Chapter 37

Francis was not too happy. Even if he said no, instead of letting Matthew go (and hugging him no less than three times), he knew his son would have still stuck to his mindset...and probably climbed out of the window to be with Ivan amongst the flames and constant wails of tortured souls of Hell.

"Don't worry, Papa!" Matthew said. "We'll be back before my birthday! I'll be fine."

As fine as anybody would be while surrounded by pitchfork-wielding demons.

~.~

~BOING~

~.~

The sewers were the worst part. The walk was long, dark, and uneventful, and strenuous to the nose from the stench of the town's after-fluids. Matthew tried to keep his mouth shut, mindful of what Ivan had to go through with carrying him, and the book bag he was carrying through the walkways, all the way down to the dreadful drop-point.

Maybe the sewers were not so bad, after all.

Ivan spoke, breaking the silence between them, "Before we get there, you must know that there is something different about Cujo."

Matthew lifted his head from the crook of his neck. "Oh no! What happened?! Is he all right?"

"Cujo is not hurt," Ivan assured. "It is just...ah, you should see for yourself."

"That only makes me worry more."

"It is not something to worry about."

"Hey, I don't mean to pry, but are we almost there?"

"We are here," Ivan announced, suddenly releasing the weight off his back. He threw an arm behind himself, catching Matthew before he could stumble away and fall over.

"Wow, thanks."

Ivan swiped a hand through Matthew's hair, smiling at his laughter before they went to work shifting the giant stones from the underground. As always, he took a deep inhale, sighing at familiar smells that Matthew could not detect. He held a clawed hand out, enticing, "Care to join me?"

Matthew cracked a grin as they pressed against one another, "Don't mind if I do."

Ivan leaned back, slowly inclining to the abyss of heat below. Matthew gasped, and the tilt snapped off to a plunge. Laughing against the air whipping around their bodies, "You better hold on tightly!"

Matthew only managed a drawn out, creaky noise of fright as the body clutching onto him twisted mid-air, tossing his insides around like eggs in a frying pan. It was over within seconds, but the drop was so much worse than the sewers. He muttered once his sneakers touched solid ground, "I hate it every time." He took a sniff, and sighed to the stuffy air, "I swear it's hotter on the surface now that it's summer." Although, on good days, summer has merciful breezes.

"Seems like it!" Ivan gave his shirt collar a bothered tug. "When I returned to the surface, all the plants were big and poufy and green!"

"Did you like it?"

"Oh, it was wonderful," he murmured, sighing happily as Matthew snuggled closer to him. "We should get into the house. You are missed."

"By your dog?"

"By everyone!"

Matthew raised his eyebrows. "Even Natalia?"

"She can deny it if she pleases."

Along the way, some other, smaller buildings decorated the side of the mountain and caught Matthew's eye. He pointed and asked, "Were those there the last time I was here?"

"No! There are lots of new and exciting things!"

"Are they houses for other demons?"

"They are."

"Oh, so we got neighbors now!"

"Yes, delightful, is it? I have persuaded a few others to live here, but I believe they liked what my land offered more than what I did."

"So what? It's a nice place to stay." Matthew's hand latched onto his, and he lifted their arms to spin and make Ivan laugh. "I can't believe I'm finally here!"

"Me, too, Matvey! Me too."

"Vanya!" A high voice called. Both of them looked up, but Matthew looked to a wrong window on the second floor. Three shadows quickly shrunk away from the outside world, until his name was called again. He glanced to Irunya frantically waving out of one of the other windows. "You brought little Matvey, too! Hello!"

Matthew grumbled, "Why does she always call me little?"

Ivan answered easily, "She has a big heart." They watched Irunya pop back into the house, most likely making her way to the front doors. Just as they reached the entrance, the double doors clicked, swinging open, and almost clipped them in their faces.

"Oh, no!" Irunya cupped her hands over her mouth. "Did I hit you?"

"Almost!" Ivan guffawed as she threw her arms around him.

"You, too, Matvey," the she-demon pulled Matthew into a quick hug, smiling fondly at the both of them. "How long is your stay this time?"

"I'm done with school now, so I'm going to stay a lot longer than I have been. Last time was a week, so imagine triple the length."

