9 months until the wedding…
Lilith glanced in the direction of her bedroom window as she lightly paced back and forth in front of her bed, her horns and tails still out.
"You got my memo about how many people are meant to be coming, right?" she asked, not looking in the direction of the guy she was speaking to. "I do remember leaving it on your bed, and Ophis tells me you WERE there at the time."
"Y-yeah…" Raylix's voice met her ears, from the bed. "I saw it. Everyone in… in the URF, right?"
"Right." Lilith replied. "Though that's not accounting for anyone that might join the faction in the months between now and our day… but to be honest, that shouldn't impact the numbers too much."
A noise mixed between a shuddering gasp and a moan sounded from the bed, as Lilith turned around again.
"No, y-yeah." Raylix gulped, as Lilith continued to look out the window, running her tongue over her teeth as she thought. "We've got a lot of members already… a few more hundred won't impact the numbers too much."
"Mmhmm." Lilith hummed. "And with everyone among us right now coming either way, there's only one place we can feasibly hold the ceremony if we're going to accommodate everyone: the centre of Hebeth."
"Makes s-sense."
Lilith continued, smirking.
"Guess everyone's eager to see me remarry. Especially when my 'wedding' with that bastard Lucifer is what every big wedding in Hell gets compared to, unfortunately."
She let out a slow breath.
"Anyway… once we've picked out a date, I need you to have a chat with Katerea about clearing the city centre surrounding whichever date we come up with." she continued. "So we can easily get everything relating to the venue itself sorted out without much fuss. Security, logistics, relocating things temporarily, that kind of thing."
She turned, finally, to Raylix, who was half-lying half-sitting on the bed and writhing slightly. His pants were pulled down around his ankles, and one of Lilith's tails was wrapped securely around his cock and stroking at a somewhat quick pace, which she'd been doing pretty much ever since she'd dragged him back to her room.
Grinning at the sight of him squirming on their bed, she slowly advanced on him, slowly upping the pace of which she worked her tailjob on him as she did so. Raylix was forced to lean back further and further as she came towards him, to the point that he was lying back flat on the bed as she loomed over him, assured grin etched on her face above him and one of her tails STILL working its magic on him further down. In fact, she was working that magic on him a little TOO well…
"Think you can do that for me, Raylix?"
Raylix let out a shaky breath, opening his mouth to respond, and then abruptly sucked in a breath as- just at the right time- Lilith's tail tightened around him and began stroking much faster than it had been a second or so ago.
"I thiiiin- shiiiiit… okay. Yeah… okay."
He'd came. Under quite literally nothing but one of Lilith's tails.
Lilith's grin widened as she glanced down at the mess she'd made of her fiancé, before removing her tail from his cock and lifting the end of it up to her face. Gazing down into Raylix's eyes all the while, she slowly- ever so slowly and seductively- dragged her tongue across her own tail to lap up her lover's spunk, satisfaction practically dancing in her eyes as she did so.
"Mm~ good boy."
6 months until the wedding…
"Hey, Malech?"
From his spot on the training field, surrounded by members of the URF Elite Company that had been running drills for the past five hours, Malech looked up. As a couple of the younger Devils rushed past him, clearly eager to get themselves cleaned up and to relax for the rest of the day before anyone- probably him- decided that the training wasn't over yet, Raylix appeared through a transportation-circle, stretching and running a hand through his hair.
"Morning." Malech called, dismissing the ninety-or-so remaining figures of the URF Elite Co. with a wave of his hand. The lot of them, almost immediately, took the opportunity to leave as fast as possible, before the veteran Devil could change his mind.
Raylix approached, watching everyone leaving within the span of several seconds until he and Malech were alone.
"Good session?"
"Good session." Malech replied, stretching a bit as he looked Raylix up and down. "Things are coming along well. Do you need the Company for something?"
Raylix let out a chuckle.
"No, not today. It's nothing like that." He replied. "I just wanted to ask you something, as a matter of fact. About… about the wedding."
Malech raised an eyebrow.
"Things gone off the rails that quickly between you and Lilith, huh? It's only been three months since you started planning."
Raylix blinked, then let out a short, loud laugh rather than just a chuckle.
