#otromeru

Once they arrived, Mammon only had time to give Neru a quick peck on the cheek before he was whisked away to hair and makeup. A member of staff ushered her over to a table with some snacks and refreshments and told her to make herself at home as they explained the rules and where she wasn’t allowed to go before they left to get back to work. Now on her own, she couldn’t help but feel a little awkward. Everyone else just seemed so busy, taking care of their jobs and various other tasks.

But finally she heard Mammon’s laughter ring out as he returned to set. He looked right at her, locking eyes from the opposite side of the room, and flashing her a brilliant smile. She was quick to return his smile, blushing. He looked so good right then - hair styled in a messy “bed head” sort of way, white button down shirt open and revealing his chest, tight jeans hugging his ass and sitting low on his hips. Soon she found a comfortable place to watch as he set to work.

After a few different set and outfit changes, Mammon was finally allowed a break, and he made a beeline for Neru.

“Good job!” she grinned.

“That’s nothin’ for the Great Mammon,” he said with a broad smile, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

Neru laughed again as Mammon wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her into a quick hug.

“Ya havin’ fun right?”

“Yeah, I’m having a lot of fun. You look great out there,” she paused a moment before continuing, “Umm, do you think I could come again? If it’s not too much trouble, I mean.”

Mammon looked down at Neru, who was now staring up at him with the biggest puppy dog eyes. His face immediately heated up, and he hugged her tighter to stop her from looking at him, which of course only made her giggle again.

“Yeah, I guess ya can,” he said, giving her another squeeze. The idea of having her accompany him to his future shoots made him giddy with excitement, not that he was about to let it show; he just knew he’d be able to do an even better job with her by his side.

They continued to chat for a bit longer before Neru had to excuse herself to use the bathroom. While a staff member showed her the way, Mammon went to mingle with some of the other models who were there for their own gigs.

“Hey Mammon!” one of the demons called out, as they waved him over.

“What’s up?”

“So we were just talking about that human you brought with you.”

“Yeah what is she? Like your pet or something?”

“That can’t be the exchange student right?”

“Uh, well, yeah she’s the exchange student, but…” he started to answer, before another demon interjected.

“She’s a bit plain isn’t she? For a human.”

“Yeah, and kinda short too. Are humans usually that short?”

“He-!”

“MAMMON! Breaks over!” Mammon whipped around to see his manager staring at him, pointing towards the dressing room, “The rest of you, get back to work.”

There was some grumbling from the group of demons, before they all quickly dispersed with a few “See you later, Mammon”-s, leaving him behind. Mammon wanted to go after them and give them a piece of his mind. How dare they talk about his human that way?? What gave them the right? They didn’t even know her!

But before he could take a step in their direction, his manager shouted at him again, interrupting his train of thought. With a huff, he headed towards the dressing rooms instead. He’d just have to find those assholes later and teach ‘em to mind their manners.

——————

In the weeks that followed, Mammon couldn’t help but notice that something was a little...off...with Neru. Previously, she had been a bundle of energy - always smiling and laughing and teasing him. But recently? She just seemed more...subdued?

There were plenty of times he’d catch her with a blank look on her face as she stared at her reflection in various surfaces. And other times when he’d be talking to her, and she would seem to zone out, lost in her own thoughts. It also felt like she had to be avoiding him at RAD, and whenever he did manage to catch her, she would fidget nervously, glancing around the whole time they were together.

At first, he had tried to brush it off as weird human business. Maybe she was just stressed from an exam or something? But as time went on, it became clear that there was definitely a problem, and as her first man and Guardian, it was his job to pry it out of her, wasn’t it?

One evening after dinner, when Mammon was sure most of his brothers had to be asleep, he snuck over to Neru’s room, knocking lightly on the door.

“Oi! Neru! Open up!”

Pressing his ear to the door, Mammon could hear sounds of movement from the inside. A startled squeak, followed by some sniffling, and the shuffling of feet as Neru hurried to the door.

“What’s up, Mammon?” she greeted him with a smile, holding the door open just enough so they could talk.

“I wanna talk to ya, so let me in.”

“Oh, umm, I was just about to go to bed so….” Neru looked away. Normally she thought she was pretty good at keeping a straight face, not wanting to worry those around her and burden them with her troubles, but tonight she was just not in a good place mentally and knew she wouldn’t be able to keep up her facade.

“It’ll only take a minute, c’mon.”

“Sorry, Mammon. I’m just really tired. Goodnight,” she gave him her best, brightest smile before shutting the door.

Only, Mammon was much quicker than she had anticipated and he wasted no time sticking his foot over the threshold, preventing the door from closing.

“Why are ya actin’ so weird?”

“What? I’m not! Honestly! I’m just tired. It’s nothing.”

“Oh, um. Ok,” Mammon said, removing his foot from the doorway as he scanned Neru’s face for any sign that she would change her mind, “If ya don’t want to talk about it…”

He could tell she was lying, he wasn’t sure how he knew, but he did. And if she wasn’t comfortable opening up to him, there wasn’t really much he could do about it, was there? He just wanted to help her feel better, or fix whatever it was that was bothering her. And judging from the expression on her face right now, pressing her further would probably only hurt her more, which was the last thing he wanted to do.

