#tempteve

A softened smirk lingered at the returned boop of the nose. Eve always reminded her of a child as she stood taller before poking her cheek now.

"How ever did you survive any realm? You've always reminded me of a puppy."

The first humans were basically heaven's little pet project turned breeding experiment after the fall of man when they realized that heaven and now hell acted as a balancing scale in the sky and that they'd need to keep feeding souls into both to keep both sides in equilibrium.

Adam never really truly falls 'in love' with someone- but he is extraordinarily co-dependent to the point where it appears so (which is just a mild commentary on how statistically men's mortality rate after a spouse passes is a lot higher than vice versa). He was this way with Eve when they were cast out.

Once Adam and Eve died, the scales for heaven and hell were in turmoil because hell already had Lilith in the mix at that point and so they realized they had to split the two- send one to heaven and one to hell to make sure the scales stayed equaled so that hell would not grow too heavy, thus causing heaven to start tipping into it. The seraphim would decide to take Adam because he was the first of the humans and so it looked better on paper. Eve would go to hell with Lucifer and Lilith.

In heaven, Adam of course stuck out like a sore thumb and did not fit in to the heaven scene, even after he'd been angelfied to help negate that fact. He still carried over some distinctly, hard-to-mask human qualities- most notably his music and ability to connect to other angels with it. Since his co-dependence was shattered with the separation from Eve, he began to look for ways to 'fall' or send himself to hell by acting up and testing boundaries in heaven. Of course, the only reason he was there was to keep balance between the sides, so ultimately he just ends up wasting his time, growing more bitter, angry and volatile with each passing millennium spent without his support beam.

One night he does indeed end up 'falling' after playing guitar and taking a nose dive towards Earth. While skydiving and shredding, he notes that he can't pull up all of a sudden and keeps careening down into hell. When the seraphim notice this, they freak out and attempt to retrieve him before he hits. Sera ends up sending a massive blast to an area of demons gathered below that are waiting to see what's coming down, exterminating them in the process. It's after this that Adam can finally pull up and flap back to heaven, shaken but starting to understand. He decides at that point that Eve's probably moved on without him anyway and that he should just commit to heaven's command that to help with the tipping of heaven into hell which almost claimed him with how unbalanced the sides were becoming, they had to continue culling hell's population periodically, and they could use Adam and his flying efforts to gauge when that time should be. (This is why in s1 when many of the angel exorcists are finally slain, Adam won't be flying back because he can't. The scales are tipped too far in hell's favor.)

Eventually some of the seraphs take notice of how much the separation of Adam and Eve has caused for them, and decide Adam has talent- he just needs to direct it to the right place. They give him another support beam in the form of Lute who becomes his lieutenant in the exorcist army. They slowly begin to build a bond up much like he and Eve did after they were thrown from paradise and had to rely on one another so deeply to survive, and the two do the same for one another in the many battles of the many exterminations to come.

He ends up proposing to Lute from an angel to angel stand point, which is more of a promising to be each other's divine weapon (with bonus preens and snuggles) in Eden.

Once he's fallen- he can meet Eve again in the same realm. Only now he's got the same issue that Eve does... the person he cares about is in heaven and he's in hell, and it seems like she's forgotten him and will be more than likely to be the one coming for his head.

If Lute and Adam do end up reconciling and decide they're either going to stay in hell together or try to get him back into heaven, it's going to be the biggest slap to Eve because he's in her position...the one where she doesn't get a happy ending because even though he did try to get back to her before their bond sort of wore off, he stopped caring about it.

this or that! / @tempteve

-in the backseat when you asked me"Is the sadness everlasting?"

"Yeah, well...!!" He was still grinding the ball of his palm into a distinctly boot-shaped red mark on his hind quarters as they hobbled along the rocky path out of Eden, each step eliciting a wince from the sharpness of the rocks mixed into the soil against feet that had only known the softer surfaces of grass, flowers, and moss.

