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tezthegreat · 2 years ago

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brain go brrrrrrr

Praise Me?

A/N: Be a writing blog, they said, it'll be fun, they said. Next thing you know I'm swamped with graduate school and 100 different OC's that my mind decided to make. Long story short, this took far too long and I'm ashamed. I wanna dedicate this to @warm-meelk letting me rant to them as I as running out of ideas q wq Uhm, I'll post a pin of what I write and not write since I guess I'm taking requests. Anyways, enjoy my self indulgent shit. Warnings: Descriptions of gore, Emotional manipulation, implied cannibalism and just general no good bad behavior from the boys.

Demon culture is hard to grasp.

It wasn’t like good ol’ regular human culture. Sure there were some differences here and there but with enough practice anyone could work around them and possibly thrive.

But Devildom culture was another beast entirely.

Among all the dances, all the flirting, the parties and the cute touching moments, these seven demons didn’t fail to remind you that you were now the human master to the Seven Rulers of the Underworld.

And as your demons they had their own set of rules to obey.

As did you.

You put your backpack down and squat in front of the school bench, coming face to face with Belphegor as the other continues to sleep despite your face being a mere inches away from his.

“Hey. Sleepyhead. Wake up.”

A smile appears on his face as he barely opens his eyes to look at you, instead giggling as he pretends to sleep on while you poke his cheek.

“I’m serious. We are supposed to be going home!”

“Mmmm...I’m perfectly comfortable here, though.”

Always the sweet talker, Belphie takes your hand and brings it close to his chest trying to pull you in as you laugh and try to pull your hand back.

“Come on MC, let’s just stay a little longer. I just made the bench comfy.”

“And where am I going to sit?”

The demon hums before sitting up and pointing at the seat next to him with a trademark shit eating grin.

“Here. So I can lay my head on your lap.”

At this point you can’t help it. You and Belphegor may have had a rocky start but he had deemed himself worthy to trust. Honestly, you never thought about it too hard. It was just family business after all, you had just been caught in the crossfire.

Not really, your brain fills in the gaps, you’ve been manipulated into believing him and had been promptly betrayed once your purpose was over…

But he apologized, right?

An apology from a demon. It was a big step.

You take your place and smile as the Avatar of Sloth’s hair now covers your lap. Soft and lush, Belphegor yawns again and makes himself comfortable while you run your fingers through his hair while closing your eyes and feeling a soft, cold breeze.

This wasn’t so bad...

A rough hand shakes you awake, knocking you out of your dream.

“Wake the hell up, human!”

Startled, you hold onto Belphie’s shoulders and look up at an angry looking demon, fangs out and ready to use as they point a finger at the bench.

“We’re trying to clean the school grounds and you’ve been loitering for an hour. Get out already!”

Oh. Oh! An hour? You fell asleep on a school bench for an hour!? Belphie was starting to rub off on you, wasn’t he? Your hands gently shake your demon awake while you give the other demon the most apologetic look you could.

“Belphie. You need to wake up.”

“Mmmmm.”

“Belphie we need to go!”

“I don’t wanna--!”

The demon speaks up again, getting closer and kicking right under the bench where your backpack was as hard as he could.

“Wake the fuck up already! Go and play with your human pet somewhere else!”

Belphie sits up slowly as you stand up and grab your backpack, wincing when you open it up and see the mess of books, notebooks and pencils now either bent, cracked or straight up destroyed.

“Dammit.”

Oh well, easy fix. These notebooks were easily replaceable and pencils you could get anywhere, book like this on the other hand would be a bit--

“...Did they do that?”

You jump as you feel Belphegor looking over you, bringing your backpack close to you and hiding it from view. He frowns at your actions before tugging the backpack out of your grip and looking inside, face devoid of any emotion as his gaze goes from the item in his hand to the demon now glaring at you both.

“Belphie. Come on. They need to clean.”

He growls. “They ruined something of yours.”

“It doesn’t matter I can just replace it, let’s go--”

Your demon moves faster than your words, Belphegor’s snarl ringing loud in your ears despite how far he is away from you. The lesser demon barely has time to react as Belphegor grabs him by the back of the head in full demon form and yanks him back onto the bench, his bright blue nails now far larger than you’ve ever seen them before as they dig deep into the scalp of his victim.

Belphegor grabs your backpack and empties it out, your belongings clattering onto the floor as he tilts the demon’s head back with one hand while the other starts bunching up your backpack into a small ball of nothing but zippers and strings.

In your head you are already yelling at Belphegor to stop but your brain is screaming at you to run away as fast as you can while your legs don’t respond to any of the distress signals and remain locked in place, forcing you to watch as the demon scratches at Belphegor’s skin but fails to do any damage as the hand holding his head now moves to his mouth and forces it open with a sickening crack.

“AHHHH! AHHHHHH!”

“You were acting so high and mighty before.” Belphegor grins as he stuffs the bag into the demon’s mouth. “What’s wrong? Did you think I would let you walk away from ruining my master’s things?”

The demon scratches his throat when Belphegor pushes the bunched up ball deeper into their throat, a gasp escaping you as you see the outline of some of the zippers pressing right against the inside of their skin and threatening to pop out.

“Haha, I never knew scum could talk. Maybe if I shove this far enough down your throat and then pull it out, I’ll rip out your vocal cords as well. Then my master won’t have to hear your ugly voice--”

It’s pushing. Whatever is getting lodged in that demon’s throat is pushing to get out and you can almost see their nose bleeding from the pressure that is being created as their hands slowly stop moving and one of them falls limp--!

“BELPHIE STOP!”

The words die in your throat as Belphegor’s hand is wretched out of the demon’s mouth, the bag now lodged in their throat as their fingers twitch against the now half destroyed bench. The Avatar of Sloth looks down at the demon before looking back at you, shoving him down so that they hit the ground with another sickening crack.

He smiles as he stands in front of you, your eyes looking at anywhere but him as Belphie waits a couple more minutes before clearing his throat.

“MC.”

You can only make a noise, it’s almost like you are trying to hold back from swallowing your tongue. He calls your name again before letting out a quick ‘oh’ and smiling as he pats your head.

“That’s right. You have no idea how to be a master. Haha, I forgot.”

His smile is soft compared to angry trails of blood running down his arms.

“Here.”

It takes every single ounce of your self control to not slap him away when he grabs your hand, Belphie leaning down to press your palm on the top of his head just like you had been doing before.

