#angel wings aviary

[lonely-paracosmos]

A bunch of angel bird concepts!!

Also known as the back winged folk, they are still in early concept and will likely change quite a bit in the future.

They don't really wear clothes as their skin and bones are very fragile. They are born on a planet with lower gravity, so their bones are considerably fragile as well as hollow.

Ofc they wear some decorations, but nothing around their whole body

They are a sophont species!

The mask isn't feathers, but keratin that grows to protect their face from the elements.

[obsessivevoidkitten]

Animal Farm: Mondays

Male Yandere Harpies x Gender Neutral Reader (CW: Noncon, harpies, general yandere behavior, captive reader, spit roasting, cum in hair, aftercare, male harem, brief mention of being used as a cock sleeve by bull men.) Word Count: 500 (Here it is! I have had a solid wave of productivity lately answering old asks and now there is this, something I said I would do a long time ago. I said I would make a mini-fic/drabble with every group of monster men from my animal farm fic which can be found HERE.)

You sighed. It was early on Monday morning, the sun starting to stream into the window enough to disturb your sleep. You glared at your alarm clock and preemptively turned off the alarm that would go off at 10:00. It was 9:53. You wanted to cry. You had not fully recovered from Rory, Sev, and Bruc swapping you between them as a communal cock sleeve all day on Friday. You lamented your decision to be a monster man farmer with so many different species. You should have stuck to one or two. Oh well… no use crying over it now. At least you started the week off easy after your weekend break. The harpy men had pretty forgiving cocks. Ugh. Was that what it had come to? Judging how not awful your day was by the brutality of the cocks you were about to encounter? You scarfed down a quick breakfast then enjoyed your last few minutes before you were swarmed by the three harpies that called your farm home, Zan, Xilra, and Elry. They all looked similar, green and blue feathers in their hair, emerald green eyes to match, dark skin, with large angel-like wings sprouting from their backs and their legs ended in the way any bird of prey’s did. Sharp. Talons. When you stepped into the aviary your watch read exactly 10:30, you weren’t giving them a second more than you were forced to. It was like your one shred of resistance, even though it didn’t really matter very much. You also were too scared to be late after what happened the one time you were. You were sniffed out and fucked. Swiftly. As soon as you stepped into the large greenhouse-like domed building, it was like a miniature forest complete with all sorts of trees and plants, you were instantly pounced upon by the three monster men. They wasted not a single second in taking off your clothes and tossing them aside on the dirt while pinning you to the wall. “Hey come on! Those were just cleeeEEEEAAAAAANNNED. H-hey!” Two of them were biting, licking and nuzzling all over your neck while the third was using his mouth between your legs. “W-w-why do we always have to start the d-daaaay like thiiiiis??” “We love you little starling~” “Yes! And we must show you!” “We haven’t been inside you for a whole week love! It was torture~” “We must make up for the lost time sweet bird.” And that they certainly did. A week's worth of the pent up libidos of three tall harpy men unloaded on you and in you within hours. They spit roast you while you were on the ground before taking you in mid air. By the end of their breeding session with you you were exhausted. And this was supposed to be the easy day. At least they let you rest afterwards, washing the cum out of your hair and off your sore body before cuddling you and petting you while they sang sweet little bird songs and praised their darling little starling~

[randybutternubber]

Yippee!!! OC time! This is Angel!

(Art made with a Picrew)

She's a LN child, except due to the weird screwiness of The Nowhere, she has wings. She's 10 years old and isn't very good at flying, but she still can as a last resort. She likes helping other kids, usually by causing a distraction while using her wings to stay out of danger. She can still be knocked out of the air by ranged attacks tho, such as The Butlers telekinesis, The Hunters gun, The Viewers sonic screech attack, etc.

Backstory:

She was raised in a place called The Aviary, run by a monster called The Keeper. The Keeper had extremely long and thin arms and legs, paired with a tiny torso and very tall head. It would keep children contained in cages extremely high above the ground. Occasionally, it would take one and drop it from a massive height, seemingly trying to teach them to fly. Most children died on impact. Those who didn’t were taken and put into individual cages, closer to the center, where they were “cared for” more thoroughly by The Keeper, until they died from their injuries soon after. Angel, due to her wings, is the only one who survived without injury. She had tried to fly away, but had been caught by The Keeper, who seemed overjoyed at a true success. It had taken her and placed her in the pride of place, a golden cage in the middle of the Aviary. It always pays special attention to her, bringing her more food and little gifts, as well as taking the time to stroke her wings or head. Basically treating her like a beloved pet. She hates it. She doesn’t like being caged, she finds The Keeper revolting, and she is incredibly lonely. 

She often watches the other children grouped in the other cages, taking note of how they, while far from being happy, share a sense of companionship with one another. One of them talked to her once. He was close enough that they could speak to each other. He was the one who had given her her name, saying she reminded him of stories he’d heard about Guardian Angels. However, The Keeper had walked in while the two of them were mid-sentence, and upon witnessing their conversation, it had immediately “tested” the boy. Angel can still remember the screams as the boy fell, and the sickening crack as he hit the floor. She’d stared in shock as The Keeper had picked up his limp body off the floor, before opening its mouth and sliding the boy in. It was only when she felt The Keepers hand patting her wings that she fully processed what had happened, breaking down and crying. She never tried to speak to another kid again, and they never tried to speak to her either. She tells herself that it wasn’t her fault, that he would’ve died eventually anyway, but sometimes despair overwhelms her to the point that this isn’t enough. After The Keeper dies (TBD) and she and the others escape, she feels even worse about it, wondering if he would’ve lived long enough to escape if it weren’t for her.

This is all I've got rn! Feel free to ask questions! And thanks for reading this! :D

I LOVE THIS!!!

I like the idea of that sort of twisted affection the keeper has for angel, she’s his prized pet, not a person or his child, just a pet.

I also can’t imagine the sort of guilt and pain from that kind of self imposed isolation that she endured. In a way, I’m sure a lot of ln kids probably have similar experiences causing some to be very closed off to communication. Not to mention the idea of “being alone in a room full of life” that’s going on with her being surrounded with other children yet ultimately being forced to not interact with them for their own safety and still being forced to watch them to fall to their deaths.

She’s in a literal prison made of gold. I also love the irony of her having wings yet still being trapped. In a terrible way, the very thing that saved her from dying while falling was what led to her being not just imprisoned again, but special in a terrible, terrible way.

