[Happy holidays @twost3ps!! Super duper late present, and I'm pretty sure it's not what you asked for, AND I might have butchered your characters, but I hope you'll still enjoy it 🥲]
Bright sparkling lights of green and red, a gigantic tree adorned with red and gold baubles topped with a golden apple, a wreath with mistletoes and pine cones hanging by the hotel main entrance, they even had fake snow decorating parts of the lobby with some oddly designed snowmen here and there. Yup, it was December 25th, or Christmas for those of earthly origins.
While the rest of Hell’s ring celebrated ‘Sinsmas’, the hellish counterpart to Christmas, where they indulged in the sin of the ring they were born into, the citizens of pride, sinners, celebrated Christmas. Or at least some did. A teeny tiny portion of the sinner population. It made sense, Adam supposed, for sinners not to celebrate such a holy event, they were, after all, in Hell which was exactly the opposite of holy. The streets of Pride remained mostly the same, blood stained with guts of all kinds thrown all about like garbage, maybe a christmas decoration every tenth street, though most of them ended up being desecrated anyway. Needless to say, Charlie’s hotel stuck out like a sore thumb in Pride with its happy-go-lucky, exaggerated Christmas decorations, of which covered not only the entire building, but also the small area around it.
Something about embracing and learning about heavenly traditions, and assimilating into Heaven once they do get redeemed, and now Adam and the rest of the hotel’s residents were decorating their own baubles to hang onto the, quite frankly, overly large and tall Christmas tree in the hotel lobby.
Almost as if a certain prideful shorty was overcompensating for something. Adam subtly eyed Lucifer, who was happily making duck shaped baubles, each resembling someone in the hotel. And while Adam didn’t need to take part in this activity, having been in Heaven for most of his afterlife, he did want to celebrate Christmas, no matter how synthetic this one felt. Though, if anything, it just made him wish they were also here to celebrate with him. He understood if they couldn’t make it though, Christmas was a big thing in Heaven, something one shouldn’t ever miss.
“Hey duckie, you okay?” asked Lucifer as he walked over towards Adam, an Adam looking duck bauble in hand.
If there was a present that Adam was very much grateful for this year, it was the fact that he and Lucifer had reconciled and even rekindled the affections they once had for each other back in Eden. And an even greater gift was the fact that, despite the months of turmoil and distrust, Adam had also managed to reconnect Lucifer with his brothers and the archangels. The fact that they all relatively got along now was a miracle in itself, but even more baffling was how, in the end, they all agreed to having to share Adam with Lucifer. Adam supposed they all really loved him, huh? But perhaps not enough to skip Christmas in Heaven to celebrate with him instead.
Adam’s shoulders sagged, a gloomy sigh leaving his lips, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just…a little tired.”
Yes, Charlie had requested for the residents to limit the lying, but Adam wasn’t lying, not fully anyway. It was true, he now understood precisely why he had been revived as a sinner and he had been dutifully bettering himself, well as much as one could improve perfection anyway, but he was getting sick of it; tired of all the red and all the chaos and all the filth and sin that Pride was drowning under. Really, he missed Heaven. Or at least the daily life he lived there with the people who cared for him. Yes, they all visited him frequently, but it wasn’t the same. The time they spent together was now somewhat limited.
“Here,” Lucifer handed Adam the duck bauble, the yellow glass shining so prettily in his clawed hands. “I wish they were here too.”
Of course Lucifer would see through his, admittedly half-assed, lie what with being the ‘King of Lies’. Regardless, Adam accepted the duck bauble, its cutesy, albeit intricate, design and appearance lightening up the heavy gloom that was forming in his chest. At the very least, he had Lucifer with him this Christmas. He would see the others soon anyway, there was no need for him to sour everyone’s mood.
“Hey, look at me, I’m being considerate and not being whiny,” Adam chuckled to himself. Maybe Charlie was starting to rub off on him a little.
“Okay!” With the bauble duckie in one hand, slapping his knee with the other, Adam pushed himself up brighter than ever. Today was Christmas, and he was going to enjoy the day no matter how shitty Hell was! “Let’s decorate this fucking tree so we can finally get to the presents!”
And just like that, as if summoned by Adam’s voice, the door’s to the hotel slammed open with a black boot connected to bright red pants sticking out of it.
“Did someone say presents?!”
Emerging from the door, wearing a complete Santa costume including the fake white beard and the large sack of presumably gifts, was undoubtedly, one hundred percent Gabriel. There he stood loud and proud, almost shining in his Santa costume, the hinges of the door barely hanging on the sides.
For a brief moment there, the hotel was in pure silence, too shocked to react to what had just happened and far too confused about their guest’s sudden appearance.
“Gabriel?!” exclaimed both Adam and Lucifer once they finally got their bearings.
