Curse of Reincarnation 5
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Barbatos!” you laughed, overjoyed to see him again. It had been too long after seeing him multiple times a week for a year. He gave you that soft little smile of his and let you hug him even though his hands were full.
“It’s wonderful to see you. But if you don’t mind, I'd like to set these down.”
“Right, sorry.” you laugh, backing off, letting him in. “My sister isn’t back from work yet, but I set up the table already. Thank goodness I was able to get another work-from-home job when I got back, makes it easier to have more free time.”
“Which you used to decorate and set the table up for dinner tonight?” Barbatos asked her with a raised eyebrow, smirking.
“Well excuse me if I know you and didn’t want you coming over to set it all up yourself.” you tease back, getting a low chuckle.
“I admit defeat, I appreciate your effort and concern, but you’d best go finish your work now. You’ve decorated and cleaned to my standards, and I’m sure you have yet to finish.” he’s- . . . not wrong. You head up the stairs to the bedrooms and walk into yours, slipping into the seat at your desk to get working. It’s easy to fall into your work, focusing and flying through it, excitement powering your determination to get it done soon.
You took too long though because it’s a series of thuds and a scream that drags you out of the head. You race down the stairs, already knowing what’s going on, and Barbatos has a pan crushed in his hand and Leigh is trembling, reaching for the cast iron one behind her. You manage to get to her before she swings and grabs it, the deep pan held between you two. “Leigh! Leigh, calm down!”
“He-”
“That’s one of my friends!” you rush, interrupting her, Leigh’s shaking and you need her to calm down. “Remember? My friends from RAD, they’re coming over today? That's Barbatos, he came early to help set up while I finished my work!”
“You left him alone in our house!” she hisses, low, eyes burning. “I know I agreed to let those- them into our house for one dinner but you left him alone down here!” you know what she’s implying, Leigh’s always been a suspicious person with those she doesn’t know and you know she often thinks you’re too lenient about things, but you won’t stand for it this time.
“I trust Barbatos with my life, Leigh, of course I trust him in our house.” her eyes go wide and neither of you move or say anything for a few tense moments. you let your voice calm from your previous harsh tone to a softer one, you need her to calm down so you need to chill out first. “I get you’ve got something in your head that makes you mistrustful and I know it’s hard to accept everything I’ve said about demons and RAD, but I will not tolerate you acting like this towards the other people I care about.” Leigh finally slowly draws back and you let her set the cast iron back on the stove. She doesn’t face you for a minute, but when she does she eyes Barbatos suspiciously before looking at you.
“Is there something you’re not telling me?” your throat goes tight at the words and you give her a weak smile.
"It was hard adjusting at first, a lot of demons don't like the exchange program yet, and several tried to eat me. I was always accompanied by someone in the Devildom, one of those people was Barbatos. He saved my life, Leigh.” you offer in a quiet voice, gently, not daring to give her any more details than that about how he saved your life (or that you actually did die). Leigh is quiet again before nodding a bit as if to convince herself, then again.
“Thank you for saving my sister.” Leigh tells Barbatos, and you finally relax. “I need to go fresh up before dinner.” Leight quickly darts up the stairs and you lean on the counter, now aware of your heart pounding in your chest. Barbatos puts a hand on your back.
“You’re alright. It’s alright, she didn’t hurt me, she only caught me off guard with her sudden attack.” Barbatos murmurs, his hand and voice giving you something to focus on as you calm your heart.
“I was more scared of the look in her eye. I’ve only seen that look once before.” you murmur, more details registering as you calm down and think about what just happened. Leigh had been shaking, but it wasn’t just fear in her eyes, it was anger. Leigh rarely got truly angry, but now you just knew she’d been shaking with rage, not fear.
“She was furious.” he confirmed what she’d already figured out. “Can you tell me why she would allow this dinner if she was so angry about us being here?”
“Leigh had us implement a rule when our parents died, no one could come to the house unless we’d both met them and agreed. Leigh’s never brought anyone over, but some of my friends she’s let and some she’s refused. She’s a great judge of character and the friends she didn’t let over I didn't really end up having any lasting friendships with for one reason or another. Leigh’s adopted, I’ve always thought she’s like this because of something that happened when she was an orphan that she never talked about. But the one time I can remember that she got insanely angry was the time I bought my first college boyfriend over. It was raining and he didn’t have a car, Leigh had ours, so we were going to hang in the house until it stopped raining so he could walk home without getting soaked. I went upstairs to get some blankets to wrap up in to get warm again since it was cold and we were damp, and while I did that I suddenly heard a commotion downstairs. I found Leigh standing over his unconscious body with her purse in one hand and the shattered remains of an empty mason jar on the floor and over his head. She turned her gaze to me and I’d been shocked at the burning fury in them, but a blink later and she was back to the Leigh I know, hugging me tight. Even after I explained she was still mad I went against rules, I couldn't understand why.” you breathed after explaining, the memory was odd. “Something about men, though, she’s never let any guy over to the house, I think that she was angry out of fear then. But now- I don't know.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barbatos didn’t say a word as you explained, but he couldn’t get the sister you talked so much about out of his head he’d heard the door open and exited the bathroom, figuring that it was her, but the moment she saw him, pan already in hand, he’d seen past and present at once and it left him confused. It was extremely rare for that to happen, especially with how much control he had over his powers. But Barbatos had seen two women for a fraction of a second, the blonde haired blue eyed Leigh, and a woman he’d only gotten one proper look at. The long straight bright red hair waving with her turn towards him and green eyes burning with fury overlapped reality and Barbatos had barely been able to defend himself with how shocked he’d been. Besides long straight hair and similarly shaped eyes, the pair looked nothing alike, so that had nothing to do with it, meaning there was some other reason that they showed up at the same time.
Once you were calm again, you left to go upstairs, likely to try talking to- . . your sister, but Barbatos narrowed his eyes once you were out of sight. His master gave the angel a second life, but only one that ended centuries ago. Barbatos was not about to abuse his powers, but he turned to the kitchen and fixed the pan he’d broken while deciding he’d figure out exactly what the connection between Leigh and Lilith was that he saw her like that. But he wouldn’t let this affect the evening. It was their only chance to see you for quite a few months and you likely wouldn’t be returning to the devildom, so any time they spent with you would be few and far between. Tonight was to be enjoyed, he could think about this at a later date.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Be Continued
Part 1 | Last
37 notes
·
View notes
I don’t think allo people understand: you get everyone else. Almost every single fictional character is allo. Every character that exists is allo until proven aro/ace/aroace. So on that rare occasion when we actually get representation, and when it’s genuinely good representation, please just let us have it. Many allo people are respectful, and I thank them for that, but it’s impossible to ignore the massive problem in fandom culture of downplaying the importance of, or even downright erasing, an aro/ace/aroace characters’ identities. Aro characters are shipped all the time, which is fine if you understand the nuances of the identity and see that it is a complex thing to be aromantic, but I see a lot of people who don’t, and think that they can say ‘oh but aro people can date’ as an excuse to ship a character. This happens with ace characters too, they are sexualised in fandom all the time (I’m not talking about any characters specifically, but I’ll tag a few who come to mind). Again, this is understandable if you understand, but if you are sexualising an asexual character just because you find them hot or just for the sake of it, surely you understand why we are upset. This is not me trying to pick a fight, I’m just an aroace who is frustrated.
You guys get everyone else. Just let us have the few who we see ourselves in.
2K notes
·
View notes