MC who keeps absentmindedly saying things that remind the brothers that they are mortal.
TW: Angst, Implications of death
"You can pry it from my cold dead hands"
"I'll be rolling in my grave"
"I'll be long gone by then"
The brothers hate it when MC uses morbid statements like that because it's a cruel reminder that their beloved MC is only meant to share such a small fraction of time with them.
There's an in-game chat message where Lucifer let's everyone know that in the future the house of lamentation will need renovations. Except this likely won't happen for another 200 years. Everyone starts brainstorming the ways they can spruce up their rooms before he informs them
But maybe Asmo or Satan ask what MC would like for their room and get a sobering answer
Asmo: I would love more closet space!!!
Asmo: And a larger bathroom!
Levi: A bigger tank for Henry! And more shelves for my Ruri chan figurines!!
Mammon: Ya already have a huge private bath Asmo whatdya need a bigger one for?!
Lucifer: No need to get ahead of yourself, renovations won't be begin for another 200 years.
Asmo: Oh MC darling, what do you want when we fix this place up?
MC: Oh I'll be long gone by then
Beel: Gone? Where are you going?
MC: I mean...humans don't live that long..
MC: So I'll definitely have passed on by then..
The brothers will look at their phones as your messages come in and feel an overwhelming wave of sadness weigh in their chests.
When he looks at the messages he stares at it for a bit too long. He's never been unaware of your mortality; he's always known that you were human and humans are mortal. But somehow it slipped from his mind that there will come a day when you won't be there any longer.
And it slipped his mind because when he's with you he thinks of the possibilities for the future. A bright shining one that fills him with a warmth he hadn't felt in a long time. Of the times to be shared and an endless number of your bright smiles he can gaze upon. Except it's not endless is it? One day he'll see the last of your smiles, feel the last of your touch, hear the last of your voice.
And he'd move the three realms and all their stars to find a way to stay with you. But for now he can't bring himself to hope. He needs to be strong for his brothers and he needs to be strong in case the day of all your lasts together arrives and all his best efforts won't stop it.
He sniffs and places his phone face down on his desk, swallows a lump in his throat and picks his pen back up. But at dinner he holds your hand under the table and drinks in the fond smile that you give him, knowing that at least for now you have plenty more to give him.
His vision has clouded with tears before he's even finished reading your texts. He starts typing and hesitates before deleting it, jumping up and moving to the door. A text isn't enough right now for him anyways.
He just needs to see you, wants to be in your presence and tell you how much he loves you.
"Oi what's the big idea?!" Or he would if he could manage to spit it out.
But when you look at him he knows that somehow you know. You know how he feels and what he means. Because you love and understand and appreciate him in ways that he can't even comprehend and it makes him want to cry even more because how could he ever survive if that was taken from him.
You pull his trembling form into a hug and he lets out a whimper. He buries his face into your neck and pulls you tight against him.
"Y-You're ma human and I'm your first man and that means something! So don't cha plan on ditching me ok!?"
He's in the middle of decorating your joint Devil Crossing world when he sees your reply. His eyes trail to the little figure you've made of yourself outside of the house your characters call home. For you to not be there anymore... it would all feel so pointless.
You're his Henry. The two of you are supposed to stand beside each other through everything. Henry didnt leave the Lord of Shadows behind. So don't go where he can't follow. There's so much more to be together for.
Levi bites at his nails before shooting you a quick message privately. He hopes you'll say yes and that you'll continue to make the time for someone like him.
Levi: Do you want to come over and watch the newest episode of That Time I Fell in Love with a Human but I'm an Immortal Otaku?
MC: On my way!!! (っ.❛ ᴗ ❛.)っ
So please MC, just stay a couple more minutes with him. One more episode, one more raid, one more level. And then maybe time will be permissive enough to let you do all the one mores with him.
In denial. Scoffs and tosses his phone to the side as he returns to his book. But his leg keeps bouncing and his eyes dart back to the spot he threw the device. Of course you'd be there. He gets up with a huff and begins to tear through his personal collection. Books and knowledge haven't failed him yet and he doesn't plan on letting it start now. So he'll pour over every book and grimoire and dusty old scroll in the library and the RAD archives until he finds what he needs to keep you here with him.
He does that instead of thinking about what losing you would steal from him. How it would throw him into turmoil. As if he was born again, but this time from his own pain, lost and angry and missing a crucial piece of himself that would die with you.
But now he sits with you curled up in his lap, his cheek pressed against your forehead, and a hand running through your hair. He feels the steady thrum of your heartbeat since you've dozed off and feels content. In his other hand there's an old tome of obscure life magic. He's taken a break from his reading for now to bask in your presence.
Because time with you, no matter how much or how little, is meant to be treasured.
You've barely finished typing the words out before you're getting a phone call from Asmo.
"Don't say such things, don't you know how awful that is?? Do you know the state I'm in right now?? My skin is going to be awful for days since you've decide to think such wretched thoughts! Oh darling, I can't take it.."
His voice is high and wobbly. You're sitting on your bed and can hear the quick pounding of steps towards your room over the sound flooding out from your D.D.D. Before you know it your door has flung open and you're hearing double. Asmo is standing before you, phone in hand, with tears sliding down his now blotchy red face. He wastes no time flinging himself into your lap and clinging onto your frame.
"Don't be so cruel and leave me MC, I love you too much, I couldn't bear it. Who else is supposed to love me like you do? And I still have so much love to give you, more than just one lifetime's worth."
"We'll talk to Solomon and figure something out MC, I mean it. I won't say goodbye to you."
It's hard to protect someone from the passage of time isn't it? He's the family defender but what is he supposed to do against this?
You're one of the few things to soothe the ache inside him. Your presence makes him feel full. Your kindness makes him feel light.
A nightmare wakes him up that night, not of Lilith like usual. But one of you, walking away from him while he's stuck still. You begin to crumble away as you move until you're just dust in the wind, slipping through his fingers. He wakes up feeling like a void.
Normally the hole he feels from his appetite is contained within him. This void feels like it's swallowing him whole instead. A large gaping maw waiting for the last seconds of your hourglass to flow out before snapping shut and breaking him in it's teeth. Before he knows it he finds himself knocking on your door. And when you see his face you usher him in and ask what's wrong.
"Can I fall asleep with you tonight?" He asks
And of course he can. He lies on his back and lays you onto his chest. He wraps his arms around you in a snug embrace and feels the warmth of your presence fill him. When he's with you like this he feels strong enough to keep anything at bay.
Of all the brothers Belphie is the most painfully aware of your mortality. How could he not when he's felt just how easy it was to snuff the life from you. He's never apologized for that, not out loud at least. And part of that is because he knows he'd choke and sob on the words now. Because it makes it all too real that your magnificence is capable of being destroyed, and that there are avenues both of the future and of the past in which your light will have left him for good. And that is unspeakable to him.
"Don't you normally take a nap in the attic around this time, Belphie?" You say to him softly as he wanders into the living room where you are. It's only been a few hours since you had text in the chat.
"Couldn't get comfortable there today. I guess you'll have to do." He replies with a yawn.
He places his head on your lap as you study and buries his face into your stomach. His arms wrap around your waist and you're reminded of the sweet clinginess of a child. You run your fingers through his hair.
A tear sneaks out of his eye and he brings a fist up to rub it away quickly before you can notice. Then he nuzzles back into you, arms a little more snug around you. He doesn't plan on letting go of you anytime soon.
andulkaphoto
jbbartram-illu
gummygunk
baratheonpilled
