#angel numbers / ten toes

[xothemedia]

Chris Brown | “Angel Numbers”

[sushiwrote]

𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐒 " 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋

𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐒/𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐎𝐄𝐒 " ☆ 𝟏𝟏:𝟏𝟏 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐑 !

6/10/24 — I am once again putting this team breezy tumblr shit on my back ( and I have no problem with it ) to bring you the first couple of ‘ 11:11 tour ‘ videos in Chris’s hashtag up here. This song personally always does so much for me mentally and I cannot wait to see it live ! Baby, the mic is on. — Video Credits [ xx ]

[stanforbreezy]

[dippedanddripped]

Chris Brown - Angel Numbers / Ten Toes (Official Video)

[my-chaos-radio]

Release: November 10, 2023

Lyrics:

I lost my way, somewhere in another galaxy ('xy)

Too much to take, these memories, end in tragedy ('gy)

And all of these places, all of these faces

I didn't wanna let you down (down)

And all these mistakes of mine, I can't replace it

I gotta move on somehow

Healing energy on me

Baby, all I really need's one thing

Healing energy on me

Baby, can you make a wish for me?

Healing energy on me

When it's 11:11, I need it

Healing energy on me

Baby, can you make a wish for me?

11:11, oh

11:11

When it's 11:11, I need it

Anxiety

Don't let the pressure get to your head

You know we play for keeps

Don't let it go over your head

Heavy stepper, I got too much weight on this

You can see the diamonds, don't complain on this (me)

We was hustling, you n- got no say on this (no)

I'm just being honest

I'm moving steady (shoot)

You can't buy success, ain't got no sale on it

You know that God did, he never gon' fail on us

Too much paper, got me thinking I'ma save all this

I know the opps want it, they love this

Two-tone, got the bussdown like woah (woah)

The streets crazy, they don't love me no more (oh)

Not one for pressure, but I'll bang for my bros (bros)

Walking in Giuseppe, I be ten on my toes

Welcome all the smoke (smoke, smoke, smoke, ski)

Mama, pray for me, so I won't fold (fold)

Walking ten toes

I be paranoid, but nobody knows (woah)

Anxiety

Don't let the pressure get to your head (head)

You know we play for keeps (for keeps)

Don't let it go over your head

Steady, moving onto greater (ghetto, ghetto)

Never thought that I'd be ready (ready)

She let me, I let her keep her things (keep)

She told me, "Why didn't you just fight for it?"

All these baddies, had too many (many)

I promised that I would have died for it

You just had to f- let me (let me)

Now I'm married to the game, I'm in that

No more chains, I'ma buy me some gold (woah)

Three babies, tryna make room for some more (ooh)

Life learning lessons 'cause you reap what you sow (grow)

Walking in Giuseppe, I be ten on my toes

You know I welcome all the smoke (smoke, smoke, smoke, ski)

Mama, pray for me, so I won't fold (fold)

Walking ten toes (ten toes)

I be stressing out, but nobody knows (yeah, yeah)

Anxiety (anxiety)

Don't let the pressure get to your head (don't let it get to your head)

You know we play for keeps (we play, we play, we play)

Don't let it go over your head (know welcome all the smoke)

Welcome all the smoke (welcome all the smoke, ooh)

Mama, pray for me, so I won't fold (fold)

Walking ten toes (ten toes)

I be paranoid, but nobody knows (yeah)

Anxiety (anxiety, yeah, oh)

Don't let the pressure get to your head (don't let it get to your head, don't let it)

You know we play for keeps (we play, we play, we play, play for keeps)

Don't let it go over your head

Songwriter:

Steady (ooh)

Oh-woah

Just fight for it

Christopher Maurice Brown / Brian Mitchell / Jamal Gaines / Ebenezer Marango / Juan Ramon Luis Melian / Ethan Mitchell Hayes / Lance Hunter

SongFacts:

"Angel Numbers / Ten Toes" is a song by American singer Chris Brown. It serves as the opening track to Brown's eleventh studio album, 11:11, released on November 10, 2023. Although it was not released as a single, the track became the album's highest-charting song in various countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, France and Switzerland.

