Chapter Text
“Good morning, my dove.”
A gentle voice pulled him from the hazy border of sleep and wakefulness, from the dim area between light and dark. Consciousness and unconsciousness.
He instinctively snuggled closer to the source of that lovely voice, the warmth beneath his fingers more than welcome. Warm, glowing, translucent skin filled his vision when he opened his eyes.
…Minos.
Fingers carefully stroked his wings, their intention obvious to him. They wanted to make him happy, to make him purr, to make him feel too good to ever want to leave the spot he currently was in. He welcomed them.
“Mh…”
Words stuck to his throat like honey. His tongue felt far too heavy, like it'd fallen into a deep slumber with him. His heart was close to bursting with how much… with how much love he was feeling. He was surrounded by more love than he ever deserved.
“...Such a sweet thing thou art.” Minos gently traced circles into Gabriel's back. “Dost thou recall what today brings, angel?”
H-huh? What today… brings?
Right, they'd talked about sparring last night. About how Minos wished to do a rematch, and how Gabriel would be allowed to bite all he wanted when that happened. About how Minos was certain Gabriel wasn't capable of inflicting any sort of damage he couldn't survive.
“Uhm… Our second spar?”
“That is correct,” Minos spoke softly. “We have planned to spar today, wherein thou may bite me to thy heart's content.”
Oh, his delicious flesh, between my teeth. His sweet blood, pouring down my throat and spilling out of my mouth. His-
…Shut up.
“If… If I were to bite you to my heart's content, our spar would never end.”
It'd go on, and on, and on… Until I break or pass out.
“Worry not. I am well aware thine energy is not boundless, and that thy verve waning would naturally conclude our spar.”
Gabriel's mushy spaghetti mess of a brain couldn't comprehend a good two thirds of that sentence. To his barely-awake brain, ‘verve’ didn't sound like a real word at all.
“...I’m too tired to understand any of those fancy words right now.”
“They are not ‘fancy’ in the slightest, angel.” Minos lightly tapped Gabriel's helmet with a finger, which just made his brain jiggle around like jelly. Stupid heap of squishy wrinkle meat…
“They sound like someone casting a spell on me,” he murmured, nuzzling his helmeted face into the man's chest. “...One that makes me want to use your chest as a pillow for a few minutes longer.”
“Thou art in luck today, then, as I just so happen to have several minutes to spare.”
● ● ●
>> Name: Limbo–Fraud line | Train 3 | Cab 2: Limbo
>> Nickname: ‘Cab’
>> Time: 1:07PM Lust Standard Time (LST)
>> Task: Cheer for ‘Parental Unit 2’
>> Alternative task: Document every move
Cab was currently positioned in a building opposite of the one the machine named ‘V1’ was in. The more angles the better, it'd reckoned.
Ten metres beneath the both of them, in the middle of the barren courtyard, Minos and Gabriel were going through the rules for the fifth time today. There weren't very many, yet the angel was still afraid he'd forgotten one.
> Spar rules:
> 1. Gabriel is allowed to bite all he wants, because he isn't physically able to hurt Minos in a way that matters.
> 2. Gabriel is allowed to scratch all he wants, because of the aforementioned reason.
> 3 . Minos is not allowed to throw Gabriel into the sun.
> 4. The safe word/sentence is ‘I yield’, because Gabriel would feel too awkward saying something random like ‘pineapple’.
“Alright, I'll… I'll try to remember.” Gabriel sounded like he didn't remember a single rule, but it'd be fine. From what it'd learned, he tended to survive anything and everything.
“And that is all I ask of thee.”
Wing scritches made the angel purr loudly, something which it figured worked to make his stress levels drop. That was good, probably.
After a while, Gabriel and Minos headed for their spots at the opposite ends of the ‘arena’. The angel was donning his armour, all pristine and polished, and his hands were gripping those two blades just a bit too tightly. His wings were a serene blue, yet he appeared to be anything but serene.
Minos was a bit more difficult to read. He was unarmoured, and lacked any weapon apart from himself. It supposed he'd come out on top, just as he had before, and not just by a hair.
