matters when the sun rose again.

Chapter Text

As the deep crimson hues of the sky began to fade into the soft pastel shades of dawn, Adam pulled the blanket tighter around himself, a slight shiver coursing through him as he sought warmth against the morning chill. He nestled into the fabric, attempting to sink back into the cozy embrace of slumber. Just as he was on the brink of drifting off, he felt a gentle tug, the blanket sliding away from his body. With a reluctant crack of his eyelids, he turned to investigate the source and found Lucifer beside him, their bodies so close that he could feel the warmth radiating from the king.

It was a closeness Adam had longed for during his time as an exorcist, a comforting presence that brought him solace in dark times. Though there was a striking difference in their surroundings now, a sense of ease washed over him. Lucifer let out a soft groan, still lost in the depths of his dreams, mumbling something unintelligible before a name slipped from his lips, "Lilith... Don't go."

The sound of the name jolted Adam fully awake, a wave of irritation washing over him. Rubbing the sleep from his heavy eyelids with the heels of his hands, he sat up slowly, allowing his gaze to drift down to the sleeping figure beside him. Lucifer’s forehead glistened with a light sheen of sweat, his brows furrowed in discomfort, and his tousled hair fell across his face, giving him an uncharacteristically vulnerable appearance. Adam could only guess that the king was caught in the clutches of a nightmarish, a thought that stirred an unexpected sympathy within him.

After a moment of contemplation, Adam hesitantly reached out, brushing the rogue strands of hair away from Lucifer’s forehead, careful not to startle him. "So even the devil gets nightmares, huh?" he murmured to himself, a soft chuckle escaping his lips at the irony of the situation. Just as his hand began to retreat, a sharp rap on the bedroom door cut through the quiet, causing Adam to jump slightly.

Turning his head towards the door, he felt a mix of curiosity and nervousness rise within him. He slipped off the bed, the carpet rug muffling the sound of his hooves, walking cautiously to the door. As he opened it, he was greeted by the familiar figures of Charlie, Abel, and Cain, their expressions a blend of concern and determination. 

“Shit, do you all have any idea how early it is?” Adam groaned, his voice thick with sleep as he squinted against the morning light filtering through the curtains. 

Abel, standing by the door with arms crossed, raised an eyebrow at his father standing in the doorway. He weighed his options but decided not to scold his dad like he wanted to do so badly. “Dad, we really need to talk,” he pressed, trying to keep his tone steady.

Adam's eyes flicked over to Abel, confusion etched on his features. The events from the previous night’s dinner were still swirling in his mind, and he felt a wave of irritation wash over him. Groaning, he crossed his arms defensively over his chest. “There’s nothing really to talk about,” he muttered, dismissing the concern that hovered in the room.

Cain, standing beside Abel, felt a knot of frustration twist in his stomach. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, and the stoic façade he wore began to crack. “Quit being so difficult, Dad! You’re not some invincible general who walks away from every battle without a scratch,” he shot back, his voice sharper than he intended. His gaze drifted down his father's body and landed on the visible bandage wrapped tightly around Adam’s arm. The sight of it ignited something deep within him, and he instinctively clenched his jaw as Adam, aware of his scrutiny, swiftly hid the injured arm behind his back.

Charlie, the princess and a steadfast friend to the brothers, took a step forward and placed a gentle hand on Cain’s shoulder, trying to calm him. She then reached for Adam’s hands, her grasp firm and unyielding. Taken aback by her sudden movement, Adam instinctively tried to withdraw his hands, but Charlie tightened her grip, refusing to let go. “Adam, can’t you see they’re worried about you?” Her voice was soft yet insistent, her eyes locking onto his with unwavering concern.

Adam maintained his gaze on Charlie, her earnest expression catching him off guard. He felt a tension rising in the air, thick and palpable, as the weight of his sons’ worries pressed down on him. “I already know what the fuck your all gonna say.”

“But it’s not about that, it’s about making sure you’re ok. Remember you’re not alone here.” The princess rubbed her thumbs on the back of his hands, so endearing it almost brought him to tears. Sighing he was finally able to pull his hands away he groaned before stepping to the side. 

“Alright, it’s a bit of a story.”

The three stepped into the room, before Adam realized he had forgotten to wake up Lucifer which is definitely something that needed to happen first. He turned around ready to wake the king only to find him sitting up in the bed.

“So kind of you to invite people into my room at the crack of dawn.” He yawned rubbing his eyes as he scooted back to the headboard.

“Shut up, I know you’re gonna wanna hear this story anyway.”

🪽⚔️☁️⚔️🪽

Adam lay sprawled on the ground, gasping for air as a fierce wave of pain coursed through his left leg, a throbbing reminder of the grueling training session. He winced, biting back a groan, and slowly lifted his head to lock eyes with the imposing angel standing before him. The celestial being radiated an aura of authority and strength, his wings slightly unfurled behind him, casting shadows over Adam's weary form.

“C-can we take a break? My leg is fucking killing me,” Adam pleaded, his voice strained and low, a hint of desperation lacing his words.

Michael, the archangel, regarded him with a piercing gaze, his expression one of disbelief and disappointment. He could hardly fathom how such a frail creature, the very first of humans, could be expected to bear the weight of so much responsibility. In that moment, a flicker of frustration ignited within him. “You must understand,” he said sharply, his voice echoing with authority, “Lucifer will unleash horrors upon Heaven if he ever manages to invade. Your training is not just important — it is essential. Every grueling moment, every ache and pain, is preparing you for that inevitable battle. Now, rise to your feet once more.”

