#WoundsScarsandMinorInconviniences

[three-realms-archive]

A Weak Wrist

Second oneshot of Scars, Wounds and Minor Inconveniences: a oneshot series featuring slice-of-life snapshots of the aftermath of Lesson 16. Naturally, features spoilers for OG Obey Me! up until that point. Each oneshot will have an associated headcannons post, which will be linked when it goes up!

“You will tell me what happened, Leviathan.”

Lucifer raises an eyebrow at the scene before him. You, on the floor and clutching your wrist. Leviathan, on the other side of the room and in demon form, holding a first aid kit he had taken out of the cabinet. Lucifer had opened the door just as Leviathan had taken out a bandage and started swinging his arm, as if to throw it to you as if feeding a scared, wild animal. When Lucifer had asked, his younger brother suddenly couldn’t look him in the eye - instead, Levi looks to you for a response.

You say nothing. This is hardly new to Lucifer, who had noticed that he only tends to see you in shared classes or family dinners recently. He’d watch you joke and laugh with his brothers so easily, which was pretty good news. Finally, the human was behaving themselves. Strangely, though, Levi’s face takes an uncharacteristically serious expression. As if steeling himself for your sake.

“W-We, uh, were trying out this new video-game I got for family game night. There’s, like, a mat… A mat! With arrows you hop on. To, um, play.” Levi explains. “But they… they fell. Their wrist, they fell on it and it got hurt. Badly.”

“I’m fine, Levi. My wrist is - ah, ah - weak, anyway.” You try to respond, growling through gritted teeth when you try to roll your wrist around. Your heart softens when Levi mumbles what seems to be “… because of me.” and shake your head. You clamp your eyes shut to prepare and attempt - again - to rotate your hand about your wrist.

The pain is brutal… but at least it distracts from the even-more painful memories of a quiz with a demon; and the injury to your wrist that resulted in it being so prone to injury.

“You’re not going anywhere like that. Here.” Lucifer sighs, massaging his forehead. Weak, vulnerable humans. He doesn’t see you freeze. “Take my arm. We’ll go to the dining room, get you some water and sit you down with an ice pack.”

“…”

You don’t respond. This is hardly new to Lucifer, yet he finds himself irritated.

“MC. That’s not a request.” He raises his voice, moving closer and offering his hand to you - and you flinch. Away from him. Lucifer is confused because what had he done, other than offer you assistance?

You, frozen as solid as ice, provide little to no answer to that question. Out of the corner of his eye, Lucifer notices Leviathan gulp, holding his breath, eyes darting between his older brother and his best friend. His concentration flickering and one can almost see the imaginary cursor struggling to choose between two options of the visual novel scene playing in his mind.

‘Say something.’

‘Say nothing.’

Levi chooses the latter, but turns to you. He opens his arms rather awkwardly. And then, you have to make the choice instead.

Inwardly, Lucifer huffs. Levi had caused your injury then, and he had caused it now. And offering a hug, of all things? How naive. Lucifer let his eyes meet yours, not feeling the need to offer anything more than he already had.

… But Lucifer feels something foreign and unpleasant in his chest when he watches you walk across the room - and into Leviathan’s arms. He watches the third-born brother stutter in shock, taking a few minutes to process - before scrambling to meet you halfway. And why wouldn’t he need to process that? Why wouldn’t Leviathan be surprised, after being the reason for your weak wrist in the first place? After all; Lucifer had been right there, the eldest’s arm slightly bent at the elbow, ready for you to place your hand. Ready to lend you support. Irritatingly, annoyingly ready to do anything for you… and for you to do anything - anything - remotely significant to him.

Ready to receive the forgiveness you seemed to give to everyone else so damn easily over the last few months. Had you forgotten that all of his family, in one way or another, had a part to play in your hurt just as much as Belphegor?

You, Diavolo’s exchange student, had finally been behaving, ever since Belphie. Lucifer had been proud of himself for taming you, because murder was commonplace in the Devildom. He had thought that witnessing it for yourself was just the lesson you needed to stay away from danger. You never speak to him unless spoken to. You had stay in your room when he was home. You freeze when he’s near. You let yourself be cradled by demons who had almost snapped your arm in the midst of a fit of envy; and would rather that than even come within six metres of his arm. You stayed far away from danger. You stayed farther away from Lucifer. And the combination of his pride and distance from you had made admitting that impossible for him. Admitting that his brothers had been spending the past few months trying; reaching out to you.

Lucifer, Avatar of Pride, had not.

So - having met in the middle of the room - Lucifer watches as you stay with Leviathan. Levi doesn’t quite know what to do with his arms, so the two of you huddle together like penguins looking for warm, under Lucifer’s icy stare. Every now and again, you cautiously peer over Levi’s shoulder. Your knuckles turn white from gripping Levi’s hoodie fabric. Your eyes meet with those of the Avatar of Pride - you immediately look away.

Lucifer stands apart from you, still by the room’s entrance. The arm he had offered for you to is retracted, as it’s nowhere near enough to reach you. And nowhere near a hug.

