26.3 A Conversation Of Uncomfortable Truths

"…"

"…"

"You know, I'd usually make a snarky comment about how much you've been staring at me, but I'm aware that incest is a popular thing over in that other world."

Ayo, what the fuck!?

Stanley regarded his recently transformed sister with a mixture of horror, incredulity, and the deepest loathing he could muster in a single deadpan glare.

Natalie, for her part, simply continued, "hey, I'm just saying, you've been staring at me for like fifteen minutes, and it's really freaking sus."

Stanley closed his eyes, breathed, and massaged his brow "don't you ever even joke about shit like that Nat."

Natalie nodded sagely, "you're right, I don't want to give Ez the wrong idea" she then leaned forward and stage whispered, "she seems like the jealous type, weirdly enough. I have no idea what a woman like her would be jealous of."

"Stanley's deadpan glare could melt glaciers with how heated it was.

"But seriously, you need to fix that staring problem. I mean, I get it. I'm a hot piece of ass now, but having my brother ogle me is, uhh, well it's fucking weird, man."

Once again, Stanley's eyes closed as he struggled to control himself before finally replying, "Nat."

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to change the subject of this conversation now."

"Please do; incest is about as appealing to me as scat."

"…how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling like I've been over this already."

As in, that was one of the first questions asked by Ezraphel when she descended the stairs to the living room.

"Humor me."

"Then I'll repeat it; I feel fine, great even," she added.

"And?"

"What exactly do you want me to say?" she huffed.

"I don't know. You're the one who technically woke up dead," he emphasized.

"Fair enough" Natalie clicked her tongue as she leaned back slightly on the sofa. "I don't know what to say about it other than that it feels weird."

Stanley kept quiet as he observed her.

Natalie looked to her pale, smooth hands and clenched them into fists. "I don't have a pulse; I can't feel anything going on inside, but I still feel, you know?" She reached out her hand to touch her cheek. "I feel normal, but..." she hesitated, "like..."

"More?" Stanley finished.

Natalie looked to him and nodded, "Yes."

"Yeah, I've been there too...sort of."

"Sort of?"

"I mean…" He deliberately avoided scratching the back of his head like some hapless anime protagonist and instead looked off to the side with a deep frown. "Just because I look and feel better doesn't mean I instantly got used to this. It's pretty fucking jarring going from what I used to be to this literally overnight."

"But you did get used to it."

"I did," he admitted before continuing, "but I'm not gonna pretend like my experience is the standard here. I'm not exactly the prime example of a normal person to begin with, and I had a special kind of help to get me through the transition. You on the other hand clearly have a lot more going on than I did."

Natalie conceded the point with a nod before asking a question out of curiosity: "Any advice?"

"Give it time?" he answered with some measure of uncertainty.

Natalie raised an eyebrow with an expression of mild disappointment and said, "primo advice there, little brother."

"Ugh just…you'll eventually get used to it," he clarified, "although it helps if you don't think about it too much."

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not the brooding type then." She quipped.

Stanley took a breath "and if you need help, I…I mean, Ez and I will be there for you, so... you know, there's that."

Natalie stared at Stanley for a moment, feeling touched by his words despite his awkward delivery, for which she could really only say one thing.

"Thank you, Stan."

He grunted in response.

Natalie couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction "when did you get so mature?"

"I've always been mature."

"Stan, I follow you on social media, and I've watched your streams."

Well, shit, what can he say to that?

"Then I hope you've been entertained," he snarked dryly.

"Oh, I have, but you see where I'm coming from?"

Stanley rolled his eyes. "You know it's just an act, right? I like being a belligerent asshole online because I think it's funny."

"Wow, Ezraphel really has her work cut out for her."

"She's got plenty of time," he grunted.

Natalie released a short hum: "speaking of, are we not going to talk about the fact that we're both effectively immortal right now?"

'Oh boy'

Stanley blew out a harsh exhale as he ran a hand over his short brown hair and pitched his body back on the sofa headrest.

"I'm guessing you haven't really thought about it."

It's not that he hasn't, but...

"I'm a 'live in the moment' kind of guy."

The deadpan expression on her face was a perfect representation of how she felt about that excuse.

"Uh-huh, see, the thing about living 'in the moment' is that at some point life's problems are going to catch up to you, and you're going to get caught with your dick in your hand." Natalie then groaned, "What the hell are we supposed to do fifty years from now when we're supposed to be geriatrics? Are we going to have to fake our deaths and make new identities?"

"What's the point of thinking about this now?" Stanley interrupted, "I'm pretty sure five decades from now we'll have our shit together, and that won't even be a factor for us anymore. Plus, the world is going to be a different place."

Natalie stared at her brother for a long moment before she tentatively spoke, "Now, when you say 'a different place,' what exactly do you mean by that?"

