#aroace reader

You’d never managed to work out how exactly he had conjured the place permanently, but hell if it didn’t give you some much needed respite. The two of you had never spoken about it, but the fact that he let you – and only you – spend time there did not go unnoticed. You walked slowly, feeling the press of the damp ground beneath your shoes, allowing your eyes to shutter a little as you listened to the chorus of frogs and insects. A gentle, warm breeze caressed your face, bringing with it a familiar scent of vegetation. Your frustration seemed to seep out from your very bones, absorbed into and replaced by the energy of the bayou. Hell felt so very far away.

You eventually caught sight of Alastor, sitting on a folded blanket he had set up for himself with his back against one of the oldest cypress trees you could see. He was looking out over the nearby water, absent his coat with his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The buttons were halfway undone, giving you a clear view of the harsh scar raking across his chest. A small coil of smoke drifted upwards from the cigarette tilted back lazily between his fingertips. An empty tumbler was nestled into the grass behind him.

“You are back quickly, my dear,” he called softly, yet to look at you. “I would have expected someone of your age to be out on the town until much later than this.”

A small smile pulled at your lips. Alastor certainly would have been, especially since the bars in Hell never closed.

You stopped next to him, waited for him to smooth the blanket out and give a sweeping gesture to indicate you could sit beside him. You accepted, but you didn’t touch him yet. Sometimes he would engage in touch, sometimes not, but he always wanted to initiate it himself. He took another slow drag  of the cigarette, breathing the smoke out into the darkness before tilting his head down towards you. His crimson eyes glowed with attention.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”

You hesitated a moment, taking your own turn to gaze out at the bayou. More than anyone, Alastor would understand.

“I kept getting hit on,” you muttered. “Four different people in the space of three hours. All I did was sit there and talk with my friends, and got up to go to the bar whenever I wanted another drink.” You sighed heavily. “None of them really did anything wrong, but I hate keep being reminded that that’s how everyone’s thinking about me. I left after the fourth person couldn’t keep their eyes on mine long enough to even ask me to go home with them.”

Alastor ran the back of a deceptively soothing claw down your cheek.

“Describe them to me?”

You laughed as you turned back to meet his gaze, watching his sharp smile ease into something a little more genuine.

“You don’t need me to give you suggestions for your broadcast,” you told him.

There were worse crimes to be committed than asking someone out, and annoyed though you had been, those sinners didn’t deserve to be torn apart just for talking to you. Alastor hummed, a rather high-pitched noise.

“True, but there is something satisfying in torturing the deserving. I may as well have those who upset you pay as anyone else.” He paused a moment. “You know I can find them regardless.”

Your shook your head just slightly.

“I do, I just…” Revenge over something so trivial didn’t really matter to you. “It was just supposed to be a nice night out with my friends, you know?”

Alastor dropped his head forward in a slight nod, smile lessening a little more.

“I know, sweetheart,” he said quietly.

His hand slid across your upper back, claws curling around your far shoulder as he pulled you snugly against his side. The breath of relief which left you was audible. You turned to bury your face into the collar of Alastor’s shirt, taking in his familiar scent of cigarette smoke. You resisted the urge to lay a hand on him in case the combination would be too much. Instead, you folded your arms around yourself. Alastor squeezed you to him tightly for just a moment, no doubt drawing satisfaction from the way all your tension immediately dissipated.

A light pressure on top of your head indicated he had rested his chin there, leaving you to marvel at how touchy a mood he was in. It made you feel confident enough to pull your knees up towards your chest and rest your legs against Alastor’s, matching his own posture.

“I don’t get the obsession,” you groused, after he had made no indication he was anything other than perfectly at ease.

Your eyes were now closed and you were simply enjoying the feeling of being in Alastor’s hold. Your strength was nothing compared to a demon of his calibre, but he always made you feel so safe.

“Neither do I, my dear,” he mused, voice a little airy. “I never did. All the things people will do, the lengths they will go to, just for… that. Why anyone submits to such weakness is beyond me.”

It was beyond you too. You thought about your friends, about the times that each had come crying to you over something a partner had said or done; the times you had consoled them during a breakup.

“And it’s not like things even work out, a lot of the time. All that stress and for what?”

Your rhetorical question received another hum. Neither of you had the faintest idea why anyone thought putting themselves through such an experience was worth it.

Time seemed to stop in the following hours you spent sitting there together, just existing in each other’s company. One of Alastor’s shadows appeared with another cigarette for him at one point, and you were fairly certain you drifted off to sleep for a little while. Alastor didn’t seem to mind. The light level in his little pocket dimension never really seemed to change, so it could well have been morning already and you wouldn’t have known.

You started paying attention again when Alastor’s thumb stroked across your shoulder a few times. He shifted to sit upright when you raised your head from his shoulder, withdrawing his arm from you entirely. That was your cue to give him some space.

“Ah,” he said, raising a hand to stop you from getting up. “I have some business to take care of now, but you may stay here if you wish to.”

The gesture meant more to you than you could really express, even if the touch a single one of my belongings and I will physically tear you apart was implied. Alastor knew how important having a place of nature to escape to was to you, even if it was conjured supernaturally.

You watched as he stood and made his way out of the swamp. His shirt was back to rights before he stepped foot into his actual room at the hotel, which was when you lost sight of him.

For that he was grateful, at least someone was looking out for them. And so he thanked you, offering some tutoring sessions as a token of his gratitude since he knew how you were new to twisted wonderland and probably needed the extra help.

At first the tutoring sessions were purely for educational purposes. Riddle was very professional, teaching you as strictly as possible. If he really wanted to, he could be a wonderful teacher himself. However, when both of you started to relax with one another as these sessions carried on, he started cracking jokes and being kinder when you made mistakes.

He came to realise he really enjoyed your presence. It was relaxing to him, like a cup of freshly brewed tea. You felt like the warmth that encompasses his palms from that same mug. He noticed himself loosening up during these sessions and sighing a breath of relief when he saw you. It was nice.

Your relationship progressed so naturally, the both of you never realised it. It became normal for Riddle to seek you out in the mornings to make sure you looked your best. It became normal for you to give him advice on how to take healthy breaks from work, even reminding him through texts to make sure he was doing so.

You never questioned it, and you weren’t sure you needed to mention it to him. If Riddle was happy with how your friendship had come into fruition, then why would you have to ask him about it? Riddle would tell you straight up if he was uncomfortable with how intimate the nature of your friendship was, and you were confident in that observation.

It was when Ace had outwardly asked about you dating Riddle that you realised that from an outside perspective, the way the two of you acted was very romantic if no one understood the nature of it. Riddle was confused as well as you were, and it was evident both of you needed to talk about it.

“I should have asked you about it,” You had sighed “I didn’t because I trusted you would tell me if you were uncomfortable,” Riddle understood your reasoning and felt happy you understood him that much.

“I was never uncomfortable,” Riddle admitted “It was nice to be that close to someone,”

You then explained that you, yourself, identified as being in the aromantic spectrum. You had to also explain what it was to Riddle, and it was like a switch flicked on in his head, as his eyes lit up and his mouth opened wide in realisation. “I think I am as well,” He had said, and you smiled at that.

And so, you two started labelling your relationship as a queer platonic relationship

Your queer platonic relationship with Riddle Rosehearts

Riddle loves to have tea with you. He’ll include all your favourite biscuits and desserts for when your scheduled tea parties that he has with you. Sometimes close friends such as Trey would attend too. He’ll begrudgingly allow Ace or Deuce to attend once or twice but I think the likelihood of that happening is slim.

He loves to cuddle when he has bad days. If you see him hunching over his desk, ask him to come with you and bring him to bed. He may protest against it, but soon enough he’s cuddling you back and sighing.

You co parent the hedgehogs in Heartsylabyul. He sort of regrets it (not actually) because he realises that ever since you declared yourself their other parent, they’ve become…fatter. He has to tell you to cut down the treats because it’s not healthy for them. He hates it when you give him the puppy eyes in response, but he puts his foot down (very softly).

Your tutor sessions don’t end, but instead of the library where they used to be held, it’s held in the Heartslabyul or Ramshackle dorms. Most often than not it’s held in Ramshackle since Deuce and Ace can’t help but be annoying when you’re trying to concentrate.

If you can bake, he’ll happily try anything you make. If you make something from your world, he feels so delighted to try it out. It makes him so happy.

His mum thinks you two are going to marry. You joked one time to Riddle that you might marry him if it means she’ll shut up about it, and he looked at you pale in the face and said “Please don’t,” he’d rather you not give into her pleas.

