Amelia sat there as she watched the Lilim continue to laugh trying and failing not to be captivated by the sound of her voice or be affected by her seemingly infectious mirth.

‘God what is wrong with me? It wasn’t this bad yesterday.”

Oh sure Amelia felt drawn to Ezraphel the day before when she revealed her true form but she never lost herself repeatedly like this.

Shaking her head Amelia forcefully laughed along with Ezraphel before asking “can I be let in on the joke?”

Ezraphel waved her hand “I apologize, it’s just when we first began our relationship Stanley told me that I should be the one to take charge because he felt he wouldn’t be good enough to do it.”

“That’s…” Amelia opted not to voice her initial thoughts on that and instead shook her head “yeah that sounds like him.”

“I know it may come off as indolent or insincere to you but in the context of where we were at the time I felt he made the right decision. He had so many doubts about us and I did not want to pressure him by being too overbearing” she then sighed.

Amelia tried to imagine being in Stan’s shoes. Someone who genuinely thinks relationships are a waste of time is suddenly confronted by a woman like Ezraphel who basically forces a relationship on him.

‘He was definitely out of his depth if nothing else.’

In that case she could see how foisting off the responsibility of managing their relationship onto Ezraphel would seem like the best play at the time.

However “it’s been half a year though.”

“Believe it or not he has changed in that time.”

Amelia frown became more pronounced “not enough in my opinion if you’ve only been on a single date. He should put in more effort.”

“I don’t mind” Ezraphel admitted with a shrug “I am a very patient woman.”

“You should though. I’m all for taking it slow especially if it’s someone like Stan but at this rate it’ll take a literal decade before you’re at a point where you can do regular dates.”

“If that is the case then so be it” she answered with a shrug.

Amelia’s mouth opened with a look of incredulity as she attempted to parse the words she had just heard. The way how Ezraphel said it you’d think it a jest however the expression she held betrayed the flippancy with which she spoke and Amelia knew that the other woman meant what she said. She would really wait a whole decade for Stan to come around with seemingly no issue. She took back her earlier thoughts as this was the most ludicrous thing she’d ever heard come from someone unironically.

So ludicrous were Ezraphel’s words that Amelia ended up blurting out the first thing that came to her mind.

“How can you say that!?”

At Amelia’s exclamation Ezraphel gave her a sort of melancholic smile “Amelia I have waited a hundred years to meet my Stanley. I can wait a few more for him to become wholly invested in our relationship. After all what is a decade for a ‘rough start’ in the face of the hundreds or possibly even the thousands of years we will be together?”

“…” Amelia had nothing to say to that only giving Ezraphel a nonplussed look.

‘Somehow I completely forgot about that.’

Ezraphel was practically immortal or at the least very long lived.

“Well now I feel stupid” she mumbled.

Here she was thinking in terms of human metrics (i.e. a couple of decades) when Ezraphel and by extension Stan will literally outlive generations to come.

‘No wonder she’s cool with putting up with Stan’s bullshit.’

Because for as stubborn and bullheaded as Stan was Amelia very much doubted he could keep that up for a couple decades let alone hundreds or thousands of fucking years.

“Don’t be, I understand where you are coming from and you are correct I should be taking a more active role in advancing our relationship.”

“Right…”

“And I want you to be there for support.”

That brought Amelia up short “uh…in what way?”

Ezraphel looked to the sight in contemplation as she spoke “I…have seen a great many things that the earth and its people have to offer both for good and for ill. As one of the few true explorers in my family I am very familiar with travelling…and the need for companions to share the experience with” she hinted in an obvious fashion.

Amelia blinked at the woman’s adorably bashful expression then smiled “I’m sure I can clear up my schedule.”

That was just a front because of course Amelia is going on a globetrotting adventure with Ezraphel.

“And speaking of schedules” Ezraphel lead on “have you and Liam decided on a date for your ascension?”

As she spoke Ezraphel leaned in with a look of giddy anticipation that was almost palpable.

It made Amelia’s response all the more regretful as she winced “about that, we uh haven’t been able to find a proper window to slot that in” well they did but “does it really have to be a week?”

