Michael wakes up Adam in the middle of the night, shaking him insistently. "Adam! Adam! Wake up! Wake up!"
Adam turns around to bury his face in the pillow, trying to avoid Michael’s attempts to wake him up. “Adam’s not here” his voice muffled.
Climbing into the bed, Michael straddles Adam and sits on his back. “Come on! We’re loosing some precious time!” He starts massaging Adam’s shoulders and leans down to give him a kiss of the top of his head.
“Losing time?” Feels his muscles relaxing by Michael’s touch “Mikey what time is it?”
“Four in the morning! It’s already the 30th in some parts of the world! We lost a whole day!” He continues massaging Adam’s back and turns his head to kiss his cheek.
“Four am?! You are crazy if you think I will get up” Turns around so Michael is sitting on his belly. “And does it really matter that in some places is already 30th? Here we are still in 29th and I haven’t heard anything yet”
Michael smiles at Adam’s sleepy face and shaggy hair, not being able to resist passing his hand through it. As his hand comes down to caress his husband’s cheek, he whispers in a soft warm voice “Happy birthday, love!”, the dopey smile never leaves his face.
He forms a warm smile and grabs Michael’s hand, planting a kiss on it. Intertwines their hands together and whispers with a hoarse voice “Happy Michaelmas, beautiful”
Michael rearranges himself so that he’s laying comfortably on top of Adam and softly kisses him on the lips. “You were certainly born on a good day! What do you want to do today?”
Adam started to gently stroke Michael’s hair “What do you want us to do? I want to eat breakfast”
“What kind of breakfast? We can have a French breakfast in Paris in front of the Eiffel Tower. It’s 11 am there right now.”
“I forgot you could fly away everywhere you wanted. It should be fun, we can go!” He gave Michael a kiss on the forehead “But first things first, I have to get dressed”
“Yes you should” said Michael but he didn’t move away, just continued laying there, staring at Adam.
“I should, and your gaze won’t do it for me” He pecked Michael on the lips, “Come on, let me go”
He whispers “you’re beautiful” and gives him one last kiss before rolling over onto his side of the bed to let Adam change into appropriate clothes.
He left his comfortable place on the bed feeling the warmth getting away from him. He walked towards his wardrobe and picked clothes for the occasion. When he finished to dress up, he brushed his hair and went to the side of the bed where Michael was still laying. “Are you gonna get up or what?”
“But the bed smell just like you!” Michael whines.
“Are you kidding me? You made me wake up early as fuck and now you don’t want to get up? This is not happening!” Adam grabbed Michael’s arm and pulled it, trying to get him out of the bed
“You know that you won’t be able to make me move unless I want you to, right?” Michael stared at Adam, amused, but gave in at the end and stood up. “So? Ready?”
Adam sighed and placed a hand in Michael’s shoulder “Yeah, let’s go!”
Michael flew them to Trocadero in Paris. “Here, let’s eat outside so that you’ll have a direct view of the Tower.” He went towards the Café du Trocadéro and waited for the maître d'hôtel to sit them.
Once they were sitted at a table, he asked “ So, birthday boy, what do you want to eat?”
Adam looked with awe at the place and view, he grabbed his hand and squeezed it a bit “I… Michael thank you! I don’t- I don’t know, ask something for me, surprise me!”
“Well, since we’re here, let’s have the local specialities.” Michael ordered orange juice along with hot chocolate and coffee for them to drink, and an assortment of vienoiseries (croissants, pains au chocolat, chaussons aux pommes and pains au raisins) to eat.
The weather was quite nice, it was cloudy but they still got some sun and it was quite warm for the end of September, therefore sitting outside was an absolute pleasure.
Once their food arrived, Michael couldn’t resist and took the first chausson aux pommes. “This is the best thing out of everything! Try it! It has apples in it!”
Adam licked his lips and looked at the food in front of him “I don’t know why I am surprised you know how to speak French” He grabbed his cup of coffee and took a sip “It’s delicious! Thank you for bringing me here Mikey”
“Well these people have a place in the center of their capital named after me. It’s only fair for me to visit those kind of places. Plus they have an island with a beautiful church also named after me. Actually I love that place quite a lot, it has a medieval feel to it. And the view is spectacular!”
“They seem to love you around here, not as much as I do, obviously” Adam stares at Michael with gentleness
He shrugs. “People get obsessed with weird stuff. In some cities, (there’s one in Argentina) today is a holiday only because they decided to honor me. I don’t get it but if it give them comfort, I guess I shouldn’t judge” He took one of Adam’s hands in his. “Nobody loves me like you do!”
“Definitely! And nobody loves me like you do, seriously, thank you,” He started to caress Michael’s hand “I never thought I would be here! Or at least like this”
“I can take you wherever you would want to go. Just ask. We can go anywhere!” He stares at Adam, afraid to say his next words, but he manages to get brave enough to do it. “Actually… I had a surprise… well it’s more of a proposition really… but since it’s your birthday and the first one we spend together out of the cage… I thought I could maybe, and only if you want to, take you to… umm… Heaven to see your… mom…?” He looks up from where he was staring at his hot chocolate to meet Adam’s eyes again.
Adam dropped the little spoon he was holding, the proposition was completely unexpected. His eyes were wide open, he tried to speak, but he only could manage to say incoherent sounds “Y-you can actually d-do that? I don’t- I don’t know what to say. I- yes!”
“It’s certainly against the rules, but when I went up there and saw what Heaven has become, I honestly don’t see how this could be a problem. And even if someone notices, they can’t reprimand me for it. Yes I left, but I’m back and technically Heaven is mine to rule. Now, I don’t want to do that, but I still have the power. Still, think about it, whether you think it’s a good ideo or not. It’s not rushed, we can go there whenever. Your mother is there, I checked, and she won’t go anywhere.”