Irunya gasped, "That is great, whatever this school thing is! Let us get inside! There are things for you to see!"

At first, there was nothing different, but the entrance hall with the carved pillars was always breathtaking to Matthew. Then came the throne room, and he gasped in delight, "Oh, wow!"

Several cloths draped from the overlooking balcony, and the largest one ended on a scarlet point between the throne chairs, as if there was not enough indication to stare. More candles and flames dotted the walls and crude tables around the place to give it more light, more life. He had realized the siblings were watching him expectantly.

"Oh, honey, it's beautiful." Matthew shyly smiled to Irunya as Ivan buried his hand into his hair. "Thank you so much."

"Vanya said you wanted this...'confetti' stuff, but Cujo ate it all."

"Yeah! Cujo!" Matthew looked around the tiled floors. "Where is he, anyway? He always comes over and says hello."

Irunya exchanged a strained glanced with her brother and suggested, "We should see the dining hall, first! That is very nice now, too!" She held up her hands when her brother tossed a blank stare. "Not that it was not nice before. It was just...a little on the plain side."

"Oh...all right..."

"It looks like people live in it now, yes?" Ivan nudged Matthew, prompting an answer when he lost his attention to the rich décor.

"It's great." Matthew insisted, "Can we see Cujo now? I'm worried about him."

Irunya asked, "He does not know?"

"Know what?"

Ivan heavily sighed, "Matthew, this is a only a small part of what I have been working on for you. I have waited a long while for this moment."

"I know, but Cujo is important, too."

Irunya cleared her throat to cover a small giggle as her brother grew visibly conflicted under Matthew sicking his best pout on him. He gave the stitched cloth running down the dining table a tug before curtly nodding, "We will go see the doggy now."

"Really? Thank you!"

Ivan pinked under the attachment to his arm, "Y-yes, she stays under the stairs a lot lately."

Matthew furrowed his eyebrows. "You mean Cujo?"

Nobody confirmed the slip-up until a cooing tone emerged from the stair well, "You are such a good girl! Yes, I think you are! Who is a pretty girl? Agh!" A small man yanked away, giving his chestnut wings a twitch as he stammered, "I-I was just checking on her! Tough times, you know!"

Irunya asked, "Is Cujo all right?"

Matthew gasped at the sight and wellbeing of Ravis. "Hey, you!"

Ravis grew terrified.

"It's all right," Matthew assured as he came closer with his hands out. "It's good to see you again."

"I-it is?! Oh, th-thank you, sir."

"You don't have to call me sir. Just Matthew is all right."

Ravis backed away like Matthew would bite him. "Oh, okay, Matthew, sir."

Matthew just gave him a small smile and knelt in front of the pile of blankets on the floor. The 'dog' grunted, unleashing a long yawn. "Aw, hey, I missed you!" He held out his arms, ready for the beast to snuffle and jump all over him. Cujo pushed from the mess of blankets, tail waggling at the sight of an old friend. "Oh my god, you're fat! What happened?"

"She is pregnant," Ravis whispered. "Did you not know that?"

"What?" Matthew shot to his feet, making him stumble back. "Cujo is a boy!"

Ivan spoke up, "Has anyone really bothered to check before? We just assumed, and she proved us wrong." He then grumbled, "That is most likely the reason she was building a nest in my vents in the first place."

"Puppies?!" Matthew gasped, kneeling down again to vigorously scratch behind Cujo's horns. "I don't believe it! That's great news!"

The other demon's wings started to quake as Ivan approached, but everyone was focused on the hellhound. "Very nice, yes?" Cujo wiggled as much as she could under the two sets of hands petting her. "She is due soon."

Matthew asked, "Are we going to keep the name?"

"Why not? Is that not a good name anymore?"

"I named her thinking she was a dude."

"What is a dude?"

Ravis slipped away from both of them, going around the walls of the room to reach Irunya. "Lady Irunya, it is him again."

The she-demon put a hand over her mouth and giggled at the sight of Cujo flopping over to expose her swollen stomach for more scratches. "You do not need to be scared, Ravis. Not all humans are to be feared. He is here on his own accord."

Ravis gave Matthew a long stare of disbelief as he fell into a peel of laughter and affectionately shouldered Ivan. "Who says I was scared?"

