G/t Sugar & Spice

Lucifer must’ve left the stuff so that I could still study and eat while they were gone.

I groggily got up and approached the food on the plate as a bit of hunger ran through me. To my amusement, tiny plastic utensils were placed on the plate next to the morsels of pancake, egg, and bacon. I wasn’t really turned off to the idea of eating meat like Levi was now, so whatever I was happened to be an omnivore at least. Once I had my breakfast, I opened my phone (with a bit of difficulty given my size) and saw that I had several missed texts, and a couple missed calls.

Each of the brothers had offered to help in their own texts, though I didn’t entertain the thought much with Lucifer’s worry in my mind. The rest of the texts and the missed calls were from the others also checking in on me after finding out that I was ‘sick’. Diavolo, despite Lucifer saying he was incredibly busy, still offered to help if needed. I declined, but said I appreciated the thought. Barbators said he’d hand Lucifer an herbal blend that would supposedly help me get better quicker, Luke said he’d bake a batch of cookies to be brought over, and Simeon gave me his best wishes with broken text and stickers.

Solomon had also given me well wishes and mentioned the protective charm that Lucifer had asked for, asking what accessory I wanted for it and suggesting something that I likely wouldn’t take off. I suggested a simple bracelet and offered to give him Grimm, but he declined.

Lucifer had sent me lists of what to study for the day since I was missing classes, but it became evident very quickly how difficult even opening the textbooks was at my size. After half an hour of trying to even successfully push up the cover alone, I relented and texted Lucifer about the struggle to even study.

‘I see…. Well, I suppose Levi will have to help pick up the slack. I’ll ask Satan to share his notes with both of you. Once we’re more certain about your situation, I’ll feel more comfortable about study sessions with more than Levi.’

So, I spent the rest of the day trying to keep up with the texted notes that Satan sent me after each class, something I hadn’t really expected. Which, it was a good thing that these were being sent, because when Levi came to help me study we just ended up talking about random stuff and he talked about how moe this whole scenario was.

The next day was about the same, and Lucifer even handed me some small clothes that he’d managed to purchase so that I didn’t have to wear the same thing. I could only imagine the confusion from the demon working if he just asked for the clothes of a toy rather than buying the toy. If he did buy the toy, then there was a naked toy either around the House of Lamentation or in the trash. The thought was oddly funny to me.

I will say, the quiet and solitude was kind of nice. It felt unfamiliar and left me a bit bored aside from looking over Satan’s notes, but I’d take the small reprieve from the brothers as much as I could since everything would probably get kicked back into high gear when I was back to my normal size. For an introvert, being constantly surrounded by seven demon brothers as roommates didn’t give me a lot of alone time.

I ended up watching some DevilTube at some point, not realizing how much time had passed until I heard the sound of the door opening and absentmindedly glanced at my phone clock to see that now would be around the time the brothers came home from class.

"Hey, I didn't realize how much time had passed," I said, not even glancing at Levi as I paused the video I was watching and opened the notepad app I'd been using for notes. "How were classes?"

"They were fine."

The voice that was NOT Levi's caught my attention, looking up to see Beel in the doorway instead. I ignored the apprehension that crept up on me, replying, "Oh, I thought you were Levi, Beel."

"I know, sorry about that," Beel shifted a little, drawing my attention to the items in his arms. Most were just the textbooks for RAD, but he pulled something steel-gray from his pocket. "Levi got caught up by Luke and Barbatos since they made you stuff. They didn't want me handling them because Luke made cookies for you."

I could practically see the yearning in his eyes at the mention of the cookies and I couldn't really blame him since Luke was a really good baker. But, he was so caught up in his desire for cookies that I had to clear my throat to grab his attention again, asking, "Did Lucifer send you to help me study then, or-?..."

“Oh, no. Lucifer doesn't know I came over," the answer left a cold feeling of concern and dread in the pit of my stomach, especially as Beel stepped closer to the bed. But, he began to lower the steel-gray thing in front of me and continued, "Solomon wanted you to get this as soon as possible, and gave it to me. He said he'd buy me lunch if I made sure no other demon touched it, especially Mammon."

The steel-gray thing glinted as he did so, showing off the parts and details. It was a segmented metal creature that dangled from his hold, swaying as he lowered it until he placed it on the bed beside me. Scales glinted in the light of my room, intricately layered on top of each other like a bush viper’s scales, and I would have mistaken it for meaning to be a snake if it weren’t for the horns that sprouted from its head, the legs folded on its side and the ridges of spines down its back and on its tail. What looked like a faux chain was around the end of its tail with a short chain of metal links that ended with a ring. Its mouth was frozen in a snarl that bared its metallic teeth and its eyes were emerald gems that I couldn’t tell whether or not they were real. It was a dragon.

“Wha- What’s this supposed to be,” I asked. It couldn’t be the protection charm from Solomon, I had asked for a *simple* bracelet. This looked literally anything but simple.

I couldn’t help but kneel beside it and reach out to touch it before Beel could respond, brushing my fingers against the scales on its back, the metal cool to the touch. For about a moment. Once I touched it, the metal warmed at my touch and startled me as it suddenly shrank on itself, the force of the size change leaving it in the air for a second before it fell down towards the bed. I quickly moved forward and reached out to catch it before it landed on the comforter and potentially became lost. Both Beel and I stared at the metal thing, but he was the one that broke the silence.

“I think he had said something about it being a good luck charm, but he didn’t mention anything about it doing that,” Beel said, frowning a bit in confusion.

The metal dragon was cool to the touch now, about the length of my arm and able to be held like a length of rope in my hands. Curious, I began messing with it in my hands absentmindedly, realizing the jaw could be popped open and tested closing the teeth on the ring attached to the tail while saying, “I asked Solomon for a bracelet, but I don’t think it’ll fit.”