"No, man, it's nothing like that. It's all good on the planning front… when I can get a word in edgeways."
Malech chuckled, himself, as he summoned a towel to his hand via magic-circle and began rubbing at his head.
"So, what's up, then?"
"I wanted to ask…" Raylix took a breath, "if you'd be my best man."
Malech stopped towelling his face, looking back at Raylix for a second. He blinked once… then continued.
"Sure." He replied. "Took you long enough."
Raylix blinked, again.
"Alright. That quickly, huh?"
Malech rested his towel on his arm, a smile crossing his face as he looked back at Raylix.
"I figured it was a matter of time before you got around to asking." He replied. "Because, let's face it, you don't have any other serious options for that role. No-one in the Company you know well enough, and Shalba and Creuserey are probably more likely to try and stab you on the altar than be happy you're getting married to the very woman that swiped their faction out from under them."
"Said woman would probably feed them their own hearts if they tried." Raylix replied, snorting before his face shifted into something more sheepish. "And… sorry for taking so long to get around to asking. Lilith's been running this whole planning operation like it's a damn Great War campaign, I can barely keep up.
Malech smiled, shaking his head and returning to towelling his face.
"I can imagine." He replied.
"And I thought simply having to approve or disapprove everything that went into mine and Ruvella's wedding was exhausting." Raylix sighed. "But at the same time…"
He shrugged.
"You're okay with it?" Malech asked.
Raylix nodded.
"I think I am. Lilith's rushing around the place at the speed of light overseeing everything, but she's not, you know, worried or stressed about it. On the contrary, she seems happy to do it. As much the goddess-tier seductive GILF that she presents herself as, and utter demon that she is in bed-"
"I'm assuming you mean that both literally and metaphorically?" Malech asked, his smile widening.
"Shut up." Raylix replied. "And trust me, I love that about her-"
"Oh, I bet you do, cub."
"SHUT UP." Raylix repeated, slightly louder this time… though Malech noticed a grin forming on the former Gremory Heir's face. "Point is, when it comes to actual romantic stuff like this? She's got to be a complete virgin, given what she's been through before Lucifer died."
Malech sucked in a breath, nodding.
"Yeah." He admitted, after a moment. "That'd explain quite a lot, actually."
He glanced sideways at Raylix.
"That's probably playing into how quickly you rolled over on her taking the lead in planning your wedding."
Raylix shrugged.
"She's happy to do it." He replied. "So, I'll try not to get too much in her way."
Malech let out a breath through his nose, nodding again.
"Speaking of Lilith, though," he continued. "I'm curious. Who's she going with for bridesmaids? You've got to admit, she's got enough women to start a small army, compared to you just having… me."
Raylix blinked, before nodding.
"True, she does." He replied. "Hikari, Kurumi and Eve are the obvious ones, Katerea and Irene too, though Katerea might consider it an extra burden, considering how she's running the URF practically solo. And ever since I gave Cinder those dark chains via Diabolic Decimation she's taken some interest in her development. And Esdeath and Tamamo… it'd be rude to leave them out, wouldn't it?"
Malech nodded.
"Yeah. Small army." He remarked. "So…?"
Raylix shrugged.
"Probably all of them."
1994
3 months until the wedding…
"Oh, you look absolutely divine in that silhouette, Madame."
Lilith resisted the urge to giggle at the irony of that statement, as she glanced at herself in the mirror. Attendants of the wedding boutique in Bordeaux that she'd travelled to today fluttered around her with the nervous energy that was likely only reserved for the royalty, the rich, or the incredibly dangerous.
Which, in fairness, wasn't inaccurate when it came to her. At all.
She could only imagine how this would have gone had she not elected to put a glamour on today. One that sanded down the inhuman edges of her beauty into something a bit more… manageable, for everyone that even glanced in her direction. What would that be, then, an anti-glamour?
Whatever. Point being, she still looked utterly gorgeous. When she'd consulted a sleepy Raylix on how she looked before she'd headed out…
"Not your usual fifteen out of ten, but still a ten."
She couldn't have put it better herself. Especially not when judging by the effect she was having on the staff that surrounded her: the staring, the flushed cheeks, the occasional swallowed breath whenever she smiled in the general direction of one of them.
