#//constantly dead tired. im fine but just. very tired. all th time. i miss writing my blorbies. i miss having the time and drive for it

[actualbird]

whenn will i return home (posting fics in the tot ao3 tag again) from the war (immense constant exhaustion due to job) ;-;

[flower-filled-dreams]

Peonies Song

title sorta related to this?? ths is a sorry gift for being dead for so long!! plz!! take!! it!!

WC: 2626 (im so happy by that)

ship: does demonio x flowers count bc if not then none

notes: i know n o t h i  n g about peonies so i hope this okay!!

Demonio sighed softly, wandering around Velder. It was a cool spring day that day, the sun peeking out behind clouds that drifted past. A gentle breeze gently blew Demo’s hair out of his face, the black and blue eye hiding behind white hair being visible. Demo quickly yanked his bangs back in place, making sure no one saw that.

He was alone today.

Most of the Elgang was in Sander at the moment, other than him, Diabla, Esper, and Asura. They all stayed behind to keep watch over Velder to make sure there were no more demons hiding around. How funny, since Demo himself was a demon, even if the others said he “wasn’t like them”. He was still one of them, wasn’t he…?

He shook his head to clear that thought. He may be a demon, but he wasn’t an evil demon. No no, he was a good one. As good as a demon could be, at least. He found himself sighing softly, his brain trying to bring back emotions he no longer felt. He refused to let it, putting his straight face back on.

Along his route around Velder’s bridge, he noticed something down below the bridge, something small. His first thought was it was a mouse or something, but then he noticed that it was a pale pink color. Almost a pastel pink, really. He stopped walking, looking around quickly. It didn’t seem there were any demons around, so…

He hopped off the bridge, the drop only being four feet. It was nothing to him. He landed with ease, crouching down beside the pink object. It had pastel pink petals, a green stem, and was actually in a small cluster, the cluster in a shattered pot with some dirt. Most of the flowers were dead, other than a few that were clinging to life. Demo quickly recognized them to be Peonies, gently scooping up a handful of dirt with two of the alive flowers inside of it. He didn’t know why, but...he felt (somewhat) bad for the flowers. It appeared someone had dropped them here...he couldn’t imagine why, unless it was an accident, but how do you accidentally drop a flowerpot full of peonies? Unless they tripped, it made no sense.

He felt himself smile for the first time in a while. He decided to take the two peonies back home with him, holding the dirt with the flowers all the way home. Demo was very cautious, constantly looking around to make sure that he wouldn’t trip on anything. For some reason, the flowers made him feel...some emotion he forgot the name to.

When Demo got home, he was greeted by Asura, who was currently drinking green tea and munching on chocolate chip cookies Demo previously made.

“Hello, Demonio!”

“Hello.”

“What do you have there?”

“Peonies.”

“Why? Where’d you get them? Last I checked, peonies weren’t sold around here…”

“They aren’t. I found them under Velder bridge when I was making sure there were no demons around. These two were the only two left alive from the flower pot.”

“Flower pot?...”

“Yes. Someone must have been passing by and tripped, dropping the flowerpot. It was shattered under the bridge, and most of them were dead.”

“...Those are some very pretty peonies!~”

“Indeed. I’m going to keep them.”

“What, are they your kids now?”

“Yes.”

Asura was chuckling over her joke, laughter cutting off when she heard Demo’s answer. Demo, raising flowers as if they were his kids? It sounded ridiculous, but...she knew Demo liked flowers more than people. She wouldn’t put it past him to do that. He usually did.

“...Demonio, if you really like taking care of things, you have Lu. Besides, you’re also still young enough to have kids, if you ever found someone or adopted them.”

“Nonsense. My mistress is already enough to take care of. I don’t need to have children. I don’t want to. You know this.”

“I know, I know, but…”

“I like taking care of flowers, to watch them bloom to be absolutely beautiful...but then they die. Like all things do.”

“That’s pretty dark, Demo.”

“It’s true. All things die, but...all things are beautiful at some point.”

Asura didn’t question most of Demo’s actions, band she wasn’t about to question this one. She simply nodded, sipping her tea. Demo saw a glass jar on the counter in the kitchen, walking over and letting the dirt fall into there, along with the flowers. He turned the sink on, holding the jar under the water for a second or two. He set the jar on the counter, washing his hands off and looking at the peonies.

He felt himself feel...calm, looking at them.

“So, are you gonna name them too?”

“Yes. The smaller one shall be Vivi, and the bigger one shall be Zuzu.”

“I can’t believe those names!”