Despite the searing pain radiating from his leg and the profound exhaustion seeping into every fiber of his being, Adam felt a flicker of fierce determination igniting in his chest at Michael's encouraging words. With a soft groan, he slowly brought himself to his feet, leaning heavily against the sturdy trunk of the tree behind him for support as he struggled to catch his breath. The reality of his situation pressed down on him with a suffocating weight; he didn’t have a choice regarding his training. Just five short months ago, he had taken his last breath, but upon arriving in the promised land, he had been bestowed the title of general. The honor was a double-edged sword—while it gave him a renewed sense of purpose in this unfamiliar existence, it also bewildered him. He couldn’t quite understand why he had been granted such a high rank so soon, especially when someone like Michael, who was clearly more capable in combat, was still actively honing his skills. 

Moreover, there was the uneasy mandate: he had been instructed not to discuss his training with his son. This secrecy gnawed at his insides, filling him with a swirl of anxiety and uncertainty. 

Michael readied himself across from Adam, the intensity of their surroundings mirrored in his focus. Adam could barely keep his eyes open; his body ached under the strain of bruises blooming on his legs and arms, reminders of their rigorous practice sessions. Just as the angel charged at him with the might of a tempest, a blinding flash of light erupted in the air, halting Michael’s advance moments before impact. As Adam managed to crack open his heavy eyelids, he was greeted by the sight of another angel intervening, casting a luminous shield that absorbed the force of Michael’s powerful fist. The air crackled with energy.

“Raphael? What are you doing?”

The Angel of Kindness, furrowed his brow as he observed the turmoil on Adam's face. Sympathy welled up within him, softening his expression as he took a moment to truly see the pain etched across the first man's features. Raphael then turned to his brother, his gaze sharp and disapproving. "Michael, you need to reconsider your approach. You are being far too rough. Look at Adam—he's a human being, and you must realize how hurt he is right now."

Michael, arms crossed defiantly over his chest, replied with a shake of his head, a hint of frustration in his voice. "You're being overly sentimental, Raphael. This is just training. Pain is an essential part of the process. If he’s going to grow, he has to learn to endure." The tension in the air was palpable, Raphael's compassion clashing with Michael's unwavering resolve.

“But not to this extent Michael, he’s a human.”  The archangels eyebrow twitched as he heard the nickname, he angrily beat his wings causing the trees around them to rustle and move. 

Raphael maintained his protective stance in front of Adam, his brow furrowed in disapproval at the nonchalant attitude of his older brother. As the Angel of Kindness, Raphael was acutely aware of the delicate nature of humans; he often felt a profound sense of responsibility toward them. It baffled him that Michael, who understood this fragility, still poured every ounce of his strength into the punches he threw during their training sessions. In Raphael's eyes, it felt as though there was something more significant at stake than mere physical training; it felt personal.

Just as Raphael was about to voice his concerns—about Michael's reckless behavior and its potential harm to Adam—he was interrupted by a gentle touch on his shoulder. He turned to see Adam standing behind him, a small, albeit strained, smile spreading across his face despite the noticeable swelling that marred his features from their earlier training. 

“Thank you for being worried about me, Mr. Raphael,” Adam said with genuine warmth in his voice, attempting to ease Raphael's concern. “But like Michael said, it’s just training. I can handle it.” 

Raphael's frown deepened as conflicting emotions swirled within him. He glanced back at Michael, who was watching the exchange with an indifferent expression. In a bid to diffuse the tension, Raphael extended his hands toward Michael, hoping to calm him and convey the seriousness of the situation. 

“At least let me heal him. He can’t keep training in this condition, look at him—he can hardly stand straight!” Raphael’s voice was laced with frustration as he shot a sharp glare at his older brother. With a heavy sigh, Michael allowed his majestic wings to fold slowly against his back, the shimmering feathers settling into a calm stillness. As he did, the pulsating energy surrounding them faded, returning the environment to its usual tranquil state.

“Fine, you have five minutes,” he relented, a hint of exasperation still evident in his tone. “But after that, we must get back to training.” In an instant, a brilliant flash of light enveloped Michael, and when it dissipated, he was gone, leaving only a faint glow in the air.

Adam let out a long, weary breath as he slid down onto the ground, relief washing over him. The weight of the training pressed heavily on his shoulders, his body visibly sagging under the strain.

Meanwhile, Raphael , who had been tense after the exchange in disbelief, hurried over and knelt beside the first man. Concern etched on his face, he reached out to rest a hand on Adam’s shoulder. “Oh my gosh, Adam, I’m so sorry about Michael. He hasn’t been the same since…” His voice trembled, trailing off into an uneasy silence. 

With a snap of his fingers, Raphael conjured a doctor’s bag that appeared with a gentle shimmer beside them. The bag was filled with various vials and healing instruments, ready to assist in mending the physical but sadly not the emotional pain that Adam was enduring. 

“I haven’t been the same either,” Adam confessed, his gaze dropping to the emerald blades of grass beneath him. The tension in his brow deepened as he struggled with the weight of his emotions. “But I know Michael doesn’t mean to be so rough. He’s generally nice to me; you just happened to catch him while we were in the middle of training.”

The archangel, his luminous presence unmistakable, gently placed a reassuring hand on Adam’s arm. A soft green glow radiated from his fingers, casting a serene light that seemed to envelop his body. “No, Adam, what he’s doing is not right,” he said, his voice filled with concern. “It troubles me deeply because I want you to feel safe and supported here. Heaven should be a sanctuary, a place where you can shed the burdens of your mortal existence and find peace.”

His expression grew more serious as he shifted his hands to a different part of Adam’s body, channeling calming energy through his touch. “But the way he trains you—” he paused, looking directly into Adam's eyes, “—it’s causing you pain. I fear you might start to believe that this is what you deserve. But you must know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you do not.”

Adam sat in silence, the weight of Raphael’s words pressing heavily on his mind. He found himself grappling with a swirl of conflicting emotions. On one hand, he resonated with the sentiments expressed by the healing angel; on the other, he was consumed by a deep-seated uncertainty about what he truly deserved. 