“Angel Numbers / Ten Toes” is an R&B track that consists of two different parts. The first half of the song was described by Kayla Sandiford of Renommed for Sound as an "emotional, dreamlike acoustic introduction" in which Brown sought "healing through a desire for refuge from the pressures of mental health." Medium's Edward Bowser said that "the first half has an acoustic, almost intergalactic feel", with Brown taking up the 11:11 theme, while "Ten Toes" "ramps up the intensity" towards a more hip-hop influenced sound , while the pop singer “speaks openly about battling anxiety.” According to Billboard, the track's lyrics are about battling anxiety and depression.

[yvmoveon]

Anxiety. Don’t let it get to your head.

[plutoasteroids]

PAP/ Pac - Is this the year you meet your future spouse? Why or Why Not?

Top right to top left --- > Pile 1, Pile 2, Pile 3

Bottom Left to Bottom Right --- > Pile 4, Pile 5, Pile 6

This reading is allegedly for entertainment purposes only. I am not responsible for any choices made in relation to ANY of my readings!

This is just general if you want one specially for you and your energy, I have a paid readings list below!

Paid Readings List!

PILE 1

No, it's not the right time and there is till work that both you and your future spouse need to do before you both can meet and be together!

The biggest reason being money and career. There needs to be a change of career and a bigger sturdier income from both of you before that. Basically, you need to find the right career for you before it happens.

PILE 2

Congratulations you got a yes!

You have done all the necessary work and healing for you to be able to meet your future spouse. Both of you are at a place where you have done well for yourselves and it's time to let them into your life and it's time for you to enter their life.

PILE 3

Yes! Congrats to youuu!

You are in a position in life financially and emotionally to allow another person i9nt your life without feeling like you owe them anything and without feeling like you need to settle or reduce yourself for another person.

PILE 4

Unfortunately, it's a definite no for you guys.

There is still a lot of learning that needs to be done for you Pile 4. There is still a need of self-exploration, learning about yourself and trying out new things to figure out what's best for you and where your place lies in this weird world.

PILE 5

It's a no for you guys, sorry.

You need to go through another awakening. You still have another tough time ahead of you before you can meet your future spouse. There is a need for you to develop thicker skin and be tougher before you can meet your future spouse. There is a big decision you need to make that will lead to this tough time which will prove necessary for you.

PILE 6

Yes for you!

You have gone through a lot of tough situations, and you have grown from it and came out stronger than ever. You may not have had the best start at life maybe dealing with toxic family but it's time for you to build your own happy home.

[lxvvie]

On today's episode of Simps-R-Us: A Guy and his... pet(s), or You, Your Faves, and your fur/feathered/fin-babies:

Capt. John Price - Standing ten toes down on this: Price would have two small, cute dogs, one named Sir Peabody and the other named Lady Marie. You two spoil them something fierce and they have a pile of little doggy hats that match their beloved papa's... much to his chagrin.

Gaz - Gaz said he'd surprise you and surprise you he did. He came home with a cockatoo. A damn cockatoo. Jokes on him, though, because your bird baby absolutely loves to prank the shit out of Gaz, too, by mimicking your voice when you're away and making him jump. Jokes on both of you now, because Soap has taught him how to curse and that's all he does now, Scottish accent and all. You have a picture saved of the bird (named Buttercup) on top of Gaz's head.

Alex Keller - Has the most gremlin Donskoy (named Brunswick) to ever gremlin, complete with the wide stormy eyes, which is funny because Keller can sometimes make a face that's very much gremlin-esque and the two greatly resemble each other. Can usually be found making biscuits on Alex's head.

Soap - Has a Labrador named Whiskey that he absolutely adores. Whiskey has also put you two in the most adorable of love triangles where you don't know whose affection you're playfully fighting for on any given day. Also has a tendency to take Soap's socks and he has to chase him throughout the house. Well, he and Whiskey are chasing each other throughout the house just about constantly.

Ghost - You guys talked about it but he surprised you one day by bringing home a Belgian Mal puppers who didn't make the unit. His name? Pup. Pup Riley. And Pup Riley is a ball of energy. Bloody hell. He always assumes he's going for a walk whenever you two make ready to leave. He also won't let Simon leave without him and so Simon usually has to create a diversion just to walk out the front door. It's also not uncommon for Pup to jump on his Papa whenever he gets home, too. Oh, did we also talk about the fact that Simon has to fight with Pup for his side of the bed whenever he's home or that Pup wakes him up early in the damn morning to take him out for his first walk of the day?

