#also i'd love angelfish as a shipname but the tag is full of well. fish

[actual-changeling]

bear with me here but i think michael would actually be quite a nice person if they were alone with someone they're not in a power struggle with.

we see what heaven is like, the higher your position, the more influence and power you have over the other angels, archangels included, and being a low ranking angel fucking sucks.

there is michael and uriel hashing it out over gabriel's position and they never STOP doing that, every single time we see them they're still competing to see which one will take the empty throne/have the most to say. it's michael bringing up being duty officer, it's uriel being the one to turn off the alarm with that smug little look and voice, it's the entire scene with the match box - all of it.

gabriel has no one to fight for power and he makes the others feel it. especially his arrogant, almost mocking "you can ask but i don't have to answer". the fact that they all let him go and only belatedly are like "fuck me he doesn't have a desk".

and then how absolutely terrified they all are when they realize who the metatron is. did we do something wrong and suddenly all power struggles with each other fall away because holy shit he can hurt us in a way we cannot (and never would) hurt each other.

i think an interesting little tidbit is also michael's behaviour when they bring the holy water to hell for the trial in season 1. that aura of smug superiority to defend their status and be the person with the most power in the entirety of hell in that moment.

all of this does have a point, and we're getting to it now.

get michael and dagon alone in a room, and, after the initial awkwardness and once they realize there's no reason to play tug of war with power, i am certain they'd bond. angels are lonely, and dagon honestly seems like fun (their fake vomiting gets me every time), and give michael the room to just relax for a fucking second and a person to catch them, and they will.

we see it happen with crowley and aziraphale, we see it with gabriel and beez, even with muriel in their initial conversation in the bookshop.

dagon and michael having somewhat secret meetings because their companies are a fucking mess, and it's nice to share the responsibility with someone, to not have to keep up a mask. a few meetings in, michael's had a horrible day, and right before they leave for heaven, they hesitate.

it's a i don't wanna go back and it's nicer here with you and i'm exhausted and it scares the shit out of them. but there's that moment during which they just look at each other, and dagon is a demon, they're not supposed to feel any good feelings, let alone love or care, yet they reach out and squeeze michael's hand, and they're both so shocked they let it pass without a word.

then michael spreads their wings, dagon mutters "fucking show off" because it isn't actually necessary, and with one last thankful little smile, they're off.

(somewhere in heaven, the metatron gets a sudden headache.)

(somewhere in... somewhere, god smiles)