Chapter 53 : Tempus Fugit - Pretty please?
War had almost universally a way to change people, even for the long-lived race such as the one Grayfia Lucifuge belonged to.
And there was no starker reminder of that fact than her beloved.
Once, he had dreamt of living his life dedicated to his passion, his only worries being finding the perfect instrument to express his art, always wandering the earth in search of a new song, fulfilled with the simple pleasure of strumming its chords and teaching the amenable and dedicated youths to his heart's content.
The Devil's Civil War had seen to it that her husband's dream died a messy, whimpering death.
Not because the war itself expressly forbade him, no, but because of what he was.
Born with a power rivaling those of the gods by a quirk of fate, magic and genetics, and in spite of his own wishes, he had been a player on the chessboard of the Underworld's politics since he was a wee babe, and the war…
…The war had forced his hands, made him drop the lute to pick up the mantle of the destroyer, soaking in blood the calluses earned during his journey to develop his art, finally culminating in making him one of their Hell Princes when the dust inevitably settled.
After that, there was no going back.
Gone were the simpler times, for the crown weighs heavy on the suzerain's brow.
She had been luckier.
It had been expected from one of her blood, of her station, to serve the Lucifer family, to give them her devotion, body and soul.
Rivezim's erratic behavior after his father's death had given her all the incentives needed for her to be highly motivated to pick another side, any other side.
In a way, the war had been her lucky break, her own golden moment where the stars aligned, giving her the opportunity to run away from a faction of warmongerers unable to understand that they would bring the end of their species if they didn't accept that they weren't as mighty as they used to be.
They were all made to be soldiers, yes, but even soldiers needed to take a rest, to care for their families, if only to remember why they were fighting for.
And they were no longer fighting for the Morningstar.
What she hadn't expected when she enacted her gamble was to find love.
Sirzechs Gremory was everything a true blooded Lucifer was not. Powerful, yes, but also sensible, caring, and fiercely determined to work himself to the bone if it meant giving their species a better future, one where no bright headed dreamers would have to put aside their passion to pick up a sword.
No wonder she fell for him as hard as she did, and gave him the oath she did not swear to her would-be liege, if only to give him the shoulder he desperately needed to lean on when doubts assailed him.
It was both bitter-sweet and serendipitous that the little sister he loved so -to an uncomfortable amount at times, but they did spent centuries trying to have a child without success before their little jewel saw the light of day- had stumbled upon, then befriended, a mortal who could only remind him of times long past.
The Lucifuge in her disapproved heavily of the uncouth girl; the Grayfia who fell in love with a tormented artist garbed in Destruction liked her free-spiritedness and drive both.
Though, she had to admit that both of those aspects of her were currently relishing the current scene.
"-not mad, I am disappointed, Rias." The human girl carries on her admonition, arms crossed under her bust and her tone flat, eyes likes steel and glaring at said Devil, who could only bear with it, seated on her couch in her own home, hands on her knees and head downcast like a scolded child, "I gave you one rule, one, for me to tattoo you, and you chose to sidestep it because it was easier that way."
"But-" Her lover's sister starts, lips quivering a little, her Queen discreetly wincing at her side, the half-fallen smart enough to see the writings on the walls.
"No buts." The girl with a side-shave tuts, eyes hardening a fraction until the Devil's jaw snaps shut once more, "You do not realize how bad this could have gone. If your brother had shown himself less understanding, he could have called the authorities on me and sicked so many lawyers on my orphan ass that I would have probably been forced straight into juvies. Japanese laws are extremely restrictive for tattoo artists. I asked for the consent of your whole direct family so as to insure that I wouldn't be drowned in legalities and your hastiness and thoughtlessness almost cost me everything."
"It wouldn't-" The youngest Gremory starts once more.
"You couldn't have known, Rias." The dark-brown haired girl insists, and, once more, the heiress goes quiet, "Here's a saying I'm fond of: 'assumptions make an ass of you and I'. Your assumption that your brother would just shrug the incident off was founded on wishfulness and had no basis on cold, hard facts. And the fact is that it could've ended really badly for me."
It is almost staggering, Grayfia muses to herself, how close to reality the girl can hit home, albeit not for the correct reason.
The Lucifuge darts a surreptitious look to her husband, taking note of the almost minute quirk of his lips and coming to the conclusion that the two are of the same mind about the topic, before coming back to the scene in front of her.
"I mean, what was the worst that could've happened if you asked him and he said no?" The dark-blue eyed girl carries on, a hint of exasperation in her tone, "You'll just have had to wait for two more years and I'd have happily put my needles to work. That's it."
Not like her husband would have said no to his baby sister in the first place, Grayfia drily comments in the privacy of her mind.
"But I wanted to get closer to you!" Said baby sister suddenly blurts out, head jerking upward to lock tear-streaked eyes with her human friend, who looks momentarily taken aback, before smoothing out her features, "And I thought-"
A finger flick on a forehead.
