It was quiet in the library, for which you were thankful for. As much as you enjoyed the company of the demon brothers, they could also be too much for your poor human ears. There were very few that would follow you here. If they were too loud when Satan was reading or Belphie was napping, there would be hell to pay.
You flicked the corner of the upcoming pages in the book you held out of nervous habit, the paper flowing across your skin over and over in a soothing caress. It was a well-loved book, though much newer than most anything else in the stuffy library room of Lamentation. It didn’t help you from getting confused and mildly uncomfortable about the content, however.
“What are you reading?”
Satan’s tone was more curiosity than true interest, yet you felt a blush rise to your cheeks all the same and you did your best to not scramble to hide the front cover. “It’s something Solomon lent me.”
“Oh?”
Dammit. His eyes shone now and he leaned forward in his chair across from you to examine the book in your hands closer. With a swipe of his gaze as he read the title, his expression morphed into carefully disguised alarm. “How to Train Your Demon: 101 Steps to Submission?”
You pulled the book to your chest and looked down in your lap. You were unable to meet his eyes and wished to run from the situation if you could. “I...I only wanted to learn how to use this magic properly. Everything is so new and unknown to me and the magic is so wild and powerful and I...don’t want to hurt any of you again.”
You heard a shift as Satan stood up. He plucked the book from your arms and tossed it aside in a very disrespectful, un-Satan-like way.
“Hey!”
“I’ll find something better for you to read if that’s what you want,” Satan said with a huff. “Learning to control yourself first will do you better than learning how to control others.”
Glad for the help--even if forced upon you--and relieved you didn’t have to read that wreck of an instructional book anymore, you mentally apologized to Solomon as you abandoned the book on the floor in favor of following Satan as he led you out of the library and to his room where he kept all his knowledge on pact magic.