The memory of that fateful moment danced in front of him: the tempting glimmer of the apple and Eve’s earnest persuasion. He had eaten the fruit willingly, yet he could not shake the feeling that he had been swept along by her allure, as if he had played a role in a larger design that he didn’t fully comprehend. The repercussions of that choice were undeniable. He had been cast out of paradise, a realm once overflowing with peace and joy, and ever since that day, a cloud of sorrow seemed to hang over him, casting shadows on any flicker of happiness he might have glimpsed.

As he processed this jumble of thoughts, Adam felt a tug of longing—a desperate wish to embrace the hope that Raphael offered. Yet, the scars of his past weighed him down, shackling him to his doubts. Could he truly believe in a vision of healing and redemption after everything he had lost? 

Despite his inner turmoil, Adam maintained a façade of calm. He smiled faintly and nodded his head in response to Raphael, concealing the storm brewing within. The angel's words resonated deeply, but a part of him remained guarded, unsure whether he could let go of the shadows and embrace the light being offered to him.

“I understand what you mean Mr. Raphael, but I’m ok I’m not as weak as I look. I can handle a few punches, but thank you for being concerned.”

Raphael felt the palpable tension in Adam's voice, a clear indication of the man's reluctance to accept assistance. It was as though the very idea of being helped was something Adam struggled to embrace, reflecting a deep-seated pride or perhaps a fear of vulnerability. Recognizing this internal battle, Raphael took a moment to gather his thoughts, then with a resigned sigh, he focused on the task at hand. He concentrated his energy and finished the intricate process of healing Adam's injured leg, feeling the warmth of his power ebb and flow as it mended the damaged tissue and bone.

Once the healing was complete, Raphael gently reached out to support Adam, helping him rise to his feet with a firm yet reassuring grip. As the man stood, he marveled at the restoration of his mobility, a mix of disbelief and gratitude coloring his features. "Wow, I’m good as new!" Adam exclaimed, his eyes widening in awe. "I always forget just how powerful you all are."

Smiling softly, Raphael took a step back, allowing Adam to regain his balance and composure. With a snap of his fingers, he made the doctor’s bag vanish into thin air, the sounds of its disappearance echoing in the quiet space. “I’m always here to help,” Raphael said, his tone sincere yet gentle. “But please remember to take care of yourself as well. Your well-being is just as important.”

Adam nodded in understanding as a brilliant flash of light illuminated the space around them, signaling Michael's return. The archangel appeared before him, exuding an intense aura that was impossible to ignore. Despite the radiance surrounding them, Michael’s expression remained stern, betraying none of the relaxation that his earlier absence might have afforded him.

“Alright, it’s time to continue,” Michael said, his voice resolute and commanding. He glanced at Raphael, who stood nearby, a flicker of acknowledgment passing between them. “Please take your leave, Raphael.”

The angel paused for a moment, casting a brief, contemplative glance at Adam. Then, with a deep bow of respect toward Michael, he vanished in another dazzling flash of light, leaving the space feeling a touch emptier and quieter.

Once alone with Michael, Adam steeled himself, feeling the weight of the moment. He shifted his gaze to the archangel, his heart racing as he prepared for the confrontation ahead, then without warning, Michael lunged at him.

🪽⚔️☁️⚔️🪽

Adam let out a deep sigh, a shiver running down his spine as he recalled the events that unfolded next. The pain of that fateful day lingered in his memory—he had shattered his leg again, along with fracturing his right arm in a tumultuous accident. The chaos of that moment was still vivid in his mind. What haunted him more, however, was the fact that the angel had intervened, insisting that Raphael refrain from healing his injuries this time. 

Sitting beside him, he could feel the surrounding atmosphere grow warmer, a subtle shift in the climate that hinted at the tension in the air. It was clear that Lucifer was furious with his brother for what had transpired, and Adam could almost sense the palpable anger radiating from him. Yet, despite the storm brewing around them, Adam found himself contemplating the teachings he had followed. He recognized that many would cast blame on the circumstances. Still, personally, he could not see much fault in the doctrine itself—there was a sincerity in it that resonated within him, even as the consequences of his actions unfurled dramatically in front of him.

The experiences he underwent transformed him into an kick ass general, who protected Heaven for countless years. This role filled him with immense pride, knowing he had safeguarded his beloved home for such an extended period. It was a stark contrast to the first time his home faced an attack, a moment marked by his inability to protect it. The weight of that failure had lingered in his heart, yet the subsequent years brought him solace as he dedicated himself to the defense of the realm he cherished, even though, ultimately, he could never return to the place he once knew. The thought of having fought fiercely to ensure its safety provided him with a profound sense of purpose and fulfillment.

He turned his gaze towards Charlie, who wore an utterly heart-wrenching expression, her eyes glistening with tears that cascaded down her cheeks like a gentle stream. Beside her stood his youngest, his face frozen in a mask of horror, wide-eyed and uncomprehending. The intensity of his reaction was almost comical in its predictability, and for a moment, he felt a fleeting urge to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

He then glanced at Cain, half-expecting to see a familiar expression reflecting the turmoil of the moment—perhaps a look of disgust or disbelief. But instead, he found his son rooted in place, his features conveying a profound sorrow that seemed out of place amidst the chaos. Cain’s eyes were filled with a depth of emotion that surprised him; the boy was not reacting with anger or shock, but rather with a heartfelt sadness, as if he were mourning the very event that had just unfolded before them. This unexpected display of almost confusing him a bit.

Chapter Text

“I’m gonna kill him,” Lucifer said, his voice low and full of frustration as he glared at his own fists. Adam, unfazed by the king's declaration, rolled his eyes and then turned his gaze toward him, casually fanning his hand in dismissal.

