Archive of Our Own

Beel misses Belphie, and while you can’t yet explain to him where he is and why he won’t answer his texts, you can help cheer him up. 

☼☼☼

Pitch black. All you can see is the faint outline of the things in your room as your eyes try to adjust to your dark surroundings. Your hand reaches out and clumsily looks for your D.D.D to check for the time. A sigh escapes your lips when you finally find it. “Dammit,” you groan to yourself when you see it’s only three in the morning. Thankfully for you, it's a Saturday and you don’t have class to wake up to in the morning, unthankfully for you, however, you’re on cooking duty and that does require you to get up before six in the morning. You never liked getting assigned to cooking duty, it always stressed you out trying to impress the boys (specifically Lucifer) and making sure that you had made enough for Beelzebub to eat while making sure everyone else also got food was enough to leave you pulling your hair out. 

For whatever reason, you're wide awake and unable to go back to sleep. With your D.D.D back on your nightstand, you decide you might as well start the day and attempt getting the meals at least prepped. Devildom knows you have your work cut out for you today. Your bare feet thud against the wooden floor as you slide out of bed and open the bedroom door, not bothering to change out of your pajamas. If Lucifer has a problem with it, you’ll have to deal with that later. After all, you’re only making breakfast for them, it’s not like you’ll be fixing a grand meal for a special event. You snort to yourself over the mental image of Lucifer getting worked up over your apparel. 

From where you stand in the hallway, you can see the kitchen light on and sigh to yourself in realization that someone’s already up before you. It’s likely that it’s Lucifer; the man wakes up long before anyone else, and that’s if he goes to bed in the first place. You don’t know how someone can function on such little sleep while taking on an immense workload, but you decide it’s best not to question it too much. “Lucifer?” You drowsily call out as you step into the kitchen and bring up a hand to rub the sleep from your eyes. “Oh.” You pause where you stand and take in the sight of the broadened outline of a certain redheaded demon. You shouldn’t be surprised to see Beel in the kitchen, you knew he had a habit of getting up several times a night to get “midnight snacks”, as he often called it. 

“Oh?” Your name falls from his lips as he turns around, and he briefly reminds you of a child who's been caught doing something bad. “I didn’t hear you. What are you doing up so late? It’s not like you to stay up all night, that’s more Levi’s thing.” You chuckle to yourself as you step around him and make your way into the kitchen. 

“I guess I just couldn’t sleep. I decided I’d just start cooking duty early today; do something productive with my time, you know?” You raise an eyebrow when you notice that Beel wouldn’t look you in the eyes, and you find his attention on the tiled floor instead. You also notice that he doesn’t have any food with him and that he wasn’t near the fridge. “What are you doing up?” He only shrugs in response, his cheeks dusted with a faint red. This was… odd, to say the least. You know Beel as the silent type, but this is still unlike him. “Did I interrupt you from getting a snack?” You try your best to sound casual as you whip out your D.D.D. You fiddle around with it aimlessly to give Beel the impression that all your attention isn’t on him. 

“Not really.” He eyes you momentarily before he speaks up again. “I couldn’t sleep either, so I thought maybe I was just hungry but…” His voice trails off as he plays nervously with his hands. “It’s not that.” Your eyes widen from his words.

“You mean, wait, are you saying that you aren’t hungry?” Beel’s almost always hungry, even when he doesn’t have a large appetite. He never passes up food, no matter what situation he’s in. To have him standing in the middle of the kitchen and not even think about eating was concerning. Maybe you should talk with Lucifer? You sigh inwardly at the thought; Beel doesn’t need Lucifer sticking his nose into his business. If it’s bad enough, you’re sure that Beel would approach his older brother on his own terms. “So then what is it? Why can’t you sleep?” 

