#expressionless-fr

Oh noooo I hope you're feeling better!! Being sick is the worst...

And I am still doing drabbles, yes! So I may have written a little more than what I consider drabble length but uh... well I can't help myself when it comes to Barb, so.

Anyway, here's a bunch of fluff!

You were sick. You knew it and even though you were trying to hide it, you were sure everybody else knew it, too. You kept your sneezes as quiet as possible, burying your face in your elbow to muffle their sound. You refused to sniffle unless you absolutely had to. And you went into the bathroom to blow your nose in private. You tried everything you could to suppress the shivers that ran through your aching body, even while you kept wiping the sweat off of your forehead.

All day at RAD, you felt like despite the obvious signs, you were doing a decent job of powering through it. If anyone noticed, they didn't say anything.

Until you got home, that is.

You were surprised to find Barbatos already in your room.

He smiled at you, but there was a sternness behind it, too. "MC. You are in no condition to continue pushing yourself the way you have been. I have changed your bedsheets and washed your favorite pair of pajamas. Now I must insist that you get changed and get into bed so you can rest."

You frowned and folded your arms. "I don't need to get into bed, I'm fine," you said.

Barbatos walked over to you, removed his glove carefully, and put his hand on your forehead. You shivered a little, partly because you knew he would feel your fever and partly because his touch awakened a burst of butterflies in your stomach.

Barbatos let his hand descend to cup your cheek. "You cannot hide the evidence of your illness from me," he said. His voice was soft, the firmness of moments ago melting away into indulgence. "I know you feel that it is minor, but you will recover quicker if you rest now. If you will allow me to, I will take care of you until you are well again."

The tinge of heat that rose up in your cheeks wasn't something you could blame on your fever. You nodded.

When you were in your pajamas and snug beneath the covers, Barbatos brought you a tray of soup and tea. He sat beside your bed while you ate. On your bedside table he had already placed a supply of tissues and water.

"This is delicious," you said when you were halfway through the soup.

"It is a recipe of my own design," Barbatos said. "It incorporates all of the best nutrients a human would need to fight off a cold. The tea is also a special blend of Devildom herbs. They are safe for human consumption, of course, but they contain just enough magical properties to boost your immune system and speed your recovery."

You smiled at him. It was just like him to be so meticulous in what he served you.

"Isn't it a bad idea for you to be this close to me?" you asked. "What if I'm contagious? I don't want you to get sick, too."

"You needn't worry about me, MC," Barbatos said. "I am not capable of contracting an illness of this nature."

You didn't have the clarity of mind to question that statement further.

When you had finished eating, Barbatos cleared away the tray, then positioned himself back in his chair.

"Are you really just going to sit there all night?" you asked.

"I wish to be here should you need me," he said.

You sighed. You were feeling sleepy. The warmth of the food made you heavy and the softness of your mattress caused your body to relax. Your senses were dulled by the fever still running through you. Your eyelids were slowly descending, but you kept them open. You reached out a hand toward Barbatos and murmured his name.

Barbatos knew what you wanted without you needing to say it. You were still sitting up in bed and after removing his shoes, Barbatos sat beside you. Instead of laying back on your pillows, you rested your head on his chest. His arms enclosed you and your breathing synced with his. You fell asleep listening to the beating of his heart.

in my own HCs Lucifer prefers methods that aren't so messy. he also likes short sessions more than longer ones. deep inside he's still a softie pff- while Barbatos on the other hand loves messier methods, long-term types of torture, and even TBMC*.

also! another unrelated HC: Lucifer learned most of his ways from Barbatos - his original methods can't break any demon - more suitable for punishing a child than a criminal.

due to his pride Barbatos didn't make it so obvious, since it would make Lucifer defensive lol....dropping tiny hints here and there, perhaps even gifting him (or Satan) a few books. although Lucifer almost picked up on it-

*: all methods of torture are TBMC as far as I heard, but in this case I mean severe conditioning/programming- to get a perfect program you have to do it for more than a decade...... yeah I have this cool hc about secret workers in the castle,,, do u want to hear about them too,,,,

sorry for the hc dump and derailing I got excited :[

Lucifer probably does prefer shorter sessions than Barbatos, but maybe not quite for that reason - he's really only a softie to his loved ones, after all. But he is an extremely busy demon with a very long to-do list and wants to get through his tasks as efficiently as possible so he can relax, maybe listen to a cursed record or two. He's a sadist, he loves to torture and he's damn good at it, yeah, but he also has hobbies, and is making someone suffer longer really more worth his time than, say...a nap? He's so sleep deprived, someone please let this man nap. In fact, make him.

