A/N: Hello!

I'm sorry I haven't posted as much as I'd have liked to this year. A lot has happened since I posted my last work, I've had my confidence severely knocked after a few things that have happened in my personal and working life, and I haven't been in the best of places.

I'm posting this work in my "Anon-K'rasu" series, however this will most likely be the last work added to the series as I have now come away from being an Anon author and now want to link my works back to my profile (although, I have changed my username and moved my previous works to another account under the same/ a similar pen name. So if you were a fan of my previous works please don't worry, the works for my other fandoms are still online and very much available)

This work is set just after the brothers' fall from the Celestial Realm to the Devildom.
I started writing this work back in February/ March before the release of Nightbringer, which is why the brothers are living in the House of Lamentation right after the event rather than set in the Demon Lord's castle.
I've put "I don't want to talk" as the prompt but it's only a very loosely based prompt, so I've challenged myself to try to write a work that had as little dialogue as possible. I really hope that I've done my little challenge some justice.

I apologise in advance for any mistakes in my work, please feel free to drop me a message/ comment to let me know.

Thank you for your support, I hope you enjoy this work.

~K'rasu xx

(Author's note copies from AO3 account and may not be applicable to FFN)

Aftermath

Prompt: I don't want to talk.

Mammon passed through silent hallways as he grimaced at the unfamiliar stone walls of the House of Lamentation, only slowing his pace as his gaze wandered towards the equally unfamiliar floors where he spotted a large, splintered piece of polished wood.

He winced through the sharp pain in his joints as he stooped down to pick up the wood before he returned to his full height with a frown as he finally noticed a trail of fragmented wood leading further through the hallway and into a nearby room.

He tentatively approached the room and peered inside, only to find the remains of a grand piano scattered all over the room along with the stuffing from the sofa and the feathers from the cushions, and deep scratch marks etched into the wall.

Amongst the debris of what was once the music room, Mammon could make out Satan's figure curled in on himself with his tail wrapped around himself, laying on top of a tattered frayed rug on the floor.

Mammon remained as still as possible while he watched Satan closely from a distance until he noted Satan's slow, rhythmic breathing.

Mammon heaved a weary sigh, he was inwardly thankful that the unrelentingly angry demon had exhausted himself enough to finally pass out after yet another tantrum.

He didn't dare step further into the room in fear of waking Satan and causing the rage-induced rampage to continue. Mammon backed away from the doorway of the music room as quietly as he could before he continued onwards through the hallway towards the common room instead, picking up the larger pieces of splintered wood and moving them aside as he walked to make the hallway a little safer to trek through.

Mammon paused in the doorway of the common room, his eyes fell over the floor in front of the sofas where he could see of Asmo, Beel and Belphie huddled close together with their blankets and pillows on the rug in front of the fireplace, their silhouette forms visible thanks to the dying embers. He remained in the doorway, watching over his younger brothers as they restlessly stirred in their sleep in an attempt to move closer to each other and maintain their comforting hold on each other.

Mammon eyes slowly moved towards a first aid kit that the three younger brothers had left nearby, the contents of which had been removed from their packagings and left strewn about with pieces of gauze and a bowl of water.

He crossed the room as quietly as possible so as not to wake his brothers and pushed through his own aches and pains to stoop down to pick up the discarded packaging and gauze, dropping them into the waste bin. He then tidied the unneeded dressings, gauze and plasters back into the first aid kit before he placed the bowl of water onto the coffee table that had been pushed out of the way.

Mammon straightened up to his full height again, pausing only to pull the blanket back up over Belphie's shoulder before he headed back towards the common room door with the first aid kit in his hand and gave the three huddled brothers one last glance before he stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.

After leaving the common room, Mammon quietly crept up the stairs, silently counting his brothers off on his fingers and noted that he had now checked on Satan, Asmo and the twins. His eyes fell upon Levi's bedroom door as a certain recluse came to his mind, seeing that Levi had left his bedroom door ajar and a dim light was emitting from within.

He pushed the door open a little wider to peer into the room, he instantly found Levi sitting in the bathtub as he scrolled through his D.D.D while shrouded by a blanket that he had draped over his head like a hood. Mammon could just see a set of headphones that were clasped over Levi's ears beneath the blanket.

