Dies Irae (2/5)
Sep. 3rd, 2011 02:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cashayChapter 3
When he had finally been able to pull himself back together, Chuck had cleaned Michael's wound. He had fumbled a lot, dropping the washcloth about four times and getting a new one before Lucifer had enough of him being that pathetic and had taken over the task of cleaning and bandaging Michael's wound. He had been surprisingly tender and careful. Chuck was a bit ashamed to admit that an archangel that had just recently been turned human could take care of wounds the human way better than he did.
All the caring had been gone as soon as the task at hand had been finished. Lucifer had returned to his place at the window, starring into the street, which really was creepy. For a useless minute, Chuck tried to make small talk with Michael but while he still fumbled with the right words, the wounded archangel – no human – just dozed off.
He kept watching the black haired man who just looked so peaceful and beautiful in his sleep. A small smile curved his lips and he raised his right hand to touch him, even he didn't really know why he felt that sudden urge. But before his hand could make contact with the soft looking skin of his cheek strong fingers gripped his wrist, squeezing painfully tight.
When Chuck looked up, panicked, he found himself face to face with a pissed looking Lucifer. The former archangel actually growled at him, baring teeth and all. He looked like he was ready to rip Chuck into little pieces with his bare hands. Roughly he pushed Chuck down so the Prophet was flat on his back, starring up like a deer caught in the headlights.
“You will not<> touch Michael,” he hissed and if Chuck wouldn't know better he would have said Lucifer was actually jealous and well – possessive, which was just ridiculous. Right? “You understand, human?”
Chuck nodded rapidly, his heart beating much to fast while breathing was shallow; he had to look like a frightened rabbit... “You better have.” With that Lucifer decided to ignore him again, which would've made Chuck angry if he wasn't so fucking scared.
He scrambled to his feet as fast as possible, practically fleeing the room and ending up in the kitchen where he fumbled for a bottle of whiskey. He nearly dropped it before getting it to his lips and downing quite a few big gulps. Fuck! He really hoped he had just been imagining that otherwise the Devil had the hots for the biggest Archangel up in heaven. And he was caught in the middle. Oh fuck. Oh fuck!
After a severe round of panicking, including drowning half of the bottle, Chuck decided it was time to get the two whatever they were in his living room something to eat and drink before they just died out there. Not that he was opposed to that in general...
After nearly burning down the kitchen – three times – Chuck actually managed a decent breakfast/lunch/dinner – how the hell was he supposed to know the time? He guessed it was early noon. But he was too drunk to tell the time by looking at the clock and not drunk enough for the clock to start talking to him yet.
So he made what felt right for him and that was some weird combination of dinner and breakfast. Maybe he should've waited for himself to sober up before he attempted to cook but a very insistent part of his drunk mind had told him they could've actually died by then, starved to death!
In the end he had made fried egg, something that was not bacon but rather looked like chicken wings that did taste like bacon, some bread and a few tomatoes. Great, now he had nothing left aside from the stuff in the cans and he really only wanted to eat that if one of the many possible Apocalypses started and he needed to hide under his bed.
That meant he would have to go for groceries with two weird guys who'd probably beat each other to death right in the middle of the shop. Even Chuck's drunken mind couldn't find anything good in that. Well despite the fact that they'd be dead! But with his luck he'd die a rather agonizing death because of that stupid bond thing.
He wasn't actually sobered up enough to balance the tray with the food and some water on it over into the living room but he was too drunk to care about that fact or form a sentence to ask for help. So he just got the tray up himself and by some miracle got it into the living room without loosing any of it's content
Instead he pushed some books and a stack of paper off the little table in front of the sofa causing quite some noise. A drunken and somehow proud Chuck was watched by a sleepy Michael and a scowling Lucifer as they waited for the explanation that probably would take some time, he was drunk after all.
“Oh great, the monkey forgot how to speak now!” Lucifer leered, turning around only to be stopped by Chuck protesting, his voice heavy with drunken slur.
“I... haven't!” He looked satisfied by his success and actually sent a beaming smile in Michael's direction. He's much nicer anyway.
“Chuck,” the black haired man asked him patiently, “what is this for?” He gestured toward the food the Prophet had prepared.
“You needa eat! And drink! Otherwise yo gon... gonnaaaaa die!” Lucifer sighs exasperatedly, already turning back towards the window, not caring what a drunken Prophet had to say. Michael was of a different opinion though; he tilted his head, staring at Chuck with a blank expression.
