Chapter Text
Although the brothers have once again disappeared from your sight, all in what was merely a blink of an eye? It takes much longer for the feelings that they gave you to ebb away into eventual loneliness, cold and unforgiving compared to the light on their faces whenever any one of them looked at you. Those expressions will always be carved into your very heart, whether you find yourself missing them late into the night or right beside them, enjoying their company as they drag you along on one of their ridiculous adventures. You cannot express enough your gratitude for those brothers, and you're glad that you were able to leave your own departing gift to one of them before your necessary departure. Asmodeus... he'd seemed a little startled by the sudden kiss, but he didn't seem to dislike it. That's good, at least. Then again, can the Avatar of Lust even dislike kisses? Everybody has their preferences, right?
... You decide to stop thinking about such random questions for now and continue on with your life, thanking Barbatos from within your heart for teleporting you close enough to the house you were going to be staying at. A few certain people up here in the human world come to mind, people who you desperately need to speak with after your time away from them in the Devildom. You set your sights on them, your feet picking up their pace as the suitcase you'd brought along rolls past you, clunking awkwardly here and there on cracks and pebbles on the floor.
Your beloved demon, on the other hand, had escaped the confines of the student council room with relative ease only to find his feet glued to the floor of the hallway right outside of it. Damnit, move...! Come on, Asmodeus, now of all times isn't a good one to freeze up in place like this! He berates himself for a moment in his head, firmly landing his clenched fist on his leg a few times as if to restart it, and continues forward. The object in his hands is making a sharp imprint on his palm, its sharper corners poking the porcelain of his skin in an almost threatening manner, but he didn't mind all that much. As long as he didn't lose it, it could make as much of a dent as it wanted to on him. You had done much worse, after all. For that, he couldn't be more elated.
♡ ♡ ♡
You sit with your legs crossed on your bed, the one not located within the Devildom but rather your own home. Having a place to return to up in the human world has always been convenient more than anything else— it reminded you at many times that you did have a place to belong despite being isolated amidst a population of generally human-killing demons— and this bedroom had turned into even more of a safe haven than it had been before you'd been introduced to that world. Comfortable and decorated to your tastes with various posters and merchandise of your favorite human-world media, it felt like just as much of a home to come back to as the House of Lamentation does now. You marvel at just how important that place has become to you in just a short time, ranking alongside your own home, the place where perhaps you grew up in or settled into. It is amazing just how much your preferences and priorities can change, and all with time as its main driving force.
Speaking of time, you shouldn't be wasting much of it— you'd promised a friend you'd meet up with them after getting yourself settled, and you didn't want to make them wait for longer than they have to already. With a stretch, you reach over to find the zipper of the luggage you'd placed on its back in front of you and get to work opening it, finding that the metal contraption kept getting stuck on certain items here and there due to the excessive amount of items inside. You shake your head— maybe some of these items should stay here next time you go back, if only to make packing a little easier on you— and push the top lid open, letting it fall backwards and examining the contents. Clothes, a spare umbrella, sanitary items, essentially all of the basics plus a few extras, such as a folded blanket Belphegor had urged you to bring, claiming you'd sleep better with it for some reason or other. Digging through the various supplies, you find other such items graciously gifted to you by the brothers— a bag of Super Spicy Newt Chips (which you feel won't be particularly digestible for your poor human stomach without it being watered down by something), the next two books of a series you'd been interested in, a small pouch of Grimm (you sigh at this particular reveal, wondering if Mammon knew that Grimm had little to no value up here)— things of this nature. You set them all to the side for now, wanting to empty your suitcase as quickly and efficiently as possible, only to come back to the contents of it and see three pairs of glossy rain boots staring right back up at you. You sigh. Seriously, you didn't know why Asmodeus had felt the need to pack three whole pairs; it isn't like the rain would ruin any of them, and they seemed to be of pretty high quality besides that! You had to admit, though, they were cute. One pair was a sleek black shade while the other two were more colorful and patterned. They would certainly be harder to match an outfit too, but they were cute regardless, and you're sure that's what Asmodeus had been thinking also when he'd chosen them for you. A gentle smile crosses your face. “Silly Asmo,” your voice trails off into nothingness as nobody responds, and you gently take the three pairs of boots out from where they lay and set them down on the floor beside your bed.
