“Hey, good morning,” Adam said cheerfully as he entered the kitchen.
Linda nodded at him while Kevin just blinked blearily, looking ready to fall over at any moment.
“Good morning,” Linda said, then fixed him with a look. “It's you, right?”
She tapped the list of names who were assigned to kitchen duty this morning.
“Yep, it's me. Don't worry, Michael is not setting foot in the kitchen again. I'm making sure of that.”
Not that I even want to, Michael grumbled in the back of his head while Linda and Adam smiled at each other, both remembering 'the incident'.
Then Adam's eyes fell back on Kevin. “You okay, Kev?”
“So early...” was the only thing Kevin said clear enough to understand. The rest was a garble of syllables and sighs.
“Oh, cry me a river,” Linda said, putting down a bowl of mushrooms next to Kevin. “Wash these.”
Kevin made a truly pathetic sound, but set to work, rubbing his eyes as he grabbed another bowl and trudged out towards the well to get water.
“I love that boy, but he's useless in the morning.” Linda sighed and gestured towards the array of food she'd already laid out on the table. “I wanted to ask you to do the actual cooking today, but seeing as no one else is here yet...”
Adam nodded. “I can do some peeling first,” he offered, much to Linda's approval.
Technically, she wasn't even on duty today, but you were hard-pressed not to find either her or Rufus (or both) whenever there was work to be done. Even though those two hadn't been in the camp for very long, they had quickly risen to be something like community leaders. Apparently, the camp had been a bit directionless after the death of its last 'commander', and the role of leader had been filled by people who didn't really want the job, or just saw it as an interim thing, since then.
Now there were Rufus and Linda, rising up to the task.
“You know, I think Kevin might work best in the evening and at night,” Adam said conversationally as Linda and him started preparing the food. “I've seen him at 2 am – he looked like he just downed ten Red Bulls.”
“Well, tough luck. He's not cut out to be a guard and there aren't many other tasks to be done in the middle of the night. So he needs to suck it up and work when it's needed.” Linda looked at him while systematically peeling a potato, which Adam thought was impressive. “You have no problems with kitchen duty.”
“Yeah, but I'm a morning person.” Adam shrugged. He'd often gotten up before 6am, even as a kid, so he could greet his mom when she had gotten home from work. She'd often chided him for it, but he'd seen her face light up whenever she saw him, and that had been totally worth it.
Amanda rushed into the kitchen, looking apologetic. “Hey! Sorry, am I late?”
“I think you're on time,” Adam told her. Linda and him were just regularly early.
Amanda threw him a smile, then sat down to help peeling and cutting – immediately breaking into chatter.
After Kevin had shuffled back from the well, he also joined them at the table. He got admonishments both from his mom and from Amanda, who kept telling him he was washing or cutting something wrong.
Adam mostly tuned them out. Work went on, and eventually he was busy stirring things in a pot and occasionally adding seasoning. So he stood with his back to the others when Amanda said: “You know you've got an unfair advantage with an archangel in your head, right?”
Even though he didn't turn around to see, Adam could just feel the admonishing look Linda gave Amanda.
“Yup, pretty much,” Adam said, aiming for light-hearted. “Though we're mostly human these days.”
“Isn't it weird, though? Having someone in your head?”
Maybe she should be less worried about other people being inside each other, Michael commented dryly, when she can't even get her boyfriend hard.
Adam covered his laughter with a coughing fit, turning away from the food. “Um,” he said eventually, “sorry, I swallowed wrong.”
Rude! he told Michael, but they were both mentally grinning. Erectile dysfunction is a very serious-
Michael interrupted him. He gets it on fine with Barbara.
Wh- Robert is-
Yes. And since Amanda doesn't lack the looks, I'm guessing it's her overboarding and controlling personality that's putting Robert off.
Christ on a cracker. Adam thought about it. I mean yeah, probably. But he still shouldn't be cheating.
You humans are all so weird about your sexual relationships. Like Rufus and Linda.
Adam stopped stirring the food. Um, you mean because of the sexual tension...?
I mean because of the sex they're having three times a week, but not acknowledging in front of anyone, Michael said matter-of-factly.
This time, Adam's coughing fit wasn't fake. When Linda threw him a concerned look, the turned away, face beet-red.
Oh my God. I mean, good for them, but holy shit.
You know, I'm not sure what to think about Gabriel's exploits, but at least he's not subtle or weird about them, Michael continued.
Adam just shook his head, grinning as he continued stirring the food.