“You need to praise me...or else I’ll feel neglected...”

He closes his eyes and leans into your touch.

“And do something much worse.”

Praise? He wanted praise? For almost killing--no--he had just killed another demon in front of you in cold blood for something as simple as some ruined books! Your eyes actively refuse to look at the corpse a couple of feet away from you as your hands continue to run through Belphie’s soft hair, the shock leaving you to mutter a few words that you thought would be enough to satiate your demon’s bloodlust and keep you safe.

“Good...Good job Belphie…Thank you.”

Your demon smiled, letting out a soft hum as you two walked hand in hand back to the House of Lamentation.

He had a nap to catch up to.

“You’ll like it.”

A bat’s eyes stares up at you as you do your best to not stare back.

“MC, just give it one bite.”

You give the sandwich in your hands a squeeze and see the eyeball pop out--

“Nope. Sorry Beel. That's just….this isn’t for me.”

Beel bumps you lightly as you both walk down the rather busy Devildom street, people walking around with several prime Devildom snacks as the food trucks behind you work overtime to try and feed all of the hungry demons that were patiently waiting their turn. It was rather sweet of your demon to invite you to one of his few lesser known hang out spots, one even his brothers didn’t know about, so they wouldn’t know about Beel eating half of these food trucks out of house and home.

Turning around, you look at the two food trucks that closed down already due to being labeled as Beel’s favourite.

Those poor souls, well at least they get their food’s worth in cash with how much Grim Beel was throwing at them to get the food out faster. The memory made you giggle as you hand the bat sandwich to Beel and look for something else to eat--

“Oh--”

A large hand tugs you back as a demon speeds past you with cash in hand, your back pressing against Beel's chest as he looks down at you in worry.

“Don’t stray too far away from me, MC. I don’t want to lose you.”

The little flip flop your heart makes feels light and fluffy, a smile creeping up on your face as you nod and hold out your hand for him to take, Beel smiling as you two walk down the busy street to make your way back home.

Until you sniffed the air.

Your eyes turn to the direction of the delicious smell, your stomach growling as you tug on Beel’s hand and point to the only thing that seemed edible for a human person.

A popcorn stand.

Purple eyes shine as Beel repays the favor and tugs you towards it, a Little D running the concession looking up at you two and grinning as he sees Beel.

“Finally! Been waiting for the star of this whole show to notice me!”

“Aren’t you popular~?”

Your hand pokes Beel’s side but the demon is already drooling at the mouth, holding up one finger as he looks down at the very simple menu.

“One gargantuan bucket of popcorn with Devilcheese topping and chupacabra butter drizzled on top--”

“Please.”

Beel nods, realizing he almost forgot his manners.

“Please.”

“Coming right up!”

The Little D takes out a rather big bucket and starts filling it out, Beel’s eyes not once straying from the deliciously warm, popped kernels entering the bucket as you take your time to look at the rest of the concession stand. As much as you would love to eat some of the popcorn with Beel, your hand was most likely at risk if it ever came near the vicinity of Beel and his food.

Besides, your demon would most likely finish that in 5 minutes flat.

So you scan the other items in front of you before shrugging and deciding on a small bag of pre-popped popcorn. This was more your speed anyway.

“Oh and can we also get--”

The bag gets snatched away from you quickly as another demon stands beside you, slamming down a couple of Grim on the counter as he makes quick work of the snack. You can’t help but stare as the demon grabs a handful and starts eating, his eyes meeting yours once he finally felt you staring.

“...did you want this, human?”

The question isn’t asked with any apology or remorse. It’s almost as if he is daring you to say something. Something inside you wants to call out to Beel to come help you deal with the less than savory Devildom interactions but you had 6 months left in this program...you needed to learn to stand up for yourself!

“No.”

And by standing for yourself you meant saving your own ass.

With a grin, the demon laughs and throws a piece of popcorn at you.

“Good answer. At least you’re a human who knows their place.”

The piece lands on your jacket, your eyes rolling as you wipe it off and turn back to look at Beel.

CRACK

Despite the sickening bone crushing sound as a spray of something flickered past your vision, nobody in the street seems to pay any attention to the now screaming demon behind you. You slowly turn around, looking down at the other demon now prostrated at your feet as the bag of popcorn was in Beel’s left hand--

And the demon’s arm was on his right.

“Order up--oh.”

The Little D blinks at the sight before frowning as he snaps his fingers at you, the demon’s screams now replaced with angry snarls and cries as Beel keeps holding him down onto the pavement. You put a hand over your mouth at the black blood now pooling under him and move away when the puddle starts growing outwards to you, your stomach churning and losing any sort of appetite you could have had at the sight.

“Hey human. I don’t care if one of your demons does this but mind taking it somewhere else? It’s going to wreck my shop.”

Wreck his--someone’s arm had just been ripped off!

Your eyes look to see if someone, anyone, was paying attention but the only thing you could seem to find were a couple of passing glances here and there as the rest of the Devildom went about its day despite the horrifying scene playing out next to them.

“Well?”

The Little D speaks up again.

“Aren’t you going to call him off?”

Beel’s usual friendly face is replaced with a calm anger as he stares down at the arm in front of him with a tentative look. He brings it close to his mouth, a similar string of saliva running down his lips as he opens his jaw---

“BEEL!”

He stops, eyes going back to stare at the way your legs were shaking and how much you were holding back from throwing up due to the smell of demon blood mixed with buttery popcorn.

“Scum like you aren’t worth eating.”

The Avatar of Gluttony drops the arm close to his victim, the demon quickly grabbing it and scampering off as you watch the droplets of black follow in his quick steps. You lean against the concession stand and put a hand over your heart as you try to calm yourself down and to get the bile in your throat to go back to where it belonged.

“MC.”

You jumped when you heard Beel calling out to you, your demon smiling as he took your hand and handed you the bag of popcorn you no longer wanted.

“This is the one you wanted, right?”

It was slimy. The popcorn inside was clearly not affected by the blood now sticking to the bag and your fingers.

“Beel...”

“Or did you want some of mine? If it’s with you I’ll always share.”

That wasn’t the issue! He had just ripped another demon’s arm off and he was going to eat it--!

Beel calls out your name once again, smiling as he gets closer and looks down at you expectantly. You both look at each other for a good three seconds, the longest three seconds of your life, before the demon picks you up so that your backside is perched on his arm. A part of you was still willing to complain and demand that he get you down but he takes one of your hands and puts it on his cheek, kissing your palm while his tongue licks up some of the blood that had dried between your fingers.

