anyway when Beelzebub looks at the fly and says "look at you, you're perfect", they are telling Gabriel that he's perfect - his memories, his personality, his essence are still in the fly when Beelzebub says those words.

Flying, Not Falling (ineffable bureaucracy)

Beelzebub watched Gabriel take another dive off of the cliff, body as relaxed as if he had been jogging rather than purposefully hurling himself down a steep rock face and into the deep blue sea, where he would be at the mercy of waves. Of course Gabriel didn't need to breathe and his corporation was strong and exercised enough that swimming back to shore would have been easy for him - he couldn't die either, not really: even if a wave crashed his skull open against a rock, it wouldn't take Upstairs more than a couple of days to issue the archangel Gabriel with another corporation. 

Still, Beelzebub thought it was unnecessarily risky and after glaring at Gabriel's first invitation to join him, they had stubbornly rooted themself to the beach towel that refused to stay clean of the sand and had watched every jump with anxiety gnawing at their insides - if they hadn't known better about the correlations between one's feelings and body, Beelzebub would have thought Hell had discovered their relationship with the archangel and found a way to subtly torture them.

Hell didn't know anything, of course: if there was something Beelzebub prided themself on, it was their meticulousness; they didn't leave behind any traces and if that meant there was no way they could keep even the smallest memento of their lover, they had learnt to make their peace with it - their safety was far too important to endanger for something as silly as leaving a mark behind or carrying to their office an offensively nice scarf. 

"Are you really sure you don't want to try?"

Beelzebub sniffed at the question, drawing their knees to their chest and if Gabriel read that as a sign of closure... well, good - they didn't intend to change their mind "I said no. And stop flying back to the top of the cliff, someone is bound to see you" and if someone did, then there would need to get damage control done which meant at least one angel snooping where Beelzebub absolutely didn't want them to.

Gabriel let himself fall next to the demon, tugging at a corner of the towel so that he could stretch it towards his face and swipe away the drop of water before the salt in them had the time to crystallize on his skin "I check every time before flying back up"

"Oh yes, your incorporated radar works so well"

"Oi, what's with the mean and passive aggressive sarcasm?" By then, he knew better to attribute it to Beelzebub  just being mean; Gabriel had found that the demon prince preferred reverting to cutting words and defence stances before they finally opted for opening up - it had taken him a while to understand but now that he did, Gabriel always was relentless in trying to find out what exactly was hurting or bothering Beelzebub "Is this about asking you to take a dive? Because I've been checking in about whether you've changed your mind just because I think it could be something you'd like" they usually enjoyed being reckless, having their tiny corporation burst at the seams with adrenaline. 

"How can you think I would enjoy that" Beelzebub's voice was flat in an attempt at keeping the buzzing at bay - it also made them seem a lot angrier than they were and they didn't want Gabriel to think he had fucked up too badly.

"It's risky, exhilarating, pointlessly fun..."

"It's a fall"

A fall.

The Fall.

Beelzebub hadn't needed to capitalize the word for Gabriel to catch its importance - he just wished he would have understood the other's reluctance before they had had to spell it out for him "Oh"

The demon tightened their arms around their legs, nails digging imperfect moons in their flesh as they turned away from the angel - ashamed to still be so affected by the Fall. Beelzebub hadn't intentionally taken the jump, nor they bragged about having sauntered their way to Hell like Crowley did - they had been pushed, brutal and simple; they had struggled, begged for forgiveness, pleaded for their life as they knew it...

It had all been for nothing. 

Gabriel mirrored the other's pose, more to try and connect with them rather than communicate closure - that was how it worked, wasn't it? He wasn't sure, humans had aquired such strange behaviours and so diverse too! It was impossible to keep them straight "Look-" Gabriel turned around in his head what he wanted to say, realised it might have sounded a tad insensitive and reworked the sentence "I don't understand - I was going to say I do but I don't"

"Damn straight you don't" Beelzebub sniffed, their gaze zipping up to Gabriel's face and away - evasive, not wanting to look vulnerable.

"But-"

"No buts"

"But, I would never leave your hand during the jump"

"That's sickeningly sweet"

"I'm going to take that as a compliment"

"Of fucking course you do" they hated it: they hated his confidence; they hated his understanding; they hated his... kindness.

It made them feel weaker.

And while they knew that the archangel wouldn't exploit that weakness, Beelzebub wouldn't stand for it; they smacked Gabriel's arm hard as they stood up, before they balled up their hands at their hips and matched towards the edge of the cliff "Come on"

"Bub..."

