1,2,3,4,5

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A floorboard creaked. Emma looked up, wondering who it was. She’d left the door open, not opposed to company, but not actively seeking it out. Fortunately, closed doors - particularly closed bedroom doors - held the same significance as in the human world: Keep Out. However, not everyone respected these unspoken rules of society.

Speaking of...

Making direct eye contact with the demon at her door, Emma slid her hand into the pencil pouch at her side. Abruptly looking startled, Mammon quickly switched to an innocent grin and knocked pointedly on the door frame.

She huffed in annoyance but let go of the eraser clutched in her hand. "I told you I'm not letting you copy my homework again, so what do you need?" She closed her textbook over her papers protectively and scowled at him. Helping someone with homework was one thing; enabling their bad habits by allowing them to skip entirely on the effort was another.

"Hmm, don't need nothin', just feeling a little hungry, is all." He smirked, hands casually stuffed in his pockets.

Emma stared at him in disbelief - and more than mild disgust - that he thought she would ever want to- to do that again! And what could he even offer that he expected she’d accept? She highly doubted it was money, as the demon either was paying off his massive debts or was spending it all on luxuries for himself, there was no in-between with Mammon.

But, now that she thought about it, the Grimm coins she’d occasionally find on the ground on her way to and from classes had increased in both frequency and denomination lately. So if the literal physical embodiment of Greed itself thought he could simply bribe her with ‘fortune in money’ then he had another think coming.

She sighed as loudly as she could, hoping Mammon would get the hint. To the surprise of exactly no one, he didn’t. So Emma rolled her eyes and patted the sofa. “Shut the door behind you.”

Grinning like a naughty schoolboy - which, Emma guessed, technically he was - he gently closed the door and promptly flopped down beside her. “So...?” Mammon prompted, waving one hand and looking at her expectantly.

Living in the House of Lamentation was frustrating at times; the six brothers - mysterious absent seventh and youngest brother excluded - had made little secret of the fact most of them - if not all - were very interested in eating her and/or trading for her soul. And these were the demons who wanted her to succeed at her task! She supposed it also annoyed her that they were considered objectively attractive men, a fact that they definitely knew given how certain members of their family bragged.

Emma was suddenly absolutely exhausted and so she responded by setting her homework aside and scooting over to snuggle up against him, resting her head on his shoulder tiredly. “I’ve been having nightmares,” she admitted quietly. Up until the ‘Incident’, the only bad dreams she’d had since arriving in the Devildom had been of being trapped somewhere, so isolated that she didn’t know if she merely couldn’t be found or if no one was looking for her, or worse, that no one had noticed she was gone at all. The theme itself wasn’t unprecedented, but the consistency was quite out of the ordinary.

Mammon almost froze in surprise; his human had always pried the demon's hands off, even when all he was trying to do was steer her safely through a crowd. That she was just as quick to shake free from his brothers and keep several inches distance from them made things only a tiny bit less unbearable. A very very small amount - he was her guardian; they had a pact, well so did Levi but the otaku didn’t matter and besides, he was Emma’s first - did that mean absolutely nothing?

Still, he wasted no time in questioning it, lifting his arm up to around her shoulders. “Nightmares? About what?” A lengthy pause as Mammon apparently indulged in a rare moment of self-reflection. “About me?” The next pause was far briefer. “About me eating ya?”

She snickered; Emma couldn’t help it, that he was so arrogant as to think she was still afraid of him was downright hilarious! “None of my dreams have ever involved you.” Yeah, it was rude, but he really did deserve to have his ego deflated from time to time. “No, it was about-” She trailed off; acknowledging the fear made it more real and Emma wanted it to stay right where it was, as just a nightmare; nightmares weren’t real so therefore it wasn’t real.

She knew that such dissociation was unhealthy, but still hoped that pretending it hadn’t happened would mean it actually hadn’t. Sadly, her pact with Leviathan was a constant reminder, one she couldn’t ignore. However it was that the demons at school managed to know without being told didn’t matter; their comments on it were enough to bring the memories to the forefront of her thoughts.

Sensing her hesitancy, he gave her shoulder an encouraging squeeze with a dazzling smile.

Shaking her head slightly, she filed off in a corner of her brain that underneath the cologne he smelled like a stack of freshly-printed bills - unsurprising, given Mammon’s affinity for wealth in all its forms. Even if his concern stemmed from still wanting to eat her - for some reason Emma felt that was only part of it, not even most - that didn’t make the concern any less real, did it? And what did it matter, anyways? The second-born already knew pretty much all of what had happened, and since she’d ordered him not to tell anyone about it, she could confide in him without worrying that word would spread. “-about the other night,” she finished.

Of course, that didn’t mean Mammon wouldn’t still judge her for it; everyone did keep saying he was a scumbag and, from what she’d witnessed so far, he absolutely was. She clarified, “You guys’s demon forms are pretty intimidating.” Emma was roughly their height - except Beelzebub’s, since literally everyone had to look up if they wanted to meet the youngest’s eyes - on a normal day, but when they lost their temper - or else wanted a more controlled greater use of their power - they grew quite a bit taller. Or at least, the only two she’d seen so far had.

“Ah,” he said noncommittally, gently rubbing her shoulder again. “Kind of wondered why you were still avoiding Levi when you could’ve just ordered him not t’ touch ya.”

She winced. “Was I really that obvious?” Emma wanted to pull away, to shake his hand off her, to do anything and everything that would show how much she rejected the idea of having been avoiding the otaku demon. But she hated lying, and lying to herself only ever did more harm than good. Put simply, it felt nice to let him hold her like this. Even if it wasn’t really ‘human’ contact - not something she could get unless she wanted to go and poke at Solomon, Ugh. - just leaning against someone so warm and solid was more than enough for now.

“Nah, someone’d have to be watchin' ya all the time to notice a pattern,” Mammon asserted confidently.

That wasn’t creepy in the slightest. “Then how did you catch it?” she asked, already knowing why but still mildly curious about how he’d phrase his response.

“Because I-!” The demon cut himself off abruptly and Emma tilted her head to stare through narrowed eyes suspiciously at the faintly blushing demon. “Because it’s my job to be watchin’ out for ya,” Mammon pointed at her with his free hand, “an’ I can hardly say I’m doing that if I let you get eaten by any of my no-good younger brothers, now can I?”

That still left one brother, the one who was completely calm and collected while simultaneously being an absolute unapologetic sadist, she noted with a touch of unease. To cover it up she shot back in mild reproach, “And also because then you wouldn’t get to eat me.”

“There’s that, too,” he said, smiling angelically. Well, supposedly he was one once. “Because while it felt great - no, felt amazing - finally getting you in my stomach, I barely got to have a taste of ya that time, no thanks to Beel,” the Avatar of Greed pouted.

Beel’s the reason I even let you in the first place! Sitting up just to smack him was too much work, Emma decided, plus if she then leaned back against the man it would totally spoil the effect. “What’s it gonna take to make you stop bringing this up?” She cut him off just as he was about to speak. “Actually, you know what? Nevermind, don’t answer that.”

While ordering him around was often funny, she didn’t particularly enjoy doing so. There was something that just felt wrong about it, the blistering tangle of rage clamoring for Revenge and not caring against whom so long as Pain and Humiliation were dealt, the same fury that had let to her assaulting him from an insultingly casual joke that even at the time she’d known was made in good humor; it made Emma feel less like... well, less like Emma. Yet she really did need him to shut up.