After moments of silence he turned around, looking at Lucifer's back. “He's right. We're stuck in human form now so we need to drink, eat and all that or we are gonna die.” Chuck nodded his head to show that this was exactly what he meant. But that was a bad idea since his head started to spin and suddenly he found himself face down on the floor.
He wasn't sure if he was just imagining the muffled laughter from above or if it was really there. The floor really wasn't that bad and hey; there under the sofa was the book he had searched for. Before he could contemplate if he should get it out now and use it as a cushion for his throbbing head he was hauled back to his feet and onto the sofa.
At first Chuck wasn't happy, his head protesting but after a minute or so he realized that the sofa was in fact more comfortable than the floor. He looked up when he felt the sofa dip to find Michael had sat back down actually eating the food he made in his drunken haze. Hopefully he hadn't made anything poisonous...
When he managed to turn his head enough to look at the table he noticed the stuff he had made for Lucifer was also gone and his lips curved in a pleased smile. Chuck started to roll around on the couch, trying to find a position that was actually comfortable – especially for his head. Suddenly he felt himself being pulled up and before he knew what was happening his head landed in Michael's lap.
The older being didn't even look at Chuck but somewhere in the distance, he started to brush his hands through Chuck's hair, soothing the ache in his skull. At first Chuck wanted to protest, remembering Lucifer's threat vividly even while drunk but the hand felt so good. It was so soothing and warm, and such an intimate action Chuck couldn't bring himself to pull away.
He missed that kind of affection and just one moment couldn't hurt right? Just one...
~*~
Chuck woke up later, alone on the couch and with a hammering headache that made him groan and grip his skull. God he should know better by now than to get drunk on an empty stomach just because someone scared him. He was a Prophet, he had visions of scary things all the goddamn time and they came true as he knew now.
He was surprised to find that he was covered by a soft blanket that he was sure normally lay on his bed. But it felt so nice he couldn't bring himself to care at all. He could've drifted off to sleep again even with the headache and the slight nausea if it wasn't for the screamed conversation that came from his kitchen now.
Apparently Lucifer and Michael had at least been nice enough to kill each other in another room. Chuck really wanted to go back to sleep but the screaming was really loud and he was worried the neighbors would call the police or something. Plus it was apparently a fight about him.
“Getting all cozy with the disgusting human, really, Michael?” Lucifer was the calmer one of the two, his voice barely raised but the tone alone made it unable to not hear what he said or get it wrong.
Michael on the other one, really seemed to have lost his temper and was outright yelling at Lucifer. Chuck could just imagine how his hands were made into fists and he paced through the room, his angry glare fixed on Lucifer the whole time, just like he had done half of the day already. “I don't get your problem Lucifer! We're stuck here. We're humans ourselves now!”
Lucifer's dark chuckle made Chuck shiver and reminded him of Lucifer's earlier threat. Fuck this guy really could be scary. “You're awfully fast to get all homey. Don't you want to get back to Heaven? Run the show in Dad's absence? But maybe Dad doesn't want you anymore, maybe He has...”
That's the moment Michael decides to storm out of the kitchen, a hurt look on his face and if he wouldn't know better, Chuck would've thought he saw tears there too. Lucifer followed, stopping in the door of the kitchen though and watching as Michael ran up the stairs.
Chuck was surprised to see sorrow on his face for a moment mixed with longing and guilt. He had been sure Lucifer would be pleased to make Michael that angry and hurt but apparently he had been wrong.
But before he could think about why the reasons for those emotions, the Devil had turned to him and all the pain was gone, replaced by a burning anger that made Chuck want to vanish. Fuck! He was sure as soon as Lucifer got his powers back he would torture him – a lot.
The angry man stalked closer coming to a halt just centimeters in front of the sofa. He grabbed Chuck by the collar of his shirt and yanked him up painfully, making the Prophet yelp and try to scramble to his feet so he could breath again. But Lucifer wouldn't have that, making sure to hold him a few feet above the ground. How the hell was he doing that? He was just a human but still so fucking strong! That wasn't fair.
“I told you not to touch him again,” the graceless angel growled quietly, his fist tightening in Chuck's collar. The Prophet wouldn't have known what to reply even if he wasn't gasping for breath. “Don't do it ever again or I will make you pay.”
Chuck nodded frantically, he was getting dizzy and could hear his heart pound in his head. He probably would have promised anything if he just got some air. With a final, hate-filled look Lucifer opened his hand, letting Chuck back down to the ground.
The Prophet was really enjoying the air when Lucifer grabbed his shoulder and forced him to look at him. “Make sure Michael is okay,” he growled before turning around and vanishing back in the kitchen.