It was all so cute, she thought. She found herself somewhat reminded of Raylix, during the first few times in his life that they'd crossed paths. She almost missed how that reaction from him whenever she entered a room had dwindled- and almost entirely disappeared- but she supposed that just came with the territory of the two of them being around each other for longer and longer.
Lilith turned back to the mirror, refocused on her reflection and examined the current dress draped over her body. A pristine number, stark-white, elegant and flowing.
"Pretty." She murmured. "Very. But… hm. I think I want to show off a bit more than this one really does."
The attendants surrounding her nodded rapidly, all eager to agree with whatever she'd said.
"Of course, Madame."
"We have many other options-"
"Perhaps something with a more dramatic neckline?"
Lilith's smile sharpened, slightly.
"Now you're talking."
It took a while for Lilith to settle on something that fully worked for her. All the dresses that she tried on throughout the morning and early afternoon were nice- some incredibly so- in one way or other, but there was always something about each one that held it back from being perfect for her.
One's neckline was too ridiculously low, to the point that one of her breasts was in serious danger of popping out of the thing entirely… yeah, she'd rather THAT not happen during the ceremony, even with the dress magically corrected to match her real un-anti-glamoured figure.
One was just… way too lacy. She looked more like a decorative curtain than anything else.
One had sent a shiver up her spine at how it reminded her of the number that Lucifer had forced her into when he'd made her marry him, millennia ago. It wasn't anyone's fault, of course, but after all the hell she'd been through with him, she felt like she had a right to NOT be reminded of that horror.
She was more than happy to get that one off in a hurry.
But several dresses later, she slipped into one that also gave her pause, but for all the right reasons this time.
Even with the glamour suppressing her actual proportions, it hugged her body perfectly. The fabric flowed elegantly down her form while still leaving enough shape and contour to feel flattering, rather than stuffy like a couple of the others she'd tried on today.
And of course, some boob and leg to show off as well. Because she personally liked it.
Overall… very her.
Lilith tilted her head slightly as she gave herself a once-over in the mirror. She knew full-well that magical adjustments to certain parts of the dress would be needed, alterations to have it fit her real fifteen-out-of-ten body rather than her glamoured ten-out-of-ten form, but those were the kinds of spells she could do in her sleep.
"I like this one." She announced, turning around. "I'll have an order of this one."
The attendants all visibly relaxed.
"Excellent choice, Madame."
"It complements you wonderfully!"
Lilith smiled, smoothing a hand along the fabric, before a thought occurred to her.
She glanced at one of the attendants as they approached.
1 month until the wedding…
Raylix had known for a while that Lilith's imagination could be… a lot to handle.
Not in the combat sense, as far as he'd personally experienced. Though that was probably true.
Not even in the 'Queen of the Lilim' sense. Though he had a feeling that was true, too.
But in the bedroom sense.
He didn't know if Lilith had just had a stressful day, or if she just felt particularly in the mood tonight, but when she'd practically cornered him while grabbing dinner for himself, told him in no uncertain terms that he was coming up to their room once he was done eating, he couldn't have predicted how the next couple of hours would have gone.
So many magical restraints, sensory spells, ropes, a sex toy collection that was probably centuries old, at least three enchantments that Raylix was fairly certain had never been intended for sexual purposes, and more positions than he could count, all adding up into one of the most intense experiences of his entire life.
And the worst- or best, depending on one's point of view- part was that he'd loved every goddamn second of it.
"…Have I ever told you," Raylix muttered, uncharacteristically weakly from where he lay, sprawled on his side of the bed, stark-naked and sweaty with the sheets thrown off his body as he glanced over at Lilith "How much I both love and fear the fact you have so much… experience?"
He sucked in a raspy breath, glanced over at the bedside table, and quickly grabbed at the drink that Adam had probably left there while he and Lilith were… busy. Lilith- her horns and tails out- looking very much like she could go a round or two more than she'd decided to stop at, took a gulp from her wine-glass and glanced over at Raylix, letting out a giggle.
"That might have come up a couple of times, yes." She replied. "But I think after our first night together after we reformed the URF into what it is now, you proved you can handle whatever I throw at you."
Raylix let out a weak chuckle as he downed his whiskey-glass in one go.