While demons were stronger than humans and had powers humans didn’t, those abilities didn’t seem to extend to their senses. And so the reason she needed Mammon to drop the subject was because even if none of them would be able to sense her emotions, Emma didn’t have absolute control over her facial expressions, let alone her involuntary reactions. She could probably get away with hitting him, ignoring him, or simply telling him to shut up - all completely precedented options - but if she wasn’t careful to do it exactly right, then it would attract definitely unwanted attention.

But what would it take to make him stop bringing it up? Commanding him wasn’t a palatable option, and neither was offering money as she barely had any - for while buying Mammon off might have worked, it would certainly take quite an astronomical sum - which really only left offering what she was trying to avoid in the first place. It wasn’t that she was incredibly opposed to being eaten, more that she found it a highly embarrassing experience. Embarrassing to have occurred, embarrassing to admit she’d finally felt relaxed for once, embarrassing to long for a sleep as restful as that night's had been...

Yes, he was being extremely pushy, but that was still far from ‘forceful’ and, for whatever inexplicable reason - over-inflated ego perhaps, or maybe wanting some of the validation that kept being denied the demon - Mammon seemed to legitimately want her to want to be eaten - specifically, for her to want to be eaten, and by him. They both knew he could just grab and swallow her whenever he wanted, but he hadn't. At all. Nor was he giving the impression that would change anytime soon.

It was such a little thing, but it meant a lot to her. Sure it was almost certainly an indication of his ego, but it was also consideration of her feelings on the matter. All of a sudden, Emma knew exactly what to say.

“How about we make a deal,” she ventured, watching him perk up immediately. “If you promise to stop bringing this up, then I promise I will give this some actual serious thought.” The demon looked far too cocky at her suggestion. “Let me make something crystal clear: that was not a ‘yes’,” she scolded, flicking the tip of his nose.

Mammon only grinned back and winked cheekily. “Wasn’t a ‘no’, either.”

She reached for her textbook and made as if to hit him with it. “Get out.”

“I’m already gone!” He was up off the sofa and out the door in a flash; if she’d blinked Emma might have thought he’d simply vanished from sight.

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Sure, she'd told Mammon she'd think it over and sure, there was more than one sleepless night remembering that he'd been actually pretty damn cozy, but Emma was still surprised at herself - she said it wasn't a 'yes', so why was she standing at the door to his room with a hand on the knob?

'Wasn't a 'no', either.'

Just because Mammon barged into her room all the time didn’t give her the right to do the same to him. Still, Emma tried the door. Unlocked. She opened it halfway and knocked loudly, wincing at the music blaring from his room. A panicked squawk was followed by the splintering of plastic - a hurled remote? game controller? - and the music abruptly stopped. Emma chuckled to herself - Guilty conscience? - and called out, “It’s just me, Mammon.”

“Oh, Emma?” Beneath the relief was simple, innocent happiness. As much as he denied, lied, and insulted her, Mammon couldn't help his true feelings shining through - it was both frustrating and endearing at the same time. "Come on in!"

Tempted to take the stairs two at a time, Emma limited herself to a brisk pace down them. She didn't want to seem eager. Am I sure I want to do this? Sure, he knows I didn't mind all that much, but once I've said I actually want to, there's no taking those words back.

"What'd'ja want?" he asked, sweeping aside a mangled controller before propping both feet jauntily on the clear coffee table.

“You know what I want.” Emma couldn’t bring herself to say it. Somehow admitting that she wanted to be eaten was less embarrassing than simply uttering the words by themselves.

"To be demon food?" Mammon practically flung himself out of his seat, eyes wide in his eager face.

Seems her guess was right; getting Mammon to drop the subject did nothing to stop him thinking about it. Glad I closed the door first. “Shut up.” She wasn’t sure it was possible for her face to get any redder. “I thought I told you not to call me that.”

“No, you just hit me and said ya didn’t like hearing it.” He crossed his arms, leaning against the back of the sofa. “So make me stop,” he said, mischievous grin turning unbelievably smug.

Emma ground her teeth, eyes narrowing in a deadpan expression. Be that way, then. She stared him wordlessly down before turning and climbing up the stairs. Pointedly leaving the area had been surprisingly effective on all the brothers, not just Mammon. It was an incredibly versatile gesture: fleeing a volatile situation, removing oneself before causing a scene, and - her favorite - 'I find your behavior unacceptable and your presence unpleasant'. If they chose to interpret it as a slap in the face, that was fine by her, as long as accusations of cowardice didn’t follow.

“Wha- huh- wait!” Mammon called out as she stomped out of his room.

Emma was going to ignore the loud crash she heard, until it was followed by a cry of, “Hey, I was just kidding!”

It sounded like he’d tripped over something. She turned around to see the demon standing in the doorway, slightly disheveled, trying his best to straighten his hair. Maybe you wouldn’t have fallen if you’d clean up your filthy room, she thought.

“It was a joke,” the demon said pleadingly, as he hung onto the doorknob with no small amount of desperation.

"It wasn't a funny one at all, then." Emma frowned, crossing her arms. But she had made her point clear, so she rolled her eyes and walked back into his room, following him down the stairs and scowling at how he'd perked up again at her leaning with forced casualness against the stairwell banister.

“What made ya change your mind?” he asked as he sauntered over to right the toppled chair.

Not quite sure how best to articulate her thoughts, she began slowly, “I just didn’t want to deal with all of,” Emma waved a hand in the air vaguely, “this for a few hours. And I thought-” she shot a meaningful glance at his abdomen before looking away, fighting a blush, “that hanging out in your stomach might help me decompress before I have to go and face reality again.”

“Can’t say I blame ya’ for wanting to spend some quality time with me.” Smirking broadly, Mammon pressed the white nails of one manicured hand against his chest as he preened, “I mean I am The Great Mammon, Avatar of Greed, the second most powerful demon in the Devildom, a real big shot; do you know what lesser demons would pay to get this sorta attention? And here I am givin' it t' ya for free!"

Rolling her eyes again with a quiet exasperated sigh, she corrected, "No, it’s because you're the only one who knows I don’t mind-" ‘being demon food’, the back of Emma’s mind supplied unhelpfully, “-this and, if you're willing to not be a total ass and tease me, I actually would like to be eaten by you." Her eyes narrowed as his lit up, and she raised a finger. "On one condition."

"What condition?" he asked skeptically.

"You do your damn homework." Was that their Devildom Law takehome quiz - due last Tuesday - she saw poking out of the massive pile on his desk?

Mammon's eyes narrowed further. "... Why?"

Oh this'll be fun. Emma smiled innocently, "Do you really want to know? Lucifer confused the hell out of Barbatos by telling me that I was supposed to be looking out for you." Hey, you asked...

He frowned, grumbling something she couldn't quite make out under his breath, apparently about his older brother from what little she did manage to catch.

“And I meant it when I said I don’t want to hear any teasing from you.” She could feel her face heating up and gritted her teeth again, focusing on how annoyed she was in order to clarify her thoughts. “This is so far already beyond ‘embarrassing’ that the distance is astronomical!”

"That's it?" Mammon clearly couldn't believe his good fortune, that Emma had laid out so few conditions. She nodded slowly, watching his throat bob with a swallow.

Mammon spoke the incantation, and she forced herself to keep looking him in the eye. That voice in the back of her head, the one that had been objecting to this idea the entire time, grew louder as she grew smaller. He's drooling just thinking about it, thinking about eating me. Intentional? Well, I'm not scared of you!

Now and again, Emma wondered about other people’s perspectives, whenever she was asked to retrieve something, or heard one of the many ‘jokes’ about her height. But that had never been more than a foot in either direction. The thought of perspective returned to her, currently standing only a couple inches tall; even the neatest of freaks could use a tiny stroll around whatever area they’d just cleaned.