Dumbstruck, Chuck just stood there for a moment, enjoying the fresh air but most of all not able to wrap his head around the last sentence just said to him. Lucifer threatened him to not touch Michael but then he told him to make sure he is okay?
What the fuck was going on with the Devil? He had made Michael that mad in the first place and now he was concerned about him. To say it was weird was an understatement. But since he didn't want to make Lucifer even angrier and he was worried about Michael too, Chuck quickly escaped up the stairs just like Michael had done a few minutes ago.
He was still rubbing his throat warily when he stood upstairs. All of this was really weird, even weirder than the first moment he had seen the two archangels on the floor of his living room. He had always thought that Lucifer and Michael just hated each other but apparently their relationship was even more fucked up then he had thought.
Chuck looked around, until he looked at the closed door to his bedroom. He was pretty sure it had been open the last time he could remember being up here. Slowly he walked a few steps closer to the door, hesitating for a moment before he knocked.
There was no sound from inside and he was ready to not push his luck with Michael, who had been rather nice to him the whole time but just let him be. That was until he tuned to the stairs and saw Lucifer standing at the end of them, his look clearly indicating that he would not let him get down there without something bad happening.
For a moment Chuck weighed his options and came to the conclusion that he really should go in there and somehow deal with Michael now. His lungs really weren't keen to get air denied again.
Hesitantly, Chuck opened the door, looking inside to find Michael lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He didn't give any indication that he had noticed Chuck, and the Prophet contemplated if the former archangel was really not noticing him or if he was ignoring him on purpose.
Uneasy, he fidgetted after closing the door, his hand shaking slightly as he just stood there and didn't know what to do. Should he approach Michael or would the angel be angry that he had disturbed him? God, why did he have to be so socially awkward?
“Um... M... Michael?” he asked reluctantly, while his eyes found real interest in his dirty carpet. He heard shuffling from the bed and then the creaking sound it always made when you sat up.
“Chuck?” Michael's soft voice inquired and the Prophet blushed slightly as he heard sadness and the same kind of longing that had been in Lucifer's voice. He felt like he was intruding in something personal.
“Lucifer... asked me to make sure you're okay.” When the words were out of his mouth he nearly choked only now realizing that he was probably not supposed to say that. Fuck. If he found out, Chuck was sure he would be a very dead man indeed.
“Lucifer?” The disbelief in Michael's voice was as strong as the anger and Chuck really wanted to kick himself for being that stupid. He didn't know what to do and couldn't decide if coming closer, fleeing the room or staying was going to be the best option.
Even though he didn't really move (or at least didn't noticed if he did) Chuck managed to stumble and nearly fall on his face only to be caught by Michael's strong arms. “Um I'm sorry,” he stammered, blushing because God, why did he have to be so awkward?
“Are you okay?” Michael inquired, his brown eyes honestly puzzled as he watched Chuck scrambling to his feet. The Prophet nodded nearly frantically which prompted Michael to smile at him and squeeze his arm reassuringly.
Seriously, why was this guy so much more comfortable in his skin than Chuck was? He wasn't even supposed to be in this body; it wasn't actually his. But there were more pressing matters on hand then him being clumsy. After all it had been like this all his life so there was nothing new and he should have gotten used to it by now. It wasn't hard to tell that he hadn't really. The visions and all that crazy Apocalypse stuff hadn't made it any better.
“I'm not just here because of Lucifer,” he mumbled, scratching the back of his skull uncomfortably. “I did want to check on you myself.” Michael flinched again as Chuck spoke the name of his long lost brother and archenemy but he didn't say anything more, just flopped down onto his back again and closed his eyes.
Chuck hesitated for a moment and fumbled before finally sitting down next to Michael unsure of what to do. He had never been that good at comforting people and hell, how did you comfort a being that much older than you were?
The minutes ticked slowly and the silence stretched before finally Chuck couldn't take it any more and turned around to sit on the bed cross-legged, looking down at the black haired man who was looking up at the ceiling. “So are you?”
It took Michael agonizingly long to react – again – but finally the older being turned his head and looked at him. “Am I what?” he asked slowly, eyes already drifting back to the ceiling, even though Chuck was sure he was looking at something that lay beyond those four walls of his room.
“Are you okay?” Chuck felt stupid even as he asked the question. It was obvious that Michael wasn't okay and hell, no one in his situation would have been. But what was he supposed to say? Michael was a being so old it made Chuck's head spin to even think about it – even though that might just be the rest of the alcohol in his bloodstream – he surely didn't want to be comforted by someone who hadn't even seen a fraction of what he had.
