First Demonic Dragon-Chapter 946: A Change in Nature V

Part of being married is spending an immense amount of time together without actually doing or saying anything.

The simple act of close proximity and or skin-to-skin contact is euphoric for the soul in a way that is difficult to go without or put into words.

Abaddon and Lisa sat side by side, each with the water up to their necks and their bodies in their full glory.

The only thing that they did for over an hour was hold hands.`Other than their initial greeting, no more words passed between the two.

Lisa ran her fingers over Abaddon's knuckles. She had claimed that she wasn't going to help him reach any realization, but she was already doing wonders.

"....Your hands feel nice." He stammered.

Lisa finally smiled at him again and barely resisted the urge to hug him. "After all of this time, you're just now noticing?"

"N-No, I just... suppose that I'm more grateful for it now is all." He looked away.

Lisa finally caved a bit and allowed herself to run her hands over her husband's much shorter hair.

Immediately, Abaddon shuddered.

After weeks of feeling nothing but punches and kicks landing against his face, feeling the touch of someone who cared for him as much as Lisa did was almost too euphoric for words.

An unthinkable amount of tension left him all at once. He practically melted into the water.

For a moment, Lisa thought she might've turned her husband's brain to such mush that he would be rendered incapacitated.

She let out a small sigh of relief when, a few moments later, he opened his eyes and stared into the sky overhead.

"Is my idea of myself... twisted?"

Lisa tilted her head as she continued to run her fingers over his waves. "What do you mean...?"

Abaddon's eyes burned with complexity. "I think it started in the first timeline. The one where I was Carter and-"

"Oh, I love that one!" Little hearts shone in Lisa's eyes. "You were so cute with your fat little face and round tummy and..."

Abaddon stared at Lisa hard. She stared at him right back, unashamed.

"What!? Are you going to tell me you didn't like it when I was a little bit heavier?" freewebnσvel.cѳm

"..." Abaddon said nothing as he went back to staring at the water.

"That's what I thought."

Abadon huffed and let his body sink deeper into the water. "Anyway... I think that ever since then... I have chased this unexplainable state of perfectionism. I want to be the perfect brother, son, father, husband-"

"And warrior?" Lisa finished.

Abaddon smiled helplessly.

"They say human souls carry their experiences in one life to their next without even realizing it. I wonder if my humanity is affecting me in a similar way."

Abaddon could feel Lisa staring at him. He could practically sense the words on the tip of her tongue.

He turned his head just enough to see her wearing the same look she usually wore whenever Mira claimed she might have a sugar addiction.

"...You already knew that, huh?"

Lisa gave her husband an apologetic pat on the head. "Don't feel bad, honey. You're having a moment, so keep going."

Abaddon could not help but feel like he was being slightly patronized.

"Oh, don't look like that. I'm not saying it's a bad thing." Lisa smiled. "I think it's just the nature of us beasts, you know?"

"By beasts, you mean..?"

"Gods like us. We live these infinite lifespans, but we don't really grow or age much... we stay at around the same level of maturity as when we ascend."

Abaddon knew this of course, but he never put much thought into it. But it was true that he and his wives were near-perfect examples of this divine paradox.

Intellect and wisdom aside, he and his wives still behave the exact same now as when they were in their twenties or thirties. They were all still a bit immature, as their kids so often liked to remind them.

The only real exceptions to this were Audrina, Erica, and Lisa. Sif would be more mature too if she wasn't born such a hotheaded frost giant.

Lisa pursed her lips with a thoughtful look as she tightened her grip on his hand.

"The person you used to be was someone who never truly got a fair shake at life.

It doesn't surprise me that now that you are all that you are, you feel as though you must be perfect at all times. Actually, I feel like I've known ever since you told me about your human side.

You have to be the perfect brother because you never had any siblings who looked up to you.

You have to be the perfect son because you feel like it's the only way to 'repay' your parents for actually caring about you.

The perfect father because you know what it was like to have a dad whom you couldn't rely on.

You feel compelled to be the absolute perfect warrior because you already know what it's like to be unable to defend yourself from abuse."

Each of her words felt like blow after profane blow to the soul. Her observations, while not malicious, contained numerous hard-to-swallow truths compiled over billions of years of love and union.

And Abaddon, despite his preparedness to change, was quite shocked to be dissected so plainly in front of the blades of grass watching them bathe.

However, he wasn't unreceptive. In fact, he wanted to hear more.

"And…" Lisa paused.

Even though she told herself that she wouldn't, Lisa ended up crawling into Abaddon's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

She could feel his heart beating desperately inside of his chest.

She placed her harm over his chest and smiled at him warmly.

"It's also the reason why you feel like you need to be the perfect husband for all of us. Though maybe that part isn't always so bad…"

Lisa's words started to trail off before she shook her head hard.

"M-My point is that your life and the people in it are not so fragile that things will come crashing down if you aren't perfect. Because, inevitably, you won't be.

You won't be able to find Percival whenever you put your mind to it. All you can do is be ready for him when he shows up.

You won't be able to air your people in every tragedy. You just have to hold your arms out for them when their journey is at an end.

And you don't need to harbor this inner guilt and animosity for yourself when you fall short of your ambitions.

The realms will not crumble. Our love for you will always be there. And the way that our family sees you will not change."

Lisa touched her husband's cheek tenderly. Her yellow-gold eyes were as bright as the sun.

It was difficult to look at her and not be choked up. Such was the overpowering nature of her beauty.

And Abaddon was hit full force by it. He was long passed the days of trying to pretend that he wasn't.

He stared at her like she was a goddess worthy of his worship. He hung off her every word like her lips were the key to his salvation.

His eyes were loaded with infatuation. His words were bustling with gratitude. "I thought you said you weren't going to save me this time..?"

Lisa showed him the biggest, prettiest smile.

"I haven't told you anything that you didn't already know. You would've figured it all out on your own eventually. I just sped up the process a bit."

Abaddon thought that Lisa gave him far too much credit and herself too little. He wanted to tell her everything that he thought, but her touch had effectively fried his brain already.

"There is one thing I feel you should know though…"

Lisa pressed her forehead against her husband's. Their lips grazed against each other, but she still managed to establish a firm distance.

"And for the love of god…

next time you want to hang out with your friend, don't just leave our children alone with someone they don't even know…"

Abaddon froze like a deer in headlights. The kiss he was hoping for suddenly didn't feel like it was going to come anytime soon.

Like everything else Lisa had said, he had to take this one on the chin as well. It wasn't exactly proper of him to leave Buddha to babysit when he was the one who wanted to bring his kids along.

"I'll make it up to them. I promise."

Lisa raised a brow. "I hope you don't intend to do that by giving them their first taste of sugar."

"…" Abaddon turned his head away and whistled.

"Not going to happen." Lisa rolled her eyes. "They're too small for you to start corrupting their diets already."

Abaddon's heart panted with guilt. Because he knew that Bekka let Odessa try a watered-down Coke already. And let her lick icing off her fingers.

Oblivious to his inner turmoil, Lisa lay her head in the crook of his neck. Her steady breathing tickled his skin and sent waves of heat through his body.

"They're small, so you don't need to worry about making things up to them just yet. Instead, do you think you might want to do something for me..?"

Abaddon kissed her from her shoulder blade to her neck. "Anything."

Lisa's face turned slightly red as she ignored her womanly impulses.

"Our anniversary is coming up and it's our first year with Izanami… I want us to all go to Eden for a while."