(5) Two Tsun-deres and a Yan-
Masterlist
This is the final installment in my AU character study. As I do consider it a ‘character study’, any and all comments regarding my portrayal of the bois is welcomed. Thank you to everyone who’s stuck with me thus far, and especially to the lovely people who’ve left feedback, you’re all amazing.
No vore in this one, but it is heavily referenced - both in recap of previous events and speculation of the future. It skims the Luke/Grimoire arc, the Castle Retreat arc, and the bodyswap arc. Just under 6.8k words - the secret of ‘Emma is willing prey’ couldn’t be kept under wraps forever.
Branches from the main plot of Ob//ey M//e! during Lesson 4-6 as Levi canonically states he’d been intending to eat MC up until a minute ago. Written from the viewpoint of my MC as a character study of sorts for the bois.
1,2,3,4,5
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For once, Emma was relieved to not be offered a choice: sleep in a room with a demon who might take a sleepwalking bite out of her, or sleep in a room with a demon who'd do his damnedest to persuade her to spend the night - oh, who was she kidding, to spend every night - in his stomach. What the hell kind of 'choice' was that?
Between the mental fog of insomnia and the constant nigh-on begging, the human knew she'd give in. Trade a rested full night's sleep for only teasing about being a 'bedtime snack'? If Mammon kept chipping away at the wall of pride standing between him and his 'food' - as Emma knew he would, given how desperate he'd been to eat her, how thrilled he'd been at her 'yes', and how his stomach was awash with the glow of Greed after finally having swallowed her - she'd crack sooner rather than later.
Not that she'd've minded; Emma really honestly didn't. She was just too proud to say so. The human knew it made her a bit tsundere, too, the refusal to admit what was blatantly obvious, but it was just so humiliating! If only Mammon would stop teasing her...
Oddly enough, it hadn't affected their relationship much at all, at least when they weren't alone. Mammon squirmed out of the massive hug she gave him for scoring so well on the assignment she'd 'helped' with, albeit with the slight pause telling her he'd rejected the attention solely to save face; he used the exact same excuses and denials for why he needed to go everywhere with her; the only difference was a fleeting amused glance in her direction whenever they overheard any sort of remark related to 'demons enjoy eating humans', as if it was relegated to being just an inside joke.
'It was a joke!' Was it, really?
He remained the easiest to talk to; while Lucifer had recommended she obtain Satan's advice in literature, there was only so much history books could do to advance one's cultural knowledge. Fortunately, it was a topic the Avatar of Greed was more than willing to talk about.
She'd promised herself to be kinder towards the demon, still feeling guilty for hitting him, but it gave her such conflicting feelings. Emma still felt awkward being alone with him, worried she'd have another verbal slipup and prompt a conversation on the culinary history between humans and demons.
Staying in Beel's room did grant her a sort of buffer - even when the Avatar of Gluttony wasn't present, there was no form of 'home field advantage' for either of them - and also she didn't have to be the one kicking Mammon out each night. The woman didn't mind pretending to be 'demon food', but there was no way in literal Hell Emma would display more skin than she'd already shown in shorts and a t-shirt.
Beel woke up incredibly early each morning to eat, exercise, and eat some more. Normally this would have woken her up, too, but the Twins sharing a room meant she was staying not in the Avatar of Gluttony's room, but also that of the Avatar of Sloth.
Having learned the missing brother's name, Emma had yet to put a face to the identity of 'Belphegor'. I'd better discover his appearance fast, because unless I'm grossly mistaken, that is who's locked in the attic. C'mon, the tousled locks known as 'bed head' coupled with the massive pillow the mysterious person cradled lovingly in his arms each time she spoke with him? It just screamed 'I embody tiredness and apathy'.
But why? Why was he locked up, why did he not want her to tell anyone? The Twins were supposed to be very close, so why shouldn't she tell Beel? She was just a human in a world of demons, creatures more than a millennia old, so there was obviously history, context that she didn't have. Didn't have, but wanted - needed, even - to increase her chances of surviving the year.
Emma tried to keep her leg from bouncing, jittery hands clenched into fists; she had to get out, to blow off all this steam and mental chaos, before she ripped herself apart. "Hey, Beel?" The pasted-on smile quickly shaped into a natural one as she watched the tall redhead hastily chew for a few moments before thickly swallowing the literal mouthful of sandwich he'd bitten off.