Ivan lightly patted the hellhound before copying the gesture to Matthew's head. "When I told Toris and Eduard about this human...about this man...they thought I was scared enough to go crazy." He glanced to Irunya, but she smiled at her brother. "Things are different. This human changed things. I could tell from before."

Irunya seemed to stand a bit taller. "Yes. In fact, you will see how much he has changed things." She walked toward her brother without waiting for a response. "How is Cujo doing?"

"I think we tired her out," Ivan admitted. The hellhound flopped on her side, and her chest heaved with a big sigh before her beady eyes closed for rest.

"Cujo is a girl," Matthew announced. "I'm sorry, that's going to take a while to click in my mind."

Irunya swished a hand, "Do not worry about it. We all thought she was a male until Eduard pointed out she was pregnant."

"Eduard?"

Ivan put in, "The décor is not the only thing that we changed around here."

"Are they our neighbors, from those houses we saw before?"

"No, they are our new housemates!"

Matthew blinked in surprise. "Housemates? Oh, wow! So that's what Ravis is doing here!"

There was a startled squeak from the doorway, "Huh?"

"Yes!" Ivan giggled, "If they get in your way, I can keep them in one room!"

"Um, no, that won't be necessary."

Irunya scolded, "Vanya, do not be rude. They do not have to be here."

"I am not being rude! I was thinking of what Matthew wants!"

Matthew slapped a palm to his forehead. "Thanks..."

Ivan lifted Matthew's hand from his own face so he could hold it, "Oh, you are fine with it?"

Ravis blanched from the other side of the room, and decided that was an excellent time to scram. Matthew caught movement, and suggested, "Let's keep them around, okay?"

Irunya gave her brother a mini-stare down. "Are we going to do anything right now? Would you like to hunt? It is a long way from the surface, and I am sure you worked up an appetite."

Matthew eagerly answered, "Yeah!" The demons stared at him in slight surprise. He put a hand over his mouth while his other fingers twitched against Ivan's palm. "If you're offering..."

"Of course! We have to keep you fed, too! Let me fetch Natalia. I am sure she will be happy you two returned."

~.~

~BOING~

~.~

"I can't believe Natalia just...dove onto that thing like that!"

"Very impressive, yes? That hog was enough to feed the whole family."

"Uh-huh. Are you going upstairs, sweetheart?"

"Yes. Come join me."

"I will. I was just going to take a dip in the pond real quick."

"Do not make me wait too long, Matvey."

"Oh, hush."

Around back, there was already a naked body drooped over the pond bed, with two large dirt-brown wings dipping into the water. Matthew stopped, glaring at the intruder as he laid there, like nothing was wrong in the world. "Uh, hello?!"

The stranger gasped, flicking water everywhere as he whirled around with a flustered stammer, "Uh, I was...oh." He blinked. Tipped his head. Shook a little. "You are the lord's lover, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Matthew eased his shoulders, "Are you...one of our new housemates?"

The demon adverted his eyes to an unsuspecting blob of mud. "Not new, but here again, yes."

Matthew set his bag down, and approached the pond with his hand out. "I'm Matthew. Are you Eduard?"

"N-no?" The demon stared at his hand like deadly lasers were about to come out of it. "My name is Toris." Matthew quickly retracted his hand and wiped his palm on his shirt. "Would you like for me to leave? I-I can if you are going to bathe-"

"Nope! That's okay! Would you mind if I joined you?"

"No! Of course not!" With a curt nod, Toris thrashed in the water again to put his back to Matthew.

Matthew blinked dumbly at the various, old scores running along the skin between his wings. "Right. Yeah." He shed his clothes, and plunked into the pond water, trying to keep his gaze anywhere else. Not that he would chase Toris out of his own bath, but he should have just went back inside and waited until he was finished.

Talking to strangers around here always led up to, 'Wait, you actually like that big, scary monster? Here's why you should not do that!'

Toris slowly turned around again, and raked his eyes over Matthew's figure, almost in disbelief. "Have you known the lord long?"

Yep, here we go.

Matthew tried to keep his face free from his internal broiling with a tight-lipped smile, "Long enough."

"Ah." Thankfully, Toris looked to somewhere else soon after. "I saw you...dance with him on the way here."