A horrid, awful truth dawns on him, making his stomach drop like butterflies turning to lead inside.

His would only ever allow him to take half a step forward.

And, in return, you would take ten steps back - far, far away from him. Even farther than from the demon who had broken your wrist.

And it would be a long, long time before you would let him get close enough to reach you.

…

…

“… Lucifer.” You murmur; voice barely above a whisper. His eyes meet to yours faster than he would like. “C-Could you, um… Could you get me a glass of water? Please.”

He stays there, for a few seconds. His breath hitches.

He… eventually nods, turning to leave the room. He gets the water; and doesn’t realise he’s slightly rushing.

He returns a few minutes later. He sees that you’ve detached yourself from his brother and, when your eyes meet his, you take half a step forward. He glances away.

He doesn’t look at you when he makes his way across the room to where you’re standing. Nor does he realise he’s walking quicker than normal.

Suddenly, the sound of gentle scales scraping against wood echoes to break the deafening silence and Lucifer finds Levi’s tail at his feet. Right in front of you, and right in front of him. A barrier.

He glances at Levi, one of his beloved baby brothers, and sees that he’s holding his breath again. His eyes are trained on you.

And when you smile at Leviathan, your shoulders relaxing a millimetre, Lucifer realises this is as far as he goes.

… Then it happens.

He hands you the glass of water.

You take it.

He feels your fingers brush. The tiny, minuscule contact sends electricity through his gloves, down his fingertips, and the feeling surges through his arms and straight to his heart.

After a few minutes, Leviathan gradually begins to say something about new video-game suggestions for family game night. The words are hazy and unclear - Lucifer’s too busy focusing on how it felt to be near you; to touch you; to hear you speak to him without being spoken to first, for the first time in months. The first time in what had felt like millennia.

It would be a long time before you would let him get close enough to reach you.

But, as you give him the smallest of smiles as thanks for the water, he’s somehow reassured that the time would come.

The least he could do, after all he’s done, is wait.

(i know wanted to see some lucifer-centric stuff, so here it is! they specifically mentioned mammon and satan, and those will come in a later chapter since i more see them as stuff lucifer doesn’t pick up on; or, at least, stuff that doesn’t require him to face you directly, so he gets to keep his pride. all of the brothers have hurt mc in one way or another, so i wanted something clear and concrete and emotional that set lucifer apart. i figured, the phrase ‘to keep your pride’ is used often used to stop people from apologising, taking responsibility or doing something with humility - so i figured it would be the same with the avatar of pride. he won’t be the first to address it.)

(please look forward to the next chapters, as well as their accompanying headcanon chapters! some people have also asked to be tagged in the posts relating to this series, so please comment below if you’d like to be tagged too)

(finally, massive thanks to @kittylilyheart for submitting the original idea and check out Phantom Pain in the pinned masterlist post to see it! my ideas inbox is still open, so please read the rules in the pinned post and submit something obey-me related you’d like to see me write!)

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@kittylilyheart @gallantys

[three-realms-archive]

Nightmares

Third oneshot of Scars, Wounds and Minor Inconveniences: a oneshot series featuring slice-of-life snapshots of the aftermath of Lesson 16. Naturally, features spoilers for OG Obey Me! up until that point. Each oneshot will have an associated headcannons post, which will be linked when it goes up! This series was inspired by an idea in my ideas inbox, so please read the rules in the pinned post and drop any writing ideas you have in there!)

Belphegor, true to the nature of Sloth, watches his brother; and does nothing.

Where the Avatar of Sloth sits, a cloudy haze - rising and falling like dry ice - swirls around him. He touches the clouds swirling about half-heartedly, savouring the cooling sensation as the condensation forms on his skin. It’s a clear, grounding feeling; different to his brother.

He knows his brother can’t feel the haze that surrounds him.

After all, it’s not really his brother.

Belphegor used to love slipping into his brother’s dreams. Of course, the Beel he sees in the dreamscape isn’t the actual Beel. The actual Beel wouldn’t eat mountains of junk food without working out the next day; and the actual Beel would never sit at the family dinner table in front of heaps of fancy dishes without his family sitting alongside him. And, though these were but a small subset of the multitude of dreams Belphegor had seen his brother have over the years, Belphegor had never seen Beelzebub like this before. Belphegor had never seen Beelzebub stuck having the same dream for more than a few weeks.

Not since Lilith died.

The Avatar of Gluttony cycles through scenes. Walking. Eating. Studying shoulder-to-shoulder for a group project. Taking a morning jog and settling down to a picnic and watching the sunrise. Wandering with a loved one, hand-in-hand, ooh-ing and ah-ing at street food stalls at a idyllic funfair; surrounded by wonder and amazement and happiness -

Belphegor approaches the echo of his brother’s dreamlike state. He watches the human who is beside him in each scene.

This human, of course, isn’t the actual human Belphegor knew. The human in real life didn’t have a eyes this bright, or a voice so honey-sweet, or a laugh so perfect. This human was Beel’s. The human Beel saw, when he looked at them in the real world. The human who Beel spent time with in his dreams, because he’s lost too many chances to in real life.