“Oh, calm down,” Adam replied, his tone light and almost playful. “It all worked out in the end. It’s exactly how I managed to survive all those damn punches from you, and still get back up.” 

Lucifer’s expression shifted, disbelief washing over his features as he fought to keep his irritation in check. Adam’s casual attitude towards the brutal beatings he had endured during his training felt utterly absurd to him. “That’s not the point, Adam! Do you not understand how abnormal all of that was? What part of it seemed normal to you?!”

Adam shrugged, the movement nonchalant as he struggled to articulate a response. “I didn't know what was considered normal,” he said, a hint of confusion flickering in his eyes. “I just knew it helped me, so I didn't cry about it.” 

Lucifer leaned forward, his brows furrowing deeper as he pressed on. “Sera didn’t put you through that kind of ordeal. Gabriel never laid a hand on you, and I’ll be damned if I ever did something like that!” 

As the tension in the room thickened, Adam let out a breath, a mix of amusement and exasperation dancing in his voice as he responded, “It built character, didn’t it?”

Lucifer stood rigid, teetering on the edge of an emotional collapse as he confronted the man’s disturbingly calm demeanor. It was infuriating. Before he could muster a response, Adam fixed him with an icy glare, his arms crossed tightly over his chest as if to shield himself from the very notion of Lucifer’s presence. 

“Do you even realize what you did?” Adam’s voice rose, heavy with resentment. “You not only got me cast out of Eden, but you also played a key fucking role in introducing death to humanity!” His frustration was palpable as he gestured broadly towards his two children. 

With a scowl deepening on his face, Adam spat out the next words with a venomous bitterness that charged the atmosphere. “Look at them—this is example number fucking one of your fucking influence!” His voice trembled with anger, each word underscoring the weight of sorrow woven into the fabric of their existence in Heaven and Hell.

The room was enveloped in a heavy silence, punctuated only by the sound of the man’s labored breathing. Lucifer pressed himself against the ornate headboard, its intricate carvings looming behind him, as he looked up at Adam with wide eyes. Shock coursed through him, an electric mix of disbelief and surprise, as he realized how close Adam had managed to get. There was no hint of fear in his gaze, only a deep-seated astonishment at the unexpected confrontation.

Adam, momentarily caught in the intensity of the moment, closed his eyes and took a steadying breath, attempting to regain his composure. As he opened his eyes once more, his gaze locked onto the king's, and he spoke with a measured tone, "So, excuse me if I saw one as the lesser of the two evils." 

Charlie frowned as she placed her hand on top of his leg. “You know you don't have to live like that anymore, you're safe here with us.”

Adam let out a derisive scoff, leaning back against the headboard with a heaviness that suggested his annoyance had reached its peak. He rolled his eyes dramatically, a gesture filled with disdain. “This place is hardly safe," he declared, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "mainly because of that pathetic excuse for a hotelier I've ever come across in my life.”

Cain, sitting across from him, furrowed his brow in confusion. He shifted his gaze from Adam to the princess, searching for clarity. “Who the hell is he talking about?” he asked, his tone laced with confusion.

Abel, who had been quietly observing, let out a resigned sigh as he turned to face his older brother. The condescension in his voice was palpable as he replied, “That red guy who was lounging at the end of the table, the one who dropped the paper towel on the table?”

As the words sank in, a flicker of recognition crossed Cain’s face. He nodded slowly, but his agreement came with an incredulous shake of his head. “No, I actually have to side with Dad on this one. That guy is just fucking weird,” he remarked crossing his arms across his chest.

Charlie glanced back and forth between Cain and Abel, her expression shifting as a warm smile began to emerge. The more she studied their faces, the more she noticed the subtle similarities that tied them together despite their differences. While their features may not have been an exact match, there was an undeniable resemblance in their expressions and mannerisms—little quirks, especially some characteristic traits that seemed to mirror those of the first man.

“You know,” she said, her eyes sparkling with amusement, “I can really see that you guys are related.”

Cain cast a scornful glare at the princess, his expression twisted in distaste. With an exasperated sigh, he let his arm fall to his side, the tension palpable in the air. “Don’t ever say that kind of shit again!” he bit out, his voice low and edged with a growl that hinted at his irritation.

Turning away from her, he felt the corners of his mouth curl down into a pout, a clear sign of his displeasure as he faced his father. Adam threw his hands into the air with satisfaction, a smug smile playing on his lips as he basked in his own pride. “Right? Thank you! I’ve been telling him that since he was a fucking kid!”

Before Cain could gather his thoughts and formulate a cutting remark, a sharp knocking reverberated through the room, interrupting the tension. Lucifer’s head snapped towards the source of the sound, his sharp gaze settling on the door. With a flick of his wrist, the door swung open as if compelled by an invisible force.

In the doorway stood Vaggie, her posture relaxed and her expression a mix of confusion and concern. Her piercing eye darted toward Charlie, whose attention was ripped away from the father and son duo, before she addressed the group with a hint of exasperation in her voice. 

“Sorry to barge in like this, but we’ve got a situation downstairs,” she announced. Her arms crossed over her chest. “For some reason, Vox and Velvette are at the door.” 

Adam, along with everyone except Charlie, regarded the woman with perplexed expressions. “Who the fuck are they?” The first man blurted out, clearly echoing the curiosity that hung in the air.

The princess sprang to her feet, rushing toward the doorway and catching everyone’s attention. “Oh no! I completely forgot I invited them!”

Her girlfriend shot her a questioning look as they stood in the doorway. “What’s going on? Why would you invite them here?”

“Because we finally redeemed a soul! Everyone in Hell needs to hear about this! We might even attract a few more souls to the hotel." She gripped Vaggie's shoulders, shaking her with excitement.

