Work Text:
You yawned as you tapped onto the next episode. The screen on your DDD went white for a moment as the page loaded and the uncomfortable light made you squint your eyes a bit. You had planned to go to sleep at a reasonable time but decided to first watch an episode or two of a show Levi recommended to you. Now it was 2 a.m. and you were contemplating whether you should just stay up and binge the whole thing. It was Saturday, after all, so you could allow yourself some slack with your sleep schedule.
Just as you were about to press play, a message notification obstructed your screen. “Huh? Who is up this late and what could they want?” you thought before you saw it was from Mammon. That was strange, he did not stay up very often. You tapped on the message icon.
Mammon: “That was the worst nightmare ever…”
Mammon: “I heard that talking to someone about a nightmare keeps it from coming true.”
Mammon: “So I need you to listen, MC.”
“A nightmare, huh?” You don’t recall ever hearing such a thing about nightmares, so you figured the demon was just making an excuse to vent to you. You knew Mammon tended to get very emotional over fiction, such as books and movies, so he could probably get pretty shaken up by bad dreams too. The way he was typing seemed to suggest the same thing – when was he ever this calm and straight-forward? You began typing your reply.
You: “If you only want me to listen, sure.”
A sticker of a bird demon exclaiming “YES!” appeared as his response.
Mammon: “What would I ever do without ya, MC?”
You felt your heart go a little soft from his message. Yeah, he was definitely not in his right mind at the moment, whether because of the nightmare or general sleepiness. Still, you appreciated this little moment of unfiltered praise from him.
Mammon: “The witches were at it again, but they were even more brutal than usual.”
You watched the little typing bubble as you waited for the next text, but Mammon was taking an unusually long time typing this one out. When he finally hit send, it took you a few moments to process what it said.
Mammon: “First, they <3<3<3<3 and then they bbb I didn’t even get a chance to rest! But it’d take more than that to get my $$$$”
Mammon: “Just thinkin’ about it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up…”
You read the first text over and over again as a bad feeling washed over you. “What… was that supposed to mean? Did he… have a nightmare about…?” Your breathing slowed down and your heart rate quickened as your mind went to a dark place. “N-no… No, those emojis could mean a lot of things! Maybe it wasn’t so bad?” you shook your head in an attempt to clear your mind of the distressing thoughts. “I should ask for clarification.”
You: “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Oh no, did you come off as cold? The lack of sleep and the growing worry were starting to affect your ability to express your thoughts.
Mammon: “I was tryin’ to keep it tasteful for your virgin ears.”
You felt a sudden cold flash when you read Mammon’s response. “Keep it tasteful?” “Virgin ears?” Oh god no, he really was talking about what you thought he was talking about! “No… No no no no no!” For a minute, you stared at the screen with wide, but vacant eyes, completely ignoring your friend’s next texts. You knew he was in debt to some witches, you knew they tended to demand outrageous things of him at inopportune moments, you knew his brothers laughed at him for it. But… THIS? “The witches were at it again” the words from a previous text surfaced to your mind. “Have they… actually assaulted him like that before??”
The realization made you kick your way out of your blankets and jump out of your bed. Mammon’s strange demeanor suddenly made more sense. It was unlike him to reach out for support or admit that he wasn’t feeling well emotionally; the few times he did that without putting on his tsundere façade were usually the times he was absolutely falling apart. A memory of Mammon cry-yelling while trying to hide his face in your armpit during a scary movie night flashed through your head. It was then followed by the memory of him screaming and bawling his eyes out as he held your dying body from another timeline. No, he was NOT okay and you needed to see him! NOW!
You gave your phone another glance as your searched frantically for the keys to your room and something to throw over your pajamas.
Mammon: “But don’t worry, MC!”
Mammon: “We’re pals, right? If you really wanna know the details, I’ll tell ya for 500 Grimm.”
Mammon: “If you’ve got the cash on-hand now, I’ll tell ya for half the price.”
Mammon: “So, what’ll it be?”
This idiot clearly wanted to get it off his chest, but was starting to project his wants onto you again and trying to play it off “cool.” No, he couldn’t just be vulnerable, he couldn’t just ask for attention! He always had to turn it around somehow and come up with some lousy excuses.
