Chapter Text
Adam had been quiet. Too quiet.
Ever since that pathetic wimp stood up to Lute, Adam would float around her, haunting her, but he didn’t speak. She felt a knot in her stomach. He was clearly disappointed in her. She was a failure.
She couldn’t afford to be a failure.
She screamed a battle cry, twirling through the air, grasping her spear firmly and pushing it into the training dummy with as much force as she could muster. The spear almost snapped from the force. She pictured the dummy was that stupid bitch who ruined everything. Who took away her everything.
She blinked back tears, pushing her feelings down to the furthest reaches of her mind. She knew she would pay for it in her nightmares later, but she didn’t care. She’d gotten used to getting no sleep, nightmares of Adam’s death plaguing her every night. Besides, she had to train to get stronger - to avenge him one day. Her muscles burned and ached. No rest meant no recovery. She didn’t care.
A sharp pain suddenly tore through her whole body. She growled, trying to ignore it, lifting her spear once more. She instinctively dropped it from her hands, going limp. Fuck, she didn’t have time for an injury right now. She had to train. She wasn’t strong enough.
She heard murmurs, but her vision was going dark. Fuck, fuck, fuck. She screamed, the agonising pain shooting through her. She fell to the floor. Her whole body felt like it was on fire as she curled up into a ball. She tried to push through, but her vision got darker and blurrier. She saw a familiar golden glow hovering above her as her mind faded. Adam?
Lute’s eyes blinked awake, but she wasn’t on the training grounds, or even in her quarters. She was on an extremely plush bed. It took her a moment to realise - she knew where this place was. This was Adam’s room. It had been cleaned up after she destroyed the place. She thought Abel would’ve replaced it all with whatever flowery junk he liked to collect, but records and posters lined the walls, displaying different rock bands. A lot of them were albums Adam once listened to.
Her body ached as she slowly pulled herself up. She was wrapped up in bandages, bags of ice placed over the worst areas that ached. The hell?
Why the fuck was Abel on the floor at the foot of the bed?
Before she could say anything, he woke up himself, dazed. He shot up, a warm smile on his face as he realised she was awake.
“Oh good, you’re awake. You were in really bad shape out there. Are you okay?” Abel asked.
She saw something in his hands. A fucking teddy bear. How was this the same guy that stood up to her a month ago?
Lute turned away, embarrassed at how weak and vulnerable she felt right now. “I’m fine,” she snarled.
Abel looked a little taken aback by her attitude, but something was different. He wasn’t afraid of her like he used to be. Something changed.
Dammit, if only she didn’t get herself injured, she wouldn’t have looked so weak in front of him. She tried to get up, but she stumbled, almost falling to the floor again. She could see Adam in the corner. Watching her.
“Please, you really should get some rest. You’re injured,” Abel pleaded.
“I said I’m fine!” Lute snapped.
Abel’s face hardened. His voice was soft, but firm. “No. You need to stay in that bed until you get better. Understood?”
There it was. Her mind flashed back to seeing Adam when Abel wore that mask, telling her to stand down. She slowly sat back down on the bed, head bowed. So that time in Hell hadn’t been a fluke, after all. He really did grow a backbone.
“I’ll go get you something to eat and drink.”
Abel began to fly away, but Lute gripped his sleeve. His face had panic and worry written all over it.
“Why are you doing this?” Lute mumbled. She kept her head bowed. She couldn’t stand to see that look of worry - it made her feel weak - so she avoided his gaze.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been a bitch to you since I met you. Why did you help me?”
Abel’s face softened. “You were really close to my dad, right?”
Lute tensed. Why did he have to mention him?
“Well,” he continued, “I think he’d want me to make sure you’re okay.”
Lute sat in silence. After a while, Abel disappeared. She was left alone in the room with Adam’s ghost. He still didn’t speak, but he had a big, mischievous grin on his face.
What the fuck was that about?
Abel came back a few moments later, with a tray full of food. It smelled delicious. Baked beans, sausages, mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, scrambled eggs, and bacon filled a large plate on the tray. On the side, there was a steaming cup of chamomile tea. Lute’s stomach growled. How long had it been since she last ate?
”I haven’t seen you eat much lately, so I made this for you. They say chamomile tea calms the nerves, and you’ve been really stressed. I hope you like it,” Abel said.
Lute gingerly picked up a fork, not saying a word. She tried to think of a retort, but nothing came to her mind. She had no idea how to respond to this. How did he notice? Was she showing too much weakness? This was foreign to her. Abel looked at her expectantly, clearly hoping for some kind of a reaction.
