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“You humans are really weird, your motivation and aspirations are stupid and messy. You can say that killing the Gun Devil is your only goal but you want so many other things along the way. I think you should give your impulses a little more attention, you’d be a little less depressed that way.”
Aki turned towards the Angle Devil who barely paid him any mind. The short man's warm pink eyes were directed forward, his gaze hadn’t left the sunset for hours. Aki also turned to enjoy the sight of the bleeding blues and purples that painted the sky just before nightfall.
“I know exactly what I want. My only goal in life is to kill the Gun Devil and kill all other devils that get in my way,” Aki’s voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke. Angel stopped walking and turned to his partner. Aki mirrored the action and met Angel’s eyes.
“Liar.” The simple word left the devil hunter speechless for no more than a moment. He should have expected such a simple and degrading response from the other. He showed no reaction as he questioned the thought process behind the comment.
“Why do you say that?” Aki asked gently and in an even tone.
Angel blinked up at the devil hunter, he then turned so his wings were turned to Aki. His pure white feathers ruffled in the wind, his hair danced in front of his face and he pulled a stray petal off of his collar. Aki looked at the sight for a second. He let himself admire the beauty and let the image settle into his mind.
Angel spoke without turning around, “because there are plenty of other things you want.” He put his hands behind his back, fiddling and twisting his fingers. Aki’s dark eyes watched the movements, observing how his fingers linked together and how his hair swayed lightly with the wind.
Aki took a small step forward, hopeful that the Angel Devil didn’t notice.
“Like what?” he questioned finally. Angel spun around on his heel.
“Like me.” Aki was robbed of words and his ability to hold eye contact. Angel kept a straight face even though the words were flirtatious. Aki’s heart betrayed him as its pace sped up with each step closer Angel took. They got close enough together that Aki was convinced that they were going to kiss. His hand rose to cup Angel’s cheeks as much as the dusty pink hair devil wanted to allow it, he knew killing Aki was just as illegal as it was useless. He didn’t want Aki dead; on the contrary, he wanted him alive and close.
Angel stepped back and for a second Aki took it as rejection, until he remembered the rules and the many boundaries that came with their relationship. His hand dropped to his pocket. Angel's eyes dropped to his hands where Aki was fishing around for something.
“What are you doing?” Angel didn’t get a response, rather Aki pulled out two nitrile gloves and tugged them over his hands. He took a step forward, closing the space Angel had created between them. Aki brought a black gloved hand up to the devil's face. He reveled in the warmth of the other's skin and breath against his hand. His index finger angled Angel’s face up at him and his thumb grazed the bottom of his lip.
Aki caught the slightest twitch upward of the Angel Devils soft lips. His own gaze softened as he pressed his thumb a little harder against the plump skin. Angel's lips parted softly and his tongue kitten licked at the tip of Aki’s thumb.
Aki’s free hand took Angel’s, when he found that the shorter’s fingers were curled around something he pried his fingers apart. Angel allowed it and Aki’s eyes dropped to see what was in his hand. There was a small slip of paper and the petal of a pink flower that grew on the trees that surrounded the path they stood on. Aki noticed his name scrawled on the paper so he took the little items and dropped them into his pocket.
His attention was redirected when there was a slight bite on his finger. Angel stared back at him with rosey eyes. Suddenly, Angel shivered. Aki looked around and realized that it was getting dark and cold.
“I live only a few blocks away, since you’re still signed out until morning just come over for the night.” His hand dropped so he could hear the response.
“You can’t touch–”
“I know. I’m sure we can find a way around it,” Aki argued. Angel mumbled something under his breath and ended up agreeing. Aki laced their fingers together and tugged Angel in the direction of his apartment. Because of parole and training Denji and Power would be gone for a long time, morning at the least. He was far from excited to see how they left the house. The walk to Aki’s house was quiet until they through the door.
Aki observed that the house was unsettlingly clean and there didn’t seem to be any bite marks on his candles. Aki pointed Angel to his room and went through the refrigerator and freezer for something he would want to eat.