“Did I do good?”

You can’t answer, the only thing you can do is watch as he presses another kiss to your hand.

“I heard human masters praise their demons when they do good…”

He nibbles on your thumb.

“Aren’t you going to praise me, master?”

A tongue licks right under your fingernail, trying to get to every nook and cranny almost as if he was savoring you--

“Y--Yes!”

Beel’s face lights up as he looks at you, eyes softening and bringing back the Beel you knew as you rub your thumb lightly across his cheek and do your best to swallow back the bile threatening to gargle its way up your throat once more.

“Thank you Beel...thank you.”

The touch of a master felt so nice, Beel thought, that it almost made it worth not eating what he had craved for in such a long time. But he was satiated with just this--the demon’s blood on your fingers tasted better than any topping he could think of.

“MC~!”

You laugh as you feel Asmo wrap his arms around you and tug you close, the music thumping in your ears as Solomon chuckles at the image you two make. It had been a rough week for Asmo with the launch of his new perfume line, the plans he had for his pop up stores and then the collaboration he wanted to do with Majolish that was almost late in its release--but somehow it had all finished right on time in what had to be the longest five days in your life.

Being a celebrity in the human world was hard, you thought, but being a celebrity in the Devildom was much harder when you had to do most of the collaborations and testing of products yourself.

Maybe that is why Asmo brought you along, you guessed. In a way, you were providing him with emotional support and praising him every step of the way whenever he managed to get one thing done and immediately move to the other.

There were no breaks this whole week, either for you or for him, so coming to the Fall after the announcement of the collaboration with Majolish was like the cherry on top of a pretty piled up ice cream sundae.

Asmo lets out a happy hum as he presses a kiss to your cheek, pulling away with a loud smooch as he settles into the backrest of the seat.

“Everything got done on time! I can’t believe those jerks at the perfume company thought to move up the launch to Monday when they knew that I would also be talking to the palette company the same day! I gave each and every one of those executives my calendar! It’s like they can’t even read…”

Solomon shrugs and takes a sip of his drink, looking out into the sea of bodies on the dance floor dancing along to the music.

“You are becoming increasingly popular lately, Asmo, maybe they just wanted to get the launch done soon so they could start another project with you.”

The Avatar of Lust sighs and leans against you, cuddling close as you run a hand through his hair instinctively.

You’ve been doing this two or three times for the past five days so it's almost become second nature.

“I understand that they do want to get me into as many ad campaigns as possible, but if that is cutting into the time I spend with MC then they can just wait.”

His eyes shine when he looks at you, your heart picking up in speed as he leans closer.

“Right, MC? You’re all mine tonight?”

You can’t help it, Asmo has been working hard and you knew he thrived off attention so you just answer without thinking.

“As long as you don’t tell the other’s about it...I’m all yours.”

Asmo’s squealing and his arms wrapping around you cover up the worried look Solomon sends your way--

Only to be interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

“Asmodeus?”

It’s hard not to stare at the pretty demon in front of you. She is wearing a beautiful dress that shows off every asset from her hips to her chest, making it hard to concentrate on just one thing as she sends Asmo a shy smile. Her wings twitch lightly, letting you see the way the inside skin of her bat-like wings caught the neon lights and made them shine even more.

You still hadn’t gotten used to seeing succubuses and it showed.

Your demon unwraps himself from you and sits up straight, the other sitting down beside him and subtly pulling him close to whisper something into his ear. He nods and lets her go, the demon waving at him and heading out to the dance floor as Asmo starts stepping out of the booth the three of you occupied.

You can't help but ask.

"What did she say?"

Asmo takes out a pocket mirror and fixes his hair.

“She wanted to dance. I think I saw her at the pop up store today so she’s most likely a fan.”

He snaps the mirror shut and sends a wink your way.

“I’ll see you two in a bit~! Don’t miss me too much, okay?”

Solomon waves goodbye as you watch Asmo get lost in the crowd, sighing as you let yourself relax.

“He certainly kept you busy.”

You chuckle and put your drink down, eyes staring at the demons losing themselves to the song.

“I didn’t mind...it was nice to see him work so hard on something he was passionate about. I never see him try this hard at RAD so I didn’t know he had such a work oriented attitude when it came to stuff like his product line. Especially when it comes to organizational skills.”

Solomon snorts.

“Did you see his face when one of the demons tried to stock the facial cream right next to the body wash in the store? I thought he was going to have a breakdown.”

Both of you laugh at the surreal memory as the music slows down to a smooth and intimate beat.

“MC.”

“Hm?”

Swirling his drink in the glass, Solomon's voice gets serious as he speaks up again. “How much praise have you been giving Asmo lately?”

What...kind of question was that? Did he mean how much you had been praising Asmo this week or as a whole?

“A regular amount?”

There was Monday when you praised him with dealing with such a short notice change to the plans, Tuesday when Lucifer caught him trying to sneak away from RAD in order to talk to some other company that wanted to work with him and he ended up coming back to RAD instead, Wednesday was a day full of praise because you got to see Asmo’s work ethic first hand with the pop up store as well as how nice he had been to his fans, Thursday and Friday sort of blended together---

“You may want to cut it back.”

The beat drops low as the music gets more intense, the bodies on the floor grinding against each other as Solomon puts his drink down and makes an effort to look you in the eyes.

“Asmo hasn’t had a master like you before. You tend to be free and open with your affection and to a demon that is--”

“Sol, I'm not their master. I'm their friend. ”

You didn't want to explain this to Solomon again. The title of master was so pretentious, just because you shared a pact with the seven Lords of Hell didn't mean you could boss them around! And you didn't want to order them around in the first place!

The brothers were your family, Asmo was your family and you'd be damned if anyone tried to put you in a level above them.

Surprise is the first reaction you see in his eyes before Solomon concedes and drinks the rest of his cocktail, gently placing the glass down and sending you an understanding smile.

"The brothers really got lucky when they got you, didn't they? A human who is kind even to a demon."

He taps the table with his hand and stands up, a hand going up to stop you when you copy his movements.

"I'm sure Asmo will want to keep you here for a bit more. I think I can make my way to Purgatory Hall by myself."

Well, now you feel bad.

