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I’d realized my mistake the moment I’d reached into my bag to grab the snacks I’d prepared for situations like these-- when Beelzebub got hungry.
I had no food.
Normally, they would just be in my bag, right next to the chocolate bar-shaped pencil case that Belphie had given me when my original one had been destroyed by one of the other brothers’ rampages. Even though it looked like food, Belphie assured me that Beel wouldn’t eat it… it’d been a gift that Asmo had given the redhead as a bit of a joke, and the always-hungry demon did not appreciate it.
But no, not today. Today all I had was my candy shaped eraser (it wasn’t exactly a good eraser, but it was cute). I’d likely left my snacks in the kitchen, forgotten in the morning rush.
With an apologetic look, I shook my head no at Mammon’s inquiry for food. “Sorry, I must have left my snacks back at the house.” Chewing my lip anxiously, I held up my eraser. “Would this work, maybe?”
Asmo looked like he was about to laugh. “That’s totally cute,” the avatar of lust then frowned, holding his chin in thought. “But it’s… not very useful.”
I agreed with him, but eyed Beel worriedly. Maybe I could run and grab some food from the cafeteria. Mammon likely didn’t have the money on him to grab any, and Asmo would probably get distracted by anyone attractive. “Hey, Beel? I’m going to go grab you some food, okay--”
A dark aura began emanating from the ginger twin, and I felt myself shrink in on myself. Whenever they got like this… Even if it was sweet, wonderful Beel-- Especially because it was Beel, I found it hard to stay calm.
“I’m… so…”
Mammon glanced at me quickly, and seeing my frightened expression, took a protective step in front of me. “H-Hang in there, Beel,” Mammon spoke soothingly. I would have to thank him later, even if he wasn’t meaning to protect me. “Try to take a deep breat--”
Beelzebub let out a snarl, horns protruding out of his head and curling. Teeth sharpening as his fingers balled into fists. “Hungry…. HUNGRY!” the demon roared, and I couldn’t help but let out a small, frightened noise as Beelzebub charged out of the classroom, Asmo taking off after him automatically, and Mammon turning to give me a quick inspection before running after his brothers and shouting.
“Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Beel! The cafeteria’s THIS way!”
I hugged myself, shaking slightly. It was still so difficult-- I knew that my reactions made sense, I’d been in so many different traumatic experiences since coming to the Devildom. Most of the brothers had, at one point, made me think that I was going to die. Belphegor had killed a version of me, and I could still remember the feeling of dying as though it had happened… but it did. Man, time travel was crazy. I had a couple of out of place memories and feelings that I was still coming to terms with. Lilith’s, possibly. Or maybe another me’s.
At the sound of a crash, I snapped out of my thoughts and ran out of the classroom with my bag slung over my shoulder, in the direction that Asmo, Beel, and Mammon ran. The school hallways were, thankfully, mostly empty. The lighting was still spooky, and I wasn’t sure if I would ever get used to it. The school was built almost like a castle, with stone walls. Walls that echoed the chaos that seemed to follow the people I’d become relatively close to. I’d just made it to the winding staircase at the end of the hall when I noticed Satan and Simeon in conversation, the angel looking down in the direction of the snarling and shouting.
“Apparently Beel has reached ‘peak hunger’” Satan was explaining with a sigh. “He’s on the verge of losing control.” Seeing me, the blonde-haired man looked relieved. “It’s a good thing he didn’t completely lose it, or you probably wouldn’t be around anymore.”
I tried to ignore what Satan was hinting at. That I’d have been… eaten. Devoured by one of the people I cared about most in the Devildom. The idea made me blanche slightly. “Do either of you have anything we could give him for now?”
At my inquiry, Simeon dug into his bag, as did Satan. The dark-skinned, seemingly always cheerful angel handed me a half-sandwich (Beel always loved Simeon’s sandwiches!) and Satan handed me a neatly wrapped bag of hellfire mushroom rolled cigar cookies (likely prepared by Barbatos and given as a treat for Satan to share with the rest of us… I almost felt guilty that they’d only be eaten by Beel). With a quick “Thank you” to the two of them, I began to run down the stairs, making sure to keep a hand on the rail so I wouldn’t fall.
