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After their debut on the square, Abby kept an eye on Baby and Romance back in their apartment. He would’ve preferred to return to the demon world, as they would likely go more separate ways there, but… Jinu was right. They should stay accustomed to their human disguises and alert for the gameshow they would attend in a few hours.
Staying in the apartment also meant being directly and constantly in each other’s space.
Which usually wasn’t a problem, but Baby kept getting closer to Romance with each passing day.
On the one hand, Abby was glad to see them get along better.
On the other hand, Abby didn’t want to see Baby anywhere near Romance right now. Not after Baby had blinded him on one eye without warning, and would’ve gone straight for his throat had Mystery not intervened. And especially not after Baby had confirmed to him, that he had caused Romance’s breakdown recently.
He did find a little odd that Romance acted like that never happened. Well… To be honest, not only a little.
Just the next day, right after waking up in Abby’s arms, he had been hanging over Baby’s shoulder again to poke at him – just without attempting to pin or kiss him. Which was noteworthy in itself; Romance always tried to kiss people that met him with sympathy, or even just without hostility. Jinu had specifically prohibited him from kissing any fans.
Only time would tell whether Romance managed to oblige or not.
To be honest… Abby didn’t have much hope for Romance to not kiss fans on the cheek when having to pose for selfies at some point. In Romance’s defense, though… The fans and the internet would love him for that.
As much as Romance habitually kissed people… he stopped kissing Baby after that day, but without staying out of his space.
Why would Romance seek out Baby’s company and choose to stay in his close proximity after a breakdown that bad? A breakdown so bad, he had cried and been unable to speak to Abby for several hours. It had taken Mystery’s soothing presence to calm Romance down enough for him to fall asleep.
Perhaps… nothing much had happened there, and it had just been an overall bad day for Romance?
But… No. Abby had witnessed first hand how suddenly and completely out of nowhere Baby could snap into a kind of aggression he’d never expected from him, no matter how moody and overall irritated the younger demon was as a default.
“Alright, I’ll go take a shower,” Romance announced while getting up from where he was settled on the sofa.
Baby huffed in response.
“Literally nobody cares, Ro.”
Well, that… wasn’t entirely true.
Abby cared.
He needed to know what happened between Baby and Romance that day, and that meant that he had to catch Romance alone.
Hesitating only for a brief moment, Abby got up from his spot on his mattress to follow Romance.
“Oh, seriously?” Baby called after him.
Quietly and without looking back, Abby followed his partner into the bathroom, closing and locking the door.
“Abby?”
Standing there for a moment, facing the door, he could hear Romance moving behind him.
“Are you going to join me?” he asked, and Abby could hear the smirk in his voice.
The smirk he loved so dearly.
Slowly, he turned around to face the other.
Romance was looking at him with that mischievous little grin of his, while unbuttoning his shirt.
“I needed to talk to you alone,” he explained softly.
Immediately, he saw how his partner’s expression faltered a little. Yeah, as expected… Romance was downright allergic to ‘We need to talk’.
“Can’t that wait, love?”
Romance dropped his shirt onto the stool in the corner, paying it no mind. Usually, he folded his clothes neatly. Always.
Approaching Abby with his typical smile again, he stopped right in front of him and looked up at him. Nimble fingers traced up Abby’s arms.
“Come on, let’s just take a shower together.”
“Ro, I’m serious…”
Gently, his hands came to rest on Romance’s waist, tracing up his sides.
“Me too,” Romance muttered with a small grin, wrapping his arms around Abby’s neck loosely.
With a sigh, Abby closed his arms around his partner’s lean body in an embrace. Of course, he didn’t refuse the kiss that followed. Reciprocating gently, he traced Romance’s spine up and down with his fingers.
How he missed the times when it was just the two of them… It’s been ninety years, and all of a sudden, they were stuck with three others? Abby really wasn’t the jealous type at all, but he didn’t like having to share Romance’s attention with Jinu, Mystery and Baby almost every minute of their days.