She focused on that to quell the anxiety threatening to rise up at the sight of the undiluted greed tinting Mammon's beautiful sky blue eyes to a Sinful dandelion yellow, far beyond merely 'smug'. Emma wasn't stupid, she knew that the demon would be over the moon with joy should she not just agree but ask - without prompting, without bribery, without threat - to be 'demon food'.

His food.

His.

You really do need to be careful, she told herself, provoking not just one but now two Avatars with their Sins. "I'm half tempted to make you clean your room first," Emma said to stall for time, craning her head as the ground shook with his approach. 'You see, we demons can't resist temptation. When there's something we really want staring us in the face, we have to have it. That's simply how we are.' Okay, make that three Avatars, the oldest and thus most powerful.

The hungry smirk vanished instantly, replaced by petulant disappointment. "Aww, c'mon, that'd take forever! Past dinner time, even!" A crafty look stole back over his face, "Unless ya -"

"Not happening," she snickered, shaking her head good naturedly. "Alright fine, I take it back." Emma smiled and nodded at the crumpled boxes and discarded wrappings nearby. "But seriously though, it’s absolutely filthy in here."

Why did height matter so much? When she’d been full size - barely an inch shorter than the demon - she hadn’t been afraid despite his frequent threats as well as not having a pact with him. Yet now, Emma mused, with both a pact and Mammon’s outright pleading for permission to eat her, she felt fear.

Did height really make such a difference? Diavolo was much taller than her, but she didn’t have that same uneasy twisting in her gut when speaking to the Prince. The few inches gap between her and Lucifer actually helped when speaking to the Avatar of Pride, as Emma needed to tilt her head only slightly to look him in the eyes, a gesture that subconsciously boosts one's resolve - 'Keep your chin up', the saying went.

But she wasn't scared of him, of Mammon hurting her. Neither was she scared by the thought his brothers might find out. Then what?, Emma thought, watching the demon crouch down - practically kneeling, with one hand on the ground to support himself while the other gently scooped her up - What exactly about all this is so terrifying? It bothered her, not understanding her own emotional state.

There was only the minor flutter of fear as the ground fell away below her, the same feeling Emma got when standing near the edge of the R.A.D. rooftop. She trusted Mammon not to drop her, but that didn't mean being up so high wasn't still scary.

The human expected to be gently tipped into his mouth, but even after Mammon had stood fully upright, his hand kept lifting Emma higher in the air, and she suddenly realized what he planned to do.

Emma closed her eyes tightly, clinging to the demon's hand in terror, and screamed, "Aaaah! No no, Mammon, no! I hate heights, put me down put medownputmedow-!" She yelped again, eyes flying open as her flailing feet hit something, a soft weight wrapping around her hips in the same moment. Face to face - or rather, mouth to waist - with a triumphantly smirking demon. It was just like last time, stuck half-in-half-out of his mouth, though now the other way around.

Hesitantly loosening the death grip she had on his fingers, she bopped the tip of his nose with a fist, scowling to try and hide the blush. "You and I have very different ideas on what 'no teasing' means," Emma huffed. She could see his prominent canines - nearly as large as her own head - on either side of her torso past Mammon’s broad grin.

That grin stretched even wider as he winked saucily at her, slowly parting his teeth. Guh. She could see all the way to the back of his throat.

An overlarge finger gently poked at her head and hands, even as Mammon's tongue curled to pull her farther into his mouth. After ensuring she was well past his teeth, he carefully closed his jaws.

Emma suddenly felt nauseous. What the fuck is wrong with you!?, she asked herself, Why did you agree to this, ask for it!? Her limbs froze up, breaths coming in short, sharp bursts. Calm down, idiot, she told herself, you know he’s not going to hurt you; you’ve got a pact so you can just Order him to spit you out... if you’re a coward, that is. Mammon probably would even if she only asked... and then promptly complain, of course.

The demon's breath hissed past her and Emma bit down hard on her tongue to keep from whimpering in fear. Her mind was pulling in two directions, between Emotion and Logic, as it usually did before her panic attacks. No! Not here, not now!

She let out a startled hiss of her own, finding herself firmly pressed face up against the hard roof of his mouth. It was already difficult to fight that primal fear even before the memories of- of- ‘This is a ‘Game Over’ cutscene.’ -of Leviathan. Her hands shook, and then Emma heard that weird hiss again.

Was ‘hiss’ even the right word for it? It wasn’t sharp, more of a wet- of a mushy- Oh. She’d felt his tongue awkwardly shifting beneath her but had dismissed it as Mammon trying to figure out how to handle something so big in his mouth. Emma was still pinned against his hard palate, but the tip of the demon’s tongue was gently poking at her shoulders in deliberate circles.

Emma let out a slow breath, finally able to start relaxing. ‘Sssh’, that’s it. I understand now. Such solid touches to her arms, shoulders, and back could ground her, dragging herself back out of the negative headspace. She remembered how he'd rubbed her back reassuringly last time when she panicked. Mammon was trying to calm her down, apparently not wanting her scared of him - at least, not when being his 'food'.

She scrubbed at her face, trying to clear her own mouth off. “Alright, alright already,” Emma said with a smile, “Point taken.” How did you know to do that? Hearing a purr in response, she couldn’t help but chuckle good-naturedly. “Oh, shut up, you.”

The whole time Emma had spent planning, her mind had - somehow - skipped past this part. ‘I barely got to have a taste of you that time, no thanks to Beel.’ Of course he’d want to take his time tasting her. Emma felt stupid, only just now remembering that.

Now that she’d remembered, it was hard to un-remember. Emma forced the tension out of her body, trying to go limp despite how much she wanted to fold her arms around her, to curl into a ball. Panic will only hurt you, she insisted, squeezing her eyes closed and swallowing back a lump of dread; the thick muscle of Mammon's tongue had edged her arm loose and was deliberately brushing across her skin, letting out a happy “Mm, mm, mmm!” as he did so.

It doesn't hurt. This feels nice. She repeated the mantra over and over in her mind, focusing on the massaging pressure. You're safe, just relax. You agreed to let him enjoy this. Temperature was only half of why she chose to wear a t-shirt, after all.

It was a weird kind of ‘forgetting’ that she had to do; as long as the thought of ‘I’m in a mouth!’ stayed out of her head, Emma could remain calm and avoid slipping back into her panic state. Now all that remained was the lizard brain’s crying in terror, as it had been ever since arriving in the Devildom, easy enough to ignore by now.

That didn't mean she didn't still feel tiny flickers of anxiety each time she was gently leaned up against the demon’s teeth to swallow what saliva didn’t soak into her clothes. She knew they thought humans were a special treat, a delicacy, but c'mon, wasn't the absolute lake of drool a bit much?

Gradually, her breathing slowed to match his, a relaxed in-and-out that ruffled her damp clothing. I could get used to this, Emma realized in amazement. She certainly didn't plan to, but that was what she'd told herself last time, and now look where she was!

"H-hey, what a- ?" The woman wiggled, sputtering at the spit frothing up around her as Emma was once again pressed against his hard palate. Held in place, she barely moved, though her inner ear told her Mammon had tipped his head back.

She would have yelled at him for it, for making sure she dragged along his tongue all the way into his throat, if it didn't also result in additional time to psych herself up, to brace for being swallowed. At the last moment Emma pushed her arms up above her head so her bony elbows wouldn't be shoved painfully against her ribs again.

