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It would be freezing, if not for Mammon's arms.
Or maybe not freezing, exactly. It's not quite the hour where the Devildom descends into the true depths of its chills—midnight still lurking four long hours away—but it's definitely cold, as these nights in hell do tend to get. The breeze is crisp, the wind biting sharply at your ears every time it manages to wedge its nimble touch between your and Mammon's bodies, but the demon always readjusts his hold around you whenever such a thing happens. As such, you find comfort even in these low temperatures, leaning peacefully into the arms of the man holding you so snugly.
The beginnings of a particularly strong wind echo from the north, and you instinctively curl deeper into Mammon's embrace, feeling safe only when he loops his arms around you tighter.
"Ya sure you're not cold?" The demon asks, his voice nothing more than a whisper as he continues to rest his head on your shoulder. "We can't run from Lucifer forever, ya know."
"We can try," You murmur, smiling softly to yourself as your rest your head against Mammon's. "Or we can at least wait till he cools down and realizes that a few failed tests aren't the end of the world." You shift your head just the slightest, pressing your lips to Mammon's jaw. "And no, I'm not cold. Not with you here, at least."
The demon laughs at that, a beautiful sound that you've come to cherish in your time in the Devildom. "Okay," He mumbles, running his hands along your arms, fingers squeezing gently over every patch of exposed skin. "Just let me know if ya wanna head back inside."
It's really not necessary, you think.
Yes, the outside temperature is chilly, only getting colder with each passing second. But the blood that runs through Mammon's veins is hot as hellfire itself, and his embrace is like a furnace that has wrapped itself around your body, pulling you into its lap so that it can smother you in heat and affection and love.
You lean your head back, savoring Mammon's warmth, gazing up at the sky as you do so.
"It's not fair," You pout, glancing up.
"Huh?" Mammon asks. "What's not?"
"The sky," You mumble, slightly dejected. "It's so pretty. Way prettier than the human world sky."
"Ya know what's even prettier than the sky?" Mammon asks, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously at you. You roll your eyes at that, opting not to comment on the fact that this is probably the most basic and overdone compliment he could have thought of—but as usual, the demon surprises you: "Me," Mammon declares proudly, grinning.
You give him a firm whack on the shoulder for that.
Settling back in his arms, you continue glancing at the sky (internally promising yourself to never comment on how pretty it is again) and turn your gaze to the stars. The constellations here are different from those in the human world, and they seem to have some sort of hypnotic pattern that makes it impossible to stop staring at them once you've started.
"I like the stars," You finally say, your voice coming out soft.
"The stars?" Mammon questions incredulously, as if he had forgotten that they're up there. He glances up abruptly, his hair tickling you just the slightest as he does so, and a soft oh escaping his lips is all you need to hear to know that he's equally mesmerized by them, even if he appears to have never glanced up at them before.
"Did ya know each star up there is a city in the Celestial Realm?"
"Really?"
"Really."
A sigh of wonder escapes you, and the geometric pattern to the supposed constellations suddenly makes sense. You can identify the busy districts, where there are lots of cities and lots of angels living close together—as well as what must be the more rural regions, where stars are far between and far apart.
"I wonder what it's like..."
"Hm?" Mammon asks, nudging your shoulder.
"Nothing," You say, chuckling to yourself. "It was stupid." And impractical, you add in your head.
"Nah, tell me," Mammon urges. "What is it? Are ya wondering what it's like to be up there?"
"Not exactly," You mumble, glancing at the stars again. "Just...thinking about what it must be like to be close."
"Close to the stars?" Mammon asks. "Ya mean flying?"
Your lack of a response is an answer in itself.
"I told you it was stupid," You mutter halfheartedly, now glancing at your knees, which are tangled with Mammon's own legs. "Imagine how cold it must be up there if it's like this here. I'd probably catch pneumonia or something."
"Eh?" Mammon glances at you, his eyes incredulous. "What're ya talking about? Maybe that's what it's like in the human world, but here in the Devildom, the higher you go, the warmer it gets."
"...What?" You ask suspiciously, almost not believing it. But the earnest look in Mammon's eye, coupled with the fact that it does make rational sense, given that the heavens, the lands of the eternal sun, are directly above the Devildom, manages to convince you.
"Then..."
You let your voice trail off, letting the silence speak for you instead, the unspoken question going unheard by all except the demon staring down at you expectantly.