Well— five out of the six make it to the floor, anyhow.
A soft thunk from within the last shoe takes you by surprise, and you stare at the article of clothing for a moment before peering inside. There was nothing special about the outside of the boot with its soft grey base color and white dotted pattern. Rather, the inside of it seems to host something that shouldn't be there. You're at first thinking it might be something like a store tag, something that Asmodeus had forgotten to snip off when he'd bought them impulsively no doubt. And yet, when you look inside to the sole of the shoe, it isn't a price you're met with, but something... pricier.
A small pouch, made of soft purple fabric and cinched at the top with a pink string, falls out of the boot after you tip it over. It lands in your lap with the same thunk sound it had made before. That's odd... you don't recognize it at all. Could it have ended up in there from all of the chaos surrounding your packing? Maybe Asmodeus had accidentally left it in there? You decide to text him. If it turns out to be his and he assumes it to be missing, then it would only be a matter of time before the House of Lamentation is turned upside down in his panic. You punch in the letters on the keyboard of your D.D.D. and send your message his way, staring at his contact for a few moments. It doesn't take long at all for him to respond, unsurprisingly. He's always been quick like that.
Hey, I found something that doesn't belong to me with my stuff. I think it might be yours?
AsmoBaby: Mhm~ was it in a boot?
What an odd question, you think to yourself.
Yeah? How'd you know?
AsmoBaby: Oh, silly. I left it there on purpose, duh!
... Why?
AsmoBaby: Hon. Why would I purposely leave an expensive looking thing in your belongings specifically, I wonder?
You turn your attention back towards the pouch. Is it... supposed to be yours? A gift? But— why? This isn't the first time you've left the Devildom, and it most certainly will not be your last. What was so special about this time around, special enough that Asmodeus had opted to surprise you with a gift?
AsmoBaby: Open it! Open it!
Chuckling softly, you shake your head. You can practically hear the sound of Asmodeus's voice chanting in the background as your D.D.D. lands in your lap, the pouch replacing its previous spot in your hands. You delicately pull at the pink string with pinching fingers, watching as the velvet fabric stretches itself out before diving a hand into its insides. Your hand is met with the sudden coolness of something hard, and smooth... and just a little bit pointy, if you ran the pads of your fingers over its edges. You tilt the open pocket into your other hand and watch as a chain falls out, the action resembling something of a materialistic waterfall for just a second, before its charm comes popping out. It's... a heart. Half of a heart. A pink gem is imbedded into the silver, winking at you in almost the same manner as the demon who'd gifted it to you.
A sudden trill from your D.D.D. shocks you out of your surprised stupor, and you inhale a breath before looking down and pressing the accept button, putting the device on speaker and leaving it resting in your lap. “Asmo...” you trail off.
“Hmhm~ you like it?”
Like? Hell, you couldn't even stop looking at the thing! The half-heart is intricately cut and made, the gem set within it a beautiful color. “I love it,” you mutter, voice soft.
“Are you sure? Because, like, I don't hear any squealing from you, so...”
“Asmodeus, I love you so much.”
Only silence fills the microphone on the other end of the line. This lasts for quite a few moments, up until the Avatar of Lust himself decides to break said silence with an explanation.
“It's one of those friendship necklaces, hehe. I have the other half. I actually had a charm put on them, so that the closer we're together, the brighter the gem will glow! So, it might look a little dim right now, but as soon as you're right back here with me, it'll be even more beautiful than it is now. Ehe~ just like me. You already know I'm as gorgeous as they come, but... I don't shine nearly enough alone versus when I'm right next to you. I'll be your shining star, so... please, stay with me as much as possible. Okay?”
His words are soft, genuine, twinkling not with his usual charm but with something much more precious. “Of course... Asmo, of course! I'll stay with you for as long as I can, I promise!”
“Hehe~ good, I was starting to get a little worried there.”
“Why would I ever say no to you, hm?” You joke.
“Agreed! Haha, just kidding. ... Oh, right!”
“Hm? What is it?”
Asmodeus merely laughs. “I love you too.”
It is the demon who ends the call, lying down in his bed and letting his own device lie on his chest. He lifts his hand up to see it, palm facing him, tracing the imprint of half a heart on the skin there with his eyes. The other half of the jewelry set is draped around his neck, waiting just as he is to shine its brightest once more.