“No, I am not okay,” Michael answered, finally a sad smile curving up his lips. His eyes searched for Chuck and instead of looking back to the ceiling – and the world beyond – he focused his attention on Chuck.
Chuck blushed, a bit taken aback by the sad smile but most of all Michael's honesty. Humans tended to lie about stuff like that more, especially if they barely knew you and with Chuck, there were actually only people who barely knew him. "I know," he mumbled, a bit ashamed about his own clumsiness regarding feelings.
Silence fell again but this time it was even more uncomfortable since Michael was watching him intensely instead of just looking somewhere else. Chuck really didn't know what to say, he was nervous as hell and didn't feel like he was the right one being up here. The only one who would've done a worse job would have been Lucifer - and maybe the Winchesters.
"Look..." he finally said, hands twisting nervously in his lap. "I really wanna make you feel better... but I kinda suck at stuff like this." Oh God and how he sucked, this had to be the worst attempt at comforting someone in the history of ever! Even Michael had to know that this was crap since he actually chuckled when Chuck finished.
"You seem even more inept in human costumes than I am," he answered with a smile that wasn't all that sad anymore, and Chuck was glad that his stupid clumsiness had at least made him cheer up a bit. And if only because he acted like an idiot. He just shrugged with a big blush, not sure what to answer as he tried to avoid the intense look Michael was giving him by staring at the floor again.
Wow his carpet really needed to be cleaned. But before he could observe his carpet more intensely and start to identify the dubious patches, he felt a strong hand on his arm. He looked up sharply, nearly straining his neck and found himself face to face with Michael. "I do appreciate your efforts."
Great efforts, he couldn't even comfort someone, how pathetic was he? But before Michael could ask him to leave he remembered something and a huge grin lit up his face. "I know something that'll cheer you up! Comfort Food!"
Michael's face made clear that the angel was sure he had gone crazy but Chuck was already standing up. "I hope you don't intend to cook again. It looked rather dangerous last time." Chuck had to stop himself from laughing at that, it got increasingly hard to ignore how adorable Michael was half of the time.
"No, I'm gonna give you chocolate and sweet stuff." He began to search through his drawers while curiosity took the place of the concern on Michael's face. He was sure he had some up here or at least Skittles or something.
"Chocolate?" Michael enquired in all his seriousness, like that was something you could kill with.
Chuck didn't bother to answer him, he was too busy digging up all the sweets he had brought here mostly while being drunk and put somewhere. After five minutes of searching he found two chocolate bars, one pack of Skittles and two packs of gummy bears – of which one needed to go into the trash since the gummy bears in it had taken on a very suspicious color.
The other ones were good to eat though, Chuck had been careful to check the expiration date. With the findings of his search he went back to the bed, dumping all of them in his lap. "This is comfort food. It makes you happy – and fat if you eat too much all the time."
Michael looked at it warily, not even inclined to try one until Chuck opened up one of the chocolate bars and forced himself to be bold enough to just shove it into Michael's hands. "C'mon try it. It really helps." Michael still looked suspicious but after Chuck tried his best impression of a kicked puppy the former archangel finally gave in.
He took a hesitant bite, chewing carefully. Chuck was watching him nervously, hoping that he wasn't going to hate it. But the huge grin that spread over Michael's face after he swallowed was a clear sign he didn't. The black-haired man took another bite; this time much larger and chewed with enough enthusiasm to make Chuck worry he would bite off his tongue.
After the second bite Michael seemed to practically hum with energy. It was clear that he enjoyed the chocolate, the soft humming and mewling noises he made while eating showed that clear enough but if Chuck would have had any doubts Michael's face showed it clear enough. God he looked like he was about to have an orgasm! This shouldn't turn Chuck on so much.
Michael worked his way through half of the chocolate bar before speaking with Chuck again. "Thank you!" If he sounded enthusiastic it was nothing to the fact that Chuck had an armful of happy, humming angel-turned-human a second later. Michael was squeezing him close and even though Chuck was well aware that Lucifer had told him not to do this he found himself hugging back. It felt too good not too.
"That makes me feel better too," Michael announced after a while, nuzzling his face against Chuck's throat. The Prophet blushed as he had a hard time pushing back the groan that wanted to make it's way out of his throat. "Can we do that too?"
Chuck hesitated, remembering Lucifer's threat but damn it felt so good and Michael was asking so innocently and hopeful. How was he supposed to say no to that huh? "Sure."
Chapter 4
But what was far worse than trying to teach an angel about the dangers of calories, high blood sugar and diabetes was how clingy Michael had gotten. After that first hug up in Chuck's room he kept hugging him out of nowhere, just throwing himself at Chuck and not letting go.