Gritting her teeth, the woman kept her breaths slow and even, timing them between Mammon's loud swallows and subsequent esophageal squeezing. She'd never felt claustrophobic before, no matter how cramped the space, so the alien feeling unnerved her; being stuck inside a throat was quite different from locked inside a closet.

Emma let out a quiet sigh of relief, gently slipping down fleshy walls to sit in a fold of stomach lining. She'd gotten what she wanted, overcoming both her reluctance to ask - to admit how badly she wanted to be eaten - and her fears that his quips about 'demon food' were more than a lighthearted inside joke.

"Thanks for not chokin' me this time," Mammon chuckled. "Seems ya enjoyed it, too, like I tol'ja you would!"

I wouldn’t call that quite ‘enjoyable’, but it was alright. She allowed herself a small smile, knowing he couldn’t see. “Not being upside-down: major improvement.” Emma tsked so he'd know she was only half serious in her scolding, "You'd better not have ruined my clothes, buddy."

“Hey, that's your fault! I knew you smelled better than any other human, but I didn’t think ya’d really taste that good!” Mammon was outright indignant. Demons sure are weird. “Can’t believe nobody’s attacked ya yet. Hah! I know!”

Specks of light flickered in the flesh in front of her, like mini stars flaring to life. She blinked a few times, wondering if she’d somehow hit her head without noticing. Nope, they weren’t going away. Emma reached out to gently poke one. It didn't feel any different. Strange.

"It's because they knew since Lucifer wouldn’t let me eat ya, then I wouldn’t let anyone else eat ya, neither!” Those weird lights flickered in and out, seemingly in time with his words, some more than others. “Because -” Her theory on the glow was confirmed with Mammon’s next sentence, “- it doesn’t matter how many pacts ya make, you’re still my human.” He jabbed at his stomach for emphasis, “Mine!”

Emma couldn’t help the spluttering laugh that escaped her; the Avatar of Greed’s stomach glittered like light reflecting off gold coins whenever his characteristic sin had ahold of him. It was somehow both cute and hilarious. “Pft, I’m not going to argue with ‘The Great Mammon’ on that; he'd know best, being my first and all,” she teased.

"And don't ya forget it!" He purred to himself briefly and she smirked; seemed material treasures weren't all the demon was greedy for; an offering of compliments was enough to keep him satisfied, albeit only for a moment.

Even so... Referring to him as her 'first' felt off - there was the obvious sexual innuendo that she hadn't yet gotten around to telling him she didn't appreciate - because of the whole 'demonic pact' thing, that a 'first' and then a 'second' implied that she was aiming for more. And she wasn't, not really, not for herself. Nobody - Lucifer, Simeon, nor anyone of any race - had commented on the effect a pact would have on her soul, so Emma hoped hers remained intact and untainted.

Well, no use worrying about things now, she had a nap to take. Her surroundings were almost like a hammock... a wet, slimy hammock. Emma shifted around, managing to lounge comfortably down the length of his stomach and letting out another happy sigh of quiet contentment. So comfortable...

She had just closed her eyes when she heard, “Did Lucifer really put you up to this?” echo doubtfully.

Emma frowned, trying to figure out why Mammon sounded so hurt. "No?" Why would he care why- Oh. Did he think she was only spending time with him because of his older brother's order? "He did actually tell Barbatos that, but nothing else." She wondered what it must be like, constantly paranoid of your own family, second-guessing any and all kindness extended to you. Of course he'd be skeptical, even I still can't believe I'm doing this.

But she was telling the truth about being stressed, an understatement of the century, with stress being merely the tip of the iceberg. Emma could admit she was stressed - because there was a Hell full of reasons - but the reasons Why were... tricky.

I wasn't even given five damn minutes warning before being dragged into literal Hell and told I have to survive a year of demon college where the other students want to eat me because I'm considered a delicacy in this Realm.

Most of these subjects I have no prior experience in and I'm terrified that I'm going to get buried in it and either be punished for not satisfying this dumb Exchange Program or else have a hysterical meltdown.

I realized you have a crush on me and I don't know how to handle this information; I don't know if it's just you being you or if it's related to pacts; I can't ask you because you're a total tsundere, but we'd both get teased if I asked someone else. It makes my ‘stick up for you when you’re being treated unfairly’ vow even more of a minefield; risking unintentionally leading you on and sending even more mockery your way because some ‘weak insignificant’ human nobody thinks you need defending.

Leviathan tried to kill me because his Sin dug its claws into him in a trivia contest and Lucifer told me that I should ‘try not to hold it against him’ because he's ‘not normally like that’.

Oh also your older brother has someone hidden in the attic, claiming to be a human and wanting me to make pacts with your entire family to set him free, except I'm 99.999% sure he's actually a demon who's probably locked up for a very good reason.

There was a faint connection to all of them, and it seemed a safe enough excuse. “Okay, I'll tell you why... but you’re just going to laugh at me,” she said, feeling tears prick at her eyes. Emma didn’t understand why she was starting to cry; she wasn’t sad or scared, she actually felt safe.

And therein lie the problem. From the moment she'd arrived in the Devildom, Emma had accepted that she was weaker, both in strength and non-existent magical ability. Allowing herself to be even further physically vulnerable like this was scary, risking inviting an attack. It's why prey animals hid illness and injury; predators culled the weakest in the herd first.

“Swear I won’t!” Mammon paused, thinking hard, before announcing- "You can hit me if I laugh!" -as if that solved everything.

Oh. Oh, that hurt. And the worst part of it was that even if Emma tried to explain why what he’d said was Wrong, Mammon still probably wouldn’t understand. He didn’t deserve that; none of them did! Well if the opportunity ever came up to slap Asmo - just once, only once, okay? - she wouldn’t pass on it.

"I don't like- I'm always being stared at, by everyone; they're always just Watching me..." Absent human-in-the-Devildom context, it sounded like such a nonsense reason to be stressed, a completely over the top reaction, even coming from someone suffering from mild agoraphobia. "And most of the time I can tell what they're thinking, and it's really unpleasant." At the dining table, with just the six demon brothers, their stares prompted feelings ranging from fear - Lucifer - to powerful unease - Beel, Asmo, Satan - to outright anger - Lucifer, Leviathan. "The least awful thoughts are twisted curiosity, at absolute best!"

Mammon hummed quietly to himself, mulling the human's words over. "You don’t like demons staring at you, 'specially the ones who want to take a bite out of you... so ya went and asked one a' the highest rankin' demons in the Devildom to eat you instead?"

"Well, kinda." It really does sound stupid when put that way. “You just called yourself a ‘higher ranking demon’, so I thought of it this way: even if someone figured out where I was and tried to rip you open to get me, how many pieces would you leave them in?” Emma had tried several times to imagine it - Mammon in a full-on murderous rage - and couldn’t quite. Even if his brain did lag a full minute behind his mouth, he still seemed to have a firm grip on his temper. But that anger even when he knew she was safe, where the 'threat' had been was someone that fighting with would cause family drama - if not an outright beating from Lucifer - was scary enough, so what would happen if it were directed at a random demon student...? “Or would the pieces be too small to count?”

She abruptly clamped her mouth shut, realizing she'd voiced feelings the woman wanted to keep hidden. It was the truth, but in her rambling Emma worried she'd come off too strong, as blatantly buttering him up, like she was trying to get something from him; using the demon for materialistic gain was the exact opposite of what she wanted. I think I effed it up... Dammit, Emma, why can't you think before you speak?

Everything around her shook as the muscular walls tensed, a wheezing gasp for air that the demon - quite unsuccessfully - tried to disguise as a cough.