If you have any more refs for her I’d love to draw her some time. Feel free to visit my ask box or dm me any time I’m always open to talking

[magicwithclass]

Why do birds fly? Do they fly out of a sense of duty? Do birds fly because they must;because they were designed or created for flight? Or do birds fly because they can. Do birds fly for fun? Do birds enjoy flying. These questions represent the main theme in one of my favorites games. If you have not played Tales of Berseria, I highly reccomend you give it a try especially if this philosophical question made you think. All of the tales games are quite good so if you have not heard of the franchise it is one of my favorite jrps with an entertaining and engaging battle system. So why did I go off on this tangent when discussing serra aviary? On blogatog, there has been an ongoing dicssion about birds and flying. The current rule is that all birds had flying. Exceptions could be made for penguins and ostriches because everyone knows those birds famously cannot fly. Recently, they made a roadrunner card and did not give it flying. Roadrunners can fly in real life. This was a reference to the roadrunner from the bugs bunny cartoon who never flew so it was allowed. Roadrunners are know for running fast. It is literally in the name! I did know that roadrunners could fly but it would be strange to give a creature flying when it is clearly running on the ground. I did not know peacocks could fly. I have seen peacocks just walking around the Bronx zoo but maybe they clip the wings. There is one peacock in mtg and it does have flying but it is clearly depicted as flying in the art. Peacocks are know for strutting around and showing off their feathers. Noone ever thinks about a peacock in flight. I do not think a peacock depicted as just walking around should have flying but I do acknowledge that they are birds with flight. It is so weird that flying is so closely associated with birds since some birds literally cannot do this. Birds are birds because they have feathers! A fly is the animal that should most be associated with flight. A fly is called a fly because it flies. Even then, other animals that are not birds can fly such as bat's which are mammals. I bring this all up because serra aviary givesa +1 +1 buff to all creatures with flying. Flavorfully, this card should pump birds only as an aviary is a bird house. Instead, all creatures including angels and dragons, get pumped from being in a bird sanctuary. This just shows the way society thinks and associates things. Birds fly so anything associated with birds can flavorfully justify bonuses to all flyers. I do not agree with this. The card is actually decent. Enchantments are the hardest permanent type to remove and this can see play in a flying deck or an angel deck or a dragon deck or a bird deck or a bat deck. Flying is one of the most basic strategies and this is a simple card that telegrahs the deck it wants you to build. Sometimes cards that strongly imply you should build certain decks are helpful to newer players because they can build competent and synergistic decks without much understanding of complicated strategies. You run creatures with flyingin your flying deck and cards that care about flying. There are better lord effects and this effect would probably cost 3 or less mana so it is a little overcosted but playable in casual or fun games. I do not think your competitive ur dragon deck needs this but a fun bird deck might want this. This card had one spike in 2021 when almost every reserved list card was being bought out but flying is a popular and common strategy. There will be more flying support and this is an easy include. I assume that this supports all flyers and not just birds because this aviary belonged to serra, a popular planeswalker. She was not angel but often took the form of an angel and created an entire realm of angels. They probably wanted a serra card to support angels in some way and since almost all angels fly this was another way to connect serra to angels. I never knew serra was also so into birds though.

[revenant-coining]

some terms!! ci plan to make flags + individual posts eventually ^^ feel free to make ur own flags tho!!

Bathesunlitec; a sunny/sunlit in nature (APRICIN) gender connected to bathing in sunlight.

Arainpurplic; a spider in nature (ARAIN) gender connected to the color purple.

Blalinec; an avian in nature (AVAIN) and/or aviary in nature (AVISIN) gender connected to small, black wings.

Anglifiriyn/Gelifiriyn; an angelic in nature (ANGLIN/GELIN) gender connected to fire.

Metaphysainial; a chaos in nature (CHAIN) gender connected to metaphysics.

Merarlumin; a deep sea in nature (DESIN) gender connected to merfolk, warmth, & bioluminescence. can also be connected to sea creatures, brine pools, & thermal vents, but doesn't have to be.

Chaosdeic; a divine in nature (DIVIN) gender connected to chaos.

Floraghin/Floraphtin; a ghost/ghostly in nature (GHIN/PHTIN) floragender.

Ghinmasc/Phtinmasc; a masculine ghost/ghostly in nature (GHIN/PHTIN) gender. may also be considered masculine in nature (MIN).

RECKINkour; a reckless in nature (RECKIN) freelekour gender. may be connected to feelings of reckless freedom, free falling, & reckless parkour, but doesn't have to be.

[catncore]

while hanekoma is an extremely confident with flight, it doesn't always mean things go the way he plans. 

example of this being unlike reaper wings that have more open areas and allow air movement between them; his own wings are more aviary in form with his wings being feathered. the angel aspect in him is Corvus in nature which does well with cityscapes. thankfully it also gives him the ability for speed and agility. hes able to adjust and make quick corrections where other types of angels might not be as quick to adjust. he’s had moments where riding a wind current where he’s nearly smacked into light poles or grazes a car a little too close but was able to to quick reflex save himself. 

he’s confident but his zoomies will occasionally put him in a position where he overshoots a landing if he’s rushing. if he’s taking his time, and relaxes, he’s able to make everything look intentional (which is something he had to learn over time and puts into practice now). 

[ziraynthefox]

Arikibe Natori

(Pronounced Ara-kybe)

Well, this is the final of the 5!

The Aviari named Arakibe. He and his younger brother Crael are both halfbreeds and the sons of an Aviarian prince. Once their father tries to ursurp their King Uncle, the brothers have to choose between family and duty.

#halfbreedchronicles #arakibe #crael #thecave #mumfordandsons #fighter #warrior #guard #prince #winged #aviari #angel #featheredwings

[nimbus-sky-blog]

Some things about the Nimbus AU

Sky has done it. It's wormed it's way into my AU brain. And because of that! I thought it'd be neat to talk about the rules and things that help give the Nimbus world it's charm!

First, (this is my favorite one) the skids with capes have cape wings! Meaning when they fly, they have bird wings like angels (not biblically accurate ones, although those look bad ass) and when they're on land, they transform back into the good 'ol capes.

Next, Eden was actually a very beautiful mountain! Before the event to cause what it looked like today, (which was caused by a character in my AU that I'll explain as we go on) Eden looked almost like Daylight in terms of flora and sunshine! And had Valley-type architecture. The castle itself had its fair amount of gold in it's structure, and before the events the castle was on top of the mountain, not floating like it is now.

Another favorite of mine is the Dark Dragons in my AU! Despite their fearsome name and appearance, Dark Dragons were actually very helpful to the ancestors and the kingdom itself! They were used to fend off dangers and were even ridden by skids! Unfortunately, something caused them to turn on the Kingdom and most fled to Wasteland, while some stayed in Eden once it was corrupted.

Some others are:

When Eden was corrupted, the King and Prince were killed in the process, though it's possible the Prince managed to escape from the danger and is still in one of the realms

Baby Krills's behavior is very close to a puppy's behavior! They're very sociable, love Sky kids, and are very protective of people they've formed close bonds with!

Elders can cross each other's respective realms to chat or alert each other, they also can go into Aviary and relax there (Sah and Mekh, the Valley Elders do this a lot)

Tsadi (Wasteland Elder) has his own Krill, this one doesn't hurt skids and protects Tsadi from other Krills. This is one of the only few who didn't turn on the kingdom

(There's more but I think this is a good stopping point)

[zallia-and-beyond]

Lawrie, the Lifebringer

The Aviary's name has been besmirched and withered from their zealous acts and fervent worship of Ryuka III - their Blazing Sun. Lawrie was fortunate to separated from the military wing when she did, as she avoided the tarnished reputation that came with being associated with them.

Her cousin gave her an out that her elder brother allowed. With him would she see the demise of the Third, the truth of the world, and the growth of her unique powers - separate to the divine. That is not to say her divine power is weak in comparison. She is not called Lifebringer lightly, for the light of her god's holy sun shines through her. An ultimate mercy is cast from her fingertips, dispelling death itself.