Once I’d gotten outside, I saw Asmo and Mammon bickering with each other while holding Beel down, the furious red-head struggling to break free from the grasp of his brothers.
“Guys!” I called out, jogging towards them and unwrapping the sandwich. “I brought food!”
“Perfect timing!” Mammon praised, just as his hold on Beel began to slip. “Look, Beel! It’s food!”
It was almost funny, but entirely adorable. Beel’s anger instantly switched to happiness, and he’d lept towards me with an overjoyed expression, eyes locked on the sandwich. “FOOD! Give it to me!” I handed it to him, and he began to dig in. “...so good…! But I need more…”
I held out the bag of cookies to him. “Eat these for now, we can head home and grab you something bigger, okay?”
Beel nodded, mood lifted. As he moved to stand up, his face began to pale and he stumbled on his feet. “...oh no.. I think…” his eyes almost rolled back, and I stepped forward, trying to catch him, but I knew I wouldn’t make it. Instead, Beel crashed backwards into a wall… and as he dazedly began to stumble forward, he let out a pained whine. “...Owwww!” he rubbed the back of his head, and Mammon began to laugh. “Hey, what smells so bad?”
“Oh, um…” Asmo glared at his older brother. “You now what wall you just bumped into?”
Mammon wiped a tear from his eye. “It’s, uh, freshly painted.” the white-haired devil snickered, the burst out in laughter again.
“Check it out!” Asmo let out a laugh of his own. I stepped forward and placed my hands on Beel’s shoulder’s as the poor guy stared at his now paint covered hand in surprise. “There’s a Beel-shaped mark on the wall there now!”
“You okay, Beel?” I asked him gently as he began to frown. Before he could answer, I heard heavy footsteps and looked over to see Lucifer stomping towards us in a fury.
“You lot…” the eldest growled, both Mammon and Asmo audibly gulping. “What’s all the commotion about this time?”
Quickly, Asmo pointed at the now-ruined wall. “Beel’s so hungry that he just fell over and crashed into the wall there.” he explained. Lucifer’s gaze shifted to the freshly painted wall, and anger seemed to come off of the intimidating man in waves.
“Well, I got stuff to do so BYE!” Mammon nearly shouted, running away in a full sprint. His escape disappointed me, if he and Asmo had pinned Beel down literally anywhere else, this wouldn’t have happened.
What disappointed me more was how Asmo followed suit, but at a more relaxed pace. “Right, and I actually have an appointment with my esthetician, so… take care!”
I stood next to Beel, keeping one of my hands on his arm as Lucifer scolded him and ordered him to fix the mess. As soon as the demand left the dark-haired demon’s lips, Beel responded in a voice that reminded me of a wounded animal: “...I’m hungry.”
Lucifer grit his teeth. “No dinner for you. Not until you fix that wall.”
The punishment was too harsh, and Beel’s eyes widened considerably. It almost looked like he was going to cry. So, since I was the only one still there (and also knowing how Lucifer wouldn’t let me take on the whole job myself), I stepped towards Lucifer, giving Beel another worried look before turning my attention on the eldest. “Lucifer, would it be okay if I help him?”
“...thank you,” Beel piped up from behind me. I could hear the smile in his voice.
Lucifer let out a thoughtful hum, looking at his brother’s reaction, then nodded slowly. “Alright then, the two of you can repaint that wall together.” With a sigh, he shook his head, now more disappointed rather than upset. “I’ll be back to check on you shortly. Fix it quickly, if you care about yourselves.”
The two of us stood together in silence as Lucifer walked away, and I let out a sigh, once again holding the cookies out to Beel. “Here, snack on these cookies and I’ll start painting.”
With a small smile, Beelzebub shook his head, holding his hands together and looking down at me gently. “After we’re done. Thank you... so much.”
“I couldn’t just let you do this all alone,” I spotted the nearby paint, and headed towards it. “Not like Mammon and Asmodeus were much help.”