“Is there a problem with them?”

“N-No, just...I never would have guessed you’d name them something so simple. I thought you’d name them something elegant, like...hmm…”

“Those names are just fine for them.”

Demo sighed softly, Asura shrugging and smiling. If Demonio was happy with them, that alone was a blessing. It was better than him being constantly moody, after all. They were quite pretty...she noticed Demo pick the jar up, walking upstairs.

“Where are you putting them?”

“In my room, in front of my window.”

“They’ll look lovely there.”

“They already do.”

Asura nodded a bit, knowing very well Demo couldn’t see it. He was already upstairs. Esper yawned, coming up the stairs from the basement, going to the kitchen. His hair was a mess, dark circles under his eyes. Asura could already guess what he was here for, watching him pull down the container with the instant coffee in it. The kettle’s water was still hot, if the steam coming from it was any indication. He put some of the water in a mug covered in little cat faces, then poured some of the instant coffee into the mug. He didn’t even bother stirring it, just swirling it around a bit in there.

“Esper, get some sleep.”

“No. I’m busy.”

“You sound like Masi when you say that…”

“Technically, since me and Masi come from the same person, it wo-”

“Esper!”

“...I’ll sleep once I’m done writing down a couple of formulas I have.”

“You kno- fine. Hey, did you hear me and Demonio?”

“Yeah. About flowers or something…?”

“He’s raising the flowers like they were his kids.”

“You know how he is, Asura...he’s lonely, let the man raise his flowers in peace.”

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing!! Just...it seems likes he devotes more time to flowers than us.”

“We all have hobbies, you know…”

“I know! Just...I’m worried that there’s something wrong, with how much he avoids us…”

“Nothing’s wrong with him. He just likes flowers. You’re overthinking it, Asura.”

Esper sipped his coffee, frowning at the taste. He forgot to add sugar and cream. Oh well, the coffee would probably wake him up more if it was black. Probably.

“If you’re really so concerned with his flower collection, then ask him why he does it.”

“I-I’m not concerned!! I just...want him to spend more time with us.”

“He likes being alone, I think. That would explain why he always hangs back with Diabla here whenever he can...I think too many people stresses him out, so he vents it by taking care of flowers. You see how delicate and careful he is with them.”

Before Asura could slip in another word, Esper went back downstairs, smiling softly. He knew the real reason why Demo collected flowers. He promised to never tell anyone, though. After all, it would embarrasing to the demon if anyone but Esper and Apo knew that the flowers made him feel as if he had emotions again, yet people couldn’t bring them back. Esper sat back at his desk, continuing to write down formulas, yawning. He was exhausted...maybe he should get some sleep…

Nah. He was busy. With his will steeled, he sipped his coffee, continuing to write.

The whole Elgang came back from Sander that night. Most of them were on their way home at this point, exhausted from the battle against Giant Waldo. Even Esper and Asura left at some point, wishing farewell to Demonio, leaving him alone. Diabla may have been in Velder, but she was out all day with her patrol, the chances of her actually just exploring around higher than her actually doing work. Demonio came down a few minutes after Asura and Esper left, looking at the clock on the wall. 21:27...it was getting late, and he hadn’t even made dinner yet! Then again...Diabla wasn’t home yet. She was strong, she could take care of herself, she’d be home soon enough, asking Demonio where dinner was.

Demonio decided to finally work on dinner, just in case she got home soon. The other Lu’s and Ciel’s should be home soon, too...he went to the kitchen, washing his hands again. He’d been touching dirt all day now, making sure the soil was suitable for the peonies. He turned the sink off after washing his hands, taking off his black sweater he wore when he didn’t have to watch any of the Lu’s, or didn’t have to do much of anything. His blue undershirt had long sleeves, Demo rolling them up and opening the fridge. He never really liked wearing aprons, so with no one around...he didn’t see a reason to. He pulled out a few ingredients from the fridge, like fish that was thawing, butter, eggs, breadcrumbs...he set it on the counter, going over to the cupboard and pulling out a few spices and herbs, sighing softly.

He already missed the feeling of happiness caring for the flowers brought him.

He made dinner in the span of 30 minutes, wrapping it up when he noticed no one was home yet. He put the food in the fridge, mumbling to himself how he could have waited a bit longer to cook...by now, it was 21:57, and he really just wanted to go to bed. He was tired from the day, but he couldn’t sleep until he knew Diabla and the others got home…

With a small sigh, he sat on the couch, pulling a pillow on his lap. So he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And fell asleep.