She wields the end of a halberd, hewn from its haft and its metal of sunny mithral - her 'Brightgold Sunrise.' And as a former member of the Aviary, she is an expert of aerial combat, often declaring her sky-diving charge with a shrill cry. It is only on the battlefield that she is this loud; elsewhere, the angel is as reserved as she is a focused, serious woman. She struggles to relax, opting to stay ready for the next threat, wherever it may be, and it takes a special moment (away from her cousin) to afford her the security to take a load off.

[nagaficat]

allegreta​:

Do the Chickens Have Large Talons?

It’s a natural fit, really, for Leanne to explore the village marked by its connection to the local birds. They are less so laguz and moreso similar to the wyvern or pegasi she has seen beorc ride, but it is still an element she is far more comfortable with than an inexperienced individual may be—especially given tell of the birds’ defensive nature to outsiders. She just hopes the beorc do not take poorly to someone like her.

Leanne is on the outskirts of town when she hears a ruckus. She recognizes the Black Eagles professor immediately—Miss Deirdre, a beautiful woman with hair long enough to rival Leanne’s own. She is not in a particularly pleasant state, but she does not seem particularly distressed; no, she instead speaks to the bird with tones that soothe even Leanne’s heart. It is curious; no human is capable of singing galdr, and this is not even a song, but there is a near-magical quality about it, a sway that transcends language.

“What she says is true.” Leanne is not certain Deirdre’s words alone will sway the bird; perhaps a kindred voice will help matters. She approaches from the air, alighting near the scene and coos softly as she attempts to defuse the situation. “She is not an enemy.”

The bird looks her straight in the eye, looks back at Deirdre, and huffs. Its deadly talons gently release her, a begrudging hint of apology in its squawk. As it trudges away, its handler runs up to the pair, one hand on his hat and a bewildered look on his face.

“Well I’ll be darned. Bruiser never listens to no one, not even me when he’s got his mind put to it. I don’t know who you ladies are, but you ain’t ordinary folk, that’s for sure.” The man looks them up and down, pausing especially on Leanne’s wings. “…one of ya is half a bird, even. You’ll have to come with me to the aviary. The boss will want to see this.”

The man’s request seems more like an order, and Leanne does not want to test him. Being allowed into this village is privilege enough; if they have hope of gathering information that will help them find the missing knights, they must abide by their customs and demands.

A woman comes to Deirdre's rescue with the golden hair and wings of an angel. Her beauty leaves Deirdre in awe and quite distracted from the large talons pinning her to the ground. And then she is released after this woman speaks soothing words of her own. The bird tilts its head curiously at the two of them but makes no further attempts at attack as Deirdre slowly stands.

She smiles at Leanne and opens her mouth to introduce herself properly but the bird's keeper addresses them first.

Distrust is not an emotion that often comes to Deirdre. She holds so much hope in her heart that she can see the potential for goodness in even the most unsavory characters. It is so rare that she would even consider someone to be unsavory in the first place. But there is something about the way this man looks at Leanne's wings that plants a seed of uneasiness in Deirdre's mind and she reaches for her hand, lacing her fingers between the heron's. A silent assurance that she is there for her.

"Of course, sir," she is happy to agree. They are guests here, after all. "Please, lead the way."

[sola-whumping]

Nox is sent a package wrapped in sparkly paper that contains one (1) teddy bear) The bear is magically indestructible, won't get dirty, and will automatically return to him if it is outside of his hands.

For the sacrifice of making this canon I’ve taken away it’s magic properties but he is allowed to have it!

Gabrial doesn’t like that people keep sending Nox comfort objects. He doesn’t deserve them and it sets a bad example. But nonetheless he makes good of a bad situation. Happy birds are good for business and appearances. So he retrieves Nox and brings the curious umbran to the photography room (very bright) and drapes a blanket over his wings to hide how damaged they are. Nox isn’t used to the bright light of the room, usually he more colorful birds have their pictures taken. He was never quite good enough.

“Go on,” Gabrial orders, “open the box.” Nox is nervous and the bright lights hurt his head but the camera doesn’t bother him when he unwraps the soft plush- though he does flinch as the light flashes. He hugs the teddy bear gently, almost in awe that he is allowed to have something so soft. He looks up at Gabrial and chirps happily, wondering what he had done to earn such a thing. *click goes the camera* But Nox couldn’t bring himself to care. He has a new friend and he loves them. *click*. Nox decides to name it Tulip. *click*

Big thank you to @poisoned-by-royalty for helping me get motivation back

✨Masterlist✨

Taglist:

@haro-whumps @poisoned-by-royalty @sunset-avenuer @wide-awake-but-comatose @whumpsy-daisies @misspelledwitch @string-of-broken-hearts @captainseconds @lave-whump @whumping-out-of-time

[lost-sunset-canine]

Ultra-Angel-tober #15 : aviary i honestly didnt knew what a aviary was before looking it up, but that helped a lot in getting ideas as well for me qwq so an aviary is a huge bird house basically ,  but i didn't want to make a spacious place, a nice free area, i wanted to portray claustrophobia, and the feeling of being trapped and having no space in the already tiny space they have with that thought i already had an idea on ho to show it, a small bird cage, keeping with the theme of a avairy/bird house and the angel sitting there, in a defeated pose, exhausted but still holding itself up wings pushing through the metal bars and supporting the feeling of being squished in a far to small place mixing with the theme of angels i added a small detail in the rim on the top to connect it further to angels by making it a throne’s ring / eye ring  i first thought about making the cage golden, but eventually played around with settings and other colors to turn it into this off silver- copper mix i absolutely love how it came out qwq participating in the Angeltober from @ultrainfinitepit​

-Dairiem

[joyrose-fandomer]

I think my mutuals know by now how much I love the whole omen of doom Jimmy thing!

Well I wanted to add more to that!

---

Some people think that Jimmy was cursed by the watcher but the truth is he was blessed by the listeners

Well, "blessed" might not be the right world to describe it, if you asked Jimmy he would probably call it a curse to. The important thing here is, the watchers have nothing to do with the death of his friends or the new found title "omen of doom"

They could have been the reason lady death took enough interest in him to take him in her aviary of angel of death making his title official along with new wings, but it was simply because of to much rumors and whispers that ended up reaching her ears

No, the listeners, it was their fault. They didn't mean wrong mind you. They liked him and wanted to help him, but when you're a god older then time you don't really know what is to much

If you had disrespected a god you would have been killed on the spot after all, what's so bad about doing the same for their little canary?

It's only natural to get ride of a pesky bird when it's threatening your little songbird,

It's only natural to break off a birdhouse if it make your feathery baby uncomfortable,

It's only natural to destroy one by one all those wild animals who dared hurt your golden angel,

If he can't defend himself why wouldn't they defend him?

It's not like they did that with all their favorite humans after all, their emerald angel is doing great by himself, although the watchers roaming around him are slightly concerning, but it's ok, they can keep those little pests at bay most of the time

They did have to kill him to get him out of the watchers grasp one time or two but they love their emerald angel just as much as their golden angel and they wouldn't hurt them just because they got into a fight

But they will kill anything else that dear offend their little cuicui,

no matter how much he cry and scream,

It's for his best.

The omen of doom was not cursed because the gods hated him. He was cursed because they loved him

But sometimes the golden cage hurt more then any of the wild predators

[amor-immortalem]

Replaced part 2

Part 1

Genre: angst. Angst with a happy ending, fluff

A/N: The 2nd part in the replaced!mc au that I wrote a couple days ago. Enjoy! Its super long: 9 1/2 pages long with a 4.6k word count.

