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Winter in Devildom came overnight.
Almost as if a large sack of flour had burst open over it, the ground was wrapped in a white coat and the paths to school had turned into a sledging track. The first demons began to shovel snow in the morning, complaining loudly about these inhospitable conditions. It wasn't as if it was the first winter with snow in Devildom, but according to Diavolo it was the first in a good two thousand years. With a wink, Solomon had casually added that "it really was a great coincidence that winter came as soon as you and he were in the Devildom." The innocent grin that followed, told you the magician was probably not entirely innocent of the sudden snowfall.
But whichever way you looked at it - the Devildom had certainly never been more beautiful than now, wrapped in a thick blanket of snow. The calendar promised you ten more days until Christmas eve and while the brothers couldn't stop complaining about the snowy cold weather, you sat in the window sill with a hot cream-batwing-chocolate from Madame Scream. Your breath painted fine patterns on the frozen panes and it was almost as if you were back in the human world. A brief thought wandered to your family, your hands tightly around the warm mug and you continued to snuggle up in your pillow.
Somewhere behind you you could hear Belphie shuffling through the corridors and when a short time later a familiar mob of blue-gray hair appeared in your field of vision, you raised your head. The youngest brother gave you a tired smile. Winter had finally made an hibernator out of him so it was no wonder when Belphegor snuggled up on his pillow next to you on the windowsill. His head rested on your thighs, which elicited a short smile from you.
Still observing the area, one of your hands wandered into the demon's messy hair and you began to massage his head. Purring, Belphie slid a little closer until he was lying on your lap like a cat and slumbering blissfully, the busy rustling of his brothers outside the only sound that echoed to you. Leaning your head against the wall, you sipped your chocolate.
Only a quiet clearing of a throat from behind made you look over your shoulder. Almost as expected, Mammon was standing in the door frame, hands on hips.
"What do ya think you're doing, huh?"
The demon stepped closer, gazing indignantly at Belphie even if you knew very well that he was talking to you. That's why you sighed quietly and nodded to Belphegor.
"So he's obviously sleeping and I'm drinking my chocolate."
Mammon snorted. "Yes, but what is his head doing in my human's lap?"
“Well, you will have to ask him yourself, Mammon. After all, he laid down there by himself.”, An amused smile crept onto your lips. As always, Mammon couldn't stand another of his brothers even approaching you. Although after all these months he must have gotten used to not always being your number 1. But he wouldn't be Mammon, Avatar of Greed, if he didn't care about that fact. So there were still arguments in which your presence played an essential role. Not least because you were always the one who pulled Mammon into a hug at the end of the argument and thus took the wind out of his sails.
Right now the second oldest demon puffed his cheeks and stared down at Belphie's mob of hair, probably in the silent hope of being able to dissolve his brother into thin air. But either Belphie was just particularly tired or Mammon's gaze had lost its strength, because apart from a slight grumble on the part of Belphie nothing happened and the youngest brother stayed where he was.
Sighing, Mammon sat down next to you and Belphie, his head on his knees and leaned against the window sill so that he was sitting directly under you. As if by itself, your hand came off Belphie's hair and instead began to play around with Mammon's white strands. Outside the window, Asmodeus and Solomon were closely walking towards the city center, while the strawberry-blond demon excitedly waved his gloved fingers in Solomon's face - probably one of his many ideas on how he could "make the magician even more beautiful". The thought that Asmodeus had been trying to get Solomon to wear eyeliner and mascara since you arrived, made you chuckle.
"What's so funny, human?" Mammon, obviously indignant not to be privy to your thoughts, snorted and pressed his head imperceptibly harder against your fingers. A fine smile formed on your lips, because although Mammon could sometimes be very exhausting, your time with him was always your favorite. Not that you would ever tell him that, but you were sure he knew. With one finger you began to comb through his strands.
"Oh, I was just thinking that Asmodeus would take advantage of his Christmas wishes this year, don't you think so?"
In response you got an incomprehensible grumble that made you laugh. "What's with the bad mood? It's Christmas soon, shouldn't that be your favorite festival? Lots of free stuff from people who like you?"
“Of course, but in return, they also want things from me. Where's the profit? I can't give each of them a Hell Fire apple pie to save money."
Shaking your head, you took another sip from your cup before carefully pushing Belphie off your lap and getting up from the windowsill.
“Hey what's the big idea, human? Where do ya want to go?"
Instead of answering, you just held out your hand to him and waited until he hesitantly took it and stood up. Together you went to the door of the living room, the demon was still pulling a grimace as if he were not sure whether you wanted to poison or kiss him. A mixture of pale and bright red graced his cheeks. When you got to your room, you let go of his hand and winked at him.
“Dress warmly, Mammon. We're going out together now."
Mammon didn't seem particularly thrilled by the prospect, even if you could clearly see how he struggled with the pride of being able to “go out with his human all by himself”. He managed to grimace at the sight of the white mountains of snow in front of your house.
