12. Minos

Minos was dozing, which was a strange thing for him. He occasionally slept, but mostly he chose not to. Having Adam curled up in his arms, however, softly breathing against his chest, had lulled him into a light slumber.

Yet something had woken him, and it took him a minute to realize it was the soft chiming that was coming from the other room. Adam stirred against him, and he cursed the leadership team in his head. Nothing should disturb his precious human.

His human who had told Minos he loved him.

Minos had lived for millenia; he was beyond time. Sometimes he forgot where or when it had all even started. To live so long was to let memories fade into the ether and embrace each experience as if it were new. It was finding twisted pleasure in coming up with a particularly fitting punishment, or even experiencing blinding frustration in dealing with the upstairs crew and all their damn rules.

Yet most of his experiences were not new. Variations, perhaps, on things that had happened before, but he thought he had experienced all that was to be had in pleasure and pain during his endless existence. After all, how could he come up with fitting judgments if he himself had not experienced despair, hopelessness, and anguish? He preferred to let those memories fade away, but the feelings they had evoked were always with him, making him better at his job.

Minos had thought there were no surprises left for him. He had been wrong.

In all his memories, in all his time, he had never had someone be in love with him. Yes, he had loved and been loved. He had friends. Demons he was close to. Perhaps they never said the words to one another, but there was love there of the familial type.

But what Adam felt for him? What he saw in Adam's eyes as he had told Minos he loved him? Minos had never seen that. He had never felt that type of love and devotion from anyone. It was like someone was ripping a hole in his chest and yet filling him up until he was bursting at the same time. It was breath-taking and overwhelming and amazing but also painful and frightening in a way that Minos had never felt. Demons, it hurt.

Because if anything happened to Adam, he would end the world.

The chiming raised slightly in volume, and Adam stirred against him again, moaning softly and then using his tongue to lick across Minos' nipple. Minos smiled, running his hand through his human's hair.

"Did you sleep well, little one?" he asked. "You were so beautiful for me." He felt Adam grinning against his skin at that. His human loved to be praised, and Minos would give him all the praise he could possibly want.

"Holy shit, Minos. That was… like, wow. Holy shit. And your tail. And your dick. And your tongue. And just like… holy shit. I'm speechless. We are definitely going to do that again," Adam said, his voice muffled by Minos' chest before he shot up to look at him. Minos chuckled as Adam wiggled a little and then continued to talk, because his little human was never really speechless.

"And I am so sore, but like totally in a good way. It feels awesome. Like I was well used. Because holy shit, I was well used. Excellent job, big guy. Ten out of ten stars. No, like, a million out of ten stars. And we need snacks now. Because sex then snacks, you know? Even though we don't need snacks, they would be awesome. And we can cuddle in bed and eat some unhealthy shit, although that doesn't really matter because I'm dead and you're like this super hot demon, and…" Adam trailed off, cocking his head.

"Minos, I think your living room is chiming," he said, and then he was off the bed and out into the other room.

Minos sighed. He had hoped to put things off a little longer, but Az had warned him. He slowly got himself out of bed, not looking forward to the message that was awaiting him.

"Um, Minos? You have, like, writing on your window? And it's chiming? And it's also on your ceiling, I think? And it looks like it's appearing across the counter in here too? Holy shit, it's like aggressive email. Will it just keep showing up everywhere until you read it?" Adam asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. The chiming will also get louder until you can't hear anything above it. That takes a day or so though," Minos replied. "The writing will also appear on every surface no matter where you are by that point."

Adam snorted at that as Minos walked into the living room. "Because of course you would leave shit unread that long even though it's annoying as fuck. Why not just get it over with?"

"Because, my dearest human, sometimes you just don't want to hear from the Leadership Team. They are pompous, overblown bureaucrats, and they bring nothing but aggravation. Luce and Yah both utterly regret their creation."

"Yah?" Adam asked. Minos merely pointed a finger up, and Adam replied, "Ohhhh. Yah. Got it."

"Go ahead and read it to me if you'd like. That will satisfy the message, and I'm sure you"re curious about what's in it."

"I am so fucking curious, but I didn't want to overstep or anything. But I am nosy as fuck," Adam giggled out.