Riddle does not want any kids. However, if you want to co parent one kid with him, he’ll oblige. Anymore than one he will not agree to.

Instead you get a bunch of hedgehogs. You become that one cat mad couple but with hedgehogs. You fight when naming them, but end up splitting the hedgehogs in even numbers and naming them yourselves.

Leona Kingscholar

If Riddle is closed off, Leona is like a huge boulder that cannot be pried open whatsoever

I think Leona would know what being aroace is. I feel like he would have researched it when observing his brother’s relationship with his wife. He doesn’t want to marry someone but he wants someone that he could spend his life with. Not entirely a friendship and not entirely a romantic relationship either. So he does know he’s in the aro spectrum.

The only way I could even see Leona opening up to the prefect of the first years, is if you frequently visit the greenhouse

Leona noticed you would visit the greenhouse frequently after you dealt with his overblot, but paid it no mind when you went to sit quietly to study or read.

It became a relief for a certain hyena as he would dump some of his duties onto you, since he knew of the unspoken respect Leona had gained from you after the incident.

Leona found it respectable that you, a magicless nobody, was apart of a plan that managed to fool and out trick him of all people. Because of this he started to…tolerate you. That’s what he called it.

The greenhouse soon became your place of respite and Leona started to see you more and more. After studying, he would watch as you nodded off to sleep, tired after hours of studying. He looks away. He already knows that your neck is going to ache.

One day after a hard few hours of studying, you wring your neck and groan. He laughed to himself since his prediction was right. Your neck indeed had started to hurt. The laugh brought your attention to him, and in annoyance you grumbled to yourself.

He apparently found this amusing, and like it was so obvious, had said that you probably needed a break. A nap even.

And so the tradition of napping together was made. Not together, at least, not immediately. It felt weird not to see and hear you in the background of his naps and it became odd to not hear his snores as a background noise as you rested and studied.

Eventually conversations started and you both found yourselves enjoying the other's presence immensely.

Your relationship progressed very smoothly after that. The two of you didn’t even have to communicate that you two were in a qpr you both just kinda knew from each other’s body language.

When people asked about the nature of your relationship, Leona would just roll his eyes and say it was none of their business. Which was true, it really wasn’t.

He was the type of person to let things be as they are. If people were so worked up about his life that was their problem, not his.

It was when his brother had called, wanting to know how he’s been, did he first confirm the nature of your relationship aloud. Falena had jokingly asked if he was in a relationship yet and you heard Leona say “Yes, im in a qpr. Look it up if you don’t know what it is, I can’t be bothered telling you,”

Your qpr with Leona Kingschoolar

Naps. All the goddamn time. He will find you in the Ramshackle dorm doing god knows what and either fall ontop of your bed or sofa or fall on top of you to sleep. If you’re cooking, he sighs and leans on you, watching you slowly cook.

Sometimes he cooks as well. He learned a thing or two from the Culinary Crucible, and he remembers the basics. Most of his cooking is very meaty tho, so it’ll suck if you’re a vegetarian.

He becomes more motivated to do things in your presence which Ruggie praises the gods for. Practically begs you to join him everywhere so that Leona actually gives a rat’s ass to do whatever he’s doing.

Don’t expect him to be a good study buddy. He will fall asleep and will only answer your questions in snarky and sarcastic answers. It drives you nuts.

No one is bugging you while he’s around, if they even try it he’s glaring at them and tugging your arm to go somewhere else.

Falena is so happy his brother has someone now! He still doesn’t understand the concept of qprs, bless his heart, so he does ask about marriage now and again. Leona tells him right up “No. Never,” he is alright with what he has now.

Cheka loves you. He climbs you like a monkey and asks you all sorts of questions; it’s sort of endearing. Leona always has these minuscule moments when he sees you playing with Cheka that he’ll think “maybe adopting a kid won’t be so bad,” but then Cheka would look at him, annoy him instead, and promptly think “Why did I think that,”

As you may have guessed, no kids. None at all. Even if you give him the biggest eyes ever he will not succumb.

Will maybe accept pets though, and will help with them now and again. But only one or two.

Azul Ashengrotto

In my eyes, I think Azul would see romantic relationships as unnecessary for him. He has no interest in them whatsoever, and only has big dreams in his mind and he spreads his energy evenly across those dreams.

Azul is as predictable as a robot. Everyone and anyone can guess what’s on his mind. Business ventures, possibilities to exploit, people to take advantage of. It has drawn people to him while simultaneously driven people away. So to be close to him is as easy as it is hard.

After your shenanigans in Octanaville, he wanted nothing to do with you, which made the already huge distance between him and you even worse.

The embarrassment, the humiliation you put him through created a cold and seething loathing at the pit of his stomach

So when you asked for help during Chapter 4, oh boy did he eat. that. up.

Here is the Prefect, the ringleader of the First Years that so dared to take away his prized possessions, begging on their knees for him to save them from Kalim’s supposed torture. Oh how rich this was.

And what an opportunity! To have two people reliant on him! You and Jamil! Oh how wonderful of an opportunity this was

So of course he agreed with a smug eating grin and saved you from the utter demise you were under.

However, it just so happens that when the two of you were stuck in the bedrooms like you were some criminals, it gave way to some of the most honest and genuine conversations he ever had with someone. ever.

It must have been how late it was. Or maybe how brutally warm it got at night that messed with his brain, he had asked “Why would you do it, why couldn't you turn a blind eye,”

You gave him a knowing smile, a kind one that did not mock him. You answered him so sincerely…how could he not get all sentimental.

It was embarrsing really, how easily he can cry. It was the blasted heat that made him so stupidly emotional that day.

It must be nice to have friends you cared about so much that you would risk your autonomy for them. Azul couldn’t relate.

And that thought struck him, the one thing he wasn’t able to make into reality.

A dream, he supposed. One he didn't think he'd want.

After the whole ordeal with Scarabia, Azul found himself seeking your attention. He was curious, wanted to know more about how you thinked.

He would give the excuse that an outsider's opinions of the Mostro Lounge was important! Someone that wasn’t from Twisted Wonderland surely would have a perfect opinion on how to improve it. Although, they were very silly, like what colour napkins should he buy this time. They made you stifle a laugh sometimes. Don’t let Azul see, or he’ll abandon his attempts entirely.

This evolved into actual conversations other than the Mostro Lounge, and soon enough he found you hanging around him as casually as you would with Deuce or Ace.

He would be signing papers in his office while you would be in the office too, finishing some homework you almost completed in class. Then after he would ask if you’d like a cold drink due to the incoming hot summers which seemed unbearable already. You would happily say yes, so the two of you would end up sitting in the Mostro Lounge, drinking some lemonade or something like that.

It blew Azul’s mind that this friendship came to fruition, and from being stuck in a bedroom of all things.

One day the twins asked “How is your relationship with the Prefect coming along?” Which prompted Azul’s reply of “Whatever do you mean?”

All he ever wanted with you was a friendship, not a romantic one. He feels like now is not the time for one abd doesn't even think there would be a time. He has the Mostro Lounge to worry about, contracts that need filling out. A romantic relationship would be too much to handle, in his eyes.

A friendship, however, that was just right. And he was putting all his extra energy into the one he had with you. It was the last thing he wanted after all.

He confronted you, gave you the facts and opinions of the people who came forward to him (which was only Jade and Floyd) and asked “Do you like me in the way they described?” He accidentally came off too strong but the prospect of the person he opened up to wanting a relationship with him was waaaay too daunting.

You blurted out a “Oh gods no,” too fast to process and proceeded to laugh embarrassingly at that. Azul stared confused, about to yell at you for laughing at him, but you were already explaining why you responded the way you did.

“I’m aromantic,” you said “I can’t experience romantic feelings even if I tried,” and then you explained what aromantic was.

It took him a while, but he put a hand to his chin to think “The description of being aromantic also aligns with my own experiences,” he says “Hmm…,” he was already planning on researching into it further.

It doesn’t take long for him to research all about this new identity. He looks up all the different labels underneath the umbrella, and promptly stops when the labels become too many and he gets a headache trying to figure out which one he is. In the end, he just settled with the umbrella term of aromantic.

He also finds out what queer platonic relationships are, and finds them interesting. How exciting, a relationship that fits all his boxes of what he wants.

He gets a bit nervous to ask you if you would like to be in one with him, so he invites you to the Mostro Longue to talk. There, he gives you your favourite drink on the menu and asks you very softly. And you say you would be delighted to.

Your queer platonic relationship with Azul Ashengrotto

He doesn’t expect to give in to a lot of things you want, but he does. It boggles some people’s minds, including his.

50% off of everything! Just for you.

