"Another helping of Rat Tongue Ravioli, please!"

All we could do was cringe as we watched Beelzebub receive his seventh helping from the poor wait staff. Eating with him was like having front row seats to a live Mukbang show.
"So...anyway, as I was saying..." Solomon returned to our previous conversation, which in itself was actually more like a lesson. "If you ever want to summon one of your pacted demons, you must use this chant..."

He's...actually a really nice guy? Why did I get weird vibes from him when we first met?

"Denizens of darkness, I summon upon...and then the name of your demon. In your case, you would say the avatar of gluttony, Beelzebub." He motioned to the somehow still famished ginger, who was completely oblivious to us as he ate.

"Don't go summoning unless you need it. It's fucking annoying. The amount of times I've been summoned to entertain witches sucks..." Mammon muttered, resting his elbows on the table.
"Magic Mammon..." I whispered under my breath, feeling chuffed when Solomon got my joke, snickering to himself beside me.

It's kind of nice to meet another human here. Especially one that doesn't seem to hate me by default...

"So, did Simeon invite you to his little camping trip? Last I heard, Lord Diavolo was pretty excited about the idea." The mention of the trip made me bounce in my seat, fists balling in excitement.
"He did! I'm super keen! I've only ever been camping on my own before, so going with friends would be sick!"

Solomon smiled at my reaction, but Mammon just stared at me from over the top of his shades.
"You haven't gone with your little human friends?" His question pierced me a little, and I tried to internally patch myself up so I wouldn't deflate.
"Oh, uh...no, I haven't. Y..you know, I was busy up there...Never had the time..."

...or the friends...

I flinched as Solomon's hand came down upon my shoulder, and he stood up, chair scraping.
"Why don't I take you down the street to have a look at some of the stores? It'll give Beel here some extra time to eat, hmm?" Just as I was about to accept, Mammon cleared his throat, lips curled back in threat.

"She stays with me." Why did I suddenly get chills? Not the negative kind, either. Did he actually care, or was he just being greedy?
"Oh, come on, Mammon. You can trust me. We both know that no demon would dare attack with me by her side."

Inside my head, I began playing Mexican Standoff, glancing between the pair as they glared.
"Uh...Mammon, it's fine, really. I know you don't like having to babysit me. Plus, if I get into trouble, I know how to summon Beel now..." Tuning in, this time, Beelzebub gave me a nod, signalling that he was cool with it. Mammon, on the other hand, wasn't at all impressed.

"You're supposed to be with one of us at all times, not another human...and definitely not him..." He growled, leaning back and crossing his arms. "I don't like it." Part of me felt bad for going against his wishes, but at the same time, I wanted to give my new friend a chance, so I stood up anyway.

"Sorry, but I wanna go with Sol..." Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out enough grimm to pay for both mine and Mammon's meals, even though it was going to set me back. "I'll see you guys later." Ignoring the continuation of Mammon's protests, I followed Solomon out of the building, sticking close by his side as we started down the street.

"You seem to be taking the change well, (Y/N). Most humans would panic at the thought of living down here." The boy hummed, matching his stride to mine so I wouldn't fall behind.
"Well, I'm not most humans. Wrestled a bear, once." I waited for a reaction, and when Solomon cocked his brow, I shrugged my shoulders in defeat. "Okay, so, it was a bunch of raccoons, but still. Same level of difficulty."

Uttering a small laugh, he nudged me in the side, his smile making me feel like I was doing a good job.
"I can tell that we'll be good friends, you and I. You're very entertaining." Usually, I'd be extatic after receiving a compliment, but I'd heard that one before, and I was used to it being backhanded. Still, he seemed genuine. Maybe I was just stuck in my old state of mind?

"I feel kind of bad, ditching Mammon back there. Maybe I should get him something as an apology?" Thinking out loud, I began peering through each window we passed, hoping an idea would strike.
"Good luck buying him anything he'd appreciate. Mammon is the avatar of greed, after all. Unless he could profit, he'd probably just laugh."

