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It was Saturday evening and you were on your way home, after spending much of the day, at Purgatory Hall baking sweets with Luke. Since both of you shared a love for baking, it was something you often enjoyed together. And you went to Purgatory Hall to do it because cooking in the kitchen at the House of Lamentation also meant trying to keep 7 very nosey brothers (including 1 very hungry Beel) away long enough for you to finish.
You waved goodbye to Solomon, who had done you the courtesy of escorting you home after dinner, and let yourself inside to find absolute chaos waiting for you. Raised voices could be heard coming from the library area, so you headed there to see what all the fuss was about.
“Hey guys, I’m home.”
“MC!” Levi said, as he rushed over to greet you with a hug.
“Um, Levi? Is everything ok?” It was unusual enough for Levi to initiate any sort of physical contact when you were alone, so being hugged in front of everyone...mostly everyone...struck you as incredibly odd.
“Where’s Mammon?”, you asked, trying to catch a glimpse of Levi’s face as he pulled away. He refused to meet your eyes, and as you scanned the room you realized no one else was looking at you either. Finally Lucifer stepped forward, attempting to explain the situation.
“Apparently there was a bit of a misunderstanding today, and he was accused of stealing something of Levi’s.”
“Oookkkayy...and where is he…?” Mammon being accused of theft wasn’t exactly unusual. Even though he was only ever guilty less than half the time, that didn’t stop everyone from always blaming him whenever pretty much anything went missing.
“He left around lunch and hasn’t come back,” offered Satan.
“Lunch? That’s only 8 hours ago. On a Saturday. That doesn’t really seem like anything to worry about.”
“He may or may not have said that he was fed up with us for never believing him and always ganging up on him,” added Asmodeus, “...and something about never coming back.”
Ah, now things are starting to make more sense , you thought.
“So you all cornered him, accused him of something he didn’t do, he ran off, and then you found out he was actually innocent and now feel guilty because he wasn’t back before I got home? Is that about the gist of it?”, you asked, your anger rising as you watched the 6 men in front of you fidget and shuffle uncomfortably while you waited for a response.
“That would be one way to describe the situation, yes,” answered Lucifer, finally.
You heaved a sigh and pulled your DDD out of your pocket to see that the battery had died sometime earlier that afternoon. You were annoyed with yourself for not noticing sooner. The lack of notifications you received all day should have been a clue, but you had been having so much fun you let yourself carry on without checking in with anyone. You hoped Mammon wasn’t now mad at you too for thinking you had been ignoring him.
“I’m going to charge this and see if I can get a hold of him. The rest of you just stay out of my room. I’m not in the mood,” you said as you walked off.
You really shouldn’t have been surprised by what you heard, but part of you always tried to have faith in the brothers that they would actually learn from their mistakes.
For as long as you had been there, (and as you later learned, long before) Mammon always took the brunt of the blame for anything that went wrong, even when he wasn’t actually responsible or even involved. It was probably one of the first things you noticed when you had arrived here and were introduced to him. After getting to know him though, you realized just how hard he tried to do the right thing and even when he messed up, his heart was usually in the right place. Not to say he never actually did any of the things he was accused of - but more often than not, he was innocent or just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
As you made your way to your room, you hoped that Mammon didn’t actually mean that he would never come back and that it had only been something he had said in the heat of the moment. You knew how sensitive he could be sometimes, and found yourself growing increasingly worried that maybe he did mean it and you wouldn’t get to see him again or even say goodbye properly when it was time for you to return to the human realm.
With those thoughts in mind, you entered your room, only for an arm to shoot out of the darkness and cover your mouth, pinning you to the door as soon as it had closed. You had been about to scream when you heard a familiar voice speaking to you.
“It’s me! Just me! Keep it down, alright?”, Mammon said in a loud whisper, as he tried to keep you restrained until he was sure you were calm. He knew if his brothers heard you, they would come rushing in to check without even knocking, and he really wasn’t ready to deal with them yet.
As soon as you recognized Mammon’s voice, your body relaxed, and you gave him a small nod as you placed your hands on the one held over your mouth to reassure him you weren’t going to scream. He then released you with a sigh, only for you to wrap your arms around his neck and hug him close.
“I was worried about you. I just heard what happened.”