Angel looked around Aki’s room curiously. It was as basic and organized as he imagined it would be. He sat down on the bed and had only been there for a minute before he heard the soft thumps of Aki making his way to the room. In his still gloved hands were a tub of ice-cream and a bottle of water. The Angel Devil reached for the ice-cream first but the cold sweet was swiftly held out of his reach. Aki looked down at him and held out the bottle of water.
“Drink this first.”
“You’re telling me what to do again.”
“You’re not doing as I say again. Drink this then you can have the whole tub to yourself.”
Aki allowed no opening for refusal. Setting the tub onto a wooden nightstand, he uncapped the bottle and held Angel's chin up. The devil's lips parted obediently and Aki placed the water to his lip. As he drank, some of the cold liquid escaped his mouth and dripped down his chin. Aki watched the water leave a shining trail that disappeared under the Special Divisions suit. Once half empty he pulled the water bottle away and wiped some of the water off of Angel's skin.
“I’ll get you something you can change into,” Aki said as he capped the water and placed it aside. He walked over to his dresser, “you can have the ice-cream.” Angel had already been reaching for the snack before he had been granted any sort of permission. He noticed that Aki had brought two spoons, both of which had sakura embroidery on the ends of them. Of course he had fancy spoons. Angel felt along the end of the cold metal. He heard a quiet rustling, the small sound caught his attention, snapping him out of thought. When he looked up Aki was facing away, unbuttoning his work shirt.
Angel watched as the thin shirt fluttered to the ground, leaving Aki’s muscular scarred back exposed to the cool air in the room. Aki could feel the eyes on his back as he pulled on a long sleeved white shirt. When he turned around with a change of clothes in his hand for Angel, the devil had completely turned away. His lip curved upward so slightly nobody but him would notice it.
“Here, it’ll be big on you but it's all I have. Unless you want to wear Denji or Power’s clothes.”
“No.” Angel was slow about changing and Aki was shameless about watching. Even if he wanted to look away, even if he cared about the shame, his eyes were glued to the sight. Looking anywhere else felt wrong, his eyes would drift back anyway. Angel didn’t mind at all. He actually liked the attention, if he wanted Aki to look away he would have told him to. That request never arrived.
Angel didn’t leave the bed in order to change. The furthest he got from the sheets was lifting his hips to get his pants on and off. Aki physically had to stop himself from reaching over to hold, kiss, and touch the devil. He was right there, barely a few inches away. All he wanted to do was reach over and catch those shiny lips on his own.
“You’re doing a lot of staring,” Angel pointed out after he finished tugging the long shirt on.
Aki met his eyes, “You’re giving me a lot to stare at.” A twitch of the Angel Devils lips was the only response Aki got. The devil popped off the lid of the ice-cream tub and set it next to the bottle of water. Aki moved back on the bed so his back was against the wall and he turned the TV on. Angel didn’t move from the edge of the bed where he sat until Aki pointed it out.
“Come here,” Aki mumbled without looking away from the screen of the TV. Angel craned his neck to look at the male. He had tugged his hair out of its top knot. Strands of dark hair framed his face, his skin glowed from the blue light the TV was emitting. Angel thought about his options for a moment. He stared at Aki as he thought about what he’d do. Eventually he decided he wanted to be closer to the Devil hunter so he began shifting towards him. Angel was reluctant to get too close but, as usual, Aki showed no regard for his own life. He tugged on Angel’s arm to pull the devil closer.
The devil sighed in exasperation when Aki pulled his head to his chest. As warm and lovely as the feeling was, the danger laced into it was evident, or it should have been. It was a mystery if Aki didn’t care about dying or if he didn’t understand the risk, if Angel had to guess he’d say the former.
“It still surprises me that you insist on getting so close,” Angel lifted a spoonful of ice-cream to his mouth and continued talking after he swallowed, “considering I can still shorten your lifespan with a touch.”