"That's gonna get tested on our wedding night, isn't it?" he asked.
Lilith shrugged, and took another sip from her glass before setting it down.
"Maybe."
Pulling herself up into a sitting position on her side of the bed, she draped one hand against Raylix's naked chest, lazily traced circles against it as she opened a magic-circle with the other, pulling a glossy-looking magazine out of it and laying it out across her lap.
Raylix blinked, glancing over when he heard the sound of it dropping down.
"That is…?"
"Honeymoon ideas." Lilith replied, flipping it open and using one of her tails to turn pages for her. "Picked it up in Bordeaux a while back. Figured it could be good to figure out what we want, in case we decide to go through with having one."
Raylix let out a quiet "Uh-huh", lying back and enjoying Lilith's hand gently rubbing his chest. Somehow, he figured she'd already decided she wanted a honeymoon, and was just waiting to hear him say that he was okay with it too.
He'd made to close his eyes, but they snapped open again when he felt something else slipping across his lower torso… down towards his crotch.
Looking down, he let out a strained laugh as he saw another of Lilith's tails wrapping itself around the base of his cock. In the half-hour or so since his fiancée had finished with him, it had softened a bit from the diamond-hard state it was usually in whenever Raylix found himself in Lilith's presence.
"Come on, Lil." He muttered, glancing over at her… and by extension, the magazine she was flipping through. "You're doing this on purpose."
Lilith glanced over at him, a sweet smile crossing her face that only widened at Raylix's mixed amused/strained/aroused expression.
"I do EVERYTHING on purpose, my dear Ray." She replied, before shifting the magazine so it was between the pair of them. "Anyway, you think this place looks good?"
Raylix looked over, where the magazine was open to a double-page spread of an absurdly luxurious tropical resort, in some country that he could barely pronounce. Boasted top access to white beaches, crystal-clear ocean water, private villas, definitely the kind of place only the obscenely rich could even consider visiting.
Which, considering Lilith's net worth as the literal Queen of the Lilim…
"Looks fancy."
"Yeah, I thought so too." Lilith replied, nodding as her tail, from its position wrapped around Raylix's cock as it was, began slowly moving up and down his softened shaft.
Raylix exhaled through his nose at the sensation, glaring weakly at his fiancée- and her growing smirk- for a second before reaching over and flipping a couple of pages of the magazine.
"Fine, why not." He muttered, shifting himself slightly closer to Lilith. "Let's do it."
Lilith's smile widened instantly as she shifted the magazine back up onto her lap, adjusting the position of her tail around Raylix's cock in line with how he moved.
"I knew I could convince you, love." She remarked, electing to ignore said love's rolled eyes as she looked down at the resort that he'd flicked to. "Ooh, this one's on its own island."
2 weeks until the wedding…
"Even though I only found out how deep our bond truly… nah."
Raylix flicked his fingers, causing the page in front of him- with some brief handwritten words scribbled onto it- to disappear in a puff of smoke and a fresh, blank page to appear in its place. Picking up the pen he'd dropped a moment ago from the floor, he rested the tip against the page without moving it for a second, before laying it down on the desk and leaning back in his chair, staring blankly up at the ceiling of his room.
"How the hell do humans do this wedding vow shit?" he muttered to the room at large.
He felt really stupid. This should've been easy. He knew how he felt about Lilith… but if that had been the extent of his current issues he'd have gotten this sorted within half an hour, tops! Instead, he was still sitting at his desk over two hours later, a hundred discarded attempts at potential vows deep!
The issue was more… condensing the aforementioned feelings, if anything. It was a balancing act that he just couldn't get right: try to keep things concise, it felt like he was underselling it and being shallow. Try to elaborate properly, end up rambling for minutes on end like a lovestruck idiot incapable of shutting the non-literal hell up.
But before he could start the next draft of his wedding vows to Lilith, which would probably join the last… however many, in meeting a flaming end within the next couple of minutes, there was a knock at his bedroom door. Taking a breath, Raylix waved a hand in the direction of the door without even looking at it. It unlocked and swung open slightly after a couple of seconds, allowing Malech to poke his head inside.
"I thought I'd find you in here." He remarked, by way of evening greeting.
Raylix let out a short breath through his nose as he looked over at his best man.