“I want to talk about what happened last week,” he started, but was quickly silenced with another kiss.
“Shh”, Romance shushed him. “Not now, love.”
Abby didn’t resist when Romance pushed him back against the door, mouthing along his jaw lightly. He loved his soft lips…
His grip loosened to let Romance pull back just enough to unbutton his shirt.
“I really want to know what happened between you and Baby,” he tried again, only to have Romance’s lips on his again and his hands brushing the fabric off his shoulders.
“Excuse me,” he huffed when Romance parted from him for just a second. “I’m trying to have a conversation here.”
“I know,” his partner muttered against his lips in response, tracing a single finger down his toned chest and stomach, to the button of his jeans. “And I’m trying to avoid the conversation.”
Abby sighed and wrapped his arms around Romance tightly, holding him close to his chest.
It was always the same with Romance, really. It was difficult to talk to him about things, sometimes. Other times, it was easy and they talked for hours on end.
“Ro. Please.”
Romance sighed and leaned against him lightly, still for a moment. Gently, Abby kept stroking his back.
He was thinking about it at least.
“Abby…”
Ah, the playful tone was already leaving him.
Placing both hands on Romance’s sides, he pushed him back a little – just enough to kiss his forehead, and to look at him then.
“It’s important to me.”
His partner was looking at him with that… exhausted look of his. That look that was left when Romance dropped all masks – the charming smile, the mischievous spark, the alluring gaze. It was rare to see Romance without a smile unless he straight up scowled. But he was gentle, affectionate and sweet. There was almost always a trace of a smile on his beautiful lips. Seeing him with a completely serious expression, exhaustion evident in his eyes… That almost never happened.
“Okay,” Romance agreed then, and Abby blinked in surprise. For real?
“But,” he continued, “we do take a shower first. I promise I won’t try to distract, okay? I just… I… I feel like I need that.”
Abby felt some tension melt right out of his shoulders and he nodded. Usually, Romance phrased what he wanted or needed as gentle demands or hesitant requests. If he asked for anything at all… Outright putting into words how he felt… Well, it was a little out of the ordinary.
If that was what Romance had intended, it was working.
“Yes, of course. Anything for you.”
Anything but letting you weasel your way out of necessary conversations.
Romance leaned up and pressed another, much more chaste kiss to his lips, then proceeded to undress entirely and turn on the shower.
Dropping his clothes to Romance’s, Abby watched him quietly as he adjusted the temperature of the water.
They both quite enjoyed the showers and wanted to visit one of the bathhouses in different disguises soon. Not much had changed in regards of baths and showers since Abby had been alive – the whole ordeal of finding the right temperature just became a whole lot easier, faster and much more comfortable – but Romance had never known something like that. The concept of showers and even using heated water dated back to Ancient Greece and Rome – people most definitely had access to showers 400 years ago. Just… not Romance. He had barely had shelter, a house to sleep in every night. The only access to water and food he’d had was a river, and wild fruit trees and stealing from markets. He’d told Abby that his mother would usually feed his two younger siblings first, leaving little to nothing for him – because he was ‘old enough to feed himself’.
The rage just thinking about that woman made him feel… …
Romance had already loved to listen to him talking about inventions and luxuries he’d had in his life – and a lot had changed in the past 150 years.
Romance deserved all the luxuries he wanted.
Abby knew damn well, if he just had more time and… freedom… he’d spoil his partner rotten.
With a smile, he followed Romance into the shower and hugged him from behind, a pleased rumble leaving him when the hot water hit him.
“Did you intend for me to follow you into the bathroom when you announced you’d take a shower?” he muttered softly, and Romance snickered.
“Not quite intended,” he said. “I guess I… kind of hoped you would, though.”
Abby hummed quietly in response, combing through his partner’s long hair with his fingers to get the wet strands out of his face.
“You’re so manipulative,” he joked and leaned down to press a kiss to Romance’s shoulder, then the side of his exposed neck.
