Sin Rouge was loud outside neon lights flashing, music shaking windows, demons shouting somewhere in the streets below but the apartment at the top of the building was quiet.
Very quiet.
Malerion woke first.
Not because he was restless but because he was used to being aware long before danger ever arrived.
Beside him, Verosika slept on her stomach, one leg tangled in the sheets, hair messy from the night, breathing soft and unguarded. Her hand rested on his chest like she'd claimed the space accidentally… or instinctively.
He didn't move.
Not yet.
For a moment, he simply observed not with ownership, not with calculation, but with a rare stillness.
Like someone acknowledging a turning point.
Eventually, Verosika stirred. Her lashes fluttered, she blinked once, twice then slowly focused.
On him.
Her expression shifted through three stages:
1. Recognition
2. Memory
3. …Oh. Right. That happened.
She cleared her throat and pushed her hair back a useless attempt at pretending she wasn't still processing everything.
"Well," she said finally, voice rough from sleep, "good morning."
Malerion answered calmly:
"Good morning."
Silence followed not awkward, not tense… just heavy with everything unsaid.
Verosika sat up a little, pulling the blanket with her.
"So," she muttered, "we actually did it."
"Yes."
"No regret?"
"None."
Her mouth quirked.
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
She studied him carefully not as an Overlord, not as a rising power but as someone who had just crossed a line with her that neither of them could easily walk back from.
"…This changes things," she whispered.
"It does."
"Are you pretending it doesn't?"
"No."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Then what are you thinking?"
Malerion paused not because he didn't know the answer, but because he wanted to choose the right version of it.
Finally:
"I don't want to undo what happened."
That hit harder than expected.
Until now, everything between them had been:
tension
near moments
hesitation
restraint
choice
Last night wasn't an accident.
It wasn't a drunken decision.
It was something both of them had been circling for months.
Verosika exhaled slowly and leaned back against the headboard.
"…Good," she murmured. "Because I don't regret it either."
Her tail twitched under the blanket involuntary.
She pretended she didn't notice.
Malerion watched her not staring, not analyzing just being there.
Comfortable.
Grounded.
Dangerously sincere.
After a long moment, Verosika spoke again softer this time:
"I don't want this to turn into… pressure or expectations."
"It won't."
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
She let herself relax.
Really relax.
Not defensive.
Not performing.
Just herself.
Then, with a small smirk she couldn't suppress:
"…We should probably decide how to tell the others."
"Do we have to?" Malerion asked dryly.
Verosika snorted.
"Oh, trust me they already know. Liz knew before we even left the helicopter. Skit and Bit probably have a betting board. Rafe is rehearsing dramatic commentary. And Dreg"
"Will say nothing," Malerion finished.
"But will judge," Verosika added.
A shared laugh cut the tension.
For the first time in a very long time, Verosika felt
not protected, owned, used
but safe.
She slipped out of bed, stretching slowly, then glanced back at him.
"I'm going to get coffee," she said. "Do you want one?"
"Yes."
She nodded, turned
he watched her shapely butt as it moved towards the door and her tail which was waving in all directions as if he couldn't believe it was real
then stopped in the do
dorway.
Not flirtation or joke.
Just honesty.
"…Last night meant something to me."
Malerion met her gaze without hesitation.
"To me as well."
She held the moment one heartbeat longer
Then smiled.
"…Good."
The door clicked softly behind her.
And for the first time since arriving in Hell…
The future didn't feel like a threat.
It felt attractive