Worship

"He's very proud of your following. He said he's never been prouder, actually. I suppose that pride is somewhat undercut by his disappointment in you falling so hard for a mere human... What I think is irrelevant, your father won't change his mind, but I don't think it's so terrible. We've heard a lot about your boyfriend, he seems... like he'd fit in well. I'd be bitterly disappointed if you fell in love with some weakling, dear. Besides, your choice in a human mate isn't bad; he's very handsome. That's something, at least. You know how your father is; beauty goes a long way in making him like someone. He might not change his mind, but I'm sure you can convince him of your happiness. Maybe that'll sway him a little," she nodded, taking in the decor with a faint smile. It did have Apollo written all over it, so even if it wasn't the grand home she was used to living in, she was at least more comfortable than she assumed she would be before she arrived.

"...Can't you just come home soon? I can convince your father to allow you to return early. I'm not one to get sentimental but it's awfully boring down there without you. I'm happy to admit that I miss you-- though I'm sure you've had other things on your mind than little old me," grinned Mai, casting a glance back to the bathroom while sipping her wine. "I'd like to talk to him; your boyfriend, I mean. I assume he knows all about what and who you are. I just think I'd scare the poor boy if I met him. You know I can't be bothered with the human facade. Mind you, if he's coming to Hell with you, he ought to get used to seeing what we really look like. As scary as I look, there are much scarier demons down there. He's not going to be one of those humans who shriek in fear, is he? Your father won't tolerate that."
 
"No man of our kind could compare to Elijah," he dared to declare as he took a sip of his own wine. "There's something about him that is just... so carnal, hm? He would fit in with us beautifully. He claims to think my true form is hot but he's barely even seen it. I'm sure he would go mad if I showed him it all. Hopefully it would be in a good way, maybe he'd find me so sexy that he would take me then and there," he drawled teasingly with a wide grin as he neatly crossed his legs.

"Mai, please. The situation is... a bit difficult. I can't just abandon everything that I've built here - including my followers. As for running off with Elijah, it's not possible because he's stubborn. He doesn't want to go with me now that he has his sister and all that, which is... frustrating. Of all times, yeah? It's just frustrating. I've been compromising with him as much as possible but it's getting frustrating not just making him do as I please."
 
Mai always felt a little awkward when the topic of sex or romance came up between them. She wanted to be seen as someone Apollo could turn to and confide in, no matter the issue, but when she had literally been at the boy's birth and spent more time with him growing up than his own father had, it was difficult for her to remind herself that he wasn't a child anymore. In her eyes, she could still look at him and see the young boy she had tutored and played with - though she did desperately want to fulfil the 'cool aunt' role she seemed to have been given, which meant discussing these topics with him without getting too uncomfortable.

"If you love him, I don't think he'd appreciate being forced into decisions. Then again, if he loves you, he ought to be willing to compromise? Surely he'd want to spend more time with his boyfriend than some sister? Though maybe he actually likes his sister. I never liked mine," she drawled, running her finger along the rim of the glass thoughtfully. "...Your father's planning to visit, that's... I wanted to inform you so you could be prepared. He wanted it to be a surprise, but I think you ought to know; make sure your boyfriend has time to psych himself up for it. I can come along to the dinner too, of course-- for moral support. Plus I can stop your father from being out of line if he's in one of his moods."
 
"Oh, my daddy is coming home? So soon? Thank you, Mai! That means I have enough time to properly clean up as well," he noted, Apollyon's expression changing from a smile of joy to one holding back dread. He knew his father was a sucker to his only legitimate son and was soft enough to let said son be in the human world for college but that didn't mean his father didn't expect cleanliness and to have royal standards put towards everything. Setting down his glass of wine, he hopped off the counter.

"Goodness gracious - how long do I have?" He asked as he folded his arms and took in his dorm. It was near spotless bar a few glasses but his eyes landed on said glasses almost immediately before waving his hand and watching them carefully return to the sink. "Tragic, really. I just wish he would put more trust in me, there are much more pressing matters to be dealt with."
 
"Don't panic, Apollyn, but he said he'd make the trip up in a day or two. It was an impromptu decision, he said he wasn't overly fond of your choices and wanted to... see what was happening for himself. I barely had time to get away to inform you. But there's no reason for you to lose your head over this, hm? This place is lovely and you speak highly of your boyfriend, so I'm sure it'll be fine. I'm just glad you're in a monogamous relationship and don't follow your father, it's far too stressful having to deal with all his... friends. It shows you have loyalty at least, and I think that's a good trait to have," she remarked, setting her chin in her hand as she watched him tidy up. She didn't like to be the bearer of the news that stressed him out, but she also knew that it was best to forewarn him so he could brace himself and his boyfriend over what to expect.

