The demon slept all through the morning and afternoon, his hazel eyes opening just as the sun slipped under the horizon. Lovino stretched out and yawned, arching his back like a cat. "Good morning."
"Good evening. You slept all through the day, it's night time now." He watched Lovino's muscles shift under his unblemished skin.
"Really? I didn't realize I would sleep that long." Lovino blinked sleepily up at him and rubbed his eyes. The demon sat up and scratched his jaw, looking around in a dazed-like manner. Hazel eyes met his. "Did you let me sleep on your lap that entire time?"
"Well, there was no reason to move you, and I don't like being charred to ash. Plus, you look so cute curled up in my lap," Arthur teased and grinned.
"Shut up!" Lovino threw a pillow in his face, but not before he caught a glimpse of blush creeping up Lovino's tanned cheeks. The demon grumbled curses and reached down, picking up his discarded shirt and putting it on. "You didn't do anything weird to me, did you?"
"Do you really think I would?" It's not like he hadn't thought about it. Arthur set the pillow aside.
"Nope, but you never know. You might think that now that we're married, you can do whatever you want to me." Lovino cracked his neck and yawned again.
"I'm not fond of having my balls burned off." Arthur chuckled, remembering the threats of Lovino's over-protective dog, not to mention the demon himself.
Lovino looked at his watch. "I guess it's time to show you the entire house. I never gave you a full tour."
"By all means, unless you expect me to let you sleep on me every night." Arthur stood up, smiling when Lovino glared at him.
"Just come on, you sassy ass." Lovino turned sharply and walked down a hall Arthur knew for the bathroom at the end of it. He followed the demon closely. It was a short hall with a door on each wall and the bathroom on the very end.
"That's your room," Lovino pointed to the door on the left, "And my room is across from yours. The bathroom is at the end of the hall, if you don't remember."
"Your house really is cozy." Arthur opened the door to his room and stepped inside. The room could almost be considered cramped, but still kept the airy atmosphere. A bed stood pressed against the wall under a window, next to it was a wall made up entirely of bookshelves from top to bottom. "I didn't know you owned so many books."
"Stop drooling over them. If you want to read one, go ahead."
He plucked a black book from the shelf and written across the cover in gold letters was 'History of Wars Best Left Forgotten'. When he opened the book, the pages were blank. "Bloody hell, what is this?"
"Really? There's a fucking reason they're better left forgotten." The demon snatched the book from his hands and placed it back on the shelf. "There are books you will not be able or allowed to read, but most of the others are fine."
"That just makes me curious." Arthur took note of the book's location on the shelf for examination later.
"You'll get yourself in trouble that way and I won't feel like bailing you out." Lovino flicked his forehead.
"Ow!"
"This house has two rules. Rule one: Don't go into my room. Rule two: Don't read anything you shouldn't. As in, books that are blank, have locks, or don't open at all. Understand me?" Lovino put his hands on his hips, eyes narrow and glaring.
"Fine, but why'd you flick me?"
"To hopefully keep your damn curiosity to a minimum."
"Don't be a git. I'm not here to take advantage of your hospitality and snoop into your things."
"I know, bastard. Toris already brought your clothes over, they're in that dresser. I'm going to take a shower." Lovino turned to walk out, but paused for a moment. "Make yourself at home."
Arthur blinked as Lovino shut the door behind him. He hadn't expected the demon to actually welcome him, but Lovino still had ways of surprising him. Through the wall, he heard the water of the shower turn on. The image of Lovino naked flashed across his mind and he quickly took a book from the shelf and walked to the kitchen. He distracted himself by wondering if Lovino had any tea, but Arthur had never seen the demon drink any, so he doubted it. Despite his doubts, he pulled open the door to the pantry. Much to his surprise, a familiar tin of tea sat as if in wait for him. It had a note attached to it and Arthur took it off and read it.
Figured you'd go crazy without this. Enjoy.
—L
He chuckled softly and opened the tin up to smell the tea inside. Lovino had managed to get his favorite blend. That was kind of him to get him this, and it made him smile to think Lovino cared enough about him to get tea, or perhaps the demon only got it to keep him from complaining. Either way, he still got his tea.
A kettle already rest on the stove, looking shiny and new. He filled it with water and turned the dial. Arthur sat at the small table and waited for the water to heat. Curiously, he opened the book he'd chosen to the first page. The writing was sharply precise, curling cursive, and strangely familiar. He held the note Lovino wrote him and compared it to the writing in book. It was the same.
"Whatcha got there, bastard?" Lovino asked, leaning over his shoulder. Drops of water fell from the demon's hair and slid down the back of his neck.
"Ah!" He hadn't heard Lovino come into the kitchen. "Did you write this book?"
Lovino took the book from him and looked at it. The demon only wore baggy sweatpants, that looked like they would fall off with a single tug, and hung low on his hips. "Yeah, I wrote it, but the words are thousands of years old. The book is about two hundred years old, but the writing itself is so old that there is no true author."
