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Belphegor would still consider his relationship with Diavolo somewhat new. It probably wasn’t by human standards, but for demons their relationship would still be considered early stages.
It didn’t always feel that way though, considering how long it’d taken them to get to this point.
The transition from despising Diavolo with his entire being, to tolerating him, to the confusion that was wanting to spend time with Diavolo for reasons unknown, to a strange friendship, and finally to dating, had been a journey of epic proportions. And by epic proportions, Belphegor was referring to the sheer amount of different emotions involved.
Belphegor still had a lot of emotions where Diavolo was concerned, but they were all positive emotions nowadays. Well, aside from some annoyance at Diavolo’s shenanigans, but even that annoyance held a touch of fondness.
However, there was a bigger point of annoyance in Belphegor’s relationship than Diavolo’s inclination toward playful mischief.
Specifically, the fact that recently he hadn’t been able to spend the amount of time he’d like to with his boyfriend. Belphegor wasn’t being needy okay! But he would very much like some time with his boyfriend, okay?
Luckily they had a date planned for this week, which should solve that problem.
…hopefully.
1.
It was a pleasant day, made more pleasant as Belphegor spotted Diavolo waving at him.
The streets were fairly busy, but not more so than usual. If Diavolo wasn’t so tall and easy to spot in a crowd, he may have been hard to find. Even with the face mask Diavolo wore to be more discreet in his identity, Belphegor spotted him immediately.
Belphegor felt a smile tug at his lips as he walked toward Diavolo, pleased to see the happy crinkle of Diavolo’s eyes.
“Belphie!” Diavolo greeted, pulling Belphegor into a tight embrace and spinning him around once in the air. Belphegor held on tight, rolling his eyes at the sheer enthusiasm of the greeting.
He couldn’t deny feeling equally excited though.
“Belphie, how are you?” Diavolo asked as he placed Belphegor back on his feet.
“Better now that you’re here,” Belphegor admitted to his own slight embarrassment.
A handsome blush coloured Diavolo’s features.
“I feel the same! I’ve missed you!”
Belphegor snorted at the dramatics.
“I saw you at the student council meeting yesterday.”
“It’s not the same,” Diavolo argued with a pout.
Belphegor couldn’t disagree with that. It wasn’t exactly peak romance being surrounded by his siblings and discussing proposals for new school clubs.
“It’s not,” Belphegor verbally agreed.
Diavolo hummed, reaching down to take Belphegor’s hand in his own.
“Well then, we should not waste any more time. There are many shops to visit, and only so long to do so!”
Belphegor nodded.
He had already agreed that a shopping date sounded like fun. They’d arranged the date a week or so ago, with Barbatos requiring a heads up so that an emergency extraction procedure could be created based on the chosen shopping route.
It was pretty over the top if you asked Belphegor. Especially since Barbatos usually excelled at rolling with the punches. But if Diavolo (the objectively and subjectively strongest demon alive) required some silly permission paperwork so that they could have a date, Belphegor would put up with it.
They could do something spontaneous later.
Diavolo led them to the first little store, a pottery shop with shelves littered with plates, bowls and even little clay figures and animals. Upon entering, Diavolo removed his mask, which allowed him to smile brightly at Belphegor.
Belphegor had walked by this place before, but never actually stepped foot inside. The idea of walking into a store full of extremely breakable stuff would usually be a no-no for his family (Lucifer didn’t trust them in such a place), but it was nice getting a closer look at all the wares.
“Belphie look,” Diavolo pointed at a little mug with cat ears and a tail.
Belphegor could admit that it was adorable.
“Cute,” Belphegor said simply.
Out of the corner of his eye Belphegor saw the employee watching them nervously, eyes wide and anxious.
Really, if anyone had an ounce of sense they would take a single look at Diavolo and know not to be concerned. Belphegor supposed in this case it was better to have an overly nervous employee watching them over a chatty and eager to impress the prince employee.
