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Leviathan has beautiful hands.
You noticed this ever since gaming has become a consistent part of your normal routine. The Avatar of Envy was more than happy to share and talk about his games and anime shows with you, the enthusiasm in his orange-purple eyes shining brightly, casting a warm glow in the room despite the overwhelming blue of his décor and the cold blanket it constantly is shrouded in.
It’s not that you had stared at his hands on purpose. Your eyes just happened to stray upon how his slender fingers held his controller one day, having the time and luxury to do so after losing your turn in the game. His skin was pale, but in a way that looked like he was frequently submerged in water; which isn’t really a far reach since if you touched his skin, it was indeed always freezing cold.
Again, as his eyes turned to yours, glowing from happiness after beating the boss in the game, you adored the paradox between the cold demon lord and his warm eyes.
You wondered, in the back of your mind, if you could hold his hand and warm that part of him too.
“My nail polish is chipping,” Levi said as he raised his hand to examine his nails, having finished another round of a game he played with you as the victor, of course, as usual.
One endearing thing about the Avatar of Envy was that he never rubs his constant victories on your face, despite seeming like someone who would do it. He’s very generous with compliments too if you manage to outwit him and win a round or two. Quite the opposite of how he was during the TSL quiz you had with him before, which makes you wonder what changed.
Maybe it was because he started treating you as the Henry to his Lord of Shadows?
Or… is it…?
No, you shouldn’t be too hopeful.
You shook your head to rid yourself of such thoughts, which alarmed the demon lord in front of you. Before he could fuss over such a trivial matter, you flashed him a smile, scooting closer towards him to pat his head lightly. “I’m fine, it was nothing. Anyways, Asmo had been teaching me how to paint my own nails. I don’t claim to be an expert, but if you want to, can I help with repainting your nails?”
With a hint of pink dusting his cheeks, Levi stuttered out a yes, nodding enthusiastically once his resolve had steeled and you couldn’t help but be endeared and laugh.
“Get comfy, then. I’ll go get the nail polish kit from Asmo’s room.” You said as you got up, Levi still following you with his eyes. “Indigo or cyan?”
You noticed Leviathan was staring at your hands as you waited for his answer by his door frame, another layer of pink darkening the blush on his cheeks, looking away once you caught him. “C-Can we match nail colors? I mean, not because I w-wanted to match! It’s because… Ruri-chan’s favorite color is pink! Yes, that’s it!”
You only raised your eyebrow at the demon lord in amusement, the look enough to tease him as he screeched and turned his back to you, making you snort as you finally got out of his room and made your way towards Asmodeus’ room to fetch the needed nail polish kit.
When you came back, Leviathan had made a makeshift couch on the floor by stacking his pillows on top of each other and placing some against the bathtub to serve as a support for your backs. He appeared to have waited patiently, legs crossed as he examined his nails with utter focus as if they were the most interesting view within his room. You had expected to come back with Levi still gaming, but now that you saw how he stayed put the whole time, waiting for your arrival, the thought that he’s looking forward to such a mundane activity with you certainly tugged on your heartstrings.
"You okay there?" You smiled as you approached him, taking the space beside him as the blush reappeared on his face, still having a hard time making eye contact with you as he nodded. "Asmo pointed out that my nail polish is chipping too. Do you mind helping me out after I do yours?"
Truth be told, your nails were still in fairly good condition. However, your trip on the way to Asmo's room had filled your head with thoughts of how you would be holding Levi’s beautiful hands the whole time, and how you surely wanted to savor such a moment. A little lie wouldn’t hurt, right?
“S-Sure! Anything for you,” Levi, the ever adorable dork, nodded as he offered you his hands. “I’m not a pro either, but I once played around with a Ruri-chan themed nail polish kit! I didn’t do such a bad job… I guess… Wait, what if I mess up—”
Before he could go on a spiel about how he apparently messes everything up, you shut him up by taking a firm grip of his hand, the coldness of his skin meeting your warm one startling the both of you into silence. The two of you blushed simultaneously, and to make up for the awkward silence, you cleared your throat and started to work on his nails.
The silence persisted, not one word escaping both of your lips as you carefully worked on Levi’s nails. The feeling of holding his hand alone had made your blush stay and you could only hope the Avatar of Envy wouldn’t catch onto your current train of thoughts. How it felt so right to have his hand on yours. How he was slowly warming up from the touch, the pad of his fingers that you weren’t working on brushing against your palm from time to time. You can’t believe you were acting like a love-struck teenager from hand-holding alone, which technically wasn’t even meant to be intimate.
As you finished working on his right hand, you lifted your eyes to finally meet his already staring at you, the demon lord’s own blush apparently had stayed on his cheeks. He didn’t look away this time, but you can see his resolve waver with how his lips quivered.
