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“Thank you!” Yuki, the lovely young cashier, smiled sweetly as Rayfa plunked down the appropriate amount of Grimm—plus a generous tip—onto the counter. “Come again!”
“You know I will!” Rayfa laughed, and the demon chick behind the counter laughed too. They had become fast friends—what with Rayfa being a proud regular and all—and Yuki knew she’d be back again within the week.
It always started with an unrelated shopping trip. An excursion to buy some nail polish and ribbons for her next sleepover with Asmo. Or perhaps an errand to pick up the newest video game Levi had pre-ordered, for he was too anxious to go out himself. Regardless of where her ventures began, they always ended back at the bakery—where she could purchase a little something for Beel. It hardly cost her anything (mostly because Yuki gave her legendary discounts) and Beel always got so adorably excited when she came home with dessert, so of course Rayfa had made it a habit. It was such an easy way to put a smile on his face! How could she not?
“I’m already looking forward to it!” Yuki replied cheerfully. “See you next week, hun!”
“See you then!”
Rayfa carefully lifted the hefty white cake box into her hands, then began her leisurely walk back to the House of Lamentation. The soft chimes of the bakery’s doorbell twinkled faintly behind her. It was a lovely night outside, pleasantly warm but with the welcome caveat of a gentle breeze. It was the kind of evening Rayfa usually liked to spend admiring the beauty of the Devildom, but something about this particular night was making her uneasy. She felt like she was being watched—nay, hunted. Instinctively, she quickened her pace, trying not to think about it. It was surely just her imagination.
Rayfa was maybe five blocks away from salvation—the HoL—when disaster finally struck. Out of nowhere, Rayfa felt two very burly arms wrap uncomfortably tight around her waist. She readied herself to scream, but a freakishly large hand—clawed—clamped down over her mouth. She fought and kicked as violently as she could, but humans were no match for demons, and her attackers callously dragged her into the nearest alleyway.
Once they were far enough back not to be spotted from the sidewalk, Demon #1 (the clawed one) forced her up against the wall and spat out an impatient order.
“I’m going to remove my hand now. Scream… and we’ll make things far messier than they need to be. Understand?”
Rayfa, shaking with fear, nodded frantically. Devildom nights were darker than black, and the streets had been relatively barren earlier, anyway. She doubted anyone would come running even if she did scream. The clawed hand was removed and Rayfa gasped for breath. It wasn’t that she couldn’t breathe before; She was just relieved to get that grimy hand away from her face.
“It’s not every day you see a human ’round these parts…” Demon #1 chuckled darkly.
Rayfa spied two more demons over his shoulder. So there were three of these fuckers, then.
Demon #1 stepped forward to grab her chin—to force her to look at him—which Rayfa wanted desperately to resist. Self-preservation told her to keep quiet though, and frustratedly, she obeyed.
…Until the dirtbag harassing her stepped purposefully on top of the cake box that had fallen from her grasp during their scuffle.
“That was for my friend…!” Rayfa growled angrily, surprising even herself with how upset she had gotten on Beel’s behalf—especially when her own current predicament was so much worse.
“Yeah, well-” Demon #1 scoffed and cruelly kicked the cake box aside. He stepped closer— again —and made a very deliberate show of licking his lips. “Your friend’s not the only one who needs to eat.”
Rayfa went pale. This guy was actually Oberon levels of creepy. (Levi would have been so proud of her for that SAO reference.)
“Wait! You-! You can’t eat me!” Rayfa squeaked. “I’m, like, the face of the exchange program! You could ruin relations between the three realms forever!”
“Tch. Like we care about that!” Demon #2 mocked boisterously. Rayfa recognized the tattoos on his muscular arms; He was the one who had actually grabbed her while Demon #1 kept her quiet. “We never wanted to make friends with those stuck-up celestials in the first place!”
“And humans? They’re nothing but snacks!” Demon #1 taunted her gleefully. “Who gives a fuck if Diavolo’s little exchange program falls through!”