Solomon knew more than you on the matter of demons and pacts but you knew how to handle the brothers now. You’ve been with them a full year, that’s enough to know a person’s inner workings. You could handle Lucifer at his crankiest, Mammon at his craziest and Satan at his angriest. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to know more about pacts, it’s just that what you had with the brothers, what you had with Asmo, went beyond that--

Your view of the club is cut off as you feel a pair of hands cover your eyes.

"Guess who?"

Fight and flight instincts are subdued when you recognize the voice, your body relaxing and smiling as you touch the demon’s hand to pry it away--only to feel something warm and wet covering his skin.

"Asmo?"

"Ding! Ding!"

It's strange how quickly you’ve come to recognize the smell of demonic blood. The brothers had done their best to hide that side of the Devildom for you but you caught glimpses of the violence here and there. It was a demon’s nature, you supposed, but the strong odor always made your eyes tear up.

So having the smell so close to you now, it was making you dizzy and keeping you rooted to your spot.

"Oh? MC you are all tensed up--ah."

The tilt in his voice changes as Asmo pulls his hands away so you could blink away the spots dancing around your eyes.

"Do I smell bad, MC?"

You waste no time standing up, turning around and then walking behind the booth, pupils shrinking as you see the black liquid running from Asmo's arm all the way to the very tip of his fingers. Whatever isn't soaked up by Asmo's jacket drips onto the floor, each drop heavy and messy as they littered the flashing floor.

"I probably do to a human, huh? The feeling alone is disgusting--"

"Asmo what happened?!”

Why was he bleeding so much? There were no cuts in his jacket and he didn’t seem to be freaking out. Did something happen in the dancefloor, had someone tried to attack him--why wasn’t he more alarmed!? You stop investigating his arm when Asmo coos at you as he takes your hand and intertwines it with yours.

“Always so cute~ Are you worried for me, MC?”

“Yes?! Did you get into a fight--?”

“Shush shush.”

A blood stained finger taps your lips, Asmo letting out a sly grin as he leans close to whisper into your ear.

“It isn’t mine, darling, you don’t need to worry so much.”

Your hands try to tug away from his when he speaks but he keeps you close, his other hand wrapping around your waist as he forces your attention on his voice and his voice alone.

“The succubus I was dancing with? She was a bit...rude. I don’t know why she started making such accusatory comments about you keeping me all to yourself and not letting me pay attention to my fans, but she just let her mouth run anyway. She started saying such mean things about you, MC, I just couldn’t take it.”

He lets out a happy sigh, as if satisfied with the decision he had taken as he buries his face in your shoulder.

“So I just ripped one of her wings off to warn her. I didn’t think she’d spray this much out--ruined my entire outfit.”

Asmo presses a kiss to your neck as you try to pull away again but can only budge from his hold as he starts swaying you to the music.

“Asmo--”

“Hehe, I did a good thing, didn’t I? What is it Levi says? I protected your honor?”

His fingernails seem to almost dig into your back, your body now barely feeling like yours as you let Asmo move you side to side as the music switches to a love song from the human world.

“So shouldn’t I get some praise, master?”

You can’t breathe. It’s not just Asmo pulling you close as you feel yourself sag in his arms with how tightly he is holding you, you can’t breathe because of his confession and just how stupid you could be.

Solomon didn’t praise Asmo as much, in fact he was stricter with Asmo than the other demons you knew he had a pact with, and you had just blown off any sort of advice because you thought that you and the brothers were the same.

“Masteeeer~ Tell me something good...please~”

His words are no longer coherent but just mumbles as you feel him breathing you in as the music grows louder and louder and his grip grows tighter and tighter.

Asmo grins as he feels two hands embrace him, burying your face in his chest as you let him move you in whatever way he wants.

“...thank you...thank you for protecting me…”

He lets out a pleased sigh as he feels your arm rub his back up and down, his mouth opening up to lick and bite at the skin you were so carelessly letting him be so close but stopping himself. It wouldn’t make sense to worship his master with all this blood on one side of him. Words of praise were enough for now.

Once they get back to the House of Lamentation, he’ll ask for a different kind of reward~

Demons do not necessarily have to please their masters but the stronger the connection the stronger the need to make their devotion shown. It is important that the connection between a demon and their master stays one of giving and taking. If the balance is shifted, the human or the demon may lose control of the pact entirely, leaving the remaining party to act irrationally. Just remember:

Your master is temporary.

What exists between you and your master is temporary.

Humans stay with humans, demons stay with demons.

You read the passage a couple more times and then take a peek at the blonde in front of you, blinking when you see Satan meeting your eyes. Both of you look at each other before he breaks first, smiling as he puts his book down and speaks up.

“How are you holding up?”

Looking down at your notes, you blink at the lack of writing on the page. You two had been studying here for an hour for your Pactology exam but your eyes had just been stuck on that passage since you first opened the book. You weren’t going to be forward enough to say that Satan was in love with you but you could admit that the feelings between him and you had certainly grown.

“I’m good just...studying, you know?” In fact, it had been that way with all of the brothers.

You weren’t necessarily friends but also not necessarily lovers. All of it was just a convoluted mess that all of you preferred to not give a name because of just how complicated it was.

Yet Satan had always been a bit more straightforward with you.

The rather direct straight messages, the always polite yet flirty attitude, the secret glances he thought you wouldn’t notice that used to make you laugh but now they made you worry.

Were you being too lenient?

The book was set up as a case study so there were some pages filled with stories about demons who had done atrocious things in order to please their masters in the name of 'love'. Some demons had killed entire royalty lines while others had topped over governments and kingdoms. It wasn’t necessarily spoken as if it was a bad thing, what a demon did when they were in love, it was just spoken as a sort of ‘warning’ that most demons should be the level headed ones in the pact relationship.

Lest they wish to be subjugated to a unilateral pact rather than a bilateral one, all for 'love'.

But maybe you didn't need to worry about that? The stories they spoke of were of some sort of twisted devotion a demon could have for their master! The brothers weren’t devoted to you like that. Satan still teased you from time to time and he knew you were still working your way around having seven pacts. Why would he be devoted to a human like yourself? Why would any of them be devoted to you in such a way!

You close the book as your demon comes to sit down next to you, Satan putting an arm around your chair and sliding closer so he could look at your notes. He hums at the blank pages before smiling and opening the book back up, scanning the index for a moment before tapping one line and flipping to the correct page.