Romance chuckled at that, leaning back against him and tracing along the muscular arm that was wrapped around his middle loosely.
“Just can’t help it sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” Abby teased with a small grin and reached for the shampoo.
He immediately pressed a kiss to Romance’s forehead when his partner turned to face him, making him smile. In comfortable silence, he washed Romance’s hair – scratching at his scalp gently and making him rumble a soft hum. With his eyes closed and his arms loosely wrapped around Abby, he held still and enjoyed the affectionate gesture.
“You can be so cute sometimes,” Abby rumbled softly, amused.
“Sometimes?” was the immediate response, throwing his own word back at him, quickly followed by,
“I’m always cute.”
With a soft chuckle, Abby cleared his partner’s hair from all remaining foam and shampoo, wiping the running water from his face gently so he could open his eyes again. Without hesitating, he cupped both Romance’s cheeks and leaned down for another kiss.
Reciprocating, Romance smiled into the kiss.
“Thank you, my love,” he purred softly, hands roaming Abby’s back lazily.
“Your turn.”
With a soft huff, Abby accepted his fate and closed his eyes to allow his partner to return the favor. Enjoying the feeling of Romance’s nimble fingers running through his hair and massaging his scalp in slow, deliberate motions, he sighed.
Why couldn’t it always be like this?
Just the two of them. Together and in peace.
In the demon world that was rarely possible. No matter the exact location, settling and letting their guard down like this was just too dangerous. There were hostile creatures everywhere, many of the dokkaebi and elemental demons followed Gwi-Ma fanatically and never had good intentions towards saja. Especially towards Romance, knowing about his past – just another curse Gwi-Ma put on him, to make every demon know on sight how vulnerable Romance was. Even worse was that Romance never fought back. He tried to flee, and when that failed… Well. He simply gave up, too scared of the consequences if he fought to defend himself.
It was up to Abby to protect him.
As a soldier, Abby was well-trained in hand-to-hand-combat. The claws and fangs that came with being turned were excellent weapons he’d quickly learned to use. Due to his height and build – and perhaps the one or other pretty much shredded demon in his path – most of the annoyingly persistent attackers left him alone soon, though.
He used the reputation he had to protect Romance. Since they were together, for the past ninety years, no one had dared to attack his partner.
Here, in the human world… protecting Romance was simply not necessary.
Here, Romance would be the most dangerous thing to roam the streets at night. Humans with bad intentions held nothing against a saja, no matter how rotten their soul was. For the first time in his life, Romance was the predator, not the prey… And it showed in his behavior.
Abby loved to see his partner getting more confident and joyful every day – like a heavy weight was lifted from his shoulders.
Opening his eyes eventually, Abby was met with Romance looking at him with a small smile on his perfect lips. The look in his eyes was one of utter adoration.
“What?” he whispered, slightly amused.
“Nothing, handsome,” Romance sighed, fingertips trailing over Abby’s cheek. “Just thinking about how lucky I am to have you.”
“Gods,” he muttered, heart melting at his partner’s affectionate tone. “You can’t fathom how much I love you.”
For another moment, he held Romance in his arms safely, felt him leaning against his chest.
Then, he reached out to turn off the water.
“Let’s get out, hm?”
Romance only hummed his agreement.
Stepping out of the shower first, Abby took a fresh towel out of the closet and held it open for Romance to step into. He wrapped the towel around him gently to dry him off, unbothered by the water dripping from his own body.
Romance chuckled at that, though.
“What’s the point, if you’re still so wet that you’re soaking the whole towel?” he asked, grinning lightly.
“The point is that I get to hold you for a little longer,” Abby whispered in response, pressing a kiss to his partner’s wet hair.
Romance chuckled softly at that.
“You’re such a simp.”
“Sometimes I wonder if all those words you learn from Baby actually exist,” Abby muttered softly, then paused.
Right. Baby.
Taking a second towel, he wrapped it around himself to dry off at least a little.
