Chapter Twelve - Welcome back
Emi just hands Maou the ear thermometer from the first aid kit and two hot water bottles for Urushihara - one for the hands, the other for the feet - when it knocks on the door.
"Too late," she explains in a mocking tone as she lets a rather cold-looking Ashiya into the room. "You already missed the drama."
"Drama?" he repeats alarmed and looks over her shoulder into the living room where he sees Chiho, Alas-Ramus and his king sitting on the couch with Urushihara. He also sees Maou holding the unconscious Urushihara in his arms.
He adds worriedly as he slips out of his boots and takes off his coat:
"What happened? "
"He put him to sleep," Emi replies in a clearly amused tone.
Ashiya gives her a quick glance to the side and then goes over to the couch.
"My lord? "
"I had no choice, and it won't last long," Maou defends himself while staring helplessly at the digital display of the thermometer, which shows a large and clear "error".
Does this mean that Urushihara's body temperature is so low that the thermometer can't detect it?
Concerned, he hands it back to Emi, who just looks at the display with raised eyebrows.
"You must have had a good reason for that, my lord," Ashiya says immediately to calm him down.
Sure, he sees their odd response, but he is overly focused on this other issue.
"I did! " Maou defends himself fiercely. "He was in so much pain!"
"And that is a good thing," Emi reminds him impatiently. She cannot understand the trouble, because in her opinion Maou acted logically.
"If Urushihara's fingers and toes are thawing and he doesn't feel it, you should be worried. The hot-water bottles will help. Not just his hands and feet," she adds soothingly.
"Has he regained consciousness? "Ashiya asks.
"Briefly and only because of the pain," Maou answers, adding sadly: "But I don't think he was awake."
"I understand. "Ashiya sinks down on his knees next to the couch, strokes Urushihara's hair back and glances at his pale face for a moment. Then he puts a hand to his cheek to test the body heat in his own way and looks at his lord for a long time.
"He actually feels almost normal again."
That's very optimistic, but Urushihara isn't as cold as he was an hour ago and Ashiya prefers to focus on the positive for everyone here.
As expected, Maou seems to relax a little when he hears this. But he still has a guilty look on his face and so Ashiya hastens to reassure him:
"Lucifer will understand."
His words are followed by a silence of expectation, two pairs of eyes looking at him with questioning eyes. Ashiya struggles for a moment, but after another look at the sad face of his lord, who seems to have eyes only for Urushihara in his arms, he gives up and explains to the women:
"As an archangel, Lucifer has a natural resistance to the hypnotic voice of our King. To prevail, our king must subdue him by force."
"It is my promise to him that I will never do this to him." Despite his general's encouraging words, Maou still struggles with himself.
Ashiya smiles mildly, checks the position of the hot-water bottles, strokes the hair of Alas-Ramus, who is quiet but watching him with wide eyes.
He gives a cheering smile to Chiho, who is also very quiet. Then he glances at the pile of clothes lying beside the couch and sighs.
Then he starts to tidy everything up. And when he's done with it, he grabs a mop and wipes the slush off the wooden floor. The monotony of the work is almost a relief to him, a kind of salvation.
Wrong.
Something is terribly wrong.
Driven by pure survival instinct, he struggles out of the darkness and jerks himself awake.
"Everything's fine." Maou's voice is close to his ear and something is holding him.
Lucifer gasps for air and panics.
"Shhh," Maou, surprised by this violent reaction, tries to calm him down and lets go of him immediately. "It's me: Maou. Everything's okay."
As soon as he feels that he is free again, Lucifer jerks back and come to rest only on the back of the seat. When his fingers hit something soft and woolly, he pauses to feel it more closely. Then he grabs it with stiff fingers and squeezes it. His hectic breathing calms down a little, and then he takes a deep breath and lets it out in a long sigh at the end.
His eyes, wide open, dart wildly back and forth as if he were still able to see.
"Lucifer," Alas-Ramus caresses him over the blanket, comforting him where his shinbone is located. He jerks back in shock and she hastily apologizes to him.
"Sorry. Everything's okay. Papa and Alciel found you."
"Alas-chan?" Lucifer turns his head in the direction he heard her voice. He slowly stretches out his hand with the stuffed animal in it towards her and then clears his throat. His voice is very scratchy and he speaks slowly and hesitantly as he searches for the right Japanese words.
"This is yours, sweetheart."
"No. It's okay. I will share Okto with you," she explains, closing his fingers around the stuffed animal in a frighteningly adult gesture. He bites his lips, his joints still stiff and painful, but he forces a small smile for her sake.
"Lucifer." Maou puts a hand on his shoulder, but pulls it back when Urushihara flinches.
"You're in the cabin with us. Everything is fine, you're safe."
Urushihara freezes for a moment, then nods hesitantly. With one hand, he holds Okto while the other reaches under the blankets, then pulls out a hot-water bottle and frowns.
"Oh, that," Maou smiles and takes it from him. He puts it next to him, and it is only lukewarm now. "I hope it helped."
"Manmae scabrosus," - my hands tingle, Urushihara murmurs, bending and stretching his fingers.
"Lucifer..." Maou tries to speak especially softly and calmly, holding out his hand, but then he hesitates, remembering Alas' words.
"I'll take your hand now, okay?"
Urushihara nods and hesitantly holds out his right hand. Maou takes it slowly and very carefully and then strokes the back of his hand with his thumb.
"Apart from the tingling - how else do you feel?"
Urushihara blinks almost in slow motion.
"I don't...know..." he says then, pulling his hand away. "This is not real. Stultius somnium."
A foolish dream. Maou swallows hard.
Dismissive, Urushihara pulls the blanket tighter around him and then, contrary to his negative tone, curls up at Maou's side.
And when Maou hesitantly puts his arm around him, he does not flinch this time.
If he has to go through this hallucination, he can at least enjoy it.