Roach - Found a stray kitten and brought her home. Her name's Oatmeal. Oatmeal is now the chonkiest, cutest loaf (you send Roach various pictures of her Loafiness). You two also bought her a set of those pet buttons just for shits and giggles and Oatmeal's really caught on to them. She uses "Dad", "Mad", and "Food" a lot even though she stays fed lmao.

Keegan - To everyone's surprise (and his own), has a husky named Balto who ignores the concept of personal space, loves to put his paw right in the middle of Keegan's face, and has pissed on Keegan's boots more than once because Balto felt slighted (you had to go to the groomer's, buddy, you rolled in mud). You and Keegan have also lost count of the number of times you've had to carry Balto into the house because he refuses to come inside, especially when it’s cold.

Alejandro - You two adopted a senior dog named Mojo who is the most peaceful little angel. Can usually be found lying near yours or Alejo's feet as you're working or something of that nature.

Rudy - You two have this huge ass tank full of fish that run the gamut of the rainbow and you remember all their names. The brooding one is named Alejandro and his namesake was not amused lmao.

König - You two have a small but floofy cat. She's black with a grey undercoat that he calls his "little Prinzessin" and she always looks like she's in a constant state of surprise. Whenever she blinks or closes her eyes, she becomes a floofy void. Her Highness prefers to be carried like a baby, thank you very much.

Phillip Graves - You two are the proud parents of a Bulldog named Bubba who thinks he has his humans trained (spoiler alert: he kinda does). Bubba Graves makes your day with the way he silently judges his parents, throws a tantrum when he doesn't get more food or pets, and usually has Philip sigh facetiously and go, "Now, son, why can't you behave for your old man, huh?"

[stanforbreezy]

[billkaulitzwife]

The Outsiders Nowadays (in 2024).

Ponyboy (born 2010)

on playstation 24/7

“FIVE MORE MINUTES, DARREL.”

his username is smth stupid like ‘smokersleftlung’ or ‘mylittlep0ny’

“wya?” when ur at his door

vapes.

SORRY.

noah kahan lover

jeans, steel toe boots, camo shirt, neon orange jacket.

would try to get his friends to read

but gets called a dork :)

“Something in the Orange” on full blast while thinking of Cherry

posts horrendous .5s of himself on snap

typa guy to hold a fish on his instagram

favourite show is probably yellowstone

Johnny (born 2008)

loves open boxing the gang !

sad he has an xbox and not ps like the boys

HATES fortnite.

unironically says skibidi gyat

“hey dal, look at that furry over there.”

its just some kid.

foster care.

dallas would add him on snap and getting annoyed when he said “wyll”

has a stupid bow by his name

“johnny🎀”

like bro you are not coquette.

cries to wlw poetry.

snap user: “ooh_achurch” insta: “cadecade55”

used :3 once and never did it again.

watched friends and says “hes so me” whenever he sees ross.

Dallas (born 2007)

“wyll”

typa guy to yell GYATTT in public

barks at emos and furries

vapes in the school bathroom

racist.

would call you a slur for looking at him for more than a second.

mullet + perm combo

jumped a 7 year old and got on the news

male manipulator core

owns a husky named after himself

knife enthusiast.

screams at his dad for ten more minutes on the playstation

“do u send?”

no i do not thank you very much.

suicide boys. lil peep.

thinks he’s dean from supernatural

same username everywhere: “imnottexan”

fav show: big mouth

Adelaide (born 2010)

regina george but on a mental level

gatekeeper.

arsonist !

had a friend group with “bug” “kai” “arson” and “alex” in 2021 and nearly khs.

almost thought she was bi.

fought a girl in the locker room at school

takis, cookie monster pajama pants, latina makeup

SABRINA AND CHAPPELL LOVER, used to be a swiftie

sturniolo triplet fan (owns all of space camp)

buys clothes from shein

usernames: “addiethebaddie” “adelaidecurtis”

fav show wld be shameless

BEDROTTING.

grew up on spongebob and bubble guppies

writes poetry in her notes app

Darry (born 2004)

“live laugh love” sign somewhere in the house

“Doesn’t know how to text normally .”