It always took all morning to prep the meals for the day, not to mention to give the food out to everyone for breakfast and then lunch. Adam would be back to organize dinner in a few hours, though for the moment he was free to do as he pleased.
Which meant he went to the infirmary to see if he could help Raphael.
Working as Raphael's assistant meant he could not only do what he had been planning to do with his life – help people, cure illnesses, all that good stuff – but Michael could also hang out with his sibling, albeit in an indirect way as long as Adam was fronting.
When they stepped into the infirmary, though, there was yelling: “Stop it! Just- don't touch anything!”
Samandriel was kneeling in front of shattered glass, obviously having bent down to pick it up, while Raphael motioned him away.
“What is with you today? You're not usually this clumsy!”
“I'm so sorry.”
Raphael got a broom, but then only fixed Samandriel with a look.
“Wait.” Their eyes widened. “Are you the vessel?”
Alfie cringed. “I'm so so sorry, he didn't want to come out this morning and I thought-”
“Stop.” Raphael waved him off, then pinched the bridge of their nose.
“Hey guys,” Adam said, making sure to keep clear of the shards as he stepped into the room.
“Adam.” Raphael didn't even need to turn around to know it was him, not Michael. “Can you bring Sa- Alfie back to his cabin? I think he needs to rest for a bit.”
Alfie's shoulders drooped impossibly further.
“Sure, Raph. Come on, Alfie.”
Sighing, Alfie got up, and followed Adam out of the cabin, dragging his feet.
A few seconds of awkward silence went by. So far, Adam had mostly interacted with Samandriel, not so much with Alfie.
Eventually, Adam asked: “You said Samandriel didn't wanna come out today? Is he okay?”
Alfie opened his mouth, then hesitated, looking Adam up and down. Maybe thinking about how the first archangel, Samandriel's commander, was in there with him. “Uh, he... isn't really talking to me today.”
“But he's still there, right?” Adam asked, feeling both his own and Michael's alarm.
“Yeah, he's here. Just... I don't think he's feeling so well.” Alfie averted his eyes, looking guilty. As if he'd already said too much.
“Well, it must be hard to adjust to being... mostly human.” Adam was always careful not to phrase it too aggressively. Some angels were really touchy about being called human, Michael included.
I'm not touchy, Michael grumbled, but it was half-hearted.
“Yeah,” Alfie just said, then kept studying Adam out of the corners of his eyes. When they were almost at his cabin, he said: “Is it difficult for him, too?”
“Michael?” Adam smiled at Alfie as he nodded. “Oh yeah. Hella. I mean, he was the strongest of them, probably one of the strongest beings in the universe, and now...”
I'm doing fine, Michael huffed.
Yeah, I know, Adam appeased him, but I'm trying to make Samandriel feel better about himself.
You're not even talking to Samandriel.
No, but he might be listening.
Michael sighed.
Alfie was still nodding, looking thoughtful.
“Well, this is your cabin. Do you need anything? Have you eaten today?” Adam looked Alfie up and down. He was on the thin side, but didn't look starved.
“Yeah, we've eaten.” Alfie turned back to him after walking up to the cabin door. “Um, Adam? Thanks.”
Adam shook his head. He hadn't really done anything. “Just tell me if you need anything, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Alfie gave him a small smile, then stepped into the cabin.
After looking at the door for a few beats, Adam eventually turned away, sighing.
As they made their way back to the infirmary, Michael commented: You're good at that.
Hm?
Making people smile. Is that what you humans call bedside manner?
Adam huffed. Someone turned to him in confusion, saw it was him, then nodded knowingly to themself.
Alfie isn't even sick. Well, I guess Samandriel might be depressed, Adam mused.
A lot of people here are. And yet you manage to cheer them up.
Are you trying to pay me a compliment? Adam asked disbelievingly.
It's just an observation.
Adam rolled his eyes. U-huh. Love you, too.
Michael was strangely silent at that, but they were back at the infirmary now, and Adam concentrated on Raphael. The ground was cleared of glass, and Raphael was back to fiddling with what little lab equipment they had managed to scrounge up.
It was still their goal to cure the infection, though they had even less of a chance without their powers.
“Hey,” Adam said as he stepped in, “you okay?”
Raphael just glanced at him, then nodded.
“You sure? You didn't cut yourself on the glass, right?”
Raphael pursed their lips. “It's nothing,” they said, curling up their right hand as if to hide the fingers.
Adam sighed. “Let me at least put a band-aid on it.”