-------------------------------------------------

Blinding lights cloud Arella’s vision as she wakes. Her head turns to the side as she blinks, seeing nothing but a white vastness. Where was she? The human pushes herself up as someone calls out to her, a woman- no she’s an angel, Arella is sure of it from the way an ethereal glow seems to emanate from her form. She takes a moment to look over the angel in front of her.

Tan, freckled skin, black hair weaved with golden strands that ended at the middle of her back in soft curls, vibrant sea-green eyes- Arella thinks she’s the most beautiful thing to have ever existed. Her dress and wings are a pristine white save for the singe marks along the outer layers of her wings’ feathers and the bottom of her dress and the arrow that pierces through the center of her chest. It doesn’t take the human long to figure out who the angel standing in front of her is.

“Lilith...”

The angel only smiles sadly at her descendant. She crouches down next to Arella, brushing her curly black hair away from her face and the tears come forth almost instantly.

“They left me...” Arella’s voice is small. “They didn’t love me anymore.”

“But they do... And they always will.” The angel pulls her into an embrace as she speaks softly. “My brothers have always taken things for granted. It’s only once they’ve lost something important to them that they realize it’s worth.”

“What do I do next? What happens now?”

“Go back to them. Not as a human, but a demon.”

“How- !?” A terrible burning engulfs Arella’s body and suddenly she’s falling. Falling down, down, down, until the bright white light and Lilith disappear from view. Her skin- it feels like its burning away as she plunges deeper.

The next thing she knows, Arella is gasping for breath as air rushes into her lungs and the smell of Mammon’s cologne invades her sense of smell, his hold nearly crushing as he cradles her closer to his chest. She can hear Diavolo speaking but his words are garbled- a jumbled mess of word salad drowned out by the fire scorching her skin from the inside out. The way her entire body hurts is all she can think about as she succumbs to the comforting darkness of sleep.

-------------------------------------------------

When she wakes, its two days later. Everything feels sharper. Her sight is better than it’s ever been. She can hear the crows cawing from the aviary on the other side of the house. She can even smell the individual scents of the brothers who were still up in their rooms and...

“You’re awake?” Melissa’s soft voice makes Arella recoil. Even as a whisper, it sounds like she’s screaming at Arella. “Oh no, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your ears.”

“It’s... Please... Just let me have a few moments...”

Melissa nods and just sits quietly beside the newly awakened demon. It takes a few moments to get a hold of herself and get her newly sharpened senses in check but Arella manages to push herself into a sitting position.

“Would you like to talk?” The blonde asks softly, “I feel like we should clear up a misunderstanding...”

“What’s there to misunderstand?” Arella asks. “It seems pretty cut and dry to me... they chose you and cast me aside like a broken toy that had lost its novelty.”

“I’m sure it felt like that. And it's my fault, that much I’ll agree to. I should have never asked them to help me land a date with Satan... this wouldn’t have happened, right? I can understand if you despise me.”

Arella laughs at that. She doesn’t know why but despite being mad at six out of the seven brothers for not communicating this to her, it was entertaining to her. Was that all it was? Was all of this caused by something so simple as that? Arella knew her boys often had a one-track mind but this was so ridiculous, both on her part and theirs. She rolled off the bed as she laughed, tears streaming down her cheeks as her demon form manifested itself for the first time. Melissa only peered over the side of the bed at Arella, a worried look in her brown eyes as the laughter died down and the former human climbed back up on the bed.

“Are you... angry? With me?”

“Not with you but-” They were interrupted by the sound of three sets footsteps thumping down the hall above her head and before she knew it, Arella found herself back on the floor but this time pinned under Mammon who’s holding on to her with all of his strength as two of his brothers stood in the doorway having gotten there too late to stop him.

“Hey, Dumbass,” It’s Levi’s voice that she hears as he draws closer, “You’re going to crush her crashing into her full force like that!” The purple-haired demon tried to pull his brother away receiving a feral growl in response.

“Mammon, stop! Right now.” Arella tries to use their pact to enforce the order but.... It’s not there anymore. The Avatar of Greed only holds her tighter to him. There was nothing that would separate him from his mate- not after the way he was this close to losing her.

At some point by working together, Beel and Levi were able to pry the white-haired demon off of Arella and she sat up. That’s right... she had died so she no longer held pacts with the seven brothers. But if she had died, why was she here? Ignoring the chaos happening around her between the three brothers, she looked into the floor length mirror and softly gasped at her appearance.

A set of fluffy, feathered, black wings adorned her back while a set of horns jutted out from her head in a way that was not too dissimilar from Belphegor’s. She had black markings that framed the side of her face and reached out to just under her eyes and a crescent shaped one on her forehead. The newly turned demon only squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. She’s supposed to be dead! Why still breathing and why does she have a demonic form all of a sudden?!

As Mammon and his brothers continued to squabble over Arella, she curled in on herself, holding her hands over her ears. “All of you, just SHUT UP!” Sobs shook her body as the other demons turned their attention to her. Their voices were too loud and her ears were still too sensitive to loud sounds to the point if felt like the sensory overload was going to make her head explode.

“’Rella... I...” The Avatar of Greed, now free of Beel and Levi’s hold, reaches out to place his hand on her shoulder but is stopped when one of her wings slaps his hand away.

“Get out! All three of you... you... you should have just let me die like I wanted...”

And it's with that that the three Avatars look between each other before slowly leaving. Once the boys had gone, Melissa slowly moved over to Arella’s place on the floor, wrapping her arms around the other female as she comforted her.

-------------------------------------------------

It’s nearly midnight now as the Avatars sit in silence in the common room. They had met to discuss a way to reforge the bond they had shared with the human-now-turned-demon, but no words had been said. They all knew who should be the first of them to do this but it was the how. How did they even begin to approach her at this point? Mammon was for having no plan at all, just playing the situation by ear. It’s not like she could overpower him in anyway. What’s the worst she could do? Kick him in the shins? Not something he hadn’t survived already.

“Well, since none of ya still have a plan yet- and it doesn’t look like any of ya are gonna come up with one soon- I'm going ta see her.” The white-haired demon stands and starts to make his way toward her room with no objections from his brothers as there was no other alternative they could offer him. He knows what she’s feeling- like she was abandoned, unloved. As her mate he wanted to fix all that- that was his responsibility. His brothers could make up with her later but he needed to do this right now. He was her first after all, he needed to be the first to talk to her.

As he opened her bedroom door, Melissa was leaving at the same time.

“So, you’re back... good I was just coming to find you. I tried to explain everything but I don’t think it worked and she still seems convinced you don’t love her anymore... Obviously this is something only you can fix so I’ll just leave you two to it. Also... I think she needs help changing back out of her demon form... she keeps knocking things over with her wings and getting agitated.”

The blonde gives her friend a pat on the arm as she headed off to find the others.

Slowly, Mammon entered her room. At the sound, the feathers on Arella’s wings puffed up, the wings herself raising to make herself more intimidating to him and he has to bite his cheek to keep from laughing at how ridiculous she looks like that. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it.

“Put yer wings down, baby. Ya don’t scare me. I wanna talk to you.”

