9.3 Moderation Is Key

Of all the fetishes he'd read and watched in hentai Stanley never thought in a million years that he would have developed one for feet, no matter the circumstances. He still didn't have a foot fetish but there was something about having Ezraphel's oddly soft soles massaging his thicker-than-a-snicker Lilim pecker that really got him going. And it would have gotten him here too, unfortunately the pleasures of her ministration was being overtaken by his mounting frustration.

It didn't take long for Ezraphel to realize what was happening since his emotion hit her like a truck causing her emotions to do an abrupt 180 from lustful to shock and a bit of concern. Her feet receded and with that distraction gone Stanley junior shrank down in relief.

"Is something wrong Stanley?" the Lilim hazarded.

"…no…everything is…fine…"

It was petty, it was stupid to be this emotional over a damn picture but that damn heart-eyes... Stanley now knew why people are so obsessed with Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, aliens or other folklore. Why stupid shit like Ghost Hunters and Ancient Aliens are still a thing. People want to believe it's real and would look to anyone who could possibly prove it, no matter how ridiculous, inconsistent or fucking stupid they are.

Except in this instance Stanley knew it was real, he has seen it multiple times. Fuck even some Mamono have goddamn Heart-eyes and yet for some inexplicable reason Ezraphel denies its existence, why?

Oh, he knew the reason why.

'That bitch'

It's all a conspiracy but Stanley wasn't about to let it go. Partly because he wanted to prove her wrong, partly because he wanted to get to the bottom of this 'conspiracy' and also he subconsciously realized that obsessing over it would keep his mind distracted and disrupt the pacing Ezraphel would set up for sex. It didn't work all the time but it sure as hell does some of the time and that's good enough for Stanley's subconscious higher brain function.

"One of these days Ez, one of these days" he grumbled to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing" he looked away then pinched the bridge of his nose "this is getting out of hand."

He was upset and that in turn made her feel bad so she began crawling over to him "Stanley-"

"No! You stay over there" he snapped only to regret it when he saw the hurt look on her face.

"Okay" she said, looking forlorn.

A long drawn out groan escaped his lips at his screw up 'god-fucking-dammit-Stan'

"Okay Ez, I didn't mean for it to come out like that, I'm just frustrated. It has nothing to do with you"

She gave him a look, one part hopeful and another part skeptical "really?"

A pause.

"Okay it has a little to do with you"

Another pause.

"Actually it has a lot to do with you" he admitted.

"Oh"

"But-BUT, I have enough pattern recognition to see where this was going eventually" he explained.

"Oh?"

He gave her a flat look that screamed seriously before counting off his fingers "first it was a long makeout session, then you give me a tail job and followed up with a blowjob" his stare was piercing "tell me that the next step wasn't going to be me pounding away at you balls deep?"

For a moment she cupped her now crimson cheeks with a lewd smile and wiggling tail as she fantasized about that very prospect "o-oh my~" then suddenly aware of Stanley's leery gaze she snapped out of the fantasy and yelled "I-I mean, no!"

"…" he quirked an eyebrow.

Ezraphel succumbed almost immediately and looked away while adopting a sheepish expression before whispering "I was going to be on top this time."

"See this is what I'm talking about!"

"I'm sorry, I can't help it!" Ezraphel wailed "you are just so small and cute and…" she started gesturing wildly in his direction before blurting out "irresistible~"

"Okay first of all I ain't 'small' or 'cute' I'm a little shorter than the average human male and at best I'm handsome" he emphasized "second, and I can't believe I'm saying this, I am hardly as 'irresistible' as you seem to think."

"But you are" she stated firmly.

"No I'm not" he retorted with confidence.

"Yes you are" Ezraphel would not be deterred.

"I'm really not" he assured "and I am absolutely fine with that."

This time Ezraphel sighed "Stanley, you should not sell yourself short…" she trailed off looking at the man awkwardly "um…"

"What? It's a turn of phrase. It has nothing to do with my height"

"I'm sorry but you look so cute when you get annoyed, my little man~" she gushed.

"See that right there, that would piss me off" he glared then snatched the tail creeping towards him, deliberately not touching the sensitive spade "and this is what I meant by getting out of hand. Jesus Christ Ez, we can't even plan a freaking date without it devolving into sex and I get that's your thing but…" he trailed off as a thought occurred "be honest with me Ez, is this whole constant sex thing a phase or are you just trying to spare my feelings because this is how our relationship is going to be going forward?"

"…I mean…it is not…necessarily true…"

As she tried to regain her thoughts in order to explain herself Stanley sat up straight and stared ahead "you know, it just occurred to me. I read most of the profiles on the MGE wiki, I even read a bunch of fanfiction on what life would be like for a guy married to a Lilim. I guess those wouldn't have been very good examples since they were all written by humans. So I'm asking you Ez, as a Lilim, what would you say a daily life with a Lilim would be like?"

He gave her a sideways glance, she returned it, unable or unwilling to answer the question.

At least it was for a moment before she sighed "well mother said it would be a life filled with happiness, love and hedonistic pleasures most mortals would not even be able to fathom so" she trailed off in a chuckle

"Aren't you sisters married?"

"Some of them are but that is not the point" she answered before composing herself "I apologize Stanley, in my enthusiasm I may have taken advantage of your ignorance towards my culture to…indulge myself."

"You didn't answer my question though. What exactly am I in for with being your husband?"

