Chapter Text
Mammon laid on his bed, scrolling through Devilgram looking for ideas since he’d been back after dinner, putting off all the homework he had piled up on his coffee table. Mm… a candlelit dinner seemed too forward. Amusement park too casual. A lot of showing off gifts and other cheesy gestures. That he could maybe do, but he was a little strapped for cash right now.
He sighed and rolled onto his side, still scrolling. Why did all the good stuff look like it’d cost so much money?
A notification popped up on screen and he flipped to it without a thought, only mildly disappointed it was from Asmo.
My new line of perfumes should be releasing at Majolish this weekend
We should go check them out so I can see my fans fawn over my fragrance blends!
Why do I gotta go?
Ask someone else, I already got plans
Plans? Let me guess, you have another scheme
It better not be anything that interferes with my product launch
Relax it ain’t anythin’ like that
He watched Asmo’s chat bubble appear on screen, typing something in response but whatever it was seemed to be taking him a while to get out.
Actually…
Asmo could be useful.
Hey
If someone was gonna take ya out somewhere where would you want them to take ya?
Like a date?
Oo did someone tell you they want to take me out?
Who is it?
Is it Amari?
Luna?
Vitae?
He rolled his eyes and moved to lay on his stomach.
No, none a’ that
Just gimme date ideas
Hm…
Well, I’m always a sucker for a nice dinner and dancing.
Bonus points if they buy me a gift like flowers or something to compliment my beauty.
All that sounded expensive.
Yeah, nah
Any other ideas?
A spa date could be nice~
Getting a couple’s massage together and pampering ourselves
Then after we could pamper each other
He sighed, stretching out his arms and resting his chin on the bed. Of course he wasn’t going to be helpful.
Never mind
He switched back to Devilgram, reading a few comments and looking at more pictures of happy couples. Why’d they all make this look so easy?
The banner popped up on screen again and his thumb tapped without a thought.
“Ah dammit.” he cursed as the apps flipped back over.
Wait a minute
If it’s not for me, who are you asking for?
Nobody it was jus’ a question
Don’t tell me…
You have a date with someone?
N-No!
I was jus’ askin’ a question!
That’s all!
Who’s it with?
Nobody!
Is that what-
He didn’t read the rest, laying face down on his bed. If Asmo figured out he had a date with you there was no way he wouldn’t meddle. Stupid. Why’d he even ask him?
Well.
It wasn’t a date.
But it wasn’t not a date either.
He’d finally managed to catch you alone on the way home from RAD and asked you out. ‘Course, he hadn’t really thought much further ahead than making sure you’d be free this weekend, but how was he supposed to know Lucifer would lock Goldie away?
He hadn’t been having much luck at the slots either…
He sighed, his D.D.D. still going off with Asmo’s nosy messages. He turned it on silent and rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling.
There had to be something he could do with you. Something cheap, but fun. He could ask Lucifer for ideas? Hah. Yeah right.
Bad idea. He’d either end up with a lecture or way too many questions that he’d rather not answer.
Levi was even worse at this than he was.
So…
Maybe Satan?
He seemed to think he was pretty smart.
Yeah, why not?
He sat up and slipped his D.D.D. into his back pocket, heading over to Satan’s room. The hall was clear, so no one should be around to overhear.
“Hey,” he knocked on the door, “Satan, you in there?”
“What is it?” Satan’s voice sounded flat, already on the edge of annoyance.
He smirked to himself. Satan was always so uptight.
“I jus’ got a question, you got a sec?”
There was some shuffling, and the door opened to reveal a very unenthused Satan. “Make it quick, I was just in the middle of-“ he glanced back in his room, then looked to Mammon, “… studying.”
“Right, sure. Whatever.” he hummed, catching on quick. Don’t ask. “I was jus’ wonderin’” he leaned against the doorjamb casually, “Do you know any fun things to do with someone that don’t cost a lotta money?”
Satan blinked, caught off guard. “Fun things that…” he furrowed his brow, “Do you mean like a date?”
“Ah…” he glanced down the hall, “Y-yeah, like a date.”
“Hm…” Satan stroked his chin in thought, “Well, there was a romantic arc in a book I read recently,” he closed his eyes, reflecting, “The protagonist took their love interest out for a picnic. The date was-“
“A picnic?” He could use food they already had in the fridge! “That’s perfect!” He stepped back and turned to leave, “Why didn’t I think a’ that?”
“Thinking ahead doesn’t seem to be your strength.” Satan chaffed, and he turned back to scowl at him.
“Well at least I ain’t the one readin’ romance n shit.”
Satan looked taken aback, his brow twitching slightly. “I didn’t seek it out.” he said tersely, keeping his voice level, “You can a learn a lot from literature. Try reading more.”
And with that he shut the door in his face.