As you tugged on a random cardigan, you continued to read the stream of messages the demon had sent you just a moment earlier.
Mammon: “Hey, what’s wrong?”
Mammon: “You better not have blocked me!”
Mammon: “MC!”
Mammon: “You listenin’?!”
Oh no, he thinks you blocked him because you didn’t respond! “Crap, crap, crap!” You locked up your room and hurried down the hallway as quickly and as quietly as you could.
Mammon’s hands were shaking as he frantically typed text after text. “Please, MC, please! Say something!” His short and shallow breathing was interrupted with hiccups and his head was spinning from anxiety. “Dumbass!” he mentally berated himself “I should not have joked about money! What is wrong with you, Mammon?!” The demon ran one of his hands through his messy hair and rubbed the tears out of his eyes. A shiver ran through his body as the night air sent chills across his sweat-soaked skin. He was now all alone in the darkness and silence of his room, his mind still overrun with horrid images of what those three accursed women had done to him.
Mammon: “Come on, I was just kiddin’ around!”
Mammon: “Now go on and unblock me. …I’ll tell ya a funny joke if you do.”
His mouth twitched into a semblance of a nervous smile as he continued to plead with no response from you.
Mammon: “Who’s got two thumbs and needs some company?”
Mammon: “b THIS GUY! b”
God, he felt so pathetic right now, begging a human of all people for attention. It’s no wonder everybody thought he sucked... It’s no wonder he kept getting himself into all these messes… It’s no wonder those witches haunted him both in his nightmares and his waking life… A pained sob escaped him.
Mammon: “At least give me a pity laugh, would ya?!”
Knock-knock-knock
“AAh!!!” Mammon jumped in his bed, nearly dropping his DDD from the startle. Who the hell wanted to see him at this hour?! Did his sobbing wake Lucifer up and now he came to scold him? But before the demon had a chance to respond, he heard your quiet voice.
“Mammon, it’s me.”
Huh? Didn’t you block him? Why were you here now? And more importantly, how is he going to show himself to you when he looked LIKE THIS?? That wasn’t cool at all! The GREAT Mammon isn’t supposed to cry o-or tremble or-
“Please, open up! I just want to talk.”
Your voice sounded worried and it caused Mammon to finally jump off his bed. He quickly threw on a pair of shorts before cracking open the door.
He couldn’t bear to look you in the eyes and instead stared at the floor in an attempt to hide his puffy teary eyes.
“W-what?” was all he could manage, his voice weak and uncertain.
“Mammon… I’m so sorry…”
Still avoiding your gaze, he began mumbling.
“’S okay, no need to worry about The Great Mammon…”
You could see the look of hurt in his face, how his shoulders were hunched, how his hand trembled when he waved it in a dismissive gesture. Your heart broke for him. For a moment you didn’t know what to say. You wanted to say so much, yet you didn’t know how to articulate it. With a heavy sigh, you reached out a hand to his face, but stopped mid-air, unsure if he even wanted to be touched right now. Normally he would grab your hands or drape himself over you when he was feeling jealous and over-protective; other times he would blush and stutter if you so much as patted him on the shoulder. But right now, all you wanted was for him to look you in the eyes and be honest with you.
“Mammon” you called out softly, “Mammon, please look at me.”
The guy pursed his lips, feeling even more nervous. His gaze flitted around the floor for a few moments until he finally raised his eyes to look at you and see the concern in your face. He looked sadder than an orphaned puppy at a dog shelter, so much so that you had to fight against your own urge to cry.
“It’s okay to ask for help” you started, your voice barely above a whisper, “it’s okay to talk about things that are hurting you. You don’t need to hide from me, I would never judge you for it.”
A silence settled over the two of you as you continued to look at each other. Mammon seemed to hesitate, and his gaze fell back to the floor again.
“C-can I… can I come in?” you asked. The hallway was too chilly to be standing around dressed the way you were. Besides, you didn’t want to risk waking somebody else up and getting in trouble for it.
Mammon simply nodded and stepped to the side, opening the door wider as you entered the room. A soft click of the door closing and the air fell silent again. You turned to look at the demon – he was completely disheveled and held his crossed arms close to his chest, looking small and completely unlike himself. Tentatively, he broke the silence first.