Ezraphel tapped her chin "well I will definitely try to let it be a life filled with happiness, love and hedonistic pleasures most mortals would not even be able to fathom."

"Oh brother" he rolled his eyes.

She smiled cheekily and turned fully to him "but~ I will also do all the menial work around the house to ensure its upkeep" Ezraphel leaned forward "I will cook for you, I will support you, I will comfort you and I will protect you" she began to crawl towards him "should you wish it, I will use the power at my disposal to make your every wish a reality~"

Stanley laughed nervously as she cupped his cheek, the utter look of adoration made him swallow "heh, well that's just not fair. What the hell am I supposed to say after you go and make a declaration like that? I mean, you look like you've got everything all figured out."

"I am sure you can think of something."

"…"

"…"

"Y-you want me to say it right now?"

She continued to look at him expectantly.

"I uh, guess I'll just keep doing what I've been doing up to this point."

"And that is?"

"Being your keeper" he answered bluntly before softening some "providing a roof over our heads, paying the bills, keeping you entertained and on a leash" he added.

"Oh my~"

"Metaphorically!" he added quickly "the leash is a metaphor for restraint Ez, I'm not into that kinky shit."

"…spoilsport"

"What?"

"Nothing~"

He gave her a look before leaning forward to snake his arms around her waist "and I guess I also have the responsibility of keeping you satisfied"

"Aw Stanley~"

"However" he interrupted "we gotta have moderation Ez. Even if I was cool with the pace you're setting we literally would not last long like this. Disregarding my hang-ups on it as a human, I still need to do my job" then he continued through gritted teeth "which gets very complicated when my girlfriend decides she wants sexy times and I end up losing an entire day!"

Ezraphel looked sufficiently guilty at that, Stanley had explained his work to her once and while most of what he said went over her head, what she did understand was that his work allowed him to do it at home most times and allows for what he called 'flexible hours'. Meaning he can not only finish it at home but unless it is urgent he can complete it at any given point within a certain timeframe which is usually a week.

For Ezraphel that meant she could use this to maximize the amount of time spent with him.

"Sorry"

"Ah don't…don't apologize" he groaned "why is it that when I complain about a legitimate problem you cause I always end up feeling like more of an asshole than usual? Is this a woman thing? A marriage thing!? Is this how future arguments are going to play out between us? Because I gotta tell you Ez, if that's the case I seriously have doubts about our future together."

Of course he was being sarcastic but the Lilim took what he said at face value and with a shout of "NO!" took him in a forceful hug that would make most Yetis proud. And just like that Stanley once again inserted foot inside mouth.

"Kidding! I was kidding dammit, you know I love you Ezraphel!"

Muffled as it was Ezraphel heard and gave him some room "you promise?"

He rolled his eyes "yes, yes as if you didn't already know."

Stanley has figured out that Ezraphel would use some of his callous verbal slip ups as an excuse to manipulate the situation to get closer to him. It used to be basic guilt-tripping technique but nowadays she would just pounce on him in a 'fit of emotion' and they would end up having, you guessed it, SEX.

Speaking of which he realized that Ezraphel was basically straddling him and he wasn't wearing any pants. Also she started grinding on him and he could feel the wet spot in her shorts was getting larger.

Rather than panic or get agitated Stanley carefully spoke "so about this date-"

He trailed off as she stopped in realization "ah, right" without moving from her position Ezraphel's tail reached out and brought the laptop up to the side for them to see "I did choose a place for us to eat out."

Stanley took a long gander at where she chose and thought to himself 'well I could say I should have seen this coming, but that would be ironic.'

Of course Ezraphel chose the restaurant that had a dress code for entry. On the other hand he could see that the place had a great review, the location wasn't too far and the food was really good according to reviewers.

Still he had to ask "why did you choose this place specifically?"

"You don't like it?"

"I never said that" he rebutted quickly "I'm just curious and I would have asked you the same question no matter what you chose."

"Oh" she placed the laptop down as she thought about it "well I suppose of all the restaurants I saw, that one reminded me of a restaurant I had once been to back home."

"Oh…"

'Well this got awkward'

"Do…do you ever miss-"

"Could you set the reservations Stanley" she interrupted removing herself from his lap "it does not matter to me when. I will be back momentarily."

The man blinked and slowly nodded "okay but where are you going?"

Ezraphel paused, her back towards him before she spoke "I…wish to check on a personal matter, nothing for you to worry about."

This made Stanley's brow furrow but before he could voice his complaint she snapped her finger and Stanley's ripped and scattered sweatpants affixed itself to his body in perfect condition. A moment later and Ezraphel was gone, teleported to god knows where and he knew for a definite fact that's going to come up again later. As for now he needed to make a reservation.

As he viewed the pictures of the restaurant he saw that it consisted of polished wood, chandeliers, a freaking wine collection!?

Stanley gave a very dry chuckle "after this date I wouldn't be surprised if the bank called again to enquire about my 'odd spending' again"

They called before after he bought Ezraphel's wardrobe and that conversation went like:

"Yeah, no that was me. I was buying some clothes for my girlfriend…yes I'm serious!"

Speaking of clothes Stanley realized that he only had a single piece of formal wear, the suit he wore to his grandpa's funeral, a few years back.

'Rest In Power, pop-pop'

If it were two weeks ago he wouldn't have to worry but as he came to realize after his transformation most of his wardrobe, specifically his pants, weren't cutting it anymore.

"Shit" an explosive sigh escaped his lips "don't tell me I have rent a tux."