"Lavi, I still do not know why we are doing this." Allen pouted as Lavi carried him up the steps of their new, luxurious home. Despite his words, Allen's fists were tightly clenched in the material of Lavi's shirt and the rest of his body was snuggled into the demon's.

"Because is tradition. Marriage is about compromise, my love." Lavi stated calmly. " I agreed on the less extravagant home because the bigger one made you uncomfortable. Now, relax and it will be over momentarily."

The "bigger one" had been an outright mansion, with over thirty rooms and a live-in staff of over one hundred. Allen had known that Lavi would not settle for anything he considered to be a hovel, but Allen just could not bring himself to live in such a huge mansion.

It was such a change in living conditions to go from just trying to scrape up enough food to having a hundred servants. Living with so many strangers would make Allen antsy and he would no doubt get lost several times in a home that big.

Which brought them to this home; a three story home that may not have been as rich as the previous one, but any who owned it would have to have a decent amount of money and it had the potential to be every bit the home to Allen that the mansion could not.

The exterior was made of rich wood and stone blocks. Lavi had also been thoughtful enough to only hire five servants and to make sure that they lived separately from the couple's home.

"What is the meaning behind this tradition, then?" Allen tried to sound exasperated, but he could not help feeling excitement. So far, all of the small things with hidden meanings that Lavi had concerned himself with had ended up being heartfelt and touching; they were ways to show he cared.

Besides, Lavi did seem to enjoy talking about anything concerning demons and their traditions, possibly in excess.

Without missing a single beat, Lavi replied. "In most cultures, a groom carries his bride over the threshold of their home just after marriage as a promise to protect her from demons."

He said all this such without a hint of irony that Allen could not help letting out a little giggle. The boy could just imagine a small, lovely home with a newly married wife and husband inside and Lavi, in all his green eyed, red haired glory, laying siege to the little home. Allen knew his husband could likely be very intimidating if he truly desired, but the mental image was just too funny.

"So why is it that you are carrying me across the threshold of our home? Protecting me from demons?"

"Always." Lavi replied, coming to a stop before the open entranceway to their new home. Hmm . . . Lavi's mindset must have started affecting Allen, because this felt much more like a momentous event than it had a minute prior.

"-own?" Lavi's voice broke through the silver haired boy's musings.

"W-What?" Allen stuttered back at his husband,his cheeks flushing in embarrassment at being caught so lost in thought.

From his vantage point still cradled delicately in his husband's arms, Allen could very clearly see the amused expression on the redhead's face, as well as the humorous light that lit his eyes. Allen could definitely admit that his heart stuttered at seeing the vibrant green eyes his love possessed glowing with happiness.

"I merely asked if you wanted down?" Even his voice was filled with good humor.

Allen fought down a deeper blush and nodded his head in assent. In the next instant, Allen's feet were on the ground and his husband's hand was encompassing his own.

"It is about midday, so why do we not take a look around the house? We have not seen beyond the foyer yet and tomorrow we will be purchasing the furniture." Lavi spoke.

Gazing around at the several doorways leading out from the special foyer into different rooms and the wide stairway that lead to the second floor, Allen agreed. As his husband lead him through a random, which ended up leading into what seemed to be a space intended to be a dining room, a thought occurred to the boy.

"I assume that we must buy all of our furniture, including a bed?" After all, there were not even chairs in the rather large room, let alone a dining table.

"Yep." Lavi agreed carelessly.

"So are we going to sleep on the floor tonight, then?" Allen calmly asked. While sleeping on the floor was uncomfortable and, as a consequence, Allen never particularly enjoyed it.

Unbeknownst to the silver haired young boy, his proclamation resulted in his husband gazing at him with even more love than he normally did. This was a prime example of the very traits that made Allen special.

Any normal person, whether rich or poor, would have been reasonably upset when being told that they would have to sleep on the ground. Not Allen, though. Like with everything else that had been thrown at the boy since Lavi had met him, his husband took it in stride.

He never complained, only asked questions borne from pure curiosity. The boy was strong in more ways than he realized. Hopefully, in time, he would see himself as Lavi did. Until then, he could stand by his young husband's side.

As they ventured through the empty house, locating various rooms and deciding what they would become, something about the home's design became readily apparent. Considering their new home was a comparatively large three story house, it had surprisingly few rooms. On average, there were perhaps two or three rooms per floor.