Cab could pick up the small nervous breath coming from Gabriel, and the quiver of his wings. He fixed the grip on his swords, twice, yet he still shook. Oh, poor angel…
All of that nervousness went out of the window the microsecond he lunged forth. Like bottled lightning, he surged out of the ‘bottle’ the instant that the ‘cork’ was removed, reaching Minos on the other side of the square in less than two seconds.
Strikes and slashes rained down upon the other, but missed their target each and every time. It could feel the angel quickly growing frustrated. Understandable.
When Minos managed to get a bit of distance, the angel threw one of his swords like a dagger. It just barely grazed the man's arm, and attempted to do so again on its return trip, but missed. Gold stained Gabriel's wings.
“Stop dodging, damnit..! Can't I just have one good hit?!”
He sounded exasperated, like he was on the verge of either crying, ending himself, or ending somebody else. That kind of frustration wasn't good.
“Thou must simply become faster, angel,” Minos provoked the other. “Or else… I shall once again come out as the victor, and thy fragile ego will never recover.”
Provoking Gabriel seemed to be the right way to motivate him to do his best. Cab noted his heart rate speeding up more, hands gripping his blades so hard his arms shook, and his wings turning entirely gold.
“Excuse me? Who are you to call my ego-”
A fist connected with Gabriel's abdomen, sending him hurtling right into a thick wall. He sunk into the concrete, and left only an angel-shaped hole which he had to pry himself out of, slowly.
“I so had hoped thou wouldst not disappoint, but alas. Hast thou lost all thy fight after one measly punch?”
For a moment, no angel emerged from the hole in the concrete. Cab assumed the impact had knocked him unconscious, only to then be proven wrong when a shaky hand emerged, along with the rest of Gabriel. His armour was flashing red now. He wasn't pissed off enough yet, it seemed.
“Oh, just shut up..!”
Gabriel threw both of his blades towards Minos. As luck would have it, the man easily dodged them, even managing to grab the golden blade and sending it back with twice as much force.
“Make me, dove.”
Though stated so calmly, Cab could sense the delight beneath those words. Delight, at being able to get this kind of emotion out of Gabriel. Delight, at bearing witness to the angel at his most beautiful. Delight, at being the only two people in the world right now.
“It'll be my pleasure.” Gabriel caught both of his blades, and in the same instant lunged forth.
A flurry of white and gold and blue, and flickering red. His assault sent Minos back to dodging, which just increased the frequency of slices and stabs. Cab reckoned frustration was a powerful tool.
For a brief moment, it thought Gabriel had managed to back the other into a corner. That assumption was shattered the instant that the angel got himself launched across the ‘arena’. Again.
And yet again, Gabriel pried himself from the wall. His armour was scuffed and dented, the gold had partially lost its lustre, and blood slowly seeped from a shallow cut on his side. Despite his state, he let out a soft laugh. Whether it was out of pity for himself or because he found this spar genuinely entertaining, Cab wasn't certain.
● ● ●
The blood in his mouth had never tasted so sweet, nor had it ever felt so hot on his skin. The scent of scorched skin, the agonising sensation of the skin of his palms burning away… Removing his gloves might've hurt, but he needed the extra grip, he needed to wield Splendor with perfect accuracy.
He had Minos in his sights. Rushing forward, he closed the distance in half a second, Splendor aimed right at the man's abdomen. The point wasn't to kill, it was to injure.
Minos barely dodged, and it was almost as if he allowed Splendor to pin his hand to the concrete. He allowed Gabriel to sink his teeth into that gorgeous, tender arm of his, to bite as hard as he could, to bite as nectarean blood spilled down his chin. Stars, wasn't he vile?
That lasted for mere seconds, as the other soon pulled his arm away and retreated a safe distance away.
Safe..? Aren't you funny.
The wound mended quickly. Too quickly, in Gabriel's opinion. He swallowed the remaining blood in his mouth, and dashed towards Minos again. That bite had been far too brief. Had Minos even felt it?
His goal from then on was to pin Minos down with Splendor, and then go in for the bite. The other would have nowhere to go, nowhere to run, no room to wriggle, no-
Stars, his mouth watered at the mere thought. His hands itched to pull and tear, his teeth ached from having nothing to bite, and his heart felt close to bursting. All he wanted was to bite and chew, to sate this growing hunger.