Chuck found himself with a lap- or armful of Michael half the day while Lucifer got increasingly more aggressive. Chuck had tried to push Michael off at the beginning, he really had. But the ex-archangel had just kept making those puppy dog eyes at him and following him through the house like a kicked puppy until Chuck finally caved and hugged him.
The worst thing all week though had been grocery shopping.
Chuck had been grateful he had a car and wasn't forced to use the public transports with those two but being in the shop alone had proved to be a horror all of itself. Michael just wouldn't have it that he couldn't hug Chuck while they were out of the house. He refused to even so much as think about the – in his words – weird and stupid social norm that you just didn't randomly threw yourself at people you were just friends with within stores and snuggled them to death.
On the other hand Lucifer was even angrier and more aggressive than normal, which Chuck hadn't believed possible. Especially when Michael gave in to his urge to hug Chuck; Lucifer seemed to go and search for someone to snarl at. Chuck had to extract himself more than once and drag a growling Lucifer away from the poor person he seemed ready to physically attack.
Not that he was good at it since Lucifer was much bigger and stronger than him but most of the times him touching Lucifer was enough to make the angel turn around and snarl at him like he had done something wrong. Regarding Lucifer, Michael was no help either. First of all he pouted and tried to keep Chuck for himself whenever the Prophet tried to get away from the black-haired man to try and keep Lucifer from getting himself thrown into jail and secondly he kept sneaking all kind of sweets into their cart.
Chuck had to put them all back afterwards which led to a whining and pleading Michael, which in turn made Lucifer angry and aggressive again. He really felt like he had to deal with two children here. They sure as hell didn't act like the older-than-time beings they always claimed to be.
After that horrible shopping tour Chuck swore himself to never ever go shopping with those two again, no matter the pain, he would rather go there alone and suffer through physical pain than go through that ever again. It was his personal hell.
~*~
To his surprise, Lucifer had found an interest in cooking. He hadn't asked Chuck for help once – which was a good thing since Chuck sucked at cooking, at least if it wasn't something easy. Instead, Lucifer had just grabbed the one cookbook Chuck owned and started to try out the meals in there. At first his cooking had been disastrous but he improved over the weeks and in the end Chuck bought him three new cookbooks online and handed them to him without a comment. Things between them improved after that.
Things between Michael and Lucifer didn't though. They fought at least once a day and the rest of the time they tried not to interact too much. Since Lucifer had decided the kitchen was his realm; Michael had claimed the small garden behind Chuck's house as his own.
Chuck on the other hand had tried to start writing again, the only problem was, that since the visions stopped after the Apocalypse he didn't really have anything to write. So instead he tried his hand on translation - or actually rather asked Michael and Lucifer to translate for him and he sold what they wrote down for him in an order. It wasn't really what he liked since he actually loved writing but somewhere the money needed to come from to feed two hungry former archangels.
Especially since after their first aversion to everything human they had started to rather enjoy food even though they still resented alcohol – which was probably the reason Chuck had been sober since that first time after Lucifer's threat. That and the fact that they had just thrown out all his alcohol one morning when he was still sleeping.
After he had finished being angry at them for that, he wondered how they had managed to work together long enough to actually achieve that and not strangle each other in the process.
The horrible incident in the grocery store had made Chuck start to go shopping for groceries on the Internet, something he should have started way earlier. Saved him from awkward contact with humans. Not that he hadn't had more than enough contact already.
Michael kept snuggling with him whenever he felt like it and Chuck learned that the childlike behavior was just Michael's way to cover up how much he hurt and was confused. He showed that sensitive and old side of him when he was in the garden, interacting with nature, or when he was pressed up close to Chuck, searching for something to comfort him.
Chuck's garden really started to blossom under Michael's careful hands and more than once Chuck watched him from the window talking quietly to a bird that sat on his hand, their eyes looked like the bird was aware just who Michael really was.
Even Lucifer didn't try to destroy Michael's garden, despite him stealing Michael's sweets whenever he got a hold of them. Some day while passing by the kitchen, Chuck saw him staring out into the distance of the sky or watching Michael in his garden. In those moments when Lucifer wasn't aware that he was being watched there was so much sorrow and pain edged in the other man's features, so much longing and loneliness that all Chuck wanted to do was to hug the Devil, like Michael always hugged him.
But he never did, too afraid and too insecure. Instead he tried to cheer Lucifer up with little gestures. A new spice, a new cooking utensil or something new popping up on his grocery list. He had tried chocolate too, but Lucifer hadn't even looked at it twice and in the end Michael had eaten it.