"It's just a nice dinner at a restaurant. I assume your father will want to dine privately so that'll be a nice experience. It'll be fine. He just wants to hear what you've been up to. if your boyfriend is as good as you say he is, there won't be any problems to deal with. It'll just be us four having a nice meal. Doesn't that sound nice?"
 
"Don't panic? Don't panic? Mai, this is incredibly important! This is the first time my father is coming to visit rather than the other way around, I don't want him to doubt me nor hold it over my head because you very well know he will, especially if he's so upset with me dating Elijah," he countered easily, his frown only growing. At the mention, he realized it was probably not good to just leave him sitting casually in the tub. Letting out a reluctant groan, he moved to the bathroom to lift him up and put him in his bed at the very least.

"I honestly don't see the big deal. I... want to see my daddy, of course! I just... wish it was planned a bit better so that Elijah doesn't have a heart attack. He's terrified of him, in fact, and almost refused to marry me if my father was there for our wedding. Isn't that wrong?"
 
"There's really no need to snap at me. I'm trying to help you. I might get into trouble if your father knew I was warning you like this. He was very excited about the chance to surprise you, catch you off guard. He thought he might see how things were really going if he visited without your knowledge. I thought that was mean so I came to tell you. Imagine I hadn't, hm? Imagine your father arrived and you were kissing your boyfriend? He'd hate that, Apollyn. It's good I came here, so please don't snap at me," she murmured with a growing frown, resisting the urge to help him with Elijah. She never usually cared to help people, but when it came to Apollyn and his father, she was always inclined to do so - it was a natural instinct, though she fought against it in this instance because of how personal it felt and she wasn't one to intrude.

That said, she had also grown bored of sitting around and not interacting with Elijah for herself. Whilst she knew it might be a bad idea -she fully anticipated him shrieking in fear, after all- her curiosity caused her to unfreeze the human and grin to herself as he stirred in confusion as to how he arrived in bed. The last thing he knew, he was in the bath with Apollo, after all.

"Did I pass out or somethin'?" He groaned, pressing his hand to his head at the faint headache he had. The pain disappeared the moment he set eyes on Mai, too focused on the sight of the demon to care about the niggling migraine. Contrary to what she assumed, however, he didn't register any emotion other than confusion, which itself faded away the moment he realised she was probably Apollo's friend so he had no reason to be worried.

"This a mate of yours then, yeah? You're inviting demons up to, what? Try to scare the living shit outta me? Ain't gonna work Apollo. You know I don't mind how you look, even if you've only shown me glimpses. This is cool," he shrugged with a faint grin over to the woman, strategically adjusting the bedsheets to protect his modesty. "So, uh... when did I pass out? I didn't fucking faint out of fear, did I? 'Cos that's lame. And it doesn't sound like me but I was in the bath and... I assume I passed out, yeah?"
 
"I'm sorry," he replied once returning from the bedroom, an apologetic frown on his lips. "I... I didn't mean to snap at you, I just wasn't expecting all of this. I'm incredibly thankful for you coming, Aunt Mai," he reassured politely, though did groan when he watched her head to the bedroom, knowing he probably shouldn't snap at her again and make himself look silly.

"... some demons can control time, especially when it comes to humans," Apollo explained with an apologetic smile towards his boyfriend, hiding just how proud he was to see how calm Elijah seemed to be. Neatly tugging off the other's robe from the wall, he handed it over before taking a seat on the bed beside the other.

"This is my Aunt Mai," he explained, his smile only growing when seeing the positive interaction. "She didn't want to startle you when she decided to stop by. I wish she came at a better time so that I didn't have to pull you out of the bath but I couldn't just let you sit there and prune up, hm?"
 
"Time is of the essence, Apollyn. I couldn't wait a second longer, however unfortunate it might be for you to have your intimate bath interrupted. I'm sure you'll have plenty more chances to recreate the moment; you won't always get to have me visiting you here in this realm," she retorted drily, two of her arms folding over her chest and the other two resting lightly on her hips as she examined the human for herself. She was usually able to work humans out relatively easily with how they felt and thought, and Elijah was no different, but he still surprised her. He wasn't just acting calm; he was calm and that was an emotion she really hadn't anticipated, but she was clearly pleased about it.

