They weren't married yet; he'd suggested it once, meaning it as a joke, and she'd given him a ring the next day. He spent at least an hour trying to explain that it didn't work like that, not exactly, more amused than annoyed. Lilith had offered to officiate, but neither of them had forgiven her completely after that incident with the kids.

So, they weren't married, though he did eventually tie a feather around her wrist and told her he'd know if she ever took it off, and then she'd catch unholy hell from him. She'd laughed, of course, and he'd laughed, and they spent the entire day just laughing, making up for lost time.

Marriage implied faithfulness, though her people found that concept rather confusing. He knew that. She knew he knew that. Marriage was a human custom. She'd never been human, and he hardly qualified anymore. So there was no reason to feel that surge of jealousy as she laughed at some comment made by the silver haired man. No reason to want to rip his too-pretty face off and hang it from his spear as she leaned in closer, touching his hand.

Hadn't he waited for six thousand years? Was it so much to ask that she cater to his admitedly warped human sensibilities for a little while, at least? There was a burning sensation on his forehead, marking where his ancestor had spilled the blood of a brother in a jealous rage.

Jubal fixed his smile in place with a little more alcohol as she beckoned him over, still laughing. "Hullo, pet. Found a new friend?" He'd gotten better, really. He'd reached a record twenty-six words without one slip of profanity, once- he could hold a civilized conversation with a stranger who stood a little too close to the woman he wasn't married to yet.

Her laughter made angels sing, once. Hells, her voice could make anyone sing- she could give a voice to the mute and make hyenas melodious. "This is Jude. I didn't mean to make it sound like a pick- up line, I really didn't, but he just reminds me of someone." She was smiling at him, bright and innocent. Her smiles lied.

He still wore feathers in his hair, because Heaven wasn't all powerful anymore, and somethings could not be undone or forgotten. The pale eyed man smiled, too, and his smiles lied just as easily as hers. Jubal wound his fingers through his braid (much easier to keep it that way, since it would not be cut) and tugged a feather free. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" His forehead was wet with blood.

Jude tilted his head to the side, the look in his eyes lazy and half-hidden. "Exquisite."

"She's mine." He ignored her sudden fury, and the raw heat of her anger. He grabbed the other man's wrist and wrapped pale fingers around the feather. "Back the fuck off, or you'll get hurt, human."

"Jubal!" The stench of burned flesh filled the air between them and he knew he was making a scene, a dangerous scene in this innocuous little human bar.

"Quiet, Len." Blood ran freely down his face, between his eyes and across his nose.

The pale eyed man stared at his hand, at the contrast between their hands and the feather and the blood that mingled all three together, and smiled. "No more human than she is, little one." His own hand began to bleed, cold searing away his skin and tearing it to pieces with his trembling.

Their eyes met, inhuman paleness to common earth tones, and neither let go. Jubal knew his hand would probably be permanently scarred and it would take months to recover enough to even pick up harp, let alone play it. But that wasn't the point.

"There is no point, you idiots!" Her fingers were slender but strong- her bones were made of rock, and her muscles were wires holding everything together, or in this case, pulling everything apart. She'd stopped smiling.

"Fuck! Lenore!" His hand was a mess, frozen and blackened flesh hanging in tatters from too-white slices of bone.

"Enough, Jubal. There will be no more of your foolish posturing here. And you-" Her fury was still burning, but she wasn't looking at him. She was looking at the other one, with his ethereal features and easy perfection. "Who are you? I've been away too long to recognize old faces."

It gave Jubal a perverse sort of pleasure to see that his rival was nursing a sulking expression and a hand that was little more than charred bone. "My name is Jude," he muttered.

"No demon would name themselves something that unpretentious." Len was angry with him, but Jubal knew he'd won anyway.

She shot him a glare. "Demon?"

He held up his hand by way of explanation. "Ice. Fuck." Better make that useless for a year, unless Len decided to take pity on him.

"There aren't any angels left in heaven with enough sense to take a human name," the demon shot back. "Who are you?"

Her smile was bitter, and the bitterness did not lie. "'Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.'"

The blood had gotten in his mouth, making his grin seem devilish. "'Quoth the raven, nevermore.'"

The demon cast him an irritated glance and bowed contritely to Len. "Nameless? Then my apologies. I am called Judecca, formerly of the Ninth Circle and now a wanderer after recent...upsets."

Len slapped him, leaving a stinging handprint across the pale cheek. Jubal chuckled under his breath, wary of bringing her wrath down upon his head. "You bastard! You unforgiveable bastard! I knew you looked familiar!" She didn't slap him again, though she did shake him a little, tears in her gray-green eyes. "How dare you not recognize me!"

"I-"

"Len, pet, give it a rest. You hardly resemble your old self." Feeling secure at last, Jubal decided to take pity on the demon. "Her name was Radueriel, master of Heaven's choir. I am Jubal al Lamech," he finally took the time to wipe the blood off his face, "second to last of the line of Cain."

Judecca's jaw dropped and his eyes glazed over. "But..." Len was still shaking him.

"Bastard! Forgetful, brainless, good-for-nothing, stupid, worthless, asshole of a bastard!" She was getting more creative by the second, and Jubal wondered if he shouldn't watch his own language more often around her.

His amusement stopped abruptly when the demon grabbed her and kissed her, ignoring the pain such contact must have caused. It really was the only way to get her to shut up, but it was a technique few others could get away with and survive. His hand twitched in impotent fury until they finally broke apart.

Len leaned against him, and smiled a little sheepishly. Judecca blushed and touched his burnt lips a little ruefully. Then he grinned. "Hey, mister- she's my sister."

Jubal's eyebrow twitched as Len dissolved into giggles against him. He solemnly brought his good fist down on her head with a hollow thunk and gave Judecca the same treatment. Same hollow noise, too.

He shook his head and dragged them both to a table. Angels. Go figure.
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Uh, crap. Sheer crap and I know it, but...Jubal! Being all psychotic and jealous and whatnot. And Jude, who is my newest crossover whore, and Radueriel's...sibling. (Gender? What's that?) He's usually Jude, though he does occasionally make appearances as Judith...and he annoys Jubal to no end even though he doesn't do much. Very laid back sort of guy. People accuse him of being on heroin rather frequently when he's in human form. He's got a major part in Godless Avatar (still working on it, I promise!) where he gets to be a transvestite stripper in his free time.

Yes, Radueriel becomes Lenore afterwards...it's just too much of a pain to write out her full name, and Poe's "The Raven" is too much of a Jubal poem to pass up. Also, Heaven's beuracracy rivals that of Congress when it comes to getting anything done, so while Radueriel, Singer of Songs is still blacklisted, Lenore is not and can wander about freely. She's still partly made of stone in human form, though...if she wants to fly, she has to revert into her pure angel form, which tends to inflict massive property damage.

I do write about het couples, see? They're just all so...fluffy. There's no backstory relationship angst (Tyler and Opal don't count, I have to rewrite the whole story to get to their angst), just generalized angst and Jubal's little human insecurities angst and the six thousand years of waiting angst. But together? No angst at all. Ridiculous sap, with baby talk and pet names and all that other silly crap.

Disgustingly fluffy, really- if you ignore the fact that they're both a little crazy. Just a bit. :)