To prove my point, I slipped it over my wrist and let it dangle, a huge gap between my wrist and the metal from the bottom of the loop. The circlet, as if hearing me and deciding to prove me wrong, warmed against my skin once more. It was warm enough to almost be painful and I moved to yank it off. The metal slipped from between my fingers as it shrank quickly again, a jolt of fear running down my spine at the thought of it chopping my hand off. But, the second the metal became flush with my skin it stopped shrinking and cooled as though nothing happened.

“What the fuck,” I exclaimed, instinctively trying to pull it off or unclasp it to no avail. Glancing at my phone, I asked Beel, “Can you ask Solomon if it was supposed to glue itself to my wrist?!”

“Uh, yeah, hold on,” Beel jolted from just staring at my struggles in surprise, pulling out his own phone and starting to text as I continued to fumble with the dragon’s jaws to unclasp it. 

It wasn’t going very well. No matter how much I tugged or tried to wriggle a finger between the metallic teeth, nothing budged. With how experimental Solomon could get with his magic, I was a little concerned. At the very least it hadn’t warmed or done anything else since it shrunk the second time. My panic ebbed as we waited for a response from Solomon, realizing that the bracelet was just loose enough that it didn’t pinch or chafe as I twisted it around.

“Solomon says it should be removable, but that it might have gotten stuck shrinking to fit your wrist,” I looked up towards Beel as he spoke, his eyes scrolling from left to right as he read. “He says the protection spells and charms took priority and he wanted to get it to you, asap. He did mention that he can take a look at it in class whenever you feel better.”

“Alright,” I sighed, giving up on the clasp after another moment. I wasn’t sure how he’d be able to get a look at it without finding out about my ‘condition’, but we’d cross that bridge when we got there. “Tell him ‘Thank you’ then for me, please.”

“Sure thing,” the demon nodded, typing on his phone and looking back up after a couple of seconds. “Okay, it’s sent.”

“Thank you, Beel. And, thank you for bringing me the bracelet.”

“It was no problem. I just wish Luke gave me a cookie before I left,” Beel frowned sadly, holding a hand to his stomach as it growled. The sight would look pathetic if I wasn’t bite-sized and if he wasn’t known for flying into rampages when hungry. If Mammon had struggled, I could only imagine how quickly this could escalate. He looked at me and I stiffened nervously, but he just gave me a look akin to a kicked puppy. “When Levi comes back, can I have a couple cookies?”

“U-uh, yeah, sure,” I said. I tried to smile and probably ended up with more of an anxious grimace. I needed to get him to leave. “When Levi comes back, you can have some cookies. But, you should probably leave before Lucifer gets home and tries to find you, and Levi’s gonna be here soon anywa-”

“I don’t mind staying and keeping you company,” the demon interrupted, making me close my mouth and sharply inhale in frustration and worry. I huffed with my eyes closed for a moment before reopening them and looking up at Beel.

“Or,” I stressed the word to try and make it abundantly clear that this was the option I’d prefer right now, suggesting, “You could go look for Levi and get some cookies.”

“Honestly, you look a bit tastier than cookies right now,” Beel replied, causing a terrified shudder to run down my spine.

This wasn’t the first time he’d said something like that and I’d gotten used to it to an extent, but right now it actually felt like a very real threat.

“Beel,” I adopted a warning tone, stepping back a couple steps nervously. His stomach growled again and my ears instinctively perked at the sound before pressing back against my head. I didn’t really want to test the very experimental protection charm on my bracelet. “You can’t eat me! E-Eating me is bad a-and dangerous!”

“I’m sure I could manage,” the Avatar of Gluttony stepped forward and dropped to a crouch beside the bed, making me jolt and yelp. His pupils were… larger than normal. That, or I was seeing things.

“I meant for me, Beel,” I shouted, my voice coming out more of a squeak. I saw his ears perk at the sound and wrenched myself from the spot, backing away a couple of steps despite knowing that he could easily reach out and grab me. If turning my back on Mammon caused his instincts to kick in more, I felt like trying to run would potentially trigger some chase instinct. “I-If you eat me, we can’t r-really hang out. R-Right?”

“Oh. Right,” a flash of realization swept across his face, probably remembering that eating very vulnerable humans who were your friends was bad. Concerningly, it was quickly replaced by eagerness as the gears in his head turned. “What if I… didn’t eat you? What if I just tasted you?”

“Wha-,” I was appalled, my fear being replaced by sheer surprise. “No, you can’t just TASTE me, Beel!”

Fear caused adrenaline to dump into my veins, uncertainty clouding my mind. Would the bracelet work if Beel snapped? What were the limits? What if it was just a glorified paperweight around my wrist?!

Gripped by a bit of panic, I moved to dart away even though I had nowhere to go on the bed. Beel was quick to move his arms, hands the size of walls blocking my escape and causing me to bounce slightly with the impact. I couldn’t move away before I found myself scooped up in his hands, getting very vivid flashbacks to when Mammon snatched me up, and I was brought closer to his face despite my squirming and kicking.

“Beel, j-just let me go!” I exclaimed, heart pounding in my chest. My protests fell on deaf ears, seeing that Beel had that hungry, glazed over look that let me know that he wasn’t going to listen to anything I said.

“I’ll just pop you in my mouth until Levi gets here,” Beel murmured, pleased with his self-approved compromise. I could already see drool at the corner of his mouth, my eyes widening when his lips began to part.

“Beel, d-don’t you dare,” I exclaimed, scrambling against his fingers as I was moved towards his opening mouth.

Unlike Mammon, who had fought against his instincts, Beel was self-assured of his plan and held no hesitation with very misguided confidence that he wouldn’t eat me if he just gave in a little and put me in his mouth. Having seen first-hand that when Beel says “one bite”, he means the whole fucking bowl, I was not very confident in his self-control.