"Owie!" A crimson headed devil yelps.
"Silly girl," The human in the devil's midst straightens up once more, sighing, her hand dropping back at her side, "We're already close."
The youngest Gremory freezes, eyes wide open, her hand still rubbing her forehead.
"Himejima-san and you are, bar my girlfriend, the only people I give a crap about at school." The girl with a side-shave explains, almost wafting annoyance and awkwardness both at admitting it out-loud, "His rotten bones, I spend almost all of my Sundays afternoons in this very room talking with you all. No amount of ink is going to change that."
"I-I'm sorry." Rias eventually apologizes after a beat, voice choke full of emotions, "I just…"
An uncomfortable beat passes, until the human girl sighs once more, bending over-
-and hug the stuffing out of the distressed heiress.
"Such a high maintenance girl," She grumbles out loud, even as Rias' arms hesitantly snakes around her to squeeze her back, "Forcing me to make sappy shit because she doesn't think things through."
The laugh escaping the youngest Gremory's throat is a bit choked and wet, but a laugh all the same.
The two separate once more.
"Don't do this kind of thing again." The human warns, pointing a finger directly at her friend, the fist of her free hand solidly planted on her prominent hip, "Communication is important, if you have an issue with me, talk to me, for his rotten bones' sake!"
"R-Right." Rias smiles, a bit feebly.
The girl with a side-shave nods solidly once, before about-facing to look back at her husband and her.
"Thank you for letting me talk first, Gremory-san." She says, giving the two of them a shallow, albeit respectful nod, "The floor is-"
The sound of the door of the living room opening interrupts her, prompting the assembled people to look curiously at the origin of the disruption-
-only to see a sleepy-looking white-haired young yokai stumbles into the room, looking at the gathering once, before beelining for the human in their midst-
-and glompling her mid-rim.
The dark-blue eyed girl blinks once, before mechanically bringing a hand to headpats the younger girl.
"Ah, Koneko?" She asks, "Is something wrong?"
"Upset." Comes the mono-worded answer, and Grayfia feels her eyebrows almost reaching her forehead in astonishment over the fact that the little ball of carefully folded over trauma even answered in the first place, "Not as comfy. Stop it."
Centuries spent living with each other makes her acutely aware of her husband's look on her and she trades a glance with him.
'Are you seeing what I'm seeing?' He seems to ask through a tilt of his head.
'I do, and I am just as gobsmacked as you are.' She communicates with a pause and a short nod.
"I'm not mad anymore kitten, alright?" The human reassures with a smile, "Do you want us to sit?"
The young yokai instantly nods in her midriff, and it doesn't take long before the two sit on the couch facing Rias, the white-haired instantly snuggling head first into the older teenager's plump thighs.
This time, Grayfia's eyebrows have almost assuredly shot behind her bangs.
The duo now settled, the human girl seems to remember where she is, coughs in her free hand awkwardly, the other already hard at work combing through the mess of white locks of the diminutive Rook, before speaking once more.
"Right, as I was saying, the floor is yours, Gremory-san."
Shaking herself out of her own bewilderment at the situation, Grayfia has all of one second to chance a glance toward her husband-
"Ria-tan! I'm so happy to see you!"
-before having to repress the immense urge to deadpan which comes to her as he seemingly forgets why the two of them have made the journey here.
Not giving in to the urge to sigh aloud, even if she really wants to -it would be improper, after all- she redirects her attention to the odd human girl, who watches the spectacle unfold with an air of bemusement.
Pretending that I am doing anything but flying by the seat of my pants since this whole debacle started would be a gross understatement of my capabilities.
I expected a lot of things to come off Rias' little deception, I even joked in the privacy of my mind that it could land me with an impromptu meeting with a certain sis-con.
I wasn't expecting for it to be made reality barely two days after the fact.
Alas, my hand had been forced, partly due to Rias' unexpected deception and partly because exposing it would've meant revealing that I was supernatural myself.
Nonetheless, having one of the strongest beings of the Abrahamic faction waiting for me at my door, accompanied by the -alleged- Strongest Queen, as I came back from the Gym had sobered me of all the delusions of where I am on the power-scale I could have had real quick.
Since I am not completely dumb, I had made a habit of doing a quick sweep of the town before moving after the Nighthaunt incident.
Imagine my surprise when, instead of the usual sea of little fireflies, my mind-eye got almost blinded by two bonafide suns shining right in my face.
I almost panicked, almost, until I remembered that the dice had been cast the very moment I decided that my anonymity was worth taking the risk of going along with Rias' scheme, and elected to see where said dice landed.
Had the Satan shown himself more confrontational than he had, I would've instantly come clean to him while simultaneously reassuring him that I meant no harm to his sister.
Thankfully, big brother seemed rather calm about the situation, and had given me the time to show him the proof that I wasn't in the wrong in this whole debacle.
He even relaxed further once I started talking shop, having had to pull hard on Beauty to bolster my confidence, for whatever reason, and my blood pressure is all the better for it.
