"How did you and Ezraphel meet?"
Stanley blinked, that wasn't the first question he thought she would ask but it was one he expected all the same.
Thera continued "as I understand it the spell she performed should have taken her directly to your location. It must have been quite the shock to have her suddenly appear before you."
"She didn't exactly appear before me" he explained "more like she appeared above me."
This piqued Thera's interest as she steepled her fingers "explain."
"She botched the spell and ended up exhausting her mana while appearing above my house. She fell and hit the roof before landing in my backyard. I don't know if it was the fall or the mana exhaustion that did it but she was unconscious when I found her."
"Haaa~" Thera let out an exasperated sigh at the imagery but soldiered on "and afterwards?"
"I took her inside. I would have called for medical help but she was fine. It didn't really seem like the fall did any damage to her."
"Ezraphel is quite hardy even among our siblings who do not practice combat."
He nodded at her words before finishing "after that she started staying at the house and the rest is history."
Thera was silent for a moment as she digested his words "she seems to be doing well for herself and seems genuinely taken with you."
He could tell she was judging him but if he was being honest Stanley didn't really care about her opinion of him and wasn't exactly looking for her approval. It was counterproductive to be sure but it's hard to play nice when her abrupt presence came just as he was warming up to the idea of making moves to prepare the world (and himself) for the eventuality of more mamono entering Earth. It felt like a ROB decided to directly fuck with him and did it in a way that he would notice but couldn't do anything about.
It was infuriating and while common sense dictated that he should at least try and play nice it just didn't feel authentic to his character. He'd rather be himself and come off as an asshole from the start rather than pretend to be nice only for her to find out his true personality later down the line and think him to be some two faced bastard on top of it.
"Gonna be honest, I don't know what she sees in me and I've kinda given up on trying to figure it out so your guess is as good as mine."
She merely offered a small hum but otherwise chose not to comment.
"Why did you stop her from going back to Eos?"
'Moment of truth.'
"A lot of reasons" he began "personally I had and still have a lot of hangups about leaving my home. I was what you'd call a hermit and I'm not a very sociable person. I don't like going outside, I don't like meeting people and I especially don't like large groups. It took a long time for Ezraphel to get me to take infrequent trips outside for our dates and it's still a work-in-progress. I still prefer to stay inside and I do not want to cross an entire dimension, even if it is to meet her family."
Thera heard his words and nodded to herself "I understand."
"You do?"
"I have dealt with shut-ins before" she revealed "some of my siblings are like that to varying degrees" she then chuckled to herself "Ezraphel must have been a nightmare to deal with for one with your disposition."
"I got over it."
"You mentioned this to be your personal reason for denying Ezraphel's chance to venture home, implying there are others."
"Right, the other reason," he leaned back on the sofa. "With how excited you looked when Ezraphel told you about the state of the world I bet you were thinking it would be the perfect place to set up shop, have your people cross over and have their pick of the humans, right?"
Thera's brows furrowed as she regarded him "in a manner of speaking."
"Yeah but the point is occupation with plans to corrupt and conquer."
Thera said nothing for a moment before speaking in an even tone "why don't you speak clearly of the point you are trying to make."
"Alright straight to the point, this world has enough issues and I don't want mamono coming over and fucking things up even more."
"You have a problem with mamono?" There wasn't any kind of judgement in her words, merely curiosity.
"Oh I don't have a problem with mamono, just your tactics" he leaned forward with a hardened expression "I and a lot of people here are big proponents of freedoms like: freedom of speech, freedom of choice…free will in general and common decency. We don't take kindly to a lot of things that seem to be normalized in mamono culture. Things like magical coercion, mind control, corruption, rape, pedophilia and incest among others. We see them as amoral, disgusting and an affront to common decency. So it stands to reason that we won't tolerate a group of foreign otherworldly agents trying to impose these things on us, especially out of some misguided belief that they know what's best for us."
Thera's visible eye squinted imperceptibly "what has Ezraphel been telling you about us?"
"She told me a lot of things, all of them positive I assure you but" he added before his eyes narrowed "I can read between the lines." Then his gaze softened "that's why I also know that despite your culture and the extremist faction being very popular, that isn't a full representation of your people as a whole."
Thera raised her visible brow "oh?"
"Even in your family, the way Ezraphel spoke about some of you and the situation, I'm assuming that there is some kind of schism among you Lilims. Something like Extremists vs. Moderates right?"
"An oversimplification."
"I figured," he agreed, "but am I wrong?"
"...no."
"So my question is, which one are you?"
In response to his question Thera smiled "you know, I find this fascinating."
"What?"
Thera shifted on the sofa, placing her left elbow on the hand rest while resting a cheek on her knuckles she stared at him like a particularly interesting specimen.
"I've known Ezraphel all her life. I may not be closest to her personally but I am intimately familiar with her personality as well as her history and of all the men I imagined her to end up with I would not have expected it to be someone like you."
"I can't tell if that's supposed to be a compliment or a veiled insult."
"Before meeting you I expected her husband to be just another man taken by her charms and molded into a doting, hapless fool of a husband who cannot help but be passive to her antics and indulgent to her whims."
"...Is that what happens to every other guy married to a Lilim?" Stanley questioned genuinely aghast at the confirmation of a long held fear of his in regards to them.
"It's just the nature of things" her free hand waved idly "however, there are instances where the unexpected happens."
Stanley did not appreciate her essentially handwaving what to him appeared to be a travesty but said nothing and filed it away.
"Well, don't I feel special" he quipped sarcastically.