Those new angels in charge of guarding the garden weren't too friendly when escorting them out. Not that his behavior of turning to confront them with a middle finger (a regrettable lesson learned from a fallen angel disguised as a cherub). Better to stick it to them in Eden and suffer a limp on the way out than to serve silent witness to them throwing Eve out without him.

"I told'em to kiss it. So they're either admitting they got mouths on their feet, or they've got a real micro dick between the two of'em."

As the phrase ' ripping a new one' hung in the air, it seemed Eve was poised to do just that.

" Don’t — ! "

Her sudden movement conveyed a readiness to confront all in the name of defending the sanctity of Eden. It was more than a place to her; it was her origin, her love, her loss — her entire being intertwined with its existence. Despite the pain it had caused, Eden remained the one constant in her tumultuous existence, a tether to a past she couldn't bear to relinquish. Yet, even as she clung to its memory, a whisper from within echoed:

You need to let go.

" Jesus fucking Christ ! " Her reaction was immediate, instinctual, as she rushed to steady him, startled by the sudden outburst of pain. Was she exacerbating his agony without realizing it ? Or had her own inner turmoil clouded her perception ? In her moment of coming to his aid she failed to realise the positioning of her hand. Gaze drifts to see fingers almost intertwined over his scar. Hastily she pulls back.

“ J-just stay there. Don’t try and get up. ”

His bitterness, his frustration — it was all too familiar, a reflection of the turmoil that churned within her own self. Even as his anger flared, she couldn't help but understand where it came from. They had both been cast aside by the very place that was supposed to be their home, left to fend for themselves in a world that had turned its back on them.

But his words stung nonetheless.

“ Yeah, that’s kinda my thing, I’m afraid. ”

It was an acknowledgment of the rift that had formed between them, but she was starting to believe it to be true. The rose was gone, were thorns all that was left behind ? she had clung onto a version of the garden in her mind for so long that she began to lose herself in the process. Much like the state of Eden now, she too, had begun to wilt. Only she failed to recognize the damage already caused.

Eve runs a hand through tangled locks, letting out a heavy sigh.

“ I don’t want to start a fight, believe it or not. ”

@kugel-bitch

While all of this is going down one bemused lieutenant has perched in the window through which she had departed from the apartment earlier that morning. Like watching two animals of different species just barely managing to coexist in a too small enclosure, it all looks...a little bit unnatural, the way that they engage with one another—so much more strained than she had imagined, for creatures who were, in very literal terms, cut from the same cloth...flesh...clay? Whatever. The chemistry which she assumed would be there simply is nowhere to be seen.

Adam's mounting upset eventually puts her on such an edge that she cannot idle by any longer, but Eve swooping in to provide her aid stops her short in slinking over to wrangle him back into the nest where she'd made it very clear he was supposed to stay put. A not very happy sounding noise reverberates in the space between her nose and her throat in direct response to the display. It's not that she is distrustful of Eve and her intentions but he is vulnerable right now and she cannot help but be a touch territorial in turn. "Well...isn't this touching. I wasn't made aware that there would be a family reunion taking place today—I would've picked something up for you on the way, Eve." Cocking a hip, she idly swirls the ice around in her matcha lemonade, wing unfurling in front of Adam to set itself up as a makeshift barrier between him and the first woman, out of concern for his comfort more than anything else. She knows all too well how he abhors to be exposed.

It was beyond a nuisance having her show up like this-...well, having her show up in the state she was in since it always seemed to end poorly for him in the past- seeing her pain and doing all that he could to smooth it down just so he'd be able to relax. Regardless of her current mood being directly tied to his actions in the first place, he'd been used to their own balancing act out of Eden that required one to lean in to the other during times when their shared structure of a symbiotic relationship threatened to collapse and take the other with them. She had always been a lot more...charged in the emotional sense as if most of what dripped out of a bleeding heart had been awarded to her along with his rib like some unseen contract that determined she'd give him every benefit of the doubt and find any excuse not to walk away from him so that the hollow frame of his own emotions that relied on a companion's stalwart nature wouldn't crumble so long as he stood by her as the support beam to her worries of the world crashing in all around them. While he did hate to see it when chicks messed their pretty faces up with tears, it was one of many deep and swallowed apple seeds that reminded him the physical pain in his side would act up following her tears like an old wound that grew sore with the promise of rain.

