Sen collected a bottle of wine from their kitchen. He scowled while opening it. This wine belonged to him! And it was expensive. Lem didn't even like drinking this stuff so it wasn't like Sen was getting anything out of it. God, he needed a drink himself. After pouring the glasses he took a swing from the bottle.
Walking out to the living room felt awkward. The stares of both lemon monsters fell on him. He was so out of place here. He carefully placed each glass next to Lem and Neil. Neil gracefully picked up the glass and took a sip.
"Mm, the one thing I will always miss from the human realm is how tasty they make their wine."
Sen made his way to the other side of the couch to finish up folding his laundry. He wasn't comfortable leaving Lem alone with this demon. Also, two demons being present wasn't going to stop him from finishing up his chores. Only glances were exchanged between Lem and Neil. It made Sen want to break the silence himself, but this wasn't his battle.
"How have Charlie and William been?" Lem finally said.
Charlie? William? Who?
"Same old." Neil coughed. "One still in that insane asylum and one sailing the seas to fill his empty heart."
"You checked on them?" Lem said.
"It is hard too!" Neil leaned back on the couch, "That is one of the positives about you son, compared to your brothers, you're always so easy to find!"
Sen froze. Brothers? Not only did Lemon have a father, but he also had brothers?! How much did he also not know about his boyfriend? Haven't they been through enough for Sen to know this information? Senpai was beyond confused about what that meant for them.
"Let's stop talking about them," Lem said, glancing over at Sen. Sen never saw him so nervous in his life.
"Gladly," Neil said. "We should talk about how you came in the possession of such a handsome looking human."
Neil's eyes glanced up and down at Sen like he was some sort of fancy knick-knack. Sen didn't know what to do. It reminded him of the beginnings of his relationship with Lemon. Like he was some sort of object and not a living and breathing being.
"Dad stop, you're making him uncomfortable."
Neil quickly looked away and coughed into his hand.
"My apologies, but seriously how did you come across him?"
"He was just some kid looking for shelter and I took him in," Lem said.
"That's nice Lem, I'm proud that you have found that humans have other uses than just meals."
Sen wanted to throw up. He knew Lem had to eat humans to survive but he didn't know that there was that much of a great divide between them. It seemed liked according to Lem's dad, humans were inferior in every way to them. No wonder Lem didn't want to say anything about them dating.
"I do apologize that I came unannounced," Neil said.
"You always do," Lem said back quickly.
"Anyway! Jr. do you have plans for dinner?"
"Well, I was actually starting to make dinner before you showed up."
"You were making it?" Neil said squinting his eyes at Sen.
"Well... I," Lem stumbled over his words.
"Haha, he likes taking credit for what I do!" Sen jumped in putting the folded clothes to the side. This was getting painful, he couldn't just sit there and watch. Lem looked so relieved at this.
"OH! That's my boy!" Neil said.
"I am going to go to the kitchen now!" Sen said hurrying to the door. As soon as he made his way inside he let out a shaky breath. This was all too much, he didn't know how long he could control his emotions. Every word out of Neil's mouth pissed him off.
Two days. It will be just two days. He spent years trapped inside a stupid video game, he could do this.
Sen looked out at the kitchen. What was really messed up about this situation was that Lem wasn't even making the dinner for himself. It was for Sen. Lem took his own eating habits in their basement. Eating human meat around Sen disgusted him to no end, so Lem did everything in his power to avoid eating around him. He still made meals for Sen though. Sen could not cook to save his life, well he may have to do that now.
Sen first looked at the stove. He hated the thing. The number of times he got burned even attempting to cook was outrageous. He had no clue about what temperature to cook anything and even how to cook certain things. Even with the countless times, he has watched Lem. He hated how messy it could get too. He had to cook though. It was like proving something at this point. Plus seeing his boyfriend constantly getting harassed did not feel good. Right now it seemed like he had to impress this demon for the sake of Lem.
He would do anything for Lemon Demon. And if that meant acting like a house slave, so be it.
He did just realize that Lem and his father probably expected human meat. His stomach curled, this meant he had to go downstairs to Lem's basement. He had to cook that shit.
He had to just pretend that it was a dirty pig or something. He got this. He had to do this.
Sen took a deep breath in, set the stove to preheat, and opened up a drawer to pull out a clothespin. He pinched his nose and made his way to the door of the basement.
—-
Cooking dinner didn't go that badly, it did result in Sen getting some burns per usual. But he did it, and he was actually pretty proud of himself. He even cooked some mixed vegetables for a side dish. Lemon Demon probably wouldn't eat it but by god, it looked nice. He wasn't the best at cooking food but he was sure good at setting plates and setting the table.
