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He shouldn’t be looking forward to this.
It was almost embarrassing that he was.
Especially considering the whole reason behind this opportunity was thanks to Diavolo and his asinine way of thinking.
Why did he insist on sending you to Earth every so often anyway? If the exchange program was to integrate the Three Realms, sending you home every now and then to let you be human was idiotic.
Though…
Maybe he did see some sort of point to it.
You’d become rather fond of your experiences in the Devildom, and more comfortable around his brothers. He’d like to believe you’d grown more comfortable around him too, but it was hard to read how far that tenuous trust extended out to him. It was something you were aware of too. As much as he prided himself in being able to hide his true intent, it seemed you’d caught on to his little game.
Trusting him or not was entirely your choice, but either way he took his pact very seriously. Whether by his own hand or another’s, no one would harm you on his watch.
You knew this, that much he was sure of. You seemed appreciative even if a little cautious when dealing with him, and it irritated him.
Don’t placate him.
He may play the youngest card when it suited his needs, but he wasn’t some child to be coddled.
And that’s why being this excited was so humiliating.
When Diavolo had suggested you return home again for a break, some time to yourself to reconnect with any humans you hadn’t seen in a while, he couldn’t help but ask if there might be some way you could summon him to be there with you. His only request being that he wished to see the stars of the human realm again. It’d been so long since he’d seen them.
Watching over you just so happened to be an added benefit.
Still…
Why did you have to agree?
Didn’t you know how frustrating it was to feel excited about something again?
The midmorning sun illuminated the city, not yet enough to chase away the last remaining touches of the night’s chill, but soon it would be warm enough for you to walk outside without a jacket on. Belphie sat on the bed, watching a few birds flit by and land on the balcony’s railing. The summoning had been successful, your skills were improving and you’d even managed to summon him in your hotel room without disturbing anyone nearby.
“Are you ready to go?”
“I guess, but won’t it be hard to see the stars during the day?”
“Well, yes but I have a plan for that.” You said with a smile, “C’mon, we have a few places to visit today.”
He sighed and stood up, the birds flying off into the sky. “That sounds like a lot of walking.”
You laughed and opened the door, “Yes~ so much walking, Belphie. It’ll make sleeping tonight even better!”
He grunted, following you out without much else to say. He’d sleep just fine without walking around the city, but on the other hand it’d… been a while since he’d been among humans. The thought was confusing, giving him a thrill in his heart and a sour taste in his mouth.
Even with your presence it seemed centuries old wounds didn’t heal so easily.
You showed him around the city, stopping at little shops or corners to excitedly tell him how you’d spend your free time when you used to live here. Places you would visit with friends. Shops you’d purchase trinkets and gifts for family. Cafes and restaurants you just had to eat at when the craving struck.
Crowds made him tense. There were too many humans to watch, and you kept getting distracted or running off to look at something.
But your unfiltered delight was just… something that made him feel so strange.
So at peace.
“C’mon Belphie,” you said, waving him along and pointing up at a bakery’s sign. “I used to order cakes from here all the time.” You laughed, “Probably too often but they’re so good! They only make a few every day.”
“We should’ve brought Beel then.” he mused, following you inside. The scent of freshly baked sweets and frosting greeted him, and he touched his stomach reflexively. His link with Beel was weaker when in separate realms, but a small hint of hunger always lingered.
“Yeah,” you winced, “I thought about it… but I’m not that great at-“ you looked around, though no humans really seemed to be paying you any mind, “-well you know.”
“You chose me, that’s all I know.” he teased and you rolled your eyes.
“Because you asked and I couldn’t just say no when you make that cute face at me talking about stars.”
“So you think I’m cute?”
“I didn’t say you were cute, just your face when you talk about stars.”
“That still sounds like I’m cute.”
Your face flushed and you turned away, “Think what you want. I’m going to go pick up my order so wait here.”
“Order? What order?”
You flashed him a smile over your shoulder, “I’m telling you. These are the best cakes ever .”
He should’ve figured. You picked up your order, two boxes filled with cupcakes and happily returned to him. The first box was filled with cupcakes of a variety of flavors and designs for all your friends in the Devildom, and the second was…
“They’re all different too, but all for Beel.” you said proudly, smiling at him in thanks when he held the door open for you.
“I can take them home when you dismiss me.” he said, falling into step beside you. “Are we going back to the hotel?”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? No way! Next stop is the planetarium!”
“But… why did you get the cakes now?”
“Well because…” you blushed and held the boxes carefully, “The shop closes early. If I didn’t get them now I’d have to wait till tomorrow but you won’t be here.”
He sighed, but it made sense.
“Then let’s go back to the hotel to drop them off.”
“If we go back to the hotel you’ll just go to sleep.”
“Not if we’re going to the planetarium. I want to-“
You yelped and he turned just in time to see you fall, the boxes catching the brunt of the blow and splattering frosting all over your shirt.
“Oh… whoops. My bad.” A man said dismissively, looking down at you.
“That’s it? Your bad?” he snapped, glaring at him and getting his attention.
The man shrugged, “I didn’t see them, it’s not like it was on purpose.”