The priority of whomever build their home seemed not to be packing a great deal of rooms onto the property, but instead to divide a lot of space into fewer rooms. So saying, there were large bedrooms, bathrooms, a living room, a dining room, kitchen and, of course, a gigantic foyer.

There was more than enough space for the both of them, the day servants and, should the mood strike them, they would have the space and facilities to host small parties. Though the more furnished rooms currently had one or two pieces in them, the home had been well-maintained, with not a speck of dust in sight.

Time flies as they tour the home, flitting from room to room and the two finished inspecting the property just as the light outside began to fade.

"We have no food or servants yet, so it seems that we must eat at an inn, once again." Despite the way his words sounded, the demon knew that neither of them really had any sort of problem with eating out.

There would even be the nice benefit of being the first time the two would experience the town they'd settled down in. The couple exited their home and, hand in hand, started their way down the street in search of a decent eatery. The sun had already begun to set, bathing the sky in a rich, blood red.

Looking up at it, Allen couldn't tear his eyes away from the beautiful sight. How he had not noticed this kind of beauty in the world before Lavi, the boy had no idea. Luckily, his husband seemed to notice where Allen's attention was and made sure that the boy did not bump into anything while they were walking so Allen could stare to his heart's content.

He felt all warm inside, the combination of a beautiful sight and a thoughtful husband creating a feeling similar to a lit fireplace in the young man's breast.

There weren't many people in the street, maybe one or two at any given time. Allen barely took his eyes off of the sky to notice them. Maybe once upon a time he would have cared what these strangers thought of him, but that wasn't him anymore.

Lavi had them duck into the next eatery they came upon. The dining space was darkly lit with equally dark wood tables. Upon entering, the couple sat at one of the tables and were quickly approached by a man who seemed to work there.

He did give them a sidelong glance, giving particular attention to their entwined hands on the table, but said nothing of it and proceeded to take their orders. Allen got the feeling from his expression and mannerisms that this was a man who was harsh and surly towards anyone on just about any day of the week.

So, while the man's imposing size and scowl made the boy a bit uncomfortable, he didn't let it bother him too much. The man did seem to perk up when Lavi ordered some of the more expensive menu items.

They received their food and finished dinner with no real problems and the two headed home. It was completely dark outside at this point and, just like with the sunset, Allen found himself staring up at the stars that shone in the sky with some sort of reverence.

Allen felt his lips twitch into a smile as, from the corner of his eyes, he saw Lavi looking at him with his own smile and a soft expression on his face. Their joined hands simultaneously tightened their grips.

After walking home, both men were exhausted. Due to the lack of a bed in their room, the couple did not even bother going inside and Lavi led them to the garden in their backyard. Allen gasped when he saw the garden. The moonlight fell softly on the flowered bushes and grass, painting them a deep blue in the dark of the night.

Allen didn't recognize the flowers and decided to ask his husband about them in the morning. If the garden looked this beautiful at night, Allen could only guess at how wondrous the sight would be come morning.

Lavi felt around on the grass, looking for an especially soft patch and then directed Allen to lay down on it. Shifting around until they were remarkably comfortable laying on the ground outside, the two husbands lay side by side, cuddled up against each other.

Lavi is so thoughtful. Allen thought to himself as he cuddled with his love and looked up at the stars. He could have just had them lay on the floor inside the house or rent them a room at an inn for the night, but instead he took the opportunity to make the first night at their new home memorable.

Thinking of which, there was a question that had been bothering Allen for some time and it was about time he got his answer. "Lavi?" Allen started with his voice soft, wary of disrupting the silence.

"Hmm?" Lavi inquired, looking away from the sky to focus on Allen's face.

"How do you have so much money? It seems endless and you do not have a job . . ." Allen drew off, not knowing if he was being rude or not.

Lavi, in his usual good humor, simply smiled and answered the question. "Well, some demons in my time would do favors for money, such as retrieving stolen goods."

So Lavi did that? Somehow that just didn't seem to be the case for him. By the way the demon talked about his old self, he just did not seem the type to Allen.

"As well . . ." Deak reached into the inside pocket of his robes and retrieved a little, tan sack.

Allen's brain stopped working for a second and then immediately wondered how the answer to his question could be a sack. "Lavi . . ." Allen stated in a questioning voice.

"Yes, my love?" The demon asked, his lips turning up in a stupidly knowing grin.

"What is that?" Allen asked, ignoring the grin.

"This," Lavi gestured to the sack. "Is my heritage."

Allen wasn't about to play the question and answer game, so he waited for Lavi to continue, which he did.