“...I tried to call ya, but you didn’t answer,” he said, wrapping his arms around your waist and returning your hug.
“I’m sorry, my DDD died and I didn’t notice until I got back. I wasn’t ignoring you, I promise.”
Mammon nodded in understanding before letting you go and turning on the lights to your room. You released your grip on him as well, but left your hands resting on his shoulders to keep him near.
“Can you tell me why you’re here? All your brothers think you left.”
“Ummm...well...about that…” he gave a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his neck, “I did leave…jus’ ya know...I couldn’t think of anywhere to go...so I came back.”
“...and hid in my room for the rest of the day?”
He nodded again, offering you a sheepish grin. You laughed and gave him another hug around the neck before taking his hand and leading him to your bed. Something about the fact he thought hiding in your room was “safe” warmed your heart and brought a smile to your face.
“So,” you said, kicking your shoes off and crawling into bed, motioning for Mammon to join you, “do you want to tell me what happened? I already heard their version, so I want to hear yours.”
Mammon blushed at your concern as he laid down beside you, resting his head on your chest and looping an arm around your waist. He hadn’t wanted to admit it, but the real reason he had waited in your room was because he knew you’d eventually come back and cuddle with him like you were doing now. It had taken him some time to get used to just how nice you were to him, but after awhile he started to seek you out just so he could be spoiled...if only a little...and preferably without his brothers around. Though sometimes seeing the looks on their faces as you showered him with praise or affection was worth the minor embarrassment of them watching the whole thing.
“I was just hangin’ out in my room listen’ to music when Levi barged in and started yellin’ at me. Something about some limited edition blah blah blah figurine. Said he bought two of ‘em but now he could only find one,” Mammon explained, while you began to comb your fingers through his hair, “I asked him why he thought it was me and he just said ‘of course it was you! Who else would it have been!’ and like, how does he know that huh? Just because he thinks I’m a scumbag doesn’t mean I steal from him all the time, ya know? Wasn’t even like that figurine was worth that much anyways...and he just goes accusing me without any proof! How is that fair? It ain’t!”
You listened carefully as Mammon vented his frustrations, carding your fingers through his hair in a slow and steady rhythm to help him relax.
“And they always do that ya know? Always accusin’ me without any proof, sayin’ I’m a money grubber and a scumbag and whatever other insult they can think up on the spot. Don’t matter how many times they find out they were wrong, or how many good things I do either. They always blame me when somethin’ goes wrong.”
“So Mammon...can I ask you something?”, you said, giving him a reassuring squeeze with your arms.
“Yeah?”
“Did you take the figurine?”
Mammon stiffened, “...umm...well...that’s not really the point is it? The point is he accused me without proper proof!...ya know…?”
You couldn’t help but laugh at that confession, and hugged him closer to you. The more you thought about it, the more the entire situation seemed ridiculous. From Levi accusing Mammon of something (he was guilty of) without proof to Mammon hiding in your room all day to his brothers downstairs right now feeling guilty over chasing him off. It was just so...funny.
“Hey! Whattya laughin’ for? It ain’t funny!”
“Oh Mammon,” you laughed again as you hugged him tighter and placed a kiss on the top of his head. He never failed to keep things interesting for you, that’s for sure. And even though he was at fault, you knew this was about more than just him getting caught.
“Well, I suppose Levi did still accuse you without proof, and everyone else still ganged up on you, didn’t they? So I guess it’s alright to let them sit with their own guilt a little longer, don’t you think?”
“...maybe a little,” he said, trying to hide his smile.
“And don’t worry, we can figure out how to fix the mess with Levi’s figurine tomorrow. I’ll help you ok? So why don’t we just watch a movie for now and relax some, hmm?”
“No horror movies?”
“No horror movies.”
As Mammon watched you get up to grab your laptop, he thought about how glad he was that even though you learned the truth you were still being supportive. You didn’t lecture him like Lucifer would have, or mock him like Asmo might have. You simply promised to help him figure things out, without judgement.
And he knew he could always count on you to have his back and be there for him, regardless of the situation he found himself in. You always listened to him, and believed in him, sometimes even when he couldn’t believe in himself. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to tell you how thankful he was for that, and how much of a difference it made just to have one person on his side.
Maybe someday though , he thought, maybe someday he’d be able to tell you how he feels.