He was about to say something more, but you pushed yourself up on your hands and knees.
“The cakes… they’re all ruined…”
“Look, I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
“… ye-“
Belphie smacked his hand away when he reached toward you, “Don’t touch them.”
“Chill, man. Like I said, it was an accident.”
“Belphie I’m okay, I’m not hurt.”
“ I’m not okay.” he growled, and the man put up his hands.
“All right well you do you man, but you really shouldn’t get so bent out of shape over something so small.”
Something so small ?
Did he not hear how heartbroken you sounded a moment ago?
The man turned away and without thinking he swept his tail out and tripped him.
“If you think I’ll just stand by while my master is insulted,” he said, stalking toward him and grabbing him by the shirt, “I have some very unfortunate news for you.”
“I- w-what the hell are you, man?” Terror replaced indifference in the man’s eyes, but it wasn’t as satisfying as it should be.
Not yet.
“I-"
“Belphie!”
He looked over his shoulder with an irritable swish of his tail. You stood with your hands on your hips, a rainbow of frosting smeared across your chest.
“What the hell are you doing? Drop him!”
He complied without a fight, drawing himself up with a sanguine smile. “Seems I got a little carried away~” He brought a hand up to twirl in his hair, adopting his usual coy demeanor and to his annoyance the man took the opportunity to scuttle a few paces away from him, “I should’ve asked what you’d like me to do to him, shouldn’t I?”
Your face flushed, “I don’t want you to do anything. Belphie!” You gestured around you, bringing his attention to the gawking and cowering around him. “Have you lost your mind?”
He pouted, curving his tail around himself and crossing his arms. “I was only trying to protect you.”
“Yeah, but you’re not supposed to just go attacking people!”
“He attacked you first.”
“He bumped into me!”
He tsked, and leered down at him. “The details don’t matter. He caused you pain.”
“ Belphegor. ”
He winced, but the force with his full name gave you his full attention. “Fine…” he returned to his guise and stepped toward you, “Why don’t we go find some way to clean you up?”
“Don’t change the- agh!” you ran your fingers through your hair with a frustrated sigh. “Yes. Let’s do that and then we’ll talk about what just happened.”
“Or we could skip that part.” he said, smiling when you rolled your eyes.
You grabbed his wrist, muttering curses and something about demons under your breath while you pulled him along. He glanced over his shoulder and flashed a grin as the man scrambled to his feet and looked after you with a confused horror on his face.
Diavolo’s plan was to integrate the Three Realms right?
Eventually more humans would have to realize demons were real.
Much to his annoyance, you refused to return to the hotel and opted to purchase a new shirt on clearance in one of the shops. Once that was sorted, you scolded him for revealing himself in public like that and peppered him with questions about it.
It wasn’t like he knew why he did it. It just happened.
That didn’t seem to be a good enough answer for you, but with enough sulking and expressing he only wanted to protect you, you eventually let it go if he promised to not do something like that again. A promise he deftly denied because it fought against his best interests and the pact he held with you. He would protect you, no matter the risk that could happen to him or those around him.
So you instead made him promise to think carefully, and wait for an order if you were still in the capacity to give one.
The if was something he’d hold onto, and keep his definition of what he believed your capacity to be to himself. Humans were, after all, such easily swayed and emotional creatures.
Rather foolish too.
Even you could be, but he sort of liked that about you.
How strange.
Your chipper mood returned, even if only a little muted after the loss of the cakes. The planetarium was fascinating. Humans had expanded their understanding of their universe so much further than he’d realized, and even brought attention to parts of it he’d forgotten. Though, when he’d been in the Celestial Realm he did mostly find himself drawn to Earth and hardly explored much else in his observations. So many constellations and planets he’d seen manifest into being, but there was something unique about seeing it all through a human’s perspective.
Almost… awe-inspiring.
You started holding his hand at some point, leading him through the exhibits and the massive domed room atop that projected the stars overhead in a mimicry of the Earth’s night sky. Thousands of little lights glittered overhead, and he lost himself in searching for the ones he could remember.
“That one’s the Big Dipper.” You said, “I can always find that one. And then…” you followed an invisible line across the illusionary sky, “that one’s the Little Dipper.”
He squeezed your hand, resisting the urge to tell you he knew them already. “Do you know any others?”
“Um…”
“Orion’s Belt. And then if you look at those around it in a sort of hourglass shape? That’s Orion.”
“And ah…”
“It’s so interesting.” he murmured, gazing up at them. “Humans used to use these for navigating at night…”
“Well yeah! Before we had maps and phones, there was only so much we could go by.” You laughed, “Make do with what you had or something, right?”
He glanced at you, the lights reflected in your eyes as you smiled up at the pseudo-stars searching for more you recognized. “That’s… something I like about humans.” he said quietly.
“Mm?” you looked at him, “What was that?”
“Nothing.” he said, looking up again. “This would be more fun if they were real.”
“Yeah… but we might have to go out of the city for that. So many lights can make it hard to see the stars at night.”
“Ugh,” and that brought about another thought of why he disliked humans. “Why are humans so insistent to separate themselves from nature?”