“You used Asmo’s full name,” Beel followed after me, jogging ahead to carry the paint so I wouldn’t have to. “Are you really mad at him?”
I let out a thoughtful hum and grabbed two paint rollers. Still wet, of course-- the wall had been freshly painted. The custodian must have run off when Beel, Asmo, and Mammon dogpiled so close to them. “ Not quite mad. Annoyed… disappointed, but not mad.”
Beel seemed confused by my answer. “...Why?”
Because he and Mammon just abandoned you when Lucifer appeared! “Because…” I let out another sight, shook my head, and smiled at the tall, sweet, slightly clueless friend of mine. “Well, are you mad at Asmo and Mammon?”
“No… not really.”
“If you’re fine, that’s really all that matters.”
The two of us got to work repainting the wall, finding a ladder nearby and hooking the paint can onto it. I stayed on the ground to paint over the Beel-shaped spot while Beel went over spots that the caretaker hadn’t gotten to. Conversation stayed lighthearted, and once the wall was almost completely finished (I just needed a bit of help smoothing out the area Beel had landed on) the devil climbed down the ladder to help me.
“Really, though… I can’t thank you enough,” the second youngest spoke fondly. “ It looks like we’ll be able to make it in time for dinner…”
I smiled up at him, not seeing a trace of the nearly-rampaging beast that he’d been earlier. Beel really was an absolute sweetheart. “I’m glad I was able to help.”
“You really are nice, you know that?” Beel beamed down at me, then touched my face with a finger. “Oh, you’ve got a little paint on your cheek.” At my amused look, he let out a laugh. “Wait, I probably do too, right? Guess we match!”
I laughed too, touching his cheek much like he was touching mine. “ Now we match.”
“Um, excuse me, lovebirds?” The familiar voice of Asmo breaking me out of the fun moment we were having. “What do you think you’re doing?” the avatar of lust had a frown on his face, arms crossed disapprovingly. Mammon was stomping up next to him, cheeks red.
“Yo, quit flirting!”
“Mammon and Asmo…” Beel tilted his head to the side, slightly confused, and held his hands together as Mammon charged up right next to the ladder. Asmo tsked, still staying a ways back.
“Don’t think we didn’t see what you two were doing! We’ve been standing here the whole time, you know!” Asmo chided, not that he really had any right to do so.
Mammon, still red in the face, clenched his hands into fists and glared at Beel. “We saw how you were gettin’ all cute with each other!”
I frowned. “If you guys were here the whole time, why didn’t you help us paint?”
Beel took a second to look at me in suprise as my words sunk in, then glared back at Mammon and Asmo, approaching them. “Exactly. Why didn’t you help? And if you’re not going to help now, then go away. We’re busy right now.”
“Busy?!” Mammon scowled. “Busy gettin’ cute with each other?!”
“What do you mean by ‘getting cute with each other’?” Beel asked his brother calmly. “Because you’ve said that twice now.”
I let out a sigh, smiling at the ground tiredly. Yeah, none of the boys actually saw me as me. I was just like… Lilith. Another sibling. Not that I could blame any of them, really. I wasn’t too sure how I felt about any of them either.
Asmo let out a sigh, giving me an apologetic look before smiling at Beelzebub. “He means he’s jealous of you, Beel.”
At Asmo’s explanation, Mammon spun around to yell “HEY! I didn’t say that!”
“You didn’t need to--” Asmo’s expression morphed into panic as Mammon’s foot caught on the corner of the ladder, it began to topple towards me. “Oh no!”
Almost like it was in slow motion, I stared up at the toppling ladder, one of the paint buckets still hanging from it, and raised my arms up to protect my head as Beel shouted “Look out!” With a flash of black and orange, Beel pulled me into a crushing hug, the ladder bouncing off of his back and the paint soaking into his clothes and on the ground, only a bit of it hitting me. I shook a bit, there were scarier things than falling paint cans and ladders. I knew that there were. But it was still scary. Beel pulled back slightly, concern written all over his face and some of the paint dripping from his hair. “You okay?”