"Oh, he's marvellous, Apollyn. Your father will approve, I'm sure of it. He's wonderful. I thought he might be a complete bore; that you were abiding him for his looks, but no, I see the appeal beyond appearance. You've chosen wisely," she commented in approval, nodding firmly to consolidate that opinion. "...Apollyn speaks very highly of you. The fact he wants you to meet his father says a lot about how dearly he cares for you. Hurt him, and your life is over, you are aware of that, aren't you? If his father doesn't tear you apart, I certainly will--"

"I, uh... that ain't gonna happen. I wouldn't hurt him. Obviously." Elijah grinned as he tied the robe up with a grateful smile to Apollo for his quick thinking. "He's been saying nice stuff about me, huh? I thought my ears were burning~ Nah, that's cute, Apollyn. Is that your name; like, is Apollo just a nickname? You never told me that."
 
"One search of Apollyn on google and I'd be caught, Elijah. Not only that but Apollo just sounds more 'humab', don't you agree?" He replied, trying not to grow red in embarrassment as he bashfully fiddled with his hands. Elijah was the only human who could get a powerful demon like Appolyon all flustered which was just another sign of how important and special the human was to him.

"I guess I never really thought about my real name, I was too busy thinking of you~" He added, wriggling his eyes with a grin at the cheesy joke. "It was inevitable for you to find out, wasn't it? I think learning I was a demon was a bigger secret to learn than my name though, and you took that scarily well."
 
"Considering he takes it so well, I'm sure he'll manage marvellously when it comes to meeting your father tomorrow evening. It'll be a lovely dinner, I'm sure. I hear the food up here isn't so bad--"

"Tomorrow? I-- what the hell does she mean 'tomorrow', Apollo? I... I thought we agreed I'd meet your Dad when he came for the wedding, yeah? I-- I don't think I'm alright with this," the human blurted, any sign of calm disappearing at the realisation he would meet the other's father far earlier than he would have liked. The idea of demons didn't bother him too much, but it was a whole other story to sit down and meet someone like Apollo's father. Ideally, he'd have months to get himself together and composed enough to meet him, so to have the news sprung up on him that it would be as early as tomorrow was horrifying.

"I... Nah, I'm not going to that, you never mentioned I'd have to meet him this early, I can't do that, Apollo. I-I look a mess, he'll hate me," he grimaced, eyeing his bruised knuckles in annoyance. They were more or less a permanent feature, giving the frequency he got into fights, but he had decided to get himself away from all that for a few months, just to give the right impression when the time came to meet the man. Apparently, he didn't have that option anymore.
 
"I... wasn't expecting it either," he quickly defended, his eyes avoiding the orher's as he anxiously fiddled with his hands. "Apparently he's doing this to 'test us' or something like that which isn't surprising for him, just... inconvenient," he tried to explain as carefully as he could, daring to take Elijah's hand for comfort.

"We'll be fine. You look handsome no matter what you wear and as long as you don't drink tonight, you'll be fine - don't want you having a hangover in front of my father, that would be disastrous. All we need to make you look a bit more presentable would be a suit and that will be more than easy to find," he reassured, offering Elijah's hand a kiss. "Just... don't freak out, please? I didn't want this either but what can we do?"
 
"You want me to wear a suit? No. Nah, that ain't happening either," he declared, suddenly hit with some bravery which he knew he'd end up probably regretting but went ahead nonetheless. He didn't want to be the sort of person to change everything about himself to please another person, however important that person was. As much as he wanted the man to like him and approve of the relationship, he wasn't going to make himself feel uncomfortable to do that.

"The only time I'll wear a suit is when we get married. I hate them. My father always wore suits, it... I don't want to ever look like him, so... I'll wear something smart, just not that. It isn't me. Either your Dad likes me for who I am or not at all, I ain't gonna be fake about it," he nodded with a firm smile, hiding how nervous he was, though he also knew Apollo could probably see right through it. "...I'm not freaking out, promise. No alcohol either, that's... a good idea, definitely. I'll be alright. He can't kill me if we're in a public restaurant, so that's something."
 
"He wouldn't kill you no matter what," he laughed, snorting. "My father isn't one to jump to violence, that's just a stereotype that weaklings like God has spread to belittle our kind. Sure, my father is a little more Pugh than I am but he's far from cruel. As for the suit, that's... fine, just please wear something nice? I'll pick the outfit for you if you want me to," he suggested, nodding at his final decision.