Oh, it was so unfair! There were such few foods she could eat without spilling on a book, yet she’d never once seen Beel get even a single drop on either his homework or his textbooks.
"Hmm?" There was that single syllable again, meaning so much yet saying so little.
Mammon had darted off the moment final bell rang, texting a hurried explanation about some modeling gig or something, leaving her alone with Beel. Fortunately, he'd agreed to help with her schoolwork if she'd help him retrieve actual study snacks.
All Emma had for herself was the one single fruit she’d snatched from the refrigerator door before Beel cleared it all out. She'd munched on the large and surprisingly juicy apple, exchanging food-muffled questions for equally food-muffled answers. It hadn't taken long to clear up her homework confusion, and Emma made sure to repeatedly thank the demon for his help.
"I was wondering-"
Beel folded up the other half of his sandwich to better fit it in his mouth, nodding to say he was still paying attention.
"-I felt like going for a run but didn't want to go alone, could I ask you to come along?"
The tragic look of sheer longing he gave what was left of the contents of the fridge made another smile twitch at her lips.
"Oh I can wait for you to finish eating, don't worry." Beel's face immediately lit up like the sun. It was a good thing his body language was so expressive; when he only paused long enough to breathe, mealtime conversations became quite difficult. "I've got some extra Grimm, maybe just a quick one, down to AkuDonald's and back?"
"That's five kilometers," he explained, apologies now written all over his face as he looked up from assembling yet another sandwich.
Emma shrugged to say that she already knew, that it wasn't a big deal, or both. "Not five 'k one way." That was - what, a little over 3 miles with a midpoint break? She could manage that, easy.
—————————————————–
It felt good to run, to feel her heart race and blood pumping for nothing more than the joy of running. No fear, no panic, just her and the fresh air. The only thing that could make this better was if she had some earbuds to listen to music. But Emma knew that she had to be fully attentive to her surroundings at all times, so as not to tempt any demons that might still try to make a grab for her.
That was why she’d asked Beel along - well, most of the reason. Absent music, running was best done with a friend. Simply walking with the massive demon to the door was a treat - between her long legs and rapid pace, she didn't have to slow down to let him catch up.
It twinged at her pride a bit, knowing that she was the one holding them back and not her running partner. Shove it, she told herself, suck up your pride and Deal With It.
Her lungs eventually began to burn, thighs aching soon after, and though Emma tried to hide it, to push past the pain, Beel noticed and gradually slowed to a stop.
Sore, but grateful, Emma bent over just enough to brace her hand on her legs, panting as she tried to breathe regularly. She didn't want to pass out - potentially lethal in the Devildom - from something as stupid as not enough CO². Did the Devildom have the same blend of atmospheric gases as Earth the Human Realm? What in the Hell had she been breathing in Mammon's stomach, anyway?
The woman let her thoughts wander until she felt a hand lightly wrap around her shoulder. "I- oh! Sorry, I'm fi- fine." Emma breathed in deeply, standing up straight as she filled her lungs. "It's been awhile since I've done more than casual sprints," she explained, and Beel nodded back, removing his hand.
“If you just wanted to exercise, I could get you a membership at the gym." He tilted his head, "R.A.D. students get a discount, and you could probably get it almost for free since I'm on the student council."
She smiled and shook her head. "Honestly, I hate exercising, it's the running that I like. But I have to actually go somewhere -" Emma indicated the nearby park, "- for it to count. Treadmills are just boring." Shuffling awkwardly in place, she shrugged, "I know I'm not for real, but I pretend I'm running away from my problems until I can deal with them later."
“By ‘problems’ you mean ‘Mammon’.”
Emma wasn’t surprised it wasn’t a question, but rather by the evident concern in Beel’s voice. "He is a 'problem' normally, but that's not what I meant," she replied with another faint shrug. "He didn't coerce me or anything -" Stating the truth that his way was her only option wasn't coercion, it was reality, a Fact. "- either time. Some stuff happened after the quiz contest with Levi and it's still too much for me to deal with right now."
