Uriel focused… His tail swayed behind him while his hands worked. His eyes gained a faint trace of joy, when he managed to mix the sauce perfectly with the slice of salmon. He let out a long sigh and contemplated the plate.

It had been a lot of days since he made a normal recipe by his standards. A lot of days had gone by since he cooked something decent. Alexis may have been eating, but he only accepted small things, which barely satiated his hunger. Fruit, mostly, and usually, he left them half bitten. It was not a good thing for his metabolism, even if his race could go on without a normal diet.

He kept trying to make Alexis eat normally again. Little by little, he was managing. They argued quite a bit…Well, they had silent arguments, because his angel still felt bitter. But these days, Alexis had complied and eaten more; he had not pushed the food away.

Even if quiet, his angel was slowly coming to terms. Things were not easy however; Alexis sometimes looked over his shoulder, or to him, with aversion. Sometimes, when he thought he was not looking at him.

There was one fact that had made a huge difference, something that had brought a slight trace of hope. Alexis had allowed him to try to help him walk, on occasion. He was tired of being trapped in his room. He knew, he only needed to see how he glared at the walls or ceiling to know he wished to walk again. His angel did not ask, nor demand… He simply let him near and give him a hand.

Uriel pushed those thoughts away. He took a deep breath, and then took the food from the counter carefully. He hoped Alexis would accept this food, because it was more than what he had been eating.

He headed towards the central area of the manor. He walked slowly through the corridors, towards the living room. He had left Alexis there, sitting in front of the fireplace. His wounds had almost healed, they were almost gone. However, the scars were still there, forever to stay. His wings were ripped brutally, and those wounds were deepened by claws. It was not nice to look at. He was broken, but he was recovering as much as he could. He had been able to walk somewhat these days; he was improving day by day.

But Alexis was bored. And he refused to acknowledge Uriel’s presence around him. He did not want to spend time like they did before, playing chess or simply chatting… Something that Uriel knew they wouldn’t do again. It left the angel with only one thing to do: ponder about his loss and melancholy.

Uriel opened the door of the living room, and then moved his mouth to speak. But instead of speaking, he blinked. He did not see the angel on the couch, where he had led him hours before. Alexis was sitting on the floor instead, closer to the fireplace. He had a long black cloth at his feet and on his lap. There were a lot of sewing tools around him. Uriel looked slowly at the open drawers in the room, from where the mess on the ground came. Then, he glanced at the window… and felt horror.

The curtains were gone. Well, there was something left of them. There were scissors near the window. There were some sliced strips of cloth that still hanged. It seemed that the angel had cut what he had been able to reach for.

Uriel’s claws twitched. The order freak in him screamed internally. Alexis knew he was there. He did not seem to care for how Uriel reacted to the mess. His demon raised his free claw, motioned to the chaos, lowered his claw again, stared mouth agape, glared, closed his mouth, let out a silent huff, growled, contained his growl, and then closed his eyes, in order to not scream.

The demon took a deep… calming breath. He did not allow himself to be angry. Not with the angel. He could not be angry with him. So he only asked, with a tone that tried to sound calm.

“…Alexis?”

A minute went by until he was given an answer: a simple lean of head, to indicate he acknowledged his call. He was listening while he worked with the cloth on his lap. For what, Uriel had no clue.

The demon raised an eyebrow tiredly, and spoke with self-taken patience.

“Why are the drapes cut?”

Alexis finally looked away from his lap, stopping sewing for a moment. Uriel watched attentively, without dropping the plate, while Alexis made a few motions with a hand. He pointed to the cloth, and then to his back.

“Thought it could be useful…”

Uriel did not seem to get it.

Alexis rolled his eyes, because Uriel left the plate on the table and then crossed his arms, to glare down at him without anger.

“Did you do it just to annoy me? I may deserve it, but my manor did nothing to you. That drape was decades old, if you just wanted to make me pay and-”

“It is funny to see you freak out for a simple cloth, but it was not my original intention.” Alexis’ voice dragged, tangling tiredly with his exasperation. “You have been in the kitchen for three hours. I was beginning to think you got locked in the pantry or something. I was bored; I could not call you-”

“You could have called, I would have heard you.”

Alexis pointed a finger up, and corrected himself with a monotone and cynical tone.

“I did not want to call you.” He had no second thoughts of showing his resentment… “I had an idea, and you were not around, so I just grabbed the first thing I found.”

Uriel let his tail drop to the floor, realizing that he could do nothing for the loss of the drapes. His angel simply looked away, and then continued to mess with the cloth on his lap, focused on cutting and sewing.

Alexis was ignoring him again. So curiosity and exasperation took the better of the demon. He asked again, with a deep frown.

“Why?”

Another painful minute went by, followed by a quiet answer.

“I’m making a cape.”

Alexis would have snorted, because Uriel was scratching one of his horns, baffled. He would have laughed, were not for the fact that he was too focused on his craft.