(jkjk)

“PHONE ON THE TABLE WHEN YOU GET HOME.”

has a pinterest board full of pumpkins and dogs

invested in the kardashians

the therapist friend

facetimes the gang when he’s on lunch break

doesnt understand what skibidi is

ONLINE COLLEGE!!!

blasts dad rock when he drops off the twins at school

duct taped two-bit to the top of his car during freshman kill week

did the same to steve

class of ‘22

lowk eats up lana del rey

hates twitter and instagram

username: “darrel_curtis”

believes in angel numbers (me too king)

has a picture of him holding a fish on his instagram to ‘attract the females’

Sodapop (born 2008)

boycott

belittle

boyboss

owned wizz for less than a day

trolled little kids on roblox with steve

saw too many… things on omegle.

scrolls on tiktok for hours.

usernames: “thispxssytasteslikepepsi” “sodap0p08”

binges twilight in hiding

also barks at emos and furries

laughs at any kinda fart joke

showed pony a picture of a horse and said “found u online”

they fought.

threatened to break the tv when he couldn’t play slime rancher for three hours

turns his life360 off when he goes out with sandy or to a car show

Two-Bit (born 2006)

broke four controllers when he played seige

trolls on fortnite

finally fucking finished high school (class of ‘24)

ice cream scoop hair

binges bojack horseman

bo burnham’s biggest fan

made a huge deal when the queen died

refused to wear a mask during quarantine because ‘ITS FOR SISSIES’

preaches the second amendment “MERICAAA”

username: “twobit”

sends random memes in the gc when the others are fighting

hates xbox users

complains about adelaide using shein

“tummy hurty” posts on his insta story

would slap the shit out of you if you said seige was just a game

Steve (born 2007)

trolls on dti

eats goldfish like his life depends on it

username: “handletherandle”

also preaches the second amendment

and the first

and the fifth

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICA—

went on a school trip to dc and hated everything he had to eat

doordashes when he has enough

hypocrite

wld call you a slur for a GOOD reason

avid minecraft player

and overwatch.

mountain dew addict

reposts politics and cars on twitter

hates minion memes

“wyll”

THAT’S ALL FOLKS!

[c1air-de-lune]

[evilfloralfoolery]

Fucking Lilacs

Right, so this is some ancient snzfuckery that I've resurrected. These aren't my characters, but they feel like they should be lol.

Eddie and Adrian are two fallen angels on a recon mission. One is hella allergic to lilacs. The other is hella turned on by that fact. They've been besties for hundreds of years, but sometimes, shit changes.

Note: There's a lot of snzfuckery and things get hot and heavy. (See tags for a few additional notes on things.) I also wrote this in a style that isn't quite mine and there is POV switching because that what the book did. You needn't know a damn thing about the book to enjoy it because I don't remember a goddamn thing myself LMFAO.

______________________________________

Recon was a bitch. A bitch with an attitude. Adrian sat back on his heels, staring at the window of the house which had been empty for the past ten minutes. Yeah, there was a whole lot of nothing happening here.

“—nn’hkGScht!”

Except that. Adrian glanced at his partner, who looked like he was auditioning for a Benadryl commercial. That was the sixth time Eddie had sneezed in about as many minutes. Not that Adrian had been counting. Who the fuck would count something like that? 

Except him. Goddamn it.

Sure, he had a hell of a lot more important shit banging around in his head like demonic bitches and torture stations in Hades, but the leather-clad distraction crouching a foot away was a trump card for priorities. 

Next to him, Eddie smothered another “hhnXGTsh!” 

“Bless you.”

“Fucking lilacs. I’m the only immortal with allergies, I swear.”

 

Not that Adrian knew what the fuck lilacs were.  Probably the cluster of blooming bastards that kept smacking Eddie in the face every time he so much as shifted a toe.  Prime position for absolute fuckery.

“Iih-EKGtschu!”

“Bless you,” Adrian repeated.

“God won’t bother,” Eddie said.

True, but Adrian had a sort of trained-in trigger with the phrase. Fallen angel and all that mystical bullshit. 

“We can move,” Adrian said.

Eddie shook his head. “Can’t see the window anywhere else. I’ll deal.” 

Maybe he would, but Adrian wasn’t sure he could take hours of Eddie’s nasal prowess less than a foot from him. Not because the other man was annoying him. Damn, he wished it were annoyance. Too many years of Earth-bound kink had really done a number on what got his rocks off. Or maybe that was too many threesomes. He and Eddie always liked to share things . . . weapons, bloodshed, women–

“—hXGzzsht!” 

