Author's Notes: So is any else still not getting e-mail updates from ? Because I'm not and there isn't even the BS message that pops up when I login to my account.
~Nothing Will Be The Same~
After entering his office, Stanley closed the door behind him, making sure to turn the lock, and for a moment, he simply stood there. Suddenly, the rigid tension in his body and the calm façade of his face collapsed like a demolished building as he slumped forward, bracing himself against the door with one hand while holding his hip with the other. For the next several seconds, Stanley took deep, calming breaths, looking as if he had just run a marathon.
'That fucking Lich' he seethed mentally.
He almost got fucked over by an oversight that could have led Natalie to gaining unfettered access to magic and an insatiable lust for research and experimentation. That right there is a nightmare scenario that must be avoided at all costs.
'I dodged a fucking bullet there.'
Yet he pondered whether or not it was worth it in the end.
Stanley was always hesitant to involve himself in other people's personal business in any way, shape, or form. He certainly didn't like other people putting their noses up in his businass,but hey, it's not as if it's a niche take or anything. The fact of the matter is that for him, there is a certain level of discomfort that comes with involving himself in someone else's personal affairs.
This kind of thinking wasn't limited to just strangers and was among several reasons why he wanted to have as little to do with the actual decision-making process for his sister's Mamono transformation as possible. Case in point: the act of going through that Mamono list with Ezraphel and Natalie was akin to some cruel and unusual psychological torture.
Why is that?
Because in order to weigh the pros and cons of each Mamono, he had to basically visualize Natalie as said Mamono, which inevitably led to him picturing what she would get up with some poor faceless schmuck.
*Insert Retching Noises*
"Haa~" Stanley let loose a sigh before pushing off the wall and making his way to his PC system, where he plopped down on his comfy gaming chair, leaned back enough to look at the ceiling, and rubbed his eyes with both palms and groaned.
The second reason was far less practical for him in that it had something to do with his stupid conscience pinning some level of responsibility for her on him. It doesn't make any logical sense since it's totally out of his hands at this point. Even Natalie agreed that there wasn't much of a choice between becoming a Mamono and dying in a few months. Yet to him it still felt like he essentially facilitated a Faustian bargain between her and Ezraphel.
Still, as much as he wanted to spare his mental faculties, Stanley just could not, in good conscience, leave Natalie to make that decision with just Ezraphel for a second opinion. And what do you know? His involvement ended up aborting what would have been a terrible final decision on Natalie's part.
Stanley would like to think that he knew his sister better than anyone, but that's not necessarily true. He might have at one point, but that was years ago, and unlike him, who made it a point to live his life with the least amount of change possible, Natalie is someone who embraces change in her day-to-day life. By the time she started living with them, he only had a tentative grasp on the kind of person she was. He had to basically get reacquainted with her over the course of her stay and was glad to know that she hadn't changed too much in their time apart that she became virtually unrecognizable as a person.
At least he can take solace in knowing that her wanting to learn magic came off as more of a passing fancy and that she wasn't the kind of person who would want power for power's sake. He sort of knew that to be the case even before Ezraphel mentioned it since she didn't so much as bat an eye at all the supernatural benefits that came with becoming a Mamono. Her reaction gave the distinct impression that if her life wasn't on the line, Natalie would have declined to become a Mamono altogether.
Natalie seemed to not care for the benefits of being a Mamono the same way he didn't really give a shit about the benefits of being an Incubus. Given how he's enjoying the benefits of the transformation one might charitably say that he's full of shit but keep in mind that Stanley's reasoning for becoming an Incubus never really strayed beyond wanting to keep up with and appease Ezraphel. He would have rather stayed as he was but there wasn't much of an option when you have a voracious Lilim involved.
You think he's being hyperbolic but if he took Ezraphel out of the picture then there is legitimately a case for being an Incubus not really granting that much value to his life. For instance he's incredibly handsome now and has a natural charm that draws people to him but Stanley never cared about his appearance in the first place. As an introvert he has no inclination towards interacting with actual people or receiving unwanted attention.
Being Captain America levels of physically enhanced doesn't amount to much for someone who only ever exerts himself every once in a while playing airsoft. Frankly, his being unfit is the perfect handicap equalizer because, as recent events have revealed, it would be unfair for his opponents otherwise and he wouldn't have any fun.
The same can be said for having perfect health and immunity to virtually all natural diseases. Stanley cultivated a lifestyle where he didn't need perfect health to live a life of contentment. His life as a modern hermit might not be glamorous by most metrics or even fulfilling according to modern public standards, but he's satisfied, and anyone with a problem with that can suck a fat one.
And it's not as if being an Incubus is all good. He can't step out in public without his passive charm effect making him occupy people's attention. As if the stares weren't annoying enough, people somehow gather the courage to start a conversation with him, which is just... painful. Then there's his raging libido that demands he stick his dick in a certain someone multiple times every other day, lest blue balls literally drive him insane.
His only saving grace is that Ezraphel is ready and willing to satisfy his urges and act as a bigger distraction for him. Truly, if it weren't for her, then being an Incubus would just be too much of a hassle to be viable in any other circumstance. But he has Ezraphel, and Stanley did not at all regret becoming an Incubus, nor would he change his current self.
'I really hope Natalie feels the same way a year from now.'
As much as he would like to say that he could empathize with his sister's circumstance of being corrupted, the fact of the matter is that an Incubus transformation is significantly less severe than a Mamono transformation. Stanley might say that he is no longer human; however, he can acknowledge that said belief is a bit on the hyperbole side. He's still human in all the ways that count, and should he actually meet a natural MGE Incubus, its his belief that the contrast would be more apparent.
He knew that Ezraphel would try her best to make it so that the change wouldn't incur any intense psychological changes in the same vein as his own, but Natalie would have to deal with way more than just that. She would basically be waking up in a new body, all things considered. The implication made him frown in mild concern as thoughts of body dysmorphia came to mind, something he hadn't even thought about until literally just now.
'Shit.'
He didn't even have a defense for the lack of thought since he did go through a phase of adapting to the changes of his own transformation. There is a level of discomfort and uncanniness that came with the transformation. He'd equate it to like getting used to a pair of new shoes, except it's his entire body and certain things just couldn't be ignored. At least that was the case for a while until he overcame it for which Ezraphel was of great help in that aspect.