“Well, that’s funny. I don’t want to talk to you,” Arella growled. “You made your choice and it didn’t include me.” She crossed her arms as she turned her back to him. It was cute in a way.

“Then how ‘bout I jus’ do the talkin’ then? Will ya just’ listen?” He offered her a deal, watching as her wings drooped slightly and he knew he had her. Even as a demon, Arella was incapable of not lending a listening ear when asked for it.

“Fine,” She huffed. “You won’t leave until you say whatever you want too anyway but I don’t care about whatever lies you have for me. I already know the truth.”

“Sure, whatever ya say, doll.” He moved to sit on her bed, goading her into talking to him.

“What’s that supposed to mean, huh?!” She stomped over to him a pout on her face. “I’ll have you know, I’m very angry with you. You-!”

Mammon cut her off with a kiss as he pulled her down on the bed with him. The surprise was enough to shock her out of demon form as she wrapped her arms around his neck. When he pulled away, he held her gaze with his.

“I’m sorry for not bein’ there for ya... I messed up- alla us did and we’re so sorry but don’t think for a second that I don’t love ya. Ya mean the world ta me.”

“You sure have a funny way of showing it, you infuriating demon. I heard the two of you flirting in the dining room that one night... You didn’t even ask her to stop.”

“Yeah, it sure probably sounded like that, didn’t it? We weren’t flirting with each other. Melissa asked me to help her practice her pick-up lines for Satan. She ain’t interested in me and I made it clear I wasn’t lookin’ for it if she was ‘cuz I had you.” he poked a finger at the center of her chest.

“But... but... You didn’t say anything. Why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped too.”

“’Cuz I’m a idiot and it never occurred to me what kinda impression you’d get from it. C’mon, Treasure, this ain’t news.” He tries to flash her a smile. “’N before I knew it, almost a year had passed... I felt really guilty and tried ta call ya... but you’d already made up yer mind... Ya got me good, kid. I learned my lesson the hard way...”

Arella frowned as she watched his eyes for any sign of a lie. “How am I still alive? How did I suddenly become a demon...? I carved that long gash up my arm deep for a reason.”

“We gave ya my blood... jus’ a small amount but it did the trick. We turned ya and ya healed up immediately.” He pressed their foreheads together. “None of us know what we’d do without ya. And the fact that we almost lost ya two days ago scares us... We’ll make it up to you somehow. Even if it takes thousands of years.”

“You, specifically, can start tonight. Do you know how many date nights or movie nights you’ve missed? How much I’ve missed just having you in bed with me? I’m not letting you go for the rest of the night!” Arella hugs him closer to her. “That’s what you can do start making it up to me.”

“Yeah, sure thing, Babydoll, but we’re gonna sleep in my room. Ya don’t need this room anymore.” he hums as he shifts his arms under her and lifts her up, carrying her up to his room for the night.

-------------------------------------------------

The pair sleeps so late into the next morning that they end up missing breakfast. By time they come remotely close to even wanting to roll out of bed, Levi is already banging on Mammon’s door.

“It's noon already, guys! Get your butts out of bed! You’ve had Arella too long! Stop being greedy with her.” It's not the Avatar of Envy’s typical wakeup call but desperate times call for desperate measures. He had a whole stock pile of games he was dying to play but was saving the initial play through to be with Arella and he couldn’t take it anymore. Unlike Melissa, she was actually in to all the niche horror games that were supposed to come out over the past year.

“What’s he ramblin’ about now?” The Avatar of Greed looks up at his door before letting his head fall back on the pillow as he groaned. “I don’t wanna get up yet.”

“Then you can stay in bed.” Arella presses a kiss to his cheek before rolling away from his grasp. “I think your brother is only interested in me anyway considering he’s not saying anything about the money you owe him.

“But I don’t want you ta go,” The demon gives his mate the biggest puppy dog eyes in an attempt to get her to come back to bed with him. “Levi’ll keep ya all day.”

“And you’ll have me all night. I promise. Besides, I missed hanging out with him.” She turns to the door. “I’ll be there shortly, Levi!”

“Fiiiiiiiinnnnnneeeeee,” Mammon groans, sulking just a little bit and Arella laughs at his reaction.

“Oh? Is that a hint of sulking I detect coming from you?” Her tone is teasing, “You- the demon who’s been ghosting me for the past eleven months to the point where I thought you weren’t interested in our relationship anymore- is sulking because I’m going to end up spending the rest of one day with your little brother? I’m starting to detect double standards here, my dear.”

“Oh, shaddup,” He chucked a pillow at her head as they both laughed. “Just go and get dressed.”

“I will,” She made a ‘hmph’ like sound before running off to change out of her pajamas. “I’m stealing one of your flannels by the way.” She informs him as she walks out of the walk-in closet fully dressed.

“The hell you are!” He scrambles out of bed and chases her down as she leaps up the stairs and makes a break for it down the hall toward Levi’s room. As she runs, Arella thinks maybe being a demon has its perks after all.

-------------------------------------------------

“So what games are we playing first?” Arella makes herself comfortable on the floor next to the third born.

“It's another time loop horror game where if you don’t solve the mystery before times up your character has a permadeath and you have to go through everything again with the suspect being a new person each time. I promise this time it won’t affect us... Maybe.”

Arella laughs at that, remembering back to that time where they had to ferret out someone’s wish before the time loop reset. “Let’s just hope for your sake it doesn’t. I dread to see what Lucifer might do to you.”

“Yeah,” the purple-haired demon smiles as they begin the game.

After a couple hours of the two demons playing niche horror games, they took a bit of a break.

“I missed days like this... The days where we’d binge anime or play games.... I wish I hadn’t gotten forced into helping the others... Initially, I wasn’t going to since we already have one couple doing gross normie things. We didn’t need another.”

Arella laughs at that. “So, who was it that twisted your arm into helping?”

“Asmo bullied me into it. They were so relentless about it that I just got fed up and caved.”

“You know what, that tracks.”

“I really am sorry... You don’t hate me, do you?”

Her eyes widen at that. “No, Levi. I don’t hate you and I don’t think I can. You know I’ve never been one to hold grudges- especially with the seven of you. I always seem to forgive you guys eventually... And it seems like you all feel remorse for what happened so there’s no need to stay mad at any of you...”

“You know... Lucifer cried for you... when he and Mammon brought your body back to us two days ago... he was crying- they both were... And that’s when we really realized what we had done to you... that you were gone.”

“But I’m back now,” the demon says softly. “And this time, you guys won’t be getting rid of me. I’ll be around for the rest of your lives and I can’t think of a better way to spend it. Now, let’s get back to the game. I don’t know about you but I can’t wait to see what happens next.”

Levi only nods in return as he turns back to the tv.

-------------------------------------------------

“Arella!” Asmo links their arm with hers as they drag Arella off to their room. “How’re you feeling now? Better?”

“Uh... Yeah, thanks for asking. Where are we going?”

“My room, of course! We’re going to have a little bit of a spa day. No offense, but your skin looks absolutely trashed. Plus, now that you have a demon form, I can show you all the best oils and polishes that I use on my horns and I heard from Beel that you have the prettiest black wings that are just like Lucifer’s- okay, the pretty part I added on but still! I know some inexpensive, but quality oils to use when you preen them that’ll keep them looking pristine at all times.”

“Thank you, Asmo, I appreciate it.”