Belphegor turned back to the pottery, approaching some of the little trinkets. There was an especially impressive sculpted dragon curled around a pile of golden treasure. Upon closer inspection, atop the pile of gold was a little cat curled up and asleep. The sculpture made Belphegor smile.
A big powerful creature with dark wings, horns, and a weakness for cute things? Wonder who that reminded him of.
“Do you like that one Belphie?” Diavolo asked, appearing over Belphie’s shoulder.
“Well the dragon does remind me of someone,” Belphegor said, pretending to ponder over just who it reminded him of.
“Do you want me to buy--”
The sound of the door opening very abruptly, to the point that much of the pottery shook on their displays, cut Diavolo off.
Belphegor looked up to glare at whoever had shown up so rudely, only to frown when he recognized one of the two people who entered the store.
“Lord Diavolo, apologies for the interruption,” Barbatos said with a bow, side-eyeing his companion.
Diavolo frowned.
“Barbatos,” Diavolo greeted, face much sterner than it usually was. “What brings you here?”
Barbatos remained bowing, face neutral but facing the floor.
“Apologies again, but it appears the delegates from the south have arrived a day early and required your presence,” Barbatos explained.
Diavolo’s expression hardened even further.
“And they cannot wait for this evening?” Diavolo asked.
“A-a thousand apologies to your highness,” the stranger spoke up this time. “Unfortunately the nobles I represent insist on the urgency of your presence.”
Diavolo crossed his arms, causing the demon to flinch. Or maybe he was flinching under Barbatos’ expressionless callousness? Or perhaps even under Belphegor’s glare.
Belphegor could only sigh though. He knew this meeting was important. He just hadn’t expected it to ruin their date.
Their date that had. Literally. Just. Started.
They didn’t even go through one full store. Not even one!
“You’re sure it’s urgent?” Diavolo asked. “Because if I find it isn’t, there will be consequences.”
Belphegor let his eyes flicker to Diavolo’s harsh frown.
It was strange seeing Diavolo be serious sometimes, but it was just another part of his boyfriend. One that could be unfairly attractive when in the right setting.
The demon made a little ‘eep’ noise, opening and closing their mouth wordlessly.
Belphegor sighed in resignation.
“Just go Diavolo,” Belphegor said.
Diavolo turned to him, cold expression melting and eyes going wide and sad.
“But Belphie, our date…”
“You know that this is important,” Belphegor grumbled. He hated when he had to be the responsible one. “And besides, the sooner you finish the sooner we can reschedule.”
Diavolo opened his mouth to protest, but sighed at the logic in Belphegor’s words.
“We will reschedule,” Diavolo assured.
He then leaned forward to give Belphegor a peck on the lips.
“And the next date will be even more special!” Diavolo promised.
Belphegor nodded, and simply watched as the three demons left the shop. He stood there for a few more seconds, unsure what to do.
Well, nothing to do but wait for the next date.
Belphegor did buy the little dragon though.
2.
Diavolo fixed the collar on his coat before knocking firmly on the door to the House of Lamentation.
He had thought about waiting longer, so as to not be too early, but he couldn’t help it.
He just wanted to see Belphie!
Especially after having to reschedule their last date, Diavolo had found himself antsy without Belphie at his side.
They’d planned for today to be a date to the art museum, something both he and Belphie had been rather excited about. It wouldn’t quite replace the failed shopping trip, but Diavolo was determined for it to be even better!
Diavolo would take Belphie from painting to painting, and ensure that he expressed how Belphie was more beautiful than any of the artwork there (which would be the truth of course). Belphie would point out which ones he liked so Diavolo could learn more about him. Diavolo would even buy one of the paintings if Belphie was especially interested.
Best of all, Diavolo had rented out the entire gallery to ensure no one would stand in front of Belphie and block his view! (The only downside to this was that Diavolo would have no excuse to pick Belphie up to supply him with a better view).
But since Belphie didn’t like crowds, this was obviously the best way to ensure the ideal date!