It wasn't so much that she acted as a guiding hand to aid in his transition but more that she provided ample distraction that left him little room to ponder the implications. By the end of the first week after they were done fucking, he was left too tired and satisfied to sweat the details beyond a cursory observation. It also helped that their week long sex marathon saw him thoroughly adapted to his body to the point where he never looked any deeper into the topic of how his transformation affected him beyond some surface level observations.
Now that the subject has come up however, Stanley did find himself posing a question.
'How did it change me?'
Specifically, how has becoming an Incubus changed him?
It's not a question that's easy to answer due to how heavily intertwined the transformation is with the effect of Ezraphel's overall presence on his life. It's easy for him to conflate what she's managed to accomplish in making him a changed man with the role the transformation itself played in shaping him.
'Shit, is there even a difference?' He thought while scratching the top of his head in aggravation.
In a way, he understood that to be the point and a success in Ezraphel's efforts to appease him. He didn't wantto suffer the mental effects brought on by corruption, so he charged her to make it so that the transformation wouldn't affect his mind, making for as seamless a transition as could be. It obviously worked, maybe a bit too well, and now he's finding himself struggling to parse the differences between Stanley the human and Stanley the Incubus beyond the obvious physical aspects.
He could say that his being an Incubus made him more pliable to Ezraphel's advances, but that would be a bold-faced lie. Stanley didn't think himself any more special than the average Joe when it came to reigning in his urges. Withstanding Ezraphel's seduction attempts the first time around was more his fear, uncertainty, and stubbornness overriding his arousal. Even if it did take surprisingly longer than it should he still caved to her in the end.
Yet by that point even as they crossed that threshold, it became standard for him to resist her, if nothing else, for sheer stubbornness. Ezraphel herself finds his stubbornness to be charming (God knows why), and he's convinced she gets a kick out of whittling down his resistance through the use of more subtle methods of seduction.
As far as other changes go…
'I guess I'm not as socially awkward...?'
There's a difference between being socially awkward and being antisocial. For Stanley, it wasn't always like that; he remembered being pretty outgoing as a kid, but at some point he just stopped. Actually, he remembered it being around middle school when he didn't hit that growth spurt he thought he would, and people started making fun of him for it. He tried to shrug off the taunts and name-calling, but they kept persisting, and he got self-conscious about it.
A bunch of stuff happened afterwards that had him slowly becoming distant from his friends and people in general. Mainly, he discovered the internet and found interest in it. Of course, during that time period, internet culture was considered nerdy shit and didn't endear him to his former friends. At that point, he had a choice, and unknowingly, he made the tactical decision not to hang out with people who routinely made fun of him and to focus on things that he liked.
By high school, he was fully into videogames, anime, and this website called YouTube, among other things that formed the basis for mid-late 2000s nerd culture. He did so at the cost of forgetting how to interact with real people his age, but frankly, there was nothing lost there, in his opinion. He did remember making a few genuine attempts to form a social relationship, but that didn't work, to say the least, so he just avoided trying for the foreseeable future.
And so ends the tale of teenage Stanley Berkowitz's social life.
The lesson he took from that was like most things he applied to his current life, and it's making sure that things are worth his time before making the effort to invest in them. He never tried to go out of his way to make friends with strangers in real life. It's the reason why all his current irl friends he met through the internet and had extensive dealings with in one form or another. Even then, it was still a struggle to interact with them outside of certain topics.
That isn't the case nowadays, as while the supernatural charm effect of being an Incubus does encourage other people to take notice and even interact with him (especially when he's alone), it isn't as painful or awkward as it could have been. Somehow, through what he can only excuse as 'magical bullshit', Stanley can actually navigate a conversation without accidentally putting his foot in his mouth.
He noticed that during the nth time he got forced into a conversation with people that he really didn't want to have. Even at his most dismissive, where he doesn't put any effort into the conversation, he is able to seamlessly navigate a path out of it without coming off as an asshole. Now, given everything that's known about him, you'd think his coming off as a dismissive asshole during conversation is by design, but it really isn't, well, not off rip anyways.
Would you believe that Stanley has cultivated his unique conversation skills purely by accident? Years of self-appointed isolation with only the internet (and social media) to use as communication channels have deteriorated his irl conversational skills and tolerance for people. It's so severe that any unwanted conversation with strangers outside of a formal/business-like setting has a 90% chance of him getting fed up and defaulting to what he refers to as 'online troll speak.'
The way how it goes is like this…
Stanley attempts to have a conversation - fucks up - panics - tries to salvage - gives up trying - attempts to leave the conversation at all costs.
Since he's used to trawling the trenches of the internet, his go-to means of leaving a conversation is to be an asshole. It also doesn't help that he's used to leaning into that type of energy since it often gets him the result he wants—being left alone.
As an Incubus, however, he has the real-life equivalent of getting 100 in the speech skill. It wasn't just the charm effect of being an Incubus either. Stanley might actually have some supernatural empathy ability that allows him to read people in a way that is straight out of fiction. Plus, being in a relationship with Ezraphel has instilled in him a confidence he didn't even recognize until recently, enabling him to utilize this newfound skill without collapsing under the weight of social pressure.
So yeah, if he wanted to, Stanley could definitely be that guy those alpha male influencers pretend to be. It would actually be pretty freaking easy for him to go down that route actually, but like many seeming opportunities in his life, Stanley didn't see the point in trying. He already has the sexiest and best woman in the world so why the fuck would he want to appear desirable to strangers?
.
.
.
Wait, what was he thinking about?
His thoughts veered off to the point that he almost forgot the reason why he was even thinking about—
'Oh shit, Natalie!'
Right, he was thinking about how becoming a Mamono would influence Natalie and how he could help.
"…I got nothing."
And that's the truth.
For all that he can ponder and speculate about it, the truth is that Stanley won't really know what to expect. This includes both the full scope of changes Natalie will incur and her reactions to them. All he can do is hunker down to weather the storm as it passes, no matter what form it takes. In any case, if there was one thing he could say for certain, it would be that nothing would be the same.
And maybe this time he can be the reliable sibling for once.
