Chapter Text
lucifer: meet me downstairs. we'll be leaving soon.
ok! coming down now.
lucifer: bring a coat, it will be cold.
you'd only visited the human world a few times during your stay down in devildom, and after mulling it over for a few days, lucifer decided to let you tag along on another one of his outings. it was nothing special, just a brief meeting with a few witches before he would return back home, not anything that would take more than a few hours at most. he planned on giving you some money and letting you roam around the city for a bit while he dealt with business, hoping to ease the homesickness he suspected you'd been experiencing throughout your stay.
in reality, you had no problem staying away from your own realm, but a little excursion just to spice up your daily schedule sounded like a fun idea, so you happily agreed. you hadn't really packed much for cold weather, considering you were traveling to hell, so you pulled on your only thick jumper and some long pants and called it a day.
making your way downstairs, you saw lucifer already waiting at the door, sorting through a small folder of papers.
"let's go." he opened one of the large front doors for you, shutting it behind him and beginning the walk to the passageway in town. "i recall telling you to bring a coat."
"isn't this thick enough?" you rolled your eyes. what a worrywart.
"just take mine, i know humans can be fragile when it comes to such menial things as temperature."
grabbing the jacket from his offering hands, you smiled as his scent surrounded you, the heavy fabric weighing comfortably on your shoulders. his signature fur-lined coat was quite large on your smaller frame, the sleeves extending past your fingers and the jacket hem ending at the middle of your thighs. "this is way too big, lucifer!" you laughed, flapping the excess fabric covering your hands in front of you for emphasis.
"i think it looks quite nice on you." you didn't even have to look up to see his smile, that rare hint of playfulness in voice giving it away.
as usual, the streets near all the shops were crowded, demons bustling to and fro with boxes and bags from the assorted selection of stores cramped next to each other. you had to squeeze yourself closer to lucifer in order to avoid a particularly fast demon rushing past you, instinctively reaching for his hand. he held onto it as you two neared the magical seal, leading you under an unassuming awning to an old looking mahogany door with an intricate sigil branded into the wood.
watching him reach for the faded brass handle, you squeezed his hand, closing your eyes as a bright white light filled your vision. the temperature dropped drastically around you, a strong wind whipping your hair and making the coat flutter around you. you felt weightless for a moment, jostled by the sudden hardness of ground under your feet and the sound of honking car horns as you opened your eyes to see a vast cityscape before you.
"we're in... new york?" you murmured, lucifer guiding you down the packed sidewalks while you curiously looked around.
it had been months since you'd been up in your own realm, the giant flashing screens and cold modern architecture a far cry from the more archaic, old-fashioned style buildings you'd become so used to in the underworld. everything here was so bright and loud, you felt so out of place as you diligently followed the eldest brother through the vast maze of streets.
if you had to choose between devildom and the human realm right now, you'd honestly pick staying in the house of lamentation with everyone else over this mess of concrete and metal. leading you to the entrance of a large park, he finally stopped.
"we're at bryant park right now, there are many places for you to look around within a block of here. please don't travel too far, and wait for me here as soon as you're finished. i won't be long." digging around in his folder, he pulled a wad of money out, tucking it into one of the pockets on his jacket. "i don't know much about human currency, but i'm sure that's enough for a few hours."
looking around, he observed the expression on your face, noting the tinge of anxiety in your eyes. "don't worry, i won't be more than a few hours."
extending his arms out to you, you hugged him tightly, pressing your face into his chest while he rubbed your back gently.
"i'll be off then. be careful."
he disappeared into the crowd within seconds, leaving you standing at the entrance of what appeared to be bryant park. you felt the cold air blow through your thick clothes, wrapping his jacket snugly around you before nervously looking around. you hoped he wasn't cold.
pulling out the allowance he'd given you, you giggled a little. he gave you almost five hundred dollars for just a short day out, it was almost cute how he didn't know about human world money. it was quite different from grimm, that's for sure. wandering down the streets around the park, you eventually found a small cafe, ordering yourself a hot drink to combat the cold with a warm pastry and settling yourself into an empty booth.
it was almost surreal reacquainting yourself with human society. employees at stores didn't give you that quizzical, patronizing glance demons did as they took your order, just looking mechanical while they scribbled your name onto a cup and got to work. you had seen some of the customers entering the store coughing and sneezing, figuring it was only natural that it was flu season during such a cold time of the year. you had actually never seen or heard of any kind of illness down in devildom, you'd never thought to ask about it until now. finishing off your drink and snack, you tossed the garbage and exited the cafe.
the cold outside pricked at your face, making your eyes water and your nose and ears sting a bit. rubbing away the ache on your nose, you watched your breath form clouds of steam in the frigid air. that would've never happened back home, you thought to yourself.
the automatic assertion of devildom as home in your mind almost startled you, but you knew it was true. you now considered the sprawling mansion that housed you and all seven brothers your home, rather than your place here in your own realm.
moving along to find your next destination, you burned through two hours a lot more easily than you thought, roaming around the streets and purchasing small presents for the boys since you knew they were all a bit interested in human world items. after you'd thought of that idea, you were glad lucifer gave you an absurd amount of money. emerging from the last store, you decided to head back to the park. even if he wasn't there yet you felt worn out from the hustle of the city.
your eyes lit up at the sight of him when you turned the corner to the entrance of the park, rushing up excitedly. he laughed as you smiled at him, his attention turning towards the small bundle of shopping bags in your hand. "what's all this?"