“I…” He looks embarrassed as he hesitates, almost as if he’s ashamed for how he feels. With a gentle smile you encourage him to continue. “I miss my twin brother, Belphie. I wish I knew why he wouldn’t answer my messages. I just want to know that he’s doing okay in the human realm.” Your heart breaks where you stand as your brain tries (and fails) to come up with something to say. Truth be told, you know where Belphegor is and why he hasn’t been answering any of Beel’s messages, but you can’t tell him… not yet, anyway, you’ll need more of a solid plan before doing so. “What if he’s in trouble? What if that’s why he’s not answering my messages? He’s quiet in nature, but it’s unlike him to keep things from me. Belphie and I tell each other everything.” As if to convince himself, Beel nods his head at the end of his sentence with his hand on his stomach. If he wasn’t so distraught, you would have thought the action was endearing.

“Ah, Beelzebub, maybe his D.D.D doesn’t work up there, kind of like how my cell phone doesn’t work down here, you know?” You don’t want Beel suspicious or worried over Belphie; it might throw things off for you. You aren’t sure what would happen if Beel finds out that Lucifer has been keeping him prisoner this entire time, and you definitely aren’t sure if you can handle the aftermath of him finding out. 

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’m worrying over nothing.” His brows are creased together, though you can tell he’s trying his best to seem less concerned. You know for yourself he isn’t feeling any better, so you decide then and there to take things into your own hands. It’s the least you could do for Beel and Belphie in the moment. 

“You know, when I would get anxious about things as a child, my mother would always make me my favorite meal.” Beel’s interest is peaked, his attention suddenly on you compared to earlier when he was actively avoiding you. When he doesn’t say anything you decide to continue. “Hot chocolate!” Beel’s expression falls from intrigued to confused, and before he can ask any questions you quickly speak up. “I know it’s not really a meal, it’s a drink, but it’s my favorite and it always made me feel better. Besides, I never hear anything about hot chocolate in the Devildom, so I think this would be a fun way for you to try a human beverage, right? You’re always saying how you want to try more human foods. Just think of this as, um-- a liquid dessert. Yeah, a liquid dessert!” 

This will be my best choice , you find yourself thinking. It’s quick and easy to make, and you’ll still have plenty of time to start up breakfast afterwards. Maybe Beel will even go back to bed. “Okay.” A smile takes over his lips as he looks down at you. “I will make sure to share it with you.” He stands back while you look around the kitchen for the proper things you’ll need. Thankfully, hot chocolate isn’t a difficult recipe, and the Devildom has many of the ingredients to boot. After all, you really only needed milk, cocoa powder, and some marshmallows. And if you’re super lucky today, the House of Lamentation would have all of those things. 

“You know,” pushing yourself up on your tiptoes, you search through the cabinet, “the best part about hot chocolate is picking which mug you use.” 

“The mug?” There’s a look of confusion on Beel’s face, as if he wasn’t exactly sure what you were talking about. “Do you eat the mug too?” He knows he gets weird looks from his brothers and occasionally even you when he’d attempt to eat the plate along with his meal, but he didn’t think humans would eat the dishes too. Then again, he’ll be the first to admit that he doesn’t know much about the human realm or the humans that live there. 

“You don’t eat the mug.” You couldn’t hold back your laughter as you reassure him. “I mean, sometimes there are edible mugs, like chocolate mugs, but I don’t think the Devildom has anything like that.” You cut yourself off when you see that he’s confused again. “Nevermind that. Most people enjoy their hot chocolate in their favorite mug. Mine was always something cute and Disney related. Do you have a favorite mug, Beel?” He goes quiet as he takes a moment to think, his eyebrows furrowed while he shifts on his feet. It’s odd, you think, because in any other situation you’d be impatient, but you found out very early on into your stay that you had a not-so-small soft spot for the giant brother. You honestly believed that Beel could take an hour thinking about his answer and that you’d be okay with it. 

“I do.” He says after a careful minute of decision. “If we use it, I don’t have to eat it, right? Because I won’t use it if I have to eat it.” Laughter bubbles up in the back of your throat when you see how serious his expression is. 

“I promise you Beel, you don’t have to eat your mug.” 

“Okay, great!” His smile is plastered on his lips once again when he claps his hands together. “So how do we make this liquid dessert?” 