~Natalie' Post Mortem Observations~
Natalie woke up lying on the absurdly comfortable bed of the guest room she has become familiar with over the course of two weeks. Immediately, she knew there was something off about the situation. Her brain didn't need time to kick in so she immediately remembered the series of events that occurred before she was unceremoniously rendered unconscious…again.
"Ugh dammit Ez" she sighed, letting out a breath, then paused "what in the...?"
Once again, the feeling of there being something off pervaded her senses as she realized something. That realization caused her to take a few deep breaths, pausing between each until finally settling on holding her breath for as long as she could. It wasn't the first time she did this, but this time around, the familiar slow-building burn of her lungs did not come. While holding her breath, she reached up to brace a hand against her chest, and her eyes widened.
There was no involuntary rise and fall of her chest.
There was no rhythmic beating in her heart.
Not even the feel of blood flowing through her veins, which was something she didn't even realize she could feel.
All were absent.
All was still.
Like the grave.
"Oh my God," Natalie gasped as she looked at her hand. It was pale to the point of discoloration.
It caused the woman to finally get out of bed and head to the nearest mirror which happened to be a full-length one attached to the closet door in another design choice by Ezraphel. In truth, she didn't really appreciate the thing before. It was placed in a way that would make her notice herself the moment she got out of bed. Considering she was suffering the symptoms of leukemia as well as some lingering effects of the botched chemotherapy treatment, her body made for a poor sight that only gave her a constant reminder of her impending death.
It's the reason she decided to cover the damn thing. As she went to take off the covering, Natalie hesitated. She wondered what exactly she would see on the other side of that sheet cloth, and for the briefest moment, fear and indecision stayed in her hand.
'Come on, Nat, it's a little too late to be worried about that now.'
With a nod of affirmation to herself, Natalie pulled the sheet away, akin to ripping off a band-aid, and gasped at the sight of her reflection. A pair of stark red eyes greeted her, seeming to glow in the gloom of the room, and Natalie belatedly realized that the room was shrouded in darkness with the only true source of light coming from the window. She didn't even notice since she could see as clearly as if it were daytime.
Just like her hands, her entire body was very pale, corpse-like, yet distinctly not pasty. And as she realized upon delicately running her hands down her cheek, it was also incredibly smooth and cool to the touch. It gave a very new and almost very literal meaning to the description 'porcelain skin.' Her dark brown hair felt finer than silk as she raked her fingers through it, having regained its luster, and in truth, she looked as if she had spent an entire day in the finest hair salon.
She wore a pair of beige loose Capri pants and a t-shirt, both of which looked to have been filled out just a bit more than she remembered. Natalie always felt that she was just a bit too skinny, especially after her diagnosis, so logically, her next course of action was to take off her shirt. With a little gasp of surprise, the woman beheld the pale, smooth canvas that was her stomach, and once again she felt compelled to run her dainty hands over her abdominals.
They had just the right amount of womanly softness and taut fitness to be perfect. Above that, she took note of the swell of her breasts and how they slightly strained against her plain bra, with a note of discomfort she'd been ignoring up until that point. With a quick movement, she unhooked the restrictive bra and couldn't help but giggle in amusement. Her breasts seemed to have gone up a full cup size and a half from 32C to 40D.
"Wow~" she reached her hands up to cup "soft," lift "firm," and release "bouncy."
Next, her hands ran along her curves, which seemed to have gotten exaggerated enough to form a perfect hourglass figure. She rested her hands on her hips and struck a pose before turning around to get a better look at her ass. Even through the Capri pants she wore, Natalie could very much identify that her ass had gotten the BBL treatment au super-naturel.
"Talk about Gyatt, or whatever it is that the kids are saying nowadays," she shrugged, then gave her rump a sharp slap.
*Smack*
"God, I am one sexy corpse."
The words caused the grin on her face to lessen into something sardonic and contemplative.
"Oh, right, I'm dead now."
It was finally starting to sink in—her situation, that is.
She managed to get through the craziness that was Ezraphel's reveal with level head intact for two reasons. First, a lot of things were happening at once. New information kept being handed to her, one after the other, forcing her to adapt her priorities. Second, having Stan and Ezraphel there to explain things and act as a sort of buffer helped her take everything in without having a mental crisis.
It did work; don't get her wrong. Natalie has more or less accepted the weirdness that has been thrust upon her. Still, it's one thing to talk about, and even though she's literally seen Ezraphel's true form as well as demonstrations of her magic, there was always the tiniest bit of suspension of disbelief present within her.
Standing right there in front of the mirror as living or rather unliving proof of the supernatural is a different beast altogether. At least she can say that she wasn't panicking about the whole being dead thing. Frankly, Natalie felt too good at the moment, despite the absence of certain vital bodily functions.
Who knew that being dead would make her feel so much more alive?
No, seriously, she wasn't just comparing her current self to just a few hours ago either. Natalie felt better than even before she got diagnosed. Weeks of her body's slow deterioration forcing her into bouts of inactivity vanished overnight, and all the lost energy (and beyond) in the period where she suffered under its symptoms suddenly came back in a rush. So potent was it that Natalie could actually feel it running under her skin in lieu of blood.
There was power there; it left her feeling energetic and pent-up, and as she concentrated on the feeling, her eyes flashed in the mirror. Ultimately, it was seeing this strange phenomenon in her reflection that caused her to stop.
"Whoa, okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves here," she muttered while calming down.
She was already told that Wights were already predisposed to magic with their own supernatural abilities. She'd rather not tap into that power without supervision, lest she accidentally summon a ghost or something. Still, after spending a significant portion of her stay at her brother's house being cooped up in the house due to health concerns, Natalie felt like a caged bird. She wanted to take this newly-accumulated pent-up energy and do something with it.
She wanted to go out.
She wanted to travel.
She wanted to interact with people.
She wanted to party.
She wanted to have fun.
She wanted to meet a man.
She wanted to fuck!
Natalie blinked at the expression of her own reflection. She looked flustered, with a red blush showing more prominently on her pale cheeks. It caused her to slap them Macaulay Culkin-style before frowning.
"So that's what that is."
That being said, the subtle heat she felt within her was so negligible that she could largely ignore it in lieu of prioritizing literally everything else. Now that she was finally giving it the proper acknowledgement, a thought occurred to Natalie.