“Why the heck would you want…? I you were cold, you could have taken more appropriate clothes from the close-”

“Uriel… Why the fuck would I want a cape for?”

“…Warmth?”

Alexis sighed with exasperation while he rubbed his forehead with two fingers.

He wished that his demon had a brain as sharp as his pointy horns. Uriel just stood there awkwardly, not understanding. Not until he noticed how the fire in the room was still strong and warm.

“…” He tugged at his horn, completely lost. “I’m really sorry if you feel like you need to cover your scars even more. I could have given you a small coat; I have some. It would have been better than ruining-”

“Too light and tight.” Alexis finally looked at him. His eyes lacked any trace of anger; he was just tired with everything. “Uriel, my wings felt heavy most of the time, mainly when I let them drag along behind me. I have been looking around for a few days, when you were not looking. I have checked out blankets, clothes… Anything, really. I weighted everything I found, and the drapes… are quite heavy. Kind of almost like…”

It took him another minute to process his words. Alexis flinched a little when Uriel gasped, dashed and crouched at his side, in order to inspect the fabric. His tail began to sway wildly, and it almost hit them both.

“O-of course…! How did I not think of it?!”

Alexis blinked and stuttered when Uriel stole the half sewed fabric from his lap. He had no time to stop him before he stood and bolted for the door.

“Uriel?!” He outstretched a fist at him, and snarled when he tried to stand and stumbled. “Give that back! I was sewing it!”

The demon halted for a moment at the door; he leaned back to look at him and pointed an arm, with a firm huff.

“Not anymore! I have better materials around; just let me work with it! It will weight similarly, like your wings, don’t worry!” Uriel dashed out the room, and gave his ultimatum. “Eat!”

“The fuck-”

“Eat I said! And don’t dare cut more things!”

Alexis was left there, kneeling on the ground, jaw low in bafflement. He could only scowl and snarl, because he was unable to run and chase Uriel for his half made cape.

He had the idea of using that to feign weight on his back. Not Uriel.

He crossed his arms, and then stood slowly, to not fall. With nothing to do, his eyes trailed to the plate on the nearby table…

——————————————-

“I did not ask for a hood.”

Uriel sighed and shook his head. He just outstretched his hands closer towards the angel, to insist he took the cape he held. A dark cape, with a hood, made of more resistant and adequate materials, combined with the original drapes. It had multiple layers, sewn precisely and carefully.

“Just… J-just try it, dammit.”

He had not worked for a whole day on it for him to refuse to even look at it now…

Alexis raised a hand reluctantly; his fingers brushed the cloth, slowly. He had only planned to sew the fabric, to allow its edges to be tied up around his shoulders and neck. But Uriel had done more than that. He looked at the thread at the ends of two small edges on the collar, which allowed a better way to tie the cape around his shoulders. Originally, the fabric had a grim black color, but he could see that Uriel had added small details and more fabric, to make it better. The blackness of the cape was now of different tones and shades, it almost looked like an expensive one. He could only stare at the golden lining that had been sewed on the inner edges. If he covered his chest with the cape, it would look like…

“Was it really necessary?”

The demon grimaced, because Alexis’ voice sounded uncaring and cold. His violet eyes looked down to his claws, glancing sadly at the heart that the golden edges formed, if pulled together.

Alexis finally regretted his words when Uriel answered quietly, with what almost sounded like a cry.

“Your wings were beautiful… I know this won’t be the same.”

Uriel was going to leave the cape on the couch and leave the room. Until he felt how a hand grasped his. He leaned to look back, and felt confused when he saw Alexis there, holding his hand with a deep frown. His angel was looking at the floor, with a shameful glance. Even if he looked conflicted, he spoke firmly.

“It will do.”

Uriel did not move when his angel took the cape from his claws and threw it carefully over his shoulders. He watched while he tied it up; both saw how it hanged and almost touched his feet and floor. Alexis gave it a few tugs and patted it calmly, to consider its weight.

“It is not the same.” Uriel hurt visibly with those words, he looked away and began to fumble with his hands. Until Alexis surprised him with a sad chuckle. “But it’s better than nothing, I guess.”

Maybe if he pretended that he still had his wings… maybe he could fake with this.

Uriel felt … He did not know what kind of ache he felt when Alexis met his eyes. There was no trace of hate, disdain or bitterness, only sadness.

“Thanks, Uriel.”

“No. I had to.”

Neither of them said anything else for the rest of the day. But Uriel could not avoid smiling slightly, because Alexis began to try to pace with the new cape. With every hour that went by, the doubt and anxiety in his steps decreased. He was still not used to it, and he kept forgetting that the cloth would not move according to his steps. His wings had always moved subconsciously, with every move he made, leaning, curling and shifting with him. The cape just hanged, at the mercy of gravity.

But he would get used to it. With time.