"You wanna know what it's like to fly?" Mammon asks softly, and you feel his muscles tense in anticipation.
"Yes," You mumble, and that's all it takes for the demon to respond, instantly pulling your body up with one arm wrapped around your waist while he shifts into his demon form. You don't bother commenting on the inhuman display of strength, already so used to Mammon's overwhelming (but rather concealed) power. It's only when the demon commands you to jump that you flinch back, hesitant.
"What?" Mammon asks, his eyebrows furrowing cutely. "How else did ya expect this to happen? Come on, jump, and hurry up, otherwise you'll catch a cold or somethin'."
Hesitant as you are, you can't argue with Mammon's logic, and you reluctantly jump, legs only pushing you a few inches off the ground. Still, that's enough for Mammon, because in seconds, his body is dipped down, one arm hooking itself under your knees and the other gripping firmly around your shoulder, and then he's pushed himself off the roof, and the two of you are actually up and in the air.
A sharp gasp escapes your lips the second the realization hits you, and you instinctively wrap your arms around Mammon's neck, holding on tightly, as if he'll drop you at any second.
"Shh," Mammon whispers into your ear, pressing a kiss to your temple. "I'm with ya. And I ain't gonna let go."
In the end, it's another kiss from Mammon that soothes your nerves, and slowly, very slowly, you gain the courage to unbury your head from his chest to look at the world around you.
Another gasp escapes your lips, but this time, it's a sound of wonder rather than fear.
Mammon's pace is slow, hardly anything impressive, but he's already flying higher than the breezes of the Devildom. You can see the whole RAD campus spread out beneath you, from Diavolo's palace to the sports fields, from the gigantic enchantment circles etched into the ground on the west side to the recreational district on the East, where demons glance up to look at the moving figures in the sky.
"It's amazing," You mumble, relaxing more and more in Mammon's arms as he flies higher, and you're not sure if it's the slow fading of iciness from the temperature or your increasing amazement of the world spread beneath you that has you growing so comfortable so readily.
"Wait till we get even higher," The demon says, his charming smile flashing toothily down at you.
"I can't imagine things getting any better than this," You confess, gradually working up the confidence to unhook your arms from around Mammon's neck. As you do so, it seems to send a silent message to the demon that you're finally getting used to being so high up, and he grins, picking up his pace.
By the time you've completely detached your arms from his neck, thrusting them freely into the sky with overjoyed laughter, Mammon is flying upward at full speed, his fluffy white hair tumbling back and forth over his forehead as his body pulls you closer to the stars you were gazing at so longingly, the demon bringing you as close to the heavens as he possibly can.
Glancing down, the Devildom is nothing more than a series of lights: each one spread out just as stunningly as you had considered the Celestial stars to be. You're still closer to hell than you are the heavens, so you can make out the generic features of the Devildom; the closeness makes it looks less like a sky and more like a dark ocean with patches of brightness—but it's still stunning in every way.
"Beautiful," You mumble, and suddenly, you're not sure where to look. Up, at the heavens? Down, at the Devildom? Maybe somewhere in the middle, like the beautiful, crystal horizon that decorates the space in between?
In the end, it's Mammon you end up staring at—utterly mesmerized by the way his eyes, flecked with gold, seem to shine as brightly as the stars while he pulls you ever closer to them, his excitement at bringing you the joy of seeing this sight mirroring your own for bearing witness to it in the first place.
You hardly notice when he slows his pace, when the air has turned warm against your skin, when your bodies no longer cut through the air like a knife but instead glide peacefully, beginning to hover in place as Mammon nudges you gently.
"Hey," He mumbles, somewhat sheepish as he calls your name. "I can't..."
I can't fly any higher than this.
You understand instantly, relieving your lover from having to finish that sentence by sealing his lips with a tender kiss, connecting with him in your favorite way as your hands find his cheeks.
"We'll go back," You declare calmly, resting your forehead against the demon's. The last thing you want is for Mammon to bear the tragedy of Icarus, for him to have to fall again on your account.
"You don't want to stay here longer?" The demon teases, shifting his hold on you so that one of his hands can go up to play with your hair.
"I do," You mumble, grinning cheekily. "Believe me, Mammon, this is amazing. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've thought about asking you to fly me up here and—"
"What?"