"I see..." Arthur tried to keep his eyes from wandering, but he was finding it difficult with Lovino's lack of clothing. He wouldn't deny Lovino was extremely handsome, and he would gladly appreciate the man going around half-naked, if it didn't make him want to take pleasure in the demon's exquisite body.
"Hey, bastard." Lovino set the book back on the table. "Why can't I take off the ring your brother gave me?"
"It's not suppose to come off. It's magick."
"But it makes me feel weird." Lovino frowned.
"How so?"
The demon's frown deepened, as if he didn't know what to say. Then Lovino did the last thing he expected and took his hand, his fingers slipping into the spaces between his own. "How the fuck should I know? Magick isn't my thing. I had planned to take the damn ring off as soon as I could, but now it seems like that's not an option."
"W-Well, I don't know much about this type of magick, but the principle behind it is to draw two objects together." Lovino's hand felt warm in his, and he tried to keep the blush off his face. He had felt the same urge he knew Lovino was implying: the need to be as close as possible. It lingered at the back of his mind like an itch he couldn't scratch, only somewhat relieved when Lovino rubbed his thumb over his hand.
"Oh." Lovino released his hand, moving away. "I guess that makes sense."
"Yes." Arthur stood and checked the kettle, hoping to release the tension building inside him, and realized the stove burner wasn't even hot. "Is your stove broken?"
"No."
"Then is there some trick to making it work?" He fiddled with the dials.
"You could say that."
He could hear the amusement in Lovino's voice. "Don't be a wanker. Get over here and make it work."
"You're making tea, right?" Lovino moved next to him, and he tried not to feel so aware of the heat coming off him. All the demon did was touch the metal of the kettle and it started screeching.
"You got to be shitting me! Is that really how you use your stove? Does it even work?" Arthur glared at Lovino.
"It doesn't work, but it isn't broken." Lovino chuckled and watched him in good humor as he added tea to the water.
"Why have a bloody stove if it doesn't work?"
"Because I can warm things up on it." Lovino took a large pot from the fridge and set it on a burner, lighting a flame under it. The demon took out another pot from the cabinet, filled it with water, and set it on the stove.
"What are you making now?" Arthur sat back at the table, opening the book.
"Pasta. You want some?" Lovino quickly brought the water to a boil and dumped a jar full of pasta into it.
"I suppose," he said distractedly. The book's first chapter described the creation of demons in vivid detail.
Demon started as trusted soulkeepers that ferried the souls of humans after they died, guiding humans from earth to the life beyond. But a demon became greedy and began devouring the souls. God, as punishment for the disobedient demon, cast the fallen soulkeepers down to earth. It is said that God put a hole in the stomach of every demon that led straight to the afterworld, leaving the demons in constant pain and hunger. Demons quickly went insane from hunger and rained down terror and death on the human world, slaughtering thousands of humans for the souls that soothed their hunger temporarily.
Saddened by this calamity, God sought to exterminate demons and bring peace to the land. A human came forward and pleaded with God, for the human had fallen in love with a demon who controlled his hunger, but teetered on the verge of madness. God had heard the human's plea and granted mercy on the pitiful monsters of his making. He sealed the insanity of demons deep inside their minds along with most of their power, and trapped them on earth, powerless and miserable.
Arthur glanced up at Lovino's turned back, and took a sip from his tea. He silently brooded over the sealed madness inside the demon and wondered idly what it took to free the power hidden inside without releasing the insanity along with it.
"You're going to get a headache staring at me like that," Lovino said without turning to look at him.
"Sorry, I'm just thinking." He poured himself more tea. "Is everything in this book true?"
"Yes. Nothing has been distorted by time or forgotten." Lovino stirred the pot.
"How?"
"It is written in the memory of every demon, man or woman, young or old. We each carry the weight of our part in the unforgivable sin like invisible shackles and chains. Some have heavier shackles than others...but we have them all the same."
"How is that possible? How can every demon remember what happened so long ago before their birth?"
"We live forever." Lovino stared at his hand, his expression unreadable, as flames played between his fingers. "We can be killed, but we never truly die. Just transformed into someone else, the memories of our former lives gone except for the burden of our sin."
"Why must all demons pay for that sin? It hardly seems fair."
"God is as cruel as He is merciful. He gives us life, but no freedom."
"You seem free to me." Arthur had never seen Lovino limit himself. The demon said what he liked and did as he pleased, unlike Arthur and his damnable politeness. Lovino didn't even let himself stand in the way of his goals. Going out of his way to act kindly, even though he hated it the whole time, just to come across as a trustworthy King to the people he hoped to change.
"Every demon has chains that cannot be broken. There is no key to releasing them, no words that could right our wrong and pardon us. The unforgivable sin runs in our blood." Lovino looked at him and smiled ruefully. "You don't understand? Demons live with the carefree of prisoners who will never be free and accept what they have. Don't misunderstand. We're not free—not free to live, not free to die."
