"Didn't your mothers teach you not to stare?" Poli snarked, having followed the pair into the room. "You act like you've never seen a woman before!"

Her rebuke caused their mouths to snap closed into embarrassed smiles... Except for Ed, who let out a soft snicker, clearly unbothered.

"Sorry about that, Miss. We didn't mean-" Tyrone began, but hesitated when he turned his gaze to the strange woman in the room, whom he had just realized wasn't just tall, but several inches taller than even him- and he was by no means a small guy. Clearing his throat, he quickly pressed on. "We didn't mean to be rude; we were just a bit surprised- both by our friends' return, and having guests..."

"No apology is necessary. You are Oliver's friends, yes? Tyrone, Marty, Gary and Ed?" She spoke softly, offering a nod to them as she said each of their names. "It is a pleasure to meet you all."

"I may have mentioned you guys a couple times." Oliver chuckled, even as he decided to deliver the introduction himself- he knew that if he left it to Poli, she would definitely making it even more embarrassing. "This, by the way, is Princess Lilina ne Strus' bos Silk- though she prefers to go by Lily."

"You can show them the real you, if you want. This place is safe, but it's up to you." He said softly to the demon princess.

A small smirk flashed across her face- Oli and Poli had already speculated numerous times about their friends' reactions, not only to meeting her, but to her being a demon... Especially considering some of the myths of this world. Without saying a word, Lily reached up and carefully removed the necklace that provided the illusion masking her true appearance.

To say that the four friends were shocked would be an understatement.

But, while three of them gaped in disbelief, Marty was frowning, brow furrowed as something tickled at the back of his mind.

"Wait..." He said slowly, his mind finally latching on to something from more than a month before. "Lilina? As in... the hand of Lilina, uh... Hold on."

As Marty hurriedly dug through a notebook, searching for his notes from their meeting, Oliver confirmed his thought. "Yeah, we were wrong about that; Apparently, it wasn't a magic item- cursed or otherwise."

"You thought I was a curse?" Lily asked indignantly, arching an eyebrow at her husband.

"Not like that!" Oliver waved his hand defensively. "Just... the entry reminded us of a dangerous artifact from a game: the Hand of Vecna!"

"I'm pretty sure I told you about video games and stuff... and all of us guys are geeks, so we tend to think along those lines rather than-"

"The entry said 'the hand Lilina'vix'Strus'." Marty broke back into the discussion, holding up his notebook. "Not Lilina bosne- er, I mean... Whatever you said, it was different-"

"Lilina ne Strus' bos Silk." Lily chimed in once more, turning a bright smile towards Oliver. "My people's naming conventions involve alterations to one's name when married- 'ne Strus' denotes that I was of the Strus Royal family, while 'bos Silk' denotes my betrothal to the Silk family-"

"Fucking seriously!" Ed exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "What the fuck, Oli? I mean, considering Poli is here with you, it's obvious you haven't just thrown her over in favor of a hot demon chick-"

"Not that I think you would ever do that..." He added quickly when Poli glared at him. "But you starting a harem like some anime protagonist? No fucking way."

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"Hold up!" Ed exclaimed again as a thought occurred to him, turning to Poli. "Did you two get married while you were gone or something? I wouldn't think you'd be ok with him marrying someone else first-"

"Chill, Ed." Poli chuckled. "She said 'betrothed', remember? No one has gotten married yet."

"By your customs..." Lily added, smirking at Poli.

"Yeah... maybe a better explanation is in order?" Tyrone asked, eyes darting across the couple- trio now, he corrected himself. "Because this is... a lot to take in. How exactly did-"

"Hey, does that make Oli a prince or something?" Ed interrupted the conversation once more, a mischievous grin on his face.

"A commoner marrying into the noble family doesn't always receive a title." Gary threw out suddenly between bites of popcorn- thoroughly entertained by the conversation. "And, if they do, the title is usually determined by the current monarch. Prince Consort is one possibility, though more often they would receive a lesser title- something like Earl or Baron."

"Different monarchies did things differently..." Seeing all eyes turn his way, Gary shrugged with a smirk... before throwing out his favorite explanation for why he knew such random facts. "History channel, bro."

"There are channels one must go through to acquire historical information?" Lily asked with a hint of confusion- Oliver had spoken many times about 'the internet' and how one could acquire nearly any information through it, so why would their history be any different. "Does one need to submit an official petition? Or-"

"Not like that." Oliver said, laying a hand gently on her arm to stop her. "Remember how I explained TV to you? Different 'channels' are created by different companies, with different content- usually following a particular theme, but not always. The History Channel is one that use to be nothing but history documentaries and such..."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful!" Lily exclaimed, already excited to learn about their history. Shaking her head quickly to dismiss the thought, she refocused on the current conversation- but promised herself to ask more about the documentaries when they got home. "Ah, as for titles... Well, as my husband, Oliver is a prince- and, as our wife, Polina is a princess."

"Lucky anime bullshit..." Ed muttered softly, though his voice carried through the near silent room.

Seeing the slowly forming look of calculated humor in Ed and Gary's gazes, Oliver quickly waved it all down. "Ok, save the jokes and everything else for later; We're not done with introductions."

Seeing four questioning looks directed his way, Oliver smiled proudly as he guide Jal- who had been hiding behind Lily- out in the open for the group to see.

"Jal, these are my friends that I told you about." He said gently, hand resting on her shoulder, before looking over at his friends- all of which sported fresh looks of shock. "Guys... This is our daughter, Jal."

"What the fuck!" Ed exclaimed, then winced as Tyrone slapped him on the back of the head.

"Language, bro!" Tyrone hissed with a glare. "There's a kid here!"

"As our daughter, she's also a princess." Oliver added, just to tease his friends.

"Seriously bro?" Tyrone sighed, shaking his head. "We expected a lot of stuff from you going off on a pirate adventure- coming back with gold? Sure. Cannons even? Probably. But... marrying a princess? And coming back with a daughter?"

"I mean, this is awesome and all... But... I think we need a second to process this."

Oliver nodded in understanding- he had just thrown a lot at them at once... But it was worth it to see their reactions- the shock and disbelief, even Ed's jokes, were all worth it in his mind...

"Does that mean I need to wait to show them what I look like?" Jal asked innocently, causing a fresh wave of shock and disbelief to run through his friends.

"Don't worry, guys." Oliver quickly reassured them. "Jal doesn't really look that different without the illusion; it's mostly just to hide her horns."

"So... she's a Demon too?" Marty asked, getting past the repeated surprises just a bit faster than his friends.

"Oh, no. No, Jal isn't a Demon." Oliver answered as casually as he could- though he couldn't stop the amused smirk on his face. "She's a Devil; we rescued her from some particularly nasty pirates."

Hearing his friends groan, Oliver just laughed. Being the one to mess with them for once felt surprisingly good- though he knew that they would get him back for it.

"Ok, ok! I'll tell you guys what happened, but how about we all sit down first?"

"And yes, Jal, I'm sure Uncle Gary will share his snacks with you if you ask..."

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