"You said you weren't going to laugh at me!" What an asshole! Are you really that scummy as to laugh when I've just practically bared my soul to you?, Emma thought, fighting back a sniffle at the shriveling feeling in her chest. It felt like betrayal; she'd thought that if any demon would understand - though not necessarily empathize - it would be him. But no, the moment he got what he wanted - 'demon food', a willing snack - every ounce of respect Mammon had seemed to offered her vanished in an instant.

"I'm not laughing!" He sounded offended by her accusation, but then again that didn't mean much. "I just- I-" the Avatar floundered for words. "I'm... Surprised? Why would ya-"

Emma tilted her head, waiting for an explanation although she was beginning to understand. When they said 'your human' it came across as 'your burden', with even greater weight after Leviathan had talked them into their pact. Emma had wanted to complain - she didn't 'belong' to anyone, demon or otherwise, and she certainly wasn't helpless deadweight - but she'd known right away that it would be interpreted by everyone as an insult to Mammon, as 'I don't want to be associated with that scumbag' rather than 'I am my own distinct person'.

Was that a confused huff or an irritated sigh? "I know you knew I'm supposed to protect ya, 'cause Lucifer ordered me to and now we've got a pact, but I didn't think..." Mammon trailed off again. "... I didn't think you took me seriously when I said I don't want no one else steppin' in and savin' you, alright?"

"I knew you were being serious," Emma replied emphatically. The panic on his face when he'd slipped on his way to help, the irritated expression directed at Lucifer's back as the eldest flared out his pitch-black wings to stop the Envious demon's attack, even the delicate half-carry half-steer as Mammon and Beelzebub brought her back to the House: it left no doubt in the human's mind that he was concerned for her safety and that he wanted to be the one she relied on. 'I'm gonna be the one to save you, all right? Don't you forget that....And if I can't manage to save ya, then make sure you die, got it?!' Was this how demons expressed crushes? Maybe she should ask Asmo, give some excuse about having seen some rather odd flirting at RAD...

And so she'd kept her mouth shut even when she heard the possessive edge to 'my human'; if her guardian took it as a personal insult when anyone messed with her, so much for the better, right? If emphasizing 'my' was how Mammon turned the harassment around, how he processed the pointed digs - coping with an insult by changing it into a compliment - Emma didn't care enough to put a stop to it; Lord knows she'd done it herself a time or two as a child. It was harder and more mature than lashing out with fists or one's own hateful words, something that immediately raised her opinion of him; did Lucifer and the younger ones truly not see this positive trait in their 'scumbag' of a brother? Their loss, I guess...

"Heh, that's smart of ya, human. Doncha worry, The Great Mammon will keep you nice an' out of sight while he does his homework." No lights of any color. Was Greed the only sin that would cause his stomach to light up? If so, then did that mean the broth- No, I'd rather not go there.

Emma just smiled at his pleased tone and lifted the arm not currently supporting her head up to drag back and forth in wide swaths across the nearby stomach wall. She wanted to coax more of those content catlike purrs from him, making a mental note to read up on demon biology to figure out just how he was purring - truly purring, not the rolling hum humans make - in the first place. If demons could purr and hiss, could they roar, chuff, or make other noises typically found in wild animals? Sounded like an interesting afternoon read...

“Hey! Don’t go all quiet on me like that!”

"Tryin' take nap," Emma said drowsily. She'd slept in far less comfortable conditions, and if she could sneak in a bit of shuteye here, it wouldn't matter if she laid awake all night later on.

"Ya promised you'd help me with my assignments!"

"No, I said you could eat me if you sat down and did your homework." If it weren't for his voice being so loud, Emma could absolutely fall asleep here and now. Score!

"Well, since you're done already maybe I'll just go take a look at your papers." He might not have actually said ‘So there!’, but that tone couldn’t mean anything but.

“You can, if you want, but I'll make you spit me out because -" Emma repeated herself, "- I said you had to do your homework, not copy mine." She smirked at the familiar growl; the first time she’d heard the snarl, seen the angrily bared fangs, the human had felt fear twisting deep in her gut; this being was supposed to be the one protecting her? It hadn’t taken long for Emma to learn that while Mammon was the most open with his emotions - anger included - he held his temper better than any of his brothers, never once lashing out, even verbally.

“C’mon, mighty Avatar of Greed,” she teased, stretching out a foot to push at a nearby fold of flesh, “don’t tell me you never heard the saying ‘no such thing as a free lunch’?” He growled again and she laughed. "I'm willing to help, though I don't think you need it."

Mammon huffed in angry acceptance of his defeat. Emma waited until the shaking of him sitting at his desk to fade before she sat herself up with both hands folded behind her head.

"Lucifer's been nagging at me over that stupid Devildom Law crap, might as well get that over with."

The human beamed; it was working! Well, not the 'take a stomach nap' part but she wasn't going to write that off as a loss just yet. "The Law quiz? I only vaguely remember filling it out; what I remember more was referencing how I'd studied." Emma poked the wall again with her foot and smirked. "You do recall that little pact command and how it's letting you eat me safely, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, stop kickin' me already. Demon food or not, you're gonna give me heartburn." He pushed her leg back down, giving a gentle squeeze to drive home his point. "So settle down in there."

"'Kay." Even though she couldn't take the nap she sorely needed, the human could still relax in the mostly dark - aside from the glittering of Greed - stomach. The walls rose and fell around her as Mammon's diaphragm pushed and pulled each breath through his lungs, leaving her wondering if the demon's purr rumbling through not just the moist air but her body as well counted as ASMR; Emma had never quite understood the allure of such a thing.

Pretending to have trouble remembering the answers, she instead posed leading questions, prompting the demon to give his own solutions without realizing how little she was contributing. Though she hadn't done much tutoring, she was still aware of the underlying concept. 'Give a man a fish' and all that. More like 'give a demon a human', the woman thought with a wry smile.

Every once in awhile Emma felt him rubbing his stomach with an accompanying twinkle of lights, Mammon's quiet purr growing briefly louder before his hand pulled away, presumably to scribble down another answer.

She was hardly going to complain - hadn’t she tolerated it during Mammon’s search for the countercurse? - he just wanted reassurance that 'his' human really was still there, that Emma really truly wanted to spend time with the oft-maligned demon, the Avatar held most in contempt by nearly everyone.

"There!" Mammon shouted proudly, "Finished it! Aren't ya proud of The Great Mammon?"

"Woo hoo, way to go!" Emma patted both hands against the nearest surface. "But I know for a fact that you're not totally done, buddy. What else you got coming up?"

She heard a grumbling sigh, then everything collapsed around her. Struggling to orient herself, Emma tried to guess what was going on. Muffled rattles and slams, plus a profanity-laden stream of "Where did it go?" finally clued her in; Mammon had lunged forward, searching through his desk. For what, she didn't know.

"What's going on?" she asked, "Something happen?"

"Nah." Judging by how she was swaying around, Mammon had started up his spiral staircase. "Going to your room."

"What did I just say about copying my homework!?" Emma yelled, roughly pulling herself to her feet.

He growled, "Just getting my spare charger; D.D.D. died on me."

Why would he need his phone to-? "You don't have a calculator on hand?"

"No? That's what phones are for?"

"Ugh, fine then, just don't let on that I'm in here." Emma curled up, reasoning that if she wasn't touching the 'front' wall of his stomach she wouldn't make any visible distortion. Can't be too careful.

"Mammon? I thought you were hanging out with your human." Beel's voice rang out, and she jolted in shock.

"Yeah, she was practically beggin' for some attention-" Emma frowned, unable to do anything about the arrogant tone of his voice, "- so you know I had ta', since Lucifer put me in charge of her an' all."

