Hiccup giggled excitedly as he threw himself backwards off solid ground and into the endless abyss of light that was The Passage, the wind of his fall ruffling his wing feathers nicely. He laughed again and turned in mid-air, spreading his limbs in a star pattern to slow his fall as he looked over the glowing marble of Earth beneath him. Going back to the mortal realm had been a little itch of his from the moment he had ascended to angelic status, and now that he finally was he was just so excited.

The purpose of the visit was a little less than pleasant, but he supposed that, as an angel, he had to let go of the mortal disdain for death. He himself was proof that there was something after it, but old habits died hard. Besides, something about wrenching loved ones away from people didn't sit right with him, never mind that it was only for about sixty years.

He hit the atmosphere and shuddered slightly with the turbulence, poking his wings out a bit to slow his fall. He didn't want to crash into anything, because even though he was only there in spirit, spirits could hit hard if they hit hard enough. It wouldn't do if he was the one to expose the truth about angels and demons to the unsuspecting mortals below.

Speaking of which, he was coming in sort of hot. He adjusted his angle slightly, then leveled out completely as he drew closer to the ground, sticking his wings out in a glide. He soared above the cloud layer for a moment, enjoying the feeling of the sun and the wind, before he slowly descended through.

The shock of the rainstorm that was going on jarred him, so much that he almost lost his velocity. His wings held through it though, so the rain that cut across his face continued unabated. Lightning flashed in the clouds so close above him, and he flinched away foolishly before reminding himself that he possessed no atoms for the electrons to jump to. He shook his head and kept going, though not a few nervous glances still made their way skyward.

He skimmed underneath the belly of the storm until at last his destination was in sight, a small coastal town with many boats and many more hotels. His eyes searched for the beacon of light he had only read about, the pillar of brilliance that would lead him to the soul he was supposed to retrieve, but the luminous attention-grabber seemed to be absent.

"Inside then." Hiccup sighed in aggravation, "Great."

It was always so much more convenient when the souls were outside, easily spotted by the angels that came to take them to Heaven, but Hiccup supposed that if the death had been as jarring as his had been, inside would be more comfortable for the poor soul.

Hiccup flapped his wings once before diving down at a high velocity, raindrops screaming past his face as he hurtled towards the roof of a skyscraper. He passed through as though it were butter, barely slowing down as he fell through the floors and ceilings. By the time he reached the lobby of the building he had lost all of his speed, so it was with a very minor thump that he landed on the floor.

And there was still no soul to be found. Lovely.

He quickly exited the building and flapped his wings, reaching the sky again in an instant and repeating the process with a different building. Then again with another, and again with another. All day he dove and ascended, looking for the elusive soul, and it was with a suspicious look on his face that he stepped out of the last possible building the spirit could be hiding in.

"The soul is here." Hiccup said to himself, a habit from his childhood, "I can feel it. So why can't I find it?"

"Probably because somebody else found it first." a voice suggested from behind him, and Hiccup whirled around the see…

Nothing.

"Awww…" a voice cooed beside his ear, and once again he whipped around, "Is da poor widdle angel confused?"

The voice never left his ear, even though there was never anybody behind him, and with a narrowing of his eyes Hiccup crossed his arms.

"Oh yes, very funny. Picking on the first-timer will definitely prove how experienced you are." Hiccup drawled, glancing around with an unimpressed air, "I expect you'll be promoted for this."

"Well aren't you a dry one." the voice commented, and Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"It's actually quite damp out." the angel commented, and the voice barked out a short laugh. Funny though…

"And funny, too!" the voice said, and Hiccup could have sworn that it was coming...from...his…

Hiccup looked down at his shoulder, where a white-haired demon was lazily perched. In his hands was the struggling soul of a young man, eyes wide with fear and confusion.

Hiccup screamed and flicked them both off.

The demon unshrunk himself and the soul and flew up a bit, lowering softly to the ground with the recently deceased still in his hands. "Tut tut, little angel." the demon chastised softly, "Didn't anyone ever teach you that flicking people is rude?"

"You're a demon that was perched on my shoulder with a soul held hostage!" Hiccup pointed out, perhaps a little louder and a little more panicked than he should have sounded in front of a dangerous being such as this, "I think my actions were justified!"

"Cool motive. Still rude." the demon said airily, reaffirming his grip as the soul tried to make a break for it. The guy's eyes were wide with terror, pleading with the small chestnut-haired boy even as they glanced back at the demon.

This was bad.

"That's a soul. A recently-deceased soul. A recently-deceased soul I was sent to get. The recently-deceased soul specifically meant for me to collect. My recently-deceased soul." Hiccup rambled, and the demon cocked his head curiously.

"This soul?" he asked obliviously, and Hiccup glared.

"Yes, that soul! Give it here!" he barked in annoyance, holding out a hand expectantly, and though his voice was firm his hand trembled.

The demon's eyes darkened, and a smile split his face.

"I dunno." the demon said, pretending to consider the soul in his arms, "This is a pretty vivid one. So defined. Lots of spiritual energy, I would think."

He suddenly bent his head forward and stuck out his tongue, eyes never leaving Hiccup's as he dragged it up the soul's neck and tightened his grip when the struggling increased. He made a show of tasting, running his tongue up to the soul's earlobe before grinning wider and concluding, "Yep. Delicious."

Hiccup was flustered. Immensely flustered, and just a bit aroused if he was going to be honest with himself. However, that guy was still a demon and he was still threatening to eat that soul and Hiccup was still an angel and it was wrong of him to be attracted to this and wait what was he saying again?