Rayfa gritted her teeth. She wanted to argue back, but they had clearly already made up their minds. She was so royally screwed.
Demon #3, who had been relatively silent throughout the whole exchange, suddenly stepped closer. He was, by far, the most physically intimidating of the three degenerate demons; Rayfa had to tilt her head almost all the way back just to meet his eyes. He stared her down with the ferocity of a lion, then began speaking intently. Voice low and gruff, words foreign and unrecognizable. Suddenly, realization dawned on her. He was reciting a hex.
By the time Rayfa caught onto what they were scheming, it was already too late. Her body shrank rapidly and she dizzily watched the world around her grow larger and larger—until finally, she was left untouched at 2-3 inches tall. Things were not looking good for her.
But! At such a small size, they couldn’t possibly clamp a hand down over her mouth again! Right?
Desperately, Rayfa began to recite the one phrase she prayed could get her out of this mess:
“Hear me, denizens of the darkness, you who are born of shadow and you who give birth to it! Hear me and do as I command!”
“Stop her!” Demon #1 roared furiously, and Demon #3 (the nearest) made a desperate grab for her. Rayfa just barely managed to scramble out of the way before he could get his grubby paws on her, silently cursing the fact that the summoning incantation was so ungodly long. Nevertheless, she was determined to see it through!
“I, Rayfa, call upon you to send forth one of your number! I summon the Avatar of- HnghGruh!”
Though he had failed to grab her, Demon #3 was still determined to shut her up. He backhanded her—hard—which was enough to garble her words and send her flying backwards across the pavement. Rayfa winced at the scrapes she received. They were gonna hurt like a bitch tomorrow, assuming she lived to see it.
Interrupted as she may have been though, the spell—blessedly—had still gone through. There was a blinding flash of golden light, and then there, standing before her, was none other than…
Mammon, the Avatar of Greed.
Huh.
Rayfa had (admittedly) been hoping for Lucifer, but whatever strangled sound she’d made upon being swatted away had apparently resembled the word greed more than the word pride. Honestly though, Rayfa was just relieved to see a familiar face.
…As endearingly incompetent as that familiar face could sometimes be.
Mammon stumbled around dazedly for a moment, and Rayfa felt guilty knowing that her own poor casting of the spell was probably to blame. She quickly shook her head to clear her mind, though. Guilt could come later! Right now was her chance to escape!
Even though Mammon hadn’t immediately sprung into action, his unexpected appearance alone was more than enough of a distraction for Rayfa to work with. At the very least, she no longer felt quite as cornered as before. All three enemies were focused entirely on Mammon now—A full-sized demon was a much greater threat than a shrunken human girl, after all!—and that gave Rayfa the perfect opportunity to disappear. She instantly began scheming. Maybe she could subtly sneak away now, text Lucifer or Satan to come pick her up, and apologize to Mammon for using him as an escape later? He would fake like he was annoyed by it, she was sure, but there was no way these demons would actually be able to hurt him—not like they could hurt her—and Mammon would recognize that too. He’d just be relieved that he’d protected her, even if unknowingly at first.
Rayfa was just about to make her move, ready to dart out of the shady alleyway, but before she could take the first step, dark blue eyes swirled with gold locked onto her.
“Rayfa?!” Mammon blurted out confusedly, as the last of the vertigo from her botched summoning spell finally wore off.
It took him a good few seconds to realize exactly what was happening, but things did eventually click, and the Avatar of Greed whirled on the lesser demons indignantly.
“Don’t you dare touch MY human!”
Unfortunately, Demon #1 and his lackeys had long since recovered from the shock of his arrival and were eager to make him pay for the intrusion.
“Oh shit!” Mammon swore, lightning-fast reflexes kicking into gear as he ducked to avoid a nasty left-hook.
