The Messenger

Don't smile at Lucifer either. Egh. He wanted to lick a battery. It would sting less.

But the elder angel would never give the information away and so Anpiel had eventually stopped trying.

"Wh- Okay!" The seraph didn't think that there was much he could do or say to make Lucifer stay, nice as the brief company had been. Did trail after him to the stairwell and called down to him as he left.

"If- If you see Pride any time soon, just... Tell him... Tell him I said..."

He hesitated before just outright saying it aloud.

"Tell him I said to go fuck himself!"

"Okay." Awkward as FUCK about the thankfulness. He exhaled the last of his ire and stuck his fucked up hand into his pocket. The glove was hiding the damage, but nothing was going to make it work right. Except if he forced it like a puppet part and he didn't want to expend the energy. Or bring attention to it limply hanging around.

"The birds'll come. Alright? And it won't be the same, but it'll be better. In the meantime, manage your shit better." He gestured around. "Birds 'n' bird 'n' weapon." Second bird getting a hard point at Azrael.

Anpiel lifted an eyebrow at the mention of Azrael, however, letting out a little chuckle.

"You... You know I don't control him, right? He just sort of. Is here."

The seraph had never really asked for Azrael to gravitate towards him, he just did. Probably because of the bird thing. Anpiel would whisper to Lucifer too:

"I think he's just still mad about being stuck in there. Like constantly."

Mad was probably an understatement.

But in any case, his tears had dried and he was feeling better than he had been before. And he said as much with his little, kind smile and nod.

Stared down at him a long while. Heaved himself a put-upon sigh while Anpiel was talking and sniffling.

Shot Azrael a 'you shuteth your mouth' glower for a few seconds.

Cursed Rook for what he'd turned himself int for the hundredth time (derogatory-affectionately-it's-complicated-ly).

Hugged him. Okay? Don't fucking cry. What the hell was he supposed to do with you if you're fucking crying?

Azrael could only balk in disbelief. Oh BROTHER. As if Anpiel needed to be coddled further. Azrael was a shrewd elder angel. And he didn’t care to be present for such saccharine ~family reunions~. Immediately flew himself up to the top of the lighthouse to brood and judge. In the way that he did.

Anpiel tried to get himself together, pushing gently back from Lucifer after a few moments and rubbing at his face again. “Sorry! I’m sorry. I know you don’t… do that. Usually.” But he was grateful.

It got lonely out here sometimes.

Ever the older brother bully. Don't look at him about it. He was supposed to just be an angel murdering asshole according to all the books.

Lucifer looked like he was sucking on a lemon for a moment when he saw the arm. Grabbing it just above the elbow to look at it. Not caring for Anpiel's comfort as he inspected it. Decided it wasn't infected with any hell goop so he let it go when he was convinced of that.

"I heard about your birds." He'd been upset about that the last couple of days. Animals have nothing to fucking do with the bullshit between Up and Down.

The mention of his birds had him tearing up again, but he tried to swallow it back.

"I just... I tried to protect them but I couldn't. I know they face other dangers whenever they go out but... That's different..." He let out a shaky little breath. Sorry. Bit of a crybaby, this one.

"There'll be more for me to care for. I can't stay in here forever, but... Burying them... what I could find... was a lot."

Reached up to rub at his eyes a little.

Yet here he was. Stone faced and stiffed while Anpiel was squeezing arms around him. Though, he supposed, it meant Anpiel wasn't gravely wounded if he could manage it.

The sunglasses are going back on while he did nothing to acknowledge he was being hugged. It's just the law and he was breaking enough of those to be here at all. And not losing his shit on Anpiel about being hugged.

Mng.

Sorry, Lucifer. You are still firmly in the role of big brother to him. You Do Not Have a Choice.

Only let go when he felt like he'd done enough hugging.

"It was...? I wonder if someone managed to take it back from Pride..." He huffed, reaching up to touch his arm where Pride's tendril had pierced him. It had gone through, but it hadn't left much residue. The water they'd fallen into had mostly washed it away.

"He came at me just... out of nowhere. I only figured out that he wanted it when he didn't try to kill me." Face fell, a bit. "Just my birds. And that wasn't even him, it was those... stupid monsters he has."

He shook his head.

His hand was hurting more. And so was the not-so-literal cracks in his heart stone.

When he got to the top level, he threw the lance down onto the floorboards in front of Anpiel and outside of his nest. Didn't know if it would make a clatter, but he hoped it did. He wanted to be loud right now.

Anpiel parted his wings when he saw Lucifer - confused until that lance was thrust down in front of him and... Well, he didn't hear much of Lucifer's threat from behind his own enthusiasm for its return.

"You found it!" He said aloud, making his way up to his feet to go and collect it. Ran fingers over its golden feathers before it vanished back into his possession. Felt better. Felt right. Wouldn't bring his birds back, but it was, at least, one loss recovered.

Obvious about not having paid attention to Lucifer's threat, because he was going to ZOOM RIGHT UP to hug him. Blame that one on Raphael's influence.

He made DIRECT eye contact with that hawk (he knew it'd be uncomfortable to even Azrael if only because it would make the stupid defunct angel in disguise feel like all his bullshit was vivisected on a table under a bright light), gave the middle finger with his right hand (since that's the hand that still had a full one to use), and KICKED THE DOOR OFF IT'S HINGES like it was nothing (because it was).

Did flutter in some surprise though when Lucifer just fucking kicked the door in.

"Oh YES, that behavior is VERY charming," Azrael hissed, spreading wings to follow after him.

He didn't give shit what Azrael did in response, but he appeared at the lighthouse. Cold and salt water spray immediately brushed up to one side of him and he had to catch his cheap plastic sunglasses before they flew away on the wind and out of his reach.

Other hand was grasping tight to angelic lance. Flesh sizzling even through his gloves. He shoved sunglasses into his coat pocket before pounding a knock on the door.

Didn't want to answer it. Whoever it was.

Instead, it was, indeed, Azrael who responded to it, peering his hawk head out of one of the taller windows and narrowing his stare at Lucifer. Holding the lance.

Aware enough to know he'd had a bird following him for days since then. He'd tried to get away from it, but it still managed to watch him from somewhere. Eventually, fed up, he decided to follow it.

And that was when he had found himself on the beach, shivering a bit from the breeze as he watched the songbird flitter off towards Anpiel.

Cresil didn't say anything at first, arms crossed as he tried to figure out what was going on. Munly looked rather rough - something happened.

But apparently it had also brought Cresil to him. And though the seraph was clearly still Going Through It, he tried to get himself together enough to offer an actually greeting.

“Hello, Cresil.” He wasn’t sure how to feel after their last interaction. But he wasn’t given a whole lot of time before Azrael came streaking down on brownish red wings to hiss and shriek aggressively as Cresil approached. Punished though he was, Azrael was NOT tolerant of infernals.

“You shouldn’t be here.” Came his booming, threatening voice, unfitting of the bird in which he was trapped. He did not have much power like this, but he had his status to be wielded like a blade. He was not so far from Michael and Lucifer in rank.