And Minos, he was denying Gabriel this fulfilment by dodging every attack. He was the one dragging this on and on and on, when all Gabriel wanted to do was take part in this grand feast, to eat and drink to his heart's content.
…Splendor burned his palms, but he gripped his blade tight with both hands. He needed this. He needed, needed this.
“Don't just run, Minos,” he laughed, mad passion oozing from every word. “Fight me, fight me like your life depends on it!”
No response. Gabriel lunged, and Minos dodged. Again, and again, and again. And again. Their dance was quickly growing too repetitive, too boring, and it should've been upon the lacking party to fix that. But as Minos wouldn't act on his own, Gabriel had to make him.
He drove the man into a corner, getting ever closer to him with each attempted stab and slash. He'd force him to attack. He'd make attacking seem like the only choice, he'd-
A powerful kick knocked the wind out of him, and a blue serpentine projectile launched him into a heap of rubble. Despite the agonising pain, all Gabriel felt was elation, pure exhilaration in every cell of his body. Concentrated euphoria coursed through his veins.
The palms of his hands had long gone numb. Still, he went after Minos, with Splendor ready. He missed the target once more, and even got his blade caught in the man's iron grip. Strong hands pried the weapon from his.
Finally… Finally, the real fight begins.
Finally free from the role of the wielder of two blades, he settled into the role of both the weapon and its wielder. This was where he was the most comfortable. A soldier and their commander, a dog and its trainer, an archangel and his weapon.
He swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth, took a few steps back, and pounced. Unfortunately for him, all he got for a reward was a mouthful of serpent projectiles. Perhaps that was the closest they would ever get to a real kiss.
A cathartic laugh bubbled forth from his throat. Meals were truly only rewarding when one had to fight for them, fight for them tooth and nail. Kill for even a morsel. Scratch and bite and maim for just a mouthful of juicy meat. Muscles, tendons, fat… and blood to wash it down. Truly, a feast fit for a king.
Gabriel went in for a mouthful of that succulent flesh, and managed to get a taste when his canines scratched Minos' arm upon the other dodging.
“Oh…” He sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Get back here, Minos. We're not done.”
He flew back a bit, giving Minos space without really allowing him room to breathe. His presence must've been suffocating. Exhilaration saturated with the stench of blood, flooding the entire square, filling their lungs and mouths and-
Breathe, breathe… For just a second. Relish in the moment, bathe in the euphoria of it. Drown yourself in the ecstasy.
Teeth bared, Gabriel plunged from the false sky, right towards his target. His beloved Minos. His favourite person to cuddle with, the only person who could help him stay rational when the world collapsed on top of him. His favourite person to bite, the only person who could tolerate Gabriel nibbling on him, gnawing on him, tearing away chunks of flesh. Bathing in his vibrantly crimson blood, drowning in perfection incarnate.
…I love you.
At moments like this was when he truly remembered that it was love he felt. Love. Overly dependent and perhaps obsessive at times, but love nonetheless.
Prove it. Prove how much you love him, show your love through combat. Bite him hard, rough and deep. Bite him so that he never forgets he's yours.
Yes, that was it. What was love without physical contact? What was love without possessiveness and dependency? What was love without fearing the other would leave him any second?
Mine… Mine. My Minos, mine and mine only.
What was love without… sacrifice? Minos had sacrificed his right to exact vengeance upon Gabriel for all his wrongdoings, for all the pain and misery he'd caused. The man had let it all go.
Gabriel, he had sacrificed… Had he sacrificed anything yet? Sure, he was willing to abandon his dignity and pride for Minos, but was it enough? Was an obedient puppet enough for a man who seemed to quite like people with a personality?
…All he got was a punch to the face. No sample of his flesh or blood, just a sample of his power. He'd just have to try harder.
His teeth met the skin of Minos' midsection, and he bit down hard, hard enough to crack stone. The scent and taste of blood overwhelmed his senses. It was like the rarest of all wines, utterly delectable, tasting like quarters yet also faintly like grapes. That was the taste of his Minos.
He pushed the man back as his teeth remained embedded in his flesh, revelling in the moment. Somehow, Minos let him. Minos let himself be shoved into a wall, Minos let himself be gnawed on, Minos let himself be… manhandled, really. There was something wrong with the both of them.