'When's the last time I had sex?'
She'd like to say it hadn't been that long, but it actually has been a while.
'Since before the chemotherapy,' a voice in her head reminded her, causing her to wince.
That was a couple months ago, and the reason it didn't bother her was because she obviously had bigger things to worry about. Not that Natalie cared much for it; she wasn't fiending for dick, nor did her lack of action bother her.
At least it doesn't bother her much.
…okay, it did bother her, but only when she's reminded of it, which is not very often.
Then she met Ezraphel, who seemed to make it her mission to give her constant reminders of her impromptu celibacy in every other conversation they had.
It all seemingly started back when they were helping to pack up her stuff at her old apartment. Unbeknownst to her brother, the cooking supplies weren't the only things Ezraphel found. Somehow, Ezraphel managed to stumble upon her 'toy collection' and the absolute look of pity she gave Natalie somehow did more damage than the fucking leukemia.
Frankly, it was a miracle Natalie didn't hold it against her which in truth is not so much a miracle. Natalie had thick skin and at some point must have willfully ignored the no doubt incidental verbal jabs. It helped that Ezraphel didn't mean anything by them. Plus Natalie threw herself into figuring out what the deal was with Ezraphel and her relationship with her brother as well as ensuring that he was in good hands upon her then inevitable demise.
Now that she wasn't in danger of dying and her brother was in a good place by all accounts anyway, the thoughts of her lack of a love life came back in full force, fuelled by her transformation. It caused Natalie to huff and cross her arms, taking a brief moment to admire how the action emphasized her breasts before voicing the culmination of her entire recent thought process in two single words.
"I'm horny."
Thankfully, unlike what her brother or that wiki described, the feeling wasn't all-encompassing enough that she would jump the first guy she laid eyes on, but she could recognize the feel of that familiar 'itch' that needed to be scratched. Natalie bit her lip as her thoughts went to the aforementioned box of 'toys' that could give her itch a nice good scratch.
"Hmm…"
It was tempting, very tempting, but ultimately she opted not to do that. There is no way she's masturbating in the same house where a literal Succubus demi-goddess and her Incubus lover, who also happened to be her brother, lived. Something told her that if she did it, then the two would know, and she would get grief for it in some way.
'Stan would definitely find some way to use that against me at some point.'
Plus the thought of pleasuring herself through such means felt inherently wrong. It was beneath her, she was better than that.
'If I'm going to get off then I'm going to do it the right way.'
Finding a man and getting a proper fuck.
So with the decision made not to engage in anything lewd within her brother's home Natalie nodded to herself 'that should be doable, not like I'm staying here for much longer anyway.'
As stated before, the urge wasn't so all-encompassing that she needed that sweet release, plus she was warned extensively that she would almost always be in a constant state of arousal, so she might as well get used to it for the time being. As for a permanent fix, that would have to be a bridge she would cross later on, preferably much later.
See, Natalie didn't really have any plans for a committed relationship even before her diagnosis, never mind settling down and having kids. Despite this, the idea undoubtedly appealed to her in a way that she was 120% certain was due to her newfound nature as a Mamono. Natalie wanted to find a man to fuck and get filled up but there was a burgeoning need to marry and have kids. The thought made her want to cringe even as she felt her cheeks burn as she envisioned, for a brief moment, a faceless man standing behind her reflection placing his hands on her belly while she nursed a visible baby bump.
"Fucking…" Natalie grumbled with a scowl as she violently yeeted the thought out the forefront of her mind.
This was the first instance of a rather blatant psychological change that was worryingly followed by a blatant delusion and she did not like that one bit. Make no mistake, the last thing on Natalie's mind pre-transformation was marriage and kids. First of all, she couldn't imagine herself as a mother, and the fallout of her last serious relationship made her sour on the concept of a committed relationship in general.
Maybe with time, her outlook would change, but she wouldn't hold her breath.
'Let's keep it casual for now.'
"Looks like I'm back on the market," Natalie muttered before picking up her bra to get dressed.
She went to fit the cups on her chest, only to pause, remembering the past discomfort of the now mismatched clothing article. After a moment, the bra was tossed with possibly more contempt than it deserved before Natalie donned her shirt. Taking a look at her reflection, she noted how, despite the lack of a bra, her larger breasts stood firm, perky, and proud while lacking any sort of sag, making the presence of a bra pointless.
"Oh, I can get used to this," she smiled while admiring herself.
Another thing she needed to get used to was the fact that her hearing picked up the sound of her brother's annoying (and oddly suave) voice from downstairs as she opened the door to her room.
"I can hear the coffin opening right now."
…also the zombie jokes.
Knowing him, he's going to be insufferable with those.
Taking a deep and unneeded breath, Natalie steeled herself for what was to come before venturing downstairs.
~A Conversation Of Uncomfortable Truths~
"…"
"…"
"You know, I'd usually make a snarky comment about how much you've been staring at me, but I'm aware that incest is a popular thing over in that other world."
Ayo, what the fuck!?
Stanley regarded his recently transformed sister with a mixture of horror, incredulity, and the deepest loathing he could muster in a single deadpan glare.
Natalie, for her part, simply continued, "hey, I'm just saying, you've been staring at me for like fifteen minutes, and it's really freaking sus."
Stanley closed his eyes, breathed, and massaged his brow "don't you ever even joke about shit like that Nat."
Natalie nodded sagely, "you're right, I don't want to give Ez the wrong idea" she then leaned forward and stage whispered, "she seems like the jealous type, weirdly enough. I have no idea what a woman like her would be jealous of."
"Stanley's deadpan glare could melt glaciers with how heated it was.
"But seriously, you need to fix that staring problem. I mean, I get it. I'm a hot piece of ass now, but having my brother ogle me is, uhh, well it's fucking weird, man."
Once again, Stanley's eyes closed as he struggled to control himself before finally replying, "Nat."
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to change the subject of this conversation now."
"Please do; incest is about as appealing to me as scat."
"…how are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling like I've been over this already."
As in, that was one of the first questions asked by Ezraphel when she descended the stairs to the living room.
"Humor me."
"Then I'll repeat it; I feel fine, great even," she added.
"And?"
"What exactly do you want me to say?" she huffed.