“Hot chocolate,” you politely point out, “and it’s very simple. Since you’ll probably want seconds, or even thirds, maybe fourths--” you’re getting side tracked, “I’ll be making more than I usually would.” You explain to him as you duck down and grab a pot from one of the lower ground cabinets. “So hopefully you like it!” 

“I like anything that you make.” He’s a little too quick to answer, but you can feel the butterflies swarming uncomfortably in your stomach from his compliment. You’re not sure if it’s because he’s willing to eat almost anything, or if he actually does enjoy your cooking, but you figure it’s pointless to ask. 

“That’s very sweet.” You reply with burning cheeks. You’re glad your back is turned to him so that he couldn’t see how red you are. “Uh, Beel, could you grab some milk from the fridge?” You figure he might want to take some part in the process of making it. He's gone just as fast as you ask the question, only to return seconds later with the milk. “Thank you!” You beam when he places it on the counter next to you. 

“I did good?” 

“You did great.” You lean up on your tiptoes and ruffle his hair as he smiles bashfully. “Okay, so we’ll just need three cups of milk and then three cups of half and half cream,” you grab the measuring cup you set out earlier and pour the milk into it, “and then we can get to the fun part.”

“The fun part? I thought the mug was the fun part.” 

“The mug is the fun part, but there’s another fun part! And that’s adding the chocolate.” You angle your head so that you’re looking back at him, wiggling your eyebrows in anticipation. Beel peers over your shoulder from where he stands behind you, eagerly staring at the pot as if his gaze will cause it to warm. 

“I have another question.”

“What is it?” You ask as you bring your attention back to the milk; you didn’t want to make a mess in front of him. It’s too early to be embarrassing yourself like that. 

“What’s half and half?” 

You pause slightly at Beel’s question. Shit. Did the Devildom even have half and half cream? Did they have anything similar to it? You drum your fingertips on the surface of the counter, your bottom lip pulled in between your teeth. “Ah!” You snap your fingers together and push yourself away from the counter. “Butter! Butter and more milk! I think I can make that a substitute.” You hope so, anyways, otherwise you’ll have a very odd tasting hot chocolate. Beel says nothing, only standing back and letting you do the work, not wanting to mess up anything. He wasn’t sure why you were going on about substitutes, but he knew better than to try and get involved now. 

Once you have the half and half cream situation sorted out, you turn the stove top on and then turn around. “We just have to wait for the milk to heat up, and then we can add the chocolate.” You wiggle your eyebrows once again and Beel can’t help but to giggle from your antics. “So, why don’t you find some vanilla and I’ll look for the chocolate powder.”

“We don’t have chocolate powder.” Beel replies almost instantly as he wanders off to the pantry to look for the vanilla. “And why do we need vanilla mix if we’re making chocolate?”

“Dammit,” you curse under your breath, “what about chocolate chips?” 

“We have chocolate squares.”

“Good enough; Beel, can you bring me a bag of chocolate squares? Please don’t eat them.” You can practically see his pout from where you stand, but nonetheless he brings you the bag unopened. Okay, so maybe your traditional hot chocolate recipe was straying from the original ingredients, but that’s okay. As long as it tasted like hot chocolate, you’d be happy with that. Besides, this might work out for the best anyway-- the chocolatier the better, right? You gently take the bag from Beel’s hands and quickly open it, popping one of the squares into his mouth before he can complain about how he’s just absolutely starving. The rest of the bag goes into the pot, Beel watching with a small frown as the chocolates melt and disappear into the milk. 

“Goodbye chocolate squares; you’ll never be forgotten.” He nods his head once and you have to keep yourself from snorting. He could be so dramatic at times when it came to food. You expected nothing less from the avatar of glutton, though. 