"I bet somebody thought this would be a cute way to keep souls together...and they can frankly fuck themselves over it." He was huffing, hardly noticing her scramble until the familiar sting of having her pressed in close to his flank to help steady him from his own hasty decisions caused Adam to cock his head to the side and linger in the strange sensation of a past lived out yet not fully shaken in the molt known as death. Her nearly brushing the leathery tear in his side didn't exactly help the spasms, but they were on steady decline as she stepped back and reminded him he was laid bare under her judgement. Figuring a wince was worth the sad stretch of an attempt at dressing himself with a few feathers fanned to hide from naval to knee, he shot her a weary look under the glow of his halo.

"Least you got some sense, y'know- for a chick. Considering I'd win. " He added with a teasing twitch of a smirk, his talons digging into the wall plaster that was well past patchy from he and Lute's booming band sessions that oft caused pieces of the ceiling to pop off. Speaking of...or rather, rumbling- the unmistakable reverberations of Lute's watchful hiss from the window caused the first man's shoulders to slump forward ever so slightly. Aw hell- how long had she been there for? Well, not that it mattered since he was stood up and in clear violation of her 'ground' rules.

With a sheepish shift, he issued his own set of deeper warbles in her direction as a pre-emptive apology he likely wouldn't make aloud and certainly not in front of Eve, though the hint of affection was clear in the nervous titter. "Hey, babe- uh...we've got company?" He's cut off for a moment when her wing cracks out to help shield the rest of his humanity's shame from view, the beat of the action helping knock his slow attempt at sliding back down undetected instantaneous, emitting a soft 'hup' as he's dropped back into the mess of her nesting venture.

She had fought tirelessly against the constraints that sought to keep them apart, defying the very rules that dictated their existence. Yet, her efforts were met with disdain and skepticism, as if her very being was an affront to the heavenly order — an inconvenience begrudgingly tolerated. Now, allowed to remain in this circumstance, it all felt bittersweet — wrong in some inexplicable way, yet she couldn't deny the desperate need she harbored for it. His words cut through her, a stark reminder of the suffering he endured during her absence, and the weight of responsibility settled heavily upon her shoulders. It was all her doing. Every pain, every hardship — it was all her fault. Then, she noticed it — the new shard in his halo, emanating an ethereal glow. It acted as a palpable reminder of the irreversible changes that occurred. Tears welled in her eyes as the dam inside her started to crumble and crack under the pressure of her own inner turmoil. She turned away abruptly, stifling a sob that threatened to escape. A hand rose instinctively to cover her trembling mouth as tears streamed down her cheeks unchecked. Damn it all. This wasn't how it was supposed to unfold.

" Of course I wouldn't — " It was a struggle to maintain her composure, the lump in her throat choking her with an invisible hand. But she pressed on, determined to articulate the maelstrom of emotions swirling inside her, regardless of the pain it dredged up. " I won't deny it — I'm angry, Adam. So angry, " she confessed, voice barely above a whisper. " But more than anything, I'm just... tired. " Her fingers dug into her thighs. She didn't want him to see her like this, but once the floodgates opened, there was no stemming the tide. " Eden was my home — it is still my home, " she continued, “ You were able to return freely, however brief, while I remained trapped. It's not fair. " Who was she really saying that to ? " I felt you tear apart a piece of Eden, " words laced with bitterness at this admission. " I wanted to lash out at you, to make you feel the pain I felt. But I knew... I knew it wouldn't change anything. ” In the end, she realized she didn't truly want to harm him; it was just her wrath speaking in the heat of the moment. "At one point, I even thought I was mad about the proposal. I - I don’t know, but it’s not even that. It's just... everything. Everything is shit ! " The outburst flew from her lips to unleash a torrent of pent-up frustration and anguish. Yet, as the words hung heavy in the air, she felt a pang of regret, her shoulders slumping. There was nothing left but despondence when the fire within had been extinguished. " I don't even know why I came here. I’m sorry. " All her fault. All her fault.

