#sleep queue

MC tries to take some of the load off his shoulders, offering to summarize the less important paperwork and help with filing, trying to get him to relax enough so he can feel comfortable enough to ramble about his stress- anything to get it off his chest. Lucifer clearly see's through their efforts and insists that being in their company is help enough.

MC isn't discouraged, they knew he wouldn't give in so easily, so instead they learn to realize when he had a smaller workload or was starting to reach a peak level of stress, and prepared a routine of demonus and music to get him to trust them.

MC wants to be able to have intimate moments like this with him in the future, without it necessarily starting a dump session or always bringing up bad feelings- that would push Lucifer away more than anything else. So they pick very specific drinks and even buy a brand new record for them to listen to together during these little talks. They also make a point to always mark a turning point in the conversation with a few key phrases ("You seem to be-", "Have you been getting enough rest-").

It takes a few repeated nights like this before Lucifer can really start to open up and realize that these moments will always be confidential, and most importantly he will be safe with MC. They fall into a pattern- a lull in the work, an offering of wine. Dim lights, and background music, MC carries the conversation until Lucifer is relaxed enough to join in. A few lines from him, a few questions from MC, and soon Lucifer is leaning on their shoulder, or has them placed against his chest as he talks to his hearts content.

It's not always sad or dark topics, sometimes Lucifer just wants to hear MC's opinions on things, or pose silly questions that get him weird looks from others. Sometimes those questions hide darker meanings, so MC makes sure to guide the conversation carefully and keep an eye on the amount of demonus Lucifer drinks during a session.

Lucifer can't handle personal talks like this as well as MC, but that's to be expected, they are trained after all. So instead he shows he cares with acts of service; taking over chores, inviting them to lunch, offering to help with any problems they might encounter.

MC makes it clear that Lucifer can come speak to them whenever and continues to stop by when they can spare the time, for who will care for the care giver?

Mammon

No matter how close of friends Mammon and MC become, there are some things he just refuses to talk about, and they're often the things that need to be said the most.

He's been the distraction, the emotional punching bag of the family and it didn't take a trained therapist to see it or worry about the damage it was doing to him, demon psychology be damned.

MC tries to broach the topic with him one day, and quickly learns that he's a deflector. Mammon changed the topic immediately, and every time after that when MC tries to gently push him to talk about it. But Mammon hadn't reacted hostile to the questioning, so MC decided to let him come talk to them on his own terms.

It happened after a night of drinking- liquid courage and all that.

While he'd never put a label to it or talk to his brothers about it, Mammon is the most open about talking with MC about these things. He'll almost always be the one to come to MC first, kicking it off with a quick "Hey, could we talk later?" instead of his usual "Are you busy right now?" or "Where are you, we're going out!".

Mammon likes to pretend it isn't happening, like it's any old thing. He'll ask to have a movie playing in the background that neither is watching. He'll play with MC's hand, their hair, poking fun at their clothes between serious statements. But the one thing he always refuses to let MC see him crying. So instead MC offers an alternative- they will turn around and he'll cry into their back, and oddly enough it works for them. He's comforted by them and their presence, without the shame he feels at being vulnerable like this when he knows his brothers would never let him hear the end of it.

Mammon also makes it a point to be around if MC ever needs to talk. He wants them to know they can trust him too, so if he ever thinks they're holding something back from him, he'll try to take them out on a fun day to see if they'll be willing to talk afterwards.

Levi

MC's methods with Levi are indirect. Considering that asking him regular questions about love and "normie stuff" send him into a tangent of grumbles, it's not hard to imagine Levi shutting down almost immediately if MC were to try to talk about his self depreciation in any sort of seriousness.

So instead, MC speaks to him in the language of video games and manga.

He'll be in the middle of an intense gaming session when an innocent question is posed. What does he like about his favorite characters? Why are they so amazing? MC insists it's okay if he's mentioned it a hundred times before, they want to hear it again. And Levi's great at multitasking, so he'll go into his passionate speeches about the great Henry and the undefeatable Ruri chan. He feels silly at the bit of pride he feels when MC tells him that he has some of the same characteristics he praises in these characters, but Levi thinks they must be bluffing, so he tries to change the topic around on them.

MC also asks about Levi's least favorite characters, and when he starts to bash and berate them can't help but pose another "random thought"; did Levi see a bit of himself reflected in them? Is that why he hated them?

If Levi stops playing his games entirely to stare at MC, they reassure him that it was simply a hypothetical; you don't really need a reason to hate a character, so they meant no harm in that question. MC points out characters they hated for that reason- seeing the worst of themselves reflected- to try to ease Levi's concern, and so he'll resume gaming and he's finally more open to a conversation.

It's all video game and manga characters, comparing each other and their traits, good and bad to keep it even.

Satan

"If any of my co workers saw me do this, I'd get fined and my license suspended immediately."

Satan was a tricky case, he was more analytical of the media he consumed, so MC couldn't pull the same trick as with Levi. There was also the possibility that if he figured out what MC was trying to do, he'd start to ignore them altogether, or in an extreme case, threaten them. So what did MC decide to do?

Get him a drink.