“I-It looks good. Thank you.” Leviathan said as he put his finished hand on top of a pillow beside him and offered his left hand, placing his palm over yours. He let his fingers brush over your wrist while doing so, seemingly on purpose as he looked away once more yet his fingers remained, rubbing a gentle pattern onto your skin.
The mere action sent your heart racing, embarrassingly, like a love-struck teenager indeed. Before any embarrassing words could slip past your lips, you cleared your throat again as you refocused on doing his nails. The peach pink suits his complexion, making his nails pop out, giving his hand a more elegant, almost regal look.
Once you were done with painting Levi’s nails, the quiet demon murmured a simple thanks, letting his nails dry for the meantime as you two sit there surrounded with silence, still, but less awkward this time.
You two watch Henry 2.0 swim around the tank until Levi had deemed his nails to be dry, immediately asking for you to offer your hand out. You can clearly hear the enthusiasm in his voice and see it in his actions, calling forth another surge of giddiness inside of you as he took your hand and held it firmly.
This is insane. You thought to yourself as Levi focused on painting your nails like his life depended on it. I can’t believe I’ve been blushing non-stop just because a demon lord and I are painting each other’s nails.
Silence surely was deafening as Levi worked on your nails. It was cute how intense his focus was, his grip on the nail polish brush tight as his hand trembled. He’s really taking his time to be careful in perfecting your nails, and this particular manner of his made you swoon helplessly over the Avatar of Envy.
You saw a crease form in between his brows from his focusing, your hand reaching forward to rub gently on the crease to try and smooth it over as Leviathan looked up in confusion upon what you were doing. When he saw your equally focused stare on him, the demon lord looked away and decided to say nothing, attending back to your fingernails.
Cute. Leviathan’s dorkiness was surely his unique charm.
"You have beautiful hands," He whispered, just as he finished painting your pinky finger, doing a good job on covering each nail properly despite his shaking hand. "I-I always noticed when we're playing games. And you're too focused that sometimes it looks like you're strangling the controller. But they look so warm, a-and now I'm holding them, I was right… They are."
You blinked a couple of times to try and process the sudden information, the restraint you put onto not reeling back and potentially ruining Levi’s work on your nails exhausting your willpower. As the demon lord looked up to meet your eyes, wondering why you stayed silent, you finally erupt into another blushing session, the words seemingly not forming themselves within your mind orderly which rendered you speechless.
Leviathan… found your hands beautiful too?
This couldn't be right. You had the same thought! You wonder briefly whether the demon lord had telepathic powers. But then, he should've known by now that you had a crush on him? No, it didn't look like he did… Unless he already knew and he's playing it cool?
Leviathan? Playing it cool? Impossible.
Playing it cool was an impossible task for you right now, too, but you could always try your best.
“What a coincidence,” You uttered after finding your voice again, trying hard not to look away and appear calm despite your cheeks betraying you. “I found yours beautiful too.”
It was Levi’s turn to be rendered speechless as he mentally short-circuited, the two of you looking like tomatoes in a sea of blue. The demon lord pretended to channel his focus back on finishing your other hand, but once he finished doing your nails, he couldn't help but seek your eyes again.
“H-Handholding isn’t too bad, right?” Levi tried to casually say, reaching for your hand that he finished first, interlocking your fingers together boldly. “I mean, it’s for normies, b-but I can excuse certain normie activities if it’s… if it’s with you.”
The matching peach pink of your fingernails made your hands look better together, like puzzle pieces that suited each other, helplessly warming you up all over from the happiness the mere action gave you.
"Well, if you're willing to excuse such normie activities, then allow me to…" You lifted your intertwined fingers, turning his hand over to show the back of his as you placed gentle kisses on each of his knuckles.
The otaku would spontaneously combust in his spot if it was possible, with how red his cheeks were now, but you were glad to see you had such an effect on him. It’s not too hopeful now to assume that the feelings were mutual, right?
“I-I… If you insist! I could let this slide too…I mean, I always see characters from dating sims do worse! Handholding and… and k-k-kissing aren’t that bad! I mean, kissing o-on the knuckles!”
The poor Avatar of Envy was completely failing in making a coherent speech, which you found adorable and only enticed you to do more. As Levi continued to ramble, you leaned your head against his shoulder, placing your intertwined hands together on top of your lap as you held his hand with both of yours this time, rubbing your thumb over his palm.
Leviathan tensed for a while, before relaxing and leaning into your touch as well, resting his head on top of yours as you two continued sitting there, enveloped in a warm bubble of bliss.
Now, this kind of paradox was definitely your favorite. Two people seeking warmth amidst a cold room. You could really get used to this, and, judging from how Levi tightly wrapped his free arm around you in a half-hug, the demon lord seemed to agree as well.