“Oh most certainly” Ezraphel nodded with uncharacteristic seriousness “you will need as much time for the both of you to explore your new body~”

Amelia felt a tingle down her spine at the Lilim’s words before the situation came back to her and she gave a groan.

“We really do have a packed schedule for at least a couple more months.”

For Liam it wasn’t just dealing with uploads for his YouTube channel. This month in particular he has to fly out of state once to cover an expo he’s invited to. Then both of them have to fly across the country for a convention. For Amelia she has contractual obligations with Twitch to do livestreams a certain amount of time and this weekend was supposed to be a break from all that. She’s in no danger of breaching said contract but she really can’t take another extended leave of absence.

It’s the same for the next month and the month after and yada yada etcetera.

She pinched the bridge of her nose “I don’t know when we’ll have that much free time but it’s not going to be anytime soon.”

“That is unfortunate” Ezraphel pursed her lips in concentration as she thought through this dilemma.

After a stretch of silence Amelia noticed the other woman’s expression and commented “what are you thinking?”

“If the issue is time then I may be able to help although...” she trailed off in thought.

“Hey if you’re willing to help I won’t say no. What do you have in mind?”

“I was thinking about creating a spirit realm with a time dilation enchantment that will make time move faster inside than it does out in normal realm space.”

Amelia stared at her “you want to make a Hyperbolic Time Chamber?”

Ezraphel gave her a confused look “a what?”

“It’s a-”

“Hypeebolah Mine Chamber?”

“What? That’s not-”

“Hypeebonics Rhyme Chamber?”

 “Huh?”

“Hyperglycemic Crime Chamber?”

“I feel like you’re doing this on purpose.”

“What do you mean?”

Amelia squinted her eyes at the far too innocent look on the Lilim’s face “you get one more.”

“…Hypertonic Lion Tamer.”

Amelia gave the grinning Lilim a deadpan look.

Ezraphel met it with a grin.

With that same deadpan Amelia offered a single “no.”

At that Ezraphel sagged a little disappointment “aw~”

Shaking her head from that bit of comedy Amelia went back to the matter at hand “so about that uh, spirit realm?”

Snapping back to attention Ezraphel nodded “yes, a spirit realm where time moves faster. It will allow you all the time needed to properly get acquainted with each other following your transformation…in theory.”

“Theory? You mean you don’t already have something like that?”

Amelia figured she would have created that to maximize the amount of time spent with Stan.

In response to both her words and seeming thoughts Ezraphel averted her gaze “yes well…” she coughed in her fist “on the subject of mastering enchantments I have found the ones involving the concept of ‘time’ to be…” she trailed off snapping her fingers “what’s the word?”

“Difficult?” Amelia hazarded.

“Bullshit!” Ezraphel snapped her fingers as she found the right word “time enchantments are utter bullshit in my opinion.”

“Stanley’s vocabulary has rubbed off on you I see.”

Ezraphel huffed with a roll of her eyes “well it is the truth. I have spent years studying temporal spells and enchantments and I find them to be some of the most tedious and mind numbing subjects” a look of disgust and horror came over her “so…many…calculations and equations, just for a simple stupid…” Ezraphel cut herself off before glancing back at a now wide eyed Amelia “ahem, sorry for that. I had unearthed some annoying memories.”

“Hey you won’t hear me complaining about someone expressing their hate for math. I still have nightmares about fucking quadratic equations from time to time.”

 “Right!”

“So you’ve never done this before?”

“I haven’t but I am willing to try.”

“I figured you would have already to be honest.”

“I brought it up to Stanley once before and he said no.”

“Why?”

“He says I would just use such a room as an excuse to spend more time having sex instead of doing something more productive.”

“…wow.”

“I know right” she huffed “having sex is plenty productive.”

‘…no comment.’

“So can you do it?”

“Of course” she said confidently before her expression turned sheepish “though it may take some time and effort on my part, wouldn’t want any mishaps to occur after all.”

Amelia stiffened “what kind of mishaps?”

“Oh the usual when dealing with time enchantments. One mistake and time moves faster than you indented and you end up spending what amounts decades in the spirit realm for a single day out here.”