"just a little something for everyone back home, i promise i didn't spend all the money." passing him back the change, you continued to speak to him as you dug around for his gift. "how was your meeting?"
"quite uneventful, they simply spoke to me about how mammon was acting irresponsibly, per usual. i resolved the issue with them over tea."
"you're such a good older brother. it's cute."
you finally found it, looking up to see his face flush at your comment. "i got you something! close your eyes and stick out your hand."
he obliged, letting you place a small pouch in his hand. "it's tea! the lady at the shop said it was a special blend, it's supposed to help you relax after a long day." you could tell he was flustered, but pleased as he took the shopping bag you offered him to put it away.
"thank you.. it was very kind of you to think of me on your day out."
you knew he wasn't one for extravagant gifts like asmo or mammon, but you still wanting to get him something heartfelt that you knew he would enjoy. letting him take your hand, you both chatted cheerfully on the way back to the passageway, eventually making your way back to the realm of the underworld and to the house of lamentation once again.
"i'll see you at dinner, lucifer. i hope you enjoy your tea!"
he watched as you skipped up the steps, disappearing down one of the halls on the way to your room. he felt warmed by your interactions today, smiling to himself as he went to his own room and placed the bag of tea leaves on his desk, eager to try it later.
dinner came and went, beel inhaling most of the food, belphie dozing off, mammon complaining about how he wanted to go walk around new york with you, lucifer threatening to hit mammon from across the table. the usual routine. you planned on giving the rest of them their gifts tomorrow after school, feeling exhausted after all that walking in the cold, and wanting to see their reactions individually.
retiring to your room for the night, you changed into your pajamas and jumped in bed, falling asleep faster than usual.
--
you felt your eyes squint as they opened, feeling incredibly bleary and sluggish. you could tell you had woken up in the middle of the night from how unrested you felt, pulling yourself up to a seating position. that was a mistake.
as soon as you'd swung your legs over the side of your bed, you felt your stomach lurch. slapping a hand over your mouth, you doubled over at the abrupt wave of nausea hitting you. it was so out of the blue, shocking you to your feet as you felt bile rising fast up your throat. swallowing hard, you stumbled to your bathroom, throwing open the door and falling to your knees in front of the toilet.
you could feel all your muscles aching as you shakily raised the seat, head bowing before you began to gag and retch painfully into the white porcelain. snot dribbled from your nose while you reached desperately for a tissue, another surge of vomit making you grip the bowl as it burned your esophagus and nasal passages. through your ringing ears, you could faintly hear footsteps, hands suddenly rubbing your back and pulling your hair away from your face.
you knelt there for a minute, continuing to expel your dinner into the toilet as a panicked voice comforted you. finally feeling the heaving in your gut coming to an end, you spat out the remnants of sticky saliva, trying to focus in on who was there.
"could you get me a tissue?" you sounded terrible, the sentence unintentionally coming out as a low groan. you heard whoever was there pull a bunch of tissues from the box on your counter, placing them in your outstretched hand.
"w-what happened to ya?"
you identified the voice as mammon, feeling him return to his previous position with his hand on your back.
"i don't know, i think i might've gotten sick up there in the human world.. what are you doing here?" you mumbled, wiping up the dripping fluids off your mouth and chin and tossing the soiled papers into the toilet with the rest of the mess.
"i heard a loud thump on the floor and got worried.. good thing i got up to check if it was something bad." sitting back down onto the cold tile, you flushed everything away, sniffling as you turned up to look at mammon's worried face.
"you look horrible!" he exclaimed, immediately reddening when he realized how mean it sounded.
"wow, just what i needed right now."
you allowed him to help you to your feet, rinsing your mouth out with some tap water and brushing your teeth half heartedly before trying to stumble back to bed. his gaze was filled with concern at the sight of your shaking figure, not knowing of the aches and chills wracking your body.
"w-what should i do? i dunno anything about human illness!"
"just go back to bed, mammon, i'll worry about it in the morning."
"no! i'm not leaving ya like this, i'm gonna stay right here until you get better!" he carefully lowered you into your bed, kicking off his slippers and trying to lay down with you.
"no, you're gonna get sick." you weakly tried to push him away, shivering from how terribly cold you felt despite being under the covers.
"demons can't get sick from human stuff, just let me stay with ya tonight, you look like you're freezin'..."
unable to relent any longer, you let him climb into your bed, immediately curling up against his warmth. wrapping his arms around you, he held you tight as you trembled, a hand stroking your hair when he felt you grip his shirt. he felt terrible for you, he'd never seen someone so important to him look so weak.
it reminded him of how fragile humans were; how fragile you were. he thought of when you hurt yourself running away from his brothers when they flew into misguided rages, or how you bruised so easily compared to him from accidental bumps and falls. he didn't want to see you hurt like this. he didn't want to see you hurt ever. one of the few things he could take solace in right now was that he was finally the one to save you, the knight in shining armor he'd failed to be many times before this.
at least he could feel like he'd accomplished something.
you were breathing heavily, sniffing and groaning softly every once in a while before you finally fell back asleep. as he stared up into the darkness, he felt stupid for not immediately telling lucifer, or at least somebody, of the state you were in. he was the least helpful in this situation, and now he couldn't bring himself to move out of the fear of waking you up.
sighing, he closed his eyes, feeling your face nestle into the crook of his neck in your sleep. under different circumstances, he would've been much happier to have you so near to him, to be cuddled up in your bed in the middle of the night, but all he could feel was worry as he dozed off. he assured himself that he would be able to get help for you in the morning. for now, he thought it was best for you to just rest.