He wasn’t exactly sure what to do if Romance tried to avoid the conversation again. After all, the only thing he could do was ask; there was no way for him to force Romance into a conversation he didn’t want to have.
In absolute doubt, he’d have to ask Jinu to talk to Romance about it – and he’d like to avoid that.
Romance never evaded Jinu’s questions. He admired Jinu enough to say and do whatever their leader wanted, with no regard for how Romance himself felt about it.
Not at all concerning…
“So,” he started, catching his partner’s gaze again.
Romance returned his look calmly, not immediately trying to distract – a good sign.
“Can you tell me what Baby did or said to you that day…?”
With a soft hum, Romance shrugged.
“Just another fight, I guess…? I mean, you know how he is. Grumpy little bastard,” he muttered fondly.
“Yes, but…”
Abby paused, thinking about how to phrase it.
“… But it seemed different this time. You were never this out of it before after a fight with him.”
And I now know what he’s capable of, he kept to himself.
“Yeah, I don’t know, I…”
Romance drifted off, then blinked, looking almost dumbfounded, like he'd just realized something. A slight frown tugged on his brows.
“… I don’t know.”
“Well,” Abby said slowly, reaching for his clothes once he deemed himself dry enough.
“What did you fight about?”
“No, I mean,” Romance replied, shaking his head and looking up to meet Abby’s eyes again.
“I mean, I don’t know. I… I can’t remember.”
That made Abby freeze in motion and stare at his partner for a long moment of silence, before he found his words again.
“What do you mean, you can’t remember?”
Romance looked… confused. Like he hadn’t even thought about the fight once, or questioned what had happened and why.
“I mean… I suppose I bothered Baby. Not a first. We fought. I… I understand that I must have made him uncomfortable. So… I just don’t push as far anymore. I don’t want to make him uncomfortable. But…”
He stopped talking again, then shook his head.
“But I don’t know what exactly the fight was about, or what he said exactly. I just know that I fell asleep with Mys, and woke up with you.”
Abby let his partner’s words echo in his head while he finally put on his pants. That was… odd. Really odd.
Romance had an excellent memory; he never forgot anything – much to his dismay. He always remembered every little detail, everything anyone just offhandedly mentioned to him. One time in the demon world, they’d run into a water demon together that Romance had met before – the water demon hadn’t remembered him at all after almost 300 years, but Romance had remembered his name and even what they’d talked about when they’d met.
And now… Romance had forgotten what Baby and him had fought about? A fight that had been so bad that it caused him a full mental breakdown?
… That didn’t make any sense.
“I couldn’t calm you down for hours,” Abby said quietly, concerned. “Only Mystery managed that.”
“Huh,” Romance muttered. “I know Mys was there when I fell asleep. But I can’t remember anything before that. Not like… It’s not like I lost time or anything. It doesn’t feel like… a memory gap or whatever. I just feel like… nothing happened before that.”
“That doesn’t make any sense…”
Abby frowned.
“You know that Baby scratched me and took my eye a few days later, yeah? Because I tried to pick him up to stop him from leaving, and that freaked him out?”
Romance immediately nodded at that, and Abby didn’t miss the twitch of his brows and the tension in his jaw at the memory.
He had panicked just a little when he’d come back with Jinu, only to find Abby with a fresh and still bleeding wound, distraught and refusing to take his eyes off Baby, who was asleep in Mystery’s arms.
“After he scratched me, he wanted to attack me for real, and Mys had to wrestle and pin him to the floor until he calmed down. Baby proceeded to threaten me, and he confirmed to me that he was responsible for your breakdown. He said you had it coming.”
He could feel Romance’s worried gaze on him.
“I didn’t ask what he did. But he did something to you, something bad, and I just… It freaks me out that I don’t know what he did to you.”
Romance huffed at that, lifting the towel to dry his hair at least a little; the long, pink strands still dripping wet, causing water to run down his back.
“Well, now it’s freaking me out that I can’t remember, too…”
Abby sighed, combing his own wet hair out of his face with his fingers.