I wasn't even given a second  before I found myself tossed on his tongue with his teeth immediately shutting behind me. Given his tendency to bite and chew anything he could get his teeth around, I was extremely glad he didn’t decide to use me as a chew-toy.

The muscle beneath me, slightly rough and barbed similar to Mammon’s tongue, was still for barely a moment before I was nudged and prodded. Of course, I tried to protest and push against the offending appendage, but given the fact that it was fucking massive, I was incredibly unsuccessful and just ended up being drenched in saliva as his mouth watered.

“Beel! L-Let me out,” I gasped out, feeling like a shirt on a spin cycle as I struggled to even have a moment of reprieve. I already felt breathless.

A barely mumbled attempt to reply was my response before it just turned into a deep, pleased and rumbling hum that rattled my bones and insides. The tasting felt relentless, flipped and turned with the only occasional pause being Beel unsticking his tongue from my clothes, hair, and fur before he continued. If it wasn’t for how enthusiastically he was treating me like some kind of hard candy, the rough surface of his tongue would potentially allow me to brace myself between the muscle and palette.

I wasn’t sure how long I was savored, tired and panting after less than a minute. All I knew was that it was hot, humid, and very disorienting. But, at least he was just… tasting. Surprisingly, he’s kept his word about-.

The muscles around me paused in a way different than before when he’d shift me back to the center of his mouth or unstick his tongue from me. I was confused until I felt the tongue begin to lift, my heart leaping into my throat at getting a flashback from when Mammon ate me.

“Beel, DON’T SWALLOW ME,” I screeched in panic, but ultimately couldn’t do anything as I was forced back towards his throat before a loud gulp loudly sounded in my ears. Immediately, I was dragged down his gullet before I could even try to let out another exclamation. Beel continued to borderline purr as I was drawn past his heart and lungs, both of which were overwhelmingly loud. Maybe it was my own blood rushing in my ears though.

I felt myself slip into the stomach, the organ bouncing a bit at my slight drop from the top to base. Thankfully, Beel’s stomach was empty of foodstuffs, but that definitely didn’t help him against his instincts and normal gluttony. A small pool was at the bottom of his stomach. Whether it was drool or acid, I didn’t know or care and just jumped to my feet despite being tired from struggling, trying to press myself away from it as much as possible. I felt lightheaded with panic and tried to control my breathing, but it was very difficult.

“B-Beel, let me out,” I shouted, voice wavering in fear even as he hummed. He wasn’t supposed to eat me, and maybe if he did the protection spell like Mammon had I’d feel less scared, but he didn’t. “Please!”

There was a pressure on one side of the stomach that was enough to jostle me loose from my standing position and cause me to slide to the bottom of the organ with a yelp. The pleased hum abruptly stopped, replaced by his worried voice, “K-Kat, are you okay?! I just meant to have a taste. I thought I could hold myself back, b-but you were just irresistible!”

“Beel, just let me out,” I called out, trying to pull in my panic as I moved to sit up. The puddle was making my hands feel itchy.

“I-,” Beel’s voice paused and everything tensed for a few seconds, making me very confused. I couldn’t hear anything past his organs churning, but he spoke up before I could press to be let out again.

“L-Levi… I messed up.”

—------------------------------------------

Good news? The bracelet works to a certain extent, at least. I didn’t sustain any actual burns from Beel, nothing worse than skin irritation but that could also have been because I didn’t spend too long in his stomach.

The bad news? Another house meeting was called. And, this time, it was far more tense. Mostly because everyone gathered in a panic after Levi walked in on Beel, who immediately admitted to ‘accidentally’ eating me.

Needless to say, Levi freaked out and got Lucifer, and no one was less than panicked.

“I feel,” Lucifer’s angry tone had me flinching from my spot on the coffee table of the common room. “That eating someone should be easier to avoid than it appears, but apparently that’s not the case.”

I toyed with the edge of the hand towel I sat on, focusing on the green fibers to avoid looking at any of the brothers. To avoid their worry and concern. Beel wasn’t present, but we all knew that Lucifer would give him his own reprimand later on. I didn’t want to think about what Lucifer would end up punishing him with.

“We got lucky thanks to Solomon’s protection charm, but it’s obviously not foolproof. I wish he had gotten a hold of Levi or I  for the bracelet so we could avoid this whole incident, but the past is behind us,” Lucifer inhaled deeply. I was sure that if I looked up, I’d have a fifty percent chance to see at least a bit of his demon smoke with the knowledge that he was very much holding himself back. “Moving forward, we need to be cautious. I’d love to just say ‘Don’t eat Kat’, but given that it’s happened twice, that’d be irresponsible of me.”

I heard a very faint growl from the couch that lasted only a second, resisting the urge to look up. Lucifer had told the whole house about Mammon’s incident and I knew he probably felt under scrutiny right now.

“So, we’re going to do this a different way,” Lucifer continued. A thud on the table next to me caused me to jolt and look up at the sound. Lucifer shot me an apologetic glance as he tapped the heavy looking tome to drag the others attention to it. His ears flattened a little in anger, a glimpse into just how pissed he was about me being eaten twice in three days along with his steadily growling tone and flicking tail. “You all are expected to hold in your instincts, but if that expectation fails like it already has, I want you all to have memorized this spell.

“I have it bookmarked. This is the spell Mammon used to protect Kat when he lost control of his instincts. I want you all to learn it, internalize it, and by tomorrow, I want each of you to recite it to me. This does not mean that anyone can just eat Kat. This is an extra safety measure for emergencies and is extremely important given that the protection bracelet isn’t perfected. I will still give severe punishment for eating them, so don’t think you can get off scott-free by just eating them and calling it an emergency,” he straightened from the coffee table and crossed his arms over his chest. “Mammon.”

The demon in question looked towards Lucifer, ears wilting a bit. He’d already likely suffered his repercussions and wasn’t looking for more. But, Lucifer wasn’t looking to reprimand him.