Finding out what to watch with the two angels had been more weird than most of the things they had done before. Interestingly not even Lucifer really liked horror movies. He always acted like he did but Chuck noticed how shaken up he always was afterwards, so he had started to announce he hated those movies and was not going to watch them anymore.
Lucifer had started a fight over it with him but it had been harmless and it was evident – at least for Chuck – that his heart wasn't in it. After that he found out that both of them liked everything that had angels, demons or other supernatural beings in it. Mostly because they liked to laugh about the writer's stupidity and lack of knowledge.
Science Fiction was something that fascinated both of them and kept them captivated for hours on end. Something about all the technical stuff and the fact that this was how humans imagined their future captivated them.
Michael loved romance movies and developed a really scary adoration for soaps. Whenever Michael was watching one of those Lucifer left the room but only after he yelled at Michael – and Chuck if he was present – for at least ten minutes. It was obvious he resented them even more than the horror movies.
Comedies were something neither of them could get a hang on but they started to watch quite a bunch of different series. House, Doctor Who, Hawaii Five-0, Eureka, Big Bang Theory – which was the only comical thing on TV they didn't hate – Leverage, Chuck, Dead Like Me and whatever struck their fancy that evening.
Half of the time Chuck wasn't even watching with them but more often than not he found them engaged in deep discussion about characters and plots of one of their many shows before or after they settled down for their evening entertainment.
It became something like a ritual and it was the only time the two former archangels didn't end up fighting over meaningless things. They were still weary and it was obvious that they were both aware that it was a fragile thing they were building but it was a start.
Chapter 5
The moment he sat down between them he had a lapful of Michael, who apparently didn't seem to consider that for one, he was heavy and two, he was big, which made Chuck unable to see anything besides Michael's back.
“Michael...” he complained. “Please get down.” The cuddle-monster the ex-archangel had turned into just pressed closer. Lucifer next to him growled and Chuck already saw the evening go down the drain. That really wasn't what he had wanted.
But right before Lucifer got up he did the only thing he could think of after two month of tension and hidden jealousy between the two. He pulled all his strength together and shoved Michael off himself right into Lucifer's lap.
There were two yelps and after that uneasy tension but neither of them moved, so Chuck guessed it was a good thing. He risked a few quick glances and found Michael slowly relaxing against his younger brother while Lucifer finally put his arms around him, pulling him closer.
After a bit of shuffling they seemed to be comfortable, the tension gone replaced by peace as they snuggled together.
To be honest Chuck felt sad about it. He was happy that both of them had started to sort out the weird attraction thing that was going on between them – it was obvious there were deep feelings involved – but he also felt left out.
Secretly he had been sure all the time that it hadn't been him Michael had wanted to be hugging but Lucifer. He had denied it all the time, enjoying the affection even though he had complained about it out of good measure. But now there was no denying anymore; Lucifer would be the receiver of all that weird hugging now.
He was ready to just get up and call it an early night. He wanted to avoid thinking too much, especially about the weird jealousness that crept up in him as he watched the other two out of the corner of his eyes.
When he stood up though a hand grabbed his wrist, preventing him from going upstairs. He turned around and found it actually wasn't Michael's hand but Lucifer's. He would've never thought the older being would want to have him here but it really was him.
He looked down at the two ex-archangels curled up on the couch. The raw look on both of their faces made his heart ache, and when Lucifer tugged on his arm, he returned to the couch without another word, too afraid that he could hurt them. They laid themselves bare for him and he didn't even know why but they did it anyway.
The open, pained expression on their faces had something so vulnerable; Chuck was afraid they'd break if he did the wrong thing.
Carefully he sat down in the small space between Lucifer and the armrest, one of his legs hooked over Lucifer's right one. One arm of the Devil wound itself around him, pulling him even closer and soon Michael was touching him too, sliding his arm around his front to grab the back of his shirt.
He found himself relaxing against Lucifer's shoulder, his head lying against the other man's chest. When he opened his eyes he found Michael's face just inches away, tugged safely under Lucifer's chin.
It was awkward as hell and it was clumsy. All of them felt so vulnerable it nearly hurt and none of them knew what they were doing or what this meant. But despite all that it felt good and it felt safe. It felt like family. It felt like home.
~*~
When Chuck woke up he was still on the sofa with the two angels. They had somehow managed to fall asleep during the TV show – or at least Chuck had. The other two had apparently at least been awake long enough to get them into a position you could sleep in.