Vaggie smirked at the infectious energy radiating from her girlfriend before placing her hands on her shoulders. "I love your enthusiasm, babe, but do you really think they’ll actually listen to what you have to say?”

Adam tapped his chin thoughtfully, the memory of a recent conversation with Angel flickering to life in his mind. A wave of irritation washed over him as he recalled the conversation. “Actually, now that I think about it,” he began, a hint of exasperation in his voice, “I do know who they are. They’re the friends of that Valentino guy—Angel’s boss, right?”

Lucifer’s reaction was almost comical; he nearly twisted his neck in surprise as he swung around to face Adam, his expression a mix of disbelief and disgust. “You mean that repulsive creature who had the audacity to lick my Appletart's arm?” he exclaimed, a shiver of revulsion running down his spine at the thought.

Vaggie, standing just behind the princess, raised her eyebrow in curiosity, her expression shifting from confusion to anger. “Wait, what? Licked you? When did this happen?” 

Charlie confidently adjusted her stance, looking determined as she spoke. “I sent them an email before dinner last night. I thought it would be a great idea for them to get a glimpse of what the hotel has to offer!”

Vaggie paused, placing a hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “I appreciate your enthusiasm, babe, but we still lack solid evidence that Pentious is in Heaven.”

“Well we have someone who has made incredible progress and so quickly at that, I think it’ll be good to show them!”

Her girlfriend took a moment to carefully look up and down the dimly lit hallways, the flickering fluorescent lights casting uneven shadows on the cracked walls, before turning her gaze inside the room. Just then, realization hit her like a thunderbolt. “Babe, you can’t be serious! He killed people here—people who had families. If they find out he’s at this hotel, they’re going to try and kill him!”

Adam scoffed dismissively, waving his hand as if shooing away her concerns. “Those things could never lay a hand on me, especially now since I know Willow’s got my back,” he said confidently.

The room fell into a stunned silence, as all three of them tilted their heads in confusion. Then Adam pointed at the two girls, a smirk playing on his lips. “Willow—the willow tree out back? The one that almost took both of you out?” He paused to emphasize his point. “Yeah, they have names. I know it’s weird.” He added with a slightly amused tone.

With a slight movement, Vaggie advanced closer to the door while directing her finger at the man. “There is no way you’re going down there with them here.”

“I can handle a couple of demons, I’m not a bitch, ya know,” he snarled, his voice rough with frustration. His nostrils flared slightly as he turned his head away in irritation, dismissing the woman's comment with a dismissive wave.

Vaggie sighed deeply, her brow furrowing as she shook her head in exasperation. She turned back to speak to her girlfriend, but suddenly froze mid-movement when she realized her partner had been long gone. Her eyes widened in concern, and with a groan of frustration, she slid her hands down her face in disbelief. Without another word, she spread her wings and flew swiftly towards their shared bathroom.

Adam groaned as he stood and began to walk towards the bedroom door. Before he could reach the door he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning a little he could see who it was. “What are you doing Abel?”

“You aren’t going down to the lobby are you? Charlie said not too.”

Adam pulled his arm away from his youngest, frowning at him he turned away and opened the door. “Of course I’m going down there, I’m not afraid of a few sinners, also think of it as training if you get to see me beat some up.” He chuckled as he walked out of the door, closing it behind himself. 

Downstairs, Charlie happily stood beside Velvette as she began walking around the Lobby pointing to an array of different things. When Vaggie finally made it to the lobby she walked over to the bar and sat down as she watched the two overlords carefully.

“Is she out of her fucking mind?” Looking beside her Husk was leaning down on the bar as one of his eyebrows was lifted in irritation mixed with annoyance.

Vaggie sighed as she turned around and rested her head in her hand. “I didn’t even know she had done this until they got here,” She sighed as she looked down at the bar’s table top. “She didn’t even talk to me about it first, I get she can be excitable but this is a bad idea.”

Husk shook his head with a frustrated groan, his face tightening in annoyance as he began to rummage through the assortment of liquor bottles behind him on the high, cluttered shelf. He reached out and grabbed two small, crystal-clear glasses, setting them carefully on the polished counter in front of him. Starting to mix drinks. Meanwhile, Charlie made her way confidently to the bar, with a huge grin plastered on her face. The other two followed closely behind her, their faces adorned with condescending smirks as they glanced around at the hotel’s decor.

Vaggie, sitting on a bar stool, turned to face her girlfriend and the unwelcome guests with a tense expression. Husk carefully set two glass cups on the polished wooden counter—one directly in front of himself and the other in front of Vaggie. She reached over eagerly to grasp her cup, intending to down her drink. However, before she could grasp it, two quick hands swiped both cups away, startling her. She frowned deeply, narrowing her eyes as she cast a sharp glare at Vox and Velvette. Letting out an exasperated groan, she shifted in her seat, frustration evident in her body language.

“And this is the bar! These two are Husk, the bartender, and Vaggie, the hotel manager!" Charlie smiled and gestured towards them. From behind, Vox looked smug as he stepped forward, offering his hand to Vaggie, who had her arms crossed over her chest.

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m-”

“Vox, yeah, I know who you are. What are you both doing at the hotel?” A nervous laugh escaped Charlie’s lips before she placed her hands on her girlfriend's shoulders.

“What she was trying to say is, welcome! We're excited to have you and can't wait to share what we have.” Velvette nodded her head as she pulled her phone from her pocket.

“Uh-huh, that’s nice, but I thought you said you had proof that this palace worked, and so far,” She looked around the lobby again before pointing at the princess with her phone. “I don’t see any.”

The princess smiled as she clasped her hands together and pulled away from Vaggie, who was desperately shaking her head quickly. “In fact, we do!” She ran toward the hallway, intending to go to the rooms, but she came to an abrupt stop when she ran directly into someone and fell down on the ground. She groaned as she rubbed her head.