“Since you already know the spell, you can take Kat to their room.”

“I- Really,” Mammon looked surprised, but his apprehension faded with relief.

Levi, on the other hand, was quick to voice his objection with a frown and protective glance. “How come Mammon takes Kat? Why should he be trusted? What if he eats them again, he already has once. Besides, I’m an herbivore!”

“Because,” Lucifer responded tersely, wisps of black smoke curling from his shoulders. “You also still need to learn the spell, regardless of your herbivore status. I, myself, need to refresh myself on it. Mammon not only knows the spell, he used it responsibly and knows the consequences if he does it again.”

He looked from Levi to Mammon and nodded in dismissal. Mammon got up and approached the coffee table, offering his palm for me to climb into.

I didn’t hesitate much to hop into his hand, clutching onto one of his fingers as he straightened up and left the common room. I let out a huff once we got far enough down the hallway that I wasn’t as much on edge. I couldn’t help but glance at the redness of my hands. It was a lot better than earlier if Lucifer’s initial blow up was anything to go by, along with Asmos comment about me looking like a tiny lobster. Now, it was more just a couple shades pinker than normal. Still, patchy as fuck.

“I hope Luke manages to get a hold of the antidote soon,” I sighed tiredly. I saw the fingers of the hand I was in twitch a little, glancing up to see Mammon surprised that I started talking with him. Given that he’s barely texted me other than to apologize, I think he thought I had been mad at him.

“Yeah,” he replied after a couple seconds of quiet contemplation. “Pretty sure if Luke doesn’t manage to find any available, Lucifer’s gonna try and get Micheal to find some. And, Micheal will probably fold because Lucifer was his favorite.”

“Benefits to being a Teacher’s Pet,” I yawned. Did the phrase really make sense? Not really, but it was all I could think of at the moment. That, and I felt like Lucifer would absolutely be a Teacher’s Pet.

“He’s got the ears and tail for it now,” Mammon mumbled, catching me off guard. After another day of panic and stress, I couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh. The demon looked down at me, apparently not thinking that he’d said that outside and quickly added, “Don’t tell Lucifer I said that, got it?”

“G-Got it,” my laughing petered out into chuckles, feeling a lot better than before. But, as we entered my room and he lowered his hand to allow me off, I still felt like I needed to reassure him. Especially when, after I stepped down, he quickly pulled his hand away.

“I, uh, should probably head back and stuff before the others accuse me of eatin’ ya again,” Mammon said, poised to immediately leave. But, before he took a step, I spoke up.

“I’m not mad at you, you know,” I called out quietly, too nervous to be too loud about it. But, I saw the way that his ears flicked in my direction though he kept his gaze averted. “I mean, maybe a bit irritated, but I don’t really blame you for the instincts stuff.”

The demon was quiet for a few seconds longer, uncharacteristic of the Avatar of Greed, but eventually he responded, “You’re still scared though, at least a little. And even if I couldn’t control myself, I still could have seriously hurt you, Kat… I don’t know what I would have done if that was the case…”

I frowned, thinking on it. “Mammon, the first few hours of the potion kicking in, I literally thought one of you would end up, I don’t know, biting off a chunk of my arm or something. And I’d do the same thing that I’m doing now: I wouldn’t really blame any of you. Granted, I’d probably be more scared if I ended up… injured, but I wouldn’t want you guys beating yourself up over something you can’t control. Besides, I’m still a little scared of all of you! I don’t know if you remember this, but I’m a few inches tall with some kind of rodent instincts in me, any movement too quick makes me anxious. Don’t worry, in this case, you’re not special.”

Mammon looked towards me, mulling over my words and likely thinking of how he should respond. And, in true Mammon fashion, he’d decided that he’d been vulnerable enough for one day, scoffing, “Yeah, well, just don’t forget that I’m special in other ways, like being your first demon.”

“I’ve told you that you need to work on your phrasing,” I rolled my eyes, but I knew he only said it like that to get under his brother’s skin. I just tried to fucking mitigate the in-fighting. “Go on, get! Before I die of annoyance and  the others think you ate me again.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Mammon rolled his eyes right back, walking to the entrance of the bedroom.

“Oh, wait,” I exclaimed, quickly remembering something. Mammon looked back in surprise but waited expectantly. “Tell Beel that I don’t really blame him either when you see him next.”

The demon frowned, likely feeling his own way about Beel’s situation but said, “Alright, fine. Get some rest, Kat.”

“Will do,” I called out as he left the room, the door closing with a soft click. After a few seconds, I tiredly walked to where my phone was left on my bed, flopping down and letting out a long exhale. “These fucking brothers are gonna be the death of me.”

I laid there on the comforter for a while, rifling through the complicated emotions that came with the near-death experiences and trying to sort through what was rodent instinct and what was entirely me until my phone buzzed. I yelped, caught off guard by what would be a text, and sat up to unlock the phone. It was from Solomon.

‘Hey, Kat. Lucifer told me that the charm wasn’t working fully. That should probably be taken care of ASAP given the trouble the brothers give you. Are you feeling any better?’

Uh oh. At this point, it’d been three days. Usually, if someone is sick past that, that meant something was pretty wrong. And, given the fact that I didn’t think anyone was any closer to an antidote for my transformation, I felt like Solomon should probably know if he was going to fix the bracelet.

‘Ah. About that. I wasn’t… actually sick??? I’m sort of shrunk.’ I typed out, watching nervously as Solomon’s writing dots popped up and disappeared several times until his response came through.

‘Shrunk? How did that happen?’

I huffed a bit. ‘Long story. But, really need the bracelet looked at if possible.’

‘I mean, I can try, but it’ll be difficult to get a good look at it. If you take it off and leave it off for a few hours, it should return to normal size.’

‘Bracelet is stuck, remember?’