“The test is going to be handwritten so you have to make sure you can explain this case in detail--” He flips back a couple pages, not noticing you looking at him as he clicks his tongue when he finds it.

“And this one as well. If you know these two by the time the test rolls around you should be fine, these are the professors favourite cases so they are bound to be on there--"

“Satan, how do you feel about me?”

Surprised wouldn't begin to cover what he looks like. Satan pulls away slightly to get a better look at you and then smiles as he tucks a stray piece of hair over your ear.

"Why the sudden question?"

You can't help but blush, he always acted like this even in public. Were you enabling him, maybe, by letting him do this? But it felt so nice--

"Just...want to know, you know?

Satan nods before flipping a couple of pages on the book and stopping on the page you were reading. He takes a couple of seconds to scan the words.

"Humans stay with humans...demons stay with demons."

He blinks and looks at you, his eyes fixated on every involuntary twitch as the library gets even more quiet.

"Do you believe this, MC?"

You look at Satan and then back to the book.

"What do you mean?"

His expression softens as he clears his throat.

"Well some of these books were written a very long time ago and times change. Just like the Devildom changes. Look at us, we have a library now. One with computers and everything."

"And not one with typewriters?"

Both of you laugh, the mundanity of it all setting in as you feel yourself relax. It was the same back in the human world, afterall. Things changed, people changed, everything was in a constant state of change so why shouldn't the Devildom experience the same thing?

You weren't doing anything wrong.

"I'll find a newer version then--"

"No need. The notes I took should be enough. Besides--"

Satan scoots even closer and leans over the table to grab his notebook, smiling as his hand grabs your shoulder and brings you closer to him.

"We can just study like this. Since we are at the library we should be keeping quiet."

With renewed confidence, you smile and lean against his shoulder as the hand on the back of your chair pulls you in closer to press a kiss on your cheek. The next few minutes are spent doing nothing but whispering to each other about the exam and several other questions you might have had before Satan mentions something about grabbing a book he needs and how you just needed to sit tight.

Your eyes had to stop staring at so many pact symbols so the break was highly welcome.

Rubbing them with your hands, you miss the demon standing up and walking towards your table.

“...human.”

The tone is stern but surprisingly polite, making you pay attention quickly as you greet the demon with a slight head nod. They take a minute to look at you up and down before speaking again.

“Listen...I really don’t mean to sound rude but I really don’t think you should be doing this outside.”

You blink and look around you, trying to find the clear social violation you had crossed, which only made the demon roll their eyes and tap their finger on the table to bring back your attention.

“I meant the affection, human. I understand that Lord Satan is proud or whatever of having you as his master but that sort of praise should be kept private. If you want to subjugate your demon like that, please do so where none of us can see---”

The liquid that hits your face is warm, disgustingly warm, that you immediately put a hand over your eyes and hiss at the small stinging sensation it seems to be leaving behind. A scream, far too close to you, makes you jump from your seat as you rub at your eyes furiously with your sleeve in order to see what had happened...or what was possibly attacking you.

You don't waste a second, you immediately react with your first instinct.

"Satan!"

Your blood was pumping, your face was warm, every single hair on your body was standing on end as you finally rub and blink away the thing that was blinding you--

Only to be met with Satan's eyes shining as they look at you, a smile on his face while preening at the fact that you had called out his name, not once caring about the eyeball he was now holding in his hand and the demon kneeling in front of him gripping at the blood and skin that was now pooling and dripping down their face and to the floor while hazardously, screaming bloody murder.

“MC…”

Satan’s breathing is heavy as he throws the eye off to the side, smiling as he ignores the demon bleeding out on the floor in favor of taking care of you.

“What a shame, it got you all dirty.”

He takes a handkerchief from his pocket while his other hand went to delicately touch your chin--

Only to blink when you step away from him, his hand hanging in the air as he looks at you. You open your mouth to speak about what he had done, to give any sort of reprimand or punishment but the anger in your demon’s eyes as he smiled and tried to reach out for you again kept you from saying anything and only letting you close your mouth as his hand tilted your chin up.

“I was right. We should have just studied in my room. You shouldn’t have had to deal with someone like them.”

You can only stare at him in horror as he cleans away the blood slowly, licking his lips before leaning down to give your now clean cheek a brief peck.

“Aren’t you happy I was here to protect you, MC?”

Your eyes darted down to the demon on the floor, picking themselves up and running out of the library as everybody else continued working in silence, as if only a mild inconvenience had happened that had barely disrupted the atmosphere of the library.

“I did a good job, didn’t I? Getting them away from you..”

Why did no one help them? Why did no one stop it?

“You even called out to me.”

Your heart stops as your demon takes your hand and presses his lips to your knuckles.

“What sort of praise will you give me, master?”

Oh.

No one stopped him because that was your job.

The text flashes in your head, a note you had also forgotten to jot down. You do not need praise from your master.

Humans do not realize it but their praise, due to the pact's effects, gives a sense of calm that is not present in a demon’s nature and can keep a demon subjugated and even persuade them to make the pact permanent. A demon will find themselves seeking out that praise indefinitely, leading to irrational acts of violence that aren’t stated in the pact and an increase in a demon’s possessive nature towards their master if praise isn’t given often.

Keep a level head and remember, you work for you and not for them.

Satan smiles as he feels your fingers on his cheek, wiping the blood away slowly as you try to continue the action despite the small thrum of pain on your thumb as you touched the now drying black blood.

“You did good...thank you…thank you Satan.”

It’s like he can breathe again, your demon thinks, with the way you are touching his hair and looking up at him. You looked so helpless and how could he possibly ignore such a cute look? He takes your hand and helps you pick the stuff strewn across the table, tutting at the mess the bug dared to leave behind on the notebooks.

But it didn’t matter now, his room was a lot quieter and a better place to study anyway.

If he and his master ended up studying at all.

FALL INTO DESPAIR!

You sigh as your fingers move against the controllers, your character gliding on the screen as they did their signature move and jumped back onto the platform with great ease.

Good thing this was just the practice stage, you were pretty sure you wouldn't have made that smooth a-jump if you were playing against Levi.

Another sigh escapes you as you look at the door.

Where did Levi even go?

What was the point of playing a new game if he wasn't around to tell you every single detail about it? That was the first reason you had bought Demonic Gear anyway, to laugh as Levi complained or praised a certain feature in the game.

This game specifically had been one Levi was extremely hyped to buy, even inviting you to wait with him outside one of the few game stores the Devildom had opened for the release.