“W-what are you doing here?” asked Adam as he made his way towards the angel, the happiness of Gabriel’s visit evident in the inflection of his voice, in the small smile that crept on his lips.
“It’s not just him, you know.”
And from behind Gabriel emerged Michael, followed by Raphael and then by Uriel. However, as soon as Adam finally got a good look at all of them, a snort escaped from him followed by full on uncontrollable laughter. In front of him was Michael, Raphael and Uriel dressed in a brown furry onesie, a golden bell around their necks and antler headbands with fluffy ears on their heads.
Lucifer followed behind Adam, curious what all the laughter was about. Sure, Gabriel looked a little silly in his Santa costume, but it couldn’t be that funny, right? Well, for once he could admit he was wrong. The sight in front of him wasn’t just funny, it was absolutely hilarious! And just like Adam, Lucifer bursted out laughing at the ridiculousness in front of him.
“Oh, what’s Santa and his reindeers doing here?” asked Lucifer in between laughter with tears in his eyes.
If looks could kill, Lucifer was sure both him and Gabriel would’ve turned to ashes by now from Uriel’s silent but heated glare. Though thankfully, Uriel’s bubbling fury seemed to have been calmed down by Raphael’s swift thinking and action; where with a snap of his fingers, Lucifer suddenly found himself wearing the very same costume as the archangels, furry onesie and all.
“Wha–”
“There, now the set is complete,” announced Raphael as he crouched under the door frame to enter the hotel and gave Adam, who was still in chuckles, a gentle pat on the head. “Hey little one, didn’t think we’d miss Christmas with you, did you?”
“I wouldn’t have forgiven any of you if you did!” Adam huffed in mock anger, a happy grin plastered on his face. “But, uh, what about the celebrations in Heaven?”
“It gets stale after a while,” answered Uriel, who soon followed after Raphael. “At least Hell might provide some new perspectives. You being here is just an added bonus.”
Gabriel pulled Adam closer, one hand cupping towards Adam’s ears as he whispered without much subtlety, “He was totally all mopey before we decided to come here, you know.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” intervened Michael as he placed a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder, trying to gently pull him away from Adam.
As he was being pulled away, however, Gabriel whisper-shouted at Adam, “Oh! And Mike was totally crying cuz he thought he would miss Christmas with you. It was just hard to tell because, well, he’s got no eyes– Ow!”
The gentle grip on Gabriel’s shoulder suddenly turned a little more firm, more stern as Michael decidedly dragged him further into the lobby, with the others following suit with amusement on their faces. As he was being dragged into the lobby, Gabriel waved by the hotel’s residents, who remained quietly flabbergasted by the Christmas tree. Suddenly, his sights zoned in on a particular sinner. Someone who was very much a Christmas red all over, with furry ears seemingly attached to his odd hairdo and small dark antlers atop his head. The sharp yellowed smile seemed rather sinister, but this was Hell so that was probably in theme.
“Oh, I didn’t know you guys already had a reindeer,” Gabriel said loud enough for said ‘reindeer’ to hear and react with a tight smile at the perceived affront directed at him. “Maybe you guys should change into my helper elves instead?”
“Nope! No more costume changes!” Uriel immediately cut in, unwilling to indulge any more of Gabriel’s silly ideas.
“More costume changes?” queried Adam, his curiosity piqued by the implication of Uriel’s words.
“We had to try out a couple, just to see which one was the best,” answered Michael, who now had one hand over Gabriel’s mouth in an attempt to stop the blabbermouth from saying anything possibly more offensive. Though, seeing such happy curiosity shine in the golds of Adam’s eyes, he couldn’t help but humour and indulge his love. With a whisper that was actually quite discreet, unlike Gabriel’s, Michael told Adam, “I can share the pictures with you later, if you’d like.”
However, observant as ever, Uriel didn’t miss the ‘shady’ exchange between Michael and Adam, though he kept his thoughts to himself this time. Involvement with the three brothers and Adam had only ever led him down into an unpredictable rabbit hole of discomfort and headaches, with the occasionally, admittedly, pleasant fluttering warmth in his chest. He would never admit to that of course, at least not so openly. It was also thanks to that pleasant feeling that he was even willing to be dragged into Hell wearing a reindeer costume, as well looking the other way from Adam and Michael’s exchange. Something he was sure he would regret in the foreseeable future. For now, however, he was just going to enjoy Christmas with Adam.
—-
Needless to say, the addition of four more unexpected guests turned the somewhat homely and peaceful Christmas celebration at the hotel into a much more rowdy and chaotic one. Gabriel’s loudly obnoxious and excitable nature alone was enough to considerably liven up the place, but then he, of course, had to also taunt Lucifer into joining him in his shenanigans. From which colours and decorations looked better on the Christmas tree, to which foods were best accompanied by certain drinks, though both Alastor and Uriel had them beaten in that debate.