Ugh, you're right...

"Yeah...and I only have, like, twelve hundred grimm left after lunch..." I sighed, deciding to put the idea into my mental back pocket. "So, you're friends with Simeon, right? He seems so...perfect!" Again, Solomon laughed, but it didn't seem like it was directed at me. More like with me. I liked that.

"Well, he is a Celestial, so it makes sense that he's perfect. We are rather good friends, considering we live in the same household. He seemed rather glad that you accepted his invitation to the camp out." Hearing that the literal angel remembered my existence was a wonderful feeling, but I had to hold back the thirst.

"Of course I accepted! It's so boring wandering around the House of Lamentation all day on my own. Everyone's always so busy, or just actively avoids me. I mean, I can't blame them, but I just wanna have fun and explore, y'know?" Solomon nodded along with me, placing a hand on my shoulder that very nearly made me flinch.

"Well, if you're ever in need of somebody to accompany you, I'm just a phone call away..."

----------------------------------------------

"What on Devildom are you doing..?"

Eyes watering, I continued to stare at the portrait of Diavolo from my seat upon the bottom step, lips squished outwards in a strange pucker.
"Staring contest. One of these days, that smug bastard's gotta blink..." I replied, squeaking in complaint as a hand came down on my head, causing me to lose.

"You're going to pop a vessel, human. Quit being ridiculous." Satan sighed, leaning against the bannister and looking down on me. "You seem to spend a lot of time around the staircase. You do realise it's off limits, right?"

Nodding, I stood up, remaining on the bottom step so I didn't have to hurt my neck trying to maintain eye contact.
"Yeah, Luci's mentioned that a few thousand times..." I mumbled, glancing around to make sure the ravonet wasn't anywhere nearby. "Actually...Satan, my dude, would you be interested in being my accomplice..?"

Screwing up his nose, Satan didn't seem all too keen. He even leaned back a little.
"That sounds somewhat illegal." He pointed out, despite having no idea what I was about to say.
"No, not exactly...Think of it as...a detective case! Don't tell me you aren't curious about what's up those stairs?"

I hope you are, cuz I'm dying to know!

Mention of the secret seemed to reel him in a little, and he tilted his head to the side.
"Detective case, you say?" He copied my scan of the area before leaning in closer, taking me off guard. "Alright then, human. What do you propose?"

Marriage.

Clearing my throat in hopes of also clearing my impure thoughts, I poked my finger against his chest. Totally not just using it as an excuse to make physical contact with an attractive man.
"You have a sharp tongue and an even sharper wit. If you could distract Luci, I can leg it up these stairs and scope the joint. What do ya say, old sport? You in?"

Scoffing, Satan straightened back up, rolling his eyes and looking off towards the entryway.
"I suppose I ccould assist you, as long as you never call me old sport again." Pouting, I poorly mimicked the roll of his eyes, nearly losing them in the back of my empty head.
"Alright, just for that, I'll throw in a copy of The Great Gatsby, seeing as you don't yet appreciate such an iconic pet name. So, will you help me out, Saltine?"

Despite being irritated, I could tell he was seriously considering my offer. Eventually, he gave me a curt nod, fixing his posture and raising his chin.
"Fine. I shall go and keep Lucifer distracted, but only because I wish to know what he's hiding. Plus, he pisses me off."

Awww yissssss!

Beaming, I pumped my fists, bouncing on the spot in front of the blond demon brother.
"Thank you! You're the best! Let's do this shit!" Again, his hand came down upon my head, forcing me to remain on the step. It was warm, and I liked the feeling.

"Sure...let's, uh...do this shit..."

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***I'm on lesson 28 now and I'm hurting...but alas, I am out of grimm, AP and DP, so I shall remain in pain until I can get more glowsticks.

I'll be changing the whole Belphie storyline a bit, too.

Next Time: Hamster Wheel***