Low munching sounds could be heard as father and daughter dined together underneath the shining gold tree of life.
Abaddon and Nubia had yet to say a word to each other as they continued to eat in silence.
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In front of them both sat wooden trays that were covered in grilled fish, fresh warm bread and a chalice of red wine.
Nubia had grape juice though since she technically was not of age.
Each of them was stuffing their mouths rather quickly; as they had already done the math and realized that they couldn't talk as long as their mouths were full.
This was now a silent competition of who was going to run out of food first and be forced to start the conversation.
'Damn it..!'
Without her knowledge, Nubia had unconsciously eaten her food at too fast a pace to make it last.
And for whatever reason, neither Yesh or Asherah were offering her any more!
They had likely already discerned her intentions and were now trying to goad the two of them into a conversation.
This was completely unfair!
Due to her hesitancy and a feeling of fear, Nubias voice came out much smaller than she expected it to.
"...Are you upset with me?"
Abaddon hadn't anticipated that his daughter would start talking so abruptly; causing him to choke on his own hunk of bread.
*A-Ahem!* "N-No, not at all."
"...Are you sure?"
"Yes-"
"You seem mad.."
"I'm not mad."
"...Moms say that when you're mad your ears crinkle. They're crinkling a lot right now."
"I'm not mad, child. Are you not supposed to be the empath here?"
"You're stuffing it all down so deeply I can't discern anything. I've been trying..." Nubia almost seemed disappointed that her prowess seemed to have plummeted.
In truth, Abaddon's mind had just aged significantly since his impromptu vacation in space.
It wasn't as though he was hiding things more carefully; Nubia just had to dig a lot deeper now than she normally did with everyone else.
"...Are you going to hurt him?" She finally asked.
'I want to.' Abaddon thought.
But he knew that if he said something like that then he would be validating her decision not to tell him in the first place.
He was quite worried that reacting in the wrong manner here would drive a wedge in between them; similar to what happened with Helios and Yara in the past.
'Be better than that old bastard, be better than that old bastard, be better than that old...'
Nubia's twin colored eyes bored into her father like she was waiting for an answer.
Abaddon eventually sighed as he put the small remainder of his food down. "Maybe one day... But not today."
Nubia had lots of experience with reading people, but in that moment her father was a real enigma.
He was outwardly calm as he drank in silence; his eyes closed and his mind full of thoughts.
"...I am very happy with them." Nubia volunteered.
"...That is all that matters."
No matter how long Nubia waited, Abaddon didn't say anything else.
She wondered if her father was intentionally keeping his mouth closed about how he really felt in order to avoid upsetting her.
Which in itself was also mildly upsetting.
Nubia may have had a younger body now, but she was still extremely old mentally.
'Yes.' The creator admitted.
"Why?"
'Your daughters bullied me into it.'
"Eh?"
'Nevertheless, I think this may help you more than you know in your current situation.' Yesh stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"How will unlimited power and an entire multiverse full of targets to exert it on help me control my budding anger issues?"
'Because you'll have to learn to temper your own emotions yourself so that you don't act upon these new impulses of yours. You'll be your own safety net.'
Asherah chose that moment to pat Abaddon on the head like he was a baby dragon all over again.
"Of all of your powers, belief in yourself is what will carry you the furthest. Set firmly in your heart and mind the kind of man you want to be, and you will never stray from that path."
After all of this time, Asherah had nearly the same effect on Abaddon that Yara and Imani did.
Her advice contained a distinctive firmness and warmth that was imperative sometimes for getting through to the overthinking dragon.
"But will you make us one promise, dear boy?" Asherah suddenly added.
"If it is within my power... You're not going to ask me to move in though, are you?"
'And if we were??' Yesh's face was difficult to perceive, but Abaddon could tell that his current expression was one of offense.
"I'll have to retract my previous statement. I can't lie with my wives comfortably when god and his wife are in the wing right across from me."
'We wouldn't spy on you.' Yesh shrugged.
"..."Abaddon stared at Asherah.
"...I find your intimacy fascinating. While outwardly depraved and lustful, you all facilitate a care and attentiveness to each other that wouldn't be possible without reaching the peak of emotional-"
"Alright, alright, I get it..."
"I've yet to observe you with Sif, but according to the words of Eris you two share quite the-"
"W-Why is Eris telling you this!?"
"She's a very charming conversationalist and is quite fascinated by your ability in physical intimacy. She especially appreciates your thoroughness in performing-"
"God, please!" Abaddon held up his hand.
'What?'
"N-No, not you, just... Please tell me what this promise is that you want..." The dragon was on the verge begging at this point.
Abaddon had never before in life been so grateful that his daughter was a heavy sleeper.
Asherah suppressed her giggle and got to the most important part of the matter.
"Yesh and I would ask that you would please not destroy any more souls that you come across, no matter how horribly they might provoke you."
Abaddon wasn't really sure whether he could say he expected that question in the first place.
But when he thought about it, it did make sense for them to ask something of that sort.
Afterall, they were the makers of all that there is, has been, and will be.
He figured that they just had their own sentimental attachment to every soul, irregardless of their affiliation and didn't wish to see them destroyed.
Or they could have just been trying to prevent him from messing with the timeline on accident again.
Since he didn't really have a problem with either, he didn't think twice about accepting.
"You have my word, Asherah. I will abstain from..."
*Buzz-Buzz!*
Abaddon's phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket and he found a message from Sif waiting on his phone.
Angry Rapunzel : WYA bastard?
A vein bulged in Abaddon's head as he started to text his own unkind response back.
He was halted however when Sif suddenly sent him a picture of Zheng, Adeline, and a human girl he didn't recognize at the picnic table.
'...God damn it.'