~Expect Shipping & Next Gens~

Adam could feel his heart pounding in his chest like a drum, keeping in sync with his footfalls as he padded his way to Vox’s office. 

He was @#$%$#@ sick of Hell. Sick of all the hoops he had to jump through. Sick of not being able to get any sort of @#$%#@ foothold in Hell without someone else yanking him down further. 

It was a shock that was even possible. 

Then again, it was a pretty hard fall to go from Heaven to Hell. 

He slammed the door to Vox’s office behind him, causing the demon in front of him to turn in his chair. 

“And how can I help you today? Adam.” Vox rubbed his screen, groaning as he did so. 

“Cut the phoney telemarketer crap.” 

Vox looked at Adam flatly. “Adam. I run a business. I sell a lifestyle. It’s hardly pho-“ 

“Yeah well it’s @#$^%$# annoying.” 

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Chapter 45 is now live on my A03! I'm so sorry it took so long. My schedule with work has been incredibly long hours lately which leave me little time/energy to write. Which means this unfortunately was a shorter chapter than I would've liked to have.

I hate to do this but unfortunately, IRL things have popped up and demand my attention more than writing atm. Which is very upsetting to me but I regrettably won't be able to post for possibly a couple weeks.

My apologies to anyone who was really excited. Especially seeing as I am so close to the end. I'm not abandoning the fic and I fully intend to finish it. Life is just a little chaotic right now.

I am safe so you don't need to worry. Just a little stressed is all. XD

“Gather round, gather round! It would seem as though Adam, first man would like to say something.” 

Alastor led Adam back into the lobby, gesturing wildly with his hands as though this was to be some massive spectacle. 

Lute didn’t particularly enjoy seeing everyone line up. Seeing them watch her stand next to Adam again. 

The princess, Vaggie… Angel. 

Were they judging her?

Her wings twitched as she made eye contact, stiffening as though she could jump into the sky and fly off at any minute. 

She grabbed Adam’s arm, tugging his shoulder down so she could whisper in his ear. 

“You don’t have to do this.” 

“@#$%. Yes I do. I can’t live under that TV’s thumb for another second.” 

“So you’re planning to debase yourself instead?” 

Adam paused briefly, pressing his lips together. “Why does it matter to you? Aren’t you buddy buddy now with the @#$%$#@ princess.” 

Lute’s eyes flicked dangerously, narrowing at the suggestion. “We’re not “buddy, buddy.” I just work here-”

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Chapter 44 is live on my A03!

Unfortunately, this chapter is just not coming together as quickly as I would like it to. As much as I don't want to I need to delay posting until next Saturday, June 7th.

I was hoping to have it drafted by tonight and then ready to post by tomorrow as I usually do. But the words are just not flowing. Very sorry to anyone who was looking forward to me posting tomorrow.

“Sir?” 

Lute lifted her head from the desk as she heard the front doors glide open, her eyes catching the tall, dark figure that was Adam. 

He shrugged, forcing a smirk nonchalantly as he sauntered over to stand in front of the front desk. 

“Why so @#$%#@ surprised?” 

Lute straightened up, setting her black crayon to the side as she came around to greet him. She moved slowly, her feet uncertain if she was allowed to get closer or not. 

While their last meeting had been very heartfelt, she still couldn’t help but feel he was upset with her in some way. 

She tried to shake the feeling off. 

“I… didn’t think you’d be back so soon.” She straightened her uniform, clearing her throat as she did so. 

“Eh, I got sick of the @#%$# TV.” Adam smirked, holding his arms out towards her, an unspoken order for her to draw close. 

She didn’t mind. 

She closed the distance between them, drawing her arms up around his back as he crushed her into a hug and buried his face in her hair. 

His breath was hot on the top of her head. The pressure of his arms enveloping her a welcoming and familiar sensation. 

“I @#$%#@ missed you.” He uttered softly, his voice tickling her ear. 

“It’s only been a few days.” 

“Doesn’t matter. It was still too @#$%#@ long.” He squeezed her tighter, the action reassuring as he exhaled. 

It made her smile, small even for a moment. 

Her conversation with Angel looped in her mind briefly but she pushed it aside. 

Maybe… things could be the same?

She wanted it to be the same…

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“Surprised to see you after you ran off at breakfast this mornin’.”

“I wasn’t in the mood.” Lute folded her arms, half-flapping her wings indignantly.

Angel snorted. “Yeah? Well you’re never in the mood.”

Husk didn’t so much as greet her, but he did pour her a drink, sliding it in her direction.