The look on Mammon’s face when he pulled his foot back made Neru’s heart shatter. This wasn’t what she wanted at all. It was in fact the exact opposite of what she wanted. Torn between wanting to avoid the unpleasant feelings she had been trying to hide and her desire to not hurt Mammon, Neru panicked, instinctively reaching out to grab the hem of his jacket when he turned to leave.

“I...I…I…” she stuttered, desperate to try to explain things to him, but all the words caught in her throat. Her eyes started to fill with tears as she stared at his feet. She did not want to cry right then. She really really didn’t want to cry. But no matter how much she tried to will the tears away, they started to fall.

“Neru?” it didn’t take Mammon long to realize she was crying, and he immediately began to panic. Shit shit shit shit! He couldn’t tell if she was crying because of something he had done just now, or if this was why she had been acting all weird, and his mind was racing as he tried to puzzle things out.

Not knowing what else to do, he wrapped his arms around her, gently guiding her back into her room so he could close the door before anyone else saw her. When he tried to let go, she only clung to him tighter as she sobbed into his chest.

“I got ya, I got ya,” he whispered to her, wrapping his arms even more tightly around her in response, holding her close. He began to rub her back, just like she would do for him when he’d have a nightmare or a really crappy day, gently shushing her and reassuring her that he wasn’t going anywhere.

Neru tried to focus on the sound of Mammon’s voice as he spoke to her, trying in vain to calm herself down and regain control over her own emotions. But she had just been so stressed and exhausted, that her body refused to stop now that it had started. She was so embarrassed to be seen acting like such a child.

It wasn’t that she had a problem crying in front of Mammon, or talking to him for that matter, but the problems she was dealing with right now? They didn’t seem like the sort of things she deserved to be so upset about. At least not this upset. Mentioning it would only make Mammon feel bad, and she didn’t want to do that. It wasn’t like it was his fault, or something he could change.

“I’m sorry,” she finally mumbled, sniffling, as she continued to hide her face in Mammon’s shirt, refusing to look at him.

“It’s ok. But ya gotta tell me what’s goin’ on now. I ain’t leavin’ until you do,” he tightened his grip around her shoulders again, making sure she understood just how serious he was about this. It didn’t matter anymore if she didn’t want to talk about it, he couldn’t just walk away and leave her alone after what he had just witnessed.

With a sigh, she nodded against him. While Mammon usually made a point to avoid conflicts, he was extraordinarily persistent when he wanted to be and she knew he wasn’t about to let her talk her way out of this now. And if she was being honest, she was a tiny bit grateful for that right now.

Satisfied with her acknowledgment, Mammon led Neru to her bed, laying down on his side, and pulling her in beside him. He tried not to think about what exactly it was he was doing, he had more important things to worry about after all, like Neru’s well-being. Still, she noticed as she climbed in beside him under the blankets just how hard he was blushing, and a small giggle escaped her lips before she snuggled up next to him.

“So,” Mammon kissed the top of Neru’s head,” what’s up?”

“I heard you talking.”

“Talkin’? When?”

“The day we were at the shoot together.”

Mammon thought back to that day, nearly 3 weeks ago now, when she had gone with him for the first time. He had felt that had been a really good day. He certainly enjoyed himself, and she seemed to as well. But now that he thought about it, she had seemed a little off by the time they had got back home. At the time, he had just assumed that it was because she was tired since it had been such a long day.

And that’s when it clicked for him.

“Wait, you mean when ya went to the bathroom?”

“...yeah,” she replied, nodding meekly, gripping Mammon’s shirt just a little bit tighter.

“Those guys were just assholes. Don’t listen to ‘em. They don’t know what they’re talkin’ about.”

“It’s not like they were wrong though.”

“Bullshit. Of course they’re wrong. They don’t know anythin’ about ya.”

“...but you didn’t disagree. And I know I’m plain. And short. And…”

“Hey, stop it, seriously,” Mammon said, pulling back from Neru in an attempt to force her to look at him, “Don’t talk about yaself like that. I wanted ta beat the shit out of those guys ok? But my boss showed up and they left before I could say anythin’, alright? I don’t think that about you at all. And I don’t wanna hear ya sayin’ those things either.”

Neru was quiet for a moment, turning Mammon’s words over in her head and letting them sink into her heart. She wanted to believe him. She really did. But she knew herself too. And she knew how she looked, how even among humans she was a rather average girl. And compared to the demons with which she now resided, especially with Mammon? She knew he was way out of her league.

But she also knew that Mammon was a horrible liar. And there was no mistaking the sincerity in his voice just now. Regardless of anything else, he truly believed what he was saying.

“...do you mean that?” she mumbled.

“Yeah, I do. Will ya look at me?” Neru hesitantly raised her eyes to meet Mammon’s gaze and he continued, “I think you’re amazing. Like, really, really amazing,” he could feel his face heating up, but he kept going, “You’re beautiful. And funny. And kind. And I don’t know what I would do without ya.”

Tears started to well up in Neru’s eyes again, but for an entirely different reason than before. She could tell just how embarrassed he was right now, and it warmed her heart to see him still trying so hard to compliment and comfort her. As her tears started to fall, she buried her face into the crook of his neck. Mammon wrapped his arms around her once more, pressing another kiss to her head.

“I love you,” he whispered as Neru nuzzled against him, and breathed in his scent.