30. So Very Fucking Real

Chapter thirty

So Very Fucking Real

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast where Oliver's mom exchanged baking recipes with Glyma and his father sat between Gem and Toni as they argued over the ideal amount of dicks for someone to possess—

"Six is just excessive," Toni said. "No one has that many holes."

Gem sniffed, raising his six hands to form circles. "Speak for yourself."

—Everyone packed up their bags and piled them on the front porch. They made the rounds to say goodbye to the animals. Gem nearly cried as he bid farewell to cow-Gem and baby-cow-Gem, begging them not to forget him. Oliver caught Rusty chittering quietly at Mr. Pickles as he scratched under his chin, and the Pyclon even stopped by the puppy pen to give them each a farewell pet.

Toni sat in the chick coop as the tiny yellow and black fluffs crawled over his lap, chirping. "Goodbye, you stupid chicks. I could eat you all, and you don't even know it. Fucking dumbasses," he cooed as he gathered as many as he could in his arms and buried his face in their downy feathers.

Willow and Glyma said goodbye to the herd in the pasture as Liel stood at the fence, forehead pressed to Starlight's nose, hands rubbing over her cheeks. Oliver surveyed it all, too many emotions to name pulsing inside his chest until he feared he'd burst.

Jude came to a stop beside him, arms crossed over his burnt orange button-up covered with cartoon cats riding witch brooms. "Did you have a good birthday weekend?"

"Surprisingly, yes," Oliver said.

"And you're in love, huh?"

Ducking his head, Oliver scratched the back of his neck. "I guess so."

Jude knocked his shoulder against his. "I figured you were."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you've never looked at anyone the way you look at him. Not even me, and if you can't fall for me, then…"

With a chuckle, Oliver hip-checked his best friend. "Shut up."

Jude sobered and placed a hand on Oliver's arm. "I'm happy for you, man. Liel's really great."

"He is," Oliver agreed, gaze straying to the demon as he pet Starlight. "I feel like I shouldn't love him. Like, it's happening so fast. But I'm also not afraid. Because loving him feels so natural, like maybe I always loved him and I've just been waiting to remember? That sounds stupid."

"Sometimes, people just make sense together, Oliver. We never did—at least, not romantically. Don't get me wrong, the sex was great."

Oliver nodded. "It was pretty great."

Jude chuckled. "But we didn't make sense. We didn't… fit like that. You and Liel do. And if that's not something worth taking a risk for, then what the hell in this world is?"

A breeze ruffled Jude's curls, freeing several pieces of hay trapped within the dark strands. Oliver picked out the last bits of straw from his best friend's hair and swallowed around the lump in his throat. Then he tugged him into a hug, and Jude sighed into Oliver's neck as he fisted his hands in the back of Oliver's shirt.

"I love you, man," Oliver said.

"I love you too," Jude said, squeezing extra hard. "I'm gonna miss you, though."

Parting, Oliver frowned. "Miss me? I'm not going anywhere."

Jude snorted doubtfully. "You just confessed your love for each other in true cinematic form. I give it three months tops before you're moved into his place."

"First off," Oliver said, lifting a finger, "that love confession was not movie-level."

"Seriously?"

"Gem told my mom that I had a virgin asshole, and Mom said the word cum-dumpster . That's not movie romance."

Jude considered that, then shrugged. "Rom-com, then. Either way, it was mushy and gross and magical."

"Secondly," Oliver said, changing the subject, "moving in is a huge step. I think I need a little more time."

"If you say so. Toni's giving it, like, two weeks."

Thoroughly offended, Oliver gaped. "What? You're betting on how long it takes for us to move in together?"

"My life is boring, you know that, right? This"—Jude gestured vaguely to encompass Oliver's friends and general life—"is the most interesting part. So yes, me and your friends have a pool going."

"That's offensive."

Jude cocked a mischievous brow. "If you help me win, I'll cut you in at twenty-five percent."

Oliver hummed. "Make it fifty, and I'll see what I can do."

As they shook on it, they giggled like little kids planning something naughty. Liel approached cautiously, scrutinizing the two best friends suspiciously.

"Am I interrupting an evil plan?" he asked as he slipped under Oliver's arm and tucked his hand in Oliver's back pocket.

"Not really," Oliver said as he dropped Jude's hand. "Apparently, everyone's betting on how long it takes for us to move in together."

"Oh, I know. I'm already in on that action," Liel said with a haughty grin. "Under a proxy, of course."

Oliver's jaw dropped. "Mr. Karakis, how devious of you."

"I never said I play fair, only that I play to win," Liel said with a Cheshire grin.

"Good thing I'm not competitive," Oliver teased as he leaned in and kissed him. "Though now I'm curious what you're trying to win. What's the betting pool at?"

"The money's secondary, love."

"Uh, then what are you winning?"