"If you're about to come at me with some last-minute wedding-planning shit, Malech… I'm really not in the mood right now."
"Oh, no." Malech shook his head, prodding the door behind him with his foot to close it. "I wouldn't do that to you, not this close to your day." He raised an eyebrow. "And not when you're clearly busy."
Raylix groaned, leaning back in his chair again.
"How the hell do humans do this wedding vows shit?" he asked, more to Malech specifically than just to himself earlier. "I just want to… ugh."
Malech sank down onto Raylix's bed, letting out a chuckle.
"Let me see?"
Raylix remained silent and still for a couple of seconds, before he rested one hand on his temple, the other on the blank page in front of him, and magically recreated his last attempt at writing his wedding vows, before handing the page over to Malech. He took it, and only managed to scan past the first couple of lines before letting out a snort.
"Oh my Satan, you are down HORRENDOUS."
Raylix glared, pointing at the paper in Malech's hand to set it alight, before adjusting his position in his chair.
"I'm just trying to sound sincere."
"You sounded like a poet who's surviving on nothing but sex, alcohol and double-concentrate spite." Malech replied, bluntly. "Though at least one of those things are responsible for at least part of your actions over the last few years, so you probably know all about those things."
Raylix could only respond by half-heartedly raising a middle finger in his direction, before letting out a breath. Malech chuckled to himself at his own remark, before fixing Raylix with another look.
"…You nervous?"
Raylix blinked, returned the look for a couple of seconds, then shrugged.
"A bit."
"Figures." Malech replied, nodding. "Though you've been through this before, haven't you?"
Raylix nodded, again.
"Yeah. Ruvella." He answered, turning his chair around to face Malech before leaning forward. "But never as in-depth as this time around. Our parents handled most of the planning for our engagement, and Ruvella was definitely more involved in wedding-planning out of the two of us. All I did was say yes to most of the decisions they all made, and that was only because I was mentally…"
He raised a closed fist to his head, before making an explosion-motion with his hand while blowing a raspberry.
"While here, you're actually more involved." Malech surmised. "Or at least as involved as you'd actually like to be."
Raylix nodded.
"It's not like I didn't care about Ruvella…" he began, before shaking his head. "Okay, that's a bit of a lie. I didn't have the capacity to care about… well, anything to do with the Gremory Clan back then, but that wasn't her fault. Honestly, among all the noble Devils I've met, she was the nicest- low bar to clear, I know- but still." He exhaled, quietly. "Point being, my engagement with her was a path that got set out for me by our families, while with Lilith… I'm setting it out for myself. So yeah, I'm a bit nervous about that."
Malech nodded back.
"That I can understand." He replied. "You… you've wanted her for a long time."
Raylix let out a quiet breath, nodding.
"And I mean REALLY wanted her." Malech continued. "Idolised her. Probably in the same way others want Hathor or Aphrodite."
"Except Lilith doesn't have divine AIDs." Raylix countered, half-jokingly. "But… yeah, you won't catch me denying it. Loved her in one way or another for my whole life, pretty much."
Malech let out a snort, before his gaze sharpened slightly.
"So, with you being so close with tying the knot with the woman of your dreams, I feel like I've got to ask now: are you marrying her now because you still do…"
Raylix blinked once.
"…or have you actually thought about it?"
The only sound in Raylix's bedroom for the next few seconds after Malech's question were Raylix's fingers tapping against the edge of his desk. He didn't speak at first, not immediately.
When his fingers eventually stilled, silence reigned over the bedroom for several more seconds. Malech opened his mouth to repeat the question, but before sound could escape his throat, Raylix finally spoke up.
"I idolised her."
Malech closed his mouth, allowing him to continue.
"I guess I still do." Raylix continued. "Only to a degree though, but… it's Lilith. I don't think I'm ever gonna NOT idolise her. But…"
Raylix leaned back in his chair, his eyes shifting away from Malech, and now out of his bedroom window across Hebeth's skyline.
"That didn't play into why I asked her to marry me, though. I only asked after I learned more about her, who she really is under what I first fell in love with."
His voice was softer now, a touch more thoughtful than Malech had ever heard him.