"Of course Mai and my father will be in their human forms so you won't have to worry. Admittedly, my father's true form is a bit... intimidating. Very large, yes, Aunt Mai?" He reminded. "I'm actually a bit of a runt amongst the other demons but that just proves that size doesn't mean everything, hm?"
 
"Oh yes, very intimidating. At least, I assume it is for other demons and creatures down there. I personally don't find it frightening. Nothing scares me, not even your father. Mind you, his human form is rather formidable too. He doesn't do subtlety very well, your father," she responded, purposefully staying out of the conversation unless her name was brought up. She could see that this was a personal matter and she didn't want to interject and cause the human to dislike her. She hadn't lied when she said she approved and she certainly saw potential in him - she didn't want his opinion of her to diminish if she put her foot in things.

"Oh, you'll be fine, sweetheart. I've told Apollyn this; I'll make sure his father isn't too harsh. He ought to listen to me. I'm sure he must value my advice if he's kept me at his side all these centuries-- No, I'm sure I won't even need to tell him to behave. He adores Apollyn; he'll be respectful."
 
"He does adore me," Apollo replied, unaware that he was bragging a tad in front of someone who had been abused by their own father. "That means he'll adore you as long as you don't act disrespectful to me or any of that."

Offering an encouraging kiss to Elijah's forehead, his personality seemed to flip when it came to the topic. One moment he was terrified only for him to seemingly be excited. He would probably freak out later in the night when he would change his mind but at that moment, he was eager to have his father meet the man he saw as his soulmate... if he had a soul.
 
Elijah didn't really enjoy being reminded of how awful his own father was, but he realised it wasn't done on purpose so neglected to bring it up. Instead, he opted to offer a smile and keep silent about the whole thing. The more he talked about it, the more nervous he knew he would inevitably become. The only positive of it was seeing Apollo so happy and for that reason alone, Eli was willing to go through with it, rather than avoid it. He wasn't cowardly in the slightest, but coming face to face with the leader of Hell was hardly an easy task - but it was one he knew he would do because of Apollo, however scared he was.

Coming face to face with Mary the following morning was hardly easy either. He arrived as promised for the breakfast they had organised, only to remember once he got there that Agnes was missing, and he had to face his sister knowing he was the prime reason behind that. He didn't know that she and Cameron had had discussions about the missing people, and how Cameron had placed the blame on Apollo and his cult. If he knew that, he probably wouldn't have turned up at Mary's home.

"...I'm sure she's at a mate's place, Mary," he began from the table, observing his sister whilst hiding the guilt from his face as best he could. "She seems like a party animal, yeah? I'm sure she went out and crashed at another friend's place."
 
"No, that... isn't true," Mary quickly replied, shaking her head before holding her head, her cheeks red from stress and her eyes red from crying. "Agnes isn't a party animal, Elijah. She never misses work and she rarely sleeps over at someone else's place because she doesn't really have any friends outside of our group yet since we just moved here a few months ago," she explained quietly, doing her best not to cry in front of her brother.

"Cameron told me people have gone missing around here," she admitted after a pause, her lips pursing. "I hope that isn't the case, yeah? I-I mean, she's my best friend a-and I don't want to lose her to some weird cult or whatever. Ugh... I'm sorry, I... shouldn't be such a downer right now."
 
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"...Cameron told you that, did he? He has a fucking nerve. There's no fucking cult, I don't know why he's perpetuating that utter bullshit rumour for. He's best friends with most of the people he says are a cult, so what's he doing, huh? Don't believe a word he says. People haven't gone missing. I mean-- well, sure, they have, but that happens everywhere. Is Apollo gonna get blamed for every person going missing?" He grunted, his attempt to be supportive and gentle failing the moment he was brought to attention to Cameron's behaviour, especially when it concerned Apollo.

"Do you believe him?" He murmured sternly, standing up from the chair to approach his sister. "Go on, be honest. Do you really think Apollo would do that? Do you think I would?"
 
"I-I don't think you are. Well, I-I mean... I don't think so, no. I just - I don't want it to be the case," she quickly stammered in response, her shaky hand clinging tight to her mug as tears rimmed her tired eyes. Quickly looking away, she teased up.

"You're scaring me, Elijah," she whimpered, it being clear the reason had muxh to do with how similar Elijah resembled their father before she would be beaten for something incredibly mundane, if any reason at all. "S-Stop it, I don't... like it."
 
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