"I don't know. You're the one who technically woke up dead," he emphasized.
"Fair enough" Natalie clicked her tongue as she leaned back slightly on the sofa. "I don't know what to say about it other than that it feels weird."
Stanley kept quiet as he observed her.
Natalie looked to her pale, smooth hands and clenched them into fists. "I don't have a pulse; I can't feel anything going on inside, but I still feel, you know?" She reached out her hand to touch her cheek. "I feel normal, but..." she hesitated, "like..."
"More?" Stanley finished.
Natalie looked to him and nodded, "Yes."
"Yeah, I've been there too...sort of."
"Sort of?"
"I mean…" He deliberately avoided scratching the back of his head like some hapless anime protagonist and instead looked off to the side with a deep frown. "Just because I look and feel better doesn't mean I instantly got used to this. It's pretty fucking jarring going from what I used to be to this literally overnight."
"But you did get used to it."
"I did," he admitted before continuing, "but I'm not gonna pretend like my experience is the standard here. I'm not exactly the prime example of a normal person to begin with, and I had a special kind of help to get me through the transition. You on the other hand clearly have a lot more going on than I did."
Natalie conceded the point with a nod before asking a question out of curiosity: "Any advice?"
"Give it time?" he answered with some measure of uncertainty.
Natalie raised an eyebrow with an expression of mild disappointment and said, "primo advice there, little brother."
"Ugh just…you'll eventually get used to it," he clarified, "although it helps if you don't think about it too much."
"Well, it's a good thing I'm not the brooding type then." She quipped.
Stanley took a breath "and if you need help, I…I mean, Ez and I will be there for you, so... you know, there's that."
Natalie stared at Stanley for a moment, feeling touched by his words despite his awkward delivery, for which she could really only say one thing.
"Thank you, Stan."
He grunted in response.
Natalie couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction "when did you get so mature?"
"I've always been mature."
"Stan, I follow you on social media, and I've watched your streams."
Well, shit, what can he say to that?
"Then I hope you've been entertained," he snarked dryly.
"Oh, I have, but you see where I'm coming from?"
Stanley rolled his eyes. "You know it's just an act, right? I like being a belligerent asshole online because I think it's funny."
"Wow, Ezraphel really has her work cut out for her."
"She's got plenty of time," he grunted.
Natalie released a short hum: "speaking of, are we not going to talk about the fact that we're both effectively immortal right now?"
'Oh boy'
Stanley blew out a harsh exhale as he ran a hand over his short brown hair and pitched his body back on the sofa headrest.
"I'm guessing you haven't really thought about it."
It's not that he hasn't, but...
"I'm a 'live in the moment' kind of guy."
The deadpan expression on her face was a perfect representation of how she felt about that excuse.
"Uh-huh, see, the thing about living 'in the moment' is that at some point life's problems are going to catch up to you, and you're going to get caught with your dick in your hand." Natalie then groaned, "What the hell are we supposed to do fifty years from now when we're supposed to be geriatrics? Are we going to have to fake our deaths and make new identities?"
"What's the point of thinking about this now?" Stanley interrupted, "I'm pretty sure five decades from now we'll have our shit together, and that won't even be a factor for us anymore. Plus, the world is going to be a different place."
Natalie stared at her brother for a long moment before she tentatively spoke, "Now, when you say 'a different place,' what exactly do you mean by that?"
"That's how progression course the world isn't going to be the same as it is now in fifty years Nat. What did you think I meant?"
"Not gonna lie, I thought you were going to spearhead some kind of Mamono Revolution or something."
"Mamono Revolution?" he repeated incredulously.
"Yeah."
"Why would I ever do that?"
"Look, I know the idea of change doesn't jive with you right now, but you can't expect to be doing the same thing you're doing now fifty years down the line."
Stanley looked decidedly uncomfortable. "I mean, we can always move and sell the house," he grumbled.
Natalie didn't look impressed and charged again with another observation: "Plus, between me, Ezraphel, and that one girl you mentioned, there's going to be three Mamono roaming the country."
"Yeah and?" He didn't see a problem with that.
"I doubt that number is going to remain the same two decades from now, let alone five."
Stanley scowled. "No one else is going to get corrupted, Nat."
"Not what I meant," she said, shaking her head. "That's a topic for a whole other conversation."
"Then what are you talking about?"
"Stan," Natalie interrupted with an expression of utmost seriousness. "I've only been like this for a few hours, and I'm already thinking about having kids."
The admission made him recoil. "Uh..."
"I've never thought about that before. I know I wasn't ever leaning towards that when I was human, but now" she took a moment to sigh "if there was a way to get me knocked up right here right now then chances are I would seriously be considering it if not take that gamble, damn the consequences."
Naturally, with such an admission, Natalie had effectively rendered Stanley speechless, and before he could even gather himself to give an answer, she continued.
"I'm pretty sure Ez feels the same way too" she paused "actually I'm pretty sure she's more inclined to have kids since there wasn't a reason why she wouldn't. "I know for a fact that you guys aren't using any kind of contraceptive and I get that Mamono are supposed to have a hard time getting pregnant but be honest with me Stan," she said, leveling her gaze at him. "With the way you two have been going, how long do you think it'll be before Ezraphel finally gets pregnant?"
"…"
"And that other girl, Amelia, was it? Once she becomes a Mamono, I guarantee she's going to be trying really hard to have kids, especially since she'll actually be married and her husband wouldn't be as hesitant as you."
"…"
"So with that in mind, what's the plan here, Stan? Because believe me, whatever you may think now, you're going to be singing a different tune once kids get involved, especially when it's yours."
"…"
Once again, he says nothing; he couldn't really, because Natalie was right. If the topic of marriage is the elephant in the room that rarely gets addressed, then kids are like the looming specter of death. You know it's going to come at some point and that it's unavoidable, but you just don't know when. And once it inevitably happens you're almost guaranteed to be unprepared for it.
Stanley never wanted to have kids before, and even as an Incubus, having children was never within his conscious thought. Yet he couldn't say that he was as adverse to the idea now as he would have been back then. He just thought it impractical to even consider it with him and Ezraphel still ironing out the wrinkles of their relationship.
They aren't even properly married yet.