“Christ, Eddie.”

“Fuck. Me.” 

Yep, and that was the whole problem right there. Adrian had a whole lot of what-the-hell torture going on in his jeans, which wasn’t going away any time soon unless Eddie knocked it off with the pissed-off sinuses antics. Which didn’t seem like a possibility as long as they were surrounded by purple sprigs of floral hell. It also wasn’t like Adrian could just take a walk to the other side of the hedge for a little private time to solve the problem. The “problem” would have to quit sneezing every fifteen fucking seconds.

“—HhGgnsschxt!”

Which so obviously wasn’t going to happen. Not to mention the whole mind-reading thing Eddie did. Then, Adrian was going to be fucked. Or maybe choked unconscious. Eddie wasn’t the violent type, not with that whole long-haired-hippie-but-really-a-biker thing he had going on, but fuck. Fuuuuck. 

A heavy hand landed on his shoulder. Adrian turned his head to find himself staring into those red-brown eyes that creeped most people out. Well, Adrian wasn’t most people. 

“What’s your damage?” Eddie’s voice was low, threaded with congestion. Goddamn it, now the motherfucker couldn’t even talk without making Adrian’s balls tight. 

“Nothin’.”

“Don’t lie.” 

Shit. 

Window. He was going to concentrate on the window and empty his mind of everything else. Blue trim on the window. Even better.

Eddie’s eyes narrowed. Either the curtains in the house were giving Adrian one serious stiffie or something else was going on. And dammit, his nose was threatening one hell of a sneeze intervention before he could needle Adrian about it some more.

“—ISSCHuh!” Fuck, he was so over this. “—GiiSSCHu!” Goddamn it. 

The thick rope of braided hair that ran the length of his back slid around to drape his shoulder. He thought about tucking the thing into his shirt, but it was too damn long to be comfortable. Instead, he left it there tickling the top of his knee as he crouched beside his partner, trying to figure out just what was doin’ in that head of his without having to pull out the mind reader card. 

Because Adrian was definitely lying.

“—nh…hGXzsSCh!” 

Son of a bitch.

“Bless you,” Adrian said. 

Fucker was done staring at the window now. He was staring at Eddie. 

“Sorry,” Eddie said. “Guess this shit’s got me worse than I thought.” He flicked a branch with his hand. Fucking lilacs. 

“Not your fault,” Adrian said.

The other angel’s voice was tight, as if he were trying a hell of a lot more to convince himself than Eddie. Okay, what the fuck. Eddie was a patient guy, more patient than most. Talked way less than his counterpart, too. But Adrian’s silent act was getting old fast, especially when he was one of the mouthiest bastards Eddie knew.

And more silence. Yeah, this was starting to piss him off.

“You gonna tell me or what?”

Silence.

Eddie drummed his fingers against his thigh. “You really wanna do this the hard way?” He pressed a hand beneath his nose. “HhgNTXch! Fuck.” 

“Bless you,” Adrian said. For the tenth time.

“You don’t have to say it,” Eddie grumbled.

“Yeah. I do.” 

And he meant it, too. Like, really meant it. As if it were some kind of vitally important sentiment that he couldn’t help repeating for some kind of emphatic obedience. Eddie furrowed his brow which was about as much of an expression as he ever bothered to show to anyone other than Adrian.

“Talk,” Eddie said. “Last chance.”

“No.”

Fine. The guy wanted to play hard ball? Eddie was the goddamn master. He gripped his partner’s wrist in an iron vice of fingers. Shit like this was always easier with skin-to-skin contact. Not that Eddie really wanted to go probing around Adrian’s mind, but if the fucker wasn’t going to talk, then he’d just have to—

“Ek'NGgtSSChu!”

Sneeze. 

Again. 

In his grip, Adrian’s body went all stone statue. And his line of thinking went direct feed into Eddie’s mind. The angel blinked once. Slowly.

“Oh,” he said.

“Oh?” Adrian looked like he was torn between laughing his ass off and demolishing a small city. “You pull that fucked up shit out of my head and all you can fucking say is ‘oh?’ Christ, Eddie.” 

Adrian raked a hand through his obnoxiously perfect black hair which fell right back into place as if were trained that way. The bastard must have owned stock in Paul Mitchell to keep it like that.

“Come on,” Eddie said.