Reaching down, Adam put his arms underneath Charlie's and pulled her to her feet. “Do you not know how to stand straight?”

She perked up as she grabbed his arms and held him tightly. “Adam! You are just who I was looking for!” Almost picking the man up, she turned around and pushed him towards the others. When Vaggie spotted them, she covered her eyes, a groan leaving her lips.

Now standing in front of the two overlords, she pushed Adam to the front and jumped up and down excitedly beside him. “Soo this is one of our newest patrons! You might even recognize him.”

Velvette and Vox looked at the man with confusion, their eyes roaming his body from the horns to the hair, then settling on the wings. The way he tucked them seemed oddly familiar, then they both understood. “Holy shit!” Vox’s eyes were wide as his hand flew to his TV. 

“Is that Adam?! Holy Shit, this is unbelievable!” A giant smile spread across Velvette’s face as her fingers began to quickly type on her phone.

Vaggie flinched a little as she frowned at the woman. There was no doubt that Velvette was probably taking pictures and sending them all across Hell at this point, as she was far beyond uncomfortable with it. “Hey, what the hell are you-”

"So, princess, you're going to fix the angelic army's leader?" Fascinating.” The first man looked displeased as he stared at the TV demon

The first man frowned as he glared at the TV demon. Crossing his arms over his chest gave he gave Vox a look before scoffing at him. “Back the fuck up, dude.” 

“He doesn’t look very reformed to me; he doesn’t even look like an angel anymore.”

Adam groaned as he tried his best to keep his composure. If he could, he would definitely kick this demon's ass and throw him out of the hotel himself. “So does anyone else know about…uh, this?” Velvettle looked up at Adam before motioning toward him with her hand.

“Actually, about that, I was wondering if you would keep this a secret for now, Adam doesn't need anymore extra surprises. He’s been through enough already.”

They both gave her a confused look as Velvette lowered her phone a bit, but never put it away. “What the fuck did you invite us for if you don’t want us to tell anyone?”

The princess rubbed her fingers as she looked down at the floor before nervously laughing. “Well, because I was thinking maybe you two could become patrons of the hotel.”

The lobby fell silent, a tense hush settling over the room as Husk and Vaggie both stared with expressions of shock and disapproval at what had just spilled from Charlie’s mouth. A deep frown quickly formed on Adam’s face, and he abruptly interjected, raising his voice slightly. “Whoa, hold the fuck up, Charlie. These two know that Valentino guy, so there’s no way that Angel or I, for that matter, want these assholes here.”

“Ohh, so you’ve gotten to know Angel Dust? I assume he’s given you his services? With Val’s approval, I’m sure,” Valentino retorted with a sly smile, his tone tinged with sarcasm.

Adam glared intensely at Vox, whose face displayed a wide smirk on the TV screen. “Why don’t you turn your volume down, static head? No one wants to hear that noise. Play a TV show or something, then I’ll pay attention," he sneered, his tone tense with frustration.

A faint crackle of electricity flickered above Vox’s head as he breathlessly chuckled, stepping forward with a confident stride. He looked down at Adam with a condescending smirk, tugging at his lips. “It seems your personality remains unchanged," he said with a sneer, "though I can’t say I’m surprised. After all, you’re a sinner now, aren’t you?”

Adam felt his blood boil, balling up his fist, he began taking deep breaths. There was no way he was going to lose his cool in front of two assholes like that. Then again, he had lost his cool more times than he could count since he got here, but he definitely wasn’t going to in front of them. Charlie laughed nervously as she placed herself between the two, placing a hand on his arm.

“Calm down, everyone. Why don’t you do an activity with us? Then you can decide if you want to stay or not.”

Vaggie frowned deeply as she shook her head again, her brow creasing in frustration. This plan was more than just a bad idea; it was a reckless and terrible one, and she couldn’t grasp how to make her girlfriend understand the gravity of it. She hadn’t even discussed it with Charlie beforehand, which made her feel as if she wasn’t as important to the hotel’s operations or their relationship as she had thought. This realization stung, and it made her worry that Charlie didn’t fully trust or value her opinions. Yet, with so many stressful concerns already weighing on her shoulders—worries about the hotel’s future, her own responsibilities, and her doubts—she didn’t want to add more to Charlie’s plate or make her worry unnecessarily. If Charlie wanted to invite the Vee’s to participate, then Vaggie would support her wholeheartedly, doing her best to stand by her side no matter what. However, she couldn’t help but feel apprehensive about everyone else’s reactions.

Chapter Text

Adam angrily tapped his foot on the polished wooden floor as he sat at the bar next to Vaggie, his intense gaze fixed on the TV demon. He then spun around to face Husk, who was leaning casually against the counter. Adam groaned loudly, his claws lightly tapping on the cold surface of the bar.

“I can’t fucking believe she’s doing this right now," he muttered through clenched teeth.

Husk scoffed, sliding a glass of dark, smoky whisky across the bar toward Adam. Just as Adam reached out to take it, Vaggie swiftly grabbed the glass and downed the drink in one gulp. Her expression was tense as she looked away, voice strained as she said, "I’m worried about her. She could have talked to me. Do you think she’s afraid to?”

Adam scoffed dismissively as he waved his hand at her, shaking his head with a mixture of impatience and disbelief. “There’s no way, she’s just way in over her fucking head,” he muttered dismissively.

“What kind of activity does she think they’ll participate in? Did she forget who they were?” Vaggie narrowed her eyes at the two, her gaze sharp with concern before turning back to face Adam. “She won’t even listen to me. What am I supposed to do?”

The man shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as he grabbed the second glass Husk slid over—this one filled with a dark amber liquid—before quickly downing it in one gulp. Despite the disapproving look Vaggie shot him, he set the cup back down gently and tapped the glass thoughtfully. “One more. I can’t deal with this sober,” he said with a grimace.