It stung deeply, the 'demon food' comment. She'd brushed off the initial epithets as just Mammon sulking about their pact like usual, but then he'd eaten her - and she'd let him, twice! - and suddenly the term carried a new weight. Emma knew it was a term that could apply to literally any human - hadn't she overheard enough conversations about exactly that? - but from him, it was a subtle reminder. A reminder that Mammon knew the secrets of that night, and that precious little was preventing him from telling those secrets to anyone, and that she couldn't do much about it if he did.
What were the demon brothers to her - captors, fellow students, flatmates? The answer was more complicated than she found comfortable. She thought she had the labels for Mammon at least pinned down: pact partner, charge/ward, even friend - though his tsundere ass denied it - yet 'food' was still one of his own labels for her; every once in awhile Emma would notice the hunger-greed look in his pretty blue eyes and had to turn away, fighting both nausea and a blush - or else Mammon would make an oblique comment and then laugh at her frown. Taunting her. Gloating, mocking. Or so that voice in the back of her head - the one constantly screaming about how STUPID she was to let a demon eat her - insisted.
Beel was still watching her, head tilted in the same adorable curiosity of a puppy.
"I'm worried that if anyone else finds out, they won't be able to see me as anything other than demon food." And that was her secret fear. First and foremost, Emma was a person. A weak and rather defenseless human, yes, one in a world of demons, but that didn’t mean she was less than any of them.
"I don't think of you as just food," Beel said quietly. Concern, previously only in his voice, now shone in his eyes.
Not 'just' food. The human wasn't surprised the Avatar of Gluttony continued to think humans were tasty, but for her to mean something else - something very different - to him as well? She wanted to throw her arms around Beel and give the biggest hug she could manage, but Emma worried that would be too forward of a gesture. So instead, she worked her hand into his and gave what she hoped was an encouraging smile.
Beel blinked and looked down at their linked fingers, then met her eyes with a dazzling smile.
Emma’s smile grew wider, and she fully meant it this time. She’d soon realized that her initial impression of the Avatar of Gluttony - dense, slow-witted, simple - was quite wrong. Instead, Beelzebub was thoughtful, methodical, and sincere. He was genuine, a trait she’d seen in precious few humans, let alone in the denizens of the Devildom. Just because he rarely spoke, just because 90% of the comments he did make were related to food - that didn't translate to stupidity or naivety; the demon simply kept his thoughts and opinions to himself, rather than dumping them on anyone who’d listen.
“Is it okay if we take it easy the rest of the way there?” she asked. Her calves were starting to ache, and she knew if she just stood where she was at, they’d cramp so bad she couldn’t walk at all.
Beel kept smiling, even as his stomach growled. “Sure! Just not too slowly.”
She nodded and started walking as fast as she could, not quite a power walk, but an impressive speed nonetheless.
Holding back to let the taller demon open the door, Emma fished out her wallet and did a quick estimate of her current funds; she didn't have a lot but wanted to buy him the greatest quantity of food she could.
Chewing on her lip to keep from giggling at the increasingly unhappy noises the Avatar of Gluttony's stomach was making, she listed off the different permutations of what she had money for, then stepped out of line to check why her D.D.D. was buzzing.
Mammon
//Yo, where'd you go? Thought ya said you were staying home this afternoon!//
//Didn't think you'd miss me enough to go lookin'for me, I tol'ja I'd be back in just a few hours.//
'One (1) Missed Call'
Mammon
//Hey!//
//Don't ya ignore me!!//
Emma
//Just calm down.//
//Went running with Beel.//
Mammon
//Why didn’t you ask me!??//
Emma
//You didn’t seem the type to go out running specifically just to run.//
Mammon
//No point. Ain’t any races that pay enough to be worth my time.//
Emma
//So why does it matter that I went running with Beel? I'm paying for his company with cheeseburgers-//
In case you're worrie- no, in case you're jealous..., she thought with a wicked grin.
//-and we should be back at the House soon.//
Mammon
//Ya don’t need to leave home ta run. There’s plenty of spaces you could run in.//
//Like my room.//
Emma could feel a muscle at the corner of her jaw twitching. She waved her phone angrily at Beel when he rejoined her. “Are your brothers contractually obligated to be colossal assholes?”
"What'd Asmo say this time?" Beel asked. Or rather, Emma thought he'd asked; seemed an entire loaded cheeseburger was in his mouth. At least he'd removed the wrapper beforehand. The paper slowly dripped colorful condiments between Beelzebub's fingers, going completely unnoticed by the demon.
