Hoa had a problem.

Honestly, it was more than just a problem. It was a nuisance. An unbearable, irritating nuisance named Adam.

Months ago, Hoa had the misfortune of meeting the first man on Earth for the first time in nearly a century since her arrival. They had interacted briefly before when she ascended, but she was such a recluse that once she was gifted her tower, she made it her own personal mission to avoid any and all social interaction with anyone that wasn't her assistants. This unfortunately came to an end when Sera all but demanded her presence at a heavenly meeting, insisting that all the canonized saints had to show up to offer insight into how to aid humanity.

Safe to say she hated that.

It was this very same meeting that brought the unlikely pair together, with her seat just so happening to be right next to Adam's in the balconies. Hoa almost found it funny just how absurd it was that they had been sat together, as if they were both school children that had been paired together so the class clown would stop acting out. Naturally, Adam took this opportunity to laugh and comment on how she "hadn't left her tower since the stone ages" and how she needed to stop being a shut in.

He was already getting on her nerves.

The meeting was already hard to tolerate on it's own. Angels, saints, virtues and the seraphim were all talking over eachother in an attempt to see who could offer better insight to the situation at hand. Hoa had only offered her opinions exactly twice, both times only because Sera called on her directly. She had fully intended to leave the moment the meeting ajourned, but instead, she found her path blocked by a very large man with a cocky smirk.

Adam. Attempting to reintroduce himself.

"You know," he said casually, leaning against the balcony "I don't think I ever properly welcomed you to Heaven."

Hoa stared at him blankly, clearly disinterested. "You did. About seventy years ago."

"Yeah, but that one sucked."

Her assistants scowled at him as she simply continued to stare, contemplating how she could worm her way around him so she could get home. "Is there something you require of me?"

"Are you always this antisocial? You've been here- what, eighty years?"

"Seventy or so."

"Yeah, and not once have you tried to go out and live a little. That's depressing as fuck, sweetheart."

Hoa's brow twitched in annoyance. "Excuse me?"

Clicking his tongue, he began to smirk as he crossed his arms. "Tell you what, I'm takin' ya out. Heaven deserves to see that pretty face."

"No." She said flatly, a scowl slowly coming to her face. This guy was seriously pissing her off.

"Not really askin', babe. I'm the first fuckin' man, no bitch turns down a date with me."

Hoa was quick to push past him, the conversation growing grating the longer she had to listen to his stupid voice. It seemed that apple that had gotten lodged in his throat gave him an overwhelming sense of hubris. "I said no. Have a pleasant evening."

She could see his pride was clearly hurt by a woman rejecting him, and it almost made her smile. Unfortunately, he recovered quickly. "I'll come by tomorrow!"

"You absolutely will not."

"I totally will."

"Why are you so determined to bother me?" She questioned, turning to look over her shoulder at him with brows knitted in annoyance. Adam simply shrugged at her.

"You're hot."

She couldn't hide the shock on her face. "...That is perhaps the worst reasoning I have ever heard."

"Hasn't failed me yet."

Since then, Adam had been consistently showing up at her tower. Uninvited, of course.

She assumed he simply needed something to keep himself occupied. He was bored, and now he found a shiny new distraction. She knew that all he wanted to do was to charm his way under her skirts, and once he realized she had no intention of allowing such a thing, he'd grow bored and move on. She thought he'd lose interest after the third rejection. Then the fifth. then the fifteenth.

He did not.

Every evening without fail, he'd appear on the grounds of her residence with that stupid grin stretched across his face, pushing past all of her assistants to enter her observatory as though he was meant to be there. Sometimes he'd arrive with dinner from one of Heaven's many cafes. Other times, he'd bring his guitar and attempt to impress her with little success. She'd always tell him in polite terms to shut the hell up and leave her alone.

It never really worked. In fact, he'd always come back.

She found it to be infuriating. He soon infiltrated every conversation with her assistants without her even realizing it. "He is insufferable," she'd complain, not bothering to glance up from whatever she was writing, "He walks into my tower like it is simply open to the public."

Aurora and Celeste would share knowing glances with eachother every time he was mentioned, as though they knew something she didn't. It was becoming quite concerning, how someone she found so irritating began to occupy an alarming amount of space in her thoughts.

This particular evening had been unusually quiet.