However, as Diavolo stood outside waiting for someone to open the door for him, he found himself waiting for longer than usual.
After five minutes Diavolo knocked again, louder this time.
And he waited. And waited. And waited.
In a mixture of impatience and worry Diavolo pulled at the door himself. It opened without issue, which was slightly strange for a door that should have been locked.
“Belphie?” Diavolo called out into the house. “Lucifer? Anyone?”
Diavolo wandered a little further in, hoping to catch a glimpse of… well, anyone.
But every hall and room turned up empty. Diavolo wouldn’t say he was at the point of panic, but he was on his way there.
It wasn’t until he was outside of Leviathan’s room that he heard any sign of life.
“Levi really should be banned from ordering any more of these things,” a grumbling voice could be heard from outside the door.
Feeling a rush of hope at the familiar voice, Diavolo knocked a single time before throwing the door open. The ‘throwing’ in this case was meant literally.
The door flew behind Diavolo as he pulled, hitting the opposite wall in the hallway. Diavolo frowned the barest bit. Another door he would have to pay for, Barbatos was going to have to contact Demonic Doors and Windows again. Maybe Diavolo should just buy the company so he’d have an on-call door replacement service?
“Lord Diavolo?” the person inside looked slightly startled but mostly surprised.
“Hello Satan,” Diavolo greeted.
Satan nodded a head in greeting, sparing a single glance to the broken door.
“What are you doing here?” Satan asked.
Diavolo smiled. “I’m here to pick up Belphie, have you seen him?”
Satan muttered something that sounded like “should’ve seen that one coming” before clearing his throat and answering, “unfortunately Belphie is indisposed at the moment.”
Satan then turned back to a board with some miniatures scattering its surface.
“What has him indisposed?” Diavolo asked, frowning.
Satan sighed.
“Levi bought a new board game called Doomanji, which just so happened to suck all its players into the game last night when they were playing. Luckily I was reading and wasn’t involved,” Satan explained. “Unfortunately it means I’m out here trying to figure out how to get them back.”
Diavolo’s frown deepened. He’d heard many a tale of Levi’s games having unwanted circumstances. Belphie complained about it quite often, and while they sounded like fun in Diavolo’s opinion it was less fun when it meant Diavolo and Belphie’s date was interrupted.
“Can I help?” Diavolo asked.
“I’m not sure,” Satan replied. “Nothing I’ve tried so far has done anything. They might be stuck in there until they complete the game. That’s usually how it goes.”
Diavolo slumped his shoulders in disappointment.
What kind of curse had he and Belphie been inflicted with to have such terrible luck? Surely no curse existed that could be worse than one that prevented Diavolo from seeing his Belphie.
“May I at least stay and try to assist? I could contact the game’s manufacturer?” Diavolo suggested.
Satan tapped his chin in contemplation.
“I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” Satan said. “But aren’t you busy Lord Diavolo?”
Considering Diavolo had freed up the entire afternoon for his date, he was decidedly not busy.
“I have time to stay and help,” Diavolo said with a determined nod.
Unfortunately no amount of effort, magic, or even subtle threats amounted to anything.
The manufacturer of Doomanji, though stuttering with nerves when Diavolo called, said the game wasn’t designed to stop until finished (a terrible idea though not without its merits).
Diavolo even tried to enter the game as a player. Spending time with Belphie in the company of his brothers was better than not spending time with Belphie at all. Unfortunately, this method didn’t work either.
When, after another five hours, Belphie and his brothers finally emerged out of thin air, toppled on top of each other and soaking wet, Diavolo surged forward and pulled Belphie into a tight hug.
The whole group grumbled, including Belphie who looked disoriented, dishevelled and soaking wet.
Then, because clearly this board game had been an extremely strenuous affair, and because Belphie was Belphie, Belphie immediately fell asleep in Diavolo’s arms.
Mammon and Asmo were loudly berating Levi for the fact that they’d needed to outrun stampedes, bandits, and some disturbingly strange versions of themselves, while Lucifer stewed in a bubbling pot of anger.