"Yeah?"

"I just thought that was...nice to see. Yes, nice." Toris put his back to Matthew again.

"It's all right. I'm not going to bite you. And neither is Ivan, if I have anything to say about it."

"Oh! W-well, I certainly hope you would not in the first place, but...thank you."

"You're very welcome. I mean it, Toris." Matthew gazed at the long scars of marred flesh between the demon's wings, unsure how to prod in curiosity and not sound blunt at the same time, "I know it can be a dangerous place here if you don't...watch your back."

Toris let out a bark of laughter, "Yes! You see these trees? They look climbable and soft, but once that moss gets into your skin, you will be burning for sleeps! I would not even bother to climb them. Actually, I have climbed them, so I know it is a bad idea!"

"But you didn't get those marks from the trees, did you?"

A sharp sigh. Toris went quiet.

"If you do not want to tell me, that's okay."

"I-I don't want to say anything that would ruin your...your relationship with him."

Matthew pulled something out of his bag before wading across the pond to ease next to Toris. "You won't." He held out a bottle of body wash. "Ivan loves this stuff. I heard you guys don't really...scrub yourselves down, not that you need it, but it smells really good, and I think you'll like it!"

"Y-you think so?"

"Yep! Here!"

"Wow! That...that does smell good. What is it?"

"Something we use on the surface. You can have some. Hold out your hand."

Toris did, and brought the glob of body wash to his face to sniff again, before uncertainly copying Matthew's gesture to scrub his arms with it. "The surface," he murmured. "I have never given it much thought. I heard there are creatures called angels that would kill us if we tried to go up there."

"Yeah, there are angels flapping around, but not many people know about them. They say it's better that way, so nobody goes crazy over their magical light or something."

"They say...you've spoken with these beasts?!"

"Uh-huh!" Matthew giggled as Toris appeared to be ready to pass on. "They're aren't as bad as you think...as long as they don't shoot holy light at your face!"

"What's...what's it like up there?" Toris' interest piqued. At least he stopped shaking. "Is it cold? Are there a lot of humans?"

"Oh, man, there's so much to tell you! It's not cold right now, since it's summer."

"Summer?"

"Yep! There's a bright ball in the sky that we call the 'Sun,' and we go around it, which takes a very, very long time to do, like over three hundred 'sleeps' as you guys say. That makes a 'year,' and there's four seasons in a year. Depending where you live, it's always cold, while other places, the Sun makes it hotter than here!"

"No way!"

"Yeah way!"

"Hotter than Hell? Please, tell me more!"

~.~

~BOING~

~.~

Matthew eventually made his way to Ivan's bedroom, dripping pond water and guilt onto the uneven tiles as he slipped inside. "Hi, honey!" He called to the dark drapes around the bed, "Sorry, I sort of got distracted talking to Toris."

No response.

Matthew tugged on the curtain and peered at a great lump snoozing on his tummy. "Did you fall asleep?" He lightheartedly sighed, "Dumbass."

Knowing better not to, but still doing it anyway, Matthew scuffled across the bed and flopped himself against Ivan, half-spooning him, half-laying belly-down on the blankets. He let out a long peel of giggles as the big lug kept dozing, and teased his lips across his skin, from the tip of his ear, down to the crook of his neck.

Ivan snorted, and snuggled against his pillow, but still kept sleeping. Matthew glared at the back of his head, at the audacity of him falling asleep when he said to hurry with his bathing so they could spend time together. It was not like Matthew was gone too long...

Right?

Matthew jumped against his warm body as several knocks on the door disturbed the peace. He glanced around the curtains, before softly announcing, "Uh, come in?"

Another knock.

A little sharper, "Come in!"

Ivan still stayed asleep.

Bastard.

The door opened. Timidly, a stranger's voice called from the doorway, "Uh, lord Ivan?"

"Who is it?"

"Eduard, sir?"

"Eduard?" Matthew gasped, grabbed his glasses, and sat up. "Come in! Ivan's sleeping at the moment, but maybe I can help you with something?"

The curtains swished, and a head of blond hair peeked through, and teal eyes immediately went wide as they glanced between Matthew and Ivan's sleeping figure. "Oh! You're...you're the human. Sorry. The lord's...uh...mate."