"No, this time the problem is Mammon," she sighed. Emma had bent her pride enough to allow him to eat her, but this sort of pretend crossed the line.
She was aware that demons ate - legitimately - humans, mostly when summonings went awry, according to the Devildom History texts she'd read, and knew that in the past humans had also been outright hunted, but Emma was not willing to let him 'hunt' her.
Mammon
//Yanno what? Just forget I ever said anythin’.//
I will, she thought.
But there was something else Emma couldn't forget, reminded by the shiny twinkling by her shoe - a high denomination Grimm coin lay next to the splotches of ketchup. Was this a bribe or an apology? Or - Emma thought back to what she’d learned in her first few hours in the Devildom - was it as innocent a coincidence as Mammon simply liking her?
She very carefully covered it with her foot; it hadn't been there a moment ago, and she doubted Beel had noticed, fully preoccupied with gnawing on the stained wrappers crumpled in his large hands and rounding up any more trails of sauce that threatened to escape.
I'm going to have to test that out. Maybe the lottery, with the smallest jackpot she could find. But what could serve as her ‘control’? She couldn’t truly rest until she figured it out. What was the full saying about curiosity and the cat, again? Something about results... If I do, I'll have to be covert about it, and then figure out the best way to get rid of the money. Emma couldn't handle much more teasing, nor things with Mammon becoming even more complicated than before.
She didn't look back at it on the way to the House, not wanting to know whether it disappeared or stayed there, glinting for some other passersby to grab; gifts always came with strings attached, and on the rare occasion that they didn't, she felt like it was somehow taking advantage of the gifter.
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Oh, it was so nice to have her own room back. She carefully placed the heavy stack of books on her desk: texts on the Celestial War. Beel had been so upset talking about it; Emma didn’t want to risk asking his older siblings and upsetting them as well. They’d have been the best sources, albeit biased as hell. And so she had to settle for history books. Asking Simeon had crossed her mind, since apparently Luke was far too young - at least by angelic and demonic standards - but she didn’t think she could come up with a good enough excuse for the sudden curiosity.
They might be angels, but they also were with her in Hell. Though a lot took Emma by surprise - how different things were from her Bible-based theology - Simeon especially caught her off guard. She couldn't get a read on him, but then again, could anyone? He knows, too, doesn't he?
Slotting her bottles of medication back into the vanity - thank Heaven Beel hadn't eaten any pills - she frowned down at her D.D.D., skittering across the counter with a notification.
Lucifer
//There are some books that you might find useful. I have removed them from the library and placed them in your closet for now.//
///You may wish to read them elsewhere to prevent any... unfortunate misunderstandings with my brothers.//
Books in the closet...? What on Earth was he talking about? Emma knelt down in front of her closet and slid the door open. Sure enough, there was a sizeable stack in the far corner. She didn't recognize any of them and there didn't seem to be any overall th- Oh. Sitting on the very bottom was the very same text Mammon had used to un-shrink her.
Now she saw a common trend: wards of protection, size manipulation, and even one devoted to treating - and causing - various stomach ailments.
Emma whipped out her D.D.D. and pulled up his last text. Oh shit. She paled; it seemed Lucifer knew and wanted her to know that he knew. Now more than half of the brothers did. She needed to thank him in a way of conveying that she knew exactly what he implied, that she appreciated the discretion, and that she was capable of being similarly discreet. If Belphegor was to have any chance, she needed to gain Lucifer’s respect, even if just a tiny bit at a time.
Emma
//Thank you for taking those books for me. I'll try to give them a read over when I get the chance.//
Aaaand hit 'send', there we go. Her phone buzzed almost immediately with a response, just that cute little sticker of a demon figure nodding.
Rather than put her phone away, Emma scrolled through the different group chats she was in, not seeing one yet with just her and Levi and Mammon. Guess I'll have to make one, she thought.