Diavolo let out a little sigh, offering the group a congratulations for beating the game, and announcing he would take Belphie back to his room.
Once inside the room, Diavolo divested Belphie of most of his soaking clothes, replacing them with soft pajamas. He tucked Belphie in, planting a kiss to his forehead.
Well, their date might not have happened, but Diavolo was right about one thing.
Belphie was indeed more beautiful than any painting he would have seen
3.
Belphegor didn’t know how Diavolo had found such a secluded place. If anything, these well kept botanical gardens should be bustling with people. Gorgeous gardens paired with a petting zoo of cute critters seemed the obvious place for a nice date.
It must be a well kept secret though, since the limited number of other people around left lots of room for Belphegor and Diavolo to move around without issue.
“Are those bushes shaped like dogs?” Belphegor asked, looking at the collection of cutely shaped green bushes.
“Aren’t they adorable!” Diavolo gushed. “They change up the type of animal every couple months, but they’re always magnificently done.”
Belphegor nodded, impressed by the work. There wasn’t a leaf out of place.
“Did you want to see the animals now or later?” Diavolo asked him as they continued to stroll through rows of flowers and trees.
A small breeze blew some sparkling petals through the air.
“We can go later,” Belphegor confirmed.
For now he was happy to just enjoy the shapes and smells of the greenery. It was incredibly diverse, and must be next to impossible to maintain.
It was very relaxing to just enjoy the scenery with Diavolo. Especially after the dreadful Doomanji incident. He’d made Levi go and apologize to Diavolo personally for ruining their date (mostly to relish in the terror on Levi’s face). Things were okay now though.
Diavolo slid a not so subtle arm around Belphegor’s waist, leading him toward a corner of the gardens they hadn’t seen yet.
Belphegor vaguely heard the clicking of a camera, as one of the other visitors must have been capturing some pictures for later. It didn’t sound like too bad of an idea actually.
“Diavolo, let’s get a picture,” Belphegor said.
Diavolo’s whole face lit up.
“A wonderful idea! A preserved memory! You’re brilliant, Belphie!”
It really wasn’t all that impressive, it was just that Belphegor had been enjoying himself too much to think of photos until now.
“Do you want to sit here for the photo?” Belphegor suggested.
There was a little bench amongst a field of smaller, more delicate flowers. They were some of the most colourful as well.
“Yes! And we can take more pictures further in as well. Especially when we’re petting the little goats!” Diavolo exclaimed excitedly.
They sat down on the bench. Diavolo took some time trying to look for the angle that ‘provided the optimal lighting for Belphie’s beauty,’ which was a little over the top, but endearing all the same.
When Diavolo settled on what he deemed the best spot for a selfie, he seated himself behind Belphie, almost pulling him onto his lap, and reached out to take a picture.
There was the sound of a camera clicking. Except… it wasn’t their camera.
Belphegor looked up, only to spot someone taking photos of them. However, before he could verbally scold the stranger and lecture them, the strangest thing happened.
As if all at once the peaceful atmosphere of the gardens was pierced, replaced by a sea of stomping footsteps and loud chatter.
Emerging from every which pathway, were droves of demons, walking with a singular focus and not at all looking at the plants they were surrounded by. No, what they were looking at instead, was the person seated beside Belphegor.
“It is him! See, I told you Devilgram never lies,” one demon said loudly, to which their companions agreed.
“Oh my god, I’ve never seen him in person!” another demon said.
The chatter only escalated, which became the precursor to the much worse event about to take place.
All at once, the crowd decided it was perfectly reasonable to come forward and start crowding them. Or more specifically, to crowd Diavolo.
“Lord Diavolo, it’s such an honour.”
“Lord Diavolo, how did you find such a lovely place?”
“Lord Diavolo, can you tell us more about your treaty plans?”
The voices overlapped, all questions and statements aimed at Diavolo.