He stayed silent. Lovino seemed tired, his eyes growing old and weary.
Lovino strained the pasta into the sink, recklessly holding the pot as if it wasn't hot. "I know we sound pitiful. It's easy to feel sorry for victimized murders, but don't be mistaken, we truly are monstrous. I wonder why God let monsters like us ever live?"
"Because you aren't a monster!"
Lovino looked up in surprise at his outburst, setting the pasta aside. "Are you getting...angry? I don't think you should make judgments yet. You haven't read the whole book."
"I don't bloody care!" Arthur slammed the book down and stalked over to Lovino, standing almost chest to chest with the demon. "You are not a monster!"
"And if I insist that I am?" Lovino seemed amused, as one would if a child declared the earth flat. "Don't get me wrong, every demon calls themselves a monster. It's a bad joke on our part, just something to make fun of our fucking existence." The demon laughed in self-deprecating humor.
Arthur frowned deeply. "I don't like it. You're not a monster."
"Perhaps, but you read the book. The monster is inside, lurking where my soul should be."
"I don't care, Lovino! You always put the needs of your people before yours, yet you have the nerve to call yourself a monster! You're a good person!"
The expression on Lovino's face grew pained for a split second before he began to laugh loudly. Lovino gripped Arthur's arm, as if to get a hold on himself, and leaned his head on his shoulder. The demon laughed into the crook of his neck, slowly fading into chuckles, then silence. "You fucking idiot...It's my fault."
"What...?" He instinctively slid his arms around Lovino. The demon had spoken so softly, Arthur wondered if he heard him correctly.
"I said, You fucking idiot. It's my job. I am responsible for my people, so of course I put them first." Lovino chuckled again.
"Mind letting me in on the joke?" Arthur wondered if Lovino was laughing at him or if the demon had lost it. He couldn't see Lovino's face to check.
"Your brother was right when he said you don't know much about demons," Lovino grumbled softly, leaning against Arthur. "I don't expect you to understand, seeing how vampires have retained their humanity."
"What do you mean?" It felt good to have Lovino in his arms. The demon warmed him like a freshly made cup of his favorite tea on a rainy day, filling him with comfortable calm, but Lovino had the irritating habit of causing him as much tension as he relieved.
"What I mean is demons have no humanity, no compassion, no real feelings. We weren't meant for this world of kindness. We thrive on pain and suffering; we long for wars and fighting; we breed violence and discord." Lovino let out another short puff of laughter, and pushed him away. "That is why I laugh when you say demons aren't monsters."
"I didn't say demons aren't monsters... I said you aren't a monster," Arthur said softly, his arms hanging awkwardly by his side.
Lovino groaned. "What's the difference? I've never taken you for a fool, but continuing to argue a point you're obviously ignorant about is just fucking stupid." The demon turned away from him and took down two plates, piling pasta on them and tomato sauce.
"I may not know much about demons, but I know you and that's enough!"
"Enough for what?" Lovino turned to him, his eyes flashing with anger. "What do you really know about me, Arthur? Don't even bother answering, because you don't know shit."
"Why is it so bloody impossible for you to not be a monster? I know you, you're my friend. I can't think of you as something supposedly horrible!"
The demon seemed at a loss for words, but quickly recovered his voice and shoved the plate into his hands. "You don't know anything."
"What is that suppose to mean?" Arthur frowned.
The demon parted his lips as if to say something, searching his face with a surprisingly conflicted gaze. Lovino stared at him, pressing his lips into a thin line, but his eyes hardened and whatever he was going to say was gone. Lovino grabbed a fork and stormed away.
"Where the fuck are you going?" He reached to grabbed Lovino's wrist, but his hand closed on empty air as the demon stomped from the kitchen.
"To eat in my room, and then the fuck to sleep!" A door slammed, and Arthur growled at himself.
"Oh, that insufferable git!" Arthur found a fork and shoved a mouthful of pasta in his mouth. He almost moaned at how good it tasted, but stopped himself. That bloody demon wasn't going to get the satisfaction of him liking his delicious cooking, even if he wasn't in the room.
Arthur ate the food quickly and returned to his room to sulk with the book, shooting a dark glare at Lovino's closed door. The next chapter was on the habits of demons, detailing the source of their destructive tenancies was from the madness sealed inside them leaking out. The book read that God made a trigger in the demons' minds to eliminate those who are truly evil and through this trigger insanity seep out and causes demons to act out violently. It also read, if God ever activated that trigger, demons would rain down fire from the sky and destroy the world. He read through the night, absorbing the horribly wars caused by demons. The sheer amount of blood split by demons amazed and surprised him.
A demon carefully placed in the midst of humans set off a domino effect of death and suffering, while they reaped the benefit of souls lost to death. Arthur thought of all the demons he'd met because of Lovino, and they all seemed like decent people. Could they really be the monsters everyone feared them as?
Again, check out the poll. Thank you for reading.
-Windy