First Demonic Dragon

Chapter 1040: Pool Party!

When the door to the cell opened, Loki was surprised to find a woman step inside.

And hardly any woman. Eris of all people.

It became hard not to get his hopes up from that point.

Everyone knew that Eris was the only member of the Tathamets whom you might actually want to come across.

“Oh, thank heavens… they finally sent someone reasonable in here to talk to me. I’d like to discuss these living conditions if you are open to suggestions.”

Eris turned around and shut the door behind her.

Loki began to notice a slightly ominous air that wasn’t indicative of her usual personality.

“I… ehm. Y-You know what, this is fine after all. I’m not being drooled on by a venomous serpent or anything, so I really shouldn’t be all that picky…”

Eris’ heels clicked off the stone floor rhythmically.

As she kneeled down in front of Loki, the trickster god actually seemed to shrink back just a little.

But since he was shackled to the wall, there wasn’t very much room for him to run to.

“A-And Dagon here is a very charming conversationalist… We were discussing the prison industrial complex as well as it’s many…”

Loki’s words slowly trailed off the longer that Eris stared at him without saying a word.

Her uncannily bright eyes were dreadful to look at from up close. They reminded him so much of the serpent he had become painfully acquainted with over the years.

Eventually, he ran out of babble, and all that was left for him to do was plead.

“You gotta believe me… I didn’t know what that kid was going to do. Honest.” He said sincerely.

“If you had known what was going to happen, would you have changed your actions?” Eris finally spoke.

“Of course I probably wouldn’t!”

Dagon was beginning to think that the intelligence of the Norse god had been greatly exaggerated.

But even the god of deceit had some individuals he just couldn’t lie to.

“L-Look, I was being tortured, okay?? So yes, I would have done something shady if it meant that I got to enjoy a few days free of agony. I’m sorry that something happened to your daughter, but I already lost my wife. Haven’t I suffered enough?”

Eris took her time before responding again, and her next question surprised Loki to his core.

“…If you could have saved my daughter, would you have made the effort?”

Loki faltered. It was a question he never really considered during his captivity.

He was never really the big hero. He was the great dissenter of chaos and madness who took pleasure in seeing the world around him fall into disarray.

’Saving’ people had never really been a part of his whole deal.

But if he had the option to save Thea and the Fates, would he…?

“I think…”

Eris raised a brow as she waited.

“I would have sprung your daughter at least. She’s pretty hot.” Loki held up two thumbs.

“…I believe you’ll be disappointed when I remind you my daughter doesn’t prefer men.”

“Everybody likes Loki.”

“Except for Thor, Odin, Balder, Heimdall, your children-”

“Okay, well, they’re being biased, so…”

Eris sighed to herself and stood up.

She started walking back towards the door’s entrance, and Loki was wondering if his attempts at joking had gone too far.

“I’ll arrange for you to be extradited back to Asgard.” Eris suddenly said.

“H-Hey, you can’t-”

“And I’ll request a change in conditions so that you aren’t tortured while you serve out the rest of your sentence.”

Loki’s words were caught in his throat as he stared at the disappearing back of Eris.

Before she left, he yelled out a question of his own.

“Why are you helping me?”

Eris paused with her hand on the doorknob. After a moment of thought, she simply shrugged.

“You were honest.”

She shut the door behind her, leaving Loki equal parts stunned and awed.

As soon as Eris left, Loki immediately scooched his way over to Dagon.

“Psst…”

“Get away from me, wretch.”

“Did you see how cool she was just now? I’m telling you, that is a goddess worth worshipping.”

“SPARE ME!!”

–

Abaddon opened his eyes after a nap only to find that he was still tired.

While this might have been considered normal after what he had been through, Abaddon had a small inkling that things might’ve been different this time around. He felt like he’d barely slept at all.

He probably wouldn’t have woken up if it weren’t for Erica straddling him and giving him a shake.

“There you are… You were sleeping pretty hard just now.”

“Mmm… tired.” Abaddon nodded as he started to close his eyes again.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Erica pried her husband’s eyelids open. “It’s time for us to meet everyone at the pool like we promised. You’ll perk up once we get you in the water.”

Abaddon let out a low groan.

Erica brushed aside his hair and leaned down so that her lips grazed against his ear.

“You know… Nubia recently designed a line of swimwear for the summer.”

“Mhm.”

“It’s fabric that projects two different appearances. One for public spaces and one just for lovers~”

Abaddon pried his eyes open through sheer force of will.

“You’re so easy.” Erica laughed and rolled her eyes.

“For some reason, I’m okay with that.”

Abaddon sat up while yawning and took a closer look at Erica.

She appeared to be wearing a modest one-piece swimsuit along with a white covering that was partially see-through.

But if Abaddon focused hard enough, he could see that Erica was wearing nothing a black bikini that was little more than intricate string.