Adrian looked down at Eddie’s hand, which was still clamped around his own. “And do what? Who’s gonna watch the window? It’s not just gonna watch its--”

An image of something he’d considered a few times but never without a female in the middle clamped down on his mind and settled in for a stranglehold on his cock. 

Goddamn. And Eddie was looking at him. That way.

“Oh,” Adrian said.

Eddie was half-dragging him past the hedges, but hell, he could do that easily. The guy looked like he could bench press a cadillac. One stubborn angel wasn’t much to handle, really.

“Eddie, hey . . . look, uh . . .” 

Shit, he was usually so good at this. With women.

The other man’s hands were in his hair. Gently. Almost reverently. Adrian wet his lips. “Fuck,” he said.

“You could have told me,” Eddie rumbled.

No. He really couldn’t have.

“Yeah fucking right,” Adrian said. “What was I gonna say? Hey, man . . . I’ve been looking at your tight fucking ass for over four hundred years. Wanna fuck?”

Eddie arched an eyebrow. “That works.” 

Adrian growled something that sounded suspiciously like “fuck me sideways.” Yeah, that could be arranged. 

Eddie slid his hands to cup his partner’s face. The man had a hell of a lot of piercings, bottom lip, left nostril, tongue, ears. Women found that shit sexy, the other angel had said. Eddie stuck with the strong, silent, my-hair-is-longer-than-your-whole-fucking-arm approach.

“Hgkt'SSCH'u!!” he sneezed into the arch of his shoulder. And looked at Adrian. “Good?” he asked.

“Fuck, I don’t know,” Adrian said. The straining bulge against his jeans suggested otherwise.

Eddie slid a hand around to his back, splaying his big fingers there. 

“What the hell are you doing now?” Adrian asked.

“Kissing you,” Eddie said.

“Is it. . .  just lilacs?” he asked. 

For a minute, Adrian considered winging it into the sky to the other side of Egypt or something. Anything to get the hell out of there. But the instant the fullness of Eddie’s mouth pressed against his own, all lines of thought took a vacation. The guy had the softest lips. Adrian hadn’t expected that, nor had he expected Eddie to run his tongue over the ring in his bottom lip, to tease the stud in his tongue. Fuck, the bastard was a great kisser.

Adrian gave up on the I-don’t-really-want-you act and kissed him back. Thoroughly. Eddie backed him against a stone wall he didn’t remember seeing on the way in, pinning him there with one arm because the other was busy stroking his . . . cheek? The labor-roughened pull of Eddie’s thumb down the curve of his jaw was almost more erotic than his tongue. Others didn’t touch his face. They just didn’t. 

“I’m all fucked up,” Adrian said. More like warned.

Eddie dragged a heavy thumb over his bottom lip, worrying the little ball in the hoop for a moment. “I know,” he said. The corner of his lip lifted, flashing a hint of teeth. “HhkgzTSSCH!” He managed to avoid giving Adrian an impromptu baptism by turning his head at the last possible second.

Adrian practically groaned. Fuck. Why the hell was that so hot? He was hard as a motherfucker. He sank his teeth into Eddie’s roving thumb, not hard enough to hurt him, but hard enough to leave an imprint of his canine in the weathered flesh. 

What the fuck kind of lame-ass sex talk was that?

“No,” said Eddie. He stroked a hand down Adrian’s side, untucked his shirt, ran his finger over the fine hair that trailed from just below Adrian’s navel into his jeans.

“What else?” Adrian heard himself ask the question and really wanted to backhand his own damn mouth.

“Not sure,” Eddie said. “But I hate spring and she hates me.” He slipped a finger into the waistband of Adrian’s jeans, pulling the denim away from his skin. 

Adrian was commando beneath the fabric. Eddie probably wasn’t surprised. Before he could work some one-handed magic on the button and zipper, he had to pause to catch another sneeze against the back of his free hand. “HngKxxTst!”

“Don’t,” Adrian said.

Eddie shrugged one massive shoulder. “Can’t help it.”

“No, I meant don’t . . .stop them like that.” Adrian’s hands rested on the other man’s hips, fingers hooking through the leather hoops there as if he wasn’t exactly sure just where the fuck his hands should go in the first place.

“Okay,” said Eddie. He brushed a lock of Adrian’s thick hair away from his forehead, a crooked smile curving one half of his mouth when it promptly fell back into exactly the same spot.