The experience itself was one you had to take part in, Levi insisted as he dragged you outside, one that would take a normie like you and turn them into a hardcore gamer.

Which you honestly couldn't care less about.

You just liked seeing him excited.

Was it silly to say that it also got you excited as well? Levi tended to share everything with you when it came to his interests that it made it hard not to get excited as well.

And with how often Levi tended to put himself down for having no friends, inviting you to something he enjoyed was probably the biggest test of friendship he could give you.

One, you would like to say, you barely passed.

You look at your fingers on the controller, frowning as you tap 'A' to restart the match.

Waiting in line with Levi had been a good experience like you thought, he had a backpack full of snacks and even warmers for your pockets so that your hands wouldn't get cold.

It was cute when you offered to hold hands inside your jacket pocket so that he also wouldn't feel cold, Levi nearly dropping a full chip bag in surprise as he sputtered about how he needed to keep himself bright and alert in case the doors opened early--!

Only to mutter in a low voice how he wouldn't mind doing it for a few minutes, just as long as you paid attention as well.

You smiled and let his hand intertwine with yours while huddled close, smiling whenever you felt him squeeze down just to prove that this was in fact real.

Maybe that had been your first mistake.

The doors had opened earlier than they had advertised, people immediately rushing in as the line moved fast and hazardously--

"Move over, human trash!"

It was fast, whatever the demon did to make you trip, but you barely could pull your hand away as you felt yourself about to fall--

"MC!"

Levi's hands were rough as he caught and pulled you away from the sea of people, hugging you tight to his chest as the demons in line quickly shuffled into the store and out with their copies in hand.

By the time you two were able to go in, there wasn't a single copy left.

The walk back home had been quiet, a look of guilt on your face as you tell him that the moment a new shipment came you would go back and buy it yourself--

But Levi just said it wasn't your fault and that he was just happy he got to hold your hand.

You insisted on going to his room and playing a different game but Levi asked you to just wait for him there, stating that there was something he needed to do before he could be worthy to stand by your side again.

That line alone made you worried. He only talked like this when he was really upset about something.

Without waiting one second, you run to his room and search up the game on the online store. Levi was planning to spend this amount anyway so it didn’t matter whether you purchased it online or as a physical copy, right!

Who were you kidding? It mattered to him...and so it mattered to you.

“Maybe I can reserve a copy now? Surely the shipment will arrive soon--”

“MC?” You jump up and put the remote down on his chair, smiling as you turn around to at least tell him about how you got him a consolation prize--!

Yet your gasp interrupts any sort of good news that you could give, almost tripping over yourself as you watch a small drop of blood drip off from Levi’s nails, the rest matted to the clothes of his demon form as he gave you a small smile.

“Levi!” All your thoughts are on immediately making sure he isn’t hurt, going to reach for his arm--but feeling your hand stopped by his as he immediately gets down on one knee.

“I took care of them, Master.”

“...what? Levi--”

“The rats that tried to hurt you.”

He looks up and you feel yourself back away, the hand grabbing yours tugging you back slightly as you look away from him. Levi had never looked so focused, his eyes never once breaking eye contact with yours as he switched from grabbing onto your hand to holding it with both of his hands.

“I saw their faces...the ones who did something so unforgivable. My instincts had told me to get rid of them right that instant but my Master needed my protection first.”

Levi presses your hand to his cheek and closes his eyes.

“But I followed their scent afterwards, the sick scent they had left behind on you when they got too close. They hadn’t even gone straight home to play the game they had stolen from us--they were just bragging...bragging about their foolish attempt to hurt you.”

He smiles as his hold gets tighter.

“But a fool always gets what a fool deserves.”

You remembered that line. The fourth book from the TSL series, the line the Lord of Shadows whispers to Henry before killing off one of the Lord of Fool’s messengers who had been sent to take Henry away. You remember Levi talking about how that book nearly had not been printed because of such a graphic detail on the description of the murder, revealing a side of the Lord of Shadows that fans may not have seen before…

The quiet and reclusive Lord, ripping the arm of the messenger clean off before proceeding to gouge out the inside of the stump with just his nails, the messenger only being able to scream in pain as the viscera gathered in a pool of meat and blood right next to his feet--!

Your hand twitches in realization as the blood burns your skin slightly, like when you put it far too close to the stove when it was clear that you needed to pull away.

“And better news yet, I reaped their spoils for you...for us…”

He shakily presses your hand on his head, his smile getting wobbly as a small trace of saliva slowly drips down the side of his lips.

“S--So please...praise me, my Master! Praise the good job your demon has done for you…! The Hero he has become for you!”

In your head, you remember the rest of that scene. The Lord of Shadows had turned to Henry with a nervous but victorious smile, claiming how he had saved his friend from being taken away from his side. Yet the book spoke about Henry's sudden and tiny fear of what the Lord of Shadows was capable of, his praise not born from gratitude but from fear of what would happen if he didn't give the once evil Lord what he wanted.

So you spoke your line perfectly and with what must have been the same fear that Henry felt as you gently ran your fingers through Levi's hair.

"My...my friend. My hero...thank you for keeping me safe...and keeping me close to you."

Levi feels his heart beat fast at your words, his breathing now ragged and heavy as he feels your words affect every single nerve in his body.

This...this was his first headpat! A headpat from his Master! Of all the items he could have possibly gotten from this quest--this was the rarest item of all! Even if he had to go and waste his time with some normie demons, it really had all been worth it! All for his master's praise!

Maybe if he begged enough...their Master would spend the night with him as well?

Your leg was bouncing more than you’d care to think about.

How did you even get into this mess? It wasn’t that you were unsupervised at any time during the day, Mammon was always the one insisting he walk you to and from classes the first few months of your pact with him so it was almost impossible to be alone..

But demon's were crafty and you had let your guard down while in RAD.

You look around and sigh, Mammon was really late.

It had been his idea to meet in this cafe, why was he the one late!? Your leg starts bouncing again as you look down at your phone and the rather glaring message that was from an unmarked number.

[You better not forget your promise, human, else we'll go after your scumbag protector!]

As much as you loved Mammon, it was getting harder to get him out of his debts nowadays. Not that you could possibly pay off any sort of debts that he had, you were sure some of them were in the millions, but this one had been different.

Some demons had managed to corner you outside of RAD, telling you that Mammon had given them a fake human artifact and how they wanted the 'real' thing.

