As Adam walked through the garden, he was drawn further in between the trees by the sound of singing. The sound of it was unlike any song he’d ever heard before. It didn’t sound quite human, an otherworldly melody that was hard for his mind to grasp.

 

As he stepped into the clearing, the singing abruptly stopped, leaving him with the sound of faraway birds and the purling water of a nearby creek.

He peered up into the crown of the trees, the sun filtering through the leaves obscuring his view.

There, between the branches, he thought he saw something move. A gigantic set of wings, white as snow. He’d never seen a bird that big before.

Curious, he reached for one of the lower branches, heaving himself up. As he started to climb, he heard scrambling, pieces of bark bouncing off his forehead as they came off the branches.

He continued upward, until he caught sight of the wings again. Another few branches and he was finally level with the creature he had heard singing in the trees.

 

He blinked.

 

“You’re… not a bird.”

In front of him was a person, with hair a similar shade to Lilith’s, but about half her size. Not only did one set of wings sprout from their back, but three, varying in size. Their face was hidden behind a tiny pair of wings that sprung from the sides of their face in lieu of ears.

Their wings were fluffed up, as if startled, halfway wrapped around them in an attempt to hide. He could hear an awkward laugh from behind the feathers. “Oh, um. Hello. No, I’m not a bird, no.”

As Adam leaned closer, they skittered further out on the branch. How was the branch not breaking beneath them? It had to be half the width of Adam’s wrist.

“What was that melody? That you were singing before.”

 

“Oh, that. It was one of ours.”

“‘Ours’?” This was the first time Adam had met a person that wasn’t him or Lilith, God much more than anything that could be called a ‘person’. For a while he had thought that they were the only people who existed among the animals. So who else was there, aside from this tiny, unknown creature?

Adam didn’t understand the words that were spoken next, the sound of them similar to that of the song from before. When he tried to imitate them, it felt like the words became muddled in his brain, sticking on his tongue the way the sap from the trees stuck in his teeth.

“Sorry, no, uh, it’s angelic, you won’t be able to speak it unless you’re an angel.”

His eyes turned back toward the winged person in front of him. “Is that what you are?”

They nodded, the wings covering their face finally lowering to reveal eyes such a light, bright blue Adam thought he should see clouds in them. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t, well, I only meant to sing with the birds, I didn’t think you were that closeby.”

“So you won’t sing anymore? If I’m here?”

 

The angel averted their eyes. “I… Well…” They moved back to Adam, their wings finally revealing their entire face. It was glowing like the sun as their cheeks grew golden at the earnest look they found on Adam’s face. They were so pretty it made his heart ache. “...I guess I would feel bad to stop singing when I just got here. For, for the birds, I mean.”

Adam grinned as the angel’s wings unfurled, sitting next to him on the branch. “I’m Adam. What’s your name?”

A shy smile made its way onto the angel’s lips.

“...It’s Lucifer.”

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