'Add contact to group? Y/N'
Emma
//Hey I need to talk to you two. Something came up and I kind of need a favor.//
Levi
//Can it wait? I'm playing Mononoke Land right now and I'm about to level up.//
Mammon
//Just pause it.//
//What kind of favor?//
//I’ll do it if you make it worth my while.//
//If ya know what I mean.//
//😏//
Emma
//Problem: Lucifer knows.//
Mammon
//Knows what?//
//... oh.//
Levi
//Yeah, knows what?//
Emma
//That you ate me.//
Levi
//😨//
Emma
//Safe to assume he knows both of you did.//
Levi
//‘Both’? LMAO knew you couldn’t resist.//
//How were my leftovers, Mammon? lololol//
She ground her teeth together, feeling a muscle in her jaw start to twitch. Oh, he was in for it now.
Mammon
//Tastier each time.//
//Turns out humans are a whole lot more delicious when they’re not fightin’ ya the whole way down.//
//Not that you’d know, of course.//
Scratch that; both of them were in for it now. She glared at her phone, waiting for Leviathan to send whatever he was typing, and debated renaming the group chat something rude, maybe even a pointed reminder they both had pacts with her.
Levi
//Wait, Emma LET you eat her? WTAF!?//
//Whyyyy would you do that, Emma??//
//Because, AS SURPRISING AS IT SOUNDS, Mammon actually bothered to fucking ASK POLITELY if he could!!// Nope, probably best not to send that. Emma held down the delete button while the two demons bickered via stickers, repeating the process with a few more other harshly worded statements before settling on a simple,
Emma
//Not important right now.//
//I just do NOT want ANYONE else to know!//
//I hid that book you both apparently referenced.//
//So I want help making sure this stays a secret.//
//Please.//
//😉//
Levi
//Hmm. Why should I?//
Emma
//Because I am asking nicely.//
//Because I don’t think Lucifer knows EXACTLY what happened after the trivia contest ended.//
//So he might not know ALL of the details.//
//Yet.//
Maybe a bit over-the-top dramatic, but damn it felt good to get that dig in. She didn’t actually plan on tattling, though; Emma figured she’d continue to hold it over his head until she finally got an apology... which she hadn’t specifically said she needed, but c’mon, was it really that much to ask for, all things considered? She frowned at the push notification of a private message.
Mammon
//🤣//
Nope, not going to even acknowledge that.
‘Mark Message As Read? Y/N’
Emma carefully pried away the loose board at the lower frame of her bed, setting the books inside. She didn't know if anyone knew about the compartment, so she never kept food in there - in case Beel sniffed it out - or any money or jewelry - in case Mammon sniffed it out - and damaged the panels.
When did he find out? Wondering how Lucifer knew anything could tie one's brain up in knots; Mammon frequently complained about being absolutely positive 'nobody could've known' about such and such escapade of his, yet the eldest always managed to catch him in the entryway, arms folded with a bone-chilling expression.
Emma didn't think the how or where or when mattered, though she now questioned his comment during lunch prior to setting out for London - 'As much as I enjoy a good human soul, I'm not fond of human flesh.' At the time, she'd thought it was nothing more than a subtle jab at her faith, pointing out the irony that eight 'Rulers of Hell' were actively safeguarding a Christian's soul.
Lucifer knew, and Barbatos and Diavolo certainly knew - they claimed they'd done thorough research before selecting her for the Program - but it seemed Mammon didn't; the Avatar of Pride could have outright said he wasn't interested in eating her, but he'd chosen his words carefully. Students were already threatening to eat her flesh and/or her soul, how much worse off would she be if word got out she was kinda okay with being eaten, or that she served the Ruler of the Celestial Realm?
Lucifer didn't lie that she knew of - beyond that elephant in the room of his brother in the attic - but one could still never take his words at face value; the message and delivery meant more than just 'I'm aware of what certain brothers have done'. He wasn't forbidding it, but neither was the eldest encouraging it; rather it was nothing more than implicit permission, granting her control of which brothers knew and when, helping deepen her understanding of what exactly was involved, or some combination of the above.
What a headache...
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Emma fought to keep her eyes open, dully stabbing at her breakfast, each bite a Herculean feat. Why wasn't Mammon asking to eat her again? She wasn't sleeping, she couldn't sleep, yet didn't feel quite desperate enough to admit she wanted more than a few hour nap; the woman wanted an entire night spent in the demon's stomach. I'd get caught, certainly, or at least have to explain to Lucifer that 'no, really' I'm not screwing any of his brothers, that it was just a sleepover, nothing dirty going on. Gross.