The food was delicious.
“By the way, I wanted to apologise for the way I spoke to you back in Hell. I shouldn’t have called you a bitch. It was uncalled for,” Abel said.
“Well, I was being a bitch, wasn’t I?” Lute said. “Did you only help me because you feel guilty?”
Abel’s wings fluttered. “No! I helped you because I want to. I couldn’t just sit by and watch you suffer like that.”
“I don’t need anyone. I can take care of things myself,” Lute said coldly.
”You’re hurting yourself. You’re in pain. Please let me help you.”
”Only weaklings need help.”
Abel sighed. “How is the tea?”
Lute took a swig. A warm sensation travelled through her body. Not like alcohol, but the type of warmth where you’re in front of a glowing fireplace on a cold winter’s day.
”Good,” Lute replied flatly.
A small smile broke on Abel’s face. “I’m glad to hear that.”
Hunger took over, and Lute devoured the entire meal. Her energy levels went up after she ate, so Abel carefully helped her up. His touch was gentle and kind. Every part of her was in pain, but she needed to move to make sure her body wouldn’t grow stiff. Abel offered his hands to help her steady herself, which Lute accepted.
His hands were warm and soft.
”Easy, now. Don’t push yourself too hard. You’re going too fast,” Abel said.
”I’m fine,” Lute protested, but slowed down anyway.
”You say that a lot,” Abel said. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but it sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself more than me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lute lied.
”Oh, but I think you do.”
”So what? It’s none of your fucking business.”
Abel smiled warmly, ignoring Lute’s icy tone. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Can you take a few steps forward?”
Shakily, Lute stepped forward, one foot at a time. She winced and clenched her teeth at the pain.
”It’ll be difficult at first, but if you do this every day, you’ll get better,” Abel said.
When she got better. How long would that take in her state? She turned back to look at her wings. They were bandaged up and in a splint, but bent from the impact of her falling. That would explain why she didn’t have any other broken bones - her wings must’ve caught her as she fell, but she was too tired to fly.
”For fuck’s sake. I can’t afford to stay like this. I need to get back to training.”
“There’s just one teeny, tiny problem,” Abel said. “Your wings are kind of, sort of, broken. There’s no way you can train like that.”
”What, do I just stay in bed and do nothing, then?”
”No,” Abel said. “We could…oh, I know. Let me show you something.”
He bent down, reaching for something under the bed. Lute watched him curiously as he pulled out a golden electric guitar.
”After you had your, uh, freaky-in-the-dark time, I managed to put my dad’s guitar back together.”
A wave of guilt washed over Lute.
”Take away the sensation inside
Bittersweet migraine in my head
It's like a throbbing toothache of the mind
I can't take this feeling anymore.”
Lute was on patrol duty for the first time as a lieutenant, a promotion offered to her after Vaggie betrayed everyone in the last extermination. Climbing to the top floor of the exterminators’ tower, she could hear singing, but it wasn’t the pure angelic singing that she was used to. There was a gritty tone that she never heard before. The sound got louder as she opened the golden doors of Adam’s room.
“Drain the pressure-Jesus fuck, Lute, knock before you come in. You’re ruining my song.”
Lute saluted Adam. “Sorry, sir. I heard a strange sound. It sounded like it was coming from your room.”
”Oh, you mean this?” Adam strummed his guitar.
”Yes sir, it sounded exactly like that.”
Adam stared at Lute incredulously. ”You’ve never heard any rock music, have you? I’ll teach you, give it a try.”
Adam flew around his room, picking out the worst electric guitar he could find in his collection. There was no way he was letting anyone touch his best guitars.
”Give me a minute, I need to tune it.” Adam said. He tightened the strings, making sure the chords were correct. He plugged the guitar into an amp and gave it to Lute. “Now, I’m really good at this, so don’t be surprised if you don’t play as well as me. Let’s practise G chords.”
Lute, true to her name, got the hang of it quickly. She found playing the guitar was not that much different from playing a lute, though this guitar had a crunchy, static tone. The sound was very strange to Lute’s ears, but it seemed to make Adam happy.
”Woah! You rock. You’re not as great as me, but you’re pretty close.”
Lute smiled at her superior, glad to make him happy. “Thank you, sir.”
“I’m sorry,” Lute said to Abel. That knot in her stomach was forming again, and she couldn’t afford to show any more weakness. “I need to be alone.”
”Oh? Um, of course,” Abel said, frowning. He headed to the door. “Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
The golden doors shut, and Adam and Lute were alone. She couldn’t contain it anymore. She covered her mouth, careful to not be heard, and sobbed.