#lesson 71

Lance held the suspicious letter in his hands. There was a slight tingle of magic to it, but nothing more too severe. In fact, it made him feel a bit warm and fuzzy from where he was holding it. It was almost like a burst of happiness in his fingertips. He tilted his head; it was a pleasant feeling. It couldn’t be anything bad, could it? His finger slipped under the wax seal.

“Lance, stop!” Lance snapped his attention away from the letter to Barbatos who reached out for the envelope. As the butler tore it from him, the wax seal broke free. A burst of electricity shot from the letter and struck Barbatos. Lance’s heart nearly stopped.

“Barbatos?” he asked quietly, almost too stunned to do anything. He started to shake out of terror that something could have happened to the demon. He toned out everything else going on. “Barbatos, are you okay?”

Barbatos grew somewhat closer to the human, a small smile forming on his lips. “Yes, not to worry. I’m completely fine.”

Lance examined him for any sign of injury, not completely believing him. His hands still shook as Barbatos took them in his own. He stepped closer and placed the human’s hands over his heart as he gazed down at them.

“Um, are you sure about that…? Because despite the super-nonchalant look on your face, it seems like you’re standing really close to Lance right now!” Lance nodded in agreement to Leviathan. His heart hammered wildly in his chest, but he made no move to step away from Barbatos.

Barbatos chuckled, he leaned forward, his nose nearly brushing up against Lance. “Am I?”

"Yes! Way too close! Get away from Lance!” Leviathan yelled.

Lance gripped onto Barbatos’s hands, not letting the demon step away even if he wanted to. Barbatos chuckled at Lance’s reaction as he shook his head at Leviathan. “Hmmm, I’m afraid I’d rather not do that. I find the idea of Lance’s side…” Barbatos paused as he moved his lips towards Lance’s cheeks, they grazed his skin as he spoke. “Unappealing.” Lance felt his cheeks heat under the butler’s attention. He could barely hear anything over the sound of his heart.

Barbatos removed his hands from holding onto Lance, and instead opted to wrapping his arms just below his rib cage. He pulled Lance flush against his own body and nuzzled his face into Lance’s neck. Lance clutched onto the front of Barbatos’s jacket and hid his face, concealing the smile he couldn’t stop.

--

He felt his blood run cold. Barbatos was only acting like he was in love with him because of the curse. Lance pulled away from the demon, shame crawled up his back as he kept this going for far too long. Blinded by the joy of Barbatos’s affection towards him, he completely forgot about the curse.

“Barbatos,” Lance started as he tried to keep his voice even. It broke as he tried to not cry. Out of guilt or disappointment, he wasn’t sure. “I’m so sorry.” He closed his eyes and lifted the enchantment before Barbatos could reach out to him. His eyes fluttered open. He felt cold from the lack of Barbatos’s presence, but he refused to look at the butler.

“Lance, you’ve been able to break the spell all along?! Or why didn’t ya do that to begin with?!” Lance remained silent at Mammon’s questioning.

“Barbatos, are you free of the enchantment?” Luke asked.

“Yes. I am, thankfully.” Lance winced at Barbatos’s words. Barbatos was thankful he was no longer in love with him. Asmo watched Lance’s reactions carefully and frowned. “Lance, I must say, Mammon has a point. I would have appreciated it if you hadn’t waited quite so long to break the enchantment.”

Lance opened his mouth to say something. It was painful. He stepped back and hung his head. “I…I’m sorry. I got to caught up in it…I’m so sorry. I was selfish. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” He turned away as he felt tears stinging at his eyes.

--

Lance stood in the detention room, completely stiff. His bottom lip trembled. He’s never gotten detention before. Hell, he’s almost never been in trouble before. Even when he was in trouble, it was when he was just a little kid. Just the idea of getting in trouble was enough to make him panic and think that the world was ending.

And then Barbatos was overseeing the detention. The world was ending. It felt like he was going to die. He was having a panic attack as he stood there in agonizing silence. This was why he was never late. Because if he was ever late, this is what happened. The world would end.

He stood next to Simeon as he wrote on the chalkboard. After twenty minutes of non-stop writing, his wrist was screaming at him to stop. The blood vessels had burst. He ignored the pain. He deserved the pain – for everything that had happened that day. He deserved it for getting covered in blood. He deserved it for prolonging the curse on Barbatos. He deserved it for being late.

“Lance?” Barbatos interrupted Lance’s writing. “What are you writing?”

Lance paused and silently moved to the side. Barbatos tilted his head. “I deserve this?” Barbatos read allowed with a frown. His eyes trailed to the bit of skin exposed on Lance’s wrist to avoid getting chalk on his clothes. It was obvious blood was starting to spread under the skin. He stepped forward, but stopped when Lance moved away. “Isn’t that painful? The punishment is not supposed to hurt.”