"Come on"

Gabriel immediately recognised the tense stubbornness in the other's voice, very well aware of the fact that he wouldn't be able to persuade Beelzebub that they didn't need to prove anything - not to him. Gabriel easily pushed himself up and followed the demon prince "Will you let me hold your hand at least?"

"I'll dismember you if you don't" Beelzebub hissed, grabbing aggressively the already proffered fingers before they gave Gabriel's hand a strong tug, unbalancing him - forcing him to fall like they had Fallen.

Except that the bastard had been right: somehow, with the weight of the other's hand in their own, it felt more like flying rather than falling.

They slipped into the waves, the crash of their bodies against the water insignificant compared to the thundering song of the sea. 

(ao3)

Mirage (ineffable bureaucracy)

They didn't know why the fact that Gabriel looking stunning in sunlight surprised them and took their breath away - not that they needed to breathe but there it was the feeling: a tightness of the chest; a burning in the back of their throat; an arrhythmia of the heart they had felt only once before getting entangled with Gabriel, while Falling down through the air at such a speed that invisible molecules had cut their skin.  

Maybe they should have paid more attention to the fact that their love for Gabriel felt more like Falling rather than receiving a commedendation for a job well done.

Maybe they should have turned their back on the other as soon as it had felt like they hadn't had any control on their corporation.

Maybe they should have stuck to the widespread belief that demons just couldn't love for they had lost the ability to do so when She hadn't forgiven them -  when She had chosen punishment over listening. How could one still love when their creator had showed them how finicky the sentiment could be?

Still, Beelzebub loved Gabriel.

They propped their head up on their hand, turning a little more to the side so that they could better watch the other: the archangel was perfect and every sun ray gliding over his skin only underlined and heightened that perfection - it was as if God Herself couldn't help but shine a light on Her herald and Beelzebub couldn't really blame Her, they could watch Gabriel soak up the sunshine for ages.

Until the next Armageddon.

For forever, ideally.

Except that there would never be a forever for them - only the winner would have the privilege of eternity and honestly eternity without Gabriel was starting to lose its appeal; not that they would ever defect in the name of love but they knew victory would be bittersweet. Sometimes Beelzebub wondered about what Gabriel thought of the whole situation - if he bothered to think about it - but they never asked him because that would lead to other questions they weren't ready to have answered.

So, they watched. 

Gabriel felt Beelzebub's eyes on him just as physically as he once had been able to hear Her voice - Her messages whispered into his ear; their gaze a brand onto his skin. She had stopped talking to him a long time before that random Tuesday afternoon on the beach, on the coast of a country they hadn't bothered to check the name of, only caring about finding a private spot - She had forsaken him or maybe She just had grown bored with Her creation and had other projects She preferred focusing on, but Beelzebub was always there.

They had never left.

On the contrary, they had drawn closer until Gabriel couldn't even imagine their hearts being strangers to one another.

He heard Beelzebub move on the fine sand; they hadn't even conjured up a towel to lay on and that was so quirky - so them - that it made him hurt with fondness "Uncomfortable?"

"No" the grains of sand dug into their skin but it was an easily ignored pricking.

"Is the sun bothering you?"

"No - why the interrogation?"

Gabriel sat up and looked down at the prince of Hell, one hand raised above his brow to shield his eyes from the light: it was harsh and brilliant, made even more incandescent by the reflective whiteness of the sand and the liquid peaks of the waves "I've heard you move"

"So?"

"I wanted to check that you weren't in any discomfort" Gabriel rolled his eyes "I wasn't interrogating you"

"Sounded like you were" Beelzebub shrugged "I'm fine - I just wanted to look at you better"

"Oh?"

They picked a small pebble and threw it at the archangel "Stop fishing for compliments, you big vain bird" they buzzed, reproaching Gabriel in a teasing voice - they loved it when the archangel preened, taking every compliment with genuine pleasure: he looked even more beautiful when he showed off, well aware of which were his best features and shameless about displaying them in the best light "I love you"

Gabriel smiled - that different smile that lost the sharp and bitter edges; that looked like melted butter felt on the tongue; that seemed to irradiated a light of its own.

A smile Beelzebub knew was reserved just for them. 

"I love you as well"

The demon hid their sniff under a particularly loud and obnoxious buzz "Good because otherwise I would have had to maim you"

(Ao3)