"Contrary to the beliefs commonly held by humans, demons do not have an endless natural lifespan and we are born much like humans are. We do not appear out of nowhere."

Allen nodded, silently. He had gotten that feeling while getting to know Lavi. Before, though, Allen had heard stories about how demons are created that he had believed at the time.

One of the more popular origin stories that came to mind was that demons were created from the negative emotions of humans. The idea was that when there was sufficient enough fear, anger, hate and such in one location, it would all coalesce into one creature, which would be a demon.

Looking back on it, Allen thought this common belief said more about humans and how they viewed demons than it actually about the demons. Regardless, this view was very popular.

"Who were your parents?" Allen curiously asked before Lavi could continue.

"I do not know." Lavi shrugged carelessly, his features the very definition of passive. "As I said, demons are solitary creatures. Newborn demons can take care of themselves and do not normally feel the desire to seek out their parents or their protection.

It would not even matter if they did feel the urge, as most parents have already left them alone by the time the time the new demon awakens. It is not that the parents do not care about their children, it is simply that they feel no parental instinct urging them to care for their child and they also know that the child will be fine on their own."

Lavi looked thoughtful. "Most demons never meet their parents for even a few seconds of their lives. I know I have not. Raising children was always a human concept and I had never really thought about it until now."

The next couple seconds were spent staring at the stars in thoughtful silence. "And the sack?" Allen asked.

"Legend time!" Lavi announced excitedly. "So, the legend goes that in the very beginning of the existence of demons, every demon had a sack like this. These sacks produce an endless supply of gold and they never run out.

Now, since demons don't live forever, they would need to have a kid and pass the bag down to them to keep it in the family. Demons often have more than one kid, but those tend to be unintentional and so the oldest of the children wake up with the sack their parents left with them before moving on. The parents save a good amount of money before giving away their sack to their child."

Tucking the sack back into his pocket, Lavi asked his husband a question. "Did you perchance ever hear a story about a demon promising endless wealth to a human if they succeeded in lasting several years without bathing or cutting their hair?"

"Bearskin?" Allen asked, remembering the old wives tale that he heard as a child.

"That is one of its names and how does it end?"

Allen thought back to the old story for a moment and then opened his mouth. "The man wins his bet with the demon and it gives him . . . a sack . . . that never empties . . ." His voice drew off as he realized exactly why his husband brought up the story.

He was basically describing his husband's family heirloom. "So the demon in the story?" Allen inquired.

"Was probably an actual demon." Lavi finished. "One foolish enough to risk betting and losing his family gift to a human. In fact, the whole story is realistic enough that it could be very accurate to a real past event."

"So," Allen started, the familiar feeling of shock starting up. "You have a bottomless bag of gold coins and that is why you have such wealth?"

"Basically." Lavi replied, simply.

"Huh." Allen stated, really at a loss of what to say.

Because he was now gazing at the sky in thought, he did not notice his husband's hand reaching towards him until he comfortingly wrapped his hand around Allen's own. He glanced over at Lavi's face, which was laden with a deeply caring expression.

"You will never have to wonder when your next meal will come. I will make certain you never so much as feel hunger again." And Allen believed him, believed he would be taken care of.

Apparently deciding that there had been enough talk for one night, Lavi whispered, "Try to go to sleep, Al." He gently brought Allen's head down to lay on his shoulder. "Tomorrow, we will go buy furniture. We will start with a big, giant bed for our room." He cooed.

Allen's only reply was a content hum as he burrowed into his love's shoulder. The two had wordlessly come to the agreement that they would share a bedroom and a bed, even if they weren't quite ready to consummate their union.

That was okay with them, they would take their time cultivating the bond between them and their relationship would be all the richer for it.

Alright, so this is sadly the end, for now, anyway. Writing the ending, I really wanted to do a sequel. I'm probably going to take a break from this story before making its sequel, but I kind of set it up for one in this last chapter. I only have a rough idea so far, but I'm thinking the couple finds out Allen or Lavi is pregnant and all the stress that comes with it. So, yeah, I set it up. Also, I think that Inn Owner is going to be a minor character in any sequels. Be sure to tell me what you guys think of this idea!

On the note of other stories, I'm thinking of doing one story at a time for a while, so I can update one story at least once a month, if not more. Due to requests, I'm also probably going to do a lemon soon. I've never done one, but I'm writing a oneshot between Lavi and Kanda, so I think I'll just go for it and see what happens.

Good Day, All!