It was definitely far from normal that Romance didn’t know what Baby had said and done. He would never forget anything that anyone ever told him… and especially not what any of the four of them told him. Romance downright worshipped Abby, Jinu, Baby and Mystery, always seeking closeness and approval.
“Come here,” Abby said softly, opening his arms for a hug.
Without hesitation, Romance unceremoniously dropped the towel and crossed the two steps of distance between them to wrap his arms around him. Lightly but securely, Abby’s arms found their way around his partner’s body as well, stroking his back gently.
“It’s alright, Ro. We’ll… figure it out, okay? … If you want, I mean.”
Romance didn’t respond beyond a small nod, and Abby’s gaze drifted to the mirror. Quietly, he watched his own hands wandering over Romance’s back slowly, looked at how perfectly he fit into his arms and against his body like that. He’d always thought that.
Abby had been awestruck the first moment he’d seen Romance.
The unfairly gorgeous man with a strikingly intelligent look in his eyes, with long hair like silk even in the harsh demon world and the voice of an angel. Even backed against a wall with three dokkaebi getting way too close and with pure subdued fear in his expression, Abby had considered him nothing but beautiful.
He’d taken out the dokkaebi threatening that gorgeous man quickly and without effort. When their eyes first met, Abby had seen the fear melting out of Romance’s eyes like snow in the sun. That was the day Abby had gained a new shadow – they’d never parted again for longer than a few minutes at a time.
They simply didn’t want to.
At first, touching Romance had been difficult; the poor man always flinched at the slightest touch like he’d been struck with a whip. Abby had had his guesses on why, considering how he’d found Romance cornered and scared, but… it really only hit when Romance finally told him about his past. He’d left any approach to physical contact to Romance after that – and he’d sought it quickly and often. Leaning against Abby’s shoulder when they’d sat down, curling up against his back when they’d lied down to sleep… Only a few months later, Romance didn’t want to sleep anywhere but in Abby’s arms – even awake, that seemed to be his favorite place.
And Abby loved it just as much as Romance did.
It had taken almost 20 years until Romance had first kissed him.
Since then – since he had Abby – it seemed to be a lot easier for Romance to touch others and be touched. Romance loved physical displays of affection, and Abby’s heart ached at the thought of Romance denying himself any and all physical contact out of fear for centuries.
Now, he loved to cuddle and kiss those he cared about – Abby, Jinu, Mystery and Baby.
Baby just… didn’t appreciate that at all, Abby had quickly noticed that.
The younger demon clearly only tolerated any and all physical contact, and only ever sought Mystery’s closeness.
Watching Romance’s still form in their reflection, he smiled a little.
“Are you gonna stay naked?” he teased gently, grinning lightly when he felt Romance’s breath against the skin of his chest as his partner huffed a laugh at that, softly.
“Well, if you want me to,” Romance returned, looking up at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He lifted his arms to loosely wrap them around Abby’s neck, pressing closer to him.
“You’d love that, wouldn’t you?”
Abby leaned down to press a kiss to his partner’s lips before he answered truthfully,
“I would. But I think Jinu and Baby wouldn’t appreciate that.”
Romance chuckled at that.
“No, most definitely not. Mys wouldn’t care, though.”
“Mys wouldn’t even notice,” Abby retorted, amusedly.
Mystery always seemed a little spacey, never quite present with his mind, always elsewhere in thought.
With a smile, Romance reluctantly parted from Abby to pick up his clothes as well.
“Let’s not upset Jinu and Baby, though.”
Especially not Baby.
With a small nod and a soft sigh, Abby put his shirt back on and watched Romance as he dressed himself as well. He knew he was staring – he couldn’t help it. It never bothered Romance, though. On the contrary, he seemed to enjoy drawing Abby’s gaze, no matter the situation.
His partner knew that he was drop-dead gorgeous – more than enough people had told him so. Some with neutral, some with bad, and some with even worse intentions.