"All the shit she's been through before we… properly, met," he shook his head once. "Gave me a hell of a lot of perspective once I heard all of that from her."
Malech didn't respond. His expression remained neutral as he allowed Raylix to continue on.
"Not gonna lie, though, it DID kill that 'flawless demonic sex goddess' picture I had of her in my head a bit. But when I learned all of that about her, got to know her better? What she wants to do with the world going forward, the kind of future she's trying to build?"
A small breath escaped Raylix.
"That's the woman I proposed to, and honestly… I think I prefer her to the her I had up here for centuries on end."
He tapped at his forehead a couple of times.
"She might not be flawless, but she's perfect, at least for me." He remarked. "And I like to think I'm much better off having waited to pop the question than if I only cared about the idea of her, and done it immediately."
Silence reigned over the bedroom once again, before Malech closed his eyes and slowly nodded, speaking for the first time in a couple of minutes.
"Alright. I think I can accept that answer."
Raylix smirked, faintly.
"Glad you approve."
"You sound relieved."
"I'm writing freaking wedding vows, voluntarily." Raylix deadpanned. "It's a time for firsts all around."
That got a small, quiet laugh out of the older Devil, before his expression settled again.
"It has been for a bit, I'd say." He replied. "You've changed, too. You used to settle on courses of action pretty quickly… violently so, sometimes."
He leaned forward from his spot on Raylix's bed, fixing him with another meaningful look.
"Like detonating your entire old life."
Raylix grimaced, faintly.
"Yeah, alright. Fair."
Malech's tone remained calm.
"Back then, you didn't even know where you wanted to go once you decided you couldn't stay with the Gremory Clan anymore, did you?"
Raylix shook his head, chuckling.
"Nope." He admitted. "It was only after I met you post-being released from my grounding that the Old Satan Faction became an option. It was way before that that I'd mentally checked out from all that noble shit. And now…"
He paused, momentarily, before continuing.
"I try to at least consider what comes after the decision… sometimes."
Malech hummed.
"That's progress, I suppose."
"It's a process." Raylix retorted. "Blame my crazy genes for giving me the actual power to solve most of my problems by punching my way through."
"Or slashing." Malech replied. "Though I doubt getting with the woman of your dreams is quite something that you could've punched or slashed your way into."
A faint smirk tugged at Raylix's lips.
"Not with that attitude." He remarked half-jokingly, before letting out a breath. "But yeah, you're probably right. If circumstances were even slightly different, I can see things with Lilith changing… drastically."
"You'd have proposed immediately?"
Raylix nodded.
"If I hadn't been as tunnel-visioned as I was on… on bringing Sabemka and Tomosei back with the Sephiroth Graal," he exhaled through his nose, briefly rubbing at his eyes with one hand. "Or if I hadn't been as deep in my own head about never wanting to feel like I did the night that they died…"
He trailed off briefly, a grimace crossing his face before he shook his head.
"I'd have absolutely rushed it. And caught a bullet or two from Kurumi for it."
"How about if you'd never even joined the Old Satan Faction?" Malech asked. "Remove me from the equation entirely for a second, you never learn that the Old Satan Faction were even an option and you drop everything to get out of the Gremory Clan at the first chance you get… say you run into Lilith at that point?"
Raylix paused for a heartbeat, before barking out a soft, humourless laugh.
"Oh, you bet your ass I would've been falling over myself to try." He replied. "And caught a fist from Hikari for it."
Back then, he'd been angry. Hollowed out. Mentally knocked on his ass by Sabemka and Tomosei's sudden deaths, and with the entire devil aristocracy unwilling to lend him a hand to pull himself back up, desperate to find something- ANYTHING- to latch onto in its place. And if the Old Satan Faction hadn't been an option, if Lilith became available as an immediate one… Raylix knew in his heart of hearts that he would've done his utmost to connect himself to her, and never let go.
"That would've been funny to see, I can't lie." Malech replied. "You catching a fist from Hikari, that is."
"Just come to the training room, you'll probably get to see it." Raylix retorted. "Maybe after mine and Lilith's honeymoon, though."
Malech hummed, nodding slowly.
Raylix let out a breath, stretching his arms a bit and leaning back in his chair, staring at the ceiling again. Silence passed between the two Devils for a moment, before Malech spoke once more.