"Matthew." Matthew decided not to hold out his hand for this demon not to shake. "What did you need?"

Eduard squinted, studying him for a solid moment before a clawed hand emerged with parchment attached, "I have important papers the lord requested for me to process from other lords. He said to bring them to him as soon as possible."

"Important papers? About what?"

Eduard's eyes dropped to the mattress.

Matthew crawled over and reached for the papers. Eduard jerked away. "Um..."

"I am not sure if the lord would like any other eyes on this. I-it seemed very important, and he might get mad..."

"Seriously?" Matthew let out a little laugh. Eduard kept staring with haunt behind his expression. "I've seen every bit of your beloved lord. I'm sure he won't care if I see some pieces of paper that are written in a language I don't even know."

"Y-you..." Eduard glanced to the papers, then to Matthew's open palm. He did not seem so hesitant to relinquish them after that. "Matthew, yes?"

Matthew glanced over the odd chicken-scratch before setting whatever it said a little ways from Ivan's feet. "Yeah?"

"May I ask what are those things before your eyes?"

"Oh, these? These are glasses. I've always had bad eyesight. Everything like, up to here," Matthew held a hand to his face, "is super blurry, so these help me see clearly."

"Those glasses do that? I-I-I...wow!" Eduard scoffed, and hung his head, giving himself a little shake. "That must be another wonderful human thing from the surface..."

Matthew guessed, "You can't see well, either?"

Eduard blinked. "Oh. I, uh, well, yes, actually. I-it is not so bad, as yours is. Just a slight blur."

"It still stinks, right? You know, if you go around writing important papers around here, you'll need glasses, too. I can get you a pair the next time we go up to the surface."

Eduard tugged on the curtain, almost covering his face, "N-no! No, you do not have to do that! I was just marveling at a such a simple fix as to put glass in front of your face to see again."

"Eh, not quite, but still! It's not a big deal. Some glasses are really cheap. I can get a pair for you."

"You do not need to help me, sir."

"And you don't need to call me sir." Eduard slightly swayed side-to-side, like he was due for a nasty rendezvous with the floor soon, but nobody could be as stubborn as Matthew around these parts, "We live under the same roof. Let me help you. I want to."

"You want to? Oh, I-I'm flattered, sir-uh, I mean, Matthew. Thank...thank you." With that out, Eduard dipped his head in some kind of quick bow, and scrammed.

Matthew lamely blinked as Eduard slammed the door shut behind himself. The walls shook, and Ivan yelped and jolted to life, "Whas dat?!" He snarled half consciously, flinging himself to his hands and knees as his wings stretched menacingly from his back, "Stop sneaking around!"

"Dude. Ivan. My beast." Matthew ran a light hand up his rump, causing the big lug to twitch. "Chill out."

"Was there someone just in here?"

"Yeah, it was Eduard" Matthew pointed toward the sheets of parchment just at the end of the bed, "He had some important papers, apparently."

After thinking about this for a good moment, Ivan lunged across the mattress and scooped the papers up, yanked the curtain back for some light, and scrambled back into Matthew's outstretched arms.

Matthew reached under a wing and pinched a corner of one of the sheets. "Would you care if I took a peek, too?"

"What? No, why would I, Matthew?"

"Hmph! I so told Eduard that."

Ivan smiled as he handed the so-called important paperwork over, and Matthew stared at the random lines and scrawls. "You cannot read it, yes?"

"Nope. Here. What's it say?"

"Finally, the surrounding lords have recognized my revival."

"That's good, right?"

"It is! It should be."

"You sound like you're persuading yourself about that."

Ivan dropped the papers to the bed, and kicked them somewhere else. "After all of that nonsense, they will need to pay me a 'kind' visit to confirm my hard work, if I really am doing as I promised, if my land is habitable for other demons of my following."

"It is!"

"Thank you, Matthew. It is highly expected for the host to take care of his guests, yes?"

"Uh-huh?"

"That calls for a demon party."

"A demon party?"

"Yes, a demon party." Ivan weakly laughed as he draped against Matthew's side, "How wonderful."

Matthew already knew the answer, but asked, "Is it really?"

"No. I will loathe every moment of it."