Abby didn’t need to tell him; the look in his eyes said more than enough, they both knew that. He loved the way his partner blushed when he whispered sweet nothings and compliments to him.
He'd also been the first to introduce Romance to the concept of receiving compliments for something that wasn’t his looks.
With a soft snicker, Abby remembered the way Romance had stared at him when he first told him how much he loved the way Romance paid attention. To him, and to others he cared about. How seen Romance made him feel, and how beautiful Romance’s sweet and gentle nature was to him.
The poor man had looked deeply confused, almost shocked, even. Then, he’d crawled into Abby’s lap and stayed there for hours, letting Abby massage his back and play with his hair.
Abby would need at least a whole day to list everything he loved about his partner.
Of course, that also included his unfairly attractive body.
Abby was very much aware of how people stared at him as well. They called him handsome and attractive, too. For their plan and to draw gazes, he played into it, of course. Showing off, flexing his muscles, accidentally letting his shirt ride up to expose his abs.
But… he didn’t actually care. Not one bit. He’d never cared about how people looked at him. He’d always been taller than most men he knew, and more muscular. It had been absolutely no surprise to him when he’d been drafted. As a soldier, his physique definitely had been a major advantage in any hand-to-hand-combat he’d ended up in.
First and before all, Abby’s body was a weapon to him. A tool.
Now, he simply used that tool to draw attention, to flirt; to lure people into Jinu’s spell.
Romance did the same, but he quite enjoyed it, as it turned out. As long as people didn’t get too close to him or tried to touch him, he enjoyed to flirt and show off.
A seductive glance through his long lashes, fingers trailing through his hair for just a little too long and too slowly to be a simple gesture of moving them out of his face, a subtle drag of his tongue across his bottom lip to wet it… And then his incredibly charming and completely disarming smile.
So far, the only person that Abby knew to be able to withstand that smile was Baby.
Even Jinu melted when Romance smiled at him like that.
And Romance shamelessly used that to his advantage.
“Do you think Mys knows what Baby said or did…?”
Abby blinked, mentally returning to reality from where his thoughts drifted off.
“You mean, Baby might’ve told him?”
Romance shrugged in response, using the towel to dry his hair a little more and as well as he could with just a towel.
Which wasn’t very well. His hair was soft and thin, but dense, and held water extremely well.
“I mean, that Mys seems to know everything about Baby. You said, when Baby attacked you, Mys was there immediately to stop him without having teleported, right? So he most definitely already moved before Baby lashed out at you with his claws.”
That was a very good point. Abby hummed softly in response.
“You’re right. But I kinda doubt that Mys would tell us anything. He’s not exactly the type to… give up information. And any information, for that matter.”
“True.”
Romance sighed, finally giving up on drying his hair with the towel.
“Guess we’ll just… never know.”
“Maybe Jinu can get Baby to talk and explain himself?” he suggested then, and Romance let out a breathy laugh at that.
“Jinu? Jinu is more scared of Baby than you and me could possibly be combined. As if he’s gonna cross Baby in telling him to explain himself. I think he’d rather chew and swallow a handful of glass shards.”
Abby couldn’t suppress his grin at that.
“Okay, you’re not wrong. Forget that idea.”
Maybe they could really ask Mystery, though.
Mystery just… seemed to know things. A lot of things. He just… never really gave anything away. At least not on his own accords. Maybe… if asked directly…
“Isn’t it weird that the first thing I remember is falling asleep with Mys?” Romance asked as he turned to the mirror to untangle his hair then, and Abby tilted his head in question.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you said you couldn’t calm me down for hours.”
Romance made eye contact with him in the mirror, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
“That’s all just gone, but I know how I cuddled up to Mys and fell asleep? I don’t know. Sounds odd to me.”
Abby knew what that look meant. Romance found pieces of a puzzle that he was now putting together in real time as he spoke. Abby himself was a trained soldier and an excellent strategist, able to plan ahead and combine information until he solved any problem or figured out whatever he needed to know.