You better not abuse it, though, cause Azul might have a headache if you keep buying out the entire restaurant

Drinks and snacks are free if you’re studying, however. It’s to bait you into studying more lol.

What you don’t know is that he has been making these treats himself. Maybe one day he’ll tell you.

He helps you with all your homework and studying. Draws graphs and explains everything super thoroughly. He’s the only reason you're passing everything other than magic.

If you ask to see his secret coin collections, he will gape and nod. How did he not think of this before! He can’t believe he hasn’t shown you his precious collection before.

Shows you each coin and meticulously tells you every detail of every coin in such precision that you’re very impressed. He’s so passionate about his coins.

If you used to collect things back in your world and if you tell him, he’ll go quiet and the next day you may find the item at your front door. A very pretty one at that.

He’s not used to walking on land, even if it’s been a few years since he’s been on the surface. So he sometimes gets wobbly on his feet and may need help to stand up. When this happens, you softly tell him to take a break and relax, and he does, although you have to quickly bring him somewhere no one can see him. He’s self conscious with people seeing him being weak. You sit there and wait until he’s fit enough to get back up, and he subtly leans on you for support as he goes back to his office. You promptly try and get him a very nice cane to use.

You still sit with him in his office as he works. He finds your presence comforting. You don’t have to be doing anything, just stay right there and keep him company.

He refuses to hug, even if he would want to. You can see by how his fingers fidget. So you'll need to take the initiative.

When you’re particularly tired after a gruelling school day, you obnoxiously stretch your arms and fall onto Azul’s shoulder. He'll ask what you're doing before you say "Trying to give you a hug," and he'll begrudgingly oblige.

He's not comfortable with hugging for a long time. Maybe in the future he will.

Sometimes, when he’s very stressed, he will ask for you to stay the night in his room to keep him company. Most of the time you play chess with him to take his mind off of whatever's bothering him.

When you meet Azul’s mother, suddenly it makes sense why Azul opened a restaurant in NRC. His mother is a fantastic cook, and keeps on feeding you delicacy after delicacy. Now it makes sense why Azul seems to keep you fed so much.

I don't see Azul really wanting to co parent kids. He may agree to co parent one or two kids if you really wanted to. He may not be home a lot due to his work, but he will make up for it with the trinkets and wonders he brings home from his business trips.

No pets though. I think he’d get more frustrated with animals than with kids. Kids are more predictable in Azul’s eyes than animals. He can actually tell what the kids will want, all animals will do his make loud noises that will make his ears burn.

Kalim Al Asim

I feel like Kalim is the type of aro who doesn’t understand the typical boundaries of friends and partners so he claims he loves everyone the same.

You never interacted with Kalim before the events of book three. During that time, you had become acquainted, and it seemed that in Kalim’s mind acquainted means friends. It’s the typical extrovert adopts the introvert scenario, and before you know it, he’s clinging to you like a koala does to a tree. Due to your lack of friends, you accepted his sudden appearance in your life.

It was whiplash, having a few by your side occasionally to having Kalim there nearly all the time. Sure, you had Ace and Deuce, also Epel and Jack, however they did not hover over you all the time and had their own hobbies and things to do. You were so used to being alone that having someone there was a big change.

Because of this, sometimes you would run out of things to say, and you would become quiet. He never found your silence as rude and didn’t mind it. He made any awkward silences into stories of folklore from his country and shenanigans he got into when he was young (which mostly consisted of stories of how he got kidnapped. You listened in horror). You and Jamil would be silently listening to him as he rambled about anything between everything and nothing.

You learned very quickly that Kalim can go from 0-100 really quick. Even if you didn’t know him that well at this point, he would give you gifts every time you meet up much to Jamil’s dismay.

In turn you cook for him. It was the least you could do. Jamil at first was weary but soon reluctantly stopped being too cautious when all of your food seemed good to eat. You made extra for him to eat too so he wouldn’t feel too left out.

Kalim was very nice to you which was very shocking compared to the rest of the school. It was hard to get used to, but eventually, you were smiling at Kalim as kindly as he did to you without the fear that he’d backstab you like some students in the school.

Soon enough Kalim wouldn’t leave your side, it was like he was stuck to your hip. And you welcomed it and expected it, indulging yourself with his hugs and with his arms that rested on your shoulders. Sometimes, you even noticed him playing with your hands which you would end up doing the same with him. It would gain a happy giggle and a squeeze in the form of a hug. This was really nice, you always found yourself thinking.

Ace and Deuce asked if something was up and you replied “No? Why?” in which they both raised a brow at that.

One day Kalim tells you that his parents want to talk to you over the phone. “They told me they can’t wait to meet you, and I can wait for them to meet my best friend as well!”

And with that you’re looking over to Jamil for help because you have no idea what the fuck is happening.

“Kalim has been describing you to his family like you’re, to the average person, dating. Please just…talk to him,” Jamil sighs and rubs his eyes. Poor guy.

That was when you had a big discussion with Kalim. It was hard to make Kalim understand that, no, most people don’t want to spend their entire lives with their best friend and platonically cuddle, raise kids and adopt three camels.

“There might be a type of relationship that can suit us though,” you mentioned “if you really do want to spend your life with me…like that,”

Kalim enthusiastically nodded at that, which is how your qpr started.

Your qpr with Kalim Al Asim

Loves to spoil you. At first you feel bad that you don’t have anything to reciprocate his affections other than food, but he reassures you that you being there for him was enough. He’s such a sweet guy.

He takes you on rides on his magic carpet all the time. Whenever you’re feeling bad, he appears at your bedroom window and knocks softly, taking you away into the sky to forget about your troubles.

But if a carpet ride won’t help make you feel better, he will guide you into the bed and cuddle you while you tell him your woes. He’s actually very good at listening despite how carefree he may seem, and promises to help you with whatever is bothering you.

Jamil and you become somewhat friends too. You know he’s not doing it because of Kalim because, well, his facade was blown wide open. So that’s nice?? You think. You hope.

When you do finally meet his family, you keep up the facade that you really were dating, only because you and Kalim have no idea what would happen if you admitted you weren’t. You meet all of his siblings, and they ask a lot of questions that you have no idea if you answered convincingly enough (they all related to how you and Kalim got together).

If Kalim ever blurted out anything, Jamil graciously covered for him. Thank god.

You have sleepovers at Scarabia a lot, since Kalim is so touchy feely that he needs to hug or at least hold your clothes at all times. Grim doesn’t complain, free food!

He tries to teach you to dance which he succeeds somewhat. He giggles if you can’t get a move right and helps you slowly so you can get the hang of it.

He loves holding hands. He will grab your hand and squeeze it like a stress ball. He does the same with your arm as well. At this point you might as well be a fidget toy for him from how much he squeezes you and plays with your fingers/hands.

Kalim would LOVE to co-parent kids with you! There is the issue of the heir to the Asim family, but that conversation is so far out in the future that you and Kalim haven’t given it a thought. But Kalim would definitely want to co parent a kid with you.

Vil Schoenheit

I don’t think Vil would have ever thought that he would be aromantic. It just never crossed his mind. He’s a very busy guy, so he hadn’t had time for any crushes or feelings to get in the way of his work. Or so he thought. In reality he was aromantic and didn’t care for romance really.

Vil is easy to get close to if he sees a person that holds great promises. There’s no stopping him from making sure they reach their true potential.

That’s what Vil saw in book 5 when he got to know you better. He saw a person hindered by their circumstances and environment. A blossom that was planted into gravel and which succumbed to its unfortunate fate.

Vil shall not allow such a thing if he can help it. And he can! He has the money, the resources, and the patience to make it happen. And so he does.

He approaches you first, asking if you would be willing to be brought under his wing. Since he has made amends with what he had done, you oblige at first due to the opportunities it could provide.

On the outside, he seems nagging and doting. He’s enrolling you in lessons, giving you pointers and tips. It looks like he hasn’t changed.

But on the inside, it’s a different story. He’s genuinely determined to see you flourish into the you he knows you can be. He’s soft with his touches, encouraging with his words, but doesn’t shy away from telling you your flaws as he sweetens it with ways to improve. He treats you like an equal and not someone who’s beneath him.

On your side, you were delighted for the attention. Your physical health was hitting an all time low because of how little money you had from the allowance Crowley gave you. It was barely enough to buy yourself the necessities. With Vil’s help, now you could buy more than necessities. You were able to take care of yourself and Grim properly, and even better, become the better you that you wanted to be. You’re able to try things you never thought you’d be able to do. Ballet was one of them, and Vil indulged your requests for other things such as painting.