Currently, everyone was participating in, or more precisely dragged into, a singing competition. What started as a simple, cute idea suggested by Charlie to bring everyone together by singing a song together, had become a serious competition amongst everyone. Well, everyone that hadn’t passed out drunk yet like Husk, who was draped over the couch. They even had a mini stage complete with dry ice and colourful spotlights for everyone to perform on. From soft soothing ballads that wrung the tears out of everyone’s hearts, to raw energetic beats that rekindled that rebellious spirit that everyone once had, everyone, from sinners to archangels, sang their hearts out, though it probably wasn’t in the spirit of Christmas.
Their merry-making lasted way past midnight, leaving most of them exhausted but content with the day’s celebrations. After some gift exchanges, and a quick clean up of the place, everyone eventually returned to their respective rooms, with the archangels being given rooms to stay the night by Charlie.
“Why are you guys here?” asked Lucifer the group of angels, or reindeers plus Santa, huddled all around Adam on the bed, in the room he shared with the first man.
“Uh, to spend some quality time with our boyfriend? What else?” Gabriel responded, one hand digging into the bag of crisps on his lap.
“Besides, you have plenty of space,” shrugged Raphael as he idly switched between movies, unsure of which movie to start.
“Oh, I heard that movie is good,” Uriel pointed out, completely ignoring Lucifer’s bewildered presence at the door.
“You all have your own rooms, and it’s already late,” Lucifer argued, mild irritation starting to take root within him. “Plus, this is MY room? I’d like to sleep, like, right now.”
“Since when did we ever need sleep anyway?” Michael asked Lucifer before turning to Gabriel to ask for some of the snacks as Raphael finally settled on a movie for everyone to watch.
“That’s not a good outlook, Michael,” Raphael gently reminded Michael. “Rest is good for the mind, though I’m sure no one is particularly tired right now.”
“I’M TIRED!!” shouted Lucifer, frustrated at their nonchalant disrespect towards him, and even worse was the fact he couldn’t do anything about it.
“There’s plenty of rooms, Lucifer,” Uriel added, “You can rest in one of them.”
Without much to do, Lucifer simply stomped his foot on the carpeted floor, his dark tail swishing rapidly from side to side in agitation, though it looked far from intimidating especially with the reindeer costume he was still wearing.
“Or you can join movie night with us?” offered Adam with a small smile, one hand patting the space beside him. “We’ve got space.”
Without a second of hesitation, Lucifer swiftly made his way towards Adam’s side, his small form ensuring that he could weasel his way closer to Adam despite the hurdles in front of him. Though he did have to shove and struggle against Michael for the most comfortable spot on Adam’s lap, of which he had to begrudgingly yield.
“So, what are we watching?”
The last remnants of Christmas were spent in comfortable peace watching movies and eating snacks, with the occasional need to shush Gabriel here and there. What Adam thought was going to be a more quiet and slightly downcast Christmas, where he would miss those he had spent them with for over a millennia, turned out to be one of the more memorable Christmases he ever had in his extremely long life. Adam may be stuck in Hell for the time being, but his angels and the Devil, funnily enough, ensured that his heart remained in paradise, forever and always.
I keep rereading the one healingriff fic I somehow found (I’m so happy grrrrrrr)
And I just love this idea of this dynamic between the two hhrrrrr. It's fully not explored in the fic (it’s honestly a crack fic lol) but I love the idea that Raphael feels deep emotions through adam
Raphael, being a healer angel of the mind body and spirit being in a constant state of nirvana and peace, almost apathetic at times till he feels emotions vicariously through humans (having the ability to feel and sense the pain of others around him)
Humans have deeper and more fluctuating emotions and Raphael gets to experience it through Adam i just hhhhhhauajhwj and Raphael gets attached to these new emotions all good and bad and I AIANAHWJWJWJW
I ask this out of pure respect and aw at your art have you ever thought of making a yaoi/comic/manga of any kind? I need Rafael Fluffing the living sh** out of Adam
And because you awaken this in me in your last post disciplining Adam.
I have and maybe one day I’ll produce a comic.
I’ve attempted it before but mostly guitarhero stuff. I drop most of it bcz I don’t actually have a deadline to think about. I have attempted one with Raphael once.
Ill think about it but I usualls stay bcz I like making pieces rather than comics
You've made me ship Adam and Raphael tysm. I just want to see Adam getting both man handled but also treated so softly, delicately by a bigger, stronger angel that genuinely loves him to pieces.
AAAA AIM SO GLAD!!!
Happy to recruit another soldier into my mess lolol
I love making Raph mess with Adam but also be the one Adam comes to for emotional support, especially in those big arms of his DJHDCICFCF I’ve been thinking of a plot of how they’d come together idk o3o
I do have a couple of asks that involve them that I hope I’ll finish drawing for soon! so some more content of them on the way!! SUHSHNSINSI