-------------------------------------------------

As the pair sat on the floor in the Avatar of Lust’s room, face masks in place, Asmo pulled out their endless collection of nail polish. They took one of Arella’s hands in theirs as they thought about what colors would work best for her that wasn’t already used for their brothers.

“How would you feel about a magenta? Or maybe- no, Lord Diavolo’s nails are black so it would be a repeat... Oh, oh what about that glittery gold that you like when we pair it with a black base? I bet you’d look good with rose gold nails too.”

“What about black with a gold design? It would be a bit different wouldn’t it plus I can’t remember anyone having designs on their nails. Aside from when you do nail art on yourself.”

“That’s genius! Why didn’t I think of that? Anyway, let’s get started.” The demon sets to work on her nails, letting out a satisfied hum once the first layer is done. While they waited for it to dry, Asmo pulled out some issues of DevilStyle for them to read. Some of their outfits had been featured in the latest issue and since some of them had been ones Arella had helped them refine months ago, they wanted her to see how their hard work paid off.

“They look amazing, Asmo.” She smiles as her eyes shine. “Is that the one we worked on together?”

They nodded. “Mhm. Mammon even modeled one of them. That one specifically, I tailored to him myself so it would look its best.”

“Can I see it? How long ago did he do this shoot?”

“Three months ago.” They turned to the centerfold. “He looked fantastic in it.”

“That he does- but then again when doesn’t he?”

“Oh, you’re just saying that because you’re biased.”

“Mmm, you’re not wrong.” and they both laughed softly at that. “So... I heard you were the mastermind behind trying to get Melissa and Satan together?”

“Yeah... It took forever too. I only thought it would take a few weeks since he’s my brother and I should know his tastes better than anyone but almost eleven months? It feels like a failure to my matchmaking skills.”

“So that’s why you were always busy with Melissa, huh? At least it worked right?”

“Thank the stars it did. But I was starting to think that it would never happen. Sorry we didn’t include you in the planning- we really should have... I really caused you a lot of pain, didn’t I?”

Arella nodded. “It hurt a lot thinking you guys had grown bored of me. Especially with Melissa being so much more than I ever could be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, look at me...” Arella makes an up and down motion with her hands. “She’s gorgeous. Long legs, blonde hair with pretty brown eyes that bring you in, skinny but not sickly looking. Right off the bat, she looked like she belonged here with you guys. And then you have me who regularly looks like a hot mess. I’m scrawny, far too skinny and I look like a midget standing next to any one of you. I guess for as much as I seem to fit in with you all, there’s always been a part of me that hasn’t. And I guess, once Melissa got here, it felt more prominent. Your little plan which took up everyone’s free time didn’t help.”

“I’m sowwy.... You’ll forgive me, right?” Asmo gave her the puppy dog eyes.

“What do you think, hmm?”

The Avatar of Lust threw their arms around her- careful of their face masks. “I knew you would. C’mon it’s time to get these face masks off.” They offered their hand to Arella as they went to go wash their faces off.

-------------------------------------------------

Arella admired her freshly painted nails as she walked down the hall. Unbeknownst to her, she was being stalked by a certain white-haired demon. He was quiet, sneaking up on her before he grabbed her.

“Gotcha!” He laughed as she let out a small squeak. “You’re mine now. C’mon, we’re goin’ out.”

“Out? Out where?” She wrapped her arms around his neck.

“A date, obviously. Told ya I was gonna make it up to ya for missin’ all them date nights...” he smiled as he set her down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I’m not takin’ no for an answer.”

“Alright, Alright.” she hummed. “I wouldn’t tell The Great Mammon ‘no’ anyway.” She laced their fingers together. “So, where’re are you taking me, love.”

“It's a surprise, so I can’t tell ya.” And with that the pair made their way out on the first date they’d had in months.

-------------------------------------------------

As the days went on, Arella found herself being tugged in all different directions by the brothers. There were days where as soon as they got out of class, Beel was dragging her off to a new café that had opened up that week or Belphie was taking up the rest of her free time with multi-hour-long naps- something Mammon had some choice words about.

Satan and Arella would exchange books for light reading as they sat in the library together and discussed their favorites. Sometimes Melissa would join them too, just as ecstatic about the books she’d gotten from the both of them. Lucifer would leave her teas order specifically from the human world that she often enjoyed. They had even returned to their occasional late-night chats over the same teas.

At school, Luke would often cling to Arella- not caring that she was now a demon as to him she would always just be Arella, human or otherwise- while Simeon only observed them with slight amusement, only to pull the small angel away once they had to split up for classes. The older angel had taken to calling or texting almost nightly to check on her.

Solomon-bless his heart- had started hanging around more, making various dishes for her to try at lunch and asking for her opinions on them. Having never learned from her prior experiences with the sorcerer's cooking, Arella still ate them out of both curiosity and politeness. Now that she was a demon, for some reason Arella had actually come to appreciate and enjoy the meals Solomon would make for her. The pair even joked about Arella making a pact with him but it was just that: a joke.

Now that it was months later, Arella felt even more ridiculous about ever feeling unloved by the people in her life- something they had proven untrue with their actions. Even with Melissa staying with them for an extended period of time after what should have been the end of her exchange year, Arella never felt cast aside for the blonde again. The pair had even begun hanging out together on their own without the influence of their housemates- something that Arella had wanted since Melissa first gotten there.

“So, what would you like to do today, Melissa?” Arella asked as the two women walked down the street. “I know you’re getting close to your return to the human world... its only a few weeks off.”

“Yeah... I don’t even know where to begin.” The blonde sighed. “What did you do during the last few weeks before you left after the initial year here was up for you?”

“I spent most of my time hanging out with the boys. They were all really upset to see me go... Are you planning to come back at some point? And what about you and Satan? Are you two going to keep in touch? You’re very good for each other- like two peas in a pod.”

“We’re going to, yes.” She confirmed. “I’ll still have my D.D.D. when I go back so we’ll talk and video chat through there. I’m going to miss you all though. I’ve had so much fun over the past year and half and it's all thanks to you guys.”

“I’m happy to hear you say that.” The demon smiles. “No one here is going to forget you. Make sure you try to come back at some point. They guys and I would be very happy to have you back.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Melissa hums as they enter the arcade.

After that it seemed like life had gone back to a somewhat normal house hold just with one more added on. Everything was at peace now even with some of the days where Arella feels less than good about herself. But she always had one of her seven demons there to remind her just how precious she was to them. During those times, she couldn’t think of a more suiting way to enjoy the rest of her long life.

-------------------------------------------------

Part 3 (the bad ending)

find more on my masterlist

[lenorethequietbookkeeper]

TW: Religious themes, specifically pertaining to Christianity

-----

Powers

Massive, serpentine creatures that strike fear in Hell's armies. Powers are a peculiar part of the angelic order, for their purpose in the universe is far more violent than any of their kins. They are specifically tasked with mitigating the demonic threat, specifically when their population on Earth reaches concerning numbers. Due to the nature of their work, there are nasty rumors implying that Powers are unforgiving bigots that gleefully kill entire families of Hell's natives in cold blood. While these scaled creatures are not fans of the devils by any means, they have no desire to drive them to extinction. They only attack violent fringe groups, never laying a claw on the demons who truly want to live on Earth in peace. Powers are never motivated by senseless bloodlust, they are motivated by the passionate desire to protect the innocent and ensure a safe world for all good-hearted creatures.