In turn, Diavolo plastered on a civil mask, though Belphegor could immediately see how annoyed his boyfriend was.
Diavolo fielded a few questions, before stating that he would appreciate some privacy right now.
Unfortunately, the crowd didn’t budge, but it did filter, allowing different demons to get up close and talk to Diavolo.
Belphegor felt the vein in his temple throb in frustration. He just wanted a peaceful date with his boyfriend. Was that too much to ask? And how had all these people known Diavolo was here anyways?
Grumbling at the number of eyes on Diavolo, all of whom chose to ignore Belphegor even when he crowded further into Diavolo’s space as a physical sign to back the fuck off.
When subtly didn’t work, Belphegor tried a different approach.
“We’re actually busy right now. Please go away,” Belphegor said as a dismissal.
A couple of them did shrug and leave. But most paid Belphegor little mind, too starstruck to budge.
Diavolo glared at the people for a moment, but didn’t do more than that. Both Diavolo and Belphegor knew the importance of Diavolo’s image. And it wasn’t like Diavolo usually liked yelling at his people. He did look like he wanted to yell at these ones though.
Realizing they weren’t going to be able to get back to their date for a long time, if ever, Belphegor pulled out his phone. Maybe he could text Beel to come down and cause a distraction so he and Diavolo could escape. Asmo would excel at such a thing as well.
When he opened his phone, there was already a text from Beel.
The text was a link to a Devilgram post, followed by Beel saying “I’m sorry Belphie.”
Belphegor frowned, tapping the link to the post.
What he saw made him bubble in anger.
There was a post with several pictures of him and Diavolo in the gardens. The caption contained their location, as well as hours for the botanical gardens.
And the photos were posted by none other than MAMMON !
Belphegor seethed. He didn’t care what kind of monetary scheme Mammon was after here, he was going to kill his second eldest brother.
Of course Mammon would ignore the fact that Belphegor had been waiting to spend proper time with Diavolo for weeks now. Of course he would follow them for a quick buck rather than, you know, getting a real job.
Clearly Lucifer had been too frightening recently, if Mammon had all but forgotten the despair Belphegor could inflict on him. And that wasn’t even including the increased despair that would occur when Belphegor told Diavolo about this.
But as the crowds only increased, the date clearly ruined with nowhere to escape without appearing rude, Belphegor thought up several revenge plans.
He was sure he could get some much worse photos of Mammon for the internet to enjoy, after all.
4.
Belphegor fiddled with his fork as he waited at the restaurant table.
The place was high class, even more so than Ristorante Six, and far above anything Belphegor would usually go to. He was more of a stay in and eat kind of person after all.
But after the last few disaster dates, Diavolo had decided to make a reservation at the nicest restaurant in town. Belphegor had agreed, if only to see Diavolo brighten excitedly at the prospect.
Belphegor wasn’t adverse to being wined and dined, but if he was being honest, he was probably more excited for the part of their date after dinner where they would head back to the Demon Lord’s Castle for… some alone time. Belphegor was very tired of other people showing up during their dates after all.
However, Belphegor was starting to get anxious that they weren’t going to even get to that part of the date, considering Diavolo wasn’t even here yet.
Belphegor pouted as he swished around his cup of ice water. Diavolo was never late for these things. Well, never late without reason. And that was what was worrying Belphegor.
Unfortunately, Belphegor’s intuition proved true when someone approached his table.
That person being someone Belphegor would recognize immediately, but someone who was decidedly not Diavolo.
Because of course Lucifer had to show up.
Great, Belphegor couldn’t wait for his brother’s speech over Diavolo’s work being too important for Belphegor. He’d heard that one enough to have it memorized, although usually it was in reference to Lucifer’s work being more important than their family, not Diavolo’s.
Except… now that Belphegor got a better look at Lucifer’s face, something definitely was not right.
Lucifer was smiling first of all. And not a quirk of the lip, or the smug smirk he wore when he was right. This smile was wide and bright, if slightly apologetic?