He chuckled; Satan was always so touchy, but at least with a bit of teasing it shut down his questions before he could start asking. He took out his D.D.D. again to search for ideas of what to pack while he meandered back to his room. Sandwiches? Nah those are boring. Salad? Also boring. What about-
He stopped midway to his room, the cutest thing he’d ever seen on screen. What were these things called again? Something box? Definitely something an otaku would pack for lunch.
He turned on his heel and headed to Levi’s room, pounding on the door. “Oi! Levi!” It was late, but there was a good chance he was still up.
Like 70/30 at least.
“Go away.”
Ah, there he is.
He knocked again, “Aw c’mon, is that any way to talk to your brother? Lemme in, I gotta ask you somethin’!”
“If you want money just forget it, I’m busy!”
“Tch,” he shifted to face the door, “Look it’ll be quick, I jus-“
“I’m not interested in any of your schemes!”
“It’s not a scheme I jus-“
“Ugh dammit! You threw off my timing, now I might have to restart the raid!”
“I got no idea what that means, but if you jus’ listen-“
“OMG I said go away! I can’t hear my team!”
He smirked.
All right, it’s on now.
He lifted his fists and began pounding on the door in a slowly increasing rhythm, “Leviiii! Levi c’mon jus’ open up! It ain’t every day yer older brother needs ya!”
Levi had gone silent, probably trying to ignore him.
So he’d just bang on the door even louder.
“It’ll be quick! I just need your help with one small thing! An’ it won’t even cost-“
The door swung open and he nearly hit Levi in his exasperated face, just managing to stop his fist in time.
“What do you want, Mammon?”
“Well that’s a loaded question you should know the answer to,” he said cheekily, “I want everything.”
“Ugh,” Levi rolled his eyes and moved to shut the door, but Mammon caught it.
“Wait-“
He held up his D.D.D. to Levi’s face, “These. Show me how to make ‘em.”
Levi glanced at the screen, then looked again more closely.
“You want… you want me to help you make a panda rice ball bento?”
Bento! That was the word!
He knew Levi would know it.
“Yeah,” he grinned, “you can show me how to make one right?”
“I could…” he said, narrowing his eyes slightly, “but why would I?”
“‘Cause I’m your big brother and you love me.”
Levi made a face and moved to shut the door.
“Wait! Wait-“ he braced his shoulder against it, “that was a joke!”
“Mammon, I really want to get back to my game.”
“You got somethin’ you want right?” Levi tried to look disinterested, but he saw that gleam. He grinned, “So how ‘bout we do a trade? You teach me this an’ I’ll help ya get it.”
Levi scoffed, shaking his head, “You’re out of your mind if you think you can help me get the limited edition Ruri-chan with posable arms and seven surprise accessories. It’s not something you can just go out and buy, you have to win it in a lottery.” He slapped his hand on his chest, “I’ve been saving up and buying all of her merch to get tickets for weeks. Weeks, Mammon!”
Lottery, huh?
He tried to not sound too smug and sly, he really did.
“You say that like riggin’ chance ain’t my specialty.”
Levi scowled, “I don’t want you to- wait,” his eyes narrowed, “What’s your goal here? Why’re you willing to do all this to make some panda rice balls?”
“I’ll tell ya later,” after he showed him how, otherwise he might get jealous that you were going out with him and back out of the deal. “When’s the lottery s’posed to announce a winner?”
“This Friday.”
“Mm,” he nodded, “So you show me how ta make ‘em and I’ll give you my luck on Friday.”
Mammon held out his hand, but Levi hesitated.
“That doesn’t sound like a guarantee I’ll win.”
“Mm… no, but,” he shrugged with one shoulder, still grinning, “havin’ Greed on your side can’t hurt your chances either.”
Even if the odds were slim, he always got what he wanted in the end.
Levi fidgeted, glancing back in his room and then down at his hand. “And I just have to teach you how to make a bento with pandas.”
“Yep.”
He sighed, reaching out to take his hand and shaking it once. “Fine, whatever, deal. Now could you go away? My clan’s PO’d I’ve been AFK for so long.”
“I have no idea what any a’ that means,” he said with a laugh, feeling more at ease. He couldn’t wait to see your face when you saw how cute the pandas were; he was already getting giddy just thinking about it. “Jus’ don’t forget, Friday you gotta-“
“Yeah, yeah. Make the pandas and you help me win Ruri-chan. I got it.” Levi said quickly, slipping his headset back on and shutting the door.
He chuckled, stepping back and leaning against the wall. All that was left was finding somewhere nice to take you. Somewhere remote but safe enough for a human to feel comfortable… he’d have to scout around after classes this week for the perfect spot. That wouldn’t be so bad, and looking forward to spending alone time with you made it feel less like a chore.
He pushed off the wall and put his hands in his pockets, whistling a happy tune as he made his way back to his room.
The only hard part now would be playing it cool while he tried to figure out how you felt about him.