As nighttime drew closer, Hoa found herself glancing towards the observatory doors more often than she would like to admit before immediately scolding herself for doing so. Adam hadn't come by at all today. Not that she wanted him to, but the man had been insistent about bothering her without fail for months. She was simply a woman of consistency.

She was kneeling by her telescope when he finally barged in, causing her to pull away from it with a startled jump as she watched him set down... were those flowers?

"Who let you in, so I can fire them."

"Cmon, you know I let myself in babe, don't take it out on the poor assistants." He joked, looking up at her as she peeked over the lofted edge that her telescope sat on. Holding up the flowers he got her, he dramatically waved them in her face before he set them back down. "I brought food, come eat."

"I did not think you would come today. I was hoping I'd finally get some peace." She commented flatly, but Adam didn't miss the way she quickly closed her book and descended to the main floor.

"Oh?" He questioned, lips curling up into a grin as she dusted off her dress, "Did you miss me?"

"Not at all. I was quite relieved." She said, but something in her didn't feel right when the words left her mouth.

"...Uh-huh." He hummed, clearly not convinced as he reached into the paper bags he brought with him and began unpacking dinner onto her worktable.

Bahn Mi.

How'd he even remember she liked that? Wasn't he an idiot?

He seemed to notice her staring as he shrugged at her. "You complained once that Heaven's cafes never make it right. Said the bread's too soft. I found one that people say is pretty authentic."

She raised a brow at him, eyeing him up and down as if there was a catch. She had mentioned it, once, three weeks ago. It was hard to believe he genuinely kept that in mind.

"Don't be so surprised." He joked. "I pay attention when I want to."

Nudging the sandwich towards her, he waited for her to take it before digging into his own. She began to eat, glancing at the flowers he had brought her. "Lilies?"

"Celeste said they were your favorite." He said, words muffled by his food as he glanced up at her. She narrowed her eyes, taking a bite ofher own sandwich as she thought to herself. What was his angle here? Why was he putting all this effort in when she knew he was allergic to commitment of any kind? He was a brash, egotistical, foul-mouthed dumbass- and yet, she couldn't help but feel charmed that he did all this for her.

Hoa quickly shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of her thoughts. No. Absolutely not.

They finished their dinner in relative silence, only broken up by Adam occassionally talking about whatever he found cool. She wasn't really paying attention, too busy being absorbed in her thoughts. Adam was halfway through a story about him playing a prank on Sera when she finally interrupted him.

"What are you trying to prove?" She demanded, brows knitting together as she looked up at him.

He raised a brow at her in return, confusion evident on his face as he finished his last bite of food. "The fuck are you talkin' about?"

"You come here every evening." She said sharply, gesturing around her tower. "You interrupt my work. You get on my nerves. You bring me flowers I never asked for. You remember things I only said once in passing. Why?"

"I already told you." He said, huffing in annoyance at her questioning. "I like being here and bothering you."

"That isn't an explantion." She reasoned, moving to stand up from her seat as Adam watched her. "Well, it is to me." he said, shrugging as he watched her approach him.

"You are impossible."

"So you've said."

"I reject you constantly-"

"Every day, yeah."

"I am rude to you."

"Kinda shitty." Adam was growing frustrated now, moving to stand up and quickly tower over her. That only made her more agitated. "I have never once encoruaged this!"

"I never said you did, Catherine."

"Then why-" she hissed out, frustration spilling over as she clenched her fists, "Do you keep coming back?"

"I just do! Why the fuck does it matter?!" He snapped back, crossing his arms as she ran her hands through her hair. "Because it does matter, Adam! I know how you are! I have heard the stories of you chasing after women just to get what you want and leave!"

"Oh yeah? And what do you think I want?" He said with a huff.

"Sex! Sex, it is always sex with you and every other man that walked the damned Earth, Adam! You want to get under my skirts and I do not understand how I can possibly make it any clearer that I would never do that with you!" She shouted, face turning red as he scowled at her, avoiding her eyes. Of course. He knew he had been figured out, that had to be it.

"Maybe I just want to be fucking nice to you, damn- can't do shit nowadays-" He said, gritting his teeth at her as he threw his hands up.

"Please do not act as though I am an idiot Adam, you are not nice to anyone."