“You… didn’t block me?”
“No!” you reassured, “Why would I do that?”
He seemed to perk up a bit at your words and looked up at you again, a good sign.
“Y-you better have not!... Nobody blocks the Great Mammon!”
Here we go again. You sighed in disapproval, but your expression remained soft and caring.
“Do you want to talk about it more? Your nightmare, that is…” you asked cautiously.
Pause. Silence.
“I-I… I don’t know.”
Another pause.
You didn’t want to pry, but you needed to help him somehow. You searched your mind for ideas, soon settling on one of them.
“Do you need a hug?” you opened your arms to him, still unsure if physical touch would be appropriate in this situation, but before you knew it, Mammon was already holding you tightly against his body with his head buried in your shoulder.
You embraced him back and began petting his hair, a gesture that usually tended to cheer him up. You felt a shudder run through his whole body as he let out a sniffle. Then another one. Then a sob. You rubbed soothing circles across his back with your other hand while making a soft shushing sound to try to calm him down.
“Shhh, it’s okay, you are safe. You are safe here and I’m here for you. It’s okay…”
The two of you stood like this for a while until Mammon’s sobbing quieted down and his body began to relax in your arms. You could feel his breathing become more even and his heartbeat calmer. His body was like a furnace and the heat from him felt pleasantly warm in contrast to the chilly night air, no matter that the demon in your arms was also sweaty. You felt yourself getting sleepy again, but you didn’t want to leave him alone like this. Mammon seemed to have been thinking the same thing as he mumbled into your shoulder, his voice low and timid.
“Is… is it okay… if you stay here? Just for tonight?...”
“Of course” you responded reassuringly, letting go of the demon and looking up at him again.
He returned your gaze and gave you a nervous smile.
“Thanks.”
“No worries.”
With what little moonlight was filtering through the curtains into the room, you couldn’t quite tell if what you saw was a blush on his face or just shadows. However, having taken a proper look at him now, you felt a blush creep up to your own cheeks as you realized that Mammon was completely shirtless. Yeah, you’ve seen him in his nearly-naked demon form many times before, but it never failed to fluster you. This was far more intimate. And far more naked. You averted your gaze as not to stare.
You felt a hand wrap gently around your own and tug you forward, as Mammon lead you to his bed. You had fallen asleep with him on couches, floors, and even your own bed before, as you frequently binged movies together, played games, and studied for tests, or the demon simply made up some weak excuse about you being cold or his bed being uncomfortable. Sharing sleeping space wasn’t anything new to you. But this… also felt different.
You climbed under the sheets and Mammon followed, laying down to face you. A comfortable silence fell over the two of you as you continued to look at each other without saying a word. Mammon’s gaze was soft and you felt yourself melt a bit as you got lost in his eyes. There were times when the Avatar of Greed wasn’t putting up a show of how cool and awesome he was and how nothing could ever hurt him. This was one of them and you treasured this moment.
You reached out a hand and gently ran your fingers through his hair, to which the demon let out a content sigh. His pale eyelashes fluttered as he closed his eyes and you felt your own eyelids grow heavier too.
“Ya better not be doin’ this for anyone else” he grumbled and you smiled, chuckling silently.
“Of course.”
You continued to lazily stroke his hair for another minute until you felt sleep begin to overtake you.
“Goodnight, Mammon” you whispered as you pulled your hand away, fingers ghosting across the soft skin of the guy’s cheek.
“G’night, MC” Mammon mumbled as his hand wrapped around yours once again.
You would probably feel embarrassed in the morning as the two of you would wake up tangled in each other's embrace and your face tucked into Mammon’s bare chest. You would probably get in trouble with Lucifer for spending the night in Mammon’s room. You would probably face incessant teasing from Asmo for it for days, if not weeks. You would probably look back to this night as the moment you realized that the feelings you had for your friend weren’t as platonic as you first thought.
But none of that mattered right now. It would have to wait until tomorrow. All that mattered at this moment was the feeling of comfort and closeness the two of you shared as you drifted off to sleep. This time, free of nightmares.