"I've just been so hungry lately." the demon confided, a wistful tone entering his voice as he licked his lips, "I'm not able to get up here often, but when I do I'm almost always driven off by angels. I haven't gotten a decent meal in ages."

Then he smiled again and said, "But here's one here, right in my arms. And there you are, just so inexperienced. You don't even have a weapon! It would be so easy to just…", snapping his teeth right beside the soul's ear and baring his fangs in a feral grin. His eyes were slitted, probably from his hunger, and Hiccup felt fear enter his brain as he registered that Oh dear God this demon's gonna eat the guy whaddo I do whaddo I do whaddo I-

Hiccup smacked himself, much to the confusion of the two facing him, and shook his head to clear his panic away. Not the time. He cleared his throat.

"Why would you want to eat him?" Hiccup asked the demon, eyeing the soul with distaste as he strolled forward. He circled the two and poked at the soul, narrowing his eyes and even sniffing him a bit before saying, "He's so scrawny."

Then he took the soul's hand and lifted it to his mouth, licking from his palm to his wrist and adding, "And he seems a bit bitter to me, like one of those grapes that are smaller than the others."

The demon raised an eyebrow, but then bent to lick the guy again, slower this time. He smacked his lips contemplatively, then eyed Hiccup suspiciously and opined, "He tastes fine to me."

"That is exactly what people say when they taste horrible vintage wine. It tastes fine they say, and the nobles on the other side of the room titter to themselves as they sip their ambrosic alcohol. It's all about how it's aged." Hiccup explained, putting a hand on the guys forehead before nodding decisively.

"This guy isn't nearly old enough to be a good vintage. Only twenty six, and he died of a car accident to boot." Hiccup told him, then at the demon's confused look explained, "You always get the slightest hint of oil when it involves vehicles. Gasoline too, sometimes."

The demon made a disgusted face and glanced down at the soul, then grew thoughtful.

"So what do you suggest I do? I'm still hungry, but this guy sounds like garbage now." the demon said, curling his lip down at the soul. Glancing up at Hiccup, he blinked before doing a double take and staring a bit more intently.

Slowly, a small smile crossed his face.

"Maybe I'll just have you instead." the demon said thoughtfully, pushing the soul away to draw Hiccup into his arms instead. The guy ran away as fast as his legs would carry him as the surprised angel took a moment to catch up, sparks running through his body from the demon's touch. It was kind of intoxicating.

"Excuse me?" Hiccup finally laughed, raising an eyebrow at the demon, "I don't know who you think you are, but angels have much more spiritual energy than regular human souls do. I don't think you'd know what to do with all this.". He gestured down at himself with a slightly restricted hand, and the demon bit back a snicker.

"Is that so?" he asked, trying to be serious and failing miserably. It was only with an immense amount of will that he refrained from bursting out into laughter. This angel was adorable!

"Definitely." Hiccup said decisively, telling himself that struggling would only make it worse. But of course, how much worse could it get than being trapped in a demon's embrace about to be eaten?

"But wouldn't that just mean you'd survive? I mean, if I can't take it all, I may as well just leave you with enough to live. Right?" the demon asked suggestively, and Hiccup's brain drew a blank. It was logical, from the demon's perspective of course, but he really didn't want to know what it felt like to be partially eaten by a demon.

"But what if I taste bad?" he came up with, blurting it out even as his cheeks flamed up at the odd sentence, "What if I'm so repulsive that you simply can't help yourself and burst into disgusted flames? What if your tongue falls out of your mouth, feeling betrayed that you would force such a foul meal onto it?"

The demon made a choking noise that Hiccup eventually realized was a snort of laughter, shaking with silent snickers and eyeing the angel with amusement.

When he was again calm enough to speak, the demon opened his mouth and said, "Okay. First, demons are immune to flames, so that wouldn't really do anything. Second, angels are supposed to be the sweetest beings in all of existence. Third, I don't think tongues are sentient. And fourth..."

Hiccup wasn't expecting the demon to bend down and lick his cheek, which was kind of foolish, and the feeling of not-total-repulsion that shot through him was even more unexpected. What was happening to him?

The demon blinked as he pulled his head back a bit, staring with wide eyes down at the angel and swallowing thickly. The brown-haired boy gazed back innocently, questions and a bit of confusion in his green eyes, and it was with a strained voice that the demon managed to get out, "Wow. That guy really was bitter. At least, compared to you."

And then the demon kissed him, and Hiccup felt himself grow immediately weaker from the feeding even as he threw his arms around the demon's neck and buried his hands in the white hair. It was slow and passionate, the rain still falling around them even after all this time, and Hiccup supposed that he should do something other than kiss back but oh well. His knees trembled, his wings drooped, but all Hiccup cared about was him and the demon and the demon and him and wow they were kissing and wow they were kissing.

But then then demon jerked his head away and pushed Hiccup a bit at the same time, fear shining in his blue eyes, and Hiccup groaned miserably at the dizziness and vertigo that shot through him. He slipped from the demon's arms to slump to the ground, the demon kneeling with him and helping him stay upright, and it was with a faint voice that he asked a rather obvious question.

"Too much?"

The demon laughed a bit and said, "Just a bit."

Hiccup gave a small chuckled and asked quite suddenly, "What's your name?"

The demon hesitated only a moment before answering, "Jack."

Hiccup hummed in acknowledgment, giving a slurred, "M'Hiccup." before slipping into unconsciousness.