Vaggie frowned as she held her hand up in front of Adam’s face, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. “Hey, whoa, whoa. Did you forget what happened the last time you drank too much?” she asked, voice edged with concern.

Adam chuckled, shaking his head. “Come on, it takes more than just two shots to get me like that. Besides, I know you're probably going to want another, especially since...” His voice trailed off, his gaze shifting back to Vox and Velvette, who were leaning against the nearby wall, watching intently.

Her eyes followed his, narrowing as she stared at them for a moment, tension evident in her expression. Then she groaned loudly and lowered her hand. “Alright, one more. Then that's it. Husk, give me one too,” she said, rubbing her temple in frustration.

The cat demon nodded his head, then carefully retrieved two cups from underneath the counter, refilled them with the brown liquid, and slid them smoothly toward the pair. They both grasped their drinks firmly, taking swift sips that warmed their throats, before setting the cups down with deliberate movements and exchanging determined, steady looks. "Alright, are you ready?”

Vaggie frowned slightly, nodded in agreement, and gracefully walked over toward her girlfriend and the other two overlords, her expression composed yet alert. Adam trudged forward with a heavy, deliberate gait, his face etched with irritation at the sight of the TV demon, every step weighted with his growing frustration. As he reached the group, Angel, Lucifer, and his sons finally emerged from the shadowed hallway, their footsteps echoing softly. When the spider demon’s sharp eyes landed on Vox, his mood immediately soured; his face contorted into a scrunched, displeased expression.

“Uh, what the fuck is this?” he exclaimed, arms crossed and eyebrows raised in confusion as he shot a piercing, irritated look at the princess. Charlie hurried over to Angel, raising her hands in a placating gesture, her laughter tinged with nervousness.

“They’re here to do a piece on the hotel... you know, since Pentious was redeemed?” she said, attempting to explain.

Angel narrowed his eyes at the two, placing his hands firmly on the princess’s shoulders and gently pushing her aside. His expression was stern and skeptical. “Charlie, do you remember who they are? Who they’re friends with? Because, just so you’re aware, they work with Val—my terrible boss,” he said pointedly.

“I understand what you mean, but he isn’t here, and they are only here to check out the hotel," Charlie said. 

Angel paused for a moment to glance behind the princess, observing Vox as he approached Adam with a casual smile and began engaging in light small talk. “They aren’t good people. Trust me when I say they’re bad news," He added with a serious tone.

Charlie briefly examined the TV demon, just in time to see Adam clenched with visible anger, his fists trembling slightly. She quickly turned back to face Angel. "Look, I’ve talked to them myself. They promised not to cause any trouble," she assured him.

Before Angel could respond, Charlie swiftly moved toward Adam, placing her hands firmly on his shoulders to steady him, sensing his rising frustration. Her touch was reassuring yet firm, grounding him in the moment. “Alright, since everyone is here, why don’t we get started on the activity?” she suggested, her voice upbeat.

Angel sighed as he uncomfortably made his way back to the group. Standing beside Adam, he kept a cautious distance from the two overlords, glancing around. Charlie happily clapped her hands and opened her binder with a bright smile. Flipping through the pages quickly, she landed on a specific page, then looked up at the group, her eyes gleaming with anticipation. 

“Alright, everyone, we’re going to do something more... personal,” the princess announced softly, her voice steady and inviting. She extended her hands gracefully as she approached Vox and Velvette, her movements deliberate. “It’s called *I Used to Believe*. I would like everyone to take this seriously.”

Velvette looked at the princess’s outstretched hand with a skeptical expression, then groaned softly before grabbing Charlie’s hand. Vox hesitated briefly before following Velvette’s example, his expression cautious. The princess gently pulled them both down to the ground with her, crossing her legs comfortably as she smiled at the irritated demons beside her. Adam sat down beside the TV demon reluctantly, gripping his hand firmly and squeezing hard, attempting to intimidate him, but to no effect. One by one, the others moved to sit in the circle, each holding hands with the person next to them.

Charlie closed her eyes briefly, took a slow, deliberate deep breath to steady herself, and then spoke with renewed confidence. “I used to believe that Heaven would never give the hotel a chance, but now I’m so happy to say that it isn’t true anymore!”

Velvette rolled her eyes dismissively, sighed heavily, and responded with a hint of boredom. “Boring.”

Adam leaned forward, his jaw clenched in frustration, and sharply glared at the doll demon. “You go next, then. See if you can do any better.”

She scoffed softly, returning his glare with a smirk. “Gladly. I used to believe that being in Hell was the end of the line, but now I know better. Becoming an overlord was the best thing that happened to me.”

The princess looked at the woman with a gentle, reassuring expression and softly squeezed her hand. “You know, being an overlord isn’t—"

“You know, being an overlord doesn’t make you immune to the chaos that unfolds down here, right?” Adam shot Velvette an incredulous look, his eyes narrowing slightly before he smirked and continued. “If I had known you both existed, I would have taken you out myself."

Vox chuckled softly as faint electricity flickered along the antennas atop his head, the glow reflecting in his eyes. "So interesting," he said, leaning forward slightly. "Tell me, how did you become a sinner again?”

"Why don't you get closer, and you’ll find out how," Adam replied, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Charlie cleared her throat confidently, her voice cutting through the murmurs and commands that had filled the room, capturing everyone's attention. With all eyes now fixed on her, she offered a gentle, knowing smile. “Please, not today. Why don’t you go next, Adam?” she suggested softly.

Adam groaned dramatically, fatigue evident as he dropped his shoulders with a resigned sigh. “Uh… I used to believe that Lucifer never felt shame, but now I’m realizing that’s not entirely true.”