Minos walked over and took Adam into his arms, looking into his eyes. "You can never overstep. There is nothing I would keep from you, nothing you cannot know. I will always try to spare you from hearing the worst of humanity in the judgment room, because you have a soft and shining heart, but every part of my existence is open to you."

Adam smiled, reached up, and pulled Minos' lips down to his. What started as a soft kiss was soon full blown making out, until the chiming ratcheted up another notch, at which Adam pulled back.

"Ok. Just, like, read it out loud?" he asked.

"Yes. I shall procure us some ‘snacks' while you do so," Minos replied.

Adam snorted again. "Procure us some snacks, then big guy. I love you. And you're so sexy with your fancy talk," Adam said, smiling over at Minos before looking back at the message on the window.

Minos was momentarily halted by how casually Adam just said he loved him. He knew it to be true; Adam hadn't lied during sex, because Minos could sense those things. Still, he had not expected to receive the gift of those words again so soon. Adam was a continuous gift, however, so perhaps he should not have been surprised.

Minos walked over and thought about what constituted snacks, listening as Adam began to read.

"Attention All Non-Mortal Souls: This is a reminder that soul-flow coordinators are an integral part of the afterlife experience to all levels. Moving souls to their appropriate afterlife locations is the goal of all afterlife workers, and soul-flow coordinators ensure that no mortal souls are left waiting in the queue for too long. They serve an important role in keeping things running smoothly.

"If you are assigned a soul from a soul-flow coordinator, please remember that this soul is a priority and should be treated as such. If the soul has been misplaced, please try to assist them. If that is not possible, please send them to the appropriate department to be processed.

"Soul-flow coordinators are not to be ignored, and no soul that is assigned from the queue should ever be returned to the queue unprocessed. Please remember that soul-flow coordinators have the full support and backing of the Leadership Team. Any directive that comes from them should be handled as if it is coming directly from above and treated with the utmost seriousness."

Minos couldn't help it, he snorted and rolled his eyes. Adam stopped reading to look at him. "Man, that's some pompous shit, Minos. No wonder you don't want to read their messages. I once worked for a telemarketing company, and I think management may have almost been as assholey as these guys."

Minos chuckled. "Yes, telemarketing came from them, so that isn't surprising."

Adam whistled, then continued reading the letter. "It has also come to the Leadership Team's attention that the following souls have been misplaced. If they are in your department, please direct them immediately to the appropriate department for assistance."

"Then there's like a bunch of numbers and stuff, do you need me to read those?" Adam asked, looking at Minos. Minos shook his head no and read over the list of numbers himself. Sure enough, Adam's soul was in the list. Shit.

Adam continued reading. "Customer satisfaction is our goal. Together, we can make the afterlife experience exactly what it needs to be for each soul. Cooperation, especially with soul-flow coordinators, is essential for this process.

"Thank you for your serious attention to these matters. Sincerely, The Leadership Team."

"Holy shit, Minos, the ‘Leadership Team' is full of assholes," Adam said, doing his adorable air quote thing. Minos heartily agreed.

"They are indeed. Unfortunately, however, we do have a slight problem." The message was fading from the glass as Minos walked over to the window. "Your soul was on the missing soul list," he stated.

"Oh hell no," Adam snapped. Minos loved his little human's fiery nature. "I am not going back upstairs. The Leadership Team can go fuck themselves."

"No, you are not going back upstairs. Your place is with me. We will get it sorted, hopefully before the soul-flow cockroaches descend upon us," Minos declared.

He then used his finger to begin drawing runes on the glass. He hated to bother Luce in this way, but if the Leadership Team had sent out an email and identified Adam, then he knew it was only a matter of time until they tracked him here. His demons were loyal, but he had been seen by quite a few immortals from multiple departments in Limbo.

Minos wasn't particularly worried about dealing with the soul-flow coordinators. After all, if they actually had any authority or were at all effective and not ignored by almost everyone, such a message would not even have been necessary.

However, he didn't want that aggravation, and he certainly didn't want Adam upset. So he put the call into Luce, and then turned to walk over to Adam and tug him into his arms. "Brace yourself, love. We are about to take a little trip."

"Awww, you called me love," Adam gushed.

As they started to fade out of Minos' home, he heard Adam then add, "But shit, I really do hate these transitions."