A Familiar Lullaby

Belphie woke from his sleep with a frown as the distant sound of soft music reached his ears.

He slowly sat up in his bed and tried to strain his ears to listen carefully, only to be met with silence.

"I could've sworn..." he murmured to himself with a puzzled expression, "... did I imagine it?"

After a few more moments, Belphie gave a small shrug and pushed the thought to the back of his mind before he laid back down, drew his pillow closer to his chest and closed his eyes again.

Barely a few seconds had passed before the music started again.

Belphie shot up again and listened to the familiar tune before he pulled his blanket off, swung his legs over the edge of the bed and pushed himself off of the mattress.

He crossed the threshold into the hallway and descended the staircase, following the sound of the music until he reached the music room where he peered through the doorway to find Lucifer sitting at the piano with his back towards the door.

Belphie pushed the door open and stepped into the room before he quietly approached Lucifer, careful not to distract the other demon.

He remained silent while he watched Lucifer reach across the piano with each note until his eyes slowly widened in realisation as the notes finally sunk in.

"... this song..." Belphie murmured to himself, "... this is the song you used to play to me when I couldn't sleep..."

He heard Lucifer give a small chuckle, "that's right."

Belphie slowly walked closer to watch in awe as Lucifer's fingers glided across the keys of the piano with precision and impeccable timing.

After a while, a small frown formed on Belphie's face.

"But I sleep just fine now," he pointed out in a confused voice, "so what made you play this song now?"

Belphie watched as a thoughtful expression crossed Lucifer's face for a few moments before the older brother finally gave a half-hearted shrug.

"It's been a while and, as you can see, my skills are to be somewhat desired at the moment," Lucifer replied with a sigh, "I guess that's the consequences for slacking off for so long, so a little practise couldn't hurt."

Belphie scoffed, "you're kidding, right? I haven't heard a single note falter, it sounds as perfect as ever, even after all this time..." he let his sentence trail off as his mind was suddenly flooded with memories of how close he had been with his eldest brother — particularly after their descent from the Celestial Realm to the Devildom.

His expression softened.

Nothing but the sound of gentle music filled the music room for a while and Belphie was sure that he could feel Lucifer's gaze upon him.

"I can stop playing if the music is bothering you," Lucifer offered as he surveyed his brother with a worrisome expression.

"Hm?"

Lucifer's voice pulled Belphie out of his stupor and it took the younger demon a few seconds to register what Lucifer had said.

"No, it's fine," Belphie shook his head slowly, "... actually... would you mind if I stayed for a while?"

Lucifer paused at Belphie's question, his hands hovering over the piano keys before he gave another chuckle.

"Of course."

Lucifer shuffled over on the piano stool, gave the space beside him a small pat and waited for Belphie to sit down comfortably before he continued to play the song on the piano while the younger demon watched with a small, content smile.

Belphie soon found that his eyelids were heavy and he struggled to keep his eyes open; he tried to suppress the urge to yawn as he slowly rested his head on Lucifer's shoulder and closed his eyes.

"This sure brings back a lot of memories, huh?" Belphie said with another yawn. "I'm just going to rest my eyes for a while."