But against Romance’s intuition, he held nothing.
His partner could be handed nothing but a handful of puzzle pieces that didn’t fit together, and he would still know where they had to go so he could pull the full picture from his imagination alone, entirely and correctly solved.
It was genuinely a true shame that Romance had spent his life as he was forced to. He was born in the wrong time as the wrong person. Had he been born in this era, Abby was sure, Romance could’ve easily studied whatever he wanted. Even in the short amount of time they were in the human world now, Romance had gathered an incredible amount of knowledge on various topics. Sciences, religions, politics, history… He loved to learn and to read, and he soaked up knowledge like a sponge.
Or like his hair.
Abby grinned lightly, then finally moved to help his partner to untangle his still wet hair where he couldn’t see.
“What are you saying, Ro?” he asked gently.
“I’m saying,” his partner muttered, “that maybe, Mys has something to do with me not remembering anything. I don’t… I don’t want to accuse him of anything, really. I just… find it strange that his touch is the first thing I remember, along with the knowledge that I had a fight with Baby… without remembering what it was about, or what happened before Mys was there.”
Abby hummed, thoughtfully.
“You’re not wrong. It is quite strange. We know that Mys can manipulate memory, after all. We’ve seen him do it to demons and humans alike. I just… didn’t think he’d do it to any of us.”
“Maybe he has been doing it all along, though,” Romance pointed out.
“We’d never know. Even if he admitted it, even if he told us, he could just make us forget it, no?”
It was true. They would never know, if Mystery didn’t want them to.
But Mystery had never seemed remotely hostile to any of them. Even when demons in the demon world had backed away from him and practically thrown themselves out of his path at times, just to not get too close to him… Mystery had never seemed dangerous to them in any way.
He was gentle, peaceful and affectionate. Protective and slightly territorial about Baby at times, but… even when he pouted slightly in displeasure sometimes, his aura never changed. It never was anything but gentle and soothing.
His eyes also never held any anger. There never was anything but unconditional gentleness in the quiet demon’s eyes, barely covering a sadness so deep, it could probably even drown Gwi-Ma.
“I think,” Romance continued then, hands placed on the sink in front of him as Abby fixed his hair for him, “that if Mys has something to do with me not remembering… he didn’t do it with ill intent.”
Abby found himself nodding at that without hesitation.
“If he did something, then because he wanted to help and thought it was the right thing to do,” he agreed easily.
Mystery was the one person he couldn’t imagine to ever do something – anything – that could bring harm or trouble anybody’s way.
After a moment of silence, Romance hummed softly.
“Maybe…”
He drifted off, then took a deep breath and started again.
“Maybe, we just… shouldn’t ask. Maybe it’s better for us to not know. Whatever happened… If Mystery made me forget it, it’s probably better that way. I’m okay. Who knows if I’d be if I knew what happened.”
Deep down, Abby knew that his partner was right.
As sweet and gentle as he was, Romance was also one of the most unstable individuals he’d ever met. A breakdown that bad… Whatever had caused it exactly, if he remembered it, he would likely end up harming himself.
Romance had died through suicide – and Abby knew, his partner had tried to kill himself over and over again over the centuries he’d been in the demon world. Demons just… couldn’t die. If Gwi-Ma owned their souls, the only thing that could end them for good was his fire. Only if he consumed them, they vanished from existence.
Anything else ‘killed’ them temporarily, but they always regenerated.
And even if nothing permanent could happen to Romance if he tried, at least not physically – as long as he could just return to the demon world, regenerate and wake up again – Abby didn’t want that. Fuck, he couldn’t even express how much he didn’t want that if he tried. Even if death wasn’t permanent, his partner would’ve still been hurting. He still would’ve taken his own life to escape his own mind and feelings that were breaking him more than Gwi-Ma ever could.
Abby knew it was better if Romance didn’t know.
But that didn’t mean that it didn’t bother him.
“You’re right,” he still agreed.