Lucifer was also walking toward Belphegor with a pep to his step? Belphegor wasn’t sure whether to be deeply distrubed or to start filming for evidence of this whole thing happening.
“Belphie!” Lucifer called, in an excited tone Belphegor could not ever remember his serious brother ever using.
Yeah. Lucifer was either cursed or this was…
“Belphie I’m so sorry I’m late,” ‘Lucifer’ said as he approached the table and sat down opposite Belphegor. “I was ahead of schedule, but some student came by the student council room with a strange object that needed to be dealt with. You look amazing by the way!”
Belphegor choked on air, feeling himself cringe immensely.
This really was who Belphegor had been waiting for, wasn’t it?
“Diavolo?” Belphegor asked tentatively.
‘Lucifer’s’ face looked pleased.
“Ah, yes Belphie it’s me,” Diavolo said with a little laugh.
There was a pause while Diavolo took a sip of water and Belphegor just stared expectantly.
“And you know you look like Lucifer right now?” Belphegor asked with a grimace.
Diavolo nodded, making an apologetically bashful expression that did not at all belong on Lucifer’s face.
“Unfortunately yes. That strange object the student brought seemed to swap my and Lucifer’s bodies upon contact. Lucifer believes it should wear off in a day or two though,” Diavolo explained.
Sadly, Belphegor had a good amount of experience with unwanted body swapping. This, somehow, was much worse than before though.
His boyfriend in the body of his eldest brother was truly a nightmare come to life. Lucifer made Diavolo’s smile look all kinds of wrong!
“So let me get this straight,” Belphegor said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You and Lucifer accidentally swapped bodies, and you thought you would still come here for our romantic dinner instead of letting me know and postponing?”
“Lucifer didn’t want me to, but I didn’t want to miss our date!” Diavolo replied.
It was sweet that Diavolo still thought this date was going to happen. It was also extremely stupid.
“Diavolo.”
“Yes, my Bel?”
Belphegor hardcore cringed at the pet name leaving Lucifer’s lips. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight at this rate.
“I’m not going on a date with you while you’re in Lucifer’s body.”
“But Belphie…”
“Nope, no buts,” Belphegor said with finality. “I’m not going on a date with anyone in Lucifer’s body.”
“But we already had to cancel the last few dates,” Diavolo said, sounding heartbroken.
Belphegor sighed. He was disappointed too after all. That still didn’t mean he was going to go on a date with Diavolo wearing Lucifer’s face.
“We’ll just have to reschedule again,” Belphegor said, getting to his feet.
Diavolo sighed, looking put out, but not entirely surprised.
“I understand,” Diavolo said. “Apologies Belphie.”
Belphegor nodded.
“It’s fine, it’s not like you did it on purpose,” Belphegor said. Although Belphegor would love to have a word with the student who brought the stupid item to Diavolo in the first place. “I’ll message you later. Let me know when you’re back to normal.”
“I will,” Diavolo said. “Have a good evening Belphie.”
Belphegor did not wait for Diavolo to give a more substantial goodbye. Did not wait for Diavolo to ask for ‘at least a goodbye hug’. Did not wait for Diavolo to offer to walk him home.
Because if Diavolo in Lucifer’s body tried to hold his hand, Belphegor was pretty sure he would never emotionally recover.
He’d also never financially recover with all the therapy he would need.
5.
It was the second attempt at a dinner date this week, and Diavolo had taken every precaution.
He was free of the body swap spell that had unfortunately ruined the last dinner. Diavolo would have continued, but it would have made Belphie uncomfortable, so of course he had to wait until the curse wore off.
Belphie had made sure to message him that seeing Lucifer in his own body had been just as bad.
Since then, Diavolo had worn gloves all week so as to not touch anything in case of residual magic. He’d also had a pair of gloves shipped to Belphie to wear as well, though he wasn’t sure if Belphie had actually worn them.
In terms of date planning, Diavolo had decided to go much more extravagantly on this one than the last.