"Augh," Stanley groaned while massaging his forehead to soothe the headache. "Can we not talk about this now?"
"If not now, then when, Stan?"
"After I put a ring on her finger," he answered reluctantly.
Natalie scoffs, "Well, at least you're considering it."
Stanley frowned, feeling affronted. He was doing more than just considering, but as Amelia and Liam demonstrated, a lot has to go into something like that. He didn't want to pop the question and be 'officially' engaged for years on end. He wanted to get the damn thing over it, preferably without the pomp of ceremony, which seemed to be more like a pipe dream with every meeting Ezraphel has with Amelia where the topic of weddings was sure to be a mainstay on the itinerary.
"Let's hope, for your sake, that it comes before the baby in a carriage."
"Ugh~"
'I prefer it when she was sick,' he thought to himself then cringed, 'no, I don't.'
For all the grief she's giving him about his shortsightedness, he much prefers her like this to how she was before.
"Since we're on the topic of preparing for the future," she shot him a look. "When are you planning on getting her documents sorted?"
"I'm working on it," he grumbled.
"Define working on it because knowing you you're probably procrastinating."
'She's not wrong' part of him admitted, causing him to wince.
That reaction mixed in with his silence caused Natalie to continue with a scowl "you know she won't be able to get anything legally done without proof of citizenship, right?"
"She's magic," Stanley defended.
"That's not the point, and you know it," she shot back.
"Yeah, well, like I said, I'm working on it," he emphasized with a scowl as he looked her in the eye.
Natalie was not satisfied, but she opted to leave him be for the time being.
"Fine, I'll drop it."
'For now' she added in her thoughts before another question popped up that had her talking.
"I know we've been talking about Ezraphel's stay on Earth,but what about her home world?"
"Eos?" Stanley felt a pit in his gut. "What about it?"
"Do we have to worry about anyone from over there coming here? I mean, she's a princess of a foreign nation that has access to magic powers. I'm sure someone is looking for her."
"No doubt about that," Stanley confirmed.
"Shouldn't we be worried about that?"
"Eh," he said, making a so-so gesture. "Ez said it wasn't exactly easy getting here. The spell she used basically yeeted her across the multiverse at random, and she was basically powerless when she landed on my roof."
"I can't fucking believe the multiverse is a thing." Natalie grumbled.
"Don't think about it."
"Yeah-"
"No seriously," he interrupted, "the last thing you want on your conscience is wondering what's out there beyond the veil or whatever."
Because if the setting for a niche adult dark fantasy series is a real thing in another dimension, then what other works of fiction could be a real thing?
SCP?
Warhammer?
Cthulhu Mythos?
Who's to say that Ezraphel is the only supernatural presence on the planet? All things considered, maybe those crazy conspiracy theories about the existence of aliens making contact and the different supernatural folklore aren't so crazy after all.
Wouldn't that fucking suck?
'You know what? I'm just going to quit while I'm ahead.'
Instead, she refocused the conversation back on the matter at hand.
"Still, you think they don't have some way of tracking her or something? Or that they won't find their way here somewhere down the line?" She paused. "Do you think Ezraphel might know how to find her way back?"
That brought Stanley up short, though he already knew the answer to that. If Ezraphel wanted to, she could most definitely find a way back to Eos. There wasn't any tangible evidence for the claim; that's just how he felt. The fact that she hasn't ever mentioned going back home is a topic he was very reluctant to broach for obvious reasons. The idea of establishing a viable traveling path between Eos and Earth made Stanley incredibly nervous, and for good reason.
"Uh-oh" Natalie interrupted his thoughts. "I don't like that look on your face. What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing," he replied a bit too quickly.
"Stop playing," she deadpanned.
"I'm not."
"Stan, you started looking really worried at the thought of Ez's people making their way here or her finding a way back home. That's not the kind of thing I can ignore. Now what's got you so worried?"
Stanley pursed his lips in a moment of indecision.
This carried on long enough for Natalie to huff, "Look, if you don't tell me what's going on, then I'll just bring my questions to your better half and keep that threat in mind for anything you're reluctant to tell me about her."
Ah shit he should have seen that coming.
Now what?
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Well, guess I'm talking to Ezraphel then. I'm pretty sure she'll like to talk about her home for a few hours."
'Fuck!'
"You're not going to like what I have to say."
"How bad can it be?"
"…wow."
"What?"
"I can't believe you just said that."
"Why?"
"Murphy's Law."
"Huh?"
One Abridged Explanation of the MGE Story Later...
"Ugh~" Natalie moaned as she was unceremoniously slumped sideways on the couch with her back arched over the armrest while the other had her legs dangling over it.
'Seriously?' she thought to herself.
It's one thing to have a bunch of horny monster girls, but making them into a military faction with designs of what is essentially world dominance?
After a long moment of silence, she spoke, "So basically, we're fucked, literally."
"I wouldn't say that," he grumbled. "They clearly haven't found Earth yet."
"Yet," Natalie emphasized, throwing her sharp gaze her way. "I'm pretty sure they're trying their very best to find one of their princesses. Be honest with me, Stan, what are the chances that a war would break out between both sides?"
'How the hell did we even get here? I just wanted to talk about her feelings and work through it together. This is what I get for going off script.'
No good deed goes unpunished and it's for reasons like this that he didn't have heart-to-hearts.
'Now what the fuck am I supposed to say to that?'
Stanley's inherent bias dictates that Mamono, with their barbaric tendencies, would be the first instigators. He could see the radicals thinking Earth to be free real estate for farming men as well as for propagating their dogma. They'd fuck around and find out how the world's governments react to an interdimensional race of monster people trying to move in on their turf.
They'll be on some Independence Day or Stormship Trooper-type shit.
On the other hand, he's not blind to the human condition of being greedy self-serving assholes. There is no way any government or private corporate business won't see Eos, its people, and especially magic as a resource to be exploited. They will play their politricks or attempt to throw their weight around, which won't work since any Mamono in a position of power will have a deft hand at manipulating people, humans especially.
Eventually someone somewhere is going to get the bright idea to talk to the Holy Order, and at that point it's fucking Joever.
In the end, there's really only one answer to that question.
"Unless both sides put their best foot forward, then yeah, we're looking at a war," he admitted plainly.