You had made a face apparently because they told you it wasn't something that disgusting and that they weren't the kind of demons to 'mess around' with humans and how that was only for freaks.

They just wanted something of yours that they could sell.

Which, okay, you could do that.

"Mammon, where are you…"

They had agreed to meet you in an alley near the cafe you were currently at, one of the reasons you said yes to Mammon in the first place. You were just going to have coffee with him and then excuse yourself to give the demons what they wanted. It was going to be the quickest exchange of your life if only your demon would get here!

You grab your phone and shoot back a quick message, telling them to be patient and that you would be there in a few minutes.

The promise was getting harder to keep though.

With the ghost waiters staring at you and the other demons looking at you pitifully for sitting at a table all alone, you were starting to get more and more upset by the minute.

This was spoiling Mammon. Lucifer was right, you were actively spoiling Mammon at this point.

But how could you say no to him! Mammon may have his moments and, yes, he may have tried to sell something of yours but almost all of that cash that he seemed to get back went to get small presents for you and him! Your entire shelf back at the House of Lamentation was filled with little knick knacks he had bought you over the past few months and even the sight of them were enough to send your heart flying.

Any gift that Mammon gave you was stored and kept away at a very special place, both in your room and in your heart.

You weren’t shy about it either, any sort of jewelry he would buy would be worn by you the next day. It was met by annoyed comments and an occasional outburst as to why Mammon had such bad taste in jewelry but you knew that was the brother’s usual way of teasing you and him.

Your eyes go down to the bracelet you were wearing, smiling as you rub your thumb over the small golden links that kept it hanging around your wrist.

He had done so much for you, it was time you did this for him.

[Mammon! I need to go somewhere first! I’ll meet you at the cafe when I can, okay?]

Good thing you didn’t tell him you got here first and even better thing that you didn’t order anything. The chair scrapes against the cobblestone as you make your way out of the cafe, running down a somewhat familiar street as you try to find the correct alleyway.

“In front of The Fall and then take a left, in front of The Fall and take a left--”

You smile as the lights of The Fall greet you, illuminating the only alleyway that could possibly fit the description. Digging into your pockets, you pull out the artifact you were going to hand over and nod in determination.

“Hand it over and get out...nothing hard about that.”

Your hand goes over your heart as you try to calm it down while you turn and take the first few steps in--

“Mammon?”

The name escapes you before you can take in the image in front of you, a pair of blueish eyes staring at you Mammon’s leathery wings open up to hide the splatters of blood all over the concrete walls, but failing to hide the thing that he was holding in his hand.

A head. A head with a spine underneath that curved so perfectly, just like horns adorsninf the top.

The horns of a demon who looked so so similar to the one you had spoken to today--

“MC?”

His fingers immediately drop what he is holding on the poorly hidden pool of viscera strewn around him before retracting back to the fingers you were so used to seeing steal that it was so different to see them covered in blood.

"Why didn't you wait a the cafe…?"

And although you know it's him, you know that Mammon would never hurt you, your body takes a few steps back when he turns around to face you entirely.

Mammon in his demon form wasn’t anything new but your brain had equated it to match more serious events such as being in the Demon Lord’s castle or a dangerous situation. So seeing him in this form, with blood almost dripping off the leathery garments as he turns to look at you and calls out your name again in a worried but serious tone.

It was getting harder to fight your survival instincts.

He holds out his hand and you quickly recoil away, Mammon looking down and cursing when he sees it is caked with viscera and demon blood, the stench of it getting heavier the closer he gets to you. Quickly wiping it away, your demon wastes no time in meeting your steps as his hand goes to grab the back of your head and his arm wraps around your waist to pull you close to him.

“Why didn’t you tell me they were bothering you?”

Your eyes were stinging from the smell of death all around him, which you guessed was a good thing since you didn’t even know how to answer his question.

“When did they get to you...I was with you this entire week…”

It was like he wasn’t even directing these questions at you, just thinking out loud to himself as you feel his wings stretch out so that you wouldn’t be able to see the bloody mess on the cobblestone street--

A hand runs through your hair as Mammon hugs you tighter, your lips now pressed in a thin line as you hear vague whispers of what he should have done to them in the first place if they had dared to come and talk to you so openly.

“They shouldn’t have been around you, none of them have, nobody but me should be around you always…”

Your hand grips at his bicep as you feel his hold tighten.

“I had to protect my master...who else is going to protect you but me?”

He quickly pulls you away slightly and cups your face, your skin crawling when you feel the other hand he had fail to clean press against your cheek as he forced your eyes on him.

“You really should have told me something sooner...but I don’t mind forgiving my Master for something they couldn’t control.”

Mammon smiles and wraps his wings around you, so that nothing could possibly deter you from staring only at him.

“...I’m your protector, aren’t I?”

His hands fingernails lightly dig into your cheek as you jump when he speaks again.

“Say I’m your protector...please Master…”

It was fight of flight for you and the only way you could defend yourself was to soothe the beast in front of you with the words he wanted to hear.

“You’re...you’re my protector...Mammon...you always protect me…”

Your eyes never tear away from him as you copy his movements, cupping his cheeks and doing your best to hold back tears as the worry inside of you morphs into an awful dreadful feeling.

“Say it again.”

“You’re my protector…”

“Again.”

“Thank you for protecting me…”

“Again.”

“Mammon please…”

Your demon lets go of your cheeks as you start to cry, smiling when he feels just how shaken you were by the whole situation. It must have been scary to be bullied by those scumbags, wasn’t it? But you didn’t have to cry anymore, your Mammon was here to protect you from everything that wished to take you away from him. He presses his lips to the corners of your eyes before hugging you close, reminding himself that from now on he would never dare to leave you alone.

His master deserved his protection, even if they didn’t know they needed it.

“Nice to meet you!”

You try to hold your smile just as you are holding out your hand, looking at one of the many Dukes of Hell that Diavolo was introducing you to during one of his many birthday parties.

Only for them to once again ignore you, smiling at Lucifer as they shake his hand and go back to enjoying the party.

“...well so much for that.”

You sigh and let your hand flop to your side as Lucifer stares at the guest walk away before turning back to you and offering you a sympathetic smile. As much as you wish you could return it, it was annoying to think that Diavolo had once again invited you to one of his many parties and decided to ignore the very clear fact that you were still a human.

And that most demons, especially demon royalty, tended to hate your guts.