"That's how progression works. Of course the world isn't going to be the same as it is now in fifty years Nat. What did you think I meant?"

"Not gonna lie, I thought you were going to spearhead some kind of Mamono Revolution or something."

"Mamono Revolution?" he repeated incredulously.

"Yeah."

"Why would I ever do that?"

"Look, I know the idea of change doesn't jive with you right now, but you can't expect to be doing the same thing you're doing now fifty years down the line."

Stanley looked decidedly uncomfortable. "I mean, we can always move and sell the house," he grumbled.

Natalie didn't look impressed and charged again with another observation: "Plus, between me, Ezraphel, and that one girl you mentioned, there's going to be three Mamono roaming the country."

"Yeah and?" He didn't see a problem with that.

"I doubt that number is going to remain the same two decades from now, let alone five."

Stanley scowled. "No one else is going to get corrupted, Nat."

"Not what I meant," she said, shaking her head. "That's a topic for a whole other conversation."

"Then what are you talking about?"

"Stan," Natalie interrupted with an expression of utmost seriousness. "I've only been like this for a few hours, and I'm already thinking about having kids."

The admission made him recoil. "Uh..."

"I've never thought about that before. I know I wasn't ever leaning towards that when I was human, but now" she took a moment to sigh "if there was a way to get me knocked up right here right now then chances are I would seriously be considering it if not take that gamble, damn the consequences."

Naturally, with such an admission, Natalie had effectively rendered Stanley speechless, and before he could even gather himself to give an answer, she continued.

"I'm pretty sure Ez feels the same way too" she paused "actually I'm pretty sure she's more inclined to have kids since there wasn't a reason why she wouldn't. "I know for a fact that you guys aren't using any kind of contraceptive and I get that Mamono are supposed to have a hard time getting pregnant but be honest with me Stan," she said, leveling her gaze at him. "With the way you two have been going, how long do you think it'll be before Ezraphel finally gets pregnant?"

"…"

"And that other girl, Amelia, was it? Once she becomes a Mamono, I guarantee she's going to be trying really hard to have kids, especially since she'll actually be married and her husband wouldn't be as hesitant as you."

"…"

"So with that in mind, what's the plan here, Stan? Because believe me, whatever you may think now, you're going to be singing a different tune once kids get involved, especially when it's yours."

"…"

Once again, he says nothing; he couldn't really, because Natalie was right. If the topic of marriage is the elephant in the room that rarely gets addressed, then kids are like the looming specter of death. You know it's going to come at some point and that it's unavoidable, but you just don't know when. And once it inevitably happens you're almost guaranteed to be unprepared for it.

Stanley never wanted to have kids before, and even as an Incubus, having children was never within his conscious thought. Yet he couldn't say that he was as adverse to the idea now as he would have been back then. He just thought it impractical to even consider it with him and Ezraphel still ironing out the wrinkles of their relationship.

They aren't even properly married yet.

"Augh," Stanley groaned while massaging his forehead to soothe the headache. "Can we not talk about this now?"

"If not now, then when, Stan?"

"After I put a ring on her finger," he answered reluctantly.

Natalie scoffs, "Well, at least you're considering it."

Stanley frowned, feeling affronted. He was doing more than just considering, but as Amelia and Liam demonstrated, a lot has to go into something like that. He didn't want to pop the question and be 'officially' engaged for years on end. He wanted to get the damn thing over it, preferably without the pomp of ceremony, which seemed to be more like a pipe dream with every meeting Ezraphel has with Amelia where the topic of weddings was sure to be a mainstay on the itinerary.

"Let's hope, for your sake, that it comes before the baby in a carriage."

"Ugh~"

'I prefer it when she was sick,' he thought to himself then cringed, 'no, I don't.'

For all the grief she's giving him about his shortsightedness, he much prefers her like this to how she was before.

"Since we're on the topic of preparing for the future," she shot him a look. "When are you planning on getting her documents sorted?"

"I'm working on it," he grumbled.

"Define working on it because knowing you you're probably procrastinating."

'She's not wrong' part of him admitted, causing him to wince.

That reaction mixed in with his silence caused Natalie to continue with a scowl "you know she won't be able to get anything legally done without proof of citizenship, right?"

"She's magic," Stanley defended.

"That's not the point, and you know it," she shot back.

"Yeah, well, like I said, I'm working on it," he emphasized with a scowl as he looked her in the eye.

Natalie was not satisfied, but she opted to leave him be for the time being.

"Fine, I'll drop it."

'For now' she added in her thoughts before another question popped up that had her talking.

"I know we've been talking about Ezraphel's stay on Earth, but what about her home world?"

"Eos?" Stanley felt a pit in his gut. "What about it?"