Powers are also unique in the respect that most of the Archangels that ascend to their rank are veteran soldiers of Heaven's army. This trend proves to be quite ideal, as fighting demons often requires great discipline and plenty of combat experience. While they do allow young Angels to observe their craft, as all good elders do, Powers are not exactly ideal teachers. There have been at least a few cases of the serpents accidentally leaving their students behind on Earth while caught up in the euphoria of victory.

Abel of the Powers- One of the oldest angels in Heaven's aviary. A grizzled, impatient, and blunt soldier with an unusually feverish hatred for insects. He immensely dislikes questions regarding his past.

-----

Virtues

Ever-present and curious observers to the ongoing history of mankind. Interestingly, these small angels spend most of their time floating about in the open sky. Even so, a human would face a great challenge in trying to find one. Virtues tuck themselves in large clouds that match the colors of their fluffy underbellies. There, they watch humans go about their business without intervention. This is not just to document the progress of It's favorite creations, it also provides vital surveillance for Heaven. If they sense or see that something is amiss, they will release a shrill cry to call for assistance from any nearby angels. This may make them sound like stoic buzzkills, but Virtues are actually very friendly and playful. When they are bored, they will bump into and chase one another, as if they are playing games. They also rapidly flap their wings when they see something they enjoy observing. Despite literally seeing it all, Virtues always seem to retain their excitably curious natures, no matter how grim things may get.

Unfortunately, Virtues cannot bring hatchling Angels to participate in their observations due to the stealth it requires. However, whenever they are not recording the affairs of man, Virtues will briefly return to their home in order to dictate what they have seen. This way, Archangels, Angles, and anyone else in the aviary can also indulge in their wondrous discoveries.

Vitreous of the Virtues- A rather mischievous little cloud that never stays in one spot for too long. It never lies about what it sees, but it has a tendency to weave tall tales regarding the more benign events it witnesses. Its favorite things to watch are plays and films.

----

Dominions

Bringers of It's light to the darkest corners of the Cosmos. Instead of dealing with the affairs of angels or humans, Dominions have the far more daunting task of searching for sentient life among the stars. They travel the seemingly endless cosmos, searching for alien worlds to study. They are patient, dedicated, and possess great perseverance. They are also renowned for their charisma and openness to compromise, both critical traits for dealing with entirely new cultures. There is a common misunderstanding that Dominions act as nothing more than bothersome interstellar missionaries. It is true that they speak of their own faith at times, but their true aim is something far more noble. They work to help alien societies form stable socio-political and economic alliances with each other. This ensures that the creatures Heaven does not directly watch over can still find support amongst themselves. Essentially, they are sewing the seeds for an intergalactic union that all species and worlds can hopefully join.

It has been many an eon since Dominions have returned to their native kingdom. All the toil and travel they have to juggle leaves them with almost no spare time of their own. Regardless, they still try their best to remain in contact with their brethren of the aviary. They utilize magically-linked books to write letters back and forth to their loved ones, akin to how one would send an email.

Lumious of the Dominions- An angel that is remembered fondly for her poise and compassion. She was well known for her frequent and lengthy reports on all of her extraterrestrial findings, no matter how insignificant they seemed. She has not sent a message to the aviary since It disappeared.

[caddy-whump-us]

There's "cutting off wings" wing-whump, to be sure, and it is delicious, but I haven't seen as much "adding on wings" wing-whump. So I thought I'd provide some.

This is also for @whumpinbloom and their marvelous prompt here, though that particular scene comes at the very, very end and this got...really, really long.

For reference, I was thinking about the mechanical wing imagery that figures in CLAMP's manga Clover: mechanical, but delicate

Also I was listening to this garden ambiance audio the whole time I was writing this. So, yeah.

Cautions: surgery references, medical references, very vague religious overtones

---

When the doctor came into the aviary, the boy was resting near the waterfall with the apparatus of his wings propped on a stone next to him. His eyes were closed; perhaps he slept.

Of course his wings pained him: that was obvious and unavoidable, even with the gold wire wrapped down his spine and into the small of his back (like tattoos of golden thread) designed to support both his skeletal structure and the metal wing apparatus. The muscular connections necessary to both support and provide motion to the wings had left him with a constant backache just below his shoulder-blades and perpetual tension in the external obliques along each side. All of which obliged him to breathe intercostally, which made speech difficult and singing impossible, which was a pity.

The doctor began to pick his way up the stone path to the waterfall ledge where the boy was resting. The boy opened his eyes: pale, opalescent eyes, carefully restitched with iridescent nanotubes and with new lenses that flashed gold in the light.

"Good morning," the doctor said, "Ramiel."

The boy watched him approach with a soft and empty expression, which was perhaps indiciative of an excess of facial surgery? Or the subcutaneous polymer sheet, though that had been implanted a good five weeks ago and was surely healed. Certainly it was successful: his skin was smooth, soft.

The doctor picked his way across the patch of grass and tidy plantings to the lower level of the waterfall and hoisted himself up to the second level, where the boy waited (or, at least, sat). He took a seat on another stone--all artificial, all of it: the stones sourced and hand-cut when needed, the water purified and oxygenated, the trees and plants and flowers imported and tended to by expert gardeners, the birds bred and raised in captivity, the carp and goldfish from old Japanese lineage, the handful of rabbits pedigreed. And, of course, there was Ramiel.

The last movement of the Dawn Chorus was fading for the day. A shame that the angel in the midst of this absolutely palatial greenhouse couldn't fly. But that was a problem that would have to be solved by other means--the current swarm experiments, for example.

Ramiel turned his eyes away and back to the water streaming past. The doctor set the box full of flowers at his feet.

"Haven't I been good to you these last days? No operations, no procedures, no punishments, sweet fruit to eat, no visitors."

The doctor took the boy's face in his hands and the boy rested his cheek against the man's palm. His eyes fell shut. He nodded. The doctor smiled.

"I like your nose much better now. I think we're coming very close," he said, with a "we" that would never include Ramiel, "to the correct balance for your face."

He ran two fingers down the length of Ramiel's jaw. "Just a few more operations, I think."

Ramiel kept his head still where the doctor had left him for a moment, then looked aside.

"Do you hate me?" the doctor asked. "You mustn't hate me. A holy sacrifice requires flesh and blood."

The blood test. Then the first gold wires, his teeth ground down and rebuilt, the second round of gold wires, the third round of gold wires that had them threaded through his spinal cord (which had left him crying nonstop for literal days), the initial installation of the base of the wing apparatus (again, nonstop crying for days), testing and adjustment, testing and adjustment, testing and adjustment, before finally being able to install the first quarter of the polymer-plastic feathers, the physical therapy for balance, the work on his joints and connective tissues, the stabilization work for the apparatus (which was more than once), the procedures to strip his skin, the purely cosmetic procedures of course, the ocular surgeries (which were done only under a local, and a nurse had held his hand and whispered prayers the entire time) which had left him stumbling around in a blindfold for several days, and of course the facial surgeries throughout (jaw, brow, nose more than once, cheekbones, at least; he began to get used to waking up with his face swollen and covered in gauze). And now, the latest, more gold filigree wrapping from his shoulder-blades, over his shoulders, and up his neck: anywhere and anything for stabilization and the harvest of muscular electricity.