Reservations at the highest rated restaurant was nothing compared to booking a venue with a single and very romantic dinner setup, a private chef, and a private orchestra.
Of course, Belphie wouldn’t want the orchestra to watch them while they were on their date, so Diavolo had ensured a screen that was both appropriately decorated with rare fabrics, and that music would be able to properly travel through, was installed.
This would clearly be a superior date to the original restaurant plan! And getting Belphie one on one was the biggest plus of all!
Finally, in Diavolo’s ultimate plan to have nothing go wrong, he went and picked Belphie up after school. No risk of shenanigans at the House of Lamentation. No risk of something happening on Belphie’s way to their venue.
Belphie looked a little tired, but happy to see Diavolo.
The trip to the venue was good, no issues, and no obvious flags of something going wrong. Diavolo made sure to stay vigilant. Belphie seemed equally antsy, but Diavolo secretly hoped it was just Belphie being excited for their date.
Diavolo sure was!
When they reached the venue, and Diavolo held the door open for Belphie to enter, he finally let the tension bleed from his body.
They were here! This date was going to be amazing!
“It’s just us here?” Belphie asked, a precious little smile on his face.
“Yes!” Diavolo assured.
Diavolo sped-walked to their table and pulled out Belphie’s chair so he could sit.
Belphie rolled his eyes at the gesture, but sat down and allowed Diavolo the honour of pushing him toward the table. Diavolo then took his own seat across from Belphie.
“Do you like it Belphie?” Diavolo asked, gesturing to the table spread.
The centre piece had a collection of flowers, atop a beautiful tablecloth, and a yet unlit candle in the middle.
“I’m just happy we made it here,” Belphie said.
Diavolo nodded in agreement.
“It does seem like things have not been going our way as of late,” Diavolo agreed.
“That’s a bit of an understatement,” Belphie said.
“But at least we’re here now,” Diavolo said with a smile.
That’s when several things happened sequentially.
Firstly, Diavolo took the match that had been laying on the table, struck it, and lit the candle at the centre of the table for romantic ambience.
Next, and on the cue the orchestra had been instructed to follow, the music began to play, if a tad too abruptly.
The sudden music coming from the unseen orchestra behind the decorative setup startled Belphie into kneeing the table. Because of this, the candle got knocked over, setting the table cloth on fire. The table cloth close enough to Belphie to possibly harm him.
Pure instinct had Diavolo kicking the entire table far away from himself and Belphie.
Unfortunately, this ended up being in the direction of the decorative fabric display near the orchestra. In mere seconds the fabrics were catching fire as well, and members of the orchestra were screaming and moving away from the fire.
Belphie looked on in disbelief while Diavolo moved toward the fire to put it out. This was made difficult by the orchestra members evacuating the premises.
By the time Diavolo made it over, the flames had spread substantially. He considered the best course of action. He might be able to temporarily seal the flames until assistance came.
During this contemplation Belphie had run toward him and was now pulling Diavolo’s arm toward the exit.
Diavolo was about to insist he stay to help, but Belphie looked stubborn and insistent, so Diavolo relented and let himself be dragged out of the building.
Help was there in a matter of minutes, quickly putting out the fire.
“Lord Diavolo, are you okay,” someone asked, to which Diavolo nodded.
He was slightly annoyed that they hadn’t asked about Belphie’s well-being first.
“Yes, and thank you for dealing with the fire. Apologies for causing such a disruption,” Diavolo responded.
The demon looked pleased at the praise.
“It was no trouble.”
Belphie tugged a little at Diavolo’s jacket, feigning a cough to get his attention.
Diavolo looked over his shoulder at Belphie and then back to the demon.
“Well, if this is under control, I will be continuing my evening. Feel free to send me the bill for any damages.”
Unfortunately Diavolo’s plan to somehow salvage the evening was quickly ruined.
“Apologies Lord Diavolo, but we’ll have to keep you both here to check you both over,” the demon said apologetically. “It’s mostly a precaution, but still very important.”