Demon #2 quickly lunged after him, but Mammon—surprisingly tactfully—sidestepped that, too. (Levi really hadn’t been kidding when he’d said that Mammon was “Fast as fuck, boi!”) Seriously! He juked them so quickly that Rayfa could scarcely make out a blur! Mammon deftly avoided several more attacks, then glanced around with wild eyes, searching for an out. When he found one—as he always did—his body moved before his brain could catch up. Rayfa couldn’t fault him for his recklessness though; It was what she was banking on to save her life.
When Mammon finally threw a punch of his own, the attack was surprisingly calculated. His fist connected squarely with the jaw of the head honcho—Demon #1—and he swiftly capitalized on that. All the boy had needed was an opening, and when Demon #1 stumbled backwards from the force of the blow, there one was. He nimbly darted past the now capsized enemy, taking advantage of the clever little “escape route” that was open. And then…
Mammon just fucking ran for it.
Gravel flew as he skidded past the remaining two lackeys and began sprinting directly towards poor terrified Rayfa, refusing to slow down even as he neared her. The girl squeezed her eyes shut as Mammon barreled forward at breakneck speeds, but really, she knew better than to worry. Mammon (as always) was ready for anything, leaning down at just the right moment to scoop her up as he careened away from the alley.
Rayfa let out a squeak of alarm as she felt Mammon’s fingers curl around her, but relaxed (slightly) when she realized that he had actually taken great care not to hurt her. He kept a tight enough grip that she wouldn’t slip from his grasp, but a loose enough one that she wouldn’t be squeezed uncomfortably. It was the perfect rescue.
And then, just like that, they were gone.
Rayfa hadn’t expected anything less from him. If there was one thing Mammon was great at, it was running away. (Usually from debt collectors or angry brothers, but the logic applied here too.)
“Oh shit! Oh fuck!” Mammon panicked, footsteps pounding heavily on the sidewalk. “We are so dead!”
Despite herself, Rayfa felt a smile playing on her lips. Even when Mammon actually managed to pull off something pretty damn cool, he was still an endearingly panicky mess.
But Rayfa wouldn’t have him any other way.
A tense few minutes of running later, Mammon veered off into another alleyway further down the street, panting heavily. Quick as he was, he obviously didn’t have the stamina to go on running forever. He clearly needed a breather, but Rayfa didn’t think they could afford to take one.
The demon muttered something frustratedly under his breath. Rayfa didn’t quite catch the words, but she could only imagine he was cursing out their pursuers. Which was totally valid—they very much deserved it—but what the girl couldn’t fathom was why Mammon had stopped to do so. Tired or not, they had to get home!
“Mammon?” Rayfa queried nervously, gently prying his fingers apart to sneak a worried peek up at the demon. He held her level with his heart, hands cupped carefully around her small frame, blue-gold eyes gazing down upon her worriedly. Had they not been dangerously preoccupied, Rayfa would’ve melted at how concerned he looked over her.
“I’m not gonna let ’em have ya,” Mammon growled protectively. “You’re my human, ya hear?”
Mammon had always been relatively extremely possessive of her, but Rayfa had never really minded. She thought the whole “keep you all to myself” thing was sweet, even—albeit in a very Mammon sort of way. She generally liked that he was her greedy li’l protector.
But something about the way he was staring at her now caused a shiver to run down her spine. For the first time since they’d met, Rayfa felt inherently nervous under the Avatar of Greed’s gaze.
“Uhm, are you-” Rayfa started to say, but the demon’s hands suddenly lurched beneath her, causing her to yelp with surprise rather than finish her thought. “Aek!”
Mammon determinedly brought her to eye-level, an uncharacteristically serious expression etched across handsome features.
“Wh-What are you doing?!” Rayfa nervously demanded, the sudden solemnity eating away at her. Mammon was never sober like this. To make matters worse, Rayfa could hear the murderous shouts of the demons they’d run away from. Those fuckers were finally starting to catch up.
It seemed that Mammon had heard them too, their voices being what finally spurred him on to do the unthinkable.
“S-Sorry ’bout this!”
Mammon rarely ever apologized, which only solidified Rayfa’s right to fear whatever was coming. She had a really really really bad feeling about this.
