From inside the warmth of the castle of Nightmare, two devils were hard at work with holiday preparations for their son and his girlfriend. They kept an eye on the two from the lattice window, smiling to themselves when the lovers collapsed into the cold and simply enjoyed one another’s presence.
“Ah, young love,” Satanick commented. “They’re precious, aren’t they?”
“They are. I’m glad they, at least, can find peace where the two of you cannot.”
A frown dusted his features. “...Yeah.”
“How much longer can we let them be together?”
“Well, he hasn’t asked to send her back yet, so…”
“Mm. I see.”
He chuckled and made a lewd gesture with both hands. “If we’re lucky, his wife succeeded in distracting him to give them more time.”
Mare’s ghostly pink hair ruffled as he dug more bat-shaped decorations out of the box. “I’m surprised he has a wife at all.”
“Well…he loves her.”
“Does he?”
Another frown. He breathed in, as if to respond, but found himself unable to form anything coherent enough to leave his lips.
“So long as they’re happy.”
Satanick replaced his uncertainty with a smirk. “Just like how I’m happy with you?” Sliding closer, he snaked an arm around his lover and planted a kiss in his air.
“Enough,” the devil warned, scorn accompanying the bags beneath his eyes.
“It’s a wonder how My Magnificence fell for someone who detests affection so much~”
He hesitated. “Forgive me, but perhaps it’s because that’s what you’re used to.”
Satanick’s mind blanked, then overflowed with unpleasant memory after unpleasant memory. His lips parted, then closed, then parted again.
“...Perhaps this isn’t a topic of discussion for the season.”
A nod, and he found it within him to smile. “Perhaps not.”
“Forgive me.”
“It’s not a problem,” the curly-horned devil whispered as he dug back into the box.
After taking a moment to watch his partner, Mare then slipped from his spot and planted his own kiss on the taller devil’s cheek. “Let’s just focus on the now.”
That mischievous grin found its way back. “I agree~” He cradled his lover in his arms.
“But!” Mare wormed his way out again. “None of that before we’ve finished decorating.”
“Buuuuut!” He gave a playful frown.
“No buts.” A blue, faux-fur stocking with bat wings was ripped from the pile. “We need to have this all hung before they return.”
Pausing, Satanick admired that blue piece, embellished with Reverie’s name, as it was placed on a hook over the brick fireplace. “...We don’t have one for Carmine, do we?”
“We do not.” He removed another from a different box, similar, but in more of a red-violet shade. “Given her abrupt visitation, this is what I could procure at the last minute.”
With a flick of his finger, an amethyst spark popped into view, curling in cursive across the sock. When it had finished, the spark popped again to reveal two felt angel wings, and a few other glittery decorations to match Rev’s. “There we go.”
Mare admired the work in disbelief. “...You really do go above and beyond for your children, and your children’s loves.”
He gave a sort of faux-bashful shrug. “What can I say? Nothing but the best for my family~”
The second stocking was hung close to the first, then one for Satanick and Mare himself, and an extra set in the remaining space for his witch and her three familiars.
Once more, he found himself wrapped in the embrace of the taller devil. Reluctantly, he leaned into the man.
“...This is nice.”
“...It is.”
“We should start preparing the evening meal if we want it to be ready on time.”
A glance to the remainder of decorations, and gifts to be wrapped. “...Yes, let’s.”