“But why should we go out? I mean we can just snuggle up in bed together, don't ya think?"
Ignoring the last comment, you smiled at him from below. "But gifts buy themselves so badly on their own, don't they?"
You couldn't reacting at how fast Mammon had disappeared into his room with a hurried "Give me 3 minutes!" Just as suspected, the prospect of presents gave him wings and with another grin you turned to get yourself ready for a quick walk.
To say it was cold would be an understatement. Even under a thick coat, hat and scarf, as well as cozy gloves and the thickest pants and boots that you had found, you shivered like a leaf in the wind. Thick snowflakes floated from the sky and caught in your hair and eyelashes as Mammon trudged silently through the cold next to you. Since leaving the House of Lamentation together, the demon had been unusually calm. Only now and then his eyes flickered to you, whenever he thought you wouldn't notice.
You were almost in town when you lost your balance on a small hill and it was only thanks to Mammon's quick reflexes that you didn't end up in the snow. From this point on, the demon never let go of your hand, even after you had long reached the defrosted path. Not that you minded. A fine red blush had crept on your cheeks, which were flushed from the cold, while Mammon pulled you closer to him and walked past the decorated windows.
“Ya know, treasure, it's been a hell of a long time since we had a white Christmas at Devildom. I feel a bit like in the human world right now."
You raised your head. "You were up with us once for Christmas?"
Mammon nodded, mouth buried deep in his scarf. “About 150 years ago. Even if humans are otherwise weird, but Christmas is wonderful with ya. Ya seem somehow - ", his gaze wandered down the street, “happier."
At his last word he pulled you a little closer. As close as he would probably never have dared to otherwise and all of a sudden you didn't care about the freezing cold. You sighed in satisfaction, your fingers tightly entwined with Mammon's and out of the corner of your eye you could see Mammon's overwhelmed smile. Together you walked along the snow-covered street until the big shopping mile appeared in the distance - festively adorned with bats with white beards and little D's that flew through the air on enchanted sleds. Next to you, Mammon smirked, “Diavolo really outdid himself this year. I have a feeling he wanted to show off, ya know. After all, we don't have guests every year."
That elicited a quiet laugh out of you, as you could perfectly imagine how Diavolo set huge tree in the shopping mall with his own hands, just so that it reminded you a little of your home country. From a distance, various shops that you wanted to visit for gifts were already flashing at you and when you unceremoniously pulled Mammon behind you, the demon didn't protest for the first time and simply let it happen.
The next few hours literally flew by - more and more gifts piled up in your pockets and although Mammon had cursed the dealers as "scammers" at the beginning, he just let it go after the fifth store. Perhaps it also contributed to the fact, that you sent him out of the store a few times because you wanted to buy something nice for him. Explaining to an excited Mammon for minutes afterwards that you guaranteed not to give him the gifts beforehand was a task in itself.
But after hours of exhausting shopping you strolled hand in hand - it was still cold - back through the streets. In the meantime it had become dark and only the lights in the windows and lanterns cast a dull shine on the smoothly trodden snow. At some point in the afternoon it had actually stopped snowing and you could now see hundreds of traces of demons, hell hounds and a few stray Devildom cats in the slightly glittering snow.
Mammon was just telling about how proud he was that he had got presents for all his brothers, the angels, Solomon and Diavolo and Barbatos and that they should give him presents that were twice as expensive. His thumb brushed the back of your gloved hand, and sometimes squeezed lightly when he got particularly enthusiastic. You yourself felt how relaxed and satisfied you were. By the time you suggested Mammon to go shopping, you didn't expect that you would actually find something for the entire family. But Mammon had surprised you once again and so it was only natural for you to cuddle a little closer until he parted your hands with an unsteady sigh and wrapped his arm around your shoulder.
So close to him you could smell the perfume he advertised in the last CosmoDevilton. Mixed with the smell of roasted almonds and cotton candy hanging in the air, your heart got light and warm. Mammon smelled of home and of family. He and the brothers had become your family and, above all, knowing to have Mammon always by your side filled you with a lightness that you hadn't felt for a long time.
A warm smile crept onto your lips and Mammon quietly cleared his throat.
“Oi, what are ya grinning like, treasure? Did I say something funny?"
You turned your head so that you could now look directly at him, still smiling.
"No, I'm just happy Mammon."
As if you had just uttered the greatest compliment of all time, Mammon's entire face suddenly lit up.
“T-Treasure, what's the big idea? Ya can't just say something like that. I mean -"; he coughed briefly, "of course you're happy, you're with the great Mammon, aren't ya?"
"Yes.", You gave him another smile. "That's probably true. Thank you Mammon, it was a really nice day."
Totally overwhelmed, Mammon puffed his cheeks and then buried his face in his scarf. But you could still hear a faint "I also thought it was really nice." through the fabric. Without a comment, you snuggled closer to him and when both of you wandered arm in arm towards home, it began to snow again.
And suddenly you knew that Christmas in Devildom would probably be the best Christmas of all time.