You smile in content as you mix everything in the pot together. “It smells good, right?” The kitchen was beginning to smell like chocolate and you definitely aren’t protesting. “It’ll taste even better.” You comment when you see him nod his head in agreement. This seems to satisfy him as his overall mood becomes a little brighter. “And now just a splash of vanilla…” You let out a surprised yelp when Beel pours nearly half of the bottle into the pot. “Oh, Beel!” That definitely wasn’t good. 

“Did I do it wrong? I just wanted to help.” His mood’s dimmed again and the frown is back on his face. You feel panic rise in your chest and you quickly shake your head. 

“No, no! That’s fine!” You didn’t mean to yell, but you just really needed to let Beel know that he did a good job (even if he didn’t ). “I’m sure it’ll taste great!” You soothe his nerves and carefully take the bottle out of his large hands and screw the cap back on. 

After what seems like enough time has passed, you turn off the stove and turn back to face Beel. “Do you want to get your mug now?” He beams from the question and hurries off without another word. You watch silently as he skims through the cabinets for his favorite mug. After a couple seconds pass, he’s walking back over to you with a black mug with yellow stars painted on it. It was definitely… homemade. It was cute, but you didn’t think it quite matched the demon’s personality. 

“Belphie made it for me.” Beel says as if he’s able to read your thoughts. “He painted it himself and drew on the stars. It’s my favorite gift of all time.” There’s a softness to his features that you can only describe as complete and utter adoration . 

“It’s beautiful, Beel.” And you certainly weren’t lying. Knowing the story and emotion behind it, you can’t help but to change your mind on its appearance. You gently take the mug from his hands and pour some of the hot chocolate into it. Once you were done, you handed it back to him. “Make sure to blow on it so it doesn’t burn your...tongue…” Your voice trails off as you watch Beel down the entire drink in one single gulp. You blink once, then twice. Your mouth opens, though no words come out as you stare at him in silence. That was impressive. Concerning, but impressive. “Did you even taste it?” 

“I did! It was delicious.” He smiles brightly and for a second you’re convinced that he shines brighter than the sun. “May I have more?” 

“You can have all of it.” You say and push the pot towards him. He frowns at this and you raise an eyebrow. Maybe he didn’t like it after all?

“You have to have some too. I told you I’d share.” You lean up and peck his nose, watching in amusement as an adorable flush spreads across his cheeks. “You don’t have a favorite mug here, do you?” His question catches you off guard, but you quickly nod your head in response. “Then I will let you borrow one of mine. Hold on.” He hands his now empty mug to you, and once again you find yourself silently watching as he disappears to find another mug. He comes back with a plain green one, a small golden heart engraved on the side. It looked similar to Beel’s in the fact that it was homemade.

“It’s cute, Beel.” You say softly as you two exchange mugs. “Where did you get this one?” 

“Lilith made it in the celestial realm. Belphie and I were able to sneak it out before we were cast down here.” Your eyes widen slightly as you look down at the mug in your hands. “I think you should have it; I think she would like that.” This time it’s your turn to flush from Beel’s words. Could you really keep something like this? You weren’t sure how the others would feel if they found out that Beel gave you her mug. As if he can read your mind, he leans down and presses a brief, but soft kiss to the top of your head. “I’m sure.” 

Before you could say anything more, the sound of someone clearing their throat pulls your attention away. In the entrance of the kitchen stands Lucifer, a single eyebrow raised as he stares at the two of you. “Do I want to know what you two are doing up at this hour? And why there’s,” he peers around the two of you to look at the stove, “chocolate and milk spilled on the stove top?” 

“Uh…” Your brain might have just died. 

“Nevermind.” He’s letting out a sigh as he waves his hand in the air. “Just have it cleaned by breakfast--” He pauses and for a brief second there’s an expression of shock on his face, “that’s not our breakfast, is it?” 

“What? No, of course not! It was just a late night snack--” Lucifer cuts you off with another wave of his hand once he hears what he wanted. 

“Just clean it. You too, Beel. Oh, and please, if you insist on beginning your day this early, have the decency to change out of your nightwear.” The two of you share sheepish smiles as Lucifer walks out without another word. At least you were able to cheer him up? Maybe?