Fine, 3 or 4 may be more than "a drink" but the gentleman brother had few other vices MC could use to their benefit. Similar to Lucifer, MC picks a very specific drink to have Satan associate with trust and opening up, and works very had to set the atmosphere just right for Satan to want to talk about his doubts and fears.

It was a balancing act at first, the first time was too many drinks and Satan had been inconsolable about the cat he hadn't seen in a week. The next time, he hadn't been relaxed enough and when the topic switched to Lucifer and his birth, he'd became so enraged that he smashed the bottle they had been drinking from. He hadn't flown into a blind rage, but it had been enough for MC to decide to leave that topic after a longer build up of trust.

These talks with Satan often ended up with Satan laying across MC's lap as he let the weight of the devildom crush the words out of him- disjointed, ugly, messy, and more than a touch acidic. Once MC had posed a question or topic, Satan ran with it until the exhaustion from thousands of years of pent up anger started to catch up to him.

MC never let him fall asleep like this though, always bringing conversation back to lighter topics before he drifted off to sleep. They'd run a hand through his hair and assure him that he was not just a by product of Lucifer, or an accumulation of his sin. Satan was his own demon, and he wasn't defined by the actions of those before him.

Satan often didn't remember the contents of the conversation the next day, only feeling a weight off his shoulders and his steps a little lighter. He always made sure to take MC out to lunch for 'inconveniencing' them the night before, but thanks them for keeping him company when he was less than amicable. Satan goes out of his way to set up similar sessions for MC, thinking that destressing with conversation must be one of the ways they show affection, so he wanted to show he was paying attention to their 'love language'.

Asmo

Working with Asmo is a trade off and a battle of wits.

He's not stupid, the first time MC tried to push him into sensitive territory during one of their spa nights, he called them out on it. Asmo's also smart enough to know that MC wouldn't just drop it because he asked, so he agrees to their little therapy sessions, on his terms.

The sessions were to be held at most, once every 2 weeks, and MC had to let Asmo pamper them while they talked. Skin care, nails, hair, full 9 yards or it was a no go.

While Asmo never turned down a chance to spend quality time with MC, showing off his multiple talents, there was another purpose to the self care routine. Asmo planned to carefully manipulate the version of himself he shows MC, the perfect role of vulnerable and trusting, to make them believe they were leading the therapy sessions without actually revealing too much about himself. Can't have them seeing that ugly side of him after all.

But Asmo's met his match in MC. They came prepared with their own little turn around, letting Asmo believe he was leading them by the nose but every so often MC would ask him for advice and opinions, theoretically, "asking for a friend."

MC was careful in wording the situation for each "friend" to get a feel for Asmodeus true nature, and if they suspected that he was catching on, they'd make the next question a little more personal so he'd believe the "friend" he was asking about was really themselves.

It's a good thing that DDDs came password protected because trying to stay 3 steps ahead of Asmo's lead took some careful planning and there was an entire subfolder dedicated to MC's 'game plan'.

Beel

MC comes to Beel directly, explaining their line of work and if he'd ever want to speak with them about how he's doing and about his everyday life. Beel's a little confused, he doesn't think anything was wrong per se, but he was always down to spend more time alone with MC so he would entertain these little talks they suggested.

Beel was surprised when MC invited him to the gym late one night for their first "therapy visit". The gym was abandoned, but he'd missed his workout earlier in the day so it all worked out.

While MC stretched and did light workouts near him, Beel went about his usual routine. He didn't understand how this would be considered a therapy, but working out did always make him feel better, so he answered any random question that MC asked him.

MC asked about his brothers, why he loved the food he loved. Silly little things, but he indulged them.

What had he felt about Belphie being gone? Was he still mad at Lucifer for lying?

These questions were heavier than the weights he was bench pressing, and for a second, Beel lost his grip and was pinned under the bar for the first time in his life. He caught his breath quickly, and managed to lift the weights, unsure if MC had caught his slip. He holds them up for a moment before continuing his set as usual, mulling over their questions.

Working out helps him think through his feelings and gives him an excuse to pause before answer MC's questions, but he never tried to hide anything from them.

MC leads the first few months of workout therapy, working through the problems they knew most about, and after that Beel took the lead, inviting them out to the gym late at night when he needed to talk, if MC was down for it of course.

Belphie

Another deflector. Conversations that could venture into sensitive topics weren't rare with Belphegor, far from it in fact. So by now MC's noticed his usual patterns. His brothers, his memories, pillows, astronomy. Belphegor will talk about anything that isn't actually about himself.

MC takes a similar approach as to the one with Leviathan, pulling Belphie into conversations with astrology and constellations. MC tells him stories associated with constellations, some ringing a little too familiar to moments from Belphie's life, but he didn't know about human mythology so he couldn't call them out on it.

Belphegor has some inkling of what MC is trying to do, but he's seen the good it's done for Beel so tries to humor the idea for a bit. He starts off in control, a bit distant and cold in his critique of the myths MC told him, but as the night drags on, anger colors his tone.

Betrayal, humiliation, the bitter taste of realizing you were wrong.

Belphegor doesn't know when he switched from 3rd person to first, but he's shocked to hear his own voice fume over the way his brothers treated him when he first came back, how quickly everyone had tossed months of secrets away as if there weren't at least 4 treasons mixed in there.