From Before [Obey Me! Barbatos/Lance]
Destined [Diavolo & Barbatos, Barbatos/Lance]
In A Dream [Barbatos/Lance]
Lance glanced over at the demon standing by Diavolo’s side. His gaze lingered a bit longer than he had intended it to. Still, his eyes traced how the butler’s hair changed from a dark green to its teal strands. He peered at the demon’s emerald eyes. Those colors seemed so familiar.
“Someone’s staring!” Asmodeus sang from behind Lance and draped his arms over the human’s shoulders. Lance yelped lightly and tore his vision away from Barbatos. “Is someone crushing on a certain mysterious butler?”
“N-no!” Lance denied it quickly. His eyes flickered back towards the butler who was now watching both him and Asmo. He felt heat rush to his face as he quickly looked away. “I just…I swear I’ve seen him somewhere before.”
Asmo hummed and let go of Lance after he caught sight of a glare from Barbatos. “Is that right?”
Lance turned to face the Avatar of Lust and rubbed his arm nervously. “I feel like I’ve dreamed about him before.”
“Ohh!!!” Asmo squealed. “That’s so romantic!” His excitement quickly died off. “Although…” He trailed off and got lost in his thoughts.
“Although?” Lance asked. “What is it?”
Asmo glanced over at Barbatos before he grabbed Lance’s hand and pulled him along. He peered over his shoulder to make sure the butler wasn’t following. Once they were a distance away and in an empty classroom, Asmo stopped in his fast strides. “How much do you know about the different realms?”
“Considering I learned there’s more than one not too long ago, not much. Why?”
“Well, there’s the Devildom of course, the Celestial Realm with the angels and where souls go after someone dies, the human realm where you’re from, the Silent Realm where reapers dwell, and the Dream World.”
Lance blinked. “Are there more?”
“Probably,” Asmo said with a shrug. “It’s complicated if you take Barbatos into account.”
“Well, he can open portals to any point in time, to any place in any of the realms, and to any reality. Basically, he can control time and space.”
Lance’s eyes widened. “Is every demon able to do that?”
Asmo shook his head. “No, just him. He’s so powerful that a lot of us demons wonder why he’s not the king and is just a butler for Diavolo.” Asmo waved his hand. “Anyways, it’s possible he was in the Dream World when you thought you saw him. He’d have to be in your dreams specifically, but it’s possible.”
“Why would he be there?” Lance asked quietly.
Asmo hummed and crossed his arms as he thought about it for a moment or two. Then, he lit up and giggled. “Oh, I can think of a few reasons.”
Just as Asmo was about to open his mouth to gossip, a voice interrupted him. “Asmodeus, I would appreciate it if you didn’t go around telling stories on me.”
Asmo squeaked and turned quickly to face Barbatos standing in the doorway. Still, the glare on the butler’s face didn’t detour Asmodeus this time. Instead, he smirked and wiggled his eyebrows. “Just how long have you known about Lance, Barbatos? Hmm?” Barbatos remained silent as his glare had yet to falter. If anything, the glare grew harsher. Asmo giggled at Barbatos’s reaction and looked over at Lance with a wink. “Looks like quite a while.” He looked at his watch-less wrist. “Well, look at the time! I should really get going!” With that, he sauntered out. Once he was past Barbatos he looked over at Lance and motioned for him to call him later.
Lance sighed at that demon’s antics before he redirected his attention to Barbatos. “Did you really appear in my dreams before I came here?” Barbatos peered at him with hesitation, but his lips remained sealed. Lance fidgeted with his sweater as he wasn’t able to get a good read on the demon. “If it really was you…” He took a deep breath as he tried to find the right words. “Thank you. My dreams always got better after you showed up. I felt safe whenever you were there.” He felt his face burn, an occurrence he realized happened more and more around the demon in front of him.
Barbatos looked at the human with slight shock. His lips parted to try and say the words he had desperately wanted to say to Lance for what felt like a thousand lifetimes. Instead, he closed his eyes to ground himself. “I’m glad that regardless of what you saw, your dreams got better.”
Lance nodded quietly. His mind raced to figure out exactly what this demon was hiding. Raced to figure out just how much Barbatos knew about him. Raced to figure out just why Barbatos would take time out of his hectic schedule just to appear in his dreams.
Still, when he looked at the demon’s emerald eyes, the same eyes that he saw when his nightmares faded to pleasant wonders, he felt a warmth build up in his chest. His thoughts slowed down to just a dull rumble.
Lance gave a small smile. “I’m glad, too.”