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angel stood in the small, cramped walk-in closet of denji and power’s room, hands shaking as he let go of the fabric of the clothes now on their body.
“come on, angel!” power called, her usual sass still in her voice, but gentler, as they were helping angel.
“i don’t know about this, power-”
“get out here now or i’ll make you!” they teased, standing up from her bed and almost starting to walk to the closet door until it shot open.
angel was feeling many things he had rarely felt before, one of them being shyness. hands fidgeting together awkwardly, they stood in the doorway, donned in the most gorgeous sleeveless white mini dress and long gloves of the same material with extremely fluffy material at the hem. the dress was accompanied by fluffy, laced up high heeled boots, and some glittery eyeshadow and elegant mascara power had done for her. her fluffy wings and glowing halo completed the look perfectly. they looked ethereal.
“hot damn!” power exclaimed. angel looked beautiful. angel blushed at the comment. they moved toward the mirror upon power gesturing towards it, and he couldn’t believe what they saw. he really did look beautiful.
“now come on, nearly everyone’s here!” power walked towards the door. angel opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. “what is it?”
“what if someone…” angel couldn’t finish the sentence. he might’ve been new to human emotions, but being constantly ridiculed wasn’t something he was new to.
“you’re going to be fine. you look amazing, angel. and you know aki would kill anyone who even dare tarnishes you, hell, you know even you wouldn’t let anyone,” power spoke. she was right. looking like this, feeling like this was just something angel had never felt before.
as power attempted to get the angel devil out of the room, guests and coworkers entered the hayakawa residence for their new year’s eve party. aki hayakawa may have not been the most social person all the time, but he did know how to throw a party, and with a little convincing from his roommates, he agreed. he wrapped up perfecting the snack trays and setting everything up for the party as familiar faces made their way into the living room.
denji let out some idle complaint about how long they were taking, and while aki waved it off, he did wonder himself if everything was alright. he debated going to knock on the door, but he figured they were fine. just two feminine demon roommates with equally big personalities in different ways, what could go wrong? aki would be lying if he said he didn’t mentally say a little prayer for his partner being alone with power, however.
the door to power and denji’s room opened and power stepped out right away, a long sleeved dark red mini dress with her signature sneakers as their outfit. denji bit his lip trying not to laugh at the in his opinion odd combo, which earned him a death glare and the finger. power waved angel to come out of the room, and with a deep breath, he finally did.
it was like a shitty, cheesy romcom scene, and the clicheness of it all made angel want to die, but the look on aki’s face did not. as angel stepped into view of everyone, aki turned around from placing more essentials on the table, and his heart quite literally stopped. his love, his heavenly seraph of a partner, the one he swore to never love but fell so hard for. aki couldn’t bare to know what he looked like, how pathetic and drastically different he was acting from the version of him everyone knew, but that didn’t matter right now. the only thing that mattered was angel.
the two stepped closer to each other slowly, angel letting themselves smile shyly when aki was the only thing in their view.
“do you like it? i-” aki grabbed both of angel’s gloved hands, causing the devil to blush suddenly.
“you look beautiful,” the taller spoke softly.
“you’re embarrassing me,” angel pouted, hiding herself in aki’s chest. she hoped no one was watching, but it would’ve been foolish to actually believe that.
“and look at that, you finally reach my shoulders,” aki teased in reference to the heeled boots, voice purposely louder so everyone could hear.
“shut up!” they scoffed, playfully slapping aki’s chest, heels clacking away as he went to get a drink. some laughs erupted from their coworkers, which deepened angel’s blush by the second, hiding themselves behind her shirley temple.
as the party progressed, angel slowly got more comfortable, having his boyfriend by his side being the main reason, of course. angel felt hungry stares from insignificant subordinates on him multiple times throughout the night, but with a scoot closer to aki, his gloved hand on her thigh, and his boyfriend’s deadly stare, comfort eased right back into the devil’s body.
throughout the night, everyone had a great time, doing some things on their own and some together, sharing laughs and favorite memories from the year. aki even convinced angel to dance with him a little. though they were already awkward enough, the big clunky boots made it more so.
it was soon almost midnight, meaning it would soon be the new year. aki stood up from his seat next to angel, gesturing towards the balcony. angel got up and followed him, closing the door behind him slowly.