On a whim, Gabriel summoned a spear made of light --even though it made his head spin and hand burn-- and thrust it right through Minos' abdomen and into the wall behind him. He didn't know how the man could stand being around a vile creature such as him.
The spear disintegrated as quickly as it'd formed when a kick sent Gabriel flying. He didn't mind, as this simply continued the cycle, kept the dance going. Step forth, then step away.
His brain felt like a block of lead, yet he summoned a rain of spears upon Minos, spears which burned and cauterised anything in their path. He just… had to end this. He'd tire Minos out, pin him to the ground, and there it'd be. Victory. His sweet victory.
In the blink of an eye --really, he'd just blinked-- a serpentine projectile hit him in the face, followed by another one to his chest. He hit the wall hard enough to crack bone.
I-I’m losing, I’m losing…
No, no, I can't. I can't. I have to win this time.
Getting up took significantly more effort this time, and the strain on his body made his head throb. His vision blurred momentarily.
He shook his head to clear his vision, and lunged forward, managing to tackle Minos. He'd been caught off-guard, it seemed. Probably worried when Gabriel hadn't gotten up immediately.
Gabriel pinned the man to the ground, though he knew full well that Minos could free himself any time he wanted. Arms, pinned above his head. Chest and abdomen, sat on. Face, inches from his.
“...There you are,” Gabriel hissed. “In your place, beneath me.”
He was just talking shit, he knew. It was an effective tactic to draw attention when one had an audience.
…Also, it felt nice to talk like he hated Minos sometimes. Talk like he wasn't afraid of being abandoned again, talk like he knew that Minos was aware this wasn't how he actually felt. Talk like the man was a worthless insect beneath his heel.
“Do you yield, Minos? Do you fucking yield?”
Each breath was a struggle, feeling like knives piercing his chest. His strength was quickly waning, and with it, his consciousness. Did he seriously have to go so… so overboard again? This was a detriment to his health and wellbeing.
“It doth appear I have been bested, so…” Minos sighed dramatically, and Gabriel could almost imagine the eyeroll he'd give if he still had a face. “I suppose I shall, if it so pleases thee. I yield.”
That was all he needed to hear. That was all he'd ever wanted to hear. But it also meant that he was no longer allowed to bite and tear to his heart's content, as that was what they'd agreed upon. He should've kept this going for longer. He should've.
He collapsed on top of Minos, squeezing his eyes shut and just listening to the other's heartbeat. His breathing was still rapid --so was Minos'-- though it was beginning to calm down. Gabriel's head rested on the man's chest, and his bloodstained hands fumbled for the other's, but couldn't find them. Perhaps exhaustion was making him stupid.
A warm, strong hand gripped his, and it took him every ounce of his willpower to not break down sobbing right then and there. His weary wings fluttered when another hand stroked them.
“Thou hast fought well, my dove,” Minos spoke softly, more softly than Gabriel deserved to be spoken to. “I see thou put in all thine energy and effort to best me, and it paid off.”
“...You let me win, didn't you?”
Gently, he tilted his head up to bite the man's shoulder. Not enough to draw blood, but enough for Minos to know that Gabriel loved him. He loved him enough to refrain from eating him.
“I cannot deny the truthfulness of thy statement. However…” The other's hand kept stroking his wings. “Thou hast left a lasting impression on me.”
He felt a warmth in his chest, a warmth close to burning him alive. His brain felt fuzzy, like it'd been scooped out of his head and placed upon a cloud, tucked under a warm blanket.
His limbs would no longer listen to him, and he could no longer keep biting Minos. He knew this would happen. His vision went darker, darker, darker still. His head was pounding, and every sound hurt to hear.
“Minos..?”
Gabriel sounded so pathetically weak. Like a scared child, he clung onto Minos for dear life, fearing abandonment like a broken toy car. A headless plastic soldier.
“Yes, Gabriel?”
Each word was like a nail several (not nine) inches long being driven into the mushy wrinkle heap also known as his brain. At least the nails made from Minos' words weren't burning hot.
“My head hurts…” He whined quietly, a lump suddenly forming in his throat. What was it with him and acting like a baby every chance he got nowadays?
“...I am aware, sweetheart,” Minos responded far too patiently. “I shall make it all better when we arrive home.”