Even then there's still the court of public opinion which is guaranteed to be a clusterfuck for decades, possibly centuries moving forward after first contact. You know unless Mamono establish total control and manage to pacify the human race.
"And here I am, a fucking walking dead lady." Natalie spoke dryly, then chuckled, looking at the ceiling. "Ain't that a bitch?"
"Yeah," he agreed, "it sure is."
~Ezraphel's Hobby~
The atmosphere was heavy following their lengthy conversation, and Stanley had no idea what he could do to break it.
Luckily, he didn't have to, as Natalie suddenly stood up and said, "whelp, this has been a great talk and all, but I'm going out."
'Going out?'
"Where?"
"I need to buy some new clothes."
"What's wrong with your old ones?"
"If you haven't noticed, I don't exactly have the same frame now as I did before."
"So what you're saying is you got fat."
The deadpan way in which he delivered that sentence was betrayed by the obvious mirth in his eyes. Naturally, Natalie did not find it amusing but decided to teach her brother a lesson.
Thus, with a grin on her face, Natalie bent over towards him and groped her chest like that one old meme as she purred with a sultry look, "in all the right places~"
And just like that, it was a checkmate, and Stanley was no longer amused and rolled his eyes.
Natalie chuckled at his reaction "but seriously, my current wardrobe just isn't going to cut it for me."
"Just have Ez resize your clothes," he said dismissively.
"It's not just about the size, Stan. I need new clothes for a new me; I gotta show off this new figure properly, you know what I mean."
"I don't," he replied blandly yet truthfully.
"I know you don't. Also, I kind of gave away most of my stuff to goodwill because of, you know, my impending death" she trailed off with a shrug.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," he waved her off. "You should still talk to Ez though because she'd want to be in on that action," he advised.
"That was the plan from the start. I need to get a disguise going and all."
"Not what I was talking about, but that too."
"What do you mean?"
"Ez," he called out.
"Yes Stanley~?" purred the Lilim in question, who suddenly appeared directly behind him before leaning forward to rest her prodigious chest behind his head while she wrapped her arms around his shoulder and began to stroke his head lovingly.
Natalie was startled by Ezraphel's sudden appearance, but upon seeing Lilim's antics, her eye twitched in annoyance. Ezraphel was absolutely shameless, and while Stanley looked annoyed, it was obvious to her that he liked the attention she heaped upon him, even going so far as to subtly lean into her chest.
For a moment, her annoyance at the shameless display got mixed with a hint of jealousy and frustration before she stamped it out with a frown.
'I definitely can't stay here for long.'
Unaware of his sister's thoughts, Stanley spoke up, "So I've talked it over with Ez while you were sleeping, and it turns out there's more to being a functioning Mamono, especially in today's society, so she'll be training you."
Natalie blinked. "Um, excuse me?" She looked to Lilim and said, "What does he mean by that?"
At this point, Ezraphel straightened up, "He means that as you are now, you are not fit to venture out in public by yourself. Yes, I can supply you with a spell to disguise your appearance; however, there are nuances to being a Mamono outside of your physical changes and your libido, as well as certain quirks inherent to Wights that you need to be acquainted with before you can be allowed to interact with normal humans."
"I don't feel that different."
"Hmm" Ezraphel gave a hum before looking down at the man in her embrace. "Stanley, what was it that you needed from me?"
"Nat needs help with getting new clothes."
Suddenly, Lilim perked up, "Oh! Will you be needing a few articles or a completely new wardrobe?"
The question caught Natalie off guard, mostly due to the feelings it stirred within her.
Meanwhile, Stanley looked to his girlfriend (wife) with a raised brow and said, "What are you talking about, Ez? She's not going to get-."
"The whole wardrobe," Natalie said, interrupting the man.
Stanley snapped his gaze back to Natalie, who had an interesting expression on her face.
"You want an entirely new wardrobe?"
"Yeah, now that I think about it, my old stuff just isn't going to work for me now."
"Oh, is that so?" Red eyes bore into the other woman's own paler shade of red. "May I ask why?"
"Like I told Stan, my old clothes just don't fit the same."
"A simple application of my magic could resize them."
Natalie's brows furrowed in mild annoyance "not what I meant. I'm going for something different when it comes to style that my old clothes wouldn't fit."
"Hmm, would you say that your old clothes are rather drab?"
"Drab?"
"Dreary, uninteresting, dull..." Ezraphel listed off.
*Twitch*
That last word stuck with Natalie; however, she shook her head and said, "I wouldn't say that. I mean, they're fine," she replied, though she was clearly not confident in her words.
"And yet you seem dissatisfied." Ezraphel commented, to which Natalie lifted her gaze to look Lilim in the eye as she continued, "Well, if I may be so bold, I'd say your wardrobe seems perfectly suitable enough... for a human," she added.
The way she emphasized the last word caused Natalie to flinch.
Ezraphel continued, "However, Mamono have different sensibilities when it comes to fashion, and while not all Wights are caricatures of highborn pride and vanity, they do hold a certain level of gravitas in how they present themselves to the public and how they are perceived by others. Aesthetics are important to them in that regard."
Ineffectual as it was, Natalie took a breath to calm her nerves "that's a lot to take in."
"So it may seem," Ezraphel somewhat agreed, "however, I am all too willing to help you in your transition."
"And the clothes?"
"I can help with that too," she said, then straightened up and puffed out her chest. "I happen to be something of a fashionista myself."
"That's convenient," she said, then paused to look at her brother, "and it makes so much sense."
For his part, Stanley rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, I have terrible fashion sense, whatever."
"I would like to think that Stanley has developed reasonable taste in fashion."
"Really now?"
"Yes, in fact, he has been the one to choose his wardrobe in our most recent outings."
"Oh, that is a surprise," Natalie acknowledged before bluntly asking how long it took for that to happen.
At that, Ezraphel's smile lessened to a pout "shorter than I'd like."
"Is it because you don't get to dress him up like a life-sized doll anymore?"
"Can you two stop talking like I'm not sitting right here?"
Stanley's grumbling had Ezraphel once again doting on him. "Aw, I'm sorry, Stanley. Are you feeling neglected?"