She preferred it that way. No acknowledgement on his behalf.

Then they could both pretend she wasn’t there.

She shifted her weight as she looked at the glass on the counter, lips pressing together as Angel motioned with one of his hands for her to join them.

That was less favorable. She couldn’t pretend she wasn’t there if she sat down.

Then again… as much as she wanted to deny it she’d sought out the bar specifically for them.

Not Vaggie. No. Vaggie would judge her.

Not Charlie. The princess was far too overbearing for her liking. A constant reminder of where she was now.

How far she’d fallen.

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Chapter 42 is now live on my Ao3!

Lute opened her eyes slowly, blinking once then twice to clear them as her vision focused on the man sleeping next to her.

Adam was alive.  

Her eyes watched his face closely, taking in how relaxed his eyebrows were, how his mouth was partially open and slack. He still had that earthy scent about him even if it wasn’t entirely what she remembered. 

It was familiar.

But at the same time it wasn’t familiar. She could see fangs poking through behind his lips. His ears were pointed, his skin and hair looked like they’d been dipped in ink… and she couldn’t ignore the horns that jutted out around his skull.

She would rather have him in this form than not at all.

Tentatively she reached out her hand, resting it on his bare chest. Her fingertips brushed gently over his sternum, through the thick coarse strands of hair. His heart gently thrummed underneath her touch.

It was reassurance that he was alive. Reassurance that he was really there.

She’d never missed someone more.

Then again, it wasn’t like she had many people in her afterlife to miss. 

He brought up his hand to hold hers, his eyes remaining closed as he gave her fingers a light squeeze.

“Morning.” He muttered, his voice groggy.

“Hi.” She responded, her voice soft.

“You were whimpering in your sleep.”

Lute frowned.

“Sir I-” She cleared her throat. “I don’t whimper.”

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Lute’s eyes flicked up from her paperwork as she heard the lobby doors slide open. 

It wasn’t as if there were a ton of sinners flocking to the hotel even after the news of the supposed “success” that came from the last Extermination Day. There were slightly more guests than normal, but even then that was roughly just one every other week. 

They usually didn’t stay more than a night. 

She quickly did a check of everyone who had left the hotel that day, trying to figure out if anyone would be returning. 

Although, she didn’t have time to get that fair. 

Her shoulders tensed immediately as she caught sight of messy ink black hair and piercing golden eyes. 

Adam.

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Chapter 40 is now live on my A03!

“Guess you’ve really settled in well with the Vees.” 

Adam frowned and turned his head, sneering as he caught sight of the pink spider slut. What was his name? Angel Dust? 

“What do you @#$%#@ want?” He asked, his tone snippy as he watched Angel sit a couple seats away from him. Just far enough to put some distance but not too far as to keep their conversation private. 

“This is a club ain’t it? Can’t a guy just get a drink?” Angel shrugged, turning his attention to the bartender. 

Adam let him, allowing the booming bass behind them to fill the awkward silence. 

After a moment he raised his own glass to his lips. “Come to get your job back?” 

Angel shook his head. “Nah. I’m taking a break.” 

Adam scratched his beard, brows furrowing as he realized how unkempt he probably looked. He needed to shave or something. 

He shifted in his seat, cracking his neck as he exhaled more smoke. “How’s Lute?” 

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“Adam. I need to speak with you.” 

Adam groaned as the doors to the studio slammed shut behind him. Vox’s fancy shoes clacking against the floor loudly as they quickly approached.

“About @#$$#@ what? My shoes the wrong colour? That it?” Adam snapped, sliding further down into the director’s chair as Vox moved to stand in front of him, blocking his view of the set. 

“I’m just trying to figure out why you were at the embassy last week?” 

Adam groaned, shifting uncomfortably in his seat again. His golden eyes flicked up, staring the TV right in his pixelated face. 

“You wanted me to @#$%$# talk to Sera didn’t you? Make up your @#$%$#@ square mind. Either you want me to talk to Heaven or you don’t-”

“And your meeting with Carmilla Carmine? Care to explain that one?” Vox’s expression flattened as he leaned forward, closing the distance between them.  

Adam pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m trying to be a @#$%$#@ overlord!” 

“Riiiiight. Of course. And you are an overlord.” Vox wrapped his arms around Adam’s shoulders. “An overlord working for me.” 

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Chapter 38 is live on my A03!

Lute blinked and looked back at her food as she heard Vaggie sigh loudly, her footsteps stopping right next to her table.