"…Do you regret it? …Getting out of the Gremory Clan?"
Raylix quickly sat back up, visibly faltering a little bit as he took in the question.
It might have been unnoticeable to most other Devils if they were looking at him at that moment, but Malech was far from other Devils. He noticed his eyes shifting downward slightly, his jaw tightening for a fraction of a second before relaxing again.
…
A thoughtful expression slowly came across Raylix's face as the silence stretched out between them, as he seemed to seriously consider it.
But Malech didn't push, he knew it was a question that carried a potentially complicated answer, definitely not the kind that could be spat out off-the-cuff.
…
It took Raylix a couple of minutes of that seeming consideration before he opened his mouth again… and closed it.
About thirty seconds later, he opened it again, and spoke slowly.
…
"…Yes."
Malech blinked, his expression not changing.
"S-sometimes." Raylix clarified, raising a hand to his chest. "It's- it's easy to want to disregard everything about my life before leaving, cleanly separate myself-" he unconsciously clenched at the t-shirt he was wearing for a second before his hand dropped again "-into before I left and after. To simply call my life now good, and my life before bad. But…"
He shook his head, glancing down at the floor momentarily.
"It's not that simple."
His gaze shifted back up.
"From when they died, to when I left," he continued, quietly. "Things with my family were… not great. Hell, it wouldn't be inaccurate to call them quite bad, overall. But everything before that night, at mine and Ruvella's engagement party? Nothing but good times."
He fell silent again, his mind casting itself back.
Back to the rare moments that Sirzechs could get time off of work as the Satan Lucifer, and the two would share food, drink and the occasional spar, usually with Grayfia watching semi-approvingly from the background. Hell,
Back to learning about the ins and outs of the new noble society that what remained of the Devil Pillar Clans had created for themselves, with the help of Zeoticus and Venelana… even if he needed some extra help, they'd always been patient when it came to teaching him.
Back to the endless days, weeks, months, years of exploring the demonic and human realms with Sabemka and Tomosei, simply doing as their hearts desired as everything slowly shifted around them. It really felt like that halcyon period would simply stretch on forever… before it came crashing down at the hands of the business end of a couple of Fallen Angels' light-spears.
An entire life. That had crumbled to rubble at the business end of a couple of Fallen Angels' life-spears, before Raylix had walked out of the Gremory Castle for the last time and detonated said rubble.
"I can hate how things ended…" he murmured. "Without pretending everything that happened was just as miserable."
Malech watched him silently for a moment longer, his expression impassive, before he gave a slow nod.
"I see."
Raylix didn't reply immediately, though it looked like he wanted to. Swallowing and remaining silent for a few more seconds, he looked to collect himself before continuing.
"And that's not even getting into the people that got hurt, by my disappearing into the night." He admitted, quietly. "Who never even crossed my mind, at the time."
"Your family?"
"Not just them." Raylix shook his head. "I was more thinking along the lines of… of Ruvella."
Malech nodded.
"Ahh…"
"She didn't do anything wrong, that everyone else in that rotten aristocracy was also doing." Raylix remarked. "As far as the whole engagement was concerned? She was completely innocent, in all of it. Loyal. Patient. Even willing to sleep with me on occasion, when my heart was the furthest thing from in it. Much better fiancée than I deserved, especially by the end… and not just her."
Malech listened, silently. It was clear Raylix had had this on his mind for a while.
"My maids…" the former Gremory Heir continued. "The ones that I'd picked out around that time, trusted to keep me happy in every sense of the word, and Zest, Hannah, Narberal and Rheliesh, they did it all perfectly for so long… and then one day I just vanished. Never to be seen again."
Malech's gaze lowered, slightly, as Raylix let out a breathless, humourless laugh.
"Shit, even Josarry and Ereht! Did I like them? Not really: I don't know if I was ever going to get on them even a hundredth as well as I got on with Sabemka and Tomosei… but was that their fault? No! They were just watching Sirzechs' little brother, exactly like my parents paid them to do… and I left them behind, too."
The silence returned to the bedroom, with a slightly more awkward tinge to it as Raylix took a couple of slow breaths, resting his head in one hand as he did his best to drag himself out of it.
