worlds apart

chapter 1

beelzebub glanced at gabriel. the archangel stood up straight, feigning a cheerful smile. gabriel had an annoying smile. the prince of hell adjusted their suit and ran a hand through their dark hair, causing a few flies to vacate the locks and begin buzzing around their head.

"no news, archangel?" beelzebub said, their tongue curling mockingly around the word archangel. gabriel kept his hands clasped in front of him.

"well," gabriel began. "no."

the prince of hell and the archangel gabriel had begun their meetings shortly after armageddidn't. beelzebub still had that dull hatred between their ribs for gabriel and everything he did, but they tolerated him in a professional way.

beelzebub pursed their lips and nodded.

gabriel began to go on about some presentation michael had given. beelzebub watched his lips move as he spoke. the archangel was so stupid. beelzebub was fascinated by him.

gabriel finished his story with a chuckle, and beelzebub returned it, mockingly. it seemed to fly over gabriel's head, who smiled.

beelzebub leaned back, boredom painting their sallow face. they spread their legs and leaned back, seemingly relaxed. in the presence of the archangel, they were anything but.

gabriel briefly wondered if the demon did that to taunt him, being so unprofessional and casual in his presence, trying to make him feel like he wasn't being taken seriously. knowing demons, he most likely wasn't. gabriel swallowed.

"well?" beelzebub said, tapping their foot and tilting their head expectantly. "meeting's over, go."

gabriel nodded once quickly and turned to leave. he seemed disgusted by the dripping ceiling and dirty walls. despite that, gabriel came down to hell, down to beelzebub. as he should.

"goodbye, beelzebub," gabriel said.

"lord beelzebub," beelzebub snarled back. gabriel kept walking.

satan, he's annoying, beelzebub thought. they stood up and left the dirty room. demons in the disgusting hallway pressed against each other and the dirty walls to avoid beelzebub as they passed. there were some demons who had lost fingers just for bumping into beelzebub as they walked down the hallway.

hell was pretty boring. when you got down to it, there wasn't much to do. beelzebub imagined heaven was even more boring. at least in hell it was acceptable to have fun.

"dagon," the lord of the flies began. "do you think we should send someone to earth?"

"hastur won't do anything, and he's the most familiar with earth. isn't this something you should discuss with gabriel?"

the prince remained silent. beelzebub couldn't decide how to feel about the thought of actually discussing something with gabriel.

beelzebub walked away without another word. dagon pursed their lips and stood, watching her prince walk away.