When book 6 happens, he’s genuinely overjoyed to see just how much you’ve improved in real time. He sees that your movements are more graceful, more precise. You’re more able to dodge attacks and keep out of harm's way from the ballet he enrolled you in.

He sees that you’re reaching your potential finally, but even now he doesn’t loosen his grip. He feels closer to you somehow. You weren’t a fledgling bird trying to find its way in the world anymore, you were becoming a beautiful and graceful swan.

He instead invites you to more mundane activities, like indulging him by accompanying him to some tea or asking if he could practise makeup on your face. You happily agree to these small invites. It made you happy, you felt like he wasn’t your mentor now, but more so a friend.

Wherever he went in school, you were sure to be near. Since you got so close with Vil, you also become good friends with Rook. Let’s be honest, the two are a package deal.

It got so frequent to see you two together, that people thought you were dating. When Vil heard of the rumours he himself laughed and sighed, before coming to you to speak to you about them.

“Honestly, people will gossip about anything,” he has said, lips pursed with an incoming sigh. You hummed in agreement, before speaking.

“I suppose it’s confusing to some people,” you laughed “Friends aren’t typically as close as we are,” you genuinely meant that as a joke, however Vil started thinking of your friendship more. He compared it to his friendship with Rook and found contradictions. Rook was undeniably his best friend, the one who’s closest to him. He certainly did not let him get away with holding his hand or even convincing Vil to eat more cake.

The confusion on his face made you a bit worried. You asked what was wrong, and it took him some time to put his thoughts into words

“For some reason, my friendship with you feels…different,” he confesses “I’ve thought about it and there’s no denying that I treat you differently to my other friends. I confess that I pondered if it was romantic feelings that I was experiencing, but even that doesn’t describe it. It doesn’t feel right,”

“Hmm…maybe I can help,” It was then that you described what it was to be aromantic, and Vil’s mind seemed to soften and relax as you described it.

He smiled and nodded “Ah…I think that may be the word that I’ve been searching for,”

It was then that you confessed that you were, in fact, aromantic while also mentioning that you preferred qprs more than romantic ones.

After a few days of more pondering, Vil had asked to meet you for tea, and asked if you’d like to be in a qpr with him. And of course you said yes.

Your qpr with Vil Schoenheit

Oh he loves to pamper you. He does your nails, your makeup, dresses you in the most beautiful clothes that he can find.

You tell him what sort of fashion you liked when back in your world and he’s scouring fashion magazines and the internet to try and find equivalents. He wants you to be able to express yourself and feel like yourself once again.

When you have a bad day, he encourages you to have a spa day with him. No words are spoken when he brushes your hair and massages your head.

You love to pamper him too! In your own way. You convince him to indulge in some desserts. You bake small sweets for him to eat. He blames you if he gains weight, but no matter, if it’s from your affection it will be fine.

You also ask if you could do his makeup, and he accepts. Even when you don’t have a lot of knowledge, he obliges, only giving you advice when it is truly dire. “Are you sure?” He would say, looking up at you with an eyebrow turned up. It is your decision if you heed his warning or not. If you ignore him three times, he huffs and takes the makeup and gives you a (lecture) lesson on how to properly apply it.

When you do apply it right, he’s beaming happily at your work. “Not bad for your first time,” he muses, looking at himself in the mirror, before looking up at you from his place on his seat. His satisfied look makes you feel very happy with your handiwork.

He gives back the favour as well and does your makeup. No words are uttered as he applies the makeup to your skin, and you soak up the moment.

He loves your cooking, but please cook healthy meals. He wants to keep his skin healthy after all.

He likes to go with you to the beach at sundown. He believes it’s one of the most beautiful times of day. He watches as you take pictures with that ghost camera Crowley gave you before watching the sun turn into the moon.

He’ll indulge you if you want to co parent a kid or two. He’s a bit against it, only because he doesn’t want paparazzi to make him adopt a kid with another person, a big story. Especially when the majority of people don’t understand how qpr works.

Idia Shroud

In my mind, Idia had known he was aromantic for a looooong time. He lives on the internet and probably came across the term when he was very young and it just fit him. The older he became, no more sure he was that he identified as it. Because of that, he doesn’t have a big identity crisis over not romantically liking anyone lmao and doesn’t feel like he’s missing out.

But goddamn. How did you even become friends with him let alone get into a qpr with him?

I'm serious.

For that reason, the only way I see you even interacting with Idia is through Ortho. And for that reason too is why Idia’s is going to be so fucking long.

Ortho was on a mission. To help his big brother get friends! He had data on everyone in the school…except the prefect in Ramshackle.

He had flown to your dorm room, and made up a reason to be there. Maybe something to do with being curious about your world. It was an excellent question! By learning about your world, you’re bound to tell him about your interests.

You were very surprised. You knew nothing about the Housewarden of Ignihyde at this point, and had no knowledge of him having a brother. But you indulged his curiosity since it felt nice to talk about your world, despite the fact it also made you sad.

Surprisingly enough, he finds that back in your world, you used to play a lot of gacha games! You talked about the different sort of games you would play, and how you had built up such good teams to fight the enemies. He’s hit the jackpot, he thinks to himself.

Ortho gets to know you more as well. He asks to go out more, and Idia is very confused and suspicious as to why his brother wanted to go out so much. When Ortho tells him it’s because he’s been talking with the Prefect of Ramshackle, he mumbles to himself and continues his game while telling Ortho to go on ahead.

Eventually, Ortho tries very hard to make his brother open up to you. He tries to make it subtle, but Idia knows instantly that something is up. Since he can’t convince Idia to be friends with you…maybe he can convince you.

Ortho(begs) asks you if you’d like to join the board game club, and hopes you’d intrigue Idia enough for him to talk to you. He gives you reasons such as the games they play are so fun! They play chess and ludo, you’d definitely love it. You absentmindedly tell him that it would be better if they also played D&D and quickly dodge questions Ortho asks about what D&D is. In the end, you agree. It would be fun to play games with others.

When Idia sees you for the first time in the board game club, his jaw drops and he knows this is Ortho’s doing. Even so, he doesn’t let your presence sour his gaming time.

Eventually Idia is forced to play chess with you since you were the last person he hasn’t played against. And reluctantly, he agrees to a match of chess. He’s also curious, he wonders if what Ortho said about you being good at games were true.

The match against you was one of the best he had in a while. You were a tough opponent, and in the end you had won. You grinned triumphantly, saying “Checkmate,”. Eyes wide and in shock, he congratulated you for good sportsmanship.

Since then, he always seeks you out to play chess when inside the club. He enjoys playing against you far too much. He asks how you do it and you shrug your shoulders “I’m not sure I just know what to do,” he gets slightly scared of you after that, calling you “mega op,”

As Ortho notices that Idia was playing more with you, he absentmindedly mentions how you used to play gacha games in your world and he watched how Idia’s whole world crumbles and rebuilds itself again.

“Why would you tell me that,” he says softly in horror, not because he was angry at Ortho, but because he knows what’s going to happen. And Ortho just giggles because Idia has fallen into his trap.

Idia locks onto that one fact. His body itches to ask you to play with him, since some of his games require a large party of players, and admittedly he gets too angry with other players he doesn’t know other than Muscle Red.

Fuck. He needs to itch the scratch.

“Ortho tells me you played gacha games,” he blurted out once when you were playing another game of chess.

You blink at the mention of gacha games and you nod twice “Yeaaaah, I was addicted to them,” you say “Too bad I don’t have a computer,”

Idia winces at the mention of a computer. That’s true…you didn’t have shit. Did you even have electricity? Idia was desperate for someone to play with however, it would make completing certain games soooo much easier. Like way much easier. Some of the new bosses needed a party of over three people. Three was the minimum. Idia was the type of person that got angry with other players easily, so he and Muscle Red weren’t able to get the new items for the new cool weapons and level up items for new characters as well.

It also helped that you were very approachable and chilled out. You didn’t scare him and you didn’t seem like a normie either. He’s sure Gloomurai would like you too.

“If I give you my old pc…,” he said too quickly for even him to process “Would you help me and my friend with some games?”

Your hand that was about to place a chess piece to a different square stops in its place before placing the little knight in its new spot. This was…a lot for an acquaintance. Even with the deal, did Idia really have a whole pc to just give away???

“Um…sure??” You said hesitantly. You would have never thought Idia of all people would have gave away a pc to you. You’re so confused at that point. Why was he being so nice…suspicious.

When he goes home, Idia groans and tugs at his hair at how disgustingly nice he sounded to you. UGH. HOW CRINGE. HES GOING TO GIVE A FREE PC WITH NO CHARGE. he wants to kms right at that spot at that minute.