"You good?" Malech leaned forward, almost making to get up. Raylix rose his other hand to stop him from moving before he could.
"I'm fine." He replied. "Just… wanted to get that out. For nearly a year, in fact."
"Wow." Malech half-sighed, leaning back again.
Raylix took his head out of his hand, refocusing his gaze on Malech.
"However…" he replied, his voice slightly more measured. "There's no going back from what I did, and there's nothing back there for me, so I'm not about to keep glancing over my shoulder about it. Not to mention…"
His eyes drifted down, again.
"I've already built too much in the here and now, to stop now. Just becoming a respected figure here in the Old Satan Faction, reuniting with Irene, meeting Cinder and Esdeath, reviving Tamamo, meeting Lilith, allying with her, rebranding the Old Satan Faction into the Underworld Reformation Faction… hell, even what's gonna happen in just a couple of weeks, never mind everything that's coming in the next couple of decades."
Malech nodded again.
"Indeed." He replied. "And… good. I can't lie, you'd probably be down a best man if you admitted that all you did was ever look backwards."
Raylix snorted, faintly.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Malech nodded. "I might have pulled you towards the path of the Old Satan Faction, but you're the one that made the choice to walk it. Although…"
His expression softened slightly, as he got to his feet.
"I hope you remember that you don't separate yourself from everyone else that's on it, too."
Meeting Malech's eyes, Raylix got to his feet. Letting out a quiet breath through his nose, he nodded himself.
"Yeah." He replied, reaching up to his face and rubbing at one of his cheeks for a second. "I'm not about to forget that in a hurry."
Silence passed between the two again, before Raylix reached out, and pulled Malech into a tight hug.
One that Malech was quick to return, sharply clapping Raylix on the back as he did so.
"…Thanks." Raylix muttered, holding the older Devil close. "Seriously. I wouldn't be here without you, Malech."
Malech nodded, within Raylix's embrace, grinning despite himself as the former Gremory Heir released him.
"Anytime." He replied. "I wouldn't have been here as long if I didn't believe in you, Raylix."
A short breath escaped Raylix, that sounded somewhat like a suppressed laugh. Malech, smirking, stepped past Raylix and made for the door.
"Try not to run from this wedding too, yeah?"
Raylix's laugh came out unrestrained, this time.
"I'll do my best."
Malech nodded, turned away from Raylix and reached for the door. But a couple of seconds later, before he could pull it open and leave Raylix to his attempts at vow-writing…
"One more thing, Malech?"
The older Devil glanced back. Raylix briefly- ever so briefly- hesitated, before speaking up.
"You think…" he swallowed. "That they'd want this?"
Malech blinked.
"That who, would want this?"
Raylix blinked, before moistening his dry lips with his tongue.
"Sabemka. Tomosei." He replied, looking down slightly. "What we're building over the next couple of decades. What Lilith wants. What the URF's becoming." His fingers curled into loose fists. "If I got the Sephiroth Graal, and was able to bring them back… what would they even think, being brought back into something like this?"
Silence settled over the room again. Malech studied Raylix's expression for a few seconds, taking a slow breath himself before,
"I think," he replied, evenly. "That they'd definitely prefer being alive to being dead, Raylix."
…
Raylix could feel his throat tightening, almost immediately after those words met his ears. A familiar sharp pressure building behind his eyes, that he'd felt a duller version of a few times during the conversation he'd had just now, before he could truly stop it. He looked away quickly, jaw clenching slightly as he felt his eyes stinging.
"…Yeah." He muttered hoarsely, to himself. "Probably."
Malech stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind him and allowing Raylix to be alone, as he clearly wanted to be. The auburn-haired Devil sank down onto his bed, raising his sleeve and quickly rubbing at his eyes, which were considerably wetter than they had been a few seconds ago.
He sat there for several long seconds, staring blankly down at himself and his damp sleeve and taking a few breaths, doing his best to get himself back under control. Eventually, he ran a hand through his hair and got to his feet, turning away from the desk and all present thoughts of vow-writing. He needed to clear his head, and he didn't feel up to letting out any post-orgasm tears in front of any of his lovers, not right now.
So, a shower would have to suffice. He could come back and give the vows another go afterwards.