I nodded, reaching up to push his hair back before paint leaked onto his face and dripped onto me. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
With a relieved smile, Beel stepped away from me. “Good.”
As his brothers praised him for his quick rescue, I looked around us at the mess. Mammon tried and failed to absolve himself of guilt, but it clearly wasn’t working as now Beelzebub began to get hangry, his stomach growling audibly as Beel began to stomp threateningly towards his older siblings.
Pushing past Asmo, the redhead ignored the cry of complaint as he poked Mammon’s chest. “It’s your fault if I end up missing dinner, Mammon!” Another rumble. “...mmm, dinner…”
I spotted the bag of cookies that I’d placed down with my schoolbag, out of the way while we worked. As Asmo and Mammon panicked, I snatched a handful of cookies and darted towards my paint-covered saviour. “Beel, open your mouth!” I ordered. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the pact, or just because of Beel, but the horns stopped their growth and began to retract back as I shoved the cookies into his mouth with my less paint-covered hand.
At that moment, I paid no mind to anyone other than Beel. Right now, he was the one I cared about. What with the afternoon we’d had, we were now partners in paint, and since the sweetheart had clearly shown me that he was upset with Asmo and Mammon, I finally felt like I could be mad at them too.
“Mmmmm,” Beel swallowed, leaning towards me tiredly. “Yummy.”
“I told you to return the wall to its original pristine state, so why does this entire place look like a disaster area?”
Beel and I stiffened at the sound of Lucifer’s voice, and before Mammon or Asmo could weasel their way away, I pointed at the two of them. Thankfully, all of the brothers were focused on the clearly agitated Lucifer, who had thankfully been looking at me questioningly.
“ Mammon ,” I mouthed to the stern, dark-haired demon. He raised a questioning eyebrow gaze drifting to Asmo for a moment before returning to me. Well, it wasn’t like Asmo had been helpful , but he hadn’t exactly made the mess. At my uncertain expression, Lucifer sighed and grabbed both Mammon and Asmo before they could run off like last time. He then asked me to get Beel home, since it wouldn’t be good if he ended up on another rampage.
I nodded in agreement, and tugged on Beel’s arm. “Come on Beel, let’s head home. For now you can snack on the rest of the cookies, and you really need a bath before dinner.”
“You’re covered in paint too,” Beel pointed out. “Less than me, but still.”
I grabbed my bag as we began to walk in the direction of the House of Lamentation, Mammon and Asmo receiving instructions from Lucifer behind us. “I’ll take a bath after you, you’re way more paint covered.”
“But… then you might miss dinner. Let’s just get in the bath together, and we can make sure that neither of us still has paint--”
Still within earshot, Mammon shouted after us. “WHAT? No! No baths together!”
I began walking backwards, holding on to Beel’s arm to keep him from turning around as well. “Make sure I don’t crash into anything, okay Beel? And yeah, a bath together sounds like a great idea!” I said the last bit louder than necessary, flipping Asmo and Mammon off and lowering my hand before Lucifer turned around to give me a disapproving look. “Thanks for fixing the wall, guys!”
With a smug smile, I turned back around and linked my arm with Beel. The glutton was looking up, drooling a bit.
“Asmo and Mammon are probably going to miss dinner, right? Do you think I should eat their portion?”
“No,” I answered. “I’ll make you a snack if you’re still hungry, okay? But only if you leave their food alone.”
“Oh, could you make me your special pancakes?”
“Sure, Beel, whatever you want.”
The bath was embarrassing for me, but I’d managed to get all the paint out of Beel’s hair. Dinner was quiet, and I made an obscene amount of pancakes, with both twins walking me to my room while on their way to theirs.
I opened my door, and turned to say goodnight to the twins. “Night Belphie.”
“Yeah, night,” Belphie responded, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
Beel grinned at me. “Thanks again for all your help today. Sweet dreams Lil--” He choked on the name, expression morphing into one of guilt and shock as I smiled back at him, feeling almost numb.
“Goodnight, Beelzebub.”