When he does give you the pc, he helps set it up and is horrified at your ‘desk’. It was literally a mouldy dresser. So he also gifts you a gaming chair and desk. He doesn’t want his new gaming buddy to have horrible equipment that would wreck the pc faster.

When you boot up the game and add Idia, he tells you his friend’s user and you add him too. He introduces you to Muscle Red and he comments that he’s happy that Idia made a new friend and that it was heartwarming. Idia promptly tells him to be quiet and “it’s not like I like them I just asked them to join us cuz of the new bosses,”

Lol. What a loser /j

This is when you got a lot closer. If Idia thought you were a good chess player, he’s now even more impressed. You’re an amazing gamer too. He wonders if you’re just good at all games cause you get a hang of his games way too fast. It makes him even more intimidated...too op.

He finds himself asking to play with you even when it wasn’t to defeat the new bosses. That progressed to playing games that resembled Super Smash Bros, wondering who could beat who. He found it so fun and thrilling, and for once he wasn’t relying on mere luck. He was analysing your play style, making theories with how to utilise your weaknesses. It was just so much fun. You were so much fun.

You were an amazing person to play with, and he finds himself seeking your company other than for games. He would text you “hey im bored what r u doing?” And you would take a horrible picture of what you were doing at that moment. One picture was a blurry pic of riddle and ace since you were in a study group, another a blurry pic of a tree since you were reading a book under it, and another a zoomed up picture of your head and he had to guess what on earth you were doing in that one.

If on the very rare chance that he calls you, you would tell him what you were doing. He experienced school life through your words which was as close enough as he wanted.

No one understands how you managed to get so close with Idia, and even Idia is perplexed with it. If anyone asks, which is very unlikely and most likely is one of the other housewardens, he would say something like “They aren’t a normie like you,”

The relationship pretty much strengthens at this point. There’s never a telltale sign when the qpr relationship starts because Idia is way too awkward to bring up that question and you’re content with how things progressed.

One day, when it was late and you were still playing video games with Idia, your sleep deprived state led you to mention that you were aroace. Idia, surprised at the sharing of identity, also shared that he too was aroace. It made you take the extra mile and ask him a question.

“There’s a special relationship called a queer platonic relationship. They aren’t explicitly romantic or platonic, they're just…in the middle,” you mumbled. He’s silent as you continue “If you would like…I think it describes our friendship a lot…so…,”

“I wouldn’t mind,” he mumbled back “I- uh…I was thinking about it too but I thought it was cringe to ask,” he says quickly.

Your qpr with Idia Shroud

You force Idia outside /j

Okay you don’t, you encourage him and he reluctantly complies. He secretly appreciates it as well because he experiences things that resemble cafe scenes, beach scenes etc that he’d see in anime.

He tells you that of course, and if that’s how he wills himself outside, then you’re happy if pretending to be in an anime helps him calm down when going outside with you.

Of course, sometimes his anxiety gets too much, and when that happens you don’t dare to beg him outside. That would be rude. Instead, you video call and show him around where you are. It’s like steaming but with only him watching. He feels special when you do it for him lol.

You give him trinkets from where you go, even if it’s just on sage island. If you go to an ice cream place, you make sure to get bubblegum ice cream since it reminds you of his hair. He then calls you cringe for doing so but finds it nice lol.

He invites you over to his place to play games. He lets you play on his older consoles and shows off his skills. You’re genuinely impressed, not even you could do most of the things he could do. So you stubbornly try to defeat the secret and hardest levels that he did.

You watch anime with him and he nerds out about them. You sit and happily listen to him as the anime rolls in the background. You manage to understand what he’s saying and also manage to watch the anime. How you do it you have no idea.

Embarrassingly so you pick up on Idia’s speech mannerisms. When Ace or Deuce do something stupid, you blurt out “That was majorly cringe,” and now they’re laughing at you and you’re burning from embarrassment. Idia thinks it’s funny when you complain to him, and all he does is laugh at your misery.

You have a new brother, no question about it. You adopt Ortho which makes him confused but accept it nonetheless. You make his brother happy so he’ll go with the flow.

Before book 6, he wasn’t sentient, and wasn’t able to fully appreciate the care you had put into both him and Idia. He had sought you out due to his programming with no feelings attached. However, after Idia’s overblot when he gained sentience and his own soul, he got to see you again. He tears up and gives you a big hug. “I’m sorry,” he says, even when the overblot wasn’t entirely his fault. But then you realise he wasn’t apologising for that “I never realised how much you gave to me and big brother…thank you,”

That’s when you started truly acting like a sibling to Ortho. And in turn he was able to fully appreciate it and thank you.

You spoil Ortho more than you do Idia. He’s just too cute! You love giving him small toys that any person would buy their little siblings. Idia is majorly concerned about your budgeting because how are you affording that with the allowance Crowley gives you??

Idia starts to eat better when you’re around, since you bring over leftovers from your dorm. He still does eat the occasional instant ramen but it’s nowhere near the amount he used to eat.

You manage to convince him to join a D&D server, or at least the Twisted Wonderland equivalent. He ends up thoroughly enjoying it surprisingly enough.

He gives your phone upgrades when he’s bored. Now you can take the most detailed pictures ever and your phone has so much storage it’s insane. He’s very proud of his handiwork.

He doesn’t want to have kids at all. Too much hassle, he thinks. He may need a successor to his name, however, but he says that he’ll train an apprentice in the future.

Malleus Draconia

This is…hard for me to think about. To me Malleus is one of those aroace people who never get it and never will even if you try and explain it. Ever since the beginning of your friendship, he’s been so touchy feely with you that it slipped into a qpr so effortlessly none of you really thought about it. It’s hard to think of hcs from what happened before your qpr with Malleus because…it kind of always was?

I see it in a way that after his first interaction with you, his curiosity of you was highly piqued. His visits became more and more frequent, and he found himself seeking your attention.

You found yourself fond of Malleus, or as Hornton as you knew him at this point, and seeked his attention too. He was different from your other friends that you made. He was more knowledgeable than anyone you met yet so unknowledgeable at the same time. He made you laugh at his antics, and even if he didn’t understand what you were laughing at, he would laugh too. Your happiness was enough to make him happy too.

Both of you wanted to know more about the other, and Malleus thought that after knowing everything about you that this infatuation would end. Instead, his head told him “No. they are to stay,” and so he stayed by your side ever since.

When someone asks him “What are you, dating?” Malleus lifts and eyebrow and shakes his head.

“No. They are my dearest friend is all,” and that’s all the confirmation you needed.

Your qpr with Malleus Draconia

Your relationship was never official and honestly it never had to be. If someone was brave enough to nag Malleus for an answer of if he was dating you or not, he would growl lowly and say something like “You insolent fool, they are my most trusted confidant, stop wasting my time with your nonsense,” which does not answer their question at all lmao

Malleus doesn’t feel the need to label his relationship with you. Wasn’t being with you enough? It was for you. However some people wouldn’t be happy with it.

To be frank, the Senate would not be happy with the arrangement, but they didn’t have to know, right? Lilia knows everything that goes on in Malleus’ life whether he likes it or not, and he may or may not have decided to keep your close relationship a secret. For now.

For now, you and Malleus enjoy the sweet bliss of being together before the future forces you to come to terms with your position.

He takes joy in eating your food. At first, he tells you that you don’t need to waste such unnecessary energy to cook and that he can create luxuries with just a snap of his finger. But you had told him that home cooked meals just “hit different” whatever that was supposed to mean. So he started eating your cooking and It’s certainly better than Lilia’s cooking that’s for sure. It wasn’t just better, it was delicious. If he finds you cooking when he pops in for a visit via teleportation, he asks “Precious child of man, whatever are you cooking?” And at your answer he licks his lips and feels his stomach growl. It makes you laugh.

Sometimes you find small golden trinkets on your bed. Bracelets, earrings, necklaces, even anklets. The sudden appearances could only mean that Malleus had gotten them for you. To entertain him, and because they were genuinely very pretty, you had started wearing them. And everytime Malleus’ eyes gazed upon your jewellery, a giddy smile appeared on his face.

He had given you an emerald once and you gawked at it before returning it to Malleus. He pouted at you but obliged, giving you emerald earrings instead. You can’t win lol.

He likes taking strolls with you. In the forest, at the beach, anywhere that you go he'll follow. It's an excellent way to have a leisurely chat, even if the subject is as simple as "Nice weather we're having today,"

His favourite time to have strolls, however, is at midnight. When the night's air is crisp and when you can hear the creatures of the night scurrying in a bustle...he finds in peaceful.