Chuck was startled as he noticed that he was lying on top of Lucifer, his head safely tucked under the ex-archangels chin. Half on top of him was Michael, hugging him tightly while his face rested only a few inches away from his on top of Lucifer's chest. Their legs were intertwined and all of that was so incredibly intimate; Chuck felt the sudden urge to run away and hide.
But as he started to stir both Michael's and Lucifer's arms tightened around him, holding him in place. Michael was actually snuggling closer, pressing his nose against Chuck's all of a sudden. A sharp intake of breath followed and the Prophet had to struggle hard with himself not to do something stupid.
Michael's lips were so close, he just needed to lean in a few more centimeters and he could kiss him. No, he didn't want to kiss him. Right? But it had been so long since he had really kissed someone and it felt so good here being held like this. It would have been so easy... only that he didn't want it anyway.
But he did want it. He did want to kiss Michael and find out if he tasted like the chocolate he ate all the time. And he wanted to kiss Lucifer too, which was totally weird but he did. He didn't know why and frankly it freaked him out but he did!
Chuck groaned desperately and tried again to somehow disentangle himself from this mass of arms and legs but his two housemates still wouldn't let him. Lucifer actually growled at him and Michael made that little whining noise he did when he really wanted to have something.
With a deep sigh Chuck gave up on the futile attempt to get out of this awkward, weird and somehow good, cuddling thing that was going on here. It took him some time to relax back against Lucifer's chest but eventually he did it. He even gave into his cravings and pressed a tiny bit closer to Michael.
That earned him some weird reactions, especially Lucifer who made that deep rumbling sound in his chest that Chuck could only interpret as satisfaction, while Michael nuzzled his nose against Chuck's, smiling.
But that wasn't the only way they showed him that they were satisfied that he stayed. Lucifer started to stroke his hand along Chuck's side in regular motions while Michael started to pet Chuck's hair. At first it was just weird but after some time Chuck found he enjoyed it largely. He relaxed into the caresses with a soft sigh and while his eyes drifted shut he was far too nervous to sleep.
Instead he hesitantly decided to return the favor. He moved his left arm and put it around Michael in a very slow gesture. Even slower and lighter were his first attempts at rubbing soothing circles on Michael's back. But after the black-haired man made that damn mewling sound again he got more confident and the rubbing got stronger.
Slowly he also started to softly stroke his finger over the point where Lucifer's shoulder met his throat. If the soft rumble was any indication, Lucifer really was enjoying it too.
Chuck really didn't know what to make of it. It was strange and awkward – at least for him – but it felt good too and after so long without this kind of affection he couldn't really bring himself to pull away. Not that Lucifer would have let him, but it was always nice to have at least an illusion of control. Especially with those two around.
A content sigh left him without him really realizing it. Lucifer chuckled softly and Michael just bumped their noses together again, which led to him blushing a very embarrassingly crimson color. Those two were going to be the death of him that was for sure. But for now the attention they gave him was just kinda nice.
After minutes of endless inner discussions, Chuck finally decided to just accept it for now and allow himself to feel good. It wasn't as if there was much he could do against it anyway. Not that he wanted to, he liked the way the two angels held him close. He just wasn't going to admit it, not even to himself. Never. It was only going to give them bad ideas and they had enough of those already.
Sometime in the middle of his inner debate to convince himself that he actually didn't like the cuddling all that much, Chuck managed to fall asleep again far too comfortable to stay awake. He was defying the point he had tried to make in the process. Yeah, he really wasn't all that great when it came to winning discussions with himself.
The next time he woke up he was alone in the couch. Though, unlike the other times he had woken up in that same place, he was carefully wrapped in a blanket and a pillow was under his head. He could only guess that the other two hadn't been comfortable that close anymore. He wasn't sure how he felt now in retrospect but somehow maybe, a little bit of him wished they were still here.
Only he didn't, he really really didn't... right? Well it was definitely nice of them to give him a blanket so that he wasn't cold. He wondered if it had been Michael who had done it, he was normally the one doing the nice things around the house. But with how strange Lucifer had behaved lately it could as well have been him.
Chuck decided not to think about it too much and even though he regretted getting up from the warm and somehow comfy couch, he didn't want to stay here and in the end look like he actually regretted that the two other man had already left. Because that really, really wasn't the case...
~*~
The rest of the day he managed to avoid Lucifer and Michael and definitely not because he was still confused about what had happened that last night but only because he was really busy. Not even he believed that but it had always been easier for him to lie to himself than actually facing the truth. It was embarrassing really but what was he supposed to do...
Thankfully Lucifer and Michael didn't seem to be all that prone on contact either and Chuck just hoped the intimate evening on the couch hadn't destroyed the improving relationship of the two. Or between him and both of them, even though he didn't want to think about how much he liked their presence. His house would feel empty if God ever decided to allow them to leave.