Adrian’s hands slid up the other angel’s chest, resting there. Man, he so fucking wanted this. Bad. So what the hell was stopping him?

“Wait,” Adrian said. 

Eddie waited. He stood still, except for the hand on Adrian’s jaw, the thumb sliding over the curve of it. He was a patient bastard, the most patient being Adrian had ever known, just standing there all cool, calm, and understanding, waiting to see if Adrian was going to flake the fuck out. 

Which he was trying to do. And failing.

Okay, so now what? Adrian sighed, shoving a hand through his hair. “I can’t,” he said. Goddamn it. 

Eddie worried the metal hoop between his teeth, tugging the breath out of Adrian’s lungs in a shivering rush of air.  The other angel’s body arched against his own, one hand coiling the thick rope of hair around fisted fingers.  As often as Adrian teased the fuck out of him for having “no game,” he sure as shit leveled the playing field in this arena.

Eddie’s hand didn’t drop. Adrian didn’t even realize why until he realized he’d trapped it against his face himself. And there was Eddie, watching him with all that ancient patience, knowing he was full of shit.

“Goddamn it,” he grumbled.

Adrian’s head had been a fucked up mess since the she-demon had gotten her claws into him. Literally. She had worked him over, stripped him to the soul, and raked more than just the flesh from his body. Sure, it had been necessary. It had bought enough time to win, enough time to save a man’s soul from eternal damnation, but Adrian had written a reality check he wasn’t sure his mind could cash this time. Nothing helped. Not women, not battle, not booze, nothing.

“Hhih…! --IKgxSSCHu!”

Well, almost nothing.

“Bless you,” Adrian said with a sigh.

“You liked that one,” Eddie said.

Yeah, he did. He liked all of it. “I’m fucked up,” he said again, as if Eddie hadn’t heard him the first time.

“I know,” said Eddie.

The hand slid around to grasp Adrian’s wrist, climbing his arm and reeling him in closer until he was surrounded by well over two-hundred pounds of protective angel. Oh yeah, Eddie knew, alright. He knew from fucking first hand experience just what that demonic bitch did to man’s soul and Adrian had given himself up for the greater good of whatever-the-fuck more than once.

“Nothing helps,” Adrian mumbled into his partner’s chest.

A hand slipped into his hair, gripped the thickness of it. “I know,” Eddie said again.

The big bastard was so gentle. So fucking gentle. Adrian gripped his shirt, balled up handfuls of the material in his fists. He wasn’t small  by any stretch, but up against Eddie, an oak tree was small. Or at least, that’s how it felt to Adrian. Beneath his fisted hands, Eddie’s chest heaved and Adrian froze. The hand that was entangled in his hair relented, the other man’s breath hitching in a slow, torturous way that made just about everything in him from the chest down clench into wrenching fire. If the angel did that while they were so close, Adrian was going to lose his shit. And Eddie would know it, the mind-reading fucker.

“Hh’NnGtiSCH! . . . .hiih!” Eddie’s breath wavered, cracked . . . and didn’t do a goddamn thing after that. “Fuck,” he grumbled.

“Sonofabitch,” Adrian hissed.

“Sorry,” said Eddie. “Couldn’t help it.” 

Adrian kissed him. Hard. To hell with finesse. He was all kinds of urgent need in about a thousand different ways at once and unable to vocalize any of it. Eddie would just have to read his damn mind. Which he was sure was next to impossible not to do at the moment anyway, considering they were practically joined at the hip with the way Adrian was pressed against him.

Impossibly large hands rested on his hips, steadying him, the kiss melding into something slower and more tactile as Eddie teased the metal bar in his tongue with a flick of his own. The same calloused thumb slipped into his shirt, rubbing the hoop in his nipple in firm, achingly slow circles. It wasn’t until the unbuttoned garment slid from his shoulders enough for Eddie to replace his thumb with his mouth that Adrian really gave up the whole pretense of I-can’t-do-this. He didn’t have a choice.

His tongue traced a heated path down Adrian’s torso as he dropped to his knees, feathering kisses just above the waistline of his jeans.  Eddie didn’t need to read the angel’s mind.  The bulge that strained against the distressed denim fabric was a blatant invite for more of the physical. 

Instead of prying open the other male’s pants with his teeth, he slid a finger beneath the beltline again, scraping a nail along the pale flesh until Adrian all but quivered.