‘Right, Beel said something about that earlier…’

I watched the dots pop up, then disappear, pop up, then disappear for a few minutes, eventually leaving the messenger app out of boredom to watch some DevilTube. Eventually, after about thirty minutes, Solomon did give me a response.

‘Okay, I can try to swing by tomorrow after classes to take a look, but I can’t guarantee anything being able to be done in just one night.’

‘That’s fine. Thank you for being flexible, see you tomorrow!’

‘You too, Kat.’

“Probably because of the whole not being able to digest me thing,” I replied, continuing to thumb through my textbook. This whole schooling after graduation thing sucked, but demons lived hundreds of years and they didn’t care about Associate’s degrees. Hell, they’d probably have forced a person with a Doctorate to still do homework… Did Solomon have a Doctorate?

Beel flopping on my bed distracted me from the random thought, the demon acting like a dog begging for treats as he practically whined, “Pleeease, Kat. We can play Hide and Seek? If I win, I get to eat you, and if I lose, I’ll leave you alone!”

“You’ll just win cause your senses are better,” I huffed and rolled my eyes. But, I sighed and closed my textbook, shutting my eyes for a moment as I steeled myself. I knew there wasn’t much point arguing with the hungry demon, and if he sat there begging for too long then he’d go into a hungry rage and eat me anyways. I opened my eyes and looked down at him, able to see the eager anticipation in his eyes.

He knew I was pretty easy to crack.

“Fine. But, since I know you’re going to win, you can’t eat me for a week after, got it,” I crossed my arms over my chest after putting the textbook down, gaze firm as I set my rule. “If I fall behind on my studies because you keep eating me, both of us are going to be bitched at by Lucifer.”

“YES,” Beel exclaimed, sitting up excitedly. I could already tell he was drooling, mostly because he lifted a hand to sort of cover his mouth for a moment so he could swallow the excess saliva. “Thank you, Kat!”

And that’s what led to me being shrunk down and given ten minutes to try and hide. We chose the kitchen because it was the only place in the mansion that would actually give me a chance of winning, all the smells of other food acting as a distraction for his senses. An additional rule was added that he couldn’t eat anything else other than me, otherwise he could eat the whole kitchen to find my hiding spot. Which would not only be unfair, but it was also terrifying to see things digest in front of you even when you were invulnerable to acid.

Hiding behind the flour on one of the counters (I couldn’t exactly open the cabinets at this size), I heard Beel announce the start of the game before the sound of his shoes on the floor was apparent. It was a good three, maybe four, minutes of hearing him rummage around the kitchen before the sack of flour was brushed to the side and I found myself scooped up with a yelp.

“Found you,” he purred proudly, even though it had probably been decently easy.

“Y-Yes, yes you did,” I shifted a little in his hold instinctively, looking up at him and adding, “And don’t forget the protection spell!”

“Right, right,” the demon nodded distractedly, probably holding himself back from just popping me into his mouth immediately already. He did recite the incantation, though he didn’t waste any time opening his jaws almost immediately after.

The sight still sent a shiver of nervousness down my spine, seeing the teeth larger than my head, a tongue almost as large as a mattress, and the darkness at the back of his mouth that led to his throat. There was already a pool of drool on his tongue and strings of saliva broke when he opened his maw, further proof of his anticipation. 

I was carefully maneuvered into his jaws slowly enough that I was given the chance to shout in protest if I felt too overwhelmed. I doubted he’d be able to stop himself at this point, but the care was an appreciated thought. The humid warmth of his breathing became more intense and my clothes were immediately soaked when I was placed on his tongue, his jaws closing and leaving me in the humid darkness. Almost immediately my surroundings vibrated a little as a pleased hum rumbled from his chest at my taste.

Normally, he’d usually spend at least several seconds rolling me around his mouth to ‘get the most’ of my flavor, but he must’ve been hungrier than he always was because he barely waited a moment before nudging me towards the back of his throat.

All it took was a strong swallow and I descended down his throat, past his collarbone towards his bottomless pit of a stomach. Well, it wasn’t actually bottomless, since I slid into an actual organ and not a dimensional void. After being eaten a fair amount of times at this point, I wasn’t as scared anymore, the heartbeat and sound of breathing less overbearing now. A low, loud growl made the stomach’s already moving walls ripple and press against me, able to feel Beel gently place a hand against his stomach.

“Thanks again,” the demon purred, rubbing a small circle over his stomach for a moment.

“Just don’t forget to let me out before your morning jog,” I reminded him. While he could wake up early and workout before school, I didn’t exactly feel like being jostled awake before breakfast. At least if I was let out before his run, I could doze for another hour or so before getting up. 

It’d still be a few days until Luke could get ahold of the antidote, and with how rushed he’d been in the first place both Simeon and Solomon were also aware of the situation and had checked in around the time Lucifer was berating everyone for losing themselves to their instincts. He had allowed me to hang out with the angels and Solomon in the kitchen to bring them up to speed on what had happened after Luke ran off for the antidote. 

Luke thought I should have moved into Purgatory Hall until the demon brothers were ‘cured’, but I didn’t want to be too much of a hassle and refused, and eventually the residents of Purgatory Hall went home after ensuring that I knew I could count on them if something happened. Nothing did happen though, other than each brother being even more affectionate than normal and vying for my attention. 

Mostly, Asmo was always looking for affection anyways.

For now, I was taking the rare moment to myself, finding that I was almost constantly drained due to the fact that I was an introvert with seven roommates and couldn't really get much time to myself to unwind and relax. And, today seemed like about the same when there was knocking at my door, followed by Mammon demanding to be let in.

"OI! Kat, open the door," the demon shouted, making me sigh. I wondered if I should just stay quiet to make him think I wasn't here, but last time I did that he had lockpicked into my room to see if I had any valuables laying around. He froze when he saw me, but I got Solomon to charm my stuff after that.