Belphegor remembers the victorious glee he felt when you had broken down that day. About two weeks after he had tried to murder you, he thinks. He didn’t really remember much, other than Beel defending him for something that he had set up. Was it hiding one of Beel’s labelled puddings and saying you had eaten it? Was it that time he pretended you had told him off for something he didn’t do? Belphegor had lost track.

Belphegor remembers smiling discretely as you - your voice as meek as prey - as you asked Beel why he always believed his twin brother straight away. The sixth-born hadn't responded, and Belphegor remembers willing his sin to fill the room.

After a few minutes, tears had fallen from your eyes. Belphegor had frowned, hearing Beel’s breath hitch. He had heard something similar before. A few times when he needed to choose between Belphegor and Lilith dying; between staying with Father or falling with Lucifer. Despite obviously crying, you had stayed silent.

Then you had left.

And you hadn’t talked to Beelzebub since then.

Belphie continues to watch as Beel cycles through memories with you. There are so many, Belphie realises bitterly. So much time of this stupid human’s short, fragile life… spent taking care of his twin brother whilst he was locked away in the attic.

Each memory ends the same. Beel looks so insufferably happy. He nuzzles his face into your hair when he hugs you. He has the biggest, dopiest grin when he looks at you. He holds hands with you.

And each time, without fail, the dream of you fades away.

It is then when Belphegor needs to stop himself from breaking; holding his chest as if his heart is going to plummet through it. And - even with all his power - he finds some invisible wall preventing him from soothing his brother. The haze that circles around him drags itself across the floor lazily, reaching out for Beelzebub from where Belphegor stands. From Belphegor's view, the fog is like an extra hand for him - a manifestation of his guilt - causing Beel pain, even in his dreams. Belphegor can't un-create something he's created, after all.

He remembers each of Beel’s sounds you fade into nothing. Things he hasn’t heard from his brother in a long, long time.

The choked yelling of your name as he grabs air… just like when Beelzebub had reached out to save Belphegor, instead of Lilith.

The grunts of desperate effort as he dives headfirst, phasing through you and crashing to the ground…just like when Beelzebub had tried to save Lilith after.

The crying.

Just like when the twins had curled up together in their new, demon-filled home, in their new bedroom in the House of Lamentation. The sleep had been unbearable as their unfamiliar wings and tail thrashed against the sheets, trying to fight off both the discomfort and the memories of Lilith's death.

… Belphegor wakes up. He ignores the wet streaks running down his cheeks. Probably sleep-drool.

He ignores that the wet streaks start at his eyes.

Suddenly, his D.D.D flashes. Or, he thinks it is, but it’s actually his twin brother’s, using his charger. Belphie glances at the time. 4:00am. A few, small whines leave his brother’s lips. Belphie glances over to Beel and sees him slightly toss and turn in bed.

Belphie can’t do anything.

Avatar of Sloth, indeed.

… Belphie glances again at Beelzebub.

The Avatar of Sloth goes back to sleep.

…

Later, you wake up and take a look at the time on your D.D.D. 8:00am.

After months of nightmares, you’ve had the best sleep of your life - as if someone’s gone and chased away the memories of stairs and attics and blood. You used to go to the kitchen for a snack after waking up from a nightmare; but after exploding on Beel about two weeks ago, you found it hard to speak to him. You couldn’t blame yourself. He wouldn’t believe you when you would say that Belphegor was making you take blame for things you didn’t do; you weren’t sure he’d believe anything you’d say.

But you missed Beelzebub. You couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if you came up with a plan before breaking down in front of him and Belphegor. What would have happened if you had tried to talk to him again, instead of ignoring him?

You knew, for certain, Beel wasn't a bad person.

So what would happen if you... tried? Instead of wondering?

Sighing, you get out of bed and begin to pack your bag for RAD. You spot a snack in your bag; some chips that came free with a deal from the cafeteria that you didn’t really like.

But you know who would like them.

And you wouldn’t want them to go bad.

You steel your resolve, open up the Chat app on your D.D.D and scroll down. A lot. Then you reach Beel’s contact and type out a quick:

“Hey, it’s been a while. I think we should talk. And I have a snack you might like.”

The response is almost immediate.

“Yeah, of course. When and what time?”

You aren’t sure you would have been ready for this if you had just come out of one of your usual nightmares, sweating and sobbing.

So you thank the mysterious force which fought them off and get ready to meet Beelzebub.

(a new installationnnn!!!!! a few things, like beel constantly needing to choose between loved ones, belphegor being a menace to mc, belphegor entering beel's dreams, mc not being able to talk to beel. don't worry, though, i'll be doing some more casual stories for this series; esp since the last two have been really sad ahaha)

(As usual, a huge thank you to @kittylilyheart for the original idea! please check out my masterlist in the pinned post for the whole series, which is still in progress!)

Taglist: @kittylilyheart @gallantys