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The first thing you notice is the smell.
Death and disinfectant.
Scrunching your nose, you groggily open your eyes. Your head is pounding, almost like it’s trying to match your heartbeat, and the harsh fluorescent lighting isn’t helping. You struggle to slowly sit up in the bed, your muscles screaming at you to stop and stay still. Feeling too weak, you let yourself fall back down, a soft thud resonating through the room. You look to the right of you where you hear high pitched beeps; there are several monitors flashing with different numbers and you finally notice the weight of the wires on your body.
How the hell did you end up in a hospital?
Rubbing your eyes, you try to recall anything that would clue you into why you’re here, but all you remember is the walk home after grocery shopping. You were supposed to bake cupcakes for your sister’s birthday, but that evidently didn’t happen. You shake your head, wincing as the pain intensified for a brief second. To the left of you, you hear someone clear their throat and you look over.
A man with purple hair peered at you from behind a console, his eyes wide. Leviathan. At most, you two were acquaintances, him being the brother of your friend’s boyfriend.
“Hi?” Your tone came out much more questioning than you’d intended, but it’s really strange to be waking up to him. Realization seems to flash in his eyes as soon as you speak and he shoots out of his seat towards the door, somehow tripping over nothing on his way out.
“S-sorry, I should tell the nurse you’re up!”
After about an hour of examination to confirm your stability, the nurse and doctor left with the promise to return to check on you later. You remain sitting on the edge of the bed, mulling over what they’d told you.
“You were found unconscious right outside your parents’ house. It looked like someone hit you with a blunt instrument,” your nurse’s voice echoes in your thoughts. But why would anyone hurt you? It couldn’t have been for money - your wallet on the nightstand next to the bed proved that much and there isn’t anyone that you know of that would want to hurt you like this. You gingerly touch the bandage that’s wrapped around your head. Yet, whoever did this had to have known what they were doing; the only time you’d really be alone was on the walk to your family’s house.
Leviathan’s footsteps interrupt your line of thinking.
“What are you doing here?” you ask.
He freezes before he can get to his seat and his startled expression sends a twinge of guilt through you. “Your father asked me to stay with you until he can be here-” his face hardens, “I didn’t exactly ask to be here.”
You raise your brows. This had to be be the first time you’ve heard him speak without stuttering. “Neither did I,” you gesture towards yourself. He looks away, a slight flush coloring his cheeks, but he stays silent. You take a deep breath, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to come off as short. It’s just a bit surprising to wake up in a hospital with someone you barely know.”
“I- No, I’m sorry too. I wasn’t really thinking when I said that,” Leviathan rubs the back of his neck.
“...Why did you say yes though?” Your dad might be an influential man, but even he can’t just ask any of the brothers to do what he wants. They are some of the most powerful beings in the realm- not many could touch them.
Still not making eye contact, he shrugs his shoulders, “Diavolo didn’t give me much of a choice if I’m being honest. He didn’t tell me why though.”
You slowly nod, not understanding at all. Why would Diavolo involve himself in this? He may be a good friend to your father, but that didn’t mean he would order anyone around willy nilly for him. You sigh and rub your temples. Dwelling on this won’t help you figure it out any sooner. “Let’s play something,” you decide, not letting Leviathan have a say in the matter.
His head snaps in your direction, “Are you sure? It might be better to rest.”
“Nah, I feel like kicking some ass.”
“Okay, but I’m player one,” the spark in his gaze seemed to erase any awkward feelings he had.
You roll your eyes, “What are you, five?”
He puffs his chest out slightly,” The best one is always player one.”
“You don’t know that you’re the better one,” you raise a brow.
“Please, I know I’m the better one. I’m one of the best gamers in Devildom,” he passes you a controller, a smug smile gracing his lips.
You shrug and laugh, “Whatever you say.”
Leviathan continues to sulk in his chair when dinner comes in. You roll your eyes; he’d won three of the six rounds. Taking a few slices from the box, you pass the pizza to him.
“You know, you could have won if you hadn’t underestimated me.”
He lets out a little huff, “How was I supposed to know you were good? I don’t know any demons who play video games as much as I do!’
“I may not know much about you, but isn’t your social circle… your six brothers? You shouldn’t be assuming things about an entire population based on them,” you take a sip of soda.
“Yeah, but…” Leviathan looks away, stuffing his face with pizza instead. A hint of red touched his cheeks. You laugh - that was probably the closest to an apology you’d get.
Dinner continues in silence as you steal a glance at Leviathan, who is still looking at everything in the room but you. You’d never actually gotten a good look at him before - anytime you were at his house visiting the exchange student, the only times he’d come out of his room was to scurry to the kitchen and back. The very first time you’d been over, Leviathan had managed to squeak out a “Hi!” with a tomato red face, but that was the furthest your interactions with him ever went.
His purple hair falls right above his eyes, almost covering them, but not quite. A straight expression adorns his face, the flush of red finally gone. This may be your first time meeting Leviathan, but you had heard anything and everything about him. He and his brothers had been the hot topic on everyone’s tongue when they first fell, and despite how long it had been since then, the interest in their lives had never wanted. You aren't totally sure if everything you had heard was true (did he really dye his hair purple? It’s a vibrant shade and yet still so silky), but there are a few things you definitely know about him:
- He is the third strongest of the brothers and the sixth strongest demon in Devildom.
- Leviathan rarely socializes outside of his circle. So rare in fact, that there was a twitter account that kept track of this.
- He absolutely loves anime and games.
Not a very specific list, but unlike the rest of his brothers, Leviathan really kept himself out of the public eye. But who could blame him? The intense scrutiny surrounding his family would not be easy on anyone. He never involves himself in anything that is not absolutely necessary.
And that’s why you do not understand why he had been asked to be with you. What made you absolutely necessary? Why did he need to be involved at all? You understand that an attack is not a little thing, but danger always seemed to be impending with your dad’s involvement in politics. This is far from a new thing.
“What are you staring at?” Leviathan’s stand offish tone broke through your thoughts. You blink and realize you had been staring at him this entire time. Despite the attitude in his voice, the slight blush dusting his cheeks betrays him. You take a mental note – Leviathan can be very reactive.
You let out a small laugh, “Sorry, I have a bad habit of staring when I got lost in thought.”
“… What were you thinking about?”
“Is purple your natural hair color?”
Leviathan’s eyes widen for a second,” Uh, yes? Is that really what you were thinking about?”
“Sorry, your hair is so pretty, it’s almost hard to believe it’s natural,” you almost let your hand reach up to touch it but decide against this - you should not be touching a stranger’s hair. “Anyway, I think my dad will be here any minute, so I think you can go.”
He looks down at the floor and scratches the back of his head, seemingly ignoring your comment about his hair. “Y-yeah, I think it should be okay now. I’ll see you later!” He squeaks, quickly leaving without giving you a chance to respond.
You snort. The chance of seeing the ever elusive Leviathan again would be very small.