She lifted her head slightly, hearing her name.
"- or any further complaints regarding punishment for verbal abuse of our transfer students."
C'mon, stupid piece of shit wasn't in the hospital that long.
"Diavolo is of the opinion a reminder that it is still illegal to consume human guests of the Devildom is not yet warranted." Lucifer sighed, "That law - while controversial - has gone unchallenged so far; to think this is the standing that the Exchange Program tests." The demon shook his head wearily and drained his mug of coffee, pouring a refill only to knock it back immediately.
Hearing about the enacting of new laws was a million times more interesting when brawls were involved, and when those brawls included magic? Emma had almost forgotten it was a personal assignment with formal note taking, and not just her usual pleasure reading. The streets where demons protested not being allowed to eat random humans had ran black with shed blood. We really are delicacies to them...
Leviathan snickered under his breath as he twirled his fork around his plate, "Apparently that's less of a threat than you think."
FUCK. Her heart definitely skipped a beat - if not several - and Emma buried her face in her hands, internally cursing the fact she couldn't hide her flaming red ears as well. She'd only ordered Mammon not to ‘let them know’, and now that they did know... No, no, no, oh this is so bad!
The Avatar of Greed chuckled as well, “I mean, I knew our human was weird, but like, I didn’t know she was that weird.”
Let's see, if she was sitting Here, and if he was sitting There, then that meant...
"And y’all made fun 'a me for making a pa- Ow!" Mammon smashed his forehead into the table grabbing for his brushed shin.
Emma hid the faintest of smiles behind her hands. He probably knew who'd kicked him but she could still deny it easily enough. She heard the clink of silverware dropped onto a plate, and more than one shocked intake of breath.
“So that time you said you slept ‘on the floor’ you weren’t talking about the carpet now, were you?” Asmodeus practically purred sultrily.
Emma angled one hand away from her face just enough to flip the smug Avatar of Lust off, glaring through the gap in her fingers. For once, she actually hoped he would get handsy, because he was just begging to be slapped.
She knew it would have come out eventually, and she knew there would be assorted comments made, but dammit! The woman had wanted to control the spread of information enough to at least be prepared when outed, but now here she was, on the back foot, not sure how to respond.
The uncertainty made her afraid, and that fear made her angry, both at everyone at the table including herself, but also at no single person in particular. Emma considered her options and realized that all of them would only make the situation worse. Dimly aware of the demon brothers speaking, Emma focused all of her anger to a single point, a solid nub to which she clung with a death grip. She knew what she had to do next.
“I’m heading to class,” she said, standing abruptly and gathering her dishes in seamless motion as fast as she could, “I’ll see you all later.” Emma worried that one of them would follow her or worse, try to stop her. But all she heard as she power walked out of the room was,
“I’m surprised you don’t have anything to say, Beel,” from Satan.
“Already knew,” Beelzebub’s food-muffled response was the last thing Emma caught before entering the kitchen.
Practically throwing her dishes into the sink, she jogged out of the House and down the sidewalk, holding her bag tightly against her side. Emma slowed to a brisk stroll just out of sight of R.A.D., carefully brushing her hair back, though she couldn’t do anything about her face, which she was sure was still red.
She felt her D.D.D. buzz in her back pocket as she entered the school bathroom. Standing in front of one of the mirrors, she closed her eyes and took in a shaky breath, letting it out as slowly as she could manage. One of the succubi - not someone she knew well, having no classes with her, a party friend of Asmo's or Mammon's? - glanced over and spoke around the toothbrush sticking out of her mouth. “Something wrong, hun?” she asked.
Emma pulled out her D.D.D. and glanced at the lock screen. It had been a message from a group chat; she’d read it later, when no one was around. If she could dodge this one demon’s question, surely she could make it through the rest of the day. Avoiding the brothers might be a slight problem, but she’d handle that when it came to it. So, what would believably avoid suspicion and also invite exactly zero follow-up questions? “Men,” she said with a slight shake of her head, gesturing with her phone. “You’re here early, too.”
“Flatmate ate the breakfast I had set out ahead of time and,” she spat the toothpaste out angrily, “everything I could have grabbed on the fly. Had to buy some instant garbage junk food. I’m so gonna switch out her AB+ for oh-neg, see how hungry she feels after drinking that diet shit.”