Noticing the movement of his bedroom door, Levi glanced up at Mammon, making eye contact with his older brother.

Mammon gave Levi an understanding nod, which Levi returned before he slowly turned his attention back towards the D.D.D in his hands.

Mammon retracted his head from the room and made sure to close the door properly before he then walked further along the hallway to Lucifer's bedroom and gave the closed wooden door a gentle knock.

Mammon waited.

And waited.

But even after another, slightly louder knock, he heard no answer from within Lucifer's bedroom.

With a small sigh, Mammon pushed the handle of the door down and entered the room anyway.

He quickly spotted Lucifer sitting in one of the armchairs near the fireplace, leaning forwards in the armchair with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasped in front of his face while the dim light emitting from the fireplace cast a silhouette around the eldest brother.

Mammon watched as Lucifer slowly and sluggishly turned his head in Mammon's direction as the second-born entered the bedroom, staring in Mammon's direction with unfocused eyes for what seemed like only a fraction of a second before he quickly turned his head to look away again without a single word.

He eyed Lucifer carefully as he walked across the room, noting how Lucifer turned his head further away from him to avoid meeting Mammon's gaze as he stared into the glowing embers within the fireplace instead. Yet Mammon still saw how Lucifer's hands shook slightly while he tried to maintain what little composure he had left, Mammon saw that Lucifer's hair looked as though it had been pushed back repeatedly, leaving a few missed strands to fall into his face, the dark circles beneath Lucifer's eyes that marked every sleepless night that he had had since their descent to the Devildom, along with the empty and defeated look in Lucifer's eyes.

The glow of the embers in the grate of the fireplace only seemed to make Lucifer's expression seem more worn and tired.

Upon closer inspection, Mammon also noted the wounds on Lucifer's hands that were red and inflamed from lack of care and treatment. Mammon had no doubt that Lucifer was using this as some form of self-punishment.

A state that Mammon had never seen the once acclaimed and beloved archangel of the Celestial Realm in before, and an uncharacteristic image vulnerability that Mammon was sure he wouldn't soon forget.

Mammon's eyes slowly moved from Lucifer to the low table nearby where he could see an empty glass and a bottle of Demonus that was almost three quarters empty, explaining Lucifer's sluggish movements earlier.

The silence in the room was only broken by the sound of the dying embers popping in the fireplace and the slight rustle of Mammon's clothes as he proceeded to step forwards towards Lucifer.

Mammon forced himself to push his own aches and pains to the back of his mind for Lucifer's sake as he knelt down on the floor in front of Lucifer, opened the first aid kit and prepared some antiseptic and gauze before he then stared up at Lucifer expectantly.

Lucifer's eyes flitted towards Mammon's before he silently and somewhat reluctantly unclasped his hands and held one of them out towards Mammon.

Mammon noticed that Lucifer's shoulders tensed and the older demon took a sharp, inward breath through gritted teeth as Mammon used the antiseptic and cause to clean Lucifer's wounds, making Mammon instantly pause in his movements to look up at Lucifer.

Lucifer closed his eyes and gave a small nod of his head, letting Mammon continue to tend to his wounds with a much more gentle touch this time.

Mammon stole another glance at Lucifer as the older demon slowly reached towards the bottle of Demonus on the table with his free hand to pour another drink.

Lucifer's hands still shook, making the bottle rattle against the rim of the glass. He only half-filled his glass before quickly putting the bottle back down on the table beside it with a small thud, but Lucifer didn't pick the glass up to drink its contents. He instead withdrew his hand to rest on his own knee while Mammon continued to tend to the wounds on his other hand.

Mammon let his eye flit up towards Lucifer's face once more, seeing that the other demon had finally, slowly met his gaze for the first time since their fall. Mammon could see the grief, guilt and regret etched into Lucifer's eyes.

Lucifer took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak, but Mammon instantly cut him off before the eldest had the chance to speak a single word.

"I know."

Mammon's voice was a quiet murmur, but they seemed to be enough to give Lucifer the comfort he sought as the pair then shared an understanding look before letting the silence envelope them again while Mammon continued to tend to Lucifer's injuries.