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She is a human and also more than just a human.
It was something everyone anticipated. If she ended up as frail and subservient, at least that’s how the brothers and even most of the Royal Academy’s students already thought of initially.
Be it in the lack of physical capabilities or that of power aptitude, none of it did anything to categorize her as puny. No one who knows her and is in their right mind would daresay she’s incapable. Not with how she managed to make a pact with the renowned demon brothers of Devildom in such a short amount of time, and especially not with how she was actually related to Lilith.
After all, she was human - not a vermin, not an insect.
Her inferiority only encompasses her physicality, the inability to transform into something else or even the inability to cast a spell for what it’s worth. That being so, the seven demon brothers see her for more than her physical prowess or lack thereof.
She is an enigma and she proves to be the most obstinate enigma ever. Even when her accommodation hinges on being the representative from the Human Realm, she remains headstrong with the decisions she makes.
Despite the supposedly petrifying species surrounding her, a group she does not belong to, she’s as fearless and daunting as that of a demon. The mere idea that she has fallen for a demon, out of all kinds to fall for, greatly underlines how audacious she is of a woman.
He is the Avatar of Gluttony but is also more than just the Avatar of Gluttony.
It is way beyond predetermined, given who he is and the title that comes with his identity. For him to be dying for food, sometimes quite literally close to actually dying for them, astonishes no one.
Be it a roast havoc devil, a shadow goose meat, a hellfire mushroom, or even a BLT devil sandwich, he will set his heart for them and no one who knows him and is in their right mind would still question this. Not, the number of rounds he can eat with just the first meal of the day or the amount of dessert he can accommodate in his stomach.
After all, it is his sacrilege - to eat, to consume, to partake more so than the average.
But his avarice only extends to that of food and what looks like food, because Beelzebub becomes the most magnanimous demon brother there is when it comes to other things.
On a probable tier with Lucifer, he would stop at nothing if it means his brothers are out of harm’s way. Therefore the mere idea that their youngest had died because of a choice he himself had to make, devastates him wholly - the Great Celestial War taking a toll on him more than anyone else.
Even if no one would hold him at fault for it, Beelzebub still imprisons himself in culpability for what had happened to Lilith and even for how Belphegor had turned into a human-loathing demon. The slightest possibility of the tragedy happening again unravels him, undoing him for more than just the archetype that he is.
She is undoing herself as a human and she is baring herself to flaws.
Her temporary stay in Devildom does not seem to deter her - the one year she was warranted to stay as part of the Exchange Program does nothing to trouble her mind at all. The very notion that she will be leaving soon seems to only push her in pursuing whatever it is that she truly wants.
Even more so, she doesn’t dwell too much on her ephemerality as a human, as what is constantly pointed out by others. She sees beings far beyond than how they appear to be. The soul is what attracts her and so she disregards her being human in the first place.
Her affection for Beelzebub is after all a product of how she sees beyond his look. Being the tallest and sporting the sturdiest body among brothers, he is a clear intimidation to anyone at first glance. Yet she glimpses the depths of the Avatar of Gluttony, that he is more than how he looks, more than the growls he resounds.
Beelzebub is naive and childlike for one, but he is also protective and overly caring in another. He is someone she knows she cannot stray her heart from.
He is undoing himself as the Avatar of Gluttony and he is resisting himself from flaws.
His innate gentleness turned into that of a gnawing insecurity, a diffidence that eats at his very core. The probability of being unable to protect anyone, the very possibility of causing harm upon someone again, brings him immense fear.
His natural filial piety came into that of an inordinate prioritization for his brothers and no one else. Feeling so strongly held back by what had happened, Beelzebub swore to never let anything else hinder him from choosing family above anything else.
He thought that perhaps that way, he gets to alleviate whatever guilt he can alleviate from deep within him. He thought that perhaps then, he gets to ensure no harm comes upon the people he loves; but he thought wrong.
For before he is characterized by insatiability, he is first and foremost someone who has fallen from grace.
And so, fickle fate, proved to him just how susceptible to flaws he was. The fracture of his long-held system of belief came in the wake of Lord Diavolo’s exchange program. Shepherding in not just a mere human of alluring personality, but a woman of tender grit. It didn’t take long before he realized how flimsy and vulnerable he had gotten.
He knew of her feelings towards him and she knew there was something holding him back from acting towards them and that’s all she knew. For all the inner soul that she chooses to see, she never managed to get past his defenses, never got to the bottom of why he digresses her feelings.
Even when the time for her to return home came, he never reciprocated how she felt, or at least never acted upon his repressed feelings.
“Beel…” She softly muttered into the quiet room, filtering all the noise created by the other brothers in the common room.
“Hey…” Silence ensued, neither knew what else to say.
“Why are you here? There’s tons of food below.” She softly squeaked a question that he only served back at her.
“Why are you here? You should be down there...it’s your farewell party after all.”
“I...I wanted to get some air.”
“My room isn’t particularly the best place for tha-”
“Beel, I wanted to see you!”
Another minute of silence followed, even with her sitting on Belphegor’s bed facing him who sat on his own, he still avoided her gaze the entire time.
“Beel,” she hushes, a stray tear falling, “Why? Wh...why don’t you-? Why can’t we...I don’t understand it at all. Beel, why?”
Finally, for the first time that night, gradient heather eyes looked back at her sniveling face. He was in a clear battle with himself, concern and anguish at an obvious mix.
“Beel, why?” All she could do at the moment was repeat herself over and over again, “Why?”
He stood from the bed, paced towards where she was and proceeded to kneel in front of her. Large hand palmed her wet cheeks and his thumb glided over another tear threatening to fall, “ Stay here tonight . ”
“Wha- what?”
“Only for tonight, just tonight,” He presses his head towards her abdomen, messy tangerine ruffling, “I’m sorry, this is all I can give. I can’t make any more extreme choices, I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore, especially you.”
Just like that, Beelzebub let down his defenses for one night. Just like that, Beelzebub succumbed into his vulnerabilities for one night. But just like that, the one year was over, the morning came too fast and she had to go home.