Blood. Gross. Fortunately, Emma possessed neither type and allowed a faint smirk onto her face. “You switching out the packaging too so she don't find out 'til it's too late? Good luck, and I hope she learns her lesson.” Going hungry absolutely sucked, which was why she kept a small snack in her room... or at least tried to. She didn’t really feel like confronting Beel about it, since it could easily have been Mammon that swiped all her granola. "You gonna film her? 'Cause I wouldn't mind seeing her reaction."
"That's the plan. See ya, sweetie." The succubus winked, slipping her toothbrush back into her bag and - thankfully, finally - walked out of the bathroom.
Sliding her finger across the screen, Emma opened the chat program, heart in her mouth. She was terrified that the chat would have that yellow eye symbol; if they were talking about her behind her back, the woman had to know... but at the same time didn’t think she could handle knowing.
Fortunately, it was the House of Lamentation group chat.
Lucifer
//I should not need to remind anyone that the conversation this morning not leave this house. We have a reputation to uphold.//
Emma let out a gusty sigh of relief. She probably should respond, as they'd see she'd read the message. The 'salute' sticker should do. And then she muted her phone and buried it in her backpack; turning it all the way off would send the wrong sort of message.
As disastrous as breakfast had been, school might actually be much easier, at least with today’s schedule. Every lesson today was one where her established seat wasn’t directly adjacent to one of the brothers' and in such a location that not looking at them could absolutely happen on a normal day. It also was not unusual for her to speed from class to class, exchanging no more than the barest of pleasantries.
Lunch... would be tricky to manage. Emma really didn’t want to skip a meal but as frazzled as her nerves were at the moment, she might wind up not having an appetite. Maybe she could sit with Luke? Simeon would probably be there and though the angel was perceptive, he’d never pried into obviously uncomfortable matters past an initial question or two. Solomon would probably be there, too, and though that might give Asmodeus an excuse to also hang around, after what Lucifer had said in the group chat there was no way he’d say anything.
Would Diav- Hmm. Almost certainly knew since the moment Lucifer did, but she didn’t think it would matter much whether the young lord knew that it was now an open secret in the House of Lamentation. Though, now that Emma thought about it, it sure was putting a unique spin on ‘improving relations between the Realms’. And it was funny, too; maybe she’d come to make such a joke herself down the line. Hopefully.
No one had to know that her usual rapid pace was - today - fueled by a deep sense of shame. Not the shame of having been found out, but shame that she couldn’t act like the grown-ass adult she was about it.
Pride. That was it; her pride was getting in the way again. You’re better than this, you know you are!
—————————————————–
“Emma! There you are!”
About as surprised as the voice sounded, Emma jackknifed in her seat, looking up from the text she'd had her nose buried in. "Yeah? What is it?"
The Avatar of Wrath was standing at the end of the row, looking very concerned. "We thought you were just hiding somewhere, but since nobody saw you come home we started to worry that something had happened."
Emma's eyebrows narrowed, surprised by a sudden surge of emotion, but she wasn’t quite sure what emotion it was, fear maybe, or rage. Regardless, she pushed it down. "I must not be doing a very good job of hiding if you found me," she said pleasantly, "I had to look something up for a paper and decided to go ahead and finish the other assignments while I'm here." She held up her notes as evidence.
"You are amazingly calm for a human so filled with anger," Satan observed, casually leaning on the nearby bookcase. "It's truly rare to see one remain as composed as you."
How hubristic of Emma to think she could hide her fury from the Avatar of Wrath. She took in a slow breath and envisioned cramming all her anger into a suitcase, locking the bulging vessel tightly, and throwing it into a figurative closet; it could be unpacked later... along with everything else that had been building up in there. Managing a small smile, she replied placidly, "Losing my temper simply because I'm embarrassed sounds like a waste of my energy better spent elsewhere.” Such as trying to figure out exactly why I felt so embarrassed.
The yellow haired man inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement, a small smile on his face.
Emma had heard the phrase ‘his smile didn’t reach his eyes’ before, but she knew the next time she heard it applied to a human she’d split her sides laughing; those eyes - cold, hard, flat, angry, etc - still looked attached to the smile, if not included in it. Satan’s face, on the other hand, truly looked like a mask with those eerie green eyes shining out from beneath.