"Give me a second," I grumbled, pausing my music on my phone and taking out my headphones, the book I was reading carefully closed and left on the bed as I got up and opened the door.

Mammon looked at me as the door opened, a chuff accompanying his greeting, "There you are! I've been knocking for almost an entire minute!"

"And I've been trying to relax in my room," I replied, eyes wandering to the tiger ears that had replaced his normal ones.

"Hmph, I guess you won't be interested in what I just found then," he said, a mischievous glint in his eyes since he knew my curiosity tended to get the better of me. Like, a lot.

".. Well, I didn't say anything like that," I stood aside to let the demon enter my room, instinctively glancing him over as he walked in to see if I could get a glimpse of what he had found. I wouldn't put it past him to lie about something interesting just to get my attention though. 

I closed the door behind him, walking over to the bed and hopping back up on it as I curiously asked, "What did you find?"

"You know how Luke's cake turned all of us into animals?" Mammon stopped beside my bed, hands on his hips while his tail idly flicked around.

"Gee, did it," I asked sarcastically, propping my head on a hand as I continued in more amused sarcasm. "I never would have thought. I knew something was different, but I thought it was a haircut thing."

"Yeah, okay, tone down the sass," he playfully pushed my shoulder and I stuck my tongue out for a second in response. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial of something that glowed an amber color. "Anyways, I was thinking about pranking the Angels and Solomon back!"

"Wha- why," I asked, curiosity turning into surprise and I instinctively felt defensive on the trio's behalf. "It's not like Luke did it on purpose. And the other two had nothing to do with it."

"Well, no. But Lucifer's been upping his annoying lectures these last few days because of this whole thing!"

"I think it's more because you keep knocking stuff over-."

"Hey, these tails are difficult to get used to," Mammon put a hand to his chest, his tail flicking in irritation. "And I'm not the only one who's accidentally knocked stuff over, Beel is the worst with his lion tail!"

"Either way, you're not pranking the angels and Solomon," I said, holding my hand out for the vial.

Mammon's ears flattened a little and his eyes narrowed, holding the vial protectively to himself. He let out a growl that I still wasn't used to, feeling my heart skip a beat as he said, "No, you're not stopping me from using this."

"Mammon," I stood up, my tone becoming more stern. "Don't make me command you to give it, you know I hate doing that."

"I'm not making you do anything!" 

He started trying to back up towards the door, presumably to try and bolt with the vial. My eyes widened and I reached across the pact I had with him while quickly hopping off the bed and stepping forward.

"Mammon, stop," I demanded, seeing him freeze in place when I did so.

I strode to my bedroom door and placed myself between it and Mammon, who was cursing under his breath about having been forcibly stopped. I started trying to grab the vial from him, but he kept trying to hold it out of reach. Granted, that wasn't very difficult with our height difference, but it was still annoying.

"Mammon, you ass, give me the fucking vial," I hissed, though I didn't command him to do so with the pact, just trying to nick it off of him.

"Not a chance," Mammon replied, the growl of irritation in his throat. "Do you know how difficult it was to get this stuff? If I give it to you, Lucifer will have my- HEY!"

I was able to make a particularly good hop to reach the vial that he held in the air. I wasn't able to grab the vial exactly, but I was able to hit his hand hard enough that the vial slipped from his grasp. Making a noise of triumph, I quickly went to grab it, but so did Mammon. My hands closed around the vial, but I found myself knocked over in the demon's haste to try and beat me to it.

The fall itself didn't hurt, but I had tightened my grip on the vial instinctively, the thin glass breaking under the unintentional pressure.

I yelped from the tumble, opening my hands cautiously at the sharp pain and feeling of a wet stain on my hands and shirt, seeing the shards of the vial in my palms and the amber liquid spilled all over me mixed with a bit of blood. I groaned and laid my head back down, dragging out an exasperated, "Fuuuuuuuck…"

"Fuck, Kat, are you okay," Mammon asked, the demon kneeling beside me. "I didn't mean to push you over, I was just going for the vial! Oh, I'm definitely screwed now, Lucifer's gonna kill me!"

"I'm fine," I replied, sitting up and looking at the pieces of glass. Maybe I'd ask Satan for some sort of healing spell if I didn't get all the shards out. I tried to shake my hands off, a few of the pieces slipping out of my palm and I started carefully pulling out the rest. Mammon had gone to my bathroom quickly while I did so to get my first aid kit and held out a hand so he could try to bandage one of mine. I mumbled a thanks and held out my right hand for him to put gauze on, curiously lifting my left hand to my face to try and sniff it.

It smelled citrus-y.

"What was even in that," I asked. Considering he had been planning to prank Purgatory Hall, I was very surprised that I hadn't grown an extra arm or something.

"Well, uh…" Mammon seemed hesitant to answer, keeping his eyes trained on bandaging my hands. Once done, he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "It's basically the same stuff that turned us into part-animal. There's supposed to be a bit of a delay, cause I didn't want them figurin' out it was me if it affected them before I could get away."

"Well, I mean, that should be fine then," I shrugged, looking over my bandaged hands. I had to admit, he did a really good job, my fingers not feeling too hindered by the coverings on my palms. 

But then something clicked. Whipping my head up to look at Mammon, I said, "Wait… you were also trying to prank Solomon…

"Mammon, does this work on humans," I asked, knowing the answer by the wince of shame at the question. I looked back at where the amber liquid had spilled, seeing that it didn't even leave a trace on my skin or shirt, presumably having absorbed the magical substance. Part of me was worried, but another part thought that the brothers had been getting along fine despite the animalistic stuff, so I should be fine...

"I-It does work on humans, but unlike the antidote Luke is getting, I don't know where we'd even start to get an antidote for this," Mammon said. He looked like he was trying to not freak out.

