Page 22 of Azriel

“Not everyone is gay,” said Azriel. “Some are straight, but they have sex with other men anyway because there’s not much choice. Some like both, but again, there’s mostly only males to pick from. I’d say the majority is gay because it’s so normal, and there’s hardly any women nowadays, so we’re mostly around other males from birth.”

“Where are the women?”

“We don’t get many anymore. Something happened centuries ago, but we don’t know what. Less women were being born, and we figured out how to make babies from eggs, but you can’t control the sex of it, so we still mostly have men.”

Vali gaped at him. “You all come from eggs? Like a chicken?”

“We had to keep the population going somehow. The eggs are grown with cum, and nobody really knows when or where their seed ends up. Technically, I have a Father, but I don’t know who it is.”

Vali stared at him for a moment.

“It’s complicated magic, and I don’t even fully understand it because I never worked as one of the baby caretakers.”

“Who raised you?”

“We all grow up in a big cave underground,” said Azriel. “It’s kind of like being in a big family, and adults take care of us. They bring us on trips aboveground, and angels can adopt us. They have to keep us together and safe in case the demons ever get through.”

“Oh. So you’re safe in the cave?”

“Mostly.” Azriel looked down at his cup.

“Did the demons ever get close?”

“No. We go to Children’s Camp when we’re twelve if we’re not adopted, and we learn how to do magic and how to fight.”

“Did you like that?”

Azriel shrugged and started fiddling with his cup. Maybe he was sad he didn’t get adopted and didn’t want to talk about it.

“Are there other nephilim there?”

Azriel finally looked at him and shook his head. “Not in my lifetime. Angels don’t go to Earth just to have sex and make babies. Humans don’t live as long, and a nephilim couldn’t fight because they can’t learn spells. Most nephilim are accidents or made by those who desert."

Like Vali. “If I had a baby, I wouldn’t run off, although I’m sure I’ll never have kids.”

“I heard some male fairies can make babies, but gay angels and nephilim never have to worry about surprise babies."

“I like women, and I'm not gay.”

Azriel tilted his head slightly but said nothing. In the sunlight coming through the cracks in the curtains, his horns gleamed, his blond hair shone, and the edges of his feathers seemed softer. Quite frankly, he was gorgeous.

But anybody would admire someone like him, and the flutter Vali had in his stomach meant absolutely nothing. He quickly downed the rest of his tea and took Azriel’s empty cup. “Let me wash these.”

“How come you’re never going to have kids if you like women?”

Vali made a face. “I don’t have much choice here.”

“But I thought there are a lot of human women.”

“Yeah, but…” Vali set the cups on the counter. “Most of them here are already married, or they’re interested in someone else. Maybe if they knew Mother and I have a lot of money, I could find a wife, but Mother’s never been open about that. Besides, who wants a wife that marries for money? I don’t even know if I want kids, and the idea doesn’t fill me with excitement like it does for some people.”

“I don’t want kids either.”

“See? It's not a life goal for everyone. Do you have friends that you’ll miss?”

“No.”

“You don’t have any friends?”

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