holy

xxx

the boy knelt before the king's throne, still wearing his apron from the café.

"my lord."

"yes?" lucifer inquired, impatiently awaiting a response.

"they were out today. i followed them, into the snow."

"and the angel?"

"i would assume he is unwell."

"very well, human. you are dismissed."

with the new information, lucifer took off from the palace balcony, flying urgently to his father's castle, entering the study once he arrived.

"father," he announced, grinning evilly.

"it is time."

•••

eddy paid no mind to the shattered ceramic on the floor as he rushed to the bedroom, searching for the source of that godforsaken sneeze.

"brett? he called out, barging into the room.

he found the angel laying across the bed, rubbing his eyes tiredly and scrunching up his nose.

"good morning e—!" another small sneeze escaped the angel.

the demon leaned over brett, brushing his hair out of his eyes and taking note of how his forehead seemed warmer than usual.

"what's happening?" eddy asked fearfully, though he already knew the answer.

"i think i'm sick."

•

the first order of business was to make a cup of tea for the angel, perfectly warm so that it wouldn't burn his mouth. after eddy did that, he ran through his options.

it couldn't have been something brett drank, or ate—nowadays eddy always checked for that telltale scent of hellfire.

there was really only one other possibility, and it was that brett had gotten sick from the cold. it wouldn't have been surprising if he were a human, considering how much time they had spent outside and how soaked the angel's clothes were with snow. but he wasn't human, which made this all the more worrying.

a cough broke eddy from his thoughts.

he rushed to brett's side.

"do you need anything? water? food?"

the shorter boy shook his head silently, only patting the bed beside him.

eddy nodded, crawling under the covers and pulling brett close.

the angel felt terrible. not only was being physically sick taking a toll on him, with his body aching and his head pounding, but he wasn't doing so well mentally, either. the entire situation was way too familiar, and the memories of his near death experience were traumatic, to put it lightly. he couldn't help but remember the fear he felt in that apartment before he passed out, begging eddy not to let him die alone. but this time was worse, because even though he wasn't really that sick (yet), he couldn't stop thinking about the fact that if he died, he'd leave eddy behind. he didn't want that—ever.

"i love you," brett croaked, close to tears. his glassy, golden eyes peered up at the demon.

eddy swallowed the lump in his throat. he held brett's warm face between his two hands and kissed him softly.

"you're going to be okay. i promise," he vowed solemnly.

he watched brett drift back into sleep, one of those dreadful, familiar coughs wracking his small frame every few minutes.