"Maybe Satan knows something," I suggested, standing up and automatically offering a hand to help him up. Obviously, he didn't take it since they had just been bandaged. "He's been poring over some of his books in case he could find a way for y'all to have an antidote sooner. And, he hates Lucifer, so he's probably not gonna snitch on you."

"We both tried lookin' for antidote stuff, we got nothing. But, we can ask him, I guess," Mammon frowned, getting up. He glanced at his watch, adding, "I-I’m not sure when it's supposed to kick in."

"Well, maybe we can reach Satan before- hnngh,” I held a hand to my head a wave of light-headedness hit me, making me stumble a bit in place. I saw Mammon jolt beside me, readying to catch me if I fell, but I waved him off as I tried to straighten and ignore it. I-I’m fine, we have to hurr-.”

My head throbbed with what felt like the beginning of a migraine, the light-headedness becoming worse. My vision spotted and blurred as my head spun. I must have fainted or blacked out for a moment because I found myself staring up at Mammon when my vision cleared up enough, leaning way too close over me. When I groaned and moved to sit up though, his face didn’t get much closer. Confused, I looked around and noticed that everything was bigger, a lot bigger. As in, big enough that I was actually in Mammon’s hands kind of big.

“Mammon,” I yelped in surprise, whatever grogginess and dizziness being pushed to the side as my heart skipped a beat and I felt a bit of adrenaline. The demon in question quickly moved to set me down now that I was aware, something I was grateful for despite my legs feeling a bit wobbly.

“I-I’m sorry, I grabbed ya before you could hit the ground, but I didn’t hurt you, right,” he asked, looking even more freaked out than when I’d first spilled the potion, understandably so. “I didn’t expect ya to faint.”

“I’m fine, b-but I’m more concerned about why I’m fucking small,” I exclaimed, struggling to wrap my head around my newfound size. “I thought you said it was like the animal thing!”

“It is!... M-Maybe it’s because you’re some kind of rodent?”

“I’m a WHAT,” I quickly looked myself over, something I’d neglected to do in favor of staring around. I realized I now had a brown and black furry tail almost as long as my legs, and when I reached up I found that my normal ears were now replaced by mostly round ones that twitched at my own touch. I didn’t know what they looked like, but that didn’t matter. Holding a hand to my head in confusion, I tried to make sense of it, saying, “None of you guys changed size!”

“I don’t know! Maybe because none of us are something that small, or maybe because it’s meant for angels and humans, not demons,” Mammon suggested, though it was obvious that he wasn’t certain of it himself.

“W-Well, this is a lot more inconvenient than I thought this was going to be,” I sighed, able to feel my tail move on its own and realized that I could hear a lot better than before, able to hear Mammon’s tail across the floor as it moved. The smell of the foliage and flowers in my room even seemed stronger than usual.

“You’re telling me,” the demon suddenly looked away a bit, raising a hand to cover his mouth.

“Are you okay,” I automatically asked, startled that he seemed more affected by this than I was. I moved to try and get a better look at his face, but he tensed and held up a hand to signal for me to stop. I hesitantly obeyed.

“N-No. Seein’ you so small is making my instincts flare up again,” he shook his head and sat back a little on his heels. “It’s already been difficult, but now you’re bite-sized and every movement is catching my attention.”

“Oh.” I stiffened a little at his answer. I appreciated the honesty, but an instinctive shiver of fear ran down my spine.

“Your fear isn’t helping,” Mammon’s eyes closed momentarily before opening and glancing in my direction. His tone and gaze held a bit of hurt, concern, and a glint that I’d seen enough times from Beel that almost had me taking a step back. “I know ya can’t help it, but I wish you’d just stop…”

“We need to get to Satan or Lucifer,” I said, trying to ignore his comment the best that I could. “Maybe even Solomon would know something.”

I turned towards the bedroom door a bit to suggest that if he didn’t want to draw too much attention that he could go without me, thinking that maybe I could climb onto the bed while he was gone and try to message Solomon or Luke. But, I was interrupted before I could even start, finding myself suddenly swept off my feet. I was barely even able to yelp in surprise, realizing that I’d been snatched up by Mammon as I was raised above the ground.

“M-Mammon?” I asked nervously, looking up at him. His fingers twitched around me and he looked like he was struggling, looking appalled.

"I-I didn't mean to, you just turned around and I couldn't stop myself!" He exclaimed.

My ears wilted back at how loud he sounded while my mind raced, trying to figure out what to do. Tigers were ambush predators, so I guess turning away had been a trigger for his instincts. But if my fear was making it worse, if turning away made it worse, and if me basically existing made it worse, what could I do?! I was in a bit of shock, so I hadn't really struggled, but I didn't doubt that would also make it worse. 

"K-Kat, ya gotta command me to stop. Tell me to put you down or something!"

My eyes widened in surprise at his request, startled and panicked. It had to be really bad if he was *asking* me to give him an order, knowing very well that he and the other brothers hated it with a passion. Spurred on by my own fear and his own, I tried to reach across the pact, demanding, "M-Mammon, stop!"

But I didn't feel the pact react, like it was dormant somehow. And judging by how his own eyes widened a bit, hands raising ever so slightly to his face, he also realized that it wasn't working.

"K-Kat, order me to stop," he repeated, voice wavering in his own panic.

"I-I did! I don't feel the pact responding," I replied, clutching onto his fingers as I tried to reign in my panic, tried to think of something. 

"Sh-Shit," Mammon hissed, the shaking in his hands getting worse. I'm not sure what the tremors felt like to him, but they felt like mini earthquakes to me, but what shook me to my core was the implications. "I- l-look, I don't think I'll be able to stop myself, but… w-well, while looking for antidote stuff with Satan, I came across a protection charm.. I promise, I-I wasn't planning on eatin' ya, b-but it was just in case I couldn't keep myself from trying to eat ya."