No matter what you could possibly represent, you were still one of the races that they believed themselves to be superior to and no amount of smiling and hand shaking could fix that.

So it was annoying that Diavolo still thought that he could put you in those situations and pretend like there was nothing wrong.

“Did you see how she looked at me?”

“They were most likely impressed by your outfit, they had the decency to look at you at least.”

“They stared into my eyes for one second before ignoring me and being all smiley with you.”

You make a face as you turn towards Lucifer and give him your best aristocratic ‘I’m so much better than you’ gesture.

“Why Lucifer, you look just as radiant as the day we met! Would you save a dance for me later on tonight?”

Lucifer chuckles and takes your hand, leading you towards the stairs of the great palace.

“As much as I enjoyed the joke, I will have to let you go. One of the Duchesses of the Seventh Layer of the Devidom has asked for a dance and Diavolo fears she might throw an earth shattering tantrum if she does not get her wish.”

Your eyes look out towards the crowd as you spot the duchess in question, her eyes not once staring at you but almost drilling holes into Lucifer’s back as she tapped her fingers against her arm in anger at the mere thought of being kept waiting.

“Oh her? I like the hairpin she has on.”

Letting go of Lucifer’s hand, you go up the first few steps as Lucifer’s eyes remain fixed on your form.

“Her hairpin?”

“Yeah. I think it was a ghost lily? Either way, it was beautiful. It looked like it could go well with either long or short hair, those kinds of hairpins are hard to come by.”

You grin and turn to look at Lucifer.

“You think it’d look good on me?”

He doesn’t get to answer the question as you feel a rumble underneath your feet, both of you turning to stare at the fuming woman making her way towards you.

“That’s my cue. Good luck!”

Lucifer calls out to you but you are already halfway up the stairs, giggling to yourself as you realize just what your poor demon had to go through by being Diavolo’s second right hand man. That Duchess looked far too angry to be a regular demon, if you had stayed any longer she would have probably killed you right where you stood!

Well, not like Lucifer would let that happen.

Despite already being far away from the crowd, your smile stays on your face as you make your way towards one of the many balconies around the castle. The air is fresh and cool on your face as you lean against the dark marble to take in the view of the Devildom from Diavolo’s castle.

Whatever this had been, whether a cultural exchange program or some form of divine punishment, it was becoming easier to manage.

In fact, it had become a lot easier to manage once you had Lucifer’s pact mark imprinted on your left eye, officially making it the most prominent pact mark on your body. As much as you wished to believe that you had accustomed yourself to regular ol' Devildom life, Lucifer's pact mark had done most of the heavy lifting.

And that alone was enough to make you feel guilty.

The point of this entire 'exchange' was to lessen the strain of many years of conflict between the three realms and while Simeon and Solomon were pulling their weight, with Luke following behind rather dutifully, you had still struggled with basic demon interactions.

Until you got Lucifer's mark.

It didn't necessarily get better, but you were snarled at less by those who didn't want you there and that was enough to count it as a positive.

You press your hands against the marble of the balcony and let out another sigh. Didn't this just prove you were also putting pressure on Lucifer? Ontop of what he already had?

No. You weren't about to be a dead weight to your demon.

With how often Lucifer took care of you? And how much he said he treasured you? No! You refused to be a burden to him!

Shaking off the sadness you take in two deep breaths before humming and thinking of a way to possibly repay it back to him. You two dancing at Diavolo's party would be a bit too much for guests--so maybe you could dance here?

Yes. Yes!

You grin and put your hands up as if you were with a partner, doing your best in imitating the basic waltz steps that Lucifer had taught you. Surprising him by offering to dance outside, with the moon shining down on you two as you thanked him for all he had done!

Best idea you've had this whole cultural exchange, really.

You laugh and spin around but a barrier stops you from making a full spin, hands grabbing your shoulders and keeping you in place.

"Are you enjoying the party, Master?"

Perfect! He had finished!

"Lucifer! I had an idea! How about we--"

The hairpin catches your attention first, the ornament being just as beautiful as close as it was at a distance yet speckled with something red against its shiny gold leaves as Lucifer held it up to you--

"Lucifer!"

You push the hairpin away from your face as Lucifer smiles and leans into your touch, your left hand cupping the side of his face that had been sprinkled with the most blood. Your eyes go down to his collar and gasp when you see angry, red lines running from under his chin all the way to his collarbone, making his black shirt look even darker with the blood it was now absorbing.

And yet he didn't seem panicked, just smiling calmly as he holds your hand and presses it against the harsh wounds.

"MC."

"Lucifer, we need to get you some help! We--We need to get Barbatos or Diavolo! Oh my stars you're bleeding so much--!'

"MC."

"What happened! Is anybody else hurt? Why didn't you call for me--!"

You yelp when you feel Lucifer pressing your hands against the wound, the blood feeling wrong against your hand and skin but it does help from feeling the angry ridges from where the skin had been ripped.

"Do I look in pain?"

No. And that's what worried you the most.

"You...you don't but--"

"Believe me, these wounds are more than welcomed. Especially when they are a sign of how I protected you."

He keeps your hand pressed against his wound, pressing it closer and closer until you were sure that the tingling sensation in your hand was the feeling of it lightly burning your skin.

"The Duchess was just a pest as I thought but one good thing came from her corpse. I figured if a demoness that could run her tongue for so long didn't need her head to begin with."

The words don't hit you until you feel the hairpin pressed against your hair, feeling it clip into place as Lucifer adjusted it just a bit.

"No matter if short or long...I think this hairpin suits you best."

Lucifer smiles as he wraps one arm around your waist, keeping your hand trapped against his wound while he pressed a kiss to the tears now forming around the corner of your eyes.

"Lucifer…"

"It's alright, Master, no need to thank me with your words. This should have been expected of me in the beginning..."

He smiles as he takes your other hand and places it on his shoulder, gently guiding you through the steps you had danced by yourself as his lips move from your eyes to your own trembling ones.

"Although it would be a shame if I had to go after another duke or duchess all to seek out my master's praise...it would be a hassle for Barbatos to clean up…"

Lucifer smiles as your lips quickly press against his, your entire body trembling against him as he continues to guide you through your little dance. How awful, you were probably cold from standing outside so long…

He'd be a waste of a demon if he didn't warm his master up, but he guessed that it would be appropriate to look for a private room first.

No need to let the pests see how cutely his Master cried for him.