It took some more coaxing, but eventually Raphael agreed, letting Adam bandage their hands. Despite it having been weeks, Raphael, like many angels, still sometimes forgot how fragile their vessel was now. They could have healed their own injuries, Adam supposed, but they preserved what little power they had left for emergencies.
“You were right, it's not so bad,” Adam chattered as he finished bandaging their hand. “That should be healed in no time. But next time, you can leave the cleaning up to me, yeah?”
“You need your hands, too,” Raphael said.
“Sure, but not as much as we need yours. If I can't peel veggies for a day, that sucks, but someone else can take over for me. We only have one of you, though.” Adam finished the bandage and smiled at them. “There. All done.”
When he moved to put the first-aid kit back in its place, Raphael said: “We only have one of you, too.”
“Hm?” By the time Adam had turned back, Raphael had their back to him.
“You're not as replaceable as you think,” they said, already heading back to their work station.
The corners of Adam's mouth ticked upwards. He wasn't sure if Raphael just meant the fact that he was housing their brother, but it was a sweet sentiment – which of course meant that Adam was flustered and didn't know what to say.
You even make Raphael feel better, Michael said thoughtfully. They don't compliment people easily.
Runs in the family, huh? Adam teased.
Michael was silent for a moment. It was a compliment, I guess. What I said before.
Adam sent him a wave of fake shock, smiling when Michael huffed and rolled most of his eyes.
They worked with Raphael for a while, or at least Adam did, until it was time to head back to the kitchen. Even though it had been an exhausting day without much progress, Raphael gave them a tired smile when they walked out.
I don't know how you do it, Michael said as they stepped out, the sky above them already dark.
There were only few lights in the camp, since both power and candles were hard to come by. Maybe it should have seemed desolate, but Adam was still strangely comforted by what little light and warmth there was, the memory of bundling up in blankets on cold fall and winter nights at the back of his mind.
What do you mean? Adam asked, licking his lips as he remembered the smell and taste of hot cocoa.
How do you keep smiling? How do you stay so positive despite everything?
Adam made a non-committal sound to buy himself more time. He could have told Michael about how he was used to keeping up a happy front when times were tough. How he'd comforted his mom since he'd been about five years old, when he'd first noticed her despairing about letters from the bank. How he'd always smiled at her when he'd told her it was fine they didn't see much of each other due to her work schedule.
How he'd often cried in his room when she'd been out, always making sure she didn't see his break-downs.
All of that would have been true. But as he looked at the people already lining up for dinner, some of them smiling as they saw him, all of that faded into the background. Adam smiled back at them, and then smiled wider when he saw Kevin's obvious relief as he entered the kitchen.
“Man, good that you're here! Amanda should have been here an hour ago and mom needed to go solve an argument somewhere in the camp and-”
Adam listened calmly, then got to work handing out food as he sent Kevin to fetch Amanda. Kevin gave him a small, thankful smile before he ran outside.
“Don't run, you'll trip!” Adam called after him, and some people in line chuckled.
“What?” Adam asked them, grinning. “You know him, he will trip.”
“Yeah, it's just... you act like his dad sometimes, but aren't you the same age?” Jerry asked.
Adam shrugged. He'd been born a few years before Kevin, but as far as 'time spent on Earth' went, Jerry was probably right.
“I feel older,” he just said.
“How old?” Jenny, Jerry's daughter, questioned. She was six years old herself.
“Hm, let's see,” Adam said as he poured stew into bowls. “I feel at least... twenty-one years old.” Technically, he was still nineteen.
Jenny gasped. “That's so old!”
“Right?” Adam grinned while Jerry shook his head in amusement.
“Thanks,” he said when Adam handed him two bowls. “Come on, Jenny, let's leave this old man to his work.”
As Jenny trailed after him out of the cabin, Adam heard her ask: “How old are you, daddy?”
Adam's face was starting to hurt from smiling, but he couldn't stop.
This is how I can stay positive, he said in his head.
Silly jokes?
No. I mean, yeah. But just... the people here. Everyone has their bad days, of course, but the people are the ones who keep me going. Adam kept giving out food as he spoke to Michael. That includes you, you know.
Me? Michael sounded surprised.
Yeah. You make me laugh. And you're... you know, you're here.
Well, I can't exactly help being here.
No, I mean... You're here for me. Or whatever. Adam blushed and hoped that people would blame it on the warmth in the kitchen.
Well. Michael sounded equally flustered. Um. Sure.
Huh. Adam had never thought he'd get an archangel all embarrassed.