The look Liel gave him was only sixty-eight percent condescending as he said, "You, my silly, precious human. You moving in with me is what I'll win. And the way I see it, I've stacked the house in my favor."

"Stacked the deck," Oliver whispered as he nuzzled Liel's nose with his.

"Whatever," Liel whispered as he tilted his head back to reconnect their mouths. "Stop correcting me when I'm trying to seduce you."

"You two are gross," Jude said with a wrinkle of his nose, "but in a cute way. Like a pug or a platypus."

"Like that monstrosity of a shirt?" Oliver slapped back, and Jude huffed.

"This is a nice shirt. Rusty, is this not a nice shirt?" Jude knocked the Pyclon's arm as he passed them, and Rusty cocked his head, inspecting the witch cats.

"I mean, I guess. But I'm also colorblind, so I'm not exactly a good judge."

Rolling his eyes, Jude turned to the barn and yelled, "Toni!"

"What?" Toni called back from inside.

"Tell Oliver my shirt is nice," Jude ordered.

"Uh, okay? Yeah, your shirt is nice," Toni shouted. "But it would be nicer on my bedroom floor, baby!"

Jude shook his head and threw his hands in the air. "Fucking useless."

Half an hour later, the demons and humans gathered in the drive in front of the house. Oliver hugged his parents goodbye, nearly tearing up when his mother took Liel's hands in hers and wetly asked if they'd like to come spend Christmas here on the ranch.

Liel swallowed thickly as he nodded. "Of course. I've never celebrated Christmas."

"Oh, well, won't that be just lovely," Maggie said, blotting at her eyes with a handkerchief as she stepped back.

"You take care of our boy, you hear?" Greg said as he shook Liel's hand.

"Dad," Oliver whined.

Liel smiled. "I'll do my best."

Forming a circle, everyone clasped hands. Zef's fingers twitched in Oliver's hold, and Oliver resisted the urge to squeeze back in reassurance. Quin ordered everyone to close their eyes and empty their minds.

"Thank you again," Glyma said. "This weekend was wonderful."

"Yeah, the cows were my favorite," Gem said.

"We know," everyone else said, and Gem's smile dimmed.

"Well, fuck you all very much," he muttered, taking Rusty's hand and glaring glumly at the ground.

Rusty whispered something too quiet for Oliver to hear, but the corner of Gem's mouth twitched, like he was fighting off a smile. Looking rather pleased with himself, Rusty smirked down at his feet.

"You have hay in your hair," Willow said as she picked out golden straws from Toni's indigo strands.

"What?"

"Hay. It's in your hair and all over your shirt."

"Huh, that's weird," Toni dismissed easily.

Jude cleared his throat noisily.

Quin said, "Hold tight."

"Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad," Oliver said. "I love you."

Greg and Maggie smiled and waved from the bottom porch step. "Love you too, son."

Then the smoke rose around them, and Oliver was sucked into the nowhere place between time and space.

Curled into Oliver's side on the couch, Liel rested his head on his chest, sighing as Oliver ran his fingers through his hair. They'd bid everyone farewell at the cafe and ridden the train back to Gluttony with Toni. Upon entering the apartment, Liel had left their bags at the door and led Oliver to the couch, and they'd been sitting here ever since.

Like the quiet after a storm, the reprieve after a struggle, peace settled over them, and Oliver felt like he could finally breathe easy. Liel's fingers drew formless designs over Oliver's chest, and Oliver scratched Liel's scalp gently. Part of him knew they had things to talk about, but he didn't want to ruin the tranquility they'd managed to find.

It was Liel who broke the quiet first. "So that was an exciting weekend."

With a snort, Oliver kissed Liel's head. "That's one word for it."

"How are you feeling?"

He wanted to take the question seriously, so Oliver inhaled slowly and contemplated a moment before saying, "Honestly, I feel good. It was a lot but in a good way, I think. What about you?"

Liel took a minute as well, snuggling deeper into Oliver's side. "I feel good too."

"Not freaked out? You know, since I blurted ‘I love you' in front of my mom and my friends."

Angling his head back so he could look up at Oliver, Liel nibbled on his bottom lip, then shook his head. "I could have done without the offer for a cuddle-orgy. But overall, I quite liked that part of the weekend. Is that crazy?"

"If that makes you crazy, then so am I." Oliver caressed the slope of Liel's jaw with his thumb. "I liked that part too. Well, the part where you said you loved me back. That was pretty great."

"I do," Liel said as he traced the shape of Oliver's Adam's apple, "love you back. Nothing in my life has ever felt this right before."

"Yeah," Oliver whispered, not wanting to ruin the beautiful confession. "You just make sense. So I'm going with it."

"Going with it. I like that." Liel smiled grandly and nuzzled into Oliver's palm. "I also like the idea of you moving in."

Oliver's heart lurched, then started to race. Liel must have heard it because he sat up and took Oliver's hand in both of his. Static made his arm hair rise, but Oliver didn't pull away.