“…That’s a lot of fabric. You sure you’re not going to be hot in all that?”

Erica laughed as she started pulling him out of bed.

“Any less than this and it’ll just be our honeymoon all over again. Wouldn’t you rather save something like that for tonight?”

Abaddon shook his head no like an impatient child.

“Well, too bad, because I can’t have you draining me of all my energy before we even set foot inside the barbecue.”

“I’ll be gentle.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Why not?”

“Because I would tell you not to be.”

“If you’re trying to make me not want it, you’re doing a really bad job.”

Erica changed her swimsuit into a nun outfit.

Abaddon couldn’t really say that it was working as well as she thought it would.

As she pulled him out of bed, she noticed the pants he was wearing and let out a small snicker.

“Those are… quite an adorable choice of wardrobe. Just don’t let the other men see you in them.”

“Hmm..?”

Abaddon looked down at his pants.

They were bright and colorful, with images of cartoon bunnies dancing across bright green pastures.

“I… What?”

“They’re very cute, darling. I might like a pair myself.”

“You’re joking, but you know full well I don’t own anything like this. And since when do I sleep in anything but my briefs?”

Erica had to admit that he did have a point there. Everyone in their marriage usually wore very little to sleep, just in case one of them got the urge to ’unwrap their present’ in the middle of the night.

Abaddon looked deeply troubled for some reason. Erica didn’t really understand what the big deal was.

“Maybe Valerie is making things in her sleep again.” She shrugged. “Certainly wouldn’t be the first time. Remember last Christmas when I woke up with that new removable tail inside of me?”

“That was a really good morning…” Abaddon nodded slowly.

Since her husband still had enough energy to make jokes, Erica concluded that he was fine.

She crawled out of the bed while gesturing for her husband to do the same. “Come on. I really don’t want to miss any more time with our family than we already have.”

“Right, right…” Abaddon got out of bed and followed behind his wife while telling himself that he was just being overdramatic.

In the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but remember the sweet dream he had.

One where Mira bounded through a field of large rabbits and led them on grand adventures in lands far, far away…

–

“I’m not doing this.”

“You don’t have a choice, cream-puff!” Darius informed. “You’re a grandpappy now, and that means you do what grandpappys do!”

“Stop fighting it, grandson. You have evaded this day for far too long already.” Helios patted him on the shoulder.

“No matter the number of contestants, I will emerge victorious at every turn.” Hajun said boldly. “Defeat is inevitable.”

“I’ve been training for this for a long time now! I won’t be bested by any of you bastards again!” Gulban lied.

Asmodeus gave his son an apologetic look. “Best that you just let them get to it, son. You know how these old dogs get about their bones…”

“Why am I here…?” Shin folded his arms. “I don’t even have grandchildren.”

“””Diversity.””” Helios, Hajun, and Darius answered at once.

“Ah.”

Abaddon ran his hand over his waves to calm himself. “This is so… Fine, but this is the only time I’m doing this foolishness.”

“It won’t be, but it’s cute that you think that. Now let’s do this!” Darius turned around.

“Contestants ready?” Satan called.

“3…

2…

1..!

FLEX, BABYYY!”

The competing geriatrics struck their agreed-upon poses in front of a cheering crowd.

Their muscles bulged. Their pecs were perfectly oily! Every vein they had was pushed to the surface of their scaly (and metallic) skin!

The crowd was absolutely jumping.

With the addition of two new contestants, there was a newly integrated level of favoritism to the judging that hadn’t been there before.

Bashenga thought the very height of embarrassment came when Tatiana fainted over the sight of his father.

He would not learn just how wrong he was until a few moments later, when his great aunt Lusamine crawled on top of Karliah’s shoulders to flash Shin.

He wished he could say that this was the only time he had seen something like that happen in this house, but by now, he was far too familiar with the breasts of extended family members than he should have been.

What started as a contest of bodybuilding turned into a softcore strip show.

Kirina threw dollar bills at her husband like he was a college student half her age.

Inspired by her stroke of genius, the other partners of the contestants started to do the same.

Bashenga looked down at his lap and covered the eyes of both his young siblings.

“You will thank me for this later… Hold on to your innocence for as long as the world allows.”

Bash estimated that this little contest probably wouldn’t end until Karliah inevitably started throwing money at a man who was already claimed, likely his father. At that point, his mothers would fly into a rage and destroy the rooftop, trying to kill her.

Just like their last Dragon Bowl watch party.

“We certainly come from special stock, don’t we..?”

Bashenga looked over his shoulder at his sister.

He gave Thea a single once over before he turned back to watch the mania.

Thea, taking that as an invitation, sat beside him without saying another word.

For a while, they sat together in silence while watching their mothers fawn over their father.

Bashenga felt Thea nudge his shoulder. She did it a few more times before actually speaking.

“We’re okay, right..?”

Bashenga took his time giving an answer…