“I won’t ask if you think that’s the better way for you.”
Romance smiled at him through their reflection, then turned around between Abby’s body and the sink to hug him again.
“I love you,” he whispered, looking up at Abby like he was his whole universe.
And the gods knew that Romance was his whole universe.
“I love you, too,” he returned in a soft rumble, hands coming up to gently cup his cheeks and pull him into a kiss.
Softly, his partner purred into the kiss, holding onto him with a light grip on his shirt.
“Thank you for talking to me,” Abby then whispered against Romance’s lips, and got a soft hum in response.
“Thank you for joining me in the shower first, my love,” Romance muttered back then, before pressing another chaste kiss to Abby’s lips.
Then, he let go and took him by the hand.
“Let’s go sit down. I want to cuddle properly.”
Abby couldn’t possibly suppress the soft laugh bubbling over his lips.
“You every wish is my command, Ro.”
“Good,” his partner responded with a sly little grin – simple and genuine.
Together, they returned to the living room. Baby hadn’t moved one bit in the meantime. Since they got here, he really had transformed into part of the couch.
“You need to stop fucking in the bathroom,” he stated dryly without looking up, and Abby couldn’t help but snort at that.
“Sorry,” he offered just as dry, but Romance snickered.
“No problem, Babes. We can do it here instead. You know, if you wanted to watch, you could’ve just said so.”
The glare that Baby shot Romance at that was nothing short of pure disgust.
“Ew. No.”
Abby chuckled, picking up a pillow in passing to throw it at the younger demon lightly – who immediately picked it back up and threw it back at Abby with as much force as he could muster.
Sitting down on his and his partner’s shared mattress in the corner, he sat and couldn’t even lie down before Romance was already halfway in his lap and pulling him down with his weight.
With an amused huff, Abby pulled the blanket over them both, then wrapped his arms around Romance tightly. When Romance squeezed him tightly and hid his face at his neck, he couldn’t even suppress the soft purr rumbling in his chest.
Gently, he carded his fingers through his partner’s still wet hair, scratching at his neck and just holding him tightly with his other arm.
Maybe they could take a nap before that stupid gameshow in the evening…
“You two are disgusting,” Baby commented from his spot, and Abby scoffed at that.
“I’d give you a middle finger, but I don’t have a free hand right now.”
“No problem. You’re getting two from me, then, to make up for that.”
Quietly, Romance giggled against Abby’s skin, and Abby hid his amused grin with a kiss to his partner’s head.
Baby was dangerous, that was out of question.
But… he still cared, even if the ways he showed it were odd. Insults, mean comments and remarks, a silent glare or crude gestures… But all of those things were signs that he paid attention. It showed that he made an effort to look at someone and to show a reaction.
That alone was a sign that deep down, he cared. Usually, he was nonchalant and stoic. Never spoke to anyone he deemed unworthy of his attention.
Whatever Abby and Romance had done exactly to make him lash out both times he apparently had… As long as they avoided situations like that, it was fine.
They were friends. And Abby wasn’t actually afraid of Baby. He’d been shocked, surprised and unsettled, yes. He’d felt unease the whole night, remembering the way Baby had licked his blood off his claws like it was his favorite candy.
But… in the end, they were demons. It wasn’t really too surprising. Other demons of their kind acted much, much worse.
Abby himself had done much worse to other demons that had pushed his boundaries.
Mystery probably had been like that in the past, too, or he wouldn’t be as feared in the demon world as he obviously was.
Well. They’d probably never know.
With a soft sigh, he pressed Romance a little closer to himself, feeling his partner’s grip on him tighten as well.
It was fine.
He didn’t need to know what exactly happened, even if he wanted to. Not knowing made him feel uncomfortable, yes, but… he had a feeling that Romance was right, and he would feel even worse if he knew.
It was better this way.
Mystery would never do anything to harm any of them.
Perhaps, he should just be grateful that Romance couldn’t remember.
Romance seemed grateful to not remember, at least.