“I… don’t know the answer to that.” you laughed and squeezed his hand lightly, “But it’s one reason I like the Devildom so much. Your night sky is always so vibrant.”
“I’d think you’d call it depressing considering it’s always night.”
You grinned up at him, “I do miss the sun, but I have plenty of reasons to smile without it too.”
The bitterness was so easy to forget when you were with him, why did you always seem to do that without effort?
After a little while longer, you eventually gave up trying to find any other constellations you could remember and teased him about buying a souvenir. He sort of wanted one, but the thought of Mammon seeing it made him feel tired. It was just easier to not have to worry about petty jealousy or incessant questions if he had nothing to rile him up.
They’d already be upset that you’d chosen to summon him, and the thought of returning home to that without you was enough to make him want to sleep through the rest of the week.
All the more reason to indulge in his time with you as much as possible. He innocently offered to stay longer, if only to be there to help you pick up cupcakes again to take back to his family while you finished your vacation. You almost teared up when thinking about the cupcakes again and apologizing to him, telling him you really wanted Beel to be able to try them.
It was… sweet.
“Are you tired?” You asked, stretching out in the bed and looking up at him.
“I’m always tired.” he said, sitting down on the bed and looking at the night sky through the window. Just as you’d said, only a sparse scattering of stars dotted the sky.
You chuckled and scooted closer to rub his back, “You know what I meant.”
“Mm…” he looked over his shoulder at you, his violet eyes alight with mischief, “Is that an invitation?”
“It’s not a rejection.” You said softly, “I miss cuddling with you… I feel like I sleep better when I do.”
Of course you do.
He hummed, turning and leaning into you, “Me too~ will you hold me while I sleep?”
You blushed and gripped the back of his shirt, “If you hold me.”
He smirked, “You say that as if I hadn’t already planned to.”
“… shut up.” you let go of him and flopped back onto the bed. “Just come over here already.”
“Yes master~”
“Agh quit that too! It’s weird!”
“Aw is it? I’d hate to do something my master finds weird.”
“Belphie!”
He laughed, crawling into bed and wrapping his arms around you. “I can’t help it, teasing you is fun.”
“So it is all just teasing.” you grumbled, nuzzling into his chest.
“Sort of.” he closed his eyes and wrapped his tail around your legs.
You muttered something more and tucked closer, naturally drawn into his Slothful aura as he let it fill the room. Soon you began to doze, your breathing falling into a steady rhythm that was comforting. Dozing shifted to a deeper slumber, and he kissed your forehead, feeling you fall further into the spaces of the subconscious mind.
Resting with you was always more complete than on his own, and it’d taken him a few times to understand why. The more he could encourage you to rest peacefully, the more his Sloth was fed. Exhaustion and fatigue simply weren’t as heavy to bear with you in his arms, and it was difficult to not feel selfish to want to cling to it. Even now his tail wound around your legs, keeping you near him.
But he had one last thing he had to do before he could rest.
Once you began dreaming, he delicately unwound his tail and sat up to watch the first few glimpses of your subconscious mind manifest. Funny how this was the one thing he’d managed to hold onto from his past life in the Celestial Realm, even if it had changed a little.
He reached out to touch, but stopped himself.
Invading your dreams would invade your trust.
Instead, he kissed your forehead with the lightest of touches before slipping out of bed and padding over to the balcony.
The night was chilly, but only when a breeze swept by and rustled through his hair. He stepped onto the railing and stood tall, gazing out into the city as whispers of the subconscious carried on the wind began to greet him.
So many whispers…
So many humans…
He smirked to himself, finding the one he was listening for and looking back over his shoulder to see you still sleeping so blissful and serene.
Certainly not in any capacity to give him any orders right now.
He looked up at the night sky, counting the few stars twinkling in the abyss that stretched overhead. Some humans believed the Celestial Realm existed far above them, like some unseen paradise high in the clouds.
Thankfully it wasn’t quite that simple, but even still there were many chances where one random event could alter Fate’s design.
One random chance was all that was needed, and something he couldn’t ignore.
He placed a hand on his chest, breathing deeply as he tuned into the man’s subconscious whispers. This city was so noisy, both in dreams and the buzzing of activity still surrounding him. Another thing he didn’t understand. Why were so many humans opposed to rest?
It was coming through clearer now, to the west. Maybe… six or seven kilometers away.
A bit of a journey, but it was worth it for you.
He hummed, drawing slow circles across his chest while he gathered the energy you had given him. It’d been a while since he’d used this to do more than feed into his Sloth, but you had been rather upset when he revealed himself to others needlessly. Fortunately, humans weren’t as aware of higher planes or the space between reality and the subconscious so hiding his presence wouldn’t be that difficult, and if he moved quickly he could return to your side to recover what he’d lost with you sleeping in his arms.
With a subtle smile and swish of his tail, he stepped off the railing and felt the wind whistle past his ears as he fell, touching down to earth with little more than a faint rustle.
Leaving you at the mercy of chance was simply something he couldn’t allow.
Fate would have to contend with his pact now.