The princess squealed excitedly, turning to look at her father with wide eyes, silently urging him to speak next. Lucifer cleared his throat, his tone steady and deliberate. “Uh well, I used to believe that everyone hated me. Now I see that’s only partially the case.”

Charlie suppressed her instinct to reprimand her father, instead choosing to shake off the moment and survey the group with a composed expression. “Anyone else wanna go next?" she asked, her tone steady.

Abel eagerly raised his hand into the air, clutching one of Angel’s numerous delicate fingers. Once the princess nodded at him, he lowered his hand, a bright smile spreading across his face as he spoke. “I used to think that Dad was some untouchable jerk, but now I realize that isn’t true.”

Adam spun his head sharply to face his youngest child, a look of shock etched on his face. "Uh, what the fuck?”

Abel shrugged his shoulders awkwardly, trying to hold back a laugh as he glanced away. Cain, observing the entire exchange, felt a strange tightness in his stomach before clearing his throat nervously. “I used to believe that Dad was just a homicidal freak,” he admitted, “but it turns out that wasn’t entirely his fault.” 

Adam then turned to Cain, giving him the same concerned expression he had shown Abel. “Alright, what the hell? Can we talk about something other than me? Usually I don’t mind, but not like this.”

“I’ll go next,” The group turned to face Angel as he spoke in a careful tone. “I used to believe that I was alone, but now I’ve learned that I’m a loser but im not one by myself.”

Adam held back a laugh as he glanced over at Husk. While he wasn’t mocking the analogy, he found it amusing nonetheless. The cat demon’s ear twitching slightly signaled his subtle amusement, and a small, genuine smile curved his lips. Letting out a soft chuckle, Husk looked up, voice tinged with sincerity. “I used to believe that no one could understand what I was going through. I know now that wasn’t true.”

Charlie clapped her hands together excitedly, her face lighting up with enthusiasm. Without delay, she reached out and clasped Vaggie’s hands again. “Bravo! You all are doing so well! Vaggie, you’re next!" Her eyes widened with excitement as she joyfully turned to face her girlfriend, her expression eager and proud.

Vaggie chuckled softly, her eyes brightening as her girlfriends' theatrical antics deepened her affection for her. “I used to think I was only good for killing," she admitted, "but I’ve come to see there’s more to me than that." 

While a strange mixture of camaraderie and guilt stirred in Adam's chest, he managed a small smile. He was pleased to see the woman undergoing such a positive transformation after everything she'd endured; he almost wished he'd experienced this change earlier in his own life. Charlie turned her head with a warm smile, happily shaking Vox’s outstretched hand, her eyes filled with genuine joy and pride. 

“Alright, your turn, Vox!”

The television screen flickered briefly before displaying a smiling face as he began to speak: “I used to believe this was a dumb idea, and honestly, I thought it was pointless. Turns out, I was wrong,” his expression then shifted into one of exasperation, his eyebrows furrowing and his voice growing more intense. “This was a complete waste of time, and the most dumbest shit I have ever had to sit through in my fucking afterlife!” Vox then burst into cackling laughter, pulling away from Charlie and Adam

Velvette burst into laughter, her hand hitting the ground as a surge of amusement overtook her. A small, rosy blush of embarrassment spread across Charlie’s cheeks as she gripped the hem of her sleek, form-fitting suit. Simultaneously, Adam, Lucifer, and Vaggie, as if choreographed, shot to their feet; they halted abruptly once they realized all three had risen. The two overlords stopped laughing and came to a standstill, Velvette quickly pulling out her phone, fingers already scrolling, while Vox clasped his hands together in silence, a subtle smirk on his face.

"See, princess, this is boring. There’s nothing worth reporting about this place," Velvette said with a quick shake of her head.

Charlie quickly got to her feet, voice firm as she tried to defend herself. “That’s not true! We redeemed a sinner, Pentious! He sided during the exterminations!”

“If that’s true, where is he? Can I get a picture of him?" Vox interrupted, a glint of curiosity in his eyes.

Charlie looked down at her hands, speaking slowly and awkwardly. “We can’t do that because he can’t come down here... but, but, there is an angel here. His name is Abel, he’s Sir Pentious’s friend!” She held her arms out, jazz-handing enthusiastically at the boy, eyes bright with nervous excitement. 

Drones equipped with cameras began to hover around him, and in a fit of anger, Adam seized his son’s arm, pulling him protectively behind him. Cain swatted at several of the drones, sending some crashing to the ground. Charlie, her face reflecting confusion, took a small step forward. "Uh, what’s happening?"

Adam let out a groan as he rubbed his hands down his face in frustration. "Charlie, there’s no way I’m allowing these creeps to capture any footage of Abel; these things are revolting down here." 

Charlie rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively at him, attempting to ease his concerns. "Oh, they’re not going to-" 

Cain moved closer and placed his hands on the princess’s shoulders as he spoke earnestly. "Princess, they need to leave. Dad is right; the people down here are twisted; I’ve witnessed it myself." 

Adam remained seated in the hotel lobby, while resting his legs on the couch situated on Lucifer's lap, ignoring Lucifer’s objections. Ignoring the king's persistent chatter, he shifted his gaze to the lobby entrance, observing Vaggie and Charlie as they escorted the overlords out. The princess's partner looked content while ushering them toward the exit, though Vox gave Charlie his business card beforehand. Instruct her to phone again when a "Real Story" is available. Charlie sighed as the giant doors of the lobby closed behind her. Frowning, she gave Vaggie a displeased look.

“What was with all that mean mugging you were giving to the Vee’s?

Vaggie stepped back with an incredulous look, her eyebrows raised sharply as she placed her hand on her chest in surprise. “Me? Charlie, you know who they are, what they do—lie, scheme and hurt people! And you let them just wander around the hotel like that!” Her arms moved nonstop as she began pacing back and forth.