His work was awarded a surprising smile by Neil when he came up to the dining room table. Sen only had a plate of mixed vegetables while the two lemon monsters chowed down on full big plates. Their eating styles were very much noticeable. Neil ate very proper, even more proper than Sen. While Lem completely just shoveled the food into his mouth without even acknowledging the silverware. It was a gross habit that Sen grew to love. Neil did not seem to be happy about it though giving his son cold glares without saying a word.
They ate in silence.
"This was good Sen," Lem said as he finished the full plate.
"Oh yes! And vegetables?" Neil said. He then raised up his hands to give small claps. "I applaud you Sen, I could never get him to eat them when he was a child!"
Sen felt very good inside. He should try and cook more often. Neil wiped his face with the napkin and set the plates nicely together.
"Where will I be sleeping, tonight sonny?" Neil said.
"You are going to be staying..?" Lem said.
"Why of course I am! We have so many more things to talk about!" Neil scanned the house. "This is also a really nice place."
"Sen keeps it nice," Lem said. It was true, without Senpai it would be a garbage pile. He was no slave, but Senpai held that to heart.
"So, do you have a place where I can sleep tonight?"
"Yes, dad," Lem said. "There is a guest room."
"Aww. Is that where little Senpai sleeps?"
"Only if I'm good," Sen scoffed. Impressing this guy was annoying when he constantly was looking down at both of them. He wanted to punch him. That would be stupid though, so he had to result to snippy comments to cope.
"Sen..." Lem said.
"Oh my! Where does he make you sleep when you are not good." Neil chuckled.
"Right on this floor," Sen smirked at Lem as he pointed at the floor.
"JR. How rude! I know you eat humans left and right but that is just downright cruel." Neil said.
"Sen, just show him the guest room," Lem said.
"Mm master, have I been bad?" Sen said. He was actually enjoying himself agian.
"Senpai!" Lem glared and Sen instantly shut up. That did not feel good at all getting yelled at. He hardly heard that tone from Lem. Lem seeing Sen's face gave an apologetic look. "Sen, please just do it."
"Ok," he said. His voice came out weaker than usual. "Come along sir."
"Mm-hm" Neil nodded. It was hard to pinpoint his expression at that moment. Sen wondered what he thought about that exchange they just had. Sen led him to the bedroom across the master bedroom and opened the door as Neil walked in.
"Would there be anything else that you need?"
"No, thank you," Neil walked around the room analyzing it. Sen started to turn to leave. "Sen?"
"Yes?" He turned around and froze. Neil was right behind him, eyes glowing red.
"Be careful how you talk to my son. Just because for some reason he doesn't put you in your place doesn't mean I can't. Know your place, little human."
Sen shuddered. Neil was giving him flashbacks to memories he shoved down years ago. No words could form.
"You are excused." Neil turned on his heel. Sen backed away as fast as he could and rushed out. So many emotions ran through him that he tripped over his feet and he felt his eyes water a bit.
—-
Going downstairs and seeing Lem made him want to open up about all the emotions he had at that moment. But seeing Lem's upset face stopped him. Anything Sen was going through, was probably a thousand times worse for him. This was literally his father. He had to remember that Lem did not even want to tell him about him. So instead they cleaned up together in silence. Sen hated it, but there were no words he could come up with to say anyway. He just had to keep reminding himself that this was only a temporary thing. Soon everything would go back to normal.
It still hurt when he saw Lem pull blankets from a closet and set them on the living room couch. Or while saying goodnight he only got a quick shoulder pat instead of their usual kiss. When Lem left, Sen sat on the couch with the covers over him. He knew he couldn't sleep here. The living room was so much colder and the couch was lumpy. He didn't even want to try.
He looked at the clock and waited for half an hour to pass before he got up and carefully made himself up the stairs trying not to make a noise. He slowly cracked open the door to find Lem's sitting on the bed with his head in his hands. He looked up and sighed.
"Sen? You shouldn't be here." He whispered looking down again.
"Now, don't actually start talking to me like I'm some sort of dog." Sen scoffed. "I promise I'll go downstairs before this morning."
Sen sighed and walked up to Lem reaching his hand under his chin to pull his face up so they could meet eyes. His eyes looked so sad. Sen hated it.
"I'm sorry." Lem said.
"It is fine," Sen said back. "This is just all so stupid, I am not even fully human!"
"Sen you are a spirit who took over a human body. With demon culture that still basically means you are a human."
"That is beside the point, screw your demon culture!"
"Why do you think I left?" Lem said reaching to grab Sen to pull him into his lap. Sen smiled at the close contact. He missed it so much.
"You have brothers?" Sen said.
"Unfortunately. I hope they never show up."