“So. Uh-“

Lute’s brows furrowed and she glared at her eggs. She didn’t have the energy to lift her head and look at her former sister.

“What do you want?”

Vaggie sighed again, folding her arms and shifting her weight.

“Uh, well, Charlie-“ She sighed once more, this time deeper, more exasperated.

“So you know how we had that hole blown in our wall the other day.”

“And?”

Vaggie held a paper out, sliding it into Lute’s line of sight.

“And we… need you to fill this out.”

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Chapter 37 is now live on my A03!

Apologies to the quality of this chapter. Work has been heavier and busier than I have wanted and so my creative energy and time just isn't where I want it to be.

“Well, @#$% me dead!”

Adam turned his head to see the cyclops with the tits and the bombs sprawled out next to the crack-whore spider on one of the couches in the lobby. They were just on their phones, not starting a riot. So he supposed he should be more at ease. 

His gut twisted all the same given the last time he’d really seen either of them he’d been on the losing end of a battle. 

Bomb-tits girl propped herself up on her arm. “Didn’t expect to see you back here.”

Adam shot her a look. “@#$%^$# whatever. And you’re bumming here for what? Free drinks?” 

She snorted, her giant eye looking back at her phone screen. “Well I’m not here to @#$% spiders.”

The crack-whore, Angel Dust raised the glass in one of his hands.

“@#$% straight.”

Adam eyed Angel for a long moment before moving to stand in front of him, arms folding tightly across his chest. Unfortunately, the spider was his only connection to Lute.

He @#$%$#@ hated that.

“You send the message?”

Angel took a long sip of his drink, eyes dropping to his phone screen.

“What message?”

“About the embassy-“

“Eh, didn’t think to.” Angel gave a small shrug.

Adam’s eyebrow twitched, his tail flicking in agitation. “Didn’t think to? That was @#$%#@ important!”

He turned on his heel, beginning to pace as he considered where Lute could be if not at the embassy. She wasn’t on the street because Vox would’ve found her already. She wasn’t-

“Relax @#$hole. Dollface is safer here anyway.”

Adam paused in his pacing, arms falling to his side. She was still in the hotel? She’d decided to stay in the hotel? Willingly???

“So she’s h-“

“Oh my gosh, it’s ADAM. I see you decided to come back to the hotel.” Charlie rushed over from her spot behind the front desk. She brought her hands together under her chin, her expression more hopeful than Adam ever wanted to see directed at him.

“Is this because you suddenly have had a very drastic change of heart?”

Adam regarded her flatly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“@#$% no. Where’s Lute?”

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Lute stopped when she heard voices coming from the lobby. The Morningstar brat’s cheerful chirping bouncing off the walls to her ears.

“We need to figure out what we’re going to do to help her-“

“Preeeetty sure she doesn’t want help. She’s sorta… given up.” A dry voice Lute recognized as Vaggie, responded. 

They were talking about her.

“We can’t just… let her give up though.” Charlie added.

“Why not? It’s not like she’s got anything to work towards being here. She can’t get redeemed back into Heaven.” Vaggie’s response struck Lute hard. It was one thing to know she couldn’t get back into Heaven. It was another to hear it out loud.

She should have guessed Vaggie would be the one to encourage her to just give up. To rend her soul as nothing more than a hollow memory. One that would ultimately be forgotten quickly. 

Lute exhaled through her teeth, resting her back against the wall.

She had no legacy. 

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Everything felt hazy to Lute as she followed Angel downstairs.

Time moved slow. Her steps were slow. Her heartbeat was slow.

Heavy… she felt so heavy.

It was familiar though. Like how she’d felt with the red smoke.

She was vaguely aware of how she held her arms loosely crossed her body, how her fingers played with the fabric of her shirt bunched at her sleeve.

She knew she was doing the actions but couldn’t stop herself.

Just like she couldn’t stop her feet from moving.

They entered the lobby then turned left and continued into the bar. Her eyes widened as they walked through the doors, the neon lights stinging her eyes.

But she couldn’t look away.

Husk raised a brow as they approached. Lute hung back, keeping her distance from the bar.

“See someone finally came out of their room. I almost forgot she was still here.”

Angel shrugged in response, spreading his hands as he moved to take a seat at the counter.

“Took a little convincin’.”

“I can imagine. Surprised you took the effort.”

Their voices sounded hollow, like they were in a tunnel. She moved closer, hands gripping the bar stool as she tried to take a seat. She missed, wings flying out to try and catch herself.

She was falling.

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