“Fuck, Eddie,” the angel panted.  “Would you just--”

A strangled gasp escaped him as Eddie’s teeth grazed the hard length of flesh through the denim.  Adrian’s fingers plunged into all that hair, probably loosening the top of the braid all to hell, but he suspected Eddie gave less than a single fuck.  His hips betrayed any last hope of “no, stop that” that he had left to give.  Not to mention the steady pulse of a groan that ebbed from somewhere deep within his chest.

Capable fingers made short work of his jeans as Eddie knelt in front of him, a position he never thought he’d bear witness to, much less experience first hand.  Part of him wanted Eddie to take his time as he did with all the females they shared, but the urgency of his desire wasn’t a patient beast.  He wanted – no, needed---Eddie to just fucking–

Adrian’s breath caught in a high, choked hitch of sound.  Something ancient and foreign rolled from his tongue, his ability to speak the common mortal vernacular a distant fog of memory.  Eddie’s tongue cradled the tip of his cock with a brush of wet heat before those full lips closed over the entirety of him, ring and all.

He scraped his back against the concrete wall, his free hand fisting his own hair, hoping to hell and back that his legs didn’t suddenly forget they had to support his tensely trembling body.  Fingers dug into thighs, steadying him.  Eddie’s tongue was erotic sin, tying his core in knots of desperation.

That was, until the other angel suddenly stopped.

Adrian cracked an eye, giving the fist-and-twist  routine  in his hair a reprieve.

“Why . . .”  He licked suddenly dry lips.

Words.  Yes, he had to make words. 

“ . . . did you . . .” 

Goddamn short-circuiting brain-fuck.

However, one look at Eddie forecasted a twitch-worthy reason for the pause.  The other angel pressed a knuckled fist beneath his nose, brow knitting, teeth clenched.

“Eddie, goddamn it–!”

Adrian’s warning was nine kinds of pleading with a hefty side order of I-don’t-really-mean-it. And Eddie knew it.  With his hand still touching the other angel’s hip, Adrian’s emotional state was clearer than the finest crystal and just about as fragile.

Eddie’s breath hitched and Adrian mirrored the action with a flinch of his body.  The corner of Eddie’s mouth twitched into the faintest hint of a smile.  Oh yeah.  Adrian was so done.

“HhkgSSSCH’uuh!”  

The hand still holding fast to Adrian’s hip clenched, transmitting the shudder of his shoulders to the other male with lethal perfection.  

“Goddamn it, Eddie!” Switching his earlier words around didn’t help. “Are you just trying to fuck me up on purpose or what??”

Ah, so the pierced bastard could talk.  Eddie almost snickered at the outburst.

“No,” Eddie said.  

He sat up a bit straighter, wrapping skilled fingers around Adrian’s arousal with a definitive stroke. 

The harsh scrape of concrete through his shirt barely registered as Eddie worked that piercing with a wicked combination of tongue-flicking, biting, and tugging that damn well sent Adrian into a frenzy.  His hips jerked, knees threatening to betray the weight of his body.  This was the edge . . . the tipping point.  And he wasn’t just falling over it.  His body kamikazied into the abyss on a haphazard suicide mission. 

So much for fucking stealth. 

Adrian moan-growl-panted his way through the strangled language of what felt like seventeen different kinds of release, the loudest of which was some stammering rendition of Eddie’s name. God, had time fucking stopped? Because he was definitely straddling the line between suspended animation and full-on implosion.  

His stance wavered, legs trembling, entire body caught in the electric fusion of such a violent-as-fuck exonaration.  Eddie was on his feet, bracing him against his massive body, hand splayed across his back like a physical order of protection.

Everything was a haze of flickering images and streetlight shadows, a jigsaw of earthly amalgamations.  The only clarity was the steady rise and fall of Eddie’s chest against his own, the slow pressure of his fingers kneading absent reassurance against his skin. 

The other angel had even pulled up his goddamn pants, too.  Why in the absolute fuck was that somehow the most ridiculously considerate shit ever?

“You good?”

Eddie’s dark voice was a silken rumble against his ear.

“The fuck . . .” Adrian managed to say in some kind of half-sigh, half-swearing growl that was trying to call itself language. 

“We’ll get to that later.”

“Christ, Eddie.” 

But he sure as hell wasn't saying no.