“Even if we feel fine?” Belphie asked from beside him.
“Unfortunately yes,” the demon confirmed.
Diavolo felt his mood crumble, even more than when he’d witnessed the fire in the first place.
This was only made worse by the paramedics separating them for inspection. Diavolo plastered on a polite smile more fake than he ever had before.
They were eventually allowed to sit together, but the smell of burnt building and slew of demons securing the scene didn’t do much to build an atmosphere.
As the evening approached, Beelzebub showed up to make sure Belphie was okay and to take him home. Diavolo could only offer Belphie an apology and a strained promise to make up for this disaster evening.
Belphie slapped his shoulder lightly, telling him it wasn’t his fault.
Then, as the one highlight of the evening, Belphie kissed him softly goodnight.
Diavolo smiled into it, before watching Belphie walk away.
And as Barbatos showed up to escort him home, Diavolo looked at the sky and wondered how he could set up the next date so that it was fireproof.
+1.
Belphegor let out a sigh of relief as the school day ended. It had been an especially long day, with more than one quiz (that Belphegor may have slept through the majority of), so Belphegor was happy to get his mind away from anything learning related.
He walked slowly down the halls, past the classrooms and toward the exit.
It was only when he was about to pass the student council room that he had to stop. Because just as he was approaching it, the council room’s door opened and someone exited it.
That someone being none other than Diavolo.
Diavolo turned and saw Belphegor immediately, leaving the both of them to stare dumbly at each other in the busy hallway.
It was strangely rare that they ran into each other at school, aside from times they had council meetings together or when Diavolo actively sought him out. So it felt like a funny little coincidence to run into Diavolo now.
“Belphie,” Diavolo finally greeted, a warm but tired smile on his face. “It’s wonderful to see you. And after I just finished with my duties as well.”
“It’s rare for you to finish so early,” Belphegor commented.
Diavolo nodded in agreement.
“It was a surprisingly productive day. Far less interruptions than usual.”
Belphegor hummed.
There was another small pause, before both of them spoke at once.
“Diavolo, I was thinking…”
“Belphie are you--”
They both stopped. Then Belphegor laughed a little at the ridiculousness of it all.
“Go ahead,” Belphegor allowed.
“Ah, well Belphie. I know we don’t have anything planned, and you may have other things to do but…” Diavolo rambled a little. “Perhaps you might be available to spend the rest of the day with me?”
Belphegor snorted at the long-winded way of asking. Especially since he’d been about to ask the same thing.
“What did you have in mind?” Belphegor asked.
A flicker of hope passed over Diavolo’s face.
“Well, seeing as I haven’t made any preparations for a date worthy of you, I was thinking perhaps just a night in?” Diavolo suggested. “I would like nothing more than to simply spend time with you.”
And to Belphegor, especially after the utter exhaustion of their string of intricately planned yet ruined dates, a night in sounded wonderful.
Actually, for Belphegor, a night in always sounded wonderful.
“That sounds perfect,” Belphegor said with a smile.
Diavolo leaned forward and planted a kiss to the top of Belphegor’s head.
“Wonderful!” Diavolo said. “I will break out the best pillows for snuggling.”
How could Belphegor say no to that?
So as Diavolo escorted Belphegor to the Demon Lord’s Castle, holding his hand the entire way, for whatever reason Belphegor didn’t feel anxious about the date somehow going wrong. The anxiety from their recent dates was gone.
The worry remained gone as they settled in together for a small and simple meal. Remained gone as they squeezed into Diavolo’s plush couch for a movie. Remained gone as they chatted aimlessly throughout the film, movie forgotten.
And when Diavolo and Belphegor moved to the bed to cuddle, Belphegor smiled at the comfort all around him. Smiled about finally, finally getting alone with his boyfriend.
As night came without a hitch, Diavolo returned his smile a thousand times over.
And if Belphegor stayed up later than usual, then he was fine with it for once.
They had time to make up for, after all.