"I am glad" she said while straightening her posture "Ezraphel has a penchant for whimsy which is all well and good for a young single mamono but not so much for a wife. She doesn't need a husband who succumbs to her charms and gets easily swept away in the chaos of her rhythm. She needs someone who can ground the more whimsical aspects of her personality with structure, accountability and maturity. For that, you have my gratitude for being her willful and stubborn husband unafraid to challenge her."
"..." Stanley regarded her with an inscrutable expression, internally however he was panicking.
'What the hell is she doing!?'
There is nothing quite like laying down the business in a decidedly serious tone only for the person whom you're speaking with to sidestep the issue of the conversation to instead congratulate him on being the type of man who ended up in a relationship with her sister.
If this was some kind of tactic to put him on the back foot then it was super effective. Now he's wondering if it was a legitimate tactic or she just didn't care about the very real problems he's bringing up that involves the future of both their worlds going forward. It honestly wouldn't surprise him if she was more concerned with her sister's wellbeing and the qualities of the man she chose to be her partner than a possible war between their worlds.
In that case she's in for a big surprise if she thought stroking his ego was going to endear her to him. Then again if that was the case she wasn't really putting much effort into it by the fact that she wasn't even employing any kind of charm magic for which Stanley had been looking out for that specifically.
"I am being genuine with my praise by the way" Thera interrupted his rumination "just in case you believe me to be disingenuous or that my words are some form of ploy to get the upper hand in this conversation. Not that I believe this discussion to be some kind of verbal joust."
"Then what would you call it?" He asked with genuine curiosity.
"You are a native civilian concerned with the idea of a group of foreign people entering your world and causing trouble for everyone."
'She's not wrong.' He thought to himself.
"And to answer your earlier question" she added "I am not in the business of wanton corruption and imposing my will on others."
"Didn't you say that you were in the middle of converting a town into a Demon Realm before Ez disappeared?"
She raised a brow "Ez?"
"Nickname" he quickly supplied.
She hummed at that before answering "I said I was overseeing the conversion of a town, not that I was the one who converted it. That honor went to a newly monsterized village girl whom I turned into a Baphomet after I answered her unconscious pleas for the power to be with her beloved."
'That sounds oddly familiar.'
"Believe it or not it is actually ill-advised to corrupt a settlement wholesale as the newly monsterized residents would go into a frenzy effectively shutting the place down. Someone needs to be there to keep things running otherwise it would result in a waste of resources."
"So what? You're like a manager or something?" He scoffed half joking, however the serious expression on her face made him pause, eyes widening in mild disbelief "no way."
"Many seem to believe that the life of a Lilim is one filled with leisure, luxury, the indulgence of various pleasures, flights of fancy and casual conquest. I won't disparage you for thinking this especially when your only example of us is Ezraphel. She is young, naive and inexperienced in many ways despite her idiosyncrasies making her travel to learn new skills and boost her overall worldly experience."
"You seem to know a lot about her specifically despite claiming not to be close" he observed.
Rather than answer she tilted her head before saying "it seems we will have to postpone our discussions for later."
Before Stanley could say any more, Ezraphel entered the room, she had switched her previous attire for a formal dark dress which got a raised eyebrow from the only man in the house.
"Stanley, Thera, dinner is ready."
"Excellent, I am feeling rather famished" she uncrossed her legs and stood up smoothing the nonexistent wrinkles of her dress as she did so.
"Then I hope you will enjoy the feast I prepared."
"Before that, can you direct me to your restroom, I wish to freshen up."
"Of course, follow me."
As the two left Stanley couldn't help but let out a sigh as he slumped back down on the sofa. That conversation with Thera was one of the most nerve wracking experiences of his life but he couldn't say that he didn't gain anything from it, even if the 'gains' were suspect.
Honestly, her saying that she wasn't an extremist and seemingly didn't subscribe to their methods took most of the load off his mind. But just because she wasn't an extremist didn't mean squat. Ezraphel wasn't one and she still ended up causing problems because of her mamono instincts and warped sensibilities.
He blamed himself partly for not doing his due diligence but he wouldn't be making that mistake with Thera. He was going to be keeping a thorough eye on her and unlike Ezraphel she won't be getting a second chance if she fucked up. Now what exactly he planned to do in that scenario is still up in the air but he swore to himself that he will make her regret it.
'At least I have her approval.'
That…bothered him.
It wasn't just her words and how genuine they sounded but how convenient they seemed to his situation.
'What are the chances that the second Lilim to come to Earth ended up being a reasonable conservative.'
That kind of luck was suspicious and he had no reason to believe her but at the same time he saw no reason for her lying. He was just going to ask Ezraphel about her to see if things lined up with what she claimed.
'Speaking of, should I have Ez stick around for the conversation next time?'
Honestly having someone in his corner would help with his anxiety and confidence since he's reasonably sure Thera was an experienced negotiator of sorts. On the other hand would Thera be as candid in her dialogue if Ezraphel was present? The assumption was no off-rip but given their initial interaction their dynamic might allow Thera to make critical comments about Ezraphel to her face without coming off as malicious.
ROB knows he's done the same and yes he did see some parallels between his dynamic with Ezraphel and Thera's based on the little interaction he's seen. If it's not then Thera was being delusional if she thought speaking that way about Ezraphel to her husband with the assumption he would keep it a secret was very presumptuous and stupid.
Growl~
His thoughts were interrupted by his stomach growling. Looking at the time he realized that it's been hours since he ate a full meal with the little morsels he sampled in Makailand not doing it for him since he basically worked off the energy with Ezraphel not too long after consuming them.
'I guess we'll see what happens' he eventually decided before getting to his feet.
Until then he'll keep an eye on things and definitely pick up the conversation for later.