For Barb, by contrast, this is his hobby to relax after a long day of work - so yeah, he's taking his sweet time and relishing in every last second of screams he can draw out of a demon's mouth. Plus, when you can control space-time at will, a long torment with Barb takes, what, 10 seconds if he deems it so? And he has a bit more patience with these things than Lucifer, so stretching out long-term "projects" is quite fun for him.

As cute as it is to imagine Barbatos secretly guiding and teaching Lucifer, though, we don't think Lucifer learned his torturing ways from him. In the Celestial Realm, he was already known as a sadist, and while the punishments he does to his brothers are basically just to get children to behave, he's not dangling true enemies of the state from the ceiling. Considering how shady and secretive the Celestial Realm acts towards the Devildom even now in supposed peace, torturing demon prisoners of war back when the two realms were actively in constant conflict was probably not out of the question, and Lucifer, as formerly the top angel, would undoubtedly have been one of the most intimidating to encounter there too. But Celestial Realm torture isn't about delighting in the target's pain; it's about getting usable results. By contrast, Barb's very much demonic attitude towards torture is all about the pleasure he himself gets from doing it, which is something Lucifer has never been as interested in.

So, Lucifer mostly gets the ones they need to break quick - cases that are urgent, things that are more time-sensitive. And for the ones who take a more delicate touch, or who they can take their time on...those are for Barbatos. And those ones will never recover.

For a couple of examples of how we've written their respective approaches to torture in the past (please heed all content warnings): Lucifer:

Melody of Revenge

Lucifer's section in this post

Barbatos:

A Peaceful Day in the Devildom

“Hrrm. Perhaps. Why, are you looking to apply?”

in the deal breakers you said as long as their lover is okay with the downfall of humanity then it's fine with him then in the s/o death there was "what's the reason of the world living when his mortal is not there."

I know you meant from rage and like that but please. pLEAe see it from my view jskskjs

and it it just gave me this cute idea that he's all like "I'll destroy humanity" and bla bla bla and then he doesn't because his little human's heart would break.

(it's me, I'm the little human. and this is stupid but idc we love all Zalgos here and soft Zal counts too.)

FHDSKLHFDLKHF that's an image in my head now actually. soft zalgo. i like that, i like that a lot.

just...

zalgo, genuinely plotting the demise of humanity and wreaking havoc on the poor souls that come into contact with him, all without a care in the world. he enjoys tormenting people, and he doesn't think he'll ever stop.

but then he meets this random little human that catches his attention and he honestly probably doesn't think much of it at first but. but then this little human just keeps showing up, even when he's possessing random people and shit and so naturally he's a little curious.

it was a little curiosity, one that he assumed would dissipate because i mean like c'mon he's zalgo. no way a human of all things will keep his interest. but surprise! this human does! he's not sure why, there's just something about them that just... he doesn't understand, but he likes being around them.

this little human is okay. this one will be safe from the hell he plans to drag up to earth.

but then the little human just.

can you maybe not destroy humanity? please? for me? i mean like... at least while i'm alive? i kinda like humanity, so...

and he's just like fuck.

ok but you know how in a cool whumpy scene a character smokes. now imagine. a box of these (and other sweet things perhaps) in his dungeon because he doesn't enjoy smoking just wants to be a dramatic bastard. no you can not change my mind

You know, I think Barbatos acting silly when he's by himself is really dang cute. So I hope he does lol.

I agree that he likely wouldn't enjoy smoking. Too toxic! This guy likes subtle flavors like tea and sweet flavors like pastries. So I think if he was gonna do something along these lines, those would be the perfect choice.