There was a time he'd wondered what heaven's ultimate end goal could possibly be in keeping him and Eve apart after so readily tossing them both out on their asses to build the current booming foundation of their balancing operation. Of course it had always been an abstract idea up until they'd taken him back in patting their own backs like they were so merciful in doing so when they'd been the ones to throw him away in the first place. In a way, Eve had gotten the better living arrangement. At least it wasn't built on a false pretense - a list of hastily scribbled rules on why he could remain when it was clear the reason why wasn't spelled out in ink.

Considering the recent changes at the embassy with allowing the human born of their own mascot's rib occasional visitation after he'd gone and sprung from the depths of his festered loneliness within a golden storm of his full potential realized under the support beam of an army lieutenant after they'd left him without his original version for so long? It smelled of something... curated. Designed to knock him back into place because the higher ups couldn't stand the concept of taking control of one's destiny- a concept which only came about because of their insistence upon Eden's so-called sanctity.

Feeling her gaze heavy on his brow as if she'd only just noticed the insufferably bright shard added to his halo dwarfing the other two in its orbit in comparison if not in size- than by light. Its shine made the largest look most like an unpolished stone while the other, smaller version of a gem cut in half still held the faintest glimmer of hope within its roughly cut edges, Adam winced. Particularly because her gaze was not so particularly piercing as it was wet.

"Aw, c'mon. It's not like yours isn't there...too?" An exasperated sigh issued him to shift into the stiff fibers of his muscles that had certainly spent too much time on the floor the past few weeks. Lute would wing beat his ass back into the first stage of his recovery period if she had even a sinking suspicion he'd moved more than five inches without her direct supervision. "It's just...y'know- inactive?" A shrug upon sitting up helped him hunch over and anchor himself with a palm pressed firmly to the floor- he'd need it the way his side was now throbbing with the way she was carrying on about the state of his affairs. "I mean hell, seems like a well earned retirement in your case. Less of my shit to put up with and all." Unlike her, he saw the forest for the trees...just not how they wilted until it started affecting his horizons.

Her bare whispers cause the edges of his feathers to fan out against the floor, bracing for what could possibly be a storm born out of the hushed calm that always proceeded them. " I'd say that makes two of us, but we both know you weigh about as much as one rib in this never-ending math equation heaven's got going for itself." Not that the quaver in her tone doesn't twist that old instinct in him like a dagger to just...curl around her and rudely flick the tears out of her eyes one by one, but at this point he knew doing so wouldn't solve anything. Though the root of bitterness was not lost on his senses, and for a moment he felt a fit of frustration as she stood by scolding him like she wasn't the carrot the sides of the universe had been dangling in front of him all along until he'd simply gotten sick of it and found something else to sink his teeth into.

"Oh, I ripped it a new one all right." He wasn't supposed to get up, but was forcing himself now that she was getting worked up. His side ached too much when she pulled that shit to just keep sat still. Having to catch himself on his arm once when the first few attempts to roll up failed, he'd emit a goose-like hiss and grab the wall instead, pulling himself up into his height with one wing arched expertly up for some modesty around his waist. "And you wanna know what? I'd do it again. Because fuck Eden!" What did that place ever do for either of them anyway except make them realize what it really meant to be thrown away? His outburst, unlike hers- was not without consequence.

"Agh-shit...!" His side was throbbing again, sharper than before. It caused him to slump back heavily against the wall with his finger pads wrung deep between the grooves of his ribs.