He had thought the evening would end like it normally did and with no series running today that the angels liked to watch it was bound to be a quiet one without much interaction. He had worked on one of the translations, correcting a few things here and there and mainly polishing their sometimes strange and somewhat rusty grammar.
As he finished a chapter he sighed and decided to call it a night, still too distracted by what had happened the evening before and the fact that he had no idea how he should react or even interact with Lucifer and Michael now.
What they had shared had been more than comfort between friends and it really was better not to think about it. But Chuck couldn't stop himself. He already felt himself hoping it would happen again but at the same time dreading it because something like this could only go wrong, there was no other way, really.
It had only been a few minutes since he crawled into his bed, his thoughts still tightly attached to how Lucifer and Michael's bodies had felt beneath him. He already missed that even though he really didn't feel like admitting it.
Admitting how good it had felt meant admitting how much he cared about the two men and how much he liked having them close. How much he had missed affection. But before he could get too depressed about the fact that that would probably be the only time he got to be close to someone for the next few years, he heard a sound at the door.
He listened closely, wondering if it was Michael or Lucifer who slept in the bed tonight. He had only one bed for guests and the two brothers had decided (in a rather loud fight and with Chuck trying to keep them from breaking things again) that each night someone else would sleep in the bed and the other person on the couch.
Chuck had been quite happy that they hadn't thought about including him and his room in this too since he was pretty sure he would have lost and slept on the couch for the rest of his life – or for however long God decided they needed to be stuck here with him.
But the person outside didn't go to the guest bedroom, instead the door of Chuck's room opened slowly to reveal a silhouette coming into the room. There was no light outside of his room and it was a dark night so Chuck wasn't sure who it was, or actually if it was just one of them. It wasn't, as he soon found out.
Silently, but without hesitation, two figures slipped into his bed, under the covers. He found himself surrounded by Lucifer and Michael, who pressed close to him, both winding their arms around him. It felt wonderful.
He relaxed back into the hold of Lucifer who pulled him against his chest so he was laying on his back, Chuck half on top of him while Michael draped himself over him. No words passed between them, instead there was an air of fragile trust and affection.
Chuck was aware of the fact that he should probably protest or at least have a freak out in his mind, but he felt far too comfortable with two warm bodies in his bed to do that. It was bound to go wrong, whatever 'it' actually was, but right now Chuck felt good and safe for the first time in a very long time and he wasn't going to destroy that just because it wasn't normal for three guys to sleep in a bed and snuggle. Normal hadn't been part of his life for a long time anyway. And for a change the lack of normal was actually nice.
The prophet found himself putting his arms around Michael as he turned his head slightly, pressing his cheek against Michael's. Lucifer behind him made that content rumbling sound and while Chuck wasn't sure what had prompted it he couldn't stop himself from smiling.
The smile didn't leave his face as he fell asleep, feeling safe between Michael and Lucifer.
~*~
Chuck had half hoped; half dreaded waking up alone the next morning. He really didn't want to face the fact that he had spent the night curled up with Lucifer and Michael again but he also didn't want to miss the warmth of two bodies close to his. Being as socially awkward as he was didn't give you much opportunity for human contact.
Which meant while he was grateful to still feel two warm bodies in bed with him he also wasn't sure how he should actually react to them. The prophet decided to simply stay still and act like he was still asleep. It was probably the best thing he could do to avoid the problem. Maybe like last time Lucifer and Michael would just leave.
But neither of them seemed too inclined on that right now if Chuck had to judge by the low chatter in a language that he didn't understand. It could be Enochian or Polish for all he knew. He remembered suffering through German while he had been in High School. The only things he remembered weren't suitable for anyone underage and he sure as hell hadn't learned them in school. Not that he had ever been able to use his hard learned vocabulary; he hadn't even left the state, never mind the country.
Somewhere along those thoughts Chuck had stopped being overly conscious about the two bodies that were pressed against him. He had to admit that whatever language they were speaking made him feel warm and content. Which itself would have freaked Chuck out if he hadn't been too close to sleep again already.
He was only dimly aware of the hand that was stroking through his hair and the one that was rubbing across his stomach. For a moment he contemplated whether he should say something about the fact that this wasn't appropriate for people who weren't even friends, but he was far too comfortable. Besides he would have to actually talk to them in that case.
In the end Chuck decided on going back to sleep. There were two reasons for that, one was that he was already half way there and the other was his silent hope that his problems would have literally gone away by the time he would wake up again.