Mammon, looking just as nervous as Rayfa felt, awkwardly guided the unsuspecting little human towards his lips. He gulped nervously, then opened wide with an automatic “ahhh”, and realization came crashing down onto the girl like a tidal wave. Rayfa screamed and tried to scramble backwards, but Mammon simply threw his head back and hurriedly crammed her into his mouth.
It was almost absurd how quickly the demon’s mouth flooded with drool. Rayfa whined with disgust as warm gooey saliva oozed over her, bubbling up and seeping through her clothes. Mammon cautiously brought his teeth back together, sealing her away inside, then began eagerly slurping up her staple human flavors. Rayfa felt herself blush, angry and embarrassed, as Mammon spent an outright exorbitant amount of time tasting her.
“Mammon!” Rayfa seethed, practically shaking with rage. “What the fuck!”
She was exhausted and disgruntled and thoroughly grossed out, but more than anything, she trusted him. (It was probably why she was more annoyed than she was scared.) Rayfa tried to calm herself down. Mammon had apologized beforehand, which meant he probably had some sort of plan. Maybe demon spit would cover up her human scent, making them less easy to track? Or maybe tasting humans gave demons some sort of “power up” that Mammon could use to get those assholes to back off? Rayfa hadn’t ever heard of such a thing, but she was willing to play along and-
*Glk!*
Mammon gulped thickly, and Rayfa suddenly felt warm wet muscle clench tightly around her, inescapably engulfed. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath, being worked deeper and deeper with every purposeful swallow. Mammon had been quick to stuff his face with her, Rayfa noticed, but now that she was safely out of sight, he was taking his sweet fucking time getting her down. Slow, languid gulps. Pleasured hums vibrating around her. Fingers gingerly pressed against the throat, presumably to feel her fight back as he swallowed. Rayfa grimaced as she slowly squelched down his greedy gullet, squirming violently as the unyielding flesh easily suctioned her down.
“Stop enjoying this…!” Rayfa growled disgustedly. “Bastard…!”
Within the minute, Mammon finished swallowing her down, letting out a relieved and breathy sigh. Rayfa, meanwhile, gasped out as the tight, hot, unyielding throat finally gave way to a much roomier space. Fleshy and vulnerable, the squishy pink walls shifted easily around her as Rayfa scrambled to reorient herself. A noisy gurgle stretched on, echoing around the darkness. She had finally reached his stomach.
“...hububhhuhuhh…” Mammon babbled through what sounded like a very drooly mouthful.
“Mammon! Are you kidding me right now?!” Rayfa screamed, raging annoyance briefly overtaking her fear.
“...tha’ feelsh…” Mammon moaned out. “...so fuckin’ guhd…”
Rayfa shuddered at how the stomach lurched as Mammon stumbled almost-drunkenly backwards, slumping against the grimy brick walls and slowly sliding down until he’d completely lowered himself to the ground.
“Urghhh!” Rayfa groaned, utterly exasperated. “You! Are! The! Absolute! Worst!”
Every word was punctuated with an annoyed punch to the stomach walls. She only really succeeded in getting her fist all sticky/slimy with stomach ooze though; Mammon appeared entirely unaffected.
Rayfa surely would have chewed him out some more had she not been interrupted by a sickeningly familiar voice. Demon #1. Even though she was tucked away out of sight, she still shivered upon hearing it. They had finally tracked Mammon down.
“What did you do with the girl?!” Demon #1 demanded furiously.
“I, uh…” Mammon slurred. He had barely even begun to formulate an answer when his digestive system suddenly did the work for him, a deep and contented burp surging up his throat. “Mrph. ’Scuse me.”
It didn’t take much for Demon #1 and his lackeys to put two and two together after that.
“Bastard! She was supposed to be my lunch!” Demon #1 roared. “Get him!”