The word is short, but it seems to puncture the air, deflating the soft bliss that had been lurking in Mammon's eyes. Now replaced by it is a more desperate sort of emotion, something lurking halfway between a disappointed sense of understanding and a docile sadness that you hate seeing in Mammon's eyes.
The demon moves instantly, shifting your position so that he's holding you upright and you're nearly standing in the air, if not for the way Mammon's arms hold you snug at the waist. Yet the grip is meant to be more solemn than intimate, a fact punctuated by the upset look in the demon's eyes.
Mammon breathes your name softly, in a tone you're all too familiar with, and you instantly know why he's upset.
"I've told you," He murmurs, quiet. "You can ask me these things. I want you—no, I need you to be greedy with me. If you want anything—anything at all—I want you to tell me. I'll get you anything—everything—if you want it, okay?" The demon frowns, as if he's not sure that his words are getting through to you.
You sigh softly, pressing your forehead to Mammon's as you raise a hand to cup his cheek in apology. "I know. I'm sorry. I just...wasn't sure whether you would like the idea of flying me around, you know?"
"Babe," Mammon says, and his tone is a little lighter, his lips curving up into a ghost of a smile. "If you're with me, I'd enjoy anything."
You giggle softly at this, leaning forward to press your lips to Mammon's once more, savoring the way he pulls you closer. On instinct, you lift your legs to wrap them around his waist, holding yourself up even as you stretch your arms over his neck, leaning back with a smile.
"Then, can I be greedy and ask you for one more thing?"
"Of course," Mammon says. "Always."
"Stay with me," You mumble, pulling the demon into a hug. You close your eyes, leaning your head on his shoulders as you simply savor the sensation of everything around you: the warm air that kisses the edge of the Devildom as it presses down on your skin, Mammon's arms, holding you up so protectively, the overwhelming sensation of love as the demon wrapped around you nestles his head in the crook of your shoulder, listening carefully to your every word. "Right here. For just a little longer."
"Of course," Mammon whispers, and then he's pulled you even closer such that the space between your bodies has disappeared, leaving room for nothing but more affection as he hugs you tight.
And it's here, on the verge of the Devildom and on the brink of the heavens, that you and Mammon forget all the nuances of life, all the irritating things that bind you to reality. Here, up in the sky, lost between two realms, the two of you are free. Free to enjoy each other's company without distractions, free to love each other without thinking about those watching, free to hover in the sky and kiss and hug and kiss some more until it's just an endless cycle of showering each other in love and praise until it really does seem like there's nothing else.
This will hardly be the last time the two of you come up here.
No, this first flight has broken a barrier that the two of you will venture past every night from here on out, eternally seeking the peaceful bliss of isolation, the bliss of forgetting everyone except each other.
And while you know that you absolutely should head back now, that the other brothers must be looking for you both and that there's school tomorrow, you can't help but give in to greed, give in to temptation.
Because with Mammon holding you so tight, on the verge of begging you to be more and more greedy with him, you don't think you can ever ask him to let go, to stop, to bring you back down to the Devildom when there's such peace in the sky.
The demon feels the exact same way, you know. The utterly content sighs that escape his mouth are a testament to that truth, and you're certain that he never wants to leave this place, this tranquility.
And so in the face of such overwhelming desire, you opt to forget about all your responsibilities, all the obligations which should compel you back to the ground.
And you kiss Mammon one more time, losing yourself in the feeling of his touch, his love, in the feeling of him.
Just this once, you'll forget. You'll be reckless, and you'll let yourself stay here for as long as you want.
Just this once, you promise yourself.
But now that the door to temptation has been open, you've tasted the sweetness of greed, experienced how utterly wonderful it feels to give in. And while you swear to yourself that you'll be more responsible next time, that you'll come back on time in the future, you've already exposed yourself too much. And when next time rolls around, you'll make the same decision: to be greedy and to forget everyone but Mammon in this haven in the sky, giving in to nothing but the temptation of his love.
And the demon smiles as he understands this, feeling it in the fervor of your kisses, the want in your touches, the open desire in the way you tug his hair.
Mammon responds instantly. Kissing you deeper, he angles his lips against yours and presses his fingers around your thighs, his strong grip slowly sliding upward until he's holding your bottom with nothing but joy as he understands that, at last, you've embraced greed. Embraced him.
And Mammon smiles.
He wouldn't have it any other way.