"I don't see Emma with you."

"A'course not, she's-"

Emma kicked him as hard as she could, not daring to speak in case she was heard. You'll wish all I'd given you was heartburn if you give us away!

"-she's... Still in my room! Yeah! I'm helpin' her with somethin'!" It wasn't the best save, but hopefully it would be enough...

“Lemme go!" ...or not. "‘Ait! ‘Eel, ‘ha’re ya ‘oin’? U’ ‘e ‘own!”

Emma wanted to know what exactly the hell was going on out there, rattling her around like that.

“The hell you think you’re doin’, Beel? What was that for, pryin’ my mouth open an’ sniffin’?”

What... was that? A knot of dread coiled in her stomach as foreboding washed over the human.

"I can't believe you!" The words were snarled in a dull roar. Oh shit... "Lucifer told you to protect the human and you went and ate her instead! Don't play dumb, I can smell her on your breath. Do you have any idea what he's going to do to you for this? Because I don't!"

Mammon squawked indignantly, “Hey! She told me to, so there!”

Mortified, Emma jabbed her elbow into the nearby flesh and hissed, “Why’d you have to go telling him that!?”

“Because-” She felt a hand pressed against his stomach and really hoped it was Mammon’s, otherwise that would be beyond awkward. "- you should see the murderous expression on his face. Would ya mind holdin' still a second, Beel? Don’t think I’ve ever seen ya this mad over somethin' that didn't involve food.”

While making a snide comment about ‘is a photo really necessary’ was tempting, she realized that such a picture would tell her quite a lot - did the anger stem from jealousy that he hadn’t gotten to eat her, or simply because someone had eaten her? And there was something else Mammon had said, too - an important slip of the tongue - ‘over something that didn't involve food’. Emma wondered if Beelzebub had caught it, as it had been rather subtle. And unintentional it truly was, since the Avatar of Greed was practically incapable of thinking before he spoke, to her continued great amusement.

“You shrunk her.” Beelzebub’s distinctive voice was much louder, though the menace was gone, and she assumed the taller demon had crouched down to hear her better. Well, someone was bound to find out sooner or later. But man, what a way to be found out!

“It’s a spell we found in the library,” Emma said, careful to place special emphasis on the word ‘we’. “I’m fine, Beel, I really did ask him to do this.” Feeling like her mouth was filled with ash, she squeezed her eyes closed and forced the memory back as she added, “S’not the first time, either. Nobody else knows-” She really really really hoped Levi didn’t. “-and I don’t want them to, so please don’t tell anyone.”

“Hmm.” The noise was deeply thoughtful and Emma tried not to panic. What did he mean by that? What did ‘hmm’ mean!? “Now I know why you smelled like him earlier. And now I know what you’re doing out here, Mammon.”

“Uh-huh,” Mammon said doubtfully, “what am I doin' out here then?”

“Not going for the fridge,” he said perfectly happily, “because you’re already full of your human.”

Emma let out a quiet sigh of relief, sagging against the warm walls of Mammon’s stomach. Judging by the muffled snicker, he noticed. “Shut up, demon,” she muttered with no real venom. “Hey Beel?” the woman yelled.

Luckily he’d heard her. “Hmm?”

How could one person use the same word in so many different ways? “I think I heard Levi say something about Satan hiding ice cream in the back of the freezer as a joke.”

"Why w- No, nevermind. I'd wanted to start with something sweet, so thanks, Emma."

Good, now please leave.

"Aaand there Beel goes. Wasn't expectin' him to be so hostile over it all." Unless she was greatly mistaken, the sudden golden glow was shaped exactly like a handprint - his right, to be precise.

Emma couldn't keep a grin off her face. “You’re smiling, I can tell.” What a dork.

"Can’t have them all keep thinking you tamed me or anythin’; The Great Mammon does have a reputation to uphold.”

"The Great Mammon also has incomplete assignments waiting for him to return," she chided gently.

The only response was a much aggrieved sigh, followed some minutes later by a violent flop into his chair, its frame creaking in protest.

"C'mon, what did that poor piece of furniture ever do to you?" Emma teased. "The homework won't be that bad." She scooted around until she was situated roughly in the center of his stomach. "I'm right here, cheering you on, remember?"

Every time Mammon arrived at an answer on his own, she made sure to rub her hands across as much of the folded lining as Emma could possibly reach, throwing in from time to time an encouraging word or small nugget of praise.

She didn’t care how he was interpreting it - ‘rawr am scary demon who got to eat a human’, encouragement from someone he very clearly liked, or the simple pleasure of a full stomach after a good ‘meal’ - the poor guy only ever got the stick, never the carrot.

Mammon finally sat back with a weary groan. "There, that's everything overdue taken care of."

“See?” Emma said warmly, a touch of pride welling up. She held still as the demon kneaded at his stomach, mulling over whether it was worth the complaint. As he'd finished up his work, the interval between Greedy prods and rubs grew longer and longer until they'd stopped altogether.

"What did I tell you?" I knew he wasn’t stupid, the woman thought smugly, or lazy; he just needed the incentive to sit down and focus, and to believe that he was capable of even that much. “Do you want me to go over your work after dinner?” Still, I didn't think he'd actually get engrossed in his task...

“Nah, I think I got it.” Mammon sounded uncertain.

That chronic self-doubt could go jump off a cliff or bait Cerberus in his den. Or both! Why not both at once?

“Alright, I believe you.” If she’d been on the outside, Emma would have ruffled his hair and called him a good boy. Mammon was so cute when he got all flustered, and even she could tell he secretly enjoyed the attention, in his own contrary tsundere way.

She still wanted to hug him, though. Let's see, which way is front...? Standing up with a slight wobble, Emma mashed her face against the wall of flesh, outstretched arms pressing just as firmly.

“H-hey! What do you think you’re doing!?" Something gently shoved right back at her from the outside - probably his hand... maybe both hands? - so she leaned further into it. "Human!?”

She wished she could see his face - he had to be a blushy mess. Emma grinned mischievously, “It’s pretty hard to hug you at this size and from in here, but I'm doing my best."

"If you want to hug me so bad I'll let ya out so ya can- wait no, I want you to stay!"

Laughing quietly to herself, the woman allowed him to carefully push her backwards until she was all but sandwiched between the surfaces of Mammon's stomach. Between the pressure and frantically glittering golden walls, Emma assumed he'd wrapped his arms around himself and was tightly hugging himself at the faintest idea that she'd want to leave him.

"I mean I- I want- I don't want ya t'-"

Emma laughed again, loudly, so that he could hear, but not cruelly. You tsundere goofball, she thought fondly, and gently patted the flesh in front of her once he'd let go of his unconventional cuddle. "You're fine, I'm comfortable staying in here for now." It was weird, she hadn't minded that full body pressure of Mammon rubbing his stomach in firm circles around his snack his human her body; it was just a slightly less damp take on those frantic drool-laden licks. Freak.

"Really!?" The loud shout was a mix of hope and disbelief.

"Mm, yeah, I'd honestly been planning on taking a nap while you did your homework, but you kept bugging me. So if you'll shut up for awhile and wake me in time for supper," she said pseudo-reluctantly and drew out a hefty faked sigh as if she were doing him a big favor, "I guess I'll let you keep me in here a few more hours." Emma knew she'd chosen her words right as a golden glow lit up her small surroundings, flaring brightly before fizzling out like a firework. She really was going to have to talk to him about that; there wasn't a point in pretending to be bribed by Mammon, while actually secretly bribing him, if it was too bright to sleep.