Rayfa hated that her heart leapt at the thought of Mammon getting caught up in trouble. Especially on her behalf. She was supposed to be angry at him—he had fucking eaten her—but much to her annoyance and embarrassment, she couldn’t shake the worry from her heart. She’d grown to care too much.
“Mammon, please! Get it together!” Rayfa urged, cursing herself for encouraging the man who had gulped her down like nothing more than an afternoon snack. “I- I don’t want you getting hurt!”
Mammon stayed seated, but Rayfa felt the stomach shift as he at least sat up straight. She felt a sudden surge of power flow through and around her, too. And when Mammon next spoke, his voice was unrecognizable.
“BaCK oFF,” Mammon snarled like a rabid dog, sounding like an actual demon for the first time since Rayfa had met him. “Or I’LL eaT yOU foR desSERT!”
Rayfa was pretty sure that Mammon only had a hankering for humans—not for other demons—but the threat worked all the same. Mammon almost never lost control, which made the few times he actually did downright terrifying. Rayfa could only imagine the looks of horror on her attackers’ faces as they trembled at the sight of the second-born’s true form.
“Shit! I didn’t realize he was one of the seven Avatars-!”
“Okay, okay! You can keep the human! Just-!” An honest-to-god whimper. “Please don’t hurt us!”
“Quick! Let’s get out of here!”
Noises from the “outside world” (with the exception of voices) had proven too muffled to hear from within the confines of the demon boy’s gut, but Rayfa imagined that if she had been out there with him, she would’ve heard a stampede of receding footsteps. Her suspicions were all but confirmed when she felt the energy needed to maintain the threatening aura slowly fading away. Mammon relaxed back against the wall again, too, demon form now totally dispelled. And then, in a move Rayfa never could’ve anticipated, Mammon began rubbing his belly comfortingly—she could feel the gentle weight on the other side of the “wall”. For a fleetingly hopeful moment, Rayfa almost believed he cared.
But no! He had eaten her!
Rayfa tried desperately to work out why Mammon had done this. Had he decided that, if she was going to end up “demon food” anyway, it may as well be his belly she was filling? A memory from long ago suddenly sprung to the forefront of her mind:
“The next time your life’s in danger, I’m gonna be the one to save you, all right? Don’t you forget that.”
“…And if I can’t manage to save ya, then make sure you die, got it?!”
Rayfa felt tears prickling at her eyes. So that was it then. Mammon had decided that if he couldn’t protect her, he’d make sure nobody else could either. By taking her out himself.
Rayfa shuddered as the stomach gurgled loudly. It’d been relentlessly noisy—groaning and churning around her—for the entire duration of her “stay”. She felt drowned out, unsure whether or not Mammon could even hear her, but Rayfa had never been the type to give up. If he’d really eaten her solely on principle—just so that nobody else could—surely he’d let her out now that the threat had passed, right?
“Mammon! They- They’re gone now, right? So then let me out!”
“...fiyve mr…minuhhs…” Mammon mumbled out, words slurred and utterly unintelligible.
Rayfa groaned. Of course he was still stupefied.
Praying that Mammon could hear her—she honestly wasn’t sure he could, as she was unable to decipher the drunken gibberish he’d spewed—Rayfa did the only thing she could think left to do. She called upon the power of the pact.
“MAMMON!!!” Rayfa roared at the top of her lungs, fingers crossed that he could actually hear her so that the pact would work. “SPIT! ME! OUT!”
Rayfa guessed her words must’ve gotten through to him, because just like that, the demon’s body began to obey. The stomach lurched, and Mammon began making throaty/guttural choking noises like he was dry-heaving. Rayfa felt herself being tugged back towards the esophagus—This was her way out!—but the gagging sounds poor Mammon was making were rapidly becoming unbearable. Rayfa was genuinely beginning to worry that she’d accidentally commanded him to choke himself.
“Hrrk, rggh, hrghk-!”
“Okay, okay! Stop! Don't hurt yourself!”
Rayfa cursed her own lack of resolve. She was going to die now. As nothing more than “demon food”—like Mammon always teased. All because she couldn't bring herself to hurt the lovable dumbass who'd eaten her.