Make it all better… Yes, Gabriel knew he would. There was that fresh batch of painkillers he'd summoned the other day, Minos' bed was softer than a cloud, and the man knew how to comfort an angel in pain.
You should give me far too many painkillers and then watch me as I lay there dying, begging for-
“You'll… carry me, right?”
He barely clung on to consciousness. Sleep was tempting him, unconsciousness seducing him. Any sort of reprieve from the agony. Anything.
“Naturally, angel.”
● ● ●
>> Name: Limbo–Fraud line | Train 3 | Cab 2: Limbo
>> Nickname: ‘Cab’
>> Time: 8:51PM Lust Standard Time (LST)
>> Task: Compare ratings with the machine known as ‘V1’
Cab was seated on a table in the lounge, with its optic trained on Minos and Gabriel on the couch, and a cable connecting it to V1. The angel had recently awoken after hours of uninterrupted slumber, and had immediately complained of pain. Cab assumed Minos had just hit him too hard.
As for why it was connected to V1… The reason was simple. Easier communication, nothing more.
> Now, rating for that spear move.
>> Inquiry: The ‘one spear’ move or the one with multiple?
> Either one goes.
>> Response: Understood. I will rate the ‘one spear’ move.
>> Response: 9/10 on the vibe scale, for the air of unhingedness. 10/10 on the gayness scale, though I barely know what makes something ‘gay’. 1/10 on the usefulness scale. The attack was pointless but looked nice, therefore he did well with that one.
> The gayness scale is about how close they are to having gay sex.
>> Inquiry: How am I supposed to know what they are thinking about?
> You'll learn by following them around.
Cab felt like that was an invasion of privacy. Though it was a machine --and as such didn't know too much about human customs and feelings-- it understood that studying people like that was just a bit weird.
>> Response: …Sure. How would you rate the ‘one spear’ move?
> 10/10 on the vibe scale, 7/10 on the gayness scale, and 3/10 on the usefulness scale.
> The vibes were immaculate. The gayness could've used something more, like flirting or even more closeness. The attack stunned Minos briefly, and made him consider letting Gabriel win, therefore it was pretty useful.
V1 was the Gabriel expert here, wasn't it? It'd known those two for far longer than Cab had, and as such must've had better insight into how they thought.
>> Response: Next, the ‘multiple spears’ move. I await your rating, expert of gayness.
> I beg your pardon?
>> Response: Then beg.
> …Anyway. 5/10 on the vibe scale, 1/10 on the gayness scale, and 0/10 on the usefulness scale.
> The rain of spears would've been cooler if it had done anything to Minos. It was bland, and had far too few spears. There wasn't even anything gay about it. His worst move in the entire fight. It sucked major ass.
>> Inquiry: It sucked what?
> Major ass. It sucked major ass, Cab. That means his move was really, really shit.
>> Statement: I have never heard that before.
> Glad you haven't. Would've been a shame if someone else had gotten that reaction out of you.
Cab disregarded whatever V1 said next, and focused on the only two organic beings in this room. The angel, Gabriel, muttered something to Minos, to which the other responded by stroking his wings gently. Was this V1’s definition of ‘gay’?
Gabriel looked fascinating like this. Not that he didn't always look fascinating, but there was something interesting about this supposed divine being… being so normal. An untouchable archangel curled up in the arms of another, complaining like a mortal, in pain like a mortal. Weren't divine beings all high and mighty?
“Can you tell our newest ‘family member’ to quit staring? I feel like an animal in a zoo,” the angel sighed after a moment.
“It finds thee fascinating, angel. Just as I do.”
That was true. It found him beyond fascinating, as most machines would. He was an anomaly when it came to both angels and organic beings.
“...Sure it does.”
With that conversation listened to, Cab returned to its conversation with V1. It could sense the other machine's frustration. Was it… jealous? Could machines feel jealousy?
> Do not stare at my angel like that.
>> Response: I apologise for observing him like this. He is simply the most interesting creature I have met in a while, apart from Minos of course.
> And he's mine.
>> Response: I understand that. Blood is only my secondary fuel source, and as such I find there to be no need to compete with you.
> If I ever detect a drop of his blood in your system, I'll vaporise you where you… sit? Float?
> Point is that you'll die by my hand if you go after his blood.