Adam was quick to bark out a laugh of frustration, rubbing his face as he looked at her. "That's fuckin' rich, coming from you."

"Shut up." She snapped back.

"No, no, maybe you're right. I'm only nice to you."

The steam seemed to leave Hoa immediately as she stared at him in confusion. "...Pardon me?"

He let out a sharp exhale, suddenly finding the floor much more interesting than her face. "I don't know why I keep coming back, alright?" he admitted, irritation bleeding into the gaps between every word. "I thought it'd be funny at first. You were all serious and pissed off all the time, so I figured I'd mess with you for a couple days. And I mean- yeah, I wanted to fuck. You're hot. I kinda saw it as another conquest."

Hoa couldn't hide the way her face contorted into disgust, but she didn't interrupt him.

"Listen, okay- the days just turned into weeks."

"...And?"

"And now I just..." He clicked his tongue, visibly annoyed with himself and the fact he couldn't articulate his thoughts. "...Fuck if I know."

Hoa stared at him, chewing on her lip as she listened. She didn't notice that it caught Adam's eye. "I hear someone discussing astronomy and wonder what you'd say about it. I pass a flower stand and remember that Celeste said you like lilies. I finish whatever stupid council thing i've gotta do and I think, Wonder what Catherine's up to-"

"Hoa." She corrected softly.

"...Yeah. And I remember that when I call you Catherine it irritates the hell out of you."

"So you were doing it on purpose?" She questioned, scowling.

"Not the point." He waved it off quickly. "Look, I- I don't do this shit."

"No, you don't."

"I don't remember people's food orders for fun."

"You do not."

"I don't wonder if they've taken care of themselves today, if they've eaten."

"That is true."

"I don't spend every damn evening in the same tower when I've got literally all of Heaven to fuck around in."

Silence settled between them, with their labored breathing being the only audible thing between the two of them. When did this stop being a fight? She couldn't even tell.

Adam however, looked almost offended by his own confession, throwing his hands into the air.

"So congratulations, Hoa. You've officially got me acting like a goddamn idiot."

She stared at him, her lips parting before closing again. For the first time since meeting him, she had absolutely nothing to say.

Adam waited, expecting to be scolded. Expecting rejection.

But she just... stared at him. And suddenly, they both realized just how close they were to one another. It was suffocating, breathing in eachother's air as neither of them seemed to look away. It was unbearable.

"...You're staring." She murmured.

"So are you."

"You should leave."

"Yeah, probably."

Neither of them moved. Adam's gaze dropped to her lips, and this time she noticed, heat blooming across her face.

"...Adam."

"Hoa."

It went quiet for a moment.

Then, out of sheer stubborness, as though neither of them intended to but neither of them could stop either-

They met in the middle.

They crashed against eachother quickly, lips meeting in a frustrated rush. It wasn't gentle by any means. It was months of pent up irritation and words that went unsaid coming together all at once like one big wave. His hand found her hair, her fingers twisted the front of his robe. Adam could smell the scent of parchment paper clinging to her skin. Hoa coud feel his cheeks heat up against her own. They only grew more frantic, with Hoa clumsily bumping against the table and knocking things over in an attempt to steady herself. It was feverish and intense and neither of them wanted it to end.

Hoa finally shoved him by the shoulder, pulling away from him as she gasped for air. "Stop- stop."

He did as he was told, pulling his hands away as he stared at her with hooded eyes and tousled hair. God, he looked a mess.

She didn't like how it made her feel things she normally didn't.

They stood there for a long while, breathing a little too hard and staring at each other as though one of them had committed an unforgivable crime and were too afraid to acknowledge it.

Adam spoke up first. "...I should go."

"...Yes. You should."

He backed up slowly before turning towards the door and quickly rushing for it, as though lingering any longer would cause irreperable damage to whatever the hell they were.

Then, he was gone.

The tower fell quiet again as Hoa attempted to catch her breath.

Then, her fingers unconsciously drifted to her lips, feeling them as she reeled from the shock.

Glancing back towards her table, she noticed the lilies that still rested on top of it. She stared at them for a long while, trying to form any kind of thought and failing.

Then, despite herself, despite every lecture she'd repeated in her head, despite every insistance that he was nothing more than an annoyance-

The corner of her mouth lifted into the smallest, most bewildered smile.

"...Shit." She laughed out, touching her head.