Though the smile was faked, she still felt that he not only approved of her answer but agreed with it. Then he had to go and ruin the moment by saying, “Though I wouldn’t settle for flipping a lesser demon over a balcony, myself.”
She flushed. “I told you that was an accident!” And it was - mostly - which was probably the only reason she hadn’t gotten detention - or worse - for assaulting another student. Your hypothetical victim’s name would still start with ‘L’, wouldn’t it? Emma really didn’t understand what was going on between the first- and fourth-born, but she did know that it was best observed from a distance.
“So you say.” Not waiting to hear the human’s protest, Satan continued, “You may want to answer your phone; Asmo’s been working himself into a panic.”
Where actually was her D.D.D.? She fished around, checking down the crevices of the seat cushions and setting her notes aside. Oh there it is. Emma unlocked her screen to see a bombardment of notifications, and not just from the group chat; there were over a dozen missed calls. Probably best to respond there first. The moment she started typing, they’d see her avatar pop up with that (...) bubble, so best figure out what to say before beginning to say so.
Emma
//Sorry, phone got buried under a stack of papers.//
//What’d’ja all want?//
Several bubbles popped up at once.
Lucifer
//Thank devil you're all right.//
Asmo
//Where are you?//
//🥺//
Emma
//HoL Library, in the historical section.//
Levi
//I checked there!//
//And your room; thought you'd decided to hide away from all of us!//
Emma was offended; did they seriously think she was a cowa- Nope. She wadded the thought up, punting it into the closet alongside the other emotional baggage. She twisted in her chair, opening her camera app and flipping it around. Taking a picture of her face with an amused Satan clearly visible in the background, Emma uploaded it to the chat.
Emma
//See? Library. Where I’ve been for a few hours.//
//Sorry if I worried you.//
//Is dinner going to be late?//
She knew mentioning food and/or meals was asking - nay, begging - for inappropriate comments to be made, but it was better to get that out of the way. The woman hadn’t intended to hide - not exactly - but the only other room she felt was both out-of-the-way while still a public area was the planetarium, which itself was a little too... open, not to mention how it was filled to the brim with unpleasant memories. Emma would have had to sit tucked against the wall, and there was no way to deny that wasn’t ‘hiding’ without sounding desperate.
The distraction worked, though she knew the discussion was far from over; after a heated debate it was decided that the HoL would order takeout from Hell’s Kitchen. Satan still hadn’t left, though he’d been active in the group chat, that same eerie smile on his face. Emma glanced at him and tilted her head slightly.
“I’d help you shelve the books - since you’re finished with your assignments - but it seems you’ve picked out more than just for coursework.” His eyes narrowed in faint suspicion, lips thinning in feigned polite smile. “I wasn’t aware you were enrolled in Demon Anatomy 102.” Satan nodded once more, “Don’t be late for dinner,” before turning and leaving.
Emma was very, very happy he could sense anger and not fear. Why?, she asked herself, Why are you afraid? Because, when you broke it down, the underlying situation hadn’t actually changed, only her - and now their - knowledge of it. It had always been possible, she just hadn’t known that it was possible. While they’d known it was possible, they just hadn’t known she’dn’t’ve minded. And so she was afraid of... what? Snide comments?
Teasing, Emma scolded herself, you’re seriously terrified of being teased? Mammon’s comment about her being ‘weird’ had hit hard. Though it had been awhile, the word still carried that old epithetic weight.
Except... She did kind of deserve the term, at least this time around. The old phrase 'Don't threaten me with a good time.' sprung to mind.
Probably should check the individual messages out. It looked like the most were from Mammon.
Mammon
//Emma?//
//Emma, where’d ya run off to!?//
//Look Emma, I’m sorry!//
//It wasn't my faaaaauult.//
//Levi said it first, not me!//
//Did somethin' happen?//
//Are you alright?//
//Dammit, Emma! How'm I supposed to protect ya if you're avoidin' me!?//
One (1) Missed Call
Mammon
//Pick up the phone!//
Frowning at her phone, the woman decided terrifying Mammon in such a way was enough of a punishment. But Levi? She thought Mammon at least would be willing to help her make the third-born's life absolutely miserable. Emma tugged out her notebook and designated a page for prank ideas.
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