“ugh, these shoes are killing me,” angel groaned, sitting on a seat on the balcony to desperately unlace the tall boots, feeling comfortable enough to do so in the presence of only aki. they frowned upon the drastic shrink in their height when she stood up, causing aki to chuckle.
despite his usual urge to pull out a cigarette upon being on his balcony, aki didn’t feel the need to tonight. just having the beautiful being that was angel in front of him was all the comfort he could need.
“come here,” aki spoke, smile still on his face. angel, face hot yet again, stepped closer to be in front of him, craning his neck up to look at him. curse this human body.
aki wrapped his arms around the smaller, unable to stop himself from smiling at the feeling. angel returned the embrace, grabbing at aki’s dress shirt for extra comfort. the clear night sky glistened around them, faint sounds of crickets and car horns, the sparkling city skyline a magnificent contrast against the pitch black night.
“angel,” aki spoke. angel looked up at him in response. “i would go to this ends of this earth to be with you,”
angel bit his lip. “you don’t know what you’re wishing for,”
“yes, i do,” aki grabbed his hands. “you are all i could’ve ever asked for.”
angel turned their head towards the skyline, resting on aki’s chest. he rubbed the fabric of the man’s shirt between her fingers. angel, no matter what aki told them, would never believe him when he said how much the devil meant to him. it didn’t make sense to angel. this was forbidden, this was frowned upon, it was everything that shouldn’t have been. but it felt perfect. it was comfort, it was solace, it was familiarity, freedom, happiness, love. angel’s heart skipped a beat upon that last thought.
aki glanced at his phone to check the time. 11:58. it was almost time.
“angel,” he spoke, taking a shaky breath. angel looked up again. “do you trust me?” hesitantly, they nodded. not because they didn’t trust his boyfriend, but because of the uncertainty of why he was asking. “look at me,” aki said softly, holding angel’s chin.
angel blushed, her heart beginning to race upon seeing the soft yet intense look in the taller’s eyes. “i need you to trust me.”
the look in aki’s eyes made angel want to melt. he felt more comfortable than they ever had on this earth.
“i-i do. i trust you,” she nodded.
aki glanced inside through the screen door to see everyone gathering to watch the celebration on tv. he caressed angel’s face, loving how the beautiful being leaned into the touch. “this is just one of the many, many human traditions i want to experience with you. i love you, angel.”
10.. 9.. 8.. 7..
as their friends inside counted down from 10, aki bent down slightly- having angel looking up at him made the gap between their faces slightly easier to close.
6.. 5.. 4..
angel gulped, worried about what could be coming, but then reminded themselves; she trusted aki with all her heart.
3.. 2.. 1.
again, a shitty romcom cliche of a scene played out on that balcony of the hayakawa residence. aki, angel’s face in his hand, put his lips against his, as celebratory cheers for the new year rang out and fireworks set off in the background. and miraculously, the fear angel had had since the day she met aki, that they would kill him slowly from her touch, was gone, as was the inevitable sensation of draining one’s life force.
aki was unable to stop himself from smiling in the kiss. when the two pulled away, an otherworldly confused look rested on angel’s face. their eyes wide, mouth slightly agape, body visibly shaking.
“i’m sorry, i’m sorry, i know we can’t do this, i just needed, needed to-”
“it didn’t happen,” angel took a shaky breath, expression unchanging.
aki was certain he heard that wrong. “w.. what?”
angel didn’t believe it herself. she didn’t want to touch aki again and risk it, but he didn’t know how else to be sure.
“that.. that would’ve been 6 months.. aki, nothing happened,” angel stared up at aki. the two were in equal disbelief.
“angel, are you-”
“one can never be 100% positive, but i can’t, i can’t ask you to risk it again, so-”
angel was taken by surprise yet again when aki’s lips met hers once more. their eyes widened as he was certain- his power didn’t work on aki.
aki pulled away, concerned, expectant expression on his face. angel was so overwhelmed with emotion. they had never, ever felt like this.
“a-aki,” they tried to speak, heart rate increasing as she wasn’t sure how they’d get the words out. “i-it-”
the look the two shared was all telling. aki, at a complete loss for words, pulled angel into his arms frantically, holding her head close to his chest.
the angel’s small body began to shake. aki immediately pulled away when he heard a soft sob.