Emma hoped Mammon wouldn't expect a 'study snack' every time he fell behind on his homework because she didn't want to make a habit out of this.

Stretching out with a gusty yawn, the human rolled onto her side and curled up, nestling against the soft flesh. It'd be nice if she had a blanket - not for warmth but for the weight she needed to sleep comfortably.

She narrowed her eyes, wondering why Mammon was still poking at his stomach, and then nodded in silent understanding; the moment the demon had figured out her exact position he'd gently rested his hand over her, with her back snuggled up against him. Emma nuzzled closer as best she could. It felt... right, somehow.

The walls glowed faintly as he started to purr again. The Avatar of Greed was just smug - or, she wondered, perhaps relieved - that he finally had her completely to himself, away from his brothers.

I'm glad Baptists don't do the whole Confession thing, was her last thought before slipping into the soft embrace of sleep. Even so, she doubted she'd ever be able to look a preacher in the eye after all this.

—————————————————–

1,2,3,4,5

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

Trying to ignore her still-twinging wrist - when she'd attempted to lighten the mood by joking that she could order Mammon to wrap her wrist better he'd just glowered back and gave the bandage a sharp tug - Emma fought to keep a grin off her face. She didn't want Levi to think she was gloating. While it was arguably a draw, she'd successfully managed to get the Avatar of Envy to wig out, which meant she'd won. Now he'd have to make a pact with her so she could get that exclusive TSL soundtrack from him, and then...

And then she could go upstairs to the attic, to find out whoever was calling, whatever was pulling her there. No, that was why she was grinning. Reaching to open the door, Emma paused and switched hands. Stupid sprained wrist. Well, that’s what one gets for choosing to deliberately piss off a demon.

"So, do you know why I called you here?", Leviathan asked when she met him in the middle of the planetarium.

Several responses came to mind - ranging from cocky to demeaning - but Emma went with a friendly smile, an extended hand, and a, "Let's patch things up between us."

Ignoring the outstretched hand, he threw back his head and laughed, jostling the colorful Heats™ headphones around his neck. “In order to patch things up we would’ve had to have been on good terms to begin with, wouldn’t we?”

Ooh, harsh. Emma was fairly certain that a normal person would consider the favor she’d done him as some degree of ‘on good terms’, but given that Levi was both otaku and demon... It simultaneously confused and annoyed the woman, how some of humanity’s cultural norms were identical to those found in the Devildom, while others would be met with statements like ‘I am a demon after all’; simply infuriating, as she could never tell which category any given circumstance would fall into.

Shrugging, she made a vague gesture with her hand before stuffing it casually into a pocket as if she hadn't noticed the refusal. “If you didn’t call me here to smooth things over, then what?” Maybe it was just due to being an otaku... “If you wanted to rant some more about how I’m not a ‘true’ TSL fan, you could’a done that over the phone.” And Emma would have listened to - or read - it, feeling like she owed it to him for cheating.

"No," he said with an unfriendly smirk, "if I took you out of the picture by eating you, that would leave me as the sole king of all TSL mega fans, right?"

She could feel her pulse throbbing in her veins, loud in her ears, and Emma desperately hoped it wasn't noticeable to him. Several of the brothers had warned her of the many different dangers from demons in the Devildom - trying to collect 'pretty' souls, killing her, demanding her soul as payment in a pact, even potentially eating her - and though she'd overheard casual comments about them doing exactly that, it was Beel and Mammon who had been the brothers threatening to eat her, while the danger from Levi had been merely him losing control and just outright killing her.

Which, now that she thought about it, the Avatar of Envy almost had. Even though she'd asked the next-older to help her - ‘run or die’ weren’t the only options after all, now that she had a pact with the second-most powerful of the Avatar brothers - he’d managed to slip and it had taken the oldest of all the brothers - who, ironically, she was attempting to bypass with this stunt - to prevent the demon from killing her.

Maybe I should run, Emma realized belatedly. She'd closed - but not locked - the door and so all she had to do was get out the door and even if he pursued her Levi would be spotted and she'd be s-

Emma yelped as she sprawled out on the floor. What the hell had she tripped over? She’d chosen a path without chair, coffee table, or even ottoman, and the public areas were kept tidy as a general rule. She managed to roll herself over, staring in confusion at her ankles. Correction: at what was wrapped around her ankles. Some kind of scaly lasso?

But then it moved in a decidedly unropelike fashion and the human realized what it was - the tail of Levi's demon form. But why does it look so bi- Oh, shit.

He wasn't very big, she was just very small. Well, he was still kind of bigger than normal, due to being in his demon form again, but that difference was relatively minor at present. The tail lifted her into the air and, with a graceful little flip, held her upright by winding around her waist.

"The hell are you doing? Lucifer told you to 'calm down'!" Emma wasn't about to try pulling at the coiled tail; if she came loose she would fall and at the current - relative - height would seriously injure herself, if not kill her outright. Seems she'd just have to try talking her way out of this.

"I am calm," Levi smirked, "calm enough to see that I'm the boss level on your quest to make a pact with me."

"This isn't a game, Leviathan!" Emma scolded, trying not to appear afraid.

"I don't see it that way," he purred, bringing her closer to his face. “You actually thought you could defeat a boss with a simple trivia contest? LMAO. You see," the demon continued, "making a pact with Mammon was just a short fetch quest in the tutorial that rewards you with a goofy sidekick. Even though he's my older brother, he's still not as tricky as me."

Still carrying the tiny human, he walked over to the door and locked it. “And don’t think about trying to call for my brother; summons are disabled for this boss fight.”

Wait, that was an option? Emma hadn’t thought about it, because Mammon was certainly out of earshot and she’d dropped her phone when Levi tripped her, or when she was shrunk. Either or.

“Some TSL fan you were, only paying attention for trivia," he scolded, "The overall story is an object lesson about the dangers of pride. I told you, ‘If you lose you might never make it back to the human world alive.’ You didn’t ‘lose’, but you did have Asmo toggle the difficulty level for your questions. You cheated,” Levi smirked darkly, hair beginning to overshadow his eyes, “and some games have clever ways of punishing cheaters.” He flicked his hair out of his face with an annoyed huff, but the dark cast to his eyes didn’t disappear.

“Levi,” Emma tried again, “you c- mmphf!” She pried at the tail covering her mouth, not finding much purchase against the slick scales.

"Ah ah ah," the blue-haired demon trilled, "it's not your turn for dialogue. This," he grinned toothily, “is a ‘Game Over’ cutscene. Even a normie like you should know how those work. I know of at least five video games in the human world that involve the protagonist being swallowed whole, and I’ve beaten them all.” Levi paused, seeming to think something over. "I don't normally deal with humans, as nobody is interested in trying to make a pact with an otaku of a demon like me, so eating them isn't really something I get the chance to do. But maybe I’ll make an exception for you; aren’t you excited?" He grinned widely and slowly began opening his mouth just as wide.

Staring in horror at the gleaming fangs, she tried to scream. Not in fear, but in defiance. No, it couldn’t end like this! Emma was going to make it through the year!

The Avatar of Envy apparently had missed the memo because after the briefest moment of hesitation - Emma didn’t for a second hope that Levi was rethinking this at all, but she did know that from the way his tail was wound around her that unwinding would give her plenty of time to cry for help - he spun her rapidly around and dropped her in his mouth.