"Not right now," Liel rushed out, staring down at Oliver's hand. "But for the sake of transparency, I do want that. Someday, when we're both… ready. I love it when you're here, and I miss you when you're not. And it would be nice if you were here all the time."

"Is this because you wanna win the pool?" Oliver asked before he'd truly thought it through. "You know I support your borderline-insane need to win at, well, everything. But I don't know if moving in together just to win a bet is a good basis for cohabitation."

Liel laughed and shook his head. "No, I want to move in together because I love you and I want to be with you all the time. Apparently, I'm clingy and codependent. I didn't know that about myself. I guess I'm not as self-aware as I thought."

Cupping Liel's face in his hands, Oliver laughed and pressed their foreheads together. "Well, I love you, codependency and all. And I'd like to move in with you too. When we're both ready."

A huge spread over Liel's face, but when Oliver leaned in to kiss him, he inhaled sharply and scrambled to his feet. "Hold on. Stay here."

Oliver watched him rush out of the living room and down the entry hall. He returned a moment later with a keyring. On the key ring, was a single key.

"Even though I'm not asking you to move in with me yet," he said with an air of bravado that was only betrayed by the slight shake in his fingers, "I still want you to have this."

He held out the key, teeth worrying his bottom lip, and Oliver hesitantly took it. "Are you sure? Liel—"

"You're always off work before me, and now, if you ever want to hang around the Pentagram until I'm done, then you have a place to, you know, hang." Liel cautiously sat back down as Oliver turned the keyring over in his hands. "I like knowing you can come over whenever you want, even if I'm not home yet."

Even though they'd just been discussing the possibility of moving in together, this still felt big, and Oliver swallowed thickly. "Okay," he said with a smile, closing his hand around the key. "Thank you."

"Still not freaked out?" Liel asked, and Oliver shook his head.

"Nah. I mean, I know we should get a plant first, and see if we can keep it alive before we make any huge life decisions," he said with a laugh. "But no, not freaked out."

Liel frowned. "What does gardening have to do with big life decisions?"

"Oh, it's just something people say, I guess. Like how you should try to keep a plant alive to prove you're mature enough for, I don't know, kids or whatever."

Liel's eyes grew huge. "You want kids?"

Oliver tucked the key into his pocket so his hands were free to take Liel's. "No, I just meant, like how we're giving each other keys and talking about moving in together. You know, big life decisions."

"I have to keep a plant alive in order to move in with you?" Liel asked, his cartilage brow furrowed.

"No! It was a joke. A human joke that has clearly been lost in translation, so just forget about the plant."

"I'm never home," Liel said morosely."My plants always die."

"Liel, forget about the plants." Oliver squeezed his hands meaningfully. "I can't wait to move in with you when we both feel like it's the right time."

Humming distractedly, Liel stared into the space over Oliver's shoulder until Oliver distracted him with a kiss. Even then, it took Oliver swiping his tongue along Liel's lower lip to truly get the demon into it.

When they eventually parted, Liel's eyes charged with sparks, and he dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper as he said, "Between you and me, it would be advantageous if we both felt like the right time was in, say, months."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Rusty made an offer I couldn't refuse?" Liel said with a guilty grimace.

"So you do wanna win the pool?" Oliver accused.

"I'm just saying, if we're going to move in together eventually, we might as well… win the bet while we're at it," Liel said haughtily, and Oliver burst into another round of laughter.

"You know, Jude cut me in too. So we have options."

"Yeah, but Rusty's splitting it sixty-forty."

Oliver leaned back into the couch and said, rather smugly, "Jude's doing fifty-fifty."

Sparks crackled in Liel's yellow eyes. "You negotiated a better deal than me?"

"Maybe," Oliver said, and that strange rumbling vibrated to life in Liel's chest as he sank his sharp teeth into his bottom lip. "Does that turn you on a little bit?"

"Honestly, yes," Liel admitted.

"You're such a freak."

Liel climbed into Oliver's lap and looped his arms lazily around his neck. "A freak you love."

"Yes, a freak I love."

With a satisfied hum, Liel kissed Oliver's cheek, then his jaw. "Say it again."

"You're a freak," Oliver teased, and Liel smacked his side.

"Don't play coy with me, Mr. Barnes," he warned.

Grinning until his cheeks ached, Oliver slipped his fingers under the hem of Liel's shirt as he said, "I love you."

Liel rumbled in approval, teeth nibbling on Oliver's ear. "Say it again."

"I love you."

Electric kisses burned down Oliver's neck. "Again."

Nails carved into Liel's muted yellow hips. "I love you."

Liel's breath hitched as his mouth hovered over Oliver's. "Again."

"Liel," Oliver said softly as he cupped his cheek, "I love you."

The demon's answering smile was as bright as the sun. "I love you."

And when Liel kissed him, it was significant. It was important. It was real, so very fucking real!