“honey, what’s wrong? did i do something? i’m so sorry if i made you uncomfortable-”
“you didn’t do anything, aki,” angel laughed softly, looking down as he let the tears fall. “i’m just- just so-” as she felt another sob rising within them, they buried themselves in aki’s chest again. she let go, letting himself cry into their lover’s shirt, wrapping their wings around him in the process.
“shhh, it’s okay love, you’re okay,” aki rubbed his ethereal partner’s back, kissing the top of their head. “i gotcha,”
neither of them let go for minutes while angel let herself cry. the disbelief and overwhelmingness of it all really hit her.
when they separated, angel scoffed and laughed at the messy mascara marks left on aki’s shirt. aki laughed too upon seeing it.
“don’t worry about it. here, look at me,” aki tilted angel’s head upwards towards him to gently wipe away the mess of mascara under her eyes. even when crying, even with messy makeup, angel looked heavenly. the soft glow of her halo, the way their pretty red hair fell perfectly and contrasted against his white dress; she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. he really couldn’t believe how insanely lucky he got.
angel’s heart fluttered. they couldn’t get enough of this feeling. aki touching her.
aki’s gloves had been discarded at this point, meaning he had actually touched his partner, but angel, with hers as an accessory and a precautionary measure, had yet to feel his human’s warm skin under their fingertips. she struggled frantically to pull the long gloves off her entire arms, so aki helped them pull them down.
the second his hands were free, the urgency to touch aki’s face felt almost magnetic. angel almost cried again at the feeling of aki. aki aki aki. that was all she could think about. all she could ever think about. his determination, how hard he worked, how kind he was, his stupidly cute hairstyle, how much taller he was than them, how he looked at her, how he made them feel.
the softness and admiration in aki’s eyes made angel melt. she couldn’t believe how lucky they were. the two would often laugh at their situation; aki, the number one devil hater in all of public safety, and angel, the devil who never ever understood humans and how they worked, disgusted by the thought of them.
when the two of them first met, it was very rocky. they were quite weary of each other, and sometimes hostile, so working with each other was difficult at first. but angel would never forget the feeling of dislike towards the devil hunter slipping away and being replaced with adoration.
it seemed as if they were both having the same thoughts at the same time.
“some devil hunter i am, huh,” he smiled. angel laughed. a real, happy laugh. a laugh that aki rarely got to hear and that made his heart soar.
angel popped up on the very tip of her tiptoes just to kiss his boyfriend once more. his skin was so warm. his lips tasted roughly of whiskey and chocolate, with a bit of underlying tobacco from his last cig. his hair was so soft. angel was obsessed and so was aki.
“you’re perfect,” aki spoke.
“you are,” angel smiled softly.
aki let out a gentle sigh of relief and happiness as they both shifted their attention to the night sky once more. some stray fireworks were set off in the far distance, and the beauty of the scene, paired with the billions of little specks of light in the sky, constellations and a beautiful bright moon visible, was remarkable. being there with the most beautiful being alive made it all the more special.
it was perfect. this was one of the few times in aki hayakawa’s life where everything felt perfect. rest assured, they were all with angel, or denji and power. he felt content, they both did, something that they rarely got to feel in their line of work. being around each other was a gift in itself.
they returned their attention to solely each other, in each other’s arms again. there was no need for many words; they could practically read each other’s minds, thinking and feeling the same way in that moment.
they heard music begin to play from inside the apartment. they broke away, remembering the party and the fun but hopefully short-lived night they had ahead of them.
before they had to return to their world that wasn’t just the two of them, aki lifted angel’s chin with a finger to look up at him.
“hey,”
“hey,”
“i love you,” aki grinned. he knew how much angel loved hearing that, as did he.
“i love you," angel tried to ignore the soft blush on her face.
“happy new year, my angel,” aki kissed angel once more, and neither of them had ever felt happier.
they were a bit reluctant to go back inside, as they didn’t want this moment to end, but upon the voices and laughter of their friends inside, they remembered why they threw this party.
aki held his hand out for angel to take, which he gratefully did. before going in, aki kissed his lover’s hand sheepishly, a goofy little smile forming on his face. angel blushed and laughed again, shaking her head lightly. they walked to the door, overjoyed at the feeling of falling in love all over again, being able to do everything gloveless for the first time, before entering the apartment to return to their beautiful new year’s party.