Her surroundings shook turbulently for another few seconds as coughs wracked Mammon’s body. He wasn’t choking anymore, thank god, but he was very clearly gasping for breath. Rayfa felt terribly guilty for putting him through that, even if it’d only been on accident. When Mammon finally cleared his throat, he muttered out an unabashedly annoyed:
“Ya know, it'd be a lot easier on the botha us if ya lemme cough you up myself.”
“You-!” Rayfa brightened at finally being addressed, tears of relief blurring her vision. “You were really going to let me out?”
“Well, duh.” Mammon shrugged, and Rayfa slid as the walls shifted around her. “If I wanted ya dead, I woulda let those lesser demons have ya.”
“But-! But you-!”
“Didn’t ya hear the protection spell?” Mammon grumbled, clearing his throat again. Apparently some lingering discomfort remained. Rayfa winced sympathetically. She really hadn’t meant to hurt him. “I cast one on ya right before I swallowed ya down.”
So that’s what he had been doing when she saw him “cursing out” the demons chasing them.
“Okay, fine! But why didn’t you answer me?!” Rayfa demanded shakily. “I was seriously freaking out, Mammon!”
“I, uh…” The shame/regret was practically tangible. He sounded immeasurably guilty. “’M sorry.” He finally settled on. “I didn’t mean to get buzzed like that.”
Yeah, Rayfa had figured that much out. She didn’t say so, though. Instead, she stayed patiently quiet, giving him room to elaborate.
“Humans really are a delicacy for us, ya know? And havin’ one alive and kickin’ in my belly…” Mammon mumbled embarrassedly. “...kinda fried my brain.”
Yeah, that checked out. Rayfa hummed in acknowledgement.
“Didn’t mean to give ya a heart attack though…” Mammon continued after a beat. “I really am sorry ’bout that, Ray.”
He sounded so beyond apologetic that Rayfa couldn’t help but want to reach out to him. In moments like these—rare as they were—Rayfa would usually give him a hug. But obviously, that couldn’t be done right now…
Almost reflexively, Rayfa reached out with both hands, palms splayed against the squishy stomach walls. She gave a reassuring little shove—like a playful nudge to the shoulder—then slowly began rubbing soothing little circles into the flesh. Mammon shivered with delight at her touch; Rayfa could feel the stomach tremble with pleasure. Despite herself, she let out a little laugh.
“That good, huh?” Rayfa teased. The playful banter almost made her feel like they were chilling out together on the couch. Almost made her forget where she really was.
“Sh-Shaddup!”
Rayfa just knew he was blushing like crazy.
“I guess I should probably thank you for saving me,” Rayfa sighed wistfully. “Albeit through very unconventional means.”
Mammon huffed proudly. “You're welcome! You should know by now never to doubt the Great Mammon!”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Rayfa waved away the egotistical comment. “Can the ‘Great Mammon’ cough me up already? It’s super gross down here.”
“Uhm.” Mammon froze, and Rayfa could feel the stomach tense up nervously around her. “Just lemme getcha back to the dorms first. You’ve got a penchant for trouble and I don’t wantcha runnin’ into any more of it.”
Excuse me?! You think I’m the one with a penchant for trouble?!
It took Rayfa a moment to realize that Mammon didn’t actually think her a trouble-magnet. He just wanted an excuse to hold onto her for a little longer. ’Cause he was enjoying it.
Rayfa sighed heavily. She was definitely going to regret this: “Yeah, okay. But you’d better let me out as soon as we get home!”
“Y-Yeah, ’course! Sure thing.”
Rayfa could tell by the slight stammer that he was planning on taking the long way home. Resigning herself to such antics, she laughed and shook her head. Now that Mammon had gotten a taste, she had the distinct feeling this wouldn’t be the last time she played the role of “dinner”.
But curiously enough, Rayfa found that maybe she didn’t totally mind. ❤️