"Mammo-!" She had time to scream before Leviathan's jaws closed her off from the outside world. If Emma hadn't been dizzy already, the rough treatment from the demon's tongue would have made her woozy. She swore she could have counted the bumpy taste buds, mentally naming off each smooth, slick, and worryingly solid tooth - shoulder against side incisor, foot against rear molar, ohhh shit forearm between canines! - she collided with as Levi shoved her back and forth, seemingly enjoying humiliating the shrunken human. She tried to tell herself that her lack of resistance was the smart move; even if the monster demon ‘only’ bit off a limb rather than her head, how quickly would she bleed out and die? And that might not even be the worst way to go... All the woman could do was cover her face and pray it would be over soon.

She screamed in anger again, wordlessly this time, as Leviathan's head tilted back and she slid into his throat. Emma had finally gotten over her general fear of the denizens of the Devildom and then this had to go and happen! Her senses overwhelmed her; she couldn’t think; she could barely breathe. Arm twisted awkwardly behind her back, elbow jammed against ribs, wrist angled painfully at her side, his powerful throat muscles squeezed her tightly, preventing her from drawing in enough breath to try calling for help again.

In what felt simultaneously like an eternity and nanosecond later, Emma’s stomach dropped out from under her as she landed in his stomach. There was now room to breathe, which meant there was also now room to panic.

“I had to get you all to myself before Beel could fall to the temptation, or Mammon decide he’s not actually okay with the power imbalance of your pact. Carte blanche pacts are super rare, because a demon'll demand a price few humans are capable of paying, which makes it all the more humiliating for that moron."

His words failed to register, only the tone of voice sinking in. Emma sucked in a deep breath in order to get all the words out at once without the tremble of fear she was nearly consumed by. "If you let me out now, I'll pretend this never happened, okay?" She couldn't restrain the gasp for air and hoped it hadn't been audible, even as she fretted over how much oxygen her hyperventilating was using up. "I'm not even gonna demand you make a pact with me. So," she pounded on the stomach wall with each word, "Spit. Me. Out!"

Leviathan made a small noise of surprise. “Wait a minute, you thought I was serious? LOL,” he chuckled, and the walls around her contracted. “There’s no way for you to earn an extra life, so I’ll give you a ‘continue’ option. You’re in a safe room - for now - so all you gotta do is admit I’m a bigger TSL fan than you and then I’ll make a pact with you. A promise is a promise... and Lucifer would get mad at me if I did eat you for real.”

Wait, wait, wait, did that mean she wasn’t going to die!? He was humming something quietly and it took Emma a moment to place it - the outro theme to TSL. The next words out of her mouth were ones usually reserved for Mammon - “Are you insane!?” - yet the proud Avatar of Greed had not done anything close to this... Yet. Just comments, but he hadn't acted on them, and so they'd become only hollow threats at that point. Given how much hassling he’d gotten from being coerced into a pact - this 'carte blanche' version - Emma could understand it on some level at least.

He laughed, and Emma wasn’t sure if it was a good sign or not that the harsh edge to his tone was gone. “You really don’t understand how outrageous - how offensive - it is for you to claim you are a true TSL fan after only one night! I will not stand for it! You can still watch TSL, but you have to watch it with me, okay? Nobody else!”

Might as well try. Emma herself was proud, yes, but not suicidally so. "I am a fan of TSL, but I wouldn't have gotten right the questions Asmo asked you." She took a deep breath before saying bitterly, "which means you're a bigger fan than I am." Now spit me the hell out!

Leviathan chuckled again, "Good human. I’ll let Mammon know of your fast-travel request, so sit tight."

Was it just nerves or was the goop on her hands starting to make her skin tingle? Emma tried to modulate her breathing to use the remaining oxygen more sparingly. She could hear him recite the words, pledging a pact. It didn't feel any different to her, and Emma wondered again about what exactly being in a pact meant. All she knew how to do was boss a demon around; maybe she'd check the library to better know what questions to ask Solomon.

She was spat out into an oversize - though not 'demon form size' - hand, and felt her stomach churn from the lingering fear and anxiety.

Emma looked up to see the door kicked open, hinges shrieking as it smashed against the wall and bounced back closed with a deafening bang. A white-haired demon stood in front of it, visibly bristling with rage. She didn’t think she’d ever be so relieved to see a Avatar that furious.

"I can't believe you ate my human! That’s not fair!" Mammon stamped his foot, like a petulant child. "I thought you were going to make a pact with her like you promised!"

"I thought you said that was my signature line, ‘it’s so not fair’," Levi smirked, "but don't worry, I did make a pact with her. Not for 'your' human's soul, but I'm not telling you what was in~vol~ved," he practically sang. “You two had time to binge-watch all of TSL; certainly you’ll have plenty of time to research the counterspell. Shouldn’t take you more than a day or two.”

Emma could only look at him pitifully as she dangled from Levi’s hand. There were simply no words for how miserable she felt. An unreadable expression flashed across his face before Mammon plucked her from his brother's hand. She could have sworn she heard him mutter, "Can't let any of the others eat my human," as she was tucked away in his pocket.

Don’t you even think about it. Emma huddled in the jacket behind his hand, not entirely caring where Mammon was going as she tried to slow her racing heart, hardly daring to breathe. To say she was uneasy in her current state was an understatement of massive proportion.

When she was taken back out of his pocket she looked around warily. Okay, she was in Mammon’s room - which was as dirty as ever - standing on his desk. Noticing the worried look on his face, she shook her head slightly and shivered. “I’m fine, just tiny is all.” And a little cold.

The demon looked massively relieved, pulling out a handkerchief and draping it over the human. “Didja catch what spell Levi used?”

Emma frowned, folding and wrapping it around herself like a shawl, grateful for the warmth. “No. I wasn’t exactly paying attention to anything he said after saying he was going to eat me.” Wait a minute... She looked up at him uncertainly, “I was hoping you knew the counterspell.”

“I don’t have every spell memorized; I’ve got more valuable things to do with my time than bury my nose in books like Satan.” Mammon held his hands up helplessly. “He didn’t tell you anything about how to unshrink you?”

She shook her head again. “Nothing other than that ‘research’ comment you heard. Would the library even have something like that?”

“Probably. No, definitely. Alright,” he said confidently, pasting a smile on his face, “all we gotta do is head to the library and read until our eyeballs fall out!”

Easy peasy. Turning the pages might be difficult, and she could only read English texts, but speed reading was something Emma excelled at.

She cocked her head, hearing a buzz. Mammon apparently heard it too and fished out his phone. "Uh oh," he said, white eyebrows arching as he unlocked his D.D.D., "we gotta problem."

"Great, what now?" Emma asked, standing on her tiptoes to try and see the screen.

"Beel's looking for ya." Mammon tilted the phone to show the shrunken human.

Beel

//Mammon, have you seen Emma? Neither of you were in her room when I got done with the fridge. She’s not answering her phone.//

//Oh and also she left her pizza behind, so I ate all of it before it could go stale.//

Emma reflexively checked her own pockets before remembering that her phone hadn’t shrunk with her. “Crap!” She smacked her forehead. “Levi still has it!”

"He's not going to listen to me if I say you're not here, and I can't let him find you like this; there's no way that meathead would be able to resist the temptation." Mammon cracked a grin, "Hell, I can barely resist right now, what with you being so perfectly bite-sized and all." He paused, thinking intently as he glanced around the cluttered room. "Your smell's a lot more enticing than a regular human's, so just hidin' ya out of sight is not gonna be nearly enough."

Grin growing even wider, a dangerous glint - not terribly unlike Beelzebub's when the glutton saw a stack of his favorite cheeseburgers - appeared in his eyes as he pointed to his stomach. "Unless I hide you in here, that is," he said, pulling his shirt up just enough to expose an inch of tan flesh - and what looked like the edge of a tattoo - in case she somehow missed his point.

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