Malleus is filled to the brim with knowledge and stories pertaining to a lifetime ago, so in the darkness of the night when he visits Ramshackle is when he waits at your window in order to talk with you. Of course you oblige, such outings is when Malleus feels no stares nor people trembling in his presence. He can just talk.

He loves stargazing as well. He brings a telescope just so you can see the stars as clearly as he can.

However, your relationship got strained after book 7. You hadn’t known how deep Malleus’ loneliness ran, and a part of you felt so bad for him. However, another part of you was angry, angry that he did not accept your wishes to go home despite you asking and telling him. His reaction to put you into a deep sleep so he could keep you here had hurt you.

You had a long talk with him, confessed a lot of things to him too. “It was not right, what you had done,” you had said, trying to pick out your words carefully.

“My dearest companion,” he had mumbled “Forgive me. I’m very selfish,”

Indeed, a dragon’s instinct is to hoard everything and everyone he loves. He must not let anyone he keeps close escape his clutches. Fighting these urges was like fighting himself. And Malleus is a stubborn man.

Hearing him calling himself selfish struck a chord in yourself “I’m so sorry Malleus,” you said “I didn’t want to be someone you may have to lose someday. I’m afraid you’ll have to learn to hold close the memories and moments you have with your loved ones. It’s a lesson you must unfortunately learn,”

He took those words to heart, and made sure that the small moments you had with him were grand and momentous. He holds parties in your name even though no one knows who you were. He brings you to far away lands when there are term breaks so you can experience the most of Twisted Wonderland.

Maybe you will go tomorrow. Maybe you will never go. Either way, Malleus wants fo make the most of the time he has with you.

it was weird. helpful, but weird. you often read "too much" into social interactions, your therapist told you to go home after you practically self-diagnosed yourself, and you figured out from an early age that your view on sex and relationship was... different from your peers.

not a bad different, you just didn't have very much interest in it. you were always told you hadn't found, "the one," but if you were being honest, you weren't sure what "the one" would even look like. so, when you did some online digging, you figured out it was completely normal... and that was that. or so you thought.

yeah, life got rough, but that's another story for another time— the important thing was that you wound up on the "z-team" roster alongside a bunch of pricks. from the get-go, you could tell you were eye-candy for them. every time your gaze swept across the room, you'd see at least three or four pairs of eyes on you.

invisigal would often ask you invasive questions, wherein you'd annoy her off by asking for clarification on every question. she'd always end up storming off.

sonar had tried every pickup line in the book, but you'd treat them like bad jokes, delving way too far into why they didn't make sense. exhausting. you swung between doing that and invading personal space to "unknowingly" flirt back.

flambae had trailed around you, trying to impress you with his raw strength and build, but when you'd go even more vulgar than him, he wound up nearly in flames with how frustratedly turned on he was. it was pathetic, in your eyes.

coupé and punch-up had hinted around the idea of a threesome, and yet again, you played dumb, acting like they were actually asking you for a movie night. you used that oh-so-sweet innocent tone that made the both of them uncomfortable.

and so went the same routine with the rest of them. you'd just have to sweep your hand over prism's hip and whisper some sweet words, and she was dead. you acted completely clueless and professional with blonde blazer, and she backed off. malevola was difficult, but after calling her "bro" enough times to make your own head hurt, she got the hint. shit, even the janitor and the company poster-boy and the dispatcher were sniffing around you! sometimes all at once!

the only person who didn't try anything was golem. he treated you just the same as everyone else, and that was a fresh change of pace. you found yourself hanging around him more than the rest, either sitting in comfortable silence or chatting over any topic under the sun.

after a conversation, you learned that he seemed to share the same feeling towards people as you; being little to nothing aside from friends. you guys played video games together, made playlists for one another, sent each other basically every video that popped up on your feeds— he became a great, close friend to you. and you showed it, puzzling the rest of the team.

it all bubbled up to the surface one night at the sardine. the team went out and crammed into a corner, golem sitting out front alone. if you were being honest, you kinda wanted to sit on the curb with him more than this.

as they do, the team got on the topic of sex lives. flambae described, in detail, a recent encounter with an ice-powered guy he met at a club. malevola followed up describing a girl she and sonar nabbed, reminiscing over the night. and so on and so forth, until it got to... you.

"y'know, i've heard some rumors that you're into, like, monsters," invisigal brought up, swirling her drink in her hand. "i mean, actual monsters. like, the freaky fucks from those alien movies."

sonar perked up at that. "actually?"

"makes sense. bet they're into a lot of freaky shit. the quiet ones always are," prism chimed in.

they all looked to you, and you decided... yeah, this was probably the time. you took a deep breath and set your hands on the table.

"alright, look. i know i've been giving mixed signals, and i know all of you probably want to have an orgy in the office, or something," you began. flambae barked out a laugh. "but... i guess i haven't been very truthful. i don't... i don't feel attraction. not as intensely as most of you do, at least. there's the ocassional interest, sure, but not like the average person."

brows were raising, questioning glances exchanged.

"nothing's wrong with any of you— actually, no a lot is, but still— i just don't have those urges or feelings, or... whatever you wanna call them. call me a virgin, or whatever, but that's just how i operate." you shrugged, glancing around the now very silent table.

"... ah, shit, and here i thought i actually had a chance," invisigal muttered, breaking the silence. a few heads nodded in agreement.

"i feel the same way, sometimes," coupé offered flatly, looking dead at you.

"pffsh, i don't," flambae scoffed, getting up and leaving to find someone to bother.

the group gradually fell back into normal conversation, absorbing your confession and treating it as just... fact. you're aroace? cool, anyways, next topic. the casual acceptance, no talk of "you haven't met your person," made you do a double-take. but, you eventually settled.

you got up and slipped out of the bar at one point, taking a seat next to golem on the curb. you held up a drink, watching as he slowly turned and pulled an earbud out. his mouth curved into something akin to a smile, and he took it into his large hand, offering you the earbud in return.

The residents of the Hotel are gathered in their new lounge discussing the most recent extermination, or more specifically, Adam's death and the consequences. Heaven hasn't made any contact with Hell yet, but then again, it's only been a few days.

"I still think my idea is better," Angel smirks as he leans back on the couch comfortingly.

Vaggie growls with frustration, but Charlie quickly intervenes by gently touching her lover's shoulders. "Angel, we appreciate your help, but um," Charlie smiles tensely, "I don't think you seducing the angels in Heaven will help."

Angel shrugs. "Best idea anyone's had in the last hour."

Well, he isn't wrong. They've been severely lacking in the brainstorming department. After the conclusion that killing the first man has undoubtedly set off alarms in Heaven, for the past three and a half hours, they've all been discussing potential ideas to protect Hell from Heaven.

So far, Husk has thrown out that they should just set Nifty loose in Heaven (which Vaggie actually considered), Alastor has been making angelic puns (not at all helping), and Charlie has been pitching many civil plans to persuade Heaven (all her plans are in song form).

Lucifer has been very quiet throughout this. He's only been partially listening to everyone, as he is too focused on his worries. He's been mentally debating bringing up his idea; it's potentially the only way they'd stand a chance against all of Heaven's wrath.

But so much could go wrong. . .

Charlie must have noticed the faraway look in her father's eyes. She gently calls out to Lucifer, making him jolt out of his thoughts. He straightened up in the armchair and forced a smile. "Yes, Char-Char?"

Charlie holds one of her dad's hands with concern. "Are you okay? We can take a break if it's too much."

Lucifer sighs, letting his body sink into the chair, and his smile drops. "No, no, it's okay. I just. . .I have an idea."

Charlie perks up at this, a big smile shining on her face. "That's great!"

Lucifer opens his mouth but closes it again. He really doesn't want to mention you, but they've been shoved in a corner, and it's starting to look like only you can break down the walls.

With a reluctant sigh, Lucifer asks the others, "Have you heard of the Demiurge?"

Alastor hums with amusement as his grin stretches. "If you don't have ideas, there's no need to make up words. Just admit that little head of yours is empty!"

Lucifer, unknowingly falling for Alastor's rage bait, glares at him. "I'm not making up words, you oversized dried cherry! That's their title!". Lucifer then specifies your actual name.

Charlie clears her throat, awkwardly trying to distract the two demons. "Okay, let's calm down and hear what Dad's idea is."

Lucifer crosses his arms, still glaring at Alastor as he explains. "The Demiurge is responsible for a lot but mostly known for creating the mortal realm and overall shaping the material world. They're the maintainer of chaos."

Husk scoffs and mumbles under his breath, "Did a shit job maintaining the chaos in my life."