Suddenly Amelia wasn’t too keen on Ezraphel’s solution “uh…”

“But don’t worry I promise to be extra thorough with the enchantments before I let you and Liam inside.”

Despite the reassurance Amelia was still shaken by the possible implications of failure.

“Maybe we should hold off on that.”

“Oh, you don’t trust me?”

“No!” Amelia blurted out before catching herself “ahem, it’s not that I don’t trust you it’s just that last night Liam and I were floating around the idea of waiting until our wedding night to do it.”

Back then her mindset had a bit impatient so she didn’t really consider waiting that long but now that she had time to ponder everything it really does seem to be the best choice. Not only because they made sure to clear their schedule in advance so they would have a couple weeks free before and after the wedding but also because it felt fitting.

“I’m guessing from the look on your face you approve?”

Ezraphel was downright gleeful as she exclaimed “yes! I am so foolish! Why didn’t I think of that!?” she bonked herself on the head.

Amelia couldn’t help but feel amused at how much Ezraphel was gushing right now.

‘She looks more excited than I am.’

While she thought this Ezraphel continued “combing both human and Mamono customs into the ultimate symbol of love” she gushed dreamily “it’s so romantic~”

“Yeah…” it did sound pretty romantic.

“Haa~ I hope Stanley and I will also be able to enjoy such splendors” she sighed dreamily and for a moment Amelia swore she saw literal hearts in the Lilim’s eyes.

‘What in the…?’

Then she blinked and looked to Amelia “what is it?”

“Wh-I-uh…I thought you were already married.”

At this Ezraphel frowned “according to Mamono traditions yes however by your human standards at best I am only Stanley’s ‘girlfriend’ which I find ridiculous.”

“Huh, didn’t think you would care about that.”

“I don’t” Ezraphel assured “however for some reason Stanley won’t admit to the reality of our relationship.”

“Eh, I mean if he did say you were married that would bring up more questions since you’re not exactly wearing the right equipment so to speak” and to that she held up her left hand where an engagement ring was situated.

Ezraphel stared at it and for a brief moment her expression changed to a mixture of frustration, longing and, dare she say, jealousy which was wild to Amelia.

‘No way she’s actually jealous right?’

Then in response to her words Ezraphel harrumphed and turned away almost like a petulant child with that same expression of frustration.

‘Oh my God.’

Amelia almost felt a bit proud that she had something that could make Ezraphel of all people genuinely jealous. Then she realized the context behind the reason for her jealousy was the disparity between their partners.

‘Now I feel bad for her.’

In a battle of whose partner is objectively better there is absolutely no contest between Liam and Stan. Liam was just a better boyfriend/fiancée (and even husband) than Stan by virtue of the fact that he actually puts in the effort to make their relationship work as opposed to pawning it off on her.

Her thoughts were then interrupted by Ezraphel “that too is an issue that we will address in due time” she said in response to the ring “however what I mean is that Stanley will not admit it to himself that we are married.”

“Oh uh…”

“Did you know he has never once referred to me as his wife?” she said with a scandalous tone “can you believe that!?”

‘Yes.’

“I mean, it kinda makes sense doesn’t it?”

“How so?”

“I don’t know if you know this but Stan wasn’t exactly the biggest proponent of relationships. I used to think it was just the usual incel shit because the guy has obviously never been in a relationship himself and never will in my opinion because there is no woman in this world who would ever go for a guy like him” she paused looking at the Lilim “turns out I was right about that but I was wrong about his beliefs. Stan genuinely thought that relationships were a waste of time or a bad investment and that marriage is a scam.”

“He did say something to that effect before” Ezraphel mused.

“Well the good news is he’ll come around…eventually.”

“I know” Ezraphel sighed “his stubbornness can only go for so long and at least he is making an honest attempt to change.”

Amelia shrugged “if you say so.”

“Well” she clapped her hand and stood up “I think that’s enough of that. We still need to prepare dinner for when the others arrive.”

Amelia checked the time and agreed before standing up as well “so what are we making this time?”

Ezraphel gave a beatific smile “a classic.”