“But you won’t,” Aki pressed. He caressed Angel’s wing, pulling off a loose feather or two and tossing it to the side.
“You say that like it’s a choice.”
Aki shrugged as he looked down at Angel who continued taking in spoonfuls of the ice-cream and watching the TV with a bored expression. Before the devil could lift the next bite to his mouth, Aki grabbed his wrist and redirected the spoon to his own mouth. Angel stared blankly at the devil hunter before his cheeks turned slightly red and he turned away. His wing twitched to cover his reddening face. Aki’s eyes softened as he looked down at the hiding angel. Aki tried to move the wing out of the way but to no avail. Insead, he pulled the tub of ice-cream out of Angel's lap and held it out of the angel's reach.
Angel turned to take the snack back but he couldn’t reach it considering he was not only slouching but there was also a significant height difference between them.
“Give it back.” Angel sat up and turned around, reaching up for the ice-cream. He used Aki’s shoulder as leverage so he could reach the container. When he got his hand around it his fingers grazed Aki’s. It felt like something that only happened in movies, where the teenagers are young, innocent and naive. Then they’d kiss softly and get embarrassed and apologize even though they both wanted it. Angel wanted that, that kind of innocent awkward relationship but he couldn’t have it. He looked down at Aki.
What would they gain from their relationship besides cute little moments like these? In the end Angel couldn’t touch anyone and Aki barely had any time left. Neither of them ever had or ever would get to bask in and enjoy the things life and humanity had to offer. Even if Angel did think for a moment that he could experience any warmth the rug would be yanked from under him and he’d fall face first into reality. In the world that he lived in there wasn’t any love or normality, he’d never get any of that.
Although Aki lived in the same world, experienced the same things, felt the same pain, he saw everything a different way. He knew his hourglass had been turned for the last time and that was where his hope lied. In the idea that, before he died, he could make Angel and everyone else he cared about happy.
“If I kissed you right now, how much time would be taken?”
“Depends,” Angel mumbled. He lowered the tub and let it sit on the bed.
“If it was just a quick peck, so I could feel your lips on mine.”
Angel blushed, “I’d say about a year.”
Aki was slightly surprised, “really? That long?”
“Not for a normal person but knowing you, it would end up a little more than a peck.”
Aki nodded in defeat and set his hands on Angel’s hips, the latter settled on his thighs.
“If I seriously only kissed you for a second or two, how long do you think it would take off my life?”
Angel didn’t even want to think about the answer to his partner's question but he answered quietly, “three weeks.”
“I think it’s worth it.”
“It's not, Aki.”
They stared at each other for a moment. The AC hummed as it started up despite nobody touching it. The small inconsistent whirrs and the chatter from the TV were the only sounds between them. When Aki reached up to pull Angel's face towards him the devil pulled away.
“You really won’t let me kiss you?”
“No, of everyone I’ve met in the Special Divisions I feel like you have the biggest death wish. Why are you so insistent on touching me?”
Aki thought about his response for a moment. The wrong selection of words could end pretty badly on his part.
“You said it earlier yourself. In fact, it's pretty much the reason we’re here like this.”
“What did I say?”
Aki moved a gloved hand up to Angel’s face, “even though my main goal in life is to beat the Gun Devil then die, my life wouldn’t feel complete until I got to do these things with you. Even though we can’t do the things normal people can, this is as close to happiness as I will ever get. I’d be more than honored if, before I end up dead, I get to spend more time with you.”
“Aki,” Angel took the man's hand away from his face, “stop. You’re making it all depressing. If you want to ask me out, could you do it a little more romantically?”
Aki smiled softly then brought Angel's hand to his lips, he mumbled against them, “okay then. Angel, I’ve enjoyed buying you ice-cream and forcing you to work over these past few months but I would be much happier if you would be my boyfriend.” He slipped an extra glove onto Angel's hand then pressed a kiss to the smooth plastic.
Angel looked to the side, too embarrassed to hold eye contact, “I guess that was a decent enough attempt. Yes, Aki, I’ll be your boyfriend.”