Charlie anxiously shifts her weight from leg to leg. 'Maintainer of chaos' doesn't sound very appealing. "Soooo, are they. . .nice?"

Lucifer finally looks away from Alastor; his smile is pissing him off more anyway, and he shifts his body to face his daughter. "Nice?" Lucifer repeats, "Maybe? From what I remember, they treated their creations with kindness."

"Creations?" Vaggie asks with a raised brow, "What does that mean? Like weapons or. . .?"

"Life.", Lucifer clarifies, "The Demiurge is capable of creating intelligent life forms."

This hooks everyone's attention. Even Nifty stops herself from stabbing a bug and looks up curiously. The little unfortunate bug quickly scurries across the floorboards, trying to escape, only for Nifty to leap at it again with her knife closing in on it.

"Like God? The fuck?" Angel asks with astonishment.

Lucifer nods. "They're powerful, so I thought about summoning them to help us since they owe me a favor anyway."

"Favor?", Charlie asks curiously and slightly worried.

Lucifer was about to explain further but decided to tell the Demiurge's origins so everyone could better understand who you are.

With a wave of his hand, a large and old book of the universe's secrets lands in Lucifer's lap. He opens it to the exact page of your tale and takes a deep breath before reading out loud.

"Before time, there was only the Celestial power in a realm called Heaven. But that power balance began to tip when an unknown angel mothered a deity with unbelievable divine powers that she abandoned their child in a clouded realm. The young deity lived for millennium alone, thinking they were the only being in existence. With no guidance from their mother, their power was disorganized, and they created galaxies, planets, and even complex life forms in their clouded realm.

After discovering the mysterious deity and their divine powers, Heaven deemed them a possible threat to the universe's balance. Questions rang in Heaven, wondering where this God-like creature came from. Only one angel knew who the deity was and where they came from, but she stayed quiet in fear she would be punished. It was her very own sinful thoughts and overwhelming emotions that had birthed her child.

The deity was elated to witness life forms they did not create, as they were not as alone as they formerly thought. At first, knowledge was transferred in civil conversations to understand each other's existence. The deity showed their realm, and in turn, the angels showed theirs. Heaven was more lenient towards them after witnessing their calm and happy nature. The deity behaved much like an angel, Heaven thought, so they let them remain in their realm of creation.

It was during that time the deity discovered they had a mother and how she abandoned them over her selfish desire to protect herself. The deity then lashed out with exasperated grief. The one who gave them life was ashamed of them. Their creations began behaving more aggressively and rigidly as the deity's emotions swam in negativity. Once again, Heaven became alarmed by the deity's power. They threatened the deity to stop, or Heaven would have no choice but to force them to stop by the power of the Heavenly Father. But the deity was too far lost in their rage of despair to listen. So, Heaven destroyed the deity's creations to almost extinction and trapped their soul within an apple tree. This massive tree became known as The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

After 65 million years, the Heavenly Father created the first humans within the Garden of Eden. As long as the humans didn't eat the forbidden apples of The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would live a pleasant life under God's guidance.

But, the life balance for humans forever shifted when Eve accepted the apple from the serpent and took a bite.

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil vibrated until it burst into golden flames. The deity stood freely with their power surging through their veins once again. There was no longer only peace; now, there was chaos in the world.

That was the rebirth of The Demiurge."

After Lucifer finishes reading the timeless tale, he gently closes his book and teleports it to where it belongs with cloudy red magic. It's been a few millennia since he's sat down and read the origins of the Demiurge like this.

Nifty squeals from her spot on the floor laying on her stomach, kicking her feet in the air. "A bad boy!" She giggles.

Lucifer quickly clutches his fists in his lap as he realizes he's shaking with anxiety. Honestly, Lucifer does NOT want to call upon you. So many things could go wrong, and the first thing that comes to mind is how awkward it'll be. He can't just be like, 'Oh hey, haven't seen you since Eden! Could you fight Heaven and protect Hell for us? Thanks!' ABSOLUTELY NOT!

The second reason is that Lucifer has only a vague idea of what you're capable of. He knows you're powerful; he was one of the angels investigating you and your realm of life.

You treat your creations with love and gentleness, as Lucifer's father does with his creations. But you're the Demiurge, maintainer of chaos. Your mere existence allowed chaos and evil to spread in human souls. What motivates you? What are your aspirations?

. . .And would you be a threat to Charlie?

Vaggie's eyes are narrowed, glaring at where the book just was. Having the radio demon managing the hotel is enough of a risk as is; she will not allow some powerful entity- the maintainer of chaos, that is, anywhere near Charlie.

Husk is the first to break the tense silence with a slight smirk on his lips. "That's some serious mommy issues."

Angel snorts. "Careful, whiskers, the Boogieman might just catch ya for saying shit like that."-he suddenly scoots closer to Husk on the couch, invading his personal space. "But don't ya worry, I'll hold ya real close for safety!"

Without even looking at Angel, Husk shoves him off the couch. "OOF!"

"Boogieman?" Alastor asks with some amusement.

Angel sits up on the floor and shrugs in response. "They sound creepy, like the Boogieman." Angel grins wide with a laugh, "Hey, maybe you and them will get along then, Smiles!"

Alastor only raises a brow at Angel's comment. If anything, the Demiurge will most likely piss him off like Lucifer does. But either way, he's deathly curious about you. What exactly can you do? Or rather, what can he exploit from you?

Lucifer groans and throws his head back against the armchair. "I don't know if we should ask the Demiurge for help. . ."

Charlie quickly shakes her head. "What, why? You said they can help, and they owe you a favor anyway! We have to ask, at least!"

Vaggie rests a hand on her lover's shoulder. "I'm not sure about this either, Charlie. This isn't your average favor exchange."

Charlie is about to argue more but closes her mouth. She bobs her side to side in acknowledgment. "Yeah. . .but Dad freed them from the tree, and helping us protect Hell from Heaven is sorta like freeing us, right?"

Now, Vaggie nods but sighs in exasperation. "Babe, we can't trust the maintainer of chaos who, might I remind you, brought evil into the world."

Lucifer, without a second thought, jumps to your defense, "Now, I wouldn't say they brought evil into the world. Evil already existed; human souls at the time couldn't comprehend evil. That's how they were originally designed. The Demiurge brought the ability for humans to understand evil, and I gave humans free will." He rubs his neck awkwardly and mumbles, "And I mean, it was their world before Heaven took control of it."

Husk scratches his chin in thought. "Sounds like they'd be eager to fight Heaven if that's the case."

Charlie claps her hands together in determination. "Exactly! I'm not for the idea of revenge, but they already aren't on good terms with Heaven. And it sounds like we- as, in Hell, are on neutral terms with them?"

Lucifer nods, but he's still not convinced he should summon you. . . Indeed, you've never shown malice towards Hell, but you've also never shown any signs of supporting Hell.

Well, you've shown respect for his family, which he is confident of. Lucifer can recall how each year, on his and Lilith's anniversary, they'd receive a generous gift from the Demiurge. They especially received a lot of gifts from you for the baby shower Lilith held for the nearing birth of Charlie.

Now that Lucifer is thinking about the Demiurge more, how'd you even know these dates? Neither he nor Lilith invited you to their wedding or baby shower, yet you still sent them gifts. Lucifer always assumed word had got around, and that's how you heard of it, but you were always so precise with the timing, too.

For instance, when their marriage started going South, instead of receiving one gift from the Demiurge on their anniversary for them to share, Lucifer and Lilith received their own uniquely catered gift. He was so emotionally distraught back then that he never realized how odd and borderline creepy that was. How could you have possibly known that Lilith and him weren't doing well? Not to mention how after they split apart, they received no gifts from you! How do you know all of this?! Are you hiding in his castle walls or something?!

Alastor knocks his cane against the wooden floorboards to gather everyone's attention. "I must agree with our dear Princess! We need extra assistance for what's to come, and it sounds like the Demiurge is the one for it."

Lucifer glares at Alastor. Well, now that he knows Alastor wants you to be summoned, Lucifer wants to summon you even less now!

"Plus!" Alastor continues with a stretching smile, "Our little King and the Demiurge are bound by a contract! They must fulfill their end of the bargain whether they want to or not."

"Preferably wanting to!" Charlie quickly adds, "Actually, only wanting to! We aren't forcing anyone to do anything they aren't comfortable doing!" Alastor subtly rolls his eyes.

Lucifer takes a breath in through his teeth at that realization. "Uhhhh, we didn't shake on it soooo. . ."

Vaggie immediately facepalms. "Are you serious right now?!"