By the time the others got home, it was nearly midnight, the two other Ciel’s carrying asleep Lu’s, Dread carrying both Chili and Diabla. They didn’t even notice Demo asleep on the couch until after they put the Lu’s in their beds, going downstairs right after to go see what they could eat. It was then they noticed the white hair hanging down from the back of the couch, seeing the blue horn as well. Dread was the first to go over, confirming it was indeed Demo, as if there was any doubt.

“He’s asleep.”

“I can see that, Dread.”

“I wonder how long he waited for us…”

“Probably a long time, if he fell asleep here. He could catch a cold, it’s chilly in this house…”

“Yeah. Should we wake him up, or…?”

“Just...go up to his room and grab his blanket. We should let him sleep...look under his eyes.”

“He’s always got dark circles under his eyes.”

“Exactly. Go grab his blanket.”

Dread mumbled softly, something along the lines of “fine”, trudging upstairs. He walked to the end of the hall, stepping in Demo’s room, flicking on the light. His gunblades were on his bed, his long black jacket hanging off the chair near his desk. He then noticed the burst of pastel pink in the blue and black room, walking over curiously.

“Huh...those are pretty. Wonder what kind of flower it is...he’d know.”

Dread found himself staring at them for longer than most normal people would, snapping out of it once he felt a hand clasp his shoulder. He nearly jumped, spinning around to see Royal sighing. Royal’s blue hair was out of it’s usual low pony, resting on his shoulders and back, Dread noticing he was in his pj’s; a blue long sleeve shirt and grey jogging pants. Royal looked in Dread’s eyes, the butler’s eyes sharp still, despite the time now being 24:46.

“You’ve been standing here for twenty minutes.”

“I zoned out.”

“Bullshit.”

“...I was staring at these flowers.”

“For twenty minutes? Are you sure you weren’t going through Demo’s stuff looking for porn mags or something?” Royal said, letting out a chuckle.

“Y-Yes, I’m sure!! Demo doesn’t even have porn mags!!”

“You’d know.”

“S-Shut up!”

Royal was chuckling at how flustered Dread was now, Dread gritting his teeth and sighing.

“The flowers are pretty.”

“Indeed they are. But not pretty enough to stare at for twenty minutes.”

“I told you, I zoned out. It’s late. I’m tired.”

“...Right. Did you at least get the blankets?”

“His gunblades are on them, El Lady knows where his sniper is.”

“...I see. Best to leave them there. He’s pretty picky about how clean they are...I’ll just get him some spare blankets in the closet.”

“Yeah. Oh, Royal, do you know what flower these are?”

“I’d say peonies. Why?”

“I like them.”

“You? Like flowers? Never thought I’d hear that.”

“Shut up. They’re nice. No wonder he has them…”

“Okay Dread, I get you like them, but really...go to bed. I’ll get the blankets. You’re acting strange.”

Dread frowned, but obliged, mumbling a goodnight before walking out of the room. Royal smiled softly, looking at the flowers for an extra moment. Demo was obviously taking good care of them, the petals full and alive. No wonder Dread couldn’t stop staring.

Royal whispered a goodnight to the flowers for some reason, shutting the light off when he walked out of the room. He closed the door behind him, walking over to the closet and pulling out a few blankets, carrying them downstairs. When he walked past Dread’s room, he could already hear snoring. He was that tired…?

Royal chuckled quietly. Everyone but him was asleep, and here he was at one in the morning, bringing blankets down for Demo. He stopped at the couch, resting the blankets on Demo’s body, making sure to cover his arms, feet, and legs. At this point, the demon was lying on the couch instead of sitting up, quiet snores leaving him. Royal made sure his whole body other than his head was covered in blankets, stepping back when he was done.

Good. Demo was completely wrapped up, like a cocoon. Now he could head to bed as well.

He walked up the stairs again, stepping in his room and shutting the door behind him softly. He lingered there for a moment, thinking about a few things from the day. He thought about how Lusa and Reckless sparred on the way to the Barren Sander, thought about how Chili demanded cookies from Dread, only for Dread to have ended up having enough cookies for everyone somehow, thought about how Arme had a debate about the El Lady with Crimson…

He smiled.

He...enjoyed his time with the Elgang, to say in the least. He enjoyed being near them. Noblesse loved them too, even if she’d never admit it.

He yawned, walking over to his bed and lying down. He pulled the blankets over himself, eyes shutting. He was exhausted.

The last thing that entered his mind were the flowers Demo had, how pretty they were. He fell asleep thinking of the pretty pastel pink flowers, his dreams very flower filled that night.