Which lands us here, with a thoroughly chastised Rias -let's hope that it sticks because I'm not hot at all for a second round- getting hugged like a 1:1 doll by her brother, my lap full of recently-awoken kitty, and with the Strongest Queen making her way to me.
I tune out the whole circus show happening in front of me as Grayfia Lucifuge sits herself primly next to me, apparently momentarily relieving herself of her maidly duties, and locks eyes with me.
May I say that it is quite hard to look at the Satanic duo without busting a gut due to their attire?
Because it's quite hard to look at her husband and her and maintain a perfect poker face when one wears the edgiest cloak I've ever seen and the other is wearing maid-ware.
"Little Koneko seems to trust you a lot," She preludes, her cadence measured and eyes calm, but her tone inquisitive nonetheless, "How did it come to be?"
I give a little self-depreciative snort, keeping a carefully low level of Serenity trickling through me, giving the already back in dreamland yokai a fond glance.
"I asked her why once," I answer, "But she never answered. Still didn't stop her from taking me for her personal pillow when I swung by."
"Interesting." She hums, eyes still intently locked with mine, "You keep using a rather odd idiom…"
It's admittedly an effort not to wince to blink in 'confusion' instead.
Thank fuck my relaxation trick dull my instantaneous emotional response.
"Ah, maybe it doesn't translate well for a foreigner?" I 'wonder' aloud, "See, I spent my formative years in an orphanage for children from a military background. The matrons were, amusingly enough, convinced catholics, and they tried their hardest to pass those values onto me.
"It didn't quite work, since I'm a bit of a contrarian. They kept singing the praises of the big guy above, but, when I looked around me, I just couldn't see it." I explain, gesturing with my hand, "One day, I got so annoyed with them, that I just started to denounce all the wars and conflicts around the world that we could see on TV and in our history books, before telling them to their face that if he had existed one day, then he was very obviously dead, because he wouldn't let that happen otherwise."
"I imagine they didn't take it well." Super Maid replies.
"Quite." I drawl, still weaving my tale, "I got punished, and, being quite upset myself, I started swearing on his cadaver to mess with them, and still do to this day."
"Why?" A simple question, yet her steel eyes are still looking, searching for something.
"I'm a staunch atheist." I answer with a shrug, "I don't buy in all this make-believe dribble."
Rather understandably, that seems to throw her more for a loop that everything I've done so far, if her eyebrows disappearing behind her bangs are anything to go by.
She opens her mouth to ask a follow up question-
"By Lucifer!"
-but her jaw snaps shut as her husband swears, rather loudly, prompting the both of us to give the rest of the room our attention once more.
My eyes land on Rias' back, her skirt hiked up and her bum blessedly still panties clad, apparently showing off my work to her brother, whose eyes are almost bulging.
…But not in a comically perverse way, contrary to what I would've expected.
No, that intent look, as he stares at hyper realistic crimson roses buds, breaking apart steel chains and thorny stems, is the one of an artist looking appreciatively to another's work.
Uh.
I kind of forgot at some point that the guy wanted to be a musician before he got pulled into the Devil's Civil War.
"You…" He starts, shaking himself out of his staring and turning himself to face me properly, "You inked this?"
"From start to finish, Gremory-san." I answer after only a short beat spent composing myself.
"Hanako-chan, this is a masterpiece." He stresses out, apparently still not quite over the fact, "Granted, the subject helps a lot in this case…"
I snort in good humor, to Rias' increasingly redder cheeks.
"That she does." I answer with a grin.
"Say, would you be open for another commission…?" He hazards after only a short beat.
Next to me, I see his spouse straighten to give him the mother of all glare.
"Husband, no." She clips.
"Love, look at this!" He whines while gesturing at Rias' bum, whose complexion is now approaching the color of a well-cooked lobster, "This is art! Pure art! Of course I'd want one for myself!"
"That doesn't stop it from being improper." She insists, her tone slightly icy.
"But nobody will see it!"
"I will."
"Pretty please? I swear I'll be good!"
"Being good has nothing to do with it."
I trade a look with Akeno, only to see her being wide-eyed, mouth slightly agape.
I chance a glance at Rias, whose shoulders are now shaking in shame -the Immaterium says so- as her brother keeps arguing with his wife while regularly gesturing at his sister's exposed derrière.
In the end, the only one still in the room who was not feeling incredibly awkward as the two adults kept having at it was the blessedly sleeping kitten.
[AN: Sirzechs getting all "Shut up and take my money!" lmao.
I know I'm deliberately breaking one of canon trope by making Grayfia abandon her ever cold mien and supportive stance of her husband here, but I honestly pin it in character with her straight-laced personality to instantly smother the idea in the crib because it offends her sense of propriety.
It is, also, to flesh out their couple a bit more and give them a semblance of humanity, because otherwise they're just caricatures.
Hope you enjoy, xoxo]