Natalie rolled her eyes at the byplay. "I don't know what you're complaining about. At least you don't dress like a neckbeard loser anymore. The fact that for the entire time I've been here, you haven't worn the same clothes twice and they don't look like something from the bargain bin at Old Navy is actually pretty impressive, even if Ezraphel is clearly doing most of the leg work."
"Well, it was either he developed a proper fashion sense or I chose what he wore for the foreseeable future," Ezraphel informed.
And that's where Stanley decided to make his escape.
"That's enough of that," the man said, pushing himself away from his girlfriend (wife) and getting to his feet. "You two seem to be getting along just fine, so I'm going to fuck off now. Have fun doing whatever."
Natalie watched him leave, shaking her head before turning to Lilim and asking, "So what now?"
In response, Ezraphel gave a smile and made her way to the stairs, saying, "Follow me."
They went upstairs and towards the master bedroom shared by Stan and Ezraphel.
"Huh"
"What is it?"
"It's just now that I think about it. I've never stepped foot in that room once since I got here."
A prospect that, in hindsight, was very strange and highly suspicious.
"Ah, that would be my doing," Ezraphel answered with a bit of sheepishness. "I have made extensive changes to our shared bedroom that could not be waved away as mere renovations, and so I've cast an enchantment that dispels the notion of entering the room from one's mind."
"Oh."
"Also, Stanley was vehemently against letting you in the room."
"Oh?" Natalie replied with a raised brow.
Then Ezraphel opened the door, and her single brow joined the other as it arched just under her hairline.
"Oh!"
The wide-eyed Wight entered the room which was much larger and more grandiose than it had any right to be. It was a stark contrast to what she remembered it as being the last time she was there. The room was somehow as large as the living room. Its overall design looked straight out of some opulent mansion complete with numerous luxury pieces of furniture and a massive TV embedded in the far wall.
"Oooh~" Natalie took a moment to let the sensation sink in before looking down at her hand and saying, "yeah I can see why he wouldn't want me in here."
Ezraphel made her way over to the closet door and opened it with a flourish as she spoke "let's see if we can't dress you like a proper Mamono,"
Natalie expected the closet to have more going on with it; however, she still couldn't help but gape at what she found inside. Numerous outfits were suspended on clothing hangers, some of which had suit bags over them. She counted no less than a dozen drawers, likely filled with an assortment of clothing. There were shelves and pedestals displaying various shoes, handbags, and purses. There were even several full-length mirrors and a full-on makeup station in the corner.
"We're not there yet," Ezraphel commented, interrupting her thoughts.
"There's more?"
"So much more" Ezraphel answered as she made her way to yet another door that she was definitely sure wasn't there before.
Natalie opted to once again not comment on it and instead entered the room that was not as ostentatious despite being just as spacious.
"Where are we now?"
"This is my private workshop, much like Stanley's office," the Lilim informed. "This is where I come to immerse myself in my hobby."
"And your hobby is..." she trailed looking around the room.
One section had shelves lined with various fabrics of differing colors, while another had a workbench with cartridge papers and writing utensils, while on the nearby walls were the same papers with design illustrations. A sewing machine was located near the center of the room, with some half-finished works partially surrounded by mannequins of various sizes wearing finished and half-finished clothing.
"Fashion design?" the Wight finished.
"That's right~" Ezraphel answered with a grin
"Wow so does that mean the clothes you and Stan have been wearing-"
"Were mostly made or at the very least modified by yours truly," Ezraphel finished as she puffed out her chest with a proud smile.
Natalie couldn't help but ponder on that information and the implications.
'Doesn't that mean I've been mistaking Ezraphel's tailored clothes for name-brand stuff?'
Natalie would like to think of herself as someone who has a healthy engagement in the fashion industry. She could distinguish brands, discern a knockoff from the original with good enough accuracy, and most importantly, spot quality work. The clothes Ezraphel made weren't your bland t-shirts with graphics but what could be considered true honest-to-God high fashion.
As the implications hit her Natalie felt the fabric of a frankly exquisite red blouse and commented "this is amazing."
"Thank you~"
But now that she was thinking about it, a thought occurred which she voiced.
'This can't be normal.'
Ezraphel cocked her head "define 'normal'?"
Natalie startled a bit at the question 'did I say that out loud?'
Once again the Lilim spoke seemingly answering her question "you didn't however I am very adept at reading the hearts of others" her red eyes narrowed a bit "you doubt the authenticity of my work."
"I'm not doubting the authenticity of the clothing itself…just the method" she added after calming herself.
Ezraphel's brows furrowed even as she nodded "your doubt is a valid one considering all you've seen me accomplish thus far."
"It's nothing. You can forget about what I just said. I'm just being stupid" Natalie backtracked.
She really didn't want to make a mountain over a molehill with this. She didn't even care if Ezraphel used magic to make the damn things they were freaking amazing.
"Using magic for this would cheapen the experience at which point it would hardly be a hobby. So as a general rule of thumb I don't use it as much as I would in the past where it acted as a crutch. Though more often than not there are times I will still use the telekinesis and teleportation spells to move a few things here or there to hasten the process."
"Completely understandable" Natalie chimed in as she refocused on the matter at hand moving towards the design board and marveling at the illustrations on display.
She imagined herself taking a stroll down a street, strutting inside a club, or just walking into a room wearing her very own tailored clothing made by Ezraphel. She imagined turning heads, becoming the center of attention, gaining the lust and envy of men and women, respectively.
"Alright, I'm sold," she announced.
"Excellent!" the Lilim clapped in joy "I've already taken your measurements."
That got the Wight's attention "since when?"
Lilim rolled her eyes "Natalie I can discern your measurements with a single glance."
"Of course you can" Natalie grumbled.
With a snap of her fingers an assortment of fabrics of varying colors materialized behind her.
"Now let's give you a proper wardrobe to suit your new look."
~To Be Continued~
Author's Notes: Hurricane Beryl is supposed to pass over my country later today and all throughout tomorrow and no one seems to know how bad it's going to be other than lots of rain and wind. I don't know if it bodes well that the its currently midday and its bright and sunny since one of the worst hurricanes to hit my country in the past allegedly made landfall one such a day as well.
Wish me luck I guess.
Advance chapters are posted on my P atreon if you're interested or just want to support me.