Sen still really wondered how that was like and how they looked like. Sen has always been an only child for what he knew. He was always curious about sibling relationships. It was even more interesting than they were lemon-headed brothers. God, did Lemon have a mom? He decided that question should be saved for later.
"Why? They can't be any worse than your dad."
"One of them would kill you instantly and one of them will kill you with how annoying he gets."
"...Oh?" Sen didn't know how to respond. He still wanted more information. "Are they younger or older than you?"
"I'm the oldest, Charlie is the youngest."
"Aw big brother Lemon."
"Ha. But yeah Sen?"
"Hm?"
"Again, I'm sorry for the way he talked to you and how I had to talk to you. I know it bothered you."
"You know what?! Yeah, it did bother me, it kind of reminded me of how I was treated while I was in that fucking video game!"
"Yeah?"
"Like an object."
"Ohhh Sen," Lem wrapped his arms tighter around Sen. "If it makes you feel better I don't view you like that at all, you are completely my equal in every way."
"...It does make me feel a little better," Sen said. He nuzzled closer into his chest.
"I'll make it up to you."
"How so?" Sen looked up.
"I'll take you on so many fancy dates that your head will explode."
"Will you make that curry I adore?"
"Of course," Lem lowered himself to lap at his cheek. It tickled causing Sen to let out uncontrollable giggles. He pushed at Lem.
"Haha stop!"
"No! You frowned too much today. I have to see that smile."
"What about you!?"
"Hmm?"
"You have the biggest grin I have ever seen on anyone in my life but today it was all frowning." Sen raised a hand to brush his cheek. "It will be better tomorrow hon."
Instead of responding, Lem could only bury his large head into Sen's neck. He breathed deeply.
"I'm glad you are here." He finally said.
"I feel like I am not doing enough though."
"You are enough."
Sen's heart melted at that. For such a big part of his life he felt like he never had enough, people threw him away. But this big scary monster said he was and he loved him so much for that. Sen pulled him into a small kiss on his mouth which Lem happily returned, in their heated passion Sen guided his hand down between Lem's legs.
"Sen?" Lem gasped.
"Let me get rid of this frustration."
Lem paused thinking of refusing.
"Haha ok." Lem finally reached to grasp at Sen's behind. "Do your worst."
Sen smirked before pinning Lem to the bed.
---
Sen woke up to an empty bed. The empty bed was their shared bedroom. His heart sank, he forgot that he wasn't supposed to fall asleep in here. And it wasn't a good sign that Lemon wasn't here. Sen was usually always the one up first. A loud crash downstairs confirmed his worry. He bolted out the bedroom door to look down the stairs. On the floor, was the vase he recently bought, a vase he really liked. Lem was steaming in anger, it was anger that Sen has never seen before.
"Son, calm down," Neil grunted.
"You promised me, you would never bring her up again!"
Her? Sen was tired of hearing about people in Lem's life from Neil. How exactly different was Lem before they met?
"I just want to make sure you aren't alone and son you have to keep your legacy!"
"A legacy?! Your talking about your legacy!"
Sen slowly guided himself down the stairs.
"Playing around with these humans and their simple lives all day is ridiculous Jr. I get that it can be funny but you know you are better than this."
"I like my life!"
"What do you even do with this life?"
"I experience the world and write cookbooks!"
"Cookbooks!?"
"I still write songs too!" Lem said. Neil shook his head making Lem's anger flare up more. "What do you want me to be doing!?"
"Come home with me, we will make an album together, maybe you can try again with Lila."
"I'm not going to get with her dad."
"She is a high-class demon."
"I don't care! I don't want to be with her!"
"Why? Because you like playing around with your little human slave."
Sen's heart sank. Fuck.
"Dad what the hell!"
"I'm not stupid, he wasn't sleeping here when we came down and I heard you two last night." Neil let out a grunt. "I never thought I would have a spawn that was into that."
"Shut up!" Lem growled. Sen was starting to get terrified. He didn't even know who could win in a fight between them. He didn't want to find out.
"Jr. I know what is best for you."
"You don't know that! You know what! I don't want to look at you anymore."
"Lem wait," Sen called out quietly. He was scared.
Lem ignored all pleas and pushed his dad aside as he moved towards the front door. Neil tried to grab him but Lem shooked him off. As he went out the door, he slammed it with such force it shook the house. Sen thought about following him but he had this deep-rooted feeling that he shouldn't, even if he did not want to be here. Lemon needed to be alone.
Neil pinched at his forehead. Before looking up and meeting eyes with Sen. He smiled a toothy grin. He was now alone with the demon that constantly put him down. Sen swallowed hard.
He couldn't show fear, he had to do something. He couldn't let this demon treat his boyfriend like this anymore. The small man met eyes with the powerful demon. It was time.