The Lev n Fax Saga

Interlude: Family

This is set before Part one <3

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Fax was already up by the time Lev woke. That wasn't unusual, but Lev's chest seized with anxiety anyway. He waited a few heartbeats, focused on his breathing, before he rolled out of bed, rooting around for a pair of pants. It was silly, he knew, to get that worked up, and first thing too, but at least he'd calmed down on his own. Mostly, anyway.

Lev ended up stealing one of the demon's sweatpants, since it was doubtful that Fax would mind. Once he'd carefully pulled them on, he padded to the kitchen. Just the smell was enough to tell him Fax was only making breakfast, but it certainly helped to see the demon actually in the kitchen, shirtless and hair still rumpled from bed.

Lev wandered over, pressing his face to Fax's shoulder as he wrapped his arms around Fax's middle. Fax stilled for him, and they stood in silence for a long moment before Lev pressed a kiss to Fax's bare shoulder, and whispered, "Morning."

"Good morning. Sleep okay?" Fax was moving again, scooping the last of the french toast off the griddle so he could set it on a plate and turn off the burners. Then he twisted around in Lev's arms and kissed Lev's nose. Only then did Lev nod, and was rewarded with a less than chaste kiss for it. "Good. I crashed pretty hard after last night, and I wouldn't have woken up for anything before morning."

Lev flushed deep, but a smile tugged at his lips all the same. "I slept great," He promised. After that he reached up to push Fac's curls out of his eyes again, and kissed his nose in return.

Fax laughed softly. "I should probably trim that." They both knew he wouldn't. Fax never did. The demon turned to grab a plate to push in Lev's hands, and nodded in the direction of the kitchen table. "I had every intention of bringing you breakfast in bed. Since when do you get up before I get you up?"

The only reason Lev's anxiety didn't spike again was the fact that Fax's tone was so hopelessly affectionate as he followed Lev to the table that even Lev couldn't imagine any judgement in those words. "I woke up and you were gone, so I came and found you."

Fax made a soft noise, and set down his plate so he could tug Lev into a hug. "Have I told you I love you this morning?" Lev shook his head, and buried his face in Fax's neck. Fax chuckled. "Well I do. Very much. Though maybe not enough to let breakfast get cold. Eggs were meant to be eaten warm, Lev."

"You're the one that pulled me into a hug," Lev shot back, voice muffled.

Fax snorted, but he did let go. Both of them pretended Lev didn't linger. Fax nudged Lev towards the table and circled back to get their drinks.

"You mentioned last night that one of your friends was having a child?" Fax asked as he settled beside Lev with his coffee in one hand, and Lev's milk in the other. He couldn't help his curiosity; they didn't talk much about their lives in heaven and hell. It made things simpler, but Fax wanted to know. He wanted to understand.

"Yeah. Rachael. It's her second in the last hundred years, which is all but unheard of." Lev shoveled some eggs in his mouth, and gave a happy murmur, much to Fax's pride. Lev always loved Fax's cooking. Fax pretended not to stare as Lev swallowed. "Conceiving is hard for angels. It's why there's so many more demons compared to us. It's why I don't have any siblings."

"You don't?" Fax blinked. "I couldn't imagine not having any."

"Well. My parents waited a long time to have children. And then they died, so I didn't really..." Lev shrugged. "I lived with my grandmother until I was old enough to train with whatever other fledglings there were. Raziel wasn't much company, but she took care of me after my parents were killed."

Fax, fork halfway to his mouth, paused. "Your grandmother is Raziel?"

Lev shrugged. "Yeah."

"As in one of the original angels created? The Keeper of Secrets?"

Lev squirmed a little. "Yeah. It's no big deal. I didn't get anything from her except the hair. Certainly not any of her personality. I always felt like I was letting her down."

Fax stared at his angel, incredulous. He meant nothing offensive by it, but Lev couldn't be anything further from the stories they told of Raziel. Raziel was one of the angels demons knew to leave well enough alone. There was no way to ambush her, out think her, out smart her, out fight her, because the world around her told her things. Or so the stories went.

"You said you had siblings?" Lev asked, fiddling with his fork.

Fax realized he'd been staring, and dragged his attention to his own food. "I have two older sisters and a brother. I'm the youngest out of my siblings, by a good fifty years. I don't think we age as slow as you do, but still, that's about normal for us, though we can and do have age gaps the same as humans too. Depends on the demons. I have several cousins, too." A smile crossed Fax's face. "I was particularly close to my youngest cousin. There was only... a decade between us?"

"Was?" Lev asked. "Did he die?"

Fax blinked at that, and then gave a laugh. "No. We just don't see each other much anymore. He doesn't like being on earth and I have no intention of moving back to hell, so chances to see each other are close to none." Fax paused, and poked at his eggs with his fork. "At least, I don't think he's dead. Getting news from home is difficult."

"Ah." Lev watched Fax for a moment, and then nudged his shoulder. "Tell me more about your siblings. I like hearing about your family."

Fax cleared his throat. "Well. My brother's name is Lorne, and my sisters, Etta and Kit, are the oldest. Etta and Lorne take after my father like me, blonde-ish hair and grey-ish eyes. Lorne's pretty quiet, and an ass, really. He likes pranks, but he doesn't ever know when to stop. Kit's the only one besides me to take after our grandfather's flames."

Lev tilted his head to the side. "Are they rare? The gift of fire? It's pretty common among angels."

Fax lifted a hand and let a single flame flicker to life. He wove it among his fingers. "Rare enough. At least with any sort of power or control. Kit's nowhere near my level. The only one in my family to get close was Sorin. That cousin I told you about? He was the youngest too, so we often practiced together. I thought I might as well. He deserved more attention than he got. He's a good kid, and often got forgotten. There were a lot of us. But he really was a good kid, you know?"

"Well, I mean, I can take your word for it, since I haven't met him."

That got a full on laugh from Fax, head tipped back hard enough he smacked it on the wall. "Fair enough, Lev. Fair enough. He was really good. I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't surpassed me by now. It's not like I practice overmuch, and Sorin was a bit obsessive."

"You're really fond of him, aren't you?" Lev wasn't sure if he would have been that fond of a cousin he grew up with, but then again, he didn't really like being around people much.

"He's like a little brother to me. I wish I saw him more often. I think he'd like you," Fax added with a grin.

"I can't imagine any demons liking me," Lev pointed out, before taking Fax's last bite of french toast, having already finished his own.

"I like you well enough. I thought I finally managed to convince you of that last night."

Lev ducked his head so he could hide his face against Fax's shoulder. "I know you love me, you ass. Demons besides you. I can't believe demons are this fond of angels. Just like I don't think you'd like most of the angels in heaven."

"Yeah, okay. I wouldn't get on with most angels. But Sorin loves me, and by extension, that means he'd have to at least like you too. Besides. He gets how it feels to be looked over. Being the youngest, not just out of his siblings, but out of all of us, was hard on him. I really do think he'd like you. He'd see you too."

Lev considered that. "I'll take your word on it. Maybe I'll get the chance to meet him. There's plenty of time."

"There is," Fax agreed, turning a little to kiss the top of Lev's head before grabbing his hand and lacing their fingers together. "We've got eternity."