I blinked, finding myself overwhelmed and stunned at his small tangent. But I couldn't exactly say that I was comforted by his words. In fact, it only served to make me panic more since he really made it sound like he was about to eat me.

"Wha- b-but, you're not going to eat me, right?!"

His hesitation to respond was all the answer I needed, instinctively squirming a little in his hands as I debated maybe trying to wriggle free despite the potential fall to the ground. I could see his ears perk up a little.

"Nngh, I-I'm sorry, Kat," the demon was able to say, before starting to murmur some Latin under his breath while his shaking hands brought me closer to his face. Much to my dismay.

"G-Gah, Mammon, STOP," I shouted, instinctive panic washing over me. I didn't know whether or not any rodent instincts were making it worse, but I was pretty sure that even if I didn't have the ears and tail, I'd still be panicking at the thought of being eaten. You know, the thing every animal on earth basically spent millions of years evolving to AVOID. Including humans. 

I squirmed and twisted in his shaky hold in an attempt to get away, unable to focus on his Latin words as I felt his breath on my side. Something akin to a hiccup caused me to let out an actual squeak of fear, a thing I would have been embarrassed about if it weren't for the circumstances.

After a moment, I realized that he was done murmuring Latin. A split second later I let out a strangled cry when something large and wet slid across my arm and up, flicking past the side of my head and new ears.

I didn't need to look to know or make the educated guess that it had been his tongue, but that didn't stop me from glancing towards the source and paling at seeing his mouth a lot closer than it had been before. Teeth glinted in the room lighting, sharper and larger than I thought. I was so appalled at the sight that I didn't realize he started lowering his face a bit again, tongue slightly sticking out.

"Mammon, s-stop," I yelped, flinching and curling in on myself as his tongue licked across my side again. His fingers actually loosened, which would have allowed me a chance to escape if his licking didn't pin me to his palm.

His hands seemed far more steady now and he was letting out a sound similar to his greeting chuffs as his tongue raked across my side a few more times despite my very vocal and physical protests, my clothes clinging to the apparently rough surface of his tongue each time the muscle pulled away a bit. One of the licks tugged a bit too much and I yelped when I was lifted a bit off of his palm. Before I could move to unstick myself from his tongue, I suddenly found myself in darkness as he closed his mouth on my upper half. A bit of light illuminated my nightmarish surroundings for a moment as his mouth opened just enough to slide the rest of me inside.

The world was only still for a second before the tongue beneath me lurched and I found out what it was like as a hard candy when it started to lap at me and roll me around his maw, a hum mixing with the weird chuffing sound. I found myself drenched in saliva almost immediately in the warm and humid space, my arms shaking from trying to struggle. At this point, my throat felt a bit hoarse from trying to get Mammon to stop, the pact that was usually so readily there still unresponsive.

Terrifyingly, it wasn’t long before I felt myself being nudged towards the back of his mouth, able to feel my hands drape over the edge of the tongue despite me trying to scramble back.

“M-Mammon, don’t you f-fucking DARE!” 

The threat was empty and went unheeded, the tongue pushing up briefly before a thick swallow compressed everything around me and I was dragged down into his throat. I heard his heartbeat and breathing surround me, becoming louder the further I was drawn down his gullet. It was horribly constrictive. I could barely even wriggle, let alone struggle, at this point. Seconds dragged on, feeling like forever before I found myself sliding into a more open space.

What I could only guess was his stomach.

I couldn’t see anything, but that was a grace. I didn’t want to see the walls as they moved around me, able to hear a gurgle from somewhere as everything around me churned. At this point, I was too tired to do much more than try and push the stomach walls away weakly in comparison to the struggles I had been able to put up before.

“K-Kat, are you okay?” Mammon’s voice sounded very weird, loudly resounding around me yet somehow muffled through the layers of flesh and ambient sounds.

“You fucking ate me, NO!”

I felt Mammon flinch around me, feeling a brief pang of guilt through my panic. After all, I knew he hadn’t wanted to do it, but that didn’t stop the fear that had arisen from the whole situation. And, as much as I knew he wouldn’t want to hurt me, I also didn’t know how effective the protective charm was. Or if it even worked.

“Look, I didn’t want to! Is the protective charm working? I didn’t hurt you, right,” the demon asked, voice uncharacteristically saturated with worry and his own panic. Sure, he was bad at masking his care, but this was the most genuine concern I’d heard from him.

“I-I-,” I struggled to reign in my instinctive panic, focusing on whether I had been actually hurt. Traumatized? Yes. But, it wasn't like I’d ended up bitten or was currently being burned by… demon stomach acid. It hadn’t been pleasant by any means, but I wasn’t dying. And after living in the Devildom for months, I’d debatably experienced far worse. “I… N-No, Mammon, you didn’t hurt me. It seems fine… For now, at least…”

Everything seemed to relax around me, even if the stomach still moved around me. A light pressure on one side made me jolt a bit in surprise, Mammon saying, “I’m.. I’m really glad you’re alright. I’d never forgive myself if I accidentally ended up hurtin’ ya.”

“I-I appreciate the sentiment, but could you let me out,” I asked, already wanting OUT of the demons insides. Everytime the walls brushed and churned against me, it made me flinch and the constant gurgles kept my instincts -whether human or rodent in nature- on edge.

“I, uh… I might need a potion to make me hurl you back up… b-but, on the bright side, I can try and ask Satan if he knows anything about angel-human variants of  the animal thing,” he replied. “He’ll have all the ingredients for basically every potion, and it shouldn’t be hard to find one to get you out.”

“Ah.” 

The response wasn’t exactly one I’d liked, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. I yelped when everything jolted, my stomach dropping as it seemed Mammon stood up. The pressure on the one side increased and moved, realizing that the demon probably had a hand over his stomach and he gave a brief rub against me. That rumbling chuff mixed with a hum from before started up again, and I could only guess that he was trying to purr but tigers were incapable.