"And you were the one who made the first promise. Everything that's followed has," and he gestured towards the water, "cascaded from that."

He reached out and buried his hand in Ramiel's soft curls. The muscular electricity technique was not looking especially promising. Like as not, Ramiel would need brain surgery soon to implant control wires directly. It would be a shame, though, to have to shave off his curls. And it had been a trick to get his hair that shade of pale gold without blanching out his eyebrows or, worse, his eyelashes. The earlier botch-up had left useful stem cells after all.

"When I found you, you were good enough for humanity, but not yet good enough for me. Do I need to tell you about Galatea again? Or about Michaelangelo and the marble?"

Ramiel dropped his gaze and shook his head. The doctor was still clawing through his hair, scratching at the short hair at the nape of his neck as though he were a cat.

"Good. Besides, if you do hate me, I'll have you lobotomized."

Ramiel was watching the water again, the dragonflies skimming over it. The doctor sat with his chin in his hand.

"Spread your wings for me," he said. "Let me see you."

Ramiel turned back to him and got up from his place on the stone. Spreading the wing apparatus took a ripple of muscle tension from his lower abdomen, up his sides, then to a tensing sway up his back--a wave. He stood on that patch of moss and grass before the doctor and drove the rippling tension up his back. With his face pointed skyward (but there was glass between him and the sky), the copper armatures extended.

The doctor stood before him now, his face ecstatic. He ran his hands down the length of each wing, touching the edges of the primary polymer feathers, teasing Ramiel's wings higher with soft fingertips under the secondary feathers. Then, overcome completely, he caught Ramiel's face in his hands and kissed him: forehead, face, neck. He smelled of frankincense and roses. Ramiel's wings drooped.

But then, just as suddenly, he stopped and held the boy's limp body against his. He could feel Ramiel's heart thudding, feel his breathing fast and shallow. "But this is how angels fall, isn't it?"

It was then, just as he began to pull away, that he saw the spattering of blood on the grass. He looked down at his hand where it rested in the open back of Ramiel's shirt, just where the wing apparatus slipped under the boy's skin: blood there as well. He reared back and caught the boy by the hair with his clean hand.

"You pushed yourself too far." His grip was strong but his voice was kind. "You must never do that again. Certainly not today. Don't you dare bleed on the fine things I give you."

The doctor washed his hand in the waterfall stream, and dragged Ramiel closer with him. He undid the buttons at the back of the collar of the shirt the boy wore, sewn for him and him alone with an open back for his wings, and jerked the shirt so it fell around the boy's ankles. But he was gentle when he blotted away the rivulet of blood, even if the water was like ice.

"Not today, Ramiel. I have guests coming in an hour."

The doctor wrung out his handkerchief and collected Ramiel's shirt. Ramiel sat back on the stone near the ledge so he could rest his back--just a moment, just a moment without the weight and the strain.

He had had another name before and another life. But if he thought about that too much, it would only make the cramping, aching pain clearer. He leaned against the rocks and watched the doctor carrying away his shirt and meeting someone who was just coming in to the aviary.

The doctor took something from them, a flat box tied with ribbon, spoke to them, and then they began to lay out the rest of Ramiel's feathers on the grass so they could unfurl like ferns before they were threaded onto his wings. If there were to be visitors, then he would have to wear the full set.

The doctor, though, came back up the rocks with the box and sat down again.

"This is for you," he said, but he was the one who untied the ribbon and took off the lid.

He lifted up a shimmering silk tunic, though more at a blouse, translucent, sheer, with tight pleats at the shoulders and wrists and neck.

"It was made for you," the doctor said and turned the shirt around to show the opening in the back. "Come on, let's get you dressed."

Ramiel let himself be dressed, drawing the shirt up and sliding his arms in. The doctor closed the tiny pearl buttons at the back of the neck and tugged at the open back so it would frame the wings as he wanted. He turned Ramiel with a push to his hips to adjust the front. The collar could be cinched shut with a tasseled cord, but the doctor left it open to show off the gold wiring around the boy's neck. But he did tighten the cord at the waist, drawing up the hem into a flounce that Ramiel disliked and showing the edges of the shorts he wore (for modesty, as the doctor had said, but the doctor had also said that that wouldn't be such a issue after a surgery scheduled for the very near future). He let himself be fussed with, let the confectionery details of this blouse be adjusted, let the cords be looped or unlooped, let the buttons be pulled tighter. But the doctor was happy.

He took the boy's face in his hands again and kissed his forehead. "We need to attach the rest of your feathers. But I'll sit with you a while."

They made their way down from the waterfall, with the doctor balancing Ramiel along the way. He was thin, so thin and kept thin by careful dietary practices, and the adjustments to his joints and his ligaments meant that he was frail in strange and delicate ways.

The doctor settled Ramiel in the little grass clearing where his feathers were finishing their unfurling. Two technicians measured out gold wire to thread through the feathers so they could be laced into the wing apparatus and connected to the interface. The connection of the new lacing to Ramiel's nerves stung and snapped like cold electricity (of course). He did his best to breathe deeply, but his breathing shuddered.

Meanwhile, the doctor had wandered away, it seemed, to admire the hydrangeas and gardenias and orange blossoms nearby in the White Garden. He took out a pocketknife and cut a handful of white flowers before coming back.

He knelt down in front of the boy, who looked pale and drawn. He tipped the boy's chin up.

"You look as though you were about to weep for the ills of the world," he said, softly. And he began to cut apart the bunches of flowers.

As the technicians went on, threading on feather after feather, sparking each connection between the wings and his spine, Ramiel was watching the doctor as he cut bunches of orange blossoms, hydrangea clouds, sprays of jasmine apart so that each flower fell to the grass alone.

He took them up, one by one, and with such careful hand's, doctor's hands so soft and clean, began to set these white flowers in Ramiel's curls. He nestled them inside a curl or let them rest on top as if it were the crest of a wave. He scattered them in Ramiel's hair like they were snowflakes (the sun was shining brighter through the greenhouse windows now and he could see the fine mist of water droplets in Ramiel's hair and he was almost overcome with love, but also with hatred that this thing he had created could dare to be so beautiful).

He took ivy and some of the gold wire and wove orange blossoms and jasmine and gardenia and white roses and lilies with maidenhair ferns into a crown, a halo.

The technicians finished their work, gathered their tools, and left.

The doctor, still kneeling, set the crown of flowers gently on Ramiel's head.

He sat back on his heels to look at him: his head gently bowed and half-turned away, his wings spread across the grass and full with translucent feathers. The doctor reached out, then, and stroked Ramiel's face with the back of his hand. Ramiel stayed very still, even when the rage swept over the doctor and he gripped the boy's throat just above the gold wires, just below his jaw and began to squeeze. Ramiel closed his eyes.

And the doctor let go.

"I think you want to die," he whispered savagely. "You're in Eden and you want to die. But you won't. You can't."

He tossed his head and then his voice was gentle. "Go back up to the waterfall, play with the birds."

He slipped his finger through one of Ramiel's curls, drew it out straight, let it snap back, drew it out again.

"And when your visitors arrive to see you, show them your wings. And if you disobey me or are naughty," his voice was teasing, "we'll have to do your next surgery without anesthesia."