“I didn’t- I thought that I would never see her again. Michael this- why were you spying on my mom? You know, I don’t care” Adam squeezed Michael’s hand he was still holding, he smiled and couldn’t help let little sounds of happiness out “What if you had to rule heaven? Does that mean you won’t be here anymore?”
“I wasn’t spying on her. Just wanted to make sure she was really there and safe.”
There was a pause after that, he needed to think about that question. Running the pad of his finger along the side of his glass, Michael diverted his gaze toward the Tower in the distance. “I guess I would be able to find a little bit of time to descend to Earth.” He lookes back at Adam. “But it wouldn’t be very often. And honestly, I don’t want to deal with the mess up there. I’d rather be here with you!”
“I’d rather have you here with me too” Adam sighed and finished his cup of coffee “So, are we going to stay here all day? Let’s finish this and go out!”
“I’m finished, I was waiting for you. Where would you want to go next?”
“Let’s go to the tower! I’ve always wanted to go there! Yes? Can we?”
“Yes of course! Actually to avoid waiting in line for an hour, I think I’ll just teleport us to the second floor. It’s actually better that the third at the very top. Everyone tried to go up there so it’s very crowded but because of the barriers on the third floor the view isn’t as good as on the second, where it’s all open and you still can see all Paris from there.”
“Okay, expert, take us there! But first, shouldn’t we, like, pay for this?”
“Oh yes! Your weird human customs. So, Gabriel showed me how to make money correctly.” Puts hands under the table to create some bills and then he shows them to Adam. “I think those are the correct ones. So, wait for me, I’ll go pay directly inside.”
Cones back after a short while. “Come on, let’s go” He walks with Adam around the cafe to a fairly quiet corner and teleports them to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower.
Adam looked amazed at the view, he layed his arms on the railing. He felt Michael’s hand on his shoulder. He looked at him, thanking him with his eyes. “This is amazing! I want to scream, can I?!”
“Err…” Michael looked around them at the people that were here. “Wouldn’t that be just attracting attention to ourselves?”
“Well then try to stop me!” At the moment he opened his mouth, Michael shut him placing a hand on his mouth.
He was looking completely alarmed. “Why do you want to do that?” he shout whispered.
He couldn’t speak correctly because Michael’s hand “Because I’m really happy and I want to scream for some reason!”
“Well do it somewhere where there are less people! People are starting!” Michael still refused to take away his hand in fear that Adam will start yelling.
“Okay, I promise I won’t yell, okay? Take it away or I’ll bite you”
Michael reluctantly accepted and slowly lowered his hand. The moment he did, Adam started yelling. Panicking, he took a split second decision and flew them to their cabin in the Alps as, in his mind, it was associated with their safe place.
Adam started laughing as Michael glared at him “What? I couldn’t control my body, I’m sorry” he interwined his arms around Michael’s neck “You are not made, are you?”
He continued glaring but it took him way too much effort and eventually he just couldn’t anymore, the smile forming on his face was too strong to resist. In the end, he just burst out laughing and couldn’t stop. “That was ridiculous!” He hugged Adam around his waist and buried his face in the crook of his neck, still shaking a bit from laughter.
Adam stared at Michael while he was laughing like he was the most beautiful being in the universe. Maybe because for him, he was. “It really was right? And fun!”
Michael mumbles into Adam’s neck: “I know you’re looking at me like that again. Stop it! And no it wasn’t fun. I had to erase their memory of us because we disappeared in front of them.”
“But Mikey, now we don’t have witnesses! We have to come back” Michael now looked at him, telling him with his eyes ‘If you yell again I won’t take you anywhere else’ “I promise, okay, I won’t yell this time. And what’s wrong with the way I look at you? I can’t express my love now?”
“Do you promise you really won’t yell this time? Because if you don’t, maybe we’ll share a kiss at the top of the Eiffel Tower. I hear that’s something people like to do….” Michael’s gaze softened when he looked Adam in the eyes, a sappy expression forming on his face. He lifted his hand to caress Adam’s cheek. “ You can do anything you want to, today is your birthday so everything is permitted.” A short pause. “ Except yelling in public. That’s still against the rules.”
“Yes I promise! For real this time” Adam kissed Michael on the lips and hugged him stronger, pushing their bodies closer. “And I’d like to share that kiss with you”
He returned the hug eagerly, relaxing into the touch. “Okay, then. Let’s go.” They hugged for a little bit more time, and then Michael transported them to the third and top flour of the Tower this time.
“Wow, we are high!” He walks towards the railing grabbing Michael’s hand “We can see all Paris from here!”
“All Paris except for the Eiffel Tower. Look, there, it’s the Catherdral of Notre Dame. Right next to it is the Saint Michael place with the Saint Michael fountain. And a bunch of weird restaurants all around it… Anyway, come here.” He turns towards Adam so that he is facing him and puts his hands on Adam’s waist. “Some people say that here we’re on top of the world. Technically we’re not, but the view sure is nice.”
Adam put his hands on Michael’s shoulders “Can we go there later? Please? I want to see if they portrait you as handsome as you are”
“We could. But that Michael is standing on an angry Lucifer, like most Michaels, so it’s not that great. But yeah, we could if you want to.”
“Yeah, I know, normally both are angry, right?” Adam kissed his forehead. He laid his head on Michael’s shoulder, facing the view.
“Well that Michael looks more like a young version of Plato from that fresco called The School of Athens that guy Raphael painted… so not really angry, more self righteous.” Michael rested his head on Adam’s, feeling content.
"This is one of the best birthdays I ever had" Adam moved to look at him "Thank you, sometimes you do so much for me and I don't thank you enough, so thank you Michael"