"Do we have to worry about anyone from over there coming here? I mean, she's a princess of a foreign nation that has access to magic powers. I'm sure someone is looking for her."

"No doubt about that," Stanley confirmed.

"Shouldn't we be worried about that?"

"Eh," he said, making a so-so gesture. "Ez said it wasn't exactly easy getting here. The spell she used basically yeeted her across the multiverse at random, and she was basically powerless when she landed on my roof."

"I can't fucking believe the multiverse is a thing." Natalie grumbled.

"Don't think about it."

"Yeah-"

"No seriously," he interrupted, "the last thing you want on your conscience is wondering what's out there beyond the veil or whatever."

Because if the setting for a niche adult dark fantasy series is a real thing in another dimension, then what other works of fiction could be a real thing?

SCP?

Warhammer?

Cthulhu Mythos?

Who's to say that Ezraphel is the only supernatural presence on the planet? All things considered, maybe those crazy conspiracy theories about the existence of aliens making contact and the different supernatural folklore aren't so crazy after all.

Wouldn't that fucking suck?

'You know what? I'm just going to quit while I'm ahead.'

Instead, she refocused the conversation back on the matter at hand.

"Still, you think they don't have some way of tracking her or something? Or that they won't find their way here somewhere down the line?" She paused. "Do you think Ezraphel might know how to find her way back?"

That brought Stanley up short, though he already knew the answer to that. If Ezraphel wanted to, she could most definitely find a way back to Eos. There wasn't any tangible evidence for the claim; that's just how he felt. The fact that she hasn't ever mentioned going back home is a topic he was very reluctant to broach for obvious reasons. The idea of establishing a viable traveling path between Eos and Earth made Stanley incredibly nervous, and for good reason.

"Uh-oh" Natalie interrupted his thoughts. "I don't like that look on your face. What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing," he replied a bit too quickly.

"Stop playing," she deadpanned.

"I'm not."

"Stan, you started looking really worried at the thought of Ez's people making their way here or her finding a way back home. That's not the kind of thing I can ignore. Now what's got you so worried?"

Stanley pursed his lips in a moment of indecision.

This carried on long enough for Natalie to huff, "Look, if you don't tell me what's going on, then I'll just bring my questions to your better half and keep that threat in mind for anything you're reluctant to tell me about her."

Ah shit he should have seen that coming.

Now what?

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, guess I'm talking to Ezraphel then. I'm pretty sure she'll like to talk about her home for a few hours."

'Fuck!'

"You're not going to like what I have to say."

"How bad can it be?"

"…wow."

"What?"

"I can't believe you just said that."

"Why?"

"Murphy's Law."

"Huh?"

One Abridged Explanation of the MGE Story Later...

"Ugh~" Natalie moaned as she was unceremoniously slumped sideways on the couch with her back arched over the armrest while the other had her legs dangling over it.

'Seriously?' she thought to herself.

It's one thing to have a bunch of horny monster girls, but making them into a military faction with designs of what is essentially world dominance?

After a long moment of silence, she spoke, "So basically, we're fucked, literally."

"I wouldn't say that," he grumbled. "They clearly haven't found Earth yet."

"Yet," Natalie emphasized, throwing her sharp gaze her way. "I'm pretty sure they're trying their very best to find one of their princesses. Be honest with me, Stan, what are the chances that a war would break out between both sides?"

'How the hell did we even get here? I just wanted to talk about her feelings and work through it together. This is what I get for going off script.'

No good deed goes unpunished and it's for reasons like this that he didn't have heart-to-hearts.

'Now what the fuck am I supposed to say to that?'

Stanley's inherent bias dictates that Mamono, with their barbaric tendencies, would be the first instigators. He could see the radicals thinking Earth to be free real estate for farming men as well as for propagating their dogma. They'd fuck around and find out how the world's governments react to an interdimensional race of monster people trying to move in on their turf.

They'll be on some Independence Day or Stormship Trooper-type shit.

On the other hand, he's not blind to the human condition of being greedy self-serving assholes. There is no way any government or private corporate business won't see Eos, its people, and especially magic as a resource to be exploited. They will play their politricks or attempt to throw their weight around, which won't work since any Mamono in a position of power will have a deft hand at manipulating people, humans especially.

Eventually someone somewhere is going to get the bright idea to talk to the Holy Order, and at that point it's fucking Joever.

In the end, there's really only one answer to that question.

"Unless both sides put their best foot forward, then yeah, we're looking at a war," he admitted plainly.

Even then there's still the court of public opinion which is guaranteed to be a clusterfuck for decades, possibly centuries moving forward after first contact. You know unless Mamono establish total control and manage to pacify the human race.

"And here I am, a fucking walking dead lady." Natalie spoke dryly, then chuckled, looking at the ceiling. "Ain't that a bitch?"

"Yeah," he agreed, "it sure is."