Alastor's neck snaps at an angle toward Lucifer. "You didn't. . .Make an official deal? Then what makes you think this creature of chaos would willingly do you a favor?"

Lucifer stands from his chair with a glare and points an accusing finger at Alastor, "Excuse me for having more important things on my mind like, I don't know, getting out of Eden alive!"

Alastor's brows furrow together with irritation, and his smile sits tightly. Leaning onto his cane for stability, he bends forward to reach Lucifer's much shorter height. "You're excused."

Lucifer starts rolling up his sleeves. "Alright, you pompous prick-"

"Okay! That's enough!" Charlie quickly intervenes by leaping between the two demons with a nervous smile. "How about we finish this discussion tomorrow after thinking more about it? Sound fair?"

Reluctantly, Lucifer backs off, blowing air out his nostrils with pent-up anger. Alastor shows no further vexation as he straightens up, firmly placing his hands on his cane.

From the floor, Angel raised one of his hands. "So, question about the Demiurge."

Lucifer sighs with exhaustion but brings his full attention to Angel anyway. "Ask away; I'll answer the best I can."

Angel smirks as he asks, "What do they look like? Are they sexy?"

Husk and Vaggie groan at the question, not even surprised. At that, Husk stands from the couch and goes to the bar. He needs a drink—or maybe 12.

Lucifer, on the other hand, was genuinely pondering the question, the first half at least. "Uhh, from what I remember, the more humanoid form they take on have ears and a tail like a lion and golden scales on the edges of their face, around their eyes, and just scattered around their body, I think."

The term 'humanoid form' catches Alastor's attention. According to Lucifer, it sounds like the Demiurge is a creature that naturally doesn't look like a human and instead takes on that form, most likely for simplicity purposes. From the spiritual knowledge Alastor has gathered throughout his time in Hell, he's come to find that beings of higher ranks typically have a more abstract form. In that form, they are the most powerful, so to harness and control their magic, they take on a humanoid form.

"How interesting," Alastor hums, "A feline and a reptile."

Finally standing up, Angel whistles with a grin. "I've been with both, and I gotta tell ya, those scaley motherfu-"

Angel gets cut off by Vaggie punching him in the gut with the dull end of her spear. "Shut the fuck up, Angel!". Angel only laughs as he clutches his stomach.

Charlie winces and immediately but gently grabs her lover's elbows, making Vaggie lower her spear. "Okay, I think it's time to get ready for bed now."

The residents of the Hotel each do their nightly routine before ending the eventful day in their respective rooms. Though, with the most recent events taking place, they all find difficulty relaxing.

Can the Demiurge truly help them. . .?

They can only hope so.

Next ->

As you stare at him sitting across from you, you notice that he’s still bothered by the receptionist's comments, even if his always confident smile hides it well. He’s quite sensitive and gets demoralized easily due to his low self-esteem deep down, and you know this because you’re the only one who looks past the surface to see the real him, the depressed and confused man he really is. People think he’s always confident and flamboyant because of his charming face and personality, but you pierced his lonely heart and have become his intimate platonic soulmate, so to speak.

You think back to when you first met him, you were just assigned to the Ten Stonehearts’ department after working in other parts of the IPC for a few years. You didn’t think much when you first saw him, you were not the type of person to focus on appearance or physical attraction, and you just thought he was strange and nothing more. Eventually, you got assigned to work on a big data project with him, which brought you closer. You noticed his hesitancy to open up to you that he cleverly hid under a playful persona, and invited him to hang out with you, pitying seeing him so lonely. After a few friendly interactions, he shared some of his horrifying past with you, how he’d been neglected and through horrible wars and wasn’t sure what his feelings were. You made sure to comfort and reassure him while keeping this in mind, which he really liked and viewed you in a more trustworthy light.

And over the next year, the two of you got quite close. When you lost your house due to inflation, Aventurine graciously offered you to live with him. His apartment was luxurious and you felt quite comfortable there. As he got to know more about you, you could tell he wanted to be more than friends but held back and didn’t seem to think he was good enough for all that. When you started to feel similarly, you told him about your non romantic feelings, which seemed to light a fire in him of sorts. He felt the same, but wasn’t sure how to progress anything without feeling like it’s too romantic. You helped out first, by setting up boundaries and what you both wanted out of your relationship.

Soon, you both did more intimate things that felt so platonic and soulful, like cuddling each other while sleeping, helping each other with work and chores, doing personal health care for each other, and just talking about anything that comes to mind with no filter. For the first time in your life (and likely his as well), you felt alive and truly understood in your bond with him. After much debate, you both settled on “soulmate” to describe yourselves, thinking “partner” or “friend” gave the wrong implications. It was pure bliss and you didn’t mind if people didn’t get it or if it didn’t fit with what “romance” was, but he was affected more, however…

Due to his past, Aventurine struggled to adjust to your situation at first, despite internally feeling the same way you do. Due to stereotypes about Sigonians and his conventionally attractive face and personality, he felt pressured to appear romantic, with his flamboyant and playful speech frequently being mistaken for flirting, and people would often flirt with him unprompted. You remember one time where you and him were sitting on a bench together one day in a park, just enjoying the scenery and each other’s company. Suddenly, what appeared to be a young college student approached him, with a nervous smile on their face. They clasped their hands together and quietly stated: “Hey… I just wanted to say that you’re so cute and attractive…”

 You could feel Aventurine growing uncomfortable by this unexpected person’s arrival. Regardless, he smiled deviously and put on his confident mask once again. “My dear admirer, I appreciate the bet you’ve placed on me. But I’m not really into others in that way, darling…”, he said to them showily. Even though you knew what he meant, his common usage of terms like “dear” and “darling” would be misinterpreted by most. Of course, that happened and led to the person responding to it with, “Oh, I see… You’re playing hard to get, aren't you? No matter, I know what you REALLY mean, hottie!”, not backing down. You sense him shift and go speechless at this, realizing that it’s time for you to help him out. “No, he really means it. There’s nothing hidden about his words.”, you firmly explained, “We’re together, not romantically or platonically. People like us exist, and you have to respect that…”

At this succinct comment, the person hung their head lower and began to walk away while bitterly saying: “You can either be friends or lovers, there is no other option. I’m so sick of new age trendchasers like yourselves! I won’t respect confused idiots who can’t make up their minds…” Your fists clenched in frustration at that person’s aggressive remarks, unsure of why people have so much trouble understanding you and your soulmate’s feelings. That person turned so rude when they were rejected, and you wonder why so many romantic people do that and can’t accept it. The both of you didn’t do anything wrong, just minded your own business with each other. It’s unfair that he gets harassed because of how he looks and talks, and that you have to straddle the line between romantic and platonic constantly, since people judge you constantly either way, there’s no winning. In fact, relationship options aren’t a line, they’re a web and no clear options, and you and him know this.

For the rest of that day, you reassured Aventurine and told him that it wasn’t his fault and he shouldn’t have to change who he was for someone else. While he still felt a little down by the incident, his typical self returned. Since then, he got better at not caring what others think and expressing his feelings more effectively. He recently started to not mind if others didn’t understand him, he’s got you, after all. And all this complicated relationship stuff leads you back to today, Valentine’s Day and your birthday at your favorite restaurant.

Snapping your attention back to the present, you stare at Aventurine and smile at him, wanting to look happy on your birthday he’s spending time with you on. “Don’t worry about what other people say. Even if no one gets us, we have each other. We’re not missing anything by not being typical lovers, since we’re already the perfect fit for each other!”, you assure confidently, trying to match his usual tone. For the first time since leaving his home today, he gives off a true and genuinely confident smile and replies, “I suppose you’re right, sweetie. It’s taken me a long time to reach this conclusion, but I’m glad I had you to help me through it.”, while twirling the table’s silverware in his hand. You nod and sit up straighter in your chair. “Me too. I’m so happy you're my soulmate.”, you state truthfully, “I never thought I’d find someone who understands me and feels the same way as I do as much as you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, truly.” He adjusts his blonde hair and his grin grows more confident than it somehow already is. He takes your hand lovingly as he answers your kindness with: “In the gambling world, they call that a surprise jackpot. But you’re even better than that, the ultimate grand prize.”

You giggle uncontrollably and hold his hands with both of your own, no longer caring about how the other couples around might think. Today is your special day, no one else’s. Whether or not it’s Valentine’s Day is irrelevant, since your love is just as important as everyone else’s, and beyond the commercialization of the holiday. He then leans across the table and kisses you on the forehead before embracing you, and you do the same. You two really are true soulmates, and there’s nowhere else you’d rather be than right there with him and his loving self, forever true to your special bond.